Polk County has accepted a payment plan from White Oak Development, LLC to pay for a water line extension to its property.
Following a closed session Monday night, the Polk County Board of Commissioners decided to accept a check for 1/5 of the total owed, or $34,000. Commissioners last week denied a similar payment plan and directed the county attorney to prepare a breach of contract complaint.
The county has now agreed to accept payments at the first of each month until the final payment is made in June. Prior to Mondays payment, White Oak owed the county $169,753, the balance of the $359,505 cost to install the line.
The balance of the payment is past due as the original agreement was for White Oak to make full payment of the line by Sept. 1, 2009. White Oak made half the payment in late August, then paid another $10,000 in December. Commissioners at the first of this year rejected a payment plan proposed by White Oak and demanded that full payment be made within 10 working days. Then last Monday, commissioners rejected another payment plan that was basically the same as the one accepted this week.
Polk County completed the two-mile water line extension last fall, paying the cost out of its fund balance savings. The extension runs from the countys main water line which connects Broad River Water Authority to Inman Campobello Water Distict. The county agreed to allow the line to pass through Green Creek in exchange for being able to purchase water from Broad River and extend water lines off the main line to Polk County customers.
The water line to White Oak runs from the Hwy. 14 and Hwy. 9 crossroads, then down Sandy Plains Road to the development.