Town Council members were surprised Sept. 22 to hear that Glen Barefoot, who advocated for the sewer extension along Hwy 50 and New Rand Road, now wants the project put on hold.

Barefoot said he was approached by the NCDOT in early September with a cheaper price to tie into the Garner sewer. The price would be $1,031 as opposed to the $6,300 Garner estimated.

However, Garner Town Engineer Frank Powell said the letter to Barefoot was sent in error. After talking with staff members at NCDOT, Powell said to his knowledge there is no intention for the state to extend the sewer line along Benson Road.

Residents are still confused by the incident.

Sue King, who owns a residence along Benson Road, asked who has the permitting authority over the sewer line. Although the state must approve it, Town Manager Hardin Watkins said the sewer system is governed by Raleigh utilities.

“We’re really just a convener and facilitator in this,” he said.

However, Ed Harrelson said he would like to know if the project would become more expensive for the remaining nine homeowners if the NCDOT’s proposal was legitimate and Barefoot and Thompson chose to take the deal.

Powell said although the size of the area wouldn’t change, Garner would have to decide whether to run two lines in either direction from Barefoot and Thompson, whose properties lie in the middle of the group of homes that would be serviced.

“I guess I just still have a lot of questions,” King said.

Barefoot said the cost quoted to him for his property and that of his neighbor, Ronald Thompson, was $23,000 for construction. He was told the only expenses he and Thompson would pay would be for the fee to tie into the Garner line.

“Now it’s a big hoax,” he said.

With Garner’s extension plan, 970 feet of linear pipe would be laid to serve 11 homes. One more home along the road already has sewer service. The cost of the project would be split equally among the 11 homeowners.

The Council delegated the task of finding answers to Public Works in hopes that the issue will come up again at the Nov. 5 meeting.

Garner accepted into Main Street Program

Garner Revitalization Association Executive Director John Hodges announced that Garner has been accepted to join 60 other communities in the N.C. Main Street Program.

Four communities were accepted this year, a sign that Garner’s hard work in the application process paid off. Garner joins Davidson, Kings Mountain and Roanoke Rapids as a 2009 inductee.

“Many of our Town staff members jumped in and helped with this application,” he said.

Board of Directors Chairman for the GRA Elmo Vance offered thanks to the Town’s staff as well, saying Garner is headed in the right direction.

“It was a deliberate step in a positive direction,” Vance said.

The Main Street Program will offer the GRA training and networking opportunities and may open up avenues to attain funding for the revitalization project.