Bond Referendum Projects
Status Update - August 2010

On November 8, 2005, Hanover County voters approved three Bond Referendum questions. All three questions (Public Safety, Parks and Libraries and Schools) were endorsed by more than 70% of voters. The passage of the Bond Referendum means that Hanover County can save money by issuing general obligation bonds that will have a lower interest rate than other forms of debt.

The projects are divided into:

Public Safety Projects

Communications system
Fire Stations

Parks and Library Projects

Parks
Mechanicsville Library

School Projects

New Elementary School
Facilities improvements
Trades-Based Center
Technology improvements

Most of the projects have been completed, with the final projects expected to be completed this fiscal year. Current timelines are:

Public Safety Projects

Communications System and Facility (Bond Referendum amount – $26 million)
Hanover County is replacing the aging and outdated current public safety radio system and facility with a modern digital system and facility. The project involves purchasing new fixed and non-fixed radio equipment; installing new radio transmitter equipment and antenna systems at each current tower/transmitter site; adding and equipping additional tower and transmitter sites; replacing non-fixed mobile portable radios; purchasing land, tower equipment shelters, fencing, emergency generators and microwave equipment; and installing new dispatch consoles and control room equipment. The new system will enhance radio system coverage for public safety agencies, school bus drivers, public utility workers and all departments which depend upon the communications system. It also will improve the ability of emergency personnel to communicate with other localities and agencies and enhance system security and reliability.

New Communications System status:

• This 15-tower, 12-channel (frequency), digital megahertz radio system became operational on August 25, 2010. This system will provide the coverage, technology and equipment needed to meet the County’s goals of 95% in-building portable radio coverage, interoperability with other systems in the Metro Richmond area and a high level of system security, reliability and redundancy.

Build replacement Ashland Fire Station (Bond Referendum amount – $2.017 million)
Hanover County built a 9,750 square foot fire station at Archie Cannon Drive near John Gandy Elementary School. This fire station replaced the current 4,400 square foot facility. The new station is sized to accommodate only fire apparatus because of the close proximity of the Ashland Rescue Squad.

Build replacement Farrington Fire Station (Bond Referendum amount – $2.77 million)
Hanover County built a 13,250 square foot fire station on Mountain Raid west of Farrington. This fire station replaced the current 4,400 square foot facility. The new station is sized to properly accommodate both fire and rescue apparatus.

Ashland and Farrington Stations status:

• Both new fire stations opened in September 2009.

Build replacement Black Creek Fire Station (Bond Referendum amount – $2.65 million)
Hanover County will build an 11,750 square foot fire station close to the location of the current Black Creek Fire Station. This fire station will replace the current 4,500 square foot facility. The new station is sized to properly accommodate both fire and rescue apparatus.

Black Creek Station status:

• On July 23, 2008, the Board of Supervisors advanced the funding for the Black Creek Fire Station into the current Fiscal Year. The Board approved the conditional use permit for the new facility in October 2009. The construction contract has been awarded to Evans Construction and clearing of the site has begun. The current schedule anticipates completion of construction in June 2011.

Park Projects

Pole Green Park improvements (Bond Referendum amount – $1.6 million)
These improvements will include new athletic fields, picnic shelters, walking trails, restrooms, playgrounds, additional parking, concession stand, lighting for athletic fields, improvements to the skate park and an addition to the Community Center.

Pole Green Park improvements status:

• Lights have been installed at two new softball fields and construction has been completed. The irrigation system for these fields has also been completed, along with irrigation for the football field (with funding donated by the Mechanicsville Youth Football League). Construction on a new, larger restroom facility that would serve users of the new softball fields is scheduled to begin this summer; this will be the first Parks restroom to receive County utility service. The parking area will also be improved. Additional lights are planned for the fields at Pole Green.

Poor Farm Park improvements (Bond Referendum amount – $1.077 million)
These improvements will include new athletic fields, a skate park, additional parking, walking trails, a new volleyball area, lighting for football and soccer fields, a BMX track, a sledding hill, and construction of a storage facility.

Poor Farm Park improvements status:

• A new playground will be placed towards the ‘front’ of the park. Additional lighting will also be placed on at least two soccer fields.

Courthouse Park improvements (Bond Referendum amount – $275,000)
These improvements will include irrigation, lighting for a multi-purpose field, walking trails, a parking lot and landscaping.

Courthouse Park improvements status:

• Light poles for three athletic fields and the parking at Courthouse Park were erected in the summer of 2007 and an irrigation system was installed. A new concessions building is also in place; this is not a Bond Referendum project but results from a donation by Blue Star Football. Additional lights are planned and new playground equipment has been installed.

Wayside Park improvements (Bond Referendum amount – $260,000)
These improvements will include renovation of the existing picnic shelter, construction of a new picnic shelter, new restroom facilities and refurbishment of the existing playground. The Board of Supervisors approved a conditional use permit for these improvements in October 2009. The new playground equipment has been installed. Additional parking will also be created for the new picnic shelter.

New Park development (Bond Referendum amount – $1 million)
Taylor Park off Rt. 54 between Ashland and Hanover Courthouse will potentially include walking trails, soccer fields and a picnic shelter. The Taylor Complex building would be enlarged to accommodate recreational activities.

Taylor Park development status:

• Funding of $450,000 was appropriated in Fiscal Year 2010 to complete the improvements. User fees enabled the department to construct a parking lot. Taylor Park was opened to the public in the spring of 2007.

Montpelier Park at the Montpelier Center for Arts and Education will include additional walking trails, soccer fields, picnic shelters and a paved play area. The Hanover County Department of Parks & Recreation held three community meetings to identify other potential improvements and develop a Master Plan, which was approved by the Board on March 28, 2007.

