Riverdale Dries Out

Riverdale was open for business Thursday morning as the flooded Dan River retreated toward its banks.
But not before businessman Phil Propst had spent his share of time “on the road.”
“We moved 70 cars out twice,” said the Riverdale Auto Sales owner. Propst said he was reacting to the changing forecasts for Dan River flooding. “The flood got next to the building but not inside,” he added. “No (flooding) building or cars.”
“We feel lucky,” was businessman Clark Daniel’s take on the river’s out-of-bank surge.
Daniel, owner of a car restoration and sign shop next door to Propst, said he moved five cars at his shop before the river’s waters encroached. With the cars gone, he was taking the opportunity yesterday to to do “a little clean up”. “There was no damage,” he added.
A sparkling Highway 501 Thursday morning drew a big thanks to highway crews for a job well done. By early morning VDOT and South Boston crews had the road cleared and Daniel’s business entrance in good shape. The businessman also had praise for the officials issuing the flood warning which, he said, gave him plenty of time to take action,
At Rays Key and Lock, the closed street did not stop work, according to its owner Ray Conner. “It was about seven feet from the door,” said Conner of the flood waters. While normal business at the shop was interrupted, Conner said that he continued with business projects.
During the random check with Riverdale business owners, Justin DeMatteo at The Shop said that merchandise was put up on shelves “just in case,” but that he had no problem. Some water did invade the oil change bay, he added.
Down the street at Recycling Works, located in the old Victory Warehouse building, owner Don Hochstein said that water came up to the door but not inside his business. “No water in, thank goodness,” added Hochstein.

Fordland Dogs Remain Unleashed

After holding a second round of public hearings on a proposed leash law for Fordland Estates subdivision, the Board split down the middle on a four-four vote on the proposed measure.
Because the Board does not have a tiebreaker the leash law failed.
Voting for the ordinance were supervisors Doug Bowman, Tom West, William Fitzgerald and W. Bryant Claiborne. Opposing the ordinance were James Edmunds II, Dickie Abbott, Wayne Conner and Lottie Nunn.
The vote came after Edmunds proposed a compromise measure that would have dogs restrained between certain “walking hours” in the morning and afternoon hours.
Abbott said the ordinance would be difficult to enforce and create more problems then it solves.
“You’re not doing anything but asking for trouble,” Abbott said.
Abbott then made a substitute motion that no dog ordinance for Fordland be enacted.
Both motions failed with the lack of a second.
Bowman then made a motion that the leash law be enacted as written.
Bowman, a former resident of Fordland Estates and a dog owner, said he thought he had a pretty good understanding of both sides of the issue, but in the end “the rights of neighbors to walk freely outweigh the rights of dogs.”
Claiborne, who seconded the motion, agreed.
“This has been going on for about two years,” he said. “The rights of people should outweigh the rights of animals.”
During the public hearing several Fordland residents on both sides of the issue addressed the Board.
Longtime Fordland resident Amy Barnes, who opposes the ordinance, said dog owners were addressing problems in the neighborhood.
“We already have laws that will control vicious dogs,” she said. “The problems that have come up have been addressed.
“We do, as dog owners, want to be good, responsible neighbors,” she added.
Resident Dan Shaw said the problem of dogs roaming in packs has not been sufficiently addressed by neighborhood dog owners.
“As we speak today dogs are still running loose,” Shaw said. “The owners don’t know where they are.
“Two dogs barked at my wife and she stopped what she was doing and came back in the house,” he said. “I like the way the ordinance is written.”
It strikes a balance, Shaw said, noting dogs could be walked off the leash, but they had to be with the owner.
“I live in the neighborhood and I’ve been bitten by a dog,” he said.
Sylvia Bohanon said she took security in the fact that dogs were patrolling the neighborhood.
“I think the owners have done everything possible,” she said. “I find great security from these animals in the neighborhood.
“It bothers me that some are uncomfortable,” she added.
Eloise Wilder said she favored the ordinance because she said dog owners should be responsible for their pets before they bite someone.
“The dogs that bit me have been restrained,” she said. “It’s important to me that owners be responsible for dogs before they bite someone.”
Resident Connie Slagle pointed out the several of the ‘problem’ dogs have been dealt with.
The dog with the most problems is gone, she told the Board, and two others have been fenced in.
Slagle said this ordinance would open a can of worms with other areas in the county also wanting leash laws.
Also at the meeting the Board set four public hearings.
Two hearings were set for the Board’s February meeting to address conditional use permit requests, one from the Mid-Atlantic Broadband Cooperative for a 190-foot tower to be located on Route 40 and a request from Emswiler Diesel owner Verlyn Emswiler for a recycling center on Bill Tuck Highway.
Also set for February is a hearing on proposed changes to county code streamlining the process for addressing unsafe structures in the county.
Property owners will still receive the same notification, Zoning Administrator Jerry Lovelace said, and there will still be an appeals process, but there will no longer be a public hearing required.
The Board also set a public hearing for their March meeting to address an ordinance that would allow community centers in the county.
The county’s planning commission recommended that the Board hold a public hearing on the ordinance at their December meeting.
Lovelace told the Board that staff is also recommending that the Board review the definitions of adult and child daycare and not-for-profit, when considering the ordinance.
Supervisors then addressed a request from the Halifax County Historical Society for financial backing for the Crossing of the Dan Exhibit in South Boston.
Historical Society President Barbara Bass told the Board that based on a study, it is projected that tourists who come to see the exhibit would spend $1.45 million in the county the first year.
The Board agreed to draft the society a letter of support and consider its request for $50,000 in financial support during the upcoming budget process.

