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PC_03-20-02_Meeting_MinutesWORK SESSION MINUTES OF THE • FREDERICK COUNTY PLANNING COMMISSION Held in the Board Room of the Frederick County Administration Building at 107 North Kent Street in Winchester, Virginia on March 20, 2002. PRESENT: Charles S. DeHaven, Jr., Chairman/Stonewall District; Roger L. Thomas, Vice Chairman/ Opequon District; Charles E. Triplett, Gainesboro District; George J. Kriz, Gainesboro District; Greg L. Unger, Back Creek District; Cordell Watt, Back Creek District; Robert A. Morris, Shawnee District; William C. Rosenberry, Shawnee District; Richard C. Ours, Opequon District; John H. Light, Stonewall District; Pat Gochenour, Red Bud District; Marie F. Straub, Red Bud District; Gene E. Fisher, Citizen at Large; Sidney A. Reyes, Board Liaison; Jay Cook, Legal Counsel and Vincent DiBenedetto, Winchester City Liaison. STAFF PRESENT: Evan A. Wyatt, Planning Director; Eric R. Lawrence, Deputy Planning Director; Abbe S. Kennedy, Senior Planner; and Renee' S. Arlotta, Clcrk. CALL TO ORDER Chairman DeHaven called the meeting to order at 7:00 p.m. • INFORMATIONAL WORK SESSION WITH REPRESENTATIVES OF THE FREDERICK COUNTY SANITATION AUTHORITY AND THE WINCHESTER- FREDERICK COUNTY SERVICE AUTHORITY Mr. James T. Anderson, Chairman of the Frederick County Sanitation Authority, stated that the Sanitation Authority appreciates the opportunity to address the Planning Commission and to provide the information requested by the Commission. Mr. Anderson introduced the speakers for the evening, in the order of their presentations: Mr. Wellington H. Jones, P.E., Engineer - Director of the Frederick County Sanitation Authority; Mr. Earl Sutherland, P.E., with G. W. Clifford & Associates, Inc.; Mr, George E. Harlow, Jr., P.G., Hydrogeologist, with the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS), Virginia District; Mr. Donald C. Hayes, Surface Water Specialist, U.S. Geological Survey, Virginia District; Mr. Michael D. Haufler, P.G., with Science Applications International Corporation (SAIC); and Mr. Jessie Moffett, P.E., with the Winchester- Frederick Service Authority (WFSA). Mr. Wellington H. Jones, P.E., Engineer- Director of the Frederick County Sanitation Authority, defined the four goals set for the evening's presentation: I) to provide information to give an understanding of the Authority and the Authority's planning process with emphasis on potable water; 2) the hydrologic cycle, which is fundamental to understanding sustainability of water supply, to be explained by USGS, as well as their current appraisal of the County's carbonate aquifer system; 3) the Authority's hydrogeologist from SAIC will discuss their work involvingthe County's development and use of groundwater as a source of supply; and, 4) Mr. Moffett, Executive Director for the WFSA will discuss waste -water • Frederick County Planning Commission Minutes of March 20, 2002 Work Session Page 831 2- treatment capacities. ® Mr. Jones stated that the questions forwarded from the Commission members gave the impression that some members advocate that commercial, industrial, and residential construction should be stopped because of a lack of water and sewer capacity. Mr. Jones assured the Commission that this was not the position of the Sanitation Authority. He said the presentation will provide information that clearly shows such actions, based on the availability of water and wastewater, would be inappropriate and unsupportable. He advised that this was not to say that they do not have concerns about the effects of the current severe drought; but those effects will be assessed and, in conjunction with the City of Winchester, may require appropriate conservation measures. Mr. Jones said the Authority is a govenunental corporation formed by the Frederick County Board of Supervisors to provide potable water and sanitary sewer service and has been in business for 35 years. Mr. Jones said the Authority is independent of the County, Authority funds are derived from the services it provides to its customers. Mr. Jones explained that the Authority does not use tax funds for operation, nor does it have the power to tax. He said that the Board of Supervisors franchised the Authority for the entire County, but controls the area it provides service through the Comprehensive Plan and more specifically, the area designated in Chapter 8, the ScNver and Water Service Area. He pointed out that this was an important point and the crux of the relationship of responsibilities. He said the Authority looks to the County to determine land use; he added that the Authority is a service provider that supports the County's Comprehensive Plan. He next spoke briefly about the Authority's planning process and its five -year plan. Mr. Earl Sutherland, P.E., with G. W. Clifford & Associates, Inc., next presented his analysis of the historical data and reviewed the projections for water demands and supply into the future. Mr. ® Sutherland presented handouts of the graphics on display. Mr. George