Let Maud Run Your Bath

"Vienna Mommy" contributes:

More personalized services?! Does Mad Maud come over and run my bath water each night? Hardly. Just another 'control' issue for the town.

Vienna Officials Want Better Deal on Water, Sewer Services by BRIAN TROMPETER November 20, 2007

Vienna officials expressed interest in obtaining cheaper water-and-sewer services from Fairfax County, but were uneasy at the timetable and potential concessions required under a plan proposed by county officials at the Vienna Town Council's Nov. 12 work session.

Vienna officials for years have noticed the discrepancy between the cost of water obtained from the city of Falls Church and water from Fairfax Water. The town has raised water-and-sewer fees five times in recent years - including an average $59.28 boost during this budget cycle - to meet increasing costs.

The current 25-year water-and-sewer agreement with Vienna expires on March 31, 2008, and county officials said they hoped town officials would indicate by the end of this year whether they were interested in switching service providers.

“We think we're giving you the best agreement now,” said Philip Allin, board chairman of Fairfax Water.

This rushed timetable, made worse by the presentation's postponement from a work session in September, did not please Vienna officials.

“To say we have a month and a half to make a decision is just out of the question,” said Vienna Town Manager John Schoeberlein.

Switching water-and-sewer service is not like picking out a new cable-television or Internet provider. Up to $2.5 million worth of connections would have to be made over a six-to-18-month period, if the county's proposal were accepted.

If the town joined Fairfax County's system, it would transfer an undetermined number of employees from the Vienna Public Works Department's Water and Sewer Division to the county. Any employee transfer would have to give workers the same or better retirement benefits than they currently receive from the town, Vienna officials said.

The town's current water-and-sewer customers would be transferred to Fairfax Water and Fairfax County Wastewater, and those agencies would handle all new customers directly. The agencies also would bill those customers and assume all regulatory responsibilities.

Fairfax County would take over ownership and maintenance of the town's water-and-sewer facilities, assume the town's outstanding $1.77 million waste-water-treatment capacity debt and be responsible for $24 million worth of sewer-line rehabilitations during the next two decades.

The town would give Fairfax County its 820,000-gallons-per-day unused treatment capacity - something Vienna officials say is worth quite a bit of money. Vienna also would remain responsible for $1,410,000 worth of outstanding general-obligation bonds for water-and-sewer projects.

The town's water rates would be frozen from 2008 to 2020 until they equalized with Fairfax County's charges, then rise at the same rate as the county's after 2020.

Vienna's sewer rates would rise at the same rate as the county's from 2008 to 2014, be frozen from 2014 to 2020 and equalize with the county's charges after 2020.

Fairfax Water is supplied by two plants. Its Corbalis Water Treatment Plant, located on the Potomac River, handles about 150 million gallons per day, is currently bringing its capacity up to 225 million gallons per day and ultimately may be expanded to treat 300 million gallons per day, officials said.

The utility's Griffith Water Treatment Plant, located on the Occoquan River, began operating in May 2006. It has a capacity of 120 million gallons per day and may be expanded to 160 million gallons per day in the future.

Fairfax Water officials said the utility tries to make its facilities blend into neighborhoods. Its pumping station on Backlick Road, for example, looks like a brick colonial-style house, while its Tysons Corner pumping station has public tennis and basketball courts on the roof.

Fairfax County operates 3,367 miles' worth of water pipelines and 3,330 miles' worth of sanitary-sewer lines. Smaller systems, such as Vienna's, are cost-prohibitive to operate in the long run, said Steven Edgemon, deputy general manager of Fairfax Water.

Fairfax Water is only one of two utilities among 55,000 nationwide to hold coveted AAA ratings from all three major bond companies, and is renowned for its state-of-the-art equipment and methods.

“We have a stellar record of performance,” Edgemon said.

Schoeberlein said it is unlikely Falls Church officials would make a similar offer to take over Vienna's water-and-sewer facilities, but they may decide to offer the town a better wholesale water rate.

Council member Maud Robinson said she would have to consider Fairfax County's proposal carefully because the town prides itself on providing separate, more personal services for its residents.

Council member George Lovelace said the town needs to shore up its water-and-sewer services for the coming decades, but must negotiate carefully to best serve town residents.

“We don't want to give away the farm,” he said.