Inside A2 Powhatan’s Celebration of the Horse successful for second year
Powhatan, Virginia
B2 Indians softball clinches regional berth.
Vol. XXIX No. 22
June 1, 2016
Powhatan housing market on rise By Laura McFarland News Editor
P
OWHATAN – The Powhatan County housing market looks healthy and even robust in many ways according to a presentation made last week to the Powhatan County Board of Supervisors. Laura Lafayette, CEO of Richmond Association of REALTORS, spoke to the board during its meeting on Monday, May 23 about the cur-
rent housing market in the county, how it compares in the region, and national and regional trends and issues the supervisors should be aware of going forward. Powhatan County has seen a slow and steady growth in a variety of areas and is remaining competitive with many of the other 16 jurisdictions that make up the Central Virginia Regional Multiple Listing Service, Lafayette said. “I think we in the region are going to see continued steady growth, steady price appreciation. Those of us who experienced the bubble would say steady is a perfectly acceptable adjective for the market,” she said.
Looking at home sales
SUBMITTED PHOTO
Laura Lafayette
The market described by Lafayette has been slowly rebounding since it bottomed out in 2010. While units sold in the region topped 20,000 in 2005, the market had tumbled and did about half of that activity, 10,760 units sold, in 2010, she said. As of 2015, the number was back up to 15,479 units sold and the average sale price was up to $257,334 from a low of $216,903 in 2011. Broken down by jurisdictions, Powhatan had 409 units sold in 2015 with an average sale price of
$291,793, she said. The county led the more rural jurisdictions in the region such as New Kent County, with 318 units sold, and Goochland County, with 319 units sold. “Goochland in general tends to have a higher price point – typically the highest price point in the regional market,” she said. “For that reason they don’t see as much sales activity necessarily as Powhatan, and their days on market … is longer days on market than in Powhatan.” Between January and April of this year, Powhatan had 122 units sold, an increase of 25 over the same period in 2015, she said. The average sale price in the first four months in 2016 at $281,026 is actually down by $38,218 compared to that same time period in 2015. However, when she investigated further, Lafayette said she found there were three properties in those first four months in 2015 that sold for more than $1 million, skewing the numbers. “It is not as if there is a softening of the market at all. It is just that with year to date, we haven’t seen a sale over $750,000 in Powhatan,” she said.
see HOUSING page 9A
School board tightens up on homework
PHOTO BY LAURA MCFARLAND
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The Powhatan County School Board approved a revised homework policy that limits the amount of time students are assigned work by grade level and emphasizes quality, not quantity.
By Laura McFarland News Editor
POWHATAN – The Powhatan County School Board last week adopted an updated homework policy for kindergarten through 12th grades that focused on better defining the purpose of homework for Powhatan students and limiting the amount they will be responsible for completing each day. Sandy Lynch, assistant superintendent for instruction, gave a presentation to the school board at its meeting on Tuesday, May 24 that
revisited an earlier presentation she had done but showed where adjustments had been made after parents and teachers had a chance to offer input. The school board members approved the new policy unanimously. Joe Walters, who represents District 4, participated via video conferencing. Lynch first presented a recommended policy to the school board at its meeting on April 26. The revisions to the school district’s policy see SCHOOL page 4A
PHOTO BY LAURA MCFARLAND
A few dozen seniors came out to the annual Powhatan TRIAD Senior Resource Fair to learn about services available to them.
Resource fair offers seniors info, awareness By Laura McFarland News Editor
POWHATAN – Dozens of local seniors came away from last week’s Powhatan TRIAD Senior Resource Fair a little more aware of the services and options available to them. The annual event put on by Senior Connections and Powhatan TRIAD was held on Thursday, May 26 at the National Guard Armory building. More than 30 seniors attended the event, which included a demonstration on health and self defense, vendors offering information about services they offer and a free lunch. As always, the goal of the event was to help local seniors stay as healthy and independent as possible, said Joan Doss, care coordinator for Senior Connections and chair of the Powhatan TRIAD. Many seniors are not aware of what services are available to them and are not sure where to look for the information. The resource fair puts a great deal of the information in one room together for their convenience. “They are able to look at the resources available, ask questions and take materials home for them and their families to go over,” she said. “Then if they have further questions, they can call Senior Connections or TRIAD.” Too many seniors are secluded and don’t know about services that may be of help to them. If they don’t have a computer, chances of getting the information they need would be slim without events like the resource fair to bring it all together, said Cordelia Davis of Powhatan. Davis said she attends the fair every year because she likes the variety of information and the chance to visit with other local people. This year she was especially impressed with a presentation by instructor Tom Ashmore on Canesee TRIAD page 5A
R E L AY F O R L I F E TO C E L E B R AT E 2 0 Y E A R S By Laura McFarland News Editor
POWHATAN – The Powhatan County Relay for Life will reach a major milestone this weekend when it celebrates its 20th year in existence, and event organizers want people to get serious about see RELAY page 2A
FILE PHOTO BY LAURA MCFARLAND
The 20th annual Powhatan County Relay for Life will be held from 11 a.m. to 11 p.m. on Saturday, June 4 on the track at Powhatan Junior High School.