HomeMy WebLinkAbout2/2/2010 - RegularFebruary 2, 2010 39
Roanoke County Administration Center
5204 Bernard Drive
Roanoke, Virginia 24018
The Board of Supervisors of Roanoke County, Virginia met this day at the
Roanoke County Administration Center, this being a special meeting for the purpose of
conducting a work session to discuss fiscal year 2010-2011 budget development. Audio
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: CALL TO ORDER
Chairman Church called the meeting to order at 1:00 p.m.
MEMBERS PRESENT: Chairman Joseph B. "Butch" Church, Vice Chairman Eddie
"Ed" Elswick, Supervisors Michael W. Altizer, Charlotte A.
Moore
MEMBERS ABSENT: Supervisor Richard C. Flora
STAFF PRESENT: B. Clayton Goodman III, County Administrator; Daniel R.
O'Donnell, Assistant County Administrator; Diane D. Hyatt,
Assistant County Administrator; Paul M. Mahoney, County
Attorney; Becky R. Meador, Clerk to the Board; Teresa
Hamilton Hall, Director of Public Information
at 3:30 p. m.
Supervisor Moore advised that she would need to leave the work session
IN RE: REQUESTS TO POSTPONE, ADD TO OR CHANGE THE ORDER OF
AGENDA ITEMS
Chairman Church advised he had a change to the order of agenda items
and asked Mr. Mahoney to give a brief description of the Explore Park situation.
Mr. Mahoney explained that he was seeking guidance on how to proceed
with Explore Park based on Senator Edwards' Senate Bill 502 for an extension of
Virginia Recreational Facilities Authority for an additional year. Mr. Mahoney then gave
a brief history of this process by advising that this bill was passed by the House and
then went to subcommittee under Mr. Edwards. Senator Edwards wanted a more
definitive answer, which Mr. Mahoney explained cannot be done at this point because
Roanoke County is currently working with all the stakeholders, under a consortium with
other local governments to come up with a Plan B in case Mr. Vander Maten decides
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not to renew his lease in June of this year. Mr. Mahoney explained that Roanoke
County needed another year to work out the final details. He provided a copy of an
email, which is available in the Clerk's office for inspection, that was sent to Senator
Edwards explaining the situation and how it would be beneficial for Roanoke County to
add another year because the State Park System currently does not have funding to run
or maintain Explore Park. Mr. Mahoney advised that he needed further guidance from
the Board as Senator Edwards wants commitment that Mr. Mahoney felt was premature
at this time.
Supervisor Altizer felt it was inappropriate to take a position at this point in
time. Nothing has changed since the Board put the plan on the legislative agenda. He
further advised that he felt Roanoke County needed to continue on the same route and
time was needed to work all the details out. He stated that it was ill conceived that
Roanoke County should not put more money into this project, as they will need to play a
part in order to weigh in on what would need to be done with the park, versus
privatizing.
Supervisor Elswick stated that Roanoke County needed to do whatever it
can to take this land back managed by local citizens and let them run the park under the
direction of Pete Haislip in Parks and Recreation. He was surprised at the amount of
money that was spent, approximately $40 million with the County having nothing to
show for it.
Supervisor Moore commented that Roanoke County should not spend any
more money on this, as there were more critical needs that should to be met.
Supervisor Church stated that any funds would have to be prioritized at
this point and at some point in the future. Since 1985, there has been no revenue from
this project and the maintenance fees needed to be dealt with like everything else.
Mr. Haislip advised that the maintenance fees are the result of the Visitors
Center, which is still open; crews for moving; and water/sewer on a weekly basis. These
costs have been absorbed into the Parks and Recreation budget.
Mr. Mahoney then advised that he felt Senator Edwards was seeking the
ultimate solution at a time when Roanoke County is trying to develop a strategy and
needed additional time to arrive at a finished plan. He does not want to short circuit the
process, but feels the County need Senator Edwards' support.
Mr. Goodman noted that staff will also need to look at contractual
obligations due to the agreement with the Blue Ridge Parkway.
IN RE: WORK SESSIONS
1. Work session to discuss fiscal year 2010-2011 budget
development:
February 2, 2010 41
a. Communication plan for budget information (Teresa H. Hall,
Director of Public Information; Gray Craig, Web Content
Manager)
The work session was held from 1:21 p.m. until 1:34 p.m.
Teresa Hall, Director of Public information advised the board that it is
important that the public and employees are kept up-to-date on the status of the
County's current and future budgets. She described the strategies that the Public
Information Office had developed for communicating this information. Ms. Hall also
discussed several other communication tools that are being utilized including Social
Media, the County's various e-newsletters, RVTV and media releases. Gray Craig, Web
Content Manager, highlighted the County's website, which now hosts a budget update
site.
b. Review of County debt (Rebecca Owens, Director of Finance)
The work session was held from 1:34 p.m. until 2:42 p.m.
Rebecca Owens, Director of Finance provided detailed information about
the debt policy, debt limits, bond ratings, reserve balances, current debt and projected
debt information for future planning.
c. Update on School budget for fiscal year 2010-2011 and
preliminary transfer to Schools (Diane D. Hyatt, Assistant
County Administrator)
The work session was held from 2:43 p.m. until 3:05 p.m.
Diane Hyatt, Assistant County Administrator updated the Board on the
preliminary transfer to Schools for the 2010-2011 fiscal year, based upon the allocation
formula we have used historically. This formula was recently formalized with a
Memorandum of Understanding dated September 2009. The Chairs and Vice Chairs of
the School Board and the County Board met on January 28, 2010, to discuss this
information. The following worksheets are on file in the Clerk's office: preliminary
School revenues and preliminary allocation worksheet. Additionally, a preliminary date
for the joint School/County work session was set at 5:15 p.m. on Thursday, March 4,
2010, at the School Administration Building.
d. Compensation Board funding (Brent Robertson, Director of
Management and Budget)
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e. Guidelines and objectives for operational budget development
(Brent Robertson, Director of Management and Budget)
The work session was held from 3:06 p.m. until 3:43 p.m.
Brent Robertson, Director of Management and Budget gave an overview
of Compensation Board funding and guidelines/objectives for operational budget
development.
IN RE: ADJOURNMENT
Chairman Church declared the meeting adjourned at 3:43 p.m. to the
regularly scheduled meeting on February 9, 2010, at 3 p.m.
Submitted by: Approved by:
Becky R. M dor Jose B. "Butch" Church
Clerk to the Board Chairman
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