Here's What Dr. Seuss (Hunt Riegel) Said At Last Week's Chamber Breakfast

When 2009 Rockbridge County Board of Supervisors Chairman Hunt Riegel spoke at last week’s State of the Community breakfast, he adopted the tone of Dr. Seuss when he reported on the state of Rockbridge County. The full text of his speech follows.

A Year in Rockbridge County Government
R. Hunt Riegel

When asked to speak about the things we've done
I tried to think of ways to make it fun.
These next few minutes, then I hope
Will please you well and not make me a dope.

It won't take long, I promise most sincere
So sit back, rest and lend a patient ear.
To each main area we'll give some focus
And hope you won't think this just hocus-pokus.

Water
The bay, a long neglected water treasure,
Polluted by long years of random pleasure,
Now calls on all far-off localities
To purify waste water, if you please.

The water's pressure's still a strong concern
And all involved to options now do turn
A water loop and tank on Brushy Hill
May please the most, but leave a hefty bill.

Economic Development
At Natural Bridge the high school closed its doors
As did the gym with its composite floors.
And now we watch with wond'ring eyes and pride
As neighbors come together side by side.

The gym and center now opens its doors
And games are played again upon its floors.
The high school houses yet another space
For incubating new business apace.

The high school boasts a kitchen, desks and more
And even day care has a spot in store
To bring in businesses we all can cheer
And raise the chances jobs will settle here.

It's critical to focus even so
On businesses already on the go.
Support for growth of local enterprise
Is not just good: it's very, very wise.

Good agriculture is our life's desire
Say farmers and the hands they seek to hire
More local food is in our future plans
As local produce markets do expand.

Jail
The jail is crowding and the push is hard
To double it into the 'joining yard
We wonder if a future jail expansion
Will leave us with a penal code McMansion.

Of late we got the devastating news
The juvey home was facing closure blues
The program was the best one in the state
Bean counters sealed its most ungraceful fate.

As we go forward betting that the jail
Will need some extra beds, we shouldn't fail
To pay good heed to locate cheaper ways
To house and safely supervise our strays.

Broadband
Big business isn't looking at our heights
But smaller outfits looming in our sights
Are asking if they can communicate
From distant Rockbridge hills without a wait.

It's fiber optics we now seek to place
Throughout the county: we are in a race
To write the grants and make friends true and steady
Proposing broadband now: it's shovel-ready.

Waste
Our landfill closing draws too near to hide
The trash and eyesores we so long deride
The county casts about to seek a hero
Resolving now to bring our waste to zero.

In time we hope to have a new routine
For better managing the waste we've seen
Instead of filling holes atop the bluff
We seek to use and re-use all our stuff.

But what of all the methane flying away
From deep inside our landfill every day?
To capture and to flare we hope to start
With power made electric as a part.

Joint services
To get things done in complete harmony
The cities and the county must agree
On fire and rescue calls they take each day
As well as finding ways the bills to pay.

A long term pact is what we all must seek,
Including what's to happen with Moores Creek.
The best approach, for which I strongly vote,
Is REGIONAL, I beg you all to note.

Revenue
A reassessment's in the cards this year;
It's one we hope won't rate our homes too dear.
Our aim again is holding to the line
That keeps our tax in check, so it won't climb.

Some commonwealth deciders, being daft,
Are passing on to local boards the shaft
Our representatives don't have to guess:
Without the funds, our mandates should be less.

So now we open yet another year
What lies ahead we hope to praise, not fear.
I call on all who love this county well
To form relations we can better sell.

------
 

This is part of the January 6, 2010 online edition of The News-Gazette.

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