The Mathews County Board of Supervisors heard several presentations at its meeting last Thursday in the historic courthouse.
One of those presentations was on a possible septic system solution for Hole in the Wall Waterfront Grill, a county-owned commercial rental property on Gwynn’s Island.
Representatives of Triangle Environmental, based in Durham, North Carolina; Soils Inc. of Virginia; and the Japan-based global LIXIL Corporation, with which Triangle is now affiliated, spoke of the challenges faced by the HITW property, including frequent flooding, limited land space, inadequate soil depth for a traditional drainfield, and a parking lot that covers most of the property.
Aaron Forbis-Stokes, PhD, head of research and development for Triangle Environmental, explained that the system the company has developed is about the size of a heat pump and would sit on an elevated platform on the property.
Two prototypes already developed for sites in Gloucester and Shacklefords have been “run as vigorously as possible,” he said. He displayed an image showing the gray water before it’s treated and the clear water that comes out of the system. The water would be non-potable, he said, but could be used for flushing toilets or irrigation or can be discharged to the surface. He said it’s a moveable utility, and that the parking lot can be left as-is.
“Our goal is to address all the problems with our technology,” he said.
Wayne Savage of Soils Inc. said that tanks would still be required to hold untreated wastewater and supply it to the treatment system. After the effluent is treated, he said, it will need to be discharged, and he pointed out two condemned areas in the waters around the strip of land running south of HITW. A permit would be required to discharge to those areas, he said.
LIXIL spokesperson Jill Georger said that all DEQ regulations would be followed and exceeded and that an initial meeting with each of the various agencies involved turned up no red flags. The system will process 1,000 gallons per day, she said, and will handle weekend surges.
Georger said the county has been paying an average of $60,000 per year for pump and haul for the septic at Hole in the Wall. In contrast, the Triangle Environmental system would have monthly electrical and cellular costs of about $200 and annual maintenance of about $3,200.
The system components and their installation would cost $175,000, she said, and there would be no cost for design and engineering or a site survey. The one number she did not have, but that she said would be available by next month’s meeting, was the cost of running the effluent discharge pipe. She gave an “aggressive timeline” for development that called for the system to be installed by November.
After the presentation, chairman Tom Bowen said that, while there has been talk of selling Hole in the Wall, it’s “a tremendous asset” to the county, and he would like the county to keep it as a long-term asset. After the current lease is up, he said, it should be renegotiated for a more market-based rate, but first a suitable, operational septic system must be installed.
Questioned by supervisor David Walsh about other issues, such as nutrient levels and ongoing costs as for pump-and-haul, Georger said there would be no additional requirements for nutrient reduction at the site, and Savage said the tanks would need to be pumped every three to five years, just like other tanks, and that the grease trap would have to be pumped every three months.
Bowen hailed the system as an advancement in science that’s “very exciting” and that offers potential solutions for residential homes in Mathews and across the Middle Peninsula.
VA250
Fred Lyon, chair of the Mathews VA250 Committee, gave an update on the group’s activities. Among the ways in which the 250th anniversary of the signing of the Declaration of Independence will be celebrated will be a visit by the state VA250 Committee’s mobile museum, possibly during May Faire; school activities such as field trips, a high school poster contest, a summer camp, and a visit by the “Godspeed” at Williams Wharf on June 17 on its way to the Sail 250 VA250 tall ship gathering in Norfolk.
There will be a Revolutionary War-themed decoration contest for merchants; VA250 banners hung along Main Street, along with red, white, and blue flower baskets; a patriotic concert on May 15; and an Americana Art Show at the Bay School.
A Revolutionary War encampment will be held on Gwynn’s Island from July 9-11, with a reenactment of the Battle of Cricket Hill, and Andrew Lawler, author of “A Perfect Frenzy,” a book about the Battle of Cricket Hill, will be the guest speaker on-site and at MCVIC.
A French military officer and possibly French dignitaries will visit and give the county a plaque honoring the French officer Captain Louis d’O’hickey Arundel, who was the only casualty of the Battle of Cricket Hill.
