This week in county government; Republicans to choose nominee in SD10; Early voting begins May 5 for June primaries; County tells sheriff candidate to stop using its seal; BOS preview
Engage Louisa is a nonpartisan newsletter that keeps folks informed about Louisa County government. We believe our community is stronger and our government serves us better when we increase transparency, accessibility, and engagement.
This week in county government: public meetings, May 1 through May 6
For the latest information on county meetings including public meetings of boards, commissions, authorities, work groups, and internal county committees, click here. (Note: Louisa County frequently schedules internal committee/work group meetings after publication time. Check the county’s website for the most updated information).
Monday, May 1
Louisa County Board of Supervisors, Public Meeting Room, Louisa County Office Building, 1 Woolfolk Ave., Louisa, 6 pm. (agenda packet, livestream) The board will convene in closed session at 5 pm.
Tuesday, May 2
Board of Equalization, Public Meeting Room, Louisa County Office Building, 1 Woolfolk Ave., Louisa, 6 pm.
Louisa County School Board, Central Office Administration Building, 953 Davis Highway, Mineral, 7 pm. (agenda, livestream)
Wednesday, May 3
Commission on Aging, Betty Queen Center, 522 Industrial Drive, Louisa, 10 am.
Thursday, May 4
Board of Equalization, Public Meeting Room, Louisa County Office Building, 1 Woolfolk Ave., Louisa, 6 pm.
Other meetings and important dates:
Thursday, May 4
Thomas Jefferson Planning District Commission, Water Street Center, 407 E. Water Street, Charlottesville, 7 pm. (meeting materials) A link to watch/participate virtually is available in the meeting materials.
Friday, May 5
Early Voting begins for June 20 primary elections, Louisa County Registrar’s Office, Louisa County Office Building, 1 Woolfolk Ave., Louisa, 8:30 am to 4:30 pm. See article below for more information.
Saturday, May 6
10th state Senate District Republican Convention, Buckingham County High School, 78 Knights Road, Buckingham, 10:30 am. See article below for more information.
Additional information about Louisa County’s upcoming public meetings is available here.
Interested in taking your talents to one of the county’s numerous boards and commissions? Find out more here including which boards have vacancies and how to apply.
Republicans to choose nominee in SD10
Republicans in the 10th state Senate District on Saturday will choose their nominee for the November 7 general election in a party-run convention at Buckingham County High School. And two men with deep political ties in Louisa County are widely regarded as the frontrunners for the party’s nod.
Louisa County Board of Supervisors Chair Duane Adams and 56th District Delegate John McGuire are both vying for the nomination in this solidly conservative district, boasting high-profile endorsements and ample campaign war chests.
Adams, a former insurance executive who lives on Lake Anna, is serving his second term as the Mineral District representative on the Board of Supervisors. McGuire, a fitness instructor and former Navy Seal from Goochland County, has represented Louisa in the House of Delegates since 2018.
Ashland contractor Jack Dyer and Powhatan resident Sandy Brindley are also in the race.
Redrawn during the 2021 redistricting process, the new 10th is friendly terrain for Republicans including most of Louisa County and western Hanover at its northern edge and stretching south across eight other largely rural localities: Goochland, Fluvanna, Powhatan, Cumberland, Amelia, Buckingham, Appomattox, and part of Prince Edward. Governor Glenn Youngkin (R) won the district by about 36 points en route to the Executive Mansion in 2021. The winner on Saturday will be a heavy favorite to claim the seat in November.
The four contenders have spent much of their campaigns serving up red meat for the party activists who tend to participate in conventions. Just 2,223 delegates are credentialed to cast ballots at the event, according to Adams’ campaign. That’s a small fraction of the district’s roughly 167,000 registered voters.
At a mid-March debate in Louisa, the candidates didn’t highlight any significant policy differences. Rather, they spoke broadly about issues that played well with the conservative die-hards in the crowd, from vowing to roll back abortion rights to fighting what they see as left-wing indoctrination in public schools.
But each candidate has tried to differentiate themselves in the crowded field.
