Wayne Stephens, director of public works, asked supervisors to consider the possibility of financing $400,000 to $500,000 worth of repairs and replacements to the FUSD system, though he said FUSD could “live with” only $250,000.
The county would not foot the bill in the traditional manner. Rather, Stephens suggested a sort of loan in which FUSD would repay the funds over time by means of a lease. Counties are prohibited by law from lending money to a sanitary district, Stephens said. But since the county actually owns the property on which FUSD wells and tanks are located, and the equipment as well, Stephens said, “FUSD is sort of leasing the facilities for $0 right now. If the county is going to put money into the facilities and still allow FUSD to use them to provide water to its customers, then the lease money would cover the cost of the improvements to what are effectively county-owned facilities.”
FUSD would use the funds for three major repair and replacement projects for the Carysbrook, Morris, and Omohundro wells, which have “excessive” operations and maintenance costs due to their need to be improved and refurbished, Stephens said.
“I would really appreciate it if you would all think about this as a methodology for getting the needed FUSD system improvements completed,” Stephens said. “It’s the only way I’ve been able to come up with, in my mind, to be able to cover these repairs in an even remotely reasonable way.”
Though no decisions were made, supervisors gave Stephens the go-ahead to formulate a more in-depth plan.
Stephens also updated the Board on the status of some of the other county water systems. The Zion Crossroads water and sewer system is in its infancy with a completed preliminary engineering report. The request for proposal for final design will be advertised in early June, he said.
The James River Water Authority raw water intake and pump station is moving forward as well, Stephens said, with its pump station property appraisal scheduled for May 22.
The Zion Crossroads hydrogeologic study came back with the recommendation that the county seek sources for drinking water other than groundwater in the Zion Crossroads area. “Groundwater resources are not a promising solution for our water issues in the northern part of the county,” Stephens said.
Stephens provided supervisors with a list of publicly-owned water systems in Fluvanna:
• Fork Union water system (FUSD)
• Pleasant Grove west (Pleasant Grove House and surrounding areas)
• Pleasant Grove east (sheriff’s office and library)
• High school water system
• Middle school water system (also serves Central Elementary, West Central Primary, and other nearby buildings).
He also listed the publicly-owned sewer systems in Fluvanna:
• Palmyra collection station and wastewater treatment plant
• Middle school wastewater treatment plant (also serves Central Elementary, West Central Primary, and other nearby buildings)
• Carysbrook Elementary wastewater treatment plant.
