Loading...
HomeMy WebLinkAbout11/15/2023 - Regular November 15, 2023 393 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 only regularly scheduled meeting of the month of November 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 Mr. Caywood requested to remove Budget and Fiscal Affairs and add Briefing as B.a to discuss the Route 220 hotel/motel proposal or the Apple Valley Motel as it's known. IN RE: BRIEFING Briefing given by Mr. Caywood. November 15, 2023 394 Earlier this month, both the community and the county learned of a planned project at the Apple Valley Motel on Route 220 in the Clearbrook community through media report. So, we found out about this project at the same time as the general public. And since that time we've received a variety of citizen inquiries regarding the project and potential impacts to the surrounding community. First, I'd like to emphasize that this, like all development projects are private business arrangements between the owner of the property and the potential buyer or lessee as the case may be. Now the county is not party to these transactions or any other similar transactions for commercial properties. The county does have several important roles, however, and I'll go through those briefly. First and foremost, with any project that happens in the community, we go through a process to ensure that it's consistent with the underlying zoning. So, in this particular case, our zoning official is analyzing the proposed use of the property to ensure that it conforms to the current zoning of the property. And if that use of the property is consistent with the property's underlying zoning, which in this case includes use as a hotel or a motel, neither the planning commission nor board of supervisors has a role in approval or the execution of the project. If however, the zoning administrator determines that a zoning action is required and the property owner wishes to pursue the necessary approvals, a public notice would be given including notification to nearby property owners and then the project would proceed through the normal process of rezoning, which would mean a stop at the planning commission, a public hearing, ultimately a public hearing and vote of the board. However, I want to emphasize in this particular case, if the use remains the current use, which is out of hotel/motel, that process would not be necessary as that's already allowed with the current zoning of the property. Regardless of the need for or lack thereof for a zoning action, all properties have to conform to the applicable building code and fire code. Now this is especially important at properties like hotels or motels, same thing applies to schools and churches. And these provisions are enforced by our county building official and also our fire marshal. County staff has met with Least of These Ministries to learn more about the proposed project and is to help and assist in making the determinations mentioned previously about the zoning status. And I want to emphasize both to the board and to the public, in all cases like this, we are required as staff by law to make determinations relating to the use of the property without consideration for external factors such as the project's desirability or in a case like this, the community sentiment. If there is a zoning action required, both the planning commission and board of supervisors can consider community impact in their decision making. So that's where there's a distinct difference between staff analysis for a land use type or zoning determination is separate from what the board does. We look forward to continuing to work with all the parties involved with the project and the surrounding community to ensure that all county requirements are met and that really continues on, right? November 15, 2023 395 So, if a use does change or there is a new project or the hotel is reopened, our role doesn't stop because we continue to do routine fire inspections, if there are citizen concerns about a particular activity, we address those as we do with all properties across the county. I'd be happy to take any questions the board may have of me, but just wanted to give a briefing both to you and the public on this matter and how we're analyzing it. Discussion on the Briefing. Mr. Mahoney: Mr. Caywood but based on the facts that are available to us today, this use is a hotel/motel. It is consistent with the C2)zoning district, and it is consistent with the Clearbrook Village overlay district. Richard Caywood: Yes. If the use is that for a bonafide hotel motel, that, that is your starting point that that would be allowable. It would only be if the facts would suggest a different determination. So, I think we would start with that answer is, it conforms until there's specific evidence that would lead us to an opposite conclusion. Mr. North: Do you know yet if the proposed use is going to have an office on site and if so, is it going to be staffed during the day and night? Richard Caywood: Yes. That was one of the questions we asked. We actually met with The Least of These Ministry folks this morning and that was one of the questions we raised, and the answer was they do intend to have an onsite manager that would be there 24/7. IN RE: NEW BUSINESS 1. Resolution authorizing the application of a Virginia Opioid Abatement Authority Cooperative . Partnership Grant in the amount of$500,000 from the Virginia Opioid Abatement Authority, and to agree to contribute $25,000 towards the project when applying for the grant (Madeline Hanlon, Assistant to the County Administrator) Mrs. Hanlon outlined the request for the resolution. No discussion