Regular Meeting – March 12, 2014

Regular Meeting, Wednesday, March 12, 2014, 4:00 p.m. Government Center, Verona, VA.

PRESENT: Larry J. Wills, Chairman
Michael L. Shull, Vice-Chairman
Carolyn S. Bragg
David A. Karaffa
Jeffrey A. Moore
Marshall W. Pattie
Tracy C. Pyles, Jr.
Timmy Fitzgerald, Director of Community Development
Jennifer M. Whetzel, Director of Finance
Patrick J. Morgan, County Attorney
Patrick J. Coffield, County Administrator
Rita R. Austin, CMC, Executive Secretary

VIRGINIA: At a special and regular meeting of the Augusta County Board of Supervisors held on Wednesday, March 12, 2014, at 4:00 p.m., at the Government Center, Verona, Virginia, and in the 238th year of the Commonwealth….

Chairman Wills welcomed the citizens present.

James Argot, a junior at Fort Defiance High School, led us with the Pledge of Allegiance.

James participates on the Debate Team (State Qualifier last year), is a member of the Archeology Club and Robotics Club. He is very interested in Space Exploration. After graduation, he plans on attending Southern Wesleyan University and study Physics.

Larry J. Wills, Supervisor for the Middle River District, delivered invocation.

AUGUSTA COUNTY BOARD OF SUPERVISOR – APPOINTMENT

Chairman Wills mentioned that one month ago, the Board had to “deal with the loss of one of our colleagues. Tonight, after our excellent staff worked to put things together, we received four very qualified applications from the South River District. We are prepared tonight to name a new person to serve as an Interim Supervisor for South River District. I say Interim because the appointment of Interim goes only through the November 4th Election. The person we appoint will have to stand for Election in November if they so desire and the other candidates from that district will have the same opportunity.” Mr. Shull moved, seconded by Mr. Karaffa, that the Board appoint Carolyn S. Bragg as the Interim Supervisor for the South River Magisterial District to serve a term that will expire with the Special Election on November 4, 2014.

Vote was as follows: Yeas: Pattie, Karaffa, Shull, Wills, Moore and Pyles Nays: None Motion carried.

Ms. Bragg was sworn in by the Augusta County Circuit Court Clerk, John Davis, as Interim South River Supervisor for the term to begin now and expire November 4, 2014.

ROAD ABANDONMENT

This being the day and time advertised to consider abandonment of a .35 of a mile portion of right-of-way on Red Mill Lane (Route 617) (Middle River District).

Timmy Fitzgerald, Director of Community Development, displayed an aerial indicating property shaded in blue McGuslin Lane and Red Mill Lane. VDOT had requested that the Board consider the abandonment of this section of road, which is essentially a dead-end, and that the property be given back to the adjacent property owners. The public notice was posted; no constituents had responded to the abandonment.

The Chairman declared the public hearing open.

There being no speakers, the Chairman declared the public hearing closed.

Chairman Wills reported that he has spoken with the residents on Red Mill Lane and noted there have been no objections to the road abandonment and supported the resolution.

Mr. Karaffa moved, seconded by Mr. Shull, that the Board adopt the following resolution:

RESOLUTION

WHEREAS, a public notice was posted as prescribed under §33.1- 151, Code of Virginia, announcing a public hearing to receive comments concerning abandoning the section of road described below from the secondary system of state highways, and WHEREAS, the Commissioner of the Virginia Department of Transportation was provided the prescribed notice of this Board's intent to abandon the subject section of road, and WHEREAS, after considering all evidence available, this Board is satisfied that no public necessity exists for the continuance of the section of Secondary Route 617 from 0.66 miles East of Route 865 to1.01 miles East of Route 865, a distance of 0.35 miles, and hereby deems that section of road is no longer necessary as a part of the Secondary System of State Highways.

NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED, this Board abandons the above described section of road and removes it from the secondary system of state highways, pursuant to §33.1-151, Code of Virginia.

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, that a certified copy of this resolution be forwarded to the Resident Engineer of the Virginia Department of Transportation.

Vote was as follows: Yeas: Pattie, Karaffa, Shull, Wills, Moore, Bragg and Pyles Nays: None Motion carried.

MATTERS TO BE PRESENTED BY THE PUBLIC

Steve Morris expressed his disappointment in the Churchville compactor site caretaker being asked to leave his position. He asked that the caretaker be asked to come back to fill that position.

AUGUSTA COUNTY HISTORICAL SOCIETY – RESOLUTION

The Board considered the Augusta County Historical Society resolution for 50th Anniversary.

Mr. Shull moved, seconded by Mr. Pyles, that the Board adopt the following resolution:

RESOLUTION

Whereas on May 7, 1964, the Augusta County Historical Society was formally organized with a constitution, by-laws, and the election of officers and a board; and Whereas that society was formed in order to recognize, celebrate, study, and preserve the unparalleled history and heritage of Augusta County, its county seat of Staunton, the city of Waynesboro, and all the other villages and communities within Augusta County; and Whereas Augusta County, named after England’s Princess of Wales and created in 1738 out of Orange County, once stretched west to the Mississippi River, north to the Great Lakes, encompassed all or parts of eight states besides Virginia, and included the future city of Pittsburgh; and Whereas in 1745 the population of Augusta had increased enough to be able to elect a sheriff and form its own government; and Whereas henceforth the region has had significant influence in every facet of American history from the settling of the frontiers to the twenty-first century; and Whereas it was in recognition of these facts and faced with the possibility that such an extraordinary history might be lost that a group of civic leaders, local historians, genealogists, and preservationists started meeting in February of 1964 to organize the society; and Whereas that group subsequently elected Dr. Richard P. Bell III to lead the society as its first president, Harry L Nash, Jr., as vice- president, William Huffman as treasurer, Mrs. Elizabeth H. Perry as recording secretary, Mrs. Mary Armistead as corresponding secretary, Dr. Howard M. Wilson as archivist, and Dr. Patricia Menk as associate archivist and also elected founding board members Fitzhugh Elder, Jr., Mrs. Beirne J. Kerr, Dr. Herbert S. Turner, Mrs. Ann Loth, Dr. Samuel R. Spencer, Jr., and Dr. Marshall Brice; and Whereas since 1965, the society has published a scholarly journal, first semiannually and now annually, highlighting various topics of area history, published approximately a dozen books, and has produced a quarterly newsletter since 1994; and Whereas the society also hosts a spring and fall meeting, an annual banquet, and various other events promoting area history; and Whereas since its inception the society has collected and preserved in perpetuity archival materials, photographs, and artifacts relating to the area’s heritage including a 1797 Augusta County surveyor’s compass appropriately symbolizing Augusta’s role in opening the American frontier; and Whereas in 2007 the society moved into the R.R. Smith Center for History and Art – a 19th-century railroad hotel that the society helped restore and co-owns with Historic Staunton Foundation and the Staunton- Augusta Art Center; and Whereas the society space in the Smith Center includes a research library, climate-controlled archival rooms, offices, and an exhibit gallery where visitors from all over the country come to research history and genealogy; and Whereas during the last 50 years the society has promoted the expansion of historical knowledge with the erection of at least a half dozen historic highway markers, and in 1971 began custodial care of the historic Glebe Cemetery; and Whereas the Augusta County Historical Society hopes to continue its mission in the next 50 years through its motto of “Preserving the Past for the Future”; and THEREFORE, BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that a copy of this resolution be spread upon the minutes of the Augusta County Board of Supervisors.

Nancy Sorrells and Linda Petzke, Co- Presidents, received the resolution and provided invitations to the Board for the April 15th “Big Birthday Party”. Ms. Sorrells thanked the Board for its support and noted that “Augusta County is the most important County in the nation!” Vote was as follows: Yeas: Pattie, Karaffa, Shull, Wills, Moore, Bragg and Pyles Nays: None Motion carried.

FISCAL YEAR – 2014-15 ARTS GRANT

The Board considered submission of Arts Grant to State for the following programs:

STATE COUNTY TOTAL

Staunton/Augusta Art Center $1,666.67 $1,666.67 $3,333.34 ShenanArts 1,666.67 1,666.67 3,333.34 Stonewall Brigade Band 1,666.66 1,666.66 3,333.32 $5,000.00 $5,000.00 $10,000.00 Funding Source: Fine Arts Grant Account #81020-5698 $5,000 Patrick J. Coffield, County Administrator, advised that the State of Virginia, for a number of years, has provided a matching Arts Grant Program and noted that a regional application has been submitted and is included in the current Operating Budget.

Clarence Brooks, of the Staunton/Augusta Art Center, thanked the Board for its many years of support. He noted that that the Center is a nonprofit community service organization founded in 1961 and dedicated to offering diverse experiences in the creation and appreciation of the visual arts to all area citizens and visitors. The Staunton/Augusta Art Center has a high standard for quality and all of its art offerings, exhibitions, classes and special events and a high standard of excellence in all its management practices. Staunton/Augusta Art Center is here to serve the community.

Most of their offerings, such as the year-round gallery and exhibits and the “Art in the Park” are free and open to the public. “These offerings are a part of the cultural identity of the area which enriches our community and attracts others to it – tourists and relocators. Staunton/Augusta Art Center welcomes and delights in the collaborative efforts which are proven to pull a community together.” He mentioned that the “Annual Juried Youth Art Show” is being showed in the R. R. Smith Center, which involves participation from over 300 students, with 35 different schools: public and private. “The Path to Recovery” will occur on May 2nd, which is a collaboration with Western State Hospital and Mental Health American of Augusta and clients of Mental Health Services.

