HomeMy WebLinkAbout1/11/2022 - Regular January 11 , 2022 1
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 first regularly scheduled meeting
of the month of January 2022. 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: CALL TO ORDER
Chairman Peters called the meeting to order at 2:01 p.m. The roll call was
taken.
MEMBERS PRESENT: Chairman P. Jason Peters; Supervisors Martha B. Hooker,
Paul M. Mahoney, Phil C. North and David R. Radford
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: ORGANIZATION OF COUNTY BOARD
1. Election of Officers
a. Chairman
Supervisor Hooker nominated Supervisor Mahoney to serve as Chairman.
Supervisor Mahoney was elected by the following recorded vote:
AYES: Supervisors Mahoney, Hooker, North, Radford, Peters
NAYS: None
2 January 11 , 2022
b. Vice Chairman
Supervisor North nominated Supervisor Peters to serve as Vice Chairman.
Supervisor Peters was elected by the following recorded vote:
AYES: Supervisors Mahoney, Hooker, North, Peters, Radford
NAYS: None
Chairman Mahoney recessed the meeting at 2:04 P.M.
- IN RE: OPENING CEREMONIES
Before the meeting was called to order, Pastor Rodney of Valley Word
Church provided an invocation. The Pledge of Allegiance was recited by all present.
Chairman Mahoney called the meeting back into order at 3:04 p.m. All
111
Supervisors were in attendance.
IN RE: PROCLAMATIONS, RESOLUTIONS, RECOGNITIONS AND AWARDS
1. Resolution congratulating the Glenvar High School Volleyball
Team for winning the Virginia High School League (VHSL) Class 2
Championship (Martha B. Hooker, Supervisor, Catawba
Magisterial District)
RESOLUTION 011122-1 CONGRATULATING THE GLENVAR
HIGH SCHOOL GIRLS VOLLEYBALL TEAM FOR WINNING THE
VIRGINIA HIGH SCHOOL LEAGUE (VHSL) CLASS 2
CHAMPIONSHIP
WHEREAS, athletic competitions are an important and integral part of the team
curriculum at schools in Roanoke County; teaching cooperation, sportsmanship,
teamwork and athletic skill; and
WHEREAS, on November 20, 2021, the Glenvar High School Girls' Volleyball
Team won the Class 2 team State championship at the Salem Civic Center. The
Highlanders outscored Central Woodstock with a 25-16, 25-20 and 24-14; and
January 11 , 2022 3
WHEREAS, the Highlander's only senior, Bailey Conner was a deadly weapon
all over the Salem Civic Center floor, inspiring her teammates and terrorizing their
opponent enabling Glenvar to win its second State championship; and
WHEREAS, the overall skill and versatility of its team as well as overall athletic
ability was highly impressive; and
WHEREAS, the team represented their school and community with great
character, poise and sportsmanship. They are a true asset to Roanoke County.
NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED that the Board of Supervisors of
Roanoke County, Virginia does hereby extend its sincere congratulations to the
members of the GLENVAR HIGH SCHOOL GIRLS VOLLEYBALL TEAM: Senior Bailey
Conner; Juniors Sydney Loder, Rhyan Harris, Faren Wilson, Hannah Hylton, Cara
Butler, Claire Griffith; Sophomores Audrey Conner, Daisy Ann Dawyot, Natalie
McMahon, Jamie Forster and Freshmen Sophie Nicely, Olivia Fobare and Mahre
Swanson. The managers: Hannah Pennewell, Emily Rohrback and Luke Rohrback and
Head Coach Mark Rohrback and Assistant Coach Jen Rohrback.
111 BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the Board of Supervisors extends its best
wishes to the members of the team, the coaches and the school in their future
endeavors.
