Hockett Road extension part next

 

Proposed changes (in green) to Hockett Road 

Attendance at a second community meeting about the connection of Ashland and Hockett Roads south of 250 on January 14 was robust in comparison to the first session held last summer. Approximately 65 people showed up at Dover Baptist Church for to chat with VDOT personnel and look at maps of the new road.

The project, which has “been on the books” since about 2013, will bisect land on the southside of Broad Street Road, which has a stub at the traffic signal, to Hockett Road north of Hickory Haven. The latest iteration uses a roundabout to move traffic through the intersection.

Exactly where the connection will be seems to be the “sticking point” that required another public information session. The latest versions are quite similar, the difference being the exact location. The “choice” further from the entrance to Hickory Haven and the Readers Branch flood plain, seems to make the most sense.

As presented, when complete, the new road will have both right and left turn lanes at the intersection of Broad Street and Ashland Road. However, if you are going north on Hockett, why would you travel east and turn left, to essentially backtrack?

The current cost estimate for the project, which will undoubtedly increase thanks to inflation, is $17.6 million for the approximately .5050-mile road and roundabout.  This includes $1.568 million for engineering; $3.394 million for right of way acquisition and utility relocation; and $12.7 million for actual construction. VDOT contends that roundabouts are safer than signalized intersections and keep traffic moving, which is why they are popping up all over central Virginia. The roundabout will have sidewalks and pedestrian crossings. It is unclear who will use those sidewalks.

The project, according to the county website, will relieve congestion at the Hockett and Broad intersection, which will remain signalized and allow crossing Broad as well as left and right turns as it is now.

The new road could make the approximately 28-acre parcel on the south side of Broad at Ashland Road, currently in agricultural use, more attractive to badly needed economic development in Centerville Village.  There have been rumors for decades about possible commercial uses for this site. To date, it rotates crops of corn, soybeans and wheat, which is not the “highest and best use” for this land. Will the new road make that happen?

Goochland is dependent on VDOT for road construction, whose projects move with glacial speed. Next steps include a design public hearing later in 2025, environmental review, and right of way acquisition.  Construction is scheduled to begin in August 2028 with completion in December of 2029.

 

Water, water anywhere?

 

Residents of eastern Goochland who get their water from the Tuckahoe Creek Service District and various other arrangements with Henrico County were under a “boil water advisory” for several days last week.  A catastrophic malfunction in the City of Richmond waterworks left people in the city as well as parts of Henrico and Hanover County without water for days and caused everyone else in the region served by public utilities to boil water or use bottled water.

Goochland, like its neighbors, distributed bottled water to those affected by the situation.

When the “all clear” was given on Saturday afternoon, seems like everyone in eastern Goochland turned on their taps full bore for the recommended ten minutes and soon had little or no water. After Goochland County asked utility customers to refrain from using water for a bit, pressure normalized, and all is well.

The water and sewer service in central Goochland is supplied though partnerships with Department of Corrections facilities and was not involved in the crisis.

Hopefully, Goochland and neighboring jurisdictions are doing after action reviews to prevent a recurrence, and, perhaps more importantly, find better ways to let residents know what’s going on in a timely manner.

The best way to receive important emergency information from Goochland County is the “Code Red” system that sends text and phone messages to participants. If you have not done so, please sign up at https://public.coderedweb.com/CNE/en-US/1380BACA5A57  to receive alerts and updates.

Reporting on the Richmond water crisis concentrated on what went wrong with the water works and in its utilities department. Little or no mention was made of the impact of the crisis on regional fire hydrants. Given the horrific fires in California whose devastation was exacerbated by waterless fire hydrants, it seems odd that no mention of fire hydrants was included in reporting on the water crisis. Happily, there were no reports of fires during the crisis.

Water supplies to eastern Goochland, parts of which is served by fire hydrants, were good until community wide flushing reduced pressure. The good news is that, because most of the county does not have hydrants, Goochland Fire-Rescue folk have the skill, equipment, and experience to transport water to extinguish fires wherever they may occur.

May 2025 be less weird going forward.

 

 

 

Happy New Year

 

Happy New Year 2025

It’s time again to look back at the year fading into history and peek into the one just over the horizon.