Hannah Bush, of The Stonewall Brigade Band, noted that the Shenandoah Arts Center, which is located in the City of Waynesboro, has previously been included in a small part.

The opening of her letter expressed that there had been no communication from that entity to participate this year. She thanked the Board for its support.

Mike Conner, Board Chair of ShenanArts, advised that they have been in business 30+ years. “We have had an amazing run in our new facility. With everything that we have done, we continue to grow and build.” This May, a play will be produced in conjunction with Mental Health Month, “Next to Normal”. He appreciated the Board’s support. “A lot of things in Augusta County that people are not aware of is that this is the most unusual County in a positive way, I think in the State of Virginia, for whatever reason positive for us, there are so many artistic people in all venues—musically, acting, performing arts, visual arts, painting, drawing, craftsman, that are here. We have people that have retired from Florida here with professional backgrounds in the arts living in this area. It is an amazing draw. There is amazing talent here. And it continues to grow.” The children’s programming is continuing to grow. Sixty children will be performing “Beauty and the Beast” and “Go Fish” this summer.

Mr. Pyles moved, seconded by Mr. Moore, that the Board approved the request.

Vote was as follows: Yeas: Pattie, Karaffa, Shull, Wills, Moore, Bragg and Pyles Nays: None Motion carried.

RECYCLING – ANNUAL REPORT

The Board received a presentation by staff of Annual Report.

Candy J. Hensley, Augusta County Recycling Liaison, presented the Annual Report with the following highlights:

 Recycling Rate – State of Virginia currently requires a 25% recycling rate. The State’s overall recycling rate was 41.5% (down 2% from last year). County recycling rate: 33.4% (up 2.5% from last year).

 Tonnage Collected – Paper: 572; Metal: 28; Aluminum: 10; Glass: 232; Cardboard: 386; Plastic: 45, totaling: 1,273 tons of recyclables (last year: 1,284 tons)  Revenues and Expenditures – Cardboard: $15,701; Aluminum: $7,968; Glass:

-$5,804 ($25 a ton), totaling: $17,865 (From 2006 to 2013 – fluctuation from $457 to $32,056) “This is the way the market fluctuates – very volatile. Making approximately $17,000 in revenue, I think that’s pretty good.”  Transportation Cost – Total hauling cost was $142,783. Fuel rate continues to increase. Average fuel rate is $7.94. Cost per loaded mile. (Hauling the full container to the recycling center.)  Recycling Grant – Received $17,869 from Department of Environmental Quality.

In deducting Transportation Cost of $142,783, the Recycling Program costs the County $107,049.

 Landfill Benefit – Tonnage: 1273; Air Space Saved at Landfill: 2,546 cubic yards; Cost/Revenue Potential ($45): $57,285  Spring Clean-Up Event – Five Ruritan Club (Buffalo Gap, Crimora, Deerfield, Middlebrook, and Swoope) assists with the event. The County pays the cost for hauling open-top containers to the Landfill (Cost: $5,206 for 41 tons, 1,575 tires, and 6 appliances). Additional services for citizens included providing an additional open-top container and collection of appliances and white goods at compactor sites. The County has partnered with Rose Time Scrap Metal and Recycling to collect appliances and white goods at their cost as well as handle Freon. In return they retain the revenue. Landfill expenses include salaries, PUS hauling, tire recycling, etc. The following items were collected during the Spring Clean-Up Event at the Augusta Regional Landfill: Tires: 5,878; Appliances: 52; Used Antifreeze: 200 gallons; Used Oil: 1,000 gallons; Batteries: 1.5 tons  Fall Household Hazardous Waste Collection Event – Served 281 vehicles that dropped off herbicides, pesticides, oil-based paint, antifreeze, batteries, used oil, and other chemicals from the County, Staunton and Waynesboro. Invista sponsored the event. The Recycling Committee also partnered with Goodwill Industries to accept computers, computer equipment, small kitchen appliances, and small electronics. Goodwill Industries recycles the equipment that cannot be reused.

 Christmas Tree Recycling – Trees are dropped off at many of the satellite locations. The County has partnered with Black Bear Composting in Crimora who collects trees from Crimora and New Hope compactor sites at no cost to the County.

 Public Outreach – The past year, Recycling Committee has: 1) Manned a booth at the Augusta County Fair and Sweet Dreams; 2) Spoke with children at various schools; and 3) Gave tours at the Landfill  School Recycling – The Committee supports the schools with recycling education for students. Every year, the County solicits public schools to submit applications for competitive grants for startup recycling programs. In FY2013, grants were given to: Hugh Cassell Elementary – $250; Beverley Manor Middle – $500; and Riverheads High – $500. Funds are primarily used to purchase containers.

 Woodrow Wilson Complex Recycling Program – Mixed paper, plastic and cardboard is being recycled by Wilson Elementary, Middle and High Schools; Valley Vo-Tech; ACSA maintenance and field office and Woodrow Wilson Rehabilitation facility. During 2013, 14 tons was collected along with $650 in revenue to go towards container rental and hauling.

 Summary of Current Activities – 1) Overall recycling rate increased by 2.49%; 2) Recycling tonnage decreased by 1%; 3) Revenue from recyclables increased by approximately 10%; 4) Transportation continues to increase 2% primarily due to gas costs; 5) Tires collected at Spring Clean-Up decreased by 13%; and 6) Invista continues to sponsor the Fall Hazardous Waste Collection Event, which saves the County approximately $15,000 annually.

 Plastic Recycling – The Recycling Committee is continually discussing the need for plastic recycling, and citizens are asking for this service. Plastic recycling is expensive due to trucking high volumes with little weight. Loose plastic is not a revenue-producing commodity. The Committee recommends budgeting for additional plastic recycling centers.

Infrastructure/Improvements: Container $ 5,000 Site improvements $15,000 Site Plan $ 7,000 Total $27,000 The Committee suggests New Hope Convenience Center since there is room, currently recycling rate is one of the highest and it would provide a need in the northeastern portion of the County. The Committee realizes FY2015 budgeting is already in the process. If it is the desire of the Board, plastic recycling could be pursued for FY2016 budget.

Mr. Moore asked if all the schools are recycling. Ms. Hensley said there is no funding to have full recycling programs in all the schools, but all the schools “are doing something”.

The cardboard container is provided and there is a mixture of environmental clubs, teachers, and parents doing what can be done.

Chairman Wills asked for the date of the Spring Clean-Up. Ms. Hensley said April 12- 19th. Chairman Wills expressed pride for all that the Committee does to serve the County.

MOUNT SOLON COMPACTOR RECYCLING CENTER

The Board considered funding of a satellite tire collection center.

Funding Source: North River Infrastructure Account #80000-8013-43 Ms. Hensley reported that Spring Clean-Up funding was decreased to $20,000 from $25,000. To cut costs, the tire trailer that had been placed at the Stokesville Store for the last several years at approximately $2,000 cost. What has been proposed is being replaced a regular dumpster at the Mount Solon Convenience site to collect the tires.

Tires will be hauled to the Landfill and shredded. The cost has been estimated to be $1,000.

Mr. Pattie stated that, with a lot of farmers, they had a lot of extra tires and felt that this was a good solution. He noted that the tire shredder will not be available in the future and should possible be considered at a later time.

Mr. Pattie moved, seconded by Mr. Shull, that the Board approve the request for the Spring Clean-Up.

Vote was as follows: Yeas: Pattie, Karaffa, Shull, Wills, Moore, Bragg and Pyles Nays: None Motion carried.

BLUE RIDGE CRIMINAL JUSTICE BOARD (BRCJB)

1. The Board received a presentation of Annual Report.

David Pastors, Director of Blue Ridge Court Services, advised that he was here tonight to give an overview of BRCJB’s Annual Report and ask the Board to consider a resolution to have Augusta County join the regional Drug Court. Blue Ridge Court Services is a public non-profit that was formed in 1995. They are funded by the Virginia Department of Criminal Justice Services and provide services to Staunton, Waynesboro, Augusta County, Highland County, Lexington, Buena Vista and Rockbridge County. They started out, basically, as a probation unit for all the District Courts in the Central Shenandoah Valley. Over the years, the Department of Criminal Justice Services has asked them to take on more responsibilities such as a Pretrial Program where they go into the Jail every morning and interview everybody who has been arrested; background investigations are prepared and provided to the Judges to enable them to make a better informed decision regarding bond. They also have pretrial services that supervises people performing community service in the community. The goal of Blue Court Services is to try to reduce jail overcrowding and having individuals who are low and medium risk people spend less time in jail and provide those programs in the community. His agency is overseen by a local Criminal Justice Board, in which the Augusta County Board of Supervisors has appointed six members to serve. Supervisor Karaffa participates on this Board.

During FY2012, services have been provided to over 1,600 clients (40% Augusta County). They receive 85% of funding from the Virginia Department of Criminal Justice Services; they also receive a $12,000 grant from CAP-SAW to provide re- entry services for offenders coming out of jail to make a better transition in the community. They also receive an $8,000 grant from the Community Foundation to support a program that takes youthful offenders who are involved in property crimes and brings them together with the victims of the crime to work how the victims can be repaid. He noted that they received a Justice Assistance Grant last year to start a Pretrial Initiative on Mental Illness, which involves interviewing everybody who has been arrested and giving them a mental health screen. Based on that screen, they provide recommendations to the Judge for bond for them to be placed in a special mental health treatment program. If the Judge decides not to release them on bond and keeps them in jail, funding is available to start two treatment groups in the Middle River Regional Jail. He noted that 156 members have participated in that program. He also noted that there has been a 20% increase in the pretrial population for a total of 726 pretrial defendants. People can be released on a pretrial supervision instead of having to remain in jail. They are seen on a weekly basis with strict guidelines such as having home electronic monitoring. The focus is that they can supervise someone in the community for $1.56 daily versus $70 daily in Jail.

