Mary Dowell, left, owner of Snappy Lunch, is shown with Mount Airy Mayor Deborah Cochran during a city commissioners’ meeting recently. Dowell received a certificate of appreciation as part of an ongoing program to recognize older local businesses. Snappy Lunch was opened in 1923 at its present location on North Main Street by George Robertson and Deuce Hodge. Dowell’s late husband Charles went to work there in 1943 doing odd jobs and eventually acquired the eatery. In addition to being famous for its pork chop sandwiches, Snappy Lunch is the only existing Mount Airy business mentioned on “The Andy Griffith Show.”

slideshow

Carroll County, Va., isn’t exactly a “dry county,” but it certainly will be getting wetter in a sense due to a water-sales agreement with the city of Mount Airy.

“We have finally come to an agreement that Carroll County has accepted,” Mount Airy City Manager Barbara Jones said of a negotiation process that has lasted the better part of two years.

The city board of commissioners approved Mount Airy’s part of the agreement unanimously during a meeting Thursday night.

Jones called it a “win-win” situation for both Mount Airy and Carroll County. The city will be able to market some of its huge surplus of water to a place in need of a supply, an area near Exit 1 of Interstate 77 at Lambsburg. This will allow businesses and homes in that section to tap into a public water source.

“We have all worked very hard to make this a reality,” the city manager said.

Mount Airy is said to have an average daily capacity of more than 8 million gallons of treated water, but produces only about 3.4 million gallons per day, according to previous reports.

That surplus has resulted from the departure of textile industries in recent years which were heavy water users because of their dyeing and other processes.

Mount Airy has forged earlier deals to supply water to Dobson as well as other parts of Surry County.

The city also has tapped into the Virginia market previously by extending service to an area just north of the Virginia Welcome Center on I-77, through a project jointly funded by the departments of transportation in that state and North Carolina.

As has been the case locally, a “master meter” system will be in place at the point of the upcoming water delivery on Surratt Drive, where Mount Airy has an in-ground storage tank.

The agreement calls for up to 100,000 gallons of municipal water per day to eventually be sold to the neighboring locality. Carroll County will pay double the rates charged for in-town customers.

An initial period of 10 years is covered under the pact, which can be re-negotiated for additional 10-year periods, Jones said.

Based on discussion at last week’s commissioners’ meeting, the water will begin flowing after the completion of water lines and other facilities needed for the transmission by the Carroll County Public Service Authority.

“The city of Mount Airy will have no money in that,” Jones said of the construction costs.

Reach Tom Joyce at 719-1924 or tjoyce@heartlandpublications.com.