Crewe Had Some Successes In 2007
By RICK GUNTER
CREWE — For many residents of the Crewe, 2007 simply felt like a year when the community went nowhere. One wag put this view succinctly when he said, “Crewe is dead. They just have not held the funeral yet.”
Other residents of the town and of Crewe’s sister municipality, Burkeville, would disagree with that outlook — but not with a lot of enthusiasm.
One of the biggest cheerleaders of both towns, especially his own, is Crewe Mayor Henry Crittenden. “ A lot of our successes are in areas that are not visible,” he told The Journal at year’s end.
He was referring to such municipal improvements as water and sewer, where the town spent tons of money to fix an infrastructure literally sent to ruin by decades of neglect by former municipal leaders who never could find the money and will to act, thus pushing to the current generation of leadership here literally the sins of the fathers.
Even in 2007, the town was dealing with environmental issues caused by that neglect. There still are huge challenges ahead on that front, including rebuilding decaying water lines. Total bill on replacing the lines would reach into the millions in a town with an annual budget of just over $2 million.
But the ever-optimistic Mayor Crittenden, who has not yet said if he plans to seek re-election in this spring’s town elections, added, “We are not facing any lawsuits or government edicts for a change.”
He also viewed as progress Crewe’s relationships with sister towns in Blackstone, Burkeville, and even with Nottoway County. “Our relationships have never been better,” he said.
Critics would agree with that statement, but cynics might say that one reason that Crewe and Burkeville enjoy a good relationship with Blackstone is that Blackstone and its immediate environs (Fort Pickett) have virtually all the engines of economic growth within them. In the one economic development coming out of county government, and it came late in the year, the Sunbest Company announced it was putting enterprise into the old Blackstone Manufacturing building.
It is hard to know what the relationships among the county’s three towns would be if a series of economic developments landed in Crewe and Burkeville, not in Blackstone or Fort Pickett. But it is not hard to imagine that those relations could turn sour overnight.
The story that continues to bite at the heels of Crewe town officials is the lack of a full-service grocery store. Many Crewe residents continue to fault the town for it not having a grocery store successor to the late departed Star Value. Last October 31st marked the second year the town has not had a grocery store of its own. But late in the year, Councilman Eddie Higgins announced that Mayor Crittenden had entered negotiations to bring a grocer to Crewe. The announcement was very long on hope and very short of specifics. It immediately brought more grief to Mayor Crittenden. Some called him “dictatorial.” Others argued that he was setting the town up for another disappointment.
As the New Year begins, there remains hope that the town may get the economic break it has been seeking for at least a decade.
Part of that hope rests not only in the possible arrival of a grocer, but other potential developments, including the hope that Norfolk Southern plans to increase its operation in the Crewe area.
The Wilkerson Company continued discernible expansion, purchasing additional land and developing it near its longtime headquarters along U.S. 460. By year’s end the company also had purchased the building and warehouse formerly owned by Keith Pulley, who reportedly sold out so he and his wife could enjoy traveling.
Meanwhile, Burkeville continued to move along with the air that everything in the west end of the county remains peachy. How could it be otherwise? Burkeville Mayor Joe Morrissette is the town’s chief cheerleader.
Like Crewe’s Mayor Crittenden, Mayor Morrissette has not announced his plans for re-election. He already faces a challenge in former Burkeville Police Chief Tom Andrews, who told The Journal last year that he plans to seek re-election. He said Burkeville’s leaders are “too comfortable” and need to be challenged.
Mr. Morrissette also faces an insurgent group in Burkeville who wants the town to push ahead faster. Such people as Burkeville Town Councilwoman Zora Bruce and new resident Jerri Morton lead it. They view what they call “the good-old-boy” network as holding the town back and keeping residents in the dark on what really is happening.
Arguably the town’s biggest sign of growth came when Burkeville Baptist Church dedicated and opened its new fellowship hall late last year. But that development brought no new jobs or revenue to town coffers.
Cutting across both Crewe and Burkeville are simple economics. That is another way of saying neither town has the financial muscle to move ahead. Businesses are not locating in either place. Housing developments are as alien as visitors from outer space. Both communities give the impression, fairly or not, of not particularly wanting to grow.
Crewe lacks the room to grow. Nothing has come of a Crittenden initiative to consider annexing land. He appointed a committee to study the issue. It met perhaps one time and has not reconvened after a committee member reportedly told his colleagues that annexation is not a good idea.
Both towns enter 2008 and soon will approach the end of the new millennium’s first decade with no discernible growth prospects. For many residents who have a retirement check from the railroad or other business and whose children no longer are under their wing, this state of affairs probably is just fine. But the question has to be asked, What happens after these current retirees no longer are among the living?
Indeed, what happens to Crewe and Burkeville, communities marked by the exit of the young because the young cannot find economic opportunity here?
These are question that this generation of leaders and residents cannot overlook as Crewe’s infrastructure was overlooked for all those years. If the towns’ future is overlooked by this generation, the lapse will represent this generations’ version of “the sins of the fathers."
