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Montgomery County PSA pauses Brush Mountain water study after $86,000 cost flagged; Reiner project largely complete
Summary
At a Montgomery County Public Service Authority meeting, officials reported the Reiner Water Project is operating and discussed a CHA proposal for a Brush Mountain study costing $86,000. Board members agreed to pause work until funding is identified; expansion costs were estimated at $12'$15 million.
The Montgomery County Public Service Authority heard an update on local water projects and stopped short of funding a study for Brush Mountain at its meeting.
An unidentified presenter reported that the Reiner Water Project "is complete, except for closing out the wells in Reiner," and that "water is flowing to Reiner" and tank controls are filling automatically. He said the remaining administrative step is to receive direction from the Virginia Department of Health on how to close the wells.
The board then spent most of the meeting discussing a proposed study for Brush Mountain. Speaker 4 said the town identified CHA to perform six tasks ' including hydraulic modeling, alignment development, permitting evaluation, an opinion of probable cost and a preliminary engineering report ' for a total fee of $86,000. "That does not include any of the improvements that they would ask for on their system," he said.
Board members debated who would pay the $86,000 and whether federal or state grants might cover it. Speaker 2 said the town had not taken a formal vote and that CHA had been the town's choice. Efforts to identify grant funding had so far been unsuccessful; Speaker 2 said they had not yet received a response from Senator Warner's office.
Speakers raised concerns about the scale and affordability of full system expansion. Speaker 4 cited the engineer's estimate that extending service could cost "12 to $15,000,000," and warned the resulting debt service and rate increases could be substantial. He said the PSA's current reserves are intended to maintain existing service, not to underwrite major expansion.
On the Reiner hookups, Speaker 4 said the PSA had already connected customers at Reiner and estimated "probably close to a dozen" connections. Board members also discussed well-closure procedures: Speaker 4 said a licensed contractor typically performs decommissioning and files forms with the health department.
After extended discussion, members concluded the project would be paused until a funding source for the $86,000 study is found, with several members noting that grant cycles likely reopen in the spring. "If we can't find a source of $86,000 in grant funding, we've stopped anyways," one member said.
The meeting also included a routine financial report listing operating cash of $3,109,553, capital improvements of $714,078 and customer deposits of $104,010, for a total cash position of $3,927,641. The board approved consent minutes for earlier meetings by voice vote.
The board received several brief member reports, including a question about high water pressures in Price's Fork; staff said they had not received calls about the issue. The meeting was then adjourned.
