All county taxpayers would pay for sewer

Five things about sewer planning

As Middlesex County sewer planning enters its sixth year, here are five things to know about sewer:

1. It will be expensive.
2. Urbanna’s treatment plant exceeds nutrient limits.
3. A “Middle Peninsula Master Plan Study” is under way.
4. Middlesex has spent $7.8 million.
5. All county taxpayers will pay for it.

Details:

1. Sewer will be expensive. The county must pay for the wastewater collection systems estimated at $41 million more than a year ago.

   In addition bids were $82 million for Hampton Roads Sanitation District (HRSD) to build the 17-mile pipeline to an existing line in Mathews. In June 2024, HRSD rejected both bids, that were 80% above the HRSD estimate, and placed the project on hold for three to five years.

2. HRSD owns and operates treatment plants in Saluda and Urbanna. Both discharge into Urbanna Creek. HRSD buys “nutrient credits” for the Urbanna plant because it exceeds nutrient discharge limits. It is very difficult to remove all nutrients from wastewater.

   HRSD had planned to pump wastewater 40 miles for treatment at its Yorktown plant where nutrient discharge limits into the York River are slightly less stringent.

3. HRSD is working on a Middle Peninsula Master Plan that could consider alternatives to the $82 million pipeline. The ultimate plan has been to close the Saluda and Urbanna treatment plants, but to do this the treated water will need to go somewhere. The total discharge permit for Urbanna is 100,000 gallons per day; and for Saluda it is 28,000 gallons per day. The actual discharge is less.
4. Middlesex has spent $7.8 million on sewer systems so far, which includes $1.7 to study, engineer, and design collection systems in Deltaville, Topping, Hartfield, and Saluda. Topping’s design is complete, but no construction has begun because HRSD’s main pipeline has not been built.

   The county’s total money spent includes $4.6 million to build a Cooks Corner pump station to pump wastewater to Saluda for treatment. At Cooks Corner, a new Middlesex County Sheriff’s Office headquarters is under construction and a 24-unit apartment building has been proposed.

5. All county taxpayers will pay for collection systems. HRSD customers will pay for the main pipeline and infrastructure.

   The pump stations require some county participation (funds) so the county can use them, explained County Administrator Matt Walker. “This would have the effect of benefiting all our taxpayers by lessening commuting time for jobs and shopping, creating revenue growth without having to raise taxes as the method to cover ever increasing costs, and keeping our communities healthy and more environmentally sustainable,” wrote Walker in May 2024 in an email responding to questions from the Sentinel.