Private Chef in Sullivans Island, SC

SULLIVAN’S ISLAND, S.C. (WCBD) – The future of water service on Sullivan’s Island remains uncertain amid a contractual dispute between the town and Charleston Water System.

“The island has the ability to generate taxes and they need to figure it out because what they did in 2017 was, they just quit paying,” said Sullivan’s Island resident, Dave Spurgin.

A 30-year water supply contract between CWS and the Town of Sullivan’s Island went into effect on July 19, 1994.

Based on letters provided by CWS, there has been a disagreement over the rates since 2017. The water system claims the town owes them $1,078,000 as of last month.

“Years ago, Charleston Water System decided to raise our rates as if our signed contract did not exist. The town disputed that rate increase and has continued to pay the undisputed amount owed in accordance with our longstanding signed agreement,” said Sullivan’s Island Town Councilman Justin Novak on Monday night during a special council meeting.

The statement was part of a longer motion read aloud before council voted to pay $227,361 to satisfy the disputed portion of the amount owed. Island leaders said the amount was calculated by a nationally recognized rate consultant.

CWS CEO Mark Cline released the following statement to News 2 on Tuesday.

“Charleston Water System does not agree with the Town of Sullivan’s Island’s viewpoint or its recollection of the historical facts. We fully intend to discontinue the Town’s water service July 20 unless their past due amount is fully paid and they have entered into a new contract that appropriately covers the costs of providing water service to their community. It’s not fair that our other customers have been subsidizing the Town’s service for years now, and that would continue under their terms.”

Spurgin, who has lived on Sullivan’s Island for nearly 30 years, said he is not concerned about the potential water shut-off.

“No, because we’re going to need our water. They’re not going to shut the water off. The town’s going to have to figure out, the town council is going to have to figure out how to come up with the money,” Spurgin told News 2.

The town has not responded for comment on Tuesday.

SULLIVAN’S ISLAND — Town leaders approved a roughly $227,000 payment to cover its debt to Charleston Water System. The utility says it’s not enough.

The amount Sullivan’s Island Town Council approved is less than a quarter of the $1,007,300 the utility said the town owes.

The town of Sullivan’s Island and Charleston Water System have been locked in a dispute over how the utility calculates bills for its water since 2017. The utility has threatened to cut the town’s water supply if an agreement cannot be reached.

Sullivan’s Island and CWS agreed to a wholesale contract in 1994. The town paid roughly $2 million in initial charges for use of up to 750,000 gallons of water per day, according to the contract.

Councilman Justin Novak, in his April 1 motion to approve the payment, said the utility increased the town’s rates that year, which the town disputed. It has “continued to pay the undisputed amount owed in accordance with our long-standing, signed agreement,” he said.

The town and CWS entered into mediation in February to settle the dispute. Novak in his April 1 motion stated that the town would not accept the proposals the utility offered to resolve the contractual dispute. Instead, the town consulted with Raftelis, a utility rate consultant, to calculate the amount owed to Charleston Water System, which came out to be $227,361.

Charleston Water System disagrees.

CWS CEO Mark Cline told The Post and Courier in March that the town owed over $1 million in back charges. That resulted from unpaid capital charges, or charges that pay for system maintenance or infrastructure upgrades, and partially paid volumetric charges for the water. The town has paid 0.88 cents per thousand gallons since 2017, Cline said.

Town officials have said Sullivan’s Island does not owe capital charges to Charleston Water System because of the $2 million payment in 1994 for 750,000 gallons of water per day, according to the contract.

SUMMERVILLE — An annual event that’s been a perennial success from root to petal, Flowertown Festival 2024 blossoms this weekend in its 51st celebration of the Flower Town in the Pines and the season the town was named for.

What began with 1,500 visitors in 1973 has flourished into one of the largest arts and crafts festivals in the Southeast and the Summerville Family YMCA’s premier fundraiser and marketing event. The three-day fete typically draws close to 250,000 people to the six-block area near Hutchinson Square and Azalea Park — land that was originally purchased and donated to the town in the 1920s by a civic group that became the Flowertown Garden Club.

