Fannin County Water Authority awarded T. Stanco a two year contract for SPLOST and general fund projects Wednesday, November 13.
Carter & Sloop Engineer Kurt McCord said, “You’ve got a contractor on board to do the work, and these are the prices that he’s agreed to do the work. It’s the same thing we’ve done on Lake Cove or this Bluebird connection.”
This will allow the authority to determine costs of future projects within a 5% margin; however, the contract does not factor in material costs, said McCord.
Hourly rates and emergency and non-emergency repairs were factored in to the total, which was not included in the past.
The Georgia Environmental Protection Division alerted the authority that action must be taken on My Mountain Well #4 by the end of November.
McCord told the authority that the water quality is good, but the yield is low, and their only options are to develop the well, abandon it or hydrofrac it. Abandoning the well would require a contractor to permanently plug it.
Successfully developing or hydrofracing the well would not replace the current source of water that is through the City of Blue Ridge.
“The bigger, underlying question is, ‘Does the authority want to get in the well business?’” McCord said.
McCord then suggested exploring Cutcane Valley to potentially drill a new well.
Authority members agreed they could not make a decision without learning more information.
Secretary Kay Kendall made a motion granting McCord the authority to hydrofrac the well to gain a better idea of the situation, which gained approval from all authority members.
The Lake Cove water line is now in service, and the homeowners are responsible for connecting to the water line. General Manager Mike Scearce informed the authority that Lake Cove will soon be put on meter reading routes.
The Bluebird and Forge Mill connection has been completed as well.