After withstanding a huge onslaught of criticism over its non-evacuation bomb threat policy, the Halifax County School Board voted Monday night to reconvene the Security Taskforce.
The Security Taskforce, composed of the heads of local and state law enforcement agencies, school system officials and school principals, is slated to meet Friday.
Halifax County School Superintendent Dennis Witt said yesterday that Friday's meeting will be "an in-house work session" in which the participants will air the pros and cons of the current policy.
The School Board urged Monday night that the security panel be reconvened at the earliest possible date, giving rise to speculation that a special School Board meeting may be convened to address the security issue.
Witt said yesterday that with budget-related issues also pressing the School Board, a special meeting may be called to address both the proposed 2000-2001 school budget and the school system's bomb threat policy.
That special meeting, Witt said, could come "within the next week or so," depending upon the results of Friday's security meeting and the outcome of a budget meeting that school trustees will have Thursday night with the Halifax County Board of Supervisors.
Security Taskforce
It was the Security Taskforce, acting on the recommendations of law enforcement officials, that recommended the current bomb threat procedure to the School Board.
However, school system officials have been bombarded with criticism over the "freeze" policy in the wake of two recent bomb threats at Halifax County High School.
The culprits connected with the bomb threats were arrested by area law enforcement officers and charged in connection with the incidents.
One board member, G.C. Ratliff, after hearing the criticisms, suggested suspending the policy of "freezing" everyone in the school until such time as the security taskforce could meet and further examine the policy.
"By and large, the present policy is not supported," remarked Ratliff, "which is the right thing to do."
Ratliff told the School Board he had received numerous phone calls and contacts from parents, students and teachers at Halifax County High School opposing the procedure.
"If the policy is not supported by the people it affects, we need to at least consider suspending it right now," he stated.
But, board member Patricia Nelson immediately objected, saying the policy should be left alone until the taskforce, school system officials and the School Board could review the matter further.
A large crowd of parents and concerned citizens, most of them opposed to the school system's current policy, jammed their way into the meeting room.
Evacuation
Halifax County High School student Todd Eakes, who has been a leader of the opposition, handed the School Board a petition containing the signatures of 864 students calling for a mandatory evacuation of the high school in every bomb threat incident.
"That's 864 disappointed students," Eakes said.
"That's 864 scared students. That's 864 too many."
Eakes pointed out that the students demand that the policy be changed to evacuation.
"We will not, under any circumstances, support a policy that does not ensure our safety," Eakes pointed out.
"The current policy does not even come close."
Eakes said that while the blame for the incidents goes to the two juveniles who were arrested, "this freeze policy has taken away my dignity and that of my peers.
"A lockdown is done during a prison riot, not a bomb threat."
Eakes' mother, Marcia Harris, told the School Board she has spoken with school officials at E.C. Glass, GW, Person High School, Brookville High School, Randolph Henry High School William Campbell High School and with school system personnel in Henry County.
All of those schools, she said, evacuate in the face of a bomb threat.
"Could all of these schools be so unconcerned about education that they don't care about the disruption of evacuation?" she asked.
"I don't think so."
Harris told the School Board she knows evacuation is no guarantee of safety.
"But, could everyone around us, all the counties and cities, so many states, the business community, and even many places around the world that do evacuate be wrong?"
Harris chided School Board chairman D.H. McDowell Jr, for his recent comment in the media that "up to now, we've made the right call."
"That leads me to believe that until a bomb explodes in the school, this procedure will continue," Harris stated.
"You indeed have that authority, but my son will not be a participant in your waiting game."
Harris pointed out that in the past month certain members of the School Board publicly assured the community that school violence and security were being addressed.
