Louisa mayor, Mineral Town Council member resign; BOS roundup: County considering buying more property for landfill
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 26 to May 31
For the latest information on county meetings including public meetings of boards, commissions, authorities, work groups, and internal county committees, click here.
Friday, May 30
Revenue Work Group, Public Meeting Room, Louisa County Office Building, 1 Woolfolk Ave., Louisa, 11 am.
Quote of the week
“I felt like I could no longer effectively work with the majority of the current council.”
-Arthur D. “Danny” Carter on his decision to resign as the Town of Louisa’s interim mayor.
Read more about Carter’s resignation and the resignation of Mineral Town Council member JoAnna Von Arb in the article below.
Louisa mayor, Mineral TC member resign
A high-ranking official has resigned from town government in Louisa and Mineral.
In the Town of Louisa, Arthur D. “Danny” Carter stepped down as interim mayor. In the Town of Mineral, JoAnna Von Arb resigned from her seat on town council.
Carter submitted his resignation to interim Town Manager Craig Buckley on May 21, stating he was leaving “for reasons previously discussed, effective immediately.”
In an interview on Friday, Carter said he resigned because he “felt like [he] could no longer effectively work with the majority of the current council.”
“I need to be able to trust those that I work with. I'll just say that,” he said.
Carter added that council members John Purcell and Sylvia Rigsby, both in their second term, had been supportive during his brief tenure as mayor. He didn’t mention council’s other three members: Vicky Harte, Danny Crawford and Roger Henry. Crawford and Henry are newcomers to the body, winning election last November. Harte won her seat in 2022.
Carter is at least the fifth official to leave town government in the last eight months. Former Mayor Garland Nuckols resigned last September, citing the job’s impact on his health. Council appointed Carter, who served on the body for 25 years, as mayor in November. He was expected to serve until a special election this November to fill the remainder of Nuckols’ term, which runs through 2026.
Shortly after Nuckols’ departure, former Town Manager Liz Nelson resigned. Clerk and Treasurer Jessica Ellis stepped down several weeks ago, and Deputy Clerk Kellye Throckmorton resigned last week, Carter said.
Carter said he couldn’t speak for Ellis or Throckmorton, but he believes they left because “they were no longer comfortable” working for the town.
In Mineral, Von Arb vacated her seat on May 12 after being appointed to the body in March.
In her resignation letter, Von Arb said it had been an honor to serve the town but after “careful consideration” she’d concluded she could no longer be “a productive member of council due to.” She left the sentence unfinished.
In an interview on Friday, Von Arb expressed frustration with what she described as “bullying” on council and infighting among its members.
“I hope that the town can eventually work together, and people that are still being hateful to one another will stop immediately. I hope that all the bullying among the town council members stops immediately,” she said.
Von Arb also expressed concern about what she termed “a lack of transparency” on part of Town Manager Nicole Washington. She said her concern mostly stems from Washington’s handling of issues with the town's water system.
In February, the Virginia Department of Health (VDH) notified the town that it was violating its waterworks permit by exclusively sourcing water from the Louisa County Water Authority. The town had relied on both the authority and a town well for water, but took the well out of production last May amid concerns about its capacity.
The agency gave the town until March 7 to agree to a corrective action plan that requires it to suspend new connections to its water system “until additional source water capacity can be provided.” The plan gives the town until January 2028 to make that happen.
VDH sent its notification on February 5, and Washington submitted the corrective action plan on March 7, halting any water system expansion that hadn’t already been approved. But she didn’t publicly disclose the letter or that the town wouldn’t approve new connections until mid-April.
Von Arb said “the straw that broke the camel’s back” regarding her decision to resign came at the beginning of council’s May 12 meeting when Mayor Ron Chapman delivered a proclamation in honor of the town’s staff including Washington.
“I had no knowledge of a proclamation for her [prior to the meeting],” Von Arb said.
The proclamation came just before Debbie Moon, who owns a building in the town and is a friend of Von Arb’s, criticized Washington during the meeting’s public comment period for the delay in disclosing the VDH notice.
Moon said she’s trying to sell her building, which hasn’t had town water service, and her inability to get water is holding up the sale. She said that while she was denied water in April, people connected to town government had managed to secure approval for water connections after VDH sent the letter on February 5 but before the March 7 cutoff date.
According to documents obtained by Engage Louisa via a Freedom of Information Act request, Washington signed off on zoning permits for four parcels after VDH sent its February 5 letter, with a box checked on each indicating they’d be served by town water.
On February 19, she approved a permit application for a new dwelling on a parcel owned by her husband, Eric Washington, a local contractor. On March 5, she approved applications for new homes on three lots owned by council member Michelle Covert. The applications list Eric Washington as the “contact person.”
A timeline included in the agenda packet for council’s May meeting states that the town didn’t receive the VDH letter until the “beginning of March.” It says that staff discussed the notice with the utility committee, which includes Covert, on March 5.
