BY CALVIN R. TRICE

Times-Dispatch Staff Writer

The Goochland County Board of Supervisors today declined to act on a School Board request to issue bonds for a $23.1 million elementary school expansion.

The supervisors had asked the School Board to come up with plans to expand Goochland Elementary School, but they balked at plans that ran close to the price of building a replacement school.

"I can't imagine sinking this kind of money into this property like that," Supervisor James W. Eads said.

Originally, the School Board had asked for about $24 million to build a replacement for the school because they didn't believe the 50-year-old building and the property around it were conducive to expansion.

The supervisors said such an expense would have to go to a referendum for voter approval. They instead offered to issue bonds without a referendum to expand Goochland Elementary School and the county's other two grade schools.

They asked the School Board to present a construction plan that would allow Goochland Elementary, which serves the county's fast-growing Courthouse area, to accommodate 700 students.

Goochland Elementary's current lunchroom cannot accommodate 700, and the school property's has a steep slope where the building would be expanded. As a result, the projected cost for the expansion soared past $23 million.

Eads and Supervisor Andrew Pryor indicated that they could not support the project, citing the economic downturn that has led to fewer building permits in Goochland.

The supervisors agreed to review constructions plans more carefully and then meet with the School Board on the issue at a time they expect to set this week.

Also today, consultants hired by the county to assess high-speed Internet access needs told the board that a survey showed an interest in the county for expanded broadband access.

Consultant Thomas G. Robinson said the survey found that 58 percent of 914 respondents would be very likely to sign up for a county-run or county-facilitated high-speed Internet plan.

Contact Calvin R. Trice at ctrice@timesdispatch.com