September 3 Highland County Board of Supervisors Meeting – Part One

This is part one of our story on the September 3, 2024 Highland County Board of Supervisors meeting.

The September 3 meeting of the Highland County Board of Supervisors started off smoothly at 7:30 p.m. and stayed well within the agenda. Alvin Trout of the Virginia Department of Transportation gave Highland County supervisors an update on projects which included line painting and general mowing and maintenance throughout the county, as well as work on pipes along Route 678. Upcoming projects for VDOT include installing pipe on Wimer Mountain and extensive tree removal due to the emerald ash borer, which has been killing trees causing potential road hazards throughout the county, especially as we head into the winter months. 

Trout reported that both Route 604 and U.S. 220 were scheduled to have sections repaved in 2025 and two bridge projects are in the works. 

Highland County Sheriff Bob Kelly also gave several reports on security at the courthouse and the sheriff’s office, saying that he had spoken with newly appointed Highland County Circuit Court Judge Ed Stein who also felt these upgrades were necessary. This work would include reinstalling defunct or badly operating cameras and installing some new cameras to prevent blind spots. Kelly would also like to add panic buttons to all desks. Kelly noted that the costs were not in the current budget, but there were funds available in other places like the Courthouse Security Fund, which could be used to cover the costs. 

Supervisors also called a special meeting for 9 a.m. on September 17. It is expected that two or more of the supervisors will be present at the preliminary hearing in Highland County Circuit Court for former county administrator Roberta Lambert. Officially when two or more supervisors are present in a setting, it is a meeting and needs to be called. The court docket for September 17 also lists the hearing on the recall petition against supervisors Henry Budzinski and Harry Sponaugle, though it was understood by the supervisors and county attorney Melissa Dowd that the case was dismissed and this hearing had been canceled. 

At the suggestion of Carol Bandy of Blue Grass, interim county administrator Jerri Botkin was tasked with working with library director Tomi Herold to make sure that all notices and policies could be posted at the Highland County Public Library, which has extended hours over the county courthouse and could help in spreading the information to everyone. 

EMS and trash fees were also shown to still be a subject of contention, with Carolyn Waybright of West Virginia asking that both fees be waived or at least pro-rated for her property which is remote and only used two months out of the year. 

Supervisors voted to advertise leasing 277 acres the county owns behind the landfill. This has been done in the past with success. There is a quick turn-around, however, with parties interested in leasing the land being asked to contact Botkin at the courthouse by September 16. Supervisors will be considering any requests at the September 18 work session. 

Supervisors then noted that the Highland County Fair was a success, and Supervisor Paul Trible personally thanked both the county’s EMS staff and the volunteer EMS staff, as well as Kelly and the sheriff’s office, for their work to keep everyone safe during the festivities.

From there the meeting devolved into a shouting match. with obscenities hurled in a variety of directions. Please stay tuned to Allegheny Mountain Radio for part two of our story with audio from the comment sections, click here.