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4 challenge 3 Highland supervisors
Blagg seeks second term
BY ANNE ADAMS • STAFF WRITER
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MONTEREY - Lee Blagg of Doe Hill has spent the last four years representing Highland residents as a county supervisor. The experience hasn't been at all what he expected, he says. Nevertheless, Blagg, 60, has chosen to seek a second term. "I would like to have four years of something that resembles peace and quiet," he said. "I know that's not going to happen, but I'd like to get something actually accomplished without fighting and going to court. That might not happen either. And really it takes you two to three years to get to know the job; you learn something every day."
As a newcomer to the board nearly four years ago, he depended on board colleagues Jerry Rexrode and Robin Sullenberger to show him the ropes, he said. "They are two good people to work with … they've been good to work with. We don't' always agree but we're not supposed to." But the term has been "quite an experience," he says. "I don't know as you could characterize it either way (good or bad), but I've learned a lot about people."
If reelected in November, Blagg says there's nothing he'd really do differently as a supervisor. He feels it's important to maintain some consistency on the board, however."
Agriculture a priority
Blagg, a long-time farmer, says issues affecting that industry are one of the primary reasons he seeks reelection. "Some things related to agriculture, I'd like to see through, (like) this tax situation on the farm," he said.
He grew up in Highland County and after a few years in the military returned to the family farm in the McDowell area where he's been ever since. Though he and his wife turned his farm into a bed and breakfast a few years ago, he still worries about making a living on the farm and says the tourism aspect hasn't done much for his income. "It's a joke. It is. It's been a good experience; I enjoy the nice people. We get a few every now and then - maple festival and a couple during summer, and that's about it. Insurance is the big kicker. It's really crazy."
Blagg has long seen himself as the voice of the agricultural community in Highland, especially when it comes to property taxes. "The tax issues are just killing us," he said.
There's an informal group in the McDowell area taking a look at land use taxation measures that might reduce the tax burden on farmers by assessing productive farmland differently than, say, rock outcroppings which have no farming value. "Land use per se is OK up to the point," he said, "And (they're) working on a plan."
He believes there's a tax discrepancy between wealthy landowners and farmers who are land rich but cash poor. "If you can afford to come back here to a weekend home, then you can obviously afford (more taxes). That's where the problem is. There's only a couple thousand of us (residents). This last reassessment has tore us up, especially the Stonewall District (which was) hit hard. I reckon maybe it was the assessor we had; I don't know. There's cases where people, farmers, are going to the bank in June to borrow money to pay their taxes, and that's not a good thing. In some cases, in my own experience, 15-20 percent of your gross is going to pay taxes, and there is no profit. So you can imagine what that's like. So agriculture is living on the edge and it's one of the big deals in the county."
As for getting to solutions, though, Blagg said, "We know all the problems; we don't have the answers. Young people out there would farm but they have to do something else on the side. Got to have something for them to do. Probably very few will stay in the county."
Problems will remain, he said, until "somebody decides in America (that) we're going to pay for what we eat … You can't get the same price you did (for agricultural products). The cost of production has doubled or tripled. (A) slaughterhouse will be good," he added, referring to the ongoing efforts to locate a meat processing facility in the county to serve the region. "(That would) definitely be of help to the county," he said. "It will give us more options on the farm, if the bear don't eat all the sheep first."
Several area farmers have switched gears, turning to methods that add value to what they grow in order to increase profits. Blagg doesn't think that's the answer. "It's all been tried," he said. "We're not close to anything. If we were 40 miles outside of D.C., maybe. Niche marketing is all anyone talks about, (but it) won't work here. We sell some freezer beef, but by the time we get them slaughtered, there's no profit," he added, referring again to the benefits of a nearby slaughterhouse.
"Tax issues is eating them up," he continued. "Hurting the people that rent land just as much. Rent goes up, jacks up the cost of production."
He believes farmers deserve a break if everyone else wants the scenic beauty of pastural land in Highland County. "If you want open spaces, you've got to take care of the man who keeps it up, and they don't know who keeps it up."
A swimming pool?