And, she noted that in the May 26, 1999, issue of the Gazette Virginian, Witt was quoted and gave seven added security measures as viable solutions.
"As of today, only one is in place," she pointed out.
And, she added that "I think many will agree this Board has put violence and security on the back burner."
Several other speakers voiced opposition to the school system's "freeze" policy at the high school.
"I don't feel locking my children in a classroom during a bomb threat is protecting them," remarked Gaye Long.
"I'd like for you to put yourselves in these kids' place."
Mary C. Mitchell, another opponent, said school system administrators have merely been fortunate with the procedure.
"We've been playing Russian roulette," she pointed out.
Another parent, Cindy Martin, told the School Board that the present policy violates the students' rights.
"They're being held against their will," she remarked.
Jeanette Pool, who said she was a substitute teacher at Halifax County High School, noted her opposition.
She stated that when the procedure is activated, teachers are asked to search their rooms for the presence of a bomb.
That, she says, puts her safety at risk and that of others.
"I've never been trained or made aware of what a bomb looks like," she pointed out.
Teachers, she said, should not be put in situations such as that, where they are potentially put in jeopardy.
"Our teachers are members of the HEA and VEA, not the ATF Squad."
Halifax County High School Principal Larry Clark said he continues to support the policy that is in place.
And, he assured everyone that he and school system officials are concerned about the people in the building.
Safety Is Concern
"Our first concern," Clark said, "is the safety of the students and faculty.
"Regardless of what you do, there is no 100 percent safe solution to it."
Halifax County High School assistant principal Leon Johnson read a statement on behalf of Maj. Allen Hughes, a school staff member, who supports the policy.
"The purpose of a bomb threat call," Hughes wrote, "is usually to disrupt normal activity. Evacuation accomplishes that goal."
Hughes also pointed out that another aspect to consider is that the caller may have another purpose in phoning in a bomb threat - that being to get the students out into an open area where they could be exposed to other dangers.
Halifax County High School assistant principal Charles Lowery, a parent of three children, said he has discussed the situation with his children.
"All three of my children have decided that what we're doing is best," he pointed out.
Lowery said he personally believes that the current policy is the best policy.
And, he added he doesn't want his children placed out into an open area where they could be shot at by a sniper.
After hearing the discussion, Witt addressed the gathering and emphasized that neither he, the School Board, nor anyone takes the matter lightly.
"Safety is our number one concern," Witt said, "not disruption.
The school superintendent agreed that very legitimate concerns were expressed during the discussions and they will be considered.
"Every action has another reaction," he pointed out.
"Everything we do on one hand will affect someone else on the other hand."
And, he added, he is aware that all of the high schools in surrounding localities do evacuate for bomb threats.
School Board member Carl Furches, a retired assistant principal at the high school, said he agreed with a lot of what the parents said.
Get Tough On Offenders
Furches said the best thing parents and citizens can do is to contact their political representatives and judicial officials and make them get tougher in their handling of individuals convicted of making bomb threats.
He said the court system merely slaps the offenders on the hands.
"Put these turkeys in jail for five years and that will stop them more than anything," Furches remarked.
"You need to get with the judicial system and make them crack down on these types of things.
"I'd like to see us tell the judges to get a little backbone and do the right thing," he added.
Witt then pointed out that the biggest danger posed to students and staff rests in school shootings.
"There has not been one school explosion in the history of American education," Witt stated.
"There have been seven school shootings in the last two years."
Furches said that teachers that have called him have said they feel safer locked in the school.
He added that he felt that metal detectors should be used more in the school.
"The threat of a shooting is far greater than a bomb," Furches said.