This year’s Gwynn’s Island Festival will have a VA250 theme, said Lyon, and a separate, private initiative has ensured that there will be a fireworks show on July 5.
Finally, a fundraising initiative is underway to help support all of the activities planned, with Mathews residents who are able being asked to contribute $250 for 250. “If 100 Mathews citizens give $250 each, it will practically get us to our goal of $75,000,” said Lyon.
New VPPSA facility proposed
Jennifer Wheeler of the Virginia Peninsulas Public Service Authority gave a presentation to the board on a new “Hub-and-Spoke” facility the authority would like to build someplace on the Middle Peninsula. VPPSA provides waste management services to 10 cities and counties on the Peninsula and Middle Peninsula, including operating the Mathews Transfer Station. The localities themselves make up the governing board for the authority, with one representative from each.
Wheeler said the regional population is growing but no new landfills are being built and costs are projected to continue rising, so the authority wants to handle recycling in a better way with a new facility that would cut transportation needs by three-fourths. She said the facility would require three acres of flat land with no wetlands and with access to a primary road, but the facility itself would not be very large. She projected a total cost of $4 million, including everything, and said the cost would stabilize within five years.
Land acquisition would begin this fall, followed by studies, permitting, and grant applications to help fund the project, said Wheeler. The design and bid phase would begin next summer, and construction would take place in 2028, with the opening projected to be that November. The maximum project funding per locality would be $300,000.
Public hearings
After a public hearing, supervisors voted 3-2, with Bowen and Janice Phillips dissenting, to table proposed text amendments to the ordinance governing short-term vacation rental properties such as Airbnbs after hearing a number of owners of such properties raise concerns about the ordinance as a whole. The changes, which would have added verbiage outlining requirements previously adopted by the board regarding obtaining a business license and paying taxes, were unanimously recommended by the planning commission. The board directed staff to revisit the issues raised and possibly recommend changes, then bring the matter back to the board in 60 days.
A public hearing on a request for a conditional use permit to construct and operate a self-storage facility near the intersection of Buckley Hall and Twiggs Ferry roads was postponed until the March 19 meeting.
In other matters, the board:
—Unanimously adopted changes to the board’s Bylaws, Code of Ethics, and Rules of Procedure, as well as the Employee Handbook prepared by administration;
—Scheduled a joint meeting with the Mathews Economic Development Authority for Monday, March 23 at 4 p.m.;
—Announced the resignation of Jan Towne from the Parks and Recreation Commission due to extenuating circumstances, leaving a vacancy on the commission;
—Unanimously adopted a resolution accepting a matching grant from the Virginia Department of Emergency Management to pay for upgrades to the Thomas Hunter Middle School emergency shelter generator and its electrical system. The grant is for $223,465, with a county match of $125,699.40.
—Unanimously adopted a resolution recognizing Mathews Sheriff’s Office administrative assistant Christy Jarvis for 31 years of dedicated service and her retirement.
Closed session
In a special meeting held earlier Thursday, at 3 p.m., the board initially went into closed session for two agenda items.
The first item [Virginia Code 2.2-3711 (A) (7) and (8)] was for discussion and briefings by staff members and to obtain legal advice on the lawsuit brought against the Board of Supervisors and County Administrator Ramona Wilson by the Hole in the Wall Waterfront Grill.
The second item [Virginia Code 2.2-3711 (A) (8)] was to obtain legal advice on state law requirements pertaining to library boards.
After the board had been in closed session for some time, it returned to open session and voted unanimously to put a proposed ordinance change on the agenda for the March 19 meeting that would, if approved, increase the number of members on the Mathews Memorial Library Board of Trustees to seven. There are currently five members.
The board then added a third item to the agenda and voted to return to closed session for further discussion of Hole in the Wall Waterfront Grill [Virginia Code 2.2-3711 (A) (7)], as well as discussion of the disposition of publicly held real property where discussion in an open meeting would adversely affect the bargaining position or negotiating strategy of the public body [Virginia Code 2.2-3711 (A) (3)] and for legal advice regarding Hole in the Wall Waterfront Grill and consultation with legal counsel [2.2-3711 (a) (8)].
The board returned to open session at 5:46 p.m. but took no further action.