It will be at least September before the Macon Water Authority approves a new purchasing card policy after board members deferred the matter during Thursday’s monthly meeting of the board.
MWA’s President Ron Shipman, attorney Jay Strickland and the authority’s comptroller, Robert Edwards, reviewed state and local spending policies to formulate the draft for a new manual, which requires some minor tweaking.
In February, District 2’s Desmond Brown requested a review of the authority’s policy following a media report critical of purchasing card spending.
Shipman explained there was no clear-cut policy when he took the helm of the authority in December 2022, and he had enacted tighter controls than were in place.
Tense discussions and accusations of corruption led Shipman to cut up his p-card during the March meeting, which also resulted in the finance committee requesting input for a formal policy.
Thursday, the board agreed in principle with the new document, but requested that the policy include a list of the 37 full-time positions that currently are eligible for company credit cards.
Finance chairman Dwight Jones questioned whether that was too many cards.
“With a lot of people, that’s a big temptation and it just seems like a lot of cash out there in the way of cards,” Jones said.
Shipman said he was comfortable with the more than three dozen cards spread among leaders for a staff of nearly 300.
“Rest assured, the folks who have purchasing cards at the Macon Water Authority know exactly what to do with them and have been,” Shipman said. “It’s the 37 that’s going to do the exact things that we need them to do, and that is to purchase products and equipment for the Macon Water Authority.”
A reference to conducting business overseas in the draft, which mimicked a state purchasing policy, will also be removed from the language since it does not apply to the authority.
Discussing the new policy dominated the August meeting where the authority also agreed to spend more than $1.1 million on the annual supply of chemicals for water treatment.
The authority also approved $528,500 for Carter Engineering Group’s services in designing the new roundabout at Anthony Road and Pio Nono Avenue.
That project, which is expected to go out for construction bids this fall, will affect water and sewer lines when the signalized intersection will be replaced by a single-lane, four legged roundabout.
The Authority also agreed to hire Warren Associates as the construction manager for its building renovation project on Hawthorne Street. The Macon construction firm had the winning bid of nearly $130,500 to manage the $1.3 million project, according to board documents.
MWA also awarded a bid of more than $21,000 to LDI Disposal for the authority’s trash collection and disposal.
One of Macon-Bibb County’s representatives on the authority, District 1 Commissioner Valerie Wynn noted the authority’s expenses when responding to the evening’s public comments.
“The fact that we have a lot of money here at the Macon Water Authority came up tonight more than once,” Wynn said. “We don’t have a lot of money. We’ve got a lot of money going out the door for required expenses. So I just wanted to point that out.”
Public comments
During public comments, one homeowner complained about a hike in his water bill, but the authority found he went from using 8 units of water to 11.
Another man complained that customers should not be billed for sewer charges at the same rate as water because some of his water goes in swimming pools or irrigation.
MWA used to charge sewer rates at 80% of water consumed to allow for absorption in gardens or other uses, but began assessing sewer charges at the same rate as water usage in January of 2024. At the time, the authority indicated it was the standard practice for similar utilities, according to the news release.
State Senator David Lucas scolded the authority for not adequately serving the public.
Lucas has drafted a bill in the Georgia Legislature that would increase the size of MWA’s board to better represent the community with smaller districts, boost board member salaries, remove one of Macon-Bibb County’s representatives and require at least two board meetings a month.
“Y’all are doing things don’t nobody know nothing about. But we, the taxpayers, pay for it and you have more money than the Macon-Bibb County Commission. Something is wrong when you don’t take care of the folks you’re supposed to be serving,” Lucas said. “The only thing I can say to you, we can resolve this amicably, or we can fight about it, but something’s got to happen with what’s going on down here at the water authority.”
The Macon Water Authority’s funding comes from rate payers, not property tax dollars, although it has received some government grants and a portion of Macon-Bibb’s Special Purpose Local Option Sales Tax revenue in years past.
Lucas has yet to secure another senator to sign onto the bill, which could be taken up again when the Georgia General Assembly reconvenes in January.
— Civic Journalism Senior Fellow Liz Fabian covers Macon-Bibb County government entities for The Macon Newsroom of the Murphy Center for Collaborative Journalism and can be reached at [email protected] or 478-301-2976.
