Best kept secret

 

Sometimes it’s interesting to look for what’s not there. A case in point is the promotional material for Reed Marsh, the new housing development under construction opposite the county administration building in Courthouse Village. The brochure touts the location of the new residential enclave as being close to the Goochland YMCA, library, local restaurants, Tucker Park, and within walking distance of the farmers market. The latter might be a death-defying exercise given that sidewalks do not extend to the market site. It also contends that Courthouse Creek Cidery and Lickinghole Creek Craft Brewery are within biking distance. Reed Marsh’s definition of “local” includes West View on the James, the Richmond Country Club, and the Goochland Drive-In Theater, all of which are at least a 15-mile drive on two lane roads.

One striking omission of nearby amenities, however, is the Goochland Campus of Reynolds—it dropped “J. Sargeant” a few years ago—Community College. In recent years, this facility seems to have become the orphan child of the Virginia Community College system.

Exquisite landscaping courtesy of the horticulture program

Goochland High School has a dual enrollment program with RCC that allows students to complete an associate’s degree in tandem with high school studies. This program, however, does not use the campus.

During a business roundtable sponsored by our school division in March, Dr. Paula Pando, president of RCC, spoke about the underutilization of the Goochland Campus. At that time, she indicated that “community conversations” were planned about the future of the facility.

GOMM contacted Pando in March and asked to be part of those conversations. Last week, a follow up email to Pando got no response. Days later, groundbreaking ceremonies were held at the RCC Parham Road campus for a building to house a new automotive technology program in partnership with Toyota. That program had been located at the Goochland campus.

The automotive program will move to Parham Road campus.

Last week, GOMM visited the campus, located on about ninety acres “behind” the YMCA. Visitors are greeted by exquisite landscaping at the main entrance and throughout the campus, highlighting its excellent horticulture program.

Before Covid, the campus hosted the annual plant sale and garden fest event produced by Goochland/Powhatan Master Gardeners.  The horticulture program conducted classes virtually during Covid. The outside nature of “labs” had in person instruction while observing social distancing.

The horticulture program, which prepares graduates to work in agriculture related fields, has great promise. According to the Virginia Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services (VADACS), agriculture is the largest private industry in the Commonwealth with an economic impact of $70 billion employing more than 300 thousand people. (See https://www.vdacs.virginia.gov/markets-and-finance-agriculture-facts-and-figures.shtml for details.)

Landscaping skills are in demand.

While you would expect classrooms to be dark and deserted in mid-summer, especially after the long lockdown, those at the Goochland campus seem forlorn and abandoned.

Biology/zoology lab ready for students. 

Enrollment in classes here was lackluster even before Covid. Perhaps it is the location—Goochland is considered distant and hard to reach from the population centers of other RCC “members” Henrico County and the City of Richmond. Indeed, the population of Hanover, Goochland, Louisa, and Powhatan combined is less than that of Henrico.

Perhaps it has something to do with the dearth of advertising, at least in Central Virginia, of RCC as a whole. Ads for the Virginia lottery pop up all over the place. When was the last time you saw an ad touting the opportunities to obtain valuable job skills at RCC?

Display touting auto tech program.

There are indications that this might be changing. The RCC strategic priorities see http://www.reynolds.edu/who_we_are/about/strategic_priorities.aspx include increasing the number of degrees, certifications, and credentials to provide a pipeline of qualified workers to existing and emerging industries.

Where does that leave the Goochland Campus? Aside from the commercial driver’s license (CDL) training program, so few classes are offered locally, that there is speculation that the campus will be closed.

Hallway ready for students. Will they return?

According to Dr. Steve Geyer, Assistant Superintendent of Instruction for the Goochland School Division and the county’s representative on the RCC board, no decisions about the future of the local campus have been made. In fact, Geyer contended, Pando wants to add programs that would thrive in Goochland and put the local campus to good use.

The tricky part is identifying those programs. Geyer believes that Pando has not yet begun to have those community conversations and wants community input to determine the highest and best use for this first-rate facility.

