James City County is stepping in to help remedy an underground pipe issue in St. George’s Hundred that caused two sinkholes in a resident’s yard.
The Board of Supervisors voted on Tuesday to allocate $40,000 toward fixing the problem.
The section of St. George’s Hundred with the sinkhole issue was built between 1995 and 2000. An underground pipe system was installed to manage stormwater, and about 500 feet of the pipe system is outside of the Virginia Department of Transportation’s road right-of-way, leaving responsibility for the pipe repairs to the Homeowner’s Association.
The structure of the HOA in the neighborhood includes a mandatory portion for St. Thomas’ Hundred and a voluntary community association for St. George’s Hundred. Because the St. Thomas Hundred portion does not encompass the property where the pipe issue is, but the pipe serves St. Thomas’ Hundred, it presented an interesting issue for the neighborhood.
In a letter to the board, resident RJ Stewart, whose yard is being swallowed by the failing pipe, wrote, “There are [four] dwellings directly impacted by the pipe that is failing, I am the only HOA member and the other [three] are in the neighborhood association.”
John Horne, the county’s general services director, said it would be unfair to have the HOA bear the cost of repairs. St. Thomas’ Hundred HOA encompasses about 50 homes out of almost 250 homes in the entire St. Georges Hundred neighborhood, according to a James City County map of the neighborhood.
At Tuesday’s board meeting, Horne explained to the board the pipes should have a lifespan of 30 to 50 years if properly installed, but the pipes are failing more rapidly and more severely than would be expected. They’re about 10 years shy of the low-end of the lifespan. Cost to repair the pipe is estimated to be between $30,000 and $40,000.
About 180 feet of about 24- to 36-inch-wide pipe buried about 10 feet deep in the ground need repair, and the cost is more than an HOA should incur in such a short time frame, Horne said.
The matter was presented to the board as a consideration item, not open for a public hearing. During the public comment period at the beginning of the board’s meeting, Stewart approached the board to express his appreciation for its consideration of the matter. He asked for a favorable vote, but said he understood the decision to give aid isn’t one the county makes lightly.
As the board assumed discussion, Supervisor Jim Kennedy (Stonehouse) asked questions about similarities between St. Georges Hundred and Fernbrook, another neighborhood suffering sinkhole issues caused by failing underground pipes.
Responding to Kennedy’s question, Horne explained county staff looked at the age of the pipes and explained the industry evolves over time, and 15 years ago underground pipe systems were not typically installed in the county so industry workers were relatively inexperienced. Additionally, Horne said a similar clay-type soil exists in both Fernbrook and St. George’s Hundred, which could cause problems if the installer wasn’t careful.
Kennedy was also concerned with the baseline for giving aid and the amount an HOA should have to incur. Currently, the board doesn’t have a policy for dealing with stormwater issues that fall under HOA control and responsibility. A work session this season should help flesh out details of county aid in these situations.
“We are not staffed to handle this function on an ongoing basis and funds are not provided for this type of service. Any assistance form the County should be specific, very narrowly tailored and regarded as a one-time event in the neighborhood,” County Administrator Robert Middaugh wrote in an email to the board.
That notion was reiterated at Tuesday’s meeting.
Not wanting to make a policy-related decision before a policy was in place, Kennedy abstained from voting. The board voted 4-0-1 to approve providing aid to the neighborhood to remedy the sinkhole issue.
In an interview, Horne said an agreement will have to be reached with the neighborhood that states the county’s aid will not continue after this instance and the HOA will have to assume responsibility for the pipe. Once that paperwork is drawn up and agreed to, the repairs can begin and will likely take about 10 days to complete.
