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Government

  • Agape Center granted tax exempt status

        The facility that the Agape Center uses in Moneta will receive tax exempt status. The supervisors voted unanimously, Monday night, to grant this.
        When County Attorney Carl Boggess presented the request to the supervisors, he noted that an important test for this status is that the organization gives back to the community more than the county loses in tax revenue. He said that the taxes on the building amount to $2,000 per year, but Agape clearly gives more than that back to the community.

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  • Planning commission looks at allowing chickens in county’s residential sections

        It may soon be possible for people living in residential areas in Bedford County to keep chickens.
        The Bedford County Planning Commission is considering a text amendment to the county’s zoning ordinance that will allow chickens without any special permits.
        One decision was minimum lot size.

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  • Planning staff preferred revising existing ordinance

        Two weeks ago District 7 Supervisor Tammy Parker read a statement asserting that the county’s planning staff supported revising the existing zoning ordinance over writing a new one.
        Parker was a member of the planning staff at the time of her election last fall and resigned the position prior to being sworn in to her elected office. Last week, four members of the county’s planning staff went on record in phone interviews supporting Parker’s contention.

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  • Green Party candidate for 5th District favors growing hemp in US

        Ken Hildebrandt, who is running for the 5th Congressional District seat as a Virginia Independent Green, believes that making it legal to grow hemp in the United States will help the district’s economy.

        Hemp is a relative of marijuana, but has low levels of THC, the narcotic agent in marijuana. The plant has historically been used as a source of fibers for ropes and textiles. Hildebrandt believes hemp could become a $1 trillion industry in the United States if its cultivation were legal.

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  • Forest man claims county didn't follow through with building road on property

        Ten years ago James Youngblood believed Bedford County made him a promise.
        County officials don’t agree.
        At a Board of Supervisors meeting last week, Youngblood, who lives in Forest, made his case before the supervisors, asking that they would revisit an unfulfilled promise that he says has encumbered his 240-acre property off Blackwater Road for the past decade—a decision he says county officials agreed to, in writing.

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  • Controversy over zoning ordinance continues

        A controversy surrounding the Bedford County Board of Supervisors’ decision to revise, rather than replace, the existing zoning ordinance continues.
        Last month District 2 planning commission member Lynn Barnes resigned, sharply criticizing the board of supervisors in his resignation statement. Monday night, District 7 Supervisor Tammy Parker responded to Barnes, reading from a prepared statement.

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  • Barnes resigns from PC

        The Aug. 21 Bedford County Planning Commission meeting came to a surprise ending when District 2 planning commission member Lynn Barnes announced his resignation.
        The resignation was effective immediately. Barnes has represented District 2 on the planning commission for seven years.
        Barnes cited frustration with the board of supervisors as his reason.
        “I think the board [of supervisors] has forced this planning commission into a position of giving in,” Barnes said.

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  • Republicans plan candidate brunches

    Republican Party headquarters has opened on the corner of North Bridge Street and Depot Street, in the building that formerly housed Bluebird Antiques. Supporters held a soft opening Aug. 10.

        “This year we decided not to have a grand opening,” said Charlene Poole, chairman of the committee in charge of the headquarters.

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  • Barnes resigns from Planning Commission

    Tuesday night's Bedford County Planning Commission meeting came to a surprise ending when District 2 planning commission member Lynn Barnes announced his resignation. The resignation was effective immediately. Barnes has represented District 2 on the planning commission for seven years.

    Barnes cited frustration with the board of supervisors as his reason.

    "I think the board [of supervisors] has forced this planning commission into a position of giving in," Barnes said.

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  • City Council OK’s reversion agreement

        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.

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