On motion of Supervisor Hooker to adopt the resolution, seconded by Supervisor
North and carried by the following recorded vote:
AYES: Supervisors Peters, Hooker, North, Radford, Mahoney
NAYS: None
2. Resolution expressing the appreciation of the Board of
Supervisors of Roanoke County to Ramona Kern, Business
Systems Analyst II, upon her retirement after more than forty (40)
years of service (Bill Hunter, Director of Communications and
Information Technology)
RESOLUTION 011122-2 EXPRESSING THE APPRECIATION OF
THE BOARD OF SUPERVISORS OF ROANOKE COUNTY TO
RAMONA KERN, BUSINESS SYSTEMS ANALYST II, UPON
HER RETIREMENT AFTER MORE THAN FORTY (40) YEARS OF
SERVICE
WHEREAS, Ramona Kern was employed by Roanoke County on December 1,
1980 and again on October 6, 1984; and
4 January 11 , 2022
WHEREAS, Ms. Kern retired on January 1, 2022, after forty (40) years and four
(4) months of devoted, faithful and expert service to Roanoke County; and
WHEREAS, Ms. Kern has served as a Deputy Sheriff-Corrections, Dispatcher,
Communications Officer, Lead Communications Officer, Police Records Supervisor,
Crime Analyst, Systems Technician, Business Analyst and Business Systems Analyst 1
and II; and
WHEREAS, Ms. Kern, through her employment with Roanoke County, has been
instrumental in improving the quality of life and providing services to the citizens of
Roanoke County; and
WHEREAS, throughout Ms. Kern's tenure with Roanoke County, she dedicated
her career to public safety. Ramona was always willing to help out any way she could,
providing support for various departments (creating custom reports, resolving system
issues, or working with vendors). Ramona will be missed in Application Services and we
all wish her the best in the next chapter of her life.
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 RAMONA KERN for more than forty years of capable, loyal, and
dedicated service to Roanoke County; and
FURTHER, the Board of Supervisors does express its best wishes for a happy
and productive retirement.
On motion of Supervisor Peters to adopt the resolution, seconded by Supervisor
Radford and carried by the following recorded vote:
AYES: Supervisors Peters, Hooker, North, Radford, Mahoney
NAYS: None
IN RE: PUBLIC HEARING
1. Public hearing to receive citizen comments regarding proposed
amendments to the fiscal year 2021-2022 budget in accordance
with Code of Virginia Section 15.2-2507 (Laurie Gearheart, Director
of Finance and Management Services)
Chairman Mahoney opened and closed the public with no citizens to
speak on this agenda_item.
January 11 , 2022 5
IN RE: FIRST READING OF ORDINANCES
1. Emergency ordinance appropriating $52,244,350.27 from Roanoke
County Public Schools' fiscal year 2020-2021 other year-end
funds to the fiscal year 2021-2022 Roanoke County Public
Schools Budget for other funds (It is requested, upon a four-fifths
vote of the Board, the second reading be waived and the
ordinance adopted as an emergency measure) (Susan Peterson,
Director of Finance for Roanoke County Public Schools)
Ms. Peterson outlined the request for the emergency ordinance. There
was no discussion.
EMERGENCY 011122-3 ORDINANCE APPROPRIATING
$52,244,350.27 FROM ROANOKE COUNTY PUBLIC SCHOOLS'
FISCAL YEAR 2020-2021 OTHER YEAR-END FUNDS TO THE
FISCAL YEAR 2021-2022 ROANOKE COUNTY PUBLIC
SCHOOLS BUDGET FOR OTHER FUNDS
WHEREAS, § 22.1-100 'of the Code of Virginia states that at the end of each
fiscal year, all unexpended public school funds that were derived from the funds of the
local governing body shall revert back to the governing body, and that it is within the
local governing body's discretion whether to then re-appropriate such funds back to the
school budget for the next year; and
WHEREAS, Section 10, paragraph 6 of the County Board of Supervisors'
Comprehensive Financial Policy (dated October 19, 2021) sets forth purposes for which
such unexpended year-end funds may be re-appropriated; and
WHEREAS, on December 14, 2021, the Board re-appropriated $9,560,389.91 of
the Schools' unexpended fiscal year 2020-2021 year-end operating funds to the
Schools' fiscal year 2021-2022 budget; and
