Amelia County staff outline 2–3 year plan to expand office, storage and public‑safety space

Speaker 6, the workshop presenter, laid out a short-term (2–3 year) facilities plan for Amelia County that focuses on interior office capacity, secure storage for county equipment and phased additions to public-safety facilities. The plan, presented as informational, would not replace already-approved CIP projects such as the animal shelter or courthouse improvements and was offered for consensus ahead of formal cost estimates and CIP scheduling.

The proposal calls for relocating the Registrar’s Office into renovated space in the administration building’s basement to improve parking and American Disabilities Act access, and to free the current Registrar suite for court-services and probation staff. "We looked very hard at moving her to the basement," Speaker 6 said, noting that parking and existing sidewalks by the door would make the location convenient for voters and staff. Supervisors and staff discussed site limitations — including sewer and water line locations and sprinkler main heights that limit how much grade can be changed — and the tradeoffs between leaving the basement as finished office space versus unfinished storage.

Phase B of the proposal addresses storage and apparatus shelter. Staff recommended consolidating scattered Public Works equipment into the existing Ag (old agricultural) building or a new Public Works storage building (presented as roughly 3,200 square feet with a 1,200-square-foot office). "There's a fair amount of equipment that's out there, and that's a lot of money sitting outside that should be kept inside," Speaker 6 said. Supervisors asked about bay doors, dump-truck access and power-line setbacks; staff said larger dump trucks would be accommodated in a separate, already-budgeted building while this project would capture smaller, high-value equipment.

Parks and Recreation improvements include upgrading a press-box/concessions building at the softball field to provide meeting space, dedicated visiting‑team locker rooms and a secure officials’ room with restrooms. Speaker 6 said the current arrangement forces visiting teams and officials to cross the street or use high‑school facilities. "This would give us the space needed where everybody could pretty much stay on the field," the presenter said.

Public-safety upgrades would be phased across existing fire and EMS stations. Staff recommended adding bays and making targeted renovations to handle longer modern ambulances and to provide covered, climate-controlled space for vehicles and medical supplies. Emergency‑management figures cited during the session showed high call volumes in the courthouse area and variable call counts across companies; supervisors flagged stations with the highest call rates as priorities for early work. "We need to get these ambulances under a cover in a fixed environment," a supervisor said.

Staff proposed a modest near-term staffing change to carry out more in-house work: converting a part-time Public Works position to full time effective January, at an estimated cost of about $26,500 (including benefits) for the remainder of the year, with the full position to be requested in the next budget cycle. Speaker 6 said that change, combined with a mix of in-house and contracted work, would help deliver several of the initial projects in the coming fiscal year (noted in the presentation as FY2027 timing for lining up the first four or five projects).

No formal votes or appropriations were made at the workshop. Speaker 6 asked for general consensus to bring the ideas into the CIP process, obtain more cost estimates and return with concrete budget requests; supervisors indicated support for further study and asked staff to identify potential budget sources and schedule follow-ups. Staff said they would email the plans and post presentation materials on the county website.

Next steps: staff will refine cost estimates, identify budget sources for any appropriation requests (including the estimated $26,500 personnel change), and bring specific requests back through the CIP and regular board meeting process for formal action.