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Falls Church staff pitch sewer‑capacity buy from Fairfax County as cheaper alternative to local equalization tank
Summary
City staff recommended a two‑part purchase agreement with Fairfax County to increase sanitary sewer treatment and conveyance capacity (an $8.8M purchase in 2026 and a potential ~$6.8M contribution in 2027/28 tied to a Fairfax pipe upsizing). Staff said the approach avoids building a local flow equalization basin and could save roughly $4M in capital costs; council requested more details on debt and financing timing.
City Department of Public Works staff presented a draft sanitary sewer capacity purchase agreement with Fairfax County that would provide additional treatment and conveyance capacity without the city building a local flow‑equalization basin.
Andy Young and Reza Ravindust described a two‑transaction approach: a near‑term 2026 purchase of capacity ($8.8 million) that covers 1.5 million gallons per day of treatment capacity plus a conveyance capacity contribution, and a second potential purchase in 2027/28 (roughly $6.8 million) tied to Fairfax County’s plan to relocate and upsize a choke‑point sewer main along Trips Run (pipe upsized from 27 to 36 inches). Young said the county’s change in approach removes the long‑term operational liabilities a locally‑owned flow equalization basin would create: staffing, maintenance, odor control and equipment risk. "This upsizing project would remove a key constraint in the Fairfax County system and allow them to sell the city additional peak flow capacity," Young said.
Key technical parameters discussed: the package as presented would increase the city’s peak flow limit to 7,000,000 gallons per day and keep an operational safety trigger that requires three exceedances in 12 months (rather than two) to force corrective measures by the city. Staff noted the 7,000,000 gpd peak has only been exceeded once (a 200‑year storm in 2019) and argued the three‑exceedance threshold reduces climate‑related risk to the city.
On finance, staff said the 2026 purchase can largely be paid with existing availability fees (fees paid by new development); the 2027/28 contribution would use a mix of availability fees, sanitary‑sewer fund balance and modest debt; staff estimated the Trips Run contribution would be about $6.0M of the county project cost (the county’s total sanitary sewer portion was presented at $12M and Falls Church’s share is roughly 50 percent of the upsized conveyance cost). Council members pressed for clearer numbers on (a) the planned debt issuance size and timing, (b) the remaining sanitary sewer fund balance after the purchase, and (c) whether Fairfax County’s funding for its half of the pipe is reliable. Staff said the county’s capital commitment appears stable and that the county had reduced its earlier cost estimates during negotiations.
Council discussed alternatives and the Quinn development; staff said they are collecting downstream field data and will revisit the Quinn project routing and credit arrangements if the new county solution is adopted. Staff recommended council authorize the agreement at the Jan. 26 meeting, and indicated the county’s timeline slipped slightly—design now targets 2026 completion and construction late 2027, with the city’s payment timing adjusted accordingly.
Next steps: staff will return with the authorization item (Jan. 26), provide more detailed debt and fund‑balance figures requested by council, and begin the sanitary sewer master plan in FY27 to align growth, capacity purchases and capital needs.
