tic of the ceremony. The three conceded it was not as much the oath that made them smile from ear-to-ear as it was what they knew would happen next.

“It was the anticipation of Continued page 2

The lobby of the Wythe County Circuit Court build-ing was filled with congratu-latory remarks and smiles on Dec. 21, 2011, as Constitu-tional Officers and Board of Supervisor members finished swearing in for their upcom-ing terms.

Among those who took part in the ceremonies were three newly elected Board of Su-pervisors members and one re-elected Board of Supervi-sors member.

Gene Horney has taken part in the swearing in ceremony before; however, he noted this ceremony was different from the previous, small scale one he’d been involved with.

“It’s different because last time when I took the oath I

just went in Hayden’s office, it was something simple,” said Horney. “This time they did something elaborate. It was kind of exciting.”

First-time supervisors Tim Reeves, Joe Hale and Artie Hall were equally enthusias-

Newly elected members sworn in

Board discusses line of duty funding

On Dec. 27, 2011, the Wythe County Board of Supervisors met at the County Admini-stration Building for its bi-monthly meeting at 9 a.m. The Board discussed items including a reduced connec-tion fee extension and the Line of Duty Act.

In reports from the Water

Committee, Board members discussed a time extension for the reduced water connection fee to customers on Route 619 from the intersection of Rickey Road to Route 94.

According to the presentation, there had been some cus-tomer confusion regarding the connection process and fees.

Cellell Dalton, County Ad-ministrator, suggested the Board grant the extension and implement the recommended notification changes, use the experience as a lesson learned.

The revised procedures ap-proved by the water commit-tee will provide a clear Continued page 6

Wythe County Board of Supervisors

JANUARY 2012

VOLUME 1, ISSUE 2

Wythe the News

Special points of interest: • County retirees honored at

meeting and luncheon

• School and County officials attend FEMA course for safety

• Disc golf coming to Rural Retreat Lake

• Legislators and local officials discuss issues for upcoming ses-sion

• Explosives training at Progress Park

Inside this issue: Cont. Members Sworn in 2

Cont. Board discussion 6

Survey to promote tourism 2&3

County honors retirees 3&4

Schools ahead of the game in emergency response

4

Disc golf coming soon at Rural Retreat Lake

5

County helped to spread cheer

5

Training success in Wythe County

6

County Meetings 7

Local and State officials discuss concerns for upcom-ing General Assembly ses-sion

7&8

County Recreation events 8

Sworn in Board of Supervisors members (L to R): Artie Hall, Joe Hale, Gene Horney, and Tim Reeves.

being able to go to work,” said Hale.

He added, “It was a part of the process to be legally sworn to do the right thing and to support the constitu-tion not only of the United States but of the Common-wealth.”

“I’m very excited to begin the process,” said Hall. “It’s kind of like you’ve been wait-ing for a month and a half now.”

“We’ve been having meet-ings and orientations and

such,” said Reeves, “and it’s just a great feeling and I’m ready to get started the first of the year.”

All four supervisors will be-gin their new terms on Janu-ary 1, 2012, and will hold their seats until December 31, 2015. Each is ready to serve his district’s residents, both familiar and new.

“I took forward to the next four years. I hope I can con-tinue to represent the people. That’s what we’re here for,” said Horney

“I’m really excited to serve the citizens of Wythe County and specifically the citizens of West Wytheville District. I can’t wait for January 1,” added Hall.

Constitutional officers who took part in the ceremony included Commissioner of Revenue, Deputy Commis-sioner of Revenue, County Treasurer, Deputy Treasur-ers, Commonwealth’s Attor-ney, Deputy Common-wealth’s Attorney and Assis-tant Commonwealth’s Attor-neys. Members of the Wythe County School Board were also sworn in.

and foundations found throughout many parts of the area.

In all, a minimum of 375 structures will be surveyed. Three hundred and fifty five of the properties will be non-intensive studies, looking mainly at the exteriors. No less than 20 properties, de-termined in coordination with Department of Histori-cal Recourses and the Wythe County Historical Society, will be surveyed at the inten-sive level, thoroughly exam-ining the exterior and inte-rior of the properties.

Areas within the Town of Wytheville, outside of the Wytheville Historic District, may be included in the sur-vey, but the number of prop-erties will not exceed 40.

