Parksley council adopts ordinance to allow sewage pumping and hauling, limits alley traffic and awards hydrant contract

The Parksley Town Council voted unanimously Oct. 14 to adopt Ordinance 19-6, which authorizes the town to pump and haul sewage under certain circumstances, after council members said the town’s wastewater system has struggled to meet health-department performance standards.

Mayor Wayne Marshall said the town accepted a $10,000 settlement from the company that installed the system and reported that the local health department wants daily sewage flow kept at or below half the system’s capacity. Marshall said health officials recommended a camera inspection to search for leaks that may be causing intermittent spikes in volume.

“[The] system needs to be replaced,” Marshall said, and the town must limit new connections until it consistently meets testing requirements. Council members noted the health department told them that any change in a building’s use requires approval before hooking into the town system.

Councilman Dan Matthews made the motion to adopt Ordinance 19-6; Councilman Frank Russell seconded. The clerk recorded the vote as aye from Matthews, Nash, Russell, Parks and Russell; the motion passed unanimously.

Council members also approved several other measures in routine business. The council voted to make the alley behind Dunne Avenue (between Bennett and Adelaide) one-way for deliveries only — a change officers and business owners requested to reduce conflicts caused by delivery trucks — on a motion by Matthews seconded by John Parks. Police Chief Greer had earlier suggested restricting the alley to deliveries.

The council awarded RFP 1901 for fire-hydrant repairs and replacements to Beauchamp Construction after the hydrant committee recommended that firm. The motion to accept Beauchamp’s bid was made by Councilman John Parks and seconded by Councilman Frank Russell; the council voted unanimously to award the contract.

Other approvals included funding materials for Boy Scouts to repair the park’s play castle and purchasing a new cash register for the town office. All motions in the evening were recorded as passing unanimously.

Next steps: council members said they will arrange the sewer-system follow-up call with the former engineer of the system and pursue a camera inspection to locate leaks. The council also scheduled local meetings related to the CDBG downtown project and the library groundbreaking announced at the meeting.