Sanitary Board sale still faces hurdles
Although the Bluefield Board of Directors approved the sale of the Bluefield Sanitary Board system to West Virginia American Water Company earlier this month, the transaction still requires approval from both the Bluefield, Va., Town Council and the West Virginia Public Service Commission.
The Virginia-side approval is necessary because the sanitary system also serves customers in Bluefield, Va. If the sale is approved by the Bluefield, Va., Town Council, it must then be approved by the West Virginia Public Service Commission.
The Bluefield, Va., Town Council has set a public hearing for Tuesday, April 22, at 7 p.m., at the town hall offices at 112 Huffard Drive to receive public input on the sale of the sanitary system to West Virginia American Water Company.
If the sale of the sanitary system also is approved by the Bluefield, Va., Town Council, then the purchaser — West Virginia American Water Company — would need to seek approval for the transaction from the West Virginia Public Service Commission, according to Bluefield City Attorney David Kersey.
'As you know, the Bluefield Sanitary Board sewer system also serves Bluefield, Va., town residents and some county residents as well,' Kersey said. 'So the proposed agreement includes the water company purchasing those Virginia assets. The town has not yet agreed to sell. And as I understand it they are having a meeting on April 22.'
According to a legal advertisement in the Daily Telegraph announcing that public hearing, the town of Bluefield, Va., believes the sale will provide benefits to the community, including enhanced service quality, improved infrastructure and long-term sustainability of the wastewater system.
If the Bluefield, Va., Town Council does agree to the sale, Kersey said the issue will then go to the Public Service Commission of West Virginia for approval.
'It's my understanding that the application for approval would be filed by the purchaser,' Kersey said. 'The water company would ask for permission and would ask for approval for the purchase.'
Since public hearings have already been held by the Bluefield City Board, along with the public hearing planned for next Tuesday in Bluefield, Va., Kersey said he didn't think the Public Service Commission would require additional public hearings on the matter.
'The city did have public hearings and comments and all,' Kersey said.
Andrew Gallagher, director of communications for the Public Service Commission of West Virginia, said the PSC has not yet received a petition on the matter from the city or the water company.
'The process, however, would be we get a petition and then act on it,' Gallagher said in an email response to questions by the Daily Telegraph.
The motion to approve the sale of the city's wastewater collection treatment system was approved by the city board on April 8. A second motion was also approved allowing for the shareholder approval for the Sanitary Board of Bluefield Inc., which is the entity that previously owned the Westside Treatment Plant.
As part of the agreement between the city and West Virginia American Water Company, the company would retain all existing employees of the Bluefield Sanitary Board system and would not raise rates prior to 2029, according to earlier reports from Bluefield City Manager Cecil Marson. The company would instead follow an existing rate schedule already approved by the Bluefield Sanitary Board.
Under the agreement, West Virginia American Water Company will purchase the Bluefield Sanitary Board wastewater system for $34.1 million and pay off around $14 million in debt. The anticipated proceeds would amount to $17 million for Bluefield and $3 million for Bluefield, Va.
West Virginia American Water would also offer employment to all sanitary board employees under the agreement.
For five years, West Virginia American Water would also use rates approved already by the sanitary board. West Virginia American Water Company rates would begin in 2029.