WHEREAS, the Roanoke County School Board has further requested that the
Board of Supervisors re-appropriate an additional $52,244,350.27 of the Schools'
unexpended other fiscal year 2020-2021 year-end funds to the Schools' fiscal year
2021-2022 budget, for the following purposes:
Description Amount
Fleet Replacement Fund $359,871.21
Instructional Resources Fund $86,806.50
Technology Replacement Fund $672,213.02
Grant Fund $5,138,318.41
Nutrition Fund $4,443,444.05
6 January 11 , 2022
Student Activity Fund $2,423,021.53
Minor Capital Fund $6,493,008.99
Major Capital Fund $9,933,489.24
2018 Bond Fund (CSH) $727,359.06
2022 Bond Fund (WBH) $12,000,000.00
Health Insurance Fund $7,169,566.44
Dental Fund $99,453.78
Risk Management Fund $1,196,604.97
OPEB Trust Fund $1,501,193.07
TOTAL $52,244,350.27
and;
WHEREAS, the School Board's proposal is consistent with the Board of
Supervisors' Comprehensive Financial Policy and previously established practices; and
WHEREAS, the School Board has requested that the Board of Supervisors adopt
this ordinance with only one reading .(as an emergency ordinance) in order to expedite
the distribution of funds for necessary expenditures; and
WHEREAS, the first reading of this ordinance was held on January 11, 2022, and
the second reading has been dispensed with, upon an affirmative vote of 4/5ths of the
members of the Board, this being deemed to be an emergency measure pursuant to
Section 18.04 of the Roanoke County Charter.
NOW THEREFORE, BE IT ORDAINED by the Board of Supervisors of Roanoke
County, Virginia, as follows:
1. The Roanoke County School Board's unexpended fiscal year 2020-2021
year-end funds in the amount of $52,244,350.27 are. appropriated to the
School Board's fiscal year 2021-2022 budget, to be used as proposed for the
above-stated purposes.
2. An emergency is deemed to exist, and this ordinance shall be effective upon
its adoption.
On motion of Supervisor North to adopt the ordinance, seconded by Supervisor
Hooker and carried by the following recorded vote:
AYES: Supervisors Peters, Hooker, North, Radford, Mahoney
NAYS: None
January 11 , 2022 7
IN RE: SECOND READING OF ORDINANCES
1. Ordinance amending the Roanoke County Public Schools budget
and appropriating $1,845,871 to the Schools' General Fund
(Susan Peterson, Director of Finance Roanoke County Public
Schools)
Ms. Peterson advised no changes since the first reading. There was no
discussion.
ORDINANCE 011122-4 AMENDING THE ROANOKE COUNTY
SCHOOLS' BUDGET AND APPROPRIATING $1,845,871 TO
THE SCHOOLS' GENERAL FUND
WHEREAS, after operating for five months, Roanoke County Public Schools'
staff have analyzed State revenue levels in order to accurately anticipate future funding
that will be received from the Commonwealth; and
WHEREAS, due to increased student enrollment and higher-than-expected State
sales tax revenue receipts, the School Board anticipates receiving additional funds
(higher than budgeted) from the Commonwealth in the amount of at least $1,845,871;
and
WHEREAS, County Schools report they are facing critical staffing shortages for
certain hard-to-fill positions, and other pressing budget needs exist; and
WHEREAS, the School Board proposes to make adjustments to the school pay
scale that would become effective on January 15, 2022, in order to provide additional
funding for such hard-to-fill positions; and
WHEREAS, anticipating the above-mentioned additional funds from the
Commonwealth, the School Board has requested that the Board of Supervisors amend
the Schools' budget and appropriate $1,845,871 to the Schools' General Fund in order
to provide funding for the proposed pay-scale increase (in the amount of$963,660) and
to address other critical needs (in the amount of$882,211); and
WHEREAS, the first reading of this ordinance was held on December 14, 2021,
and the second reading was held on January 11, 2022.
NOW THEREFORE, BE IT ORDAINED by the Board of Supervisors of Roanoke
County, Virginia, that $1,845,871 is appropriated to the Roanoke County Public
Schools' General Fund, and that the Roanoke County Public Schools' budget is hereby
accordingly amended to be consistent with this appropriation.
