Staff Writer

Linking the sewer systems of Jonesville and Union could mean reduced taxes for Jonesville residents and new opportunities for industrial development in that part of the county.

Jonesville Town Council will conduct a feasibility study of linking the town's sewer system with Union's along U.S. 176. Mayor Reba Vinson said the study will focus on linking the two systems to help attract industry to the Jonesville area and the rest of the upper half of the U.S. 176 corridor.

The town provides sewer service for its residents and the upper part of the U.S. 176 corridor, treating the sewage in a lagoon. While it can handle municipal waste, the lagoon cannot treat industrial sewage and this has limited the ability of the county to attract industry to the Jonesville area and the rest of the upper part of the corridor.

“We're mainly interested in doing this so that we can open up the opportunity for growth in our area,” Mrs. Vinson said. “We are unable to handle any kind of industrial waste and that's where our hands are tied. We can take on anything that is household waste. The two distribution centers (Dollar General and Disney Direct Marketing) generates a lot of household waste; there's nothing we can't process there, but we can't process any type of industrial waste at all. That limits us to the kind of industry that we can bring in here.”

Mrs. Vinson said the study will also look at the possibility of the town sending its municipal waste for treatment in Union. This could reduce costs and risks the town currently incurs because of the lagoon and possibly allow the town to cut taxes.

“We're also looking at the possibility that it could benefit the Town of Jonesville if we redo the way we process our waste,” she said. “We would maintain our sewer system, we just would not treat it. The only difference would be that instead of a lagoon we would have a pump station which would cut down on our risk of DHEC fines or any other issues with DHEC. We would simply send it to the Union plant to be processed.

“We could go back and look at the operating costs for the lagoon at what we have to charge our customers in order to afford that,” she said. “There's the possibility there could some lowering of taxes and even the cost of sewage.”

Council's decision grew out of a meeting with Union City Council Monday night. Union is in the process of extending sewer service to the new K-8 school being built at the intersection of U.S. 176 and New Hope Church Road. This would bring the city's sewer system - which can treat industrial waste - to within two miles of Jonesville's system. Mayor Bruce Morgan proposed linking the systems, allowing Union to provide industrial sewage service to the upper end of the county.

“The city sees this as the future of building an economic development base throughout Union County to not just only help Union but to help Jonesville and the rest of the county develop and attract industry,” he said. “If we can get industrial wastewater sewer flow to the upper part of the county and all up the 176 corridor, that's just going to make Union County that much more attractive to industry, industry we cannot presently recruit because we don't have that industrial sewer flow there.”

Morgan said the city would help Jonesville finance the feasibility study. He said that if the study confirms the feasibility of the project, the sewer line being built by the city would be extended to the town's southernmost pump station. The station would be reoriented to pump sewage from along U.S. 176 to the city's sewage treatment plant instead of Jonesville's lagoon.

Morgan said the city would also be willing to treat Jonesville's municipal waste, but that will be for the town to decide. If so, the city would give it as cheap a rate as possible.

The feasibility study will also look at the possibility of linking Union and Jonesville's water systems. Morgan said he feels the city could give the town a lower water rate than it is now getting from Spartanburg. Mrs. Vinson said the town's decision would depend on the results of the feasibility study and whether or not it would be in the best interests of its citizens.

Union County Supervisor Donnie Betenbaugh said the county would be willing to assist in the project in the interest of economic development. He said that sewage treatment is an important element in recruiting industry to Union County and that having the infrastructure in place to treat industrial sewage would make the Jonesville area and the rest of the upper part of the county more attractive to industry.

Betenbaugh said the county has previously offered to assist Jonesville with the cost of a feasibility study. Once the cost of the study is known, he will take it before Union County Council and ask the county help fund it.