June 2021 Board Highlights

 

The June 1 meeting agenda of the Goochland Board of Supervisors included some items covered in previous GOMM posts. Other topics, however, bear mentioning.

COVID

Goochland more than did its part to protect citizens during the pandemic and provide opportunities for inoculation once vaccines became available.  As of June 12, according to the Virginia Department of health website (https://www.vdh.virginia.gov/coronavirus/covid-19-vaccine-summary/) Goochland has administered 26,596 doses and 13,134 people in the county are fully vaccinated.  This puts the county in the top tier of Virginia jurisdictions in vaccine response with 55.3 percent of the population fully vaccinated and leads the Commonwealth with percentage of residents vaccinated.

County Administrator Kenny Young commended Goochland Fire-Rescue, the Chickahominy Health District, the department of General Services, county staff, and others who volunteered to operate clinics and vaccination information hotlines to ensure that everyone who wanted a vaccine could be inoculated. Young said that 3,674 shots were administered at local clinics.

 To achieve this result, the county partnered with Goochland Cares; the NAACP; Goochland Christian Churches Association; Goochland Public Schools; Dawson and Goochland Pharmacy; the Virginia Medical Reserve Corps; and Medical Reserve Corps from The Chickahominy and Henrico Health Districts.

Fourth of July

Fireworks are back! They will be held on Sunday, July 4 beginning at 9 p.m. behind the sports complex (also the county administration building). Parking opens at 7 p.m. Come early to grab a good viewing spot. Goochland puts on a great fireworks display, so good that in past years the traffic created by outside visitors has deterred many county residents from attending. Rain date is July 5.

VDOT

Ashland Residency Administrator Marshall Winn was back in person after Covid restrictions were lifted. He listed the work in progress like mowing and pothole repair.

Board members raised concerns about speed limits on Hockett Road, both above and below Tuckahoe Creek Parkway. Don Sharpe, District 4, observed that the stop sign at the intersection of Tuckahoe Creek Parkway and Hockett Road is often treated as a “suggestion” by motorists rolling through. Winn will look into a speed study for the southern portion of Hockett Road.

Neil Spoonhower, District 2 raised concerns about recent paving of Whitehall Road. Marshall promised to visit the site with Spoonhower to explore mitigation of the situation.

Fire-Rescue

D. E. “Eddie” Ferguson, Jr.  Chief of Fire-Rescue and Emergency Services presented his bimonthly report. (See page 67 in the June 1 BoS packet for details.) The Chief issued his yearly caution about float time on the James River to remind people that the trip from Western Goochland to Maidens Landing is far longer by river than by car. “It can take up to 12 hours by inner tube,” Ferguson said. When it starts to get dark, people call 911 for help getting off the river. This can be prevented by planning ahead.

Read, heed, and pass this along

As the world exits Covid lockdowns call for service rise, said Ferguson. He explained that recruiting is under way to fill new career fire-rescue positions authorized in the FY22 county budget. Salary pressures from neighboring jurisdictions has reduced the number of qualified applicants from previous years.

Consent Agenda

This is a list of items that require approval via a public vote by the supervisors. These tend to be routine and are voted on as a block.

On June 1, by approving the consent agenda, the supervisors:

·        Approved a resolution requesting a waiver from the Virginia Department of Elections for split voting precincts.

·         Set public hearings at their July 6 meeting to consider repeal of the Ordinance for Continuity of Government Operations during the Pandemic, which has been in force since March 2020; and add parcels near Songbird Lane and Hockett Road to the Tuckahoe Creek Service District.

·        Approved a resolution providing notice of intent to abandon a segment Three Chopt Road east of Rt. 288 and to set a public hearing for August 3.

·        Authorized Young to execute a 50,000 gallon per day water allocation agreement with River Road and Patterson, LLC for multiple parcels long River Road and Patterson Avenue. The developer will pay capacity charges for this allocation. The agreement wilk terminate in ten years if the parcels are not developed or the agreement renewed. This does not obligate the county to rezone the subject parcels. Director of Utilities Matt Longshore explained that the developers of the subject property are making a capital contribution to the construction of a water line—paying for a line that others will use—and they asked the county to reserve part of its water allocation for them.  (See http://goochlandcountyva.iqm2.com/Citizens/FileOpen.aspx?Type=1&ID=1304&Inline=True for details page 91 for details.)