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TWSA officials set to move ahead on construction of new water line
By Justin Goble
Local water and sewer officials have preliminary approval to construct a water line between Harold Street and Business 23 (Asheville Highway).
Tuckaseigee Water and Sewer Authority Director Joe Cline said Nov. 21 he had tentatively secured an easement to install the line across property off Woody Hampton Road owned by Elsie Massie.
Cline said he approached Massie last month about the right of way, which is needed before construction can begin, but that his request was denied.
After subsequent discussions produced the same result, authority board members considered condemnation, which would have allowed them to proceed with construction on the new water line. Before that decision was made, Massie’s nephew Robert Hampton, who has power of attorney over that property, stepped in to negotiate.
“Mrs. Massie is elderly, and I don’t think she really understood what we were wanting to do,” Cline said. “I didn’t do a good enough job explaining it, and they thought we were going to go through the middle of the property.”
Though Hampton’s intervention made negotiations easier, Cline said there was still some hesitation to grant the easement. However, after surveying the property to make sure it wouldn’t be damaged, Hampton agreed to allow the new line to cross his aunt’s property.
“He just wanted to make sure whatever we did wouldn’t hamper any development that could be done on the property,” Cline said.
While getting the easement proved difficult, Cline said the alternative would have been a bigger headache, because engineering studies indicated the only alternate route would force workers to install the line under N.C. 107.
“We just wanted to avoid construction on 107, especially at the intersection with Business 23,” Cline said. “The last thing I want is to be on the front page of The Sylva Herald trying to direct traffic around water line construction on the four-lane.”
TWSA board members will have to approve the easement agreement during their next meeting Tuesday, Dec. 12.
In other business Nov. 21, authority board members tabled a decision on a proposed contract with Mike Wade and his development firm, Mountain River of Cullowhee.
Cline and TWSA attorney Raymond Large are formulating a contract that will allow the developer to recoup up to 75 percent of the impact fees TWSA charges up front from those who connect to the line for a period of five years. After those five years, TWSA will own the line.
“He just wants to make sure that people don’t take advantage of this line he’s spending all this money to install,” Cline said.
The final draft of the contract was to be ready Nov. 21, but Cline said he had to be out of town and was unable to put the final touches on it by then.
Wade requested two major changes from the contract’s first draft. TWSA board members discussed these recommendations during an Oct. 9 work session.
Wade requested the authority change the terms to allow him to recoup 50 percent of the impact fees over the course of seven years. Cline said that while in the end he will recoup less money, that change would allow him a better opportunity to get back some of his out-of-pocket costs.
“We don’t know if people will connect, and neither does he,” Cline said. “The potential is there. He’s willing to take a gamble and try to get some of that money back.”
Wade also asked that he be able to recover those costs from developers who build within 500 feet of his property.
“That way, someone can’t just come in and buy the property beside his and connect to the sewer line he puts in,” Cline said. “He would be able to get some of his money back from them as well.
“We’ve never discussed a contract like this,” Cline said. “Before, we’ve had provisions where a developer could recoup 40 percent of their charges. But this is the first time we’ve gone about it like this.”
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