Living Water Services President Grady Parsons, left, and General Manager Tyler McKeller speak to the Good Hope City Council during Monday's meeting.

GOOD HOPE — The Good Hope City Council passed a resolution Monday night to enter an agreement with Living Water Services to simplify the city’s budget and streamline the work and costs that come from its sewer system. 

LWS President Grady Parsons and General Manager Tyler McKeller both spoke to the council about the new agreement and what it means for the city. 

Parsons said he has worked with Good Hope Mayor Jerry Bartlett and City Planner Corey Harbison to look at all of the different costs that come from running the sewer system, such as repairs, parts replacements, annual permits and other submissions to the Alabama Department of Environmental Management.

“When you get to adding those numbers up, it gets to where it runs consistent year after year, and that’s what we have found,” he said.

Using those numbers, LWS will present the city each year with the annual cost of running the sewer, and the city will pay off that fee monthly over the course of the year, he said. 

In return, LWS will be responsible for paying for and performing all of the repairs and work at the city’s pump stations and water treatment plant, and will be able to go forward with those projects without needing approval from the council, he said. 

“We pay for all of the repairs,” he said. “Instead of us doing repairs and billing you as they take place.”

Parsons said the contract will simplify the city’s planning each year when the council is preparing its budget, because having a set monthly fee already agreed upon will take any guesswork out of the picture. 

“You’re not having to go through and estimate on your budget what those repairs are going to be,” he said. 

McKeller said this year’s fee was calculated to be $52,000, which means the city will only have to pay that amount and no more for the year. If there is a catastrophic event that causes LWS to spend much more than expected for the year, the company will be responsible for covering any of those additional costs, he said. 

“We’re not coming to y’all for a check,” he said.

The city will still be the owner of the sewer system, but the agreement will also put LWS as the permit holder for the plant, which means the company will be liable for any fines or fees that ADEM could levy in the event that the sewer system does not meet regulations, McKeller said.

“They would be doing a consent order and imposing fines against us,” he said. 

Councilwoman Susan Eller asked if the city had a way to get out of the agreement in the event that Parsons or McKeller left the company or sold it to someone else, and McKeller said there is a clause built into the contract to allow for that with 60 days notice.

“It reverts right back to y’all,” he said.