VDH stated in a May 6 letter that the town wasn’t permitted to approve any water system expansion after February 5, but amended the date to March 7 in a subsequent letter, noting that the town had reported it didn't receive the initial notice in “a timely manner.”
Like Carter, Von Arb was filling the seat of an official who’d previously resigned and was expected to serve until a special election this November. Council selected her to replace Chapman in March after he resigned to take over as mayor. Council appointed Chapman as mayor in February after former Mayor Ed Jarvis stepped down to take a job out of state.
Appointment process and upcoming elections
Mineral Town Council held a special meeting last Wednesday (May 21) to begin the process of replacing Von Arb.
State law says council may appoint a qualified voter from the town to fill the seat within 45 days of the vacancy. The law requires that council hold a public meeting at least seven days prior to making the appointment to share the names of applicants under consideration and make their resumes available for public inspection.
Council opted to accept letters of interest and resumes until June 9 at 2 pm and hold a public meeting to announce the applicants at 6:30 pm. Members voted to choose a new council member the week of June 16. (Click here for more information).
Mineral’s council is well-versed in the appointment process. Von Arb is the seventh elected official to resign in just over a year. But, as with Chapman, a few continue to serve in town government, either because they were reappointed to a seat or won a special election.
At publication time, Louisa’s town council hadn’t laid out a timeline for replacing Carter. Under state law, the town is required to appoint a new mayor within 45 days. If that doesn’t happen, a circuit court judge has the authority.
According to Louisa’s town charter, the vice mayor serves as acting mayor in the absence of the mayor. Vice Mayor Vicky Harte is acting as mayor until council chooses Carter’s replacement.
This November, voters in both towns will choose a mayor in a special election while voters in Mineral will also elect two members to town council. The mayors and council members will serve through 2026 when the terms of the seats’ initial occupants expire.
Residents in the Town of Louisa have until June 17 to file to run for mayor while residents in the Town of Mineral have until August 15 to file to run for mayor or town council.
BOS roundup: County considers growing landfill; Board supports nomination of Cuckoo school to historic register, oks collaboration with Town of Mineral
The Louisa County Board of Supervisors on Monday night dispatched with public business in just over 15 minutes, getting an update from staff on the future of the county’s landfill; approving a resolution to provide administrative assistance to the Town of Mineral; and formally expressing support for Cuckoo Elementary School’s nomination to the National Register of Historic Places. (meeting materials, livestream)
County considers buying more property for landfill
Louisa County is looking for more space to stash its trash.
Deputy County Administrator Chris Coon told the board of supervisors during a presentation on Monday night that the county is looking into purchasing land to expand its landfill, which is located off Moorefield Road southeast of the Town of Mineral.
Coon said the facility took in nearly 23,000 tons of solid waste last year, and its intake increases about 4.6 percent annually, thanks to residential and industrial growth. He said the county is on pace to fill up its current cell—landfill parlance for the large, lined enclosures that store trash underground—by 2031.
After that the county will begin storing waste in another large enclosure surrounding two existing cells. Based on current growth rates, that space could last until 2060, Coon said.
Coon said opening a new cell—beyond the one already planned—would require purchasing more land, either adjacent to the current landfill or at another location. He said county staff is “preparing for” a future land acquisition.
“We do have some regulatory items that we need to start thinking about pretty expeditiously,” he said.
Though the existing landfill could provide storage capacity for another 34 years, Coon said the Department of Environmental Quality [DEQ] requires that planning for a new or expanded landfill begin 20 years prior to its in-service date with another five years needed to secure permits for the facility. That means the county needs to acquire more space by 2035, assuming there’s no significant shift in waste disposal trends or no major changes to state regulations, he said.
Coon said DEQ is currently considering increasing buffer requirements for new and expanded landfills and introducing greater setbacks from schools, water supply wells and property lines, factors that could figure in to a land purchase.
As for its near-term plans, Coon said the county has mostly completed the engineering and design for the next cell and has been setting aside money in its annual Capital Improvement Plan for construction, permitting and regulatory compliance. Opening the cell is expected to cost $2.8 million, according to Coon’s presentation.
Beyond expanding the landfill, Coon said the county is also looking at other options to deal with mounting solid waste including transporting trash outside the county and incinerating it.
“Right now, we are trying to address any increases in waste volume. We are trying to have some contingency plans,” he said.
No board member responded to or asked questions after Coon’s presentation. But just before it, Jackson District Supervisor Toni Williams said he’s recusing himself from any discussion, public or private, about the matter and any votes. Williams said he’s recusing himself to “prevent a potential conflict of interest” but didn’t specify what that conflict might be.
