Rural Retreat Fire Depart- ment. The equipment, to include a community support pack, a two-way radio system and more, will be used to better meet the needs of the citizens of Wythe County, Wytheville, Rural Retreat and Fort Chiswell. On Nov. 9, 2011, the Wythe County Board of Supervisor’s held its bimonthly meeting at the County Administration Building at 7 p.m. At the meeting, the board accepted more than $130,000 in grants to assist fire and rescue efforts. Two grants were accepted by the board to aid in fire and rescue efforts throughout the county. The first grant, awarded from the Virginia Department of Fire Programs in the amount of $2,000, was awarded to Max Meadows Fire and Res- cue and Speedwell Volunteer Fire Department. These funds were allocated to purchase a new computer for each entity. The second grant, in the amount of $131,500, was offered by the Wythe-Bland Foundation to benefit fund- ing of updated equipment and training for the Wythe County Emergency Manage- ment Department, Ivanhoe Fire Department, Max Mead- ows Fire Department, Wythe- ville Fire Department, Wythe County Rescue Squad, Speed- well Fire Department and Fire & Rescue receive $130,000 in grants Fire & Rescue receive $130,000 in grants Fire & Rescue receive $130,000 in grants Fire & Rescue receive $130,000 in grants Daycare survey in Eastern Wythe County At the Nov. 22, 2011 bi- monthly meeting of the Wythe County Board of Su- pervisors, Gary Cody, Wythe County Parks, Recreation and Tourism Director, re- ported his findings regarding board member Coy McRoberts’ request to exam- ine the eastern end of Wythe County for youth and senior activities. Cody reported the first step would be to establish a pro- gram at one of the local schools. He said he’d spoken with the principal from Jack- son Memorial Elementary who is in favor of supporting the program. The board requested Cody conduct a survey to assess the need and support for the program in the area. The survey was to include a means to measure parents support for a before school, after school programs or both programs. Gary Houseman, board member, also suggested Cody look into having sen- continued page 2 Wythe County Board of Supervisors DECEMBER 2011 VOLUME 1, ISSUE 1 Wythe the News Special points of interest: • Check out the holiday insert to learn about how Foster Falls is lighting up, where to find local gift ideas and what events are going on near you • Board of Supervisors address raise concerns • Joint boards decided to form a co- budgetary committee to further discuss school facility repairs • Find out what Wythe County is really spending on Progress Park Inside this issue: Cont. BOS 2 Progress Park interest expected to peak 2&3 Board responds to merit raise concerns 3 County boards discuss facility repairs 4 Wythe County meetings 5 County steps into social age 5 County boards discuss facility repairs 6 Public Meetings 7 Wythe County receives nearly $3 million in bridge repairs 7 Max Meadows Fire Dept. heaters functioning 8 County Recreation events 8
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Transcript
Rural Retreat Fire Depart-
ment.
The equipment, to include a
community support pack, a
two-way radio system and
more, will be used to better
meet the needs of the citizens
of Wythe County, Wytheville,
Rural Retreat and Fort
Chiswell.
On Nov. 9, 2011, the Wythe
County Board of Supervisor’s
held its bimonthly meeting at
the County Administration
Building at 7 p.m.
At the meeting, the board
accepted more than $130,000
in grants to assist fire and
rescue efforts.
Two grants were accepted by
the board to aid in fire and
rescue efforts throughout the
county.
The first grant, awarded from
the Virginia Department of
Fire Programs in the amount
of $2,000, was awarded to
Max Meadows Fire and Res-
cue and Speedwell Volunteer
Fire Department. These funds
were allocated to purchase a
new computer for each entity.
The second grant, in the
amount of $131,500, was
offered by the Wythe-Bland
Foundation to benefit fund-
ing of updated equipment and
training for the Wythe
County Emergency Manage-
ment Department, Ivanhoe
Fire Department, Max Mead-
ows Fire Department, Wythe-
ville Fire Department, Wythe
County Rescue Squad, Speed-
well Fire Department and
Fire & Rescue receive $130,000 in grantsFire & Rescue receive $130,000 in grantsFire & Rescue receive $130,000 in grantsFire & Rescue receive $130,000 in grants
Daycare survey in Eastern Wythe County
At the Nov. 22, 2011 bi-
monthly meeting of the
Wythe County Board of Su-
pervisors, Gary Cody, Wythe
County Parks, Recreation
and Tourism Director, re-
ported his findings regarding
board member Coy
McRoberts’ request to exam-
ine the eastern end of Wythe
County for youth and senior
activities.
