Greene County News & Events | |
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Greene County Offices will be closed in honor of
Fourth of July on July 4, 2024.
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Administration
From the Administrator's Desk
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As the temperatures and longer days clearly indicate, summer is here! There are plenty of opportunities to be outside and enjoy the beauty of Greene County. For example, on June 20, the Greene County Parks and Recreation hosted a “Play all day” event to bring people to our park on the longest day of the year. This month is special for me as I mark my one-year anniversary in Greene County. I have truly enjoyed meeting so many great people in Greene, and I am inspired working with our excellent staff who deliver for the community every day. Our work is ongoing as we confront the important issues and deliver results. I am looking forward to another year of service and connection with you and Happy Fourth of July to all! | |
Greene County's new website has launched. There are some things we're still ironing out and we appreciate your patience with the changes that need to be made. You can create a website account (upper right hand of the site) and be notified of items of interest to you. More changes will be coming in the next few days, including the optimization with GCVA Emergency Alerts that will be placed on the top of the website when there is an emergency. Additionally, a new agenda center will be coming online later this year and a new portal for permits and applications. | |
Want to give back to the county? | |
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The Greene County Board of Supervisors is seeking individuals interested in improving the quality of life in Greene County to participate as a member of a County board, commission, or committee. Vacancies are advertised at various times throughout the year, and opportunities are available now to serve on various citizen member organizations.
Current Opportunities
- Board of Equalization (2)
- Board of Zoning Appeals
- Board of Zoning Appeals Alternate
- Board of Zoning Appeals - Town of Stanardsville
- JABA Advisory Committee
- Ruckersville Advisory Committee
- Agricultural & Forestal District Committee
The Board of Supervisors invites citizens interested in making a difference through public service to submit an appointment profile, which can be found on the Administration page under helpful documents. Completed forms should be submitted to the County Administrator’s Office. Open until filled. Call 434-985-5201 with any questions.
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Spotlight
Greene County Courthouse
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This new feature of the newsletter aims to tell a deeper story about different aspects of Greene County government departments utilizing historical archives and interviews. The month's topic is the Greene County Courthouse, which is undergoing extensive rehabilitation that will be completed this month. Watch the County of Greene Facebook page for more information about a ribbon cutting!
Photo courtesy Greene County
Historical Society circa 1900s
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The courthouse
Greene County didn’t exist prior to 1838, when several residents petitioned the General Assembly to separate from Orange County. It would often take more than one day travel time to reach the courthouse in the Town of Orange and would then require lodging in Orange before returning back to Greene. In a time without easy access to information channels, court days were some of the most exciting for remote communities like ours. Many villages would halt work during court day and people far and wide would come to town to do their business and catch up on the news of the day. The local newspaper would list the names of the jurors the week prior to the event and the Justices would hear lawsuits, criminal cases, wills, and more. At that time, they also had the power to determine roadway access and tell residents to clear the land for it.
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Click here for full story
Click here for historical photos of the courthouse
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Water & Sewer
Greene in moderate drought
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The Virginia Department of Environmental Quality, in coordination with the Virginia Drought Monitoring Task Force, has issued a drought watch advisory for Greene County due to lack of rainfall. As of this week, Greene County has entered into Stage D1 - Moderate Drought. With that in mind, Greene County Department of Water and Sewer is requesting residents voluntarily conserve water until the county has received substantial rainfall.
Some measures customers can take to conserve water include:
- Avoid hand-washing vehicles, boats, or other outdoor equipment.
- Check toilets, faucets, hoses and couplings for leaks and repairs.
- Make sure hoses and sprinklers are properly working without leaks.
- Avoid pre-rinsing dishes and instead scrape dishes and run dishwashers once full.
- Turn off the faucet while brushing teeth or shaving.
- Avoid watering lawns and gardens as much as possible. If watering is necessary, it’s recommended those with an odd address water on odd calendar days and those with an even address water on even calendar days.
- Use a broom instead of a hose to clean off porches, stairs, driveways, and sidewalks.
- Wash only full loads in washing machines or choose the appropriate water level selection.
