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In Brief . . .
Bath County Board of Supervisors
¦ The board of supervisors has agreed to Bath County being the field test site for the Virginia Renewable Scoring System developed at James Madison University. Dr. Maria Papadakis made a brief presentation to the board on the system and answered questions about it, which is designed to help localities catalog and designate areas suitable for wind and other renewable energy projects. Participation as the test site will not cost the county any money and is supposed to allow Bath to take a proactive step toward dealing with possible request for wind energy facilities. ¦ Supervisors approved buying a new phone system to replace the 20-year-old Comdial key system. James Carpenter of TDS told the board parts were no longer available for the old system and that it would not interface with new E-911 equipment. Russell Minich of The Timmons Group said the state wireless board would pay for the total cost of the new equipment since it was required to connect the sheriff's office to the 911 system. ¦ On the recommendation of Minich, supervisors approved Option 2 as the method to connect the new E- 911 system to local landline and wireless providers. The monthly cost for the eight lines will be $3,599, according to figures provided by Minich. The wireless board will pay the approximate $8,000 installation cost. ¦ The board recognized Sheriff Charles "Tommy" Black for his 30 years of service to the county in law enforcement. Black has been sheriff for the past eight years and will retire at the end of the month. Voters elected retired state trooper Larry Norfleet to take over the department in January. ¦ Supervisors appointed Nancy Smith to fill the remainder of the unexpired term on the Rockbridge Area Community Services board. ¦ Action to recommend citizens for appointment to the Board of Equalization was tabled until January. Four citizens have agreed to serve, according to county administrator Bonnie Johnson. Supervisor Stuart Hall said two other citizens had told him they would serve. ¦ The board set two public hearings for Jan. 8 to hear applications for rezoning and subdividing property at the Village of Cedar Creek. Last month the planning commission recommended approving both the rezoning and subdivision provided issues with water and sewer are addressed. Board members told county planner Sherry Ryder to make sure the applicants understood a solution to the water issues must be presented before the hearing date if they expected approval. ¦ The board tabled action to allocate additional money to the coyote bounty program. Almost all of the $10,000 appropriated for this year has been spent, said Johnson. The money has paid for 90 hides and one livestock claim. The board directed Johnson to look for money that could be used to continue the program through the year. The county may also consider reducing the bounty from $75 to $50. ¦ Board chairman Cliff Gilchrest reported negotiations are continuing with Spectrum Associates on the old Millboro school project. County Attorney Mike Collins and Spectrum lawyers are working out details, he said. The provision giving Spectrum an exemption to increases in taxes has been removed and the county is also seeking first right of refusal if the property is offered for sale after transfer to Spectrum. ¦ Following closed session, the board authorized Collins to work out the wording and the board chairman to sign documents to allow the Retirement Home Commission to finance the retirement facility and pay off the construction loans. ¦ Recreation director Mark Nelson received permission from the board to release a request for bid for fireworks.
 | | State Senator Creigh Deeds waits for the next question from Bath County supervisors Tuesday night. Deeds was on the top of the agenda of the regular monthly meeting to give a legislative update and listen to concerns for the supervisors. Request put to Deeds ranged from asking for special legislation to allow Bath to recover the 991 tax paid on phone lines to allowing Bath to increase the lodging tax and use part of the resulting revenue for emergency services. Deeds pointed out the deadline for drafting special legislation had passed and he now had only eight bills he could propose district wide. In addition, special legislation requires approval by 2/3 of both houses he told the board, reducing the odds for successful passage. On a positive note, Deeds said he expected more money to go for mental health. He also noted the state needs significant money for roads across the state and he hoped a better bill would pass this session. He said an increase in the tax on fuels could bring in as much as a half-billion dollars and might not directly impact consumers. Deeds reminded the supervisors a number of times of the odd shape of his district pointing out he served voters 100 miles east of the courthouse in Warm Springs. (Recorder photo by Charles Garratt) |
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