A planned climate resilience hub in Dickenson County is among several Southwest Virginia initiatives now on ice after President Donald Trump ordered a spending freeze.
In January, the county was approved for a nearly $1.76 million grant to build the facility — which will provide shelter and support for residents during flooding or other climate emergencies — on the former Haysi High School site.
But five days after the funding was announced, and the day Trump was sworn into office, he signed an executive order halting funds awarded through the Biden administration’s Inflation Reduction Act and Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act.
U.S. Sens. Mark Warner and Tim Kaine, both D-Va., announced the funding Jan. 15 as part of nearly $20 million in federal Environmental Protection Agency grant funds “to enhance resilient infrastructure and help lower energy costs for communities in Southwest Virginia,” according to a press release. The University of Virginia and its College at Wise are involved in the initiatives.
Not far from Haysi, Buchanan County had been approved for nearly $4.85 million to build housing outside of the floodplain at its Southern Gap multiuse site near Grundy.
Along with the two coalfield-region projects, United Way of Southwest Virginia had been approved for nearly $4.6 million to improve energy efficiency at care centers, “including through solar installation and upgrades to child care facilities, outdoor classrooms, and other initiatives,” the senators’ press release explained.
Funding for the projects would come from the EPA’s Environmental and Climate Justice Community Change Grant Program, which was created by the Inflation Reduction Act.
Now, the University of Virginia remains in the dark about whether the money will be freed up following Trump’s action.
“Unfortunately, we have not heard anything on the grant other than through the media,” university official Christine Mahoney wrote in a Thursday email.
The entire EPA unit through which the funding was awarded has been placed on administrative leave. “So, we have no staff to communicate with,” wrote Mahoney, who is the chief innovation officer and professor of public policy at the university’s Batten School of Leadership and Public Policy. “We have a Notice of Award, and therefore technically the government is obligated to fund the Haysi project. We will be sending a first small request for reimbursement via the normal channels in the next week to see if the payment will go through, but we are not sure since there are no staff working.”
The freeze is being challenged in the courts, but Mahoney said she’s been told that it could take “a very long time” for these issues to be resolved.
“Our project’s goals are in line with the President’s goals of producing more American energy and supporting rural America,” she wrote. “We can only hope that they will allow us to do the work that the federal government requested communities work so hard to develop, and then which a merit based selection process selected our region of Southwest Virginia to receive.”
Above flood waters
Flooding has devastated communities in Dickenson and Buchanan counties repeatedly over decades, most recently just last month.
In Dickenson County, grant dollars would go toward designing and building the climate resilience hub, along with installing an electric vehicle fast charging station.
“In light of the recent natural disasters that have impacted our region, this facility will be a vital resource for our community,” Dana Cronkhite, the county’s economic development director, said in January. “It will provide a safe haven during flooding, power outages, or other emergencies, while also serving as a multipurpose space for community activities.”
The facility will “offer shelter and support in the aftermath of disasters, ensuring the safety and well-being of residents,” Cronkhite said.
The county does not have a construction timeline yet. It has three years to use the EPA funding, Cronkhite said, adding that she hopes the project will be completed ahead of that deadline.
County officials believe this will be sufficient funding for the climate resilience hub, but additional dollars will be sought to reroute a sewer line from the county Public Service Authority’s existing service to the former school site, according to Cronkhite. “This will be a separate project that will serve the entire site. We have engaged an engineer to provide an engineered plan for the sewer project and will be working very closely with the PSA to secure funding and complete that project.”
In early October 2024, Dickenson supervisors and Industrial Development Authority members looked at three concepts for development on the former school site, which was vacated more than seven years ago after the county consolidated its 1950s-era high schools into the centrally located Ridgeview High School campus.
During the October meeting, county officials looked at three design concepts: one focused on housing, another focused on business and commercial development and a third, getting the most favorable comments, that would combine commercial/retail space, apartments and a community center/environmental shelter with playgrounds and hiking trails. However, no firm decisions were made as officials agreed that Haysi Town Council should weigh in on the concepts.
Along with the grant announcement, Cronkhite provided a rendering of a possible site plan for the former school site that matches the previously discussed mixed-use development idea including housing and commercial elements. During the October meeting, officials talked at length about the funding challenges to make the entire concept work.
Meanwhile, town officials have been working for several years with the Army Corps of Engineers on a multifaceted project to relocate Haysi businesses out of the floodplain.