A referendum on a hotly debated Meals Tax may not make it onto the ballot this November due to a change in the law.

County Attorney Allen Black told the Patrick County Board of Supervisors on Monday new wording added to the statute in April states that a referendum may not be held for three subsequent calendar years following the defeat of a similar measure in a previous election.

Last November, voters voted against the referendum for the sixth time.

Karl Weiss, supervisor in the Blue Ridge District, questioned whether the change was retroactive to the November 2016 election, or applied only to elections held after April.

Black said he believed it is retroactive, and a majority of supervisors concurred.

Weiss said he will ask U.S. Rep. Morgan Griffith, R, for an opinion.

Also Monday, supervisors:

*Approved stepping up the usual procedure to provide the Moorefield Store Volunteer Fire Department access to their funds from 2016 to help buy a new fire truck. The approval was needed to help the department meet a contractual deadline and save 2 percent of the $320,000 estimated cost of the truck. The approval is contingent on the county’s receipt of current financial statements and a Bill of Sale.

*Heard from Lisa Hughes, resident engineer with the Virginia Department of Transportation, that the following roads are slated for improvement projects this year: Ravens Den, Mountain View and Howells Bottom.

*Appointed the following: Dale Puckett to a 4-year-term on the Patrick County Economic Development Authority; Bert Hatcher and Gary Plaster, 3-year terms each to the Southern Area Agency on Aging; and Rodney Kendrick, a 4-year-term on the Patrick County Public Service Authority.