A $12,000 grant presented Monday to the Virginia Department of Conservation and Recreation will be used to fund an environmental field school this summer for middle school students at Staunton River Battlefield State Park.
The grant was donated by the USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service and is being administered by the Old Dominion Resource Conservation and Development.
The Staunton River Environmental Field School will work with 20 middle-schoolers this summer and hopefully will involve more in future schools, said chief ranger Jim Zanarini.
This is one of the first partnerships of its kind between federal agencies and Virginia State Parks.
Gov. Jim Gilmore designated the project a Virginia Naturally 2000 program.
The grant will fund the creation of a wetland ecology trail, river ecology trail, upland ecology trail and the supplies necessary to construct a boardwalk across a wetland, canoes and trailer, 25 pairs of hip waders, nets and an Enviroscape model.
Field school partners include the Halifax Soil and Water Conservation District, the Historic Staunton River Foundation and the Virginia Department of Forestry.
"Because of Jim's efforts," said DCR Director David Brickley, the field school will give economically disadvantaged students the opportunity to learn about natural resources conservation as they monitor and investigate portions of the middle Roanoke watershed.
"(He) did a tremendous job coordinating the many partners in this project."
The school, said Zanarini, will focus on the middle-school age and hopes to teach them to be "good stewards of the environment" as adults.
The students will study a 500-by-500 foot section of a stream, checking different parameters of the stream, he said.
Additionally, the students will mark their area, make a map of it, document both fish and wildlife using that section of the stream and test it chemically.
Also studied will be the canopy over the stream, small, spineless creatures that inhabit the bottom of the stream, check for erosion along that section and, finally, observe land use and human interaction with the stream.
On the final day, the students will go by canoe from Watkin's Landing to the take-out point on U.S. 360, "looking at the overall picture and pulling everything they have learned together," said Zanarini.
"The knowledge is the foundation," he continued. "We hope the students will be on this foundation, and as adults, be good managers of water resources."
The ultimate goal of the field school, Zanarini said, is to have four sessions per year. "This will provide a more accurate picture of the river."
"This field school and this partnership typify my statewide environmental initiative to promote lifelong learning about Virginia's environment and stewardship of the commonwealth's natural and historic resources," said Gov. Gilmore in a prepared release.
The Virginia Naturally 2000 program brings together local, state and federal agencies, environmental organizations, businesses and industry, and others to coordinate environmental education activities to reach all Virginians, Gilmore continued.
"This $12,000 grant is designed to help educate our youth and all citizens about the importance of caring for our natural resources," said M. Denise Doetzer, state conservationist for the USDA's Natural Resources Conservation Service.
"The field school will provide an excellent opportunity for individuals to learn about soil, water and related resources and how we can protect and conserve them for future generations," she continued.
The Old Dominion RC&D region includes Buckingham, Amelia, Halifax, Prince Edward, Charlotte, Nottoway, Lunenburg and Mecklenburg counties.
"This will be the first environment classroom of its type at Staunton River Battlefield State Park," said RC&D coordinator Rodney Lewis.
"We look forward to seeing this one-week pilot program grow into two classes next year and possibly even more classes in future years," he said.

