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HomeMy WebLinkAbout4/26/2016 - Regular April 26, 2016 197 Roanoke County Administration Center 5204 Bernard Drive Roanoke, Virginia 24018 The Board of Supervisors of Roanoke County, Virginia met this day atthe Roanoke County Administration Center, this being the fourth Tuesday and the second regularly scheduled meeting of the month of April 2016. Audio and video recordings of this meeting will be held on file for a minimum of five (5) years in the office of the Clerk to the Board of Supervisors. IN RE: OPENING CEREMONIES Before the meeting was called to order an invocation was given by Dr. Maurita Wiggins of Valley Community Church. The Pledge of Allegiance was recited by all present. IN RE: CALL TO ORDER Chairman Peters called the meeting to order at 3:03 p.m. The roll call was taken. MEMBERS PRESENT: Chairman P. Jason Peters,Supervisors George G. Assaid, Al Bedrosian, Martha B. Hooker and Joseph P. McNamara MEMBERS ABSENT: None STAFF PRESENT: Thomas C. Gates, County Administrator; Daniel R. O’Donnell, Assistant County Administrator; Richard Caywood, Assistant County Administrator; Ruth Ellen Kuhnel, County Attorney; Amy Whittaker, Public Information Officer and Deborah C. Jacks, Chief Deputy Clerk to the Board IN RE: NEW BUSINESS 1. Request to approve the Cable Television budget for fiscal year 2016-2017(Elaine Bays-Murphy, Cable Access Director) A-042616-1 Ms. Bays-Murphy outlined the request. There was no discussion. April 26, 2016 198 Supervisor Peters’ motion to approve the Cable Television budget for fiscal year 2016-2017 was seconded by Supervisor McNamara and approved by the following vote: AYES: Supervisors Assaid, Bedrosian, Hooker, McNamara, Peters NAYS: None 2. Resolution approving the Roanoke Valley Resource Authority (RVRA) budget for fiscal year 2016-2017(Dan Miles, CEO, Roanoke Valley Resources Authority, Anne Marie Green, Special Assistant to County Administrator and Rebecca Owens, Director of Finance) Ms. Green advised she was the Chairman of the RVRA and Ms. Owens was the treasurer. She introduced Mr. Miles who outlined their budget request. Supervisor Hooker advised that she went out and toured facility and noted it was well run and managed. Supervisor McNamara inquired what did Mr. Miles attribute the decline to with Mr. Miles responding recycling and people holding on to things much longer. Supervisor Bedrosian asked for clarification saying the increase of $0.50 would make the rate $49.50 with Mr. Miles advising in the affirmative. Supervisor Bedrosian then inquired what our rate was ten years ago with Mr. Miles advising $45.00 a ton; twenty years ago it was $61.00 a ton. RESOLUTION 042616-2 APPROVING THE ROANOKE VALLEY RESOURCE AUTHORITY BUDGET FOR THE FISCAL YEAR 2016-2017 WHEREAS, Section 5.9 of the Roanoke Valley Resource Authority Members Use Agreement provides that the Authority shall prepare and submit its operating budget for the forthcoming fiscal year to the Board of Supervisors of the County, the City Council of the City of Roanoke and the Town Council of the Town of Vinton; and WHEREAS, the Chief Executive Officer of the Roanoke Valley Resource Authority has submitted the fiscal year 2016-2017 budget of the Roanoke Valley Resource Authority for approval. NOW THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED, BY THE BOARD OF SUPERVISORSOF ROANOKE COUNTY, VIRGINIA that the fiscal year 2016-2017 budget for the Roanoke Valley Resource Authority, is hereby approved, and the County Administrator and the Chief Deputy Clerk are authorized to execute and attest respectively, on behalf of the County, any documentation, in form by the County Attorney, necessary to evidence said approval. April 26, 2016 199 On motion of Supervisor McNamara to adopt the resolution, seconded by Supervisor Hooker and carried by the following recorded vote: AYES: Supervisors Assaid, Bedrosian, Hooker, McNamara, Peters NAYS: None 3Request to transfer funds in the amount of $11,000 from Board . Contingency to pay for the employee picnic (P. Jason Peters, Chairman of the Board of Supervisors) A-042616-3 Chairman Peters asked for discussion. Supervisor McNamara stated it has been a number of years since we have had a picnic; great gesture to our employees. He advised that he supported the request and noted he felt it was an appropriate use of funds. Supervisor Bedrosian noted there was also a Christmas event; he does not think this is appropriate. He indicated with tight budgets it is hard to use taxpayer dollars for this event. Supervisor Assaid’s motion to transfer funds from Board Contingency to pay for the employee picnic was seconded by Supervisor McNamara and approved by the following vote: AYES: Supervisors Assaid, Hooker, McNamara, Peters NAYS: Supervisor Bedrosian IN RE: REQUEST FOR PUBLIC HEARINGS AND FIRST READING OF REZONING ORDINANCES - CONSENT AGENDA 1The petition of Star City Church of Christ to obtain a Special Use . Permit in a C-2, High Intensity Commercial, District for the operation of religious assembly on approximately 1.21 acres, located at 5933 Williamson Road, Hollins Magisterial District Supervisor Bedrosian’s motion to approve first reading and set the second reading and public hearing for May 24, 2016, was seconded by Supervisor Peters and approved by the following vote: AYES: Supervisors Assaid, Bedrosian, Hooker, McNamara, Peters NAYS: None April 26, 2016 200 2.The petition of Julie Abernethy, Friendship Apartment Village Corporation, to obtain a Special Use Permit in a C-2CS, High Intensity Commercial, District with conditions and special use permit for outdoor gatherings on approximately 10.51 acres, located at 450 Springbeauty Street and Florist Road, Hollins Magisterial District Supervisor Bedrosian’s motion to approve first reading and set the second reading and public hearing for May 24, 2016, was seconded by Supervisor Hooker and approved by the following vote: AYES: Supervisors Assaid, Bedrosian, Hooker, McNamara, Peters NAYS: None IN RE: FIRST READING OF ORDINANCES 1. Ordinance accepting and appropriating $100,000 from the Virginia Department of Transportation (VDOT) for the purpose of locally administering the improvement of the drainage system at Kenwick Trail, Belle Meade Drive and Merriman Road; Cave Spring Magisterial District (Tarek Moneir, Deputy Director of Development) Mr. Moneir outlined the request for the ordinance. There was no discussion. Supervisor Assaid’s motion to approve first reading and set the second reading for May 10, 2016, was seconded by Supervisor McNamara and approved by the following vote: AYES: Supervisors Assaid, Bedrosian, Hooker, McNamara, Peters NAYS: None 2.Ordinance to accept and appropriate $1,000 from the Appalachian Power Company in support of the Catawba Greenway(Lindsay Blankenship, Greenway/Blueway Planner) Ms. Blankenship outlined the request for the ordinance. Supervisor Hooker indicated that she is anticipating and looking forward, but wanted to know how April 26, 2016 201 much parking was planned. Ms. Blankenship responded they are anticipating twenty- five, but still in the planning states. There were no further questions or discussion. Supervisor Hooker’s motion to approve first reading and set the second reading for May 10, 2016, was seconded by Supervisor McNamara and approved by the following vote: AYES: Supervisors Assaid, Bedrosian, Hooker, McNamara, Peters NAYS: None 2. Ordinance approving the sale of the old Vinton Library to Richard H. Macher and authorizing the execution of a contract of sale (Jill Loope, Director of Economic Development) Ms. Loope outlined the request. Supervisor Bedrosian inquired about the meals tax waiver, which Ms. Kuhnel advised was the Town of the Vinton and she could not speak for the Town. He indicated that it bothered him by putting them at an unfair advantage. Chairman Peters noted Barry Thompson and Anita McMillan were in the audience form the Town of Vinton. He reiterated that it is up to the Town with regard to the taxes and all the Roanoke County Board was to do is sell the property. Supervisor Peters’ motion to approve first reading and set the second reading and public hearing for May 10, 2016, was seconded by Supervisor McNamara and approved by the following vote: AYES: Supervisors Assaid, Bedrosian, Hooker, McNamara, Peters NAYS: None IN RE: SECOND READING OF ORDINANCES 1. Ordinance accepting and appropriating funds in the amount of $8,000 from the U.S. Marine Corps