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HomeMy WebLinkAbout4/25/2023 - Regular April 25, 2023 137 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 regularly scheduled meeting of the month of April 2023. 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, a moment of silence was observed. The Pledge of Allegiance was recited by all present. IN RE: CALL TO ORDER Chairman Hooker called the meeting to order at 3:01 p.m. The roll call was taken. MEMBERS PRESENT: Chairman Martha B. Hooker; Supervisors Paul M. Mahoney, Phil C. North, P. Jason Peters and David F. Radford MEMBERS ABSENT: None STAFF PRESENT: Richard L. Caywood, County Administrator; Rebecca Owens, Deputy County Administrator; Doug Blount, 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 Chairman Hooker requested the addition of an additional New Business item, Resolution approving a memorandum of Understanding between the Roanoke County Board of Supervisors and the Roanoke County School Board regarding capital funding. There were no objections. 138 April 25, 2023 IN RE: BRIEFINGS 1. Recognition and signing of the Memorandum of Understanding between the Roanoke County and the Roanoke County School Board regarding capital funding. Chairman Hooker commented, at our last board of supervisors meeting, my fellow board members and I approved a memorandum of understanding that outlines a record funding proposal for our school system. The proposal will provide Roanoke County Public Schools $130 million to fund a new career in technical education center and much needed improvements to two elementary schools. She is very happy today and take this moment to acknowledge that the school board approved this memo of understanding at their board meeting last week. This is the largest amount of funding the county has ever offered to Roanoke County public schools and enables them to complete all three projects sooner than what they had expected. We've paved the way for them to advance these critical capital projects and ensure the educational needs of our students are met. Thank you to our school board members for working alongside us to get this done. While there have been ongoing healthy debates about the financing of these projects, she knows both boards are passionate about our schools and the future success of our children. She is also appreciative of Dr. Nicely and his staff for their hard work pulling together information and meeting with our staff to help understand the school system's needs. She thanked County staff that worked diligently with us for many months to find solutions within our current and future funding streams that would allow us to continue meeting the capital needs of all County programs and remain fiscally responsible with our taxpayers' dollars. Specifically, our County Administrator, Richard Caywood, Deputy County Administrator, Rebecca Owens, Finance Director, Lori Gearhart and her staff and County Attorney Peter Lubeck. She also recognized the CTE Citizen Advisory Committee and staff who worked more than a year to research, advise and make recommendations to the Board of Supervisors and school board regarding the construction of a new CTE center and several of them were able to join us today. Mike Altizer and Wayne Bower and County staff who worked with the committee. Alex Jones, Cecilia Thomas and. staff from Roanoke County Schools. Jason Sur and Mark Jones. We're happy to have you all here. Finally, she thanked her fellow board members. She is really proud of our work together to make this happen for our schools. Supervisor Peters commented he has been excited about this for a very long time. He had a luncheon with Don Butzer and Tim Greenway probably three, four years ago when we started talking about the CTE. He has shared, with many in the audience and my fellow board that he has seen for a very long time the need for a CTE to provide the skilled labor within our valley. He sees business owners daily who are April 25, 2023 139 struggling to find the proper skilled labor so they can provide the services to our citizens, and he has long understood the need to get this done. He shared at the last meeting he went there as Hardy Road Elementary and knows the challenge of having the open classrooms. He is glad to see that we finally all came together to make this work. The CTE he is especially proud of because he does realize the need that's within our valley. If we plan to bring other businesses and expand the current businesses here, we need to make sure we have a way to create a strong workforce. Lastly is to the CTE committee and to Mike Altizer and everyone and Wayne Bower who's here today, thank you. As Chairman in 2021, he gave them the task of figuring all this out and some would say it was time wasted. He completely disagrees. He thinks with the time and expertise that you spent going around looking at different schools, seeing the need, talking to our school board, talking to our school officials, understanding what we needed in our schools and what this CTE project looks like, he wanted to thank you personally for that because I think there's not a value I can place on that. then there was cause to even lower, make the scale of this project smaller, which he does not support because as someone who's in the public daily dealing with our business community that we are desperate for skilled labor on the streets as these kids are rolling out of school and that college isn't the only way for them to go. He looks forward to seeing this building erected and to seeing the kids that are currently being turned away that they will have a place to get those skills needed. Supervisor Mahoney thanked the school board and the citizens committee. He is optimistic that this step will jumpstart the construction of this new facility, which is sorely needed. Supervisor North stated he loves history, so he gave a brief summary of how some of these things came about. In 2019 when he was anointed chair, we began working with Chairman Butcher at that time on increasing funding from $10 to $12 million, which was a big quantum leap for Roanoke County to do, having kept $10 million in place for many, many years as far as borrowing capacity for the schools and the county. So, we did that. We got the $12 