In case you missed the July 27 Board of Supervisors meeting, here is a brief recap of items from the board’s work session and business meeting:
COMMUNITY FACILITIES BOND PLAN
Matt Harris, deputy county administrator for finance and administration, presented details of Chesterfield’s upcoming bond referendum during the board’s afternoon work session.
Beginning Sept. 23 with early voting for the 2022 general election and continuing through Election Day on Nov. 8, Chesterfield residents will be asked to vote on the Community Facilities Bond Plan to authorize the issuance of $540 million in General Obligation bonds.
If approved by voters, the bond proceeds will fund 26 capital improvement projects in four categories -- schools, public safety, libraries and parks – over the next 8 to 10 years.
You can watch the presentation in its entirety below.
RECOVERY HIGH SCHOOL
The board authorized the Community Services Board (CSB) to receive and appropriate $299,762 in state funding and create three temporary full-time positions to support behavioral services at the new regional Recovery Academy, which will open in Chesterfield as a pilot program next month.
Chesterfield County Public Schools will provide the educational component for the program, while the county’s Department of Mental Health Support Services provides recovery and clinical services to its 25 students. The program serves students from central Virginia who are in early stages of recovery from substance abuse disorder.
The CSB will use the funding from the Virginia Department of Behavioral Health & Developmental Services to add a Senior Clinician and two Clinician positions. It also will reclassify existing vacant positions to create two part-time Peer Support Specialist positions.
Recovery Academy will be located in Chesterfield’s Career and Technical Center at Hull until a permanent space can be identified.
PERFORMANCE GRANT WITH LAKE ADVENTURES LLC
The board deferred to its Aug. 24 meeting a vote on a performance grant agreement with Lake Adventures LLC, the company that is planning to construct a mixed-use development on 105 acres adjacent to Genito Road and Route 288.
The project is strategically important for Chesterfield because of its proximity to River City Sportsplex, uniqueness as a destination-based asset, economic impact and plan to bring in needed amenities – hotel, restaurants, public entertainment and attractions – that will serve both visitors and county residents.
The grant agreement would rebate annually a portion of the real estate, sales and occupancy taxes paid by the developer over a 20-year period.
Check back here next month to see what the board decides.
NEW COUNTY LEADERS INTRODUCED
Missy Vera and Consuela Wilson were publicly introduced as Chesterfield’s new general registrar/director of elections and accounting director, respectively.
Vera had held the position on an acting basis since March, when Constance Hargrove resigned to become general registrar in Pima County, Ariz. Following Hargrove’s departure, Chesterfield’s electoral board conducted a formal recruitment process before selecting Vera from a field of candidates.
Per the Code of Virginia, Vera will serve out the remainder of Hargrove’s four-year term, which ends in 2023, then she can be reappointed by the electoral board for another four years.
Vera joined the registrar’s office in January 2017, then rose quickly through the ranks from assistant registrar to elections manager before being promoted to deputy registrar in November 2019.
Wilson has more than two decades of service to Chesterfield, including the past 20 months as assistant director of the Accounting Department. She was chosen to succeed Donna Arrington, who retired as accounting director June 30.
Wilson began her career with the county in October 2001 as a senior automation analyst. She served as financial systems coordinator from 2007 until 2018, when she was named financial systems manager. She was promoted to assistant accounting director in November 2020.
COGBILL ROAD PARK-AND-RIDE AND SIDEWALK PROJECT
As requested by staff, the board appropriated $294,500 in anticipated Virginia Department of Transportation (VDOT) reimbursements and authorized the Director of Procurement to award a $1.96 million contract for the construction of a park-and-ride lot and sidewalk on Cogbill Road.
The park-and-ride lot will be located on county-owned property at the site of the former Fulghum Center. The project also includes construction of a sidewalk along Cogbill Road from the intersection of Hopkins Road to the park-and-ride lot, as well as the installation of a pedestrian crossing to a shopping center on the west side of Hopkins Road.
Two bids were received for the project ($1,963,055 and $2,816,680). Dickerson Construction LLC submitted the lowest responsive and responsible bid. Because its bid exceeds the engineer's estimate by approximately 5.6%, an additional $294,500 is needed to fully fund the project and VDOT has agreed to provide the additional Smart Scale funds.
Construction is anticipated to begin in the fall of 2022 and be completed by the summer of 2023.
CODE AMENDMENT ON OUTDOOR ADVERTISING SIGNS
Following a public hearing, the board approved an amendment to county code that extends a sunset clause on the modernization of outdoor advertising signs (i.e., billboards) by three years.
In 2019, the board updated Chesterfield’s sign ordinance to encourage the replacement of aging billboards in designated areas. Since then, 14 billboards in Chesterfield have been modernized, significantly enhancing their appearance and functionality.
Under the sunset clause included with the 2019 amendments, however, the ability for billboard owners to continue making such improvements was due to expire on July 24, 2023, unless a minimum of 25 existing signs on Routes 1, 10, 60 and 360 have been modernized by that date.
In recognition of delays caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, as well as subsequent labor and material shortages, the board has extended the deadline to July 24, 2026.