Mr. Pastors mentioned the Home Electronic Monitoring program which has been used for the past 12 years. This program was used for offenders sentenced to active jail terms who had serious health issues that would pose a financial liability to the local jail. More recently, this program benefits both the offender and the community. The offender has the opportunity to be under confinement in their homes, yet continue to work and support themselves and their families while at the same time paying the full cost of the monitoring.

2. The Board considered resolution for Augusta County to participate with Staunton and Waynesboro in a Regional Drug Court.

Mr. Pastors provided a history of the local Drug Court efforts. Drug Courts started in the United States in the mid-90s where there was a significant focus to work with individuals that have addiction problems who continually have problems with the law. If those types of people are put in jail, 66% will get out of jail and then later return. The basic purpose of these Drug Courts is a behavioral modification program. You put these individuals into intense treatment and have them supervised by Probation Officers and require them to be interviewed weekly. If those individuals to not following the rules, they are reprimanded. In Virginia, there are 36 Drug Courts nationwide. During the annual meeting, initiatives were discussed as to what to pursue in 2014. The main initiative was to bring Augusta County into the Drug Court system. He noted that the Staunton Drug Court Program started in 2002; Waynesboro joined in 2010. The advantage of having a Drug Court is that it is cost-effective. You do not have to have a separate court or separate Judge. Basically, the Drug Court is a specialized docket; therefore, there is an hour set aside each week on Thursday mornings for all the Drug Court clients to be brought back in before the Drug Court Judge. There is a significant savings where these people are not being recirculated through the court system.

Mr. Karaffa felt that this program is an opportunity for the young people who make a bad decision can get rehabilitation and keep their jobs and continue their education.

Mr. Pattie added that it was a fiscally responsible way to deal with this group of individuals, and “it also fits into my belief of forgiveness”.

Mr. Karaffa moved, seconded by Mr. Pattie, that the Board adopt the following resolution:

RESOLUTION THAT THE COUNTY OF AUGUSTA JOIN

THE STAUNTON AND WAYNESBORO DRUG COURT TO FORM

THE STAUNTON, AUGUSTA, WAYNESBORO REGIONAL DRUG COURT

WHEREAS, the Blue Ridge Criminal Justice Board oversees the operation of the Blue Ridge Court Services Unit which provides an array of alternative sentencing options to the courts of Staunton, Waynesboro, Augusta, Highland, Rockbridge, Lexington and Buena Vista; and WHEREAS, extensive national research has demonstrated that the drug court model has proven to be an effective means to reduce recidivism, jail overcrowding and prison overcrowding; and WHEREAS, the Blue Ridge Criminal Justice Board formed a drug court task force in 2000 to study the viability of forming a drug court in this area; and WHEREAS, the Blue Ridge Criminal Justice Board approved the formation of the Staunton Drug Court in July 2002, and WHEREAS, the Blue Ridge Criminal Justice Board approved the City of Waynesboro to join the drug court forming the Staunton-Waynesboro Drug Court in March 2010, and WHEREAS, the Blue Ridge Criminal Justice Board at their Annual Meeting on February 18, 2014 approved adding Augusta County to the local drug court, therefore BE IT RESOLVED, this 12th day of March, 2014 that the Augusta County Board of Supervisors approves the County of Augusta to participate in and join the local drug court effort to establish the Staunton, Augusta, Waynesboro Regional Drug Court.

Vote was as follows: Yeas: Pattie, Karaffa, Shull, Wills, Moore, Bragg and Pyles Nays: None Motion carried.

AUGUSTA COUNTY LIBRARY – ANNUAL REPORT

The Board received a presentation by Vice-Chairman, Frank Deckert, of the Library’s Annual Report.

Frank Deckert, a member of the Library Board for three years, expressed sorrow for the passing of Terry Sumey, who “had been a longtime friend of the libraries here in Augusta County, both on Board and with the Friends Group. He was a unique individual who brought a lot to these Boards. He was a gentleman and a scholar.” Mr. Deckert gave a PowerPoint presentation with the following high-lights:

 Serving you from 5 locations (other than Fishersville): Churchville, Deerfield, Craigsville, Middlebrook and Verona Book Drop. Exploring possibility of station in the northern part of the County.

 A Strong Library = A Strong Community. “What we do directly affects the growth and well-being of this community.”  We still have books, both traditional and electronic, but we are not the library of your childhood. Augusta County Library has expanded and adapted to reflect the needs of its growing and changing community.

 We help prepare children for kindergarten and improve childhood literacy.

 We reinforce classroom learning and provide Science Technology Engineering Math (STEM) programming  We provide on and offsite homework help and provide resources for teachers & homeschoolers. 3,300 reference questions are answered each month at Fishersville  Children's Programming Attendance continues to rise. In 1993 – approximately 6,000; 2012 – approximately 23,000  In 2013, 19,335 patrons enjoyed 761 programs – a bit over 2 programs per day… and 12,803 people attended a meeting in one of our meeting rooms, or just over 1,000 per month  In times of economic downturn, many people depend on their public library. With high unemployment and many people cutting back on expenses, the role of our public library is more important than ever.

 In 2013 we checked out 541,634 items. That’s 7.34 items for each county resident. 32.2% of county residents have a library card.

 Our Library offers an effective and free alternative for using computers and accessing the Internet.

 The Fishersville Library provides some 2,257 public computer sessions each month. That is 21,428 hours a year! One-on-One assistance. Help with email, word processing photo editing and more.

 When the Unemployment Rate rises, libraries fill up. The need for job-related resources and materials, free computer and Internet access, and basic computer training and support is at an all-time high. Our library experienced record levels of usage in 2013. A large percentage of people came in specifically for job- related resources. In response we partnered with the Staunton-Augusta Rotary Club to create the Job Club with twice-monthly training and assistance.

 Today’s Job Seekers need computer support and internet access. People who have been in one job for many years or older people reentering the workforce lack basic computer skills. Most businesses have moved their job application process online, and applicants are expected to retrieve information and complete forms via the Internet or via e-mail. An effective job search must include online resources. For most, the library is the only place that provides job-related services and materials for free.

 To accommodate increasing technology demands, we: 1) Increased Internet access speed at Fishersville and Middlebrook; 2) Provided 3 – 5 free technology classes every week; 3) Opened a teen area at Churchville, adding 2 public computers and a counter for laptop users; 4) Redesigned our website to improve design and access by smart phones and tablets. Added Zinio digital magazine subscription.

 We help get people to work. Our Library provides Internships and Job Training Partnerships, helping prepare people for the workforce. Volunteers contributed 7,543 service hours, equaling 3.6 FTE staff or $77,202.

 Job Seekers depend on us. Without our library, many patrons tell us that looking for and finding employment would be much more difficult—if not impossible.

 Our Library helps people explore new interests and celebrate family and community. We welcomed the Augusta County Genealogical Society and their collection to the Fishersville facility in March, 2013.

 The Library’s clubs and groups support learning, creativity and mental stimulation. In 2013 we added two more book clubs, began the 1,000 Books Before Kindergarten program with Augusta County Schools, and donated materials and advise to the new Western State Hospital on the set-up of their new library facility.

 The library’s special exhibits connect us as a community and help local artists.

The library hosted 24 exhibits of local art and history in 2013.

 The Public Library is a vital community resource. Valuable – help improve childhood literacy and offer resources for educational success. Critical – provide access to job resources and programs to get people back to work.

Transformational – help community members reeducate themselves, and start and grow small businesses. Inspirational – inspire community members to explore new interests, careers and educational opportunities.

 The Augusta County Library is “An Investment in Our Community”.

 A Sound Investment – Research indicates that public libraries provide a solid return on investment (ROI). For every dollar of public library funding, four times that amount—if not more—is put back into the community.

 We provide tremendous value for a relatively small investment. But without support, we cannot maintain or enhance the critical services we provide.

 Budget – Total budget for FY 13 was $1,245,165 including State Aid and E-rate refunds. $1,499,774 with principal and interest. $20.36 per capita. Less than it costs for 1 adult to take 1 child to a movie. $10 less than the price of a new book.

 To Maintain and Improve our Facilities in 2013 – 1) Upgraded and installed additional security cameras and Digital Video Recorder at Fishersville; 2) Painted and re-arranged areas in Churchville, creating a teen area; 3) Completed the remodel of Deerfield; and 4) Added and repaired sidewalks at Fishersville  To Support and Sustain our Staff – 1) Completed the “ACL Things” technology training for staff; 2) Provided iPads to management staff to improve efficiency and technology skills; 3) Sarah Skrobis received the Merit Award for County Employee of the Year; 4) Elzena Anderson participated in the NASA Mars/MAVEN STEM workshop; and 5) Staff Development Day featured “Give ‘Em the Pickle” training  Planning – 1) Revised the library’s section of the County’s Comprehensive Plan;  2) Joint planning meeting with the Board of Trustees, Friends of the Library, and library management team; 3) New Patron Information brochure published; and 4)  Several grants received: Target (Mobile Hotspot); Dollar General (Summer Reading Program); Crutchfield (Teen Tech Week Prize); WalMart (Summer Reading Program)  We Need Your Support – While we do the best we can with what we have, we are struggling. Without adequate funding, we cannot maintain or enhance all of the critical services we provide. The community is counting on us. We are counting on you! Help us help our community!

