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BY GERALD OCHS
Rappahannock News Writer
Washington Tbwn Council member and Wastewater Study Committee chairman Charlie Tompkins abruptly left last Wednesday’s Town Council meeting after a four-to-two vote killed the longstanding committee. Mr. Tompkins departure was reminiscent of Vice Mayor Steve Critzer's walkout in April, after the Town Council vetoed the purchase of a 21 acre parcel that was to have been used for an additional town well or for the siting of a town septic field.
Though Mr. Critzer has not resumed his duties on' the council since he left in April, there is no indication that Mr. Tompkins will make permanent his exit.
The de facto, though perhaps temporary, resignation of Mr. Tompkins appears to have at its root the ever-increasing level of discord seen at Town Council meetings, especially when the subject of the Town's septic problems is discussed. Mr. Tompkins, who has been involved with the wastewater study effort since its inception, has been put in the position of defending the investigations and the findings of the committee and of its consultant, t Resource International, without benefit of a majority of the town council, j some of whom did support the efforts ! of the committee and its consultant i until the onslaught of opposing public sentiment in April of this year.
The town council discord reached a crescendo at June's council meet| ing, with Treasurer Elaine Viguerie and Mr. Tompkins- in near combat on the wastewater study issue, on the extent of the problem, and on the reliability of the committee's work.
The situation appears to have been exacerbated by the offer of the new Rappahannock office of the Piedmont Environmental Council to conduct an "independent" study of the Town's septic problem, and their desire to "report" to the full council and not to the Wastewater Study Committee.
One of the primary issues in the wastewater debate has been the availability of the "raw" data—the results of a survey of town residences, begun in 1997, that was designed to assess the nature and extent of the town's septic problem. This key information, that served as the base for the development of solution options, has not been published on the advice of the town's legal counsel, but is available for review. Though a number of council members and town residents have objected to the "secrecy" of this data and/or have questioned the extent of the septic problem in Washington, only council member Tompkins and Mayor Willis have actually reviewed the available information.
The motion to kill the Wastewater Study Committee was forwarded by Mayor Willis and seconded by Mrs. Viguerie. This move, an obvious shock to Mr. Tompkins, did not appear to surprise any of the other Council members, with the possible exception of Reinhardt Lynch, who joined Mr. Tompkins in an unsuccessful vote against it. Mayor Willis explained his motion by noting that committees are typically empowered until they report back to Council, after which time they are discharged. He praised the work of the Wastewater Study Committee, but stressed that a committee is charged with doing only that which the Council asks, "ar\d nothing more." He said that the "argument over the role of the Wastewater Committee has created much problem, rancor, and
See COUNCIL, Page A6
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