Blagg has maintained a cautious position to the county's proposal to construct a swimming pool and recreational complex near the school campus. "It's been one of those things in mix before I come on, so I try not to stir a big stink over it one way or another and go along with the board on some stuff. I don't know how many people on my side of the county would ever use it," he said. "I'd prefer to see it without the grant and I think with the money they've raised, they can probably raise that much more and you won't have all these strings tied to you. These grants, you've got to have them to survive, but there's nothing free; there's always a catch. Nobody's come out and said too much about that. I've never had somebody come out and tell me what it's going to cost to run the thing. Maybe it's because I haven't asked or maybe it's because they don't know, but it's not cheap, it won't be cheap. I'm afraid the county's going to have to come up with some of it, maybe not today but maybe five years from now."
Blagg said he told school and recreation officials he didn't think McDowell area residents would use it mainly because of the distance to Monterey. "It's 18 miles one way to my house; I'm not going to come over there after 10-14 hours a day (working)." The grant, from the Virginia Outdoors Fund as a pass-through entity from the National Park Service, also concerns Blagg. "I've never sat down honest to God and read the thing (grant application), but I'm going to. This stuff in perpetuity is frightening. If you bring it on yourself and it didn't pan out, then you deal with it."
Wind energy proposal
Blagg is disturbed by how much the county has spent defending the board's decision to grant a local permit for a limited liability company planning an industrial wind energy facility here, and says he can't understand why a group of citizens sued the board.
"It's all about legalities," he said of the permitting process for the utility. "It's not about birds and bats and eagles, it's about did we do it legally right. And they can sue you again. There's no end to this stuff."
Asked what might bring an end to the controversial debate on the proposal, Blagg said, "If everyone runs out of money, (but) that's not going to happen. They're not going to run out of money. I mean, sooner or later something's going to happen. It's going to go in or it's not going to go in. Only thing we can do in voting is take the facts that are presented in front of you and look at the facts. If you make decisions based on emotion and fear, then go home. And it's a lot of emotion and a lot of fear.
"It's been a circus. I knew it was going to be an issue but I didn't know it would go to this extreme and this is rare, believe me, rare to get to this extreme with anything like this. Then we'd be condemned for spending too much money. But if you can't defend what you do, then don't do it."
Blagg says in retrospect, he can't think of anything he would have done differently regarding the utility project. He's also skeptical as to whether Highland will ever see the estimated $200,000 a year in tax revenue from the utility if it gets built. "I don't know if we're getting all that money."
Blagg said he didn't pay much attention to a similar, but larger, utility (Liberty Gap) proposed in West Virginia just across the state line from the Doe Hill area. "I didn't follow that very closely even though I would've seen it from my front door. Hell, I don't know what's going to happen (with either project). It's over. It's out of our hands now," he said.
Economic growth
Blagg said he didn't have any ideas about what kind of new businesses Highland should seek to boost the local economy. "Whatever you can do to get some jobs back here," he said. "I don't have a clue."
He is, however, pleased with the newly developed and evolved economic development authority. "It's been one of the good things that's come out of the wind mess. It's going to take time, no miracles overnight."
But again, he's not hopeful there will be much change for the county. "(The) names change but the song's the same. People (are) just opposed to everything, but it's been going on for years. Doesn't matter what it is. Not in my back yard is a big thing."
Blagg said he'd like to see county residents "calm down, relax, enjoy what you got. You don't have to agree with us (supervisors). You don't have to agree with anybody. But you don't have to go crazy."
He said communication between the board and its constituents has broken down, and understands those who say they don't feel like the board is listening to citizens. His reply? "Well, come talk to me. (They) quit coming after we voted for the wind. (We) had a pretty good dialogue (before)."
Leadership on the board
Blagg said his main weakness as a leader is that he doesn't speak out enough, but that "under certain circumstances, you can talk too much, too. Sometimes hard to get a word in between Robin and Jerry," he said.
About the candidate Lee Blagg, 60 Married, three grown children, and five grandchildren, with another due this month Attended Highland High School, and joined the Air Force after graduation Worked as a plumber for an engineering outfit in the Air Force for nearly four years, then returned to work the family farm in Doe Hill.
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