Goochland began 2024 with a mostly new board of supervisors. Jonathan Christie, Jonathan Lyle, and Tom Winfree joined Neil Spoonhower, a supervisor since 2020 and Charlie Vaughters, since 2022, when he was appointed to fill the remainder of the term of the late Don Sharpe and elected to a full term in 2023.

At the end of January, the new board held a day long retreat to examine and discuss the county’s challenges and strengths. Among the topics was economic development, which all supervisors agree is vital going forward. Few actions, if any, seem to have resulted from this meeting.

Project Rocky, an Amazon distribution center on Ashland Road north of I-64 is back on, which will bring much needed revenue to county coffers. Opponents are furious that the project was approved in the first place.

The county budget for FY 25, which began on July 1, indicated that Goochland badly needs more economic development to pay the bills without increasing the tax rate. Inflation ballooned the cost of the new Goochland Elementary School, which opened last August, well over the amount generated by the general revenue bonds authorized in a 2021 referendum.

A new fire-rescue station in West Creek was put on “pause” while Station 8 on Whitehall Road in Sandy Hook is in its design phase. We still need to build a new courthouse and fund many other necessary capital projects. Preliminary comments by county and school officials hint that many hard choices will be made during the current budget process.

Despite contentions that Goochland’s population is exploding, a projection made at the ends of the 20^th century predicted that 30,000 people would live in the county by 2015. Ten years after that, we’re still around 28k.

There was a lot of good stuff in 2024. Here are sone highlights.

Goochland Day is back and growing better every year. The annual fire-rescue show brought the community together as our providers showed off their stuff. The new Goochland Elementary School welcomed students in August.

Two former Goochland Fire-Rescue Chiefs, Tommy Carter and Frank Wise, were honored for their lifelong commitment to community service by dedicating newly renovated fire-rescue stations, Courthouse Company 5 and Centerville Company 3 respectively to them.

In November, Goochland honored a hero of the American Revolution. Two hundred years to the day, on November 2, “General Lafayette” attended an event at Tuckahoe Plantation before dedicating a historical marker in Courthouse Village on the site of Anderson’s Tavern, where he spent the night on his way to visit Thomas Jefferson at Monticello. This followed the 5k “Run to Revolution” held at Elk Hill in September to kick off Goochland’s celebration of the 250^th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence. Keep an eye out for more events.

May your 2025 be filled with all good things.

Happy New Year!

 

 

 

 

Money matters

 

Wise use of public funds is perhaps the most important duty of elected officials. The Goochland supervisors who took office in 2012 crafted policies and procedures to ensure that county fiscal matters are managed with prudence and accountability. That work earned Goochland three AAA bond ratings, making it the smallest county in the country to do so. Fitch reaffirmed its AAA rating on November 19. Maintaining this standard requires constant vigilance and careful use of tax dollars.

The budget process for FY 26 is in full swing. County Administrator Vic Carpenter will present his recommended budget in February followed by a public hearing and final adoption by the supervisors in April. Property assessments for the calendar year 2025 will be mailed in mid-January.

Among measures put in place for good stewardship was a finance and audit committee, comprised of the county administrator, director of finance, and three supervisors— currently Chair Tom Winfree, District 3; Vice Chair Charlie Vaughters, District 4; and Jonathan Christie, District 3—that meets several times a year. Winfree and Christie are in their first year on the board. Vaughters has been a supervisor since late 2022.

The committee’s most recent meeting, on December 3, began with a preview of the county annual comprehensive financial report (ACFR) for FY 2024, which ended on June 30, presented by Mike Garber, principal of PBMares, LLP, (https://www.pbmares.com/) Goochland’s outside auditor.

As has been the case in past years, Garber reported that the county audit was “clean” with no findings. The 2024 ACFR is available at https://www.goochlandva.us/Archive.aspx?AMID=43. Goochland renewed its contract with PBMares for five years.

County Finance Director Carla Cave then presented preliminary first quarter projections for FY2025, which began on July 1. So far, expenditures are below budgeted amounts by a bit more than $1 million. Cave cautioned that the generous end of year surpluses the county has generated for the past few years are getting smaller.

Kevin Rotty, Managing Director of PFM Financial Advisers, LLC (https://www.pfm.com/) then led a discussion about revision of a policy regarding the amount fund balance that should be kept on hand.

