Central Virginia
Nelson County
Board of Supervisors Meeting 4/8/2025
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Board of Supervisors Meeting
4/8/2025
I. CALL TO ORDER
A. Moment of Silence
B. Pledge of Allegiance
II. PUBLIC COMMENTS
III. CONSENT AGENDA
A. Resolution – R2025-19 Minutes for Approval
B. Resolution – R2025-20 FY25 Budget Amendment
C. Resolution – R2025-21 Establishment of 2025 Tax Rates
D. Resolution – R2025-22 Tax Refund
E. Resolution – R2025-23 Public Safety Telecommunicators Week
F. Resolution – R2025-24 Animal Care and Control Appreciation Week
G. Resolution – R2025-25 April is Fair Housing Month
H. Resolution – R2025-26 April is Child Abuse Prevention Month
I. Proclamation – P2025-02 Month of the Military Child
IV. PRESENTATIONS
A. VDOT Report
B. Social Services Building Final Design – PMA
C. Move Safely Blue Ridge – Draft Comprehensive Safety Action Plan (R2025-29)
V. NEW & UNFINISHED BUSINESS
A. Authorization for Public Hearing on FY26 Budget (R2025-27)
B. Establishment of 2025 Personal Property Tax Relief (R2025-28)
C. Lovingston Volunteer Fire Department Fireworks Funding Request
VI. REPORTS, APPOINTMENTS, DIRECTIVES AND CORRESPONDENCE
A. Reports
1. County Administrator’s Report
2. Board Reports
B. Appointments
C. Correspondence
D. Directives
VII. CLOSED SESSION PURSUANT TO 2.2-3711(A)(1) – PERSONNEL
VIII. OTHER BUSINESS (AS PRESENTED)
IX. ADJOURN AND CONTINUE – EVENING SESSION AT 7PM
Evening Session
I. CALL TO ORDER
II. PUBLIC COMMENTS
III. PUBLIC HEARING
A. Special Use Permit #250019 – Banquet Hall
B. FY26-31 Secondary Six Year Road Plan
C. Ordinance O2025-02 – Amendment to Chapter 2, Administration, Article IV, School Board
IV. OTHER BUSINESS (AS PRESENTED)
V. ADJOURN AND CONTINUE TO APRIL 23, 2025 AT 5:00 P.M. FOR A JOINT WORK SESSION WITH THE PLANNING COMMISSION.
SPEAKER_16
00:00:00
We will call the April 8, 2025 meeting of the Nelson County Board of Supervisors to order at 2 o'clock and we'll please stand for a moment of silence.
SPEAKER_15
00:00:29
I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America, and to the republic for which it stands, one nation, under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all.
SPEAKER_16
00:00:58
Good afternoon.
00:00:59
We have public comments first on our agenda today.
00:01:03
I have some people that have signed up to speak, and we'll give everybody at least the three minutes that they deserve, and we will, if someone did not sign up that wants to speak, we'll have an opportunity after that.
00:01:19
So first on our list is Aaron Harris.
SPEAKER_03
00:01:30
Good afternoon.
00:01:31
My name is Erin Harris.
00:01:33
I am the 4-H agent for the county and for Virginia Cooperative Extension.
00:01:38
I also serve in the role of unit coordinator and so I'm here to introduce it is long overdue thanks to a wonderful maternity leave and a lot of programming and training in the spring but I do want to introduce Kim Ryan and she has some some notes that she'd like to say as well.
SPEAKER_02
00:01:56
Thank y'all for your time.
00:01:58
My name is Kim Bryant and I am the Associate Extension Agent for Nelson County.
00:02:03
I began on November 11th and I've already met some new folks in our community and beyond.
00:02:09
As a new extension agent in Virginia, we're encouraged to take time to learn.
00:02:13
Since November, I have attended a new agent orientation in Virginia Tech, the Virginia Cooperative Extension Winter Conference, the Virginia Farm to Table Conference,
00:02:23
the Mid-Atlantic Fruit Grower Convention in Hershey, Pennsylvania and the new agent onboarding session.
00:02:29
The first one was the McCormick Farm in Raytheon, Virginia about two weeks ago.
00:02:33
As a new extension agent, we are also encouraged to share and teach.
00:02:38
To date, we have hosted a fruit school for 28 Central Virginia fruit growers.
00:02:42
We've hosted great disease management workshop for 12 growers.
00:02:46
I taught a propagation class for Master Gardeners in Nelson County and their training class of 12.
00:02:52
I hosted my first orchard meeting at Carter Mountain Orchard for a group of 33 and recently I completed the Virginia Master Cabinet Program.
00:03:00
To improve communication within our community in January we began sending out our monthly newsletter by email and while we use social media as well we're looking for ways to include everyone.
00:03:11
To date we are now reaching more than 800 people on our mailing list and as we find folks that are not online we're also building a list of addresses that we can physically mail information to them as well.
00:03:21
Going forward, we planted vegetables at the Extension Center to showcase container gardening and we invite everyone to visit.
00:03:27
This is another way that we can reach out to everyone with whatever space they have available indoors or outdoors.
00:03:32
We are also currently working with the Nelson Amherst Beef Producers, the Nelson Beekeepers, the Gladstone Community Center, the Blue Ridge Medical Center, and of course 4-H and FFA.
00:03:43
There's much to learn and to do at Extension, but I am fortunate to have come into a great team of Aaron Harris and Cindy McCray.
00:03:50
We're always looking to the future, and we thank you for your continued support of Virginia Cooperative Extension.
SPEAKER_16
00:03:57
Thank you.
00:03:58
Thank you.
00:03:58
It sounds like we're very fortunate to have you all as well, so thank you and welcome.
00:04:07
Next, we have Stephen Bain.
SPEAKER_11
00:04:22
and John Nellysford.
00:04:24
Board of Supervisors, I note that the resolution to establish 2025 tax rates is included in today's agenda and packet.
00:04:33
I suggest that this is premature and inconsistent with the FY 2526 budget next steps.
00:04:44
The public hearing for the FY 2526 budget is currently planned for the meeting on May 13th.
00:04:51
We know that the Board may make budgetary changes after the public hearing and the public sentiment expressed during that meeting.
00:05:00
Such changes may include a reduction in expenditure that may, in turn, provide the opportunity to reduce the real estate tax rate from 65 cents.
00:05:13
If the resolution to establish 2025 tax rates occurs today, that would unnecessarily restrict and limit
00:05:21
the board's options and actions, particularly after hearing from county residents on May 13th.
00:05:27
The resolution to establish 2025 tax rates should instead occur after the public hearing so that the board may first hear fully from county residents.
00:05:38
In other words, there would be no downside, only potential upside.
00:05:43
Thank you.
SPEAKER_16
00:05:45
Thank you, Mr.
00:05:45
Brain.
00:05:49
Next, we have Edith Napier.
SPEAKER_13
00:05:58
Good afternoon.
00:05:59
I'm Edith Nathier, 43 in Nathier Loop, Arrington, Virginia.
00:06:07
I'm here today regarding a permit application.
00:06:12
I can't even remember how many years ago I was here for this hearing when the original came through.
00:06:20
It was the permit
00:06:21
to build the warehouse to store vehicles for military personnel that was traveling overseas.
00:06:29
And that time, as I look around, I am probably one of the only people still around, and I believe Ms. McGarry, but not in that position.
00:06:40
And at that point, I said to the board, and I say to you now, that property is right in the middle of a community.
00:06:50
when they wanted to rezone it to, or a special permit so they could build those storage buildings.
00:06:57
It was stated quite emphatically, this should not adversely affect the community because these cars will be stored inside the building.
00:07:08
It would have no effect.
00:07:10
I advised them then, and I'm advising you now, there are two African American churches within a stone's throw of that building.
00:07:22
No one has mentioned anything to our church regarding this.
00:07:30
I heard about this by chance.
00:07:34
But respect us and I felt back then that we would have this day when someone would want to come back and it not be a place for storage of vehicles.
00:07:47
It did not interrupt the community as a place to store vehicles.
00:07:51
But it will have an effect on the community if you allow what is requested here for special events, public establishment, to sell alcohol, charge entry fees with live music and DJs.
00:08:09
Consider that.
00:08:09
You don't have to do this today.
00:08:14
I can only beg you, if it was in your community, if it was in addition to your church, you would not want it to happen.
00:08:22
The person, one of the people who live next door to this venue here is an individual who has a bad heart and he's been back and forth to the hospital and he's on the heart transfer list.
00:08:34
So I'm saying to you, this is a community.
00:08:37
It's just not a place where people can come and just have a good time.
00:08:43
Respect that community.
00:08:44
I ask you, earnestly, to not, not approve the special permit.
00:08:51
or at least give them time to talk to the people that are with them.
00:08:56
Thank you.
SPEAKER_16
00:08:58
Thank you.
00:09:00
So that's all the people that have pre-signed up.
00:09:03
Is there anyone else who would like to address the board?
00:09:07
This would be an opportunity.
00:09:11
Okay.
00:09:12
I will close public comments and move on to the consent agenda.
00:09:19
And before we approve the consent agenda, we have some resolutions and proclamations that we would like to read publicly.
00:09:32
And the first of those is Public Safety Telecommunications Week.
00:09:40
So Mr. Parr, would you like to read that for us?
SPEAKER_15
00:09:44
Absolutely.
00:09:44
Thank you.
00:09:47
Resolution R 2025-23, Nelson County Board of Supervisors National Public Safety Telecommunicators Week, April 13 through the 19th.
00:09:58
Whereas emergencies can occur at any time that require law enforcement, fire, or emergency medical services.
00:10:05
And whereas when an emergency occurs, the prompt response of law enforcement, firefighters, and paramedics is critical to the protection of life and preservation of property.
00:10:16
and whereas the safety of our first responders is dependent upon the quality and accuracy of information obtained from citizens who telephone into Nelson County Emergency Communications Center and whereas public safety telecommunicators are the first and most critical contact our citizens have with emergency services.
00:10:37
and whereas public safety telecommunicators are the single vital link for our deputies and firefighters by monitoring their activities by radio, providing them information and ensuring their safety and whereas each dispatcher has exhibited compassion, understanding and professionalism during their performance of their job in the past year.
00:11:00
Now, therefore, be it resolved that the Nelson County Board of Supervisors declares the week of April 13th through the 19th, 2025 as National Public Safety Telecommunicators Week in Nelson County in honor of the men and women whose diligence and professionalism keep our county and citizens safe.
SPEAKER_16
00:11:21
Thank you, Mr. Parr.
00:11:22
I believe we have some members of dispatch present today.
00:11:27
If they are here, can you stand up so we can recognize you?
00:11:33
We thank you.
00:11:44
Next, Animal Care and Control Appreciation Week.
SPEAKER_04
00:11:50
Resolution R 2025-24, Nelson County Board of Supervisors Animal Care and Control Appreciation Week, whereas the National Animal Care and Control Association is committed to setting the standard of professionalism in animal welfare and public safety through training,
00:12:09
Networking and Advocacy.
00:12:11
And whereas animal care and control professionals dedicate their lives to the health and safety of at-risk and helpless animals.
00:12:19
And whereas animal care and control professionals work to rescue and protect animals from injury, disease, abuse, and starvation.
00:12:29
And whereas NACA has designated the second full week of April as the Animal Care and Control Officer Appreciation Week.
00:12:38
and whereas federal, state and local government officials throughout the nation take this time to recognize, thank and commend all animal care and control professionals for the dedicated services they perform and for fulfilling the commitment to providing the highest and most efficient level of customer service.
00:13:00
Now therefore be it resolved that the Nelson County Board of Supervisors does hereby recognize
00:13:05
April 13-19, 2025 as Animal Care and Control Appreciation Week in Nelson County and we call this observance to the attendance of our citizens.