on the motion. RESOLUTION 111523-1 AUTHORIZING THE APPLICATION OF A VIRGINIA OPIOID ABATEMENT AUTHORITY COOPERATIVE PARTNERSHIP GRANT IN THE AMOUNT OF $500,000 FROM THE VIRGINIA OPIOID ABATEMENT AUTHORITY, AND TO November 15, 2023 396 AGREE TO CONTRIBUTE $25,000 TOWARDS THE PROJECT WHEN APPLYING FOR THE GRANT WHEREAS, the Juvenile Court Opioid Abatement Workgroup (the "Workgroup"), which includes judges serving the County of Roanoke, City of Salem, and City of Roanoke, desires to apply for a Virginia Opioid Abatement Authority Cooperative Partnership Grant ("Partnership Grant") in the amount of $500,000 from the Virginia Opioid Abatement Authority; and WHEREAS, the Workgroup has identified a Partnership Grant to create two (2), new local "navigator' positions to serve the three (3) localities, and who will serve as independent recovery support specialists who will assist parents who have substance abuse problems; and WHEREAS, the grant amount sought is $500,000. The Workgroup has proposed that, in order to make the application competitive, the localities also contribute a one- time local match of ten percent (10%) to fund the positions for three (3) years, for a total need of$50,000 from the localities; and WHEREAS, Roanoke City has agreed to contribute $25,000 towards this project, and has further agreed to serve as fiscal agent and to provide workspaces for the two navigator positions; and WHEREAS, it is proposed that the County, in joining the application for the grant, agree to contribute $25,000 towards the project. NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED by the Board of Supervisors of Roanoke County, as follows: 1. The County Administrator is authorized to direct the appropriate County staff to assist in jointly applying for the Cooperative Partnership Grant, and to agree to contribute $25,000 towards the project if the grant is awarded. 2. This resolution shall take effect immediately upon its adoption. On motion of Supervisor North to adopt the resolution, seconded by Supervisor Radford and carried by the following recorded vote: AYES: Supervisors Peters, Mahoney, North, Radford, Hooker NAYS: None IN RE: FIRST READING OF ORDINANCES 1. Ordinance appropriating $48,113,501.44 from the Roanoke County Public Schools' fiscal year 2022-2023 year-end funds to the fiscal year 2023-2024 Roanoke County Public Schools Budget (Susan Peterson, Director of Finance, Roanoke County Public Schools) Ms. Peterson outlined the request for the ordinance. November 15, 2023 397 Madam Chairman and members of the board. During the November 8th school board meeting, I presented the 2023 fiscal year audit annual comprehensive financial report and the year-end carry over appropriation request. These were approved by the school board as presented. By law, your imbalances of a school division in the Commonwealth of Virginia will revert to the government that provided it. The county's comprehensive financial policy allows the school board to reappropriate year-end funds upon approval by the board of supervisors. Attachment A to your board packet is a two-page report of our year-end balance and carryover. Page one summarizes the results of the 2023 fiscal year and where the carryover balances are derived. Page two summarizes how this carryover translates into the 2024 annual budget. I'm requesting the reappropriation of the carrier balances of $48,113,501.44 for the school board. Since this is not an insignificant balance, I would like to take a few moments to provide a little background on what all these balances represent. The school division operates 14 funds or separate pots of money. Although the school board could tell you I could take all day to explain all of this, I will spare you the minutiae of the breakdown and I will cover them in big groups. First, our main operating fund is the general fund and for the fiscal year 2023, our surplus derived from revenue surplus of $978,433, $1.2 million from personnel savings, $188,408 from departmental savings and two million from emergency contingency carryover. In accordance with the county's comprehensive financial policy and the school board policy, this $4.3 million will be allocated as follows. $195,458.99 will be reallocated for encumbrances in the general fund. $1,070,712.80 will be reallocated for major capital that will be allocated specifically to the new Career and Technical Education Center and the two new elementary school renovations. $1,070,712.80 for minor capital that will be allocated to special projects. And two million will be allocated for the emergency contingency carryover. All the remaining funds keep their surplus balance from year to year. I will take a moment to discuss these. The school division operates three replacement funds. These funds are mostly supported by a transfer from the general fund. The transfer is incrementally adjusted as needed to smooth out the impact of high dollar and low dollar replacement years. The spending is directly related to a replacement schedule adopted in the annual budget. These funds include fleet instructional resources and technology. The carryover for replacement funds was $2.4 million. All grants from local, state and federal agencies are included in the grant funds and the carryover of $9.2 million relates to awards that will be spent in the next year and a half. Of this amount, $6.9 million is remaining in our pandemic awards and will be fully spent by September 2024. November 15, 2023 398 The nutrition fund must maintain its own balance and its carryover is 6.8 million. All capital projects are included in a minor capital, major capital or capital bond fund. The