Oftentimes when government gets ready to spend a lot of money, a lot of citizens get interested.
However, many would say the public hasn’t paid much attention to Middlesex County’s plan to deploy sewer between Saluda, Topping and Deltaville, that is estimated to cost $41 million.
Robert Jackson regularly addresses the Middlesex County Board of Supervisors at meetings during the public comment period and asks in-depth questions. A man who comes to meetings with an audio recorder, Jackson has tried to get involved in his county’s government.
The board of supervisors usually doesn’t respond during its meetings to public comments made by citizens, and the board didn’t reply at the meeting to Jackson’s questions, and suggestions, about the sewer project that he made earlier this month. Jackson lives near Urbanna in an area that will not be served by the sewer system being built.
The Southside Sentinel contacted Jackson this week and asked him if the county had responded to questions he asked on July 11. He laughed, then said, “Not a word, not a word.”
“Cost issues”
“Cost issues”Jackson’s first question involved a recent problem with the Cooks Corner wastewater collection system that ran into a snag during construction when a drain field was discovered under a parking lot that the collection line needed to cross.
Correcting this problem would have added $750,000 to a $4.6 million project, according to officials. Since none of the three properties affected by the collection line section want to connect to sewer, the board eliminated that section of the proposed collection line.
“This is only the beginning phase of the (sewer) project and there are major money issues,” said Jackson at the July 11 supervisors meeting. “This should be a revelation for the taxpayers in this county. You can bet there will be many more cost issues in the future.
Payback
Unless the county does otherwise, the loan payments will be funded by taxpayers.
Last month, John Koontz, the Hartfield District supervisor, asked to be placed on the sewer committee.
In June the Sentinel emailed Koontz the following question. “How will Middlesex County pay its share of the sewer system?” The question remains unanswered.
Lud Kimbrough, who has served as chairman of the sewer committee more than three years, will not be seeking another term as supervisor for the Pinetop (Deltaville) District. His term ends Dec. 31.
Demand for sewer
Jackson used his allotted three minutes before the board to probe deeper. “Can anyone tell me the total number of residences and businesses that have signed up to connect to sewer?” Jackson asked the board.
He added that although there are 700-plus customers on the Middlesex Water Authority (MWA) system, not all will want to connect to sewer. “I have spoken to several people that are connected to the water system, but they have expressed to me that they were not interested in connecting to the sewer system.”
The Cooks Corner collection system will serve several governmental buildings.
The county does not have a “mandatory” connection policy requiring property owners to hook to sewer.
Partnership Hampton Roads Sanitation District (HRSD) has committed to run 17 miles of main sewer line from Saluda to Deltaville and under the Piankatank River on Route 3 from Saluda to Deltaville to connect to HRSD’s existing main sewer line on Route 198 in Mathews County. It will then be pumped to HRSD’s treatment plant at Yorktown with discharge into the York River after treatment. HRSD’s expenses, estimated at $41 million, will be repaid by customers.
Middlesex’s share will pay for the sewer collection system, which is estimated by the county’s consultants Timmons Engineering to cost $41.3 million, as of May 2023. In January 2023, Walker told supervisors, “The revenue of these systems will not be enough to cover the cost of deployment.”
Originally estimated to cost $55 million the board formed a sewer committee that reduced the estimated collection system costs to about $30 million. The cost has risen to $41.3 million.
