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HomeMy WebLinkAbout3/10/2020 - Regular March 10, 2020 89 Roanoke County Administration Center 5204 Bernard Drive Roanoke, Virginia 24018 The Board of Supervisors of Roanoke County, Virginia met this day at the Roanoke County Administration Center, this being the second Tuesday and the first regularly scheduled meeting of the month of 2020. Audio and video recordings of this meeting will be held on file for a minimum of five (5) years in the office of the Clerk to the Board of Supervisors. IN RE: OPENING CEREMONIES Before the meeting was called to order an invocation was given by Campus Pastor Josh Coldren of Crossroads Church Roanoke. The Pledge of Allegiance was recited by all present. IN RE: CALL TO ORDER 111 Chairman Radford called the meeting to order at 3:01 p.m. The roll call was taken. MEMBERS PRESENT: Chairman David F. Radford; Supervisors Martha B. Hooker, Paul M. Mahoney, Phil C. North and P. Jason Peters MEMBERS ABSENT: None STAFF PRESENT: Daniel R. O'Donnell, County Administrator; Richard Caywood, Assistant County Administrator; Rebecca Owens, Assistant County Administrator; Peter S. Lubeck, County Attorney; Amy Whittaker, Public Information Officer and Deborah C. Jacks, Chief Deputy Clerk to the Board IN RE: REQUESTS TO POSTPONE, ADD TO, OR CHANGE THE ORDER OF AGENDA ITEMS County Administrator, Daniel R. O'Donnell, asked that agenda item C-1 - Recognition of Roanoke County Public Library being awarded the Urban Libraries Council Top Ten Innovator Award for 2019 be postponed. There were no objections. 90 March 10, 2020 IN RE: PROCLAMATIONS, RESOLUTIONS, RECOGNITIONS AND AWARDS 4 Recognition of Roanoke Count. Public• 1 ibrary being awarded the I Irban 1 ibraries Council Top Ten Innovator 'Award for 2019 (Shari Henry Director of 1 ibrary Services) 7 This agenda item was postponed. IN RE: BRIEFINGS 1. Briefing to discuss with the Board of Supervisors the County Administrator's Proposed Fiscal Year 2020-2021 Operating Budget (Daniel R. O'Donnell, County Administrator) Briefing was given; a copy of the PowerPoint presentation is on file in the office of the Clerk to the Board. Mr. O'Donnell provided the following information, "Before beginning I would like to thank Assistant County Administrators Rebecca Owens and Richard Caywood, Director of Finance and Management Services Laurie Gearheart and Budget Division Director Meredith Thompson as well as all of the Department heads and Budget staff who worked through our functional budget team process to help produce a sound budget proposal. This budget is the result of an excellent team effort and I appreciate all the good work of everyone who participated. Budget Summary The proposed operating budget for fiscal year 2021 is$201,725,122. This is a$6,102,927 increase from the fiscal year2020 budget which equals a 3.12% increase. This is budget of moderate growth. Budget Priorities A budget is more than a list of costs and revenues. It sets forth the values of the community and I believe the priorities in this budget are reflective of our community's values. The Priorities we set for this budget are as follows: Maintain service levels with no Tax Rate Increases Support for Roanoke County Public Schools Enhance Staffing for Public Safety— Fire and Rescue and Social Services Provide Fair Compensation and Benefits for County Employees Support our Regional Services Maintain our Capital Assets I believe this budget is successful in meeting all of these priorities. Tax Rates As mentioned, one overall goal of this budget is to Maintain Services with no Tax rate increases. Therefore the proposed tax rates are 1.09 per 100 dollars of value for Real March 10, 2020 91 Property, 3.50 for Personal Property and 2.85 for Machinery and Tools. These rates are the same as for the current fiscal year. Now we will turn to summaries of General Government Revenues and Expenditures. Revenue Summary The main categories of general revenues are Real Estate Tax at $99.7 million or 49.4% of the total, Personal Property Taxes at 34.43 million or 17.1%, Sales, Hotel/Motel and Meals Taxes equal $18.19 million or 9%. These three major categories provide a total of 75.5% of all General Government Revenues. General Government Expenditures The largest expenditure category is funding for schools, which is a high priority in this budget. $82.42 million is earmarked for Roanoke County Public Schools, this is 40.9% of the budget. Outside of education our budget is comprised of four main functional areas, Public Safety, Community Services, Internal Services and Human Services. The largest allocation among these functional areas is for Public Safety which has been allocated $57.11 million or 28.3% of the total. The other three functional areas are approximately equally funded at just over$11 million each, or between 5.5 and 5.7 percent of the total. All of these categories combined, Schools, Public Safety, Community Services, Internal Service and Human Services total 86% of the overall budget. Support for Schools The increase in the operating transfer to schools in accordance with the revenue sharing formula is $2,045,563. The total allocation for all school costs is $82,423,798 which is 40.9% of the budget. The break out of that amount is as follows: $72.54 million Operating transfer $8.07 Million Transfer for School Debt Service $1.8 Million Transfer for Children's Services Act programs Also supporting schools, but not shown ,on this slide is the increase of annual debt issuance to $12 million, a 20% increase from the previous annual $10 million policy Enhanced Public Safety Staffing for Fire and Rescue As the Board discussed in a work session two weeks ago, Fire and Rescue has continued to be challenged at times to effectively handle increasing and more complex calls for service. This budget contains $248,303 in funding to complete the match for a SAFER Grant that added 11 positions in fiscal year 2018, and also adds $176,177 as the match to apply for an additional SAFER Grant in Fiscal Year 2021 that could add 15 more positions if we are successful. If we are not successful with a new application this budget would provide for hiring four additional Fire and Rescue personnel in October. The total cost for this additional personnel is $424,480. Enhanced Public Safety Staffing for Social Services Due to increased caseloads for Adult and Child Protective Services the State Department _ of Social Services is providing funding for two new Family Services Specialists. The State funding, combined with the match from the City of Salem equals $78,512 of the total cost of$104,217, leaving just $25,705 to be paid for with local revenue. 92 March 10, 2020 Fair Compensation for Employees As the Board has recently been made aware, our recent employee engagement survey documented that fair wages and benefits are major drivers to improve engagement of our employees. As you also are aware we have contracted with Gallagher Benefit Services to perform a Compensation and Classification study. While we are not completely done with analyzing the data, we do have enough information to state that our entire salary system is not very far off market in the aggregate, but there are some significant market discrepancies and salary compression issues that we should begin to address. This budget request provides some funding to begin to address the most significant of these market issues. Fair Compensation for Employees The total amount requested for salary increases is $1,739,440 which equates to an average salary increase of 3.27%. This will be allocated through a 2.75% across the Board Salary increase which will cost $1,439,440 plus an addition $300,000, or .52%, to address the most significant market and compression issues. Once the salary study is completed we will apply these additional dollars to the positions most out of line with the market. These positions have still not been determined. Other Benefits and Pay Adjustments In addition to the pay increase,we can share some good news as we will have no increase in our health insurance rates next year. Therefore there is no increased cost to the county general revenue or our employees. On the negative side however, we do have to fund a Virginia Retirement System Increase of $867,871 due to the State retirement system lowering the expected return on investment. The localities are mandated to pick up the cost for their employees. We do have $316,226 of savings from changes in base pay due to more senior employees leaving the workplace for other employment or retirement. Furthermore we have budgeted $25,000 to address the expected impact of the minimum wage increase on our general government employees. This will not provide funds for the fee class employees in Parks and Recreation and we will have to eventually fund these increased cost with fee adjustments in Parks and Recreation programs. We believe we will have time to adjust those fees in advance of the expected date of the minimum wage change of January 1 but those changes are not reflected in this budget. The total cost of the budgeted benefit adjustments is $576,645 primarily due to the VRS rate increase. Support for Regional Services In our current budget we increased our allocations for regional services substantially, so the proposed increases in this proposal are far more affordable. However we are seeing increased costs for housing of prisoners in the regional jail in the estimated amount of $125,000, a $2 increase in the tipping fee for solid waste which equates to $82,000, and a cost increase for operations of the Regional Center for Animal Care and Protection in the amount of$67,990. The total cost increase for these regional services is $274,990 March 10, 2020 93 Maintain Capital Assets We are planning several improvements to the County capital assets and infrastructure including adding $100,000 for the rural broadband initiative to the $200,000 currently funded. The funds are set aside for matching funds for a future Virginia Telecommunication Infrastructure Grant. We are also funding an additional $200,000 to comply with the recent policy change to increase annual debt issuance ceilings from $10 million to $12. We are realizing some savings of $400,135 from less funding needed to pay outstanding debt next year, but we are increasing our general fund allocation to our Capital Improvement and Fleet replacement plans by$303,976. The net of these changes in our capital programs equals an increase of$203,841. Other budget items There are a variety of other budget adjustments that total $733,751 that are listed on this slide. I will not go into detail on all of