Perhaps a partnership with the highly regarded Career and Technical Education (CTE) program offered at the high school could result in a regional training center to teach people the technical skills needed to fill high paying jobs in a wide range of industries from solar power to plumbing.

If the Community College system has no good use for the Goochland Campus, maybe it should be sold, preferably to a tax eligible entity. The county could put the revenue generated by the approximately $11.6 million assessed valuation of the campus to good use.

The Goochland Campus of RCC could and should be a vital part of the community. Stay tuned.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Breathing room

 

At its July 6 meeting, the Goochland Board of Supervisors wisely deferred votes on two rezoning applications following lengthy public hearings that lasted nearly to midnight. This came after applicants tried to negotiate and amend proffers “on the fly”, to the point that the board was not quite sure what they might be voting on.

As rezoning applications, when approved become law, it is vital to nail down the details before a vote is taken. Changes to the applications were presented to the supervisors before the start of the meeting. What happened to the rule that application amendments must be presented two days before a hearing to allow all concerned time to study them? When applicants and the supervisors started discussing the placement of commas and movement of phrases in the application, it was clearly time to defer.

Density was a major objection in both cases. There was a lot of talk about the comprehensive land use plan and comparisons of density in the proposed communities versus existing homes. In the future, it might be useful to have residential density statistics for both Centerville and Courthouse Village to preclude contentions by developers that density is comparable to that outside villages. This is like comparing apples to pineapples.

There are no do overs in density.

The first application was filed by Yellowstone Communities, LLC for up to 170 single family detached homes on approximately 265 acres in Courthouse Village, met with a great deal of local opposition. Objections included high density; concern that 100 homes using septic tanks would foul ground water; worry that nearby roads will be overwhelmed with new traffic; serious safety hazards posed by large construction vehicles; and disruption of those who live on homes in Venice Heights on Scott, Pitts, and Gathright Roads by long construction hours six days a week.

This application will be heard again on the evening of August 3. Public hearings begin at 6 p.m.

Rev. Emily Dunevant, Rector of Grace Episcopal Church, located at the corner of Scott and River Road West, asked how these high end—price points are estimated between $675K and $2ish million—sustain the community.

She echoed comments made by members of Grace Church who worried about the negative impact of construction on Scott Road, where the main entrance to the church parking lot is located. The Grace Parish house hosts community groups ranging from Alcoholics Anonymous to Master Gardeners who must be able to access the parking lot. Dunevant also worried about the impact of construction and resident traffic on the safety of school buses who travel Scott Road.

Dunevant also spoke to larger issues. “We are not addressing how we care for one another in this community by this plan as it is provided to us this evening. It does not offer opportunities for older couples who are downsizing. It does not offer opportunities for our young couples trying to start out. It does not offer housing for people who live in this community and work in service industries, our teachers,” fire-rescue providers, and deputies. She said that only a small percentage of the population can afford those home prices. “I would ask you to consider who are we going to be as individuals in Goochland County?”

Primary access will be through Reed Marsh’s signalized entrance opposite the county administration building and Scott Road, a narrow lane. There was some vague reference to future access from Cedar Point Road.

Every rezoning application includes the complaint that county roads cannot handle more vehicles. Applicants trot out traffic engineers who contend that adding turn lanes or proffering money to pay for intersection signalization will mitigate the effects of additional vehicles.

All of the proposed homes will be served by public water; 69 lots would connect to public sewer, the remainder, dubbed “estate” lots, will use septic systems. (Increased capacity of water and sewerage systems operated by the Department of Corrections make this possible.)

A system of trails and sidewalks in the application were presented as for community use to expand walkability in the village. Will potential buyers be made aware that the trails and sidewalks are “public”, or will a homeowners association slap up no trespassing signs to keep the “townies” out?

Many people objected to the housing density here, claiming that it violates the comprehensive land use plan. The land in question is inside the boundaries of Courthouse Village and is served, at least partially by public utilities, which supports higher densities. This is a sticky wicket, because increased utility capacity has become available in Courthouse Village since the last comp plan review.

