Local leaders weigh in on goal of authority

With one major proposal sent down the drain and another filtering through the minds of elected officials, a long-term plan to create a regional water and sewer authority has yet to become a reality.

Here’s the Catch 22: Culpeper County has an abundance of land but no centralized water and sewer system. The town of Culpeper, which wants to grow its borders, has water and sewer infrastructure the county sorely needs.

Both governments have to give something to get something. It sounds simple on paper, but the reality is much more complex.

Some local leaders say that’s OK, because it means everyone is thinking and working carefully toward the goal. Others say more cooperation is needed, or the authority could become a pipe dream.

Background
Over the years, the desire to meet the utility needs of a growing area on terms favorable to both governments occasionally has caught developers in the middle of a political quagmire.

Some projects were delayed for weeks as the town and county negotiated specific agreements.

On other occasions, existing agreements have been canceled, only to be reinstated later.

The Culpeper County supervisors spent most of 2008 considering a multi-million-dollar deal with a private company to build a water and sewer system to serve a large chunk of the county.

They rejected the proposal in the fall, citing concerns about the county’s long-term financial liability.

At a meeting July 24, Town Council and the Board of Supervisors agreed to form the long-sought-after water and sewer authority based on a “memorandum of understanding.” Days later, the deal almost fell through when Town Council initially rejected the agreement at a follow-up meeting.

The authority would be responsible for managing the town and county’s daily water and sewer operations and setting rates for all customers. As part of the agreement, the town would contribute its water and sewer infrastructure to the authority. In exchange, the town would be allowed to add specific areas of county land into its borders.

But it doesn’t end there. To complicate matters, a separate “consolidation” movement by businessman Joe Daniel is in the works to roll the town into the county. It’s primarily because of the aforementioned political wrangling over water and sewer that Daniel started his petition drive to do away with the town.

But back to the elusive proposed water and sewer authority. Here’s a sampling of what local town and county leaders have to say about where it stands now:

County Administrator
Frank Bossio“The (town and county) staffs continue to work together on an agreement based on the MOU. The culmination of the staff work as decided in the October interaction meeting was for the staffs to produce a dynamic economic model which will graphically depict the state of the town, county and proposed authority as inputs are made so that each case can be tested for financial viability. It is hoped that the model will help all involved to understand the economic implications of each proposed scenario.”

Bossio said the authority would be beneficial in part by spurring development and attracting new businesses.

Town Manager Jeff Muzzy
Muzzy declined to speak in detail about the agreement, saying it was too early to comment on specifics.

“It would be premature for me to comment on this matter at this time as we are engaged in ongoing discussions with the county.”

Town Councilman
Chip Coleman
Coleman echoed a similar sentiment to Muzzy, saying it was too early to discuss the matter in depth.

“It would be premature at this point to publicly comment about things that may or may not be part of the final agreement, if one is reached. We continue to discuss the regional authority, its service area, cost to consumers, impact on future development and the voluntary boundary line adjustment and all its components, including revenue issues.”

Town Councilman
Steve Jenkins
A longtime football coach, Jenkins related his perceptions of the matter with an analogy. “If it took me this long to organize a team to go out and play, we’d never kick off the ball.”

When asked what factor was impeding progress the most, Jenkins said control.

“There is not an overall desire of the part of some local officials to work in a cooperative nature with each other. I thought we had really crossed a major hurdle when we agreed to the MOU in the fall, and then we would work on the boundary adjustment. ... If you asked me today if I believe it’s going to happen, I would say no.”

County Supervisor
Tom Underwood“Reliable access to water and sewer is critical for business looking to locate in Culpeper County. There are current projects that need water and sewer in order to build or expand their business in Culpeper County. Such projects will provide much needed jobs and much needed tax revenue.”

On finding terms favorable to all, Underwood said representatives from both sides are attempting to iron out the disagreements to everyone’s satisfaction: “I hope they succeed.”