A memorandum of understanding between Dominion Energy and Chesterfield County regarding access to Henricus Historical Park, Dutch Gap Conservation area and boat ramp was unanimously approved Aug. 28 by the Chesterfield County Board of Supervisors as part of the consent agenda.
Dominion had already signed off on the deal, which calls on the utility to reimburse the county up to $1.1 million for engineering services it provides to bring the plan into fruition.
Dominion representative James Beazley and deputy county administrator for community operations Scott Zaremba discussed the MOU during the supervisors’ afternoon work session on Wednesday, Aug. 28.
Zaremba said that plans call for 1.5 miles of new roadway and a 1,400-square-foot bridge to be built to access Henricus at a cost of $55 million. The road would originate in River’s Bend, cross a portion of the James River and end near the current Henricus parking lot. Engineering will take up to three years and construction two years, he said. A portion of Coxendale Road would be vacated or abandoned by the county and deeded to Dominion. However, the county would be provided emergency access easements that it could use to reach Henricus and Dutch Gap.
The plans also call for a new 650-foot pedestrian bridge to be built into Dutch Gap from Coyote Drive, located east of Old Stage Road, where a 100-car parking lot would be built. An additional 1,000 feet of walking path would be constructed. That portion of the project would cost an estimated $5 million with engineering taking two years and construction two years.
The Dutch Gap boat ramp would be closed and deeded to Dominion after two ramps are built 6 miles upstream near the Falling Creek Ironworks site at the 108-acre James River Conservation Area. Zaremba said the county Parks and Recreation Department acquired that area in 2016. Plans call for 7,000 feet of new roadway at that site. That portion of the project would cost an estimated $5 million, take two years to engineer and two years to build.
Zaremba called using the Falling Creek area for boat ramps “ a great opportunity” to revitalize that area. He said the county could add “a lot of amenities” to that area later on at county expense.
The MOU came about following legislation that was passed earlier this year by the General Assembly. That law requires Dominion to either remove or dispose of coal ash from the Chesterfield Power Station within 15 years of July 1.
Supervisor Leslie Haley said the MOU “speaks to the partnership between the county and Dominion for so many years.”
Dominion representative Jeremy Slaton said the utility will ask the State Corporation Commission for approval to recoup the costs of the coal ash cleanup from its customers, including the $1.1 million.
