Mayor details water, broadband and tourism investments; lists ARP grants to utility districts

At the county forum, Mayor Randall Hutto outlined work with local utility providers on drinking water, septic/step systems and broadband expansion while also noting the economic benefits of tourism.

On water and septic, Hutto said about 90% of the county has potable water but that roughly 3% do not. He explained the difference between conventional septic, step systems and municipal sewer during audience exchanges and said the Wilson County Water and Wastewater Authority was established to serve rural areas.

Hutto listed American Rescue Plan (ARP) and related allocations he said were provided to utility districts: Wilson County Water and Wastewater Authority $5,000,000; Lagarda (spelled in remarks) $2,700,000; Global $3,500,000; West Wilson $1,500,000. He also cited broadband grants to DTC ($800,000) and United Communications ($1,500,000) to expand service.

Jason Johnson, director of tourism, described tourism as a "quality of place" industry that brings visitor spending without long-term service burdens, estimating annual visitor spending in Wilson County of about $370 million and citing roughly $4.6 million in hotel/motel tax revenue that supports tourism-related facilities.

These descriptions were presented as information and there were no formal funding votes during the forum.