Cody reported the first step
would be to establish a pro-
gram at one of the local
schools. He said he’d spoken
with the principal from Jack-
son Memorial Elementary
who is in favor of supporting
the program.
The board requested Cody
conduct a survey to assess
the need and support for the
program in the area. The
survey was to include a
means to measure parents
support for a before school,
after school programs or
both programs.
Gary Houseman, board
member, also suggested
Cody look into having sen-
continued page 2
Wythe County Board of Supervisors
DECEMBER 2011
VOLUME 1, ISSUE 1
Wythe the News
Special points of interest:
• Check out the holiday insert to
learn about how Foster Falls is
lighting up, where to find local gift
ideas and what events are going on
near you
• Board of Supervisors address raise
concerns
• Joint boards decided to form a co-
budgetary committee to further
discuss school facility repairs
• Find out what Wythe County is
really spending on Progress Park
Inside this issue:
Cont. BOS 2
Progress Park interest expected to peak
2&3
Board responds to merit raise concerns
3
County boards discuss facility repairs
4
Wythe County meetings 5
County steps into social age 5
County boards discuss facility repairs
6
Public Meetings 7
Wythe County receives nearly $3 million in bridge repairs
7
Max Meadows Fire Dept. heaters functioning
8
County Recreation events 8
-ior programs at the Barren
Springs Fire Station as it has
a classroom with facilities.
For a more permanent loca-
tion for community events
on the eastern end of Wythe
County, Cody suggested a
shell building be constructed
on the land owned by the
Ladies Auxiliary, just above
the fire station.
This would be an investment
of almost $2 million.
The projected development
cost of the park was esti-
mated at roughly $50 mil-
lion. The portion of the
funds Wythe County itself
endured has turned out to
be much less.
The county applied for and
received a $1.5 million In-
dustrial Facility grant, a
$500,000 ARC grant, and a
$450,000 Industrial Access
Road grant to develop a lot,
build a road and provide
wastewater service to the
Park.
The county’s largest expense
came in the onsite construc-
tion, which was also substan-
tially funded by the Tobacco
Region Opportunity Fund
(TROF). However, the off-
site preparation resulted
with Wythe County funding
only 1.14% of the $4.35
million required.
Funding for offsite construc-
tion came from grants from
third party sources including
TROF, the Appalachian
Regional Commission
(ARC), and the Major Em-
ployment and Investment
(MEI) Project Site Planning
Grant fund program for a
total of $3,650,000. The
Progress Park began as an
idea that could help Wythe
County attract industry and
boost the local economy.
According to Alan Haw-
thorne, Executive Director
of the Wythe County Joint
Industrial Development Au-
thority, as the economy be-
gins its turnaround, Progress
Park will see more industry
showing interest.
The creation of the site was
originally an answer to ques-
tion raised by industry lead-
ers eager to take advantage
of Wythe County’s many
assets, “where can we build?”
After months of debate, the
Wythe County Board of
Supervisors purchased 1,210
acres just east of Wytheville
in 1999 for Industrial Devel-
opment.
The “mega” site, first in this
region, would be serviced by
rail, road, dual electric ser-
vice, fiber optics and gas
service. The site is said to be
one of a kind in Southwest
Virginia and is being mar-
keted directly by the State of
Virginia and the Governor’s
staff all over the world as
part of Virginia’s trade mis-
sions.
latest funding was a grant
from the Virginia Depart-
ment of Motor Vehicles,
which was requested by the
Board of Supervisors on
Oct. 25, 2011, in the
amount of $650,000.
The Board of Supervisors
suggested that when occu-
pied, the site would generate
over $3,000,000 annually in
new taxes to pay for schools,
law enforcement, services to
seniors, plus 400 potential
jobs to the County.
Today, the board’s current
annual expenses in Progress
Park are less than $300,000
and the current tax pay-
ments by the Industries lo-
cated in Progress Park are
over $1,800,000.
Work to prepare the park
began shortly after the land
was purchased in 1999.
Now, 12 years later, Wythe
County, the town of Wythe-
ville and the Joint IDA
added a rail spur into the
southern portion of the
park, built a step-down pres-
sure station for natural gas,
installed 16-inch water lines
coming into both the north-
ern and southern ends of the
park and upgraded the ca-
Continued: Daycare
Progress Park interest expected to peakProgress Park interest expected to peakProgress Park interest expected to peakProgress Park interest expected to peak
“We were fortunate enough that when the great
recession started it cut construction prices about in
half which opened up the opportunity to do a major
project.” Alan Hawthorne, JIDA
Page 2 WYTHE THE NEWS
As Lot 24 wraps up construc-
tion, interest in Progress
Park is looking up.
