Cumberland County administrator outlines FY2026 capital improvement requests, seeks planning commission feedback

Derek Staney, Cumberland County administrator, presented the county's capital improvement plan (CIP) requests for fiscal year 2026 and the five-year planning window to the Cumberland County Planning Commission on March 17, 2025, and asked the commission for feedback that will be included in his budget recommendation to the Board of Supervisors.

Staney said the county uses a 25-year CIP broken into five-year segments but focuses on the immediate year for budgeting. He told commissioners the CIP entries often round estimates upward to cover escalation and that projects are funded from a mix of cash, borrowing and grants or donations.

The presentation highlighted several near-term requests and opportunities. Staney described a radio-system partnership with the Virginia State Police that would put county radios on the state's STARS network and place a state-owned tower on county property; the county would install the tower footers and the state would install and maintain the tower. He said components for the system have been ordered and estimated that pursuing an independent county-owned system would require building towers and…