In a Sept. 27 letter addressed to Woodstock Mayor William Moyers, they have again threatened to sue the municipality.

“This letter (together with the facts cited in our previous [Aug. 19] letter) puts the Town on notice of these facts,” the letter from the group of county residents who live in Rivermont Estates states. “Therefore, if the Town violates its permit in the future, and if that violation occurs more than sixty days after the date of this letter, it may be subject to suit under the [Clean Water] Act.”

The August letter, signed by 27 individuals, urged the town to delay rezoning of the Eagle property until the sewage plant meets current standards and demands.

“We just think the town is not doing what they can do to ensure the development doesn’t happen before the sewage plant can handle it,” said Margaret Lorenz, who signed both letters. “Basically, we’re just a watchdog group urging them to coordinate approving development - with upgrading the sewage plant so that It’s done at the same time.”

The town has been fined by the Virginia Department of Environmental Quality for exceeding permitted flows from the town sewage facility. The town is required to make corrective actions by Jan. 31, 2006, and by Dec. 31, 2010, must complete a new facility able to treat 2 million gallons of sewage daily.

“The town council doesn’t  seem concerned,” Lorenz said. “I hope they’re right, but I don’t think when There’s wet weather they’re right.”

“During wet weather … what I’ve seen in [the river] looks like sewage,” Lorenz said, “but the people from the DEQ tell me It’s partially treated solids.” She described it as having a ‘terrible stench.’

“I’ve seen raw sewage in the river,” said Diane Gould, another letter signer. “It’s not a nice thing to look at.”

“The 60-day notice of intent is the first step,” Lorenz said, “and we hope It’s the last step.”

“The Town admits in its consent decree with DEQ that it has violated its permit in the past,” the letter says. “The fact that the Town is taking no action to coordinate development with the state-mandated upgrading of its sewage treatment plant establishes a probability that it will violate its permit in the future.

“While there are other problems with this development, such as current residents bearing the brunt of the cost ($20 million) of upgrading the sewage treatment plant rather than the developers and the new residents, an already overstressed volunteer fire department, and traffic on Routes 11 and 42, our principal concern remains the potential pollution of the river, which will affect our property directly.”

“The mayor and the town council have a golden opportunity to be real leaders and take initiative, but they’re not,” said Gould. “They’re going on the builder’s timeline.”

“The builders don’t care,” she said. “The builders come in, there are a lot promises, none of them are kept, and then they leave. And There’s a big mess.”

“If the unrestricted and unchecked development goes the way it has begun,” Gould maintained, “we’re in trouble.”

Woodstock contractor Bill Wine, who specializes in restoring old homes, also worries.

“I think with Woodstock they are out-pacing their sewage plant, and that’s a concern,” he said. “My concern is that if we build up in three to five years, what does Woodstock’s future hold? It’s going way too fast. I’d like to see it slow down to the pace it was before all this nonsense.”

Woodstock Town Manager Larry Bradford believes the town’s recent plans to allow for the construction of new homes on the Eagle property and elsewhere in town will not overtax the current sewer system.

“The county just did a study, and they say we’ll  still have 1,300 taps left,” he asserted.

Bradford does not believe too many houses will be built in the next two years. He anticipates the new sewage facility will be operational no later than 2009.

“I think It’s going to be a significant influx on the schools, on the services, and on the town in general,” Gould said. “I think It’s a shame that it hasn’t been thought through.

“What’s the downside of waiting?”

“The mayor did say to me that next big development that comes through they’ll have to think hard about,” Lorenz said.

Are proffers a solution?

In another letter from the group to the town, received undated and unsigned by The Valley-Herald via email on Aug. 31, the group suggests the town “use proffers to ensure that developers and new homeowners pay a reasonable share of these real costs [of development] up-front.”

That letter recommended that the Eagle property developers pay proffers of $9,400 per house.

Cash, land, and commitments to help pay for infrastructure make up the system known as proffers in which developers offer local governments incentives in return for favorable rezoning.

According to Shenandoah County Zoning Administrator Chris Boies, Virginia law dictates that proffers must be voluntary.

Virginia General Assembly House Bill 2456 passed earlier this year allows localities and developers to workout an agreement on the payment of proffers.

A quick online search of proffers in Virginia revealed the common practice generates fees as low as $1,061 near Williamsburg and as high as $22,986 in Prince William County.

“I’ve heard that in Jefferson County, W.Va. just north of here they are charging $11,000 per house for proffer,” Wine said. “ I think what we have here in Shenandoah County is $500. I think that’s totally insane. $11,000 is more reasonable.”

Bradford believes the county landowners who are threatening the lawsuit are uninformed as to the proffers being paid on the Eagle property.

“How do they know what the developer is paying?” he queried. “They haven’t asked me.”

“The developer I believe has stated in some of his presentations it is almost $6,000 per house, and some of that goes to the county,” Lorenz said. “I would expect it to be higher to help pay for the sewage treatment plant and other things the town and county are going to need to support the [new] people.”

“The mayor told us straight up front that the cost [of the new sewage plant] falls on the users,” Gould reported. “That comes to $5,000 for every man, woman and child [now] in Woodstock.”

“We could go for a significant proffer if they would,” Gould said.

Bradford refused to reveal last week the actual amount of the proffer for the Eagle property. Since the money is to be paid to the county and the town, the documents are a matter of public record.

“Right now we’re being faced with a suit,” he said, “so It’s hard for me to state.”

“Nobody wants to sue,” Gould said. “We don’t want to sue. We want the town to take some initiative and be leaders and have no more hook-ups until the sewer system is ready for it.”

“They don’t not have to listen to the builders,” she said. “They’re leaving, they don’t live here.”

“If things get bad, We’ve already laid the groundwork,” Lorenz said. “We hope we don’t have to sue.”

The 113-acre Eagle property on the east side of Woodstock formerly owned by the Eagle family, was sold at auction last October to Sal Cangiano of Leesburg for $6.75 million. Cangiano sold it to the Gulick Group, a Northern Virginia development company. They are selling the property to NVHomes, which plans to build 220 homes expected to be ready for purchase, priced from $300,000 to $450,000, in the spring. The company is also selling homes at Edinburg Square.

About 66 acres of the Eagle tract was in the county, but after a friendly boundary adjustment with Shenandoah County, the entire property is now within town limits.

The final vote to re-zone Parcel 3 was expected on Tuesday night, after this edition went to press. Passage of the developer’s town zoning request will allow more than 15 times as many houses to be built on Parcel 3 as under the county zoning.

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