In case you missed the Dec. 15 Board of Supervisors meeting, here is a brief roundup of items from the board’s monthly work session and business meeting:
ROUTE 60 TRANSIT PILOT
The board adopted a resolution of support for extending a GRTC Transit System bus line westward on Route 60 as a pilot program and authorized the county administrator to apply for a grant that would cover most of the cost.
Chesterfield Department of Transportation (CDOT) staff are conducting a transit feasibility study for service along Route 60 from Chippenham Parkway to Walmart Way.
GRTC’s Route 1A currently terminates in Chesterfield just west of Chippenham Parkway, with stops at the Spring Rock Green shopping center and the Kroger grocery store at Stonebridge.
CDOT anticipates a project budget of $2.35 million for the pilot program ($1.7 million for one year of operating costs, $500,000 for marketing and $150,000 for an initial phase of capital improvements).
Based on those estimates, the tentative grant funding request would be $1.88 million and the required local match would be $470,000.
Applications for fiscal year 2022 transit grants are due to the Virginia Department of Rail and Public Transportation (VDRPT) by Feb. 1.
OTTERDALE ROAD DRAINAGE PROJECT
The board authorized the award of a $17.9 million design-build contract to Kokosing Construction Company, Inc., for drainage improvements in a flood-prone section of Otterdale Road.
In September 2020, the board appropriated $19 million from a county bond sale for the Otterdale Road project, which includes reconstruction of the crossings at Horsepen Creek, Blackman Creek and Otterdale Branch.
Last September, it authorized staff to continue preliminary design and proceed with right-of-way acquisitions, utility relocations and advertisement for construction contracts.
Chesterfield received four best value design-build proposals. Based on a combination of its technical proposal and price proposal, Kokosing Construction Company, Inc., scored highest of the four with a total of 88.23 points out of 100.
The current budget for the project is $26.2 million, including preliminary engineering, right-of-way acquisition, utility relocation and construction. The additional $7.2 million will be funded with a combination of cash proffers and savings from other transportation projects.
Construction is expected to begin in February, with a projected completion date of May 2024.
Tomahawk Creek Middle School
COUNTY'S BOND RATING
In remarks during the board’s evening session, County Administrator Dr. Joe Casey noted that Chesterfield once again has received the highest possible rating from America’s three major bond rating agencies.
Fitch, Moody’s and Standard & Poor’s each recently reaffirmed the AAA bond rating that the county has maintained since 1997.
Chesterfield is among only about 1% of municipal governments nationwide to hold a Triple-AAA bond rating, which amounts to a perfect credit rating and gives them the ability to borrow money for capital projects at the lowest available interest rates.
The county immediately put the rating to use in the issuance of $115 million in bonds for construction of two new middle schools: one in the western Route 360 corridor to relieve overcrowding at Tomahawk Creek Middle, and a larger, modern rebuild of Falling Creek Middle.
The bonds were sold at 1.7%, one of the lowest interest rates in Chesterfield’s history. That will save the county millions of dollars over the 20-year repayment period.
EMERGENCY RENT RELIEF
The board authorized the receipt and appropriation of $3.8 million in additional state and federal funds for Chesterfield’s Emergency Rental Assistance Program.
In collaboration with a local nonprofit, Area Congregations Together in Service (ACTS), the county has distributed most of the $18.8 million it received from the U.S. Treasury Department for rent relief.
As of mid-December, Chesterfield had provided an average of $5,210 in rent payments and $695 in utility payments to 2,201 households (1,376 of which have children under age 18) and 575 landlords.
ACTS was forced to close its online portal to new applications last month because requests for assistance exceeded available resources.
With $3.1 million in new funding from the Virginia Department of Housing and Community Development, and about $737,000 from the Treasury Department, Chesterfield will provide rent relief to eligible county households that have already applied and are waiting to have their applications processed
HENRICUS PARK ACCESS ROAD
The board set a public hearing at its Feb. 23 meeting to consider amending Chesterfield’s thoroughfare plan and including a proposed access road to Henricus Historical Park.
Because of a coal ash removal project at Dominion Energy’s Chesterfield Power Station, people will no longer be able to use Coxendale Road to visit Henricus and the adjacent Dutch Gap Conservation Area.
As mandated by the General Assembly, Dominion and Chesterfield have jointly developed a plan to maintain access to both of those public facilities. The most significant of the proposed improvements is a new road (paid for by Dominion) that would begin at Meadowville Technology Park, run west under Interstate 295 and cross the James River to Henricus.
Amending the countywide thoroughfare plan to add the new road is necessary to address easement requirements across properties the road would cross.
Multiple community meetings have been held on the project, which is expected to begin in 2023.
During its afternoon work session, the Board of Supervisors also held an extensive discussion about the two pending zoning cases on the 2,400-acre, county-owned Upper Magnolia Green property. You can view the presentation in its entirety below.
The full Jan. 26 board meeting can be accessed here.