million in December of that year. The CTE was under study at that time and hadn't been completed until, there was a study book that came out I think in January when Chairman Radford was leading us in 2020. And then about February or March, COVID hit and everything got put on ice if I recall. So, so it wasn't until '22 that the schools in the County began working on how can we do this? We considered going to $17 million. In fact, we'd gone to $17 million borrowing somewhere in between that timeframe. I think it was in the '21 year. Now, the interest that this board had on CTE was curious enough that Chairman Hooker and I went to Harrisonburg on a recommendation of someone from Senator Kane's office to see a regional school. And we were so impressed with that that on the way back we talked the 111 whole way back. We were excited with what we saw and how that was impacting that community. So, these dialogues on both boards and also with the committee when it was formed just kind of fueled this whole process. Now in terms of government responding in a quick manner, He thinks we did a pretty good job. Here is why, in 2021, 140 April 25, 2023 then Chairman Peters calls me one day in March or April in the middle of the winter saying, how are we going to address the CTE thing? And we went over the history of it and I said, and he asked why don't you form a committee? That's what we do at church all the time when we have capital projects. And we did just that. And he took that idea and we formed the CTE committee under his leadership. And with that said, the wheels began to move on this ever closer. Now if you discount the 2019 and the 2020 and 2021 timeframe because of COVID, we really got this done in about two years. Now that's fast in terms of government work. That's almost as fast as private industry and corporations move to try to develop big projects. So, it kind of humbled me because normally government doesn't move this quickly in terms of getting things done, both the federal, state and many times local. But we, I think, took a quantum leap and the school board, the committee and board of supervisors I know are proud of how this all came about in a timely fashion if I might not say so myself. And it's not over with yet because there's other things going on where we've tried to get state help. And that's going to continue on into next year's general assembly because we're persistent and we don't take no for an answer and we make a people aware in Richmond and other parts of the state what our needs are. And if they can have these needs east of us, we're going to have them west of us, whether it's schools or whether it's transportation. Supervisor Radford commented we all played different parts in the CTE and the two (2) elementary schools coming together today. He does see it as a monumental day. So, prior to COVID, Mr. North and I made a trip down to South Carolina to actually look at schools that had new technology, had different energy methods to it, solar panels. And we were just, my whole perspective of looking at those schools down there was to find a way to use tax credits, federal loans, zero interest loans so we could build three of them at the same time, the CTE and the elementary schools. And we went back and forth with a certain vendor, not a vendor, just a resource to try to figure out how we could do that here in Roanoke County. And I think after we did a lot of back and forth and we heard from the CTE committee and their recommendations after we finally pared it down to the construction numbers, broad construction numbers, I really believe, trying to convince the four of us, the five of us, to we needed to accelerate the borrowing and accelerate the building. He thinks that really helped pull us together pretty quick with the school board and their willingness to look at the scope. So, we had different things going on that kind of brought it together here recently and I'm just glad we're finally here today to celebrate that and sign the MOU and move on. I agree. Whoever said it, I'm ready for the building to get going because that's the construction's in my blood. I'm ready. Supervisor Hooker stated she is a retired teacher. She really believes in the educational process that Roanoke County schools provide. What a great resource for our community and to look at those elementary schools, those teachers that have worked diligently in less than ideal circumstances have been rock stars. They have been amazing with what they have done. Our students have been incredibly resilient in that when you look at test scores, there's not a lot of significant difference between any IApril 25, 2023 141 of our schools; it just is amazing. It speaks volumes about the quality of our teachers and the environment of our schools. Mr. Kish, we overlooked you when you came in, but thank you for being here, principal of the Burton Center, and this really is a great day. My heart is with CTE and what it provides to this community and the opportunities it's giving our students in the trades and some incredible work is being done there. So, we are all unified in this idea that this must go on and it must go on quickly. And we're proud of the work that's been done here today. So, with that being said, Mr. Landon from the school board, if you would like to come forward and say anything, we'd welcome your comments if you care to make any comments. School Board member, David Linden, thanked the Board and as Madam Chair mentioned, we did approve the MOU unanimously at our school board meeting last Thursday evening; it's a historic time for us. We're so excited to be able to not only get the CTE center underway, but you guys recognize the need for the two (2) elementary schools to be done and it's even sooner than we anticipated. So, to be able to get those going quickly is something that when we moved them down on our CIP last year, it wasn't because we didn't think they were important. It was to hope that we could get some state grants and some additional funding for that CTE center. But we're beyond thrilled to be able to move forward as quickly as we can. Again, thank you. Taxpayers not only do they get to see a little decrease in real estate taxes and we get to move forward with this, so thank you to