Monterey Calfkiller Water Project To Go Before County Commission

Following the Monterey Board of Aldermen’s approval Monday, the city’s Calfkiller Water Project will take its next steps with the county.

The project is a partnership to extend public water on Calfkiller Road through American Rescue Plan money.  County Mayor Randy Porter said the immediate next step will be to bring it before the county commission, which he believes is already behind it.

“We’ll start the engineering drawings which will take a few months to do, it’s a large project,” Porter said. “Once those are done we’ll put it out to bid and see where the bids come in. And once we can come in and get the project started we’ll be working out the MOUs and stuff with Monterey.”

Porter said the project is similar to the one in Double Springs with the Martin’s Creek project. as it is a smaller utility district. He said Monterey will face the same issues with paying for depreciation, so the county will work out a memorandum of understanding to help with those costs for the first few years.

Porter said the process as a whole could take up to six to 12 months.

“It’s going to be great for those citizens that live down that road,” Porter said. “You’ve got people that are on sulfur wells and springs and don’t have good water sources. I’ve always thought it’s hard to believe that in 2023 here we are and one of the basic necessities we have is water and you still have hundreds of residents not only in our county but across the country that don’t have access to public water. So it’s been the county’s goal and mine to try and address some of those issues with this ARP funding.”