At the Thursday, Dec. 7 meeting of the Guilford County Board of Commissioners, the board plans to finalize an agreement regarding water infrastructure in Summerfield that the county commissioners and county staff have been discussing for nearly a year and a half.

At a late summer work session last year, the Board of Commissioners approved plans to give the town $5.5 million to enhance the water infrastructure for the town in northern Guilford County with a population of about 12,000. This initial phase of the water system is meant to improve fire protection in the town.

The money came to the county by way the American Rescue Plan (ARP), which has been funding a whole lot of projects around Guilford County and across the nation.

Summerfield currently lacks a water system, which means the residents rely on community wells and septic tanks. A lot of those residents are worried about any water system enhancements being implemented because they see more water access as a threat of bringing in more development that they don’t want.

Others in the community welcome the money and see it as a needed move toward progress and an improvement in fire response capabilities.

The money will be used for the beginning phase of constructing a water system that includes construction of an elevated water tank, two miles of water mainlines and other lines.

The State of North Carolina is tossing in another  $1.1 million to support the new system.

Town officials stated last year that the project is meant to “support a fire-protection system that is expandable and easily convertible to a future potable system.”

There will be fire hydrants along the water lines, which will be useful for “both fire protection needs and future potable needs,” according to county documents describing the project.  “The initial lines will be constructed along NC-150 (toward I-73) and Summerfield Road (near US-220) and planned around future growth. The Summerfield Road line will be directly in front of Fire Station #9 and enable easy fill-up access.”

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