Government

    Bedford City Council gave its unanimous thumbs up last Tuesday to the voluntary reversion agreement with Bedford County in which the city will become a town.
    Several speakers posed a number of questions to council members during a public hearing prior to the vote. Most of the questions centered on taxes and services.

The Bedford County Board of Supervisors approved a reversion agreement with the city of Bedford on a 5-0 vote, Monday night, with District 1 Supervisor Bill Thomasson and District 7 Supervisor Tammy Parker abstaining.
    Thomasson and Parker were elected last November, two months after the reversion agreement was originally approved.

    The inmates get fresh air and the chance to contribute back to society.

    Bedford County gets cleaner roadsides.
    That’s the deal that’s been hatched out between the county and a group of low-risk inmates as the Sheriff’s Office kicked off its Inmate Work Force program last week.
    On July 16 the first crew, which uses low-risk inmates to perform needed community work, hit the roads picking up trash from the county’s secondary roads.

    Four Bedford City Council incumbents are seeking reelection for what will likely be very short terms—at least as a City Council.
    If reversion goes according to schedule, City Council will cease to exist on July 1, 2013 — to be replaced by a Town Council. Councilmen won’t automatically transition to this town council. They will all have to run for seats on the new town council in an election to be held in May 2013 if they want to serve on that elected body.