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Home My WebLink About3/4/2003 - Special 183 March 42003 , Roanoke County Administration Center 5204 Bernard Drive Roanoke, Virginia 24018 March 4, 2003 The Board of Supervisors of Roanoke County, Virginia met this day at the Roanoke County Administration Center, 5204 Bernard Drive, Roanoke, Virginia, this being an adjourned meeting from February 27, 2003 for the purpose of conducting a budget work session. IN RE: CALL TO ORDER Chairman McNamara called the meeting to order at 5:08 p.m. The roll call was taken. MEMBERS PRESENT: Chairman Joseph McNamara, Supervisors Michael W. Altizer, Joseph B. “Butch” Church, H. Odell “Fuzzy” Minnix (Arrived at 5:12 p.m.) MEMBERS ABSENT: Vice-Chairman Richard C. Flora STAFF PRESENT: Elmer C. Hodge, County Administrator; Diane S. Childers, Clerk to the Board; John M. Chambliss, Assistant County Administrator; Dan O’Donnell, Assistant County Administrator; Diane D. Hyatt, Chief Financial Officer IN RE: NEW BUSINESS Request to approve a memorandum of understanding between 1. the County of Roanoke and Roanoke County Schools in support of the Drug Free Community Grant. (Dan O’Donnell, Assistant County Administrator; Jo Ann Burkholder, Student Assistance Program Administrator) A-030403-1 184 March 42003 , There was no discussion on this item. Supervisor McNamara moved to approve the memorandum of understanding. The motion carried by the following recorded vote: AYES: Supervisors Church, Altizer, McNamara NAYS: None ABSENT: Supervisors Flora and Minnix IN RE: WORK SESSIONS 1. Departmental Budget Reviews: (a) Fire & Rescue (Richard Burch, Chief of Fire & Rescue) Chief Burch identified the following priorities: upgrade of self-contained breathing apparatus, networking/fire records management system that will interface with the CAD system, additional staff to conduct training, continued focus on regional cooperation, capital improvement project needs, and a new public safety building. Chief Burch reported that the cost for the new air packs is approximately $600,000, of which $200,000 has already been set aside. In addition, the department has $35,000 in the current operating budget which can be used for this purpose. Staff is waiting to receive information concerning grant applications that have been made to fund a portion of this expense. Chief Burch stated that the number of field personnel in fire and rescue has increased 80% in the last several years. There is only one person to handle 185 March 42003 , training, and the increase in field personnel necessitates additional staff to conduct training. Consensus was reached that Chief Burch would fund the cost of an additional person for training through cost saving reductions. (b) Elections (Diane Henson, Registrar) Ms. Henson reported that compliance with United States House Bill 3295 – the Help America Vote Act - is mandated by 2006, with compliance for individuals with disabilities mandated by 2004 with one machine per precinct. The County currently has 95-98 machines which will need to be replaced with 150 new machines. Staff is working with surrounding localities to take advantage of cost savings that would result from combining equipment purchases and educational programs for election officials and citizens. (c) Social Services (Betty McCrary, Director) Dr. McCrary reported that 80% of the social services budget is reimbursed to Roanoke County by the State, 20% is local costs and Salem absorbs approximately one third of the local costs. The County’s cost for providing these services is $700,000 per year. Issues facing the department include: changing guidelines and increasing workloads; constant deadline for processing increasing numbers of applications; when the economy declines, their work load increases; state and federal outreach programs encourage applicants to seek services, but yet do not provide funding to cover these increasing requests; clients are increasingly hostile and demanding; increase in adult neglect/abuse cases; increase in demand for guardianship cases; increase in demand 186 March 42003 , for companion services; increase in substance abuse cases; increasing alien population; cost shifting from State to localities; increasing costs for postage and mileage reimbursements; and high rates of staff turnover. (d) County Attorney (Paul M. Mahoney) Mr. Mahoney reported that the primary focus of the department is on preventive law. Areas in which legal services will be focused in the coming year include: expanded case load of social services has resulted in an increased demand for legal services; water and sewer authority agreement; National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (NPDES) program implementation; development of a proposal to acquire an ownership interest in Explore Park; General Electric/Dixie Caverns litigation; pending personnel litigation matters; and compliance with the federally mandated Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA). (e) Clerk to the Board of Supervisors (Diane Childers) Ms. Childers reviewed changes that have been implemented to streamline the agenda process and position the department for movement toward an electronic agenda format. She reported that advantages of an electronic format include a higher level of customer service, reduced costs for paper and staff research time, greater research capabilities available through software that will conduct text searches, improved records management and enhanced security of records. 187 March 42003 , (f) General Services (Anne Marie Green, Director) Administration: Ms. Green reported that two primary functions of this division include: (1) environmental policy – conduct training, develop procedures manual, obtain certification. (2) administration of the citizen inquiry system which currently contains 36,000 entries. Facilities Management: Ms. Green reported that projects that will be undertaken in 2003 include the renovation of the Salem Office Supply building, renovation of the Guy house, repairs to the courthouse, and upgrades to HVAC systems. Garage: There is a new manager overseeing the garage, and survey documents have contained very positive comments regarding departmental operations. The key issue facing the department is that the facility is too small and needs to be relocated as there is no room for expansion at the current location. There was general discussion concerning environmental compliance issues as they relate to the garage. Solid Waste: Ms. Green reported that for every 1,000 houses built, an additional bandit route is needed. She noted an increase in the number of requests for refuse cans, and indicated that an additional funding request has been submitted to handle this increase. Tipping fees at the landfill are projected to increase $4.00 per ton to bring the new rate to $46 per ton. Staff is negotiating with the Roanoke Valley Resource Authority (RVRA) to maintain the current rate of $42 per ton. Ms. Green also indicated that general services may begin handling dumpster operations, and that the 188 March 42003 , solid waste division plans to begin operating on a 4 days per week/10 hours per day shift to allow scheduled maintenance of trucks to be performed on Fridays. IN RE: BRIEFINGS 1. Briefing on status of employee health insurance coverage. (Diane Hyatt, Chief Financial Officer) Ms. Hyatt reported that staff met with Anthem last week and received a renewal quote for health insurance which contained a 3.7% increase. She noted that this amount is still being negotiated, and further reductions can be expected. Average increases for the past several years have been 12%, and staff indicated that the projected 3.7% increase for next year is an excellent rate. 2. Briefing regarding state revenues for fiscal years 2003 and 2004. (Brent Robertson, Budget Director) Mr. Robertson reported that the total reductions from the State for fiscal year 2003 total $382,654. Since the last report from staff on State revenue reductions, further reductions have been made for fiscal year 2003 to the Sheriff’s Office (5% reduction totaling approximately $93,000) and ABC profits ($19,624 reduction). Additional reductions for fiscal year 2004 total $170,184, bringing the compounded total reduction for fiscal year 2003-2004 to $552,838. It was the consensus of the Board to fund the reduction in revenue to the Sheriff’s Office for fiscal year 2003, and the Board requested that a work session be scheduled with the Sheriff to discuss implementation of fees to offset these funding reductions. 189 March 42003 , IN RE: ADJOURNMENT Chairman McNamara adjourned the meeting at 7:53 p.m. until Tuesday, March 11, 2003 at 3:00 p.m. at the Roanoke County Administration Center for a regularly scheduled meeting. Submitted by: Approved by: ________________________ ________________________ Diane S. Childers Joseph P. 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