City and county officials will find out what it's going to take to maintain the local water system later this month.
Thomson City Administrator Bob Flanders said the results of an extensive water quality study will be discussed at a March 23 meeting.
"This is where we find out where the rubber meets the road and how hard the road is going to be," he said during last week's Thomson City Council meeting.
The city is looking at having to improve the water treatment system in an effort to improve water quality and satisfy a state mandate. They have to have an improvement plan submitted to the state by March 29.
"This is going to be a serious and heavy load to carry," Mr. Flanders said.
In other business from the March 11 city council meeting, a leash law could be in the future of Thomson and McDuffie County.
Rev. Doug Veer recently wrote a letter to Mr. Flanders asking the city to enact a leash law. Rev. Veer, who lives off Old Washington Road, said there's a serious dog problem in his neighborhood, including a couple of pit bulls.
"Because we now have many children playing in the streets and several adults that walk and jog in this circle, this has become a major issue for us," Rev. Veer wrote.
Mr. Flanders said calls related to stray animals are becoming more and more prevalent.
"We have a lot of pet owners who do not operate as responsible pet owners," he said.
For the idea to get off the ground, however, a leash law would have to be a joint effort of the city and county.
"After all," Thomson Mayor Bob Knox quipped, "a stray dog doesn't know the difference between the city and the county."
Meanwhile, city leaders are still considering an ordinance dealing with keeping the number of stray shopping carts down. Mayor Knox said he hopes city council members will have a new version of the ordinance at their April meeting.
"We don't want to put too much of the responsibility on the grocery stores," he said.
Mr. Flanders said response from local businesses has been overwhelmingly positive.
"There certainly is interest on their part for us doing something," he said.
Also at the meeting, city councilmen unanimously agreed to spend $33, 327 to put a new roof on the Washington Road fire station.
But the unanimous vote for Thomson State Construction didn't come without some questions about the existing roof. City Councilman J.T. Wiley wondered if the roof should have lasted longer than 10 to 15 years.
"It seems like that's an awfully short life for a roof to me," he said. "I wonder if we have any recourse in this kind of thing."
Mayor Knox said officials would see if there was any type of warranty associated with the first roof.
