Town hall meetings

 

The last of Goochland’s fall 2024 town hall meetings was held on October 28 for District 4. These sessions began on October 3 in D5. Recordings of all four meetings—districts two and three were combined—are archived on the county website, https://www.goochlandva.us/ under the “watch county meetings tab” listed as community meeting. They were also livestreamed in real time for those who preferred to tune in from home.

Attendance was light, perhaps due to the 6 p.m. starting time, which may have conflicted with the dinner hour for busy folks. At the D1 meeting, there seemed to be more elected and appointed officials and staff than citizens.

All meetings followed a similar format with County Administrator Vic Carpenter and Superintendent of Schools Michael Cromartie Ed. D.  giving thumbnail overview of their operations followed by questions.

The presentations were pretty much the same for all meetings, with some curious divergences. For instance, Carpenter mentioned major repairs to the Tuckahoe Creek Service District force main in the River Road corridor at the D5, and D2&3 meetings, but made no mention of it at the meeting for D4, where many residents live in the TCSD. He announced that the county is starting to build Fire-Rescue Station 8 in Sandy Hook, but glossed over that a proposed east end station has been put on the back burner.

Cromartie shared the accomplishments of our school division, including scholastic advances in the past year. He also illustrated how a teacher salary adjustment, implemented this year, has made Goochland schools better able to compete with our neighbors to attract and retain the best people.

Questions that made the recording— conversations continued after the meetings ended—included concerns about long bus rides and where the next new elementary school should be located.

Cromartie opined Goochland is a long, narrow, and rural community, which precludes the notion of neighborhood schools. He also contended that he does not expect the county to have more than three elementary schools whose attendance districts would wax and wane with prevailing demographics.

Cromartie said that the school division does the best it can to make school bus routes efficient with the resources—drivers and buses—available. He echoed the lament of most school divisions that bus drivers are in short supply.

The fate of the old Goochland Elementary School, which belongs to the school board, may be decided during the November 12 school board meeting.

Other citizen questions/comments dealt with the frustrating slowness of broadband connection in parts of the county and an overall concern about the dearth of local housing in price ranges accessible to teachers, deputies, and public safety employees.

Carpenter explained that the county is powerless to demand that developers build lower cost homes. He said that one way to reduce the price of “dwelling units” is to increase density as in townhome and apartments, which most Goochlanders reject. The county cannot declare a moratorium on building either. While increasing minimum lot sizes could put the brakes on development, it would also reduce the supply of buildable lots and increase demand and home prices.

Carpenter contended that because Goochland is a beautiful place with good schools and services people want to move here. The county is also at the mercy of VDOT when it comes to road improvements. Thanks to money received from tax on gas purchased in Goochland the county, via the Central Virginia Transportation Authority, has a bit more money to deal with badly needed road improvements, all of which cost a fortune and are built with glacial speed.

The burden that non-essential 911 calls place on fire-rescue personnel, especially volunteers, was discussed. The county, said Carpenter, is aware of the issue and could investigate measure to mitigate “nuisance” calls, like multiple false alarms from security systems, that waste precious public safety resources, by imposing fees.

Attendance at town hall meetings has dwindled since they restarted after the Covid lockdown. These sessions consume a good deal of staff time that might be better used in other ways.

The supervisors regularly contend that they want more citizen engagement, but are town hall meetings the way to go about it? People tend to show up at public hearings to oppose land use changes close to their homes but are generally uninformed about other matters. The small area plan studies for Courthouse Village and Centerville had robust attendance, but the perception of citizens that their input on those studies was ignored, may have cooled enthusiasm for engagement.

A desperately needed refresh of the county website will be unveiled soon. Other ways to stay informed are to sign up for “Goochland at a glance” https://www.goochlandva.us/list.aspx?listid=413 to receive a weekly digest of county information.

Local government has the greatest impact on your daily life. Please pay attention and keep informed.

