‘We’re on the outside’: Henrico, Richmond leaders come to the table on water service issues

Officials with Richmond and Henrico held a joint meeting Monday on regional water service challenges stemming from multiple disruptions since January. (Screenshots)

Almost six months since the January water outage that prompted calls for more regional collaboration, Richmond’s mayor and City Council formally met with Henrico officials in an attempt to turn those calls into action.

In what form that action might be taken remains unclear, however, as councilmembers said they would discuss the topic further among themselves before committing to a regional water advisory group, as Mayor Danny Avula has proposed, or some other approach to addressing the water service challenges that the dayslong outage and subsequent disruptions have revealed.

Avula facilitated the Monday meeting that he said was the first known meeting in recent memory between the governing boards for Richmond and Henrico. The joint session was the second held in recent weeks, following a similar meeting between Henrico and Hanover County, which likewise buys some of its water from the city and was partly affected by the outage.

But where the earlier meeting showed a united front in how the two counties hoped to approach the challenges, Monday’s meeting between Henrico and Richmond revealed some of the disconnect between the localities that has been attributed to the severity of the outage and miscommunications over subsequent disruptions, including a second boil water advisory that occurred in May.

Mayor Danny Avula facilitated the meeting.

Following presentations from their public utilities directors about Richmond’s and Henrico’s respective water systems and improvement plans, Avula said he hoped to get a sentiment from the two bodies on how they wanted to move forward, suggesting as a starting point the water advisory group that would include Hanover and Chesterfield County.

However, Council President Cynthia Newbille said she wanted more discussion among her Richmond colleagues before agreeing to one approach or another, noting a draft memorandum of understanding for a regional water authority and other documents that she said needed more scrutiny.

“We’re not shy on collaborative partnerships at all, but do want to do a deeper dive and more extensive conversation,” Newbille said, adding that council would have that discussion in a meeting on July 7.

Councilmember Ellen Robertson said she wanted to allay any concerns that Richmond’s water treatment plant is at risk of failure again, contending that issues that contributed to the January emergency have been dealt with and corrected.

Addressing Henrico’s officials, Robertson said: “There is no reason for you to be concerned that our plant is not capable of providing the contract obligation that we have, and even above capacity that we are committed to.

“We do not feel that there is reason for us to be concerned that we cannot, and we are not hopping along scared we’re going to break everything. That is not the condition that this plant is in,” she said.

Responding to Robertson’s comments later in the meeting, Henrico Supervisor Tyrone Nelson, whose Varina District was the most impacted by the outage in the county, said to the group: “I don’t really know why I’m here now.”

Supervisor Tyrone Nelson responding to comments during the meeting.

“The first time that I’ve heard that the water treatment plant was good was today,” Nelson said, noting the city director’s presentation about progress at the plant that has included several physical and procedural improvements.

Addressing Robertson, Nelson continued: “Then you said flat-footed that we shouldn’t worry about the water treatment plant anymore. That’s good. We don’t want to worry about the water treatment plant. That’s why we’re here. We’re here because we want to make sure that we don’t have to go without water again.”

At their joint meeting three weeks earlier, Henrico and Hanover supervisors said they were amenable to forming a regional water authority that could give the counties more say in how the city’s plant is operated and maintained. Nelson said Monday he wasn’t advocating for an authority per se, but rather for better collaboration and communication from the city.

“You guys know stuff that we don’t know about your water treatment plant,” he said. “All we know is we pay $14 million a year; we’re customers. And if this was our water treatment plant and you were getting water from us, you would have questions just like we would.”

Nelson added: “I don’t want you guys to think that we’re trying to force anything on you. We’re not. We’re not trying to in any way say that Richmond can’t take care of its own water treatment plant. What we are saying is we buy water from you, and our people, respectfully, y’all don’t represent them. We do, and we’re on the outside.”

Earlier in the meeting, Councilmember Kenya Gibson brought up data centers as a topic that she felt the bodies should discuss, contending that their usage is contributing to the region’s water problems. While she noted that Richmond has data centers as well, Henrico has seen a rise in such projects in recent years and recently changed its zoning rules to rein in their growth.

Councilmember Kenya Gibson, right, during the meeting.

Describing data centers as “the elephant in the room,” Gibson said: “The impact of these data centers on water usage is mind-blowing, and as public bodies I think we have a responsibility to ensure that our residents are not shouldering the burden of the cost, both financial and environmental.”

Gibson’s comments drew responses from Nelson and Misty Rountree, who represents Henrico’s Tuckahoe District and said she was “disheartened” by the comments.

“Even in our discussion about infrastructure improvements with water, we get accused of, ‘Well, this is only for data centers; y’all aren’t trying to build infrastructure because you care about people, it’s all for the data centers,’ and nothing could be further from the truth about that,” Rountree said.

“We are tuned in and dialed in, and that’s why we changed the ordinance here recently, because we want to restrict data centers in our locality. But we have to be so careful and so cautious not to conflate the two discussions, because they really are separate.”

Newbille reiterated that council is open to collaboration but needs to discuss it among itself first before proceeding. She said that discussion would occur at the July 7 meeting.

“I want to say unequivocally the City Council’s committed to the same level of service that everyone should expect: extraordinary, strong, sustainable service,” Newbille said. “And we are committed to making sure that that happens for Richmonders as well as our partners in this effort.

Council President Cynthia Newbille, center, presided over the meeting with Henrico Supervisors Vice Chairman Roscoe Cooper, second from left.

“This is not a minor matter for us. This is a serious matter,” she said. “We are committed to this and committed to working collaboratively, as has been demonstrated in other scenarios.

“We are also committed to making sure we do due diligence in terms of ascertaining what that will look like, whether that’s staff, whether that’s advisory; it can take any number of forms. But we are committed to making sure that that quality is provided across the region, period,” she said.

Monday’s meeting came a week after Gov. Glenn Youngkin convened a meeting with all four localities on the issue.

A recording of Monday’s meeting can be viewed here.

The post ‘We’re on the outside’: Henrico, Richmond leaders come to the table on water service issues appeared first on Richmond BizSense.