March Board Highlights

March Board highlights

The Goochland Supervisors’ March monthly meeting was less contentious than anticipated. The Board will address the rezoning application for Tuckahoe Bridge, an up to 147 home subdivision, on property between Manakin and Rockville Roads on June 4, and the rezoning application for Reed Marsh, a 67-lot subdivision on land next to the library on May 7.  A public hearing to amend an ordinance dealing with video monitoring on school buses was also deferred to June 4.

Spring Town Hall meetings re just around the corner. The District 2 and 3 meeting is scheduled for Wednesday March 13 at Central High School Educational and Cultural Center on Dogtown Road. The District 1 meeting will be on Monday, March 18 at the Fife Company 4 Fire-Rescue Station on Hadensville-Fife Road. Districts 4 and 5 will meet on Wednesday March 27 at the Hermitage Country Club on Hermitage Road. All meetings begin at 7 p.m. and are open to all. The format will explain the budget for fiscal year 2020, which begins on July 1 and other topics of local and countywide interest.

A rabies clinic will be held on Sunday, April 7 in the lower parking lot near the intersection of Fairground and Sandy Hook Roads from 2 to 4 p.m. The fee is $10 per animal. This is a good time to make sure your four-legged children are protected.

The supervisors approved a resolution of appreciation for Past Chief of the Department of Fire-Rescue Bill MacKay. He led our intrepid first responders from June 2010 until retiring on January 31. MacKay thanked the Board for its support during his tenure in office and said that the strides the department made were the result of the hard work of hundreds of people. He also thanked the Goochland Sheriff’s Office and the School Division for their partnership in public safety activities.

Marshall Winn, VDOT Ashland Residency Manager, reported that improvements for the Rt. 288/Broad Street Road interchange are on schedule for advertisement in January 2020 but could be moved up. Construction should start about three months later.

In response to a question from Ken Peterson, District 5, Winn said he will send Deputy County Administrator Todd Kilduff, a schedule of planned roadwork. We hope this helps avoid a repeat of the mess caused last year when these was no warning about the resurfacing of Broad Street Road west of Oilville.

Winn told Bob Minnick, District 4, that repairs to roads in the Parke at Centerville are due next year.

The supervisors authorized County Administrator John Budesky to execute a real estate purchase agreement for a building owned by Goochland Cares at 2948 River Road West in Courthouse Village. The purchase price of $450,000 is in line with the current assessed valuation of $449,500. A lease in place with the medical practice of Dr. Bain’s Goochland Family Practice will remain.

The county will purchase this property from Goochland Cares.

Authority was also granted for Budesky to execute a contract for $620,000 to construct a security screening building for the existing courthouse. Currently, a tent serves this purpose. The Veteran’s Memorial will be relocated on the Courthouse green. This 1,047 square foot building will include both indoor and outdoor spaces and ramps to bring it into compliance with the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) requirements. The structure was designed with input from the Sheriff’s Office; Circuit Court Clerk; Historical Society; and approval from the Virginia Department of Historical Resources.

An addition will provide better Courthouse security than this tent. The memorial to the left will be relocated.

The county long term capital improvement plan includes a replacement for the existing circuit house, which was built in 1827—no that is not a typo—and has served Goochland well, but cannot meet contemporary security challenges.  The new courthouse is expected around 2024.

A policy to create road service districts was adopted. This creates a mechanism for the county to collect private funds to bring existing roads up to state standards and   be conveyed to VDOT for maintenance. Please see the board packet for March 5 on the county website http://goochlandva.us/ for details. This policy will address the road situation in the Bridgewater subdivision, but may be applied to other unpaved roads throughout the county. Goochland does not build or maintain roads, that function is handled by VDOT.

The supervisors approved petitioning the circuit court not to hold a special election to fill the office of Treasurer and to vest Chief Deputy Treasurer Pamela Duncan with the powers to perform all the functions of that office. Current Treasurer Pamela Johnson announced her intention to retire at the end of the current fiscal year, June 30. As this is a local election year, county treasurer, a constitutional office will be on the ballot; incurring the expense of a special election does not seem warranted.

Under housekeeping matters, the Board authorized the refund of an erroneous business license payment made on February 11. Policy requires refunds in excess of $2,500 to be authorized by the supervisors after having been verified by the Treasurer.

The school budget was presented to the supervisors and will be discussed in a separate post.