HomeMy WebLinkAbout3/14/2017 - Regular
March 14, 2017
131
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 second Tuesday and the first
regularly scheduled meeting of the month of March 2017. 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 a moment of silence was
observed. The Pledge of Allegiance was recited by all present.
IN RE: CALL TO ORDER
Chairman McNamara called the meeting to order at 3:01 p.m. The roll call
was taken.
MEMBERS PRESENT:
Chairman Joseph P. McNamara, Supervisors George G.
Assaid, Al Bedrosian, Martha B. Hooker and P. Jason Peters
MEMBERS ABSENT:
None
STAFF PRESENT:
Thomas C. Gates, County Administrator; Daniel R.
O’Donnell, Assistant County Administrator; Richard
Caywood, Assistant County Administrator; Ruth Ellen
Kuhnel, County Attorney; Amy Whittaker, Public Information
Officer and Deborah C. Jacks, Chief Deputy Clerk to the
Board
IN RE: REQUESTS TO POSTPONE, ADD TO, OR CHANGE THE ORDER OF
AGENDA ITEMS
Mr. Gates requested the addition of a Briefing to recognize the new
Registrar. There were no objections and Chairman McNamara added as the first
briefing.
March 14, 2017
132
IN RE: BRIEFINGS
0. Briefing to introduce the new registrar Anna Cloeter (Ron Keith
Adkins, and Dana Martin, Board of Elections)
Ms. Cloeter was introduced.
1. Briefing to provide an update concerning parking, signage and
safety on Rt. 311 at McAfee Knob (Lindsay B. Webb,
Greenway/Blueway Planner)
Ms. Webb provided a PowerPoint presentation. Dan Collins, Salem
Residency Administrator for VDOT addressed the speed limit issue.
2. Briefing to provide a public service announcement concerning
safe driving on St. Patrick's Day (Howard B. Hall, Chief of Police)
Chief Hall provided the public service announcement reminding citizens to
not drink and drive.
3. Briefing to discuss with the Board of Supervisors the County
Administrator's Proposed Fiscal Year 2017-2018 Operating
Budget (Thomas C. Gates, County Administrator; Christopher R.
Bever, Director, Management and Budget)
Mr. Gates gave a brief introduction and Mr. Bever provided a PowerPoint
presentation.
Supervisor McNamara commented this is the County Administrator’s
budget and now this is the starting point of the Board’s deliberations. Staff has met the
list of parameters. Of note, there is no increase in taxes and no stormwater
management fee.
Supervisor Peters thanked Mr. Gates and Mr. Bever for the work on the
budget.
IN RE: FIRST READING OF ORDINANCES
1. Ordinance appropriating funds in the amount of $335,000 from
revenues collected by the County of Roanoke Library System to
the General Government Library Department for fiscal year 2016-
2017 (Christopher R. Bever, Director, Management and Budget;
Toni Cox, Assistant Director of Library Services)
March 14, 2017
133
Mr. Bever outlined the request for ordinance. There was no discussion.
