Supervisors kick off FY26 budget process; Supes talk new welcome signs, parks and rec upgrades; Board pushes for more funding to combat HAB; BOS oks ag rezoning, revised CUP for event venue
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, Jan. 27 through Feb. 1
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 occasionally schedules internal committee/work group meetings after publication time. Check the county’s website for the most updated information).
Friday, January 31
Utilities Work Group, Louisa County Office Building, 1 Woolfolk Ave., Louisa, 3:30 pm.
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.
Quote of the week
“I look forward to seeing the gateway signs as well as a roundabout sign because VDOT may tell us what we can’t do, but we are going to tell them what we can do together.”
–Cuckoo District Supervisor Chris McCotter on his desire to see a Lake Anna welcome sign in the middle of the Wares Crossroads roundabout.
Read more about the development of a county-wide sign plan, including gateway and wayfinding signs, below.
Colvin briefs board on preliminary FY26 budget
Though the calendar year just turned to 2025, the Louisa County Board of Supervisors on Tuesday officially kicked off the Fiscal Year 2026 budget process. FY26 spans from July 1, 2025 to June 30, 2026 and, over the next several months, supervisors will determine how the county spends millions of dollars in public funds. (meeting materials, video)
The annual budget funds both the county’s daily operations—everything from employees’ salaries to fuel for fire trucks—and its Capital Improvement Plan (CIP), which includes big-ticket items like new fire stations, renovations and school buses.
The county draws its funding from local, state and federal sources with about half its revenue coming from general property taxes. As part of the budget process, the board sets local tax rates on everything from real estate to automobiles and airplanes.
Finance Director Wanda Colvin provided the board with what she described as a “very, very preliminary” look at the county’s projected revenues and expenditures for FY26 with the caveat that staff doesn’t have a clear picture of how much money the county will receive from state and federal sources or from local taxes.
She also noted that the county’s expenses are based on requests from department heads and other agencies, not recommendations from county administration or the board.
Based on preliminary requests, the county’s operating expenses are expected to jump 11.86 percent, or $18.5 million, from FY25 to FY26, Colvin said. The operating budget for the current fiscal year tops $156.1 million. That figure could climb to nearly $174.7 million next year.
The increase is driven by several factors, Colvin said. Most notably, the county will pay $6.9 million more in debt service in FY26 after it borrowed more than $60 million in FY25 for two major school construction projects.
Staffing needs, pay hikes for employees and an anticipated rise in health insurance costs are also driving the jump.
Colvin said the preliminary budget includes more than a dozen new full-time staff positions and several new part-time positions, which would add more than $700,000 in operating expenses for salaries alone.
Among others, the new positions include 3 firefighter/medics, three employees for the General Services Department, including a project manager and two technicians, and four employees for the Community Development Department, including a full-time and part-time building code inspector, a full-time code enforcement officer and a part-time administrative assistant.
“As the county continues to grow, so does the cost of providing those services and the resources needed,” Colvin said.
Colvin said the preliminary budget also includes a four percent pay hike for both county staff and Louisa County Public Schools’ (LCPS) faculty and staff. She noted the figure is just a placeholder and could be adjusted. Though final numbers aren’t yet available, Colvin said she’s anticipating a 10 percent increase in employee health insurance costs.
While the school board has yet to consider its spending plan for FY26, Colvin said she expects the division’s budget request to jump about $5.9 million for the coming fiscal year. She noted that some of that money is already accounted for in this year’s budget via budget supplements tacked on throughout the year. Funding for public education typically accounts for nearly 60 percent of the county’s operating budget.
Just as expenses are on the rise, so too are revenues. Per preliminary projections, the county could take in $183.9 million for FY26, a 6.89 percent, or $11.8 million, jump from this year. That increase is driven, in part, by a sizable rise in revenue from real estate taxes.
Colvin said the county is anticipating an 8.7 percent increase in real estate tax revenue, $5.1 million more than this year. That projection factors in revenue from new construction and improvements and the assessed value of existing homes.
