Elon’s town council has agreed to funnel $2 million in state funds toward the modernization of a 44-year-old pump station that it purchased from the town of Gibsonville in 2022.
The council formally accepted this grant from the N.C. Department of Environmental Quality on Monday in order to jump start a multi-phase upgrade of the decades-old pump station, which Elon now operates on behalf of both municipalities. These proposed improvements will ultimately allow a lot more raw sewage to reach Burlington, which provides wastewater treatment for both Elon and Gibsonville.
Donnie Wood, Elon’s public works director, recalled that he and his staff have already increased the pump station’s capacity from 800,000 to 950,000 gallons a day since they took over the facility’s operations from Gibsonville.
“Now, it’s time for some upgrades,” Wood added when he presented the proposed improvements on Monday. “Fortunately, we’ve received a $2 million grant to proceed with a forced main for pump station.”
Wood informed the council that the state’s $2 million grant will go toward the installation of a 16-inch force main to replace the 12-inch conduit that dates back to the pump station’s construction in 1981. He noted that the new main will greatly increase the station’s existing capacity, which is evenly divided between the towns of Elon and Gibsonville.
Wood pointed out that Gibsonville’s volume of about 415,000 gallons a day already comes uncomfortably close to the community’s current daily quota of 475,000 gallons. He also predicted that Elon’s own volume of about 300,000 gallons a day would eventually bump up against this same quota if the town continues to grow and expand as its leaders expect.
Elon’s mayor Emily Sharpe went on to recall that this hope of further expansion was a big reason for the pump station’s purchase – which she added had occurred as part of a broader annexation agreement that Elon had brokered with Gibsonville.
“Before, Gibsonville could have come right across and annexed everything,” she elaborated. “This allows us to have future growth through the agreement …and we purchased [the pump station] knowing there would be these expenses in the future.”
Wood proceeded to note that the state plans to hold back $30,000 from its $2 million outlay in order to cover its own administrative expenses. Josh Johnson, the town’s civil engineer, nevertheless assured the council that Elon shouldn’t have to put up its own funds to bankroll the new force main thanks to a cost-sharing arrangement it has worked out with Gibsonville.
“Gibsonville,” he added, “has agreed to spend the next $1.97 million…and the next project [which the money from Gibsonville is expected to cover] will include the pumps at the pump station.”
The council voted 5-to-0 to accept the proceeds from the aforementioned state grant.
