Plans to build a connected water and wastewater system servingthePaeonian Springs and Waterford have raisedbothconcerns and hope among village residents. During a meeting tonight, community members are hoping to get a clearer look at what the impacts and benefits of the project could be.
Last November, the Board of Supervisorsdirected thecounty staff to continue designing the project, authorizing $4 millionfor land acquisitions, land use approvals and plans.
The $60 million project looks to solve public health concerns in each village that have worsened after decadesof concern.
Paeonian Springs has no public water distribution system or sanitary sewer system. Homes rely on private wells and individual onsite sewage disposal systems for wastewater treatment, including, for some residents, outhouses.
Waterford residents are served by a public sewer system but rely on private wells for water, which has led to quantity concerns when the wells don’t yield as much water as is needed. That creates safety concerns when dealing with fires within the area.
County leaders are hoping to address both problems simultaneously by creating a joint water and wastewater system serving both villages.
The wastewater system would serve all connections in an approved Paeonian Springs service boundary with a pumping station located in the village and would requireconstruction ofa sewage force main to convey flows from Paeonian Springs to the Waterford sanitary collection system. The plan also would require an expansion at the Waterford wastewater treatment plant, which is operated by Loudoun Water.
The water system would require new groundwater wells, a treatment facility and storage and pumping facility to be located somewhere along Clarkes Gap Road between the villages; a watermain conveying treated water from the facility tobothvillages and a water distribution system within each village to serve all the individual connections.
But since the November meeting, community members have been divided on the proposal,which will likely impact residents along Clarkes Gap Road, where the pipes are expected to be buried.
Paeonian Springs Lead Volunteer Community Coordinator Lana Rohrmeier said the village’s wastewater issues are significant and solutions have continually been delayed. Some homes use drainfield septic systems that are decades old, while many of the small-lot homes simply don’t have the space foradequateseptic systems, she said.
In Waterford, the issue won’t be solved by drilling new wells, Waterford Foundation Executive Director Stephanie Thompson said.
“Waterford has been inhabited for nearly 300 years,” she said. “We have a lot of houses in a pretty dense area on very small lots, and there are people who just flat out cannot drill a new well. There's either no place for it, or the ground is contaminated, or the lot's too small, so the setbacks don't allow it. And if there's nowhere to drill, then they really have no options. And the initial feasibility study that the county performed looked at options of like shared wells and smaller community systems and looking into the legal realities of situations like that, it's a really poor solution for somebody to be dependent on another property owner for their access to water.”
Butnewly formed organization, the WaterfordPreservation Group, is raising concerns about the negative impacts of the project saying itwoulddestroy the view along Clarkes Gap Road as well as Waterford and Paeonian Springs.
A website set up to oppose the project, and supported by Save Rural Loudoun, Loudoun’s Future, Loudoun Historic Village Alliance, Catoctin Creek Scenic River Advisory Committee and Scenic America, said the systemwouldpromote development in both villages andalong the pipeline corridorbetween.Oncebuilt,the group said it will cost residents $18,000 to connect to it.
Thompson said the foundation recognizes those concerns and alsoisconcerned about the impacts to area residents.
“The Waterford Foundation and the residents who are hoping to have water, we don't want to see that happen either. We're not trying to ruin our neighbors’lives in order to make ours better,” she said.
But the issue is a public health concern, Thompson added.
“There's all kinds of things,sidewalks, stormwater management, stuff like that, that just hasn't really been done in Waterford in a purposeful way that lasted and for a small village that's as densely populated as we are,the lack of those systems is definitely showing anditimpacts people's lives every day,” she said.
Rohrmeiersaid in an Oct. 24 letter to the Board of Supervisors that she’s concerned thatthepreservation groups are spreading false information about the project.
“This project is not about expansion or overdevelopment, it’s about protecting public health and ensuring that Paeonian Springs remains a livable, diverse, and thriving community. In the past decade, several historic homes have been lost because functional wells and septic systems were not available. A few still stand vacant for the same reason. Meanwhile, well-funded buyers are purchasing properties, sometimes from long-term residents who can no longer afford to stay, and there’s growing concern they will combine lots and replace modest homes with large new ones,” she stated.
Paeonian Springs residents are working hard to stay afloat and have been “keeping their heads down and quietly dealing with the consequences” for generations, she said. This is their chance to get the help the community needs,Rohrmeiersaid.
“Preservation is important,but I feel it tends to lose sight of community which is what really matters, people matter. Historic villages are unique communities full of people whose stories go back generations,” she told Loudoun Now.
The community meeting will be held at 6 p.m. in the Large Meeting Room at Rust Libraryin Leesburg.
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