Wednesday, August 26, 2020
Miscellaneous stuff
Economic development
Last week, Goochland County announced that Greenswell Growers will invest $17 million to build and operate a hydroponic greenhouse to grow “leafy greens”. Greenswell purchased a 29.61-acre parcel on the east side of Hockett Road a bit south of the Reader’s Branch community under development. The property is part of West Creek.
County economic development worked with the Virginia Department of Agriculture to bring Greenswell Growers to Goochland. A $130,000 grant from the Governor’s Agriculture and Forestry Industries Development (AFID) Fund was secured to assist Goochland County with the project, which the county will match. Funding and services to support the company’s job creation will be provided through the Virginia Jobs Investment Program. The project will bring 27 jobs to Goochland.
The county match will take the form of property tax rebates after certain performance thresholds are achieved. The facility is in the Tuckahoe Creek Service District and will pay the 32 cents per $100 of assessed value ad valorem tax, which is levied on all properties in the TCSD.
Greenswell Growers will create internships for students enrolled in Goochland High School Career Technical and Educational programs. It has pledged to donate five per cent of its anticipated 3.7-million-pound annual production to the Goochland Cares food pantry and FeedMore, the Richmond-based non-profit that fights hunger. It will use natural and artificial light to grow greens year ’round. Hydroponic farming increases crop yield 28 times more per acre than traditional methods.
Greenswell Growers, which melds agriculture and technology, brings yet another new use to West Creek without adding more “dwelling units”. According to Casey Verburg, Goochland Economic Development Coordinator for new business, once in operation, the facility is expected to add one or two daily truck trips to Hockett Road. Products will not be sold on site but should be available in local grocery outlets. Go to https://greenswellgrowers.com/ for more information.
Goochland Economic Development has several programs to help local small businesses stay afloat during the pandemic.
The latest initiative is the Goochland Back to Business grant program. The Board of Supervisor approved use of $150k of the federal CARES act funds received by the county to fund these grants. It is a one-time emergency grant available to local for-profit enterprise to help defray unplanned costs associated with pandemic related business interruptions. Grants will be awarded on a first come basis. Go to http://www.goochlandforbusiness.com/241/COVID-19-Business-Information for details on this and other programs to help existing businesses deal with the impact of the pandemic.
Covid
According to the Virginia Department of Health Covid dashboard, https://www.vdh.virginia.gov/coronavirus/covid-19-daily-dashboard/Goochland experienced a 30 case spike according to reports recorded as of 5 p.m. on August 25. Additional information on the positivity surge is not available, said Caitlin Hodge of the Chickahominy Health District, which includes Goochland, for privacy concerns. She said that the turnaround for tests to be processed and their results recorded is between 48 hours to more than five days. The statewide positivity rate reported today is 6.4 percent. Johns Hopkins reports a positivity rate for Virginia of 5.8 percent. There are regional, but not local positivity reports.
While cases reported in the county had been increasing by a few daily, 30 new cases in one day has not happened before. The total number of cases in Goochland SINCE MARCH now stands at 212. No additional Covid related deaths—that grim statistic remains at seven including one offender at Virginia Correctional Center for Women—have been reported by VDH since July 27. Covid-related hospitalizations for Goochland have also remained steady at 25 since July 27. These numbers are cumulative.
Privacy concerns prevent VDH from releasing more specific information, according to Hodge. Virginia does not report on recoveries.
Schools
Goochland County’s school year began on August 24. Cheers, kudos, and prayers for continued success go out to all involved in this endeavor.
Our school division was recently earned a perfect rating for the second consecutive year on the Virginia Department of Education on both performance and metrics in special education. Go to https://drive.google.com/file/d/1NE5mDwBMsDslkTF32CibhEPWPH31T9z9/view for the full report.
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4 comments:
I will be interested in seeing where those new cases come from. I was helping to teach karate at the Rec Center, but they won't mandate masks. There's a sign on the door saying you have to wear a mask indoors, but not if you're exercising. How dumb is that? You wear a mask to walk across the lobby, then when you start breathing hard,spewing droplets into the air - and this is an airborne disease - you take the mask off. That's ludicrous.
I continue to take Tai Chi classes there because all of us in the class care enough about each other to wear masks. It's a minor inconvenience. I wore a mask in karate class as well, but the other students did not, and the instructors couldn't or wouldn't mandate them, so I had to stop attending, as I live with a cancer survivor, not to mention I'm getting to be an old fart myself!
On my way out of Tai Chi class, I see people playing pickle-ball, running, breathing heavily, inches away from each other at times. No masks.
I'm really curious to see where those new cases are originating...
VDH and the Chickahominy Health District do not disclose where cases aee.
The increase in cases is likely associated with a group facility, per this quote from the below story: "A majority of the outbreaks are in long-term care facilities."
https://www.nbc12.com/2020/08/25/virginias-covid-cases-increase-by-statewide-positivity-rate-remains/
Keep in mind that even if the positivity rate starts coming down, another metric will be introduced to support continued mask mandates, school closings, etc. The goalposts continue to be moved!
https://www.vdh.virginia.gov/coronavirus/coronavirus/covid-19-in-virginia-outbreaks/
Total Outbreaks as of August 28
Chickahominy District (which Goochland is in): 23
Facility Type:
Congregate Seating: 10
Long Term Care Facilities: 8
Healthcare setting: 4
Correctional Facility: 1
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