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Loris City Council has signed a letter of engagement with a Charlotte, North Carolina legal firm to advise it in negotiations to sell the city’s water transmission and sewage treatment systems to the Grand Strand Water and Sewer Authority.

The council voted 7-0 on Monday, Feb. 3, to hire the firm as it renews a decade-long effort to divest of the aging systems to the GSWSA, which serves nearly all of Horry County.

Loris has contracted with GSWSA to buy bulk potable water since 1992. The public utility is also contracted to operate the Loris sewage treatment plant.

GSWSA has previously acquired other municipal water and sewer systems including those in Aynor and Surfside Beach, and most recently Little River in September 2023.

Efforts to sell the Loris water transmission system and its sewer treatment system date to at least 2015, according to Loris Scene archives.

And the city’s long-range comprehensive plan recommends divesting of the systems to GSWSA after upgrades are completed.

The city is poised to start a $5.3 million project to replace aging lines including 10-inch water mains primarily utilizing state funding, including a $4.5 million South Carolina Infrastructure Investment Program grant. The city must supply a $300,000 local match.

The project will also include the installation of new digital water meters at homes and businesses in the city that can be read remotely from the street. Faulty readings have been a source of controversy with water customers.

Old high school

In other matters, the council learned that the demolition of the old Loris High School is progressing. Work got underway in January and will take several months to complete, Mayor Mike Suggs reported.

To date the work has been focused on asbestos-containment efforts and the demolition of several outbuildings — the former field house and shop.

The main building was constructed in 1930, but fell into disrepair and the roof collapsed under a previous owner. The city acquired the buildings and the 17-acre tract of land as part of the lawsuit settlement with the heirs of the former owner, and the property will be redeveloped.