Adams has pointed to his track record on the Board of Supervisors as evidence that he’s ready to both defend conservative values and get things done in Richmond. He’s said that, during his tenure on the board, the county has hiked pay for law enforcement officers and firefighters and placed more counselors in schools, all while maintaining some of the lowest tax rates in the area.
He’s highlighted his successful bid to make Louisa a “Second Amendment Sanctuary” county in late 2019 after Democrats won full control of state government and prepared to tighten restriction on guns.
And he’s emphasized his role in rejecting a request from descendants of enslaved laborers to remove the surnames of Thomas Jefferson and James Madison from the name of the regional library system. Both Jefferson and Madison were slaveholders.
In a Facebook post, Adams said that he’s “stood up to woke liberals while on the Louisa County Board of Supervisors, and (he) won't back down from this fight in the State Senate either.”
McGuire has pointed to his five years in the General Assembly’s lower chamber as preparing him for the Senate, touting his work ethic and the team-building skills he learned as a Navy Seal. He frequently tells crowds that his fellow legislators gave him the nickname “Pitbull” because of his dogged determination and recounts how he entered a Democratic caucus meeting to get the support he needed to push through a bipartisan bill that cut taxes on veterans’ retirement benefits, his signature legislative achievement in Richmond.
McGuire hasn’t shied away from courting some of his party’s most extreme elements. As part of his campaign, he’s hosted screenings of the documentary “2,000 Mules,” which promotes unfounded claims of voter fraud in the 2020 presidential election. McGuire attended a rally-turned-riot at the Capitol on January 6, 2021 where a mob stormed the building as lawmakers prepared to certify the election results. He has said he didn’t enter the Capitol.
Brindley, a former public school teacher, has billed herself as the conservative educator the district needs. Throughout the Louisa debate, she focused on public education, hitting on themes that have animated grassroots conservatives in recent years including bolstering “parents’ rights” and opposing “critical race theory.”
“We have never had a conservative educator in the state Senate. I would like to be the first person to fill that void,” she said.
Dyer has called himself a “businessman and straight shooter” who’s ready to defend conservative values in the legislature. He’s branded himself as a political outsider who would take on career politicians while, as he put it in Louisa, “building a coalition of strong conservatives who will fight for our values and our rights.”
McGuire and Adams have gained the most traction in the race, evidenced by the big-name endorsements and generous campaign contributions they’ve garnered. Congressman Bob Good, whose 5th Congressional District includes most of the 10th, backed Adams in February, while Governor Glenn Youngkin endorsed McGuire earlier this month. Both candidates have pulled in nearly $300,000 to their campaign coffers, providing plenty of cash for outreach and organizing ahead of the convention.
They’ve used some of that money to attack each other. In a recent campaign mailer, Adams accused McGuire of being a “political ladder climber” who’s run for five offices in five years. The mailer references McGuire’s bids for House of Delegates and state Senate, his 2020 and 2021 runs for Congress in the 7th Congressional District—the latter of which was derailed by redistricting—and a campaign filing for the 10th Congressional District seat post-redistricting.
The flyer directs voters to a website that shows McGuire’s campaign filed a Statement of Organization with the Federal Election Commission in the 10th Congressional District in late February 2022 at about the same time he declared his intention to pursue the 10th District state Senate seat. McGuire has said that he never ran in the 10th Congressional District, referring to the filing as a “clerical error.”
For his part, McGuire has questioned Adams’ conservative credentials, tagging him “Democrat Duane.” He’s pointed out that Adams ran for office as a Democrat three times in the 1980s and early ‘90s, twice in his native West Virginia and once for a House of Delegates seat in Hanover County. He’s also claimed that Adams raised taxes 40 percent during the five years he’s served as a Louisa supervisor.
Adams has said that he was a Reagan Democrat in the 1980s and has always been a conservative and refuted McGuire’s claims about raising taxes, noting that he’s never voted to increase Louisa’s tax rates and delivered millions of dollars in tax relief.
Louisa’s real estate tax rate has remained at 72 cents per $100 of assessed value for the last eight years though rising home assessments, which are based on a property’s market value, have led to hikes in many residents’ tax bills. Supervisors have proposed a tax rebate this year that equates to a three-cent reduction in the tax rate.