Patterson Community Center
in Barren Springs was one of
the Board of Supervisors’ sug-
gestions for activities in the
eastern end of the county.
However, the location would
take a large investment to meet
ADA and Social Services’ ap-
proval standards.
VOLUME 1, ISSUE 1 Page 3
pacity of the county's re-
gional wastewater treatment
facility.
The park has the potential to
provide six lots that are
nearly graded and ready for
construction.
Hawthorne believes the com-
pletion of these infrastruc-
tures make Progress Park
look more appealing to in-
dustry as the country comes
off of a recession. While the
recession slowed industry
interest, it created a financial
saving opportunity for
Wythe County.
“We were fortunate enough
that when the great recession
started it cut construction
prices about in half which
opened up the opportunity
to do a major project, the
grading, which we are in the
middle of,” said Hawthorne.
Now that the question of
where to build has been an-
swered, Hawthorne feels the
interest will pick up stream.
“When we pick up that extra
traffic [from the end of the
recession] we will be in the
position to answer the last
question that was missing
before, this is where you
would build,” he added.
According to the September
2011 unemployment re-
ports, the Wythe County
employment rate is on the
rise once again. With an
unemployment drop of
1.5%, the county rates in the
top five Virginia counties in
the state with an employ-
ment rate of 93%.
A summary of the past dec-
ade shows that the invest-
ments in Progress Park have
resulted in over 750 direct
jobs and hundreds of other
jobs required to support the
industries located in Pro-
gress Park.
Every year over $1,800,000
is directly added to the
Wythe County tax base ex-
cluding the support jobs,
salaries, and purchase power
of the employees.
tion, these funds were out-
lined in budget presenta-
tions given by overseeing
county employees including
Wythe County Sheriff Doug
King.
Merit raises are not a new
occurrence in the Wythe
County budget. Nearly every
year the board’s personal
committee coordinates and
evaluates suggestions re-
ceived from department
heads requesting a merit
raise for specific employees.
In addition, raises were given
to all employees, including
teachers and other school
employees, as is standard in
During citizens’ time at the
Nov. 9 Board of Supervisor’s
meeting, one citizen voiced
concern about merit raises
given to county employees,
stating they were not pre-
sented in the budget brought
before the public.
However, board members
and Cellell Dalton, County
Administrator, assured the
individual they were.
When the county budget is
formulated, it is broken
down into sections with line
items outlining expendi-
tures. The merit raises were
included in the line item
marked “salaries.” In addi-
Wythe County and other
counties throughout the
commonwealth.
Last year’s budget was one of
few exceptions. In light of
the recession, funds were
frozen and employees were
given a one time bonus at
Christmas, outlined in the
budget line item “bonuses.”
The approval of merit raises
and step raises in the budget
process was standard proce-
dure, disclosed to the public
and had no relation to raises
retracted from earlier in
2011.
Continued: Progress Park
Board responds to merit raise concernsBoard responds to merit raise concernsBoard responds to merit raise concernsBoard responds to merit raise concerns
200,000 lights will be
brightening Wythe County Dec.
2 & 3. See the holiday insert for
more information.
Wythe County has
launched a social media
campaign aimed reaching
the online county com-
munities. The addition of
Facebook and adoption of
a social media policy are
the first steps in a larger
plan for the county to
communicate with resi-
dents online.
Read more on page 5
Wythe County, in partner-
ship with the Historical Soci-
ety, is aiding in a historical
survey to be conducted by
Hanbury Preservation.
Residents with ideas and
input are urged to give com-
ments on the preservation’s
Website for the project,
www.hanburypreservation.co
m/active_projects/wythe and
attend public meetings. The
first meeting will be sched-
uled for mid January 2012.
-Branson Construction has installed the foundation and floor slab for the Emergency Services Garage Building located on Fort Chiswell Road. This project is twenty-five (25) per cent complete.
-Steve Martin Trenching has installed the water lines and water service connections along Old School Road, Marble Lane, Fox Den Road, and Harmon Road. Pressure tests have been performed successfully along the entire system. Bacteriological sam-pling has been performed along the system other than at the end of Harmon Lane.
-Steve Martin Trenching was able to pump the line full from their portable tank to do the pressure testing; but without the pump station on line, the end of the line on Harmon Road could not be flushed and sampled. The pump station is complete and waiting on power. This project is ninety-five per cent complete.
-Prillamin & Pace, Inc. has installed approximately 29,271 feet of twelve (12) inch ductile iron pipe, 720 feet of eight (8) inch C-900, SDR 14 plastic pipe, 478 feet of six (6) inch plastic
pipe, 1937 feet of four (4) inch plastic pipe, and 290 feet of two (2) inch plastic pipe. The twelve inch, eight inch and six inch water line has all main line valves and fire hydrants installed on the lines. The master meter near Wytheville has been in-stalled. This project is ap-proximately seventy-three (73) per cent complete.
