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Residents press board on Service Authority: billing, sludge hauling and permanent manager sought
Summary
Public commenters and supervisors pressed the King George County Service Authority about its management, billing vendor, sludge disposal, and well safety; staff explained pumping/pump‑out rules, DEQ constraints and plans for a permanent general manager.
Residents and supervisors raised persistent concerns about the King George County Service Authority’s billing operations, well and wastewater handling and leadership during the joint Board of Supervisors/Service Authority meeting.
Public commenters urged changes to billing and operations. Anna Maria Lobo, a Presidential Lakes resident, asked whether the service authority should have “its own general manager, someone with experience like Mr. Whitley” and questioned outsourcing billing to MuniBilling rather than returning billing in‑house.
Board members and staff answered several operational questions: County Administrator Matthew Smolnick said a job description for a full‑time general manager would be presented at the Feb. 4 meeting and described his interim work signing monthly utility bills. Staff and Emboden Environmental Services (the utility operator) reported routine maintenance and treatment performance: sand-filter backwashing, replacement of chlorine injectors and a failed well pump replaced at one site. Utility contractor IES said all bacteriological samples had passed.
On wastewater sludge and Chesapeake Bay pump‑outs, staff explained that King George cannot accept outside septage at its Dahlgren plant because the plant lacks capacity and would risk regulatory violations; the county is working with state officials and the Virginia Association of Counties to find regional solutions. Smolnick noted that other regional plants that previously accepted pump‑outs have stopped and that DEQ has been engaged.
The board also discussed high electricity bills for facilities. Supervisor Collins asked why the library’s one-month electric bill appeared to be $10,000 in the warrant packet; administrators said they would research the historical kilowatt usage and whether the treasurer’s accounts were being billed separately. The board asked for a review of building thermostats and an energy-management plan similar to one the schools implemented.
On billing vendor choice, staff said the county kept MuniBilling for postage-rate advantages; MuniBilling’s larger mail volume obtains lower postage than the county could secure alone. Smolnick acknowledged an initial online-payment rollout hiccup that has since been corrected and said staff produced an instructional video for paying utility bills online.
Several public‑commenters and supervisors pressed for more transparency and for quick fixes to visible safety problems: a fencing failure at a Presidential Lakes well site and removal of two large abandoned tanks. Emboden and county staff said they were soliciting bids to remove the tanks and steel structures and had crews working on well access, line cleaning and other maintenance.
No formal action was taken to change vendor contracts during the meeting; supervisors asked staff to return with further cost and contract details.
