County may reconsider Angler deal

By Nate Delesline III

Published: October 5, 2008

After voting last month to end its consideration of a multimillion dollar proposal from Angler Development to build a county sewer and water system, the Board of Supervisors may reconsider their decision on Tuesday.

Warrenton-based Angler, which submitted the proposal to the county under the name Culpeper Utility Partners, has resubmitted its public-private proposal to the county, according to county officials and Angler executive vice president Steve Vento.

The 5-2 vote to take the deal off the table came after the supervisors and residents expressed concern about the public’s liability under the proposal’s financing arrangements and before any public hearings had been set on the matter. Vento said he thinks those concerns have been adequately addressed in the latest proposal.

“The proposal has stayed all the same,” Vento said Friday. “What we are tweaking is the financial element. The revisions are within the latitude of the PPEA regulations.”

With a price tag that at one time exceeded $100 million, the cost of the project — which could possibly include some 4.5 miles of piping, two water tanks and a sewage treatment plant — was whittled down to a optional plan that would allow the county to pick and choose the desired elements of the project.

The county announced the unsolicited proposal in February.

Vento said he will be present at Tuesday’s meeting and prepared to answer any questions, but added that he has not been officially asked to address the board.

County Attorney Roy Thorpe said the supervisors are allowed to reconsider the idea.

“The Board of Supervisors may lawfully take this matter up again if a motion to rescind the Sept. 2 action passes,” Thorpe said. “This is consistent with prior practice and is authorized by the Board of Supervisors rules of procedure.”

Salem District Supervisor Tom Underwood introduced the motion to end consideration of the Angler deal. He and supervisors Sue Hansohn, Brad Rosenberger, Bill Chase and Larry Aylor supported the motion, while Supervisors Steve Walker and Steve Nixon voted against it.

“I was voting to continue on,” Walker said. “I had heard that there were some new financing proposals in advance of what we did last month. What I was disappointed in is that we didn’t continue on in these public hearings.”

Walker stressed that his vote was “to keep the conversation going,” and not an endorsement of the proposal. “I just want to continue the conversation; I really want to have the public hearing to hear what the public has to say.”

But Cedar Mountain District Supervisor Larry Aylor said that he feels that the decision to stop considering the deal was the right one.

“After doing my own research and discussing with other supervisors, I don’t think that I would be supporting the latest proposal,” said Aylor. “I think I’m one that’s probably not going to support rescinding our motion. I haven’t seen anything that would make me change my mind.”

If the supervisors do decide to reconsider, Stevensburg District Supervisor Bill Chase said people should understand that consideration of the matter doesn’t equal approval.
“I just feel that everything should be out in the open, and it doesn’t hurt to discuss it,” Chase said.

Nate Delesline III can be reached at 825-0771 ext. 110 or .

The BOS will also consider:
A resolution accepting Greyson Lane in the Morefield Heights subdivision into the state highway system

A $98,918 budget amendment for services rendered from outside consulting firms regarding the PPEA proposal

Appropriating $20,000 to the Sheriff’s Office from the Division of Motor Vehicles for traffic enforcement

A request from the Rules Committee to establish a Towing Advisory Board