Saluda sewage plant is now 2nd highest priority
by Tom Chillemi
and Larry S. Chowning
A proposed sewage treatment plant for Saluda was moved to the second priority on Middlesex County’s Capital Improvement Plan (CIP) by a 4-1 vote of the Middlesex Board of Supervisors on July 20.
The Middlesex Planning Commission had recommended the treatment plant be priority #4 on the CIP.
The board shifted another project on the CIP from where it had been recommended by the planning commission. A 4,400-square-foot addition to the Middlesex Sheriff’s Office was moved from priority #2 to #4.
Saluda District supervisor Pete Mansfield voted against the CIP and moving the sewage treatment plant to the second priority. “I disagree, because I don’t know what’s being suggested as our options,” he said. “There are so many questions that need to be answered before we move it (sewage plant) up.”
Board chairman Jack Miller, who represents Saluda District, said, “If we move it up, we will be telling Hampton Roads Sanitation District (HRSD) that we are serious about wanting them to help us.”
HRSD owns and operates the Urbanna sewage treatment plant and the one at the Middle Peninsula Regional Security Center. The jail treatment plant is currently using about half of its 25,000-gallons-per-day capacity. The jail plant is located about 250 yards behind the Middlesex Courthouse and Woodward Building (county offices).
Pinetop District supervisor Carlton Revere said he feels the issue of sewage treatment at the courthouse is a more pressing issue than expansion of the sheriff’s office. “We need to be having some robust discussions with HRSD as to where the courthouse now fits into the scheme of things,” he said.
The county is currently pumping and hauling sewage from the courthouse and county offices under a health department permit that has no expiration date.
The county also has a permit, which will expire in 4 years, to build a sewage treatment plant in Saluda, noted county administrator Charles Culley.
The proposed sewage treatment plant was the top priority on the 2009-10 CIP.
The top priority on the 2010-11 CIP is an elevator for the Woodward Building along with construction of an Emergency Operations Center (EOC) in the basement of the new courthouse building.
Priority #3 is renovation of the Middlesex High School (MHS) east wing.
Renovation of the MHS gym and classrooms is #5, and the development of the Syd Thrift Athletic Complex at MHS is #6.
This year’s CIP update prioritizes projects and does not contain new projects, said county planning director Matt Walker.
Among other things, the CIP is needed in order for the county to accept cash proffers from developers.
The CIP is a planning tool that lists long-term county building projects that have a useful life of more than 5 years and construction costs exceeding $50,000. Being listed on the CIP is not a request for funding, nor does it mean the project will be funded or undertaken. No CIP project is funded in fiscal year 2010-11.
The funding decision for a project will be made by county supervisors when they consider annual county budgets.
The sewage treatment plant for Saluda is estimated to cost $4.6 million.
The capital improvement fund reserves now total $264,000. The top three CIP projects total an estimated $5.1 million.
Adding an elevator to the county’s Woodward Building in Saluda would cost about $250,000, and building an Emergency Operations Center (EOC) in the basement of the new Middlesex Courthouse would cost about $20,000. As the CIP’s top priority, the two projects’ combined cost is listed at $273,000 in the CIP.
Without an elevator, the Woodward Building is not handicap accessible or compliant with the American Disabilities Act, states the project summary.
Middlesex currently uses the second floor of the Woodward Building as its EOC during disaster situations and security threats.
Now fourth on the proposed CIP is renovation of the Middlesex Sheriff’s Office building and construction of a 4,400-square-foot addition. The addition would nearly double the size of the existing sheriff’s building, which is currently 4,800 square feet. The estimated cost is $1.67 million.
Completion of the project is needed to meet requirements to have the sheriff’s office an Accredited Law Enforcement Agency. The project is listed as “Urgent.”
Funding for the renovation of the MHS east wing ($258,000) is projected to start in 2014.
Rounding out the nine CIP projects are: a new building to house maintenance, transportation and warehouse needs of the schools, $529,000; development of the athletic fields at St. Clare Walker Middle School, $79,000; and development of athletic fields at Middlesex Elementary School, $77,000.
Two projects that were on the 2007 CIP have been completed—a new roof for a portion of Middlesex High School, and airplane T-hangars at Hummel Field, which are fully rented.