A proposed tax plate of 10-cent real estate tax rate hikes during each of the next two county budget years isn't setting well with supervisors on the finance committee.
The present rate is 31 cents per $100 assessed value and the two-year increase would take it to 51 cents.
"No, it isn't going to happen that way," supervisor and finance committee member R.E. "Dickie" Abbott said of the recommendation.
"I know 20 cents is not going to fly. To say a 20-cent raise in two years is farfetched. I don't think the people in the county are going to stand for it," Abbott said this week.
The tax hikes were recommended by former Halifax County Administrator Dan Sleeper during the finance committee's first review of the budget last week.
The committee will meet with the School Board on Thursday and then begin its own cuts and revenue searches to balance the recommended $68.2 million budget.
Finance committee chairman Tom West also had problems with Sleeper's recommendation, a recommendation that also included tapping unappropriated funds both budget years.
"I have a problem with the increase on real estate taxes," West began. "A lot of real estate tax is paid by farmers and they have not enjoyed the good times like the rest of the economy in the last several years."
West described the farm economy as stagnant or certainly not increasing.
"I don't have the magic answer," added the chairman. "I wish that I did, but I hope it will be a combination of real estate taxes and others (revenue sources)."
Although Abbott agreed supervisors were going to have to come up with the additional $2.8 million for schools, required by the composite index's change, the supervisor had other suggestions.
"Basically, I think the county is going to have to tighten its belt," he said.
With tobacco's problems and the closing of textile plants, Abbott said that the "government can't just keep on spending."
Abbott also noted that with a higher utility tax, "primarily the same people would be paying" since homeowners would also feel the financial bite of a real estate tax rate increase and any utility increase, he explained.
Page Wilkerson, also a member of the finance committee, is worried about a hefty real estate tax rate increase as well.
Noting farmers' economic plight, he said that he would rather see a smaller real estate tax increase.
Still, Wilkerson said that he thinks there will have to be a real estate tax rate increase.
"About the only thing that we can tax is real estate but I hate to put everything on real estate," he emphasized.
Still, after looking through the budget, Wilkerson said there is "not much you can cut and keep services up."
Wilkerson thought action should have been taken earlier, noting that the county "had five years to prepare" for the composite index impact and "really didn't do anything about it."
Joe Satterfield, chairman of the Halifax County Board of Supervisors, regularly attends the finance committee meeting. He opposes real estate bearing all of the burden. He said supervisors would have to look at cuts in spending as well as revenue sources, naming E-911 and utilities as possibilities.
Supervisor C.W. "Corky" Rorrer, who attended the finance committee meeting, said that he thought there would be some real estate tax rate increase.
"Almost assuredly there is going to be some kind of increase because that is your biggest source of revenue," said the supervisor.
Rorrer pointed out that the biggest part of the budget increase is "being driven by some of those things that we have no control over. Now, how we pay for it, there are decisions to be made there."
"The sad thing is that about 80 percent of the supervisors' budget is mandated by either a federal or state regulation or law," noted Rorrer.

