[{"_1":2,"_99":-5,"_100":-5},"loaderData",{"_3":4,"_26":27},"root",{"_5":6,"_17":10,"_18":19,"_20":21,"_22":10,"_23":-5,"_24":-5,"_25":10},"user",{"_7":8,"_9":10,"_11":10,"_12":-5,"_13":-5,"_14":15,"_16":-5},"roles",[],"isAuthenticated",false,"isPremium","planName","subscriptionStatus","featureFlags",{},"insightsBudget","isDevelopmentHost","userPreferences",{},"recaptchaSiteKey","6LcvOJcUAAAAAHsB-gPGfGktcRlKpH7OTIU_dMTD","isImpersonating","impersonation","affiliateStatus","isFreedomPortal","routes/v2/article/layout",{"_28":29,"_30":31},"notFound",true,"relatedArticles",[32,75,87],{"_33":34,"_35":36,"_37":38,"_39":40,"_41":42,"_43":44,"_45":46,"_47":48,"_49":50,"_51":52,"_53":54,"_55":56,"_57":58,"_59":60,"_61":62,"_63":64,"_65":66,"_67":68,"_69":70,"_71":68,"_72":73,"_74":73},"mediaId",6661721,"mediaKeyId","2405742-aa66a0bf2bef63579365eacb10b8ff21","parentId",2405742,"title","Preliminary HNTB review finds power-transfer failures behind Richmond water plant outage; city outlines equipment, staffing and SOP changes","audioSeconds",2207,"startMs",132000,"endMs",2339000,"viewUrl","/Search/View?dp=1&key=2405742-aa66a0bf2bef63579365eacb10b8ff21&start=132&end=2339","thumbnailUrl","https://assets.pipeline.soar.com/2405742-aa66a0bf2bef63579365eacb10b8ff21/thumbnail_132000.jpg","articleUrl","/articles/6661721/Richmond-City-Independent-City/Virginia/Preliminary-HNTB-review-finds-power-transfer-failures-behind-Richmond-water-plant-outage-city-outlines-equipment-staffing-and-SOP-changes","mediaUrl","https://secure.pipeline.soar.com/6661721-31c899eef3f251800833741c6e58043e/orig.mp4?Expires=1770960395&Signature=PSd4u~ADHwHJ3rcbxY6y~KZHH6pBFlcLsx9kd7oCfVF-kN0InDqygObExdmR~7Cmq3ag59v8Wd~LpwkJNI1kadQu2mE5K-y1c3d0bl9nnA-JO7Lxkw7UMyWArFhli4y9Bx2W583XG~Mk1QsHO5ARBojeRCKJqDZg4FSqu3mLnhH7dbm6zAvwZvJv5irzxPfI7Ta4vDq-TpbBv705UuXrmBjXg65XTmmGHiDZv82cbXWupLPVNG9dBE-s9UH-IhGY9UdsCFLeFmHls1JIVW~O7XotpvTCF83D5cuvG-If1U1ks1Spb4AU2TZUpGAPfM-4r9aHpq4PPAfi5RwtTscLLQ__&Key-Pair-Id=KUT5TJCACFTXG","author","Richmond City","date","2025-02-26T00:00:00Z","article","A preliminary review by engineering consultant HNTB concluded the Richmond water treatment plant suffered a complete loss of power after a bus-tie failure prevented transfer from the primary feed to the secondary feed, hitting the plant’s winter-mode configuration and contributing to a nearly 36-hour outage, consultants told the Governmental Operations Standing Committee.

That finding, delivered during a committee presentation, said the plant’s effluent valves were not closed by the site’s uninterrupted power supply and on-site diesel pumps were insufficient to prevent basement flooding that damaged equipment. “The water treatment plant experienced a complete loss of power,” the HNTB presenter said during the meeting.

Why this matters: Committee members pressed city staff about why the plant had been operating in a “winter mode” that HNTB said left the facility with a single point of failure. Staff told the panel the utility will operate the plant in a “summer mode” going forward to provide built-in redundancy and reduce the risk that a single component failure will cut power to the whole plant.

