Board of Supervisors - Regular Meeting

mic check. One, two.

Good afternoon. I would like to welcome you all uh to the board of supervisors meeting today, Tuesday, February 17th. I'd like to extend a warm welcome to everybody that's with us today and we appreciate you taking time to be with us. that's very meaningful to us and uh we hope that uh you know if you have any questions as we work through our agenda you'll you know please let us know um after the meeting u but we do appreciate you being with us. So we will have our invitation offered by Mr. Jameson followed by the pledge with Mr. Mitchell. So if everybody would please stand.

Let's pray. Dear Lord, we just thank you for the opportunity to be here today. Lord, we thank you for all the many blessings you've given us. Lord, we just lift up our county, Lord, our state, and our federal government to you, Lord, and just ask that you would guide it, direct it as we go about our business today, Lord. We just pray for your wisdom. In Christ's name we ask it. Amen. Amen. Amen. I aliance to the flag of the United States of America and to the republic for which it stands. One nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all.

Okay. Thank you gentlemen for that. For next thing on our agenda um is to have an approval of the agenda that's in your packet. Um, does anybody have any um requested additions for the agenda or are we good to go? Okay. So, I will entertain a motion to approve the agenda as submitted. I make a motion to approve agendas. Thank you. Is there a second? Second. Thank you, Mr. Tatum. All those in favor, please say I. I.

I. And that carries unanimously. Thank you all for that. The next thing on our agenda is what we always enjoy so much are our recognitions. Um, we will have a recognition today of Benjamin Franklin Middle School Garden Club. Um, and uh, I'm going to ask Monica and um, our young students to come forward and uh, I'll make a couple remarks. Okay. Turn around. You don't have that permission. So, I'll make a couple statements if I can quickly. um growing in a garden, the outdoor learning garden at Benjamin Franklin Middle School has become a community investment in food agriculture and the future. What started with a simple idea and shared belief Thank you. that a community coming together, we can grow extraordinary things and they have blossomed into something far greater than a learning garden and has now been recognized nationally by American Farm Bureau Federation as part of their community awards of excellence. Recently, this program was showcased at the Federation's trade show in Anaheim, California, along with the 23 other winners who were also chosen from the 200 applications. The partnership between Franklin County Farm Bureau Women's Committee, the Benjamin Franklin Middle School has given the students a living, breathing symbol of connection

between their food, families, and their school and a community and their future. Miss Bowman, would you like to make any comments? Students have Oh, okay. Fantastic. Do you all want to pass the microphone down or

want to do that? Super. If you had asked me before the garden what learning looked like, I probably would have said desks, notebooks, and worksheets. But the garden taught me that learning doesn't always happen in four walls. The garden is a living classroom. It teaches us where our food comes from and how much work goes into growing it. We learn to respect local farmers, the environment, and the land that supports us. We learned patience, responsibility, and teamwork because plants don't grow overnight and neither do we.

This a this award represents the heart of our community. It's not about one person. It's about students, teachers, families, and volunteers all working together. The Gordon shows us that when we work together with a shared purpose, we can create real change. But what we grow here isn't just vegetables. We grow a sense of belonging. We learned leadership by taking ownership of our space. We learn about environmental awareness by caring for something bigger than ourselves. And we learned that even small actions like planting a single seed can learn can lead to big changes. Let us share a story with you. There was a student who came to school during the summer. Not for camp, not for fun, but for summer school. While the kids were home, this student was still showing up every single day. During breaks, they were allowed to go to the garden. At first, it was just a place to get some air, but soon it became something more. They learned what was ready to be picked, how to harvest carefully, and how to choose the best vegetables. One day, the students asked if they could take some home. So, they gently tucked fresh vegetables into their backpack. Tomatoes still warm from the sun. Cucumbers, peppers, green beans, and be and peas. They told us they were going to share with them with their family for dinner. Every day after that, the same thing happened. During breaks, they went to the garden. They harvested what was ready, and they carried it home, not as an assignment, not for credit, but as a gift. The garden gave that student more than a break from

summer school. It gave them pride. It gave them something to contribute to. It g it reminded them that even during a hard season, they could still bring something great home. When I think about the garden, I don't just think about what grows there. I think about that backpack filled with not just vegetables, but with dignity, care, and love for family. The garden taught me that I have a role to play, that my efforts matter, and that growth takes time. This award isn't just about what we've grown in the soil. It's about what we've grown in each other. Thank you for believing in all of us, for supporting this garden and for recognizing the power of learning that grows from the ground up.

On behalf of Benjamin Franklin Middle School, I would like to present this award to the board of supervisors. Before we allow questions, Miss Hatcher would like to say a few words. So, Emanuel just came in. I want to allow you the opportunity to share what the garden has meant to you.

Uh, the garden has been a lot to me. I mean, it's been a great opportunity, Miss Hash's class, for me to get out there, um, do hands-on work in a lot of things. Me personally, I'm a farmer and also like new things, learning in new fields and experiencing just new things. So, I do want to uh thank you and I do want to let you know that this is not a garden club. This is a class. Um we do this in the classroom. This is not they don't have to stay after. This is part of our everyday curriculum. And I just want you to know that this is they do this. They come in in the mornings before school. They go outside. They take care of the worms and the worm farm. They take care of the plants. We have disasters. We had a pretty bad disaster today. and they learn how to fix it. So, this is definitely a hands-on situation. Um, I've been teaching for 29 years and this is an exceptional community. Uh, when we got the award, I went to Monica and I said, "This comm this award needs to be given to the town of Franklin County. There is I could not do what I've been able to do in the classroom without the support of the community. Every time I ask for something from any farmer, they instantly give it to me." And that has meant a lot to me because I'm not agriculture. I'm not a farmer and the children actually the students teach me. So I hope that as you we go forward and we continue to have conversations about education needs and funding that you'll remember these faces and you remember their stories and that they're doing this in the classroom. They're coming in their own time and they're taking care and they're doing all the extra. The boxes were built by students. The boxes were 100% donated from our community sponsors. The students do all of the work within the classroom to school day. And it's

just been a really awesome way to just I think give the like a lot of them said leadership. We're not just growing a plant. They're learning so much more. And I hope you'll take this into consideration as we have more discussions about the needs and f of future of our students. We do want to offer you the opportunity to ask them questions because I think learn hearing their side is just so much more valuable. Hold y'all have any questions but have any questions?

I I would like to thank Monica. I know she's worked real hard in this program and I served on a committee with her. But I'm curious, what's your favorite vegetable you like to grow up there? Uh, probably the kale. Kale. Oh, wow. Peppers, peas, squash, green beans, peppers, peppers. Very good. Thank you. Any other questions, comments from the board?

I have one question. Uh, taking this class here in middle school, how many of you plan on continuing on and once you get into high school and maybe even going to college, uh, or looking for some type of employment during this? Uh, I might I might do it in high school. I don't know about college. Okay, that's a smart answer. Yes. Yeah, it'll be a cool club or something in high school. Um, yeah, I might consider doing it in high school, but I'm not really sure about beyond that. Yeah, I don't know about college. I'd do it in high school, though. I would also do it in high school.

I plan to make it my career. Most likely high school, maybe college. That I appreciate those honest answers and I just want to tell you that uh we're certainly proud of you. proud of the work you're doing and uh and being in Franklin County, you're in a good place because my understanding the high school has a good program and Farm College has an outstanding agricultural program too right here at home. Thank you. Those are great.

So the one thing I would like to add is we've actually been very blessed by farm college came out and supported us showing us how to set up our worm farm. We also have had um a local person that's taught the kids how to do soil testing recently. U we're doing a project with NASA right now and they need to know how to test soil and I don't know how. So I contacted Monica and Mr. I forgot his name. John Everart Everheart um came out and showed the kids for two days he showed the kids how to do soil sampling. So there's careers not just in agriculture. It just opens up so much of the sciences and the STEM. Um so it's a lot of opportunities for these kids.

Well, um I am so grateful. It's an honor and privilege to have you all with us today. Um this is our future. you guys are our future and it gives me a lot of hope and promise um in knowing that each of you are very special and um the fact that you're here today and you're sharing your experiences with us is just it is an exemplary um act on your behalf as young students to share that with us. So we are very grateful. Would you all like to turn around and we'll give these students a round of applause. award.

Thank you all for this. All right. She wants a picture. You guys are really important, not me. Okay, Kevin, y'all geared up. Dana, you need to get in this picture, too.

Can you look this way now? He's standing back there like a proud parent. Thank you. Okay. How you doing? Thank you. We have some extra seed packets that we'll leave out on the table if there's anybody that wants any. There's a QR code that goes directly to information about the black card.

We will proudly display um this achievement uh award here at the county and again congratulations and we're very privileged to have you with us today. Okay, we're going to move on with our agenda. Uh the next item is the consent agenda. Uh gentlemen, if you have any desires to pull something or if you just want to make a brief statement without pulling something, I'm going to open up the floor uh for that at this juncture. Any comments or do you wish to pull something?

Oh, Madam Chair, I um number eight, I'd like to I don't know if we pull it or talk about it. I'll let you decide which one we should do. Yeah, if you've got just a, you know, a statement or two quickly to make, we don't have to pull it, but if you want to engage in discussion, then we would pull it. Um, I'd like to pull it. Engage in discussion, please. All right. Thank you. Anybody else? Okay. What we'll do at this juncture is I'll entertain a motion to approve the consent agenda with the exception of number eight. Is there a motion? So move. Thank you, Mr. Tatum. Is there a second? Second. Thank you. All those Let's see. We need a roll call vote. Madame clerk. Supervisor Mitchell? Yes. Supervisor Meredith? Yes. Supervisor Carter?

Yes. Supervisor Jameson? Yes. Supervisor Quinn? Yes. Supervisor Tatum? Yes. And Chair Smith? Yes. Okay. Very good. All right. Um Mr. Meredith, um you've asked to pull number eight, which is the corrective action plan for financial and accountability. And I will yield the floor to you, sir.

Thank you, Madam Chair. Um, one thing I was I was looking at this is it's more of uh with school board with the funding and I was looking at the corrective action and everything runs through the superintendent monthly appointment, county staff, county finance, auditor, financial consultant. Um, I know the current finance director is there to May 1st. I would personally like to see or consider um instead of hiring a new financial director through school for one year, one school year is is a possibility to bring this inhouse um transfer to current staff and if we have room here, they could work from here. Um, and the reason I'm saying this is I think the more people we get involved with this, the more chances of something happening or falling through the cracks. Also, in hearing the reports, I've heard, uh, comments of kind of confused with the system, uh, overbearing, need training. Uh, I think, uh, Dr. Sears even talked about he's still getting a good handle on grants and revenue. And if this is possible, and I know u, Mr. Carter will would need his input. I just think that would give us opportunity to have a closer oversight of what's going on. We could do training here and then next year going into the following school year, hire a finance director and hopefully everything's everybody's trained and it's cleaned up and maybe get them off on a good foot. So that's the reason I'm just kind of looking at that as an option instead of the status quo that this recommends with three or four people involved with oversight and input and that.

Yeah. And just let me uh quickly for everybody's benefit just establish this is my interpretation of how we're going to move forward is that we will be putting a uh staff position in place in our finance department. Brian, tell me if I'm running any red lights. uh we will be hiring a consultant that will work on the school side to review policies and procedures um for an amount of time to see if they need to be adjusted. Um and I know the school system is in the process of trying to hire a CFO. So our oversight as it's currently set up would be with the consultant and then with a position here uh that would work under Mr. Carter's direction. Do I have that right, Mr. Carter? And so uh Mr. Mr. Meredith, your proposal then um you're asking that there be um the position that would be in oversight directly with the schools would be here um with um their finance director leaving effective the end of April that whoever takes that role would be here for a year.

Uh is that what you're saying? I'm kind of suggesting is hold off on hiring on who's which position on the school board uh school system side as a chief finance officer. Okay. And existing staff would work through if possible. Like I said, I I know this would with Mr. Carter. I know his hands are full, but um that way I think it would just help get things going in the right direction. Okay.

Uh and help us have a better handle. And like I said, just for one year, not taking it over all the time, but then as things are heading in the right direction, then they, you know, have another chief financial officer from the school system, then they would take it back and operate it all on their own. Okay. After that year. So that's what I'm looking at is, you know, holding off on this hire because I know where it's going to be in here as being involved if that's possible. Okay. So I'd like to quickly open up the floor for any feedback. Yes, Mr. Tatum. I'm not sure we can tell the school board they can't fill that position. We can. That's what Yeah, we don't have that purview.

Well, I just wasn't sure with the audit and everything what the uh legal options we would have in that situation. Uh, and I and that's why I brought it to discussion uh because I know there's a lot of questions out there and I think this would be in the right step of getting some trust back um and you know knowing we're all doing what's best for the students and the staff. Uh so that's why I brought it up not knowing all the legal options out there. So

sure and I appreciate that out of the box thinking and I think that's really what this board has undertaken with this plan. Uh in addition, we'll be meeting with the school board jointly next week. Um and so I think there's going to be some merit um in us moving ahead with the plan as we have all reviewed it and approved of it. Um and I think with Mr. Carter's oversight and guidance and Mr. Standi, I think if we need to tweak this plan, I think they will bring that to us. But in terms of being able to suggest that the schools not hire their CFO, we just don't have any legal purview there. But I I appreciate your line of thinking, Mr. Meredith. Mhm.

Anybody else? You know, the the accounting for the schools is very complex. Yes, it is. And there would not be a way of just transitioning schools finances over over to our side.

That would be a yearslong process. I don't think that's something that could be done in a matter of a month. You can correct me if I'm wrong, Brian. That that would be that would be years in and in in of process, would it not? Getting there. Pardon me. Um it ultimately depends on the level but to talk about transitioning the entire operation staffing appropriately for the operation uh and then really understanding the entire school financial u process is probably um I would say a two or three year process to do it the way I would like to do it and everybody has their interpretation but in order for me to be comfortable to come to this forward and say we feel confident that we have addressed all of these issues. Now, um I think it would take us six to eight months just to staff up how difficult it is to hire at this point for what I would consider qualified financial professionals that would go in and look at that.

Yeah. So, um Mr. Meredith, I hope that satisfies your question and and I would say um to your credit to the merit of your suggestion, I think that's an example of some of the things that um Mr. Carter and Mr. Sandy will be monitoring. Uh, as I said, you know, plans are can be fluid documents and if we need to go in and tweak something, something's not working or if the level of uh transparency and accountability is not there, we can revisit this. Um, and your suggestion, you know, may be able to be uh adopted in some fash you in some fashion moving forward. So, I appreciate that.

May I ask uh Mr. Carter one question? Um, you was talking about being two to three years. The way this is set up with the oversight extra staff, do do you feel comfortable going forward with this or do you see somewhere you might see uh a little more tweaking to or what's your honest opinion on how it's worded and oversight?

Absolutely. Well, and I and I also have the ability to speak to uh as as chair Smith uh mentioned is the interview process for the open CFO position for the school. So, that first round has occurred and so there were uh some very qualified candidates in that pool. I may think differently if I did not feel like there were qualified candidates in that pool. Uh but I do feel like as the the schools move forward in that process that we're going to have a very uh solid individual for which to work with. So, I think a consultant and and some level of additional staffing on the county side to to really be more of a liaison in that sense will um I feel pretty comfortable that that'll get us where we want to be in about 12 months.

Okay. Thank you so much for it, Brian. I appreciate you sitting on the interview panel with the schools. Um we I know as a board we very much appreciate your oversight on that. Yes, ma'am. Appreciate the schools partnership. They've been fantastic to partner with us. Absolutely. They've been great partners. Absolutely. So, if there's no other discussion, I will entertain a motion to pass number eight on the consent agenda as submitted. So, move, Mr. Tatum. In a second. Second. Thank you, Mr. Mitchell. All those in favor? Madame Clerk? Roll call, please. Supervisor Carter, yes. Supervisor Tatum, yes. Supervisor Meredith, no. Supervisor Quinn, yes. Supervisor Jameson, yes. Supervisor Mitchell, yes. And Chair Smith, yes.

Okay. And that carries unanimously. Okay, we're going to move on um to our next item. We would welcome Mr. Cassella VOTE um to the podium. How are you, Miss Lewis? Good to see you. Good afternoon, Madam Chair, members of the board. It's always great to be here in front of you all. So, Mr. Sandy in his new role here. I'll try to not be thinking about looking this way for him and I'll look ahead. I know it's a change. We've all got to start looking this way and not that way. Yeah.

Up here. So, yeah. Congratulations to him on that again. Um, so our monthly report here, I'll get started. U maintenance activities for the previous 30 days. We have a couple of pipe replacement projects that we've completed. Uh, route 808 Rockland Road, the frontage road, um, route 615. Um, and then, uh, of course, snow removal. Those are some of the biggest activities we've had in the last I don't know how many days. Um moving ahead, looking at the uh next 60 days, we're just doing our Northern Air maintenance. Um doing a lot of shifting of salt. Salt has been a um a hard to come by commodity. So we've been shifting it around and working within the state actually moving it around. So uh some of that and then just clean up and activities like that. Um you see the land development activities there. Nothing really um notable unless you all have any questions. And then uh on to page two here, we do have a a request for a traffic study uh for Route 1039, which is Energy Boulevard off of Bombber Mill. Um looking for uh request for review for a posted speed limit on that roadway. Uh currently it's unposted. And then um moving down through our construction, the projects there, you know, that several of them are are actively under construction. not a lot activity occurring with the weather, but as things improve, they'll be back to work on those. Uh, and then the project status is there as well. So, with that, that concludes our report, and I'll be glad to try to answer any questions you all may have.

Thank you, Brian. Any supervisor have any statements, concerns, questions for Brian? Madam Chair. Yes, sir. Brian, I'd just like to commend uh your staff and and all the men and women you had out during this snow event or snow events that we had. I know it was very trying, but uh I know up around Phum and and Henry and Indicott, the roads are are tough. They're not the easiest things to to keep clean, but uh I think y'all did a a outstanding job with what you had with what what mother nature dealt to you

and I know it was it was a huge challenge and uh and I can't commend you enough. Now, the next challenge, of course, you know, this spring is going to be going through and fixing potholes. That's right. Well, in fact, we've we've got a message coming out about a pothole blitz, so we've already been turning our attention and focused on that. I should have probably okay mentioned that as far as our maintenance activities going forward, but we've already started that process. Okay. And I just appreciate and I know Mr. Sandy, what March 6, March 10th, March 10th will be at Crossroads. Crossroads. Okay. Yep. We thank you for that.

Very good. Thank you very much. And we appreciate it. Yeah. That that was an extended effort. Um, and you know, we had the community folks, our contractors coming out to help us as well, but we we were engaged in a 24-hour operation for over 2 weeks straight. So, um, definitely kudos to our our staff for being able to endure that. And fortunately, we were able to come out of it successfully. So, thank you very much, Mr. Sandy. Yeah, just uh while Brian's here, I was going to bring it up later, but yeah, there is a March 10th uh community meeting. Um 6 PM, I believe, 6 p.m. at the Crossroads Ruron. And really the focus of that meeting uh for those that may live in that area is the closure of the Route 40 bridge. Um is it Otter Creek?

Yeah, I think is the the bridge. And so just just discussing, you know, when that project's going to occur, what the detour is going to look like, and I know some of the VOTE staff will be there to help, as well as some county staff to to answer some questions. So just for the benefit of the the community, just a reminder of that. I know it's not an official VOTE meeting per se, but um Mr. Tatum worked with the community out there and farm forward to set up kind of anformational meeting uh to discuss that bridge closure, which I think is targeted in 2028. So it's it's a little ways out there, but wanted to have a meeting early to talk about some of those issues and some of those concerns that have been raised. And where is that meeting again? Crossroads Ruron Club. Okay.

And on that, Steve, will you be sending an invite or we can just mark it on our calendars individually? It's however you like. Um well, for the VOTE folks, um certainly, you know, we can send you the even the invite. I think fair forward is kind of taking care of kind of public notice uh for that meeting. Okay. But but yeah, we'll we'll make sure that's set up and everybody's going to be there for that event. Very good. Thank you. We'll be there. Any other supervisors have anything for Brian? Mr. Mayor.

Okay. Yeah. Brian, first of all, appreciate you putting Noville Road on there. Uh thank you so much for that. Um activation of the stop signal up 220 Industrial Park. I know you said the polls were in maybe. uh any time frame or anything you might lead us to know when that might start and be completed. I don't have an update for you at this time. I know uh Mr. Sandy inquired about that and the word I got was they were they had already had their pre-construction meeting and yes, we did receive the poll. So everything is in place. I think it's just a matter of weather uh for them to be able to begin construction on that. So we look forward to that starting soon and I'll try to get you a better date. Yeah, I think it could be in the next couple weeks. That's what I'm thinking.

I think they're lining up the the construction calendar and like you said, kind of weather dependent as well, but I think we could see the construction activity within a couple weeks. Excellent. And and one more thing, I'm always going to have you two or three, Brian, so just be prepared. Uh a question for you is um I know a lot of stop lightss 619 uh Plateau Plaza Walmart there's a lot of signal saying there's going to be a red light going down Bojangles going down into Boone Mill just more on the northbound is that reason we couldn't have something there I mean many tractor trailers walking up brakes cars cuz that light turns red you know if they had something warning them I don't know if that's a possibility

advance warning type thing that there's signal ahead or well it's more when you know stop ahead um you know cuz you got those already like going down the hill southbound there Walmart Valley Star and Ron Oak uh Boj angles it's kind of saying it's red to give people a warning okay uh I don't know if that would help I just know I've heard many trucks locking up brakes there be honest with you like see at 45 mile put at the top the hill right

if it was me I put it on the hill above grassy hill um because I come down through if anybody's drove that road you pick up speed. But being, you know, no truck driver, if they knew at the top of the hill to kind of get down to 45 and keep through, it's just uh like I said, living in that area, it's it can be dangerous at times. So, I didn't know if I was a I ain't worried about northbound as much as southbound coming by candidates, right? Because it's hard to see at stop light. Gotcha. If that makes sense. Something we can Now, you're looking for something just for when it's a red light or Okay. And I think that's what's in place at Bojangles. I'm talking about the Bojangles on 220 going in Ron Oak going down that hill. Yeah.

