Jan. 9—RICHMOND, Va. — A $1.4 million state funding award will allow for the construction of more cellphone towers in Southwest Virginia.
The funding was among the items announced Wednesday when a state delegate representing Tazewell and Buchanan counties was elected to chair the Virginia Tobacco Commission.
“I am extremely honored to officially be elected as the new chairman of the Virginia Tobacco Commission,” Delegate James W. “Will” Morefield, R-Tazewell said. “I appreciate my colleagues in the House, Senate and fellow commissioners for their support today.”
Morefield represents the 43rd District, which includes the Southwest Virginia counties of Bland, Buchanan and Tazewell as well as parts of Dickenson and Russell.
Part of the district will benefit from the Virginia Tobacco Commission cell tower funding award.
“I look forward to many good things to come for Southwest and Southern Virginia from the commission,” Morefield said. “Today, we approved several grants and loans for projects in the region. One of the most exciting applications that we approved and one that I strongly advocated for was a $1,401,335 grant to the Virginia Coalfield Coalition.”
Morefield said this funding will help construct cellphone towers between Shortt Gap in Tazewell County and Grundy, Va.
“This should provide full mobile coverage while driving on Rt. 460,” Morefield said. “Also, we are moving forward on creating a Large Animal Veterinarian incentive program to help attract more veterinarians to help farmers in the region.”
Contact Greg Jordan at gjordan@bdtonline.com
Contact Greg Jordan at gjordan@bdtonline.com