SAVE OUR NECKS

POST OFFICE BOX 543

BELLE HAVEN, VIRGINIA 23306

 

 

27 May 2008

 

A SUGGESTED APPROACH TO THE PROBLEM OF SEWAGE TREATMENT

 

Dear Chairman Wolff and the Board of Supervisors:

 

The issue of sewage disposal in Accomack County is an issue of absolute importance to the questions surrounding all growth and development for the next twenty years.  Where the sewer goes is where the development will go.  A decision to proceed on this matter may be the most important decision made by the Board for decades.

 

Save Our Necks strongly agrees with the Water & Sewer Committee’s conclusion that a Public Service Authority (PSA) is the appropriate solution to Mid-County sewage disposal issues.

 

Now, the hard work begins.  At your June 2nd meeting you will consider what action, if any, is required to move the discussion along.  We have a suggestion.

 

We believe it is premature for the Board to consider the formation of a PSA before the Board has answered many of the basic questions.  Responsible government requires this and a responsible sewage management plan will be the desired result.  We ask you to defer action on the formation of a PSA until some fundamental work can be completed.

 

We recognize the sensitivity to an urgent response because of the requirement placed on the Town of Onancock for operational status of their expanded facility by 31 December 2010.  That condition should not, however, drive a decision of such importance.

 

We believe the Board should take steps to brief the Town Council of Onancock and other interested parties about the issues. We suggest the County should study a mutually beneficial arrangement with the Town of Onancock for potential use of their treatment system. We believe the costs for Onancock to proceed without County participation will be unnecessarily high.

 

Prior to the existence of this new PSA, a business plan should be created that clearly includes estimates for the projected costs of the proposed solution, the initial area it is intended to service, some modeling of use and volume expectations based on patterns of growth and development, the timing and level of investment required, revenue projections, operational cost projections and the means of repayment of the underlying debt.

 

While we are hesitant to suggest the formation of another Accomack County study committee, this one is required and prudent.  There will be a formidable cost structure associated with it as well.  Engineering services, schematic design and preliminary financing questions need to be answered by people who have the professional capacity to answer such questions.  Such a study could easily cost several hundred thousand dollars and take up to a year to create. 


 

As a governing Board, you must be prepared to move forward on that plan, as it is recommended by the professionals, to avoid wasting taxpayer money in pursuing something that cannot or will not be built.  To that end, we would suggest that the Board should form an intermediate committee, composed of people with industrial, organizational, finance and business experience to direct the professional groups and to monitor and receive their reports and proposals so that they may be judged, in a timely fashion, against the backdrop of County issues.

 

We urge you to do the following:

 

1)               Defer action on the creation of a PSA

 

2)               Authorize $250,000 for engineering and design studies of a sewer plan for the County

 

3)               Create an advisory committee composed of qualified individuals who have the professional and business capacity to comment directly on the specific issues

 

4)               Set a timeline for the Advisory Committee’s actions consistent with Onancock’s permit restrictions

 

5)               Charge the Committee with immediate discussions with the Town Council of Onancock regarding potential solutions in both ownership and operation of a expanded sewage treatment facility

 

We believe these actions are consistent with the ultimate needs of a PSA and with what the Water & Sewer Committee has recommended. 

 

Respectfully Submitted by the Executive Committee of Save Our Necks.

 

 

 

___________________________                       _____________________________

George Parker                                                   Anthony Picardi, Sc.D.

President                                                          Vice-President

 

 

____________________________                      ___________________________

Wesley Edwards                                                            Pete Davis

Secretary-Treasurer

 

 

____________________________                      ____________________________

Edgar Hopkins, PhD.                                          Susan Mastyl    

 

           

 

___________________________

Ashby Taylor, M.D.                   

 

 

pc:       Steven B. Miner,                                                                                               

            County Administrator                                                                 Return to Save Our Necks