January in the Board room

 

Tom Winfree (l) and Jonathan Christy

The Goochland Board of Supervisors held its first meeting of 2025 on January 21, delayed two weeks by snow. As is its custom, the board elected a new chair, Tom Winfree, District 3, and a new vice chair, Jonathan Christy, District 1 for 2025. The board also adopted and tweaked some of its operating documents. Go to the county website https://www.goochlandva.us/ and click on the transparency tab for details in the board packet.

The invocation was led by Pastor Joe Brown of Goochland Presbyterian Church, which is forming a new congregation in the county. Pastor Brown asked for grace on the Creasey family mourning the sudden passing of its matriarch, Diana Lee Creasey, who was a pillar of our fire-rescue service and the entire community on January 19. Her contributions to the community cannot be overstated and her gentle smile and encouragement that mentored generations of first responders will be greatly missed.

County Administrator Vic Carpenter thanked county employees for their hard work during the snow and cold and water emergency. “Those we saw, those we didn’t see, they all made it happen. Thank you,” he said.

The Board adopted a resolution commending Carol Johnston on 34 years of exceptional community service upon her retirement from the department of social services.

Other actions include:

·         Setting a public hearing for February 4 to consider an amendment to the Tuckahoe Creek Service District ordinance to include parcels of land on Ashland Road at the Project Rocky site.

·         Approving an amendment to the county zoning ordinance dealing with sign regulations.

·         Approving an application for a conditional use permit at 5344 Duval Road in District 1 for an accessory family housing unit.

·         Approving an application in District 2 to rezone land at 0 Terry Lane from A-1 to A-2 with proffers and granting exceptions to public road requirements for right and left turn lanes.

Curiously, the meeting had no mention of actions Goochland might take going forward to prevent a repeat of the recent water supply issues that impacted those served by public water in the county’s east end. It would seem, at the very least, that Goochland should join with Henrico and Hanover Counties to hold the City of Richmond accountable for providing clean water. Local businesses were forced to curtail operations and lose revenue through no fault of their own. This was not Goochland’s fault either as we are at the end of the line water wise.

It was also curious that the county assessor did not make a presentation about the value of annual assessments, which is used to craft the county budget.

Late this afternoon, Carpenter announced that he has tendered his resignation as Goochland County Administrator effective February 20. The supervisors will meet in closed session on January 28 at 3 p.m. to discuss recruitment for an interim county administrator and Carpenter’s successor.

Stay tuned.