Reserve Unit and the Marine Corps League to Camp Roanoke from the 20th Annual Marine Mud Run (Doug Blount, Director of Parks, Recreation and Tourism) Mr. Bount advised there had been no changes from the first reading and introduced several members of the Marine Corp League. There was no discussion. ORDINANCE 042616-4 ACCEPTING AND APPROPRIATING FUNDS IN THE AMOUNT OF $8,000 FROM THE MARINE April 26, 2016 202 TH CORPS LEAGUE TO CAMP ROANOKE FROM THE 20 ANNUAL MARINE MUD RUN WHEREAS, Roanoke County and the Marine Corps League have a partnership to host the annual Marine Mud Run at Green Hill Park; and WHEREAS, The Mud Run is a fund raising event for the Marine Corps League and was held on September 19, 2015; and WHEREAS, The Marine Corps League makes an annual donation to Camp Roanoke for camp improvements. WHEREAS, Section 18.04 of the Roanoke County Charter provides that funds be appropriated by ordinance; and WHEREAS, first reading of this ordinance was held on April 12, 2016, and the second reading was held on April 26, 2016. BE IT ORDAINED by the Board of Supervisors of Roanoke County, Virginia, as follows: 1. That the sum of $8,000 is hereby appropriated from the Marine Corps League to the Park, Recreation and Tourism department for Camp Roanoke for the purposes of ropes course improvements and repairs; and 2. That this ordinance shall take effect from and after the date of adoption. On motion of Supervisor Hooker to adopt the ordinance, seconded by Supervisor McNamara and carried by the following recorded vote: AYES: Supervisors Assaid, Bedrosian, Hooker, McNamara, Peters NAYS: None IN RE: CONSENT AGENDA RESOLUTION 042616-5 APPROVING AND CONCURRING IN CERTAIN ITEMS SET FORTH ON THE BOARD OF SUPERVISORS AGENDA FOR THIS DATE DESIGNATED AS ITEM I- 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 26, 2016, designated as Item J - Consent Agenda be, and hereby is, approved and concurred in as to each item separately set forth in said section designated Items 1 through 6 inclusive, as follows: 1. Approval of minutes – February 23, 2016 2. Request to accept and allocate funds in the amount of $2,736 to the Clerk of the Circuit Court from the Commonwealth of Virginia, for fiscal year 2015/2016 April 26, 2016 203 3. Confirmation of the appointment of Gregory Hamilton (At-Large) to the Blue Ridge Behavioral Healthcare Board of Directors 4. Request to accept and allocate grant funds in the amount of $7,082 from the Virginia Department of Criminal Justice Services Virginia Victim-Witness Fund, federal Victims of Crime Act (VOCA) to the Commonwealth Attorney’s Office 5. Resolution granting a waiver to the American Cancer Society and Relay for Life of Vinton under Section 13-23 of the Roanoke County Code to the provisions of the County’s Noise Ordinance, Article II. Noise of Chapter 13. Offenses-Miscellaneous, Vinton Magisterial District 6. Confirmation of appointments to the Building Code Board of Appeals (Fire Code Board of Appeals) (At-Large) On motion of Supervisor McNamara to adopt the resolution, seconded by Supervisor Peters and carried by the following recorded vote: AYES: Supervisors Assaid, Bedrosian, Hooker, McNamara, Peters NAYS: None A-042616-5.a A-042616-5.b A-042616-5.c RESOLUTION R-042616-5.d GRANTING A WAIVER TO THE AMERICAN CANCER SOCIETY AND RELAY FOR LIFE OF VINTON UNDER SECTION 13-23 OF THE ROANOKE COUNTY CODE TO THE PROVISIONS OF THE COUNTY’S NOISE ORDINANCE, ARTICLE II. “NOISE” OF CHAPTER 13. “OFFENSES-MISCELLANEOUS” WHEREAS, Relay For Life of Vinton, a fundraiser for the American Cancer Society, will be holding its annual overnight Relay For Life event at William Byrd High School for the Town of Vinton, Roanoke County, and the general public on Friday, May 6, 2016, from 5:00 p.m. to Saturday, May 7, 2016, at 12:00 a.m.; and WHEREAS, Relay for Life is held overnight to represent the journey of a cancer patient, and stress that cancer continues to exist even when the sun has set. In order to accommodate this atmosphere and bring the community together in the fight against cancer, American Cancer Society and Relay For Life of Vinton are requesting a waiver of the Roanoke County noise ordinance from 5:00 p.m. on Friday, May 6, 2016, to 12:00 a.m. on Saturday, May 7, 2015; and WHEREAS, Section 13-23 of the Roanoke County Code establishes certain standards for the Board of Supervisors to grant waivers from the provision of the Roanoke County noise ordinance to avoid undue hardship upon consideration of certain April 26, 2016 204 factors set forth in sub-section (b) of Section 13-23 and after making certain alternative findings. NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED by the Board of Supervisors of Roanoke County, Virginia, as follows: 1. That the provisions of Section 13-21. Specific acts as noise, sub-section (5) and Section 13-20. General prohibition of Article II. Noise be waived from 5:00 p.m., May 6, 2016, to 12:00 a.m., May 7, 2015. 2. That this waiver is granted specifically to The American Cancer Society and Relay for Life of Vinton for the Relay for Life fundraiser at William Byrd High School on May 6-7, 2015. On motion of Supervisor McNamara to adopt the resolution, seconded by Supervisor Peters and carried by the following recorded vote: AYES: Supervisors Assaid, Bedrosian, Hooker, McNamara, Peters NAYS: None A-042616-5.e IN RE: CITIZENS’ COMMENTS AND COMMUNICATIONS Linda LaPrade of 5509 Will Carter Lane first thanked staff for their work in making the budget and CIP documents very clear and very readable to the public. Thank you. She advised she had read the complete document and although she has not read it in as much detail as you must have done, several items do concern her. As you discuss the future of the CIP plans, please make sure that buildings that need to be remodeled or constructed are done in the most economical way. We do not need showplaces, we need functional buildings that are easy to maintain. She also sees that fleet replacement has gone down from the proposed 61 to 46; that is a good first step. As a taxpayer, she urged the Board to examine what positions document a need for vehicles for emergency and after-hour use. They in her opinion are the only ones who should have vehicles supplied to them. She also asked the Board to examine what type vehicles you are buying as replacements. We do not need show vehicles any more than we need showplaces. Within the budget, there is an increase in charitable giving, although the charities are excellent, she does not believe that should be the primary role of government. She suggested that all be reduced by twenty percent (20%) of last year’s total in order to encourage organizations to fund raise instead. As a taxpayer, she has concerns about contributions to museums, art galleries and similar public facilities. Residents are getting very little from supporting these, especially when they are on college campuses, in Salem or in Roanoke City. A cost benefit analysis for County residents should support any amount given to any organization. Every increase in department budget request should be justified, both to you and certainly to the taxpayers. For example, the request for funds for the administration of the police has April 26, 2016 205 almost doubled this year. Crime has not increased that much, why this increase. This department and others always seem to need more to “maintain” services. Can such increased be justified to keep the services that we “need” to have. The Board has a month to modify this budget. Keep in mind that it is not the County staff’s money, it is not your money, it’s our money. Residents live frugally in this day and time and so must this County. Dana Mason of 3302 Kenwick Trail stated she is from the Cave Spring Magisterial District. She does consider all of the Board having an impact upon her life and are representative of that government. She stated she is here to testify in accordance with Romans 13, “There is no authority except from God.” Governing authorities are to be a minister of God and an avenger to execute wrath on one who practices evil. Behind the Board is written, “In God We Trust.” By actions to approve debt, spending and redistribution, theft is actually sanctioned here. Our Lord, Christ, said in Mathew 5:18, “for truly I say to you until heaven and earth pass away, not the smallest letter or stroke shall pass from the law until all is accomplished.” Since heaven and earth has obviously not passed away, the