Roseboro town leaders may have taken another step away from putting another well for the town.

At last Tuesday’s meeting, mayor Roland Hall mentioned to the board that engineers with the Wooten Company have come to the conclusion that the board’s new chosen sight for the well has poor water quality and would not be a suitable location for putting in another well.

This comes just one month after the board found out that the overall quality of the town’s water supply was technically not getting any worse and would not meet the qualifications for getting an Urgent Needs Funding grant for the state.

Then at the meeting last Monday, Don Boone, one of the chief engineers from the Wooten Company explained the situation with the new area that had been tested.

“You have dark water,” said Boone, and he stressed that the town would now, if they wanted to move forward with this particular site, was to treat the current water or move on to another site.

“You can try to treat the water, but that would be expensive ... I will let you decide,” Boone explained.

Upon hearing this, Hall suggested that the future of the well project be discussed at the planning retreat which will be this January. However, in the meantime, the question then became what to do with the land that had already been purchased for the well.

Commissioner Arnold Sandy, who sold the land to the town, expressed that he initially sold the land to put a well on it.

“I didn’t sell the land to put houses on it,” said Sandy.

Therefore, on Tuesday night, Hall introduced the prospect of selling the land back to Sandy.

“We need to declare the land surplus and sell it back at the price it was sold,” expressed Hall.

Without further discussion, commissioner Cary Holland motioned for the board to declare the land surplus with the intentions to be sold to Sandy. Immediately, Sandy recused himself from the vote, and it was approved unanimously.

While no amount was given on how much Sandy would plan on bidding, attorney Billy Poole expressed that others can bid on the land if they wish to buy it. Also, the bid would have to published for 10 days before it can be accepted.

Facade grants

In other discussions, the mayor also introduced the prospect of adding more facade grants since so many businesses have shown interest in improving their facilities. However, he stressed that there are no additional funds for the grants. Therefore, he decided to go outside of town to look for help.

“I have put together a letter to solicit $20,000 for the downtown revitalization from Smithfield Foods,” said Hall. Currently, he stated he has not heard back from Smithfield Foods, but he anticipates to hear something soon about this request.

Katie Holland can be reached at 910-592-8137, ext. 136, or by e-mail at silife@heartlandpublications.com.