DOBSON — There was a sense of cooperation and moving forward during a meeting between the county board of commissioners and officials from the UNC School of Government Wednesday night to find out how local governments can build long-range partnerships for providing water and sewer services.

“One of the key economic development tools is water service provision,” said Andrew Westbrook, project director of the Environmental Finance Center and the UNC SOG.

Vice Chair Paul Johnson said he believes that being able to expand water service all across the county is certainly a priority.

“I think it is important. I think we need to get with the municipalities to come up with a plan that we can take back to the citizens. I think the crossroads that we face is having the right plan and money and know where to get the funding. For the last eight to 10 years, this has been a big priority to the board, and I think we’ve come a long way,” Johnson said.

Chairman Craig Hunter said if there is to be a county-wide water partnership, he just wants to make sure “that we don’t do it wrong.”

Commissioners agreed throughout the talks that one problem the board faces is that it funds water projects across the county, then turns the lines back over to municipalities who then in turn receive the benefits of billing for the water.

Westbrook said that Surry County is unique in that it has a great water supply.

County Water and Sewer Projects Manager Jack Gardin said one trend that he has noticed is that while the population of Surry County is aging, the amount of water usage has declined. He also pointed out that the county has lost most of its industries which were the heavy water users. He said one way to make up for that deficit is to add on more residential customers.

Gardin explained that with the Flat Rock/Bannertown water extensions, customers were not forced to sign up to get water.

“What they don’t know is that the more people sign up, the less their water bill would be,” he said. But forcing customers to sign up has also been an obstacle in the past.

“Sometimes necessity is the mother of invention. When we worked with the Golden LEAF Foundation, the county and municipalities were able to come together and agree on how to spend $2 million. You have to sit down and work together. That’s exactly what we are going to have to do with county-wide water expansion,” Gardin said.

The next step for the county is to form a water partnership with parties representing all four municipalities and the county. The UNC SOG representatives have already met with officials from Mount Airy and Dobson and plan to meet with groups from Elkin and Pilot Mountain tonight.

Contact Mondee Tilley at mtilley@mtairynews.com or at 719-1930.