December Board highlights

There are many moving parts to local government. The December agenda of the Board of Supervisors illustrates the wide range of detail. Following is a very brief overview of the afternoon session. A video and transcript of the entire meeting is available on the county website https://www.goochlandva.us/ under the “watch county meetings” tab.

Goochland Supervisors rotate the chair position every year. At their December 6 meeting, outgoing Board Chair Neil Spoonhower, District 2 said it was the honor of his life to serve in that role. “I can honestly say that in the last twelve months I’ve done some of the most challenging and rewarding work of my career. It means the world to me that you would trust me with this.”

He touched on significant accomplishments of the year. Including working closely with the late Don Sharpe, District 4 to hire a new county administrator; crafting a successful budget with increased funding for public safety; purchasing land for a future District 2 Fire-Rescue Station; issuing general revenue bonds in February; and selecting a worthy successor to Sharpe.

“I put my name on $50 million in bonds, that wasn’t at all intimidating,” Spoonhower said. Chairing the July public hearing for Project Rocky was the most mentally challenging task of his tenure as chair, which had a successful outcome. Working with regional partners to secure funding for Goochland road projects was another success.

He commended staff for its professionalism, patience with him, and its commitment to excellence in service to county citizens.

Spoonhower also thanked his fellow supervisors for being the best partners anyone could want. “There were several occasions this year when we could have done the okay easy thing, or the hard right thing. We chose the hard right thing one hundred percent of the time. I’m proud to be part of that team.”

The Board passed and presented a resolution honoring the life of the late Supervisor Don Sharpe at the start of the evening session to his widow Carolyn. The resolution cites his contribution as a “thoughtful and responsive leader who served District Four with the upmost dedication and distinction.”

County Administrator Vic Carpenter reported that more than 800 people attended Goochland’s own “Hallmark moment” Christmas tree lighting on December 2. County employees presented Goochland Christmas Mother Grace Creasey with a check for $3,255 to brighten the holidays.

The next day three tons of documents were shredded and three trailers full of used tires were collected at a recycling event.

Fire-rescue

D. E. “Eddie” Ferguson, Jr. Goochland Chief of Fire-Rescue and Emergency Services shared cold weather safety tips. He encouraged everyone to ensure that their home heating systems are in good repair; to have chimneys inspected and cleaned and suggested installed of spark arresters to prevent sparks from igniting leaves in gutters that could spark fires.

Smoke alarms save lives, and every home should have at least one in good working order. If you need one, contact your local fire-rescues station, or call the fire-rescue office at 1-804-556-5304 to have one installed free of charge. Ferguson encouraged installation of carbon monoxide detectors. Fire-rescue also has a limited number of these available.

Ferguson urged that care be taken when deploying heat lamps to keep animals warm in cold weather and mentioned that care should be taken with Christmas decorations, especially live trees, which are very flammable.

A recent fire in the apartments at the Retreat was quickly controlled with minimal damage due to sprinkler systems.

Call volume, said Ferguson, up from last year, is expected to be higher than ever.

Human Resources Director Shaletha Dyson introduced Robin Hillman, recently hired as Goochland Emergency Management Coordinator. Hillman, a lifelong Goochlander, brings years of involvement as local fire-rescue volunteer and extensive private sector experience in resiliency to the role. She will oversee preparation, response, and recovery from; manmade and natural disasters; hostile actions; public health emergencies, and any other threats to our county.

Broadband update

Paul Drumwright, the county’s point person on broadband, acknowledged that people without this vital service are anxiously awaiting connection. As there are many moving parts to this project, the answer to “when” is complicated and depends on the electric utility partners.

Work at Central Virginia Electric Coop (CVEC) substations in Shannon Hill, Cartersville, Columbia, and Ferncliff has been completed and people who live in those areas can g=sign up to get connected. Go to fireflyva.com for more information.

Rappahannock Electric has moved into the fiber building phase of its part of the project and will start building fiber “backbones”. A few more intermediate steps must be completed before individual connections are made. This is anticipated in early 2023.

Dominion energy continues to be in the design phase of its portion of the project, which is expected to be complete by the end of 2023.

Drumwright expressed optimism that the entire project can be completed sooner than the end of 2025.

Port80, which provides service in the Crozier area, reported Drumwright, is complete and currently signing up customers. Call 1 (804) 800-7678 for information about Port80.

Consent agenda

The consent agenda is a list of items, usually routine, requiring board approval.

Items scheduled for public hearings on January 3 include ordinance amendments increasing thresholds of purchasing and bidding policies; changing the color of fire hydrants from red to reflective silver; to adding open burning restrictions to RPUD and MPUD zoning districts; and to consider appropriating an additional $15,726 for the new Goochland Elementary School project.

Resolutions were adopted approving:

·       The FY2023 budget transferring $150 k from the non-departmental reserve for contingency expense to the planning department for upcoming consultant projects.

·        The Rappahannock Regional Criminal Justice Academy charter agreement and by laws

·       Authorization for the County Attorney to petition the Circuit Court to request that no special election be ordered to fill the office of Circuit Court Clerk following the resignation of incumbent Clerk Dale Agnew effective December 31, 2022.

·       Amend the FY23 budget to transfer $1 million to the Department of Public Utilities Rehabilitation and Repair fund and authorize the county administrator to execute an agreement with Spinello Companies Inc. for the eastern pump station force main repair project. (This was necessitated by last summer’s rupture that dumped raw sewage into Tuckahoe Creek.)

·       See December 6 board packet for details about each of these items.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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