ONLY ON 3: CFPUA chair: What problems?

WILMINGTON, NC (WWAY) — Problem-plagued and a reputation in ruin. The CFPUA won’t win any popularity contests. Now, the utility monopoly is making claims that would leave most scratching their heads.

Tuesday night Wilmington City Council tabled the CFPUA’s request to hire a collection agency to gather delinquent funds. Council member Kevin O’Grady believes technical issues at the utility are so serious, that the request is “not ready to be considered.”

So what needs to be fixed? CFPUA chair Gene Renzaglia says your guess is as good as his.

“I have no idea what they meant by technical problems,” he said.

Wilmington Mayor Bill Saffo said City Council has many questions for the authority that must be answered before the request can move forward. Some of those questions are why should the city pay and how much?

“How much is required by them to make these collections, and why was the city being asked to help with collections when it’s very clear with Cape Fear Public Utility Authority that they are supposed to make those collections?”

Saffo said council continues to be concerned with issues concerning the authority’s billing problems. But Renzaglia says all these issues have been resolved.

“The billing issue that occurred when we first started lasted approximately five or six months,” Renzaglia said. “Those bills have been corrected, and bills have been correct for the past over two years now.”

Yet Tuesday, we told you about Stephanie Bell, who is just the most recent case of CFPUA’s problems. Bell said the authority is trying to charge her for a water meter the city disconnected seven years ago. She said the CFPUA even serving her with a disconnect notice for not paying.

“He said he was here to disconnect, but there was nothing to disconnect because the water was already turned off,” Bell said.

For now, the city is turned off to helping the authority fix another problem. Saffo said the council hopes to have its questions answered by its next meeting in January.