The boards from three North Carolina jurisdictions inked a
deal Tuesday night to set up a regional water authority that will
seek to draw up to 25 million gallons of water per day from the
Dan River.
The action came as the governing bodies of the City of Roxboro,
Person County and the Town of Yanceyville met Tuesday night in
Yanceyville,, according to reports in the Roxboro Courier-Times.
The agreement, passed unanimously by Yanceyville and Roxboro and
on a 4-1 vote by Person County, effectively outlines the plans
for water to be pulled from the Dan River at Milton and distributed
to Yanceyville, Roxboro and Person county.
The interlocal agreement is set to last 40 years.
But the immediate effect of the agreement is to nail down the
governing bodies who will seek a permit from the North Carolina
Environmental Management Commission (EMC) in June to extract raw
water from the river.
The EMC, a 19-member panel, must approve all water withdrawal
permits.
If the permit is approved for 25 MGD, Yanceyville will get 7 MGD
and Roxboro/Person County will split the other 18 MGD.
However, if the permit is approved for less, the jurisdictions
will be prorated, according to a spokesman for the Courier-Times.
Reached yesterday, Assistant County Administrator Jerry Lovelace
said he didn't have enough details about the deal to address its
impact on Halifax County.
"I can't tell what the implications will be without seeing
the specific paperwork," Lovelace said. "But in general,
we are sill concerned about the volume they are seeking to draw
from the river."
Lovelace said county administrators haven't yet seen justification
for the amount of water North Carolina officials are seeking.
"The county hasn't taken a position either supporting or
opposed to the proposal, but the implications are significant,"
he said. "We need to see some justification for that kind
of volume.
"I'm much more concerned with the precedent this proposal
is setting than I am with this individual project," Lovelace
pointed out.
He said the county was considering setting up a joint meeting
with local officials, representatives from the three North Carolina
jurisdictions, Pittsylvania County and Danville "to obtain
the facts so that we can better determine the implications for
our area."
But South Boston Town Manager Ted Daniels said that he didn't
foresee any problems if the permit was approved for the entire
25 MGD.
"Based on mean flow figures, they could pull that entire
amount from the river in 14 minutes," he said. "At the
historic minimum flow, South Boston's draw from the river amounts
to .0018 percent of the water that's coming by.
Daniel said if the proposed draw was perceived to be a problem
by the Department of Environmental Quality, the town would have
been alerted.
"We haven't heard anything out of the state," he said.
"No one has alerted us to any potential problems impacting
our water withdrawals."
Daniel said the town's current and future pulls from the Dan seemed
assured.
"We're one locality," he said. "Until something
comes from the state, I don't see any problem."
The agreement calls for Yanceyville to acquire and hold title
to a facility to pull water, reportedly near Milton. The proposal
calls for the facility to be located on a 15-acre site along the
river. They would include a raw water intake and pumps, a pre-treatment
facility and a pumping station.
In the agreement, Roxboro would construct, operate and maintain
control of the pumping station.
If permitted, high-capacity water lines will transfer the water
from the pumping station to Person County, Yanceyville and Roxboro.
O'Sullivan Industries cut its third shift operations in South
Boston yesterday, laying off approximately 95 salaried and hourly
employees.
The furniture manufacturer will continue to operate its normal
schedules for first and second shifts, plant officials said
Thursday.
O'Sullivan currently has about 500 employees at its South Boston
plant, General Manager Don Blevins said yesterday.
"We hope this is temporary," Blevins said of the layoffs.
"The economy has not been good and furniture is one of the
first things people stopped buying."
O'Sullivan officials cited "the continued economic downturn"
in announcing the layoffs.
"In the past few months sales of O'Sullivan Furniture's residential
and office furniture have been hurt by declining consumer confidence
due to the uncertainty surrounding the U.S. economy and tensions
in the Middle East and Asia," Blevins said in a press release
issued Thursday afternoon.
The general manager said that ceasing third shift operations in
South Boston " was undertaken to align O'Sullivan Furniture's
corporate production levels with the realities of the current
economy.
"We had hoped market conditions would have improved by now
so this decision would not have to be made," he added.
"When many of the economic and international issues that
are affecting our country today are behind us, this decision will
be reconsidered. However, until that time O'Sullivan Furniture
will continue to operate in a conservative mode and wait for our
country's economy to recover and sales of our products to return
to more historic levels."
O'Sullivan Industries' South Boston plant is located in the Halifax
County Industrial Park.
A resident of the Lakewood Mobile Home Park has been arrested
and charged with two counts of attempted murder and arson following
a Tuesday night altercation at the mobile home park, according
to sheriff's department officials.
Edward Andre Hunt, 32, was arrested by members of the Halifax
County Sheriff's Office after deputies responded to a report of
a structure fire and found the front door and porch to the home
of Beatrice Price had been burned.
Fire department officials were on the scene and the fire had been
quelled when deputies arrived, according to Capt. Larry Fears.
No one was injured in the melee, according to reports.
The captain said investigators quickly determined the fire was
intentionally set.
