Crawford County Commission Considering Expanding Water to More Residents, System in Debt

ROBERTA, Georgia (41NBC/WMGT) — Crawford County Commissioners are trying to find a way to expand their water system to bring more customers in, and pay off debt they’ve incurred from it.

Connie Carroll’s water comes from a well, it tastes fresh, and it looks clean. The problem is, she never knows how much of the natural resource she has on hand.

“That’s nature out there, that’s water, that’s in the well. We don’t know how much water is out there,” says Carroll.

Caroll lives on Sarah Hills Circle, an area of the Crawford County, that isn’t connected to the county’s water system.

“We’re going to target this area here, Sarah Hills,” says Pat Kelly, Crawford County Administrator.

It’s one of four areas that the Crawford County Board of Commissioners is considering running water to.

In order to complete the project, the county is looking to applying for a $500,000 Community Development Block Grant. It’s won the money 3 times in the last 8 years for road and water upgrades but Kelly says the last water expansion project didn’t pay off.

“The biggest issue is that if they county’s going to expend money, we can capture enough customers to be able to repay that debt. It’s been a problem in the best and it’s a problem with our water systems today,” says Kelly.

If the board approves this grant application, it would pledge $50,000 dollars toward the project.

“Our recent paving project was a $500,000 grant, the county put up $200,000 for that so it shows that we’re serious about the project and the project makes sense to us, and therefore maybe it makes sense to the people who review the applications.” 

If the board chooses the Sarah Hills subdivision as the applicant for the grant, more than 70 residents would be tapped in to the county water. Carroll says it’d be a huge relief.

“What I worry about is the well messing up, and if it does, then I’m in serious problem here because I don’t know how I would pay for it if the well went dry or if the pump messed up. That’s the main thing with having well water,” says Carroll.

Kelly estimates the cost per month for water ranges from about $30 to $35, which Carroll says is worth it considering the thousands she’d have to pay if her well pump ever dies.