Bedford Weaving drops lawsuit to block SML water project

Bedford County:

“A Bedford business is withdrawing a lawsuit filed last month seeking to halt construction on a massive project to pipe water from Smith Mountain Lake to Bedford and Forest. Bedford Weaving filed an injunction Jan. 7 against the Bedford Regional Water Authority in the county’s Circuit Court. The injunction claimed the entity’s creation as a merged system of the city of Bedford’s water and sewer department and Bedford County Public Service Authority did not properly specify the project as called for in the Virginia Water and Waste Act.

Kevin Mottley, a Richmond attorney representing Bedford Weaving, filed a motion for a non-suit Friday. When reached Monday, he did not address the reason for dismissal or comment further. ‘We’re dropping the suit,’ Mottley said. ‘It is what it is.’ Bedford Weaving, a company with 115 employees, claimed in the suit the project would increase rates and provide treated water from Smith Mountain Lake that could have ‘significantly greater hardness,’ leading to operational problems. The company was a customer for years of the former city and was folded into the BRWA customer base when the city reverted to a town last year.

Sam Darby, attorney for the authority, argued in a Jan. 24 response seeking to dismiss the case that the authority is granted ‘broad powers’ in undertaking projects beyond those specified in articles of incorporation and added the Smith Mountain Lake plan would not cause ‘irreparable harm’ to the company. Megan Rapp, authority spokeswoman, said Monday the non-suit motion does not come as a surprise. She said BRWA Chairman Elmer Hodge and another board member had met recently with Bedford Weaving leaders to alleviate concerns.”

~ Writes Justin Faulconer of The (Lynchburg) News & Advance

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Mount Jackson moves forward on water project

Town of Mount Jackson:

“Mount Jackson embarked on a project that officials say should improve water quality and help the town prepare for the future. Town Council recently approved a contract with Richmond-based firm Kreye Blankenship Inc. to design and build a facility that would treat the water coming from three of its four municipal wells. Council's action comes about two years after a consultant's report recommended the town take this course.

Town Manager Kevin Fauber said Thursday the firm estimates the project would take about 20 weeks to design the project. The town has not yet received an estimate on when the firm would complete the construction, Fauber said. ‘We would have to coordinate construction so that it wouldn't interfere with our system,’ Fauber said.

The $787,000 project also aims to address problems seen in the water Mount Jackson draws from its municipal wells, Fauber said…Mount Jackson may not need to raise water rates to help pay for the loan the town received that covers more than half of the project cost, Fauber said. Mount Jackson provides drinking water to customers in town and Shenandoah County under a health department permit. The town brought two of its newer wells online in the past two years.”

~Writes Alex Bridges of the NV Daily

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Isle of Wight Board of Supervisors approves sewer regionalization proposal

Isle of Wight:

“The Isle of Wight Board of Supervisors voted unanimously for the county to join with 13 other localities in a regional approach to sewer upgrades at a meeting on Thursday. The measure, which has the support of most of Hampton Roads' localities, is expected to save the county $1 million during the next 10 years, according to documents attached to the agenda for Thursday's meeting.

The Environmental Protection Agency has mandated repairs to the area's sewer system to prevent overflow during heavy rain. A regional sewer authority, the Hampton Roads Sanitation District, says it can cut costs if localities empower it to take a regional approach to the overhaul, saving the region as much as $1 billion, but only if all 14 localities are on board.

Frank Haltom, Isle of Wight's director of general services, told the board Thursday that approving the partnership would be a smart move, especially for the wallets of county residents.”

~ Writes Ryan Murphy of the Daily Press

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Mount Jackson moving forward with water plant

Shenandoah County:

“Mount Jackson is moving forward with a project to construct a water treatment plant that would add two existing wells to the town’s water system. The project cost is $787,200. It is being paid with a $432,960 30-year loan at 2.5 percent interest from the Health Department’s office of drinking water, plus principal forgiveness, basically a grant, of $354,240.

During its regular meeting Tuesday (Feb. 11), the Mount Jackson Town Council approved an engineering design contract with Kreye Blankenship, Inc., of $73,000 for the project. ‘This project would bring the two wells on line,’ said Kevin Fauber, town manager. ‘Water from the wells would be treated through construction of small treatment plant.’

One well has somewhat high nitrate levels and the other, located in a mountainous area, contains considerable iron, he added. Mount Jackson currently uses four wells, said Fauber. When complete, this project will increase the total number of wells to six, adding two wells to the overall waterworks for the town of 2,000 people.”

