HomeMy WebLinkAbout1/28/2017 - Special
January 28, 2017
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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 Administrator Center Fourth Floor Training Room for the purpose of a
Board of Supervisors Retreat. Audio recording of this meeting will be on file in the
Clerk’s Office for five (5) years.
IN RE: CALL TO ORDER
Chairman McNamara called the meeting to order at 9:08 a.m.
MEMBERS PRESENT:
Chairman McNamara,Supervisors George G. Assaid,
Martha B. Hooker and P. Jason Peters
MEMBERS ABSENT:
Supervisor Al Bedrosian
STAFF PRESENT:
Thomas C. Gates, County Administrator; Daniel R.
O’Donnell, Assistant County Administrator; Richard
Caywood, Assistant County Administrator; Ruth Ellen
Kuhnel, County Attorney; Deborah C. Jacks, Chief Deputy
Clerk to the Board
IN RE: OPENING REMARKS
Chairman McNamara welcomed everyone.
Thomas C. Gates, County Administrator, also thanked everyone for
attending.
IN RE: EXPLORE PARK MASTER PLAN IMPLEMENTATION
Doug Blount provided a PowerPoint presentation, a copy of which is on
file in the office of the Clerk to the Board.
Supervisor Peters asked why a Request for Information (RFI) versus a
Request for Proposal (RFP) was done. Mr. Blount stated there is not a lot of
benchmarking for this. Mr. Gates explained he felt more appropriate; will go to RFP as
next step once receive feedback from RFI. Plan to move to RFP next month.
Supervisor Assaid inquired how much of the $2.3 million is for Broadband
with Mr. Blount responding $400,000.
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Supervisor McNamara stated he is having an issue with this vision versus
gradually going slow and using outside development dollars. As an example, when we
took over Explore Park several years ago, we had all of these press conferences stating
it would not be a drain on money, etc. and then we talk about primarily passive design
and use of outside vendors. We have disc golf, mountain biking, which are both great
projects and should require a lot of investment in Roanoke County. He personally
thinks we need to be waiting. We have all these other people saying they are going to
do things, but he has been there before and no one does anything. He does not know,
but at this point a gas station seems so far down the road that we are running water and
sewer so that someone can have a gas station. There is no people out there yet. It
seems we should build something where you have people and have tournaments and
seeing positive progress before we worry about water and sewer. He does not think we
need water and sewer to do a disc golf course, trail bikes and he can think of the best
trail bike place around here that does not have water and sewer near the trails. He is
concerned that last year we were talking about entirely different numbers than we are
this year. He reiterated that you need to see people signed up to come there before we
worry about water and sewer, because he does not see water and sewer and
broadband as a limited factor for a disc golf course or a mountain bike course. Mr.
Blount responded that the infrastructure is necessary if they want to have the
“corporate” investments in the campground, to be able to put in the restaurants. They
have to be able to have internet connectivity to be able to run their business. As a part
of the existing water and sewer project of $800,000, that is coming into the entrance of
“Adventure Village,” which is the main core of the Park. It will serve as the location for
the gas station, which will service Brugh Tavern, the visitors center. It will serve as the
potential location of the RV Park and they did it intentionally so they could go ahead and
start with some of the private development pieces. To be able to bring in for the cabins,
camping, bath houses, etc., we have to be able to have utilities to support that
infrastructure and everyone they have received feedback from advised they need the
infrastructure to be able to support their return on investment in order to invest in the
Park. As a part of this, the County is not selling the land to any of these folks, it will be a
sublease. So, they will need to get back their return on investment over 10, 15, 20
years to be able to recoup their investments. When they took over the Park three years
ago, they did not know what the investment would be. They took over with no new staff
and no additional support from the General Funds. They have been able to support the
operation based off fees they have been collecting for weddings, programs and
activities. To be able to get to that next stage and bring in the private development, we
have to be able to have what they consider a modest investment for infrastructure. He
knows $4.4 million is a lot of money, but when you break down the different
components, you can see they are not building attractions, lodges, campgrounds. They
are just putting in the infrastructure to be able to support that activity.
Mr. Gates commented they are trying to sequence the RFP and the
arrangements we make with private sector entities investing with the timing of the
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development of the infrastructure. It is not their intention to get so far ahead of the
investment, but it is necessary to demonstrate we have the resources. You may not
need water and sewer for a disc golf, but you need it for people.
Supervisor McNamara stated you have water and sewer at the main area
and if you had other things in other places they are not very far away. He wants to see
people first.
Mr. Gates stated it is better for us to incur the costs through the water and
sewer than to put packet systems in for managing sewer, etc. You still have to make an
investment.
Supervisor McNamara stated if it goes the way everyone thinks it will go,
you could always go back and do water and sewer after the fact. Mr. Gates responded
you could, but you would still incur the expense, plus the expense of putting the initial in.
Supervisor Peters stated there seems to be a stigma out there that
Explore Park is what it is and it has failed three times and sometimes he wonders if that
cloud keeps hovering over us. Delegate Rasoul has recommending changing the name
so that we have the new fresh look of what this is going to look like because what staff
has proposed is the first plan that he thinks will be successful. We have a lot of buy-in
not only from outside vendors, but even the public who are excited. He understands
what Supervisor McNamara is saying, but he also looks at the CRT in Salem. We say
we want to bring businesses in there, but we have to put $4 million into the grading of
the site or nothing is going to happen.
Supervisor McNamara stated he agreed with Supervisor Peters, but he
also thinks there are certain activities that can demonstrate the viability of Explore Park,
i.e. mountain biking, disc golf, or the river thing. Let’s see some people in there and see
some things.
Supervisor Peters stated that would not support (revenues) the Park. The
RV park, the cabins, etc., is what is going to drive the return on investment that we are
ultimately looking for.
