Habitat Director responds to critic of project

Dear Editor,
I would like to apologize to the Perdue family and our other Holly Hills neighbors for our noisy generator. It was deliberately left running until 9:30 New Year’s Eve and two other afternoons to dry out sheet rock mud so it would not freeze. In the next two weeks Virginia Power will add a utility pole and dig the underground power line to the home so we
won’t have to use the generator.

Habitat works very hard to be a good neighbor. That is one of the reasons why we asked Kristin Lints, who lives across the street from the project in Holly Hills, to serve on our board and head up the family selection committee. We also teach a class to our new homeowners on how to be good neighbors. But building a home can be noisy and messy at times and we will try our best to limit the annoyance.

Habitat is also concerned about being a good steward of our limited resources including equipment and fuel. Everything we own comes from our supporters and we take the responsibility of their safekeeping and efficient use very seriously. But it sounds like we can do better and we will.

Mr. Perdue is correct when he says Holly Hills is filled with honest neighbors. There has never been an issue at our building site of something disappearing even when it is inadvertently left out. It takes a village to build a Habitat home. That includes our good neighbors in Holly Hills and the many other dedicated volunteers throughout the county. We thank you for all of your contributions toward our mission to build affordable homes in Powhatan.

If anyone has any further questions or concerns please call me at 794-1700.

Thank you,
Terry Paquette
Executive Director

Residents throw support behind Walmart

Dear Editor,
As residents of Powhatan since 1964 who enjoy the country feel that comes along with living here, we side with Walmart and their well-though proposal to build a new store in the county.
If us citizens are given a chance to have a place to go to buy groceries and the goods Walmart offers without having to drive 9 or so miles into Chesterfield, then why shouldn’t we support this project?
The land is there, so let’s do something positive with it. We can afford to bring in a Walmart and a few other stores to keep the commerce and competition local.

Thank you,
Charlie and Shirley Brown
Powhatan