them in this presentation, but they are all documented and explained in the budget materials you have received. A few I would like to mention are the $300,000 increase for software services mainly due to the increased cost from vendors for hosting more systems themselves. $114,734 for increased costs for fleet services is also budgeted. This change will be paid by internal services charges to departments and outside agencies that use our Fleet Services Center and includes the addition of a position in General Services I will discuss later. Also included is $13,000 for the Sheriffs Office to enable them to deal with prisoners who need to be held in hospitals before transport to the jails. To recap the expenditures, the total budget of$201,725,122 is an increase of$6,102,927 from the current budget. $2,045,563 are allocated for Roanoke County Public Schools, $528,697 is allocated increase public safety staffing, $2,316,085 is for compensation and benefits to support our employees, $274,990 is for regional service support, $203,841 is allocated to maintain capital assets and $733,751 covers the remaining necessary budget adjustments. New Positions This budget request either 8 or 19 new positions depending on whether we receive the SAFER Grant or not. One request is to convert the part time Deputy Clerk to the Board position to Full Time. There is currently no back up for the Deputy Clerk to the Board and the work of the Clerk to the Board continues to increase. The total cost increase for this position is $33,781. Another request that I have already reviewed is the addition of two family services specialists largely paid for by the State. The County cost for those positions is $25,705. We have also reviewed the new positions in Fire and Rescue, either 15 or 4 depending upon the success of the SAFER grant application. This additional cost is $176,177. Another position we are requesting is a Fleet Foremen for the Fleet Services Division in General Services. The workload at the County Fleet Services center far exceeds industry standards for the number of employees we have there. The cost for this position will be met through charges for service back to the departments and outside user agencies, so there is no direct cost to the general fund for this position. The total general government cost for these positions equals $234,350. r 94 March 10, 2020 Other General Funds This slide details all of the other general funds. I will not go into detail on each of them here except to say that most of the increases in the funds are from the impact of wage and benefit costs. The Communications/ IT fund also shows higher costs for the software services and the Grants and Other Fund shows the impact of the SAFER Grant. Preparing for the Future In preparing for this budget staff is fully aware of the recent uncertainties in the economy, however we feel that our financial policies and budgeting practices put us in a good position to withstand any downturn that could occur next fiscal year. Some of the practices we will be utilizing include the proposed development of longer term financial forecasting the use of multi-year budgeting in future years. Finance and Budget staff and Administration regularly monitor our revenues and expenditures. We have consistently followed conservative debt practices and management and have developed sound ten year plans for capital improvements, vehicle replacement and capital maintenance. Over the past few years the Board has established a variety of reserves, contingency accounts and other fund balances. Financial Polices The next two slides show the complete variety of reserves, contingencies and fund balances.Without walking through all of them you can see that when these amounts were last completely audited at the end of the last fiscal year the County had over$33.2 million in reserves. This budget is based on maintaining and increasing those reserves in the future so we are confident that we can withstand most any economic downturn should one occur in the next fiscal year. We hope that this will not be the case, but staff feels we are prepared should an economic downturn become prolonged. The last slide in the presentation shows the series up upcoming work sessions and board actions. I believe that what we have prepared is a solid well thought out budget proposal that will hopefully conclude with the adoption of the budget in May. I understand that due to Board scheduling issues you may wish to change the final budget adoption date to May 12 from May 26. This is achievable by formal action of the Board that we can put on the consent agenda at the next Board Meeting if you wish. Also if you have questions on any items in the budget document, we will again follow the budget memo process and send answers to all Board Members and place them on the budget website for the public. That concludes the budget presentation and I and staff will be happy to answer any immediate questions you may have." Additionally, staff will be following the same procedures as last year with budget memos on an additional information requested." March 10, 2020 95 Supervisor North complimented Mr. O'Donnell for a good presentation. With regard to the SAFER grant on slide 11, there are 15 positions assuming we get the SAFER grant, but if we don't, you talk about adding four (4) and the value is $176,177, yet the total is $424,480. Later on the presentation, the budget only shows $176,177. Mr. O'Donnell explained for the new positions it is $176,177, but we have to pay the approximately$250,000 because we already have the staff. The additional cost because of the new positions is $176, 177, we have to fund the ones that already exist. The total increase is $424,480 and we don't have a choice. If we do not get the grant, we have enough to fund four (4) positions for three (3) quarters of the year. Next, Supervisor North asked with regard to the minimum wage legislation that passed the General Assembly, he thought staff had measured the impact on the County as $227,000; was that a gross figure because he sees the net figure is $25,000. Mr. O'Donnell advised that at one point, staff was looking at the complete fiscal year and they are now enacting on January 1st, so it is half of that and those dollars in the budget are only for general government. We have not funded most of the part-time employees out of the fee class and he has mentioned staff has some time between now and January 1st to determine if we are going to decrease services or increase the rates. He added that the Board has been provided information with regard to the fee class.rates. The Board, technically, does not have to vote on that because it is an ordinance that stated it is up to the Director of Parks, Recreation and Tourism to be able to adjust those rates. However, because it is a large list of potential impact, staff wants to keep the Board informed and make sure the Board is aware of what we are doing before we do it. Staff still has to work through the part-time wage increase for the fee class personnel. Supervisor North reiterated staff has six (6) months to work on. Supervisor North then inquired with regard to Roanoke Valley Resource Authority tipping fee at $82,000, is that $2.00 a net ton increase; Mr. O'Donnell advised that is correct and was decided at the last RVRA Board meeting. Supervisor North asked with regard to Children's Services Act, slide 21, he sees the number at $7.750 million, is that constant; do we know it is going to be same. Mr. O'Donnell responded staff has not increased the budget, it is flat right now. Supervisor North stated he knew there was some stability in the price increases for private day care, so hopefully that will remain. Mr. O'Donnell replied that we have a reserve in case we do not meet, but feels good about leaving it as a flat number. Supervisor North stated the reason he was asking about the numbers was to find out if there was any extra money left over for employee compensation, if needed. Mr. O'Donnell stated he is cautious because of the economy, he thinks we are on a good path with this budget and he feels uncomfortable about increasing any revenue sources, however, this State budget has not been approved and there may be some things that come our way that we are not aware of yet. We will need to wait until they vote on that to see if there are any minor increases that we are not up to speed on. 96 March 10, 2020 Supervisor Mahoney stated on page 14 when he was talking about fair compensation for employees and you had the $300,000 as reserve funding, it there an estimate on when you might be able to begin implementing that. Is it a July 1st or is that some time much later in the year. Mr. O'Donnell stated to be fair, he would like to work that through with the Department Heads. So, he would try to do it as close to July 1st as possible, but we need to work through the rest of the compensation study and really make sure we understand where the holes are. He would certainly want to do in the first quarter of the next fiscal year. Supervisor Mahoney commented Mr. O'Donnell had answered Supervisor North's question with respect to the fee class and the General Assembly's increase in the minimum wage. Thank you. On slide 17 where you show the change to County and Schools debt transfer as a negative $400,000. Is that because some debt is falling off or because we refinanced that and we are at lower interest rates. Mr. O'Donnell stated he would prefer to let the experts answer, but it is just a technicality and a year where we have lower debt payments. As we issue more debt, it will go back up. We have been consistently level with our debt payments and have actually gone down in the trend a little; it is a timing issue for one year. Supervisor Mahoney inquired in a generality question, and in part you addressed it, we really do not know_yet what the General Assembly is going to impose on us. Some of these numbers may move. Mr. O'Donnell stated he is more optimistic, he thinks staff knows the damage that-has been done, but there may be some funds in there for compensation for constitutional officers' employees. So of those things are unknown at this point. We could have some extra small amounts. Supervisor Mahoney asked Mr. O'Donnell if he has a good idea of what the School Board is going to be recommending for their employee increases; what percent that we will be looking at. Mr. O'Donnell stated he read something, but would be afraid to quote it in case he is wrong. He thinks they are looking at a step increase, plus something else, but he cannot give you the specific number. Supervisor Radford stated he did not remember