Dear Editor:
As a retired business owner and a follower of current events, I found Al Bedrosian’s letter (“County Needs to Focus on Basics,” August 21, 2013) interesting and illustrative.
Mr. Bedrosian’s complaint was essentially that Roanoke County is unlikely to recruit businesses due to not spending more money on mowing the median strip of Peters Creek Road more often. Median strips are actually maintained by the state, not by local governments. VDOT wisely chose to mow less often when Virginia was faced with a choice between raising taxes and cutting spending during the Great Recession.
This illustrates that Mr. Bedrosian might not understand who maintains county roads nor what is important to businesses.
On August 6, two weeks before that letter was published, and very likely before it was written, it was announced that The Ardagh Group would be establishing a new manufacturing operation in the vacant Hanover Direct building on nearby Hollins Road. This operation will employ nearly 100 people in well-paying jobs, and additional spin-off jobs are likely to result.
When businesses consider new locations, they seek communities with a range of appealing attributes beyond the basics, including good schools, a well-educated workforce, and quality-of-life amenities such as nice parks. Could we expect appropriate emphasis on such issues from a Supervisor Bedrosian?
Tom Mall
Vinton