the committee as well. We can't say that citizens cannot come and say we didn't do our homework on this between the efforts that you guys put in and that the committee put in. We know we've done the homework necessary and we are just so excited to get this thing rolling. So, thank you. We appreciate it. Next, CTE Chairman Mike Altizer thanked the CTE Committee, noting not everyone could be here today. "The hard and diligent work that everybody did on that. Did we agree on everything going through? Absolutely not. But we did all come to a consensus. And what we did wholeheartedly agree on, we needed a facility and I think we found the best place available that we could do that. And now with your hard work and being able to expedite this construction schedule and the school board, it's going to get built bigger. And what I'd like to say today, because I've seen them in the TV news when there's been things I talked about to the newspaper, it's always mentioned. This is the biggest project that Roanoke County has ever done, which goes to money and all like that. And one thing I want to happen is for everybody to understand it's the outcome of this building. It's what's going to be the most noteworthy accomplishment regardless if we're doing $130 million, $80 million or $20 million. To be able to train the next group of workforces for future businesses. When they come in here and they ask that question, we all know they come in here, they want to know the quality of our schools and they want to know do we have people that can do this work? And I think we will better do that. And I think that.is the biggest thing about this project. Money, you got to have it. You got to pay for it. But setting that aside, with what this will do for businesses, business investment, and the other part of this is the apprentice program. A lot of 142 April 25, 2023 people know what I've been involved with that I love that program. But here's what we have at the end of every year, we end up having apprentices that don't get offered a job or there's not enough openings in the business to participate. This facility will help to facilitate that. There are businesses out there now that really don't have the space or the time to train and do the training that they need. Well guess what? They can pay. We can have training at this facility which really can't do very productively now. So, we can do things to help business. Business can do things to help us. And there's new ways all of you spoke about going at one time or another to maybe Harrisonburg and down to South Carolina and things like that. Well at Harrisonburg, at Massanutten, the things that they do up or that they build a house, they auction it off, they raise money for the school and the money stays in that school. They have a cafeteria there that they have their students that's working in and doing things like that. People can come in, they can eat. You can raise revenues that way. So, this just opens up many opportunities. This is just the beginning of something far more greater than the investment and the return on that will be very meaningful. And for that, I think all the citizens around the county need to thank this board and the school board for bringing this forward, getting it started earlier and being able to do the things that needs to be done. So, thank you again for everything that you have done. It's been up and down, up and down. As Mr. North said in government. Takes a little while sometimes this one, okay, and then there's always back and forth, but at the end of the day, the results show when people are committed and that they know what's right and they get down and they do it. So, for that, and I'll speak on behalf of the committee also to thank you for everything that you did and all the hard work." IN RE: PUBLIC HEARING 1. Public hearing for citizen comments on the proposed Fiscal Year 2023-2024 Operating Budget and the proposed Fiscal Year 2024- 2033 Capital Improvement Program (Steve Elliott, Budget Administrator) - Chairman Hooker opened and closed the public hearing with the following speaker: Helen Barrier stated she is a citizen of Bent Mountain and also a co- president of the Bent Mountain Women's Club. "I think the reason that they moved this to this party, the meeting is because the Bent Mountain Library extension would be part of your capital improvement. And as you know, our community is small and according to your Roanoke 200 plan, we have 820 residents, we're growing at 4% and the library is the center of our community. And being a small community, community means everything. Many communities here in Roanoke County have a school. Of course, our school closed in 2010. We were able to open up our library there, which is about 800 April 25, 2023 143 square feet. And at the time, at 2000, our women's club was very influential in raising funds to get that built and also to put on a small 186 square foot bump out for our children's library. And those plans included a multipurpose room for 560 square feet off to the side. It wasn't funded at that time. So, we are here to ask for that funding for that multipurpose room. Our library is small, but it still includes some pretty vibrant programming. We have book clubs there, we have preschool programming, we have children's programming. Of course, people are coming in all the time to check out material, check out videos, use the copier, use the internet, which we are still struggling there and I know the board is working really hard to get that taken care of and we're very gracious. But the library is utilized and really the heart of the community. So, expanding the library would be awesome. We have some diagrams and I'll submit all this to the clerk when we're finished. Even trying to meet as a book club, we're squished in the corner. Children's programming is in between bookshelves. We gather them on the floor. Computers have a very small space for people to come in and use them. So, expanding this would really be a huge bonus for our community. And without the library and without a school, it is a real loss to our community. So, we would very much like for you all to consider this. We've met a couple times with David and Doug and Jim to go over the idea of this. Met with the community