Holly Springs Awarded Federal Stimulus Money 5/12/2009

Holly Springs will receive $81,600 in federal stimulus money for a solar-powered mixer to maintain water quality in one of the Town's elevated storage tanks.

Holly Springs is one of 35 communities whose water projects were chosen by state officials for the first-round distribution of federal economic recovery and investment funds, Gov. Bev Perdue announced Monday.

The mixer will help keep chlorine amounts consistent at different water levels inside the million-gallon storage tank on Avent Ferry Road. The purpose is to prevent problems, including bad taste and odor, that can result when tank water doesn't turn over enough.

"We've never had an issue before," Amy Moore, the Town's Public Utilities director, said Tuesday. "But it helps us stay on the preventive side with water quality instead of the reactive side."

The model chosen is called a Solar Bee, a mixing device powered by solar panels placed atop the water tower.

"I'm excited about it," Moore said of the relatively new technology.

The Avent Ferry Road storage tank is one of three in Holly Springs' drinking water system. The others are a million-gallon tower near Holly Springs Elementary School and a 300,000-gallon tower on Lee Street near Hunt Community Center.

The Avent Ferry tower was the priority for a mixer. Because it's so close to the Harnett County line that supplies Holly Springs, the water level in the Avent Ferry tank doesn't fluctuate as much as in the other two tanks.

A fourth tank recently erected in Holly Springs will be for a reclaimed water system providing treated wastewater for irrigation in the 12 Oaks golf course community and in Holly Springs Business Park.

The money for the mixer is from $40.5 million in American Recovery and Reinvestment Act funds for public water supply projects. The N.C. Department of Environment and Natural Resources decides who gets the money. Recipients must repay half the money, but at zero interest.

Last fall, Moore learned about the mixer from a company hired to drain and clean the Town's water towers. Moore intended to include the mixer in Public Utilities' 2009-2010 budget requests, but assumed it was unlikely to make the cut in such a tight budget year.

With news of the stimulus package, Town officials compiled a list of "shovel-ready" projects that could qualify for the state-administered federal funds.

The Solar Bee was one of eight water, wastewater and transportation projects for which stimulus money was requested. The status of the others is pending.

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Town of Holly Springs - PO Box 8 - 128 South Main Street - Holly Springs, NC 27540 - (919) 552-6221 - Holly.Springs@hollyspringsnc.us