July 2019 Board highlights

The Goochland County Board of Supervisors had a full agenda for its July 2 meeting.

Speakers during afternoon and evening public comment demanded that the supervisors do something to bring disenfranchised voters assigned to precincts in Louisa County back to Goochland in time for this November’s local elections. The Board went into closed session following its afternoon session and again after the end of public hearings—well after 10 p.m.—to discuss possible legal remedies with county attorney Tara McGee. On July 3, the county issued a statement reiterating the Board’s commitment to finding a resolution to the problem. McGee will continue to examine all legal options. In addition, Board Chair Manuel Alvarez, Jr. District 2, sent a letter to Senators Warne and Kaine and Rep. Spanberger asking for their assistance

The text of that letter is at http://www.goochlandva.us/DocumentCenter/View/5579/Congressional-Delegation-Adoption-of-Census-Border_20190703?bidId= A meeting of the Goochland Electoral Board will be held at 3 p.m. at the Hadensville Company 6 Fire-Rescue Station on July 9 to further discuss the situation.

County Administrator John Budesky announced that Hourigan Construction has been retained for 30 days as interim contractor to get the stalled construction of the new animal shelter back on track. The county and Selective Insurance Company of American, the bonding agent of the previous contractor, will identify a permanent contractor to finish the job. Hourigan began work on July 9. It is the same company that built the new GoochlandCares facility and is working on the Sheltering Arms hospital in West Creek, and, according to Budesky, approached the county about working on the animal shelter.

Built in partnership with local non-profit Goochland Pet Lovers, the animal protection and adoption center will be a state-of-the-art facility to serve the community well into the future. We hope that more details will be released as information becomes available.

For everyone who enjoyed the recent paving adventures brought to Goochland by VDOT—the state agency whose motto is “Oops!”—in the past few months, another one is on the way. Marshall Winn, Ashland Residency Administrator, announced that the Maidens Bridge will be closed for about three months for renovation. The poor design of the bridge, which replaced a one lane bridge early in the century, allowed road salt to rust out steel decking supports. The repairs will use rebar reinforced concrete under paving material. Traffic that normally uses Maidens Road to reach the Rt. 522 bridge over the James River will use Fairground to Sandy Hook to River Road West. More exciting games of “chicken” are coming to the intersection of Fairground and Sandy Hook Roads!

VDOT will close Maidens Road for several months to repair this bridge near Rt. 6.

McGee reported on the “listening session” held to determine if Goochland needs a county noise ordinance. She suggested that a citizen committee comprised of people on all sides of the issue be formed to further explore the issue. As the Sheriff’s Office will play an important part in enforcement of any such ordinance, McGee recommended that final action be deferred until at least January 2020 when a new Sheriff and Board are in place.  NO DECISION FOR OR AGAINST A GOOCHLAND NOISE ORDINANCE HAS BEEN MADE.      

  

During public hearings, the board approved creation of a service district to fund completion of roads in the 31 lot Bridgewater subdivision north of Broad Street Road in Maidens. Because the landowners in Bridgewater will receive services not “offered uniformly throughout the county” the service district will be used to fund completion of the roads.

The developer of the subdivision went out of business before its roads were brought up to state standards, necessary to be eligible for inclusion in the state road system, and a letter of credit lapsed before the roads could be finished. The estimated cost to complete the work, determined by a competitive bid process, is $269,622, which includes a contingency of $23,420, and project management costs of $12,000. The county has agreed to fund $164,200 of the costs. 

A tax of 28 cents per $100 of valuation will be levied on all lots in Bridgewater, but no more than $105,422 will be collected from landowners. If the actual cost of the project is less than estimated, the funds collected through the tax will be decreased. If the costs are higher, the county will pick up the tab for the overage.

The tax will begin to accrue on January 1, 2020 and run for ten years or until the costs are repaid.( For complete details see the July 2 board packet, starting on page 158, available on the county website http://www.goochlandva.us/) 

This was a difficult situation. The county does not build roads, but the homeowners in Bridgewater were left in a bind. Creation of the service district creates a mechanism for land owners to chip in to ensure that the road work is completed.  Let’s hope that going forward safeguards are in place to prevent a recurrence of this situation.