Mount Airy planners question wastewater-expansion entry in draft county Water Resource Element

Mount Airy's Planning Commission spent the bulk of its June 30 meeting reviewing a draft Water Resource Element (WRE) prepared through Carroll County and requested clarifications before the county advances the document.

Commissioners focused on a table in the draft that lists a Mount Airy water-supply deficit of 299,052 gallons per day under a build-out scenario and then, in an adjacent column, lists possible actions to address shortfalls. The draft includes a bullet suggesting wastewater treatment plant expansion as a potential action; town engineer Barney told the commission that recommendation appears misplaced. "So the water Wastewater treatment plant expansion should come off this list, I would think," he said, explaining that the town's water-supply shortfall is a supply issue (wells, allocation) rather than a wastewater issue.

Barney and Water & Sewer Commission chair Swanson provided technical context: the town's wastewater facility currently shows a roughly 10,000-gallon-per-day surplus for infill development…