On motion of Supervisor Hooker to adopt the ordinance, seconded by Supervisor
Peters and carried by the following recorded vote:
8 January 11 , 2022
AYES: Supervisors Peters, Hooker, North, Radford, Mahoney
NAYS: None
IN RE: CONSENT AGENDA
RESOLUTION 011122-5 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 January
11, 2022, 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
through 3 inclusive, as follows:
1. Resolution requesting the Virginia Department of Transportation (VDOT)
accept Russlen Drive Road, Foxfield Section 7 in the Catawba Magisterial
District into the Virginia Department of Transportation System
2. Request to accept and allocate funds in the amount of $13,555.91 to the
Clerk of the Circuit Court from the Commonwealth of Virginia for Technology
Trust Funds
3. Ratification of appointments to the Community Policy and Management Team
(CPMT)
On motion of Supervisor Peters to adopt the resolution, seconded by Supervisor
Hooker and carried by the following recorded vote:
AYES: Supervisors Peters, Hooker, North, Radford, Mahoney
NAYS: None
RESOLUTION 011122-5.a REQUESTING ACCEPTANCE OF
RUSSLEN DRIVE (WESTERN PORTION) INTO THE VIRGINIA
DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION (VDOT) SECONDARY
SYSTEM
WHEREAS, the streets described on the attached Addition Form AM-4.3, fully
incorporated herein by reference, are shown on plats recorded in the Clerk's Office of
the Circuit Court of Roanoke County; and
January 11 , 2022 9
WHEREAS, the representative for the Virginia Department of Transportation has
advised this Board that the street(s) meet the requirements established by the Virginia
Department of Transportation's Subdivision Street Requirements; and
WHEREAS, the County and the Virginia Department of Transportation have
entered into an agreement on March 9, 1999, for comprehensive stormwater detention,
which applies to this request for addition.
NOW, THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED, this Board requests the Virginia
Department of Transportation to add the street(s) described on the attached Additions
Form AM-4.3 to the secondary system of state highways, pursuant to §33.2-705, Code
of Virginia, and the Department's Subdivision Street Requirements, after receiving a
copy of this resolution and all outstanding fees and documents required of the
developer, whichever occurs last in time.
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, this Board guarantees a clear and unrestricted
right-of-way, as described, and any necessary easements for cuts, fills and drainage;
and
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, that a certified copy of this resolution be
forwarded to the Residency Administrator for the Virginia Department of Transportation;
and
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, this Board hereby guarantees the performance of
the street(s) requested herein to become a part of the State maintained secondary
system of State highways for a period of one (1) year from the date of the acceptance of
the referenced streets by VDOT into the secondary system of State highways. This
Board will reimburse all costs incurred by VDOT to repair faults in the referenced streets
and related drainage facilities associated with workmanship or materials as determined
exclusively by VDOT.
On motion of Supervisor Peters to adopt the resolution, seconded by Supervisor
Hooker and carried by the following recorded vote:
AYES: Supervisors Peters, Hooker, North, Radford, Mahoney
NAYS: None
A-011122-5.b
A-011122-5.c
I 0 January 11 , 2022
IN RE: CITIZENS COMMENTS
Charles Wertalik of 2317 Bloomfield Avenue in the Summerfield
subdivision of Roanoke County. Along with the happy New Year's greetings, which
were very nice. There has been a nice increase in social security payments and a nice
increase in his naval reserve pension due to the increase in the cost of living. Along
with those good news items, there was this other thing that he got in the mail last week
about; the notice of real estate assessment and it looks like there is quite an increase of
what he owes this year in real estate taxes. He would like to mention what everybody
knows about, the big increase in home values and it has been very unusual to have this
really large increase and it has really resulted in a ballooning of the value upon which
the tax rate is applied. He would just like to mention that he thinks the valuation should
be adjusted to realize this ballooning of the values because it distorts the way the taxes
come out in the end. He will avail himself of the avenues available to appeal this, but he
just thinks it needs to be looked into a little bit more.
