Residents of Harris Lord Cemetery Road in East Jackson should know in a month whether they’ll get county water.
The Jackson County Water and Sewerage Authority appears to be leaning toward the project after resident Ed Vollrath presented the authority eight checks as down payments of water tap fees last Thursday night.
Vollrath is the spokesman for residents trying to get the authority to run a line to serve 11 households. A month earlier, the authority told Vollrath that if he could get all 11 to commit to buying water meters, there was a strong chance that the authority could justify a project expected to cost about $300,000.
Vollrath came back with just eight commitments.
“I’m pretty positive two more will sign,” he told the authority last Thursday night. “I’m positive.”
One of the eight potential customers sent a check for the entire $1,540 tap fee; the others paid $240, with the understanding that they owe the remainder.
Vollrath approached the authority at its May meeting, explaining that a combination of bad well water and low well volumes had residents purchasing drinking water. At that time, the authority asked him to get the commitments — meaning money — to demonstrate that the residents were serious enough about the water to pay the tap fees.
The authority took no action Thursday night, but Vollrath wouldn’t leave without some assurance.
“How does it look?” he asked, after making his presentation.
Authority manager Eric Klerk reported that, as expected, the authority already has pipe sleeves under U.S. 441 and the Norfolk-Southern rail lines, reducing the potential cost.
Chairman Randall Pugh pointed out to Vollrath that the project will cost from $200,000 to $300,000.
“Before we commit to that kind of money, we have to be real sure,” he said. His concern, he indicated, is that if the authority taps its leftover SPLOST (special purpose local option sales tax) revenue to fund the project it might later find a more critical need for the money.
Klerk pointed out that the 8,000-foot segment of line brings the authority closer to a desired connection point with Commerce on Hwy. 334 that both the authority and the city want to see take place.
“If we do this, are we taking funds that in three years or five years we’ll wish we had to do something that’s more important?” Pugh asked.
Finance director Judy Davis calculated that it would take the authority 45 years to recoup its investment, based on the tap fees and the average water bills.
“The customer base will never pay that,” Pugh acknowledged. “The decision will be based on providing water… not on an economic basis.”
“It’s all mitigated by the fact that we’re interested in that line,” said engineer Fred Alke, referring to the connection with Commerce.
In the end, the authority asked Alke to do further work on the numbers and promised to address the issue at its July 7 work session. Should the authority reach a consensus, it will likely act on the matter at its July 14 regular meeting.
