by Neil Richard
The Service Authority began their regular meeting at 5:32pm.
There were no amendments to the Agenda.
There was no Public Comment.
Jim Morris and Allen Parker had no report.
Annie Cupka said the only thing she had to report was that she attended the budget work session on the 13th and thanked Jonathon Weakley, General Manager, and his staff for the work in putting everything together.
Mike Bennett said he attended the Planning Commission meeting on the 11th where they heard about the updated re-zoning request by Darrell Hertenstein. Bennett said that the request was approved in a five to three vote. He said a number of comments were made by the Planning Commission that he couldn't respond to at the time but that deserved a response now. Bennett said it was clear the Planning Commission cares about King George County and that they take things seriously and try to do the right thing. Bennett said that there is no downside to the Villages development with the Service Authority. He said it would result in significant connection fees and new customers and, when fully built, would mean about $5 million in fees. Bennett said there would be a downside if not approved but cautioned that it doesn't mean that the Supervisors that sit on the Service Authority Board had to approve it. Bennett said the downside was there would be no connection fees, thus no funds to replace Purkins Corner Waste Water Treatment Plant (WWTP) or to reroute sewage if it was decommissioned. Bennett said the comment that the Villages development would only benefit the Service Authority and only 30% of King George residents was a bit of a fallacy. He said that the Service Authority provides water and sewer to nearly every teacher, student, and restaurant in the County along with a majority of businesses. Bennett said it was wrong to suggest that only Service Authority customers use Service Authority services. [EDITOR'S NOTE - Darrell Hertenstein made a charitable contribution to Project94 in December 2019.]
Bennett continued by saying that one Planning Commission member voiced concerns that the Villages development would use all of the capacity of Purkins Corner. Bennett said the agreement recognizes that fact but felt it was contradictory to voice it as a concern. Bennett said the Service Authority has constantly been told to run the entity as a business so it would only make sense to use every Equivalent Residential Connection (ERC) possible, and as soon as possible, instead of having unused capacity sitting there. Bennett said the Planning Commission was worried about the development impact but seemed to assume it would be immediate. He said it was going to be phased in over time and that the expected addition of 134 students to the school system would take place over 10 years, not one day.
Bennett continued his report by saying he attended the budget work session on the 13th and took part in a conference call on the 14th regarding the water contamination issues in Fairview Beach. He said the Hampton Roads Sanitary District (HRSD), along with Virginia Department of Health (VDH), Virginia Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ), and others participated in the call. Bennett said that early tests showed human waste was part of the contamination but that the tests have recently been shown to be unreliable. He said more recent tests by HRSD have shown no human DNA but that everyone agreed more testing was needed during the peak summer season when sewer lines and septic tanks would be used the most. He added that based on the most recent tests, due to the lack of human DNA, he was confident that the Service Authority sewer lines were not leaking.
Cathy Binder said she also attended the budget work session and felt it was informative, especially for the new Board members.
The Consent Agenda was approved.
The County Attorney pro tempore, Eric Gregory, had no report.
General Manager Jonathon Weakley started his report by saying the Hope Retreat development in the Dahlgren area would not require additional ground water withdrawal based on a meeting with DEQ and developers. He said the existing capacity would be enough. Weakley said that he and DEQ also discussed existing wells that would need geophysical logging done. As Weakley was explaining the process, Bennett stopped Weakley and said he knew he wasn't a well driller but wanted to know why a well would go through one aquifer to get to another one. Parker answered by saying the answer was, in simple terms, withdrawal needs and water quality. He said a certain amount of water is needed to withdrawal and to get that flow rate, a lower aquifer may be needed. Bennett asked if they tested the first aquifer when they got to it and Parker said yes, they'll do a pump test, basically a stress test, to see if that aquifer works. If not, they drill on to the next one. Bennett said that he remembers DEQ saying they don't like wells to go through multiple aquifers. Parker had previously said that the well is cased to seal off higher aquifers and Weakley added that the observation well would be drilled next to or very close to the existing well. He added that it was confusing because two state agencies have control over wells with VDH issuing the permit and DEQ overseeing groundwater withdrawal. He said the time frame for the geophysical logging was to have it complete by 2026.
Weakley continued his report saying the belt press provider at Dahlgren WWTP was on site creating a service report. Weakley said there were no major overhauls needed, just minor maintenance. He said that an Aqua Aerobic service technician was also looking at their equipment and may be offering some staff training as well. Weakley said the Service Authority has reached their projected 50 connections for the year and added about six or seven more since then. He hoped more connections were coming before the end of the fiscal year. Weakley said there was also a kick-off meeting with MuniBilling and plans to have weekly meetings with them until the release date in April. He said that each customer would also receive information in the mail as well as KGAlert.
Bennett said the five year plan had 50 connections built into it and that with Hopyard providing 50 connections alone, the Board may want to consider fees from future developments going into the capital improvement fund or towards debt instead of the general funds. Bennett said that in thinking about it down the road, with more developments and more connection fees, that they should have a plan for being blessed with extra money.
The meeting adjourned at 6:03pm.
Meeting Attendees:
Mike Bennett (Citizen)
Cathy Binder (Chair, Board of Supervisors)
Annie Cupka (Vice Chair, Board of Supervisors)
Jim Morris (Citizen)
Allen Parker (Citizen)
Neiman Young (County Administrator)
Eric Gregory (County Attorney)
Meeting Agenda
Next Meeting:
The Service Authority will next meet on February 27, 2020 at 6:30 pm at the Revercomb Building.
Previous Meeting:
Read about the previous Service Authority Meeting.
