Getting your Trinity Audio player ready...

PRINCE EDWARD SUPERVISORS MAKE A CHANGE

Back in June, Prince Edward’s Commissioner of Revenue Crystal Hensley came to the Board of Supervisors with a request. She asked the group to consider repealing the 1971 Mobile Home Ordinance, which was still in effect. The rule required a $2 mobile home registration fee and Hensley showed the Board that the fee doesn’t create enough money to even cover the cost of administering the ordinance. In other words, repealing it would help streamline the system, make county government more effective and save money. Repealing it means no more fee and no more paperwork about the fee to process.

One month later, the Board did just that, repealing the ordinance by unanimous vote. They also thanked Hensley, for this and other issues she’s brought up in recent months.

“She is going above and beyond and making government more efficient,” Supervisor Harrison Jones said. “She is going through and figuring out what needs to be done to better serve the taxpayer, to streamline processes.”

COUNTY LANDS AGRICULTURE GRANTS

Earlier this year, Prince Edward County staff applied for a grant with the Virginia Department of Agriculture. At their Tuesday, July 9 meeting, the group learned that application has been approved, receiving $28,000 in grant funding, with a partial match of $14,000 in county funds. That combined total of $42,000 will be used to help improve operational efficiency at the Prince Edward Cannery. This year, the county staff coordinated with the team from Virginia Food Works, who manage the commercial operations at the cannery, to identify cannery infrastructure that will also support commercial canning goals.

This includes $23,615 of processing equipment, $15,755 in repairs and replacements for material handling and facility storage and $1,098 in space enhancements like wall decals, stools and fans.

KINNE MAKES DEAN’S LIST

Farmville resident Mattison Kinne was recognized for his academic achievements by Hamilton College. The school announced that Kinne was named to the Dean’s List for the Spring 2024 semester.

To be named to the Dean’s List at Hamilton, a student must have carried a course load of four or more graded credits throughout the semester and earned an average GPA of 3.5 or above on a 4.0 scale.

Kinne, a rising senior majoring in physics, is a graduate of Prince Edward County High School.

BIG SOUTH CHOOSES TOURNAMENT HOME

The Big South Conference announced late last week that the 2025 and 2025 Conference Championships for both Men’s and Women’s Basketball will be held in Johnson City, Tennessee’s Freedom Hall Civic Center. The deal includes a mutual option for 2027 and marks the league’s sixth overall neutral site for its basketball championships in its 40-year history. One of the curious parts of this, however, is the location. None of the Big South’s member schools, including Longwood, are within three hours of Johnson City. This is the first location outside the conference’s traditional footprint to host the championships.