A mentor of mine used to tell me that no one accomplishes anything on his or her own. We all stand on the shoulders of those who came before us. He was also fond of telling me that one problem is just a problem, but multiple problems could be an opportunity to do something truly amazing.
This was the case in 2018 when the Town of Mocksville and Davie County came together to talk about the increasing costs and many challenges of running two 80+ year old Water Treatment Plants. Instead of each organization looking inward and upgrading or building new plants to address the problems, like most communities would do, elected leaders saw this as an opportunity to form a stronger partnership throughout the county by building a new regional water treatment plant in Cooleemee.
Ground breaking for the project was on March 21, 2023 and construction is expected to last into late 2025 or early 2026. Once the new plant is online the Hugh Lagel Water Treatment Plant in Mocksville will be retired and demolished. The regional plant will produce enough water to supply the needs of Cooleemee, Mocksville and parts of Davie County now and well into the future. It not only makes financial sense to partner, it also makes good operational sense. The regional plant will be more efficient and require less personnel than staffing two plants.
This is only one example of how Davie County and Mocksville work closely to keep costs as low as possible while maintaining a high level of service to the community. Other efficiency partnerships include sharing the costs of planning & zoning, code enforcement, tax collection and law enforcement. This common sense approach to service delivery results in a low and sustainable tax rate, which is appealing to businesses and residents alike.
Kenneth W. Gamble
Town Manager