And the Walmart uh 619 if I'm not mistaken has one and I know Plateau Plaza if you're doing that. So it's just telling you giving you a warning. Hey, you better get ready. Stop. Uh I think that would help especially on the northbound. We'll look into that. I appreciate it. Yes, sir. Thank you. That's all. Thank you. Thank you madam. No, Mr. Meredith Force. Anybody else?

Brian, thank you so much for being here. And I did want to in in regard piggybacking on Mr. Tatum's um storm responses um I want to thank um the VOTE staff yourself when I had citizen inquiries um and complaints. You all were so quick to remediate those things on behalf of our citizens and I appreciate that very much. Um I know you all have a lot to cover during a you know a significant weather event, but uh I have just found the process to be quite seamless um on our end as a supervisor to try to get some information to our constituents and with your you know your support line at VOTE. Very very helpful.

Thank you very much. Appreciate the kind words there and I'll be sure to pass those along. Thank you. All right. Thank you so much for being here. Thank you. Yes ma'am. Okay. We are scheduled for a break. Do you all desire to take the break or would you like to move on? We're scheduled for Brian Carter. Oh, Mr. Carter, how could I forget you? I was moving on. Come on up to the podium. My apologies. I seen that. I was just looking at break. We take a break. Well, Madam Chair, you may wish you had taken that break by the time you're done. I'll try and run us through this. See, I told you I did that on purpose.

Let's see here. Okay, so our first item is the finance report. Chair, members of the board. So, we are through the end of January. So, seven month in the fis seven months in the fiscal year. And so, um to to look at that, we'd be looking at a roughly around 58% of the budget uh revenue and expenditures uh for those that are cyclical like that. Uh property taxes of course are more uh by annually and so looking at that we're we're roughly around where we would anticipate being. Uh we are uh the recovered costs we are behind on that revenue line. Uh that is mostly two particular line items that are drawing us down on that. Uh and most have been invoiced just not paid yet and they're related to the school system reimbursements. One for SRO's and one for CSA private day. we're behind three or four months on private day for reimbursement and so most of that is a timing. Uh but we're following up on those. Uh so other than that we would be around where we would anticipate being on the recovered costs. On the expenditure side we're we're pretty much other than the lines where we typically run a little ahead because of the front-loaded uh payments at the beginning of the fiscal year. We're at that 58% mark or below where we'd expect to be. So, no no major concerns uh from the overall general fund review. So, to graphically just show you where our revenues are in line with where we would anticipate being this time of year, I want to break it down a little bit further to categories. So, general property taxes, uh, we're roughly, um, a little ahead compared to last year, but most of that or a good portion of that is the addition of the MVP property tax revenue of about a million and a half. So, if we take that out, we have a little over a million dollars in revenue growth through January. So, that's roughly about 1% of the budget. And so

that'll be a number to keep in mind as we start looking at revenue projections and start talking budget work sessions uh for next year. You can see other local taxes and your state revenue are relatively flat year-over-year in what we're comparing this point in time. So real estate tax uh and so we're looking at that we're we're still a little behind uh compared to where we were this point in time last year. However, we're ahead on delinquent taxes. And so I wanted to mention we had had a discussion last month on delinquent taxes and the timing. And so there should be a handout, two handouts look similar to this up there on the deis. And I apologize. One is going to say real estate, one's going to say personal property. And so that is the reports that we look at. It's as of the end of January. And this uh Miss Ray ran this these reports. And so this is what we look at uh from the treasur's office from a finance standpoint on where our collections are. And so it's broken down by tax year, calendar tax year, January to December. And you'll see that over on the left on either column on the real estate uh report. You will also notice that it has a a a diagonal one or two. And that's first or second half based on the billing for that tax year is what that represents. And so you can see uh really what would be the fourth column on both reports. There's the tax due amount. So that's the remaining amount. You have that the assessment where it says tax amount. Tax paid amount is that third column. So that's what's been collected. And tax due amount would be what is remaining off of the assessment. And so personal property is uh a lot uh faster. we have mechanisms to collect uh whether that's leans or DMV stops that the treasur is able to perform so they

cannot renew their tags without paying their taxes uh registration pardon me and so um so that's that's one of the mechanisms. There are a couple other options and so the treasur of course can we can speak to those if you have further questions but that's why it doesn't go back as far. uh real estate realistically can go back 20 years and so that's why you see roughly 20 years on this report um as far as the assessment most of the time within 2 or 3 years we've collected 99% of all of the assessment and so at some point whether it's 5 years whether it's 10 15 20 years we get to a point where we just write off those taxes uh and that's just standard accounting practice at some point it becomes a bad debt in in essence and you just you write it off realizing you're not going to collect it. And so it's still um it's still owed, but from a financial standpoint, we we stop anticipating to receive it, I guess, is what I'm trying to get to. So So these are the reports. These weren't very easy to put into a PowerPoint slide and really have it legible. So I wanted to provide a copy for you. This is what we look at. uh we're relatively um uh in line with what we would want on collections at this point. Uh so now this is the entire this is the assessment. So this doesn't really break it down between current and delinquent as we've been talking

and so one of the things that we notice during the fiscal year end uh and we're not really sure what's causing it. M Ray has been diligent to follow up with our software vendor uh as to why certain uh tax collections are reported either delinquent or current and we feel like they're categorized incorrectly in the system.

And so we're trying to fix that. So I think that's what is causing a little bit of a difference in the um comparison year-over-year. So if you look at um real estate um personal property current is a little behind but delinquents are ahead. And so overall though that's the overall tax assessment. So when I say and when I show you here we're 3% behind year-over-year. We're 3% behind on the current. When you look at the delinquent we're we're relatively where we would be consistently comparative with last year. And we we were right on the mark of meeting our real estate budget last year. When I say that, we think we missed it by about $130,000 by the time all the audit adjustments were completed. And out of $46 million, I think 130,000 is pretty close. So, um, but we were way ahead of delinquents. And so, by when you look at the overall real estate assessment, we we collected what we needed to for the fiscal year to meet budget. So, I wanted to to provide that to you as you have a chance to review if you would like further detail, maybe in a PowerPoint. certainly couldn't put these reports in there, but a different breakdown. We certainly can do that, but this is what we look at as staff periodically, not monthly. Uh, as we're looking at just how our revenues are trending, as we see them in our financial system, we may ask, uh, Miss Ray to run these reports just to see what what bill years are looking like. So, no major concerns on real estate. U, but just wanted to to provide a copy to the board. And certainly uh if the board has feedback whether today or you have a chance to review and would like to to contact um subsequently to the March meeting, we can certainly provide additional information.

Thank you, Brian. Yes, ma'am. Very helpful.

And so um personal property tax, similar thing. You have the property tax report. We're a little behind year-over-year uh but we're ahead as percent of budget. Uh and we're we're not concerned about meeting that. Actually, we're almost there uh through the end of February. And so uh we we feel confident on personal property. Real estate is just it's not reassessed every year like personal property is. It's every four years. You just have minimal growth in between those four year reassessments. And so that's why you will see less growth in that um revenue category. All right. So sales tax uh is more of our these the next three are barometers of local economy. So it it is up 2.7% about $132,000. uh we're a little behind on budget but we're still at 60.5% you so that 58% we would anticipate even when you look at seasonal so next month will be the barometer because the February collections will be the December sales and so that is it's two months behind two months behind on the um state processing and so it's collected and ultimately distributed to the state they turn it around to localities why you have that two-month lag so really the February collections will show us the the uh December sales which will really be the input for where we think we'll end the fiscal year. So, as long as it's in line with where we are with prior years, we'll feel pretty confident on sales tax for the year. So, meals tax to show you a little bit different. Uh trending again, 4.5% increase about $44,000. Uh trending well, 63% of the budget is down a little bit for the month of January, but overall for the year, uh still looking uh very uh very healthy. And that's what we'd expect. You'll see the trend. You'll notice that after uh February, you'll start to see the uptick or really January as the weather warms, you'll you'll see more typically collected seasonally in that line item. Occupancy is the same way, 5.4% uh small amount, $15,000, but you do see

we had a better month uh in December and January in collections for what we would want there. So, that's a healthy trend that people are still traveling. We're still collecting the occupancy and the meals from that. All right. So expenditures uh not a lot of change or fluctuation in them. A little little higher overall for the year. We showed you those percentages on the general fund at the beginning. Uh categorically to break it down for you really not statistically significant. We would expect increases inflationary pressures. That's part of what we adopted in the budget. Uh categorically you can see on your health and welfare which we do show. You can see CSA expenditures up. uh we're within budget and we had a very good year last year, last fiscal year and and we're below our our adopted budget. And so right now we're we're running on par with where we would expect to be for budget. And um it's one of those nothing in particular, just again a cycle of very complicated high dollar cases that we're managing at CPMT level. So to show you fund balance and reserves, so this is as of the end of January more monthly. So what'll happen is now that we have peaked from a a period of higher cash flow for our property tax collections in December, you will be at the highest point and then that will decline as you get toward May and June until our next cycle of property tax collections that first half real estate. So when you look at our fund balance was roughly $43.6 million at the end of January. when you back out restricted funds that are in that number but cannot be spent uh but on particular programs or uses and you take out our 20% policy minimum for our general fund revenues, you have about $17.7 million in remaining unassigned fund balance. And that'll be a number for us to talk about uh when we talk about carryovers in the uh one of the upcoming uh agenda items.

Brian, if I may, quickly. Yes, ma'am. Um, are we having trouble getting the opioid opioid monies uh from the feds? I I just know with my work at Rowan Oak Gallagh um we almost had to start letting staff go um in the collective response um because the money and it was very much blamed on the intricacies of all of the legal um and the lawyers involved in the settlements going on. Have we had any problems like that here? uh we haven't for what would be considered our direct distributions and so we have not they have been on task on cycle for what we would anticipate receiving. Okay.

Now I think some of the delay depends on their intended use. There were a couple of more recent settlements uh the Purdue Sackler family uh being one of them that was the larger one and a smaller one in the name escapes me. I think those are still working through the court proceedings uh as far and they haven't been distributed yet that I am aware of. That makes sense. So it could be that type of possibility where they anticipated receiving and we're planning to spend funding and it's held up at that federal or state level. Gotcha. Thank you. Yes, ma'am.

Uh so a couple of of items. The budget stabilization reserve uh is 250,000. We have the same note. We'll talk about that in the carryover a little bit. um we were going to restore that. Uh the capital reserve is down to 235,000. So uh we we have through the board's approval and we moved forward on the purchase of the uh Boone Mill um tanker and sale of the ladder truck. So with that completed, if you remember, and it's been a while, but we were never really settled up on it. We the board approved as part of the agreement with the town an $800,000 contribution for the purchase of their fire apparatus. And so we never really uh decided what pot of money that would come from. And so we we took that out of the capital reserve while those funds were there. So with that being allocated, we have uh about $235,000 left in our capital reserve as of today. Uh now that the the Boon Mill items have been settled. So economic and budget update. Uh January inflation numbers were a little better, 2.4%. If you remember, the Fed's target rate has been 2%. So it looks like they're coming down slightly. Uh fuel energy is is some of that reduction. If you take out the core inflation, it's roughly the same, 2 and a.5% for inflation. What we would see uh unemployment rate about 4.3% that is down for January. Uh Federal Reserve met in January. They left their target rate unchanged uh pending some of the further inflationary data. So, it's still about three and a half uh 3.75% as their benchmark rate. And so, that of course impacts our interest earnings on our deposits and investments. The next uh open market committee who sets that benchmark rate is not scheduled till March 17th and 18th. we may be another period of where they will hold again and not reduce that tax rate

uh excuse me not tax rate the benchmark target rate until um further on later in the year depending on the impact uh that we see from market conditions. So this the next bullet is one that is really a repeat of one you have seen. It really is just the status of where we are. So we have the governor's proposed budget more from a state budget. We're going to pivot to that. Uh right now the general assembly is meeting. There are several bills uh they will adjourn scheduled to adjourn March 14th uh and then the governor's amend will have a period to make amendments and assuming that occurs then the general assembly is planned to reconvene April 22nd on the schedule right now. I think one of the the largest um concerns we're monitoring right now without really looking at what's coming out of all the committees is the minimum wage uh law. And so uh that I think that's cleared through both committees at this point. And so the governor has indicated that she will sign that. So that's going to change minimum wage increase minimum wage to $13.75 January 1st and $15 the following January 1st, 2028. What that creates for the county is compression. And that will be a very large dollar amount for us to fix that uh and and pull that up the pay scale because we can't update minimum wage from 127 I think it is now to or 1271 uh to $15 an hour and not absorb that impact. That's that's going to be a huge issue in some of the other positions we're trying to hire if we don't increase them. So, u may be something we don't have to 100% address in this budget cycle, but in next budget year, it's going to be a big impact. And so, we'll be we'll be needing to dedicate some funding for uh compression adjustments for staff. So, um pivot here. So, school update have a couple of things on that local

composite index. We've talked about most of these. I will not rehash the there's no really been no updates other than we're anticipating $2.3 million less in state funding next fiscal year. Um that the new updates so we're continuing to work on the county finance staff uh myself included uh with our school counterparts uh for the the 2026 revenue and so um we're still not sure that they're going to meet projected budget and so u thankful for the school staff they've provided a lot of data. We had some followup uh just uh this morning and so we're going to look at that. As I say, the assessment continues. I don't think I don't know that it's not going to meet. What I'm saying is we don't have enough data at this point that I'm comfortable to tell you we think it will be it will meet budget for the year. And so we'll continue to work with them on that. We appreciate their diligence. I've been been great to work with. As I mentioned earlier, uh what I I think by the March meeting is where we'll know. And the reason I say that is the concern on that is if we need additional budget adjustments downward this year, we need the last quarter to make those adjustments. We are still seeing the local transfer too high. Uh which is part of our concern. We're hoping it's timing. Uh we're still waiting to really validate that. Um it sounds like it is, the schools think it is. I I would like to see some more concrete analysis before we we app to that. Uh but right now as the end at the end of January the the schools we have transferred 68.5% of the local transferred budget to the schools. Uh at January of last year it was 50.4%. So they're 18% ahead uh of where we were. And of course they overspent their budget by $3 million. Last year at 50%. So hopefully it's a timing. I think it is impacted by the federal government shutdown and the delay of some of these reimbursements being processed uh even on the state level. And so we continue to monitor. I think if we can move

forward with some of the items now with consulting and with working through the uh the hire and and working through some of the analysis we're hoping to get to. Um but I'll just say I mean you know we we've put a lot of time in it but it is I mean it's a strain. you know, the the finance staff are are not staffed to to do $200 million budgets. And so, we're working with what we can uh with the school system, but it's going to take some additional resources as we get those online. And so, that that was part of the previous discussion. Ma'am, can I ask a quick question right there? Um, Mr. Carter. Yes, sir.

Just for clarification, the 68.5 and you're talking 50 perform that is not including any of the money to get the audit at zero, correct? This is strictly just this budget year. Yes. That we're working with. That's correct. Okay. That's correct. Thank you. Yes.

Okay. And so we um we do plan to continue working with the consultant. Uh so with that approval, we have a contract basically ready to go. And so we'll sign that here this week and get the uh our consultant online and we'll get them engaged. uh it'll take a period of ramping up um as they consultants come on and off jobs and so um it will not be day one 100% um of their time being dedicated but it will provide some capacity to to review a few things and so um we um we we'll look at that and proposed actions should we need budget amendments for the March meeting we'll bring those back to you uh if we need to to amend the budget uh based on projections um additional work is continuing to resolve the fiscal year 2025 deficit. And so we did review cafeteria funding. We do feel comfortable that a portion of those reserve funds can be considered unrestricted. So wanted to provide so the board has adopted the corrective action plan to reduce $1.4 million. So we did want to provide what our proposal is in order to do that. And so so the net loss was roughly $1.4 million for fiscal year 2025. Uh there was an in intransit deposit of $518,000 for food services. Uh we feel like that that was deposited in July. We feel like that'll help this current year operations. Uh the the that second number, the 460961 is what we reviewed as part of their uh nutrition operations. And so there was a reserve fund that had been set up about two or three fiscal years ago. We brought it to their attention and researched what exactly that those funding uh that funding was. It was a reserve for the nutrition fund and it was through rollover funds. Uh that was in the period around fiscal year 2022. We had a lot of esser funding, a lot of one-time money uh and additional federal

for nutrition programs. And so what what has happened is we we have run a loss in the nutrition fund the last three fiscal years. Those funds could have been pulled down to cover. What happened is we covered that with local funding. So basically, we're looking to reimburse ourselves now from this pot of money if we would have been able to use that the last three fiscal years. Uh and then there's still $367,000 in the uh 2024 remaining carryover if the board uh remembers that there was an approval to give that to the school system for additional bonuses or use of onetime capital. And so the schools are proposing just to to not ask for that money and return that. In essence, we have not transferred it to the schools, but just to to give that back to the county. So, to get to our 1.4 million, what we're recommending is the school staff uh reimburse the county the $460,961 from nutrition funds to cover those three years of losses uh in their nutrition fund. Uh then we they agree not to request $367,000. So, what that leaves is $585,889 remaining out of that $1.4 million deficit. So, we're uh we're recommending that we reduce our local transfer by that amount for this fiscal year. So, the combination of all of those items arrive at our savings of $1.4 million for the year. Uh we felt like that was a little bit easier than reducing 1.4 4 million and then having to move funding two or three more times in order to reimburse. So rather than address 1.4, we're really only talking about just under 600,000. The schools are right essentially the county checked for 460,000. We'll reduce them for 560 and then they forego their 2024 carryover. So be happy to answer any questions or maybe clarify that. I know that's a lot

of numbers and a lot of conceptual how we make this happen. Uh but given where funding pots are, we felt like that was a reasonable approach and um for the sake of the school system, not having to dig too far in operations this fiscal year was a little more palatable for them based on the available reserves that we see. So Brian, the 1.6 6 million um that made up the full 3 million. Um that's that's going to be um to be determined at the end of the fiscal year as the state and federal monies come in or don't come in grant-wise. Is is that still a correct assumption? Are you speaking of the 3 million that was kind of the transfer the county the transfer was? Yeah.

2025. Okay. In my mind I broke it down 1.4 and 1.6 six roughly that that difference was mostly timing for reimbursement requests that we did see come in in July and August.

So we would anticipate those would those were pulled back to last fiscal year to help and so that should be settled and so we're comfortable with the 1.4 million. It's always timing and so government is a lot of government is re is reimbursement based when you're looking especially at federal and state money especially grant funding. You have to incur the cost and you have to ask for the reimbursement. There's always a timing. It's usually 30 to 60 days before we're reimbursed. Uh in the case of the school system, they have no fund balance realistically to absorb that like the county does. And so when you look at the end of the year, it it looked worse than it was. I think some of it probably could be better timing uh when reimbursements are asked for, when they're received. Some of that the schools have no control over is when state and federal governments due process. As long as we're filing timely, I think that's all we can ask for. Uh but yes, the 1.6 million we feel comfortable through the receipts in July and August has been received. So we're really just down to 1.4 million out of that 3 million.

Brian, I'd like to pause for a moment and see if any of my colleagues have any questions on on these amounts that are listed on this analysis. Mr. Meredith. Okay. Um so the 1.6 we're hoping to get back. We've received that. We have received that already. Okay. with the 18% I guess after March you'll know if they don't get receive those reimbursements where that you'll have a truer number I guess after March when you come to us in March is that correct yes because right now we're showing have to cover some more if we don't get all this correct yes okay

the I would did you uh the January transfer was significantly less local transfer to the school system was significantly less than it has been the prior 2 or 3 months. So we are starting to receive some of these reimbursements it appears and so we should have a better picture as those get caught up at the March meeting for what we see come in through February. I look forward to good news next month. I do too. Thank you so much. Thanks sir. Thank you. Anybody else? Mr. Jon Brian, do I understand right the $460,000 Well, $461,000 that's money that the school had that they didn't know they had. That way to put it,

I think. So, I think that was a a an item handled by Mr. Terry and Mr. by Mr. Terry uh before he retired. And so, um it kind of sat there for a couple of years uh and nobody pulled it down. And so until recently uh where we really in tune with the cafeteria details. So we really didn't um did not ask about that money if they were going to pull it down. Uh with with this process we realized they could have pulled it down sooner. So yes, ultimately it was sitting there and nobody knew about it. Thank you. Yes, sir. Mr. Carter.

Mr. Jameson asked my question, but but are we going to get that money? because when we had our joint work session with the school system, they seemed still sort of vague about that that maybe they could get that money, maybe they couldn't.

Yeah. So, so in between uh we we uh were able to meet with the school staff, we discussed it with our auditors, and so we asked for a reconciliation of the school fund. And so because there were three losses over those three fiscal years, really those funds should have been pulled down to cover those losses and they weren't. So really what happened is the county supplemented those. And so we feel like those funds, that portion of those funds, there's roughly a million dollars. We're asking to pull down 460,000 of it that really are unrestricted now because the schools really should reimburse the county for what should have been that pot of money being spent down. So just that portion now. So, what will likely happen is, and we've discussed this with um the school staff, is as you work and operate the cafeteria fund this year, maybe next fiscal year, the anticipation is the remainder of those funds are pulled over to cover the cafeteria operations so it does not pull against operations and the council funding. So, that's the plan and we'll continue to monitor that, but I would think we would have another year or two of pulling those balances down to help uh to help balance that. So, what that should do is help the schools offset costs in this fiscal year uh to to help balance year end whether or not they have a surplus, but at the very least it'll help balance the the operations for the year.