Democrats are expected to choose their nominee in the 10th at a party-run caucus on May 20 in Ashland.
Early voting begins May 5 for June primaries
Louisa County voters will soon have a chance to cast ballots in either a pair of primaries in Democrat-friendly state legislative districts or a lone primary in a district covering solidly conservative terrain.
Early voting for the June 20 Democratic Primary in the 55th House of Delegates District and the 11th state Senate District and the Republican Primary in the 59th House District kicks off on Friday, May 5 at the Louisa County Registrar’s Office. The 45-day early voting period runs through Saturday, June 17.
All 140 seats in Virginia’s General Assembly—40 in the state Senate and 100 in the House of Delegates—are up for grabs in new districts this November in a high-stakes election that will determine which party controls the legislature’s two narrowly divided chambers. Last session, Democrats held a 22-18 majority in the Senate while Republicans had a 52-48 advantage in the House and divided government stalled most of Republican Governor Glenn Youngkin’s agenda.
As part of the once-a-decade redistricting process, the Virginia Supreme Court in late 2021 approved new maps that shook up the local political landscape, splitting Louisa County into two new House and Senate districts and separating it from its current trio of Republican legislators: Sens. Bryce Reeves and Mark Peake and Delegate John McGuire.
The maps place most of the county in the Republican-friendly 59th House District and 10th Senate District and four precincts on its western end—Patrick Henry 1, Green Spring 1 and 2, and Louisa 3—in the Democratic-leaning 55th House District and 11th Senate District.
McGuire is the lone incumbent that could continue representing much of the county, but not in his House seat. He’s pursuing the Republican nomination in the 10th Senate District, a contest set to be decided in a May 6 party-run convention (See article above). Democrats are expected to choose their nominee in the 10th in a May 20 caucus.
Given the districts’ partisan leanings, the candidates selected in this spring’s primaries will be favorites to win their races this fall.
Check out Engage Louisa’s roundup of what’s on local voters’ primary ballots and other pertinent voter information.
House District 59
Voters in the 59th House of Delegates District will choose the Republican nominee from three candidates: Delegate Buddy Fowler, Former Louisa GOP Chair Graven Craig and Henrico attorney Philip Strother.
The Republican-leaning district includes most of Louisa County, western Hanover and a chunk of northwestern Henrico. Governor Glenn Youngkin won the 59th by about 33 points in 2021.
Fowler, a Hanover County resident who’s seeking his sixth term in Richmond, currently represents more than 40 percent of the district’s voters in his 55th House of Delegates seat, but he’s a new face to residents in Louisa and Henrico. On his website, he highlights his deep roots in Hanover and his years of experience in Richmond.
Craig, an attorney and long-time Louisa resident, has twice sought state office. He finished second to McGuire in a six-man primary for the Republican nomination in the 56th District in 2017. He was also passed over for the nomination in the 56th in 2011 when a party committee chose former Del. Peter Farrell in an abbreviated nominating contest.
Craig brands himself a “conservative fighter” who will defend civil liberties and push back against government growth and overregulation. In his campaign announcement, he pointed to his experience running Craig Williams, his Louisa law firm, as giving him first-hand knowledge of the “onerous regulations that all small business owners face.” He’s pledged to fight “the bureaucratic red-tape that stifles the economic growth Virginians deserve.”
While he’s a lawyer by trade, Strother and his family own Philip Carter Winery and Valley View Farm, both in Fauquier County. In his campaign outreach, he’s highlighted his family’s ties to agriculture, the economic importance of farming and forestry in the district, and his commitment to fighting for the industries and preserving Virginia’s rural traditions.
The winner of the June primary will face Democrat Rachel Levy in the November 7 general election.
House District 55
Voters in the 55th House of Delegates District will choose between two contenders for the Democratic nomination: former Charlottesville School Board Chair Amy Laufer and emergency department nurse Kellen Squire.
The Democrat-leaning district includes most of Albemarle County, western Louisa and a slice of northern Nelson. Former Governor Terry McAuliffe won the 55th by more than 11 points in his failed bid for governor two years ago.
Laufer is a familiar face to some Louisa voters. In 2019, she narrowly lost to Reeves in a bid for Senate in the 17th District, which included most of Louisa County.