when we did not have a health and dental increase, with Mr. O'Donnell responding absolutely. Supervisor Radford asked if our relationship with our provider have anything to do with that with Mr. O'Donnell stated he would like to think our wellness program is successful, but he does not have any empirical data to say that. We have a high number of our employees participating on an ongoing basis without wellness plan and he thinks that is part of it. Additionally, we had a 15% increase so he thinks it is a very positive thing that we can afford above inflation pay increase, plus no increase in health insurance for our employees is very unusual for us in the last few years. Supervisor Radford indicated he loved seeing the no increase there. March 10, 2020 97 Supervisor Radford then asked as a follow-up to Mr. Mahoney on slide.17, about the negative $400,000 school debt transfer. Does this affect our capacity at all? Mr. O'Donnell stated he feels it is a timing issue where we just made a large payment so there will not be a large payment in this next fiscal year, but we are well below our ratios for affordability of debt if you look at our policies. We have a very conservative debt issuance policy. Supervisor Radford then questioned again on slide 17, you said the rural broadband imitative is increasing $100,000 to $200,000 for a total of$300,000. For our constituents, how do they see that increase? Mr. O'Donnell stated it is in the capital plan and hopefully in the next round our Comm IT folks are working on identifying where the gaps are in the rural areas for broadband. So, the intention is to apply for a Virginia Telecommunications Initiative (VATI) grant in September and you can leverage up to 80%, but it is more competitive than that so we could get as much as $1.5 million, but it is really a matter of competition with the others. You can also use some in-kind things for the grant applications as well. We are hoping to leverage well over $1 million in State money. Supervisor Radford stated so it would be safe to say $100,000 is going to leverage more infrastructure. ";-Supervisor-North requested two budget memos. On slide 7, it shows what the total sales for"hotel; motel and meals taxes, he would like to have a budget memo shared with his colleagues on what the breakdown for the $18.19 million for those three categories. Lastly, he would also like a budget memo on what the additional amount of funding would be for an increase from 2.75%to 3% on average for employees. He stated he had read somewhat that he thought schools were looking at three percent (3%), they have budgeted for that and we do not know what the General Assembly outcome will be because the dust is still settling from the session. In fact, the budget has not been adopted; not until Thursday. If possible, he would appreciate those two budget memos. Mr. O'Donnell advised staff would take care of. IN RE: NEW BUSINESS 1. Request to approve the minutes of the December 17, 2019, Board of Supervisors Meeting (Deborah Jacks, Chief Deputy Clerk to the Board) A-031020-1 98 March 10, 2020 Supervisor North moved to approve the staff recommendation to approve the minutes and Supervisor Hooker seconded the motion. Motion approved by the following vote: AYES: Supervisors Hooker, North, Peters, Radford NAYES: None ABSTAIN: Supervisor Mahoney 2. Resolution granting a waiver to Hollins University pursuant to Section 13-23 of the Roanoke County Noise Ordinance(Chapter 13, Article II of the Roanoke County Code) (Megan Canfield, Hollins Director of Student Activities and Orientation) Ms. Canfield of Hollins University outlined the request for resolution. There was no discussion. RESOLUTION 031020-2 GRANTING A WAIVER TO HOLLINS UNIVERSITY PURSUANT TO SECTION 13-23 OF THE ROANOKE COUNTY NOISE ORDINANCE (CHAPTER 13, ARTICLE II. OF THE ROANOKE COUNTY CODE) WHEREAS, Hollins University, a private university located in north Roanoke County, will be holding a spring Cotillion on Saturday, April 11, 2020, ending at midnight; and WHEREAS, Hollins will also be holding an outdoor concert for the campus community on Friday, May 1, 2020, ending at 11:00 P.M. on the grounds of the University; and WHEREAS, in order to accommodate these events and to mitigate economic hardship (by enhancing students' sense of connectedness with Hollins and the Roanoke Valley through social interaction, which supports recruiting and retaining students, which in turn affects the economic vitality of the University and Roanoke County), Hollins University is requesting a waiver of the County noise ordinance for two (2) hours on Saturday, April 11, 2020, and (1) hour from 10:00 P.M. until 11:00 P.M., on Friday, May 1, 2020; and WHEREAS, Section 13-23 of the Roanoke County Code establishes certain standards for the Board of Supervisors to grant waivers from the provisions of the Roanoke County Noise Ordinance. NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED by the Board of Supervisors of Roanoke County, Virginia, as follows: 1. The Board FINDS that the noise that will be produced by the above-described events will not endanger the public health safety or welfare, and that March 10, 2020 99 compliance with the provisions of the County noise ordinance would produce an economic hardship without producing substantial benefit to the public. 2. That the provisions of Section 13-21 (5) and (6) are WAIVED for a period of two (2) hours until midnight on Saturday, April 11, 2020 and for a period of one (1) hour until 11:00 P.M. on Friday, May 1, 2020. 3. That this Waiver is granted specifically to Hollins University for the events scheduled at the University on Saturday, April 11, 2020 and Friday May 1, 2020. On motion of Supervisor North to adopt the resolution, seconded by Supervisor Hooker and carried by the following recorded vote: AYES: Supervisors Mahoney, Hooker, North, Peters, Radford NAYS: None 3. Request to approve the Cable Television budget for fiscal year 2020-2021 (Elaine Bays-Murphy, Director of Cable Access) Ms. Bays-Murphy outlined the request. Supervisor Mahoney stated he thinks Ms. Bays-Murphy and staff do an excellent job. Looking down the road and from what he has been reading about how more and more people in the real world are cutting cable and how we use Cox Cable to allocate the various percentage between the localities, do you see an issue down the road that we might need to renegotiate the agreement among all the jurisdictions or would you rather not open that up. Ms. Bays-Murphy advised staff just went through a new franchise agreement with Cox, so she is not sure she can technically tell you how that could work. She understands the concern. She stated as far as RVTV is concerned, they are using a very small portion of the funds that dedicated from the Virginia Communications Sales and Use Tax, but she gets a lot of feedback that folks are actually watching more through our social media sources than in the past. Again, she cannot really address the numbers as well as subscribers and what is going to happen in the cable industry, but people make comments they have watched the meetings or our productions, so as far as what we are producing, it may be a different vehicle per se, but we are definitely been seen. Supervisor Peters stated he has been on the committee for several years and meets every two months and he gets to hear about all the things you are doing and cannot say enough how much he appreciates what you and your staff are doing. You do a great job for all the citizens of the Roanoke Valley. Ms. Bay-Murphy gave a "shout-out" to her team, the five (5) of them are covering three (3) localities and two (2) school systems. Most other government access stations do not do that. We may not be the largest, but we get some bragging rights as far as what we do and what we cover. She has a very strong team. 100 March 10, 2020 Supervisor Radford commented he watches all of her shows on the website and never looked at through cable. You are headed in the right direction. A-031020-3 Supervisor Mahoney moved to approve the RVTV budget and Supervisor Peters seconded the motion. Motion approved by the following vote: AYES: Supervisors Mahoney, Hooker, North, Peters, Radford NAYES: None 4. Resolution authorizing the County Administrator or his Designee to execute Agreements with the Virginia Department of Transportation (VDOT) and acknowledgments of Local Funding Commitment as required in VDOT Funding Agreements (Richard Caywood, Assistant County Administrator) Mr. Caywood outlined the request for resolution. There was no discussion. RESOLUTION 031020-4 AUTHORIZING THE COUNTY ADMINISTRATOR OR HIS DESIGNEE TO EXECUTE AGREEMENTS WITH THE VIRGINIA DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION (VDOT) AND ACKNOWLEDGMENTS OF LOCAL FUNDING COMMITMENT AS REQUIRED IN VDOT FUNDING AGREEMENTS WHEREAS, the County of Roanoke desires to have and maintain a safe and efficient road system; and WHEREAS, from time to time the County of Roanoke and the Virginia Department of Transportation (VDOT) work together to enhance the transportation system; and WHEREAS, certain agreements between the County of Roanoke and VDOT must be executed for this cooperative work to be accomplished. NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED, by the Board of Supervisors of Roanoke County, Virginia, as follows: 1. That the County Administrator, or his designee, is authorized to execute agreements, and any modifications to such agreements, with VDOT as needed to advance transportation projects; and 2. That the local share of preliminary engineering, right-of-way and construction (as applicable) of the project(s) under agreement with the Virginia Department of Transportation is hereby committed to be funded in accordance with the project agreement(s) financial documents, subject to appropriation; and 3. That this resolution shall be effective upon its adoption. March 10, 2020 101 On motion of Supervisor North to adopt the resolution, seconded by Supervisor Hooker and carried by the following recorded vote: AYES: Supervisors Mahoney, Hooker, North, Peters, Radford NAYS: None IN RE: FIRST READING OF ORDINANCES 1. Ordinance accepting and appropriating funds in the amount of $3,020,308 and—granting—sfgna ory aauthor t to Administrator ear his de signee �o executes a Project Admini gyration Agreement-with from the Virginia Department of Transportation (VDOT) for the Roanoke River Greenway through Explore Park (Megan Cronise, Transportation Planning Administrator) Ms. Cronise outlined the request for ordinance. She advised the second reading would remove the language regarding signatory authority as it was