More than 10 speakers provided updates and previews of the coming year to nearly 50 people gathered for the second annual meeting with community leaders, an event held on Nov. 15. Hosted by the Patrick County Chamber of Commerce in collaboration with the Reynolds Homestead, Patrick County High School (PCHS) hospitality students prepared and served lunch.
P&HCC and the Patrick County Education Foundation
Angie Brown, site facilitator, said P&HCC has multiple locations where classes and services are offered, with general education classes, offered like English biology, and mathematics, available at the main site.
“We continue to work on program pathways to ensure that students put them on a focused career path as soon as possible so that they can achieve their goals whether that’s going into the workforce or transferring,” she said.
The Fabrication Laboratory is also housed there and provides design software and digital fabrication equipment like laser engravers and 3D printers that are available to students, businesses, and makers in the community. Classes are offered for the equipment.
The Baliles-Reynolds Learning Center across from the P&HCC site houses mechatronics equipment and a lab where classes in industrial electronics and mechatronics are offered, Brown said.
The automation and robotics program, which has in-demand credentials, is also onsite. Two cohorts have completed the Simmons mechatronics level 1 and NC3 industry certification. Level two is scheduled to begin in January.
“Manufacturing and maintenance technicians are highly sought after, well-paying positions as industries increasingly automate their processes,” she said.
Welding classes are held at Patrick County High School (PCHS), with dual enrollment classes offered during the day and other classes held in the evening.
“We continue to have great enrollment with a waiting list, and we are grateful to Patrick County High School and the Patrick County Schools for the opportunity,” she said.
Seven students have participated in the new powerline worker training class which started in September. Those students have completed the powerline portion of the certification and are now working on the Commercial Driver’s License (CDL) portion of the program offered in partnership with Wytheville Community College and PCHS.
The Patrick County Education Foundation was created to focus on the educational growth and economic mobility of Patrick County residents. Its early work focused on improving on-time high school graduation and GED attainment rates, she said.
“Now, the foundation understands the need for post-high school attainment is critical to meet the demands of employers,” she said, adding that in 2022, the national post-high school attainment rate was 53.7 percent. Virginia’s rate was 59.3 percent. Patrick County’s was 28.8 percent.
“Which leads us to Patrick Promise. In support of the education foundation’s goal, the Patrick Promise will provide last-dollar funds for Patrick County graduates to attend Patrick & Herny Community College at no cost to the family for up to two-and-a-half years,” Brown said, adding that funds continue to be raised to help ensure the Promise can help graduating students.
Economic Development
Patrick Cooper, executive director of the Economic Development Authority (EDA), said he participated in a housing summit in Danville with the Southern Virginia Regional Alliance in mid-October, and “presented some of the available properties, mainly land, that Patrick County has to offer for developers. So, we’re very hopeful” that developers will follow up.
Strides are also being made on the mobile healthcare unit, Cooper said. A new truck was recently bought to pull a trailer that is being purchased. A respiratory machine, Life Pack15, communication equipment, and a custom truck bed for the new truck chassis were also ordered.
“We are preparing to contract for a custom trailer that will provide some enhanced medical capabilities,” he said.
Currently, the primary focus for the Business Development Center (BDC) and Recovery Center is working on asbestos abatement from the property’s flooring, he said, adding that the EDA is about 95 percent complete on documents to secure some funding to start the Cockram’s Mill and Freehouse Brewery projects.
PCHS
PCHS Assistant Principal & CTE Coordinator Trey Cox said the school system is focused on high-quality, work-based learning.
“It’s not really a mandate from the VDOE (Virginia Department of Education), but it is getting our kids into careers that they can make a living at, be at home, live in Patrick County,” he said.
Cox said employment and the things that are going to happen cannot be predicted, but “when we talk to you guys, you can help us predict what you need and what you need coming up. That’s what we have to do. We work hand in hand with P&H, they have things we’re trying to incorporate into our schools. We want to model ourselves, in our CTE, like P&H.”
Cox said the school does a lot of fundraising and goes after grants to provide opportunities to students.
One opportunity is the Marketplace under the new School Board Office, where food, plants, things made in the woodshop, and other items, will be available for purchase.
