Harpers Ferry Town Council on Jan. 13 voted to authorize the mayor to sign and submit a draft letter to the Jefferson County Planning Commission urging caution on groundwater-extraction permits for proposed water-bottling operations and asking the county to pursue a public article-12 text amendment process before permitting new extraction-based uses.

The move followed public comment from residents who said a proposed Middleway bottling plant could draw on the same groundwater system that supplies Harpers Ferry. "I am very concerned about our groundwater," Middleway resident Natalie Grantham told the council, saying the town's karst topography connects groundwater across wide areas and that some local headwaters have been dry since nearby operations began. Juliana Brania, a resident of Bardesville, cited the municipal zoning ordinance and said groundwater extraction is not listed among permitted uses and therefore should be assumed prohibited unless the county follows its formal amendment process.

The council said the letter would emphasize Harpers Ferry's reliance on local surface and groundwater resources and ask Jefferson County to route any change that would permit extraction-based bottling through the county's text-amendment process so residents can be heard. Councilmembers amended the draft to clarify language and to request that the letter be included in the meeting minutes; the council also directed that all town-council members be included as signatories on the final letter. The motion, as amended, passed unanimously, 7-0.

Why it matters: Council members said the town lacks complete information about long-term impacts of additional groundwater extraction near the Middleway/O3M site and that a county-level land-use change could set a precedent affecting Harpers Ferry's water supplies. The council asked the Jefferson County Planning Commission to consider a formal article-12 text amendment—which triggers public review and comment—before permitting extraction-based bottling at sites where the zoning code does not list that use as permitted.

What happens next: The approved letter will be signed by the mayor and the councilmembers and submitted to the Jefferson County Planning Commission ahead of the county's public workshops. Councilmembers said they expect the county process to include additional technical review and public comment and that Harpers Ferry will track follow-up actions publicly.