approved in the agenda item approved previously today. Supervisor Peters' motion to approve the first reading and set the second reading and public hearing for March 24, 2020, was seconded by Supervisor Mahoney and approved by the following vote: AYES: Supervisors Mahoney, Hooker, North, Peters, Radford NAYS: None IN RE: CONSENT AGENDA RESOLUTION 031020-5 APPROVING AND CONCURRING IN CERTAIN ITEMS SET FORTH ON THE BOARD OF SUPERVISORS AGENDA FOR THIS DATE DESIGNATED AS ITEM H- CONSENT AGENDA BE IT RESOLVED by the Board of Supervisors of Roanoke County, Virginia, as follows: That the certain section of the agenda of the Board of Supervisors for March 10, 2020 designated as Item H-Consent Agenda be, and hereby is, approved and concurred in as to each item separately set forth in said section designated Items 1, as follows: 1. Resolution expressing the appreciation of the Board of Supervisors of Roanoke County to John F. Murphy,Zoning Administrator, upon his retirement after more II than thirty-four (34) years of service On motion of Supervisor North to adopt the resolution, seconded by Supervisor Hooker and carried by the following recorded vote: 02 March 10, 2020 AYES: Supervisors Mahoney, Hooker, North, Peters, Radford NAYS: None RESOLUTION 031020-5.a EXPRESSING THE APPRECIATION OF THE BOARD OF SUPERVISORS OF ROANOKE COUNTY TO JOHN F. MURPHY, ZONING ADMINISTRATOR, UPON HIS RETIREMENT AFTER MORE THAN THIRTY-FOUR (34) YEARS OF SERVICE WHEREAS, John F. Murphy was employed by Roanoke County on January 6, 1986; and WHEREAS, Mr. Murphy retired on February 29, 2020, after thirty-four (34) years and two (2) months of devoted, faithful and expert service to Roanoke County; and WHEREAS, throughout Mr. Murphy's tenure with Roanoke County, he has served as Assistant Animal Control Officer, Police Community Services Officer, Planning Technician, Associate Planner, Planner I, and Zoning Administrator; and WHEREAS, Mr. Murphy, through his employment with Roanoke County, has been instrumental in improving the quality of life and providing services to the citizens of Roanoke County; and WHEREAS, Mr. Murphy was appointed Subdivision Agent by the Board of Supervisors in 2001, and has reviewed and approved numerous concept plans, site development plans, and subdivision plats in Roanoke County; and WHEREAS, Mr. Murphy served as the Secretary to the Board of Zoning Appeals from 2005 till 2020, and was a Certified Zoning Administrator (CZA) through the Virginia Association of Zoning Officials since 2006; and WHEREAS, Mr. Murphy processed and reviewed various rezoning, special use permit, variance and administrative appeal applications; and WHEREAS, Mr. Murphy developed and processed numerous amendments to the Roanoke County Zoning Ordinance on various topics including, but not limited to, special use permits, board of zoning appeals, permitted uses in commercial and zoning districts, Clearbrook Village Overlay District, Explore Park District, floodplain regulations, agritourism, home occupations, wind energy systems, special events facility, sign regulations, parking standards, enforcement, religious assembly, and screening and landscaping standards; and WHEREAS, Mr. Murphy supervised, developed and mentored many planning and zoning staff members over the years; NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED that the Board of Supervisors of Roanoke County expresses its deepest appreciation and the appreciation of the citizens of Roanoke County to JOHN F. MURPHY for more than thirty-four (34) years of capable, loyal and dedicated service to Roanoke County; and March 10, 2020 103 111 FURTHER, the Board of Supervisors does express its best wishes for a happy and productive retirement. On motion of Supervisor North to adopt the resolution, seconded by Supervisor Hooker and carried by the following recorded vote: AYES: Supervisors Mahoney, Hooker, North, Peters, Radford NAYS: None IN RE: REPORTS Supervisor North moved to receive and file the following reports. The motion was seconded by Supervisor Mahoney and carried by the following recorded vote: AYES: Supervisors Mahoney, Hooker, Radford, Peters, North NAYS: None 1: Unappropriated, Board Contingency and Capital Reserves Report 2. Outstanding Debt Report IN RE: REPORTS AND INQUIRIES OF BOARD MEMBERS Supervisor Mahoney advised he just had one item. He had an opportunity to attend the neighborhood watch community meeting in Hunting Hills on March 4, 2020. There were about 12 to 15 citizens, but would like to tell the Chief that Officer Butts does a really great job. Supervisor Hooker stated last night she had a great meeting with 30 or 40 citizens from the Bradshaw Road community. We were updated them on Roanoke Valley Resource Authority (RVRA) work and look forward to more in the future and just wanted to thank staff for their hard work. Supervisor North stated he would, not be as brief as his colleagues as he has two to three (2 to 3) items. The Reimage Hollins, "Learn. Work. Dine. Play." Hollins Center public hearing will be held on Tuesday, March 17, 2020, at 7:00 p.m. right here at the Roanoke County Administration Center, in this room. He encouraged all Hollins residents to attend or else to contact us if you have any questions at 540-772-2029. The Planning Commission will discuss and hear comments from the public. A draft plan and strategies for the next ten (10) years will be discussed as well as comprehensive recommendations for the next 20 years. The presentation of this revised draft follows the last two years of input and community engagement, economic analysis and stakeholder meetings. Please join us on that date. Another item, on March 4, 2020, he attended a work session on updating the Roanoke Valley Allegheny Regional Commission's Comprehensive Regional Economic Development Plan, which has to be done every five 104 March 10, 2020 (5) years. A review of strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats known as a SWAT analysis was reviewed and augmented with additional input for draft submission to the May meeting of that body. This is necessary for Federal and State grants in the region. If we don't have this document updated in the eyes of the Federal government, we will not get any funds for transportation and other projects. So, it has a purpose. Also, in the area of a Regional Housing Market Analysis Study, the Roanoke Valley Alleghany Regional Commission's work program has efforts to provide for funding after they file with the Virginia Housing Development Authority for a community impact grant to fund this Regional Housing Market Analysis Study, it would include all of the Counties of Franklin and Roanoke, the Towns of Boones Mill, Vinton and Rocky Mount as the Cities of Roanoke and Salem and will also reference findings in two other market studies in Botetourt County and Alleghany Highlands. On February 12, 2020, the staff of the Roanoke Valley Alleghany Regional Commission issued requests for proposals and they got a number of proposals on the deadline of February 28, 2020, and at this time staff is reviewing those to select a consultant to develop the study, which should point us in the direction of what the future housing needs are for this region and especially in Roanoke County. Lastly, with thought the General Assembly was over, but it is not, they have to go back and pass the budget this Thursday as well as some other items related to judicial appointments. One bill that we have been following is the Equal Taxing Authority bill, which did pass, but he understands they adopted the Senate version, which will not go into effect until July 1, 2021 assuming the Governor signs it and nothing else falls apart between now and then. This would give counties in the State of Virginia equal taxing authority the same as cities and towns today. Supervisor Radford commented with regard to the Census 2020, he reminded citizens they should begin seeing information in the mail this week regarding the 2020 census. It is important to complete the census form; it effects the allocation of federal funding for public resources such as parks, playgrounds, schools, fire and emergency services, transportation projects, health care for our citizens and other programs that shape our future. Census data also helps to determine how many seats each State will have in the U. S. House of Representatives and is used in the redistricting of State legislatures, County Board of Supervisors and City Councils and voting districts. For every person not counted in the census, the locality loses$2,000 per person in eligible funding. So, we want to be sure that everybody is counted. This year, people can fill out the form online or send it in by mail. It only takes about ten (10) minutes to complete and it is safe and confidential. So, make sure we are all counted. We have some economic development news. This past week we got the news of the expansion of First Team Auto with a new Volkswagen facility under construction in the Hollins District, which was picked up and featured on Channel 7 and Channel 10. He welcomed the Virginia Economic Developer's Association Spring Conference that will be held in Roanoke this week. VEDA is the membership organization of economic development professionals from across the March 10, 2020 105 State and it's great to have them in Roanoke. A presentation and tour of Explore Park will be held during the conference. This is great exposure for Explore Park. Additionally, The Economic Development Office is planning an Opportunity Zone information session next Thursday, March 19 at 9 a.m. at the Greenfield Education and Training Center. For more information, contact the Economic Development Office. IN RE: CLOSED MEETING At 3:57 p.m., Supervisor North moved to go into closed meeting following the work sessions pursuant to the Code of Virginia Section 2.2-3711. A.7, Consultation with legal counsel and briefings by staff members or consultants pertaining to actual or probable litigation, where such consultation or briefing in open meeting would adversely affect the negotiating or litigating posture of the public body, namely a vendor providing goods or services. Supervisor Hooker seconded the motion and was carried by the following recorded vote: AYES: Supervisors Mahoney, Hooker, Radford, Peters, North NAYS: None The closed session was held from 5:58 p.m. until 6:19 p.m. At 3:58 p.m. Chairman Radford recessed to the fourth floor for work session and closed session. IN RE: WORK SESSIONS 1. Work session to discuss Planning priorities with the Board of Supervisors (Philip Thompson, Director of Planning) Mr. O'Donnell advised this work session was a follow-up to the February 1, 2020, retreat. We met and discussed a variety of potential goals and the Board did settle on five (5) goals, which he summarized and sent back to the Board in a memo on February 3, 2020. The five (5) goals we determined we want to work on is to develop a multi-year operating budget with increased reliance on more economic forecasting and employee engagement through the engagement survey. Complete employee compensation study and implement changes. Determine the best long-term solid waste transportation option with the Roanoke Valley Resource Authority (RVRA), and something that we have to move forward with is to review the building and development permit process with the goal of streamlining service delivery and improving efficiencies. 