To the Editor:

The efforts of staff and the Board of Supervisors as well as the Commonwealth of Virginia to invest in Isle of Wight County’s future by creating an environment for job growth and tax base diversification are yielding substantial dividends.

International Paper has announced that it is re-purposing a part of the Isle of Wight County International Paper site to invest $83 million in equipment and infrastructure creating 213 jobs in a fluff products line for domestic use and exports. This will yield at least $800,000 per year in machinery and tools taxes to Isle of Wight County.

As soon as we begin to realize these revenues, I will move for the Isle of Wight County Board of Supervisors to reduce the real property tax rate by a corresponding amount.

Hopefully, this is just the first of several good economic development announcements for the near term and 2011.

The Isle of Wight County Board of Supervisors began to work on repurposing the International Paper mill since the day of the closure announcement. Our staff, especially Lisa Perry, has been on task from that day to the present, and we are not nearly done.

We are encouraged with Terry McAuliffe’s letter of intent to invest in the site and the great interest we are seeing in the Windsor area for intermodal and manufacturing now that the county has arranged a long-term water supply.

This is part of the vision we have for the future of Isle of Wight County — a future that creates jobs and a diversified tax base that will allow for lower real property taxes while providing dollars for investments in public education and emergency services.

Stan Clark

Carrollton

Board of Supervisors

Isle of Wight County