THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Tuesday, September 19, 1995 TAG: 9509190080
SECTION: LOCAL PAGE: B1 EDITION: NORTH CAROLINA
SOURCE: BY LANE DEGREGORY, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: MANTEO LENGTH: Long : 129 lines
Dare County will not sell water to Currituck's Outer Banks after all.
Dare's Board of Commissioners voted unanimously Monday to end negotiations to provide water to Currituck County communities.
The surprising vote came less than five minutes after an engineering firm presented results of a $2,000 study that determined Dare County could produce enough water to supply three Currituck Outer Banks developments.
Dare commissioners also disbanded their water committee that had been studying the issue and working with Currituck officials since August.
Board of Commissioners Chairman Robert V. ``Bobby'' Owens Jr., who had said earlier that selling water to Currituck was a ``win-win'' deal for Dare, was in Raleigh and did not attend Monday's meeting.
``We have determined that it would be possible to supply water for those three Currituck communities without any threat to the current or future customers of Dare County's water system,'' said Dare County Commissioner Doug Langford, who chaired the water committee. ``But last week, we got a draft of Currituck County's agreement conditions.
``They want all easements needed for the water lines to be deeded to Currituck County. That's contrary to how we do business here. And they want Dare to commit to sell Currituck County additional water in the future, as supplies become available. Those conditions are completely unacceptable to this committee.
``I empathize with their situation and understand why they want this,'' Langford said. ``But I can't accept any of the conditions that were supplied last week.''
Dare and Currituck commissioners have been discussing the possibility of selling water from Dare County's central production system to three communities at the southernmost end of Currituck's Outer Banks. Developers from Pine Island, Currituck Club and Spindrift all had expressed interest in buying Dare County water.
Currituck does not have a central water supply, so all Outer Banks homes and businesses run on either private wells or private water-production plants.
According to the water study prepared by Hobbs, Upchurch & Associates of Southern Pines, the three Currituck communities would need 110,000 gallons of water per day in 1996 and about 60,000 additional gallons per day in subsequent years. The maximum capacity needed would be 700,000 gallons per day in eight to 10 years, the study said.
Dare County's water system can produce 9.5 million gallons per day. The maximum daily demand so far was 7.2 million gallons - recorded on Aug. 5.
If Currituck County were to purchase water from Dare, the study said, planned expansions to Dare County's water system would have to be accelerated by about three years - to 2000. Water lines would have to be enlarged immediately from the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers research pier in Duck to the Currituck County line. And a million-gallon water storage tank would have to be built in Kitty Hawk.
Those necessary improvements, which Currituck developers agreed to finance, would cost about $1.5 million. ``Revenues from the sale of water could reach approximately $399,000 per year by build-out of the three (Currituck) developments,'' the study said. ``Impact fees could total as high as $2.5 million.''
Many Dare County residents had objected to selling county water and were prepared to speak against the plan at the commissioners' meeting when the proposal was killed.
Langford and other commissioners said the primary reason they decided not to sell water to Currituck was that they did not want to have to commit to supplying other communities with water in the future. The study looked only at three developments. It did not consider the effects of future expansion on Currituck's Outer Banks.
``I think we've got an obligation to the people of Dare County for them to get water first,'' Commissioner Sammy Smith said. ``We're gonna go with water for Duck all the way to the county line. And we're going to need to look at getting county water to Wanchese and parts of Southern Shores, Kitty Hawk and Hatteras Island first.''
Currituck commissioners said they were ``surprised and disappointed'' about Dare County's decision.
``I feel like we still had room to negotiate on this water deal,'' Currituck Commissioner Owen Etheridge said Monday. ``We wanted to make sure we could work with Dare County and find a way to provide water for all of our Outer Banks - not just three select communities.
``We understand Dare County couldn't fulfill all our water needs now. But we wanted a long-term commitment from them. I thought this was a great opportunity for regional cooperation.
``Now, I reckon it's back to the drawing board for us.''
Currituck Commissioner Ernie Bowden agreed. ``Dare wouldn't have had to spend one nickel on this project - and they would have gained all that water revenue to finance future expansions,'' Bowden said. ``I thought both boards worked very diligently and positively together - and that it was understood from the beginning that we were interested in receiving water for all our Outer Banks subdivisions eventually. Now, we're going to have to look elsewhere.''
Bill Hollan, president of Turnpike Properties that owns Pine Island, said he, too, was ``a little surprised and disappointed'' about Dare County's decision. ``I think it's a shame,'' Hollan said. ``I'd have anticipated that if the study was favorable - and found the water sale feasible - we'd be able to buy it from Dare County.''
Pine Island already has a water production system but now will need to build a water tower, too, Hollan said.
Currituck Club has its own reverse-osmosis water production plant on the books - and now will proceed with those plans, salesman Mike Hayes said.
Currituck County Finance Officer Dan Scanlon said county funds will not pay for the water study.
Dare County spokesman Charlie Hartig said, ``Our original agreement was that Currituck County would absorb all costs of studies related to the water supply,'' Hartig said. ``If Dare County has to pay, the money will come from water fund revenues - not tax dollars.''
Dare County commissioners agreed to provide water for any Dare County communities that are not yet linked to the central water supply system. They scheduled a public hearing for Duck residents - some of whom do not yet have the option of connecting to the county's water system. The hearing is scheduled for 7 p.m. Monday, Oct. 16, at the Duck Fire Station.
``If anyone else in the county wants to get onto the central water system,'' Hartig said, ``they should call the county offices as soon as possible and let us know of that desire.''
In other business Monday, the Dare County Board of Commissioners:
Passed a resolution asking the General Assembly and North Carolina Commissioner of Insurance to investigate insurance companies cutting back on coverage of homes and businesses in coastal North Carolina ``and find a reasonable and fair solution which will guarantee the availability of insurance at a reasonable rate.''
Agreed to look into providing oceanfront parking in Rodanthe, near the new reverse-osmosis plant, on county-owned land.
Approved a seven-lot subdivision at the old Ocean Village Mobile Home Park in Frisco; a four-lot subdivision called Rodanthe Sands on Seabreeze Drive; and a five-lot development, Rollinson Subdivision, on Sunset Strip in Frisco. by CNB