A plan has been put together to rescue Hollywood’s sewer system in South Carolina. According to The Post and Courier, the plan will need to be green-lighted by Charleston Water System (CWS) commissioners and the County Council before it moves forward.
The proposal involves Dorchester County taking over maintenance responsibilities for the sewer system and being paid by Hollywood for the work. According to The Post and Courier, Hollywood would foot the bill directly for any replacement parts such as new pumps or generators.
The CWS would serve as a grant coordinator to find funding for capital expenses and help organize an engineering study of the system. When the system is in better working condition, CWS would reconsider taking a bigger role by either taking ownership of the system of helping the town find a private firm to run the operations, according to The Post and Courier.
“I thought it was a good compromise, a good way to get out system back in professional hands,” Hollywood Mayor Jackie Heyward said to The Post and Courier.
In an email, Dorchester County Water and Sewer Director Larry Harper said that CWS becoming the long-term operator would ensure sustainability of the sewer service in Hollywood.
“I am pleased at the proposal by CWS, which is a great example of intergovernmental cooperation to resolve wastewater issues in the region,” Harper said in the email, according to The Post and Courier.
The Hollywood Mayor has argued that the small town of Hollywood is not capable of running the wastewater infrastructure, including 26 pump stations and 38 miles of pipe. Two months earlier they found a leak in a force main that was seeping into a tributary of the Stono River. According to The Post and Courier, the spill totaled millions of gal of untreated sewage.
The plan includes an agreement between CWS and Dorchester County to provide the county with sewer capacity for an addition 32 sewer taps, it would then be connected to sewer infrastructure in Poplar Grove. According to The Post and Courier, CWS treats all of Hollywood’s sewer effluent and controls how much treatment capacity is available to the town.