A former public school teacher who was twice elected to the Charlottesville School Board, Laufer has touted her experience as an educator and years of community advocacy work as aptly preparing her to represent the district.
“I taught middle school math and science here, I was on (the) School Board. I’m also on the Social Services Board with Albemarle County Public Schools, and I’m on the Foundation for Albemarle County Public Schools, (and) the Ark of the Piedmont. I’ve been doing this advocacy for almost 20 years,” Laufer told NBC 29 News.
The race also marks Squire’s second bid for state office. In 2017, he lost to long-time Delegate Rob Bell in the largely rural 58th House District.
The Albemarle County resident has said that his time working as a nurse in the emergency room has given him unique insight into the struggles Virginians face and he’s ready to go to Richmond and fight for working-class residents who don’t have a voice in the legislature.
“I will unapologetically prioritize the needs and concerns of everyday folks, and work tirelessly to address the kitchen-table issues faced by Virginia families,” Squire wrote on his campaign website.
Either Laufer or Squire will face Republican Reid Wernig, an Albemarle County aerospace engineer, in November.
Senate District 11
Two legislators who currently represent the City of Charlottesville and parts of Albemarle County in the General Assembly are squaring off for the Democratic nomination in the 11th Senate District: Sen. Creigh Deeds and Del. Sally Hudson.
The district is fertile ground for Democrats—McAuliffe won here by more than 18 points in 2021—encompassing the City of Charlottesville, Albemarle, Nelson, and Amherst counties and western Louisa.
Deeds, an attorney and 20-year veteran of the Senate, represents more than 65 percent of the district’s voters in his 25th District state Senate seat. After redistricting drew his Bath County home into a strong Republican district, Deeds opted to move to Charlottesville to run in the 11th.
He’s touted his experience and seniority as two reasons Democrats should back him, arguing at a recent candidates’ forum hosted by Charlottesville Tomorrow that replacing him with Hudson would mean the district loses significant political clout.
“Being an effective legislator is about two things, seniority and relationships. If my opponent has her way, she’s giving up her seniority in the House and she wants to give up your seniority in the Senate. Charlottesville will start at the back of the line in both places,” Deeds said.
Hudson, a strong progressive who’s running to Deeds’ left, has represented the 57th Distirict in the House of Delegates since 2020. She contends that 2023 presents “an extraordinary opportunity for generational turnover in the General Assembly,” in part, because of the shakeup delivered by redistricting. The University of Virginia economics professor points to the diversity of perspectives among House Democrats, largely achieved after the election of Donald Trump, and says she hopes to help bring that to the legislature’s upper chamber.
“I think it’s really important that we start to diversify the Senate on all of those markers—on race, on region, on gender, and on professional perspectives—because I think we can get a lot of good work done if we broaden the range of voices that’s in the room,” Hudson said at the Charlottesville Tomorrow forum.
The winner of the June primary will face Republican Philip Hamilton and Independent J’riah Guerrero this fall.
Voter information
2023 Primary Elections: HD55 (D), HD59 (R), SD11 (D)
When: Election Day is Tuesday, June 20. Polls are open from 6 am to 7 pm
Where: Polling locations across Louisa County (Find your polling location here).
Early Voting: Friday, May 5 through Saturday, June 17
When: Monday through Friday, 8:30 am to 4:30 pm (excluding Memorial Day, Monday, May 29); Saturday, June 10 and Saturday, June 17, 9 am to 5 pm.
Where: Louisa County Registrar’s Office, Louisa County Office Building, 1 Woolfolk Ave., Louisa
Voting By Mail: Apply for a mail-in ballot here or call the Louisa County Registrar’s Office at 540-967-3427 to request an application. The last day to request a mail-in ballot for the June 20 primary is Friday, June 9 by 5 pm.
Register to vote: Register to vote/update your registration status here. Tuesday, May 30 is the last day to register to vote or update your registration status ahead of the June 20 primary. However, Virginia allows same-day voter registration. Voters who miss the May 30 deadline can still vote via provisional ballot through June 20.
Find your state Senate and House of Delegates Districts here. (Enter your address then click on “New” when map/legislators appear).
