Botetourt News

Incorrect date given for school closing

Botetourt County schools will be closed Tuesday, Jan. 18, for ateacher workday. Schools will be open on Thursday, Jan. 20. Theclosing date was incorrect on the pull-out schools planner in TheBotetourt View last week.

Schools also are closed on Monday, Jan. 17, for Martin LutherKing Day.

Share your favorit Valentine's Day memory

Was there some really sweet way your sweetie remembered the day?A present that had sentimental value, or something that declaredyour love for all to see?

Share your favorite Valentine's memory with readers of TheBotetourt View. If you have a photo of yourselves to share, all thebetter.

We'll run a collection of memories online and in the Feb. 11edition. Maybe your story will give someone else ideas of how tomake this Valentine's a great one!

Deadline is Feb. 1; email news@botetourtview.com or write TheBotetourt View, Attn. Erica Myatt, P.O. Box 2491, Roanoke, VA24010. Please send an SASE for any hard copy photos.

Friday Night Feature at Read Mountain on Jan. 14

The Recreation Department is sponsoring another Friday NightFeature. This month's feature is "Nanny McPhee Returns" and will beshown at RMMS Forum on Friday, Jan. 14 at 7 p.m.

The cost of this event is free, all that is asked is no food ordrink allowed in the Forum.

Submitted by Botetourt County Parks and Rec

6 arrests made in rampage

Botetourt County sheriff's deputies have arrested six countyresidents in connection with a December rampage of Buchanan areanight shootings, animal killings, and property damage, SheriffRonnie Sprinkle has announced, including the killing of a dairycow. Sheriff Sprinkle said that the series of incidents beganDecember 7 and continued through December 31. Five adults and onejuvenile have been arrested. The juvenile will be not be named. Photos courtesy of the Botetourt County Sheriff's Office. To readmore, visit botetourtview.com

Bench donated to library in memory of Meredith

The Eagle Rock Library wishes to recognize the family of the lateDon Meredith for their generous donation of a bench in memory ofMr. Meredith, who died a year ago on January 8th, 2010.

The lovely bench, created by Twist & Turns in Roanoke, hasbeen installed in the garden area behind the flagpole. The libraryhopes to plant perennial flowers in this same area in spring tocreate an inviting space for patrons to relax and enjoy thebeautiful scenery of Eagle Rock.

Don Meredith represented the Fincastle District on the BotetourtCounty Board of Supervisors from 2004 until 2010. He played a majorrole in acquiring the land for the Eagle Rock Library and served onthe planning committee for the project. The library was dedicatedon April 11, 2010. Eagle Rock Library is located just off U.S. 220adjacent to the Eagle Rock Elementary School.

Submitted by Wendy Farkas, Botetourt County Administrator'sOffice

Lotto winner is from Buchanan

Lotto winners Sherry and Jim Crumley of Buchanan pose with PaulaOtto, representative of the Virginia Lottery, who presented them onThursday, Jan. 6, with their $1 million check at the DalevilleKroger where they purchased the winning ticket. Jim Crumley won $1million from the Virginia Lottery's New Year's Millionaire Raffle.Crumley is known for developing the TreBark Camo pattern and arelated business he later sold to the parent company of Mossy Oak.To read more, visit botetourtview.com -- Sam Dean, The RoanokeTimes

Libraries used by many in Botetourt County

By Cathy Benson cathy.benson@botetourtview.com

In Botetourt County, 195,265 patrons visited the libraries infiscal year 2009-10, which ran July 1 through June 30. Of thosepatrons, 28,107 used the Internet, 765 children participated in thesummer reading program and the readers, listeners and watchers ofbooks, DVDs, CDs and tapes circulated 261,213 items. "From Augustthrough December we are basically on the same track and I have seenno decline in usage of our services especially the Internet," saidhead librarian for the county system, Steve Vest.

At 11 a.m. on Tuesday, January 4, every computer in Blue RidgeLibrary was occupied by a patron.

With not only the school division funding on the block, so areother services in the county budget. Last year the Botetourtlibrary system took a budget hit just like the rest of thedepartments. The cut in service hours was returned because ofpublic outcry. After looking at the patronage numbers, it is easyto see the libraries are well used. For a county of over 34,000residents, it looks like many people do use the four libraries inthe County -- Blue Ridge, Fincastle, Buchanan and the new 2010addition -- Eagle Rock.