Supervisor Peters’ motion to approve first reading and set the second
reading for March 28, 2017 was seconded by Supervisor Hooker and approved by the
following vote:
AYES: Supervisor Assaid, Bedrosian, Hooker, McNamara, Peters
NAYS: None
IN RE: CONSENT AGENDA
RESOLUTION 031417-1 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 March 14,
2017, 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 4 inclusive, as follows:
1. Resolution expressing the appreciation of the Board of Supervisors to Donald
E. Bryant, Solid Waste Equipment Operator, upon his retirement after more
than fifteen (15) years of service
2. Resolution expressing the appreciation of the Board of Supervisors to D’Ann
F. Atkinson, Real Estate Clerk II, Commissioner of the Revenue’s Office,
upon her retirement after more than ten (10) years of service
3. Resolution expressing the appreciation of the Board of Supervisors to
Katherine Barnette Family Services Specialist, Social Services, upon her
retirement after more than ten (10) years of service
4. Confirmation of appointment to the Board of Zoning Appeals (District);
Roanoke Valley Greenway Commission (At-Large)
On motion of Supervisor McNamara to adopt the resolution, seconded by
Supervisor Peters and carried by the following recorded vote:
AYES: Supervisors Assaid, Bedrosian, Hooker, Peters, McNamara
NAYS: None
March 14, 2017
134
RESOLUTION 031417-1.a EXPRESSING THE APPRECIATION
OF THE BOARD OF SUPERVISORS OF ROANOKE COUNTY
TO DONALD E. BRYANT, SOLID WASTE EQUIPMENT
OPERATOR, UPON HIS RETIREMENT AFTER MORE THAN
FIFTEEN (15) YEARS OF SERVICE
WHEREAS, Donald E. Bryant was employed by Roanoke County on February
26, 2001; and
WHEREAS, Mr. Bryant retired on February 1, 2017, after fifteen years and
eleven months of devoted, faithful and expert service to Roanoke County; and
WHEREAS, Mr. Bryant, through his employment with Roanoke County, has been
instrumental in improving the quality of life and providing services to the citizens of
Roanoke County; and
WHEREAS, throughout Mr. Bryant’s tenure with Roanoke County, he has worked
in the Solid Waste Division providing citizens with excellent service through skillful
operation of both the automated and rearloader collection vehicles. Roanoke County
residents have benefitted from his attention to detail in collection and careful driving
habits for his part in keeping Roanoke County clean and attractive while operating
equipment at the most efficient level possible.
NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED that the Board of Supervisors of
Roanoke County expresses its deepest appreciation and the appreciation of the citizens
DONALD E. BRYANT
of Roanoke County to for more than fifteen (15) years of
capable, loyal and dedicated service to Roanoke County; and
FURTHER, the Board of Supervisors does express its best wishes for a happy
and productive retirement.
On motion of Supervisor McNamara to adopt the resolution, seconded by
Supervisor Peters and carried by the following recorded vote:
AYES: Supervisors Assaid, Bedrosian, Hooker, Peters, McNamara
NAYS: None
RESOLUTION 031417-1.c EXPRESSING THE APPRECIATION
OF THE BOARD OF SUPERVISORS OF ROANOKE COUNTY
TO KATHY L. BARNETTE, FAMILY SERVICES SPECIALIST,
UPON HER RETIREMENT AFTER MORE THAN TEN YEARS OF
SERVICE
WHEREAS, Kathy L. Barnette was employed by Roanoke County Department of
Social Services on October 16, 2006; and
WHEREAS, Ms. Barnette retired on February 28, 2017, after 10 years and 4
months of devoted, faithful and expert service to Roanoke County; and
March 14, 2017
135
WHEREAS, Ms. Barnette served as a Social Worker and a Family Services
Specialist, during her tenure with Roanoke County and has served with professionalism
and dedication in providing services to the citizens of Roanoke County; and
WHEREAS, during Ms. Barnette’s time serving the citizens of Roanoke County,
she provided services to the adult population working in both the Adult Services and
Adult Protective Services programs. Ms. Barnette was very passionate and diligent
about her work with the citizens she encountered in these roles. Ms. Barnette assisted
the individuals she worked with in improving their quality of life. Ms. Barnette provided
services to prevent abuse, neglect and exploitation of older adults and incapacitated
adults. Ms. Barnette also provided education to the community about Adult Protective
Services and Adult Services.
NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED that the Board of Supervisors of
Roanoke County expresses its deepest appreciation and the appreciation of the citizens
of Roanoke County to Kathy Barnette for more than ten years of capable, loyal and
dedicated service to Roanoke County; and
FURTHER, the Board of Supervisors does express its best wishes for a happy
and productive retirement.
