Thanks to the impending federal stimulus package, Jennings Northwest Regional Utilities may soon be getting badly needed financial assistance and a refurbished wastewater treatment plant.
If ever a public utility needed help, it is JNRU, which figuratively has been kicked repeatedly over the years while down. Of course, many of the problems were inherited by the utility when it was created from the old Country Squire Lakes water and sanitary sewer system, then effective but already in need of repairs. Those headaches mushroomed to gigantic proportions when JNRU's original board of directors followed bad advice and, instead of adding a few pieces at a time, shot for the moon - and missed. Shoddy engineering and the enormous legal costs of recklessly trying to push through a massive sewer expansion project ballooned the utility's debt to where it stands today - over $9 million.
The state has earmarked a $787,000 temporary loan for JNRU to relieve part of its debt burden incurred from a seven-year-old $5.3 million note. The original loan paid off bond anticipation notes that funded the ill-fated expansion and construction of a $1.8 million wastewater treatment plant. That plant never did work properly and needs - no kidding - an estimated $3.4 million in refurbishing.
Because it has made its precarious position - both in regards to its financial condition and its often ineffective sewer treatment known for years to the state, JNRU is in position to not only receive refinancing but also money to pay for needed plant and system improvements without raising customer rates. The state, after all, approved the expansion boondoggle.
After years of floundering in debt and virtually on the brink of bankruptcy as its customer base dwindled, JNRU today has some reason to be encouraged. Over a year ago, its board of directors threatened to resign en masse unless the state gave the utility some sort of financial assistance. State Rep. Dave Cheatham (D-North Vernon) brought the Indiana Finance Authority up to speed on the situation and the state agency responded - fueled by the prospect of stimulus dollars. The future is looking brighter than it has in a long time for the long beleaguered utility.
