Board of Supervisors: January 24, 2008

January 24, 2008

Virginia:

AT A REGULAR SCHEDULED MEETING of the Nelson County Board of Supervisors at 7:30 P. M. in the Board of Supervisors Meeting Room located in the Nelson County Courthouse.

Present:     Thomas D. Harvey, Chair
   Thomas H. Bruguiere, West District Supervisor
       Allen M. Hale, East District Supervisor
       Joe Dan Johnson, South District Supervisor
       Stephen A. Carter, County Administrator
       Candice W. McGarry, Administrative Assistant/Deputy Clerk
       Debra K. McCann, Director of Finance and Human Resources
       Susan McSwain, Solid Waste and Recycling Coordinator

I.   Call to Order

Mr. Harvey called the meeting to order at 7:30 p.m. with four (4) members present to establish a quorum. Ms. Brennan, Central District Supervisor was absent. Chairman Harvey welcomed Mr. Joe Dan Johnson, South District Supervisor to the Board for his first official meeting.

A.   Moment of Silence
B.   Pledge of Allegiance – Mr. Johnson led the Pledge of Allegiance

The Chairman recognized Mr. Bill Keene of the Nelson County Rescue Squad and member of the Thomas Jefferson Emergency Services Council. Mr. Keene noted that the State Office of Emergency Medical Services (OEMS) was currently proposing to re-organize the Regional EMS Councils and consolidate them from eleven (11) down to seven (7). He noted that the TJEMS Council unanimously passed a resolution opposing the proposed regional reorganization based on the lack of rationale or justification and the exclusion of Regional EMS Councils from the planning process; with a very short comment period. He noted that the goal of the TJEMS Council was to halt the process until input could be provided from the stakeholders. He urged the Board to pass the same or a similar resolution in support of the Council and forward it to the appropriate individuals at the State level.

Mr. Keene also noted that the OEMS is currently segregating training away from the regional EMS Councils so that they serve in a coordination role rather than providing the training services; this would be contracted out through OEMS.

Mr. Harvey noted his favorable involvement with the TJEMS Council and highly recommended the Board give their support.

Mr. Carter noted the materials distributed with the proposed resolution; specifically the map that shows the make up of the proposed consolidated regions. He then stated that the resolution for the Board’s consideration reiterates the TJEMS Council’s points and directs staff to forward the resolution to the appropriate State agencies and officials.

Mr. Hale moved to approve resolution R2008-07 a Resolution in Support of the Thomas Jefferson Emergency Medical Services Council’s Opposition to the Virginia Office of Emergency Medical Services Plan for Regional Coordination and Mr. Bruguiere seconded the motion. It was discussed that the push for consolidation could be attributed to perceived cost savings or the ability to offer additional services due to economies of scale and unspecified problems with smaller regional staffs when a change in Executive Director occurs. Mr. Keene noted that the TJEMS Council does not concur with this rationale and its justification.

There being no further discussion, Supervisors voted unanimously (4-0) by roll call vote to approve the motion and the following resolution was adopted:

RESOLUTION – R2008-07
NELSON COUNTY BOARD OF SUPERVISORS

IN SUPPORT OF THOMAS JEFFERSON EMERGENCY MEDICAL SERVICES COUNCIL’S OPPOSITION TO THE VIRGINIA OFFICE OF EMERGENCY MEDICAL SERVICES PLAN FOR REGIONAL COORDINATION

RESOLVED, by the Board of Supervisors of Nelson County, Virginia that said Board herewith supports the resolution adopted by the Board of Directors of the Thomas Jefferson Emergency Medical Services Council, Inc. (TJEMS) in opposition to the Virginia Office of Emergency Medical Services (OEMS) plan for regional coordination and consolidation of the Commonwealth’s emergency medical services councils from eleven to seven councils.

