Government

    Board of Supervisors Chairman Steve Arrington closed a marathon meeting, which ran past midnight, with a surprise announcement.

    “This night has been a very difficult meeting for me,” Arrington said.
    It was a long meeting—it was District 3 Supervisor Roger Cheek’s last meeting—but it also marked what Arrington said was a difficult decision for him. He said that he will resign from the board of supervisors, effective at the end of January.

    The number of deer being killed through the Bedford Police Department’s deer management program in town this year will easily surpass last year’s number. Already this season the department has killed 68, the same amount that was killed for the entire season in 2012.
    “There’s no shortage of deer,” Bedford Police Chief Jim Day said of the effort.
    Through the Department of Agriculture, localities can manage deer herds.

    Two board of supervisors-initiated amendments to the subdivision ordinance and zoning ordinance drew fire from some people at public hearings held by the planning commission last week.
    One area of contention was what Commission Chairman Steve Wilkerson called a “very specific” provision on private streets in subdivisions. It only applies to subdivisions that were in existence prior to 1989 and have an existing private street.

    Bedford Town Council discussed a couple of items on its wish list last Tuesday, including having rail service stop in Bedford and, for at least some council members, have a new high school built in the Liberty Zone.
    
Rail service
    With the planned return of rail service to Roanoke, and the success of the Lynchburg passenger service, council would like to see Bedford be considered for a stop since the proposed expansion will pass right through Bedford County and the town.