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HomeMy WebLinkAbout1976-10-20AOctober 20, 1976 (Afternoon) Adjourned from October 13, 1976 An adjourned meeting of the Board of Supervisors of Albemarle County, Virginia, was held on October 20, 1976, beginning at 3:00 P.M. in the Board Room of the County Office Building, Charlottesville, ~irginia; said meeting being adjourned from October 13, 1976. Present: Mrs. Opal D. David and Messrs. Lindsay G. Dorrier, Jr. (arriving at 4:00 P.M.) Gerald E. Fisher, J. T. Henley, Jr., F. A. Iachetta and W. S. Roudabush. Absent: None. Officers present: St. John. County Executive, Guy B. Agnor, Jr. and County Attorney, George R.' The meeting was called to order by the Chairman, Mr. Fisher. The only item on the agenda was discussion of a Central Well Permit Policy. As background for this discussion, Mr. Walter Cushman earlier in 1976 had requested that the Board discard their policy of one gallon per minute per unit on issuance of central well permits. On August 11, 1976, the Board had voted to keep their present policy, but said if a better policy were offered, they would reconsider this decision. On September 8, 1976, a letter was again received from Mr. Cushman asking for review of this decision. At this time, a committee composed of Dr. Iachet' Mr. Roudabush, the County Attorney, the County Executive and the County Engineer was appoint to bring a recommendation to the Board. A committee report was distributed to the Board on October 13, at Which time, Mr. Fisher had requested that the matter be deferred until this date. The following committee report was presented: "September 30, 1976 This is a resume of our meeting with the Board's Committee to restudy the Board's policy on the issuance of central well permits. Present were Messrs. Iachetta, Roudabush, Fisher, Agnor and Bailey. The Committee and staff thoroughly discussed the application of a requirement of one gallon per minute per dwelling unit which is the Board's present policy, the value of pump-testing in determining well capacity and the use of a monitoring system on central wells for the purpose of anticipating and forestalling trouble. A consensus was reached on these points as follows: A monitoring system would be unproductive insofar as preventing the over- loading of well systems is concerned. Imminent failUre could probably be dete~ted, but a workable method for forestalling same was not envisioned. Although pump-testing a well does not guarantee its continuous production at test rate, it is the best tool available and should be employed in every case. The requirement of one gallon per connection is arbitrary if it is required in all cases, without regard to the testing of the well. Whenever a full testing is conducted, it is reasonable to use the half-gallon per dwelling in allotting the capacity of the well. Great numerical differences exist between the intended use of different wells, since a permit is required wherever three or more houses are to be served. Also, cases arise involving the expanded use of an existing well which makes the full testing very difficult. It is reasonable to allow a compromise method of determining capacity in such cases, provided a requirement greater than one-half gallon per dwelling is required. Based on these three considerations, the Committee will recommend the adoption of the recommendation which the staff has made in its report of May 26, 1976." (Clerk's note: The recommendation's from this memo are set out in the minutes of June 9, 1976, Minute Book 14, Page 256.) Mr.~Fish~rtsa~Zd?the memorandum dated May 26 recommends basically that the County use FHA standards for water quantity, with certain specific pumping tests to establish flows. Dr. Iachetta said the committee decided that in the absence of exhaustive testing pr~ced~re.s~ to establish restoration rates, the present policy of one gallon per minute Der dwelling unit should be adhered to. If the owner does the exhaustive tests and establishes a true resto- ration rate for the well, then the County would use FHA recommendations. This gives the owner an alternative· Mr. Roudabush said the committee felt the one gallon per minute per dwelling unit really is arbitrary and better applicable to situations where the well cannot be tested. Mr. Henley asked what type of tests are recommended. Mr. Agnor said the test would either exhaust the well entirely and the recharge rate would be measured over a period of time or the rate would stabilize on the draw down on the well so the well would be recharging itself as fast as the pump was operating and would have to maintain that rate for a period of six hours. The recharge rate of the well could then be set at that capacity. Mr. Roudabush said the other methods of testing only showed what the pump was capable of pumping and did not tell what was happening to the draw down in the well. Mr. Henley asked if any consideration was given to the ~ifference in the water table caused by weather conditions. Dr. Iachetta said in terrain such as that in Albemarle, there is a lag time of two to four months before any appreciable change appears in the water table. Mr. Henley asked who would supervise these