Currituck commissioners approve $2.07 million design fee for Moyock regional wastewater plant

Currituck County commissioners on Monday approved a $2,067,782.76 design-fee proposal for the Moyock Regional Wastewater Treatment Plant and authorized the county manager to execute the design contract.

The design-build team named in the proposal is T.A. Loving and Kimley-Horn; the fee covers design and preconstruction services for a replacement and expansion of the existing Moyock plant, described in the packet as up to 300,000 gallons capacity.

The board’s action moves the project into the detailed-design phase. County staff said the fee is only for design work and is not a construction contract; construction timing was described as an estimated 24 months from the start of construction but staff said that timeline may change and they would follow up with a confirmed schedule.

Commissioners pressed for a clearer status update on the modular plant currently being tested. County staff said a modular unit now on site provides about 100,000 gallons of capacity and is operational for basic functions while one permit parameter remains unmet. “There’s one parameter that we are currently not meeting, so we’re working to get in line with that,” the county manager said. Staff confirmed the state will likely require a monitoring period after permit compliance is achieved before allowing additional users to connect.

Several commissioners requested that the manager or the project lead brief the board at the next meeting with a timeline and explanation of the remaining testing steps. The county manager agreed to arrange a presentation explaining what remains to bring the modular unit and the replacement plant fully into permitted operation.

The board voted to approve the design-fee proposal and to delegate signature authority to the county manager to finalize the contract.

The action follows earlier meetings in which commissioners and staff discussed staging, capacity options (300,000 gallons versus an evaluated 400,000-gallon alternative) and community demand tied to commercial interest in Moyock.

Commissioners were explicit that the fee was limited to design; any future construction-phase contract would come back to the board for separate approval and funding authorization.

Ending: Staff said they will follow up in writing with a confirmed timeline and will seek to schedule a presentation for the board in the next month to six weeks.