Citizen Engagement

Citizen engagement

If the October 29 District 2 and 3 Town Hall meeting at Central High School is any indication, Goochlanders are getting tired of these sessions. There were almost as many county employees and officials present as citizens.

Perhaps the low turnout was due to competition with Monday Night  Football and Halloween activities. Maybe some folks attended one of the other meetings, which presented similar information, earlier in the month.

Nevertheless, it was a good faith effort to provide an update on county and school business and listen to citizen concerns. Visuals of information presented at the  meetings may be viewed at : http://goochlandva.us/DocumentCenter/View/4932/Goochland-County---Town-Hall-October-2018---Districts-2-and-3

District 2 Supervisor Manuel Alvarez, Jr. began the meeting by presenting a Goochland Challenge Coin to community volunteer V. Knight Bowles. A county native, Bowles returned home to “retire” and spends his time and considerable energy improving the lives of others with home repair and Habitat for Humanity. Bowles is currently working on his 23^rd Habitat home in Goochland.

Sally Graham, Executive Director of Goochland Cares, our local non-profit that lives its name every day, thanked everyone for their support. Graham said that the new building on River Road West in Courthouse Village now has all programs, including medical and dental clinics, the food pantry, and Clothes Closet under one easily accessible roof and is appreciated by its clients. Visit http://www.goochlandcares.org/ for details about this gracious benevolent organization.

Graham echoed appreciation for Knight Bowles, who has worked with Goochland Cares and its predecessor organizations to make badly needed home repairs happen. Bowles delights in slashing red tape to get things done to help people.

As Medicaid expansion nears, Graham said that Goochland Cares is helping people determine if they will be eligible, sign up online, and navigate the regulatory maze of the healthcare system.

County Administrator John Budesky began his remarks with a screening of the recently  completed exquisite marketing video presents Goochland to the world. Go to (https://vimeo.com/goochland) to view it.

According to Administrative Services manager Paul Drumwright, who oversaw production of the video, $6,500 was spent to produce the video and another $4,100 to gather additional footage that will be used to craft future videos with a more specific focus.  Funds came out of the Economic Development Authority budget for marketing and promotions.

          Budesky discussed many topics including broadband expansion; fire-rescue and law enforcement coverage; and  growth. The county, he said, is reviewing two proposals to expand broadband to underserved areas and investigating other opportunities. The supervisors could act on these in coming months.

          Central High School will soon be home to the Goochland Agricultural Center, a 6,800 square foot home for the Virginia Cooperative Extension and Monacan Soil and Water Conservation District. Administrative, programing, training, conferencing and lab space will be used by both organizations to better serve their customers. The center is expected to be operation by December 2018.

          Budesky discussed projects underway in Goochland, most in the east end designated growth area. Approved residential communities, most of which will be age-restricted with no impact on schools will nevertheless add a few thousand residents to the county in the next few years. The county’s current population is approximately 22,000.

          Budget priorities continue to be education, public safety and social services, said Budesky. Citizens asked about the ability of fire-rescue and the Sheriff’s Office, already contending with increasing demand for service and difficulty filling vacancies, to respond when they dial 911. Goochland, said Budesky, benefited for years from a top notch volunteer fire-rescue organization, which can no longer meet demand for service.

           Budesky presented an ambitious plan to build several additional county fire-rescue stations, staffed mostly with paid personnel. Among the planned stations are a relocation of Crozier Company 2 and a station in District 2, which includes Sandy Hook. Although funds to acquire land for these facilities appear as a “placeholder” in the county capital improvement plan, no site for either has, contrary to the rumor mill, been identified.

         He tap danced around a question about hiring additional deputies to deal with a burgeoning population. Last year, the county budget funded three new dispatchers  but no additional deputies. Budesky hinted that the Sheriff has vacant funded positions.

          District 5 Supervisor Ken Peterson, current board chair, said that about half of the county budget funds schools. As most of the new homes will increase property values, and tax revenues, while adding no students, it will be a positive for the county.  He did not address the service burden that more  people will add to law enforcement and fire-rescue.

          Kevin Hazzard and Vern Fleming, School Board Members for Districts 2 and 3 respectively, spoke briefly. Hazzard  acknowledged the accomplishment of the school division under the leadership of Superintendent Jeremy Raley. “We hired well,” Hazzard said.

          Fleming said that is an honor to serve one of the best school divisions in the state and nation. Good schools equip our children for success so they support themselves, and come back to be good citizens and serve Goochland. “This does not happen by accident,” he said.

          Raley delivered an update on schools. He reported that the public safety course that explored law enforcement and fire-rescue was discontinued due to lack of interest. He said that the topic may be reinvented in the future.

          Sekou Shabaka of the Goochland NAACP said that although Goochland is considered to be rich county, there are people here who still have outdoor plumbing. The county, he said, has a responsibility to address issues like affordable housing, possible lead contamination of water and great diversity on county staff.

         Budesky said that the county’s first priority is to hire well-quailed individuals and tries to recruit from the broadest possible pool of applicants. An internship program is also addressing the issue. Affordable housing is a difficult issue, Budesky agreed and said that  “more needs to be done.”

          Wendy Hobbs said that listening sessions are planned with the county health department to identify needs that are not being met.

           In response to an inquiry, Debbie Byrd, Assistant Director of community Development, said that timbering is regulated by the Virginia Department of Forestry. Trees left at the edges of timbered property are probably in either power company or VDOT rights of way, which is why they are left to fall across roads.