Rep. Rob Wittman, left, dropped by the Mathews Board of Supervisors meeting Tuesday night to present the family of the late Supervisor Kevin Mitchem a copy of the statements made about him before the U.S. House of Representatives and with a flag that had flown over the Capitol building. Shown with Wittman are Mitchem’s daughter Rachel, wife Sara and son Daniel. Photo by Sherry Hamilton.

County Administrator Steve Whiteway said that the resolution is in response to a request by property owner Joe Davenport, whose septic system at the site is failing. Because the restaurant is outside the Court House Sanitary District, a resolution was needed to allow the connection, said Whiteway.

County Attorney Richard Harfst explained that the septic system at the restaurant is in danger of imminent failure and that the site falls within an area where the need to provide future sewage hookups is foreseen in the comprehensive plan. However, the resolution adopted by the board Tuesday is not precedent-setting, he said, but simply addresses a current need.

Harfst said that the board should anticipate that "this will be the first of many requests" and that it will eventually need to determine the criteria for endorsing future connections. The Hampton Roads Sanitation District is currently installing sewage pipeline from Mathews Court House to its facility in York County to replace the sewage treatment plant located in downtown Mathews, but HRSD will only allow hookups at locations designated by the board of supervisors.

Harfst emphasized that the line is being built at the property owner’s expense and that it will connect to the existing sewage treatment line, not the new one being installed.

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