PITTSBORO — Town commissioners debated Monday night submitting a letter of intent to the state for a FEMA grant to conduct a feasibility study exploring alternative energy sources in the expansion of the town’s drinking water plant, but ultimately voted against the move.
Commissioner John Bonitz, the sole vocal yes, proposed the letter, advocating the town explore the use of innovative technologies — such as solar or solar plus batteries — based on the expectation that Pittsboro will eventually expand its water plant. Currently, the plant, with its new Granulated Active Carbon filtration system, processes around 1 million gallons of water a day.
Bonitz said an expansion, perhaps up to processing around 8 million gallons of water daily, would cost $2 million to $6 million in conventional electricity upgrades — an estimate made by former Town Manager Chris Kennedy.
Bonitz said the goal would be to reduce the overall capital project and overall energy bill moving forward. He proposed that the board submit the letter to the N.C. Dept. of Public Safety, saying that FEMA’s grantmaking process awards more points to applicants for future projects when the applicant has previously gotten FEMA funding for the feasibility analysis. The FEMA Building Resilient Infrastructure and Communities grant supports communities in pursuing hazard mitigation projects and reducing risks they face from natural disasters.
Bonitz also said he inquired from different firms about the potential cost of the study, which ranged from one saying they would do it for free while another said the cost could fall between $10,000 and $25,000.
“I think we’re going to have more power supply interruptions in the future,” Bonitz said. “I think we’re going to have more instability. And this would give us the preparation to be resilient in the face of power outages.”
Several other commissioners, though, remained concerned about the town taking on the cost of the project and its relevance given the speculative nature of the expansion, particularly as the potential merger between Pittsboro and Sanford’s water and wastewater systems progresses.
“We’ve got a lot going on with this merger, I’m curious if it’s worthwhile to do this — is it going to work out for the town? Is it going to work out for Sanford?” Commissioner Jay Farrell asked. “So if the feasibility [study, they] want to do it at no charge, I can support it but I’m not in favor of $25,000 for somebody to give us a feasibility survey, and we may not even need it.”
Commissioner James Vose reiterated these sentiments.
“If we’re going to do a utility merger, I kind of feel like we’re trying to solve a problem that they might face one day and trying to imagine what they might be seeing on that day,” Vose said. “That just seems like a lot of carts before horses.”
Interim Town Manager Hazen Blodgett also echoed uncertainty regarding how the Sanford-Pittsboro merger would impact the water system in considering the letter of intent, and noted the constraints around staff time.
Monday marked Blodgett’s first meeting in his new role. Blodgett Chris Kennedy for his assistance in transitioning him to the role, also reminding the board that his contract runs through Jan. 31.
“The hiring process for a manager is difficult and time-consuming but I want to thank you guys for being so on top of it,” Blodgett said. “Because time will fly by.”
Other business
• Pittsboro commissioners also heard a quarterly update from the ABC Board. Hugh Harrington, chairperson of the ABC Board and a former Pittsboro commissioner, presented the report, and stated that the board had just received its fiscal audit for 2021-22.
Net sales are down 1.2%. Additionally, mixed beverage sales are up 55% while in-store sales are down 7%, Harrington reported.
“So it’s kind of a reverse of what happened when COVID hit two years ago,” Harrington said, noting that restaurants and bars have opened back up.
He said construction south of the courthouse impacted access to the ABC Store on Sanford Road. Supply chain issues also affected sales, Harrington said. The store also had at least $25,000 in overtime during the past year with limited staff.
The distributions to the town were $74,000 compared to around $56,000 the previous year. The improved cash position included an end-of-year distribution of $19,000 in excess working capital.
He said current trends in the past two months of the new fiscal year show that Pittsboro ABC is up in revenue in retail and mixed beverage sales.
• Downtown Development Director Theresa Thompson presented a request for approval of a $5,000 reimbursement for façade grant funding at Realty World Carolina Properties in downtown Pittsboro, which the board unanimously approved. Costs for the Andrews Realty Company to install a new canopy and a new wall sign to the exterior of the building on 73 Hillsboro St. were around $15,000. Main Street Pittsboro had previously approved a reimbursement of one half of the cost or $5,000, whichever amount was less.
The commissioners will next meet 7 p.m. on Monday, Oct. 10, at in the Chatham County Agriculture & Conference Center.
Reporter Maydha Devarajan can be reached at mdevarajan@chathamnr.com and on Twitter @maydhadevarajan.