The Shadow
LOW?MOOR ?— Greg Dodd of Clifton Forge was appointed to the Clifton Forge West District seat on the Alleghany County Board of Supervisors Tuesday.
Supervisors, meeting Tuesday night in Low Moor, also approved an agreement to lease the former Falling Spring Elementary School. The property will be leased by Rivermont School, which currently has a facility on Main Street in Covington.
The supervisors appointed Dodd to the board by a 5-1 vote. He will assume his seat on the board after if he is sworn in by the circuit court clerk.
The Clifton Forge West District vacancy was created by the Jan. 1 resignation of Richard Shull. There was one year remaining on Shull’s term. Dodd will serve until the regular election is held in November.
Dodd was among three candidates who filed for appointment to the seat. The other candidates were Diana Smith and Courtney Howard of Clifton Forge.
Smith received one vote. That vote was cast by Clifton Forge East Supervisor Joan Vannorsdall.
“You got some tough questions beyond the purview, but you handled them beautifully,” Vannorsdall said to Smith and Howard.
She urged them to get their names on the ballot for the November election.
Dodd, who resides on Commercial Avenue in Clifton Forge, was serving on the county’s board of zoning appeals.
Since 2002, he has worked at Sayre Enterprises in Buena Vista as an embossing operator and screen-printer.
“It was a tough choice with a lot of good candidates,” said Supervisor Chairman Matt Garten of the decision to appoint Dodd.
The three candidates were interviewed in a 5:30 p.m. closed session, which preceded the regular meeting at 7 p.m.
The Falling Spring school lease agreement was approved after the board met in another closed session at the end of Tuesday night’s meeting.
The school became county property after it was closed in 2013.
County Administrator Jon Lanford said Rivermont School plans to lease a portion of the property while reserving an option to purchase it at a later date.
The building and its surrounding property total 4.5 acres.
Economic Development
Lanford said the county continues to work with Covington on developing a pad-ready site in the Alleghany Regional Commerce Center, near Low Moor.
The city and county signed a revenue-sharing agreement in 2017 that calls for joint investment in economic development projects. The county and city would share in any revenues derived from joint projects.
Lanford said the Alleghany Highlands Economic Development Corp. is working with engineers on obtaining plans and cost estimates for developing a pad-ready site, which is essentially a site that would be ready for a company to build on.
“It’s not easy. It takes time and it’s a long, drawn-out process. But it’s a long-term investment,” Lanford said.
“Once we make that significant investment, we need to be patient and make sure that we select the right company to locate there,” he said.
Lanford is optimistic that work will begin on the pad during construction season.
In a related development, Lanford said a company is moving forward with plans to establish a small distribution facility on 2.2 acres in the Commerce Center.
“It’s a Fortune 500 company. It’s a small company and a small project, but it will be nice to have the sign of a Fortune 500 company in your Commerce Center when people go through there,” he said.
In other business Tuesday, supervisors:
— Approved the extension of a performance agreement between the Alleghany Highlands Community Ser-vices Board and the Virginia Department of Health and Behavioral Services. The agreement was extended until June 30.
— Approved supplemental appropriations to the Alleghany County-Covington Department of Social Services and the county Department of Parks and Recreation.
— Approved transfers from operating contingency for mid-year appropriations.
— Reappointed the Rev. Donald Earwood (Boiling Springs) and the Rev. David Halsey (Clifton Forge West)?to the Planning Commission.
— Reappointed Calvin Fridley (Boiling Springs)?and Kenneth Yeagley (Clifton Forge West)?to the Water and Sewer Commission.
— Approved a resolution of respect for the late David Wickline.
Wickline, who was employed by the county’s public works department for more than 35 years, died Jan. 22.
“He was a fine man and he will be missed,” Garten said.
