PRINCE EDWARD — Last year, Piedmont Regional Jail paid the Town of Farmville $282,000 for water and sewer services, according to jail officials. Five months ago, Farmville Town Council denied the jail’s request for in-town water and sewer rates. The change in rate would have cut the jail’s water and sewer bill by $96,000, town officials say.

Undeterred, the jail board is taking another tack. If the Town won’t reduce the out-of-town rate, why not ask to become part of the town?

The Piedmont Regional Jail Board unanimously voted to request Prince Edward County consider having the boundary line with the Town of Farmville adjusted during their October 23 meeting. The request will now go before the Prince Edward Board of Supervisors for consideration. If approved by the supervisors, the County will bring the request to the Farmville Town Council.

The jail barely lies outside town limits. It is built on the northern end of Route 676, Industrial Park Road, past the Field of Dreams and STEPS. Land to the south and west of that road lies within Farmville’s corporate limits. Land to its north and east is in Prince Edward County.

The request for annexation is just one of several cost-cutting options, when it comes to water. The jail has been investigating the possibility of digging wells, in order to supply its own water and cut out the middleman.

But, that may prove to be a complicated endeavor. Donald Hunter, who was hired as superintendent of the jail during the October meeting, said the board would need to acquire more land from Prince Edward County in order to accommodate the wells. More importantly, the jail would need details regarding the sight of the old landfill that lies to the west of its property. The location and size of the landfill site could impact the placement of the wells.

Having the boundary adjusted to include the jail “would probably be better than trying to get your own water system,” Prince Edward County Administrator Wade Bartlett suggested to the jail board. He pointed out that the jail would have to do more than just dig wells. They would have to have a storage tank, a backup water supply for the sprinkler system, monitor water quality and satisfy state inspections. “If you get into the water business… you’ve just got a whole bunch of stuff you’re going to have to do,” he said.

“My recommendation would be ask if the Town will do it first,” he concluded, referring to the boundary adjustment. He later stated that there was no downside to Prince Edward County, since all of the jail’s land is non-taxable already.

Town Manager Gerald Spates says the idea makes sense to him.

The last time the town boundary was moved, Spates explained, land to the south of Industrial Park Road was annexed into the town. “For some reason the County didn’t want us to do the side where the industries used to be. There’s no industries over there now,” he explained.

Spates has his sights set on more than just the jail. “I don’t think that we will just take one piece there. I think it would be good to take the whole section,” he continued, referring to the land north of Industrial Park Road. “It would be easy to just follow the river,” he said.

Currently, the northern tip of the Town of Farmville runs along the Appomattox River near the Water Treatment Plant, not far from the jail. The town limits then break away from the river and go south, following Industrial Park Road to Third Street. The town line doesn’t touch the river again until Buffalo Creek joins the Appomattox.

That plot of land lying south of the river and north of Industrial Park Road is home to the Prince Edward County Industrial Park.

Spates says that, generally, the council looks favorably on citizen initiated requests. But, in the end, “It’s really up to the County,” said Spates. “They’re the ones that have to request us to do it… But, I think it should have been in all along.”