The county’s “triple triple” enables it to borrow money at favorable rates.  We may never duplicate the low rates secured when the first tranche of general obligation bonds authorized by the 2021 referendum was issued in early 2022 to fund the new elementary school, courthouse, and fire-rescue station.  Rating agencies look closely at how money is managed, including reserves. These enable localities to keep operating in the aftermath of unanticipated events like a pandemic. Determining the appropriate amount of reserves, the sweet spot between reserving enough and keeping too much money “off the board,” is tricky.

Last summer, the county asked Rotty to review Goochland’s financial policies. He produced a detailed report and shared relevant parts.

The current policy, adopted last December, states that the county’s “available” fund balance, comprised of all assigned plus unassigned fund balances, should be between 55 and 65 percent with a target of 60 percent. The policies are very conservative and have proved to be unattainably so.

 According to page 43 in the ACFR, there are five kinds of fund balance:

·         Nonspendable, that cannot be spent or must be kept intact legally or contractually.

·         Restricted amounts constrained for a specific purpose by external parties, constitutional provisions, or things like courthouse maintenance funds.

·         Committed, for specific purposes committed by formal board action, like a contract.

·         Assigned, designated for a specific use by formal board action.

·         Unassigned, residual balance not other fitting into other classifications.

 

Rotty said that the unassigned category is a safety net. The revenue stabilization fund is used in the aftermath of a “shock” to the system, like a pandemic, to keep things going but must be replenished. The unassigned can be a backstop for that.

The current policy states that the available fund balance as a percentage of the general fund budget plus the non-local school operating budget threshold is 65 percent but has never been achieved.

 

Board Chair Charlie Vaughters, District 4, clarified that the discussion is about a policy put in place last year by Goochland Supervisors on county finance operations that they can change or eliminate as they deem appropriate.

 

Rotty contended that the percentage should be reduced, or the policy eliminated. Only one peer locality in Virginia, Fauquier County, has an available fund balance policy. It requires keeping two months—17 percent—of operating revenues on hand. The rating agencies use much lower thresholds to evaluate financial soundness. Moody’s for instance, uses 35 percent. Even if Goochland spent down its fund balance, it would remain comfortably over rating agency targets. If Goochland reduced just this fund balance policy to say, 40 percent, it would be $9.4 million over, instead of $12.7 million under the 60 percent policy, according to Rotty.

 

He said the current policy is like a business to keeping more than six months cash on hand.  Goochland is well above its policy thresholds for unassigned fund balance and revenue stabilization. Winfree said that establishing an unattainable goal becomes meaningless.

 

Cave pointed out that Goochland, with its “triple triple” is in elite company, but in a different situation than, say Henrico, whose budget is many times larger than ours. Should Henrico lose a major employer, it would have a smaller impact on county revenue than a similar action here, so Goochland must be more prudent to absorb unforeseen disruptions in its revenue streams.

 

Winfree contended that there “is something to be said about having excess funds sitting around”.

Cave said that when Goochland earned its “triple triple” it met the 60 percent but has since spent a significant amount on capital items including fire-rescue apparatus.

 

Rotty contended that Goochland is doing many things right and should “continue doing what you’re doing” but to remain in compliance with its policy, the county would need to come up with $12 million or reduce levels of government service. He said that rating agencies do not ask about this kind of policy. Continued cash funding of capital projects with assigned fund balance saves a “ton of money”. “Your practice of committing money to this on an annual basis, puts you in a strong position,” said Rotty.

 

Winfree wanted more time to digest what he characterized as a “huge” drop in the policy percentage and its possible negative impact on budget expenditures.

 

Vaughters favored a “step down approach” to keep the policy but gradually reduce the thresholds.

 

District 2 Supervisor Neil Spoonhower, who is not a member of the audit committee, suggested that the committee hold an informal workshop to allow others to “chime in” on the topic.  He contended that the policy is vague and asked what, if anything, the county has done to achieve the policy goals, and ramifications of its not being met or eliminated.

 

The committee voted to hold a workshop on the policy before its January meeting.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Puppies make everything better

 

Seeking a furever home (Goochland County image)

Animal shelters tend to be places where lost and abandoned pets are taken in hopes of adoption, perhaps given some medical care. There are often underfunded and run by people who do the best they can with what they have.

Goochland, of course, is different. Companion animals from hamsters to horses are an important part of our lives. The county law enforcement division dealing with critter issues is called Animal Protection. When our former animal shelter did not meet state standards, the late Rebecca T. Dickson, then county administrator, created a public/private partnership to build a new one.

