Officials press for timeline after Moyock wastewater 30% design exceeds budget

A Currituck County resident asked the Board on Oct. 20 whether the contractor for the Moyock regional wastewater treatment facility met its 30% design milestone and whether the project remains on schedule for the 2026 construction start and 2027 completion.

“Are they on target to complete that as well?” resident Steve Hedrick asked, referring to a 60% design milestone set for late November 2025.

County Manager (name not specified in the record) told commissioners later in the meeting that the design-build team submitted 30% plans in September but the plans as submitted were beyond the budget. The 30% package evaluated a larger 500,000-gallon-per-day plant than originally discussed, reflecting the engineers’ growth projections. Staff said consultants are now pursuing value engineering to return the design within the budget range and are evaluating phased approaches, including two equal trains of approximately 250,000 gpd each.

The manager also said the Division of Environmental Quality has approved use of high-rate infiltration disposal basins for the site; a contractor is pricing those basins, which were described in the meeting as having a combined capacity of about 299,000 gallons per day. The approved basins would connect to the existing temporary mobile treatment plant, which the manager said is rated at 100,000 gpd.

Commissioners pressed staff for a timeline. "I cannot emphasize how important it is that we get a timeline," one commissioner said, noting potential economic-development prospects are waiting for a firm schedule. The manager said a staff meeting with the project team is scheduled for Thursday and she is hopeful the engineers will provide a clearer timeline after that meeting.

The board did not take a formal vote on the project at the Oct. 20 meeting. Commissioners directed staff to obtain a timeline and to return with options that would allow construction to proceed within available funding, including phasing and value-engineered design alternatives.

Public materials and the manager’s report indicate ongoing steps: DEQ approval for reuse of existing basin locations; contractor pricing for basins; engineering study and value-engineering work on the larger plant design; and continued use of the temporary 100,000-gpd mobile plant while capacity is expanded.