Community Development Dir-ector Tony Patnode has submitted the $7.9 million application to the Rural Develop-ment program of the U.S. Department of Agriculture.
Now he’s waiting for USDA-RD’s letter of conditions to arrive in February.
“Basically, the letter of conditions says ‘you’re funded, but this is what you need to do next’,” Patnode said.
If the remaining conditions can be quickly resolved, construction on the second phase could begin as early as August, according to engineering contractor Hobbs Upchurch & Associates. Those conditions may in-clude such things as legal details pertaining to easements or encroachments.
The second phase, the largest part of the East Moore Water District, will involve construction of 82 miles of water line, an elevated tank and a booster pump station.
So far, about 900 customers have signed water-user agreements, and Patnode expects the total to exceed 1,000 by the time construction begins. Second-phase residents may sign up early and take advantage of a sharply reduced tap fee offer of $250 at any point before bids are awarded. Once work begins, they must pay the full tap fee of $1,375.
Work has already begun on the third phase, but Patnode said USDA regulations do not permit release of funding until the previous phase is completed.
In early December, the county conducted a dedication ceremony for the first phase, an area covering Little River Township and that portion of McNeill Township east of U.S. 1 and surrounding the town of Vass. About 700 taps have been authorized there, although not all are connected on this $3.4 million grant/loan project.
Patnode hopes to submit the third phase funding application by spring of 2005. He does not yet have a cost estimate for the third phase application.
By then, work should be completed on the second phase, expected to take about a year.
The second phase encompasses Greenwood Township and the remainder of McNeill Township, the area west of U.S. 1. The third phase is the rural area of Carthage Township. The district represents rural areas only, and municipalities with their own water systems, such as Southern Pines and Carthage, are excluded.
People were enthusiastic about county water two years ago when Patnode and the East Moore Water District Advisory Committee initiated a series of early sign-up sessions. The need for water was especially acute in areas on Lobelia Road and along intersecting roads, where some property owners were buying water for storage in towers because wells were unreliable.
Patnode said people are still enthusiastic.
“We have pockets of low-yield wells and wells with poor water quality,” Patnode said of communities in the second and third phases.
Construction on the third phase may be two years away, but Patnode estimates his office has already received about 200 early sign-up agreements.
Second phase user agreements poured into his office during the summer and fall of 2002, a period marked by severe drought throughout Moore County and North Carolina. At that time it was easy to persuade people to sign up for county water when their own wells were dry and rain was a rarity.
Patnode said 100 percent participation will be important to get the third phase going, because several areas of Carthage Township are thinly populated, especially north of Carthage. That means that it may not be financially practical to extend water lines to everyone needing water and wanting water.
There is also a concentration of low-yield wells along Murdocks-ville Road, and it’s possible that the third phase may be extended a short distance into Mineral Springs Township. Patnode said that can be worked out without legal difficulty.
“If participation is sufficient there, we can go out a distance into Mineral Springs,” he said.
However, Patnode said the county may run into some eligibility problems, because the 2000 Census left the county with a higher per capita income than existed in 1900.
“We’re already flirting with ineligibility for Phase III because of income levels in the 2000 Census. It could be tough to get more grant money for expansion,” Patnode said.
So far, the county has faced no serious difficulty with USDA funding because the water district serves a rural population, many of whom fall into the moderate to low-income category.
Administrative efforts have begun for a second water district program, this one to be known as the North West Moore Water District, serving Ritter, Sheffield, Deep River and Bensalem townships.
The North West Moore Committee will meet Jan. 5 and make plans for early sign-up to begin in February.
Patnode said North West Moore will not be as large as East Moore, but there should be at least two phases.
Before he can apply to USDA-RD for funding, however, voters in North West Moore must hold a referendum and approve the issuance of bonds. A date for that election has not been set, but Patnode said it will not be held during the November general election because supporters of the project don’t want North West Moore voters to be distracted by other issues and candidates for president, governor, Congress, state legislature and county commissioner.
The referendum asks voters to decide whether to issue bonds to cover initial construction of the water system. The issue is based on the understanding that the county will secure a grant and a low-interest loan to get construction started. Customers will pay off the loan and cover operational costs through user fees.
Work on North West Moore was held up several months because of the complexity of a grant agreement between the town of Robbins and the Montgomery County water system for a hook-up to serve water-less households on Spies Road.
Robbins operates its own water system but agreed to extend water lines into this rural area if federal funds were available and the county would agree to take over operation of the system once the North West Moore District becomes operable. First, the county signed the agreement, then dropped out because of uncertainty over an ownership clause in the federal grant agreement. The problem has been worked out, and the county is expected to rejoin the project.
Once the county completes one phase of the water district program, operation of the water system becomes the job of the Moore County Department of Public Utilities. Although Patnode is responsible for administering the grant aspect of the program, he relinquishes control when water flows through those lines.
Reaction from customers in the first phase of the East Moore district has been overwhelmingly positive, Patnode said.
He may no longer be responsible for that phase, but customers are still calling with questions and to get an update on how the program is progressing for their neighbors.
