Bedford water authority to make pitch for COVID funds; Powhatan Supervisors to discuss landfill protection in 2024 General Assembly agenda
Two local government meetings coming up on Monday in the Fifth District of Virginia
I write this particular introduction in the exact establishment where I came up with the idea back in May 2022. My parents were planning to move to a retirement community in Lynchburg, and I had a sense I’d be required to visit more often. I thought maybe I would need to move here.
Fifteen months later, I just got off the train from Charlottesville back to the retirement community where my own car is packed with items to take back. I walked from my house to the station with an $8 ticket QR coded on my phone. It cost me $4 to catch the Greater Lynchburg Transit Center bus to Enterprise Drive via River Ridge Mall. I lament I won’t make this trip again quite like this.
My parents no longer live at the retirement community and are hundred miles away in a different state. There are many reasons for this that are not germane, but I no longer have a family reason to be in Lynchburg. I don’t have any family members in all of Virginia, let alone the Fifth District. This is a weird shift in my brain.
Yet, I continue to plan writing this newsletter and this week I’m even planning to cover my first ever item in Lynchburg in person. More on that in the next newsletter.
For the entire train journey, I was glued to the window. I’ve driven U.S. 29 dozens of times this year ferrying items from my parents’ old house in Campbell County to the house where I’ve lived in Charlottesville for 15 years. I kept trying to pay attention to the map to figure out what I was going through. I have new perspectives.
I’ve also arrived in Lynchburg via public transport, something I had hoped to learn to do if my parents’ final living space had indeed been the retirement community that’s across the street from where I write this installment. I believe in what I do, and I’m glad to keep doing it. People need to know what’s going on, and my desire to do just that comes from right here, less than a mile from where I went to high school.
Bedford Supervisors to consider request to use COVID funds for water booster
The seven member Board of Supervisors in Bedford County will meet at 5:00 p.m. for a work session followed by a regular session immediately afterward. (meeting portal)
The work session will be an update from the Bedford Regional Water Authority. Specifically, the authority wants to be able to use $2,253,213 in federal COVID funds for the East Crest / 460 Booster Station project. This project had been part of the Smith Mountain Lake Water Treatment Facility project but was removed from the scope due to budget concerns. The project is complete and now the BRWA is requesting reimbursement through resources available to Supervisors.
The Authority is also requesting to eliminate term limits for members. There will also be an update on the Ivy Creek Sewer project.
The consent agenda for the regular meeting has two items that jumped out at me:
There’s consideration of a $5,000 transfer from the contingency fund to help assist the Farmers Market.
“Historically Bedford County has had two farmers markets – including the Bedford Farmers Market and the Forest Farmers Market – and these markets have been financially supported through the Office of Economic Development,” reads the staff report. “The 2023 market season brought two additional markets to the County which were not previously accounted for in the budget – one in Moneta and one in Montvale.”
There is consideration of a resolution to authorize readvertisement seeking proposals to redevelop the Body Camp Elementary site. The first request was submitted in late 2021 and one group was allowed to begin conducting due diligence. Since then, more parties want in on the action.
“By re-advertising the RFP, all interested parties have an opportunity to submit a proposal and the original group has an opportunity to submit an updated plan,” reads the staff report.
The 10-acre site is on Route 24.
“The site includes surface parking, a large athletic field, a former baseball field, a former basketball court, one trailer, and various storage sheds,” reads the draft request for proposals.
There are three public hearings:
The first is for a resolution to authorize tax-exempt status for the Virginia Institute of Autism’s location in Forest. This would cost the county $7,675.20 in revenue each year.
The second is for a resolution to authorize staff to begin work on the Valleywood Drive revenue sharing project. The road off of Waterlick Road is currently not in the Virginia Department of Transportation’s network and this $85,000 project would help bring it up to quality.
The third is for a special use permit for James Andrews to create a “retro arcade” at 2907 Big Island Highway. Andrews had offered the condition there will be no skill games. The Planning Commission recommended the permit unanimously. The building is currently a tire shop.
There are six action and discussion items:
The first is for consideration of amendments to the Fiscal Year 2023 budget totaling $229,252.04. The budget for animal control was higher than expected due to a “FY22 hoarding case that carried over into FY2023” at a cost of $9,141. Overtime costs for refuse collection were up $28,227. A new broadband manager position was added at a cost of $124,218.74.
The second is to make re-appropriations from Fiscal Year 2022 to Fiscal Year 2023 budgets totaling $194,349.65.
The third is to appropriate funding from the Virginia Department of Fire Programs Aid to Localities Fund for the Department and Fire & Rescue. The amount is $61,496 for protective gear.
The fourth is to authorize a contractor to access property east of the Montvale Collection Center.
The fifth is to execute a contract between the Virginia Department of Housing and Community Development and Verizon for the broadband projects at Wheats Valley and Big Island.
The sixth is for the purchase of a new firewall for the Information Technology department.
Powhatan Supervisors seek 2024 General Assembly action on Green Ridge landfill
The five-member Board of Supervisors in Powhatan County meets at 6:30 p.m. at the Pocahontas Landmark Center. Members of the public can participate via zoom. (meeting info)
After the call to order, the pledge of allegiance, the invocation, and other usual items to begin the meeting, Supervisors will get a quarterly update on real estate assessments.
Under old business, a rezoning deferred from a previous meeting comes back for a review. An applicant seeks to change a 3.66 acre parcel on Anderson Highway currently designated as Agricultural-10 to Commerce Center in order to open an automotive repair and servicing business.
Under new business, are two items. The first is the initiation of a zoning text amendment to address parcels that are landlocked.
“There are many lots in Powhatan County that are currently isolated from a public right-of-way,” reads the staff report. “The ordinance currently does not allow ‘flag lots’ which includes easements, that the land-locked parcel could use to gain access to a public right-of-way.”
The second is a review of the legislative agenda for the 2024 General Assembly. As of today, there are 137 days until the session convenes as localities seek further protection from the state for various items.
“The planned Green Ridge landfill in Cumberland County has raised concerns for many Powhatan citizens and the Board of Supervisors, primarily related to impacts upon traffic and the environment,” reads the staff report.
Specifically Powhatan seeks to have private wells added to a list of protected water sources when it comes to placement of new landfills. This is a carry over request from previous years.
Reading material:
County re-hires White, Farmville Herald, August 23, 2023
Council approves temporary position, funding for registrar's office with early voting just around the corner, Bryson Gordon, Lynchburg News & Advance (paywall), August 24, 2023
Forums planned for Pittsylvania County candidates, Danville Register & Bee, August 26, 2023