Montpelier Park development status:

• The Fiscal Year 2007 budget adopted by the Board of Supervisors included $300,000 in improvements at Montpelier Park, with an additional $200,000 later to complete projects recommended in the Master Plan. On July 23, 2008, the Board of Supervisors awarded an $80,000 contract for the first phase of these improvements, which will include a gravel parking lot and gravel trails, improvements to two existing playing fields, improvements to the existing entrance from Rt. 33, lighting, irrigation and landscaping. These improvements have been completed. The Fiscal Year 2010 budget included $120,000 to complete such improvements as new playground equipment, now being installed at the new Montpelier Park. A new picnic shelter should be completed at Montpelier Park by the end of April; it will be the largest picnic shelter at any park in the County.

Doswell Park at the old Doswell School will potentially have additional walking trails and improvements to existing trails.

Doswell Park development status:

• The Fiscal Year 2007 budget adopted by the Board of Supervisors included $25,000 in improvements at Doswell Park. Work with the Virginia Department of Transportation, the Doswell Ruritans, Flippo Lumber and the Planning Department continues.

Also included in the 2005 Bond Referendum was $25,000 in funding for proposed multi-use (horse, bike and walking) trails on the “March property” at the intersection of Woodside Lane and Jamestown Road just east of Ashland. The facility is a daylight hours-only park with no lights. It is the first major park owned and operated by the County entirely as a natural area for passive recreation only.

Washington Lacy Park development status:

• The Board of Supervisors approved a Conditional Use Permit for the 77 acres of the property which are in Hanover County on October 25, 2006. The balance of the 222-acre property (145 acres) is located within the corporate limits of the Town of Ashland. Ashland Town Council approved the project on November 21, 2006. On June 27, 2007, the Board named the park Washington Lacy Park in honor of a former property owner who bred horses there. Phase I of the park will include a small parking lot and a partial multi-use trail system. Phase one of Washington Lacy Park was opened to the public on December 6, 2008.

The Parks and Library projects included in the 2005 Bond Referendum also included $420,000 in funding for new playground and/or fitness equipment and surfacing material at each of the County’s 17 elementary and middle schools. This playground equipment was installed in the summer of 2007.

Library Project

Mechanicsville Library (Bond Referendum amount – $5.077 million)
Hanover County has built a 17,500 square foot library on a new site in Mechanicsville. This library replaced the current 5,700 square foot facility. The new Mechanicsville Library is located behind the Arby’s restaurant on U.S. Rt. 360, adjacent to Spring Meadows and the Sherwood Crossing Place apartments.

New Mechanicsville Library status:

• The new Mechanicsville Library opened in June 2009.

School Projects

New Elementary School (Bond Referendum amount – $21 million)
Hanover County built an elementary school on Lee-Davis Road to help relieve overcrowding in the eastern part of the County. It opened in September 2008.

New elementary school status:

• On May 24, 2006, the Board of Supervisors approved a Conditional Use Permit allowing the construction of the new elementary school. At its August 8, 2006 meeting the School Board awarded the construction contract for $16,492,000 to A.D. Whittaker Construction, Inc. The school has been named Laurel Meadow Elementary School and opened on September 2, 2008.

Facilities improvements (Bond Referendum amount – $20.231 million)
Each of the 18 Hanover County schools built prior to 2000 received needed improvements, including heating and air conditioning systems, roofs and parking lot improvements.

The following is the status of the facilities improvement projects to date:

• The roof replacement at Cold Harbor Elementary School is complete.
• The partial roof replacement at Beaverdam Elementary School is complete.
• The roof replacement at Building ‘D’ at Pearson’s Corner Elementary School is complete.
• The auditorium HVAC replacements at Lee-Davis High School and Patrick Henry High School have been completed.
• The mechanical improvements at Liberty Middle School and Stonewall Jackson Middle School are complete.
• The partial roof replacement at Patrick Henry High School is complete.
• The partial parking lot resurfacing at Battlefield Park Elementary School has been completed.
• Mechanical unit replacements at the gym, media center and three classrooms at Lee-Davis High School have been completed.
• Construction of the Media Center addition at Beaverdam Elementary School has been completed.
• The partial roof replacement at Atlee High School has been completed.
• The partial roof replacement at Washington-Henry Elementary School has been completed.
• Cooling tower replacement at Atlee High School, Cold Harbor Elementary School and South Anna Elementary School is scheduled to be completed in May.

Hanover Center for Trades and Technology (Bond Referendum amount – $8.19 million)
A 38,600 square foot the Trades-Based Center (its new name is the Hanover Center for Trades and Technology) was constructed between Kersey Creek Elementary School and the Georgetown School; Hanover High School and Oak Knoll Middle School are adjacent on the east.  The Hanover Center for Trades and Technology provides courses and programs including building trades (such as carpentry, electricity and plumbing), facilities management, cosmetology, small engines and automobile servicing.

The Hanover Center for Trades and Technology status:

• The Board of Supervisors approved the Conditional Use Permit for the Hanover Center for Trades and Technology on January 24, 2007. The School Board awarded the construction contract in the amount of $7.673 million on June 19, 2007 to Loughridge & Company LLC. This facility opened on September 2, 2008.

Technology infrastructure improvements (Bond Referendum amount – $2.495 million)
Network upgrades will provide greater speed, capacity and flexibility for the Hanover School District’s operating systems, which are used daily by more than 40,000 students, parents, employees and citizens.

Technology infrastructure improvements status: Technology Services received $395,000 in funding from the 2005 Bond Referendum for 2005-06.  The funding went to the following initiatives:

• New classroom computers and LCD projectors for all schools
• Upgrade of the district firewall and content filtering system
• Mobile laptop carts for middle schools