HomeMy WebLinkAbout12/3/2019 - Regular
December 3, 2019
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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 first Tuesday and the first
regularly scheduled meeting of the month of December 2019. 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 Pastor
Ethan Callison of Fellowship Community Church, North Campus. The Pledge of
Allegiance was recited by all present.
IN RE: CALL TO ORDER
Chairman North called the meeting to order at 3:03 p.m. The roll call was
taken.
MEMBERS PRESENT:
Chairman Phil C. North; Supervisors George G. Assaid,
Martha B. Hooker, David F. Radford and P. Jason Peters
MEMBERS ABSENT:
None
STAFF PRESENT:
Daniel R. O’Donnell, County Administrator; Richard
Caywood, Assistant County Administrator; Rebecca Owens,
Assistant County Administrator; Peter S. Lubeck, Acting
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
County Administrator, Daniel R. O’Donnell requested the postponement of
the Library recognition. There were no objections.
Acting County Attorney, Peter Lubeck requested that agenda item E.1 -
Resolution declaring Roanoke County a Second Amendment Sanctuary County be
moved to item C.1. There were no objections.
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IN RE: NEW BUSINESS
1. Resolution declaring Roanoke County a Second Amendment
Sanctuary County (Peter Lubeck, Acting County Attorney)
Mr. Lubeck explained the request for resolution.
The following citizens spoke on this issue.
Susan Edwards of 4121 Gives Road in the Glenvar area of Roanoke
County stated “I want to thank you Chairman North and our Roanoke County Board of
Supervisors for including this resolution on today’s agenda, allowing for citizen comment
and the diligence and careful consideration of wording of this resolution as presented.
I’d also like to thank our County’s Acting Attorney, Peter Lubeck for his background on
where we are as a Dillon rule state, as well as the Constitution of Virginia and the
Virginia Constitution. As of this morning, I believe there are 30 localities in the
Commonwealth that, since the November election, have taken up a resolution, and I
think there’s about 50 more that are on deck to do likewise with agenda items
specifically addressing standing up for what our Constitution and our Bill of Rights
recognize. As we all know, we just celebrated the 400th anniversary of the landing in
Virginia of colonists, and we recognize as Virginians that our state is the birthplace of
this nation, being the home place of many of our founding fathers, notably Thomas
Jefferson, George Mason who wrote the Virginia Bill of Rights, George Washington, and
our very own Patrick Henry. Our nation was founded on the consent of free individuals
recognizing our Creator’s liberty that he put in us. We institute government at the
consent of the governed. Our history lessons look to what the Constitution spells out,
but the preamble tell us that it is, both at the federal level and at the state level, the
consent of the government. All government is ultimately accountable to citizens, and I
think that’s why you have seen people stand up and say, wait a minute, we saw what
was introduced earlier this year, and we see what’s coming, and we want our rights
protected. I’m going to jump ahead real quickly, watching the clock. I want to make a
comment that protection of human life is very important to our community and to our
nation. However, acting with good intentions without careful wisdom, looking at the
unintended consequences of legislation and its application is at least foolish and at
worst evil. We need to be careful when we impose on others, just because we have
good intention and want to at least do something. I thank you all for your time and
thank you very much.”
The Honorable Chris Head, State Delegate stated, “Thank you Mr.
Chairman and members of the Board. It’s good to be here. It is my great honor to be
able to represent about 50% of Roanoke County in my district, the 17th District, and to
have been able to represent this area for the last 8 years. In that time, it has been
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regular practice that we have had bills come before us, and most of the time that I’ve
served in the House of Delegates, I’ve served on the Committee of Militia, Police &
Public Safety, and most of those bills that would erode the 2nd Amendment came
frequently through my subcommittee, and we did everything we could to slow that train
down or protect the rights that we are granted in our Constitution. I have taken it as a
practice every two years when I’m sworn in, we raise our right we verbally affirm the
oath of office and are sworn in. Then there’s the document that we have to sign. I take a
selfie not of my face but of my hand right after I’ve signed that oath, with a pen still in it,
and my signature on the paper, and then I post that on my Facebook page. Because on
there it says I do solemnly swear or affirm that I will support the Constitution of the
United States and the Constitution of the Commonwealth of Virginia. All of you took that
same oath. And then faithfully discharging the duties of our office. The concern that I
have is that if we as a general assembly now, because the tables have turned, and
there are bills that have been filed now that I fear will pass, and my party doesn’t have
the power any longer to stop it. But I’m concerned that those bills will in fact be in
conflict with that United States Constitution. It’s fairly unambiguous in the Constitution
when it says that the right of the people to keep and bear arms shall not be infringed.
You’d be very hard pressed for that to be less unambiguous, and that is as clear as it
gets. And I’m concerned when we pass legislation, if we pass legislation, that becomes
Virginia law, that goes into conflict with that, how do we uphold the oath of office that we
take, that we will support the Constitution of the United States if that comes into conflict
with that laws, that we as a body, have passed? I think that the order of our allegiance
has to come in the order that it appears on that oath, and that we have to take those
steps. Now what you all can do by passing and adopting this resolution, while it may be
seen as symbolic, it does send a very clear message to all of the legislators in Virginia,
and I certainly hope that you will take that step and know that at least I’m not speaking
for my colleague, but I think that you will find that your representatives here will do
everything we can to protect the rights that were granted in our Constitution. Thank you
for taking this up and for the opportunity to speak.”
The Honorable Joe McNamara, State Delegate stated, “Mr. Chairman,
members of the Board, thank you very much for the opportunity to be here, thank you
for having the courage to hold hearings and look at something you see as very, very
bad, very wrong, and take action on it. I would like to say and make it very clear that I
stand with you as a Board, I stand with the many, many citizens of Roanoke County in
supporting our second amendment rights. Enforcing the laws that we have, laws that
keep guns out of the hands of criminals, and punishing those who commit crimes with
guns have proven time and again to be the key to reducing gun violence. As Delegate
Head mentioned, we still don’t know what the Democrats in Richmond will pass, what
the governor will sign, but they have made it clear that they intend to infringe on the
rights, our rights, in a very significant way. We heard Attorney Lubeck talk about the
various laws and authorities and responsibilities, and being a Dillon Rule state, and I
would like to reiterate what Delegate Head said, so it may look as though a resolution
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such as this is symbolic on its face, it is extremely, extremely important that we make
our feelings known and shared with the General Assembly message. It makes it no less
important. Rather than engage in partisan politics, Delegate Head and members on our
side of the aisle, we are committed to thoughtful and deliberate response based on facts
and evidence, not political talking points. There have been nearly 30 counties that have
taken action, and there’s many, many more to come. It’s sometimes lost in the
conversation that Virginia has one of the lowest crime rates in the nation. In fact, we are
fourth best as far as the lowest crime rate, beat only by New Hampshire, Vermont, and
Maine. You want to look at where the high crime rates are? It’s where they’ve restricted
Second Amendment rights: Maryland, Illinois, New York, DC. Our violent crime rate in
Virginia is less than half of the national average. What we are doing is working. We
want the Virginia that we have, and we want to keep it. Thank you very much for your
time.”
Gary Flora, 4833 Brookwood Dr., SW Roanoke stated, “Blomberg poured
huge amounts of money into Northern Virginia down through Tidewater. He did the
same thing in Washington State and passed a law, I594. The people in Washington
state were voting on an actual ballot whether they wanted actual background checks in
transfers or not. They voted for it, and the law went into effect, it was totally different
than what they had advertised. The Washington sheriff said the law turned every gun
owner into a criminal and refused to enforce it. If a grandfather wanted to teach his
grandchild to shoot, the grandfather would have to run a background check on the child.
The child would have to run another background check on the grandfather when he
turned the gun back over to him. Every time any gun changed hands, this had to be
done. We’re talking that they might pass red flag laws here. There was a young school
boy, I think down in Georgia, said something about a gun and school. The police
showed up, went to the boy’s house and confiscated his father’s guns immediately. His
father was a veteran and a retired police officer. All someone has to do is make an
accusation, no proof, just somebody’s word, and they remain anonymous. You must get
a lawyer, go to court, hopefully win so you can get your property returned. Some states
are even charging the owner for the storage of their firearms. They’ve already prefiled a
bill here in the state of Virginia, and that’s where I’m getting this information from. Rifles
of any kind were used in only 2% of homicides. That includes assault rifles, semi-
automatics, bolt rifles, everything. I think the bill they’re trying to pass, SB16 prohibits
any person from importing, selling, transferring, manufacturing, purchasing, possessing,
or transporting an assault firearm. If you violate this you’re a class 6 felon. And I had to
look up what that was, one to five years in prison. Banned handgun capacity
magazines. If you import, sell, bought, or transfer any firearm magazine that holds more
than ten rounds, it’s a class one misdemeanor, twelve months, $2500 fine. Banned
silencers. Supposedly there are 1.3 million in the hands of private citizens. FBI says 44
might be used in a crime in a given year. The myth is that approximately 32,000 or more
people are killed every year with guns. Fact says that 61% of these are suicides.
Studies have shown that the presence or absence of a firearm does not change the
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overall suicide rate. Fifteen percent of the homicides are by law enforcement and are
justified in them carrying out their duties. Well, I have just all kinds of information that’s
incorrect, but I would like to thank all of you all, and I’m proud to be living here in
Roanoke County. I think everybody does a wonderful job. Thank you.”
Robert Cook, address is 4361 Fontaine Dr., Roanoke County stated, “I’ve
been a resident of Roanoke County for 53 years now. Just a little background very
quickly, my dad gave me my first little .22 rifle for my 6th birthday. Under the present
political climate, he would probably be in jail for child endangerment now. I’ve shot in
pretty much every competition that there is. I was a Roanoke County officer for 10
years, and I was a Roanoke County firearms instructor for 7 of those years. I am
currently the president of the largest outdoor shooting facility in the Commonwealth of
Virginia, and I say this just to say I know a little bit about guns. The Supreme Court has
ruled that the Second Amendment stands. End of story. That there shouldn’t even be
any more discussion about it. Under this thing that they’re proposing now, Senate Bill
16, I own a few guns, nothing exotic, certainly nothing illegal. Not a single gun that I own
would be legal if they pass it. They have actually done their homework, which is kind of
unusual. Most of the time when they come up with stuff like this, the people who come
up with it don’t really know which end of the gun the bullet comes out of. But this time
they have done their homework, and they have banned pretty much everything except
blunder busses like the people on the Mayflower used when they landed here. They are
talking about the import, manufacture, purchase, sale, trade, barter, and most
importantly, possession of any of the items they are talking about banning. Nothing
would be grandfathered. And then Senate Bill 64, which they’ve prefiled. Our gun club
hosts every year at least ten high schools, one at a time. We bring several busloads of
kids out for a day of marksmanship and safety training. Under Senate Bill 64, every one
of our members who is an instructor there would be guilty of a felony. The men that
wrote the Constitution were pretty smart guys. They had just come out from underneath
the oppressive thumb of the greatest superpower of their time, and they knew what they
were talking about. The Second Amendment protects us from an oppressive
government. There’s an old saying out there about not poking the sleeping bear. Well,
poke the sleeping bear of the gun owners of Virginia, and there’s a problem coming.
Don’t awaken the bear. Pass this resolution. And I thank you for your time.”
Roxane Christley of 7259 Willow Valley Road stated, “Thank you, Board, I
appreciate you giving us the chance to speak, making this meeting available to our
citizens is what our government is about. I do find it troubling, however, that we had it at
3 o’clock in the afternoon where hard working people are not able to be here. But I do
again thank you for making it possible. As stated, there has been a wave of counties
who have accepted the adoption of a Second Amendment sanctuary for their counties,
and I’ve worked with several Republican chairs throughout the Commonwealth to draft a
resolution that I have sent to all of you. I did read the resolution that was put together by
the County Attorney and just had a couple of additions or editing, things that I wanted to
bring up. In the County Attorney’s Whereas on page 2 of 3, he makes mention of the
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elected officers that we have, local law enforcement, and notes that the sheriff and the
Commonwealth’s Attorney are independent, elected officers. They truly are the ones
who we would speak to, they are the ones who take the oath of office to uphold the
Constitution of the United States and Virginia, and so actually the Chief of Police should
not be included in that at all. I also would ask that the resolution that I sent you, there
are two points that are emphasized a little bit more that I think should be included, one
being on the first page of my resolution where it says Whereas the Roanoke County
Board of Supervisors wishes to express its intent to stand as a sanctuary county for
Second Amendment rights and to oppose within the limits of the Constitution of the
United States and the Commonwealth of Virginia any efforts to unconstitutionally restrict
such rights and to use such legal means at its disposal to protect the right of the citizens
of Roanoke County to keep and bear arms, including through legal action the power of
appropriation of public funds and the right to petition for redress the grievances and the
direction of the law enforcement and the judiciary of Roanoke County to not enforce any
unconstitutional law. As a gun owner myself, and a hunter who enjoys that, I find it
extremely important that we protect, that I be able to protect my home, my property, and
my family, and I encourage this Board to adopt this resolution with the
recommendations and exclusions that I added. As well, I thank you all for your service
to our county, and I hope that there will be an adoption of this resolution.”
