|
In Brief . . .
Bath Board of Supervisors
n Following a joint public hearing with
the board of supervisors and the planning
commission Tuesday, the board agreed to
amend the county's comprehensive plan to
eliminate Route 678 from the designated
growth area. County planner Sherry Ryder said
a property owner along Route 678 wanted to
apply for a conservation easement through
the Virginia Outdoor Foundation and could
not do so unless the plan was amended. The
supervisors and planners agreed the area
had been included in the growth area by
mistake.
n The board heard a report from Russell
Minnich of Timmons Group concerning the
county's Enhanced 911 project. Minnich
said the mapping, addressing and road sign
portion of the project is complete and work
on the new facility behind the sheriff's office
is basically complete. Work on installing the
tower began Monday, and the E-911 servers
and dispatcher workstations will be installed
July 21, Minnich said. Administrative training
will take place July 28, and dispatcher training
Aug. 4 and 11. The system is scheduled to
"go live" Aug. 18, Minnich said. Minnich
said Timmons is working with area telephone
companies to have no single point of failure
that could disrupt calls to 911.
n Treasurer Mary Susan Blankenship reported
her office has closed out the books for fiscal
year 2007-08 and all accounts are balanced.
n The board set a public hearing for its Aug.
12 meeting concerning establishing a Central
Absentee Precinct and moving the Warm
Springs polling place from the basement of
the courthouse to Warm Springs Presbyterian
Church. The board must amend ordinances
for these, county attorney Michael Collins
said. In addition, Collins said an ordinance
amendment was never approved following
a 2006 public hearing moving the Millboro
polling place from Millboro Elementary School
to the Millboro Ruritan Club. Collins requested
this amendment also be considered in August.
The CAP will be placed in the courthouse
basement. State law now requires all absentee
ballots to be counted in one location.
n The board agreed to convey the Routier Hill
sewer system to the Warm Springs Sanitation
Commission and to send a letter of thanks to
the commission members for their efforts.
n The board entered into a memorandum of
understanding with the Bath County Chamber
of Commerce concerning a tourism program
for the county. As part of the agreement, a
committee will be made up of two members
of the board of supervisors, the chamber
president, a representative recommended
by the chamber, a member of the chamber
board, the county administrator and an atlarge
member named by supervisors. Under
the terms of the memorandum, the tourism
program will fall under the administrative
direction and responsibility of the county
administrator. The committee will develop a
vision, core values, mission, strategy, goals,
organization and initial and subsequent yearly
county programs for consideration by the
board of supervisors. The chamber will be the
executive agent for the program. "This is an
opportunity for tourism in the county to move
forward in the direction it needs to go," said
supervisor Richard Byrd.
n The board appointed Susan Miller to
an at-large position on the Bath County
Industrial Development Authority and
reappointed Ellen Purvis as Valley Springs
District representative.
n The board agreed to join a coalition through
the National Association of Counties seeking
more federal money for infrastructure.
n The board agreed to pass a resolution
to designate state funding cuts resulting in
localities having to return funding to the state
as "local aid to the commonwealth." The
funding would be labeled as such in audits.
Copies of the resolution will be sent to Sen.
Creigh Deeds, Del. Jim Shuler and other state
officials.
n The board agreed to use interest from the
high school renovation loan to pay for asbestos
abatement and demolition of the band room
at the old Millboro school.
n The board entered into a draft agreement
with James Madison University for wind power
studies in the county. Under the agreement,
JMU, along with the Central Shenandoah
Planning District Commission, will field test
the Virginia Renewables Siting Scoring System
for wind energy systems. The field test will
use a scoring book to evaluate factors related
to siting of windmills in various parts of the
county. The county hopes that information
obtained will help develop appropriate local
codes regarding wind energy. Supervisors
Stuart Hall and Percy Nowlin indicated a
desire for a close study of wind energy. During
the public comment period, Glenn Crizer also
urged a close look. "If we have wind power,
we won't have tourism. I believe it is a fly by
night thing," he said.
|
