by Larry Chowning –
The Middlesex County Board of Supervisors voted on Wednesday, November 6, to loan the Middlesex Water Authority (MWA) $226,270 to hire a consultant and acquire waterline easements.
The proposed Eastern Middlesex Water System, designed to provide drinking water to areas in the central and eastern ends of Middlesex County, will be financed by USDA loans. The MWA, however, is waiting on easement acquisitions, required by USDA, before the loan process can be completed, said MWA chair Greg Chambers.
The MWA and county officials have been working with landowners toward obtaining easements necessary to run water lines from two wells at Rosegill near Urbanna to Topping and Deltaville. County administrator Matt Walker said “a little bit more than half” of the easements have been secured. The county has secured 248 easements out of the 464 construction easements, and 44 of the 95 permanent easements needed to construct the water system.
To speed up the process, MWA issued a Request For Qualification (RFQ) for acquisition services and has secured Bowman Consultants Easement Acquisition Services (BCEAS) to work with the remaining county landowners to obtain the rest of the easements. BCEAS was low bidder at $157,270 on the proposed easement project. “Very, very significantly lower than the other bidders,” said Walker.
