Lavonia, Franklin County Reach Water MOU

The City of Lavonia may one day be selling water to Franklin County.

At their meeting Monday, the City Council approved a Memorandum of Understanding with Franklin County to sell them water when the County deems it necessary.

City Manager Charles Cawthon emphasized, however, that the MOU is not a contract, but rather what he called more of a firm handshake.

Cawthon said because of the anticipated future growth, parts of Franklin County will likely need more water.

At their work session last month, County Manager Derrick Turner told the Board of Commissioners the County needs to plan for increased water needs because of the expected future growth.

At their meeting, Monday, the Board of Commissioners also voted to approve the MOU.

Under the MOU, the City and County have agreed to do more research.

“In order to get water to the areas of the County that they need, they’re going to have to install a pump station somewhere because we just can’t flow water from here to there, or get it to the other side of the county if they’re sourcing it from us,” Cawthon told the Council. “So they agreed to look into that. We agreed to look into the expansion of our water production capacity. And then they agreed to make financial contributions toward that.”

Cawthon said it’s not known how much water the County will need in the future.

The engineering firm of Peoples & Quigley is working with both the City and County to come up with a final plan that will benefit both sides.