commandment, “That shall not steal” remains very much applicable this day. More recently in the news, one budget example would hand us a $3.4 million to be considered for broadband. A project that is not only apparently redundant as reported in the Roanoke Times, but one where many government takes from one sector, granting favor to another sector. This is injustice, plain and simple. The term investment is touted by proponents, but where is the authority for you as a government to be an investment firm for her money. Even if a project were to make millions, it is not your role as government. By the same token, you could lose just as much and typically you do. When was the last time anyone ever received dividends from a government investment. She stated she therefore implores you as individuals first to be accountable to God, to examine the many ways you can stop and reverse the institutionalization of theft, of deceit, of tyranny of the people. Instead prayerfully vote in obedience to God in honor to him and your sworn oaths that you are here as a purpose to protect our unalienable, God-given rights, first and foremost. Given what she has seen thus far, she stated she has reason to doubt the Board’s full understanding and gravity of this. Therefore, she left the Board with a recommendation to visit the doctrines of the lesser magistrates, which is on Facebook and at the website, www.lessermagistrate.com, “Soli Deo Gloria.” Dave Mason stated he is one of the people living in the Cave Spring district. His comment is maybe in two parts; hopes in only one part, but maybe in two. His comment is to the Broadband Authority subsidy. One supervisor, Al Bedrosian, has exposed the Broadband Authority project as a scam based on a pack of lies. Supervisor Bedrosian has now confirmed by another Authority upon the subject of the Broadband Authority. This Authority is Mr. Raphael LaMura, President of the Virginia Cable Telecommunications Association and his writing, as you all know, appeared in the Roanoke Times yesterday. If any of you have not looked at that you can go to the Roanoke Times and enter the search names Roanoke Times, LaMura and Broadband April 26, 2016 206 and the link will come straight up. He urges the public in attendance here to do that and read and decide for yourself. At this point, he will pause only to say that voting for lies as attached to any public presentation of the Broadband Authority issue is to be complicit in lies, simply said, voting for a lie is to be seen as aiding and abetting a lie. It necessarily follows that voting for a subsidy for the Authority is aiding and abetting a lie. There is one more point of seriousness regarding Roanoke County and the Broadband Authority and this he is phrasing as a question to each and every Board member. The question is “What in the public law, which is the Constitution of Virginia, permits Roanoke County Board of Supervisors to vote a grant of subsidy to the Roanoke Valley Broadband Authority.” In other words, before you vote any money out, you have to be constitutionally compliant. So can any Board member answer the question? “Mr. Chairman, can you answer the question? Are you all mute?” The second part of his comment is that Section 2 of Article I of the Constitution of Virginia commands that when one of the people stands before the Board in his sovereign capacity as defined by the Constitution of Virginia in the preamble and in Section I, Article I, you must answer them, that is unless you are acting in color of law, doing it in another kind of government, in which case, you ought to be forthcoming and inform the people of that. There is a particular phrase in Section 2 of the Constitution that most people skip over, Section 2 says that all power is vested in the people, consequently derived from the people, the magistrates, that would be each and every one of you on the Board, you are magistrates, our trustees and servants and at all times, amenable to them, referring back to the subject, the people. Now, most people think amenable means congenial, amicable, or something like that, but in Black’s Law, amenable means accountable, responsible and as Section 2 says, at all times. Presumably, during the transaction of the people’s business, if you are constitutionally compliant, you are commanded to be accountable, in other words, giving an account of why you can do something or not and why you are not being responsible to the people thereby. If you don’t do this, then the only construction that he can place on this Board is that you are a body, acting in color of law. Charles Landis stated he hopes they will be a little bit flexible with his time because he wants to first commend all of the Board and thank them for their willingness to serve on this Board. He knows it is not their full-time job, but it takes a tremendous amount of time and energy to fulfill the commitment here so you need to hear his thanks for that. He is particularly thankful to see Martha Hooker here as his representative today. So, that is first. Secondly, he wants to commend and thank the County Administrator, Tom Gates, for the budget that he has proposed. He has spent a great deal of time studying the budget. It is truly a maintenance budget. It does provide basic services that the people want and without any increase in taxes or fees and that is a remarkable thing, specifically Stormwater runoff fees. We talked about that last fall and you were able to include that into the budget. He thinks people need to understand that other jurisdictions have had to impose a fee for that purpose, but in Roanoke County it has been incorporated into the existing Operating Budget, so he thanks and commends April 26, 2016 207 the Board for that. Specifically, he has two requests. First of all, he would respectfully request that the County Administrator prepare a chart of Virginia’s ten largest, urban counties ranked by 2015 real estate tax rates. This chart should include the 2015 population of each county and the per capita income in that county. Roanoke County will be included in this list. This is the ranking from the highest to the lowest of the top ten urban counties, counties that provide urban services. You are not comparing apples to oranges, you are comparing apples with apples because you cannot consider rural counties that do not provide the same level of services. This information is available he is sure and also wants to commend Rebecca Owens for her tremendous work also. Rebecca has the ability to tap into the Weldon Cooper Center at the University of Virginia, where all this information is available and he would ask that this information be provided, not only to the Board for comparison because he thinks what you will see that Roanoke County will be ranked up toward the top, usually ranked second or third the last few years, but it also will show that Roanoke County probably has the lowest population of any of those ten urban counties. At the same time, it will have the lowest per capita income, which means the burden of the tax will fall more heavily on the homeowners in Roanoke County. This information will help to support the need for additional business revenue, which we are seeking to try to obtain to provide some relief for homeowners. The thirteen percent (13%) we are getting now we all know needs to be increased as much as possible. The second thing is the broadband situation. He does not want to get into the discussion about it, the only thing is several years ago the Board choose not to contribute money to the Authority because the private providers assured the County that they could provide that service. So, his question now is that he would like for them to able to be invited to appear at the next regular Board Meeting to explain. Can they or will they provide the level of service, which we need for economic development and growth for the County. He asks that we do that before we make a final decision to add the $3.4 million into the capital budget. He thinks in fairness to all the taxpayers. If you would be willing to do these two things, he thinks it would be beneficial to everyone. IN RE: REPORTS Supervisor McNamara moved to receive and file the following reports. The motion was seconded by Supervisors Peters and carried by the following recorded vote: AYES: Supervisors Assaid, Bedrosian, Hooker, McNamara, Peters NAYS: None April 26, 2016 208 1. General Fund Unappropriated Balance 2. Capital Reserves 3. Reserve