ELKINS — The City of Elkins may be asked to take over Harman’s water utility, city officials said, as they continue to struggle with running Whitmer’s distressed water utility.

During Elkins City Council’s March 6 meeting, City Attorney Geraldine Roberts said it had been recently brought to the city’s attention that they could be asked to run Harman’s water utility on top of already running Whitmer’s water utility.

Roberts said Steve Buchanan, a CEC engineer who had been working in both Whitmer and Harman, had been contacted by Kathy Emery, the West Virginia Department of Environmental Protection’s (DEP) Clean Water State Revolving Fund loan program manager. Emery, Roberts said, informed Buchanan that the state was looking at Elkins ultimately running both Whitmer’s and Harman’s water utilities. 

“She contacted Mr. Buchanan, because he’s been working on these projects for Whitmer and Harman, and basically has said, ‘Well, we’d like to look at a combination of Whitmer and Harman, and, eventually, Elkins is going to run the whole show,'” Roberts told the Council.

Buchanan then informed the City of Elkins of this development. Roberts said the city is not on board with taking over Harman’s water utility, especially after the strain it has already been put under by running Whitmer’s distressed utility.

“We don’t want Harman,” Roberts said. “We don’t want to go any further than we are. We don’t have some idea that we want to run all the utilities in the County of Randolph.”

Elkins Public Water System Chief Operator and Manager Wes Lambert said Harman’s water utility has almost $3 million in debt that Elkins would assume if the city is made to take over the system.

In 2023, Elkins was ordered by the Public Safety Commission (PSC) to take over the distressed Whitmer water utilities, an unwanted acquisition that, according to Elkins Mayor Jerry Marco, has lost the City of Elkins around $6,000 a month. While Elkins now operates the Whitmer water utility, the city does not own it. 

The Whitmer utility has approximately 94 customers, Roberts said, and Elkins is having to pay the difference between what it costs every month to operate the Whitmer water plant and how much money is collected from Whitmer customers. Lambert said it takes 144 Elkins customers, at a minimum bill, to fund the difference.

Roberts said the city has tried to find every possible way of funding the operation of the Whitmer water plant, including reaching out to the state Water Development Authority. However, the Authority only receives $5 million a year and the next two fiscal years of that funding have already been committed to different projects in the state, Roberts said.

“We need people to know about this,” Roberts said. “It’s important to know that the City of Elkins is being asked to do something that was never going to be funded any other way but on the back of the City of Elkins.”

When asked by Third Ward Council Member Christopher Lowther as to how long the city can operate at a $6,000 per month loss, Elkins City Treasurer Tracy Judy said the city would end up having to ask for another rate increase. 

Roberts and Lambert also explained that a rate increase would not only affect the water costs for Elkins and Whitmer customers, but also for Leadsville and Midland customers, as those utilities are wholesale customers of Elkins.

It was also discussed why the Randolph County Commission, which in 2023 had written the initial letter about Whitmer’s distressed utility to the PCS, has not had to contribute more funding to the project.

“The county has never been a part of this, from the time they wrote that letter,” Roberts said. “I mean, they’ve not been required to be a part of this, and these are county residents. They’re not Elkins city residents.”

Marco raised the idea of possibly writing a letter to the PSC and asking that the Randolph County Commission be made the receiver of the distressed Whitmer utility; the county could then hire and pay the City of Elkins to operate it.

“Is it worth a letter to the PSC, from you on our behalf, to ask the PSC to appoint the County Commission, who started this, as a receiver and then if they want a contract with the City of Elkins, we could do it that way?” Marco asked Roberts.

Roberts responded that she believed that they would have to file a motion instead as a letter would not be sufficient, and that she believed it would be more pertinent to get the Water Board involved and to speak more with Robert Rodecker of Kay, Casto & Chaney, the Elkins’ counsel on utility-related matters.

In June 2024, the Randolph County Commission committed to help pay for the outstanding federal and state tax obligations of Whitmer that were incurred before Elkins was put in charge of the utility.

In September, the County Commission approved a payment to the Internal Revenue Service for unpaid federal taxes for the Whitmer Water Association totaling $19,571.75. 

In October, the Randolph County Commission unanimously approved $7,655.26 in funding to help pay back state taxes.

Though there is nothing the City of Elkins or City Council can do at present, Roberts informed the Council that there were two upcoming matters in the West Virginia Supreme Court of Appeals and in the West Virginia State Legislature that could make a difference.

During the Nov. 7 City Council meeting, the council moved to file an Amicus Curiae (friend of the court) brief in support of the Huntington Sanitary Board’s appeal to the West Virginia Supreme Court of Appeals. 

Huntington is appealing against the PSC’s order that the Huntington Sanitary Board take over an abandoned subdivision known as “Hubbard Heights,” which only has around 40 customers. Huntington had previously filed a petition for reconsideration which was denied by the PSC.

Huntington’s case, Roberts said, will be argued in the West Virginia Supreme Court of Appeals on March 18, but the decision will not be handed down until April or May. 

Elkins officials hope that, if Huntington is successful in its appeal, Elkins will be able to approach the PSC on reopening the matter of Elkins’ acquisition of Whitmer Water.

On the legislative front, Marco told council he had spoken at length with House of Representatives Delegate Jonathan Kyle, R-District 66, about Elkins’ struggle with Whitmer and the PSC’s order.

On March 6, Kyle introduced House Bill 3179 with the purpose of stopping “an acquiring company from being forced into financial hardship” by the PSC. HB 3179 would amend and reenact 24-2H-7 of the Code of West Virginia, which deals with the PSC and distressed and failing utilities. The bill has one co-sponsor.

Kyle’s proposed amended portion of 24-2H-7 states that, “Notwithstanding any provision of this code to the contrary, the commission shall not order a utility to acquire a distressed or failing utility if the aggregate cost of necessary capital improvements for the distressed or failing utility which will be borne by the acquiring utility exceeds the aggregate required contribution under the commission’s extension of mains rules for new customers and grant funds from the Water Development Authority Distressed Utilities Account created under 31-15A-9(i) of this code.”

The bill, as of March 9, is pending in the House Environment, Infrastructure and Technology committee.