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Send us your news Public Service Announcement Submit Advertising Classified Advertising Issue Archives 8 November 2007 |
Reopening spray fields could cost Fremont $1 mil
By Sarah A. Wise
NL Staff Writer
15 November 2007 — After months of exploring the possibility of reopening the sewer spray field, the Town of Fremont took the first steps to achieving that possibility at their November board meeting.
Tuesday night, the Board of Aldermen discussed a contract with The Wooten Company to write two grants for the town. The first of the two grants would be to pay for the cost of reopening the sewer spray field for town use.
Town Manager Kerry McDuffie said estimates indicate that if the town has to replace all of the equipment at the old field in order to get it in working condition, the project could cost close to a million dollars. He said the cost of the tangible items for renovation would be around $900,000, and in tangible items such as engineering costs could easily push the project to a million.
The grant will be submitted to two separate entities in search of funding. The town will first seek grant monies from the Rural Center. Those grants will pay a maximum of fifty percent or $500,000 on the project. That would leave a hefty amount for Fremont, even if they receive the maximum amount.
Therefore, the town is also submitting the grant to USDA to seek additional funding. USDA can offer the town both grants and loans.
Mr. McDuffie doesn’t expect the project to be fully funded by grants, but would like to fund as much with grant money as possible.
Also, he added, if the town does take out loans for the project, the revamped spray field could actually help with repayment.
“Savings we’ll have with the spray field would allow us to pay back part of that money,” he said.
The second grant the town will have The Wooten Company write involves preparation for a town water project down the road. This grant requests a$40,000 planning grant from the Rural Center.
The money would cover the costs of engineers who will take a look at the old well site, take samples of the water and determine what the town would have to do to reopen the well for public use.
The grant would also cover an examination of the water system in town and preliminary engineering work on that project. This portion involves determining cost for improving the water system in town, including the cost for replacing galvanized lines and old hydrants.
“This grant is just for planning,” said Mr. McDuffie. “What that will do is plan the water project so the next time there is a grant opportunity, we can go after the money for the project.”
The total cost for preparing the grants is $5,000. However, Mr. McDuffie noted that, for the grants involving the sewer spray field, the town may need to prepare an environmental assessment as well, which the Wooten Company had agreed to do for no more than $10,000.
“There are certain categories that can be waived, but we’re not sure if we’re going to have to do one or not,” he said.
If the project involves expanding capacity, he said, the town would have to submit an assessment. However, Fremont is claiming that they are reusing a field that has already been permitted, but they don’t know if that will qualify because the permit had already been turned in.
He added that if the town gets USDA funding, that entity will reimburse the cost of the environmental assessment, but the Rural Center would not.
The town will have an answer by the end of this week as to whether or not they will have to prepare the report.
“We don’t really have the money to do that, but I think we don’t have the money not to either,” Mr. McDuffie said.
“If we’re going to move forward, we’ve got to go through the government, and they have all kinds of paperwork,” added Mayor Devone Jones. “But we’ve got to do it.”
The board unanimously approved paying The Wooten Company to write the grants and the environmental assessment, if necessary.
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Issue of 15 November 2007 Headlines Stantonsburg friendship lasts through WWII Army tour and beyond Stantonsburg finds ways to reduce emergency response costs Benfield, Hardison wed at Carolina Beach Spray field could cost Fremont $1 mil Soccer: CBA team makes history Wayne Wilson News Leader Princeton News Leader Email us: |
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