for Board Contingency 4. Outstanding Debt 5. Comparative Statement of Budgeted and Actual Revenues as of March 31, 2016 6. Comparative Statement of Budgeted and Actual Expenditures and Encumbrances as of March 31, 2016 7. Accounts Paid – March 31, 2016 8. Treasurer’s Statement of IN RE: CLOSED MEETING At 3:52 p.m., Supervisor Peters moved to go into closed meeting following the work sessions pursuant to the Code of Virginia Section 2.2-3711 A Personnel, namely discussion concerning appointment to the Western Virginia Water Authority. The motion was seconded by Supervisor McNamara and carried by the following recorded vote: AYES: Supervisors Assaid, Bedrosian, Hooker, McNamara, Peters NAYS: None At 3:53 p.m., Chairman Peters recessed to the fourth floor for work session and closed meeting. IN RE: WORK SESSIONS 1. Work session to review with the Board of Supervisors the proposed fiscal year 2017-2026 Capital Improvement Program (CIP) and proposed fiscal year 2016-2017 Debt Service Fund (Rebecca Owens, Director of Finance; Christopher Bever, Director of Management and Budget) Mr. Gates provided a brief overview and turned the work session over to Mr. Bever, who provided a PowerPoint presentation, which is on file in the office of the Clerk to the Board of Supervisors. Supervisor Bedosian commented that it appears in 2018 and 2019, we will be borrowing $40 million. It appears that we doubling up and we have actually not saved anything. He asked if this was a correct statement. Mr. Gates responded that he does not agree with the premise; we are proposing to fund two (2) projects and are not April 26, 2016 209 borrowing for the sake of borrowing. The projects are Cave Spring High School for $22 million and the Public Service Center in 2019. Supervisor Bedrosian stated it just seems to him that we have just pushed the borrowing out. Mr. Gates responded that is correct and was done at the direction of the Board. Supervisor Peters commented that if you look at your interest payment, we were able to reduce what we are paying out and the amount owed. There are cost savings. We have saved money; the money we did not pay in those years. A lot of people think we saved them $20 million. Supervisor Peters stated to look at it as if you had a mortgage or equity line. Supervisor Bedrosian commented that he is just making the point we are now borrowing what we normally would. Supervisor Peters inquired why we are funding the generator with debt with Mr. Bever responding the useful life allows for debt and the dollar amount. He added the useful life of the radios and SCEA replacement allows; ten-year useful life. Supervisor Peters inquired when we last did the radios with Bill Hunter, Director of Communications and Information Technology advising in 2009. The reason we are doing again is a software issue. The life span will be twenty to twenty-five years. Supervisor Bedrosian asked why a generator at Green Ridge with Mr. Bever responding in case they need to use the Green Ridge Recreation Center as a shelter. It was originally in the project, but taken out of the original scope. We do not have a shelter facility in Roanoke County. Supervisor Bedrosian commented that cash flow is so tight that everything we do we must borrow money for. Mr. Gates responded in the next ten years $43 million of the $63 million is cash. Supervisor Bedrosian asked why these small items. Mr. Gates pointed out there is only so much cash available; some things can only be funded with cash and others can be purchased with debt or bonds because the useful life exceed the term of the debt issued. Staff has tried to balance that appropriately. Supervisor McNamara commented if you take $20 million in bonds over ten years and say that is $2 million a bond for ten years. Let’s say that in the Roanoke County budget all funds, less transfers is $115 million. That means you are paying cash for $1.13 out of every $1.15 and $0.02 out of $1.00 going to debt. This is a better analogy. If you are talking $20 million of debt over ten years, the County side is $20 million over ten years and the County’s total revenues are roughly $115 million a year. After you transfer to the Schools, it is $115 million and we are borrowing $20 million over ten years, which is an average of $2 million a year. If you add the schools into the equation you probably have $230 to $250 million and now you are looking at $90 million in debt, so 90 divided by 280 million so it is $9,000 over $280 in expenses. Do not create an illusion that we are financing dishwashers; we are not. Supervisor Bedrosian stated the reality is that we want to do all these things, and when something is that inexpensive we still have to finance it and we justify it. He thinks the point needs to be made that we are. It is no longer any more about a school building that is $30 million, it is about anything we can make a bond on it seems that we do because we can. Mr. Bever commented he is not sure that statement is accurate and thinks the way we are April 26, 2016 210 laying it out there with the sources and uses for every single project so you can see how we propose to put together a financing plan for each project for each fiscal year for the whole ten-year plan makes this a little bit clearer. There is another test as Mr. Gates indicated is the useful life of the project; but it is also how these projects impact service delivery. What staff thinks is critical to keep the County functioning, keep our assets in good working order and to provide an enhanced service delivery. Supervisor Peters commented that historically and he was on the CIP Committee that things that moved up were pretty much in line with what was on the CIP. Supervisor Bedrosian stated we will see in ten years if we stick to $20 million over the next ten years. Most of this money is happening right now. So, we will use $18 of the $20 million in the next two years with Mr. Bevers responding in the affirmative. Supervisor Bedrosian then added so in the next eight years there will be $8 million left if we stick to this plan. Mr. Gates stated what the Board has before them is the projects over the next ten years are necessary to fund. Given we only fund one year at a time and this is a continual process, he would not say there won’t be another project that comes into the ten-year cycle. Staff has been very clear that there are a number of unfunded projects that we need to look at, i.e. fire stations. If the presumption is that there will only ever be $30 million or $20 million to be spent in the next ten years on projects goes to the point he made earlier. We are not addressing the CIP in that way any longer. What his obligation is to bring to the Board projects that ought to be funded and the Board can change them. Supervisor Bedrosian stated he thinks it is an unrealistic way to look at this when ninety percent (90%) of the money you say you are going to borrow in the next ten years will be borrowed in the next two. Supervisor McNamara asked how Mr. Bedrosian knew that because he cannot come up with that with the information provided. Supervisor Bedrosian stated $12 million is for public service center in fiscal year 2019; add that to the $2.39 in 2018; just add up all the numbers. Mr. Bever advised the prioritization was to protect assets and continued through the remainder of the presentation. Supervisor Bedrosian then asked about Budget Memo #13 and asked for an explanation of the Broadband information. Mr. Gates explained the 2017 number is the $23,000 that we identified as the necessary capital expenses. The presumption would be that we would reimburse RVRA for the issuance of debt. Supervisor Bedrosian then asked what about the $325,000, with Mr. Gates explaining it was the operating expense, or our proportional share for the first year. This would be an annual expense until more customers come in. They are anticipating $680,000 for the operating and debt for ten years. Supervisor Bedrosian asked all the other Board members if they were in agreement to spend $5 million on Broadband in place of anything else. The other Board members nodded in agreement. April 26, 2016 211 Supervisor Bedrosian asked if this was a part of our debt ratio with Mr. Gates explaining in the negative stating the way we are funding the capital construction costs is the RVBA would secure the debt issuance through the Virginia Resource Authority and execute an agreement provides for the principal and interest payments. It