Richmond releases final water outage assessment report
Richmond’s water treatment plant beside the James River. (Image courtesy City of Richmond)
The city released the final after-action assessment report from HNTB Corp. on the January water outage. This report wraps up HNTB’s findings, following preliminary and draft reports that were released in February and March.
The report expands on earlier short- and long-term recommendations that Richmond can implement to better respond to and prevent future crises, the city said in a release. Recommendations implemented so far include operating the water treatment plant in “summer mode” with dual power feeds on a regular basis, and establishing new emergency response protocols for inclement weather event.
The city said staffing standards have been upgraded, inspection protocols have been strengthened and about $5 million has been invested in plant repairs and upgrades. Next steps include improvements to backup power systems, valve controls, communication protocols, emergency operations and staff training.
The city is awaiting a separate assessment from Hagerty Consulting, an Illinois-based consulting firm tasked with reviewing and making recommendations to Richmond’s incident response procedures. That report will be made available at a later date.
City announces $13M in funds available for lower-income housing developments
Richmond’s Department of Housing and Community Development has issued a notice of funding availability for the city’s Equitable Affordable Housing Program, making up to $13 million available for the development and preservation of multifamily housing units in Richmond.
The notice is the city’s second under the program, which was established in 2023 under the five-year Capital Improvement Program for production and/or preservation of income-restricted housing, according to a release. The first round, in FY24, awarded $7 million to eight projects for construction of 822 units. This year’s funding includes $3 million carried over from FY24 and $10 million from FY25.
Applications for this round will be accepted in two phases. The first opened on April 3 and will close on May 16. The second will open on June 1, with applications accepted on a rolling basis thereafter. Details, scoring criteria and applications can be found here.
Budget vote, Sheetz on Broad on Henrico supervisors agenda
The proposed layout for Schell Brothers’ subdivision at Pouncey Tract and Shady Grove roads.
Henrico supervisors meet in regular session Tuesday at 6 p.m. Full agenda here.
The board is scheduled to vote on the proposed budget for fiscal year 2026. Public hearings are to be held prior to the vote.
Business includes rezoning and provisional-use permit requests from Pandev LLC for a Sheetz convenience store and gas station on 2.6 acres on the north side of West Broad Street east of Pine Grove Drive. The requests have been endorsed by the Planning Commission but were opposed by planning staff due to impacts expected to neighboring residential properties.
Schell Brothers seeks to rezone 9 acres northeast of Pouncey Tract and Shady Grove roads for a 26-home subdivision. A rezoning request from Godsey Properties for a 140-home subdivision off Creighton Road is being deferred to the April 10 meeting. The 52 acres are at the northern terminus of Westover Avenue and the eastern terminus of Waving Meadow Road.
Other items include a request from the Henrico Economic Development Authority to rezone 15 acres for a planned detoxification center at the Eastern Government Center complex on Nine Mile Road. The EDA would lease the center to Pyramid Healthcare, which is lined up to operate the facility.
St. Mary’s expansion, 140-home subdivision on Henrico planning agenda
The Henrico County Planning Commission meets Thursday at 6 p.m. Full agenda here.
On the agenda is Bon Secours’ plan for a $370 million expansion of St. Mary’s Hospital. The project would include a new six-level structure with a helipad atop it, renovations of existing facilities and other projects on the campus off Monument Avenue.
Deferred from last month is a rezoning request from Godsey Properties for a 140-home subdivision off Creighton Road. The 52 acres are at the northern terminus of Westover Avenue and the eastern terminus of Waving Meadow Road.
Henrico opens new police station in Varina
County officials cut the ribbon on Henrico Police’s South Station. (Henrico County photo)
Henrico County officials recently cut the ribbon to open the new Police South Station in the Varina District.
The nearly 20,000-square-foot station at 640 N. Airport Drive replaces the smaller Fair Oaks Station, which had operated out of leased space for nearly 20 years. The station includes offices and community rooms, a 911 training center for the Department of Emergency Communications and 5,000 square feet of classroom and training space for the police office’s K-9 unit.
Powhatan administrator moving to deputy role in Hanover
Bret Schardein
After a short stint as Powhatan’s county administrator, Bret Schardein is getting ready to assume a new role in Hanover County.
Schardein has been tapped to join Hanover as one of its deputy county administrators. He is coming from Powhatan, where he has been county administrator since 2023.
Schardein will start his new gig July 1. As a deputy county administrator, he will oversee social services and the community services board, among other departments, and also be a liaison to local and state human services agencies and regional projects, per a county news release.
Schardein joined Powhatan as community development director in 2016. He later served as assistant county administrator and deputy county administrator in Powhatan before becoming the county’s chief executive.
He is a Hanover resident and currently a member of the Board of Zoning Appeals. He has degrees from VCU.
