Board agrees to partner on FFA agriculture complex grant request

The Appomattox County Board of Supervisors on a voice vote authorized the county administrator to add the county as the government applicant for a state agriculture infrastructure grant and to partner with the Appomattox FFA Alumni Association on construction of a planned agriculture complex.

The vote came after Ed McCann, an agriculture teacher and advisor to the Appomattox FFA Alumni Association, described the project and requested that the county submit the grant application and consider providing matching funds. “We would ask that you would consider providing up to $50,000 in matching funds for that grant,” McCann said, describing a building of “a little over 12,500 square feet” intended to host livestock handling, events, classrooms and other services for students and local producers.

McCann told the board the campaign has raised $535,500 in donations, pledges and a Tobacco Commission award and that preliminary estimates put the project just under $1 million for the building. He said reaching a Tobacco Commission threshold of $800,000 would allow construction to begin on phase one in 2026, with a grand opening targeted in 2028. “With the addition of the AFIG grant and the other grants, that puts us, quite up there to where we'll be ready to initiate construction,” he said.

Reverend Jones moved to authorize the county administrator to partner with the FFA alumni on the grant; Mr. Carter seconded the motion, which passed by voice vote with no recorded opposition.

Board members asked for timeline details and for staff to work the matching funds request into the budget if the grant is awarded. McCann said the application deadline for the agriculture infrastructure (AFIG) grant is at the end of October and that the county’s participation is necessary because the grant must be submitted by a government entity.

The supervisors also heard that the site behind Appomattox County High School already has water and electricity and is currently in use by FFA and 4‑H members. McCann said about 20 percent of students in the school division participate in agricultural education and the FFA.

The board did not set a specific appropriation at the meeting; the action authorized staff to submit the grant and to pursue budgetary steps for matching funds if the grant is awarded.

The board’s authorization was recorded during the appearances portion of the meeting rather than as part of the formal consent agenda or a later action item.