A common approach is to incorporate a municipally owned subsidiary that hires the appropriate expertise. That's how the electric and plumbing networks were buil

A common approach is to incorporate a municipally owned subsidiary that hires the appropriate expertise. That's how the electric and plumbing networks were built in many towns, for example. A number have since been sold off (turned into privatized utility companies), but some are still city-owned. Other cities have gone for a pooled model, where the each city owns their utilities, but rather than administer them directly, pays into a nonprofit organization that provides the service/maintenance, thereby gaining some economy of scale (e.g. http://www.ncpublicpower.com http://www.ncpublicpower.com).