The Birmingham Water Works Board no longer exists. In its place, get used to referring to the state’s largest water utility as “Central Alabama Water,” following a vote by board members to rebrand the system.

Board members Tuesday evening approved changing both the legal and public name of the utility. Officially, the name will become “City of Birmingham Regional Water Works,” doing business as Central Alabama Water.

“The statute says we can change the name as long as the official name says Birmingham,” said Board Chairman Tommy Hudson, a Mountain Brook member who was appointed by Gov. Kay Ivey.

The vote to change the name occurred on a 5-2 split with all members from suburban areas agreeing and the two members from the city of Birmingham opposing it. Jarvis Patton and Jefferson County Commissioner Sheila Tyson were the lone members in opposition.

The amended name to include Central Alabama Water was made by Jeffrey Brumlow, an appointee from Shelby County.

The new name for the water works brought immediate reaction from some Birmingham city leaders.

“I’m curious what the cost is going to be, because you’ve got to rebrand every vehicle, every uniform, repaint every water tower, and for what?” Councilwoman Carol Clarke told AL.com shortly after the action. “Birmingham is a city and a region so it makes no sense.”

Clarke said the new board configuration was touted as a way to bring in reforms to benefit ratepayers, but haphazard name changes don’t reflect that purported mission.

“It just seems like reform is nowhere to be found,” Clarke said. “It makes you wonder what is all this really about because we need the system to work better for the ratepayers.”

Tuesday’s meeting was tense at times with a frequent 5-2 split illustrating the political and regional divide among board members.

The five-member majority are all appointed by Republican authorities and come from outside Birmingham’s city limits. Patton and Tyson were appointed by Birmingham’s mayor and city council in a largely Democratic city.

Hudson began the meeting by asserting his authority and declaring that the board would adhere to bylaws that limit member comments to twice on an issue, mandate that all questions be directed toward him and prohibit disparaging remarks.

Hudson’s dramatic clamp down on discussion came after a sometimes heated exchange during a work session last week where Patton and Tyson pushed back against the majority on several items, including the hiring of an additional law firm to handle the city’s lawsuit challenging the new board’s composition.

A state law approved by the legislature reshaped the water works board and stripped the majority control from the city of Birmingham. The new law regionalized the board and gave most of the power to suburban areas on a 5-2 split.

The newly-hired firm, Capell & Howard P.C. of Montgomery, was placed on the agenda Tuesday without Birmingham members Tyson or Patton having any input, according to both Birmingham members.

The city of Birmingham filed a federal lawsuit challenging the state law that wrested control of the utility from local officials.

Capell & Howard P.C. was approved Tuesday evening – on a 5-2 vote.

The firm became the latest in a growing series of lawyer hires for the new governing board. The old board had been often criticized for – among other things – spending ratepayer money hiring outside law firms.

“Is this how we’re going to run this the rest of the year?” Patton asked Hudson during the work session regarding the item last week. “I see you as a better man than that.”

“That’s no way to run a board,” Tyson added at the time.

But by Tuesday night, such conversation was not tolerated under Hudson’s new rules, and Patton was silenced at times when seeking to elaborate or ask questions.

The old water works board was also criticized, shortly before the legislature moved to get rid of them, for a policy limiting public comment.

The new board’s policy limits comments from its own board members.

“You’ve got to let us speak, now,” Tyson told Hudson when she pressed for more discussion before a vote to hire an auditor.

“No, I don’t,” Hudson shot back.

Patton then pressed to know how items appear on the agenda without board discussion.

“I’m sorry, but I’m asking for a vote now,” Hudson said before the 5-2 vote to approve the measure to hire Warren Averett CPAs.