SPEAKER_16
00:13:18
Thank you Dr. Ligon.
00:13:19
Animal Control, we have some folks from Animal Control here today.
SPEAKER_04
00:13:32
I'd like to add one thing that actually Kevin Wright was recognized this year as Animal Control Officer of the Year.
00:13:39
So if everybody would please acknowledge that.
00:13:41
He's doing a great job.
SPEAKER_16
00:13:43
Thank you.
00:13:50
I have another resolution to read here.
00:13:54
This is Resolution R. 2025-25, Nelson County Board of Supervisors, April 2025 is Fair Housing Month.
00:14:04
Whereas April is Fair Housing Month and marks the 57th anniversary of the passage of the Federal Fair Housing Act, Title VIII of the Civil Rights Act of 1968 as amended by the Fair Housing Amendments Act of 1988,
00:14:19
and whereas the Fair Housing Act provides that no person shall be subjected to discrimination because of race, color, national origin, religion, sex, disability or familial status in the rental sale, financing or advertising of housing and the Virginia Fair Housing Law also prohibits housing discrimination based on elderliness and whereas the Fair Housing Act supports equal housing opportunity throughout the United States,
00:14:46
and whereas fair housing creates healthy communities and housing discrimination harms us all, now therefore be it resolved that the Nelson County Board of Supervisors supports equal housing opportunity and seeks to affirmatively further fair housing, not only during fair housing month in April but throughout the year.
00:15:08
Next we have resolution 2025-26.
00:15:11
Mr. Parr, would you like to read this for us?
SPEAKER_15
00:15:15
Yes, but before I do, I do want to acknowledge a couple of
00:15:24
Anybody that knows animal control and the public communicators that we have in dispatch, you'll notice that not everybody was here.
00:15:30
That's because those teams have somebody on call right now that couldn't make it to this recognition.
00:15:36
So thank you all for everything you do, both, and to the ones who couldn't make it here for this recognition.
SPEAKER_16
00:15:41
So thank you.
SPEAKER_15
00:15:44
All right, next we have Resolution R 2025-26.
00:15:46
Nelson County Board of Supervisors is, April is Child Abuse Prevention Month.
00:15:53
whereas preventing child abuse and neglect is a community problem that depends on involvement among people throughout the community and whereas child maltreatment occurs when people find themselves in stressful situations without community resources and don't know how to cope and whereas the majority of child abuse cases stem from situations and conditions that are preventable in an engaged and supportive community.
00:16:19
and whereas all citizens should become involved in supporting families in raising their children in a safe, nurturing environment and whereas effective child abuse prevention programs succeed because of partnerships created among families, social service agencies, schools, faith communities, civic organizations, law enforcement agencies, and the business community.
00:16:43
Now, therefore, be it resolved that the Nelson County Board of Supervisors do hereby recognize April as Child Abuse Prevention Month and call upon all citizens, community agencies, faith groups, medical facilities, and businesses to increase their participation in our efforts to support families, thereby preventing child abuse and neglect and strengthening the communities in which we live.
SPEAKER_16
00:17:10
Thank you, Mr. Parr.
00:17:13
Next we have Proclamation P 2025-02 and Mr. Rutherford, would you read this please?
SPEAKER_14
00:17:22
Proclamation P 2025-02, Nelson County Board of Supervisors, April 2025 is the month of the military child.
00:17:29
Whereas the Department of Defense has consistently acknowledged the vital role of military children and youth and whereas the resilient young individuals demonstrate unwavering commitment, adaptability,
00:17:40
Courage in the face of unique
00:17:59
provides an opportunity to celebrate their achievements, honor their past, cherish the present, and shape a brighter future.
00:18:05
Therefore, let it be known that we recognize and appreciate the contributions of military children and youth we commit to providing them with quality care and positive youth development.
00:18:14
And be it resolved that the Nelson County Board of Supervisors does hereby proclaim April 2025 as the month of a military child.
SPEAKER_16
00:18:22
Thank you, Mr. Rutherford.
00:18:26
Okay, we have the rest of the consent agenda before us.
00:18:30
Board, do you have a motion?
00:18:32
Move that we approve the consent agenda as presented.
SPEAKER_04
00:18:36
I'll second.
SPEAKER_16
00:18:37
Okay, got a motion and a second.
00:18:38
Is there any further discussion?
00:18:41
Roll call vote, please.
SPEAKER_07
00:18:43
Mr. Rutherford.
SPEAKER_14
00:18:44
Yes.
SPEAKER_07
00:18:45
Mr. Parr.
00:18:45
Yes.
00:18:46
Dr. Ladin.
00:18:46
Yes.
00:18:47
Mr. Reed.
SPEAKER_16
00:18:47
Yes.
00:18:50
Okay, moving on to presentations.
00:18:53
First we have the VDOT report.
00:18:55
Mr. Brown's here to thank you all for attending this afternoon and best wishes and good luck with your work and thank you.
SPEAKER_10
00:19:10
Thank you, Chairman Reed.
00:19:11
I have a few things to report on.
00:19:13
I've been around the county much.
00:19:16
We are making progress in our emergency
00:19:19
Pipe repair on 151.
00:19:22
They started a few weeks ago.
00:19:23
I think we've got about 100 feet of new pipe on the road.
00:19:28
Hopefully, we'll finish that up in a couple of weeks.
00:19:30
And also, if you've been up that way on 151, we have started the emergency slope repair doing a engineering slope up on 151 just past
00:19:49
Thank you.
00:19:53
That is just getting started good.
00:19:55
Hopefully we have done a lot of preliminary work to get it where our contractor could come in there and do some soil nailing.
00:20:06
We did repair a pipe about 7 to 7 to 8 at a private entrance.
00:20:12
I'm pretty sure we finished up cleaning the debris from the ice dome.
00:20:17
We had some
00:20:18
A fair amount of debris on the southeast side of the county, and hopefully most of that's gotten up.
00:20:26
We are working on some drainage issues down in Gladstone on Route 656 to fix a drainage problem down there under the road.
00:20:37
And lastly, we do plan on doing a litter pickup the first of May on all our primary routes.
00:20:45
And we are busy patching potholes, potholes, potholes, potholes.
00:20:52
We're busy patching potholes on certain sections of 29.
00:20:58
Hopefully they're slowing down and we can get on some other pavement work.
00:21:07
I hope the ground will be freezing too many more times before.
SPEAKER_16
00:21:28
Thank you.
00:21:30
Jesse, do you have anything for Mr. Brown?
SPEAKER_14
00:21:32
No, I just want to thank Mr. Brown for always taking my calls and text messages and giving him a hard time.
00:21:38
No, thank you.
00:21:40
I don't really have anything of note at this moment.
SPEAKER_16
00:21:43
Dr. Ligon?
SPEAKER_04
00:21:45
So when you're coming off of Oak Ridge onto 29, though it's not the most legal stunt, but every morning I see five or six people drop down into this pothole off the side of the road when they're trying to get on the south, going south.
00:22:08
So it's in the crossover.
00:22:10
but it's where people are dropping off the pavement and getting back on and it's flinging gravel and stuff into the... On the right side, right there.
00:22:21
What would be left?
00:22:23
Well, I mean they're getting, it is southbound but it's on the left side.
00:22:28
They're dropping down as they're getting on point.
SPEAKER_14
00:22:32
They're dodging, oh, coming... Rightbound traffic to stay in the left lane, right?
SPEAKER_04
00:22:36
Right.
00:22:36
They'll be on the left lane
00:22:39
going southbound as they're trying to get on 29.
00:22:49
And in theory, they should not even be right there, but they are every morning.
SPEAKER_10
00:23:01
Lots of vehicles.
00:23:07
That's all I've got.
SPEAKER_15
00:23:19
Thank you for the work you did on the private entrance on Lovesville Road.
00:23:24
That individual has solved the problem.
00:23:27
And I was looking at the border that we had yesterday and everything looked really good.
SPEAKER_10
00:23:33
Hopefully now if it does
00:23:36
Thank you, Mr. Brown.
SPEAKER_16
00:23:52
Next we have a presentation from PMA on Social Services Building Final Design.
SPEAKER_01
00:24:05
Good afternoon Mr. Chairman, members of the board.
00:24:08
I'm Jeff Spodul from PMA Architecture and I wanted to give you an update on the social services building.
00:24:16
The drawings are complete for the building and the site at this point.
00:24:22
We're working on pulling specifications together.
00:24:25
Originally we had hoped that we would be before you this month asking your authorization to bid the project.
00:24:34
but we still haven't gotten comments from VDOT and as of yesterday we had just received comments from DEQ so we need to get through those comments to make sure there's nothing else that is required in the project.
00:24:54
I feel pretty confident in talking to the civil engineer today that we'll be at a point by the end of the month
00:25:01
where we'll have those comments back and we don't anticipate really anything big that would be added to the project.
00:25:11
I think right now with VDOT they've asked for a sidewalk along Main Street and so that's been integrated into the project.
00:25:20
It's being worked out.
00:25:22
So I anticipate by the end of the month we'll have that together.
00:25:27
We're expecting
00:25:28
Comments from the County Site Plan Review and Building Plan Review, I think this week.
00:25:37
And so those elements should come together.
00:25:40
Next month we will be here requesting authorization to bid.
00:25:45
I think we're going to have a date at that point to issue the drawings.
00:25:52
So we're getting very close to being able to go out and
00:25:57
Move into the pricing and get this project done in construction.
00:26:04
I did provide an update of the budget.
00:26:10
The last time I was here in October and presented a budget, we had gone through our own internal budgeting and the project appeared to be on budget within what we told you previously.
00:26:26
Then in November we had an independent cost estimate done and that proved that we were still within that budget.
00:26:37
So what we did between November and now is we rearranged some elements in that budget.
00:26:48
We've added a contingency
00:26:52
for escalation and we added some elements in there for window treatments.
00:26:58
There's some additional testing that'll be necessary during construction.
00:27:03
Bottom line, we're still within the budget.
00:27:09
No one knows exactly what will happen during bidding.
00:27:16
There's a lot of bad news that circulates out there.
00:27:20
I will say the good news is that last week we had a project bid with the Department of Conservation and Recreation and that one came in right on our number so we have some recent luck in seeing these estimates perform within what we're predicting so that's what I'm hoping for and there should be good interest on this project.
SPEAKER_14
00:27:47
Quick question.
00:27:48
So when it comes to the bidding process, can any builder that has a commercial designation be allowed to bid this?
00:27:55
Or are there further requirements that we have?
SPEAKER_01
00:27:58
It's really the county's policies.
00:28:01
And I would say that as long as they're a Class A contractor and they can meet the bonding, there are two things that will be required, a performance of payment bond if the contract's awarded.
00:28:13
And typically, we ask for a bid bond.
00:28:15
So usually, that
00:28:18
That means contractors are able to bid and bond a project.
SPEAKER_14
00:28:24
And that's 10%, typically, a bond of some sorts.
00:28:29
If you're requiring a letter of credit, 5%.
SPEAKER_01
00:28:32
Or bid bonds.
00:28:35
But yes, it's a publicly advertised bid.
00:28:42
It'll be open to anybody.
00:28:48
If you know anybody out there, I would encourage them to look for this bid advertisement.
SPEAKER_06
00:28:58
I'll just add to that.
00:28:59
Part of the bid package will include asking for qualification statements and references and listings of projects that they've completed.
00:29:09
We'll be looking at that as well.
SPEAKER_14
00:29:11
I know we always typically find ourselves caught with the same three big cottons like Jameson Lewis or English or Blair.
00:29:20
Whatever the other big one is.
