Marchness

At its March 3 meeting, the Goochland Board of Supervisors took a few minutes to celebrate the recent announcement that the county received a AAA bond rating from New York based Standard and Poor's. The magnitude of this accomplishment, a bit more than three years after the former county treasurer was marched off to prison after being  convicted of embezzling public funds, is astonishing.

County Administrator Rebecca Dickson thanked Kevin Rotty, of Public Financial Management,the county's financial advisor, for his help and encouragement during the complicated application process for the credit rating. Rotty reported that Goochland's securing a AAA credit rating is indeed a rare accomplishment for a county with a population under 60,000. (Goochland's population is approximately 21,000). 

Board Chair Susan Lascolette, District 1, presented commemorative glass plaques to  Rotty; John Wack, Deputy County Administrator for Financial Affairs; comptroller Barbara Horlacher; Jon Worley who produced the wonderful video included in the presentation (available for viewing on the county website www.co.goochland.va.us); and District  5 Supervisor Ken Peterson.

The  driving force behind the pursuit of the bond rating, said Peterson was Dickson.

The benefit for the citizens going forward is that Goochland has been vetted by a respected impartial agency and found to be fiscally responsible and well-managed. In addition to reducing the cost of the county's borrowing going forward, by giving it direct access to capital markets, it announces that Goochland County has its fiscal ducks in a row.

Peterson contended that the rating gives citizens " a transparent metric to monitor the county's financial health." He also thanked Rotty for his contributions to turning the county around. "In a previous life, Kevin must have been a baseball batting coach because he helped Goochland County hit a couple of home runs." Rotty was also instrumental in the remedial restructuring of the TCSD debt.

Rotty explained that the AAA bond rating puts Goochland "in select company" as one of eleven jurisdictions in Virginia--and the smallest, at aproximately 21,400, population-wise--to obtain this designation. He said that winning the rating on the first attempt is the result of years of dedicated planning and financial discipline. Rotty said that Goochland was judged to be "very strong" in six of the seven rating categories, with only the TCSD debt issues casting a shadow on the county's fiscal picture.

The video, said Rotty, told the raters who Goochland County is.  The Standard and Poor's folk, however, were curious as to how Goochland managed to accomplish so many things in such a short time and retain the lowest tax rate--53 cents per $100 of assessed valuation--in the region. Peterson, reported Rotty, educated Standard and Poor's about " The Goochland way".

Dickson attributed the success of the rating quest to participation by virtually the entire county staff, board of supervisors and others. "It really does take a village," and thanked all everyone involved for doing their job well.

A new feature has been added to the software used for Board of Supervisors and Planning Commission packets. It allows comments to be made online regarding a particular item. Supervisors and commissioners will be able to view all the comments. Lascolette said this is yet another way to gather citizen input and improve government transparency.

Senior Planner Jo Ann Hunter presented the draft of the 2035 comprehensive land use plan to the board. It is available on the county website. A series of meetings will be held in April to gather citizen feedback. Comments may also be made by telephone, or email.

Lascolette said she was "blown away" by the revised plan, which is intended to be easier to read and understand. Please take a look at this and communicate you thoughts about it to county officials. This is the time to comment on land use, not when there is a bulldozer on that vacant land on the corner!!!

Representatives of Kimley-Horn, a transportation consulting firm retained by VDOT--the state agency that seems to be trying to change its motto from Oops!--presented their initial recommendations to improve traffic flow in the Broad Street/Ashland Road corridor. This includes additional traffic signals; suggestions for new roads; and some round abouts on Ashland Road. As with all road projects, availability of money to pay for the improvements is a huge factor.

The Board next meets for a public hearing on the FY 2016 budget on April 13.

After all of the  hard work on strategic plans, bond ratings and so forth, the Supervisors contend that they are still focused on supporting core services. These are: law enforcement, fire-rescue and education. The proposed 2016 budget includes funding for one, rather than the two deputies that seemed to be agreed upon last year.

