Highland County Board of Supervisors May Meeting – Part 1

At the Highland County Board of Supervisors May meeting, the Board approved the conditional use permit for a campground at History Tellers at 6983 Cowpasture Road North in Headwaters.  The Planning Commission had sent the application to the Board with a favorable recommendation with conditions.  The Board tabled action on that application March 25.    With the approval of the permit Tuesday evening, the conditions included are: primitive camping for registered guests only with no RV’s, camping permitted only from noon Friday to noon on the following Sunday, compliance with COVID guidelines, compliance with health guidelines on the number of people based on septic capacity, the conditional use will not transfer upon sale or gift of the property, a limit of no more than 45 camping sites and no additional signage will be permitted related to the camping.

The Board voted to provide matching funding for a grant that the Local Emergency Planning Committee has received for emergency shelter upgrades.  Originally it was thought the county’s match would be 15%, but during the application review process it was changed to 35%.   The upgrades include installation of generator connections at the high school and at the elementary school and the purchase of a portable generator.    The grant total is almost $148,000 and the county’s match is $51,756.  The Board approved a plan to spread the cost out over the next three years and complete the project on that timeline.  The emergency shelter upgrade is planned for the high school since it is the largest facility for a shelter.

The Board also approved the VDOT Six Year Secondary Road Improvement Plan.  Alvin Trout from VDOT presented a report on road projects.   He also said the Staunton District has announced that the two bridges on Route 250 that are posted for weight limits are scheduled to be retrofitted with material to strengthen them, so they will no longer be posted.  He said once that work is complete, there will be no posted structures leading into Highland.  Supervisor David Blanchard asked about installation of a guardrail on Route 220 South where there have been several accidents which have resulted in vehicles crashing into the river.  Trout said VDOT is looking into that and is waiting on the accident report from the most recent incident.

Story By

Bonnie Ralston

Bonnie Ralston is the Assistant Station Coordinator at WVLS and a Highland County news reporter. She began volunteering at Allegheny Mountain Radio in the fall of 2005. In 2006 she became an AMR employee and worked in Bath County for eight years as the WCHG Station Coordinator and then as the news reporter there. She began working in radio while in college and has stayed connected to radio, in one way or another, for more than thirty years. She grew up in Staunton, Virginia, while spending a lot of time on her family’s farm in Deerfield, Virginia. She enjoys spending time outside, watching old TV shows and movies and tending to her chickens.

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