Areva engineer making a difference in Evington

Two years ago, Michael Savela moved to Evington for what it didn’t have: noise, traffic or pollution. He bought 14 acres that included a spring-fed pond and had plans to build his dream house and eventually a vineyard.

But when a neighbor told him that a rock quarry was proposed within one mile of what he described as “my private harbor” Savela, 32, joined other community members to fight the proposal.

Now, just a few months after the Campbell County Board of Supervisors approved the quarry in a 5-2 vote, Savela is more involved with the Evington Community Association than ever.

“So many people are now dejected that they came together, they showed up, they organized, they told the county what they wanted and the county blew them off,” he said.

Since the vote, the association has grown in size and focus.

It sends out mailings to every address in the Evington ZIP code and is in the process of filing for tax-exempt status as a community organization.

It also helps community citizens in need. For example, a community member recently lost their job and the association put out a call for help with food and shelter, Savela said.

The five board members, including Savela, also now attend every county public meeting as a way to stay abreast of all the issues that could affect Evington, he said.

“They beg and plead for us to show up and bring our voice,” Savela said. “So we are bringing the voice of our membership on every issue and if we don’t have an issue, then we’re there to keep them honest.”

It’s the first time, Savela said, that he’s been involved with a community group of any sort.

“I don’t even know how I came to be as involved as I did,” he said, “except for the fact that I have enough self-confidence and ego that most people yelling at me doesn’t bother me and I don’t have a problem getting in other people’s faces and telling them ‘I don’t like you.’”

Savela, who works as a nuclear engineer at Areva, was born in Miami and moved when he was five years old to the then-relatively rural Port St. Lucie. Some of the things he loved about that area before development exploded were the natural surroundings and proximity to work and school while living in what felt like the country.

Where he lived was always wooded. He and his friends would swim in the crystal clear waters of nearby canals, he said. “I knew what I wanted when I moved here. It was outside of the city, but still convenient.”

Proximity, he said, was a big draw to moving to Evington, where he could live in what felt like the middle of nowhere, yet be at work or at the store in 15 to 20 minutes.

Savela, who initially had dreams of attending the United States Naval Academy, went to the University of Florida to study nuclear engineering. Shortly after graduating with a master’s degree in 2004, he moved to Lynchburg to start his career with Areva. He lived in an apartment for two years while searching for the right place to put down roots — a search that Savela said included several real estate agents quitting on him because he had such specific criteria for what he wanted.

He found that, he said, with a 14-acre piece of land with a pond and a tiny two-room house. Since moving in, Savela has cleared the small island in the pond and had many plans until the quarry was approved, he said. Now he’s looking for a new property that’s still in Evington, but at least five miles from what will be the quarry, he said.

The fact that many Evington residents have ties to the community that go back for generations hasn’t been lost on Savela, he said.

“With this long-standing community, I’m not just a newcomer but an outsider,” he said. “(I’m) trying to find the right balance for helping and not step on people’s toes.”

Savela is not the most active member, nor the most important, he said. “I’m just the most vocal.” It’s a role, he said, that is important in a group of people who aren’t necessarily comfortable in the public eye.

By attending public meetings, the association’s board members hope supervisors and planning commissioners will keep Evington in mind when they vote on issues, Savela said.

“If (supervisors) start recognizing we’re there, that we’re serious about being involved in government,” he said, “when things come up that affect not just Evington, although that’s our main focus, but if it sets precedent in other parts of the county that could come back and haunt Evington, we’re there to show them we are the voice of the people you have to serve and you will recognize us for who we are.”