Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: THURSDAY, March 25, 1993 TAG: 9303250202
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: C3 EDITION: STATE
SOURCE: PAUL DELLINGER SOUTHWEST BUREAU
DATELINE: WYTHEVILLE LENGTH: Medium
WYTHE OKS FUNDING INCREASE
The Wythe County Board of Supervisors has informally agreed to increase its financial support for the Mount Rogers Planning District Commission from 49 to 52 cents per county resident.That will amount to $523 more in the 1993-94 fiscal year for Wythe. The other counties and cities served by the commission are being asked to raise their support by the same figure, based on population.
The Wythe supervisors met Tuesday night with Tom Taylor, the commission's executive director, and asked whether the commission's services would be as good as they were before the resignations since December of five of its employees.
"Better," said Taylor. Most of those who have left, he said, have been replaced with more experienced employees.
Tom Cassell, Wythe's representative on the commission's executive committee, said he made the motion for increasing local assessments because there is less money on hand each month for paying bills.
He said the commission has not been billing localities when there have been cost overruns in administering their grants, which has gradually reduced the money available. The committee decided on the increase in January.
"I made this proposal and the executive committee adopted it before we had the staffing problems," Cassell said. "It looks like the only solution is a little more local funding to provide a buffer."
The supervisors seemed to feel they had no choice but to accept the increase in the 1993-94 budget, because the commission staff provides services that would otherwise not be available to the county.
In other business, the supervisors:
Agreed to have County Administrator Billy Branson meet with representatives of the Wythe Humane Society to settle a few points in the proposed contract for having the society operate the county's animal shelter.
The society pays for half the cost of spaying or neutering the animals it places or, when owners fall below certain income levels, pay the total cost. Its members also hope to extend the hours that the animal shelter is open to the public, and free the county dog warden to concentrate on calls about strays.
Agreed to Supervisor Jack Crosswell's suggestion for a committee to receive all questions and concerns raised by residents of the Fort Chiswell and Max Meadows area slated for a waste-water system. Most of the committee would be composed of residents from that area.
Passed a motion by Crosswell to stop book-ordering this fiscal year for the county law library, effective April 1. The board found itself owing more than $4,000 for library materials.
Met for more than an hour in a closed session requested by Supervisor Mark Munsey to discuss a legal matter. No action followed. The board will hold a budget workshop starting at 6 p.m. Tuesday.