Council’s Corner

Covington is the greatest place on Earth.

The last 10 years have been difficult for the city council.

Closing the old Jeter-Watson school and making it a community center.

The process was very difficult when we started; no more local schools with students walking to and from school.

The African-American community’s loss of identity was at stake.

The city council recognized the history in the school and decided to make it a community center. This decision made us aware of how we can cause effective change and unity in Covington.

The vision of council to move toward the veteran’s home and the home for Medicaid assisted living was received with many questions.

Public hearings had to be heard. Zoning had to be changed.
Residents had to be considered.

The Edgemont and Rivermont schools will once again be filled with laughter and joy.

The history of both whites and African Americans has been preserved with these moves.

The veteran’s home will allow veterans, both local and out-of-town, to live in a safe environment, in a small community.

It makes me happy to know we have saved another piece of our heritage.

This is part of capital improvement in the community. The buildings that are being sold require no incentives, no matching funds or grants. Nurses and medical workers are quite lucrative in our community. We will not have a hard time filling those positions.

Housing in our community is difficult for professionals that would like to buy or rent property in the Highlands.
We have to compete with Lewisburg, Bote-tourt and Lexington. Duplexes or loft housing can help us retain our professionals.

Main streets across America are using mixed zoning.

Greenville, S.C., has a smaller population than Roanoke.

What the both have in common are the mixed-used zonings in their downtowns.

Old hotels have been turned into restaurants and shopping centers.

I do believe that our Maple Avenue Streetscape Project will assist us in working toward more of these goals.

Community Effort: Coving-ton is very rural; a wonderful place to live. We have the mountains, water, the fishing and hiking and biking trails are available for free to our residents.

Recreation activities are available for youth of this area. We are blessed to have Little League football, baseball, soccer, cheerleading and basketball.

It is important for us to keep these activities available to the kids of Covington.

The city pool offers more than just swimming. It is a place to learn to swim and make friends. Lifeguards are at the pool all day working with the area youth.

We appreciate the Art’s Council which brings programs to our community at large and at our local schools. These programs allow youth to see beyond these walls and experience cultural diversity.

Covington City Council believes in the programs and makes investments to them throughout the year.

Public Service: Covington has a volunteer fire department and rescue squad. These people give their time and effort to assist us when we need help.

We recently decided to go to soft billing. I was opposed to the soft billing. The rescue squad members felt as though it would work and I supported their decision.

Your bill will come directly to you. Please read it carefully. We want our citizens to remember that if you have an emergency, please do not hesitate to call. The ambulance will come to provide services to you with or without insurance.

We are asking if you have any questions, please attend city council meeting or call our city manager at 965-6300.

We are most appreciative of our fire department and our police department. Our firemen and policemen put their lives on the line every time they answer a call. We want the family members to know how much we appreciate you and your families.

Education: Education is a part of the Covington community.

We have several schools in our community – Edgemont Pri-mary School, Jeter-Watson Intermediate School and Covington High School. We also have the Rivermont School, the Alternative Education School at TAP which services both Covington and Alleghany County students, the GED programs and Jackson River Technical Center.

I am a product of JRTC, with Sharon Leitch. She taught me how to type and use the paralegal skills and medical terminology skills in the center and pick and choose what class to go to that was skill based.

I attended DSLCC for one year in Secretarial Administration.

Attending these local schools and centers and the community college allowed me to proceed forward in the job market.

We are fortunate to have these options for students.

This reminds me of a story of one of our educators we recently lost.

Evelyn Harvey Spurlock was well loved in the community. I was one of her students and she made me drink white milk during break. I can see her standing right now telling me, “It’s good for you, baby.”

I cried all day.

I have never drank another glass of white milk in my life.
Covington has continued to make these investments in our schools through in-kind or budgetary processes.

Blight: Blight is being fought all over the state. We have to keep working toward keeping our community clean.

Pick up trash in your community. My dad made us get out every Saturday morning at 7 a.m. and pick up trash in our neighborhood. He had pride in his neighborhood. He has passed that on to all of us.

Let’s work together and keep Covington looking good.

Sidewalks: Sidewalks have enhanced our neighborhoods.

Citizens are walking, exercising, children are enjoying them on Saturday mornings. The plan for the next five years is for all of the districts to have sidewalks in your neighborhood.

Residents of Covington, I encourage you to keep supporting your local businesses and buy as much as you can in the Highlands. Come to the city council meetings so that your voice can be heard.

Thank you for your support in the community.

Discussions and goals for city council are:

1. Sustain business.

2. Stay in touch with state and federal legislators and senators.

3. Cooperate with surrounding localities.

4. Continue to have open government at city council meetings.

5. Remain active in the community and listen to our residents’ concerns.