MURFREESBORO – The sewer moratorium has been lifted here allowing the town to add more connections to their wastewater treatment plant.

In a Murfreesboro Town Council meeting on Tuesday, Public Works Director Gene Byrd reported to council members that expansion construction at the Wastewater Treatment Plant has wrapped up and he expected the state moratorium to be lifted next month. Byrd also said Engineer Robert Graham with George Finch/Boney and Associates was to make a preliminary inspection of the plant located just outside of Murfreesboro on US 258 North.

On Friday, Town Administrator Cathy Davison told the Roanoke-Chowan News-Herald Graham has signed off on the project, therefore officially allowing the town to connect more customers to the wastewater treatment plant.

Crews working on the $4 million project recently finished placing fencing around the perimeter of the lagoons along with putting down crushed concrete (recycled from the previous lagoons) for a driveway.

Davison noted the special order of consent (SOC) does not expire until the end of October. Davison said the town will not pursue having the SOC cancelled earlier because the process is lengthy and would end up costing the town $600 more.

With an amended SOC the town was able to add 30 additional taps a few months ago. According to Davison, three of those taps were sold.

The addition of a storage lagoon and a spray field to the plant will allow the town to double its wastewater capacity.

Both Davison and Public Works Supervisor Ben Warren noted the importance of the moratorium being lifted.

“It’s an exciting time for Murfreesboro,” said Davison. “With the moratorium lifted we can move forward with expanding the community and look at attracting new businesses and how to expand current businesses.”

“It’s a dream come true,” said Warren, who has seen the project take shape 14 years. “It’s a service to citizens in town…it’s an A1 facility.”