carryover of these projects is $15.2 million. $6.3 million relates to the Career and Technical Ed Center and the two elementary schools and $4.9 million relates to the ongoing construction for William Byrd High School. Remaining balances are for other smaller projects throughout the division. The next group of funds includes health, dental and risk. They're designed to receive premiums and pay claims for participants in our health and dental insurance or for workers' compensation. The carryover of this group is six million and is planned to be higher so we have a cushion in case we have a bad claim year. Finally, the Op-Ed Trust Fund holds money for our retiree health plan. Like the county, we participate in the VML VACO pooled trust to set aside funds for future retirement benefits. The carrier over accumulated is $1.7 million. On page two, you'll see we assign these carry over balances to a category in accordance with the original 2024 annual budget ordinance. I thank you for letting me present this and can answer any questions you have. Discussion on the ordinance: Mr. Mahoney: Ms. Peterson just there's a lot of information here so I just need your clarification. On the first page of attachment A where the school board has the major projects fund carryover, you have the building construction for CTE at $1.4 million, but in the footnote at the bottom it talks about the unallocated major capital fund cash balances and we're looking at additional, I gather an additional two million for CTE. So, would that be on top of the $1.4? Susan Peterson: That is correct. Mr. Mahoney: Okay, thank you. Susan Peterson: So, it'll be the $1,400,819 plus the portion allocated from the one million carry over from the general fund. Mr. Mahoney: Excellent. Thank you. That's what I was hoping. I know we all, we've been working on CTE for so long and it's good to hear that we're starting to build up a good reserve for that. Thank you. Supervisor Peter's motion to approve the first reading and set the second reading and public hearing for December 12, 2023, was seconded by Supervisor North and approved by the following vote: AYES: Supervisors Peters, Mahoney, North, Radford Hooker NAYS: None November 15, 2023 399 2. Ordinance appropriating an additional $4,966,171 to the fiscal year 2023-2024 Roanoke County Public Schools Budget (Susan Peterson, Director of Finance, Roanoke County Public Schools) Ms. Peterson outlined the request for the ordinance. During the November 2nd school board work session, I presented a request for a budget revision to the 2024 annual budget, and it was approved on the November 8th meeting. The presentation is attachment A to your board packet. The request was made for three reasons. First, with the final adoption of the Commonwealth budget on September 14th, we expect to receive an additional $4.7 million from the Virginia Department of Education. $673,780 of this will be in the general fund and the remaining $4.1 million will be in the grants fund. The All in Virginia Plan is a governor Youngkin's initiative that provides a one-time state per pupil funding for the implementation of the Virginia Literacy Act learning loss and to combat chronic absenteeism. The funds will carry over if the division meets required local effort and required local match. Our plan has been approved by the VDOE and is available on their website and that is the majority of the increase in the grants fund. The second reason for the budget increase is to add $250,000 to the grant fund special projects' revenues and expenditures. This is an amount we set aside is to act as a buffer for the difference between the grant budgets and what the award ends up being. We use this balance to increase or decrease our budget as necessary. Although we set aside $400,000 for this purpose, the true ups of Title One and Title six B grants for the current year have pushed us over our buffer and we need to cover their additional funding and add a buffer in to get us to the end of the year. Finally, although not an increase or a decrease, we do request a reallocation of funds between the functional categories to reflect real operations. All of these changes are reflected in your board packet by functional category. I can answer any questions that you have. Discussion on the ordinance: Mr. North: In that attachment there, attachment A, category three addressing chronic absenteeism. I see you all are going address that with some monies too. But boy, those numbers jump out at you. Susan Peterson: They do, I agree. Mr. North: And I know that this is not just Roanoke County, it's around the state and the nation. My gosh. I mean they've almost, they didn't quite double, but they look like they have in some instances. I wish y'all luck with that. November 15, 2023 400 Susan Peterson: Thank you. We'll need it as well to every school division across the nation because these are not unusual. Mr. North: I know, but just looking at it. Okay. No more questions. Supervisor North's motion to approve the first reading and set the second reading and public hearing for December 12, 2023, was seconded by Supervisor Radford and approved by the following vote: AYES: Supervisors Peters, Mahoney, North, Radford, Hooker NAYS: None IN RE: APPOINTMENTS 1. Roanoke County Board of Zoning Appeals (BZA) (appointed by District) 2. Roanoke County Parks, Recreation and Tourism Advisory Commission (appointed by District) No appointments were voted on at this meeting. IN RE: CONSENT AGENDA RESOLUTION 111523-5.a-e 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 November 15, 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 5 inclusive, as