FAIRMONT — The Fairmont Board of Commissioners inched closer on Tuesday toward raising the town’s water and sewer rates.

Town Manager Katrina Tatum said the board members asked her to bring more information to the board’s October meeting, during which they will consider the idea further.

Tatum included information in the Tuesday meeting’s agenda packet that suggested the board members need to be proactive and set a policy that allows for smaller, incremental increases and avoid a large increase at one time. Such a policy would address capital reserve needs and stability.

“Back in the early 2000s I recommended gradual increases between 50 to 75 cents on a regular basis,” Tatum wrote in her agenda packet document. “If that recommendation had been followed, we could not be in the position we are now. For instance, our utility infrastructure is in dire need of improvements. Right now we can’t afford to incur debt or to pay cash to make these improvements because our rates can’t support the cost.”

The town is taking a step toward repairing its water system.

The board members approved applying once more for a $150,000 state Asset Inventory and Assessment grant. The money from the North Carolina Department of Environmental Quality would be used to conduct an assessment and inventory of the town’s drinking water system. with the goal of identifying problems that need to be fixed or upgrades that need to be made.

This will be the second time in two years the town has applied for the grant, Tatum said. The town’s application was not approved this past year.

“We were 13th down from being approved the last time,” Tatum said.

In her information to the board members, Tatum wrote that one reason the town was rejected this past year was because of the town’s water and sewer rates.

“We just weren’t competitive enough and hadn’t increased rates according to acceptable levels,” Tatum wrote.

This past year the town did receive an Asset Inventory and Assessment grant of $150,000 to conduct an assessment and inventory of its sewer system.

Also on Tuesday, the commissioners approved working with the county about possibly establishing a farmers market in Fairmont. The idea being pushed by Mayor Pro Tem Monte McCallum.

But, the town will take it slow, Tatum said. The town must first find a location. Once that is done, a local market could be opened on a Thursday, or a few Thursdays, to test its viability.

In other new business on Thursday, the board members reappointed Dwayne McCormick to the town’s ABC Board. McCormick had been appointed to the board on June 18 to fill the remainder of Melvin Ellison’s term, which expires this month. McCormick will serve a three-year term, which will expire in September 2022.

Tatum
https://www.robesonian.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/09/web1_tatum.jpgTatum

Staff report