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Page 1 · column 4 of 4 · from the scan, no model involved
Just how big
can a little
town grow?
By Stephen Dareing
Rappahannock News Staff Writer
The Town of Washington is seeking $367,500 to add Phase II to the ongoing first phase of construction of a wastewater system. the Rappahannock News has learned. Phase II is where much of the growth may take place in the form of development.
"We have an opportunity to finish the sewer for far less than it would cost in five years." said council member John Sullivan.
“We've been looking for ways to take advantage of stimulus money," he said. “People have been worrying about paying for this." he continued, and this is one of the ways the town council is addressing those concerns.
The town v oted last year to keep the two phases distinct and some distance in years apart, mainly to delay developers from reaping the benefits of developing the acres of large parcels of land zoned rural residential.
But the financing mode! for the sewer project assumes quite the opposite. In fact, even moderate estimates of growth projected by the model has the town going from zero growth to growth that will potentially double the size of the town over the course of the project, half of that occurring m the next 10 years.
“This is a pant issue we'll have to deal with." said Sullivan.
There is a saying that money and development always follows a sew^r, but just exactly what that could mean for the town is anybody's guess.
Will there be a Starbucks there in the near future?
“Absolutely not," said John Sullivan.
But is that any worse *or better* than a Ford dealership, tire company or funeral home? They are all .businesses that once propped the little town up before the Inn at Little Washington ‘picked up the load.
Lost in the debate surrounding fees, easements, and the $4 million debt the town now has. are just what the growth assumptions in the sewer finance model hint may be in store.
The town currently has about 200 residents which at one time held nearly 500 at the turn of the last century (according to the town's comprehensive plan >. Among the businesses and dwellings listed in 1835:
“One academy, fifty-five dwellings, four stores, two taverns, one non-denominational church, four blacksmiths, four carpenters, two saddler's, one hatter, one tanner, two
See GROWTH, Page A10
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