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Commissioners approve water fee correction and ask staff to pursue interconnection funding with Old Fort and Marion
Summary
The board approved a fee schedule correction for institutional/commercial water base fees and authorized staff to seek grant funding to explore a water interconnection with Old Fort and the City of Marion for emergency backup and resilience, including possible FEMA support for generators.
County staff told commissioners July 13 that an omission in the adopted water fee schedule left commercial, industrial and institutional base fees unchanged; staff recommended increasing the institutional monthly base from $25 to $35 to align with the residential fee structure.
The board approved the fee adjustment by voice vote. The chair directed staff to notify affected NEBO customers of the corrected base fee.
Staff also presented an exploratory plan to discuss an interconnection between McDowell County’s system, the town of Old Fort and the City of Marion to provide mutual backup in emergencies. The presentation noted both the town and city experienced outages during past storms and that the county has some funding available to pursue interconnection options.
“We’re looking more cheaply at generators for both the town and the city,” a staff member said, and added that the county has begun preliminary engineering cost estimates and grant conversations. Staff said FEMA work on backup generation is under way for both systems and that the county will bring preliminary cost data to town and city staff before exploring grant applications.
Commissioners approved the staff recommendation to pursue funding and continue intergovernmental conversations; the board did not commit final construction funding or approve an interconnection contract at this meeting.
Outcome and next steps: the fee correction will be implemented and notices mailed to customers; staff will continue engineering work, share cost estimates with municipal partners and report back if additional county funding or formal actions are needed.
