Beyond the Tap, Part 1: The Charter
“Beyond the Tap” is a multi-part series by Floyd Times that breaks down challenges facing the Floyd-Floyd County Public Service Authority. Part 1, “The Charter,” examines the foundation and crucial steps for improvement.
“Beyond the Tap” is a multi-part series by Floyd Times that breaks down challenges facing the Floyd-Floyd County Public Service Authority. Part 1, “The Charter,” examines the foundation and crucial steps for improvement.
The Articles of Incorporation of Floyd-Floyd County Public Service Authority, aka the Charter of the Floyd-Floyd County PSA, established that the PSA would be governed by a board of seven members but did little else to set the Authority up for the future.
Adopted in November 1974, the Charter did not include any financial planning — no recommendations for what the Town or County should pay for projects/system upgrades, and no instructions in the case of an emergency. In fact, the document has not been updated at all since its incorporation, and the process to make changes is proving to be a slow one.
The Charter, which was written to last 50 years, expired in November 2024 at which point an 18-month extension was approved. The extension is set to expire in April 2026.
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One recent step in the right direction was a joint meeting — the first regarding the PSA in at least seven years — among the PSA Board, Floyd County Board of Supervisors, and Floyd Town Council on Dec. 11, 2025. Members of each body and the PSA staff commented on the importance of keeping the lines of communication open and keeping conversations regarding the PSA at the forefront of each of their agendas to hopefully meet the April deadline with either a fresh Charter or another extension. Without one of those, the PSA enters uncharted waters.
Mayor Will Griffin, who is a member of the PSA Board, said that the initial extension “occurred because we allowed the Charter to expire without committing the time or a plan to get it renewed. All parties involved are at fault here,” he said, including Town Council, which he said failed to push the County for a timeline for completion; the PSA Board, for “not being more vocal” in attempts to get progress reports; and the Board of Supervisors, which he said took the lead.
Griffin has been vocal in Town Council and PSA Board meetings about his feelings regarding the lack of progress. He said crafting a new Charter — complete with financial planning, listing of Town/County responsibilities, a new timeframe, and more — has not been made a priority, even after the extension was approved.
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“As the Mayor, I feel that I have dropped the ball here,” Griffin said. “We still have a lot of work to do, and there is not currently a meeting on the calendar.” He said there are at most seven meetings of the Board of Supervisors and Town Council, respectively, before the extension expires. “I have been very frustrated and continue to be so. Water is life. Not to be “doom and gloom,” but we have a problem and one day it will be a critical emergency. We are not prepared.”
Resident Mike Maslaney has continuously served on the PSA Board since he was appointed by the Board of Supervisors in 2015. He said a new Charter could be agreed upon and rewritten in a relatively short amount of time — about a day, he said, depending on conditions added by Town and County and their respective legal counsels. “An emergency funding plan for the PSA is long overdue and should have been addressed years ago,” Maslaney said.
“If a solution is not reached by April then another extension may occur,” Maslaney said. “If an extension is not agreed upon then, I think we are in uncharted waters and some legal intervention may be needed to get both parties to get serious and get the Charter done.”
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Not having a new Charter that includes long-term and emergency funding details is a “major risk to the welfare of the citizens and economic stability of all of Floyd County,” Maslaney said, because the PSA “serves most of the employers, businesses, schools, the nursing home, the whole town, and a large part of the residential community in the county,” making an impact on every resident’s life and many livelihoods.
“Two years ago, on Christmas Day, we came very close to having to turn off the water to the whole system (due to a break in the system). We were very lucky then but it could happen again,” Maslaney said. “I feel that most people take the PSA for granted, and others think that they should not be supporting it with their taxes, but the truth is that the PSA affects the lives of all the citizens of Floyd County.”
Maslaney explained that having a stable, sufficient, and reliable PSA system “is essential to the current and future wellbeing of the county and every citizen in it.” He said that the issue “is not rocket science — it’s basic “do the right thing”.”
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Note: This article will be updated with responses from PSA Board Chair Linda DeVito Kuchenbuch as they are received.
“Beyond the Tap” is a multi-part series by Floyd Times that breaks down the challenges facing the Floyd-Floyd County Public Service Authority. Part 2 will examine the costs associated with the future of a strong PSA and the price of failures in the system.