Ligon is now seeking a total of $850,000 in compensatory damages and $750,000 in punitive damages from the County of Goochland and Youngblood.

Ligon worked for the county since August of 2007 and claims that on Feb. 22 he spoke with Goochland Commonwealth Attorney Claiborne Stokes, who referred him to the Goochland Sheriff’s Department. On Feb. 25, Ligon met with Investigator Jimmy Mann, who said that the department would investigate the matter further.

After Mann met with Youngblood on Mar. 10, Ligon was called into his supervisor’s office, where, according to the suit, Youngblood “yelled at him in a very aggressive manner and said that he had just spent 45 minutes being interviewed by the investigator (Mann) and was reading some document that Ligon had given Mann and told Ligon he had some nerve doing that.”

Youngblood then gave Ligon a work memo referencing the employee’s alleged job search, his attitude toward his fellow employees, and county regulations banning employees from carrying weapons at work. Ligon’s suit claims that the charges in the memo were false and were “designed to intimidate and harass Ligon.”

On Mar. 11, Youngblood received a letter, signed by Youngblood, informing him that he was being fired “due to unsatisfactory job performance which includes disruptive behavior and insubordination.”

When asked about the suit, Goochland County Attorney Andrew McRoberts said, “There are substantial defenses to this action, and it will be defended vigorously.”

The lawsuit alleges that Youngblood repeatedly asked county employees to work on his personal property, including replacing the brake pads on his Chevy Suburban, and that county-owned property such as lawn trimmers, blowers, pole saws and combo tools are currently in Youngblood’s possession.

The suit also claims that Youngblood allowed county employee Larry Hicks to work on his own equipment on county time and property, including replacing rotten wood and shingles at his home. Three county employees, including Ligon, were then allegedly ordered by Youngblood to pick up the roof debris and carry it to the local dump, on county time using a county-owned vehicle.

In regard to Ligon’s allegations against Youngblood, Sheriff James L. Agnew said, “We investigated criminal activity in this particular instance, and found nothing to substantiate it. And so we ended our investigation.”

When asked about the suit, Ligon’s attorney, James B. Thorsen of Richmond, said, “The complaint will speak for us.”

“Our challenges during this difficult economic time are to meet the rising demand for services while maintaining the funding needed to support our efforts,” said Graham.

Cantor praised the efforts of the program on his fact-finding visit.

It was an example of the friendly atmosphere that prevails at the food distribution program.

And the Food Pantry is just one of the programs the Goochland Free Clinic and Family Services offers to county residents.

Each Thursday from 9 a.m. until noon, eligible residents can supplement the family diet with a variety of foodstuffs from Goochland Pantry.

“Sometimes we allow two bags,” said Program Director Jeri Nardacci last week. “But this week donations are down.”

Nardacci said that the amount of food they were able to get from the Central Virginia Foodbank, with which they have a working arrangement, was also down.

The Food Pantry pays a “minimal” fee for the food they pick up. But supplies there are currently low, pantry workers said.

Other sources of supplies are Costco and Food Lion, as well as donations from individuals.

Normally families of four or more are allowed two bags of food.

Eligibility hinges on several factors. Clients must be residents of Goochland County and have an income below 200 percent of the poverty level.

So on this Thursday morning, clients were only allowed to take one bag of food home.

But as luck would have it, turnout was a little lighter than some weeks.

By 10:45 a.m., 32 people had arrived to pick up food. The week before, 64 clients came through the pantry.

Ray Barrette, 85, said he has been coming every week since the pantry opened about a year ago. He avoids products with sugar on instructions from his wife, he said.

“If it wasn’t for these people I don’t know how I would survive,” said Hadensville’s Roy Mock, a disabled Vietnam veteran.

James Gardner, 78, still works part-time, but said the Food Pantry is an important source of food for his family, which includes his wife and grandson.

“It helps me out a whole lot,” said Gardner, who said he tries to get fruits and meat when they have it.

Glyn Hall said he has been coming to the pantry for about the last three months.

“It’s a major factor in my diet,” said Hall, whose physical disabilities make it difficult to for him to work.

Martha Johnson, 65, who lives near George’s Tavern, said the pantry’s program is important to her. She lives on her social security. “It’s a wonderful family atmosphere. It really helps me,” Johnson took home some papaya, tomatoes, peppers and a roll of hamburger.

Volunteers at the pantry agreed with Johnson that the pantry experience was almost like family.

“We’re all friends here,” said Cross. “I like the people. I try to make them feel good and put a smile on their face,” she said.

Donations of either food or money are always welcome, from individuals or organizations and can be brought directly to the Food Pantry at 3001 River Road West in Goochland Court House.

