Supervisors to consider waterline status

The Nelson County Board of Supervisors is scheduled to decide Feb. 16 whether to extend public water from the intersection of Va. 56 and Va. 151 into Roseland, a capital improvement project that could cost $9.3 million.

The waterline extension would be a continuation of the Piney River Project that was begun by the county and the Nelson County Service Authority in March 2004 to extend water and sewer lines.

In June 2009, the Nelson County Board of Supervisors received a report from Mike Larson, of Draper Aden Associates, an engineering firm that previously has worked on the Piney River Project, which outlined the cost and design options to extend already completed water and sewer services in Piney River to Roseland.

During that meeting, Larson gave supervisors several reasons to consider the waterline extension. He said that of the 101 area residents surveyed, 55 identified a problem with the water quantity and quality, and that the extension would help with operational efficiency.

Larson said that the main reason to extend the waterline was two documented leaking underground storage tanks on Va. 151 at Ferguson’s Store and the Roseland Rescue Squad.

According to the state Department of Environmental Quality, the tanks were underground storage tanks for fuel that no longer are used but have contaminated groundwater.

During that June meeting, Larson presented supervisors with four options for completion of the project, ranging in price between $500,000 to $2.9 million.

Nelson County Administrator Steve Carter said the DEQ has paid for neighboring residences to have water filters, and in a supervisors meeting in January, said the DEQ offered $1.7 million in funding to extend the waterline from the intersection of Va. 56 and Va. 151 to Roseland to address the contamination.

In a joint meeting between the Nelson County Board of Supervisors and the Nelson County Service Authority, a service authority official said that the waterline extension would not be possible without further upgrades to the current public water and sewer system because of water supply and capacity concerns.

Jessica Kwykowski, an engineer with Bury and Partners, an engineering firm based in Chantilly, said the new proposed waterline, which would include the properties affected by the contamination, would add 110-120 potential new customers.

Service authority members proposed upgrade projects that included a water withdrawal and discharge system from the Tye River and upgrades to the current water treatment plant.

The cost for the proposed upgrades to the system would be $9.3 million.

At the joint meeting on Jan. 26, service authority members said they were in the process of seeking stimulus funds to help pay for the upgrades.

At the supervisors’ Jan. 28 meeting, Carter asked who would be responsible for the cost of the project.

“The director of the service authority has said that we need to do all this, but we won’t be able to pay for it,” Carter said.

West District Supervisor Thomas Bruguiere suggested doing the smaller waterline extension project while waiting to hear about stimulus funds for the larger project.

“If (funding) doesn’t come, then we drop back and punt,” Bruguiere said.

Carter said the DEQ requires local officials to make a decision.