Path clear for Albany to provide fiber, gas in Lee County

ALBANY — After considerable, and sometimes pointed, discussion Tuesday, Albany City Commissioners accepted an intergovernmental agreement that paves the way for the Albany Utility Authority to provide natural gas and fiber optic services to Lee County residents and businesses.

The decision, which was made during a special called meeting in advance of the commission’s regularly scheduled work session, follows a similar decision made by the Lee County Commission last week that will allow the city to place fiber optic and natural gas lines along Lee County-owned rights-of-way so that the city can ultimately gain new customers residing in Lee County.

Currently, the Utility Authority maintains similar utility lines in certain areas of Lee County through the use of state rights-of-way, and the new agreement allows the city of Albany to branch off of the current infrastructure to get to new residential and commercial customers.

Tuesday’s contract discussion encountered some opposition from commissioners early on, chiefly from Ward VI’s Tommie Postell, who voiced his concerns over the fact that the contract obligated the city to pay Lee County a fee of 94 cents per linear foot for use of county rights-of-way.

Postell said his concern is that the agreement has nothing listed stating Lee County is obligated to pay the city anything.

“You mentioned 94 cents per foot, that’s for the city to pay,” Postell said. “What do you have Lee County paying? I’ve looked at this thing, and I don’t see nothing that they’re paying.”

Both City Attorney Nathan Davis and Assistant City Manager Phil Roberson explained that Lee County wouldn’t pay a charge since the agreement is granting Albany the right to use property owned by Lee County. Roberson further explained that the city would likely avoid using Lee County rights-of-way whenever possible, choosing instead to use Georgia Department of Transportation utility easements when able.

“This is a right-of-way encroachment agreement, and the chance that we’d be on the right-of-way is at a minimum,” said Roberson. “In most cases, we’d be in the utility easement, and there’s no charge to put our telecom or our gas in the utility easement.”

Roberson also explained that when the city did have to use Lee County rights-of-way, that cost would ultimately be passed onto the end customer as a line item on their bills, the same way that other companies like Mediacom and Windstream pass on the city’s charges for using Albany rights-of-way, which is also 94 cents per foot, to their customers.

“The way that would work is, when you’re a telecom customer, you have a line item that says ‘utility, right-of-way, easement fee,’” said Roberson. “So there would be no cost to the city. It won’t cost the city anything.”

Postell also took issue with the fact that he did not have ample time to read over the proposed agreement, which had been reviewed by both Davis and Lee County Attorney Jimmy Skipper, as well as by attorneys from the Municipal Electric Authority of Georgia.

“I didn’t have enough time to read through this entire contract that we’ve got here today in one day,” said Postell. “I got it Thursday of last week, and I didn’t read it. I like to read whatever I’m signing. My thoughts are I need more time to read through this to get to the nitty-gritty.”

Although he agreed with Postell that the commission should have had more time to review the document, Ward V Commissioner Bob Langstaff said he ultimately felt that the commission needed to approve the agreement.

“That not withstanding, I understand that things happens and we get in a crunch, and we’ve got to make a decision quickly. This is one of those times,” said Langstaff. “Any delay means we’re losing revenue. And that doesn’t make any sense. This is a great alternative to raising taxes.”

Commissioners Bobby Coleman and B.J. Fletcher, also said they felt it was in the city’s best interest to sign the agreement, with Fletcher pointing out that the commission had decided some time ago to sell utilities outside of Albany.

“I just think that we’ve been laying the groundwork for this for almost a year, and I see us going backwards,” said Fletcher. “We’re not the only company that can sell utilities. It’s just time that this commission quits worrying about what happened 10, 20 years ago and look at it as a business. This is revenue for us. Utilities is the No. 1 industry in this community if we get it right. This is what’s going to get it right.”

The discussion eventually circled back to Postell, who said he felt like the contract did nothing to ensure that the citizens of Albany would benefit from any type of relief from high utility costs, which prompted City Manager Sharon Subadan to say that while running utilities into Lee and other counties didn’t necessarily lower utility bills for city residents right away, it was the best thing to do for the future.

Subadan said the city’s budget relies on property taxes for 21 percent of its total revenue and transfers from utilities for an additional 25 percent. In Tampa, Subadan pointed out, ad valorem revenue accounts for 65 percent of that city’s total revenue.

“So three times what we charge our citizens here for property tax is what people in Florida pay for property tax,” Subadan said. “Here in the city of Albany, it’s 21 percent. Just let that resonate with you for a second. Twenty-five percent of our revenue is transferred from our utility. If we didn’t have transfers from our utility, we would have to double our property tax in order to (have) police, fire, parks and all the other services that are general government services that we deliver to our public. Let me say that again, 25 percent of our revenue comes from our utilities.”

Ultimately, the agreement passed unanimously.

In another matter taken up during a work session, the commission tentatively approved the Albany Utility Board’s recommendation to increase utility rates by roughly $3.49 a month, to help service debts in the solid waste, stormwater and water departments.

City Finance Director Derrick Brown explained that the rate increase, which is basically the average cost to most residential customers, doesn’t complete allow those departments to operate in the black, but the increase would put those departments on a path to operate debt-free.

“The reason we’re doing it this way is I wanted to get your support and concurrence on rates in order to bring a full budget to you on May 17,” Subadan said of the proposed increase. “I felt like it was presumptuous to presume that you would approve the rates and to build a budget that way, so I wanted to get your approval and support so that when I bring the budget to you it includes a certain amount of utility rate funding.”

In other matters, the commission voted to allow its Public Works department to move forward with an application to the Georgia Department of Transportation for Local Maintenance and Improvement Grant funds to pay for roadway striping and street sign upgrades.

The board also approved a temporary services contract with Labor Finders of Albany and authorized the clearing and maintenance of rights-of-way around power lines. Commissioners also accepted United Parcel Service’s request to renew its rental lease at the Southwest Georgia Regional Airport.