BOS Roundup: Supes ok more funding for James River Water Project
BOS Roundup: Supes ok more funding for James River Water Project
The Louisa County Board of Supervisors was back in action on Tuesday night after a light summer schedule that included just two meetings in the previous two months, a departure from supervisors’ regular bimonthly meetings.
Beyond approving an initial performance agreement with Amazon Web Services (see above), which plans to build two data center campuses in the county by 2040, the board okayed the latest cost estimate for the James River Water Project, green-lighted construction of a water tower at the Shannon Hill Regional Business Park, rejected a proposal to alter the color scheme of the county seal and more.
BOS oks more funding for James River Water Project: Supervisors authorized the James River Water Authority to spend up to $45.6 million to complete the James River Water Project, a joint effort with Fluvanna County to draw raw water from the river to meet both localities long-term needs.
The $45.6 million cost, which Louisa will split with Fluvanna, covers construction of a water intake and pump station on the banks of the James, a four-mile stretch of pipeline to connect it to an existing water main just north of Route 6 in southern Fluvanna, design and engineering, easement acquisition and related due diligence. It doesn’t include financing fees or interest on the debt issuance the authority is expected to tap to pay for the project. Fluvanna supervisors will consider approving the funding at an upcoming meeting.
The latest cost estimate is about $6 million more than what JRWA expected to pay earlier this year, according to county officials. It’s $8 million more than a cost estimate floated by JRWA's consultants last summer.
County Administrator Christian Goodwin and Louisa District Supervisor Eric Purcell, who represent the county on JRWA’s board of directors, attributed the cost increase to a combination of inflation and changes in the scope of the project. They said that JRWA is close to securing the necessary permits to start construction and green-lighting the additional funding is necessary to keep the project on track.
JRWA needs two permits to start building: a nationwide permit from the Army Corps of Engineers for construction and a withdrawal permit from the Virginia Department of Environmental Quality to pull water from the river. Goodwin said that a draft of the latter permit is out for public comment—meaning its nearly in hand—and the authority hopes to receive the COE permit by the end of the year. Assuming it does, Goodwin said that construction would start next year, and the pipeline would be operational by 2026.
Mountain Road District Supervisor Tommy Barlow said that JRWA should get its permits before asking for more money. He was the only supervisor to vote against the funding.
“We have spent an enormous amount of money on this thing and I am not ready to authorize more spending until we get that permit done,” Barlow said, referring to the COE permit. “Supposedly, it was coming around the middle of this month. My guess is that has probably moved back. I want to see the James River waterline happen. But I don’t want to see any more money spent until we know it’s going to happen, and we have a permit.”
Green Springs District Supervisor Rachel Jones said people in her district are “chomping at the bit” to see the project come to fruition. The pipeline will feed the Zion Crossroads Growth Area, relieving it from reliance on county-owned wells that, some say, can’t support current or continued development. Jones asked if holding off on more funding until the permits are in hand might delay the project.
Goodwin said it could.
“To answer your question succinctly, Supervisor Jones, yes. It can (put) the permit and, perhaps more worrisome, the cost of the project at risk,” Goodwin said, adding that delays could lead to cost increases for project materials. “You don’t want to slow design down too far…when you do get the permit, which I’m hopeful will be before we get out of 2023, if not sooner than that, we want to be able to pull the trigger and get in the ground and go to work so the cost doesn’t go up more.”
Louisa and Fluvanna joined forces to build the infrastructure about a decade ago, first opting to place the pump station and in-take near the confluence of the James and Rivanna rivers at a site that’s believed to be Rassawek, the ancestral capital of the Monacan Indian Nation. But the federally recognized tribe staunchly opposed the location, stymying the federal permitting process and delaying the project for several years. Facing increasing pressure from the Monacan, JRWA, in March 2022, agreed to move the pump station about two miles upstream and reroute the pipeline to connect to it, triggering a new permitting process. In a letter, the Monacan agreed to support the new site.
Louisa has already invested more than $40 million in the James River project outside of JRWA. The county built a 13-mile pipeline from Route 6 across Fluvanna and a water treatment plant at Ferncliff, both of which will be operated by the Louisa County Water Authority. When the final pieces of infrastructure are complete, the county will channel millions of gallons of water from the river to development along Interstate 64 including at Zion Crossroads and the Shannon Hill Regional Business Park.
