The 2011 tropical storm that inundated the intersection of Colvin Mill Road, Carpers Farm Road and Route7 put the area under water and damaged both the road bed and the access over the small bridge to the Carpers Farm residential area. It also flood the low lying areas of Lake Fairfax park as well as Hunter Mill Road and the creek bed running under the one-lane bridge. So the issue of future floods is real.
If a septic sewage disposal facility were to be built at Area 6 of Lake Fairfax Park, it would be necessary to widen the one-lane bridge and increase its load-bearing capacity to accommodate a steady stream of heavy trucks. (Can you imagine what might happen if such a truck were to go off the road at the bridge and turn over in or near the creek?) There needs to be an engineering study that details what would have to be changed in the Hunter Mill Road road-bed, the bridge, access and exit of the Park property, and safety for all users of Hunter Mill Road including school buses that pick up and drop off children along the road in the mornings and afternoons. There is also a question of zoning. Hunter Mill Road is a Virginia "Scenic Byway". A septic disposal site and the added heavy vehicle traffic would possibly violate this designation. So, there are substantial engineering questions that have to be dealt with and presented to the public in addition to any further discussion of locating a septic waste disposal site there.
The question of property values for those living immediate adjacent or near the site must also be addressed, for people did not purchase homes along the road with the understanding that a septic waste disposal site would be erected in their vicinity with the added traffic and smells, not to mention the perpetual beep, beep, beep of trucks backing up at the site. Frankly, the property owners in the Great Falls area that have septic tanks should be the first to deal with any relocation of the septic waste disposal facility; not home owners along Hunter Mill Road and in neighboring residential communities.
I strongly believe that the county must survey other sites (they claim they have already considered 5 sites and found them inappropriate due to locations on flood plains). I am opposed to any septic waste disposal site on Hunter Mill Road at Area 6 of the Park without much more detailed engineering studies as well as environmental impact studies and traffic flow studies. Improving the current Colvin Mill Run site is less expensive. New technology and better construction could strengthen the current site and make it less noxious for people living in that area. (It would be useful to compare the population density around the current Colvin Mill site to that of the proposed Area 6 Park site.)
Finally, there must be great public transparency about this whole process. Our HOA on Park Lake Drive was not informed about the February meeting. The neighboring HOA of residents on Dasher Lane were not informed. There certainly should be public announcements in our local newspapers to alert people to the next public meeting. It is my understanding in a March 17 phone conversation with Goldie Harrison in Cathy Hudgins' office that the comment period for this project has been extended to April 18. This is a step in the right direction but more needs to be done to attract comments from a much wider population in the general area of Lake Fairfax Park, Area 6, and Hunter Mill Road. All communities that use Hunter Mill Road as a main transportation artery between Baron Cameron Road and Rt. 267 (Dulles Access Road) will be impacted by a septic waste disposal site on HMR.
The 2011 tropical storm that inundated the intersection of Colvin Mill Road, Carpers Farm Road and Route7 put the area under water and damaged both the road bed and the access over the small bridge to the Carpers Farm residential area. It also flood the low lying areas of Lake Fairfax park as well as Hunter Mill Road and the creek bed running under the one-lane bridge. So the issue of future floods is real.
If a septic sewage disposal facility were to be built at Area 6 of Lake Fairfax Park, it would be necessary to widen the one-lane bridge and increase its load-bearing capacity to accommodate a steady stream of heavy trucks. (Can you imagine what might happen if such a truck were to go off the road at the bridge and turn over in or near the creek?) There needs to be an engineering study that details what would have to be changed in the Hunter Mill Road road-bed, the bridge, access and exit of the Park property, and safety for all users of Hunter Mill Road including school buses that pick up and drop off children along the road in the mornings and afternoons. There is also a question of zoning. Hunter Mill Road is a Virginia "Scenic Byway". A septic disposal site and the added heavy vehicle traffic would possibly violate this designation. So, there are substantial engineering questions that have to be dealt with and presented to the public in addition to any further discussion of locating a septic waste disposal site there.
The question of property values for those living immediate adjacent or near the site must also be addressed, for people did not purchase homes along the road with the understanding that a septic waste disposal site would be erected in their vicinity with the added traffic and smells, not to mention the perpetual beep, beep, beep of trucks backing up at the site. Frankly, the property owners in the Great Falls area that have septic tanks should be the first to deal with any relocation of the septic waste disposal facility; not home owners along Hunter Mill Road and in neighboring residential communities.
I strongly believe that the county must survey other sites (they claim they have already considered 5 sites and found them inappropriate due to locations on flood plains). I am opposed to any septic waste disposal site on Hunter Mill Road at Area 6 of the Park without much more detailed engineering studies as well as environmental impact studies and traffic flow studies. Improving the current Colvin Mill Run site is less expensive. New technology and better construction could strengthen the current site and make it less noxious for people living in that area. (It would be useful to compare the population density around the current Colvin Mill site to that of the proposed Area 6 Park site.)
Finally, there must be great public transparency about this whole process. Our HOA on Park Lake Drive was not informed about the February meeting. The neighboring HOA of residents on Dasher Lane were not informed. There certainly should be public announcements in our local newspapers to alert people to the next public meeting. It is my understanding in a March 17 phone conversation with Goldie Harrison in Cathy Hudgins' office that the comment period for this project has been extended to April 18. This is a step in the right direction but more needs to be done to attract comments from a much wider population in the general area of Lake Fairfax Park, Area 6, and Hunter Mill Road. All communities that use Hunter Mill Road as a main transportation artery between Baron Cameron Road and Rt. 267 (Dulles Access Road) will be impacted by a septic waste disposal site on HMR.