Latest news with #TazewellCountyBoardofSupervisors
Yahoo
24-04-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Republicans to select Tazewell County supervisor nominee June 17
tazewell, va. — Early voting begins May 2 for Virginia's dual primary contest that will see area voters casting ballots on both statewide and local races. Virginia will be conducting both a Republican and Democratic Primary Election on June 17 to nominate candidates for lieutenant governor and attorney general. But a Republican candidate for the Western District seat on the Tazewell County Board of Supervisors also will be selected at that time. The local primary election is necessary because two candidates are seeking the Republican nomination for the Western District seat on the board of supervisors, according to Tazewell County Registrar Brian Earls. The two candidates vying for the Republican nomination for the Western District seat are Curt W. Breeding and Michael L. 'Mike' Wade. The winner of that contest will then appear on the November ballot. Voters will decide the Western District and Southern District seats on the board of supervisors this November. The two incumbent supervisors, Aaron Gillespie in the Southern District and Andy Hrovatic in the Western District, are both not seeking re-election to the board. Early voting for the Republican Primary and Democratic Primary begins May 2 at the voter registration office in North Tazewell. Often in the past, if more than one candidate was seeking a particular party's nomination, mass meetings or 'firehouse primaries' would be held by that political party to select a candidate. However, a law recently passed by the Virginia General Assembly made such firehouse primaries a thing of the past, according to Earls. That law was passed by the General Assembly in 2021 and took effect on Jan. 1 of this year. Earls said voters must choose which primary they are voting in for the June 17 contest. They will be asked to state if they are casting a ballot in the Democratic or Republican primary. They can't vote in both. State law prohibits voters from casting a ballot in two primaries held on the same day. In addition to the local board of supervisors race in the Western District, the Republican Primary is being held to select a GOP nominee for Lieutenant Governor. The Democratic Primary is being held to select a nominee for lieutenant governor and attorney general. There are six candidates vying for the Democratic nomination for lieutenant governor. They are Levar Marus Stoney, Babur B. Lateef, Aaron R. Rouse, Victor R. Salgado, Ghazala F. Hashmi and Alexander J. Bastani Two Democrats also are vying for the attorney general nomination. They are Shannon Taylor and Jay C. Jones. In the Republican primary, two candidates are vying for lieutenant governor. They are Patrick S. 'Pat' Herrity and John J. Reid, II. Current Republican Lt. Gov. Winsome Earle-Sears is a candidate for governor where she hopes to succeed incumbent Republican Gov. Glenn Youngkin. In Virginia, a candidate can only serve as governor for a single term, so Youngkin can't seek re-election. Former U.S. Rep. Abigail Spanberger is the Democratic nominee for governor. Incumbent Republican Attorney General Jason Miyares is seeking re-election to that position and has no Republican challengers. He will face the winner of the two-person Democratic race on June 17 in the November General Election. On the local level, Earls said voters who live in the Amonate community are being reminded of a change ahead of the June 17 election. According to Earls, the Tazewell County Board of Supervisors recently voted to eliminate the Amonate voting precinct. 'The Amonate precinct is being closed,' Earls said. 'The voters from that precinct will be redistributed among three other precincts. A portion of them will go to Bishop, a portion will go to Bandy and a portion will go to the Mundy Town precinct.' Earls said new voter cards will be mailed out in the next few days that will include information on where voters who previously cast a ballot at the Amonate precinct will vote on June 17 and in future elections. Contact Charles Owens at cowens@
Yahoo
18-04-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Grant funding sought for Tazewell County flood project
tazewell, va. — The Tazewell County Board of Supervisors are seeking public input on a state grant application for a planned flood control project. If the state funding is approved, the project would allow the county to take steps now to prepare for future flooding and other disasters. The board has set a public hearing for April 29 at the Cedar Bluff Town Hall to receive input on a Community Development Block Grant application for the project, Tazewell County Administrator Eric Young said. Young said there is $5 million available statewide in Community Development Block Grant funding, but in order to qualify for a potential grant award, a public hearing must be held first by the county. The project envisioned for Tazewell County is comprehensive, and would involve the Richlands, Doran, Raven, Bandy and Cedar Bluff areas, according to a legal advertisement in the Daily Telegraph. The project involves a monitoring of water levels along the Bluestone and Clinch Rivers and the purchase and installation of generators for water pumps and stations, which would help to power community shelters and water pump stations in the event of another disaster or outage. Tazewell County has experienced several floods in recent years, including the Feb. 15 storm and the Memorial Day 2023 flood. But when the remnants of Hurricane Helene slammed into the county last September, thousands were left without power for more than a week. Young said the Virginia Department of Housing and Community Development recently announced a one-time state-wide urgent need flood relief grant program. 'There is $5 million available statewide,' Young said of the grant funding. 