Thank you, Brian. Yes, sir. Any other questions? Just picking off uh Supervisor Carter, at the one meeting, it was USDA funds and they thought they were restricted, right? They are. So, that has been cleared as that part. I understand the roll over from the SER uh the 460, but I think 518 we thought would have restrictions because it was USDA, but now we're 100% guaranteed that they can use it to shore us up.

So the 518 is part of um what is really local funding. So that is um the way is explained to me and it probably as simple as as I can understand it is alakart money. So that's more if a student doesn't come in and receive a free lunch through the fedally funded program and they want to go to a vending machine or a separate get a smaller snack, they pay a certain amount of money that goes into that $518,000 fund. So that's more local money that has been collected. Uh it still has to be it is restricted for use in cafeteria operations and so the anticipation is those will be used to help offset any losses in the fund. I think what we're seeing is and the auditors said they're seeing this uh in several uh clients is that uh realistically cafeteria programs are not self- sustaining and so they run losses every year and so you have to supplement with local funding. So what we'll be looking to do is using these uh accumulated funds to supplement those losses and we'll work with the schools to make sure they're transferred over by June 30th so that we don't run into a timing difference by the end of the fiscal year. and that should help us in balancing those. But they are still restricted for food services. Uh for the 460,000, what we're really saying is because the county's already paid for that in three prior fiscal years from local funds. Technically, that's unrestricted now. They should really be reimbursing the county. We just supplemented it. It's a timing.

All right. Yes, sir. Thank you, Mr. Carr. Yes, sir. Anyone else? Nick

Brian, this sure looks a whole lot better than where we were two months ago. And that that's Thanks to you and your staff for all the work uh y'all have put in collectively working with the schools. Um I'm going to skip ahead to talk, you know, I I hope we're moving to I'm tired of this talk with the schools about and I feel like we're nickel and diamond to a point. Um, I'm not in I'm I want the schools I'm more worried about the schools staying whole and our children getting what they need than I am us paying them back, them paying us back, excuse me. Um, if y'all got it this close and and I know we put forth this plan in the consent agenda and I'm fine with that for holding accountability, but I I want to see them made, you know, the the gap there was for our funding versus other localities funding has has narrowed. We're not funding that much further ahead than what others are. And uh with this LCI that just came out, they're going to be losing another 2.3 million the upcoming budget. That's going to be a tough one. And I just feel like we're nickel and diamond here to move forward to the next thing on our agenda where we're going to talk about pulling money out of unassigned fund balance to fund other things.

So it's just something to think about. Um I want to make sure they stay whole. It's my only comment. Thank you, Mr. Mitchell. And anybody else? And I and I'll say is Supervisor Mitchell, I agree with you 100% on keeping schools whole. I think the concerning part is when you hear there was money there for three years and they didn't I mean we're talking half a million dollars and I think that's not nickel and dime. I think that's just let's make sure we're using all we have and then moving forward we can fund them and get everything as a whole. I think it's a trust thing to know and when the money's there it don't get lost somewhere and we're using it. So I do agree. I I got grandkids in school system and I understand that too. But

too, but I I don't think half a million dollars that we found after three years and nobody knew was there. That's not nickels or dimes. At least in my household, it's not. So I'm just don't want it's not nickel and dimes in my household either, right? But um in the grand scheme of things, it's I just thanks for the progress y'all made. And to my point, Mr. Meredith, that's If it's that complex, you can't just swap over those finances. That to my point, if a half million dollars can be missing, that's some pretty complex accounting.

Thanks, Brian. Um Brian, in closing out um your financing reports, just um a request as we move forward um with the general assembly coming out of session in March. Um then of course the governor will have an opportunity to veto u which I'm not expecting a lot of veto um since things are the way they are. um at some point when you uh in your department begin to get a handle on what the um impact of some of these unfunded mandates um and lack of making the localities whole. Um if if we could see a breakout of really what the consequences are of of the state not properly taking care of the localities. Um, and you know, like with the cap with CSA, there's going to be adverse consequences um that I think our board needs to be aware of uh because it's going to impact everything we do. We're going to be asked again to find new money. I mean, that's a terrible term, but it's what it is. Um, so I I think the board would appreciate understanding what the actions of the general assembly are doing to us on the locality level.

Thank you. Yes, ma'am. That's That's the finance report. Okay. You're moving on to opioid. Okay. Yes, ma'am. I kind of preempted that, didn't I?

You were right on it. So, you were there. So, opioids. So, uh from from one set of numbers to another, so I'm going to apologize. We have a lot of um of items to go through in this report. Um but I want to provide the the board an update. We have several partners in the room. So if you have questions and the likelihood that I can't answer them, uh, then certainly they'll be able to maybe provide some additional insight for you. Uh, so what we're looking at, we have two two windows that we're we're going through right now. So we're currently in fiscal year 2026. We're looking for application submittals for fiscal year 2027 coming up July 1st. Uh, so we'll not labor this this you've seen this multiple times. This are some uh not uh it's not everything but it is a normal list of abatement opportunities that are eligible for opioid funding and so pretty much it's around treatment prevention if you want to really look at it abatement that that is essentially it's eligible so we probably will come back to this slide a couple of times and so I put I wanted to show you this again to to refresh our memories on what has uh how the opioid funding occurs. And so, uh, through all of the settlement agreements that have been entered into, um, the the opioid funding that has, um, that has been approved at this point is broken down into a few funding streams. This blue piece of the pie right here is what we call the direct share. And so that is roughly 30%. That is what we as a locality receive directly. And so um that Miss Smith was what I was thinking of earlier in your question on the opioid funding. So these receive directly. We're able to monitor these. We're able to compare these to what we anticipate receiving and track them. We do not have to apply for these funds. We can use these funds as long as we're

determined to be eligible really for any purpose we want without anybody's approval. However, uh we partner with the opioid abatement authority. We have agreed to do so previously and we have agreed to follow their gold standard which basically means that we will follow all of these items that that are eligible for funding. And so by doing that we receive opioid funding and a supplement uh for that gold standard approval. And so that comes out of this gray little over a half pot that's 55% of funding. And so as part of that, there's a piece that goes to cities and counties. And then there are what's called regional partnership uh or unrestricted funding. And so those tend to be your funding sources that you apply to OA and they are able to fund from a separate pot of money. Those are usually competitive applications. These funds, our blue funds are not competitive. We receive them directly. The funds, this 15% here that would be part of this gray piece of the pie are our locality funds. We just have to apply to the OA to get them. They are not competitive. Regional applications are competitive. We have to submit. We have to compete with other localities or partnerships throughout the state to receive those funds. So that's going to come into play. And so wanted to show that to you to try and get a visual of what we're talking about when we look at different funding streams. So the first item and um that we're looking at. So if you remember from um from the November meeting, been a little bit holidays in between there. Uh we did ask the board for permission to apply for two grant applications. Uh one being the Grace House, the Pearl program expansion, the other being resurrecting the community paramed program that was ceased when a federal grant uh was unfunded that we had through the Virginia Department of Health. And so th both of those applications were awarded and we're very

thankful for that. So the grants committee at OA met on January 20th. We received a few days later uh notice of the award package. And so roughly what has been awarded uh there was an amended amount for Pedmont Community Services through their pearl program of 250,000. Uh and then the community parame medicine program was roughly 100,000. Uh part of that is uh the the position was only about 50% funded uh that we're looking to to fill by opioid costs. The locality, the county through local funds would be responsible for the other 50%. We were not really um comfortable that we could dedicate 100% of a position to doing nothing but opioid abatement through community parame medicine. We felt like that was fair and honest to to submit it that way. And so um there is a component of local funding to that should the board wish to accept that application. So we did agree to bring back to the board uh at the November meeting if if once the application was submitted if it was approved to come back for a board approval. And so this is our first meeting after we received the award for board approval. So wanted to to walk that through uh with you a little bit. So the the Grace House expansion, the original project was to uh expand or renovate the existing structure. And after review uh engineering estimates, uh it was determined through uh Pedmont staff that that really wasn't feasible. It was a lot more costly than they had originally anticipated. So they asked to amend the application to just purchase an additional property and do maybe mod modifications, renovations to that property. Uh but that increased the cost to $250,000 instead of $155,000. And so the um so we did uh the board agreed and we did submit that application. The uh OA approved that and so we we received just under $100,000 in

additional funding to make that happen. Uh that actually is OA funding. So that's out of this 15% not out of our blue portion. So actually we were able to reduce our portion by about $57,000 and still increase the funding of the project based on OA funding. And so um that that was approved. We do need to sign a memorandum of understanding with Piedmont. And so that'll be a legal document. We'll work through the attorney uh and Pedmont Community Services to do so. But that project is ready to go upon that that signature on that document. Uh so now the community parame medicine program again that was requested to be revived and so the OA funding request we're looking at half a year so is roughly uh $73,500 was the request of that about 23,750 was related to um was used from our local pot. So we were saying use 23,750 of our pot. We asked the opioid authority for the difference and so and they approved that and so that would be the 73500. So total cost for the remainder of this fiscal year to June 30th would be roughly 97,250. So those are the two projects that were awarded. That's the timing. Uh we would have liked to have gotten it to the board sooner, but the timing of that approval, we didn't make it for the January meeting as they were meeting the same day you were meeting for approval. And so um the the one caveat on the community parame medicine position is that uh the OA the opioid is only funding 50% of that personnel cost salary and benefits. So the county would have to come up with the additional cost. So it would be approving the addition of a new position community paramedic and then funding that roughly $50,000 uh that would that would need to be for

what we consider a full fiscal year. And so for for six months, we feel like that can be obtained through vacancy savings. When we look at the the county's departments at this point, I don't have necessarily any concerns that we won't be able to meet that, but it does require the board's commitment to fund that position for the other 50% before we move forward. And so, um, that is roughly where we are on the applications. Be happy to answer any questions. The next slide really is when the board is comfortable. Um certainly would like some board action to authorize staff to move forward with accepting those awards.

Okay. Questions, comments? Anybody? Okay. Um proceed Brian.

Okay. So, um so given that, here's a couple of possible motions. Um if the board would would like to to approve, kind of have a draft motion certainly can be amended as the board is comfortable. But what we're looking at is to approve the awards of the two projects and to authorize staff to hire the community paramedic. So we need to basically add that position to the budget. Uh it would not be replacing an existing because then you run into an issue of coverage taking one off of an ambulance. So we're adding a community paramedic position and then we would be authorizing Mr. Sandy, myself or the Mr. Gwen uh or anybody in the county attorney's office to sign the necessary documents to proceed.

Ryan, who is the community paramedic reporting to? It will report to Chief Fowler. That's what I thought. Yes, ma'am. And just to clarify, this is just to get us through the end of the year. This award is only through the end of this fiscal year because I know I heard from citizens that were in part of this program and then the program stopped. Yes, ma'am. um that's difficult for people to get used to a level of service and then having it pulled. So by the nature of this program being an annual grant allocation by definition um there's no stability in recurring funding. Safe to say it is. Um we do have a little bit of a discussion on the renewal of that.

Okay. Uh application for future years. Very good. But you are correct. uh there's a portion that's guaranteed funding because it's opioid funding with these settlement agreements. Uh but you are correct that we do not like and that's been part of us being very cautious with these applications. We do not want to start a program and then have to stop it because recurring funding ceases. So we'll be picking this up in our budget discussions. I take it well uh I want to update you on a 2027 application to continue that program. Thank you. Yes, ma'am. So are do you want a motion at this juncture Brian if the board is comfortable if not I can come back to this slide if you'd like to hear the 2027 application request before you proceed certainly happy to do so

let's go ahead and look at the 27 and we'll come back

be happy to do so 2027 applications so uh there there are two uh funding mechanisms you remember there's what we call local projects and then there's the regional projects so I'm really specifically talking about local projects at this point which are mostly the county's funding that is allocated to us. And so the the deadline for those applications for next fiscal year 2027 July 1st are March 16th uh and April 1st for renewal applications. And so our community parame medicine program would fall into a renewal application at this point. And so funding plan requests right now. So, we have a recurring project, the community paramed program, and that's just under $100,000 for 2027 is our estimate. And then we have new projects uh that that we have we are recommending. And we've worked with partners over the last 60 90 days to to prepare. And so, uh one request was to reach out to the uh public school system. And so, their request is for a youth mental health first aid training of $26,250. And we have more detail on these as we go. So I'll get into a little more detail. Uh the family recovery court uh treatment court might be more familiar to you as drug court. And so that program uh is the request to continue that that program that is grant funded. Talk a little bit more about that. And then with remaining funding right now the fresh coalition their annual afterpm party of $6,000. So almost $255,000 of 2027 application requests. Okay. So break it down a little further. I won't go back into the community parame medicine because it's the same program that's going for the full fiscal year. I'll spare you that. Uh for the local project. So with working with the uh school system, there is a requirement for mental health awareness training Virginia code section 22.1-298.6.

Uh currently that requirement is being met. Um it is not being met by what um I think the school system feels like is the um the best product, the gold standard. And what I mean by that is there's a program that the Department of Behavioral Health and Developmental Services offers. I'll try and abbreviate that for future. Um but if you hear DBHDS, that's that's the abbreviation. So they actually administer the state commonwealth mental health first aid program that's set up under Virginia code section 37.2-312.2. This is an evidence-based program which makes it prime for opioid funding. Opioid funding they want evidence-based or evidence informed. And so what it'll allow the school system to do is actually fund the program. The training is fairly intense. It's a 6 to8 hour training. It basically is an entire day. One of the difficulties they're running into now and why they have to use a little bit different training model is it's difficult to get all of the teachers trained because then you have to pull them out of the classroom. You have to find substitutes. Um trying to work that in logistically when you think of the volume of the number of staff that need to have this annual training is very difficult. So what the proposal is to minimize disruption is to have it during the uh during the summer break. Well, if you remember, most teachers are 10-month contractual employees. So, what this the 26,000 would fund is roughly a stipen to have the teachers to pay them for the day since they're really out of their contractual window to come in for a day training and also to pay for the training materials. But by doing it in the summertime, it allows and does not interrupt instruction. They felt like that was a and it also allows us to then meet that code requirement and actually have a a certified trainer through the state required code section uh that is really evidence-based and better than the model that they're able to to offset

now with with their existing programming. And so that that stipen amount is what's not is is not budgeted in some of the course materials for this additional program. roughly $25 a packet and about $150 stipen for the day, which is not a significant amount of money to spend all day somewhere. Um that's the request for their their um youth mental health first a training. So that would be we every application is one year at a time. So we have a multi-year kind of thought process and a plan, but the application can only be submitted one year at a time. So that is the school request. They felt like that was the top priority that would be most beneficial for them in these uh funds and it would the mental health training um is beneficial for recognizing and um and possibly whether it's substance abuse uh or disorder or treatment or or some of those that would be kind of trauma that you would see may possibly in students in the school system. That's the ultimate intent of a training back to that prevention that abatement that we're talking about. It's the ultimate point of opioid funds. So the second request is the family recovery court, treatment court, drug court. You may hear it called a couple of ways. So it's currently in operation. It's been operating for about three years now. We're coming up on the end of a federal grant. Uh it ends September 30th this year. So unfortunately we have the timing of all of these being due at the same time. So we will submit an extension request on that grant. We're also working with the Pedmont staff to look at alternative grant funding. However, none of those are available at this point. So, for the sake of meeting the application deadline, I think we feel that the recovery court led through the J&D court uh Judge Stone uh is a very successful program. Uh it is very beneficial. We've had some very good success stories come out of that program. We would like to continue funding for that. And so that's roughly because we're only looking at three4s of

the fiscal year since the grant runs through the first quarter of the fiscal year. Uh roughly $130,000 to continue that for next fiscal year in an application. If additional funding sources are um found, then we can amend that application with OA and pull it back. Uh but right now we're having to go on what we know. uh unfortunately uh and the smaller ask right now just because of the available funding till we're we're uh able to settle on a few programs back to that recurring uh cost point is the fresh coalition the after prom party. Uh so there was a federal funding reduction as we saw same thing that hit our community parame medicine program hit other partners and so they're not able to really fund that and so it'll be a drug-free alternative for the prom night for our students and they partner with the school system to use the central gym and so that that request was only $6,000. So mathematically I just wanted to give the board an overall review of where we're looking at with next fiscal year's funding. So, taking what we have and backing out what's uh if the board moves forward with those 2026 projects, this is really the funding that we're looking at. We have a couple of years of accumulated funding and so you can see that. But we have about 955,000 in local distributions. That's that that's his blue pot. That's what we have out of that blue pot of money. And so the OA and the gold standard are that gray pot. It's our specific portion that 15% out of that gray piece of the pie uh is roughly the 171 and the almost the 43,000. So next fiscal year we're looking at almost $1.2 million in available funding assuming everything is collected on time like we would anticipate. So our challenge is as Miss Smith indicated, we do not want to obligate recurring funding and have to stop a

program in two years. We feel like some of these are are long-term programs. So what will ultimately plan to happen is we will spend down this larger pot of money in 2027 over the next 5, seven, 10 years to continue these programs and allow our partners time to essentially either find alternative funding streams or wind the programs down as we end the useful life of of that source. So realistically what we have here, so you can see the the next fiscal year, we're only asking for $255,000 roughly of applications out of that 1.2 million. Um, if you look at the 2028 year, you can see what I'm talking about. So we'll only receive recurring funding of roughly 153,000, but to continue those programs for a full year, we're almost 300,000. And so when you get to a full year of the community parame medicine program and a full year of the recovery court, it's what increases your costs.

And so that's going to start pulling down some of that pot of money, that balance that we're talking about. But realistically, if you're looking at rounding, drastically rounding, if you need to supplement $50, $100,000 a year, you have a million dollars you that you have collected to this point or you have available to you, uh you roughly have anywhere between 7 to 10 years of operating these existing programs as is today without any additional funding streams or any modifications to the program before the funds would be exhausted or we would have to tailor the programs down. Uh so I did put a bullet. So after fiscal 2028, which two years from now, uh the next three-year cycle that we look at when we're talking about funding programs and plannings for these would roughly have about $200,000 annually. So you would still be if we're at 300 with inflation, you're probably at 325 350. By 2029, 2030, you're still pulling 150,000 out of that onetime pot of money in order to continue with these programs. So that is why we're not asking you to approve a million dollars worth of programs. We're looking at a very measured approach. Gives us a year to get programs operational, figure out grant funding on recovery court, and then we'll determine if we need to submit a 2028 application uh or or pull back. I think our priority at the county level is certainly that the community paramed program is probably the highest priority. So we're going to recommend to the board probably year after year that that is funded. And then after that it'll be the the various pots of money that we're talking about in these different programs. So that is the local projects. Maybe before I get into a regional project want to pause madam chair if there are any other questions or maybe detail went through a lot of information there. So certainly we want a comfort level with what what the board is hearing.

Questions comments. Mr. Quinn, Brian, so you received all of the grant funding that you requested in 2026. Yes. And then it makes me think that our request for 2027 is pretty modest. And it makes me wonder if we could request more. I know through my experience with PCS, when I think about opioids and and the rules that you have to follow that they would almost have an unlimited number of programs that we could apply for and and they're always so tight on funds. And so it just makes me wonder if if PCS could come up with something additional here, additional requests for money since they're they're such a a good target for this.

Yes, sir. And so so they have and so they we were um they were very thorough. So you know, I I think what I asked for was give us your funding pro progress, your requests, and then we'll pair it down to what we feel like available funding is. So uh Mr. Gwen, I think probably the next So, this is an order of priority. These two projects with Pedmont Recovery Corp and Fresh Coalition are really their requested priorities. The next probably highest priority uh is going to be through the fresh coalition and it is funding a coordinator position to consolidate some of these prevention programs and help to to do some reporting in the county because that's a position and it was recurring. Uh I'm a little cautious. I think ultimately you are correct. we have enough funding. What that will mean if you fund a coordinator position is that you just draw down that balance faster. So instead of 7 to 10 years, it might be 3 to 5 years or 5 to six years that we would have to reassess and pull back. Certainly within the board's um parameters to do that. If we're looking at Piedmont, uh I think their next priority request is going to be funding that fresh coalition coordinator position to um consolidate and streamline prevention programs throughout the county, work with partners, school system, very and that and that coordinator position would help better um um implement the after prom party as well that we're asking for in this one. So that was their next priority, but they do have a a list of further priorities as well. it it just feels beneficial to strike while the iron's hot because the money can disappear for for whatever reason. So, it'd be nice to accelerate that position and take advantage of the funding even though it it brings down the balance more quickly.

Sure. It so you're correct. It's really the board's pleasure. Uh the opioid funding are all on settlement agreements. Right now, those settlement agreements are law. Uh at any point, uh a court could strike down those agreements and we would lose access to that funding. So, you are correct. Certainly the pleasure of the board. Uh the more you fund up front just the faster we'll run out of that money and we'll have to greatly pare down the programs for future years. Absolutely. Are you good, Mr. Quinn? Yep. Okay. Anybody else questions, comments? Mr. Jameson, Brian, go back to the mental health thing, please. This one here. I I'm not familiar with that code. Is that a requirement by the state? It is.

