Government

    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.

    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.

    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.

    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.