For more information…
Call 556-6260 or visit the Web site at http://www.goochlandfreeclinicandfamilyservices.org

Photo by Ken Odor
At the Food Pantry last Thursday morning, Roy Mock and volunteer Anne Cross select canned goods.

For several years, Goochland has contracted with Lifeline to provide crews for shifts that are difficult to staff with volunteers. The arrangement has been tenuous, at best, and Brown said recent developments highlight the continuing problems.

Brown said two Lifeline positions remain open, having been vacant for more than a year. And there are continuing problems regarding pay.

“We had a big problem with the pay on the 25th of July,” Brown said.

“At this point, 14 of our people who work in Goochland for Lifeline had their checks returned for insufficient funds,” he added.

At that point, District 5 supervisor Jim Eads questioned why Brown and the county are involved in financial disputes between private employees and their employer, Lifeline.

Eads said the problems with Lifeline, while admittedly serious, are not open for board discussion.

“You do not interfere with an independent contractor’s operations,” Eads said. “You do not tamper with their employees. You do not get involved except that they do or do not live up to the obligations of the contract.”

Eads requested an opinion from the county attorney as to whether the board would be “tampering” with an independent contractor.

Andrew McRoberts responded by saying the contract did specify that there would be oversight from Goochland fire administration over the Lifeline employees, but Eads pointed out that supervisory function was performance based and didn’t apply to the “way they do their accounting.”

McRoberts said the discussions taking place are also due to the effect of bounced checks on Lifeline’s ability to hire and retain employees.

“I don’t know if this is a matter where the county wants to get involved in the internal operations of the company,” McRoberts said.

Eads said it comes down to a question of whether or not Lifeline is performing to the terms of the contract. There was little doubt in McRoberts’ mind as to that answer.

“There’s no question they haven’t performed. They haven’t performed for months,” McRoberts said. He said the county has three options — either renegotiate, terminate or endure the status quo.

Eads recommended the board contact Lifeline and discuss the problems, but cautioned against proceeding down the current path.

“I kind of feel like there’s a guerilla activity going on here which is only going to lead to an unhappy conclusion,” Eads said.

Chairman William Quarles suggested the board take up the discussion in closed session to consider legal options.

Brown listened patiently to the discussion, but did say it was his responsibility to make the board aware of the situation.

“That’s all my point is, that we have a problem,” Brown said.

“Yes, but this is not the first time,” Eads replied. “We keep hearing this over and over.”

Brown agreed but said the matter has not been resolved and no action has been taken to remedy the situation.

“Whose job is it to take action?” Eads questioned.

“It’s not my job,” Brown replied. “It’s my job to bring you concerns that cause adverse action in our department.”

County administrator Greg Wolfrey said it is the board’s responsibility because one of government’s main functions is public safety.

Eads agreed but said that responsibility is delegated to others.

Quarles again suggested a closed session referral and the board agreed.

“We want to nip this in the bud,” Quarles said.

Brown also told the board some companies are experiencing staffing problems on shifts that are usually well-manned. He pointed to recent examples where calls went out to volunteers with few responding.

“The message I’m sending to you to you is that we are, unfortunately, experiencing a big want in the responses,” Brown said.

“We have enough members on the list, but we’re not having members respond,” he added.

He said one of those instances occurred on July 4. Another involved a structure fire where four companies responded, but with only eight volunteers.

Another fire under a house required two trucks manned only by the chief and the deputy chief.

“We are experiencing a problem that is a concern,” Brown said. “It’s not that we don’t have members. “Our members are so busy or whatever the reasons, we are not having adequate response.”

Taking care of those volunteers was also on the mind of Brown, who requested a stipend for fuel to volunteers who use their own vehicles and gas to answer calls. Although there was no dispute the county should compensate the volunteers, just how to do it did not gain consensus.

Supervisor Rudy Butler noted that many volunteers reside in other counties and drive to Goochland to respond to calls. He urged his fellow board members to take quick action to assist them with rising fuel costs.

“If we lose them, we’re really in trouble,” he said. “We need to do something now before we lose them.”

The board referred to the matter to their Fire and Rescue Committee to work out details and make a recommendation to the full board.

Jesse Bors-Koefoed, Sam Green and Andrew Trongone — along with 34 other high schoolers from around the state — graduated on July 11 from the 19th Annual Junior Law Cadet program.

The program is co-sponsored by the Virginia State Police and the American Legion, Department of Virginia Inc.

The three boys were sponsored and selected by the Goochland American Legion Post 215. According to commander Floyd Callihan, the boys were chosen based on their academic grades and school involvement.