AND, BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED by the Nelson County Board of Supervisors that said Board wishes to herein reiterate the positions contained in the resolution of the Board of Directors of TJEMS in opposition to the OEMS plan of coordination and consolidation of EMS councils, as follows:

“We request that the Secretary of Health and Human Services instruct OEMS to:

(1) Immediately suspend public comment on the proposed plan to realign regional councils:
(2) Solicit and consider input regarding the draft plan from the representative organizations that would be most directly impacted – the regional councils themselves;
(3) If deemed appropriate by regional councils, develop specific objectives for and anticipated benefits to be derived from possible reorganization of the current council structure;
(4) In consultation with regional councils, develop a specific set of criteria for decision making to achieve the desired objectives and benefits: and,
(5) Secure consensus support from regional councils for a possible revised proposal before posting for public consideration/comment.”

LASTLY, BE IT RESOLVED by the Nelson County Board of Supervisors that the County Administrator be and hereby is authorized and directed to submit this resolution to the appropriate state, local and regional agencies and officials.

II.   Consent Agenda

Mr. Johnson moved to approve the Consent Agenda and Mr. Hale seconded the motion. There being no further discussion, Supervisors voted unanimously (4-0) by roll call vote to approve the motion and the following resolutions were adopted:

RESOLUTION-R2008-05
NELSON COUNTY BOARD OF SUPERVISORS
APPROVAL OF MEETING MINUTES

(November 15, 2007 & December 3, 2007)

RESOLVED, by the Nelson County Board of Supervisors that the minutes of said Board’s meetings conducted on November 15, 2007 and December 03, 2007 be and hereby are approved and authorized for entry into the official record of the Board of Supervisors meetings.

RESOLUTION-R2008-06
NELSON COUNTY BOARD OF SUPERVISORS
APPROVAL OF PROPERTY TAX REFUNDS

RESOLVED, by the Nelson County Board of Supervisors that the following refunds, as certified by the Nelson County Commissioner of Revenue and County Attorney pursuant to §58.1-3981 of the Code of Virginia, be and hereby are approved for payment.

Amount       Tax Category           Payee

$147.50       Personal Property       Mazda American Credit
                           P.O. Box 680020
                           Franklin, TN 37068-0020

$120.36       Personal Property       Ford Motor Credit Company
                           Ford Credit Personal Property Tax
                           P.O. Box 6700 Dept. 231601
                           Detroit, MI 48267-2316

$433.52       Personal Property       Rosa Lea Saunders
                           5620 Kentuck Road
                           Ringgold, VA 24586

$783.63       Personal Property       Toyota Motor Credit Corp.
                           c/o Corp. Tax Dept. 19001
                           S. Western Avenue
                           Torrence, CA 90501-2291

$66.10           Real Estate           Edward L. & Catherine G. Watkins
                           1597 East Branch Loop
                           Roseland, VA 22967

III.   Unfinished Business

A.   West District Board of Equalization Member

Mr. Bruguiere noted that Mr. Wheaton agreed to serve on the 2008 Board of Equalization, subject to the Board’s approval and that he has served in this capacity twice before.

Mr. Bruguiere moved to nominate Mr. John T. Wheaton to the Board of Equalization and Mr. Hale seconded the motion. There being no further discussion, Supervisors voted unanimously (4-0) by roll call vote to approve the motion and recommend John T. Wheaton for appointment to the Board of Equalization.

B.   Solid Waste Operations

Mr. Carter introduced Susan McSwain, Solid Waste Coordinator to give the Board a status report on current and planned solid waste operations.

Ms. McSwain gave the following report:

New Sites & New Equipment

* Rising cost of steel resulted in 5% increase in many types of equipment during 2007. Nelson is participating in a joint bid for solid waste equipment with Amherst and Appomattox Counties. This will help off-set price increases. Bid package initially was set to be issued in March; date has been advanced, with goal of issuing during next 2 weeks.
* Shipman & Massies Mill ready to receive equipment in February. Under advanced bid schedule, equipment should arrive early March. WMI originally had agreed to supply additional compactors for Shipman site, but that is no longer certain.
* Yet another possibility for a site in Faber fell through last week. Search for site continues. Perhaps the 6 acres in Schuyler should be studied in more depth.

