|
Newly elected council to re-examine waterline after County-imposed timeline
By STEPHANIE A. JAMES/Staff Writer
Wednesday, July 16, 2008 10:58 AM EDT
The Appomattox Town Council is taking a serious look at making a decision sooner on the waterline, if they want to join Appomattox County on the venture.
What prompted Council to possibly come to closure on the waterline decision was last Monday's Appomattox County Board of Supervisor's push for urgency for Council to join the County on the investment.
The Supervisors announced that they agreed to create the infrastructure for the U.S. 460 waterline from Concord to Appomattox, starting in September.
During Council's Monday night meeting, one Council member urged that Council resolve the waterline issue before September.
After some discussion, Council agreed to save waterline proposal discussions for Council's Workshop meeting on Tuesday, July 29.
After comments on delaying the waterline issue to another meeting, newly-elected Council member Karl Carter said that he would like the Council to decide on the waterline before September.
Carter stated that while he was campaigning, the waterline was the biggest concern for citizens.
"In walking around and campaigning the biggest concern I got from citizens is that they are sick and tired of us sitting here writing back and forth, corresponding back and forth and writing back and forth," said Carter. "The citizens want us to make a decision one way or the other."
Carter noted that the waterline has been discussed for years.
"I think we need to act on it right away. I don't think we can drag this thing on for two or three more months," said Carter. "I'd like to meet with them before September myself."
Carter's comments came moments after Council members Jimmy Mayberry, Jennifer Jamerson-Scruggs, and Mayor Paul Harvey asked to discuss the waterline in greater detail during Council's Workshop meeting or a committee meeting.
Mayberry suggested that the waterline issue should be discussed in committee or Workshop meeting.
Mayberry agreed that something needed to be done.
"If we want to be part of that negotiation (with Campbell County)," said Mayberry. "We got to do something."
Harvey suggested that a special committee be formed with representatives from the County and Town.
Council member Jennifer Jamerson-Scruggs said that Council never voted on a commitment on the waterline one way or the other.
"I think there needs to be some direction (for) Council," said Jamerson-Scruggs. "I think that is the first step in negotiations."
She noted that the reason Council had not acted on the waterline before was the fact that Council did not have anything to act on.
Jamerson-Scruggs suggested that everything should be laid out on the table.
She added that it needed to be done in an organized fashion.
She said that there are 12 different opinions and inputs and pros and cons need to be reviewed.
In her reasoning to further discuss the waterline instead of making a quick decision, she took into account the new Council members.
"We have two Council members," she said. "They need to be updated on the waterline."
Harvey recommended that Council focus their attention on working on a plan of action that is required to be submitted to the state's Department of Environmental Quality to resolve the Town's copper issue.
The Town's high levels of copper at its Trickling Filter Plant have become one of the top concerns.
The Town has until September to come up with an action plan to resolve high copper levels at its wastewater plant.
In addition to the Town's copper issue, some of the Town's eight wells have experience significant depletion.
Also, last year the Virginia Department of Health advised that the Town to seek additional sources of water.
Council has had several cost analysis studies presented to them among studies data revealed that investing in the waterline would eliminate the Town's copper problem at the wastewater plant.
Despite the fact that one of the most recent studies determined that investing in the waterline would be more cost-effective than the Town's current system, the Town still has not made a commitment.
During last week's Board of Supervisors meeting, Supervisor Sammy Carter suggested that the Council be given at least 60 days.
Council member Bryan Baine said that Carter recognizes that there are new Council members.
In light of what Karl Carter said, Baine said that people are tired of hearing about the waterline.
Baine acknowledged that the waterline issue is not to be taken lightly.
"It is a lot of money and a serious issue," said Baine.
Baine expressed that there is a learning curve for him when comes to the waterline.
"I feel there is a lot for me to learn before making a decision," said Baine.
Council's Monday night discussion was the first for the Town since the County made an offer to the Town in May.
The County has made two waterline offers to the Town.
The main concern between the two governing bodies is ownership.
The initial offer in November stated that the County would agree to finance 75 percent of the waterline, if the Town agreed to pay 25 percent.
The Town responded back five months later with a counteroffer detailing that the Town would agree to own the waterline if the County paid 100 percent of the cost.
Rejecting the Town's offer, the County submitted another offer to the Town in May, this time the County paying 100 percent of the waterline and owning the waterline.
The other terms of the offer before Council now includes:
n The County will install a master water meter on the waterline at the Appomattox Town boundary.
__The County will sell the metered water at its real cost to the Town of Appomattox.
n The Town would contract with the County to purchase water as calculated by the master meter at the Town line. The "real" cost of water includes the cost that Appomattox County pays for the water, as well as capital and maintenance costs to bring the water to the Town.
n The County and Town will jointly pursue grant funding for this project.
n The Town would consider moving towards an equalization of water rates charged to Town and County customers of this system.
During the Supervisor's July 7 meeting, Supervisor Tom Conrad urged the Supervisors to not wait for the Town any further.
Conrad mentioned that the upcoming Wal-Mart was concerned about the Town's water and that he did not want the Supervisors to be at fault if Wal-Mart backed out.
Conrad said that the County's industrial park could be affected in a positive way by a waterline.
|
