Calhoun County Council unanimously agreed last month to allow a regional water agency to seek money for water line extensions in the county.
Council gave the Lake Marion Regional Water Authority the go-ahead to apply for money through the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. Council members Cecil Thornton and Richard Carson were not in attendance at the meeting.
The water extensions would run from the “lower central portion of Calhoun County to serve the town of Cameron, additional rural portions of the county, St. Matthews’ general area and any associated industrial developments,” according to the resolution.
Currently, the LMRWA provides water to communities on the lake such as McCords Ferry and the Lakewilde Plantation community.
“We would like to extend that and come through Cameron and pick up Cameron and come on eventually up into St. Matthews,” Calhoun County Deputy Administrator Richard Hall said following council’s meeting. “That is where the design and right-of-way acquisition is going on.”
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The project could take the next five to ten years to complete.
“Unfortunately, five years ago this was a $10 million project. Now it is a $30 million project,” Hall said. “The cost escalation keeps going up.”
He said the county would be responsible for a 25 percent match, or about $7.5 million according to the current cost projections.
“We are also trying to identify other sources of non-federal funding, state funding to help with the match,” Hall said.
The county has used about $2 million from the capital projects sales tax to provide matching funds for Lake Marion Regional Water Authority-related projects. More could be allotted if voters renew the tax.
County officials say the water line extensions can improve economic development, firefighting capabilities and the general health of communities.
The LMRWA was formed to help bring clean, quality water to parts of Berkeley, Calhoun, Dorchester and Orangeburg counties and the Town of Santee. Santee Cooper runs the water plant near Santee.
Contact the writer: gzaleski@timesanddemocrat.com or 803-533-5551. Check out Zaleski on Twitter at @ZaleskiTD.
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