In the presentation of the 2016 budget, made by Wack on February 23 (please listen to the live stream, it was the last item on the agenda) he contended that the budget supports "public safety,"  lumping fire-rescue and law enforcement together and never providing the reasoning behind funding only one new deputy. If there is a good reason, citizens need to know what it is.

Additional fire-rescue employees, funded to a  great extent by the cost recovery program--charging health  insurance for hospital transport-- put in place a while back, are different from deputies. Fire-rescue employees are trained and certified before they are hired. Deputies must go through a training academy and local acclimatization before being "turned loose" to patrol solo, a process which takes nearly a year to complete.

That means that a deputy hired on July 1, 2015, likely will not be on the road before Spring, 2016. By that time, new construction on Broad Street in Henrico  will be dumping increased traffic volume on Goochland Roads. 

Failure to fund a second deputy seems like a penny wise and pound foolish approach to delivering core services. It will be interesting to see if anyone bothers to comment on,or even notice, this during town hall meetings or the public hearing on the budget. 

Is hiding something in plain sight the same as transparency? 

Tacos to go coming to Centerville

At its March 3, 2015 meeting, after a lengthy deferral, the Goochland Board of Supervisors unanimously approved a conditional use permit that will allow construction of a Taco Bell restaurant on Broad Street Road in Centerville just west of McDonald’s.

The CUP was required for the drive though aspect of the fast food outlet.
Although the county planning commission recommended approval of the CUP last fall, the supervisors declined to hear the proposal until it had received a certificate of approval from the county’s Design Review Committee. The COA indicates compliance with all of the Centerville overlay district standards, which include acceptable building materials, setbacks, lighting, and landscaping.

The final submission approved by the supervisors represents a significant improvement over the initial proposal. Accepted plans include more stone and less metal on the building exterior and additional landscaping.

The restaurant is expected to create between 25 and 30 new jobs. It will be allowed to be open around the clock. However, at least at the outset, it seems unlikely that there will be sufficient business to justify the expense of twenty four hour staffing.

Access to the Taco Bell parking lot will be from LaBlayre Way. One free standing sign, expected to be similar in design to that of McDonald’s, will be part of the construction.

Only one person commented during the public hearing. A resident of the Parke at Saddle Creek, which is located on the east side of Manakin Road south of Broad Street Road in the Centerville Village, who said she spoke on behalf of her subdivision, opposed the application.
She raised the usual objections of traffic, crime, noise, and attracting interstate travelers. Claiming that she and her neighbors love the beauty and small town “vibe” of Centerville—essentially an aging cinderblock strip mall between Ashland and Manakin Roads—and rural lifestyle they found there. (Rural, on a fraction of an acre with municipal water, sewer, and high speed internet?)

They do not want Broad Street Road to become a fast food alley, or attract business from Interstate 64. One of the reasons that businesses locate in Centerville is to take advantage of the interchange. Indeed, it seems quite possible that one of their reasons that people buy homes in the Centerville Village is its easy access to I64.

The problem is, as Bob Minnick pointed out in his fall town meeting, it’s not like the county had a choice between a Ruth’s Chris Steakhouse and Taco Bell. Development is market driven and funded by private dollars. If the residents of the Parke at Saddle Creek would like to invest their money in an “upscale” business of their liking, landowners and the county would be happy to work with them.

Interestingly, home owners in The Parke at Centerville, a subdivision much closer to the site of the proposed Taco Bell—the McDonald’s must be clearly visible to some of the homes there-raised no objections.

Had the new residents bothered to do their homework, they would have learned that at least two of the out parcels on the Broad View Shopping Center were designated for fast food use years ago. It’s hard to understand why people who spend hours on the internet researching cars before making a purchase seem to be buying homes based on impulse. They accept claims made by realtors, who may not live in Goochland, without question, and whine when they discover that reality does not match the sales pitch.

It’s too bad that the representative of the Parke at Saddle Creek stormed out in an embarrassingly adolescent manner after the Taco Bell vote. She missed the presentation on the arterial access management plan, which could have a significant impact on traffic in the Centerville Village.