Check out sample ballots for the June 20 primary here.
Virginia has open primaries. Affiliation with a political party is not required to vote.
County tells sheriff candidate to stop using its seal
Louisa County told a Republican candidate for sheriff to stop his unauthorized use of the county seal or potentially face legal action.
In an April 27 letter to Tim Sansone, County Attorney Helen Phillips attached an example of Sansone’s use of the county seal in material posted on his campaign Facebook page and instructed him to “Cease and desist at once.” Phillips wrote that any further use of the seal “is subject to being a violation of (Section) 59.1-92.13 of the code of Virginia.”
Per Phillips’ letter, the code section provides, in part, that “any owner of a registered mark in force and effect may proceed by suit in a court” to enjoin violations that infringe on its ownership, as laid out in Code Section 59.1-92.12, and/or seek other remedies.
It further states that any person that “knowingly and intentionally violates the provisions of (Section) 59.1-92.12 is guilty of a Class 1 misdemeanor and, upon a second or subsequent conviction, is guilty of a Class 6 felony.”
Phillips wrote that the seal has been registered with the State Corporation Commission as a service mark since 2016 and the Louisa County Board of Supervisors has not given Sansone permission to use it. She included documentation of the seal’s registration with the SCC, which is good until 2026.
A graphic posted on Sansone’s campaign Facebook page last Thursday, a screenshot of which is included with Phillips’ letter, featured the county seal in the upper right-hand corner. The graphic showed Sansone standing next to a car bearing the logo of the private security company he owns with the Louisa County Office Building in the background. It read, “Pay Deputies Fair Wages” and included Sansone’s campaign logo.
Another graphic posted on Sansone’s campaign Facebook page on April 12 also included the seal in its lower right-hand corner. The graphic claimed that LCSO is missing out on grant money because it lacks accreditation. The graphic included a picture of Sansone and his campaign logo.
At publication time, both graphics displaying the seal had been removed from Sansone’s page. The graphics appear to have been removed on Saturday.
Sansone did not respond to an email requesting comment on his use of the seal or the county’s cease and desist letter. Engage Louisa obtained the letter via a Freedom of Information Act request.
Beyond his use of the county seal, Sansone has allegedly run afoul of Virginia’s campaign finance laws by circulating campaign material that doesn’t include a statement disclosing who paid for it. Under Virginia law, campaign committees are required to include a paid-for statement as part of advertisements that expressly advocate for the election or defeat of a candidate or group of candidates.
A campaign flyer featuring photographs of Sansone, his campaign logo, and information about this candidacy doesn’t appear to include a disclosure. Pictures of the flyer were provided to Engage Louisa. The graphics displaying the county seal also didn’t include a disclosure.
It’s unclear if anyone has filed a Stand by Your Ad complaint with the Virginia Department of Elections in connection to Sansone’s campaign material. The Stand by Your Ad process is typically used to adjudicate allegations that campaign advertisements lack a paid-for statement. Engage Louisa submitted a Freedom of Information Act request to the Department of Elections for any complaints involving Sansone’s campaign. At publication time, the department hadn’t responded to the request.
A Lake Anna resident who operates Sentry Force Security, a Fairfax-based private security company, Sansone will face one-term incumbent Donnie Lowe for the Republican nomination for sheriff at a May 8 Mass Meeting at the Betty Queen Center. Hosted by the Louisa County Republican Committee, the Mass Meeting is a party-run nominating process that does not involve the Louisa County Electoral Board or the Virginia Department of Elections.
The meeting begins at 7 pm with registration to vote starting at 6 pm. While the meeting is open to all registered voters in Louisa County, participants will be asked to sign a form agreeing to support the Republican candidates in the November 7 general election, according to a copy of the registration document shared on Sansone’s Facebook page.
At publication time, no Democrat or independent candidate has filed to run for sheriff, per the Department of Elections. Candidates have until June 20 to file.
Sansone has been sharply critical of Lowe’s leadership at LCSO. On his campaign Facebook page, he’s criticized Lowe for a lack transparency and nepotism, accusing Lowe of promoting his son, Dustin Lowe, to captain despite, according to Sansone, his lack of qualifications for the position.