The preliminary report and the city’s staff presentation listed several near-term and medium-term remedies. Recommendations summarized to the committee included developing a bus-tie failure plan, installing filter effluent-valve UPS units with a minimum one-hour runtime, installing and testing supervisory control and data acquisition UPS capacity, updating about 53 standard operating procedures (SOPs) and conducting routine staff training, expanding emergency operation plans, raising vulnerable electrical systems out of basements where practical, and adding an automatic transfer switch for the backup generator.

City timeline and staffing: Interim Director (now permanent) Anthony Scott Morris told the committee the generator/automatic-transfer-switch project is already underway and is projected for substantial completion by November 2025. Morris said the utility’s typical staffing is three operators per shift and DPU is reviewing staffing plans to increase to four operators per shift as a redundancy measure.

SOPs and training: The utility said it is revising SOPs and will roll out roughly 53 updated procedures over the coming months. “We are going to be doing multiple training exercises a year going forward,” the presenter said, describing plans for tabletop and field tests to build staff “muscle memory” for emergencies.

Reporting and follow-up: HNTB provided a preliminary report to the city and staff said an interim report was expected within roughly a week and a final report within about a month. City staff said HNTB has been given access to staff interviews, FOIA-produced documents and as-built drawings and that the consultants had requested and received additional documents used in the preliminary analysis.

Costs and documentation: Council members asked when the public would receive an itemized accounting of expenses tied to the outage and subsequent repairs. City staff said some project costs are still being incurred and estimated an interim financial summary could be provided in April 2025 with a more complete accounting by November 2025, after the generator and valve actuator projects are complete. At a recent council meeting the mayor had cited roughly $5,000,000 in anticipated spend related to some aspects of the response; staff characterized that figure as an estimate tied to project planning rather than a final tally.

Regulatory and systemic questions: Council members raised broader questions about whether the outage was preventable and whether past recommendations—such as those from a 2022 EPA review—had been implemented. Staff told the committee that many items identified in earlier reports had been addressed, were underway, or had been planned for future projects, but staff did not claim every past recommendation had been fully closed.

Next steps: Committee members requested that HNTB and utility staff return with more detailed interim findings and a schedule for implementation and costs. Staff also committed to continuing SOP rollouts, annual field testing of UPS systems and to operating the plant in summer mode to retain redundant feeds.

Provenance: The account above is drawn from the HNTB presentation and the committee’s subsequent Q&A and staff updates delivered during the Governmental Operations Standing Committee meeting.","mediaType","Video","parentTitle","Richmond City - Governmental Operations Standing Committee Meeting - February 26, 2025, at 1_00 p.m. - Feb 26, 2025","oneSentenceSummary","A preliminary review by HNTB concluded the Richmond water treatment plant’s nearly 36-hour outage stemmed from a bus-tie power-transfer failure and operational gaps; city staff said they will shift the plant to a summer-mode configuration, expand SOPs and pursue equipment upgrades including an automatic transfer switch for the backup generator.","taxTitle","Richmond City (Independent City), Virginia","taxId",5755,"location","headline","","shortSummary",{"_33":76,"_35":36,"_37":38,"_39":77,"_41":78,"_43":79,"_45":80,"_47":81,"_49":82,"_51":83,"_53":84,"_55":56,"_57":58,"_59":85,"_61":62,"_63":64,"_65":86,"_67":68,"_69":70,"_71":68,"_72":73,"_74":73},6661711,"Council members press for more audit transparency and call for overtime and vacancy data in March committee session",642,2710000,3352000,"/Search/View?dp=1&key=2405742-aa66a0bf2bef63579365eacb10b8ff21&start=2710&end=3352","https://assets.pipeline.soar.com/2405742-aa66a0bf2bef63579365eacb10b8ff21/thumbnail_2710000.jpg","/articles/6661711/Richmond-City-Independent-City/Virginia/Council-members-press-for-more-audit-transparency-and-call-for-overtime-and-vacancy-data-in-March-committee-session","https://secure.pipeline.soar.com/6661711-a2b461927e54d5b948287edcb96cdb71/orig.mp4?Expires=1770960395&Signature=dZUwOYahCZksfLpTkh83xUA-jAK4ijDpijC5YYh0ETbtE0WUfPgEF-vuJfJLsHtXvFRtqMXYcDYLtSzTG2wIP~yUpG3Y7jQzYt0KfJi1n5nAOmv1IRNwNgyHJVmm9PmvK1iSXCmp1EKAK4cBPexnJ2iGQtKrCpaD15YXZaQaGv5OQK4-VvvyxmJOmPivj06mxxODHignjrkcc4zyK0gl1SYTm~KmWn6fs0roolo9HncsWNwAkunrL1Jk4mvSh~e~MPdTKrNevGOFPf4JtBgsY9gVUkUX2VQn8GQprPL1nZWBWn4zNrp4OoIZU-mvptGfLcamr7KG1BlhKYhAa8rnFg__&Key-Pair-Id=KUT5TJCACFTXG","Members of the Governmental Operations Standing Committee urged the administration and the city auditor’s office to increase transparency about open audit recommendations and to make monthly overtime and vacancy data available to the committee and the public ahead of the March budget discussions.

