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Vol. 27, No. 33 | Richmond Surburban Newspapers | December 15, 2010
Hodges reflects on 30 years of Hanover County planning He steered county growth as population doubled By Melody Kinser mkinser@mechlocal.com When John Hodges walks out of the Hanover County administrative building today, he brings to a close 30 years of service to government. As he heads into retirement, his last official day is Dec. 31. And in those three decades, the deputy county administrator for community development has seen the county more than double in population and enjoy growth in economic development. He was promoted to that position in 1998. “I’ve seen a lot of change,” he said. “There were about 50,000 [residents] in the county in 1980 and now there’s over 100,000. I’ve seen the population double. But I think it’s come generally
Photo by Melody Kinser
John Hodges, whose last day is Dec. 31, has spent the last 30 years working for Hanover County.
with a reasonable and manage- only two traffic lights in the able rate of growth, which I county. “When I came, one was hope I have helped contribute.” at Routes 1 and 54 in Ashland and the other was at Lee Davis Only two traffic lights (Road). [Interstate] 295 had not opened; it was under conLooking back over the years struction and the county was and the growth, Hodges said almost predominantly residenhe remembers when there were tial or at least the areas around
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Richmond were residential and the remainder of the county was rural as it’s been historically.” In the late 1960s to mid-‘70s, Hodges said, population pressures were placed on the county, based on desegregation in the city. “A lot of people moved to see HODGES, pg. 4 `
New EPA rules could cost county millions By Jim Ridolphi For The Mechanicsville Local New EPA regulations regarding cleanup measures for the Chesapeake Bay could carry a large price tag for Hanover and other localities required to comply with the proposed guidelines. The clock is ticking on a final draft of an EPA document that could implement backstop measures to ensure the reduction of nitrogen, phosphorus and sediment in the Bay and it tributaries. Public Utilities Director Frank Harksen and Mike Flagg, director of public works, spoke at a recent Board of Supervisors meeting and outlined the possible implications of the revised Total Daily Maximum Load (TDML) requirements. The state submitted a Watershed Implementation Plan to EPA earlier this year, but the agency found the measures outlined in the WIP had “serious deficiencies.” It also determined the submitted plan relied too heavily on voluntary
measures to reduce nitrogen and phosphorous.
Local responsibility “In most cases, the Virginia (WIP) plan makes local governments responsible for the implementation,” Harksen said. The agency is currently considering a revised WIP submitted by the state, and the EPA is slated to issue its final version of the new guidelines by the end of the year. Harksen said the cost to localities could be staggering, if the agency employs backstop measures to ensure compliance. Localities would be expected to be in 60 percent compliance by 2017 and full implementation by 2025. In many localities, that would require upgrading treatment and water facilities to the tune of millions of dollars. see EPA, pg. 15 `