Board to meet on Cobbs Creek

Published 10:15 am Thursday, July 5, 2018

The Cumberland County Board of Supervisors will hear input from the public about a proposed substation for the Cobbs Creek Reservoir during its meeting Tuesday at 7 p.m. The proposed substation would be used to generate power for the proposed reservoir pump station.

The applicant, Central Virginia Electric Cooperative (CVEC), would use the substation to operate the reservoir’s pump station and serve 475 customers of the cooperative.

“Central Virginia Electric Cooperative (CVEC) has applied to build a 115-(Kilovolts) KV transmission tap line that would be around 2,100 feet long, and lie within a 100 foot easement provided by Henrico County,” the board packet for the meeting cited. “They are also proposing to construct an electric substation on a 110’ by 150’ (foot) site owned by Henrico County. The substation would serve the Cobbs Creek Reservoir pump station as well as 475 customers of CVEC.”

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A memorandum of understanding between Cumberland County and Henrico County was agreed to in 2010 for the Cobbs Creek Reservoir, and Henrico began the first phase of building its reservoir in 2015.

The reservoir, located on the northern end of Cumberland County, is estimated to cost $280 million and expand 1,117-acres, encompassing a little more than 15 miles of stream bed, according to a Virginia Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ) permit. It will permanently impact 15.3 miles of stream, almost 31 acres of wetlands and 4.6 acres of open water. The reservoir would collect water from the James River.

The substation, proposed to be located at 1617 Columbia Road on an approximately fiveacre parcel, would keep the property’s current zoning at Agricultural-2, but have a conditional use permit. Members of the Cumberland County Planning Commission, during a meeting June 25, voted to table the substation permit until its meeting July 23 at the applicant’s request.

Vivian Seay Giles, county administrator and county attorney, said the Tuesday public hearing will only hear comments from the public. The board will not vote on the proposed substation until its August meeting.

“The Planning Commission deferred this until their July meeting, so the Board of Supervisors will consider it in August,” Giles said.