Date: 08-08-2017
PSC to hold public meeting in Martin County water case
FRANKFORT – The Kentucky Public Service Commission will hold a public meeting on Aug. 29 in Inez to hear from customers of the Martin County Water District regarding the PSC’s investigation of the utility.
“This meeting will give the public an opportunity to learn more about state jurisdiction over water districts and to voice their concerns directly to members of the Commission,” PSC Vice Chairman Robert Cicero said in a news release.
The meeting will be at the Roy Collier Community Center, 387 East Main Street in Inez.
It will begin at 5:30 p.m. EDT with an information session during which staff from the PSC and the Kentucky Division of Water will explain each agency’s regulatory authority over water districts. The PSC presentation also will provide an overview of the current PSC investigation into Martin County Water District. It will be followed by a period for questions and answers.
The public comment period will begin at 6:30 p.m.
Persons wishing to submit written comments may do so at the meeting. Written comments also may be mailed to the PSC at P.O. Box 615, Frankfort, KY 40602, faxed to 502-564-3460 or e-mailed from the PSC website, psc.ky.gov.
Martin County Water District’s commissioners and managers have been ordered by the PSC to attend the public meeting in order to listen to the public comments. The district will not be making a presentation at the meeting.
However, Martin County Water District will be asked to respond to concerns raised by the public when it appears before the PSC at the next evidentiary hearing in the case. That hearing is scheduled to begin at 9:30 a.m. EDT on Sept. 13 at the PSC offices in Frankfort.
The PSC opened the investigation into the operational capacity of Martin County Water District in April 2016. In its order establishing the case, the PSC cited a number of factors.
The issues raised by the PSC include excessive water loss, which at times has exceeded 60 percent – more than four times the amount considered acceptable. The PSC also noted that Martin County Water District has failed to complete many corrective measures identified in a 2008 management audit stemming from a 2007 PSC investigation.
Thus far, the PSC has conducted two formal hearings in the matter, in February and June of this year, and has continued to gather information from Martin County Water District.
The Sept. 13 evidentiary hearing may be viewed live on the PSC website. A video of the public meeting will be posted on the website. Videos of the previous hearings and documents filed in the case also are available on the PSC website. The case number is 2016-00142.
