City backs off from $20M reservoir deal

Wonder why none of the council members spoke to this bit of news? Could it be not one of them has a clue about a loan of this size?

wow, they gave the guy a raise. hope he uses it to buy some new hair.

sayagain wrote:

Wonder why none of the council members spoke to this bit of news? Could it be not one of them has a clue about a loan of this size?

You hit that nail on the head!!! High finance in not their bag. But, with Randy at the helm (sic) NN will be saved thousands of dollar$$$!!!!!

I was there last night at the City Council meeting. Randy is so full of himself. I wish he'd just go back where came from. I am sure Mr Place had his facts straight about the King William reservoir and for Randy to even try to comment on what Mr Place had said would be a great mistake on Randy's part.

The headline says the city backed out of the deal, but the story says the bank backed out of the deal because they had been given wrong information on what the loan was for. I guess you could say the city said no when the bank got spooked and jacked up the interest rate by 33%. Either way, there's something rotten in Denmark.

Judging from the Channel 48 telecast of the City Council meeting, this money is to take people's ancestral land from them that don't want to sell. I'm going to watch the whole telecast when it replays. I think there were people there from King William County who said they were having it stolen and were going fight Newport News to the end.

Apparently Newport News or the City Manager or both let Suntrust think they were loaning money for machinery. I wonder what they are up to now. I predict they are spending our money while we sleep.

SunTrust was confused about what their money would be used for? I wonder who confused them? I predict another upcoming confusion. Since the conclusion by water experts, including the Corps, have essentially surmised that Newport News does not have anywhere near the water customers needed to pay for a $300,000,000 reservoir bond... ask yourself, if not water bills, what does Newport News Water Works own that they can pay off the reservoir with? I believe they intend to sell off and develop the inner city reservoirs. Have you seen the plans for Lee Hall's development? I have. High end houses and a golf course. Say goodbye to your recreational green spaces, Newport News, and say hello to bigger water bills. Watch the runaway train as it enters your city.

In this day and age with our financial institutions under the microscope, how is it Suntrust first believed the $20 million would be used for machinery?

I suspect they were mislead or perhaps even lied too as this is becoming a habitual trend when it concerns the King William Reservoir.

The demand for water is not approaching earlier projections by Newport News Waterworks and may even be declining due to more water efficient appliances and a better public understanding that we can not continue to pour our drinking water on the ground in an effort to have green lawns and golf courses.

KWR will never be built short of excessive political pressure from greedy developers with ulterior motives ($$$).

We need to live within our own resources and live with a water budget. To import water from distant counties is unsubstainable, and when we use this water to grow grass, flush toilets and to wash car, boats, decks, driveways, houses etc. this becomes unethical.

Wake Up Newport News and stop this project now before yet another $20 million dollars of rate payer monies is thrown down the toilet.

Sustainability now and forever.

It is appropriate that money lenders take a close look at the likelihood of the proposed King William Reservoir ever being built. This huge drinking water reservoir will destroy over 400 acres of valuable wetlands, harm the recovery of the American shad fishery, and harm the livelihood and heritage of the Native Americans living on the Mattaponi River. With proper protection of the existing watersheds, with water conservation practices not even begun, and with other alternatives, this unneeded project can and should halt.

It seems as if Sun Trust Bank saw the writing on the wall, and didn't want to pour any more money down into a yawning vortex.

This King William Reservoir project has been a giant, greed-driven scam from the outset. The City of Newport News has consistently failed to get the needed permits, first from the Army Corps, then from the VMRC, and finally from the State Water Control Board. In each case, the city was found to have grossly exaggerated the projected water needs for the region and ignored the huge environmental damage and harm to the Mattaponi Indians' culture and livelihood. But in each case, the City exerted political pressure to move the goalposts after each permit denial and get it reversed, often through threats of legal action. In each case, politics trumped science.

But now--finally--financial realities may trump political skullduggery. Let's hope so. As a citizen of Hampton, I have no further desire to pay ever-increasing water bills for a totally unnecessary and environmentally destructive reservoir,to subsidize irresponsible sprawl in the outlying counties!

Tyla Matteson wrote:

It is appropriate that money lenders take a close look at the likelihood of the proposed King William Reservoir ever being built. This huge drinking water reservoir will destroy over 400 acres of valuable wetlands, harm the recovery of the American shad fishery, and harm the livelihood and heritage of the Native Americans living on the Mattaponi River. With proper protection of the existing watersheds, with water conservation practices not even begun, and with other alternatives, this unneeded project can and should halt.

Being SunTrust was ranked #1 ....they did their research. Here's hoping the never build.:D

Let's not let the Peninsula become another Manhatten. Don't charge the residents for more roads and more water. If we HAVE to develop, charge the developers for the roads and for the water.

Estimated Prophet wrote:

The headline says the city backed out of the deal, but the story says the bank backed out of the deal because they had been given wrong information on what the loan was for. I guess you could say the city said no when the bank got spooked and jacked up the interest rate by 33%. Either way, there's something rotten in Denmark.
Judging from the Channel 48 telecast of the City Council meeting, this money is to take people's ancestral land from them that don't want to sell. I'm going to watch the whole telecast when it replays. I think there were people there from King William County who said they were having it stolen and were going fight Newport News to the end.
Apparently Newport News or the City Manager or both let Suntrust think they were loaning money for machinery. I wonder what they are up to now. I predict they are spending our money while we sleep.

I don't even know what to comment on first. You make so many excellent points. Your first point,
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"The headline says the city backed out of the deal, but the story says the bank backed out of the deal because they had been given wrong information on what the loan was for."
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Isn't it funny how the Daily Press slants their stories with nuance?

Your next point.

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"Apparently Newport News or the City Manager or both let Suntrust think they were loaning money for machinery. I wonder what they are up to now. I predict they are spending our money while we sleep."
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Believe me, your eyes would roll back like a slot machine if you only knew how much they spent this morning while you were eating your cheerios.

Now, my favorite point that you made.

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Either way, there's something rotten in Denmark.
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I'd laugh if it wasn't so sad.

I'm not a citizen of King William and have no land at stake and I don't know anyone who does. I watched the CC meeting when it was broadcast on channel 48. I was appalled at the stories the people from KW told about their land being stolen from them. One woman talked about her uncle who was 87. He has lived on his land his entire life. If anyone knows anything about the elderly, they know that he will probably not survive this. Joe and Randy were unmoved by the heart wrenching statements.

As always, their minds have been made up, they want what they want, and care not a wit for who they hurt, or the morality of what they're doing. I've never witnessed such coldness, not even in movies where the drama is purposeful in attempting to portray such lack of human emotion. Cold fish, these two.

sayagain wrote:

Wonder why none of the council members spoke to this bit of news? Could it be not one of them has a clue about a loan of this size?

Trust me when I say, Joe and Randy know everything that goes down. The rest of the council is on the good old need-to-know plan.

I do live in King William, and the reservoir is not the only battle its citizens are being forced to wage. We are facing political arrogance and greed at its worst on at least two fronts--the reservoir and a proposed motocross facility. And that's just what we know about! God only knows what goes on behind closed doors.

We will continue to fight for what is right, and especially for those elderly people unable to fight their own battles, and appreciate the support of the citizens of Newport News.