Agenda 11-06-2025; 8-a - Minutes for October 7, 2025 Business Meeting and October 14, 2025 Joint Meeting with Chiefs Association and Work Session

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26 1 Commissioner McKee asked at what depth they hit water. 2 Ward Marotti said in the 30-foot zone from the surface and the total well depth is 600 feet. 3 Commissioner McKee asked if the 30 feet was in soil or rock. 4 Ward Marotti said it was saprolite and bedrock. 5 Commissioner McKee said that water vein is connecting throughout the system, and any 6 water that is drawn down might affect the surrounding area. 7 Ward Marotti said he believed that by sampling 6 months a part speaks to the conditions 8 and that the data that meets the state's requirements should also speak to it. 9 Commissioner Greene referred to Planning Board meeting minutes included in the agenda 10 packet. She quoted Ward Marotti's comments, "We actually drilled two wells for this site, one of 11 which came up with no water, didn't hit an aquifer, but there was geologic data associated with 12 that. And based on that, it's likely that these are not even touching the same water tables or 13 aquifers, rather." She asked what the geologic data was. 14 Ward Marotti said it's a series of veins, a lot of which are connected, some of which may 15 not be. He said the location that they did not hit water at was a location that didn't have a vein 16 running through it. 17 Commissioner Carter asked about the timing of the study and its occurrence after a major 18 flood event. She said that she and Commissioner Portie-Ascott visited the property and met the 19 property owner. 20 Ward Marotti said in the context of the impacts to the water table in general and the surficial 21 aquifer in the area, and in looking at the ambient data of the adjacent wells, there was no spike 22 or drop that was substantive nor tied from a timeline perspective to that precipitation event. He 23 said that the short answer is that he didn't think so. 24 Vice-Chair Hamilton asked how long a typical water vein might be. 25 Ward Marotti said it varies and he could not answer that question. 26 Vice-Chair Hamilton said a question is the effect of drawing water on the surrounding 27 community. She said they tested two wells, but there are 74 properties within 1,000 feet and what 28 is the impact on those other wells. She said they don't have a good understanding of the 29 hydrology and its impact on others. She said if there is a failure it would be hard to fix. 30 Ward Marotti said this is where the state models come into play because they consider 31 the typical conditions in substrates in the Piedmont. He said that's what those models are there 32 for, to extrapolate from the raw data. 33 Donna Browder said a better word to use is predict. She said the tool is used to predict 34 how a well is going to be impacted at different distances. She said when you enter your data you 35 are using a state program to predict the impacts. 36 Ward Marotti said those models are based on real data collection and measured results. 37 Beth Trahos said this is an early stage of development and the information on well testing 38 is more than what is required, and it is supportive of allowing the project to move forward. She 39 suggested that the 74 adjacent property owners likely did not test the impact of their wells on the 40 property owners of the site. 41 Chair Bedford asked if the site is on the Hyco formation, and referred to information shared 42 in the packet. 43 Ward Marotti said that is the geologic formation that the site is on. 44 Chair Bedford said the sentence ends with "and this certainly explains the poor and 45 variable yield." She said she wants to understand that. 46 Donna Browder said this is the type of rock and substrate in the whole area, not the 47 proposed site specifically. She said she thought this part was giving a description of the area in 48 general.