NEWKIRK — Kay County officials still are unsure who’ll keep the lights on and the water running once the new Kay County jail is built.
An attorney for Kay Electric Cooperative and the Kay County Rural Water District No. 3 said the city of Newkirk is squelching competition and cutting them out of possible service to the new jail. Newkirk City Manager Harold Harris said the utility companies are out of line.
"I have a problem with the large Kay Electric coming down on the small city of Newkirk,” he said. "We’re just a little town, and they go for miles and miles.”
A lawsuit has been filed on behalf of Kay Electric Cooperative and the Kay County Rural Water District No. 3, two agencies that want to provide service to the jail.
The city of Newkirk is illegally tying utility services together, said attorney Jonathan Ihrig, who represents the electric co-op and water district. Ihrig said the city would require the jail to use both city electric service and water and sewer service.
"It’s an anti-competitive action that the city is taking,” Ihrig said. "You can’t do that.”
Newkirk City Manager Harold Harris said everyone in the city limits uses the same three services.
"We would be discriminating if we didn’t provide them with that,” he said.
Bruce Robinson, chairman of the Kay County Justice Facilities Authority, said Newkirk officials told the authority that if the jail doesn’t use Newkirk electricity, the jail won’t be allowed to use city water or sewer.
"If we lose the opportunity to hook up to the sewer and the water,” he said, "that means it’s going to cost somewhere between $1.2 million and $1.5 million additional to build a 20-acre lagoon and a 100-foot water tower.”
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