This week in county government; Supes to delay budget adoption, consider light agenda; PC deadlocks on CUP for utility-scale solar site; Youngkin endorses McGuire in SD10 race; Mineral TC roundup
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.
Dear Readers,
We’ve been publishing Engage Louisa for two years, delivering in-depth reporting on Louisa County government each week that you can’t find anywhere else. You’ll notice that this week’s edition includes a recap of recent Mineral Town Council meetings by town resident Chris Guerre. We’re excited to include Chris’s contribution as we work to cover as many local meetings as we can! We believe deeply that our community is stronger and our government serves us better when citizens are informed and engaged. Thank you for reading and please help us grow our audience by sharing Engage Louisa with friends and neighbors. -Tammy
This week in county government: public meetings, April 17 through April 22
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, April 17
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, April 18
Louisa County School Board, special called meeting, Central Office Administration Building, 953 Davis Highway, Mineral, 7:30 pm. (agenda)
Wednesday, April 19
Community Policy Management Team, Administrative Conference Room, Louisa County Office Building, 1 Woolfolk Ave., Louisa, 1 pm.
Thursday, April 20
Industrial Development Authority, Public Meeting Room, Louisa County Office Building, 1 Woolfolk Ave., Louisa, 8:30 am.
Other meetings:
Tuesday, April 18
Louisa Town Council, 212 Fredericksburg Ave., Louisa, 6 pm. (agenda)
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.
Supes to delay budget adoption, consider light agenda
The Louisa County Board of Supervisors on Monday night will consider a brief agenda that doesn’t include adoption of the county’s FY24 budget.
Supervisors traditionally adopt the budget for the coming fiscal year, which runs from July 1 through June 30, in mid-April. And, according to their budget calendar, they had intended to do that this year. But delays in amendments to the biennial state budget changed those plans. Now, it’s unclear when the board will green-light a spending plan as it waits on action from the state.
“We’re erring on the side of caution,” Board Chair Duane Adams said of the decision to delay adopting a budget, noting that the school division and other county agencies rely heavily on state funding. “I certainly hope our friends in Richmond will get something done soon.”
This year isn’t the first time the General Assembly has been slow to agree on state spending. Last year, the legislature didn’t adopt its two-year state budget until June, but Louisa opted to adopt its budget in April, using state funding projections. Many localities have chosen to move ahead with their spending plans this year. Neighboring Hanover County and the City of Charlottesville both approved budgets last week.
But Adams said Louisa’s board prefers to wait for solid funding numbers from Richmond, so they won’t have to tweak the budget post-adoption.
Budget negotiators from the Republican-controlled House of Delegates and Democratic-controlled Senate stalemated on budget talks during the General Assembly’s 46-day session earlier this year, unable to resolve a $1 billion dispute over tax cuts included in the House budget bill and increased funding for schools, mental health, and other services in the Senate’s plan. The legislature managed to pass only a so-called “skinny budget” as a stop-gap measure.
According to media reports, lawmakers have suggested they’re content to wait for more information on state revenues over the final quarter of the fiscal year before moving forward with a budget plan. They’ve pointed out that the state already has a biennial budget in place, so there's no hurry to adopt amendments.
Waiting a couple months to green-light the budget could also be politically convenient as some General Assembly members are locked in competitive primary elections this spring. Adams himself is vying for the Republican nomination in the 10th state Senate District with a May 6 convention set to decide that contest.
But not acting on proposed changes leaves millions of dollars in tax relief, additional funding for schools and behavioral health services, and other state aid hanging in the balance, sparking concern from some local government advocates.
“We’d love to know how much additional funding is available to our communities to address the needs in our schools, as well as critical investments in our overburdened behavioral health system,” Joe Flores, director of fiscal policy at the Virginia Municipal League, told the Richmond Times-Dispatch.
Finance Director Wanda Colvin said at a March 20 budget work session that she’d like to have a county budget in place prior to July 1, the first day of the new fiscal year. Not implementing a budget by that date complicates the county’s ability to function, she said.
