A group of developers called Culpeper Utility Partners (CUP), LLC is trying to sell an oversized water and sewer proposal that would force Culpeper to recruit growth at an unsustainable rate or saddle taxpayers with massive debt. The proposal CUP has brought before Culpeper County would provide water and sewer service for the Town Environs growth area—but the Town of Culpeper is upgrading infrastructure to serve the same area.  This overlap would result in excess capacity of at least one million gallons, the equivalent of 5,000 homes. 

The CUP plans costs $128 million and the only way to recoup that expense is to connect the  proposed sewer & water system  to new developments, with rural lands in the crosshairs.  If the new developments don’t come, taxpayers will pay back the costs with interest.

Read more from the Culpeper Clarion

View the proposed sewer map.

Background

Culpeper Utility Partners, LLC (CUP, LLC) has submitted to the County a proposal to construct water and sewer infrastructure intended to serve several growth areas identified in the County's Comprehensive Plan. The initial project is for use by the Town Environs growth area (area south, east and north of the Town). This would include the construction of a 2.5 million gallon per day sewage treatment plant (with plans for expansion) and related sewer lines as well as three public wells for water use. CUP, LLC maintains "there are no known adverse social, economic, or environmental impacts of the project." This seems unlikely due to the size and nature of the project. Upon review of the proposal, Piedmont Environmental Council has identified several concerns with regard to environmental protection, County liability and risk, transparency and overall growth implications.

Environmental Concerns
The project includes three public wells of unspecified production and two storage tanks of one million gallons. CUP, LLC is using the groundwater availability assessment conducted in 1998 to suggest adequate resources exist to service the area. An update to that assessment is ongoing and information on water quality, the potential yield from proposed wells, impacts to existing wells and the recharge rate of our groundwater resources are still unclear. It is unknown whether or not this information will be available before a decision to move forward is made by the Board of Supervisors. Additional concerns for future growth are discussed below.

Transparency and County Liability
This proposal was submitted under the Virginia Public-Private Education Facilities and Infrastructure Act which allows for certain information to remain confidential. CUP, LLC has just agreed to release the financial and legal information for the project (5MB). PEC is reviewing the proposal now and will post our full analysis soon.

Implications for Growth
The Town currently is building a wastewater treatment plant with a capacity of 6 million gallons per day. This plant is desgined with significant capacity to serve the Town Environs growth area. With the Town and County unable to agree on how the area would be serviced, the County has subsequently secured its own allocation of 2.5 million gallons per day raising the concern of a double accounting of the capacity necessary for the Town Environs growth area. This extra capacity has implications on future growth of the area and appears to be well above what is needed for any growth discussed by the two localities' Comprehensive Plans.

There are additional concerns about development outside of designated growth areas due to the proposed route of the sewer line which runs primarily through the agricultural area of the County. Eventually, the County's proposed wastewater treatment plant would also serve the growth areas of Brandy Station/Elkwood and Stevensburg. According to the proposal, the plant could grow as large as 10 million gallons per day. This could serve the equivalent of 50,000 new households in a county with fewer than 17,200 existing homes. If the Town & County could work together to serve the area directly outside of town, some 12 miles of sewer line could be avoided, saving money and reducing the impact on the county's agricultural area.

Timing
The State permit allowing for 2.5 million gallons per day of wastewater may be revoked if the plant is not operational by December 31, 2010. There is a possibility of an extension, but the Board is under pressure to make a quick decision due to the size, nature and the December 2010 deadline for operation. The County has indicated a public forum will be held in late June (date and time TBA) and a public hearing could be scheduled as early as July. Please continue to check this web page for updates and make sure you are signed up for Culpeper County email alerts.

Conclusion
The County should allow for a full public review before moving to fast-track any decision. This project is intended to account for a 50 year plan for infrastructure and must be thoroughly evaluated for long-term impacts to the County. One option would be for the County to take on a project of reduced scale, that is more representative of what is needed in the next 20 years. This may provide a more cost effective plan for the citizens of the County and would lessen certain liabilities and risks that are inherent with the CUP, LLC proposal.

For a copy of the proposal visit: http://www.culpepercounty.gov/ppea/ppea.asp