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Council approves $17.75M Little Creek Dam project, PFAS preconstruction funding among 10 appropriations
Summary
Council approved 10 appropriations including $3 million for PFAS compliance preconstruction and a $17,750,000 appropriation from Water Works bonds for Little Creek Dam improvements; attendees raised concerns about PFAS cost shifts to ratepayers.
At the Aug. 12 meeting, Newport News City Council approved a slate of 10 appropriations (H1–H10) by unanimous electronic vote. Highlights included:
• $4,500 in state grant revenue (Virginia Commission for the Arts) to support individual arts grants (H1) and multiple grant awards recommended by the Arts Commission (H2).
• $1,000,000 for preconstruction studies on a CSX embankment project and related remediation work (H4).
• $3,000,000 for preconstruction support of the PFAS compliance project (H6). City staff said Waterworks has piloted treatment technology since 2019 and plans to complete design, construction and startup by 2028.
• A series of Water Works bond authorizations, including $4,937,874 for property acquisition to support the Lee Hall complex master plan (H8), and $4,000,000 for West Hampton neighborhood distribution improvements (H7).
• $1,000,000 and $3,500,000 in bond authorizations for downtown initiatives (H9) and $17,750,000 from Water Works revenue bonds for Little Creek Dam Improvements (H10) to address seepage, erosion, riser and monitoring upgrades.
Citizen Chris Freiman raised a caution about PFAS funding, noting recent state vetoes of clean‑water bills and warning that operational costs could ultimately be shifted into customer base rates: "I just wanna put it on everybody's radar... governor Youngkin... vetoed every one of them except for 1 bill... which would take the operational costs... and be able to push it into citizens base rate." Council recorded the collective H1–H10 appropriation as "Motion carried" (7–0).
The Little Creek Dam project is intended to restore normal reservoir operations and enhance safety through structural and monitoring improvements; staff recommended approval of the appropriations to proceed with design and construction planning.