Colvin said in March that state code required the county to adopt the schools’ budget by May 1, but she clarified in an email on Friday that she had cited an old code provision. According to current code, the county is required to adopt a school budget by May 15 or no more than 30 days after it receives estimates of state funds, whichever occurs later.
As they await hard figures from Richmond, supervisors and staff have been busy crafting the local budget, plugging in projections for state funding. The board originally advertised a $208.6 million budget and a slate of level tax rates including a 72-cent per $100 of assessed value rate for real estate and a $2.43 per $100 of assessed value rate for personal property. But, Adams and Jackson District Supervisor Toni Williams, who make up the board’s finance committee, proposed some notable changes to that plan during a public hearing at the board’s April 3 meeting.
Amid backlash from citizens angry about their rising real estate tax assessments, which have generated significant hikes in some residents’ tax bills, Williams and Adams proposed $2.975 million in cuts and other changes, freeing up funds for a five percent real estate tax rebate. Under the proposal, the county’s real estate tax rate would remain at 72 cents—where it’s sat since 2015—but property owners would receive a five percent reduction on their tax bills, effectively paying a levy based on a 69-cent rate.
Those changes, coupled with a shift of $18 million to FY25 to finish the James River Water Project, reduces the proposed budget to $189.4 million including $147.9 million for daily operations and $41.5 million for capital projects. The county is still on the hook for the $18 million for the water project, but that money will be borrowed next year via the James River Water Authority, the entity overseeing the final phase of the pipeline’s construction.
Though supervisors haven’t formally voted on the finance committee’s proposal, Adams said he’s confident a majority of the board will green-light the rebate.
For more details on the proposed FY24 budget, read last week's edition of Engage Louisa. Check out Colvin’s budget presentation from the April 3 meeting here.
Check out a brief preview of Monday night’s Board of Supervisors meeting below.
Board to hold public hearing on CUP for equipment business
Supervisors will hear public comment and consider whether to approve Lane Industrial & Supply, LLC’s request for a Conditional Use Permit to operate an equipment sales business at 18034 Louisa Road (Route 22) at its intersection with Oakland Road in the Patrick Henry Voting District. The 4.38-acre parcel is zoned for industrial use.
Thomas Lane told the Planning Commission at its March 9 meeting that he plans to operate a business that sells agricultural, forestry, and construction equipment, but noted that the site wouldn’t be home to a large sales lot. He said he does most of his business with out of state dealers via the internet, over the telephone, and at trade shows and would primarily use the property to assemble equipment. Lane rehabbed an existing structure for office space.
Lane agreed to maintain a 50-foot vegetative buffer along adjoining residential properties and use dark-sky compliant lighting. He’s currently working with the Virginia Department of Transportation to determine what, if any, improvements are required for the property’s entrance off Louisa Road.
The Planning Commission voted 7-0 to recommend that the Board of Supervisors approve the CUP with seven conditions including the vegetative buffer.
Community Development Department staff also recommend approval, noting it in its report that Lane “intends to revitalize a property that has been blighted and abandoned for several years” and that the proposed business “matches the character of the surrounding area which includes existing businesses and industrial zoned parcels.”
Board to consider MOU, more funding for Region Ten
During discussion of the FY24 budget, supervisors expressed concerns about the need for more behavioral health services in the county, floating the possibility of funding a Louisa-based clinician via the regional non-profit Region Ten. Region Ten provides mental health and substance abuse treatment services as well as assistance to residents with developmental disabilities in six Central Virginia localities including Louisa.
Supervisors appear poised to move forward with that plan Monday night. They’ll consider approval of a Memorandum of Understanding with Region Ten that lays the groundwork for hiring a clinician to provide a range of behavioral health services to Louisa residents. The county will provide $75,000 to fund the position, per the MOU.
