(From The Northern Virginia Daily dated Thursday 15 November 2007.)

Dennis Grundman/Daily file McKay Springs near Reliance Road and U.S. 340-522 is near a small trailer court. Front Royal owns the water rights.

The Front Royal town Council approved $3,972 during its meeting Tuesday for a preliminary layout plan for the property. Warren County will cover the other half.

The town and county jointly purchased the 14-to-16-acre property near Reliance Road and U.S. 340-522 roughly seven years ago. The property includes a historic house.

The town owns the water rights to the spring, but the property lies in the county.

The town plans to use the spring as a water source. The county wants nearby land for a future realignment project for Rockland and Reliance roads.

The layout plan will cost $7,944, and will determine a preliminary plan for a water treatment package facility.

"The layout plan will identify the land area necessary for the town's installation of a facility to treat surface water from the spring," says a memo from Front Royal Director of Public Works Steve Burke to town officials.

The layout will map out locations for parts of the facility, says a letter from R. Stuart Royer engineering, which will do the plan.

It will show the size and location of pumping stations, storage tank, treatment units and other parts.

How much land is needed for the facility affects the other property uses, said Warren County Administrator Douglas P. Stanley.

"Until we define what is needed for the spring, we can't decide what needs to be rezoned or sold off," he said. "We are jointly trying to figure out what is needed for the two projects and what is left."

Warren County wants to use some of the property for right of way needs for the Reliance and Rockland roads realignment project.

The county and town want to market the remaining parcels to developers.

The town would use the spring as a water source. "Currently it flows about three quarters of a million gallons per day," Burke said.

The on-site treatment facility would treat and test water from the spring, he said.

"There would be a tank on site that would hold it," Burke added. "Once we established that the water was treated completely and in compliance with health standards it would be introduced into the water distribution."

The preliminary costs could be as high as $1 million, but the town hasn't budgeted that or done any estimates, Burke said.

After the layout plan is developed, the town and county must develop a final subdivision plat, according to Burke's memorandum.

It could cost an estimated $2,000 to develop a final plat.

"A funding source for the town's share of this effort will also need to be identified at a later date," Burke wrote.

Contact Robert King at rking@nvdaily.com