Questions for Board of Supervisor Candidates, Accomack County

Home Who We Are Our Mission Discussion Threads Archives In the News Events Calendar Make a Donation Contact SONs Words of Wisdom County & Zoning Info Take Our Survey Aerial Photos County Government Contacts Links

Respondent:  Laura Belle Gordy, District: 7 Date: 8/20/07 1. In your opinion, what are the top three problems for the county? A. Protecting our deep ground water aquifer B. Roads C. Public Safety 2. Why are these problems? A. Our best quality water is from the deep ground water aquifer. Less than one inch of the 47 inches of our annual rainfall recharges this deep aquifer. Unrestricted use of this deep aquifer can result in shortages which can hurt future generations and our economy. B. The roads in the county, like roads throughout the state, are in relatively poor condition. Funding from the state and federal government for needed repairs is not available and little prospect for new state and federal road funds is likely. Road maintenance and improvements to our roads to support traffic needs from recently approved subdivisions is necessary. It is likely that all counties, including Accomack, will be asked to begin providing financial support for road maintenance and construction. C. Volunteers in fire and emergency services have and will continue to be the foundation of Accomack County’s Public Safety system. However, the demands on our volunteers to respond to citizens calls, training, equipment and fund raising has and will continue to increase, along with the expectation of our citizens for prompt responses to their emergency calls. 3. What would you do about them if elected to the Board of Supervisors? A. I will encourage large water using industries, including food industries, using the deep aquifer to conserve the best quality water for our citizens. B. The state has recently provided a tool to Counties that will allow us to collect “transportation impact fees” from land developers. These funds can be held by the county and can be used to match state and federal dollars to maintain and improve our road system. I will also support the adoption of the US 13 Transportation Plan which provides additional tools to improve US 13 safety. C. I will meet with individual fire and Emergency Services Companies within my district to seek solutions to problems of our Countywide Fire/EMS delivery system. The County has conducted at least 3 studies of the Fire/EMS system and has never taken action on these studies. Our community has changed significantly over this period and so must our Fire/EMS system. 4. What do you think about water in the county – Storm water, Ground water, seawater, bay water? Sea level rise is occurring which will impact those in low lying areas and the county’s ability to deliver services. Our waters are vital to all citizens and to our economy and need to be protected. 5. What do you think of the recent (June, 2007) report on the Accomack County Public Safety System? The recent study on Accomack County’s Public Safety System repeated several of the recommendations presented in previous reports. Our volunteers are having increasing difficulty in meeting the state and federal mandatory training requirements and being available 24 hours a day while they juggle both family and employment responsibilities. The report outlines more than 160 recommendations. While reaching consensus will be a slow process, it is important to take action now in order to plan for the future. If you have questions or comments or would like to respond please click here.