“We select all-around students,” Callihan said. “Some decide to go into law enforcement, and some just want to know more about it.”

Post 215 has been sending Goochland representatives to the cadet program for more than a decade.

For a week Bors-Koefoed, Green and Trongone stayed overnight, experiencing a life similar to that of a trooper-in training. This routine included daily room inspections, physical exercises and a number of law enforcement activities.

Some of these activities included firearm safety drills at a shooting range, tactical team operations, officer survival, undercover operations, driver improvement and defensive tactics.

And the early morning physical agility exercises are the same ones used in the Virginia State Police applicant testing process.

“It was like summer camp but way more intense,” said Trongone.

Trongone currently doesn’t plan to pursue a future in law enforcement but he was interested to learn about the process.

One of his favorite parts of the program was being able to drive a police patrol car.

“At first I didn’t know what to expect,” the 17-year-old said. “But law enforcement is a lot about discipline and persevering. It was definitely worth going to.”

“This is an excellent opportunity and practical experience for students to learn firsthand what it’s like to be a state police trooper,” said Col. W. Steven Flaherty, Superintendent of the Virginia State Police. “The junior law cadet program is one of the best ways for our department to make contact and build positive relationships with Virginia’s youth, especially for those interested in pursuing a career in law enforcement.”

At the graduation ceremony some junior cadets were individually honored because of their hard work during the program. Green was named Outstanding Male.

The junior cadet program is open to Virginia’s young men and young women the summer before their senior year in high school.

For more information…
Visit the Virginia State Police, online at http://www.vsp.state.va.us

Yes, there were a few, recalled Jan Kenney, Program Director at the Goochland Family YMCA, in an interview last week.

From that small beginning, the program called Bright Beginnings has grown into a major event each summer before the start of each new school year.

The program helps children enter the school year with the school supplies and clothes they need so they can focus on academics, said Kenney.

“Last year we served over 3,000 children,” she said.

That’s in the entire Richmond Metro area, mind you.

This year in Goochland, Kenney hoped to serve 118 children, but she already has 131 applicants.

“It’s children in need,” explained Kenney. Some of the criteria used are children who receive reduced priced school lunches, or who are referred by guidance counselors or Goochland Social Services.

It’s Kenney’s ninth year working on the program in Goochland, even though there wasn’t a YMCA branch in the county until 2004.

“I worked at Tuckahoe and reached out to the Goochland population,” she explained. Patricia Hutnan was also involved in starting the Goochland program.

Kenney said there are three ways to take part in the program:

Interested individuals and organizations can donate money directly to the Goochland Family YMCA.

They can sign up for one of the four shopping dates set in August, to go to the store to help children pick out the supplies on their lists.

Or they can sign up to be a “backpack buddy,” which means they will buy a backpack and fill it with school supplies from a provided list.

It takes an estimated $150 per child to make the program work, said Kenney, so the Goochland YMCA needs to raise at least $15,000.

This year the Goochland YMCA started planning in April, said Kenney.

The school system furnishes the list, so that the children get what they really need in the way of school supplies.

“The thing that makes it bigger each year is that the community rallies around it” said Kenney.

For instance, this year staff at the Women’s Correctional Facility raised $3,800 for the program.

Kenney said local churches are critical to the effort.

“The churches do all the backpacks,” she said.

Whatever it takes, Kenney is supremely confident the need will be filled.

“We’re committed to serving these kids and we believe the money will come in,” she said. “We’ve never had to turn anyone away.”

For more information…

To participate in this year’s Bright Beginnings Program through volunteering or donation, contact Goochland’s 2008 Bright Beginnings Chair, Billie Reid at 556-2116 or Jan Kenney at the Goochland Family YMCA at 556-9887, or visit the Web site at http://www.goochlandymca.org.

Contributions can be sent to the Goochland Family YMCA at 1800 Dickinson Road, Goochland, VA 23063. 

Farley is the executive director at Elk Hill, a residential program in western Goochland that serves troubled adolescents.

He traveled to Kenya for the first time on is birthday in 1977, when he worked for the Ministry of Agriculture in the village of Makindu in eastern Kenya.

The time he spent there made a lasting impression on Farley.

“It was a significant experience,” said Farley. “It changed my life.”

Farley, 53, has returned to Kenya 10 times, and left again this week for his fourth “Proper Walk” expedition to raise money for Kenyan children orphaned by AIDS.

Together with nine other Americans, five from central Virginia, Farley will traverse close to 200 miles of difficult terrain in 10 days in Kenya’s Great Rift Valley, starting in the cool mountains and descending into valleys where the temperature may exceed 100 degrees.

