Springfield City Council approved an intergovernmental agreement with the Effingham Board of Education Councilmen approved the agreement with the Board of Education to run a water line down Highway 119 to furnish Effingham County Middle and Effingham County High schools with water from the city.
The school board sent to the city council an agreement discussing payment and all the terms, Mayor Barton Alderman said.
Councilman Kenny Usher said the amount of the impact fees the agreement had going to the school board would be about two thirds of the fees charged.
Councilman Dennis Webb said he thought the council may need an ordinance changing fees for those who would gain service from the line run on Highway 119.
“We can have a supplemental fee that we add on to that,” he said.
Council members also approved an intergovernmental agreement with the Effingham Industrial Development Authority that will allow the IDA to provide water at its I-16 park. The pact also will lead to Springfield tying in its system to the current industrial park at Highways 21 and 275 and shutting down the well the city owns there.
The IDA has agreed to pay half of the cost, up to $1 million, though it also wants to discuss when the transfer of water will take place.
“Now it depends on what way we do this as to how much the total project’s going to cost,” Webb said. “One option would cost a little less than $2 million, and the other would cost a little over $2 million.”
Webb said the IDA will get paid back the full amount they put into the project “eventually.”
“There’s no interest, so it’s basically a no interest loan,” he said. “We would pay them back $1,000 per ERU on any connection that would connect to that line.”
Springfield agreed to transfer 150,000 gallons a day for use in the I-16 industrial park, and 100,000 gallons a day for the county to use for growth in the area.
City Public Works Director Lowell Morgan said the city cannot transfer 250,000 gallons of the permit until after the connection is made. He said the city could transfer the 150,000 gallons for the IDA site.
The city’s well at the current Effingham Industrial Park is permitted for 400,000 gallons. Morgan said the well is pumping close to 200,000 gallons a day now.
“I don’t want us to hold the park up for the 100,000 gallons that the county wants,” he said. “If we transfer 250 (thousand gallons), we’re over our permit.”
Morgan said he just doesn’t want Springfield to get to a point where it is pumping over the permit.
Councilman Charles Hinely said the first concern should be Springfield then the agreement with the IDA. He said the 100,000 gallons for the county was not introduced until after the city and the IDA had been working on an agreement.
“If this is going to mess up the works, I ain’t going along with it,” he said. “The 150,000 gallons for the industrial park is how this conversation got started.”
