Board of Supervisors meeting recap includes no apartment complex coming to Buchanan
At the regular meeting of the Board of Supervisors on May 23rd, Buchanan representative Amy White addressed a rumor about apartment complexes behind the Dollar General Store in Buchanan and advised that neither she, the Buchanan Town Council, or the county planning office have any knowledge about such a project.
In other items presented, Fringer Trail, a road in the Buchanan District that has been spotlighted at Board of Supervisors meetings for over a decade, was moved up on the list of the Botetourt County’s Secondary System Six Year Plan during a work session with a member of the Virginia Department of Transportation at the May 23, 2023 meeting. The meeting was held at the Botetourt County Administration Building at Greenfield in Amsterdam.
One person spoke to the Supervisors and asked that the trail be moved to the top of the list. Buchanan District Representative Amy White noted that Fringer Trail, a dirt road, has been bandied about at Supervisors’ meetings since at least 2012 and still has not received surfacing. She also noted that Fringer Trail has more traffic than the roads in front of it. The Supervisors voted 3-2 to move Fringer Trail up on the six-year plan, which covers the period of fiscal year 2023 to 2028.
The change moves Back Creek to number 2 on the list, and Stevens Road to number 3. Other roads that may be funded eventually include Ball Park Road, Haymakertown Road, Mountain Valley Road, Red Bud Lane, Old Hollow Road, and Sugar Tree Hollow Road. The Supervisors still have to vote on the funding for the secondary system six year plan as this was a work session.
The Supervisors also approved the transfer of $358,915 to pay for a tanker fire truck at Read Mountain Fire Station. Additionally, the Supervisors learned that the Botetourt County Fire-EMS department had received national media attention for its girls fire camp, which will be held again this summer. The department received an achievement award from the National Association of Counties for the program. Last year 58 girls attended, and this year 72 have signed up, and there is a waiting list, the Supervisors learned.
Supervisor Chairman and Valley District Representative Mac Scothorn told the Supervisors that the county is now involved with Wonderschool, a company that assists new and experienced providers in running their own in-home businesses in order to provide childcare to families in their communities.
Scothorn noted that child care has been an issue for county workers for some time, and the county Economic Development department looked into this company. The county has received a grant of $21,000 to assist in fostering home-based childcare program and to recruit interested people who might be able to help with childcare concerns.
Additionally, the Board heard comments about book content in the public libraries, with 12 people asking that certain books with content they found objectionable be removed from the library collection while 8 others advocated for keeping the books.
The Board also heard comments about the proposed Craig Botetourt Rails to Trails (also known as the Craig Valley Scenic Trail) project, with two people speaking in favor of the project and four others asking the Supervisors to do something to stop it.
— Anita Firebaugh, Special to The Botetourt Bee