A proper walk is not just a short stroll or a 10K run. It’s an arduous, potentially life-threatening trek, according to Farley.

“There is an inherent risk,” explained Farley, from wildlife they may encounter, such as lions and elephants, as well as indigenous tribes who cannot be counted on to be friendly.

But one tiny creature is the most dangerous – the malaria carrying mosquito, although modern drugs should protect the travelers.

Along with the 10 Americans, the team will include three staff members, 22 camels to carry supplies, and eight or nine camel handlers.

Each volunteer has to commit to raising $10,000 in pledges, plus covering their own expenses for the trip.

“I’ll end up spending $5,000 of my own money,” said Farley, who called his expenses a contribution that would help maximize the money raised in pledges.

It’s a cause Farley believes in.

“I’m thankful for how fortunate my life has been,” said Farley, who lives with his wife on a 25-acre farm in Louisa County. His trips to Kenya help him keep a healthy perspective on life, about what’s truly important and what is not.

“Over there a mother will stress about whether her child will die from diarrhea because there is no fresh water,” said Farley.

“I have a strong belief that it is our responsibility to help those who are less fortunate,” he said.

This “proper walk,” like the previous three, will go to support the Makindu Children’s Program (MCP), located in the village where Farley worked more than 30 years ago. The program provides care for more than 400 children who have been orphaned by the AIDS pandemic.

Farley said the program is not an orphanage, but a resource facility where the children can come for food, medical care and other services while living in homes in the community.

“It’s almost like a foster care system,” he explained.

For More Information...

To follow the progress of the proper walk, readers can visit http://www.properwalk.com to read a daily journal of the trip.

To help the walkers reach their pledge goal, go to the web site for the Makindu village at http://www.makindu.org to make a secure donation.

Photo by Jeff James
Funds raised by Michael Farley’s ‘Proper Walk’ will benefit the children of the Makindu Children’s Project shown here.

The current plan lumped all crossroads hamlets into the same category of growth villages—eight locations to which leaders want to channel residential growth to keep the rest of the county rural.

The proposal that planning staff will show to the Board of Supervisors tomorrow separates villages into majorand rural-growth areas. The plan recognizes that major villages—Centerville, Manakin, Oilville and the Courthouse area—have or will have the infrastructure to support residential development.

The rural villages—Crozier, Hadensville, Georges Tavern-Fife and Sandy Hook—don’t have the utilities for that type of housing density.

Crozier resident Ann Casey helped organize a movement of her neighbors to let planners know that high-density development was unwelcome where they live.

Although Crozier sits between the Courthouse and Manakin, the hamlet has no municipal water and sewer. Casey’s group let it be known at the public hearings leading up to the comprehensive plan draft proposal that it wanted to keep Crozier rural, she said.

“We don’t want to be as crowded as the Courthouse or Centerville because that’s not the way we see Crozier developing,” Casey said. “I’m just very grateful that I think they listened to us.”

For most of its recent history, Goochland grew at a 2 percent annual growth rate. But as development in Henrico County reached Goochland’s eastern border, that rate jumped. Goochland added about 4,000 residents between 2000 and 2006 to reach about 20,000 residents. That reflected a 3 percent annual growth rate, the plan states.

The new designated growth plan would allow up to 2.5 houses per acre in the major villages that have or will have the water and sewer lines available to support such densities. The plan also anticipates channeling apartment and town house development to those areas.

The rural villages would require that homes be built on lots that are a minimum of 2 acres, and houses would require their own water sources and septic systems.

Aside from the major villages, the proposal designates as growth areas the Tuckahoe Creek Service District, the areas around the Interstate 64 interchanges and the River Road communities in the southeast part of the county.

Comprehensive plans project for 20 years, but they must be revised every five years. Goochland planners are to present the proposal at the supervisors’ workshop tomorrow, said Don Charles, director of Community Development.

Before it’s adopted, the board would have to refer the draft comprehensive plan to the Planning Commission for a public hearing and recommendation before it came back to the board for another hearing and a vote.

The rising GHS senior was competing for the prestigious Battle for Berklee title at the popular Boston hangout.

Trongone walked away with a first place finish for his original guitar composition that he performed live at Daddy’s. Capturing the title also means Trongone will attend Berklee’s Summer Guitar Session Program later this month, free of charge.

It’s the culmination of years of practice for the talented guitarist, who first picked up the instrument at age 10 and began teaching himself chords and simple riffs.

“I started playing when I was 10 at the end of fifth grade,” Trongone said. “I began by playing along with CDs with my dad to some Eric Clapton, Skynyrd and other classic rock bands.”

