LOW MOOR — Alleghany County has approved its share of a $6.3 million economic development project.
Meeting Tuesday night in Low Moor, the county’s board of supervisors approved $3.17 million in financing to develop land in the Alleghany Regional Commerce Center. The money will be used to develop a pad-ready site to attract a business or industry to the commerce park.
The project is being carried out jointly with Covington under a 2017 agreement. Under the revenue-sharing agreement, each locality will fund 50 percent of the cost. The city and county will also evenly split any revenues derived from the project. Covington approved its share of the funding last month.
The initial funding will primarily cover grading work to prepare for the construction of a pad. Interim County Administrator Pete Huber said drilling has uncovered rocky material at the site, which could add to the cost.
The $6.3 million in financing includes engineering work. The county has agreed to designate the former Falling Spring Elementary School as collateral for the loan, which will be repaid over 10 years. The county will only be charged interest on the money it uses from the loan amount.
“My God, that’s a tremendous amount of money,” said Sharon District Supervisor Cletus Nicely, who later reluctantly agreed to approve the financing.
“That’s going to stifle us for the next 10 years unless we have a tremendous tax increase,” Nicely said.
But Vice Chairman James Griffith said the money must be spent at the Commerce Center if the county wants to be competitive in economic development.
“If you want to get in the game of economic development, you have got to be pad ready,” Griffith said.
Griffith said Virginia is recruiting companies involved in the manufacture of microchips. He said those businesses are looking for pad-ready sites to avoid start-up delays. Virginia recently lost out on a microchip manufacturer to Tennessee. Virginia is also seeking companies that provide supplies to microchip manufacturers, Griffith said.
“You have to spend money to make it,” Supervisor Chairman Matt Garten said of the Commerce Center project.
The site being developed will be capable of accommodating a 750,000-square-foot building.
Huber said that realistically, the county and city are looking at a 10-year window of opportunity for attracting a company to the site.
“Ten years is a reasonable expectation,” he said.
Huber has been serving as interim administrator since Jon Lanford resigned in July to accept a position in Botetourt County. On Dec. 14, supervisors will meet with a consulting firm to review applications from 10 persons who are interested in being hired as county administrator.
Clifton Forge West Supervisor Joan Vannorsdall will be leaving the board on Dec. 31. She did not seek re-election in November.
Vannorsdall will be replaced by Ronald Goings, who is currently serving on Clifton Forge Town Council.
Tuesday, supervisors honored Vannorsdall for her four years of service by presenting her with a plaque.
“You could always depend on a well-researched answer and vote my Ms. Vannorsdall,” Garten said.
“I have learned a tremendous amount serving on this board,” she said. “I have a feeling you will be hearing from me again.”
A decision on a zoning request for 4.1 acres of land on Douthat Road will be decided in January.
Patricia Newlun is requesting that the land be rezoned from B-1 to B-2 to allow her to operate a small-scale amusement park. She would also need a special-use permit from the county.
Newlun wants to operate an outdoor skating rink on the property, along with a laser-tag court. Her long-term plans include an 18-hole putt-putt course and a go-cart track.
Her rezoning request is being met with opposition from residents of nearby Falcon Ridge Road. By a split vote, the county’s planning commission recommended that the request be approved by supervisors.
“We just believe that this will be a noise issue for us,” said Tracey Morris, who has lived on Falcon Ridge Road for just more than 15 years.
“Something like this is going to affect a nice, little community in Alleghany County. There’s not a lot of neighborhoods like this, especially in our end of the county,” she said.
Newlun was not present for a public hearing Tuesday night. Supervisors said they want to give her an opportunity to appear before them in January, even though her zoning request will not likely be approved.
“I have been to the property several times. I’m trying to figure out where she is going to put all of this stuff,” Nicely said.
He added: “I don’t know if this is the type of thing young people are looking for these days. I just have a hard time wrapping my hands around this thing.”
In other business, supervisors:
— Approved a resolution of appreciation for retirees Ralph Jackson of the commonwealth’s attorney’s office, Laura McLain, Richard Bates, and Richard Walton Jr. of the sheriff’s office, and Mary Kay Selma and Evelyn Cooper of social services.
— Appointed Brenda Woodie and Teresa Johnson to the Alleghany Highlands Community Services Board.
— Appointed Ryan Muterspauigh to the Western Virginia Emergency Services Council.
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