PRATT, W.Va. -- Members of Pratt Town Council threw a monkey wrench into their latest utility bailout offer Tuesday evening, after they balked at the conditions of the deal.

Pratt Mayor Gary Fields said town council members did not flat-out reject the bailout offer at the meeting on Tuesday, but did vote to table the deal until they can talk with the town's utility board next week.

Council members balked at a section of the bailout that would put Pratt's sewer system under the control of the Chelyan Public Service District for the next 50 years.

Pratt's utilities are in dire financial straits, and Kanawha County officials have been trying to force a merger of the town's water and sewer systems for more than two years. The sewer system is consistently in violation of a state order requiring a full-time sewer plant operator, and Pratt has still not made repairs to the sewer system to keep raw sewage from seeping into the Kanawha River.

County officials say the sewer plant needs almost $75,000 in immediate repairs, and the utilities owe the federal Internal Revenue Service almost $60,000 for improperly withheld payroll taxes. Pratt's water and sewer systems have shown net losses of almost $500,000 between 2005 and 2008, records show.

Fields agrees that town officials have little chance of bailing out the utilities by themselves.

Members of the Kanawha County Regional Development Authority agreed earlier this year to offer Pratt a $100,000 bailout if town officials agreed to allow the Chelyan Public Service District to take over maintenance of the sewer plant, but the deal fell apart after Pratt's terrible financial situation came to light.

County officials and the RDA worked out a new deal that would allow a long-term, 50-year lease for Chelyan to take over the physical and financial operations of the sewer plant.

PRATT, W.Va. -- Members of Pratt Town Council threw a monkey wrench into their latest utility bailout offer Tuesday evening, after they balked at the conditions of the deal.

Pratt Mayor Gary Fields said town council members did not flat-out reject the bailout offer at the meeting on Tuesday, but did vote to table the deal until they can talk with the town's utility board next week.

Council members balked at a section of the bailout that would put Pratt's sewer system under the control of the Chelyan Public Service District for the next 50 years.

Pratt's utilities are in dire financial straits, and Kanawha County officials have been trying to force a merger of the town's water and sewer systems for more than two years. The sewer system is consistently in violation of a state order requiring a full-time sewer plant operator, and Pratt has still not made repairs to the sewer system to keep raw sewage from seeping into the Kanawha River.

County officials say the sewer plant needs almost $75,000 in immediate repairs, and the utilities owe the federal Internal Revenue Service almost $60,000 for improperly withheld payroll taxes. Pratt's water and sewer systems have shown net losses of almost $500,000 between 2005 and 2008, records show.

Fields agrees that town officials have little chance of bailing out the utilities by themselves.

Members of the Kanawha County Regional Development Authority agreed earlier this year to offer Pratt a $100,000 bailout if town officials agreed to allow the Chelyan Public Service District to take over maintenance of the sewer plant, but the deal fell apart after Pratt's terrible financial situation came to light.

County officials and the RDA worked out a new deal that would allow a long-term, 50-year lease for Chelyan to take over the physical and financial operations of the sewer plant.

But Fields said Pratt Town Council members didn't like the 50-year time frame, and want the lease reduced to 10 years.

Without the bailout, county officials believe Pratt's sewer system will be put in financial receivership.

County Commission President Kent Carper believes failing to approve the bailout will mean an immediate rate increase of up to 180 percent for Pratt sewer customers.

Even with the operating agreement, Pratt customers can expect up to a 140 percent rate increase, but county officials, members of the RDA and officials for the state Public Service Commission think the bailout deal is better than letting the utilities slip into receivership.

"My primary concern continues to be that the residents of Pratt as well as the Upper Kanawha Valley Service area are not faced with future public health hazards," Carper said.

Fields agrees. "I really thought when I went back to council [Tuesday] night that it was a done deal," he said.

Reach Rusty Marks at rustyma...@wvgazette.com or 304-348-1215.