IN RE: REPORTS
Supervisor Hooker moved to receive and file the following reports. The
motion was seconded by Supervisor Radford and carried by the following recorded
vote:
AYES: Supervisors Mahoney, Hooker, North, Radford, Peters
NAYS: None
1. Unappropriated, Board Contingency and Capital Reserves Report
2. Outstanding Debt Report
3. Statement of Treasurer's Accountability per Investment and Portfolio
Policy as of November 30, 2021
IN RE: REPORTS AND INQUIRIES OF BOARD MEMBERS
Supervisor Hooker stated it was a pleasure to have the Glenvar High
School volleyball team in force today, what a lovely group; great coaches and
outstanding individuals. She also mentioned attending the graduation of our law
enforcement academy last Friday. We had five (5) graduates it was a great event.
Supervisor North congratulated Supervisor Mahoney as he is now
Chairman Mahoney for this year and he is looking forward to working with him and, "no
good deed goes unpunished." Also, he reminded everyone there will be a meeting this
Thursday from 4:00-6:00 p.m. at the Bonsack Elementary School concerning the Rt.
January 11 , 2022 11
460 corridor. He understands there has been some people wanting to know why the
meeting was not longer; he does not have an answer to that, but whether you come or
you cannot make it, you should go onto the Roanoke County website and complete the
survey that is out there because that input is important as well. As a matter of fact, he is
going to do the same tomorrow. He is looking forward to that event and what folks have
to say about the busy corridor, which is the second busiest in the Roanoke Valley.
Supervisor Radford congratulated Supervisor Mahoney and is looking
forward to him "steering the boat." He is glad it is Supervisor Mahoney and not him. He
commented about the assessed values and provided a history lesson. He was in the
middle of the worst recession our County has ever occurred besides the recession. In
2008, our high point for all our real estate valuation peaked in 2008. We had the
housing bust. We had a lot of financial crisis in our economy, it absolutely wrecked
house value; it wrecked daily lives of people; jobs and it was a total disaster: It
continued until it bottomed finally in 2016-2017 and then our values and our real estate
assessments started to climb back up. For the first time this year with our real estate
assessment, his house value is the same as it was in 2008 and that is 14 years and that
is how much of a scar that was left with this recession and we are just now back up to
that point. The citizen asked a good question, why are the house values so high. It is
high because from 2008 to 2017, we did not build any spec houses; nobody would loan
us money. The inventories were absolutely low, so when the millennials started to buy
houses four or five years ago, there went our existing stock. So, we finally started
getting back into the business of building houses in 2017 and we are playing catchup
now, today. He usually builds three to four houses a year and we are building eight to
ten houses right now. We are taking calls, at least a couple of week, from people
wanting a house built because existing inventory is low. It is like used cars, we saw a
big influx with the values of the used cars, they went way up. So, we are seeing a
repeat with our houses right now. He considers that a good thing, not a bad thing,
because we want our values to continue to go up. Our house is our most important
asset in our portfolio and we want it to continue to appreciate. He got hit with an 8%
increase himself.
Supervisor Mahoney thanked the Board for its confidence in him to think
that he could be a decent Chairman and thank the Board that they think that highly of
him that they put him into the middle of a box. We are heading into year three (3) of this
pandemic. He really thought and hoped this would all be behind us when the medicines
and the vaccines, etc. came out. It seems to be sticking with us and that clearly will
have a significant impact on our ability to deliver critical needed public services to our
citizens, but he is also optimistic we will work through it and will work through it
successfully. We have a couple of tough issues facing us immediately. We are going
to have a very difficult budget. We have seen the inflation numbers, 6.8%, 6.2% the last
several months that obviously has a significant impact on what we do in terms of our
2 January 11 , 2022
budget; in terms of what the school board has to do with their budget because a lot of
our budget is personnel and that is how we deliver services to people. We have tried to
take steps to address salaries of our police, our sheriffs, our firefighters and all of our
employees. We began a process to do that. We had a salary survey and he is afraid
that the salary survey probably is not relevant anymore because inflation has exploded
beyond that and it is not just salaries, it is the "stuff' we buy. It is goods and services
and we are going to see that through our entire budget. We are going to have to be
very responsible and judicious with respect to the ARPA money. We have a flood of
federal dollars, which is feeding inflation but at the same time, we do have this one-time
benefit. We are going to address broadband. We are going to address water and sewer
expansion. We are going to address stormwater. We are going to buy fire engines,
ambulances and garbage trucks. People may laugh and wonder how does a garbage
truck fit into public safety. Let's not pick up garbage for a couple of weeks and see what
that will be like. One big issue we have on our agenda, which we will begin talking about
later this afternoon with the school board and the citizens committee is what to do for
career and technical education, which is something that should have been addressed
22-24 years ago. It wasn't and it has been delayed and deferred. In his opinion, it is
critical now, not only,for public education but also for economic development. If we
don't have a skilled, trained workforce, it will be impossible businesses to locate here. It
will be impossible to have our existing businesses expand and he read someplace that
the Roanoke County's unemployment rate is 2.2%. He does not know where you find
the workers, but at least if we have a Career and Technical Education Program, we will
get some workers there. He thanked Supervisor Peters, who has had a tough year, but
his leadership has been excellent and if you remember his speech at the State of the
County, he outlined all of the things we have accomplished and he knows we will,
working together, accomplish a lot of good things in 2022. He went back and looked.
