Administration Education Events Local 

Donation of Chessie Caboose

K. Alston , ,

Last night City Council accepted the donation of a restored 1980 Chessie Caboose from the Lee Hall Train Station Foundation. The foundation acquired the caboose from the CSX Transportation Company, saving it from being scrapped, and invested $18,262 along with more than 200 hours of volunteer labor to fully restore it. The City will fund the relocation of the caboose (estimated to be less than $12,000) from its current storage location at Fort Eustis to the Lee Hall Depot, which opened this past summer as a museum for public visitation. The caboose will also be used for educational purposes.Appropriations

  • Engineering ($1,658,000) – These funds from the Fiscal Year (FY) 2022 Bond Authorization are for Transportation Safety Improvement Programs as part of the Streets and Bridges Category of the Capital Improvements Plan. The programs include: bridge and culvert repairs ($600,000); LED street light upgrades/additions ($508,000); neighborhood enhancement program ($250,000); and the annual utilities undergrounding program ($300,000).
  • Newport News Public Schools ($6,708,744) – Last fiscal year, State revenue to the school division exceeded the budgeted amount by $5,620,819. In order for the school division to spend these funds, the State requires the locality to appropriate the revenue to be carried forward into the next fiscal. In addition, there was a balance of $1,087,925 in unspent City funds for the school division at year-end. After discussions between the City Manager and the School Superintendent, it was agreed that the State and City funds will be used to cover the costs associated with various capital projects. These projects include renovation of the Senior Center of Warwick High School to accommodate the health sciences magnet, modular learning cottages at Huntington Middle School, HVAC design and construction, additional costs associated with roof replacements, and to address stormwater runoff projects. If the funds are not re-appropriated by City Council, then they are required to be returned to the state and to the city, respectively.

On-demand viewing of last night’s entire City Council meeting is available at www.nnva.gov/nntv. Next Regular Meeting is 7 p.m., Tuesday, November 9. Council meetings are shown live on NNTV (Cox 48/Verizon 19) and streamed online at www.nnva.gov/nntv and on NNTV’s Facebook page. View full meeting agendas, watch past meetings and more on the city’s Public Meetings Portal.