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Powhatan, Virginia
The hometown paper of William Richter
Vol. XXVII No. 14
April 2, 2014
Supervisors consider school maintenance savings fund By Jodi Deal Richmond Suburban News
Supervisors get first peek at $57 million capital plan PHOTO BY JODI DEAL
The Powhatan County Board of Supervisors recently discussed the county’s capital plans. Shown are, from left, community development director March Altman, supervisor Jason Moore, county administrator Pat Weiler and supervisors Barry Hodge, Bill Melton and Carson Tucker.
By Jodi Deal Richmond Suburban News
T
he Powhatan County Board of Supervisors got its first look on Monday, March 24, at County Administrator Pat Weiler’s proposed five-year Capital Improvement Plan, which provides a roadmap for which major projects the county can afford and how those
projects might be funded. Weiler told the supervisors that her proposed plan, which lays out $57 million worth of work, is fiscally constrained from the original wish list of projects presented to the county’s Planning Commission earlier this year to fit within the county’s ability to take on debt and pay it down. Only projects that cost at least $50,000 are included in
Powhatan County’s CIP, and the plan does not include items like technological equipment, maintenance on facilities and grounds or vehicles for fire, rescue, emergency medical services, the sheriff’s department or county administrative officials. This year, Weiler worked up a list of those needs, too, in hopes of giving the see PLAN page 4A
As members of the Powhatan County Board of Supervisors faced a Capital Improvement Plan with about $57 million in proposed projects alongside $13 million more in maintenance and vehicle needs, they also mulled a request from the Powhatan County School Board to set aside money to fund its own improvement projects and maintenance. In December 2013, the School Board approved a resolution formally calling for the Board of Supervisors to allow the school division to roll all surplus money left
over at the end of a budget year into a special School Capital Reserve Fund. In its resolution, the School Board asked for that money to be earmarked only for major facility needs like renovations, heating systems and roofs, or equipment like buses, vehicles and major textbook replacements. The county has its own Capital Reserve Fund fed by budget surpluses. Currently, money left over from school operations at the end of the year rolls back into the county’s general fund. The Board of Supervisors has the final say over the see SAVINGS page 8A
PHOTO BY JODI DEAL
Powhatan County School Board members Valarie Ayers, left, and chairman Rick Cole, right, listen as Dr. Eric Jones, superintendent of Powhatan County Public Schools, provides an update on capital project funding. He was reporting on a Monday, March 24, meeting of the Powhatan County Board of Supervisors.
Pocahontas Middle recognized for cancer fundraising Debbie Bridwell, left, of the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society, was on hand at a recent Powhatan County School Board meeting to present Pocahontas Middle School with a plaque for outstanding performance in the Pasta for Pennies fundraising effort. Receiving the plaque are, from left, teacher Lynn Stephens, Jacob and Morgan Casteel, assistant principal Martha Powers and principal Lynn Clayton-Prince. SEE STORY PAGE 2 PHOTO PROVIDED BY MICHELE WILSON
Supervisors weigh merits of War Memorial Building proposal By Jodi Deal Richmond Suburban News
C
urt Nellis and a band of Powhatan County citizens aim to “polish a diamond in the rough,” turning the county’s aging War Memorial Building into a cultural arts center that would host regular community theater productions, classes, speeches, meetings, dances and parties. A year after he and other members from the War Memorial Cultural Arts and Community Center Board of Directors officially offered to take the building off the county’s hands in April 2013, county officials are considering whether
giving the nonprofit group the building is a good idea and, if so, how the arrangement could work. It all started in February 2013 with a Powhatan County Board of Supervisors’ discussion on the cost of maintaining and operating the building, along with looming costs for major renovations, including a roof replacement. After hearing an update on the building’s needs, including a new roof, the supervisors asked county staff to prepare a presentation on options for what to do with the building. Since then, county staff has revisited the matter with the board in April 2013, January 2014 and, most
Inside A6 Village Vibe Southern Tide will perform at 6 p.m. April 11
recently, in a March 5 meeting. In January and again in March, staff, including director of community development March Altman and county administrator Pat Weiler, have recommended that the board lease or sell the building to a nonprofit organization at no cost to the county. On March 5, after reviewing options that have included tearing the building down, leaving it as it is or selling it for private development, supervisors asked counsel for a closer examination of possible legal ramifications of giving the building to Nellis’ group, and what
PHOTO BY ROSLYN RYAN
A group of citizens hopes to turn the War Memorial
see MEMORIAL page 7A Building into a community and cultural arts center.
Sports
Index
B1 Community rallies around Nathan Martin once again
Obituaries Opinion Calendar Crossword Horoscope TV Listings Classified
A2 A8 A9 A9 A9 B6-7 B8-9