Sansone has also complained that the department has too few deputies and their salaries are too low. He’s argued that, because LCSO lacks accreditation, its missing out on federal grant funding that could increase officer pay and improve recruitment and retention.
According to a campaign finance report filed in mid-April, Sansone spent more than $45,000 of his own money on his campaign in the first quarter of 2023. He spent almost $17,000 on door-knocking and more than $16,000 on mailers.
BOS preview: supervisors to consider wide-ranging agenda
The Louisa County Board of Supervisors on Monday night will consider a busy agenda that includes several discussion and action items and one public hearing. Check out a quick preview of the meeting below.
Board to hold public hearing on Six-Year Secondary Road Plan: Supervisors will hold a public hearing and consider approval of the Six-Year Plan for Secondary Road Construction in Louisa County.
Developed in cooperation with the Virginia Department of Transportation, the plan covers road improvements in the secondary system from FY24 through FY29, earmarking between $171,739 and $261,524 a year for the improvements for a total projected allocation of roughly $1.42 million. The funds are drawn from the state’s Rural Rustic Program, which is specifically aimed at paving unpaved public roads, and “telefee” funds, money paid by telecommunications companies that use public right of ways.
The plan earmarks about $1.18 million to pave parts of several unpaved roads, $219,388 for the Rural Additions Program, which pays for upgrades to private roads to bring them into the state system, and $20,000 for county-wide traffic services including speed studies and new signs.
Board to discuss proposed Emergency Water Supply Ordinance: The Louisa County Water Authority requested that the Board of Supervisors adopt an emergency water supply ordinance, which establishes a “progressive water supply conservation program.” Supervisors will discuss the proposed ordinance Monday night.
In the event of a water supply shortage or threat to the water supply, the ordinance would authorize the Board of Supervisors to declare a water supply watch, warning or emergency and empower the water authority’s general manager to implement voluntary and mandatory conservation measures throughout its service area. The measures would conserve or curtail the use of water supplied by the authority.
When a potential threat to the water supply arises, like the probability of drought, the board could declare a water supply watch, per the draft ordinance. When the water supply begins to decline due to sustained drought or other conditions, supervisors could declare a water supply warning.
Both declarations empower LCWA to implement voluntary water conservation measures, calling on customers to eliminate non-essential water uses and the waste of water. Non-essential uses include watering lawns, golf courses, and other outdoor areas, washing vehicles, and using water for recreational facilities like swimming pools. The ordinance defines the waste of water as “permitting water to escape down a street, roadway, or other surface intended for vehicle driving purposes, and/or any gutter, ditch, or other surface drain” and “failure to repair a controllable leak of water due to defective plumbing.”
In the event of a shortage of water for essential uses, supervisors could declare a water supply emergency, empowering LCWA’s general manager to impose mandatory restrictions on water use. Such restrictions could include general limits on how water is used, suspension of most new connections to the authority's water distribution system, the imposition of water rationing and a partial or complete ban on the waste of water, among other measures.
The ordinance also provides the authority enforcement mechanisms and allows it to increase rates in the event of a water supply emergency.
Board to discuss adopting virtual building inspection policy: Supervisors will discuss adopting a virtual building inspection policy. As proposed, the policy would allow county building inspectors to conduct inspections for certain types of projects virtually. Many inspections would still require in-person visits.
In a memo to the board, County Building Inspector John Grubbs writes that virtual inspections “have become increasingly popular in recent years especially with the advent of new technology that makes it possible to conduct inspections remotely” like video conferencing tools and mobile apps.
Grubbs recommends adopting a policy permitting some virtual inspections, noting that, between 2018 and 2021, the county saw a 139 percent increase in inspections. He writes that allowing virtual inspections would improve the department’s efficiency and save money, among other benefits.
Under the proposed policy, the county could conduct virtual inspections only for specific projects. Initial virtual inspections would be permitted for demolition, drain-tile, sheds, veneer, ditches, ice shield, shower pan and waterproofing. Virtual re-inspections would be allowed for decks, electrical and mechanical work, demolition, framing, foundations, slab plumbing, insulation and footing. If a building inspector deems a project too complex for a virtual inspection, an official would conduct an on-site inspection.
