Lawyers are being asked to file briefs on the Utah Public Service Commission's jurisdiction regarding Sandy City's efforts to buy White City Water Co. prior to holding hearings on the proposed $6 million sale.
White City Water serves about 3,640 customers, about two-thirds of whom live outside Sandy City boundaries. White City is an isolated unincorporated area in the heart of Sandy. About 7,800 residents live in the area, which stretches from 9400 South to 10600 South between 700 East and 1300 East.A group of White City residents are opposing the sale and a hearing on the issue is expected sometime in February. In the meantime, attorneys will file briefs on the commission's jurisdiction issue by Dec. 31 with responses to issues raised in the briefs due at the PSC by Jan. 10.
Jeff Appel, attorney for the homeowners, said the group is concerned that Sandy's purchase of the water district will effectively leave those living outside the city without recourse concerning rates and service issues.
"They would not be (city) voters and would have no way to petition for relief," Appel said. "Sandy is infamous for charging inflated rates to those living outside city boundaries."
An attorney for Salt Lake County told the County Commission the county is closely monitoring the hearings because of similar concerns. The commission has not yet decided whether to intervene formally in the hearing.
A second protest has been filed by a group from the Granite Community Council, which is raising similar concerns as those being voiced by the White City group. That petition is being heard in a separate case, although Public Service Commissioners indicated they would consider consolidating the cases if such a request were filed.
Lori Noda, attorney for the Utah Division of Public Utilities, raised the issue of jurisdiction. She said while there is a past case that seems to bear on the issue, there are a number of other legal issues that should be addressed as well.
Attorneys for Sandy City said they would like the hearing process expedited because the sale contract currently has a Jan. 15 deadline for approval. They said that date probably could be extended, however. It is unlikely the hearing will occur before February because of requests by Appel for time to conduct discovery and take depositions from White City Water officials prior to the hearings. Also, the commission will be conducting rate hearings for Utah Power during January.
Commission Chairman Ted Stewart noted that commissioners would normally assign a sale of this nature for hearing by an administrative law judge. He said the significant legal issues raised by the citizen group will likely keep the issue before the three commissioners for hearings unless the requested legal briefs convince them the jurisdiction issue is less significant than it appears on the surface.
Stewart said one option may be for the commissioners to approve the sale but retain jurisdiction over rates charged to customers in the unincorporated areas. That will be one of the jurisdictional issues addressed in the legal briefs.