((UPDATE: The Athens City Council unanimously approved this budget adjustment Monday, Aug. 11.))
While the City of Athens and the Athens Municipal Water Authority have been taking the past few weeks to restructure their contract — which spells out how Athens residents get water — there have been other issues to work through as well.
Like how to pay for all the unexpected AMWA-related bills at the City.
During a meeting Wednesday evening, Athens Finance Director David Hopkins told the City Council he would be asking for a pair of budget adjustments to cover cost related to both the legal battle between the City and AMWA, as well as maintenance bills historically paid for by AMWA.
The first budget adjustment will be to cover the cost of professional services related to the AMWA controversy, which include things like attorney and mediator fees. Hopkins said the total for those bills for the year stands at about $330,000.
That is just for the Athens side of the lawsuit. AMWA has its own legal bills related to the case.
The other budget adjustment is for about $64,000 to cover water-related maintenance, like sludge testing, that has been paid for by AMWA in the past, but has been now passed on to the City.
The total of nearly $400,000 in unexpected AMWA-related bills will be moved from the utility fund reserves.
The City Council is expected to vote on moving the funds during its meeting Monday night.
BACKGROUND
In December 2013, AMWA filed a lawsuit against the city alleging the City is in breach of contract over who should pay for the operation and maintenance of Lake Athens, the dam, and the water treatment and transportation facilities. That lawsuit is still in the courts.
The controversy escalated until the May election became a referendum on the subject with the existence of AMWA on the line. In that election, AMWA not only won the right to continue, but also two former AMWA board members were elected to the City Council.