By NICOLE CARTRETTE
Staff Writer

Details of a lease agreement between Columbus County and three municipalities looking to get sewer infrastructure are not final.

A multimillion-dollar sewer system project involving the towns of Boardman, Fair Bluff and Cerro Gordo will pump sewage from the three towns to Fairmont’s treatment plant in Robeson County.

The construction is 100 percent financed by grants –one worth more than $3 million.

Columbus County will operate the system and pay sewage treatment fees ($2.29 per 1,000 gallon) to Fairmont. The towns in turn will pay their respective portions of the sewer treatment bill to Columbus County, plus an additional $2.50 per 1,000 gallon for operational and maintenance expenses.

Certain upkeep expenses and parts of the system (force mains and pump stations) will be the county’s sole responsibility under an agreement dating back to 2004.

County officials have not been clear on exactly who will be paying for any costs that may exceed the revenues. Questions were raised at commissioners’ meetings last month but it appears there are not any new answers.

“We’re going to have to have some discussion,” Public Utilities Director Leroy Sellers said. Under past administration he said he was not privy to details of the contract or systems his department will be required to operate.

Al Leonard, Tabor City’s town manager and consultant to the three municipalities, has said revenues from the project and sewer fees will likely cover the county expense.

The separate lease agreement still in negotiation may be a key factor in clearing up — at least on the county’s part — if one water district will pay for overages, if any. County Water District II is named the responsible authority for paying $4,800 a year for 40 years to lease property from Boardman for two of the pump stations. The county is given the option to buy the location and pump station from Boardman for the sum of all payments made at the end of the 40 years.

For property owners in Water District II, that may not sound like such a great deal, especially if they may not be able to hook on to the service.

Water District II is one of two county water districts where special water taxes are levied at a rate of 9 cents per $100 value to pay debt service and operational expenses. More than 40 percent of the district’s expenses come from the tax.

“I’m just not comfortable with it,” Sellers said.

At a minimum, someone must go to each of the pump stations, he added. Its unclear how many users there will be or what it will cost to operate the county’s part of the system, he said.