That's what you're saying. And we got to we got to have these teachers trained. Yes, there has to be an annual mental health awareness training. It does not have to be this program. And so the schools right now, they're required to complete it, but they're doing it through a smaller program that does not take 6 to8 hours that they can make it a little more manageable during the school year for instruction. Uh the request is to move to the evidence-based option that is the other code section that um the state actually administers, their behavioral health department administers. And so that is the difference in the request. But it is they are being trained now and it is an annual requirement based on that code section. Okay. Yes sir.

So the teacher can tell me as a parent my little Johnny's office rockus. I mean that that's what it comes down to. That's what this is. They're the ones that's going to classify the student as having problems. So the the training is to help them recognize um I hate to say the word symptoms. uh but but behaviors that may indicate that they may have a be either be in a crisis or be in a situation where additional help may be needed at that point. Now the school system are not they partner with Peont Community Services. So at that point there would be beyond the training sorry

they would defer it. They would defer. Yeah. The school system really is appointed just training to recognize then they would defer to additional partners and resources uh as needed if that was identified. Yes, sir.

I think if we were to peel the onion back a little bit, which we won't do today, um I think Mr. Jameson. Um, the behaviors that are in the classroom in today's schools, I think the behaviors, a lot of them could probably be denoted as, you know, the behaviors have an underlying mental health u diagnosis or diagnosis perhaps. And I think that it all gets to the success of the students in the classroom and the distractions and then the mitigations that that we can do with our teachers to give them more tools um to help manage these issues. I think it's outcome going to be outcome based at the end of the day. I don't have any uh any ability to say that with any degree of professionalism and expertise, but my you know just having touched some of these issues. Um I think that's really probably going to be at the core of some of the outcomes they're looking for. It just seems you know this to me this ought to be the parents ought to go back to the parents what's discipline whatever it is you know but if state law state codes a state code

I don't agree with it's DBHDS

uh yeah for this one and so I think it's more uh just a recognition for treatment I don't know that anything would be mandatory Mr. Jamson. Uh, I think it's just identifying resources. I don't think that anything can be forced that a treatment program be entered into. Um, but I think part of the thought of this is if you see early warning signs, uh, you're able to intervene before they get into the CSA program and then you get into foster care and other things. So I think I think as Miss Smith's saying as you peel the onion back that's kind of the escalation that happens is you see the behaviors in the classroom if they're not addressed that ultimately they have to either be removed from the home put in foster care or residential then you're paying for it that way. So the thought from what I understand on the request is that this is that and same thing with Fresh Coalition and through Pedmont. It's that prevention measure that you see up front to try and get ahead of it before it does become more costly as they enter the system for lack of a better way of saying it. That's the intent, but it it to me is it's purely voluntary. It's just another tool.

Okay. Anybody else? Okay. Okay, Mr. Carter.

All right. So then there is one request uh for a regional application uh through the West Pedmont Health District. Now this regional pot of money does not require any county match. It is not require it's not using any of our available funding that we're talking about in this chart. This is nothing to do with any of this funding. The other projects would utilize our funding. This is competitive and this is regional out of that separate pot of money that we will apply to uh the OA for. And so so West Pedmont is looking uh for a regional project to strengthen uh prevention for sexually transmitted infections uh and community health. So what we're seeing is a correlation between STI and opioid use drug use but opioid particular for this for the purposes of our program and application for funds because it's West Pedmont Health District. It would be a regional project similar to what we would include through Pemont Community Services. is you're going to see Henry County, Patrick County, Martinsville, right? And so the purpose is to reduce the the burden. Uh particularly if you look at data, we can provide it to you, but there is um an increase in syphilis in the county happened in 25 a little bit in 24. And so what's happening of that is um people are not being treated for that or it's in correlation with substance abuse disorders. And so back to a little bit of that prevention, what you're running into is if you're able to go to a uh whether it's an emergency call for substance abuse disorder, you have that point of entry to address other health issues. And so um this is not just uh that, it's also uh in our jail system. And so there are certain inmates for incarceration or parole, navigating re-entry where these resources would be available to them as well. Uh but it's there so West Pedmont is looking to partner with uh locality emergency services again various

localities of those partner group the Virginia harm reduction coalition and the peont community services to expand mobile and community-based STI testing integrate harm reduction and prevention and education and then they would strengthen that re-entry for parolees and recently released inmates. Uh the goal is to impact 250 individuals in year one. Uh that's the regional program uh which would be uh and then link 90% of positive cases to treatment within 14 days. And so again, it gets back to the prevention because you're seeing this correlation. You can find one indicator that helps you address a different problem that we're seeing in the county for overall community health. So, the anticipated regional application is going to be somewhere between $575 to $750,000. This is not county money. I want to reiterate that there are no matching funds. There's no pot of money requested that we would have to obligate. This would be completely competitive state funding through the OA. Uh the only real obligation is that U. Um, Franklin County has been asked to be the fiscal agent and so we think we can do that. Uh, given the um, we we're going to look to uh, hopefully partner with our West Peemont PDC in order to provide some additional resources as we talked about with school system. I mean, the finance department is pretty stretched. Um, so but we feel like we we have the capacity and the ability to do that. So that's really the only ask um for other than for a regional approval to to submit an application is for the county to be the fiscal agent to to manage that process of the reporting and then um to to coordinate amongst the regional partners in West Bemont Health District on the um the project.

Brian, I have concern about that. Yes, ma'am. Because of all the extra responsibilities your department's taking on, what uh with the schools? Yes. uh being a multi-jurisdictional fiscal agent is going to require staff resources. Of course, you're in the best position to make that judgment and I would not assume to make that judgment call for you, but I'm just expressing my concern.

Yes, ma'am. We we are um and we we did share our concern and that we're just we're a little stretched. Um I think um so we talked to um Mr. Armbberster for West Peemont PDC. he was agreeable to to utilizing some resources for the reporting and hopefully the coordination. Uh we still need to work out all those details. If they can't be successfully worked out, then I think the county will just decline to to be the fiscal agent. Uh that meeting is coming up next week, I believe, with all the u with several of the uh the associated parties for the county. I think Miss Smith, that caveat has to be that depending on the reporting, as long as those supplemental resources would be there uh through Mr. Armbberster and his staff, I think we would be able to do it. If it was 100% on the county staff, I would be concerned. Not that it's not a worthy project, but that we just don't have capacity to do it justice. Uh that would be the only caveat to to our request.

Thank you. Yes, ma'am. Um everybody likes a nice graphic. Here's a nice graphic. And so this is what the program would look like. Brian, could I go back just Yes, sir. Sorry. So, uh Franklin County is not included on the second line. Is that because it's assumed they're part of it? These are these are the counties in addition to Franklin County. That's correct. Okay. Thank you for clarifying. Yes.

Uh and so this is really what it would look like. So you would have a local emergency contact uh whether that's, you know, emergency 911, EMS, sheriff's office. They would then transfer to the Virginia Harm Reduction Coalition and then depending on that assessment, they would be looped into treatment or services. is going to vary by by the contact. Uh but ultimately the the goal is just like with any abatement or prevention is to pull back uh or to try and get in as early as possible to help with a community need, health, substance abuse, any of those uh that would ultimately help pre uh provide preventive treatment as soon as possible. And ultimately the faster you get in there and provide treatment um then the the better the results and the outcomes at the end of it. And so sorry for the long presentation. Um but we have the deadline coming up. So unfortunately we don't have another meeting in between uh for staff to work on the application by that March 16th 16th deadline. Uh we we have those three um individual and we have the um the the recurring uh the regional project. And so we would just need to approve um for staff to move forward. Just like the 2026 awards, they can be awarded. The board can then decline them uh if you would like to. You're not obligating the county to anything until we accept the award. But we do need to get your feedback on moving forward with the proposed applications.

So Brian, does that work us back a few slides to where you had those proposed motions? Now, is that an inclusive set of motions that covers everything? So, this really can be just consensus unless the board would like to vote to move forward because you're really not approving a project at this point. You're just authorizing staff to move before the application. I feel like, you know, my attorney may feel different, but I feel like board consensus is okay to move forward. Your real action is when you accept the award. Um, but I do would like the board's approval for the 2026 to finish this fiscal year. Uh, so we can move forward with our community parame medicine and with pean on that great south. You just want a consensus rather than a motion

on the 2027 applications. All right. So, let's start with that. Mr. Meredith, yes. Mr. Quinn, yes. Mr. Mitchell, Mr. Carter, Mr. Tatum, Mr. Jameson, yes. And I'm a yes. Okay, great. So, sorry for all of that. It was a lot of information. Appreciate the board's patience. Um so on the 2026 application uh the two the community parame medicine and the grace house project that has been awarded uh would like a motion from the board to accept that award and to move forward for the remainder of this fiscal year through June 30th. Okay. I will entertain a motion. Mr. Mr. Meredith,

I make a motion to approve the FY2026 OAA awards for the Grace House Pearl Program project totaling $250,000 and the community par medicine project totaling $97,250. Authorize staff to hire a community paramedic and authorize the county administrator or Destiny and the county attorney to sign the necessary documents to accept the awards. Thank you, Mr. Meredith. Is there a second? Second. Thank you, Mr. Tatum. Any further discussion? Okay. Um, Madame Clerk, if you would do a roll call on this, please. Supervisor Mitchell, yes. Supervisor Quinn, yes. Supervisor Tatum, yes. Supervisor Carter, yes. Supervisor Meredith, yes. Supervisor Jameson, yes. And Chair Smith, yes.

Does that take care? It does. of your business. Thank you for your patience. Thank you, Brian. This is a lot. You've done a lot of work on this. I apologize. Um, number 12. So, we have patch 12. Oh, never mind. I'm sorry. I'm sorry. you're doing what I never I apologize. So, we have one more item. So, you want that break yet, Madam Chair? I think we're going to we're running tight. Okay. Yeah.

So, um so the I do not have a slide because it's an attachment in your packet, but is the carryover request. So, pause there for a minute as I flip to that. Um so the um the the 2025 carryover uh request was brought to the board and so that was previously discussed at your November meeting uh then given before the December meeting applications um not applica well departments did submit requests but the audit was completed and uh we had some concerns with uh school funding and so we pulled back on asking board's approval at the December meeting for the carryover requests and so wanted to bring this back to the board. Uh so what we have proposed is amending the rollover request because at the time we anticipated $3 million in year in surplus for the county's operations. That $3 million was needed to supplement the school system overspending. And so we we really essentially have no surplus for the year. Uh it was flat. We actually had a small small loss in our general fund for the years after it was all said and done. And so what we but we do feel like and our departments have been delayed for three or four months now and we do feel like they have legitimate requests and needs and they did save the money in their budgets. So, uh, what we would like to pull out of the original request was restoring the reserves. And so, that was additional 750,000 to budget stabilization and about 636,000 to capital reserve. We're just recommending we pull those out um and not restore those because really at this point you're just moving from one pot of money to another. Uh, but we would like uh to board's consideration for unassigned fund balance to uh to approve roughly $1.6 6 million in county uh department

projects. And so that list other than those two reserves that were to be restored um what is exactly what you received in November, you see the um uh the department list, you see a summary at the top of that when you go about page three of what would be your your packet. And so you see a summary per department of the requested and recommended. Uh on the table you see the requested amount and you see the recommendation and so uh most of these we they do have with what we're looking at and we're recommending approving that was the funding that was available. For the sake of fitting it on 8 and 1 half by 11 sheet of paper we did not provide the year-end savings to the board on this document. Certainly can provide that. I know we talked about it in November and so but the recommended column would be on the the the far right and it comes to $1.6 $6 million by the time we're we're done with all of these projects, uh, including $50,000 for carpet in general district court. That was really not a department request because it's a court, but we found a need and that was previously communicated to the board probably September, October. Uh, we feel like that is a need. The carpet is in um is in disrepair and does need to be replaced. So, it's happy to answer any board questions, comments, thoughts, or amendments to the recommended list of rollover requests, but um that's what's before the board right now, and we would just recommend the board just pull it out of unassigned fund balance just because we don't feel our department should suffer uh for having to fund the uh the loss in the school system. So, that that's that's staff's recommendation. Be happy to answer any questions.

I would like to ask Mr. Sandy, and I don't mean to put you on the spot, sir. Um this board has always been very very cautious about hitting um unreserved fund balance for anything and do you have any thoughts um to give the board with respect to hitting the reserves for this? Yeah, I think you know we're certainly talking about the amount of money that's above that 20%, right?

That's part of your policy. So you're certainly not dipping below any policies there. And the other thing I would just note is that the the purpose for this would be one time. So it would not be an ongoing and that's typically what you know the the financial consultants would advise against is is pulling for that for recurring expenses. So

I think because of those two reasons I don't think there would be a lot of objection to uh dipping into you know the the savings account if you will for uh for these items. And as Brian said, if if the board has um some alternative recommendations on on funding any or all of these requests, we're certainly open to that. Um these were as as noted as Brian noted, certainly not recommending everything that was asked for. um there there's certain things that that we thought were legitimate requests to move forward and and thought that those were items that should be funded and and again that was back when we had the surplus um expected to have the carryover. So again we're open to any discussion if there's any thoughts on um whether that list should be reduced any further. when well when I was in Richmond last week I guess time's flying by couple weeks a couple weeks ago I did have a conversation with David Rose our financial advisor with respect to this very um topic my concern was our maintaining our excellent bond rating um and he said because all of this is foundational um to us working with the school system um and trying to you know we made that them whole with that $3 million essentially um he did not feel that it was going to impact our bond rating and that it actually he said that the that the rating agencies and I'm just paraphrasing our conversation um is that he felt like this would be something that we could and should do uh without any uh without our bond rating being uh impaired um in any way. Now if the board is not satisfied with that much of a Mr. entert uh wanted to question one uh item that's over public safety. It's uh item number four under public safety. The volunteer

stipen increase. It's see attached justification. Uh I think the request was 78,000

and there was no money put in that. How much how much were we short last year? Uh, I'd have to look. I do not know the number off the top of my head. Um, but it was several thousand because of the additional storms and and things that they had to come in and we're behind this year. Um and so uh but um part of that um request or or at least the stipens we did receive some additional uh FEMA funding and so part of the appropriations today is to go supplement their stipen line to help offset that uh for what we anticipate will be cost for the rest of this year. So um but so that's why that that was not one that we decided to fund given all the other priorities and requests.

Okay. I just want to make sure that we have enough money in there to cover that that need.

Oh well I think so I think the we have not changed our policy and so there at one time there was a discussion of do we cap that funding. Um that has not been changed by the board. So realistically any stipen that is legitimately run by a volunteer would have to be paid. you can't, my opinion, you can't go after the fact and take it away. So, if they've earned it, uh so if it does exceed the budget, again, even with the supplemental funding, we will have to find funding from another pot of money to cover that, whether that's within the department or we're pulling it from another reserve. And that's not really a one-time money either. It

Well, it's not. And another reason why we didn't recommend it because the stipens are going to be recurring. I think part of the thought was it would help pay for what we know is going to be the additional cost because of all of the winter storms last year and it's a variable number. It is it fluctuates tremendously depending on weather events and needs. The bottom line is when you if when at the end of the day we're going to pay it, right? To find the money, we're going to pay it. Right. And I think that was the I mean that was the position of staff that it would get paid. It's just a matter of if it ran over where we fund it. Anybody else?

I just I want to make one quick comment. Um I appreciate all the departments and the staff making these adjustments and helping us work through this. Uh I do appreciate that them doing that for us. So I do want to acknowledge them for being considerate and working with us as we get this all shored up. So we appreciate it. Thank you, Mr. Meredith. So, um, if there are no other questions, um, I would ask if there is a motion that you all would like to put on the table. Um, there are some sample motions in your binder. Is there a motion?

Make a motion to appropriate $1,613,170 from the unassigned fund balance for FY2025 department rollover request as outlined in this summary. Thank you, Mr. Meredith. Is there a second? Second. Thank you, Mr. Jamson, if you would so kindly do a roll call vote. Madame Clerk. Supervisor Quinn? Yes. Supervisor Tatum? Yes. Supervisor Carter? Yes. Supervisor Jameson? Yes. Supervisor Mitchell? Yes. Visor Meredith? Yes. And Chair Smith? Yes. Okay. Um, Brian, thank you very much. I know you've done a lot of work to prepare for those and uh let us know how we can assist you moving forward. Thank you.

Okay. Madam Chair, I'll just make one comment and I'm I'm fine with funding it, but this goes back to the point I was trying to make earlier that, you know, we we chastise the schools over 1.4 million, but then we turn around and 1.6. That's the point I was making earlier. I don't have a problem with it one way or the other, but the chickens are going to come home to roost on this school deal, and I hope we can have the same type conversation then. Yeah, understood. One difference, Nick, is u we were asking for permission. They're asking for forgiveness. 100%. 100%. That's good clarification.

But at the end, at the end of the day, we're all still Franklin County as one.

I think that's a very good point to take forward. Okay, gentlemen. Uh we are scheduled to hear from Miss Roser. Um we are going to um ask Miss Roser and defer her to Thursday um if that's um satisfactory to you. Um and we can pick up um Mr. Sandy's report um perhaps before we start our public hearings. Um so Mr. Mitchell, if you'd be so kind enough to take us into close session, please. Franklin County Board of Supervisors moves to enter into a closed meeting in accordance with 2.2-3711. A1, personnel discussion of appointments to county boards, commissions, etc. A3, discussion of the acquisition of real property or the disposition of real property. A5, discussion concerning a prospective business or industry or the expansion of an existing business or industry. A8 consultation with legal counsel employed or retained by a public body regarding specific legal matters requiring the provision of legal advice by such counsel.

Thank you, Mr. Mitchell. Is there a second? Uh, Mr. Tatum, was that you? Thank you. Madame Clerk, roll call, please. Supervisor Meredith, yes. Supervisor Jameson, yes. Supervisor Mitchell, yes. Supervisor Carter, yes. Supervisor Tatum, yes. Supervisor Quinn, yes. and Chair Smith. Yes. So, we are now in close session. Um, you can pick your dinner up on the way back to B75.

It's nice to see everybody here this evening and uh I appreciate you taking time out of your day to be with us. Um it's my hope that you'll find the meeting tonight informational and helpful to you. I'm sorry we're running a little bit late. We've had a full day. Um so we we ask for your your grace there. Uh and we're going to get started. U Mr. Mitchell, if you would take us um into certification, please of closed meetings.

I certify that only public business matters lawfully exempted from open meeting requirements under the Virginia Freedom of Information Act were heard, discussed, or considered in the closed session to which this certification applies. and only such business matters as were identified in the motion by which this close session was convened were heard, discussed, or considered in the meeting to which this certification applies. Thank you, Mr. Mitchell. Madam Cler, would you please conduct a roll call, please? Second. Oh, second. Yeah. Second. I'm trying to get through things. Okay. Thank you, Mr. Tatum. Now, Madame Clerk, if you would be so fine. Supervisor Mitchell. Yes. Supervisor Meredith here. Supervisor Carter, yes. Supervisor Jameson, yes. Supervisor Quinn,

yes. Supervisor Tatum, yes. And Chair Smith, yes. Thank you very much. Okay. Um, we are going to move uh directly into our public hearings for this evening. Um, it it's uh nice to have our newly appointed county administrator wearing several hats this evening. Uh, Mr. Sandy um is going to be presenting on behalf of Miss Cooper um who is out on medical leave. And um the first item that we have for tonight is a reasonzoning application um from applicants AON Development Inc. owners Willard Investment Properties LLC and Willard Construction Smith Mountain Lake LLC. Mr. Sandy.

