Sandyfield pursuing water system

By JEFFERSON WEAVER
Staff Writer

Sandyfield residents hope state and federal funding will help provide the town with a water system.

“Every town ought to be able to provide its citizens with good, reliable water,” Mayor Perry Dixon said Tuesday.

Dixon briefly updated the town council on the town’s quest for a water system at Tuesday’s regular meeting of the board.

Much of the groundwork for the system – which is still in the planning stages – depends on the cooperative effort of Bolton and East Arcadia. The three towns have close historical, economic and social ties, and apply for grants as a group to increase their odds of success. The process is called forming a “cluster,” and is gaining wide usage by local governments applying for state and federal grants and loans.

Bolton, East Arcadia and Sandyfield formed what is called the BEST Cluster three years ago to apply to the N.C. Small Town Economic Prosperity (NC-STEP) program. NC STEP helps towns and communities formulate strategies to encourage economic development, especially in historically poor communities. The program provides seed grants to help communities attract economic development.

One of the primary problems with attracting development to Sandyfield, Dixon said, is its lack of infrastructure, especially water.

A study of the proposed $1.2 million system was paid for by a joint Rural Center grant to the cluster, Dixon said. So far, the cluster has obtained $150,000 for the study, Dixon said. East Arcadia will use its $50,000 share to upgrade a well that will supply Sandyfield’s water system, and Bolton transferred its share of the funds to Sandyfield to help finance the study.

“We’re all working together on this,” Dixon said.

Dixon told the board Tuesday the town originally was considering borrowing the remainder of the funds, but is applying instead for a Clean Water Management Trust Fund grant from the state. A bill is before the legislature to provide $500 million in funding to the CWMTF. The town’s engineering firm, McDavid and Associates of Goldsboro, is seeking additional grant funds, Dixon said.

With no business or industry in Sandyfield, Dixon said the town is reliant entirely on “government revenue.”

“We have to use what we can get in taxes or grants,” he said, “and you can’t put too much on your small property owners.”

Dixon said the cooperation between Bolton, Sandyfield and East Arcadia “should make a difference” in the town’s quest for grant money.
“Funding agencies like to see communities work together,” he said. “We’re doing that down here.”

The primary concern, Dixon said, is improving infrastructure to attract development to the town. Sandyfield is located in a growing portion of the county. Developers have already revealed plans for a subdivision in Bolton, Dixon pointed out, and “we’d like to have some good development here.”

“Without water,” he said, “you can’t get major development. When you have water, people will start looking at you.”