Janet Scheid of 1453 Wolf Creek Drive stated, “I’m a resident of Roanoke
County and also lucky enough to live in the town of Vinton. I am here to oppose this
resolution to declare Roanoke County a Second Amendment sanctuary county. In the
resolution before you, it states that you are representing the sentiments of the Board
and the community as a whole. I am here to clearly state that you are not representing
my sentiments. The resolution is an embarrassing waste of time. I believe that Roanoke
County and the Board of Supervisors have much more critical and important items to
deal with than to discuss and pass a meaningless resolution that is not worth the paper
that it’s printed on. Does this county really intend to defy whatever state laws might be
coming after democrats took control of the General Assembly in January? The
resolution says Roanoke County supports the Constitution of the United States of
America. That’s great. I do too. Common sense gun laws have been upheld in courts
across the country and all levels of government. Is anyone really arguing that mentally
unstable people should have access to guns? In The District of Columbia v. Heller, the
2008 Supreme Court case, none other than Justice Scalia said the rights secured by the
Second Amendment are not unlimited. People need to realize that not every common
sense restriction is an infringement on Constitutional rights. There seems to be a great
deal of anger in this room behind me, and that anger seems to grow out of fear. I don’t
really understand that. Are background checks and red flag laws that are supported by
90% of Virginians, citizens, really that scary? Requiring universal background checks
and extreme risk protection orders will do absolutely nothing to infringe on the rights of
law abiding, responsible, gun owning citizens of this county. I support their right to own
a gun to protect themselves and their homes and to hunt if they so choose. The courts
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have routinely held that the right to bear arms is not a right to keep and carry any
weapon whatsoever in any manner whatsoever and for whatever purpose. The state not
only has the right, they have the duty to limit this. It is not a coincidence that all of these
rural counties across the state of Virginia are being lobbied to pass this meaningless
type of resolution at this point in time. Does Roanoke County really want to jump on this
bandwagon? We should be focusing on economic development and tourism, bringing
people in from across the state and across the country to do business here and to
recreate here. Is this really the image we want to project? We are better than this. And
sometimes when we are elected to govern, it’s important, and sometimes even
necessary, to swim upstream. Thank you for your time.”
Larry Carver of 4044 Blandfield Drive in Vinton, which is Roanoke County
stated, “I’m also a retired law enforcement officer. During my career, I’ve taken the oath
of office for three departments. One local department, which is Roanoke County
Sheriff’s Office, a state department, and also a federal agency. I’m here today to speak
on what I feel is the most important issues facing all of the citizens of Virginia, not just
Roanoke County. And this is our precious freedoms that are guaranteed by the U.S.
Constitution and also by the Bill of Rights. Our Virginia government officials are
attempting to take away our rights to protect ourselves and our loved ones by taking
away our guns. We must fight back. During the years with law enforcement agents, I
was issued and carried a semi-automatic pistol. Every one of those guns carried
magazines that held more than ten rounds of ammunition. Most law enforcement agents
today, Roanoke County police, they all carry handguns that can hold more than ten
rounds. It’s a standard. So now in 45 years after I became a police officer the first time,
all the firearms that I’ve required to carry as a law enforcement officer to protect myself,
my family, citizens of Roanoke County, the citizens of the Commonwealth of Virginia,
and the citizens of the United States of America, now if I carry that gun, I’m going to be
a felon. So I’ve been a police officer all these years, and you’re going to make me a
felon by having these anti-gun laws. Anti-gun laws do not affect criminals. They only
affect good, law abiding citizens. Today we discussed the ground rights of citizens,
given to us through the Second Amendment, which I’m not going to repeat, because
everybody knows, but the last part of that, shall not be infringed. What part of that don’t
the politicians realize or don’t they understand? We must fight back. They only make
criminals out of normal citizens, these gun laws do. Just use the following examples.
Would anyone here want to live in Chicago, or DC, or New York City? Strictest gun
control laws in the nation and the highest gun control deaths in the nation. Do we want
Virginia cities to be like New York and DC? Richmond is bad enough without gun
control. It’s not a law for citizens, it’s a law for the politicians, gun control is. Gun laws
only affect and hurt law abiding citizens. Criminals love strict gun laws because all they
do is make the citizens into sheep waiting to be slaughtered when we have no
protection. Like I said, we must fight back. How do we fight anti-gun politicians? Let all
politicians know that we will vote out of office any and all politicians that vote for any
type of laws or regulations that violate or change our Constitution or our Second
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Amendment. Our Constitution is strong. It does not permit politicians to be dictators and
kings. Politicians are the representatives of us because we are the people and should
be working for the people, not for their own interests, which they are. We must fight
back. I’m asking you, please declare Roanoke County a Second Amendment sanctuary
and make a statement to all Virginia and all U.S. citizens that we will support them.
Thank you for your time and support, and God bless our great country.”
Betty Burke of 6620 Shingle Ridge Road stated, “I’ve lived there for more
than 30 years. When I read that Roanoke County Board of Supervisors would be
discussing the adoption of becoming a Second Amendment sanctuary, I immediately
wondered exactly what that meant. My understanding is that a Second Amendment
sanctuary designation does not exempt a locality from existing or new gun control laws,
so I started doing a little internet research which confirmed my understanding. I live in a
semi-rural area of Roanoke County where two nearby neighbors periodically target
shoot. So I decided to ask one of these community neighbors what this designation
would mean and what impact it might have. Now let me preface this neighbor’s remark
with some background about him. We’ve been, again, neighbors for more than 30
years. He describes himself as a long time target shooter, hunter, and sportsman. His
immediate response to my question was, it’s a feel good deal to do nothing, and it’s a
way for politicians to try to appease their constituents. So my question to the Board is,
why is this on the agenda? Doesn’t Roanoke County have more critical work to address
genuine county needs? How does this designation attract younger people to some of
our aging neighborhoods? How does this designation help with solving the traffic
problems on major routes? How does this help with reimagining the Tanglewood
corridor? I would like to see this Board make good on the changes that attract more
citizens and improve the quality of life for all of its citizens rather than adopt a feel good
classification that signifies nothing. Thank you for listening to my comments, and I’m
glad this is not a popularity contest, since I’m not winning. Thank you.”
Dan Webb of 4801 Sunnyside Dr. in Cave Spring stated, “I’m a Roanoke
County resident and an aide to Roanoke County State Senator David Suetterlein.
Senator Suetterlein has legislative commitments in Richmond today and tomorrow and
wanted to speak, but he could not attend so he sent me on his behalf. And he wanted to
thank the Roanoke County Board of Supervisors for considering this step affirming the
Second Amendment. And the best way of stopping laws that threaten citizens’ rights is
by defeating them in the General Assembly in the first place. Senator Suetterlein is
working to do that with our colleagues Delegate Joe McNamara, Delegate
Head. Senator Suetterlein is working to do that and appreciates all of the engaged
citizens that have come out today and the Roanoke County Board of Supervisors for
sharing that goal. Personally as a Roanoke County citizen and as a young person just
mentioned, one of the reasons that I moved to Roanoke County is because of the
freedoms and ability to not feel judged for my conservatism. Incoming Democratic
senate majority leader Dick Saslaw has already introduced a number of bills that are
severely concerning to law abiding gun owners, including the ten round magazine ban
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that has been mentioned. That same law in California was just recently struck down by
a federal judge because it does not comply with the Heller decision in allowing adequate
home defense. Another law is in the process of going through the Supreme Court in
New York which has the possibility of expanding our freedoms. So not only is the
General Assembly going against our Constitutional rights, they are going against recent
court precedence by bypassing these gun control laws. The common saying is,
preservation of liberty requires eternal vigilance. This resolution is good, and I hope the
Board passes it, but it is not enough. This crowd here today is outstanding, but it is not
enough. Simply voting for folks who will protect our freedoms is not enough. It is our
duty in a government by the people and for the people to take personal responsibility in
who writes our laws, and that means organizing to elect individuals who will protect our
Constitutional freedoms. Hundreds of people coming here today to support our Second
Amendment is amazing. But hundreds of people getting organized, knocking on doors
and persuading voters of our ideals is the most effective way for us to preserve our
liberties. And I hope that everyone will not just post on Facebook about their feelings but
get involved with the Roanoke County Republican Committee, join the Committee, help
us elect our Republican members of the senate and the house of delegates and our
local supervisors and also show up on January 20 for lobby day in Richmond to have a
physical presence there to show our representatives across the state how you feel
about their decisions of infringing on our Constitutional rights. Thank you.
Lee Anthony of 3779 Carvins Cove Road out in the Bennett Springs area
stated, “I was born and raised in the Roanoke area, the Roanoke valley. I’ve been
around for a long time. I would like now to speak in opposition to any further attacks on
my Second Amendment rights and particularly those which may be introduced by the
General Assembly in the near future. My extended family has fought for liberty and
freedom as far back as the French and Indian Wars. My concern right now is twofold.
First, there are recent reports of convicted felons being released early by liberal judicial
systems. Second, the Second Amendment rights of law abiding citizens are threatened
by the politicians who meet in Richmond led by a person who has no problem with the
murder of babies before or after their birth. I have put together a significant collection of
military over the past 45 years, and this collection has been the basis for many of my
lectures and museum displays which pass on to the present generation and future
generations the importance of our nation's history as well as the sacrifices which have
been made by those people, those patriots who have served this state and this nation.
Is it going to be necessary for law abiding Virginia citizens to either move out of the
state or to relinquish their legally held artifact collections? We know that Botetourt has
just passed a resolution to become a Second Amendment sanctuary county. I would
urge that Roanoke County also follow suit. Thank you very much for this opportunity to
speak.”
Ron Carlisle of 3464 Colonial Avenue in Roanoke stated, “I’d like to thank
you, Mr. Chairman and members of the Board, for the opportunity to provide input to
you today. Why become a Second Amendment sanctuary? Most of the proposed gun
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laws or restrictions are simply an attempt by a few to impose their will and beliefs on the
majority who are good, law abiding citizens. As with many laws and restrictions being
implemented today, they are an easy simplistic attempt to make the American public
think they are safer when in reality, they do not address the core problems which results
in the horrific incidents about which we are all aware. Restricting the Second
Amendment rights of law abiding, legal gun owners will not have an impact on gun
violence. Such restrictions and law will only serve as false, real feel good measures
which punish the law abiding, legal gun owners and inappropriately and illegally restrict
and deny them their Constitutional rights. Based on Mr. Lubeck’s presentation, it seems
to me that it would require Constitutional amendments to both the United States and the
Virginia Constitutions for any such laws to be passed because there is no doubt they
infringe on the rights of citizens to keep and bear arms. We are fast becoming a society
in which societal problems are being addressed with sweeping, broad-reaching, quick
and easy fixes, quote unquote, which inappropriately restrict and or remove the rights
and freedoms of all citizens because of the actions or beliefs of small groups or
individuals. This has become routine in schools, at public events, and numerous other
venues. The attempts to restrict and or remove the Constitutional rights of law abiding,
legal gun owners is just another example of this trend and an effort to erode the rights
and freedoms of Americans. The implementation of Second Amendment sanctuary
status in Roanoke County will help to prevent this erosion. You as county officials have
the responsibility to ensure that the Constitutional rights of Roanoke County citizens are
not infringed upon or removed. Please do not shirk or abdicate that responsibility.
Implement the measures necessary to make Roanoke County a Second Amendment
sanctuary as soon as possible. It is imperative that Roanoke County declare itself a
Second Amendment sanctuary and stand in solidarity with the other jurisdictions of
southwest Virginia which have done so in order to send a clear and unequivocal
message to the politicians in Richmond threatening to codify a misguided and
erroneous political ideology. The right to keep and bear arms is not just a United States
and Virginia Constitutional right to the citizens of southwest Virginia but rather has been
a way of life for centuries and continues to be today. The repercussions of denying
those rights will be, not maybe or could be, severe, immediate and unavoidable. Thank
you.”
