Residents of Harris Lord Cemetery Road who petitioned the Jackson County Water and Sewerage Authority for county water will be asked to put their money where their mouths are. And if they do, the authority appears prepared to spend up to $300,000 to deliver the water.
Ed Vollrath, who lives on the road, appeared before the authority at its May 12 meeting with a petition signed by 11 residents seeking water. According to Vollrath, the quality of well water in the area is poor, forcing a number of residents to purchase water for drinking.
“We need water, that’s what we need,” said Vollrath, “all of us, from the railroad tracks back to my house.”
Vollrath rattled off the names of several neighbors who buy water. As for his situation, he said, “Mine smells bad after you draw it out of the faucet… All of us want water and need water.”
Vollrath had taken an authority form by each of his neighbors to sign, indicating a desire to have water, but chairman Randall Pugh, reminding the group of a previous petition in which just two of 10 households that signed a petition asking for water actually bought water taps, indicated that the residents of Harris Lord Cemetery Road will have to commit to spending $1,540 apiece for water taps.
“I think everybody who signed up will,” Vollrath said, adding, “I don’t mind asking.”
The authority would extend a line that terminates near U.S. 441 on Hoods Mill Road. There is already a sheath under U.S. 441, and possibly another under the Norfolk-Southern Rail lines, according to authority manager Eric Klerk. The project would require an estimated 8,000 feet of water line.
Engineer Fred Alke calculated that over 20 years the authority could recoup 30-50 percent of its investment from those 11 customers.
That section of road was previously earmarked for service funded by a previous round of special purpose local option sales tax (SPLOST), but the money was diverted to another project. However, the line being proposed would also serve the long-term goal of establishing another connection with Commerce on Hwy. 334, Klerk and Alke pointed out.
The authority would fund the work with leftover SPLOST revenue.
“We just have to see if we can get enough people to commit for service,” Klerk said.
The authority reminded Vollrath that if the project is done, residents along the road stand to reap substantial savings on their homeowners’ insurance policies.
If Vollrath gets fewer than 11 residents’ financial commitments to water, the authority will re-evaluate the proposal, Pugh indicated.