In a separate action included on the board’s consent agenda, supervisors will consider authorizing the acceptance of $61,075 in grant funding from the Opioid Abatement Authority, a state entity tasked with disbursing Virginia’s share of proceeds from class action lawsuits against opioid manufacturers. The board is expected to use that money to help cover the cost of the clinician.
A representative from Region Ten said at a budget work session last month that the organization would advertise the position once the county decided to fund it. She noted that there’s a shortage of behavioral health clinicians in the area and couldn’t guarantee that the organization would immediately find someone to fill the position.
Planning Commission deadlocks on CUP for utility-scale solar site
The Louisa County Planning Commission on Thursday night deadlocked on whether to recommend that the Board of Supervisors approve what would be the county’s eighth utility-scale solar site. (meeting materials, video)
Despite several commissioners praising the proposal as one of the best solar projects they’ve seen, the commission rejected, in a 3-3 vote, Jackson District Commissioner Cy Weaver’s motion to green-light Horsepen Branch Solar LLC’s request for a Conditional Use Permit to build and operate an up to 20 MW solar array on 100.7 acres of a 304-acre site near Bumpass. A motion requires majority support to pass.
Weaver, Louisa District Commissioner Manning Woodward, and Mountain Road District Commissioner Gordon Brooks voted in support of the request while Mineral District Commissioner John Disosway, Green Springs District Commissioner Jim Dickerson, and Patrick Henry District Commissioner Ellis Quarles opposed. Cuckoo District Commissioner George Goodwin was absent.
The commission also rejected in a 3-3 vote Weaver’s motion to find the project in substantial conformance with the county’s 2040 Comprehensive Plan, a determination required by state code.
Before voting against the proposal, Disosway said that he didn’t have anything against this specific project, calling it “a very good application.” But he said that he’s “seen enough agricultural land converted to industrial use through solar fields and other things in this past month,” an apparent reference to supervisors’ recent approval of a technology overlay district that allows tech sector uses on some parcels currently used for farming and forestry.
“We do have a lot of agricultural land in the county that’s in ag use. It’s in farms. It’s in timber. But we are converting that now to industrial use for solar farms and other things at, in my estimation, an alarming rate and I am just through with that conversion,” he said.
Woodward, Brooks, and Weaver similarly praised the application before voting to support it.
“We’ve learned from each (solar) project and I think this one has been put together probably better than any we’ve ever had,” Weaver said, noting that he likes the applicant’s idea of fencing solar arrays in individual blocks to allow wildlife corridors on the site and appreciates the attention paid to controlling runoff, which has been a significant issue at another solar facility in the county.
The Planning Commission’s votes don’t necessarily doom the project as the Board of Supervisors has the final say on whether to approve the CUP. The board could also overrule the commission’s determination on the project’s conformance with the Comp Plan. If supervisors ultimately green-light the project, the Horsepen site would be the first utility-scale solar facility approved since the board adopted an overhaul of the solar ordinance last year.
That revision was crafted in response to concerns about the impact of large-scale solar arrays on the county’s rural character and fallout from Dominion’s 88 MW Belcher Solar Facility off Waldrop Church Road where stormwater runoff has caused significant damage to neighboring farms. The ordinance tightens regulations and development standards for solar facilities and caps at three percent, or 9,800 acres, the amount of land in the county that can be used for utility-scale solar generation. Once they’re all constructed, the seven sites already approved will cover nearly 5,200 acres and provide about 500 MW of carbon-free power to the grid.
The largely wooded Horsepen site is located just south of Lake Anna, adjacent to the Lake Anna Airport, in the Jackson Voting District. It’s bound by Pottiesville Road (Rt. 650) to the west, Kentucky Springs Road (Rt. 652) to the east, and a railroad easement at its southern edge. The Frank B. Boxley Jr. and Hilda P. Boxley Revocable Trust owns about 183 acres of the site while the Amanda Reidelbach Revocable Trust owns the remaining 121 acres. The property is primarily zoned for agricultural use (A-1, A-2) with two parcels on its western edge zoned residential (R-2).
