Board of Supervisors: November 27, 2006

November 27, 2006

November 27, 2006

Virginia:

AT A CONTINUED MEETING of the Nelson County Board of Supervisors at 8:30 A. M. at the Trillium House – Wintergreen Nature Foundation, Roseland, Virginia.

Present:     Harry S. Harris, Chair
       Constance Brennan, Central District Supervisor
       Allen M. Hale, East District Supervisor
Thomas H. Bruguiere, Jr., West District Supervisor
Thomas D. Harvey, South District Supervisor
       Stephen A. Carter, County Administrator
       Candice W. McGarry, Administrative Assistant/Deputy Clerk
       Gary Christie, Region 2000 Local Government Facilitator

I.   Call to Order

Mr. Harris, Chair, called the meeting to order at 9:00 A. M. with five members present to establish a quorum.

II.   Work Session (Strategic Planning)

Mr. Christie opened the strategic planning work session and the following items were discussed:

I.   Community Centers

Issue: Community Centers throughout the County are in various states of condition from very good to in serious need of maintenance. There is continuing pressure and requests to the Board of Supervisors to use county funding to help maintain these buildings. There was some discussion related to the value in developing consistent policies for the use of county resources to maintain these facilities. There was some discussion that the county should not be maintaining or rehabilitating these community centers and these community centers are to be run by the community and not by the county. The long range goal of the Board is to set policy regarding the operation and maintenance of the Centers.

Next Steps:

1.   The County Administrator will prepare a letter or survey which will indicate
whether the organization is still using the facility and will continue to maintain the building. Such a survey might include:

a.   Summary of the Operation
b.   Financial Information (Audit)
c.   5-10 Year Plan of Operation

Once the survey results are compiled, it will be determined if more detail is needed.

2.             The County Administrator in conjunction with the NCCDF Executive Director will develop a briefing paper for the Board related to analysis of Centers and financing improvements at community centers. The analysis is to include the general condition of the building, requirement to bring the building up to code, how much in improvements has been spent on each, and the cost to the County to operate/maintain the building. Such options may include the establishment of a fund for interest free loans and the use of the Nelson County Community Development Foundation.

II.   Zoning Ordinance

Issue: The Zoning Ordinance has been worked on by both the Planning Commission and the Board of Supervisors but has not been completed. It was the consensus of the Board to proceed with completing the new Zoning Ordinance.

Next Steps:

1.   Board of Supervisors will focus their efforts on completing the review of the Zoning Ordinance through more frequent work sessions.
2.   The County Administrator will distribute a revised draft of the new zoning ordinance.

III.   Piney River Phase III – Water and Sewer

Issue: Good progress is being made developing a Phase III water and sewer initiative in the Piney River area. However, there is still no consensus between the Board of Supervisors and the Nelson County Service Authority on the appropriate financing mechanisms for the infrastructure. At issue is the use of connection fees to help pay debt service on the project.

Next Steps:

1.   Obtain closure on outstanding easements.
2.   The County Administrator will prepare a briefing paper with options to enable the Board to have additional discussion on operation of the system.
3.   Negotiate an MOU agreement with the NCSA prior to going out to bid.


IV.   Solid Waste

Issue: The County has moved several trash collection sites to a manned status. The Massie’s Mill site is under survey for potential purchase with construction expected by March or April at the Shipman site.

Next Steps:

1.   A third site still needs to be identified in the East district which the County
Administrator and Mr. Hale to work on; as well as a review for service to remote locations. It was agreed that this was something that the Board and Administrator should do collectively once the remaining manned sites are opened.
2.   The County Administrator was tasked to prepare a briefing paper by January on
a.   Direct operations of collection stations
b.   Solid waste disposal alternatives including a cost analysis of using the Amherst County landfill for solid waste disposal
3.   The County Administrator is to negotiate Engineering services – in order to position the County (completion of PER and ER) to apply for Rural Development Grant funding for establishment of the collection sites.

V.   Emergency Medical Services

Issue: Nelson County is facing challenges in recruiting sufficient volunteers to provide adequate levels of emergency services responses. Board Members recognize the extensive training and commitment hours that rescue squad members provide to the county and the difficulty in covering all of the shift hours during the week. There was discussion from some of the Board members that EMS services should be offered in the county on a seven day a week basis and, at a point in the future, offered on a 24 hour per day basis.

Next Steps:

1.   County Administrator should include 7 days per week services of paid staff in FY 08 Budget submittal. The County Administrator should develop an organizational plan for implementing the additional paid staffing and evaluate the current agreement with Wintergreen.
2.   A briefing paper for incentives for volunteers should be developed by the County Administrator and staff noting what other localities are doing.
3.   The County Administrator should maintain a good communications link Local Rescue Squads so that the volunteer organizations are kept appraised and informed of the county actions regarding paid staff.

VI.   Importance of Improved Communications with the Community

Issue: There was significant discussion on the importance to Board Members about improving communications with County Residents. The Board discussed posting the budget in progress, holding more frequent community meetings, and insuring that there is a time for response to comments from the previous meeting, but no consensus was developed for these items.

Next Steps:

   1.   The County Administrator was encouraged to take the following steps to
            strengthen information flow to County residents:

1)   Use of Nelson County’s web site should be examined and increased
a.   Post Board Reports and approved Minutes as soon as practicable
b.   Post the monthly Administrators Report
c.   Have County Department’s Information Sheet updated
2)   County staff should monitor and correct advertisements and announcements published
3)   Provide appropriate information regarding purposes and results of closed sessions
4)   Seek to establish periodic newsletters
5)   County Administrator and staff should strive for clear reports and recommendations to the Board. Staff, under the direction of the Administrator, is encouraged to participate in Board and Committee meetings with presentations and Board briefings
6)   Mission and Vision Statement should be revisited by the Board and approved in a formal meeting and subsequently posted on the website
7)   New employees should come before the Board for an introduction
8)   Board packets do not necessarily need to go out any earlier.
9)   The County Administrator will develop a briefing paper for the April 2007 meeting on opportunities to use e-government tools to allow citizens to increase communication and access government services online.