Mary Scanlon of 2970 Brughs Mill Road, Fincastle, Virginia stated, “Thank
you, Chair and Supervisors, for listening and allowing me to speak today. I want to
emphasize that the safe handling and securing of firearms by women is both a deterrent
and an equalizer when a woman is by herself. I am a descendant of a Rockbridge
County, Virginia delegate to Richmond, and on June 26, 1788 he voted for Virginia to
ratify the United States Constitution. In fact it was only passed by ten votes. Why?
Patrick Henry and his impassioned speech on the rights that were not included in our
document. There was a second vote here in Virginia which included those rights.
Virginia really is the home place of the Bill of Rights, so it is personal. My last point is
rather tragic but deals with the recent gun control frenzy. I’ve read the book Why
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Meadow Died written by a grieving father, Andrew Pollack. He pursued on past this
tragedy to try and find answers to why did this happen and how can we stop it from
happening again. His co-author, Max Eden, is an educational expert, and he described
a new educational reform movement that is called “social justice industrial complex.” I
suggest to our media to try and investigate this. There’s a quote from the epilogue at the
end by Andrew Pollock, “Short of banning guns altogether, nothing in the gun control
agenda would have prevented 18-1958 from getting a gun because he looked totally
clean on paper. But rather than try to figure out why a student who everyone was saying
had committed plenty of crimes had nothing on its record, the media treated the
question as a threat to their agenda and marginalized it as a right wing thing.” Later
Andrew Pollack states, “I hope that this book has shown you there are so many school
safety problems that have nothing to do with guns.” As a retired educator, I’m looking at
this as nothing is simple about this recent tragedy as depicted in the media. I’m
suggesting that Virginia citizens and our Virginia lawmakers need to think on their own,
pursue the facts, and not draw conclusions quickly. Thank you Roanoke County for
suggesting the sanctuary county for the Second Amendment, because it is personal.
Thank you.”
Allen Scanlon of 2970 Brughs Mill Road in Fincastle stated, “I thank you
for the opportunity to assemble and express my views today. One may reasonably
wonder if the day will come when those rights will also be in danger. I’m here as a
Virginian and in support of all Virginians who value the law and our Constitution. I’m
fortunate to live in a county where our Board of Supervisors recognizes the U.S. and
Virginia Constitutions and pledge to stand by them as the rule of our county. And I am
equally happy to no longer live in Roanoke City where the citizens’ voice is repeatedly
ignored. We are here today because of the effect and consequences of one person who
is not a Virginian. One person contributed 3.5 million dollars to influence the last
election for our state legislature that averaged $184,000 per seat gained in the Virginia
legislature, and gun control was the focus of his efforts. I have addressed many councils
and many supervisor meetings over the years in various jurisdictions and in even other
states. Sometimes the following decisions were favorable and sometimes they were not.
And I’ve always wondered whether what I had to say or what anybody had to say had
any influence on the people that we were speaking to. I really don’t know the answer to
that. I sent all of you a message Sunday, and it contained the logic of what I feel was a
rational position supporting a Second Amendment sanctuary resolution I feel it made
many important points based in history blended with the logic of a reasonable person. In
hopes that you actually did read my message, I’ll forego repeating it, but I’ll take the
Bloomberg approach today. Politicians hold their position because they seek to be
elected and it is clear that the thing that impacts most politicians isn’t logic or the law
necessarily but what will impact their reelection. I hope the law and logic impact your
decision today, and I am confident that it will. My message here is that I pledge to work
for the defeat of any candidate for any position, in any jurisdiction who refuses to
recognize the U.S. and the Virginia Constitution as the supreme law of the land.
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Concurrently, I pledge to support all candidates in all jurisdictions and in all elections for
those that do recognize it. Numerous articles and various publications proclaim this
Second Amendment sanctuary matter as a fairy tale or fantasy. We are not living in a
fantasy world, thinking this resolution is the end. It is well understood that it is just the
beginning. I submit that wealthy high profile people like Mr. Bloomberg are the ones
who live in a make believe world. This body has not made and cannot make any law
restricting the right to keep and bear arms. I understand that as do my fellow Virginians.
I urge you to approve this resolution and let us continue to fight to achieve a resounding
defeat of any unconstitutional measures. Yes, it is symbolic and so was the Boston Tea
Party.”
Randolph Jefferson English of 5154 Brittany Road in Roanoke County
stated, “The good attorney has explained that you all took an oath of office, lady and
gentlemen. I took an oath also. In 1972, on the occasion of enlisting in the United States
Coast Guard. Something that has stuck with me since that day is, I was told that it was
my responsibility to uphold the Constitution of the United States of America from all
threats, foreign or domestic. What is on the docket in Richmond, I feel is a domestic
threat. I was released from active duty, but I was not released from my oath. Eight
generations ago, the English family was established in Virginia by William English when
he stepped off of a boat in Jamestown. Along the way, our family allied with a family
named Jefferson. You may have heard of my cousin six times removed. His name was
Thomas. In one of his writings, he spoke of the tree of liberty. Some of you may view
those words as a cautionary tale. If you decide to stand with patriots, you are welcome
to come stand beside me. If you decide to bow down to tyrants, you will be
remembered. A line in the sand is just the beginning. The Second Amendment protects
all of the others. Give up this one, and kiss the rest of them goodbye. Thank you for
your time.
Rita Marian of 6375 Boulder Trail Drive, #2085 in Roanoke County stated,
“I’m hoping I can make the three minutes, I’ve timed myself, and I’ve gone over thirty
minutes, so we’ll see. Let’s consider the future of Roanoke County here. Do we have
enough jobs? Enough major employers to ensure steady, reliable, good paying jobs for
all? Are residents a tax base that allows for sustainable, local growth, improvement in
our schools, in our county services, improvement in the county infrastructure? Take a
good hard look around the county. If you answered yes to any of those questions, you
are fooling yourselves. Again, consider the future of Roanoke County. What image of
our county do we want, no, need to project to the rest of Virginia and the country? What
attracts potential employers looking for a place to expand their companies, provide a
comfortable, safe, law abiding lifestyle for their employees? Consider the future of
Roanoke County. A Second Amendment sanctuary county? What message would that
send about Roanoke County? That we only believe in the Second Amendment and
nothing else? What about the rest of the Constitution? If anything, we should pass a
resolution that makes Roanoke County a Constitutional sanctuary county. That way, the
message we send is, we protect all rights under the Constitution and the legitimate rule
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of law. Let’s explore a bit further what a Second Amendment sanctuary is really
intended to communicate. It says, as a county, we will fail to enforce certain legislation
we arbitrarily don’t agree with and instruct our local law enforcement agencies to look
the other way. Hey everybody, you want to break the law? Come on down to Roanoke
County. We don’t mind. I’ll interject here a thought to the Board of Supervisors.
Nonpartisan, independent, national polling indicates that 80% of Americans, including
gun owners and NRA members, favor common sense gun legislation and not the NRA
lobby propaganda. The very people we need to attract to grow Roanoke County are the
ones who will not look favorably on such a resolution and by association, Roanoke
County. My message this evening is quite simple and clear. To turn the answers to the
questions in my opening comments to yes, we must attract sustainable, permanent
business to the county. That business will provide jobs, attract more residents to the
area, increase the tax base, and fuel healthy growth in the county. To do that, we must
have a local government and law enforcement that responsibly follows the law and
actively promotes the public safety. Without, the county will continue to flounder, and
depending on your actions, may indeed spiral further downhill. For the last time, I ask
you to consider the future of Roanoke County. Please vote against the Second
Amendment resolution and send a positive message about Roanoke County. One quick
thing, there is a gentleman in the back who is for this gun sanctuary resolution, and they
asked him why did you sit in the back. And he said, because I’m afraid of gunfire. And
he was being truthful, not being funny. So they even are afraid of this, and he said it,
and I heard it, so they can laugh all they want.”
Steven Richards of 6384 Spring Run Drive stated, “Members of the Board
of Supervisors, yesterday, this same event took place in Roanoke City. However, the
Board, or the Council of Roanoke City administration would not listen. I would pray that
you would listen, because there are many here that have much to say, as you have
realized. Why should you entertain passing this resolution? Simply stated, it’s to send
this message to Richmond and to Washington that Roanoke County stands with the
Constitutions as we have been talking about. Those who advocate gun control believe
that such laws will reduce gun violence and better protect the citizenry, as we may have
heard today. However, there is no evidence that doing so will do any more than gun free
zones have protected us from mass shootings. In the face of obvious lack of
effectiveness as we have seen in violent communities around the United States,
Chicago, for example, many have come to realize that this is all a subterfuge for a larger
agenda, the gutting and downsizing of the Second Amendment into an empty memory
of a former freedom. Why would they want this for America? We know that gun
regulations do not perform, but they still want to strip away this larger right by
administering death by a thousand cuts, so to speak. It can be for only one reason, and
that is to exert government control over a free people. We here today call upon the
Roanoke County Board to pass this resolution and send this clarion shout all the way to
the General Assembly that this Constitution will be protected and none of it will be
disassembled as plotted by those who resent our freedoms and guaranteed by our
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founding fathers and purchased by the blood spilled on many battlefields over the many
years. Members of the Board, please dare to stand with all of us against this wave of
tyranny that has begun.
Bob Crawford, long time Roanoke resident residing at 6620 Shingle Ridge
Road in the County stated, “I wrote these brief remarks assuming that your resolution
be essentially the same as the one that has been adopted in a few dozen other
localities. Now I see that your erstwhile attorney Lubeck has apparently taken out all or
possibly most of the illegal aspects of the resolution, which leave it moot. I will still go
ahead and read my comments because you are associating yourself with that resolution
as it exists in most of those cases if you pass it. We see that in regard to gun safety
regulations, some members of the community feel their Constitutional rights are
abridged or fear that unconstitutional regulations might be passed in the future.
However, because the suggested so-called sanctuary approach calls for legal officials
to violate their Constitutional oaths by illegally refusing to carry out their duties, the
sanctuary approach clearly fails as a solution for protecting constitutional rights. In other
words, the sanctuary approach is in violation of its own stated purpose. I urge you to
spare Roanoke County’s reputation as a friendly place where culture and commerce
thrive in an appealing natural environment. Don’t give us a black eye by declaring our
county a Second Amendment sanctuary area. Thank you.”
Julia Crump of 8533 Martins Creek Road in Roanoke County stated, “Lady
and gentlemen, thank you for the opportunity to speak to you today on issues very
important to me and many other county residents. I would like to thank you for your
work helping to make Roanoke County such a wonderful place to live. I’m a firearms
instructor, competition safety officer, and hold an armed security license. I’ve been a
Virginian for 72 years and a resident of Roanoke County for 52 years. I share the values
of many residents, the right to protect myself and loved ones with legally purchased
firearms, hence the Second Amendment. We wish Roanoke County to join many
Virginia localities in passing a Second Amendment sanctuary resolution and sending a
message to Richmond that we do not agree with their proposed law changes that would
make law abiding citizens who wish to keep their firearms into felons. The criminals will
never give up their weapons and will continue to attack those who cannot defend
themselves. We already have lost to prosecute criminals and some adjustments are
necessary in law enforcement agency communication as well as in the mental health
realm. This is not a gun control issue but a people control issue. It’s become a political
issue. Thank you. Please vote to make Roanoke County a Second Amendment
sanctuary.
David Howutson of 4518 Twelve O’Clock Knob Road, stated “As you can
hear, I’m not from around here originally. But having seen these sorts of laws work in
Australia, they don’t. I used to work at a rifle range outside of Sidney. There would be
days where we would have three or four shooters. And I would hear more gunshots
from my suburban home in Sidney. As for the way the red flag laws work, yeah, they
look great on paper until you realize that someone you annoyed or someone who’ve
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had a relationship with doesn’t like you anymore, phones in an anonymous report, and
all of a sudden, you’ve got nine guys banging on your door at 3 a.m. wanting to know
where all your guns are. People do not realize how quickly, when politicians get a bug in
them and decide they are going to do something, it happens, and it goes downhill very,
very fast. And unfortunately any real reply to them goes uphill very, very slow. I urge
you to say yes, we are a Second Amendment sanctuary. And as every revolution has
been an illegal, unlawful act against someone who is repressing the people rebelling, all
of this is saying, we’ve had enough. No more. If it starts, it starts here, this is the line.
Bring it on. That’s it. Thank you.”
