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Month: April 2013

IDA Issues Brunswick Correctional Center RFQ

The Brunswick County IDA has issued a Request for Qualifications to find a development consultant to assist in developing plans and obtaining a master developer for the adaptive reuse of the Brunswick Correctional Center that was closed in 2009.  This is an important step in efforts to make this property an active contributor to the Brunswick County economy again.

The County Administrator and IDA Executive Director have been working nonstop since March 31, 2010 as part of a team that included local and State elected officials, as well as government senior staff, which was formed to find a way to put the Brunswick Correctional Center property back into use.  The Department of Corrections and Virginia Economic Development Partnership (VEDP) continue to work in close partnership with the County and IDA to move this project forward.

Board of Supervisors Member Barbara Jarrett Drummond, who has been at the forefront of this issue since the State government made the decision to close the facility, is glad to see this step taken; but very concerned about how our community continues to suffer economically from the closing.  She said, “I am very grateful for the working partnership and attempts that have been made by the local and State government leaders to re-use the Brunswick Correctional Center and I hope the effort now underway with the RFQ to redevelop the site into commerce and industry will bring stronger, long-term benefits to the community.”

The RFQ has been structured and advertised in major newspapers to obtain responses from consulting firms with strong experience in the redevelopment of large tract institutional sites.  The kind of experience sought is that other localities around the State with similar projects and closed military bases have successfully used. 

The Brunswick Correctional Center is located in the Sturgeon Election District so Board of Supervisors Member Marc Finney has kept a close eye on the progress made on this project.  He said, “This 760 acres property has the potential to be an economic development spark plug that brings badly needed jobs and tax revenue to our community.  I commend the County Administrator and IDA Executive Director for their tireless work and I will continue to support this effort in every way I can.”

The deadline for submitting a response to the RFQ is October 19, 2011 and a final selection process has been outlined to have a consulting firm begin work in late December 2011.

Redland Brick buys Lawrenceville Brick

Lawrenceville Brick has been making quality brick products in Brunswick County for more than 60 years and now it is moving into a new era. The company was incorporated in Brunswick County in 1946 as Brick and Tile Corporation of Lawrenceville. It was founded by three local businessmen who invited a small number of other investors in the area to join them in the new venture. The company announced in July that Redland Brick Company, a division of Ohio based Belden Brick Company, has acquired control of the manufacturing and sales.

Redland Brick Company is a wholly-owned subsidiary of Belden Holding and Acquisition Company, Inc. and is headquartered in Williamsport Maryland. Redland operates four brick manufacturing plants including Cushwa Brick and Rocky Ridge Brick in Maryland, Harmar Brick in Pennsylvania and KF Brick in Connecticut. Redland produces a wide range of products, featuring both molded and extruded styles. Parent company Belden Brick was organized in Canton, Ohio in 1885 by Henry S. Belden and four associates. The Belden Brick Company is the sixth largest brick manufacturer in the United States.

Dominion Virginia Power Proposes Building $1.1 Billion Power Station in Brunswick County

Project Would be Single Largest Economic Development Project in County’s History

600 Jobs Would be Created During Construction; 30 Permanent Positions; Economic Impact in County of $73 million a Year During Construction; $30 Million a Year After

VA Gov Bob McDonnell and Dominion VA Power CEO Thomas F. Farrell II announce new energy plant

RICHMOND – Governor Bob McDonnell joined Dominion chairman, president and chief executive officer Thomas F. Farrell II, local Brunswick County officials and legislators from the region as the company announced today that its Dominion Virginia Power subsidiary will propose building a $1.1 billion combined-cycle, natural gas-fired power station in Brunswick County that will generate electricity for customers by the summer of 2016.

Speaking about the proposal, the Governor noted, “The proposed Brunswick County Power Station has the potential to be the largest single economic development project in the history of Brunswick County. The Station will create good paying jobs for local residents, both during construction and after. And it will generate cleaner energy to help meet the increasing demands of our growing Commonwealth in the years ahead. This is a positive announcement for the economy of Southern Virginia, and for the energy needs of the entire state.”

“The Brunswick County site offers us an ideal location to generate electricity to serve Southside Virginia and Hampton Roads reliably and will help us close the gap of 4,000 megawatts in peak demand that our customers are expected to need within the next decade,” Tom Farrell said.

“We expect this highly efficient new power station will provide savings for our customers much the same as we are seeing from the smaller Bear Garden Power Station that went online last summer in Buckingham County. This also is the best, most cost-effective and reliable way to meet the latest federal clean-air standards.”

Artist's rendering of proposed energy plant.

Artist’s rendering of proposed energy plant.

From Dominion Virginia Power

Dominion expects to ask the Virginia State Corporation Commission later this year for permission to build the Brunswick County Power Station. With a generating capacity of more than 1,300 megawatts, the station would produce enough electricity to power more than 325,000 homes. Output from the Brunswick County facility would replace the electricity generated by coal units at two eastern Virginia stations that are planned to be closed for economic reasons and to help meet customers’ growing demand for electricity.

Dominion announced last September that it would likely close older coal-fired units at Chesapeake Energy Center in Chesapeake and at Yorktown Power Station. It is more cost-effective to close the units than install emissions control equipment necessary to meet new federal environmental regulations. The change from coal to natural gas to meet customer needs will result in a net environmental benefit for the Commonwealth.

PJM Interconnection LLC, the regional transmission organization that coordinates the movement of wholesale electricity in all or parts of 13 states, including Virginia, and the District of Columbia, reported in its annual forecast that customers will demand 4,000 megawatts more of electricity from Dominion during peak demand in 2022 than it does today.

If approved by state regulators, Brunswick County Power Station would be built on a 205-acre site on U.S. Route 58 east of Lawrenceville. It would be the largest single economic development project ever in the county. At least 600 workers would be on site at the peak of construction. The station will provide about 30 full-time jobs and pay annual property taxes of between $3.5 and $4 million when operational.

Dominion already has received the necessary conditional use permits from the Brunswick County Board of Supervisors to build the station and has applied to the Virginia Department of Environmental Quality for the air permit.

Dominion is one of the nation’s largest producers and transporters of energy, with a portfolio of approximately 28,000 megawatts of generation, 11,000 miles of natural gas transmission, gathering and storage pipeline and 6,300 miles of electric transmission lines. Dominion operates the nation’s largest natural gas storage system with 947 billion cubic feet of storage capacity and serves retail energy customers in 15 states. For more information about Dominion, visit the company’s website at http://www.dom.com/.