00:29:21
Blair.
00:29:21
Blair.
00:29:22
Blair Construction.
00:29:24
It'd be nice to diversify it as best we could, but I understand whatever requirements may trickle down, sometimes that's the limiting factor.
SPEAKER_01
00:29:32
Well, the project's big enough to get, I think, to get good interest.
00:29:38
It's not too big and to scare off contractors out of Lynchburg, Charlottesville, maybe even Roanoke.
SPEAKER_16
00:29:55
Just to say, the addition of the sidewalk sounds like VDOT might be working on our behalf on this one.
00:30:03
It sounds like a good addition.
00:30:04
I like that.
00:30:06
And the fact that we've still got contingency to play with, I like that too.
00:30:10
So thank you for the good news on those things.
SPEAKER_14
00:30:13
Appreciate it.
00:30:14
Well, we'll see what happens.
00:30:17
This thing is a contingency that doesn't get eaten up.
SPEAKER_16
00:30:19
Yeah, so we'll see you next month, hopefully.
SPEAKER_01
00:30:22
I will be here next month.
00:30:23
Thank you very much.
SPEAKER_16
00:30:24
Thank you.
00:30:30
Okay.
00:30:32
Next, Dylan, do you want to announce the presentation on move safely with which?
SPEAKER_08
00:30:43
Sure.
00:30:43
So the Thomas Jefferson Planning District Commission, they received federal grant funds from the
00:30:49
Safe Streets for All program to develop a regional safety action plan.
00:30:53
The Board of Supervisors adopted a resolution in February of 2024 and the TJPDC with the consultant, Kim McLaurin, established a working group with county staff and the other localities in our region to develop the Move Safely Blue Ridge regional safety action plan.
00:31:14
And so they are here today to go over the process and where everything is at.
SPEAKER_09
00:31:28
Good afternoon, Mr.
00:31:29
Chair, members of the board.
00:31:30
My name is Gordon Giorgieski.
00:31:33
I'm a regional planner at the Thomas Jefferson Planning District Commission.
00:31:36
I'm here today to present you the draft safety action plan that we developed with assistance from all of our partners
00:31:44
Additionally, I would like to request the board to adopt the plan should it align with your expectations.
00:31:59
Could I move the slides?
00:32:00
Okay, perfect.
00:32:03
Today's discussion will include the background of the Safe Streets and Roads for All program, Nelson County's leadership commitment,
00:32:10
the planning process, the emphasis areas in the high injury network, the public engagement, proposed solutions, and next steps.
00:32:22
Most states would leverage as the region's plan to reduce road fatalities and serious injuries for all road users, no matter their mode of transportation.
00:32:35
In 2021, the bipartisan infrastructure law was passed that established the SS4A program that is a federal program which supports the United States Transportation, Department of Transportation National Roadways Safety Strategy and its goal of zero fatalities by 2050 using a safe system approach.
00:32:59
I mentioned this is a regional plan.
00:33:02
It covers the counties within the Thomas Jefferson Cleaning District.
00:33:06
Albemarle, Flovena, Green, Louisa, Nelson, as well as the City of Charlottesville.
00:33:12
But the region's plan is focused specifically for the jurisdiction, so it also could be classified as a super local plan.
00:33:27
This slide highlights Nelson County's leadership commitment from 2018 to 2022.
00:33:35
173 people were killed on the county's roadways.
00:33:40
Nelson County recognized that and February 13, 2024, adopted a resolution to reduce the total number of fatalities and serious injuries by half by 2045.
00:33:53
I want to thank this moment to thank the board for making the leadership choice.
00:33:58
This is a key step in fulfilling the goal because the adoption of this plan will position Nelson County
00:34:06
to be able to apply for implementation funding in future SS4A rounds and other funding, which I will collaborate a little bit later.
00:34:18
The planning process for the project was established by the Thomas Harrison Planning District Commission and the partners.
00:34:26
including the working group members and VDOT.
00:34:31
The members of the working group member were specifically identified for these projects as jurisdictional staff.
00:34:38
I have to say thank you to Amanda and Dylan for their very valuable input into this project.
00:34:45
I don't think we would have been here today if it wasn't for their input.
00:34:50
And also VDOT, we had
00:34:53
the District Planner from the Lynchburg District, Mr. Rick Youngblood and Carson Eggert.
00:35:00
The planning process for this project was divided into four key components and three rounds of public engagement, but ultimately the whole process serves as a foundation for development of the final Comprehensive Safety Action Plan.
00:35:18
The period that I mentioned from 2018 to 2022 actually covers our crash data for this project and is structured around 13 identified emphasis areas which are the key factors that contribute to fatalities and serious injuries in the region.
00:35:38
I want to note that these emphasis areas correspond with each other and what I mean by that is that if someone was driving under the influence
00:35:48
was not wearing a seatbelt and had a roadway departure that they would be classified in all three emphasis areas.
00:35:55
The goal for these emphasis areas for the project team was used to inform their decisions on potential needs and potential solutions for the project.
00:36:09
To further refine our strategies, the project team developed the high injury network methodology, which shows the highest concentration of crashes on the county's roadway network.
00:36:22
So from 2018 to 2022, 75% of the fatal serious minor injury crashes occurred on just 7% of the county's roadways.
00:36:38
I mentioned three rounds of public engagement.
00:36:41
This was very crucial in the development of the plan.
00:36:46
In round one, we identified the region's values, issues, and opportunities.
00:36:51
In round two, we engaged on strategies and collaborated with our partners.
00:36:57
And round three is the current round, which is the development of the draft comprehensive safety action plan.
00:37:04
And it's revealed.
00:37:08
A little bit of details about the public engagement in Nelson County.
00:37:13
In round one, we kicked off the project with a regional safety summit.
00:37:18
We had staff from all jurisdictions present, as well as the police department and EMS services and other partners.
00:37:27
For round one, it was crucial to ask the public what are the types of concerns that they have when traveling on the county's roadways.
00:37:36
So we went out to where the public was.
00:37:40
Key locations that we were present on included the Nelson County food pantry as well as the Lovingston Farmers Market.
00:37:49
We also hosted a public meeting at the Nelson County Center.
00:37:54
And round two was similar to round one, but in this case we went out to the public to ask them what are the type of solutions they think
00:38:06
will have the most impact when it comes to transportation safety.
00:38:11
I want to thank the Nelson County Sheriff's Department, First Responders Team, and the Unity and Community Ministry for allowing us to attend their meetings and conduct our feedback.
00:38:24
We also hosted a round table discussion with the Virginia Farm Bureau, where farmers and ranchers in the region, with the help from the Virginia Farm Bureau,
00:38:35
Transportation Safety when it comes to farm vehicles.
00:38:38
Topics included potential solutions and issues and opportunities for improvement.
00:38:50
I'll shift your attention to this slide now.
00:38:55
This is the potential solutions for the project.
00:38:58
So these solutions would not have been able to be
00:39:03
recommended without the county staff's help and without VDOT's help.
00:39:10
I want to thank our partners for really going through the details for these solutions but as part of the plan there are several components to this and I would say that I mentioned VDOT a couple of times I want to say that none of these projects
00:39:28
will conflict with what VDOT has done.
00:39:31
In the county, they will just support their work.
00:39:36
So the first recommended solutions are the spot improvements.
00:39:41
These are spot-specific improvements.
00:39:44
And so in this slide, we have five.
00:39:48
There's a little bit more in the comprehensive safety action plan document.
00:39:52
So on US 29 and Tide Group Road,
00:39:56
The potential solution would be to construct a restricted crossing U-turn on Route 151 and Lowesville Road to improve the warning on Lowesville Road but also improve the sight distance by clearing the vegetation.
00:40:16
On US-29 in Killeen,
00:40:19
to improve the pavement markings on the crossovers as well as conducting a speed study to create reduced speed limit zones.
00:40:27
Additionally, extend the turn lane onto Cowling Road and replace the two-way left turn lane with a physical median.
00:40:36
On US-29 through Lovingston, to close the crossover at Main Street, again, construct restricted crossing U-turn at Northside Lane,
00:40:47
and conducting a speed study to extend the reduced speed limit zone and to include curb and gather enhancements.
00:40:56
And finally, the US-29 on Route 6 to offset the left turn lane of US-29 northbound to provide better sight distance and construct a restricted crossing U-turn and also to consider that Tippie Trail is an alternative route for turning movements.
00:41:16
and lastly conducting a speed study for reduced speed limits.
SPEAKER_16
00:41:25
So I have a question if I could.
00:41:27
All those are along the 29 corridor.
00:41:31
Were there any considerations of the 151 corridor?
SPEAKER_09
00:41:36
So there are I believe all that is provided into the comprehensive safety action plan.
00:41:42
I can recall.
00:41:46
Daniele McCray is part of the project, and so I'll have to defer to her for that.
00:41:54
Oh, I'm sorry.
00:41:59
The first one, right.
SPEAKER_16
00:42:00
The second one, yeah.
00:42:01
Yeah, but not the corridor north through Afton or Neely's word.
SPEAKER_14
00:42:06
I don't think so.
00:42:09
I guess, question, obviously looking at my district is the US 29 through Lovingston.
00:42:17
So in those particular spots, there are issues, whether that's pedestrian crossing or over at the further south entrance doing the archive.
00:42:27
This was something that was considered when we were looking at doing an archive.
00:42:34
I mean, I'm not necessarily thinking, in my mind, as I look at those, I don't want to see
00:42:40
closing the crossover for Main Street because there's a lot of individuals who use that for commerce every day to access 56 as opposed to going the stoplight and coming in over that direction.
00:42:52
So I don't know necessarily if I'm sold on the first two for the N4.
00:42:58
as Solutions Necessarily.
00:43:00
I guess does this translate into going to a smart scale essentially?
00:43:06
What is this?
SPEAKER_09
00:43:09
I mean potentially yes, but the main goal of the draft comprehensive safety action plan once adopted it will enable Nelson County to apply for implementation funding rounds of the
SPEAKER_14
00:43:21
gotcha I mean I have no problem addressing the main street scenario and the further down near the stoplight which I'm assuming is where the R cut at the north side you're talking about but you're talking about which side?
00:43:39
You're gonna put an R cut there?
00:43:44
R cut is when you can only have a
00:43:47
I think I'd like to visit those two particular solutions as ideas because as we've interacted with VDOT with SmartScale, we've looked at the R-cut concept and there was not really one that was that feasible.
00:44:05
I would much rather focus on the entrance at the stoplight more so than the north side entrance.
00:44:11
Not saying, obviously we had an accident in that vicinity the other day.
00:44:16
That was pretty serious, but I don't know the nature of it.
00:44:20
But those first two, I would much rather see that stoplight address than us figuring out pedestrian movement coming from the apartments into Lovingston, in my mind.
00:44:31
sure I mean yeah we can definitely look at that as I said we're here to ask you to adopt the plan but also we wouldn't do that without your feedback yeah yeah so I mean that as I look at this when it comes to route six I have an office on Tibbitt Trail I have often said that figuring out how to send northbound traffic to Tibbitt and go that direction would definitely be a safer move I think that it's not a terrible idea I'm not sure what the
00:44:57
No matter how that math translates and the traffic counts and all that, but I'm not necessarily against that because people trying to make a left at that intersection is a tough thing.
SPEAKER_15
00:45:07
Wasn't there already an R cut in 5, 29 and 6?
00:45:13
Wasn't there already an R cut that was cut from the plans?
00:45:18
Yeah.
SPEAKER_14
00:45:20
Yeah.
00:45:20
Because we had voted on it and then VDOT nixed it.
SPEAKER_06
00:45:24
Yeah, VDOT determined it wasn't feasible.