Colvin’s revenue projections assume that the board won’t raise or lower the real estate tax rate or other local taxes. Since 2015, the county has maintained its real estate tax rate at 72 cents per $100 of assessed value, among the lowest in the area. Though the rate has remained flat, many homeowners have seen their tax bills soar, particularly in the last few years, thanks to jumps in their property’s assessed value.
Other notable revenue increases include an anticipated 7.3 percent jump in public service corporation taxes, good for $1.2 more than in FY25, and a 111 percent increase in revenue from building and zoning permits, $1.1 million more than the current fiscal year.
Colvin said the hike in public service corporation tax revenue is, in part, a result of the ongoing buildout of broadband infrastructure while the soaring revenue from building and zoning permits would mostly come courtesy of Amazon Web Services’ planned data centers.
While the General Assembly has yet to finalize how much money it will provide to local school divisions, Colvin said that LCPS is expecting an $1.5 million, or 3.65 percent, increase in its revenue.
With operating expenses expected to reach nearly $174.7 million and revenues projected to top $183.9 million, the county would be left with a $9.27 million operating surplus, Colvin said. That cash could be used to offset expenses in the capital budget.
The preliminary Capital Improvement Plan (CIP) for FY26, where big ticket items reside, currently sits at $20.1 million, Colvin said. That’s $31.5 million less than the current fiscal year when the county funded major school construction.
The General Services Department comes in with the heftiest ask in the preliminary CIP: $5.6 million, mostly for renovations and routine maintenance projects. The Fire and EMS Department wants $5.3 million, mainly for remodeling and new equipment. The Parks and Recreations Department is requesting $4.175 million, mostly to save for an indoor aquatics center and sports complex.
To help cover its capital spending, Colvin said the county has $16.6 million in unallocated money in the general fund, its checking account, and $14.8 million in capital reserves, its savings account. Of that, about $5.2 million is earmarked for LCPS.
Jackson District Supervisor Toni Williams, who serves on the finance committee with Board Chair and Mineral District Supervisor Duane Adams, said that, while most of the numbers are still preliminary, the committee has been working on crafting a budget that maintains level tax rates.
“We’ve had several meetings, and we’re working hard to get this tuned to exactly where it’s going to land. We’re anticipating to be able to bring it home and, hopefully, keep taxes flat. That’s our goal,” Williams said, noting the “extra demand” on county services generated by steady residential growth.
No other board member commented on Colvin’s presentation, nor did they ask any questions. Adams participated in the meeting via telephone.
Supervisors will meet for their first budget work session of the FY26 cycle on Feb. 3 at 3 pm prior to their regular meeting. During the session, they’ll review requests from outside agencies, which top $6.3 million, about $200,000 more than last year. The board is also expected to discuss the FY26 Capital Improvement Plan.
For more information about the county budget, click here.
Parks and Rec Advisory Committee shares priorities for park upgrades
The last time Parks and Recreation Advisory Committee Chair Amy Ware addressed the board, she expressed concern that supervisors were considering tapping the department’s capital reserves and a parks’ maintenance and enhancement fund to help pay for a pair of turf fields that had come in significantly over budget.
Ware told the board at its November 4 meeting that committee members had been carefully planning for improvements to parks and rec facilities and suggested that supervisors were ignoring their priorities.
While the board ended up pulling $1 million from the department’s capital reserves for the fields, it left the roughly $460,000 in the parks’ enhancement fund intact.
But Jackson District Supervisor Toni Williams expressed disappointment in the committee and said that he expected better communication from the group going forward.
In a brief presentation on Tuesday night, Ware sought to open that line of communication, outlining where the committee wants to see the county invest money from the enhancement fund in the future.
Topping the committee’s priority list is the addition of a skatepark adjacent to the Betty Queen Center. Ware said.
