THORN HILL– Residents of Thorn Hill gathered for a second meeting at the Thorn Hill Community Center Thursday, October 2 to discuss the possibility of bringing treated water to the area.
Grainger County Commissioner Jennifer Holt spoke to attendees and said Sneedville Utility District would be needed to manage the water system. She said the next grant application period will be in February, when the county would apply for a Community Development Block Grant to fund construction of a waterline into Thorn Hill.
“Hopefully we will have numbers that we can take back to Sneedville Utility District next month that will be favorable for them and profitable to be able to start this venture,” Holt said.
Former Luttrell-Blaine-Corryton Utility District Manager Jimmy Langley spoke to attendees and said, “We have tried this before with Sneedville. They’re willing to sell water. Tomorrow, they’ll sell water. But we need them to operate because they’re the closest one to Thorn Hill. Their waterline exists at the county line.”
Langley said one hurdle to overcome is to secure matching funds for the grant. He said at this time it is unknown what the grant match amount required will be. He said another hurdle to overcome relates to incomes. He said a set number of low-to-moderate income residents would be needed to help with acquiring the grant. A third hurdle relates to funding the depreciation of the waterline, which is something that is required by the state. The funds for depreciation would go toward the replacement of the waterline in the future. The number of customers would affect the amount required to be paid toward depreciation per customer.
Langley also spoke about the quality of water some residents in Thorn Hill have at their homes.
“I don’t know if I tested your water in 2018, but the ones I sampled, it had sulfur in it, some had bacteria, some even had E. coli. It’s really bad. I don’t remember how many samples we took.
Maybe it was 35 or 40,” he said. “But we’ve got to have at least 51 percent low-to-moderate income people and you’ve gotta have a bunch of bad water.”
Langley told attendees there is competition for the grant with other communities so the more people that sign up, the greater the chance the grant would be awarded.
Langley told attendees, “I’ll pay two water bills myself, and I won’t even take the water because I live in Blaine. So that’s about $100 to fund depreciation if it was $50 a month to fund that. I’ll pay two of them That’s how much I want you to have the water.”
He said those who qualify as low to moderate income will not have to pay for a water meter or the connection to their home, but those who do not qualify, and businesses, would have to pay for their meter and the connection to the residence or business.
“The more people that sign up, even if we sign up 60 people and you live way out here and you don’t get water the first time, you have to get started. You can get the first phase done and every two years you can get money. Sometimes, you know, the government gives money away that we’ve already paid that money. It’s your money,” Langley said.
An audience member asked Langley where the water would come from and what treatment it would go through to make it potable.
“The water comes from Sneedville,” Langley said. They get their water from the mine up there. There used to be a mine up there. It’s some of the cleanest water I believe I’ve ever saw. All they do is put chlorine in it because you have to put chlorine in it. That’s what kills the bacteria. Now how much chlorine? People don’t like chlorine. I understand that. Probably about five gallons of chlorine, which is about 12 percent, 12.5 percent, in a million gallons of water. Normally about two parts per million. So, not a lot there, but the state mandates that you have to keep chlorine in your distribution system so it protects you.”
Langley said as far as he knows, Sneedville Utility District does not add fluoride to its water. He said the utility had won “Best Tasting Water” this year for their region, which he said he thought includes five counties.
“I’ll do two (water bills). I’ll support Thorn Hill. I don’t have to, but I will. I pray a lot and the Lord told me that I needed to back in 2018 and he’s still talking to me… You’ve gotta pray about some things,” Langley said.
An audience member asked whether there was another option for individual residents to be able to treat their water.
“There is some USDA funding if you’ve got bad water, and all they do is put a UV light on it,” Langley said. “Of course you can put bleach in it, You know, you can kill the bacteria in there, and the sulfur, you’re not going to get the sulfur out. You’ve gotta have a good water supply. I mean, you could get it out but it’s very expensive.”
He said individuals could apply for the USDA funding.
Meeting attendees who hadn’t already completed a survey were asked to fill out a survey for use by the county in moving forward with the project.
“This is for Jennifer (Holt) and the mayor and the council to look at. It has nothing to do with getting the grant. If you go to get a grant, then you have to do this again with a specific form the state gives you. Then you have to answer their questions,” Langley said.
Holt said anyone who was unable to attend the meetings may reach out to her to obtain a survey, or more information, at Jholt123@frontier.net.