In an interview on Friday, Williams said he wouldn’t be involved in decisions related to acquiring land for the landfill because his son, attorney and developer Torrey Williams, owns property adjacent to the facility. Williams said he doesn’t personally have any financial interest in the land.
Since June 2024, GW2 Properties, LLC, an entity managed by the younger Williams, has purchased nearly 900 acres either directly adjacent to or near the landfill, according to Louisa County land records.
Last June, GW2 paid $180,000 for 55 acres adjoining the facility. In December, the firm and Panamint Farm, LLC paid $920,000 for 394 acres, which joins the landfill to the east. Panamint purchased roughly an 80 percent interest in the property while GW2 bought a roughly 20 percent interest. In February, GW2 spent $965,000 on roughly 435 acres, most of which joins property it purchased with Panamint east of the facility.
Supes support nomination of Cuckoo School to state, national historic registers
Supervisors voted unanimously to support Cuckoo Elementary School’s nomination for inclusion on the National Register of Historic Places and the Virginia Landmarks Register.
The school, located at 7133 Jefferson Highway (Route 33) and owned by neighboring Philippi Christian Church, educated Black children from the early to mid-20th century.
According to the approved resolution, the school is a “rare surviving example of a two-room African American schoolhouse” and “played a critical role in the education of Black students in rural Louisa County during the era of racial segregation.”
The school is being considered for the honorary designations under the “African American Schools in Virginia” Multiple Property Documentation Form. The Virginia Department of Historic Resources (DHR) will present the proposed nomination to the Virginia State Review Board and the Virginia Board of Historic Resources at their June 12 meeting with the goal of securing a recommendation for listing on both registers.
Inclusion on the registers opens the door to state and federal historic rehabilitation tax credits, historic preservation easements and government grants aimed at preserving historic structures.
Listing on the national register also offers some protection for historic properties. Federal agencies involved in projects that affect a listed property must notify DHR of their plans and provide the agency an opportunity to comment on the project’s impact on the property.
The Louisa County School Board owned the school until early 2022 when it was transferred to Philippi’s board of trustees “for the purpose of renovating the old school building and [to] establish the property as an historical site,” per a resolution passed by the school board in August 2021.
According to a brief history in its application for inclusion on the registers, Cuckoo Elementary School was constructed in 1925 and educated Black students, from first through seventh grade, for the next 30 years. It closed in 1955 due to a fire. After that, the structure was occasionally used by Philippi Church for congregation-related activities.
The application notes that the 1.33-acre site where the schoolhouse stands was home to a school for Black children since at least 1875. The Pendletons, a wealthy white family who owned a plantation at Cuckoo, donated the property for construction of a school following the Civil War. The first school was built on the parcel around 1875 after Virginia’s 1868 Underwood Constitution mandated that the state provide public education to all children. A second school was built around 1880.
“The new system would provide for schools within walking distance of every student. Unsurprisingly, the Underwood Constitution did not prohibit school segregation, and separate Black and White schools were established across Virginia,” the application says.
According to oral histories cited in the application, former students describe the 1925 structure as inadequate for the number of students, but “uniformly remember the school fondly,” recalling that its two classrooms were heated with separate woodstoves and a pair of 15-minute recesses allowed time for kickball, jump rope, marbles and other activities. The structure served as both a place to educate children and a community gathering spot with neighbors attending recitals, plays and concerts.
“Cuckoo School was an excellent example of the vital role of a longstanding local school for a rural Black community in Virginia before the establishment of the modern, post-segregation public school system,” the application says.
While a fire shuttered the school in the mid-1950s, the application notes that it would’ve likely been closed shortly thereafter “as a result of pressures related to the equalization era and Civil Rights Movement.” The equalization era refers to efforts to equalize educational opportunities for white and Black students amid attempts to desegregate schools.
Despite the fire, the building retains key aspects of its historical integrity, per the application.
“As a whole, the building retains the aesthetic and historic components that reflect its history as a small, two-room early twentieth-century African American school. The retention of the physical components associated with the historic property, including integrity of the design and materials, along with setting and location, in particular, help maintain its link to the era of racial segregation in Virginia's public schoolhouses from 1870 to the 1960s,” the application says.
Before voting in support of the nomination, Louisa District Supervisor Manning Woodward said that he welcomed efforts to preserve the school.
“Hopefully, [the structure’s owner] can start a fundraising project to get this school building fixed back up so it doesn’t deteriorate anymore and can look like it did when students were going there,” Woodward said.
BOS oks resolution to collaborate with Town of Mineral
The Town of Mineral is getting a helping hand from county government.
As part of their consent agenda, a group of actions typically passed in a block vote with no discussion, supervisors okayed a resolution authorizing “collaborative initiatives” between the county and the town “to advance shared community goals and services.”
According to the approved resolution, the county and town intend to “engage in open information exchange, coordinated communication efforts, and a mutual process of feedback and consultation to promote effective collaboration and shared understanding.” The county will provide administrative support to the town on an “as needed basis.”
