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BEULAVILLE — Residents raised concerns over the town’s ongoing water project at the board’s regular meeting on Monday evening following an April 7 break in the main line. The incident has placed Beulaville townsfolk under a boil water advisory until the samples sent for testing have returned.
On Monday afternoon, Town Manager Lori Williams issued advisories to inform the public about the break in the main water line, which has resulted in periods of low water pressure and outages in the distribution system. Residents were advised to boil all water used for human consumption — including water used for making ice, brushing teeth, washing dishes, and preparing food, or to use bottled water. This precaution is necessary as low or no pressure can increase the risk of back siphonage, which may introduce bacteria into the water system.
“Once they pull the samples and they have to be sent off, there’s a 24-hour testing period,” said Williams in response to a citizen’s inquiry. “We could get those notices back by Wednesday afternoon late, or it could be Thursday morning.”
Though residents expressed concern with a perceived lack of communication from the town regarding the break, Williams explained that two notices had been sent: one when the leak began and another with additional information, including the boil water advisory. She advised that a third notice will be sent regarding the boil water advisory once samples have returned. Williams also thanked Public Works for their fast response and hard work in remedying the break.
“Within four hours, start to finish, water was restored back in town,” Williams explained.
Ricky Raynor, director of Public Works for the town of Beulaville, advised the board that all waterlines should be installed within two weeks, noting that tie-ins and water taps would need more time.
“As far as laying pipe, they hope to be done in a week and a half, two weeks tops,” said Raynor.
Raynor also addressed the concerns of Beulaville resident Karl Wilson regarding pipes that appeared to have been left sticking out of the ground, explaining that sight pipes were necessary for engineers to record pipe location and depth.
“That’s for our records; then those pipes will be pulled up and those holes will be filled in,” advised Raynor. “They’ve got until December, but they plan on being done well before that.”
The town is also working on modernizing its noise ordinance with updates to restrictions on mufflers, speakers, events, timing and complaint process as well as increased fines. Karl Mobley, chief of police, indicated that these changes made the existing ordinance more specific, both civilly and criminally.
Beulaville Mayor Hutch Jones and Commissioner Delmas Highsmith expressed reservations about the wording of the new ordinance and whether loopholes existed that could be exploited to circumvent it, specifically how officers intended to measure noise as town police presently lack the decibel meters the ordinance references. Ultimately, the board decided to table the ordinance until it had been revised.
Other matters of business included scheduling two public hearings for the board’s May meeting on the 2025-26 budget and a proposed 24-month moratorium on new vape and tobacco shops within town limits.
