Mayor Nancy Vaughan said at the Feb. 15 meeting that she wanted to have a work session on water.

Water was a huge issue in Greensboro up until the Piedmont Triad Regional Water Authority started providing water to Greensboro from the Randleman Reservoir.

Vaughan this week explained that what she wants to talk about is Greensboro’s water and sewer extension policy.

She said, “Since the announcements of Boom and Toyota, we’ve seen that residential developers are looking at areas to build outside our service area with our water and sewer.” 

The current policy on water extension requires the property to be annexed into Greensboro before water and sewer service is provided.

The extension of water and sewer service to the Greensboro-Randolph Megasite is an exception to this policy, but an exception that is creating thousands of jobs for the area.

Vaughan noted that water and sewer capacity was reserved for the future Toyota Battery manufacturing facility, but also that capacity had to be reserved for a possible Phase 2 of development on the site and for the supply chain.

As far as residential developments outside the service area goes, the one that is making big news is the proposed 973-acre mixed-use development on Pleasant Ridge Road in Summerfield proposed by David Couch.  According to the plans recently announced by Couch, Villages at Summerfield would include 3,796 housing units in 11 villages with much of the land set aside for trails, parks and scenic views.

Such a development would need water and sewer, and the town of Summerfield currently doesn’t provide water and sewer service.

Vaughan said that Guilford County would have to pay for the extension of Greensboro water and sewer service to the site.  She said, “For us to get our money back on water and sewer usage would take forever.”

When asked how building housing in Summerfield benefitted Greensboro Vaughan said, “I don’t think it does.”

Vaughan said, “There are no active discussions at this point.”

But she added, “I know we are going to start getting lobbied soon.”

And she said that the purpose of the City Council work session was to make sure that everyone on the City Council understood the current policy on extending water and sewer service.

No date for the work session on the city’s water and sewer extension policy has been set.