Observations of the February 3 board meeting
Kudos to all who attended both the afternoon and evening sessions.
You may have set a record for public comment (about one hour and 45 minutes) in the afternoon. People get the government they deserve and by taking the time from your busy schedules to attend meetings you send a clear message to the supervisors that Goochland citizens expect accountability and transparency in their local government.
Keep up the good work.
Fairgrounds property
The best news of the day came at the top of the meeting when Ned Creasey, District 3 announced that the supervisors, in response to a flood of phone calls and emails, decided to reject all offers for the Fairgrounds property. “Your voices have been heard,” said Creasey. “The board will evaluate the property and decide what will benefit best the citizens and small businesses of the county.”
County administrator
Quashing rumors that County Attorney Andrew McRoberts was to succeed Greg Wolfrey as county administrator on an interim basis, the board announced that Lane Ramsey former Chesterfield county administrator will act in that capacity.
Ramsey, who performed a similar task in Gloucester last year, will keep the county running while the board searches for a permanent replacement for Wolfrey whose resignation became effective on February 1.
Some religions denominations use a similar procedure following the departure of minister under clouded circumstances. Interim appointment of an outsider provides some breathing space for a troubled congregation to heal and get its house in order before a new permanent pastor is installed. Goochland county administration is in a similar situation and the remedy is sound.
Board chairman Andrew Pryor, District 5 announced that Wolfrey will receive two months’ salary and unused vacation and sick leave. The supervisors discussed the county administrator succession in closed session.
Soccer fields
Both during its afternoon and evening sessions, the board heard lengthy and mind-numbing explanations of the methane remediation process underway at the capped landfill under the Hidden Rock Park soccer fields.
New plastic vent pipes and a pumping system are being installed to extract the landfill gas, which is comprised of methane, carbon dioxide and “other things.”
Overall, the officials from DEQ and Resource International, the firm hired by Goochland to perform the remediation work, agreed that the new system should control and safely remove gaseous effluent from the closed landfill. Both gentlemen seemed to view the situation as more of a nuisance than a threat. They never quite explained why DEQ levies fines for a nuisance.
The “exploding soccer Mom” incident in which a soccer parent was injured after igniting a methane pocket in a low- lying area near a soccer field was explained.
According to the experts, concentrations of escaped methane high enough to cause that kind of explosion typically occur at old landfills that were not properly closed and capped.
The Goochland landfill, they said, was newer and its sealing cap seemed well maintained. They seemed to be unaware that a portion of the cap slipped down the hill a few years ago.
Terminology used to describe levels of escaping landfill gas — lower explosive levels and upper explosive levels –did little to dispel the notion that methane and “other things” escaping into the air near playing fields is bad for children and other living things.
Ben Slone, whose residence is downwind from HRP, presented photos of supposedly sealed gas vents with easily removed metal caps labeled water and monitoring stations heavily covered in brush.
Slone raised concerns about what will happen if the excess landfill gas is flared, or burned. He contended that overtime the gaseous effluent from the dump, which includes methane and carbon dioxide changes over time into “non-methane organic gases which, if ignited can cause degeneration into things like dioxin.”
He said that building playing fields on top of a closed landfill whose contents and construction are unknown is a bad idea and advocated creation of playing fields elsewhere in the county. A close examination of the closed landfill is also needed to do the right thing for the county and not just meet DEQ guidelines.
At the end of the day neither representative from Resource International nor DEQ would declare the fields absolutely safe. Questions about the safety of the ball fields, which are located at the bottom of the old landfill were answered with vague generalities.
It is believed that no definitive statements about field safety will be made until all of the remediation work, whose price tag is more than $100,000, is complete. The system will be monitored to determine the presence and extent of any remaining emissions.
Ken Brown, Goochland Fire-Rescue Chief said that he was not aware of methane concerns on the Fourth of July when several thousand people gathered in the park at the bottom of the hill, where escaping methane could be expected to accumulate, to watch fireworks.