The County will advise when river levels either return to the point that mandatory restrictions are again required or when voluntary restrictions are no longer called for. Thank you in advance for your assistance in preserving our needed water supply.
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Greene Water & Sewer report out | |
Annual Drinking Water Quality Report for 2023 now available online. | |
Community Development
May 2024 updates
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Preliminary and final site and subdivision plans continue to be added and available to be viewed online.
Joint Meeting:
The Greene County Board of Supervisors and the Greene County Planning Commission held a joint work session on Tuesday, June 11, 2024, at 4:30 p.m. to discuss the Technology, Flex Research and Development District resolution. In addition, topics regarding requirements for solar panels and data centers will be reviewed. The joint session will be held in the Meeting Room located in the Administration Building at 40 Celt Road in Stanardsville. The Board voted at the June 25, 2024, meeting to direct the Planning Commission and staff to begin work on those issues. Upcoming public work sessions will be scheduled for the Planning Commission.
Citizen Academy:
The next Citizen Academy will be held August 8, 2024, in the Greene County Administration Building, 40 Celt Road, Stanardsville. The topic for that night is Parks & Recreation.
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Virginia Cooperative Extension
Saying goodbye to Ms. Alstat
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After 26 years, Kathy Alstat was honored at the June 25, 2024, Board of Supervisors meeting with a resolution upon her retirement.
Ms. Alstat started her career as an Extension Agent Program Assistant in 1998. She took over the role of Senior Extension Agent, 4-H Youth Development in August 2001.
For a full list of her extensive accomplishments, visit the agenda online.
Kathy Alstat at the June 25, 2024,
Board of Supervisors meeting.
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Cloverbud Science Day Camp | |
Teens' Life Skills Workshop | |
Economic Development & Tourism
Updates from ED&T
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QuadTank Pitch Competition. Congratulations to Greene County's own Nomad Nursing LLC on winning the QuadTank Pitch Competition and grand prize of $5,000, at the Final Quad County QuadTank Pitch Competition! This multi-year program that includes Greene, Orange, Fluvanna, Louisa, and Madison has been providing small business in the area's rural communities training opportunities and an annual QuadTank competition. The Central Virginia Small Business Development Center has increased their services in these communities over the past few years making the QuadTank Summit no longer necessary and this was the final event.
Start or Expand a Business in Greene. The Central Virginia Small Business Development Center (CV SBDC) is recognized for the fourth year in a row as the best SBDC in the State of Virginia. Greene County residents can take advantage of most of these services for free. SBDC has Office Hours at the Visitor Center the third Monday of each month, 9:00-3:00 pm. Meet with a business advisor to: create a business plan, marketing strategies, funding opportunities, get free industry data, etc. Call for a fully confidential appointment 434-295-8198.
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Parks & Recreation
Upcoming Parks & Recreation events
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Treasurer
Updates from the Treasurer
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Tax Business:
A big thank you to our patient citizens this past month. We had all mail posted (on time and late mail) in a record breaking 7½ business days after the due date. This may not seem like much of a feat, but this was an exceptional timeframe we accomplished. Kudos to our staff for a job well done!
During tax time, we discovered our new phone system had a limit of 30 voicemails. Many citizens were unable to leave messages. While we were awaiting a fix from IT, we updated our voicemail to include our email: treasurer@gcva.us for citizens to contact us. This is an email in which all staff monitor throughout the day. Another feature I requested was the forwarding of voicemails to our email, and converting them to text so we can read the voicemail. This proved to be a much more efficient process in handling return calls when we were unable to answer the phone during tax time.
Other upcoming billings: If you have inquired about taxes in the past month and learned you would be supplemental billed, the supplemental bills will be mailed mid-July.
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Fun Business:
I recently attended the annual Treasurer’s Association of Virginia conference. What a great conference with much education and networking. Trainings included leadership, finding your “excellence zone” (mine is Visionary!), and audit preparation. In my networking with other Treasurer’s, I was most interested in how other offices process their mail at tax time, financial software upgrades – which systems present the most challenges/have the best solutions in regards to their tax portals, and investment strategies. It was to great to connect in this manner and know there is such a great support system for our office just a phone call away.
