Regular Meeting – May 24, 2017
Regular Meeting, Wednesday, May 24, 2017, 7:00 p.m. Government Center, Verona, VA.
PRESENT: Tracy C. Pyles, Jr., Chairman
Terry Lee Kelley, Jr., Vice-Chairman
Gerald W. Garber
Carolyn S. Bragg
Wendell L. Coleman
Marshall W. Pattie
Michael L. Shull
John R. Wilkinson, Director of Community Development
Timothy Fitzgerald, County Administrator
Jennifer M. Whetzel, Deputy County Administrator
James Benkahla, County Attorney
Angie Michael, Executive Assistant
VIRGINIA: At a regular meeting of the Augusta County Board of Supervisors held on Wednesday, May 24, 2017, at 7:00 p.m., at the Government Center, Verona, Virginia, and in the 241th year of the Commonwealth….
Chairman Pyles welcomed the citizens present.
The Board led us with the Pledge of Allegiance:
Mr. Kelley, Supervisor for the Beverley Manor District, delivered invocation.
MATTERS TO BE PRESENTED BY THE PUBLIC – NONE
HEALTH INSURANCE
The Board considered a resolution for the addition of a Health Savings Account to the County’s insurance plan.
Jennifer Whetzel, Deputy County Administrator, stated that this is a resolution regarding the cafeteria plan. Previously a Point of Service Plan and a plan that had a high deductible and included a Health Savings Account for County employees was approved by the Board. This resolution streamlines the fact that a Health Savings Account would replace the Health Flex Spending account. This resolution brings up the Health Savings Account and it also states that if an employee is enrolled in the Health Flex Spending Account they can be rolled over into the Health Savings Account of $500.00. This resolution brings inline the Cafeteria or Flexible spending Plan to agree with all of the Health Insurance plans.
Ms. Bragg moved, seconded by Mr. Coleman, that the Board adopt the resolution for a Health Savings Account to the plan.
Vote was as follows: Yeas: Shull, Garber, Coleman, Kelley, Bragg Pyles, and Pattie Nays: None Motion carried.
Mr. Pyles reminded everyone that each item on the agenda is discussed in depth during the Staff Briefing.
PARKS & RECREATION MATCHING GRANT-WILSON MEMORIAL HIGH SCHOOL
ATHLETIC BOOSTERS CLUB, INC. The Board considered a funding request for renovations to the Bo Bowers Baseball Stadium.
Funding Source: Wayne District 80000-8027-43 $10,000.00 Beverley Manor District 80000-8021-55 $10,000.00 Middle River District 80000-8022-50 $ 5,000.00 Mr. Coleman supports this project and the Parks & Recreation Commission supports the application. The project is proposed to be funded by the Wayne, Beverley Manor and Middle River Districts for a total of $25,000.
Mr. Coleman moved, seconded by Mr. Kelley, that the Board approve the Parks & Recreation Community Matching Grant.
Vote was as follows: Yeas: Pattie, Shull, Garber, Kelley, Bragg, Coleman, and Pyles Nays: None Motion carried.
FEASIBILITY STUDY FOR A COMBINED MAINTENANCE
AND SERVICE GARAGE
The Board considered a proposal to complete a feasibility study for an amount of $12,580.00.
Funding Source: Pastures Infrastructure 80000-8014-97 $1,798.00 Beverley Manor Infrastructure 80000-8011-84 $1,798.00 Riverheads Infrastructure 80000-8015-79 $1,798.00 South River Infrastructure 80000-8016-85 $1,798.00 Wayne Infrastructure 80000-8017-99 $1,798.00 Middle River Infrastructure 80000-8012-95 $1,798.00 North River Infrastructure 80000-8013-54 $1,798.00 Mr. Fitzgerald stated there is a possibility of a combined garage which would include the school board, service authority, the Sheriff’s Department and also County functions.
Lineage Architects will do the feasibility study, space needs analysis and provide a rendering of what the building would look like. The total cost of the study is $12,580 which would be split evenly between the seven infrastructure accounts.
Mr. Pyles stated that the main objective of this is to have a better way to perform maintenance and repairs. Having a centralized unit with the proper staff and adequate equipment will help save money for the County.
Mr. Shull stated that the current facilities are not big enough. There is a number of unsafe practices taking place. The Service Authority is currently looking at a building so a combined service facility would make sense.
FEASIBILITY STUDY FOR A COMBINED MAINTENANCE
Dr. Pattie moved, seconded by Mr. Shull, that the Board approve funding the request to complete a feasibility study for an amount of $12,580.00.
Vote was as follows: Yeas: Pattie, Shull, Garber, Kelley, Bragg, Coleman, and Pyles Nays: None Motion carried.
