Big ticket items

 

Putting their heads together

On the Friday afternoon before Christmas, Goochland supervisors put their heads together for a capital improvement plan (CIP) workshop to review capital needs for the county.

By FY2030, the county will need to fund at least $153,955,764 in capital projects. Of that total, $23,594,00 are utility projects, which are funded by connection fees and operating budget.

During several meetings in 2025, the audit committee discussed county financial policies established to ensure good stewardship of taxpayer dollars. Thanks to the hard work of supervisors elected in 2011 and former County Administrator Rebecca T. Dickson, Goochland earned three AAA bond ratings, which enables it to borrow money at better than market rates to finance capital projects, which include buildings and equipment with large price tags and useful life longer than five years.

The supervisors decided to reduce the policy ratio of debt to assessed valuation contending that the existing ratios were far more conservative than neighboring jurisdictions and these funds should be put to work. Exactly how that will be implemented is still to be determined.

County Administrator Dr. Jeremy Raley said the purpose of the December 19 session was the continuation of conversations about high profile capital assets and to gauge board sentiment about funding options going forward. Departments presenting were public utilities, transportation, fire-rescue, and updates about the space study and courthouse construction project. No decisions were made.

(To view the entire information dense three-hour meeting, go to the county website https://www.goochlandva.us/ click on “watch county meetings” and select BoS meeting December 19. Thanks to Director of Information Technology Dan Stowers and his team for recording the meeting and posting it online in a very timely manner.)

 

Utilities

Elizabeth McDonald, our new director of public utilities, gave an overview of completed and ongoing DPU projects.

Working closely with Fire-Rescue, McDonald reported that all 52 “problematic” fire hydrants in need of repair or maintenance have been fixed and no known fire hydrant issues remain in the system.  She expressed the need for a formalized hydrant maintenance program to identify problems and address them quickly.

McDonald reported that completed or almost finished DPU projects, including a Plaza Drive waterline extension and replacement of the force main from the eastern Goochland Pump Station have come in under budget. The slightly more than $1 million budgeted for those projects will be returned to the utility CIP budget.

Funded ongoing projects include the Sandy Hook Road water loop, expected to improve reliability of water service in the Courthouse Village area and support development along the Fairground Road extension. This will not be started until the Fairground Road extension kicks off in 2027.

An “air stripping” system for the Courthouse Village elevated water tank, with an estimated cost of $245K to reduce the EPA mandared levels of trihalomethanes, a disinfectant by product that increases due to temperature and water age, is needed as soon as possible. This requires installation of equipment, which would take about a month to complete, said McDonald.

An upgrade to the Vally View Lane pump station and force main in Courthouse Village to increase its capacity from the current 200 gallons per minute to 580 gpm to accommodate expected growth is also on the list. The increase in pump size and force main velocity will also require increasing pipe size from six to eight inches. The project, with an expected cost of $1,681,000, can be funded over multiple fiscal years.

The Eastern Goochland Pump Station (on the north side of Rt. 6 just east of Tuckahoe Pines) pumps are nearing the end of their useful life, said McDonald, and have started to require additional maintenance. For FY2027 she requested $150k for a condition assessment to determine the next best steps to maintain pumping capacity.

Most of the EGPS, approximately 75 percent, capacity is used by Henrico, which pays a pro rata portion of the cost. The facility has four pumps but was built with slots for six to accommodate growth.

A proposed Rockville connection to the Henrico County water system which will require approval from Henrico, would add a reliable and permanent emergency water source for customers north of I64. It would also improve quality. The total estimated cost of the project is $1 million. Talks with Henrico are ongoing.

A Ridgefield Parkway booster pump station and ground storage tank to support growth and fire flow has an estimated price tag of $16.768 million. This was identified in the 2015 utility master plan for 2035, but development needs pulled it forward. Most public water in the east end of Goochland comes from Henrico County through the Tuckahoe Creek Service District, or other agreements.

A low-pressure sewage collection and conveyance system to bring sewer service to about 75 properties along River Road West in Courthouse Village, which can be phased over multiple years. The estimated cost is $4.5 million.

The West Creek River Road flow control project, to improve water pressure in Lower Tuckahoe may not be needed as operational improvements may have addressed the issue. McDonald asked residents in this area that are still experiencing pressure issues to contact DPU at 804-556-5835.

In summary, DPU capital requests total $520k for FY27, and $14,223,000 for FY28. Utilities are funded by connection fees and customer service charges.

Early next year, said McDonald, DPU staff will present the updated utility master plan.

 

Roads

County Engineer Austin Goyne said that a new website: https://goochlandva.us/roads  contains consolidated information about all county transportation projects.

The Ashland Road/I64 interchange improvements are moving along with completion expected in August of 2029. Extending Fairground Road to Rt. 6 in Courthouse Village will get underway in 2027 with expected completion also in 2029.

Bids for the roundabout at the Oilville Road/westbound I-64 off ramp to mitigate treacherous evening rush conditions there will be solicited early in 2026 with completion expected in September 2027. Acquisition of rights of way for a roundabout at the intersection of Fairground and Maidens Road are scheduled to begin in November 2028, with completion anticipated for August of 2030.

