JCWSA May Receive Hydrant Funding from the County
Jasper County Water & Sewer Authority members were informed of good news on two fronts as they whisked through business Tuesday evening during the authority’s regular monthly meeting.
After a long, drawn out wait-and-see fiasco that was teetering toward a legal battle with the county commission about fire hydrant funding, authority chairman Brack Pound reported Tuesday that it appears the dispute will be worked out with a compromise per a conversation he had with commission chairman Jack Bernard this week.
The $15,000 funding dispute began nearly a year ago when commissioners deleted the monies from the authority’s 2006 budget in spite of a written agreement with the previous body of commissioners that the authority has always maintained was valid.
After the issue met with a stalemate for months, authority members had their representative legal firm King & Spalding review the document before passing the findings on to the commission office. Currently King & Spalding and county attorney Kevin Brown are in discussion about the agreement.
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Another long-standing JCWSA project, the Jackson Lake Road Extension, is almost “fait accompli” after being halted by a legal battle with the Alcovy Shores Water & Sewer Authority.
Authority consulting engineer Frank Sherrill said that the extension project to the multi-million dollar County Line Road project, funded by U.S. Dept. of Agriculture grants, should be finished by the end of November. The engineer provided a summary of payments made to the contractor thus far in addition to the balance of funds in the contract.
Relative to that project, system operator Tom Brazil reported that USDA representative Veronica Peterson had made another field visit to the construction site. He also said that pipe installation from Larry’s Four-Way to Whippoorwill Drive had been completed but not yet pressure tested and that the meter box for the Jackson Lake Fire Station had been set.
Authority members agreed to draft a letter to possible Jackson Lake Road customers informing them of the availability of water service.
In other water system updates, Mr. Brazil informed the authority that pressure testing on the Hwy. 16 bridge pipes had been done and that bacteria tests at Jones Estate III subdivision had passed requirements. He also reported on a water main break.
Executive Director Linda Jordan reported that tests are still in progress for two subdivisions, Wisteria Cove and Jones Estates III, to be served by the authority, whereas all testing for Deer Valley had been completed in order for water service to begin.
Chairman Pound reported that the authority’s Association of County Commission of Georgia (ACCG) insurance renewal premium had been renewed as of October 1. The premium cost is $3,257 and provides up to $1 million in liability coverage.
As a member of the city of Monticello and JCWSA joint water subcommittee, the chairman informed the authority that the committee had not met recently but that efforts of a collaborative well project was still in the works.
He also said that no response had been received from the property owners of the land adjacent to Feldspar where the city and JCWSA hope to lease land for future water supply. A letter addressing the collaborators request to lease the land for 20 years at approximately $15,000 per year was sent last month.
Mr. Pound also reported that the county commission has yet to make a replacement appointment to the authority in the absence of Trish Thurmond. The chairman said that he would like to see a banker on the authority since questions of finance often come about. Members suggested seeking reappointment of former member Don Kelly, Billy Nalls, or Cal McElheney.
An executive session had been planned to discuss acquisition of real estate but was withdrawn.