A massive project soon to begin construction will add 40 miles of brand new water line to the Ivanhoe area. It is a groundbreaking endeavor for southern Sampson as the county’s water system continues to grow, with close to $50 million in funds obtained in the last few years to fund the development of close to 1oo miles of water lines anticipated to serve well over 1,000 new customers.
“The Ivanhoe project is a humongous project — 41 miles of line has to be put in there, so that’s a long process,” Sampson County Public Works Director Mark Turlington stated recently.
Currently, Ivanhoe does not have a water distribution system. A $13.3 million state grant, received in 2022, is providing Sampson County the funds to design and construct a new public water supply system in the Ivanhoe area. There are 550 potential users in the area, and of that 550, it is projected that 300 potential users will opt to purchase water.
This equates to a cost of more than $44,000 per customer, county officials said. By comparison, in most areas of the county, one could probably dig a deep well in the $10,000 range.
Without the funding, the county would typically do well to obtain 50% grant funding for potential expansion projects, County Manager Ed Causey noted. With 50% grant funding, a 20-year repayment period and a 2% interest rate, the Ivanhoe project would then cost $111 per month per user before operational costs are added in, he said.
“This is why the county could not undertake the project before now,” Causey stated. “We are grateful that the state and federal government have allowed the development of this and other projects. Sampson County will continue efforts to expand our water system and provide water to as many potential customers as economically feasible.”
The proposed water main extensions in that greater Ivanhoe area will connect residents along Lisbon Bridge Road, Harrells Highway (Hwy 411), Longview Lake Road, Clear Run School Road, Firetower Road, Wildcat Road, Hoover Road, Alpine Church Road, Dr. Kerr Road, Trestle Road, Ivanhoe Road, G. Shaw Road, Barnhill Road, Eddie L. Jones Road, McKoy Loop Road. Ivanhoe project was still in the process of permitting and obtaining easements earlier this year in hope to bid the project in the last half of 2024.
Sampson County has been endeavoring to provide water to rural residents for more than 30 years. Sampson’s water system is operated as an enterprise, meaning the system does not receive county funding for operations and supports itself from the fees collected and generated from water sales.
“We receive no tax dollars to operate,” said Turlington. “What revenue we receive out of water sales, is what we have to operate.”
The system originally started with the assistance of USDA Rural Development through low interest loans and grants. Two water districts were created: one covering the U.S. 421 corridor, and one encompassing the N.C. 24 area. The concept, according to county officials, was to find areas where the population was strong enough to support the operations of the system being developed without financial support other than from user fees, with the goal to then expand the system as the financial capacity improved to allow growth.
That expansion would need to come from loans, grants and special appropriation funds, Turlington stated. And, in recent years, the county has been successful in procuring just that.
That includes special appropriations funds of $17.3 million from the State Legislature to fund Clement area phase I and II infrastructure improvements, water lines for the Roseboro area and two new wells; $1 million from Congress to fund upgrades to the treatment plant; $17 million in SCIF (State Capital and Infrastructure Fund) grants and ARPA (American Rescue Plan Act) grants; and the roughly $13 million in state funds for the Ivanhoe project.
That grand total of grants and special appropriations comes to $48.6 million.
In that same timeframe, construction projects have been completed in the Clement area (phase I), Hollerin Road, King Road, Roseboro Bypass, which encompasses 16 total miles of water lines.
Construction projects underway in recent months have included South McCullen Road, Governor Moore Road, Auctioneer Road, Serenity Lake Road, Jernigan Loop Road, Kenan Weeks Road, East Darden Road and North Peavine Road. There have also been two new 125,000-gallon tanks installed in the Roseboro and the Spivey’s Corner areas, as well as two new booster pump stations at each of those tanks.
“That’s a total of eight miles of water line,” Turlington noted.
New projects, which undergoing a design and staging phase before line construction could begin, included those in the Snow Hill and Roseboro area, Marion Amos Road, White Woods Road, Bubba Gump Road, Lakewood School Road and The Avenue — a total of 16 miles of water lines in all.
As part of Clement area (phase II), water lines will stretch along the rest of Ernest Williams Road, Minnie Hall Road, Mt. Carmel Church Road, Dunn Road, Libbie Road, Autryville Road, Holland Road and Welcome School Road — 13 miles in all.
“To summarize what we’ve done in the last few years and what we’re going to do in the future, our total funding up to this point was $48.6 million, which will touch 25 roads which we will put water lines on or have put water lines on — a total of 94 miles and a potential of 1,069 customers,” Turlington noted.
That is being done, he noted, with a group of 14 employees, who are responsible for maintaining 700 miles of water lines, three wells, one treatment plan, six tanks and six booster pump stations.
The county currently has more than 6,800 water customers. In the past two years, more than 500 new customers have been added to the system.
Causey said when he was hired as county manager in 2010, there was a little less than 5,000 customers.
“So the system is growing,” Causey stated. “It’s sort of like creating tentacles. The more you get out there, then you will have other opportunities to expand. Everything that you do is a step moving forward that probably will enhance our capability to be able to add more lines as time goes on. At the same time, it’s still important that we operate the system efficiently and make sure what we’re adding is cost-efficient and what the customers can afford.”
The goal is to to provide potable water to as many rural residents as possible, local leaders said. The more solvent the existing system is, the more users that can be added and supported as time goes by, said Causey, noting the “tremendous help of state and federal resources” as the county seeks to add numerous water lines.
“Operating a self-sufficient water system necessitates that we determine economic feasibility when evaluating potential new lines,” Causey stated. “The grants received in recent years have been a tremendous help in offsetting some of this cost.”
Turlington said that there are still several areas where those funds are being sought, including on Old Warsaw Road and Old Mintz Highway, where the county, as of yet, has been unsuccessful in obtaining such appropriations.
“We will continue looking for grants and special appropriation money,” said Turlington, who noted the aid of local leaders’ and their lobbying in support of the money to fund those endeavors.
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