Anderson County committee moves ahead on New River clean‑water project, seeks partners and state support

Commissioner Wandel, vice chairman of the Anderson County operations committee, moved the board to proceed with the preliminary engineering report and to pursue partners and state grant funding to provide clean water for the New River area. "So I'd like to make a motion that we proceed with the preliminary engineering report and put this water treatment process in place pending funding with a grant from the state of some capacity," he said during the July 13 meeting.

Robert Campbell of Robert Campbell and Associates presented the engineering summary and cost estimate. "Our cost estimate was $929,000, which includes engineering, surveying, inspection, contract administration, and your construction and a contingency," Campbell said, and described a proposed common community treatment system with distribution lines and meter locations serving multiple residences and nearby Fort Mountain Baptist Church. He said the proposed service corridor is approximately 0.72 miles (about 3,600 feet) from the treatment site to the church.

Campbell told commissioners the report has been submitted to the East Tennessee Development District, which will include it in an emergency water‑grant application to the state. He explained award timing depends on state funding pools and that, on emergency bases, required local match could range from roughly 5% up to 20–25% depending on the grant source. "We'd have to see what's available," he said.

The committee discussed long‑term operations and maintenance options. Campbell outlined typical approaches: convey the system to an existing utility or private operator that would bill customers, contract operations to a certified private operator, or — less commonly — operate using county staff if certified. He said remote SCADA monitoring can reduce the need for daily onsite checks and that sampling frequency is governed by regulatory requirements.

Commissioners amended the motion to explicitly direct staff to pursue viable partners for management (such as a water authority or contracted operator). The committee voted the motion and it passed unanimously. Commissioners also approved a separate motion asking the mayor to draft and send a support letter to the East Tennessee Development District to accompany the county’s application; that motion was recorded as seconded by Commissioner McCamey and passed unanimously.

Campbell said the engineering report and application are already in process and encouraged elected officials to contact the development district to emphasize local support and raise the project’s priority. The committee did not commit local matching funds at the meeting and described next steps as pursuing grant opportunities and partner conversations until funding is secured.