This quarter let’s get to know one of our Washington County representatives, Chris Weiser, who has been serving on the board since 2006.
Why did you initially want to serve on the BWD board?
The short answer is Walter Turnbow told me I was going to be on the board. The longer answer is when Walter resigned from the Springdale Water Utilities board, he knew me through bank business and that I had an engineering background. We had previously discussed my interests in serving the community, and so he got me appointed to the Springdale Water Utilities Commission. Walter would check with me from time to time on how things were going. I guess he was happy with me because he came to me one day and he said “I’m going to retire from the Beaver Water Board, and we are going to appoint you to take my unserved term; then you run for reelection, but don’t worry, I am sure no one will run against you.” Well, I was the first one to actually have competition for election, so Walter volunteered to be my campaign manager.
What has been most fulfilling to you personally about being on the board?
Working with the staff that has done such a great job at looking into the future, planning for the future, and the execution of that plan. Walter, Curtis Shipley, and also John Lewis; they set the platform for funding growth through depreciation funding so Beaver would build up their reserves and have them in in place when things were needed. Having a policy of 60% bonding and 40% reserves in place when needed really makes a difference. If you had to bond 100% that makes it difficult for the bonding people to fund 100%, and it makes it tough on the ratepayers if you are paying interest on 100%. It was well planned on their part on how to fund growth and that it was in place when growth started happening. Without it, the rates would have been significantly higher and there probably would have been moratoriums in place because we didn’t have the resources to provide enough water. They were smart businessmen running a public utility the way it should be run, as a business, and having all the things in place so when the need arose, it was already there.
“They were smart businessmen running a public utility the way it should be run, as a business, and having all the things in place so when the need arose, it was already there.” —Chris Weiser
Is there something that has really surprised you about the water treatment process that you didn’t know you would have to deal with as a board member?
Not really. I had spent 13 years in New Orleans working offshore and we had to deal with the water for the platform. By the end of my career there, I was in charge of the platform, so I had to know what was happening and how to make sure that things were done right and safe. It was really tight conditions on an offshore platform; we had to use desalination to get our fresh water, and wastewater treatment was tough. Having some background experience and understanding the terminology has been very useful.