Middleburg schedules public info session on water conservation; staff discuss averages and multifamily-meter challenges

The Town of Middleburg will host a public information session on proposed water-conservation measures and how they would be implemented, town staff said at the council meeting. The session is intended to explain the tools the town could use in a drought and how enforcement and monitoring would work.

Town Manager Danny Davis said the session — described in the meeting as not a public hearing but an informational meeting — is to help residents understand how the town would implement conservation measures “in case we get into a really bad situation.” The meeting was scheduled for the twentieth of the month.

Council members raised questions about how the town calculates average household water use and how households on a single meter (multi-unit properties) would be treated if rationing or additional charges were imposed. Davis said Middleburg customers generally use much less water than national averages and that staff are exploring different property categories rather than a one-size-fits-all approach.

“We'll talk through all those numbers and information with the public,” Davis said. “While that is an average that many people use for single family dwellings or individuals, our customers here in Middleburg use much less water than the average household does across The United States.”

On multifamily properties, staff said submetering would be the most accurate but that it requires property owners to incur plumbing costs; as a practical alternative, staff are considering creating categories (for example, multifamily versus commercial) if the council adopts additional charges or rationing rules. Town Attorney Martin Crim has been consulted on options to ensure any fee structure is defensible.

Staff asked the public to attend the information session to learn how the proposed tools would work and to provide feedback on monitoring and enforcement approaches.