The Jefferson County Commission unanimously approved a contract that transfers Smithfield's water system to the county.

"It's done. We signed the papers. We passed a resolution. So now the Smithfield water system belongs to Jefferson County," said Commissioner Tom Gentile. "The first thing we are doing is replacing all the meters at a considerable expense."

The transfer was expected to cost the county $150,000 in financial forgiveness to the Village of Smithfield. The village's payment issues started roughly six years ago and led to the transfer.

"The feedback we've gotten from the customers of Smithfield is very excited that this is happening," said Gentile. "They're supportive of this and we're just really happy we've gotten to this point. The customers will be transferring over. They will be getting a welcome letter right away from Jefferson County. The letter will explain when they have officially become our customers. The first billing cycle for those customers will be the March bill. As far as the system goes, we're already looking at replacing the Smithfield water tower which is in really bad shape and we knew that. So we're working on that and that's consistent with our plans to build up the water system in the southern end of the county."

Smithfield customers should expect billing to start on Feb. 1.