On motion of Supervisor McNamara to adopt the resolution, seconded by
Supervisor Peters and carried by the following recorded vote:
AYES: Supervisors Assaid, Bedrosian, Hooker, Peters, McNamara
NAYS: None
RESOLUTION 031417-1.d EXPRESSING THE APPRECIATION
OF THE BOARD OF SUPERVISORS OF ROANOKE COUNTY
TO D’ANN F. ATKINSON, REAL ESTATE CLERK –
COMMISSIONER OF THE REVENUE, UPON HER RETIREMENT
AFTER MORE THAN TEN (10) YEARS OF SERVICE
WHEREAS, D’Ann F. Atkinson was employed by Roanoke County on January
16, 2007; and
WHEREAS, Ms. Atkinson retired on March 1, 2017, after ten years and two
months of devoted, faithful and expert service to Roanoke County; and
WHEREAS, Ms. Atkinson, through her employment with Roanoke County, has
been instrumental in improving the quality of life and providing services to the citizens of
Roanoke County; and
WHEREAS, throughout Ms. Atkinson’s tenure with the Commissioner of the
Revenue’s office, D’Ann demonstrated integrity, competence and the highest quality of
service. She presented a positive professional attitude and willingness to go the extra
mile for the public. D’Ann’s desire to service the public arose from a profound devotion
to her family, faith and the citizens of Roanoke County.
March 14, 2017
136
NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED that the Board of Supervisors of
Roanoke County expresses its deepest appreciation and the appreciation of the citizens
D’ANN F. ATKINSON
of Roanoke County tofor more than ten (10) years of capable,
loyal and dedicated service to Roanoke County; and
FURTHER, the Board of Supervisors does express its best wishes for a happy
and productive retirement.
On motion of Supervisor McNamara to adopt the resolution, seconded by
Supervisor Peters and carried by the following recorded vote:
AYES: Supervisors Assaid, Bedrosian, Hooker, Peters, McNamara
NAYS: None
A-031417-1.e
IN RE: CITIZENS’ COMMENTS AND COMMUNICATIONS
Mr. Tickle advised he has been a Roanoke County citizen since 1956 and
Salem two years before that.In his mail box a few weeks back he found tax
assessments. Later, he noted assessments had went up involving my home not the
land. Thinking how can that be. My roof is years old. I found a leak then repaired it. Is it
that the repair job made my roof more valuable? That was the only thing new
Basement, all walls years old, foundation too. He has never forgotten some guy
showing up during the flood of 85 said he was in the flood zone. He said how's that as
he is miles from the Roanoke River behind a mountain and way above the river. He
didn't seem to appreciate me not agreeing with him and left. Later he found out he had
convicted me of being in the flood zone. So how is my home more valuable being
convicted this way? Then I decided to do an elevation on my own and found out he was
actually appx 220 ft. above, ABOVE the Roanoke River. So, if there is a flood in
Roanoke valley all buildings, homes etc. Will be completely submerged underwater
even interstate 81 before flooded water gets anywhere near my property. The one thing
different is that my taxes have gone up for 2017. Many times lately hearing taxes are
not going up, he did the math. So it is true public schools aren't getting the job done
teaching addition. Actually, subtraction will never need to be known. It will never happen
to be needed. For now he is glad to pay more taxes. He can barely afford it and it keeps
people from moving in and getting crowded. Governance will get the opposite of what
they say they want. Folks and industry aren't looking to tax toasted. They'll stay away.
Governance and he will get what we actually want. We like it here, not too crowded like
some huge city. We have the vistas, parkway, Appalachian trail, beautiful Catawba, etc.
Keep the taxes. That will protect us. He does not like the debt and interest on the debit.
Let's fix that. Keep the taxes going; not too much though. That hurts. Folks will just
drive-by, spend some money and keep on going. We like that.
March 14, 2017
137
Chairman McNamara asked if Mr. Tickle would like him to check with Billy
Driver and Community Development with Mr. Tickle responding, “no thanks.”
