Last week’s Page News & Courier story on the front page, above the fold titled “The Board Reluctant to Pay the EDA’s Bills” did not sit well with J.D. Cave and he let Kevin Seabrooke know what he thought about it. Kevin apologized for the mistake. Portions of the proposed bill submitted by the EDA did not please any members of the board. To keep from adding to any burden to the tax payers, fearing that the EDA may have to sell any land it owns to cover their expenses, a motion was passed 5-1, JD on the no vote. The terms of the motion is that the EDA provides a proof of performance invoices to the board and Mark Belton and Mark Belton would itemize the bill and he would decide what needs to be paid. The total bill amount presented was $26,502. This also includes the $7000 owed for an appraisal that was started by the EDA after Philip Rainwater’s personal appraisal been done on the Clover property earlier this year in an attempt by the EDA to defunkt the certified appraisal, in addition to lawyer fees and $8771 (that was used to cover cost of expenditures) for an EDA fund that needs to be reimbursed.
Budget amendment was passed for the school board and the sheriffs office.
Patrick Embry of Valley Automation was awarded $6099 to replace backup equipment for the county and sheriffs department.
Valley Regional Transport asked for $35,277 funding from the county to continue operations of bus routes in the county. They were unaware that the county had removed them from the budget when the cuts were made earlier this year and had been operating for sometime with no funding. Valley says they can continue until December 10th for now. Jeff Vaughn asked if they can continue to do so until the next years budget. Valley Regional Transport will let Mark Belton know. Jeff Vaughn asked if a census can be done to see who is really affected if the transit would be unable to operate in the county.
Luray Page County, Va Blog 
Drove by Tong’s data center today. It has been 30 months since the announcement. At what time will he or the County be required to return the 300K from the Governor’s Opportunity Fund?
Never!!
They got a special exception written in. Within five years, they need to have invested $2.5M in order to keep the money.
At the work session,Nov. 3rd. JD requested that Tong needs to present an update to the BOS. Seems an update is written in his contract for the land use of Premier Tech.
There’s going to be a public session in Dec.between the EDA and the BOS to come up with plans and direction for the EDA, that the EDA and the BOS both approve. Should be interesting. One thing that Johnny wants passed is that the EDA can not purchase land and keep it in their name. It would have to be in the county’s name.The Bos doesn’t want any more “Clover” fiascos.
The only reason they agreed to pay the EDA anything at all is because it was the lesser of two evils for the taxpayers. Either the taxpayers would lose money if the EDA sold land at a much lower price than they paid for it in order to have money to operate or the BOS use money from the Reserve Fund to support their requested budget.
This is what was explained at this and previous meeting and the reason for agreeing to pay the EDA anything at all.
I’m not a lawyer, but can the board of supervisors trump state law when it comes to the powers of a legally-constituted authority, under the Code of Virginia?
Yes, the BOS can make EDA appointments . . . and the board can provide or not provide funds for the authority’s operations. But, can the supervisors muck with the EDA’s ability to raise funds independently and to buy or sell property?
I’m skeptical. But, sometimes legality gets the short shrift in my native county. Jus’ sayin’ . . . .
The EDA is a state legal entity deliberately made independent of local political authority under state code 15.2-4900 et seq. The EDA is supposed to embark on long-term investments that result in improved tax base and desirable jobs. The usual approach by an EDA is to establish an industrial park that will attract businesses. A startup EDA needs county financial help to establish an industrial park. If this park is successful and businesses populate the park, these businesses would pay taxes to the EDA (via the county tax collection process) and would also pay rents and leases on buildings constructed by the EDA. A mature EDA would then have a strong revenue stream from the park and could use this revenue to do whatever it likes with little interference by the County. For example, it could issue revenue bonds with little oversight or approval from the County or the State. The EDA can do other things rather than try to build an industrial park. But the Page EDA focused only on building a park and spent $3 million over four years.
Not trying to nitpick, but I’ve never heard of an EDA in Virginia that collects “taxes,” either. As a non-elected entity, an EDA has no taxing authority in the commonwealth, just as school boards lack that power.
I understand the history of the EDA in Page and, as a journalist, I have closely watched authorities operate in a half-dozen other Virginia jurisdictions, as well.
I fault the board of supervisors for letting Project Clover happen. Crap like that underscores the danger of closed-door governmental meetings and the selling of snake oil.
There will be no quick, easy fix.
My personal view is that the days of government-owned industrial parks are done. In general, factories no longer come to the valley for “cheap” or “skilled” labor. It costs far less overseas, and the vast improvements in shipping and logistics have overcome distances between origin and market. Remember what happened to the Luray Textile and “Blue Bell.” (I’m betraying my age.)
I believe the Page County EDA would be more effective if it focused on providing industrial revenue bond financing for promising business ventures. Period. No more, no less.
Let the chamber of commerce and county government work on business development and recruitment, if such a practice makes sense. Let the EDA focus on helping existing businesses grow and new businesses build in Page with long-term, low-interest bonds, which appeal to investors because of their tax advantages.
As sad as it may be — and it pains me — the reality is: Page County’s working men and women probably will continue to be part of a larger Shenandoah Valley labor force — not a separate labor pool, based on a county’s boundaries.
Increasingly, those who choose to reside in Page will have to commute to earn a “living wage.”
That’s unfortunate. It costs time and money. It doesn’t help the planet.
But, that’s the situation Wall Street has produced, with our help.
Everybody wants cheap stuff from Wal-Mart. But, too few think about the real costs . . . .
What would one have pay for a pair of jeans at the local “big box,” if workers — earning $10 or $12 an hour and getting health insurance — still made Wanglers in Luray?
The EDA has no taxing authority. It makes an agreement with the County where the County collects the taxes in the industrial park and returns these taxes to the EDA for further EDA investment in the park or in other activities.
Lou Emerson has some valuable experience with Industrial Authorities in other counties. Most of the citizens of Page County only know how the Page EDA operated. I would urge Lou to send a letter to the BOS or meet with them and describe how other successful Authorities operate.
The BOS plans a work session with the State office of Industrial Development Partnership (Industrial Development Authorities) sometime in November. Part of the session will be closed but part will be open to the public. The date and place of this meeting has not been established. Looks like November is unlikely. The BOS needs to have a plan on how they want to move forward or at least a lot of questions ready about possible initiatives that the county and EDA (with new leadership) might pursue.