When county officials demolished the old skatepark more than a decade ago to make way for a temporary home for the Health Department, they promised to replace the park when the department found a permanent home. The agency moved into the Louisa Medical Center more than a year ago, and Ware suggested it’s time for the county to make good on that promise.
“We feel this is the highest priority because it was promised to the people when it was removed for the Health [Department} building,” she said. “It was promised that it would be put back when possible.”
Parks and Rec Director James Smith requested $175,000 for the park in the Fiscal Year 2026 capital budget. The money would cover the cost of extending the concrete foundation that remains from the old park, installing composite ramps and other equipment and railings. The board will discuss the capital budget at a work session on February 3.
The committee’s other priorities focus on maintenance and upgrades at parks and playgrounds. Safety enhancements, new standalone playground equipment and shade structures at the Betty Queen Center’s playground—the department’s busiest facility—top that list.
Ware said that a retaining wall along a steep slope adjacent to the playground needs to be repaired for safety reasons and added that the area doesn’t have much shade.
Committee members want new playground equipment and benches at the Town of Louisa Park and would like to see a dilapidated walking trail replaced. At the Buckner-Bumpass Park, the lone parks and rec facility in eastern Louisa County, the committee wants parking posts installed next to its lower grass field. Ware said the posts would hopefully deter people from riding four-wheelers on the field.
The committee is also eyeing a splash pad for the aquatic center. The county conducted a survey last year to determine what parks and rec improvements residents want, Ware said, and a splash pad ranked high on the list.
Ware’s presentation was somewhat short on details, however, as she didn’t provide cost estimates for each of the committee’s priorities. Parks and Rec Director James Smith was unable to attend the meeting.
To improve communication with county leaders, Ware said the committee plans to forward its meeting minutes to the board and provide periodic updates. She noted that the committee currently meets every other month but could switch to monthly meetings.
Supervisors thanked Ware for her presentation. Several signaled that they’d like to see the Parks and Rec Department get more funding.
“This is wonderful. You’ve been doing a lot with a little for a long time, so planning out for our parks and rec [department’s future] is wise. We can do better in this county,” Cuckoo District Supervisor Chris McCotter said.
McCotter added that the committee could consider enhancements at two county-owned lakes, referring to the Bowler’s Mill Lake near Gordonsville and the Northeast Creek Reservoir in central Louisa.
Ware responded that the committee had discussed improvements at Bowler’s Mill, but members didn’t rank it among their top priorities.
“We met a year ago in November and did a really in-depth budget where all this is coming from and…doing a dock at Bowler’s Mill Lake and a picnic pavilion has been something that Mr. Smith…has been bringing up,” Ware said. “It’s just a matter of what can we do with what we’ve got.”
Louisa District Supervisor Manning Woodward said that replacing the skatepark is long overdue, and he hopes to see more county support for the department going forward.
“Parks and Rec has been underfunded for some time. So, to see some more funding come y’all’s way, I think would be the wish of most of us,” he said.
The Parks and Recreation Advisory Committee currently meets on the first Wednesday of every other month at the Betty Queen Center. Its next meeting is February 5 at 5:30 pm. The public is invited to attend.
Supervisors talk county-wide sign plan
Spiffy new signs that welcome visitors to the area and promote community events could soon adorn Louisa County’s roadsides.
Community Engagement Coordinator Cindy King briefed the board on a county-wide sign plan that’s aimed at sprucing up the community’s gateways and creating a sense of place.
The plan grew out of conversations among county officials interested in making entryways more welcoming, drawing visitors to tourism hotspots like Lake Anna and promoting community events.
“We don’t want people driving through Louisa and not even realizing where they’re at. We really want to establish that sense of place. So, the gateway signs are important to make that initial first impression. We also have what we are calling the wayfinding and event signage, which will help point people around the county,” King said.
King shared a series of draft designs for both gateway signs and event and wayfinding signs, noting that the sign plan is only in its concept phase. That phase involves determining appropriate sizing and materials for the signage, developing designs and gauging costs. (draft wayfinding/event sign) (draft gateway signs)
As currently conceived, King said the signs would be made of aluminum and include painted and vinyl graphics. Each sign would feature a branding element with some offering space to promote events and direct visitors to nearby attractions.
