My take on the WWTP Waste Water Treatment Plant meeting Wednesday is mixed. Good- We got some new information. Bad - grab your wallets. The meeting was primarily run by the mayor and new part time assistant town manager, he's been here for 3 weeks.
To get the full picture you will need to watch the meeting but below are some highlights and key takeaways:
Interim Assistant Town Manager introduced himself. He has an extensive background in WWTPs but I’m not sure if he will be here long enough to help us fix anything.
We spent roughly $640,000 on the WWTP this year.
$2.78M was spent on the central drainage area. (i’m hoping this project was necessary and not a Dodson favor because I’ve had a number of constituents question why that was a priority over other areas).
We’re told it is very difficult to find and keep qualified plant operators.
We were told we need a detailed asset management program.
We were told that the town will start doing regular updates on their website laying out exactly what projects are being done and the status. (community engagement and transparency, which is something I’ve been pushing for since 2020.)
DEQ consent order is on its way (this order will tell us what we need to do to get back into compliance).
CB plant neglect is putting oyster beds at risk (many may not know there are large number of oysters on the Potomac).
Waterman and oyster growers have major concerns over our spills and the water quality.
Grant status of $5.7M DEQ money. We have until 12/31/26 to spend and has to be used for Inflow and inundation I&I.
It was estimated that are sewer plant issues could cost over $16 million.
Someone asked what the largest development in town Dodson has contributed to infrastructure. The answer was water/sewer, tap fees.
We were told the sewer treatment plant has un used capacity.
According to DEQ town has a compliance history and has been issued a series of warnings. They are currently working on a consent order which will direct the town to mitigate its WWTP issues. The town will be giving a 30 day public notice to give input, they stated this is not uncommon for small towns.
Representative from the Potomac river keepers suggested that we will need to raise rates and council should step up to do so. I don’t believe he’s a resident of CB so he wasn’t talking about his rates, he was talking about yours! He also raised concerns about public notices, and suggested that the Moonshot company could assist with finding funding options.
A representative from Dalgren naval base suggested we should consider raising operator pay, said I&I can mask spills and offered assistance.
Concerns raised over communication with public and it was suggested people sign up for code red, and the town is committed to more transparency on their website. Someone asked, how will visitors be notified.
Your Wellwater is not impacted by sewer spills.
It was stated that we only use chlorine to treat our well water.
Someone questioned why do we not use our water meters and the roundabout answer was we are not sure but it was stated that we can’t saddle the permanent residents with all the cost and finance isn’t capable of implementing.
DEQ said they renewed our plant permit last July and it wouldn’t be due again until 2028
In person questions
Is the town looking into loans? Yes
Someone asked about the old dump, and it’s impact on the water quality. He was told this wasn’t the appropriate place to ask.
It was questioned if the town can manage these projects or we just throwing money at the problem.
Citizen said he thought this would be more about infrastructure.
Raised concerns over spill locations not being clear.
Raise concerns over, struggling seniors, and businesses. Also questioned hiring of new employees using grant money and asked who is watching the money. (Good Question)
Former mayor, Mr. Bone said we should have an infrastructure committee to help get more done and communication needs to be better. Also suggested employee involvement would be beneficial vs manager briefings we get in council meeting.
Additional observations/comments from me
I said this before, but I believe things have been and continue to be hidden from myself and the public. While I was public works liaison I was prevented from talking to employees and got a very sanitized tour of the WWTP. If you go back and look at my prior Infrastructure blogs you will see I have been pushing for transparency on this subject since 2021. I even spoke as a citizen about a 3.5 million gallon spill in 2021 while the Mayor, Councilmembers and the prior town manager looked on. I warned we had a problem back then and instead of taking me seriously I was stonewalled when I became PW liaison. Just a few months ago the rest of council voted to spend $865k on two parks and an old rundown hotel right after we were warned of pending repairs.
Meeting Link. https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=AIm8ZR2T408
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