follows: 1. Approval of minutes— October 10, 2023 2. Request to accept and allocate funds of $34,200 from the US Department of Justice grant funds along with a $34,200 local match from the fiscal year 2023/2024 Police Department operating budget 3. Ordinance authorizing the approval of a permanent open-space easement to the Virginia Outdoors Foundation on property owned by the Roanoke County Board of Supervisors and the Virginia Recreational Facilities Authority for Explore Park, identified as Tax Parcel Number 080.00-05-17.00-0000 in Roanoke County and Tax Parcel Numbers 172 A 42 and 172 A 14A in November 15, 2023 401 Bedford County (Second Reading) 4. Ordinance accepting the donation of approximately 0.0331 acres of- real property located at 1900 Timberview Road (a portion of Roanoke County Tax Map Number 036.10-01-10.00-0000), Catawba Magisterial district (First Reading and Request for Second Reading) 5. Ordinance 1) accepting a staffing recognition grant in the amount of$102,500 from the Virginia 9-1-1 services board, and appropriating such funds to the grant account, and 2) authorizing the payment of monetary bonuses to the County's eligible E-9-1-1 employees (First Reading and Request for Second Reading) On motion of Supervisor Radford to adopt all matters on the consent agenda; Seconded by Supervisor Peters and carried by the following roll call and recorded vote: AYES: Supervisors Peters, Mahoney, North, Radford, Hooker NAYS: None IN RE: CITIZENS' COMMENTS AND COMMUNICATIONS Earl Dodson of 5310 Fox 10 Road, Roanoke. First of all, I want to thank Mr. Mahoney as came and spoke last night to our neighborhood group and was very, very helpful, very informative. I rise today in opposition to the, it's kind of a rhetorical fiction, the hotel, motel down in 220, it's going to be a homeless shelter, and I rise in opposition to that. All of us recognize and appreciate and actually support financially and otherwise, the need to take care of people who are down on their luck, who are homeless, who are going through personal difficulties. We support that, but I think any reasonable person would say that this is the wrong use for this building, given that it is two doors down from a county school, an elementary school where there are several hundred students and it's about a quarter of a mile away from a private school. I don't care about depreciation or land values or anything like that. I live close by. I don't care about that. I do care about the safety of the children at that school. I've got a granddaughter who's going to be going there. There are people in this room who have children who go there. It would be nice if we lived in a black and white world where all virtues were the same, but they're not. There's a priority on virtues. And the greatest priority on virtues, it's to protect children. I've been lectured to by people who are in favor of this virtue signaling I call it. When you support any project that puts the safety of children in jeopardy, you lose the virtue, you lose the moral high ground. Now I understand that there is little, perhaps nothing that the board can do. Hopefully the zoning authorities may find something here to stop that. I'm not optimistic about that. Maybe the building inspector will find that this old place is not going to be up to snuff, but I'm not optimistic about that either. And that's why I am making a public November 15, 2023 402 I appeal to those who are promoting this project, to those who are financially supporting this project, to the LLC that owns the building, to stop this right now. Dawn Sandoval, the founder of the Least of These Ministry. In October, our nonprofit organization executed a lease on the property formerly operated as the Apple Valley Motel located at 5063 Franklin Road in Roanoke County. Our organization has plans to operate this property as suites by TLOT as a motel model that is intended to offer affordable daily, weekly, and monthly rates. This motel will be available to the public including but not limited to those who may be experiencing homelessness. There are plans to hire an onsite property manager that will reside at the suites. Shuttle services will be available to guests just like they are in other motels and hotels. Suites by TLOT is not a free housing opportunity. It is not a homeless shelter. It is an opportunity for people who may be in financial circumstances that they cannot afford shelter to give them a place to stay for whatever length of time is permitted. I'm happy to answer any questions from the board. Mrs. Hooker: I appreciate that. In this comment section, this is just we take in the comments from the citizens. But Dawn, thank you so much. Appreciate your commentary. Elijah Widner of 4729 Whipple Wood Drive. I am a very concerned citizen and a parent of Roanoke County. Both well, I have four children. All of them will attend Clearbrook Elementary School next year. I also work in Roanoke City. I understand the homeless situation that is going on in Roanoke City right now. There is a lot of self-inflicted wounds from Roanoke City as far as how they handle the homeless situation. When we talk about putting homeless people in close proximity to my kids' school and many kids' school, it is very concerning to us as parents. I also attend a church less than a quarter of a mile away from there too. It is extremely concerning that we could potentially endanger people to go to the church as well. I did have a few comments that I'd like to read because I have been going around since it hit the news, gathering information from other concerned parents. Sorry if I repeat myself of what the other