The City Council voted earlier this week to purchase the property on which the former Dan River Inc.’s Schoolfield reservoir is located. The reservoir could provide up to four days of raw water storage, which would minimize any issues on the Dan River.
The City will purchase the property from the Industrial Development Authority for $85,000.
The reservoir is located on 7.5 acres in close proximity to the City’s water plant on Memorial Drive. Danville Utilities staff has spent the past 12 months completing the engineering necessary to design a system to incorporate the Schoolfield reservoir into the daily treatment process. Bids are ready to be issued.
Danville Utilities provides water service to approximately 17,000 City customers and to parts of Pittsylvania and Caswell counties. The Dan River is the raw water source.
The vote took place during the City Council’s meeting on Tuesday night.
In another matter, the City Council approved a budget amendment to provide for $37,187 from the Danville Regional Foundation for a study on the use of potential casino revenue.
The Danville Regional Foundation has agreed to pay for one half of the total cost of $74,375 to hire outside expertise to guide a process for how the City should best invest possible new revenues generated from a casino gaming development, should the voters approve an expected referendum in November.
The local share is to be funded from reprogrammed funds in Economic Development’s budget for the Schoolfield study.