01/28/2026
Comments delivered by Nina McCoy to the Martin County Utilities Board last night:
"A message to our community, including our water workers, about why I wrote to PSC to oppose the lifting of the order for oversight. I have a copy of the Lexington Herald Leader, story written by our own Lee Mueller, from July 13, 2004 where the headline (above the fold) reads “Firm Bails on Inez Water System Overhaul.” It explains how in 2002 American Water had come into Martin County “after years of neglect.”
"“It comes on the heels of a crackdown by both the Public Service Commission and state Division of Water on the facility’s operations and staffing problems,” Mueller wrote. The district had failed on many counts in a 2002 inspection, and someone (not sure who) had decided to ask for outside help. Consider that this was written 21 years and 2 public service commissions investigations ago.
"At that time, I was not a big fan of the idea that a German based company was running our water. But I was very disappointed when I saw that they were leaving. And things did not get better. In 2006 a second PSC investigation showed the exact same deficiencies and more. In 2016 the third PSC investigation found the same thing.
"You may say that things are different now. Because we have new board members. Yes, indeed, we may have the dream team of board members- Tim Thoma is a water and sewer expert, Colby Kirk has a degree in finance, and all of us care deeply for our community. But, I believe that was true of most of the past board members too.
"But we were not the people out in the freezing cold this week, keeping the water on. We do not answer the phone calls at all times of the day and night when folks are worried about their bills or their water supply. That takes a team and I think we have a good team.
"What we must remember is that who is on this board is a political choice and politicians change constantly. Since this last PSC investigation we have had 5 county judges, two resigned and one died. So, politics will not bring stability and very often breeds distrust and outright contempt.
"If you want to know more about why I think having a management company here is important you can go to the PSC website and look up my letter in the public comments. You also may want to read the letter from other citizens who have recently written to express their concerns about the possibility of going backwards.
"This community has been through years of trauma over our water system, and you can hear it in the way that people talk about it. Even now, while we are under the microscope of the PSC, EEC, and DOW, people still claim that we are stealing the money. I don’t believe that anyone on this board would do that, but we must remember how important oversight is especially after so many years of mistrust. Trust but verify is a good motto."