and met with the library staff. And this is something that everyone is very much behind. They have done their due diligence. We have the estimate already worked up and the original plans that can be used for this. So, we are really hoping that this can be approved in the budget as you all move forward." IN RE: FIRST READING OF ORDINANCES 1. Ordinance authorizing the acquisition of new, variable-width easements for a stream restoration project located on Canter Drive and Titan Trail in the Windsor Hills Magisterial District (Tarek Moneir, Director of Development Services) Mr. Moneir outlined the request for ordinance. Supervisor Mahoney ask if there is an estimate on total costs, which Mr. Moneir advised he was not sure of. Supervisor Mahoney then stated we have allocated many ARPA funds and are there any left. Ms. Owens responded she would check and advise. Supervisor Radford's motion to approve the first reading and set the second reading for May 9, 2023, was seconded by Supervisor Peters and approved by the following vote: AYES: Supervisors Peters, Mahoney, North, Radford, Hooker NAYS: None 144 April 25, 2023 IN RE: CONSENT AGENDA RESOLUTION 042523-1 APPROVING AND CONCURRING IN CERTAIN ITEMS SET FORTH ON THE BOARD OF SUPERVISORS AGENDA FOR THIS DATE DESIGNATED AS ITEM F -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 April 25, 2023, designated as Item F - Consent Agenda be, and hereby is, approved and concurred in as to each item separately set forth in said section designated Items 1 through 11 inclusive, as follows: 1. Approval of minutes—January 24, 2023; February 14, 2023-Special 2. The petition of Boing US Holdco, Inc. to obtain a special use permit to operate a car wash on approximately 1.97 acres of land zoned C-2, High Intensity Commercial District, and CVOD, Clearbrook Village Overlay District, located at 3434 Buck Mountain Road, and 5147 Franklin Road, Cave Spring Magisterial District (First Reading and request for Public Hearing and Second Reading) 3. The petition of Terio and Lisa Comerose to remove the existing proffered conditions on approximately 14.713 acres of land zoned AVCS, AgriculturalNillage Center District with conditions and special use permit, and AR, Agricultural/Residential District, located at 9651 Bent Mountain Road, 9744 Tinsley Lane, and 9786 Tinsley Lane, Windsor Hills Magisterial District (First Reading and request for Public Hearing and Second Reading) 4. The petition of Hugo Jimenez to rezone approximately 1.24 acres of land from C-1, Low Intensity Commercial District, to I-1, Low Intensity Industrial District, and to obtain a special use permit to operate a construction yard located at 5681 Starkey Road, Cave Spring Magisterial District (First Reading and request for Public Hearing and Second Reading) 5. The petition of Martie Murphy to obtain a special use permit to operate a car wash on approximately 5.995 acres of land zoned C-2, High Intensity Commercial District, and C-2C, High Intensity Commercial District with conditions, located at 3939 Valley Gateway Boulevard, Vinton Magisterial District (First Reading and request for Public Hearing and Second Reading) April 25, 2023 145 6. Ordinance authorizing the approval of new variable width drainage easements to the Board of Supervisors of Roanoke County, Virginia on properties on Colonial Avenue and Vest Drive for the purpose of drainage improvements; Cave Spring Magisterial District (First Reading and request for Public Hearing and Second Reading) 7. Ordinance authorizing the acquisition of one-half (1/2) interest in three (3) parcels of real property containing approximately 42 acres adjacent to Explore Park, located in Roanoke County and in Bedford County, and authorizing execution of an amended purchase agreement, deeds of conveyance and other documents necessary to accomplish the acquisition of this real estate (Second Reading) 8. Ordinance accepting and appropriating a donation from the Cave Spring First Aid and Rescue Squad, Inc. in the amount of $8,250 for use by the Roanoke County General Services Department (Second Reading) 9. Request to accept and allocate funds in the amount of $24,651.80 to the Clerk of the Circuit Court from the Commonwealth of Virginia for Technology Trust Funds 10. Resolution expressing the appreciation of the Board of Supervisors of Roanoke County to Todd R. Hanson, Firefighter/EMT, upon his retirement after more than twenty (20) years of service 11. Request to approve the Roanoke Regional Cable Television budget for fiscal year 2023-2024 On motion of Supervisor Peters to adopt the resolution, seconded by Supervisor North and carried by the following recorded vote: AYES: Supervisors Peters, Mahoney, North, Radford, Hooker NAYS: None A-042523-1.a A-042523-1.b A-042523-1.c A-042523-1.d A-042523-1.e 146 April 25, 2023 ORDINANCE 042523-1.f AUTHORIZING THE ACQUISITION OF ONE-HALF (1/2) INTEREST IN THREE (3) PARCELS OF REAL PROPERTY CONTAINING APPROXIMATELY 42 ACRES ADJACENT TO EXPLORE PARK, LOCATED IN ROANOKE COUNTY AND IN BEDFORD COUNTY, AND AUTHORIZING EXECUTION OF AN AMENDED PURCHASE AGREEMENT, DEEDS OF CONVEYANCE AND OTHER DOCUMENTS NECESSARY TO ACCOMPLISH THE ACQUISITION OF THIS REAL ESTATE WHEREAS, Betty W. Mayes is the owner of one-half (1/2) interest in three parcels of property, containing approximately 42.94 acres, located in Roanoke County (identified as Roanoke County Tax Map Number 080.00-05-17.00-0000) and in Bedford County (identified as Bedford County Tax Map Numbers 172 A 14A and 172 A 42); and WHEREAS, the remaining one-half(1/2) interest in the three parcels (3) is owned by the Virginia Recreational Facilities Authority, a political subdivision of the Commonwealth of Virginia; and WHEREAS, the Board approved Ordinance 081021-5 on August 10, 2021, authorizing staff to execute a purchase agreement and other documents necessary to effectuate the purchase for a purchase,price of$58,600; and WHEREAS, an appraisal on the properties was completed on December 28, 2022, finding that the estimated value of the three parcels is $165,000, and finding that the estimated market value of one-half(1/2) interest in the three parcels is $82,500; and WHEREAS, staff recommends an amended purchase price of $82,500 for the purchase of the one-half(1/2) interest