Warren County cuts ribbon on Farmview Drive Rural Addition Project

From left at the Farmview Drive ribbon cutting, County Administrator Doug Stanley, Shenandoah Farms POA Board Chairman Ralph Rinaldi, North River Supervisor Dan Murray, Farms POA member Willy Surface, Shenandoah District Supervisor Tom Sayre, and Deputy County Administrator Bob Childress. Courtesy Photos/WC

On Thursday, December 14, Warren County cut the ribbon marking completion of the Farmview Drive Rural Addition improvement project.  Present were members of the Shenandoah Farms Property Owners Association Board and County officials.  The project totals 0.31 mile in length and represents “a major milestone for the POSF Board,” according to a press release issued by the County.

In 2006, the POSF Board established Farmview Drive and the adjacent Fellows Drive and Youngs Drive as priority Rural Addition projects.  The stated reasons were safety concerns for schoolchildren and bus traffic in the area.  Shenandoah Farms is one of the outlying county’s most densely populated areas.

Farmview Drive was the Farms Sanitary District’s number two Rural Addition priority in the County’s Capital Improvement Plan.  The CIP includes both VDOT Rural Addition/Revenue Sharing Projects and “in-house” projects in a prioritized list to provide guidance for staff to implement road and drainage improvements.

The completion of the Farmview Drive improvements represents the 14^th project totaling about three miles of Farms roadway the County has developed and constructed through the Rural Addition Program (RAP) since taking on the administration of the Shenandoah Farms Sanitary District road system in 2010.  The Rural Addition Program allows private subdivision streets to be upgraded to minimum State standards, allowing their addition into the Virginia Department of Transportation’s (VDOT) Secondary Road System.  Since completion late last month, Farmview Drive has been accepted by VDOT for maintenance.

Improving rural roadways to minimum VDOT standards to allow their admittance as state secondary roads allows for the redirection of Sanitary District funds to the maintenance of other local roads.

Farmview Drive was re-constructed to provide an 18-foot-wide paved travel surface with 2-foot stabilized shoulders.  Roadway culverts and private entrance pipes were replaced and/or supplemented throughout the project.  Side ditches were constructed where necessary for improved drainage, and according to the release safety signage was also installed.

Work as it progressed on Farmview Drive

In the press release Warren County Administrator Doug Stanley said, “The VDOT Revenue Sharing Program allows the County to administer these types of projects at a much lower cost.  Since we don’t have all the overhead costs that VDOT does, we can complete them much more cost effectively.”

Stanley credited Deputy County Administrator Bob Childress, who manages the Shenandoah Farms Sanitary District, for development and daily oversight of the project.

“Bob’s background and experience in road maintenance and construction with VDOT prior to his employment with the County have proved to be invaluable as we seek to make significant improvements to the infrastructure of the Sanitary District.”

Childress noted that the project “was completed well within budget.”  Childress explained that was due in large part to being able to avoid “existing fiber optic telephone cable” leading to a much shorter construction time-frame.  The original project design and estimate included significant adjustments to the telephone cable.

And that’s a RAP

According to the County, the originally-approved VDOT Revenue Sharing funding estimate for the project was $312,000.  And while not all-final billing has yet been processed, Childress said it appears the project has been completed for approximately $150,000.  The work took about a month, beginning in late October and ending in late November.

Through its Revenue Sharing Program, VDOT provides 50-percent of eligible costs.  Warren County and the Sanitary District split the remaining costs.  The Sanitary District’s 25-percent share of the final cost is now estimated at approximately $37,500.

Childress acknowledged road and drainage work by General Excavation, Inc. of Warrenton, with the asphalt surface being placed by Carroll Construction Company, Inc. of Winchester.  He also acknowledged good weather as a factor in the timely completion of the project – “We were very blessed to experience good weather this fall and to have had knowledgeable contractors on our team which allowed us to complete the project within our tight construction schedule”

Stanley added that, “Several other Rural Addition projects within the District are currently in various stages of planning and development.  The remaining 0.20 mile section of Tomahawk Way, an access roadway shared by the Shenandoah Farms and Blue Mountain Sanitary Districts, is currently in the design stage.   We are hopeful of having this important project under construction during the summer/fall of 2018.  The County has also recently submitted an application to VDOT for Revenue Sharing funds for the Old Oak Lane Phase IV, and Youngs Drive, Phase II Rural Addition projects.”

If you have any questions about this recently completed project, planning for future projects, or management of the Sanitary District, please contact Mr. Robert B. Childress, Deputy County Administrator, at (rchildress@warrencountyva.net) or Douglas P. Stanley, County Administrator, at (dstanley@warrencountyva.net).

(Information assembled from a County press release)