-Mid-Atlantic Storage Sys-tems has installed the footers for the water storage tank and delivered the sides to the tank. This project is fifty (50) per cent complete.
County Project Updates
tures the blue waters of Rural Retreat Lake, the vast ever-green forests that is the homes of Wythe County wildlife and the warming sunset that can be scene of the never ending mountain ridges.
The Wythe County Parks and Recreation Department over-sees all of the county’s out-door activities, sports and events.
In addition, the department
sponsors classes for residents including knitting, Zumba and yoga.
For more information about the Wythe County Parks and Recreation Department and to find out what you can get involved in, visit the county Website www.wytheco.org and click on the “Parks and Recreation” link under the main menu.
Parks & Recreation launches new logo*
Recently, you may have seen this logo on press releases or fliers put out by the Wythe County Parks and Recreation. It’s a new logo, designed by Cottle Multi-Media, hoped to catch more attraction.
The logo features common Wythe County outdoor activi-ties including fishing, running, boating, baseball, soccer, basketball and football.
In addition, the new logo cap-
Even in light of the holiday season, December is filled
with many county meetings scheduled to take place
including Board of Supervisors’ bimonthly meetings and individual
committee meetings.
See page 7 for the county events calendar.
Page 4 WYTHE THE NEWS
Wythe County began spreading
the holiday spirit just before
Thanksgiving by decorating
county buildings with wreaths
and ribbons. A great way to
spread local holiday cheer is to
shop locally for presents. Check
out this editions’ holiday insert
for listings of area businesses
who participate in the Chamber
of Commerce’s gift certificate
program.
The water line installation on Old School Road is one of many county projects currently under-way.
VOLUME 1, ISSUE 1 Page 5
As social networking becomes
more prevalent in the lives of
many residents, Wythe
County has jumped into the
new media age to a booming
response. The county’s pres-
ence on Facebook is part of a
larger effort to connect with
the residents of Wythe
County and help better com-
municate information.
The Wythe County Facebook
account officially launched on
Oct. 29, 2011. In the month
of its existence, the account
has been accepting and adding
friends by the hundreds, with
a current friend count of al-
most 1,300.
By “friending” the account,
users can view status updates
that contain information
about Wythe County meet-
ings, news and public informa-
tion. In addition, users can
view press releases in the
“notes” section of the page
and view photographs of
events from around the area.
“Social media is an important
tool to keep the public in-
formed,” said Jenna Coleman,
Public Information Officer for
Wythe County. “During my
interviews for this position, it
was evident that the personal
committee, Mr. Dalton and
the entire Board of Supervi-
sors wanted to make a con-
scious effort to reach the resi-
dents of Wythe County and
who ever was hired would
have social media as a key
responsibility.”
At the beginning of the
launch, the Facebook account
was adding 80 to 100 users
per day to its friend list. To-
day, the average daily friend
count is about 30 users. The
decline in daily user adds is
not considered a negative
attribute, however, it is a sense
of stability.
“The hundreds of users a day
in the beginning shows that in
the first few weeks we really
reaching those online county
residents that were waiting for
the chance to connect
through social media,” ex-
plained Coleman. “The fact
that we have a stable number
of users requesting the ac-
count daily is a sign of success
in itself.”
Coleman added, “With the
more than 800 million users
on Facebook sending out an
average of only eight friend
requests each per month, it
really is a remarkable thing to
have almost three times that
daily.”
In addition to the Facebook
account, Wythe County has
“pages” that users can “like”
for specialized up dates. There
is a general Wythe County
page to accompany the ac-
count, which Coleman hopes
will give added communica-
tion venues.
“It’s a known fact in the social
media world that users will
accept a friend request or send
a friend request faster than
they will like a page, which is
why we created the account
first,” said Coleman. “Now
that we have a stable base, we
are branching off into pages to
give more specific information
that a user might need. We
hope the additional county
page will get messages out
there faster and prevent an
important update from getting
lost in newsfeeds.”
Other pages include the
Wythe County Parks and
Recreation page where users
can find updates about classes,
events and announcements
from the Wythe County Parks
and Recreation Department.
Also, a Wythe County Tour-
ism page has been created to
help promote the industry of
Wythe County. Other pages
including one for a recycling
initiative will be launching
soon.