It will be interesting to see what, if any, changes are made before August 3, at which time a public hearing will be held and a vote on the application is expected.

The second application filed by Towne & Country Realty Partners, LLC and Joy-Scott, LLC to rezone approximately 65 acres from agricultural use to residential planned unit community (RPUD) to build up to 130 homes long Songbird Lane on the west side of Hockett Road, outside the Centerville Village.

The applicant contended that changing the use of the subject property from agricultural to high density residential was justified because of “nearby” high density residential use, either inside the Centerville Village, or in West Creek.

To accommodate this project, the subject parcels would need to join the Tuckahoe Creek Service District. Some adjacent landowners who spoke in favor of the project seemed to indicate that they expected that their land would have access to public utilities, thanks to the rezoning. It is unclear if those property owners understand that, to access water and sewer, their land must join the TCSD, pay connection fees, and an annual additional 32 cents per $100 of assessed valuation ad valorem tax.

The public hearing included objections to the proposed density, concerns about additional traffic on Hockett Road, and a plea by the owner of landlocked parcel whose access easement will be impacted by the project for more time to study an easement proposal by the developer.

Rob Williamson spoke about the comprehensive plan, likening it to a cookbook. “It has zoning ingredients that place the right ingredients and the right proportions in the right places. ...If you stick to the recipe, you get the right result every time. If you ignore the recipe and add too much (salt) you’re always digging around trying to solve it.” He contended that the comp plan is a recipe for growth the benefits the entire community and placing high density development in the wrong place is a mistake (Listen to his remarks at about the 8:18 mark on the recording.)

During rebuttal the supervisors spent a great deal of time discussing vegetative buffers and possible routes of an access easement for the landlocked parcel before returning to the main issue of density.

By this time, it was close to midnight. The supervisors, having been meeting since 2 p.m. deferred this application to their September meeting. The vote was 4-1 with Neil Spoonhower, District 2 in dissent. Had the board voted down the application, the project could not be resubmitted for one year.

To watch these public hearings, go to https://goochlandva.new.swagit.com/videos/128644  beginning at the 4:26 mark. The video is accompanied by an unedited transcript. 

 

 

Next steps

 

??????

On July 6, the county announced that it and Kenneth Young, who was appointed County Administrator last September, had “amicably parted ways”. That same day, following a closed session “to discuss the performance and duties of the county administrator” the supervisors stated that Barbara Horlacher and Jo Ann Hunter, Deputy County Administrators for respectively, Finance an d Community Development, to “take any action within the county administrator’s authority”. No time frame was specified.

On July 23, the following communication was circulated by the county:

 PLEASE TAKE NOTICE that at 9:00 a.m. on Tuesday, July 27, 2021, the Goochland

County Board of Supervisors will hold a special meeting to go into a closed meeting, as

permitted pursuant to Virginia Code § 2.2-3711(A)(1), to discuss recruitment for the

positions of Interim County Administrator and County Administrator. The meeting is

being held in the Board Meeting Room 250 at the Goochland County Administration

Building, 1800 Sandy Hook Rd., Goochland, VA. The Board will reconvene in open

session to certify the closed meeting pursuant to Virginia Code § 2.2-3712.

After former County Administrator John Budesky tendered his resignation in March 2020 in order to take the same job in Hanover, the supervisors approved a transfer of up to $30,000 from its contingency reserve to retain an executive search firm.

Personnel changes are delicate matters for all concerned. Stay tuned for further developments.

 

 

Going the extra mile

Excellence in law enforcement does not happen by accident. It is the result of careful staffing, implementing high performance standards, regular training, and attention to detail all day, every day, no matter what.

The Goochland Sheriff’s Office has had an excellent reputation among law enforcement agencies in the Commonwealth for many years. One of the first agencies to be accredited by the Virginia Law Enforcement Professional Standards Commission in 1999, the GCSO was up for its fifth reaccreditation in 2020, Sheriff Steven Creasey’s first year in office, the year of the Covid pandemic.

