Goochland County offices are open as of June 8, 2020. Go
to county website goochlandva.us for complete details.
Once again, Goochland supervisors held their monthly meeting
via electronic means, limiting physical attendance to staff, and, for evening
public hearings, applicants. (Video of the entire meeting available on the
county website under past recorded meetings.)
Many items on the agenda were of the housekeeping variety.
The Board once again approved emergency actions taken by the County Administrator,
John Budesky, for Covid 19 response.
VDOT
Speed studies are various locations around the county are on
hold due to low traffic counts resulting from the Covid 19 stay-at-home orders.
Construction has begun at the intersection of Rt. 288 and Broad
Street Road at the east end of the county. Vegetation removal and some
excavation in progress since work began at the end of March.
Fire-Rescue
An uptick in fire calls occurred as people stayed home. Fire
Marshal Doug Davies created a short video with fire prevention tips go to view.
He reminded people not to flick lit cigarettes into mulch beds, which can easily
start fires. He also urged residents to exercise great care when burning yard
debris to prevent these blazes from starting brush fires, which can be very
difficult to extinguish. Grill safety and having working smoke alarms was also
emphasized. The video is available on the Goochland Fire-Rescue Facebook page.
Fire-Rescue has been working closely with the Chickahominy
Health District, including proving mobile Covid 19 testing for residents unable
to travel to Central High for the May 21 testing event.
Residents are encouraged to promptly call 911 for help with
illness and injury. Goochland EMS is ready and able respond to all emergencies
taking special precautions for Covid 19. Do not wait to call 911—early response
saves lives and can reduce complications.
Goochland Fire-Rescue and Emergency Management was presented
with the Gold “Mission Lifeline” award by the American Heart Association on May
18. “This is a direct reflection of the department’s ability to deliver state-of-the
art prehospital cardiac and stroke care, all-encompassing of Cardiac and STEMI
patient care protocols, including Pre-Hospital 12 Lead EKGs performed in a
timely manner, and transport to the appropriate hospital, a PCI Center (Cath
Lab). This award is truly a TEAM acknowledgement. Special thanks to our
Operational Medical Directors, Department Leadership, County Administration,
and the Board of Supervisors for supporting our department in all the ways they
do, making possible the medical direction, protocols, training, funding, and
the lifesaving equipment to provide the level of care for Goochland.”
Float times
Summer is here and people are taking to the water. Every
year, fire-rescue publishes “Float times” between various places on the James
River. Those unfamiliar with the James
often vastly underestimate the amount of time it takes to travel from western
Goochland to the Maidens landing resulting in unnecessary emergency calls.
July public hearings
The supervisors set public hearings at their July 7 meeting
for ordinance amendments to: exempt some categories of agricultural equipment from
tangible personal property tax; to increase the fee included in court costs
from $10 to $20 to help fund courthouse security and related personnel; to modify the definition of animal
abandonment; to consider changes in procurement procedures for goods, services.
And capital projects; and to increase the time frame from one to five years to
sue on a performance bond from completion of the contract including all
warranties and guarantees, or from discovery of the defect or breach of
warranty. These proposed ordinance amendments would bring Goochland laws into agreement
with state laws. (See June 2 board packet pages 87-105 for details.)
Farm Tire Program
A program to collect used farm tires and properly dispose of
them was discussed. Currently, Goochland convenience centers only take up to 24-inch
tires, far smaller than those used on agricultural equipment. Disposal of the larger tires is a problem for
farmers. Dumping them in a field could create breeding grounds for mosquitos.
Saw blades to cut them into pieces are expensive. A fee of $30 per tire—the cost
to administer, store and transport them to an approved tire disposal facility is
proposed. Derek Stamey, Deputy County Administrator for Operations, said that
the proposed fee resulted from discussion with local farmers. More detailed
discussion will occur at the July 7 Board meeting.
Money
Goochland County has received $2,078,358 from the federal CARES
act, Director of Finance, Barbara Horlacher gave a brief and preliminary
overview of possible uses for the money. As with most federal funds, there are
restrictions for use of this money. Horlacher is working with county
departments and agencies to determine the impact of Covid 19 response had on their
budgets and which of those expenditures, if any, are eligible for CARES reimbursement.
“It’s complicated in a lot of ways,” she said. Use of CARES funds will be examined
during the county’s annual audit. Horlacher indicated that the county is
working with its auditors, PB Mares, to ensure that the funds are used
properly.
Horlacher said that unexpected expenditures, including laptops
for county employees to work remotely, Covid 19 related overtime for public
safety employees, and capital expenditures like plexiglass shields and an
external drop box could be included. A portion could go to the school division for
Covid 19 expenses. Going forward, a monthly list of possible CARES eligible
expenditures will be presented to the supervisors for appropriation. The money,
Horlacher said, would be “quarantined as a liability” in accountant speak, and
not be dumped into general revenue.
The proposed budget for fiscal year 2021, which begins on
July 1, presented last February is but a pleasant memory. Since the Covid 19
lockdown, the county adopted reduced spending plans for both the current and
future fiscal year because continuing county finances were a great unknown. Each
month provides a real time update for the supervisors. So far, Horlacher
reported, revenues are a bit ahead of revised expectations.
Budget amendments presented to the supervisors for approval
were appropriation of $216,110, part of a Community Development Block Grant to
the Department of Social Services. This money can be sued to help DSS clients
with rent and other expenses during Covid; and $200k from the CARES money to
the capital improvement plan to pay for protective health measures, including those
in the DMV Select office.
Revenue projections for the current fiscal year, with the first
half taxes due June 5 with a non-penalty extension to July 5, are still best
guesses. A clearer picture, said Horlacher, will be available in July.
School Superintendent Dr. Jeremy Raley discussed requested
amendments to the school budget.
“This is a way to maintain the status quo and
our standard of excellence,” Raley said. here are very few things known in this
process beyond the level funding local transfer. Schools are heavily dependent
on sales tax revenues which Raley expected to decline by nine percent and a decrease
in lottery proceeds, both unknowns. As 20 percent of the school budget comes from
state funds, whose amount is the great unknown. Ultimate costs associated with
Covid response going forward compound the unknown.
The schools will operate
within their means, declared Raley, cautioning that there may be unknown costs
going forward. Raley estimated a $375 per student cost for Covid 19 operational
changes. The supervisors approved reallocation of school CIP funds, that involved
no new expenditures, moving money from one project to another.
Public hearings
The board approved an amended conditional use permit for Grace
Chinese Baptist Church for phase 2 and 3. The church will ultimately consist
of $32,000 square feet in three buildings of similar architecture and add 111
parking spaces to the site. The supervisors also agreed to return $5,000 paid
at the time the initial CUP was approved for the traffic signal at Manakin and
Broad Street, which was funded by VDOT.
An application for a CUP to add an event venue place of
public assembly and short-term rental unhosted filed by Orapax Hunting
Preserve, LLC was also approved. The new uses will occur opposite hunting activities
to enable the property to generate revenue year round
No comments:
Post a Comment