by Neil Richard
Shortly before the Service Authority Board of Directors opened their meeting, Dr. Neiman Young, County Administrator, made an announcement that anyone wishing to make Public Comment should sign up on the form in the lobby. He then clarified that that was for anyone wishing to speak during the Board of Supervisors meeting.
The Board of Directors began their meeting at 6:30pm.
There were amendments to the Agenda to add an Action Item regarding the adoption of the Rules and Procedures as well as an amendment to the Rules and Procedures to allow for remote participation in meetings.
Mike Bennett apologized for not including them on the Agenda.
Public Comment began with Kim Dodge, a resident of Hopyard, speaking about the water and sewer rates. Dodge said that she had heard at a previous meeting some comments about maintenance and waste water treatment plants that may need to be closed. She said it was her understanding that when the developer built the Hopyard subdivision, they had to build the sewer system and put that cost into cost of the home which in turn was passed along to the value of the house which meant higher taxes. Dodge said when she first moved here, the rates were fine. She said there were then huge increases. She said one of the solutions she heard about was to raise rates. She also heard from somebody in Presidential Lakes who said their rates were not that bad. She said they pay water and sewer but not the debt fees. Dodge said Hopyard pays more and has to pay local taxes so she was asking to not increase the rates. She said she was asking for this for the whole County. She said the people she talked to in Presidential Lakes didn't mind their bill because they were only paying for one part, not all four.
Christopher Werle was the first to report beginning with his summary of the most recent budget work session the night before on April 1st. Werle said the presentation from Davenport and Associates was a five year plan that laid out various scenarios and options with the ultimate goal of bringing the Service Authority into compliance with the Virginia Department of Health (VDH) and Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ). Additionally, it would provide better financial stability to ensure that Service Authority facilities were maintained and capital improvement plans were made for future needs. Werle said that in his opinion, the best solution included five basic points. First was an increase in rates. Second was maintaining a minimum amount of cash reserves. Third was restructuring part of the existing debt. Fourth was meeting critical financial benchmarks in five years. Fifth was a new line of credit to pay for immediate capital needs. Werle summed things up nicely by saying "Implementing the plan will be painful and add to the substantial financial burden our customers already bear. However, it is needed to ensure the long term financial strength and stability of the KGCSA, and I believe moving forward with it is the right thing to do." He also added that the Board of Directors are obligated to provide the General Manager and Service Authority staff the resources necessary to be successful.
Richard Granger was next to report, starting by thanking Mrs. Dodge for her comments. He corrected her by saying that Presidential Lakes was water only and that residents there had their own septic systems. He also clarified that they did pay for the water debt as well as their water usage. Granger said he attended the budget work session as well and felt that Werle summed things up well.
Werle added that he neglected to respond to Dodge's comments and said that the systems in Hopyard Farm cost $26 million and were proffered to the County as part of negotiations. Werle said he didn't believe the cost of the infrastructure was relevant to the price of a home but that the connection fee was certainly part of the cost of the house. He said he lives there too and the residents of Hopyard are not being penalized. Werle said the Service Authority charges the same rates to everyone as required by law and the only difference is how much a customer uses and what type of customer they are, meaning water only or water and sewer.
[EDITOR'S NOTE: Neither Werle nor Granger mentioned that some residents of Presidential Lakes, specifically those in the Lake Jefferson section, are customers of AQUA Virginia, not the Service Authority. Those customers pay a much higher rate for both water and sewer as well as higher rates for water debt and sewer debt.]
Cathy Binder was next, stating she has been to all of the same budget meetings as well over the past few weeks where they have been reviewing options on how best to get the Service Authority back on the right footing. She said that one of those options was restructuring the debt, which Werle had already covered well. She also said that she never thought she would learn so much about what happened before turning on the tap or what happened after flushing the toilet. Binder said rate increases are a possibility in order to provide the quality service as well as to get back into compliance with the state.
Ruby Brabo began her report by stating she attended Local Government Advisory Committee meeting for the Chesapeake Bay Watershed quarterly meeting. She said during the meeting she learned about
HB1822 which was just signed by the Governor. She said the bill allowed for cost sharing for the decommissioning of a waste water treatment plant (WWTP) as well as the rerouting of sewer lines and building new sewer pump stations. Brabo said she also learned about the Governor's Watershed Implementation Plan which included the potential closure of WWTPs that cannot "achieve technology based limits." She said this meant that within the next year and a half to two years, the Service Authority may be forced to close Purkins Corner and Oakland Park WWTPs, much earlier than anticipated. Brabo ended her comments by saying that during the meeting, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) noted that no local targets were set because of her efforts.
