On Nov. 9, 2011, the Wythe County Board of Supervisor’s held its bimonthly meeting at the County Administration Building at 7 p.m. At the meeting, the board accepted more than $130,000 in grants to assist fire and rescue efforts.

During citizens’ time, one citizen voiced concern about merit raises given to county employees, stating they were not presented in the budget brought before the public. However, board members and Cellell Dalton, County Administrator, assured the individual they were.

When the county budget is formulated, it is broken down into sections with line items outlining expenditures. The merit raises were included in the line item marked “salaries.” In addition, these funds were outlined in budget presentations given by overseeing county employees including Wythe County Sheriff Doug King.

Merit raises are not a new occurrence in the Wythe County budget. Nearly every year the board’s personal committee coordinates and evaluates suggestions received from department heads requesting a merit raise for specific employees.

In addition, raises were given to all employees, including teachers and other school employees, as is standard in Wythe County and other counties throughout the commonwealth.

Last year’s budget was one of few exceptions. In light of the recession, funds were frozen and employees were given a one time bonus at Christmas, outlined in the budget line item “bonuses.” The approval of merit raises and step raises in the budget process was standard procedure, disclosed to the public and had no relation to raises retracted from earlier in 2011.

Two grants were accepted by the board to aid in fire and rescue efforts throughout the county.

The first grant, awarded from the Virginia Department of Fire Programs in the amount of $2,000, was awarded to Max Meadows Fire and Rescue and Speedwell Volunteer Fire Department. These funds were allocated to purchase a new computer for each entity.

The second grant, in the amount of $131,500, was offered by the Wythe-Bland Foundation to benefit funding of updated equipment and training for the Wythe County Emergency Management Department, Ivanhoe Fire Department, Max Meadows Fire Department, Wytheville Fire Department, Wythe County Rescue Squad, Speedwell Fire Department and Rural Retreat Fire Department. The equipment, to include a community support pack, a two-way radio system and more, will be used to better meet the needs of the citizens of Wythe County, Wytheville, Rural Retreat and Fort Chiswell.

Before the end of the meeting, board member Coy McRoberts expressed his interest in Gary Cody, Wythe County Parks, Recreation and Tourism Director, exploring the eastern end of Wythe County. A motion passed for Cody to meet with the fire chief and provide a report back to the board regarding how the Barren Springs areas can be served with youth and senior related activities..

Cody has been in the process of contacting representatives in the Barren Springs area and planned to survey the eastern end of Wythe County on Thursday, Nov. 10.

Board member Gene Horney closed the meeting with an announcement that a walking track at Speedwell Elementary was confirmed to be in the process of beginning installation with funds obtained from a Wythe-Bland Foundation grant.