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GATESVILLE – Last week, Governor Roy Cooper along with the North Carolina Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ) announced approval of two important infrastructure projects for Gates County.

The Board of Commissioners has secured $4,121,385 in project funding for the Gates County Public Utilities Department to expand sewer line connections to T.S. Cooper Elementary School in the Sunbury community, and Buckland Elementary School near the Gates community.

Both schools were constructed in 1951-1952 are served by aged (nearly 75 years) onsite wastewater systems which have experienced numerous violations from DEQ. State officials are strongly encouraging consolidation of wastewater collection and treatment utilities as proposed in Gates County.

Dr. Althea Riddick, Chair of the Commissioners, noted that Brad Arnold, Director of Gates County Public Utilities, has worked very hard to prepare a capital improvement plan to rehabilitate and expand Gates County’s infrastructure consisting of the water system with 4,600 connections and its two wastewater treatment plants. This $4.1 million project, when completed, will assist the state’s goal of eliminating the two permitted wastewater discharge points serving these two schools, becoming a component of the county’s wastewater system.

According to Gates County Manager Scott Sauer, the $4.1 million in state funds for the Buckland and T.S. Cooper connections provides an aggregate “grant amount” of $2,326,333 in the form of principle forgiveness through the Clean Water State Revolving Fund (CWSRF), combined with a project grant of $695,682 from the Wastewater State Revolving Fund, and a CWSRF loan amount of $1,099,370 with approximately $55,000 in annual debt service payments. That loan is zero interest and is payable over a 20-year term.

Acting Chair Jonathan Craddock explained during the Board’s July 17 meeting that Gates County has secured nearly $17 million in state funding in the past 12 months thanks to the efforts of local legislators in the NC General Assembly, Representative Bill Ward, and Senator Bobby Hanig. Craddock noted that $16 million is committed to infrastructure, and the remaining balance supports the Sheriff’s Office and the Gates County School System.

At the same meeting, Sauer also shared good news from DEQ with the state’s release of the 2018 Sewer Moratorium due to persistent monthly violations of the county’s wastewater treatment plant’s (WWTP) operating permit during 2016 and 2017. This lagoon and spray field facility on Honey Pot Road originally served the state prison property and is now owned by the County. This WWTP facility constructed in 1989 is scheduled for rehabilitation next year, with $2,217,816 in state funding approved earlier this year.

Gates County constructed a new wastewater treatment facility in 2017 located on Hill Lane, just beyond the paved section of Cotton Gin Road. The new wastewater treatment facility, according to county records, indicate expenditures of $5.2 million, including $2.15 million in federal, state, and Golden LEAF grants. The remaining costs were paid using county funds.

The new wastewater treatment plant was never operational since its completion in 2018.

The State’s release of the 2018 Sewer Moratorium allows connection of additional customers to the new Hill Lane WWTF plant, including the pending projects at T.S. Cooper and Buckland elementary schools.

“Since his hiring in 2022, Public Utilities Director Mr. Brad Arnold has worked tirelessly to bring the“new WWTF plant into operation, an achievement which occurred on May 1 of this year after sitting idle and non-operational since 2018,” said Sauer.

Additionally, Sauer explained at the July 17 Commissioners meeting that as a designated “distressed” unit of local government by the state, the county’s funding application received heightened consideration.

He said that “distressed” as defined by the Local Government Commission is indicated due to the county’s aging infrastructure and a capital asset ratio of 0.49 just below the minimum allowable, and an operating ratio for the county’s water and wastewater enterprise funds that struggle to perform financially, primarily due to failing water meter reading equipment.

Last August, the county Commissioners approved a $1.4 million water meter replacement project, which is currently underway to install more than 4,600 water meters. According to county estimates, nearly 25 percent of the water meters are not functioning, allowing some customers to use unlimited amounts of water and pay only the base rate each billing cycle.

“This has been a long term issue, and the Board of Commissioners now has the funding approved and a plan of attack to address these long standing problems,” Sauer said.