The Issue of Water

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Permalink Reply by Carrie Wigal on January 9, 2009 at 3:27pm

I'm not sure I understand what it is that needs to be decided. Can you please elaborate on what the concerns are.

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Permalink Reply by Faith Stuart on January 10, 2009 at 3:29pm

Sorry.

Louisa and Fluvanna Supervisors have agreed to go into this pipeline venture. They need to form a governing body to make decisions (Joint Water Authority) There may be 3 Louisa Supervisors and 3 Fluvanna Supervisors or 4 and 2 or ... I don't know, they should decide on Jan 26th.

Aqua Virginia will be there. They have money and they are the private sector and are wanting this business. My question is do we want people in our County to pay a water bill to the County, some already are in Fork Union- how is that going? I understand the need for infrastructure but I'd rather the private sector be left holding the bag. That's the way I'm leaning.

I just think there may be other opinions and ideas out there.

Carrie Wigal said:

I'm not sure I understand what it is that needs to be decided. Can you please elaborate on what the concerns are.

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Permalink Reply by Sam Richardson on January 10, 2009 at 10:27pm

My father works for a rural water utility in Colorado that is a semi-public corporation. This means that the county holds half of the shares and the other half are held by private citizens and the board is split evenly. In this case, the utility has done an excellent job of ensuring water supplies (and reasonable rates) for a rapidly growing section of Colorado which is drought-prone. Thus, I can point to an example of where synergistic cooperation has succeeded. On the other hand, I would rather allow the private sector to make the investments that will be of primary benefit to other private enterprises of the sort that are expected to arrive at Zion Crossroads over the next few years. As well, since Fluvanna County may have over-extended itself with current obligations, I would be reticent to endorse any new ventures.

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Permalink Reply by Faith Stuart on January 13, 2009 at 8:32am

We get our water from a well and we have our own septic. We filter the water we drink. If we lose electricity we don't have any use of our water. If the well runs dry we will have to pay.
I also know there are those that pay a lot a month to a private company and are unsatisfied with that company's customer service and rising costs.
I also know there's a third group of people who have water they pay for but it's not great to drink and years ago it wasn't even getting their clothes cleaned.
This pipeline is simply suppose to get businesses in the Zion's crossroads on our side of the county line to help our tax base. But how much will it cost to build and maintain? Who should pay and what needs should it meet?

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Permalink Reply by Alex Kish on January 18, 2009 at 12:25am

As an LM resident for 8 years, I have experienced the huge rise in cost for the service AquaVirginia provides. Many people here believe we are paying too much in order to provide the company with capital to expand its business to the new developments surrounding the lake. So while I am open to seeing a pipeline built to spur development (and I would rather pay for that than the current domino plan!!!), I want to make sure that LM residents don't get raked over the coals by both the county and AquaVirginia to get this thing built.

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Permalink Reply by Faith Stuart on March 30, 2009 at 9:19am

All of the people that already have water (everyone) will be "paying twice". This Pipieline with Louisa has more to do with county growth planning. This is about fulfilling the goals of keeping the majority of the County rural while expanding tax base with businesses.

My concern is that Fork Union will not get their promised line. That "rural" will continue to mean poor.

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