SAY WHAAAAT???!!!
Our Water Company Board (WOWSC) has accepted a proposal for purchase of our member-owned water company with NO APPRAISAL and NO MARKETING whatsoever . . .
Oh, wait. The Board thinks it’s all okay because the buyer is a multi-state company, backed by private equity firms, and has bought out over 180 water companies just like ours in Texas, so they must know what they’re doing. In fact, the buyer (CSWR) knows so well that they did the appraisal for the WOWSC. I guess CSWR does know what they are doing. Do we???
It’s all okay, as one of the outstanding benefits of the sale is that CSWR will give members the ability to pay their water bills at Walmart or Family Dollar (55:20 Town Hall) when it currently only takes a few minutes to pay online or mail a check in. What a deal! Town Hall Video
DAY ONE . . .
Further, what happens on DAY ONE if system purchased? Members were told at the Town Hall (min 56:45) by CSWR’s VP, Shawn Nichols, that there will be “A new way to pay and who to call if you have a problem.” Nichols stated further: “If you’re like me and you saw the water guy working across the street you’d just grab him and say “hey, come over here and fix this. Actually, that’s the worst thing you can do” Nichols says, “if you call the 800# it opens a ticket that gets tracked all the way to the PUC.”
So, the reality is, if WOWSC members choose to sell they will have 24/7 access to customer service based in Missouri and a paper trail to the Public Utilities Commission (PUC) and back.
If members choose not to sell, in all probability things will remain the same — when a resident sees the water guy down the street, rolls down the window, and asks him to drop by when he’s finished at our neighbors, he really does. Or, a resident calls the WOWSC number, gets the lady who answers the phone, and she gives assurance such as: “One of our guys happens to be down the road, I’ll call him right now and have him stop by when he’s finished” and, that really happens.
Hmmmm. Choose to Vote NO on selling the WOWSC.