Mike Bennett began his comments saying that Brabo went to a conference and got helpful information for the Service Authority. He said that her travel shouldn't be controversial but it apparently was. Bennett continued, stating that Brabo had sent a message about the new law and the changes to the grant program regarding the decommissioning of WWTPs. He said that prior to the change, the grant did not cover new pipes but now it does. He noted that new sewer pipes were a huge part of the potential decommissioning of Purkins Corner and Oakland Park WWTPs. He said the law was complicated enough that he wasn't sure how much the Service Authority could get but it sounded like it would range between 35% and 75%. Bennett also said that the information Brabo brought back changed how he looked at the timing of things. He said that prior to the new information, he felt the decommissioning was a long term need but that has changed to a short term need. He again thanked Brabo for the information.
Bennett added that he had a meeting with Wiley Wilson and Draper Aden on March 20th and also visited the Nindes Store well house facility. He said the facility is in terrible shape and he touched the storage tank gently and his fingers came away wet and rusty. Bennett said he wasn't an expert but he felt replacement was the only option. On the 25th, Bennett met with Davenport about the financial needs of the Service Authority. On the 26th he met with Jonathon Weakley, General Manager, and Eric Gregory, County Attorney, and DEQ Enforcement representatives. Bennett said they discussed many issues and solutions and the Service Authority got guidance on a number of things. He said it was a much different atmosphere, in a positive way, than last year's meeting when they negotiated the Consent Order. Bennett said they were still the regulators but things felt much more collegial. He said during the discussion, DEQ shared a story of how the Purkins Corner WWTP was built in the 1990s without any DEQ permit. Bennett said DEQ is still talking about this 20 years later.
On March 27th, Bennett, Binder, and Weakley attended a meeting with Darrel Hertenstein regarding his planned development in the area of Kings Highway (Route 3) and James Madison Parkway (Highway 301), also known as Office Hall. Bennett said the project would include an urgent care facility, housing, and businesses. While the end result isn't known yet, Bennett said he was hopeful the Service Authority would see additional revenue because of the connections. Despite the potential for about $9 million in connection fees, Bennett said the project also raised two key concerns. First, the development would be served by the Purkins Corner WWTP. With this plant being considered for decommissioning, any new development would need to be factored into what Hopyard WWTP could handle. Second, the project includes an access point to Highway 301 which would mean increased access to Service Authority infrastructure by any future development. Thus increasing the need to consider other options for Purkins Corner WWTP, including building a new plant. Bennett said he did not know if that was a feasible option but felt that every option should be considered. Bennett joked that after this meeting, Weakley let him go home for lunch before attending another meeting with Draper Aden in the afternoon. Bennett continued his report joking that Weakley let him work from home on the 28th to participate in a conference call with Davenport. Bennett also attended the budget work session on April 1st. Addressing Kim Dodge, Bennett said he hears her loud and clear. He lives in Fairview Beach and knows how much has to be paid but felt the needs of the Service Authority were gargantuan.
Bennett then said he wanted to offer a rebuttal to comments made by Supervisor Jeff Bueche regarding the privatization of the Service Authority. Bennett said he had called Bueche to tell him about his comments and even offered to send him a copy, to which Bueche declined. Bennett said they had a friendly conversation as they normally do and hoped that after his comments they would still remain friends.
Bennett then read three pages of a prepared statement outlining his reasons for disagreeing with Bueche's statements. To start with, Bennett said he felt a response was needed because some Service Authority employees were concerned that their jobs were now at risk. Bennett said this came on top of years of low morale and that folks were upset. Bennett reassured the employees that there are no current plans to sell the Service Authority and that, in a worst case scenario, if it was sold, the Board of Directors would do everything they could to protect the employees and their jobs. Bennett also wanted to reassure Service Authority customers. He said that if a business were to purchase the utility, the problems would still exist. Pump stations would need to be repaired, the debt would still be there, and the customer base would not dramatically increase. Bennett said because of these factors, he did not see the Service Authority as a sound financial investment for any company. Additionally, as part of a technical review committee last year, Bennett said he and the the rest of the committee were against selling the Service Authority because a new owner would pass along the costs to the customers. Bennett then gave a real world example of a water and sewer company that was recently purchased in a nearby County. He said that the new owners raised rates so much that the County took them to court on behalf of the residents and won. He cautioned that people should be careful what they wish for. Bennett also said that he may agree in principle with Bueche's opinion on the private sector being more efficient than government. However, Bennett said there were certain things were the government excelled and certain things that citizens didn't want a private company to run, such as the military, law enforcement, and fire and rescue. Bennett said it was the job of the Board of Directors to make the Service Authority work and right now they are digging out of a really deep hole. He said the new General Manager, Jonathan Weakley, has been a steady hand on the wheel and has put together an honest and necessary budget. Bennett said he felt Weakley deserved a chance to turn things around and deserved the support of both Boards. Bennett finished his rebuttal by saying that if, after a reasonable amount of time had passed, things were not moving in the right direction, then as a last resort he would consider selling.
