Currituck County officials and real estate developer Charles S. Friedman may enter into another building agreement to expand a wastewater treatment plant in Moyock Commons.

Friedman, manager of Moyock 168 Utilities Inc., once again approached the board Monday night with a proposal to expand the existing Moyock Commons sewer system plant, which currently treats 40,000 gallons per day, to 500,000 gpd.

The county originally agreed to the plan in May because Friedman holds ownership of a 25-acre parcel of land he plans to build into a residential neighborhood.

Friedman's development project, which will also need wastewater capabilities, is adjacent to the existing Moyock wastewater plant facility, near the Food Lion grocery store.

In the original proposal, Friedman offered to pay for the expansion of the wastewater facility and be compensated through tap-on fees customers would pay to use the facilities.

The county and Friedman signed a letter of intent in May stating both parties would draft building plans for a sewer system within 45 days of the signing date.

But two weeks ago, County Manager Dan Scanlon announced the county's original agreement with the Virginia-based developer was null and void when they could not agree on building plans within the time frame of the agreement.

With those expansion plans on hold, developers from Currituck Reserve, a neighboring subdivision located on Tulls Creek Road, entered into preliminary negotiations with the county to build a wastewater treatment plant for their development project.

According to Scanlon, Currituck needed to move forward with wastewater facilities to attract and accommodate several large development projects interested in building in Moyock. Developers cannot begin building without sewage capabilities, he said.

Arcadis G&M consultants, a firm hired by the county, was contracted to design the Currituck Reserve wastewater facility, which will have a treatment capacity of 300,000 gpd.

Currituck Reserve developers are currently in the permitting process and anticipate the facility could become operational as soon as 2010.

Since the county has contracted with Currituck Reserve, Friedman would like them to additionally consider moving forward with the Moyock Commons wastewater expansion.

"I have hired Mark Bissel, the engineer who originally designed the (Moyock Commons) facility, to complete the plans, submit them to the State, and build the system out," Friedman said in an e-mail. "I am willing to provide whatever land is needed adjacent to the plant for that expansion — I own that land."

Friedman said he could get his wastewater project started even sooner for as little as $18 per gallon.

"I am willing to do this because it is much less expensive and takes much less regulatory time to expand an existing facility," Friedman said. "This will cost me (and others) less money and less time to get service (and) we can start building sooner and put people in the county to work sooner."

Friedman is requesting his development projects retain use of 225,000 gpd of the 500,000 gpd expansion stated in the proposal, he said.

County Commissioner Owen Etheridge proposed a work session the following week for the county to re-examine Friedman's original offer and have open discussions of wastewater projects in Moyock.

"From what I could see (Monday night), the proposal looked very similar to what (Friedman) submitted previously," Etheridge said.

According to Friedman, taxpayer funds would not need to be invested and the county would continue to retain control of the wastewater facility.

"There is absolutely no reason the county shouldn't go forward with both projects," Friedman said.