A new day in Goochland

Supervisors select new county administrator

Goochland board of supervisors’ chairman Andrew Pryor introduced Rebecca Dickson as the new county administrator at the board’s May meeting last night.

Dickson, who is currently a deputy county administrator in Chesterfield was one of 60 applicants for the job. In addition to impressive professional credentials and local government experience, Dickson will bring a monumental attitude shift to county government.

With a firm handshake and pleasant demeanor, Dickson makes it clear that she knows her job is to serve the citizens of Goochland, solve problems for their benefit and not build a personal empire.

In brief remarks, made after the board voted unanimously on her appointment, Dickson used the words family and team to describe government staff. She said that she believes in the importance of cultivating relationships that are “open, honest and mutually respectful.”

She commended the supervisors on their selection process. From the start, she said, the board made it clear how much they care about the citizens, businesses and staff of Goochland County. The board worked hard to make the process “positive, gracious and thorough,” and she is looking forward to facing the opportunities and challenges ahead.
Dickson said that her family will move to Goochland and become part of the community. Dickson is expected to start work toward the end of July.

Having grown up on a small horse farm near Warrenton, Dickson said that moving to Goochland will be like coming homes.

She looks forward to the challenges and opportunities that face her as Goochland county administrator. Dickson seems well qualified in education, experience and temperament to succeed. Her horse farm background will come in handy too, because county government still needs some mucking out.

Welcome Rebecca Dickson, may your tenure in Goochland be long, happy and beneficial for all.

The future for Goochland looks bright with new leadership.

In the few short months that Lane Ramsey has been part-time interim administrator, new eyes on old situations have produced amazing results.

At yesterday’s meeting, the board unanimously authorized creation of the position of assistance county administrator for financial services. This person, will be a certified public accountant or have equivalent skills, will be charged with reorganizing the county’s financial operations.

Ramsey told the board that the county currently has no one on staff with the expertise to properly handle accounting matters. In the past, auditors would close the county books, make the conversion from a cash to accrual basis then prepare the statements needed for the audit, which created a conflict of interest.

The fragmented nature of the county’s fiscal operations created an environment that fostered the financial mess in the utilities department.

Ramsey commended Myrtis Quarles for her outstanding work on the budget under the difficult conditions in place early this year.

The new position will be charged with the eventual consolidation of all county fiscal operations, including the school system, under one umbrella into a central accounting and purchasing arrangement for the benefit of all players.

It will be interesting to see how that concept is received by various entities. Rumor has it that the school system may retain counsel to remain independent.

Ten years after the then Industrial Development Authority raised the notion of providing water and sewer to encourage development at the Oilville Interstate 64 interchange, the board finally gave its blessing to a plan devised by Ramsey.

With the expected closure of the Oilville rest areas, any participation by VDOT was removed from the equation. Instead, the supervisors agreed to a plan whose initial costs to the county will probably be less than $25,000.

Landowners inside a perimeter centered on the interchange must rezone their property to facilitate development. No public utility infrastructure will be built until $11 million worth of development has occurred. All land in the district must be removed from land use taxation. The landowners will make an advance deposit to the county of $1 million, which will be kept by the county, including interest generated, and used to fund the infrastructure.
The landowners are also required to donate land for wells, wastewater treatment plants and rights of way for the district.

When the $11 million threshold is reached, the county will use the $1 million put up by the property owners and issue revenue bonds to pay construction costs. The county will then levy an ad valorem tax, expected to be no more than 40 cents per $100 of assessed valuation to provide revenue for debt service.

The county will receive sales tax generated by development and real estate tax revenue on the property only on the 2009 assessed valuation. Tax proceeds from increases in property values will revert to the district for debt service until a cash balance of $2.5 million is reached, at which time revenue sharing will cease.

A fresh look at an old problem resulted in a simple, workable, common sense solution that will benefit all concerned.

Attention soccer fans. The board approved $261,656.05 to clear, rough grade and seed the acreage next to the high school with the eventual goal of building four full sized soccer fields. There will be additional work needed, but it is a start. Currently, there are no full sized soccer fields on county property. It is expected that one of those fields will be dived crossways into several fields for the younger players.

Fireworks will take place there this Fourth of July.

Check out www.esri.com/arcnews for a great article about the county’s geographic information systems department and its interface with the department of emergency management to better protect citizens in time of crisis. Qiana Foote, GIS Coordinator for the county, is justifiably proud of the system, which is able to provide a myriad of useful information to improve the performance of many departments.

The gas monitoring system at Hidden Rock Park is in place and working well, according to Don Charles, director of community development.