The City of Atlanta has begun forming a new Bureau of Water to oversee the city's drinking water system. The move comes after deciding to end United Water's 20-year contract to operate and maintain the system.
"Before 1999, the city operated its own water system for 128 years. Although I am disappointed that the relationship with United Water did not work out for either party, I am very confident that the city can run an efficient system that will provide high quality, dependable drinking water for all of our customers," said Mayor Shirley Franklin.
"We have been preparing for several contingencies for more than four months now. As part of that planning process, the city has developed a detailed and practical business plan to take back the system through a new Bureau of Water. We expect to begin implementation of the plan immediately," Franklin said.
Jack Ravan, Commissioner of the city's Department of Watershed Management, will have oversight of the new bureau. Ravan previously served as the country's top water official with the Environmental Protection Agency, where he managed a department of 2,280 employees with a budget of $2.7 billion.
Chris New, a 32-year veteran of the city's water department, will serve as the director of the bureau. New has already assembled his senior leadership team of nine managers, which has a combined 166 years experience with the city's water system.
The business plan for the new Bureau of Water provides the basis for a lean and efficient organization. Highlights of the new bureau include:
• staffing of 346 people, 43% below the 1998 level (the last year the city ran the system).
• ongoing budget of approximately $41.1 million (compared to an estimated $40.6 million for United Water in 2003 and $48 million for the city in 1997).
• effective plan for increasing collections.
• emphasis on customer service.
• strategic contracting of non-core functions.
• public accountability through a monthly scorecard of performance measures (to be available on the city's website).
Franklin said the timely implementation of the new Bureau of Water is one of her highest priorities.
"I have conferred with the leadership of the City Council, and based on their advice I will request expedited consideration of both the final dissolution and settlement agreement with United Water, as well as the legislation necessary to implement the new Bureau of Water. We will work closely with the council to make the transition successful. It is critically important that we move forward quickly and that we move forward together," Franklin said.
Last year, United Water's performance on the Atlanta contract was called into question by a city audit. The city's complaints about United Water's performance generally focused on operations and management, maintenance, billing and record-keeping issues. At the time, the city threatened to terminate the contract if United Water did not improve its service in a 90-day period beginning Aug. 12, 2002.
Franklin emphasized that United Water has improved the quality of its operations in the past five months.
"We have seen significant progress dating back to the Contract Correction Period," Franklin said, referring to the 90-day assessment period when the city tracked the company's performance measures through a scorecard system. "The joint decision to dissolve the relationship reflects the city's and United Water's conviction that the contract does not accommodate the reasonable customer service and business interests of both parties."
"Today's announcement is the result of the partnership approach Mayor Franklin and I have taken to addressing the challenges of operating the city's water system," said Michael Chesser, Chairman and CEO of United Water. "The first step we agreed on was to improve performance. United Water did that. Then we looked together at the contract to determine if it could effectively guide our partnership going forward, and Mayor Franklin and I agreed that it did not provide an economically viable framework."