Before the pandemic began, February 1, 2020, we had a retreat where we listed the
goals and objectives of what we wanted to accomplish in Roanoke County. He thinks
we have accomplished many of them. We focused on the building and development
permit review process that Supervisor Radford talked a lot about. Solid waste
transportation with RVRA, we have accomplished that. We looked at employee
engagement and compensation and anew pay plan. We accomplished that. It may be
behind now, but still we accomplished it. We directed our staff to put together an
economic development strategic plan. We have done that. We have directed staff to
work on our comp plan and our zoning ordinance; we are working on that. We have not
achieved.it, but we are close. Finally, we also directed staff to: develop a multi-year
operating budget to have a better economic forecasting process. We are in the middle
of that. He thinks we have accomplished a lot of our goals. We have an excellent staff.
He knows they have been highly stressed over the past couple of years; and he
appreciates them for all their hard work, but he also wanted to indicate that it is easy to
January 11 , 2022 1 3
criticize government, but if you look back in terms of what we said we were going to, he
thinks we have done that. He truly believes we will accomplish the same thing this year.
At 3:46 p.m., Supervisor Mahoney moved to go into closed meeting
following the work sessions pursuant to the Code of Virginia Section 2.2-3711 A 3 —
Discussion or consideration of the disposition of publicly held real property, where
discussion in an open meeting would adversely affect the bargaining position or
negotiating strategy of the public body. Specifically, the Board will consider the
acquisition of potential properties throughout the County for school purposes. The
motion was seconded by Supervisor Peters and carried by the following recorded vote:
AYES: Supervisors Peters, Hooker, North, Radford, Mahoney
NAYS: None
The closed session was held from 5:36 p.m. until 6:55 p.m.
At 3:47 p.m. Chairman Mahoney recessed to the third floor for work
session and closed session.
IN RE: WORK SESSIONS
1. Work session to review with the Board of Supervisors Projects
and Funding Sources for the Proposed Fiscal Year 2023 - 2032
Capital Improvement Program (CIP) (Laurie Gearheart, Director of
Finance and Management Services)
Mr. O'Donnell provided overview and turned the meeting over to Laurie
Gearheart who started the PowerPoint presentation; Doug Blount reviewed the Public
Service Center.
Supervisor Mahoney questioned with respect to Kessler Mill, if we sold the
property would we still need access with Mr. Blount responding in the affirmative.
Supervisor Mahoney then asked is there a market for what is left; it tends to have a
flooding problem with Mr. Blount responding it does and does not think there is a market
for it. Supervisor Mahoney asked what else can we do with it. Mr. O'Donnell
responding we could raise the building and put a soccer field in. Mr. Blount responded
that is one option that has been proposed and the other would be to turn it into open
space. Ms. Loope, Director of Economic Development, would need to weigh in to see if
there is some type of positive economic development option.
14 January 11 , 2022
Supervisor North asked with regard to the fire station replacement of 12/1,
can you explain how you got that number. Mr. Blount responded it is a number that was
plugged in, we have not done any preliminary engineering on it. As they get closer to
the project, they will sit down and do cost estimates.