Mr. Pattie echoed Mr. Deckert’s comments about Mr. Sumey. “It was a real loss for the Board. Even through his illness, he showed up for every meeting. That shows a lot about his character and his dedication to the Library. He will be missed.” Diantha McCauley, Librarian, thanked the Board for its support. “I love my job. I love my County!” Chairman Wills thanked the Library Board and its members and staff for “all that you do.

It is a great asset to the County”.

SHENANDOAH VALLEY PARTNERSHIP – ANNUAL REPORT

The Board received a presentation by Executive Director, Dennis Burnett, of Partnership’s Annual Report.

Mr. Burnett expressed his appreciation to the Board for the opportunity he had as a former employee at Augusta County. “You guys set a very high bar with the Economic Development through your policies, your cooperation and collaboration. I am very grateful for that and I am very grateful for being out there in the community saying that.” Mr. Burnett provided the following highlights:

 Pictures were shown of the Economic Development forum, which was held at the Government Center; Manufacturing and Technology Center, at Blue Ridge Community College; and the groundbreaking ceremony at Mill Place Commerce Park – These pictures express “Business Thrives Here!”  Shenandoah Valley Partnership (SVP) is a regional entity. The partnership represents approximately 352,816 residents (Augusta County: 73,815). SVP serves two Metropolitan Statistical Areas (MSA): Harrisonburg (128,412) and Staunton/Waynesboro (124,705). SVP represents seven counties and five cities.

 SVP is one of fifteen organizations across the Commonwealth over 4,265 square miles. “We are the largest geographic economic development office in the Commonwealth!”  SVP consist of a 28-member board: 5-member Executive Committee; Development Committee; Marketing Committee; Workforce & Education Committee; Staff of four with over 50 years of experience  Private Sector Growth: The 2014/15 budget reflects that every $1 of public funding received from Augusta County would be matched by nearly $2 of regional private funding. It also reflects every $1 of public funding received from Augusta County would be matched by $5 of public funding from the remaining sponsored jurisdictions.

 Community Connections: Office move to ICE House – February 10th; VEDA Day – Richmond with member participation February 17th; Shenandoah Valley Innovation Council – February 18th; Leadership Pinnacle – March 19th; VEDP FAM Tour – March 31st; Virginia C-Suite Conference – April 2014; Ongoing Legislative Review: SVP Connect Event, April 2nd; Spring Economic Development Forum, April 15th; and VEDP Host Reception, May.

 Activity Report – 26 inquiries; representing 8 countries and continental U.S.; 10 site visits; 1,000+ new jobs. He noted that 4 new project has been added.

 Ongoing initiatives: SVP expands national presence – San Diego; Vail; Denver; Chicago and Dallas  Site Location Follow-up Campaign: 1) Quarterly postcard campaign; 2) Distributed to nearly 100 site location consultants; 3) Focuses on Private/Public Partnership; and 4) Investor Profiles available on website  Site Readiness Checklist: Localities will work with SVP staff to review.

 Value Added Service – Site Tours/Visits  High-lighted current operating environment:

o Financial position is good – Charter maintains a $50,000 reserve balance o Grown private sector contributions o Current Operating Budget: $410,000 yearly  $122,000 raising from private funds (technically attributed to covering overhead and administrative expenses)  Membership (Economic Development Budget) – per capita investment at 65¢  Lowest Operating Budget in the State  JMU – comprehensive overview of funding compared with other EDAs  Per capita is still well under $1  Upcoming program will assist doing more for the localities  Pay-four-play – equal playing field  Increase proposed – 100% goes towards marketing program Mr. Burnett was available to answer any questions that the Board may have.

Chairman Wills had asked Mr. Burnett to provide this report because he had been made aware of an upcoming request of an increase of funding this year. He felt that the Board “needed to understand what we’re getting for the dollars that we’re spending”. “I appreciate you coming and showing this to us and to the public as to what Shenandoah Valley Partnership means for Augusta Economic Development.” Mr. Karaffa extended his congratulations to Mr. Burnett and the organization for the hard work they do. “I think you still work for us. We put a lot of emphasis on education.

Education certainly is important, but at the end of the day, you want the folks to be able to get a job. It is an amazing investment. Our economy doesn’t necessarily know our political boundaries, but they certainly do know the geographic boundaries that the Partnership for the Valley falls into and I think it is an important entity that we should continue to invest.” Chairman Wills felt that, with the way the State Economic Development office works, a large percentage of the inquiries comes from the State to the Partnership on down to the localities. “Because of SVP, we are getting a lot of those opportunities that we would not see if we were not part of this Partnership.”

WAIVERS/VARIANCES

The Board considered SAKAE, LLC property – fire flow waiver request.

Mr. Fitzgerald reported that this is a request for a fire flow waiver for a 9,000 square foot warehouse that will be constructed in the Middle River District along Route 340 (Vesper View Subdivision), north of Waynesboro. The warehouse is planned to be used for storage of agricultural-related equipment. The ordinance requires 1,000 gpm for fire flow for this size of building. According to the Augusta County Service Authority, the Dooms water system is not capable of meeting the ordinance requirements. SAKAE, LLC has proposed to construct the warehouse out of non-combustible building components (i.e. steel, with concrete floors). They are also willing to look at additional fireproofing as long as it is not detrimental to the overall function of the warehouse. They plan to utilize the tanker strike force and will construct their entrance to accommodate emergency vehicles.

Chairman Wills supported the request.

Mr. Pyles moved, seconded by Mr. Shull, that the Board approve the request.

Vote was as follows: Yeas: Pattie, Karaffa, Shull, Wills, Moore and Pyles Nays: None Abstained: Bragg Motion carried.

CONSENT AGENDA

Mr. Karaffa moved, seconded by Mr. Moore, that the Board approve the consent agenda as follows:

MINUTES

Approved minutes of the following meetings:

 Staff Briefing Meeting, Monday, February 24, 2014  Regular Meeting, Wednesday, February 26, 2014

CLAIMS

Approved claims paid since February 12, 2014.

Vote was as follows: Yeas: Pattie, Karaffa, Shull, Wills, Moore, Bragg and Pyles Nays: None Motion carried.

MATTERS TO BE PRESENTED BY THE BOARD

The Board discussed the following issues:

Mr. Pyles made the following statement:

I surrender! I don’t often surrender; I don’t often give up, but I’m beat. I’ll tell you why and I’ll tell you how I feel. I used today and went to four schools with pods: Verona, Cassell, Riverheads and Beverley Manor. I did this, based upon what I thought was an embarrassing comment off the cuff of Mr. Collins that he thought they ought to close Verona Elementary School. I asked the School Board staff what information was provided to the School Board to support such a change in what they were going to do. They said, ‘We provided none, and we were asked for none.’ If you really want to close a school in August and bring it up in March, the budget will be talked about at the end of this month. It won’t be effective until July, so they would have two months to close a school. How much did they look at closing that school? I asked the question, ‘Where are the children going to go to?’ They said, ‘Well, you got Churchville, you got Beverley Manor, you got Clymore.’ Where will they go to Middle School? Are you going to take them all the way down to Beverley Manor Elementary? Then, you’re going to cart them back to Stewart. You going to put them in Beverley Manor? You have to take them. The same thing with Churchville.

You can’t send them to Beverley Manor. There’s not enough of room. So you’re going to take these kids, that are here in this community, and you’re going to disburse them to the three winds—Clymore, Churchville and Beverley Manor. You say, ‘Good luck, kids.’ One of the things that we’ve try to get away from this County is splitting kids up. We ended Ladd. That was one of the school in the east side of the County where they were split.

Some went to Stuarts Draft; some of them went to Wilson. All the kids in Wilson, Wilson Elementary, Cassell Elementary, you go to Wilson Middle School and you go to Wilson High School. If you’re in Stuarts Draft or Stump, you go to Stuarts Draft Middle School; you go to Stuarts Draft High School. Here, before, if you were at Verona or Clymore, you went to Stewart; you went to Fort Defiance. The only people that got separate were my guys. You know, Beverley Manor was separated; you go to Riverheads; you go to Buffalo Gap. North River, they got separated. What the heck! They’re just country kids; they’ll get used to rides. Separate them. It is just laid open that this honesty about caring about equity in our system—about caring about the kids first, that you would make this decision without going to the employees, without going to the families, without going to the Supervisor representative to say ‘This is what we’ve got planned’. I went to Verona, today, and the janitor says, ‘Well, I’m sixty years old; wish I had a little more time to plan for what I’m going to do.’ Verona has too long been treated like the red-head stepchild. What’s left? Take our jail. Okay; take our Juvenile Detention Center. Let’s put all the industry up here. Let’s don’t have any of the amenities with this community. There was going to be a recreation center, but that got canceled. Okay. All they have is this little bitty school up on the hill. I looked there. They said the Little League Baseball plays up there. People come up there and play. You get the calls from the parents. The parents aren’t up there demanding, ‘I want to have the greatest and the best; I want what Churchville has; I want what Wilson has.’ They just want to have what they have. They are happy with that as it is. I go up there and say it’s a testimony to the stoicism of our citizens. It’s a testimony to the goodness of our citizens that they don’t complain. I go and see that and say this shouldn’t be. This doesn’t need to be. The reason I got involved on this Board is because I went over to Clymore when it was built and my kids were going to Churchville, at the old Churchville High School that I went to, and was too old then. We’re talking about the 60’s.

