City of Fort Wayne ramps up efforts to take over Aqua Indiana

FORT WAYNE, Ind. (WANE) - The city of Fort Wayne met with more than a dozen people to discuss its plan to take over Aqua Indiana.

The meeting took place at Calvary Third United Presbyterian Church. The city presented a slideshow of the benefits for both Aqua and city utility customers if the city was to take over Aqua.

"One of the concerns would be buying the Aqua Indiana system out in southwest might impact rates of existing city customers, that's one of our goals tonight is to alleviate those fears," said Ted Nitza, with the city of Fort Wayne.

Aqua's goal is to prove to its current customers it's in the position to provide quality, reliable water.

"We've added a new well, we're in the process of upgrading existing wells in the system," said Tom Bruns, Aqua Indiana Inc. President.

Last summer, Aqua had to tap into the city's water because of high demand for water, but low pressure because of the drought. This is one of the many reasons why the city wants to take over Aqua.

"Based on the drought this past summer, it is time for a permanent fix, a permanent improvement," said Nitza.

While the city continues to push and promote their agenda, so will Aqua Indiana.

"We're working very hard to work with city council members, we have also, in our service area, have done some public service announcements and sent some information in the mail," Bruns said.

City council will meet on January 22nd. This will be a chance for council members to vote on getting an appraisal on how much it would cost for the city of Fort Wayne to buy Aqua Indiana.