Facing an estimated $4 million county budget deficit in 2000-2001, two real estate tax hikes of 10 cents each and tapping $2.5 million in unappropriated funds over a two-year period were put on the finance committee's revenue adjustment table during the budget's first reading last week.
Former County Administrator Dan Sleeper made the budget recommendations during the committee's first look at the proposed $68,278,492 budget.
By the third year, Sleeper said that he thought the county would be "fairly stable" if supervisors took the necessary steps in a long-range plan now.
The former county administrator even indicated that by the third year it might be possible to begin reducing real estate tax rates.
The finance committee will meet again Thursday as they began weighing revenue options to balance the budget. The School Board will meet with the finance committee to discuss school funding requests.
"It will take approximately three years with significant changes in local tax revenues and assessments to make up for the loss of approximately $3 million of state aid in the various formulas," former County Administrator Dan Sleeper informed supervisors on Thursday.
Sleeper, who began his duties as Pittsylvania County administrator on March 1, will continue to meet with Halifax supervisors through the budget process.
Changes in the composite index - frozen at 23.8 percent in 1995 with South Boston's reversion to town status, but increasing to 38.7 percent this budget year - will result in more than a 10 percent reduction in funds from the state, according to Sleeper.
The composite index's increase will translate into $2.8 million funding loss in Halifax County schools alone for 2000-2001.
Supervisors have about five weeks to draft a budget if they are to advertise for a public hearing by mid-April. The School Board adopts its budget in May.
School Board members surveyed a proposed $43.2 million budget during their work session last month.
Real Estate Tax Hike
Sleeper's recommended county real estate tax hike would take the current 31-cents per $100 assessed value rate to 51 cents per $100 during the second budget year.
Sleeper also recommended tapping over $2 million in unappropriated money to make up the roughly $4 million deficit this year, with roughly $581,000 of unappropriated surplus utilized for the 2002 budget.
Sleeper told the committee members that it was "imperative" that supervisors consider a long-range plan in trying to meet the budget deficits.
He explained that since the county would be using unappropriated money to balance a current budget, the following year it would begin that much in deficit, plus any revenue change or capital outlay cost for that ensuing year.
Sleeper said that the 2002 year budget would be about $2 million- plus out of balance before calculating the expenditures.
Although not shown in the proposed budget, Sleeper also recommended that supervisors consider the removal of the pollution equipment tax exemption for industries during the third budget year in order to bring in significant revenue necessary to offset increased budget costs.
He also recommended that the water and sewer rates of Riverdale, Clover and the Grubby Road project be reviewed and assessed for necessary increased costs to reduce any general fund supplements that might occur.
Reassessment
Also in the year 2002, Sleeper proposed that the Board of Supervisors consider reassessment of the county every two years. He said that the county's new computerized system would mean that the county would not need to hire outside consultants costing $300,000-$400,000 to reassess the county.
He also urged that the board consider the required cost of not keeping the county assessment at full value because of the actuarial reduction each year that public service corporations can utilize.
"On the power plant at Clover alone, this is approximately $175,000 - $200,000 per year lost each year because of its ability to use the actuarial market value as opposed to the current updated reassessed value," Sleeper explained.
Sleeper advised the finance committee that by the end of year 2003, the county will be "fairly stable" and would be able to begin reducing the tax rates that were set the previous two years in order to make up for the deficit in the previous two years.
He said when full payment is made on the power plant, plus the full reassessment, the county would be able to reduce tax rates four to six cents or more, depending on county growth, that had been increased over the two-year period because of the deficits.
"This will place the county in the high forties to fifty-cent range on real estate, making it equivalent to approximately 80 percent of all other counties in Virginia," Sleeper advised.
Personnel
The 2000-2001 budget proposes an increase in salaries for all constitutional officers and their employees of 2.4 percent, effective Dec. 1, 2000. County personnel would receive a 2.5 percent one-step increase, effective July 1, 2000.
Sleeper said that only one new job is being proposed, a new full-time animal warden.
However, he noted that additional debt services for the Continuing Education Center bond issue are included, as is a new solid waste truck and an increase in the capital outlay for the Blue Ridge Regional Jail.
With $2.8 million of reduced school revenue from the state alone, because of the composite index formula change, the schools are asking supervisors for $3.8 million additional local funds for the operation in the year 2001, explained Sleeper.
There are also increases in circuit court, general district court and the juvenile detention court for the same year.
All the factors incorporated into the departmental requests reflect a need well in excess of $4 million of additional revenue to balance the requests, Sleeper told the finance committee.

