VIRGINIA BEACH, Va. — Dominion Energy’s Offshore Wind Project has stirred up mixed reactionsfrom the community. It’s a project WTKR has reported onextensively. Some in Virginia Beach have new concerns as the company’s project has to pass through private property.

“It’s almost like seeing part of you being torn away. I mean I grew up in this building. As a young boy when my father would bring me here I would play with my toys in this room and obviously on the grounds,” said Joseph ‘Frank’ Francis Walton, licensed funeral director, owner and manager of Walton Funeral Home in Virginia Beach.

Watch: Dominion offers up-close look at progress of offshore wind farm project

Dominion offers up-close look at progress of offshore wind farm project

Since 1968, the Walton Funeral Home has called Holland Road home. It was first run by his parents and, now, Frank Walton as a way to help grieving families.

“We’ve enjoyed the privacy, we’ve enjoyed the serenity,” said Walton.

But Walton says the days for serenity are numbered and he’s the one grieving a loss.

“I just don’t know how I am going to respond with those trees going away and those monopoles taking their place,” said Walton. “We lost the battle last week. They’ve got early access to the property.”

Watch: VB residents say Dominion Energy wind turbine project is causing issues

Dominion Energy construction project is causing issues for Virginia Beach residents

Trees on the Walton Funeral Home property will soon be taken down for Dominion Energy to install high voltage transmission lines across the building’s entrance and parking lot. Walton and the company tried to come to an agreement when Dominion Energy sought to purchase an easement across the property. The company said it initially offered more than $20,000.

“This is always the starting point of our negotiations, a third-party market value appraisal,” explained a Dominion Energy spokesperson.

“We have had some offers from them since then and none of them have been close to what we feel is just compensation,” said Walton.

Watch: Dominion Energy addresses concerns about loud noises in wind turbine project construction

Dominion Energy addresses Croatan residents’ concerns about loud noises in wind turbine project construction

When they couldn’t agree, Dominion turned to the courts to mediate a settlement in a process called eminent domain. The company needed to have a public purpose, or use, to take private property and convert it like this.

A spokesperson for Dominion explained that the property was essential to help connect 174 offshore wind turbines to the grid to power 660,000 homes.

“We have to be sensitive to the people whose community and property will be impacted by this project. These property owners are making an important contribution to Virginia’s clean energy transition. They are playing an important role in delivering carbon-free power to more than 660,000 Virginia homes. We believe it’s important to treat them fairly and respectfully,” said the spokesperson.

The spokesperson added that eminent domain is a last resort.

“Our first priority is always to reach a mutual agreement with every property owner, and we make every attempt to do so . . . Through cooperation and good faith negotiations, we’ve reached mutual, voluntary agreements with 95 percent of the property owners along the CVOW transmission route, and every property owner has been fairly compensated,” said the spokesperson. “[In cases of eminent domain] the property owner will be compensated for the right-of-way as determined by a jury, unless the parties decide to settle the matter.”

Four of 68 impacted properties, including Walton’s, are going through the eminent domain process for this project. In a few years neighbors in Sandbridgecould see similar impacts if another Dominion wind farm project connects more offshore wind turbines there.

Watch: New Dominion wind farm that could impact Sandbridge discussed at VB city council meeting

New Dominion wind farm that could impact Sandbridge discussed at VB city council meeting

“What do you think will happen to your business?” News 3 reporter Erika Craven asked Walton.

“I don’t know. We hope for the best,” he replied.

Walton hopes he’ll still be able to reach an agreement with Dominion, but right now that’s not providing much comfort.

“It’s the small business person versus a giant. It feels futile sometimes to try and fight something in that particular vein,” said Walton.

Walton will be compensated for the taking but he doesn’t know how much that will be yet. A compensation trial is scheduled for April.

Virginia’s attorney general has advised officials from the state’s retirement system against making investment decisions that prioritize environmental issues, social issues and corporate governance, according to a nonbinding legal analysis released Friday.

Jason Miyares, a Republican who serves as Virginia’s top prosecutor, said in an advisory opinion that the board of trustees for the Virginia Retirement System should instead make investments “based on securing the best financial results for VRS beneficiaries.” The retirement system’s members include state employees, public school teachers and employees of political subdivisions, such as counties, towns and cities.

