Democrat Deadlines Set for 2007 Election

  County Democrats met Monday night and set a series of deadlines for the coming 2007 county election.
  The first day candidates may officially file their intent to seek office with the party is February 23 and the deadline to file in March 9 at 5 p.m. with Party Chairman Vern Presley.
  Precinct meetings will be held March 17 at which time delegates for the county convention will be selected.
  The county convention will be held on June 2 at 10 a.m. at which point Democrats are expected to pick a full slate of candidates for all seven seats on the Buchanan County Board of Supervisors, as well as the constitutional offices up for election including commonwealth attorney, treasurer, commissioner of revenue, sheriff and Circuit Court clerk.
  Lastly, Democrats also agreed to raise the filing fee for constitutional offices to 1 percent of the salary for the office a candidate is seeking.
  The filing fee for the board of supervisors was set at $150.

DSS Advisory Board Dissolved; New Administrative Board Members Are Appointed

by Cathy St. Clair
News Editor  
  A formal motion dissolving the Buchanan County Department of Social Services Advisory Board and returning to the administrative board form of governance for the department was approved Monday during a meeting of the Buchanan County Board of Supervisors.
  The split 5-2 vote saw South Grundy Supervisor Roger Rife and Garden Supervisor Buddy Fuller vote “no.” The remaining supervisors voted “yes.”
  The action followed a closed-door session during which the topic “DSS personnel” was identified as one of the topics for discussion.
  Members of the board agreed last month to consider the formal resolution and on Monday, by unanimous vote on a motion by Knox Supervisor Pat Justus and second by Hurricane Supervisor William P. Harris, board members officially dissolved the advisory board effective January 15 and appointed members to a new administrative board.
  Three of the members appointed are hold-over members from the advisory board, including Ruby Ratliff Hale, Hurricane; Tolbert Prater, Knox; and Emogene Elswick, Rocklick.
  New appointees named included Laura Elkins, Garden; Henry Farmer, South Grundy; Paul Hayes, Prater; and Harold Thornsbury, North Grundy.
  In discussing terms of office for the new board, some supervisors suggested they all be appointed to one-year terms, however, Assistant County Attorney Lee Moise noted the code of Virginia states the terms must be staggered.
  As a result, board members placed seven pieces of paper denoting terms of office in a Styrofoam cup and drew them out to determine how long an appointee would serve in that district.
  One-year terms were assigned to Garden and Hurricane; two-year terms were assigned to North Grundy and Knox; three-year terms went to Rocklick and Prater; and a four-year term was assigned to South Grundy based on that random selection process.
  One of the first items of business the new board is expected to take up is the naming of a new director. Harold McClanahan retired from the post last summer and Sherina Justus has been serving as the interim director until a new director is appointed.
  Among the front-runner candidates for the post are Tammy Fields, a long-time employee of the department; and Judy Holland, wife of former DSS Advisory Board Chairman Tom Holland, who also served as a previous director of the department.

Supervisors Okay Contributions Totaling $4,351 For Schools, Seniors

by Cathy St. Clair
News Editor  
  Members of the Town of Grundy Industrial Development Authority met in closed session with the developer of the redevelopment site last week.
  According to Town IDA Director Chuck Crabtree, some amendments being considered by the IDA were passed on to the developer, Tim Scoggins, for his review and comment before the IDA takes a formal vote to approve them later this month.
  Crabtree and IDA Attorney Tom Mullins noted the proposed amendments do not relate to the tenants at the new site. Instead, Crabtree said, they relate to the construction schedule timeframe and cost shares in the project.
  Development agreements between the town and Commonwealth Developers with whom the town has a contract, call for the developer to construct a Wal-Mart Super Center on the site.
  Additionally, the development agreement calls for the town center to be constructed with a total of at least 140,000 square feet of retail space, including Wal-Mart which is a minimum of 100,000 square feet. The developer is also required to recruit at least one regionally-nationally recognized sit down chain restaurant for the town center.
  None of those requirements are affected by the proposed amendments, according to Crabtree.
  The IDA is expected to meet again January 22 at 1 p.m. to consider the amendments.