by Neil Richard
The Service Authority Board of Directors began their meeting promptly at 6:30pm.
There was an amendment to the Agenda to include an action item to consider the formation of a committee to review the Pump Station Preliminary Engineering Report (PER) and to review Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) Grants. The amendment was approved.
Public Comment opened with Adam Taylor speaking about how he was recently without water. He said that there was likely some sort of oversight from the previous owner and water was shut off at his house. He said he called the Service Authority but it was after hours. When he called the after hours number, which was the Sheriff's Office, they refused to contact the on-call technicians to attempt to resolve the issue. He said that Jonathon Weakley, General Manager, was able to eventually help him resolve the issue and he was thankful for that. However, he didn't think it was right that he wasn't connected to the on-call employees.
Linda Peterson was next to come to the podium but when she began speaking against the proposed campground with a gun range, Mike Bennett, Chair, told her that the comments would be better made to the Board of Supervisors. Bennett said it wasn't that they weren't interested it was just that the Service Authority didn't have any jurisdiction over that issue.
In an unusual move, Bennett gave the audience a preview of Chris Werle's board report saying it was a "commercial for a coming attraction." He encouraged everyone to pay special attention to this one even though it was a bit of an unusual report.
Werle then began his report by saying he wasn't sure he could live up to that introduction but did have some things that were important to say. He apologized for being a little longer than normal. Werle said that on September 4th, he met with Weakley about the Wiley-Wilson report as it relates to the Purkins Corner Waste Water Treatment Plant (WWTP). He said that Virginia Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ) wants to shut down older, underperforming WWTPs in favor of newer ones that are more effective and efficient. Werle said that Purkins Corner and Oakland Park are being targeted and that the Wiley-Wilson report included part of the Draper Aden report which studied the cost and logistics of decommissioning both plants and rerouting waste to Hopyard Farm. Werle said that before any decision is made by the Board of Directors, they should carefully consider the technology available, the cost and funding available, the impact of future debt, availability of land, and more.
Werle then gave his recommendation on what he feels is the most feasible solution. First, Werle suggested replacing the Purkins Corner WWTP with a new 500,000 gallon per day (gpd) plant. He felt that building a smaller, 250,000 gpd, plant and then later expanding it would not be cost effective. He said the estimated cost for this is about $12 million with another $1 million for a dewatering facility. Werle's second suggestion was to work with DEQ to delay the decommissioning of Oakland Park WWTP to allow the Service Authority to grow the Capital Improvement Fund. He said DEQ should be amenable to this as Service Authority staff have impressed DEQ with the amount of work they've done to the facility as well as the plant's improved nutrient numbers. Third, Werle said that when the Oakland Park WWTP does get decommissioned, the waste should be rerouted to Hopyard Farm. Werle said building a new plant in Oakland Park would not be possible due to the limited land area. He estimated the cost for decommissioning and pumping the waste to Hopyard at $5 million. Werle's fourth recommendation was, when the Oakland Park WWTP is decommissioned, to upgrade Hopyard Farm WWTP to a 500,000 gpd facility. He said this would cost about $4 million plus another $1 million for the dewatering plant. Finally, Werle recommended the Service Authority fund the roughly $23 million in new construction needed through DEQ Water Quality Improvement Fund (WQIF) grants, developer connection fees, economic development funds, and other sources.
Werle then changed topics and went back to his report. On the 4th he received confirmation that the Environmental Assessment (EA) for the Fairview Beach Riverbank Stabilization Project was received by FEMA and it stated no impact was found for the vetch, a plant similar to soybeans, and the Northern Long Eared Bats. Werle said the US Fish and Wildlife Service had no more comments or concerns and that they were now waiting for the National Marine Fisheries Service to make a determination on the impact, if any, to the Short Nose Sturgeon. He said once that was done, there should be a permit issued for wetlands disturbance. Werle ended his report stating he attended the Economic Development Authority (EDA) presentation on how to retain rural characteristics on the 12th.
Richard Granger began his report by thanking everyone for speaking. He apologized to Taylor for his experience and said he would reach out to see if he could find out more about the issue. Granger then thanked Werle for his information and effort and being involved with everything. He said he agreed with him, especially with the sizing of a Purkins Corner replacement that would allow for future development.
Cathy Binder also thanked Taylor for speaking. She said she's been involved with a lot of the Wiley-Wilson reports and what the options are and has been doing a lot of research on the issue lately.
Ruby Brabo said on the 6th she was reappointed by the Governor to the Chesapeake Bay Watershed committee and that the County's participation was important, especially as it relates to Phase III of the state's Watershed Improvement Plan (WIP). On the 16th she sent information to Bennett and Weakley about a potential grant to purchase generators for the pump stations. She said Werle was investigating the grants and that he's done a great job in the past on FEMA grants.
