The Limestone County Water & Sewer Authority board on Thursday voted to terminate its ancillary services contract with longtime engineering firm Hethcoat and Davis.

Board member Ty Smith made the motion to terminate on May 30. Hethcoat and Davis, based in Brentwood, Tennessee, will continue to be paid for work it is already contracted to perform.

The only person who voted against the motion was board member John Farrar.

Last month, board members said they were seemingly blindsided upon learning about a 30-year franchise agreement with the city of Huntsville. In previous interviews with The News Courier, many openly questioned who knew about the agreement and blamed the utility’s professional services — including Hethcoat and Davis — for keeping board members in the dark.

The 30-year agreement, which expired May 18, allows Huntsville to exercise an option to purchase — at a depreciated price — a portion of water infrastructure installed by LCWSA in Huntsville-annexed Limestone County. The specific portion spans from south of the CSX line in southern Limestone to Interstate 565.

In voting for the motion to terminate, Board Chairman Jim Moffatt said the agreement had been a “very big issue” with the board. Chief Executive Officer Daryl Williamson was asked if he had an opinion on the decision to terminate the contract, but he said he would abide by the board’s wishes.

“I just lost trust in our engineering services, and I felt like it was time for a change,” Smith said after the meeting. “We don’t want someone who has a vested interest in our future plan our future.”

Valuation ahead

Elsewhere in the meeting, the board voted to hire Montgomery-based accounting firm Jackson Thornton to conduct a valuation on the portion of the system that Huntsville could elect to take. Williamson told the board the firm’s specialties are cost-of-service studies, rate design and valuations.

He estimated the cost of the valuation to be $15,000 to $17,000 and it would take 60 days to complete.

Williamson told the board he thought the valuation was necessary before it begins talks with Huntsville regarding the future of the system in Huntsville-annexed Limestone.