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Board allows Historic Greenfield council to submit annual budget requests, 4–1
Summary
The Botetourt County Board of Supervisors voted 4–1 to let the Historic Greenfield Citizens Advisory Council submit annual preservation budget requests through the county budget process rather than rely solely on volunteer matching funds, after a lengthy presentation about the site's history, volunteer hours and fundraising challenges.
Supervisor Steve Clinton presented the Historic Greenfield Citizens Advisory CouncilCouncil's mission and funding history, then moved that the council be invited to submit annual budget requests through the county's regular budget process.
Clinton described the three Greenfield buildings (mid-19th century structures, including slave quarters and a kitchen) as county-owned resources that now rely heavily on volunteer fund-raising. He estimated roughly 6,000 volunteer hours and about $30,000 raised over eight years, and detailed outreach, grant-seeking and interpretive efforts including National Historic Landmark work and RFPs for chimney restoration.
Several supervisors questioned cost history and whether volunteer match rules provided sufficient discipline; one member noted past relocation and archaeological invoices totaling several hundred thousand dollars. Clinton told the board he intended the annual-request mechanism to enable continuity and clearer accounting of maintenance costs, while leaving each year to the board's discretion.
After discussion, the board took a roll-call vote and approved the motion 4–1. The vote allows the Historic Greenfield Citizens Advisory Council to plan and request funding annually as part of the county budget process; it does not commit the county to any particular appropriation amount.
What happens next: staff will accept the council's future budget requests during the normal budgeting cycle; the board retains authority to fund or decline each annual request.
