March 13, 2025: Lunenburg to hold public hearing on Comprehensive Plan for towns of Victoria and Kenbridge
Plus: Budget work sessions in City of Charlottesville and Powhatan County
Three days in a row. Can I keep up the pace? Perhaps. Perhaps not.
This newsletter is currently not much more than a preview of what’s coming up at meetings of local and regional governments in Virginia’s Fifth Congressional District. It may yet grow into something more, but that depends on a lot of factors.
One of the factors relates to whether I can bring in more resources to assist. I believe there’s a need to provide access to information on what’s coming up at meetings of local elected officials. I took a long, long pause from this work, and I feel like I’m returning to valuable ground. I’m planning on reaching out to anyone who teaches journalism or anyone who teaches basic research skills. I plan to fundraise to turn this into a going venture.
Today’s edition is a little shorter than the previous two, but that’s because it is about a Thursday and generally fewer elected bodies meet on Thursday. I’m enjoying relearning the rhythm of the district.
Lunenburg Supervisors to hold joint public hearing on Comprehensive Plan for two towns
The seven member Lunenburg Board of Supervisors will meet at 6 p.m. in the Lunenburg Courts Building in Lunenburg. Part of the meeting will be a joint public hearing with the Planning Commission. (meeting packet)
The main item is a joint public hearing on the Joint Comprehensive Plan for the towns of Kenbridge, and Victoria. The agenda packet seems to be only on a few chapters including one on demographics and geography.
“The County of Lunenburg is located in south-central Virginia, USA,” reads the plan. “It is part of the state's Piedmont region and is bordered by Mecklenburg County to the south, Charlotte County to the west, Prince Edward County to the north, and Brunswick County to the east.”
Three of those are also in Virginia’s Fifth Congressional District.
The Town of Kenbridge is in the northeastern section of Lunenburg and is about 74 miles southwest of Richmond. The town is two square mile and there were 1,389 people according to the 2020 U.S. Census. That’s about 12 percent of the county’s total population of 11,936.
Kenbridge began to develop in 1906 when the first streets and buildings and the town incorporated in 1908 primarily as an agricultural center with tobacco as the primary crop.
“Because Kenbridge is not directly accessible from U.S. Route 360 or Interstate 85, it has been able to maintain its rural character,” the plan continues.
The Town of Victoria is 6.7 miles southeast of Kenbridge and is slightly bigger at 2.85 square miles. The population was recorded at 1,946 in 2020, or about 16 percent of the county’s total population.
Victoria’s history dates back to the early 20th century when the Virginian Railway was built to carry coal from southwest Virginia to the coast for transport across the world. The town is at the halfway point between the City of Roanoke and the City of Norfolk, but the rail lines were removed in the 1980’s.
There will also be two public hearings for just the Board of Supervisors. These are for an abandonment of public right of way of about 0.08 of a mile on Hickory Road as well as a budget supplement for Lunenburg County Public Schools.
“The purpose of the hearing will be to receive input on an increase in the budget for Lunenburg County School Division due to previously awarded grants, grants that were not available during the FY25 budget development process, and transfers for school construction, “ reads the public hearing notice.
The agenda packet has documentation for each grant.
Powhatan Supervisors to get an update on county departments and personnel
The Powhatan Board of Supervisors will meet at 1 p.m. in the Village Building at 3910 Old Buckingham Road. (meeting packet)
The theme this week is clearly budget and County Administrator Bret Schardein’s proposed budget of $82,783,552 for FY26 is a nearly $5.7 million increase over the current fiscal year. Most of the increase is due to $4.68 million in additional revenue from the real estate tax. That rate is proposed at $0.72 per $100 of assessed value.
Schardein is asking for a total of 3.4 full-time equivalents. That’s a term used in budgeting as not everyone works full-time. Positions requested include a deputy county administrator, two firefighters, promotion of an EMT captain from part-time to full-time, a patrol deputy, and a NOEAV Coordinator from part time to full time. This latter position would be in the registrar’s office.
The next budget meeting is a budget workshop to discuss the capital improvement program (CIP) on March 17. The public hearing on the real estate tax rate is on March 24 at the regular meeting. Another budget workshop will be held on March 27 to decide what budget to advertise for an April 21, 2025 public hearing. Adoption is scheduled for April 28, 2025.
Charlottesville City Council to hold second budget work session
A thing about being a one-person information outlet is that it’s difficult to cover everything. I was able to write up a story about the introduction of Charlottesville City Manager Sam Sanders’ recommended budget for fiscal year 2026. You can take a look at that here.
The recommended budget totals $264,474,183 and is a 4.97 percent increase over the current year.
However, I have not been able to write up the March 6, 2025 budget work session. That’s on my list as I know there’s a conversation in there I want to write up about transit funding. I can provide you with a link to the presentation, though. Looking at it has made me want to get back and make sure I write this! (view the presentation)
Yet, there’s also a second work session on March 13. There’s a link to the meeting info here.
Reading material for F194
A note about reading material. I cannot afford to purchase subscriptions to the Danville and Lynchburg newspapers. I pay $41 month to the Daily Progress, also owned by Lee Enterprises. I can’t justify paying over $120 a month to the same company. Yet I will do so in the future as this grows. I believe in local journalism and paying for it so I have subscriptions to the Farmville Herald as well as the two papers associated with SoVaNow. I think the Amelia County paper, too.
Anyway. Back later in the week!
Family of man killed in Harris Teeter shooting seeks support for his two daughters, Kate Neuchterlein, WVIR 29News, March 11, 2025
Circ closes oversubscribed new funding round (Danville story), Innovations in Textiles, March 12, 2025
Gabriel Solar goes to a vote: County makes a decision on project, Brian Carlton, Farmville Herald, March 12, 2025
Plan calls for six percent Mecklenburg County employee pay raises, Susan Kyte, Mecklenburg Sun, March 12, 2025
Mecklenburg County steps up plans for recycling, trash handling, Mecklenburg Sun, March 12, 2025
Draft [Charlottesville] budget prioritizes education, affordable housing, and transportation, Catie Ratliff, C-Ville Weekly, March 12, 2025