Our Deputy Treasurer, Becky, leaves us this month for maternity leave. If you visited our office recently, you may have noticed the baby name jar at Becky’s window. We had so many customers partake in the fun of submitting baby names, and we enjoyed reading the names to kick off our staff meetings. Many citizens also have come to know Becky well and check in on her frequently. One gentleman in particular, Mr. Eddie Knight, stopped by on Becky’s last day and presented her a sunflower to plant for the baby. What a wonderful community we live in! We congratulate Becky and wish her the best as she and her husband welcome their new baby in July!
Thank you,
Dawn Lotts Marshall
Treasurer
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Voter Registration
Early voting for June primary continues
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Greene County held a dual Primary on June 18, 2024. Overall turnout including Early Voting, Absentee Voting, and Election Day Voting was 14.2% in Greene County. The unofficial winners are shown below. Once the results are certified in Richmond, the candidates' names will appear on the November 5, 2024 ballot:
- Member United States Senate: Derrick
M. Anderson (R)
- Member House of Representatives
7th District: Eugene S. Vindman (D)
and Hung Cao (R)
This November 5, 2024, ballot will have the following:
- President and Vice President
- Member United States Senate
- Member House of Representatives 7th District
- Special Election for Greene County Treasurer
- Proposed Constitutional Amendment
- Special Election for Stanardsville District-Member Board of Supervisors
The deadline to have one's name on the ballot for the Stanardsville District Board of Supervisors position ended on June 18, 2024. The deadline to have one's name on the ballot for the Treasurer position closes on August 16, 2024.
Sample ballots for the November 5, 2024, election will be available in mid-September.
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Solid Waste
New tipping fees effective July 1
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Public Safety
Be Ready GCVA
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Greene County has transitioned to CivicReady from CodeRed for emergency alerts. CivicReady is a free opt-in communications service that allows users to customize their notification preferences and will allow non-emergency information to be sent to those who subscribe based on their choices. Sign up online at https://shorturl.at/bmrTW. To receive ONLY emergency text messages to your phone text “GCVA” to 38276.
Users will be able to choose their preferred language to receive alerts and the type of messages they prefer. The new system will allow Greene County to reach residents, visitors, businesses, and employees regardless of location within the county and provide actionable information. The ability to notify residents in an emergency is only as good as the database of numbers. Due to Federal laws, each resident MUST opt-in for alerts of any kind. It’s especially important that residents include cell phones as a means for communication to receive alerts no matter where you are within the community. Additionally, many people only have cell phones for communication, therefore linking it to your home address is vitally important in case of address-specific emergency alerts. Businesses are encouraged to sign up for emergency alerts as well.
Users can subscribe to receive non-emergency information from: Emergency Services; Greene County Government; Parks & Recreation; Registrar; Sheriff’s Office; Treasurer; and Water & Sewer. Additional non-emergency groups may be added in the future if the need arises.
This new system is part of an entire overhaul of the Greene County website to improve transparency and communications with the public. Once the website is fully updated, emergency alerts will feature on the front page of the site.
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Culpeper Soil & Water Conservation District
Septic cost share available
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Homeowners, do you have your own septic system? When was the last time you had it pumped out or inspected? Do you know how well it functions? As a homeowner, it is in your best interest and beneficial for local streams and groundwater to maintain your system and the Culpeper Soil and Water Conservation District is here to help!
Effective July 1, the Culpeper Soil and Water Conservation District has just recently received additional funding for its residential septic cost share program which allows the District to expand its eligible area in Greene County to the full County. Previously, it was limited to just the Rapidan watershed area. Now the entire County can benefit.
This program is focused on reducing any existing or potential impacts on local ground and surface water quality. E. Coli bacteria in some local streams has long been identified as being higher than expected by state water quality standards, although other pollutants can also be involved, particularly nutrients. An additional benefit to the property owner is the assurance that their system is up to standards and functions properly. It is a win-win for both water quality and property value.
