TBO.com - TBO is Tampa Bay Online

Tampa Bay Water Chief To Retire

ADVERTISEMENT

By MIKE SALINERO, The Tampa Tribune

Published: September 20, 2007

Jerry Maxwell, who guided Tampa Bay Water from its birth during the regional water wars to a period of regional cooperation in finding new sources of water, announced Wednesday he will retire from his job as general manager effective Feb. 28.

Maxwell, 64, said he is retiring to spend more time with his wife, Karen, and their grandchildren. In a written statement, Maxwell said he was proud of everything the agency had accomplished in his 12 years at Tampa Bay Water.

'It's a model for regionalism, a model for partnerships, a model for environmentally sound supply and development and a model for public service,' he said.

Maxwell joined Tampa Bay Water's predecessor, the West Coast Regional Water Supply Authority, in April 1995. It was a time when St. Petersburg and Pinellas County were at war with Hillsborough and Pasco counties over groundwater pumping.

Pasco County Commissioner Ann Hildebrand was chairman of the old water authority when it hired Maxwell. She said he played a key role in getting the counties and cities to pool their resources and diversify their water supply to curb the overpumping of the aquifer.

'He's the one who drove the engine on that and piloted it to make it happen,' Hildebrand said.

Under his leadership, Tampa Bay Water developed a surface water treatment plant that purifies water from the Hillsborough and Alafia rivers. The utility also built the C.W. Bill Young Reservoir, a 15-billion-gallon, above-ground storage facility that stores water during the rainy season so it can be used during dry weather when groundwater and river levels are low.

Maxwell's tenure has not been without controversy, however.

He pushed for construction of the nation's first large-scale desalination plant in Apollo Beach.

The plant has been plagued by problems since it opened in 2003 and shut down in June 2005.

It cranked up again in April, producing about 16 million gallons a day. The plant is not expected to start producing its promised 25 million gallons a day until after the first of the year.

Former Hillsborough County Commissioner Chris Hart, who served on the Tampa Bay Water board from the late 1990s until 2002, said Maxwell is responsible for the mishaps at the desalination plant. Hart said he favored a public-private partnership that would have made a private company liable for financial losses if the plant didn't work.

'He pushed our board into reversing that decision with a lot of false information,' Hart said. 'If we had stayed the course, the private company would have borne the losses.'

Maxwell could not be reached for comment.

Mayor Pam Iorio, who stepped down from the water board Wednesday, said Maxwell has done a good job despite the desalination plant mishaps.

'There are still some long-term needs and getting the desal plant to the point where it can produce its maximum output,' Iorio said. 'But other projects have gone well. As we see by this drought situation, we see the region has been well-served by Tampa Bay Water.'

Researcher Melanie Coon contributed to this report.

Share this:

Loading Comments...

Email Print

ADVERTISEMENT