With respect to the branding component, King said that her draft designs use the “modern” Louisa County logo. To create a sense of place and highlight what different areas of the county have to offer, she floated the idea of potentially designing gateway signs specific to different parts of the county.
King noted that the event and wayfinding signs would likely include a relatively simple branding element at the top then a wayfinding element below and space for upcoming events. The signs would feature replaceable panels with tamper-proof screws.
“The initial idea is that we’d fill the sign up with Parks and Rec’s events. That way, we have a full years’ worth of events that we want to promote there. And then, as this program gets its footing, we could have other events [like] signature events that we are partnering with businesses on,” King said.
After the concept phase, developing an implementation plan comes next, King said. That includes settling on final designs and deciding where to place the signs.
Staff has identified the county’s busiest sections of roadway and entry points with the highest traffic counts as potential spots for signs. Among those are the Courthouse Road (Route 208) corridor between Interstate 64 and the Town of Louisa, the New Bridge Road (Route 208 corridor) between Lake Anna and Wares Crossroads and the James Madison Highway (Route 15) corridor between Zion Crossroads and E. Green Springs Road (Route 617).
“As we develop this implementation plan, our thought process is let’s look at the most trafficked road segments first and consider those as where we’d place the signs because they would have more eyeballs on them,” King said. “We would work with the sign vendor to discuss where are cars slowing or stopping. That way, they are safely reading something or they’d be able to take a moment to look, and then we would make design adjustments.”
In developing the sign plan, King has collaborated with the county’s Tourism Advisory Committee, a group of 13 community members with ties to the local tourism industry. The committee recommended a two-phased approach for installation. First, the county could install six gateway signs at major entry points, then develop a series of wayfinding and event signs.
King said that once designs and locations for the signage are finalized, production and installation could be done quickly, and the first signs could be in the ground in the next few months.
The county recently inked a deal with Holiday Signs to produce and install the signage. According to quotes from the company, the wayfinding and event signs could cost between $5,000 and $6,000 each while the gateway signs could cost anywhere from $2,800 to $8,000 depending, in part, on their size.
The county plans to pay for the signs with revenue from its transient occupancy tax, a levy that’s tacked on to visitors’ bills when they stay the night at a hotel, bed and breakfast or short-term rental. Supervisors hiked the tax from two percent to seven percent in October of 2023. Per state law, about 40 percent of the revenue generated by the tax must be used for tourism-related initiatives.
The signs are expected to last between seven and 15 years. King noted that they’d be relatively low maintenance, requiring periodic cleaning with soap and water.
The board reacted favorably to King’s presentation. Louisa District Supervisor Manning Woodward said the county “can’t get this done quick enough.” Green Springs District Supervisor Rachel Jones said she’s looking forward to the removal of an old, faded welcome sign in her district.
Mineral District Supervisor Duane Adams and Cuckoo District Supervisor Chris McCotter, who represent the county’s biggest tourism draw, Lake Anna, said they’re happy to see the sign plan moving forward. And both pushed for a gateway sign in the middle of the new roundabout at Wares Crossroads.
McCotter and Adams noted the potential for design limitations from the Virginia Department of Transportation (VDOT) but suggested that the county work with the department to find a solution.
“I look forward to seeing the gateway signs as well as a roundabout sign because VDOT may tell us what we can’t do, but we are going to tell them what we can do together,” McCotter said.
King said that while a Wares Crossroads roundabout sign isn’t in the current plan, it could easily be added, noting she’d received conflicting information about what VDOT would permit inside the roundabout.
“I think we just need to work with VDOT with an actual design and start working through that process,” King said.
Before any gateway or wayfinding signs are installed, the final plan will be reviewed by the planning commission and approved by the board of supervisors.
