After more than an hour of debate, the Chesterfield County Board of Supervisors voted 3-2 on Wednesday to release to the county school system $9 million that was set aside months ago for maintenance and renovation work on the old Clover Hill High School.
The project, which has been in the works for more than two years, hinged on the school system's inclusion of a business incubator in the building on Hull Street Road.
The plans for the building also include space for an expanded career and technical education center, workforce development, consolidated offices for employees who now work in various places across the county, classrooms for an expanding online learning program, and community meeting space.
None of the supervisors liked the incubator idea — school officials didn't seem to like it, either, after months of debate — but the group split on what to do about it.
Matoaca Supervisor Marleen K. Durfee made a motion to release the money contingent on several school system actions by and during its Aug. 9 meeting, including removing the business incubator from the plan.
"We need to at least get to first base," she said, stressing the importance of adding a workforce development program in the building.
She was joined in voting yes by A.S. "Art" Warren of the Clover Hill District and James M. "Jim" Holland of the Dale District.
Daniel A. Gecker of the Midlothian District and Dorothy A. Jaeckle of the Bermuda District voted no.
"The question is, Who's going to move first, our board in allocating or (the School Board) in revising the plan?" Gecker said. "It seems to me, we ought to assure our public we're getting what we think we're getting."
Jaeckle said there was no question the school system would get the money but said that in the name of transparency, she thought the issue justified waiting for the school officials to formally change their policy.
"If we'd voted a month ago, we would have had a business incubator," she said.
Early in the debate, Holland said he was prepared to stand alone if necessary in supporting immediate release of the money.
The money is part of a $25 million plan to renovate the school, which has been mostly empty since a new Clover Hill opened last school year. The Board of Supervisors never opposed giving school officials the money but waited until they saw a plan they thought was in the best interest of the county.
Gecker said some people could accuse the supervisors of meddling in school affairs but that in this case, the money was for a capital expense — an overhaul of the heating, ventilation and air-conditioning system for the building — and thus fair game for wide debate.
In an afternoon session of the board's Budget and Audit Committee and then throughout the full-board work session that followed, he kept repeating two things: that he supported an expanded technical education program and that waiting for the School Board to formally change its plan would not kill the project.
"We're 99.9 percent in accord," he said in the committee meeting, urging those listening to focus on how close the parties were instead of on the debate.
Durfee and Gecker, the two supervisors on the committee, pushed for an expansion of the school system's career and technical education program into the space set aside for the business incubator.
The board also:
- Added three voting precincts, adjusted the boundaries on eight others and moved one polling place. The moves, which are subject to U.S. Department of Justice approval, are for state House of Delegates and Senate seats.
- Approved a permit for an 11-day carnival in the parking lot of Southside Speedway. The event is planned to start Sept. 8, five days after the end of the Chesterfield County Fair. It is scheduled to run through Sept. 18 in the lot, which is on Genito Road just south of state Route 288.
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