IN RE: REPORTS
Supervisor McNamara moved to receive and file the following reports;
Supervisor Peters seconded the motion. The motion carried by the following recorded
vote:
AYES: Supervisors Moore, Bedrosian, Church, McNamara Peters
NAYS: None
1. Unappropriated, Board Contingency and Capital Reserves Report
2. Outstanding Debt Report
3. Treasurer’s Statement of Accountability per Investment and Portfolio
Policy as of January 31, 2017
IN RE: REPORTS AND INQUIRIES OF BOARD MEMBERS
Supervisor Bedrosian stated he appreciates everybody putting together
the budget, but cringes every time he sees the budget because he has been on the
Board for four years and when he came in we were at $174 million and now we are
basically at $187 million. We have gone up $15 million in the budget over the last four
years and when he does his calculations, and he has gone through this before, dividing
every million dollars by the number of citizens who live in Roanoke and figured out if we
gave it back to the citizens, how much would it be? Basically it would be roughly $50 for
a family of four for every million that we spend. When you go up $15 million over the
last four years, the average family of four just lost the power of $700 plus dollars. We
do it like that and that is why citizens do not realize they don’t have as much spending
power as they used to because while they are trying to work on a certain budget;
government keeps pulling more of that money in. A good example is the assessments.
It is a small thing, but it happens all the time so more money goes to the government
and less to the citizens, but he wants to be very clear. If we are going to spend $15
million more in government and the average family of four over the last four years has
had $700 less to spend. So, that concerns him. The only way he knows how to fix that
is that we have to set the number up front; the Board does, and tell the County
Administrator this is the number we are spending this year. We do it this way, which
becomes very difficult because the number comes to us and over the years we just
tweak it about a few thousand dollars, but it really makes no difference. He does not
know if that is the way they should be doing it. The other thing that he heard that was a
little concerning to him today was that we find ourselves in a situation where we are
going to have a hard time continuing basic services with the way the revenues increase,
March 14, 2017
138
it is just a slight increase and the pressures are being put on the Board. Every family in
the Roanoke Valley deals with this and governments act like it is something new. We
continue to borrow money for things like Broadband; for buying property at Woodhaven
and all these things that are really not in mind with what he thinks we should be doing
for basic services. He knows the people on this Board will argue that it is all about
Economic Development and that is the “rabbit” you chase forever. He always hears it.
You hear it at the federal government level; you hear it at all levels. The reason is they
are always investing, investing, etc. and we get deeper and deeper in debt. He has a
hard time with that argument. Economic Development is for the private sector to do and
if we would just let them do it, he thinks things will work out just fine. This is his
viewpoint on this. On the national level, he thinks it is important to bring this up. He
always talks about the fact that everything that happens on the National level is really a
local issue, but everybody lives in a local area, they don’t live in the National
government. They live in cities, towns and counties. The big debate right now is the
whole heath care debate. He would strongly urge every citizen to call their
congressman or senator and get involved in this debate. When he has listened to it, he
has not heard anything more convoluted in all of his life. He thinks it is the culmination
of really the dumbing down of America and how involved government is in every aspect
of our lives. We are now debating every aspect of someone’s health issues and the
way they want to buy healthcare. It really is not the business of the government to be
involved in this at all. It made him think of a great economist, Milton Friedman, who he
has read several of his books and thinks he is a superb intellectual on the economy and
he talks about the complexity of making a pencil. He read through all the gyrations
about it and all the parts you had to get, wood from certain places, the rubber tips from
jungles somewhere where they produce the rubber to make the tips, the lead you had to
get, the metal you had to get for the pencil and he brought up how complex it was when
dealing with countries that could not even speak the same language and yet it all came
together without government involvement and pencils were produced. Pencils today
are produced and he does not know if he has ever bought a pencil, actually. He thinks
he gets them for free. They are just always around. You can get them anywhere. If
you think of all the complexity, all the countries that are involved and all the things that
have to happen to get a pencil and it is almost free. If government ever got involved in
making a pencil, it would cost $50 a pencil and we would have lines waiting to buy a
pencil, but when the free market does it for some reason and it is still a little mystical to
him how it all happens, but when you just leave people alone and let them do on their
own, prices plummet on everything because people compete. They want customers.
