Editorial
Jason Tyree will work his final day as Buena Vista city manager this Friday, March 13, two days shy of the fifth anniversary of his first day on the job. Just over a month after he was appointed interim city manager, former Police Chief Wayne Handley is set to begin his solo stint of overseeing Buena Vista’s city government next week.
A lot of positive things have happened in the five years Tyree has been city manager. Most recently, he was successful in applying for a $2.3 million federal grant to begin the process of upgrading the city’s wastewater treatment plant. Tyree and Handley both reported to City Council this past Thursday that they have been working with regional partners at the Maury Service Authority and in Augusta County to secure key components to help bring the plant into compliance with Department of Environmental Quality regulations.
Upgrading the plant is one of two major capital improvement projects that Tyree and Handley are jointly overseeing during the transition in city leadership. The other is a planned addition to Parry McCluer High School so that the city’s sixthand seventh-graders can relocate there from the century-old Parry McCluer Middle School. The latest plan calls for constructing a combined gymnasium/auditorium and a new wood shop at the high school and reconfiguring existing classrooms so as to create separate middle school space.
Shoring up the city’s finances has been a hallmark of Tyree’s tenure at the helm of Buena Vista’s government. Settling the city’s golf course debt was perhaps the greatest achievement of his administration. The extrication from that fiscal quagmire has made it possible for the city to undertake these longoverdue capital projects. Economic development initiatives have further enhanced the city’s financial footing. Among those who have played key roles in the city’s successes under Tyree are Kristina Ramsey, director of economic development; Tom Roberts, director of community development; and Steve Bolster, director of finance.
The most significant economic development news for the city was Modine Manufacturing’s announcement this past year that it was investing $19.6 million in an expansion of its Buena Vista operations, adding 57 new jobs and relocating its heating division here. Other positive economic development news in Buena Vista recently include a new Tractor Supply store coming to the former Green Forest shopping center, the opening of Mountain Gateway Community College’s Wilson Workforce Center in the former Courtesy Ford building, the Junction 245 Marketplace of the Virginia Innovation Accelerator opening in the former Mundet-Hermetite factory building and several new businesses opening downtown.
Having all of these successes is not to say the city is not without plenty of fiscal challenges ahead. The budget planning process is beginning with the city staring at a substantial gap between projected revenues and anticipated expenditures. The city’s composite index went up so that the amount of state funding Buena Vista is slated to receive is to go down, though not by as much as was initially feared. The latest information suggests the city’s state aid for the schools will decline by $150,000. Also, health insurance premiums are expected to rise by 14 percent, or about $150,000.
Navigating a smooth transition from Tyree’s leadership to that of Handley’s should make it easier for the city to meet these challenges. A transition among other city leadership positions is also transpiring. The city is getting ready to interview candidates for the positions of director of parks and recreation and director of public works. Hiring the right people for these key positions is pivotal to maintaining the momentum of the city’s recent successes.
Also critical, of course, to future successes of Buena Vista will be hiring the right person later this year to be Buena Vista’s next city manager.
