Local News - March 2003

County eyes future water, sewer needs

By ALICE SMITH, LTN Staff Writer

March 3, 2003 - A Lincoln County population that is expected to rise to 106,000 by 2022 has  officials taking a hard look at water and sewer issues facing Lincoln County.

During the county commissioners’ goal-setting session Wednesday, commissioners agreed that water and sewer are high-priority needs because they are essential to growth and development.

The Charlotte-based group Olver is doing a study to identify locations of expected growth and needed improvements to the system. That study will be completed in March, and officials will have a better idea of what they’re working with.

Design plans to expand the county’s water plant from 3 million gallons a day to 6 million gallons a day have been approved, said Public Works Director Steve Gilbert.

The project will cost roughly $2.1 million.

At the top of the commissioners’ list is a possible joint project with the City of Lincolnton.

Gilbert told commissioners the city has two interests: purchasing some of the additional capacity at the water plant; and running a water line down N.C. 73 from East Lincoln Middle School to N.C. 27.

The 16-inch line down N.C. 73 would provide another route for water to come west, Gilbert said.

It would also bring water to East Lincoln Middle School, the Lincolnton-Lincoln County Regional Airport and open up land on N.C. 73 for growth, Gilbert said.

Commission Chairman Jerry Cochrane called the line “highly desirable” and said it should be put high on the county’s priority list.

“That one line is just not sufficient now considering all the development and customers,” Cochrane said. “We’re going to have to put that 73 loop in sometime in the future … it’s going to have to be done.”

The line is almost mandatory, Commissioner Tom Anderson said.

“It’s more feasible now than it ever will be again,” Anderson said. “We need to get that contract between us and get it signed.”

The cost of the water line is about $3.2 million. An elevated water tank and booster pumping station would have to be constructed, bringing the cost up to $4.3 million.

The city would also share in the cost of the $2.1 million water plant expansion.

Of the total $6.4 million project, the city would cover 33 percent, or $2.15 million, Gilbert said.

Lincoln County also has plans for interconnects from Sherrills Ford to the intersection of N.C. 16 and N.C. 150, and from Hickory to Cat Square.

The county is working on a connection with High Shoals that could be used in the event of an emergency.

High Shoals is about 1,200 feet from a 12-inch line running along U.S. 321 Business to Salem Church Road. The city has received a grant to cover the cost of the project.

“We should be able to supply them with everything they need pretty easily,” Gilbert said.

Lincoln County will also have to decide what kinds of changes will have to be made to the wastewater treatment plant.

The plant’s capacity is 706,000 gallons a day, and the average flow is currently 350,000 gallons a day.

But as the population in eastern Lincoln County grows, so do the flows.

Commissioners will face the issue of whether to expand the existing plant or to build a new one.

If the decision is to build, a new plant could cost around $12 million, and the issue would likely have to go before voters for a referendum.

© 2001 Lincoln Times-News  

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