By NICOLE CARTRETTE

Columbus County officials are one step closer to extending waterlines into the eastern end of the county.

Tuesday, Chairman Kip Godwin and Commissioners Bill Memory and Sammie Jacobs gave Leo Green of Green Engineering the go-ahead on the $3.3 million project that will provide county water to hundreds of residents in and around the Acme-Delco area.

Green anticipates that 260 new users on Water Tank, Dew Oil Plant, Brinkley, Delco Prosper, N.C. 74-76, Carrolls, TV Tower, Delco Cemetery, Livingston, and Peterson, among other roads, will generate more than $130,000 in revenue the first year. Combined with existing revenue of more than $60,000, Green estimates that the district’s total revenue of $194,394 will cover the cost of first year expenditures and debt service payments ($100,870) totaling $192,954.

“I don’t know if we will bid this in three or 13 months,” Green said, assuring commissioners the figures take into consideration potential increases.

The projected income is based on 415 customers using 5,000 gallons of water per month at a rate of $4 per 1,000 gallons. Existing base rates for the first 2,000 gallons in District IV are $21 per month and $4 for every 1,000 gallons thereafter.

Green proposes that the base rate be increased to $25.50 for the first 2,000 gallons, while the rate of $4 per 1,000 gallons exceeding the base rate remain unchanged. Proposed rates would generate $186,750 in revenue, based on his projections.

Approximately $1.8 million in rural development loans and roughly $1.5 million in rural development grants were in jeopardy of being lost if not used by 2009, officials said. This summer, after holding a public hearing, the board voted to expand the boundaries of water district IV to include the eastern end of the county, where officials said participation would be better than in other existing portions of district IV, such as Hallsboro.

The project does not include the 140 Riegelwood village customers who receive water from International Paper. While customers in the sanitary district pay a less expensive base rate of $8.50, Jacobs said many of the residents are dissatisfied with the water quality and International Paper wants out of the water business.

“They don’t have good quality water there,” Jacobs said, pointing out that the sanitary district is not included in this project.

Public Utilities Director Leroy Sellers said that 80 additional residents have signed up for water in district IV and he believes once construction begins others who signed petitions asking for water will hook up.

“I think we will have a good 80 to 90 percent hook-up in that area,” Sellers said, of the district that currently services more than 130 users in ACME, Deerfield and Lakeland Village on Honey Hill Road. “ I think we are going to go to 450 to 500 customers; it will just take time until all the customers are in place. Conceivably the district will pay for itself.”

“We’ve got one that will work and we’ve got people begging for it,” Memory said, adding that there is talk of commercial investors coming to the area.

“Everybody that wants it can’t get it,” Godwin said. “We have to make it solvent.”

The question of where and how to supply water to the area are details being worked out. While the project cost includes construction of a well, the exact location has not been determined. Officials are exploring construction of the well on county-owned property near Livingston Creek.

“When we talked about this originally we talked about buying water from Northwest,” Godwin said, adding that the new well was “looking like a better option.”

Green pointed out that the county is paying $2.75 per 1,000 gallon to purchase water from Northwest when the county could produce it at about 50 cents per 1,000 gallon.

“We have to live up to the contractual agreement,” Memory said of the 40-year contract that includes no “out” clause.

Under the contract the county must pay a minimum of $850 per month. The line (constructed with economic development grant money years ago) serves Wright Chemical and has surpassed capacity, Sellers said. More than 25,000 gallons a month (the contract’s maximum) is being used.

“Maybe we can negotiate to get out of the contract or get the price down,” Jacobs said.

Property owners in water districts 2 and 3 continue to pay special taxes imposed due to water systems in those districts that fail to support themselves. The base rate in those districts is $25 per month. Taxpayers in both districts continue to cover the shortfall with district 3 expected to pay $230,000 and district 2 $305,000 in special water district taxes this fiscal year.

Earlier this year Sellers told The News Reporter that, with the rising costs, it is difficult to pinpoint what number of active users it would actually take in order for both systems to be self-supporting. Only the customer base can solve the tax burden, he said. “If people will quit downing the water and just hook up, the tax problems would go away.”