SPEAKER_14
00:45:26
Right.
00:45:27
Yeah.
SPEAKER_15
00:45:30
So was VDOT involved in this plan?
SPEAKER_14
00:45:36
Yep.
00:45:36
I'm confused.
00:45:37
I hadn't heard them say they wanted to shut down Main Street intersection yet.
00:45:41
Do y'all remember them bringing that up yet?
SPEAKER_04
00:45:43
We have the fire department.
00:45:45
Yeah.
00:45:46
Across the street from Main Street.
SPEAKER_14
00:45:48
Yeah.
SPEAKER_04
00:45:50
I mean, you would not want to slow the fire department down to save our town.
00:45:56
Yeah.
SPEAKER_14
00:45:58
So yeah, I think, you know, I'm very much interested in seeing how we could utilize your plan with cooperation with VDOT.
00:46:05
I would definitely specifically, those first two bullets on the N4, I'd like to address those more specifically, see if there's one that's a little bit more feasible.
SPEAKER_09
00:46:20
So these projects would also fall under the pipeline studies as well where a lot more details can be.
SPEAKER_14
00:46:29
Any more alternative ideas?
00:46:33
OK.
00:46:33
I mean, like I said, I would have no problem if we just say, you know, Main Street entrance and the north side and the south side entrance, you know.
00:46:41
I would much rather see those three
00:46:46
Like I said, I'm not sold on closing the crossover or constructing the hard cut at Northside.
00:46:51
To me, the hard cut at Northside, I don't get that.
00:46:54
I'm sure I get some complaints from people concerned they're going to get rear-ended with traffic coming in.
00:47:01
But yeah, I don't know how we can amend it for you.
00:47:05
If I was just saying it, it amends it for you.
SPEAKER_09
00:47:09
Yeah, we can definitely revisit this.
00:47:11
Yeah.
00:47:19
If there are no further questions, then I'll go to the next slide.
00:47:27
So to support the spot-specific potential solutions, the project team also looked at systemic improvements of the entire roadway network in the county.
00:47:43
Just a few examples here, but there are a lot more in the comprehensive safety action plan.
00:47:49
The main examples include the edge line treatment and installing center line rumble strips.
00:47:55
That's specifically to deter distracted driving and road road departures.
00:48:00
And finally, the installing advanced warning signs and pavement markings at intersections to provide driver awareness.
00:48:12
On top of the systemic improvements and the spot specific solutions, the team looked at policies and programs which are non-engineering solutions.
00:48:25
Again, we have a few examples here, but we have over 30 in the conference safety action plan.
00:48:33
Key solutions include the red light cameras at intersections, high visibility saturation,
00:48:40
for law enforcement to control the impaired driving and farm zone educational campaigns that will really teach people about how important farming is in our community and what it means when they're on their road.
00:49:09
The adoption of this plan will position Nelson County to be able to apply for future funding.
00:49:16
And part of that is the Safe Streets and Roads for All implementation funding in future rounds, SmartScale, the Highway Safety Improvement Program, and revenue sharing.
00:49:30
The team also plans to do an annual update on the crash date on the Move Safely Blue Ridge website.
00:49:35
to further align with current safety transportation trends and further refine our strategies.
00:49:46
Through these processes and policies guided by the comprehensive safety action plan, the project team aims to create a safer and more efficient transportation network in Nelson County and the region.
00:49:59
Thank you for your time.
00:50:01
I'll be happy to take any additional questions.
SPEAKER_16
00:50:06
So we just received this report today.
00:50:12
So we want to take a closer look at it, obviously.
00:50:16
But from my standpoint and from some of the comments we've had, there are some things that we would like to perhaps comment on or contribute to this.
00:50:28
I'm looking at the areas on page 21
00:50:35
There are high crash segments, and the one on 151 in Roseville is indicated on this, but some of the other ones that are also there didn't make the cut for some reason.
00:50:50
Those are things.
00:50:53
We've had a 151 speed study and traffic safety along the 151 corridor in my district is one of the very highest priorities of the community that I represent and for the north county, part of the county, the north district.
00:51:11
So if we have things we'd like you to either revisit or consider or receive comments, what's the best way for us to interact with you so we could have
SPEAKER_09
00:51:22
If you'd like to submit any comments on the plan, please reach out to me via my email.
00:51:32
We could also provide a link to the Comprehensive Safety Action Plan where you can go in and put comments.
SPEAKER_14
00:51:44
Do we have a time constraint?
00:51:45
Is there a deadline we need to get this passed by?
SPEAKER_09
00:51:48
So the final plan has to be adopted by all jurisdictions by June 30th, 2025.
00:51:55
I would say the sooner we receive your feedback, the better.
00:52:00
But obviously we know you're busy.
SPEAKER_14
00:52:03
Dylan, you got my feedback.
SPEAKER_16
00:52:07
And if we do have comments, what type of review would the comments that we might submit
SPEAKER_09
00:52:14
I mean we're looking for if you have comprehensive review of the whole plan then we would appreciate that but mainly I want to point out the specific projects that I mentioned that's the key part of it because the projects that are included in the comprehensive safety action plan will be available to be funded in future rounds.
SPEAKER_16
00:52:42
Any other comments?
SPEAKER_14
00:52:44
So we'll vote on this at a different meeting?
00:52:46
Yes.
00:52:48
Sounds good.
00:52:48
Thank you so much.
00:52:50
Thank you.
00:52:50
Appreciate you guys coming.
SPEAKER_16
00:53:00
Okay.
00:53:03
Next we have New and Unfinished Business, starting with our authorization for a public hearing on the FY 29 budget.
SPEAKER_05
00:53:23
Good afternoon.
00:53:25
This is the authorization for public hearing for the FY 25-26 budget.
00:53:32
So this is authorized by state code title 15.2, sections 2503 and 2506.
00:53:39
All right.
00:53:51
The proposed tax rates for 2025 are not changed from the 2024 rates.
00:53:58
All tax rates are levied per $100 of assessed value.
00:54:02
For real estate and local home, tax rate is 65 cents.
00:54:06
Personal property tax rate of $2.79.
00:54:10
Machinery and tools tax rate of $1.25.
00:54:13
And manufactured home, local home tax rate of 65 cents.
00:54:22
Our FY26 budget summary by fund, for a general fund, we have $51,088,536.
00:54:29
The debt service fund, $6,784,074.
00:54:40
Capital fund, and this includes the DSS building project, $8,932,180.
00:54:48
Broadband Fund, $273,638, Piney River Water and Sewer Fund, $513,033.
00:54:57
School Fund is budgeted at $33,879,180.
00:55:02
School Capital Fund, which is a high school project, $22,065,327.
00:55:11
School Cafeteria Fund,
00:55:16
$291,628, school textbook fund $556,868, and VPA fund, which is the DSS operating $2,111,235, making the total amount to be $126,595,999.
00:55:45
So our next steps for today's meeting would be to adopt the proposed resolution R 2025-27, authorizing a public hearing on the budget to be held on May 13th at 7 p.m. Then on April 24th, 2025, and May 1st, 2025, the FY 25-26 detailed public hearing notice is given in accordance with state code 15.2-2506.
00:56:14
May 13, 2025, during our regular meeting, a detailed staff presentation on the budget followed by a public hearing starting at 7 p.m. And then June 10, 2024, during the regular meeting, consider adoption and appropriation of the FY 25-26 budget via resolution.
00:56:35
And to note, the board may make budgetary changes between the budget public hearing and budget adoption and appropriation.
00:56:41
The public will receive notice of any additional work sessions
00:56:48
And there's our proposed resolution for today.
00:56:55
OK.
SPEAKER_16
00:56:55
Thank you, Grace.
00:56:56
Thanks for all your hard work on this and the board's hard work on it as well.
00:57:02
What's the pleasure of the board?
SPEAKER_14
00:57:06
So we can schedule the public hearing.
00:57:08
I think this, for housekeeping purposes, we can schedule the public hearing if there are adjustments that have to happen throughout the course of between here, the public hearing, and then of course there's still the vote on the appropriations.
00:57:22
If there's any modifications within reason, they can be made up until that point, correct?
00:57:30
We're just scheduling the public hearing.
SPEAKER_16
00:57:33
Right, the purpose of this is to schedule the public hearing and to be able to hear back from the public about the draft budget we've got so far.
SPEAKER_04
00:57:44
I move we approve Resolution R 2025-27.
SPEAKER_16
00:57:48
Second.
00:57:49
Okay.
00:57:50
We have a motion.
00:57:50
We have a second.
00:57:52
Is there any further discussion?
SPEAKER_15
00:57:53
Those April 24th and May 1st dates in there, they weren't things we need to do.
00:57:58
They were just advertising dates.
00:58:06
Correct.
00:58:07
Okay.
SPEAKER_16
00:58:07
Okay.
00:58:07
If there's no further discussion or comments, take a roll call.
SPEAKER_04
00:58:12
Mr. Rutherford?
00:58:12
Yes.
00:58:13
Mr. Parr?
00:58:14
Yes.
00:58:15
Dr. Lane?
00:58:15
Yes.
00:58:16
Mr. Reed?
SPEAKER_16
00:58:16
Yes.
00:58:18
Thank you, Grace.
00:58:25
Okay.
00:58:26
Next we have a proposal from Lovingston Volunteer Fire Department for funding requests for some fireworks.
00:58:37
And our fireworks display, Candy?
00:58:39
Oh, I'm sorry.
00:58:41
Missed tax relief, sorry.
00:58:44
So we do need to establish the 2025 personal property tax relief.
00:58:47
Sorry, Candy.
SPEAKER_06
00:58:56
Okay, as Chairman Reed said that this presentation involves the establishment of the 2025 Personal Property Tax Relief, which is the percentage tax rate discount on personal property.
00:59:11
So we have to do this by state code and the authorization for that is 58.1, 3524.
00:59:18
And this provides a history of this tax relief.
00:59:23
For the tax year 2006 and thereafter, localities will be reimbursed by the state for providing the required tangible personal property tax relief as set forth in this co-deception.
00:59:34
In 2006, $950 million in tax relief was divvied up between the counties, cities, and towns in the Commonwealth.
00:59:41
based upon their provided share of their actual payments for tax year 2005 as compared to the actual payments to all counties, cities, and towns in 2005.
00:59:50
It was also established that this amount would be the same for each subsequent tax year.
00:59:56
At that time, the annual amount of tangible personal property tax relief provided to the county by the state was determined to be $1,708,030.
01:00:07
State code mandates that a tax relief rate for qualifying vehicles be annually established in order to receive this tax relief reimbursement from the state.
01:00:17
So therefore, pursuant to that code section, our proposed resolution 2025-28 2025 personal property tax relief establishes the percentage reduction in rate used for distribution of the county's personal property tax relief amount of the $1.7 million.
01:00:35
And this is for qualifying vehicles under the statute.
01:00:38
The county's financial system uses this percentage to calculate the amount of relief distributed
01:00:43
given the amount of current tax levied and the qualifying vehicles as categorized by the Commissioner of Revenue within the accounting system.
01:00:53
So in 2024 tax year, the percentage relief was set at 43% in order to utilize available funding within the proposed FY 25 budget to provide more relief.
01:01:07
For tax year 2024, personal property tax relief percentage of 43%
01:01:12
distributed approximately $1,886,362, which was 178,332 greater than the 1.7 million in relief received from the state.
01:01:24
$1,736,216 of this was the initial distribution calculated.
01:01:32
and then throughout the year we distributed $150,146 through supplemental changes by the Commissioner of Revenue to the tax base through their monthly DMV downloads.
01:01:46
For the 2025 tax year, staff is recommending a distribution percentage of 38%.
