Looking forward

Parks master plan prepares for the future

On Monday October, 26, District 2 supervisor William Quarles, Jr. held his first town meeting in conjunction with an open house about the county’s park master plan.

Unfortunately, the meeting was sparsely attended. Those who were there gained valuable insights about the strategies being put in place to prepare Goochland for he future.

New county administrator Rebecca T. Dickson explained that Goochland is experiencing a $1.3 million revenue shortfall in the current fiscal year. That situation, she said, will get worse in the next fiscal year.

Due to shrinking real estate assessments, which she said are expected to decline about 12 percent overall (some will rise, some will fall, some will remain unchanged) the county expects real estate tax revenues to decline by $5.4 million for the next fiscal year, which begins July 1, 2010.

Dickson said that while she does not recommend accessing the general fund to pay operating expense, that strategy is not unheard of in trying fiscal times. She expects the tax rate to remain at the current 53 cents per hundred dollars of assessed valuation.

Dickson properly and gracefully declined to lay blame for the troubles in the Tuckahoe Creek Service District.

That task will be addressed by the voters at the next local election in 2011.

She predicted, however, that the comprehensive countywide audit, currently in process, will identify past problems and offer solutions to fix them.

“The sky is not falling,” Dickson said of the TCSD. “But it may need to be propped up a bit.”

She said that the TCSD was a good plan and is still quite viable going forward. The economic assumptions on which it was based, however, have changed and the county needs to change course accordingly.

Quarles contended that the TCSD is the county’s economic engine and he too seemed optimistic that it will be able to bring needed revenue to the county. He offered no specifics.

The proposed parks master plan was discussed by the county’s principal planner Tom Coleman.

Crafted with the input of the Parks and Recreation Advisory committee, the master plan designates priority for development to four parcels of land. They are: the soccer complex next to the high school; the old Middle School; the Borne property off of Rt. 6 and a county owned tract on Mathews Lane in western Goochland.

Tucker Park at Maidens Landing with access to the James River is not a priority for the county because it is being developed under the auspices of a public/private task force in conjunction with the Chamber of Commerce.

Right now, there is little money to build parks, admitted Coleman.

Why bother with a master plan, whose build out could cost about $14.8 million when the county is facing a drastic revenue shortfall?

Coleman, Dickson and Quarles said that having a master plan in place is a proactive step to enable Goochland to take advantage of funding opportunities that include grant money and public/private partnerships.

For years, the Goochland United Soccer Association (GUSA) has begged the county to acquire land for a soccer complex. Acreage next to the high school has been cleared, rough graded and seeded, all good first steps for the complex.
Before it can be put into use, however, safe road access from Rt. 6 and parking must be built. Both items carry hefty price tags.

GUSA has expressed a willingness to obtain funds to improve a county soccer complex. The land is there, now it’s time for GUSA to get to work.

Derek Stamey, the county’s new director of Parks and Recreations, observed that the master plan offers a great opportunity to get the ball rolling by working with groups like GUSA. Part of his job is to aggressively pursue grant money and other alternate funding sources.

With fairly detailed plans for specific parcels of land on hand, the county can move forward quickly when money becomes available.

Wendy Hobbs, a resident of District 2, asked when the plans would become reality. She stated that young people in the area have “nothing to do.”

Coleman said there is really no time line.

Dickson suggested that the county needs to investigate new ways to fund its capital improvement plan. In the past, most CIP items have been paid for with money from the county general fund on a pay as you go basis.

At some point, the economy will move through the dangerous rapids we’re now negotiating and find itself in calm and richer waters, Quarles contended.

The old middle school property is rife with possibility. Although the county has known for at least five years that the property would be surplus at the end of the 2007 school year, no decision about its disposition has yet been made.

In the meantime, the vacant property has begun to decay, increasing the cost of any new use. The building and the approximately 19 acres it sits on could be used for a variety of purposes. It will be interesting to see how many more years it sits there waiting for a decision.

Quarles gave a brief update about county government. He made it clear that he was speaking for himself and not the board of supervisors.

He was questioned about why the county is not doing more to make Goochland more hospitable to small business to generate jobs and revenue.

Quarles said that he wants to make sure that any new development is economically and environmentally sound.

One subject dear to Quarles’ heart is the need to find a way for residents of all parts of the county to have the ability to access high speed internet.

He seemed to indicate that the best way for the county to find a way to create an atmosphere attractive to private sector providers of emerging technology.

Broadband in Goochland, Quarles observed, will probably not be a one size fits all proposition. Currently, residents in an odd configuration of eastern Goochland, Courthouse Village, Millers Lane and Shepperdtown Road are served by Comcast.

Many other people use air cards or satellite systems, which have gotten mixed reviews. The rest of us suffer with and swear at dial-up connections.

Quarles wants to ensure that all county residents, regardless of their economic situation, have broadband access. Goochland, he said, has a digital divide that penalizes students who live outside areas with broadband access whose families cannot afford alternative internet options. How to provide broadband access throughout the county and who will pay are thorny issues a long way from resolution.

The internet issue illustrates the attitudinal differences around the county. At the District 5 town meeting earlier this month, the broadband issue was not raised because it is widely available there.

It is unfortunate that so few people attended this meeting either to chat with Quarles and Dickson or learn about the master plan for parks.

Citizen indifference results in non-responsive local government.