Spotsylvania County officials are moving forward with the plan to transfer the Marshall Center over to the school division.
Spotsylvania Assistant County Administrator Ben Loveday informed the board of supervisors during Tuesday night’s meeting that the plan is to complete a boundary-line adjustment by June, sign a transfer agreement and easements by September or October, and have remaining county staff vacate the building by October and turn it over to the schools.
“At that point, it will become the responsibility of the schools to maintain,” Loveday said.
The school division is planning to use the facility, which served as a gathering place for seniors and teens until this past January, as a center for special education.
Spotsylvania County Public Schools Superintendent Clint Mitchell said last week that several special education programs will be held at the Marshall Center, and the division will bring back students who are currently attending off-campus day schools.
Loveday said during the transfer process over the next five months, school officials are welcome to access the building with their architects, engineers, and whoever they need to start examining the space to determine future plans.
The Snow Library and support for county facilities will remain at the Marshall Center.
Loveday laid out several other plans involving county facilities at the board meeting.
The Lee Hill Building at 10300 Spotsylvania Avenue will include a sheriff’s office substation, featuring a behavioral health unit and child victims unit, offices for the Department of Social Services (DSS) and the Department of Health. DSS is expected to move in mid-July, while the health department is estimated to move in July or August.
The Commissioner of Revenue, treasurer’s office, cooperative extension, and information services will move to the Holbert Building, located at 9104 Courthouse Road this summer. County administration, finance, human resources, community development and economic development will be located at Merchants Square at 9015 Old Battlefield Boulevard by mid-October.
In other business Tuesday, the supervisors voted 6-0, with Vice Chair Jacob Lane of the Livingston District absent, to adopt Option No. 2 regarding House Bill 153 which regulates High Energy Use Facilities (HEUFs) in the state, including data centers. The bill takes effect on July 1.
Option 1 was for the board to elect to move forward with a standalone code amendment to reflect the new mandate that ensures counties require applicants of HEUFs to examine the impact of sound on residential units and schools located within 500 feet. Localities must also require electric utilities providing services to the HEUF to submit a form describing any new or existing substations and anticipated transmission voltage necessary to serve the HEUF.
The board of supervisors chose the option that allows it to wait and bundle the necessary revisions with the overall update to the county’s zoning ordinance, which is scheduled for next spring.
The board also decided not to pursue additional optional site assessments on ground and surface water resources, agricultural resources, parks, registered historic sites, and farmland. The rationale behind that decision was that the county’s ordinance which doesn’t permit by-right development of data centers is more stringent than those regulations.