E. Harlow, Jr., P.G., Groundwater Hydrogeologist with the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS), said that the USGS began a cooperative study with Frederick County in October of 2000. Mr. Harlow said the purpose of the study was two -fold: first, to better characterize the aquifer system in the Northern Shenandoah Valley and, secondly, to provide relevant hydrogeologic information that could be used to guide the development and management of this resource. He described the type of rock in our area and then discussed the hydrologic cycle. Mr. Harlow gave the web links that anyone could access for information on water levels, groundwater storage, and much more USGS information: http: /1va.water.us4s.cov/ and littp://ix Mr. Donald C. Hayes, Surface Water Specialist with the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS), discussed and defined the different types of drought. Mr. Hayes discussed statistics the USGS has been accumulating over the years on groundwater levels and surface water levels and how they relate to Frederick County's carbonate aquifer. Mr. Michael D. Haufler, P.G., a professional geologist with Science Applications International Corporation (SAIC), said that SAIC is a 3,000 - member team responsible for conducting environmental studies throughout the world. Mr. Haufler said they have been looking at Frederick County's water supply situation for approximately the last eight to ten years. He gave an overview of how the Sanitation Authority has been developing the water resources for Frederick County's system. Mr. Haufler said that Frederick County is fortunate to have the carbonate rocks, which is one of the best aquifers in the state, and that Frederick County has approximately 200 billion gallons of water in the ground. He spoke about groundwater recharge, ,0 Frederick County Planning Commission Minutes of March 20, 2002 Work Session Page 832 monitoring data used to track how the water tables respond in the area, and he gave the yields of the various • quarries and wells in the area. Mr. Haufler went over the results of awater budget they conducted for the Stephens City quarries /Stephens Rmr/Opcquon Creek catclunent area which indicated that there are approximately ten billion gallons of groundwater stored within this catclunent area. Mr. Jessie Moffett, Director of the Winchester- Frederick Service Authority, stated that the Service Authority is a support organization for addressing the wastewater needs of the City of Winchester and the County of Frederick and, in order to accomplish this, the Service Authority is empowered to acquire, finance, construct, operate, and maintain wastewater facilities, main interceptors, and pumping stations, if necessary. Mr. Moffett said the Service Authority is only in business for the City and the County and is prohibited from providing service or contracting with other parties that may desire the services. He said the Service Authority owns two facilities —the Opequon facility, which is operated by the City of Winchester, and the Parkins Mill facility, which is operated by Frederick County, —both of which discharge into the Opequon. Mr. Moffett described the capacities of the wastewater plants and what portions of those capacities are being used by the City and the County; he gave projections for future needed capacities, based on the County's Comprehensive Plan and adopted land use plans. He pointed out that the County's growth trend, over the last four to five years, has been nearly consistent. Mr. Moffett also spoke about an agreement between the City of Winchester and the Frederick County Sanitation Authority, beginning in the Year 2008, when there will be the ability to lease, trade, and sell capacity back and forth between the City and the County, safeguarding each jurisdiction from the possibility of overbuilding or over - investment of capital before it is actually required. He added that about a million- and -a -half gallons are still available at the "break- even" point that can utilized for the unexpected, such as a potential "ideal" industry that the County would want to provide service for. Mr. Moffett believed the Service Authority was in good standing up through the year 2008 for capacity. At this point of the presentation, the speakers answered questions from the Planning Commission. A member of the Commission inquired if all the presenters could submit copies of their presentations and Mr. Jones replied that this would be possible. (Copies of the presentations were mailed to the Planning Commissioners and the Board of Supervisors on April 5, 2002.) On behalf of the entire Commission, Chairman DcHaven thanked Mr. Jones, Mr. Moffett, and all the speakers for the information they provided. ADJOURNMENT No further business remained to be discussed and the meeting adjourned at 9:30 p.m. by unanimous vote. Respectfiilly submitted i Evan A. Wy t Sec etary C-" � �W30" Charles S. DeHaven, Jr., Chairman Frederick County Planning Commission Minutes of March 20, 2002 Work Session Page 833