~ Writes Jonathon Shacat of The Shenandoah Valley-Herald

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York Supervisors skeptical of regional sewer plan

York County:

“The York County Board of Supervisors remains skeptical of a regional sewer plan proposed by the Hampton Roads Sanitation District. During a meeting Tuesday, the board was told there was still no cost estimate for adopting the plan that consolidates sewer improvement projects under the district. All localities must approve the plan by the end of the month to move forward with a rate study, said Brian Woodward, the county's chief of utilities. ‘How do the powers that be expect a decision on the backs of the taxpayers without knowing what the cost will be?’ Supervisor Walt Zaremba said. ‘They want a blank check.’

The plan leaves systems under local control while placing the burden of high-dollar repairs on the regional body. It means higher rates for residents, but the increases could be greater if the localities decided to tackle the infrastructure work on their own…

The supervisors worry not only that the cost could come back much higher than expected, but also that, because York's sewer system is newer than others in the region, it wouldn't see work done on its pipes and would be subsidizing improvements in older communities.”

~ Writes Ali Rockett of the Daily Press

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Loudoun Water Purchases Beaverdam, Goose Creek Reservoirs

Loudoun County:

“Loudoun Water has finalized the purchase of all Loudoun-based drinking water assets from the City of Fairfax. The $30 million purchase includes the Goose Creek Water Treatment Plant, Goose Creek and Beaverdam reservoirs and a pipeline along the W&OD Trail to the Fairfax County line.

Fairfax established its drinking water system in Loudoun County during the late 1950s. Since that time, Fairfax has provided drinking water to Loudoun Water customers through a wholesale water purchase agreement, while sending the majority of drinking water to its customers via a cross-county transmission pipeline. As a result of Loudoun Water's purchase, City of Fairfax residents will be served by Fairfax Water, and Loudoun Water will dedicate the full 11-million-gallon-per-day capacity of the Goose Creek Water Treatment Plant to serving its growing customer base.

‘By purchasing these assets, we seized a strategic opportunity to own our future and have better control over significant operations impacting our customers,’ Loudoun Water General Manager Fred Jennings said in a statement announcing the purchase. ‘The value of owning these assets is only enhanced by their strategic fit with our initiative to establish new drinking water resources along the Potomac River and Goose Creek. This purchase complements our capital programs and provides our customers reliability and sustainability long into the future.’”

~Writes Erika Jacobson Moore of Leesburg Today

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How much does Urbanna water service actually cost?

Town of Urbanna:

“The Town of Urbanna once provided its residents with sewer service, but turned that responsibility over to the Hampton Roads Sanitation District in the late 1990s. Since then, the most important function of the town office has been to provide drinking water. The job of figuring out how much the water system actually costs has been taken up by council member Joe Heyman.

The town council has been without a designated treasurer since Bob Calves resigned in March, 2013. Although he is not the town treasurer, Heyman has been working with town staff in an attempt to create a monthly budget report. After months of scouring town financial line items, Heyman is trying to figure how much time the town staff devotes to water issues ‘so we can understand how much the water system really does cost us,’ he told council members who were present at the January 16 council work session.

Heyman said it’s vital to figure where the town staff spends most of its time, so the town council can focus on that subject—be it zoning, water, or the Old Tobacco Warehouse. ‘We can’t really explain how much the water system costs us,’ he said. Heyman said that a town employee told him about a year ago that 60% of his time was devoted to the water system.”

 ~Writes Tom Chillemi of the SSentinel

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Recycling center going in despite neighborhood concerns

Henrico County:

“A new recycling center that worried residents and parents in western Henrico County will be built, but with changes to the original plan. The center will be near Pemberton Elementary School, Harry F. Byrd Middle School and West End Montessori School.

Neighbors were worried about the facility’s lights, impact on wildlife, noise and, perhaps most of all, traffic. The Pemberton Elementary School PTA sent its president to talk to the Board of Supervisors, in part about the traffic on Quioccasin Road. The board approved the recycling center last week, despite residents’ reservations. The center — an unmanned facility that is essentially a group of Dumpsters — will be on Shane Road, just off Quioccasin Road. The gated facility will be open from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. It’s intended as a place for residents of multi-family housing who lack curbside recycling pickup to drop off their household recyclables.

County officials have lowered the height proposed for the lights, reworked the grading of the site to limit the removal of vegetation, pledged to make sure the noise isn’t excessive and closely studied the traffic situation. And county officials point out that all of this is far better than any private development of the lot, an idea that has been floated in the past. Recent renovations at a pair of area fire stations squeezed out recycling drop-offs that had been housed at the stations. The proposed center, next to one of those fire stations, would replace the centers that were lost.”

~Writes Ted Strong of the Richmond Times Dispatch

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