By Matt de Simone
The Fincastle Town Council met in the Old District Court meeting room last Thursday.
Council appointed Richard Flora to replace Tyler Flinchum following Flinchum’s resignation in October. Flora brings years of experience to the council. He’s lived in Fincastle for the last year after spending a lot of time up and down the state. Flora previously lived in the Hollins area, Woodstock, and Big Stone Gap.
Flora’s grandmother grew up on Beaver Dam Farm in Buchanan, and he is familiar with Fincastle and its surroundings. Council members expressed that they are impressed with what Flora brings to the town and are looking forward to Flora sharing his expertise. Flora is responsible for setting up Craig County Public Schools’ first Capital Improvement Plan amongst other projects working with governing bodies and other councils in different sized communities.
“From time to time, we’ve had these openings, and just to have one with your experience working with government, working with town councils, and in different sized communities, that really is a gift to us,” Fincastle Mayor Mary Bess Smith said to Flora during the meeting.
The Big Spring Park revitalization and the memorial project remain in a holding pattern due to contractors being extremely backed up. Fincastle recently received another grant from the Virginia Department of Forestry. The project now has two grants totaling just under $200,000.
“We have contractors lined up, but their schedules are just so busy that they are several weeks out from being able to complete the work,” Fincastle Town Manager David Tickner mentioned in a recent email. “The grants require an RFP (Request for Proposals) for an engineering firm and study for the project. The study will tie down the project specifics, determine what permitting steps are necessary, estimate project costs and give us a basic roadmap to complete the project.”
Town Council approved the establishment of a part-time position of grants administrator and gave the mayor and town manager the authority to fill the position. The grants administrator will oversee, supervise, report on, and submit all necessary work and required documentation associated with the two grants the town has received for the renovations to Big Spring Park. Donnie Underwood, a retired Roanoke City Parks and Recreation employee, was instrumental in securing the Department of Conservation and Recreation and the Virginia Outdoors Foundation grants. Smith and Tickner foresee hiring Underwood for the new position.
Town Council updated the Fincastle Christmas Parade preparations for the Saturday, Dec. 4 event. The Botetourt Chamber of Commerce kicks off its Tinsel Trail the night before the parade with double the amount of trees from last year’s event to 40 trees. Friday morning, Smith and Tickner supervised the installment of Christmas decorations around the town.
In Fincastle’s historic district, several street lights recently burned out—notably, the street lights on the small poles like ones seen in front of the courthouse and down Main Street. The town replaced the bulbs during Fincastle’s renovation project in 2014. According to Tickner, they all seemed to burn out around the same time. The town is currently working to replace the bulbs.
The town did not raise the water and sewer rates in 2020 due to the pandemic, but the Infrastructure Committee has put a lot of consideration into this year’s rates. The town awaits a customer usage breakdown (residential vs. commercial) from the Western Virginia Water Authority. The committee did not have a recommendation for Town Council on a public hearing on the rate increase. In previous years, the town held a public hearing in October and then had a rate adjustment in January based on the hearing, although state code doesn’t require the town to do so.
The town looks to renovate some sections of sidewalk along Back Street in front of Fincastle Presbyterian Church. Some areas of the sidewalk are currently cracked or crumbling. The town will be using the same company that renovated the two blocks of Hancock Street between Breckinridge Elementary School and Main Street, EAL Concrete.
