WRRWA approves contract for water
study
By Lesley Jenkins
star staff
ljenkins@starhq.com
The rescheduled March meeting of the Watauga
River Regional Water Authority convened Monday evening to
take a giant leap toward the authority's relationship with
engineering company Jordan, Jones & Goulding.
Six board members approved the motion to award
the contract to Knoxville- based JJ&G to begin a comprehensive
water system improvements study in Carter County. Two board
members, Olen Pate and Richard Tester, voted no to the study.
WRRWA Executive Director Michael Hughes said,
"This study will tell us how much water we are going to need
to take care of our present population and the growth factor
that you have to figure in, based on planning documents and
census documents and how many people will be in Carter County
over the next 50 year period.
"This study will address how much water we will
need, what we need to serve it, how we need to serve it as
far as hydraulics stand point, what phases will it be in and
how much it will cost for each phase. This is a really good
thing to do. It is good to have a plan before we go out and
start doing something," Hughes said.
Funding for the study has already been aquired
through a grant, surcharge fees from utilities and a match
from Hughes' salary. The maximum the study will cost is $109,000.
"That includes expenses and everything for the
engineering group. That is a max figure. It is up to but not
to exceed, so it could come in lower than that. Now we do
have the money in hand now to pay for the study, from the
surcharges, from the county set aside and from the match we
get on my salary.
"It will generate good informaiton for these
utilities to make a decision whether they need to proceed
at the end of the study period," Hughes added.
JJ&G will begin the study immediately. "There
are seven phases to the study. A lot of them have to be done
concurrently. It's not like we have to authorize them to do
number one and then move on to number two. There's a couple
of them that have to be done at the same time," Hughes said.
A workshop is scheduled for April 12 at 5 p.m.
to discuss by-laws and to choose a logo for the water authority.
