Council opposes county plan to import water; directs manager to seek talks

Lewisburg councilmembers debated a county proposal that would import water from the Rono River basin into the Tar River system, a plan council members said runs counter to the town’s water-study recommendations. Councilman Stove argued the county’s approach "goes completely against" the town’s plan to stay within its river basin and proposed two steps: send a letter to the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers voicing opposition, and direct the town manager to reach out to the county to begin negotiations.

Council discussion covered technical and policy points. Staff said the town could provide roughly 200,000 gallons per day to the county without new hires; if the county needed more capacity the town would have to hire additional operators at an estimated cost of about $100,000 per year. Stove also suggested the town explore forming or rejoining a water and sewer authority to share control while protecting local interests.

The council approved both motions by voice vote: to send the letter to the Corps of Engineers and to instruct the town manager to initiate contact with the county to explore cooperative approaches. Members asked staff to draft the letter (a copy of which staff placed in the meeting packet) and to post it for transparency.

Why this matters: The decision signals the town’s intent to protect its river-basin plan and to seek negotiations rather than cede unilateral control of utility resources; water-source decisions can drive long-term infrastructure costs and growth patterns.

Next steps: Staff will finalize and post the letter to the Corps of Engineers and the town manager will attempt to schedule staff- and political-level meetings with the county to discuss shared solutions.