Thursday, December 8, 2022: Lunenburg Supervisors meet today; Who's on the ballot in 2023 in Cumberland, Goochland, and Halifax?
Plus: A look at what the University of Virginia's Buildings and Grounds Committee will review today
This is the third installment of the Fifth District Community Engagement this week with one item about an upcoming meeting and a look at what seats will be on the ballot in Cumberland, Goochland, and Halifax counties. There’s also a quick look at what the University of Virginia Board of Visitors is up to.
The goal of this newsletter is for me to learn about a Congressional District where I’ve lived for most of my life, but it’s a more geographically cohesive version than what has come before. Thanks for reading.
Lunenburg Supervisors to recertify 250-foot tall cell tower
The seven-member Board of Supervisors in Lunenburg County meets at 6 p.m. in Room 200 of the Kenbridge Town Hall. The agenda is fairly light, but I want to take this opportunity to get a flavor of this county of nearly 12,000 people. (meeting info)
We learn from the minutes from the November meeting that work continues on an update to the special event ordinance. Supervisors also approved a conditional use permit for a retail store called Funky Fungi Foods to operate on Free State Road. The school system had to spend an additional $2 million to make updates to the HVAC system. There may be an expansion of the Lunenburg Airport as the Timmons Group has completed an environmental study. Supervisors agreed to spend $12,500 to cover its cost.
We also learn that tonight’s meeting is being held at the Kenbridge Town Hall because of a jury trial going on in the courthouse where Supervisors usually convene.
The only public hearing is to recertify a conditional use permit that SBA Communications holds for a 250-foot tall cell tower in Brodnax. The Planning Commission recommended approval in November. The permit was originally approved in August 1999.
Lunenburg is in the Richmond District of the Virginia Department of Transportation. More specifically, the county is in the South Hill Residency. The report this month is primarily about maintenance.
The Sheriff’s office made 11 arrests, served 27 subpoenas, and had no traffic citations. They used 1,049 gallons of fuel. (page 45)
We also learn that Wanda G. Morrison was elected as Mayor of Kenbridge. She received 334 votes with 13 write-ins. Allen D. Smith was elected as Mayor of Victoria. He received 426 votes with 10 write-ins.
From a report from the Commonwealth Regional Council, we learn that Lunenburg was awarded $48,200 from Virginia’s Brownfield Assistance Fund to cover the cost of lead and asbestos removal at a commercial property in Victoria that is being redeveloped.
Five seats up for election in Cumberland County
Cumberland County has the smallest population of any locality in the Fifth District with a U.S. Census count of 9,675 people. The Weldon Cooper Center at the University of Virginia project that will decline by about 600 people by 2030 before climbing back slightly to 9,354 by 2050.
All five seats are on the ballot in the November 2023 election. Let’s take a look back at the most recent election in 2021.
In District 1, independent Brian Randolph Stanley won a first term against a Republican candidate with 65.5 percent of the 670 votes cast.
In District 2, Republican Ronald Richard Tavernier defeated independent incumbent Lloyd Banks, Jr with 60.6 percent of the 685 votes. Banks himself had defeated an incumbent in 2015, and that incumbent also won against an incumbent in 2011. So, a competitive seat!
In District 3, independent Eurika Venise Tyree was the only candidate on the ballot and received 82.3 percent of the 548 votes cast. This is her first term.
In District 4, Republican Clifford Eugene Brooks defeated an independent candidate with 68.7 percent of the 617 votes cast. This is his first term.
In District 5, independent Robert Kenyon Saunders Jr. defeated an independent incumbent Park Haze Wheeler with 60.1 percent of the 576 votes cast. Wheeler was first elected in 2011 with no opposition that year or in 2015.
All seats on 2023 ballot in Goochland County
The U.S. Census in 2020 recorded 24,727 people in Goochland County. The Weldon Cooper Center projects the population will climb to 27,339 in 2030 and 34,742 people by 2050.
All seats are on the ballot next year.
The District 1 seat is currently held by Republican Susan Fouche Lascolette. She was first elected in 2011 when she defeated incumbent Andrew William Pryor with 51.6 percent of the 1,410 votes cast that year. Lascolette had no opposition in 2015 but defeated a Democratic candidate in 2019 with 57.1 percent of the 1,847 ballots cast.
In District 2, Republican Neil Gerald Spoonhower beat an independent challenger with 53.9 percent of the vote. The seat was won by a Republican in 2011 who defeated an independent who had held the seat since at least 2003.
In District 3, Republican John Leonard Lumpkins, Jr. won in a special election in which he faced no opposition. He went on to win the seat for a full-term in 2019 and also faced no opposition on the ballot.
