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Prince Edward County Board of Supervisors reviewed candidates for a District 2 vacancy during a closed session at its Tuesday, June 14 meeting.

The board then returned into open session to select the interim supervisor who will hold serve until the November election.

“We want to thank everybody who applied for the District 2 position, the Lockett District,” said Dr. Odessa Pride, chair of the board of supervisors. “We appreciate your time, we appreciate your submitting your applications on time and it was a tough decision.”

During the closed session, supervisors narrowed the list of applicants to three contenders — Caryn Kayton, Charles Garnett and Carol Stiff. After returning to open session, the board went through each recommendation until one candidate had the most votes.

Kayton received one vote from Supervisor David Emert. Garnett garnered two votes from Supervisors Llew Gilliam Jr. and Jim Wilck. Stiff received four votes from Supervisors Patty Cooper-Jones, Beverly Booth, Jerry Townsend and Pride.

The board then conducted a vote of affirmation for Stiff to be the interim for the District 2 board of supervisors seat. The vote was unanimous.

Stiff will serve as interim for four months leading up to the Nov. 8 election where the position will be officially filled. Stiff can choose to run to keep her position and others interested also have the option of running for the office.

This appointment came in light of the unexpected passing of former Supervisor Robert M. “Bobby” Jones, who died as the result of an automobile accident May 15.

In other business:

• Shelby Atkins was recognized as Employee of the Month for June. According to Kim Allen, of the employee of the month committee, Atkins went above and beyond in her work with her clients as a benefit program specialist with the Prince Edward County Department of Social Services.

• A public hearing was conducted on American Rescue Plan Act Funding. The board wished to increase the fiscal year 2022 County Budget and fiscal year 2022 School Budget by $1,114,557 and appropriate the same funds to enable the expenditure of the federal ARPA funding. No one signed up to speak. Supervisors voted unanimously to appropriate funds.

• Chelsey White, director of economic development and tourism, provided a few highlights. Assisted the Industrial Development Authority with closing on loans and bonds, including the Kinex expansion project, and Hampton Sydney bond closing for dorm renovations. Also assisted with a grant for the water tank in HIT park with a grant from the Virginia Tobacco Commission. The VTC application for the Virginia Regional Marketing Program was approved for $20,000 for A Wonderful Week(end): Wellness, Working Remotely, Working Out.

• White also proposed creation of the Prince Edward County Tourism Council to handle the money brought in from the Transient Occupancy Tax to go back into the county for marketing and tourism purposes. Supervisors unanimously approved the creation of this new council.

• The board voted to appoint Henry Booth to the Board of Appeals, Brad Watson for County Industrial Development Authority, Theresa Clark to the Social Services Board and Gwen Akers-Booker to the Central Regional Library Board.

• Supervisors voted to call the extra vehicles that are no longer required by the county as surplus. These may be considered to be donated to Habitat Restore or discarded in other needed ways.

• The board approved an amendment to the Sandy River Fishing Tournament for the sponsors to name the county as an “additional insured” within limits of $1 million per occurrence and $2 million in aggregate. This will help protect the county in case of an accident.

• The board voted to hold a public hearing on the SCOPE Building at 505 Griffin Blvd. as surplus property at its next regular meeting.

• Supervisors approved a request for proposal for audit services by Robinson, Farmer, Cox Associates, which is the county’s current auditor.

• According to the County Administrator’s report from Doug Stanley, the new boiler will be installed Monday, June 20, at the cannery and the project will be done within the next two weeks. The solid waste operation will be restructured on July 1.

• Community Development Specialist and Deputy Emergency Management Coordinator Trey Pyle asked to have Four-For-Life funds distributed between three EMS agencies in Prince Edward, Meherrin and Hampden Sydney. This is $4 paid during vehicle inspection that is set aside for EMS purposes. Supervisors approved the recommendation of Hampden Sydney first responders receiving $2,000 off the top, PEVRS getting 75% and Meherrin 25% of the remaining funds.

• The board voted to appropriate $241,115.43 of CARES Act grants or federal reimbursement grants for the Prince Edward County Schools.

• Supervisors voted to move the next meeting from July 12 to July 19 due to scheduling issues with Doug Stanley and Sarah Puckett.

• The board voted to accept the state of terms and conditions of the agreement and deed of easement with Tri-boro Shelving Inc. and accept the deed of easement from the Industrial Development Authority of Prince Edward County and allow the county administrator to sign the necessary documents on behalf of the board of supervisors. This will allow for an access road to Tri-boro Shelving and other lots in the industrial park.

• Supervisor Jim Wilck gave a letter announcing his resignation from the board as he is moving to Texas. He recommended Cannon Watson from the Planning Commission to take his seat. Wilck also recommended that Watson could fill former Supervisor Jones’ as the member that sits on both.