Winnsboro resident Mike Ward addressed Town Council during their Oct. 1 meeting, expressing his concern over a land developer’s September request for water taps to feed a 60-acre tract on Langford Road in Blythewood.
“My point is, whether you do it one house at a time or all at once, that’s still a lot of water,” Ward said. “What are they willing to put on the table to help us get more water? I know you normally take a week or two to respond, but you’ve had two weeks to think about the same thing that I have, and I would hope that there was enough gray matter together that a response would be available.”
Winnsboro Mayor Roger Gaddy explained that one of the reasons for granting taps in stages is that once a tap is granted, that water is considered used by the water system, whether the water is flowing through it or not. Another reason for granting the taps in stages is that they have to be paid for, $1,350 each, up front. As for Winnsboro’s capacity to consider last month’s request from Land Tech, Inc., Gaddy said that while drought restrictions still exists in Winnsboro, water for the Land Tech enterprise would flow out of Columbia.
“Well, if the good Lord lets me live another five years, I hope I don’t have to come back up here and say I told you so,” Ward said. “That’s $1,350, but you can’t drink it. You can spend it, but you can’t drink it.”
Council then retired into executive session, emerging long enough to authorize Town Manager Don Wood to sign a conflict waiver letter for the Pope Zeigler Law Firm in Columbia. The waiver will allow the firm to represent both the Town of Winnsboro and the regional water authority, of which Winnsboro plans to become a charter member.
