July Board Highlights

 

Happy Birthday America!

Goochland supervisors held their regular monthly meeting on Monday, July 3 to avoid possible conflict with Fourth of July fireworks. The afternoon agenda was light.

The board paused for a minute of silence in honor of the passing of James Eads, who represented District 5 on the Board of Supervisors for 12 years.

A resolution recognizing July as Parks and Recreation Month was approved and presented to Jessica Kronberg, Director of County Parks and Recreation. On the eve of one of the biggest P&R events, the Fourth of July fireworks. Kronberg thanked the board for its support and gave a brief list of programs, including the next night at Tucker Park on July 28 from 5:30 to 9 p.m. featuring live music from Gone Country Due and Exit 38. Go to https://www.goochlandva.us/236/Parks-Recreation to learn more.

Board Chair Neil Spoonhower, District 2 took a few minutes to reflect on things that make the Goochland community exceptional. These include being the smallest jurisdiction population wise in the country to earn a triple AAA bond rating; our great schools; county departments consistently recognized by their peers for excellence; and something that recently came to his attention.  Goochland is tied for second for the second most marriages per capita. “It takes strong families to build strong communities,” he said.

In his remarks, County Administrator Vic Carpenter explained that, to conform to a new state law, the county advertising schedule has changed. Public notices will now run for two consecutive weeks not more than 14 days before the action item.

Carpenter also reported that, according to Goochland County Treasurer Pamela Duncan, the mid year personal property tax collection rate was 86.4 percent up from 79.4 percent last year and for real estate tax 96.2 percent up from 93.8 percent in 2022. Collection rates, he said, can be an early warning of a possible downturn in county revenue.  This year’s numbers indicate that Goochland’s fiscal position remains strong.

He also addressed citizen concerns about a proposed removal of the traffic signal at the Hockett/Broad Street Road intersection in Centerville and making it right turn only. The Hockett Road realignment to connect with Ashland Road is a multi-year process that has just started.  Nothing, Carpenter emphasized, has been decided. While an “early, preliminary proposal” included removal of the stoplight it is not part of “any actual design”. It was a suggestion added to improve scoring in the competitive process used to award state funding for road projects, that pits Goochland against localities in the entire Commonwealth. Now that the project is fully funded, detailed designs will be crafted before the project is put out to bid. In the meantime, said Carpenter, there will be opportunities for public input on the final design.

Marshall Winn, Administrator of the Ashland VDOT Residency reported that paving of the Sandy Hook/Fairground Road roundabout will be completed by July 7 if it doesn’t rain. He was saddened by the communication breakdown that caused some confusion about construction activities there. Even though the roundabout was not fully completed by the Fourth of July, original completion was expected on October 25, so the project is at least 115 days ahead of schedule. There will be no detours for buses to negotiate when school opens in August. Rain at the end of June was the main culprit for the delay.

Community Affairs Manager Paul Drumwright presented his monthly broadband report. For details on the progress of deployment go to page 53 of the board packet at http://goochlandcountyva.iqm2.com/Citizens/FileOpen.aspx?Type=1&ID=1397&Inline=True

The Virginia Department of Housing and Community Development announced that it has received $1.4 billion in federal funds from the federal Broadband Equity and Access Development (BEAD) program to close the digital divide in Virginia. The money, said Drumwright, is going to the state, which is in the process of deciding how to disperse the funds to un and underserved communities, including parts of Goochland.  Homes that are not part of the ongoing broadband expansion efforts throughout the county would be targeted through a different process. Unlike other initiatives, BEAD will work with private providers to hit all the areas not included in other programs.

The state has launched a Virginia Digital Opportunity survey to gather data and better understand the needs of residents and the scope of broadband affordability issues. Drumwright encourages all county residents to complete the survey at https://dhcd.virginia.gov/digital-opportunity  Drumwright said that he is working to ensure that Goochland has access to that data to ensure that other county broadband efforts are meeting the needs of citizens. Accurate data is essential to pinpointing areas with no connectivity so that some entity will be able to “light” everyone up with broadband.

Deploying broadband to the entire county is complicated. BEAD, said Drumwright, could connect areas that fall through the connection cracks of other programs.