The Village of South Jacksonville’s water system will have a lighter load to bare once it returns to service.
Village President Dick Samples told the Board of Trustees last night that the Scott-Morgan-Greene Water Co-Op recently reached out to him and have asked permission to supply the water for the Merritt-Exeter Water Co-Op and to the Village of Lynnville: “[Scott-Morgan-Greene] is not physically managing them or anything else. They are just simply supplying the water to the Merritt-Exeter Co-Op and then also to the Village of Lynnville. They simply can quit our service or we can quit them with a 30-day notice.”
Samples says it was primarily due to costs. The co-op felt that the prices on rural customers had gone up too much and they were seeking a cheaper option. Samples says it will alleviate some boil order issues and capacity issues on the entire system. He says that doesn’t take the future cost of a new water tower off the table: “We just have to wait and see the cost of it, construction, so on and that way. Eventually, somewhere down the line, we will require a new water tower. The current one is 60-70 years old at this point.”
Jamie Headen of Benton & Associates gave a presentation to the Village Board about building a new, higher capacity tower approximately 2 years ago and estimated the cost to be over $2 million. Headen said the current tower is reaching its useful life. The village board came to a consensus last night that they would need to invite Headen back for a reevaluation of the situation and in hopes of getting help in exploring financing and grant options.
Public Works Superintendent Brian English wouldn’t give a date or time when the water system would be turned back on last night, but did say that the Oxville plant was close to being returned to service.