In July, the Burton Water Company’s 364 customers were asked, in a straw poll, to weigh in on a very weighty question: Would they support entering into a letter of intent to buy Burton Water for $1.2 million?

Of the 254 customers who responded, 244 said yes.

“That’s almost 70 percent of all current Burton Water customers saying, ‘Let’s do this!’” said Chuck Weinstock, vice president of the Burton Water Cooperative’s interim board.

The straw poll is not the final vote. That won’t happen for several months and there’s plenty to do, and plenty that can go wrong between now and then.

But the resounding show of support for moving ahead with a purchase is a major milestone for the Burton Co-op’s volunteer board, for the Burton community, and for the island as a whole.

“I was blown away [by the outcome of the straw poll vote],” says Bob Hennessey, a Burton Water customer of 22 years. “I underestimated my fellow man and woman.”

Hennessey is a policy advisor to the general manager of Seattle Public Utilities, which provides drinking water for most of King County.

As a “strong believer in public ownership of vital services,” Hennessey was nevertheless ambivalent about the purchase idea at first, he said.

“But the more I looked into it and just thought more deeply about us being accountable, the stronger I came to believe that this is something we’ve got to do to protect the water quality today and for the people that come after us,” he said.

That values proposition was also top of mind for the Burton Co-op’s seven-member board these past nine months as it studied the financial, operational and intangible pros and cons of buying Burton Water. The board ultimately recommended a purchase.

Now that the community has agreed, it’s time to make it happen.

Next step priorities for the Co-op leaders are to finalize a letter of intent with the water company’s current owners, Jim Garrison and Evan Simmons, and to secure a substantial loan from the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA).

The USDA sponsors a loan and grant program designed to support small water companies like Burton, and the Co-op board has already had conversations with department reps.

But no loan will be forthcoming until the USDA signs off on the Co-op’s revenue assumptions, projected operating expenses and rate increases, as well as the required environmental and cultural reports.

The Water Company sits on former tribal lands.

“There’ll be some snags in the USDA process, because there just always are, but I’m pretty bullish,” says Chuck Weinstock.

The dollar amount of the loan will inform the dollar amount of the one-time fee that residents (somewhere between $1,000 and $5,000) will be required to pay to join the Co-op.

Other items on the Co-op’s to-do list include redrafting bylaws, signing up members, recruiting volunteers for the first board, and securing the services of Nick Simmons, Burton’s current operator.

All of this will culminate in a second, official vote where Burton customers/members will be asked to approve a final financing plan, a final set of operating bylaws and members of the new board.

That vote is expected late this year or in early 2023.

Retiring owners Jim Garrison and Evan Simmons have invested a lot of money, time and emotional energy in Burton Water for several decades.

They said they are “very pleased” (Garrison) and “over the moon” (Simmons) about the prospect of turning the company over to the community, especially after witnessing the professional, high-minded way the community purchase process has unfolded this last year.

“What I found most heartening is how many people stepped up and the way they’ve come together in a pretty energized, organized, eye-on-the-ball way,” says Simmons. “That’s how you solve problems.”

The Burton Water story could become a shining example of local control done right, a real-life parable of people thinking not just of themselves but of their neighbors, both present and future. Or, it could become a cautionary tale. The story isn’t over.

“Local control means that the customers will get the type of water system they deserve,” says Jim Garrison. “If they work hard and are diligent, the system will perform well. If most people leave it up to their neighbors to do the work then the system will be what the board and the manager decide it should be. [This process] will be a referendum on co-ops and the idea of local control. I am betting on the Burton Community to succeed. My hat goes off to them.”

Author Mary Bruno writes frequently about water issues at vashonnaturecenter.org/blog.

The board of the Burton Water Co-op put three of these signs up at key Burton intersections after 74% of Burton’s current water customers responded to a straw poll asking if they supported community ownership of Burton’s water company. Of those respondents, 96.5% said yes. (Courtesy Photo)