Henderson County to discuss Saluda’s water system request

Published 3:31 pm Friday, October 2, 2009

The Henderson County Board of Commissioners is scheduled to discuss next week Saluda&squo;s request to purchase the Tuxedo water system.

The board&squo;s meeting will be held at the Henderson County Courthouse at 5:30 p.m. Monday.

Saluda has asked Henderson County for permission to purchase the Tuxedo water system to use as its primary source of water in the next couple of years. Because the system is located in Henderson County, Saluda must get permission from Henderson County before it is able to purchase the system.

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Henderson County has not yet set a public hearing on the issue and may do that on Monday. The Henderson County Water Supply and Distribution Task Force met earlier this month and heard a few public comments regarding Saluda purchasing the system.

The task force meeting also was&bsp; to discuss Polk County seeking a resolution of support for Polk to reclassify the Lake Adger watershed as a class III, which would affect much of Henderson County.

Henderson County denied Polk&squo;s request after hearing many residents against the new classification. The Henderson County board has now separated the Polk and Saluda issues due to them being completely separate.

Comments from Henderson County residents so far have been against Saluda purchasing the system, with those speaking saying Henderson County should purchase water that lies in Henderson County.

But commissioners said the Tuxedo system was not offered to Henderson County. Saluda already has a purchase agreement on the well system at Tuxedo and is hoping to close on the property soon, depending on Henderson County&squo;s decision.

The well system will be able to provide water to the approximately 70 customers currently at Tuxedo, approximately 90 customers at Lake Summit, which Saluda already serves and eventually to Saluda customers.

Saluda currently gets its water from the City of Hendersonville and officials have said they still want to work with Hendersonville as a back-up source.