Madison County leaders are seeking documents and clarity from water and sewer provider Rapidan Service Authority (RSA).
During the board of supervisors meeting Tuesday, county planning and zoning administrator Allen Nicholls said he’s been unable to obtain numerous documents from the authority which outline their policies and directly affect Madison County’s ability to manage growth, protect public health and plan responsibly for the future of the county’s water and sewer systems.
“As development pressures increase especially along the Rt. 29 corridor and in the town, we’re finding that critical information, policies and long-range planning tools either don’t exist, are outdated or are not publically available,” Nicholls said. “Without clarity on the service area system capacity or EDU allocation practices, neither the county, nor our residents can plan with confidence.”
EDUs, or Equivalent Dwelling Units, standardizes the volume and strength of wastewater from a typical single-family home. Utilities use EDUs to determine how much capacity a development needs within a treatment plant. For example, an apartment complex will need multiple EDUs while a single-family home needs only one. Nicholls said information regarding how EDUs are acquired is inconsistent with no reserve policy for protecting capacity for economic development, public health or aging drainfields.
Additionally, Nicholls said the county lacks hydraulic models meaning available capacity can’t readily be determined and service boundaries need to be established to reflect the goals of the county’s comprehensive plan.
“These issues are not operational details, they are the backbone of how Madison County will grow,” he said. “The concern is when these gaps persist, the consequences fall on the county. Without clear policies, RSA decisions can inadvertently shape land use and development, something that should remain in the hands of the elected governing body.”
Nicholls said attempts to obtain the information, which he calls basic, along with maps, capacity data, EDU records and policies has been unfruitful. A formal Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request was filed Nov. 24. Nicholls said he received a response within five days requesting seven additional days, but no actual documents have been received.
“A public utility must operate transparently,” he said. “The county cannot make sound decisions while the data and policies guiding those decisions remain unclear or unavailable.”
Nicholls and county administrator Jonathon Weakley created a report recommending the county supervisors formally request the needed information. The report also contained examples of service connection policies from King George, the Town of Culpeper and Culpeper County. Weakley is intimately familiar with the utility world, having served as the general manager of the King George County Service Authority before becoming the Madison County Administrator.
The report requested an adoption of uniform connection standards aligned with engineering best practices in the county’s comprehensive plan; the adoption and publishing of water and sewer service area boundaries; the initiation of new hydraulic models to guide 10, 20 and 30-year planning; the identification of a feasible wastewater treatment outfall location that avoids costly or inappropriate private negotiations and the establishment of a transparent EDU acquisition process and capacity reserve policy.
“These are not administrative improvements,” Nicholls said. “These are essential steps to protect system capacity, enhance transparency and ensure that infrastructure planning remains coordinated, predictable and grounded in the public interest.”
He said with the ongoing planned expansion of RSA’s Madison County Wastewater Treatment Plant, the county wants to be in a position where it can plan where the capacity goes rather than wondering where it went.
Supervisor Jim Jewett agreed the county needs to have a handle on its water and sewer. He said the issue goes back years regarding who has the EDUs and where they are. He said the estimate for the plant expansion is 350 new EDUs. Nicholls said the number is part of the issue with some saying 350, others 500 and still others 600.
Jewett said taking into account projects that have already been approved and possible byright development, 350 EDUs could easily be used.
“If we only end up with that, what we’ve essentially done is set the county back 50 years in economic development,” he said. “We won’t have EDUs available to develop the town or any additional businesses on 29 that we’ve designated as the development area.”
Jewett said if all the development potentials were to come to fruition, the county could easily have a 10% increase in population within a 10-year period, necessitating increased services, something that can’t currently be funded. He said the public money and infrastructure would be going into the hands of a few housing developers with costs spilling over onto residents.
“I see a trainwreck coming on our current course,” Jewett added. “We need to get with RSA and get a policy in place that protects the county, protects the character of the county and protects the taxpayers of the county.”
Supervisor Clay Jackson suggested having a meeting with RSA to go through the list of requests, determining what the county has and doesn’t have.
“I think everyone is in favor of having a policy on these EDUs and disbursement of EDUs,” he said.
County attorney Sean Gregg suggested the board collate its concerns and run them through himself and attorney Hannon Wright to RSA’s attorney.
“There could be already solutions to things we think might be problems,” he said.
Nicholls said the more conversation that can take place in public the better to “facilitate the public trust of all bodies involved.”
Jackson suggested having a meeting with RSA then pointing any issues to Gregg and Wright.
RSA Board of Directors Chairman Mark Johnson said RSA stands ready to meet with Madison County, saying he only learned of the matter approximately a week ago.
“I think the last thing we want to do is get this into any kind of a legal thing,” he said. “I don’t think it’s there. We can sit down and work it out.
“RSA is in Madison County and Orange County and it’s there to serve the interests of both counties,” Johnson added. “RSA doesn’t have an agenda of its own. It has responsibilities to meet, but doesn’t have an agenda.”
RSA General Manager Tim Clemons said RSA would like to work with Madison County. He said there is some confusion, especially with EDUs noting that RSA doesn’t sell them until the county approves a project. He said the county controls the EDUs by virtue of what it does and doesn’t approve. He said for the new expansion, the EDUs have to be allocated to projects and used or the approximately 200 customers are going to bear the brunt of the costs.
Madison County RSA Board of Directors Member Pete Elliott said there’s a lot of misinformation and the facts need to be shared.
“This seems like a good idea,” Jackson said. “Have a meeting, you can accuse each other face to face which is more pleasant and you can get [an] actual constructive meeting.”
It’s unknown when the board and RSA will meet, but it will be two members from each, not constituting a public meeting.
