DALEVILLE -- The Botetourt County Board of Supervisors voted Tuesday afternoon to acquire two private water systems -- the latest move in the county's mission to control public utilities and growth along the U.S. 220 corridor.

The supervisors voted unanimously to purchase the systems -- which serve 59 residences in the Dal-Nita Hills and Keswick Farms subdivisions -- from Bland Painter, developer of the Roanoke Ukrop's, for $91,450.

Buchanan District Supervisor Terry Austin said there are "a lot of benefits associated with the location" of the two water systems. The Dal-Nita Hills system could be extended to connect to Greenfield, a county-owned industrial park where public utilities already are in place. Keswick Farms backs up to Ashley Plantation but is accessed from U.S. 11 in the town of Troutville, which operates its own water system.

In recent years the county has acquired six other private water systems, all but one of which are located in the Daleville and Greenfield areas. About 1,300 residences in the county are served by public water. The purchase of the two systems will not require the county to hire additional manpower within its public works department to manage the workload, Deputy County Administrator David Moorman said.

The 59 customers served by the Dal-Nita Hills and Keswick Farms water systems will likely see decreases in their bills when they are shifted to the county's rates, according to County Administrator Jerry Burgess. The average monthly bills in each subdivision are expected to drop from about $48 to about $35.

Meanwhile, the county continues to try to stop another private water company from expanding in the same general area -- and the result of that battle could have a major impact on the county's longer-term goal of controlling utilities and growth via water.

The private Central Water Co. has been granted future expansion rights by the Virginia State Corporation Commission. Central Water serves the Ashley Plantation subdivision and golf course, north of Lord Botetourt High School in Daleville.

The county is fighting the state's decision, claiming Central Water misrepresented facts in its SCC application by stating that the expansion area was not being served by any other water utility providers, including the Keswick Farms system, the town of Fincastle and two other private systems. Central Water president Steve Rossi has said he's been battling difficult county officials for years and that his company needs the expansion rights to serve his customers economically.

Moorman said Tuesday one of the county's arguments against the SCC decision is that it "precludes any expansion" of the Keswick Farms water system, which the county has now purchased.

"Central's expanded territory will increase development pressure in a more northward direction than the board of supervisors has planned or desires," Burgess said in testimony submitted to the SCC. "In addition, it will make it more difficult to comply with state mandates for growth through urban development areas and will interfere with transportation planning."

The hearing officer determined last week the case may proceed, Burgess said. County officials will have the opportunity to determine where they believe Central Water's boundary should be and then Central Water will have a chance for rebuttal.

A hearing is tentatively slated for September to settle the matter, Burgess said.