The Wilderness Alert !!!!

[BarryDusel]

Re: The Wilderness Alert !!!!

Hey Drew,
FWIW. It seems as though the Supervisor(s) may not like a opinion that is contrary to their own. Especially since you didn't quote so much on the historical aspect as you did on the economic aspect.
Anyway, Keep up your posting I enjoy 'em.

[Dignann]

Re: The Wilderness Alert !!!!

FYI. The public hearing for tonight (7/27) has been cancelled. The reason for the cancellation is "due to the failure of the Orange County Review to publish the necessary advertisement required by the State Code for the public hearing to be held before the Planning Commission."

A new date for the hearing has not been set.

Eric

[LHV1861]

Re: The Wilderness Alert !!!!

Something tells me this is already a done deal.



Jeff Felton
Liberty Hall Volunteers

[Busterbuttonboy]

Re: The Wilderness Alert !!!!

All
I apologize for my large number of contributions to this thread. This morning I forwarded over my editorial as published in the Free Lance Star to the Board of Supervisors. Tonight is after all the vote.
This is the response I received from one of the Supervisors. It reads:

"You are very young and very arrogant. With age you may come to realize how puerile and offensive your comments and tactics are. Or maybe not. "

For those who have not read the article it can be found here

http://fredericksburg.com/News/FLS/2009/052009/05242009/467961/printer_friendly

Wow is all I can say.

[Busterbuttonboy]

Re: The Wilderness Alert !!!!

Wal-Mart decision may come tomorrow
July 26, 2009 12:36 am
BY ROBIN KNEPPER


People for and against Wal-Mart's plan to build a Supercenter near the Wilderness battlefield will get one more chance to voice their opinions to Orange County supervisors tomorrow night.

How many speakers there are and how long they speak will determine whether a vote is taken that night.

County officials say a majority of residents want Wal-Mart and the jobs and tax revenue it promises. Three of the five supervisors have said they support the giant retailer's plan to build a 138,000-square-foot store a quarter-mile north of the intersection of State Routes 3 and 20.

But historic-preservation organizations have mounted a national campaign against the plan, saying the store and the traffic it will bring will desecrate the Civil War battlefield.

"Those two groups coming out to speak Monday night could result in a huge crowd," said Lee Frame, chairman of the Board of Supervisors.

The public hearing will begin at 7 p.m. in the auditorium of Orange County High School. Public meetings of the supervisors are capped at midnight but, according to Frame, circumstances may dictate the length of the hearing and whether a vote is taken that night.

"If the speakers finish up at 10:30 or 11," he said, "and we can get through our discussion and questions, we can take a vote that night.

"If we get to 11:30 and there are 20 people left to speak, we might go to the next night."

The board has a regular meeting scheduled Tuesday.

Frame is the only supervisor who has not indicated how he will vote on Wal-Mart's application for a special-use permit.

"I've probably decided mentally," he said, "but I want to see if there's anything to change my mind--any late-breaking stuff that didn't come out at the Planning Commission's public hearing."

"There's so much propaganda out there I expect people to be saying the same thing over and over," said Supervisor Zack Burkett. "But barring someone bringing new information, I expect us to vote that night."

LISTENING TO THE VOTERS

The Wal-Mart store is part of a retail development planned on a 51.6-acre commercially zoned tract of privately owned land. It is outside the national park boundaries established by Congress, but in an area designated for study for potential historical significance.

Wal-Mart says the store will generate 222 jobs and $1.4 million in county revenue during construction and 622 jobs and $800,000 a year in revenue once it is in operation.

The Orange County Chamber of Commerce and the county's Economic Development Authority have declared their support for Wal-Mart, as have Supervisors Mark Johnson, Teel Goodwin and Burkett.

A survey earlier this year commissioned by Wal-Mart found that 61 percent of registered voters in the county want the store and 74 percent say more shopping options are needed in the county.

Planning commissioners voted 5-4 last month to recommend that supervisors approve the Wal-Mart permit application. Comments at a public hearing before the commission ran against the plan by a 2-to-1 ratio, with many saying they did not oppose a Wal-Mart in the county but were against the proposed site.

Frame said he has seen consistent support for Wal-Mart in his district, which consists mostly of Lake of the Woods. With 8,500 people, the subdivision off Route 3 is the largest population center in the county and the closest to the proposed Supercenter.

"Generally the people against Wal-Mart have been more vocal and active," he said, "but I only keep track of the ones from my district."

"Almost everyone is in favor of building it," said Goodwin, whose district includes the town of Orange. "The only complaint has been that the store isn't in the town [of Orange], but that's not the most judicious place since there are more people in that [selected] area with more money to spend."

Johnson, who represents the southwestern part of the county, said that the majority of his constituents also support the Wal-Mart plan. But he said he will listen to everyone at the public hearing and "make up my mind afterwards."

PROPOSING ANOTHER SITE

Teri Pace, in whose district the store would be built, is the only supervisor expected to vote against the Wal-Mart. She said her constituents appear to be evenly split on the proposal.

