Utility Commission to Consider Davie Contract

Utilities Division - April 13, 2007
Contact: David Saunders, 727-8418

The City/County Utility Commission on Monday will consider selling water to Davie County. The commission will also consider expanding the amount of sewage that it treats from Davie County.

If approved, the contract would recoup revenue lost with the closing of the Lee Jeans and Hanesbrands plants in Forsyth County, enhance water quality in the Yadkin River basin, reduce the impact of the lost revenue on other utilities customers, and contribute money to the commission’s economic development fund.

The commission’s water and sewer-treatment plants can meet Davie County’s request and still have enough capacity for future growth, says David Saunders, the utilities director. "We have the capacity to treat 51 million gallons of sewage a day, and our average flow, after the loss of Lee Jeans and Hanesbrands, is 32.1 million gallons a day." The commission has a water capacity of 97 million gallons a day and an average daily demand of 40 million gallons a day after the plant closings.

The commission currently treats up to 550,000 gallons of sewage a day from Davie County. For this service, Davie County pays two-times the in-city rate. Under the proposed contract, the commission would treat up to 5 million gallons of sewage a day at the same rate.

Absent the contract, Davie County would have to build a new sewage treatment plant or rely on "package plants" installed by developers, both of which would discharge into the Yadkin River above the city’s water intake, Saunders said.

Davie County also would like to buy up to 1.3 million gallons of treated water a day, also at the rate of two times the in-city rate. According to commission rules, half of the excess revenue, or about $220,000 initially, would be set aside for economic development projects in Winston-Salem and Forsyth County. After 10 years this could grow to about $840,000 a year.

Davie County will pay for designing and building the water and sewer lines that connect to the city/county system. The commission would oversee the design and construction of the sewage-collection system, and would operate the pump station that serves Davie County.

The proposed contract would bring in $1.7 million annually, replacing the $1.5 million in revenue the Utility Commission lost with the closing of the Lee Jeans and Hanesbrands plants. However, Saunders estimated that it would take about two years before Davie County completes its system and the commission sees this revenue. Eventually, the contract could be worth $5.25 million a year.