ocal

Publisher Joy Monopoli jmonopoli@Rsnva com

Managing Editor laura McFarland lmcfarland@powhatantoday.com

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Classifieds cindy adams ..........................................cadams@mechlocal.com cut-through on Rte 54, Mount Hermon Road, Woodside Lane and Jamestown Road; interstate commercial sprawl down Rte 54; environmental degradation along the Mount Hermon/Mechumps Creek corridor; warehouse space added to an existing inventory of 14.6 million square feet and a planned 10.9 million square feet.

Moreover, this large commercial-industrial development would abut rural, historic neigh-

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editor@mechlocal.com borhoods on Mount Hermon Road, Providence Road, Woodside Lane, Frances Road, Hilltop Drive, Burleigh Drive and East Patrick Henry Road.

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Musicians

musician in pencil to remember his old friend and honor his contributions to music.

That one portrait sparked something larger for Coles –a desire to celebrate and preserve the rich history that is the region’s music scene, which Coles, who lives in Goochland County, has also been a part of through the years.

The result is a new exhibit currently on display at the Mechanicsville Branch Library, located at 7461 Sherwood Crossing Place. The show, “African American Musicians in the Richmond, Hanover and Vicinity Areas,” will be on display in the lobby through the end of the month. It is free and open to the public.

The exhibit, as well as an upcoming musical program featuring Coles, is co-sponsored by the library and the Hanover County Black Heritage Society.

Coles will perform “Music at Midday” from noon to 1 p.m. Friday, Feb. 24 at the library. The program is free and will include refreshments. During the show, Cole will mix several types of music together – including country and bluegrass – but said jazz will feature prominently, tying in to the music played by many of the musicians in his exhibit.

Coles developed a pattern over the course of creating this exhibit. Rather than having his subjects knowingly sit for their portraits, they are always a surprise, he said. He finds an image he likes and recreates it in a

Calendar

From 4 held from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. at Veterans of Foreign Wars (VFW) located at 7168 Flag Lane in Mechanicsville. large pencil drawing. Then he surprises the artist and asks for their autograph on the portrait.

“If they are not living I try to find a close family member to autograph it so it can be a part of the history of Richmond and local musicians,” he said.

There are about 25 portraits on display at the library currently, but Coles said he has 40 altogether and continues to add to the collection. He hopes the exhibit will be displayed at other locations and will be a vibrant, living thing that can evolve over time.

The Mechanicsville Branch Library is the first place the portraits have been on display together like this, and when he put the last one up and stood back to take in the entire exhibit, it was an emotional moment.

“They looked so beautiful when I stepped back to look at the full picture. I felt like that wall was a blank canvas and once you put the pictures up and stepped back they were so beautiful,” he said. “Ninety percent of the artists I have either played with or seen them play in the Richmond area all my life. I knew 90% of the artists I drew.”

The exhibit at the library features about 25 pencil drawing portraits of musicians in the area. Some of them are Hanover musicians, including Joshua Allen and Ernest Waller, or have strong ties here. In addition to playing music with the likes of Duke Ellington and Sarah Vaughn, musician David L. Hoggard Jr. was the band director at John M. Gandy High School and Mechanicsville High School (formerly known as Lee-Davis High addtional dates are May 23, June 20, July 27, august 24, september 26, October 19, november 24 and december 26. you must schedule an appointment with the red Cross at redCrossblood.org.

School).

He recalled taking Hoggard’s portrait to the other man’s house to get his autograph on it.

“I sat on his deck and I learned so much about him. He brought a picture album out and he was showing me pictures where he had been all over the world playing music. I think about four months later he died. I am thinking all of this talent is now gone. So I am so glad I got his portrait and it was autographed before he was deceased,” Coles said.

Hanover County Black Heritage Society appreciates being part of helping preserve that heritage, said board member Francine Aytes Hunter. Coles had been a featured guest speaker for the group in 2022, giving a historical presentation about black railroad workers. As a part of sharing the presentation, he used anecdotes, stories and music but also displayed some of his railroad art. He retired from being a machinist with the railroad in 2010 after 30 years.

During their interactions at the society’s meeting, Coles started talking about the musician’s portraits, and Hunter recalls telling him to “hold that thought” regarding a future exhibit.

The society has had a good relationship with Pamunkey Regional Library system, putting on historical displays for five to six years at different branches, Hunter said. They worked with the library to get the exhibit and Music at Midday program set up.

Hunter sees it as a way to increase cultural awareness for multiple generations and is especially hoping local se-

ONGOING

Hanover County is working with residents, businesses, landowners and other community members to update its Comprehensive Plan. Called “envision Hanover,” niors can attend the music program since they purposefully scheduled it during the day.

“What I do like about his exhibit is it is not just musical historical figures. It is progressives and it is multigenerational with current artists as well as historical figures,” she said.

Jennifer Crooker, library assistant for the Mechanicsville Library Branch, said the library has been proud to have been involved with the Hanover County Black Heritage Society through the years. When Hunter approached her with the idea about Coles’ exhibit, library staff saw it as a way to celebrate local artists like Coles and combine music and art. It also was nice timing to highlight him during Black History Month. She said the finished exhibit didn’t disappoint.

“It was stunning. I watched him put it up and once it was all up the first thing you notice is the eyes of all the people in the portraits. It is arresting. That has been the most common comment we have heard from people who walk in. They say, ‘wow, how does he do the eyes like that?’ It is so expressive,” she said.

While he can appreciate the timing during Black History Month, Coles said he feels his artwork should be shared all year round to drive home that “we have talents and gifts that can be shared 365 days a year, not just in February.” the plan is the county’s long-range vision of Hanover over the next 25 years, addressing land use, housing, economic development and

Laura McFarland may be reached at Lmcfarland@powhatantoday.com.

