FRANKLIN
Isle of Wight County’s Board of Supervisors voted unanimously during its meeting last Thursday evening to grant final approval to Billy Edwards, owner of Southern Casting LLC, for a conditional use permit to construct a concrete and asphalt plant. They also voted unanimously to authorize a request for proposals for vendors to partner with the county’s Parks and Recreation Department.

Edwards’ plant will be located off of Lee’s Mill Road near International Paper and the Franklin Municipal Airport. In addition to concrete and asphalt manufacturing facilities, the site will also serve as the new headquarters location for Southern Casting, which is currently based in Norfolk. Edwards expects the concrete plant to be constructed in the next 24 months and the asphalt plant within 36 months.

The request for proposals from vendors, according to Assistant County Administrator Don Robertson, comes as a result of a recent request by a vendor that routinely participates in county parks and recreation programs to donate 10 percent of any proceeds made during a county-sponsored event, which would go toward one or more scholarships. Robertson said that the RFP would help identify if there are any other vendors interested in pursuing a similar arrangement.

The board also made two budget amendments, which passed unanimously.

The first was to transfer $37,283 from the county’s General Fund Contingency to a line item concerning the county’s annexation settlement with the City of Franklin to address an anticipated shortfall.

Robertson said that the payment is formula-driven so if revenues from machinery and tools taxes, personal property taxes or other sources of county income within the prescribed area governed by the annexation agreement end up being higher than anticipated, the county’s contribution to the city also goes up.

The second was the transfer of $94,569 from the county’s General Fund to its Debt Service Fund to cover the bond issuance cost associated with the recently approved $7.9 million loan to Isle of Wight County Schools to fund the division’s new in-house career and technical education program. The transferred amount will be realized in the General Fund via savings in the Southeastern Public Service Authority budget due to reduced tipping fees for the current year.

The board also briefly discussed ongoing issues with the Windsor Volunteer Fire Department not receiving its funding contribution from the county. Newport District Supervisor William McCarty said he had followed up on the matter after Windsor District Supervisor Joel Acree had first brought it to the attention of the board, and said he was continuing to investigate the issue.

The board also held several public hearings.

One concerned a rezoning application on behalf of Barbara Ann Winslow, Mary Elizabeth Winslow Butner and Bryant S. Dodson to change their property’s classification from rural agricultural conservation to rural residential and withdraw 2.8 acres from the Courthouse Agricultural District to create one single-family residential lot on the west side of Courthouse Highway.

Two concerned applications for exemption to the Chesapeake Bay Preservation Area ordinance, one from David and Diana Stuart of Carrollton and the other from Sherwood Denmon of Rescue. One concerned the Virginia Department of Transportation’s fiscal year 2018-2023 Secondary Six-Year Improvement Program, and the final hearing concerned the county’s tax assessment of new buildings.

Each received unanimous approval from the board, except for the Stuart’s exemption request, which passed 4-1 with Hardy District Supervisor Rudolph Jefferson voting no.

The board concluded by discussing possible alternate dates for their regular meeting in July to accommodate several supervisors who will be absent on the scheduled date of July 20.