Local officials push for more state support to combat HAB as LAAC mitigation program makes progress
County officials are again pushing for more state support to combat Harmful Algal Blooms (HAB) at Lake Anna.
Composed of cyanobacteria that can be detrimental to human health and harmful to wildlife and pets, the blooms have become a seasonal problem at the lake in recent years, prompting the Virginia Department of Health to issue no swim advisories for parts of its upper reaches every summer since 2018.
Supervisors have repeatedly sounded the alarm about the issue, warning that the blooms’ persistence could impact tourism, hurt the local economy and threaten the waterway’s long-term health.
On Tuesday, the board approved a resolution—and a pair of draft letters to the General Assembly—supporting proposed amendments to the biennial state budget that would fund ongoing HAB mitigation efforts at the lake as well as monitoring and testing in inland waterways.
Sen. Creigh Deeds, D-Charlottesville, a high-ranking member of the Senate Finance and Appropriations Committee whose district includes a slice of western Louisa County, and Delegate Buddy Fowler, R-Hanover, who represents most of the county in the House of Delegates, are both carrying budget amendments in their respective chambers aimed at combatting the blooms. The amendments would pull $1 million from the state’s general fund “to continue support for cyanobacteria mitigation and remediation at Lake Anna,” according to the state budget website.
In its draft letter, the board says the funding would allow stakeholders to continue a multi-year project aimed at mitigation and remediation. The state allocated $1 million for the effort in an amendment to the state budget two years ago and another $500,000 in last year’s biennial budget. But, as adopted, the two-year spending plan doesn’t include any money for the program in its second year.
The Lake Anna Advisory Committee (LAAC), an inter-jurisdictional panel including Louisa, Spotsylvania and Orange counties, used the funding to pay for the inaugural year of its Lake Anna Cyanobacteria Mitigation and Remediation Program (LACMRP), a multi-year effort to reduce excess phosphorus in two of the lake’s upper branches: the Upper North Anna Branch and Terry’s Run. Excess phosphorus, which can come from runoff from agriculture and development, among other sources, serves as a key food source for the blooms.
LAAC contracted with EutroPHIX, a private company with deep experience managing HAB in fresh water, to deploy proprietary treatments in the North Anna Branch and Clean Streams, Rivers, and Lakes (CSRL), a nonprofit, to treat Terry’s Run. CSRL relied on both chemical treatment and beneficial bacteria released from pods affixed to buoys in the lake.
At LAAC’s January 23 meeting, Environmental Subcommittee Chair Harry Looney said that, at the program’s outset, the committee aimed to reduce phosphorus by 10 percent in the treatment areas in the first year. Data from water sampling shows both contractors far exceeded that goal, he said.
But Looney noted that phosphorus levels also dropped significantly in the Upper Pamunkey Branch, which LAAC didn’t treat, suggesting that factors beyond the contractors’ treatment protocol could be at play.
“What that does is it indicates that the total phosphorus reductions that were achieved by EutroPHIX in the North Anna and by Clean Streams, Rivers, and Lakes in Terry’s Run may not be fully attributable to their chemical and biological treatments,” Looney said, noting that he’s working with scientists from Virginia Commonwealth University (VCU) to better understand the data.
In its letter, the board emphasized the importance of continuing the program.
“The intervention measures being implemented at Lake Anna using state funding appropriated in fiscal years 2024 and 2025 are working, but a steady level of state funding is required to continue our efforts. The Senate and House budget amendments were introduced to bring the funding level back to the fiscal year 2024 budget level to allow for continued progress of our mitigation efforts,” the board’s letter says.
To address funding for testing and monitoring, Sen. Bryce Reeves, R-Spotsylvania, and Del. David Bulova, D-Fairfax, are carrying budget amendments for $250,000 in the Senate and House, respectively. The amendments would direct DEQ, in coordination with the Division of Consolidated Laboratory Services, “to provide testing of inland waterways” for the presence of HAB, “which may include enumeration of cyanobacteria and associated toxicity analyses."