The fate of the Clarkton Bridge hit a road block in a meeting Monday night.
Board of Supervisors members and personnel from Halifax and Charlotte counties met with VDOT officials to review findings from VDOT's recent inspection of the Clarkton Bridge.

"Money could be spent to rehabilitate the bridge to a three-ton capacity, but the bridge division of VDOT would not recommend to the Commonwealth Transportation Board that vehicles be allowed to use it," said Jerry Lovelace, assistant county administrator.

VDOT personnel, including engineers from Richmond and Lynchburg were also present at the meeting, according to Resident Engineer Joe Barkley II.
A final decison on the future of the span has not been reached. A federal enhancement grant of $160,000 was initially approved for the repair project, but the total estimated repair cost is $203,000.

The bridge spans the Staunton River between Halifax and Charlotte counties on route 620, and is one of the oldest bridges in the area.
"The board of supervisors (of Halifax and Charlotte are) considering the findings from the VDOT inspection, but we're not at a point to make a final decision," Barkley said. "Hopefully, we'll have some final decison in the near future."

Farmers need to "convert or get out of the business."
A proposal is on the table by the Flue-Cured Tobacco Stabilization Corp. not to give price supports for tobacco grown in barns not converted to produce low nitrosamine leaf.
This leaves no options for growers, said Extension Agent Larry McPeters.
They either convert their barns, or find another line of work.
Harsh words from a man who spends all his time helping farmers, but barn conversion is the only option that is available to the growers.
To help producers, McPeters has planned a barn conversion vendor expo this Friday running from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m.
The expo will be held at Victory Warehouse.
"I have rounded up all eight vendors in the country who are offering some kind of barn conversion," he said.
"I get calls every day from farmers wanting to know what to do, which conversion to go with," he added.
This will put them all in one place and give growers a chance to consider all the options before making a decision.
Costs ranged from $2,500 to over $6,000, McPeters said, so there is incentive for the growers to shop around to find which will work best for his particular barn.
And with grant money available to finance the conversions, growers need to be making their decisions today.
The grants won't last forever, McPeters said.
The $3,000 is good up until August 1, after which, the maximum grant per barn drops to $2,600.
McPeters, and other experts, will also be on hand at the expo with more information and the paperwork needed to begin the grant application.
"It's a free-roaming situation," McPeters said. "And all growers need to attend."
"Producers in Brazil and Zimbabwe are already producing low nitrosamine tobacco," McPeters said.
"Manufacturers have already said this is the type of leaf they want to buy. So this is what we need to produce," he added.
Small producers, especially those still using stick barns, need to come to the expo, because unless they are still using a flue-type curing method, their barns will not be certified.
"Some of the best deals for small producers would be to buy a non-converted bulk barn (they can be had for $1,000), apply for the grant and make the conversion," he said.
To pack more bad news on top of conversion details, McPeters said any conversion will make for a less-efficient use of fuel during the curing.
Producers should expect an increase in fuel costs of 25 to 30 percent.
That, combined with the expected increases in fuel prices over the summer, could lead to overall fuel cost increases of over 40 percent, McPeters said.
"We need a good crowd," McPeters urged.
New barns, already converted, cost upwards of $27,000. These conversion methods are significantly cheaper and if growers want to stay in the business, a necessity.

By NANCY ZUCKERBROD
Associated Press Writer
WASHINGTON (AP) - For many years, tobacco farmers depended exclusively on the deep pockets and slick images of tobacco companies to lobby lawmakers.
Not anymore.
Lawsuits over the health dangers of tobacco have created a backlash against smoking in general and tobacco companies in particular. In the process, farmers have become convinced that they should band together and promote themselves. Some have even partnered with health organizations to push for greater tobacco regulation.
''The public image of tobacco is Philip Morris. That's become a problem,'' said Paul Hornback, president of the Lexington, Ky.-based Council for Burley Tobacco, a farmers' group. ''We're going out and doing the lobbying on our own. We feel like to put farmers' faces on an issue lends a lot more credibility.''
More than 200 tobacco farmers visited Capitol Hill two weeks ago to push tax relief and trade policies boosting tobacco exports. A week earlier, a smaller group visited the White House and talked to Clinton administration officials about tobacco.
Rod Kuegel, president of the Kentucky-based Burley Tobacco Growers Cooperative and one of the White House visitors, said farmers used to rely on tobacco companies to set their agendas. ''In most instances, we were so asleep they would call and tell us what our position was,'' he said.
Now his organization spends about $100,000 annually on lobbying and advertising.
''Five years ago, we spent zero,'' Kuegel said. ''We still don't have the money that the tobacco companies have, but we have the cause and the conviction.''
The Washington-based Burley and Dark Leaf Tobacco Association was set up years ago to promote U.S. tobacco around the world but got into the lobbying business only in the last few years, said Brooke Robinson, the organization's lobbyist for the past year.
Robinson, who used to work in the office of Sen. Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., said farmers are paying more attention to politics because they realize their livelihoods are at stake.
There were 317,978 tobacco farms in 16 states in 1994. By 1998, the number had declined nearly 10 percent to 286,525, according to the Agriculture Department.
Those who remain can't grow as much tobacco.
The USDA influences tobacco prices by fixing annual quotas based on purchasing intentions, exports and tobacco stocks. This year the USDA set a limit 45 percent lower than last year.
The farmers say tobacco companies are partly to blame for the cut because they have been doing more business overseas.
Rep. Ernie Fletcher, R-Ky., whose district is full of tobacco farms, said 90 percent of U.S. cigarettes made in the 1960s were from domestic tobacco. Now it's just 60 percent. USDA statistics show burley tobacco imports jumped from 3.3 million pounds in 1969 to 229 million pounds in 1997.
As farmers seek to be heard by politicians in Washington, they also are battling tobacco companies to keep the system by which tobacco is sold. For 50 years, small and large farmers have obtained quota allotments allowing them to sell a certain amount of tobacco through warehouses, which grade the leaf according its quality.
But Philip Morris Cos., the nation's largest tobacco company, recently announced it will try to buy directly from farmers rather than rely solely on the warehouse auction system. Farmers fear small growers will be ignored and go out of business.
''There's a sense they're trying to abandon the federal quota system,'' said Perry Dykes, a farmer and director of the USDA Farm Service Agency for Tennessee's Washington and Unicoi counties. Dykes said the federal program keeps tobacco prices stable and ensures small farmers can compete.
''It would eliminate the small farmer,'' he said of the contracting plan.
Mike Farriss, a Philip Morris vice president, said farmers have nothing to fear. ''We are going to be partnering with both large and small farmers,'' he said.
Still, the unease is a further indication the once rock-solid alliance between farmers and tobacco companies is eroding.
Two years ago, dozens of organizations representing farmers and public health organizations signed a joint statement of principles. They agreed the Food and Drug Administration should regulate tobacco products, and mechanisms should be devised to limit tobacco imports. Tobacco companies oppose those ideas.
Scott Ballin, a consultant to the anti-smoking group Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids, said farmers and tobacco companies once referred to themselves as a ''tobacco family.'' Now, the family has broken up. ''Companies are on the outside,'' he said.