106 March 10, 2020 Mr. O'Donnell advised these were approved with the Board at the retreat. He indicated that what they did not come to closure on were planning issues. We talked about continuing the process of developing a series of community plans. We are considering a full comprehensive plan update and also we have discussed the idea of economic development strategic plan. In terms of the later, he heard the consensus was that staff should come back to the Board and work on some options for that. The issue there is how do we work on the public information piece and really market. He advised that he has already spoken with Ms. Loope, Director of Economic Development, and will be working on a format for an economic development strategy. This leaves the question in the planning area, do we continue on with the process of the series of community plan updates that we have been doing for the past several years or do we look at a full comprehensive plan update. Mr. Thompson and he have discussed and he has put together a presentation to give the Board the background and history of what we have done in the past as well two different options to consider for where we go in the future once we finish the community plans we are currently working on. Mr. Thompson provided a PowerPoint presentation. Supervisor Hooker asked Mr. Thompson if his preference is the comprehensive plan and there is a good argument for it; do you have the staff in place to be able to complete. Mr. Thompson responded in the affirmative stating he has a great staff. The one thing that he thinks they will be looking at is to streamline the document itself. Our intent is to take the existing document and narrow it down and streamline. This can be done within a six (6) to eight (8) month period. What we were going to do is go out to the community, like we have been, and get feedback into next spring about what the issues are, etc. We think we can take that feedback and feed it in. One of the things they are working on and have discussed internally is the existing conditions. So, one of the things they are doing is to transition to having the existing conditions as an appendix, and make them more like a fact sheet, depending on what topic you want to have. So, if there are environmental issues, we would have one fact sheet on the flood plain, for example. We would have a map of the County that would be broken down by all of the community planning areas. So, you would have a chart that shows for each subject matter you would have a County-wide map, but then you would have it broken down by community planning areas, but also a total for the County. There would be other information on issues associated with that particular topic. Our intent is to make it more of a graphic-rich fact sheet for each topic. These would be developed for every topic that we would have in the Comp Plan. It would sit as part of an appendix and we would refer to that. So, we would not need to refer to the document, we would have all of them so we can focus back on identifying issues per community planning area. For example, here are the issues we have identified for each area and here are the recommendations on how we go about implementing. We are really trying to streamline the actual document and make it more to the point. Here are the issues for each community planning area and here is what we would recommend and here is the timeframe to go about doing it. He reiterated he has very capable staff. March 10, 2020 107 Supervisor North stated for clarity sake, you would complete this current plan and the question to us is not so much about the current plan, but about A or B. You are suggesting we go with Plan A, which takes two (2) years and take care of something that has been lying dormant since 1998 basically except for the plans we have taken along the way. Mr. Thompson responded in the affirmative. Supervisor North then asked with regard to the plans that we did earlier, the Vinton Plan, the Hollins Plan of 2008, the Glenvar Plan, did they get put into the Comprehensive Plan. Mr. Thompson stated when you think of the Comp Plan, it is a series of documents. They are incorporated into by reference as a component of the plan. To some degree, we are not going to replace all; but would have the ability to update, if we need to, a community plan. We would go back and review and see what needed to be updated as part of that process and take that information and put it in a more streamlined fashion. It gives us a chance to review it and then updated as needed. There may be things in there that do not need to be updated. We would look at all of our plans, it is not going to replace plans, and i.e. the 419 Plan would be incorporated into the community plans. There is almost a hierarchy, County- Wide goals and objectives, community planning issues and potentially you may have more detailed area plans that fit underneath that are more concrete, i.e. 419, Hollins Center Plan, Oak Grove. We think we have it figured out how we think it would layout and how we would accomplish. He stated we just need to move forward. We have the staff to do that. The Comp Plan will include a lot of other staff members and studies like the Capital Facility Assessment Study would come in handy. There are a lot of things that are already done that will be part of the process. This is a major task, but thinks it is time to tackle. Supervisor Radford commented that it appears that Mr. Thompson has the staff to continue the current plans and go ahead and start the comprehensive plan update. Mr. Thompson advised on Rt. 460, they have a consultant that will be helping. We will need some technical services that we need to hire. When you are looking at where roads may go and development may happen and we will probably need some engineering assistance to help figure that out. Obviously, we would be involved more from the Zoning and Land Use standpoint, but we will have assistance on that one. Supervisor Radford stated you showed earlier all these plans that we have been doing, i.e. the Rt. 221 area plan. Is that done or where are with that one. Mr. Thompson advised it has been done and adopted in 2009. Supervisor Radford stated so it is just sitting out there with Mr. Thompson responding in the affirmative. Mr. Thompson advised some of these plans were more generic than others and thinks it is another opportunity for all with this process to go back and look at that and make adjustments and upset those plans or incorporate new things that were in those plans into this process. Supervisor Radford advised there are three (3) of us on the Board, who were on the Planning Commission and we did one every year from 2007 until 2012. He is just wondering if those have already been incorporated and are they going to be part of the look back. Mr. Thompson responded they will look at every plan to see what is in them and to see what it still relevant and what needs to be updated and probably incorporate more into the appropriate community planning area that it is located in. 108 March 10, 2020 Supervisor North stated with regard to Rt. 460, Supervisor Peters has the right side of Rt. 460 generally speaking except for one small piece. So that is core zoning, correct? Mr. Thompson stated core land use on the East side and transition on the West side. Supervisor North added the County runs from Chick-fil-A at West Ruritan and then there is a piece of land up Huntridge and that is about it. So you would be looking at the zoning on that to the Comprehensive Plan and recommend changes. He knows there are a couple of landowners, two (2) that he knows of and have the property for sale now and then David Hale owns a large segment near Huntridge. He told him the other day that for the right price, he would go ahead and sell it, because he does not want to see it to come to any fruition in terms of developments, he just wants to sell the whole piece to somebody right now. Somebody could probably get it for the right price. The problem with that area that he sees from a topography standpoint is that is so rocky, hilly. You don't know what you have underneath the ground unless you do a GEO study. Mr. Thompson stated we need to talk about scope and is that part of the analysis. One of the things we need to focus on at Rt. 460 is where is the development potential. This goes across property lines so how could you potentially develop sites along the corridor realizing there is probably rock. Lidl was supposed to go in and they hit rock. The site in front of Huntridge, he is sure may have some development issues, but it is zoned commercial. The other thing they will look at are the proffered conditions on that property as well that are somewhat dated. Do we need to look at that as part of this analysis? There are a lot of things from a development standpoint that we need to look at. We also have Bonsack and the issues with historic Bonsack and how do we deal with that issue as well. When we were dealing with Lewis Gale, is there a way to put a connection between East and West Ruritan, maybe a little off the roadway because there is a property further up that is vacant that you may be able to put an access and people could get across without having to come all the way down to Rt. 460. Looking at transportation, infrastructure and some of the environmental issues, where are the develop potentials in that corridor. Supervisor North questioned the connection between East and West with Mr. Thompson responded they are connected further up, but the question is if you go not too far off of Rt. 460 to the North there is some vacant property that can make a connection closer to those roads. The issue on East Ruritan is you have Bonsack Road that comes in and you have Carson Road. At one time there was a secure road project for Carson Road to improve it, but when the funding dried up from VDOT, it fell off the