Summerdale, ECBC Water Treatment settle lawsuit

By Jessica Vaughn
Posted 3/16/20

SUMMERDALE - The Town of Summerdale and ECBC Water Treatment have agreed on a settlement in a suit that began 11 years ago. In that time, both the City of Robertsdale and Baldwin County Sewer …

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Summerdale, ECBC Water Treatment settle lawsuit

Posted

SUMMERDALE - The Town of Summerdale and ECBC Water Treatment have agreed on a settlement in a suit that began 11 years ago. In that time, both the City of Robertsdale and Baldwin County Sewer Services have settled lawsuits with ECBC.

Summerdale’s case has been settled twice in the past before being brought back, and the next court date would have been in April had the Chairman of ECBC not approached Summerdale Mayor David Wilson and asked if the parties could come to a settlement. Wilson quickly agreed to enter into the discussion.

“What this has always been about is ECBC encroaching into municipal limits of Summerdale with water service,” said Town Counsel James Curenton. The lawsuit also included Baldwin County Commission, who initially permitted ECBC to place the lines in the Summerdale municipal limits, not realizing the locations would come into town limits. The settlement will include Baldwin County Commission as well.

ECBC lines within Summerdale limits are placed down County Road 83 and County Road 32 to Shadyfield Estates with a franchise.

“With this agreement, ECBC’s water distribution will be east of the Baldwin Beach Express,” said Curenton. “They’ve agreed to enter into a franchise with the town for any areas that are annexed out there and currently not receiving water. If the town annexes any future area east of the Beach Express and on the west side of County Road 83, there will be a business license fee which essentially comes to the same as a franchise.”

As required by federal law, Summerdale has agreed to purchase the pipes installed by ECBC west of the Beach Express, which Curenton states is advantageous to the town and will allow the extension of Summerdale’s water distribution and lines to Resmondo Road. This would equip the town to service two properties north of the Baldwin Beach Express and County Road 32 intersection and phase two of Shadyfield’s development.

The cost to purchase the pipes is $241,853.50, and will come out of a fund the town has set aside for waterline extensions and repairs. The town has 30 days to pay in full.

“ECBC gave us one of their service areas, County Road 32 south to the Foley Beach Express, which allows us to be able to service our corporate limits along the east side of the Beach Express,” Wilson said. “Any new connections that are made or extensions of the waterlines to main connections will be subject to a business license, and any current connections are subject to a franchise.”

The customers currently on ECBC lines who will be switching to Summerdale distribution don’t have to worry. ECBC has offered to maintain those customers after Summerdale has purchased the lines until the time when Summerdale switches them to the town service, so there will be no halt in water. The town has two years to construct its connections.

“We have reached an agreement that I feel is satisfactory for both sides,” said Wilson. “I believe this is a Godsend, and that we have made it a point that we can both be good neighbors. The town and ECBC are going to exchange water with each other if we ever have a problem, either them or us, so that nobody on the waterlines on either side will ever be without water, and I think that’s going to be a great thing. Currently we have mutual aid agreements with the water services of Robertsdale and Foley, and this will just expand upon that and make things better.”

ECBC’s board is meeting to discuss the settlement, and once all parties have signed agreements it will go before the court to be ratified by a judge, before being recorded in the Probate Office.