They compete for those customers, which in turn drives prices down. We are doing
something that is totally opposite, which is driving all the prices up. It just frustrates him
so much that we could have it so good and yet we want to complicate things. It is a
good lesson, even for our local government. We should not get involved in a lot of
things we get involved in and we drive the price up of everything; we need to leave it to
the free market. In closing, he also heard that we are talking about next time to get
March 14, 2017
139
together to talk about funding for local non-profit agencies. We do that all the time he
usually puts zeros on everything. He just does not think we need to fund the local
agencies. The one that gets highlighted a lot is the United Way. He personally does
not appreciate them funding Planned Parenthood and why we would ever fund them.
We need to leave that also to the private sector. Local non-profit agencies, there are
tons of them, a lot of them do good work, a lot of them just have a lot of high-paid
executives. We do not need to be funding those people. Let them do it on their own
and that will be fine. Let the churches get involved, let agencies get involved, let people
on their own donate money. The last time he looked, we had over $1 million of tax-
payer dollars that we going to fund local non-profit agencies, which is not our role. Let
the private sector do it.
Supervisor Hooker stated she just had a couple of quick comments. The
first is that she would like to mention a local hero. His name is Jerry Caldwell. In 1974,
he joined the Catawba Volunteer Fire Department, which formed in 1949 and eventually
became known as Station #4. At the time Jerry joined, however, it was a crew of local
men who wanted to help protect their fellow citizens and that is what he continues to do.
In 1977, Jerry became Volunteer Fire Chief and actively served in that capacity for
thirty-eight years. As a result, he holds the accolade of being the “Longest Serving
Volunteer Chief” in the history of Roanoke County Fire & Rescue Department. She just
wanted to ask for our citizens to remember Mr. Caldwell, he was serving his citizens this
morning and was in a serious accident and is currently in the hospital. This is a great
man, and would just ask for your thoughts and prayers on his behalf; Jerry Caldwell,
continue to think of him. One more thing, there is a workshop series, titled “Violence in
the Workplace” that is in partnership with Roanoke County and Roanoke City. It is a
thth
two-part series on March 28 and April 4 and it is going to be an intense two-part
course designed to assist our business community in preventing, planning and
responding to workplace violence and active shooter incidents. Unfortunately this is a
necessity in our day and time and just want to encourage businesses to participate.
Supervisor Peters stated he had a couple of items to touch on. First is
that he really enjoyed the presentation of McAffee’s Knob. He thinks that highlights the
outdoor recreation here in the Valley. He thinks it puts a renewed look at Explore Park.
That is something that all of our folks are looking at and there are a lot of people looking
for that and we have a great area and people want to be out to enjoy it. Secondly, we
like to talk about free market. We like to talk about promoting free market and talking
about entrepreneurships. There is a group, and Annette Patterson is here today. He
appreciates her being here; the “Hive” and it is down in Vinton. They had over 50
entrepreneurs in the last gauntlet and there are 84 in the gauntlet now. He is truly
thankful for what she is going. She is taking them through classes, “How to be
Entrepreneurs” because the free market is where it is. As an entrepreneur our
Chairman would appreciate the leadership and the classes you can take early on and
probably make your job as a business person a lot easier. He encouraged the Board to
get with Ms. Patterson and talk with her about what she is doing. He thinks we should
March 14, 2017
140
look at how we can help support her in that effort to promote entrepreneurship in our
Valley and our County and ultimately the entire region. It is a growing process and
thinks we need to be a part of it. As he ends every meeting, he thanked the employees.
They do a great job for us and always ready for the storms that may or may not come,
but appreciates everything they do. Also in talking about the budget presentation, a lot
of hard work went into that and he appreciates it.