This initiative gave birth to an organization called Goochland Pet Lovers https://www.goochlandpetlovers.com/ that raised more than $1.5 million for a beautiful new shelter. The building was just the start. Services, including veterinary care for need based non-emergency veterinary care and an adoption center attracted a dedicated corps of intrepid volunteers that continue to broaden the mission of GPL and donate freely of their time, talents, and treasure to make the organization succeed.

Richard Verlander, Vice President of GPL, spoke to Goochland Supervisors at their December 3 meeting about its education initiative “Teaching Kindness.” He also mentioned the Dr. Lori Elliott Medical Fund, which raises money to supplement county funds and provide veterinary services, including to those who might not otherwise be able to afford them. Elliott, a veterinarian, is president of GPL and has given freely of her time and skill to county animals.

The teaching kindness program, said Verlander, partners with county schools to talk to students about animal welfare and related topics.  The sessions were fun and informative and made possible by community volunteers with an “abiding love for animals and kids.” The concept morphed into a program for third graders. It is a six-week program that ends with a visit to the shelter, which “went really well,” said Verlander.

Partnering with his wife Kathy, who also played an important role in the creation of GPL, Verlander wrote a book entitled “The Shelter Gang and their secret adventure” (https://www.dementimilestonepublishing.com/all-books-2/the-shelter-gang-and-their-secret-adventure). This tells the story of shelter residents who sneak out to play baseball—an important element in the Verlander family—and wind up needed to be rescued again. Characters are based on real shelter residents. The tale illustrates how teamwork brings differing gifts together for a happy ending.

GPL partnered with schools during the summer session to not only teach kindness, but teamwork and emphasize to children that it takes all kinds of participants with different skills to succeed.

“We talk about how everyone has something unique about them that they’re good at and can bring to the team,” said Verlander. GPL brought dogs, cats, service dogs, a canine deputy from the Goochland Sheriff’s Office, pigs from Swine Knot, horses from Deep Run Hunt, and exotic animals to help kids understand the message.

Next summer, announced Verlander, GPL with partner with schools for an animal camp, which will include participation from a search and rescue team. “It’s all about empathy, kindness, and togetherness, like building a community.”

Verlander alluded to the full house in the boardroom, waiting for a controversial public hearing about a proffer amendment. “These board meetings will never get contentious if you bring in a kid and a puppy and see what happens. Differences just melt away.”

Verlander said that he and Kathy have visited schools in other neighboring counties and pronounced Goochland Schools first rate.

Board Chair Charlie Vaughters, District 4, congratulated Verlander and GPL for their good work and wondered aloud, eyeing the restive crowd, if Verlander could find a puppy.

The Goochland Animal and Adoption Center at 1900 Hidden Rock Lane, just off Fairground Road will reopen after the holiday on Thursday, December 26. Go to https://www.goochlandva.us/299/Animal-Protection for more information or follow them on Facebook, Goochland Animal and Adoption Center to see pets looking for their furever homes.

Another land use tool

Designated growth area (Goochland County image)

 

SIS area (Goochland County image)

Goochland is growing. Seems like every time you turn around there’s another rezoning application to build homes, or preferably, businesses. Before any dirt is moved, applications go through a lengthy process where developers make their case for their project, and the public gets to weigh in. The planning commission reviews the application, holds its own public hearing, makes a recommendation—the planning commission is an advisory body, with no power to approve or deny any land use change—and the supervisors make the final call.

Discussions during the process tend to range from “not in my backyard” objections from citizens to developer contentions that the proposal is beneficial for Goochland. Supervisors are bombarded with opinions from all sides. Community development staff reports summarize applications, but evaluating the potential impact of projects to avoid unintended consequences has been difficult.

A case in point is the Avery Point Continuing Care Community in West Creek, approved a few years back. The supervisors welcomed a significant investment in the county, especially in the Tuckahoe Creek Service District, which would not add children to our school population. They did not, however, consider the significant increase in emergency medical service (EMS) response generated by the older residents in Avery Point.

The county has long needed a tool to objectively analyze the impact of different kinds of development on county resources, including, schools, fire-rescue, law enforcement, public utilities, and perhaps most important, roads.

