May 19, 2025: Powhatan County Supervisors to extend tax deadline due to communications issues
Plus: Meetings today in Appomattox County, City of Charlottesville, and Louisa County
With Town Crier Productions being a one-person shop, there’s a pecking order to how these products get prioritized. That’s not necessarily of interest, but last night when I finished the Week Ahead newsletter for the Charlottesville Community Engagement feed I immediately switched to writing the post I do for Reddit.
And then on Monday morning, the first thing to finish is my second story for C-Ville Weekly. I’m now writing two a week for them, another obstacle to fully being able to realize this experiment. However, C-Ville Weekly pays and this newsletter does not have a specific cost center.
Yet, this edition must be completed before I get to the next regular edition of Charlottesville Community Engagement. So, time to put some music on with a driving beat so I can get this finished. I suspect you can tell which ones were written today!
Powhatan Supervisors to extend tax deadline to June 25 in emergency ordinance
The five-members Powhatan Board of Supervisors will meet at 5 p.m. for a pre-meeting with the Powhatan office of the Virginia Cooperative Extension. This will be in the Village Building and the public is welcome to attend. (agenda)
Then the regular meeting follows. After the call to order, there’s the Pledge of Allegiance, the invocation, updates from the county administrator, and then public comment period. (regular agenda)
There are four items under new business.
The first is an emergency extension of the tax deadline to June 25, 2025 because the mailing of bills will be delated “due to continued issues with the contracted software system utilized for this function.” Learn more about this in a WRIC 8 News story. (learn more)
The second is a request for a public hearing for an ordinance change that would allow for lifetime licensing of dogs. (learn more)
The third is to adopt a policy to govern the procurement of small purchases.(learn more)
The fourth is a resolution to refer two items to the Planning Commission for their consideration. These are for charitable and single-cut subdivisions. (learn more)
There are three public hearings.
The first is to hear a request to add a 10.2 acre property to the James River Agricultural Forestal District. (learn more)
The second is to approve the list of roads to be paved under the Secondary Six Year Program.
The third is to amend the rules for what properties come out of land use taxation. The change would calculate the roll back from when land use actually changes to a more intensive use as opposed to when a rezoning takes place. (learn more)
Appomattox Supervisors to take vote to consolidating Piney Mountain District voting to one precinct
One reason I took this newsletter off hiatus was because the Appomattox Times-Virginian stopped publishing in February. So, of course I make sure I get an issue out today! I also note there were no suitable articles from other outlets to post here.
The Appomattox County Board of Supervisors will meet at 6 p.m. in the Board of Supervisors Meeting Room at 171 Price Lane in Appomattox. (agenda)
There are three appearances at the beginning of the meeting.
Stephanie Keener, executive director of the Small Business Development Center - Lynchburg Region, will provide an update.
Melissa Lucy, CEO of Horizon Behavioral Health, will also provide an update.
Sheriff Robbie Richardson will appear before the board to “discuss a new hire supplement.”
There are two public hearings.
The first is on the proposed Secondary Six-Year Plan for Fiscal Year 2026 through Fiscal Year 2031. (rural rustic priority list)
The second is for a request for rezoning for 3.652 acres of land off on Richmond Highway from A-1 (Agricultural) to M-1 (Industrial). The proposed use is a contractor’s storage yard. (item packet)
There are three items up for action.
The first is for a pair of requests for refunds for personal property tax overpayments. The total is $1,037.78.
The second is to transfer $4,765.65 from the general fund to a fund to pay for a consulting contract for someone serving as interim director of social services.
The third will formally amend county code to eliminate the Agee precinct and consolidate voting in the Piney Mountain district at one location at the Oakville Ruritan Building.
Supervisors will end their meeting by going into closed session to discuss “information related to security at the Middle School where discussion in open meeting would jeopardize the safety of any person or the security of any building pursuant to Section 2.2-3711(19) of the Code of Virginia.
Charlottesville City Council to get update on homelessness, take final vote on Peregrine funding
The Charlottesville City Council will meet at 4 p.m. for a work session followed by a closed sessions followed by the regular meeting at 6:30 p.m. (meeting overview)
There are two items at the work session. The first is a periodic update from nonprofit entities the work on efforts to address homelessness.
“This briefing workshop offers an opportunity to understand current conditions better, highlight ongoing efforts, and inform future strategies to address homelessness with compassion and accountability,” reads the staff report.
While there’s no advance material, the report lists that there will be updates from:
Shayla Washington, the executive director of the Blue Ridge Coalition for the Homeless
Owen Brennen, the executive director of the Haven
Major Mark VanMeter of the Charlottesville Corps of the Salvation Army
Anna Mendez of Shelter for Help in Emergency
The second report is the annual report from the Youth Council. (learn more)
The closed session will be for appointments to boards and commissions, but the specific citation to Virginia’s rules for closed meetings is not listed.
The regular meeting begins at 6:30 p.m. with two proclamations.
