NEW COUNTY MANAGER ADDRESSES EAST LINCOLN ISSUES

By Jon Mayhew

DENVER -- The conversation between Lincoln County manager George Wood and members of the East Lincoln Area Council (ELAC) Tuesday was more like old friends getting together than an update on crucial issues affecting the eastern part of Lincoln County.

That's the style adopted by the Lincoln County manager, who accepted the job in January, moved to the county in February and became county manager in March.

"North Carolina has an excellent reputation for local government," said Wood. "My wife and I also wanted to come here to be closer to our respective families."

Wood said the biggest issue facing the eastern end of the county is something everyone will be dealing with for years to come; growth.

And part of addressing the growth is the future Killian Creek waste water treatment plant. According to Wood, in designing the plant, the county had to determine what capacity Killian Creek could handle.

The answer is 8 million gallons per day.

"We're hoping for final approval in July on the plant that will start handling 1.67 million gallons per day," said Wood. "The project is in the state's hands now." Wood said the new waste water treatment plant would have a total project cost of around $22 million.

Wood said he's hoping bids for the project go out in September, with construction beginning sometime in November or December. The completion date of the project is expected to be July 2010.

The issue the new plant addresses is that of sewer capacity, an issue that came to the forefront when the state said Lincoln County couldn't issue any more flow letters until the Killian project is approved. The state said that the county over allocated sewer capacity, causing the county to cut allocations in half.

"That will then free up 10 percent capacity that's left on the current Forney Creek waste water treatment plant," said Wood.

Once the first phase of Killian is completed, Wood said the second phase of the project would double capacity to 3.4 million gallons per day. Wood said instead of increasing capacity, the county may consider buying water from the City of Lincolnton. An average 3-4 bedroom house uses about 360 gallons per day, while senior citizens use about 240 gallons per day.

"That may save on capital costs," said Wood.

Wood said the growth in east Lincoln "is going to happen."

"People have the right to develop their own property," said Wood. "How we deal with that growth is the big question."

The growth area the county has identified, according to Wood, is N.C. 73. Besides the Killian WWTP, the other issue is prioritizing water projects, especially when it comes to east Lincoln.

"We need to get utilities on Highway 73," said Wood. "From our standpoint, the sewer system is like a tree. You have to build from the plant outward, going up."

Wood said a meeting has been planned with Catawba County officials regarding a second growth area that, while in Catawba County, would have an impact on Lincoln County; the intersection of Highways 16 and 73.

"We provide water to the area but no sewer, while Catawba County has sewer and no water," said Wood. "Wonder what we're meeting about."



Wood's comment drew laughs from ELAC.

While Wood said infrastructure regarding water and sewer in the future is "no big concern," the roads are a different story. Wood said the DOT is going to have to take some two-lane roads and turn them into four lane roads.

Wood's question is how is that going to be done with the increased traffic throughout the county. ELAC member Ken Morris agreed with Wood's question.

"They used to build roads to prevent accidents, but now they build roads to minimize accidents," said Morris. "The people in Lincoln County should expect more from the state."