Inside A3 Freedom Flag Festival honors fallen
Powhatan, Virginia B1 Powhatan runners take on Pole Green 5k races
Vol. XXXIV No. o. 12
September 23, 2020
Supervisors approve broadband projects By Laura McFarland Editor
P
OWHATAN – Powhatan County is getting into the business of broadband – at least for the next few months. The Powhatan County Board of Supervisors recently authorized county administrator Ned Smither to execute a contract with Hosted Backbone LLC for broadband installation in four population dense parts of the county that are currently underserved with internet services. The board voted 3-1 to approve this motion at the end of its Sept. 10 meeting. Bill Cox, District 4, voted against it, and
Larry Nordvig, District 2, was not at the meeting. Cox, the only board member to comment, said he has no problem authorizing CARES Act funds for broadband, but he does have “serious concerns about the individual company that we are executing the contract with, so this is not something I am going to be able to support.” The agreement, which was subsequently signed on Sept. 12, authorizes the company to lay fiber in certain small areas of Districts 2, 3, and 5 with concentrated areas of homes, Smither said. CARES Act funds, which are federal emergency relief funds with numerous restric-
tions on how they can be spent, must be used by Dec. 30, 2020, to pay expenses directly related to the coronavirus crisis or returned. The county has received $5.17 million in CARES Act funds to be used in its efforts related to COVID-19, Smither said. At meetings in the last few weeks, the supervisors have discussed using a portion of the money that has not already been assigned to another purpose for targeted broadband projects. Under the current agreement, as much as $642,000 of that CARES Act allocation may be used for the broadband project. At the same meeting, the board voted 4-0 in favor of approving $30,000 in county
funds that, when added to $130,000 in additional CARES Act funding, will pay for the expansion of the county’s fiber network footprint to provide new public Wi-Fi coverage areas at Fire Company 1 and Fighting Creek Park, which is an active location. The project will also improve public safety communications by making the county network available at that facility.
Hosted Backbone The need to provide broadband services has grown exponentially since March 2020 as families need the internet for essential tasks such as homebased education, work, and
telemedicine, Smither said. The county chose four underserved areas that were near areas that have been connected and can hopefully be served within the four-month window Powhatan has to use the CARES Act funds or return them, Smither said. In total, the mapped out area the county selected could serve 283 homes, Smither said. This area includes 143 students who could be impacted, and about 26 percent of them have special needs. “We wanted to try to get as many families as we could with broadband services but these particular clusters of homes were the only ones we could resee BROADBAND, pg. 9
FFA chapter wins National Gold 3-Star Award By Laura McFarland Editor
PHOTO BY LAURA McFARLAND
Frank Joerg, left, and his wife Stuart were the first in line to vote early on Sept. 18.
CONTRIBUTED PHOTO
During National FFA Week in February 2020, the Powhatan Senior Officer team was visited by the Virginia FFA Officer Team as part of their activities for the week.
their information sent to the national level, where they are given a 1, 2 or 3-star rating.
The rating is an assessment of how the chapters improve chapter operations using the Na-
tional Quality Chapter Standards (NQCS) and a Program of Activities see FFA, pg. 6
181 residents cast ballots on first day of early voting By Laura McFarland Editor
POWHATAN – Powhatan County saw a suc-
cessful first day of early voting on Friday, Sept. 18 with 181 people casting their votes in the 2020 see VOTING, pg. 8
DELIVER TO: Postal Patron Powhatan, VA 23139
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POWHATAN – The Powhatan Senior FFA chapter recently learned that it has earned the National Gold 3-Star Award in recognition of the way it has implemented the mission and strategies of the FFA organization. The win was an emotional victory for the Powhatan High School students who participate in the FFA chapter, especially since they have been unable to meet in months because of COVID-19 restrictions, advisor Christ Whitlow said. Every year in Virginia, the top 10 percent of FFA chapters in the state are recognized and have
Relay for Life finishes season with luminaria ceremony By Laura McFarland Editor
CHESTERFIELD – The luminaria ceremony that honors those who have gone through the fight against cancer is often one of the most emotional parts of the Powhatan Relay for Life ceremony. That tradition of honoring both survivors and those who lost their battle with cancer was the main focus of the night when the Powhatan and Chesterfield Relay for Life communities combined their efforts on Friday, Sept. 18 at Westchester Commons. This past weekend, communities across the state celebrated the end of the current Relay for Life season with an event called “Virginia Unites Let’s Shine On –
Drive-Through Luminaria Tribute.” Participating communities chose locations where they could put out luminaria bags people have purchased so others can either drive or walk by them and remember, said Amy Swartz, American Cancer Society senior community development manager. Losing 90 percent of all Relay for Life walks in 2020 was a huge hit to the American Cancer Society’s fundraising efforts, which fund and fuel programs, services, and research, Swartz said. Many of the spring and summer events were originally postponed until the fall, but the nonprofit felt it still wasn’t safe to bring people together for large, all-day events, especially with so many volunteers having see RELAY, pg. 10
PHOTOS BY LAURA McFARLAND
Tommy Broughton, above, and Ashton Ingle, below, put out luminaria bags for a ‘Virginia Unites Let’s Shine On – Drive-Through Luminaria Tribute’ held by Powhatan and Chesterfield counties on Sept. 18 at Westchester Commons.