“Our students will be working that, which once again leads into our high-quality work-based learning, which is giving them the experience they need to come out into the workforce,” he said.
West Piedmont Planning District Commission
Interim Director Kristie Eberly said the organization offers numerous services including community development, economic development, comprehensive economic strategy for the region, housing planning and development, transportation planning, and hazard mitigation planning.
In Patrick County, Eberly said the WWPDC has been assisting with the Moonshine Heritage Trail, Rich Creek Business Park, and the Star Theatre.
The agency “is also handling the broadband projects for the region and currently Charter (Charter Spectrum) is working on permitting and getting under construction in several areas. Appalachian Power and Riverstreet Networks” are finishing engineering and will be under construction in February 2024, she said.
Eberly said the other project WPPDC has been working on is the Business Development Center where it helped secure funding for that, and hopes to be advertising for a contractor in early 2024.
Patrick County Tourism
Director James Houchins said “As we transition into 2024, we’re going to be highlighting” the natural resources available in the county, and “those amenities that we have.”
By working with the West Piedmont Planning Commission and the Friends of Southwest Virginia, Houchins said there are some grants that are going to be coming up that should grow the county even more.
Houchins said the more than 70 entities in the county on Airbnb “do well, so we’ve got areas to increase in. We would love to have a hotel, not to take away business from Primland, but to help that business. Because if you’re not able to stay overnight, you could still go and do the golfing, you could go do the horseback riding, you could do any of the trails, and you could stay at a local hotel.”
Houchins said attracting a hotel to locate in the county is on his wish list for a number of reasons.
“It would help us in our sports tourism and in other ways,” he said, adding it would “enhance what we have.”
Houchins also spoke about the Moonshine Heritage Trail, working on getting the Covered Bridge Festival restarted, and the VA250 Council focused on celebrating the 250th anniversary of the American Revolution.
Primland Resort
Rajiv Malhotra, general manager, said the resort had another strong year and is expected to finish the year with about 70 percent occupancy.
“We have a total of 64 keys, and the 70 percent occupancy is at a rate of about $805 per room per day. So, that’s a very, very strong number,” he said, adding Primland has added two luxury treehouses for a current total of five for rent.
“We spent a little shy of $1 million for the treehouses. We opened them in early October, and they have been doing very well,” he said, adding the cost per night is $4,000.
Another mountain home, this one a six-bedroom, is currently being built, he said. It has an estimated cost of around $5 million and will be ready in the first quarter of 2024.
Virginia Department of Transportation
In addition to the U.S. 58 project, resident engineer Lisa Price-Hughes said road construction projects are planned, including two intersection safety projects.
“One’s at 103 and Hatchers Chapel (Road) and Archie’s Creek Road intersection. This is $1.2 million proposed for the spring of 2025,” she said. “Then we have” the intersection “of Route 8 at Ashby Drive. That’s a $5.4 million project also proposed to begin in the fall of 2025.”
Price-Hughes said work on the TJ George Bridge in Stuart has a construction estimate of $10,340,000.
VDOT is currently working with a consultant on the scope and fee proposal for the project.
“The new bridge will be two spans with a pier in the center, 32 feet wide, and a five-foot sidewalk on the upstream side, so we can accommodate the pedestrians that we know use that bridge,” she said.
Price-Hughes said it will be a complicated project that likely will have multiple temporary signals involved because of trying to maintain access to the businesses and the different legs of the nearby intersections.
“It’s going to be a lot of coordination required for the local businesses. But it’s going to be complex, in addition to some of the utilities that are there around the bridge,” she said.
Price-Hughes said the Vesta section of U.S. 58 is four miles long and mostly in a new location.
“This is going to be a design-build contract, similar to what we have for Lovers Leap. The engineering services and the construction services are in one contract. The estimate for that project is $235 million,” she said.
The request for quotes for the project is scheduled to be advertised in the summer of 2024 and the notice of award is expected to be posted in the spring of 2025.
“Right now, we’re looking at six to seven years from that notice of award to the end of construction. So, it’s a long process but it will be worth it to get that additional section of 58 completed and take us all the way,” she said.