in the three (3) parcels; and WHEREAS, the Virginia Outdoors Foundation ("VOF") has awarded Roanoke County $165,450 in grant funds for the purchase of the one-half (1/2) interest in the three (3) parcels, which are adjacent to Explore Park; and WHEREAS, on December 15, 2020, the Board of Supervisors appropriated $165,450.00 from the VOF for the purchase of the one-half(1/2) interest in the three (3) parcels; and WHEREAS, the three (3) parcels will be used to manage the property as part of Explore Park, remaining forested and largely undeveloped, except for trails and similar facilities for outdoor recreation; and WHEREAS, the Board of Supervisors of Roanoke County has determined that it is in the public interest to acquire a one-half(1/2) interest in the three (3) parcels; and WHEREAS, § 2.03 of the Roanoke County Charter provides that the County, upon a . showing of public necessity, may acquire property within or without its boundaries for any of its facilities or functions; and WHEREAS, the Board finds that there is a showing of public necessity for the County to purchase those portions of the property, which are located in Bedford County, as they are immediately adjacent to Roanoke County, are included in the 2016.Explore April 25, 2023 147 Park Adventure Plan, and will provide benefits to citizens such as trails and similar facilities for outdoor recreation; and WHEREAS, § 18.04 of the Roanoke County Charter directs that the acquisition and conveyance of real estate interests be accomplished by ordinance;the first reading of this ordinance to be held on April 1.1, 2023, and the second reading to be held on April 25, 2023; NOW THEREFORE, BE IT ORDAINED by the Board of Supervisors of Roanoke County, Virginia, as follows: 1. That there is a showing of public necessity for the County to acquire property without its boundaries for the purpose of expanding Explore Park. 2. That the acquisition of approximately 42.94 acres located in Roanoke County (identified as Roanoke County Tax Map Number 080.00-05-17.00-0000) and in Bedford County (identified as Bedford County Tax Map Numbers 172 A 14A and 172 A 42) is hereby authorized and approved at the amended purchase price of$82,500. 3. Funding for the purchase and incidental costs to the acquisition is available in the County's grant fund, which was created pursuant to Ordinance 121520-6 whereby the Board accepted and appropriated $165,450 from the VOF for the purchase of the land. 4. That the County Administrator, Deputy County Administrator, or Assistant County Administrator are hereby authorized to execute such documents, including but not limited to the amended purchase agreement, the deeds of conveyance (with any changes as approved by the County Attorney's Office), and any other documents necessary to accomplish the acquisition and to take such actions on behalf of Roanoke County in this matter as are necessary to accomplish the acquisition of this real estate, all of which shall be approved as to form by the County Attorney. 5. That this ordinance is to be in full force and effect upon its passage. On motion of Supervisor Peters to adopt the ordinance, seconded by Supervisor North and carried by the following recorded vote: AYES: Supervisors Peters, Mahoney, North, Radford, Hooker NAYS: None ORDINANCE 042523-1.q ACCEPTING AND APPROPRIATING FUNDS IN THE AMOUNT OF $8,250 FROM THE CAVE SPRING FIRST AID AND RESCUE SQUAD, INC. FOR USE BY THE ROANOKE COUNTY GENERAL SERVICES DEPARTMENT WHEREAS, the Cave Spring First Aid and Rescue Squad, Inc., a 501(c)3 organization, has been using the large conference room at Cave Spring Rescue Station 148 April 25, 2023 #3 since 1989 for full crew meetings, training sessions, EMT certification courses, Auxiliary meetings, regional VAVRS meetings, and the Auxiliary's chicken BBQ; and WHEREAS, due to the Cave Spring First Aid and Rescue Squad, Inc.'s vested interest and use of this room, it would like to donate $8,250 to the General Services Department toward replacement of the conference room flooring; and WHEREAS, Section 18.04 of the Roanoke County Charter provides that funds be appropriated by ordinance; and WHEREAS, the first reading of this ordinance was held on April 11, 2023, and the second reading was held on April 25, 2023. BE IT ORDAINED by the Board of Supervisors of Roanoke County, Virginia, as follows: 1. That the sum of $8,250 made available to the General Services Department toward replacement of the flooring in the large conference room at Cave Spring Rescue Station #3 is accepted and appropriated to the general fund. 2. That this ordinance shall take effect from and after the date of adoption. On motion of Supervisor Peters to adopt the ordinance, seconded by Supervisor North and carried by the following recorded vote: AYES: Supervisors Peters, Mahoney, North, Radford, Hooker NAYS: None A-042523-1.h RESOLUTION 042523-1.i. EXPRESSING THE APPRECIATION OF THE BOARD OF SUPERVISORS OF ROANOKE COUNTY TO TODD R. HANSON, FIREFIGHTER/EMT, UPON HIS RETIREMENT AFTER MORE THAN TWENTY (20) YEARS OF SERVICE WHEREAS, Todd R. Hanson was employed by Roanoke County on January 14, 2002; and WHEREAS, Mr. Hanson retired on June 1, 2022, after twenty (20) years and five (5) months of devoted, faithful and expert service to Roanoke County; and WHEREAS, Mr. Hanson has served as a firefighter/EMT throughout his career and has been instrumental in improving the quality of life and providing services to the citizens of Roanoke County; and WHEREAS, throughout Mr. Hanson's career with Roanoke County, he served on the special operations Heavy Technical Rescue Team which required a number of ongoing state certifications, as well as providing a great resource to the department by using his mechanical skills to assist in diagnosing and repairing small engine equipment within the Department; and April 25, 2023 149 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 TODD R. HANSON for more than twenty 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 North and carried by the following recorded vote: AYES: Supervisors Peters, Mahoney, North, Radford, Hooker NAYS: None A-042523-1.j IN RE: REPORTS Supervisor Mahoney moved to receive and file the following reports. The motion was seconded by Supervisor Peters and carried