Yes. Thank you, Madam Chair. And as you said, I'm filling in so bear with me. Um I I did present these at the planning commission meeting as well. So uh I do have familiarity with with all these requests there. There are a number of them. So I'm going to try not to repeat u myself especially on the the first one. So, as you mentioned, the the first item, the first public hearing is the reasonzoning portion of the request uh of Aboon and and Willard uh investment properties for um developing um about 82 acres of property located kind of between the movie theater and Booker T uh National Monument. So, you know, where some of that open land is where they just built the Kroger fuel pumps, where they just um the Ridge View Bank. So most of this really pertains to most of that remaining land there is is the 82 acres that we're speaking of. And so um back in um back in early 2000s there was a reasonzoning approved for that project. I think it was also amended in around 2014. So there is already um approvals for development of that property. What this request is all about is coming back in to amend that previously approved master plan uh for kind of a a new proposal. And the the residential piece, as you see here, represents about 103 single family homes that would be built on this property. And then still leaving the front part of the property into uh five commercial pads that would be used for designated uh business purposes. And as the notice does indicate, this area is uh identified for residential mixed use. It's in the village um of Westlake identified as village mixed use and it's also part of the West Lake Hills for designated growth area. So um let's see. Along with the zoning map amendment, there's also a request u to amend the conceptual plan which I mentioned, but

there's also two special use permits that are associated with this. one is for private roads and one is to allow the the detached uh single family dwellings uh in the plan uh district commercial uh zoning district. So those will be the two following public hearings and again I'll touch on those briefly but I won't go through all the details on the property again I'll try to cover most of that with this first one. Um, as I mentioned, it's this property uh as part of the Westlake Town Center between the monument and the uh existing town center development. The single family residential will be about on roughly half of that uh 45 acres for the 103 uh total lots plus or minus. Uh there'll be open space in the residential area particularly in the back uh of the property and I'll show you the conceptual plan. Uh there's also future potential uh pedestrian trail and so we've been working for a number of years on a a Westlake trail that would extend behind Runken Pratt facility and it would connect to Booker T. Washington. We we've had a number of different obstacles along the way. Um and and so that trail has not been constructed yet. But I think this this final piece of working with the developer to make that connection to Booker T will be the the piece that we really need to make this um to make that trail happen. So was great to see that they have profered that they're you willing to work with us on the necessary rightway and making sure that we can get that trail to its intended uh destination. Um, as I mentioned earlier, there's about five commercial out parcels, uh, roughly 13 acres on the front of the property. Um, and then, as I mentioned before, 2006, the board approved, uh, a mixeduse development. And you can see here, uh, it was a mix of town houses, um, both one-story and twostory office complex and and then retail uses. So, what we're really asking for in this

request is to modify that previously approved plan, as I said, to allow just the single family housing and the uh commercial spaces up front. Um there are three deviations that are requested. So, as part of a PCD uh project and as part of a PCD um approval, there's required to be a concept plan and there's also the opportunity in the PCD to request deviations for things such as lot sizes and setbacks and so forth. And so, that makes our PCD district really the most flexible because it allows for some of those modifications. And so they've asked for a deviation in the area, the lot size to allow for a minimum lot area of 8,000 square ft. Uh they've also asked for a minimum of a 60ft lot width uh because these lots are on public water in public sewer. And then they've allow asked for a front setback to be a minimum uh 25 ft setback from the proposed rightaway. So those are included on the concept plan, but any approval that may be granted, those will specifically be uh identified whether or not those were approved uh deviations by the board. Um under the concept plan, there's two new entrances opposed proposed along Booker T Route 122 and one entrance is proposed at the intersection of Park Park Crest Drive. Uh, and one entrance is between the commercial out parcels um, road C as a private rightaway that connects to Apron Drive. And again, you'll see this on the concept plan. I'll show you in just a minute and that's in your packet. Um, and I'll just say there that the the developer is continuing to to work with their traffic engineer and work with VOTE on uh any uh necessary improvements that may be needed uh to allow those entrances there. Um, these entrances will be 330 linear feet apart from center line to center line. Um, again,

all that is subject to to VOTE review and VOTE um, concurrence on those things, but that's what they're currently working through with their um, with their transportation engineer. And I mentioned earlier about pedestrian pedestrian trails and then also along 122 there'll be extension of existing sidewalks as well. Um, part of the previous approval included a 200 foot natural buffer at the rear of the property to to buffer any development from the Booker T National Monument. That that proposed buffer is intended to stay in place as well as a 50-foot buffer along the the side adjoining the Booker T. Washington National Monument. Again, that they've they've indicated and they they will adhere to those original conditions and keep those buffers there to to protect the National Monument property. Um there there would be a residential storm water facility located in the 200t buffer that was also proposed previously that um that residential facility could be located in that uh 200t buffer area. Um as I mentioned earlier it is served by public water and sewer and staff has noted two calls about the uh proposal. So again let me give you just a little bit of bearing here. So route 122 is here uh Booker T. Washington National Park, uh, kind of at the top of the page here at the north end, and then Westlake Town Center down here. I I'll note this property here, which is currently under construction. Um, a few months back, uh, this board approved a zoning case for this property to allow uh about 160 town houses and condominiums, which are currently being built here. Um, and that's that butts up to the resident to the uh Runen Pratt uh residential property which is which is about in this area. Um, but as you can see here kind of the I guess it shows up as kind of a tan color on the on the map is represents the single family residential

portion of the property. The blue line here represents the potential kind of trail connection which would connect back into Westlake Village. And then the blue properties up front represent the commercial tracks uh that would be available on the front portion of the property. Um we we've talked a lot about the vicinity. So it's in West Lake. Again, this is um Booker T. Washington National Monument is here. So this is the property immediately adjacent directly across from Rock Outdoors. Uh if you're familiar with that location, again, it is part of a plan commission uh commercial district. It is uh village mixeduse and residential mis mixed use in our land use plan. Um I'll just hit a couple of these things quickly. Uh the proposed project meets the purpose and intent of the zoning ordinance and pro promotes the health, safety, and general welfare of the community because it demonstrates the following. Um I'm going to really summarize that it's in a DGA and it's in an anticipated growth area. Um the project will expand residential and commercial uses in the town center in the DGA. um and will prove to be in character with the intent of the comprehensive plan. The as I mentioned the natural buffers between the development and Booker T will be maintained and protected. Um and then the density of the proposed development is actually less than what was previously appro uh proposed. So uh that is not intended to be in intrusion on the surrounding area. Uh the proposed commercial development is uh represents economic development activities in the county and does uh support the DGA as well. And then as noted previously, there is 24 acres of open space uh that would be part of the project as well. Um the comprehensive plan and the village plan support this project and it is in keeping with the PCD district and the purpose of the PCD district and as mentioned previously

there are the three deviations that are requested to be part of this uh project. Um, finally, the PCD district would encourage this type of development with commercial parcels proposed close to 122 and housing back behind. As we noted that that really complies with what's shown in the comprehensive plan as far as the future land use. So the recommendation from the planning commission was to uh approve the zoning map amendment with the two profered conditions offered uh voluntarily by the property owners that the developer shall develop the project in general conformance with the conceptual plan entitled master plan exhibit showing West Lake Village Business Park South dated December 29th 25 and revised January 5th 26. And then number two, the developer shall collaborate with the county to design and connect trails in generally similar locations as shown on the the concept plan in coordination with the county's grant-f funded trail project and shall work with the county on any necessary easements to promote that interconnectivity of the trail system within the greater Westlake Town Center. So that was pretty quick, a lot of information there, but I'll be uh happy to try to answer any questions. I know the property owners, the Willards are here as well as the um contract purchasers and developers as well.

So, why don't we go ahead and um ask if the applicants um uh any of you would like to come and and address the board now would be a great time to do so. We'd love to hear from you. Uh if you'd like to come forward, Mr. Boon, welcome.

Thank you, Chairperson Smith. Good evening and good evening supervisors. excited to be here on behalf of Development which is myself Alexander Boon Court Rosen who may speak addressing certain questions and always glad to be here with my my friend Ron Willard II. You know this really is is a is an opportunity to to complete the vision that they had 25 years ago and you supported us last year and we greatly appreciated the support of our condos and town home development that is going in Westlake Town Center right now. I think each of you has seen that. It's pretty exciting. It's a it's a big project and we're excited to for homes to start this spring. So, you know, we got set set back a little bit um with the weather the past few weeks, but if we can slog through the mud right now, you should see fresh wood in there um this spring. So, that's that's really great news. But this is really the the next step in it because what we're trying to do is bring single family detached housing um to Westlake Town Center to complement the condos and the town homes and to really make it work for anybody. I think you're going to see every uh every walk of life um every stage of life. And that's what the town center I think that's what Ron and Ron just were trying to do. They were trying to create something for every stage of life. Um and and I think this will do that. I mean, we really think that we'll have families in the condos and the town homes. I'm convinced of that. Um, I think the price points will help. The low maintenance um that you'll have there will definitely help, but a certain component still wants a a home. And Mr. Sandy did a great job going through some pretty technical dense stuff. Um, dealing with special use permits and zoning map amendments. Um, but the really the why is um is the or the the six W is the way I look at it. Why why are we doing this? Number one is we need single family detached housing because you're going to get a certain component of of the population that just wants a single family house. So I think

that's really important to have that in a walkable community and that will help of course the existing businesses and then lead to new business growth in this area that I I'll talk about on the next phase. Number two is we're going to offer different types of housing through our building partner Ryan Homes who I'll address in a minute. We're going to have one-story homes, one and a half story homes, you know, just with most things on one floor, but maybe a couple bedrooms and a bath or two upstairs. And then we'll have full two, threetory homes with with walkout basements. So, we're going to we should be able to to meet anyone's uh criterium for h for housing. I think that will be great for the area. I mean, it's and I know from uh from reading information from the board um that there's only a 3% vacancy rate right now in Franklin County. So, this is certainly going to help immensely. We think price point's going to be good, too. That's another reason is we're going to try to get in the threes, but it's probably going to be low fours, which is a lot of money, but unfortunately, that's a really more affordable, attainable new home today. And again, that's unfortunate, but Ryan Homes, our builder, really is their a game changer. They're why we're here today. they can create high quality homes and you're going to see that um in the the town center, the condos and the the town homes. Very high quality, very high customer service, high touch, but because they sold 25,000 homes last year in 16 states, they can provide they have the economies of scale. Um they they can buy thing at prices we can't touch. Um, and that allows them to to offer homes at a a much much lower price than we can as a private builder. The other thing is we just need to add more rooftops to support the commercial. There are a lot of people here and you've got to have the rooftops before you can have the commercial and y'all have great commercial. I mean, the Willards had a great vision for that and have done a great job. They get a lot of calls. We talked to economic uh development folks

here and they're getting calls and they need this this land, but they got to have the rooftops. And a year ago when we first were with it working on our town center project, we talked with a number of retailers and they just said there not enough rooftops there. And so that was disappointing and we're trying to make sure there are enough rooftops here. Um lastly, I think this is a community that will allow so many people to to stay in Franklin County. They'll be able to get empty neester type housing, one floor living so they can be here. You have families here. You've got people who can work in Bedford, who can work in Rocky Mount, Rono, Lynchburg, who can be here and be on the lake in five minutes. And that's a great uh marketing piece for us. I'll wrap up, you know, briefly. Commercial, you the commercial component hasn't gotten as much attention for us, but this is very important because right now we're working with some commercial users. I can't tell you exactly who because it nothing has been nobody has committed yet, but we're looking at um some pretty good maybe some office space, maybe some medical um offices here. Um we think we can get um a restaurant or two potentially. We're talking to a couple of other commercial users and so that's that yeah, everybody was was was waiting for this outcome to see where where this landed and what it will look like. So, I think it's really important because this land is is right on 122. It offers more commercial opportunity. It's at the end of Westlake Town Center. You can continue to expand what's already been so successful thanks to the Willards and everyone who who made an investment there. This land's already on Western Virginia water and sewer. So, it's right there. It's it's there. We can use it immediately. And lastly, we can create pads for a lot of big use. and we'll see what what comes of it when we get out and work with with Ron and others in economic development to try to attract the right commercial base here. Lastly, when you look at the the the

comprehensive plan, as Mr. Sandy said, this is residential mixeduse. We clearly meet that this is a mixeduse project. Um, it's a it's a village mixeduse, which talks about having commercial on the front and retail in the back by definition. And so by definition we meet the the village mixed use. And interestingly I really uh when I was reading some of the comp plan about this this is a designated growth area. So you have water and sewer. You have the ability to have density at this location and then preserve some of the the more rural characters of the land around it. And this this town center is set up perfectly for exactly what we're trying to do. And so together with Ryan Holmes and our friends at Franklin County, you we're grateful to be here. We're excited to be part of the community. I'm glad to answer any questions um at this time and uh open for anything. You know, Mr. Rosen has worked very heavily on the the traffic component of this and others and glad to answer any questions about it.

Thank you so much, Mr. Boone. Um, so I'll open up the floor um to my colleagues to see if you have any comments or questions that you have with regard to this application. Yes, Mr. Jameson. Question. Maybe Mr. Sandy. Uh, Lisa's comments in all three of these. Lisa Lewis is on the traffic study. Has that been addressed? Is that I think Mr. Boot could address that. I think they're currently working on that traffic study. Okay.

It it's active. I mean, we're having a traffic impact analysis done as we speak. Um, we've talked with the traffic engineers. Mr. Rosen is working directly on that. We hope to get some results back soon. Um, we've taken that into consideration throughout the entire process that started a year ago and working with Mr. Sandy and other folks in Franklin County to get the tobacco commission grant um to help for some traffic improvements as well as a Virginia housing grant to allow us to to do some um some more affordable housing in this area. So all that traffic piece has been an important component of of this whole planning and we should have the the the TIA completed shortly and hope to have uh some more information to provide to to Mr. Sandy and the planning staff.

Thank you, Mr. B. Thank you, Mr. Jameson. Mr. Carter. Yeah, thank you, Madam Chair. Nice to see you again, Alex. Glad to be here. Thank you, Mr. Carter. the commercial parcels out there. Do you have an idea of what you all are looking to attract own those pads or what what are your thoughts on that? Just curious.

We really want a a broad use to support the residential community that will develop as well as what's already there. Uh we talked with some fast food restaurants um to expand different offerings, try to do something different um there. We've also talked with a couple of retailers. We've talked with a medical use um couple for for different types of medical use. We've talked with a couple of office tenants. So, it'll be really interesting to see what happens. And we have flexibility because of the general conformance and appreciate working with the planning uh department on that is while we have the the the really the four parcels because one is the storm water management facility. It some of these could be um combined to create a larger parcel such as the two that are they end up being about 3.6 six over the first two as as you're coming towards the town center and then we've got the one that's 1.22 acres. That sets it sets itself up very well for a restaurant. That's what we really hope to get.

Right. I know people really want another Mexican restaurant down there. Yeah. No, I'm just kidding. Thank you. Well, we've not been talking with a Mexican restaurant. I'll tell you that.

Any other questions or comments? Um Alexander, I would like to express um this is my district. Um, I've been working on the DGA, um, in the overlay district since I got elected. Um, and boy, what um, an honor it was to have the the foundation that the Willards put into place many, many years ago. Um, and Ron, please convey, I mean, to yourself and to your dad, um, how much we appreciate um, the opportunity to further that and to meet what I I know you all have aspired to do for a very long time. Um, but Alexander, this I know you and I have had many conversations and um, it's like putting a a puzzle together in economic development when we start thinking about the interconnectivity. Now, we're going to have residential homes on both sides of 122. And so, the question for me then is, okay, let's make sure we're interconnected from an infrastructure perspective. Um, i.e., um, the traffic signal that we're hoping to get, you know, done by the end of the year there at Rock Outdoors. Um, the road the road system that's that's coming into play with your with your development. Um, and then I hope to go after some, you know, signalized pedestrian crossings. So, what we're aspiring to do is to create this walkable community, uh, where you can dine, where you you can live there, you can go to the library, um, you can go to CVS or the Kroger's and all of the the entrepreneurial shops that are there. And so, this is really a model of what a true village or designated growth area can be. It definitely is. And I think that the demographics certainly are here. Um I think that there's going to be opportunities that are going to complement our economic development efforts in terms of attracting businesses uh with specificity to Summit

View Business Park especially. Uh we're going to be able to accommodate a lot of what um today's populations are looking for. Um the baby boomers, some of our seniors, our younger families for sure. So um I'm excited. I hope this board uh will support this application uh in the others to come. Um I feel like it's a gamecher for Franklin County and my pursuit in my work in my district is to to do things that are going to support the overall economy of Franklin County. It's not just about Gills Creek District. It's about uplifting every single district with a tax base that's going to do nothing but complement the services that we can provide.

Absolutely. This gives you I mean you already have growth and this allows you to continue that growth. I was going to mention Summit View which is a beautiful park. I mean having the the natural gas on the site now is a is a game changer. I mean we have such a shortage of of larger sites in the Commonwealth that I'm excited about that. I think these these homes will absolutely help attract because businesses can't grow and attract people if they don't have a place to live. And that's one of the when we talk with Danny here and other economic developers, they say we really struggle recruiting because we do have a housing problem here and you have it everywhere. Yeah.

Because of what what happened after 2008, but we it's been acute here because we didn't have the growth to help pick it up after when you saw other areas that started coming back in 13, 14, 15. And we really looked jealously at some of these other places because we didn't really have the growth to do it. and we thankfully have have gotten some some good footing. Y'all have had great growth down here. This is exactly what you need. You got to have single family um detached housing to go along with the attached housing. Agreed. Okay. Are there any questions for Mr. Sandy and or Mr. Boon before I open the public hearing? Thank you, Alexander. Thank you for the opportunity.

Thank you. Okay. So, at this point, um I will formally open the public hearing on this application. Madame Clerk, do we have anyone signed up? No, ma'am. Thank you. Is there anyone in the audience that didn't sign up that would wish to speak to this application? We are more than happy to hear from you. Okay, hearing none, um I will close the public hearing and I would uh defer to my colleagues to see if there's further discussion or desire to place a motion on the table. Madam Chair, I'm prepared to make a motion.

Please, Mr. Tatum. Thank you. I find that the resoning will not be a substantial detriment to adjacent properties, that the character of the surrounding area will not be changed thereby and that such zoning will be in harmony with the purpose and intent of the county code comprehensive plan and with the public health, safety, and general welfare to the community. Therefore, I move to recommend approval of the applicant's reszoning for the zoning map amended uh reszone to amend the conceptual plan with three deviations and two profers to allow for a housing and commercial development as recommended by the planning commission. Thank you, Mr. Tatum. Is there a second?

Second. Uh Mr. Carter, U. Madame Clerk, if you would be so kind to do a roll call vote, please. Supervisor Carter? Yes. Supervisor Tatum? Yes. Supervisor Meredith. Yes. Supervisor Quinn. Yes. Supervisor Jameson. Yes. Supervisor Mitchell. Yes. And Chair Smith. Yes. Okay. Mr. Sandy. Uh the next application uh again a Boone Development owners Willard Investment Properties LLC and Willard Construction Smith Mountain Lake LLC. Mr. Sandy.

Correct. Yes. The next public hearing is same property uh same proposal really. It's just now that you've approved the the change in the zoning to u allow for the special use permit is to allow for the single family housing to be part of the planned commercial district and part of this development. So, as mentioned before, um looking for approximately 103 single family dwellings to be uh built as part of this property. Um I mentioned earlier it's on about 45 acres of this property, so that's about a 2.2 28 uh houses per acre. Uh and mentioned earlier that there were two phone calls inquiring about the application. Uh again, same concept plan. We're talking about the single family housing occurring in the the tan area on the map. And just some photos that were submitted as part of the package just as a general indication of uh the type and style of homes that that may be built here. Mr. Boon touched on this, some being one stories, some being uh multiple stories. um just various home types that u Ryan Holmes would um articulate for this property. I'm going to zip through these again because we've covered um those really uh I think the the primary thing is the recommendation from the planning commission is for approval of the special use permit to allow the single family h housing with eight conditions. um number one and number two which really are identical to the proper conditions that were uh part of the first approval but I'll I'll just clarify um that uh the the rest of the conditions subdivision plat submitted before site plan approval um and that must be recorded that's just part of our subdivision ordinance um they really this talks to getting the necessary approvals so the first uh number four getting water and sewer approvals number five getting vot approval and meeting all the vot requirements as uh supervisor Jameson had brought up

earlier. Uh getting all the addressing from our GIS department, getting building permits and and all the other necessary development permits. And then finally, just reassuring that that 200 ft um buffer is maintained again through the special use permit um as a result of the ultimate development. So, I'll be happy to answer any questions that you may have on this one and Mr. Boon may may have a few additional comments as well. While you're standing, are there any questions for Mr. Sandy comments? Okay. Thank you, Steve. Mr. Boon, would is there anything you'd like to just state further or are you good to go? One quick, please.

I talked a lot about Ryan Holmes. Really excited to be with them. They do provide an opportunity to create projects like this, but I want you all to know that we are a local developer. will be working with Ron and Ron on the architectural control. We put in the infrastructure, we put in the roads, we put in the entrances, we design the aesthetics of it. So, you have a local team building this developing this site and we turn over building pads and Ryan Holmes builds the homes. So, you get the best of a national large national home builder, but you have a local developer who's in the community who who plans to continue to be in this community and develop more in the community. So you get the best of both worlds. I wanted to make sure that was clear is this is a very much a local development team with a local uh contractors. Franklin Countyy's own Bowman Excavating will do the work as they are doing the work in the town center right now. So you get local and then national to do the home building.

I can tell you we appreciate that so much. We always want to bolster our local businesses. Thank you. And contractors. Any supervisors have any other comments or questions for Mr. Boone? Thank you. Thank you very much.

I will open the public hearing on this application. Madame clerk, do we have anyone signed up? Okay. Is anyone in the audience? Would you like to address the board? We're welcome again to hear from you. We'd love to hear from you. Okay. Hearing none, I will close the public hearing. Uh and I will defer to my colleagues for your desire uh for either further discussion or motion. Now don't y'all be shy. I find that the use will not be substantial detrimental to adjacent properties that the character of the zoning districts will not be changed thereby and as such will be in harmony with the use uses permitted by right in the zoning district and with the public health safety and general welfare of the community. Therefore, I move to recommend approval of the applicant's request for special use permit to allow for private streets, roads with the three conditions recommended by the planning commission.

Thank you, Mr. Meredith. Is there a second? Second. Uh, was that you, Mr. Quinn? Okay. Thank you. All right, Madam Chair, I think I think we jumped ahead to the next request to the private roads. This motion, I think, had eight conditions uh for the single family home. Well, the motion that was read. Correct. Correct. I think we just I think you just looked at the wrong motion maybe. Okay. Just wanted to clarify that before you took a vote. This was the motion that was put in attachment 15. Yeah. Yeah. Is it okay? Yeah. This So I think that was a Yeah. So

yeah. So, this would be a motion for the uh single family dwellings uh special use purpose single family dwellings with the eight conditions that I read in the presentation. So, I apologize for that. No, no, no. That's that's fine. So, Mr. Meredith, if you would just withdraw if you would formally withdraw your motion and make the new one. Yeah, it's in 16. 16. Yeah. Tab 16. Mr. Meredith. Sorry, I was at 15. 156. I withdraw my uh motion and I'd like to make another motion. Thank you for that, Madam Chair. Yes sir.

Let's see. Okay. I find that the use will not be substantial detrimental to adjacent properties that the character of the zoning district will not be changed thereby and that such will be in harmony with the use permit by right in the zoning district and with the public health, safety and general welfare to the community. Therefore, I move to recommend approval of the applicant's request for special use permit to allow 103 plus or minus dwellings, single family detached with the eight conditions recommended by the planning commission. Thank you, Mr. Mayor. Is there a second? Second. Thank you, Mr. uh Quinn, excuse me. Um, all those in favor, Madam Clerk, if you do a roll call, please. Supervisor Quinn, yes. Supervisor Tatum, yes.