Richmond releases final water outage assessment report
Richmond’s water treatment plant beside the James River. (Image courtesy City of Richmond)
The city released the final after-action assessment report from HNTB Corp. on the January water outage. This report wraps up HNTB’s findings, following preliminary and draft reports that were released in February and March.
The report expands on earlier short- and long-term recommendations that Richmond can implement to better respond to and prevent future crises, the city said in a release. Recommendations implemented so far include operating the water treatment plant in “summer mode” with dual power feeds on a regular basis, and establishing new emergency response protocols for inclement weather event.
The city said staffing standards have been upgraded, inspection protocols have been strengthened and about $5 million has been invested in plant repairs and upgrades. Next steps include improvements to backup power systems, valve controls, communication protocols, emergency operations and staff training.
The city is awaiting a separate assessment from Hagerty Consulting, an Illinois-based consulting firm tasked with reviewing and making recommendations to Richmond’s incident response procedures. That report will be made available at a later date.
City announces $13M in funds available for lower-income housing developments
Richmond’s Department of Housing and Community Development has issued a notice of funding availability for the city’s Equitable Affordable Housing Program, making up to $13 million available for the development and preservation of multifamily housing units in Richmond.
The notice is the city’s second under the program, which was established in 2023 under the five-year Capital Improvement Program for production and/or preservation of income-restricted housing, according to a release. The first round, in FY24, awarded $7 million to eight projects for construction of 822 units. This year’s funding includes $3 million carried over from FY24 and $10 million from FY25.
Applications for this round will be accepted in two phases. The first opened on April 3 and will close on May 16. The second will open on June 1, with applications accepted on a rolling basis thereafter. Details, scoring criteria and applications can be found here.
Budget vote, Sheetz on Broad on Henrico supervisors agenda
The proposed layout for Schell Brothers’ subdivision at Pouncey Tract and Shady Grove roads.
Henrico supervisors meet in regular session Tuesday at 6 p.m. Full agenda here.
The board is scheduled to vote on the proposed budget for fiscal year 2026. Public hearings are to be held prior to the vote.
Business includes rezoning and provisional-use permit requests from Pandev LLC for a Sheetz convenience store and gas station on 2.6 acres on the north side of West Broad Street east of Pine Grove Drive. The requests have been endorsed by the Planning Commission but were opposed by planning staff due to impacts expected to neighboring residential properties.
Schell Brothers seeks to rezone 9 acres northeast of Pouncey Tract and Shady Grove roads for a 26-home subdivision. A rezoning request from Godsey Properties for a 140-home subdivision off Creighton Road is being deferred to the April 10 meeting. The 52 acres are at the northern terminus of Westover Avenue and the eastern terminus of Waving Meadow Road.
Other items include a request from the Henrico Economic Development Authority to rezone 15 acres for a planned detoxification center at the Eastern Government Center complex on Nine Mile Road. The EDA would lease the center to Pyramid Healthcare, which is lined up to operate the facility.
St. Mary’s expansion, 140-home subdivision on Henrico planning agenda
The Henrico County Planning Commission meets Thursday at 6 p.m. Full agenda here.
On the agenda is Bon Secours’ plan for a $370 million expansion of St. Mary’s Hospital. The project would include a new six-level structure with a helipad atop it, renovations of existing facilities and other projects on the campus off Monument Avenue.
Deferred from last month is a rezoning request from Godsey Properties for a 140-home subdivision off Creighton Road. The 52 acres are at the northern terminus of Westover Avenue and the eastern terminus of Waving Meadow Road.
Henrico opens new police station in Varina
County officials cut the ribbon on Henrico Police’s South Station. (Henrico County photo)
Henrico County officials recently cut the ribbon to open the new Police South Station in the Varina District.
The nearly 20,000-square-foot station at 640 N. Airport Drive replaces the smaller Fair Oaks Station, which had operated out of leased space for nearly 20 years. The station includes offices and community rooms, a 911 training center for the Department of Emergency Communications and 5,000 square feet of classroom and training space for the police office’s K-9 unit.
Powhatan administrator moving to deputy role in Hanover
Bret Schardein
After a short stint as Powhatan’s county administrator, Bret Schardein is getting ready to assume a new role in Hanover County.
Schardein has been tapped to join Hanover as one of its deputy county administrators. He is coming from Powhatan, where he has been county administrator since 2023.
Schardein will start his new gig July 1. As a deputy county administrator, he will oversee social services and the community services board, among other departments, and also be a liaison to local and state human services agencies and regional projects, per a county news release.
Schardein joined Powhatan as community development director in 2016. He later served as assistant county administrator and deputy county administrator in Powhatan before becoming the county’s chief executive.
He is a Hanover resident and currently a member of the Board of Zoning Appeals. He has degrees from VCU.
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