“Investments must be driven by careful, calculated financial foresight, not clouded by unfounded ESG fads,” Miyares said in a statement. “This Opinion firmly reinforces the Virginia Retirement System’s responsibility and legal obligation to make objective investment decisions free from the sway of social or political agendas. Secure futures require sound economics.”

Miyares’ advisory opinion, written at the request of Republican Del. Nick Freitas, comes after some state pension programs have opted to prioritize environmental, social and corporate governance policies when making investments, also known as ESG investing.

Virginia Sowers, a retirement system spokesperson, said in an email that the retirement system does not have a policy to prioritize such investments.

“To meet its fiduciary duty, VRS carefully analyzes economic factors and assesses monetary risk to achieve the highest level of return for a given level of risk over the long term,” Sowers said. “This analysis does not include reviewing investments through a ‘social screen,’ nor does VRS deploy dedicated ESG funds in its retirement plans.”

States such as Illinois and Maryland are required to consider sustainability and climate risks in their asset-related decisions. In Maine, the state’s pension fund is required to divest from fossil fuels by 2026, according to a policy passed in 2021.

Other states such as Florida, Indiana and Kansas, among others, created legislation against ESG investing.

In Virginia, legislators considered a 2022 bill requiring the retirement system to divest from fossil fuels, though it did not become law. Another 2023 bill that would restrict investments based on environmental and political factors did not pass.

Friday’s release was Miyares’ 10th opinion memo in 2024. Opinions by the attorney general give legal advice but are not binding on the courts.

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Olivia Diaz is a corps member for The Associated Press/Report for America Statehouse News Initiative. Report for America is a nonprofit national service program that places journalists in local newsrooms to report on undercovered issues.

With the season coming closer, that means the first wave of bowl projections are starting to roll in for the 2024 season. While the College Football Playoff has expanded and now includes 12 teams, there are still a number of bowl games that are going to have meaning across the country and that teams will be looking to land in.

Virginia Tech is a team that is hoping to find themselves in the hunt for the ACC title and a playoff bid, bu they should be able to land in a good bowl if they don’t. The schedule is favorable and the Hokies should be able to win 8-10 games, which would land them in a pretty nice bowl game at the end of the year.

In the latest Bowl Projections from CBS Sports, college football analyst Jerry Palm has the Hokies going to the Gator Bowl to face Tennessee. The Volunteers are expected to be a contender for the 12-team playoff as well and are hoping that a rising star in freshman quarterback Nico Iamaleava, a talented group of receivers, and a strong defensive line will have them competing for big prizes in the SEC. The two programs have met nine times and the Vols hold a 6-3 edge in the series. The last matchup came in Bristol, TN at Bristol Motor Speedway, a game that Tennessee won 45-24.

With the dynamic skill set that dual-threat quarterback Kyron Drones showcased in the latter half of the year for the Hokies and how Virginia Tech finished its 2024 season, it is not a stretch to say that if Drones takes the next step and Virginia Tech lives up to its lofty expectations this season, Drones should be in the thick of the Heisman race this season.

One of the voices of college football, Josh Pate, agrees and had this to say on his latest episode of “Late Kick with Josh Pate”:

“Virginia Tech has an opportunity to be a playoff contender late in the year, they have a chance to be an ACC title contender late in the year, they have a chance to have a dynamite run game. Now, I don’t think Drones is going to have the passing numbers that some of these guys do, he is going to have to supplement it with his work with his legs, not that he is going to have triple option passing numbers, but last year, 17-3 touchdown to interception ratio, he ran for five, he needs to double that rushing touchdown number, his completion percentage needs to bump up from 58% and into the 60’s and it absolutely could, it absolutely could. They are going to have a really complementary style to help him and it is going to take voters watching him. Don’t be checkin box scores, which a lot of Heisman voters unfortunately do, but if that ground game is churning and as a voter, if we really care about playing in a manner that best equips your team to win football games and we understand that yards gained on the ground count just as much as yards gained through the air, if we understand that, then Kyron Drones should be in this thing as well.”