The new year

 

 

Goochland's Board of Supervisors met for its annual organizational meeting on Wednesday, January 19 after the regular meeting, to have been held on the 4^th, was snowed out. Public hearings scheduled for January 4 are expected to take place at the February 1 evening session, which begins at 6 p.m. (Check the calendar on the county website goochlandva.us for updates)

The supervisors met in closed session beginning at noon, t discuss the performance of the Acting County Administrator, the Hon. Manuel Alvarez, Jr. and recruitment for a new county administrator. Aside from intoning "the magic words" of the state statute dealing with closed meetings, no information about the proceedings were shared.

Breaking with recent tradition, where the board vice chair for the previous year is elected to the top spot, Ken Peterson, District, the 2021 vice chair, nominated Neil Spoonhower, District 2 to be board chair for the current calendar year.

Peterson, who was first elected in the earth shaking (literally, that was the year of the earthquake) election of 2011, said that annual rotation of the chair position gave each supervisor the opportunity to develop leadership talents in the position. As Peterson served as chair twice, he said "I'm not sure I'd learn much and the county would not be served with an increase in somebody's skill set."

Sharpe, District 4, who has been engaged in the community for some time, was nominated for Vice Chair.

Neil Spoonhower, (l) and Don Sharpe will lead the Board in 2022

Spoonhower, who took office two years ago, said he was humbled by and appreciative of the opportunity. "These last two years have bene some of the best of my life. It's probably the best role I've ever had and I'm very excited."

Peterson and Spoonhower thanked outgoing board chair John Lumpkins, Jr., District 3 for his service. "We've had a rough year and some long evenings, and he kept us going," Spoonhower said of his predecessor. "He gave us things to laugh at sometimes and a fantastic year. We have a busy year ahead of us. But I have confidence that this board is going to continue to do the right thing by our citizens."

The supervisors then adopted their code of ethics, standards of conduct, and rules of procedure, which include electronic meeting participation.

Resolution on discrimination

The following resolution was adopted 4-1 with Lumpkins in dissent:

 WHEREAS, the Goochland County Board of Supervisors has received feedback from the community that residents would like the Board of Supervisors to express publicly its stand against discrimination; and WHEREAS, the Goochland County Board of Supervisors and Goochland County wish to make clear that it will not stand for nor tolerate discrimination based on race, sex, age, religion, creed, country of origin, disability, sexual orientation or gender identity. NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED by the Goochland County Board of Supervisors that this Resolution on discrimination is hereby adopted. Adopted this 19th day of January 2022.  

"We wanted to make sure that folks understood where we stand on discrimination and that it's not something that is tolerated," said Spoonhower.

Lumpkins observed that the resolution expresses the same sentiments that are included n the code of ethics and standards of conduct. He said that the language was adopted because of feedback from some community members and, while he agrees with the sentiment, he does not believe the resolution is responsive to the requests, which have been made for more than a year and a half.

Spoonhower said that when the requests began, they were based on actions that took place outside of Goochland County and had doubts that it was appropriate to comment on events that occurred elsewhere. After eighteen months, however, he acknowledged that there are Goochland citizens who do not believe that the supervisors are engaging with them. "That is not how I ever thought to govern," said Spoonhower.

He said that eh now sees that it has been impactful to Goochland and that the resolution will be a way to move forward and address and work on related issues.

Wendy Hobbs agreed with Lumpkins that the resolution is a step in the forward direction, but it not "one and done."  She cautioned that the issues raised almost two years ago have not been fully addressed. Hobbs expressed optimism that the resolution will lead to discussions on issues germane to the African American community and other people of color. "We have to keep the discussions going so that we have better understanding of different views and perspectives," Hobbs said.

The storm

Goochland Fire-Rescue Chief D. E. "Eddie" Ferguson, Jr. said January 3 was a difficult day. Fire-Rescue the Sheriff's Office soon realized this was not a typical snowstorm.

"We had to cut our way into neighborhoods with trees falling behind fire engines and sheriff cars, making it impossible to respond to calls in a timely manner. In one case, it took responders most of the day negotiating roads clogged with downed trees ad power lines to reach to someone who called for help."

After consulting with Goochland Sheriff Steven Creasey, Alvarez, and Deputy Emergency Coordinator Robin Hillman it became obvious that winter storm Frida was no ordinary storm.

Conditions, said Ferguson, had not been as bad since Hurricane Isabel in 2003. Damage was similar. The county's emergency operation center located in the Sheriff's Office, was open from January 4 until January 10 to address storm response. The EOC urgent needs for food and assistance. Code Red messages with notifications of storm resources. (To sign up for Code Red, go to https://public.coderedweb.com/CNE/en-US/1380BACA5A57 GCSO)

Deputies and first responders made many welfare checks and found people cold or sick.

Thanks to the 13,000 square foot Company 6 fire-rescue station, Goochland was able to host a National Guard unit to assist VDOT, the Department of Forestry, and citizens clearing trees. Power companies worked tirelessly to turn the lights back on. Goochland dispatch handled 4,530 inbound phones call up from a usual of 1,700. During the storm emergency deputies responded to 615 calls for service, fire-rescue 160. One citizen lost his life in a Newtown Road house fire, the first in the county since 2004. There were several. Serious vehicle accidents including one at 250/288 whose victims were transported to a trauma center.

Ferguson reported that the county's new 4-wheel drive ambulances were able to navigate snow and ice well and proved a godsend during the weather emergency.

Ferguson commended Hillman, who gave countless hours as EOC manager. "We could not have done what we did without her," he said. Ferguson thanked citizens for cutting trees and rescuing ambulances trapped by fallen trees or stuck in snow. "We didn't get their names, but I hope they know we appreciate their help. It took a whole community approach to handle this emergency."

Goochland EOC nerve center for storm response. Robin Hillman in doorway

There were 9,064 power outages. Shelters were open at BES, Sports complex, fire-rescue stations, and the Goochland YMCA. People took advantage of "power/shower" locations. Fire-rescue responded to several calls for high priority power restoration for people with medical needs.  Animal protection provided water for livestock and large animals. Three people took advantage of the pet shelter. The Chief commended all county agencies for working together to meet the needs of citizens, especially schools and social services.

Ferguson urged everyone to make sure that their homes are equipped with smoke alarms. If you need a smoke alarm call 1-804-556-5304, they are free. Fire-Rescue will come to your home to install them.

Marshall Winn, Administrator for the VDOT Ashland Residency said that VDOT workers cut trees for more than three hours on the first day of the storm to get to a citizen in need of aid. He said he has worked more than 200 snow events in his 40-year career with VDOT and this was "on the top." It was a perfect storm, Winn said. "First it rained, and the snow stuck to the trees. Then the wind started to blow, and everything toppled over. I do appreciate all the help from fire-rescue and citizens." From Fairground Road west the storm hammered Goochland. "My crews were on primary roads, and they had to stop to cut trees that fell behind them; they were inching along. This was not a normal snow."

VDOT worked with two different power companies and Verizon and Century Link. Winn brought extra crews to Goochland to get the roads open so people could move.

Early on it was evident to Winn that the magnitude of cleaning up after the storm was beyond his agency's capacity. Ash Britt has been retained to clean up storm debris on primary roads then work on others. "It was a massive endeavor to begin with."