In a written statement to The Free Lance-Star, she said, "The location of the proposed Wal-Mart presents far more negative outcomes for the county than positive."

Pace has suggested alternative locations, but Wal-Mart has consistently responded that it has looked and there is no other commercially zoned property in the area that meets its criteria for location and access to Routes 3 and 20.

Burkett said sentiment in his district is running "3- or 4-to-1 in favor" of the giant retailer. He said he has received at least 3,000 form-letter e-mails opposed to Wal-Mart, but when he sees them, "I hit the delete button."

But he noted that he got a thoughtful letter from an out-of-state woman whose ancestors fought in the Battle of the Wilderness.

"I'm going to write to her and tell her that we're not building a Wal-Mart on the Wilderness battlefield," he said. "I truly think people have no idea where the battle was fought."

http://fredericksburg.com/News/FLS/2009/072009/07262009/481786/printer_friendly

[Busterbuttonboy]

Re: The Wilderness Alert !!!!

Tell them so! Voice your opinion. Its important for our community to be able to act together on this issue like we have on previous ones. The correlation between living history/progressive reenacting and preservation is undoubted.

[TJ Bartel]

Re: The Wilderness Alert !!!!

It seems really strange that they are so unwilling to even discuss other possible locations for the store..It almost seems like there is some behind the scenes deals being made for this particular plot of land..In my own opinion, it almost feels like some palms have been greased for this deal, and they don't want anyone to upset their plans...

That wouldn't surprise me at all.

[wilber6150]

Re: The Wilderness Alert !!!!

It seems really strange that they are so unwilling to even discuss other possible locations for the store..It almost seems like there is some behind the scenes deals being made for this particular plot of land..In my own opinion, it almost feels like some palms have been greased for this deal, and they don't want anyone to upset their plans...

[bholt61stny]

Re: The Wilderness Alert !!!!

Since I am stationed in the area at Quantico, I get to enjoy the Fredericksburg, Chancellorsville, the Wilderness and a few others within the area on the weekends. I have only read a few of the replies to this thread and I know I am going to say relatively the same thing, but I can count on both hands, maybe even moving to the toes, how many walmarts are in a 15-20 mile radius of each other. Considering people can drive it is really sad that they would rather have a new store built and not take the extra 10 minutes it takes to drive to another walmart. They should be lucky that they dont have to walk everywhere like the brave soldiers who fought and died there had to.

Just my opinion.

[missourirelics]

Re: The Wilderness Alert !!!!

Sent my emails.

Paul Arnold

[Michael Comer]

Re: The Wilderness Alert !!!!

Sent my emails to each one of those folks.

[Busterbuttonboy]

Re: The Wilderness Alert !!!!

Keep those e-mails going to the Board of Supervisors.

July 2, 2009 12:35 am
Orange County supervisors have scheduled a July 27 public hearing on a proposed Wal-Mart Supercenter in the Wilderness battlefield area.

The hearing will begin at 7 p.m. in the Orange County High School auditorium.

At their meeting Tuesday night, supervisors said they would not vote July 27 on the special-use permit to build the 138,000-square-foot store. They will, however, hold their regularly scheduled second meeting of the month July 28.

Also at Tuesday's meeting, County Attorney Sharon Pan-dak presented a few scenarios for altering the composition of the 10-member Planning Commission. The commission now consists of two members from each of the county's five magisterial districts.

Supervisor Zack Burkett had suggested the reorganization at the board's retreat in early January. He noted that commission Chairman Will Likins was his opponent in the 2007 race for the District 2 board seat, a situation he described as "awkward."

The Board of Supervisors can change the composition of the commission and should do so by ordinance, according to Pandak.

Board Chairman Lee Frame, formerly a Planning Commission member, said he was happy with the makeup of the advisory commission. He noted that having 10 members helps the panel to do more work.

"I like a lot of different views," he said, "but there's more than a little bit of chaos."

Supervisor Mark Johnson said the Planning Commission "is out of step with the board" and takes on issues that cost the county staff time and money.

"They spend a lot of time on things the supervisors aren't interested in," Johnson said. "We wind up with a dysfunctional process when the Planning Commission is doing things the supervisors don't want. If we were on the same page, there would be a better working relationship."

Burkett agreed. "A lot of expense gets chewed up when it's already known how the board [of supervisors] will vote."

At the January retreat, a majority of supervisors--Teel Goodwin, Johnson and Burkett--said they would support Wal-Mart's proposal. The Planning Commission last week recommended approval of the project after holding a public hearing and two additional meetings on the matter.

Goodwin said he was happy with the present makeup of the commission. He appointed both of the members from his district.

But he said he would be concerned about the size of the group if the county needed to be divided into more than five magisterial districts.

Supervisor Teri Pace suggested the commission be reconstituted with seven members--one appointed by each of the five supervisors and two at-large members.

