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Nelson County staff outlines social services building, high school renovation and FY26 schedule
Summary
County staff reported schematic design nearing completion for the new social services building, outlined the schedule for bidding and financing, and gave a timeline for the high school renovation financing and FY26 budget work; staff also reported lodging-unit counts and several ongoing planning and environmental items.
County staff provided multiple project and budget updates at the Nelson County Board of Supervisors meeting, including progress on the social services building, the high school renovation financing schedule, FY26 budget dates and regional planning milestones.
The social services building is in the late schematic-design and building-specification stage, staff said. The county closed on the property and will present design drawings to the board on April 8, when staff plans to request authorization to put the project out to bid. Staff said construction bids are expected in late May and that the board would consider a construction contract and permanent financing documents on June 10.
On the high school renovation, staff said the board was holding a public hearing on financing the same night and that a bond sale by VPSA is expected April 22, with closing documents due in early May and a planned closing around May 13. (Staff used the acronyms VPSA and BPSA in the update; the transcript did not expand those acronyms.)
Staff said the FY26 budget introduction is scheduled for the March 18 budget work session and that the county expects the school division funding request on March 17. The county also reported it will participate in regional water-supply planning; a kickoff meeting for the Middle James River regional planning unit is scheduled for March 24 in Altavista. Representatives named for the county were George Miller of the service authority and a county staff designee.
Environmental and other community updates included a recent public meeting on the Hat and Black Creek DEQ TMDL study, which staff said included funding opportunities and citizen steps to reduce sediment and phosphorus; a 25-day comment period accompanies that study. Staff also reported on the drug recovery court advisory committee: two graduations have occurred, six participants are currently active, and average program length from entry to graduation is about 18 months.
On lodging and meals-tax tracking, staff said lodging units rose from 815 to 816 in the county’s count; a supervisor asked whether ZIP-code breakdowns could be provided. The board also reviewed appointments: two vacancies are being advertised for the Economic Development Authority (at-large) and an alternate seat on the Board of Zoning Appeals after Mary Cunningham’s term expired.
Planning items: supervisors discussed a battery storage presentation heard by the planning commission. Some supervisors urged that the county not amend zoning ordinances for the battery-storage technology and instead treat the installations as an accessory to utility operations; others cautioned about timing because of recent planning commission turnover and favored education and good communication with new commissioners before directing any ordinance changes.
Staff did not ask for board action on most of these items at the meeting; several will return as agenda items for future meetings with formal requests for authorization or votes.