FIRE AND RESCUE STRATEGIC PLAN PHASE ONE
The Board considered moving forward with phase one of the Augusta County Fire- Rescue Strategic Plan.
Mr. Fitzgerald stated that a lot of time was spent working through the plan which includes several long term phases. The board asked staff to bring forward a portion of phase 1.
The original phase 1 was to look at closing Company 10, which is located in the City of Staunton. Along with relocating the personnel from the Middlebrook Fire Company to the Riverheads Fire Company. The Board does not want to consider not moving forward with relocating of employees at Middlebrook at this time, however they do want to consider the closing of Company 10 in Staunton.
Mr. Pyles pointed out that Monday was a good and to the point discussion among the Board members. Those discussions show that Board members can make a difference.
Mr. Shull came well prepared for the meeting and spoke well for the interest of his community. The comments were taken to heart for Middlebrook. The Board will look more at the surrounding agencies and incorporate those agencies better. One thing to look at is giving Staunton another chance to keep Company 10 there. Staunton was given that chance about six weeks ago, but if Staunton realizes the seriousness of the position, the opportunity is there for them to join us in helping to keep Company 10 and also help with the Emergency Operation Center. The total cost may only be $150,000 a year to have a fire station on their East end. We will do our best to accommodate the City. Mr. Kelley brings years of experience from being a volunteer and working in a paid station.
Mr. Shull has his ear to the ground and the remainder of the Board have had things come up in their areas. This is a team effort to keep the cost low with volunteers, but career people are needed too. The Goal is to find the best position for assets, both physical and for personnel.
Mr. Coleman pointed out that citizens need to understand that this is an issue that has been considered for several years. If you’re not aware you haven’t been paying attention.
The County cannot continue to go in the direction we are going. The last several years there have been two different SAFER Grants. Fire and Rescue has grown in a short period of time. We are up to 105 people and the county is trying to have fire & rescue strategically located. It was pointed out that roughly 60% of the calls from Company 10 are in the City of Staunton and on the interstate. The County has a legal obligation to the people of the County. Going forward we need to be as strategic as possible. EMS is huge also. The community is growing tremendously. We work cooperatively with Waynesboro and Staunton.
Mr. Pyles showed a spreadsheet prepared by Lee Kello that listed all residences for each of the companies. There are 2 distinct things-fire and rescue. Mr. Pyles showed a chart on the screen of the number of EMS and fire calls in different areas. Without the numbers go up. When you look at the numbers, Augusta County Fire Department is staffed at 12 people to protect 1779 fires and no rescue. To be able to have service people for both fire and EMS these numbers need to be looked at.
Mr. Kelley has been involved in fire service for most of life. He had an Eagle Scout project at the age of 12 and was to make a map book of all the water sources and put it into their engines. A result of this project was a Junior Volunteer Fire Force at the age of 14. Mr. Kelley joined Verona Volunteer Fire Department at the age of 14 and spent 12 years there. In 2006 Mr. Kelley’s youngest son wanted to join Company 10 so he moved with son. He served as president and the County cut funds so it was expected then that Company would be closed. It took three years to get funding back. Mr. Kelley became chief in 2001 and served for 5 years. In 2016 he stepped down from the Chief position and became the President again. He does not want to see company 10 close but understands the situation of the County and its needs. He is thankful to the Board for being willing to give Staunton another chance. The citizens of Augusta County have to be thought about and what is best served for the people. The call volume for Company 10 does not serve the majority of the constituents of Augusta County. Mr. Kelley is willing to stand by the Board’s decision and as the current President of Company 10 will abstain from voting.
Mr. Shull stated that the Board was presented with a plan on Monday that he was not happy with. There have been five year plans previously and they end up costing the County millions of dollars. The plan presented Monday didn’t mention anything about how much would be spent. There has not been enough negotiations between Staunton and the volunteers and the companies involved. This situation has become political. The attempt has been made to tie it in with the Courthouse. The Strategic Plan should not have come to the Board of Supervisors or the City Council. It should be between Augusta County Chief and City of Staunton Chief to come up with a plan and then present it back to the Administrator and the City Manager and then brought back to the Board. Mr. Shull is not ready to move forward with this plan because he sees the problems with ISO and as soon as Company 10 is closed ISO will do another evaluation. It was mentioned Monday that the interstate is so busy and Company 10 is close to the interstate and they should be available to help other responding companies at all times. Mr. Shull would like to see this put on hold until a meeting is held to try to come to an agreement.
Mr. Shull moved, seconded by Dr. Pattie, that the Board approve tabling the Fire and Rescue Strategic Plan Phase One until a meeting takes place.
Vote was as follows: Yeas: Pattie, Garber and Shull Nays: Bragg, Pyles and Coleman Abstain: Kelley Motion fails.