They go to Clymore and I look around and I take my son with me. He said, ‘Dad, they even have that sort of basketball goals’. We go peeking in the window like kids at a candy store. ‘Wow! Look at this!’ In this part of Augusta County, ‘You can have this’. In this part of Augusta County, ‘You guys can wait’. Here’s this school that is in our area of growth.

Drive up through our park and look at Shamrock. Look at the other buildings that are going up there. Look at the Jail back here. We had hopes that, maybe, we can increase the residency in ways that will enhance our revenue. That takes more people. More people travelling in. So we’ve got this thing here where we’re putting stuff. When we put the Jail in here, the deal was we were going to bring the courts here. Okay; we’re fifteen—twenty years later, there’s no courts on horizon. You get the Jail, but you don’t get the courts.

You get the bails bondsman, but you don’t get the lawyers. Verona is an industrial town that is our County seat dejour not defacto. So it’s here and it’s an important community and we need to support that. The community needs a school. Stuarts Draft needs a school. Craigsville needs a school. Mount Solon needs a school. People need schools.

They tend to it. It’s important. We’re paying for that. We’ve got to have it. Without any preparation, or talking to us, ‘Close that school!’ Another School Board member says, ‘No, close Craigsville.’ Where’s the preparation? Who does that? Who just pulls it out of their backpacks and says, ‘This is what we need to do’? How can you take on something without preparing for it? Are they going to have a budget to us on the 24th that says, ‘Here’s what we’re going to close’? I don’t think it’s a plan. I think it’s a tactic and I’ve grown weary of it. One year it’s Craigsville they’re going to close and we outraged an entire good community of good citizens. Now, we’ve got another set of citizens who are being outraged. And it’s like it’s our fault. It’s our fault. Give us our money or we’re going to close a school. I give up. I surrender. I’m not going to allow there to be civilian collateral damage because of problems with this Board and the School Board.

I think my efforts have been right in trying to take costs out of the system and I have gotten nowhere. We look at the utility costs that are in their budget. Last year, when they had Ladd, the utility costs were here. They closed Ladd, the utility costs are the same.

I go and say, ‘You’re overspending on water and sewer. You should have savings on electric. You should have savings on other things.’ This year, they go up $71,000. Where are the savings from closing the school? Where are they? Did they follow the children?

Okay. So when they say they’re going to save $600,000; really! We didn’t see that with Ladd. Show it to me in the budget. It’s not there. It’s not there in utilities. You have a Principal and an Assistant Principal. They’re just there! So I look at that and say, ‘It’s not good for our community’. Do you know how far some kids will have to come? From Crimora, down to Beverley Manor! All these people take enormous pride in their school.

You go up there and you see what those parents have bought in those school; what they contributed to and they’re happy with. They’re pleased with it. No complaints. Go over to Cassell, and it bothers me. My first year on the Board, when I was trying to get something done in the western part of the County, I went out to Cassell. My friend, Harold, who has passed away, was the Assistant Principal. He said, ‘Tracy, it’s okay. You guys have greater needs, but our time will come’. That was in 1996, this is 2014 and they’re still waiting. All they got, because of a fire, was an improved cafeteria and kitchen and the stage area. Nothing else done to the rest of the school. It is embarrassing. You go down those hallways and it is like going through Philadelphia subways. They’re dark; they’re terrible. They have classrooms that are just doorway entrances in between brick walls.

There are corridors that are too dark. They hadn’t been allowed to puts lights in there.

Well, we’re going to fix the schools. They’re not allowed to paint the walls. It will take maintenance to keep it up. They can’t make them better, but they’re expected to just deal with it. Prosperity is just around the corner for them.

You go to Riverheads that has its problems. There’s no doubt about it! You look at these things; and we come to the conclusion that Riverheads needs a 750 school. Verona needs to be closed; and Cassell is fine. I don’t think you can make that conclusion on those schools. I think they all have problems. They all need to be upgraded. The problems that are being talked about in Verona are the same problems they have at Cassell. That same thing! They have a gym the size of these seats out here and the problem is there. They have over 500 kids there. You take all the fifth graders—some are as large as Mr. Coffield there—they have big kids out there and they won’t all fit out there and do hula-hoops. You ought to be able to have a class get out and do hula-hoops if you want. But they don’t have the space for it. It’s embarrassing in what they there and what bothers me is that is has never been brought up before. Every now and then, when they say, our capital needs . . . all that. But the needs that has always been brought before this Board were always something else; always something bigger; always something better. These kids and these families have been waiting their turn. And they’ve been waiting long enough. It bothers me.

I can’t tell you how much it bothers me that Mr. Collins went off the cuff to say, “Get the heck rid of those guys! Cassell’s fine and we have to take care of Riverheads.” I surrender. We’ll give them more money. They are things that I would propose and this Board can do whatever they like. They can ignore me. They can do whatever, but this is what I’m for. This is what I think is fair to our taxpayer and is fair to everybody.

1. The Ladd school building went to our balance sheet. I want that value to be monitored to the School Board. It was given to us just as trustees for it. We can take our time and sell it, but I think we ought to take the assessed value as the good people of Waynesboro citizens say it is worth and say, ‘This money is available to the School Board’. And I would like to recommend its use for Technology. It should be enough.

We’re talking about $3.9 million or something for Technology. We should be able to say, ‘Get it all clear. Here it is. I don’t want you just to go out and spend $3.9 million, but to the extent, you’ve got a place to put it and you put it there, this is yours to use’.

With that, I want them to take the $1.5 million that is in their budget for Technology.

We’re paying for it from this other thing, remove it from that and put it to other things in their Operating Budget. The salaries of something else, that would be on them. We have freed up $1.5 million for that.

2. 5¢ increase in real estate taxes. With our increases, it should be worth about $700,000 per penny. With 2.5, it would be something like $1.7 million new money for the schools; whatever that works out to be. After we took the $1.5 out from the $3.9 million that they thought they needed, then when we take this out, the $2.5 what is left, there is about $700,000 left to meet their budget. We just challenge them to find it. They can do that much. We’re going to take half of the money. We’re going to increase Operating money.

3. Then with regards to the three pods. I went to Beverley Manor and it is certainly not in the shape of the others. Before we do anything, I would like them to come back with the cost for those three schools to bring them where they need to be. That would be Riverheads, Verona and Cassell. These things have been sitting here as a known problem since I’ve been on Board since 1996. The problem goes from about the year they put them up. You got walls that are falling down. They were hurriedly built. There is no space available in them. We need to take care of them.

Now, with that, I’m not looking for what they want to do at Riverheads. They wanted to take a 55,000 square foot complex and make it 93,000; going from 600 to 750. When I looked at State guidelines for schools, 600 is recommended to be around 65,000; 750 is supposed to be 75,000 square feet. I don’t think our student people will fit into that, but I would like to see a three 600 capacity school; same design. If they don’t want to do that, they put up what they want, but we don’t need a 750 at Riverheads. You have a high school that has 150 people per grade; 150 times 4 = 600. If you put 100 in each grade in the elementary school; you only need 50,000 in Beverley Manor. You have to have two schools. If you’re not going to have two schools, then you have to build Riverheads even larger. You have to make it 900 and something. But to make the 600 at Riverheads, you have to have an expanse of property. You have to go over to Stuarts Draft. You have to go up to Staunton. You have to go up in the Swoope area. They don’t have 600, now. If they were to have more space, re-draw the district line. But let’s save that extra space cost to put towards these other schools. They’ve waited long enough. Three 600 schools. I would rather see that 600-school right here at the County center. That would provide extra things for us for teaching, resources and it helps to bring the community of Verona together.

I don’t think it’s fixable as it is with the others. Cassell, I mean they have a wonderful play area. I think we should charge admission. It is one heck of a nice bunch of playground equipment there. I’m surprised that Mr. Garber hasn’t put cattle by it to show how impressive it is. They have some nice stuff there and we would have to see how it all fits in. We have 48 acres there. We could make it fit. Nobody wants to lose Cassell. They don’t want to do that. It shouldn’t be what it is. When I went out with Dr. Garber, today, and this is a want, not a need. We can live with it. You know, after you get through about 300 wants, not needs, we assume there is a need there. These kids are sucking it up. Those parents are sucking it up and not complaining about it.

How can we take all these people that are doing so good and not try to have some appreciation? I go those schools, and those kids are polite; they’re attentive; they’re about their business.

4. I would like to fund a study to prepare how we would do a K-7 and 8-12 configuration of the western part of the County out of Pastures Infrastructure money with School Board’s permission and support to work with.

I didn’t want to put Ms. Bragg on a catbird seat the next week because the discussion was leading towards pretty much three to three and she could get kicked out of office in just about six months with just one raise of the hand. I want to give her some cover. I’ve looked at this thing and I think about the Doctor’s motto “Do no Harm”. I think my principle stands and I think, based upon numbers, I think they do no harm.

Mr. Karaffa asked if that was a motion. Chairman Wills suggested they go through the comments.

Mr. Pyles’ response:

If we’re going to give them 5¢ more, they have no reason to close Verona. That said, that was they needed – $600,000 to keep Verona open. I’m willing to vote for a 5¢ raise.

Mr. Pyles moved, seconded by Mr. Moore, that the Board consider a 5¢ tax increase on real estate contingent on keeping Verona Elementary open. This is to be 50/50 with County and Schools.