Derek Mays, Program Manager for the Virginia Center for Accreditation, Department of Criminal Justice Services ( https://www.dcjs.virginia.gov/), explained the significance of the accreditation program to the Goochland Board of Supervisors at its July 6 meeting.

Derek Mays extols community support of the GCSO.

“Your sheriff’s office is very dynamic. They work very hard to serve your citizens,” Mays said. “I’ve been working with Goochland County for 12 years, when I was still a Lieutenant with Brunswick County, and they have the drive, the passion, to get things done. Becoming an accredited agency is not something you do here and there. It takes purpose. It takes a special group to do that, especially when you’ve got a brand-new sheriff. The first thing he did was to make it clear that Goochland was going to maintain its accredited status.”

Mays warmed to his subject with an evangelical zeal that, being from a family of preachers, he comes by naturally. “They went to work, and they worked long and hard. I remember the look on his (Creasey’s) face when I would come up here to help out and he asked me if they were going to make it.”

Mays recalled telling our sheriff that his agency would be reaccredited. “You’re doing all the right things all the right ways.” Mays faced the audience. “I’m turning around to everyone because it takes a community to get an agency accredited. We know that law enforcement is taking a terrible hit these days, but still you’ve got people who get up every day and put that uniform on. Anybody can wear clothes, but not everyone can wear a badge.”

Mays said that it takes a lot to wear a badge, especially given the adversity that law enforcement agencies face every day in these troubled times. The community must be a part of the effort, he said. In the Sheriff’s Office, everybody has to work together.

“That’s why it’s so important to do these things and to recognize how hard they work and how hard they try. Getting accredited is easy, keeping it is hard.”

Creasey and his agency, said Mays, passed with zero returns, which means, said Mays, that they put the work in. “This is more than just a presentation, it’s a process. For the Goochland County Sheriff’s Office, it’s a way of life. So, you have to give them love. You can give love even when you’re mad at them and still support them.”

Sheriff Creasey thanked Mays for his support during the accreditation process. The award, explained Creasey, belongs to the entire Goochland Sheriff’s Office team, who did the heavy lifting during reaccreditation, especially Captain Jason Baehr, First Seargeant Troy May, Seargent John Lancaster, and the community that supports them every day.

Go to https://www.dcjs.virginia.gov/sites/dcjs.virginia.gov/files/publications/law-enforcement/vlepsc-process-and-procedures.pdf to view the standards and requirements of accreditation. Thanks to Sheriff Creasey and his team for their hard work and commitment to ensure the integrity of the GCSO as it serves our citizens.

 

 

 

 

Every day it’s getting closer

 

Expanding broadband access to every nook and cranny of Goochland has been a toothache for a long time. Covid lockdowns made the digital divide a painful abscess.

Given the variety of providers and varying residential density, the solution to the problem here will not be a one size fits all. In recent years, some homes around the county—there are “broadband deserts” all over the place— used wireless options with varying degrees of satisfaction. Others were just out of luck. Things are changing.

When Goochland schools went virtual, the county set up hotspots at fire-rescue stations and other places in underserved areas. Kajeet hotspots were distributed by the school division to help students keep up with classwork during the lockdowns. While these methods provided some measure of connectivity and were better than nothing, they are stop gap measures.

Univeral deployment of broadband is complicated by regulations and funding. The county wants to partner with private providers who can respond rapidly to changes in technology to deploy high speed internet access.

Last year, Goochland signed on to a regional partnership with Central Virginia Electric Coop and its subsidiary Firefly broadband https://www.fireflyva.com/  to expand high speed internet access in un and underserved areas of the county.

(Among the difficulties in universal deployment of broad is knowing exactly where the dead spots are. The FCC, for instance, is using five-year-old data that incorrectly indicates the Covington subdivision is served by Comcast. Accurate current information about broadband availability is crucial to secure grant funding. Your help is needed to define the unserved area map.  Please visit www.fireflyva.com/rise/ from your home computer using your home internet connection and follow the link to complete a short survey providing your address and what internet service options you have.)  