Deputy Chief Toby Martin outlined the need to move forward with a new
station based on data analysis, Read Mountain only reaching 70% of the time and an
18.5% increase in calls.
Supervisor North stated the price tag is $6.825 Million, does that
incorporate the estimated cost of the site. Deputy Chief Martin responded in the
negative, stating we have funds in this budget year to cover that.
Supervisor Peters stated this station will not be considered a core station
and he has a hard time spending more dollars just so an ambulance can just drive
through. He does not understand why we cannot have two ambulances back to back
versus a drive through. When he looks at this station, it is not going to be able to
expand on the footprint because the property we're looking at, I don't see that station
becoming any kind of a core station. We know that there's going to be other needs at
other stations as Mr. North has alluded to. In Hollins there was even talk at one time
about splitting Hollins up and having two stations for that one. So I guess I mean, let me
say it this way, I'm not opposed to it, I have a little bit of heartburn with it given the other
needs. He added he also has concerns with future capital needs and the fact we
haven't really determined what that'll be when we know the needs of fire stations alone
throughout Roanoke County, whether you take a place like Mount Pleasant, where it's
still the old metal buildings and we can go on through it mean, so I have a hard time just
saying future projects when we know those are issues that have continued to be on the
back burner for a number of years. Our numbers grew by 5% in the last census data, if
that continues, we're going to need other stations, that's a fact.. There are a couple
things he has a little bit of concern of about as we're looking, as you alluded to long
term. Do we put three bays here? Do we use that money to help renovate something
else? Because we do have other stations that are in need of repair and replacement.
Supervisor North responded to Supervisor Peters by stating, our area of
Roanoke. County has relied on secondary fire service for the last 30 years. With the
population growth, we need that ambulance there and where is an ambulance going to
go to in that third bay, if we don't have a third bay, where are you going to station that
ambulance? Supervisor Peters responding they will be back to back.
Supervisor Peters stated there needs to be a facilities study for public
safety as we get more and more populated.
Supervisor Mahoney commented it's hard to swallow an additional 2
million, if you look at our bottom line number going out through , 2032, that's 106 million
and that's enough to choke all of us. While he would rather build a three-bay facility,
January 11 , 2022 15
because Thursday night we're going to begin a community process. He knows we are
looking at making some substantial changes to comp plan in zoning on the Rt. 460
corridor, I believe we will do that. I don't know if we'll do it this year or next year, but
we're going to do that. Next, when looking at slide 8 comparing the courthouse HVAC
at $2.35 million versus HVAC for this building at $1.5 Million, where does this number
come from? He does not know what the square footage is between the courthouse and
this building but there seems to be a gross discrepancy in that number. Mr. George
Assaid, Capital Projects Administrator, stated the courthouse, the $2.5 million was an
estimate for the replacement of the HVAC. Since that time, we have worked with
Thompson and Litton on a full mechanical systems assessment for the court house and
their estimate of an in-kind replacement that is there is $5 million.
Supervisor North stated he would like the Board to consider additional
funding from 12-12-12 to 15-15-15.
Supervisor Mahoney stated he would like to know how much can we get
done with ARPA funds.
The work session was held from 3:59 p.m. until 5:00 p.m.
2. Joint work session with Roanoke County School Board and the
Career and Technical Advisory (CTE) Committee (P. Jason Peters,
Supervisor, Vinton Magisterial District)
Supervisor Mahoney provided introduction. Supervisor Peters and
Supervisor North provided comments. The roll call was taken by the School Board.
Mr. Altizer, Chairman of the CTE committee provided PowerPoint
presentation.
Peter Lubeck, County Attorney provided overview for FOIA and the closed
session.
The work session was held from 5:15 p.m. until 5:36 p.m.
16 January 11 , 2022
IN RE: ADJOURNMENT
Chairman Mahoney adjourned the meeting at 6:56 p.m.
Sub 'tted by: Approved by:
{5-ciALV) NV1‘ 1 ‘:
orah C. J ck Paul M. Mahoney
Chief Deputy Cler c to the Board Chairman