Tid bits

 

View from the admin building

The afternoon sessions of monthly meetings of the Goochland Board of Supervisors address routine items that need formal board approval. Since taking Goochland’s helm last June, County Administrator Jeremy Raley, Ed. D.  has reinstated department reports to share insights into the workings of different agencies.

Did you know?

Raley begins board meetings with thumbnail reports on county operations.

On December 2, he commended the collaboration between the information technology and fire-rescue departments who recently “migrated” technology from more than 30 legacy Panasonic “Toughbooks"  which cost about $5,000 each to Apple iPads, which cost about $700 each to improve performance and standardize fire-rescue equipment. This strategic abandonment, said Raley, saves Goochland taxpayers about $129k.

The Federal government is requiring all public water utilities to identify the material used in the water lines for homes they service. Raley said that Goochland department of public utilities has this data for most homes connected to our water lines, but some remain outstanding. Those homeowners will be receiving a letter asking for information about the material used in their water lines. If you receive one of these letters and are unable to self-identify your piping, DPU will be happy to help. Go to https://www.goochlandva.us/1380/Lead-Copper-Rule-Revisions-Information for details.

The Goochland Community Services Board (CSB) provided services for 417 residents in their homes. This translates into an industry leading engagement rate of 85 percent. This, said Raley, indicates a high level of client satisfaction with the agency.

He also commended County Engineer Austin Goyne, who recently returned to Goochland government, for updating the transportation tab on the county website with information about road projects.

The December 2 board meeting included the following presentations:

CASA

Renae Townsend, the Executive Director  of Goochland Powhatan Court Appointed Special Advocates  (https://goochlandpowhatan.casa/) explained that her agency is the “eyes and ears” of the juvenile and domestic relations court for cases involving abused and neglected children.

Townsend thanked the board for its financial support for CASA, which is in its 21^st year.

Community and economic development

Sara Worley, Deputy County Administrator for Community and Economic Development, gave a summary of activity for the past six months. She said that Goochland is experiencing robust growth, with population increasing by 14 percent since 2020 and $760 commercial investment in the last five years, which does not include the $5Billion investment from Eli Lilly, announced in September.

Worley said that her department’s goal is to attract high quality development. According to Site Selector magazine, two of the top five economic development projects, the Amazon facility on Ashland Road and Eli Lilly pharmaceutical manufacturing faculty recently announced in West Creek, in Virginia are in Goochland.

Goochland Economic Development was the recipient of the top project community impact award in 2025, for the Eli Lilly plant, by the Virginia Economic Developers Association

In the past year, the county economic development team met with 63 businesses and assisted with more than 300 business needs. Worley said that the hard work of the supervisors and Economic Development Authority has resulted in $430 million in actual investment and more that $6 billion in active construction.

She also reported a 15 percent increase in tourism revenue from the previous year.

The county is one of the fastest growing jurisdictions in the Commonwealth, which brings increased demands for service from citizens, landowners, and developers who need county services to capitalize on their real estate investment.

While the number of building permits issued by the county has remained steady, they are far more complex. She used the Avery Point continuing care community in West Creek, and the Amazon project on Ashland Road as examples.

Excellent customer service is a high priority for her department and the county, said Worley. To that end, a strategic reorganization to create “additional bandwidth” to focus on areas that needed improvement began last summer when she was appointed to fill a second deputy county administrator role. The reorganization included adding a dedicated development administrator, a plats officer, and code enforcement officer to improve efficiency and customer service. Key areas that need process reform or “tweaks” to enhance operational efficiency are ongoing. Delays and deficiencies in these areas was attributed to understaffing and attrition of a key employee.

Worley reported that the changes have resulted in significant reduction in the number of outstanding plan reviews, which will be used to measure performance going forward. She outlined changes in personnel and procedures whose goal is to reduce permit processing times. New software to enable more accurate tracking of permitting and other development procedures, is expected to be online in the new year. (To hear Worley’s full presentation, go the “watch county meetings” tab on the county website https://www.goochlandva.us/ select the December 2 BoS meeting beginning at about the 45-minute mark.)

Worley reported that the county’ s utility master plan update is nearing completion. She said that the front-facing customer service team is being cross trained to provide better service. As the complexity and volume of development related activities increases, Worley anticipates requesting additional personnel to meet these demands in the FY27 budget.

Pamunkey Regional Library

Zach Roberts, Director of the Pamunkey Regional Library, (https://www.pamunkeylibrary.org/)  a consortium comprised of Goochland and Hanover counties, said that since joining PRL earlier this year, he has been meeting with all staff members and learn how the library operates.

The Goochland Branch Library, located on River Road West in Courthouse Village, roughly opposite the county administration building, is well used by our community. In the last year, said Roberts, there has been a massive increase in the number of people engaging with the library beyond the staple “come in and check out physical materials” use. Last year there were more than 500 programs at the Goochland Branch, where people participated in programs including story time, art classes, and wide range of engagement opportunities. (Check out the Goochland Branch on the PRL website for a list of programs)

Roberts thanked the supervisors for funding extended library hours, which increased use and said that the meeting room and smaller spaces are heavily used. Circulation last year, including digital checkouts for audio and eBooks was 71,000. Goochland library staff answered 25k questions last year either in person or by phone.

The county refurbished the library’s meeting space, restrooms, and story well in the children’s section last year. “Goochland has been a wonderful partner, helping us maintain the building,” Roberts said.

Going forward, the library is exploring outreach opportunities to offer services outside the building.

 PRL is working on a strategic plan to better serve the community. To that end Roberts will be holding several town halls at each branch to hear what patrons want from their library. The sessions for Goochland are Saturday, January 10 from 1:30-3 and Wednesday, January 28 from 2-3:30. Go to the PRL site to sign up.

Suggestions were made to provide some sort of library presence in eastern Goochland, perhaps some sort of “vending machine” to allow patrons to collect physical materials checked out electronically without going to Courthouse Village. A bookmobile to bring materials to different parts of the county and getting the word out about using virtual library access to east end residents were also discussed.