Clenera, LLC, a subsidiary of Enlight Renewables, an Israeli company that has developed wind and solar projects in the Middle East, Europe, and the United States, would own and operate the facility. According to its website, Clenera operates or is in the process of constructing 5 gigawatts of solar capacity across eight states.
In its application, Clenera contends that the Horsepen site is particularly attractive for large-scale solar development because its “highly isolated, and the small number of sight lines into the project boundary are heavily screened from view by existing vegetation.” With that in mind, the applicant has requested a modification of the county’s setback requirements, which mandate a 300-foot setback for utility-scale solar sites inclusive of an opaque vegetative buffer.
Supervisors expanded setback and buffer requirements from 150 to 300 feet last year when they updated the solar ordinance. But the board left open the possibility of adjusting those standards on a project-specific basis.
Clenera representative Ed Rumler told the commission that the company intends to provide a 150-foot setback around much of the property that would encompass a 100-foot buffer of existing trees combined with 50 feet of pollinator-friendly plantings. He noted that only five percent of the property’s boundary is adjacent to a public right of way, surrounding land is primarily used for timber, and the proposed 100 feet of existing vegetation is deeper than the 50 feet of required vegetation included in the county’s performance standards for new vegetative screens.
Dickerson asked Rumler to convince him that a 150-foot buffer is better than a 300-foot buffer. Rumler responded that he didn’t think he could make that argument, but he said that the proposed buffer achieves the screening goals laid out in the ordinance.
“We believe the intent of the ordinance is to preserve viewsheds and to prevent others from seeing the project. We think by extending the visual screening from 50 feet to 100 feet that we are establishing an opaque buffer beyond what the ordinance requires in compensation for reducing the setback,” Rumler said. “The railroad right of way, the airport, the surrounding nature of mostly forested acreage is all contributing to the lack of visual impacts.”
In rewriting the solar ordinance, supervisors beefed up erosion and sediment control measures, mandating a phased approach to site preparation and construction that requires ground disturbance to be done in sections not to exceed 100 acres. Clenera’s preliminary plan envisions site prep and ground disturbance occurring in two phases, encompassing 27 acres at the property’s southern end and 80 acres at its northern end.
County Planner Tom Egeland told the commission that the property is home to a pond, several streams, and about 40 acres of forested wetlands, noting that “extreme care needs to be taken to protect these environmentally sensitive areas and the downstream properties they connect to.” Rumler said that Clenera wouldn’t disturb land within 50 feet of wetlands.
According to its application, Clenera could start construction at the Horsepen facility in the first quarter of 2025 with the project expected to begin commercial operation by December 2025. Its 46,700 photovoltaic solar modules, built in eleven separate arrays across the site, would connect to Rappahannock Electric Cooperative’s distribution system via a substation at the property’s southern edge. Clenera notes that each of the arrays would be fenced in separately to allow wildlife corridors on the site.
During and after construction, the site would include two access points: one off Kentucky Springs Road and the other off Pottiesville Road. An internal service road would connect the entrances.
Utility-scale solar facilities locating within a mile of an airport are required to obtain clearance from the Federal Aviation Administration. The FAA determined that the project wouldn’t pose an aviation hazard at the adjoining Lake Anna airport, per a letter included in Clenera’s application.
During the public hearing, Hank Rempe, who manages the airport, said he didn’t have any concerns about the project. He added that he polled airport users who overwhelmingly expressed support.
Clenera’s application also highlights the project’s economic benefits. According to a study by Mangum Economics, the facility would contribute about $1.75 million to county coffers over its 35-year lifespan. That money would be derived from local taxes and a siting agreement, essentially a deal negotiated between a solar developer and locality that, under Virginia law, can include financial compensation for capital needs, broadband deployment, and to mitigate the impact of solar production. The Mangum study says that, if the property maintained its agricultural use, it would generate about $82,000 in local taxes over the next 35 years.
Four community members weighed in during the public hearing, including the airport’s manager, to express varying views on the project.
