The new normal

Goochland County entered phase 3 reopening on July 1.  Although a special called meeting was held on June 10, the first regularly scheduled meeting of the Board of Supervisors since March happened on July 7. Masks are required in the administration building, and seats were marked to ensure proper social distancing. Highlights from the afternoon session follow.

At the start of the afternoon session, both Board Chair Susan Lascolette, District 1, and Interim County Administrator Derek Stamey “gave a shout out” to Commissioner of the Revenue Jennifer Brown and her staff for going above and beyond the call of duty during the pandemic.

People wait for their turn at  Goochland DMV Select

During the lockdown, Goochland’s DMV Select was one of the few branches of that agency to remain open in the entire STATE. People have been coming to Goochland from quite a distance to take advantage of this for months. On July 7, for example, tents supplied with cold water were set up outside the admin building to provide some relief from the heat for people waiting their turn. The county purchased a pager system to ensure that only a limited number of people enter the building at a time. Kudos to Brown and her staff for adapting to the emergency and continuing to work through the pandemic for the citizens in a safe manner. Demand for these services has been high, said Stamey. He reported that on July 6, more than 700 DMV Select transactions were completed; the count for a “normal” day is around 200.

Stamey reminded those who have not yet participated in the 2020 Federal Census to do so. The information gathered from this is vital to making sound decisions for the future. So far, Goochland’s response rate is 68.4 percent ahead of the statewide rate of 66.7. Details of this Census will not be released to the public for 72 years, in 2092. Numbers reported in December will be general, as in “how many people lived in Goochland County, Virginia on April 1, 2020”.

Jonathan Lyle, Director of the Monacan Soil and Water Conservation District commended the supervisors for partnering with Central Virginia Electric Coop (CVEC) to expand broadband in the unserved western part of the county. He also thanked Matt Longshore, county director of utilities for keeping MSWCD in the loop about storm water management for an alfalfa field near Holly Lane in the eastern part of Goochland.

Lyle believes that there will not be a four percent decline in property values—real estate tax revenues provide the bulk of county funds—and urged the board to strongly consider restoring items supporting public safety, education, and county staff cut to deal with expected revenue shortfalls, to the budget.

This weekend the Alvis Farm Sunflower Festival will return, reported Lyle. The event, family friendly on a site large enough easily accommodate social distancing, will take place on the weekend of July 11 located on acreage off of Seay Road, north of I 64, east of Oilville Road. Go to https://www.alvisfarmsva.com/ for details.

Glorious fields blooming for the Alvis Farms Sunflower Festival

The supervisors adopted a revised human resources policy manual. (See the July 7 board packet on the county website goochlandva.us for details.)

A resolution to request that VDOT accept the streets in the Bridgewater subdivision, on the north side of Rt. 250 west of Fairground Road, into the secondary system of state highways for maintenance and provide a one year warranty on the  roads was unanimously adopted by the Board. This seems to be the final step in a long and convoluted journey to complete construction to bring Bridgewater roads to state standards.

Goochland has needed a new circuit courthouse to replace the existing structure, which has been in use since 1826—no, that’s not a typo—for quite a while.  A security annex completed late last year, made security screening better, but a new courthouse is still needed. The county’s 25 year capital improvement plan includes about $26 million to build a new courthouse sometime in the next decade.  The county has been acquiring land adjacent to the courthouse green, presumably for the new building, though no specific site has yet been identified.. Last year, the county purchased the medical office building  in front of the courthouse green from Goochland Cares.

The county will purchase this property as a possible site for a new courthouse

Note: clarification of the original post are in bold.

On July 7, the supervisors authorized Stamey to execute a contract to purchase properties located at 2952 River Road West from 2952 River Road West, LLC, a Virginia limited liability company, owned in part by the family of John Lumpkins, Jr., the current District 3 supervisor. Lumpkins, through a power of attorney, handles the financial affairs of  this relative. He does not own the property.

Before the matter was addressed by the board, Lumpkins read a conflict of interest disclosure statement and left the room during the discussion. The supervisors, Lumpkins said, expressed an interest in the subject properties before he joined the board in 2018. Since that time, he said he has never discussed the issue with other supervisors or staff.

Stamey said that an independent appraisal of the property set its fair market value of $313,000. The supervisors authorized execution of a purchase agreement for $299,000. Phase I and II environmental studies on the parcels, which contain underground tanks, including boring samples around the tanks and toward the road, indicated no evidence of leaching into the soil.

Neil Spoonhower, District 2 said the purchase, unlike other proposed expenditures that he has pushed back on during Covid, is prudent and wise given the current real estate market conditions.

Director of Finance Barbara Horlacher presented a monthly update on county money matters. As first half real estate and personal property tax deadlines were extended for a month without penalty or interest, the amount of tax revenue actually collected was an unknown when the revised budget was approved in April. Erring on the side of caution, a four percent decline from last year’s collections was used to craft balanced budgets for FY 2020, which ended on June 30, and FY 2021, which began on July 1.

Horlacher reported that so far, for FY 2020, $27.7 million in real estate tax has been collected, which is $1.2 million over the amount budgeted. Year to date personal property tax receipts are $12 million, $1 million over budget. Sales tax receipts, which Horlacher explained are two months behind actual sales, currently total $3.1 of the $3.2 million budgeted. The total received for building permits, was $1.075 million, ahead of the $1 million budgeted. Interest on bank deposits was forecast at $1 million, but for 11 months, $824 k was received, Horlacher did not expect that number to increase significantly.

Preliminary figures for FY 2020 show revenues at $59.5 million, $2.3 million over budget and expenditures expected to come in $1.8 million under budget, resulting in a surplus of $4.3 million. In August, the board will look at ways to determine one-time uses for the surplus in the FY 2021 budget.

Horlacher reported that the county received $2,072,358 in June from the CARES Act to offset one-time costs attributable to Covid response. Eligible expenses include overtime for public safety employees; equipment to enable employees to work remotely; extra cleaning and other sanitizing costs; acquisition of PPE; and modification of public spaces for safety. The funds may also be used to provide economic support for those adversely affected by the pandemic but may not be used to offset losses of revenue.

Horlacher said that the CARES expenditures will be part of the annual audit and treated like a federal grant. The supervisor approved use of CARES funds to offset a variety of proper expenses including $400 k to the schools for maintenance, transportation, and technology.

The board approved a motion to donate surplus self-contained breathing apparatus to the Charles City County Fire Department. Goochland Fire-Rescue recently replaced this equipment. The donation will help a new department.

A public hearing on August 4 was set by the supervisors to consider an unsolicited proposal to build a pedestrian walkway between the east and west portions of Tucker Park. It would take the form of a boardwalk along the James River under the Rt. 522 bridge.

The supervisors met in closed session to discuss candidates for the county administrator position. No time frame for filling the job has been announced.