FRANKLIN—With a grant in hand, a consultant team chosen and a goal in mind, officials and stakeholders from Franklin and Southampton County have launched the project to study the feasibility of again sharing services, specifically water and sewer treatment. The kick-off took place on Thursday evening in the Technology Theater of the Regional Workforce Development Center at Paul D. Camp Community College.

“We’re going to do great things together,” said Dallas Jones said at the start. The Southampton County Board of Supervisors chairman was joined by Franklin Mayor Raystine Johnson-Ashburn, who echoed those sentiments before City Manager Randy Martin and County Administrator Mike Johnson introduced the purpose.

“We agreed to get a grant and appoint a committee,” Martin said. “No final decisions or preconceived decisions have been made. I’m as interested as anybody in what will happen.”

Johnson outlined the history of events that led to the meeting, concluding with its purpose:

“To assist the County and City in determining whether, and to what degree, shared utility services will improve efficiency, reduce costs, and/or enhance economic competitiveness by comparing three scenarios.”

These are: Status quo, with each locality continuing to operate independently; shared or contracted services, with either creating a shared services department or the localities contracting with one another for water and sewer services; or replace the existing setup with a new regional model, which would be responsible for the county’s and city’s water distribution, wastewater collection and treatment facilities.

Joseph Hines, a principal member of the Timmons Group, said that his company is “well versed and experienced” in such situations, and has worked on similar projects elsewhere in Virginia, Maryland and the Carolinas.

In speaking about different aspects of the study, Hines pointed out that the engineering evaluation would be the easiest part. A financial appraisal will be harder, and the governance/organizational aspects would be the most difficult owing to politics.

Ultimately, though, “If you can’t execute a plan, it’s useless,” he said.

The “key drivers,” as Hines called them, are economic development, regional cooperation, shared efficiencies and costs/financials.

He urged all present to keep an open mind, and also stressed that there’s no predetermined solution and that “no stone would go unturned” for the study.

L. Preston Bryant Jr., senior vice president for infrastructure and economic development at McGuireWoods Consulting, spoke more on the aforementioned scenarios. For example, should a new entity be created, the questions arise about the size of the governing body, how would members be appointed and for how long, as well as their responsibilities, such as establishing selling rates, collecting fees, hiring staff and issuing bonds.

However, Bryant said that the economics of any plan should first be figured out before working on governance issues.

Courtney Rogers of Davenport and Company said that his firm has already started financial studies, and will be looking at each local government’s utility enterprise and general funds, as well as current and future credit ratings.

Dale Mullen, an attorney with McGuireWoods, spoke about reviewing city and county charters and the outreach to external stakeholders.

The second project meeting is scheduled for either Sept. 15 or 22; a joint meeting will be on either Sept. 29 or Oct. 6. The third team meeting is to be Nov. 17 or 24. The draft will be submitted on either Dec. 15 or 22, with a final draft on Jan. 19. The presentation of the study’s findings will be made on either Jan. 26 or Feb. 2. All dates fall on a Monday.

“We’ve got to have the public involved,” said the city manager. “We’re going to continue working together no matter how this turns out.”