by the following recorded vote: AYES: Supervisors Peters, Mahoney, North, Radford, Hooker NAYS: None 1. Unappropriated, Board Contingency and Capital Reserves Report 2. Outstanding Debt Report 3. Comparative Statement of Budgeted and Actual Revenues as of March 31, 2023 4. Comparative Statement of Budgeted and Actual Expenditures and Encumbrances as of March 31, 2023 5. Accounts Paid — March 31, 2023 IN RE: REPORTS AND INQUIRIES OF BOARD MEMBERS 1. Paul M. Mahoney 2. David F. Radford 3. P. Jason Peters 4. Phil C. North 5. Martha B. Hooker Supervisor Radford commented on April 15th, last Saturday, he was able to attend the Bent Mountain Center celebrating their 10th anniversary. He attended that 150 April 25, 2023 along with other Roanoke County staff. They basically took the older school, the school that was closed and we turned it into the Bent Mountain Center and the library is attached to it. As Helen spoke about earlier. While we were there, they also recognized Clay Goodman, who was the administrator at the time that really got the ball rolling to convert that to a community center. So, they recognized him and also Joe McNamara, who was the supervisor at the time. So, the president of the Boom Mountain Center talked about and sharing that information. We had heavy hor d'oeuvres. While he was there he got to meet Helen, some other people and we got to talk about the library expansion. One thing that he did bring to Helen and other people up there is that we have some people on the school board that don't think libraries are needed anymore. He just wants to make sure we heard it from her that libraries are still useful. There's still a part of our community and we shouldn't try to replace capital budgets for other capital budgets and put one in front of the other. He thinks we're beyond that point at this time. We've kind of resolved that, but I appreciate you coming today and talking about that. Second thing I have, if you don't have anything to do on Thursday, we are going to celebrate Arbor Day at Oak Grove Park Starts at three o'clock. We are going to dedicate the new park. It's got some great new additions to it. He told somebody he is going to ride my e-bike down there with my pickleball racket on my backpack and get things going. But we have new pickleball court. They renovated a tennis court. We have new bathroom facilities. A new shelter has been installed in a great looking playground for youngsters from five to 12. It's going to be a great day. He thinks there's a little bit of rain in the forecast. I'm going to come anyway, maybe under the shelter. So again, please join and then it's Arbor day, so we're going to have a tree planting and celebrate that day. So, hope to see citizens there. Celebrate that with us. Supervisor Peters this Saturday, well actually Friday and Saturday will be the Vinton Dogwood Festival. Something the town has celebrated for over 65 years, but starts with a concert on Friday night and then activities throughout the whole day on Saturday. And again, we hope it doesn't rain, but we'll see. Secondly, I do believe today was a historic day as we have pushed forward with the elementary schools, mainly the CTE center, I echo the comments of Mr. Altizer that money is one thing, but the results and what we're going to get from this long term, he thinks that there's no dollar amount we can put on this. He is very excited to see this move forward. Supervisor North stated he was reading the Wall Street Journal the other day. When I have time, I enjoyed perusing through there. And there was an article entitled Slide in Transport Shares Seen as Indicator of Slump, which caught my attention, being an old railroader. Economically sensitive stocks like those of transportation and small cap companies are trailing the broader market, reflecting, growing investor concerns about a potential recession. Historically, transportation and small cap stocks have led market recoveries but also sold off faster during economic downturns when demand for goods and materials and travel is slow. One of my former colleagues at Norfolk Southern told me the other night at dinner that the intermodal franchise is beginning to weaken, which carries many of the consumer products. April 25, 2023 151 Recession fears have intensified recently in the financial market. Economists survey made by the Wall Street Journal put the probability of recession in the next 12 months at about 61%. Though they expect the shallow and short-lived economic contraction or downturn. Tracking the logistics companies like J.B. Hunt, a bellwether for the freight market and said Monday that its profit and revenue for the latest quarter declined more than expected in what they called a freight recession. This recession has been one most talked about recession in my investment career. One commented and I think companies and portfolio managers are really prepared for it. But that doesn't mean it won't happen. It just means you need to be very selective in terms of stocks that you're choosing. Well, the same thing applies as we look at inflation driven recession, as I like to call it. It's a 50-50 chance depending on who you talk to. We heard 61%. Another source says that the inflation rate, which is about 4.5% now is going to decline to about 3.6% by the end of this year. Inflation driven and home market prices have impacted 2024 Roanoke County real estate revenues, which are projected at 5.2% in the future year over year, which equates to $6.1 million increase in our budget versus 23. Moreover, inflation driven and lower auto market supplies impact personal property auto values which may stay high in 2024 next year as new auto production levels are beginning to level off and beginning a slight decline because of the fears of recession. This is going to keep used car values elevated by 20%. I was looking last night for a family member at the price of used cars versus new cars and it's almost, you're better off buying a new car. Really interesting. So that kind of confirms this. In any instance, we all know Roanoke County is a rule and an urban county, unlike some of the counties that surround us that are more ruled than they are urban. And we continue to provide many services such as trash pickup fine schools, fire