VDOT needs to maintain rights-of-way
While reading the July 16 article “Fincastle Town Council discusses grants, Water Quality Report and property maintenance,” we’re finding it a little bit interesting that town council is concerned about the grass in their residents’ yards is getting a little high, but my wife and I have also noticed that the grass along Mount Joy Road and Springwood Road near Springwood Baptist Church (for example, since we currently live in Springwood) is actually ABOVE the bottoms of the residents’ mailboxes! Much of it is as high as the bottom of the windows in the doors of my truck!
Is someone asking VDOT to more properly maintain their right-of-way at the same time that they are discussing their residents’ lawns? I do realize that the county is quite large, and that VDOT has to maintain hundreds of acres of grass, but these are main roads into and out of the area, and if we want to give tourists and other residents of our county a good impression of Botetourt County, this situation should be addressed in a timely manner as well.
I know that there are MANY residents who maintain the VDOT right-of-way near their homes because if we/they don’t, it won’t get done but perhaps once or twice a year.
Until we started maintaining it every week, I used to have to roll down my window and LISTEN to hear if any cars or trucks were coming before I could pull out of our piece of Thrasher Road near Mount Joy Road safely, the weeds and scrub trees were that high.
John Vukovich, Jr.
Buchanan
Resident questions Google’s benefit to the county
Our County Administration has worked out a secret deal to entice Google to build a data center in Greenfield. We’re told that we’ll gain substantial tax revenues, and because a data center needs so few employees to keep it running, there will be little pressure on the local infrastructure.
There was no discussion about the traffic and disruption which will occur during construction and what plans are in place to meet the enormous demands for water and electricity. And there seems to be no consideration for who we are inviting into the neighborhood.
This is the same Google that has a history of buying out or destroying competitors, using and selling your personal information, and manipulating searches to favor progressive results and to bury conservative results.
And why are so many data centers being built now? The proliferation of data centers is due to the expanded capacities needed for AI, the same AI that will over time eliminate many of the jobs that the county is already under-providing.
Charles Ruhl
Fincastle
