Board votes for new school buses
The Rappahannock County Board of Supervisors voted Monday to allow staff to seek approval from the state to institute a small increase in court fees that could be leveraged by the county to help fund the construction of a new courthouse.
Circuit Court Clerk Kaitlin Struckmann told county staff it has the option of instituting a $3 court fee, with approval from the state, to assist with the costly courthouse project.
County Administrator Garrey Curry said the court could levy a $3 courthouse upgrade fee on each case that passes through. The fee is conditional, and Curry said the Virginia Department of Housing and Community Development has to inspect the current courthouse and determine that “it couldn’t be uplifted to meet modern [standards],” but he said “there’s little doubt that we can pass that test.”
The inspection would cost up to $4,000, but would only need to be performed once. Curry said the fee would add an additional $9,000 in revenue each year on average.
“[It’s] not a lot of money, but every dollar is important,” Curry said.
Courthouse progress
No official update on the courthouse construction project was given at the meeting because representatives from the architectural firm overseeing the project, Glavé and Holmes, were not available to attend.
Glavé and Holmes will present updates to the board and Planning Oversight Committee at a meeting mid-May, Curry said.
Curry said since receiving comments and suggestions about a new courthouse in March, the team has been working on revised concepts and has been “responsive to recommendations of the board and Planning Oversight Committee.” He said the size of the second courtroom in the potential plans has been reduced to be non-jury capable and the jury assembly room has been eliminated.
The firm is drawing up two new scenarios to present to the supervisors — one with indoor parking, and one without.
New school buses
The board voted to purchase two school buses for the Rappahannock County Public Schools (RCPS), hoping to get ahead of a bus replacement schedule that is running behind.
Right now, the school has four buses that need to be replaced, and another that will be due for replacement in fiscal year 2026.
During work session discussions in February, Robin Bolt, RCPS executive director of administrative services, described new buses as a “critical need.” All K-12 students share a bus, which is a big “cost savings,” Curry said, rather than separate buses covering each route for each school.
The board approved the purchase of one 77-passenger bus at about $152,000 and one 65-passenger bus at $146,000, using funds in part from excess proceeds received from the sale of property having delinquent taxes. Piedmont Supervisor Christine Smith called the $161,000 an “unanticipated revenue stream.”
Superintendent Shannon Grimsley said the larger bus could allow for two routes to be consolidated, and one of the schools’ 77-passenger buses is due to be replaced in 2025.
Curry said once the bus deficit is made up, the schools’ 15-bus fleet would make a purchasing schedule of one bus a year “ideal.”
“We’ve had some tight budgets, and we are behind … a bus a year could get us into a cycle where we’re never a bus behind,” Curry said. “Buses are expensive, and they don’t last very well beyond 15 years, particularly on some of our roads, they’re getting shaken and beaten and battered every time they’re out.”
The purchase will still leave the school system with two buses due for replacement, not including one bus listed in its request for the FY2026 budget.
“Getting this unanticipated revenue stream has really been an answer to this big problem in a small way,” Smith said.
CVFD generator, EMS agreement
The board approved the purchase of a backup propane generator for the Castleton Volunteer Fire Department (CVFD), which had issues with pipes freezing and disrupting its operations this winter.
Stonewall-Hawthorne Supervisor Van Carney backed the request and said the station is saving up to purchase vehicles and equipment. The generator was quoted to cost $28,774, and CVFD asked the county to pay 50% of the cost.
“There are some companies that have more money than others, and Castleton, through sheer grit, has been able to keep going and so, it’s an ask, but I am absolutely willing to support it,” Carney said.
The board approved the request unanimously, adding to its motion that the funding be approved up to the requested $14,387.
The department also entered into an enhanced coordination agreement with the county, placing it under the county’s Emergency Medical Services license, which would allow the station to obtain medication and supplies from the county rather than on its own.
According to the resolution, the agreement comes in anticipation of changes in regulation that would prevent the department from obtaining medications and supplies directly from local hospitals.
Curry said the station would still be a volunteer station and no branding would need to be changed. The Sperryville Volunteer Fire Department entered into the same agreement with the county in September 2024.
Broadband update
Curry gave a short update on the All Points Broadband project, and said the county is waiting to see “if All Points will make good on their commitment to have physical construction starting this summer.”
Curry said he saw workers from All Points working in the Town of Washington last week, taking pictures of poles and surveying the existing infrastructure.
Public hearings
The board hosted four public hearings in its evening session on special permit applications recommended for approval or denial by the Planning Commission:
- After both supportive and opposing public comments, the board unanimously denied a tourist home application at 105 Viewtown Road, where owners requested permission to use their historic country store as a short-term rental. The Planning Commission recommended denial 3-2 at its March meeting.
- The board voted to approve an accessory dwelling unit at 50 Spyder Mountain Lane in Sperryville. “If I could vote twice for this I would,” Hampton Supervisor Keir Whitson, who attended the meeting via Zoom, said.
- The board unanimously approved a tourist home application at 416 Rolling Road in Sperryville, with the condition that the property be limited to two bedrooms and four guests. “I’d probably be living there if it had internet … it’s a beautiful place,” Curry said.
- With no public comment on the application, the board approved a tourist home application for 202 Yancey Road in Woodville.