Jonathan Mays of 3432 Green Ridge Court stated, “I’m represented by the
Hollins District. Thank you Mr. Chairman and fellow board members. I didn’t prepare
anything, I just hoped I wasn’t called first so I could respond to some of the criticisms I
heard and what stood out a lot to me, I heard a woman say that there was a lot of fear in
the crowd behind her, and I’ll speak for myself, but I feel like many people would agree
with me. I’m not afraid of a big government man coming to my door to take my guns,
because frankly I don’t trust the government to execute anything properly. I’m not afraid
if Roanoke County is the only county in Virginia that passes a Second Amendment
sanctuary law. What I am afraid of the blue flag behind you says sic semper tyrannis,
death to tyranny, and I’m afraid that we as Virginians, and more broadly, we as
Americans, are starting to fail to recognize what tyranny looks like. We think of tyranny
as a fat man with a crown in Europe inflicting laws on a non-consenting people or a
middle Eastern oil tycoon gassing his own people in the middle of the night. But tyranny
doesn’t happen with an armed population. The first step of any tyrant has to be to
disarm the general population. So I hope that we as Americans and Virginians
recognize tyranny, because if we don’t, we’ll be stomped under it and we will deserve to
be stomped under it. The second thing that I noticed was a woman pointed out that
passing a Second Amendment sanctuary law might deter other people and businesses
from entering Roanoke County. I’ve been active duty Navy for just shy of five years
now, and I’ve done a lot of traveling, and every time I come home, it’s a different
landscape. I’m driving down the road, oh, when did that get there, when did this get
there. There’s new construction. So I don’t see how not, we’re currently enforcing
Second Amendment laws, and you have the right to 30 round magazines, assault rifles,
so how I don’t see how continuing to support those would deter any future people from
coming to Roanoke County. And if it would, I’d like to talk to someone about how that
might happen. Thank you for your time.”
David Courey of 3419 Ashneade Drive SW stated, “Thank you for
affording me the opportunity to speak. Considering the amount of discussion on the
subject, it is difficult not to be redundant. However, the subject does bear repetition. We
are sickened by the proposals of our socialist government in Richmond wanting to
oppose unconstitutional laws infringing upon the rights of citizens to own firearms. It is a
fact that the criminals that wish to do harm are not even fazed by gun laws. Criminals
buy guns by illegal means. They obtain them through underground and out of reach of
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any government control. It is a sad fact that no gun control law can eliminate this. It is
the law abiding citizen that is harmed by these gun control laws by not being allowed
the means to self-protection. Let us understand that the Constitution does not say the
government will decree the right of the citizens to keep and bear arms. The Constitution
says that the government shall not infringe upon the right of citizens to keep and bear
arms. This is not a right that the government has granted to us. It is an unalienable right
that the government is forbidden to take away from us. If our legislature in Richmond is
to make arms illegal for citizens to own, the police would be so busy arresting honest
citizens, they would have no time to keep criminals from their nefarious deeds. In the
words of Charles Dickens, let me offer you a tale of two cities: Houston and Chicago.
Houston has very minimal guns laws and a low crime rate. Chicago has strict gun laws
and is rife with crime and very high murder rate. Both cities are the same population and
demographics. Clearly gun control laws cause crime. Let the word go forth to friend and
foe alike that the sleeping giant has been awakened. This is our country and we mean
to take it back. We will no longer tolerate attacks upon the United States Constitution
and particularly the Second Amendment or the Bill of Rights. I urge you to have the
intestinal fortitude to support the people that you serve and not side with the nefarious
governor and newly elected legislature in Richmond. You are here, not in Richmond,
and you should support the people you represent, not the evil governor that intends to
infringe upon our rights granted by the Constitution. Thank you for allowing me to voice
my opinion.”
Max Beyer of 2402 Coachman Drive in Roanoke, Virginia, stated, “Thank
you Mr. Chairman, members of the Board. I would like to commend the Board for its
actions to favorably consider supporting the United States Second Amendment of the
Constitution. In a way it’s sad to find this action necessary. That patriotism and pride,
the very basis of our republic is so lacking. But as President Reagan pointed out, our
liberty is just one generation from being destroyed. And it’s necessary for each
generation to recognize the frailty of our institutions and our obligations to reaffirm its
foundation. Our defense and reaffirmation rightly begins in our home and local
community. And it is refreshing and entirely appropriate that such recognition has been
initiated by this body, our local county government. It should be comforting to you that
by this action, you are expressing the views of most of its citizens and that you have
been elected to represent. In turn, it is comforting to us, your electors, that we have
selected you as representatives who had the personal patriotism and political courage
to speak out at a time of national dissention and misguided activism. Be assured in your
defense of the Constitution that we are united. There’s little space between you and
those you represent. Unfortunately, there is a significant difference between most local
citizens and our local written press, a business owned and operated, controlled by
people who are located physically, morally, and philosophically outside this region. As
we citizens have long known, that paper, The Roanoke Times, does not represent us in
any meaningful way. And it is anathema to this region and its beliefs and culture.
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Accordingly, I would encourage you, Board members, to disregard their opinions on this
and any other matter. Thank you for your time.
Reverend Dusty Kenyon Fiedler stated, “I am a retired Presbyterian
minister. I live at 5313 Cromwell Court. The last time I was here, I came to pray for your
meeting just like Reverend Callison did earlier. As a preacher, I know that brevity is of
the best, so I am here to be quick. I’m here today not to try to change any minds. I know
that I am in the distinct minority, but I am here to let you, the Board of Supervisors,
know that there are many of us, believe it or not, in Roanoke County, who would hope
that you would not move to make Roanoke County a sanctuary county because,
because we have been listening to our children and to our grandchildren who have
begged us to keep them safe. We hope that today you will turn down this request just
like your colleagues in Roanoke City did yesterday because we do not believe that guns
are the answer to our safety and to our peace. The word sanctuary was originally a
religious term. Sanctuary meant a sacred place, a haven, a place of safety, free of
violence. And that is what we want for everyone, those of us who hope you will act not
to accept this movement. Thank you so much.”
Gail Burruss of 703 North Battery Drive, Hollins district, stated, “I am a
native and proud Virginian, a Roanoke County resident who enjoys the gifts of wild
game from my hunting friends, someone who knows how to shoot, and I do it
responsibly and well. And I’m here today to ask you not to approve a resolution that
would declare Roanoke County, meaninglessly, I would say, a Second Amendment
sanctuary. There is no legislation that has been prefiled in the General Assembly that is
inconsistent with what courts throughout the nation have ruled is Constitutional. They
are consistent with the Supreme Court’s 2008 Heller decision, which says, and I quote,
like most rights, the rights secured by the Second Amendment is not unlimited. What
has been prefiled is bills that would make it less likely that guns would be available to
those who are more likely to present a threat to public safety, people who have been
convicted of a felony, perpetrators of domestic violence, and people who are at risk of
self-harm by gun violence due to a serious mental illness. It’s pertinent that 51% of
people who commit suicide do so with the use of a firearm. That’s from the Federal
Department of Justice. Virginia currently has some of the most lax gun laws in the
country. We are known as a gun running state with countless guns bought in our state
and sold on the streets in other states. We need to limit the number of handguns that a
person can buy each month. How can that, or universal background checks, adversely
affect a well-regulated militia? This resolution, if approved, would undermine the rule of
law. You would actually tell your law enforcement professionals to ignore laws of the
Commonwealth of Virginia that may or may not be passed in the 2020 Virginia General
Assembly session? Those advocating for this resolution are seeking sanctuary from the
law. What would be next? If somebody doesn’t like county speed limits, would there be
an effort for Roanoke County to become a speed limit sanctuary? While merely
symbolic, because of Virginia’s Dillon rule, this resolution would undermine the rule of
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law, and I ask you not to embarrass the citizens of our county by approving a resolution
that is about histrionics and hysteria.
Katherine Cable stated, “I am actually a resident of the city, but some of
your county residents felt to come yesterday to my Roanoke City meeting, so I'm
returning the favor, and I’ll keep it very brief because I’m a city resident. I just want to let
you know that I intend to encourage businesses to locate in a safe locale, where gun
laws will be respected and enforced, where, if you have a, sorry the echo is a little
distracting . . . so my point is I intend to encourage businesses, and I’m sure Roanoke
City intends to encourage businesses, to locate to the city instead of the county, that we
intend to recruit residents and young families on the basis of, you know, you will not be
going to school with other school children who will have easy access to firearms to bring
to school or to commit violence against your children. In Roanoke County, you’ve had
multiple, you’ve had multiple, you’ve had multiple, middle schoolers die by gun suicide,
and I know you’re aware of this. Gun access amongst our children is a serious problem.
And Roanoke City intends to address this serious problem by taking up and following
new gun laws on child access prevention and working to prevent children from having
access to firearms. These are the kinds of safety and common sense provisions that are
being put forth. And I truly believe that Roanoke City has a growing populace. We have
a younger, more vibrant city than we ever have for quite some time. Roanoke County is
losing residents. You’re aging faster than the city. Ask yourself, is this the kind of
resolution that will bring young people to your city, or to your county? The very age of
this room should tell you something. Thank you.
Bill Brown of 3767 Harborwood Road stated, “I appreciate the opportunity
to speak. I just got a couple of things that kind of come up with listening to the
comments. A lot of people have said that this is a symbolic gesture, which it’s really not.
What it is that our tax dollars are not going to be used to tear down the Second
Amendment, so it’s not symbolic at all, it means something, and it’s important that our
tax dollars are not used for that. And some of the things that they’re proposing are just, I
mean, I don’t know who thought these things up, about especially I heard the one
gentleman talk about how that if he can’t train anybody anymore because it will be a
class 6 felony. And, I mean, to get better gun control, you need better knowledge, you
need better training. If anything they should pass laws that require better training. They
should pass laws that kids in schools are trained with guns. They have driver’s ed in
school, why not have gun education in schools? So there’s a lot of things that people
are not looking at that they should look at. One of the other ladies said that she heard
that somebody was, somebody had fear. But the only real fear I have is that the working
class is not going to be heard anymore. Thank you for your time.”
Vanetta McAlexander of 1845 Bridle Lane stated, “I shot guns at such a
young age, that much to the delight of my brothers, I didn't know the difference between
a shotgun and a rifle, nor the resulting kick between the two. I like skeet shooting, I’ve
shot an AR-16 and an M-14. I have taught in school and certified several thousand
young folks in hunter safety classes. I am familiar with guns, and I am not against gun
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ownership. But just as I’m not a proponent of unregulated access to many things, and I’ll
just use vehicles as an example, I’m not a proponent of unregulated access to guns. We
have people in this room saying they don’t want laws passed in Richmond to be
followed, but I’ll bet I could ask them if they could tell me what those laws are, and I’ll
bet if we went through with them one by one, they would agree that that law’s not bad.
Now in the interest of time, let me just do a couple of them. Allowing extreme risk
protection orders. So if someone threatens to kill themselves or their wife or children,
their guns can be temporarily taken. Making it illegal to recklessly leave loaded firearms
around children. Now that’s a law that you just couldn’t get behind, right? Letting
localities regulate whether guns are allowed in government buildings. So this group
here, with all the hostility evidenced in this room and the one upstairs, could say that no
guns are allowed in that room. Many of us use an illogical argument that if any laws are
made, it might lead to our guns being taken away so we can’t support any laws. If we
did that for other aspects of our life, again, using cars as an example, we’re saying that
someone continually convicted of drunk driving can’t have their license removed
because it might lead to all of us losing our licenses. That argument has the same merit
as the one we’re using with guns. No merit. I'm embarrassed that supervisors and
constituents where I live would even agree to consider a resolution encouraging our
elected officials to break the law by not enforcing the laws. We’re allowing the very
organization, the NRA, that began to, the reason it began was to teach marksmanship
to the militia, and that more recently sponsored my gun safety classes, and that now
only exists to appease the gun manufacturing lobby, we’re allowing that organization to
use scare tactics to lead us as though it is the pied piper and we are its unthinking
followers to bring up resolutions such as this. But we elected you to represent all of us
and to be smarter than this. If these folks want to be the rats and unsuspecting children
that followed the pied piper, I ask that you not be the sheep bullied by them into passing
this ridiculous resolution. Thank you.”
Connie McKay of 4400 Old Catawba Road in the Catawba District stated,
“I also have a home in the Roanoke City which unfortunately was a black mark, as
some people are saying, as yesterday’s lack of courage to vote on this. My husband is a
disabled vet of almost 21 years and I served right along with him. And I believe that this
county should be a sanctuary. The reason I believe that is because he fought for the
freedoms of all of the Constitution. The Second Amendment is very important, because
as soon as you drop this, or you let this not be a sanctuary city, it is a slippery slope
before they take your next right away from you. I believe that Roanoke County should
be a sanctuary city. There is a lot of people out here with a lot of guns, and I believe that
if you think that the schools will not be protected is delusional because there’s going to
be crime and people that are going to be getting guns all over the place. Why take it
away from the law abiding citizens? We deserve better than that. By sitting there having
somebody in the north, in Roanoke, I mean in Richmond, sit there and tell us that we
can’t own our guns, that is just, it’s delusional to think that it’s going to stop a crime.
