A hearing for a dispute between the water cooperative of a small township and a city in northwest North Dakota has been postponed to allow for more testing.
North Dakota Rural Water Systems Association will perform an “additional non-invasive test” to determine if a leak is present on a line that moves water from Williston to Trenton, according to court documents filed late last week. The hearing was scheduled for Monday.
Williston had threatened to turn off Trenton’s water supply a number of times over the past year after it said tests showed a leak on the line was causing flooding issues for a separate township. The Trenton Water Users Cooperative disputed the validity of those tests.
In late July, the city notified the co-op that service would be shut off that week.
The co-op quickly filed a lawsuit against Williston, alleging a breach of contract. It secured a temporary restraining order preventing the city from turning off the co-op’s water until the case could be heard in state court. It sought a preliminary injunction which would prevent a water supply cutoff until the case is decided.
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Williston and the co-op had entered into a 20-year service agreement in 1989, where water was sent from a Williston treatment plant to Trenton. The contract allows for Trenton to elect to extend the service for two additional 20-year periods. It did so in 2009, and another extension option is coming up in 2029, if Northwest District Judge Chas Neff rules in the co-op’s favor.
The city has said it would be significantly cheaper to turn the line off and have Trenton connect to a different water service instead of repairing the line. It had offered to pay for the new connection.
But the water co-op’s president told the Tribune if it had to connect to another system, then water rates would rise for residents of the small township with a large population of people on fixed incomes. The co-op alleged the city is trying to shirk its responsibilities of being the service provider under the contract since the city is no longer the direct operator of the water utility in the area.
Testing will be a “collaborative effort” with the city and the co-op. It should be wrapped up in the next couple of weeks, according to court documents.
The temporary restraining order will remain in place until a hearing takes place, allowing Trenton’s water to remain on.
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Publish date : 2024-08-26 05:45:00
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