Having a property examined

The history of Wythe County is duly noted in books, markers and online; however, the history of many of its structures has gone unexamined. The historic architectural study to be conducted by Hanbury Pres-ervation Consulting, with the Wythe County Historical Society and Wythe County, will seek to document such properties throughout the County.

At a meeting with Mary Ruffin Hanbury, researcher for the project, recently at the Heritage Preservation Center, community leaders were asked to think of what properties should be in-cluded in the study.

Some quick suggestions were the log houses and shot tower in Foster Falls. Others included stone walls, steps

in the survey does mean it is on a historical register. It gives no designation but simply notes the historic structures existence for refer-ence and documentation.

Once documented, the re-cords will be kept on file in Richmond for future re-searchers and interested parties to view. In addition, Wythe County will receive the records in both physical and digital form.

Communities who take part in historical surveys find they have a lot to gain from the findings and records. One area Wythe County hopes to promote through this survey is tourism. Such as in the strategic plan being prepared by the Wythe County Tourism Depart-ment, historic structures are key factors of interest when

Continued: BOS sworn in

Survey to promote tourism in Wythe County

Learn about new and returning members in

this edition’s insert, “Wythe the Board of

Supervisors.” See photos, short

biographies, and contact information for your

Board members.

Page 2 WYTHE THE NEWS

Santa Claus made a special request to Wythe County Parks and Recreation this year to assist in delivering personalized letters to chil-dren in the community. Find out how staff members served as Santa’s helpers on page 5.

Supervisor Gene Horney sworn in as the Speedwell District representative for an-other term at the Wythe County Circuit Court House. He looks forward to serving the residents of the County for another four years.

VOLUME 1, ISSUE 2 Page 3

looking to visit tourist loca-tions. A survey such as this will bring information avail-able that tourists will find appealing.

For Cellell Dalton, County Administrator, the survey is not something to be looked at on a small scale. He sees the survey benefiting Wythe County and bringing its attributes to the forefront.

“I really hope once we finish this we can develop a driving tour,” said Dalton at the meeting. “I’d really like to see this be a long-term thing.”

Another success story to come from these surveys in locations such as North Carolina is their adaptation into books. This is a possibil-ity the Wythe County His-

torical Society could pursue.

Every resident is urged to contact the historical society or Hanbury Preservation Consulting with information regarding a historical struc-ture or the remains of a his-torical structure for the sur-vey. Hanbury can be reached by emailing maryruffin @hanburypreservation.com or calling (919) 828-1905.

me the opportunity to do this.”

Board members honored had the same sentiments as Cassell and remarked that their time spent on the Wythe County Board of Supervisors was about friendship, learning to work together and putting the residents of Wythe County first.

“I just want to say I’ve never worked with a group as tight as this,” said Martha Umber-ger, exiting supervisor for the West Wytheville District. “Maybe we didn’t always agree but we became friends and we worked through our prob-lems.”

“It’s been my pleasure to work with the citizens of Wythe County and the Board,” said Wythe “Bucky” Sharitz, exit-ing Supervisor at Large.

In their time on the Wythe County Board of Supervisors, the three leaving members have seen many milestones including the development of Progress Park, a 1,210 acre

As Wythe County prepares for 2012, it says goodbye to five retirees who have more than 70 years of working for citi-zens among them. The retirees were honored with resolutions at the December 27, 2011, Board of Supervisors meeting.

For months, the retirees and their colleagues have known December 31 would be a day of saying farewell; however, December 27 proved itself to be emotional.

Each was presented with cer-tificates of appreciation ac-companied by a resolution of recognition near the end of the bimonthly meeting.

Many emotions were on the faces of those honored includ-ing happiness, humbleness and even a little sadness.

“For as many years as I’ve served, this today is probably the hardest,” said Mary “Sis” Cassell, exiting Commissioner of Revenue, after receiving her certificate and holding back her tears. “I’ve enjoyed the citizens…Thank you for giving

super industrial site, introduc-tion of new industry and reno-vations of many County schools.

Sharitz held a seat on the Wythe County Board of Su-pervisors for 16 years, span-ning four consecutive four-year terms.

He was named chairman of the board from 1997 to 1999, 2004 to 2005 and 2007 to 2011.

