City Council tables land deal

Chris Graham

Waynesboro City Council has tabled for two weeks its consideration of a land deal that would put city taxpayers on the hook for $3.475 million to purchase land for a business park. Without comment, the City Council voted unanimously Monday night to table a resolution that would authorize City Manager Mike Hamp to close a…

A way to finance the land deal

Chris Graham

Here’s how Waynesboro City Council can close the deal on a proposed industrial park without breaking the bank. Three words, two hyphenated: low-interest, back-ended loan. The idea – the city agrees to purchase the land, approximately 170 acres located off South Delphine near the Interstate 64 interchange at Exit 96, and the property’s owners, Afton…

Business park: A good idea*

Chris Graham

You might notice the asterisk. More on that in a moment. Before we get there, let me just say – oh, yeah, this business park is no question a good idea with great potential to add to the economic base for Waynesboro. I’ve been saying that since my own campaign for City Council in 2008,…

A $10 million-plus gamble?

Chris Graham

If you build it, they might come. If you don’t, they can’t. That could be one way to sum up the rationale behind the anticipated move by Waynesboro City Council to buy approximately 170 acres of land on the southeast edge of the city for future development as an industrial park. “We’ve not hidden from…

VDOT awards Staunton District contracts

Chris Graham

At its June 15 meeting, the Commonwealth Transportation Board awarded two projects in the Virginia Department of Transportation Staunton District. The VDOT Staunton District serves Frederick, Shenandoah, Clarke, Warren, Page, Rockingham, Augusta, Highland, Rockbridge, Alleghany and Bath counties. A Turnkey Asset Maintenance Services (TAMS) contract valued at $14.7 million was awarded to DBI Services of…

Chris Graham: A blueprint for Waynesboro’s economic future

Chris Graham

A road to somewhere, a “funky” downtown, a primary industry. Good advice from John Rhodes, a consultant hired by the city to assist in developing a new economic-development strategy. The good news is that we’ve already got a helluva base on which to build. The Waynesboro economy has nearly doubled in size in the past…

Creigh Deeds: Session report

Creigh Deeds

The regular 2011 session of the General Assembly began on the second Wednesday of January. The day was full of pomp and circumstance and some matters of substance. We swore in a new state senator, Bill Stanley, from Franklin County, who was elected to fill the seat of newly elected Congressman Robert Hurt. The Courts…