During the June 6 meeting of the Washington County Board of Supervisors, consultant Andrew Smith included in his presentation that time was running out for the Glen Allan Water District to qualify for a $300,000 subgrant because the entity has been slow to produce proper documentation. Smith elaborated by saying that the water district’s eligibility is about to be “canceled” for the funds. Tim Wilkins, President of Glen Allan Utility District said that this is not an entirely accurate description of the circumstances. “The UEI (Unique Entity Identification) number, to which Mr. Smith is referring to, was applied for on May 5. Mr Smith met with the Board of Directors for the Utility Company on May 22 and informed the Board at that meeting about this much-needed number,” Wilkins explained in an email to DDT. “He also told us that it would only take two (2) days to get this number. Obviously, that statement was not accurate since the application was made almost three (3) weeks prior to the meeting.”
Wilkins elaborated on a couple more mishaps that occurred in the process.
“At that same meeting, Mr. Smith informed the Board of the Utility District that a line of credit was required from their local bank,” Wilkins said. “The local bank required a copy of the Grant Agreement from the Washington County Board of Supervisors. Due to misspelled words in the document, the local bank would not process the line of credit request. A correct copy of the document has been requested by our bank. The Supervisor’s office is in the process of making corrections and getting the document back to the bank…Oh, by the way, the misspelled words were GLEN ALLEN; it should have been GLEN ALLAN.”
The municipality is seeking funds primarily to make upgrades and repairs to three electrically powered sewage pumps which are owned by the town’s two energy providers-Twin County Electric (owns 2 pumps) and Entergy (owns one pump). Wilkins explained that when either of the two power companies’ pumps go down, the other attempts to pick up the excess work but often still are not powerful enough to prevent sewage from backing up into some people’s homes. “Throughout the process, there has been a lack of communication and all we’ve been getting are bits and pieces of information,” Wilkins said. “And to make a disparaging comment in a public forum like that isn’t appropriate. And Mr. Smith has no authority to take away our right to apply for funding and I still don’t know exactly when the application deadline is.”