Taking the guns is only going to bring in more crime. Sorry, I believe that. So for these
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people that sit there and say that the age in this room, it shows wisdom, because there
is hundreds of people which the media does not see, is those rooms up there are
standing room only for the people that are believing in the sanctuary cities. I believe it is
your responsibility as us that had put you there to listen to your people, and we are
saying that we want a sanctuary city.
Roger Dixon of 3746 Bradshaw Road in Salem, Virginia, in Roanoke
County stated, “I want to talk a little bit about the history and what we can learn from
history, and what’s been forgotten about history. The Roman Empire was one of the
greatest of all times. The Roman Empire had the best troops, had the best equipment,
had the best leaders, had the best supply line. Due to the politics, the Roman Empire
fell apart from the inside, it destructed itself. In 1938 Adolph Hitler informed the German
citizens that it would be in their best interests for them to bring their firearms down to the
police station, have them register it, and that way if there’s any kind of crime committed,
that we could find the criminals. By 1943, they had confiscated all the guns. And on his
way to confiscating all the guns, he went ahead and almost captured all of Europe with
the exception of Switzerland. Switzerland had enacted a law that says all citizens are
required by law to own a firearm. Let’s go back to why Hitler was elected to his
leadership position. People often ask why would somebody elect a man like Adolph
Hitler into power. Well, Adolph Hitler didn’t sound like a dictator when he was running
for office. He sounded like an American politician. I’d like to fast forward to my young
years in the 70s, sitting on the front porch on Independence Day. My uncles would
come in, and they would tell stories. They took us all around the world, the liberation of
France, to the Pacific where my uncle was shot shooting down kamikaze pilots crashing
planes into the side of the USS Hornet, it was later shot by a torpedo, sunk to the
bottom of the Pacific. My uncle survived the shark infested waters only to come home to
Wytheville, Virginia and drink himself to death. I also answered the knock on the door at
3:00 a.m. at Fort Bragg, North Carolina. ‘Where we going, don’t worry about it, you’ll get
the word, grab your rucksack, discharge, get your weapons out of the armory, we’ll let
you know.’ I did what I had to do to put the stop to Communism, Socialism, with the
Russians and the Cubans in the West Indies. I hope that this is not what it’s come to in
the United States to have to come in here and beg the Board Members to protect our
Constitutional rights. God bless our troops in the United States military, God bless our
commander in chief, and God bless the United States of America.”
Thomas Whiter of 6295 Martindale Avenue stated, “I just wanted to, I’m
not very well prepared, but I wanted to talk to you all. I’m not originally from here. One of
the reasons I chose Virginia was because of the Second Amendment rights that we
have. I come from a country where we don’t have Second Amendment rights, or if we
do, they are very, very hard to get. I think it’s very important. I’ve seen what’s happened
in the U.K. I’ve seen violent crime. I was in school when we had a school shooting, not
at that school, but I was in school, going to school at the same time, and what they did
back in the 70s and the 80s was they made sure that everybody registered their
firearms, and then what happened was, is that after we had the school shooting, they
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went round and knocked on the doors of everybody who had firearms, and they said,
you’ve got to hand them in in six months, if you don’t, we’re locking you up. And what
happened was violent crime went up 400%. It’s a big problem, it’s something that’s very
near and dear to my heart. I’ve got two little girls. I train with them. I was in the British
military. I later worked with the U.S. military as a contractor, a defense contractor. I’ve
been to lots of not so nice countries where they don’t have the rights and freedoms that
we have to. They are oppressed by the dictators of their countries, and I can see the
potential for a country that doesn’t have firearms rights for that to be a slow creep. I
don’t think it’s something that’s just going to happen overnight, but today we’ll be talking
about 10 rounds, magazine capacity rounds, and then it might be that in my children’s
generation, they might be standing here trying to defend a five round magazine. Or
maybe it will be everybody’s down to revolvers. As my daughters grow up, women are
lots of fantastic, wonderful attributes that women have. I believe a lot of women are
very, very clever. My daughters are a lot smarter than I am, they pick up on a lot of
things that I don’t. But they are the fairer sex. They are not strong as the average man.
And I want them to be able to defend themselves. If somebody were to break in, and it’s
the middle of the night, I would want them to be able to defend themselves against that.
I’m a big guy. A lot of people move out of the way when I walk down the road. When I’m
an old man, I want to be able to protect myself because I’m going to become old and
frail too. And it might be that I need more than a 10 round magazine. If there’s several
people that come in and they’re hopped up on some kind of drug, should a law abiding
citizen not be allowed to protect themselves? Should we not be allowed to train so that
we’re proficient with those firearms? I think these are all very important things, and I
hope that you guys consider that today, and I hope that you decide to let this become a
sanctuary county. Thank you for your time.”
Sergeant Matt Surrenant of 8005 Xenon Drive stated, “I’m a combat medic
with the United States Army, and I’ve been faithfully serving my country for the past 14
years. I’m also a licensed personal protection specialist through the DCJS, and I carry a
firearm every day for work. I’ve served in Afghanistan with the 82nd Airborne Division
from 2010 to 2011, been deployed all over the world in service to this great country. I’m
highly trained and proficient with firearms and as such wish to speak to you today
regarding the unconstitutional laws that the Democrats are trying to push upon law
abiding citizens. Since our country’s founding, the Second Amendment has been
interpreted no other way than it was meant to be interpreted. Allow me to recite it for
you: “A well-regulated Militia, being necessary to the security of a free State, the right of
the people to keep and bear Arms, shall not be infringed.” I have a very hard time
accepting this to be interpreted any other way than what one of our founding fathers
James Madison intended it to be. In Federalist Papers No. 46, Madison wrote how a
federal army could be kept in check by state militias, a standing army would be opposed
by a militia. He argued that state militias would be able to repeal the danger of a federal
army. It may well be doubted whether a militia thus circumstanced could ever be
conquered by such a proportion of regular troops. He contrasted the federal government
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of the United States to the European kingdoms, which he described as “afraid to trust
the people with arms” and assured that the existence of a subordinate government
forms of a barrier against the enterprise of ambition. Knowing this, I have to doubt the
mental competence of any elected leader who blatantly disregards these facts and
pursues a way to disarm a free people. It fits an evil agenda, and if these laws pass, I
assure you many more greater evils will soon follow. These proposals are a slap in the
face to the men and women who have fought and died to uphold their oath to defend
the Constitution against all enemies, foreign and domestic. Today I not only ask that you
make Roanoke a safe haven for patriots that believe in our Constitutional rights, I also
call upon you to unify against these criminals who would try to disarm us. Send a letter
to Richmond and ask for the impeachment of anyone trying to deface our great nation’s
Constitution. You owe it to your children and all of the citizens who elected you, whether
they agree with this stance or not, to uphold your oath to the Constitution. For now, I
can only pray that this evil is put to rest and our nation’s history of proud firearms
owners can continue to freely express their God-given rights. Remember, all that is
necessary for evil to thrive is for good men to do nothing. Thank you for your time and
God bless.”
Jason Glass of 5212 Sundance Road, Salem, Virginia, stated, “I’m about
to go on camera and admit that I am willing to become a Class 6 and Class 5 felon in
the near future, which will invoke the Red Flag Law if somebody so sees fit. Under a lot
of these regulations, if you take the magazines and the AR15s, if I had grandchildren,
they would never get out of jail, if you counted each one. I’m here to tell you why I need
an AR15.Genocide is the intentional action to destroy a people. Since 1900, 57 million
people have been killed by their governments. Not that I have anything against
government; it is a necessary evil. And I think that we do it, but it ought to be restrained.
And it ought to be restrained by the Second Amendment. I am a part of the Virginia
Militia. Anyone who is in this state who has a gun is considered a part of the Virginia
Militia, and I’ll read that to you: The militia of the Commonwealth of Virginia shall consist
of all able-bodied residents of the Commonwealth who are citizens of the United States
and all other able-bodied persons resident in the Commonwealth who have declared
their intention to become citizens of the United States, who are at least 16 years of age
and, except as hereinafter provided, not more than 55 years of age. The militia shall be
divided into three classes: the National Guard, which includes the Army National Guard
and the Air National Guard; the Virginia Defense Force; and the unorganized militia.
That would be the 2.5 million gun owners in this state. Now let that sink in. Thirty
percent of this state, roughly 25 percent would—all of the guns they own will become
illegal under most of these regulations. It’s ridiculous. I, for one, will not comply. Period.
Don’t know what that means for my life, and I have a good one. I live in a wonderful
country and in a wonderful state. We live in a place where you can worship whoever
you want, where you can whatever you want, where you can be whoever you want to be
no matter where you’ve been at in life. If you decide to, you can make a good life for
yourself here. And I think that those things are guarded by the Constitution. And
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although I have not been to law school, I am fairly certain that any law passed which
goes against the Constitution is null and void. And any person who has sworn their
allegiance to and their oath to the Constitution can disregard that law. Thank you very
much.”
Douglas Coordes of 7887 Hollins Court Drive in Roanoke County stated,
“As a former military officer, competitive small bore and high-power rifle shooter, and
father of four daughters, I urge you to make Roanoke County a Second Amendment
sanctuary. By the way, two of my daughters did decrease the deer population over the
weekend. The reasons are as follows: 1) The Code of Virginia, 44-1 Composition of a
militia. “The militia of the Commonwealth of Virginia shall consist of all able-bodied
residents of the Commonwealth who are citizens of the United States and all other able-
bodied persons resident in the Commonwealth who have declared their intention to
become citizens of the United States, who are at least 16 years of age and, except as
hereinafter provided, not more than 55 years of age. The militia shall be divided into
three classes: the National Guard, which includes the Army National Guard and the Air
National Guard; the Virginia Defense Force; and the unorganized militia. With the laws
which are being proposed by the state legislature, the proper arming of the unorganized
militia would be greatly curtailed as historically the militia members were required to
provide their own weapons 2) The laws being proposed would only affect law-abiding
citizens of the Commonwealth. Those who have evil in their heart to do dastardly deeds
will not be concerned with following the laws. 3) Home invasions typically involve
multiple intruders against a single homeowner. I do not want my ability to protect myself
or my family being hampered by the number of bullets which I may have in my firearm.
4) The provisions in the proposed laws would drastically affect sport shooters and
hunters. The AR rifle—which stands ArmaLite rifle and not assault rifle—is used in
competitive and sports shooting. The cost to modify such a rifle to meet the proposed
laws is equivalent to the cost of a new rifle by the time you pay for parts and gunsmith
services. Hunters and shooters have collapsible stocks. It always the firearm to grow as
they do. Pistol grips, thumbhole stocks, classical stocks, and flash suppressors are
mere cosmetics and do nothing to affect the actual functioning of a firearm. In
conclusion, I know that we shall be legally bound by the laws which are passed by the
Virginia Legislature. But if Roanoke County joins with other counties in declaring itself a
Second Amendment sanctuary will further help send a message that our rights to keep
and bear arms should not be infringed upon. Thank you.”
Randall Horton of 324 10th Street in Vinton stated, “I thank you for the
opportunity to come before you today to speak on the concerns of the people of
Roanoke County and the town of Vinton. Yesterday, I and many others spoke before
the Roanoke City Council. Unfortunately, our words fell on deaf ears having already
made the decision before the hearing even started. Before even hearing a single person
speak they’d already made their minds up. The major rendered his decision without
even a moment’s deliberation. His decision was to just not even address it, to do
absolutely nothing. And I pray that this is not the case here in Roanoke County. By now
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you’ve heard people who have presented statistics and facts concerning the
Constitution, the rule of law, and the complete and utter ineffectiveness of gun laws on
the criminal element, and how such laws only affect and diminish the protection of
responsible, honest, and law-abiding gun owners. I come to you today as a minister and
representative of our Heavenly Father, as well as the people of Roanoke County and
Vinton. I never thought in my lifetime that the citizens of this country would have to turn
to local, city, and county governments for the protection against tyranist \[sic\] and
unconstitutional laws imposed by the state. It’s been said guns don’t create a sanctuary.
We seek not to create a sanctuary with guns, but a sanctuary to protect our right to
keep and bear them. Set forth by our founding forefathers who knew if we lose our
Second Amendments right our First Amendment rights will soon follow. And then others
after that. It’s been said guns take the lives our children. The guns themselves take the
lives of no one. We took prayer and even God Himself out of our schools. We
abandoned the teachings of righteousness, respect, responsibility, God, and country,
replacing them with a culture where violence is glorified in music, on television and
entertainment. And then allow these things to raise and teach our children. But this is
what’s \[unintelligible\]. And wonder why they kill each other in school and on the street.
