Every once in a while I will come across an article or story in The Key West Citizen, www.keysnews.com, that I think my readers will find interesting and I'll post it here. One more reason I love my electronic subscription to The Citizen. This one is about a proposed increase in rates for the sewer service out on Stock Island. I think this was more of interest to me because I have three listings, which are great buys by the way, out there and also manage a few rental homes there as well. It has been mandated that all of Monroe County will be on a public sewer system by 2010 but the densely populated areas like Stock Island are now on a sewer system that is privately owned. They are billed directly by KW Resort Utilities which is a private company holding the contract. KW Resort Utilities is owned by the same owner of The Key West Golf Course. The recycle the sewer water to water the grass and landscaping at the golf course. Maybe Erma Bombeck was onto something when she wrote "The Grass is Allways Greener Over The Septic Tank". The following story was in The Key West Citizen this morning. Be sure to take a look at it right after you contact me at 305-731-0501or garymcadams@bellsouth.net to buy my three listings on Stock Island. 3 Bedroom houses built in 2006 for $378,900.
State makes 2nd court request for KWRU data
Citizen Staff A state agency investigating whether KW Resort Utilities should raise its rates is continuing to battle with the Stock Island sewer utility over access to documents. The Office of Public Counsel, which represents Stock Island ratepayers, filed another motion with the Public Service Commission on Monday requesting documents and information. The Office of Public Counsel called the utility's response to requests "inadequate or nonexistent." In the motion sent Monday, the Office of Public Counsel said KW Resort Utilities "provided vague references" to document requests and that the "vague references do not constitute bona fide answers." The state agency is under a tight deadline, as the two sides will go before a Public Service Commission panel in February. They will return before the commission in a trial-like setting on April 22, and a ruling will be rendered at the commission's next meeting, on May 7. The Office of Public Counsel attorneys sent a list to the Public Service Commission requesting 35 documents they already have requested and answers to questions already asked of KW Resort Utilities. The request list includes detailed information on how much utility owner Bill Smith is paid, updated cost estimates, inspection fees and the relationship between the utility and the Key West Golf Club, both of which Smith owns. It is the second motion the Office of Public Counsel attorneys have sent to the Public Service Commission in which they charge the private utility with not producing documents or answering questions. As of Nov. 20, KW Resort Utilities had produced some of the documents, but not all of them. "As a result, the citizens [ratepayers] are left with no alternative but to return and beseech the commission to again compel KW Resort Utilities to provide this relevant discovery information and to impose sanctions as appropriate for the failure to provide the information," Office of Public Counsel attorney Stephen Burgess wrote. KW Resort Utilities spokesman Bill Barry argued the utility has sent the Office of Public Counsel "thousands" of documents in 12 boxes. One box the utility recently sent weighed more than 100 pounds, Barry said. He added that the company has lost more than $100,000 in revenue per year for the past five years. "The Office of Public Counsel is spending a half-million dollars to $750,000 of taxpayer money to keep a company profitable and come up with a rate that is equal to or less than that of the [Florida Keys] Aqueduct Authority," Barry said. The Public Service Commission approved an interim 21 percent rate increase this summer after the utility requested a 58 percent rate increase. The 21 percent increase, about an $8 a month per customer hike, will be placed in an escrow account until investigators determine if the rate increase is justified. If not, the money will be refunded to ratepayers.
