Urbanna residents decry sewage pump station

by Tom Chillemi

At the July 22 regular monthly Urbanna Town Council meeting, citizens shared their distain for a plan that would remove the house at 215 Linden Avenue in Urbanna and put a sewage pump station in a residential neighborhood.

“This is wrong on so many levels,” said Alana Courtney, who is a member of the Urbanna Planning Commission.

The town and public learned recently of the surprise move by Hampton Roads Sanitation District (HRSD) who had approached the town a few months ago seeking a site for a pump station in the back corner of Taber Park. HRSD would need a site about 100 feet by 100 feet — which is slightly larger that the infield of a baseball diamond where the bases are 90 feet apart — and they need an easement to the site.

“It took up too much space,” said Councilor Bill Goldsmith at last week’s meeting.

For several months, the town council had tried to find a suitable site…