Rather than place the blame in the home where it belongs, they blame it on the guns.
My daddy gave me my first rifle when I was eight years old. Taught me to use it
responsibly. Taught me respect. When I did wrong, he patted my behind. I still have that
rifle. And in almost fifty years, that rifle nor any other firearm that I own has ever harmed
another person. Thank you. And I ask that God help you in your decision, and God
bless you all.”
Jacob Cochran of 723 Delaware Street stated, “Hello Council, everyone.
I’m no public speaker. I’m not good speaking in front of crowds, whatnot. But our
Second Amendment clearly states that a well-regulated militia being necessary to the
security of a free state. The right of people to keep and bear arms shall not be infringed,
and infringed, that’s actively breaking terms of \[unintelligible\] agreement. This is
unlawful and in direct violation of our constitutional rights. And it is our God-given right.
Jesus said, Luke 22:36, “But now whoever has a purse or a bag must take it, and
whoever does not have a sword must sell his cloak and buy one.” Luke 11:21, “When a
strong man fully armed guards his own house, his palace and goods are safe.” And I’m
going to go back to what George Washington said, “A free people not only be armed
and disciplined, but they should have sufficient arms and ammunition to maintain a
status of independence from any who might attempt to abuse them,” which would their
own government. If y’all do not pass this for Roanoke County to become a Second
Amendment sanctuary, y’all would be breaking an oath. Y’all took an oath to protect our
laws and our Constitution. It’s just kinda crazy that these people have to take time out of
their days to come out here and argue this because it’s honestly insanity. People need
to keep and bear arms. That’s all I have to say.”
Ryan Brook of 5455 Winterset Drive stated, “It’s at Cave Spring, part of
Supervisor Assad’s district. I want to thank the chairman, vice chairman, and
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supervisors for allowing us to speak today. I’ve been a Roanoke County resident since
the day I was born. I served in the Army. Currently an Army officer for the last eight
years. And more importantly, I’m a citizen of the U.S., though, under the Constitution
and the Bill of Rights and subject thereto. I’ve worked with the County before with some
of the past County attorneys, Attorney Mahoney and Kuhnel. Worked with Supervisor
Assaid on some of these gun issues and tried to get the County to straighten out some
of their code that had fallen behind times. I believe the Board has made a lot of
corrections to that code and has even reduced the concealed handgun permit fee,
thankfully, although not quite to the low level we would have liked. There are so many
state and federal laws already on the books. And gun owners are not against illegal
uses of firearms by criminals; we want the criminals prosecuted. But that is not on the
firearm that caused the crime; it is on the criminal. And criminals do not follow the law.
Kneejerk emotional reactions to try and prevent gun violence using some of these,
quote, common sense laws, do nothing for actually preventing the shootings, but create
more burden on the law-abiding citizens. Usually this wanting to pass more gun laws to
help prevent shootings from a good place with good intentions. But when was the last
time you saw a criminal follow the law? Inherently they don’t; that’s what makes them a
criminal. There is no statistical evidence to suggest that more gun control laws will lower
crime. Many more gun laws have been past and never rescinded. And there are so
many on the books already. Any further laws to limit our right to keep and bear arms is
simply unacceptable. Every compromise has been gun owners’ rights further infringed
upon while the Democrats or those wishing for the feel-good laws to be passed get what
they wanted. Although some courts have ruled these proposed laws as constitutional,
historically those courts have not used strict scrutiny under which many other rights are
judged upon. Already proven ineffective and some even ruled in conflict with the Heller
decision include assault weapons bans, which was highly cosmic; magazine capacity
limits and one-handgun-a-month laws; and gun-free zones. People arguing that back in
the day they had muskets not the technological firearms we have today are ill informed
because they did have pepper-box revolvers and other high-capacity firearms back in
the day. And Adams even said that the Second Amendment was applicable to owning a
canon for a normal civilian. Universal background checks do nothing but de facto
registration red flag gun laws though well-intentioned do nothing but unlawful
confiscation without due process. I’m closing. Second Amendment sanctuaries show
Richmond that their level of disconnect with the majority of their state based on their
currently proposed gun legislation. Thirty-one counties out of ninety-four in Virginia are
now Second Amendment sanctuaries, which is a third of the state just about. That says
something. Show you listen to the majority of your constituents who showed up today
and honor your oath as an oath keeper not an oath breaker to the Constitution. I took an
oath in the Army to uphold and defend the Constitution of the United States. And so
help me God, I will. I implore you to pass this sanctuary resolution and make Roanoke
County a Second Amendment sanctuary. Thank you.”
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Jonathan Payne of 532 Dexter Road stated, “As an average American
citizen, I conduct myself towards my fellow man in kindness and longsuffering, seeking
not conflict but harmony in all that I do, believing not in hate of violence as an effective
means of resolution, rather in communication and debate. These things being true, I do,
however, harbor deeply within my heart and soul for acts of willful injustice a hatred,
abhorrence, and righteous anger so great that it is for this specific reason that I speak
today. For the Founding Fathers were abundantly clear: The right of the people to keep
and bear arms shall not be infringed. In spite of these great words, we stand now on the
edge of the greatest injustice any member of mankind can know. Let not the direness of
this situation be lost on any among you today. Make no mistake. The Second
Amendment does not exist purely for the purpose of hunting or self-defense. These are
but mere benefits. The true purpose of our God-given right affirmed by the United
States Constitution is outlined in our great Declaration of Independence. Quote, “But
when a long train of abuses and usurpations, pursuing invariably the same Object
evinces a design to reduce them under absolute Despotism, it is their right, it is their
duty, to throw off such Government, and to provide new Guards for their future security.”
We the American people are being disarmed for one reason and one reason only:
because a corrupt government cannot stand while there are good men with the means
to resist it. The evil powers that be are not after your guns; they’ve after your freedoms.
For they see absolutely domination and power over you. Your weapons, your courage,
and your convictions are all that stand in the way of ultimate evil. If we do not resist now
in times of relative peace, we will be powerless to fight in times of absolute tyranny. We
have in place a system of government intended to represent the wishes of the people,
which is why it is imperative that you, the members of local government, hear now the
wishes of the people as we make them known loud and clear. For the truths that we
hold to be self-evident are being forcibly taken from us. As public servants of the
American people, it is your civic duty to listen to our pleadings and act according to
morality and natural law, laws granted to us by God and affirmed by the founding
documents of our great nation. True American patriots, of whom there are many
amongst us today, stand at the ready, ever watchful. For if our system of government
fails to uphold our natural rights by protecting us from wicked usurpations, the security
of freedom then falls upon American patriots. For patriots are the true guardians of
freedom and the final line of defense against absolute tyranny. And while a Second
Amendment resolution now may only postpone the inevitable evil being brought upon us
by the traitors in power, it does buy us more time to live peacefully. However, if you fail
your God-appointed duties to represent the people whom you serve, then you will have
willfully failed the only civil means of the people to reach peaceful resolution. And this is
my last paragraph. So I implore you, the members of the Board of Supervisors, you
must vote to protect our God-given rights to keep and bear arms. For without a means
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of defense, all other rights are subject to removal. For if you fail today, if you stand on
the side of evil by allowing the natural rights of every citizen you serve to be stamped
out, your dereliction of your duty will be an unmistakable signal to the American people
that you have willfully and recklessly abandoned your sacred oath to uphold the true
founding law of the land. And in doing so, the responsibility of protection of a free state
falls from your hands into the hand of every American patriot. Thank you.”
RESOLUTION 120319-1 DECLARING ROANOKE COUNTY A
SECOND AMENDMENT SANCTUARY COUNTY
WHEREAS, the members of the Board of Supervisors have taken an oath to
defend and uphold the constitutions of the United States and Virginia; and
WHEREAS, the Second Amendment to the United States Constitution reads: “A
well-regulated Militia, being necessary to the security of a free State, the right of the
people to keep and bear Arms, shall not be infringed”; and
WHEREAS, Article I, § 13 of the Virginia Constitution reads: “A well-regulated
militia, composed of the body of the people, trained to arms, is the proper, natural, and
safe defense of a free state, therefore, the right of the people to keep and bear arms
shall not be infringed”; and
WHEREAS, the Board is concerned that certain legislation pre-filed for
introduction in the 2020 Virginia General Assembly, and certain legislation that has
been introduced in the United States Congress, may have the effect of infringing on the
rights of law-abiding citizens to bear arms, as guaranteed by the United States and
Virginia Constitutions; and
WHEREAS, the Board is concerned that passage of these bills, imposing
unnecessary burdens on law-abiding citizens and inviting further regulations and
burdens, and if to be enforced by local officials, will impose on the County unfunded
mandates, whether as a formal mandate or as a practical requirement of enforcing the
law; and
WHEREAS, the General Assembly has expressed its intent, in Section 15.2-915
of the Code of Virginia, 1950, as amended, that rules, regulations, and administrative
actions “governing the purchase, possession, transfer, ownership, carrying, storage or
transporting of firearms, ammunition, or components or combination thereof,” other than
workplace rules or other actions “expressly authorized by statute,” is an exclusive
preserve of State government; and
WHEREAS, local law enforcement is the responsibility and preserve of the Chief
of Police, the Sheriff and the Commonwealth’s Attorney; and the Sheriff and
Commonwealth’s Attorney are independently elected officers under the Virginia
Constitution; and
WHEREAS, nevertheless, the Board wishes to express its sentiments, together
with the sentiments of the Roanoke County community as a whole, with regard to this
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important matter, and its continuing intent to take lawful action to protect these
important rights.
NOW THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED BY THE BOARD OF SUPERVISORS
OF ROANOKE COUNTY, VIRGINIA, that:
1. Roanoke County is hereby declared a Second Amendment Sanctuary
County, wherein the rights of law-abiding citizens to keep and bear arms for the
purposes of lawful self-defense, community defense, and hunting, as protected by the
United States and Virginia Constitutions, is part of the fabric of the community since
before the foundation of the Republic, and is and must be respected and celebrated;
and
2. Roanoke County urges the General Assembly, the United States
Congress, and other agencies of State and Federal government not to adopt, accept, or
enact any provision, law, or regulation that may infringe, have the tendency to infringe,
or place any additional burdens on the right of law-abiding citizens to bear arms; and
3. Roanoke County expresses its intent to continue to take lawful actions to
protect and support the rights of its citizens to keep and bear arms as guaranteed by the
United States and Virginia Constitutions; and
4. Roanoke County opposes, in particular, any provision, law, or regulation
that may impose additional regulatory burdens on its citizens or result in mandates,
whether mandatory or practical, to expend additional public funds on enforcement or
administration of such laws, or to require the constitutional officers of the locality to do
so; and
5. The County Administrator is directed to cause true copies of this resolution
to be forwarded to the County’s representatives in the General Assembly and the United
States Congress, and to the Governor of Virginia; and
6. This resolution is effective upon adoption.
On motion of Supervisor Peters to adopt the resolution, seconded by Supervisor
Radford and carried by the following recorded vote:
AYES: Supervisors Assaid, Hooker, Radford, Peters, North
NAYS: None
IN RE: PROCLAMATIONS, RESOLUTIONS, RECOGNITIONS AND AWARDS
1. Recognition of Roanoke County Public Library as one of 10 Top
Innovators of 2019 (Shari Henry, Director of Library Services)
IN RE: BRIEFINGS
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1. Briefing to discuss with the Board of Supervisors the 2020 Real
Estate Assessment and Roanoke Valley Economic Conditions
(Kenneth Fay, Director of Real Estate; Meredith Thompson,
Budget Division Director; Steve Elliott, Budget Manager)
Briefing was given.
IN RE: NEW BUSINESS
1. Resolution adopting a Legislative Program for the 2020 session of
the Virginia General Assembly and petitioning the General
Assembly to favorably consider the topics and issues addressed
herein (Peter Lubeck, Acting County Attorney)
Mr. Lubeck introduced Eldon James and went over the changes made
after the agenda was published.
Chairman North commented with regard to SmartScale funding, we had a
dialog with Senator Newman back in August. We need to go back and revisit that.
