Mount Olive to apply for $2 million in clean water money
By Steve Herring
Published in News on September 15, 2015 1:46 PM
MOUNT OLIVE -- With little discussion, the Mount Olive Town Board Monday night agreed to apply for $2 million in state clean water money.
Town Manager Charles Brown said the improvements the funds would pay for would drastically reduce inflow and infiltration into the town's wastewater treatment system by an estimated 600,000 gallons of water.
Once in the system the water has to be treated which adds cost, he said.
Also, the extra water can place a burden on the treatment plant, possibly resulting in sewer overflows during periods of heavy rain.
Brown told the board that even though he had not yet seen the state budget proposal that it is his understanding it includes $80 million for the Clean Water Management Trust Fund and the state Clean Water Revolving Fund.
The money is available to municipalities of populations under 12,000 to work on their water and sewer infrastructure, he said.
The board did not discuss any specifics of possible projects.
"We have done a pretty extensive study of our sewer collection system, manholes, sewer cleanouts, and we would like permission to apply for funding to work on those issues," he said. "There is no guarantee that we will get the funding.
"But there is a guarantee that if we don't apply for it, we will not get it. We have the option to turn it down if the conditions are not agreeable to the board once we get a response. If the match is not agreeable to us, we have the option to turn it down. At least take a chance and apply and see how we come out with it."
Mayor Ray McDonald Sr. said he was surprised the state budget included anything in it for such projects, but that it would be good to have the resolution in state hands just in case it is needed.
"If we see the need for it then, we don't need to jump through all of the holes again," he said. "They could say to us, 'You didn't apply,' or, 'When we asked you for the resolution you didn't do it. We are going to put it off for a year or so.'
"That's what they do a lot of times. They put it off a year and say, 'You are just not going to be eligible.'"
In other business, the board approved a resolution adopting the Neuse River Basin Regional Hazard Mitigation Plan following a brief public hearing.
"This something that the town needs to approve in order to be eligible for federal disaster funds or disaster assistance," Brown said.
The town has to have the plan in place and be a part of it in order to receive the federal funds, Brown said.
Mount Olive has its own hazard mitigation plan. The town also is part of the county's plan, Brown said.
"I hope we never need it, but if we ever were to be in a situation where we needed to apply for federal disaster relief -- we had to do that after Hurricane Irene most recently," Brown said. "This would mean we have been approved and is eligible to apply."
During the public hearing, the Rev. Dennis Draper asked Brown for the "Reader's Digest" version of exactly what the plan is.
Mount Olive just recently updated its own plan, Brown said.
"It has to do with demographics of a community," he said. "It has to do with your preparedness -- what kind of plan do you have in case you have a disaster."
The town has to have plans for its water and wastewater treatment plants because they are Homeland Security sites, he said.
"It basically starts out with a list of contacts everybody in Mount Olive who has anything to with anything, the utilities," Brown said. Law enforcement, fire and rescue have to be on it so we know who to get in touch with."
The setup with the federal government worked well during Irene allowing the town to figure out its cost to be reimbursed by the federal government, he said.
The information is part of all three plans, Brown said.
McDonald said that in the aftermath of Floyd that the federal government took care of things.
Since that time the federal government has delegated those duties to the state, he said.
"The state says, 'If you are going to get funds, federal assistance through us, then you have got to have a plan in place," McDonald said. "We have to address that now. We can't wait until later. We have to let them know we are going to take care of those things.
"All it is is a plan saying that we are going to do certain things and we are asking for the funds to do those things. That is all it is about."
Once a disaster happens the plan "immediately kicks in" and the town can start to work, he said.
"We have to keep up and document everything," McDonald said. "If we show them we did what the plan says, they will reimburse us our money.
"It takes a while to get your money back, but you do get it back if you have a plan."
The board also met briefly in closed session to discuss possible location or expansion of a business. McDonald said it concerned an update on the town's industrial park. There was no action or discussion when the board returned to open session.