 

 

 

 

 

 

The last of Goochland’s fall 2024 town hall meetings was held on October 28 for District 4. These sessions began on October 3 in D5. Recordings of all four meetings—districts two and three were combined—are archived on the county website, https://www.goochlandva.us/ under the “watch county meetings tab” listed as community meeting. They were also livestreamed in real time for those who preferred to tune in from home.

Attendance was light, perhaps due to the 6 p.m. starting time, which may have conflicted with the dinner hour for busy folks. At the D1 meeting, there seemed to be more elected and appointed officials and staff than citizens.

All meetings followed a similar format with County Administrator Vic Carpenter and Superintendent of Schools Michael Cromartie Ed. D.  giving thumbnail overview of their operations followed by questions.

The presentations were pretty much the same for all meetings, with some curious divergences. For instance, Carpenter mentioned major repairs to the Tuckahoe Creek Service District force main in the River Road corridor at the D5, and D2&3 meetings, but made no mention of it at the meeting for D4, where many residents live in the TCSD. He announced that the county is starting to build Fire-Rescue Station 8 in Sandy Hook, but glossed over that a proposed east end station has been put on the back burner.

Cromartie shared the accomplishments of our school division, including scholastic advances in the past year. He also illustrated how a teacher salary adjustment, implemented this year, has made Goochland schools better able to compete with our neighbors to attract and retain the best people.

Questions that made the recording— conversations continued after the meetings ended—included concerns about long bus rides and where the next new elementary school should be located.

Cromartie opined Goochland is a long, narrow, and rural community, which precludes the notion of neighborhood schools. He also contended that he does not expect the county to have more than three elementary schools whose attendance districts would wax and wane with prevailing demographics.

Cromartie said that the school division does the best it can to make school bus routes efficient with the resources—drivers and buses—available. He echoed the lament of most school divisions that bus drivers are in short supply.

The fate of the old Goochland Elementary School, which belongs to the school board, may be decided during the November 12 school board meeting.

Other citizen questions/comments dealt with the frustrating slowness of broadband connection in parts of the county and an overall concern about the dearth of local housing in price ranges accessible to teachers, deputies, and public safety employees.

Carpenter explained that the county is powerless to demand that developers build lower cost homes. He said that one way to reduce the price of “dwelling units” is to increase density as in townhome and apartments, which most Goochlanders reject. The county cannot declare a moratorium on building either. While increasing minimum lot sizes could put the brakes on development, it would also reduce the supply of buildable lots and increase demand and home prices.

Carpenter contended that because Goochland is a beautiful place with good schools and services people want to move here. The county is also at the mercy of VDOT when it comes to road improvements. Thanks to money received from tax on gas purchased in Goochland the county, via the Central Virginia Transportation Authority, has a bit more money to deal with badly needed road improvements, all of which cost a fortune and are built with glacial speed.

The burden that non-essential 911 calls place on fire-rescue personnel, especially volunteers, was discussed. The county, said Carpenter, is aware of the issue and could investigate measure to mitigate “nuisance” calls, like multiple false alarms from security systems, that waste precious public safety resources, by imposing fees.

Attendance at town hall meetings has dwindled since they restarted after the Covid lockdown. These sessions consume a good deal of staff time that might be better used in other ways.

The supervisors regularly contend that they want more citizen engagement, but are town hall meetings the way to go about it? People tend to show up at public hearings to oppose land use changes close to their homes but are generally uninformed about other matters. The small area plan studies for Courthouse Village and Centerville had robust attendance, but the perception of citizens that their input on those studies was ignored, may have cooled enthusiasm for engagement.

A desperately needed refresh of the county website will be unveiled soon. Other ways to stay informed are to sign up for “Goochland at a glance” https://www.goochlandva.us/list.aspx?listid=413 to receive a weekly digest of county information.

Local government has the greatest impact on your daily life. Please pay attention and keep informed.