gentleman said, but these were the top five concerns for us. We are worried about the safety of the students when homeless individuals are living in close proximity to 'the school. We are concerned about the potential interactions that could pose a risk to our children. The learning environment disruption when the presence of homeless individuals can lead to disruption that interferes with the school learning atmospheres. These disruptions may include noise, loitering, or other activities that divert students' focus away from their studies. Such interruptions have an adverse effect on the students' safety and security. Research has demonstrated a connection between homelessness and elevated rates of drug use and criminal activity. Having November 15, 2023 403 paraphernalia, weapons or physical or verbal altercations can occur in close proximity to the school, can cause safety risk to the school and staff. Being that there is no public transportation, it is not on a bus route, there is no public crosswalks there, they will strictly be relying on them to get them from point A to point B if they do not have a vehicle. And I'll finish with this. There's also been numerous parents that have reached out to her to understand the vetting process and background checks that will be done on each individual that goes into that place. That has not been answered to anybody that I have spoken to. And I will continue to reach out and I will continue to do due diligence on this to understand the background of this. Gregory Matthew, I saw Paul Mahoney last night, excuse me, on my neighborhood HOA meeting. Ms. Sandoval did not show up. She was scheduled to, she was going to address the concerns of our neighborhood. It's proven very tough to get in touch with Ms. Sandoval. If you reach out online, they say to call. If you call, you leave a message requesting a call back, you don't receive one. If you go to a meeting where she's supposed to show up and answer questions, she doesn't show. There is frustration from parents at the local school, Clearbrook. I have two daughters that attend second and fourth grade. I'm genuinely concerned about the proximity of this homeless shelter and the lack of vetting that will be taking place. I understand it's not a shelter, it's a whatever you want to call it. Tomato, tomatoe. It's a homeless shelter. There will be no vetting process. The people that live there, will they be wandering around? They don't have a job. Maybe they do have a job, but the majority of them, it'll be most likely occupied 100% of the time. The former, I've had questions posed to me if I appreciated the previous activity that was at the hotel before it was shut down and I don't, but I never in my wildest dreams thought it could potentially happen again. And as a community, we need to protect our children, not just my children, but my children's children. This is going to be difficult to undo. If you look at the old San Sucie apartments, that hasn't been good for Hidden Valley, we all know that. I was born and raised in Roanoke. I went to Hidden Valley High School. I went through Green Valley, Hidden Valley Middle. I joined the Army. I came back to Roanoke County because I knew I could raise my kids in a safe environment. And now we're bringing Roanoke City problems to the county and there's nothing we can do about it. I'm sad for my town. I think we all should be. We can't put children at risk to help out homeless people. We can help out homeless people and keep children safe. And anyone that wants to tell you that that's not an option, they're being disingenuous. I'll give my time, I'll give some money. I'll be happy to help the city with the homeless problem. But bringing it to the children's doorstep and hoping nothing goes wrong, is not a solution. In the big picture, it doesn't really take a dent out of the actual homeless problem that Roanoke City is experiencing. Many of these people are dropped off at Roanoke because we have a homeless shelter. The surrounding counties send their November 15, 2023 404 homeless here. It's never going to stop. So, I just ask that we put the children in frame here. It's not just homeless, there's children involved. IN RE: REPORTS Supervisor Peters moved to receive and file the following reports. The motion was seconded by Supervisor Mahoney 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 October 31, 2023 4. Comparative Statement of Budgeted and Actual Expenditures and Encumbrances as of October 31, 2023 5. Accounts Paid — October 31, 2023 IN RE: REPORTS AND INQUIRIES OF BOARD MEMBERS Supervisor Peters shared starting this weekend, Illuminights will be at the Explore Park again. That has been a great addition to the Explore Park for the last, I don't know, five, six years now. And I think last year we had close to 60,000 people. And so I invite everybody to come out. That will be starting on November the 18th and we'll go through December 30th. It'll be 33 nights. There are over 650,000 lights at Illuminights this year. So, I would invite everybody to bring your families. It's a great time. Hope to see you there. Lastly, I think it's well known that I made a run for the commissioner revenues office and thanks to the citizens of Roanoke County, I will now be taking that position in January. Therefore, I will be leaving this board effective December 31st. So, I know I have more to say about that later on, but I know the board will begin a process to vet who will be my replacement. But anyway, I'm looking forward to my new role at Roanoke County to help all the citizens. So, thank you. Supervisor North shared that he was going to take a few extra