Umberger has served on the Board for six years, following her leadership on the Wythe County School Board.

She was named vice-chair of the Wythe County Board of Supervisors in 2008, 2010 and 2011 Maggie Poole was first elected to the Board in November 2007 and has served for four years. She has served on various committees as a Board member including the Budget Committee, Southwest Virginia Agricul-tural Exposition Center Com-mittee and more.

Continued page 4

Continued: survey

Wythe County honors retirees

Wythe County

Retirees

School and County officials came together at Wytheville Community College to at-tend a FEMA class aimed at making school facilities safer. See how Wythe County stood out in safety compared to other school systems on page 4.

variety of representatives that turned out.

According to Klinger, having multiple county officials who understand the procedures that should be taken in a school related crises is the best situation.

“You guys have the ideal class,” remarked Klinger.

The eight-hour course was designed to educate rural law enforcement personnel as well as school administrators and staff on the elements that would allow for an effec-tive response to school based emergencies. One of the most important topics, ac-cording to Klinger, was what lockdown policies a school has in place.

A common mistake is to have only one level of lock-down, which can result in total panic and uncertainty can set in among faculty and students.

Klinger was happy to learn that Wythe County is one of her first school systems she’s encounter that had a multi-

level lockdown system al-ready in place. This means that different types of con-cerns and incidents are an-nounced and responded to in different ways depending on the severity.

Klinger also noted that a major problem in response to lockdowns is that there is no law requiring lockdown drills as there is with fire drills. Because of this, fac-ulty and students are often unsure what to do and how to secure their classrooms. Wythe County, however, is one of the few systems which is ahead of the game.

All County schools are re-quired to conduct at least one simulated lockdown and crisis emergency evacuation activity early in each school year. Wesley Poole, Wythe County Public Schools Di-rector of Facilities and Op-erations, said the knowledge of how to respond to emer-gency situations is as impor-tant as anything else taught to the students of the County.

Schools ahead of the game in emergency response On Dec. 8, 2011, local emer-gency responders and school representatives came to-gether at Wytheville Com-munity College to attend a crisis management class given by Federal Emergency Management Agency for school based incidents. Dur-ing the class, the instructor was surprised and impressed by the response systems Wythe County already had in place.

Many “students” in the class found themselves at the un-familiar end of the pencil. The course included a pre-test evaluation, six instruc-tional modules and a post-test evaluation.

Students attending the class included several Wythe County principals, local fire-fighters, sheriff’s office ser-geants and representatives, school board personnel and County personnel.

After the preliminary intro-ductions, Dr. Amy L. Klinger, School Safety Con-sultant and course instruc-tor, was thrilled to realize the

Page 4 WYTHE THE NEWS

Attendance at the school safety FEMA class included principals, law enforcement, firefighters and County representatives.

paper oriented office to an office that can be accessed from any Internet based com-puter. Elizabeth Cook, the final retiree, has been Wythe County’s General Registrar for almost 21 years. She was appointed by the Wythe County Electoral Board in 1991 and has assisted in the

registration, voting and record keeping procedures during her tenure.

Remaining Board members and staff agree, the five retir-ees will be missed and are appreciated for all of the work they have done throughout the years.

Cont.: County honors retirees Cassell has served as the County’s Commissioner of Revenue for 28 years, begin-ning in 1984.

Her dedication, devotion and love for the citizens of Wythe County has allowed her to modernize the Commissioner of Revenue’s office from a

Four other FEMA courses are already in the planning

stages for the County ac-cording to Ikey Davidson,

Emergency Manager for Wythe County.

All of the courses are free of charge for hosting and

attending and are six to eight hours long. For more information regarding the courses, contact Davidson by calling (276) 223-6033.

With almost 70 collective

years of service, three Wythe

County Board of Supervisors

member and two Wythe

County officers prepared to

retire Dec. 31, 2011

VOLUME 1, ISSUE 2 Page 5

Wythe County Parks and Recreation has received com-mitments from nine sponsors for the installation of a nine-hole disc golf course at Rural Retreat Lake and Camp-ground.

Disc golf is similar to tradi-tional golf in that the objec-tive of the sport is to get the disc in the target in the fewest attempts. As with clubs, discs range in size and weight de-pending on the distance of the target.

