Washington mayor predicts Post Office won’t open until 2022; Town Council advances sewer bill price hike
Washington Mayor Fred Catlin said Monday during a Town Coun-cil meeting that he doesn’t expect the long-awaited opening of the Washing-ton Post O˝ ce to take place until the start of the new year. He noted that most of the building’s utilities are installed, but that Rappah-annock Electric Cooperative (REC) is still in the process of hooking up elec-tricity since the company is backlogged with work. REC expects the electricity installation to take another several weeks, according to Catlin.The building’s contractor, according to the mayor, is installing portable gen-erator’s and is moving forward with in-terior construction without the electric hookup.“It shouldn’t have taken this long, but it did. I want to thank all [Wash-ington residents] for all that they’ve en-dured — the long lines. Unfortunately I think that we have one more season, but the end does appear to be near,” Catlin said of the Post O˝ ce's many delays.
Washington Town Council on Mon-day also advanced plans to raise residents' sewer bills by $8 each month to help offset the defficit the town runs each year from expensive wastewater costs.
The change, which is expected to be voted on at the body’s December meet-ing following a public hearing, would go into e˛ ect at the start of the new year, raising residents' base sewer rates from $40 to $48.
Officials expect the price hike to increase the town's revenue by about $10,000 each year, while it’s current-ly losing about $60,000 per year in wastewater expenses, according to member Joe Whited. Catlin is working to obtain grant funding to conduct an engineering study of the town’s water and wastewater infrastructure with its expenses in mind to help straighten out the system.
IN OTHER BUSINESS
The body began exploring how to re-pair the brick sidewalks on Gay Street to make them more safe and walkable. One option includes working with the Virginia Department of Transporta-tion to replace the brick with concrete then overlay brick designs on top to maintain the street’s character.