Two important issues got lost in the shuffle:
Why, if the county knew of the violation in May was remediation work begun almost nine months later?
Why were parents and officials of youth sports groups not immediately notified about the presence of high concentrations of potentially volatile substances at HRP? Bob Dewar, president of the Goochland United Soccer Association (GUSA) asked that regular test be made at the soccer fields and the results of those test be made public.
Pryor promised to promptly post notice of such tests on the county website.
Insurance for GUSA players on the HRP fields is also a concern, said Dewar. He was unsure if the organization will be able to secure insurance coverage without unqualified assurance that the methane problem has been fixed and the fields are safe to play on.
Agreements for county children to use fields owned by private schools were fast tracked to secure needed review and approval by both the planning commission and supervisors in the next month. While this maneuver will take a bit of pressure off the field shortage, it is no substitute for additional fields.
More importantly, the board declined to comment about what is going on with the land purchased by the county last summer located behind Towne and Country Shops for a soccer complex.
Dewar told the board that the complex will bring lots of people to Courthouse Village on weekends to patronize local businesses who pay county taxes. The impact of a soccer complex on county businesses will be immediate, he contended.
Dewar’s remarks fell on deaf ears.
It is puzzling that the Department of Economic Development has not been promoting creation of the GUSA soccer complex.
Comp Plan hearing
The highlight of the day, the final public hearing on the 2028 Goochland comprehensive land use plan, didn’t get underway until almost 9 p.m. The review process began about two years ago. It passed unanimously containing changes lamented by many speakers.
On the bright side, the supervisors acknowledged the need to revisit the Plan often to see if it accurately reflects current conditions. This represents an important attitudinal change.
John Lewis applauded the county planning staff for including vision statements in the Plan, but lamented its lack of accountability or any mechanism for measuring success going forward.
He also chided the county for amending the revisions at the eleventh hour, which, Lewis contended, gave little time for citizen review and comment.
The 2028 plan, said Lewis, concentrates more on growth management than proactive protection of existing rural character, historical and natural resources.
John Hosay mourned the potential for destruction of the simple, sustainable rural lifestyle that characterizes western Goochland. Food and other goods and services produced locally, Hosay contended, will prove beneficial to Goochland in hard economic times.
Linda Hosay pointed out that during the last depression, there were no bread lines in rural areas because country people were able to care for themselves.
Paul Costello contended that the citizen input process is broken because there is no mechanism for meaningful dialog between citizens and supervisors.
The Plan, said Costello is filled with broad assumptions that are the mother of unintended consequences.
Several speakers noted that without master plans Centerville and Courthouse Village will develop in ways that do not benefit the county and citizens.
Wat Ellerson blasted the Plan, characterizing it as a “Christmas list” of little use because it fails to catalog and explain current land use conditions in the county.
Goochland, he said, may have a large supply of building lots, but the demand for those homes is probably in Richmond and Henrico.
Several speakers contended that a build out analysis, a comprehensive list of existing zoned building lots and their location, is a vital part of a useful Plan. They believe that there could be as many raw, zoned residential lots as existing homes in the county. No one really knows. So far, all such information has been guesstimates. This would seem to be a relatively simple task for the county geographic information system.
District 2 Supervisor William Quarles, Jr. said that the Plan is not a perfect tool, but provides an “awesome opportunity” for citizen participation in government.
After two years in the crock pot, it was time for the 2028 Plan to be adopted. Right now, no one has a clue where the economy is headed. If the housing industry remains in freefall, fears about runaway growth may never materialize. This quiet time in development provides breathing room and a good opportunity to plan.
Master plans for Centerville and Courthouse Village should be at the top of the “to do” list followed closely by a build out analysis.
The 2028 comprehensive land use plan is a complicated document. All citizens should at least glance through it to get some idea of what Goochland could look like in 20 years.
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