The Consent Agenda was approved.
Next was the Utility Master Plan (Phase I) presentation by Sheryl Stephens of Draper Aden and Ryan Bogese of Wiley Wilson. The presentation was full of information, much of it depressing or scary. Stephens said Draper Aden looked at the water system and all of its associated above-ground parts from well houses to water tanks. She said that after these inspections and visits, they created a list of repairs and their associated cost estimates. Stephens said the repairs were broken down into two parts. Primary Repairs which impacted the health and safety of customers and were violations of regulations. Secondary Repairs were less critical deficiencies they noticed during site visits. The photos in the presentation did not instill confidence with previous management and showed painfully obvious signs of deferred maintenance and repairs. Corroded pipes, rusty storage tanks, and decaying buildings were noted at several locations. In their summary, Draper Aden recommended repairing or replacing three well houses at Bumbrey, Nindes, and Owens. For the recommended system repairs, they broke down the costs for each water system and had a grand total of $50,700 for Primary Repairs and $89,250 for Secondary Repairs. These did not include the estimated cost of $100,000 to $130,000 to repair or replace each of the three suggested well houses. In addition to these recommendations, Draper Aden also said the elevated and ground level tanks needed to be inspected and maintained annually. They also made recommendations based on Virginia Department of Health (VDH) concerns. These suggestions included increased revenue, better capital improvement planning, and regular maintenance and repairs as well as employee training.
Draper Aden was also tasked with looking into the potential costs associated with interconnecting several different water systems. To connect the Circle System to the Courthouse System would cost about $720,000. Connecting the Canterbury System to the Courthouse System would cost $990,000. Connecting the Nindes Store System to the Circle System would cost $3.2 million. Although this connection is already complete, they estimated that connecting the Owens System to the Dahlgren System would cost $252,000.
Moving into the waste water side of the Service Authority, Ryan Bogese took over for Wiley Wilson. Bogese said they were tasked with looking at the Waste Water Treatment Plants (WWTPs) and bringing the sewer pump stations up to a DEQ Class 1 Reliability level but were not asked to look at the capacity of WWTPs, future needs, or maintenance costs. Bogese noted that the majority of issues noted by DEQ at the five WWTPs have either already been addressed are are currently in progress. He said the estimated costs for Primary and Secondary Repairs at all of the WWTPs was about $363,900. He did note that the Dahlgren WWTP was the only facility to have dewatering equipment. Werle asked if centrifuges would be used and Bogese said a preliminary engineering report would be needed to determine what would be best. Bogese continued his report and recommended adding one to the Hopyard Farm WWTP, especially due to space and proximity to the landfill, at an estimated cost of $1.9 million to $2.2 million. Regarding the pump stations being brought up to a DEQ Class 1 level, he listed the various options DEQ gave on how to achieve this. As has been discussed in earlier meetings, Bogese repeated that eight pump stations are not in compliance and that five pump stations are within the 100 year flood plain and that two of these stations do not have emergency generators. In estimating the costs, he said the total Primary Repairs would be $762,400 and Secondary Repairs would be $11,400.
Brabo asked if the pump stations were in the flood plain because of the new updates to the flood plain map and Bogese said he didn't know but it was a good possibility. Dr. Young said he looked at the new maps and it would actually add one additional pump station to the numbers given. In other words, they were originally built within the known 100 year flood plain. Bennett commented that he knew where some of them were and it's hard to say they didn't know that when they installed them because they were so close to the water. Weakley added that other jurisdictions have done this as well so it wasn't uncommon. Brabo clarified that the new maps would mean six pumps were within the flood plain and Dr. Young said yes.
