During a contentious meeting and with protestors outside, the board of directors for Alabama’s largest water utility approved a revised 2026 budget Friday that cuts spending 25%, effectively ending a project to stabilize a high-hazard dam and cutting 225 jobs from a workforce of 688.
The board also approved a resolution clarifying gray areas in a state law to give Central Alabama Water’s chief executive sweeping authority to make decisions without board approval.
“We might as well not be here,” said board member Sheila Tyson, who opposed the resolution in a 4-2-1 vote…