John Tanner, who owns a farm adjacent to the property, said he generally supports the proposal but would prefer a 300-foot buffer along the property line.
“I’m for the project. (The) place that we go to have peace and quiet will remain that way. I can think of a lot of things that could go there that would change (the character of the area),” he said.
Cheri Foutz, who lives across Pottiesville Road from the proposed site, said she’s against the facility, citing concerns about her property value, runoff, and deforestation.
“I don’t want this across the street from my house,” she said. “Let’s be honest. This is about money. The only thing that is green about this is money.”
Community Development Department staff recommend approval of the CUP with 32 conditions. Staff and Clenera’s legal counsel agreed to discuss small changes to several conditions prior to further consideration of the project.
Youngkin endorses McGuire in SD10 race
Governor Glenn Youngkin on Thursday endorsed 56th District Delegate John McGuire in a four-way battle for the Republican nomination in the newly drawn 10th state Senate District.
“Since day one, John has been a steadfast fighter for our agenda to restore parental rights and bring common sense back to the Commonwealth. John’s a Navy Seal who has gotten results for Virginia in the House of Delegates. In the Senate, he will help us deliver on our kitchen table conservative agenda. I trust John, and Virginians in Senate District 10 can trust him too,” Youngkin said in a statement.
McGuire was the first member of the General Assembly to endorse Youngkin when he ran for governor in 2021, beating six other contenders in a GOP convention before becoming the first Republican to win Virginia’s Executive Mansion in more than a decade. The fitness instructor and former Navy Seal frequently campaigned with Youngkin across the state and occasionally appeared at events on his behalf. Youngkin appointed McGuire to head his Veteran Affairs landing team after winning the governorship.
“I’m honored to have the support of my friend and our great Republican Governor Glenn Youngkin. I have spent two years fighting to get his agenda passed in the House only to watch much of it die in the Senate. We need to regain the majority in the Senate next year and send those bills to Governor Youngkin’s desk and bring common sense back to our Commonwealth,” McGuire said.
A Goochland resident who has represented Louisa County in the House of Delegates since 2018, McGuire faces three other contenders in the race for the 10th District nomination: Louisa County Board of Supervisors Chair Duane Adams, Hanover GOP Chair Jack Dyer, and Powhatan resident Sandy Brindley. Republicans will choose their nominee in a May 6 convention at Buckingham County High School.
Redrawn during the once-a-decade redistricting process, the 10th is a solidly conservative district encompassing most of Louisa County and western Hanover at its northern edge and stretching south across Goochland, Fluvanna, Powhatan, Amelia, Cumberland, Buckingham, and Appomattox counties, and part of Prince Edward. Youngkin won the district by more than 36 points in 2021.
McGuire and Adams are widely regarded as the frontrunners for the nomination with both now boasting a high-profile endorsement. In mid-February, Congressman Bob Good threw his support behind Adams' campaign. A self-proclaimed “biblical conservative” and member of the House of Representatives’ hard right Freedom Caucus, Good represents most of the 10th in his 5th District congressional seat. The former member of the Campbell County Board of Supervisors said Adams is a proven leader “who will protect our freedoms and fight for our families.”
The race has grown heated in recent weeks with both Adams and McGuire questioning their opponent’s conservative credentials and political motivations. In a March 16 debate hosted by the Louisa County Republican Committee, Adams questioned McGuire’s “support of life,” pointing out that, in 2018, McGuire cosponsored legislation to ratify the Equal Rights Amendment, a proposed amendment to the US Constitution that many Republicans say would constitutionally guarantee abortion rights. McGuire said that, as a freshman delegate, a fellow Republican misled him about the purpose of the legislation. He said he eventually removed his name as a cosponsor and “voted against (the bill) every time.”