The first of two public hearings in relation to the 2000 Community Development Block Grant Program highlighted South Boston Town Council's March meeting.
Three speakers supported a proposed revitalization of the tobacco warehouse district in South Boston through an application for up to $1 million in construction funds from the block grant program.
Chris Lumsden, Halifax Education Foundation chairman, and Chris Elliott, Community Arts Foundation chairman, both spoke in favor of the plan.
Tom Carlsson, of K.W. Poore & Associates, also supported the proposal, titled the Tobacco Warehouse District Revitalization Project.
Carlsson, who represents the management consultants for the project, indicated that competition for block grant funds is "not particularly strong this year. However, we still need to put our best foot forward," he said.
The proposal will be presented in detail at the next town council meeting, on April 10, in conjunction with a second public hearing.
Council also gave unanimous approval to resolutions honoring three town public servants. Resolutions were presented honoring the memory of former councilman Shanks Wilborn and retiring Board of Zoning Appeals Ronnie Crabtree.
Long-time town employee Gloria Ann Harris was also honored with a resolution of appreciation for 20 years of service with the finance and treasurer's office.
Other items on the agenda included:
· Addition of highway mileage totalling 1.22 lane miles relating to state payments for maintenance of certain streets within the town.
· Adoption of an ordinance amending the town code to identify water sources such as stormwater, roof runoff, and groundwater as substances that cannot be added to the town wastewater collection system and treatment plant.
· Recommendations for four projects to be included in VDOT's six-year transportation plan to include Route 501 and John Randolph bridge upgrades, Hamilton Boulevard extension west and the North Main Street/Route129 upgrade.
These recommendations will be presented at the VDOT public hearings scheduled for March 29 at the Lynchburg VDOT office. The meeting begins at 10:30 a.m.
· A request from Councilman Ed Owen for an investigation into a continuing foul odor in the Woodlawn Parks area of South Boston.
Mayor Glen Abernathy requested that a "smoke test" be conducted to determine the cause of the smell.

A Nathalie man was arrested over the weekend by the the Halifax/South Boston Regional Narcotic Enforcement Task Force for the possession of crack cocaine.
Freddie Patrick, 42, of Beales Lane in the Republican Grove community, was arrested after a quantity of crack cocaine was seized along with smoking devices and drug paraphernalia, according to Major R.S.B. Pulliam.
Pulliam said the arrest of Patrick follows two other drug charges in the past few months.
The investigation is on-going with further arrests of additional suspects anticipated, according to Pulliam.
"The Halifax/South Boston Regional Narcotic Enforcement Task Force would like to thank the concerned citizens of the Republican Grove community for all information received regarding drug activity in their community," said Pulliam.
· Two arrests occurred Monday by sheriff's deputies for assault and battery.
Kenneth Alexander Davis, 33, and Michelle W. Davis, 33, both of Beulah Road in Nathalie, were each charged with assault and battery, which allegedly occurred on Monday, the day of the arrest.
Michelle Davis is scheduled to appear in Halifax County General District Court on March 22.

