Topics of discussion at Tuesday night’s Gloucester Board of Supervisors’ work session, held in the colonial courthouse, included a utilities update and a discussion about homeowners possibly encroaching on Gloucester County property

Utilities update

Gloucester’s Director of Public Utilities Katey Legg provided the utilities update.

Legg said her presentation was going to be “very information heavy” and included current projects, an ARPA project update, pump station and capacity concerns, water treatment plant projects and DEQ violations.

For current projects, Legg talked about inventory of lines that may contain lead, those that do not and those that are currently unknown, which is a mandate by the EPA that started in 2021. She said that utilities across the country had until Oct. 16 to submit an inventory of all county- and privately-owned service lines.

“We submitted our inventory and we were able to take all of the buildings that were built after lead service lines were banned and we could immediately identify those as nonlead,” said Legg. “Anything else that we could not easily put our hand on, we identified as unknown.”

Legg said that the county is “required to mail notices to every property that was identified as unknown within 30 days.”

“We mailed out 3,500 notices by Nov. 15,” she said. “That had to include properties that may not be an active account anymore. For example, take the old Page Middle School, we had to identify. So that’s why that number is so high.”

For e-billing, Legg said that the final design of the customer portal has been completed and will allow customers to opt in to receive their bills and their online payment options electronically. The roll-out is expected by January.

The sewer line at Maryus is in need of repairs. Legg said that utilities did have to call contractor support.

“We pumped out about 122,500 gallons throughout Friday night and into Saturday,” said Legg. “Well pointing happened yesterday and today. We hoped it would only take yesterday, but it was very difficult, so they are going to pump the excess water out overnight so hopefully they can dig tomorrow. So, they still have not been able to dig down to actually see where the break occurred yet. So once that happens, our team will submit the information to DEQ.”

For ARPA projects, Legg said that the pump station 11 design is mostly completed, the reverse osmosis (RO) skid #1 membrane replacement is almost done, the Gloucester Point Tower Water Age Management System is still in the bidding process, slope mower for plant and dam maintenance equipment has been ordered, the crash truck has also been ordered, the project is out for bid for the pump station 14 control panel, pipes, and pump replacement, and the water treatment plant P3 and P8 replacement is still being worked on.

Legg talked about pump station and capacity concerns. She said that there is part of an area in the Courthouse Service Area identified by HRSD which could be serviced by county sewer but the county does not have the capacity due to the county’s current pump station designs.

Legg asked the board to consider whether it wants to ask if HRSD would expand the service area or if the board would rather change the comprehensive plan and the development district.

Current water treatment plant projects were also discussed by Legg. She talked about the county’s current DEQ permitting issues. The Virginia Pollutant Discharge Elimination System permit is a five-year permit that allows the county to discharge wastewater that is part of a treatment process, not to be confused with sewage wastewater treatment “because we don’t do that. This simply is the water that we don’t use that is a part of the treatment process,” she said. “So, it is about clean water in the environment, not drinking water. The Virginia Department of Health monitors our drinking water and all of those requirements have been met.”

Legg also said the permit will expire on Nov. 30 and has been administratively continued as they are going through the violations and potential enforcement. The permit renewal was submitted in June and they are still working with DEQ on what that permit will look like moving forward.

The county received a notice of violation in May 2024 and met virtually and in person with DEQ. After those meetings a draft action plan was created and submitted, but DEQ has yet to issue a draft consent order. There also is not an as-yet agreed upon solution.

Legg said that the only way to be within the permit limitations by discontinuing the use of the RO plant or some other capital investment. Legg also plans to submit another draft action plan once they have heard from DEQ.

Possible encroachment

The second issue, addressed by county administrator Carol Steele, concerned possible encroachment of Tyndalls Point Park at Gloucester Point.

“That park is one of the most historical sites we have in the county,” said Steele. “It was fortified against the Dutch before we go into the Colonial Revolutionary War time period. It is a part of the Gloucester Point Archeological District with the feds and state.”

Steele explained that a sign had been put up by a homeowner to stop people from driving near their home. Upon further research, she said three or four homeowners may be either encroaching on public right-of-way or encroaching on county-owned property. She said that she initially was going there because she is currently looking at VA250 grants to be able enhance the park and get ready for the 250th anniversary of the American Revolution. Improvements at Tyndalls Point and Gloucester Point Beach are being considered.

Steele had recommended that a survey be done to ensure that historical property is preserved and identified.