moments because there's been a lot going on lately. First of all, I attended the VACO Conference with several of my colleagues here on the board. And I was nominated to replace Billy Martin as VACO Region 11 director. So I'll be serving on the VACO board of directors in 2024 along with others around the state. And that should bode well in representing not only this area but the region as a whole. So I look forward to that. At VACO, we learned a lot, but I'm just going to share a few tidbits. Jim Regendbold, who is working for VACO now and Fiscal Analytics shared with us that in the '24/26 biennium budget, that's November 15, 2023 405 beginning to be put together in Richmond to go to the general assembly and the governor will present it on December 20th, has smaller carry forward balances available since multimillion dollar surpluses will unlikely occur again. And many things are driving some of this, K through 12 re-benchmarking changes may be higher than the recent biennium that we're in due to higher inflation adjustments. Although lower school populations may offset that to some degree. Medicaid spending increases in the state are forecasted $175 million higher in 2025 and 539 million in 2026. Again, huge increases. So the expectation is to expect conservative revenue forecast due to a slowing economy and full implementation of previous adopted tax reductions. Those tax reductions, which some of us got checks in the mail and will change going forward, it will cost the Commonwealth $2.4 billion in 2023 and 2.3 billion in this current '24. So those funds won't be available to carry forward into the next '24 through '26 biennium budget. The Commonwealth does have healthy rainy day reserve funds and other financial levers can be pulled if necessary in case there's an economic downturn. And that's coming from the rainy day fund to mention just one area. In addition, I want to mention that there are other anticipated budget pressures besides the K-12 rebenchmark and Medicaid. But CSA funding, which we'll talk about a little bit later on today is needed due to cost and utilization increases, we're told. Additional state employee and teacher pay raises, Department of Social Services issues, state police staffing issues, which continue. And I think there's about still a shortage of 300 troopers. Here's another one 1-81, 150 million went to 1-64 and we're still challenged on 1-81 at 34 to 35 million a mile for a construction cost. And the Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority has a bogey of about 279 million, that's Virginia share of their $750 million budget shortfall. So lots of things to challenge us going forward. While I was gone, someone took some notes on the Joint House Appropriations Committee meeting yesterday. Federal Reserve Bank states the economy will likely slow in '24. Businesses continue to prepare for a downturn in demand while unemployment remains at record lows in the Commonwealth and around the nation. Virginia's at 2.5%, which is excellent. It's almost full employment. Virginia does trail North Carolina and South Carolina_ in employment growth but continues to outperform Maryland. Secretary Cummings then addressed the money committee in Richmond and talked about the general fund here in the current '24 fiscal year revenues are hit of projections. And that's what we learned at the last meeting we had and I passed on to you. He does point out that revenue growth is going to moderate over the rest of this current year that runs through June 30th. And the Governor's advisory council will meet on November 20th to review revenue estimates, updated outlooks and revenue forecast that will inform the FY24 budget amendments and the '24 to '26 biennial budget will be released by the governor on December 20th. And Oman of House Appropriations reported that the biennium will be met through with difficult carry forward balances. Concerns about structural imbalance are finally here in the budget. So look for a conservative type budget. Let me just sum it up this way. There is estimated $878.1 billion in available resources for $1.5 billion and high priority spending requests. So someone's going to have to slice and dice the budget. Going on to something local, Chairman Hooker, I think you and I attended this November 15, 2023 406 October 25th event with Jason El Koubi and learned a lot. I'm going to share a few things. When site developers are looking to locate businesses in Roanoke County, they look at a lot of stuff, but I'm only going to share a few. They look at the regions, good libraries, walking trails, sidewalks in areas. They look at utilities, power, water and sewer, and they want to see people moving into the area who are staying in the area. Where do we need to invest in the future to maintain this great place to live, work and play. Good churches need to remain strong. Invest in CTE, which we're going to do soon with that $80 million project for our schools. And we're also looking at continuing good education programs. But the one thing that resonated throughout everything that we heard that day, at that panel, was be proactive and sell your region. In our economic development department, they get that message and I want to thank them on behalf of this board for everything they do every day. And finally, as Mr. Peters moves on to another responsible area, he can say when he left the Board of Supervisors, we were proactive in economic development. And so that's your parting gift from me, Mr. Peters and from the Economic Development Department. Mr. North also extended congratulations to Supervisor Hooker and Supervisor Mahoney. But I do want you