During the September meeting of the Russell County Board of Supervisors a motion was made to waive the building permit fees for Appalachian Highlands Housing Partners.
AHHP will soon renovate the former Buster Brown building in Lebanon for the purpose of manufacturing modular homes.
The vote on the motion was Lou Wallace, David Eaton and Steve Breeding – from Districts 2, 4 and 5 respectively – voting in favor of the motion. District 1’s Andrew Hensley and District 3’s Tara Dye voted no. District 6’s Rebecca Dye and At-Large representative Nate Kiser abstained.
Following the vote, board attorney Tyler Starnes announced the motion was defeated. He said abstentions are the same as a no vote, thus the motion did not pass.
However, according to the Code of Virginia § 13.1-849, “An abstention shall not be considered a vote cast.”
Since the majority of those casting a vote favored the motion, the motion should have legally passed. Efforts were made to contact Russell County Administrator Lonzo Lester regarding the status of the vote but he did not respond.
This is not the first time the board has had to revisit votes following Starnes’ advice. In April the board considered contacting the Office of Inspector General regarding a forensic audit. Starnes said before the OIG could launch an investigation, allegations of “abuse, fraud or waste” had to be recorded.
However, in an email to The Lebanon News, OIG Public Relations Officer Maggie Sotos, APR, said the inspector general does not have the authority to investigate counties.
Sotos said, “The Office of the State Inspector General is responsible for investigating allegations of fraud, waste, and abuse within executive branch state agencies here in the Commonwealth. Our jurisdiction does not extend to local governments or their operations. We also conduct performance audits of executive branch state agencies.”
In May 2025 Kiser made a motion to pass the current tax rate with the stipulation that a forensic audit would be conducted. That motion passed.
One year later, Starnes informed the board, “There should not have been a contingency in the first place.” He said the condition violated the Robert’s Rules of Order the board goes by.
“If it was not a legal motion, why didn’t you step up and say that?” Tara Dye asked in May 2026.
Starnes replied that it was his first meeting representing the board and he wasn’t aware of the problem at the time. He suggested the board not overturn the May 2025 motion because, “…that leaves you in a state of limbo.”
