Fee added to new water, sewer taps
By Carla Gwaltney Owens

In the future it will cost new construction a little more to tap into the Clay County Water and Sewer system.

Although tap fees for water and sewer service will be going down a bit, a new "availability fee" will be charged to all new customers starting November 3rd.

Following approval by the Clay County Water and Sewer Board last week, additional charges in the form of availability fees will be levied in order to help the local system gain revenue for capital improvements to the system to handle the growth of the system.

Layton Schuh, director of the local water and sewer district, told water and sewer board members that after researching fees charged by other systems throughout the state, the recommendation of the Clay County Water and Sewer Advisory Board is to begin to charge an impact fee to new customers in addition to existing tap fees.

The advisory board recommended that the water and sewer district charge a lower tap fee for water and sewer hook-up which will simply cover the cost of the actual tap and the labor and materials involved in hooking a new client onto the system. The increase in charges will come in the form of a separate "availability fee" which will be charged to new customers. The availability fee will offset the capacity lost by adding the new connection to the system, Schuh explained.

Revenues collected from the new availability fee can only be used for capital improvements to the system, not for daily operating expenses, he added. The funds received from the new fees will allow the system to continue to grow and improve and expand as growth in the area continues to place a greater demand on the system.

The availability fees are based on the meter size, Schuh explained, adding that the cost goes up as the size of the pipe goes up signifying a greater use of water/sewer by the consumer.

The new fee schedule for a typical residential site with a 3/4 inch water service will now be $750 for the water tap fee and $750 for the availability fee. Typical residential sewer fees will now be $1,000 for the tap and $2,500 for the sewer availability fee. Currently the total combined fee for a typical residential site is $3,250 for water and sewer compared to the new combined total cost of $5,000.

The new rate fee went into effect Nov. 3 for any new water and sewer applications. A motion was made by the board to set the effective date for existing projects already in the works (those construction projects who have already made application for water and sewer service and have received approval) for Jan. 1, 2007.

A second recommendation from the water and sewer advisory board was also brought before the board by Schuh, who asked that approval be given for application to be made to TVA for an allocation for future water use from Lake Chatuge.

Approval was given by the board for the application to be submitted to TVA.

Schuh explained that because future allocation of water use from Lake Chatuge will be restricted by TVA application must be made now by the water and sewer district if they wish to have the option of using water from the lake for drinking water. Currently, water is drawn from two deep wells by the county and treated for use by system for drinking water. Although Schuh said the need for additional water for treatment is not an immediate need, application with TVA must be made now to insure a possible future allocation if and when the need arises.

Clay County Manager Paul Leek announced that the advisory board will not have another regular meeting until the last Friday of January 2007.

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