Give Rowan County commissioners an “A” for ambition. They’ve OK’d doing a feasibility study for a tremendous undertaking, a county-owned utility to provide water and sewer services.
Such a system could be a powerful economic development tool if it actually came to pass. You have to wonder if commissioners realize what’s involved — financially, environmentally, politically. But that is what feasibility studies are for.
This study, for which the county has included $15,000 in its budget, is supposed to update a major feasibility study commissioners ordered in 1998. Looking back on the recommendations that came out then, one can’t help but wonder what opportunities the county may have missed because it did not follow through with action at the time. But the study’s recommendations comprised a far-sighted plan that Rowan may just now be ready to undertake.
The study — conducted by Hobbs, Upchurch and Associates — said most rural sections of the county should keep relying on wells and septic tanks for years to come. Providing water and sewer services to them was neither practical nor necessary — good news since county voters soundly defeated bond referendums for a countywide system in the 1970s.
Instead, the study recommended the county spend millions to provide water and sewer to the Interstate 85-U.S. 29 corridor, the area that held the most promise for development. Rowan could cooperate with Salisbury and other municipalities to provide much of the new water supply, the study said.
“Long-term water needs may require the county to sink $8 million to $12 million into a water treatment plant on the South Yadkin River, with another $10 million spent to carry the water to the I-85 corridor and fast-growing residential areas in south Rowan,” a Post story said in 1998. Sewage treatment would be more expensive in the short run, the study said — $10.5 million for sewage pipes and $14-21 million for treatment plants.
Kelly Derr, the senior project engineer on the 1998 study, said then what still rings true today: Counties are finding that if they want to attract good, quality growth, it is important to get water and sewer in key locations.
An update of the study likely will include higher figures — $60 to $80 million, one person suggested — and more specifics about the Old Beatty Ford Road area, where many people are hoping a new interchange on I-85 could spur growth.
So far commissioners are not including Salisbury in the discussion, even though the city operates the massive Salisbury-Rowan Utilities. But there’s an election around the corner and a sincere call for better cooperation. Let’s see what the updated feasibility study says and take it from there.