By Scott Voelker

With nine months remaining in the construction of its new sewer line, Fairfield and Raphine are already seeing some signs of growth. This comes as good news to many, but not all, of the people of northern Rockbridge County.

The growth is certainly welcomed by the project's planners, who have banked on the sewer line's ability to bring in new customers to help foot the line's multi-million-dollar construction bill. They hope that allowing these areas access to the Rockbridge County sewage system will bring in more developers -- meaning more taxes and new sewer system customers. But some long-time residents are not sure more development is a good thing.

Eventually, the line might pay for itself by allowing for increased economic development in areas where sewage was a debilitating environmental and economic factor.

As construction nears the half-way point, some of those close to the project have already noticed a spike in growth.

“The economic growth [that this project will generate] has already begun,” said Karen Austin, director of the Public Service Authority. Although customers are not able to connect to the line until its completion, scheduled for this September, Austin has already noticed a surge in interest in the area’s real estate. Austin, and others who have overseen the project since its inception, are counting on this inflow of both commercial and residential developers to help bear the rising costs of the line. These costs are mostly associated with the rising costs of iron, steel, and oil, raw materials essential to the construction of the new line.

While Austin believes that the project will be completed within its original budget of $8.5 million to $9 million, she recognizes that these rising costs have been an issue in attempting to keep the line within the proposed financial parameters.

Sam Crickenberger, the county planning director, also recognizes the line’s potential effect on Fairfield and Raphine areas. Although he feels that the original intent of the line was to fix existing sewage problems in the areas, he said that the construction “certainly allows more things to happen” in Fairfield and Raphine.

One such development, “Willow Lake,” has already been proposed since the construction of the line began. According to Crickenberger, the land that the developer is planning to use will have to be rezoned "residential" before the development can begin. Because there are restrictions on zoning based on sewage treatment access, this project never would have gotten off the ground without the new sewage line.

Another proposed development, “Dixie Farm,” was already in the works before the construction began, but planners there also intend to use the country’s treatment facilities, courtesy of the new pipe.

While new homes in the area are all being designed with the new pipe in mind, existing residents of the areas might not be as quick to hook their homes up. For some, it will be difficult based solely on the design of the line. Because homes have differing types of systems, connecting to the new line could be costly and difficult. Determining what pipes and interconnects one needs, and then installing them to connect one’s own home to the new sewer line, may present a challenge that some are unwilling to tackle.

Currently, many residences in the area use personal septic tanks for waste disposal. These tanks are huge underground storehouses that hold what runs down the pipes and must be emptied occasionally by a professional. According to Crickenberger, those whose systems are working fine might continue to use them. However, many homes in the area have tanks that are broken and leak into yards and back up into homes. For residents who have clogged drains and major sewage problems, connecting to the new system will be a blessing. For those who have working septic systems, they are likely to switch to the county’s system if and when their personal tanks break.

While existing homeowners in Fairfield and Raphine might not immediately jump on the opportunity to connect to the county’s treatment system, the areas’ businesses most likely will. Crickenberger expects 90 percent of the business owners that will be able to utilize the new pipe will do so. As the sewage problems that have plagued the areas since the 70’s are solved, existing businesses will be able to run more smoothly and new businesses will be attracted to the area-creating the potential for growth that Austin and others envisioned at the start of the project.

There are those, however, who are worried about the effects of this immediate rise in growth on the Fairfield and Raphine communities.

John Houser, a member of the Northern Rockbridge Homeowners Association (NHRA), is determined to protect the area from the negative side-effects of overgrowth. He has worked with the group since its inception a year ago to fight rezoning battles that the NRHA believes aren’t in the best interest of the communities.

While the group has had to fight only a single rezoning attempt so far (it won), Houser recognizes the potential effect the new sewer line might have on development projects in the area. For now, they are trying to proactively get some of the land zoned in a manner that would be good for the community but also satisfy potential developers. He knows there are more fights to be fought when the completion of the sewer line will certainly bring more developers.

“I’m sure the battle is just beginning,” he said.

Rockbridge County Public Service Authority

Produced by Washington and Lee journalism students.

Lead supervisor:      Prof. Claudette Artwick

Reporting supervisor: Prof. Doug Cumming

Editing supervisor:  Prof. Pamela Luecke

Technical supervisor:  Michael Todd