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$100 million water-sewer talks remain private
Negotiations over a proposal for $100 million worth of water and sewer capacity will remain behind closed doors, much to the chagrin of one supervisor.
At the Tuesday, May 6, meeting, Tom Underwood (Salem District) protested the supervisors' decision to keep portions of Culpeper Utility Partners' proposal in closed session. Underwood argued that CUP faced no competitors for the project, and took no risks by revealing its financial information.
“I’m not saying disclose any confidential information,” Underwood said. “I don’t see why financial projections should remain confidential.”
Those talks remain under a Freedom of Information Act exemption that concerns discussions with legal counsel. County Attorney Dave Maddox added that CUP could legally request that certain aspects of the deal initially remain secret.
“If the board accepts the application or refuses the application, the data will be made public,” Maddox said. “But at this point I think our guidelines said it must remain confidential if they have requested it remain confidential.”
If approved, the companies would construct a complete water and sewer system for the county, including two pump stations, a wastewater treatment facility and miles of water and sewer lines. The project would then be paid for through tap fees – charges that consumers pay for access to the water and sewer system.
But supervisors added that the county’s Public Works committee had requested alternatives from CUP. Those will also remain in closed session.
On the other hand, Walker supported negotiating in closed session, and argued that supervisors would hold several public hearing before they actually voted on the project.
“If in fact we do have some confidential thing we want to discuss, we can do that in closed session,” Walker said. “This is the largest project Culpeper has ever developed. Once we get out of closed session, we have the opportunity to give a report.”
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