Contact Charles Owens at
cowens@bdtonline.com
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Yahoo
5 hours ago
- Yahoo
FCPT Resorts to Sale-Leaseback With Burger King Properties' Buyout
Four Corners Property Trust FCPT recently announced the purchase of four Burger King properties through a sale-leaseback for $8.1 million from Ampler Restaurant Group. The move highlights FCPT's expansionary efforts to diversify and improve its portfolio quality through acquisitions. The newly constructed properties are located in the strong retail corridors in Ohio, Kentucky and Virginia. Priced at a 6.8% cap rate on rent as of the closing date, exclusive of transaction costs, the properties are franchise-operated under long-term, triple-net leases, with 19 years of term remaining. This will aid in securing long-term cash flows for the company. FCPT's Past Acquisitions This real estate investment trust (REIT), mainly engaged in the ownership and acquisition of high-quality, net-leased restaurant and retail properties, has a track record of acquisitions. In the second quarter of 2025, Four Corners expanded its portfolio with total acquisitions worth $84 million at a 6.7% cap rate. Over the last 12 months, as of June 30, 2025, the company has acquired properties aggregating $344 million at attractive pricing. Through the above acquisitions, FCPT has diversified more than half of its portfolio into new restaurant brands, medical retail and auto service, ensuring stable and steady revenue generation. As per Four Corners' July Investor Presentation, its portfolio comprises mainly outparcel properties in high-density retail corridors. Around 76% of its rent features unique benefits compared to a regular net lease. These benefits include high rent coverage properties from companies like Darden DRI and Chili's EAT, along with ground leases, master leases and investment-grade guarantors or operators. However, the company's expansion may face potential headwinds in a still high-interest-rate environment, which could keep its borrowing costs elevated. Want the latest recommendations from Zacks Investment Research? Today, you can download 7 Best Stocks for the Next 30 Days. Click to get this free report Darden Restaurants, Inc. (DRI) : Free Stock Analysis Report Brinker International, Inc. (EAT) : Free Stock Analysis Report Four Corners Property Trust, Inc. (FCPT) : Free Stock Analysis Report This article originally published on Zacks Investment Research ( Zacks Investment Research Sign in to access your portfolio
Yahoo
8 hours ago
- Yahoo
Richmond's Fed Chief Barkin: Job Market Holding Steady
Richmond Fed President Tom Barkin isn't hitting the panic button on jobs just yet. Speaking Thursday, he said hiring and firing have both slowed, but the unemployment rate is still holding steady near historic lows. Any real cracks in the labor market, he suggested, are a ways out there. He's been hearing a cautiously upbeat tone from businesses in his district, with more clarity now around taxes, tariffs, and immigration rules. Maybe the fog is starting to lift, Barkin said, though he admitted it's not lifting much on the hiring side and only a little on investing. It will be interesting to see how these developments converge, on the back of the Trump/Powell spat. WIth investors hoping for a likely rate cut within the next few months, these broader market moves will be a critical gauge in getti nga feeler for things to come. This article first appeared on GuruFocus. Sign in to access your portfolio
Yahoo
10 hours ago
- Yahoo
'Transatlantic Pioneer': Bloodstock Agent Michael Motion Dies At Age 95
'Transatlantic Pioneer': Bloodstock Agent Michael Motion Dies At Age 95 originally appeared on Paulick Report. The Thoroughbred industry mourns the loss of renowned international bloodstock agent Michael G. Motion who passed away on Aug. 14, 2025 at 95. Michael and his wife, Josephine, were longtime residents of Middleburg, Va., where it was announced he passed peacefully at home with his family by his side. Although he grew up involved in pony club and foxhunting in England, Michael took the circuitous route to the career that eventually earned him the worldwide respect of his peers. Initially, his interests were in cattle and farming. He attended the Royal Agricultural College at Cirencester before migrating to Canada after his grandfather's death prompted the sale of the family farm. In Canada, he took a job at The Royal Winter Fair, working the Sale of Stars for pedigreed cattle. The position led him to a two-year stint in South America running a receiving center for imported cattle. Back in England in 1956, Michael reconnected with a childhood friend, Josephine Wells, and the pair became engaged. Already very accomplished in Thoroughbred racing, Jo was the first female to groom a winner of the Grand National at Aintree – Nickel Coin in 1951. She subsequently became one of the first women in America to obtain a trainer's license. While acquiring her green card, she worked as an assistant trainer to Mom and Pop Adams in Southern Pines, N.C. The couple married in October 1956 before heading to America. Michael's knowledge of South America and command of the Spanish language landed him a job with an import-export company. Bored with that desk job, he decided to pursue other New York City in 1957, he asked a woman in a small bookshop if she knew where he might find an auctioneering house. She informed him there was one just around the corner at 3 E. 48th