Mr. Karaffa made the following comment:

We haven’t even seen a County budget! We haven’t even see a School Board budget!

We have not seen numbers. Mr. Pyles, I understand where you’re coming from with your frustration regarding the conditions of some of our schools. I share those frustrations.

However, I also believe that it is a School Board tactic with proposing closing Verona Elementary School. Verona Elementary School is central to this community. The number of phone calls and e-mails that I have gotten outraged about the idea –this close to the end of the school year, that we close Verona is overwhelming. There is a meeting March 20th.

I know that a good amount of people of Verona, that are parents, are looking to show up and tell the School Board exactly what they think of this reaction to their supposed budget.

When I went to the last School Board worksession meeting, the School Board Budget based upon their Department Head requests amounted to about $101 million. Chuck Bishop hadn’t taken his pen to it from what I understood, being stated in the meeting. Their budget, last year, was $94 million. Their estimated enrollment is dropping like a lead ball; yet, they want to go from $94 million to $101 million to run our school system. There’s also other monies in there that haven’t been discussed openly and we’re wondering where they went. Last year, they wanted 16% added to their budget to cover insurance premiums; and they got it. And it turned out for that year, they didn’t need the money for the insurance premiums. Did they stick it in a bank account because they knew that this increase was coming this year? No; they used it in other areas. They used the money. The County— what did we do with it? We stuck it in escrow so that we would have it available when our premiums went up this year. We have heard no explanation about where that 16% went and, now, during their budget presentation, they want another 18% while still maintaining that money that they used to pigeonhole at other places. Now, was it needed? I’m sure they can justify it. I am sure they can show where it was, but they haven’t done that, yet.

They haven’t showed us where they used the money. Every year, they get a kickback from the State due to their low-balled estimated enrollment. Last year, it was above $500,000 that they got. That is just shy of keeping Verona Elementary School open. Before we move to raise taxes 5¢; this is the first that the public is hearing about it; it hasn’t been published in the newspaper; none of us have had a chance to go out and talk to our constituents. The folks in this room are the only ones that get a chance to even express whether they are for or against this and that is with a nod of a head if they can’t stand up and talk. Is a tax increase in order for the County? That’s a question that remains to be seen because we don’t have budgets, yet, from the staff that we put in charge of putting those budgets together. I will not vote for a tax increase in which the citizens have not had a chance to even hear about it. I have every year two townhalls to allow people to come and discuss it with me. We owe it to our citizens that if we are going to go into their pockets and we’re going to take their money, that they get a chance to stand at that podium and tell us exactly what they think about it. So, while I agree with the sentiments, it is not appropriate to move forward with the tax increase at this time.

Mr. Pyles’ comments:

Mr. Chairman, I’m confused. I thought when Mr. Karaffa said, ‘Is that a motion?’ That he was for it.

Mr. Karaffa said that he was seconding his motion to a study for the K-7, 8-12 coming out of the Pastures Infrastructure Account with School Board approval.

Mr. Pyles agreed that a tax increase could not be approved tonight, but he felt that staff needed guidance in what to do. He noted that one of the things that Chairman Wills has mentioned is that we previously had a 58¢ tax rate and that it had served the County well.

He was not in agreement with that statement because of the increase of Personal Property Tax. We initiated the revenue neutrality after the last assessment. The Board lowered it to 48¢ which was based upon assessments that seemed to be “out of sight for many citizens”. Many complaints had been expressed about those assessments. The last assessment, there has been no problems. He felt that people were satisfied with the new assessments and that a tax increase was now appropriate. “We have stripped our capital budgets. You, fortunately, have a lot of money left in your Infrastructure Account.

Some folks don’t have anything. It was a very useful tool. If people don’t want to vote for it; that’s fine. If the Board wants to have a sentiment that we are going to raise taxes, it should be directed to our staff. That’s what we did at the last meeting is what Chairman Wills was looking for, I thought, is to give direction to staff. And we came down 3-3. I’m saying I moved over to the dark side. I’ve done what I can do.” Mr. Moore made the following comment:

We would ask the attorney. I don’t think we can raise the tax rate until we have a public hearing because of the process. But I do support it.

Mr. Pyles asked if staff could draft the budget as if it were that.

Patrick J. Morgan, County Attorney, said that could be done.

Mr. Moore supported Mr. Pyles that the Board give staff direction on those lines.

Mr. Pyles and Mr. Moore withdrew their motion.

Mr. Pyles moved, seconded by Mr. Moore, that the Board direct staff to build a budget based around a 5¢ increase on real estate taxes.

Mr. Karaffa commented:

We have $1 million in growth that our staff has to play with this year and we had entered into an agreement with the School Board that for two years, based on the Composite Index numbers, that had been adjusted, that we would give $1.2 million. Two years are over and the Composite Index number has adjusted; therefore, this money should not be forwarded to the School Board in their expected revenues from the Board of Supervisors this year.

They built their budget with that money included. Really, the Board of Supervisors, in terms of Fire and Rescue; Sheriff; should have $1.2 million to work with without raising taxes. I would like to see what our budget looks like at our current tax rate with $1.2 million of new funding going towards other things.

Mr. Pattie commented:

I think Mr. Karaffa is incorrect in a sense that some of that money that we are drawing on for the index was from savings.

Mr. Coffield said it was all from reoccurring capital funding. Mr. Karaffa said it was money going toward capital so it was from our funding.

Mr. Pattie said he was not supportive. “It was way too early to consider.” Mr. Shull commented:

I think Mr. Pyles has turned into Jekyll and Hyde over here. My thoughts are, you know, you’re sitting here and holding this carrot out in front of the School Board for money if you do this. It is sort of like political blackmail. I have to agree with Mr. Karaffa. We need to look at the budget to see what we have. As far as the schools, we have tried looking at the future at the planning. The numbers heard on this Board is that the numbers in the schools have fallen. If they continue to fall, there has got to be consolidation in schools.

We don’t need all those schools. There is a money savings right there. Riverheads is in dire need of some work. There was a heater that went out up there. They came to fix it.

They called the company for parts. They said, ‘We don’t make those parts, anymore’. So they have to wait on the company to make the parts. As far as the numbers of the school there, they’re looking at the future. They don’t want to build a school too small, as we’ve done other places, and they’re looking at the future. Maybe closing some schools and consolidating them into Riverheads. That’s what they’re looking at right now. Before I’ll vote for any tax increase, I have to look at the numbers first.

Chairman Wills commented:

One of the things I was looking for, Mr. Pyles, and one of the things I had asked the Board early on is to whether they would consider authorizing staff to base their budget on a tax rate above 51¢. The one thing that we do know is that 2¢ of the tax increase that you’re talking about is actually money that we lost through the reassessment. I had asked the Board earlier on in the process if they would consider addressing staff to utilize that 2¢ increase which would not be even advertised as a tax increase because it is simply replacement of dollars and not required by State law to be advertised as a tax increase.

Since we did not get that approval, I have been working with the School Board and received assurance from their Chairman that he will be working with his Board to bring us a balanced budget on the numbers that we have presented them along with a list of priorities. It is my opinion, at this time, in terms of talking about tax increases, we are also going to receive that list of priorities from our other departments after Mr. Coffield makes his cuts and their requests and we will have those in front of us. I think it is appropriate, as I said the last time a couple of years ago when the move was made to give the School Board $3 million upfront before we even went through the budget process, it was too early. I think it is too early, again. I will, with the priorities, support the needs of the School for both salary increases and for Technology. But I will not vote for it tonight because I think we’re too far into the budget process to change wagons right now. But I will probably support it in the future because I think there is a definite need there for the schools. I think we have a need with our fire and rescue and I think we have a need for our capital budget. I will continue to say, from my standpoint, tax increases that go toward Public Safety and Education, to me, are justified, as long as they are needs, not wants.

When it comes to the closing of Verona Elementary, I have to disagree with what it appears to be the majority of the Board at this time. In closing any school, it is an emotional issue. But we have closed schools in this County for years. We go back to Mount Sidney; we go back to Weyers Cave; we go back to Crimora; we got back to Spottswood, Middlebrook, New Hope, Deerfield; anytime a school becomes functionally outdated, we move to close it and move the kids into a more educational atmosphere.

Verona Elementary is a pod school where the kids go outside for every activity they have.

In a winter like this winter, the put their coats on, they go to eat lunch, they get overheated and they step back out into the cold and we wonder why they get the flu. Verona is also our most lack of security of any school we have because of its location next to the apartments and its openness. We did do some improvements at Cassell Elementary, Mr. Pyles, early on in the process. One of the first things in the first round, we closed in some of the back of that school to make it a little more secure and to break some of that wind and stuff that came back there. They have not received a lot, I will grant you that. I had thought we had enlarged the playroom, but we may not have at that time.

Mr. Moore said their gymnasium is half the size of Verona.

Chairman Wills continued:

In terms of looking at that, and this Board has asked that the School to try to operate efficiently with the schools and to look at the number of seats that they are utilizing. I think this is a school that, because of the low number of students that are there, it is an easy way to assimilate those students into other schools. Hopefully, they wouldn’t move them all the way from Crimora to Churchville. Hopefully, when they draw their boundary lines that it will be reasonable distances to travel. Already, I have students travelling to Clymore from all the way over from Harriston and Crimora is not that much different. We’re talking about up in the mountains behind them. So a distance of travel is not that much greater.