The county also joined a regional partnership that includes electric utilities Dominion Energy and Rappahannock Electric Coop to further expand access. Regulatory roadblocks have prevented electric providers from using their rights-of-way and other infrastructure for broadband expansion in the past. The urgent need for universal broadband access should ease or eliminate these obstacles.  The final product will be a patchwork of providers and systems. Ideally, having several providers in Goochland will lead to competition for customers, better service, and perhaps lower costs. But we’re not there yet.

At their July 6 meeting, Goochland’s supervisors got an update on a project connecting the Crozier area. Community Affairs Manager Paul Drumwright, the county’s point person on broadband, explained that grant applications filed with the Virginia Telecommunications Initiative (VATI) were only partly successful. One filed with Firefly failed. Another filed with local Port80 Internet Service Solution (port80.us) was successful.

“The biggest challenges for broadband expansion are density and money,” Evan Weiner, principal of Port80, said. “In a rural setting where you may have five houses per mile, the cost per home (to connect to broadband) can be exorbitant.”

Weiner explained that Port80 is a partnership between Hosted Backbone, headquartered in Goochland, and MMIS, which works out of Mechanicsville. MMIS does interior work while Hosted Backbone does the outside plant work. (The large spools of orange cable on the south side of Rt. 6 near the Men’s Farm are part of this project.) He said that Port80 began internet deployment in Goochland began in 2019 when waterlines were being run in the Old Oaks subdivision east of Cardwell Road, north of Rt. 6 in Crozier. Weiner said that Port80 was able to coordinate construction between the two projects and connect homes in the area. This local company also provides internet for the county and schools.

Since then, Weiner said, Port80 worked its way west along Rt. 6 connecting people all the way to Maidens Road. He reported that Port80 has talked to with all subdivisions in the Crozier area that need broadband service, but for some, cost remained a barrier to connection. However, the combination of funds from the VATI grant, county, and Port80 will change that. Monthly costs vary from $80 to$170 for speeds ranging from 100 megabits to a gigabit. Port80 does not provide wireless routers to customers, Weiner said, contending that each account has unique needs. “There’s no good cookie cutter solution for that.”

The Port80 network is all fiber optic cable, no wireless.  “That allows us to deliver top quality service at a competitive price and control the variables. Fiber may cost a little more at the front end, but allows us to deliver reliable service,” Weiner explained.

Supervisor Don Sharpe, District 2, who has had Port80 service at his home for two years said that the “service is better than national companies, and the speeds are excellent.”

Weiner spoke at length about intricacies of the grant process. (To hear his presentation, go to https://goochlandva.new.swagit.com/videos/128644 beginning around the one-hour mark). Navigating the many requirements of differing grant opportunities is complicated. The scope of this grant application changed in response to shifting criteria. The initial grant included properties in Oilville up to the Hanover line. When the scope of the VATI grant changed, some of those properties were removed, but are included in the Firefly project.

The project at hand will bring high speed internet to Cardwell Road, Taylor Road, Covington, Genito Road, part of Shallow Well Road, and all of Strawberry Run. This will require installation of 99,901 feet (18.92 miles) of backbone fiber and 68,000 feet (12.95 miles) of new drops. This will result in a minimum of 228 new passings including connection of ten home-based businesses. The total cost of the project is $915,265.39—$567,557.98 from the state; $100,000 from Goochland County; and $247,707.40 from Port 80 Internet Services.

State money will be the last used, explained Drumwright. This will ensure that work is completed according to related contracts. Work must be completed within 18 months after the contracts are signed, which Drumwright expects this to occur in the near future.

Weiner said that homes along the route of this project, though not necessarily in the scope of the grant, will be connected. Visit the Port 80 website port80.us to find out if you ae included in this project.

Stay tuned for more news about broadband expansion.

 

 

 

 

Play Ball

 Posted on: July 9, 2021

Goochland Youth Athletic Association Hosting the 2021 Dixie Youth Baseball State Tournament

The Goochland Youth Athletic Association (GYAA) and Goochland County Parks and Recreation are hosting the 2021 Dixie Youth Baseball State Tournament at Hidden Rock Park starting Friday, July 9th through Wednesday, July 14th.