Supervisor McNamara stated he had a few things. As was touched on a
minute ago, he wanted to give thanks again; putting together a budget is a huge job
especially for an organization as large as this. He knows, he has heard that our
employee base as Supervisor Peters refers to is a part of it. They are a part of the
decision making. They take responsibility and he is real proud of them all. A couple of
meetings ago, there was an elderly gentleman from the City of Roanoke who lived in
Farrington Apartments in Roanoke City and was inquiring about Roanoke being able to
have Roanoke County transit that is available for our elderly and disabled come into the
city and ride transport. He would like to thank the County Administrator for providing a
response, but essentially since the gentleman is a City resident, the City will not take
their residents into the County. They only take their citizens to other places in the City.
Roanoke County does take its residents to another location in the County or we will take
them to the City. So, again, another little reaffirmation of what a good job the staff is
doing and what we try to do for our citizens. He did want to close the loop because he
thought he had some good questions. Roanoke County unfortunately does not have
the answers. Anybody that is looking for something to do Thursday, March 23, 2017, the
Reimagine 419, we are going to have a draft plan reveal of where we are in this
process. We have renderings that will help illustrate the look and feel of the future
development. The Planning Team will propose the key elements including the five-year
implementation strategy and a twenty-year framework for really creating something that
is walkable, connected and active for the 419 area. So, if you have any interest at all, it
is going to be a great presentation. He does caution, Roanoke County are not
developers. We are trying to create the vision and we will be looking toward the private
sector to work with us. We certainly will commit our expertise and may do some things
from a zoning perspective, but we are truly not the developers, but thinks it is a great
process. So, Thursday, March 23, 2017 at the South County Library. If you cannot get
there and you live in the County, you can take Cortran. If you live in the City, you have
to get Roanoke County to let you come to the County for the meeting.
IN RE: CLOSED MEETING
At 4:41 p.m., Supervisor McNamara moved to go into closed meeting
following the work sessions pursuant to the Code of Virginia Section 2.2-3711 A 1
Personnel, namely discussion concerning appointment to the Virginia Western
Community College Board of Directors (At-Large) The motion carried by the following
recorded vote:
March 14, 2017
141
AYES: Supervisors Assaid, Bedrosian, Hooker, Peters, McNamara
NAYS: None
The closed session was held from 4:55 p.m. until 6:25 p.m.
IN RE: CERTIFICATION RESOLUTION
At 6:25 p.m., Supervisor McNamara moved to return to open session and
adopt the certification resolution.
RESOLUTION 031417-2 CERTIFYING THE CLOSED MEETING
WAS HELD IN CONFORMITY WITH THE CODE OF VIRGINIA
WHEREAS, the Board of Supervisors of Roanoke County, Virginia has convened
a closed meeting on this date pursuant to an affirmative recorded vote and in
accordance with the provisions of The Virginia Freedom of Information Act; and
WHEREAS, Section 2.2-3712 of the Code of Virginia requires a certification by
the Board of Supervisors of Roanoke County, Virginia, that such closed meeting was
conducted in conformity with Virginia law.
NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED, that the Board of Supervisors of
Roanoke County, Virginia, hereby certifies that, to the best of each member’s
knowledge:
1. Only public business matters lawfully exempted from open meeting
requirements by Virginia law were discussed in the closed meeting which this
certification resolution applies; and
2. Only such public business matters as were identified in the motion convening
the closed meeting were heard, discussed or considered by the Board of Supervisors of
Roanoke County, Virginia.
On motion of Supervisor McNamara to adopt the resolution, seconded by
Supervisor Peters and carried by the following recorded vote:
AYES: Supervisors Assaid, Bedrosian, Hooker, Peters, McNamara
NAYS: None
142 March 14, 2017
IN RE: ADJOURNMENT
Chairman McNamara adjourned the meeting at 6:26 p.m.
iemitted by: Approved by:
/ I /� r� � � .,___ yC:,,2,s_________,
AY
Deborah C. J.i s s 'h P. McNamara
Chief Deputy ' lerk to the Board airman