The event is currently at capacity for vendors with its sprawling selection of 350 different merchants, artisans, civic groups and food and beverage temptations. Running April 5-7 with free admission, the festival is open 9 a.m.-6 p.m. Friday and Saturday and 9 a.m.-4 p.m. Sunday.

This year’s Sunday finale will feature an Atlanta Braves experience. The baseball team will have a home plate set up and, with bats and helmets used in actual games, visitors can have their photo taken and made into a baseball card.

Other offerings include the Children’s Jubilee rides, farmer’s market, a petting zoo, musical performances, athletic tournaments, a dunk tank, a cosmetology group doing “fairie hair” and of course, the food — hot dogs, pineapple drinks, lemonade and sweet tea stands, waffle cones, homemade fudge and more.

During one year’s festival, wrote Barbara Lynch Hill in her 1998 book, “Summerville: A Sesquicentennial Edition of the History of The Flower Town in the Pines,” the local Kiwanis Club sold 4,500 hamburgers and 2,500 Italian sausages.

“We draw people from all over the Southeast, and we’ve had people come from Alaska,” said YMCA Chief Executive Officer Joe Debney, who will be one of the dunk tank’s first volunteers the morning of April 5. “A lot of the $4 million in accommodations revenue drawn into the area is pulled in by the Flowertown Festival.”

SULLIVAN’S ISLAND, S.C. (WCSC) - The mayor of Sullivan’s Island fired the latest salvo Wednesday afternoon in a battle over how much the town owes the Charleston Water System for service as it faces a July deadline.

Mayor Patrick O’Neal released the following statement Wednesday in response to the water utility’s blasting of a proposal that would have the town pay a fraction of what Charleston Water System says is the balance due:

Charleston Water System wants the town to ignore the terms of the signed agreement we entered into almost 30 years ago, after Hurricane Hugo devastated our independent deep water well system. We entered into that agreement at a significant cost to ensure that our residents would have certainty as to the source of our water for decades to come. It’s hard now to accept the baseless claim that CWS (or anyone else) is “subsidizing” Sullivan’s Island when we paid almost $2 million — in 1994 dollars — to support the infrastructure that allowed them to sell water to us and to our neighbors on the Isle of Palms, and when in 2020 we gifted them an easement through our public park and playground so there would be additional capacity to sell water to our neighbors in Mount Pleasant.

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The Charleston Water System on Tuesday responded to a motion passed during Monday night’s town council meeting that proposed the paying of $227,361 to “satisfy in full” the disputed debt. Charleston Water System CEO Mark Cline said the utility “does not agree” with the town’s viewpoint “or its recollection of historical facts.”

“We fully intend to discontinue the town’s water service July 20 unless their past due amount is fully paid and they have entered into a new contract that appropriately covers the costs of providing water service to their community,” Cline said. “It’s not fair that our other customers have been subsidizing the Town’s service for years now, and that would continue under their terms.”

The utility claims the town owes a total of more than $639,000. That figure includes $197,468 in billed but unpaid volumetric charges and $442,478 in bill but unpaid capital charges.

Copyright 2024 WCSC. All rights reserved.

SULLIVAN’S ISLAND, S.C. (WCBD) – The Town of Sullivan’s Island has agreed to pay just over $227,000 to Charleston Water System amid a contract dispute.

Sullivan’s Island Town Council spent almost an hour in an executive session on Monday night while they received legal advice on contractual negotiations with Charleston Water System.

“That signed contract constitutes a valuable asset of the town and provides certainty regarding the rates that our residents pay for water. Years ago, Charleston Water System decided to raise our rates as if our signed contract did not exist,” said Town Councilman and Mayor Pro Tem Justin Novak, as he read aloud a lengthy motion upon council’s return to open session.

As News 2 reported last month, Charleston Water System claimed in an October 2023 letter to the town that Sullivan’s Island has been paying less than the correct rate since 2017. A spokesperson for CWS said the town owed $1,078,000 as of the beginning of March.