tests. Mr. Agnor said the Engineering Department would verify test results. Usually such tests are made by the well driller and it is proposed that the County be responsible for monitoring the tests. Mr. Fisher asked how often the testing will be physically verified. Mr. Bailey said normally his office would check three times. If the meter is set on the discharge from the well, they would observe the start up, record the meter reading and determine the rate at which the pump was operating at the time. They would check at the end of the first day and at the end of the operation. If the pump stops, the meter will not, record. If it is a large well, it would be checked every hour to observe what the pump is doing because you would be trying to exhaust the well. October 20, 1976 (Afternoon) Adjourned from October 13, 1976 pump would be cut down. If the pump was not catching up, then the pumping rate would be increased. During all this time, the water level table would be observed. Eventually, a point of equilibrium Would be reached where the water level in the well would remain stable. Mr. Henley asked if these procedures will require additional staff. Mr. Bailey said there is no reason for the County to observe every hour. The person who has the pump would want to observe to be sure the pump does not burn out. Dr. Iachetta said if these procedures are found to be a burden on the County's staff, he would recommend that the testing be done by a certified testing laboratory. He did not think the County should add any staff for intermittent work of this type. Mr. Bailey said he has discussed Item #3 of his May recommendations wiSh?Mr. Agn~ra~d others. If there is an occasion where the applicant has a fixed amount of water needed (example: 20 gallons per minute) and the applicant attempts to prove that the well can produce that much water without going through the entire procedure; if he then uses a pump that will pump from his well what he is asking for and goes through the same time limits set for the full exhaustion of the well and within that time frame the ground water level stabiliz and holds in the well, it would be just as logical to say that the well is producing 20 gallon per minute since the well would probably co~ntain more water if the head were drawn down further. In this case, the well is not being tested to its full use, but no credit is given for what is not tested. Mr. Fisher asked how it could be ascertained that a large reservoir was not being emptied and that the recharge rate was actually less than 20 gallons. Dr. Iachetta said he could not ima~r~etting into a dummy reservoir so big in extent that a 48- hour test would badly effect the result when using the proposed criteria. Dr. Iachetta said the key~ties in the fact that an equilibrium for the well is reached at some point where it will n~ draw down further after an extensive period of time. Mr. Agnor said this policy will avoid telling an applicant he must exhaust a well. With this policy, the well will either exhaust or stabilize at a draw down that is adequate for the needs. Mr. Bailey said this policy speaks only to residential uses. Other'uses, such as commercial and industrial, may be designed in conjunction with residential. In such a case, commercial or other needs should be determined and added as the equivalent in house connection Mr. Fisher said he understands "connection" to mean one residential connection or the equivale He asked if Mr. Bailey were suggesting a modification of recommendation #1 to say that if testing at less than well capacity, the same criteria would still be used for static draw down and static pumping rate over the final six hours of the test. Mr. Bailey said yes and there should also be a modification of #3. Mr. Fisher said with the recommendations before the Board today, he felt ~he Board should strongly consider amending their policy and asked if the Board wanted to make the decision today. Mr. Roudabush said this is the first time the Board has had any scientific data behind the policy used in approving central well applications. Dr. Iachetta said he is convinced that by changing to this policy, the Board will get the results they want and this will help to accumulate some records on wells that might be used in a couple of years to refine this policy. Motion was then offered by Mr. Roudabush to accept the recommendations of the committee as modified by Mr. Bailey today. The motion was seconded by Dr. Iachetta and carried by the following recorded vote: AYES: Mrs. David and Messrs. Fisher, Henley, Iachetta and Roudabush. NAYS: None. ABSENT: Mr. Dorrier. Mr. Fisher requested that the County Engineer and the County Executive draft this policy in the proper form for the Board's review before implementation. (Note: Mr. Dorrier arrived at 4:00 P.M.) At 4:07 P.M., at the request of the Chairman, motion was offered by Mr. Roudabush, seconded by Dr. Iachetta, to adjourn into executive session to discuss personnel and legal matters. The motion carried by the following recorded vote: AYES: NAYS: Mrs. David and Messrs. Dorrier, Fisher, Henley, Iachetta and Roudaush. None. The Board reconvened at 7:30 P.M. and immediately adjourned. ~7~hairman s