does not enter our debt structure because it is RVBA’s debt. Supervisor Bedrosian asked how can we just move it off the books. Mr. Gates stated they should show as an obligation. Ms. Owens stated this would show in the commitment section of the annual report. Mr. Bever explained the ratios are based on the Roanoke County bonds, which has the full faith and credit of Roanoke County. Ms. Owens advised this is considered a moral obligation. Supervisor Bedrosian asked if we restated our debt ratios when the debt was moved to the Water Authority. Ms. Owens advised she would look into and advise. Supervisor McNamara stated the fact that we have not changed the per capita debt in 12 and 15 years, with a change in price levels. Supervisor McNamara stated if we wanted to get to debt free, we would have to gradually increase the contribution amount in the CIP funds; if that is the decision of the Board. He personally is not opposed to that but it is up to us as we put the budgets together in the coming years. We did the exact opposite of that over the last couple of years because we programmed the money into maintenance and things that weren’t getting covered, but that is truly the approval of the Board. With regard to this year’s budget, he felt staff has done a good job, he suggested he would increase the debt for the public radios and pay cash for the generator and the SCUB. With regard to Broadband, he personally can live with broadband funded through RVRA, but he cannot live with the $325,000 worth of operating costs without reoccurring dollars. He appreciated the different options, but he is not the best person to look at those options because he thinks staff is and thinks they will be able to find $325,000, suppose it comes out of revenue sharing and you are only going to need to do this for a year or two; just whittle it down for two years. He was glad Mr. Landis brought up stormwater, nobody else is putting a fee in; we are putting $500,000 of reoccurring money towards stormwater and it is impressive. He reiterated that he wants this years’ money funding this years’ projects. Mr. Gates stated he understands Supervisor McNamara’s point, if the Board would prefer another cash source until the Ardagh money is freed up it will have a consequential impact with revenue sharing but feels it is manageable. Supervisor Hooker commented she concurs. Mr. Gates stated he will also go back and see if he can get a better understanding of what the anticipated role of reduction in annual operating expenses will be over the next six-year period because there is in the pro-forma customer based offsetting revenues. April 26, 2016 212 Supervisor Peters nodded in agreement. Supervisor Bedrosian stated we are willing to commit almost $7 million to the Broadband Authority for the ten years. Mr. Gates stated it was a number less than $325,000 for the first six years and $300,000. It is about $5.2 million. Supervisor Bedrosian asked does this group here think this is the best use of our money on something that already exists in the ground? Why is it? Supervisor Hooker stated that she feels that our reputation in Broadband rd is not good; 93 out of 134 statewide localities with broadband availability to a certain speed. Our reputation is not good. We can talk about what is really there. If we think that we can get some good things happening with economic development with this on our side, then eventually we can relief some of the tax burden on the residents. We can be more inviting, more of a prospect for people who are coming our way. Supervisor Peters stated that is the concerting part to him about all of these discussions we keep having about the budget. We are so caught up in the numbers. Let’s look at the big picture. The big picture is 13% is commercial and feeds our tax base. Charles Landis was right. We have got to do something; find a way to get that number up. The expenses are becoming more and more. We hear about fire and rescue personnel, and that is something we are not going to be able to get away from. Our costs are going to continue to go up and there is nothing we can do to stop it unless we cut services. We need to find away in our budgets. It is concerting to him that we are so caught up in no-debt projections when we should be looking at what we need to do to have our people out there on the streets finding a way to bring businesses in here. Why are we waiting on the State to bring us all the time; why are we not deciding what we want and sending our people out there? We need to be pro-active in bringing businesses here. It would be nice to have a no-debt structure, but with our infrastructure that we have put off maintenance for so long. He added that he is hearing if fiber is in the ground, but it is not there. He will provide the State website to see. Why would the providers not say they have that service available; it would encourage more customers. Supervisor Bedrosian stated he guesses it was proprietary information. Supervisor Peters stated if he is a satisfied customer and they are giving him what he needs, who cares. Supervisor Hooker stated the website she was referring to was www.broadbandmap.gov, you can filter it through. Supervisor Peters stated he did not care what people were giving him, we are getting our leads from the State and we have been told that prospects come in with their checklist and “do you have broadband, no” and they move on to somewhere else. So if you look at the State website, we have virtually little fiber. It gives you four different categories you can click on. Supervisor Bedrosian’s argument does not make sense because Cox would have not given it to you. Supervisor Bedrosian stated, but there are six to eight other vendors that have fiber already in the ground. Supervisor Peters stated, “So they say.” Supervisor Bedrosian asked why has the Board already made this decision when we have not asked the providers what is in the ground and April 26, 2016 213 who is not getting the service. Liberty University uses only two gigabytes, what is it that we are going to get in Roanoke that needs more than all of Liberty University. He just thinks there are so many confusing facts would we want to have them and he is going to be asking for that today. Unless we think they are lying. Supervisor McNamara stated we still have an opportunity by second reading to pull broadband out with three people. Supervisor Bedrosian stated we keep talking about tight budgets, but for some reason we are willing to spend money on this. Supervisor McNamara stated he gets beat up by we need to lower tax rates, etc. The only way to lower tax rates is to be more business friendly. In his opinion, this will help. Supervisor Bedrosian stated he just does not think this will help. What is it that is so persuasive? Supervisor Peters responded he did his own homework. He does not need to listen to anybody else because he does his own homework and is still doing it. The providers sat in this very room two years ago and said the very same thing. Supervisor McNamara commented that just talking about broadband saw improvements. He is not going to be held hostage. Supervisor Peters stated why did after they talked to us two years ago did they come out with 10 gigabytes. Supervisor Bedrosian stated because it was a business decision. If you have the government with lower tax dollars competing against you of course you are going to. It seems to him it is anti-economic development. Supervisor Bedrosian stated if he was convinced we are not servicing customers at a market price he would say something is wrong, but show him. He is a free market person. The following adjustments have consensus and will be incorporated into the budget: Machinery and Tools Tax Reduction ($2.95 to $2.90/$100 A.V.) (42,500) Eliminate New Commissioner of Revenue Tax Clerk Position (39,296) Eliminate New Treasurer Tax Clerk Position (39,296) Eliminate New Fire Inspector Position (62,608) Increase RVTV Contribution based on final RVTV Budget (4.26.216 Board item approving RVTV Budget) 864 (50,756) Reduce Transfer to RCPS based on decrease in Machinery and Tools Tax (Revenue Sharing Formula) (18,103) (32,653) Reduce Contribution to Fund Balance (still maintains over11% contribution) (32,653) The work session was held from 4:10 p.m. until 6:15 p.m. IN RE: CERTIFICATION RESOLUTION April 26, 2016 214 At 7:03 p.m., Supervisor Peters moved to return to open session and adopt the certification