Board honors winter storm workers
CRAIG COUNTY – Spring is here now but when winter in Craig County was fierce, it brought people together all over the county. It was a case of neighbor helping neighbor in unheard of situations due to the number and intensity of winter storms which began Dec. 18, 2009, and continued through February.
With that in mind, members of the Craig County Board of Supervisors at their April 1 meeting passed a Resolution of Appreciation for Service beyond the normal expectation by Emergency Services’ volunteers and employees of the Craig County Sheriff’s Office and Virginia State Troopers and the Virginia Department of Transportation.
Even though spring is here now as this blooming redbud shows, winter storms in Craig County were unusually fierce, prompting the Board of Supervisors to pass a resolution in appreciation for emergency workers, police and VDOT employees. Photo by Gwen Johnson
In addition to the extreme cold, other obstacles included huge snow drifts, icy roads that were impassable, power outages and of course accidents. At one point there were multiple cars in the same ditch at one time on Rt. 615. They were eventually pulled out with the help of one citizen and his tractor.
“This was one of the most incredible winters I can remember. Out of 80 days, we had snow on the ground 75 of them,” Craig County Administrator Richard Flora said. “When you have extraordinary events it takes extraordinary actions and Craig County had a lot of that.”
In other actions, supervisors:
• adopted proposed changes and provisions amending Existing Chapter 54 Subdivision of the Code of Ordinances of the County of Craig to include a provision for a Family Subdivision. The Planning Commission had previously recommended that the board adopt the proposed Subdivision Ordinance. A Family Subdivision allows the division of a lot or parcel for the purposes of sale or gift to a member of the immediate family of the property owner, and subject only to any express requirement contained in the Code of Virginia.
In only one of many cases of neighbors helping neighbors, Corey Trivette pushes snow while Robert Fisher shovels off the sidewalk at the Commons in New Castle. Photo by Gwen Johnson
• approved five new members for the Tourism Commission – Troy Scott, Julia Bradford, Carol Baker, Therese Squires and Holly Wadey in addition to Lisa Campbell and Diane Givens who are already active members.
• approved temporary closure of a portion of Barbour’s Creek along State Rt. 617in Craig County for Hooked on Fishing Not on Drugs. The event which is sponsored each year by the D.A.R.E. Program, the Department of Game and Inland Fisheries and the Forest Service will be held Saturday, May 8. The specified part of the creek will be closed on May 7 at 5 p.m. until half an hour after sunset on May 8.
• heard an update from Kristen Williby from VDOT. The Craig County Welcome signs have all been put up and Rt. 621 slope stabilization has been completed, she said. The Rt. 311 Bridge Structure Project is tentatively scheduled to start at 9 a.m. Friday, July 16, and will run until to 6 a.m. Monday, July 19. The preliminary engineering phase is under way on Rt. 629. As part of the Secondary Six Year Plan Project $529,000 has been allocated to the project. However, only one-third to one-half is covered under current funding and at this point in time further funding doesn’t look promising, Williby said.
In other matters:
After hearing members from the Craig County Public Library supervisors agreed to include the library in the county audit. This would save the library a lot of money and would cost the county very little if anything at all.
The meeting was followed by a budget work session. The next regularly scheduled board of supervisors meeting is May 6 at 3 p.m. at the Court House.
