EAGLE, Idaho — In a battle to determine who owns the city of Eagle's water, the fight has neared flood stage with the latest development in the controversy.
The city on Tuesday filed a lawsuit against Eagle Water Company, claiming that it's being cheated out of its contractual option to acquire Eagle's water system and water rights.
According to the complaint, Eagle Water - which provides service to about 4,200 Eagle homes and businesses - isn't owning up to its end of a bargain struck with the city in 2008.
The complaint says Eagle Water was faced with a crisis that threatened its ability to continue operating. It had failed to connect residents within its approved service area because of a connection moratorium imposed by the Idaho Department of Environmental Quality, and it also lacked a standby water supply for firefighting and other purposes.
That's when the city says it was approached by Eagle Water for help, and they were offered the opportunity to connect via an intertie to a new storage tank near Eagle Water's system for the standby water.
Through an intertie agreement between the two entities that was reached in 2008, one of the trade-offs was that the city received a permanent right of first refusal. That meant Eagle Water would provide "the City with notice and the opportunity to match any bona fide offer Eagle Water received for the purchase of any part or all of its water system."
However, the city says "Eagle Water reneged on" its promises to the city.
The complaint alleges that Eagle Water - after deciding to sell its system to H20 Eagle Acquisition LLC in May 2018 - didn't give required notice to the city with the offer's terms and didn't give the city a chance to buy Eagle Water on those terms.
The city also alleges that Eagle Water not only didn't honor the right of first refusal - it later claimed it never existed.
As of late, Eagle residents have voiced concerns about potential rate hikes if the water system is acquired by SUEZ Water. The complaint says H2O inked a deal with SUEZ on September 20, 2018, attempting to assign all of H2O's rights to acquire Eagle Water to SUEZ.
The transactions with H2O and Suez haven't closed yet, according to the complaint. SUEZ applied to purchase Eagle Water in November 2018.
Eagle Mayor Stan Ridgeway also told KTVB in January that the agreement stated the water company would pay the city $10,000 a month. But the city says Eagle Water made nine payments and then stopped paying.
Under the terms of the agreement, the city would have 30 days after being provided the amount and details of the offer from Eagle Water. A bond election would then be "scheduled as soon as practicable thereafter" for part or all of the purchase.