The District 4 seat is currently vacant due to the death earlier this year of Supervisor Donald Edward Sharpe. He had been elected to a first term in 2019. Charlie Vaughters was appointed to the position on November 1.
Republican Kendall Cox Peterson has been the Supervisor in District 5 since 2011 when he faced no opposition. That was also the case in 2015 and 2019. He received 98.6 percent of the 2,376 votes cast in the most recent election.
Five of eight seats on the ballot in Halifax
The U.S. Census Bureau counted 34,022 in Halifax County in 2020. That number could drop substantially in coming decades if projections from the Weldon Cooper Center come to pass. They forecast a 2030 figure of 31,347 and a 2050 figure of 27,576.
In District 1, Calvin Richard Short was elected with no opposition. He received 95.8 percent of the 1,147 votes cast.
In District 4, independent Ronnie Eugene Duffey defeated incumbent Dennis Graham Witt. Duffey got 52.9 percent of the 1,352 votes cast. Witt had won in 2015 with no opposition.
In District 5, Republican Dean Evan Throckmorton beat an independent candidate with 69.3 percent of the 1,317 votes cast.
In District 7, independent Garland Bennett Ricketts won election in both 2015 and 2019 with no opposition. In 2019, he received 98.5 percent of the 1,311 votes cast.
In District 8, independent William Bryant Claiborne has served since at least 2003. The State Department of Elections’s online records don’t start until 2000. According to those records, Claiborne has only faced opposition once and that was in 2011 when he received 68.4 percent of the 916 votes. In 2019, Claiborne received 670 of the 682 votes cast.
Voters across the entire county select a tie-breaker. Wayne Smith was elected to the position in the recent election. (this paragraph was updated with correct information shortly after publication)
New name for Darden hotel; Committee to review designs for Olympic center, Karsh Institute of Democracy
There are only two public institutions of higher learning in the Fifth District. I know a bit about how the University of Virginia affects surrounding localities. I don’t really know much about Longwood University in Farmville. But, I will learn more!
The University of Virginia’s Board of Visitors is in Charlottesvile this week and they begin their committee meetings today. That includes the Buildings and Grounds Committee, which has a few items of note on the agenda.
First, the new hotel at the Darden School of Business is to be named after Frank Sands, a 1963 Darden Graduate.
“Mr. Sands, who passed away in 2021, served as a leader in his field and his community, and spent countless hours offering counsel and guidance as a member of the Darden School Foundation Board of Trustees,” reads the staff report in the packet.
Sands made a $68 million donation to Darden in the name of his late wife, the largest single donation in school history. The hotel will be run by Klimpton Hotels & Restaurants. The hotel itself is to be marketed as the Forum Hotel.
“Given that a forum is a place that facilitates the exchange of ideas and the discussion of important public issues, the proposed marketing name aligns with the University’s commitment to free expression and inquiry and open discussion,” the staff report continues.
The hotel got under construction in the spring of 2021 and is expected to be completed next spring.
The Buildings and Grounds Committee will also see the schematic design for a $75 million Olympic Sports Center intended to support 27 varsity sports.
“The Olympic Sports Center program includes training and performance areas, locker rooms, sports medicine, hydrotherapy pool areas, work environments for staff and coaches, conference and meeting rooms, sports nutrition, and building support spaces comprising a total square footage of approximately 100,000 [gross square feet],” reads the staff report.
Committee members will also see a schematic design for the new Karsh Institute of Democracy in the Ivy Road corridor.
“The Karsh Institute of Democracy is envisioned as an ecosystem of spaces designed to support scholarship and engagement around the challenges that face democracy,” reads that staff report. “The four-story facility will include an approximately 425- seat state-of-the-art auditorium that will enable events to be hosted in-person and broadcast globally.”
Visit the Board of Visitors website for more information on this week’s meeting.
Reading material:
Report: Virginia ill-equipped to deal with the revival of gold mine industry, Whitney Pipkin, Chesapeake Bay Journal, December 5, 2022
Lynchburg City Schools capital improvement plan proposes major renovations, Bryson Gordon, Lynchburg News and Advance, December 7, 2022
Powhatan ordinance change allows cameras on buses, Laura McFarland, Powhatan Today, December 7, 2022
Family of pedestrian killed before Rustburg Tree Lighting looking for answers, Claire Foley, WSET, December 7, 2022
Correction! The tie-breaker is elected by voters and Wayne Smith won this past November. He had been appointed by the Board to fill a vacancy earlier this year.