Goochland lures high-earners - Offical Contest Rules

6
Thursday
June 24, 2010
The pipes are calling
So what is going on with the pipes in the Tuckahoe Creek Service
District?
The answer will depend on who you ask.
Over the past few months I’ve been posing questions about the pipe
installation of 2004-2006, and I have received an array of answers.
What is interesting is that many of the reasons, and documents, used by
Bryant Electric, in that company’s quest to prove to Goochland County that
the pipes it had chosen to lay were going to at some point rebel, were cast aside
by county administration in 2005.
But now, when we have a new county administrator, county attorney and
utilities director, those same documents are being embraced and circulated to
those who hold the promise of a warranty, to prove that, hey!
Maybe that contractor wasn’t just trying to pull one over on the county
when it asked the Board of Supervisors in 2005, “Should we continue on this
path with FRP or change to ductile iron?”
Bryant Electric added, yeah, ductile iron pipe material costs are higher. But
staying with FRP material will entail additional remediation and increased
long-term reliability costs.
Maybe, just maybe, there was a bit of truth in Bryant Electric’s claim.
Maybe those Flowtite fiberglass reinforced polymer pipes weren’t so great,
and maybe the county and those it employed weren’t surprised to learn this.
One person said to me last week, “Let me tie it all together for you. When
problems started happening on that project, all fingers were pointing to the
contractor, regardless of problems with the pipe itself. The distributor, contractor,
manufacturer and county engineer all circled the wagons, and pointed
to the contractor and the reason why was because the manufacturer wanted
to maintain the good name of the pipe. And if the pipe was bad, if the design
of the pipe was bad and insufficient, that makes all four of those guys look
like they knew.”
Makes it look like maybe they knew it all along.
And so who is going to pay for that desire to keep knowledge in the
shadows?
Yup.
Those that live and work in the Tuckahoe Creek Service District, those
who will keep having their utility rates adjusted to accommodate the rising
costs of maintaining a flawed system.
Sometimes it is the better part of valor to admit that you were wrong, and
you want to make it right.
I think that would be a noble goal for some of those who set the rhythm,
and the rates, of Goochland County.
Mailing Address: P.O. Box 1118, Mechanicsville, VA 23111
(804) 746-1235 TOLL FREE (877) 888-0449
FAX (804) 556-4237
www.goochlandgazette.com news@goochlandgazette.com sales@goochlandgazette.com
For Classifieds: cgrant@mechlocal.com
© 2010 by Richmond Suburban Newspapers. All advertising and editorial matter is fully
protected and may not be reproduced in any manner without the permission of the publisher.
CAC Audited Circulation: 8,500
- Amy Condra
Joy Monopoli
Publisher
Amy Condra
Editor
Charles Leffler
Sports Editor
Brian French
Production Manager
Pam Sanders
RSN Sales Manager
Stephanie Childrey
Advertising Sales
OPINION: Editorial, Letters to the Editor
Concerns about firing
range
I view as a real threat to our
safety the Virginia State Police
Plans to build a firing range
in Powhatan County off of Old
River Trail just across the James
River from my home.
The noise will be bad enough,
but the real danger in is the
orientation of the 300-yard rifle
range and its close proximity to
homes in Goochland.
Errant rounds are common
Letters to the Editor
on a firing range because that’s
why they go there to begin with,
to practice.
It is aimed directly at our
Rivercliff Subdivision in Maidens
and anyone else who happens to
be riding along State Route 6 in
this area, or perhaps trying to
enjoy the James River.
They plan to share this range
with the Virginia Department of
Game and Inland Fisheries and
the FBI.
The State Police contracted an
out-of-state firm to compile an
Want more? Visit us on the web at
www.goochlandgazette.com
CONTACT THE GOOCHLAND GAZETTE
Joy Monopoli Publisher (804) 239-2280 Fax: (804) 819-5529
Amy Condra Editor (804) 381-8649 Fax: (804) 819-5295
Charlie Leffl er Sports Editor (804) 543-9201 Fax: (804) 775-4082
Ken Odor Staff Writer (804) 627-3249 Fax: (804) 775-4066
Pam Sanders RSN Sales Manager (804) 746-1235x21 Fax: (804) 730-0476
Stephanie Childrey Sales Executive (804) 814-7780 Fax: (804) 775-4051
Cindy Grant Classifi eds (804) 746-1235x16 Fax: (804) 730-0476
Contact us Toll Free - (877) 888-0449 • Offi ce - (804) 746-1235 ext 0
Mailing Address - P.O. Box 1118, Mechanicsville, VA 23111
Environmental Impact Report to
justify this location. The report
lists no threat to the Little Brown
Bat in the air, the Southern
Leopard Frog on the ground or
the Eastern Mosquitofish in the
river, but most importantly it
does not mention the possibility
of a boater in the river or a
child walking to the school bus
or maybe you, just riding down
the highway.
It states that the location
see Letters > page 9
CLIP AND SAVE