Pinehurst Village Manager Andy Wilkison said the village does not plan to charge higher rates for out-of-town customers if the village acquires the water and sewer system.
This policy will apply to all unincorporated communities located within the village’s extraterritorial jurisdiction and covered by the system that the village wants to buy, Wilkison said. That includes Pinewild, Jackson Hamlet and Monroetown.
“The council and I are in agreement,” Wilkison said of the water rate schedule.
Village officials expressed concern after an article in a recent issue of The Pilot mentioned the possibility that Monroetown residents would be paying out-of-town water rates if the village of Pinehurst acquires the water and sewer system from Moore County. The article described the recent addition of water and sewer lines to Monroetown, which, although unincorporated, is surrounded by the village of Pinehurst.
Moore County administered the Community Development Block Grant program that funded the utilities project for Monroetown. The county also contributed $125,000 to draw down a federal grant of almost half a million dollars. Until the village acquires the utilities, the Monroetown water and sewer lines are part of the Moore County system.
“We realize that the people in Monroetown don’t get to vote for council members and won’t be able to vote in the bond referendum,” Wilkison said. “We realize that they may feel left out of the process, but we want them to know that their rates will be the same.”
The county commissioners recently voted to accept the village’s $9 million offer to buy the utilities systems serving the village and its extraterritorial zoning jurisdiction. However, closing of the sale is contingent upon voter approval on a general obligation bond referendum. A date for the referendum has not been set.
