The results of the study are expected to be made public sometime in May; however, local leaders got a private viewing of those findings at the closed meeting at the Oak Ridge Town Hall.
According to Guilford County Commissioner Justin Conrad, who attended the briefing, the source of water would be the City of Winston-Salem with a water line running along the NC 150 corridor from Winston-Salem to the towns.
NC 150 runs straight through Oak Ridge and Summerfield and an additional line would extend north to provide water to Stokesdale.
Last summer, Guilford County and Rockingham County appeared to be working together on the project with the water for the Guilford County towns being provided by Rockingham County, but the new plan calls for the water for northwest Guilford County to come from Winston-Salem.
“Stokesdale, Summerfield, Oak Ridge – they have to see what makes sense for them.” He said those towns may be interested in going ahead with “any, all or some part of” the proposed water system.
“I think at the end of the day we all needed to do a feasibility study to answer these questions.
“The municipalities could tie new development to the system – they could – requiring new development to tap into the system,” he said.
Summerfield Town Councilmember John O’Day said he’s going to look at the study results and go from there.
“This is just gathering information to make an informed decision.” Barnes said that, of course, the really big question has yet to be answered: “What would it cost?” Summerfield Town Councilmember Teresa Pegram said residents of her town are concerned, among other things, about a “tap out fee.” She said the new system would likely have a valve at every served lot whether the owner wanted to stay on well water or not.
The results will also include the development of preliminary service area districts and offer conceptual plans for phased water system improvements.