Getting your Trinity Audio player ready...

Town Council takes action to advance various endeavors

 

TRYON—At its regularly scheduled meeting on Tuesday, March 19, the Tryon Town Council passed motions to proceed with soliciting contractors to begin its numerous sewer and water planning, design, and construction projects.

At the council’s previous meeting on February 27, several citizens expressed concerns about the town’s infrastructure and sewer system. The first projects to be worked on will be sewer rehabilitation ventures for Braewick Rd., Hidden Hill Rd., and Oak Street. 

A motion was also made to pursue a state grant worth one million dollars to replace lead piping in the town. 

“What I’m hoping for is part of the grant money to actually replace the surface lines,” Tryon Town Manager Jim Fatland said. “Eighty percent of the people getting these grants are strictly doing inventory, the other 20% are actually using the money to fix things. I think we’re in a position that we could probably spend part of the money to get things fixed.”

The deadline to apply for the grant is October 24. 

“I’m glad to see they’re moving forward,” said Commissioner Bill Crowell of the sewer rehabilitation and lead pipe removal plans. 

Fatland also voiced his desire to expedite the sewer rehabilitation project at Jervey Rd. despite not having identified any grant funding for that specific project yet. He asked the council to approve $10,000 to pay for a professional to design the sewer rehabilitation. 

“We’ve had three overflows since January in this area. This is the area that, rather than waiting for it to happen again, we would like to get this project designed and shovel-ready,” he told the council. 

All motions were passed unanimously, and the council gave its permission to begin accepting bids for contractors to begin the sewer work. 

The council will now hold a Capital Projects Work Session on Friday, March 22, to discuss the first three upcoming sewer projects, as well as plans for the Lake Lanier Dam. Engineers will be in attendance to elaborate on plans and answer questions.