This event will host the top eight teams from Virginia in the Majors (12u) division, along with the top sixteen teams in the AA Coach Pitch (8u) age group across two divisions.  It is an honor for GYAA to be elected and a very exciting event for Goochland County and Hidden Rock Park to host this year.

They would love for all of Goochland to come together Friday, July 9th through Wednesday, July 14th to enjoy the State Tournament; Friday, Saturday, & Sunday games will start at noon and run until 9 p.m.  Information on the 2021 Dixie Youth Baseball State Tournament being held in Goochland County can be found at 2021 Dixie Youth Baseball Virginia State Tournament – Goochland, VA. 

There will be an increased level of visitors in the Courthouse Area for the State Tournament.  Please expect heavy traffic and delays.  

There are many ways to still help, please contact the GYAA State Tournament Committee via email at info@gyaasports.com if you are interested in being a part of this great event for Goochland County and helping make it a success.

Go to Goochlandva.us for more information

July at the sausage factory

Goochland County’s Board of Supervisors plowed through a full agenda at its July 6 meeting, which began at 2 p.m. and adjourned just before midnight with a break for dinner.

GOMM will address some of these items in separate posts. A video and transcript of the entire meeting may be accessed by clicking on watch county meetings on the homepage of the county website https://www.goochlandva.us/  Following are some items addressed in the afternoon session.

Appreciation for the excellent county fireworks display on Independence Day and superb traffic control for the event by our awesome deputies was expressed by citizens.

In the afternoon, the supervisors adopted a resolution terminating the local emergency declaration, put into place in March 2020 in response to the Covid pandemic emergency. At its evening session, the board held a public hearing, with no speakers, to adopt an ordinance repealing the uncodified ordinance it passed in 2020 for the continuity of government operations during the pandemic, and unanimously approved it.

Thanks to all county and school staff, elected and appointed officials who went above and beyond the call of duty and used their considerable ingenuity to find safe and effective ways to continue operations during a strange and difficult time. We may never know the full extent of these efforts, but they are appreciated.

The Goochland Sheriff’s Office was recognized for completion of its sixth consecutive accreditation from the Virgina Law Enforcement Professional Standards Commission.

Board Chair John Lumpkins, Jr., District 3 announced that the county received an award from NACPRO for renovations to an existing building to create the Goochland History Center and improvements on the Courthouse Green. Both add interest to Courthouse Village. If you have not done so, visit the history center, open from 10-3 Wednesday through Friday, on River Road west at the south entrance to the Courthouse Complex or the website goochlandhistory.org. (The Goochland Historical Society, which partnered with the county on these efforts, and is now headquartered in the History Center, was not informed of the award.)

Lumpkins said that the cost of the projects was approximately half a million dollars. The county contributed $75 thousand and the remainder was contributed by the Historical Society. This is another example of a public private partnership enhancing Goochland County.

Marshall Winn, Administrator of the VDOT Ashland residency presented his monthly report. He said that a study of the flooding problems on Riddles Bridge Road is complete and is currently being reviewed by the hydraulics section. He hoped to have that report in the next few weeks.

Susan Lascolette, District 1, informed Winn of pavement damage on Hadensville-Fife Road in front of Second Union Baptist Church and asked him to look at it.

A report on the Virginia Telecommunication Initiative project in partnership with Port80 (http://port80.us/) for the Crozier area was presented. Deployment of broadband throughout Goochland is a patchwork of providers, projects, funding sources, and methodology. A grant for this project was awarded in March of this year. It is currently working through contracts and regulatory requirements.

Neil Spoonhower, District 2, said that he had just stepped down as the Chair of Plan RVA, the regional planning district commission for the Richmond Region. He also represents Goochland on the Central Virginia Transportation Authority and has been asked to chair its committee for personnel decisions.

The CVTA was created by the Virginia General Assembly and empowered to increase gasoline and sales taxes in member jurisdictions and prioritize how those funds would be divvyed up for local transportation projects. Still in its infancy, the CVTA could be the mechanism that solves some of the region’s transportation conundrums.