Attracting substantial investment to the Centerville Village has been challenging for years. A well-crafted mixed use zoning ordinance, which the Planning Commission is expected to discuss at a workshop in April, could help this area lure the kind of distinctive development that everyone wants.

Slogging through February

Goochland’s supervisors held a marathon workshop session on February 23. Matters originally scheduled for a snowed out session on February 17 were added to the agenda.

Debbie Byrd, the county’s civil and environmental engineer, presented an update on the options for dealing with the unfunded state mandate to regulate storm water. The bottom line seems to be that county oversight of the stringent new regulations will provide better customer service to landowners and developers. Fees charged will not offset the entire cost of implementation, however.

While no one is in favor of polluted water, the motive for imposing these regulations is murky at best. It seems like the federal government is trying to wrest control of all surface water in the country. The new storm water rules seek to create more “best management practices” AKA retention ponds, that will need oversight.

There seems to be a dearth of hard science connecting water pollution to run off, yet pretty much every time the permeability of a patch of ground is changed, the new regulations kick in. Of course, that means that people must be hired to issue permits and perform inspections, all of which makes any kind of development more expensive.

The supervisors have not yet decided if they will approve county oversight of this program, or let the state’s Department of Environmental Quality handle it.

Keith Burgess of the Monacan Soil and Water Conservation District explained that his agency administers grant money to help fence livestock out of streams to improve water quality. It also provides many “non-traditional services” that help to preserve the rural character of the county.

Burgess said that the MSWCD helps to educate new comers to Goochland about rural living. As forest lands convert to farmland, the MSWCD helps to ensure that proper erosion and sediment controls and other sound land use practices are implemented. It works with newcomers to Goochland starting smaller agricultural operations. These are a different customer, Burgess contended, who did not grow up with “the common sense land use knowledge” of long time farmers and benefit from MSWCD guidance.

Burgess also said that the MSWCD is no longer in the equipment rental business. His agency has been swamped with applications for grant money and technical assistance.

Principal planner Jo Ann Hunter shared proposed changes to the county’s comprehensive land use plan with the supervisors. The comp plan, explained Hunter, is a policy document. Although it has no “enforcement teeth,” once the 2035 comp plan has been approved by the supervisors, county zoning and other land use ordinances will be revised to support its objectives, something that is currently lacking.

District meetings are scheduled for April to discuss the proposed changes and gather community feedback. Hunter said that staff will be happy to make a comp plan presentation to any interested group or neighborhood.

Planning Commission Chair Joe Andrews, District 4, commended Hunter, GIS Analyst Jon Worley and the Planning Staff for their work on the 2025 comp plan.

The draft 2035 comp plan will soon be posted on the county website www.co.goochland.va.us. Questions and comments are welcome. After adoption, the 2035 Comp Plan will be available in a user friendly spiral bound book. This should be distributed to all realtors who sell property in Goochland as well as prospective homeowners.

An annual event that used to be as pleasant as getting a root canal without anesthesia—presentation of the proposed school budget to the supervisors—has instead become a cordial exchange of information and comment.

Delivered on time and balanced with the funds expected to be made available by the county, the proposed school budget rose 3.1 percent over the current fiscal year. School Superintendent Dr. James Lane also discussed unfunded priority items. (See the meeting packet, under the supervisors’ tab on the county website for details.)

Lane declared that the Goochland schools provide and excellent value for taxpayers.

Before getting down to the numbers, a list of the impressive accomplishments of Goochland schools was presented. It’s hard to believe that this is the same school division that, according to the former superintendent, was headed into a “death spiral” without a massive tax increase and infusion of funds.
The open dialog and collaboration between the supervisors and school board is good for everyone involved. Excellent schools that prepare all students to participate in the American Dream are a crucial component of a vibrant community.
An executive summary of the school budget is also part of the February 23 board packet and paints a clear picture of the way that local education funds are used.

