After some tense “he said, she said” moments Monday afternoon, Dobson officials offered to settle a water-purchase impasse by buying 50,000 gallons per day from Mount Airy instead of the 300,000 specified in a contract.

That proposal represents only a fraction, about 17 percent, of the volume Mount Airy has counted on in exchange for $298,000 in much-needed water and sewer revenue for the upcoming fiscal year.

City officials who were meeting with a delegation from Dobson at the Municipal Building said they could not accept such an offer without approval of the full board of commissioners, which convenes Thursday night.

When discussing the Dobson water sales during a budget workshop last week, all five Mount Airy commissioners favored holding the county seat to the agreement approved in 2008, to avoid possibly hiking city utility rates to offset the shortfall. That pact calls for Dobson to buy at least 9 million gallons each month, which Dobson has asked to delay indefinitely.

On Monday, however, Dobson leaders said there is a gray area regarding when the town actually had agreed to begin buying water, while also debating other details surrounding the deal.

Dobson Mayor Ricky Draughn, who was accompanied by Interim Town Manager Paul Hensch and Commissioner Wayne Atkins, argued that the town had not officially agreed to begin buying water on July 1 as Mount Airy contends. Draughn said although that date has been mentioned in news reports, he believes it transpired “without us flat saying it that way.”

“That’s the way we look at it — we may be wrong,” added Draughn, who said he objects to portrayals that the town has come in at the “11th hour” and reneged on the contract.

But city officials maintain that the interlocal agreement between the two municipalities was effective as soon as it was forged. A resolution for the water sales which was OK’d by the Mount Airy commissioners on Aug. 7, 2008, specifies that the contract “shall become effective upon approval by the board of commissioners.”

That agreement, which was made renewable for up to 40 years at Dobson’s request, also states that the water sale was contingent on the smaller town constructing a transmission line to connect to Mount Airy’s system — which is now virtually complete.

Yet even the status of the line was debated by the two delegations Monday.

“The line is now ready — we have an agreement in place,” Barbara Jones, acting city manager — who was accompanied by Mayor Deborah Cochran, Commissioner Todd Harris and Finance Director John Overton — firmly told the Dobson group.

“The line is not ready,” Dobson’s acting manager responded.

“It is about ready,” Jones replied, saying that she had personally visited the site in recent days and noted that only about 25 feet of the line remains to be placed.

“It might as well be 25 miles,” Draughn said in terms of being able to meet the contract’s obligation.

How Situation Evolved

The two delegations were at least in partial agreement Monday that they’re at a disadvantage in implementing a contract negotiated by two officials no longer on the job: former City Manager Don Brookshire and Lynn Burcham, Dobson’s ex-manager.

Hensch called this a “basic fact” that has much to do with the situation at hand.

Based on discussion, Dobson had expected much growth to occur outside the municipality, especially around the Interstate 77 interchange, which hasn’t materialized because of the economy. The town received a $500,000 grant from the North Carolina Rural Center and a $911,000 loan from the U.S. Department of Agriculture to pay for the transmission line.

Along with serving areas outside its boundaries through sales of water to the county, Dobson was hoping to use the bulk water it bought from Mount Airy as a backup supply in case of an emergency. This represented a cheaper option than the town building a second water plant.

“I think (Burcham) felt we would be selling a whole lot more water to Surry County,” said Draughn. He also speculated that the former town manager likely didn’t anticipate the line being ready as soon as it was. “Now the line’s there, but the need’s not there.”

Draughn added that he was surprised by the relatively rapid onset of the line as well. “I really thought it would be three or four years.”

“I don’t think Don Brookshire thought that,” Harris said of the former city manager, who had a reputation for meticulous planning regarding financial arrangements.

“I think the general consensus was, we had counted on this,” Harris further told the Dobson mayor in stressing how much the sales revenue means to Mount Airy’s water-sewer budget. Harris did say he is sympathetic to Dobson’s situation involving the county.

But the next two years will be especially tight, Harris said. The city will be paying off debt from a 1990s upgrade of one of its utility plants as well as loan payments tied to new lines in the recently annexed Cross Creek area.

Just as city officials believe it’s not their fault that Dobson isn’t selling water to Surry as projected, Dobson leaders say Mount Airy’s financial burden is not of their making, either.

“We didn’t create none of these problems,” Draughn said of the notion that Dobson’s request for a delay is playing havoc with Mount Airy’s budget. “Y’all already had that debt.”

More verbal sparring took place Monday when a suggestion was made that Dobson, which has the lowest water rates in the county, upgrade them as a way to help it meet the revenue requirements specified in the contract.

Hensch said he fears how this would affect Wayne Farms, a poultry operation that is the largest employer in the county seat and one of the top employers in Surry as a whole. “This would be another nail in the coffin for Wayne Farms,” said the acting town manager, quoting a company official.

But Harris told Hensch that Mount Airy was faced with the same kind of problem when textile operations left town in recent years.

“That’s different,” Hensch fired back. “They went on their own accord.” Drastically increasing Dobson’s water rates, which are now about 27 percent less than Mount Airy’s, would in effect be “forcing” out Wayne Farms, he said.

That company uses about half of Dobson’s average daily consumption of 650,000 gallons.

The Dobson officials said Monday that they could deal with buying 50,000 gallons per day from Mount Airy, with the hopes of meeting the contracted capacity at some point.

“There are days that we’ll be purchasing more than that,” Draughn said. “It’s just being locked into 300,000” that is a problem for the town.

“We’ve got to start somewhere — I think we really want to make the connection,” the Dobson mayor added.

Contact Tom Joyce at tjoyce@mtairynews.com or at 719-1924.