Supervisors to consider $2.78 million shortfall for Louisa County turf  fields 

The seven members of the Louisa County Board of Supervisors will meet at 5 p.m. in the Louisa County Public Meeting Room in the Town of Louisa. They begin with a closed session and the open session begins at 6 p.m. (meeting overview)

There are some items on the consent agenda worth noting.

• There is a resolution in posthumous appreciation of Cyrus Alexander Weaver, Sr. who served as a member of the Louisa Planning Commission until his death in August. (learn more)
• There is a resolution to award a contract to purchase a fire and rescue boat to be used for search and rescue operations on Lake Anna. $174,689 of the funds come from the Louisa Capital Improvement Program and $108,000 comes from the Lake Anna Foundation for Emergency Services. There was a single bid from Connor Industries. (learn more)
• There is a pass-through of $180,085 in funding from the Virginia Department of Fire Programs. The resolution does not specify directly how the funds will be spent, but the account numbers for each disbursement are listed. (learn more)

There are two items under information with the first being an update on the Holly Grove Radio Tower, but there is no material in the packet for this subject. 

The second is a discussion on a draft policy to guide the naming of honorary roads. 

“This distinction is intended to honor those whose accomplishments have brought pride and recognition to Louisa County,” reads a section in the draft statement. 

The statement goes into detail about how such an honor would be approved and how the organization that makes a nomination must cover the cost of any signs that are to be designed and installed. 

Under new business, Supervisors will officially adopt the legislative platform for the Virginia General Assembly session that starts in just over two months. This was considered at the most recent meeting and some changes have been made. (read the platform)

• There is now a request for a specific amount of funding from the Commonwealth to improve water quality at Lake Anna.
• There is a position statement regarding of local discretion on the best uses of artificial intelligence.
• There is now language to support requests for improvements in mental health services by the state to allow for more individuals to be accepted under temporary detention orders (TDO).
• There is now language to see support for funding for rental assistant for low-income households with school children
• There is now revised language related to recruitment of public safety volunteers that opposes anything that increases the costs or otherwise deters new volunteers from providing their time for public service. 

There are two public hearings. 

The first is for a budget supplement to cover the cost overruns for a project to build turf fields at Louisa County Middle School. The original cost estimate was for $3,556,830 but the full cost to build two of them is $6,333,268. The resolution explains that the additional $2,777,438 wil be taken from long term capital reserves of both general government and the public schools as well as capital funds for parks and recreation. 

There is no narrative in the packet that explains the reasons for the shortfall. 

There is a staff report for the second public hearing which is for an amendment to an existing rezoning to change the kind of tree required to be built as part of a development on Dove Hollow Drive. This does not appear controversial.

“A Neighborhood Meeting was held in the Louisa County Public Meeting Room on September 11, 2024, at which zero (0) individuals attended,” reads the memo. 

The Louisa Board of Supervisors will next meet on November 18. The Louisa Planning Commission will meet on November 14. 

For more on the story, take a look at Tammy Purcell’s Engage Louisa.

Before you go: The time to write and research of this article is covered by paid subscribers to Charlottesville Community Engagement. In fact, this particular installment is from the November 4, 2024 Week Ahead edition of the newsletter.