The City of Williamsburg has signed on to the regional effort to improve sewage systems in Hampton Roads.
After a 5-0 vote Thursday, City Council members agreed to join the Regional Wet Weather Management Plan, an agreement between Hampton Roads Sanitation District and several localities under its purview. The agreement says Williamsburg and others that sign it will remain in control of their sewer systems while HRSD will pick up the tab for larger projects to prevent sewage from entering the Chesapeake Bay watershed.
“I think in many ways, it’s the right thing to do,” Vice Mayor Paul Freiling said, adding it is in the interest of the localities to protect the Bay.
Due to a state mandate introduced in 2007, all cities and counties in Virginia must update their sewage systems to prevent sewage overflow from reaching the Chesapeake Bay and its tributaries. In September last year, HRSD, a regional sewage services provider, brought forward a plan to take control of all sewage systems of all localities under its purview.
Many localities were unhappy with a plan that would mean giving up control of their infrastructure and ability to serve customers, and enough rejected the idea that an alternative plan was formed a few months later. The new plan, being called the hybrid plan, allows localities to retain control of their own systems while HRSD would fix larger overflow problems and be accountable for them.
“This is far and away the most efficient, effective and — in the long run — least costly way of doing this,” Mayor Clyde Haulman said.
The new plan is receiving mixed support from some localities as both James City County and York County supervisors questioned the hybrid plan during recent meetings. York supervisors voiced concern about having to vote on the plan before a cost estimate is available, and James City supervisors worried about the cost to customers.
The City of Williamsburg received an update in December and voiced support for it then.
While he supports the hybrid plan, Freiling said he had heard an argument against the plan and he was wondering how City Manager Jack Tuttle would respond to those who use it.
“Are we somehow enabling communities that haven’t sufficiently invested in their infrastructure by fixing problems that they should have fixed on their own?” Freiling asked.
Tuttle said usually infrastructure is built in the order that an area is developed and some older developments will by nature have older infrastructure that is not as well maintained. He added that while there is that difference in sewer quality between jurisdictions, localities that have accrued debt on their sewer systems are still responsible for that debt and it will not be paid for regionally. He said ultimately the “real winners and losers” of the plan are still unknown.
Public Works Project Manager Ralph Patterson, who has been working directly with HRSD on the agreement, said the cost of the project for HRSD will be $2.2 billion over 30 years. While the cost to the city has not yet been determined in the regional plan, Patterson said it would cost the city roughly $10 million to $12 million to do the sewage improvements on their own instead of signing on to the plan.
Customers in the city of Williamsburg receive a bill with a joint rate from the city and HRSD. The city determines the amount on the bill that is charged for water and HRSD determines the sewage rate.
So far, Williamsburg, Poquoson, Smithfield, Suffolk, Newport News, Virginia Beach and Hampton have signed the agreement. Gloucester, York County, Isle of Wight, Norfolk, James City County, Chesapeake and Portsmouth are scheduled to take action on the agreement later this month. Tuttle said he expected some localities to ask for an extension of their Feb. 26 deadline to adopt or reject the plan.
“It is important that all jurisdictions come on board to make this regionally effective,” Tuttle said.
