Mathews County has paid over $15,000 since January to pump out the septic system at the Hole in the Wall restaurant on Gwynn’s Island. The annual lease payment on the property is $8,100, just a little over half that amount. The business’s co-owner said the revenue his restaurant generates more than compensates the county for the expense.

Supervisor Charles Ingram questioned County Administrator Mindy Conner about the cost of the pump-outs during the board’s June 25 meeting. He said he had seen a septic truck at the site and stopped there to ask how much sewage was being pumped. He was told that the company has been pumping from 3,000 to 3,500 gallons of sewage a week.

“Do you know what that’s costing citizens?” said Ingram. 

Conner explained that the county owns the restaurant and that it is bound by the terms of the lease agreement it signed with the tenants. Partners Mac Casale and Dean Tsamouras have been leasing the property since 2016. A...