01:01:52
This endeavors to equal the $1,708,030 received from the state.
01:01:59
The 38% rate is expected to distribute $1,055,050 at the beginning of 2025 and allows for a distribution of $152,980 throughout 2025 as supplemental changes to the tax base are made by the commissioner.
01:02:22
Here are some PPTRA distribution examples.
01:02:25
The top box shows what percentage relief does in total.
01:02:30
So the first line in the top box is what a distribution rate of, or a discount rate of 43% would look like.
01:02:40
So that would distribute $1,755,994 and would provide an allowance for, well, it would not provide any allowance for
01:02:55
Future distribution throughout the year.
01:02:59
If you use $150,146, which was what was distributed in 24, extrapolating that to 2025, your anticipated local funds utilized would then be $198,110.
01:03:13
The second example shows the 2025 rate at 38%, and the distribution would be $1,555,050,
01:03:25
and that would allow $152,980 for distribution throughout the year with an expected anticipated local funds of $0 utilized.
01:03:37
If we were to go to a 37% rate for 2025, you can see we would distribute $1,515,122 at the beginning of the year and then
01:03:49
That would allow for $192,908 to be distributed throughout 2025 with no impact to local funding.
01:03:59
And then for about each 1% of PPTRA relief distributed, it's about $40,000.
01:04:05
The bottom box shows the effective tax rate and minimum annual tax impact.
01:04:14
For a 2024 rate of 43%,
01:04:17
This is an effective tax rate of $1.59 or 57% of the 100% rate of $2.79.
01:04:24
And so the effect on the annual tax of the minimum maximum of the first $20,000 in value would be $318.
01:04:34
So if we went with a 38% discount rate in 2025, this would mean a discount of
01:04:44
where you would pay 62% or $1.73 of the $2.79 which would translate to an annual bill of $346 or $28 more in 2025 than in 2024.
01:04:57
And that's split between two tax billings for $14 more per billing.
01:05:06
The next example is the 37%.
01:05:09
where you have a discount rate that you pay 63% of the 279 for $1.76 and then your bill would be $352 or $34 higher than in 2024 for $17 split between the two billing periods.
01:05:27
So each 1% of the PPTRA relief equals about a 3 cent effective tax rate.
01:05:38
So the distribution of PPTRA per state code 58.1 3524 is as follows.
01:05:48
Qualified vehicles with an assessed value of $1,000 or less will be eligible for 100% tax relief.
01:05:55
Qualified vehicles with an assessed value of $1,001 to $20,000 will be eligible for, and I've inserted the 38% recommended tax relief.
01:06:05
The qualified vehicles with an assessed value of $20,001 or more shall be eligible to receive the 38% tax relief only on the first $20,000 of assessed value.
01:06:16
All other vehicles which do not meet the definition of qualifying, such as those for business use vehicles, farm use vehicles, motor homes, et cetera, will not be eligible for any form of tax relief under the program.
01:06:32
So our next steps here would be to obtain any input from staff if you'd like.
01:06:37
We're recommending approval of resolution 2025-28 that sets the 2025 percentage PPTRA relief at 38%.
01:06:47
And this is what the Commissioner of Revenue would use when generating the final 2025 personal property tax living book.
01:06:55
And should the board approve a percentage PPTRA that appears to require local funding,
01:06:59
Staff would just need direction on the source of those funds.
01:07:07
Any questions?
SPEAKER_16
01:07:09
Thanks, Candy.
01:07:12
Any questions for Candy?
SPEAKER_14
01:07:13
Historically, what was the rate in prior years other than last year's 43%?
01:07:18
What is this?
SPEAKER_06
01:07:19
It's gone back and forth between 38%, 39%.
01:07:20
38%, 39%.
SPEAKER_14
01:07:22
And so essentially one percentage point difference is about $40,000.
01:07:28
Yes.
01:07:29
So if we kept it at 43%, it would be about 200 grand?
SPEAKER_06
01:07:36
Yes, that's correct.
SPEAKER_14
01:07:40
And what is the typical for the deficit with the funds that we get versus what the county has done?
01:07:46
Has this been a little bit of an outlier year or what have you seen?
SPEAKER_06
01:07:54
I'm not sure I understand the question.
SPEAKER_14
01:07:56
No, what I'm saying is, so we had to utilize $198,000 last year of local funds to bridge that gap.
SPEAKER_06
01:08:03
No.
SPEAKER_14
01:08:04
No?
SPEAKER_06
01:08:05
Yes.
01:08:08
You're right.
01:08:08
That's what it would cost to do 43% this year.
SPEAKER_14
01:08:13
That's not last year's.
SPEAKER_06
01:08:15
Last year.
01:08:15
You said you had a deficit.
01:08:18
Yes, $1,886,362 which is $178,332.
SPEAKER_14
01:08:22
So we just used that $178 out of non-recurring?
SPEAKER_04
01:08:28
No, didn't we have found money or something and we put it towards that.
01:08:32
There was money out of some fund that was found and we decided to apply it to that.
01:08:41
So we mentioned that this was not going to happen again.
01:08:45
I don't remember that one.
01:08:46
We can go back to the minutes.
01:08:48
I catch it.
SPEAKER_14
01:08:50
I don't remember that one.
01:08:52
Anyways, the only reason why I bring this up is obviously our constituents struggle with bridging the gap.
01:08:57
It is intriguing that we even tax cars that have $1,000 and less, which I see that is 100% relief for those.
01:09:04
That's good.
SPEAKER_15
01:09:08
I wonder why farm use labels aren't included.
SPEAKER_06
01:09:11
Are they taxed?
01:09:12
It's just from the statute.
SPEAKER_15
01:09:14
I know.
SPEAKER_14
01:09:23
Hey, I'm all about increasing it and taking it out of the non-recurring, but you know.
SPEAKER_16
01:09:33
Well, do we have a motion on resolution R2025-28?
SPEAKER_15
01:09:39
I move that we approve Resolution R2025-28, 2025 Personal Property Tax Relief as presented.
SPEAKER_04
01:09:53
I'll second.
SPEAKER_16
01:09:54
Okay.
01:09:55
Motion and a second.
01:09:56
An opportunity for more comments, questions?
01:10:01
Okay.
01:10:01
Roll call, please.
SPEAKER_07
01:10:04
Mr. Rutherford.
01:10:05
Yes.
SPEAKER_04
01:10:06
Mr. Parr.
01:10:06
Yes.
01:10:07
Dr. Lady.
01:10:07
Yes.
01:10:08
Mr. Reed.
SPEAKER_16
01:10:09
Yes.
SPEAKER_04
01:10:11
Thank you very much.
SPEAKER_16
01:10:11
Thank you, Candy.
01:10:18
Okay.
01:10:19
Now it's time to think about fireworks.
01:10:21
Sorry.
01:10:22
So Candice, do you want to complete the presentation?
01:10:26
Mr. Johnson's here.
SPEAKER_06
01:10:27
Mr. Johnson is here.
01:10:29
Jade Bunner was not available to come today.
01:10:32
So the Lovingston Volunteer Fire Department is requesting $12,000 for the firework show on the 4th of July.
01:10:40
The firework technician they tend to use is Mike Durbin with Francisco Display Fireworks.
01:10:47
At this time, they don't have an official quote finalized.
01:10:53
The quote would include his time, materials and the insurance costs.
01:10:57
Should the finalized quote come in below 12,000, the committee in chief agreed that they would be returning any unused monies to the board.
01:11:05
The length of the show would be about 20 to 25 minutes on the 4th of July at the high school.
01:11:11
The technician intends to use 3 inch and 4 inch mortars.
01:11:14
You have to be able to use some 5 inch mortars, but it will depend on the layout of the show at the high school.
01:11:20
At this time, the next step is to confirm the layout for the show with the high school.
01:11:25
Volunteer Fire Department is committed to ensuring the safety of residents of Lovingston and the high school.
01:11:30
If the permits and the board approve the fireworks show, their social media and parade teams are committed to posting on Facebook and potentially printing flyers to warn residents of loud noises.
01:11:42
They'll also be posting tips on safety for residential pets and livestock as well.
01:11:47
She's also included information about the high school location.
01:11:53
Viewing would be the area of the middle and high school parking lots or the track.
01:11:57
Due to school construction, they're still finalizing this viewing area.
01:12:03
She says a supervisor had asked if they could provide quarter potties and they'll discuss that with the high school to determine if that is allowed or where to put them.
01:12:13
That is all the information I have and Mr. Johnson's here as well to answer any questions or
SPEAKER_14
01:12:17
Are we planning on doing it on the 4th or are we going to do it a separate date from the 4th on the 4th property?
SPEAKER_16
01:12:42
I just want to say great community event, good to have it back at the high school and thank you for bringing this to us and for assuring us that it's going to happen in a safe way.
SPEAKER_12
01:12:53
The problem we're having strictly with the unpredictable aspect is until we know the school schedule for the construction.
01:13:04
That will change the size, so once we have a nailed down amount that comes from you, we will sit down with Ms. Hester, we will nail down where we're going to be according to where they will allow us to be, then he does his show, he provides the insurance, he provides everything, the contracts are signed, so we're kind of held up until we know if it's going to be funded at what level.
SPEAKER_16
01:13:24
Right.
01:13:25
I know we would sure appreciate updates as you go forward, so we'll know what to expect and hopefully there won't be any roadblocks along the way.
SPEAKER_14
01:13:36
Well, I'm supportive of this.
01:13:38
I'm prepared to make a motion when you're ready, Mr. Reed.
SPEAKER_16
01:13:42
Okay.
01:13:42
Mr. Rutherford.
SPEAKER_14
01:13:43
Yes.
01:13:45
Mr. Reed, I move that we approve $12,000 for the fireworks show for the 4th of July to be provided to the Lexington Volunteer Fire Department and anything left over get brought back to us.
01:13:58
Okay.
01:14:00
Second.
SPEAKER_16
01:14:01
Okay.
01:14:02
Motion and second.
01:14:04
If there's no further discussion, roll call.
SPEAKER_04
01:14:07
Dr. Lee?
01:14:08
Yes.
01:14:08
Mr. Parr?
01:14:09
Yes.
01:14:10
Mr. Rutherford?
01:14:11
Yes.
01:14:11
Mr. Reed?
SPEAKER_16
01:14:11
Yes.
01:14:14
Thank you, Daniel.
01:14:21
Okay.
01:14:22
Candy, your report, please.
01:14:24
Oh, dear.
01:14:27
Yes.
SPEAKER_06
01:14:28
All right, so we got a little bit of an update on our VSS building project earlier in the meeting.
01:14:34
Final site plan reviews are in process and nearing completion, as Mr. Dodgill noted.
01:14:40
And due to the current pending status, the financing bid schedule will be modified some, but will still coincide with the key VRA summer pool bond financing dates.
01:14:51
So a revised tentative timeline is below.
01:14:56
May 1st is still the Virginia Resource Authority financing application due date.
01:15:03
The May 13th board meeting, we will have Davenport present the plan of finance with the VRA summer pool, and the board will be asked to consider to authorize bidding on the project.
01:15:15
And we should have a pretty extensive presentation as well by PMA that same day.
01:15:21
May 13th through June 30th would be the
01:15:26
Project bid and receivable of bids and review of the bids with the apparent load that are being identified within that time frame.
01:15:35
And then at the June 10th board meeting, the board will be asked to consider approval of the financing resolution and documents.
01:15:42
And these documents set the maximum principal amount of borrowing.
01:15:47
So that is one thing the board may need to consider is the maximum principal amount
01:15:56
of Borrowing because that will set the ceiling for the project.
01:16:01
So in consideration of the project estimate, we will want to have some sort of cushion in place in that resolution if the board's amenable to doing that.