list. Also, looking at connections potentially in the City too. Can we get some connection to Blue Hills Drive? We will look at all of that to find out where there is some development potential, how can we improve the transportation system and also looking at where are the appropriate access points. He added If you develop one lot at a time, you are going to have a problem regarding the access points. Should we try to figure that out ahead of time in this planning process? March 10, 2020 109 II Supervisor North stated another laborious step is to go through a hearing every time and its stirs up everybody. Mr. Thompson stated one of the things they talked about at the Planning Commission is when it is zoned R-1 and you have it zoned commercial there is technically a ten (10) foot or twenty (20) foot buffer that you need to have. If you piecemeal it, you then have twenty (20) feet, twenty (20) feet, twenty (20) feet of unused property and eventually that could be another development. Looking at it comprehensively makes more sense. It is their intent to do that and we will work through the scope and make sure the Board has input into that process as well. Supervisor Peters asked if that would not be address with the Rt. 460 Corridor Study that is just starting up. Mr. Thompson responded the current Rt.460 Study that VDOT is doing is just looking at the intersections along the entire corridor. Staff will take the numbers and information from that study, but we are going to be looking more offsite; parallel to that what can we do? Supervisor Peters asked why you would not coincide the two together. Mr. Thompson advised it is almost done. Those recommendations are coming out so we will build upon those. They are going to be done with their study and we are going to build on that. We are really looking at where is the development potential, what is the land use, the zoning, the environmental issues and where are the development sites we want to see along that corridor. Supervisor Peters stated there are two (2) plans for the comprehensive plan with Mr. Thompson responding in the negative; it is for the Rt. 460 study starting in July. It builds on the VDOT study; we are talking about doing the Rt. 460 study starting in July and it will take about a year to do that. We are saying we would do that as well one of those two other studies; either the Comprehensive Plan or an activity center as the alternate. Supervisor North inquired as to when the public hearing with VDOT would be held with Ms. Cronise, Transportation Administrator, advised they are looking at April. What Mr. Thompson is saying, because he has seen a preview of some of the recommendations Mr. Caywood and he has as well as Mr. Radford during the last TPO meeting, there are some R-cuts that prohibit going across Rt. 460 and other corridors that would probably help with an access road help make the transition to the plans and suggestions VDOT has to implementing roads off Rt. 460. The R-cuts are going to restrict movements, for example from Chick-fil-A over to CVS, you don't go across the road anymore. This will take out one of four (4) light signals and speeds up the flow of traffic. This could dovetail into what Mr. Thompson is proposing nicely. Mr. Thompson advised there are other alternatives off corridor that could help the traffic situation in that corridor. What they are really trying to do along the Rt. 460 corridor is to limit phasing of signals and put in improvements that will restrict movements, therefore, there is more traffic going along Rt. 460 versus the conflicting traffic on the side roads. 110 March 10, 2020 Supervisor Peters reiterated while VDOT does VDOT study we are also going to look at the corridor for zoning, etc. with Mr. Thompson responding in the affirmative. Supervisor Peters stated the concern he has with doing the comp plan now, which is why he was pushing for the Vinton plan. We have growth that is taking place now and we are needing to react to it now and we have not been proactive to it and he is meeting tomorrow and next Tuesday with some business folks that are talking about what is going to take place down there. He has been supportive of every plan that we have talked about and thinks it helps businesses see what our vision is for that area. With the growth of Explore Park and what we have been trying to work out with the State that did not go very well, as we continue to push for those kinds of things to come together, he the comp plan reset should be done when things are slow, not while you are in the midst of a growth period. He understands it needs to be done and he is not questioning that at all, but his only concern is that you have people who are actively looking at the Hollins plan and the 419 plan, that were just adopted last year and took three (3) years for whatever reason, now that those plans are in place people see the vision of what Roanoke County is laying out there and he thinks to stop that and put it on the shelf for two (2) years to do the comp plan when we could still be in a growth period. I have a great deal of concern with that. Mr. Thompson responded he hears Supervisor Peters decision and his counter to that is we are going to get input for the entire County. So, we are going to put the information down into those community planning areas. County-wide we will have a document that talks about more from a global perspective is what we are looking for. We will identify issues and come up with recommendations. There are other plans that have vision statements so each community planning area could have its own vision statement as well as we go through this process and the recommendations would be by community planning area. We would develop that for each of those 11 community planning areas and Vinton is one of them. Part of the issue with Vinton is you have a couple of things going on. The Vinton Area Corridors Plan, which is part of the Vinton community planning area, and then you have Explore Park, which is in the Mt. Pleasant community plan. He stated he thinks Supervisor Peters wants to show the connection of Explore Park with what is happening in the Town of Vinton and East County. Supervisor Peters stated he is looking mainly at the East part because that will be the main corridor to get to Explore Park. He added his eyes were opened with Illuminights with 40,000 people show up there and that is why in January he said we need to push this along a little bit and there are also the other things we know are taking place there. We need to have a corridor that people are looking for development; it is not coming through Mt. Pleasant. Nobody is coming to Rutrough Road and developing down there, he can promise that. So, we need to make sure we are planning for that development as Explore Park comes more and more online. Mr. Blount is taking people to the Bedford County side; there is a lot of interest in that. Based on your slide eight (8), centers of activity, this is a pretty big center of activity and to set it aside and say we are going to do something else for two (2) years and we will pick those things back up. This is where he has a little bit of concern. March 10, 2020 111 Mr. Thompson stated again the Board needs to tell us what direction to go in and he looks at as well as looking at our Zoning Ordinance. Ideally, hopefully we frame what need to do in our Zoning Ordinance by updating our comp plan; that is how we should do it. Update your comp plan and then update your zoning ordinance. When he thinks of the breakdown of the slides he presented and the breakdown of the zoning of the County is 1% commercial and 2% industrial and probably 17% is the number and then 70% agricultural. So, if we ever want to get into comprehensive rezoning, like was done in 1992, you need to look at the whole County. While you can do these plans and look at these plans rezoned for those areas; it is now the whole County and our ordinance was done in 1992. Every day we are coming back since he has been here, we have continually brought packets of amendments to you to address issues to keep it up to date. The flood plain will be coming soon as well as communications. When people ask certain questions about uses, you can look at our definitions and see they are somewhat dated than how it should be done today. So, the comp plan recommendations also looks at that. He really thinks we need to do a comp plan amendment and really focus on our Zoning Ordinance and update. The comp plan leads into that and therefore that is way he would push for that because that is, in his opinion, really needs. It is 28 years old and that is part of the recommendation behind that. Supervisor Peters stated he does not disagree, but as Supervisor Mahoney likes to remind us, we are recession bound; it is going to happen and -that is when he would look at readjusting rather than doing it during a growth period. Regardless of what the stock market did yesterday, we are still in a growth period and that is why he keeps going back to the same concern. Mr. Thompson stated he does not disagree with doing activity centers; it is really down to which ones do you want to do. We cannot do both. Supervisor Mahoney stated his concern is that our comp plan is seriously out of date. Historically; he thought we attempted to address that because we lack staff and we lack resources to address it. So the way we addressed it was through taking it piece meal, bit by bit, for each of the community planning areas. He is excited to hear that Mr.Thompson claims he can do alternative A in-house with staff with no outside help. This leads him to think alternate A really makes a whole lot of sense. Secondly, what concerns him, and wants Mr. Lubeck to chime in, he believes our Zoning Ordinance is out of date. If we think the comp plan is out of date, you have not seen our Zoning Ordinance. If we go through alternative A, it is going to place a fairly significant burden on the County Attorney's office, but it has to be done. Again, if you go back to what Mr. Thompson told us, we have done bits and pieces on the Zoning Ordinance but the last time we really addressed it was 1992 and that is scary. At some point in time, he is afraid we are going to lose a zoning case, not because our staff or our attorneys are incompetent, but rather our documents, our fundamental foundational documents that support the decisions this Board makes are out of date and he is afraid we are going to get embarrassed. 