Todd Kilduff, Director of the Public Utilities Department made his budget presentation. Perhaps the most important accomplishment of this department in the past year was completion of the utilities’ master plan. At last, the county has a clear picture of where utility lines—public water and sewer—are; how existing infrastructure can be put to its optimal use; and cost estimates for needed improvements and ongoing maintenance.

Kilduff said the study found that the Centerville water tank has been underused and is able to handle pressure needs to Patterson Avenue. He also said that the West Creek water tank will be decommissioned.
He recommended a 2.5 percent increase in utility rates to reduce the general fund utility subsidy and pay for necessary capital improvements. Kilduff said that the ad valorem tax levied on the Tuckahoe Creek Service District is expected to remain at the current 32 cents per $100 of assessed valuation for the “next several years.” This is a sore subject for TCSD homeowners and will undoubtedly be raised at town hall meetings in March.

County Administrator Rebecca Dickson presented her proposed budget for fiscal year 2016, which begins July 1. (This is available in its entirety on the county website. It is a beautifully crafted document containing a great deal of interesting information about the county and well a perusal.)

The proposed budget is based on retention of the current (53 cent per $100 of assessed valuation) tax rate. The budget will be discussed at the upcoming town hall meetings. Citizen feedback could result in adjustments. A public hearing will be held on the FY2016 county budget in April, after which the supervisors will vote to set tax rates for calendar year 2015. First half taxes are due on June 5.

The Venture Forum Summit Comes to West Creek

Successful businesses create jobs and enrich communities. They do not just happen. Sometimes, an entrepreneur has a great idea for a business, but cannot obtain the seed money to transform that notion into reality.

Meanwhile, investors and others seeking a return on their money want to buy into “the next big thing,” and are looking for promising enterprises.
On April 2, 2015, the Virginia Venture Summit, sponsored by Venture Forum RVA will return to the Capital One West Creek Town Center in Goochland. This event provides an opportunity for entrepreneurs, innovators, and business people of all types, venture capitalists, and “angels” to come together for mutual benefit.

Presentation categories include: invention/Innovation (promising concept-stage ventures, including university tech transfers); start up; and growth. A selection committee will make the final choice of presenters. The deadline for consideration is Friday, February 27. See http://ventureforumrva.com/attend/virginia-venture-summit for complete information.

The Goochland Economic Development Authority is a sponsor of this event.

Putting the pieces together

Goochland’s Board of Supervisors spent the first two years of its current term in office putting out fires large and small. Some, we may never learn about.

Last year, after many months of work and public discussion, the supervisors approved a strategic plan that sets goals and objectives for local government. This plan is not “written in stone” but defines standards of excellence that were sorely lacking in the previous regime.

Unlike many “plans” adopted in the past that tended to be filed away and forgotten this strategic plan is at the heart of county operations. Each item in the supervisors’ monthly agenda packet indicates which strategic goal it supports.

The strategic plan was just the beginning. Last year, work on a badly needed utilities master plan started. That report was delivered to the supervisors last month. A team of highly skilled—wonky in a very good way—civil engineers worked closely with the county utility department to finally, after about ten years, accurately map the Tuckahoe Creek Service District (TCSD) infrastructure and offer options for expanding public water and sewer in Courthouse Village.

Mitigation measures for problems plaguing current TCSD customers, especially “smelly water,” were presented. Simply put, there’s a lot of water in the TCSD pipes and not a lot of users, so the water gets stale. The water in the tower that looms over Centerville—sometimes referred to as “the giant plunger in the sky—also sits there for a long time. In warm weather, water in the tank separates into layers based on temperature so some water stays there even longer.

To fix this, the consultants offered remedies that can be applied quickly and for a relatively modest cost. Rerouting the path that water takes through some of the lines and adding a “mixer” to the water tank will be a good start. The 113 page report goes into great detail about county utilities. The good news is that, with the exception of the potential for increased capacity in Courthouse Village, most of Goochland will continue to use well and septic for the foreseeable future.

Goochland’s comprehensive land use plan (comp plan) is up for its five year review. The Planning Commissioners have been working with staff to simplify and streamline this document, which is intended to serve as a guide for land use decisions. Comp plans, mandated by the state for the last few decades, lock at conditions 20 years out.

