By Nancy Lindsey
The Patrick County Board of Supervisors voted unanimously Monday night to pass a resolution declaring a local emergency exists in Patrick County due to the tornado that hit the Ararat community on Feb. 24.
Dan River District Supervisor Roger Hayden, board chairman, said the resolution was necessary to qualify the county for funding from federal agencies such as the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) and the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).
The resolution states that the board of supervisors finds that “due to the occurrence of an EF1 tornado, the County of Patrick is facing a condition of extreme peril to the lives, safety and property of the residents of Patrick County.”
It also states that “as a result of this extreme peril, the proclamation of the existence of an emergency is necessary to permit the full powers of government to deal effectively with this condition of peril.”
The resolution states that “a local emergency now exists throughout the County of Patrick.”
“It is further proclaimed and ordered that during the existence of this emergency the powers, functions and duties of the Director of Emergency Management and the Emergency Management organizations and functions of the county of Patrick shall be those prescribed by the laws of the Commonwealth of Virginia and the ordinances, resolutions, and approved plans of the County of Patrick in order to mitigate the effects of said emergency,” the resolution states.
“In order to carry out the effect of this resolution, a sum of money…is hereby appropriated from the County’s contingency fund to cover the reasonable operational costs of emergency services pending further report to this Board and such additional appropriations as shall be deemed necessary to cover the expected scope of this emergency,” the resolution states.
The amount that might be appropriated was not given on the copy of the resolution given to The Enterprise and was not discussed by the board.
In other matters at the Feb. 29 meeting:
•The board held another lengthy discussion of emergency medical services, a quick response vehicle, paid EMS and a paid ambulance service, with no agreement and no resolution.
Approximately 30 people attended the meeting.
•Steve Allen, emergency management coordinator, gave a report on the tornado that hit Ararat last week and the generous response from the community to help residents affected by the tornado. (See related story.)
•Following a brief executive session, the board approved the following appointments: on a motion by Blue Ridge District Supervisor Karl Weiss, Joanne Spangler was named to the Patrick County Social Services Board; on a motion by Dan River District Supervisor Roger Hayden, Jane Fulk was named to the Tourism Advisory Council (TAC); and on a motion by Mayo River District Supervisor Lock Boyce, Pam Craig was named to the social services board.
The board’s next meeting is scheduled for March 14 at 6 p.m.