Supervisor Carter, yes. Supervisor Jameson, yes. Supervisor Mitchell, yes. Yes. Supervisor Meredith. Yes. And Chair Smith. Yes. Mr. Sandy, I I'm Are we on tab 16? I want to make sure we're staying uh aligned. If If I read this, they just got flipped. Yeah, I think they just got flipped. Okay. Okay.

The private streets is really Yeah. And that's tab 15 has motion for the private streets. Yeah. So 15. So we're on tab 15. Yes. Yes. So Mr. Sandy, if you would.

So, uh, the final request relative to the the residential project we've been talking about is is another special use permit to allow for private streets. And so, this is, uh, intended to be in keeping with the Westlake Town Center, which all those streets within the town center are are private at this point, and they all fall under a common agreement for, uh, maintenance and upkeep. And so that's the intention with this development is to maintain uh that as as part of this project as well. Uh and that would be that would apply to all the internal roads that are shown on that concept plan. And so, um, you know, certainly this this road that feeds the subdivision as well as any roads up here that are part of the the commercial area would would be maintained as private and again would fall under uh the maintenance agreements that are currently in place as part of the Westlake Town Center andor HOA association that may be developed for the residential portion. So again, won't go through all the maps again because it's the exact same piece of property that we're talking about uh that we've talked about on the two previous hearings. Um again, this would be this special use permit specifically is to allow private roads. Um and typically I know uh we we generally will have concerns about uh private roads um and and the ones that we have approved in the past, we wanted to make sure there was a maintenance agreement that was uh part of that. And so you'll see that in the conditions that are recommended. Um so the planning commission did review this and recommended approval with three conditions. Again, number one is kind of tying it back to that uh concept plan. And then two and three I think are the important ones relative to the private roads that there shall record any road maintenance agreement uh in the road in the uh documents in the clerk's office. Um and that has to happen at the first subdivision approval on the property. And then number three, that shorty will

be posted with Franklin County to construct those private roads. And those uh that shorty shall not be released until uh a licensed engineer in Virginia has certified that those roads were uh were completed uh according to the VOTE subdivision street requirements. And so, uh those are the three conditions that are proposed. And I'll be happy to answer any questions that you might have relative to this special use permit for private roads.

Thank you, Mr. Sandy, are there any questions, gentlemen? Steve, I just want to clarify on the RMA. Um, when we talk about the subdivision street requirements, um, are we talking about these requirements satisfying secondary road status, should that an HOA in the future come in and want to make them public roads? Are those standards the same? Yeah. Yeah, that that's the standard. So we we don't necessarily want that to be, you know, a substandard road. We want it to be a quality road that's built. Sure.

Um but that would also, you know, open up the opportunity in the future if if however many years into the future that someone wanted to change that to a public road that then they would have the opportunity to do that. Very good. Very good. And um again, Mr. Boon may want to speak to this as well just a little bit relative to um you know, the maintenance agreements that are in place. Okay. But um again, the the planning commission recommendation is for approval with the three conditions as noted. Thank you, Mr. Sandy. Mr. Boone, you just should state me. We're going to work you to death.

It's really nice to be able to come and talk when you have um when you have as much credibility behind you as the Willards have what they've created there.

We're part of Westlake Town Center. Our community will be part of Westlake Town Center. Our roads will be part of the Westlake Town Center. We will be under there under the master maintenance agreement that that's already there. We'll have an HOA that is that if you will is a backup. um if for whatever reason down the road, you know, years down the road, um the Westlake Town Center, say that they became public or they broke up into different u communities that we will have an HOA that would have the power to take over its roads and of course have a substantial investment by by the homeowners in and seeing that the roads are maintained. You as Mr. Sandy mentioned, they're built consistent with VOTE subdivision street requirements. These are going to be, you know, high quality roads. We hope we think we will have a sidewalk at least on half of of them. Um, so I there just aren't any issues. I know that there have been issues in Franklin County um in other smaller communities, more rural communities with private roads, but this is not going to be that situation. It'll be well funded and it will have to make sure that they they're up to this the high standards that Ron, you know, enforces every day. I mean, he's in the community every day. Yes. And make sure that that the roads are in good shape. So that's what we're doing and we'll sign those agreements and they will be bonded as you see in the in the presentation.

Any questions for Mr. Boon? Okay. Thank you very much. Thank you. I will now open the public hearing on this application. Madame clerk, do we have anyone signed up? No, ma'am. Thank you. Anyone wishing to speak to the board that didn't sign up? Okay. I will close the public hearing. Um, I will defer to my colleagues for any further questions or comments or a motion. I'll offer a motion if somebody tells me the right one to read. I knew you 15. Correct. Have 15.

I knew he was going to say that. I find that the use will not be of substantial detriment to adjacent properties, that the character of the zoning district will not be changed thereby, and that such use will be in harmony with the uses permitted by right in the zoning district and with the public health, safety, and general welfare to the community. Therefore, I move to recommend approval of the applicant's request for a special use permit to allow for private streets or roads with the three conditions recommended by the planning commission. Second. Thank you very much, Madame Clerk. Roll call, please. Supervisor Meredith, yes. Supervisor Jameson, yes. Supervisor Mitchell, yes. Supervisor Carter, yes. Supervisor Tatum, yes. Supervisor Quinn, yes. And Chair Smith,

yes. Okay, so that concludes our um AON development. Uh ladies and gentlemen, um we very much appreciate you being here to support the applications and uh we want to remain good partners. Uh it's been my honor to work with you all. Um, I think we have forged a good solid working relationship and I already had one with the Willards which I'm very grateful for and we'll continue to do the good work to to get our county moving forward. Thank you. Thank you, Chairperson Smith. We're just beginning. Thank you. Thank you very much.

All right, Mr. Sandy, we're moving on to um the application uh actually the county being the applicant. Correct. Yes. Um for the comprehensive plan amendment. Yes.

Correct. So uh this let's see what we on number four now. This is the fourth fourth public hearing tonight. Uh this one's for a comprehensive plan amendment. So I I'll note that public hearing four and five somewhat go together. Um talking about uh similar things at the Summit View uh business park. So first item is to amend the comprehensive plan. And really what we're talking about is amending one map in the plan uh map number 9.5 which speaks to power transmission lines in order to address critical electrical infrastructure needs and to support planned economic development within the county. Um so just a little bit of background on January 5th um we spoke um with you about uh this proposal and about initiating a comprehensive plan amendment. the board uh move forward at that time with it and and chose to fasttrack the application as well. Um as well as the last request which I didn't mention but uh that was a a fasttrack item for economic development purposes. Um the proposed amendment involves an amendment to the existing map number 9.5 uh entitled power transmission lines um and I'll show a map of that in just a minute to include a proposed substation and associated transmission lines within Summit View Business Park. This amendment is necessary to address critical electric infrastructure needs and to support planned economic development within the county. Uh chapter nine is the utilities chapter for the the comprehensive plan that was adopted by this board last year. Uh and it discusses infrastructure such as such as but not limited to water and wastewater, solid waste management, broadband, um natural gas, it says national gas, natural gas and energy generation. So, um, the implementation chapter, chapter 12 of the public public utilities of the plan states the following. So, I'll just read a couple of these. Uh, objective 8.2, continue working towards a complete vision of Summit View Business Park. Uh, so

strategies to get there, continue working with industry partners to market and promote Summit View Business Park to the appropriate clientele. Seek addition partnerships and marketing opportunities when available to supplement current efforts. Um, 8.2.2 Two, continue continue pursuing all available mechanisms to invest in Summit View Business Park to ensure the park offers adequate infrastructure for large employers such as water, wastewater, roads, and utilities. Uh, objective 8.3, leverage the county's assets and seek initiatives that create businessfriendly environment that is attractive to investors and strengthen the county's workforce. Um and then um strategy 8.3.1 partner with the necessary entities to make strategic investments in essential infrastructure needed to boost the county's economy. So I'd say you know with some of you we've been working through those objectives. Um we have put in public water and public sewer. We recently completed some road improvements. Uh as we talked earlier in the meeting, we are expecting uh additional road improvements on 220 to come in the next several weeks. Um natural gas obviously uh came to the park via the Mountain Valley pipeline. Um Rono Gas has since tapped that line and provided service to Stickpack as the first customer really in Franklin County and intends to extend that service um into the park and then also outside of the park as well. And so we've been continuing to to look to invest in the infrastructure improvements um in the park, in and around the park. And this is really just another step of, you know, making sure that the electric infrastructure is also sufficient uh to accommodate the anticipated growth within the park and the surrounding community. Um staff has not received any inquiries or comments about this proposed amendment. And so in your map,

you'll see or in your packet, you'll see this map. Uh again, map 9.5. Really what's been added is the inset here, the the kind of the square there and this area here showing the intended proposed substation u within the Summit View business park and uh those associated transmission lines u being in there. And so I I mentioned to the planning commission that really I take uh some thought for this. I think this really should have been included before you guys adopted it because this is something that we've actually been talking about with uh American Electric Power for for a couple years about the the need to upgrade um the the service capabilities in this area. So, not going to say it was an oversight, but we really should have included it um in the plan that you adopted last year. Um we didn't. So again going back to just make this amendment now to uh include this um you know as part of the comprehensive plan. So the recommendation from the planning commission was that the uh the board should consider and approve the following um and really approve the uh amendment to map 9.5 as I just showed and incorporated as part of the county's comprehensive plan. So I'll be happy to answer any questions you might have on this particular item.

Thank you Mr. Sandy. Are there any questions, comments? Madam Chair, I just want Mr. Sandy in that. So really what we're doing is just this is the final piece of the puzzle of having water, sewer, natural gas, and electricity to hopefully fill up that industrial park. Correct. Yeah. It's been an effort over the last many years to just continue to get the infrastructure needed into the park. And yeah, so this is I won't say it's the very last piece, but it's one of the last pieces to to really getting all that infrastructure in place. paper in. Okay. Thank you, sir. Any other questions, comments?

M. Sandy, would you go back to the uh map there you had? There you go. Where? It's pretty small. My eyes are bad. Um, where is the connecting road, the brick church road at? Um, well, can you show it on the small one? Yeah, it's going to it's going to fall within this kind of cross-hatched area. So, if you see this this red line that comes through here. Yes, sir. That's the existing 138 KV line that runs through Summit View um and runs just north of Brick Church Road. Okay.

And then as you go a little further down Brick Church, it crosses over. Um so that's that red line is is actually the existing service line that runs through the park. If that kind of helps give a a visual of where where that is. So basically runs right through the middle of Summit View Business Park. Um, and so what what this proposal is is that the substation, you know, would be built within that cross-hatch area somewhere in the business park. And on the large map there, is those other red lines are that is that new lines going in?

No, those are those are all existing lines that are already within the county. Um, you know, and various ones down here along Henry and then this one here is the one that runs, you know, really north south through the entire county. does. And then out to some of the other substations. So, they built a substation recently in the Webster area. Um there's a I believe there's a substation out in Westlake. Is there any any proposed new lines? I mean, APCO, they got any prop where they're going to be routed out at all? Um, we have some APCO folks here that maybe could answer that, but I'm not aware that there's any proposed um probably too early.

Any any major transmission lines. Is that what you're referring to? Yeah. The only thing that would be needed, and we'll talk about it on the next request, is um when the substation is built, there'll need to be a 138 line that connects to the existing 138 within the park. Um but other than that, there's not, you know, there's no proposed 765 lines or or other 138 lines that I'm aware of in the county. They're shaking their head. Okay. Thank you. Anyone else questions, comments from Mr. Sandy? Um, Mr. Sandy, I'm assuming that we do not need a public hearing on this. No, we should we should open a public hearing. Okay. Because it's not so notated in here. I just wanted to clarify.

Okay. And we had a signup sheet for this out there. Correct. Yes, ma'am. Okay. Very good. All right. Thank you. Um, I will formally open the public hearing on this application. U, Madame Clerk, is there anyone signed up? Roger McBride. Thank you, Mr. McBride. Good evening, sir. How are you this evening? I'm well. And yourself? I'm well. Well, if you'd state your name and your address and talk in the microphone if you don't mind. Okay. Thank you.

Thank you. Oh, my name is Roger McBride. I'm representing German Town Brick Church of the Brethren. We have been in this community for 175 plus years. We're located in the middle of the Summit View Park on Brick Church Road. We have seen and been part of many changes over the years. We have worked with the county and the different engineering and design companies to help make possible the development of the Summit View Park. the county and the church, the land exchanges, sewer and water easement, slope and drainage easements that help make this park. In addition to these exchanges, since the walking path was built, we have allowed the church parking lot to be used by anyone walking the path. In fact, the church parking lot was the only access to the path before the pavilion was built. Also, since installing the church playground equipment, we have welcomed everyone who just wants a place for their children to play. We realize more power is needed, but we are requesting that the main transmission lines to the major substation not go through the church property. This would require us to once again make sacrifices and give up use of more church property that we will need for future gra growth and development. We was told from the beginning that the land in the park around the church property would be used for community activity purposes. The social the soccer fields and the

walking path have been wellreceived used and are successful creations of the original county park design. We enjoy seeing the community use the walking path and the church playground equipment. In light of our ongoing cooperation, we ask you to respect our request that the transmission lines be placed somewhere other than across church property. Once again, thank you for this opportunity to express our concerns. Thank you so much. We very much appreciate your remarks, sir.

Thank you, dear. Sir Judy Sink. Judy Sink. Hello, Miss Sink. How are you, Miss Sink? If you you doing well? If you would state your name and address for the record, please. Judy Sink, 397 Willow Creek Road.

Thank you. I'd like to ask all of you a question. Are you putting the cart before the horse? The reason I ask this is that the area around Summit View is a community. A community with a church. A community is defined as a feeling of fellowship with others, sharing common attitudes, interests, and goals. It is an exchange of wisdom where each voice matters and each person adds something that is essential. If you allow the changes to the original plans for the power lines and substations, you will be destroying this community. a community with a church that is very much alive and is the oldest church in Franklin County at 178 years old. If you allow these power lines to be put in this in place, this will prevent the church from being able to expand the building, the parking area, the playground area because of rightaways. Why would you agree to something that could destroy a vital piece of this community? The playground brings many children from the mun from the community to play in a safe place and for parents to interact with other parents. Power lines are a danger to the children and as a mother and a grandmother, I would not bring my grandson or my nieces to this area to play. You say that a data processing center is needed. Are you again putting the cart before the horse? A data processing center will consume as much electricity as 6,500 households and the uses is expected to increase in the next couple of years. The cost of electricity will then be passed on to each household making it almost unaffordable for some families. Then there are the diesel generators which are a public health concern because of the harmful pollutants, the noise and the damage to

their our climate. This project will destroy the community, the community with a church that is very much alive. Please vote no. Thank you, Miss Sink. That's all I have. Thank you. Is there anyone else that would like to speak to this application?

Okay, hearing none, I will close this public hearing. Um, I will defer to my colleagues for any additional questions, concerns, um, for a vote on this application. What's your pleasure? Anyone?

Does anyone desire to make a motion? Guess I'm have a question. Um, with the substation, and I know ABO's here, where would the lines run? Is there is that being on a drawing or anything for this substation? So, I think um on the next item, the special use permit for the substation, we'll get into a little more detail about where the substation may be located on the Summit View property and then you'll be able to answer the question on the next one.

Yeah, I think so. Okay. I I think the short answer is, you know, until APCO finishes their design and determines the location, um that'll dictate kind of where those lines will need to be to connect to the existing 138 KV. Any and I think I I think I can say this pretty with certainty is that anywhere that the those connecting lines would go off the county property, they would need to get easements from those property owners to to make that connection to the existing line. So, okay. All right. So, uh, that answers. Well, I'm going I'm going to make a motion then, but thank you, Mr. Understanding that there. Thank you, Mr. Meredith.

Uh, I recommend pursuant to the requirements of section 15.2-223 of the code of Virginia, I recommend that the vision to map number 9.5 power transmission lines be adopted and incorporated into the county's comprehensive plan as an amendment. Okay. Is there a second? A second. Thank you, Mr. Jameson. Um, madame clerk, if you do roll call vote, please. Supervisor Mitchell, yes. Supervisor Meredith, yes. Supervisor Carter, yes. Supervisor Jameson, yes. Supervisor Quinn, yes. Supervisor Tatum, yes. And Chair Smith,

yes. Okay, Mr. Sandy, you're back up for the last time, sir, on uh again dealing with the same issue, but different variation of topic.

Correct. So, so the next item is a a spe special use permit request um that again uh is on the county property. So, at the application of the county for a substation to be built on uh property that's zoned rep the region regional enterprise park district which is really identified as the Summit View Business Park. Um it's a total of 480 acres, you know, roughly just a little less than 500 acres. Um, as we mentioned before, the the purpose for the uh request is for a utility substation uh that would be built by APCO and um to be built on the property along with the associated facilities and transmission lines. Um, this property has a future land use designation of industrial mixeduse and it's also part of the designated growth area along the 220 north corridor. Um just a couple highlights that the I I'll just mention a little bit of background. The county has provided uh information describing the current system design stating that the development of a new substation is necessary to continue to provide reliable electric service to support existing and future businesses located in the business park as well as the surrounding community. Uh this proposed use involves the construction and operation of an electric substation and the associated uh transmission lines intended to support existing and future commercial and industrial development within Summit View Park and the surrounding US Route 220 corridor. The proposed facility would provide critical infrastructure necessary necessary to ensure reliable electric service and accommodate anticipated growth. The proposed electrical substation has been approved for the electric infrastructure program. So, this is part of a uh some legislation that was passed a couple years ago that allows the electric um utilities to kind of move forward on these projects and um kind of get out ahead of the development, if you will,

and and have the necessary infrastructure in place. And so this is a project a process where we work through the Virginia Economic Development Partnership and um that the site has to be sat the excuse me the site has to be certified as a tier four or above site to be able to qualify. And so um tier five being the highest of being completely ready for uh someone to come in and and operate and and build a business. Type one being the least infrastructure or the least developed. Um and so we're this park is currently a tier four and and one of those reasons is it lacks the critical infrastructure for you um electric services to be able to get it up to the to to the highest level. And so there's some code references there uh section 56-576 and then 585 uh 110 that kind of describe the program and I think there's copies of that legislation in your packet uh as well. There has been um 10 phone calls uh as of the time this was done uh and one walk-in to the to the planning office to inquire about the application. Uh one citizen stated concerns about maintaining the buffer between the walking trail and the proposed substation. Um and then there were three citizens that spoke at the planning commission hearing. Uh two in opposition and one inquiring about project specifics. And so this is a a conceptual plan that's been provided. Um let me give you a little bit of of kind of bearing. So so this is uh Pleasant Breeze. Um so what we generally call the south entrance on Route 220 is is just off the page here. The library kiosk is just off the page here. Just to kind of give you some bearing if uh if you've been out there recently there, you know, there are no more structures here. These were some of the farm structures that were at the top of the hill. Um those were were

removed under a recent contract to grade the the property. And this this property here is is what we refer to as the Dogwood site, which has been under a grading operation for the last um year or two. Um we've been securing some some grant funds through uh tobacco commission and others to to kind of help get those sites pad ready. And then this adjacent site is is partially graded now and they're continuing to work through that. Uh this is generally referred to as the Eagle site. Um so what what is currently envisioned from from APCO is that this proposed substation would be located to the to the back of that property as far as possible to um what's already uh graded or there may be some additional grading that would occur to accommodate the potential substation. Here this is showing roughly 6 acres of area to accommodate the access road, the storm water management and the proposed uh substation. Um again just to give you some bearings. So the p the pavilion is is up uh off the page here and you can just see a portion of the the walking track which is uh down in the bottom across the creek from from this proposed location. This is just a picture of another substation um that is in the APCO territory. And then really the same picture from an aerial view um for facility. Most recent one that we've had constructed in the county is the Webster station um which was a couple years back um developed over uh just off of Webster Road. Um, and so that's I don't know that's that's the most recent example we would have of of a of a new construction of a substation. Um, again, this is part of the Summit View Business Park. A lot of numbers on here. These are all the tax parcels, but you can see kind of in the outline of the blue is actually the the 500 acres

of the Summit View uh park. And really where we're looking at is is kind of the back part of this um graded pad right here. And again, I'll I'll just reiterate that that's really uh kind of where APCO is focusing in right now on the best location for sighting this um for this station. What we did was we went ahead and advertised the entire park just to allow some flexibility in case their design requires that it needs to be shifted a little bit. Um there's some flexibility there as they continue to work through the the necessary designs that they have. And then as has been mentioned too, you know, one one thing that they'll have to do is be able to connect back to that existing 138 KV line which runs right here um just on the other side of the church really um and and runs right through the the property here. And so those are the engineering um um plans and discussions that are currently going on with uh with APCO. And again, as I mentioned before, this is part of um the Summit View Industrial Park, which is industrial mixeduse. It's part of the designated growth area, and it is part of uh the regional enterprise park. And again, just another picture uh showing the future land use. So, just a couple points under analysis, which we we've really addressed several of these already, but the proposed electric substation will be designed and located to minimize impact and uh on adjacent properties. Uh again, looking to kind of move it towards the back of that uh parcel so as to not uh be right up on Pleasant Breeze Road. Um you know, I will say that we've really been working with AU for for several months to really find a a suitable location both for the park, but also from an engineering standpoint uh for uh American Electric Power as well. Um, proposed use is compatible with the existing zoning district and aligns with the purpose intent of the zoning ordinance, uh, as well as the comprehensive plan, which I

noted, uh, several of those items earlier. Um, and so the comprehensive plan recognizes the importance of expanding and upgrading utility infrastructure and designated growth areas to support industrial and commercial development. Um, one of the objectives, uh, as I read earlier for the comp plan is to continue working towards the complete vision of Summit View with the strategy to continue pursuing all available mechanisms to invest in Summit View to ensure the park offers adequate infrastructure for large employers such as water, wastewater, roads, utilities, etc. um giving the purpose and intent of the special use permit to allow for utility services major electric substation and the associated facilities and transmission lines uh that's supported by the comp plan and the 220 north corridor designated growth area staff does conclude that the special use permit should be approved and is within uh harmony with the existing uses permitted in the zoning district and the public health safety and general welfare of the community. So, the planning commission has recommended approval with six conditions and I'll just u read through those briefly. So, number one, as we do in in most cases, tie it to a plan. So, we're anticipating that it's going to be in the general conformance with the plan that you have uh in your packet and was shown earlier. Uh all site lighting should be downward directed. um and LED lights with full cut off no sight sight lighting shall exceed.5 ft candles at the property line. So the intention would be all light would be directed you know downward and this would require um you know light readings at the property line to ensure that there's not more than a halfoot candle uh of of light leaving the property. Um as part of the site plan approval need all V dot approvals um site plan erosion sediment control storm water plan uh all that will need to be submitted as well as necessary building and electrical permits and then

uh the applicant shall also obtain just a GIS address for that facility and that structure as well. So I'll be happy to answer any questions that you may have. We do have uh Rob Man and Tim Ward from AFCO who are here that could answer more technical questions. Um but I'll be happy to to answer any that I might be able to answer. Thank you, Mr. Sandy. Are there any questions, comments, remarks? Mr. Tatum. Okay, Mr. Sandy, uh the current uh transmission line that's running through that neighborhood, where does it run in conjunction with the church property?

