Richmond City Council Informal Meeting – September 28, 2026

The Richmond City Council held its informal meeting on Monday, September 28, 2026; the agenda listed a 4:00 PM start in the Council Chamber, City Hall. After the emergency evacuation announcement and roll call, the clerk reviewed the consent and regular dockets, and members received presentations on the draft 2027 General Assembly legislative package and a proposed municipal solar power purchase agreement (PPA). The published agenda included a closed session under Va. Code § 2.2-3711(A)(7) for pending litigation, but the raw transcript ends with adjournment and does not record Council entering closed session; no minutes are available to resolve that discrepancy.

Consent Calendar / Docket Review

• The clerk reviewed consent items, including ordinances 2026-155, 2026-175, 2026-180, 2026-192 through 195, 2026-197, 2026-202 through 206, 2026-208 through 214, 2027-276/277, 2026-278/279, and 2026-280, plus resolutions R031, R032/R033, R035/R036, R037, and R038.
• Ordinance 2026-180 was continued to the November 9, 2026 council meeting; Ordinance 2026-197 and Resolution R038 were continued to the October 13, 2026 council meeting.
• Councilwoman McGibson asked to move Ordinance 2026-195, which she described as relating to the sale of data, to the regular agenda for more discussion. No motion or second was made, so the item remained as docketed.
• Councillor Robertson asked to be added as co-patron on Resolutions R032 and R033, and the clerk noted that request.
• On the regular agenda, Ordinance 2026-081 was retained; Ordinance 2026-109 was continued to November 9, 2026; Ordinance 2026-120 was retained; Ordinance 2026-196 was continued to October 13, 2026; Ordinances 2026-215 through 253 were retained without committee recommendation; and Resolution R019 was retained.

Discussion: Draft 2027 General Assembly Legislative Package

• Devin Cabot of Two Caps Consulting presented the eight-page draft legislative agenda. She identified the Long-Term Owner Occupancy Program (LOOP) as the council's top priority. Because LOOP requires a constitutional amendment, the package seeks a first reference during the 2027 session, with a second reference in 2028 and a potential referendum later.
• Cabot said the package combines tenant protections and housing justice into an omnibus request, including items before the Housing Commission. It also asks for expanded local authority over vacant and blighted property and for short-term rental compliance measures, including information sharing between city agencies and parameters for platforms serving noncompliant properties.
• Policy positions in the draft cover housing supply and eviction prevention, health and behavioral health care, utility cost burdens, DSS technology, traffic calming and pedestrian/bicycle safety, transit and street maintenance funding, violence prevention, support for dispatchers, firefighters, public defenders, and domestic violence survivors, K-12 funding modernization and school construction, early childhood and after-school programs, commercial redevelopment, lead service line replacement, workforce development, local authority protections, drinking water infrastructure, and state partnership on combined sewer outflow funding to meet the Commonwealth's 2035 deadline.
• Cabot gave a timeline: a legislative summit with the state delegation on October 19, 2026; the governor's budget amendment on December 17, 2026; the 2027 General Assembly session beginning January 13, 2027, at 10:00 a.m.; and a 45-day short session.
• Council President praised the package as a true representation of the body's interests and the mayor's initiatives, especially on anti-displacement and tenant protections. A council member identified in the transcript as RJ said the package would be continued to the October 13, 2026 meeting for amendments and adoption as a resolution before the delegation meeting. Amendments under discussion included tree canopy funding from Member Abu Bacher and good cause eviction language from Councilwoman McGibson; Councilmember Jordan raised a possible post-adoption action.
• Council President raised a future effort to revisit charter changes, including updating public meeting notice requirements. Councilmember Lynch urged building on the previous work group's recommendations rather than starting over. Cabot said state legislators prefer one cohesive consensus document and offered to work on it in the interim.

Discussion: Municipal Solar Power Purchase Agreement

• Laura Thomas, Director of Sustainability, introduced the municipal solar PPA. She called it potentially the most impactful project in the city's history for climate goals and said PPAs are a proven approach used by many public bodies, including Richmond Public Schools.
• Don Alexi, Energy Program Manager, said the project had been explored since 2019 and was time-constrained by expiring federal tax credits and federal administration deadlines. The contract was competitively sourced through Prince William County Public Schools, approved and signed by city administration in August, and also used by the City of Roanoke.
• The proposal would place solar on 39 public properties, generate five megawatts across all nine council districts, and produce an estimated $20 million in avoided electric costs over 25 years with zero upfront city capital investment. PPA rates are fixed with no escalators, while the city's electricity budget was described as rising from $18 million to $22 million and then $26 million; Dominion rates were cited as increasing 23.5% on July 1 and another 20% on July 1, 2027.
• The seven LLCs in the ordinances are grouped by department for financing and billing purposes only and are owned entirely by Secure Solar Futures, the project partner. Additional structural engineering and permitting would be required before installation, and leases could be canceled at no cost to the city if buildings are not viable.
• The presentation highlighted workforce training, apprenticeships, and job opportunities tied to the project. Richmond Public Schools, using the same agreement since 2019, was cited as having saved over $1 million on ten schools.

Key Outcomes

• No roll-call votes appear in the transcript; the informal meeting was used for docket review and presentations.
• Continuances announced: Ordinance 2026-180 and Ordinance 2026-109 to November 9, 2026; Ordinance 2026-197, Ordinance 2026-196, and Resolution R038 to October 13, 2026.
• Councillor Robertson was added as co-patron on Resolutions R032 and R033.
• The legislative package was continued to the October 13, 2026 council meeting, where councilmembers planned to consider amendments and adopt the resolution before the October 19, 2026 delegation meeting.
• The municipal solar PPA presentation did not produce a formal action in the informal meeting; the related site-lease ordinances were before council for consideration that evening according to the presentation.

Note on Record

• The agenda also listed a referral of service delivery issues to city administration; no discussion on that item appears in the transcript. The closed session item and the absence of minutes mean the summary cannot confirm what occurred.