Is your land safe? Don't bet on it!

{Name and address withheld)

Dear Mr. (name withheld) and Ms. (name withheld):

As you may be aware, Franklin County is conducting a series of studies that will eventually lead to the construction of a new general aviation airport to serve the region and assist our county with economic development. This work began four years ago, with the site selection portion of the study being recently concluded. After considering many factors involving environmental, economic, land use, and impact on residents, the site selection study has determined that the best candidate site is proposed to be situated on approximately 330 acres just west of the intersection of Routes 721 and 718 at Sontag.

This letter is to notify you that a portion of your properties identified as Tax Parcels No. (numbers omitted) may have to be purchased for the airport. The next step in the process is to complete the remaining studies that will evaluate the environmental impacts of the project and complete the Airport Master Plan. These studies will necessitate that the County's engineers have access to your properties to conduct a walkover.

This walkover survey is necessary to collect all of the data required to perform a detailed Environmental Assessment to further determine if this site will meet all of the tests and remain as the final candidate site for the airport. Two-to-three persons from our airport consulting engineering firm will conduct the walkover and it will not result in any disturbance of any vegetation or fixtures on the properties. You will be notified well in advance of the date and time, and who will be in the survey party. They will contact you personally prior to entering your properties.

Attached you will find a copy of a drawing that depicts the limits of your parcels that may be required for the airport. Upon completion of the Environmental Assessment we must secure the approval of the Federal Aviation Administration and Virginia Department of Aviation before we can make the final site decision for the airport. If this does occur, at that time, we will need to discuss the purchase of these parcels with you.

We anticipate that you will have questions about this proposal and we will be pleased to meet with you to answer them. Ms. Bonnie N. Johnson will be your point of contact with Franklin County and she can be reached at (540) 483-3030.

Attachment (1 exhibit)