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FAITH — It’s a good thing the people of Faith already know their town is built upon rock. Otherwise, the complications of putting in the sewer system would have come as a shock, because there’s going to be a whole lot more to it than just digging.
Jeff Germain, an engineering technician for Tate, Lanning and Associates from Raleigh, which is handling the project, said he has been working his way through the area with surveyors, basically studying one property at a time to determine the best way to lay out the system.
After making a topographic study, Germain has, in many cases, moved pipe routes originally planned for the middle of roads into back yards to cause less disruption and save money that would otherwise go into repaving the roads.
It looks as though most of the underlying rock is granite, which will have to be blasted and is so solid it shatters. But Germain said that was better than some softer kinds of rock that absorb the blast without breaking up.
He and the surveyors have had few problems during this phase of the operation, Germain said, because they tried to explain the process before they started. When the work first started, with flags and a bush ax, Germain said some people probably wondered, “What’s that man doing in my yard at 7:30 a.m. with an ax?”
But as time passed, Germain got to know so many people in Faith that it’s a running joke that he should be mayor.
“Fine with me,” Mayor Gary Gardner said.
“We’re moving along,” Gardner said, and he hopes the sewer will be finished and operational sometime in 2003, 18 to 20 months from the time digging starts.
The initial surveying is finished now. In the next step, an engineer is developing plans and making adjustments based on field conditions and recommendations.
Plans call for four pump stations, located more or less at the four corners of the town, eventually hooking into Salisbury’s system at Faith and Bird roads.
In this phase, Germain said they are working on an actual construction map. Bids will probably go out in the spring and digging should begin in late summer or early fall 2001.
The project will use about 56,000 feet of pipe in and around town and another 8,000 feet to connect.
So far, most people have responded favorably to the activity. “It’s a growing pain, sure,” Gardner said, “but once all is said and done, the place will be back to normal.”
Having the sewer will open a lot of property, now used for drain fields, for potential development, Gardner said.
On May 2, Faith voters approved a special referendum authorizing a bond to help finance the sewer system by filling in what will not be covered by state and federal grants.
The Board of Aldermen encouraged citizens to support the project and encountered relatively little opposition.
Faith has the unlikely distinction of being the only community in Rowan County without sewer.
State and federal grants will cover 75 to 80 percent of the cost. A grant from the U.S. Department of Agriculture will provide about $2.5 million, and another $2.1 million comes from a state grant.
Mayor Pro Tem Mark Shores called this “free money.” He said, “These are all grants and don’t have to be paid back.” The town will probably have to come up with $1.2 million more through a bond. The bond allows some extra money as a safety net, in case of unforeseen expenses. But officials don’t expect any surprises. The most likely extra expense is excavating rock, and that possibility has been built into the budget.
Officials plan to pay back the bond over 39 years, solely from user fees, which will average about $28 a month.
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