By NICOLE CARTRETTE
Staff Writer

A number of water projects, large and small, are taking off across the county.

County Airport

Relocating a private well that the N.C. Department of Environment and Natural Resources said was too close to the jet fuel tanks at the Columbus County Airport would cost around $2,000, officials said.

There are no construction contractors involved in this project. At just $1,800 the county water department stepped in to run a 1,200-foot waterline to the airport, on their own. The project will supply the airport with water from Whiteville and is expected to be completed this week.

Carl Stephens Road

Commissioners recently approved a $25,245 construction bid to run approximately 4,600 feet of four-inch water main along Carl Stephens Road.

Goodyear Construction was the low bidder with some bids as high as $72,050. Construction is expected to begin within the next two weeks.

Timber Cove

In December, the board gave the okay for a 1,500-foot-plus waterline extension in the Timber Cove subdivision. Many homes there already had access to county water but several new homes in the subdivision, within feet of waterlines, had no access.

Axel McPherson was the low bidder at $21,600. The project is funded with U.S. Department of Agriculture grant monies.

Nakina, Tabor City

Commissioners voted unanimously on Nov. 20 to approve a $493,219 engineering contract and construction bids totaling more than $4.1 million for the expansion of Water District 5.

The plans, adopted on Nov. 6, include the construction of 53 miles of water lines, an elevated 200,000-gallon storage tank near the corner of N.C. 904 and Miller Road and a pump station near the intersection of N.C. 904 and Herbert Norris Road.

Officials project that water revenue collected from the Columbus County Correctional Institute (under construc-tion) will fund the 55-mile expansion of the rural water system in southeast Columbus County, expected to top $6.6 million.

The annual debt service for the loan portion is expected to cost $233,680 but at a rate of $6 per 1,000 for the new prison, Hobbs, Upchurch and Associates projects the prison revenue alone will cover much of the cost.

Grand Strand Water and Sewer in Horry County, S.C. will provide sewer service to the new correctional facility.

Columbus County residents will pay the rate that Horry County citizens pay, plus 50 percent because of the distance waste will be pumped. The current basic rates in Horry County are $8.11 and $1.70 per thousand gallons up to 8,000 gallons. Rates increase for use above 8,000 gallons.

Riegelwood, Bolton

A Water District 4 project in the eastern end of the county is in the works. Only 83 customers have officially signed up for the service and about 300 more are needed.

Several have signed petitions but not yet signed up, said Leroy Sellers, public works director.

Wooded Acres near Lake Waccamaw is no longer part of the project. The county water department sent cards to residents asking if they were interested in the county water.

Only 31 of 40 responded. Thirteen said ‘no’ and 18 said ‘yes’. Without the number of hook-ups needed, the area has been excluded from the project, Sellers said.

Roughly $1.2 million in federal grant money would be lost if it was not used for District 4, officials said.

Original plans to begin construction on Water District 4 in the North Hallsboro and Honey Hill area shifted to the Acme-Delco area.

The small number of users in the western area simply did not justify the cost, commissioners said.

Low numbers of sign-ups in Districts 2 and 3 caused financial trouble for the county since 2002.

In 2004 roughly $1.8 million was drawn from the fund balance to bail out the water districts. Commissioners voted in taxes of 15 cents per $100 valuation in District 2 and 11 cents in district 3 to help with the shortfall.

The new water projects are geared toward providing water to residents who desperately want it and completing lines that will pay for themselves, officials say.