King and Queen supervisors approve deed of trust to secure $1.6M federal EDA grant for telehealth center

The King and Queen County Board of Supervisors adopted a resolution Jan. 23 to approve a Deed of Trust and Agreement that secures a $1,600,000 grant awarded by the U.S. Department of Commerce, Economic Development Administration (EDA) for construction of a telehealth and business development center.

Vivian Seay told the board the deed is required by the grant and that the public hearing had been properly advertised; Chairman R. F. Bailey, Jr. opened the hearing and there were no public comments. The board then moved to adopt the resolution and the deed.

The Deed of Trust, as presented in the meeting minutes and attached as Exhibit A, describes the project as a 7,000-square-foot metal building on roughly 3.44 acres of county-owned property in Buena Vista Magisterial District. It sets an Estimated Useful Life for the improvements of 20 years, references the EDA Award ID number 01-01-15168, and requires that any sale, transfer, or lease of the project property receive prior written approval from EDA under federal regulations (2 CFR part 200 and 13 CFR chapter III). The deed establishes that, in the event of prohibited transfer or other violations, the county may owe the Federal Share as defined by EDA regulations and that EDA may pursue remedies including foreclosure.

The resolution authorizing execution of the deed and related documents was adopted with recorded votes in favor by Morris, Simpkins, Burns and Bailey; Sherrin Alsop was recorded absent. The minutes record the board’s authorization for the chairman to execute the documents necessary to effectuate the Deed of Trust and Agreement.

The deed and the resolution reference federal statutory and regulatory authorities (Public Works and Economic Development Act, 41 U.S.C. § 3121 et seq.; implementing rules at 13 C.F.R. and 2 C.F.R.) and cite Va. Code § 15.2-1800 regarding encumbrance of county property.