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2010
4 Tryon Daily Bulletin / The World’s Smallest Daily Newspaper Tuesday, Octobr 05, 2010
• Columbus
"Blending Technology with Tradition"
Tr Late ain st ing
t tes ogy La nol ch Te
• Chimney Sweeping • Inspections • Minor Repairs
(continued from page 3)
• Certified • Licensed • Insured
Call Mike at (828) 817-2381! Proud Member of: • Chimney Safety Institute of America (CSIA) • National Chimney Sweep Guild (NCSG) • International Association of Fire Fighters (IAFF), retired
2x2 BRYANT H. WOMACK/RAY BRADLEY 8/18, 23, 10/6, 10/22, VFW POST 9/7, 10349, MiLL SPRiNg 11/5 TURKEY SHOOT ANNUAL
Fchs-037645 September 18-December 11 10am until • $3 a shot - kids must be accompanied by parent, must be 16 years old Turkey or ham to the closest shot! Proceeds go to support our veterans overseas with phone cards and Veterans VA Hospital at Christmas.
828-894-5098 Signed VFW Post 10349, Kurtis Pike, CMDR
VETT-039053
(No alcoholic beverages are permitted at any VFW event)
2x2.5 10/05 VETT-039053
155 W. Mills St./Hwy. 108, Columbus, NC Exit 67 off Interstate 26 • 828.894.8800 Open 7 Days Lunch and Dinner Lark-038546
himenysweep - page 11
2x5
However, Columbus Town Manager Jonathan Kanipe pointed out that last fiscal year, Columbus’ water and sewer fund had to borrow from the town's fund balance to break even. Tryon officials seemed to be on the other end of the spectrum and said they are interested in not only a water authority, but a joint water and sewer authority. At Tuesday's meeting, the county and each town explained their current water and sewer systems, including how many customers each serve, water and sewer plant usage and capacity, employees it takes to run the systems, water and sewer rates, last year and this year’s budgeted expenditures and debt service (see table on p. 3). Columbus has the cheapest inside water and sewer rates in the county; it is the only entity whose base water rate is under $20. Columbus’ inside residential base water rate is $16.65 per month, compared to Saluda’s, the highest, at $36.86 per month, Tryon’s at $22.55 per month and the county’s at $20.16 per month. Columbus and Tryon’s total combined debt for water and sewer systems totals $8,463,004, with $3,078,737 coming from Columbus and $5,384,267 from Tryon. Saluda did not include total debt in last week’s presentation, but has $82,960 of debt service budgeted this year. Polk County does not have any current debt for its water and sewer systems. The county spent $1,601,897 on water and sewer systems last fiscal year, mostly for the purchase of Lake Adger ($1.6M). Polk County, Columbus, Saluda and Tryon have a combined total of 3,699 water customers and 1,623 sewer customers. The total capacity per day in the entire county is 2.5 million gallons for water and 2,415,000 gallons for sewer. Water and sewer actual usage is much lower than capac-
ity, with 997,541 total gallons of water and 487,462 gallons of sewage being used per day by residents of the county and towns. The county and towns have 161 miles of water lines and 41 miles of sewer lines combined (not including Saluda). Other water/sewer assets owned by the towns or county were also discussed last week including six water pump stations and 10 sewer lift stations. The available water sources and potential sources were also listed, including: • Lake Adger • Three wells and 0.6 million gallons per day of water from the Broad River Water Authority for Polk County • Four producing wells in Columbus • Two lakes and two dams in Tryon, including Lake Lanier and the town lake (from its mountain water source). Saluda purchases its water from the City of Hendersonville. Columbus also listed a 500,000 gallon water tank and Polk County a 132,000 gallon water tank. All entities also included information on other assets, such as backhoes, trucks, dump trucks, a sewer line jetter (in Columbus) and a track hoe (in Tryon). Polk County, Columbus, Saluda and Tryon officials met in August with a representative of the Tuckaseigee Water and Sewer Authority, which was created in 1992 in Jackson County, N.C. by the county and the towns of Dillsboro, Sylva and Webster. The Tuckaseigee representative said creating the joint water authority was challenging but worth the effort. Officials agreed last week to ask elected officials from Dillsboro, Sylva and Webster to come to the next joint meeting to talk about how creating the Tuckaseigee Water and Sewer Authority affected the towns. Columbus Mayor Eric McIntyre (Continued on page 5)