When the county began the project in 2014, it estimated that its infrastructure north of Route 6 and JRWA’s portion of the project south of Route 6 would together cost between $40 and $45 million and be operational by 2017. Almost 10 years later, the project isn’t finished, and its price tag has roughly doubled.
Supes green-light Shannon Hill water tower project: The board green-lighted construction of a water tower at the Shannon Hill Regional Business Park. Supervisors allotted $4.9 million for the structure in the FY24 Capital Improvement Plan, part of a $27.55 million appropriation to pay for wet utility infrastructure at the park. The tower is now expected to cost $5.6 million, bringing the total price tag for the utility project to about $28.3 million.
The county plans to pay for the infrastructure using a combination of state grant funding, debt issuance and revenue from the Louisa County Industrial Development Authority. Specifically, the IDA intends to cover $4.9 million of the tower’s cost, drawing on proceeds from land sales and revenue it could receive from a utility-scale solar project slated for the authority-owned Cooke Industrial Rail Park. The county plans to pay for the tower up front with the IDA delivering annual reimbursements as it receives revenue.
Louisa District Supervisor Eric Purcell expressed concern that the IDA planned to rely, in part, on solar revenue to pay the county back. He said the solar project isn’t a done deal because PJM, the regional authority that oversees the grid, hasn’t issued a report on its feasibility.
Jackson District Supervisor Toni Williams said that the finance committee, which recommended the arrangement, did so understanding that there was an “inherent risk” that the solar revenue might not materialize. But he said the plan was put in place to ensure that, if it did, the authority’s money is used to support economic development.
In a separate but related action, supervisors awarded a contract to Landmark Structures for construction of the 750,000-gallon spheroid elevated water storage tank. The company was the lowest of four bidders who vied for the project.
Both items passed 6-1 with Patrick Henry District Supervisor Fitzgerald Barnes casting the lone no vote. Barnes said that he isn’t inclined to support more funding for the park until the county has a business committed to locate there.
Board oks commercial rezoning near Zion Crossroads: Supervisors held a public hearing and voted unanimously to approve Three Notch Road, LLC’s request to rezone, from Industrial Limited (I-1 GAOD) to General Commercial (C-2 GAOD), 3.03 acres (tmp 52-2-2) near the intersection of Three Notch Road (Route 250) and Bybee Road (Route 607) to allow a recreational vehicle sales and service business.
The parcel is currently home to Peebles Golf Cars, a business that sells, stores and repairs golf carts. But, according to Steve Houchens, a representative of Three Notch Road, LLC, the property’s owner, Peebles wants to sell a new classification of golf cart that’s considered a “low speed vehicle.” To accommodate those sales, the property required a rezoning to general commercial because the use isn’t permitted in industrial zoning.
“This new classification of vehicle is built and operates like a car, but it looks and has the same speed limit and probably more capability than a golf cart. But it operates like an automobile, so it’s classified as an automobile. Basically, we are seeking this (rezoning) to be able to allow (our tenant) to sell a new product line. The site will not get used any differently than it is. It won’t look any different than it does,” Houchens told the Planning Commission at its August meeting.
In proffers attached to the rezoning request, Houchens agreed to exclude some 80 uses permitted in C-2 zoning. Three Notch retained the right to use the parcel for uses related to vehicles sales, service and storage and for most uses allowed in both commercial and the property’s current industrial zoning including a brewery and winery.
Board rejects proposed change to county seal color scheme: Supervisors rejected a proposed change to the dominant color in the county seal.
The seal, adopted in 1985, features Princess Louisa donning a blue and white dress and holding white flowers flanked by a tobacco leaf and a Dogwood flower. It’s predominantly yellow and includes a geographic representation of the county with a green backdrop. County Administrator Christian Goodwin requested that the board consider changing the dominant color from yellow to gold, noting that the seal is “very attention-getting” and it clashes with the gold coloring used on many of the county’s emergency vehicles.
“It’s extremely yellow…I’m fine with it being the same, but it would be nice to make it a bit more subdued when necessary, so that it matches some of our apparatuses a little bit better,” Goodwin said, noting that the code language describing the seal says that green and gold—not yellow—were chosen to match the high school’s colors.
