by Leah Justice
leah.justice@tryondailybulletin.com
Sunny View Elementary School and fire department will have public water next year as construction of an extension from Mill Spring began last Monday, Dec. 15.
The Polk County Board of Commissioners approved a construction bid in October to Steppe Construction for $1,567,340 for the water line. The county appropriated $1.6 million from its fund balance to pay for the waterline extension.
Property owners along the water line, which will go from the Mill Spring crossroads (intersection of Highways 9 and 108) and the intersection of Big Level Road and Hwy. 9 in Sunny View, will have the opportunity to tap onto the water line for a significantly reduced fee during construction.
Property owners should have recently received a letter from Inman-Campobello Water District (ICWD) reviewing the reduced tap fee as well as some questions and answers about receiving the public water service.
The letter was sent to 75 property owners who own approximately 95 parcels along the stretch, according to ICWD general manager Jeff Walker.
The letter states that the water line will belong to Polk County and be administered by ICWD as in other parts of the county.
“Since your parcel has road frontage along this route,” states the letter, “you are eligible to receive water service from the ICWD by paying the tap/meter fee.”
The fee for a regular residential tap during construction is $700, compared to the normal $2,200 plus a $1,500 participation fee if the customer decided to tap on after construction.
Parcel owners along the line will have until April 20, 2015 to tap on. There is the option to tap onto the line but not have water service immediately or in the future.
“Of course you are not in any way required to connect to the public water system,” states the letter. “Even if you choose not purchase a tap/meter, the water line will always be available should you wish to begin service in the future, although the price to connect to the water system will not be the same as it is currently.”
Polk County Manager Marche Pittman said last week the construction of the line began at the Big Level Road side of the line.
The water line will go directly to connect the school and fire department and will include fire hydrants.
County engineer Dave Odom told commissioners during a recent meeting that this line will open up more opportunity for water customers than just the school and fire department, as there are a lot of other areas the line could be extended to if requested, such as Silver Creek Road and Lake Adger Development.
By connecting Sunny View Elementary School to the water line, all Polk County Schools will have public water. County water service was also recently connected to Polk Central Elementary School, which was the county’s only other school that operated on a well system prior to the recent water line extensions.
Polk County currently has approximately 140 water customers served through ICWD. Walker said, in total, the county has 140 active customers but approximately 250 taps.
Walker said ICWD tries to make it clear just because someone purchases a tap at the lower price doesn’t mean they have to pay any kind of monthly water bill until they want to begin service.
Walker said he suspects there are several residents who have had trouble with their wells and are looking forward to being able to have public water service, “and all of them will benefit from the fire protection.”