County commissioner Bebe Heiskell noted that the closure of the bond took an unprecedented short amount of time – just 45 days. “That’s basically unheard-of,” she said.
The bond will fund extending Walker County water access by installing 91 miles of water lines to the south-eastern Walker County community, which has been long separated from Walker County utilities because of distance and the physical barrier of Taylor’s Ridge.
According to county coordinator David Ashburn, construction on the project will begin after the first of the year and will take approximately three years to complete.
The $10 million bond will be divided up among various water and sewer projects throughout the county, with $3.2 million allocated to pay off existing notes, $2.4 million toward the installation of the Villanow lines and $2 mil-lion for the implementation of radio-controlled water meters on the new lines. The remainder will go toward the water authority’s coffers to work on projects such as making improvements to water and sewer lines in Dry Valley and on Hog Jowl Rd.
Ashburn estimates that, all together, the projects funded by the bond money will increase the overall business value of the Walker County Water Authority by approximately $6.5 million in assets.
The stipulations of the $10 million bond indicate that the funds must be spent within the next three years and that the county must make return payments at approximately a 3.6% interest rate for the next 20 years. This aver-ages out to an annual payment of roughly $700,000 for the county.
No Villanow area resident will be forced to accept county water, as most already have fully-functioning local wells. Ashburn anticipates that many will choose to connect to county water for their home taps while retaining well water for use in outdoor activities such as watering fields, gardens and livestock. Currently, estimated costs for Villanow residents outline a monthly base charge of $15 per line, with an added fee of $ 3.50 per 1,000 gallons used. For comparison, the average household usage at the Walker County Water Authority is reported at 5,000 gallons per month, which would place the average monthly Villanow water bill around $32.50.
Ashburn is slightly apprehensive that there may not be enough Villanow residents who choose to take county water in order to make the project profitable, but he remains cautiously optimistic. In the area of the planned 91 miles of water lines, there are currently 874 potential future county water customers. In other areas of the county, the population is exceedingly denser. One mile of water lines in Chattanooga Valley, for instance, yields approxi-mately 400 water customers.
Despite the uncertain future, the county is finding creative ways to save money on the project. For instance, in-stead of traditional house-to-house meter readers, the installation of radio-controlled water meters on all customer lines would allow a single vehicle to drive through the service area twice monthly and automatically “read” each meter via radio frequencies. Ashburn estimates that the service will save the county approximately $150,000 per year in employee payroll costs and vehicle maintenance and service costs compared to traditional meter-readers.
Villanow residents who are interested in connection to Walker County water in the future or who have more questions regarding the project are urged to contact the Walker County commissioner’s office at (706) 638-1437.