Payson Roundup

To Shirley Dawson:

The Pine-Strawberry Water Improvement District (PSWID) is very astonished, surprised and disappointed that the Board of Supervisors (BOS) chose to hold a “workshop” recently, July 21, concerning water issues in the Pine-Strawberry area without so much as even advising the district of the scheduling of such meeting. Inasmuch as “the acquisition, construction, reconstruction or repair of waterworks for the delivery of water for domestic purposes” is the direct responsibility and legal jurisdiction of the district and not the BOS, the PSWID is justifiably concerned about the purpose of conducting this very unbalanced “workshop” without notification to, nor input from, the board of directors of PSWID. While the district manager was present, at the invitation of Mr. Pugel, he was not given adequate time to consult with the board or to fully prepare a presentation.

Rather, the BOS appears to have chosen to focus extensively upon a presentation and information provided by a dissident minority group in the community who have clearly stated that their goal is to stop the public acquisition of the Pine and Strawberry water systems. Most of their information is based either upon data generated directly by them or PSWID data that has been manipulated by them to serve their own needs. Based upon their “data,” their information and conclusions almost always contradict that presented in reports and studies commissioned by the district and prepared by qualified professionals in their specific fields of expertise. Additionally, most of the anti-board representatives that presented on Tuesday have been in conflict with the majority of the community over such an acquisition years before the current PSWID board members became involved. Hence, their real motive is not related to the actions or competency of the current board, but rather is a back-door means of achieving their own agenda.

The district has been working diligently to resolve the water issues in both Pine and Strawberry, most recently through attempts at acquiring the useful assets of the water companies in those areas. The PSWID board members, along with its contracted manager and legal counsel, have worked tirelessly in their efforts to effect this needed change. The district has experienced substantial success toward that goal recently and is now at a critical juncture. It would be more than disheartening to the community for the recent actions of the BOS to negate the successes achieved to date by the district through this reckless and inappropriate action in a “workshop” forum.

The PSWID board requests a joint meeting with the BOS, during which the board extends you the opportunity to explain the concerns of the supervisors. In addition, it would also be a forum for presenting a factual update of the water situation in Pine and Strawberry, thereby allowing fair and equal participation of all of the elected officials from both boards. In such a forum, professionally prepared information could also be adequately presented and discussed.

Please advise when the BOS would be available to hold the joint meeting with the PSWID board of directors. The district board would prefer that the meeting be held in Pine, so that the citizens of Pine and Strawberry could attend and observe.

William F. Haney, board chairman, Pine-Strawberry Water Improvement District