Water torture

It just keeps dripping along

Discussions about water, public utility water, dripped on the conversation throughout the September 1 meeting of the Goochland Board of Supervisors.

A proposed rate increase for all county users of county water and sewer drew concerned citizens to both the afternoon business session and evening public hearing.

Revenues generated by the proposed rate increase were intended to pay for upkeep of the county utility system. It seems that no thought was ever given to future maintenance when the systems, especially the Tuckahoe Creek Service District, were created.

To their credit, the supervisors concluded that they need more information about the utility system before they vote on a rate increase. Another public hearing will be held before any rate changes are voted upon and an entirely new approach to the problem may emerge in the meantime.

Comments made by supervisors and citizens alike make it clear that few people understand the Goochland public utilities system, especially those who approved the agreements that created them in the first place. More troubling is that some supervisors seem unable to differentiate between capital cost and operating expense.

One citizen was concerned that the board was preparing to impose a county wide ad valorem tax on all public utility customers. Ad valorem taxes were never part of the proposed rate change.

As the details about the Goochland public utilities department (PUD) continue to float to the surface, the whole thing, especially the Tuckahoe Creek Service District, is starting to resemble a rotting onion peeled layer by putrid layer.

Perhaps that is why former county administrator Gregory K. Wolfrey slithered out of office. The county seems to have been run using a Louis XV, whose motto was “after me the flood,” operating system during his tenure. Things are starting to overflow.


The rate increase was first proposed by interim county administrator Lane Ramsey earlier this year. He explained to the board, several times collectively in public and no doubt individually in writing, that the terms of the $63 million borrowed by the county from the Virginia Resources Authority to finance construction of the TCSD require annual certification by the county administrator that the project is able to service its debt and generate sufficient user revenue to pay maintenance costs.

Ramsey indicated that his initial review of the TCSD and other county utilities revealed no maintenance provisions and insufficient operating revenue to fund necessary upkeep. These costs could include chemicals to treat wastewater, pipe and meter repair.

New county administrator Rebecca T. Dickson, like Ramsey undoubtedly accustomed to following proper government procedures, concurred with the proposed rate increase for all county users of public utilities, not just those in the TCSD.

Oddly, no supervisor asked if certifications signed by Wolfrey in previous years were accurate reflections of the fiscal condition of the TCSD.

District 5 Supervisor James Eads expressed his opposition to the universal increase. He also reiterated his position that there cannot be a unified county utility system until users in Courthouse Village have paid “their fair share” of the cost of building the infrastructure.

Detailed documentation of the PUD is so confusing that there is some question as to the number of systems that exist.

The TCSD, James River Sanitary District and Courthouse Village system are the three generally recognized systems. Then there are the separate arrangements for water systems made by residents and developers in the River Road corridor and the West Creek Business Park. Because these lines are interwoven like a nest of snakes there is some question about which source supplies which line.

There could be as many as 12 discrete utility systems in the county. At this point, no one seems to know for sure.

Arthur Myers, a retired attorney and longtime resident of Lower Tuckahoe, told the board that he was involved in negotiations between Lower Tuckahoe and Henrico County to obtain water service. Residents took matters into their own hands about 30 years ago after the board of supervisors, which included current chairman Andrew Pryor, allegedly told the Lower Tuckahoe citizens that the county did not want growth and would do nothing to provide public utilities. Myers presented Pryor with a copy of that contract to refresh his memory.

Myers and other River Road corridor residents said that they paid their own way, incurring no debt, to install their water lines and were outraged by the proposed rate increase. They objected to paying for the dysfunction of the TCSD with increased rates.

Water users in the TCSD pay a lower water rate because the TCSD funded a portion of the construction costs of the Henrico County water treatment plant and are not charged the capacity fee paid by other Goochland users of Henrico water.

If TCSD users had been charged the same rate from the outset, there might be enough money in the kitty to pay maintenance costs. No one seemed to look, or think, that far in advance.

Water and wastewater treatment in Courthouse Village are provided through agreements between the county and the Virginia Department of Corrections.

The big picture, however, is very confusing.

During the afternoon session, for instance, the supervisors declined to approve a credit for a homeowner in the Rivergate subdivision who is in the process of installing a bathroom that will require a one inch, rather than the customary residential five-eighths inch water line. This will provide a 50 gallon per minute flow of water.

That’s a lot of water for one bathroom. Average daily household use is considered to be 400 gallons. The one- inch line can consume 500 gallons in 10 minutes. If the water capacity for the River Road corridor is limited, where is all of that water for that bathroom going to come from? Is Rivergate somehow connected to TCSD water lines? Is someone using TCSD water without paying the ad valorem tax? If so, it is probably the result of confused plumbing and not a dastardly conspiracy, but it should be clarified.

Water capacity along River Road is very limited. One developer made his own arrangement with Henrico for an additional 100,000 gallons of water per day even though his project required only about 34,000 and gave the remainder to the county. Irrigation systems in new River Road communities cannot use public water.

The Partridge Hill community was given the last of that allocation a few years ago. Its residents paid the cost of installing the water lines and connecting to lines along River Road.

When the supervisors granted this allocation to Partridge Hill, one resident whose property is part of that subdivision declined to connect, but asked to be permitted to connect should his well fail. The board granted that request even though the water allocation was exhausted. Their attitude was that they would worry about that when the time came, assuming that Henrico would agree to an increase in the River Road water allocation.

Other residents in Partridge Hill believe that all available public water has been allocated and those who did not connect are out of luck.

As Ramsey noted in his initial discussion of utility rate increases, the county is still trying to figure out if some utility users in West Creek that are not part of the TCSD were improperly included in the calculations for maintenance costs.

Pryor tasked Dickson with obtaining more comprehensive information about the situation by the next board meeting.

While restructuring the TCSD debt might be possible, it will not fund operating expenses. Getting the TCSD back on track requires a serious effort by the county to attract development there and a paradigm shift in attitude by several board members.

But wait, as they say on late night cable advertising, there’s more.

During the afternoon session, the board voted to loan the TCSD no more than $3 million from the county’s general fund. The money will fund construction of a waterline between the water treatment plant on Gaskins Road and another line on Thamesford Way along Three Chopt Road in Henrico County.

A part of the original TCSD agreement with Henrico, the county is obligated to pay for the line. If it is not built, the county will not be able to obtain the eventual 25 million gallons on water per day it expects to need sometime in the next decade or so.

The line was not built during the initial construction phase because Henrico wanted to postpone construction until it widened that stretch of road and the TCSD ran out of money.

The good news is that the original cost estimate was about $5 million.

Thanks to District 2 supervisor William Quarles, Jr. for stipulating that the loan include a three percent interest rate to give taxpayers a little protection.

Quarles commended the speakers for their interest and civility during the public hearing. To function properly, democracy requires informed citizen participation.

The real mystery is why have the supervisors been so inattentive to public utilities, especially the TCSD?