see BOARD

Continued from pg. 2 riding, cowgirl barrel racing, a mechanical bull, kids mutton bustin’, and team roping. Concessions available. Tickets are $15 for adults, $10 for ages 6 to 14 and free for ages 5 and younger. Contact Scott Morton at 434-292-3113 or 434-294-1393 or go to www.longbranchrodeo. com.

A Vacation Bible School for members of the special needs community will be held from

July 25 to 29 at Graceland Baptist Church, 975

Dorset Road. The VBS will be held from 9 a.m. to noon each day for participants from elementary school age to adults. Caregivers are welcome and encouraged to stay with your loved ones. Registration at the door or, starting the first week of July, register online at gracelandbc.org.

The Powhatan County Democratic Committee will meet from 7 to 8:30 p.m. in the large conference room of the Powhatan County Library on the following dates: July 26.

Powhatan County Public Library is proud to partner with Powhatan County Public Schools for the children’s summer reading program.

The 2022 theme is “Oceans of Possibilities!” Participants are encouraged to attend summer reading events and check out books at the library. All programs at all locations are free and open to the public. The library will wrap up the children’s summer reading program on Thursday, July 28 at 6 p.m. at the library. Celebrate the end of summer reading with a free pizza dinner generously provided by PCPS elementary school PTOs. Contact Powhatan County Public Library at 804-598-5670.

Ongoing

Habitat for Humanity-Powhatan is accepting applications for its homeowner program through June 30, 2022. Applicants must have lived or worked in Powhatan for at least the past year, and must qualify for an affordable mortgage through our partnership program. Applicants must be experiencing a need for affordable housing and be willing to partner with us through sweat equity service hours. Income guidelines differ based on household size. For example, income guidelines for a family of four range between an estimated minimum annual income of $36,000 through approximately $63,000. Refer to website for details at habitatpowhatan. org. Other factors considered include a valid

see CALENDAR, pg. 7

BOARD

Continued from pg. 1 along the way.” Smither said the county and Keystone originally expected to “be fi nished with everything except for the planning portal – the portal that is going to allow contractors to … fi le their plans online, make their payments online, check on inspections. That it the only piece of this project we thought would go over 2022. So when you mention we are behind, yes, we are behind.”

“Every department has a few things they would like to make perfect, but, in general, the fi nance department, the payroll department, the building inspection permit center, public utilities are having a nice run with Keystone, and they worked hard to get there and had a nice run,” Smither said.

The commissioner of the revenue’s proration of taxes “destroyed the Keystone production effort; they really were overwhelmed with the detail that proration of personal property has, and it took them off their A game trying to catch up with that process,” he said. They didn’t know all they needed to know, he acknowledged.

“From our standpoint, we hired a vendor who is battling every day with us to fi x these things. They recognize that Mr. Timberlake hasn’t gotten exactly what he wants, and they certainly recognize that Mrs. Nunnally hasn’t gotten what she needs and she is dealing with them daily. But we are going to get there and they are the partner that is going to get us across that fi nish line,” Smither said.

Whatever problems or requests have popped up, Keystone has not said no in response, which is critical, Smither added.

“None of us are happy with the fact that we weren’t ready to go in April or May, especially not Keystone. But I just really want to emphasize the fact that we are battling and we need them to battle with us, and to tear them apart in a public session I don’t think is a good strategy on our part right now because we need them to fi ght the fi ght with us every day like they have been doing,” he said.

Williams said while he is “not interested in throwing anybody under the bus,” he does want accountability.

Much of the conversation that followed revolved around the actual contracted amount for Keystone’s services and making sure everyone on the board understood those numbers.

When the county decided to implement a new ERP system, the board agreed to allocate up to $1.5 million toward the project. According to the board packet, the original contracted amount was $720,381. Smither said that $707,571 had been paid to the company as of June 1, with $660,681 paid on the contract amount and the rest for the annual maintenance fee. The county still owes $59,758 on the contract.

Steve McClung, District 2, said the most important part of the conversation is that Keystone is still always saying “yes” and trying to walk the county through the problems.

Karin Carmack, District 5, said every department seems to be “running pretty smoothly with the exception of the treasurer’s offi ce,” adding that variables that may have added to the situation include a new treasurer and billing delays.

“I think the reality is with Keystone, we need them to work with us; we don’t have a choice at this point. We have to make this work,” she said.

She suggested getting a list of problems from the treasurer and a timeline from Keystone of when they can be fully addressed.

Chair Mike Byerly, District 3, agreed the board needs more defi nitive answers about where the situation is at this point but also pointed out the county needs a solution and that is most likely to come from Keystone, who will be the county’s partner moving forward.

No staff members were asked to speak about their experiences during the meeting, but in response to the happenings of the June 27 meeting, Nunnally sent an email to the board of supervisors and Smither taking issue with some of the things said in the meeting and offering clarifi cations.