01:16:12
Then on July 8th at the board meeting, the board would be asked to consider approval of the construction contract.
01:16:20
The actual VRA bond sale would be July 29th and then the tentative closing date would be August 6th.
01:16:27
For the high school renovation project, the remaining key dates there are April 22nd is the VPSA bond sale.
01:16:35
April 24th is the bond document signing where school staff, county staff, school board and VOS chair will be signing all of the bond documents.
01:16:47
May 6th is the executed closing documents due date to VPSA.
01:16:53
And then the tentative closing on those bonds is May 13th.
01:17:00
For the FY26 budget, we did already consider the authorization for public hearing on May 13, and that is now set at 7pm on May 13, as recommended today.
01:17:17
Regional Water Supply Planning Supervisor Reed, Service Authority Board Member Robert McSwain and I all attended the Regional Water Supply Planning Kickoff meeting for the Middle James River II Regional Planning Unit, or RPU, that was held in Alta Vista on March 24th.
01:17:36
DEQ is offering grant funds of about $8,800 per RPU to help RPUs get started in the planning process.
01:17:44
CBPVC will apply for these funds on behalf of the RPU which can be used for eligible purposes related to the planning process such as conducting regional meetings or hiring a consultant to work on the plan.
01:17:58
Subsequent discussions will be held with CBPVC regarding their leadership of the planning process which will entail the CBPVC membership voting affirmatively for them to do so.
01:18:10
Future funding for these plans is unknown and may ultimately be a local responsibility.
01:18:16
Regional water supply plans are due to be submitted to DEQ by October 10th, 2029.
01:18:22
I've included a link to the water supply planning resources page and also the URL for more information.
01:18:30
So we're just getting started and we'll have more to report as this moves forward.
01:18:38
Follow-up from CHN and the Larkin Phase 1 Well Evaluation and Dillard Creek Flow Evaluation, Jeff Brantley met with CHA staff on-site this past Friday to evaluate access to the property and any potential tree removal that may be necessary for them to do the resistivity testing and ultimately provide for drill rig access to the identified and mapped testing sites.
01:19:02
Jeff recorded back that he didn't think that outside tree removal help would be necessary and scheduling of the actual resucidity testing is to be determined.
01:19:13
So we'll keep you up to date as more information comes in there.
01:19:18
The Piney River Phase 2 pump station is currently down with the pump motors out for repair and pumping and hauling of the wastewater is being performed.
01:19:27
The time frame for the motor repair is pending from the shop and
01:19:31
Mr. Brantley said he may be able to temporarily bypass the pump station as a workaround until the pump station is back online.
01:19:38
And we are currently working to secure an engineer's review of the new pump station specifications we have before placing that order.
01:19:51
Along those lines, the county and service authority staff will be meeting later in the month to discuss the Piney River Phase II system, inclusive of the Phase II pump station replacement plans,
01:20:01
and plans for moving towards the service authority's ownership of that system.
01:20:06
This will include some preliminary discussion and review of near future rate adjustments for that system.
01:20:17
I need to bring you up to speed on the ambulance transport billing status.
01:20:21
A special thanks goes out to Deputy Chief Mike Riddle of NIMS for his work on this issue.
01:20:27
NIMS staff have worked through the billing issues for the last year.
01:20:31
and they want me to emphasize to no fault of their own and this is this is true they did nothing to contribute to this issue but they found approximately 760 transport reports that did not get billed.
01:20:45
Mike reported to me that it was determined that when the nemesis guidelines changed last year around April the filtering of reports also changed.
01:20:56
and excluded several reports that should have been billed.
01:20:59
NEMCIS is the national organization that sets guidelines for collecting, storing and sharing EMS data and maintains the national EMS database.
01:21:09
So once this was determined, they were able to compare the billing reports from the billing company with what they had sent in to be billed from the EMS transport end.
01:21:18
The reports that did not get billed last year were resubmitted and should now be in the process of being billed and collected.
01:21:25
They will continue to review the reports from January and February of this year to ensure that those have in fact been billed as well.
01:21:32
And from a regular receipt standpoint, the collections are almost at expected year-to-date levels now, so that is being recovered.
SPEAKER_15
01:21:41
Follow-up question on that.
01:21:44
Do we get any feedback on the system and how that works as far as the billing system and paying that and providing insurance information and that kind of thing?
01:21:54
Do we hear any feedback?
SPEAKER_06
01:21:57
Usually I want to hear feedback if something's not going well.
01:21:59
I haven't gotten any negative feedback on that.
SPEAKER_04
01:22:04
We have discussed several meetings ago about shopping around.
01:22:09
Have we found other companies, compared prices, things like that?
SPEAKER_06
01:22:14
No, we haven't done any of that work yet.
01:22:27
All right.
01:22:29
The Board has previously expressed interest in the investment of County funds and
01:22:35
Reporting Treasurer Hull, myself and Grace Mawyer met with both Davenport, the county's financial advisors, and Atlantic Union Municipal Advisors.
01:22:45
They're a subsidiary of Atlantic Union Bank.
01:22:50
We met with both of those outfits to discuss their investment in asset management services.
01:22:56
Both offer similar services based on cash flow analysis and current investment practices.
01:23:01
However, the county currently has its commercial accounts with Atlantic Union Bank who offers their investment asset management services in-house and is able to provide some incentives such as renegotiation of banking fees, restructuring and linking of current accounts to maximize interest earned, and an interest rate incentive associated with account restructuring.
01:23:21
So Ms.
01:23:22
Hull is currently working with AUB and AUMA on this in a presentation to the board by the director of their fixed income
01:23:32
Unit for AUMA is being planned for possibly June or July.
01:23:37
I did revise my reports to include the current investment mix, which totals $28,673,988 in several different investment accounts.
01:23:49
Those are the Atlantic Union Bank operating account.
01:23:51
There's $1.2 million that's non-interest bearing.
01:23:56
There's an Atlantic Union Bank Sweep account, which is a money market account.
01:24:00
There's about $9.1 million at 2% interest rate on that account.
01:24:05
Virginia Local Government Investment Pool accounts, or LGIP, with $7.8 million, earning 4.43% interest.
01:24:12
And then the VIP Stable Nav Liquidity Pool, which is a similar tool as LGIP,
01:24:21
has $6.9 million at 4.45% interest earnings.
01:24:27
And then there are multi-bank securities and a fixed income account, and these are CDs that have different interest rates.
01:24:35
We have about $3.4 million in those, and those earnings rates range from three to 4%.
01:24:41
So we'll be coming back to you with more on that in June or July.
SPEAKER_14
01:24:52
As it relates to CHA with the well, as we recall in our prior discussion, basically the restivity test is something that a lot of other government entities are going to be required to see done before we start looking at doing any improvements or
01:25:13
Water related stuff, basically that was something that we had to do.
01:25:18
I still would say we could go send well drillers out there, go find the water for a much better price.
SPEAKER_06
01:25:23
I think they could, but yes, typically any funding mechanisms are going to require engineering.
01:25:35
Okay, and Wintergreen Fire Marshal follow-up, Supervisor Rutherford, thank you.
01:25:41
Spoke with Billy Hux, the State Fire Marshal, regarding Wintergreen's request.
01:25:45
He's amenable to coming to a board meeting to discuss this subject.
01:25:50
My understanding is prior to that, staff and Chief Sheets will coordinate a meeting in the next couple of months with Mr. Hux and then two designated board members prior to bringing this back for the board's reconsideration.
01:26:04
We'll need to know who wants to be involved with that.
01:26:07
I think Ernie said already you would like to.
01:26:11
And is there any other one person?
SPEAKER_14
01:26:15
I think it was me and Jessica had the most questions.
SPEAKER_04
01:26:18
Yes.
01:26:21
If the chair wants to be there, he should be there.
01:26:24
I feel confident, Jesse.
01:26:25
You will be as traumatic and negative as I can be.
SPEAKER_14
01:26:29
I'll do my homework.
SPEAKER_06
01:26:35
Okay, meals and lodging task collection and lodging entity tracking attached are the charts for February-March.
01:26:43
The number of lodging units is 826, which is up from 816 from the previous report.
01:26:50
Glenn Yee, who's our GIS specialist, is working on plotting all the registered STRs in the county and developing an interactive map, which should prove to be an excellent tool in the short-term rental ordinance conversation.
01:27:03
So as soon as we have
01:27:05
That fully develops, we can release that to you all for any review and comment or any additional things you might like to see with that.
01:27:18
And then you'll receive all the department and office reports from March and April.
01:27:21
And I would like to echo the board's comments and
01:27:27
Congratulations to Mr. Wright for winning his Animal Control Officer of the Year Award and also to thank the Animal Control Department and also all of our telecommuters or dispatchers for their hard work.
01:27:44
That's it for me.
SPEAKER_16
01:27:46
Thank you, Candy.
01:27:48
Any other comments on Candy's report?
01:27:51
Okay, thank you.
01:27:58
Next, we have board reports.
01:28:02
David, any kind of report?
01:28:06
Dr. Ligon?
SPEAKER_04
01:28:07
Well, we had a planning commission.
01:28:11
We dipped our toe into talking about short-term rental ordinance changes, and we as a whole are very interested in
01:28:25
where our short-term rentals are located and then they also were hoping that we would spend the 25 extra hundred dollars on the 151 verbiage overlay district reason there was a few reasons being but the one I could not say
01:28:52
or say anything about was that they just felt that area was not represented well with our board and it is just $2,500 they just kept saying that so that was their hope that we would initiate doing the 151 overlay on top of the ones that we had decided to do which was 29 Lovingston
01:29:20
29, Lovingston overlay, R3, and they want to include the fourth, which is the 151 overlay.
01:29:32
Beyond that, that's all I have.
SPEAKER_16
01:29:36
I did have some communication with Dylan today about that, and she said that she's going to be bringing a proposal to us to fund the other overlay district for 151.
SPEAKER_14
01:29:49
I had a PDC meeting this past month.
01:29:54
I can't really remember.
01:29:56
We had so many meetings since then, and we've seen each other that I can't entirely remember what all went down in that meeting.
01:30:02
We have our executive director here, so I can make her tell you all if you really want to know.
01:30:06
But that was pretty much clouded by we had our Central Virginia Regional Housing Partnership Conference.
01:30:12
Ernie, you attended.
01:30:14
It was pretty well.
01:30:15
Well, very well attended by numerous different localities.
01:30:19
I think a lot of great discussion as it relates to what this looks like in a moving environment, high interest rates, housing costs.
01:30:27
What does that look like in the rural context?
01:30:30
We're still kind of redesigning ourselves as we're getting the study back, which that study comes when, Christine?
SPEAKER_06
01:30:39
This study begins this month.
SPEAKER_14
01:30:43
So we'll start getting some data over the next year.
01:30:47
So that will be good for us to have.
01:30:53
Data is power after all.
01:30:56
We had our joint school board board supervisor meeting and I think we had what three budget sessions somewhere in there and then I had attended the Sheriff's Town Hall at the Rockfish Community Center.
01:31:14
There's pretty good attendance there.
01:31:15
A lot of positive feedback related towards 151 enforcement.
01:31:22
And we're taking our, Jessica and I are taking our planning commissioner certification right now and we think all of you should do it if you haven't.
SPEAKER_04
01:31:33
I was going to talk to Dylan first, but why not just throw it out there?
01:31:40
I feel that the county has been stagnant for a long time because we haven't really been empowering our boards well.
01:31:50
So it was kind of my mission when I was voted in to empower EDA.
01:31:55
Fund them, try and get that ball rolling.
01:31:58
It turns out during this schooling for planning commission, really planning commission needs to be empowered as well because actually reviewing the comprehensive plan yearly, finding goals
01:32:14
actually doing things to make those goals happen.