The letter also said the 30-year contract between CWS, and the town will expire on July 19, 2024 and if there is not a new contract by then, water service will be disconnected for the town’s 2,000 on July 20^th.

“The town disputed that rate increase and continued to pay the undisputed amount owed in accordance with our longstanding signed agreement and placed the disputed amount in escrow pending the resolution of that dispute,” Councilman Novak read.

Sullivans-Island-Town-Council-Motion-4.1.24Download

He continued with the motion and said CWS is ignoring the other terms and stated the town would not accept any of the water system’s proposals in the contractual dispute.

“The town must stand firm that signed contracts are signed contracts,” the councilman said as part of the motion.

The town used who leaders said is a nationally recognized rate consultant to calculate what they owe.

“Accordingly, I move that town council authorize the payment of $227,361 to satisfy in full the disputed portion of arrearage now calculated to be owed under the terms of our written agreement with Charleston Water System,” Councilman Novak finished.

The motion passed unanimously. News 2 reached out to Charleston Water System after the meeting. A spokesperson said they are evaluating the action taken.

SULLIVAN’S ISLAND, S.C. (WCSC) - The Charleston Water System has rejected a motion from Sullivan’s Island Town Council to pay a fraction of what the utility claims is owed for water service as a deadline looms that could turn off the taps for island residents.

During a special meeting Monday night, town council passed a motion proposing the payment of $227,361 it said would “satisfy in full” a disputed debt.

However, Charleston Water System CEO Mark Cline issued the following statement Tuesday in response to council’s motion:

Charleston Water System does not agree with the Town of Sullivan’s Island’s viewpoint or its recollection of the historical facts. We fully intend to discontinue the town’s water service July 20 unless their past due amount is fully paid and they have entered into a new contract that appropriately covers the costs of providing water service to their community. It’s not fair that our other customers have been subsidizing the Town’s service for years now, and that would continue under their terms.

Charleston Water System has argued that as of Sept. 28, 2021, Sullivan’s Island owes them $197,468 in billed, but unpaid, volumetric charges and $442,478 in billed but unpaid capital charges — a total of just under $640,000.

Charleston Water claims says the town changed how much they paid per 1,000 gallons in 2017, even after paying the same amount since the contract began in 1994, going from paying $1.22 per 1,000 gallons to 88 cents per 1,000 gallons.

Monday’s motion states that despite having a written contract with the Charleston Water System to provide water, the water utility attempted to raise rates.

“Years ago, Charleston Water System decided to raise our rates as if our signed contract did not exist,” the motion states. “The town disputed that rate increase and has continued to pay the undisputed amount owed in accordance with our long-standing, signed agreement and placed the disputed amounts in escrow pending a resolution of the dispute.”

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The motion claims Charleston Water wants the town to “ignore other terms of our signed agreement.”

“Based on the recent receipt in Febraury from Charleston Water System of the information required by the town’s nationally recognized rate consultant to calculate the amount of arrearage actually owed, the town now has the information required to satisfy the arrearage,” the motion states.

Charleston Water wrote in a January 2019 letter that “after more than 20 years, the town of Sullivan’s Island does not believe the contract requires them to pay any portion of Charleston Water’s capital expenses, a belief which has no support whatsoever of our board of commissioners or legal counsel.”

After getting a rate consultant, Charleston Water offered Sullivan’s to pay 89 cents per 1000 gallons. According to numerous letters, the island refused.

An opinion from the state Attorney General in 2019, states Sullivan’s Island does not have the authority to interpret contracts, but believes both of these parties must finish their initial term of 30 years and then they are able to terminate it if everyone is notified.

Sullivan’s Island says they disagree with this opinion and there are four unresolved topics between the two: capital charges, fire hydrants, the municipal wholesale rate as an excess demand charge and the rate formula.

Charleston Water says Sullivan’s Island has two choices: to pay all outstanding balances and they can continue to purchase water at the then-published municipal whole rate or find an alternate water source starting July 20 of this year.

Copyright 2024 WCSC. All rights reserved.