A majority of candidates seeking seats on board of supervisors in Buckingham County view the proposed Atlantic Coast Pipeline (ACP) as having positive impacts on Buckingham County.

The comments came during a candidates’ forum held Saturday, where only one candidate seeking a board seat was absent — independent Danny Allen, who represents District Seven on the board.

Five questions were posed to the 11 candidates by the Virginia Farm Bureau’s Trey Davis, who moderated the event, regarding their campaign priorities, the ACP, a meals tax, land use taxation and the school division.

Excluding the candidates, about 25 people attended the event sponsored by the Buckingham County Farm Bureau.

In addition to supporting the ACP, a majority of the candidates agreed that no new school construction projects should be on the horizon in the near future.

More economic development and attracting jobs to the county were

also common themes in the candidates’ remarks.

Only three of the candidates — Republicans D.R. “Don” Matthews Jr., who’s running for the District Three seat, Quentin Yoder, who’s running for the District Five seat and Morgan Dunnavant, who’s seeking the District Four seat, said they presently would not support a meals tax with the revenue going to the public schools. Others indicated some level of support for the measure.

Independent Joe Chambers Jr., who’s seeking re-election in District Six and Charles “Chuck” Meek, who’s running for the District Three seat, said they would support some form of land use taxation, while other candidates said they’d entertain the concept after learning more about it.

Dunnavant said, if elected he would encourage improvement for Buckingham’s building construction contracting and financial management. “In the past 12 years [the county has] spent … $70 million on buildings alone … That’s probably close to $17,000 per household that needs to be paid back in taxes just for buildings,” he said, calling some of the newer school building features frivolous.

Independent Carolyn Anderson Davis, who’s seeking election to the District Two Seat, said she would encourage economic development and help improve the lives of Buckingham’s citizens. “I would like to work with local leaders and entrepreneurs regarding the rapid economic, demographic and environmental changes to assist in the impact of these changes that Buckingham County’s facing. …,” she said.

Yoder said that he wanted to provide a “conservative approach” to the way the county spends money, and said he would support a property tax moratorium for new businesses.

Matthews said that, if elected, he’d promote sound fiscal management, economic development, strong schools and better communication between supervisors and citizens.

Independent candidate John Staton, who’s seeking re-election to the District Four seat, said jobs and the schools were at the top of his list of priorities.

Donnie Bryan, an independent running for re-election for the District Two seat, said keeping an eye on spending was important to him as a supervisor. “One of the ways that we looked into it was to try to find a business coordinator,” he said of attracting new jobs to the county, “one that would go out and market our community. And that’s something we’re certainly looking into right now.”

Independent candidate R.C. “Bobby” Jones who’s seeking the District One seat, said that governing Buckingham is big business. He said he wanted to keep the county in good financial shape and keep the tax base low “by getting new, clean business that would pay us money and have our local people to work for them.”

Independent Dennis Davis Jr., who’s also running for the District One seat, said he wanted to make it easier for small businesses to locate to the county.

Independent candidate Harry Bryant, who’s seeking the District Five seat, said he’d work to meet the changing needs of the county in the most cost-effective way, adding that county spending should be evaluated on a cost-benefit basis.

Several of the candidates acknowledged that the ACP was coming to the county, and cited the creation of jobs, the importance of protecting property rights and just compensation for landowners.

“I see a positive and a negative effect on the pipeline,” said Meek. He said one of the positive aspects included the revenue it would bring to the county, and the one of the negatives as the taking of land for the project.

“The pipeline’s coming whether we want it to or not,” Bryan said.

“I think it will be a positive for Buckingham County,” Dennis Davis said. “It’s going to put a shot in the arm of the economy of Buckingham County.”

“I believe the pipeline is going to come through Buckingham, like it or not,” Bryant said. He said all property owners affected should be adequately compensated.

“To me, if we want another tax in the county,” Jones said, “we should go to the General Assembly … and get them to pass a sales tax of one or two percent [on] everything purchased in the county.”

“I think there should be armed law enforcement in every school throughout the day,” Yoder said regarding the public school division.

Matthews cited a decline in student enrollment over the past few years in the schools, adding, “We are not at capacity now, so I do not see new construction in the future until enrollment shows a trend of increased enrollment.”

“In the school system, whether it’s new facilities or expanding facilities, we need to meet the 21st century educational needs of our children, and that includes transportation. New schools are not needed at this time. …,” Staton said.