A joint effort involving Mount Airy providing water for Pilot Mountain is costing more than expected, but also could result in the city selling more of its massive H2O surplus to that neighbor toward the southeast.
An interlocal agreement finalized between those municipalities two years ago this month was based on Pilot Mountain being awarded a $1.95 million state grant and a zero-interest loan of the same sum to fund a regional water production/distribution system.
The cost of that water-connection project serving Pilot was estimated at about $3.9 million, with both Mount Airy and Pilot Mountain to play a funding role in repaying the loan along with the Surry County government.
However, the construction bids for the system’s infrastructure work have come in higher than expected, the lowest at nearly $4.5 million. The Pilot Mountain Board of Commissioners approved that bid at a meeting last week.
It has left the town seeking additional state loan funding of about $1.4 million, with the extra cost to be shared by the town, city and county.
This would result in the original annual payment sum for each local government unit being hiked from $32,500 to $56,584 during the 20-year life of the loan — or a total of $1.1 million compared to the earlier $650,000.
The Mount Airy Board of Commissioners is scheduled to vote on the amended pact during a meeting Thursday beginning at 6 p.m.
Along with the higher cost, it does offer the extra incentive of the city being in line to sell more water to Pilot Mountain than earlier thought.
The previous agreement called for the town paying $2.84 per 1,000 gallons — a figure that is 85% of the maximum in-city rate — with the town to buy no less than 100,000 gallons daily and no more than 1 million.
Under the amended plan, the maximum daily draw of water would double from 1 million gallons to 2 million. This resulted from a request by a Pilot Mountain town commissioner, Scott Needham, to increase the maximum to that level.
Needham’s request was triggered by a 15% penalty included in the initial agreement for larger amounts used over the cap, and his desire to accommodate growth of the town which would require more water.
That change should be especially pleasing to Mount Airy officials who have explored every opportunity to market the city’s surplus water to neighboring communities, including in Virginia. The surplus resulted from closures of local textile manufacturers over the years which were heavy water users.
When the original agreement was approved with Pilot Mountain two years ago, Mount Airy had a water-production capacity of 8.5 million gallons a day, but an average daily usage of only about 2 million gallons.
Since then, Hanesbrands, the city’s biggest water customer, closed its plant on West Pine Street.
Meanwhile, Pilot Mountain’s desire for Mount Airy water was rooted in a deteriorating utility infrastructure in the town which was deemed more expensive to repair than connecting to an existing city water line that runs southeast to Holly Springs.
Plans call for a 12-inch line to extend from the end of the city line in the Holly Springs Church Road area to the town’s water system near Tom’s Creek.
A master meter is to be installed in the vicinity of Simmons Grove Church Road to measure the flow delivered to Pilot Mountain.
The two municipalities are to be responsible for the maintenance and installation of taps, lines and storage tanks within their respective service areas, under the pact.
Source: https://www.mtairynews.com