By
The Independent
Berkeley County Supervisor Dan Davis responded to more than 100 concerned residents of Cross and northern Berkeley County expressing outrage about a $2.25 million waterline project.
The biggest bone of contention between residents and the county is the mandatory hook up policy enforced by the county and the more than $2,600 cost to tap in to the county’s waterline.
“The mandatory hook up policy has been in effect for the past 10 to 15 years,” Davis said. “Is there a mandatory hook up policy? Yes. Now, is it strictly enforced? No. To my knowledge we have never forced someone to hook up to county water.”
Davis said there is a $2,600 tap-in fee that residents must pay, but contrary to what was voiced in last Monday night’s meeting, there has never been a problem with residents paying the one-time fee and the county certainly doesn’t expect to collect the sum in one chunk.
“We’ve never had any problem with that (the one-time fee). We’ve been willing to finance it at $20 a month for however long it takes to pay it off,” Davis said. “The fee is included as part of the customer’s monthly water bill.”
While Davis did concede that the resident was responsible for the line carrying water from the street to the house, he added that all residents would have to do was lay the pipe from the street to their current water source, such as a well.
“All they would have to do is to run the pipe from the street and tap in to their well line,” he said. “The cost depends on where the well is. Sometimes the well is located in the front yard or along the side of the house. If that’s the case the cost should be nominal.”