No More Route 360?

Traveling westbound on James D. Hagood Highway at its intersection with Bethel Road you can stay straight on Route 360 or turn right onto Route 360.
The Halifax County Transportation Safety Commission is seeking to change that, Halifax County supervisors learned at their Monday meeting.
The commission is seeking a review from VDOT on the feasibility of changing Bethel Road to another route number.
Currently the commission is only seeking to change the Bethel Road portion of State 360.
The Transportation Safety Commission took up the matter at its Dec. 19 meeting after receiving a citizen complaint.
In a letter to the Board of Supervisors, the transportation commission stated, “The citizen had advised staff that the current numerical designation can be very confusing to a traveler coming to the Town of Halifax area from the Northeast and Richmond.
“In receiving directions a traveler must be told to travel on U.S. 360 and turn right on State 360,” the letter read. “U.S. Route 360 from the Scottsburg intersection to U.S. 360/58 was formerly known as U.S. Route 304.
“It was changed to U.S. 360 several years ago following improvements to Route 304,” the letter states.
The commission voted unanimously on December 19 to request that VDOT investigate changing Bethel Road to another numerical designator.
Supervisor W. Bryant Claiborne asked Assistant County Administrator Jerry Lovelace about changing all of State 360, both the Bethel Road and Mountain Road sections, to the same new number.
Lovelace said the commission was only seeking the Bethel Road section of State 360 because the whole roadway is in Halifax County, whereas the Mountain Road section runs into Pittsylvania County.
Claiborne asked Lovelace if would contact the appropriate Pittsylvania County officials and see if they would support changing the route’s number.
Lovelace said he would contact the neighboring county’s officials to see if they would support the change.
The Board of Supervisors then voted to support the commission’s request for a new route number for Bethel Road.
Also at supervisors’ Monday meeting, the Board addressed vacancies on several county boards and commissions.
South Boston resident Jerry Grubbs, who holds a commercial pilot’s certificate, was appointed to the William M. Tuck Airport Commission to fill the vacancy left by the resignation of Marvin Wright.
Also, Halifax County Industrial Development Authority board member Garland Ricketts was appointed to another four-year term.
The Board then agreed to address several other vacancies at later meetings.
During the public comment portion of the meeting, Alton resident Paul Carter said he was being disturbed by automatic arms fire coming from the shooting range at Virginia International Raceway.
He said the shooting was going on until as late as 11 p.m. violating a county ordinance that states the activity must stop at 9 p.m.
When he called law enforcement, Carter said he was told to tell the people to stop.
I’m not going to go tell people with automatic weapons to stop, Carter told the Board.
Cal Frye, executive director of O’Gara-SSI, the company that conducts the shooting activity at the range said shooting until 11 p.m. was a mistake that should not have occurred.
It was brought to his attention earlier by a complaint from another VIR-area resident and he told the instructor to cut the shooting off at 9 p.m., he said.
The instructor did not follow the direction, Frye told the Board, and the situation has been dealt with and shouldn’t happen again.
Frye said the shooting range is not open to the public and the night shooting was necessary training for federal agencies and Special Forces in the military that conduct their operations largely at night.
Also during the public comment period Alton resident Randy Bailey addressed the Board about ordinances that he doesn’t think are being enforced properly.
Before the meeting he sent a letter to the Board petitioning it to mandate the Animal Control Officer provide the judge with information related to the number of times the offending household has been cited for violations of county animal ordinances.
“This could be easily done through a change in the way that the animal control officers manage their paperwork on each violation,” Bailey writes.
Bailey stated in his letter that he believes there is evidence that the punishment for violations is not being applied equally to residents in his area.
He cites two examples and says they are troubling because it appears that punishments are handed out inconsistently and unfairly and secondly that the county is using resources inefficiently due to multiple calls for the same violations that are not addressed.
The Board agreed to let their attorney review Bailey’s request.
Also at the meeting, the Board agreed to keep meeting on the first Monday of each month and set the following Monday as a make-up date if a meeting is canceled due to inclement weather.

Obituaries