By Amanda Collins
classifieds@theenterprise.net

Stuart Mayor Raymond Weiland said he had two main goals when he sought a seat on the Stuart Town Council.

The first was finding a larger space to house the Stuart Volunteer Fire Department; the second was maintaining the sewer plant.

The town has pursued both projects, and continues work on both, according to Weiland, who added his goal for the fire department is nearing completion.

The town plans to renovate a former retail space to house the department and lease the unused space to Patrick Henry Community College (PHCC) for classes.

The council also sought bids on the sewer project, prompted by concerns that it may be out of compliance.

Some of the “sewer plant equipment is deteriorating and the longer we wait, the more chances we take” of not meeting requirements, Weiland said.

The Lane Group was selected to prepare the plans for that project. Weiland said town officials based that selection on the cost as well as the fact that the group has worked on the sewer plant in the past.

It has taken about “12 months to get” the plans for the sewer project, Weiland said. He added that Kevin Heath of the Lane Group — which is preparing the plans, is aware of the town’s concern about the possibility of not meeting requirements.

But the process has been lengthy, officials have said.

“They already had drawings of it, it should be easy for them to do,” Weiland said. “We didn’t realize how busy they were.”

Weiland said that he and Town Manager Terry Tilley met with Heath earlier this month to discuss the sewer project plans. Weiland said he felt the plans needed more details.

Now, “the goal is to be ready to go to bid by the first of the year,” Weiland said.

Before then, he expects council members, town staff and others may meet with the consulting group over the next few months to hammer out the details.

When asked about the issue of the town’s website, Weiland said valid points have been brought to the council’s attention.

But, he said the website was hacked on three separate occasions more than a year ago. During those incidents, everything was lost. Weiland said.

“I feel confident that it won’t happen again,” Weiland said, and added he plans to update both the town’s website and social media page.

Although some individuals suggested asking for help with the website from high school students, Weiland said that he prefers to update the sites or have another council member assume that responsibility.

Online payment options for water and sewer also recently were suggested as a service the town could provide.

It is unclear how many customers would use the online payment option if it is provided, according to Weiland, who said he has not checked into the option of offering online payment for utility invoices.

However, Susan Slate, who works in the town office, looked into offering that service and determined updates are needed and security measures would have to be put in place before the town could provide the service, Weiland said.

Currently, Slate can take some payments over the phone, providing customers use a credit or debit card, he said.

As the town explores those and other suggestions, officials also look toward the future.

While there is no planning commission per se, council members identify needs and pursue funds for those projects through a number of different avenues, including the USDA Rural Development and the Virginia Tobacco Region Revitalization Commission.

Weiland said he hopes funding is available to install a sewer line to the water treatment plant. The sewer line would provide the ability to send “sludge to the sewer. This will be a huge benefit for the town and possibly save tens of thousands of dollars per year,” Weiland said.

The council also is looking into sludge composting, which could “save the town hundreds of thousands of dollars,” Weiland said. Currently and sludge produced must be hauled to a landfill, and there are costs involved in doing that.

The sludge composting project would totally eliminate the cost of hauling the sludge, Weiland said.

Another future project is to add more sidewalks throughout the town.

Weiland said there are grants available through “Safe Routes to Schools,” federally funded program designed to enable and encourage children to walk and ride bicycles to school, according to Virginia Department of Transportation (VDOT).

As a result, those funds are earmarked to build sidewalks that lead to schools.