The Mineral Town Council at its April 29 meeting passed a similar resolution, green-lighting a partnership with the county focused on “building a mutually collaborative administrative” relationship. The resolution says the town “will be open to feedback and consultation” from the county.
Town Manager Nicole Washington said during the meeting that the partnership would mostly center on county and town staff working together with the county serving as a resource for the town.
“I personally think that this would be great for the town because we can tap into the county’s administrative resources…It’s the staff that would be working with [county staff]. The county—neither the administrator nor the supervisors—wouldn’t have any decision [making authority over the town],” Washington said.
Town and county leaders have said the arrangement would allow the county to share information with the town related to local, state and federal regulations and data; provide administrative assistance on a variety of tasks; and help the town streamline its procurement process.
“This agreement allows our small staff of three to benefit from the knowledge, manpower, and resources of the County. For example, the town will be able to get access to procurement power from contracts the county has for things like computers, maintenance equipment, and many other needs, ultimately saving money from our budget,” Mineral Mayor Ron Chapman said in an email to Engage Louisa.
The board of supervisors earlier this year approved a similar agreement with the Town of Louisa.
The county and the Town of Mineral’s partnership comes on the heels of a dustup between town leaders and their elected representative in county government: Mineral District Supervisor Duane Adams.
At a budget work session earlier this year, Adams criticized both the Towns of Louisa and Mineral, contending that their leaders were ignoring the county’s priorities by embracing rapid residential growth. He said the county was working to slow the influx of new residents, but the towns seemed determined to draw more people, leaving the county on the hook to cover the spiraling cost of services, from new school buildings to more firefighters and cops.
“While the county seems to be on a path of wanting to manage and slow down residential growth, both of the independent towns in this county seem hell-bent on expanding residential growth, and the county bears the expense, from an emergency services standpoint and from a public education standpoint,” Adams said.
Adams’ comments sparked the ire of Chapman and other members of Mineral’s town council. The mayor confronted Adams at a March town hall, accusing him of calling Mineral “a drain on the county” and contending that Adams had made little effort to engage with town leaders, including failing to respond to an invitation to participate in the town’s Comprehensive Plan process.
“I’ve been on town council for three years. I’m the mayor now. I was on the planning commission, and I was the zoning administrator for the town. And you and I have never met,” Chapman said.
Since then, Chapman said that Adams has attended meetings with town leadership, including himself and Washington. He said his exchange with Adams at the town hall had prompted “collaboration,” and he looks forward to building on the relationship going forward.
“My dissent of how we were represented was never meant to be a declaration of dislike. Although my passion may have come off aggressively, I meant for it to convey my desire to work together. In my opinion, the town and the county are a community, and if we work together, we can all benefit. I am extremely pleased with how this is turning out and look forward to continued support in both directions,” Chapman said.
Adams said in an email that, in his eight years on the board, he has “consistently provided direct engagement with [his] constituents.” He said that he believes both towns deserve an opportunity to benefit from administrative support from the county, and he’s pleased that Mineral’s town council agrees.
“I have always believed that cooperation between Louisa County and both the Towns of Mineral and Louisa are important in providing the best use of resources available,” he said.
The agreement with the county appears to be coming at an opportune time for the town as it struggles to maintain its crumbling infrastructure—namely, an aging water system—and navigates increasing interest from developers who see the community as ripe for residential growth.
The Virginia Department of Health (VDH) in February ordered Mineral to halt new connections to the town’s water system after the agency discovered the town was violating its waterworks permit by exclusively sourcing water from the Louisa County Water Authority (LCWA). The permit, issued by VDH in 2020, allows the town to rely on LCWA only as a supplemental water source. It named Mineral’s Well #4 as the primary water source, but the town shut the well down in May 2024 amid concerns about its capacity.
The town is working with VDH to address its water source issues and potentially bring one or more of its six wells back into production. It recently secured $90,000 in grant funding to support the process.
Under a corrective action plan executed with VDH in March, the town has until January 2026 to submit a preliminary engineering report that provides options to “establish adequate source water capacity.” It has until January 2028 to complete any required modifications or additions to its waterworks.
Chapman said the county could provide critical assistance in addressing the town’s water woes.
“As the Town navigates the maintenance and repair to our aged water system, the administrative support the Town can get with this arrangement is invaluable. The County has contracts that can help our Town get the process started, and hopefully save time and money,” he said.
Vicky Harte, a member of the Louisa Town Council, weighed in during the public comment period at Monday’s meeting, expressing support for the county’s outreach to both towns.
“The two towns in this county have to survive, and we can’t do it without your assistance. So, I thank you for making the deal with Mineral to help them out, and I look forward to working with you in the future,” Harte said.
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.
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Click here for minutes and agendas for School Board meetings. Click here for archived video.
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