A sorry history

On the evening of Jan. 20, an unhappy crowd in the county courtroom saw results of Fluvanna’s mistakes played out. The Board of Supervisors, under duress, voted to permit a pumping station complex at Point of Fork, and to pipe James River water to Zion Crossroads through eastern Fluvanna, as contracted with Louisa stakeholders in 2013.
Clearly Louisa’s threat of a lawsuit decided the outcome of the Fluvanna Board’s unanimous vote. Clearly too, commissioners and supervisors did little listening at public hearings related to this matter. Good people whose chosen way of life was to be sacrificed to the water project were roped into a charade of public participation for no reason but to make the county appear to work as a democracy. Meanwhile the deciders slogged toward a foregone conclusion. Learn what you can from this sorry history.