Purcellville Town Council decides on two big Capital Improvement projects

By Valerie Cury

At the Nov. 17 Purcellville Town Council Work Session, Council decided, in the end, on two large projects to fund with the American Rescue Plan Act monies. The needed projects are the replacement of two main water lines installed in 1960, and a new fresh water storage tank that would go on the two acres of land that the County will give the Town as part of the Woodgrove settlement.

The Town has two water lines that need replacement as they are over 60 years old and approximately 5,000 linear feet of cast iron. One line is from the reservoir to the water treatment plant, and the other is from the fresh water treatment plant to the Town. The lines carry approximately one half of the Town’s water supply. The estimated cost of this project is $2 million.

The second project is to put a water tank on two acres of land that the County will give to the Town. This was not a priority mentioned in the Town’s budget, however, a Jacob’s engineering study released in early 2021 put this as a top priority.

The existing fresh water storage in Town is only one third of the average daily use. A new storage tank does two things. First, it gives the Town the ability to take the one-million-gallon tank, which is located at the water treatment plant, off line for needed repairs. Secondly, it would give the Town the ability to maintain water pressure.

Mayor Kwasi Fraser urged the Council to pick three big projects and move ahead with them. “At the end of the day the taxpayers want to see this $10.4 million [of the American Rescue Plan Act money – the Town will receive $10,559,844 – half this year which they received, and half around June 30, 2022] not on these $50,000, $20,000, $25,000, and $30,000 projects, but on these big projects. 

“Just to summarize, what I am saying is let’s get the taxpayers some things that they can say, ‘Wow you folks committed to do it. You have been talking about it for five years. We’ve got the money; let’s get it done.’

“I see a lot of $20,000, $25,000 and $15,000 [proposed expenditures on the wish list], and I just see that as more work. Let’s just focus on dealing with the big goals – those projects that would be meaningful and the taxpayers are going to say, ‘You have to complete them.’ 

“I would like us to walk out here tonight with some commitment and direction for at least three major projects, because we have had this money in the bank since June [ $5,279,922] … We need to give Dale and team some guidance, and say these are the high priority projects that we need to at least be working on,” said Fraser.