Gainesboro Bidding Out New Water Treatment Plant Project

A new water treatment plant moving forward in Gainesboro.

Mayor Lloyd Williams said the proposed site is within a mile of the current plant on the same tract of land.

“To renovate the old one, it was going to be around $8.5 million to renovate it, and we just found out in the last meeting there was a little bit more damage to some of the building than we realized, so that cost would have went up a little bit,” Williams said. “We figured it would be better to go with a whole new building.”

Williams said building a new facility would cost about $10.5 million. The town’s aging system regularly exceeds 80 percent capacity. The state requires action once it reaches 75 percent.

Williams said federal COVID money will fund about 20 percent of the project. Williams said the idea is to use grants and a water rate increase to fund the remainder.

“There is another line of money coming.” Williams said. “Hopefully, we can get a lot of it, but more than likely there will be a small increase. We’re going to work with the county on trying to increase our water sales which would always help. We’re going to keep it as low as we can, but there probably will be a little one.”

Williams said the town’s consultant engineer has bid out the project. Williams said if the timeline works out, those should be shared in next month’s meeting.

“We’re hoping for a completion in 2025 or 2026,” Williams said.

Williams said the engineer is also exploring options for the old facility. Williams said it might be used for extra office space or be scrapped.