While the Rivanna Water and Sewer Authority catches the first wave of feedback today from an independent technical review team (ITRT) about phased construction of the Ragged Mountain Dam, the Citizens for a Sustainable Water Supply Plan (CSWSP) will have to wait until tomorrow to wade in for a listen. The group e-mailed media outlets this morning to inform them of an 11am protest and conference outside of the RWSA office, where members of the review team will meet with representatives from Black & Veatch enineering firm.
The ITRT meeting follows news that Charlottesville Mayor Dave Norris met with the director of the state’s Department of Environmental Quality on October 22—a meeting unknown to many other government officials until November 5. Two members of CSWSP accompanied Norris to Richmond but told C-VILLE the group was not involved with the meeting. Norris defended the meeting as innocuous, and called criticism of his action "manufactured controversy."
The City of Charlottesville hired Black & Veatch to study costs and concerns associated with repairing the Ragged Mountain Dam after Schnabel Engineering put cost estimates for a new earthen dam between $28 million and $36 million. Black & Veatch estimated that a 13′ increase to the existing dam, a phased build-up favored by city representatives on the RWSA board, could cost between $8.8 million and $12 million.
"This is a technical review of a study commissioned, paid for and supported by Charlottesville City Council and the members [of the ITRT] are professionals with a great deal of experience in peer review and public presentations," writes CSWSP member Bob Fenwick. "The citizen observer would in no way hinder their task."
In his e-mail, Fenwick writes that RWSA Executive Director Tom Frederick likened the meeting to "a bid opening or a discussion of personnel matters which the public has no right to attend."
The ITRT meets with Black & Veatch representatives today and possibly tomorrow, prior to a 6pm meeting of the RWSA Board of Directors. During the Tuesday meeting, two members of the ITRT will present their findings.
"We will not know until sometime during the day of the Board meeting if the panel will have time to put their findings and recommendations into a written report, but they have assured us they will make a presentation to the Board," writes Frederick. There is a possibility that a report will be completed prior to the 6pm meeting, but no information is included in meeting documents currently posted online. Frederick adds that findings and recommendations from the ITRT will be made at Tuesday’s public board meeting.