Government

The county’s proposed budget features funds to stand up a new tourism office and create small-area plans, alongside allocations for capital projects as well as school division and public safety spending.

The default notices followed a nonperformance notice that the county sent the developers in December, as well as a missed payment of over $5 million that was due last Friday to secure the site of the project’s planned anchor arena.

“This is not an agreement to go and develop whatever on the property. This is an agreement to bring back racing to the property,” the county EDA said.

The portal is the latest in an ongoing effort to move certain city services online. The typical March 1 deadline for renewing licenses and paying BPOL taxes has been extended to March 31.

“If the water crisis showed us anything, it’s that we need to increase our water resiliency in the east. That’s what this money is doing,” County Manager John Vithoulkas said of the plan, which includes a 6% raise for all Henrico employees.

A similar extension and renovation plan is in the works for Richmond Jet Center competitor Million Air, which also operates on the grounds of Richmond International Airport.

Council also deferred until April a vote on the proposed redeveloped of the Westhampton Pastry Shop building at Libbie and Patterson.

State law requires that the licensees have at least 45% of their gross receipts per year come from food sales, which some argue is too difficult to comply with.

There appears to be progress in clearing up at least some of the turbulence between Richmond International Airport and its two fixed-base operators.

A General Assembly committee last month got a glimpse of the 316,000-square-foot office tower that is proposed as a replacement to the James Monroe Building.