Although she is a new treasurer, having served in the position about a year, Nunnally pointed out she has 22 years of experience in the offi ce and is “well aware of the operations and expectations required for software to be successful. To infer I somehow lack the ability to do so is disrespectful, to say the least, and blatantly false.”

She pointed out several issues with Keystone, such as the county’s online real estate public inquiry system portal being taken down Nov. 10, 2021, and not made available again, which is a big inconvenience to residents and companies needing information that is required for every real estate transaction.

Prior to November 2021, this information was readily available online and the treasurer’s offi ce rarely had to fi eld questions in the offi ce, Nunnally wrote, adding the emails and phone calls the offi ce receives consumes a large part of the day for her and her staff.

“We have been told ‘we’re working on it’ since January, but apparently, they have been unable to convert the data correctly,” she wrote. “Almost 8 months seems considerably longer than necessary to convert data. This has been frustrating for not only my offi ce, but the professionals who used this platform daily. Many have even added disclaimers to their documents stating they will not be liable for any misinformation regarding tax status. That is not only embarrassing for them, but my offi ce as well.”

Nunnally also criticized the daily workings with the newer system’s functionality, which they have said will get better but the offi ce has “yet to see any signifi cant progress,” the email read.

“Our single dedicated programmer is so busy fi xing the daily problems that arise that I can certainly understand why everything is pending, but that puts my offi ce at a tremendous disadvantage. Each and every one of us is disappointed with the capabilities we currently have at hand. We were all open to change, a couple were even excited, but it became quickly evident that the product we were promised, is not what was being delivered,” Nunnally wrote.

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Ifyouwouldliketohelptheanimals inourcare,youcandosobydonatingtoour medicalfundatClawsandPaws, 4313AndersonHwy.,Powhatan,VA23139

PowhatanSheriff’sOffice|DivisionOfAnimalControl Phone:804-598-5672|Fax:804-598-5109 SNEAD

Continued from pg. 3 The sheriff’s offi ce said no further information will be released at this time due to the ongoing investigation but asked that if anyone has any information to contact the sheriff’s offi ce at 804-5985656.

RTD reporter Mark Bowes contributed to this story

CHURCH DIRECTORY

St.Luke’sEpiscopalChurch SUNDAYS 8:00AMinpersonserviceinthechurch 10:30AMinpersonserviceinthechurch (livestreamed) www.stlukespowhatan.org

AllareWelcome Formoreinformationvisitwww.stlukespowhatan.org Route711atThreeBridgeRoad794-6953

EVERGREEN COMMUNITY CHURCH (PCA) Proclaiming&PracticingtheGospelofJesusChrist WorshipServiceat10:00AM Meetingat2375SkaggsRoad,Powhatan. ECCPCA.ORG 598-8844

SundaySchool10AM WorshipService11AM

PastorJohnEngle 603-933-0141

3540OldBuckinghamRd. www.pmchurch.net

1801Huguenot Trail Sunday Worship10am BryanM.Holt, Pastor 804-378-3607

MeetingSundays inFarmville, ForkUnion,Midlothian, PowhatanandOnline. Visitpccwired.netfor servicestimes&locations. 598-1174 pccwired.net

MountCalvary BaptistChurch

2020RedLaneRoad Powhatan,VA23139

Pastor,LarryB.Collins SundaySchool9:45a.m. SundayWorship11:00a.m. WednesdayBibleStudy 7:30p.m. Office804-598-2398

Genito Presbyterian Church

2910GenitoRd.Powhatan,VA 372-9074

WorshipwithusthisSunday Churchservice@9:30AM Sundayschool@10:30AM

Providence Presbyterian Church

“WorshipingandWitnessing inWesternPowhatan since1825” WorshipService11:00am AllAreWelcome! 598-4970

Located1950RidgeRoad (Rt.627) PowhatanChristian Fellowship

SundayMorningWorship 11:00a.m. SundaySchool10:00a.m. WednesdayNight7:30p.m. 3308PleasantsRoad, 1/4mileoffofRoute711 RussCress,Pastor 598-0733

Advertisein

Church Directory.

Call 804-746-1235 ext.2 fordetails.

St.JohnNeumann CatholicChurch

LivingAsChrist’sDisciplesWithinOur

HeartsandBeyondOurDoors 2253RossonRd.

JustoffRt.13intheVillage 598-4438

Worship: 8:30&10:30am

www.powhatanumc.us

WeekdayPreschool(ages2-5) 598-6090 Rev.WalterG.Lewis,Pastor Saturday-5p.m. Sunday-8:30a.m.&11a.m. 598-3754 www.sjnpowhatan.org LocatedbehindFlatRock VillageShoppingCenter