Let's see. I'm going to see if I can so you can kind of see the outline here. It's it's running if you can see right through there that the church property again there's so many numbers the church is right here um on this parcel including they have some property here where the cemetery is. Um, so I I can't give you the distance, but um it's kind of right the power line runs through here and the and the church is just to the I guess that would kind of be the south, but the current one is not running over the church property. That 138 KV line does currently does not run over I don't think it runs over any of the church property. It's it's relatively adjacent, but I don't think

is there a possibility if when we have to put in new lines that we can use the existing uh route so that we because I I concur with them. I would hate to have property at a church like that and have, you know, transition lines coming over my property. Well, I think the what will have to happen is wherever the substation is built, there'll have to be a line connecting the substation to that existing line. Yeah. So you wouldn't be able to follow the same corridor because it would actually be a new kind of an extension to connect

and and that um you know if that happens off of the the Summit View property off the county property that that would require APCO negotiating with the private property okay uh individual to obtain the necessary easement. So if the church didn't want to give that easement, they wouldn't have to. Correct. I mean that that's my understanding. Okay. Thank you, Mr. Tatum. Mr. Carter. Yeah, you're okay. He answered my question. Okay. Um, so Steve, I'm I'm sorry.

Sorry. I just just to follow up on the question. I know you got a proposed site. Have and they may be able to answer when they come up. Have they got option A and B of how they think they would run this line over to the substation? I'll have to let Yeah, I'll have to let them answer that from a technical just so we have an idea of what where they're thinking right now and it may help us understand more of how they're going to feed that substation. Yes. Okay. Let me see if there's any other questions and I can have Are there any other questions? Uh we can hear from a I guess is the next step.

Uh any other questions relative? Okay, if you would Mr. Sandy. Okay. So I don't know Rob or Tim who wants to Hello Mr. Man. How are you? Thank you for being with us.

Welcome. Good evening board. Glad to be here. My name's Rob Man with Appalachian Power and External Affairs. Um be glad to help with any questions. So uh yes, there we are looking at options. we always do to try to find the best engineering solution that has the least impact on on individuals uh property values, property owners. Um it because it is an engineering effort like the existing line, it's a Rono Carolina line goes north and south from a Rono station down towards um the Carolina area. But um to tap into that we have to come up with engineering solutions as far as terrain driven cuz whether we come off an existing structure likely will be a new structure offset from but it is called a tie line that will feed into that new station.

Mr. Jamson. Rob, how you doing? Doing good. The uh what about the noise level? The sound 138s are pretty quiet. So, it it would be similarly comparable to a line that's existing out there. So, I I personally I don't hear 138 KV line. The station itself will have some uh noise component to it, but it is of a lower level. The the newer technology is a little bit less than some of the older stations. So we I can get you some decel ratings um of what a station uh what it sounds like in that

if you got any kind of guess say from the uh I guess the in northern corner of it the substation to cro to the main road there's some residences right across that road are fairly closed I think you got any idea that's I don't think they would hear much of anything from that proximity I mean the noise level it it's when you're within hundreds of feet of a station that you that you really hear things and I guess that the church would be further than that, right? Yes. Okay. Thank you. Anybody else? Yeah. Um I I think what you're hearing is concern about the church.

Absolutely. And and that is a huge concern for us too. Our sighting team, engineering efforts, we do our level best to avoid um church properties. We do not cross cemeteries. I I mean that is one of our things we call it a fatal flaw in our design. So, you know, we we do look for those impacts to the community when we site transmission and we formally, you know, just like to ask that, Rob, on behalf of the church. Um we're proud of that church and uh it's our responsibility to try to do as much mitigation as possible. Absolutely. And us as partners in the community, we do our our best to to avoid those situations as well.

Thank you. Any other questions for Rob? So Rob, just to reiterate, um, if you do, if your engineered plan does come up across a church property, y'all will have to negotiate an easy. Absolutely. We would have to approach them. Our rideway department would come out with maps and informations and we do surveys and that sort of thing. Um, we would openly engage in an uh voluntary negotiation. So, if you had to shoot from the hip thinking of the property that the county owns from the substation over, do you what's the probability that y'all could dodge that church property in your

personally? I think it's extremely high. Now, I have not been engaged in those sighting efforts, those engineering meetings, but I feel based I worked in transmission right away for a number of years with the company and then also real estate. So, I was part of these meetings for sighting lines and stations. So yes, I feel extremely confident that we are doing our level best to avoid that church at the moment. That is so the right answer, Rob man. Yes sir. Thank you. Okay. Anyone else? Thank you for being with us, Rob. We greatly appreciate it. Thank you. Appreciate it. Okay. Um I am going to open um the public hearing on this matter. Um Madame Clerk, do we have anyone signed up to speak? No, ma'am.

Thank you. Is there anyone that's with us that would like to speak on this subject? Yes, ma'am. I think I know who you are. If you'd state your name and address, please. Hi, my name is Reeba Dylan. I didn't intend to speak, but there is something I would like for you all to think about before you make your decision. Reeba, can I interrupt you? I need your name and address. Oh, 6051 Burn Shimley. Thank you. Thank you. The the town of Radford has got underground lines. My son has lived there for about seven or eight years and they've had electricity cut off for 30 minutes in those seven years.

And you know, it would be a shame to see power lines over top the church or their property, but maybe you want to think about could we underground those lines out at the industrial park. The industrial park would look much nicer. Instead of having all these lines going over top of it, let's put them underground and they're much safer. Okay. Thank you, Reaper. We appreciate it. Anyone else like to speak? Yes, ma'am. Please come up.

Good evening. No, this is on this topic. Yeah, we we'll get to public comment in just a few minutes. Anyone that would like to speak on this application? Okay, I'm going to close the public hearing. Um, supervisors, do you have any further discussion issues? Um, or I'll entertain a motion at your discretion.

I'll offer a motion. Thank you, Mr. Mitchell. Make sure I'm on the right tab. 18. I find that the use will I find that the use will not be of substantial detriment to adjacent properties. That the character of the zoning district will not be changed thereby and that such use will be in harmony with the uses permitted by right in the zoning district and with the and with the public health safety and general welfare to the community. Therefore, I move to recommend approval of the applicant's request for a special use permit to allow for utility services, major electric substation, and associated facilities and transmission lines with the six conditions recommended by the planning commission. Thank you, Mr. Mitchell. Is there a second? Second.

Thank you, Mr. Tatum. Madame Clerk, would you please do a roll call? Supervisor Carter? Yes. Supervisor Tatum? Yes. Supervisor Meredith? Yes. Supervisor Quinn? Yes. Supervisor Jameson? Yes. Supervisor Mitchell? Yes. Yes. And Chair Smith. Yes. Okay. That concludes our um special use permits and associated public hearings on the agenda for this evening. Um I'd like to move quickly, Mr. Sandy. Um under your report, couple things that we're just going to clean up from earlier this afternoon. Did you have any issues that you wanted to address the board on under county administrator?

Um no ma'am. The only thing was just confirming the joint meeting with the school board for the 24th at 5:00 p.m. I think it's listed on the agenda. Yeah. Um and if if the board is in concurrence with that, we'll make sure that the proper notifications are are in place for that meeting which would be held here in this room. Correct, clerk? Yes. Yes. Yeah. They're making accommodations to to have it in this room. So, so are are uh my colleagues, are you all okay with the date and time? Everybody okay? The 24th at 5:00 p.m. 24th at 5:00 in this room, joint school board meeting. Is that all you had? That's really all I had of of significance.

And uh what I'd like to do now is go down to Deis for any other matters by supervisors. U Mr. Jameson, would you like to start us off, sir? I have none. Thank you, Mr. Tatum.

I just have uh a a couple. uh one the uh friends of Fram Park reached out to me a while back and they're uh trying to expand and move forward with the development of the park and a couple things that are needed in is in the line of infrastructure. One is water sewer. The other is electric uh power. Um they've they've gotten price quotes and uh estimates on both of those and they are going to be able within their resources to cover the uh water and sewer and sidewalk uh expansion, but they need some help with the electric to go back to the end of the culde-sac. And what they're looking at is running it um from 40 up to the end of the road. And it would encompass the 12 campsites that they already have developed and it would supply power all the way up that road for future development, you know, future housing or anything that would go in there. It's going to the electricity is going to need to be there. The price quote that they have gotten for it is approximately $33,000 to to do it all. And they're asking if we could help them with uh with that. Um I spoke to Mr. Sandy about it a while back and he mentioned maybe we could do some type of a call share on it. Uh I I briefly mentioned that and um you I think they they would be able to uh pick up approximately 10% if we could you know do the other 90. In other words, if we could uh provide them the 30,000 I feel sure that they could find the 3,000 to cover the the uh the left over. But

that's that's just to keep that project going. And it's something the county should have done years ago if they had been serious on developing that property anyway. Uh that property is a sore spot for me. It was a uh a project that that got dropped way back before any of our time and we're trying to fix it for the community. And they've done great strides. They have a lot of activity up there and and they're they're really working hard to do as much as they can and I'd like like for us to to help them with with that project if we can. Um I'm just laying that out there u at this time.

Thank you. Uh Mr. Tatum, what I would propose um if it's okay with you um is to work with Mr. Sandy and get a proposal Yeah. um put um in into play. We can put this on an agenda. We have to give due public notice on something like this. Um Mr. Sandy, um can you work with me with agenda review in March to get this on the agenda? Now, I want to make sure that this is at the will of the board. Um does any member of the board have a problem with us entertaining a proposal? Nope. Okay, there you go. So, Mr. Mr. Sandy, if you'll help me as we do agenda review for March. Do you have any reservations?

No, just I guess one thing that would be helpful is where the funding would come from. We're going to ask you to uh you and Mr. Carter ask us to come up with that. Yes, we're going to we're going to ask you to make u maybe two recommendations and um and we will be thinking about that as well in the interim um because that's always the bottom line is where's the money coming from? um we're at a critical point as we prepare for budget and working with the school matters at hand. So um all of those things kept in mind because it's it's currently not budgeted for for that purpose but not that we can't find dollars somewhere but it's not budgeted in our Yeah. I I would just you know if the board is okay

well and Madam Chair I would just say maybe not see what next month brings as far the as the agenda goes. Okay. be, you know, if it's as packed as today's is. Fair enough. We'll wait and see if it That's fair. If there's time on next month's agenda, Mr. Tatum, is there is it time sensitive? Uh, the cost of materials and things keep going up. So, I mean, in a sense, it would be time sensitive, but I don't think a month or two would make a big difference. I I think what we can do is make a commitment that we we will examine Yeah. how much we've got going on on the agenda and we'll accommodate the the request out of deference to you and out of respect for the work um in your district. We certainly need to entertain that.

All right. Thank you. Okay. That's all I have. Thank you, Mr. Carter.

Thank you, Madam Chair. Uh I want to report to you all I'm your representative on Department of Social Services and I want to brag on them a little bit. They continue to impress me. They meet their goals every month and they typically exceed greatly the state goals for an organization and they're constantly being recognized by the state of Virginia for their work with social services. It's really a well-run organization and I'd also like to brag on our public safety department recently. Uh I've had to utilize their EMT services on several occasions. uh such great professionalism, such great folks working for them. I'm very impressed and very proud of our public safety department.

Thank you so much, Mr. Carter. I'm sure they'll appreciate those comments. Thank you. Is that all you have? That's all I have. Mr. Mitchell, I'm good. Mr. Quinn, no report. Okay, Mr. Meredith. Um only one thing I have and I know uh I'm sorry. I only have one thing. Um on our commissions, I did get one of our spots filled. So whenever we can Yeah, we can pick that up. We'll have a close session after this. That's fine. I just That's the only thing I have. Thank you for doing that. I I've got it. So noted. Okay.

Okay. Um in terms of brevity, I'm going to I don't have anything right now. So um Okay. We're going to move then um to our period of public comment. Um at this we've reached that time in our meeting. Uh public comment gives citizens an opportunity to address the board in person or in writing on matters appropriate to the responsibilities of the board. Each speaker will be limited to three minutes for their comments. Speakers must direct all comments to the board as a whole and not to individual board members or employees of the board or county. Personal attacks and insulting profane or vulgar language will not be tolerated. Likewise, commentary on issues that are not within the purview of the board and that are not a function of local government and over which we have no control are not acceptable. Public comment is not a question and answer session and board members will not answer questions during public comment. If a speaker violates these rules, the chair may rule the speaker out of order and upon second violation have the speaker removed from the podium. Madame Clerk, do we have anyone signed up?

Gayen Jackman and he is requested on five minutes. He said he's speaking for a group. Okay, very good. Mr. Jackman, good evening.

Good evening. You going to put five minutes on it? There we go. I'm Gayen Jackman, 750 Summerwind Drive. I live in Union Hall District and I represent my community of Contentment Island and I serve on the Union Hall Village working group. I'm a veteran and I proudly wore my nation's uniform for four years as a cadet and 35 years as United States Army officer. I commanded and led organizations at every level through the rank of major general. My wife and I could have retired anywhere in the world and we chose Franklin County. In the 14 years we've lived here, one of our priorities has been to serve our community. I'm here tonight to speak about professionalism, executive leadership, integrity, and accountability as they relate to Supervisor Quinn's censure by the board of supervisors. Truth and lending upfront. I supported Dan Quinn's campaign. I voted for him and he's my friend. When I was informed of Supervisor Quinn's censure, I withheld judgment, dove into the information publicly available, talked with a number of my fellow citizens in the county who are aware of the details of the matter, and questioned Supervisor Quinn myself. Here's what I learned. that Supervisor Quinn brought information to the board of supervisors regarding potential election interference that was provided to him by a county employee. That Supervisor Quinn recommended to the board an independent investigation be conducted to establish the facts regarding the raised issue. That the board of supervisors directed only a cursory inquiry into the matter. That the inquiry was not independent nor adequate. and that the person conducting the inquiry was in the direct supervision line of the board of

supervisors and that the person conducting the inquiry did not interview all persons allegedly involved in the matter and therefore never established all the facts. Importantly, there is no public record of this inquiry that Supervisor Quinn did improperly disclose close session confidential information publicly regarding hiring and that chairman Thompson did the same. Additionally identifying the selectee that the board of supervisors failed to follow their own rules of procedure in deliberating the matter and potential discipline. That supervisor Quinn was never allowed due process by the board to defend himself in front of the board either in close session or in a public session. That the board has not been fully transparent with the public regarding this matter. So this begs the obvious question. Why did the board of supervisors that at that time act in this manner? I can only come up with two possible conclusions. The board does not appear to have acted competently and or they were not they were concerned about where a truly independent investigation might lead. So what I'm talking about here is potential incompetence andor corruption. We expect our supervisors who serve us, the citizens of Franklin County, to be standard bearsers of executive leadership, professional ethics, and integrity in discharging their responsibilities. To do otherwise, reflects poorly on the county. The conduct of the board in this matter, as I have noted, shatters a reputation of the county and erodess trust in the county. Why would people want to come here or stay to live, work, raise, and educate their families and retire? And why would businesses and developers want to come here to invest

in this county when it's governed by supervisors who act in such a manner? This is a strategic issue for the county. Our future depends on competent and ethical leadership. We deserve supervisors who behave professionally and ethically. Our excellent leaders, demonstrate the highest integrity, and serve the people of Franklin County. If the supervisors fail to hold themselves accountable to these standards, we the citizens of the county must. Thank you for the opportunity to speak. Thank you, Mr. Chapman.

Remington Davis, he's also requested five minutes for a group. Just a moment. Um, I typically don't do this, but I'm going to make a very quick statement. Mr. Jackman, thank you for your service to our country and thank you for being here. Um, you have got some wrong facts that you're working off of and our board gave Mr. Quinn the availability of two in November and December multiple hours to discuss this matter. He had every opportunity. So, I would insist that before you get up in front of this body and declare that we're incompetent and that there's no integrity up here that you get your facts straight. Okay. Madame clerk. Um, Remington Davis and he's also requested five minutes to speak for a group.

Hey, good evening, Chair Parson Smith and board. My name is Remington Davis. I need to state my name and address, right? Yes, please. Okay. Yes, Remington Davis. I live at 914 Antioch Road in Boone Mill.

Good evening everyone. My name is Remington Davis. I'm a graduating senior at Franklin County High School, involved member within the community, and lifelong resident of Franklin County. I'm also a work working member of society, active participant in civic duties, and an individual with ambitions to one day seek public office. Through my role and experience as a student representative on the Franklin County School Board, I've been able to create an outlet for students and adults to voice concerns, appreciation, and to find ways to positively inform and engage our board members with the community. I would like to begin by stating that I am not here this evening out of personal desire, but out of a sense of responsibility to this community. I stand here mostly alone because others who share similar concerns were reluctant to attend due to fear of public humiliation or criticism. the very topic I'm here to address. I would also like to mention that I am here simply expressing my concerns from the January 22nd joint meeting as a student and citizen within Franklin County. I'm not here to propose a solution to the FY25 deficit andor to deny any errors within the school system accounting process. The thing I'm here to discuss tonight is the intimidation used to publicly humiliate employees within the school system. When senior elected officials publicly demean their colleagues, something essential breaks. The authority of the person delivering the insult is damaged. The dignity of the person targeted is damaged. And the very legitimacy of the offices involved is put in jeopardy. This is basic organizational leadership, not opinion, but principle. When an elected board member leverages the power of their office to publicly undermine a superintendent, they don't just weaken that individual, they weaken the institution. They make it harder for that superintendent to lead and they make it harder for everyone to do their jobs. Franklin County should not be a place where fear and intimidation sets the tone. We already struggle to recruit quality teachers and administrators within the school system. When the citizens watch county executives treated

school system employees with public disrespect that makes the job exponentially harder, more expensive, and more time consuming. Public humiliation of this nature not only fosters an atmosphere of apprehension among county employees, but also influences their conduct and judgment in future professional duties. This highly damaging incident demonstrates that rather than collaborating with colleagues, they choose to use disparaging remarks in an attempt to portray their colleague as incompetent to the public. And this is not responsible leadership. When Dr. series eventually departs, whether that be tomorrow or years from now. This incident will play a substantial role in decision-making by future candidates. They will find the news coverage. They will see how our superintendent was treated. And they will ask themselves, "Is this where I want to lead?" Governing boards should criticize privately and support publicly. Public meetings are meant for transparency and governance, not for spectacle. When the publican in attendance in attendance, excuse me, is fed taunting antics and inflammatory remarks, it does not encourage civic engagement in encourages division, intimidation, and mediocre performance. We live in a time where compromise, respect, and dignity seem difficult to demonstrate, and that is precisely why elected officials must model those qualities. It is your responsibility to show our community how controversial issues can be handled effectively but respectfully. Dr. Sears as the head of the school system carries an immense responsibility in leading the Franklin C and leading Franklin County Public Schools. Whether we agree on every decision or not, it is completely unnecessary to attack Dr. Sears publicly, diminish his office, and create an atmosphere that could potentially drive resignations across the board. Public service is not about winning arguments or scoring points. It is about stewardship, responsibility, and setting the tone for our community. If those in leadership positions resort to intimidation, what message does that

send to our teachers, to our students, to the next generation watching how adults handle conflict? We can disagree. We can debate. We can demand accountability. But we must do so without tearing people down, without theatrics, and without creating a culture of fear. Franklin County deserves leadership that reflects the very values we hope to instill in our children. Respect, integrity, and courage. Thank you for your time. Thank you,

Lisa Leody. Good evening. Good evening. How are you? Good. I'm fine. If you'd state your name and address, please. Sure. My name is Lisa Leody and I live at 145 Spring Street in Rocky Mount. Very good. Thank you.

