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Planning district outlines Northern Neck National Heritage Area work plan and available seed funding
Summary
A regional planning-district representative told Richmond County supervisors the heritage-area management plan is under development, the area has secured $48,009.29 for plan development and that officials are preparing budget and match plans to access larger federal appropriations when available.
Lisa Hall, representing the planning district commission and the Northern Neck tourism coordination entity, briefed the Richmond County Board of Supervisors on March 12 about the status of the Northern Neck National Heritage Area and related tourism and grant plans.
Hall said the designation is administratively nested within the planning district (the tourism commission acting as the coordinating entity) and explained that heritage-area management planning is expensive but necessary to access larger federal appropriations and to run a local grant program. She told supervisors that the group has secured $48,009.29 toward development of a management plan and is preparing budget scenarios and a matching program to position the region to seek further federal funding once appropriations and the management plan are finalized.
"We're in internal review" of the management plan chapters, Hall said, noting governance, stakeholder outreach and capacity-building tasks are underway. She described a model of 50/50 cash-match grants to fund local community projects — museum exhibits, public-access improvements and historic-site installations — when federal funds become available and Congress appropriates the amounts needed to support the plan.
Hall tied the heritage-area effort to the Northern Neck 250 commemoration and listed near-term programming including a speaker series, a discovery symposium and a major signature event, "Virginia Resolved," set for Stratford Hall on June 7 as part of the region’s commemoration activities.
Board members asked about funding timing and the amount of additional federal resources; Hall said those larger appropriations were expected but contingent on the federal budget and the management plan approval process and she did not present a final dollar figure during the briefing.
Next steps: Planning-district staff will continue internal review and will request county and stakeholder input on governance and grant priorities as the management plan is finalized. The board expressed support and was invited to participate in upcoming heritage-area events and planning steps.