resolution. RESOLUTION 042616-6 CERTIFYING THE CLOSED MEETING WAS HELD IN CONFORMITY WITH THE CODE OF VIRGINIA WHEREAS, the Board of Supervisors of Roanoke County, Virginia has convened a closed meeting on this date pursuant to an affirmative recorded vote and in accordance with the provisions of The Virginia Freedom of Information Act; and WHEREAS, Section 2.2-3712 of the Code of Virginia requires a certification by the Board of Supervisors of Roanoke County, Virginia, that such closed meeting was conducted in conformity with Virginia law. NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED, that the Board of Supervisors of Roanoke County, Virginia, hereby certifies that, to the best of each member’s knowledge: 1. Only public business matters lawfully exempted from open meeting requirements by Virginia law were discussed in the closed meeting which this certification resolution applies; and 2. Only such public business matters as were identified in the motion convening the closed meeting were heard, discussed or considered by the Board of Supervisors of Roanoke County, Virginia. On motion of Supervisor McNamara to adopt the resolution, seconded by Supervisor Peters and carried by the following recorded vote: AYES: Supervisors Assaid, Bedrosian, Hooker, McNamara, Peters NAYS: None Chairman Peters recognized Mike Rose Scout Troup 236 IN RE: PUBLIC HEARINGS AND SECOND READINGS OF ORDINANCES 1. The petition of David B. McClure, Apex Towers, LLC to obtain a Special Use Permit for a broadcasting tower (cell tower) approximately 154 feet in height in a I-2, High Intensity Industrial, District on approximately 4.58 acres, located at 5119 Hollins Road, Hollins Magisterial District (Philip Thompson, Deputy Director of Planning) Mr. Thompson outlined the petition. Mr. David McClure provided a PowerPoint presentation. Supervisor Bedrosian thanked Mr. McClure, especially for the community April 26, 2016 215 meeting. Chairman Peters opened and closed the public hearing with no citizens to speak on this petition. ORDINANCE 042616-7 GRANTING A SPECIAL USE PERMIT FOR A BROADCASTING TOWER (CELL TOWER) APPROXIMATELY 150 FEET IN HEIGHT IN A l-2, HIGH INTENSITY INDUSTRIAL, DISTRICT ON A 4.58 ACRE PARCEL LOCATED AT 5119 HOLLINS ROAD, HOLLINS MAGISTERIAL DISTRICT, UPON THE PETITION OF DAVID B. MCCLURE (APEX TOWERS, LLC AGENT) WHEREAS, David B. McClure, agent for Apex Towers, LLC, has filed a petition for a special use permit for broadcasting tower use at 5119 Hollins Rd. (Tax Parcel No.039.09-01-07.00-0000), in an I-2, high intensity industrial district, in the Hollins Magisterial District; and WHEREAS, the Planning Commission held a public hearing on this matter on April 5, 2016; and WHEREAS, the Planning Commission recommends approval of the petition with the conditions that the total height of the tower shall not exceed 154 feet and the tower shall not be illuminated with any type of lighting apparatus, unless lighting is required by the Federal Aviation Administration; and WHEREAS, the Board of Supervisors of Roanoke County, Virginia, held a first reading on this matter on March 22, 2016; the second reading and public hearing on this matter was held on April 26, 2016. NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT ORDAINED by the Board of Supervisors of Roanoke County, Virginia, as follows: 1. That the Board finds that the granting of a special use permit to David B. McClure, agent for Apex Towers, LLC, for broadcasting tower use on a 4.58 acre parcel located at 5119 Hollins Road (Tax Parcel No.039.09-01-07.00-0000), in the Hollins Magisterial District, is substantially in accord with the adopted 2005 Community Plan, as amended, pursuant to the provisions of Section 15.2-2232 of the 1950 Code of Virginia, as amended, and that it shall have a minimum adverse impact on the surrounding neighborhood or community, and said special use permit is hereby approvedwith the following condition: (a) The total height of the tower shall not exceed 154 feet, and (b) The tower shall not be illuminated with any type of lighting apparatus, unless lighting is required by the Federal Aviation Administration. 2. That this ordinance shall be in full force and effect thirty (30) days after its final passage. All ordinances or parts of ordinances in conflict with the provisions of this ordinance be, and the same hereby are, repealed. The provisions of this special use April 26, 2016 216 permit are not severable. Invalidation of any word, phrase, clause, sentence or paragraph shall invalidate the remainder. The Zoning Administrator is directed to amend the zoning district map to reflect the change in zoning classification authorized by this ordinance. On motion of Supervisor Bedrosian to adopt the ordinance, seconded by Supervisor Assaid and carried by the following recorded vote: AYES: Supervisors Assaid, Bedrosian, Hooker, McNamara, Peters NAYS: None IN RE: CITIZENS’ COMMENTS AND COMMUNICATIONS Robert Maron stated thank you for allowing me to speak this evening the Roanoke County Board of Supervisors. He is deeply concerned about cheating on non- SOL testing involving laptops in our Roanoke County high schools. He was a Latin teacher at Hidden Valley High School from 2011 to 2013. After he was hired, the staff HIGHLY encouraged me to go paperless as much as possible. In order to prevent cheating he naively assumed there were security precautions already existing within his Database and Blackboard. Until January 13, 2012, he believed that the primary ways the students were cheating were through hidden notes, cell phones and unauthorized internet access. The next day he talked to a teacher outside of his department, and was informed in a hushed and fearful tone that cheating had been huge problem at the school for years because the students NOT only had complete access to the internet, but also to their hard drives, hidden thumb drives and SD cards. He was completely shocked! She explained how easily it was for a study guide to become a cheat sheet hidden on the desktop or elsewhere. A second teacher later confirmed what was said, and warned me not to be too persistent. On February 6, 2012, he reorganized the seating arrangement in my classroom into a layout recommended by his Technology Resource teacher where half the students would be facing the other half separated by a narrow middle walkway. When the students took a test or quiz everybody would face the same direction while he observed all their screens from behind the last row. However, I soon realized that unless he was directly behind a student's laptop he could not accurately see the screen. If he were in the middle of the row, he had great difficulty seeing either far to the right or far to the left not to mention the students at the other end of the room. Half the time it was all bluff. He also quickly realized that walking around the classroom looking for traditional cheating was the kiss of death since he could not monitor all the students' laptops. In conclusion, he used the same seating layout during the 2012-13 academic year. He informed the administration about his concerns in mid- November 2012, but nothing ever was resolved. He was able to put a major dent into the cheating that entire year, but was never able to completely stop it because students could still right click on Google, access the Snipping Tool, copy and paste answers, email passwords, and most insidiously program a key to perform screen captures of a April 26, 2016 217 an entire test or quiz to a Google server. He could go on ad nauseum.It was simply impossible to watch twenty-five to thirty laptop screens or even fifteen at once, especially when a student needed help with a difficult question, arrived late after the password had timed out, a messenger knocked at the door, the telephone rang, or when he would have to walk within the classroom to look for suspected cheating on a cell phone etc. Since May 2015 he has had over ten graduates at Hidden Valley and one at William Byrd complain to me that cheating remains a huge problem resulting in overly inflated GPAs and distorted class rankings. Numerous students have used such words and phrases to describe the present situation as "rampant," "nuts" and "out of control." One recent Hidden Valley graduate told me six weeks ago, "Hidden Valley \[HV\] is awful for people with morals and ethics because it teaches you to drop them at the door." Unfortunately, I have heard the same information from over ten graduates