Ensuring quality for one local community’s water supply was the reasoning behind a decision made by City Council.

Officials voted Thursday to approve the purchase of 74.12 acres of land, owned by Eugene Lewis, near the watershed area in Hampton for $137,900 to protect the quality of water from the Hampton Spring – which accounts for 53 percent of available water for Elizabethton and roughly 60 percent of the Water Resource Department’s average production.

The motion for the purchase was made by Councilman Richard Tester and seconded by Bill Carter. Council voted 6-1 with Wes Frazier casting the lone nay vote.

The property was previously brought up during the March meeting for purchase, but was deferred pending a survey to be performed on the property.

Johann Coetzee, Water Resources manager, recently told Council there were concerns of the safety for the water due to Lewis’ property being used for logging purposes.

To accommodate the purchase, city officials passed the first reading of a budget ordinance to increase the water/sewer fund budget for 2017-18 to the $137,900 total to acquire the land with the money coming from the department’s fund balance.

According to documents provided by City Hall, the measure was brought before city leaders in 2017 when resident Eugene Lewis informed the Water Resources Department he purchased the property near the watershed and presented a “1950 court decree that gave him access, across the City’s protected watershed area, for logging on his newly acquired property.”

Coetzee and City Attorney Roger Day worked alongside Lewis to create a solution for the issue until both parties came to a conclusion that “it would be unlikely for Mr. Lewis to be able to service economic benefits from his property without causing harm to the City’s watershed area,” which resulted in Lewis offering to sell the property to the city for $130,000 – which was the offer during March’s meeting.

After the recent negotiations with Lewis, the price moved up to $137,900 to cover the cost of the land and reimburse Lewis for costs incurred for owning the property.