Inside A3 Local artists featured in art show this weekend
Powhatan, Virginia B1 Powhatan edges Orange 15-13
Vol. XXIX No. 39
September 28, 2016
Grant to help retain, attract firefighters By Laura McFarland News Editor
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OWHATAN – The Powhatan County Fire and Rescue Department recently learned that it had received a major windfall in its efforts to attract and keep volunteer firefighters when it received a grant worth more than $500,000 for that purpose. The department previously applied for two Federal Emergency Management Association (FEMA) fiscal year
2015 Staffing for Adequate Fire and Emergency Response (SAFER) grants. Fire and Rescue Chief Steven Singer said the county learned this month that it would receive a grant for $533,368 for volunteer recruitment and retention through the Department of Homeland Security. The award is not a matching grant, so it requires no local funding. “With volunteer fire and rescue services, it is challenging to effectively attract the essential number of volunteers to meet our current service demands. This SAFER grant will have a
Board, Ware talk realistic goals
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direct impact on our recruiting efforts, including a fully funded part-time position to oversee the program,” Singer said. “The grant also provides funding to assist with retention of our existing members. Combined, both of these angles will allow us to continue to grow and support the best volunteer based Fire and Rescue Department in the state.” He said the county still has not heard if it has been awarded a SAFER grant to fund the hiring of paid daytime firefighters to ensure good cover-
age of the county when volunteer numbers are typically low. Powhatan County Board of Supervisors chairman Bill Melton, who represents District 4, offered his congratulations to Singer and his staff on applying for and receiving the recruitment and retention SAFER grant. “Many Virginia localities are facing the same challenges as Powhatan in addressing community needs, especially in the firefighting arena. I apsee GRANT page 5A
Remembering Robbie Green By Laura McFarland
By Laura McFarland News Editor
News Editor
POWHATAN – The Powhatan County Board of Supervisors and Del. Lee Ware, R-65, had a frank discussion last week about the state of Virginia and how the priorities of the local leaders can fit into the larger picture. Ware met with the supervisors on Monday, Sept. 19 to discuss the board’s legislative agenda, which is the list of possible legislation it has requested be considered for the 2017 General Assembly. The six elected officials had an hour-long discussion about the topics, how they play into the broader picture of what is happening in Virginia, and how realistic it is that any of them may come to fruition. Ware prefaced the discussion by addressing the potential $1.5 billion budget shortfall the commonwealth faces in the next two years. He pointed out that the state’s expected revenue growth was originally projected at 3.2 percent, which is what the budget was based on, but that it has been lowered to 1.7 percent, which is a difference of $654.4 million. “I would say the overarching reality that we are dealing with is probably something that is pretty widespread, and that is the fact that our private economy is sluggish,” Ware said. This prompted some supervisors to address one of their major concerns, which is that funding to localities
OWHATAN – Several times throughout the day on Sept. 20, many of the people who loved and respected the late Deputy Robert “Robbie” E. Green said it was hard to believe he had really been gone 10 years. Green, the only Powhatan County Sheriff’s Office deputy to be lost in the line of duty, died at age 33 on Sept. 20, 2006, when his patrol car crashed on Red Lane Road as he and other officers were responding to offer assistance in a vehicle pursuit. But while there were definitely moments of sadness and reflecting on what might have been, those who gathered throughout the day at Independence Golf Course for an event designed to honor Green and show appreciation to current law enforcement chose to focus on the positives of the man he was and the good times they had with him. Deputy Wayne Morris recalled Green’s deep voice and the way his positive outlook was always so infectious. “If you were in a bad mood and you were around him for any time, he would cheer you up. He would make you laugh, he would do some-
Prsrt. Standard U.S. POSTAGE PAID Powhatan, VA Permit No.19
see LEGALATIVE page 4A
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CONTRIBUTED PHOTO
The late Deputy Robert “Robbie” Green was honored on Tuesday, Sept. 20, the 10th anniversary of his death in the line of duty.
see GREEN page 6A
Committee learns better broadband access is in sight By Laura McFarland POWHATAN – Getting more of Powhatan County connected to reliable, affordable wireless broadband connections might be closer than many people think. The county recently announced a new private partnership with SCS Broadband, an Internet provider that is going to be designing a wireless broadband system for Powhatan. Lon Whelchel, CEO of SCS Broadband, spoke to the Broadband Citizen Advisory Committee at its meeting on Wednesday, Sept. 21 to start answering some preliminary questions about what building a system involves and how soon residents will start benefiting from it. While having full countywide coverage will take time to achieve, Whelchel said the first residents taking advantage of the newly designed system and using existing towers in the county could be connected in early 2017. With a typical system design taking
PHOTO BY LAURA MCFARLAND
Lon Whelchel, center, CEO of SCS Broadband, speaks to the Broadband Citizen Advisory Committee on Sept. 21 to start answering preliminary questions about what building a broadband system in Powhatan will involve.
about 60 days, he said he hopes he will have better answers soon for when residents in different parts of the county could potentially see themselves getting coverage. “It is not an easy rule of thumb. I am trying to be honest about that. Not everybody is going to get coverage from day one. And it may require a build here and
“You have better things to do”
then another build later to backfill the gaps,” he said. Whelchel will present the proposed design of a wireless broadband system to the committee at its meeting at 6 p.m. on Tuesday, Nov. 29 in the Huguenot Public Safety Building, 1959 Urbine Road. The presee BROADBAND page 2A
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