The Service Authority began their regular meeting at 5:32pm.
There were no amendments to the Agenda.
There was no Public Comment.
Jim Morris and Allen Parker had no report.
Annie Cupka said the only thing she had to report was that she attended the budget work session on the 13th and thanked Jonathon Weakley, General Manager, and his staff for the work in putting everything together.
Mike Bennett said he attended the Planning Commission meeting on the 11th where they heard about the updated re-zoning request by Darrell Hertenstein. Bennett said that the request was approved in a five to three vote. He said a number of comments were made by the Planning Commission that he couldn't respond to at the time but that deserved a response now. Bennett said it was clear the Planning Commission cares about King George County and that they take things seriously and try to do the right thing. Bennett said that there is no downside to the Villages development with the Service Authority. He said it would result in significant connection fees and new customers and, when fully built, would mean about $5 million in fees. Bennett said there would be a downside if not approved but cautioned that it doesn't mean that the Supervisors that sit on the Service Authority Board had to approve it. Bennett said the downside was there would be no connection fees, thus no funds to replace Purkins Corner Waste Water Treatment Plant (WWTP) or to reroute sewage if it was decommissioned. Bennett said the comment that the Villages development would only benefit the Service Authority and only 30% of King George residents was a bit of a fallacy. He said that the Service Authority provides water and sewer to nearly every teacher, student, and restaurant in the County along with a majority of businesses. Bennett said it was wrong to suggest that only Service Authority customers use Service Authority services. [EDITOR'S NOTE - Darrell Hertenstein made a charitable contribution to Project94 in December 2019.]
Bennett continued by saying that one Planning Commission member voiced concerns that the Villages development would use all of the capacity of Purkins Corner. Bennett said the agreement recognizes that fact but felt it was contradictory to voice it as a concern. Bennett said the Service Authority has constantly been told to run the entity as a business so it would only make sense to use every Equivalent Residential Connection (ERC) possible, and as soon as possible, instead of having unused capacity sitting there. Bennett said the Planning Commission was worried about the development impact but seemed to assume it would be immediate. He said it was going to be phased in over time and that the expected addition of 134 students to the school system would take place over 10 years, not one day.
Bennett continued his report by saying he attended the budget work session on the 13th and took part in a conference call on the 14th regarding the water contamination issues in Fairview Beach. He said the Hampton Roads Sanitary District (HRSD), along with Virginia Department of Health (VDH), Virginia Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ), and others participated in the call. Bennett said that early tests showed human waste was part of the contamination but that the tests have recently been shown to be unreliable. He said more recent tests by HRSD have shown no human DNA but that everyone agreed more testing was needed during the peak summer season when sewer lines and septic tanks would be used the most. He added that based on the most recent tests, due to the lack of human DNA, he was confident that the Service Authority sewer lines were not leaking.
Cathy Binder said she also attended the budget work session and felt it was informative, especially for the new Board members.
The Consent Agenda was approved.
The County Attorney pro tempore, Eric Gregory, had no report.
General Manager Jonathon Weakley started his report by saying the Hope Retreat development in the Dahlgren area would not require additional ground water withdrawal based on a meeting with DEQ and developers. He said the existing capacity would be enough. Weakley said that he and DEQ also discussed existing wells that would need geophysical logging done. As Weakley was explaining the process, Bennett stopped Weakley and said he knew he wasn't a well driller but wanted to know why a well would go through one aquifer to get to another one. Parker answered by saying the answer was, in simple terms, withdrawal needs and water quality. He said a certain amount of water is needed to withdrawal and to get that flow rate, a lower aquifer may be needed. Bennett asked if they tested the first aquifer when they got to it and Parker said yes, they'll do a pump test, basically a stress test, to see if that aquifer works. If not, they drill on to the next one. Bennett said that he remembers DEQ saying they don't like wells to go through multiple aquifers. Parker had previously said that the well is cased to seal off higher aquifers and Weakley added that the observation well would be drilled next to or very close to the existing well. He added that it was confusing because two state agencies have control over wells with VDH issuing the permit and DEQ overseeing groundwater withdrawal. He said the time frame for the geophysical logging was to have it complete by 2026.
 |
| Weakley's report showed a basic diagram of how geophysical logging works. |
Weakley continued his report saying the belt press provider at Dahlgren WWTP was on site creating a service report. Weakley said there were no major overhauls needed, just minor maintenance. He said that an Aqua Aerobic service technician was also looking at their equipment and may be offering some staff training as well. Weakley said the Service Authority has reached their projected 50 connections for the year and added about six or seven more since then. He hoped more connections were coming before the end of the fiscal year. Weakley said there was also a kick-off meeting with MuniBilling and plans to have weekly meetings with them until the release date in April. He said that each customer would also receive information in the mail as well as KGAlert.
Bennett said the five year plan had 50 connections built into it and that with Hopyard providing 50 connections alone, the Board may want to consider fees from future developments going into the capital improvement fund or towards debt instead of the general funds. Bennett said that in thinking about it down the road, with more developments and more connection fees, that they should have a plan for being blessed with extra money.
The meeting adjourned at 6:03pm.
Meeting Attendees:
Mike Bennett (Citizen)
Cathy Binder (Chair, Board of Supervisors)
Annie Cupka (Vice Chair, Board of Supervisors)
Jim Morris (Citizen)
Allen Parker (Citizen)
Neiman Young (County Administrator)
Eric Gregory (County Attorney)
Meeting Agenda
Next Meeting:
The Service Authority will next meet on February 27, 2020 at 6:30 pm at the Revercomb Building.
Previous Meeting:
Read about the previous Service Authority Meeting.
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