Apr. 16--Appomattox County supervisors have decided to start the process of forming a public service authority to manage the county's planned water system.

The reason, supervisors said, is because the county does not have an existing framework for a water system and because the town of Appomattox, which does have that framework, has not agreed to join the project.

"If (the town) came on board, we would not need the public service authority because they have all the hardware and resources to perform the necessary activities that encompasses a water department," said Court House District Supervisor Sam Carter.

That first official move came during Monday's work session, where supervisors unanimously voted to direct county attorney John Overstreet to start the process of creating the authority, said county planner Johnnie Roark.

"With the organization of the county's water system beginning, we've gotten to a point where we're moving forward," he said. "We internally needed to know the direction where we were heading."

Supervisors also gave the go-ahead for design and engineering work to include a water tank in the process, even though that tank won't be needed for some time, Roark said. "With construction costs the way they are, the board thought it was best to go ahead" with the first two phases of the project.

Last month, the county submitted a grant application to the Virginia Department of Health for several million dollars to pay for the project and recently authorized another application for federal Rural Development money, Roark said.

Development of a service authority has been almost as controversial as the plan to extend a 7.5-mile water line eastward along U.S. 460 from Concord to the town, with debate centering on concerns that an authority would diminish local control and there would be a lack of oversight for an appointed panel.

Forming the authority will take several months and has to be approved through a public hearing and by the State Corporation Commission, Roark said. The county's other option was to create a utility department that would operate under the county administrator.

Members of the authority would be appointed, but it's too soon to know who might take on those roles, Carter said. By creating the authority, Carter said the county could move the water system projects along faster, not weigh down employees with extra work and have an administrative system in place at the beginning of the project.

"Within the framework of the county, we do not have the personnel to continue to work on this water line and this is something that could be passed on to a PSA and let them work out the nuts and bolts."

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