03/11/2015 King George VA Journal

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W&L Spring Sports

Virginia Viewpoints

teams struggle with the weather. Page 8

Disappointment with the General assembly session. Page 2

T he

home Show Photos of the 26th Annual Home & Craft Show. Page 4 POSTAL CUSTOMER

King George

Wednesday, March 11, 2015 50 Cents

Volume 39, Number 11

helping you relate to your community

Wireless Authority update:

A good antidote to cabin fever

King George to settle with bankrupt broadband company

The Home & Craft Show brings warmer temps

Phyllis Cook The King George Wireless Authority attempted to bring affordable wireless Internet service throughout the county, including less dense areas without access. The effort failed, despite it being conducted strictly under state law and backed by county cash. Last week, the King George Wireless Authority authorized a mutual release and settlement agreement with Virginia Broadband LLC, in accordance with the terms of a plan devised for the company by the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Western District of Virginia. The March 3 vote was taken following a closed session and without comment from authority members. “Virginia Broadband’s plan resulted in all their creditors receiving payments that were muchreduced from the original value of the claims submitted, including the King George County Wireless Authority. While frustrating, that is often the result, and indeed the purpose of bankruptcy,” said King George County Attorney Eric Gregory. “A mutual dismissal of this litigation will avoid additional attorneys’ fees and costs for the wireless authority, which is a positive benefit.” The company has agreed to dismiss counterclaims it filed in response to litigation initiated by the wireless authority and the county for breach of contract in

the King George circuit court back in December 2011. That filing also asked to recoup the money it lent the company with interest due. This means the county authority will end its unsatisfactory relationship with Virginia Broadband and not get back the bulk of the $713,000 it lent to the See Wireless, page 5 King George County and the George Washington Regional Commission are promoting an Internet speed mapping application to assist in determining the current state of service in this region. Virginia Tech’s Accelerate Virginia is a new broadband mapping project that seeks to expand high-speed Internet access across the state. The input will help to verify the state broadband map and identify areas in need of affordable broadband infrastructure investment. Perform the test by visiting http://acceleratevirginia. org/speedtest and your results will be provided to you. They also will be compared with other tests and mapped for determining hispeed availability and requirements in the area.

Richard Leggitt The 26th Annual King George Home and Craft Show drew large crowds this past weekend and allowed area residents and visitors and opportunity to escape the snow of the last four weeks and celebrate their community. “We’re getting people out,” said Tommy Burrell, the owner of Thomas M. Burrell Inc., and one of the founders of the show, which began in 1989. “We’ve got the community involved and over 100 vendors.” The show, which is sponsored by the King George Builders Association and The Journal, was at King George High School and the aisles were filled with people talking to builders, Realtors and dozens of popular business and craft exhibits. About 2,200 people attended the two-day event, organizers said. “It was good seeing so many people,” said Melissa Kowall, who was manning the Peoples Community Bank exhibit. “It helped people deal with their spring fever.” Dave Weston of Weston Homes said business at his booth was good as well. “We had a number of serious buyers and a lot of potential future business.” The first home show was in the old King George Firehouse and drew a dozen vendors and a crowd of a few hundred. “When we first started, if was mostly real estate companies, agents and contractors,” Burrell said. “Then we started doing crafts and having things for more people to do. It just kept getting bigger and bigger.” “We are seeing a lot of new faces this year,” said Ruby Brabo, the Dahlgren supervisor on the King See show, page 5

Jessica Herrink

The King George Home & Craft Show is more than a trade show - it is place to visit with friends and make connections. Here, King George Sheriff Steve Dempsey visited with Christopher Bryant and Yolanda Gonzalez, representing the Chamber of Commerce. And Elvis was at the show - Elvis the therapy dog was at the show.

Dahlgren base land use study approved in King George Phyllis Cook A joint land use study for the Naval Support Facility Dahlgren, underway since September 2013, was approved March 3 by the King George Board of Supervisors. In addition to King George, the other localities involved in the study with the Dahlgren base are Westmoreland County and the town of Colonial Beach, as well as Charles and St. Mary’s counties in Maryland. The report still needs approval by those localities, with Jack Green, King George’s director of community development, saying he expected them to review and approve it later this month or in April. At last week’s board meeting, Green introduced Patrick Small with Matrix Design Group to provide a brief overview of the 106-page report and talk about the process and what’s next.

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“It was a community-driven collaborative process intended to be proactive to address compatibility issues between a military installation and the surrounding communities,” Small said. “The report is really a set of recommendations, and there were a lot of them for this particular report.” Small said 35 issues across 25 compatibility factors were identified, with the main factors being communication and coordination, frequency spectrum, land and air space competition, land use, legislative initiative, noise and safety zones. Small said King George need not See JLUS, page 5


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