Employees & Site Operation

* Eight applicants interviewed in December. Six have been hired; will be trained at Rockfish during February.
* Closure of all sites on Mondays recommended.
   * Savings of approximately $5,000/year per site.
   * One day a week to perform maintenance on compactors good idea.
   * Monday is the day when the 2 WMI drivers cannot keep up with the sites after the weekend.     (Recyclers and Transfer Station closed on Sundays.)
   * Monday closings should be announced before new sites open. Employee schedule must be    circulated during February. If sites remain open on Mondays, an additional employee may have to    be hired to staff Massies Mill.
   * Residents in areas with curbside service only get one day a week for garbage.

Drivers, Roll-off Trucks, & Hauling

*   Request has been made for Region 2000 to take over responsibility for both drivers and trucks after start-up in July. Lynchburg has made similar request.
* Job descriptions and truck specs have been obtained from several jurisdictions. Joint bid for trucks will be issued with Amherst.
* RFP for hauling to Lynchburg may include section to ask for contractor cost of internal hauling.

Wintergreen

* Paul Truslow & Susan McSwain to meet in early February with Tim Costillo to review possible site near Wintergreen gate that can be fenced.
* Blackrock Circle compactor to be discontinued in July.

Schools

* Contract with WMI costs school system $20,000/year (includes rental on front-end- load cans and hauling to Transfer Station). Three self-contained compactors @ $17,500 each will pay for themselves in 2 yrs., 8 mos. and can be hauled by County.

Montebello

* Meet with owners of Montebello site for purposes of hooking up power for compactor

Supervisors discussed the following relative to the report:

Three Phase Power at Massies Mill Collection Site:

The Board discussed the necessity of using power converters to convert the one phase to three phase power versus bringing in three phase power at the Massies Mill site. Ms. McSwain stated that converting the power was more economical since the cost bring it in was approximately $30,000 versus using an estimated cost of $5,000 per compactor to convert it. The County would have to bring in six (6) compactors in order to justify this expense.

Schuyler/Faber Collection Site:
The Board discussed reconsidering the six acre site in Schuyler for use as the fourth manned site however there was concern with the amount of rock on the site and a large gully that could present significant grading challenges, as well as concern about the location. The use of a different site design was mentioned, with Mr. Carter noting that they should not deviate from the design template used for the other sites.

Proposed One-Day Closure of Manned Sites:

The proposed closure of all sites on Mondays, for equipment maintenance and catch up after the weekend, was also discussed with Supervisors having mixed opinions. There was some support for this if it were announced ahead of time to alert the public. The impact on usage and personnel if the sites closed for one day was discussed, with Supervisors being in consensus that this decision could be made after the sites are up and running. Mr. Carter also noted that it would be advantageous to re-consider this once the Region 2000 Solid Waste Authority gets up and running.

Wintergreen Remote Sites – Blackrock Circle:

The Board discussed the proposed movement of the Wintergarden site to a potential site at the base of the mountain that could be gated and locked. The proposal to discontinue the compactor at Blackrock Circle was discussed, with Ms. McSwain and Mr. Carter stating that this proposal was included in the overall presentation last year that was endorsed by the Board and staff was proceeding in this direction pending further input from the Board. In lieu of discontinuing the compactor entirely, the possibility of moving it to the gated & locked mountain base site was proposed. This would keep the same number of compactors currently serving Wintergreen while cutting down on the amount of building materials currently dumped at Blackrock. It would also benefit Wintergreen not having the big trucks going up and down the mountain with resort guest traffic. Mr. Carter noted that if the Board supported this concept that he would work with WPOA on making this happen. Three of the present four members openly endorsed this proposal noting the importance of maintaining two (2) compactors at the mountain base site and working with WPOA to facilitate this now rather than later.

