NEWBERRY — The Newberry County Water and Sewer Authority Board of Directors passed a resolution which declares the intention of the Authority to provide additional funding required to complete the Newberry Shores/Bedford Way Flow Diversion Project.
“When all is said and done, Lake Murray Utility Company, Inc. and Tom Brigman Contractors were within about $3,500 of each other and the other two were around $5,000,” said NCWSA Assistant Manager Daniel Quattlebaum.
Lake Murray Utility Company was the certified lowest bidder at $2,629,065.
The resolution states that the NCWSA intends to fund, from its cash reserves, the balance of the Shortfall in the amount of $144,151. It also states that the NCWSA intends, and reasonably expects, to be reimbursed from the USDA Obligation funds for all expenditures related to the Project, paid by NCWSA from its cash reserves, should unexpected USDA Obligation funds remain once the Project is complete.
Board Member Jerry Koon made the motion to pass the resolution and Board Member Tim Nichols seconded.
The Board also passed a resolution to award the recommendation from the engineer for the Newberry Shores/Bedford Way Flow Diversion project to Lake Murray Utility Company Inc., the certified lowest bidder.
A motion was made by Nichols to pass the resolution and Koon seconded.
In other business, Manager Brent Richardson presented the Construction and Operation Report to the Board.
He reported operators at the Lake Murray Water Treatment plant are continuing to utilize the new laboratory and operations center.
“We had a situation on Nov. 22 where we started to observe some water quality that wasn’t normal in our settled basins and it ended up being a clogged alum feed line. Once we determined the issue, we had it thoroughly cleaned and it’s back up and running and we haven’t had any problems since,” he said.
Richardson reported that it was a rough month for water distribution with six reported main line breaks at Newberry Shores Drive, Macedonia Church Road, Living Inn Road, Dreher Island Road, Pioneer Shores Road and another at Macedonia Church Road. There were three new water services installed.
“That’s not really uncommon this time of year, but it seems like November and December are our hot months with breaks,” Richardson said.
He added that good progress is being made on the Cannons Creek Wastewater Treatment Facility, after experiencing an equipment failure in October.
NCWSA’s wastewater collection department reported no main line breaks for the month. Pump station repairs included repairs at Jalapa Road and Macedonia Church Road. There were also two new sewer services installed.
Quattlebaum presented the monthly financial summary to the Board.
Water revenue for the month totaled at $279,776.
“This was up quite a bit from last month, that always throws a little flag and so we start looking. Our industrial usage is on the uptick, several industries are using a lot more water than they have been in the past as construction is ramping up,” Quattlebaum said.
Water expenses came in at $238,876 for a positive result of $40,900.
On the sewer side, for the month of November, sewer revenue brought in a total of $88,392 against $174,011 for a loss of $85,619.
“Even with all of the calamity at the sewer plant and red numbers for this month, we are $198,128 ahead of budget,” Quattlebaum said.
In other business, Koon made the motion to consider putting the Little Mountain logo on the Little Mountain Tank. Nichols seconded the motion.