Decision due soon on reservoir site

The data has been collected and its analysis is under way. Jackson County officials could begin the task in September of selecting one of three Nicholson area sites for a future county reservoir.

“All of the environmental and geotechnical data has been collected,” engineer Richard Cheek told the Jackson County Water and Sewerage Authority Thursday night. “We are evaluating it and plan to present a draft report to the authority by mid-September.”

Data collection has taken almost a year as some owners of land affected by the three sites were hesitant to allow engineers or surveyors onto their property, but the work was finally completed last month.

Cheek, who works for Prime Engineering, said that the draft report is not likely to include a recommendation as to which of the three sites is best suited for a reservoir.

“We will probably end up coming up with a selection matrix with all of the components that need to be taken into consideration,” he explained.
Those components will include cost, the number of property owners affected, permitting issues (including wetlands mitigation), water quality and yield — among others.

The sites are all located in the vicinity of Nicholson. The largest is along Little Curry Creek west of Nicholson inside of Brockton Loop and backing up to Brockton Road. The other two are east of Nicholson. One is between Quail Ridge Drive on the north, Wages Farm Road on the south and Sanford Road on the east. The third is located on Hardman Creek west of Hwy. 334 between Berea Road and Tal Phillips Road.

Cheek predicted that once officials look at the matrix “it will become clear” which direction the county needs to take.