Inside A6 Lipscomb wins Cumberland Spelling Bee
Powhatan, Virginia
B1 BSH seniors Raymond Avery, Robbie Kurtz each reach 1,000 career points on same night
Vol. XXXIII No. o. 32
February 5, 2020
PCPS nearing completion of solar projects By Laura McFarland Editor
P
OWHATAN – Powhatan County Public School is expecting to take another big step in its efforts to decrease its carbon footprint with the completion of its major solar project within the next few
weeks. Since late fall 2019, contractors have been installing roof-mounted solar arrays on four of the county’s five public schools as part of a solar power partnership with Sun Tribe Solar LLC. The Powhatan County School Board voted unanimously to approve the partnership with Sun Tribe in June 2019. Crews have reached both mechanical completion and substantial completion on the jobs at all three elementary schools and Powhatan Middle School and have been given permission to operate (PTO) from Dominion
PHOTO: SUN TRIBE/TOM DALY
Workers complete the installation of solar panels at Powhatan Middle School as part of a solar power partnership with Sun Trube Solar LLC.
Power, said Tom Paquette, project manager for Sun Tribe Solar. They are currently in varying stages of completing their last punch lists and commissioning the systems, which means prepping them to be turned on and tested. Pocahontas Elementary and Powhatan Middle schools are the furthest along in progress, with an expected total completion date of mid February. Powhatan and Flat Rock Elementary schools are not far behind and are expected to be online by early March, he added. According to current data, the projects at the different schools are expected to produce a wide array of power to offset the schools’ needs: Powhatan Elementary, 1,126 solar panels, 52 percent anticipated offset; Pocahontas Elementary, 1,002 solar panels, 49.3 percent; Flat Rock Elementary, 628 solar panels, 34.7 percent, and Powhatan Middle, 1,278 solar panels, 61.5 percent. This is see SOLAR pg. 5
Supervisors start discussion on local road improvements By Laura McFarland Editor
PHOTO BY LAURA McFARLAND
Virginia first lady Pamela Northam is shown on a student-led tour of Powhatan MIddle School.
By Laura McFarland
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Virginia first lady visits PMS
Editor
POWHATAN – Virginia first lady Pamela Northam recently visited Powhatan Middle School to tour the facility and hear from students and educators about learning in
Powhatan County’s newest school. Northam, herself a former educator, took a student-led tour on Tuesday, Jan. 28 to visit a variety of classrooms and spaces in the building. Nine students in sixth through see PMS, pg. 8
POWHATAN –Figuring out how to maximize the county’s potential to accomplish road improvement projects was an important topic of discussion at the Powhatan County Board of Supervisors’ first regular meeting of 2020. The subject of road improvements came up a few times in the board’s meeting on Monday, Jan. 27 as the supervisors started discussing which projects they and the citizens of Powhatan might want to prioritize. During the meeting, the board heard presentations from Kyle Bates, resident engineer for the
Virginia Department of Transportation (VDOT), and Bret Schardein, interim county administrator. One of the main topics of discussion centered on the county’s efforts to win SMART Scale monies for local road projects. SMART Scale is a statewide competitive funding program for transportation projects in Virginia. Localities that want to participate can submit a prescribed number of transportation projects that are then all scored and prioritized. The Commonwealth Transportation Board (CTB) uses that information to select the right projects for funding from the pool of applisee BOS, pg. 3
Board finalizes county administrator’s termination agreement By Laura McFarland Editor
POWHATAN – The Powhatan County Board of Supervisors voted unanimously last week to pass a termination agreement regarding the resignation of former county administrator Ted Voorhees setting the final terms of his severance package. During the board’s meeting on Monday, Jan. 27, supervisors voted unanimously to pass the agreement as written. The agreement finalizes Voorhees’ separation from the county. The board unanimously asked for and received his resignation on Monday, Jan. 6. Voorhees, who had worked as the county administrator since May 1, 2017, attended
the Jan. 27 meeting and made a request during the public comment period, which came prior to the board’s vote on the agreement. Voorhees asked the board to adjust the separation agreement to indicate his last day of employment was Jan. 31 and that he be showed on paid leave status from the date upon which he stepped down until that date. “My intention is that this action be done at no cost to the county, with all costs deducted from my final compensation. In December, I initiated a process to repurchase prior service in the Virginia Retirement System that I earned serving another local government jurisdiction in the Commonwealth,” Voorhees said. “Un-
Firefighter I class trains on ventilation PHOTO BY LAURA McFARLAND
Powhatan High School’s Firefighter I class gathers at their training buildings on Jan. 21 to learn about vertical ventilation. Students had to climb onto a roof, bring up their tools, and learn how to cut a hole with a chainsaw to let heat and smoke escape. See more photos Page 5.
fortunately, this transaction was not completed prior to the board’s request for my resignation and cannot be completed without this adjustment.” Voorhees recognized that the board was under no obligation to extend him the courtesy but pointed out “it would not cost the taxpayers anything, and I am unaware of any reason that would prohibit you from doing so. It would mean a lot to my family.” When it was time for the board to vote on the agreement, they did so without comment and without making any changes to the agreement, which ended his employment effective Jan. 6. According to the agreement, Voorhees is entitled to six months of salary at his cur-
PHOTO BY LAURA McFARLAND
Ted Voorhees asked the supervisors to adjust his separation date for retirement purposes. The board did not take that action.
rent rate, which should come out to $96,524 based on his current annual salary of $193,048. He is also entitled to six months of the employer's see VOORHEES, pg. 8