Adams also accused McGuire of “running for five offices in four years,” a reference to his two bids for state office and multiple runs for Congress including a failed bid for the Republican nomination in the 7th Congressional District in 2020. Good followed up on that claim with accusations that McGuire tried to primary him in the 5th District after the 2021 redistricting process moved the 7th—where McGuire initially filed to run in last year’s midterm elections—to the outskirts of northern Virginia. The new maps placed McGuire’s Goochland County home in Good’s district.
At a meeting last month, Good said that McGuire lied to him about his plans to challenge him last year and delivered other strong criticism. “I think (McGuire) represents what’s wrong with politics: selfish ambition, pride, and dishonesty,” Good said.
For his part, McGuire and his supporters have tagged Adams “Democrat Duane,” pointing out that he 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. They’ve 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 raise the tax rate and delivered millions of dollars in tax relief. Louisa’s real estate tax rate has remained flat 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.
Given the Republican-friendly terrain, the winner of the May 6 convention will be a heavy favorite to claim the 10th District seat this fall. They’ll face Democrat Jacob Boykin in the November 7 General Election when all 140 General Assembly seats—100 in the House and 40 in the Senate—are on the ballot.
Mineral Town Council works on FY24 budget and more
By Chris Guerre
The Mineral Town Council recently held two FY 2024 (July 1, 2023 – June 30, 2024) budget work sessions: March 20 and April 6. During the April 6 work session, Reese Peck, recently hired budget consultant to the town, presented his initial findings and recommendations to the mayor and council as they work towards approving a proposed budget for the coming fiscal year and any changes to the town's real estate and personal property tax rates.
Real estate located in the Town of Mineral is subject to taxation by Louisa County and also by the town. In 2022, the town taxed real estate at 22 cents per $100 of assessed value. Although the town’s fiscal year runs from July 1 through June 30 of the following year, it assesses and bills for real estate taxes on a calendar year basis. Real estate taxes owed to the town for the 2023 calendar year are due by January 15, 2024, per town code.
On Monday, April 10, council convened for its regular monthly meeting. Mayor Ed Jarvis explained at the beginning of the meeting that there had been very little financial reporting “handed off” to him by the town's prior administration. He indicated that he and council are working to find and enumerate the details of the town's recent revenues and expenditures. Those figures are needed to accurately set next year's budget.
As the Town of Mineral nears the end of administering its current budget, totaling approximately $1.13 million, it is unclear how much money the town has actually expended or taken in so far this fiscal year. Year-to-date budget reports were not distributed to council on April 10 or April 6.
Jarvis also announced that anyone desiring to run for election to the seat currently held by interim Council Member Tony Wade should file their candidacy with the Louisa County Registrar's office by August 18 for the special election on November 7, 2023. The winner of the special election will serve from January 2024 through December 2026.
April's regular monthly meeting continued with council members providing committee reports including Becky McGehee relating for the police / fire & rescue committee. McGehee reported that three people have now been arrested in connection with the shooting death of a person in town last summer. She also noted that the county will be assisting the town in testing the pressure and rate of flow in its fire hydrants and that the Mineral Volunteer Fire Department will host a car show on Saturday, June 3 on the lot adjacent to the fire station.
As part of its unfinished business, council unanimously voted to adopt a revised “Personnel Policy and Employee Handbook,” which Jarvis explained had been created more than 10 years ago and barely updated since. He said the handbook is a “work in progress.”
Near the end of the meeting, council agreed to hold a public hearing for the purpose of receiving comments on the town’s plan to lease the former Town Hall building, located at 102 E. First St., to the Mineral Historic Foundation.
The meeting concluded with council voting to enter closed session, out of the public's view, to discuss personnel issues related to vacant administrative positions.
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.
Wouldn't it be proper grammar to capitalize the word "Board" when it stands by itself when referring to the Board of Supervisors?
Could you clarify something for me? What is meant by 'appropriate' in this sentence from the discussion of the solar array? "supervisors’ recent approval of a technology overlay district that could appropriate land currently used for farming and forestry for data centers and other tech sector industries. "
Thank you, Tammy and thanks for the clarity of your writing