SALISBURY – Rowan County’s plan to address a drinking water problem for some Dukeville residents will become clearer at Monday’s Board of Commissioners meeting.
The county has been working for months to address elevated lead levels in some homes in the Dukeville area that previously had water quality issues related to coal ash. The district’s water system supplies 162 connections and several hundred residents. It is owned by the county but the water itself is treated by Salisbury-Rowan Utilities.
After the elevated lead levels were discovered, the North Carolina Department of Environment announced in June that it must build a booster station by June 12, 2021 to meet EPA standards or to impose a fine.
Dellinger, Inc. recommends commissioners accept a low bid of $ 742,900 for the Monroe-based contractor to build a chemical booster pumping station along the county’s northeast water system. The booster station injects a corrosion inhibitor, a chemical compound, into the water supply that coats the pipes in customers’ homes, shops and places of worship to ensure that lead from their pipes does not leak into the drinking water.
To determine which corrosion inhibitor is needed, Rowan County commissioned Virginia Tech with engineering firm Hazen and Sawyer to conduct a study.
The results of this study will be presented to the commissioners during the meeting on Monday. The testing at Virginia Tech was overseen by Jeffrey Parks and Marc Edwards, known for helping to resolve the Flint, Michigan water crisis.
“I’m 100% into them and I think we’ll fix it,” said County Manager Aaron Church. “It’s been great working with (Edwards). We respect what he says and we will follow his recommendations.”
The Rowan County Board of Commissioners will meet on Monday at 3 p.m. in the J. Newton Cohen Sr. room on the second floor of the Rowan County Administration Building. The meeting can be attended virtually at https://bit.ly/rowanboc0405 with password 040521 or by phone at: 602-753-0140, 720-928-9299, 213-338-8477.
Also on the agenda:
• • Commissioners will consider making changes to the county’s ordinances and zoning plan regarding solar panels.
Commissioners were ready to vote on approving last month’s changes, developed by the Rowan County Planning Board last year. However, they decided to postpone the vote until Monday to review some changes. These revisions include:
• Eliminated internal setbacks of 25 feet along common property lines within the system area for both conditional use permits and district conditional applications
• Modified text to allow district conditional applications to be approved by the NC Utilities Commission prior to filing an application with Rowan County
• The changed maximum system area for conditional use permits has been changed from 50 to 50 acres to 25
• Modified decommissioning requirements for both conditional use permits and conditional district applications to authorize the county to have cost estimates verified by an external engineer of the county’s selection; Decommissioning guarantees and plan updates are required on the 10th anniversary and every 5 years thereafter
The moratorium on applications for new solar energy projects expires on April 6th.
If the commissioners vote to adopt the new rules, they can cancel a pre-planned public hearing in case the moratorium needs to be extended.
• • The commissioners will review an application from the United Church of God at Dorsett Chapel for permission to conduct outdoor services in their church on May 16, June 20, July 11, August 1, September 12, and October 3 about 100-150 people in attendance and will provide music and sermon. The church is located in 1280 Hollywood Dr. in Spencer.
• A public hearing will be held on a motion made by Raymond McMillan Jr. on behalf of K-Town Homes to move 3.84 acre property on the 1000 block of Old Beatty Ford Road from a rural agricultural to a commercial, commercial and industrial facility with a condition to remodel the district to allow the placement of a mini-warehouse. There was no objection to the request as it went through the planning board. The commissioners will also consider a specific application for non-residential intensity allocation from K-Town Homes along with their application for reallocation.
• There will be a discussion of a request from Michael Barron of Tamarac Shores Drive for an expansion of the no-wake zone near the Tamarac Shores Marina. Barron said at a previous meeting of commissioners he wanted to expand the zone to ensure public safety and prevent boats from racing through the area. The NC Wildlife Resource Commission has recommended a different no-wake zone than the one requested by Barron. Commissioners could vote to approve a resolution to expand the zone requested by Barron or the zone requested by the Wildlife Resource Commission.
• Commissioners approve a proclamation for the Prevention of Child Abuse Month and receive an annual report from the community’s Community Child Protection Team.
• The Commissioners will approve a proclamation declaring Telecommunications Company Week for Public Safety, April 11-17.
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