The proposed comp plan provides a lot of good information about the county in an accessible format easily understood by citizen and developer alike.
Principal planner Jo Ann Hunter and geographic information systems analyst Jonathan Worley have collaborated on a collection of excellent charts and maps that show current and intended land use as well as existing and future roads.

Using GIS information, Worley has created easy to understand graphics portraying land use statistics. Perhaps the most comforting one is a pie chart that shows the county as mostly rural, with just ten percent developed.

The most significant proposed change to the comp plan is designating only Centerville, Manakin, Courthouse, and Oilville as villages. Other areas previously called villages including Crozier, Hadensville, Sandy Hook, and Fife will be considered crossroads. As the potential for robust development in these areas with no public utilities is slight, categorizing them as villages seemed inappropriate.

New items in the proposed 2035 comp plan deal with economic development; communications; and rural preservation. It also references the utility master plan as an indicator of appropriate locations for certain kinds of growth. A mixed use zoning classification that includes high density residential and commercial uses on the same parcel is expected to be included as s land use option, probably only in Centerville.

Once the 2035 comp plan is adopted, county zoning ordinances will be changed to support it. There will be ample opportunity for citizen input before the 2035 comp plan is adopted by the supervisors probably early next summer. In addition to public hearings before the planning commission and Board, community meetings will be held around the county in April.

Even though the best laid plans have a way of going awry, they are preferable to lurching from crisis to crisis.

To serve and protect

During his budget presentation to the supervisors on February 3 Goochland Sheriff Jim Agnew outlined the accomplishments of his agency for the past year. Law enforcement is a lot more complicated than writing tickets. Goochland deputies patrol 180 square miles for 168 hours a week.

(The presentation is available on the Livestream area of the county website www.co.goochland.va.us under the 3 p.m. session for February 3. Agnew’s talk begins about 1:55 into the meeting.)

Agnew announced that Black, the county’s canine deputy, will soon retire. On the job since late 2007, Black, said Agnew is getting old. Purchased with seized drug asset forfeiture funds, Black is a “combo” dog able to detect drugs, track, and, if all else fails, bite.

Black’s successor, a dog named Chase, is waiting in the wings. Deputy Greg Bock, who has handled Black, will work with Chase in North Carolina this summer to make sure that the new dog is appropriate for work in Goochland. He too will be funded by seized drug asset forfeitures.

While canine deputies are “old school,” Goochland law enforcement also uses high tech methods to catch the bad guys. Criminal activity is conducted by computer and cell phone. Agnew said that his department recently purchased new and updated devices able to extract electronic evidence that will stand up in court. The machines and training of personnel to operate them was funded by money distributed by the state attorney general that was part of a pharmaceutical settlement. Agnew contended that this equipment is a useful tool and that no taxpayer dollars were used to pay for it.

Perhaps the most heart wrenching issues calls handled by our deputies are mental health related. They are often called upon to intervene when troubled souls become a danger to themselves and others.

Such an incident occurred last August, just a few days after the shooting in Ferguson, Missouri. A family called 911 to report that their son had a knife and threatened to kill anyone who came near him. Deputies dispatched to the scene kept their distance as the man became more distraught. Deputy Matt Carrier, who had completed crisis intervention training, was able to “talk the man down” and get him to give up his knife so he could be taken for mental health evaluation and get the help he needed. The best part was that no one got hurt.

Agnew, who has been reappointed to the Governor’s mental health task force, declared that crisis intervention training is a very important skill. He wants to have all Goochland deputies trained in these techniques. “The system is still broken,” Agnew said of mental health crisis response. “But we try to do the best we can for people with mental health issues.”

A recent agreement with the West Creek Emergency Center allows people with non-violent mental health problems to be evaluated there in a more therapeutic environment to ensure that the incident was not the result of a medical condition.