Last year, Goochland County hired Timmons Group and 3TP Ventures, to take a detailed look at currently available resources for an area roughly centered on the intersection of Routes 288 and 6, labeled the southern infrastructure study (SIS). The report was presented to the supervisors at their December 3 meeting and is available in its entirety on the county website https://www.goochlandva.us/ under the planning and zoning section of the community development tab. According to County Administrator Vic Carpenter, the bid for the SIS was $340k, which he anticipates will be lower when the account is settled.

The SIS examines approximately 3,250 out of the 21,000 acres in eastern Goochland considered the designated growth area, (DGA). The county’s total area is 187,000 acres.  Something of an anomaly, this area has been set aside in recent updates to the county comprehensive land use as needing more detailed study.

Development, especially commercial development, is encouraged here to keep the rest of the county rural. All land in the DGA is privately owned, mostly zoned for agricultural use, which requires rezoning for development. SIS points out that the owners of the land may have development visions different than those in the county’s comprehensive land use plan, which is used to guide land use decisions.

Parcels in the study area were grouped into “land bays” with similar characteristics. Most of the land is partially or undeveloped. The report includes a description and discussion of possible uses in each land bay. Land south of Route 6 in the River Road corridor is perhaps the most sensitive. Development there could generate robust opposition from current residents. The report concedes that not all land is developable, and assumed that 75 percent could be used, which could vary by land bay. This percentage deletes things like wetlands, topography, and easements from total acreage.

The initial report, however, used school attendance data that did not reflect redistricting for the new Goochland Elementary School, which opened in August, and stated that a new Randolph Elementary School was a critical need. That has been corrected in the final report, which still advises that a new RES is needed sooner rather than later.

Excellent charts and graphs in the report illustrate infrastructure impacts of various development scenarios on county infrastructure. One clearly shows that homes generate more demand for government services and less revenue than other uses. The SIS does not show where road lanes should be built, but rather indicates that a certain amount of a particular kind of use will require additional traffic lanes, not necessarily all in the same place.

SIS is a tool. It does not change existing zoning, or the comprehensive or any other land use plan. It does make a good case for updating the county’s 2040 major thoroughfare plan, which was crafted in 2018 and has several “conceptual” roads that were never built and do not align with recent development. SIS does not propose new regulations, taxes, or changes in personnel. The county is hiring more people in the community development department to manage its burgeoning workload.

The plan identifies the immediate need for another fire-rescue station in the area. The long planned, Station 7, on Hockett Road near its intersection with Tuckahoe Creek Parkway, was “paused” last year due to concerns about the site. To date, there has been no action to get this underway while Station 8, located near Sandy Hook, is in the design phase.

Utilities—public water and sewer— mostly provided by the Tuckahoe Creek Service District is available in most of the SIS area. SIS estimates that $12,440,000 of TCSD improvements will be necessary to support anticipated development.

Cost estimates for all recommended infrastructure improvements, including a new elementary school and fire-rescue station, was $153 million, a snapshot “guesstimate” that will undoubtedly soon be dwarfed by inflation. How these improvements will be funded is the big question. Developers contend that proffer dollars will pay for infrastructure upgrades generated by new homes. At current levels, cash proffers are a drop in the bucket.

It's no secret that Goochland would like to attract a data center to boost tax revenue. These need to be close to both water and adequate power sources. The SIS did not investigate the location capacity of existing power lines, which seems odd.

The report recommends that Goochland use a similar approach in other parts of the DGA to analyze and evaluate infrastructure needs and development impact when making land use decisions.

Please take the time to read the SIS to better understand the development process.

Yet another election

 

In the wee hours of December 14, Republicans in the 10^th Virginia Seante District, which includes Goochland, chose Luither Cifers of Farmville (luthercifers.com/) to be their nominee. A special election to replace John McGuire will be held on January 7. The Democrat nominee is Jack Tramell (trammellforsenateva10.com/) of Louisa.

For an  excellent account of the mass meeting, please go to https://cardinalnews.bluelena.io/lt.php?x=3DZy~GDEVaOb7pF~_Q5JU.lz236hut~0vMcxXqbDIXXL5H0szEy.0OJt1HRzid9zkNYwbHTJJXOe The reporter for Cardinal News, Elizabeth Beyer, seems to have been the only media representative to correctly identify the location of the meeting, the Goochland Sports Complex, not the Rec Center as was reported in the alleged “local” media.