The Shadow
CLIFTON FORGE – A court-appointed citizens’ committee will have until June to develop a plan for consolidating the governments of Alleghany County and Covington.
The committee, comprised of citizens of each jurisdiction, held its first meeting Tuesday night at Dabney S. Lancaster Committee College in Clifton Forge.
Alleghany County representatives on the committee are Annette Comer, George Goode, Kevin Terrell, Bryan Thompson and Mike Warwick. Covington’s representatives are Joe Carpenter, Harry Casey Jr., Pearl Miller, John Stone and Wes Walker.
The committee was appointed by Alleghany County Circuit Court Malfourd W. Trumbo. Judge Trumbo has ordered the committee to complete its work by June 1, 2010, and submit a proposed plan for consolidating the city and county governments. The proposal must ultimately be approved by citizens in both jurisdictions in a referendum.
Appointment of the committee came after the Alleghany County Board of Supervisors and Covington City Council failed to reach an agreement on a consolidation plan after almost one year of discussions.
Voters in Covington and Alleghany County submitted a circuit court petition in October 2008 demanding that the two governments develop a consolidation plan. State law gave the two governments until Oct. 24 to develop the plan. After governmental representatives broke off talks in early October, citizens asked the circuit court to resolve the matter. The court then appointed five citizens from each jurisdiction to take over the process.
Judge Trumbo said he chose the committee’s representatives after seeking input from several local residents.
“I don’t want people to think that I have control over you,” he told the committee appointees Tuesday night. “You think independently, you talk independently, and you don’t mind telling people what you think. If you didn’t, you wouldn’t be sitting here tonight.”
The University of Virginia’s Weldon Cooper Center for Public Service will assist the committee during its deliberations at no cost. The committee will also receive assistance from the Virginia Commission on Local Government and the Virginia Freedom of Information Advisory Council.
“Under the law, all the court was required to do was appoint 10 people to this committee, and then you would be on your own. I had great concerns about that, so I contacted some folks to provide you with some opportunities that otherwise, would not have been there,” Judge Trumbo said to the committee.
Maria J.K. Everett, executive director of the Freedom of Information Advisory Council, said all of the committee’s meetings must be open to the public. Closed sessions can only he held if the committee needs to discuss legal matters with an attorney.
“The benefit of having this open is that it is going to be controversial,” she said.
Everett advised members of the committee to carefully adhere to requirements under Virginia’s Freedom of Information Act.
“Remember the ‘Noah’s Ark Rule,’ which is two by two. Two of you can talk without constituting a meeting. Three or more is a meeting under FOIA,” she said.
Susan Williams, a local government policy manger with the Commission of Local Government, outlined the consolidation options that are open to the committee.
A plan for a consolidated city government would require review from the Commission on Local Government and a three-judge panel appointed by the Virginia Supreme Court. Under consolidated city government, Clifton Forge and Iron Gate would become townships unless they desire to become part of the consolidation agreement.
Consolidated county government would require no COLG review unless the proposal would call for Covington to become a tier city. Williams said a tier city is basically a town with certain special features. Virginia currently has no tier cities.
Williams said the last five consolidation proposals in Virginia have been defeated by voters, including two in the Alleghany Highlands. In 1987, Covington voters rejected a plan to consolidate with Alleghany County and Clifton Forge. In 1991, Alleghany County voters defeated a proposal to consolidate with Clifton Forge. The last successful consolidation in the state occurred in 1974 and involved Suffolk and Nansemond County. The consolidated city assumed the name of Suffolk.
Mead, assistant director of the Weldon Cooper Center’s Southwest Virginia office, said the committee should elect two co-chairpersons at its next meeting, which is set for Thursday, Dec. 10, at DSLCC.
Carpenter said the committee’s initial meetings should include presentations from the Alleghany County Board of Supervisors and Covington City Council. The governmental representatives ended their discussions in October after they were unable to break a deadlock over which form of consolidated government to purse. County supervisors favored a county form of consolidated government, while city council members pushed for a city form of government.
“They spent a year studying this thing. To me, we need to hear from them as to why they felt this way and that way,” said Carpenter, a former county supervisor who now resides in Covington.
Covington City Council has already submitted a consolidation proposal to the committee. The proposal calls for consolidated city government with two high schools. City council feels that its proposal would likely be approved by Covington voters.
Comer suggested several ways the committee can communicate with the public as it develops the consolidation plan. Her ideas include regular columns in the Virginian Review and an Internet blog. She also suggested that the committee refrain from using the word consolidation.
“I view it as a more efficient way to share services, so the area can have more,” Comer said.
Mead said the committee should utilize studies that have already been conducted on governmental consolidation in the Highlands. In the past year, studies were conducted on financial matters and schools while county supervisors and city council were in consolidation talks.
The school study suggested the closures of Covington and Alleghany high schools with construction of a new high school in the Low Moor area. The study also suggested that Boiling Spring Elementary School in Alleghany County be closed.
“We shouldn’t have to go back and ask for more studies. There’s already been enough studies,” Mead said.
