Inside A3 4-H Club completes service project
Powhatan, Virginia B1 Softball commits look ahead to final season
Vol. XXXV No.. 29
January 19, 2022
Bylery, Carmack tapped to lead board in 2022 3-2 split shows tension among supervisors By Laura McFarland Managing Editor
P
OWHATAN – The Powhatan County Board of Supervisors was split last week when it chose Mike Byerly to serve as board chair in 2022. Byerly, who represents District 3, was elected in a 3-2 vote at the board’s organizational meeting on Monday,
Jan. 10. Outgoing chairwoman Karin Carmack, District 5, and Steve McClung, District 2, joined Byerly in electing him to the position. David Williams, District 1, and Bill Cox, District 4, voted against. The same 3-2 split saw Carmack elected as vice chair of the board. The underlying division present in these two votes would be evident in a tension that was threaded throughout the meeting during the agenda items that dealt with the board and its actions, starting with board appointments and continuing with a contentious adoption of their standards of
duct unbecoming of a Supervisor.” New officers
MIKE BYERLY
KARIN CARMACK
conduct. Several times during the discussions between the five board members on these issues it was evident there was still a
great deal of underlying friction regarding McClung, Byerly and Carmack’s decision on Dec. 20, 2021, to formally censure Cox for “verbal miscon-
Byerly, who is entering his third year on the board and was vice chair in 2021, said it felt good to be elected chair even as he realizes there will be challenges. However, although there will be disagreements between board members, they have to find ways to still work together to serve the citizens. “Can we do better? Yeah, we can do better – together.” Looking to the year ahead, Byerly said he hopes the budsee SUPERVISORS, pg. 5
County sees 26.8% increase in recycling
KIM HYMEL
SUSAN SMITH
Hymel, Smith assume school board leadership By Laura McFarland PHOTO BY LAURA McFARLAND
Jessica Reed of Powhatan recycles at the Powhatan Convenience Center on Jan. 13. The county saw residents recycling 295 tons more in 2021 than in 2020.
By Laura McFarland Managing Editor
DELIVER TO: Postal Patron Powhatan, VA 23139
Prsrt. Standard U.S. POSTAGE PAID Powhatan, VA Permit No.19
POWHATAN – Recycling done
through the Powhatan Convenience Center saw a 26.8% increase in 2021, with an additional 295 tons of materials more than the previous year sent to be processed instead of ending up in a landfill. In 2021, Powhatan County collected 6,807 tons of refuse and 1,394 tons of recyclables materials using the Central Virginia Waste Management Authority (CVWMA), said Johnny Melis, utilities manager for the county. He pointed out that this does not account for all possible recycling done in Powhatan through other sources. In the last few years, the county’s recycling numbers in terms of its total collections hovered between 13.5% and 14.5%. Melis
said seeing the county reach an almost 17% recycling rate last year is a positive change courtesy of Powhatan citizens. “Although recycling is more expensive for the county, it extends the life of adjacent landfills, which ensures continued service for the county. The recycling efforts of the citizens of Powhatan are an important part of ensuring the region meets recycling goals,” he said. In early 2020, due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the county restricted the items it was accepting at the convenience center to bagged household waste to limit the interaction and potential exposure of both staff and citizens, Melis said. The county was not accepting “free see RECYCLING, pg. 4
Managing Editor
POWHATAN – Kim Hymel was elected chair of the Powhatan County School Board for the second time at the regular meeting on Tuesday, Jan. 11. Hymel, who represents District 5, was approved in a 3-2 vote taken at the board’s first meeting in 2022. Hymel previously served as chair in 2021 and vice chair in 2020. Hymel was supported by Susan Smith, District 2, and interim member Dr. James Taylor, District 4. Rick Cole, District 1, and Valarie Ayers, District 3, voted against. Smith was elected in a 4-0-1 vote to serve as vice chair this year, with Cole choosing to abstain. This is Smith’s first time serving in a leadership role on the board. The school board reorganizes every January for the upcoming year. Hymel said she feels honored and thankful to have been elected to serve another year.
She said that having other board members support her with their votes shows they feel “good about the progress that we’ve made this past year in many areas.” Looking ahead to 2022, she said the areas she believes will be a big focus for the school board include improving transparency, a search for a new superintendent and helping make up any student learning loss caused by the pandemic. “We’ve already begun the process of addressing student learning loss and the many issues due to the pandemic. We expect continued progress in the coming year,” she said. “The pandemic has been difficult for our students. It’s important we continue to be supportive to our students and parents.” Smith said it was “scary but good” to be elected by her fellow board members to be vice chair. She knows the board has many challenges and changes see SCHOOL BOARD, pg. 6
Sheriff, family renew request for help to find teen By Laura McFarland Managing Editor
POWHATAN – The Powhatan County Sheriff’s Office and a local family renewed their pleas for help last week in finding a 16-year-old girl who has been missing for two months. Sheriff Brad Nunnally held a press conference on Wednesday, Jan. 12 to ask for the public’s help in finding Joni Bradley, who went missing on Nov. 9, 2022. He was joined at the press conference by the teen’s stepmom, Kelli Bradley, and Detective Danny Joyner, the investigator in the case. Joni was last seen around 4 p.m., shortly after leaving a
PHOTO BY LAURA McFARLAND
Detective Danny Joyner, from left, sheriff Brad Nunnally and stepmom Kelli Bradley held a press conference to ask for help in finding Joni Bradley, 16, shown left, who went missing on Nov. 9.
medical appointment at the Village Building. She told her father she left her phone
inside and went to retrieve it, the sheriff said. When he went to look for her, he
couldn’t find her. “Thereafter she was obsee TEEN, pg. 6