February board highlights

 

The Goochland Board of Supervisors, with three new members, held a brief monthly meeting on February 6. As no public hearings were scheduled, the afternoon session, which began at 4 p.m., moved briskly through its agenda. (A recording of the meeting is available under the “watch county meetings” tab on the county website goochlandva.us)

Meeting times have been changed to a “to be determined” schedule and agendas have been streamlined for more efficient use of staff time. Check the county website goochlandva.us for updates.

County Administrator Vic Carpenter said that county offices will be closed on Monday, February 19 in observance of President’s Day, but the convenience centers will be open. He reminded the board about the February 20 meeting at which he will present his recommended budget for fiscal year 2025, which begins on July 1. Carpenter invited all to the dedication of the Freedom of Choice marker in front of the administration building at 1800 Sandy Hook Road on Sunday, February 25 at 2 p.m. to commemorate the desegregation of Goochland High School. (This is sponsored by the Goochland Historical Society and Goochland Rotary Club.)

Reports for VDOT, Goochland Fire-Rescue and Emergency Services, and Broadband were included in the board packet (available online at the ‘transparency” tab, click on public notices and scroll to agendas, minutes to select)

Fire-Rescue Chief D. E. “Eddie” Ferguson, Jr. reminded those who use alternative power sources like generators and kerosene heaters to do so in a safe and careful manner. Free smoke alarms are available through the fire-rescue office at 1-804-556-5304.

Ferguson’s report includes a summary of his department’s activities that illustrate its wide range of incident response including structure fires; motor vehicle wrecks with entrapment and fires (this could become more a concern as the number of electric vehicles in Goochland rises);spill of hazardous material; brush fires; a fall from a roof; and water rescue.

A new fire-rescue website has been created go to http://www.goochlandfire-rescue.org/ to learn more about this department. Volunteers are needed, visit the website for information.

The monthly broadband update is included in the packet beginning on page 59. Firefly is making good progress and connecting residents daily. Dominion Power, which is installing the middle mile infrastructure from which Firefly will lateral run lines connecting to homes, has completed much of its work but is waiting for State Corporation Commission approval to turn their lines over to Firefly for the final steps. This is expected in April 2024. It’s important that citizens in the areas target for broadband expansion register for service at https://register.fireflyva.com/.

The supervisors adopted a resolution in support of the Virginia Telecommunication Initiative (VATI) adopt confirming Goochland County’s support and participation in Firefly Fiber Broadband’s SM Expanded Regional Internet Service Expansion (RISE) project and the 2024 Virginia Telecommunication Initiative (VATI) broadband grant opportunity by the Thomas Jefferson Planning District Commission (TJPDC), including providing local match funding.  

Neil Spoonhower, District 2 said that the resolution in support of this will not only ensure that all parts of Goochland have access to broadband, but, as the grant is presented, will allow Firefly to offer services to residents who may already be customers of other providers giving citizens more choice through competition.

Under the consent agenda, the supervisors adopted a resolution affirming Goochland’s commitment to fund the local cost of revenue sharing to build a roundabout at the Oilville Road ramp of westbound I-64. Funds were not appropriated at this time but are expected to be at a future date.  Go to https://www.goochlandva.us/1255/10781/Oilville-RdI-64-Westbound-Ramp-Roundabou for details.