Patrick County Parks & Recreation
Travis Murphy, the director, said the department is working to introduce more senior citizen activities in the future.
“Our sports programs are still going strong for the kids. For the next year my goals are to expand a bit more on the softball programs that we had success in the fall, the adult softball program, which was co-ed, we helped out the Patrick Springs softball league,” he said.
Murphy said football season is finishing and the basketball program will soon begin. The department has also worked to provide more items for every park.
“I know there’s a lot of growth opportunities, and I do have a” potential list of ideas “that will be economically dynamic, I think, for the county. This will take some time that will bring in a lot of economic opportunities … and also enable our youth a better opportunity to grow in sports,” he said.
Town of Stuart
Stuart Town Manager Bryce Simmons provided an update on projects he discussed at last year’s event.
“The Town of Stuart has completed the $2 million wastewater treatment plant improvement project. We’ve installed a new raw water pump for our water treatment plant, we were able to use ARPA (American Rescue Plan Act) funds for that,” he said.
The town hired a new public works director, repainted the caboose red, and reinstated the Planning Commission.
“We’re currently working on our Comprehensive Plan along with the West Piedmont Planning District Commission. Being able to get that commission back in order has been really great in reviewing our ordinances, helping to better plan for the future of the Town of Stuart,” he said.
Simmons said the town has also completed the Star Theatre feasibility study in cooperation with funding from One Family Productions and the Tobacco Commission. The results ultimately led to the town purchasing the Star Theatre.
The Downtown Revitalization Project and Plan was completed by Hill Studio in March 2023 and approved by the town council. The town has applied for approximately $1.7 million to fund aspects of that plan, Simmons said.
“At this time, the plan improvements include parking improvements at the Farmers’ Market, and the adjacent areas, plus a new playground with ADA (American Disabilities Act) accessibility at the top of the hill, a new bandshell over the concrete pad at the existing market, wayfinding signage throughout all of town,” he said.
Simmons said the most exciting part is the collaborative project with the property owners to build a structural deck along the historic properties between Patrick Avenue and South Main Street called the Mega Deck.
“I really think that’s going to be a great community effort that will draw people to our downtown,” he said.
Patrick County
County Administrator Beth Simms said because new board members will be sworn in in January, the county will consider a strategic vision early next year.
“My job as county administrator is to work with them in setting a strategic vision for the county,” Simms said, noting that the county must pull together in the same direction and identify where it’s coming from, what opportunities it has, and then, get to work.
“Yes, we’re Patrick County. Yes, we’re small. Yes, we’re un-zoned. Yes, we’re rural. That doesn’t mean that we can’t have best practices and we shouldn’t have high expectations,” she said, adding the county cannot be shy or afraid to ask for help, because doing so is an opportunity to learn from other localities.
Infrastructure, like roads and water and sewer, and housing, help bring new businesses, “so, water and sewer is something that the board wants to look at and something” to consider in terms of “how do we enhance and increase and improve water and sewer infrastructure to make our community more attractive to residents and businesses,” she said.
Branch Civil
Project Superintendent Chad Sutton said the primary focus this year is the earth movement for the U.S. 58 expansion project. The company is preparing to move about 10 million yards of dirt for the project. To date, about 4.3 million yards have been moved.
“There’re nine box culverts to install. The total length of the box culverts is about 1,200 million feet of box to be installed. The project is actually 7.4 miles long from the top of the mountain to where it ties in at the four lanes,” he said.
While 7.4 miles may not seem like a lot, Sutton said there are two lanes each way, “so, really it’s 29.2 miles of lane miles, plus turn lanes and side roads and all of that.”
Sutton said deep drainage, which moves an existing stream or creek under or around a road, and top drainage will be used.
“There’s roughly 9,400 feet of deep drainage and there is roughly 37,000 feet of top drainage. Top drainage is kind of (what) controls your rainwater, moves it along, moves it into sediment basins to be filtered out, cleaned out, and then put back into the existing creeks and streams,” he said.
Sutton said there are 82,000 tons of base asphalt that will be put down for the project, 37,000 tons of intermediate asphalt, and 35,000 tons of surface asphalt.
This is similar to the amount of asphalt put down for the almost 8-mile Tri-County connector project.
