Bristol Herald Courier from Bristol, Tennessee • 5

Region Inside Virginia ilm estival has another record breaking year A6 0 heraldcourier ACEBOOK HeraldCouriercom ONLINE or more local articles photos and video go to HeraldCouriercom a i Susan Cameron city editor scameronbnstolnewscom 276 645 2514 THURSDAY NOVEMBER 12 2015 BRISTOL HERALD COURIER HeraldCounercom A5 BOS approves 2 special exemption permits BY KAYLAN BRICKEY BRISTOL HERALD COURIER ABINGDON Va Although the Washington Cdunty Board of Supervisors tabled two rezon ing requests Tuesday it ended up unanimously approving two special exception permits one for a Dollar General store near Bristol and the other for an as phalt plant in Abingdon In a meeting that lasted until nearly midnight the board held four public hearings regarding rezonings and special exception permits The first public hearing was Washington Co for a Dollar General store on the west side of Gate City Highway near the intersection with Blue Jay Drive Approval of the permit was recommended by the Planning Commission Aaron Dickerson with JMB Investment Co who plans to construct the store said it will be 91000 square feet and will bring eight to 10 jobs He added that the company plans to to help cut down on any light pollution which some nearby residents voiced con cerns about during the Planning Commission meeting Only one person spoke against the project during Tues board meeting Donna Mumpower of Bristol Virginia said that if approved and built there would be two Dollar Gen eral stores within 10 miles of each other A new Dollar Gen eral recently opened on Euclid Avenue in Bristol really need to research before you make any judgments because I understand where going in this direc Mumpower said Supervisor Bill Gibson said Southwest Virginia coun ties would love to have our prob lem not having any new business closing and one county that is having new development and The other special excep tion permit request came from Ramirez Contracting on behalf of Eddie Ramirez for Ramirez Contracting who wants to op erate an asphalt plant on prop erty on the south side of Old Trail Road off Hillman Highway in Abingdon This permit was initially ap proved in May 2008 but Ramirez failed to complete construction in the required two years which he blamed on the tight econo my The project caused a stir seven years ago After a public hearing and a heated discussion among board members the project was approved 4 3 after the Planning Commission recommended de nying the permit Those who argued against it said it would negative affect See REZONING Page A6 BRISTOL MOTOR SPEEDWAY lafetig Colossus a A' 4 i i ixr TajflijftiTji tf We Tflii' 3IL fl DAVID CRIGGERBHC rendering of the new video board at Bristol Motor Speedway Workers break ground on new video board at BMS BY TAMMY CHILDRESS BRISTOL HERALD COURIER RISTOL Tenn Con struction on what Bristol Motor Speed way General Manager Jerry Caldwell calls an ing started Wednes day afternoon The giant TV nicknamed Colossus is touted as being the largest outdoor permanent center hung dig at the groundbreaking for the first tower kind of like the football game the closer if gets the more real it The four structures that will be built to hold the TV will reach between 189 200 feet The grandstands are 1 35 feet high 7 After the towers are in place four 350 foot cables will be stretched from the ONLINE Watch con crete being drilled for the first tower at ital display It is being installed for the much anticipated Battle at Bristol football game between Vir ginia Tech and the University of Tennessee which will take Herald place Sept 10 Couriercom at BMS towers to an anchor point behind the stands Then 600 feet of cable will run from each tower to the middle of the halo to hold the TV in the air Installing the system is a game changer for the speed way Caldwell said is when the fun really he said is an enhancement for the fans that attend BMS already It will feature four high resolution screens measuring approximately 30 feet tall by 63 feet wide and a massive sound system The display will hang from a halo shaped truss and feature an additional circu lar LED display beneath the screens that will be nearly 6 feet Caldwell said i It also opens us for many many options in the sports world and the entertainment world very excited this is another first for Bristol The entire project is slated to be complete before the April night race Jie TChildressbnstolnewscom 5 276 645 2512 TwitterTChildressBHC gm fO JI fijr I fflKgi IliKR! fc vS Isc rh I 1 A DAVID CRIGGERBHC BMS Executive Vice President and General Manager Jerry Caldwell talks about the begining of the installation of the new video board BELOW: Workers begin drilling holes that will hold the supports tMy s7 wg Mfcr JHMk Tenn Prisons Bolstering retention TDOC to give officers a retention affects 3000 The Associated Press NASHVILLE Tenn Tennes see prison administrators plan to give current officers a $1000 bo nus before the end of the year as part of an effort to bolster reten tion among a department that corrections officers say has been severely understaffed Tennessee Department of Cor rection Commissioner Derrick Schofield announced the deci sion Tuesday according to a staff memo obtained by The Tennes sean The move affects 3300 offi cers representing a possible $33 million price tag Schofield writes in the memo that the bonus is a one time pay ment you know working in this field is not Schofield wrote bonus shows our apprecia tion for their dedication to this Tennessee State Employees As sociation President Bryan Mer ritt lauded the bonuses but says they likely be enough to stop officers from walking out the door Officers have said recent changes in pay and scheduling have made the job less desirable driving officers away and forcing the remaining officers to work more shifts with less help "While bonuses are valued un til policies and practices Which directly impact staffing levels are corrected we believe the depart ment will continue to face these Merritt said in a state ment In early August department of ficials told state lawmakers there were 302 vacancies among the 2644 total officer positions Gov Bill Haslam has echoed comments that there are other outside factors driving the vacancies at state facilities They have specifically pointed to businesses offering jobs in the vicinity of certain prisons The 3300 officers eligible for the bonuses are from all 10 of the public prisons as well as central office staff the correc tional academy and the Office of Investigations and Compliance department spokeswoman Ney sa Taylor confirmed Briefly Abingdon police continue search for Matthew Hess ABINGDON The Abingdon Police Department continues to search for Joseph Matthew Hess who officers say fled from a traffic crash Tuesday Hess was last seen driving a rented 2015 Chevrolet Camaro but it was found on Bethlehem Road in Bristol Virginia by See BRIELY Page A6 MSiU I.