The proposed route of the Elba III pipeline is shown in the above Wilkes County map. The inset shows the entire route. With an estimated construction cost of $62 million in Wilkes County, the proposed Southern Natural Gas (SNG) pipeline would generate "well in excess of $500,000 a year" in ad valorem taxes for the county, according to a company manager. But Wilkes County commissioners say they have figured wrong because they are unfamiliar with the local tax system.

The actual figure would be more like $200,000, according to Wilkes County Commission Chairman Sam Moore because "we're taxed on our digest which is at 40 percent of the full value," he said.

SNG manager of Pipeline Planning and Business Development Chris Bradberry said that Commissioner Donna Hardy's estimate of $60,000 in property taxes as reported in this newspaper on March 2 was wrong. Hardy, who was absent from the meeting due to illness, later said that she based that estimate on the county's portion of taxes collected and did not account for school taxes. So her figure, though unclear, was roughly accurate.

Bradberry also reported that his company had looked at the possibility of local access to the pipeline with which the City of Washington, for example, might get into the natural gas business. He said that, based on other counties of similar size and demographics, the cost of a metering station would be about $150,000 and the cost for a required pressure regulating station would be an additional $150,000. The additional expense of a pipeline to cover the distance from the connection point to the local system would also have to be considered, he said.

At the commissioners' February meeting, approval for SNG to survey across county roads was withheld by the local board because advantages to the county were undefined. "I still don't see where it would benefit our county," Moore said at the March meeting, "but we will continue to look at it."

"We would like to have your approval but it really won't have an impact on the accuracy of our survey," Bradberry said and he indicated that the company would be starting surveys in about two weeks.

In a last point of information, Bradberry said that the pipeline would generate a one-time sales tax benefit to the county that would amount to "several hundred thousand dollars." Commissioners were unconvinced that such a tax would be paid locally.

Apparently, the actual route of the pipeline is already changing from the original proposal and Bradberry said that his company is "still talking with individual land owners." Moore indicated that he was aware of some land owners who had not been notified that they are no longer affected by the route of the pipeline.

"We won't know the final route until sometime in August," Bradberry said, "and there will be opportunities for additional input by the public before then." He said that there will be a series of "more formal" meetings to which the public will be invited, probably sometime in April.

The Wilkes County Board of Commissioners heard from Bradberry during its regular monthly meeting held last Thursday, March 9, at 7 p.m. in the Wilkes County Courthouse. Commissioners Divenski Lee, J.M. Sherrer, Jerry Stover, and Moore were in attendance as were County Administrator David Tyler, County Attorney Charles LeGette, and a small number of visitors.

Wilkes County Tax Commissioner Mary Hubbard appeared before the board to request that some uncollectible tax bills from 1997 and 1998 be written off the books because the seven-year statute of limitations had passed. She reported that there were 18 tax bills on the list from 1997 totalling $3,002.19 and "about the same ones" on the list from 1998 totalling $3,349.79.

Reasons and problems affecting the non-payments were discussed and included personal property that no longer exists, unknown ownership, etc. "A lot of these represent small amounts of money but they are annoyances because they keep coming back year after year," LeGette said.

Recognizing the ongoing problem, the commissioners granted the request to write off the uncollectible taxes in the amount of $6,351.98.

In a separate matter, Mae Butler of Tignall reported that litter and dumping near her residence is a continuing problem. "It has been cleaned before but people are doing it again," she said, commenting that even old hot water heaters had been dumped at the location. Butler's specific request was for help cleaning up the dump before the annual Tour of Homes later this month because she is expecting visitors and wants the county to make a good impression.

"I used to work on it but I'm not able any more," she said, and both Moore and Stover indicated that they personally had previously helped clean up the area.

"It must be a statewide problem," Moore said, "because the legislature is looking at some really stiff littering laws."

David Reville asked how many tickets had been issued for illegal dumping or for littering and how much money in fines had been collected in the last several years. Figures were unavailable at the meeting.

"I don't care who they [the dumpers] are, they're sorry," Butler said.

Moore promised that every effort would be made to get the area cleaned up before the Tour of Homes weekend.

In other business:

Commissioners approved a request made by Joyce Barden on behalf of the Pilot Club of Washington to erect a sign on the courthouse lawn identifying the live cedar tree which the club planted in December 2001. The sign would be 10x10 inches in bronze similar to others which mark historical sites around the city of Washington.

Gloria Wheatley was appointed to another term on the tax assessors board.

Harris Blackmon was appointed to the Airport Commission to fill the unexpired term of Jeff Treadwell who resigned for business reasons.

Commissioners approved the application for a Community Development Block Grant in the amount of $500,000 which would be used for improvements at the old St. Joseph's building on Lexington Avenue. The proposed project would renovate half of the bottom floor of the structure for use by the Adult Literacy Center and to house the Wilkes County Family Connection facilities.

Tyler reported that $51,035.05 in local option sales tax had been received for the month of December and that $79,560.85 in special purpose local option sales tax had been received for the same period.

Payroll Development Authority Executive Director David Jenkins gave a very brief report of ongoing activities in his office.

Wilkes County EMS Director Blake Thompson reported that he was prepared for the approximately 1,800 riders expected to be competing in weekend races at Aonia Pass Motocross March 11-12. He said he had several neighbor services ready for backup and four helicopter services on standby.

Sherrer reported that "They [the sheriff's department] sure have slowed traffic down in Rayle." He was referring to the relatively recent addition of speed detecting devices to patrol cars and the stepped up ticketing for violators.

The next regular meeting of the Board of Commissioners will be on Thursday, April 13, at 2 p.m. with a work session beginning 30 minutes earlier.