The Limestone County Water and Sewer Authority has been around since the mid-1980s, but there is one thing the authority has never done — retire a large portion of debt.

Board members will soon be able to check that accomplishment off the list. Chief executive officer Daryl Williamson announced at Thursday’s board meeting a soon-to-be-received $11-million check from the city of Huntsville will go toward retiring a portion of the authority’s $86-million debt.

“We are very excited to be able to do that,” Williamson said. “That’s a good feeling.”

Authority board member Ty Smith said to his knowledge, this is the first time the authority has ever paid off any bonds. Williamson said previously, it would refinance the bonds, adding more debt.

“We would perpetuate that borrowing cycle,” he said, “but never actually pay anything off. It was just adding new money on top of refinancing.”

The $11 million from Huntsville Utilities is to purchase a portion of LCSWA’s system in Huntsville-annexed Limestone County. The specific area is spelled out in a long-standing franchise agreement between the two utilities dating back to 1987. It spans from south of the CSX line in southern Limestone County to Interstate 565.

“We don’t like giving up service territory, but it feels good to take that money and put it to good use for our ratepayers,” Williamson said.

Williamson also told the board some bonds the authority has out are callable this calendar year, meaning they are able to be paid off early without penalty.

“We really need to start looking at these bonds that are callable,” Williamson said. “Do we refinance them? Try to pay some of them off early? We need a strategy for that.”

The board gave Williamson and accounting supervisor Candace Powers authority to meet with Maynard Cooper & Gale law firm to determine the best course of action with the callable bonds.

In other business, the authority approved hiring Jackson Thornton Utilities Consultants of Birmingham to do a cost of service study, as long as the study costs less than $35,000.

A cost of service study looks at each category of customer, whether it be residential or commercial, to make sure each is paying its fair share.

“You don’t want to have one class being under-collected and another being over-collected,” Williamson said. “It’s a measuring tool to make sure everybody is paying their fair share for the water that is consumed. We also want to make sure the water isn’t subsidizing sewer or vice versa.”

The authority also elected officers for the new year, with officers staying the same. Jim Moffatt remains as chairman, with Johnny Hatchett as vice chairman and John Farrar as secretary-treasurer.