Reservoir Payment Received
Published 4:31 pm Tuesday, November 2, 2010
CUMBERLAND – Since turning over ownership of the Cobbs Creek Reservoir to Henrico County, Cumberland has now received its first payment.
The first annual contractual payment was received from Henrico in October, according to Michael Cooper, assistant administrator of community development. This information was provided to the Board of Supervisors during the meeting in October.
The Board officially turned the project over to Henrico in August and later approved a resolution consenting to the construction and operation of the augmentation reservoir in Cumberland.
Since then, the permits from the Virginia Department of Environmental Quality, the Army Corps of Engineers, and the Virginia Marine Resources Commission, which were originally owned by Cumberland, have also been given to Henrico.
Cobbs Creek is set to be the first augmentation reservoir in Virginia.
According to information provided to The Herald by Jill Matthews, Cumberland's assistant administrator, Henrico will make an annual contractual payment in lieu-of-taxes to the County was in the amount of $1,131,900.
Jorg Huckabee-Mayfield, county liaison and director of transportation and land use, provided the Supervisors with a status report.
According to the report, VDOT will continue the mowing of all roads and patching before winter. Brush trimming will continue throughout the County, she said.
Ms. Huckabee-Mayfield also provided the Board with organizational information related to VDOT's new changes.
The Transportation and Land Use Director has oversight of all site plan reviews, the issuance of permits, and the inspection of land development activities.
In order to better serve the communities, land use engineering, permits, and planning staff is located at the Lynchburg District Office and in the field offices in Chatham and Dillwyn, she said.
Ms. Huckabee-Mayfield is the local liaison for Buckingham, Cumberland, Prince Edward, Charlotte, and Halifax Counties.
She also worked to coordinate the review and response to traffic engineering requests from local governments, elected officials, and citizens in the listed counties for speed limit or other signs, traffic signals, traffic calming, through truck restrictions, and other activities that are performed by VDOT.
At the request of Cooper, the Board approved a request to dedicate a portion of a parcel near the proposed business park, which is owned by the County's IDA, for public right-of-way purposes.
According to Cooper, the maintenance facilities and animal pound are located on the County-owned parcel on Poorhouse Road which is adjacent to property recently acquired by the Industrial Development Authority.
“As the IDA intends to ultimately construct the extension of Poorhouse Road through its new property, the additional right-of-way on this parcel is required to construct the new road to the terminus of the existing surfaced portion of Poorhouse Road,” explained Cooper.
The improvements, he continued, would be a significant upgrade to the existing road that serves multiple properties.
The Board approved dedicating the .119-acre parcel for the public right-of-way purposes so that improvements could be made to Poorhouse Road.
Later, Cooper also explained to Supervisors that the County had received a grant award from the Virginia Department of Health to assist with the completion of Cumberland's water supply plan.
“As you are aware, the County is required to submit its water supply plan to the state…,” said Cooper. A portion of the work was completed in 2009 through a similar VDH grant.
“The County did not complete any work on the plan this year while discussions regarding the Cobbs Creek Reservoir took place as the outcome of the negotiations impacted deadline for submittal…,” added Cooper.
Now, the County must submit its plan by November 2011, he said.
The grant from VDH will contribute to the expenses to complete the survey, the total cost is expected to exceed the County's small purchase policy threshold and because of this Cooper requested that the Board authorize processing a Request for Proposals to complete the remaining portions of the water supply plan by the deadline.
After the information was provided, the Board did approve the authorization so that work on the water supply plan could continue.
According to Cooper, the VDH grant was in the amount of $3,000 and the amount to complete the water supply plan should be no more than $50,000.
“We did receive a water supply planning grant,” noted Cooper. “It will not cover the full cost…but we need to have our part of the plan completed…”
“I do not expect it to be anywhere near the $50,000 but some of our initial estimates put it in the range of $30,000 and I just want to provide sufficient room so that we can handle the contract,” he said.
Andrew Sorrell, Cumberland's planning and zoning administrator, provided the Board with information related to the Citizens Landfill Advisory Committee.
According to Sorrell, the Committee has been having a hard time establishing a quorum during past meetings. Because of this, he requested that the Board change the Committee's bylaws so that it would no longer meet four times a year but would meet in January, annually, and then call meetings as needed throughout the year due to the “inactivity at the landfill.”
The Board later approved the changes to the Committee's bylaws.
In other planning and zoning news, the Board also approved the conditional use permit renewal for the Northfield property. The conditional use permit was issued a year ago and due to the economy, according to Sorrell, the applicant has requested the permit be renewed.
Information was provided in the Board's packet about Piedmont Regional Jail inmates picking up litter on county roads.
Earlier this summer, the inmates collected litter on Route 60, Route 12, Route 45 (south), and Route 690.
Currently, they are working on Route 45 north, Cartersville Road, from the intersection with Route 60 and heading north, according to the update that was provided.
“…The participating inmates have done an outstanding job since the beginning and I feel they deserve recognition for their hard work,” states the update.
Supervisors approved an appropriation of donations received for phones that were purchased from Radio Shack for elderly community members in need.
These large-button easy-to-read cell phones were distributed by the Sheriff's Office and the appropriation was in the amount of $1,296.
The Board also took time during the meeting to recognize Melodi Goff and Judy Marion for their years of service to the County.
Ms. Goff began her employment as Director of the Cumberland County Public Library in October 2006.
Ms. Marion dedicated 39 years to Cumberland before recently announcing her retirement.
She served five County Sheriff's throughout her time spent in the Sheriff's Office and has distinguished herself through her dedication and commitment to serving the citizens of Cumberland, according to the resolution of appreciation that was approved by the Supervisors.
Two new citizen representatives were also appointed to serve on the County's Recycling Taskforce Committee and the Board also decided to allow students from within the County to fill open spots when they become available.
During the Board's comment portion of the meeting, Supervisor Van Petty, District One, asked if any of the recycling grant funding received by the County could go towards assisting the Recycling Taskforce Committee with educating the citizens in Cumberland?
According to Petty, the taskforce wishes to begin educating the community about recycling.
Petty also called the Board's attention to the possible reorganization of the Virginia Cooperative Extension Agency and how it could impact Cumberland and surrounding localities.
Supervisor Elbert Womack, District Four, expressed his appreciation to the Piedmont Regional Jail for allowing inmates to assist with the painting work that was needed on the County's administration buildings.
“The sidewalks,” he said about the work provided by the inmates. “They did them, too.”
Supervisor Bill Osl, District One, noted (while referring to the building inspectors monthly report) that the construction of new homes in Cumberland is still off by 65 percent.