Currently, the state has no funding specifically dedicated to monitoring and analyzing HAB in fresh water.
“It is an alarming fact that there currently is no state funding allocated for fresh water [cyanobacteria Harmful Algal Bloom] cHAB monitoring and analysis by the Virginia Department of Environmental Quality. The impact of this budget shortfall is far-reaching, affecting DEQ’s ability to monitor Virginia’s waterways for bacteria that can cause serious health effects in humans, pets, and aquatic wildlife,” the board’s draft letter says.
Aside from pushing the General Assembly to deliver more aid via amendments to the state budget, supervisors also expressed formal support for $1 million in state grant funding aimed at reducing the nutrients that feed the blooms.
EutroPHIX, one of the contractors working with LAAC as part of its mitigation program, is applying for the funding through DEQ’s pilot “Pay For Outcomes” program, which focuses on reducing phosphorus and nitrogen in the Chesapeake Bay watershed.
“We are confident that the technical approach offered by the EutroPHIX team will result in nutrient reductions in the Lake Anna sediment, thereby reducing the flow of nutrients to the Chesapeake Bay and reducing the food/energy source for the cyanobacteria that cause the cHABs we have seen over the past seven years,” the letter says.
At its meeting, LAAC agreed to partner with EutroPHIX on its application, pending a final review by Louisa County. Looney said that while the company could leverage some seed money for the project up front, it wouldn’t receive any grant funding until it showed its mitigation efforts are working.
“[DEQ] is exploring ways to only pay when the outcomes are achieved. That’s what this program is trying to do,” Looney said, adding, “The applications will provide a per-pound of nutrient reduction at cost and then when data comes into DEQ to show [you] removed a pound of nitrogen or a pound of phosphorus, that’s when you get paid.”
If it’s selected for the program, Looney said EutroPHIX plans to partner with VCU for monitoring.
“[VCU] is going to do all the water analysis and sampling,” he said.
He added that the project won’t require any money from LAAC but will require oversight and members’ time.
LAAC also agreed to send letters to the General Assembly advocating for continued support for HAB mitigation and dedicated funding for testing. In addition, it approved a letter expressing support for budget amendments submitted by Deeds and Fowler that would direct $33,000 to the committee for hydrilla management and buoy maintenance on the lake.
Hydrilla is a submerged aquatic weed that can damage infrastructure and impede navigation. Drawing on funding from its three member jurisdictions, LAAC manages the invasive plant via an annually approved plan that relies on herbicide treatments to kill it and sterile carp to eat it.
The committee also maintains a network of no-wake buoys that flag navigational hazards.
Together, the programs are expected to cost about $33,000 this calendar year.
BOS roundup: Supervisors ok revised CUP for event venue, clear way for hobby farm
Check out a roundup of other happenings from Tuesday’s board of supervisors meeting.
Supes ok revised CUP for Bowood Barn
The board held a public hearing and voted unanimously to approve Bowood Barn and its owner Mary Bland’s request for a revised conditional use permit (CUP) that allows for the continued operation of a bed and breakfast and tacks on special occasion facility as an additional use.
The business sits on 32.55 acres (tax map parcel 39-26), zoned for agricultural use (A-1, A-2), at 500 Tisdale Road in the Patrick Henry Election District. The county first issued a CUP for the facility in 2016, allowing for the operation of a bed and breakfast with outdooring gatherings as an accessory use.
“The applicant is currently hosting private parties, wedding receptions and dances, such as the Louisa County High School prom, which aligns more with the defined use of special occasion facility,” Senior Planner Tom Egeland said.
The tweaked CUP makes minor changes to several of the 16 conditions, most notably allowing the facility to host one event a year—the high school’s prom—with up to 600 attendees. Otherwise, it permits a maximum of 250 people at events and allows the facility to hold no more than 25 “special occasion” events per year.
In brief comments to the board, Bland said she enjoys hosting the prom and sees it as a way to give back to the community.
