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Rain and fog that cast gloom on Saturday, New Year’s Eve, receded overnight, making way for clear skies and unseasonably mild temperatures on Sunday, the first day of 2023, perhaps portending a sunnier outlook for the year ahead. We would certainly like to think that we are heading toward better days in the new year.
There have been signs recently that inflation is starting to slow down. Lower prices at the gas pump made travel over the holidays a bit more affordable for most of us. A provision in the Inflation Reduction Act enacted last year is expected to stabilize the costs of prescription medications by allowing Medicare and Medicaid centers to negotiate prices with drug manufacturers.
Our local governments appear to be in pretty good financial shape heading into the new year. The fiscal outlook for Buena Vista seems better than it has in years. Thanks to a legal settlement last year that extricated the city from financing for The Vista Links golf course, the debt has disappeared and the golf course has a new owner. We look forward to hearing from Glade Knight, the new owner, about his plans for the property.
Buena Vista City Council, meanwhile, can turn its attention to other fiscal matters such as making much-needed upgrades to the city’s aging wastewater treatment plant, water distribution system and schools. Infusions of cash from the American Rescue Plan Act and other federal largesse are expected to make these capital investments feasible.
Federal funding is also expected to figure prominently in the financing of other local infrastructure projects. These would include upgrades to the Lexington water plant, the Rockbridge County and Lexington regional wastewater treatment plant and Glasgow’s water distribution system, as well as future construction of a Goshen Community Center that might include a new library for the town.
We are optimistic about economic development in the new year. Multiple new businesses in Buena Vista have opened their doors and the downtown area appears primed for a resurgence. The city has been the recipient of numerous funding grants recently, including one just last week worth $985,000 for industrial revitalization for The Advancement Foundation’s Innovation Accelerator in the former Mundet-Hermetite factory building.
Among the new businesses coming to Rockbridge County in the months ahead are a True by Hilton hotel, a Dunkin’ donuts outlet, a Chick-fil-A restaurant (all three being built near the U.S. 11/Interstate 64 interchange north of Lexington) and a Starbucks in the former bank building across from Tractor Supply in the College Square Shopping Center. Other economic development prospects bound for the Rockbridge area appear to be on the horizon.
On the state level of government, we are encouraged by the quality of the candidates in the upcoming Jan. 10 special election to fill the vacancy in the House of Delegates 24th District created by the recent death of Del. Ronnie Campbell. His widow, Ellen Campbell, the Republican nominee, seems capable of carrying forward her late husband’s legacy of conservatism and responsiveness to constituents. The Democratic nominee, Jade Harris, has shown herself to be an enthusiastic and knowledgeable candidate with a record of achievement in the brief time she has served as Glasgow vice mayor and a member of Town Council.
We are confident that the district – which includes all of Rockbridge County, Buena Vista and Lexington – will be in good hands, regardless of the outcome of next week’s election. The 24th District tenure of the winning candidate will be brief, as redistricting that takes effect in 2024 scrambles our representation in Richmond, splitting the Rockbridge area into reconfigured Districts 36 and 37. All 140 members of the General Assembly will be up for election in November. There is no telling, at this juncture, who will be representing us in the General Assembly one year from now.
Our focus, for now, is on 2023. We are indeed hopeful for the year ahead.