Good evening and thank you for allowing me the opportunity to speak before you. My name is Lisa Leody. I live here in Franklin County. My husband is a retired detective who teaches at the high school. My youngest son, Aiden, is a senior there. My oldest son, Anthony, graduated from there. I serve as the club president for Franklin County Select and I'm part of the recently established Franklin County Community Sports Foundation which supports multiple club sports in our community. This is our home in every sense of the word. I'm here tonight to place my comments about Summit View Business Park recreational areas on record, particularly for this evening, the soccer field. Some of you may have seen the plan, some of you may have not, but I wanted to touch on the human side of things before a public hearing. I'd like to start by saying this isn't about elevating a sport. It's not about pushing recreational sports aside. It's not even about asking the county to write a check. It's about clearly defining how the space at Summit View Business Park can be improved, used, and maintained to maximize opportunity for the kids in this county. We're going to be seeking a partnership with the county who will maintain land ownership and the foundation who will step in to volunteer time and effort and invest and sustain the recreational areas of Summit Park alongside the county. It's about supporting local economic development through athletic tourism. For me, stepping forward like this is rooted in service. I was raised to believe that when you see a need in your community, and you have the ability to help you lean in. You do not wait for perfect conditions. You don't simply name the problem. You look for a way to be a part of the solution. You sacrifice yourself for something bigger. That something bigger is these kids. When you sit where you sit, you're

responsible for budgets and policy and and fairness, and I absolutely respect that. Where I stand, I see the human side of those decisions. I see teenagers trying to figure out who they're becoming. I see kids watching closely to decide whether this community is solid enough to trust, whether opportunity here is something they can lean into or something they should learn to brace themselves against. For me, this is actually really personal. I know not everyone in this room may connect to sports. You might not have played. You may not have a child who played competitive programs. So when you hear the word field access, it might sound like practice slots or game schedules. That's not why I'm standing here. I'm here because I care about opportunity in this county and I know how fragile it can be. I grew up in a home with love and no money. That is a reality for a lot of the Franklin County families. My parents worked constantly just to keep us above water. We were never neglected, but we were stretched and we as children shouldn't feel at the time. I didn't call it hardship. I called it life. When you grow up, I got five organizations I'm representing. Can I get a little bit more time?

Did she have five minutes, Madam Clerk? Um, she didn't sign up for five minutes. Okay. I I'm sorry I didn't write for groups next to my name. No, but you're speaking. Are you speaking for a group? Yes. She represents a group two more minutes. Okay. Thank you, ma'am. I appreciate that. Yeah, we we just have some protocols around that. Just trying to be consistent. Thank you.

But please go ahead. Thank you very much. Um, you learn not to lean too hard into good things because you are not sure how long they're going to last. And I see that inst instinct in some of our kids. I see the ones who feel the burdens about needing a ride, the ones who ask about fees, the ones who calculate ahead of time what they need to sacrifice. I was a kid in that way. I was one of the one with the cheap plastic cleats that rubbed my heels raw. I was the one who would tell myself that that was being tough because I just assumed that was strength. And that's what a lot of these kids are doing. You remember what it feels like as a kid when you need a door to stay open? And that's big reason why I'm here today. There is a field at the business park that we've been using for soccer. And the struggle we had to be able to let these kids play sports is incomprehensible. Last year, we had a field that we worked through with the recck department. We had it for about a month and a half approved and two nights before the first game they told us no. No reason, just no. How do you tell a bunch of kids who've been working for something that is part of this county that they can't play a sport because someone said no and they won't give a reason? So, the parents got together and sent in a whole bunch of letters and you all definitely did the right thing and you were able to get it squared away and I very much appreciate that. But we need something permanent and that permanent that I'm looking for at this point is utilizing the grants that we have available to us as a club in a socioeconomically challenged area to put in lights. We already identified we can get to put in bleachers. we've identified we can get to build out the field to hopefully show performance and put through a facility and build out additional fields and it's not at any cost to the county at all. We're just looking for the partnership and the

sponsorship so we could take these resources and use them for the kids. I think I got my time in. Thank you very much. Thank you. We appreciate you being here. Keith Johnson. Hello, Mr. Johnson. How are you this evening? Fine. Good. Thank you. I have copies for you if you want. If you'd state your name and address, sir.

Keith Johnson, 190 Leading Oak Road in Boone Mill. Thank you for uh letting me speak to you tonight. I suspect most of you on this board follow national news. Have you seen the billions of dollars of fraud in Minnesota, California, and other states? How does this happen? How can states and localities steal billions from taxpayers? One way is the people in charge approve of fraud and lie about it. When people point out misconduct, the people in charge attack the messenger. For years, we've been trying to get our public schools to stop providing pornographic material to our children. School assist school officials say they don't have porn in a school. As you recall, previous board, I gave you a flyer with four of many examples of porn the school made available to our children. Do you think those books were pornographic and inappropriate for our students? Two years ago, I challenged 15 books following school policy. School officials immediately fabricated lies about me and spread the lies all over our community. A very lielist behavior. They violated their own policy then change school policy to not allow community involvement in the book policy. They lied about that at p about that policy at public meetings. School officials lost so many students they needed to lose they needed to close two schools. They asked you for the money to keep the schools open, but once they received the money, they closed the schools anyway. Did you get your money back? Did you get our money back? Recently, we learned the school has a large budget shortfall, claiming it was a line item budget mistake. They spent the money but didn't know they didn't have the money. So, do you think that was an honest mistake? What does this pattern suggest? School officials lied about the porn. They lied

about their new library book policy. They fabricated lies about me. They lied about closing the two elementary schools. They can't hold to a line item budget. 30% of parents have removed their children from Franklin County Schools because they don't trust the school with their children. How many times are going to lie to you before you realize they're lying to you? This demonstrates all the markings of the fraud we see in other states. Should you be giving them what they ask for without requiring improved policy and performance at the school? This involves our children and Franklin County taxpayer money. Your lawyer was mistaken when he told you not to get involved. I hope you reconsider your options. Thank you.

Thank you. Tracy Whitaker. Good evening, Mr. Whitaker. Good evening. If you'd state your name and address, please. Tracy Whitaker, 361 Leading Lane, Rocky Mount. We're glad to have you with us,

Madam Chair. Thanks for having me board. Appreciate you letting me speak to you once again. Um, I'm here to ask you to pass phase three. Uh, I was contracted years ago, uh, signed a contract and that, uh, he's writing a county lie. They didn't stick to it. Uh, froze their uh, our steps for about seven years. impacted me uh economically. Uh my dad said that uh a lot of againers come from my family from Washington County. They're again spending money again buying a new fire truck again spending for school. But I'm not anger. I'm here to stand up for something. And that's the students and the my colleagues that have been uh left without the proper uh pay that we deserve. Um and the students with proper uh supervision that they deserve. And so uh I know here next week you're going to be working closely with the school board. And I appreciate you doing that. Uh, and while you're in there helping fix and make sure the budget's right, just try to see if there's 3.5 for that phase three that we promised for a while to make up for their shortcomings in the past. Um, and I know uh the idea of raising taxes doesn't get you back in that chair, but uh I think folks understand inflation and stand understand that a firet truck's going to cost more than it did two years ago. Police car is going to cost more. Um, and so, uh, I know the tough decisions that y'all have to make, um, that impact all of us, and I do appreciate your sacrifice and the time that y'all put into, uh, putting all these numbers together. Uh, but I just

ask, uh, that you'd uh, once again work with the school board, try to uh, make sure that that money is there to fund the phase three. Among the other things, uh, we uh, have a CTE program. I think is great. Uh, but we also need to be looking out for the students that want to go to the higher education and compete with the Northern Virginia students. Uh, I've got personal experience with sending my son to Radford and Tech having difficulties keeping up with the Franklin County education there. Um, so, uh, I ask that you, uh, do what you can for, uh, the students and teachers and pass, uh, and help fund the phase three. Thank you.

Thank you so much,

Matthew. And I can't make out the last name. Placeo.

Good evening, Mr. Placed. If you'd state your name and address, please. Certainly. My name is Matthew Placedo. I live over at 2827 Lakewood Forest Drive. It's my first time coming out here to meet y'all. I've been learning a lot about the place I live. Wish it could be the place I work. Unfortunately, I can't afford to teach in Franklin County School. So, I commute up to Rowan Oak every day and I've been going to a lot of meetings like these up there. I wish to be here more to learn about where I live and the people I live. I've learned a lot just sitting here listening to folks talk, listen to you folks discuss all the wonderful work you're doing. I'm excited to learn what's going to be happening over about that uh West Lake Plaza. Um I want to talk about what a teacher is. A teacher is someone who does something with nothing. I heard somebody comment for example about pornographic literature being distributed. Now I don't know nothing about that in a no school but a teacher is someone who regardless of whether there's a book in the library or not pornographic or otherwise they can go into a room with a bunch of students and make them learn and they will find the resources they need to do it. They just need to get paid. So, I know you're going to be meeting with our school board and there's going to be a lot of tough discussions about money. Hey, I've been going to a lot of these in Rowan Oak. There's a lot of tough discussions about money between the uh council and school board there as well. One thing I hope you keep in mind as you're there, and I say this as a taxpayer and someone who lives there and someone who's willing to pay more in taxes since I live in quite a nice neighborhood despite being a teacher. Um, and you guys work really hard to make it so that folks like me can afford to live here. So, know that I do

appreciate that you try to keep the taxes low where you can. The thing I want you to keep in mind is that wherever the money is going once it passes into the hands of the school, when it doesn't go to the teachers, we end up with situations like this where people come and they express frustrations about their loss of faith in the school. Where teachers come and they say, "We wish you well." working with all the folks in admin who do a wonderful job trying to keep things together, but at the end of the day, we're still in a classroom wondering if we're going to be able to pay our own bills. Now, I don't know about you, but I've been in that situation before. I was a much worse off teacher for it. Teachers spend their own money on their kids. It's a fact. I do it right now in Roanoke. I'm lucky enough to be in a point in my career where I can afford to do that. I just ask that you make it happen that these teachers can afford to do that too for our kids because our kids here in Franklin County deserve that. Thank you.

Thank you very much. By Ananda. Uh Bati Ananda 3249 Foothills Road Callaway. Good evening sir.

Good evening. Y'all know what I'm going to talk about. Hello supervisors. I am here once again to speak about the improvement of education in our county. I'm a teacher at Rocky Mount Elementary and I'm proud to serve this lovely community which is full of sweet and kind individuals and rich history which I've found out since moving here 5 years ago and happy to call this place my home. It is because of the love that I have for the county that I choose to speak today. Despite the budget crisis, the compensation for teachers in this county is anomalous. The excellent teachers that have chosen to stay in this county are doing so out of pure generosity, and to continue not to prioritize their deserved compensation is a decision that I hope is not made. The students in this county are our future. A choice not to prioritize their education by not funding phase three needs to be avoided. a footnote here as well. Um, I remember some comment that was made. Uh, I don't want it to seem like I'm just calling out y'all and not the school board. We go and we talk to the school board and we say the same things. I understand that it needs to be uh y'all working together and not, you know, I'm not trying to point any fingers of blame here. Um, and I appreciate all the work that y'all do, of course. Thank you for hearing me out. I'm grateful for y'all's work to make this community, this community county a better place. And I'm grateful to call this place my home. Like I said, thank you.

Thank you very much. Shannon Brooks. Good evening, Miss Brooks. How are you? I'm doing all right. How are y'all? I'm doing well. If you'd state your name and address, please. Sure. Give me just one second. I'm trying to get my little file. Oh, you're fine. You're fine. I'm having a tech technology moment here. We all have those. I know, right? Okay.

I'm Shannon Brooks. I live at 1680 Standard Road, Union Hall, Virginia. And uh I'm speaking tonight partly as a teacher uh with 19 years experience, all of them in Franklin County. Uh mainly I'm here tonight to speak as a Franklin County resident actually. So that's a little bit different. Um specifically, um let me give you a little bit of background. Okay. So, I have a household, right? And as a head of household, I have a budget. Okay. And and you I've been thinking a lot about budgets lately. Y'all been thinking a lot about budgets. And one of the things that we all learn about budgets is when you run out of money before you run out of month, you have to rework your budget. Um, and so I just been thinking a lot about that about where does our money come from and things like that. So, I got to thinking. And I thought, well, where does Franklin Countyy's money come from? What comes from taxes? Well, yeah, duh, Shannon, right? So then I thought, well, but specifically where what about those numbers and how do they compare with other localities? Okay, because I've been here a long time. I've been here since I was 9 years old. Okay, as long as I've been working, I've been paying taxes. So, where's my money go? And how does it compare with other counties around us? So, I've got some numbers. Brace yourselves. Okay, there's some math involved here. First number, $62,000. $62,000 turns out to be the median household income for a Franklin County family. I was surprised by that. Here's another number. 43 cents. 43 cents is the tax rate per $100 of assessed value for Franklin County. You guys know that. So, I started looking at that and I thought, well, how does that rate compare with other counties around us? And I was real surprised to find some things. Um, first of all, I found that we have this number called an LCI. Stands for local composite index. basically how much the state says we should be able to pay towards our school budget. And I know we've gotten a real bad deal with our number, our LCI number lately, but when I went back and looked

at other counties that have LCIs like ours, I was really surprised because what I found was that the four counties in Virginia that have an LCI like ours, they all have a higher tax rate even though, get this, their median household income is almost identical to ours. So that was interesting. And I thought, well, but we all know that LCI is based on property values. Property values don't pay taxes. People pay taxes. Income pays taxes. So I thought, well, let's look at other counties that have similar household median incomes to ours, there are 10 of them, by the way. And of the 10 counties that have a median household income like ours, Franklin County has the lowest tax rate of all of them, we're not talking small numbers. anywhere from 12% to 42% lower. The average county in this state with an income uh structure like ours is raising 25% more through real estate taxes than we are. And that adds up. Now, I don't like paying taxes, but you better believe I like living in Franklin County and I like what taxes buy me. And I'm sure I'm not the only one. think about it.

Thank you so much. That's all I have. Thank you. Is there anyone here that would like to speak to the board that didn't sign up? We're happy to hear from you. Okay, sir. Please come forward. If you'd state your name and address, please. Um, Roger McBride. I'm representing Germantown Brick Church of Brethren. My address is 41510 Franklin Turnpike Road, Glade Hill, Virginia. Thank you.

Uh, one of our concerns there at the church is the pavilion. We've been using that for about I think about three years. I don't know exactly when it was built, but it's probably in that frame of time. Uh, I have talked with a couple of the administrators of the county. One of them is Mike uh Bernett and Paul Chapman. And about water and sewer for the pavilion area. I know it's not many people likes to use Porter John's. I particularly don't like to use them. I don't know if any of y'all do, but they during the Fourth of July they smell pretty bad. Also, there's no place to change baby diapers except on the picnic tables that's been provided. And on the picnic tables, if you go in there at certain part of the time days, nobody's clean them, you got a whole lot of droppings from birds that flies across, you got no water to clean it off. So, look like we could come up with enough money to build restrooms, put water fountains in that people can use when they play in the sport field there near the pavilion area. And uh anyone else that's having a picnic or birthday party or celebration, thank you very much.

Thank you, sir. We appreciate you being with us. Yes, ma'am. Thank you for hanging with us. Sorry. No, you're fine. If you'd state your name and address, please.

Leanne Worly, 1995 Scufflin Hill Road. Thank you all for letting me speak tonight. I'm a resident of Franklin County for 53 years. Proud public educator in our public schools in this community for 32 and a blessed parent of a junior at Franklin County High School going on 17 years soon. Hard to believe it. For decades, Virginia's own auditing committee has acknowledged the prek through 12 funding system is antiquated and should change. In July of 2023, this committee called JARK sent a 164page report full of recommendations to Governor Yncan and the general assembly regarding why the system needs an overhaul and how to better fund public schools. This is not new information. Um, it's just the newest iteration of these ideas. Unfortunately, like previous governors and general assemblies, no action or initiative in this area was taken. Even worse, Yncan's last year of his bianium budget shifts even more burden to this locality. According to the state formula, Franklin County's ability to pay for its schools is higher and thus they are using LCI, local composite index, to reduce state funding for our schools. As we enter into the budget season yet again looking at more needs than what the state is funding, I implore you all to please work with funding the needs of our schools, especially phase three of the salary plan. It is essential to retaining quality teachers in our classrooms. It is imperative that we all work together. You have two primary responsibilities. You have more, but two primary responsibilities to our local government. Public safety and the education of our children. And we must ensure that they are funded to the best of our ability to have a productive community for our citizens. Budget season is a time when all too often the pitfalls of social media and questioning in ways that are dishonest, like allegations of porn in our school, are

divisive and hurt our opportunity to do better as citizens and representatives in our community. Unfortunately, a vocal few root themselves in accusatory cherry-picking of budget items to question instead of engaging in constructive dialogue grounded in not just facts and figures, but also rationale. There's a report called the comparative report of local government revenue. And in short, if I compare Franklin County's local government, what Steve Sandy's office does, it says that you all spend $4 million more than Henry County does. I could cherrypick that and make an assumption that based on that dollar difference, there's waste in your office and that Franklin County Administration office should be questioned. But if we work together, we may find that there's room for efficiency, or we may find there's a justifiable reason for this discrepancy. As you work with the school system, the latter is imperative in what I implore each of you to do. We must work together to find answers and questions to our budgetary needs without assumptions and lack of rationale. For example, Mr. Tatum asked recently, "How is Henry County able to spend more for their teachers? they get $1,400 more per pupil in state funding. That's how creative funding formulas um are what we need, but those have been put on the back burner and that puts more on you. Our c our community's uh growth depends on strong schools. We can't point fingers over ADM. We've always had a larger number of religious exemptions and homeschooling. In addition, we've also called for this silver tsunami, which was going to reduce ADM, and we've known about it since the late 90s. So, let's quit pointing fingers. I want to thank you for the funding that you have given us above the SOQ's, but they are the minimum. And I would be remiss if I didn't reiterate that the SOQs are inadequate. I hope for a day when

Virginia funds us at the at the level they should. Until then, I beg you to find a way to do so. Thank you, Miss Wley.

Anyone else like to address the board? Yes, sir. Please. Good evening. Hello. If you'd state your name and address, please. I'm Doug Flor. live at 251 Pleasant Breeze Road,

right across the road from where the uh the the power station is supposed to be put. And your man from Appalachin said that he didn't think it made much noise. Um a constant buzz 24 hours a day, seven days a week is a lot of noise. And keep in mind, you know, there this thing was uh in a large plan earlier to go on a north side of Brick Church and uh close to Stickback U and now it's being changed to in front of my house and that's a concern one because of noise and also I'd like to mention what Roger said about the business park needing restroom. rooms.

Um, that's that's seems to be a major problem over there. Uh, people a lot of people walk dogs. There's no trash can or anything for them to throw waste in. And, you know, there's there's no disposable thing anywhere and it's all up and down the road. So, those are issues that need to be addressed in the business park. Thank you.

Thank you so much. We appreciate you being here. Is there anyone else that would like to address the board? Please feel free. Okay. Uh hearing none. Um we will close public comment for the evening. Uh and Mr. Mitchell, if you would be so kind to take us back into close session, please.

Franklin County Board of Supervisors moves to enter into a closed meeting in accordance with 2.2-371. 2-3711 A1 Personnel discussion of appointments to county boards, commissions, etc. A3 discussion of the acquisition of real property or the disposition of real property. A5 discussion concerning a prospective business or industry or the expansion of an existing business or industry. A8 consultation with legal council employed or retained by a public body regarding specific legal matters requiring the provision of legal advice by such counsel. Is there a second, please? Second. Thank you, Mr. Tatum. Roll call vote, please. Madame clerk. Supervisor Mitchell, yes. Supervisor Quinn, yes. Supervisor Tatum, yes. Supervisor Carter, yes. Supervisor Meredith,

yes. Supervisor Jameson, yes. Chair Smith, yes. Okay, we'll adjourn back. Um, why don't we go in the uh

Okay. Uh, gentlemen, we're going to certify our close session. Mr. Mitchell, if you'd be so kind. I certify that only public business matters lawfully exempted from open meeting requirements on the Virginia Freedom of Information Act were heard, discussed, or considered in the closed session to which this certification applies. And only such business matters as were identified in the motion by which this closed session was convened or heard, discussed, or considered in the meeting to which this certification applies. Is there a second? Second. Thank you, Mr. Quinn. Roll call vote, please. Madame Clerk. Supervisor Quinn. Yes. Supervisor Tatum. is absent for the vote. Supervisor Carter, yes. Supervisor Jameson, yes. Supervisor Mitchell, yes. Supervisor Meredith, yes. And Chair Smith,

yes. Okay. The next item of business, which will be our last item uh for today, will be appointments. Uh we have three to make. Um and the first is for aging services um for the Boone district. Mr. Meredith. Yes, madam chair. I'd like to make a motion to uh for Benny Russell to serve another term on agent services representing the Boone district, please. Thank you. Is there a second? Second. Thank you, Mr. Mitchell. All those in favor, please say I. I. And that carries. Uh, next one is going to be um the planning commission seat uh for Rocky Mount, Mr. Carter.

Thank you, Madam Chair. I'd like to reappoint uh Mr. David Clemens. I've spoke to him and he agrees to serve again. Thank you. Is there a second? Second. Thank you, Mr. Mitchell. All those in favor, please say I. I. Okay, that carries unanimously. The last one that we have um is to appoint Danny Poe for the Western Virginia Regional Industrial Facility Authority to serve as an alternate for Mr. Sandy. So, I'd entertain a motion for Danny's appointment. So, move. Thank you, Mr. Mitchell. Second. Thank you. Uh all those in favor, please say I. I.

Okay. Very good. We are going to adjourn, gentlemen, uh until and we'll recess until um Thursday, February 19th. And I'll see you then.