County, Abingdon Hammering Out Center’s Details

By Debra McCown
Reporter / Bristol Herald Courier
Published: June 10, 2008

BY DEBRA McCOWN
BRISTOL HERALD COURIER
ABINGDON, Va. – Washington County and the town of Abingdon are a step closer to working out the details of a proposed recreation complex, following a Thursday meeting by four county and town leaders.

“The town and county have come to sort of a tentative agreement pending final board [of supervisors] action,” County Administrator Mark Reeter said of the meeting between him, Board of Supervisors Chairman Kenneth Reynolds, Town Manager Greg Kelly and Mayor Lois Humphreys.

The issue is on the agenda for tonight’s meeting of the Washington County Board of Supervisors, which must approve any deal.

The Abingdon Town Council authorized the town manager to negotiate with the county.

Reeter and Kelly said they agreed on a 60/40 split on financial responsibility for the $2.37 million purchase price of the 60-acre site.

They said they also agreed on the creation of a joint recreational authority to manage the project; an issue that remains is how the authority would be composed.

Reeter says there are two options. One would be for the authority’s board, which would have an odd number of members, to include equal numbers of town and county appointees, with these members selecting the final member.

The other would be for the county to have representation proportional to its financial backing. For example, a five-member board could include three county members and two appointed by the town.

“The board of supervisors has taken the position that if the county is putting in 60 percent of the ... financial backing of the project, then it should have 60 percent of the representatives on the board,” Reeter said.

But Kelly said the town wants equal representation.

“If you had a seven-person board, for example, the town would pick three representatives, the county would pick three, and those six together would pick the remaining one member,” Kelly said. “If they [the supervisors] vote in favor of what was proposed, then it looks like the complex will move forward.”

Asked whether he would go for the other option, with 60 percent representation for the county, Kelly said it would have to be run back by the Town Council.
“I doubt that would fly at this time,” Kelly said. “It would send us back to the drawing board.”

County supervisors have repeatedly expressed concern that the project was rushed into and that the details should have been worked out before a commitment was made to purchase a site.

The county and town plan to close on the property in October.

Kelly said discussion of the project began before he became town manager close to two years ago.

“It’s been an ongoing thought process for many years now, so I think it’s unrealistic to say it was rushed into,” Kelly said. “I hope that it happens, and I guess we’ll see how the board of supervisors votes on it on Tuesday.”

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