Yes, but probably as a loan, not a grant. This is the opinion of Tony Patnode, Moore County director of community development.
Patnode is the man responsible for grant and loan applications for the East Moore and West North Moore water districts as well as Community Development Block Grants that are channeled to the county from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development.
The Moore County Board of Commissioners voted 3-2 Tues-day to pay the $151,252 to the town of Robbins.
This is the amount it cost to upgrade the water line from eight-inch lines to 10-inch lines to make the system more compatible with the proposed North West Moore Water District.
Robbins received about $1 million in a grant and loan to extend water service along Spies Road. The N.C. Department of Commerce Division of Commun-ity Assistance is the source of funding.
The grant is for $600,000, and the $400,000 loan was described as “deferred” or “forgiven,” terms meaning that the loan would be repayable without any interest at all.
During the Jan. 18 meeting, two commissioners raised questions about the viability of the North West Moore district and about the practicality of buying the Robbins water system.
Commissioner Colin McKenzie offered to vote for the motion by Commissioner Virginia W. Saun-ders if payment of the $151,252 were to come from the General Fund.
Saunders turned down Commissioner Tim Lea’s motion to amend her motion to take the money from the General Fund. Saunders said the money should come from the county utilities’ fund.
“The taxpayers should not have to foot this bill,” she said.
However, McKenzie argued that taking the money from the General Fund would allow all taxpayers in the county to share the burden, while taking it from Utilities would unfairly burden the utility customers in the village of Pinehurst.
The village accounts for about 87 percent of the customers served by the county water system. The county system also serves Vass, Seven Lakes and other outlying areas.
McKenzie also raised objections to the concept of the county’s acquisition of the Robbins water system, which he called unprofitable.
Fallen on Hard Times
At the Jan. 3 meeting, Robbins Mayor Mickey Brown conceded that the town has fallen on hard times in recent years. The town has lost a number of industries because of closings and downsizing. More recently, a major economic entity, the Perdue poultry plant, closed altogether.
These economic setbacks have forced the town to raise water rates more than once in recent months. Brown estimates that Robbins has about 600 water customers.
McKenzie said he was prepared to vote for Saunders’ motion until she demanded that the money come from the Utilities Fund, rather than the General Fund.
Saunders agreed to a further stipulation made by Lea, who asked if she would be willing to pay the money back from the North West Moore Water District when it is established.
Commissioner Michael Holden pointed out that the North West Moore district has already been established.
It just doesn’t have any money, other than the commitment of more than 1,100 prospective customers to pay tap fees once the district becomes operational. Holden and McKenzie voted against the motion.
“The taxpayers should not have to come up with the money to pay for this, and we do have a utility fund from which the money should come,” Saunders said during their discussion.
McKenzie argued that most of the money in the utility fund comes from Pinehurst ratepayers, who constitute the major user base for the county-owned water system.
Holden said it would be premature to spend money on such a project until more information is available about the North West Moore District and about the possible acquisition of the Robbins system.
Holden said it would be unfair to burden future North West Moore ratepayers with the $151,252 reimbursement plus the $400,000 loan to Robbins. A native of that part of Moore County, Holden said that he has family and friends still living in the area.
Lea pointed out that if the county were to acquire the Robbins system, the loan would be noninterest-bearing and would be payable over 20 years.
“I think it’s a good investment any time you can buy or have an option to buy an asset like this when there is an interest in buying the asset for $600,000-plus less than what it cost to initially install so I think this is a good decision and a good business decision on the county’s part to execute this agreement and move forward,” Lea said.
McKenzie said he agreed with Lea’s reasoning for assuming responsibility for the water line but disagreed about the source of payment. He repeated his concern that the responsibility should be shared by everyone, not just one segment of the population.
Until several years ago, the county’s water and sewer system was operated by a nonprofit entity known as Moore Water and Sewer Authority. The county assumed ownership and operation of the system, which at that time did include Pinehurst, Vass, Seven Lakes and several smaller systems. In the meantime the Pinehurst area has continued to grow, contributing even more customers to the system.
During the MoWASA years, the authority’s leadership surveyed municipalities that own and operate their own utility systems and asked about interest in joining the MoWASA (county) system. Those responses ranged from maybe to flat-out turndowns, and Robbins was among the towns that expressed a preference to continue operating its own system.
Now, in a period of economic stress, the town sees an advantage to joining the system.
At this point, acquisition of the Robbins system by the county is little more than an idea advanced by community leaders, and no formal negotiations have been undertaken. After the Jan. 18 meeting, Brown, the Robbins mayor, advised that his town is seriously interested in discussing the issue.
Work Slowed
In a telephone interview later in the week, Patnode said work has been slowed on the first phase of the North West Moore Water District but that the application has been submitted to the Rural Development agency of the U.S. Department of Agriculture. He said the application in on review and is subject to amendment if the county wishes to do so. USDA-RD is the source of funding for the East Moore Water District, the first phase of which is already in operation.
Patnode said USDA-RD representative Allen Hart is expected to respond shortly to the county’s Phase II application for East Moore. This $8 million application is expected to include $3 million in grant money and $5 million in a low-interest loan.
The ratio of grant to loan is lower than it was for the initial $3.1 million for East Moore Phase I, but the second phase is larger and federal funds are not as readily available now.
At latest date, North West Moore had 1,168 prospective customers, who signed early user agreements signifying their willingness to tap on to the system once it is under construction. As incentive to attract these customers, the county sharply reduced its tap fee. A similar process has been in place for East Moore District. The tap fees are added to the grant and loan to cover the cost of constructing the system.
Difficult to Attract Customers
Patnode said it has been more difficult to attract early customers in North West Moore because the district is not as densely populated as is the East Moore district.
“It’s a tougher district to get going,” said Patnode, adding that he thinks the district is viable and that sufficient customers can be found.
He said the North West Moore application can be amended to include additional customers on Spies Road and along roads that feed into Spies Road near Robbins.
As for inclusion in the county system, Patnode says additional discussion and engineering information is needed before a decision is reached about the Robbins water system. He would not be involved in such negotiations, but would need information before amending applications for USDA-RD or other funding.
The Robbins system could be incorporated into North West Moore or could become part of the county system, but such decisions cannot be made until a decision is made about acquisition.
“We have some leeway there,” Patnode said.
The town of Robbins received the Spies Road funding from the state, whereas the county is working with USDA-RD for funds to finance the water districts in both East Moore and North West Moore. The issue of the upgrade in the proposed Spies Road water line arose in 2002, when Robbins received the state grant to extend water lines in that direction.
Noting that the Spies Road area might be suitable for inclusion in the future North West Moore District, the county asked Robbins to consider enlarging the lines to make them more useful to the county when the district is established.
The cost of increasing the size of the lines from eight to 10 inches was estimated at $151,252, and the county and the town had an understanding that the county would pay the additional cost, freeing the town to accept the state grant and loan.
But when Robbins asked for payment at the Jan. 3 meeting, county officials could not find written documentation of the agreement. They asked for further study and placed the matter on the agenda for the next meeting.