The course will meander along the south side of the lake and into the wooded area behind shelters two and three. It will start at the parking area beside the Trout Pond and

traverse around the pond.

The department plans to sell discs in the camp store to get visitors started and familiar with the game. The Depart-ment of Parks and Recreation hopes to have the completed by March 2012, if not sooner.

The list of the sponsors in-

clude Wytheville Rotary Club; Blue Ridge Chiropractor; BB&T; Wythe County Com-munity Hospital, Dr. Jerry Lowry, D.O.; Rural Retreat Electric and Plumbing, Allen West; Wythe Eye Associates, Wythe Physicians for Women, Dr. Elizabeth Fox; and United Country – Anders Realty & Auction.

Disc golf coming soon at Rural Retreat Lake Wythe County Board of Supervisors members

strive to represent citizens and promote

progress. Find out more about members serving in

2012 in this edition’s insert, “Wythe the Board

of Supervisors.”

Sheffey Wildcats (above) and Max Mead-ows Vikings (below) were the Wythe County Parks and Recreation’s Junior Varsity 2011 Basketball Tournament champions.

Each year Santa Claus comes in the middle of the night to give the children of Wythe County, and others around the world, presents for Christmas morning. This year, Santa enlisted a little help from Wythe County’s Parks and Recreation De-partment to reach out to the children of the County.

Staff in the Parks and Rec-reation Department was delighted to help Santa de-liver his letters to many chil-dren throughout Wythe County. The department delivered 541 letters with the help of local schools, day-cares, preschools and par-ents.

With this assistance, Santa

was able to send letters to children with information including their names, ages, nicknames and more. The children received their per-sonalized letters thanks to several of Santa’s helpers in the Wythe County Admini-stration Building.

His lead helper overseeing the letters and their delivery was Tina Brown, Assistant Recreation Specialist, who was very pleased with the result “Considering that this was the first year that our Department provided this service for the community, I feel like it was a great suc-cess,” said Brown.

She added, “The Depart-ment has gotten a lot of posi-

tive feedback from all of the County schools, preschools and daycares who partici-pated this year and all have expressed interest in partici-pating next year.”

In keeping with the depart-ment’s commitment to en-gaging the children of Wythe County, these letters are another way the Wythe County Department of Parks and Recreation hopes to reach out to County youth. While it is a departmental goal, Brown said the results had personal rewards.

“Knowing a child’s face lit up by receiving a letter from Santa has been an enjoyable experience for me this year,” said Brown.

County helped to spread some Christmas cheer

2011 Wythe County

Parks and Recreation

Junior Varsity

Basketball Tournament

Although weather condi-tions were not ideal, the IED Explosives/Terrorism Aware-ness Training in Wythe County did take place on Nov. 15 and 16.

This two day course was presented by the Depart-ment of Criminal Justice Services (DCIS) – Homeland Security Program, FBI, Vir-ginia State Police and Wythe County Sherriff’s office. With 42 participating in-structors, firefighters, and EMS personnel, the training was seen as huge success in explosives safety and the war on terrorism.

It was designed to enhance an investigator’s proficiency and ability to recognize or identify conventional explo-sives, improvised explosives and improvised explosive devices (IED’s), while con-ducting an investigation.

One of the most exciting portions of the class, for both students and onlookers

kept at a safe distance, was the demonstration involving the explosion of two cars at Wythe County’s Progress Park.

Karl Mercer, retired Bomb Squad Commander from Henrico County Police, Vir-ginia and a DCJS instructor, said the training is some-thing beneficial to all law enforcement and their com-munities. It can prove safer not only for residents, but for the officers as well.

“Training the force is an integral part of the proper management of incidents and can add to the safety of the officer and the citizen,” said Mercer.

Doug Fender, Special Agent Bomb Technician (SABT) for the FBI, feels it is a train-ing that is needed today more than ever. With the very real threat of terrorism and war, explosives training can come in handy almost anywhere.

“Improvised explosives and IED's have been a threat for many years in war zones such as Iraq and Afghani-stan,” said Fender. “[The FBI] wants to prepare first responders to deal with the threat and utilization of im-provised explosives in the U.S. We think that some of the issues and threats being realized overseas will migrate to the U.S.”

According to SABT Fender, "training such as this and the ability to identify subjects who might be involved in the manufacturing of impro-vised explosives is only possi-ble as a result of the excel-lent partnerships between Federal, State and County/Local law enforcement offi-cials.

