Westminster leaders tackle water and electrical problems

The mayor and the council in Westminster took on problems that beset their city’s utilities system during a long and informal meeting on Saturday morning. The occasion was their annual retreat meeting. They were led by their administrator, Chris Carter, as Carter attempted to pinpoint where water losses are occurring as well as to stress the importance for the city to complete its ongoing kilovolt conversion project to reduce the numbers of outages that have plagued the electric power system in recent years. Mayor Brian Ramey called attention to the fact that this is an election year for three of the five seats on the Oconee County Council, and he said this can be an opportune time for his city to press the county governing authority to help it continue to provide un-incorporated parts of the Westminster area with recreation and utility services. Ramey also commended administrator Carter and Allen Ridley, the water superintendent, for how they’ve been able to respond to utility problems considering that in a previous decision, city leaders chose to prioritize electric repairs above water line losses. In response new councilman Rusty Cater conceded it’s wise to follow protocol, but he’s not averse to confronting county leaders in a public meeting to press them for help.