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The current scale house at Prince Edward’s landfill was so cold Tuesday morning the ink in the printer was frozen. With doors that don’t fully close, leaks and just a bare bones plywood floor, it needs to be replaced. But the question, as always, is where would the county get the money? The scale house was one of several proposed projects up for discussion as Prince Edward assembled its capital improvements list for the next three years. 

In the end,however, supervisors put it all on hold. During their Tuesday, Jan.14 meeting, they heard from a wide range of county staffers about certain needs, before tabling the discussion until February. The reason is that supervisors had a couple questions they wanted answered before any vote. 

But meanwhile, they learned from Assistant County Administrator Sarah Puckett that it’s not really clear how much longer the scale house can operate. 

“It’s pretty rustic,” she told supervisors. “It’s been patched with duct tape and cardboard.”
In the proposed capital improvements plan (CIP), there would be $175,000 set aside in the 2025 budget to replace the structure. This would be done with a new 16 x 26 mobile office trailer with three offices, a restroom and a break area/kitchen area. The current structure was assembled 10 years ago and was taken from a used construction trailer. Now it’s wearing down. It would take about 12 weeks to build the new version, once approved.

Problems with the Prince Edward shelter

And then there’s the animal shelter. This year alone, the shelter hit its largest intake number in more than a decade. 

“We hit 524 dogs and cats that come through our building,” Adam Mumma said. He is Prince Edward’s Chief Animal Control Officer. “Unfortunately this year, we couldn’t keep up with the demand from the public.” 

Mumma said that more and more people are bringing in their pets, as they can’t afford to pay vet bills, feed and give them shelter. And unfortunately, the shelter only has room for 9 cats and 11 dogs at one time in the current structure. That means for 2024, the euthanasia rate rose to 19%, with a majority put to sleep simply because there’s no space. Mumma said out of those euthanized, 70% were killed due to lack of space. 

A new shelter is the top priority currently in the proposed CIP, at a cos of $10.628 million. The county even has a site for it, a 9-acre parcel of land owned by the Prince Edward County Industrial Development Authority, located between the Social Security building and FACES on Commerce Drive. The location was chosen because it was a bit easier to get to, as opposed to the current shelter, located at 255 County Shop Road in Farmville. But this isn’t a case where a simple renovation was possible. 

The current building is just too small for the county’s needs, able to only accommodate 9 cats and 11 dogs at one time. Also, the isolation room and euthanasia room at the current structure do not meet state requirements. Why? The whole thing was built 50 years ago. Under the proposed CIP plan, $7 million would be set aside in the 2027 budget to get started, with expectations of paying the rest and finishing the year after that. 

Talking about county trash

The most questions came when discussing the proposed convenience site projects around the county. Under the proposal, for $800,000, the county would hire workers to renovate the Worsham site.

That includes repaving the site, adding new fencing, signs, concrete pads for compactors, provide open top dumpsters and improve site lighting. This is the primary dump site for residents in the Hampden district, along with southern parts of Farmville and northern parts of the Leigh district. The current site is unpaved, with no security cameras or adequate lighting. Supervisor Harrison Jones asked if the cameras were necessary and the answer was sadly yes. 

“Unfortunately, those are worth their weight in gold,” Prince Edward Administrator Doug Stanley said. He pointed out that having the cameras up and working is protection against lawsuits, as some people would slip, fall and blame the county. 

And Worsham isn’t the only convenience site set to be upgraded. Recommended for the 2027 budget, the planning commission suggested moving forward with a $1 million upgrade and consolidation of the Prospect and Tuggle convenience sites. The Prospect site, located on U.S. 460 just west of Prospect, is too small, wedged between High Bridge Trail and the road. There’s zero opportunity to expand. The Tuggle site is at the entrance to the county landfill, with similar problems. Both sites are unpaved, with potholes and reports from residents that they’re hard to maneuver in. The county staff would look at a new site, somewhere along U.S. 460 in between the current ones, and then spend $1 million to develop it. 

Rules to consider in Prince Edward

“The capital improvement plan (CIP) is intended as a guide to assist the Board of Supervisors in the development of the county’s budget,” Prince Edward Planner Robert Love told the audience at the Jan.14 meeting. “The CIP process began with the submission of 10 capital expenditure requests from county departments and associated agencies.” 

Now there are a couple rules that go along with this, Love explained. In order to be considered as a CIP, the project has to be non-recurring. In other words, you pay once for it and then it’s finished. Second, it needs to have a “useful life” or be able to function for at least five years or more. And third, the cost must exceed $50,000 for a government project or $100,000 for a school project. It’s also worth mentioning that these are recommendations. Even after being included in the budget process, until they’re paid for and work starts, anything could change. 

 “The CIP is strictly advisory,” Love said. “Once the plan is adopted, the individual project priorities may change throughout the course of the year. It is quite possible that a certain project may not be funded during the year indicated in the CIP.”

It’s worth mentioning that the Prince Edward Elementary renovations aren’t on this list because they’ve already started. This is for new projects.