Highland Board Notified of Surprise School Funding, Shenandoah Mountain Vault Toilets Maintenance, Second Amendment Preservation Ordinance and More

In this story, we’ll continue with our coverage of the Tuesday, June 4, 2019 meeting of the Highland County Board of Supervisors.

At the meeting, Highland County Public Schools Superintendent, Dr. Tom Schott, announced that he was notified by the Department of Education that the schools had received National Forest Reserve Funding in the amount of $44,796.17, which was a surprise.  Dr. Schott requested to roll this funding in to next year’s school budget.  The Board approved a motion to amend the FY 2020 school budget with this new money as presented, which does not affect the total of the budget, but does add a new revenue source and reduces the county share.

Dr. Schott also briefly discussed making a boundary line adjustment in the future regarding a transfer of property between the school and fairgrounds.

Switching topics, the Board also reviewed a new agreement between the National Forest and Highland County for maintenance and management of the vault toilets on Shenandoah Mountain.  New responsibilities were discussed, including a weekly monitoring and cleaning of the site by the county.  However, the Board did not sign the agreement, as they are still seeking to add language that would allow Highland County to use or create a space at the site for promotional purposes.  The Board also has a question about the county’s obligation regarding website updates about the Confederate Breastworks site.

Also at the meeting, Claire Sax announced that the Recreation Commission had found a candidate they would like to hire as Recreation Director.

In addition, the Board approved a motion to reappoint Jason Rexrode and Sarah Collins-Simmons to the Economic Development Authority for 4-year terms ending June 30, 2023.  They also reappointed multiple individuals to the Community Policy and Management Team and Family Assessment and Planning Team for 2-year terms ending June 30, 2021.

Lastly, during the open public comment period, resident Iris Hooke presented the Board with a request to approve a resolution at their July 2, 2019 meeting.  The resolution could be referred to as the Second Amendment Preservation Ordinance or Second Amendment Protection Act and would declare Highland County to be a Second Amendment Sanctuary County.