Putnam Partners With Jackson To Expand Public Water On Martin Creek

The Putnam County Commission approved a multi-party partnership Tuesday night that would bring public water to Martin Creek Road.

Commissioners gave Mayor Randy Porter the go-ahead to hire an engineer for the project. Porter said the next step would be finalizing the project scope.

“What were looking at is a six-inch line that would run up and down Martin Creek Road,” Porter said. “We’d be partnering with Jackson County Utility District and Jackson County, Double Springs Utility District and Baxter city are all involved in this.”

Porter said once plans are complete, the county will take the project to TDEC for funding. Porter said the $1.8 million project would be paid through the county’s allotted amount.

“The final rules just came out last week,” Porter said. “If we partner with someone like Jackson County, the match that we have to pay is only 10 percent. The state pays 90 percent. These are non-competitive grants, so we won’t be competing with anybody else on this $4.9 million.”

Porter said the initial engineering cost would be shared with Jackson County and be paid by the state funding. Porter said residents will not be mandated to accept the public water. Porter said home owners that do wish to take advantage would need to connect at their own expense.

“Anybody that lives on those roads involved in that project, we will try to reach out to them personally just like we do on a CDBG grant to make sure we know exactly how many people on that road will take the water,” Porter said.

Porter said the project now needs approval from the Jackson County Commission. Many groups are involved since Martin Creek Road runs from Bloomington Springs to Granville.