Cloyd residents have until Feb. 2 to apply for supervisor seat

Redistricting leads to addition of new voting precinct in county;

State analysis of fire, rescue systems sought

By MIKE WILLIAMS

The Patriot

Residents of the Cloyd District will have until Feb. 2 to apply to serve as the new supervisor for the district.

Current supervisor Joe Guthrie has accepted a job in Gov. Glenn Youngkin’s administration as the Commonwealth’s new Commissioner of the Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services.

He will, in the near future, resign his seat on the Board of Supervisors to begin his work in Richmond.

The rest of the board will accept the applications and conduct interviews with the applicants before selecting a new supervisor for the Cloyd District. The procedure will be the same the board followed recently in selecting a Robinson District supervisor following the retirement of Charles Bopp.

The board wants to make their selection in time for the new Cloyd supervisor to be seated for the Feb. 28 regular meeting of the board.

Chairman Laura Walters said those interested in applying for the Cloyd seat should contact Ashley Edmonds, Clerk of the Board at 540-980-7705 or email her at aedmonds@pulaskicounty.org

The deadline to apply is 4 p.m. on Feb. 2.

The person appointed by the board will serve until Nov. 8 when a special election will be held so the residents of the Cloyd District can select a supervisor.

The person elected on Nov. 8 will have one year left to serve before all supervisor seats will be up for election in 2023.

Redistricting

Speaking of elections, the state has completed its redistricting of House of Delegates districts, and the end result will be the creation of an additional precinct in Pulaski County.

In the redistricting process, the current Massie District was split according to the town boundary. This will create a West Massie and an East Massie.

West Massie Precinct will be comprised of Town of Pulaski voters and would be located in the newly created 46th House District. The precinct’s polling place will remain in Central Gym.

East Massie Precinct will be comprised of county voters outside the town limits in the Massie Magisterial District. The precinct will be located in the newly created 42nd House District and will need a new polling location.

County Administrator Jonathan Sweet told supervisors that the most appropriate polling locations inside the precinct are Pulaski Elementary School or Pulaski County Middle School.

Sweet said that Kathy Webb, Director of Elections and General Registrar for the county has estimated the creation of a new precinct will cost approximately $15,000, primarily for voting equipment and the eight employees needed to operate it during elections.

A public hearing on the redistricting proposal will be held at the board’s Feb. 28 meeting.

Fire and Rescue Analysis

The supervisors unanimously approved a resolution calling for the Virginia Fire Services Board to conduct a comprehensive analysis of the county’s fire and rescue system.

According to the resolution, fire and EMS services are among the highest priorities demanded and expected by county citizens every time they call 9-1-1.

The resolution states that over 240 volunteers “give selfishly of their time from 8 fire departments and 1 EMS department located in the county, responding to 8,829 service calls within 2021.”

According to the resolution, the county spends $2,825,000 for normal operating needs and more than $908,000 for fire and rescue capital needs annually.

The resolution states the analysis is needed due to the growing demands and everchanging environment locally, to continue to improve upon and strengthen these vital fire and EMS services.

Sweet told supervisors he believes the third party, comprehensive analysis is long overdue.

“It has been a high-level conversation in the community for some time,” Sweet said, noting the analysis will help local officials better understand what the current and future needs of the county’s fire and rescue services are.

“This is something that next level rural communities understand and plan for,” Sweet continued.

“I think we’re moving in that direction as you see all the investments being made in infrastructure and residential development, education, quality of life, broadband, etc. It warrants finally conducting such an analysis.”

Sweet said some departments within the county have been calling for such an analysis for some time.

“What they said was, by way of warning, that we are tired. We are fatigued. We cannot find volunteers. There is no one to replace us,” Sweet said.

“We need to acknowledge their concerns, and this is in response to their concerns.”

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