By Leah Justice

leah.justice@tryondailybulletin.com

Polk residents will have their chance Monday to give feedback on a proposed water agreement between Polk County and the Inman-Campobello Water District to share resources.

Commissioners have scheduled a work session to discuss the draft agreement for 6 p.m. Monday, June 29.

This will be commissioners’ second look at the contract as a previous work session on the current draft was held in May.

At the May work session commissioners made some adjustments to the agreement and plan to hear public comments then discuss additional adjustments at another work session scheduled next month.

The current contract includes that ICWD could withdraw up to 6 mgd (million gallons per day) out of Lake Adger and 2 million gpd from the Green River for a term of 75 years in exchange for ICWD funding repairs to the Turner Shoals Dam, running water lines in Polk County and administering Polk’s water system. The contract also includes that Polk County has rights to ICWD’s water sources.

During the May work session, commissioner chair Tom Pack said he would like to  see in the contract that ICWD can withdraw 6 mgd and that 2 mgd is reserved for Polk County. Engineers have said there can be 8 mgd withdrawn from Lake Adger.

Pack also said he would also like to see in the contract that ICWD will provide water service to Polk customers at the same rate as ICWD customers. Pack said he would like to see that so ICWD cannot raise Polk’s rate above other area’s rates. The majority of the board agreed.

Commissioner Ray Gasperson has been hesitant over the proposed contract with ICWD from the beginning. He said during the May work session that the 20-year initial agreement and the 75-year term in his opinion stops the contract.

And for ICWD to retain all revenues, Gasperson said, is an extreme concern.

“We can’t project how much more revenues will come up,” said Gasperson.

Gasperson said when Polk County first got into a water system it made sense to let ICWD operate it because the county didn’t have operating equipment.

“But in 2007, 2008, who could have imagined what’s going on at Pea Ridge,” Gasperson said. “I think we’re being extremely short-sighted about this whole agreement.”

Gasperson was speaking of the Tryon International Equestrian Center (TIEC), which includes international horse shows, cabins, an RV park, shops and restaurants with plans for hotels and a subdivision and golf course. The grand opening show on June 6 drew more than 10,000 people.

The board did not have a consensus on changing the initial 20-year term.

Commissioner Keith Holbert suggested the county tie repairs to the dam to every 10 years. Holbert said the proposed contract tied ICWD to “initial repairs,” so he would like to tie the company to repairs every 10 years. Pack said he would like to see wording indicating that as long as ICWD receives revenues from operating Polk’s system, ICWD is responsible for repairs to the dam.

The majority of Polk commissioners have said with such a small number of customers (142) gained over several years, the county is not in a financial position to run its own system, including construction of a water plant and employees. On top of the financial responsibilities of running a system, Polk is also faced with required Turner Shoals Dam repairs, estimated at $2.5 million, over the next several years.

Several residents and Gasperson have expressed concern over the long terms of ICWD being able to withdraw water from Lake Adger, which Polk County owns. This is the second draft of an agreement between the two entities. The first draft, first introduced last year, was dropped after the N.C. Local Government Commission (LGC) said it wouldn’t approve of the contract because it proposed unknown financial obligations to Polk County if the contract was ever discontinued. The first draft included that ICWD run at least $100,000 worth of water lines per year within the county and repair the dam and if the contract was ended, Polk County would have to pay ICWD back for its investments with depreciation.

Pack has said that most of Polk’s water lines have been paid for by taxpayers and that is something the county needs to remedy.

Pack has said the contract will be for ICWD to run the water system, maintain, repair and expand the system in exchange for access to water that Polk County does not use.

Polk County has been in an agreement with ICWD for a few years to operate the county’s system. The county recently agreed for ICWD to engineer and install water line extension that ICWD is able to engineer and install. The costs to Polk County for the water line extensions are for materials only.

Monday’s meeting will be held in the second floor meeting room of the Womack building in Columbus at 6 p.m. The next work session on the water contract is scheduled for July 20 at 6 p.m.