Betraying the public trust

Stinky water in Kinloch smells in more than an olfactory way

The TCSD was created to encourage and enable economic development in eastern Goochland. That economic development was expected to manifest itself as corporate headquarters in the West Creek business park, industrial development in the Ashland Road corridor, retail and commercial in Centerville and a bit of residential growth around the edges.

Indeed, some members of the board of supervisors contend that the exclusive upscale communities in the east end are the best possible form of economic development. Homes with seven figure price tags and corresponding real estate assessments are touted during rezoning hearings as bringing revenue to the county while placing little demand on public services. That last is code for adding few or no children to public school rolls.

Kinloch, an affluent enclave of estate and coach homes is just such a place. Homes in Kinloch began to spring from the ground around the time that the TCSD went online, about four years ago.

Although Kinloch developer C. B. Robertson worried that the additional ad valorem tax levied on homes in Kinloch to pay for its inclusion in the TCSD would be a hindrance to sales, initial response was a positive. In fact, some people were so eager to live there that they camped out the night before the sales office opened lest they miss out. Little thought seems to have been given to the extra tax. Given their education and affluence, Kinloch homeowners are sophisticated enough to understand that the convenience of public utilities comes with a cost.

Those same homeowners realize that support systems for a new community often have a few kinks at the outset. However, the stinky water problem that has plagued many Kinloch residents for more than three years would try the patience of a saint.

On Thursday, August 27, members of the Kinloch Advisory Board, a group that represents resident concerns, met with interested citizens and county officials including District 4 supervisor Malvern R. “Rudy” Butler, county administrator Rebecca T. “Becky” Dickson and director of community development Don Charles to discuss the matter.

A public hearing on a proposed utility rate increase that will be held on Tuesday, September 1 at 7 p.m. in the board meeting room at the county administration building, 1800 Sandy Hook Road in Goochland Courthouse (Rt. 6 west to Rt. 522, the administration building in on the corner) seems to have precipitated the gathering.

Kinloch resident Dr. John Harbour, a scientist and chair of the KAB water task force, presented some background on the problem. He outlined the actions allegedly taken by the county under the aegis of the former county engineer. Harbour contended that the county never used a reliable scientific approach to the problem and there was little follow up on suggested actions. Results of tests for chlorine and bacteria levels presented to Kinloch residents were confusing and poorly organized, said Harbour. He contended that even simple spreadsheet software is able to prepare an easily understandable report.

The county has regularly opened a fire hydrant to flush the lines near Kinloch to clear the problem and suggested that homeowners flush their lines or perhaps replace the electrodes in their water heaters. (Goochland has been dumping about eight million gallons of water annually to flush TCSD water lines and prevent water from going stale. Henrico County, the source of TCSD water, must be paid for every drop.)

The water tank that serves Kinloch was emptied and cleaned, but, to Harbour’s frustration, the sediment in the tank was not analyzed to see if it contributed to the problem.

Ongoing discussions with the former county engineer, said Harbor were neither fruitful nor concrete.

An investigation undertaken by the Draper Aden engineering firm, which was deeply involved in construction of the TCSD, cast little light on the problem. “Their data did not make sense,” Harbour said. “They collected one set of data and had no plans to do more testing.”

Harbour strongly urged development of water testing procedures and sharing resulting information via a uniform data presentation with Kinloch residents. Chlorine levels need to be monitored to ensure that they are at recommended levels for safe water at all times.

This situation seems to echo the elevated methane levels at the county park on Fairground Road (built over a closed landfill) that was closed for an extended period earlier this year. That same former county engineer also failed to perform proper testing and even earned the county a handsome fine from the Virginia Department of Environmental Quality.

Charles, who inherited the Kinloch problem after the firing of the former county engineer, said that an automated flushing station will be installed in Kinloch in the next few weeks, but acknowledged that is only the beginning of a solution to the problem.

Various residents explained that the problem is not consistent. One home has the smelly water only in certain places. Not every home on a particular street is affected. There seems to be no clear solution and extensive detective work is necessary and long overdue.

Harbour summed up the frustration of Kinloch residents.

“It should not have taken this long to solve this problem,” he said. “Government should be responsive to the needs of its citizens. We understand that sometimes there is a need for bureaucratese, but you need to be clear with people. This wishy washy stuff is not helpful.”

Several residents also complained of inadequate water pressure.

Charles pledged to get to the bottom of the problem.

Dickson, who has been at the county’s helm since July 20, explained there a lot of pieces of the TCSD puzzle that need to be put together before any decisions are made on an increase in the ad valorem tax, which will not happen before 2010.

She also said that the proposed rate increase of no more than 13 percent will probably not be the end of rate increases. The TCSD, she said, is a young system and there could be more than $300,000 worth of ongoing maintenance items that need to be addressed. “This is the tip, I don’t know what the depth will be,” Dickson said of the problems swirling around the TCSD.


Debt service on the TCSD, which is back loaded, is funded by the ad valorem tax, currently 23 cents per $100 of assessed valuation, and 45 percent of the revenue realized from the increase in its assessed property values since the base year of 2004. The ad valorem tax is levied on all property included in the TCSD, which is listed by parcel number in the county ordinance (available on the county website at www.co.goochland.va.us). That same ordinance states that the ad valorem tax cannot be less than 15 cents per hundred until the debt is paid off about 30 years in the future.

The evidence of yet more gross mismanagement of county business revealed at the Kinloch meeting amounts to the county biting the hand that feeds it.

The TCSD currently has about 700 customers, including businesses like CarMax, that use 680,000 gallons per day of the five million gallons per day current capacity. These simple statistics were not available until Charles assumed responsibility for the utility department in December. The former county engineer apparently didn’t even bother to set up a simple index card system for keeping track of customers.

Butler lamented the county’s decision to piggyback on the utility systems of neighboring jurisdictions instead of taking over the Department of Corrections facilities near Courthouse Village. He contended that option would have cost Goochland about $38 million instead of the $68 million and climbing obligation of the TCSD. “I was outvoted on that one,” said Butler.

Dickson has been reviewing the documents under which the TCSD was created and alluded to some anomalies between the signed documents and the understanding that the supervisors had as to the terms of those agreements.

One Kinloch resident asked if anyone in the TCSD had gotten a “special deal.”
He may have been referring to the Hickory Haven and Sammary Forest subdivisions off of Hockett Road in Centerville. Those communities, comprised of modest homes built about 40 years ago, were served by a community water system that was increasingly difficult to maintain. Many of those homeowners were longtime county residents now senior citizens on fixed incomes. Because the residents of those subdivisions needed another water source and the county needed users to keep moving water through the line, a deal was struck.

The county paid connection and other fees but the costs then became a lien on the property. The county will be paid back when those homes are sold. In the meantime, those homeowners pay the full ad valorem tax, even though they get only water.

There are other landowners in the TCSD whose property may not be served by public utilities for many years but pay the tax.

Once again, Goochland citizens and taxpayers were ill served by the former county administration.

Citizens must pay more attention to the workings of county government and get involved when something seems awry. As the residents of Kinloch know, when something smells bad, keep asking questions and don’t back down until the problem is fixed.