No Moss 3 Landfill Online Library

While these local leaders bought into the vision of regional cooperation early on, numerous local county and town leaders followed and have served the Planning District in exemplary fashion over its long history. And this spirit of cooperation has served our localities well as hundreds of millions of federal, state and regional grant and low-interest loan dollars have been obtained for much needed water, sewer, industrial sites, telecommunications and other infrastructure projects in the four counties.

All of these projects improved the quality of life for District citizens and enhanced diversification of the local economy. And by joining together and hiring PDC staff to work for all four counties, this was done at great savings to local governments and in a cost effective way. In a 1970 Report, the Cumberland Plateau’s first Chairman, Sherman Wallace, stated that in 1969 the District had received $111,469.01 in grants and services for the 4 counties $12,622.50 in dues. In FY 2014, District localities received federal, state and regional grant/loan funds of nearly $48 million. At $35,000 in annual dues for each of our four counties, that amounts to $340 returned to the District for every one dollar in local dues. Over our many years, that return on local investment has been replicated many times. Truly, regional cooperation pays enormous dividends.

A list of projects that have received grant and loan funding since 1968 follows. This chart shows projects of regional impact, such as our regional broadband project, at the beginning of each county list since they all benefitted. Taking this number once and then adding each county’s projects, the total in grant/loan dollars received over our history is nearly $500 million, or half a billion dollars! This could only have happened through the cooperative efforts of local governments, PSAs, and IDAs, as well as state and federal government agencies, private consultants, private businesses, our state and federal legislators and other partners.

This list does not even include all of the projects funded as some early records are not available. And it does not reflect the benefits of the PDC’s efforts in forming other organizations that created their own boards and now operate independently, including Appalachian Agency for Senior Citizens, Cumberland Mountain Community Services, Cumberland Plateau Regional Housing Authority, and Cumberland Plateau Regional Waste Management Authority. Each agency has brought in millions of additional dollars to provide essential community services to our elderly, handicapped and low-income citizens. In the Waste Authority’s case, a recent study revealed that the member counties have conservatively saved about $50 million in local funds by working together.

Neither does the list reflect the millions of dollars saved through some of the PDC’s innovative local assistance programs, including the now discontinued Public Works Program (PWP) and the Shell-building Program. Over the years, the PDC has received over 20 Innovation Awards from the National Association of Development Organization for projects like these two, as well as our regional broadband and wireless 4G projects. In the case of the PWP, the Planning District acquired grant funding for a water delivery truck and other equipment such as dozers, backhoes and trucks to work with local communities on a variety of public works and site development efforts. In addition to delivering millions of gallons of potable water to hundreds of homes and businesses without public water, the program assisted in developing recreation sites in Dickenson County (Bearpen), Russell County (Honaker H.S. Baseball Field), Buchanan County (Council Pool) and Tazewell County (Richlands Recreation Park). And in the Shell Building Program, the PDC, using its office building as collateral for construction loans, worked with the four counties and VCEDA to construct nine (9) shell buildings which are all occupied and providing hundreds of jobs and jobs training services to the district.