Frydl is ready for board

The man who will take the Ruckersville seat on Greene’s board of supervisors come January says he has no particular agenda.
“I pay attention to the logic and the rules and try to do what’s best for the entire county,“ says James F. “Jim” Frydl, who will be replacing the retiring Jeri Allen. “The rest of the time I spend with my family,“
He was a somewhat reluctant candidate, he admits.
“I would’ve gladly stayed home if I were confident that someone with the skills and desire to fairly and sincerely represent the citizens of Greene had stepped forward to run,“ he smiles.
Frydl is a 17-year county resident who was born in Texas and raised on the road, so to speak.
“My father was in the military,“ he explains. “I have lived in 13 states, mostly in the southeastern United States, and spent three years abroad in Germany. I finished high school in North Carolina and received a bachelor’s degree in business administration from Appalachian State University. Having developed a love for ‘mountain living’ during college, I chose to begin my career in Roanoke and transferred to this area 19 years ago.“
Frydl sells groundwater remediation systems for Mid-Atlantic Environmental Equipment, Inc.
And, he has been serving on the county’s planning commission since 2008 - an experience, he has said, that “will benefit him as a supervisor.“
As a member of the planning commission, he has been part of the panel that makes land use recommendations to supervisors. As such, for part of last year and the better part of this year, he has been working on updating the county’s comprehensive plan.
Updates to the plan - required by the state at least every five years - have in the past been done by volunteers working with the county’s planning department. But this time around, the county enlisted the aid of the Thomas Jefferson Planning District Commission and Charlottesville’s Renaissance Group to work with its planning department and commissioners.
Planners also looked at the Virginia Department of Transportation multi-modal study “from a traffic standpoint and how we can incorporate some land use planning and some transportation planning,“ says Frydl. That incorporation includes taking a parallel road system to Route 29 that offers interconnectivity that will keep the traffic moving into consideration.
Public focus groups, which were similar to town hall meetings, were held in Dyke, Ruckersville and Stanardsville, and citizen input was incorporated into the proposed plan. Focus group meetings were followed by scenario planning workshops, also attended by citizens.
The citizen turnout was, however, sparse. Only about 30 people participated. Nonetheless, “the preferred scenario (for the plan) came out of the workshops,“ Frydl said last month, and citizens who attended called for a change to the county’s growth area.
Greene’s growth area is currently centered on the intersection of Routes 29 and 33 in Ruckersville and the north side of the Stanardsville bypass. Explains Frydl: “We looked at the intentions of the citizens who [attended the work sessions and proposed] fairly compact growth centered around Stanardsville, a little around the Corner Store (in Ruckersville) and also in the Quinque area.
“We have to assume that the participation we receive reflects the citizens’ wishes,“ Frydl continues.  “Those that do not participate by attending meetings, making phone calls, or writing emails or letters can’t and won’t have their ideas included in the final plan.“
But: “Designating an area a growth area doesn’t mean we won’t accept growth in other areas that make sense for the county,“ he notes.
Frydl says that growth must be fair and balanced for all citizens; for “those who have been here for generations, and those who have moved here more recently.“ He elaborates: “I’m alright with encouraging land uses such as conservation easements and niche farming, but not with requiring them.“
Finally, he points out that it’s not just Greene’s private citizens he will be looking out for once he takes his seat on the county’s board of supervisors.
“We have to look out for our corporate residents,“ he says. “We have to treat businesses fairly so they stay here and create jobs.“