
DATE: Wednesday, September 3, 1997          TAG: 9709030495

SECTION: FRONT                   PAGE: A1   EDITION: FINAL 

SOURCE: BY TERRI WILLIAMS, STAFF WRITER 

                                            LENGTH:  122 lines

TIMING WAS RIGHT FOR SUFFOLK, PORTSMOUTH TO STRIKE HISTORIC WATERSHED AGREEMENT HIGH TIDE FOR WATER DEAL

In the early 1970s, when Andrew B. Damiani was a young Suffolk councilman, the water negotiation talks between his city and Portsmouth were tense. The catch phrase, Damiani recalled, was that if a community controls the water, it controls its destiny.

Fast forward to 1997, last week at the Portsmouth council chambers.

The mantra has evolved.

Now, it sounds a lot like: If a community shares in its resources, there are mutual economic benefits.

Portsmouth and Suffolk city officials signed a water agreement that provides Suffolk 2 million gallons a day. It was no easy feat, officials say. But it came about because the timing and the dynamics were right.

In 1975, newspaper articles show that Councilman Damiani pushed for a land-for-water swap between Suffolk and Portsmouth. The plan would entail swapping land in northeastern Suffolk for a half-interest in Portsmouth's water system, which is located in Suffolk. Self-interest and greed by both cities, Damiani said, killed the plan. He is pleased to witness the two cities finally working together.

``If the timing is right, and the council is right, it can happen,'' Damiani said.

And this time, the players say the game was right.

Portsmouth City Manager Ronald W. Massie, who worked with Suffolk City Manager Myles E. Standish on the deal, said the cities came together because they negotiated over more than just money and land. This time the cities brought industrial parks, a joint recreational center and possibilities for joint developments to the table. It created a building of ``community interest,'' Massie said.

In addition, Massie said he and Standish put aside city self-interest in favor of mutual benefits.

``It's more than just getting some extra bucks for water,'' Massie said. ``We are landlocked and fully developed. We are an employment center for the region. Yet we don't have much room to grow.''

Other officials agree, asserting that the councils and staffs from both cities were able to think in visionary terms.

Portsmouth Utilities Director James Spacek, a 20-year city employee, said officials from both cities were able to think broader and bigger.

``The political climate has to be right and the staff has to be right,'' Spacek said. ``Portsmouth and Suffolk have set the pace in that neither one took advantage of one another. The real story is not the water. The real story is that the managers have talked about joint economic development.''

But the climate wasn't right decades ago. Along with Damiani, former Portsmouth city manager Robert T. Williams recalled that the two cities were too parochial in their attitudes.

Williams, who helped negotiate the first water deal in 1982, said officials talked about a number of possibilities, including trading Tidewater Community College property in northern Suffolk for Portsmouth water lines. But the talks got nowhere.

Williams is now executive vice president of The Jorman Group, the company that manages the Harbour View residential development in northern Suffolk near the Portsmouth border. When he began developing the community in the mid-1980s, he built a water storage tank and other facilities in anticipation of the additional water. He's pleased that the two cities have finally come together in the spirit of economic development.

``The time has begun to heal,'' Williams said. ``The most important thing is providing water and creating a tax base.''

The climate is right from Suffolk's standpoint in that it is striving to attract more industrial development to offset the costs of residential development. Portsmouth is working to revitalize its urban core and provide more jobs for its citizens.

There are plans to improve Suffolk Municipal Golf Course, owned by Portsmouth and leased to Suffolk. Portsmouth might extend the lease by 10 to 20 years. In addition, there are plans to build a golf course on one of Portsmouth's watershed properties in Suffolk. Plans are sketchy, but Portsmouth could possibly lease the new course to other cities in the region, and Suffolk would sublease to an operator.

The plans don't stop there.

There is talk of joint retail centers and businesses that would provide jobs for both Portsmouth and Suffolk citizens, Matthew James, Portsmouth's director of economic development, said. The challenge, James said, is formulating a plan in which the two cities share equitably in any type of revenue structure. But in the long term, the cities will be in a better position to attract industry because they are partners, James said.

``One reality that is often overlooked in economic development is that new prospects to the region don't recognize geographic boundaries,'' he said.

``Therefore if we can foster and assist Suffolk and develop quarters of their city, we will be more successful with our development of Portsmouth.''

The immediate financial benefit for Portsmouth is it will be able to have additional revenue to make improvements to its Lake Kilby treatment plant, Portsmouth Utility Director Spacek said. Cities across the nation are scrambling to find additional funds to improve their water systems to meet requirements of the 1998 Safe Drinking Water Act. Portsmouth is in the third phase of a $15 million plan to improve its treatment capacity.

Enhancing its water system is just one piece of the puzzle. Portsmouth Manager Massie is looking to the future. He's pleased that the cities have finally reached a level of cooperation.

``It's a kind of coming of age process,'' Massie said. ``Now we're only limited by our imagination.'' ILLUSTRATION: Graphic

MORE THAN JUST WATER

Portsmouth and Suffolk city officials have signed a water

agreement that provides Suffolk 2 million gallons a day. But it also

marks the start of cooperation between the cities in other areas as

well:

There are plans to improve Suffolk Municipal Golf Course, owned

by Portsmouth and leased to Suffolk. Portsmouth might extend the

lease by 10 to 20 years.

A golf course could be built on one of Portsmouth's watershed

properties in Suffolk. Plans are sketchy, but Portsmouth could

possibly lease the new course to other cities in the region, and