An original Franchise Agreement was issued to Johnson Utilities on October 12, 1995, allowing them to operate its facilities within county right-of-way. The agreement was amended in 2006. Under the agreement, Johnson Utilities Facilities within County right-of-way are required to be in "all respects adequate, efficient, substantial and permanent in design and workmanship and should be located erected and maintained so as not to interfere with the use and enjoyment of public streets, alleys and highways."

After a list of incidents demonstrating non-compliance with the Franchise Agreement, Pinal County is now demanding Johnson Utilities take the following actions:

• Submitting certified as-built plans in electronic format for all Facilities within county right-of-ways by October 26, 2017.
• Inspect 20% of the sewer gravity system by end of 2017 and each fiscal year thereafter with closed circuit camera equipment to assess infrastructure condition and identify problem areas requiring repair. Annual inspection reports and video to be provided to the county no later than Jan 15 of each year.
• One hour response time to take action to remove blockages in sanitary sewer system.
• Immediately respond to repair damaged sanitary sewer infrastructure.
• Perfrom sanitary sewer manhole inspecitions annually and rehabilitate structures requiring attention.
• Perform daily Facility and infrastructure site inspections at every wastewater lift station and perform quarterly lift station pump preventative maintenance service.
• Immediately respond and repair damaged reclaimed water distribution system infrastructure.

While there is no mention of consequences or fines as a result of further non-compliance, the letter ends with Pinal County stating they would like to "work cooperatively with Johnson Utilities to address the system failures which have damaged County right-of-way and endangered public safety and welfare and ensure compliance with the Franchise Agreement moving forward".

Click here to view the letter.