Lamar gets water system update
By Samantha Lyles, Staff Writer, slyles@newsandpress.net
At their May 14 regular meeting, Lamar Town Council received an update about ongoing efforts to rehabilitate and restart the town’s water system from Colton Cauthen of Hanna Engineering.
Cauthen said the rehab project on the town’s Pearl Street water tank is “coming along really well,” and noted that the tank interior has been cleaned and coated and is nearly ready for inspection. Once that tank rehab is completed, work will begin on the town’s second water tank, located behind the Grooms Building on Cartersville Highway. Cauthen estimated work on the second tank should begin in mid-June, and both tanks should be back online in August.
A meeting guest asked if the tank rehab project will affect water pressure, and Cauthen replied that there may be a period during the summer (when the Pearl Street tank is back in service and the Grooms Building tank is offline) when water pressure might be slightly reduced.
“You probably won’t notice any real substantial differences, depending maybe on which side of town you’re on,” said Cauthen. “As long as you have one tank at proper elevation, it’s going to provide pretty uniform pressure across the town.”
Another meeting guest complained about the quality of the town’s current water, saying it was “not fit to drink.” The town’s local well was shut down in February of 2016 after SCDHEC found traces of radium in the water, and Lamar began purchasing water for all of its municipal customers from Darlington County Water and Sewer Authority. Cauthen said that a number of things could explain the water quality issues, such as the amount of time it takes to travel from DCWSA to Lamar, and how long the water sits in old lines before it emerges from the tap.
Through Hanna Engineering and Jannie Lathan of Lathan Consulting LLC, Lamar is pursuing a loan/grant package from USDA to finance nearly $3 million in repairs and updates for its water system. The project addresses several key system needs, including building a new water treatment plant, painting and upgrading those two water towers, sinking a new 250 GPM (gallons per minute) well, and replacing dated and unreliable water meters with new RF (radio frequency) models.
Cauthen estimated that if Lamar’s applications with USDA are approved, it could be about 24 months before Lamar’s new well and water treatment plant come online. He said the new well will be drilled on town-owned property along the Cartersville Highway near the Grooms Building. The financing period for the USDA loan would be 40 years. The life expectancy of a new well is about 50 years.
In a related matter, Town Council member Angele White-Bradley announced that Lamar has entered into an open-ended contract with DCWSA to provide leak detection and repair services for the town’s water system. White-Bradley said that if anyone in the Lamar area sees a quantity of water standing in the street or notices suspicious and persistent pooling of water, they should call Town Hall immediately.
Howard Nettles, director of Community Outreach, Marketing and Recruiting for Genesis Health Care, gave an update on the remodeling and landscaping upgrades underway at Lamar Family Care on West Main Street. Nettles said the exterior will be covered in cypress board and batten, Barbados shutters will adorn the windows, and the grounds will feature new red maples, palm trees, rose bushes and other flowers. A new interior-lighted sign will be installed within the week, and the carport by the main entrance will be converted to an outdoor sitting area.
Nettles said construction is expected to wrap up in three weeks, and Genesis plans to hold a Business After Hours event to show off the new building and celebrate with the community.