CREWE — For many residents of the Crewe, 2007 simply felt like a year when the community went nowhere. One wag put this view succinctly when he said, “Crewe is dead. They just have not held the funeral yet.”
Other residents of the town and of Crewe’s sister municipality, Burkeville, would disagree with that outlook — but not with a lot of enthusiasm.
One of the biggest cheerleaders of both towns, especially his own, is Crewe Mayor Henry Crittenden. “ A lot of our successes are in areas that are not visible,” he told The Journal at year’s end.
He was referring to such municipal improvements as water and sewer, where the town spent tons of money to fix an infrastructure literally sent to ruin by decades of neglect by former municipal leaders who never could find the money and will to act, thus pushing to the current generation of leadership here literally the sins of the fathers.
Even in 2007, the town was dealing with environmental issues caused by that neglect. There still are huge challenges ahead on that front, including rebuilding decaying water lines. Total bill on replacing the lines would reach into the millions in a town with an annual budget of just over $2 million.
But the ever-optimistic Mayor Crittenden, who has not yet said if he plans to seek re-election in this spring’s town elections, added, “We are not facing any lawsuits or government edicts for a change.”
He also viewed as progress Crewe’s relationships with sister towns in Blackstone, Burkeville, and even with Nottoway County. “Our relationships have never been better,” he said.
Critics would agree with that statement, but cynics might say that one reason that Crewe and Burkeville enjoy a good relationship with Blackstone is that Blackstone and its immediate environs (Fort Pickett) have virtually all the engines of economic growth within them. In the one economic development coming out of county government, and it came late in the year, the Sunbest Company announced it was putting enterprise into the old Blackstone Manufacturing building.
It is hard to know what the relationships among the county’s three towns would be if a series of economic developments landed in Crewe and Burkeville, not in Blackstone or Fort Pickett. But it is not hard to imagine that those relations could turn sour overnight.
The story that continues to bite at the heels of Crewe town officials is the lack of a full-service grocery store. Many Crewe residents continue to fault the town for it not having a grocery store successor to the late departed Star Value. Last October 31st marked the second year the town has not had a grocery store of its own. But late in the year, Councilman Eddie Higgins announced that Mayor Crittenden had entered negotiations to bring a grocer to Crewe. The announcement was very long on hope and very short of specifics. It immediately brought more grief to Mayor Crittenden. Some called him “dictatorial.” Others argued that he was setting the town up for another disappointment.
As the New Year begins, there remains hope that the town may get the economic break it has been seeking for at least a decade.
Part of that hope rests not only in the possible arrival of a grocer, but other potential developments, including the hope that Norfolk Southern plans to increase its operation in the Crewe area.
The Wilkerson Company continued discernible expansion, purchasing additional land and developing it near its longtime headquarters along U.S. 460. By year’s end the company also had purchased the building and warehouse formerly owned by Keith Pulley, who reportedly sold out so he and his wife could enjoy traveling.
Meanwhile, Burkeville continued to move along with the air that everything in the west end of the county remains peachy. How could it be otherwise? Burkeville Mayor Joe Morrissette is the town’s chief cheerleader.
Like Crewe’s Mayor Crittenden, Mayor Morrissette has not announced his plans for re-election. He already faces a challenge in former Burkeville Police Chief Tom Andrews, who told The Journal last year that he plans to seek re-election. He said Burkeville’s leaders are “too comfortable” and need to be challenged.
Mr. Morrissette also faces an insurgent group in Burkeville who wants the town to push ahead faster. Such people as Burkeville Town Councilwoman Zora Bruce and new resident Jerri Morton lead it. They view what they call “the good-old-boy” network as holding the town back and keeping residents in the dark on what really is happening.
Arguably the town’s biggest sign of growth came when Burkeville Baptist Church dedicated and opened its new fellowship hall late last year. But that development brought no new jobs or revenue to town coffers.
Cutting across both Crewe and Burkeville are simple economics. That is another way of saying neither town has the financial muscle to move ahead. Businesses are not locating in either place. Housing developments are as alien as visitors from outer space. Both communities give the impression, fairly or not, of not particularly wanting to grow.
Crewe lacks the room to grow. Nothing has come of a Crittenden initiative to consider annexing land. He appointed a committee to study the issue. It met perhaps one time and has not reconvened after a committee member reportedly told his colleagues that annexation is not a good idea.
Both towns enter 2008 and soon will approach the end of the new millennium’s first decade with no discernible growth prospects. For many residents who have a retirement check from the railroad or other business and whose children no longer are under their wing, this state of affairs probably is just fine. But the question has to be asked, What happens after these current retirees no longer are among the living?
Indeed, what happens to Crewe and Burkeville, communities marked by the exit of the young because the young cannot find economic opportunity here?
These are question that this generation of leaders and residents cannot overlook as Crewe’s infrastructure was overlooked for all those years. If the towns’ future is overlooked by this generation, the lapse will represent this generations’ version of “the sins of the fathers."
posted by Rick Gunter at Thursday, January 10, 2008
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