In other police reports:

Two people were injured as a result of a crash Friday evening on Chestnut Road after their vehicle was forced off the road by an unidentified automobile.
Trooper M.S. Roark Jr. said the injuries to Cecil Blair Fisher, 18, of Nathalie, the driver of a 1995 Jeep, and a passenger, William Thomas Arrington, 20, occurred after the vehicle was forced off of Chestnut Road (Route 628), one half of a mile west of Route 501.
The trooper said Fisher lost control of the vehicle and overturned.
Fisher was treated at Halifax Regional Hospital and released, according to a hospital spokesperson.
Roark estimated $5,000 in damages from the 7 p.m. crash.
No charges were filed.
· A 17-year-old Clover youth was charged with reckless driving Friday afternoon after a crash on Mosely Ferry Road.
Trooper Roark said the youth was driving a 1993 Toyota that ran off the right shoulder of the Mosely Ferry Road (Route 716), six-tenths of a mile north of Route 360, the driver lost control and the vehicle slid into an embankment.
The trooper estimated $3,000 in damages from the 4:05 p.m. incident.
· Saturday night's stormy weather contributed to two separate crashes: A 2000 Dodge pickup, driven by David Allen Comer, 48, of South Boston, crashed into a tree that had fallen on East Hyco Road (Route 744), two-tenths of a mile east of Hunters Lane (Route 852).
Trooper Roark estimated $8,000 in damages and filed no charges in the 7 p.m. crash.
A 1994 Dodge pickup, driven by Steven Whitlow Rogers, 31, of Randolph, struck some trees lying on Route 360, one and one-tenth of a mile west of Scottsburg Road, (Route 344).
Trooper D.T. Conner estimated $3,000 in damages and filed no charges from the 7:15 p.m. incident.

Josephine Powell, age 98, of the Meadville community, died March 12, 2000, at The Woodview.
Miss Powell was born in Halifax County on July 5, 1901, the daughter of William Burton Powell and Elma Carlton Powell. She was a lifetime member of Asbury United Methodist Church and taught in the Halifax County school system for 46 years.
Survivors include one foster son (nephew) Frank Lawson Powell of Farmville, N.C.; a special great niece, Mary Catherine Harrison of Keswick; and 14 nieces and nephews.
Graveside services for Miss Powell were held March 14 at 11 a.m. at Asbury United Methodist Church Cemetery with the Rev. Luther S. Ramsey conducting the service.

James Rudolph Walton, age 80, died March 13,2000, at Walter Reed Medical Center in Washington, D.C.
Mr. Walton was the son of Robert Walton and Mary Liza Walton.
Survivors include one brother, Marion F. Walton; two sisters, Margaret W. Greene and Catherine Walton of Philadelphia, Pa.; and one brother-in-law, Henry Greene.

A funeral service will be held March 16 at 2 p.m. at Arlington Cemetery.

Leonard B. Sweeney Sr., age 65, of Washington, DC, formerly of Halifax County, died in Washington.
Mr. Sweeney was born in Halifax County on August 22, 1934, the son of Paul Sweeney and Maggie Hughes Sweeney and was married to Wanda Fortune Sweeney. He was a member of Caron Baptist Church.
Survivors include his wife; one son, Leonard B. Sweeney Jr.; two sisters, Rev. Handy S. Gary of Halifax and Doris S. Edmonds of Washington; and his mother-in-law.
Funeral services for Mr. Sweeney will be held March 17 at noon at St. Paul CME Church. Burial will follow in the Sweeney Family Cemetery.

The family will receive friends Friday morning from 11:00 until noon at the church.