Mountain Top Media
Planning grant will explore community kitchen, agriculture opportunities in Dickenson County
by RODERICK MULLINS
[email protected]
DICKENSON COUNTY, Va. — Dickenson County and the Town of Clintwood have secured a $35,000 planning grant from the Virginia Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services to assess the viability of a community kitchen and evaluate the county’s agricultural sector.
The 10-month study will be led by Dr. Elli Travis of Virginia Tech’s Center for Economic and Community Engagement.
The community kitchen proposal emerged from the Resilience Adaptation Feasibility Tool (RAFT) program, a joint resilience initiative by the University of Virginia, Old Dominion University, and Virginia Tech, funded locally by UVA’s Environmental Institute. Following community input sessions, local leaders selected the Clintwood Community Kitchen feasibility study as one of six priority resilience projects for the county. A local committee has spent the past year conducting surveys and scoping the project alongside RAFT and county staff.
Survey results from more than 170 town and county residents showed general support for the kitchen, while outlining specific community needs, reservations, and potential uses for the facility.
Local leaders opted to expand the study to include Dickenson County’s broader food system. According to agricultural data, the county contains 108 farms spanning roughly 10,600 acres, generating $499,000 in annual product sales. Officials hope combining the research will reveal how a commercial kitchen could boost local food businesses, allow farmers to process surplus crops for off-season sales, support caterers, and assist with local emergency or hot food delivery programs.
The study’s agricultural component will map local producer connections to regional markets, identify infrastructure gaps, evaluate the Coalfield Agricultural Center, and catalog local assets. Researchers also aim to identify a second complementary project, such as a producer aggregation hub, agritourism initiative, farmers market, or farm-to-school program.
Additionally, the kitchen study will analyze potential user demand, fee structures, necessary building upgrades, cost estimates, and governance models, drawing comparisons from similar rural community kitchens. The study will also address how to integrate the commercial kitchen into the Clintwood facility, which currently hosts museum tours and community events.
A steering committee of county and town leaders, economic development staff, and agricultural stakeholders will guide the process. Researchers plan to host public meetings throughout the county in the coming months for farmers, business owners, and residents.
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Pikeville man arrested after police seize more than a pound of suspected meth
PIKEVILLE, Ky. — A Pikeville man was arrested Monday after Kentucky State Police say they found him with more than a pound of suspected methamphetamine and other suspected drugs.
According to Kentucky State Police, troopers with the Post 9 Street Crimes Unit were attempting to locate 45-year-old William Cody West as part of an ongoing drug investigation, when they found him in the parking lot of the Scholar House apartments in downtown Pikeville.
Police say West was taken into custody and found to be in possession of approximately 1.1 lbs. of suspected methamphetamine and about two grams of suspected fentanyl.
Troopers also reported finding 20 suspected pressed fentanyl pills and drug paraphernalia inside West’s vehicle.
West was lodged in the Pike County Detention Center and charged with first-degree trafficking in a controlled substance involving methamphetamine, first-degree possession of a controlled substance involving fentanyl and possession of drug paraphernalia. He was also taken into custody on several unrelated warrants.
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