A plan to build a new wastewater treatment plant in Weldon is off the table, Mayor Julia Meacham said this morning.

This means the town will concentrate on expanding the plant to treat 1 million gallons of water a day or consider going with the Roanoke Rapids Sanitary District.

Meacham said she is preparing to meet with county commissioners and plans to meet with officials from the sanitary district to discuss water expansion options. “We’re interested in both sides.”

Meacham said building a new water treatment plant is too expensive. “(Doing something) with high water bills is something we need to explore.”

To build a $9 million water plant would mean the base monthly water bill would increase to $29. The flat rate is currently $19 per month. “We’re too small an entity to be doing that. We don’t sell that much water.”

Expanding the plant would cost about $3 million, Meacham said.

Earlier figures show buying water from the sanitary district would cost $7,467,000 and building a plant would cost $8,702,368. The figures also show the town would pay $1,182,944 a year in operating costs to buy from the district while it would cost $1,173,706 annually to build a plant.

Currently, the town sells water to Northampton County and all the way to Scotland Neck and Caledonia Correctional Institution, which uses up to 500,000 gallons of water a day.