Mr. Pyles stated that this didn’t come with the courthouse. This was a plan laid out by professionals. This is not about spending money. This is about saving money, selling an asset and using that money to go forward. The Chiefs have talked. This has gone on for years. The Board has tried to make this as simple as possible. It’s just like the Courthouse, the City of Staunton wants to drag things out. We will do whatever is fair to the citizens of Augusta County. The leverage is needed to go forward and if Staunton wants to help it will be accepted. We are giving away over a quarter million dollars’ worth of services. We charge for use of a baseball field but not for EMS services. We cannot give away services.
Ms. Bragg stated that the complete five year plan needs work. Tonight is just about part one phase one. This is only a portion. The other areas of the plan will be looked at later.
It’s a hard thing to do, but the right direction to go. The Board is responsible for utilizing resources properly. This is a step towards a bigger plan that has not been finalized yet.
Ms. Bragg moved, seconded by Mr. Coleman, that the Board approve moving forward with the plan to close Company 10 with the stipulation that if Staunton wants to renegotiate, the Board is open to working with them.
Vote was as follows: Yeas: Pattie, Garber, Bragg, Coleman, and Pyles Nays: Shull Abstain: Kelley Motion carried.
WAIVERS/VARIANCES – NONE
MATTERS TO BE PRESENTED BY THE BOARD
Mr. Coleman mentioned the discussion of what direction to take with the courthouse.
There was a variety of opinions of what the next step should be enlight of the decision received from the City of Staunton. He would like to recommend that a board committee be appointed to work on the future of the courthouse. This committee would Identify options and evaluate what is the best step to take going forward and bring a recommendation back to the Board of Supervisors. Then the Board will take action and move forward. If a Board member has a better idea he is open to it. Lots of opinions have been heard but no ideas have been given and no direction has been provided to staff.
Mr. Coleman moved, seconded by Mr. Kelley to appoint a 2 member sub-committee of the Board of Supervisors to identify and evaluate options for the Courthouse.
Mr. Pyles stated that the Mayors letter and responses by Staunton citizens makes it hard to work. After further consideration he didn’t think the idea of running it through the planning process made a lot of sense. If there are limited options there is only so many things that can be done. The General Assembly needs to give up its notion of needing 10 years between referendum votes. Conditions change and people change with time. We made some mistakes in what was done before. Things can be changed to the plan in Verona with a smaller footprint. The Legislators would see that they were not interfering with the vote. If we want to take it back to the citizens, make it known that they were heard and adjustments were made. The same bill is brought back over and over until the bill gets passed. This would at least give options to work with, which is more than we have now. Committees have been put together on this subject for many years. The amount of space was laid out by the original committee and it is what is needed. The Board has attempted to negotiate with Staunton the entire time to hopefully make it work.
The original referendum request was for $11.5 million and that most likely would have passed, but the Judge said all of the courts needed to be done so the amount went up and was too large. Not sure what the committee can do when your hands are tied by what Staunton will allow and what the State allows. We remain open if Staunton would work with us. Staunton are hard hearts on this matter and Mr. Pyles does not see the City changing much on their decision.
Mr. Garber stated that it grieves him if he cannot blame the State for something.
However, don’t forget that Delegate Landes had a bill to get the State out of it. From a lot of discussion over the past weeks, it is felt that the Board should be talking about this, but there is nothing to talk about under the current law. The most important question right now is what legislation we need to give us options. No options is not a good way to approach it. He reminded people that when Delegate Landes put the bill in Staunton fought it, which is the same people that said we should be talking. The only thing Landes wanted to do was get out of the way so the local government could handle it. At the moment we truly don’t have any options. Until we get options there is not much to talk about.
Mr. Shull stated that for several years the door was open for Staunton to come talk and they never came. The door is still open. Since our hands are tied he would suggest we see if they have any ideas or suggestions. If the ten years is reduced so it can be taken back to referendum, they will also need to work on the other Legislation so if the people turn it down again to move to Verona there is viable option of what can be done in downtown. Help from Legislation is absolutely necessary.
Ms. Bragg agrees with Mr. Pyles and the legislation needs to be looked at. Not only the length of time, but also the question itself. The referendum is asking two questions, but only one answer is given. So this needs to be worked with whether from a committee or any other suggestions. This needs to be started now withnot only local legislators but the rest in Virginia as well. There is a committee with the House and Senate that takes care of courthouses. These committees need to be educated on the issue and what options the county has.
Mr. Coleman doesn’t want to put all the eggs in one basket which is the referendum. The Mosely plan was shot down in the beginning with the vote. As for the Frazier plan, the architects didn’t know whether it could be done or not. Legal opinion was sought and it was sent in writing that it can’t be done. He doesn’t want to zero in on one thing and it end up not going anywhere. There may be several political or legislative things that could be worked on. To get the board behind it as opposed to where they are now. Everyone has their own opinion. Tracy’s original ideas of taking the options to the City of Staunton and their Planning Commission has been decided that they are no longer good ideas.