Most of the Crimora kids do go to Cassell, though. The breaking line is there more toward New Hope. I just feel like that we have got to be consistent with the messages that we’re asking the School Board for. I appreciate the move that you have made tonight to try to say, ‘Okay, let’s back up and start over with what we’re trying to do’. I have concerns about the renovation of Verona with kids there. Now, your proposal to build a new one; it’s kind of interesting, you have a 600 school now at Riverheads and you want to keep it there; we have a 250 at Verona and you’re wanting to build 600 here, too; and I don’t see the growth area here being such that it is going to fill up 600 seats. I think we have to look at the size of that school if that is what we’re going to do. I cannot, at this point, support a change in our path toward budget at this time, other than asking the people to bring us their needs and, as we did at the end of last session, we will advertise the tax increase that we feel can meet the needs that we identify during budget worksession and then, after we go through the public hearings, we will identify which needs we will fund, which ones we won’t, and set a tax rate.

Messrs. Pyles and Moore withdrew their motion and Mr. Pyles commented:

I will say it is fine to say that we have asked the School Board to balance their budget; I wasn’t involved in that. What we read in the paper, was ‘Close Verona’. It’s unfortunate the School Board members just routinely throw out closing the school without discussing with people. It’s inappropriate. The schools being affected are in Dr. Pattie’s district, Mr. Karaffa’s schools, Riverheads is Mr. Shull’s, which just happen to be the three people who are dead set against tax increases. Fine and dandy. I take it back. I would ask, though, that people throw things out and I would like to see the documentation. All the Principals and the School Board prepared safety evaluations for all the schools; I think that presentation should be made for all of us. We can look at it and see how much worse Verona is than anybody else. I went to Verona and Cassell. They were talking about those pods; how easy these things were; one of the things you have, is any kid opening the door for somebody, it happens at Ware when you come to a backdoor, adult says, ‘Let me in’, the kids will let them in. Okay. That what’s happens. Well, let’s see the safety reviews.

Mr. Moore added:

The other comments that Mr. Pyles made, allowing the schools to use the asset of Ladd potentially to fund Technology, I think makes great sense. I’m not necessarily sure what we’re doing right now, but it is an asset and, as I look at it, it’s reallocating an asset that they had that we’re keeping for them. The other comment that I’ll make on the pod schools is that those schools are 40 to 45 years old. They were all built about the same time. They all have the same circuit breakers that caught on fire at Cassell. They all have the same heating systems that Mr. Shull is talking about. If we’re going to continue to utilize those schools, then there has to be a plan for renovating those schools. You can’t just say, ‘We’re going to keep using them and keep using them’. At some point, they can’t be used.

Chairman Wills said they may be older than 45 years old.

Mr. Pattie made the following comment:

Again, this shooting from the hip type of scenario when we throw it out to press. Where did he get that $700,000 from, if staff didn’t prepare anything for him, is anyone’s guess.

Let’s just review the facts in what has happened over the last two years during the budget cycle. In 2012, there was a discussion about talking about closing Craigsville. In February 2013, we asked to look at the schools to determine if there was a better way to use school resources. Again, we have 3,000 empty seats in Augusta County; our enrollment is declining, is there a better way we can use our current school facilities. They did a study for us. In that study, in 2013, they didn’t propose closing Verona; they proposed closing North River Elementary. They said that, ultimately they shouldn’t close North River or any of the other three schools because of lack of specialist training. They wanted to get all of the specialty type trainings that other school had. Not only did they say we shouldn’t close Verona, they weren’t even looking at that, they were looking at North River. A few months ago, we got that e-mail saying that they never considered closing Craigsville. That was a private e-mail from one of their Board members; so we all kind of scratched our heads on that one. Now, all of a sudden, they’re talking about Verona closing, again. This is indicative of no strategic planning; no long-term planning. For three budget cycles, again, we’re on the verge of our third budget cycle, I’ve asked for a long-term plan. It is, yet, to be provided to us. I hear they’re working on it. They told us they would get it to us much earlier in the budget process. We’re coming up on the budget vote. We have no plan in front of us. I talked to residents. No citizens have heard about this plan. They don’t even know it’s being developed. I talked to teachers; they’ve had no feedback on the plan. I’m a Board member; I’m supposed to be funding this plan and I’ve had no communication.

And so, all of a sudden, we’ve had a single School Board member just throw out, ‘Let’s close the school’. And where does that come from? A logical strategical plan would have all the contingencies in place. We would know where we were going in the future. We would know what to do with Technology. I don’t think Mr. Pyles would have even been necessary to make a suggestion because we would say, ‘All right, well, we’re having declining enrollment. We all know what we’re going to do at this point. We’re going to close another school and this seems to be the most logical’. Every year, we kind of get blackmailed. In the first year, there were $8 million worth of cuts the school system was going to do to make up for a $3 million deficit. Do you remember that one? We had JV Sports, which everyone knew no one was going to cancel. We had Craigsville Elementary.

We had students standing in front of us crying because the School Board told them so.

Every year, it is different. Last year, it was a completely new set of cuts they were going to have to do –School Bus Driver and Cafeteria Worker health insurance. This year, we have a whole other set of cuts. If my students presented anything remotely like this, I would fail them because there needs to be some kind of continuity in how we’re going to run the school system. Again, all of a sudden out of the blue, we’re just going to close another school. If we don’t have that strategic plan; if we don’t have buy-in from the parents, from the children, from the principals, from the students, from the people funding it, it is never going to be successful. Because next year, we’ll go into another budget cycle and all of a sudden there will be another five set of issues that no one has even considered. They’ll give it to us a few weeks before the budget. We’ll have to scramble to learn about them and try to come up with an answer. We saw the bones of the strategic plan, but we have heard nothing about it from since then. I’ve been joking around with everyone who talks to me. I go ‘It’s not a strategic plan, anymore, it’s a secret plan because no one knows what’s in it’. When you think about it, our Comprehensive Plan, that process took forever. It took over a year and everyone got feedback in the Comprehensive Plan. Right now, we have seven individuals making a strategic plan over the biggest part of the budget for Augusta County and they’re doing it in secret and we don’t really know if they’re really considering closing Verona or is this a scare tactic? Just like Craigsville. Just like JV Sports. Just like Varsity Cheerleading, which would have saved something like $5,000. We need some kind of strategic plan. We have one for the County. Why shouldn’t we have one for schools? Why is it taking three years and I still haven’t seen one? It doesn’t make any sense. I think if we had an honest conversation with the public, we talk to everyone, and if the majority of the population says, ‘I agree with this path,’ and then we wouldn’t have these debates between the School Board and the Board of Supervisors about the tax rate. We simply don’t have that at all. This year, my school, remember, they have suggested closing Ladd without contacting me. They made up another number—$700,000. If it is based off of Ladd, for the record, we spent $556,000 in savings, right? That was the official amount of savings in Ladd, but we also spent an additional $210,000 to expand Wilson Elementary to cover that; so that whittles down to $336,000, and we’ve increased the operating expenses to elementary schools, so really, we don’t still know what the real savings were, but they’re significantly less than the $500,000 that they said they were. So all I’m asking for is an honest discussion, an honest strategic plan in which we get the community involved and set the direction of schools. Mr. Bishop said last year, ‘We live year-to-year’.

That’s no way to run things. Let’s set up a 5-10-year plan together and let’s get all these things worked out. Let’s figure out what happens if the population expands? What happens if the population decreases? What if State continues to keep cutting our retirement funds? How do we handle that? What do we do with the busses which are aging? Wouldn’t it make more sense to do staggered start times and merge our bussing fleet with Staunton and Waynesboro? That would save us millions. There’s a lot of different ways. Mr. Pyles has come up with, at least, a dozen ideas the last two years how we can save money; how we can be more efficient and more effective. All that needs to be part of a comprehensive plan. As far as giving a list of priorities, I doubt that is going to happen. Mr. Shifflett, in the media, said ‘We’re not going to give a list of items because we don’t want them cherry-picking what they think is valuable’. Which I find odd. Fire & Rescue gave us a list of items to work from. We back-funded those. Sheriff’s Department gave us a list of items to fund. We back-funded those. What we have is a School Board saying, ‘We’re not going to give you any authority. We’re not going to tell you, even, what we need because we’re afraid you’re going to fund it in a different order than what we think’.

I’ve heard we have 100 maintenance orders backed up in our school system. I’ve never seen that list. They want to build Riverheads Elementary School for $18 million, which is going to turn out to be about $26-27 million with interest. In North River Elementary, you can’t drink the water because the well has been poisoned. There are impurities in the water; so why aren’t we fixing our schools and maintaining our property before we’re starting to build all these new schools? If you add up all the schools they want to build, if you saw their plan, it’s about $72 million in new expenditures. That’s a lot of money, all to be justified with nothing, with no support, no strategic plan. How does this tie into the bigger picture? Is this going to be a Beverley Manor Middle School? Now, we’re saying, ‘Well, we shouldn’t ever built it there’. Is that what is going to happen so that the four additions that they’re talking about in new construction? That’s all I’ve been asking for three cycles and I don’t see why this hasn’t been provided, yet.

* * * Mr. Pattie: Mount Solon Fire and Rescue – Kitchen and Bunkroom Remodel Project (matching 50/50 request) Funding Source:

North River Infrastructure Account #80000-8013-44 $11,871.02 Mr. Pattie moved, seconded by Mr. Karaffa, that the Board approve the request.

Payments will be made with submission of appropriate documentation for work completed, including invoices, and accepted by agency.