"Information at the scene revealed the fire was intentionally
started following an argument at the Price movile home,"
Fears said.
Hunt, who lists his address as the Lakewood Mobile Home Park,
was charged with two counts of attempted murder, threatening to
burn down the home of Corey Crawley and burning an occupied home
belonging to Beatrice Price.
He is being held in the Halifax Regional Jail, and was arraigned
on the charges Wednesday in Halifax County Juvenile and Domestic
Relations Court.
Cpl. Keith Redd of the sheriff's office is the investigating officer.
The Tobacco Commission's new Grants Program
administrator for Southside will have a field office in South
Boston.
The Virginia Tobacco Indemnification and Community Revitalization
Commission announced Britt E. Nelson's appointment this week.
"That's good news," said Halifax County Administrator
Joe Morgan yesterday.
"I agree with the Governor, now that it is confirmed over
$600 million is available, there is a need for staff members to
manage a valuable asset," he said of the recent sale of tobacco
funds.
A native of Southside Virginia, she is described by Commission
officials as bringing with her "a first hand understanding
of the challenges and opportunities within the region and a background
in working for the communities."
Nelson is a primary Commission contact for the Southside region,
providing technical support as well as assistance with developing
projects and completing proposals, according to a Commission spokesman.
She will be available to assist communities and organizations
with information on potential Commission resources as well as
other funding sources.
Nelson will monitor the grants awarded within the Southside region
for compliance with Commission guidelines.
All grant reports and reimbursement request should be submitted
for her review.
She, along with the Southwest Grant Administrator, Jerry Fouse,
will also participate in the review of applications and development
of funding recommendations to the Commission.
Nelson joins the Commission after working with the City of Charlottesville
Office of Facilities Management, assisting with its administrative
and fiscal functions as well as managing grant-funded capital
projects.
Prior to her time in Charlottesville, she served as a Community
Development Planner for the Piedmont Planning District Commission,
where she served the seven county region in preparing proposals
and administering grant funded projects.
Until the Commission sets up the field office in South Boston,
call the Commission's Richmond office at 1-877-807-1086.
Cabell Solomon Murray, 88, of South Boston, formerly of Virgilina,
died March 25 at Halifax Regional Hospital.
Mr. Murray was born in Virgilina on December 8, 1914, the son
of Cabell Flournoy Murray and Emily Belle Tuck Murray and was
married to Mary Ellen Clark Murray. He was a member of Olive Branch
Baptist Church in Person County, NC.
Survivors include his wife of South Boston; one daughter, Mildred
M. Torian of Collinsville; two sons, Cecil Murray of Danville
and Garland Murray of Chesterfield; six grandchildren, Sam Torian
IV of Berryville, Sarah Torian of Atlanta, GA, Steve Murray of
Mt. Laurel, Ben Murray of San Francisco, CA, John Murray and Anne
Murray, both of Chesterfield; four great-grandchildren; one sister,
Ada Shotwell of Virgilina; and one brother, Fraser Murray of Virgilina.
Mr. Murray was preceded in death by one son, Glenn Murray.
Services will be held tomorrow, March 29, at 2 p.m. at Olive Branch
Baptist Church with the Rev. Victor Blackwell officiating. Burial
will follow in the church cemetery.
The family will receive friends at Powell Funeral Home this evening,
March 28, from 7:00 until 8:30.
Dorothy Anne Vaughan Peregoy, 56, of 2204 Jones Ferry Road, South
Boston, died March 27 at the V.A. Hospital in Richmond.
Mrs. Peregoy was born in Mecklenburg County on October 4, 1946,
the daughter of Joseph Lewis Vaughan Sr. and Mary Elliott Vaughan,
and was married to James Peregoy. She was a retired LPN with The
Woodview.
Funeral services will be held tomorrow, March 29 at 11 a.m. at
Brooks Funeral Home Chapel. Burial will follow in Hebron United
Church of Christ Cemetery.
Survivors of Mrs. Peregoy include her husband; her father of Nelson;
three brothers, Joseph L. Vaughan Jr. and his wife, Sue, John
Patrick Vaughan and wife, Lisa, all of Nelson, and James A. Vaughan
and wife, Libby, of Cluster Springs; one sister, Judy Bigger and
her husband, Alfred of Chase City. She was preceded in death by
her mother, and one sister, Sara Lucille Vaughan.
The family will receive friends this evening, March 28, from 7:00
until 8:30 at Brooks Funeral Home, and other times at the home.
Those wishing to give memorials are asked to consider the American
Diabetes Association, PO Box 2680, North Canton, Ohio 44720.
Emma Banks Williams, 88, of Halifax, died March 26 at Berry Hill
Nursing Home.
Mrs. Williams was born in Halifax County on August 30, 1914, the
daughter of Paul and Hallie Long Banks, and was married to Naman
Williams.
Survivors include nieces and nephews.
Funeral services for Mrs. Williams will be held tomorrow, March
29 at 1 p.m. at Dunn & Sons Funeral Home Chapel in Halifax
with the Rev. R.S. Wimbish officiating. Burial will follow in
New Zion Baptist Church Cemetery.