COMMUNITY History Trivia Night at The Ashland Museum set Sept. 16
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TOWN OF ASHLAND Fourth quarter financial numbers reveal positive PAGE 5 news
Vol. 7 No. 1 | Richmond Suburban News | September 1, 2021
300th Birthday celebration at the courthouse New Museum opened, 300th birthday celebrated By Jim Ridolphi Ashland-Hanover Local
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welve months ago the green behind the old courthouse sat empty as a previously planned date set to celebrate Hanover County’s 300th birthday passed quietly, another victim of the COVID pandemic. A year later, those same grounds reawakened with enthusiastic visitors, historical see 300TH, pg. 10
Jim Ridolphi/TheLocal
Ashland Mayor Steve Trivett (above, center) met with Hanover supervisors Angela Kelly-Wiecek and Canova Peterson prior to the opening ceremony. Local officials and elected officials (right) joined other dignitaries to cut the ribbon on the new Hanover Museum of History and Culture and Welcome Center located in the old Clerk’s Office in the courthouse complex. They are from left, Assistant County Administrator Jim Taylor, Cold Harbor Supervisor Michael Herzberg and son Jamison, Virginia Association of Museums director Jennifer Thomas, Ashland Supervisor Faye Prichard, former Hanover Supervisor and current chair of the Hanover Museum of History and Culture Foundation Wayne Hazzard, Henry District Supervisor and Board Chair Sean Davis, Chickahominy Supervisor and Board Vice Chair Angela Kelly-Wiecek, South Anna Supervisor Sue Dibble, Museum Director Jaime Fawcett and Mechanicsville Supervisor Canova Peterson.
Goals and strategies for ARPA funding approved More details on possible projects revealed this month By Jim Ridolphi Ashland-Hanover Local Ashland Town Council members continued their discussion on the American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) as they attempt to design a plan to spend the more than $8 million allotted to the Town. It’s still too early to designate which projects will qualify or be selected for the funding, but Town Manger Josh Farrar provided an outline of goals and strategies at a meeting earlier this month. “We are trying to evaluate what to recommend for use of the ARPA funds for you all, and we did
bring up the concept of creating some goals so we have a lens through which to evaluate those things that we bring to you in September,” Farrar said. Identified goals include: • Focus on one-time large projects the Town would struggle to accomplish, or not be able to accomplish, without ARPA funding. • Focus on projects and programs already identified by an adopted Town plan including, but not limited to, the Capital Improvement Program, Parks & Recreation Master Plan, and Transportation Plan. Use ARPA funds to strategically reduce the expenditure of local tax revenue in the Town budget, and limit any ongoing costs because of ARPA spending. To achieve those goals, Farrar outlined a list of
strategies to successfully administer the funds. One of those strategies is to minimize the costs of administering the program, something the Town intends to do with in-house oversight of the projects. Farrar also suggested that resources should not be spread “too thin” by creating an excessive amount of unique small projects and programs. Additionally, he said the Town should be careful not to apply the funds to ineligible projects or programs that do not qualify under ARPA guidelines. Council member Kathy Abbott said she wanted to ensure the goals included. “I feel like we need to acknowledge that you and staff had spent a tremendous amount of time reaching out to non-profits, particularly since there see FUNDING, pg. 2
Fourth quarter numbers reveal positive news Expenditures down, revenues up for fiscal year By Jim Ridolphi Ashland-Hanover Local It’s always good to receive a dose of good news, and Ashland Town Council members got exactly that at a meeting earlier this month. That news came in the form of a preliminary fourth quarter see REVENUES pg. 4