The Birmingham Water Works Board (BWWB) appointed former Second Vice Chairwoman Tereshia Huffman as chairman of the board in their meeting this week

Huffman has served on BWWB since she was appointed by Birmingham City Council in 2020 and will be the youngest person to ever hold the chair position, according to a press release from BWWB Spokesman Rick Jackson. Her term ends next year.

With Huffman’s appointment BWWB has an official chairman for the first time since September when former chairman Chris Rice resigned following months of public scrutiny related to billing issues and criticism on social media from Birmingham Mayor Randall Woodfin.

Since Rice’s departure First Vice Chairman William Burbage has led meetings as a temporary chair but passed the gavel on to Huffman after her appointment.

Huffman said she looks forward to forming better relationships with the public and BWWB customers during her term.

“As chairwoman I want us [BWWB] to improve our image with the public and work more with our customer base to improve those relationships,” Huffman said in an interview following the meeting. “And to start looking at other factors such as automatic meter reading but with a cautious approach to see how we can slow up these errors and these problems that we have with the water works board. But mostly I just want to work with my directors to improve the image of the water works board.”

Over the last year BWWB’s customer relations suffered under the weight of continuous billing problems: customers were plagued by bills either not arriving on time or receiving bills that were estimated incorrectly that resulted in overcharges.

Jackson announced in December that these billing issues had been resolved due to the utility obtaining a full staff.

Throughout 2022 several customers and leaders from other nearby water systems raised the question of automatic meter systems: If meter reader staffing leads to billing issues, why not eliminate the need for meter readers?

On several occasions, BWWB representatives have answered that cost is the issue preventing the switch.

Huffman said that even if BWWB eventually introduces automatic meters, it may not be the fix their customers expect.

“I’ve worked on an automatic meter project in DeKalb County, Georgia,” said Huffman. “When people hear automatic meter reading, they think it’s a fix all to problems. It’s not. There were problems that were a result of the automatic meter reading. So, you have to be cautious of who you select for that project as well as who you allow to work on that. My approach is I think we should do a sample size. Start small and go ahead and start the conversations first to see who needs to be at the table, [on] the selection committee in selecting that vendor. And making sure we take a cautious approach in how we select and how we roll it out as well.”

BWWB member Lucien Blankenship was also nominated for chairman by fellow member George Munchus but lost to Huffman in a 5-3 vote.

The following elections were also made during the meeting:

· Burbage was re-elected as the only nominee for first vice chair with a vote of 5-3. Burbage was appointed by the Shelby County Commission in 2017 and his term ends next year.

· BWWB member Ronald Mims was unanimously elected second vice chair as the only nominee. Mims was appointed by Birmingham City Council in 2015 and his term ends next year.

· Larry Ward was re-elected as the only nominee for secretary treasurer with a vote of 6-2. Ward was appointed by Birmingham City Council in 2021 and his term ends next year.

· Carl Nesmith was re-elected as the only nominee for assistant secretary treasurer with a vote of 6-2. Nesmith was appointed by the Blount County Commission in 2021 and his term ends next year.

Following the elections BWWB’s Assistant General Manager for Engineering and Maintenance Derrick Murphy reported that there was an uptick of leaks in the water system during the December cold snap.

Murphy said these leaks could be attributed to water in the soil that causes pipes to fluctuate as it freezes and thaws.

“Not only did we experience a significant number of leaks due to the late December cold weather, which reached sustained lows that we haven’t seen since 1989, but new leaks continue to appear in places that are less visible and detectable,” said Birmingham Water Works General Manager Michael Johnson in a press release this week. “As a result, our crews continue to aggressively move to repair all leaks, and our customer call volume remains high as well. We know that many individual customers also experienced leaks at their homes and on their personal property, and it’s really been frustrating for them.”

Murphy said that while neighborhoods in South Birmingham such as Hoover normally report fewer leaks due to newer pipework, the majority of the reported leaks in the last month came from those areas.

The Lede previously reported on one such leak on Daphne Lane in Hoover that residents said had been going since August, but Jackson said BWWB did not hear about until Dec. 30.

Daphne Lane resident Amy Benschoter said BWWB repaired the leak on Wednesday.

Murphy said BWWB will be getting caught up with all reported leaks over the next month or so and added that no leaks had been reported in areas where the utility had recently replaced pipeline.

In one of today’s press releases, Jackson noted that the general manager said the BWWB’s “ongoing strategic plan includes performing more than $72.3 million in 2023 for infrastructure improvements. The 2023 budget includes $25 million for the BWW’s pipeline replacement program and $18.2 million for maintenance and repair projects. The pipeline replacement program’s goal is to reduce maintenance and lost water by replacing unlined cast iron and galvanized steel pipe.”

Johnson, in the release, said that “Galvanized steel pipe and unlined cast iron pipe accounts for 67 percent of all system leaks and other maintenance activity. We are focused on repairing every leak caused by the cold weather, which is still going to take some time. Our Birmingham Water Works employees are one team dedicated to the continuous improvement to the delivery of the nation’s highest quality drinking water at the lowest possible rates for our residential and business customers.”

Huffman said she is ready to tackle whatever challenges that this year may bring.

“I look forward to rolling up our sleeves and getting to work,” she said.