Site near Barger quarry recommended for water tank
A water tank could be
built on the hill behind the Stonewall Shopping Center on Route 60 East
to improve the local water grid, according to findings from a recent
engineering study.
The study, which was released last month, looked at the feasibility of
building a two-million gallon water tank close to an actively blasting
quarry.
The land is owned by Charles W. Barger, who operates the neighboring
limestone quarry. Barger is currently petitioning the Rockbridge County
supervisors to rezone nearby land to expand the quarry. [See related
story.]
The engineering study concluded that the 60 East site would be a
practical alternative to other suggested tank sites, and safe with a
200-foot margin from the blasting.
Joe Milo, executive director of the Maury Service Authority (MSA), said
that, since 2000, the county has been working on a plan to increase
water reliability for residents of Lexington and nearby areas of
Rockbridge County. The county currently maintains several tanks, and the
city has two. Officials think the proposed tank will be directly
connected to the water treatment facility.
“We don’t have anything that is particularly broken,” Milo said. But he
says the tank would be important to support growth in the community.
The engineering report estimated that the plan would cost Lexington and
Rockbridge County $12 million jointly.
In the past, it had been recommended that the city and county look to
extend water lines along the south end of the city in order to create
redundancies in the water system. That would give the water lines two
sources, in case of breaks in water flow.
MSA had previously recommended that Lexington and Rockbridge County look
to place a tank on Brushy Hill, west of Lexington. However, both City
Council and the Board of Supervisors asked whether it would be more
sensible to improve the infrastructure in regions of the county that are
seeing growth. The cost of building a tank on Brushy Hill was estimated
at $13.4 million.
Rick Allen, the city's utilities director, said that the Route 60 East
site would most benefit residents.
“The closer the tank storage is to the customer, the better it is for
water quality, and Route 60 East is a growing, developing area,” Allen
said.
City Councilwoman Mimi Elrod says both the city and the county have
spent significant time discussing water loops, but have yet to reach a
consensus. While the county has pushed to develop tank sites along Route
60 East, Elrod says the city would like to see the development of sites
along Route 11 North.
Elrod says the city and county will have to reach some sort of
resolution. Milo said that as the population in the city and surrounding
sections of the county expand, improving the reliability of the current
system will become increasingly important.
Milo says the tank site along Route 60 East would not do everything the
site on Brushy Hill would do because of its lower elevation. However, he
says the report still found the hill on Route 60 East to be viable.
Rockbridge County Planning Director Sam Crickenberger said the plan for
the tank should have no effect on the county’s decision about rezoning
Barger’s property to allow expansion of his quarry.
“On our end it’s just having some idea that they are thinking of the
tank sites,” he said.
Milo says Barger has been cooperative and supportive of the plan.
The engineering study did conclude that blasting would have to be
prohibited within 200 feet of the tank site. Milo called that a
conservative estimate, on the side of caution.
While only one additional tank is currently needed, Milo said that as
the community’s daily consumption of water climbs from the current 1.5
million to two million gallons, a second new tank will need to be built.
The second tank could be built at the same site or at a similar
elevation somewhere else, depending on the location of the growth and
water demand, Milo said.
Milo says it is unclear when a decision will be reached. But Allen
remains hopeful that there will be a compromise.
“There’s lots of planning and lots of debate because all of the things
are expensive and there is more than one way to do it,” he said. “But I
think there will be a site on Route 60 in the near future.”
Map of recommended site
Barger's site report
Brushy Hill site report
Produced by Washington and Lee journalism students.
Lead supervisor: Prof. Brian Richardson
Reporting supervisors:
Technical supervisor: Michael Todd