Committee discussion: At the meeting the city auditor described the audit committee’s role and a new quarterly recommendation-tracking process that reports open, closed and in-process recommendations by department and priority (high/medium/low). The auditor said the office has moved to more continuous, real-time follow-up on recommendations and that quarterly reports show which recommendations remain open and which have been implemented.

Council interest and request: Several members asked that the Governmental Operations committee receive a short, standardized “audit status” brief whenever departments present to the committee so council can track high-priority open recommendations without waiting for the audit committee’s quarterly cycle. \"The more sunlight we can bring to this, the better,\" one councilmember said.

Overtime and vacancy data: Council members also raised concerns after reviewing a monthly overtime report that showed high overtime pay in January for some employees. One member cited a January entry showing a single-employee overtime payout of about $25,000 in that month and requested that the committee receive prior months’ overtime reports and a two-year trend as part of the March meeting packet. Members asked that overtime reports be posted publicly and that the format include reason codes or explanations (for example: emergency response, vacancies, or policy/managerial decisions) to help the committee evaluate whether overtime patterns point to staffing gaps or episodic crises.

Administrative response: Administration staff said the monthly overtime report has historically been submitted to the committee’s chair and vice chair and pledged to send the report to the full committee and to work with Human Resources on availability. The auditor said a deeper overtime-compliance audit is on the office’s plan for the year to examine root causes and policy effectiveness.

Next steps: Committee members requested that the March agenda include a focused discussion on vacancies and overtime trends (with a two-year look-back where possible), and a pilot approach to include an audit-status summary when departments present to Gov Ops. Staff and the auditor agreed to follow up and to provide the requested documents prior to the next meeting.

