By Fred Guarino
The Lowndes Signal

The town of Lowndesboro is offering area residents a once in a lifetime opportunity to expand its water system.

Mayor Rick Pate announced at Tuesday’s regular Lowndesboro Town Council meeting that the Delta Regional Authority has released $350,000 in grant funds for the town to expand its water system.

As a result the council voted Tuesday night to allow Pate to investigate the town’s part of the project cost, which he said he expects to fall between $100,000 and $200,000.

“This s a great opportunity that the town has worked literally for years to be able to offer,” Pate said.

However, he stressed, if there are not enough customers to take advantage of the opportunity to extend the water system along Robison Switch Road to the areas around River Road, the town will have to turn the money back in.

Pate said the town went from an 80-gallon-per-minute water pumping capacity to a 400-gallon-per-minute capacity and went from an 80,000-gallon water storage capacity to a 280,000-gallon storage capacity.

However, Pate said before the town would expand the water system, it had committed to make sure the impact fee paid by new customers would be under $2,000 per tap. He said the amount will be $1,950.

“The water system is going to be as good as it can be,” Pate said.

He said the town learned of the grant two months ago.

He said a public meeting was held Nov. 1 to put all the numbers out, and he said the town is pushing to get 100 new customers signed up for water by Jan. 1.

He said there is a potential of 150 customers.

According to the Delta Regional Authority the council was given notice to proceed on Nov. 16 and the approved grant amount for this waterline extension is $349,553.