Chase chosen again

By Nate Delesline III

Published: January 7, 2009

Stevensburg District representative Bill Chase will serve another one-year term as chairman of the seven member county Board of Supervisors.

Chase, the board’s longest serving member, was nominated by Salem District Supervisor Tom Underwood, the board’s newest member.

Along with Underwood, East Fairfax Supervisor Steve Walker, West Fairfax Supervisor Steve Nixon and Chase voted in favor of the nomination at the board’s first meeting of 2009 on Tuesday morning.

Chase was elected in favor of Cedar Mountain District supervisor Larry Aylor, who was nominated by Jefferson District Supervisor Brad Rosenberger. Catalpa District Supervisor Sue Hansohn joined Aylor and Rosenberger in voting for Aylor.

Aylor instead will serve as vice chairman. Aylor voted in favor of the move along with Rosenberger, Hansohn and Underwood. He assumes the position in the final year of his first term.

After electing the board’s leadership, the lengthiest discussion at the morning session centered on a request from the Culpeper County Volunteer Fire and Rescue Association to restore funding cuts due to the county’s budget issues. The association provides support with communications, training and funding provided by the county to about eight fire and rescue companies.

Anthony Clatterbuck, the association’s vice president, told the supervisors that inadequate funding could “choke” the association and its work.

“It’s up to us to accurately report our needs to you so we can make the decisions,” he told the board. As an example, he said one local fire company is using a 34-year-old aerial truck. He said guidelines recommend that the vehicle should have been replaced after 20 years, but doing so could cost between $800,000 and $1.2 million.

With about $146,000 restored to the association’s funding, the group anticipates nearly all of the $822,000 requested for the fiscal year. 

“I do want to thank the board for reinstating the funding,” Clatterbuck said late Tuesday by phone. “The taxpayers are getting an incredible deal for what we do.”

Coalition legislation endorsed
The board also agreed unanimously to support an initiative to force local governments to perform more thorough background checks on the immigration status of potential employees.

Conceived by the Virginia Local Government Coalition on Illegal Aliens, the group, composed of a handful of leaders of local government, plans to bring the request to the attention of the General Assembly at a Jan. 15 press conference in Richmond.

Other business
Finally, the board voted in favor of allowing county treasurer David DeJarnette to fill an existing vacant position in his department despite a hiring freeze implemented by the board at its November meeting. DeJarnette told the board that recent, unexpected resignations and other vacant positions would leave the office with inadequate staffing.

Also Tuesday, the board:
- Accepted and appropriated $4,102 in grant funding for the circuit court from the Library of Virginia
- Authorized a $1,583.34 budget increase to fund the installation of docking hardware for in-car computers for the Sheriff’s Office
- Approved a resolution of appreciation to Louann Toomey of the Culpeper Human Services Board
- Agreed to allow Scenic America Inc. to use the community sports complex as a stop for the company’s commuter bus service on a four-month trial period.