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Committee advances two measures: council-staff appointment ordinance and Canoe Run CSO design-build resolution
Summary
The Governmental Operations Standing Committee forwarded two measures to the full council on July 16: Ordinance 2025-136 (amending council appointment procedures) and Resolution 2025-R01 (authorize design-build procurement for Canoe Run Park CSO storage tank).
The Governmental Operations Standing Committee advanced two measures to the full council on July 16 and approved several board appointment recommendations.
Ordinance 2025-136: The committee voted to advance an ordinance that would amend city code to move appointment authority for certain council office positions (council liaison, council policy analyst, council budget analyst and council public relations specialist) to the council chief of staff. Committee discussion framed the change as aligning the Council Chief of Staff's office with other appointing offices and removing appointments that do not require public confirmation. Public comment was opened and closed with no speakers. A motion to advance the ordinance passed in committee (recorded votes: Vice Chair: Aye; Chair Jordan: Aye). The motion passed.
Resolution 2025-R01 (Canoe Run Park CSO storage tank): Deputy Director of Public Utilities Robert Stone briefed the committee on the need to accelerate construction procurement for a combined-sewer-overflow (CSO) storage tank at Canoe Run Park. Stone said the Commonwealth of Virginia has appropriated $100 million in grant funding for Richmond's CSO program and funding must be obligated by mid-2026, so the administration proposed the design-build delivery method to accelerate schedule and reduce exposure to inflation. Procurement staff noted design-build remains a competitive selection process with price as a significant scoring factor. Public comment was opened and closed with no speakers. A motion to forward the resolution to Council with a recommendation to approve passed in committee (recorded votes: Vice Chair: Aye; Chair Jordan: Aye).
Board vacancies and appointments: Committee staff presented a set of vacancies and applications (audit committee, Clean City Commission, Sustainability and Resilience Commission). The committee voted to approve the slate of applicants presented for those vacancies; the committee recorded votes were: Vice Chair: Aye; Chair Jordan: Aye. The clerk will process the appointments and the mayor's office continues work to fill additional vacancies for commissions that are mayoral appointments.
Ending: The committee adjourned after a staff-report discussion of meeting scheduling and a request that the HR vacancy/quarterly report be added to the September or October agenda.