School System Waste:

Ms. McSwain proposed to put one self-contained compactor at each of the elementary schools as well as the NMS/NCHS. She noted that there is rarely over six (6) Tons per haul coming out of Nelson Middle School and the High School. She stated that the proposed compactors are 15 yard cans designed to handle wet waste from restaurants and schools and would be able to accommodate six (6) Tons of wet waste that could be hauled by the County. The Board discussed when these would be hauled, noting that the County would need to coordinate with the school system to determine the best time. Mr. Carter noted that he could discuss this further with Dr. Collins and Ms. Irvin possibly in the meeting on the 29th. Ms. McSwain noted that the County would not be able to haul the current cans used by the schools (front-end load) and the schools would have to continue their contract with Waste Management if these remained.

Region 2000 Hauling:

In response to questions, Ms. McSwain noted that if the County purchases the trucks etc. and assumes the hauling operation and then Region 2000 takes it over, most likely the Authority would buy the trucks from the County or give the County a credit. She and Mr. Carter noted that these details would have to be worked out, but it would be advantageous for the County’s trucks to be part of a fleet with its own maintenance shop.

In conclusion, Mr. Carter noted that the County is under contract with Waste Management to do the hauling until next December and can renew with the option to get out of it with thirty (30) days notice.

The Board took a five (5) minute break from 8:30 pm to 8:35 pm.

C.   Board Retreat

Mr. Carter requested to consider this after New Business and the Board concurred.

Following consideration of New Business, Supervisors agreed by consensus to forgo having a Board retreat and concentrate on working on the budget; which can encompass the priorities of the Board for the upcoming fiscal year.

Supervisors favorably discussed the courthouse project and their desire to see that move ahead as quickly as possible.

IV.   New Business

A.   FY08-09 Budget (2008 General Reassessment)

Mr. Carter assured the Board that staff is furiously working on the budget and would present a snapshot of where the process is and then discuss scheduling relative to the budget, the required public hearing on the reassessment, and advertisement of the tax rate. Mr. Carter noted that Mr. Johnson is not available on the 4th and 5th of February and Mr. Harvey will be out of town from February 10th – 20th and it may be better to forgo the retreat and focus on the budget due to the present time constraints. Mr. Carter noted that additional capital improvements and operational considerations could be wrapped into the budget discussions. He then deferred to Ms. McGarry to review the first spreadsheet on the reassessment analysis, to be followed by Ms. McCann to review the FY09 revenue status.

Ms. McGarry reviewed the following spreadsheet:

Total 2008 RE Taxes (Based on $.72 Tax Rate)   $25,432,630   ―   Total Value of Taxable Real Estate = $3,532,309,700
Land Use Adjustment (Based on $.72 Tax Rate)   -$4,190,677   ―   Value of Deferred Land Use = $582,038,498
Est. E&D Adjustment (0.3299% of 25,432,630)   -$83,903   ―   Used an Average % of E&D Relief to Total RE Taxes
Total Adjusted 2008 RE Taxes (Based on $.72 Tax   Rate)   $21,158,049   ≈   $293,862 Value of 1 penny in Tax Rate

*Adjusted for 90% Collection Rate   $19,042,244
*Hist. Collection Rate is 93% w/ another 3% less in Re- assessment Years
FY08 RE Tax Revenue (Budgeted)    $11,084,498   ―   $0.3772   Equivalent Tax Rate
   Equivalent Tax Rate

FY09 New RE Tax Revenue   $7,957,746   ―   $0.2708   Equivalent Tax Rate
   Equivalent Tax Rate

FY09 New RE Tax Revenue Utilization
Annual Courthouse Debt ($10.5M at 5.5% for 20 Years)   $866,738   ―   $0.0295   Equivalent Tax Rate
   Equivalent Tax Rate

FY09 Gen. Fund Budgetary Increase (* 4.6% Over $24,821,954)   $1,141,810   ―   $0.0389   Equivalent Tax Rate
   Equivalent Tax Rate
* Historical Annual Growth Rate in Expenditures per Davenport

Total New FY09 RE Tax Revenue Utilized ≈ 25% of New RE Tax Rev.   $2,008,548   ―   $0.0684   Equivalent Tax Rate
   Equivalent Tax Rate


