Cabarrus County commissioners will consider transferring ownership and operation of Lake Howell - previously known as the Coddle Creek Resevoir - to the Water & Sewer Authority of Cabarrus County this year.
The lake is the most important utility infrastructure in the county, Deputy County Manager Jonathan Marshall said.
Transferring ownership would mean letting go of some of the control the county has over one of the area’s water sources. Water has been an important issue for Cabarrus County following years of drought and efforts to secure other sources of water for the future.
In October 1997, Cabarrus County entered into an operations and maintenance agreement with WSACC that would result in the authority eventually owning and operating the reservoir. Commissioners will have to consider making that happen this year when the debt service on the reservoir is fully paid, said Deputy County Manager Jonathan Marshall. The county owes about $180,000 on the debt from construction of the lake.
Cabarrus County Manager Mike Downs said, “Once we transfer the property it would solely be owned and operated by WSACC. We do have positions on the WSACC board that would have some say-so in the future.”
Currently, Commissioner Chairman Liz Poole and Commissioner Bob Carruth serve on the WSACC board.
“I believe with all the stuff we went through in the last 10 years, I think one thought was that WSACC would become the single water and sewer provider in Cabarrus County,” Carruth said.
If ownership is transferred, WSACC would still need Cabarrus County commissioner approval if its board decided to transfer the property to a third party in the future.
Lake Howell was constructed in 1992-93 by Cabarrus County and originally called the Coddle Creek Reservoir. It was renamed Lake Don T. Howell in honor of Don T. Howell, who served as director of the Board of Light and Water Commissioners from 1961 to 1986.
The lake is a 1,300-acre reservoir that provides a raw water supply for the Coddle Creek Water Treatment Plant and the Kannapolis Water Treatment Plant. The dam is about 2,400 feet long. The drainage basin is about 47 square miles in parts of Cabarrus, Rowan and Iredell counties.
The county has retained ownership of the lake since it was constructed, while WSACC handled maintenance.
“It works really well as it is,” said Coleman Keeter, executive director of WSACC. “Our operation is paid for by other municipalities. Concord and Kannapolis pay for operations and maintenance. There are some mechanical things out there, the spillways.”
Contact reporter Karen Cimino Wilson: 704-789-9141.
Email
Facebook
Google
Twitter
Favorites
More
Advertisement