to know that a good board like ours is also one of the items that site developers look for. If they know there's a bunch of crazies up here, they're going to turn around and leave and we'll never know they ever considered coming to Roanoke County. So I think having a good board is a challenge and it's a blessing and I'm just thankful we've had that for a long, long time. I also want to just say something else too. Finally, it's not just me and Dan O'Donnell going over and Peter going over to the VACO. We now have four of us attended that and we're involved in committees and that's just a great thing. So whoever occupies that seat over there on the end and takes Mr. Peter's place, eventually we'll get them there as well. And one other thing, the JLARC report, JLARC recommended looking at a new formula for the composite index and just to share in some of that excitement, I gave copies to some of the staff so they can study it to see what implications might be ensuing with us and the schools. Supervisor Mahoney shared a couple comments. Number one, I did have the opportunity last evening to attend the annual meeting of the Hunting Hills Homeowners Association. And so the comments board members heard from Mr. Dodson and Mr. Matthews, I think that perhaps fairly summarizes most of what everyone else was saying at the HOA meeting. I'll also indicate that I have received a lot of emails and phone calls on this issue. I understand citizens' concerns, but I've also indicated to them that based on facts and the information we have available to us now and my conversations with the zoning administrator and the county attorney, this property is zoned C2, hotels and motels are permitted uses in C2. And this is a use that will be permitted by right. The next issue I want to talk about is as Mr. North indicated, several of us were attending the Virginia Association of County's annual meeting. And because we had four board members there, we kind of broke out and attended different sessions. And so we all looked at different aspects of what hopefully we can present to November 15, 2023 407 the general assembly as part of legislative initiatives. And I think the two issues that I heard a lot about were some environmental issues. I think there are many environmental changes that are on the horizon. And second, broadband funding. Madam Chair, you also attended a broad ... Are you going to talk about broadband? Mrs. Hooker: Go ahead. Mr. Mahoney also shared there is about $1.4 billion allocated to the Commonwealth of Virginia for broadband expansion. And Mr. Bill Hunter and our staff, they're working on that. We have been somewhat successful in some of our grant applications and I think we're optimistic that we will be also successful in the future and we can address many of the unserved and underserved areas in Roanoke County with that. Thank you. Supervisor Radford also wanted to comment on the Apple Valley Motel. And while that is not in my district, I did want to go over there and meet Dawn and her mission and what she's doing. I did that last Saturday because my wife went there to volunteer and paint and work on there. And so I spent about 45 minutes. She has got a great plan worked out and the people that ... she doesn't have to come to your meeting, but she's here, right here, you can meet with her after this meeting and find out her game plan. And I think it's very worthy to help that segment. She told me a story of a 71- year-old veteran that got evicted from his home, his apartment. He's sleeping in his car. So he needs some type of alternate sheltering arrangement besides sleeping in his car. And so I don't see him going across the street to Walmart. I don't see him going down to the school. He's got more important things to do in life. That's just one story that she's got many more stories about the people that she has been helping since 2017. And I think it's very admirable what they're doing. So I hope you get a chance to tell them the story because it's wonderful. I also attended the VACO Conference. First one, I enjoyed it thoroughly. Definitely going to do it from now on. I joined the steering committee, the energy land use and environmental. So sort of a newbie joining that steering committee. And they have a lot of those issues in front of them. The one thing that we talked about for our legislative priorities were large scale soldier arrays, which we haven't had that come upon us, but we need to be aware of that and we might want to look at that in the future. However, there was a VACO contingent that didn't want to do large scale solar in their areas. Loudoun County, Fairfax, Albemarle County, those representatives voiced opposition to it. So it's something coming down the road. And then I went to another session where we talked about energy use and data centers come into our neighborhood one day and the board of supervisor member that spoke on that advised us supervisors that were there that we need to look at having some type of ordinance in place. So when they come to us, because they're going to take a lot of energy transmission lines from the power companies and while they're sort of a square building that just goes up to certain heights, they can also consume water. So a couple of things that we need to consider and think about with data centers. So I was hearing that from November 15, 2023 408 my brothers. And Jason, congratulations. It has been fantastic. I've been with you as a planning commissioner. I've been with you as a board of supervisor and now you get to collect my taxes. Supervisor Hooker shared congratulations to Jason, but also to Mr. Mahoney in his