Customers would be required to have a tablet or mobile device connected to Wi-Fi or 4G wireless service for the inspection. They could use either Apple’s Facetime or Microsoft Teams.
Supervisors to consider two resolutions related to affordable housing: Supervisors will consider a pair of resolutions that could help increase the supply of affordable housing in Louisa County.
One resolution would waive all development fees associated with the proposed construction of a 25-unit affordable housing complex at 140 Resource Drive between the towns of Louisa and Mineral.
In December 2022, the board agreed to partner with the Fluvanna/Louisa Housing Foundation to build the $3.25 million complex, committing $775,000 in federal funding to the effort. The board received that money via a Community Project Funding request—specifically earmarked for affordable housing—submitted by Congresswoman Abigail Spanberger’s office. The county also plans to tap $647,000 in federal funding from the Department of Housing and Urban Development’s HOME Investment Partnerships program.
FLHF agreed to contribute more than $1.7 million toward the complex’s construction. The non-profit organization would own the property and rent its units to income eligible residents. FLHF expects to derive at least some of its funding from state and federal grants.
In a separate resolution, the board will consider authorizing FLHF to submit Community Development Block Grant applications to the state or federal government for housing production, construction-ready sewer and water, and housing rehabilitation funding. The meeting materials don’t include any additional information about the resolution.
The cost to connect to public water and sewer infrastructure at the Resource Drive property, a 8.3-acre parcel currently owned by the Louisa County Industrial Development Authority, is expected to reach $900,000. The grant funding could potentially be used to cover at least some of that cost.
Board to consider participation in regional grant application for opioid abatement funds: As part of its consent agenda—a section of the agenda that’s passed as a block typically with no discussion—supervisors will consider a resolution authorizing the county’s participation in a regional grant application to the state’s Opioid Abatement Authority. The authority is tasked with disbursing some state and local proceeds from settlements in class action lawsuits against opioid manufacturers.
According to the proposed resolution, Louisa will team up with Region Ten and several surrounding localities to apply for $1,363,931 in grant funding from OAA. The money would be used to advance services for substance abuse and co-occurring disorders, prioritizing crisis response, expansion of support, assessment, and response services, and enhancement of community outreach. The resolution notes that 59 percent of the adult client population served by Region Ten in Louisa County has a diagnosis of a substance abuse disorder.
At its April 17 meeting, Finance Director Wanda Colvin told the board that the county expects to receive about $548,000 in direct distributions from settlements with opioid manufacturers and can tap more than $242,000 in funding from OAA. According to the proposed FY24 budget, the county plans to spend about $170,000 in opioid abatement money to expand Region Ten’s services in Louisa County including adding a clinician to work exclusively with Louisa residents struggling with opioid addiction.
Board to consider budget supplement for LCPS capital projects: At the request of Superintendent of Schools Doug Straley, the board will consider appropriating $296,000 for several Louisa County Public Schools’ capital projects.
Funding for the projects is included in the county’s proposed FY24 Capital Improvement Plan. But Straley requested the money prior to budget adoption and the start of the next fiscal year because of the lead time needed to complete the projects and scheduling concerns.
“In order to have projects completed before the 2023-2024 school year begins, it is necessary to begin the procurement process at this time versus waiting until the new fiscal year,” the resolution states.
The supplemental appropriation would allot $60,000 for resurfacing tennis courts at Louisa County High School, $81,000 for electronic marquees, $80,000 for LED lighting and $30,000 for a swing set a Moss Nuckols Elementary School. It would allot $15,000 for three other expenditures: a sun canopy at Moss Nuckols, bleachers for the Jungle, the high school’s football stadium, and LCHS “trade storage.”
Board to hear presentation on tourism: The board will hear a “tourism update.” There’s no additional information about the presentation in the meeting materials.
Click here for contact information for the Louisa County Board of Supervisors.
Find agendas and minutes from previous Board of Supervisors and Planning Commission meetings as well as archived recordings here.
Click here for contact information for the Louisa County School Board.
Click here for minutes and agendas for School Board meetings.
Click here to access past editions of Engage Louisa.