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The planned Goshen community center took a big step toward becoming a reality last week as the Goshen Town Council voted 4-1 to approve a contract for purchasing 1.3 acres of property as the site for the center.
“It feels pretty great to get to this point,” Councilman Steve Bickley told The News-Gazette on Monday. Bickley started working on the community center project in February 2021 and has been a driving force behind the project since.
“When we first started, the chances felt remote,” he said. “It was a great project, but it never felt like something that could happen in Goshen. Now it actually feels like it could come true, and it would be amazing for the town if it did.”
Based on engineering studies by Radford-based engineering firm Thompson and Litton of several proposed sites in town, Council selected to purchase land owned by William Edwards located on
Rockbridge County gets $3 million federal grant for MSA raw water pump station project, and RATS receives $75,000 for new van. See page A2 for details.
Maury River Road next to the Goshen Rescue Squad building. Council entered into an agreement to buy the land for $120,000, which will come from a $255,000 federal grant the town is set to receive for the purchase of property for the community center. The money, which was included in the 2023 federal budget, passed both houses of Congress and was signed into law by President Joe Biden on Dec. 31. The town will receive the money in May, with a closing date for the property set “on or about May 15.” The sale is contingent on the town receiving the grant money.
In order to secure the property until the grant money comes, the town will make a nonrefundable down payment of $5,000. That payment will be counted toward the $120,000 purchase price when the sale closes.
The property has a house located on it, and Bickley told Council that an initial plan for the house was to give it and the portion of the lot it was located on to the Rockbridge Regional Library for them to renovate and use as the new permanent site for the Goshen Library. As of Monday, Bickley had reached out to the library board but had not set a date and time for members to come look at the property for consideration.
Newly elected Councilman Mike Hicks questioned why the town was purchasing property for the community center when there is unused property owned by the town behind the Dollar General on Virginia Avenue on the western end of town.
Bickley explained that Thompson and Litton had said that, if that site was chosen for the community center, it would likely not score high enough for the town to receive a construction grant to make improvements to the property and build the community center. In particular, the site is not near the majority of low- and middle-income residents in the town and is not in a location that is easily accessible to pedestrians. He also noted that the $255,000 grant could only be used for purchasing property for the community center, not for making repairs to property the town already owns.
“It’s highly unlikely that we will get a construction grant if that’s our location,” Bickley said.
Bickley made the motion to approve the contract, which passed in a 4-1 vote, with Hicks voting against. Bickley then made a motion to authorize Mayor Tom McCraw to begin negotiations with the owners of several lots next to the Edwards property in hopes of using the remainder of the grant money to buy those lots to allow for a U-shaped driveway for the community center. The extra lots would also allow for more space for parking and for a septic system for the development. That motion also passed in a 4-1 vote, with Hicks again dissenting.