Provenance: The summary is drawn from committee discussion of the audit committee process, the auditor’s remarks about recommendation tracking, and members’ requests concerning monthly overtime reports and vacancy tracking.","Council members asked that standing committee agendas include audit follow-ups and requested that monthly overtime and vacancy reports be posted publicly and discussed during the March meeting as the city enters its budget season.",{"_33":88,"_35":36,"_37":38,"_39":89,"_41":90,"_43":91,"_45":92,"_47":93,"_49":94,"_51":95,"_53":96,"_55":56,"_57":58,"_59":97,"_61":62,"_63":64,"_65":98,"_67":68,"_69":70,"_71":68,"_72":73,"_74":73},6661716,"RVA 3-1-1 director outlines call center upgrades, staffing increases and new customer tools",1236,2496000,3732000,"/Search/View?dp=1&key=2405742-aa66a0bf2bef63579365eacb10b8ff21&start=2496&end=3732","https://assets.pipeline.soar.com/2405742-aa66a0bf2bef63579365eacb10b8ff21/thumbnail_2496000.jpg","/articles/6661716/Richmond-City-Independent-City/Virginia/RVA-3-1-1-director-outlines-call-center-upgrades-staffing-increases-and-new-customer-tools","https://secure.pipeline.soar.com/6661716-1b8a00fb805a4307db98feefd777f4e1/orig.mp4?Expires=1770960395&Signature=dmqYGO3LOZ9LB68QQ8x3geOAZSLhjvMjA2xNXoflEaBdvR4W79gEFX1bZwhsEZkSLUjytkBL19aoDGFCzpFxV2p5jbaUg6hh7WzepjzXCaS19ErmN1TfZX2logIOadWeFP-KtjFm86qyhXl-SRYdoUgZ9eE9vfyo2AfKT6fSY9ZfcJBAI2Q9IrqmyjTFJrfPvnbx8h4kJHtLDx8GUsO1E~XKkSaKPJuXga7zC-vFetgzKthTzqHUD6xcO1DsM~vb~f5haCAMlALFZ2F6IPcuBGgP7PKbIAKxdUVsc74oTmESXabxEb1x5zSCRHXz0mRcwpTNjRg06j2sXHMlk5kj0Q__&Key-Pair-Id=KUT5TJCACFTXG","Peter Brielle, director of Citizen Service & Response (RVA 3-1-1), told the Governmental Operations Standing Committee that the city’s 3-1-1 operation has increased staffing and technology capability and is pursuing further improvements to reduce hold times and improve departmental responsiveness.

Brielle said RVA 3-1-1 handled over 200,000 calls in 2024 and logged roughly 75,000 service requests in the 3-1-1 system that year. He described recent upgrades including a new contact-center platform, an option for callers to request callbacks (enabled in November), extended weekday hours to 7 p.m., Saturday morning availability and the rollout of an after-call survey. “In answer to the question, how is the service your agent provided today on a scale of 1 to 5? 1,166 requests with a score of 4.6,” Brielle said, noting very positive early customer-feedback scores.

Why this matters: Council members and staff emphasized that routing resident requests through 3-1-1 provides a time-stamped, auditable record that helps departments track, prioritize and close requests. Brielle said about 30% of requests now come via self-service (portal or mobile app) and that finance-related workflows have improved response times when routed through 3-1-1.

Current pressure points: Brielle said 2025 call volume has risen markedly since January, from previous daily averages around 600–800 calls to more than 1,200 calls per day in recent weeks. He attributed some of the increase to the January water distribution disruptions, a new family crisis fund request volume and routine finance billing season. The 3-1-1 team increased capacity to handle about 900 calls per day but is monitoring whether the new high-volume trend requires incremental staffing.

Operational improvements and limits: The director described ongoing efforts to reduce ‘closed-with-no-comment’ outcomes by strengthening SOPs with departments, to pilot integration with public-safety dispatch so 3-1-1 can relay real-time field requests, and to onboard business systems analysts to support data and process work. Brielle said full integration with some enforcement systems (EnerGov) is presently limited; when integration is not available, 3-1-1 closes the citizen request and places the department case number and inspector contact in the closure note.

Access to data: Council members were told that district- and neighborhood-level insight dashboards are available to council members and their liaisons via the 3-1-1 portal’s Insights tab. Brielle offered targeted training for liaisons and civic associations on using 3-1-1 data.

Next steps: 3-1-1 will continue to monitor call-volume trends and may propose incremental staffing if the higher volume persists. The office is moving to migrate more services into the 3-1-1 digital workflow and to pilot dispatch integration; both will require technology work and operational scoping.

Provenance: Account drawn from the RVA 3-1-1 presentation and subsequent committee Q&A at the Governmental Operations Standing Committee meeting.","Peter Brielle, director of RVA 3-1-1 (Citizen Service & Response), told the Governmental Operations Committee the city expanded staffing, added call-back technology, extended hours and online tools but is seeing a post-January call surge that may require further capacity.","actionData","errors"]

Article not found

Preliminary HNTB review finds power-transfer failures behind Richmond water plant outage; city outlines equipment, staffing and SOP changes

Council members press for more audit transparency and call for overtime and vacancy data in March committee session

RVA 3-1-1 director outlines call center upgrades, staffing increases and new customer tools