SANTA-ROSA

Santa Rosa commissioners pursue Sunshine complaint against Holley-Navarre Water System

Annie Blanks
Pensacola News Journal

Santa Rosa County commissioners have accused Holley-Navarre Water System of not being transparent with its operations as they relate to the massive Eglin Rapid Infiltration Basin System water project and are asking the state attorney general to weigh in on whether the utility is subject to the Sunshine Law. 

HNWS representatives, however, say they're being as transparent as they can be as a private entity, and don't want to start any fights with the commissioners as they all work in sync to get the Eglin RIBS project done. 

At Thursday morning's County Commission meeting, District 2 Commissioner Bob Cole said he had asked HNWS officials directly for "a substantial amount of info on their operations, their funding, things I think should be pertinent to us" as they move forward on the Eglin RIBS project with HNWS as a key partner.

But Cole said he was told by the HNWS attorney that the utility is not obligated to give the board any information. 

"They've turned me down. They said, we're not in the Sunshine, we're not in open records, we're not giving you this information. We might, if you tell us why you want it," Cole said.

More about the RIBS project:Santa Rosa County, Gulf Breeze and HNWS reach 'historic' deal on regional wastewater solution

In a phone interview with the News Journal on Friday, HNWS CEO Dallas Peavey Jr. defended the organization's position as a private entity and said they have provided the Board of County Commissioners with everything they need.

"We provide on an annual basis — and we always have — an audited financials and operations plan from the previous year," Peavey said. "We typically do that in the first quarter, although sometimes we don't get it until April or even into May. But they (the BOCC) have been provided that info and have gotten it every year."

The BOCC's temporary attorney, Greg Stewart, recommended Thursday that the board take the Sunshine Law issue to state Attorney General Ashley Moody for a formal opinion. 

Former State Attorney Bill Eddins ruled in 2018 that HNWS and other water utilities are not subject to the Sunshine Law. The Sunshine Law is a Florida law that requires several things of government and taxpayer-funded entities as they relate to transparency with the public, including requiring open meetings and offering access to public records. 

"We looked at the issue independently, because they’re a private entity. It is correct that most private entities are not subject to public records law or the Sunshine Law," Stewart said Thursday. "However, for a utility provider who is working in concert with government entities, we believe that they are, in fact, under the Sunshine Law in public records."

Peavey said HNWS "would applaud" taking the Sunshine issue to the attorney general, and referred to the state attorney's 2018 legal opinion that the utility is a private company and not subject to Sunshine regulations.

He also defended the utility’s decision to sometimes hold closed-door meetings, another issue mentioned by commissioners Thursday morning.

"We only have closed-door meetings because two of the three companies that we own are subsidiaries, private, for-profit corporations, and the only thing that we have closed-door meetings about are personnel matters and legal matters of the corporation or companies," Peavey said. "Regarding the Eglin project, there are no closed-door meetings, or anything that they (the BOCC) don’t already have."

How the Eglin RIBS project could be affected

The county is working with HNWS, as well as the Fairpoint Regional Utility System and other water utility providers throughout the county, on its multi-million dollar Eglin RIBS project. The project has two main goals: to allow the county to stop dumping its treated effluent from the Navarre Beach Wastewater Treatment Plant into Santa Rosa Sound, and to provide for ample space for other utilities to spray their effluent so they don't reach capacity and become unable to set up new water taps for customers.

The RIBS project involves laying miles of pipeline from Santa Rosa County all the way north to Eglin Air Force Base land for treatment, and establishing an interconnect between HNWS and Gulf Breeze to boost reclaimed water use in the southern end of the county. 

The project is seen as a critical regional solution to solve what could turn into a water crisis by the end of 2022 or 2023, when water utilities from Milton to Navarre say they're almost certainly going to run out of space to spray their treated effluent. 

But the rift between the county and HNWS could put the Eglin RIBS project in danger. District 1 Commissioner Sam Parker was so angered by HNWS' response to Cole’s request for records, that he threatened to no longer work with HNWS on any projects moving forward. District 3 Commissioner James Calkins, who has previously served on the HNWS board, backed up Parker.

"The audacity to come to this board and question what we're doing and not work with a commissioner, it’s honestly mind-blowing, especially in the year 2021. … In just the five years that I’ve been on the board, HNWS has been surrounded by controversy, including the time Mr. Calkins was on the board," Parker said.

Parker added he would be a "dissenting vote" on any future agreements between the county and HNWS if the water utility refuses to cooperate with the county and provide information they need to move the Eglin RIBS project forward.

"If this man (Cole) or any member of this board has asked the water system for information, and has been told, 'We don't have to give it to you,' I’d like the board to know that I’m opposed to partnering on them with anything," Parker said. 

In addition to sending a Sunshine Law request to the state's attorney general, the board will send a letter to Peavey, the utility's CEO, to come to a County Commission meeting within the next month and explain the lack of cooperation and hopefully come to a resolution with the board. 

Peavey said HNWS has provided everything they’re legally required to provide to the commission and said he doesn't want this instance of misunderstanding to threaten future partnerships between the two entities.

“Obviously, we plan to respond to make sure that we’re clear from both sides. We’re not trying to fight anybody, we’re trying to abide as a private company by the (state attorney’s 2018) decision,” Peavey said. “We’re just trying to do the right thing by everybody.”

The next Board of County Commissioners meeting is at 8:30 a.m. Tuesday, Aug. 27, at the commission chambers at 6495 Caroline St. in Milton. 

Annie Blanks can be reached at ablanks@pnj.com or 850-435-8632. 

Want more local news? If you're already a subscriber, thank you! If not, please subscribe and help keep coverage of the most important local news coming.