RICHMOND, Va. — Elected leaders from Richmond and Henrico County met Monday for the first time since January's water crisis to discuss the future of the region's drinking water system.
Richmond Mayor Danny Avula requested the meeting to explore the possible creation of a regional advisory group focused on modernizing Richmond's water treatment plant.
"I'm hoping this was a meeting of good faith. I personally and my colleagues felt that this needed to happen," said Roscoe Cooper, vice chair of the Henrico County Board of Supervisors.
While the city has already outlined five-year and 10-year plans for critical improvements to the water treatment plant, Avula says what role the county will play in the future will be up to them.
"We are in good shape now and I feel that the work that Dr. Morris has done and the team he's brought along to replace pumps, to replace filters, to map out the short-term investment plan to work on the operation side, I do feel good about where we are now but that doesn't change the fact that we're going to need ongoing investments to really minimize the chances of anything bad happening again," Avula said.
Current contracts exist between Richmond and surrounding counties, with Henrico being Richmond's biggest water customer, paying $13 to $14 million a year for services.
Henrico leaders recently invested $50 million to improve the county's own water source for Henrico's east end. Despite this investment, Cooper believes a regional advisory group would be beneficial.
"It will help us be collaborative and communicative. We'll all be on the same page. We also need to expand it; we need to have business customers as well as we need to have residents on there for transparency so there can be a voice for those who are directly impacted," Cooper said.
While parts of the conversation were contentious, both sides viewed the meeting as successful overall. Whether a larger partnership will develop depends on decisions from both the city's and county's elected leaders.
"Would it actually get us where we need to get quicker and would it save the rate payers money for there to be external investment, I don't see how it wouldn't, but I think that's what the elected bodies will need to see for them to make a decision," Avula said.
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