A planned sale of part of the Limestone County Water & Sewer Authority’s system to Huntsville took a small step forward as the utility’s board members recently approved a procedural move regarding a bond trustee.

Daryl Williamson, CEO of the utility, said board members approved a document to send to the bond trustee stating the LCWSA’s intentions to negotiate the sale with Huntsville. The approval was voted on at the board’s Dec. 20 meeting.

“It’s part of the covenant that says we must do this before we relinquish or sell any portion of our system,” he said of the board’s action. “It’s like asking your bank to release a lien if you’re trying to sell your house.”

The board voted in February 2018 to sell part of its system to Huntsville Utilities for $5.5 million. The specific area is spelled out in a long-standing franchise agreement between the two utilities dating back to 1987.

As per the agreement, Huntsville granted permission to LCWSA to install infrastructure in Huntsville-annexed portions of the county and serve customers. The utility ultimately spent millions of dollars to install water infrastructure in Huntsville-annexed portions of the county in anticipation of an industrial and residential boom.

When the agreement ended in May 2017, Huntsville was within its legal right 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 area in question runs to the Tennessee River to the south, Interstate 65 to the west and ends in the northeast at the CSX line that cuts across Old Highway 20. The motion approved by the board also includes several “stranded areas” south of the railroad tracks in Greenbrier.

Williamson said the recent move by the LCWSA board did not finalize a deal with Huntsville. He added there is no timeline for that to happen, but believes it could take place in the first quarter of 2019.