Martinsville Bulletin, Inc.
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Martinsville, Virginia 24115
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| Supervisors to hear from other areas |
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Wednesday, November 25, 2009
By DEBBIE HALL - Bulletin Staff Writer
The Henry County Board of Supervisors will learn Monday how volunteer fire departments and rescue squads are handled in three other localities.
Henry County Administrator Benny Summerlin told the supervisors Tuesday that officials from Pulaski, Amherst and Franklin counties will attend a 6 p.m. meeting Monday at the Henry County Public Safety Complex.
The supervisors had asked Summerlin and other county staff to schedule a meeting with representatives from other localities following a September request from a special EMS Task Force that called for the creation of a commission to oversee the county’s rescue squads.
The commission was suggested as a possible way to address concerns such as providing uniform service and patient care.
In other matters Tuesday, the board:
• Set a public hearing for Dec. 15 on a proposed change in voting precincts. Summerlin said the Henry County Electoral Board wants to move the Ridgeway No. 2 precinct, which is in a former school without heat, to the nearby First Baptist Church. A public hearing is needed, and the U.S. Department of Justice must approve the change.
• Approved a 2010 legislative package that includes requests for more incentives to spur economic development and state funding for road projects and education.
Overall, the package “is very similar to last year’s” list, Summerlin said. The package in part asks the state to increase funds for operating, technology and financial help to build new school buildings and/or pay for improvements/expansions of existing facilities; finish four-laning of U.S. 58 from Virginia Beach to the Cumberland Gap, in particular the section between Stuart and Hillsville; add funds to the Governor’s Opportunity Fund to offer incentives to businesses locating in the area; fully fund constitutional officers’ offices; facilitate funds and construction of Interstate 73; support the New College Institute (NCI) and its conversion to a stand-alone, four-year university; restore funds to Patrick Henry Community College and NCI; and continue funding the Virginia Museum of Natural History, among other subjects.
The package will be used by the area’s legislators when the General Assembly session opens in January.
• Approved a resolution supporting a Center for Creative Technologies in the Arts that will be located on the Virginia Tech campus in Blacksburg. Collinsville District Supervisor Jim McMillian voted against the matter but did not elaborate.
• Approved a resolution that authorizes Summerlin to work with Martinsville officials to establish a joint committee to publicize the benefits of residents being counted in the 2010 Census.
Summerlin said that because federal support to localities is based on population, it is important that everyone is counted.
• Learned that 5 p.m. Monday is the deadline for Jack Dalton Award nominations.
• Approved a consent agenda.
• Approved a resolution authorizing $2 million in Recovery Zone Bonds to be financed. The bonds will be used to pay for school renovation projects at Laurel Park Middle School and Magna Vista High School.
The transaction is between the Industrial Development Authority (IDA), supervisors and the school board.
The bonds are expected to be issued in January, Summerlin said, with debt service (payments) to begin in 2012.
• Approved increasing a contract with Bassett Office Supply to buy 100 five-drawer filing cabinets at a total of $22,190 for the new Henry-Martinsville Social Services building.
• Appropriated an additional $527,839.63 in Title I grant funds as requested by school officials, who recently learned the 2009-2010 Title I was increased from $2,169,106.57 to $2,696,946.20.
Funds will be used for salaries and benefits for reading specialists at John Redd Smith and Drewry Mason elementary schools, and professional development, materials and supplies for all elementary schools, according to school officials.
• In closed session, discussed appointees to the Public Service Authority, Patriot Centre Advisory Board and West Piedmont Planning District Commission, and consulted with the county attorney on pending legal matters, the acquisition/disposal of real estate and unannounced industries. |
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