112 March 10, 2020 He prefers alternative B because it allows us to target where we see specific growth patterns occurring, which Supervisor Peters is indicating, but he really thinks we have to go alternative A. We have put it off too long and we have to update the comp plan, we have to update the Zoning Ordinance and the longer that gets out of date, he thinks the worse we look. He hears Supervisor Peter's point, but he thinks it is important. He thinks we have all liked how over the last 10 to 20 years how we focus on specific planning areas because we are able to target where we saw or where we thought development was occurring. We have been successful with that, very successful. Additionally, it has also been a realization we really did not have the staff or the resources to do what we should have done, which was update the comp plan. We sort of dodged that bullet by doing community area planning and he thinks at some point in time, we have to go alternative A. He hears Supervisor Peters' point, but would like to finish up some of the things we are doing. He thinks Rt. 460 is critical, but at the end of the day, he would vote for alternative A. Supervisor Hooker stated she does not necessarily think that by not prioritizing the Vinton plan at this time does not necessarily mean,the growth or that investment won't happen. She asked Jill Loope, Director of Economic Development, as far as how does it best benefit her when talking to potential developers? Has it really been spot on with these smaller projects that make it more inviting? Do we need that overarching plan? She would just like to hear. Ms. Loope responded the comp plan is very helpful to making sure the Zoning Ordinance is correct. These two (2) documents are probably among the most important documents we have in in the County to guide Economic Development. The Zoning Ordinance alignment is really critical in identifying development areas in the County so we really need to address it; that is the priority. Supervisor Hooker stated she was around in 1992 when this was going on and some of the things we were projecting, we had good reason to project. We were wrong and we need to go back and look at some of them again. So, she feels the urgency that we need to go back and correct some things. She agrees with plan A, but understands Supervisor Peters concern. Supervisor Peters stated it is not about Vinton, he is more concerned about Explore Park. This Board has put a lot of money in that and that is his main concern. Vinton itself is doing very well as far as the Town, but he is more concerned about the East County connection to the Parkway and Explore Park, mainly protecting our investment. It is definitely not going to happen on the Rt. 220 side and there are only two (2) ways you are going to get to Explore Park. There is no land or potential for development. March 10, 2020 113 Mr. Thompson stated he did not want to speak for Mr. Blount, Director of Parks, Recreation and Tourism, but we do meet regularly and our transportation folks in the Planning Department as well. We are looking at access to that part of Explore Park and we are working to look at concepts about having access off the Blue Ridge Parkway, etc. These things will still continue to go on. From a transportation standpoint, looking at and improving access to Explore Park will happen. It may not be the land use study part of it, but thinks they are looking at it as well as with the Explore Park master plan as well. So, there might be things that come out of that dealing with Explore Park and some of the things they are doing there. Supervisor North stated there will be things that come out of that and to Supervisor Peters' point, he does not think we need to get locked in on target of finishing what we are doing, yes, and go to plan A, which in his limited time studying this, looks like the best alternative, but he thinks we should leave this meeting with the thought that we have spent almost$7 million or will have by 2023 in Explore Park. Nobody else in the area gave us any money for that. This is Roanoke County citizens' money and that area is ripe for a hotel somewhere in that corridor and he feels it will come in time; it may be a challenge this year because of everything else that is going on with the economy, but it is going to come. So, if we could have the feel good understanding from staff, if you will, we have an investment in Explore Park, albeit we have plans and we have good staff that can make things happen now where we might not have had in the past, but we cannot turn our back on Explore Park. As soon as we get that land turned over one day to Roanoke County, that is when things are going to ratchet up with people wanting to do business up there and that is when more people are going to come. From 176,000 people last year, which was not a full years of all of the activities and events. This year will be the watershed year, hopefully, unless the economy has something to say about it and it will go over 200,000 people, which is going to drive expansion and development. So, he would like to make a suggestion among us Board members that we come to some sort of agreement that we are not going to let Explore Park and what Supervisor Peters is talking about become secondary to anything that could come down in the way of an opportunity. Yes, he thinks we should go with the rest of these plans, Hollins, Oak Grove and Rt. 460 and look at the comp plan because it is old and from hearing what Supervisor Mahoney says, the zoning is not much better; it is worse. He would like to see some consensus that we have that we are going to keep Explore Park in our radar for the future in terms of the development of the area around it. 114 March 10, 2020 Supervisor Peters stated he would not go that far with it, but appreciates Supervisor North saying that. We are trying to do a sales pitch as to why that needs to become part of us and thinks it is not about the Town, but the connection from there to the park. Supervisor Thompson stated going back to the presentation we did on January 14, 2020, about planning for economic development; that does not stop. We continue to do that and we continue to meet economic development, planning as well as parks and recreation and development services with County administration to talk about what we are working on and looking at Explore Park. We all work together to improve access. We are going to be talking about Explore Park has to come back because of the proffered conditions on it in the next six (6) months. He knows there are other requests for proposals (RFPs) they put out looking at convenience center as well; a lodge at some point is a consideration, so he does not think development of Explore Park in our mind is taking a back seat. We have an active plan, the Adventure Plan, and we are going to continue to all work together to help each other to make Explore Park happen and continue to be developed. The question he has is do we need a plan looking at the Hardy Road corridor or the Bypass Road corridor; and that really is the question. The stuff that is happening at Explore Park is going to continue to happen and we are going to continue to support and have that multi-departmental working growth that continues to work on those things, not just Explore Park, but other things in the County as well. We are just talking about from a Planning study standpoint what should we focus on. Supervisor Radford thanked Supervisor Mahoney for the information about the legality, but as a developer, he looks at legal documents, not the community plans. He is looking at the Zoning Ordinance and all he can do on that piece of property right now. To me, this is an important document that needs to be pulled off the shelf and dusted off and get rid of the 1992 and get it to 2020. He understands there is detail in there on how the community wants to drive it, and as a developer, we do whatever the community would want, but it starts with the zoning before we can decide what type of product we can put there. Mr. Lubeck stated he would like to echo what Supervisor Mahoney said, yes, he thinks the Zoning Ordinance is out of date and it will need to flow from what we have in our comp plan. For example, for the 419 Plan, we have embraced mixed use and our Zoning Ordinance does not provide for mixed up. We do want to make updates with this ordinance. Supervisor Mahoney stated to redo the whole Zoning Ordinance, you just put on your 2022-2023 list to do, piece of cake. Supervisor Radford stated so he is hearing alternate A from the Board with wanting to look at Vinton, Explore Park, which we have two (2) plans out there, but they do not touch what we have been talking about. March 10, 2020 115 Supervisor Peters stated what is going on now, looking at a hotel because they have seen the growth at Explore Park, but the question is where do you put it. We do not have access from Hardy Road unless we find some way, which he had spoken to Mr. Blount earlier. We have not thought beyond Explore Park. The Explore Park Adventure Plan is a great plan, but it is not going to be contained, so what does that next ring look like. Supervisor North asked if the piece of land from William Byrd toward the Blue Ridge Parkway that goes over Rt. 24, is that where you are talking about potential development. Supervisor Peters responded in the affirmative stating it probably needs to go all the way back to Food Lion and the County line. He feels we are a little bit behind where we should be. Supervisor Radford stated back to Supervisor Hooker's original question about do you have adequate staff to do what he is suggesting, all the plans and alternate A. Mr. Thompson stated we currently work as a team on planning on economic development projects; we will continue to work regarding that. He added that he thinks a lot of the issues regarding the comp plan, if we divide it by the community planning areas, some of the issues will get incorporated into that. He works with a talented group of people so we are good. He is not saying we are going to do a Vinton area plan, he is saying we can do the comp plan and incorporate those things and continue to work as we currently do with the departments of Economic Development, Parks and Recreation, Planning and Development Services on planning for economic development, like the presentation we gave you. We work together and meet quarterly on all those things. The work session was held from 4:15 p.m. until 5:09 p.m. 2. Work session to discuss recycling options with the Board of Supervisors (Rob Light, Director of General Services) Mr. O'Donnell provided a brief overview. Mr. Light advised Nancy Duvall, Solid Waste Manager and Ashley King, Assistant Director of General Services were in attendance to answer any questions. Mr. Light provided a PowerPoint presentation. He indicated the program costs $145,500 for five (5) containers. Supervisor Peters asked where the recycling was taken with Mr. Light responded RDS. Supervisor North asked if we were paying RDS $53 a ton, which is included in the $145,500 with Mr. Light responding in the affirmative. Supervisor North asked if we were still collecting glass, with Mr. Light responding in the affirmative, one location, Hollins. County Administrator, Daniel R. O'Donnell, asked how much "stuff' being collected is able to be recycled and do you think it is really get recycled. Mr. Light advised they do sort it, but he does not know what the percentage is. Ms. Duvall estimated probably five to ten percent (5 to 10%). 