His choice of the guitar as his instrument of choice was a natural one for Trongone, who watched his Dad and learned from his self taught mentor.

“My dad has been playing guitar since he was a kid and I always wanted to play so I thought I’d try and play,” he said. “For the most part I taught myself how to play, but my dad has been a great influence.”

He now plays several other instruments including keyboard, drums and bass.

But his first love is the guitar and the original composition that won the competition is a combination of musical influences, displaying his southern rock roots.

“My piece was a blues/southern rock influenced song,” Trongone said. “It started out with a 12-bar blues progression and me doing some leads over that.  Then it breaks into a classic rock type riff and some southern rock style soloing,” he added.

He said his style is a confluence of numerous guitarists including Gary Rossington and Allen Collins of Lynyrd Skynyrd, Eric Clapton, Jimmy Page (Led Zeppelin) and Jimi Hendrix. He also lists Slash, Kirk Hammett (Metallica) and Dimebag Darrell of Pantera as major influences.

“They are all great musicians that have influenced me and have helped me develop my style of playing,” he said.

 After Trongone attends the Boston sessions later this month, he returns to Goochland and his senior year. He hopes to continue his career in music once that’s done, but his college plans are flexible.

“ I hope to attend Berklee for college, but VCU is my second choice,” he said.

As he prepares for one week session in Boston, Trongone spends his time working at Java Jodi’s and swimming. He also competes on the high school golf and swim teams. Other than that he’ll spend what spare time there is “hanging out with friends, attending concerts, going to the pool, or just chilling.”

Trongone said his mom told him about the contest which she saw on the Internet. The senior has two siblings, brother Johnny and sister Julia and is the son of John and Carolyn Trongone of Goochland.

That is, if you could call creating art a trade.

Lucero paints in oil, in a style he calls “painterly realism.”

In an interview last week at his home on Turner Road in central Goochland, Lucero, 41, talked about his work and his move to Goochland County two years ago.

Just back from the opening of an exhibition at the J.M. Stringer Gallery in Bernardsville, N.J., Lucero and his wife Erin, who works in the development office at Virginia Commonwealth’s School of Medicine, were home for just a few days before a trip to Maine.

Next year Italy is on their schedule, where Lucero hopes to capture the famous Tuscany countryside on canvas.

Although he paints in oils, there is little of the deliberate, slow technique sometime associated with that medium in Lucero’s work.

“I start and finish a painting on the spot,” said Lucero, who often works outdoors, often in Goochland.

No applying pigment and coming back the next day with the palette knife to scrape it off for this artist.

“I try to paint something and leave it,” he explained.

Lucero, whose father was a career U. S. Air Force officer, was born in Teheran, Iran. He grew up in Northern Virginia, and earned a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree, cum laude, from Virginia Commonwealth University in 1989.

“I was pragmatic - I switched to illustration at VCU,” said Lucero, who began his degree at Northern Virginia Community College.

Following graduation, Lucero embarked on a successful freelance career in illustration, with clients such as the New York Times, Virginia Business Magazine, Government Executive and Playboy magazine.

He spent 10 years making a good living, but he wasn’t happy.

“Why not do what you would really like to do?” was the question he posed to himself before making the decision to return to painting.

“It was one of the best moves I ever made to come back to my true love, painting,” said Lucero.

Now he is where he wants to be, since moving to Goochland, after living in the Fan area in Richmond for 10 years and then Short Pump for eight.

“We had talked about moving here for retirement,” he explained, but when he saw the house he and Erin now live on the Internet, the die was cast.

“We fell in love with the property,” said Lucero.

Lucero said the realistic style of painting has made a comeback after decades of abstract ascendancy.

“When I got out of college there was a bias against representational art.”

Lucero said the elite in the art world may have given up on representational art, but the general public never did.

These days, representational art has made a comeback, said Lucero.

“Now the whole spectrum is represented in the art world,” he said.

Lucero credits John Bannon with being the major influence on his painting. Bannon taught him how to use the Maroger Medium, pioneered by Jacques Maroger; who was the curator of the restoration department at the Louvre Museum in Paris in the 1930s, which involves adding white lead to oil paint.

“Maroger bestowed to us what the masters of the past achieved in their paintings, a way to combine permanence with luminous glazes, controlled drying time and fluid paint handling,” explains Lucero in an entry on technique on his web site.

Lucero is one of five artists whose work is featured at the Stringer gallery in its ‘Summer Sojourn” show, running through Sept. 6.

“I think he has phenomenal talent,” said gallery owner John Stringer, who said a gallery has to believe in the talent of the artists it represents.

