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State-chartered authority vies for water companies

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By KEVIN WIATROWSKI

kwiatrowski@tampatrib.com

Published: October 21, 2009

NEW PORT RICHEY - About eight months after it bought troubled Aloha Utilities, the Florida Governmental Utility Authority is negotiating the purchase of a half-dozen small water companies in western Pasco County.

The authority also is talking with the owner of Mad Hatter Utility in Land O' Lakes about a possible purchase.

The state-chartered utility is closing in on the purchase of 50-year-old Lindrick Service Corp., which serves several communities west of U.S. 19. The deal would be $16.8 million to buy the water company and $4.25 million to upgrade the system, less than the $23 million Lindrick's owners originally sought.

Other utilities in FGUA's sights are Colonial Manor Utility Co., Virginia Cities, Holiday Utility Co., Pasco and Dixie Groves Utility Co. The authority is reviewing those systems and discussing a $4.25 million deal with the owners, FGUA attorney Brian Armstrong told Pasco County commissioners Tuesday.

The utilities were created during the building boom that turned west Pasco into a magnet for retirees.

The purchases would affect about 2,500 customers, Armstrong said. County Commissioner Ann Hildebrand, a Gulf Harbors resident, is a Lindrick customer.

The Mad Hatter purchase remains in limbo as the two sides seek common ground, Armstrong said.

The Lindrick deal would mean a rate increase for its customers, but not nearly the 66 percent raise the owners have sought from the state Public Services Commission.

Rates could rise 15 percent to 20 percent the first year, and 8 percent and 5 percent in the following years, Armstrong said.

Those rate increases will cover FGUA's costs for improving the system and provide financial backing needed to borrow on the public bond markets.

The list of improvements to Lindrick includes replacing a water main at Floramar Terrace that causes low water pressure and puts fire protection at risk. FGUA would also turn Lindrick's wells over to Tampa Bay Water and tie into the county's public system.
FGUA closed its purchase of Aloha Utilities in February with the promise of ridding its customers of the smelly, black water that became emblematic of the company. That process could take at least one more year.
FGUA has taken over private utilities across the state. Pasco County has a seat on its board.

Reporter Kevin Wiatrowski can be reached at (813) 731-8168.

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