By Tabitha Evans Moore
Editor & Publisher

LYNCHBURG, Tenn. — The Metro Utility Department (MUD) Board voted on Tuesday to adopt a formal water availability form and advance a new developers’ policy. Both are intended to catch water and sewer capacity problems earlier in the building process — before a builder or homeowner is far enough along to be surprised by them.

Together, the two changes are meant to tighten the connection between the utility board and the county’s building permit and planning process, so that a question about available water pressure or line capacity gets asked and answered before a project moves forward rather than after.

A STANDARD FORM FOR EVERY NEW WATER REQUEST

The first change is a water availability form, modeled on similar paperwork used in neighboring counties. Anyone requesting a new water tap — whether for a single home, a farm, or a larger development — will now fill out a standard form documenting the request, the property’s location inside or outside city limits, the type of service (residential, apartment, duplex, mobile home), and what size water meter the project would need.

The form does not apply to existing homes already served by a water main; it’s specifically for new service requests. MUD Manager Ronnie Cunningham said staff typically turns a site visit around the same day a request comes in, but the board asked staff to commit to a two- to three-day response window so applicants aren’t left waiting without word.

“This gives us the ability to not sell something we then can’t provide,” new MUD Board Chair Greg Guinn said, describing the form as a way to flag capacity concerns — such as insufficient water pressure for a multi-family project — before a sale or permit moves forward, rather than after.

At the board’s request, the form was revised on the spot to add a field for the number of taps being requested. That single addition is what connects the availability form to the developers’ policy passed later in the meeting: cross a threshold number of taps, and the request is automatically routed into the developer review process instead of being handled as a routine single-home hookup.

The motion to adopt the revised form passed unanimously with all five members — Guinn, Glen Thomas, Darrell Richards, Charles Johnston, and Barry Posluszny — voting in favor of the change.

A DEVELOPER POLICY YEARS IN THE MAKING

The board also voted to move forward with a new developers’ policy, modeled on a similar policy used by a comparably sized water district in DeKalb County. The policy is intended to formalize how the utility handles larger building projects — and to shift the cost of water-system upgrades those projects require onto the developers building them, rather than onto existing customers.

Under the policy as discussed, one or two homes built on an existing parcel would not trigger developer status — board members specifically cited a scenario of a landowner giving adult children lots to build on as an example that shouldn’t be swept in. But a project at or above a threshold would trigger a formal “letter of availability” from the utility.

If a hydraulic study shows the existing water system can support the project, the developer pays standard capacity fees and no further review is required. But if the project would require extending or upsizing water lines — for example, upgrading a four-inch line to six-inch to serve a larger subdivision — the developer would be expected to cover that cost, rather than the utility absorbing it on behalf of future ratepayers.

“If somebody wants to bring 50 homes in, it’s not really our policy to go out here and upgrade just to get those homes, when we’ve got people in this county that don’t have water,” Guinn said, framing the policy as a way to fund growth-driven infrastructure without passing the cost to existing customers.

The policy also includes an anti-piecemeal provision: a landowner can build up to two homes on an initial parcel over a two-year period without triggering developer status, but if a third home follows within that window, the fees become retroactive — intended to prevent someone from applying to build one home at a time to avoid the developer review process.

WHAT’S STILL BEING WORKED OUT

Board members were clear the policy isn’t fully finalized. The draft was adapted from another district’s paperwork and still refers to that district by name in places; board members said the language needs to be updated to reflect Moore County’s own terminology. The specific capacity fee amounts also still need to be calculated — board members discussed and the district’s engineer suggested basing the fee on the utility’s actual cost per customer, factoring in depreciation, principal and interest, so the number can be defended if challenged.

The board voted to move the policy forward and include it in the board packet, with a copy set to be reviewed by the full board including incoming member Payton Keller at their October meeting.

The water availability form, with the added number-of-taps field, passed by voice vote with no opposition. The developers’ policy also passed by voice vote with no opposition, with board members noting that fee language and terminology will need further work before final adoption.•

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