Road show

It’s finally cooled off, the leaves are turning, and Goochland County fall town hall meetings are in full swing. The first, for Districts 4 and 5 was held on October 10 at the beautiful Virginia Farm Bureau headquarters in West Creek. (Virginia Farm Bureau graciously offered the use of its wonderful meeting room to the county at no charge. Visit https://www.vafb.com/ for more information about this fine organization.) Following are a few highlights from the meeting.

The District 1 meeting was held on October 15 at the Hadensville Company 6 Fire-Rescue Station while Districts 2 and 3 will meet on October 30 at the Central High School Educational and Cultural Center. All sessions begin at 7 p.m. (“Slides” of the core presentation are available at http://www.goochlandva.us/DocumentCenter/View/6070/Goochland-County---Town-Hall-October-2019)

All five members of the Board of Supervisors attended the October 10 meeting. Bob Minnick District 4 and Board Chair Manuel Alvarez, Jr., District 2 are not seeking reelection. Minnick thanked Farm Bureau for its hospitality and noted that since this board took office in January 2012, 80 town hall meetings will have been held at the conclusion of the current round.  He noted that the last eight years serving the citizens has been an interesting experience and that he will sign off on December 31. Minnick thanked his wife Kathy for holding things together on days when “things are tough, and decisions get tricky.”

 Minnick recognized Beth Hardy, current District 4 school board member who also chose not to seek reelection. He presented her with a Goochland Challenge coin for her service to the community.

Bob Minnick thanks Beth Hardy for her service on the school board

Superintendent of Schools Dr. Jeremy Raley thanked Hardy for her contribution to the renaissance of Goochland Schools, especially during her first year in office. “You were school board chairperson during a very difficult time, and handled some serious challenges with grace, “he said.

Hardy said that serving on the Goochland School Board—and many other related boards and commissions on a statewide basis—was the most productive, fulfilling, and challenging thing she has done in her life after parenthood.  “Our kids are better for it, our community is better for it,” said Hardy of the improvement in our schools.

District 5 supervisor Ken Peterson touched on some of the many good things happening in the county. Perhaps the most remarkable and productive change in the past eight years is the close collaboration between the supervisors and school board, a phenomenon almost unheard of in the rest of the Commonwealth. Peterson touted the county’s two excellent bond ratings, and another clean audit.

County Administrator John Budesky thanked Farm Bureau for its hospitality and being a great business partner to the county.

Several people asked why the county has not fixed the dangerous intersection of Rt. 288 and Broad Street Road in Centerville. Budesky said that planned improvements there are being advertised and work is expected to begin next spring. One woman suggested placing temporary flashing stop signs there in the interim. Marshall Winn administrator of the VDOT Ashland residency said that VDOT traffic engineers have studied the area and decided that additional signage will not help.

 THE SUPERVISORS AND SHERIFF HAVE LITTLE SAY IN GOOCHLAND ROAD IMPROVEMENTS, ALL OF WHICH ARE DEICDED AND HANDLED BY VDOT. THE PEOPLE WHO COMPLAIN ABOUT LOCAL ROADS NEVER ATTTEND PUBLIC HEARINGS ON THE SECONDARY SIX YEAR ROAD PLAN. THE COUNTY CANNOT JUST CALL UP VDOT AND ORDER A TRAFFIC SIGNAL. IT IS A LENGHTY AND COMPLICATED PROCESS.

Budesky gave a brief update on economic development. Note on the map that most of these projects are east of Manakin Road, a good illustration of the supervisors’ policy to keep 85 percent of Goochland rural going forward. He also mentioned that the developer of a mixed-use enclave on the Oak Hill property in the northeast quadrant of the Rt. 288/Patterson Avenue interchange is seeking a grocery store for the project.

Budesky reported that the county recently retained the firm of Hourigan Construction to complete work on the animal shelter after the original contractor was fired last summer. Talks with the escrow agents to cover the cost of finishing the project are ongoing. Opening of the facility is expected early in 2020.

He listed new projects, including Tuckahoe Bridge subdivision on Manakin and Rockville Roads, Reed Marsh in Courthouse Village and Manakin Towne, which is pending.

Budesky reiterated that the county does not discourage any entity from adding to county broadband options. “We welcome additional providers,” Budesky said.  Administrative Services Manager Paul Drumright, the county’s point man on telecommunications, reported that Verizon has decided it will not expand FIOS. He also said that 5G will not be deployed in Goochland any time soon. As 5G uses many small cell “towers” often mounted on buildings and utility poles, it is better suited to urban areas, said Drumwright.

Fire-Rescue Chief D. E. “Eddie” Ferguson, Jr. thanked the supervisors for funding the recently hired fire-rescue employees that now staff all six county stations 24/7 and are already improving response times. Answering a question about routing 911 calls made from cell phones, Ferguson explained that cell calls go to the nearest tower, which could be in another county. He said that dispatchers can route the call to the appropriate jurisdiction, but it is important to provide dispatchers with as much information as possible about your location.

In mid-March of next year, the United States decennial census will be taken, said Budesky. Forms may be completed online or by mail. For those interested, the Federal Government is hiring temporary employees to collect this important data.

Raley was up next. He played a short video about student experience at Goochland High School. (Visit the website http://goochlandschools.org/ to see many of the good things happening at our schools. The schools’ annual report Explorations will be mailed to all homes in Goochland in the coming weeks. Please take the time to read this.)

Raley said that Goochland has been named the regional school division of choice by Niche Magazine for the second year in a row; is the 8^th safest division in the Commonwealth; and the number one in special education.

In response to a question about the burgeoning school population and the use of trailers at both Randolph and Byrd elementary schools, Raley said that the number of students in the current year decreased slightly from last year. This is because the incoming kindergarten class has fewer students than last June’s graduating class. Raley said there are 124 homeschooled children in the county. He did not have numbers for those who attend private school.

The new Goochland Elementary School, to be located on property behind the yellow sign on Bulldog Way, will accommodate 650 students, larger than originally planned. Expected to open in August 2024, thanks to redistricting, this school will take enough students from both RES and BES to eliminate the need for trailers until they too can be replaced. Raley said that today’s schools are not like those of the past where students sat in straight rows and received instruction from a teacher but are flexible and interactive. Class sizes in Goochland are grades k-3 15 to 18; 4-9 20to 21; and 23 to 24 in high school.

Goochland schools receive 20 percent of their funding from the state, the remainder comes from local funding. Raley acknowledged that the county has other monetary obligations to provide services to citizens. He observed that the constructive collaboration between the county and schools, unlike adversarial relationships in other jurisdictions, plays a big part in the success of Goochland schools, whose goal is to maximize the potential of every learner.