“This training event would not have been possible with-out the assistance of the Wythe County Administra-tors office and the Sheriff's Office."

Training in County seen as success

Page 6 WYTHE THE NEWS

Car Bomb Demonstration at

Progress Park

Cont: Board discussion

understanding of the process, fees and regulations.

The Board approved a thirty (30) day extension , giving the customers until January 27 to connect at the reduced rate. Dalton noted only a handful of customers would be in-volved in the extension.

The Budget Committee re-quested the Board amend and appropriate $9,240 for the

Line of Duty Act coverage. The Line of Duty Act provides benefits to the Sheriff or Dep-uty Sheriff whose death or disability occurs as a result of the performance of their du-ties.

The officer’s family will re-ceive a $100,000 lump sum payment from the County along with his or her family’s health care premiums being paid by the County. Noted at

the meeting was that by going through VACORP, the contri-bution amount was considera-bly lower than if the Board had gone through the Virginia Retirement System. By going through VACORP, Wythe County will save nearly $3,000 in 2012 and just over $10,000 in 2013. In addition, the savings in both 2014 and 2015 will come to about $20,000 each year.

Sign up to receive this monthly newsletter via

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wythecounty and at www.wytheco.org

VOLUME 1, ISSUE 2

SCHEDULE OF EVENTS

• 1/10- Wythe County Board of Su-pervisors will hold its bi-monthly meeting at 7 p.m. on the County Administration Building, 340 S 6th Street, Wytheville

• 1/17 - Water Committee will meet in the conference room of the County Administration Building, 340 S 6th Street, Wytheville at 9:30 a.m.

• 1/19—Budget Committee will meet in the conference room of the County Administration Building, 340 S 6th Street, Wytheville at 3:30 p.m.

• 1/24 - Wythe County Board of Su-pervisors will hold its bi-monthly meeting at 9 a.m. in the County Administration Building, 340 S 6th Street, Wytheville.

• 1/23 - Recreation Commission will meet in the boardroom of the County Administration Building, 340 S 6th Street, Wytheville at 7 p.m.

• 1/30—Joint Governing Bodies, consisting of Wythe County, the Town of Wytheville and the Town of Rural Retreat will meet at Wythe-ville Town Hall on Monday, January 30, at 7 p.m.

After dinner, Cellell Dalton, County Administrator, de-fined the County’s position on numerous issues Crock-ett-Stark and Carrico will deal with during the 2012 General Assembly session.

Dalton brought up the very real need of more state fund-ing to maintain local func-tions. He noted that in the past year, Wythe County has used local funds to replace funds cut in the state budget in order to maintain the level of service required by the citizens.

One idea for increasing local funds would be to amend the Code of Virginia to pro-vide the same taxing author-

On Dec. 13, 2011, the Wythe County Board of Supervisors and other County representatives met with legislative representa-tives Del. Anne B. Crockett-Stark and newly elected Sen. Bill Carrico to discuss the County’s concerns for the upcoming Virginia General Assembly session. At the meeting, concerns regarding the Virginia Retirement Sys-tem, cost cutting in law en-forcement and funds for local schools were all ex-pressed.

The meeting, broadcast on a later date on WLOY, began with dinner and time for the legislators to talk one-on-one with the individuals present.

ity to County’s as currently provided to towns and cities.

A major concern of Sheriff Doug King was the possibil-ity of funds currently gener-ated from traffic violations being taken away from the County. According to King, without this funding mecha-nism Wythe County would be a much different place.

“We would have to close our doors if this [was taken away],” said King. “Without having the personnel, with-out having the equipment to handle [major issues], I’m afraid this would be a much less safe place.”

Continued page 8

Local and state representatives discuss concerns

Page 7

View of Wythe County from Big Walker Lookout Country Store.

