Daniel Prince
City continues to move away from using chlorine in the water system
In a few other matters, Nichols said the city is applying for a $1.1 million loan from the state revolving fund to do work at the water plant. He noted they will need to rewire the plant, replace some automatic valves, and do some other upgrades and work, and after it is complete, he said the water plant should be in good shape, as they have already done a lot of work on the water plant in previous years.
Nichols said the city received notice from the Economic Development Administration gave the city notice on Tuesday that they have received a grant for a little more than $1 million to put in 24” sewer line in the Medical Sciences Drive area. Coupled with an $800,000 grant they previously received from the Rural Infrastructure Authority, they are able to put together bids and documents and send everything in for approval soon. They are already working on temporary easements for construction in the area. The 24” line will replace 12” line that runs through the area all the way down to the Tosch Creek sewer plant.
He said they hope to hear by the first of this week about grants to fund sewer improvements for the Monarch, Union Mill, and Excelsior areas. He said the money would finish up the upgrades in Monarch, improve a couple of streets in the Union Mill area near City Hall, and would take care of a couple of streets in the Excelsior area not covered by the previous CDBG grant.
Nichols said the city has applied for a temporary permit from DHEC to do testing on peracetic acid in the system. He said the city is trying to eliminate the use of chlorine and SO2 in the wastewater treatment system, which triggers the need for a risk management plan with DHEC that needs to be on file and updated regularly. He said tests have been going well and they hope to be finished with the testing soon.
Finally, Nichols said a couple of people have expressed interest in buying parcels of land that the city owns on Lakeview Heights. He said a few months back, the city took bids on multiple pieces of property that it owns, and it may be time to do that again, mentioning not only the Lakeview Heights property, but one on Lawson Avenue, as well. Others also could be included.