Total FY09 RE Tax Revenue Utilized (FY08 Budgeted + New FY09)   $13,093,046

Equivalent Tax Rate   $0.4456   ―   $0.2744   Reduction in Current Tax Rate
   Reduction in Current Tax Rate


In reference to the spreadsheet above, Ms. McGarry noted the following:

The Staff’s goal was to show a base scenario that first gives a total amount of new tax revenue generated from the reassessment (based on the current tax rate of $.72) that has been adjusted for Deferred Land Use Taxes, Elderly & Disabled Tax Relief, and utilizes a realistic collection rate of 90%, based on historical trends; this number being $19,042,244. Ms. McGarry noted that the land use adjustment number will change somewhat due to the almost one-hundred new land use applications received to date.

Then shown is the FY09 New Real Estate Tax Revenue of $7,957,746, derived from backing out the FY08 Budgeted amount of $11,084,498 in Real Estate Tax Revenue from the adjusted total of $19,042,244. She noted that staff then wanted to include budgetary factors that should be considered such as: annual courthouse project debt using a conservative estimate of $866,738 based on a principle amount of $10.5 million at a rate of 5.5% over 20 years, and an estimated General Fund increase for operations and schools using a 4.6% historical growth factor in expenditures of $1,141,810. She noted that these two (2) items totaled $2,008,548 in new Real Estate tax revenue used. She also stated that the FY09 General Fund Operations number used is preliminary and that staff is working on budget development to be able to provide an actual number.

After accounting for these factors, the result is a base amount of total FY09 Real Estate tax revenue utilized of $13,093,046 which would equate to a Real Estate Tax Rate of $44.5 cents using $293,862 as the value of a penny in tax rate. Ms. McGarry noted that the current value of a penny is approximately   $144,000.

In conclusion, she noted there are other factors to consider such as: any difference in the % increase in the actual General Fund Budget from the 4.6% used (including school operations) would have an impact on the analysis presented, as would any other capital projects that the Board might consider, such as establishing a set-aside for next phases of the Courthouse Complex.

Mr. Carter added that the land use adjustment and other valuations presented are based on actual numbers from Wingate, and are based on the current tax rate of $.72. He also reiterated that the deferred land use tax amount will change due to the new applications on file with the Commissioner of Revenue’s Office and that the numbers presented are based on hard data except for that of the estimated Elderly and Disabled Tax Relief amount.

In discussion, the Board asked what percentage increase is the total FY09 real estate tax revenue utilized over that of the FY08 budgeted amount. This was not shown on the spreadsheet but was determined to be approximately 18.12%. Mr. Carter noted that the school division’s budget is an unknown at this point and per Dr. Collins, the School Board will receive the draft budget to begin its work on February 14th. However, he is hopeful that Dr. Collins and Ms. Irvin can provide some insight at the meeting with staff on January 29th. He noted that the schools are taking a $300,000-$500,000 dollar reduction in State funding and advised the Board of a pending General Assembly bill that would help to mitigate this shortfall in FY09. Mr. Carter clarified that the 4.6% operational increase presented keeps pace with what the historical operational increase for both the schools and the county has been and does not account for any new monies for school. He noted that the typical increase for school operations has been around $500,000 per year in local funding.

The Board briefly discussed the anticipated increase in the number of new land use applications, noting that typically citizens must re-apply for land use during a reassessment year but with the change from the previous six (6) year cycle, this has gotten out of sync.

Ms. McCann presented the following relative to projected FY09 revenues:

Projected Revenues:   FY08   FY09   Change   %

Local Revenue   $20,241,391   $20,587,404   $346,013   1.7%
Adjustment for sale of property   $189,850   $0   ($189,850)   -100.0%
Adjustment for dedicated funds (Rev.Recovery)   $120,000   $350,000   $230,000   191.7%
Adjusted Local   $19,931,541   $20,237,404   $305,863   1.5%

State Revenue   $3,697,681   $4,092,739   $395,058   10.7%
Adjustment for Grants   $391,163   $790,608   $399,445   102.1%
Adjusted State   $3,306,518   $3,302,131   ($4,387)   -0.1%

