The Town has been in discussions with AQUA Virginia regarding their unsolicited proposal to acquire the Town’s utility assets.
The proposal will be discussed at the next Town Council Regular Meeting on July 17.
AQUA Virginia provides clean water to approximately 3 million customers, as well as wastewater services. According to Aqua America, every day its 175 wastewater plants return more than 26 million gallons of wastewater to streams and rivers after processing.
The company also powers several facilities in various states with clean energy, including solar power.
Aqua America, provides service to more than 81,000 residents across the Old Dominion State.
AQUA is not without critics. This report from Food and Water Watch highlight some issues:
-Aqua America is hiking up water bills through rapid-fire rate increases and infrastructure surcharges.
-Aqua America is aggressively acquiring new systems, especially places with high population growth, little competition and weak regulation.
-Aqua America is cutting and running on communities with the greatest needs and least profitability.
-Aqua America is expanding into unregulated industries to avoid public oversight of pricing.
-Communities are fighting to kick out Aqua America and reclaim public control over their vital drinking water and clean water infrastructure.
Note: The Small Water or Sewer Public Utility Act provides that rate increases are regulated and must be approved before going into effect.
Maybe the decision to go with an outside vendor is too important for the Town Council alone. This should be a ballot initiative at the next election or a special election. The taxpayers should decide.
The town sounds like it is being managed by those not in possession of their wits if it wants to turn its utility assets over to a FOR-PROFIT company which will have no accountability to the taxpayers it will be free to gouge for its profits, and if they are not insane, they must be shills.
On the surface this seems like a bad idea, sort of like jumping from the frying pan into the fire. Costs for users are already very high and the unlike this firm, the Town doesn’t need to turn a profit. Anything like this needs a lot of thought and a great deal of public input. And putting it to referendum is probably a good idea because it will make supporters and detractors alike dig deep for important reasons why folks should vote one way or the other.
My understanding is that Aqua will freeze rates for a decade, and also let the town retain control over the collection system. They will build a new plant with a Rapid Infiltration Basin system, which is very efficient and also recharges the Columbia Aquifer, and rates will be FAR lower than going with HRSD. With HRSD, the town will will have to completely replace its collection system, then sign everything over to HRSD. Like Aqua, we cannot vote the HRSD Commissioners out of office. And note that for the first 4 years, HRSD will raise rates 9% every year, compounded, then down to 7% for each of the successive 6 years then down to 6, and eventually, in 2034, drop to 5% every year. From 2009-2019 HRSD doubled their rates. They are under a $2.1 BILLION Consent Decree to fix their sanitary sewer overflows. Their Sustainable Water Initiative For Tomorrow (SWIFT) budget is ballooning out of control in my opinion. That insane project is slated to pump 100 million gallons of treated wastewater every day into the Potomac Aquifer when all 5 plants are on line in a decade. In November, 2018 at a DEQ Summit in Cheasapeake, I challenged their filter technology publicly (carbon and ozone) and a year after the Nansemond research facility pumped 10’s of thousands of wastewater contaminated with nitrates (they didnt notice this for weeks), the General Assembly passed legislation which created the Potomac Aquifer Recharge Oversight Committee, an independent body charged with taking a hard look at what was being pumped into the drinking water. Now, initial concerns have been raised about the inadequacy of the filtering technology for short chain PFA’s and also Bromides which are suspected of being created when the SWIFT project’s added chlorine combines with seawater that is infiltrating the system reportedly during high tide events. And those reservations are being raised before the monitoring lab is even built. All of this information is readily available on HRSD’s website, and the Potomac Aquifer Oversight Committee meeting notes. And one more thing. Here is a list of what ratepayers on the ESVA will be paying for if we go with HRSD, which is being promoted to bail Riverside and Onancock out of very unfortunate decisions regarding their treatment of wastewater:2021
Capital Improvements from 2021-2030…….$2,9 BILLION
Salaries for 2021…..General Management $460,252…..up $3 grand over 2020 (2 people)
Talent Management $2,574,769
Operations $110,000,000 (up9%)
Water Quality $15,677,000 (up 7%)
Finance $6,000,000 (approx 3% rise)
Communications $304,000 (up 6%)
And for a cherry on top, their C apital Reserves go from $10,ooo,ooo on hand in 2021 to ZERO for the next decade.
I have advocated for two years to make any decision regarding our wastewater or utility assets contingent on a public referendum. But unless people are well educated on the realities of each choice, Wayne, it will be an exercise in futility. Do your homework before you slap your knee, that’s all I have to say, and I am a fan!
One more thing…the Town of Exmore is the best run, best managed, diverse, and all inclusive towns on the Eastern Shore of Virginia. All other major towns here on the SHore seem to change their Town Managers like most change their socks. Mr. Duer is a treasure, and he has been working on this issue for over 5 years. We trust him, and that is a lot more than I can say about HRSD and its “community leaders” who want us to jump on that wagon.
Well said, Mr. Dufty!
Town council ” dumber than a box of rocks”