Wallace council sets new system development fees

The Wallace Town Council updated its system development fees at a continued meeting on Tuesday night, June 25, reducing water fees, while increasing sewer fees for new developments coming in to town.

The fees are charged for any new connection to the system, and are required to be updated every five years, Town Manager Rob Taylor explained.

The prior water fee started at $1,462 for a three-quarter-inch line, and increased as the line sizes increased. The newly adopted fee will be $553 for a three-quarter-inch line, a reduction of $909.

A one-inch line will now cost $923, while a two-inch line is $2,946, four-inch is $11,607, six-inch is $23,949, and an eight-inch line is $51,584.

As for sewer rates, the base fee for a three-quarter-inch line increased by $20 to $2,069. The sewer rates also increase as the line gets bigger, with the following costs for connection to sewer: one-inch line, $3,454; two-inch line, $11,025; four-inch line, $43,439; six-inch line, $89,629; and eight-inch line, $193,054.

“You can see how those rates really start to increase for sewer as the line gets bigger,” Taylor told the council. “We’ve just got way more cost in our sewer system plant than we do with water. … We have a lot of projects getting ready to start that will require a lot of capital, and these system development fees are made to help us cover some of that infrastructure that we have to put in.”

Mayor Jason Wells questioned how many customers use the eight-inch lines, which are the most expensive. Taylor said that there were no current customers using that size water or sewer line.

“When you get up to that size, you’re working with municipalities like Teachey, Greenevers, and we already have interlocal agreements with those folks, but this would be for some huge industry using a lot of water,” Taylor explained.

The new fees were available on the town’s website for public comment for 45 days, which is why the item was not ready for action at the council’s regular meeting on June 13. No public feedback was received, Taylor said.

The council voted unanimously to approve the new system development fees.

Also at the continued meeting last Tuesday night, the council unanimously approved a contract with Duplin County Schools to provide SROs (school resource officers) in the coming school year. Police Chief Jimmy Crayton was not present at the meeting, but Taylor reported that both Crayton and Town Attorney Anna Herring had reviewed the contract and recommended approval.

In one more item of business, the council had approved the sale of a piece of property at the corner of North Norwood Street and East Murphy Street at its April meeting. The property was advertised on GovDeals.com, with Mount Calvary Leadership Development Corporation bidding $25,000 to purchase the property.

The council voted unanimously to authorize the sale, and then the meeting adjourned.

The Wallace Town Council will next meet on Thursday, July 11, at 6 p.m. at Town Hall.