Union County, Monroe discuss purchase of wastewater capacity as Monroe plans 3 MGD expansion

Union County commissioners and Monroe city officials met Jan. 30 to discuss Monroe’s planned expansion of its wastewater treatment plant and whether the county would purchase additional treatment capacity.

City of Monroe representatives described a phased expansion that begins with an additional 3 million gallons per day (MGD). Mark (City of Monroe representative) said, “the city of Monroe is in the process of expanding its, wastewater treatment facility, for an addition of 3 MGD.” City staff said engineering is well underway, financing discussions with the Local Government Commission are scheduled for the first week of February, and construction is expected to begin at the end of 2025 with a roughly three‑year construction period.

The county’s existing agreement with Monroe provides Union County a contractual allotment of 2,650,000 gallons per day; county staff reported average use of about 1,718,000 gallons per day under that contract. Manager Ron Matthews (County manager) said staff-to-staff discussions have produced a staff recommendation that the county consider purchasing an additional 750,000 gallons of capacity…