116 March 10, 2020 Supervisor North asked how many tons do we take over there with Mr. Light responding 1100 to 1200 tons a year and that is up 37% over the past several years. Supervisor North commented if we are collecting 1200 tons at $53 a ton that is $63,600 of the$145,500, what is the difference. The difference is one person, two trucks, trailers and some operating costs. Supervisor Hooker stated she knows this is not the time to talk about what she is hearing from her citizens, but there are some areas that are less convenient than others. The North Lakes area would love to see one at Green Ridge Recreational Center, otherwise they have to go all the way to Hollins. So, she does not know if we have a plan as far as proximity. She knows we have more capacity than we service in some areas. She does think it is strange how some of them are located and some are more convenient than others. Mr. Light explained it is a product of finding a location. We have Cox, who is partnered with us, the Schools, Hollins University. If you wanted to add locations you certainly could, as the model, infrastructure and the costs are incremental. We have also heard from Bent Mountain they would like service as well. Supervisor North stated he had a citizen that wanted one at the garage, fleet center. Supervisor Mahoney asked staff to talk about the solid waste management plan that we have to submit to the State. Under current Virginia law, do the localities have a mandated obligation to recycle with Mr. Light responding in the affirmative. Mr. Light advised staff has been having this discussion and Ms. Duvall has reached out to other localities who have had to stop the recycling program due to cost or lack of processing. She is starting to gather information with regard to that program. Ms. Duvall stated you do not have to offer recycling, but somehow you have to meet the State mandated 25% reduction. We do reach it by recycling and brush collection. It is a combination. Supervisor Mahoney then asked if we failed to meet that percentage what penalty or punishment can the State impose on us. Ms. Duvall stated she was not sure; thinks it can effect down the road as you are looking to expand your landfill. She does not know of any locality that has been punished. Supervisor Radford stated he gets a lot of calls in his area and it is not always around Christmas; he still continues to get calls. March 10, 2020 117 Supervisor Mahoney stated when he was going door-to-door in the fall, he heard three (3) messages. Message number one (1) was retiree health insurance. Message number two (2) was drainage and message number (3) was recycling. He is being facetious to eliminate the program, but he thinks we see most of the use is in SW County, not the rest of the County. Secondly, we are never going to get it right in terms of the method we are using now. We are always going to have illegal dumping. There are times when he takes his recycling and goes to Brambleton and it is full; then he goes to Cox and it full; that is just the way it happens. You can add another trailer or you can add another site, but he does not know if that will alleviate what he calls "illegal dumping." We could put cameras up and try and take pictures with Mr. O'Donnell advising that was his first guess. We could get license plate numbers with Mr. O'Donnell advising there is a problem with that because we don't have power, we don't own some of these locations. Supervisor Mahoney advised all he is saying is that it is a very popular event, but he does not know if we are ever going to be successful in terms of satisfying all our citizens without spending the $3.5 million to do what the City of Roanoke does. He is not saying we go down that path. He is hoping we are not fooling our citizens in that we do that recycling, we take it to RDS and RDS takes it to the landfill and from what he has read in the Wall Street Journal, China refuses to accept our recycling because it is contaminated. He does not know if it is part of the trade ware or gamesmanship. He just wonders long term, if you are paying $53 or $54 a ton, take it right to the landfill. Mr. O'Donnell stated a lot of places are looking at discontinuing. Supervisor Mahoney just does not know if there is a penalty if we fail to implement the plan. Supervisor Hooker asked what is the percentage,that is actually being recycled and what is the percentage that is actually going to the dump? Ms. Duvall stated RDS is not required to tell us that. They are a private business, but what they do tell her is that a vast percentage of our stuff is being recycled. You can see, if you go over there, bales of recyclables they have sitting there that they are trying to market. Mr. O'Donnell stated even if you go to the lowest cost scalable option, and he would never recommend the part time because of management issues, he does not think that will fix the problem. He thinks you are going to have the same piles of stuff because more people are going to try to do it. He does not think it will fix it. Supervisor North stated the newspaper is going to be sold to a paper mill, if they want to buy it. He thinks the five (5) locations we have are good and think if we want to consider adding another one (1) or two (2). It might require another driver or additional work. At the end of the day, what we ought to be doing is, and this is a loss for the citizens who want it, taking it way completely would be a huge uproar. We have a lot more things we can do with our money than to keep building a network of a loss proposition because we are not making any money on this. He does not want to see us go through the pain of eliminating completely. If someone one to put another one at a location someplace else for a while on a test basis, Bent Mountain for example. Supervisor Hooker stated maybe it should be a survey process for all possible locations. 118 March 10, 2020 Supervisor North stated if we cannot agree on doing anything else, his vote is to keep the five (5) we have unless somebody wants to try one at another location, a great distance from where one is today. Supervisor Mahoney stated if we are going to go down that path, look at slide 10, do we have to begin planning for option 1, expanding existing drop off model with full-time staff? If we are going to keep it, he thinks he agrees with what Mr. Light and Mr. O'Donnell have said, it is hard trying to manage part-time staff in the current economic environment. Maybe not necessarily in 2021, but do we want to give direction to staff to start planning for the next budget year to go to expanding and go full-time. Mr. O'Donnell responding by saying if you put in the same places, you have the same problem in several new places because you do not have the capacity to service it based on demand. Supervisor Mahoney stated he is sensitive to the point that a large part of the usage is SW County, so how does Vinton feel, how does Catawba feel, is that a problem. Supervisor Mahoney asked Supervisor Peters if he hears any problems with Supervisor Peters stating he only hears about problems at Christmas. Mr. Light stated there are a lot of complaints and consternation about recycling, so they work very hard to do what they can and it is frustrating. Supervisor North stated he advised citizens he would look into it and he began to learn about recycling and when he learned and shared with them it is costing us money, they seem to understand. He would,not put more money into it and does not know what another full time person will get you other than $118,000. Mr. Light explained that this would allow some pulls on the weekends so it would eliminate some of the weekend issues. You would be able to add some pulls to the high use at Brambleton and Cox. It would mitigate some of the issues. Supervisor Radford asked Mr. Light if he has looked at buying containers with a larger capacity or are they too hard to haul. Mr. Light advised they have increased some, but they take up more space. Supervisor North asked staff to look into what like localities are doing. Rebecca Owens, Assistant County Administrator, advised she would provide the list of the localities we compared with Fire and Rescue. The work session was held from 5:10 p.m. until 5:53 p.m. IN RE: CERTIFICATION RESOLUTION At 5:53 p.m., Supervisor North moved to return to open session and adopt the certification resolution. March 10, 2020 119 RESOLUTION 031020-6 CERTIFYING THE CLOSED MEETING WAS HELD IN CONFORMITY WITH THE CODE OF VIRGINIA WHEREAS, the Board of Supervisors of Roanoke County, Virginia has convened a closed meeting on this date pursuant to an affirmative recorded vote and in accordance with the provisions of The Virginia Freedom of Information Act; and WHEREAS, Section 2.2-3712 of the Code of Virginia requires a certification by the Board of Supervisors of Roanoke County, Virginia, that such closed meeting was conducted in conformity with Virginia law. NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED, that the Board of Supervisors of Roanoke County, Virginia, hereby certifies that, to the best of each member's knowledge: 1. Only public business matters lawfully exempted from open meeting requirements by Virginia law were discussed in the closed meeting which this certification resolution applies; and 2. Only such public business matters as were identified in the motion convening the closed meeting were heard, discussed or considered by the Board of Supervisors of Roanoke County, Virginia. On motion of Supervisor Radford to adopt the resolution, seconded by Supervisor North and carried by the following recorded vote: AYES: Supervisors Mahoney, Hooker, North, Peters, Radford NAYS: None IN RE: ADJOURNMENT Chairman Radford adjourned the meeting at 6:20 p.m. b itted by: Approved by: 'L ---- • „of, __,-- eborah . Ja f!% David F. adford .----( Chief Deputy lerk to the Board Chairman 120 March 10, 2020 PAGE LEFT BLANK INTENTIONALLY