Some of the items on the consent agenda are worth reviewing:
There is a second reading to appropriate $123,600 from the Virginia Department of Criminal Justice Services from the Victims of Crimes Act for the Charlottesville Department of Human Services’ Evergreen Program. (learn more)
There is a first reading of a resolution to appropriate $7,285.76 from the Virginia Department of Social Services for overtime related to needing to review eligibility for people on Medicaid following the sunset of the Families First Coronavirus Response Act. I wrote about this in December 2022 when the process of “Medicaid Unwinding” began. (learn more)
There is a first reading of a resolution to accept $419,279 from the Virginia Department of Social Services for additional staffing to handle increased workloads. (learn more)
There is a first reading of a resolution to appropriate $15,000 from the National League of Cities for their Southern Cities Economic Initiative. This deserves a longer story. (learn more)
There is a first reading of an allocation of $100,000 in funds from the Capital Improvement Program to the Dogwood Vietnam Memorial Foundation of Virginia related to their desire to improve access. On May 5, Council voted 4-0 to move forward with a formal lease governing the foundation’s activities. (link to that story) (link to the resolution)
There is a resolution to allocate $134,967 from Council’s Strategic Initiatives Fund to three nonprofits. This consists of $22,786 to the Blue Ridge Coalition for the Homeless, $125,691 to the Piedmont Housing Alliance for eviction prevention assistance, and $30,000 the Tonsler League for League Operations. (resolution)
There are several public hearings scheduled for technical matters.
The first is for vacation of a natural gas easement in the Belvedere subdivision in Albemarle County. (learn more)
The second is for vacation of a natural gas easement on Old Ivy Road. (learn more)
The third is for a right of way agreement at 220 West Market Street for Lighthouse to use a portion of land for parking. (learn more)
The fourth is for a formal agreement with Hill and Wood Funeral Service on 1st Street North to be able to use public parking spaces on days when they are holding a service. In exchange, the public will be able to use some of Hill and Wood’s parking lot when no funerals are scheduled. (learn more)
The penultimate item on the agenda is a second reading of a pass-through of $150,000 in funds from the Department of Criminal Justice Services that would allow the Charlottesville Police Department to cover the cost of the use of Peregrine software to allow for analysis of various data sources. I have a story from the first reading you might be interested in viewing. (staff report)
Finally there will be a second presentation on the 2025 Americans with Disabilities Act transition plan. I regret I’m not able to really give this story the attention it deserves. (staff report)
Stories about Charlottesville:
Charlottesville mayor retires from day job in Albemarle County, Emily Hemphill, Charlottesville Daily Progress (paywall), May 17, 2025
Charlottesville: New City Attorney played role in notorious press freedom case, Crystal Graham, Augusta Free Press, May 17, 2025
Louisa Supervisors to consider nomination of Cuckoo Elementary School to historic lists
The Louisa Board of Supervisors will meet in closed session at 5 p.m. followed by a regular meeting at 6 p.m. The agenda does not tell us what will be discussed during the closed session which customarily takes place at the beginning of the meeting. (meeting overview)
The minutes for the April 28 do list three citations of Virginia Code that allow for elected officials to remove the public from the room so they can have a private conversation. One is related to acquisition or disposition of public property for a public purpose. Another is related to a business in the Mineral District. The third is related to legal advice about litigation the county is involved in.
The first two of those citations were also made for the May 5, 2025 closed session. The third in that meeting pertained to legal advice requested by a public body
There are some interesting items on the consent agenda worth mentioning:
Supervisors will authorize the spending of $36,725 to replace a compactor box used for recycling and refuse. (learn more)
The Louisa County Airport is now under the direct supervision of Louisa County government which also means the county has to cover cost overruns. Fuel has cost $50,000 more than expected and Supervisors have to approve the expenditure. (learn more)
Louisa County budgeted $350,000 for expenses related to workers’ compensation in FY2025 but not all of that money has been used. There is a resolution to transfer back that money to individual departments to close out the books for FY2025. (learn more)
Supervisors also have to authorize the appropriation of a $60,000 donation from the Foundation for Lake Anna Emergency Services. The funding will be used for an air cascade system for the New Bridge Fire & EMS Station. (learn more)
There is a resolution authorizing collaborative initiatives between Louisa County and the Town of Mineral to “engage in open information exchange, coordinated communication efforts, and a mutual process of feedback and consultation to promote effective collaboration and shared understanding.” (learn more)
Under new business, there will be a resolution to support a nomination for Cuckoo Elementary School to be on the National Register of Historic Places. This will be presented to the Board of the Virginia Department of Historic Resources on June 12. (read the nomination form)
“The Cuckoo Elementary School is a rare surviving two-room schoolhouse in Louisa County Virginia, and the surrounding region,” reads the nomination form. “The school was an elementary school which served grades one through seven. The school was constructed in 1925, when most rural schoolhouses for African American students were modest frame buildings with one or two classrooms.”
The school closed in 1955 after a fire.
There will also be a presentation on the Louisa County landfill. This information is not available in advance.
There are no public hearings but there are a series of reports. One of them is from the Louisa County Regional Airport and an update on construction at the South Taxiway. The runway will be temporarily closed for three days this week and the length will be shortened for much of the summer. There are 48 individuals waiting for a spot in the hangar. (learn more)
Another item of interest is a report from the Louisa County Water Authority for operations in April. In an era when the Virginia Department of Environmental Quality is mandated regional water supply plans, I hope to understand more about what systems are currently in place in the region and this is a good report.
Stories about Louisa County
Big Clean coming back to Louisa County, CBS19 News, May 6, 2025
Louisa lifts boil water advisory issued after water main break, Ryan Nadeau, WRIC 8 News, May 16, 2025
