By Leah Justice

leah.justice@tryondailybulletin.com

Polk County Commissioners charged county engineer Dave Odom with mapping out main water trunk lines for the county’s future.

Odom joined commissioners during the county’s June 1 meeting saying he wanted feedback from commissioners as to where the future main lines should be located.

Odom said the main trunk line connecting the Mill Spring crossroads and Sunny View Elementary School and fire department is nearly complete.

Odom also said Polk has a lot of 20-inch and 12-inch water lines in the county already set up.

Commissioner chair Tom Pack said as part of the county’s proposed contract with Inman-Campobello Water District (ICWD), ICWD is going to spend some money on the backbone of Polk’s water system and he would like for Polk County to have a layout of where commissioners want those main lines.

Pack suggested main lines be located to areas such as to the Rutherford County line and along Landrum Road to the South Carolina line.

Commissioner Michael Gage said it would help if commissioners could see how the three municipalities’ water lines are laid out and how those existing lines would fit in with the county’s water lines.

Odom said he wouldn’t see the county laying any water lines that would parallel any lines the towns of Columbus and Tryon and City of Saluda already have in place. He said the interconnect the county already has in place connecting the county’s water system and the Town of Columbus, which connects with Tryon and Saluda works and could supplement what’s already in place.

Odom said he could easily get information through GIS to include where the towns’ water lines are located on the county’s map.

Commissioner Ray Gasperson said having the layout of the county’s three municipalities would really help because ultimately, some day, the county and its towns may all have one system, whether it be 20 or more years from now. Gasperson said Polk is a small county and what is happening now with multiple water systems is not exactly efficient.

Pack asked for a consensus on the main trunk lines commissioners want to see on Odom’s plan, which included Hwy. 108 to the Rutherford County line, and Hwy. 9 at Derbyshire to the South Carolina line being the initial ones commissioners will consider.

Pack said Odom can put those lines in the system and see how large those water lines need to be.

Odom is scheduled to present the new map of water lines to commissioners during the county’s June 15 meeting.