Local leaders define dredging task force membership, charge & timeline

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On June 30, 2008, four local officials met to review the responsibilities and membership of a proposed task force to study maintenance dredging at the South Fork Rivanna Reservoir.  Charlottesville City Council was represented by Mayor Dave Norris, the Albemarle County Board of Supervisors was represented by Chairman Ken Boyd, the Albemarle County Service Authority was represented by Chairman Don Wagner, and the Rivanna Water and Sewer Authority (RWSA) was represented by its Chairman Mike Gaffney.

The dredging task force is being created as the result of recent resolutions passed by City and County officials as well as action taken by the RWSA to allocate up to $300,000 for a dredging study.

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These four officials reached consensus on the membership of the task force as well as the specific issues to be addressed in its work.  The eleven member task force is expected to meet over the next four months presenting their recommendations to a joint meeting of the four bodies in November 2008.
 
The task force will work in parallel to the RWSA's efforts to qualify a consultant to undertake a future dredging study. A request for qualifications is being released by the authority in July 2008. The recommendations of the task force are expected to shape the final scope of work to be undertaken by a qualified consultant.

(L to R: Mike Gaffney, RWSA; Charlottesville Mayor Dave Norris; Supervisor Ken Boyd; and Don Wagner, ACSA)

Early in the almost one hour meeting, Albemarle County Supervisor Ken Boyd (Rivanna) and Charlottesville Mayor Dave Norris made clear their differing views as to whether the task force recommendations would potentially change elements of the fifty year Community Water Supply Plan. 

“The big question here is whether or not anything coming out of this task force would impact our fifty year plan?” asked Boyd.  “I think I speak for my Board on this… that it should not.  This is in addition to the Ragged Mountain plan and the pipeline plan and that should really be taken off the table [so the task force] does not think we are studying an alternative to that.” Mike Gaffney and Don Wagner expressed their agreement with Boyd. 

Then Mayor Norris outlined the City’s view.  “I may be the loan lone one out here but, I do support, and our Council certainly supports, the fundamentals of the plan, but my feeling has been… that if we end up doing some maintenance dredging [that] is going to free up water supply, I don’t see why we wouldn’t factor that into the equation in terms of how much additional capacity we pay for at Ragged Mountain,” said Norris.  “I don’t see that as a way to undermine the fundamentals of the plan.  I am talking about [seeing] if there is a way to save a few million dollars and a few thousand trees at Ragged Mountain.”

The officials discussed the possible issues that the task force would explore and reached consensus that the first question they should address is "Should we dredge and if so why?"  Two other possible work areas were identified:

• Confirm the list of public resources of the reservoir and define the outcome desired for each resource
• Identify studies desired by the dredging consulting team
• Click here to download complete memo

The task force will have eleven members made up of representatives from local governing bodies, non-profits, and users and property owners at the reservoir.  Each of the following will be asked to nominate a representative to the task force:

1. Charlottesville City Council
2. Albemarle County Board of Supervisors
3. Albemarle County Service Authority
4. Rivanna Water and Sewer Authority
5. One representative from The Nature Conservancy/Rivanna River Basin Commission
6. League of Women Voters
7. Ivy Creek Foundation
8. Citizens for a Sustainable Water Supply Plan
9. Charlottesville Regional Chamber of Commerce
10. One citizen representing property owners around South Fork Rivanna Reservoir
11. One representative from the University of Virginia as an entity with “recreational interests”

As the officials considered how much time to give the task force to make recommendations, the differing perspectives of Norris and Boyd were once again apparent.  “What we don’t want to have happen is anybody to see this as a delaying tactic where by the time this group gets done with their work and the consultant gets done with their work, the train has already left the station on the infrastructure improvements related to the fifty year plan,” said Norris. 

“I think that train has already left the station and should keep moving,” responded Boyd.

“I think it has left the station in terms of the policy, but in terms of actually constructing the dam, thankfully we have got time,” said Norris.  After the meeting, Mayor Norris told Charlottesville Tomorrow that he was satisfied that the work of the task force could be done in a timeframe that could shape decisions about how large a dam to build at Ragged Mountain.

Frederick told the group that the recent resolutions passed by the City and the County gave the RWSA the “green light” to continue with the preparations for the foundation of new Ragged Mountain Dam.  The foundation construction should begin before the end of 2008 and the dam design will be completed in early 2009 with construction bids for the dam being issued in Summer 2009.

Brian Wheeler

TIMELINE FOR PODCAST

• 02:05 – Call to order by RWSA Chairman Mike Gaffney
• 03:25 – Gaffney suggests discussion start with memo on “Consideration of responsibilities of the South Fork Reservoir Task Force.”
• 05:30 – Supervisor Ken Boyd asks how recommendations of task force will relate to work of consultant to be hired by RWSA.  Says that it needs to be clear what task force is being asked to do.
• 07:23 – RWSA Executive Director Tom Frederick describes request for qualifications for dredging consultant to be sent out in early July.
• 08:16 – City Manager Gary O’Connell mentions how work of task force and selection of dredging consultant was expected to happen in parallel.
• 08:53 – Mayor Dave Norris suggests studies of the South Fork Rivanna Reservoir could be done in two phases.  First an immediate bathymetric and soil study followed later by a broader study of maintenance dredging.
• 10:35 – Gaffney opens up discussion of the composition of the task force.  Three options were presented in the memo from Tom Frederick.
• 11:54 – Boyd says he can support a larger task force with various community members and non-profits involved, but encourages specificity on scope of work for the task force.
• 12:10 – Boyd says the work of the task force should not impact fifty year community water supply plan.  Wagner and Gaffney agree.
• 12:32 – Norris expresses interest in factoring dredging results at South Fork into calculation for how much new capacity to build at Ragged Mountain.
• 15:03 – Gaffney opens up discussion on possible issues to be addressed by the task force
• 15:31 – Boyd suggests that an item missing from the list of issues is a determination as to whether dredging is necessary for the water supply plan
• 16:10 – Gaffney and Frederick describe how their studies estimate that the South Fork Rivanna Reservoir could continue to be used as a water supply source, with diminished capacity, even without maintenance dredging.
• 25:11 – Gaffney asks about permits required for dredging operations and whether that will be examined by task force vs. consultants.
• 25:41 – Frederick describes likelihood of getting dredging permits from Virginia DEQ and US Army Corps of Engineers.  Frederick reflects on failure in 2002 to get a permit for a different type of dredging operation.
• 27:40 – Norris restates consensus on issues to be evaluated by task force
• 29:11 – Albemarle County Service Authority Chairman Don Wagner asks who the task for will report to and who will make decisions on their recommendations.
• 31:00 – Boyd recommends that task force have at least one public hearing
• 31:19 – Norris opens of discussion of task force membership.  Eleven representatives were ultimately identified.
• 39:50 – Boyd asks for a specific timeline for the work of the task force.  A four month timeline was selected with a final report to be made in November 2008.
• 41:02 – Norris indicates he wants the task force to have time to inform the specifications of the fifty year water supply plan
• 42:52 – Norris asks Frederick to update the group on the timing of the Ragged Mountain dam design and construction
• 46:07 – Gaffney restates membership of the task force