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Something to sleep on
Nelson and Amherst Counties to consider plan to build $53 million agriculture complex
If you’re not too busy buying a Presidents’ Day Sale mattress — the mattress lobby must be powerful because I’ve never quite figured out why this is even a thing — consider thumbing through this mammoth 158-page report for a proposed $53 million joint Amherst County/Nelson County agricultural complex. Thanks to Sean Tubbs’ great blog for refreshing my memory about the meeting to take place Feb. 21 at the Amherst County Administrative Building.
Quite the building, eh? But wait, there’s more!
A greenhouse. An area to work cattle. A horse facility. Fairgrounds. A farmers’ market. And, wait for it: 16 cabins. Are Amherst and Nelson Counties getting into the lodging business?
Let’s look under the hood a bit: This roughly 300-acre property is located along US 29 on the Amherst County side and is owned by “Tri County Properties LLC and Others,” according to county records. With an assessed value of $953,300, the purchase price remains to be negotiated, but it looks like the report estimates cost of acquisition to be around $1.2 million (turn to page 15 of the report). The registered agent of that LLC is Charles E. Farris. His son is farmer/developer/real estate agent Virginia Delegate Matt Farris, a Republican who represents Virginia’s 59th District, a territory that includes Appomattox and Buckingham Counties, as well as parts of Albemarle, Campbell, and Nelson. The land was previously owned by EWG Corporation, which filed for bankruptcy in 2018, a day before it was set to hit the auction block at the courthouse in Lovingston (Source: Daily Progress, paywall). EWG owned Black Eagle Farm, the home of Piney River Organics, and the site of a $3 million egg production facility, which came under scrutiny by an animal protection group.
Moral of the story? Best to not count all of your chickens before they hatch. Also, when it comes to choosing a mattress today, I represent Team Plush, and our chickens are all about hemp bedding.
Something to sleep on
Thank you for reminding the citizens that 2 of our BOS continue to push for this expensive BOONDOGGLE. Why in the world would our taxpayers fund such an expensive project in another county when our own citizens are begging for recreation facilities in OUR county? These 2 BOS members must be getting something out of it, but what? Could it be the one who owns the insurance agency gets the entire insurance account for the Amherst facility’s and the other one gets a piece of the building contract? Just wondering what they are pushing so hard when it’s already been voted down by our BOS. That’s what happens when you give the Chairman another term with only 1 opposing.