“He has a great future,” said Stringer, who praised Lucero’s professionalism.

Lucero’s work can also be seen at Suitable for Framing, at the corner of Grove and Libbie avenues in Richmond, or visit his web site at http://www.andrelucero.com.

Photo by Maria Reardon
This canvas, painted by Lucero, shows a Goochland wildflower scene.

The dead man has been identified as Joseph Clifford Johnson, 36, of the 900 block of North 30th Street in Richmond.

According to police, Stone said he tussled with Johnson and then shot him with a 12-gauge shotgun.  When deputies arrived they found the intruder inside the bedroom with a gunshot wound to the neck.

According to Sheriff James Agnew, Stone has no criminal record.

In terms of motive, Agnew said, “We don’t have any idea as to why this man was in that trailer.”

“Mr. Stone says that he had never seen this man, or heard of him in his life,” he added.

There is not a history of violent crimes in this neighborhood, says Agnew of the rural area off Dogtown Road, where Stone’s trailer is located.

After the shooting Johnson’s body was transported to the Medical Examiner’s Office in Richmond for an autopsy.   

At this time, there have been no arrests or charges associated with this case, and the Sheriff’s investigators are continuing to process and collect evidence related to the shooting.

“In a case like this, we want to gather as many facts as possible, and mull them over with the Commonwealth Attorney to decide if charges should be filed,” said Agnew. “We are trying to answer… why the man was there, who he is, if he had been there before, if it was a case of mistaken identity, was there a level of intoxication.”

Dr. Linda Underwood, Goochland school superintendent, told a School Board workshop session she sat in on the session and came away with some ideas on exactly where the board is headed.

“The consensus of the supervisors at that meeting is that they would fund Option 4… period,” she told the school board at a workshop session last week. “That’s the offer that’s on the table regarding school construction.”

That plan included six new classrooms at both Byrd and Randolph elementaries and seven new classrooms at Goochland Elementary School.

All three facilities would receive a multipurpose room, but the plan left some board members pondering the lingering question of the Specialty Center. Currently, students from that facility must walk or be bused to cafeteria and library services at the GES campus.

Option 4 does not address the Specialty Center issues, and according to some school board members, leaves the plan woefully lacking. Underwood requested $23.1 million for an expanded GES at the July 1 Board of Supervisors meeting, but the panel deemed that proposal too expensive.

The new plan calls for the seven additional classrooms and some additions to the cafeteria and kitchen at GES at an earlier estimated cost of over $6 million.

School board chairman Drew Meng said that estimate doesn’t include the necessary elements to make the plan workable. “I don’t think the $6.3 million even includes making the cafeteria bigger, and it doesn’t include the media center,” Meng said. “It sounds like they’re saying let’s just start building this thing and see how it goes,” Meng added.

He said even with the additional classrooms at GES under the plan, trailers would be necessary to accommodate the overflow. “Trailers are going to be a permanent thing at that school from now on,” Meng said.

Other members said they couldn’t approve a plan that excluded a solution to the Specialty Center dilemma.

“I’d like to see what would have to be added to Goochland Elementary to bring the Specialty Center kids in,” school board member Jim Haskell said. “That’s a concern of everybody because having them separated means we’re bussing kids, and they’re walking across to eat lunch everyday.”

Haskell added there are just too many variables in the current supervisors’ offer to consider until more details are known.

Although the two boards decided to meet jointly to discuss expansion and renovation plans as soon as possible, no date has been set.

“Since the Board of Supervisors meeting of July 1 we have not heard anything about a joint meeting between the two boards and would certainly welcome the chance to find a resolution to this issue together,” said Brad Franklin, Research and Information Services Analyst for the Goochland County Public Schools.

New garage plan aired

Regarding the bus garage, Underwood said the supervisors opted to spearhead that project and conveyed plans to construct a pre-fabricated garage and county fueling station at Route 522 and Bulldog Way.

Underwood said planning for a more sophisticated facility should cease, and Moseley would no longer be needed to design the project. “They said we needed to quit Moseley for the bus garage planning, and that they would do a design-build project for the bus garage,” Underwood said. “We would have a metal, pre fabricated bus garage that would cost significantly less than Moseley had estimated,” she added.

“They feel very strongly that a bus garage does not require a school architect,” she told the board.

“So, they’re taking over the entire bus garage project,” questioned Haskell.

Underwood explained the Board of Supervisors has the power to design and build a project and the school system does not. The main difference between design and build, and traditional bidding, is that one firm designs and does the construction, eliminating a step in the process.