Sun Mon Tue Wed Thu Fri Sat

1 2 Offices Closed

3 4 5 6 7

8 9

10 Board of Supervisors

11 12 13 Offices Closed

14

15 16 Offices Closed

17 Water Committee

18 19 Budget Committee

20 21

22 23 Recreation Commission

24 Board of Supervisors

25 26 27 28

29 30 Joint Governing Bodies

31 1 2 3 4

January 2012 Public Meetings

Com

Sign up to receive this monthly newsletter via email by send-ing a message to newsletter-subscribe@wytheco.org. The current edition can also be found online at the County Facebook, www.facebook.com/wythecounty and on www.wytheco.org

340 S 6th St Wytheville, VA 24382 Phone: (276) 223-6020 Fax: (276) 223-6030

E-mail: jvcoleman@wytheco.org www.wytheco.org www.facebook.com/wythecounty

The HUB of southwest VA

Wythe County Board of Supervisors

the State of Virginia has re-quired Wythe County to add 65 new programs to its curriculum. He said the new programs mean more space is needed and in order to create space, the school systems need state funds.

In their closing remarks, the legislators thanked Wythe County for their support and for inviting them to hear the concerns. Crockett-Stark re-minded those present that she has always worked for local gov-ernments and plans to continue her mission.

“I’ve been told more than once that I am state government not local government,” said Crock-ett-Stark, “and I continue to say that any good government is local government.”

Carrico told local representa-tives that he would do his best to bring their concerns to the state level; however, the session ahead does not look like a sim-ple one.

“The harsh reality is, it’s going to be a tough session,” said Car-rico. “Based on what I’ve heard…the Governor’s budget will make education a top prior-ity.”

King said the loss of the funds would result in the cutting of six patrol deputies, D.A.R.E. offi-cers, school resource officers, the Violence Against Women coor-dinator and the victim witness program coordinator.

Carrico acknowledged that each year there are individuals in the Virginia General Assembly who push to have the funds taken from local governments, largely to deter the creation of “speed traps.” King assured Carrico that every person stopped was indeed breaking the law and running 89 mph anywhere is not a speed trap.

Dr. Lee Brannon, Wythe County School Superintendent, focused his discussion with the legislators on why Wythe County needs state funds to provide proper learning environ-ments and opportunities for its students. He added he would like to see the VPSA loan sub-sidy program be funded in the fiscal year 2013 budget.

Brannon acknowledged that while Wythe County’s student enrollment has held steady for many years, the programs of-fered to students have grown tremendously. Since the 1950s,

watercolor materials and equip-ment while completing 5” x 7” poinsettia masterpiece ready to frame. Pick from Either Of Two Classes Feb. 4 at Rural Retreat Pentecostal Holiness Church – 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. or Feb. 5 at Max Meadows Ruritan Building – 2 to 4 p.m. Instructor: D. Gail Law-rence

Cost: $15. All materials are pro-vided - 140 lb cold press water-color paper & professional grade paint and brushes. Deadline: Feb. 1st Call 223-6022 to sign up.

F3 Boot Camp The class consists of high intensity cardio, weight / strength training, body resis-tance exercises, resistance band drills, stability ball exer-cises and interval training. No two classes are ever the same.

Please contact Susan Spraker to sign up, 686-5177. Tuesday and Thursday nights, 5:30 - 6:15 p.m. at the Rural Retreat Community Center. Cost is $30.00/month. Sponsored by Wythe County Parks and Recreation.

Zumba Wythe County Parks and Recreation will sponsor a Zumba class Feb. 6-March 6, Mondays & Thursdays at Max Meadows Fire Depart-ment from 6:30-7:15 p.m. Instructors: Patti Mills & Leigh Ann Coe Cost: $50 for 8 classes. Ages 15 & UP Send Payment to Wythe Co. Parks and Rec., 340 South Sixth Street, Wytheville, VA

24382. Call 223-6022 to sign up DEADLINE: Feb. 1 Adult Dance Class Learn to have fun and be con-fident on the dance floor. Beginners, Single or with a partner. Each month will be a popular dance for parties & receptions. There will be of-fered two separate classes in two areas.

Starting Wednesdays, Feb. 1 at Max Meadows Ruritan Club Building or Tuesdays, Feb.7 at Rural Retreat Pentecostal Church 6-7 p.m. Cost: $35 per month/4 classes. Pre-registration required by Jan. 27 for 1st set of classes Call 223-6022 to register or for more info.

Water Color Water Color Painting uses many color values; learn to mix them all from only four origi-nal colors. Will review working with a limited palette, ratio of water to pigment for high key and dark values, transparent

Jan. Community Events

Cont.: reps discuss concerns