01:32:18
So I really would actually love the board to encourage Planning Commission and EDA to meet and maybe be walking in lockstep to make things happen.
01:32:31
I'm all jazzed about that so but I'll I'll be coming back more with more of a plan so that's kind of where I'm at.
SPEAKER_14
01:32:38
I think it would be especially powerful as we're now that we're in zoning having the EDA maybe put some input in as to what that looks like from that perspective.
01:32:51
Your meeting was first with all the new guys, right?
01:32:54
Or was this the second new person?
SPEAKER_04
01:32:56
Second meeting with a whole new planning commission, essentially.
01:33:00
There's only two people that have been on there before.
01:33:05
So I really am hoping they can all get educated and they're not jaded.
01:33:17
A positive thing, at least I'm thinking it is, that we could really move some things forward.
01:33:23
It is kind of a good time.
01:33:25
So, yay.
SPEAKER_16
01:33:31
In terms of reports, Regional Housing Summit, big thumbs up.
01:33:39
Time well spent thanks to TJPDC and everyone involved putting that event together.
01:33:47
Which sessions did you go to?
01:33:49
Oh boy.
SPEAKER_14
01:33:50
Maybe there was only eight of them.
SPEAKER_16
01:33:53
Yeah.
01:33:54
I just wasn't sure.
01:33:56
I'll go back and check my notes and lunch.
SPEAKER_14
01:33:58
Yeah, feedback would be good for our organization too.
SPEAKER_16
01:34:01
Yeah.
01:34:06
also the town hall meeting at RVCC that the sheriff and all the deputies were at was excellent.
01:34:15
Thank you, Jesse, for being there.
01:34:18
The regional water supply plan meeting that Candy
01:34:24
I just wanted to give some information to the board and the public about that because there's been a lot of questions about water supply and trying to get that information updated.
01:34:39
The last revision was done in, gosh, 2017.
01:34:45
We're in a different planning unit with the Middle River to regional planning unit than we actually are with TJPDC.
01:34:56
Interesting enough, we may be a little more familiar with
01:35:01
issues that cover the TJPDC area, so many of the reports we get and so much of the support that our planning department get comes from them.
01:35:11
However, in terms of watersheds, we share the same watershed in the middle part of the James River with
01:35:20
Amherst County, Appomattox County, Campbell County, Bedford County, and Lynchburg.
01:35:25
So it does make good sense for us to be working with them on regional planning because our watershed all feeds right into the middle area of the James.
01:35:37
So that was also time well spent and thanks Robert for tagging along.
01:35:44
We had a good time or at least it was time well spent even if it wasn't a good time.
01:35:49
Because we had a lot of questions, we got them answered, and now we're ready to move forward on that.
01:35:54
And the only other thing to report is that I've been meeting with constituents both at their request and at mine to talk about the short-term rental scenario, so no shortage of interest and input and ideas going along with that.
01:36:14
Looking forward to being there.
01:36:16
More involved with that as we go along.
01:36:18
So that's it on reports.
01:36:23
Let's go to – we have directives next or appointments?
01:36:31
Appointments.
01:36:32
We had one appointment that was put forth, but I think it was withdrawn.
01:36:36
Is that true?
SPEAKER_07
01:36:37
Yes, Margaret Claire had applied.
01:36:39
She is interested in serving, but I think after kind of looking at her schedule and availability, it really just doesn't work right now.
01:36:48
We'll continue to seek in any applications for the Economic Development Authority that is not restricted by district, so it's a county-wide seat.
01:37:02
And we're also looking for applicants for the Board of Zoning Appeals.
01:37:06
Again, that one is also district-wide, or county-wide.
SPEAKER_16
01:37:10
And that's an alternate position?
01:37:11
Yes.
01:37:11
It's not a position that is front-line?
01:37:16
Correct.
SPEAKER_16
01:37:19
Okay, do we have any directives from the board?
SPEAKER_14
01:37:25
Jesse?
01:37:28
I studied some more since the last work session about improvements at the
01:37:35
Crozet Tunnel, and I know staff, we had kind of made a directive to staff to go interact with them.
01:37:42
I just wanted to follow up with that if you need any assistance or if you feel like you would like to use any of maybe my relationships I have across the mountain to help spur some of the conversation I can be had.
01:37:54
As it relates to improvements of site-related stuff, yeah.
01:37:59
and then I think the second piece you know we've obviously the main budget piece is talking about the school system you know I'm gonna have to concur with Dr. Ligon kind of the report on buses I don't know if the school will be amicable the more buses whether that's by substituting some of the recurring piece or maybe we set a part of the recurring that we're giving them to like a bus fund so to speak like take 150 out and put it into there
01:38:27
I've mentioned this to, excuse me, I called my board member, I did not get a chance to talk to him about it, George, just to see if this concept could work because this bus situation is dire and I think if there's a piece of maybe what we're providing them on the recurring basis, maybe there's some of that could be utilized for a bus fund, so to speak, and just leave that in a recurring state as opposed to a constant non-recurring use.
01:38:54
Does that make sense?
SPEAKER_16
01:38:56
Are you proposing that for this budget session?
SPEAKER_14
01:38:58
I don't know yet.
01:38:59
I'm in the low level of finding out details and seeing what they'd be amicable towards or what this board might be.
01:39:06
But that's an idea that I've been floating around.
01:39:08
I think a couple of the board members and I, we just briefly mentioned it.
01:39:13
Just seeing if they would be able to part.
01:39:15
It's not even parting with the money.
01:39:17
It's reallocating some of that money for buses in a recurring basis because that's going to be a major, constant problem.
01:39:25
George and I had that conversation.
01:39:27
He seemed open to it, open to that idea.
01:39:31
So that's the only piece related to the budget that I kind of am eyeballing to see if that could potentially happen.
SPEAKER_16
01:39:41
Okay, Dr. Ligon.
01:39:44
Mr. Parr.
01:39:47
Okay, I think that takes care of our afternoon session.
01:39:52
We have a closed session coming up.
01:39:56
I'm going to go to the bathroom real quick.
01:40:00
I'd like to convene our evening session, Nelson County Board of Supervisors, and we'll start with public comments.
01:40:13
I have no one that signed up previously to speak to public comments.
01:40:17
If there's anyone here who would like to, this is your opportunity to do it.
01:40:22
And if not, we will move on to our public hearings.
01:40:26
So we have three public hearings tonight.
01:40:30
The rules for public hearings are really the same as public comments, but I'll go over them for the benefit of everybody here.
01:40:39
You get three minutes to speak to the item which the specific hearing is on.
01:40:47
Dr. Ligon will make sure you're in under the three minute time line and at 30 seconds she'll let you know with 30 seconds left and the chair has the ability to extend beyond at that time if you haven't effectively wrapped up yet and if you're representing a group or an organization and you identify them then you can speak for up to five minutes.
01:41:16
and all the usual consideration for appropriate comments is appreciated and we will move on to the special use permit 25-0019 for our banquet hall and Dylan will tell us about it.
SPEAKER_08
01:41:37
All right, this is a request for a special use permit to allow banquet hall use within an existing structure, property zone A1 Agriculture.
01:41:45
The Planning Commission heard this at their meeting in February.
01:41:48
This is located at 99 North Saline and Arrington in the South District, owned by Crystal and Jane Terrace.
01:41:55
The property does have an approved special use permit from 2010 for long-term indoor vehicle storage.
01:42:01
That was approved by the Board of Supervisors May 11, 2010.
01:42:05
So there are two existing warehouses on the property that are currently serving the storage garage use.
01:42:11
The applicants are proposing to convert a portion of one of the warehouses to be used as a bed space.
01:42:17
Banquet Hall and our ordinance currently defined as a facility for hosting public and or private events, including but not limited to weddings.
01:42:24
cultural, I'm sorry, weddings, receptions, social events or parties, and workshops used as a venue for social, cultural, recreational, and or educational activities and labor halls do not include lodging.
01:42:36
The area's residential nature with some commercial and institutional uses such as the Heritage Center which is now home to the health department.
01:42:43
That's on the other side of 29 zoning in the vicinity is A1 and there are no floodplains on this property.
01:42:49
It is accessed by an existing entrance on Morse Lane.
01:42:58
VDOT did review the request and they determined the existing entrance to be sufficient for the proposed use.
01:43:04
Parking requirements in the zoning ordinance indicate one space for each 100 square feet of area.
01:43:09
The floor area of the proposed event space is approximately 4,200 square feet.
01:43:16
That's at least 42 parking spaces.
01:43:18
There is an existing gravel parking lot with 50 spaces and additional parking if necessary.
01:43:25
There is existing septic and spring fed water on the property.
01:43:28
The applicant's working with Old Dominion Engineering to complete a capacity assessment.
01:43:33
The health department indicated they have that in contact and don't believe their proposal will add any additional load onto their existing septic system.
01:43:43
For comprehensive plan, the property is located in a rural area on our future land use map.
01:43:48
The core concepts to ensure protection of county's rural landscape and economy by maintaining open space, scenic views, and agricultural uses.
01:43:57
Rural areas do comprise the majority of the county and alterations and retrofits to existing developments to enhance resiliency and conform to current standards is encouraged however expansion is not.
SPEAKER_04
01:44:10
Here's a GIS view of the property.
SPEAKER_08
01:44:13
As always your special use permit review criteria
01:44:22
Shall not change of character, establish pattern of development.
01:44:26
You shall be in harmony with other uses permitted by right, should not affect adversely use of neighboring property, adequately served by public or private water and sewer, and shall not resolve the structure, loss, or damage of any significant feature.
01:44:40
At their meeting in February, Planning Commission voted 4-0 to recommend approval of this special use permit for bank recall at 99 Moore's Lane.
SPEAKER_04
01:44:59
The study on the occupancy, you said that was in process?
SPEAKER_08
01:45:08
Yeah, so Old Dominion Engineering is who they're working with doing a capacity assessment.
01:45:14
They're not going to be required to fulfill any of those unless a special use permit gets approved.
01:45:19
So they're also having to work with a registered design professional on the building code aspect of the building to change the use to an assembly.
SPEAKER_16
01:45:28
Okay, so they don't have that yet?
SPEAKER_08
01:45:31
I don't believe so, no.
01:45:32
They want to make sure that the special use permit gets approved first.
01:45:35
Gotcha.
SPEAKER_04
01:45:36
Well, you'll get your opportunity to speak in a moment.
SPEAKER_16
01:45:41
Any questions for Dylan?
01:45:44
Okay.
01:45:45
Thank you.
01:45:47
So the permit applicants are here.
01:45:50
Okay.
01:45:50
Would you like to tell us about your project?
SPEAKER_00
01:45:55
Sure.
01:45:56
So as Dylan was saying, we've taken the front part of one of the existing warehouses and we've kind of cleared it out and made it personal space to begin with.
01:46:06
So we've just decided to start renting it out and holding events there to of course generate more revenue.
01:46:12
for this place and add on to their existing revenue there.
SPEAKER_04
01:46:19
So the study, you said you had completed it?
SPEAKER_00
01:46:22
The architect has already drawn it all up.
01:46:25
We've already set a plan to Jeremy.
SPEAKER_04
01:46:28
And the occupancy part, the number of people?
01:46:31
300.
SPEAKER_00
01:46:32
They've done that.
01:46:35
That is part of it because we're right under the 5,000 square feet.
01:46:39
So that brings our occupancy up to right at 300.
01:46:44
as the architect was saying.
SPEAKER_04
01:46:46
And so is there any, with the occupancy and the amount of parking, are there rules on, do we have existing rules on that?
