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Palmyra board moves to seek easement as engineers say sinkhole can be repaired; emergency Greenville tie considered
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Summary
Town engineers reported Palmyra has a 6-inch main near Greenville’s 4-inch main and said an adjacent Keeling Road sinkhole likely can be fixed; the board authorized staff to contact the landowner about an easement and tabled further bids pending that response.
Palmyra town officials on Monday authorized staff to contact a private landowner about an easement needed to repair a recurring sinkhole on Keeling Road and discussed an emergency water connection with nearby Greenville.
An HWC engineer, Zach Klein, told the board Palmyra has a 6-inch main while Greenville has a 4-inch main near the intersection of Keesler Road and Bradford Road and that HWC is locating a 2023 model to analyze available capacity. Klein said any connection plan would include a metered back-pressure regulator to maintain system pressure if Palmyra supplies Greenville.
Klein and a colleague identified two problems at the Keeling Road location: an undersized pipe beneath the roadway and a sinkhole that is not accepting drainage. He said a geotechnical report concluded “the sinkhole can be improved to accept more drainage” and outlined work including removal of debris, exposure of the sinkhole throat, installation of vertical pipe, backfill and aggregate and follow-up design and permitting.
HWC provided a professional-services takeoff of roughly $52,300 for preconstruction tasks—site survey, parcel exhibits and legal descriptions, negotiation for right-of-way, design, bidding and construction observation—so the board could weigh next steps. Klein said further construction costs were not included in that estimate.
Board members said the repair depends on whether the adjacent owner is willing to sell or grant the easement. One board member said if the owner asks an unreasonable price the project could stall: “he wants $20,000 for a $5,000 easement,” a comment raised during discussion.
Unidentified Speaker 1 moved and the board carried a motion directing staff to contact the property owner (referred to in the meeting as Mr. Kepner) to ask whether he would consider selling the easement; the board also agreed to table soliciting or awarding further construction bids until the owner’s response is received.
Next steps: HWC will locate the prior water model, confirm available capacity for any Greenville connection, refine design and cost estimates for sinkhole improvement, and staff will report back after contact with the property owner.
