The Mathews County Planning Commission looked at the county’s FY 2024-2028 Capital Improvement Plan during its meeting on Tuesday, Dec. 13.

Members also elected officers for the coming year, unanimously selecting Billy Cook to serve as chairman and Harry Meeks to be vice chair.
The commission is charged with studying the capital improvement requests made by county departments, constitutional officers, outside agencies, and the public; determining a timeline for meeting those requests based on the funds available; and making recommendations to the Mathews County Board of Supervisors.

Determinations are scheduled to be made during the January 2023 commission meeting so the supervisors will have the commission’s recommendations when budget work sessions begin in February.

County departments are scheduled to submit their funding requests to the county in time for the board’s annual organizational meeting at 1 p.m. on Tuesday, Jan. 10.

Mathews County Planning and Zoning Director James Knighton began his presentation by pointing out the 17 items that the commission recommended funding in the FY 2023 budget, as well as the 23 items the board of supervisors ended up funding. A number of the items were paid for with federal funds from the American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA), while other items came from meals tax revenues (MT), committed reserves (CR), grant funds (GF), fund balance (FB) or the lodging tax (LT).

Some items that were marked with a projected price by the commission ended up costing either more or less when appropriated by the supervisors. Large budget items recommended by the planners and funded by the supervisors (with payment method and originally projected costs that were provided to the planners in parentheses) included: Two telecommunications towers at a total cost of $777,710 (ARPA—planners $600,000); clocks, bells, and telephone/intercom system for the schools, $180,000 (GF—planners $350,000); a new fire truck, $148,000 (MT—planners $70,000 partial payment); and parking lot resurfacing and striping, $105,000 (MT—planners $110,000).

Also recommended and marked for payment were a dozen other projects, such as a security system for county buildings on Brickbat Road and at Liberty Square (ARPA—$75,000) and improvements at East River Boat Yard (CR—$50,000), all adding up to $448,178 and paid for out of various funds.

Additional items that were not recommended by the planning commission but that were marked for funding by the board of supervisors in the FY 2023 budget totaled $928,834. The two highest-cost items were design, engineering, and right-of-way acquisition for Phase II of the Main Street Enhancement Project, $560,554 (80 percent paid for with a federal grant) and school bus replacement, $201,280.

Capital improvements recommended by the planning commission for 2023 totaled $1,578,178, while supervisors actually appropriated $2,587,722, with much of the additional expense coming from Main Street Phase II, the higher-than-projected cost for the two telecommunication towers, a new school bus, and a new fire truck.

The breakdown of funding sources provided by Knighton showed that 68 percent of the funding for all capital improvement projects came from either grant funds ($876,834) or the American Rescue Plan ($877,710), while around 25.5 percent came from the meals tax ($663,178), and the remaining 6.5 percent came from committed reserves ($125,000), the fund balance ($25,000), and the lodging tax ($20,000).

Planned funding for FY24

Since the capital improvement plan is a planning document, funding needs for items may change. Most of the highest-dollar items that have thus far been included as requests for fiscal year 2024 are eligible for grant funding. These items are a dredging project and beach protection needed for Winter Harbor, $3,910,900; dredging needed for Davis Creek, $1,668,500 (only one of which is likely to be funded); construction of Phase II of the Main Street Enhancement Project, $1,293,856; HVAC at Thomas Hunter Middle School, $400,000; and site work, a boat ramp and a fishing pier at the East River Boat Yard, $365,000. Medic funding for Mathews Volunteer Rescue Squad, at $336,000, is not listed as grant-eligible.

Other CIP items being considered for FY 2024, the departments requesting them, and their total costs are: Buildings and Grounds—$202,000 to pay for six items: a new maintenance building, replacement of a pickup truck, HVAC replacement in the Commonwealth Attorney’s office, LED lights in Liberty Square courtrooms, an ADA sidewalk and parking at the registrar’s office, and a rear ADA door for the administration building. Mathews County Public Schools—$520,000 to pay for six items: bus replacement, a fire alarm system at MHS, an athletic complex at MHS, bathroom renovations at MHS and THMS, classroom renovations at THMS, and hot water tank/burner systems at THMS and MHS. Mathews Volunteer Fire Department—$70,000 for a fire truck. Mathews Volunteer Rescue Squad—$115,000 for a helipad and a truck to transport the Gator and trailer. Sheriff’s office—$71,600 for vehicle replacement.

The total of all projected CIP costs for FY 2024 is $8,952,856.

Knighton told the commission that he needed an idea of which of the requested items members wanted to prioritize by January, reminding them that grant funding has requirements regarding completion dates that must be met.

“What’s most important is what we determine needs to be funded in 2024,” he said.

During discussion, commission members talked about ways to save money, such as possibly using the school system’s bus shop to service some of the emergency responder vehicles, but Cook reminded members that much of what they were discussing was outside the realm of their authority. He said such matters would be up to the board of supervisors and whatever agreements the county might make with various entities.

“We can recommend,” he said, “but it falls under the purview of the supervisors.”

In later discussion, Knighton said that items may be added to the CIP after the supervisors begin holding their budget meetings.