First Proposal in for Water Pipeline

Fluvanna County:

“The James River Water Authority (JRWA) announced its receipt of an unsolicited PPEA proposal to construct a utility system and part of a water pipeline in Fluvanna County on Mar. 7. The Public-Private Educational Facilities and Infrastructure Act of 2002, from which the PPEA proposal draws its name, allows agencies, institutions, and localities to form partnerships with the private sector and work together to complete major projects, according to the website of Virginia Information Technologies Agency.

The proposal was submitted by Faulconer Construction Co., Inc., Timmons Group, and teaming partner MEB General Contractors, to the JRWA, which is comprised of three members from Fluvanna, three from Louisa, and the Louisa County Water Authority. As stated in the inter-jurisdictional agreement passed by the Fluvanna County Board of Supervisors last Sept. 18, the JRWA will construct both an intake facility at the James River and a pipeline, ending in a junction, roughly to Rt. 6. This PPEA proposal seeks permission to do just that…

The proposal suggests the system will be allowed by its withdrawal permit to take about 2.85 million gallons per day (GPD) from the James River. Nevertheless, the intake facility will be sized to handle the maximum withdrawal allowed by law, which is 5.7 million GPD. Not included in the public portion of the proposal is the anticipated time frame for the undertaking or its expected cost. Fluvanna and Louisa Counties will equally split the cost of construction, which at one time was estimated to be around $3.5 million, and may since have increased.”

~ Writes Christina Dimeo Guseman of the Fluvanna Review

Click here to learn more
Click here for the James River Water Authority Website

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

Click here to learn more

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

Click here to learn more

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

Click here for the link

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

Click here to learn more

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

Click here to learn more

Stafford dedicates largest public works project in its history

Stafford County:

“Northern Virginia’s newest lake started forming in Stafford County with the turning of the pumps to fill the Rocky Pen Run Reservoir on Tuesday morning. The lake is the largest public works project in county history. ‘Our population has more than doubled in the last 20 years and the number of businesses and employee base has risen as well,’ Stafford County Board of Supervisors Chairman Jack Cavalier, Griffis-Widewater District, said. ‘Rocky Pen Run’s 5.5-billion-gallon reservoir will allow us to meet the needs of both our private and corporate citizens for years to come.’

The new reservoir will serve customers in the southern and western portions of Stafford, but water can be pumped throughout the county based on need. Rocky Pen Run will join Abel Lake and Smith Lake in supplying water to county customers. The new reservoir will draw water from the Rappahannock River, doubling the safe yield capacity of the water supply system from what exists today. The new reservoir will also offer recreational opportunities, including fishing and non-motorized boating, such as kayaking.”

~Writes Shannon Howell of the Stafford County Sun

Click here to learn more

Fairfax Water to Supply City of Fairfax Residents

Fairfax County

“The City of Fairfax completed the sale of its water utility to Fairfax Water, beginning the process of merging these two water systems. ‘Fairfax Water is pleased to welcome the customers of the City of Fairfax service area to our family of 1.7 million Northern Virginians who receive water service from Fairfax Water. We look forward to continuing our history of providing exceptional service, quality, and reliability to our customers,’ said Philip W. Allin, Chairman of Fairfax Water.

In commenting on the transition Mayor Silverthorne said, ‘This is a win-win for all parties. City residents will continue to receive plentiful high-quality water plus lower rates for water in the future. In the final analysis, we had to give first consideration to an opportunity that would save our residents money in the near and long term.’

The City Council voted to sell the system in April 2013. In signing the final papers today, Fairfax Water purchased the City of Fairfax water system, transferred employment of the City’s water system employees to Fairfax Water, and guaranteed the reduction of water rates for the City of Fairfax water system customers to be equalized to the Fairfax Water rates within three years.”

~Writes The Connection

Click here for more information

Roanoke Water Authority may Help Pay for New SML Water Plant

Bedford County

“Negotiations will continue into next month between water authorities in Bedford County and the Roanoke Valley to extend a buy-sell agreement into a working partnership. The discussion includes potential development of a new water treatment plant in Bedford County that would increase the amount of water drawn from Smith Mountain Lake and purchased by the Western Virginia Water Authority, which services Roanoke and Roanoke and Franklin counties.

An investment from the Roanoke-based authority would shoulder some of the Bedford Regional Water Authority’s burden in the project, which has an early projected price tag of $34 million. A draft agreement could come before each authority’s board as early as February. The costs and logistics for the facility and interconnecting lines will be examined by Black & Veatch Corp. in a study commissioned by the Bedford authority on Tuesday. The examination includes a potential line running from the new facility in Moneta to Bedford along Virginia 122, and then along U.S. 460 to Forest, where service is provided through water purchased from Lynchburg.”

~Writes Alex Rohr of the Roanoke Times

Click here to learn more

Fluvanna Supervisors at Odds Over Approved Aqua Virginia Deal

Fluvanna County

“Some Fluvanna supervisors are fired up after Wednesday night's board meeting. The Fluvanna County Board of Supervisors voted to approve a controversial $20 million Aqua Virginia proposal, even though the issue wasn't on the agenda.

Supervisor Donald Weaver called what happened "the shadiest deal the county has ever performed.” And he isn't the only supervisor upset about the unexpected motion. Vice Chair Bob Ullenbruch says he was caught off-guard when fellow board member Joseph Chesser unexpectedly put the motion on the table during old business at the end of the meeting. The vote came so late, most of the public and media had already left.”

~Reports NBC29

Click here to learn more

Henrico Supervisors Hear about Reservoir, Tell about Legislative Goals

Henrico County

“The Henrico County Board of Supervisors heard an update on a contentious reservoir plan Tuesday evening. Officials are moving ahead with the project in Cumberland County, which is intended to be a 50-year water solution for the county and is being constructed in cooperation with Powhatan and Cumberland counties. The planned Cobbs Creek Reservoir’s environmental costs are being made up for by paying the state to protect streams inside Cumberland State Forest, a move that caused some to cry foul.”

~Writes Ted Strong of Richmond Times Dispatch

Click here to learn more