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Water utility chief to retire

Jerry Maxwell led Tampa Bay Water's problematic desal effort.

By CRAIG PITTMAN, Times Staff Writer
Published September 21, 2007

After 12 tumultuous years running the state's largest wholesale utility, Tampa Bay Water executive director Jerry Maxwell has announced he will retire in February.

Maxwell, 64, said in an interview Thursday that he's taking that step because "I'm getting old." He said he has no plans for his future beyond "lots of kayaking" with his wife, Karen.

Maxwell's current three-year contract expires Nov. 30. The contract says that if the utility's $140-million desalination plant isn't ready by then, Maxwell can be fired with no severance pay.

The desalination plant, originally to be finished in 2003, may not be ready by that deadline. The contractor currently repairing the Apollo Beach plant, American Water Pridesa, was supposed to finish its work a year ago but has repeatedly failed to complete its work on time. Company officials say they hope to begin a crucial 30-day test of the plant in mid October, which - barring unforeseen circumstances - would mean the work would be complete in mid November.

"We haven't denied there have been some delays, but we believe we've got the situation well in hand," said Kent Turner of American Water Pridesa.

Maxwell said the no-desal, no-job clause in his contract "wasn't a consideration for me" in announcing his departure. The person who proposed inserting that clause in his contract in 2004, Tampa Mayor Pam Iorio, said Thursday that Maxwell's retirement "makes it a moot point."

Three years ago, Maxwell's $176,000-a-year contract was up for renewal at the same time the utility was hiring American Water Pridesa to fix the plant for $29-million - far more than the $14-million Maxwell's staff had predicted the repairs would cost.

Inserting that clause showed how frustrated the board was with both the plant's lack of progress and Maxwell's oversight of the work, said Pinellas County Commissioner Bob Stewart, then chairman of the utility.

Without that clause, "there may not have been majority board support for extending that contract," and Maxwell would have been out of a job then, Stewart said. He said it was intended to send Maxwell a message: "Gosh darn it, Jerry, you're accountable for this."

The plant is not only behind schedule but a lawsuit the utility filed against several of the plant's contractors cost Tampa Bay Water $6.8-million in legal costs and netted a settlement five months ago of just $7.9-million.

The idea of building a desalination plant first cropped up in a plan adopted by the utility's predecessor, the West Coast Regional Water Supply Authority, shortly after Maxwell was hired in 1995. Maxwell argued repeatedly against desal, telling board members the technology was not adequate yet, but the board pushed ahead.

Maxwell helped shepherd the formation of Tampa Bay Water, designed to provide wholesale water to three counties and find alternatives to pumping water out of the ground, a practice that had caused widespread environmental damage. Under his guidance the utility built a 15-billion gallon reservoir and a 66-million-gallon-a-day surface-water treatment plant, both crucial during this year's drought.

The epitome of cool professionalism in public, Maxwell was not immune to emotions in private. In 1999, during a closed-door meeting, he tried to strangle the utility's attorney, Don Conn, prompting a police investigation but no charges. He later apologized publicly.

One of Maxwell's most controversial moves came in 2002, when he pushed for the utility to take charge of construction of the uncompleted desal plant from the public-private partnership that was building it. Maxwell insisted then that the takeover would have no impact on the plant's completion.

Critics have repeatedly complained that if not for that takeover, the private company, not the utility, would have borne the responsibility for dealing with the plant's woes. Maxwell called that "pretty much hokum," and insisted that the private company "wasn't in a position to move forward, so you either stop or you move forward."

Pinellas County Commissioner Susan Latvala, the current utility board chair, said the board will discuss how to replace Maxwell at their meeting next month. She is hopeful they can hire someone to start before Maxwell departs to "let him impart some of his wisdom and experience."

[Last modified September 20, 2007, 23:58:20]