Williamsburg scales back water plant renovations

The Williamsburg City Council is expected to officially take action next week to scale back proposed improvements to the city water plant.
Williamsburg Mayor Roddy Harrison said the city still plans to move the raw water intake for the plant an additional five miles up stream, but that plans to expand plant capacity from two million to three million gallons per day are on hold.
Earlier this month, the city council voted to reject bids for the water plant expansion and renovation after the bids came in at about $7 million. The city only has $5 million in funding for the project.
The city council met in special session for about two hours on Nov. 22 discussing the matter with Quest Engineers.
All six incumbent city council members attended the meeting, as did the two newly elected council members, who will take office Jan. 1.
“We can’t go borrow $2 million. What we are going to do is upgrade our facility, and we are going to move our raw water intake. We are also looking into distribution problems,” Harrison said.
City officials are estimating that between 34 and 37 percent of the city’s water is unaccounted for, which could indicate a problem with water meters, leaking water lines, or a combination of the two problems.
“We are not exactly sure where the water loss is going,” Harrison admits. “We need to take care of our back yard, and find that.”
Harrison said the project will be bid again within the next few weeks, and that the bids will probably also involve buying replacement water meters.
It may also include taking bids to replace some of the city’s oldest water lines, which Harrison says may be 50 or more years old.
He estimated that many water meters are probably at least 30 years old.
The current water plant is operating near capacity, but Harrison said he feels like the city will be able to cut back on the amount of water it treats if the leak problem can be better addressed.
Harrison added that the renovations of the water plant will be done with an emphasis on planning for future expansion.
“We want to make sure that everything that we do, we don’t have to go back and re-do,” he noted. “Everything we are going to do with the upgrades will make it ready for expansion at a later date.
“We are going to have to expand. Hopefully, we will get more businesses, and more property inside the city. We are already out in the county. This will be the first positive step in achieving that goal.”
The city council’s monthly meeting for December has been moved from Dec. 11 to Dec. 4 at 6 p.m. at the Williamsburg Tourism and Convention Center.