By Heather Smathers | Florence Reminder
Much-needed improvements to the infrastructure of a Pinal County utility may be on their way in the next few years, despite there being some confusion as to who will ultimately foot the bill for those repairs.
On Thursday, the Arizona Corporation Commission approved a capital improvement plan for the water and wastewater facilities owned by Johnson Utilities and operated by interim manager EPCOR Water. Officials said repairs, spread over most all of the JU facilities, will be in excess of $100 million.
But exactly who ultimately is responsible for footing the bill was left undecided. EPCOR Vice President of Operations Troy Day said the company currently has $18.5 million in the bank for the improvements, far less than what will be needed. The order of priorities for spending the money will vary and hasn’t been fully determined.