'The application process requires a hearing. We are applying for generators to help power community shelters and water pump stations.' Young said power outages across the county were widespread after Helene last fall. 'Our strategy of deploying mobile generators to those pump stations had problems,' Young said. 'First everywhere was without power. So we did not have enough generators. Second we could not access the pump station sites due to trees in the roads. This grant would assure that we had new generators at each pump station.' Having generators installed at pump stations will ensure that citizens won't run out of drinking water in the event of another major storm or disaster, Young said. The project also seeks to add telemetry beacons. 'The beacons are cellular based,' Young said. 'They would report water levels in tributaries of the Bluestone and Clinch. Hydrological modeling and AI would then tell us how much time we had before the river left its banks down stream. This would be critical in determining where and when to deploy rescue crews.' Another part of the project involves rental assistance for those displaced by the February floods. 'They were primarily in the western end of the county,' Young said of individuals displaced by the Feb. 15 flood. 'That is why we decided to have the hearing in Cedar Bluff. But anyone who was displaced would be eligible.' Young said the board is hopeful that it will be approved for funding. 'There is only $5 million available statewide, so we are not sure how much funding we will get from this round,' Young said. 'Last week the governor announced a separate round of flood funding this summer of $50 million. We will apply for that as well when the application period opens.' Contact Charles Owens at cowens@
Yahoo
23-02-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Hearings set on meals tax in Tazewell County
tazewell, va. — Two public hearing dates have been set on a proposed meals tax for Tazewell County. The purpose of the proposed food and beverage tax ordinance is to bolster the provisions of fire protection and emergency medical services in Tazewell County, according to a legal advertisement in the Daily Telegraph. The first hearing set by the Tazewell County Board of Supervisors will be held Tuesday, March 4, at 6:20 p.m. at the Tazewell County Administration Building, which is located at 198 Main Street, Tazewell. A second hearing is planned for April 1, according to Tazewell County Administrator Eric Young. 'You may recall the referendum on enacting a meals tax failed narrowly in 2018,' Young said of an earlier meals tax proposal. 'In 2019 the General Assembly removed the requirement for approval by referendum allowing local governing bodies to enact the tax without referendum. However, two public hearings will be required. They will be held March 4th and April 1 at the Board of Supervisors regularly scheduled meeting.' If the meals tax were to be implemented by the board of supervisors, Young said it is estimated that it would create between $1 million to $1.2 million in new revenue annually to benefit fire, rescue and EMS in the county. The proposed food and beverage ordinance would not tax any establishments located inside of the five towns in Tazewell County. Young said there will also not be any additional tax on meals sold inside a town. 'The board voted to hold a public hearing to enact a meals tax to pay for upgrades to our first response departments,' Young said. 'Hurricane Helene, events in California, and recent flooding even before this month have highlighted the consequences of neglecting these core services.' According to Young, the current proposed budget would use these funds to modernize the sheriff's department fleet ($300,000.00), purchase a new ambulance for Tazewell County EMS ($300,000.00) this year, and establish a department of part time paid firefighters ($400,000.00) to support the existing volunteers. Otherwise additional and future revenues from the tax annually will be applied to gear and equipment for firefighters, improvements to volunteer fire stations, and stipends for volunteer firefighters on a per call basis, according to Young. 'The cost of vehicles, especially law enforcement and EMS vehicles, has risen sharply since COVID,' Young added. 'Our board has chosen not to take the 'drive them until the wheels fall off approach.' We believe that when our law enforcement officers and paramedics hit the road to save lives and property, the last thing they need to worry about is whether they can get there. We need a revenue stream to help us keep up with these costs.' In terms of firefighters, Young said a 2013 Cardinal study by the state identified deficiencies in fire protection in the county, including the lack of trained compensated fire fighters. 'Since then we have been working to improve the gear and equipment with grant funding,' he said. 'But a candid assessment is that we still have not fixed those problems. Due to population decline and an aging population we struggle to maintain an effective force. Also, many of our people commute for long distances to work and find it hard to find time to volunteer. The bigger problem is our current stipend to a volunteer who leaves his home in the middle of the night to fight to save someone's home or their lives is roughly ten dollars. It's embarrassing. We need to address that. Fixing this problem requires a reliable revenue stream.' The meals tax is a tax residents can avoid if they choose, according to Young. More importantly, he said the tax is paid in part by persons who do not live in the county, but pass through or visit and stop at a restaurant. 'It's our best chance of taxing people outside our county to provide a critical service inside our county,' Young said. 'This is our best chance to maintain first responder services without placing the burden entirely on our residents.' The original 2018 meals tax plan was narrowly rejected by Tazewell County voters with 6,926 people voting against it and 6,270 voting for it, according to earlier reports. — Contact Charles Owens at cowens@
