June Board Meeting Highlights

 

Important stuff first. Fireworks will be held on July 4 at 9 p.m. at the sports complex behind the county administration building in Courthouse Village. Parking opens at 7. Rain date is July 5, same time, same place.

The July supervisors’ meeting will be held on Wednesday, July 6 to avoid possible conflict with fireworks. This action should guarantee good weather on the Fourth.

 

The June 7 meeting of the Goochland Board of Supervisors was the last at which the Hon. Manuel Alvarez, Jr. participated as interim county administrator. Since last August, Alvarez has worked with the county government team to conduct a successful bond referendum, complete electoral redistricting, secure the county’s third AAA bond rating, and craft the budget for FY’23, which begins on July 1.

Those who whined that the county was without leadership following the sudden departure of the previous county administrator could not be more mistaken. Alvarez brought decades of managerial experience at Phillp Morris and eight years’ of insight about county operations as a supervisor to the task. His respect for others and upbeat personality made sure that Goochland was well-served during this time.

Manny Alvarez

Board Chair Neil Spoonhower, District 2, thanked Alvarez for stepping in and filling the gap. He was already respect by the community and county staff, who he in turn held in high esteem for their hard work and commitment to serve the citizens, especially during the high weird challenges of Covid.

“You helped us emerge from Covid and put smiles back on the faces of those in this building,” Spoonhower told Alvarez. He said it was an absolute honor to work alongside Alvarez as board chair.

When he first ran for supervisor in 2011, among Alvarez’s goals were universal broadband and a District 2 Fire-Rescue station. He helped put the final pieces of the broadband puzzle into place and executed the agreement for the county to buy land for the fire-rescue station on Whitehall Road in the past ten months. Goochland is blessed to have citizens like Alvarez who step up to work for the betterment of the community.

Victor “Vic” Carpenter will become county administrator on June 20.

District 4 Supervisor Don Sharpe was absent.

Redistricting

Pamela Cook Johnson, chair of the Goochland Electoral Board reported that cards recently received by all registered voters in the county were sent by the state board of elections. The information used by the SBOE, said Johnson, do not reflect local changes for voting district, precinct, and polling places as a result of redistricting. The SBOE “locked” the Goochland registrar out of its computerized system, preventing an update of local voter information, because we had no primaries this spring.

Johnson said that General Registrar Ryan Mulligan will send each registered voter in Goochland a card with updated voting information well in advance of this year’s election. Information on the county website is correct. She suggested that voters go to the county website goochlandva.us to check their status.

New voting locations, Johnson said, including Randolph School, the animal shelter, and Chief Cornerstone Baptist Church, are much safer in terms of access and traffic.

Registrar

Mulligan reported that there are currently 20,507 active and 487 inactive voters in Goochland County. This represents a gain of 777 voters, 670 of which are active.

New legislation kicks in on October 1 preregistering 16-year-olds, so that they are automatically registered when they turn 18.

Lists of decedents, to purge the voter rolls, are now received weekly instead of monthly.

In last year’s gubernatorial elections, Goochland had a 73 percent turnout, the highest in the Commonwealth. Permanent absentee voting has been established to enable people to register for an absentee ballot one time instead of before every election.

 

VDOT

Marshall Winn, Director of the Ashland Residency, which oversees roads in Goochland, reported that debris removal of 278,289 cubic yards, or 6.500 truckloads, from the January storm has been completed. Road damage caused by heavy equipment engaged in this activity will be repaired soon.

Fire-Rescue

Chyna Tyler of Oilville was recognized by fire-rescue officials for her quick thinking and application of fire safety skills learned at Randolph Elementary School to prevent injury to her siblings and limit damage to her home. When a fire erupted in her kitchen, Tyler extinguished the fire, removed all people and pets from the home, and dial 911 to await assistance. Damage was limited to flooring and cabinetry.

Chyna Tyler wit Fire-Rescue and School Officials (Goochland County photo)

Fire-Rescue Chief D. E. “Eddie” Ferguson Jr. was joined by other fire officials and Andy Armstrong from Goochland Schools to present a certificate. He said that Tyler’s action underscores the importance of the partnership between fire-rescue and our schools.

Summer means that people are headed to the James River for fun. Ferguson reported that on Memorial Day weekend, when the river was running high and fast, Goochland Fire-Rescue’s well-trained water rescue teams plucked eight people and one pet “who got in trouble” from the water. A Goochland water rescue team also provided mutual aid assistance in the rescue and recovery operations for the people who went over the Bosher Dam in Richmond.

Goochland water rescue teams pluck people from the James River (photo Goochland Fire-Rescue)

He reminded people to be aware of river conditions and stay out of the water when the river runs high and fast and to wear a Coast Guard approved personal flotation device AKA life jacket. Ferguson issued his annual reminder that float times on the James can be quite long.

Ferguson reported that there have been a few recent fires caused by hot lawnmowers placed in attached garages before they cooled down causing significant damage to homes.

Volunteers are needed, call 804-556-5304 or visit you local fire-rescue station for more information.

Utilities

Director of Public Utilities Matt Longshore P.E. gave his annual report to the board. His department provides public water and sewer services to more than 2,200 residential and commercial customers each day.

The county operates and maintains nine sewer pump stations; two water booster stations; one chloramine booster station; three water tanks, and 166 miles of pipeline, a 14-mile increase over last year. The customer base, reported Longshore, is growing at about 12 percent annually.

A waterline was recently installed in the Jenkins trailer park in Courthouse Village, which was funded by the Virginia Department of Health Safe Drinking Water Revolving Fund. Installation of the long-awaited sewer lines in the Hickory Haven and Sammary Forest communities is well underway.

Upcoming projects include replacement of approximately 11,000 feet of 48-inch force main pipe between the eastern pump station located on the north side of Rt. 6 just west of the Henrico County line. Ductile iron pipe will replace fiber-reinforced pipe that was poorly installed during construction of the Tuckahoe Creek Service District almost 20 years ago. The most recent” failure” of this line occurred about a year ago when a rupture dumped approximately 300,000 of raw sewage into Tuckahoe Creek and closed the James River downstream to recreational activities for a few weeks due to high bacterial count in the water.

Longshore said that “we put every project through the ringer. Every stick of pipe, every valve, if it’s going to be included in a public system, we want to watch it as its built and make sure it’s a good product. We want to sign off it at the end of the day and make sure it’s built to our county standards and specifications.”

He bragged on his “small but mighty” staff, which Longshore credits for the success of the department. They achieved all of the requirements to maintain professional certification while keeping very busy with department operation. The staff includes six licensed waterworks operators; two licensed professional engineers; a NASSCO professional who assesses and documents gravity sewer lines; a Virginia Certified backflow prevention device worker; and three notaries. “Without their hard work and commitment to excellence, our department wouldn’t run,” said Longshore.

Utilities' Staff (Goochland County photo)

Public Hearings

·        An ordinance amendment to change the Real Estate tax relief affidavit submission from March 31 to April 30 was approved unanimously.

·        A renewal of a conditional use permit (CUP) for Bandit’s Ridge was approved unanimously.

·        A rezoning application for property on the southwest corner of Rt. 6 and Rt. 288 from Residential General to Business General with proffered conditions for use by a landscaping company was unanimously approved.

·        Rezoning and CUP applications filed by Extra Attic for property on Pouncey Tract Road surrounded by the Parkside Village community to allow a self-store facility; an office building; and another building whose has not been determined, was approved 3-1 with Susan Lascolette, District 1 in dissent.

To listen to these hearings in their entirety, go to the county website goochlandva.us and check on “watch county meetings”.