Board votes 4‑1 to add $12,500 to NCCDF request; finalizes multiple agency funding levels

Margaret Clair, executive director of the Nelson County Community Development Foundation, asked the Board of Supervisors on March 4 for additional operating funds primarily to hire a full‑time staff member to manage succession planning and expand the foundation’s capacity for housing projects. Clair described current projects — four Roseland apartments nearing completion, oversight of the Renaissance Ridge development (construction expected late summer), a $400,000 Virginia housing loan to subsidize mortgages for 20 Renaissance Ridge homes, and relocation of a historic High School House to an Arrington lot by the end of May.

Clair said NCCDF relies on program dollars (for example, HUD home funds administered through TJPDC at roughly $85,000 annually) and increased grant writing to support rehab projects typically priced around $10,000 each. She told the board her organization could do more projects with additional administrative capacity and said a new position would assist with marketing and grant management. Board members questioned a reported programmatic surplus and asked for the audit and supporting detail.

During deliberations, Supervisor Cameron Lenahan moved to increase NCCDF funding by $12,500; Supervisor Jesse N. Rutherford seconded. The motion passed by roll call vote 4‑1 with Ernie Q. Reed voting no. The board’s discussion also covered whether NCCDF would continue running the Family Assistance program and how funding might be shared or reconsidered relative to MACAA and other local nonprofits.

The work session also produced consensus or approved funding levels for a range of agencies for FY27, including CASA ($3,500), Central Virginia Economic Development Partnership ($10,943), CV SBDC ($9,148), Gladstone Senior Center Meals ($15,000), Habitat for Humanity (Piedmont) ($2,500), JABA ($111,904), JAUNT ($90,442), Jefferson‑Madison Regional Library ($445,356), Juneteenth Committee ($5,000), Lovingston Merchants Association ($5,000), Nelson County EMS Council ($562,010), OAR/Community Corrections ($16,901), PVCC ($2,004), Rockfish Senior Center Meals ($12,367), Shelter for Help in Emergency ($9,372), TJPDC ($22,340), and TJSWCD ($37,226). Several items were deferred for further information (for example, Virginia Career Works Piedmont and the Humane Society/SPCA), and staff were asked to follow up on calculation methods where requested.

A formal adjournment motion by Ernie Q. Reed, seconded by Jesse N. Rutherford, carried unanimously (4‑0) at 7:08 p.m.; David Parr left the meeting earlier.