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Hiawatha Extends Water Shutoff Date for RWD#2

By Greg Bebermeyer

03/20/2015

(KNZA)--The Hiawatha City Commission has voted to extend the water shutoff date until April 7th for Brown County Rural Water District #2, pending negotiations on a new contract between the two parties.

The action followed an executive session with City Attorney Don Cashman during a special meeting Thursday evening.

In making the motion, Mayor Crosby Gernon noted the act is unprecedented in the history of city of Hiawatha and probably in municipalities throughout the state. Gernon called it a “good faith effort” by the city to try to find a contract solution between the two parties.

The Commission voted in February to terminate it’s 40-year water purchase agreement with the District after a judge ruled in a civil suit that the District had breached the contract by selling water to customers outside of its boundaries.

At that time, the Commission set a new water rate for the District--the same rate charged city customers at $3.58 per thousand gallons. However, city officials say the District has refused to pay the new higher rate.

The District is the largest water customer of the city.

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