The sewer line planned for western Lee County has moved from drawings to land. In August, county staff mailed “just compensation” letters for the easements the project needs, County Administrator Clint Carter told the Board of Supervisors, according to the August 18 minutes.
An easement is the right to lay and maintain pipe on someone else’s land. For property owners in the west end, this is the stage where the project reaches their own land. Here is what the public record says about where it stands.
What is the project?
The county’s minutes call it the Western Lee Sewer Project. Federal lawmakers’ announcements call it the Lee County Sewer Improvement Project. In September 2025, U.S. Senators Mark Warner and Tim Kaine said it would serve hundreds of households and more than 1,000 residents and businesses that have no public sewer. Those homes and businesses could then move from septic tanks and “straight pipes into Indian Creek” to a public system, according to the senators’ press release.
The same release says the project is the basis for the expansion of Lincoln Memorial University. The county’s 2025 Comprehensive Plan makes the same link, noting that LMU’s veterinary teaching centers in the west end have created a need for housing.
Who is paying for it?
Several sources are involved, and the public record does not yet show one final budget. In January 2025, Virginia’s two senators and U.S. Representative Morgan Griffith announced $26,250,000 from the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. The money came from a December 2024 disaster relief package, according to an earlier release. The September 2025 announcement added $3.2 million.
State and local money is part of it too. The Virginia Tobacco Region Revitalization Commission awarded $1 million, then-County Administrator Robby Wright told the board in January 2025. In January 2026, the board backed an application for $3 million in Virginia Community Development Block Grant money for “Western Lee Sewer Project- Phase I,” according to the January 20 minutes. The resolution notes the county is not committed to spending that $3 million if the grant does not come through, and the minutes through August do not report a decision on it.
The cost split with the Army Corps is 75% federal and 25% local, Carter told the board in August. At the Corps’ request, the board voted 5 to 0 to send another $50,000 in local money from the county’s federal pandemic relief funds. That would bring more federal dollars into the project.
How far along is it?
The board’s minutes this year record these steps:
- February: The design was 100% complete and the project had entered the real estate phase, Carter reported after meeting with LENOWISCO, the regional planning district.
- April: The board approved an agreement with the Virginia Department of Transportation for sewer lines along Route 58. It settles how easements in state road rights of way meet both state and Corps rules. Carter said the Corps had given the go-ahead for land acquisition, and a public meeting was set for May 4 at Thomas Walker High School.
- August: Weekly calls with the Corps and local partners were under way, the compensation letters went out, and the Corps raised concerns about how much funding was available.
The county’s own budget line has changed as the work shifted. The 2025-26 appropriations set aside $6,000,000 for Western Lee Sewer, while the 2026-27 appropriations list $700,000. The minutes do not explain the change.
When could construction start?
No start date appears in the minutes. The closest thing to a timeline came in July, when Carter spoke about a related project. The Western Lee Housing Project depends on the sewer, he said. If the county can get through the real estate acquisition, the housing might break ground “toward the end of next year,” according to the July 21 minutes. That housing project received a $2,000,000 block grant from the state, according to the Virginia Department of Housing and Community Development’s list of awarded projects.
I got a letter. Who do I call?
Carter said the letters were mailed with help from Jimmy Adkins of LENOWISCO, who has briefed the county on the sewer project. The County Administrator’s Office, which handled the mailing with LENOWISCO, is in the Lee County Courthouse in Jonesville. The county lists its number as (276) 346-7714.
