Health and Welfare Committee agrees to use TDEC funding for water meter upgrades

Published 4:05 pm Friday, May 6, 2022

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If approved by the full commission, Carter County will give $2.9 million in TDEC funding to the City of Elizabethton for water meter upgrades.
City Manager Daniel Estes told Health and Welfare Committee members about the impact this upgrade could have on county residents.
“Forty-eight percent of the county is serviced by city water,” Estes said. “Seven of the eight county districts receive some service with only District 2 in Roan Mountain being the exception.”
Also, the city has agreed to pay the TDEC match to take that burden off the county.
“We have offered to pay the matching portion of the grants so the county wouldn’t have to and also have offered to provide our time and equipment to helping get water to some residents on Laurels Road,” Estes said. “The county would only have to pay roughly $300,000 of the estimated $600,000 cost to complete the project to cover the cost of material and we told them they could add that to the $2.6 million that we requested.”
The water meters are expected to cost $2.6 million and $300,000 will be used to extend water service to approximately 15 residents on the Laurels Road.
With the approval of the two items and the Peters Hollow Water/Utility project ($200,000) not qualifying for TDEC funding and the Carder View Utility System’s $400,000 TDEC funding contribution, the county will have just over $4.1 million of TDEC funds remaining as other utilities will present their request at 10 a.m. on May 17.

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