Mariel Williams
editor@mitchellnews.com
Repairs from a July water leak cost Spruce Pine $50,000, according to a presentation at the town council meeting last week.
Project manager Donnie Staton of water and wastewater management company Veolia North America spoke to the council about the sudden leak and other water and sewer department news.
“We had a line break at our McHone pump station — it broke inside the station and flooded it,” Staton said. “So we’re all out there at 2 o’clock in the morning, water flooding, pouring out of the building.”
Staton said the water department called out Town Manager Darlene Butler and the head of public works to help deal with the early-morning crisis.
“It was a fun time,” he added jokingly.
Staton noted that he had already ordered a spare pump because there had been another pump failure the month before, so in spite of the surprise, the department was somewhat prepared for the crisis.
“So we had to hustle and get that pump put in,” he said. “The flood killed our other pump — it broke the shaft on it, so we decided to … go ahead and put in two brand-new pumps.”
Staton said the repairs would cost approximately $50,000 but noted that the pump station has not required many repairs in the past, so its equipment would probably have needed to be replaced in the near future regardless.
“This is one of our oldest pump stations, we’ve [almost] never spent any money on it, so it’s time,” Staton said. “So basically this pump house was hurting for some upgrades.”
Finance report
Finance Manager Crystal Young also gave a presentation to the council, a report on Spruce Pine’s finances. Young said that at the end of the 2023-24 fiscal year the town’s general fund revenue was around $3.3 million, and the water and sewer fund’s revenue was around $3.5 million. After expenditures, the general fund had a surplus revenue of around $500,000, and the water and sewer fund had a profit of $250,000.
“In my six years of doing budget, this is the best the water and sewer fund has ever been,” Young said.
Treasures in the Fall
The council voted to approve a permit for the second annual Treasures in the Fall Heritage Festival on Sept. 28.
Organized by local antique store Treasures in the Pines, this year’s festival will coincide with the Overmountain Victory Commemorative March.
“That is, I believe the anniversary of the Overmountain Victory Trail,” Butler said.
The American Revolutionary force known as the Overmountain Men mustered in what is now Elizabethton, Tenn. on Sept. 25, 1780 before marching through what is now Mitchell County to Kings Mountain in South Carolina, where they would defeat British troops in the Battle of Kings Mountain on Oct. 7, 1780.
According to Treasures in the Pines, reenactors in the Overmountain Victory Commemorative March will march into Lower Street (Locust Street) at the beginning of the festival.
The council approved closing a portion of Lower Street to vehicle traffic as part of the festival’s event permit. The event will run from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Sept. 28.