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Stanley council approves water agreement with Mount Holly lowering rates and increasing allocation
Summary
After 1.5–2 years of negotiation, the Stanley Town Council approved the Stanley–Mount Holly Water Agreement, reducing Stanley’s water rate to about $3.00 per 1,000 gallons, raising the daily allocation to 900,000 gallons, and including a 50/50 split of cell-tower revenues from the shared tank.
The Stanley Town Council on Nov. 20, 2025, approved a multi-year water contract with the City of Mount Holly that town officials said will immediately lower Stanley’s water rate and increase its daily allocation.
Town Manager Heath Jenkins told the council the agreement would cut Stanley’s current water rate from roughly $4.50–$4.55 per 1,000 gallons to about $3.00 and include automatic rate adjustments every five years. The contract also raises Stanley’s daily water limit from about 600,000–650,000 gallons to 900,000 gallons—an allocation town staff say aligns with a 2050 planning model that projects a need of about 850,000 gallons per day.
Jenkins provided historical context: Stanley previously operated its own reservoir and water plant before moving to a contract purchase arrangement with Mount Holly to realize economies of scale; legal problems later arose with that earlier contract about 10–15 years after its execution. Jenkins said staff and Mount Holly representatives, supported by attorneys from both municipalities, spent approximately 1.5 to 2 years negotiating the current agreement.
The contract keeps maintenance responsibility for the shared water tank with Mount Holly, specifies that revenues from cell towers on the tank be applied to maintenance costs, and directs any surplus to be split 50/50 between Stanley and Mount Holly. Jenkins told the council that staff examined alternatives—extending lines or installing wells—but found no economically feasible path for returning to a standalone town water system, and that constructing a single water tank would cost more than $10 million.
Council Member Marsha Miskelly moved to approve the contract; the motion, seconded by Council Member Drew Stewart, passed unanimously with a 3-0 vote recorded in the minutes.
Why it matters: the agreement reduces the town’s immediate water costs and increases capacity for projected growth, but the minutes record that the contract includes periodic adjustments and do not provide the full rate schedule or final implementation timeline.
The minutes do not record any public comment or identify specific dates for when new rates or allocation changes take effect.
