BRANCHVILLE - While the Town of Branchville and Orangeburg County have teamed up to extend water lines to outlying areas and construct a new water tank in the Cattle Creek community, one town council member is questioning whether or not one of the town’s existing water tanks is even insured.

Branchville Town Councilwoman Georgianna Harmon has expressed concern about whether the water tank between Faire Street and Canal Street is even insured.

At the July 7 council meeting, Harmon said she visited the state Budget and Control Board office to find out. Based on their interpretation, she said, the town’s water tank is not insured.

Michael Sponhour, spokesperson for the state Budget and Control Board, said, “The Insurance Reserve Fund does insure a water tank at 113 Main Street. That’s the only one we insure. I don’t know what other water tanks are involved in Branchville. They just tell us, ‘Here are the items that we would like to have covered under the plan.’”

Harmon said the tank at 113 WS Main Street is not even in use but that the town is paying an annual $242 premium for its coverage under the Insurance Reserve Fund.

“We’re paying for a tank that is not in use. So, we’re wasting taxpayer money. Plus, this is a great liability if something happens to the tank. They’re not going to pay for it or buy us a new tank (at a recorded replacement cost of $1,059,495). If we cannot afford to have insurance on these new items, then we shouldn’t be getting grants to have them,” Harmon said.

Kara Borie, spokesperson for the state Department of Commerce, said the Canal Street tank, as it’s called, was procured through a $716,591 Community Development Block Grant, which is administered through the state DOC. The grant for the elevated storage tank was awarded in 2000.

Bonnie Ammons, assistant director for federal grants at the state DOC, said whether the tank is insured or not would be a matter for the town to handle. She said having the tank insured was not a prerequisite for the grant being awarded.

“We assume that the town insures all of its property. That seems to be standard practice. So, it’s not something we put an additional requirement on,” Ammons said. “We would have just assumed that.”

Cooner said he will not operate based on assumptions and is now working to make sure the tank is properly insured.

“It’s supposed to be insured, and we’re going to call the state Budget and Control Board because every couple of years, someone comes down and sees whatever we have insured and whether we need to increase coverage of insurance or add anything,” the mayor said.

“She (Harmon) is saying it’s not insured, but we’re going to find out. It’s not a real big issue for us. That’s just something she’s hammering,” Cooner said.

Harmon noted, however, “The council did not seem concerned during the July 7 meeting about any of the legalities and liabilities of the town. I told the town council that I had a list of questions. ... We need to go through our (insurance) policy.”

T&D Staff Writer Dionne Gleaton can be reached by e-mail at dgleaton@timesanddemocrat.com or by phone at 803-533-5534.

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