The town of Century will adopt a new natural gas franchise ordinance, as approved on Tuesday, April 17, at the Escambia County (Fla.) Board of County Commissioners meeting in Pensacola.
The recommendation was approved 4-1, with District 4's Grover Robinson voting 'no' as amended to change the acceptance period to 120 days.
Century Mayor Henry Hawkins said he was pleased with the approval.
“We keep our franchise, and everything that we are in dispute about with Pensacola we get to keep,” said Hawkins. “The county gave them an exclusive franchise. We are the provider for Century.”
On why he thought Robinson voted no, Hawkins said, “Robinson said he wanted us and the city to work it out first, before they granted a franchise.”
Hawkins noted that the city of Pensacola is servicing 52 residents in the Century area through the Pensacola Energy franchise, a subsidiary of the city of Pensacola.
“Boundaries are a line drawn on a mile,” said Hawkins. “All the way down to McDavid. The boundaries are not straight, it goes down 29, into Santa Rosa County, to the east side, then to Walnut Hill and some other areas. Our franchise will service a pretty good little spread. It will generate some good revenue for the town of Century. We are in the business to make money, not give it away,” he said.
Hawkins said that the town of Century and the county have 180 days to work out an agreement.