and public safety services, parks and recreation programs for adults and youth Explore park. That goes without saying it almost just to name a few services. And let's not forget, as Mr. Radford pointed out, libraries for our communities, they are important to our, in fact, they make our communities what they are. All this said, this year alone, this board has provided record tax rate reductions and $130 million earmarked for three schools. Construction funding, which we heard about today. This is a record and it's a proud accomplishment of both the schools as well as the county board of supervisors. The impact of this 3-cent rate budget at 3 cents less or a dollar six per hundred, which is a rate decrease, is illustrated simply by this. On a medium-priced home in Roanoke County today, that equates to almost a hundred dollars tax savings to the homeowner. That medium, priced home is $299,000. On another example, personal property, the 10-cent rate reduction and the $3 million tax relief coupled with the state's 12.9 million or 15.9 million of relief in addition to the 10-cent rate reduction would yield about $76 savings on the first $20,000 of assessed value for personal property vehicles, both examples that I just mentioned, reduce tax rates and lower costs to citizens. In conclusion, I'm going to ask some rhetorical questions and place this as an earmark for the future. Let's see what our year end surplus is at the end of June, 2023. Should we set aside some money for future potential rainy-day funds and or tax reductions next year? Should we pay for some 152 April 25, 2023 capital projects with cash rather than borrowing? Or will we see higher real estate revenues above the forecasted $6.1 million in 2024?And if so, will we take some of that money and provide future tax relief for our citizens? Future answers to these questions and more will help us to set our sights on next year's forecasting and budget. I know this board will be watching this closely as we have demonstrated with this year's record, capital school funding and county reduced tax rates. Supervisor Mahoney commented last week on April 19th, Mr. Blanton, our Roanoke County Library Director and I were invited to the speakers to the meeting of the LRV Leadership Roanoke Valley program and it was at South County Library. He was able to talk about some of the infrastructure improvements that local governments are involved in, whether it's landfill or reservoirs or dams or what we've done front on 419 in front of Tanglewood Mall. Then Mr. Blanton was able to talk about when we had the very historic cold snap around Christmas a couple months ago and we were able to use South County Library as a warming facility for many citizens. It was interesting to have an opportunity to speak to many of the young business leaders in our community who are engaged in the LRV program. The second comment is once you finish with the Arbor Day meeting on Thursday the 27th at four o'clock you can go to the Holiday Inn, Airport Holiday Inn at Roadway, we're going to have the airport master plan public meeting. Many citizens are concerned about an expansion of the runway at the airport, but that airport master plan also talks about a variety of other necessary improvements at the airport. You're looking at improvements for general cargo, general aviation, the terminal, as well as looking at a possibility of runway expansion. So, this is a public meeting to talk about that airport master plan. He thinks that's really important. He thanked Supervisor North with his leadership last fall where the board added the airport and the funding for airport improvements to our legislative program and got to emphasize how critical the regional airport is to our region and to economic development in the Roanoke region. So, if you have nothing better to do, please come out to the Holiday Inn, Airport Holiday Inn, from four to six. There'll be an opportunity for public meeting and for citizens to talk to many of the airport people and the consultants they've hired. As citizens, we can speak to the critical nature of many of those airport improvements Supervisor Hooker stated she just have a couple of comments. The first one is just a reflection on my last couple of weeks. She has had an opportunity to speak to a lot of citizens in my district and knocking doors and meeting them, having short conversations. She just thinks it's notable to say that I have not had one citizen say that they would like the county to have less accountability of how taxpayer funded dollars are spent. Nor have I had one citizen say they: would like less.,transparency of how taxpayer dollars are spent. So, this board is not out of line in our request that the school board have the same protocol as the county government that we follow today. And I just wanted to affirm that just in the conversations that I've had with citizens to date, it's unfortunate that we've had some negative feedback from some, not all, but some of our April 25, 2023 153 school board members on that issue. But on a much lighter note, she stated that in the Catawba District, we have an old school building that we also really depend on in the old Catawba school. There are several groups that meet there and what a great facility, what a great building. Some staff got to tour it and look through it recently, but they are having an event this Saturday and it is a flea market from 9:00 AM to noon or one. It's just another way that we have taken some buildings and really, they are the heart and soul of that community. So, we appreciate that the County has been willing to maintain those buildings and provide that to our communities in the more rural areas. It's a good way to recycle, reuse those schools Chairman Hooker recessed to the third floor for work session at: 4:35 p.m. IN RE: WORK SESSION 1. Work session to discuss the Bonsack Fire Station with the Board of Supervisors (Doug Blount, Assistant County Administrator; George Assaid, Capital Projects Administrator) Mr. Caywood introduced and turned over to Mr. Blount who provided the historical perspective. Mr. Assiad outlined the revised floor plan. Supervisor North asked how does the reduction of 876 feet impacted costs. Mr. Assiad responded we do not have an updated