Jefferson County (2026 Jun 18) — Both the Charles Town City Council and the Jefferson County Development Authority had lengthy discussions this week about providing water and sanitary sewer service to the Summit Point area.
City Council Emphasizes Desire To Serve Summit Point
During its meeting on Monday, June 15, the Charles Town City Council heard from Paul Mantello, CTUB’s General Manager and John Maxey, a CTUB board member. They outlined how the parameters for providing water and sewer to Summit Point have changed significantly in the past several months:
- CTUB commissioned and paid for a feasibility study in early 2025 in response to a request by Summit Point Raceway Associates (SPRA) for public water and sanitary sewer service for its 700+ acre facility. That study recommended onsite package plants (compact, factory-built water treatment systems that can be installed quickly without the need for large-scale infrastructure construction) for both water and sewer service as the most cost effective solutions.
- CTUB was approached in April 2026 by a development company that recently purchased 230 acres in Summit Point for a data project. Mantello reported he has met with the developer and its engineering firm several times since then to assess their needs, which would require significantly more water than what was envisioned for the SPRA project.
- The data center developer has also expressed strong interest in using recycled water (a “purple line”) which could be supplied from one of CTUB’s existing waste water treatment facilities.
Mantello made the case that a regional water and sewer system seems more viable than a package plant solution at this point and noted that the extension of water and sewer lines to Summit Point could be integrated with the planned upgrades to the Charles Town wastewater plant to spread those fixed costs over a larger revenue base.
Maxey told the City Council that CTUB has identified an engineering firm to prepare a preliminary engineering and analysis report (a more detailed study than the earlier feasibility study) that will enable CTUB to right-size the Summit Point project design and develop cost estimates that can be presented to the state for infrastructure grants.
JCDA Authorizes Grant Application
During the Jefferson County Development Authority meeting on Wednesday, June 16 (image above), Daryl Cowles, the JCDA Executive Director, asked the board to authorize him to submit an application to the US Department of Agriculture for a $75,000 grant that could be used to fund a preliminary engineering and analysis report. From the description, this would be the same type of report that CTUB is planning.
Earlier this year the JCDA had received direction from the Jefferson County Commission to move forward with supporting a utility project for Summit Point.
During a meeting on February 17, the JCDA rebuffed CTUB in favor of working with West Virginia American Water (WVAW) and the County Commission emphasized that it wanted the JCDA to move forward quickly with WVAW during a town hall meeting later that evening.
In May 2026 the JCDA voted to hire an attorney to draft a public-private partnership agreement with WVAW.
During this week’s meeting, the JCDA board seemed to have a change of thinking. During the discussion on the motion to approve the grant application, JCDA board member Kathy Skinner proposed an amendment that would make the grant application neutral as to the specific utility provider. County Commission President Pasha Majdi, who also serves on the JCDA board, remarked during the discussion that “CTUB would be the right provider and he would like to convene a conversation with CTUB” about working on the project. After Cowles confirmed that a provider-neutral approach would meet the grant application requirements, the board voted unanimously to authorize the application.
Majdi followed up with The Observer following the June 16 meeting to amplify his remarks: “I’m a big supporter of CTUB expansion. Everyone in the county needs clean water and CTUB needs to expand to be financially viable. If JCDA can bring in some grant money, that’s an even better deal for CTUB and for our ratepayers.”
To date, the County Commission has not taken any action to update its directive to the JCDA to work with American Water on the Summit Point project.
Update (2026 Oct 22) — At the Jefferson County Development Authority board meeting on October 20, JCDA Executive Director Daryl Cowles informed the board members that the USDA (U.S. Department of Agriculture) had rejected the County’s application for a $75,000 grant. The JCDA had applied for the grant earlier in 2026 to fund a preliminary engineering report for water and sewer infrastructure in Summit Point.
Cowles also presented the JCDA board with a $4,500 invoice from the Bowles Rice law firm, The JCDA had hired the law firm earlier this year to draft a public-private partnership agreement between the JCDA and West Virginia American Water at the request of the Jefferson County Commission. At this week’s meeting, several JCDA board members asked for a copy of the agreement, but Cowles declined to share it, saying that he wanted to review it with American Water first before providing it to the JCDA board.
Published 2026 Jun 18 in the Observer Weekly. Updated 2026 Oct 22 (JCDA rejected for USDA grant).
By Steve Pearson