The city of Warrenton has reached a deal to increase the number of properties that can flush their water into the city’s sewage treatment system.A new “bulk service agreement” with Montgomery County Public Water Supply District No. 1 will allow the entities to work together to provide sewer service to one or more properties at the edge of the city.The water district’s boundary extends all the way to the north side of Interstate 70 at Warrenton where a new interchange is under construction. City officials hope to see future development in that area, but for that to happen, new buildings would need sewer service. The area currently has water service, but not sewer, said Warrenton Director of Operations Terri Thorn.Under the deal between Warrenton and the water district, Warrenton will build and maintain a main sewer line to the edge of the city’s service area. The main will connect to individual sewer lines to be built and managed by the water district.A meter at the connecting point will measure the amount of wastewater entering the city’s system from outside. Warrenton will bill the water district for the total amount of sewage that enters the city’s system from the area, and the water district would be left to bill individual customers.Thorn explained that the deal is necessary because Warrenton is surrounded by outside water districts and can’t grow without bumping into them.“Whether we expand to the east or to the west, it’s going to be in a water district,” Thorn told the Warrenton Board of Aldermen during a meeting Dec. 19. “It’s our only option to have growth outside of where we currently are, because we’re surrounded.”The water district may not connect additional properties without getting consent from the city. The board of aldermen would have to vote to annex the property into the city, although it would remain part of the water district in terms of water and sewer service.This type of agreement is very common, Thorn said. She added that she expects a similar agreement for a development on the east side of the city in the near future.Aldermen will have the discretion to deny adding a new property to the network, in order to avoid overloading the city’s sewage treatment plan.The agreement with the water district is for a term of 30 years and can be extended. It was approved unanimously by the board of aldermen.City of Warrenton logo