Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Get email alerts on the Utilities Franchise topic
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
Council approves long-term franchise for Virginia Electric and Power Company
Summary
The Purcellville Town Council voted to grant a long-term electrical/broadband franchise to Virginia Electric and Power Company after asking for clarifications about undergrounding and rights-of-way; Dominion representatives said the franchise validates existing facilities and that undergrounding remains a separate, costed process.
Purcellville — The Town Council voted on April 8 to adopt ordinance 25-0401, granting a franchise to Virginia Electric and Power Company to operate electric and broadband facilities within the town rights-of-way.
Gifford Hampshire, the town's attorney, said the town initiated a public bid process and received a single response from Virginia Electric and Power Company. He described the franchise as the procedural step required when rights are granted for longer than five years. "I have in my hands, the bid response from Virginia Electric and Power Company," the mayor read aloud as the bid was opened for the public record.
Council members pressed Dominion representatives about whether the franchise would permit new overhead transmission or conflict with the town's comprehensive-plan guidance encouraging undergrounding. Dominion counsel said the franchise is intended to validate and continue existing facilities in the public right-of-way and that decisions about converting lines to underground are handled through separate VEPCO/VEPCO-related agreements that include cost allocations. As Dominion's Jerry Brooks put it: "We can always underground a line if requested" but that work is handled under a separate cost and permitting process.
Several council members asked whether the franchise language could be drafted to require burying lines along specific corridors such as Main Street. Hampshire said it is "very uncommon" to include such specific limits in a franchise because the franchise is designed to allow the utility to maintain and operate infrastructure; he also said negotiating atypical restrictions could hamper future service options. Dominion staff and counsel confirmed that the franchise covers both existing overhead and underground facilities within the public right-of-way and that new underground requests would be subject to separate permitting and cost discussions.
After discussion the council moved and adopted the ordinance; the mayor stated, "So 1 absent, 6 yes," reflecting the roll-call result recorded in the meeting minutes.
The council vote authorizes negotiation and execution of the franchise ordinance as filed with the packet; town staff said Dominion representatives were available to answer follow-up questions and that the agreement would not itself obligate undergrounding projects beyond current rights-of-way.
