Board of Supervisors receives scholarships from VUU, awards pickleball contract

The Henrico County Board of Supervisors exchanged financial gifts with Virginia Union University and approved the construction of eight new pickleball courts on Pouncey Tract Road during its meeting July 9.

Following a presentation by representatives of Virginia Union University presented to the board during its work session, VUU President Hakim J. Lucas offered the board a gift of 25 full-tuition scholarships for current Henrico eighth-graders – a value of $388,000 total, he said.

“Why eighth-graders?” Lucas said. “Because we want to inspire them over the next four years to understand through our K-12 partnership that guess what? They don’t have to worry about where they’re going to go. Guess what? They don’t have to worry about debt. Guess what? They can think about what they want to be in the future, and we can help to shape their minds.”

During their presentation, VUU representatives spoke about the university’s progress — such as rising GPAs and standardized test scores in accepted students — and goals — such as becoming the top historically black college and university.

Supervisors also had planned their own gift to the university – a $25,000 check, which Virginia Union University alumni and board members Tyrone Nelson (Varina District) and Frank Thornton (Fairfield) presented to Lucas, who holds a doctorate in education.

The university has about 1,200 undergraduate students and an 89 percent retention rate, Lucas said. VUU wants to grow to 3,000 students on campus, he said. VUU will begin a Spanish-speaking school in the fall of 2021 that will test in English, Lucas said.

More pickle ball courts planned
At its general meeting, the board awarded a $385,500 contract to The Boyd Group of Virginia for the construction of eight pickleball courts to join four existing courts at Pouncey Tract Park, 4747 Pouncey Tract Road.

Pickleball is a game similar to tennis but with elements of ping pong and racquetball. The game is played with a wiffle ball and specific paddles and has gained a following locally among senior citizens.

This contract is the first the county has granted to the Boyd Group, but the group has built tennis and pickleball courts and is working with Wyndham Swim and Racquet Club now, said Director of Recreation and Parks Neil Luther.

The new courts will be asphalt with acrylic surfacing and have LED sports lighting. They are eexpected to be finished by November.

Montezuma Village, Oakleys Lane improvements advance
During its work session, the board received an update about improvements in Montezuma Village from Deputy County Manager for Community Operations Tim Foster. The community, located generally between Mechanicsville Turnpike, Harvie Road and I-64 in Eastern Henrico, received designation from a judge Feb. 15 as a sanitary district, meaning the county could install street lighting there.

Although the county will fund the installation of the lights, the funding for electricity and maintenance will come from an addition to real estate property taxes in the district. The lights would add a tax of about $24 annually for each unit, Foster said.

Streets in the community were repaved in April at a cost of about $230,000.

Supervisors held a hearing about an improvement project on Oakleys Lane from Oakleys Place to South Holly Avenue. The project spans 2,400 feet of Oakleys Lane and will increase lane widths, add shoulders, install guardrail, add a right turn lane onto South Holly Avenue, and build a single span bridge crossing over a FEMA floodplain.

The total cost of the project is estimated to be $5.2 million, and funding will come from Henrico's Capital Project Fund.

Other items
Henrico County Public Library Director Barbara Weedman reported on the new Sunday hours that the Henrico County public library system is offering. The hours offered are from 1 to 5 p.m., and more than 400 people visited in the first four hours.

The board also approved an agreement with project:Homes to provide up to $93,175 to project:Homes to buy, rebuild and resell a vacant single-family house on 19 N. Ivy Ave. project:Homes is a non-profit in Central Virginia and has renovated and resold another home on the same street, among many others.