Underwood said she’s unclear on the details of the process but will meet with county purchasing agent Al Elias next week to gather more details. Underwood and other board members expressed a desire to be involved in the design-build process.

The money already spent to design a proposed 700 student GES has already exceeded $190,000 of the $618,000 the Board of Supervisors allotted for design of all the projects.

“The funding they approved was to take the additions and renovations to Goochland Elementary School to 700 students, and the additions and multipurpose rooms at Byrd and Randolph,” Underwood said. “That $600,000 was sufficient to take those three projects all the way through bid documents.”

Underwood said the false starts mean that design money may not be sufficient to fund the design phase of the remaining projects.

“We have spent about $200,000 on a 700-student Goochland Elementary School,” Underwood added. “We’ve thrown away over $200,000 in doing what they asked us to do, and now we’re not going to have enough money in that $600,000 to plan Byrd and Randolph plus a new plan for Goochland Elementary through bid documents,” she concluded.

Underwood said that the Board of Supervisors planned to send a letter to the School Board detailing and explaining their actions at the special meeting.

“Lots of questions came up at that meeting that I don’t have answers for,” Underwood told the board.

That letter was written on July 23 by William Quarles, Chairman of the Board of Supervisors, to Meng. In it the supervisors reiterated their support for Option 4:
“The Board of Supervisors intent is to support Option 4 that was presented by the joint Schools Capital Improvement Committee, which provides for additions and renovations to the three existing elementary schools… The Board does not think this option requires voter approval and will meet the elementary population projections in the most cost effective manner at this time.”

In response to this letter, Franklin said, “The school board is in the process of gathering information and plans to respond soon.”

Interim editor Amy Condra contributed to this report.

This summer the rising junior at Virginia Tech is interning at the office of Virginia Attorney General Bob McDonnell, where she works in the Special Counsel Division, which handles work by outside attorneys.

The attorney general’s office has about 30 interns, said Neal, mostly law students. Neal is one of a handful of undergraduates.

“She’s a really bright young woman with a great future,” said Assistant Attorney General Courtney Malveaux, who is Special Counsel Manager. “She’ll be an asset to any organization she joins.”

Neal is majoring in political science at Tech, with a concentration in legal studies. She also plans to complete two minors, in psychology and in urban affairs and planning.

After that, hopefully law school.

Why speaker of the house?

“Because that’s where the power is,” she answered.

Neal has been a political animal since she was a pre-teen, thanks to her father, Goochland Planning Commission member Bill Neal.

“I’ve been working at the polls since I was five. Dad asked me if I wanted to help. I was standing by the road holding up a sign on Election Day,” she recalled.

Later she worked as a page in the House of Delegates, where she met McDonnell, the presumptive Republican nominee for the 2009 governor’s election.

“He was one of my favorites, along with Bill Janis and Ryan McDougle,” said Neal.

“He [McDonnell] will make a good governor,” said Neal.

Neal’s last day at the attorney general’s office is Aug. 8, and then it’s back to Tech for the fall semester.

In the spring she plans to study abroad at the University of Helsinki in Finland. All her classes will be in English, but she’s still trying to learn as much of the language as she can.

Political junkie that she is, Neal has some thoughts on the fall elections.

Barack Obama? “I think people will become disenchanted with him and see through his rock-star attitude,” said Neal, who called Obama’s recent speech in Berlin, Germany “a political stunt.”

John McCain?  The lesser of two evils, according to Neal. “He’s better than Obama, but not by much,” she declared. Fred Thompson was her preferred candidate.

Neal said she hopes to join the Goochland Republican Committee before she returns to school in the fall.

That’s part of the plan.

Her first step will be local politics. Maybe a run for Bill Janis’s seat in the House of Delegates should he move on to bigger and better things.

Then the House of Representatives.

Then the speaker’s gavel.

Nancy Pelosi, look out.

Contributed Photo
Goochland intern Emily Neal poses for at photo with Virginia Attorney General Bob McDonnell.

According to Lisa Dearden, the Executive Director of the Center for Rural Culture (CFRC) sustainable agriculture is simply this: What you see now, you will see into perpetuity. It is preserving the land, and the way we use the land, for our children, and our children’s children.

“The main mission of the CFRC is to sustain the rural culture of community, by educating, promoting and inspiring…”

Inspiring what?

An appreciation, and understanding, of the natural beauty we have here in Goochland, of, as Dearden describes it, “the forest, the trees, the rolling green hills.”
According to the mission stated on the CFRC’s website, “Goochland and its surrounding rural communities have long held a tradition based on an agricultural economy. The history, the stories and music, the arts and crafts, and the traditions all create a cultural tapestry woven from the ‘fiber’ of a land-based lifestyle.”
This does not entail a reluctance to change with the times, says Dearden.

