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Members of the Halifax County Service Authority on Tuesday afternoon
met with a barrage of opposition as they worked to finalize policy
issues dealing with the eligibility of certain construction projects to
be "grand fathered," a designation that could mean big savings for the
developers. The Policy Committee had earlier prepared a list of 219
lots and 337 acres, along with 22 other parcels where the grand fathered
designation might be appropriate. (The grand fathered designation means
that developers will pay the fees formerly charged by the localities
rather than the higher fees set by the Authority.)
After a lot of controversy, Authority members approved the committee's
recommendation on a 5-1 vote with only Authority member Fred Mistal
opposing it.
Of number of properties identified for the former fees, the committee
said 139 projects had been subdivided with water and sewer lines
already laid and the lot must have been permanently platted with a
request made to the Authority to have the lot included on the
designated list. The committee recommended that residential projects
which are underway and which can be completed by May of 2009 be
grand fathered, as well as commercial projects which are underway and
can be completed by December 31, 2009. "We're trying to be fair," said
Authority member Rick Harrell, "but we have no taxing authority to
raise money for expansion"
An obviously frustrated John Cannon said the Authority would cost him
some $190,000 in facility fees if they followed the committee's
recommendation. "I have already paid $780,000 to install lights, roads
and water and sewer lines (in his Edgewood Subdivision) and now you
want me to pay these fees. Put yourself in my shoes and see how it
feels."
Joseph Lief of Virginia International Raceway said he feels that the
question of grand fathering is simply one of changing the rules in mid
stream. He noted that VIR's plans for expansion are long term with
millions of dollars having been invested in them. "These projects are
not going to be completed by December 31, 2009. This is a long term
investment of probably ten years," he explained, noting that the
Authority fees "would greatly increase our costs."
Connie Nyholm and Harvey Siegal also addressed Authority members,
talking about their plans at VIR. "We've made this an international
site. We've done everything we said we would do and we've made Halifax
County an international race spot," Siegal told members.
Developer Christian Roberts once again asked Authority members to
simply waive the facility fees, an argument that he had put forth at an
earlier meeting.
Pointing to a survey he had taken of neighboring communities, Roberts
asked "Why are we the only community doing this? Clarksville, Oxford
and others have no such facility fees, he said. "The fairest way to
raise the necessary funds is simply to put a few extra cents on
everybody's bill."
"This discussion is not about facility fees," stressed Doug Bowman
Authority chairman. "Those have been approved. This is about exemptions
from those fees."
A Henry County developer, Clark Aden, told Authority members that
"timing is the issue here. Where people have made a big investment,
your timing doesn't take into account the magnitude of their
investment."
Halifax attorney Bill Watson who said he represents two developers,
asked members to reconsider the facility fees. "We ask that you create
a subcommittee to meet one time with these people and listen to them
for an hour." Watson said he doesn't think the general public
understands the policy and "when people find out about it they'll be
coming out of the woods."
Authority members discussed the matter for over an hour, but they
approved the committee recommendation. Director Willie Jones pointed
out that changes can be made at a later date if the group so desires.
Authority members also addressed other policy issues including leak
adjustments which they said would be considered if the leak occurred
outside the home or basement in a line that connects the customer to
the system. They also agreed to consider disability relief on a case by
case basis. On another issue they voted to place master meters in
rental mobile home parks and bill the owner, who in turn, would collect
from his/her renters. They also agreed that second notices on water
bills would not be sent in order to avoid extra postal expense.
Earlier in their meeting members voted to award a contract for the
hauling of sludge to Lanco Paving (Tellus Environmental) which was the
low bidder at $12.45 per ton.