Mountain Road District Supervisor Tommy Barlow said that he preferred to keep the seal the way it is, suggesting that altering it could cost the county money because it would require ordering new letterhead and changing other materials.
“I don’t see the necessity in changing it. It’s going to be a cost to do it, and I don’t see any gain or benefit,” Barlow said.
A motion by Jackson District Supervisor Toni Williams to change the seal’s color to gold failed to get a second, leaving the current color scheme intact.
Supes discuss Bracketts Farm tax exemption request, delay action: Supervisors discussed whether to hold a public hearing to consider a real estate tax exemption for Bracketts Farm, a 500-acre working farm in the Green Spring National Historic Landmark District. The Elizabeth A. Nolting Foundation, which owns the farm, requested the exemption under a section of state code that allows localities to exempt nonprofits from real estate taxes on property used for “religious, charitable, patriotic, historical, benevolent, cultural, or public park and playground purposes.”
Jack Maus, a retired attorney and member of the board that oversees the farm, said supervisors should grant the request for a public hearing because Bracketts meets the criteria for the exemption. He said the farm is an important historical site that allows the public to visit and learn about the Green Springs Historic District. It’s listed as a birding destination by the Department of Wildlife Resources, offers a one-mile public heritage nature trail and operates a charity garden that produces food for the Louisa County Resource Council.
But County Attorney Helen Phillips took a different view, arguing that because Bracketts earns rental income from several dwellings on the property, it’s not exclusively used for charitable or benevolent purposes so it doesn’t qualify for an exemption. The foundation earns about $45,000 in rent annually from four dwellings on the farm.
Maus acknowledged that the foundation earns rental income but said that the money is used to “fulfill our responsibility” of keeping the doors open at one of the county’s most prominent historic resources.
“What you have to look at is the broad picture. What are we doing with the money that we get from those rents? We maintain our properties,” Maus said. “Our historic manor house was built in 1803. Old properties need to be taken care of. When you are not owner-occupied, you have to have somebody there to watch out for the property and make sure that when the roof leaks, somebody finds out about it, and it gets fixed.”
Phillips’ interpretation of the law, Maus argued, conflicts with previous decisions by the board to provide exemptions to other charitable organizations. He pointed specifically to the VFW in Mineral where the post’s auxiliary operates a restaurant on weekends.
“You can get a dinner there and that is not a charitable function. But they do it to raise money for the good that they do in the same way Bracketts receives rent in order to do the charitable things that we do,” Maus said.
The board didn’t decide on whether to move forward with a public hearing. Instead, Board Chair Duane Adams appointed Green Springs District Supervisor Rachel Jones and Jackson District Supervisor Toni Williams to a committee to further explore the matter. Williams told Maus that the board would make a decision by its September 18 meeting.
Board tentatively sets annual meeting with state legislators for November 20: Supervisors tentatively set their annual meeting with the county’s legislators in the General Assembly for November 20, just two weeks after high-stakes state legislative elections that will determine which party controls the body’s two narrowly divided chambers.
Supervisors each fall adopt a set of legislative priorities then discuss those items with legislators in hopes that they’ll carry a bill or otherwise advocate for the county’s wish list.
County Administrator Christian Goodwin acknowledged that this year’s legislative meetup would be later than usual because of the elections, which will determine who represents the county in both the House and the Senate. All 140 seats in the General Assembly are up for grabs this fall under new maps adopted during the decennial redistricting process.
Board passes resolution expressing concern with state funding related to services for children with special needs: Supervisors approved a resolution formally expressing concern with “the implementation of budget language on statewide rate setting for private day special education funded through the Children’s Services Act.”
Essentially, the board was concerned that the state intended to cap the amount it would reimburse localities for the cost of private day services for students with special needs.
A recent memo from the state said it wouldn’t reimburse localities for the costs of private day services in excess of a 2 percent increase from rates established for the 2022-2023 school year. But Louisa County uses 14 private day facilities, 11 of which increased their rates between 5 and 12 percent for the 2023-24 academic year, meaning the county would have to shell out more local funds to pay for the services.
But Finance Director Wanda Colvin said that a budget deal struck by the House of Delegates and state Senate in early September removed the cap, resolving the county’s issue. She encouraged the board to approve the resolution anyway because the budget bill hadn’t yet been adopted. The General Assembly passed the bill last Wednesday and it’s awaiting the governor’s signature.