VII.   Broadband

Issue: Broadband development in rural areas continues to be an important challenge for localities. Like utility infrastructure, counties are faced with installing strong broadband infrastructure to be competitive for technology jobs.

Next Steps:

1.   Economic Development Authority should continue to take a leadership role in the
development of a broadband infrastructure for appropriate portions of the County
2.   County Administrator should communicate with the EDA and encourage their
continued exploration of broadband and technology opportunities for the county.

VIII.   Budget Process

Issue: The Board of Supervisors expressed interest in reviewing the Budget process. Much of the discussion focused on funding to outside agencies and helping the Board develop a cost effective process to evaluate requests from outside agencies. One suggestion encouraged the Administrator to develop recommendations before the FY 08-09 budget process which would help evaluate the ratio of public expenditures to community benefit received from contribution to outside agencies.

Next Steps:

1.   The County Administrator should present guidelines for the Board’s consideration
to have outside agencies more clearly justify requests for increased funding. The
Board encouraged the County Administrator to review the process for outside    agencies funding requests to streamline the process and clarify the use of attachments.
2.          The Board will continue to consider the use of a Budget Committee to more
      closely participate in the budget development process.
3.          The County Administrator will circulate a paper by Robert McSwain for Board
      review.
4.          The County Administrator will have the Director of Finance prepare a short
      narrative about each fund within the County’s budget.

IX.   Completion of the High School Parking Lot Paving

Issue: With the construction of the High School were expectations that the rear parking lot would be paved. Various cost increases caused the School Board to delay the paving of that parking lot.

Next Steps:

1.   The Board agreed that it is still a priority to have the parking lot paved in order to
      complete the original construction project and avoid paying arbitrage on
      refinanced VPSA money.

X.   School Board Communications

Issue: With Public Education as the number one expenditure in the General Fund budget, the Board feels that strong communications with the School Board is imperative. Attracting and retaining quality teachers and education staff was recognized as an important component of a successful program in Nelson County. One Board member suggested that a County incentive program be developed with the School Division to attract and retain excellent teachers. The Board of Supervisors has a strong commitment to education, yet find it increasingly difficult to find funding at the levels requested by the School Board. Mandated services, rising fuel and increasing benefit costs were cited as obstacles that both the School Board and the Board of Supervisors face when finding adequate funds for school programs. There was concern expressed by the Board of Supervisor members that School Board members do not understand the difficulty that they face in finding increased revenues for school budget allocation.

Next Steps:

1.   The Board should continue the practice of two members of the BOS meeting with
the School Board to share information and build relationships. Board members and the County Administrator should examine opportunities for joint maintenance of county and school facilities.
2.   The County Administrator should explore state of the art practices which would
identify school funding based on a formula of revenue growth or other revenue targets. The Administrator may consult with the School Superintendent and school staff during this research.
3.   The County Administrator should prepare a trend history of funding to the School
      Board, noting % increase in funding versus % increase in revenue growth.
4.   The Board of Supervisors and School Board should consider a retreat to discuss
any funding formulas that may be developed by the County Administrator.

XI.   Courthouse Project

Issue: The Courthouse project is ongoing. Much discussion focused around how to pay for the project since it is clearly the most expensive single project challenge ahead of the county.

Next Steps:

1.   Complete purchase of the Lingo Property and move the building
2.          Contract with Wiley and Wilson to have the concept plans developed into detailed
            plans by mid-summer. The County Administrator is to negotiate the contract.

XII.   Recreation Needs

Issue: A variety of recreation needs were identified

1.   Pool facility at the High School
2.   Basketball Court
3.   Library located playground for smaller children
4.   Playing fields for recreation leagues

XIII.   Financial Management – Financing Capital Improvements

Issue: The Board has identified a number of capital projects that have been grouped into Priority 1 Capital Projects, Priority 2 Capital Projects and School Capital projects by Davenport and Company, LLC as part of a financial presentation to help the Board with future indebtedness to implement some of these projects. Additional statistical information was provided regarding the financial impact to projected revenues if a hotel complex in Wintergreen is delayed or not built.

Next Steps:

1.   Continue to work with Davenport to best position the county financially to
          implement certain Priority I and School Capital projects.

XIV.   Community Master Plans

Issue: A downtown Lovingston redevelopment plan has been completed using funding primarily from the Virginia Department of Housing and Community Development. The County has also invested in Master planning for the Nellysford community which is now underway.

The Board agreed that Lovingston Revitalization was valuable to the community and that the County should continue to examine selected neighborhoods for community master planning. The Schuyler, Arrington, and Shipman Communities and the 29 Corridor south of Lovingston were suggested as areas that could use master planning.

Next Steps:

1.   Look into obtaining connecting roads between Front Street and Court Street (Brookside Lane), for example. Continue to pursue grant funding for revitalization of downtown Lovingston and grant funding to continue master planning in targeted communities


III.   Adjournment

At 3:35 P. M., on a motion by Ms. Brennan and seconded by Mr. Hale, Supervisors voted unanimously, (5-0), to adjourn and continue until the regular meeting at 2:00 pm on December 12, 2006 at the Lovingston Courthouse.