By NICOLE CARTRETTE
Staff Writer

Details of a county water system that will serve the eastern portion of Columbus County are still being worked out.

County staff met with a representative from Green Engineering Thursday (Aug. 30) in Riegelwood to discuss an engineering plan to bring before the Board of Commissioners as early as Sept. 17.

Actual bids for construction could happen within the next 6 to 8 months.

Commissioners have said no lines would go into the ground until there were enough hook-ups to make the system self-supporting. Public Utilities Director Leroy Sellers said the latest figures show 400 customers along proposed waterlines. That figure includes Lakeland Village and Deerfield customers near Hallsboro.

“That’s all we need, I think, to make it viable,” Sellers said.

A special sign-up and information session held last month resulted in hundreds of individuals signing petitions for the water. Many have already paid reduced tap fees of $100. The discounted rate will continue until “the last pipe is in the ground,” Sellers said.

‘We’re just looking at the numbers,” Commissioner Bill Memory said. “We’ve gotten a lot of petitions.”

He pointed out that running water lines is “only feasible in certain areas,” however, and that the population density will determine where lines go.

Memory said the county is trying to avoid situations in failing water districts where “people said they wanted water and didn’t.”

The county may look into purchasing additional water from the Town of Northwest to supply District IV if plans to construct a well in the area do not work out.

Sellers said the county is in the process of negotiating possibly lower water rates with the town due to the high volume of water the county will be purchasing.

Columbus County currently purchases about 12,000 to 15,000 gallons of water a day from Northwest but with the expansion of the system that amount could grow to about 100,000 gallons a day, Sellers said.

The possibility remains that the Town of Sandyfield, looking to establish its own water system, may tie into the county system as well.

The county is under pressure form rural development to put together definite figures soon as time is expiring on roughly $4 million in loans and a $1 million grant.

The Columbus County Board of Commissioners voted last year to extend the boundaries of the district to include the easternmost portion of the county and abandoned the original plan of extending waterlines within Hallsboro and along Honey Hill Road. The board said the numbers were not sufficient to make the system self-supporting in that area.

Several residents from the Acme-Delco and Riegelwood area and including those along Water Tank Road spoke in support of having access to county water at public hearings. Several residents said shallow wells in certain areas were full of rust while deep wells were very salty.

Only a few residents were opposed but said they would not stand in the way of neighbors getting good water as long as forced hook-ups and special taxes would not be a part of the plan.

Another hearing was held and second vote taken on the expansion after bond counsel pointed out the first meeting and discussion held in Riegelwood did not constitute an official public hearing. That hearing was held June 25 and came after a May 21 hearing on extending the time period in which the bonds could be used.

At that meeting the board voted to extend the time period for using roughly $5 million in bonds from seven to 10 years.