Bogese concluded his report by saying they recommended a Preliminary Engineering Report (PER) at the eight pump stations in question to determine how best to achieve the Class 1 status. He also recommended evaluating the protection of those pump stations in the flood plain and asking DEQ for a variance on certain items.
Bennett summarized the last bit by saying it would cost about $773 to bring the pump stations into compliance and apparently they had not been in compliance since the dawn of time. He said DEQ was very interested in the pump stations and felt it was embarrassing that the Directors didn't have this information already.
The County Attorney, Eric Gregory, had no report.
Next was the authorization to sign the Deeds of Dedication for Sections 4 and 15 of Hopyard Farm. Bennett asked why the deeds were dated 2017 and 2018 in some cases to which Gregory responded that he wasn't sure but likely they got signed when the person was available. Gregory said they had no control over that process. Bennett asked to make sure the documents gave easements to the County and the Service Authority and Gregory confirmed that was the case. Gregory said they allowed for fire hydrants, right of way, and turn-arounds among other things. The Board approved the authorization.
Next was the adoption of the Rules and Procedures. Brabo commented that she thought they were already adopted but Gregory said it was just to be safe. The Board adopted the Rules and Procedures. Bennett then said the Amendment to the Rules and Procedures was to allow for participation from a remote location. He said it was the same policy the Board of Supervisors had and that the only change was from "Board of Supervisors" to "Board of Directors." The Board adopted the amendment.
Jonathon Weakley then gave his General Manager's report. On the water side of the Service Authority, Weakley said they were working on updating plans to update their sampling for lead and copper. He thanked Dr. Young and his staff for his help in that process. He also noted the Old King George Elementary School, or Old Old King George High School, would be subject to upcoming inspections and they were working with the School Board. Weakley said the Hopyard Farm repairs have been been scheduled or are already in progress. He said a well went offline in Fairview Beach and a new pump would be installed soon. He said they received complaints of milky water in Cleydael but were not able to find any discoloration. He cautioned that he was not saying they didn't believe the customer. He encouraged customers to sign up for KGAlert and to call if they have a problem. He said the axiom of "see something, say something" applied. Weakley said the Oakland Park system had been flushed and that several alerts were sent via KGAlert.
On the waste water side of the Service Authority, Weakley said a new Operator had been hired at Oakland Park and responses had been sent to DEQ. He said the Dahlgren WWTP was operating on only one effluent pump while the other is being repaired. Weakley said the EQ Basin liner needs to be repaired as well. He also noted that the Commonwealth Governor's School toured both the Dahlgren WWTP and the Fairview Beach well house. Brabo asked for Weakley to go back and see when the Board voted to repair the basin liner and Werle said it was last year for about $120,000. Werle said the repair was because of a large storm. Brabo said never mind to her earlier request. Weakley added that the warranty period for the liner ran out in November of 2018. Weakley continued his report noting several other repairs at other WWTPs as well as attending budget work sessions and holding weekly management meetings.
Bennett asked Weakley if, based on his experience elsewhere, the repairs seen here were typical. Weakley laughed and said it sounded like he was leading the witness. Weakley said there were certainly needs here and the length of the list is what set us apart. He said generally there are Capital Improvement Plans (CIPs) where certain things would be funded in advance. He said that if something failed in year four of a five year plan, then at least there was some money already available to make repairs. Weakley said that infrastructure repair is a common theme across the state and felt that the Service Authority was looking at ten years before getting back to normal. He added that the debt isn't addressing what needs to be fixed. He also said the plan for growth is important because if a development is approved today, the pipe doesn't go in the ground tomorrow.
Brabo said that during the interview process, the Board let Weakley know he would be facing a challenge. She said he didn't know how big the challenge would be and said he hasn't turned and ran. Weakley said he appreciated her kind words and said he was committed to the long haul regardless of what it looks like. He added that it really has been a team effort and has never felt isolated. Weakley said everything is shared and that the right solution doesn't have to be his idea. Bennett added that he wanted to echo the comments from Brabo. He also wanted to add that he met Mrs. Weakley and told her it would be a challenge. Mrs. Weakley told Bennett that Mr. Weakley loves a challenge.
The meeting adjourned at 8:01pm.
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 April 16, 2019 at 5:15 pm at the Revercomb Building.
Previous Meeting:
Read about the
previous Service Authority Meeting.