If you have not had your septic system pumped out in the last five years and you are a resident of Greene you are now eligible! Residential properties only. A basic pump out of your septic tank and an inspection are the best insurance for maintaining a functional system.
Pump outs with an inspection extend the life of a system and prevent higher costs later on if the systems fail. If further repairs are indicated by the pump out and inspection, the owner is still eligible for the additional repair payments. Applications are required and need to be approved prior to the work being done or funding can be declined. Free assistance with initial assessments of individual system needs is available from the District. Reimbursement payments are made promptly once the work has been completed. The program is entirely voluntary and assistance from the District is free of charge.
Further information on the program is available from the District at 540-948-7531 or 540-825-8591. Funding for these projects has been secured by the Culpeper Soil and Water Conservation District and from the Environmental Protection Agency through the Virginia Department of Environmental Quality Non Point Source Program, Commonwealth of Virginia.
The program offers 50% reimbursement for any occupied residential property, with up to 80% for low-income households. See chart below.
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Ag Conservation funds available | |
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Agricultural lands in Greene County continue to be eligible for conservation assistance funds from Culpeper Soil and Water Conservation District (CSWCD) for stream exclusion fencing, establishing rotational grazing fields, developing water resources, wells, springs and stream access points, reforestation of critical areas and establishing or enlarging buffer areas along waterways. Funds are also available for nutrient management plan development and implementation, cover crops and numerous other conservation practices including streambank stabilization and water quality filter strips on croplands.
The Commonwealth is making huge commitments to get producers into voluntary conservation programs before any federal deadlines on Chesapeake Bay restoration projects arrive. Currently the Virginia General Assembly has fully funded the Bay Restoration effort for agriculture. This is a first. It’s good to take note of that.
Although significant program sign up occurred during the most recent several years of record levels of funding, now is a good time to contact District staff and explore project options. CSWCD program funding will remain very high for the coming year; currently at nearly $9 million for the District.
CSWCD encourages producers to explore options with us at no cost. The CSWCD has highly skilled employees who are well trained in both the technical aspects of conservation management and program delivery. Staff members assist producers in developing conservation plans that work for their operation and navigating program opportunities. Not all programs are created equal and staff members assist applicants in understanding the options and choosing the program that suits their farm’s needs.
Anyone interested in exploring the many benefits of conservation planning can contact the District at 540-825-8591.
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Red, White, Blue 'N Greene | |
Parade will be held on Main Street in Stanardsville at 10 a.m. Roads will be closed beginning at 8 a.m. on Thursday, July 4, 2024. | |
Greene Farm & Livestock Show
Farm & Livestock Show set
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The 5th Annual Greene Farm & Livestock Show for 2024 will be held August 1, 2, & 3. This event is put on by volunteers annually and includes livestock demonstrations and sales, antiques and artisans, car and tractor shows, music, food, and more. Visit the website for more information. | |
Greene Care Clinic
Sign up for Mobile Mammography
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Get screened in Greene! Sentara RMH Medical Center and Sentara Martha Jefferson Hospital are teaming up to bring a Mobile Mammography Van to the County of Greene in July. The van will be outside the County Administration Building, 40 Celt Road, Stanardsville, on Tuesday, July 16, 2024. Women with insurance can call (434) 654-7106 to schedule an appointment. If you are uninsured, please reach out to the Greene Care Clinic at (434) 985-7000 and they will help determine if you are eligible for a FREE screening mammogram through the Every Woman's Life program. Getting screened in Greene is easy and convenient, and saves lives! | |
Greene Health & Wellness Fun Fair | |
TJPDC & JABA
Mobility Management Program
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The Thomas Jefferson Planning District Commission (TJPDC), in partnership with the Jefferson Area Board for Aging (JABA), has a new Mobility Management Program to help older adults and people with disabilities who need rides in the Central Virginia area. There is no charge for the transportation counseling service that goes beyond information and referral. Call JABA at (434) 817-3548, ext. 292, or toll free at (888) 879-7379. | |
Greene County Woman's Club
Ice Cream Social Planned
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Four County Players
Shakespeare at the Ruins
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County of Greene, Virginia | |
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