successful reelection to remain on the board and it will continue to be great to work with you. I'm grateful for the opportunity to continue to serve the citizens of Roanoke County and the Catawba District specifically. And just one quick note about that experience on election day, I was really pleased with the number of people that were coming and working the polls. And some of us were aligned politically and some of us were not. But it was really a beautiful site to make friendships and just to talk to people. And it was a great interaction and I know that you all had some of the same experiences and I really appreciated those moments. You're hearing a lot about the VACO Conference and I'm just going to mention a couple of things real quickly. I'm on the education committee, I'm the vice chair of that committee. And so we start with compiling issues for a legislative priorities to send to the general assembly that has the power of all the Virginia counties that are in agreement for things that should be changed or looked at. And so on the education committee, the main thing as you can imagine was state funding and aligning that funding with the JLARC study. The difficulty of budget timing when the localities and the schools have deadlines that they have to meet, but the budget has been increasingly late. And then some elimination of funding caps on things such as support positions. That's a very inexpensive and a timely efficient way for schools to get more help in the education process. And then school safety, all those things were talked about. And here's one factoid that really discouraged me and I really thought about not mentioning it because it's discouraging, but apparently Virginia is now behind West Virginia and Kentucky in school funding. And so that was pretty eye opening on a completely different subject. This past Saturday, it was Veterans Day and the Catawba Roatans had a memorial garden dedicated to the veterans and it was a beautiful day. And I was incredibly impressed with the number of veterans we have in the Catawba Valley. And there were probably at least 30 that came and their names were announced in appreciating their current or their past service. But the garden is for those who have passed on and paid the ultimate sacrifice. And it was really a touching dedication. So glad that I could be there. There's something about bagpipes and things that just make it seem very solemn, but it was very respectful. Two construction projects that I'm really excited about. I'll be glad when they're completed. One of the most often things that I'm asked about in the Catawba District is the West River Greenway. And we're going to finally get some progress on that. The construction is going to be probably a little painful and inconvenient to some of the traffic, but it's going to be worthwhile. And then the second thing is the 311- pedestrian bridge is going to be coming on soon and we're really looking forward to the completion of that project also. So those are all of my comments at this point. Thank you for bearing with us. We had lengthy comments tonight. It's not always that way. November 15, 2023 409 IN RE: CLOSED MEETING At 3:54 p.m., Supervisor Hooker moved to go into closed meeting pursuant to the Code of Virginia Section 2.2-3711.A.3 - To discuss or consider the acquisition of 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 property for Parks, Recreation and Tourism in the Catawba Magisterial District and Section 2.2-3711.A.5 - Discussion concerning the expansion of an existing business or industry where no previous announcement has been made of the business' or industry's interest in locating or expanding its facilities in the community namely in the Catawba, Hollins and Vinton Magisterial Districts and Section 2.2-3711.A.1 — Discussion on the performance and/or compensation of specific public officers, appointees, or employees of Roanoke County; namely the elected Constitutional Officers, County Administrator and County Attorney. The motion was seconded by Supervisor Peters and carried by the following recorded vote: AYES: Supervisors Peters, Mahoney, North, Radford, Hooker NAYS: None Chairman recessed to the third floor for work session followed by closed session at: 3:58 p.m. IN RE: WORK SESSION Work session to discuss Roanoke County's Legislative Program and preparation for the 2023 session of the Virginia General Assembly (Peter S. Lubeck, County Attorney) Peter Lubeck provided potential inclusions for the 2024 Legislative Agenda. Bill Hunter, Director of Information Technology, provided a Power Point Presentation on Rural Broadband 2024 and the future. Grace McGowan provided a Power Point presentation on Roanoke County Children's Services Act (CSA). The work session was held from 4:15 p.m. to 5:38 p.m. IN RE: CERTIFICATION RESOLUTION Supervisor Hooker moved to return to open session and adopt the certification resolution. November 15, 2023 410 RESOLUTION 111523-8 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. In the closed session just concluded, nothing was discussed except the matter which was identified in the motion to convene in closed session. Only those matters lawfully permitted to be discussed under the Virginia Freedom of Information Act were discussed. On motion of Supervisor Hooker to adopt the resolution; seconded by Supervisor Radford and carried by the following roll call and recorded vote: AYES: Supervisors Peters, Mahoney, North, Radford, Hooker NAYS: None IN RE: ADJOURNMENT Chairman Hooker adjourned the meeting. Submitted by: Approved by: A40 1M ,,2-- r thj- 1e Ricer? L. Caywood Martha B. Hooker erk to the Board Chairman