Boiled over: Hillcrest residents furious over alerts after huge fee increases

The boil-order signs went back up Monday at the entrances to Hillcrest Manor subdivision, prompting some residents to wonder whether the system upgrades that are driving their water rates up were worth it.

The system, which serves about 250 customers between Cape Girardeau and Gordonville, fell into disrepair gradually over the past two decades under the previous owners, Brandco Investments LLC. Since 1989, problems such as boil orders have become more and more frequent, but rates hadn’t increased.

When Hillcrest Utility Operating Co. — owned by Central States Water Resources in St. Ann, Missouri — purchased the water system in March 2015, it put $1.2 million into system upgrades. To offset those costs, it raised water rates.

With a projected average household water bill north of $150, residents of Hillcrest Manor face rates among the highest in Missouri, yet the boil orders haven’t stopped.

Josiah Cox, president of the company that owns Hillcrest Utility, said the new rates are necessary and based on statewide norms.

He also said the continued boil orders are signs of the previous owners’ neglect, and his company is working diligently to fix the system.

The most recent boil order, he said, happened when an existing water line cracked, causing the system to lose water pressure.

The boil order was a state-mandated precaution, he said. While the fix took only hours, verification the water is safe takes several days, he said.

Roy Davault, 90, who has lived in the subdivision since 1979, said if it weren’t for the higher rates, he wouldn’t be able to tell the difference between the previous owner and Hillcrest Utility.

“I told [Cox], ‘You’re no better than Brandco,’” he said.

Cox said even if residents don’t realize it, his company has made improvements to the system. He said the $1.2 million went to cover the most pressing infrastructural needs, what he called “big capital projects” — things such as backup power and a 24-hour emergency storage reservoir.

“We couldn’t replace the entire conveyance system then,” he said. “That [cost] would have been astronomical.”

The Hillcrest Subdivision off of Route K is again under a boil water advisory.Laura Simon

The issues causing boil orders now, he said, were unexpected but are routine inconveniences that come with rectifying decades of neglect.

“It was the same system in place, and it just rotted in the ground,” he said. “Hopefully, we’re past these issues.”

But because the most recent spat of boil orders were unforeseen, residents like Davault see little reason to believe the issues are behind them.

Furthermore, he and others have expressed suspicions about Cox’s motives from the outset.

Cox obtained funding for the initial renovations from St. Louis-based developers Robert and David Glarner at 14 percent interest, which many residents see as abnormally high.

“Why, in today’s market, you’d pay 14 percent interest, I do not know,” Davault said, suggesting Cox’s 2014 bankruptcy filing was one of the reasons he could not secure funding from a bank at a more reasonable rate.

Cox disputed this, saying banks were unwilling to grant him funding because of the system’s poor condition.

He also said the difference to Hillcrest Utility’s customers between the current arrangement and what a bank could have provided amounts to “less than 10 percent of the rate they’re getting ready to pay.”

Gary Minor works to remove a tree stump and roots from his yard Wednesday in the Hillcrest Subdivision. "I would pay somebody to do this, but I can't. I have to pay my water bill," Minor said.Laura Simon

Cox, however, testified before the Missouri Public Service Commission the terms of the Glarners’ loan ruled out phased-in rate increases, making the extreme rate increases necessary.

Hillcrest resident Gary Minor shares Davault’s reservations about Cox’s business practices.

“That amazes me. ... Who’s he kidding?” Minor asked. “If he makes a name for himself here with this type of situation he’s got going and then he’s looking at other properties ... who’s gonna want this guy around? And when is someone gonna stand up and tell the governor, ‘Hey, look at your board?’”

Hillcrest resident Anna Wanamaker called the rates ridiculous and said she’s not sure they’re helping.

“My husband and I, we’re retired; we do not drink this water, even if it’s not on boil order,” she said.

They cook and even brush their teeth with bottled water, a fairly common practice among Hillcrest residents.

“I’m sick of the boil water orders, and I’m sick of being taken advantage of,” she said.

tgraef@semissourian.com

(573) 388-3627