The Mathews Board of Supervisors voted Tuesday to engage the Richmond firm Sands Anderson to provide the county with basic county attorney services.
Attorney Andrew R. McRoberts will perform the duties that county attorney Richard Harfst, who retires in June, has been handling, but he won’t be moving to Mathews and working full-time. Instead, McRoberts will work off a budgeted fee, billable at the rate of $250 per hour, with paralegal and clerk services billed at the rate of $150 an hour.
According to the contract, payment will be for a flat annual sum for up to a maximum of 300 billable hours at the $250 an hour rate, but the number of hours can be increased or decreased at the county’s discretion. The county will also reimburse McRoberts for out-of-pocket costs and expenses. The contract can be terminated by the county or Sands Anderson at any time, with or without cause.
The contract further states that McRoberts won’t be representing the Department of Social Services or dealing with public finance and specialized or unusual matters. Supervisors chair Janine Burns said that the Mathews Department of Social Services is searching for its own legal representative because it was difficult to find an attorney who wanted to deal both with basic county attorney services and Social Services issues.
McRoberts said he’s looking forward to representing Mathews County. As a child, he spent summer weekends in the county with his Boy Scout troop, then continued visiting with friends in Bavon as a young man.
A graduate of the College of William and Mary and the University of Richmond law school, McRoberts said he served as a local government attorney for 15 years. He first served as assistant county attorney in Arlington County, then as county attorney in Culpeper and Goochland counties. His firm provides legal services similar to those he’ll be providing for Mathews for a number of counties across the state, including Essex, Caroline and Lancaster counties.
McRoberts said he’s looking forward once again to serving as a county attorney. "It’s something I know well," he said, "and I’m excited to be a part of it."
Tax deadline
The county voted to extend the deadline for payment of county taxes from June 5 to June 15. Tax bills are ready to be sent to the printer, said county treasurer Wendy Stewart; they just needed a due date. She said she expected they would be mailed late this week or early next week.
Stewart said the bills are late this year because "we have a new commissioner, and he just needed a little more time."
Twigg Bridge
VDOT assistant residency engineer Joyce McGowan said that work has begun on repairs to the Twigg Bridge over the Piankatank River between Mathews and Middlesex counties. She said the contractor has installed a signal there that will be activated at noon on Tuesday to restrict traffic across the bridge to one lane as the fender system is replaced. The work is expected to take two years, she said, with the one-lane restriction in place the entire time.
Board members complained to McGowan that the new design for the intersection at Wards Corner is more dangerous than the previous design. Previously, there was triangular median on Route 14 at Buckley Hall Road, but it was replaced with a T-style intersection and turn lanes.
"Several accidents have happened there the past few months," said supervisor Charles Ingram.
"It’s more confusing now than it was before," said supervisor Neena Putt, and asked how long it would be before safety concerns are addressed.
McGowan said VDOT had already placed a larger stop sign at the intersection and that further safety measures would take about six months. She mentioned the possibility of a flashing light there and said she had seen four crash reports.
"But what you’re not seeing," said Putt, "are the near misses."
Supervisor O.J. Cole mentioned the end of Sand Bank Road and asked McGowan if VDOT was working on a more permanent solution to the problem of sand drifting across the road.
McGowan said there’s a plan, but the design still has to go through channels for approval. She said one design that was developed wouldn’t fit in the 30’ footprint available at the end of the road. "We’ll have a fix after July," she said.
In other news, the board:
—Renewed its waste management contract with the Virginia Peninsulas Public Service Authority and its cleaning contract with Mathews Cleaning Service;
—Adopted a resolution to refund the loan on the rescue squad building at an annual savings to the squad of approximately $7,500;
—Decided to opt out of the Line of Duty Act in the VRS fund and instead participate in VACORP’s Line of Duty Act pool at an annual cost of $27,927 rather than the budgeted $31,000;
—Decided to participate in the National Association of Counties Dental Discount Program, which is similar to NACO’s Discount Prescription Drug Program and is available to all county residents at no cost; and,
—Approved a request by Jim and Amanda Taylor that they be allowed to hang flower baskets from the decorative street signs in the Court House area.
The board’s annual retreat will be held from noon to 3 p.m. on Thursday, June 7 at Mathews Memorial Library.