James Fork outlines lake, pipeline and treatment upgrades; seeks grants to limit rates

At the study session, James Fork representatives described a package of capital projects intended to increase supply and system resilience, including building a new lake, adding a clarifier to the treatment plant and installing a pump station on the system’s west side, and extending a parallel pipeline to the Whiterville tank. "I'm trying to get a grant to put in a new lake, and we're gonna also parallel our parallel line stop at Webby Court," Piles said, outlining plans that James Fork’s engineer has advanced.

Piles noted capital financing already taken and sought: a $4.4 million municipal bond closed in 2023 and a roughly $2.1 million financing in 2024 to buy watershed land, and he said the expansion estimate discussed in the session included a figure of about $50,000,000 for a broader proposal. Piles and commissioners discussed pursuing grants (USDA and other agencies were named in the transcript) to reduce the direct rate impact on residents; those grant efforts are ongoing and were described as part of the reason James Fork is pursuing the rate structure change.