What we are really asking for is a revisit on the calculation. Delegate Thomas was
walking encyclopedia of information and hopes that we can get some of that before he
goes off to retirement. Mr. James advised he has worked with Delegate Thomas and
his spiel from last year that dealt with return on investment and provided it to Delegate
McNamara. He is looking really hard at that and we will continue. He will see Delegate
Thomas at a meeting tomorrow and he will follow-up. Chairman North stated as far as
certain comments our stance in the agenda on SmartScale was a tax increase is
incorrect. We are saying there are funds laying around somewhere else and let’s put
some of them back into SmartScale so that maybe SW Virginia can get a little bit more
than we have in the past. Mr. James advised there is nothing in the County’s platform
that asks for a tax increase. Chairman North agreed and commented that some people
read that into and he just wanted to set the record straight.
RESOLUTION 120319-2 ADOPTING A LEGISLATIVE PROGRAM
FOR THE 2020 SESSION OF THE VIRGINIA GENERAL
ASSEMBLY AND PETITIONING THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY TO
FAVORABLY CONSIDER THE TOPICS AND ISSUES
ADDRESSED HEREIN
WHEREAS, the Board of Supervisors of Roanoke County, Virginia, has identified
major legislative issues of local and statewide concern to be considered by the 2020
session of the Virginia General Assembly; and
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WHEREAS, the Board adopts this resolution as its Legislative Program for the
2020 session of the Virginia General Assembly.
NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED by the Board of Supervisors of Roanoke
County, Virginia, that the following initiatives are submitted as its Legislative Program
for the 2020 session of the Virginia General Assembly, for its favorable consideration
and adoption.
TABLE OF CONTENTS
1. Transportation ………………………………………………………………….. 2
2. Economic Development………………………………………………………... 3
3. Health and Human Services………………………………………………….. 3
4. Education …..……………………………………………………………………. 5
5. Public Safety …………………………………………………………………….. 6
1. Transportation
a. The County supports expedited action to address the causes for declining
growth in transportation revenues and to develop recommendations to
grow revenue over time to meet increasing demands for new construction
and maintenance for existing transportation infrastructure. Such action
must address the secondary road needs of counties throughout the
Commonwealth, as such funding has been vastly reduced over the past
10 years.
b. The County supports directing additional funds to SMART SCALE, as the
available funding has decreased almost 40 percent between Round One
($1.4 Billion) and Round 3 ($850 Million). Further, the County supports
changes to simplify the Smart Scale process for allocating transportation
funds to reduce time and costs to prepare and review applications.
c. The County requests continued study and consideration of projects to
improve U.S. Route 460.
d. The County encourages continued funding of the Capital Improvement
Projects identified in the I-81 Corridor Improvement Plan; completion of
this project is imperative to the VDOT Salem District to improve safety,
reliability and economic development potential.
e. The County opposes any legislation that seeks to increase truck size or
weight beyond the current federal standards, thereby stressing the
capacity of the Commonwealth’s road systems and putting highways,
roads, and bridges at risk of increased damage or deterioration.
2. Economic Development
a. Broadband
i. The County urges the Commonwealth to provide adequate funding
assistance to counties to build the necessary telecommunications
infrastructure to deploy universal affordable access to the internet
for all areas, particularly in underserved rural areas.
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ii. The County supports legislation that provides additional tools for
counties to finance, build and operate open access networks in
partnership with commercial internet service providers.
iii. The County encourages the Commonwealth to increase funding for
grants provided through the 2020 Virginia Telecommunications
Initiative (VATI).
3. Health and Human Services
a. Children’s Services Act
i. The County supports enhancing the ability of local school divisions
to serve children with disabilities in their neighborhood schools, to
include flexibility in use of state pool funds to serve children with
high-level needs in local or regional programs tailored to meet
those needs, and additional support for special education
wraparound services to help support children in their communities.
ii. The County supports legislation to allow public schools to establish
and fund (together with the local governing body and school board)
special education programs (and related services) within public day
schools.
iii. In the alternative, the County requests that the Department of
Education develop a pilot program, in certain local school divisions,
allowing a process for redirecting federal, state and local funds
(including CSA funds), for the purpose of providing services
currently offered in a private day setting in the public school setting.
b. Mental Health
i. The County strongly supports a sustained focus by the state on
Virginia’s mental health services system to ensure, through
evaluation and investment, that appropriate and effective outpatient
and in-patient services are available across the Commonwealth.
ii. The County encourages reforms that provide for alternative
placement for local jail inmates with serious mental health issues
which should not be left to be addressed by jail personnel.
iii. Catawba Hospital currently serves the needs of the local and
regional public safety agencies, jails, and community hospitals by
providing accessible in inpatient emergency services for community
members in crisis. Catawba Hospital’s services are unique and
essential; it provides geriatric services to approximately half of
geographical area of the Commonwealth in addition to the regional
needs of adult consumers with serious mental illness. The County
supports legislation that would appropriate necessary and vital
funding for Catawba Hospital to expand its capacity to meet the
ongoing emergent needs of the Commonwealth.
4. Education
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a. The County urges the General Assembly to provide full state funding for
public education (k through 12). Full state funding should be achieved
without reduction to other parts of state public education budgets or to
other core local services.
b. The County requests elimination of the Support Staff Funding Cap. The
support staff cap, which was implemented during the Great Recession,
disproportionately limits local capacity to serve students with special
needs, at-risk students, English learners, and other challenged
populations. Positions such as Mental Health Specialists, Instructional
Assistants, and other classroom supports are a cost-effective way to put
caring adults in the lives of our most needy students, but the Support Staff
Funding Cap arbitrarily excludes the actual cost of educating challenged
populations. The funding for these critical positions currently falls
completely to local school divisions. Legislative action is requested to
remove the funding cap on such positions.
c. The County supports legislation to increase funding for teacher
compensation. County schools and school divisions across the
Commonwealth face both quantity and quality issues regarding the
recruitment and retention of teachers and other professional staff
positions.
d. The County supports increased licensure flexibility. To assist local school
divisions in attracting and retaining qualified and effective teachers and
other staff, positions in the Standards of Quality should be funded by
function (for example, curriculum development and support, instructional
technology, school leadership, student support) rather than individual
position title. Division superintendents also need the flexibility to hire
effective teachers to teach in hard-to-fill content areas, regardless of rigid
state licensure requirements.
5. Public Safety
a. The County opposes proposals to extend the time frame during which an
emergency custody order remains valid; any extension beyond the
present 8-hour period would be to the detriment of the individual suffering
from mental illness (by delaying needed treatment), and would
unreasonably burden local law enforcement officers (who would continue
to retain custody and provide supervision of the individual).
b. The County affirms its commitment to citizens’ Second Amendment rights
(memorialized in the Second Amendment of the Constitution of the United
States and Article I, Section 13 of the Constitution of Virginia) , and
opposes gun-control measures that would unconstitutionally infringe upon
the rights of County citizens to bear arms. The County’s position on this
issue is more fully set forth in Resolution 120319-1, considered by the
Board on December 3, 2019.
December 3, 2019
515
On motion of Supervisor North to adopt the resolution, seconded by Supervisor
Hooker and carried by the following recorded vote:
AYES: Supervisors Assaid, Hooker, Radford, Peters, North
NAYS: None
2. Presentation of Year End Financial Results for June 30, 2019,
acceptance of audit report and allocation of year end funds
(Laurie Gearheart, Director of Finance and Management Services)
A-120319-3
Chris Banta, Partner with Broward Edwards provided an overview of the
audit. There was no discussion.
Supervisor Peters’ motion to accept the June 30, 2019 year-end audit and
allocate year-end funds was seconded by Supervisor North and was approved by the
following vote:
AYES: Supervisors Assaid, Hooker, Radford, Peters, North
NAYS: None
IN RE: SECOND READING OF ORDINANCES
1. Ordinance approving a lease with AMC Investors, Inc. for
placement of County Communications and Information
Technology infrastructure (Bill Hunter, Director of
Communications and Information Technology)
Mr. Hunter advised no changes since the first reading. There was no
discussion.
ORDINANCE 120319-4 APPROVING A LEASE WITH AMC
INVESTORS, INC. FOR PLACEMENT OF COUNTY
COMMUNICATIONS AND INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY
INFRASTRUCTURE
WHEREAS, the County provides public safety services to its citizens and needs
to place various communications equipment at non-County locations to facilitate
communications throughout the County; and
WHEREAS, given the topography of the County, such equipment is most
effective when placed on elevated locations, such as mountain peaks; and
December 3, 2019
516
WHEREAS, the County has identified Brushy Mountain as a viable spot for
placement of Communications and Information Technology (COMM-IT) equipment to
support the public safety radio system;
WHEREAS, the County has re-negotiated a long-standing contract with a County
landowner for a ground lease on Brushy Mountain for such equipment; and
WHEREAS, such a lease will provide tangible and intangible benefits to the
County as it provides public safety services to persons in the County;
NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED by the Board of Supervisors of Roanoke
County, Virginia, as follows:
1. That pursuant to the provisions of Sections 2.01 and 2.03 of the Charter of
Roanoke County, the County is authorized to acquire property, including the lease of
real estate; and
2. That pursuant to the provisions of Section 18.04 of the Charter of
Roanoke County, the acquisition of any interest in real estate shall be accomplished by
ordinance, the first reading of this ordinance was held on November 19, 2019, and the
second reading of this ordinance was held on December 3, 2019.
3. That the execution of a Lease Agreement (“Agreement”) with AMC
Investors, Inc., to lease a certain parcel of land on Brushy Mountain is authorized.
4. That the lease term shall commence on January 1, 2020, and continue
through December 31, 2020, unless terminated as provided in the Agreement.
5. That the rent shall be $300 per month during the term of the Agreement.
6. That the County Administrator, or an Assistant County Administrator, is
authorized to execute such documents and take such actions on behalf of the Board of
Supervisors in this matter as are necessary to accomplish the lease of this property, all
of which shall be approved as to form by the County Attorney.
8. That this ordinance shall be effective on and from the date of its adoption.
On motion of Supervisor Peters to adopt the ordinance, seconded by Supervisor
Hooker and carried by the following recorded vote:
AYES: Supervisors Assaid, Hooker, Radford, Peters, North
NAYS: None
2. Ordinance approving the purchase of 30 Chestnut Ridge Road
(Tax Map Number 080.00-05-19.02-0000) from Elizabeth Austin
Talbott and authorizing the execution of a Contract of Purchase,
Vinton Magisterial District (Doug Blount, Director of Parks,
Recreation and Tourism)
Mr. Blount advised there were no changes since the first reading. There
was no discussion.
December 3, 2019
517
ORDINANCE 120319-5 APPROVING THE PURCHASE OF 30
CHESTNUT RIDGE ROAD (TAX MAP NUMBER 080.00-05-19.02-
0000) FROM ELIZABETH AUSTIN TALBOTT AND
AUTHORIZING THE EXECUTION OF A CONTRACT OF
PURCHASE
WHEREAS, Elizabeth Austin Talbott owns one parcel of real estate property
situated on 30 Chestnut Ridge Road, Roanoke County, Virginia, bearing Official Tax
Map Numbers 080.00-05-.02-0000, which contains 2.0 acres; and
WHEREAS, Elizabeth Austin Talbott is desirous of selling the Property to the
County of Roanoke (the "County") and the County is desirous of acquiring the Property
for the purposes of developing, constructing, operating and maintaining a public park
and trail system; and
WHEREAS, a purchase agreement has been prepared between Elizabeth Austin
Talbott and the County, providing for the purchase of the property in “AS IS” condition at
a total purchase price of $50,000 for the above-mentioned parcel located at 30 Chestnut
Ridge Road; and
WHEREAS, this ordinance authorizes the purchase of 30 Chestnut Ridge Road
parcel, upon the terms and conditions set out in the above-mentioned Purchase
Agreement; and
WHEREAS, Section 18.04 of the Roanoke County Charter directs the acquisition
and conveyance of real estate interests be accomplished by ordinance; the first reading
for this ordinance was held on November 19, 2019. The second reading of this
ordinance was held on December 3, 2019.
NOW THEREFORE, BE IT ORDAINED by the Board of Supervisors of Roanoke
County, Virginia, as follows:
1. That the purchase of a 2.0 acre parcel located 30 Chestnut Ridge Road (Tax
Map Number 080.00-05-19.02-0000) from Elizabeth Austin Talbott, upon certain terms and
conditions as set forth in a Purchase Agreement, is hereby approved and authorized; and
2. That the County Administrator or Assistant County Administrator are hereby
authorized to execute such documents and take such actions on behalf of Roanoke County in
this matter as are necessary to accomplish the acquisition of this real estate, all of which shall
be approved as to form by the County Attorney.