Pandak noted that the easiest thing for supervisors to do would be to dissolve the present commission and start a new one. Frame asked Pandak for more details and noted that there would be more debate after looking at various proposals.

Robin Knepper: 540/972-5701

http://fredericksburg.com/News/FLS/2009/072009/07022009/477072/printer_friendly

Again the BOS e-mail addresses are

Chairman R. Mark Johnson
rmj142@yahoo.com

Supervisor Zack Burkett
zburkett@orangecountyva.gov

Supervisor Teel Goodwin
Teel.Goodwin@vabb.com

Vice Chairwoman Teri L. Pace
tpacedist4@aol.com

Supervisor Lee Frame
leeframe@orangecountyva.gov

[Busterbuttonboy]

Re: The Wilderness Alert !!!!

So Classy They let him go.




By the Associated Press

July 4, 2009
ORANGE, Va. - A local official who suggested a different location for a Wal-Mart Supercenter than a proposed site near a Civil War battlefield in Virginia has lost his job.

Orange County Administrator Bill Rolfe was fired Friday night after supervisors met in a closed session.

Wal-Mart is seeking the board's blessing for a store near the Wilderness battlefield. Historians have loudly complained about the location. Wal-Mart maintains the store will not disturb the battlefield.

In an e-mail sent to supervisors June 15, Rolfe said it would be in the county's best interests to broker a deal with the retailer to move the proposed store somewhere else in the county.

County planners have recommended approval of the Wal-Mart store.

http://www.wtkr.com/news/dp-va--wal-martbattlefie0704jul04,0,7350480.story

[Dignann]

Re: The Wilderness Alert !!!!

Classy, real classy.

Eric

[Busterbuttonboy]

Re: The Wilderness Alert !!!!

http://fredericksburg.com/News/FLS/2009/072009/07032009/477577/printer_friendly

Orange to scold county leader
July 3, 2009 12:36 am

BY ROBIN KNEPPER

Orange County supervisors are taking the county administrator to the woodshed tonight over his suggestion that they explore other possible sites for a Wal-Mart Supercenter.

It is unclear whether Bill Rolfe will still have his job when they are done.

The supervisors expressed their chagrin after getting an e-mail from Rolfe June 15 advising that it would be in the best interest of the county to "broker a deal that keeps Wal-Mart in the County and moves it further away from the congressionally approved boundary line of the Wilderness Battlefield."

Rolfe continued, "We know we have an adjoining property owner willing to work with the county and with Wal-Mart. We have seen a 50+ year master plan for approximately 900 acres of the approximate 2,000-acre adjoining tract of land that seems to work within the framework of the County's comprehensive plan."

Rolfe was referring to the King family's proposed Wilderness Crossing mixed-use development just west of the proposed Wal-Mart location at the intersection of State Routes 3 and 20. He sent a copy of his e-mail to the supervisors to the King family's local representative, Kenny Dotson.

Dotson said he, in turn, forwarded it to Jim Campi of the Civil War Preservation Trust, Rob Nieweg of the National Trust for Historic Preservation and Catharine Gilliam of the National Parks Conservation Association.

Preservationists oppose the proposed Wal-Mart site, saying it is too close to the Civil War battlefield park.

"I told them that Bill had gone out on a limb and we needed to support him," Dotson said yesterday. "I have the utmost respect for him, and he is in a difficult position trying to move the board forward."

Supervisor Mark Johnson's immediate response to the e-mail was that Rolfe was "treading on some damn thin ice."

Supervisor Zack Burkett put the subject of Rolfe's views on the agenda for the closed session after the regular supervisors' meeting this past Tuesday.

No action was taken after that meeting, but yesterday Chairman Lee Frame called a special meeting for next Tuesday night to address the escalating situation.

That day was inconvenient for three of the supervisors, so a special closed meeting "to discuss assignment and performance of a specific employee" was scheduled for 7 tonight.

"We'll be talking about a personnel issue," Frame said. "That's an issue that we normally deal with in a closed session, not in the press. With personnel issues we must respect privacy.

"I'm trying to walk a fine line right now and not exacerbate the situation," he said.

Supervisor Teel Goodwin said he was disappointed that Rolfe's views on the Wal-Mart site were presented so late in the approval process.

"There's some displeasure as a result of the article about Bill's e-mail appearing on the front page of The Free Lance-Star," he said. "The suggestions about moving the Wal-Mart have been out there, but I don't agree with it coming up at this point in time.

"It makes people look like idiots, and it makes it appear that some change is going on."

Goodwin, along with Supervisors Burkett and Mark Johnson, has said he would support a special-use permit to build a 138,000-square-foot Supercenter on the commercially zoned land.

The county Planning Commission voted last week to recommend that supervisors approve the application. The board will hold a public hearing July 27.

So, will Bill Rolfe keep his job?

"It's not a sure thing," said Goodwin. "It's up in the air, and anything's possible. But I'm not making a move.

"I can't say he's toasty," Goodwin continued, "but he'll surely get severely reprimanded after this."