Seizing property to satisfy unpaid debts is another duty of the sheriff’s office. Agnew said that his staff worked with Goochland Treasurer Pamela Johnson to seize equipment of a company that owed more than $130,000 in back taxes.

Then, there are the routine duties including helping distressed motorists.

Goochland deputies are there to protect and serve, not write traffic tickets to generate revenue, said Agnew. While calls for service have declined about two percent in 2014, responding to those incidents will probably take longer going forward. If the General Assembly approves wider collection of DNA samples, processing arrests will become more complicated. Agnew believes this is a positive change and will help solve more crimes.

Agnew’s budget request for fiscal 2016, which begins July 1, includes two additional deputies and one more dispatcher.
He also asked for 13 vehicles, two new, and the remainder replacements for a cost of approximately $411,000. The consequences of suspending the vehicle replacement schedule during the economic downturn are starting to be felt. Agnew said that, although well maintained, his office is using many high mileage vehicles—one with 178,338 on the odometer—and they do not last forever.

Agnew said that he will not “put anyone in vehicles not in good condition.”

This is where the supervisors will have to decide, almost literally, where the rubber meets the road. Our deputies do a good job; they must have safe, reliable vehicles.

Goochland receives AAA Standard & Poor’s bond rating

The press release below details the latest accomplishment of Goochland County government; there will be more.
Please visit the county website www.co.goochland.va.us to view the wonderful video about Goochland that was included in the material submitted to Standard & Poor’s.

Susan F. Lascolette, Chair, District 1
Manuel Alvarez, Jr., District 2
Ned S. Creasey, District 3
Robert H. Minnick, Vice-Chair, District 4
Ken C. Peterson, District 5

Goochland County Becomes Only Small County in Virginia with AAA Rating
Goochland County – On Friday, February 6, 2015, Standard & Poor’s Rating Services (S&P) assigned the highest credit rating possible of AAA to Goochland County. In receiving the AAA rating in its first-ever attempt, Goochland also becomes the only small county in Virginia to be rated AAA by S&P, as currently no other county with a population under 60,000 is designated AAA. By comparison, Goochland County’s current population is estimated at 21,400.
Ken Peterson, Goochland County Board of Supervisors, Becky Dickson, County Administrator and John Wack, Deputy County Administrator, along with Kevin Rotty of PFM, the County’s financial advisor, traveled to Wall Street on January 12th to tell Goochland County’s story. During a three hour due diligence session with S&P, county officials highlighted Goochland’s strengths in management and leadership, the local economy, planned growth, strategic planning, and most importantly in financial management, including strength in the areas of budgetary performance and financial flexibility and liquidity.
Ken Peterson, Board of Supervisors representative from District 5, was pleased with the outcome: "We are thrilled that S&P has awarded its highest rating to Goochland County. The S&P AAA credit rating serves as an affirmation and validation of the County's financial health. Goochland will benefit from this rating in many ways, including an enhanced ability to attract and retain businesses, improved access to the capital markets on very favorable terms, and it will provide a transparent metric for citizens to track the financial health of their County.” County Administrator Rebecca Dickson stated: “The citizens of Goochland are fortunate to have a financially conservative Board of Supervisors that serves as exceptional stewards of the taxpayers’ dollars, not only strengthening the county’s financial policies over the last two years but strictly adhering to those policies. In addition, the Board is very proactive, building up reserves to provide budget flexibility for the future and taking a cautious approach to recurring spending commitments. Goochland County has earned this outstanding rating,” John Wack, Deputy County Administrator for Financial Services, added: “This top rating is the culmination of over five years of steady progress in prudent financial management.”
S&P concludes its assessment as follows: “The stable outlook reflects our view of the county’s very strong management conditions that, in our view, have contributed to its very strong financial position and consistently strong financial performance. For these reasons, we do not expect to change the rating within the two-year outlook horizon.”
1800 Sandy Hook Road
P. O. Box 10, Goochland, VA 23063
(804) 556-5800 ● (804) 556-4617 Fax ● (TDD 711 (Virginia Relay))
Email: countyadmin@co.goochland.va.us