City of Pineville Kentucky Moves To Repeal/Dissolve Utility Commission

From WRIL The Big One -

Citing cost-cutting measures that would strengthen and streamline the water company for Pineville and the Bell County area, Pineville City Council held a special-called meeting on Tuesday evening June 2nd. During the meeting, the council held the first reading of an ordinance "pertaining to the control and operation of the Pineville Water Works."

The ordinance reads"the City of Pineville, Kentucky wishes to repeal the Municipal Utility Commission. The control and operation shall be carried on by the City of Pineville and established as the City of Pineville Utility Department." This repeal, dependent on a second reading, approval by the council, and required (10) day publication in the newspaper, would be effective at 11:59 pm Tuesday, June 30, 2026. The city's control would take effect Wednesday, July 1, 2026.

According to their website, the Pineville Water System serves approximately 5,500 customer connections in Pineville and Bell County and sells water to the Green Hills service area of the Black Mountain Water District, the Knox County Utility Commission and the Pathfork service area of the Cawood Water District. Records show that the commission was established on May 7, 1973. It was originally composed of seven members who were to be named and appointed by the mayor of the city and was subject to the ratification and approval of the city council.

Mayor Shawn Fugate II tells us that their are no major changes to service expected. Space is being made at city hall to have the water company essentially move into the front section of the building which would also utilize the drive through window for payments.

The mayor also released a statement today (Wednesday, June 3, 2026) regarding this announcment:

"I understand there are concerns about the City of Pineville taking back management of Pineville Utilities. To be clear, the City of Pineville has always owned the utility company; it has simply been managed by the Utility Commission.

To help everyone understand why we are making this change, Pineville Utilities approached the City requesting that we extend a bond that would allow them to access approximately $500,000 in capital. We did not extend the bond but during those discussions, we agreed that if the capital was needed by the end of the year, the City would sign off on a loan to help them meet their financial obligations.

As those conversations continued, we offered suggestions on ways to improve the utility's financial health. Unfortunately, those suggestions were met with resistance. The response from Pineville Utilities was that the solution was to raise water rates and seek additional grant funding.

I took that information back to our City Council, and we all agreed that raising rates was not the right answer. We had several options before us:

1) We could sit back and see what happened,

2) We could sell the utility to a private company, which would only benefit the City financially

3) We could take a more active role, bring management back under the City's control, pool our resources, and work to put the utility on stronger financial footing without increasing rates or placing a greater burden on our customers.

I can promise you that the last option is by far the most difficult. However, every City employee and every member of the City Council agreed that it was the right thing to do because it serves the best interests of our community. We chose the harder road because we believe it is the road that best protects our customers and the future of Pineville Utilities and its employees."

The second reading of the ordinance is scheduled to take place at the regular city council meeting Monday, June 8th at 6:00 pm in the Bell Theater.