Polk County’s water line to the Rutherford County line is expected to be complete and operational by the end of September. 

Polk County Manager Marche Pittman said the construction of the line has been completed but the pump station is currently on hold awaiting power from Duke Energy.

“The water line pump station is on hold until we can get power from Duke for the pump station,” said Pittman. “I would think it should be completed by the end of September.”

Besides the school and fire department, the county has sold or negotiated eight taps along the new water line, which is an extension from Sunny View School to Lake Lure.

The water line and pump station (located at Green River Hill along Hwy. 9) was constructed by Steppe Construction for a contract of $533,676. The majority of commissioners approved the project and agreed to take $520,000 out of fund balance and to transfer $50,000 that was left over from the Green River Baptist Church water line extension to fund it. The county’s project budget ordinance for the water line was $570,000.

The water line to Lake Lure was an extension off a water line that was constructed to Sunny View School from the intersection of Hwy. 108 and Hwy. 9 in Mill Spring last year. Steppe Construction also constructed last year’s water line to the school for $1,981,736.

The water line to Sunny View School was an extension of another main line from Green Creek to the Hwy. 108/Hwy. 9 crossroads. The extension from the crossroads to the school enabled both the school and Sunny View Fire and Rescue to be on public water. The extensions mean all county schools and fire departments will now have public water instead of wells.

Polk County contracts with the Inman-Campobello Water District (ICWD) to administer water services for county residents. Polk County entered into an agreement with ICWD several years ago to provide water services to Polk residents after the Broad River Water Authority ran a main water line through Polk County to hook up to ICWD. Polk County owns the Green Creek water line and has been extending lines throughout the county since.