Vote was as follows: Yeas: Pattie, Karaffa, Shull, Wills, Moore, Bragg and Pyles Nays: None Motion carried.

* * * Mr. Shull:

1. Congratulated Ms. Bragg.

Mr. Karaffa:

1. Preston L. Yancey Fire Department – LED Sign request. He noted that the Wayne Infrastructure Account is low and the Fire Department does not have any money to borrow against; therefore, he offered to use $23,000 out of the Beverley Manor Infrastructure Account to set up a two-year loan that would be extended to the Preston L. Yancey Fire Department for the sign. One-half of that money would be repaid after one year; and then the second half would be repaid after the second year. Failure to pay would result in their yearly contribution to their department be used to reimburse the Beverley Manor Infrastructure Account.

Chairman Wills suggested that since this was the first time this issue had been mentioned, it should be placed on the next agenda (March 24th).

2. Extended congratulations to Ms. Bragg and welcomed her to the Board.

3. Schools – lot of the children that attend Verona Elementary School are in his district. Has received lots of e-mails. Confused about Ladd Elementary School – 420 capacity? Verona is 440 capacity. Supposed savings – $4 million deficit; if closed, will be a $700,000. He did not understand this. He felt that the budget, from the County side, should be put together with the additional $1.2 million going into the County Capital account in helping to build the infrastructure accounts pursuant to the Board’s original agreement. “This Board has made no official action that would even remotely look like the School Board should be including that $1.2 million in their budget. In reality, it should be $1.2 million that we are putting towards our County budget. I would like to make that a motion.” There was no second.

Chairman Wills said that he had looked through the minutes research where the Board of Supervisors specifically told the School Board that it was a two-year loan.

He also noted that their recovery for Composite Index this year was less than half of that – approximately $480,000, meaning that they were out of $800,000 for that year. He added that that year the Board of Supervisors also took $3 million that was committed to the School Board, which included the $1.2 million; $580,000, after they got money from the State, was applied to the Capital as a one-year contribution only. He would not support Mr. Karaffa’s motion.

Vote was as follows: Yeas: Karaffa Nays: Pattie, Shull, Wills, Moore and Pyles Abstained: Bragg Motion carried.

* * * 4. Supported Mr. Pyles in his endeavor to find a study for K-7 and 8-12. He noted that one of the things against that model was that middle schools would not have sports programs. Mr. Pattie said they should wait to see if the School Board supported it. Mr. Karaffa also supported advancing the value from Ladd towards Technology. He had gone to Stewart Middle School and was impressed with their enhancement program and encouraged them to move forward with their pilot program and putting technology in the Fort Defiance High School.

5. Tax Rate – “We have people in the County that are hurting. Is recovery in progress? Yes. It is not recovering for everybody, yet. A 5¢ tax increase is quite a bit. We wouldn’t even have to be neutralizing our tax rate by 2¢ if we would pull back the $1.2 million as we originally discussed. I’m sure it’s in the minutes because that’s how it was explained to me when it was originally brought up.

Mr. Moore:

1. Schools – Improvements need to be made at the older schools. “To talk about closing schools that have had improvements, makes absolutely no sense to me whatsoever. Coming up with a plan for the ones that have not is very prudent thinking.” 2. Preston L. Yancey – Had spoken with Mr. Coleman who indicated that the volunteers felt that the sign would make the public aware of special programs and be used as an enticement to get more public involvement.

3. Welcomed Ms. Bragg to the Board.

Ms. Bragg:

1. Schools/Budget – “Have a little catching up before making a decision.” 2. Thank you to the Board for this “amazing experience”.

Mr. Moore noted that, through the interview process, the past representative was very passionate about South River and noted that Ms. Bragg was also passionate about South River.

Mr. Pyles noted that it had been stated that Verona Elementary had 250 children. The Virginia Department of Education indicates that there are 341 children.

MATTERS TO BE PRESENTED BY STAFF

Staff discussed the following:

1. Fire Chief Carson Holloway – Rescue Squad Assistance Fund Grant In process of completing 50/50 RSAF grant discussed briefly at Staff Briefing in February. Continuing to evaluate the pros and cons regarding new ambulance versus refurb and decided to wait until the next RSAF grant cycle or the first quarter 2015 regarding that. They feel the need to apply for electrical cot and Bariatric cot to possibly eliminate potential for injury from lifting. Grant is due March 14th and he recommended applying for a grant for 7 Stryker Powered Chair Stairs, 2 Power Pro Cots, and 1 Stryker Bariatric Cot. The utilization of power lift assisted equipment has proven to minimize the potential for back injuries related to patient care.

Funding Source: Account #32010-8003 27,961 + 10% contingency Mr. Shull moved, seconded by Mr. Moore, that the Board approve the request.

Mr. Karaffa stated that this equipment not only saves on personnel and also increases safety on transporting patients.

Vote was as follows: Yeas: Pattie, Karaffa, Shull, Wills, Moore, Bragg and Pyles Nays: None Motion carried.

* * * 2. Highland County Mutual Aid – Discussions ongoing regarding protocol for responding.

3. Central Shenandoah Planning District Commission – has received a compliance determination from the Virginia Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ) regarding Upper Shenandoah Regional Water Supply Plan 4. Budget Worksession – Draft Agenda distributed to Board. Chairman Wills asked that the Board provide questions in writing regarding Departments’ requests.

This would be made available to the individual department so they could be prepared for the meeting. He has asked that the School Board have its budget delivered to the Board of Supervisors no later than Saturday. Mr. Pyles expressed concern as to that late delivery. Mr. Karaffa asked that staff/Department Heads reserve time for him on Tuesday (March 25th) to answer questions that he may have. Mr. Pattie suggested that Ms. Whetzel and Mr. Fitzgerald lead the budget and Mr. Coffield be in the background.

5. Governance Meeting – notes distributed to Board.

6. Security – Information distributed to Board. Recommendations have been made to keep a secure workplace with limited access to the building. There are three basic levels of access. He asked if the Supervisors would let him know if they needed their more access. Messrs. Shull, Karaffa and Pyles stated that they would like to have access on the weekends.

7. Route 733 (Moffett Branch Road) and 703 (Hewitt Road) Bridges – Mr. Fitzgerald reminded the Board that at the last Staff Briefing, VDOT mentioned the bridge on Moffett Branch Road that had to be closed because of a weight restriction.

VDOT is trying to move forward with a new project to rebuild the bridge.

Because of the nature of the bridge, VDOT has asked the County if they want to be a party to provide comments to the Virginia Department of Historic Resources (VDHR). In the past, they have typically asked the Historical Society to provide comments. He opined that these bridges were not going to be of any historical significance. VDOT has asked the Board to provide a letter of their direction. It was the consensus of the Board to submit a letter stating that they did not wish to participate in the consultation process for the two projects.

8. Budget – a. When the County redirected Capital Funding in FY2012-13 to offset School’s Composite Index Adjustment funding shortfall ($1,296,421); it was my understanding, that this was a two-year commitment. Requested Board of Supervisors guidance on how to approach FY2014-15 budget:

i. Re-instate $1,296,421 to CIP ii. Make adjustment based on most recent Composite Index funding:

$1,296,421 478,000 $ 818,421 iii. Continue Commitment for third year.

It was the Board’s consensus was to reinstate $1.2 million to CIP.

b. On a related matter, when the Board made the 2-year commitment to redirect funding from CIP to Schools, staff started an IOU list to keep track of this funding. It was “my” assumption that, with the sale of Ladd, the proceeds would be deposited to CIP to offset IOUs. Sought Board of Supervisors direction on how to proceed.

It was the Board’s consensus not to credit proceeds from Ladd to CIP.

CLOSED SESSION

On motion of Mr. Shull, seconded by Mr. Karaffa, the Board went into closed session pursuant to:

(1) the personnel exemption under Virginia Code § 2.2-3711(A)(1) [discussion, consideration or interviews of (a) prospective candidates for employment, or (b) assignment, appointment, promotion, performance, demotion, salaries, disciplining or resignation of specific employees]:

A) Boards and Commissions (2) the real property exemption under Virginia Code § 2.2-3711(A)(3) [discussion of the acquisition for a public purpose, or disposition, of real property]:

A) Ladd Elementary On motion of Mr. Shull, seconded by Mr. Moore, the Board came out of Closed Session and adjourned subject to the call of the Chairman.

Vote was as follows: Yeas: Pattie, Karaffa, Shull, Wills, Moore, Bragg and Pyles Nays: None Motion carried.

The Chairman advised that each member is required to certify that to the best of their knowledge during the closed session only the following was discussed:

1. Public business matters lawfully exempted from statutory open meeting requirements, and 2. Only such public business matters identified in the motion to convene the executive session.

The Chairman asked if there is any Board member who cannot so certify.

Hearing none, the Chairman called upon the County Administrator/ Clerk of the Board to call the roll noting members of the Board who approve the certification shall answer AYE and those who cannot shall answer NAY.

Roll Call Vote was as follows:

AYE: Pattie, Karaffa, Wills, Moore, Shull, Bragg and Pyles NAY: None The Chairman authorized the County Administrator/Clerk of the Board to record this certification in the minutes.

ADJOURNMENT

There being no other business to come before the Board, Mr. Shull moved, seconded by Mr. Moore, the Board adjourned subject to call of the Chairman.

Vote was as follows: Yeas: Pattie, Karaffa, Shull, Wills, Moore, Bragg and Pyles Nays: None Motion carried.

Chairman County Administrator H:3-12min.14