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Powhatan, Virginia
The hometown paper of Chip Stettler
Vol. XXVII No. 41
October 15, 2014
Beasley resigns as Commonwealth’s Attorney By Laura McFarland News Editor
P
owhatan County Commonwealth’s Attorney Bob Beasley made official last week his plans to resign his position to become a General District Court Judge in the 11th Judicial District. Beasley of Powhatan announced on Thursday, Oct. 9 that he would resign from the position he has held since 2000,
effective Dec. 1. His judgeship was approved by the General Assembly on Thursday, Sept. 18. His sixyear term as a judge begins Dec. 1, meaning he will leave the Commonwealth’s Attorney position one month shy of his 15th anniversary in the office. In a resignation letter Beasley sent to Powhatan County Board of Supervisors chairman Carson Tucker, Beasley expressed his appreciation for his time as Commonwealth’s At-
BEASLEY
torney and the relationships he built during those years. Beasley said his goal when he first took the position was to provide experienced and professional legal representation to Powhatan citizens in criminal matters, and he thinks he and his staff achieved that goal. “Every day of my tenure, we have sought justice and worked to help ensure the safety of the citizens of this community,” he said. “I am proud
of my office and the work we have done, and I believe our community is safer as a result of our efforts.” Some of his office’s achievements in addition to the traditional function of prosecuting criminal cases were outlined in Beasley’s resignation letter. Beasley’s office was “instrumental in establishing the Powhatan TRIAD chapter,” which it did by working with see BEASLEYpage 4A
Future capital improvements set School facilities tour By Laura McFarland News Editor
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owhatan County has a good idea of what its capital improvements for the next two years will be, but beyond that, too many questions are still up in the air, according to county administrator Pat Weiler. Weiler presented a “fiscally restrained” version of the Fiscal Year 2015 Five-Year Capital Improvement Program to the Powhatan County Board of Supervisors at its meeting on Monday, Oct. 6. The board voted unanimously to approve it. She stressed both at the meeting
and a workshop on Tuesday, Sept. 30, at which she first presented the new version of the Capital Improvement Program (CIP), that it does not bind the board or county to any action. “The CIP is only a plan and as such it is not the board of supervisors’ approval on any particular project nor is it a budget or appropriation of any funds for any project,” she said. The CIP was deemed by the Powhatan County Planning Commission to be in compliance with the county’s Comprehensive Plan on March 4, Weiler said. However, when the supervisors held two workshops on the subject on March 24 and April 2,
they requested she fiscally restrain the plan to the funds available. The new plan adheres to that directive in the fiscal years of 2015 and 2016, but not in the three years that follow, Weiler said. There are still projected figures, but there also are several variables that could drastically change the CIP in those years. Those unknowns are a utilities master plan, a facilities study of the school system, and the results of a $90,000 study in fiscal year 2015 about a proposed $7 million radio system that will be built in fiscal year 2017, she said. see FUTURE page 5A
Local officials look at building conditions See story on page 7
Program aims to bring lost citizens home safe By Laura McFarland News Editor
C PHOTO BY LAURA MCFARLAND
Powhatan County Board of Supervisors chairman Carson Tucker, left, and county administrator Pat Weiler, right, honored Mark Piper, facilities manager, as the 2014 County Employee of the Year.
Powhatan County recognizes 2014 Employee of the Year By Laura McFarland News Editor
W
hile he was surprised and honored to be named the 2014 County Employee of the Year, Mark Piper said it takes a team effort in Powhatan County’s Department of Public Works to get everything done. Piper, the department’s facilities manager, has been with the county since 2004 and said his favorite part of his job is the diversity of the tasks he tackles, ranging from buildings and grounds to capital improvement projects. “It is always something new. It is not repetitive,” he said. “We always have a
new challenge or something to work on.” Piper was announced as the Employee of the Year at the Powhatan County Board of Supervisors meeting held on Monday, Oct. 6. He was chosen from 165 eligible employees. County administrator Pat Weiler introduced Piper and four other employees nominated for the award by their coworkers. The Employee of the Year is a recognition given to the Powhatan County employee who in the past year best exemplified and demonstrated the values and qualities that are the hallmark of see COUNTY page 2A
indy and Chris Dalton of Powhatan had a problem. Their oldest son, Jacob, has both autism and Down Syndrome, and part of those conditions means he likes to wander off. In one instance, he wandered into the woods and was found more than a mile away from their home sitting in the middle of the road. In another, the family was in Virginia Beach for one of his Little League games and he got away and made his way onto an elevator at the large hotel where they were staying. No matter how vigilant they were, there was always that possibility that he could wander off and that the situation wouldn’t have a happy ending. That fear has been alleviated in recent years by enrolling Jacob, now 18, in the Project Lifesaver program, a radio frequency locator service offered for free to residents by the Powhatan
PHOTOS BY LAURA MCFARLAND
Powhatan County Sheriff’s Office master deputy Brad Luxford checks a Project Lifesaver tracking device worn by Jacob Dalton of Powhatan. Inset: This Project Lifesaver tracking device is worn by clients who have conditions such as dementia, Alzheimer’s disease, autism, and Down Syndrome and tend to wander off to help searchers find them quickly.
County Sheriff’s Office, Chris Dalton said. “We have been on the end of having to look for him without it and I don’t want to have to ever do that again,” he said. Project Lifesaver involves a small tracker that can be used in the search for wandering, lost
clients who have conditions such as dementia, Alzheimer’s disease, autism, and Down Syndrome, Brad Luxford, master deputy and program coordinator, said. The tracking device is on a band that can be see PROJECT page 2A
Inside
Sports
Index
A9 4-H’ers honor their history while working toward future
B1 Powhatan native Jay Woodson wins big at Big Break Invitational
Calendar A7 Classified B6-7 Crime Report A4 Obituaries A7 Opinion A8 TV Listings B8-9