SPEAKER_08
01:46:54
So the only parking requirements in the ordinance are based on floor area.
SPEAKER_04
01:46:59
Alright, and that applies, and it's fine.
SPEAKER_08
01:47:02
Yeah, it does not relate to the occupancy, unless there are fixed seats, which there are not.
SPEAKER_16
01:47:09
Dylan, as long as you're up here, I assume that adjoining properties were contacted about the application?
SPEAKER_08
01:47:21
Yes, that's correct.
01:47:22
We're required to notify by mail.
01:47:24
Any property that adjoins or crosses the street.
SPEAKER_16
01:47:30
Okay.
01:47:32
I don't have any more questions.
SPEAKER_15
01:47:35
Has anybody heard from any constituents on the project before today?
SPEAKER_04
01:47:41
All I heard was today at our earlier meeting.
01:47:46
There was concern about the church functions.
SPEAKER_16
01:47:51
Have you had any communication with the churches?
SPEAKER_14
01:47:53
They're probably going to get a church rent in that place here now.
SPEAKER_16
01:48:05
Well, thank you very much.
01:48:08
We'll open the public hearing.
01:48:10
If anyone here wants to speak to the public hearing on the banquet hall, open the public hearing.
01:48:18
If no one is speaking, I will close the public hearing.
01:48:22
And board, what's your pleasure?
SPEAKER_04
01:48:27
It's my district.
01:48:29
Well, I did a drive-by before the Planning Commission meeting.
01:48:32
I didn't feel it was going to change
01:48:34
the character of the area.
01:48:37
Of course, we did hear in public comment at our previous meeting concerns about the church.
01:48:44
I guess I'll be slightly amiable during church hours, making sure, I mean, curtailing something.
01:48:52
But beyond that, I'm OK with this.
SPEAKER_16
01:49:00
Okay, were you suggesting that there be a condition to this?
SPEAKER_04
01:49:05
A discussion at least I'm not 100% for or against, but I'm just recognizing what was said earlier.
SPEAKER_14
01:49:12
Yeah, I mean, and certainly in the discussions of churches and how they are active, I mean, there's also nothing
01:49:21
That would prohibit them from allowing a church to rent this facility from them.
01:49:24
So I wouldn't want them to limit that.
01:49:26
I think them being good neighbors and not doing something, you know, probably 9 a.m. to 12 on Sunday.
01:49:33
But you do have to remember when I sat by side either.
01:49:36
Yeah, right.
01:49:36
It would be all down the hill with the churches up there.
SPEAKER_12
01:49:39
So the two actually, now I'll let you tell that I can't.
01:49:43
Yeah, I mean that thing's on top of the hill.
SPEAKER_14
01:49:44
Yeah.
01:49:45
29 is going to be louder than anything they're doing in that.
SPEAKER_12
01:49:47
That's exactly right.
SPEAKER_14
01:49:49
I don't think the condition is necessary just from my purview.
01:49:54
I wouldn't want to limit them.
01:49:56
If someone or a relative wanted to do a baby shower Sunday at 9am, I don't think that's
SPEAKER_00
01:50:03
I would note that the Planning Commission does not recommend any conditions.
SPEAKER_04
01:50:17
Can I see your name because I left mine in the car.
01:50:32
I move that we approve SUP 250019 Banquet Hall in A1 on 99 Morris Lane.
SPEAKER_16
01:50:42
Second.
01:50:44
Okay.
01:50:44
Motion and a second.
01:50:44
Any more discussion?
01:50:48
Okay.
01:50:48
Roll call.
SPEAKER_04
01:50:49
Mr. Parr.
01:50:50
Yes.
01:50:51
Dr. Wiggin.
01:50:51
Yes.
01:50:51
Mr. Rutherford.
01:50:52
Yes.
01:50:53
Ms. Reed.
SPEAKER_16
01:50:53
Yes.
01:50:55
Thank you very much.
01:51:00
Our second public hearing is on the fiscal year 26-31 secondary six-year road plan.
01:51:10
Mr. Brown?
SPEAKER_14
01:51:15
Ron?
01:51:17
Say yes.
SPEAKER_10
01:51:32
You know, after we had our work session, I took the comments back that you all made and incorporated it into a revised six-year plan and also changed the unpaid road product list for our discussions.
01:51:57
This right here, if you remember,
01:52:02
We wanted to get Lonesome Pine Road and Finley Gap Road in the plan.
01:52:11
We could not get Finley Gap in the plan due to budgeting in the last year.
01:52:20
We were able to get Lonesome Pine Road in there and get that in the plan in the last year of the six year plan.
01:52:30
Per I think what was y'all's instructions, we did put Finley Gap as priority number three below Spring Valley Road.
01:52:38
I think that was the instructions that we, not the instructions, I think that's y'all's wishes.
01:52:45
So that is the priority list.
01:52:48
And again, this is just a list we use to keep up priorities.
01:52:56
Really the county owns this list right here.
01:52:59
I just keep it for you all, and when we need projects, I'll go to this list right here to find projects.
01:53:07
That's the whole purpose of this right here, and to track constituents' requests.
01:53:12
So any questions on this right here?
SPEAKER_14
01:53:15
That's a moving list.
01:53:17
That's a moving around list.
SPEAKER_10
01:53:21
All right.
01:53:24
The next document we'll review is the actual plan itself.
01:53:29
Priority 1 through 10, those were existing projects.
01:53:41
We did, there is a typo on priority 5, that should be, no, that's right, we gotta change Fort Mountain, that's right.
01:53:59
We did add, we did move Greenfield and Gulliesville down to the bottom of the list like we talked about and then we added Lonesome Pine Road as priority 12.
01:54:13
That was the only addition to the six-year plan and if you see, see we couldn't get Finley Gap now because if it's in the plan it has to be fully funded.
01:54:26
So next year, we should be able to move Family Gap into the plan and it'd be fully funded in FY31 and 32 because if you see, we did not designate all our paid road monies.
01:54:41
We have $169,000 in FY31 that was not designated.
01:54:48
And that's okay.
01:54:49
That's on file.
01:54:50
It really isn't that important right now anyway.
01:54:53
But that just gives you
01:54:55
Now, we do have, if you look at the other priorities, 601 and 602, the Nelson Countywide Transportation Service, that is our tele-fi money.
01:55:09
That's telecommunications money, and that again, that is what we use for like some of the little special projects on secondary roads when we need to make a little improvement, we need a little money.
01:55:21
We keep that around.
01:55:22
It also pays for
01:55:24
Our new sign installation that we put up when we out to put up new signs on secondary roads.
01:55:30
This is secondary road money.
01:55:34
We can at any time if we
01:55:36
need to pull some of that money up and put it on a project.
01:55:39
We can do that.
01:55:41
If it's one where we need a few dollars to make it go, if it's a priority, we can do that.
01:55:48
And we do that from time to time.
01:55:50
But generally, that money right there is more for transportation services and special projects.
01:55:58
So I'll be glad to answer any questions that you have.
SPEAKER_16
01:56:07
Okay.
01:56:07
If you have any questions.
01:56:10
Okay.
01:56:11
We will open the public hearing then for FY26-31 Secondary Six-Year Road Plan.
01:56:21
And since nobody's going to speak to it, I will close the public hearing and move back.
SPEAKER_10
01:56:28
I got one more comment, Mr. Chairman.
01:56:32
We've had a monthly remember this process this year.
01:56:34
We have not gotten the final
01:56:36
Our final allocations, they will be very close to what you see here.
01:56:40
They may be off $1,000 or $2,000, but not a lot.
01:56:44
So that is why we will not ask you to pass the resolution tonight because I don't have the final numbers.
01:56:51
And I think it was noted that we do that next month.
SPEAKER_16
01:56:55
So we'll postpone taking action on this until next month?
01:56:57
Yes.
SPEAKER_10
01:56:57
You can approve it, yeah.
SPEAKER_16
01:57:00
Next month.
01:57:02
Yeah.
01:57:02
Fair enough.
SPEAKER_14
01:57:03
We're not voting on this tonight.
01:57:04
We're just doing the public hearing.
SPEAKER_16
01:57:07
Public hearing's done and then we can take action next month when we have the numbers.
01:57:14
So thank you.
01:57:14
Thank you, Mr. Brown.
SPEAKER_14
01:57:15
You might as well stay and be our audience.
01:57:18
You might as well be our audience.
SPEAKER_16
01:57:22
Next.
01:57:26
Next, we have a public hearing on Ordinance 0-2025-2, Amendment to Chapter 2, Administration Article 4, School Board.
SPEAKER_06
01:57:48
All right, our state code authorizations are below 24.2-506 and 24.2-507.
01:58:00
So our public hearing was authorized by the Board of Supervisors by adoption of resolution 2025-17 on March 11, 2025.
01:58:08
So into state code 15.2-1427, our public hearing notices were published in the March 20th and 27th editions of the Nelson County Times.
01:58:19
All local code amendments are in conformance with 2021 updates to the state code that changed the dates of primary elections in Virginia from being held on the second Tuesday to the third Tuesday in June.
01:58:32
This amends the local code to change the deadline for filing declarations and petitions for general elections in November to the third Tuesday in June from the second Tuesday in June.
01:58:43
It also amends the local code to change the deadline for filing declarations and petitions
01:58:48
for special elections to fill a vacancy to either one, at least 81 days before the election, this is a change from at least 74 days, or two, if the special election is being held at the second November election after the vacancy occurred, the deadline for filing declarations and petitions is changed to the third Tuesday in June from the second Tuesday in June before the November election.
01:59:15
This is what the Proposed Ordinance Amendment 020-2502 language changes look like.
01:59:21
And it would be effective upon adoption.
01:59:29
So now I'm happy to answer any questions.
01:59:32
We recommend adoption of the Proposed Ordinance 020-2502.
SPEAKER_16
01:59:38
Okay.
01:59:39
We'll hold the public hearing, but I don't think you have to go too far.
01:59:44
So open the public hearing on Ordinance 0-20-25-02, the amendment to the Article IV school board.
01:59:54
So no one speaking.
01:59:55
Close the public hearing.
01:59:58
And is there any questions for Candy about the ordinance?
02:00:04
Okay.
SPEAKER_15
02:00:05
Since there's no question, I'll entertain a motion.
02:00:07
Mr. Chairman, I move that we approve Ordinance 2020-25-02, Nelson County Board of Supervisors, Amendment of the Code, Nelson County, Virginia, Chapter 2, Administration, Article 4, School Board.
02:00:25
Second.
02:00:26
Okay.
SPEAKER_16
02:00:26
Motion and a second.
02:00:29
No further discussion.
02:00:30
We'll take a roll call.
SPEAKER_04
02:00:32
Dr. Lee?
02:00:33
Yes.
SPEAKER_16
02:00:33
Mr. Parr?
02:00:34
Yes.
SPEAKER_04
02:00:34
Mr. Rutherford.
02:00:35
Yes.
02:00:36
Mr. Reed.
SPEAKER_16
02:00:36
Yes.
02:00:37
Okay.
02:00:37
Thank you, Candy.
02:00:39
Okay.
02:00:40
I don't believe we have any other business tonight to attend to.
02:00:48
And since there isn't, I will entertain a motion to adjourn.
02:00:51
So moved.
SPEAKER_14
02:00:52
I'll continue to April 23rd.
02:00:55
Okay.
02:00:55
At five.
02:00:57
What do you see?
02:00:57
I'll second.
02:01:01
Okay.
02:01:01
Dr. Benson.
02:01:01
Yes.
02:01:05
Yes.
02:01:12
Yes.
02:01:14
Yes.
SPEAKER_04
02:01:15
Okay.
SPEAKER_16
02:01:16
Meeting is continued.