Inside A10 Blessed Sacrament Huguenot Catholic School Honor Roll
Powhatan, Virginia
B1 Powhatan JV football wins title 28-8
Vol. XXIX No. 45
November 16, 2016
Results show 81 Powhatan exercises its right to vote percent turnout By Laura McFarland News Editor
PHOTOS BY LAURA MCFARLAND
Above left, Katherine Bredemeier, 89, and her son, Doug Bredemeier Sr. vote on Election Day; above right, Jeff Moore holds his granddaughter, Irie Powell, while he votes; bottom right, Ryan Noe, from left, Austin Crotts, and Logan Noe, show off their voting stickers, and bottom left, after a brief lull, Precinct 201 fills up with voters again. SEE STORY PAGE 6A.
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Founders Bridge residents reject county’s water system proposal
POWHATAN – With 81.4 percent of Powhatan County’s registered voters casting ballots for the 2016 General Election, voter turnout was strong but still down from recent presidential election years, the county’s election official said last week. On Tuesday, Nov. 8, 17,039 out of Powhatan’s 20,944 registered voters cast ballots in the election or 81.4 percent, said Karen Alexander, director of elections. “That surprised me. I thought we were going to have a bigger turnout. I was expecting an 85 percent turnout,” Alexander said.
It was a good turnout, but the percentage was slightly down from 2012, when 15,616 out of 19,112 registered voters, or 81.7 percent, cast ballots, she said. The largest voter turnout percentage for the county in recent history was the 2008 presidential election, when 14,653 out of 17,753 registered voters, or 82.5 percent, voted. Alexander said before the election that many of the people who were voting absentee expressed that they considered not voting because they didn’t feel good about their options for president. In regard to the total Election Day turnout, that might have been an see ELECTION page 6A
PHOTO BY LAURA MCFARLAND
More than Founders Bridge residents show up to let the county know they don’t want it to buy their utilities infrastructure and put in a new well system.
By Laura McFarland News Editor
POWHATAN – Residents of the Founders Bridge area of Powhatan showed up en masse to a citizens meeting last week to demonstrate their resistance to a proposal for the county to acquire water and wastewater infrastructure in their area. During a citizens meeting held on Thursday, Nov. 10, county administrator Pat Weiler had barely started her presentation on the proposal to acquire infrastructure from the Founders Bridge Utility Company when the anger and indignation many residents felt began to boil over. The Village Building auditorium was packed with more than 150 people, many of whom expressed frustration
with not being told about the possible acquisition; questioned the county’s motivation in the proposal; protested over the possibility of some of them being switched to a well system instead of treated water from Chesterfield County; cast doubts on the quality of well water, and rejected the idea of a rate increase. While the county would acquire the infrastructure (water and sewer pipes in the ground) at no cost, it would take an estimated $795,000 to add wells, a new pump station and water treatment, she said. In the more than two and a half hour meeting that followed, residents remained orderly but rarely wavered from their mission of either halting the acquisition altogether or postponing any decisions on it until more research could be done. Resident requests ranged from asking for a minimum of 90 days
to six months before any major vote was taken on the issue. Weiler had intended to bring a resolution regarding the acquisition before the Powhatan County Board of Supervisors at its meeting on Oct. 24. However, strong resident reaction leading up to and at that October meeting led the board members to defer their discussions until their meeting on Nov. 28 and schedule the citizens meeting on Nov. 10 to hear and address residents’ concerns. Three board of supervisors members were present at the meeting, but because they sat separately, the proceedings did not become an official meeting. Those present were chairman Bill Melton, who represents District 4; David Williams, District 1, and Carson see CITIZENS page 2A
V E T E R A N S D AY 2016
PHOTO BY LAURA MCFARLAND
Left, Dr. Don Marsh, is the keynote speaker at the American Legion Post #201’s Veterans Day ceremony on Nov. 11; center, veterans who attend a Veterans Day ceremony put on by the Powhatan High School JROTC on Nov. 10 are thanked by the student body after the presentation, and, right, students at Powhatan Elementary School participate in a Veterans Day ceremony featuring music and spoken word performances by first- and fourth-graders. SEE STORY PAGE 3.