Firm urges shift in oversight of PWSA

A Washington, D.C.-based consultant examining the Pittsburgh Water and Sewer Authority released its final recommendations Monday for overhauling the city’s biggest water utility.

Infrastructure Management Group has suggested the entire PWSA system be transferred from the city and into an independent public trust, in part to prevent political influence. The 50-page IMG report expands on ideas introduced Nov. 8 by Steve Steckler, the company chairman.

PWSA’s problems “are large and long-standing, and its infrastructure needs threaten to overwhelm the pocketbooks of the city’s water and sewer ratepayers,” the IMG report reads. “Business as usual, even along the current improvement path, is simply insufficient against these enormous challenges.”

Specifically, IMG suggests shifting oversight to a public board of trustees. Trustees would name a second board to keep watch over water and sewer operations. Both boards would be separate from city government, but system ownership and rate-setting would remain “within public hands,” Mayor Bill Peduto’s office noted in a statement.

IMG said the overall approach would meld “politically independent governance and contractdriven public and private performance.”

“We believe this ‘best of the best’ approach will not only solve PWSA’s persistent organizational and performance problems, durably and efficiently, but also enhance Pittsburgh’s national reputation as a leader in public-service innovation,” the report reads.

The water system should explore partnering with a private entity to handle infrastructure improvements — an asset management lease arrangement that could help contain costs for customers, IMG has said. Under a budget passed this month, PWSA customers are expected to see a nearly 50 percent increase in rates over the next three years. Much of that revenue would go toward long-neglected system upkeep.

PWSA customers have faced

boil-water advisories, broken pipes, inaccurate bills and lead contamination in recent years as the authority struggles to steady itself. Its governing board is appointed by the mayor and confirmed by city council.

Thecomplete IMG report is available at pwsablueribbon.org. A panel appointed by Mr. Peduto is reviewing IMG’s work and should deliver its own recommendations to the mayor by year’s end. Both the city and PWSA hired IMG to assess the authority and craft options for restructuring. They’re paying the company up to $550,000 for its work.

PWSA had yet to review the full IMG report, said Robert Weimar, the authority’s interim executive director.

“However, the authority remains confident that the recently approved 2018 budget, rates, and strategic plan will give PWSA’s current leadership the foundation to aggressively address decades of neglect and disinvestment,” Mr. Weimar said in a statement Monday afternoon. “We will continue to provide the [mayor’s panel] with detailed information about our plan to ensure that all restructuring options will be considered in their recommendation.”