Federal Revenue   $516,802   $487,182   ($29,620)   -5.7%
Adjustment for Grants   $26,404   $0   ($26,404)   -100.0%
Adjusted Federal   $490,398   $487,182   ($3,216)   -0.7%

Total Adjusted Revenue   $23,728,457   $24,026,717   $298,260   1.3%

Ms. McCann noted that the spreadsheet presented shows no impact from the reassessment and only shows the normal annual growth in revenues. She noted that she adjusted out grants, and proceeds from the sale of property since these non-recurring items can skew the picture. She noted that an increase in the public utility tax was projected due to the increase in property values used to determine this revenue amount. She noted the increase in local revenue for FY09 to be 1.5% or $305,863, the decrease in State revenue to be -.1% or -$4,387, and the decrease in Federal revenue to be -.7% or -$3,216 for an overall increase in total revenue of 1.3% or $298,260. Ms. McCann noted that staff has not yet received the projected budgets from the State for the Constitutional Offices but anticipates these to be fairly flat.

Ms. McCann noted that per Davenport, as noted by Ms. McGarry the historical growth trend for expenditures is 4.6% and the historical growth trend for revenues is 3.2%. She noted that in FY09 the County is looking at a much lower percentage growth in revenues than the trend, which implies that the difference in the normal percentage growth in revenues and the percentage growth in expenditures will have to be made up with reassessment monies.

In response to questions, it was clarified that the first spreadsheet reviewed by Ms. McGarry only pertains to the Real Estate Tax revenue and the second presented by Ms. McCann includes all revenues.

The Board then discussed the proposed schedule for setting the public hearing date for the reassessment and the tax rate, advertisement of the public hearing notice and conduct of the public hearing; with Mr. Carter noting the determining factor for the schedule being the notice requirement of thirty (30) days. Mr. Carter recommended that the Board use the longest time-frame possible in order to allow for more opportunity to discuss the budget prior to advertising the proposed tax rate. The Board discussed their desire to advertise a rate close to the mark of what they would like it to be, rather than advertising an arbitrarily high rate with the ability to set it lower after the public hearing.

The Board’s consensus was to set the public hearing date at the February 12th meeting, looking at advertising the public hearing on March 6th which would allow the Board to have the public hearing during the second week in April, possibly at the regular Board meeting. Mr. Carter noted that in order to get the public hearing notice to the paper for advertisement on March 6th, staff would need to know the tax rate to be advertised by February 28th or 29th. The Board discussed possible work session opportunities, noting February 21st to be a possibility with the consensus being to set this at the February 12th meeting.

Staff discussed working toward providing the Board with a menu of sorts that shows the percentage increase in Real Estate tax and the associated tax rate to aid in the decision making process. The provision of an individual impact analysis was discussed; however the difficulty in this lies with the varying percentage increase in values throughout the County.

V.   Other Business

Mr. Bruguiere noted that the website for GIS is now up at nelsoncountygis.org

Mr. Hale gave a brief update on the meeting with FEMA on the flood plain maps noting that the consultants hired by FEMA had made a programming mistake in converting meters to feet that resulted in extended flood plains and boundaries of the George Washington National Forest. He noted that correcting this vastly improved the results and he commended Mr. Boger, Planning Director in his efforts to get this resolved. Mr. Carter noted that FEMA made some concessions to do some additional topographic work for Nelson County, which is also very helpful. Mr. Bruguiere noted that the new maps do not consider cases that have already been proven to not be in a flood plain and that elevation studies will still be required.

Staff noted that the public hearing on the Secondary Six Year Plan and priorities is scheduled with Kevin Wright of VDOT for February 12th to receive public input and a workshop with Mr. Wright and the Board would follow on another date.

VI.   Public Comments

There were no persons wishing to be recognized

VII.   Adjourn until February 12, 2008

At 9:20 pm on a motion made by Mr. Bruguiere and seconded by Mr. Hale, Supervisors voted unanimously by voice vote to adjourn until the regular meeting on February 12, 2008.