Halifax County supes to pay higher architectural fees


The Halifax County Board of Supervisors on Monday night approved architectural fees submitted by CJMW for work done on the Courthouse Project. In accepting a higher charge from the architectural firm — some $394,000 more than originally expected — supervisors acknowledged that the fees fall within the 7.5 percent variance that the county agreed to when it signed a contract with CJMW in 2013.

Board members, however, noted that they want to see all incoming itemized invoices before the architectural fees are paid. Supervisors also approved the hiring of a project manager to oversee the design and construction of the Courthouse renovations.

That person will “have eyes on the project all the time,” said chairman Dennis Witt, who argued the step will save taxpayers money even after the costs of compensation. County staff was asked to draft a request for proposal (RFP) to advertise for a project manager.

In another aspect of the Courthouse Project, supervisors took no action on identifying sites for the relocation of the courts — General District, Circuit and Juvenile & Domestic — during the construction period.

J.T. Davis, chair of the Finance Committee, outlined for fellow board members the amount of time that his committee and the Building Grounds Committee has put into looking for alternate sites for the interim courts. He pointed out the difficulty of finding 30,000 square feet in suitable space to house three branches of court over the two-year construction span.

Davis said members of both committees have looked at the former Farmers Food building in Halifax, the C.H. Friend school in South Boston, the Leggett building, the former Daystrom building and the old Winn Dixie store in Centerville as well as several churches. “We’re still looking at a lot of possibilities, but it just doesn’t compute that we should spend a lot of money improving other people’s properties” when the county has two sites it owns in the Mary Bethune Complex — the gym and the Industrial Arts Building — that might suffice, said Davis.

During the public comment period following the Monday meeting, Recreation Director Bill Shortt and a youth league coach asked the board to identify alternate sites that can be used for youth sports events. Such a site would needed if the Bethune gym is repurposed as an interim courts facility, Shortt said. He asked the board’s help in finding alternate sites for those sporting events.

In other business, supervisors approved four $25,000 grants by the Capital Funds Committee to the county’s fire departments. Selected to receive the money was the Midway Volunteer Fire Department ,which will install an A roof over its meeting/training room. The Oak Level Volunteer Fire Department will use its funds to make payments on two trucks, while the Halifax Volunteer Fire Department will make a payment on its newest fire truck. The fourth recipient, Triangle Fire Department, will make a payment on its new building that houses its fire trucks.

Last year, four county fire departments — Turbeville, Cluster Springs, North Halifax and Liberty — received similar grant awards from the county. Two members of the County’s Fire Captains group, South Boston Fire Chief and Ronnie Waller of North Halifax thanked the board for its support. Phillips noted that as a whole, county fire departments are $1.7 million in debt. He laughed, “It take a lot of stew making to get that kinda money.”

The board heard a report by Sarah Lyon-Hill of the Virginia Tech Department of Economic Development who is heading up a strategic plan for increased agriculture and forestry promotions. Lyon-Hill is working with the county’s Agricultural Marketing Director Kimley Blanks to develop a SWOT (Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats) analysis. They have scheduled three community meetings this week to get input from stakeholders to help develop their plan which they will then bring back to the board.

In yet another matter, County Planners said they are continuing to study regulations regarding billboard sign placement in the county. However, they have made no recommendation with a request to erect a large billboard at CJ’s Country Store, located just across US 501 south in front of Cluster Springs Elementary School. The planning board said it will consider the request at its December meeting.

Supervisors also got an update on the newly formed Drug Court which according to Freda Holliday, got its second participant just this week after received four referrals for the court. (The first participant was admitted on July 16.)

Holliday thanked the board for its initial support of the new court by allocating enough money on March 16 to get it up and running. She noted that after submitting a federal grant application, Halifax County was notified that it will receive some $116,000 annually to operate the court for the next three years.

The next step, she said, is to undergo training for employees and to hire a case manager.

The Board also considered minor changes to their Code of Ethics and Standards of Conduct proposed by ED-6 Supervisor Larry Giordano. Members are expected to adopt the changes during the January organizational meeting as well as the proposed by-laws for members of advisory committees and boards named by the supervisors.

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