The board of Alabama’s largest water utility voted to change its name Tuesday. Birmingham Water Works will now be called the City of Birmingham Regional Water Works and will do business as Central Alabama Water.

In a 5-2 vote, the board approved an amendment to The Water Works Board of the City of Birmingham’s certificate of incorporation to rename the organization. A law Gov. Kay Ivey signed in May that restructured the board, reducing the city of Birmingham’s influence and increasing suburban representation, requires the board to “change its name to reflect the regional nature of the board. The new name shall include the name of the authorizing municipality.”

Before the board approved the amendment, members voted to modify it to add “the city of” phrase to the name.

“I think we have to have the name of the city of Birmingham in there,” said board member Jeff Brumlow, who made the motion to amend the amendment. “And the city of Birmingham’s legal name is the ‘city of Birmingham.’”

Birmingham city officials have filed a lawsuit to block implementation of the state law. The two board members who voted against the name change are the only ones who were appointed by city officials. Mayor Randall Woodfin appointed Jarvis Patton Sr., and the Birmingham City Council appointed Sheila Tyson.

Both Patton and Tyson asked what the organization’s name is, and Brumlow repeated his motion to make the official name the City of Birmingham Regional Water Works and to have the entity do business as Central Alabama Water.

“I didn’t ask you what your motion was,” Patton responded. “I asked you what the name was of this organization.”

Patton also questioned whether the board had the right to change the official name.

Patton and Tyson opposed the rest of the board in four other decisions, including those to reject or table approval of bids from sole bidders for concrete replacement and landscaping, to hire the law firm of Capell & Howard to represent the board in the lawsuit Birmingham city officials filed in federal court and to hire an accountant to conduct a forensic audit.

Discussion was tense at times.

“You got to let us speak now,” Tyson said when interim board Chairman Tommy Hudson tried to end discussion on one agenda item.

“No, I don’t,” Hudson replied.

At the beginning of the meeting, Hudson read rules from the board’s bylaws stating that board members have to be recognized by the chairperson before speaking, have to address their comments only to the chairperson and cannot speak more than twice on the same subject.

Patton and Tyson have both questioned in the past the process by which items are added to the agenda. Patton asked such questions again Tuesday.

“I’m really confused as to how this system works and who can put what on the agenda,” he said. “The items are placed on the agenda by whomever, with no permission from the board, and it ends up on the agenda and voted on. So how is that happening?”

In its first meeting, the board agreed to hold a work session the week prior to board meetings. The stated purpose of work sessions is for board members to decide what items will be on the following meeting’s agenda. A draft agenda was presented prior to last week’s work session.

Patton said he believes it’s OK for Water Works General Manager Mac Underwood to add items to draft agendas but not for individual board members to do that.

When asked whether he thinks that’s happening, he said, “I know it’s happening.”

Also during Tuesday’s meeting, Jamekia Bies, executive director of the Help 2 Others Foundation, a Birmingham-area nonprofit that helps low-income residents pay bills from the former Birmingham Water Works, requested that the board reconsider an interpretation of the new state law that has resulted in the Water Works ceasing to support the H2O Foundation.

Bies said the 21-year-old H2O Foundation originated with Birmingham Water Works employees and has received funding from the Water Works since its inception.

“I am coming to you with a plea on behalf of your customers, on behalf of those in the region and in the state that we support to continue providing financial support to the H2O Foundation to provide and ensure that no customer and no household in our community loses that access to water,” Bies said.

Water Works outside attorney Shan Paden cited the new law.

“A regional board may not make payments to any municipality, county or other entity – which would be the H2O Foundation – except for reasonable consideration of payment for goods and services required in operation or management of the system operated by the regional board,” he said. “So legally, this board, by statute, cannot make those payments to you. It’s not a function of whether they want to or don’t want to.”

Bies said after the meeting that she thinks the H2O Foundation’s work could be interpreted as directly impacting the Water Works’ operations and management.

“We support primarily and solely its customers,” she said. “We use the funding allocation they give us to provide support to Birmingham Water Works customers, and so without that funding, then the foundation has to determine how and if we can still continue to provide the same level of support.”

Also during the meeting:

• The board voted unanimously to declare a pipeline leak at the Sipsey Intake Facility and a transformer failure at the Mulberry Intake Facility E1 emergencies under Alabama code and to authorize related purchases, installations and infrastructure modifications. The leak and transformer failure threaten the operation of the water system’s Western Filter Plant, one of four water-treatment facilities.

• The board approved payment of invoices for professional services and legal fees with the exception of an $82,785 invoice from the law firm of Mark Parnell, the board’s former outside attorney who was briefly an internal attorney and deputy general manager.