Mike Bennett said he didn't really have a report but promised to look into Taylor's issue. He thanked Werle for his analysis and said the Board of Directors would meet with the Supervisors later in the week. Bennett said the grant information from Brabo would be helpful.
The Consent Agenda was approved.
Bennett noted that the $832,000 item is for debt repayment saying he just wanted to point that out.
The County Attorney, Eric Gregory, had no report.
Next was the amended section to consider the formation of a committee to review the Preliminary Engineering Report (PER) in regards to the pump stations noted in the Wiley-Wilson report. Additionally, the committee would review the FEMA grant to see if the projects were eligible. Weakley said it was a time sensitive issue as the grant cycle closes in November and that he recommended meeting once or twice a week. The Board approved appointing Bennett, Werle, and Weakley to the committee.
Werle added some comments based on some information he was able to gather within the last few hours about the FEMA grants being discussed. He said it was part of FEMA's Pre-Disaster Mitigation (PDM) Program and that generators are eligible, however they need to be permanent, not portable. Bennett said the draft Wiley-Wilson report only called for one portable one so that shouldn't be an issue. Werle added that generators are low in priority for getting grants and that none had been awarded in Virginia for sewer pump stations. He said that projects to elevate components were also eligible however the Wiley-Wilson report recommended replacing the pumps and that would not be eligible. Werle said that another important point to keep in mind was that the grants are approved and announced in December 2020. He cautioned though that the grants are not reimbursements, meaning the Service Authority wouldn't be able to complete the projects now and then get repaid later. Brabo suggested that out of the dozen generators needed, maybe the ones eligible for the grant could be placed at the bottom of the list. Bennett added that many of the pump stations in question are in a 100 year flood plain. However, because 100 year floods only happen once every 100 years, these projects are ranked as the lowest priority often times.
Jonathan Weakley, General Manager, then gave a brief report where he apologized to Taylor for his experience and promised to follow-up with him later. He also shared that the Circle well house was getting repairs this month and that KGAlerts would be sent when customers are impacted. Weakley said that the recent storms impacted Hopyard and Dahlgren Waste Water Treatment Plants (WWTP) and several parts had to be replaced. He said they would need to review what spare parts are left and what would need to be ordered and also said an insurance claim would be filed. Weakley said he received the draft pump station report from Wiley-Wilson and shared with the Directors.
Weakley also shared updates on the nutrient loads at each WWTP. Every facility was under permit and grant limits for Total Nitrogen (TN) and Total Phosphorus (TP) in August. He said he was confident Purkins Corner WWTP would be under the limit for the year. Bennett interjected saying the Board asked for this data, including prior year information. Bennett said that the August 2018 amounts were shortly after AQUA took over and that the Service Authority was now below that and trending in the right direction. Weakley said he appreciated his comments and he would pass it on to staff. He said the staff has been working on getting things done on a daily basis and he just checks in with them. Weakley gave kudos to the staff at Purkins Corner for their efforts in piping certain areas to get better TN and TP numbers. He said he was also working with the Navy in Dahlgren on chemical procurement. He said he would share more information as it became available. Weakley said he wasn't saying it would or would not work, just that he was working on the details before bringing forward a recommendation.
The Board then went into Closed Session at 7:08pm and invited Weakley, Dr. Neiman Young (County Administrator), Jeff Bueche (Board of Supervisors), John Jenkins (Board of Supervisors), and Chris Pomeroy (Aqua Law) to attend. Dr. Young didn't join until 7:35pm and Weakley and Gregory didn't join until 7:51pm. Bueche and Jenkins left at 8:22pm and there was a collective groan from the audience when nobody else left the meeting. The rest of the Board returned from Closed Session at 8:32pm and the adjourned the meeting. While a long meeting, this was not the longest one this year (that one adjourned at 8:57pm).
Meeting Attendees:
Christopher Werle (Board of Directors)
Jonathon Weakley (General Manager of Service Authority)
Richard Granger (Board of Supervisors)
Michael Bennett (Chairman, Citizen)
Ruby Brabo (Board of Supervisors)
Cathy Binder (Board of Supervisors)
Neiman Young (County Administrator)
Eric Gregory (County Attorney)
Meeting Agenda
Next Meeting:
The Service Authority will next meet on September 19, 2019 at 6:30 pm at Company 1 Headquarters.
Previous Meeting:
Read about the previous Service Authority Meeting.
The Service Authority Board of Directors began their meeting promptly at 6:30pm.