“We’re not against development—but we want to help people understand sustainable development,” she said. “We love the rural character in this county, and want to keep it, for our children’s sake and our grandchildren’s sake. That’s succession.”

Dearden, who comes from a small town in Ohio, has a degree in horticulture with a focus on sustainable agriculture.

And now, she has grown with the CFRC, which shares her appreciation for the products that are created in her new hometown.

“We want to show that sustainably produced products are better for the land,” she said, “and stimulate the local economy.”

At the Goochland Farmers Market, everyone, other than prepared food vendors, are required to produce what they sell, whether that is an ear of corn or a hand knit sweater.

And the community is responding.

“This year has been unbelievable,” Dearden said of a customer base that has increased from 600 customers per week last year, in 2007, to 800 customers per week in 2008.

She points out that the recent rise in gas prices affects food prices as well.

“A sustainable food system that’s local is much more secure,” said Dearden. “At the local grocery store, there is only enough perishable food to last about three days. What if trucks suddenly couldn’t bring food?”

At the Farmers Market, consumers can meet those that grow their food, and can ask questions about freshness and the manner in which the produce was raised.

“We want to gently teach people about the rural culture we want to sustain,” she said. “It’s a wonderful system we have in this county, of farming—the people are so passionate and have a great work ethic, they are the kind of people who would do anything for you. This is a community building thing!

July 26—Kid’s Day! Children’s Firefighting demonstration/children’s cow milking demonstration and 4H activities, 9:00 – 11:00 a.m.

Aug. 2—Rockville-Centerville Steam and Gas Historical Association—antique equipment demonstration, 9:00 – 11:00 a.m.

Aug. 9—Celebrate Farmer’s Market Week! Chef’s demonstration with Chef Jo-Linda Saunders, 9:00 a.m and 11:00 a.m. Also, musicians A Good Natured Riot will perform from 9:00 a.m. to 11:00 a.m.

Aug. 16—Second Annual Community Pie and Cake live auction, 10:00 a.m.

Aug. 23—Chillin’ at the Market—Watermelon slices and seed-spitting contest. Chef’s demo with Chef Paul Cruser from Butcher’s Block Market, 9:00 a.m and 11:00 a.m. The Willow Creek Band will perform from 9:30 a.m to 12:00 p.m.

Aug. 30—Kid’s Day! Free pony rides from 9:00 a.m. to 11:00 a.m.

For 26 weeks per year, the Farmers Market is held on the grounds of Grace Episcopal Church every Saturday from 8 a.m. to noon.  This year the season runs from May 3 until Oct. 25.

To learn more about the Farmers Market and the Center for Rural Culture, visit http://www.centerforrualculture.com.

Photo by Deb Silbert
Dennis and Patti Uselmann of Hummer Hill Farm spend the morning at the local Farmers Market.

Farm Bureau president Steve Bostic welcomed the group and said the agency looks forward to this event. “We hold this picnic and our annual dinner each year,” Bostic said. “It’s a way of showing our appreciation to our members and being involved in our community,” he said.

Many families began the day’s activities at the adjacent swimming pool, appropriate relief from the 90-degree-plus temperatures. But it was cool on the inside of the pavilion and attendees were treated to fried or smoked chicken with all the trimmings, not to mention an abundant dessert table.

Bostic reflected on this year’s event sponsored by the Farm Bureau, an advocate for agricultural issues and a full service insurance and investment services organization.

“I think it was very successful and we had a great turnout,” Bostic said.

“This is just one of the things we do for our members and something they look forward to,” Bostic said.

The annual dinner held in October is more of a business meeting and strategy discussion, while the picnic is all about fun.

“The children seem to enjoy the door prizes,” Bostic said.

Bostic said the past year has been a good one for agriculture and many legislative efforts resulted in positive changes for farmers and landowners in Virginia. “Our legislative movement has been successful, getting some of the laws and some things changed that help out the farmers,” Bostic said. “That’s one of the main things Farm bureau does is lobby for the farmers and the landowners,” he added.

Dolores Williams, member services specialist at Farm Bureau, begins planning the picnic in January, securing the location and deciding on logistics. Everyone at the Goochland Farm Bureau Office, including Williams, spent the day helping at the gathering. Brenda Pryor and the Women’s Committee were also instrumental in planning and working the event.

“It gets busy this last week, but this is always a fun time,” Williams said as she helped move food to the serving table.

Board member Bob Jones concluded the day’s festivities by serving ice-cold slices of watermelon, the perfect ending to the annual gathering.