Other current projects also include sidewalk plans for Courthouse Village between Goochland Cares and Reed Marsh. Goyne said that current assumptions use a VDOT template that anticipates completion at the end of 2029 is “extremely conservative.” He said that “staff and our consultant will work diligently to deliver the project well ahead of schedule.”

The realignment of Hockett Road to connect with Ashland Road at Broad Street Road is chugging along. First mentioned around 2013, a new proposed route, placing a roundabout in front of the VRCC Vet Emergency Clinic, which avoids flood plain and creek impacts that complicated the previous plan has been proposed. Completion could be as early as 2029. There will be a public hearing on the new alignment on January 13 at 5:30 p.m. at Dover Church on Manakin Road.

Looking ahead, solutions to the Ashland/Rockville Road interchange are being investigated.

Goochland, like most Virginia localities, is dependent on VDOT for road construction and maintenance. Roads are paid for through a complicated, almost byzantine process involving different subagencies and regional authorities and competing with other jurisdictions for projects with regional impacts.

Goyne said that establishing better lines of communication between Goochland and VDOT improves outcomes. He cited early completion of the Sandy Hook/Fairground Road roundabout as an example.

Improvements to Rt. 288 are also in the works.

District 2 Supervisor Neil Spoonhower, along with Goyne and Transportation Manager Patrick Longerbeam, represents the county on the Central Virginia Transportation Authority (CVTA) https://cvtava.org/. Spoonhower pointed out that these road projects, whose cost is estimated around $76 million, are funded mostly through grants, awards, and VDOT money, not the county general fund.  Thanks to Goyne’s focus on securing various funding mechanisms, Goochland has secured a total of $200 million to pay for these road improvements. Spoonhower, who also works to leverage regional transportation partnerships to the county’s advantage, contended that over five years, Goochland will receive about $200 million in transportation funding, which is an excellent return on the $20 million we generate in sales and gas tax.

Emergency Communications

Major Mike East of the Goochland County Sheriff’s Office explained the need for a new communications tower in the northeast sector of the county. Deputies, fire-rescue providers, animal control, and dispatchers must be able to talk to each other and neighboring agencies.

Currently, the county has five towers and uses a conventional radio system installed in 2017, which, said East, makes it something of a dinosaur tech wise. Handheld radios can communicate with radio towers from 6-10 miles away depending on topography, weather, structure density, and tower height.

Last summer the Creekmore tower, went “down” creating a dead zone for handheld radios in the east end.  Vehicle radios were not impacted, but incident response is often on foot. A “mayday” call from a firefighter injured inside a burning structure, or an “officer down” call on a handheld radio could not reach dispatch to summon help.

Another tower would add redundancy to the system.

East said that the GCSO is also investigating a transition to a “trunking” system, which will improve communications with neighboring jurisdictions. Goochland, said East, is currently “on an island” when communicating with our partners in other counties.

The estimate cost for the tower, including land acquisition, is $4.245 million in a FY28 timeframe.

Fire-Rescue

D. E. “Eddie” Ferguson, Jr. Chief of Fire-Rescue and Emergency Management focused his presentation on apparatus, ambulances, engines, and tankers. The fire-rescue fleet has the potential to have eight engines in service, six of which, one for each exiting station, are primary, the others reserve.

Last month, while responding to a call on the Rt. 288 bridge over the James River, an engine was hit by a drunk driver, totaling the vehicle. Thankfully, no lives were lost. Insurance on the loss was $194,750. The other reserve engine is being repaired, leaving the county with no reserve engines. This, said Ferguson, is not a unique situation.

As most of the county is not served by public water, tankers are needed to transport water to fires. Some tankers in the fleet date back to 2002 have high mileage and can be expensive to repair.

Engines, tankers, and ambulances are not only expensive, but have very long delivery lead times, up to four years. Ferguson said that apparatus prices are estimated to increase 12 percent per year.

Ferguson presented two scenarios for apparatus procurement. One, order multiple units early to arrive in the same year that funding is allocated, which he contended would save $786,838. The other is to order units in the same budget year that funding becomes available, costing $786,838 more. Ordering ahead could lock in current pricing.

Construction on Station 8 on Whitehall Road has been put out to bid, which closes next month. Architectural and engineering for Station 7 on Hockett Road may be put out to bid early next year.

A study of county space needs is in progress. Discussions about the new circuit courthouse are also ongoing.

An addition to the high school to accommodate Goochland’s exceptional career and technical education (CTE) program has a placeholder of $20 million but was mentioned only in passing as the supervisors wondered if this number should be increased.

Funding

Among funding options for CIP are cash proffers, paid by developers, to offset certain capital needs resulting from growth. These include schools, fire-rescue, roads, parks, and libraries. Proffers have generated a total of $8,410.579, but must be allocated by category, and in some cases, geographically.

General obligation bonds, whose $96 million issue was overwhelmingly approved in a 2021 referendum are a potential funding source. Some were issued in 2022; the remainder could cover public safety projects. Financing could be obtained through the Virginia Resources Authority.

County financial policy limits debt service to 12 percent of general fund expenditures with a target of 10 percent. Existing debt service is about five percent. Adding $101,500,000 in debt financed projects is estimated to hit 10 percent in FY29 and 30, easing a bit thereafter.

No decisions were made at the meeting, but the board clearly learned a lot and has a lot to ponder over the holiday break. May they find the wisdom to fund these capital needs in a fiscally responsible manner.