There was an amendment to the Agenda to include an action item to consider the formation of a committee to review the Pump Station Preliminary Engineering Report (PER) and to review Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) Grants. The amendment was approved.
Public Comment opened with Adam Taylor speaking about how he was recently without water. He said that there was likely some sort of oversight from the previous owner and water was shut off at his house. He said he called the Service Authority but it was after hours. When he called the after hours number, which was the Sheriff's Office, they refused to contact the on-call technicians to attempt to resolve the issue. He said that Jonathon Weakley, General Manager, was able to eventually help him resolve the issue and he was thankful for that. However, he didn't think it was right that he wasn't connected to the on-call employees.
Linda Peterson was next to come to the podium but when she began speaking against the proposed campground with a gun range, Mike Bennett, Chair, told her that the comments would be better made to the Board of Supervisors. Bennett said it wasn't that they weren't interested it was just that the Service Authority didn't have any jurisdiction over that issue.
In an unusual move, Bennett gave the audience a preview of Chris Werle's board report saying it was a "commercial for a coming attraction." He encouraged everyone to pay special attention to this one even though it was a bit of an unusual report.
Werle then began his report by saying he wasn't sure he could live up to that introduction but did have some things that were important to say. He apologized for being a little longer than normal. Werle said that on September 4th, he met with Weakley about the Wiley-Wilson report as it relates to the Purkins Corner Waste Water Treatment Plant (WWTP). He said that Virginia Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ) wants to shut down older, underperforming WWTPs in favor of newer ones that are more effective and efficient. Werle said that Purkins Corner and Oakland Park are being targeted and that the Wiley-Wilson report included part of the Draper Aden report which studied the cost and logistics of decommissioning both plants and rerouting waste to Hopyard Farm. Werle said that before any decision is made by the Board of Directors, they should carefully consider the technology available, the cost and funding available, the impact of future debt, availability of land, and more.
Werle then gave his recommendation on what he feels is the most feasible solution. First, Werle suggested replacing the Purkins Corner WWTP with a new 500,000 gallon per day (gpd) plant. He felt that building a smaller, 250,000 gpd, plant and then later expanding it would not be cost effective. He said the estimated cost for this is about $12 million with another $1 million for a dewatering facility. Werle's second suggestion was to work with DEQ to delay the decommissioning of Oakland Park WWTP to allow the Service Authority to grow the Capital Improvement Fund. He said DEQ should be amenable to this as Service Authority staff have impressed DEQ with the amount of work they've done to the facility as well as the plant's improved nutrient numbers. Third, Werle said that when the Oakland Park WWTP does get decommissioned, the waste should be rerouted to Hopyard Farm. Werle said building a new plant in Oakland Park would not be possible due to the limited land area. He estimated the cost for decommissioning and pumping the waste to Hopyard at $5 million. Werle's fourth recommendation was, when the Oakland Park WWTP is decommissioned, to upgrade Hopyard Farm WWTP to a 500,000 gpd facility. He said this would cost about $4 million plus another $1 million for the dewatering plant. Finally, Werle recommended the Service Authority fund the roughly $23 million in new construction needed through DEQ Water Quality Improvement Fund (WQIF) grants, developer connection fees, economic development funds, and other sources.
Werle then changed topics and went back to his report. On the 4th he received confirmation that the Environmental Assessment (EA) for the Fairview Beach Riverbank Stabilization Project was received by FEMA and it stated no impact was found for the vetch, a plant similar to soybeans, and the Northern Long Eared Bats. Werle said the US Fish and Wildlife Service had no more comments or concerns and that they were now waiting for the National Marine Fisheries Service to make a determination on the impact, if any, to the Short Nose Sturgeon. He said once that was done, there should be a permit issued for wetlands disturbance. Werle ended his report stating he attended the Economic Development Authority (EDA) presentation on how to retain rural characteristics on the 12th.
Richard Granger began his report by thanking everyone for speaking. He apologized to Taylor for his experience and said he would reach out to see if he could find out more about the issue. Granger then thanked Werle for his information and effort and being involved with everything. He said he agreed with him, especially with the sizing of a Purkins Corner replacement that would allow for future development.
Cathy Binder also thanked Taylor for speaking. She said she's been involved with a lot of the Wiley-Wilson reports and what the options are and has been doing a lot of research on the issue lately.
Ruby Brabo said on the 6th she was reappointed by the Governor to the Chesapeake Bay Watershed committee and that the County's participation was important, especially as it relates to Phase III of the state's Watershed Improvement Plan (WIP). On the 16th she sent information to Bennett and Weakley about a potential grant to purchase generators for the pump stations. She said Werle was investigating the grants and that he's done a great job in the past on FEMA grants.