“It has been a lifetime highlight of mine to be able to host the Louisa County High School prom. I have a heart that wants to serve my community. As a retired fireman from Fairfax County, that’s where my soul rests,” she said.
No one spoke for or against the revised CUP during the public hearing. A teacher from Louisa County High School submitted a letter in support of Bland’s request.
Board oks request to rezone commercial property for agricultural use
A Ferncliff couple can have their hobby farm.
Supervisors held a public hearing and voted unanimously to approve Robert and Stacy Fuller’s request to rezone, from General Commercial (C-2 GAOD) to General Agricultural (A-2 GAOD), 3.7 acres at 991 Courthouse Road (Route 208) in the Patrick Henry Election District (tax map parcel 67-3-2).
The rezoning clears the way for the Fullers to establish a hobby farm behind their home with a large garden, a row of fruit trees, a chicken coop with a maximum of 20 birds, ducks, fish and, potentially, goats. They also plan to build a barn on the property.
The parcel is less than a half mile from the Ferncliff exit off Interstate 64 in the Ferncliff Growth Area Overlay District (GAOD). It’s designated for mixed-used development on the Future Land Use Map in the 2040 Comprehensive Plan. Agricultural activity isn’t permitted by-right on commercially zoned properties in the county’s GAODs, prompting the Fullers’ request.
Robert Fuller told the board that he graduated from Louisa County High School in 1987 where he was vice president of the Future Farmers of America. He said he didn’t pursue his interest in farming upon graduation instead embarking on a career in the Marine Corps where, over the years, he sustained several injuries.
Fuller said he returned to the county about 15 years ago and eventually acquired a home just off 64 because it allows for easy access to medical facilities. Now, he wants to return to his roots by starting a hobby farm to stay busy in retirement.
“I would like to set up my [hobby farm] behind my house, not to the front of it, so it’s not something that would be an eyesore or anything…I’d like to do some raised beds and a few animals,” Fuller said.
Before approving the rezoning, supervisors agreed to refund the Fullers’ application fee. Several board members suggested they were sorry the couple had to ask for the county’s permission to pursue the use.
“I am really sorry that Louisa County is putting you through this, that you are not allowed to just go ahead and do this [with] your land,” Louisa District Supervisor Manning Woodward said.
As the governing body, the board of supervisors has the power to change the zoning code to allow agricultural activity by-right regardless of a property’s zoning designation.
Supes ok nearly $46,000 in tourism grants
Two prominent organizations that draw visitors to the area will receive more county support thanks to the recently launched Tourism Partnership Grants Program.
The county created the program last year to promote tourism and economic development, relying on revenue generated by the transient occupancy tax. The tax is added to visitors’ bills when they stay the night at a local hotel, bed and breakfast or short-term rental. Per state law, about 40 percent of Louisa County’s seven percent levy must be spent on tourism-related initiatives.
The board voted unanimously to award the Louisa County Fair an amount not to exceed $26,699 and to provide the Louisa County Historical Society with an amount not to exceed $19,000.
The fair, an annual summer event at Mineral’s Walton Park, is permitted to spend $20,000 on musical acts and $6,699 on advertising and marketing. The latter allocation will work in concert with a grant from the Virginia Tourism Corporation, ensuring at least $10,000 for advertising and marketing efforts.
“The Tourism Advisory Committee had recommended providing up to $10,000 for advertisement, and then they wanted to subtract whatever money that the county fair received from the Virginia Tourism Corporation. They did receive a $3,301 grant,” Deputy County Administrator Chris Coon said.
The historical society will receive $12,000 for the integration of maps and tours into Louisa County’s tourism app; $6,000 for visitor center signage at the Sargeant Museum in the Town of Louisa; and $1,000 for an all-weather outdoor brochure/map kiosk. The kiosk project is contingent upon "further evaluation of compatibility with existing infrastructure,” according to the approved resolution.