On motion of Supervisor Peters to adopt the ordinance, seconded by Supervisor
Hooker and carried by the following recorded vote:
AYES: Supervisors Assaid, Hooker, Radford, Peters, North
NAYS: None
December 3, 2019
518
IN RE: CONSENT AGENDA
RESOLUTION 120319-6 APPROVING AND CONCURRING IN
CERTAIN ITEMS SET FORTH ON THE BOARD OF
SUPERVISORS AGENDA FOR THIS DATE DESIGNATED AS
ITEM H- CONSENT AGENDA
BE IT RESOLVED by the Board of Supervisors of Roanoke County, Virginia, as
follows:
That the certain section of the agenda of the Board of Supervisors for December
3, 2019, designated as Item H - Consent Agenda be, and hereby is, approved and
concurred in as to each item separately set forth in said section designated Items 1
through 2 inclusive, as follows:
1. Confirmation of appointments to the Blue Ridge Behavioral Healthcare Board
of Directors (at Large), Roanoke County Budget and Fiscal Affairs Committee
(at Large), Roanoke Valley Resource Authority (at Large), Western Virginia
Regional Jail Authority (at Large)
2. Request to accept and allocate grant funds in the amount of $42,564 from the
Virginia Department of Emergency Management (VDEM) for an Emergency
Management Performance Grant
On motion of Supervisor North to adopt the resolution, seconded by Supervisor
Hooker and carried by the following recorded vote:
AYES: Supervisors Assaid, Hooker, Radford, Peters, North
NAYS: None
A-120319-6.a
A-120319-6.b
IN RE: REPORTS
Supervisor Peters moved to receive and file the following reports. The
motion was seconded by Supervisor Hooker and carried by the following recorded vote:
AYES: Supervisors Assaid, Hooker, Radford, Peters, North
NAYS: None
1. Unappropriated, Board Contingency and Capital Reserves Report
2. Outstanding Debt Report
IN RE: CLOSED MEETING
December 3, 2019
519
At 6:23 p.m., Supervisor North moved to go into closed meeting following
the work sessions pursuant to the Code of Virginia Section 2.2-3711 A .1 - Discussion,
consideration, or interviews of prospective candidates for employment; assignment,
appointment, promotion, performance, demotion, salaries, disciplining, or resignation of
specific public officers, appointees, or employees of any public body; namely the County
Attorney and Section 2.2-3711.A.1 - Discussion, consideration, or interviews of
prospective candidates for employment; assignment, appointment, promotion,
performance, demotion, salaries, disciplining, or resignation of specific public officers,
appointees, or employees of any public body; namely the Commonwealth Attorney
The motion was seconded by Supervisor Peters carried by the following
recorded vote:
AYES: Supervisors Assaid, Hooker, Radford, Peters, North
NAYS: None
The closed meeting was held from 8:03 p.m. until 8:30 p.m.
IN RE: WORK SESSIONS
1. Joint work session between the Roanoke County Board of
Supervisors and the Roanoke County Public School Board
Chairman North welcomed the School Board members.
School Board Chairman Butzer called the Roanoke County School
Board to order; all school board members were present with the exception of Mr.
Wray.
Chairman North stated that he hopes the work session is a productive
discussion and meeting that will be beneficial to both the schools as well as the
County.
Roanoke County School Board Chairman Butzer stated that in July the
discussion was opened about the condition of some of the school facilities. The
facilities mentioned were the ones the needed significant renovation or a new
rebuild. At the last meeting there was a lot of information to digest and a large dollar
amount connected to that information. During that period of time several school
board members have had discussions with our peers on the other side and have
talked through the issue.
Daniel R. O’Donnell, County Administrator stated staff has been
working through some preliminary budget numbers and are trying to determine what
can be done. The preliminary discussion shows what we think we will be able to do
and we hope that it will allow to move some of the projects forward. Mr. O’Donnell
turned the meeting over to Rebecca Owens, Assistant County Administrator who
December 3, 2019
520
provided a PowerPoint presentation, which is on file in the office of the Clerk to the
Board of Supervisors.
Mr. O’Donnell stated issues that would impact this year’s budget would
be compensation, VRS, health insurance and contractual increases. In terms of
capital, last year we were waiting on the facilities assessment, so we will need to
push up our capital maintenance based on the outcome of the assessment. Also,
there were a couple of vehicles that were deferred in order to fund higher increases
for the County employees, i.e. a fire truck and trash truck. Additionally, there are
staffing needs. Staff is looking at a SAFER grant that would require a County
match, but hopefully leverage some federal funds that will help us deal with staffing
issues as related to Fire and Rescue. The big piece of the budget last year that we
still do not know about are the outside agencies fixed costs, i.e. Authorities and
regional entities that we have to pay. For example, tipping fees for the Resource
Authority, Western Virginia Regional Jail costs went up. Juvenile detention costs
are very high and we have talked about CSA. These costs will have to be faced
and one initiative that he would like to put in next year is the rural broadband
initiative. We recognize we have some holes in our rural areas. We are trying to
budget for matching funds (Virginia Telecommunications Funds) that require a
twenty percent (20%) match. There are a lot of unknowns in the budget that makes
him cautious. Mr. O’Donnell stated that one of the outcomes of reviewing this
information was to never let this go another ten or fifteen years before revisiting. He
further added that he would like to see it reviewed every three years for
consideration to see if changes need to be made. For example, we really don’t
know constructions costs. We are working on better cost estimates. Additionally,
there is declining enrollment and we might have to look at keeping every single
school.
School Board Member Tim Greenway asked Mr. O’Donnell if they
evaluated why there is declining enrollment. Mr. ‘Donnell advised not in great
detail; we have an aging population. We do have economic growth, but it is
marginal.
Mr. O’Donnell then reiterated that the recommendation is to allocate
$200,000 at year end and in next year’s budget to begin funding the 12-12-12
program and to update the comprehensive financial policy to reflect that.
School Board Chairman Butzer stated that construction costs is
something they pay a lot of attention to. We are trying to get them updated as
much as we can. There are several sources that we use, the Virginia Department
of Education data, which is a good source. It lists the most recent projects through
the State.
School Board Chairman Butzer noted that the relationship between the
Board of Supervisors and the School Board is top notch. The School Board realizes
that they are very lucky to have the relationship they currently have with their
December 3, 2019
521
counterparts. Mr. Butzer stated with regard to construction costs, the numbers that
we came up with for William Byrd, W. E. Cundiff and Glen Cove, we used $225 a
square foot on average. The State average right now for an elementary school is
up to $301 and a high school is $329. So, we got the Cave Spring High School for
$239. So the escalation that we are seeing in constructions costs are astounding in
a good economy. If the economy falls apart, then you will have a better number.
He appreciates the progress that we have made here and the offer that is there, but
his only concern is that he is not sure we can get these projects done for the money
we originally thought. Another thing we have done and will do is to take the budget
that we know that we have and work with some contractors, if we can get approval
on the procurement side, and see if they can build these schools for that budget.
We know we are struggling with construction costs. The other problems is that is
suddenly there are some State funds to do school construction, school construction
costs will do up. All of the projects are local and we know construction costs are
local, so some of the State averages may include areas more expensive. The
second is that we will actually take a look at different kinds of construction. We
understand that we have to live within what we have. He added that he is
especially concerned with Byrd Cundiff and Glen Cove. He believes there is an
inequity for those kids. With regard to enrollment, there was a slide that showed
population going up. If you look at the enrollment that has declined, what school
would anyone suggest that we close. Mr. O’Donnell reiterated that is down the line.
Chairman Butzer stated that is something they look at all the time. Glen Cove,
because of the condition that it is in, we have a beautiful underutilized school in
Masons Cove that is not that far away. This year they moved 50 children from Glen
Cove over to Masons Cove. We think we might be able to do more of those
adjustments because doing them the way we did them, voluntarily, saves a lot of
angst in the community. They will continue to look at enrollments. If we can close a
facility that we don’t need, we are going to do it. He appreciates the progress that
has been made, because it is $2 million more that they had last time, but we need
to step back, regroup and actually see how that applies to what we really need or
think we need to do. We will work diligently to see if we can work within those
numbers and get the schools fixed.
Board Member Tim Greenway stated he would like to visit the 12-12-
12 concept. So, if he looks at this from the last 15 year perspective, and used
inflation for that $10 million, we would be somewhere near $12.5 or $13. So, they
have lost on our 2 to 1 ratio, there is $15 million they did not have for those
structures or facilities and we could have incrementally done this in a much easier
way to get there. We do appreciate the $12 million, but it is not where we should
be. Is there appetite or thought that we put an inflationary factor in there now so
that future Boards don’t have to deal with it.
Chairman North stated it is in our Comphrensive Financial Policy that
we look at once or twice every year. This goes along with what Mr. O’Donnell
December 3, 2019
522
stated that we need to look at this more frequently. Second to that, if you borrow
more you have to pay more and that is what we are going to do. Unfortunately, we
did not save enough in the last four (4) out of five (5) years. If we correct the sins of
the past for not funding that debt reserve fund at $2.2. It had a lot more cash at one
time and was taken out by the Schools and the County for maintenance. This is a
big step to go to a twenty percent (20%) increase.
School Board Member Greenway stated if we put the inflationary factor
in now, we can still meet two times a year to change it, correct, but it is automatic to
the year and you don’t have to change the policy every year to add that inflationary
factor in. He thinks it is a better way to do things. He just does not want Board to
have to go through this again and not have some mechanism to raise that amount.
Chairman North stated based on the discussion the Board has had
with staff, what we consensus on what we have now, 12-12-12.
School Board Chairman Butzer stated they totally agree that if we are
asking to borrow money, we have to service that debt.
Supervisor Peters stated the problem is that in 2015, we both took out
$1 million for maintenance and we never put it back, which has caused the problem
we are having today. He does agreed with Mr. Greenway that if inflation protection
was put into this in 2004 when it was created, it would have taken care of itself as
well. He agrees that it should be addressed as well.
Mr. O’Donnell stated the only problem that he sees with that during a
recessionary period, we were able to hold the contribution to the schools the same,
but on the County side we had to cut services, but to tie to an index like that without
looking at it every year, you build an increase in costs and he is concerned about a
financial downturn.
Supervisor Peters stated there is no inflation during those years and if
you tied it to the Federal CPI, there would be no increases in those years.
School Board Member Greenway stated the other side of that is that
we should be increasing that revenue, so it puts pressure on our counterparts to
make sure that we are increasing that revenue, not from a tax structure but as an
economic driver. So, in business you do not want to stay stagnant, so that is his
only comment.
Supervisor Peters stated if you look at any other aspect of our life,
nothing has stayed flat since 2004, but yet we have stayed at $10 million and that
has been his issue with it for a number of years, whether it is building a library or a
school, those costs will continue to go up and we have tried to stay within that same
model, which puts projects further and further behind.
Ms. Owens stated she feels this is a good start at twenty percent
(20%).
School Board Chairman Butzer reiterated they really appreciate the
twenty percent (20%). We need to go back and take a good hard look at how that
December 3, 2019
523
can be applied to the next three projects and what that does to the timetable. He
added that they need to take a look at how the additional contribution and debt
service impacts. He would suggest that we have another time.
Chairman North stated just let us know when the $200,000 has been
approved by the School Board.
Mr. O’Donnell stated staff is prepared to make a recommendation at
the next Board meeting to take the year-end $200,000 and put it in the capital plan.
Ms. Owens added to also make the policy change in our Comprehensive Financial
Policy to move the debt from $10 million to $12 million.
Chairman North then stated going back to the inflation factor, if you
borrow more, you have to save more.
School Board member Jason Moretz asked if the $200,000
incremental is every year. It is a significant jump to what we are contributing now.
Ms. Owens outlined the slide with the ten-year snapshot, we are going
to add $200,000 to the already $2.2 and we are making the assumption that we are
going to do that each and every year. We could come along in July of 2024 and
determine that $12 million is the right amount and that we don’t need to add any
more funds and would get us back to the $3.2, which is where we were four or five
years ago and that number would adequately fund the plan.
Supervisor Peters asked if we know what the number to fully fund at
$12 million.
Ms. Owens responded that the $200,000 fully funds the plan to $12
million in debt through 3038.
The work session was held from 6:49 p.m. until 7:42 p.m.
IN RE: CERTIFICATION RESOLUTION
At 8:39 p.m., Supervisor North moved to return to open session and adopt
the certification resolution.
RESOLUTION 120319-7 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:
524 December 3, 2019
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 North to adopt the resolution, seconded by Supervisor
Hooker and carried by the following recorded vote:
AYES: Supervisors Assaid, Hooker, Radford, Peters, North
NAYS: None
IN RE: ADJOURNMENT
Chairman North adjourned the meeting at 8:40 p.m.
ub itted by: Approved by:
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Chief Depu erk to the Board Chairman