Mike Bennett said he didn't really have a report but promised to look into Taylor's issue. He thanked Werle for his analysis and said the Board of Directors would meet with the Supervisors later in the week. Bennett said the grant information from Brabo would be helpful.
The Consent Agenda was approved.
Bennett noted that the $832,000 item is for debt repayment saying he just wanted to point that out.
The County Attorney, Eric Gregory, had no report.
Next was the amended section to consider the formation of a committee to review the Preliminary Engineering Report (PER) in regards to the pump stations noted in the Wiley-Wilson report. Additionally, the committee would review the FEMA grant to see if the projects were eligible. Weakley said it was a time sensitive issue as the grant cycle closes in November and that he recommended meeting once or twice a week. The Board approved appointing Bennett, Werle, and Weakley to the committee.
Werle added some comments based on some information he was able to gather within the last few hours about the FEMA grants being discussed. He said it was part of FEMA's Pre-Disaster Mitigation (PDM) Program and that generators are eligible, however they need to be permanent, not portable. Bennett said the draft Wiley-Wilson report only called for one portable one so that shouldn't be an issue. Werle added that generators are low in priority for getting grants and that none had been awarded in Virginia for sewer pump stations. He said that projects to elevate components were also eligible however the Wiley-Wilson report recommended replacing the pumps and that would not be eligible. Werle said that another important point to keep in mind was that the grants are approved and announced in December 2020. He cautioned though that the grants are not reimbursements, meaning the Service Authority wouldn't be able to complete the projects now and then get repaid later. Brabo suggested that out of the dozen generators needed, maybe the ones eligible for the grant could be placed at the bottom of the list. Bennett added that many of the pump stations in question are in a 100 year flood plain. However, because 100 year floods only happen once every 100 years, these projects are ranked as the lowest priority often times.
Jonathan Weakley, General Manager, then gave a brief report where he apologized to Taylor for his experience and promised to follow-up with him later. He also shared that the Circle well house was getting repairs this month and that KGAlerts would be sent when customers are impacted. Weakley said that the recent storms impacted Hopyard and Dahlgren Waste Water Treatment Plants (WWTP) and several parts had to be replaced. He said they would need to review what spare parts are left and what would need to be ordered and also said an insurance claim would be filed. Weakley said he received the draft pump station report from Wiley-Wilson and shared with the Directors.
 |
| Jonathon Weakley, Service Authority General Manager, shares nutrient levels from the Dahlgren Waste Water Treatment Plant. |
Weakley also shared updates on the nutrient loads at each WWTP. Every facility was under permit and grant limits for Total Nitrogen (TN) and Total Phosphorus (TP) in August. He said he was confident Purkins Corner WWTP would be under the limit for the year. Bennett interjected saying the Board asked for this data, including prior year information. Bennett said that the August 2018 amounts were shortly after AQUA took over and that the Service Authority was now below that and trending in the right direction. Weakley said he appreciated his comments and he would pass it on to staff. He said the staff has been working on getting things done on a daily basis and he just checks in with them. Weakley gave kudos to the staff at Purkins Corner for their efforts in piping certain areas to get better TN and TP numbers. He said he was also working with the Navy in Dahlgren on chemical procurement. He said he would share more information as it became available. Weakley said he wasn't saying it would or would not work, just that he was working on the details before bringing forward a recommendation.
The Board then went into Closed Session at 7:08pm and invited Weakley, Dr. Neiman Young (County Administrator), Jeff Bueche (Board of Supervisors), John Jenkins (Board of Supervisors), and Chris Pomeroy (Aqua Law) to attend. Dr. Young didn't join until 7:35pm and Weakley and Gregory didn't join until 7:51pm. Bueche and Jenkins left at 8:22pm and there was a collective groan from the audience when nobody else left the meeting. The rest of the Board returned from Closed Session at 8:32pm and the adjourned the meeting. While a long meeting, this was not the longest one this year (that one adjourned at 8:57pm).
Meeting Attendees:
Christopher Werle (Board of Directors)
Jonathon Weakley (General Manager of Service Authority)
Richard Granger (Board of Supervisors)
Michael Bennett (Chairman, Citizen)
Ruby Brabo (Board of Supervisors)
Cathy Binder (Board of Supervisors)
Neiman Young (County Administrator)
Eric Gregory (County Attorney)
Meeting Agenda
Next Meeting:
The Service Authority will next meet on September 19, 2019 at 6:30 pm at Company 1 Headquarters.
Previous Meeting:
Read about the previous Service Authority Meeting.
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