• Officials seek to narrow the gap on cost projections.

By NICOLE CARTRETTE
Staff Writer

Al Leonard is hopeful that concerns over expenses involving a multi-million dollar sewer system for Fair Bluff, Cerro Gordo and Boardman — that Columbus County, in part, would operate — will soon be laid to rest.

“This is not an exact science,” Leonard, consultant to the towns, said Wednesday. “Nobody really knows what’s going to happen.”

Leonard said he understood the county’s concerns with the costs and said ultimately the commissioners would ask: “Do you have a number that will make this not a liability?”

“The final numbers have to come from (Interim County Manager) Mr. (Leo) Hunt,” Leonard said.

The county’s cost estimate compared with Leonard’s differs by about $6,000 but Hunt made it clear his figures are based on customer estimates Leonard provided.

Leonard estimates the annual operating cost (including fees of $144,000 paid to Fairmont for sewer treatment) at $177,732. The county’s estimate is $183,862.

Leonard’s budget calls for rates of $4.79 per 1,000 gallons in Cerro Gordo and Boardman and $2.64 per 1,000 gallon in Fair Bluff, which will operate its own system in town.

The county cost estimates call for a 10-cent increase in customer fees per 1,000 gallons and fees of $4.89 and $2.74 per 1,000 gallon.

Both budgets are based on approximate customers for Boardman (40), Cerro Gordo (35), and Fair Bluff (159). Revenue from school sewer costs is estimated at 126,000 gallons a day.

In August, the board of commissioners and some county officials said they had concerns about a contract agreed to years before that obligated the county to running parts of the system, and owning and maintaining certain components at a fixed rate.

Further complicating the matter, commissioners were concerned the burden of excess costs might fall on county water District II customers who are already paying special taxes on the water district there that is not self-supporting.

While the county appears to be bound to the contract it doesn’t appear that any action on the county’s part will be taken until commissioners give the project their blessings again.

Fair Bluff and Cerro Gordo portions of the system are likely to be completed by next winter.

The Boardman section of the system is in the ground and close to completion.

“The Boardman people should be able to connect to the system by December,” Engineer Kevin Lindsey of Hobbs and Upchurch said. That connection won’t come however, until the county sets up the necessary electrical utility account tied to one of the pump stations –an action the county has not yet taken.