The Agenda: Local government briefs for 6.30.25

Richmond, Henrico to discuss water service issues in joint meeting Monday

Richmond’s water treatment plant beside the James River. (Image courtesy City of Richmond)

Richmond City Council and the Henrico Board of Supervisors will hold a joint meeting Monday at 3:30 p.m. to discuss “building a more resilient water distribution system for the region,” according to an announcement.

Richmond Mayor Danny Avula called the meeting following a joint meeting of the Henrico and Hanover boards. Last week, Gov. Glenn Youngkin convened a meeting on the topic with the board chairs and top administrators for Richmond, Chesterfield, Hanover and Henrico counties.

Avula also is inviting the three counties to join the city in forming a regional advisory group to discuss the future of water service in the region, following the dayslong outage and subsequent service disruptions that have plagued the localities since January.

Monday’s meeting can be livestreamed here and here.

Groundbreaking held for upcoming high school in western Chesterfield

Chesterfield officials broke ground in June on a new high school planned in the western part of the county. (Courtesy Chesterfield Public Schools)

Chesterfield officials broke ground earlier this month on what will be the county’s newest high school.

The school, temporarily called West Area High School, is a $196 million, 340,000-square-foot project, according to a news release. The two-story school will be able to accommodate 2,400 students.

West Area High School is slated to be the first new high school to open in Chesterfield in more than 20 years, and would be the county’s 12th high school, per the school district’s announcement. A permanent name for the school will be selected prior to its opening in August 2027.

Gulf Seaboard is the construction contractor on the project. Architecture firm Statec is the designer. The construction is funded through bond financing that was approved in the county’s 2022 voter referendum.

The school is planned for a site at 17500 Duval Road near Moseley. It is near the new Deep Creek Middle School slated to open this August. Also nearby is an under-construction elementary school to open in August 2026.

Chesterfield supervisors approve fixed tax rate agreements for data center projects

Two sizable data center projects planned in western Chesterfield are now eligible for an extra financial boost.

The Board of Supervisors last week approved tax incentive agreements for the EDA-initiated projects at sites near Moseley and Westchester Commons.

Under the agreements, Chesterfield will lock in the personal property tax rate for the projects at the county’s current 24 cents per $100 of assessed value for a 30-year period.

If the rate is increased countywide, Chesterfield will provide annual grant payments to the projects that are equal to the amount of the rate increase for the remainder of the term.

The county made the agreements with two limited liability companies: Skyward Holdings and Aeris Investments. It wasn’t clear exactly who is behind the entities.

There hasn’t been a public announcement yet regarding who would operate the data centers subject to the agreements.

The county’s supervisors spoke in support of the future data center projects, saying they represented notable economic development opportunities due to new tax revenue and job creation.

The agreement with Skyward grants the fixed rate for a 871-acre area on the northern end of the Upper Magnolia Green West site for what’s referred to as Project Skye. The land is a portion of a larger 980-acre assemblage, including 4200 Moseley Road, that was rezoned in May.

According to a separate but similar agreement with Aeris, the county will provide the same tax incentive to what’s called Project Loch, which is slated to rise on a 342-acre site. The Aeris site is the majority of the Watkins Centre South property at 750 Watkins Centre Parkway, which was also rezoned last month.

Chesterfield secures AAA bond rating from four agencies

Chesterfield announced last week that it achieved a “Quad-AAA” bond rating.

Chesterfield recently got endorsements from the Big Three rating agencies – Moody’s, Fitch Ratings and Standard & Poor’s – as well as a fourth agency called Kroll Bond Rating Agency.

KBRA provided top marks for the county’s expanding economy, growing tax base and financial policies and procedures, according to a Chesterfield news release. A locality’s bond rating is similar to a person’s credit score, and a higher rating means it costs less to borrow money.

“There is an obvious, tangible benefit from being able to issue bonds at the lowest interest rates. Maintaining the Triple-AAA rating, and now achieving Quad-AAA status, shows Chesterfield’s bonds are seen as one of the safest investments available in the marketplace,” County Administrator Joe Casey said in a prepared statement.

The county said it is the first locality in Virginia to get AAA ratings from all four agencies for its general obligation bonds. Moody’s, Fitch and S&P have given Chesterfield AAA ratings for nearly 30 years.

138-home ‘Highfield’ project up for deciding vote in Goochland

Markel | Eagle Partners is proposing a new Goochland development. (Courtesy Goochland County)

Goochland supervisors meet in regular session Tuesday. Business includes a public hearing on Markel | Eagle’s rezoning request for its 138-home Highfield project at 2106 and 2114 Rockville Road.

The Planning Commission unanimously recommended denial of the proposal in May. Markel | Eagle is asking to rezone the 138-acre site southwest of Rockville Road and Interstate 64 from agricultural use to a “residential, planned unit development” designation for a subdivision of single-family detached homes.

The full meeting agenda is available here.

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