cost estimate based on this floor plan since we received it last week. The area of the apparatus bay that we removed, that's probably the cheapest cost. And then of course we're adding in a sprinkler riser room. The sprinkler system was included in the original budget. It's just the room was not. The room doesn't have any finishes on it. It's just painted concrete block. The electric is the same way. So, really the additional space, the additional square feet on the main floor are unfinished spaces. A larger increase was in the mezzanine. We have not discussed with G&H or Hughes Associates the reasoning why they increased it. It was, about 250 square feet from the original layout. Supervisor North then stated the other changes would happen regardless of the number of bays. Mr. Assaid responded in the affirmative. Supervisor Hooker asked can you tell me what the purpose of the mezzanine is and how•that compares with a day room? Is the day room more, like just a living area, a relaxing area? Chief Griffith responded it's like your family room with Supervisor Hooker asked for is it for with Chief Griffith responding training piece, because it is an unfinished area, you can do drills. There is a stairway that goes up, so a platform area with some unfinished space that the contractors can use for different systems to put in place. Supervisor Peters asked what is the estimate of cost for this with Mr. 111 Assaid stating between $600 and $800 a square foot. Why more expensive than CTE, which Mr. Assaid responded he does not know. Mr. Caywood there's two differences as well. One is that we're actually working with a contractor who's got to go build it for the 154 April 25, 2023 amount we agreed to, which is different than somebody estimating a cost. So, he would have some caution with what our actual contracted cost for CTE or the school projects. I do agree that those are very large buildings relative to this. Our CTE is in particular. So, a lot of your cost is in every time you build a wall and a door and all of this is kind of little intricate spaces as opposed to like a classroom that's a room this size is different to build then bathrooms and bunk rooms. But my own personal feeling is that we're likely to see higher prices than we think on these other projects. Supervisor Radford is the HVAC equipment in a fire station, is it a safe self-contained unit or is it two pieces? An in internal external piece? Mr. Assaid responded internal and external. Supervisor Radford stated you've got the internal piece in conditioned space with Mr. Assaid responding in the affirmative. Next Supervisor Radford stated in the picture on page nine of your email of another fire station, looks like we've got that carbon monoxide exhaust system and in the other stations we have them mounted up in the ceiling. Are we going to bring the pipe work down so we can hook it up or is that already being done? Mr. Assaid responded that is not the plan. The plan is kind of a free flow system. North County and Vinton actually has this. It's an exhaust removal. The problem that we see with the hoses that actually attach to the truck, they break a lot. They get torn off, they tear. You have to constantly replace them. Whereas one of the most effective systems we found is in North County, it's a fan system. So, as soon as you hit the button, it's programmed for the bay doors to go up. So, as soon as the truck starts, you have an exhaust fan that cuts on, that takes everything out the highest point of the roof. Which we were actually looking at the back of the building through some designs yesterday, the perfect spot for that exhaust fan for the diesel exhaust. And then you don't have to worry about the hoses and maintenance and on that type of system. Supervisor Radford then asked if they were going to use touch less motion type faucets. Mr. Assaid asked the plan is not to. He is just thinking if we have another pandemic and germs and all that, how nice it would be to have that stuff already in there. Chief Griffith stated the plan to do this station from the get go, even working with general services and the building maintenance folks is if we can't buy it at Lowe's we don't want it. He speaks a lot with David Hobach. Their City Station Seven and their City Station Three on n Williamson Road that is what they did, they've pretty much replaced all the motion sensor, green, lead type things, and he said the same thing. He said, "If you can't go to Lowe's, we don't want it" because they've had to replace it so often because of the breaking and not working. Supervisor North asked Is any benefit to looking at solar on this facility? Is it cost outweigh the savings, I guess is what I'm asking. Mr. Caywood responded we could certainly look at it at least at a cursory level to see what could you do with a project like.this? What would it cost? What would you think you would say? I don't think these are our super high energy use buildings, so it might not take much, but we could. Supervisor North also commented this building is facing the wrong direction. Mr. Caywood responded the point we need to make here for everybody listening is we got this land a whole lot less cost to Roanoke County than we would have with other April 25, 2023 155 parcels along the 460 corridors even knowing it had to go into the City. I think that's a big plus here in this case, notwithstanding what they're going to come back now and tell us the new cost is. So, we need to recognize we probably saved about a million dollars just on land acquisition and we only got two acres. We didn't buy a bunch of land that we didn't really have use for at the time. So, that, let's keep that in mind. But yeah, this is the reality of cost. The next steps are to receive final direction from the Board regarding project scope and then staff will meet with Roanoke City to discuss the final plan. Supervisor Peters added he would like to look at replacing the old buildings, the mega-stations. The work session was held from 4:03 p.m. until 4:39 p.m. IN RE: ADJOURNMENT Chairman Hooker adjourned the meeting at 4:40 p.m. u miffed by: Approved by: 11/(aA -- tis616 . De rah C. J ck Martha B. Hooker Chief Deputy CI to the Board Chairman 156 April 25, 2023 Page left blank intentionally