Discount drug cards, utility warranties coming to Mooresville residents
By G.C. Allen | Mooresville Tribune
April 20, 2011
Mooresville residents soon will be able to get a card for providing discounts on some prescription drugs, and water/sewer customers will be able to buy warranty coverage to protect against costs associated with water and sewer line breaks.
Town commissioners agreed Monday evening to get involved in two programs offered through the National League of Cities. One offers a discount prescription drug card for town residents. The other will provide access to warranty coverage for the pipes that connect homes to the town’s water and sewer utilities.
The NLC Prescription Discount Card Program is meant to help people who have no health insurance or who have limited insurance coverage for prescriptions. The cards can be used for prescriptions that are not covered by insurance. However, they cannot be used as a supplement to existing health insurance coverage.
On average, the card provides a savings of about 20 percent off the retail price of prescriptions. There are no income limits or age restrictions for those who wish to participate. There are also no enrollment or membership fees.
In all, 38 pharmacies in the 28117 ZIP code area are participating pharmacies, while 27 pharmacies in the 28115 area are expected to participate.
There is no cost for the town’s participation, although the town will be expected to aid in promoting the program and also provide a designated contact person. The league provides marketing materials to begin the program.
Officials did not outline a timetable Monday for the drug card program’s implementation. However, information describing the program suggests it takes about eight weeks to begin the program after the town formally commits to offering it.
Meanwhile, the NLC Service Line Warranty Program will provide warranty coverage for those water and sewer customers who want to pay for a warranty. It will not cost the town any money to participate.
NLC’s partner in the program, Utility Service Partners, will administer the program and pay the town a royalty on every dollar they collect from people who buy the warranty. USP will handle marketing, billing, customer service, and repairs. USP is expected to use local contractors to provide repairs covered by the warranty.
In essence, the warranties will cover water and sewer lines from the house to the street. Generally, any repairs needed to maintain pipes that connect homes to the town’s water and sewer utilities are the homeowner’s responsibility.
After Monday night’s vote, which endorsed the program, commissioners still must approve a contract with USP.
In other news, commissioners awarded a $5,893,000 contract to Pizzagalli Construction Company for work related to wet weather equalization at the town’s Rocky River Wastewater Treatment Plant. That contract price includes a $450,000 contingency allowance.
In essence, the project is aimed at making the plant better able to treat “peak flows” during wet weather and maintain a “constant flow rate,” according to an e-mail from Ryan Rase, the town’s executive director for public services and operations. His e-mail was written in response to questions about the project.
Rase told commissioners Monday evening that the town “got an amazing savings.” The town bonded nearly $8 million for the project, Rase wrote in his e-mail.
Other work intended to expand its treatment capacity is ongoing at the plant. Once all the work is finished, treatment capacity will be 7.5 million gallons a day. The town’s current capacity is 5.2 million gallons a day, but the town is treating a daily average of only about 3.3 million gallons, according to Rase’s e-mail.
“We’ll be in great shape for any future development that might come to Mooresville,” he told commissioners Monday.
The board also agreed to award a $605,475.50 contract for the Magnolia Avenue-Fieldstone Road Sidewalk Project. The vote, however, only approved a resolution favoring the contract. An additional vote is required at a later date to formally award the work to Little Mountain Builders of Catawba County.
The project will provide more than 2 miles of sidewalks along Magnolia Avenue and Fieldstone Road.
“They were the low bidder,” Rase told commissioners. “This project was estimated at $800,000, so you can see the bids were very competitive.”
The town is spending about $40,000 to make infrastructure repairs in the project area, Rase wrote in his e-mail Tuesday. However, the remainder of the project’s cost.
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