1976-10-20AOctober 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.
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