Now the option of getting with the legislature is on the table. Mr. Coleman is skeptical about this option. He hopes the committee can work with staff and bring back options.
Mr. Kelley likes the idea because there are seven different ideas and nothing is getting done. A committee would give a contact person for the Board. The ones that have dealt with the City the most should be on the committee.
Mr. Pyles stated that whether a committee is done or not, having everybody involved is important, but it is not needed. He would like Mr. Benkahla to come up with some recommendations of what could be worked on. This can’t just be part of the legislative agenda. This has to be a standalone product that is presented in a distinct way and has good rational behind it.
Mr. Shull recommends contacting VACO and their attorneys and get their opinions. VACO is there to help Counties.
Mr. Pyles agreed that was a good point.
Mr. Coleman reminded the Board there is a motion on the table.
Vote was as follows: Yeas: Shull, Garber, Bragg, Coleman, and Kelley Nays: Pattie, Pyles Motion carried.
Mr. Garber and Mr. Kelley will serve on the committee appointed by Mr. Pyles Mr. Garber pointed out that there is not a sense of urgency at this moment. The next step is thought not urgency.
Mr. Pyles would like for Mr. Benkahla to continue with the request of coming up with recommendations for the committee to work on.
Ms. Bragg- Shenandoah Valley Tourism started today and South River District had the great Idaho potato truck today.
Mr. Kelley mentioned the Coleman Career Pathway honoring Mr. Coleman. The Babe Ruth League at Fort Defiance has an issue regarding the fields at Stuart Middle School and Clymore Elementary School. The Verona Community Association put back stops in and started the fields and now are being told they can’t use them. It was suggested to move out towards Buffalo Gap and Mount Crawford. There needs to be a talk with the Athletic Director at Fort Defiance High School to try and resolve this matter. The VCA has put a lot of money into the field and should be able to use them. Travel teams are using the fields and taking them away from the Babe Ruth League.
Mr. Pyles talked to Dr. Bond and a resolution has been made. There is a meeting coming up with the VCA President and others involved. There was an issue that $1000 had to be spent for reseeding on the bermuda grass. They have provided 11 days to play ball and 26 games. VCA President is getting quotes to take one of the Stuart Middle School ball fields and put in fencing with no lights. Early games could be played on this field and it could be used for practice. The full story will need to gotten after the meeting. See how it goes for next year.
MATTERS TO BE PRESENTED BY STAFF
Staff discussed the following issues:
1) Shenandoah Valley Tourism Partnership kick off took place today.
2) List of contact information of presidents and chiefs of all fire and rescue agencies in Augusta County, Staunton, and Waynesboro was distributed to the Board.
3) A request has been made in regards to a neighbor burning trash in residential neighborhood. She wants an ordinance to not allow this in the County and wants a change in the law in regards to burning open trash.
Mr. Coleman stated that in previous years on the Board, the EPA got involved. With the county not having a law, is there something state or federal that regulates. This may be something that staff could research and figure out.
Mr. Fitzgerald pointed out that if an ordinance is passed it also has to be approved by the State Air Pollution Control Board as well.
Mr. Pyles would like for more people to complain about it before changing the law.
CLOSED SESSION
On motion of Mr. Kelley, seconded by Mr. Shull, 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 On motion of Mr. Shull, seconded by Mr. Coleman, the Board came out of Closed Session.
Vote was as follows: Yeas: Bragg, Kelley, Garber, Wendell, Shull, Pattie 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: Bragg, Garber, Kelley, Coleman, Shull, Pattie and Pyles NAY: None The Chairman authorized the County Administrator/Clerk of the Board to record this certification in the minutes.
BOARDS AND COMMISSIONS
Mr. Kelley moved, seconded by Mr. Shull that the Board appoint the following:
Debbie Callison Blue Ridge Community College Board Expires 6/30/2021 Misty Cook Valley Community Services Board Expires 6/30/2021 Lynn Mitchell Library Board Expires 6/30/2021 Nadine Gergel-Hackett CAP-SAW Expires 6/30/2019 Jennifer Whetzel CPMT Expires 6/30/2021 Vote was as follows: Yeas: Bragg, Kelley, Garber, Wendell, Shull, Pattie and Pyles Nays: None Motion carried.
ADJOURNMENT
There being no other business to come before the Board, Dr. Pattie moved, seconded by Mr. Shull, the Board adjourn subject to call of the Chairman.
Vote was as follows: Yeas: Pattie, Shull, Garber, Coleman, Kelley, Bragg and Pyles Nays: None Motion carried.
Chairman County Administrator h:5-24min.17
