REHOBOTH BEACH -- The League of Women Voters of Sussex County held a public forum entitled "Who Owns Your Water and Water Services: Should You Be Concerned?" in which a panel discussed how water and sewage treatment are operated in Sussex County.
The forum was the first of a four-part series held by the organization on the privatization of public services.
The panel was moderated by League member Madeleine Russell, an outreach coordinator at the Delaware Nature Society and featured John Ashman, director of utility planning for Sussex County, Dean Costas, a civil activist who is trying to draw attention to proposed increases in water rates, and Jerry Esposito, president of Tidewater Utilities.
Ashman said the county has only one water district, located in Dewey Beach, while it has 63,000 wastewater customers.
"It's not saying the county is not willing to take on new water districts," he said. "It's that the county has been so busy with (its) wastewater needs that we have not been focused on drinking water."
Ashman said while private companies seem to have a better way of providing drinking water, the county is considering providing public water to residents down the road.
"We've actually talked to a couple different communities about possibly moving in that direction," he said. "We would definitely entertain more of the public water. It's just a matter of whether we can be competitive with the private guys."
Esposito said water rates are typically higher for private entities than municipalities because the latter can apply for grants and loans that would lower the costs for customers. Additionally, private companies pay property taxes that, in turn, keeps rates a bit higher, he said.
He said it's the company's burden of proof to show its expenses warrant the rates.
"Because we're regulated in a process that public service commissions throughout the country oversee, we are not required just for prudency, but for what's called cost of service, to show that the rates pay for only the service that's provided."
He said wastewater rates tend to be around $1,000 a year, while water is about $500.
"It's a broad general rule of thumb," he said. "There's nothing outside of that wide range that at least Delaware's familiar with."
Tidewater is in the middle of a filing with the PSC in which the company would raise wastewater rates in some of its coverage areas, including Milton, by 90.6 percent.
"That's what's before them," he said. "I doubt that's the way it will come out, I'll say that."
Costas said the way to make change regarding water rates is to contact local legislators. He said he would like to see single-digit increases in water rates and analog monitoring capability so consumers can track water usage in real time.
"These people are not our enemies," he said. "We have to work as a team with Tidewater, with the legislators and with the PSC to get this job done."
He also said people need to come to public hearings to tell the PSC how they feel.
"I know we get two minutes," he said. "But you can prepare remarks and leave it with the hearing examiner."
Not present on the panel were representatives from the state's Department of Natural Resources and Environmental Control, an organization that Camelot resident John Morris thought could have answered many of the unanswered questions.
"Everybody had the same notification about the meeting," he said. "Not to send a representative I think is an outrage and shows the cowardness of those companies."
The next scheduled forum is set for Feb. 15 and will focus on roads.