Supervisor McNamara stated he does not think there is going to be a gas
station showing up anytime soon and does not know how all these people are going to
magically appear especially when it is seasonal.
Supervisor Peters commented the gas station is a moot point, because
water and sewer is in there anyway.
Supervisor McNamara asked how many cabins are we going to build. Mr.
Blount stated 25 cabins and 140 spaces for RV’s, a lodge proposed at 60 rooms.
Supervisor Peters stated that is what he is hearing. People are so excited
about the RV Park because there is nothing in comparison anywhere around us.
Mr. Blount stated it is critical to tie into the Blue Ridge Parkway.
Supervisor Peters stated the last proposal was a “Six-Flags Amusements
Park” and we did not have the infrastructure to support. He stated he thinks this is a
very real scenario that would work out to the County’s benefit.
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Mr. Blount stated they are working on the Park being a year-round
destination and that is why it is important that they have the overnight accommodations.
Supervisor Peters inquired what type of engagement is being held with
Bedford County. Mr. Blount advised they are very open to the plan, but the Bedford
County discussion is a little more challenging because there is no infrastructure onsite,
no ingress egress, water, sewer anything. It is just land that is going to need to be
developed. We will need to have bigger discussions regarding grant funding. Our focus
from the beginning has been the Roanoke County’s side.
IN RE: ROANOKE COUNTY BRANDING AND MARKETING
Mr. Gates reiterated that we are not getting rid of the County Seal and we
are attempting to tie in to other brands in the valley. Ms. Amy Whittaker, Public
Information Officer, and Mr. Gray Craig, Web Content Manager, went through a
PowerPoint presentation. Supervisors Hooker, McNamara and Peters provided their
preferences.
IN RE: TRANSPORTATION FUNDING
Mr. Richard Caywood, Assistant County Administrator, and Tori Williams,
Planner II, provided the Transportation funding PowerPoint presentation.
Supervisor Hooker inquired about sidewalk maintenance with Mr.
Caywood responding they would need a more detailed conversation with VDOT in order
to answer. Ms. Ruth Ellen Kuhnel also advised will need to decide on a liability issue as
well.
Supervisor McNamara asked for the population percentages for the NRV,
Hampton Roads, Richmond and Salem, Mr. Williams advised 27.8%, 21.3%, 15.3% and
9.1% of the population.
Tori Williams advised that staff needed to position themselves to maximize
our limited resources. It was staff’s recommendation to develop a process for reaching
consensus on a regional approach. How do we come up with a new inventory of
projects and how we come up with? It is important to get it right because it is hard to
change the scope of a project.
Start a dialog with the TPO on doing a regional transportation
infrastructure analysis. Staff recommends putting together a working group or task
force with the goal of ultimately with coming up with five or six regionally significant
projects with a maximum return with regard to Economic Development. This would
enable us to take to our State representatives and explain the analysis that was done.
Supervisor Assaid asked about the end of Rt. 221, where the traffic is
backing up. Mr. Caywood advised they were more concerned with Rt. 220 and Rt. 419.
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IN RE: EMPLOYEE SURVEY INFORMATION AND LEAN INITIATIVE
Anne Marie Green, Director of Human Resources; Anita Hassell, Assistant
Director of Human Resources and Karen Thomas, Human Resources Trainer reviewed
two PowerPoint presentations.
Chairman McNamara recessed the meeting for lunch at 11:45 p.m. and
called the meeting back into session at 12:30 p.m.
IN RE: FUTURE PLANNING/ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT STUDY AREAS –
Philip Thompson, deputy Director of Planning started out the PowerPoint
presentation. Ms. Jill Loope, Director of Economic Development was also in attendance
to respond to questions. Current projects are: Reimagine 419 Town Center Study,
Woodhaven Master Plan, Explore Park Master Plan Implementation. Four areas under
consideration: Oak Grove, Challenger Drive, Starkey Drive and Planation Road.
Mr. Gates, County Administrator, asked for input into prioritization.
Supervisor McNamara suggested Plantation Road, based on the work that
has already gone into.
Supervisor Peters suggested getting updated plans on all but Plantation
Road as it had been updated in 2008. The remainder are twenty years old.
Mr. Thompson commented there all were different planning studies, but
with a different focus.
Mr. Gates commented there is capacity for what the staff can manage,
even with consultant help to bring these to fruition and deal with the public input portion,
so some form of prioritization is appropriate.
Supervisor Peters agree with Supervisor McNamara as it is already in the
mix and worked on for at least 8 years. Apart from doing an overlay district so that we
do not get more warehouses, do we then look at what is the most likely piece to
develop?
Supervisor Assaid inquired which areas have historically had the most
interest; all of them?. Jill Loope, Director of Economic Development responded in the
affirmative. Supervisor Assaid stated the issue with Oak Grove is everybody that does
not like what we do with the 419 Town Center will move to Oak Grove. Mr. Gates
advised that the issue with Oak Grove is the Allstate building. It is an opportunity to
develop and drive.
Ms. Loope advised there is interest in each area from different kinds of
businesses as they each have their own unique flavor.
Supervisor Peters asked how long it would take to review the land use
plans, as he feels the land uses need to be updated. Mr. Thompson advised no very
long until you get to transportation alternatives and design.
94 January 28, 2017
IN RE: ADJOURNMENT
Chairman Peters adjourned the meeting at 2:09 p.m. to February 7, 2017,
at 5:30 p.m. for a joint meeting with the Roanoke County School Board to be held at the
Roanoke County Schools Administration Building.
Su• itted by: Approved by:
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Deborah C. at s is-ph P. McNamara
Chief Deputy C -rk to the Board airman