The county’s Tourism Advisory Committee reviewed both organization’s proposals and recommended providing only part of the requested funding. Fair organizers initially asked for $149,788 to bring a band to their mid-summer event and upgrade the Walton Park stage. The historical society requested $42,760, a portion of which would’ve enabled the Sargeant Museum to open on Saturdays.
The $45,699 awarded to the organizations represents about 27 percent of the program’s roughly $169,000 budget for Fiscal Year 2025, leaving about $122,000 for other nonprofits interested in applying.
Coon noted that the grants represent one-time funding, and the organizations are free to apply for support again next year. He added that a Memorandum of Understanding requires the organizations to return any money they haven’t spent by a certain date.
Aside from the grants, both the fair and the historical society receive some county support. As part of its funding for outside agencies, the board gave the fair $7,500 in FY25 while the society received $5,000.
Staff to create guidelines for citizens serving on county committees
While the meeting agenda led this reporter to believe supervisors would discuss expectations for the many ad-hoc workgroups and committees they form to tackle public business outside of their regular meetings, that proved to be wishful thinking.
Deputy County Administrator Chris Coon instead told the board that staff plans to craft a document outlining expectations for citizens appointed to county committees, commissions and boards. Those groups include more than two dozen public bodies—from the Louisa County Planning Commission to the Commission on Aging—tasked with advising county government and, in some cases, performing administrative functions.
Coon said staff wants to clarify the responsibilities and expectations that come along with a committee appointment, including outlining any provisions related to the bodies in state code.
“We wanted to work on this to help clarify for members the advisory roles and responsibilities, promote consistency and basically give [members] the document when they come on board,” Coon said.
Coon encouraged supervisors to share their ideas for the document, noting that staff hopes to present a draft at one of the board’s next two meetings.
County attorney to propose additions to county code to address retail sales of controlled substances
Though Virginia law doesn’t allow for the retail sale of controlled substances, County Attorney Patricia Smith told the board that she wants to explore adding provisions that address such sales to county code.
“There’s been some discussion of retail sales of controlled substances, particularly because there’s a lot of activity on the state level about this. The county [doesn’t] have anything that really defines the retail sale of controlled substances. So, this is something that we think we should take a deeper look at and define it in the code, and also, maybe, think about having a separate section in the code that addresses this for the future since there’s a lot of activity going on in that area,” Smith said.
Though she didn’t say so explicitly, Smith was apparently referring to ongoing efforts by lawmakers in Richmond to create a state-regulated retail market for cannabis.
Under Virginia law, its legal to possess a small amount of cannabis and to grow up to four plants for personal consumption, but lawmakers have yet to greenlight retail sales.
While legislation currently working its way through the Democratic-controlled General Assembly seeks to do just that, Republican Governor Glenn Youngkin, who wields the veto pen, has made clear he isn’t interested in moving forward with a state-regulated market during his final year in office.
Supervisors gave Smith a green light to begin working on the code provisions. Several said the planning commission should review her ideas first.
Board approves tweaks to Land Development Regulations
With little discussions, supervisors approved a handful of tweaks to the county’s Land Development Regulations.
Community Development Director Linda Buckler told the board that the changes are necessary to clean up conflicts in the code, clarify county rules and improve efficiency in their application.
Most notably, the amendments prohibit new residential uses in commercial zoning; exempt from setback regulations in all zoning districts specific improvements, including retaining walls for commercial projects and walkway structures that cross property lines onto Dominion Shoreland adjoining Lake Anna; and codify the unwritten method for calculating the distance between over-water structures when determining the required width of a travel way.
No one spoke for or against the changes during Tuesday night’s public hearing.
Supervisors ok request for split precinct
Supervisors unanimously approved a resolution that allows the county to formally request from the State Board of Elections a waiver to administer a split precinct for the November 4 general election. The waiver is necessary because one residence in the Mountain Road 1 precinct is in the 56th House of Delegates District while the remainder of the precinct is in the 59th House District.
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A large sign in the middle of a roundabout could be a distraction to drivers; Can't say that I've ever seen a sign in any roundabout.