of Cave Spring in the past three years. One senior told me last May that the administration was more concerned about the paying of parking decals than cheating, which is both pathetic and disgraceful. Cheating truly poisons a classroom, erodes the work ethic, and creates a tremendous disrespect for learning. Since he spoke before the School Board on March 24 about this topic he has received no response about his concerns. He urged the Board of Supervisors to compel the School Board to purchase some type of lockdown browser and other needed software including denying access to the dark web in order to create a level and fair playing field, improve the quality of education, and teach good citizenship. He also urged the Board of Supervisors to appoint an impartial ad hoc committee in order to conduct an outside investigation of this cheating scandal, which has been a chronic problem since 2007. IN RE: REPORTS AND INQUIRIES OF BOARD MEMBERS Supervisor McNamara stated he appreciated the speaker sharing his thoughts; he has a number of children that have gone through and one currently in Hidden Valley and intends to talk to her when he get home tonight. The School Board is independently elected so while we can share our concerns, they are independently elected and they run the schools. We try to run the government side. Last night was one of the possible culmination of the community strategic plan summarized some of the objectives. Now, we try to put together. It really turned out to be a super, super processes. There is still more to go, but it really was a super process. He would like to thank once again, County staff that was involved, the people that were involved that gave their time. He thinks it was a good investment and thinks it will help guide us in our decisions as we go forward. We also had another good discussion from a budget prospective and thinks we are very close as a Board to adopting a budget. He thinks staff again did a very nice job of putting that together, accepting our suggestions, our changes, our thoughts as we continue to go forward from 85%, to 90% until ultimately 100%. We will when we pass the budget, pass a balanced budget. Localities as well as the State have to balance our budgets. We are not using loans to balance our April 26, 2016 218 budget. Our budget has to be balanced. A couple of neat things about our budget this year, first there is no additional borrowing again, which is the second or perhaps third year that we have adopted a budget without additional borrowing. It also incorporates about $500,000 towards stormwater management. We hear a lot about stormwater management and what localities are doing. What localities are doing to meet their requirements and be good stewards as laid out to us by the State and Federal authorities is to raise taxes or putting stormwater management fees on. So, we have once again this year dedicated additional revenues, about $500,000 towards stormwater management and our requirements to be good stewards of our environment, but it will not be through any additional tax on our citizens so he thinks that certainly bodes well for Roanoke County citizens and thinks it really shows the commitment and the level of creativity that staff used in creating the budget. Finally, there was some talk earlier today and knows if you are watching this being replaced on television, it referred to incentives for restaurants. In Roanoke County, there is not anybody on this current Board that has given an incentive to a retail development. If you are restaurant and want to come to Roanoke County, we would love to have you, but don’t come away from our conversation this afternoon thinking you are going to have tax-free avoidance for a number of years, which is not the inclination of this Board and he would be surprised if that actually occurred. Supervisor Bedrosian thanked all the speakers here today; several in the earlier session and one this evening. He really does enjoy citizens coming and speaking; you all see what is going on out in the community and it is always very informative. So that is the role of government, we should be here to listen to the information brought forth to us. He wanted to add something to the agenda for the next meeting, May 10, 2016. He would like to have a briefing and discuss the broadband issue, but have a briefing for our broadband providers so they can come. They have been in our communities for decades and think we owe it to them to come and discuss their investment in Roanoke County and answer questions from the Board. There seems to be a lot of discrepancies in our information. Everybody thinks we have the information and we all have little bits of it and some of it is different. He thinks it is important that we do that so he would like to schedule for May 10, 2016. He would like to have it downstairs in the Board Room and have the providers. He already has a little bit of a format. Supervisor Peters stated we have a request and is there a second to have downstairs in a briefing. There is no second. Supervisor Bedrosian stated can we have it anywhere. So, no one here is willing to second that we had the Roanoke Valley Broadband Authority allowed to speak in the Board Room and now we will not allow our own providers to speak. Supervisor McNamara stated he believed the Board’s Rules of Organization and Procedures allows an agenda item to be added. The only question is the actual location of that agenda item. Typically, it would be in work session, which he April 26, 2016 219 feels would be perfectly appropriate under our Board’s Rules of Organization and Procedure. Supervisor Peters inquired of Supervisor Bedrosian if the request would be for a work session with Supervisor Bedrosian responding he would like to keep it downstairs. He asked if no Board member was willing to allow the Broadband Authority to present downstairs, but not the other providers. Supervisor Assaid stated he would rather have in a work session. He added that it would be more beneficial to him personally. Supervisor Peters stated he agreed; if there are several providers that are going to be here it would be very difficult to do here in a briefing. He would prefer to have it in a work session. Supervisor Bedrosian stated he would need a second. Those of you that have elected him in the Hollins area, it is impossible to ask that something be done. He understands because that is the way you all wanted it. Let him move on, we will have th that on the 10, wherever his four colleagues agree to have it. He would like to show a picture (several slides presented). One of them is people say we don’t have broadband here and the Board all has this same slide. The red is what currently is in Roanoke and the blue, which turns purple because it overlays some of the red is what the Roanoke Valley Broadband Authority is deciding in Roanoke County where they will put their fiber. As you can see, it basically overlays what is already here. This is one provider, so there are several providers that have fiber in the ground in Roanoke. So, this map would get doubled and tripled as there are a lot of areas that have two or three providers that are running the same strip. Just in case there are any misconceptions that Roanoke County does not have fiber in the ground and what we are getting from the Roanoke Valley Broadband Authority, which is subsidized with taxpayer dollars is something new. He hopes it make you curious to want to go out on your own and see for yourself. There was a great article in the Roanoke Times the other day that talked about the Roanoke valley, especially Roanoke County and what is offered in Roanoke County and it seems like we have anything. In fact is says, “the vast majority of businesses in the Roanoke Valley have access to internet speed approaching one gigabit and some can access speeds as high as ten gigabytes.” Just to give you a reference, as he talked to some of the providers, Liberty University used about 2 gigabytes of data for their entire campus. As many of you know, they have 80,000 online students. If there was anybody that used or needed this type, it is Liberty and we already have enough for them right now. This is why he would like the providers to come and ask questions and get to the heart of the matter on this. Just a reminder too that we are getting ready to spend $3.4 million and when you add operating costs is will actually be $5.2 million as we heard upstairs. This is your