Halifax Hosts Three Public Hearings Tuesday, October 14

Halifax Town Council will conduct three public hearings during their Tuesday night regular monthly meeting. The first of those focuses on a request for a special use permit for Dana Jones which will allow her to have a home occupation business in a residential district. Jones will be working from her home with several local tax and bookkeeping services.

The second hearing is advertised to solicit public input on an application to the Virginia Department of Transportation for funding through its Enhancement Program for the Banister Bridge Project.

Lastly Council will hold its second required public hearing on the centralization of the Town's municipal election polling place to be located in the gymnasium of the Mary Bethune Complex for the 2010 municipal election.

Following a recommendation from its Current Affairs Committee on Thursday afternoon, Council is expected to approve the Banister River Monitoring Project to be carried out by B&B Consultants, Inc. The project will entail having water samples taken from the Banister River near the Coles uranium site in Pittsylvania County to establish the baseline quantity of uranium found in the water of the river.

Members are also expected to approve the Town's participation in a regional water supply project which will also include Halifax County and the three other towns in the county - South Boston, Scottsburg and Virgilina. The cost of the study is expected to run somewhere between $50,000 and $100,000 with the cost being divided among the participating jurisdictions on a per person basis. The project must be approved no later than November 2, but will not have to be carried out until 2011.

Council is also expected to approve the move to Benchmark Bank for the Town's financial operations while maintaining some of the services of Sun Trust bank.

A report on the plans of the Halifax Village Business Association shows that a Halloween event is scheduled for Friday, Oct. 31 from 5:30-8 p.m. which will include a costume contest and pumpkin carving. An Open House is scheduled for Thursday, Nov. 20 from 5:30-8 p.m. and the annual Christmas parade has been set for Friday, Dec. 5 from 6 to 6:30 p.m.

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