What are the services? "Besides circulating over 160,000 of theirown books, tapes, CDs, videos and audios, the library system alsocan transfer books from all over the Roanoke Valley into Botetourtreaders' hands," said Vest.

Community rooms at the library will begin charging a fee of $5for nonprofits and $25 for profit groups on Feb. 1 to defray costs,but offer a reasonably priced gathering place for the communitiesin which they serve.

The Genealogy Room at Fincastle Library is second only to theVirginia Room at Roanoke City Library in resources for S.W. Virginalibraries. Queries come from across the nation and world aboutfamily ancestors, local history and genealogists materials. Recentdonated additions to the collection have been a real plus in theamount of resources.

Friends of the Library groups at three of the four libraries havehelped take up the budget shortfall and have for instance purchasedsome books for the library as well as new shelves to hold the extramaterials donated to the Genealogy Room by the Obenchain andKessler families. Paige Ware recommended interested parties asktheir local branches about the Friends groups, which are everywhereexcept Buchanan.

Children's programs include monthly movies, craft classes, thesummer reading program, preschool story hours weekly at eachbranch, and other events from time to time.

Ware also drives the bookmobile into neighborhoods not close bythe four branches. In a county of 542 square miles, the eveninghours in the neighborhoods like Tinkerview Gardens and The Glebehave numerous patrons who are glad for the service. "We check outabout 1,000 books per month on the Bookmobile," said Ware.

Ware noticed that people tutor students regularly in FincastleLibrary and school kids and homeschoolers are making great use ofthe Internet and other resources. Forty-eight students in Pre Kthrough high school had signed in to use the Fincastle Librarycomputers on the first two days of the New Year, Jan. 3 and 4th."Considering the students were mostly in school for the better partof the day, that is a large number," Ware said.

"We also provide faxing services at $1 per page at all fourlibraries," noted Vest. During the downturn in the economyeverything from school reports to resumes have been printed off thecomputers for 10 cents per copy on the library printer. The copymachines are well used by patrons as well, said Vest. "We offercompetitive copy prices and are reasonably close for everyone."

So by the numbers, Botetourt Library system, which offersservices to everyone, looks like a good deal for the dollarsbudgeted. Said Ware, "It is the one place that every adult or childcan use in Botetourt County."

School budget input is a joint effort of tough choices

By Cathy Benson cathy.benson@botetourtview.com

Botetourt County is at a fork in the road where budget funding isconcerned, according to a PowerPoint presentation on Tuesday, Jan.6. Two school board members and two board of supervisor membersalong with the top administrators for the county and schooldivision hosted the first of three budget input meetings for theschool division at James River High School. Jack Leffel and KathySullivan represented the school board and Terry Austin and SteveClinton the board of supervisors. Eighteen people attended the meeting. Constitutional elected officers, Sheriff Ronnie Sprinkle,Clerk of Courts Tommy Moore and Treasurer Benton Bolton allattended the meeting since their department funding is in peril aswell.

Basically the dramatic fall in local revenue and state fundinghas led to two years of lean budgets. The Commonwealth is alsoshifting more of the funding burden to localities. The schooldivision has cut $4.4 million and the county $3.4 million in theGeneral Fund, according to school superintendent Dr. Tony Brads andJerry Burgess, county administrator. Though assessments werehigher, Burgess said, they only brought in an additional $900,000in revenue for the county.

The loss of tax revenue when JTek closed was a $500,000 per yearhit to the county, pointed out Austin. Though revenue is moderatelyup in meals and lodging, home construction is still very low.Burgess noted it would take a 17 cent per hundred real estate taxincrease to get even with the current revenue reductions.

Two citizens, Bunny Fridley and Doug Helms, addressed higherassessments, VRS, and the Sports Complex at Greenfield as well asthe lack of business in Greenfield business complex and whetherthere is need for an economic development specialist, which is onthe BOS drawing board. All of their concerns were answered eitherby a board member or administrator.

In the school division, the Gov. Bob McDonnell's plan to haveteachers fund 5 percent of their Virginia Retirement Service planand counties and cities give 3 percent raises is the crutch of adilemma facing not only Botetourt but every other school division.Brads said, "Only four years in 20 has the General Assembly fundedthe Virginia Retirement System adequately. The point is -- TheGeneral Assembly has failed to fund the pension plan."

Austin remarked where would the county get the money for theraise?