UpcomingEvents:

OscarWeekend Till:

February23 at 7pm

WomenTalking: February24 at 2pm

February25 at 8pm

TheWhale: February24 at 7pm

Living: February25 at 5:30pm

AllQuietontheWesternFront: February26 at 12pm

KingRichard

February25 at 11am (FreeShowing)

HanoverCountyParks&Reccelebrates relief through programs such as tax exempt properties, the land use program, tax relief for the elderly and disabled, and the disabled veterans program.

Black HistoryMonthwiththisfree showing!

Budesky highlighted possible options such as relief for specific groups (elderly, disabled, veterans, surviving spouses, agricultural landowners, religious institutions); a rebate offered to real property owners through bill abatement or a check (the cost would be $2 million per penny of real property tax for one year); and a reduction offered to real property owners.

“What can we do to avoid having to pass on these costs to our residents in the first place? The assessments are higher but how can we reduce that burden or impact,” Budesky said during his presentation. “We are looking at ways to do that. We have heard our residents; we need to do something. This board has demonstrated a commitment to take that step.”

The finance committee has asked staff to look at no less than a 4 cent impact on residents, he added.

However, as the board looks at those relief options, it also still has to consider how to meet the county’s needs, balancing workforce and service levels, infrastructure needs and the burden on Hanover citizens.

Some of the highlights of the county administrator’s budget include:

„ Budesky outlined the suggested breakdown of how to use the $33.2 million increase in the General Fund, with 30% going to public safety and human services; 30% to capital improvements and debt; 23% to the schools; 17% to the remaining departments. However, he also put plans in the wider context of the five-year plan.

„ Capital investment: This budget recommends $151 million for the replacement of three school facilities and the major renovation of another. This budget funds the replacement of Battlefield Park Elementary and a major renovation of Beaverdam Elementary (FY2024) and the replacement of Washington-Henry Elementary School (FY2025) – three schools that are over 80 years old.

The capital investment plan calls for the replacement of three fire stations, Doswell #4, Courthouse

#10, and Montpelier #8. The order will be determined based on site feasibility and operational impacts. The initial station replacement is cash funded in FY2024 with additional replacements following in FY2025 and FY2028. A new addition to the capital improvements plan is the Public Safety Building slated for FY2026, which would be a combined administrative and training facility located on the County Complex for the Hanover County Sheriff’s Office and Fire-EMS Department. Additionally, there is a $16.9 million investment in ambulance and fire engine replacement, improvements at the sheriff’s office firing range, $5.1 million of park enhancements, plus another $8.2 million in building renovations and preventative maintenance over the next five years.

„ Road infrastructure: Budesky was really pleased to present the five-year CIP for road projects, with $151.9 million in projects planned for locations all over the county. The projects are possible largely because of funds the county gets from the Central Virginia Transportation Authority, as well as federal and state dollars. Some of the projects on the list include the Atlee Station Widening phases 2 and 3; rural safety and paving projects; Pole Green widening; Sliding Hill/Peaks roundabout; Greenwood/ Blanton and Ashland Road roundabout; and 17 remaining projects.

„ Public safety and human services: The proposed budget recommends a merit pay increase for roughly 900 employees and adding three firefighter/ medic positions, a law clerk as well as continued funding for three bailiffs and six Community Services Board positions that were approved in the middle of

FY2023 to ensure that training and hiring struggles could be mitigated as much as possible in terms of impacts to residents receiving services. Additionally, there has been $600,000 added to fund the Children Services Act plus increased funding for overtime and additional equipment across the public safety functional area.

„ Schools: Funding recommended for the school division will assist in providing the governor’s recommended 5% salary increase for teachers and staff. The school system has also allocated funding to support salary enhancements and decompression for targeted job families to further improve starting salaries, pay equity and regional competitiveness. Additionally, the school division has proposed the addition of 13 special education teachers, four early childhood teachers and two additional English to Speakers of Other Languages (ESOL) teachers. The budget also recommends local funding to continue providing positions and resources to staff and students that were originally funded by the Elementary and Secondary School Emergency Relief Fund (ESSER).

„ Remaining services: The recommended budget includes a 5 % merit adjustment for county employees and the addition of several new positions, which are two employees for the Montpelier Center, two at convenience centers, two in capital projects and grant oversight, two in technology and one in facilities management.

Budesky noted that there are $6 million in unfunded requested positions in the five-year plan because “there is always more need identified than even the budget with the current tax rate can support.”

„ Twenty-five-year capital outlook: Hanover County is currently developing a 25-year capital improvement outlook. Early drafts of this outlook identified $3.1 billion worth of county capital needs – across all facets of governmental and school operations – over this timeframe. This outlook identifies the capital projects, estimated costs in today’s dollars, and the estimated timeframe in which these projects could be considered for legislative decisioning. These needs aren’t based on growth projections but on taking care of existing facilities that have aged out and are beyond their useful life, Budesky said.

„ Maintaining business competitiveness: County staff is recommending the board establish a data center rate. Data centers are an opportunity for the county to bring lower impact, lower traffic, higher investment, higher paying jobs to Hanover County, Budesky said.

“Currently we don’t compete in the region. This is an opportunity for us to consider this rate and make sure we are business competitive,” he said.

The board of supervisors had few questions immediately following the presentation but thanked Budesky and staff for their hard work on the budget.

Important dates in the upcoming budgets schedule are: Feb. 22, presentations from the schools, public utilities, workforce and supplemental financial information (request to authorize public hearing); March 8, budget work session (request to authorize relief options); March 22, presentation on state impacts and potential amendments; April 5, public hearings; and April 12, budget adoption.