The Prichard Water Works & Sewer Board is in danger of defaulting on a $55 million loan after only making a partial payment in November and not making any payments since December, according to a board member.

“We are in jeopardy of losing this … utility; of Synovus Bank coming in. And they have every right to, you know, do that, because they are the bondholder – $55 million is a lot of money,” board member John Johnson Jr. told WALA.

Johnson and fellow board member Cherry Doyle called a special meeting for Tuesday, accusing Board Chairman Russell Heidelburg and two of his allies of withholding that the utility “was getting ready to go into default,” the station reported.

But Heidelburg told WALA that the special meeting lacked a quorum to conduct business.

He did not address the allegations with the station.

Johnson said the $55 million loan was taken out in 2019 for several projects, including some that have not been completed, like the plan to dig a well so Prichard would not have to rely on buying water from Mobile.

He and Doyle hired an attorney who claimed the board chair isn’t being forthright about the utility’s financial woes.

“There’s no transparency,” said Harry Satterwhite. “So my clients don’t know what Synovus has said and what they’re demanding. But I know from my own research, they are asking for audits. … The incompetence of the leadership of this board is blatant,” said