So that is the fork in the road. The choices pointed out by the PowerPoint are to increase revenues or to cut services.

Those services include the schools, which Leffel described asbare bones after the past two years and the loss of 20 positionsplus eight positions not returned due to retirements. Burgess saidthe county cut 12 full-time employees and three part-time employeesand did not reduce services.

The Sheriff's Office did not fill five positions nor buy needednew cruisers. Given recent reports of the good police workperformed by the Sheriff's Office, Sprinkle was noted by the boardmembers and administrators throughout the evening.

The other three board of supervisors members are moreconservative and may have a differing opinion with additional taxesand user fees. Each of them were going be involved in the lattertwo meetings, Jan. 6 at Read Mountain Middle School and Jan. 11 atCentral Academy.

Both school division and county government of what Burgess haspreviously referred to as "Team Botetourt" believe that publicinput is essential for the decisions that have to be made.

A survey and PowerPoint will be online on both county and schooldivision website after the third meeting on Jan. 11. Paper copieswere passed out to interested parties. Burgess advised the publicto make contact -- mail in the survey, call board members, but thefinancial situation really needs feedback from Botetourt citizens.

Parks and rec participation up in Botetourt

Botetourt County has released its annual report on publicparticipation in parks and rec programs (it's up). Here's thecounty's summary:

Tough economic times have not reduced the demand for recreationservices in Botetourt County. In the past year, more than 11,500individuals participated in county activities and sports programs,exceeding the previous participation levels by more than 8 percent,despite funding and staffing level reductions in the latest 12-month period.

Established in 1987 to oversee volunteer-based youth sportsclubs, the Parks and Recreation Department has expanded over theyears to include youth and adult activity programming; specialevent production; grounds maintenance of schools, parks and otherpublic spaces; senior and accessible van services; and mostrecently, the establishment and operation of the Office of Tourismand the Botetourt Sports Complex.

Although considerably smaller than its regional counterparts, thedepartment retains the capacity to deliver comparable services tocitizens and visitors alike. In 2009, Botetourt (pop. 32,550) spentapproximately $52 per capita for recreation related services. Thestate average was $101 per capita, and the national average was $87for similarly populated communities.

According to the Department's Annual Report, participationfigures and additional achievements for 2010 are as follows:

Recreational Programming

- 4,789 participants in youth recreation activities (includingathletic leagues) n 1,957 participants in adult recreationactivities n 1,625 participants in senior and accessible vanservices n 3,260+ participants in special event activities

Office of Tourism

- launch of the Upper James River Water Trail n received $75,000in grants to support marketing initiatives n receipt of twoprestigious tourism industry awards n 13.7 percent increase inlodging tax revenue over 2009

Botetourt Sports Complex

- hosted over 20,000 visitors attending various baseball andsoftball tournaments that included numerous regional, state andnational championship events n captured a 14 percent increase from2009 in hotel room nights directly attributed to Sports Complexevents n generated over $79,000 in gate and concession sales nhosted thousands of county residents during the Botetourt YouthOpening Weekend and SOL Stress Buster, and high school play, including the Botetourt Bash Invitational n awarded the 2011National Christian College Women's Softball Championship

Parks and Grounds

- integrated grounds maintenance responsibilities for the newEagle Rock Library, Courthouse Complex in Fincastle, and therecently leased 34-acre Boxley Park in Blue Ridge n implemented anextensive county-wide athletic turf maintenance program nconstructed four new instructional fields at various county schoolsand parks n developed a new nature trail at Blue Ridge Park

"It was a challenging year fiscally speaking, although the staff responded by finding creative ways to build partnerships andmaximize resources," said Richard Peters, Director of the Parks,Recreation and Tourism Department. "We were able to not onlydeliver the traditional programs, but to also fill some existinggaps in recreation services in 2010, all while becomingincreasingly efficient to operate within the reduced budget. I amincredibly proud of the work our resourceful staff has done toachieve this level of diverse participation."

For more information, contact Richard "Pete" Peters, Director, 540-473-8326.

Parks and rec is now on Facebook

Botetourt County Parks and Rec now has a page on Facebook. Youcan find it here:

http://www.facebook.com/home.php#!/pages/Botetourt-County-Parks-Recreation-and -Tourism/118498094886528

Note: The Botetourt View is on Facebook, as well. You can find ushere:

http://www.facebook.com/botetourtview