The saying “good things come to those who wait” doesn’t ring any truer than for the residents living within the Ivanhoe water project. While it’s far from completed, it will eventually bring water connection options to around 1,000 potential customers.

Back in 2022, the county applied for a grant to help pay for the cost of installing water lines in the southern end of the county. By September 2022, the grant was approved, adding $17 million in SCIF (State Capital and Infrastructure Fund) grants and ARPA (American Rescue Plan Act) grants; and the roughly $13 million in state funds for the future Ivanhoe project. In total, the grants and special appropriations comes to $48.6 million.

Now, after two years of patiently waiting, the actual construction on the Ivanhoe water project is almost ready to begin – and the question remains: Why did it take so long to get started?

The answer isn’t as complicated as the process, and a long process it has been. But that is quite normal when planning for a massive plumbing project that will involve over 40 miles of water lines, officials have said.

“It’s a slow process because of how big a process it is. We have never done a project this big in Sampson County,” explained Public Works Director Mark Turlington. “It’s 40 miles long, so you have to hire a water engineer firm to survey all 40 miles, design it, draw it out on 100 pages, approve it for submission, then we have to get permits from NCDOT, obtain encroachment permits, DEQ (Department of Environmental Quality) reports on environmental standpoints. We have to get five or six permits before we can even put it up to bid.”

Which is where the county is now: Bid time.

Turlington said contractors have been notified that the project is up for bid.

The rules for bidding on the Ivanhoe project have stipulations, for example, state law requires that Sampson County must receive at least three bids from different contractors to be considered. If three bids are not submitted by Oct.3, the county must wait 10 more days, or more. However, if three bids are not made after the 10-day waiting period, the county can select the winning bid. Turlington said getting three competitive bids shouldn’t be a problem.

“We’ve already been contacted by five contractors,” he said, reassuring the process wasn’t likely to be stalled.

Construction on the project is slated to begin in early 2025 with a completion date of December 2026, as stipulated by the grant.

“We’re not anticipating it taking that long, but it does have to be finished by then” said Turlington.

Turlington said that about 350 households in the Ivanhoe water project zone are expected to be signed up for the water connection, and the homeowners do not have to pay for the connection.

‘We hope they all sign up, especially with it being free (to connect),” he said.

The water main extensions in the Ivanhoe area will connect residents along Lisbon Bridge Road, Harrells Highway (Hwy 411), Longview Lake Road, Clear Run School Road, Firetower Road, Wildcat Road, Hoover Road, Alpine Church Road, Dr. Kerr Road, Trestle Road, Ivanhoe Road, G. Shaw Road, Barnhill Road, Eddie L. Jones Road and McKoy Loop Road.

The water lines will run down the shoulder of roads which require permission from DOT since it is a right-of-way, but no pipes will run down private roads, just state-maintained roads.

Turlington said private roads will be able to connect to the new main lines, but at the cost of the private road owner, and no more than a thousand feet away. Anything beyond that limit will not qualify due to water pressure dropping significantly.

While the county waits for the bids to come in, and the residents living in the Ivanhoe water project area anxiously wait for the homes to be connected, the possibility of the project costing more money than expected is there since the grant was awarded two years ago and inflation has continued to creep into the cost of everything since then. Turlington said there are buffers set in place to prevent any issues arising due to the cost of the project.

“Hopefully costs will not be a great deal higher – but I’m sure inflation will cause the project to be a little more than expected,” Turlington noted.

He said that ad-alternates were placed in the project that can be removed if the project goes over budget. These extra costs were installed to prevent the core of the project from coming up short financially.

“This grant is strictly for the Ivanhoe area, but the ad-alternates can be removed if needed,” he explained.

These ad-alternates are just extra items, built into the cost of the project but not necessary. He also said the project is moving forward regardless of inflation.

“Ivanhoe is definitely getting water,” he reassured.

Sampson County is also making plans to help its neighboring counties with their own water issues, sometime in the future — down the road.

“Things are growing at that end (of the county) and we’re anticipating from this line to send water to Pender County.” Turlington said the two counties have already had conversations about buying water from Sampson in the future.

As new homes are built in the southern end of the county, the Ivanhoe water lines will be ready for growth. The Ivanhoe water lines will consist of three different sizes with the new lines hooking to existing 8-inch lines, then down to 6-inch and then to -inch when the new enters the Ivanhoe area.

“This is totally on Sampson County Public Works to maintain this, once the pipe is laid, but it’ll be the homeowners responsibility to maintain the line from their house to the road.

The awarding bid is expected to be announced on Oct. 7, 2024.