Collinsville District Supervisor Joe Bryant hosted a town hall Tuesday to update residents on county affairs, particularly those related to the Collinsville area.
Bryant, who serves as vice chairman and is running for re-election, told attendees he would not take questions related to his campaign until after the town hall, despite the presence of his opponent, Chris Lawless, and several Lawless supporters.
Bryant shared updates on a range of projects throughout the county. He discussed the School Drive Apartments in the former John Redd Smith Elementary School building and said other affordable housing projects are in the works in Villa Heights and on Halifax Drive.
“We’re trying to make these houses where a person can afford to buy a house and live in Henry County,” he said.
Bryant also announced a partnership between the Career Academy and the county school system to offer EMT Basic courses to high school students. He cited a decline in local volunteers as a major concern.
“The problem that we’re having out there is we’re losing our volunteers right and left,” he said.
Currently, the program is focused on rescue squad training, but Bryant said there is potential for expansion.
“Maybe later on they may be doing Firefighter 1, fire departments. Right now, it’s just basically rescue squads,” he said.
He also gave updates on other county efforts, including:
*New crosswalk installations
*Waived bus fees for low-income riders using the PART system
*Preliminary work on a new leg of the Dick and Willie Trail
*Updates to the county’s comprehensive plan
*Funding for a new HVAC system at Fieldale-Collinsville Middle School
*A new fire engine for the Collinsville Fire Department
Henry County Treasurer Scott Grindstaff shared changes to local tax deadlines.
Real estate taxes will be due Oct. 1, with a grace period through Oct. 31. Penalties begin Nov. 1. Personal property taxes will be due Dec. 1, with a grace period until Dec. 15. Penalties will begin Dec. 16.
County Administrator and Public Service Authority (PSA) Director Dale Wagoner also addressed attendees, focusing on economic development.
“One of the priorities of Henry County is economic development, and what we do in a community depends a lot on our economic development. It’s a goal of ours to not create jobs—the government doesn’t create jobs—we want to create an environment where jobs can create themselves,” he said.
Wagoner said the county is working to build high-quality industrial parks and shell buildings and to maintain low taxes and a small government footprint. He noted that the last county tax increase was in 2017—the only one in 25 years.
Wagoner provided a breakdown of the county’s $222 million budget:
- 65% for education
- 15% for the Sheriff’s Office and public safety
- 9% for the Department of Social Services
- 2.5% for planning and building inspections
- 2% for parks and recreation
- The remaining percentage goes to other county operations
He also discussed a new shell building being developed at the Patriot Centre Industrial Park.
“Why do we build shell buildings? Because the reality is, people don’t wake up in other parts of the world and think about Henry County every morning,” he said. “And if we don’t build shell buildings, if we don’t create high-quality industrial sites, then we’re not going to attract their attention.”
Wagoner said the county has intentionally worked to diversify its industries since the decline of the furniture and textile sectors.
“Our intentionality since then has been to not put all our eggs in one basket. We intentionally went after smaller companies. Not 5,000 jobs like DuPont once had here, but two or three hundred jobs so if one of them goes under like Vanity Fair did, it doesn’t make an earthquake shatter through our whole community,” he said. “It’s only a small impact and we can absorb it better.”
Wagoner also addressed the recent court ruling in favor of Martinsville in the city’s legal dispute with the county PSA. He said it’s too early to comment on how the PSA will respond, including whether it will appeal.
He emphasized that the county budget will not be impacted, as the PSA is a separate entity.
“The PSA is a separate governmental entity from the county, so there is no legal burden on the county. It’s a burden on the Public Service Authority,” he said.
“The PSA is sound financially right now. We’ve put off a lot of capital projects and some other stuff knowing this lawsuit was being dragged out since 2016,” he said. “The PSA had their first rate increase in 12 years effective July 1 … it could very well have an impact on the future rates of the Public Service Authority depending on the final outcome of the case. But right now, we don’t know to what magnitude.”
Jeff McCambridge, maintenance operations manager with the Virginia Department of Transportation (VDOT), provided an update on roadwork at Bassett Forks.
“The work going on here at Dyers Street, or Dodge Store and McDonald’s, what’s going in there is a thing called through cuts and what that’s going to do is eliminate one phase of the stop light,” he said.
McCambridge noted the project is on hold for about a month due to a back order on signal posts.
He also said VDOT is finishing its first round of mowing and will soon begin again on primary and secondary routes.
