After receiving amendments by Polk County commissioners to a proposed water contract, the Inman-Campobello Water District (ICWD) has hired outside experts for advice.

ICWD recently hired Black & Veatch, an engineering firm, which Polk County also contracted with prior to purchasing Lake Adger. Black & Veatch analyzed the Turner Shoals Dam at Lake Adger for the county.

Polk commissioners approved sending the amended contract back to ICWD on Aug. 10 by a 4-1 vote, with Commissioner Ray Gasperson voting against. One of the main amendments to the contract by Polk County was for ICWD to maintain the Turner Shoals Dam for the entire 75-year term of the contract. ICWD’s original version of the contract stated that ICWD would be responsible for initial repairs to the dam.

ICWD General Manager Jeff Walker has said because of the dam repairs and other concerns regarding the contract, ICWD decided to hire Black & Veatch to provide an independent analysis of the proposed deal.

Walker has also said he questions if 75 years is the right period of time for the contract. He said he doesn’t know what the right timeframe is and there’s nothing magical about the 75 years ICWD originally put in the agreement.

Polk County and ICWD have been in discussions regarding sharing water resources, specifically for ICWD to operate Polk’s water system in exchange for rights to Lake Adger.

Many Polk residents have expressed concern and disagreement with the contract since the first draft was presented, mainly regarding the long time frame of 75 years, that Polk will not ever receive revenues from the water system and that Polk County has not received outside expert advice on the contract.

The majority of commissioners in favor of the contract said this summer that they do not need an expert. The majority also says it would be costly for the county to run its own water system, including constructing and staffing a water plant. The majority also says Polk is only considering sharing up to eight million gallons a day of water from Lake Adger to ICWD, with ICWD also providing treated water for Polk County’s needs out of that allotment.

Commissioner Tom Pack, in response to ICWD seeking outside advice, said it would only make sense for ICWD to hear from Black & Veatch regarding the expected repair costs of the dam in the future.

“I believe ICWD is speaking with Black & Veatch, which is the same engineering firm that we (Polk County) spoke with before purchase the lake and dam,” Pack said. “Our conversations at that time were about the amount of water that came into the lake, the condition of the dam and what repairs would be needed in the future. Black & Veatch is a well-respected global firm that is already familiar with the lake and dam. It would only make sense for ICWD to hear from them in regards to the expected repair costs in the future, as we are asking them to maintain the dam for the next 75 years in the contract.”

ICWD already maintains Polk’s water system, with seven years left on the current contract. Polk and ICWD decided last summer to begin discussions regarding how ICWD could help the county and last September, Walker first presented the idea of a shared resource agreement.

The initial agreement was scratched in January of this year after the two entities went to Raleigh to hear from the N.C. Local Government Commission (LGC) as to whether the contract would be state approved. The first contract would have needed LGC approval because it called for potential paybacks from the county if the contract were ever dismissed in the future. ICWD is proposing to repair the dam and run at least $100,000 worth of water lines in Polk County and the initial contract draft called for the county to reimburse ICWD’s investments with depreciation. The LGC said that deal wouldn’t be approved because the enterprise deal could potentially be placed on taxpayers’ backs.

The newest version of the contract doesn’t have reimbursement clauses so it would not need LGC approval. Instead, the contract states ICWD would be able to withdraw water out of Lake Adger for the full 75 years even if the contract was ever dismissed.

Black & Veatch is expected to give ICWD its analysis in the next couple of weeks.

Polk Commissioners have not discussed the contract since sending changes following the Aug. 10 meeting.

Once ICWD returns the draft with its new provisions, more negotiations are expected.