AHOSKIE – The Ahoskie Town Council took another step here Tuesday in regards to moving forward on the expansion of the town’s wastewater treatment plant.

Following a presentation by Dan Boone and Eric Tweed of The Wooten Company, the engineering firm hired by the town to oversee the expansion project, Council members unanimously approved the solicitation of appraisers in order for the town to move forward with plans to purchase land as soon as the surveyors have completed their work.

The land survey process is currently underway. That portion of the project is expected to be completed next month.

&uot;The next step would be to hire an appraisal firm in order to place a fair market value on the property you need for expansion,&uot; said Boone as he addressed Council members. &uot;You need to be in a position to move forward with that part of the project just as soon as the final land survey is conducted.&uot;

Boone went on to outline other important steps to this $10-plus million project, one that is aimed at giving Ahoskie additional wastewater capacity, which in turn will allow for economic growth.

He outlined several funding sources for the project, including the USDA Loan and Grant Program, the Clean Water Act Management Trust Fund and the Rural Center.

&uot;The funding process will take a minimum of six months,&uot; noted Boone. &uot;Once the money is in place, you can begin negotiations for land purchase.&uot;

Eighteen different parcels of property, totaling roughly 400 acres, are earmarked for purchase. The majority of that land will be used to construct additional sprayfields for Ahoskie’s land-application process for handling its wastewater. Other acres are needed for the construction of an additional wastewater lagoon as well as for buffer zones.

Once completed, the expansion is projected to give Ahoskie the capacity of handling 1.2 million gallons of wastewater per day, an increase of 300,000 gallons.

The town is currently operating under a Special Order of Consent from the North Carolina Division of Water Quality. That SOC prohibits the town from adding to its current daily capacity of 900,000 gallons, thus preventing economic growth.

Construction on the expansion project is scheduled to begin next year with a tentative completion date of Jan. 1, 2007.