Street. There he found an office staff of five employees. During their interview the gentleman in charge – also an Englishman – mentioned that his father had been a parson in the area where Michael worked on the Duke of Westminster's estate near Chester. He asked if Michael was familiar with the Tattersalls auction firm in England, explaining that his outfit could be considered the Tattersalls of America. Michael was hired for a bookkeeping position, becoming the company's sixth employee. As he left, his new employer said, 'By the way, my name is Humphrey Finney.' The little auction firm was called left Fasig-Tipton after a year, but that brief tenure afforded him valuable exposure to the finances of the Thoroughbred breeding business. Still a young man of 27, he secured a job at Mrs. John Burgwin's Barberry Farm in Bucks County, Pa. It was Mrs. Burgwin's keen interest in horses that pushed Michael to create a proposal re-branding Barberry Farm as a viable Thoroughbred entity. He made his first purchase – two weanling fillies – at the 1958 Keeneland fall what was perhaps one of the first pinhooking ventures, he sold both fillies as yearlings at Saratoga in 1959. He returned to Keeneland a few months later and purchased four in-foal mares. Barberry Farm was formally in the Thoroughbred breeding business. Five years later, they were among Saratoga's top three consignors by average. In 1962, Michael, Jo and their first two children – American-born daughters Claire and Philippa ('Pippa') – returned to England. The Thoroughbred bloodstock industry was not yet international, and the reputation he developed in North America opened no doors in England. But that changed when those American clients came calling. His understanding of the American buyers and market served him perfectly. Michael and Jo moved to Herringswell near Newmarket in 1964, developing their own operation as Herringswell Manor Stud. Those same American clients sent horses to them, contributing to its prominence as a boarding facility in England for 15 years. The halcyon days of the 1970s expanded his business and solidified his status as a groundbreaker; he was one of the first bloodstock agents with clients in both the United Kingdom and United States. Michael's roster included Nelson Bunker Hunt's Blue Grass Farm; Taylor Hardin's Newstead Farm; William Hackman's Orange Hill Farm and Thomas Mellon Evans' Buckland Farm. In Europe, Daniel Wildenstein's Allez France Stable, Robert Sangster and Jean Ternynck. By the late 1970s, Michael extended his base to include Japanese and Australian interests. He became Tattersalls' North American Representative in early 1980 the Motion family, which now included sons Graham and Andrew, returned to America and, after stints in Millbrook, N.Y., and Lexington, KY, settled in the Middleburg, Va., area in 1986. Michael had maintained an office in Middleburg through the heydays of the 1970s, and Jo had been based in the area for parts of the year while working for the Adams. Both were enamored with the region, and the move gave them the chance to be close to daughter Claire and her three children as well as Andrew and his two daughters. Michael's great friend Bill Oppenheim, co-founder of the newsletter Racing Update, shared this remembrance: 'Michael Motion was a Transatlantic pioneer as a farm manager and bloodstock agent who early on was active on both sides of The Pond. Among his smaller accomplishments was offering me, a young journalist, a no-obligation opportunity to attend the Tattersalls Yearling Sale in Newmarket in 1980 when he was the Tattersalls representative in America. It was truly a life-changing experience for me, and we remained friends and occasional colleagues for decades until his retirement. I regard him as one of my most influential mentors. He was a great man.'Throughout his life, Michael derived great joy from his relationships with his family. Wife Jo owned and operated the immensely popular Middleburg Tack Exchange until her retirement at age 90 in 2021. Eldest daughter Claire is a highly respected educator in Middleburg, while Pippa is equally respected in the gourmet food and catering business in Washington, D.C. Sons Graham and Andrew followed their father in the racing industry. Graham's Herringswell Stables is based at Fair Hill Training Center in Maryland. Among his training wins are the 2011 Kentucky Derby and 2013 Dubai World Cup with Animal Kingdom as well as Breeders' Cup victories with Better Talk Now, Shared Account, Main Sequence and Sharing. Andrew Motion's career path perhaps most closely parallels that of his father. He owns Old Chapel Farm in Upperville, Va., developing young horses for sales and providing bloodstock consulting services. Customarily, Michael preferred to remain private and instead allow the spotlight to shine on his children and grandchildren….in one particular case, his oldest son Graham. Quoted in an Associated Press report for CBS News on June 9, 2011 before Animal Kingdom's run in the Belmont Stakes, Michael said:'His mother and I are extraordinarily proud of him, and through it all he's been determined to spend as much time as possible with his family. What he's accomplished is absolutely amazing.'Every member of Michael Motion's family would say the same of him. An exemplary life led with grace, humility and integrity was the blueprint for their lives and his legacy. This story was originally reported by Paulick Report on Aug 15, 2025, where it first appeared.
