WISE - Wind energy got the welcome mat and elk the boot Thursday before the Wise County Board of Supervisors.

The board approved without discussion a zoning change to allow development of a wind energy project now under consideration by Virginia Dominion Power and BP Wind Energy. The two companies have been assessing the viability of erecting 50 to 60 wind turbines in the county along the Kentucky border along an area stretching north of Big Stone Gap to northwest of Pound.

If the companies determine the area is conducive to developing the project, the number of turbines under consideration would produce a maximum 150 megawatts of power.

Adam Wells of Southern Appalachian Mountain Stewards spoke in favor of the project during public comment.

A proposal to reintroduce wild elk to Wise County was gunned down and mounted on the courthouse wall, however. Supervisors voted 8-0 to direct County Administrator Shannon Scott to draft a resolution opposed to the notion, sign it and forward it on to Charlie Yates, the 9th District representative to the Virginia Department of Game and Inland Fisheries board.

Yates has asked local governments for support for the importation of elk into the region, and Norton has approved the plan. However, county supervisors voiced concerns over disease threats to livestock and other farm damages the big animals could inflict, as well as highway safety.

Big Stone Gap's Virginia Meador said if the county approved the measure, it could be liable to reimburse citizens for damages elk would cause. Ronnie Shortt of Pound made the motion to reject the proposal, and the measure passed unanimously.

In other matters, Mike Ball of Ball Construction - the main contractor on the months-long project to restore the exterior of the county courthouse - said final touches to the upgrades should be complete by the end of the month before the town's annual Fall Fling festival.

The overall project is 90 percent complete, Ball said, including 100 percent complete each on masonry restoration and gutter and downspout replacement, 85 percent on ornamental restoration, 95 percent on underground drainage ditching, and 90 percent on painting.

Total cost will be about $15,000 under budget, including the contingency fund adjusted to three change orders during the project that began in the spring, or just under $1.22 million. Supervisors praised Ball Construction's restoration of the historic structure, built in the late 1800s, and reported citizen satisfaction with the results as well.

Bill Thompson of the Wise engineering and architectural firm Thompson & Litton previewed a proposed parking study for the courthouse environs. Parking is at a premium around the courthouse, and county officials are considering improvements other than exterior upgrades to the original structure.

The parking study is driven in part by a project to restore the old Inn at Wise Courthouse next to the courthouse. A $700,000 state grant is contingent in part by concerns state officials have over adequate parking in the area.

Thompson said the parking study would provide detailed information on the number and type of parking spaces now available, determine the peak and off-peak traffic patterns, and explore possible expansion items such as a parking garage, acquiring property to build new lots, and even the possibility of moving some county government functions to another location, leaving the courthouse to the judicial branch.

Scott is to provide a cost estimate for the parking study next month.