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 but would not, by itself, resolve a groundwater supply deficit. Barney said the town has studied capacity upgrades to the treatment plant that could increase throughput by changing processes (not necessarily enlarging tanks or footprint), and he gave cost ballpark figures discussed in the review: the lower-cost process-change option was roughly in the $12'$14 million range to reach an intermediate capacity (about 1.5 million gallons) and a larger option exceeded $15 million for higher capacity. He said those technology-based options allow some capacity increases without adding new tanks on the constrained treatment-plant site.

Commissioners agreed to send three points back to the county as edits or queries: 1) question or remove the draft's suggestion that wastewater treatment-plant expansion is a solution for the water-supply shortfall, 2) if the WRE retains wastewater-related recommendations, clarify that capacity increases can be achieved by process/technology changes within the existing footprint (not only by expanding site area), and 3) ask town engineer Barney and Water & Sewer Commission chair Swanson to work with county staff to improve the town-specific entries. Chair summarized those three edit directions and commissioners signaled agreement.

PFAS remediation and system updates Barney and Swanson also updated the commission on PFAS remediation and other near-term water projects. Barney said design work for treatment at Stations 1 and 5 was about "99% complete" and that site-plan drawings had been submitted for county review. Design work for Stations 2 and 3 and a connection to a local mobile-home park are underway. He said monitoring continues and that past maximum readings were not exceeded in subsequent tests: "27, I think, was 27 or 28 was the highest level on Well 7 and that's, I don't think anything succeeded that," he said.

Commissioners and staff also discussed other water-supply options identified in the town and county planning documents: increased appropriation under the Brinkley process for Well 9, drilling and development of wells on nearby properties (including a tested Harrison/LeShire site that showed potential), and the possibility of interjurisdictional water partnerships or piped connections to neighboring systems. Swanson said the Water & Sewer Commission is working on long-range planning and is likely to recommend that council direct staff to develop a long-term plan for water, wastewater and stormwater.

Why it matters The WRE is part of a required county-level three-year update and feeds into state review. The commissions'questions are substantive: how the WRE frames solutions will affect future municipal planning, developer expectations and capital planning for water and wastewater infrastructure.

Next steps Commission staff will forward the planning commission's requested edits and clarifying language to Carroll County. The county will compile municipal comments and send a consolidated draft to the state for a 60-day review; the final WRE will later be introduced and subject to a public hearing at the Mount Airy Town Council.