Walton

District 1 County Supervisor Joe Walton held a town hall meeting last Thursday evening at St John Neumann Catholic Church, during which he discussed issues ranging from the delayed opening of the new school in Flat Rock to a proposed plan to bring high speed telecommunications service to more county residents.

Walton was joined by School Board member Rick Gideons, School Superintendent Dr. Margaret S. Meara, County Administrator Carolyn Cios, and Planning Commissioner Roger Richardson.

“It is a very exciting time to be in Powhatan County,” said Cios to the approximately two dozen people in attendance, speaking about the progress the county has made on the ongoing Comprehensive Plan revision process. Other topics discussed during the meeting:

Opening of Flat Rock Elementary School

Gideons and Dr. Meara each addressed the opening of the new Flat Rock elementary school, which the school system had initially planned to open before the start of classes on Sept. 2.

In July, the school system released a statement explaining that delays in critical materials would mean the school might not open until mid-September.

Architect Roger Richardson also spoke about the project, noting that he had enjoyed the fact that teachers were involved in the planning process from the beginning.

“The fact that [the school] is late is disappointing,” he said, “but we are not going to shortcut quality. It will be what you paid for and it will be what this county deserves.”

Gideons noted that that school should be dedicated in September or early October.

Route 60

Cios addressed the recent surge in commercial building permits, which has helped minimize the effect of a slow down in residential permits. Cios says the spike in commercial permits can be attributed to ongoing county projects to bring water and sewer service up Route 60.

Not only are they working on water and sewer along Route 60 but also on telecommunications services as well, said Cios.

“We only have one chance to do it right” with regard to the way Route 60 is handled said Walton, and the county is attempting to court economic development while avoiding the numerous curb cuts and traffic snares evident in parts of Chesterfield

Improvements in county facilities

The county is currently looking at the most pressing of its facilities needs, and is planning the locality’s first public safety building featuring combined police, fire and rescue operations.

Officials are also actively seeking a Parks and Recreation director, something the county has never had.

There is also work underway to clarify the recreational amenities developers are currently required to provide when they build developments of 75 homes or more.

Right now, said Cios, it is not specified exactly what kind of amenities they must provide.

“We know they need to provide these recreational amenities but what are they?” she said. “We need to know what that means.”

High speed services

Walton also spoke about the ongoing negotiations with Verizon to provide high speed video service to the Founders Bridge neighborhood in northeast Powhatan.

The issue is somewhat clouded by the current franchise agreement that Powhatan has with Comcast, and the Virginia law that states a franchise agreement offered to one company in a locality must be offered to any other company providing service in that area.

Contrary to what some may have thought, the county has been asking Verizon to offer their services to Powhatan residents said Walton. 

“It wasn’t that we don’t want them here,” he said. “They had to make their own business decision to come here. For them to actually do this means they do see this as a [good] business move.”

The county is continuing talks with Verizon, Walton said, and a decision may be reached by the October supervisors’ meeting.

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