Gov. Kay Ivey signs bill that largely wrestles control of the Birmingham Water Works Board out of the city's hands
BIRMINGHAM, Ala. (WIAT) — Gov. Kay Ivey has signed into law a bill that the city of Birmingham is actively trying to stop from reorganizing its water department.
Ivey signed SB330 into law on Wednesday, her office confirmed, effectively taking the Birmingham Water Works Board mostly out of the city's hands and restructuring it to include members appointed by both the state and surrounding counties.
On Tuesday, the city of Birmingham filed a federal lawsuit against Ivey, seeking a temporary injunction from the law going into effect. Because of how the lawsuit was filed, which a District Judge Emily Marks claimed did not give Ivey enough time to respond, the motion to halt the bill was denied. However, a hearing has been set May 15 to discuss the bill.
The bill, which has now gone into effect with Ivey's signature, would reform the BWWB to have seven members, only two of whom would be picked by Birmingham. The remainder of the board would be filled by selections from Ivey, Lieutenant Gov. Will Ainsworth, Jefferson County Commission President Jimmie Stephens and representatives from Shelby and Blount Counties.
Birmingham Mayor Randall Woodfin and other city leaders have long been opposed to the bill, claiming that it was political overreach by the state and was unconstitutional.
'This bill does not take politics out of the water works, it actually inserts more into the water works,' Woodfin said Tuesday.
Rep. Jim Carns, R-Vestavia Hills, was one of the sponsors of SB330 and said BWWB needed to change.
'In the private sector, if this was a business, they would come in and clean house and it took 19 years for this to happen,' Carns previously told CBS 42. 'I never hear anyone that's happy with the Birmingham water system. I hate it. It's just not something that I wanted to hear, not something that I wanted to be involved with. This has taken a lot of effort and it's been painful for a lot of people. Every time you make major change, there is pain involved. The old saying 'no pain, no gain' and I expect a lot of gain out of this.'
Birmingham Water Works has faced many struggles over the years. Being nearly $1 billion in debt, the board recently approved water rate increase of 4.9%, coming out to an increase of $2.14 per customer each month.
The city has reported that an estimated 91% of BWWB's clientele is in Jefferson County.
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