Coleman added the “like
pages” are just beginning to
grow and every resident
should be aware of the
county’s presents online. In
addition to Facebook, Wythe
County recently launched a
Twitter account hoping to
relay information though
“tweets” to users who use
Twitter both online and via
cell phones.
Other social media account
will be launched soon includ-
ing those on LinkedIn and
Google Plus.
At the Nov. 22, 2011 Board of
Supervisors meeting, a social
media policy was adopted that
established guidelines for the
county’s social media use. The
policy can be found on the
county Website
A link to the Wythe County
Facebook account can be
found on the homepage of the
county Website or by visiting
www.facebook.com/
wythecounty. Links to Wythe
County pages and the com-
ment policy can be found in
the account’s information
section.
Wythe County steps into the social age Max Meadows Fire Department approached the Board of Supervisors regarding an issue with the heating units in its fire stations. Read how
“I heard some one refer to this as a ‘chip’ we are
working at but to me it looks more like a rock,” said
Danny McDaniel, Board of Supervisors member. “we’ve dealt with chips now it’s time
for a rock.”
Page 6 WYTHE THE NEWS
Board of Supervisor’s member
Coy McRoberts was one of many
special guests at the 2011 Ivan-
hoe Christmas Parade on Nov.
26, 2011.
For information on other up
coming holiday events, see this
edition’s holiday insert.
Spiller is one of many schools studied by OWPR for repairs needed to the facil-ity. In total, the repairs to all of the facilities would cost $31.4 million.
VOLUME 1, ISSUE 1
SCHEDULE OF EVENTS
• 12/5 - Planning Commission will meet in
board room of the County Administration
Building, 340 S 6th Street, Wytheville at
7 p.m.
• 12/6 - Building & Grounds Committee will
meet in conference room of the County
Administration Building, 340 S 6th Street,
Wytheville at 3:30 p.m.
• 12/8 - Economic Development Committee
will meet in conference room of the
County Administration Building, 340 S
6th Street, Wytheville at 8 a.m.
• 12/12 - Recreation Commission will meet
in conference room of the County Admini-
stration Building, 340 S 6th Street,
Wytheville at 7 p.m.
• 12/13 - Wythe County Board of Supervi-
sors will hold its bi-monthly meeting on 7
p.m. at the County Administration Build-
ing, 340 S 6th Street, Wytheville
• 12/20 - Water Committee will meet in
conference room of the County Admini-
stration Building, 340 S 6th Street,
Wytheville at 9:30 a.m.
• 12/22—Budget Committee will meet in
conference room of the County Admini-
stration Building, 340 S 6th Street,
Wytheville at 3:30 p.m.
• 12/27 - Wythe County Board of Supervi-
sors will hold its bi-monthly meeting on 7
p.m. at the County Administration Build-
ing, 340 S 6th Street, Wytheville at 9
a.m.
replace a portion of the Route
614 bridge over Beaverdam
Creek on Ramsey Mountain
Road.
In addition, Olympus Painting
Contractors, Inc. of Tarpon
Springs, Fla., received a $1.7
million contract to make bridge
repairs at Interstate 81 Exit 81
in the Fort Chiswell area of
Wythe County and at Interstate
77 Exit 64 in the Rocky Gap
area of Bland County.
Regular maintenance, repairs
and replacements of bridges
have proven benefits not only to
driver safety but also to environ-
mental and economical stability.
Sharitz feels VDOT is taking
good care of Wythe County
residents and is grateful.
Wythe County was one of 12
counties in Southwest Virginia
awarded funds from the VDOT
Commonwealth Transportation
Board to repair and replace
bridges. Wythe “Bucky” Sharitz,
Wythe County Board of Super-
visor’s chairman, believes the
repairs will make roads safer for
all county residents and visitors
to travel.
Among the three bridge pro-
jects, which include eight indi-
vidual bridges, Wythe County
was awarded nearly $3 million
dollars in repairs.
A $1.1 million dollar contract
was awarded to Lanford Broth-
ers Company, Inc., Roanoke, to
repair six bridges on Interstate
81. Elk Knob, Inc. of Penning-
ton Gap, received $287,664 to
“[The Board of Supervi-
sors] realizes the impor-
tance of bridges to serve
Wythe County citizens,”
said Shartiz. “We compli-
ment VDOT on their
support of Wythe
County.”
Shartiz added the repairs
will be a great benefit to
families and children in
the county as it will make
students traveling to and
from school safer.
The collective $5.4 mil-
lion dollars awarded went
to other counties compris-
ing of Washington,
Smyth, Lee, Scott, Russell,
Buchanan, Tazwell,
Bland, Wise, Dickenson,
and Grayson.
Wythe County receives nearly $3 million in bridge repairs