As part of the consent agenda—a list of items that require a vote but not necessarily any discussion—the board voted to approve creation of a commercial building inspector position. The cost, including a vehicle, salary, and benefits is $107 thousand.

The board voted to ask that the roads in the Reader’s Branch Section 2 be accepted into the VDOT system.

The secondary six-year road plan, for hard surface paving for certain unpaved roads that qualify to be designated as rural rustic roads resolution was adopted.

Authorization was granted to the county administrator to execute an agreement with the Virginia Resource Authority that provides $189,000, including engineering costs, to build a water line to the Jenkins Mobile Home Park in Courthouse Village, and to execute a contract with Piedmont Construction for $126,945.05. Project costs will be reimbursed by federal funding through the Virginia Department of Health.

Thanks to adoption of another resolution by the supervisors, Goochland County is now designated as a destination marketing organization. This makes Goochland eligible for direct interaction with the Virginia Tourism Corporation.

Goochland Commonwealth’s Attorney D. Michael Caudill gave the supervisors a brief overview of the functions of his office. He said that the main function of his position is to seek justice, not necessarily convict. Go to https://www.goochlandva.us/422/Commonwealths-Attorney for details. Caudill said that his door is always open, and he welcomes the opportunity to interact with citizens outside of the courtroom.

Ryan Mulligan, Goochland’s General Registrar reported that there are currently 20,187 registered voters in the county up from 17,875 in 2018. About 88 percent of Goochland voters cast ballots last year, which was not the highest percentage in Virginia. He estimated the total county population at approximately 25,000. Numbers from the 2020 census, on which electoral redistricting will be based, are not yet available, so voting districts in 2021 will be the same as last year. He expects that could cause long lines at the polls this November. Early and absentee voting could alleviate that. Changes to the electoral process that were supposed to be used only for the 2020 elections during the pandemic have been made permanent.

Mulligan said that he hopes to have precincts realigned in time for the 2022 primary season.

 

Update

 

The July 6 meeting agenda of the Goochland Board of Supervisors contained public hearings on contentious zoning applications, and items routine and extraordinary. The meeting began at 2 p.m. and ended just before midnight.

At the end of the afternoon session, the board went into closed session to discuss the “performance and duties of the county administrator.”

The name of Kenneth Young, who was named county administrator last September, was noticeably absent from the board meeting packet, which was distributed on July 1.

When the supervisors returned from closed session, they certified that only matters permitted by the government section of state law Code § 2.2-3711(A)(1) were discussed.

Board Vice Chair Ken Peterson, Disitrct5 then made the following motion” “Number One, the board of supervisors take the following actions: to accept Mr. Young’s resignation and authorize the execution of the associated agreements. Number Two, that we appoint Chief Ferguson as the interim local director of emergency management. Number three authorized Deputy County Administrators Jo Ann Hunter and Barbara Horlacher to take any action within the county administrator’s authority.”

The motion was seconded by Susan Lascolette, District 1. A roll call vote—all ayes—followed. The board then broke for dinner.

According to Director of Human Resources Jessica Rice, the agreements associated with Young’s departure from Goochland County are confidential.

The statement below appeared on the Goochland County Facebook page and the county website:

The Goochland County Board of Supervisors voted unanimously today to accept the resignation of Goochland County Administrator Kenny A. Young. The Board announced that the parting is mutual and amicable.

The Board expressed its appreciation of Mr. Young’s service to Goochland County over the past 10 months, but noted that a close alignment in strategic vision is imperative for reaching the highest level of excellence in local government.

“On behalf of all the Board members,” said Board Chairman John L. Lumpkins, Jr., “We wish Kenny success in his future endeavors.”

Until another appointment is made, the County Administrator’s duties will be fulfilled by Deputy County Administrators Jo Ann Hunter and Barbara Horlacher.

 

 

 

Change

 

Kenneth A. Young, who was appointed county administrator in September 2020, is no longer with Goochland County. 

The matter will be discussed in closed session by the Board of Supervisors at its Tuesday, July 6 meeting.