Hopewell to consider options to improve stormwater runoff issues

HOPEWELL — Hopewell must address three things if it wants to bring its stormwater management up to standard, a consultant says: doubling the monthly fees paid by residents and businesses over the past nine years, slashing a years-old credit on fees given to the city’s industrial community and shifting the payment to property tax bills so that homeowners, not renters, are responsible.

Overall, the city council prefers the last two suggestions to the first. Why? Because after raising property and property taxes this year, some councillors don’t want residents to pay even more so soon.

“I would not be willing to increase the fees,” said Ward 6 Councillor Brenda Pelham.

Ward 2 Councillor Michael Harris wouldn’t do it either.

“If we don’t have difficulties, then we must be doing something right,” he said.

Fees and credits remain unchanged after a decade

The comments come after engineering firm CDM Smith presented the findings of an assessment of Hopewell’s stormwater management system, the agency responsible for managing the drainage network that directs runoff from heavy rains and storms away from roads and limits flooding and ponding. Since 2015, citizens, businesses and industries have been charged monthly fees tied to their water and trash bills, and while demand for improved infrastructure has increased significantly, those fees have not.

Residents pay a flat fee of $4. Businesses pay $4 for every 2,100 square feet of impervious or non-flowing surface. Industries get a 90 percent credit on their stormwater management fees, which the consulting firm estimates translates into an annual revenue reduction of $400,000.

David Mason, vice-president of CDM Smith who presented the assessment to council, noted that when the $4 fee was introduced nine years ago, the initial recommendation was to set it at $8.

“So we’ve seen over time that the revenue generated from those fees has not kept pace with the renewal of infrastructure,” Mason said. As a result, he added, there was “very little money” to make the necessary capital improvements.

In the 2024-25 budget, Hopewell has budgeted $905,000, including $25,000 for equipment upgrades. Maintenance of the current system accounts for $525,000 of that budget.

The assessment identified $13 million in investments needed over the next five years to improve infrastructure in four areas historically affected by flooding: Richmond and Petersburg streets, Wagner Avenue and Joseph Hooker Street, Heretick Avenue and Peterson’s Mill Dam. Mason noted there were “approximately 30 areas with drainage issues that have not been funded.”

Because of the unchanged fees, Mason said, Hopewell is operating the stormwater utility system at an annual deficit of between $1.3 million and $3.3 million.

What did the consultants recommend?

CDM Smith recommended that the council consider three options:

increase the fee from $4 to $8, as recommended nine years ago;

reduce the industrial credit rate from 90% to 20%, which is more in line with neighboring localities such as Petersburg and Colonial Heights; and

shift tax revenues to semi-annual property tax bills, which could ease the financial burden on renters and low-income residents.

A fourth suggestion — creating a tiered fare structure — was dropped because the city does not currently have the staff to operate one, Mason said.

While the increases or changes wouldn’t bring the system up to infrastructure standards all at once, Mason said they could reduce the deficit over time.

Since the assessment was on the agenda as a presentation, no action was taken by the board.

Mayor Johnny Partin agreed with his council colleagues that raising the fare to $8 was probably not an option right away. A more optimal solution would be to increase the fare gradually over time.

Like Pelham and Harris, Partin said he also favors reducing industrial credit to the same level as Hopewell’s neighbors.

“I always thought the industrial credit was extremely high, but we never had enough support (from previous councils) to abandon it,” Partin said. “Unfortunately, it’s infrastructure that’s paying for it today.”

Bill Atkinson (he/him/his) is an award-winning journalist covering current affairs, government and politics. You can contact him at [email protected] or on X (formerly known as Twitter) at @BAtkinson_PI.