money, tax payer dollars that is going to subsidize that is already there. The next slide is about debt. The debt history of Roanoke County is important to bring up. Our debt was over $200 million in 2004 and then it dropped to $127 million n 2005, which is when we split off the water and it went to the Water Authority. So, our debt dropped significantly in basically one April 26, 2016 220 year from $201 to $127 million. The debt started to climb again to a high of $223 million in 2009. As of 2016, it will be around $177 million. So again we are now going down again so we have this little roller coaster ride and is due mainly to the fact that over the last two years we have not borrowed $10 million a year. We normally borrow $10 million every year, but as a caution, because it is your money that we are spending and your money that we are borrowing, we are looking at borrowing $40 million in fiscal 2018-2019. Those two years together will be borrowing $40 million. He has been a great proponent on this Board of not borrowing money; he thinks we need to get down to basics and only spend what the taxpayers give us. If we cannot afford something, you don’t spend it, you save it and then when we have the money we should spend it and do the things we need to do. Roanoke County has had a history of racking up debt going up high and coming back down and then going back up. He just wants the citizens to have a cautious eye so that the Board does not increase the debt. The next is a summary of what was discussed upstairs for those who could not make it. It shows the debt that we are going to be spending; the green is the new debt that we are going to be adding, the blue is the debt we already have, which goes down and we are adding more debt in 2018-2019 that is the $40 million and then we have debt throughout 2026. This is just an estimate, the later years he is cautioning everybody he may be here and he may not, keep looking at those outer years. We do not show a lot of debt there, but there will be things that are coming up that people will want to add to that and increase our debt. We have to be very cautious of that. The next slide is ratios; we have tried to keep the ratios, debt as a percentage of assessable tax value. The only thing he would caution you here is that as assessments go up and property values go up, that means our debt can go up with it and not really look like it is getting any higher. So we have to be careful as assessments go up, which they do every year. We just had an increase in our assessments of real estate and property as they go up it allows us to borrow money and stay under the ratio. The next one debt service as a percentage of government expenditures. This is interesting one too. The more money we spend as a Board, the more money we can borrow. The larger our expenditures get the more money we can borrow and keep the ratios in line. Just watch as this Board continues to spend money, which it has over the last three years. We are spending $12 million more than we did a few years ago. We can keep the debt going up and stay under the ratio. The final one is the debt per capita, which is per person. Right now we are at $1,900 per person. Each citizens in Roanoke County has a $1,900 debt. If you are a family of four, which is an average family (He has a family of seven), you have four times $1,900, which is approximately 8,000 of debt on you. To finish up he always likes to mention the United Way, they are one of his friends, but there was an article about the United Way in the Roanoke Times a few weeks ago. He was mentioned in it so he thought he would say something about it. He was mentioned in in because he has a disagreement with United Way because of their support of Planned Parenthood. He found it interesting in the article that it mentioned that the United Way does not support abortion, but it supported the education part of United Way, which is something called abstinence plus. April 26, 2016 221 He is thinking about the word abstinence, well what could abstinence plus mean. He investigated and it seems like when you add the word plus to abstinence you are now discussing your partners, sex education and contraceptive use. So much for abstinence. He guesses that it doesn’t become abstinence when you add the word plus. He found that to be unusual. So, whenever you hear that the United Way is involved in education and abstinence plus, realize it is just sex education and contraception, in their own words. We are getting ready to do a budget on May 24, 2016, which will be our final vote. May 10, 2016 will be the first vote. He strongly urges all the citizens who are watching on television that you really need to show up. This is your money we spend and we don’t spend anybody else’s money. It is your money and you need to make sure we spend it to the best of our ability and are good stewards. Supervisor Hooker stated she wanted to highlight a very popular hiking trail that is in the Catawba District as well as the Appalachian Trail. As a matter of fact, off of Route 311, we have Dragon’s Tooth and McAfee’s Knob. There is one centralized parking lot at the very top of Route 311. Any day that you drive on 311, during the week and especially though on the weekends on any pretty day you will see a very full parking lot and not just the parking lot but also the sides of 311 have become a problem. So this is a trail note (slide shown) online and if you notice at the very end it says something about parking could be a challenge and she just wants to encourage the citizens that are planning to hike that trail to enjoy it, it is beautiful and to use good common sense on where you decide to park. She is hopeful that the new parking lot and trail that will connect to the AT down by the Catawba Sustainability Center will offer enough parking spaces to alleviate some of this issue. It is a beautiful hike and she is glad that the citizens and visitors are enjoying it. Hopeful for some more responsible parking. The other thing in tagging along with what Supervisor McNamara said regarding the strategic meeting last night, as we are wrapping that up, she just wants to applaud staff, the citizens that have been involved in the process with what great conversations we have had and appreciate everyone’s involvement in that. We look forward as a Board to hearing form the citizens and taking action on those goals and recommendations. Supervisor Peters commented as far as within our Community, a pastor retired from Bonsack Baptist Church on Sunday. The Clerk helped me put together a proclamation that was delivered on Sunday, forty years of service to our community down there. He has been a great steward to the community and we wish him the best in his retirement. In the last few weeks, it has been a tough time for our schools with the issues of bomb threats and everything else that has been going on. He wants to recognize our Police Department for the work they have done and we have learned in the last week that there has been two people appended in those events and he hopes that will send a message to the rest of the student body that this is something we are not going to tolerate. The safety of our kids is very important and we take it very seriously. To what you have already heard tonight from a couple of his colleagues, the focus groups in the Strategic Plan, he has been very proud of all the citizens who have 222 April 26, 2016 taken time out of their busy schedules to be a part of this to give us their hopes, dreams and thoughts about what their community is going to look like and so we have one last meeting and will take place on Thursday night at 7:00 p.m. at the Vinton War Memorial. We hope that anyone, even if you have not been a part of it up until now, that you would come and be a part of it and see what it looks like to this point and giving feedback. Lastly, he does want to talk about our employees. There was discussion earlier about giving something back to our employees; our employees are the heart of Roanoke County. We can sit here and pass policies and pass budgets and have discussions, but at the end of the day our employees are who keeps us safe, educate our children and keep the County moving forward. He commends them in everything they do. IN RE: ADJOURNMENT Chairman Peters adjourned the meeting at 7:48 p.m. •mitted by: Approved by: •,- ' Ai ifir', 1_ . 411 Ai-4M Deborah C. , P. Jason 'eters Chief Deputy erk to the Board Chairman