Our primary goal is to provide scholarships to deserving Saluda students.  In addition, we support the Medical Center, the Fire Dept. and the Senior Center--all in Saluda, as well as other deserving organizations.

I know many of you have been reading and following the developments concerning a proposed county-wide water system.  The issue is not only important to Polk County, it is also a long-term concern of the City of Saluda and our residents.  It is no secret that our water and sewer rates are among the highest in North Carolina and as water becomes a more scarce natural resource, we should expect that it's value will continue to increase meaning higher cost to us.   With the current and seemingly long-term drought conditions, that message has been coming through loud and clear.   Additionally, we are now seeing the encroachment of the Governor and the State Bureaucracy in management of our existing water resources using emergency powers to dictate their view of what the City of Saluda and other communities should be doing. 

From the City of Saluda's perspective, this is not a new concern.  We have been planning our "Water Future" for some time.  Our first step was to get the water and sewer "Enterprise" on a sound financial footing and find ways to be efficient and effective to hold down costs to our customers while assuring them a stable and certain source of drinking water and wastewater treatment.  I know it seems as though our costs are high, but fixing history does not come cheap and we are now well positioned to control our future.  We have and are making investments that will improve our cost management.

Key to our "Water Future" is the ability to find additional sources of water to end our total dependence on Hendersonville.  The relationship with Hendersonville as our potable water supply has been and continues to be a good one.  Hendersonville's willingness to be flexible and supportive of our efforts has gone beyond the call-of-duty many times and we should all be appreciative of their efforts.  They are aware of our long-term plans to expand our options and are supportive of that effort to do so.

For the better part of 4 years, Saluda has been an active participant in pursuing solutions in conjunction with the Towns of Tryon and Columbus as well as Polk County.  We each have our own issues to resolve concerning water and sewer but there clearly are common-ground areas that exist.  We have prodded along with a spirit of compromise, that in itself is historic for Polk County. However, it has become increasingly evident that the approach favored by Polk County leaders is not compatible with the approach favored by Columbus, Tryon and Saluda leaders.  And the Polk County option appears to be the most expensive option available not only to the Towns but also to the County-only residents.

The  Polk County approach would have undesirable impacts not just on future water costs but on the flexibility our Towns would have in dealing with future growth in and around our communities.  Whether intended or not, Polk County's approach becomes unacceptable to those of us that are experienced with managing water and sewer systems in our communities.

The outgrowth of all this has been that the Towns are jointly pursuing an alternative approach that will not only give us lower costs but provide us solutions much sooner than Polk County's approach.   Additionally, it allows us to control and manage the future of our individual communities.  The citizens of Polk County living outside the Towns will also have access to water when they need it at reasonable cost should the Polk County leaders desire. 

Well, the only critter we saw was a skink , but oh what a day.  Cathy Jackson and I left the office at 12:30 to walk the boundaries of a 22 acre parcel of land we have listed for sale.  The property lies between Lake Hosea, Heatherly Heights Road, and the Greenville Watershed.  We entered the property from the Lake Hosea side, walked the boundary line to the top of the ridge.  Walked the ridge past the North Carolina/South Carolina line and onto Heatherly Heights Road.  We turned back into the woods to find the property line that would lead us to our car.  That was the last time we knew our location.

We walked and we walked until we found a creek and since we knew this side of the property ran along a creek, we decided to follow it downstream.  After an hour and a half of following the creek and not coming upon our car, we knew we were lost.  We heard no dogs, no birds, nothing but the wind.

The cell phone battery was weak but strong enough for one or two calls so we recited a list of people we might call for help.  We decided to call our city administrator, Erny Williams, and thankfully he answered his phone.  We explained the situation and Superman was on his way.