CSO Bill Advances
By Conor Reilly, The News & Advance, Lynchburg, Va.
Feb. 1–RICHMOND — A legislative effort to restore state money that would help Lynchburg pay for a multi-million-dollar project to clean up its sewer system unanimously passed a House of Delegates committee on Wednesday.
Last year, the Republican-dominated House unexpectedly yanked $3.75 million headed for Lynchburg from the state budget. That prompted some to say the move was political punishment directed at the newly elected Democratic Lynchburg Del. Shannon Valentine.
Wednesday, Valentine was before the House Agriculture Committee to argue that Lynchburg, and also Richmond, should get $35 million over the next 10 years to help pay for their large-scaled combined sewer overflow projects.
“Both (cities) have borrowed to the threshold,” Valentine said.
The two localities combined have paid more than $350 million to date on the projects, she said, and have among the highest sewer rates in the state due to the problem.
Sponsored by Valentine, the bill easily passed the House Agriculture Committee on Wednesday. It will face a major hurdle in the House Appropriations Committee, where it now heads for debate.
The city is under federal mandate to separate storm water and sewer lines because the combined system pours raw sewage into the James River, and eventually into the Chesapeake Bay, during heavy rains.
Asked if she thought she was the victim of political punishment last year, Valentine said, “I never said that.”
“I never heard a good reason why Richmond received funding and Lynchburg was left out,” she said.
Valentine’s bill also would give Richmond an identical $3.5 million over 10 years. Until last year, in any year that Richmond received state money, so did Lynchburg.
“I’m hopeful that appropriations will act on this because Delegate Valentine has worked very hard on this, as has the entire Lynchburg delegation,” said Del. Ben Cline, R-Rockbridge, who serves on the Agriculture Committee. “I hope that we can get a resolution to this problem this year.”
City officials estimate that it will cost about $300 million to complete the CSO project.
Sen. Steve Newman, R-Lynchburg, sponsored a similar bill in the Senate, where it passed unanimously.
Gov. Timothy M. Kaine has called for a total of $6.7 million in this year’s budget amendments to go toward Lynchburg’s CSO project. That money must be approved by the General Assembly.
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Copyright (c) 2007, The News & Advance, Lynchburg, Va.
Distributed by McClatchy-Tribune Business News.
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