Board of Supervisors - Regular Meeting

Okay, I'm going to call to order this meeting of the Montgomery County Board of Supervisors on Monday, July 27th, 2026. The first item on our agenda is a moment of silence and Pledge of Allegiance led by our County Administrator, Angie Hill.

Please rise as you're able for a moment of silence and then join me as I lead us in the pledge. Let us pledge. I pledge allegiance 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. Thank you.

Thank you, Angie. We get to start tonight with a really moving presentation. I'd like to welcome our Sheriff, Sheriff Page and Chief Deputy Oakley to the front here and they'll introduce and talk a little bit about this presentation. Welcome, thank you for being here.

Good evening everyone and thank you for having us. Thank you Madam Chair and the rest of the Board of Supervisors and Administrators for supporting us. And for allowing us to honor these men and women behind me that, uh, that I love to call family. Um, one of the greatest privileges that I have as being the sheriff is recognizing the men and women who wear the badge. And the sacrifices they make to protect our community earlier this year, these deputies responded without hesitation during a dangerous incident to protect our community. Chief deputy Oakley is going to talk more about the award and what it means to us.

Good evening, everyone, and thank you again for allowing us to be here. Greatly appreciate it. So this evening, the awards that we have are Eric Sutphin Valor Awards. So again, I'll briefly talk about the award before we get started in the incident. As many of you are likely familiar with, Corporal Eric Sutphin died in the line of duty serving Montgomery County. Actually, about three weeks from now, We hit the 20-year mark from where we lost Corporal Sutphin. So Corporal Sutphin was a hero. He was a leader. And this award will hopefully continue to honor his legacy, his sacrifice, and the service that he gave to the citizens of Montgomery County. So a little bit about the incident itself. Um, in, in this job, we, we give a lot of sacrifice. We, um, you know, miss holidays. We miss time with family. We work long shifts, long nights. Um, there's a lot of time spent away from families and we don't always get recognized for those, those sacrifices. And on March 25th, 2026. Another sacrifice that was made was our deputies, Christiansburg Police Department, as well as Fire EMS sacrificed their safety to protect Montgomery County citizens. So there was a structure fire, an apartment complex in the town of Christiansburg The building wasn't fully involved, however, it was very well on fire and without first responders, it would have been fully involved. There were multiple citizens that were trapped inside of the apartment complex. Fortunately, as Sheriff Page said, they they acted without hesitation and were able to extract the families, children from the apartment complex and no one was injured miraculously. So we're greatly, greatly appreciative of them for their service. And again, for their sacrifice, keeping the citizens of Montgomery County safe. So at this time, if you all would please step forward and accept this token of appreciation.

You'll need to stay on the mic. Yeah.

Deputy Brittany Harless, Sergeant Matthew Donnelly, Sergeant Cody Blankenship, Captain Casey Phillips. Thank you all again for your service and everything that you do for the county. Thank you all again.

Thank you all. Thank you for being here and allowing us to be part of the recognition. Thank you for all that you do for our community. You're much appreciated. Thank you. Okay, our next item on our agenda is a public hearing. This is an ordinance to establish the tax rate for a separate classification for personal property taxation for motor vehicles for certain members of volunteer rescue squad or volunteer fire departments. And the proposed ordinance is to establish a tax rate of $1 per $100. Angie, did we have anything to present before the public hearing?

We don't have anything to present. If anybody has any questions, we can answer those.

Okay. Does anybody have any questions before we open the public hearing? I know we've covered this in several work sessions. Okay. So we did have a sign-up sheet in front of the room. I'm going to go ahead and read the guidelines for public address. They apply both to this public hearing and to public address later on our agenda. So a public address sign-up sheet or a public hearing sign-up sheet was available in the hallway outside the meeting room. Following the names on the sign-up sheet, other speakers will be allowed. Each speaker has four minutes, whether speaking as an individual or a representative, and all comments must be directed to the chair and other supervisors from the speaker's lectern at the front of the room. Please begin by stating your name and where in the county you reside. Debate between speakers and members of the audience will not be allowed. Speakers may leave any written comments or statements with our board clerk down here, and speakers will be judged out of order should they engage in personal attacks, use profanity or abusive language, or debate with the audience and not address the supervisors. Accepted etiquette is to not applaud or make loud responses. So we did have a sign-up sheet outside. We did have one person sign up in advance. So Joshua Tickle, if you'll come forward, and then if anybody else would like to speak on the subject of this public hearing after Mr. Tickle, we'll have you come up at that time. Welcome, sir.

I'm Joshua Tickle. I live in Charlottesville, Virginia. I'm currently the chief of Elliston Fire Department. I'd like to thank the board for considering this Incentive for the volunteers not only for my department, but the whole county I'd like to go over a couple of the other incentives that are available So the people listening will know have a five fifty thousand dollar insurance policy life insurance that pays out for members under 70 and twenty five thousand seventy plus We get workers comp insurance through the County. The $23 and 50 cent County motor vehicle fee is waived. We get a hundred dollars yearly payment. It used to be a gas card, but now we just give a check. And then there's a contribute contribution to a kind of like a retirement account for the County. It's payable at age 60 and after five years of service, um, I would just like to show my support for this. I believe most of these that I've read off are longer-term incentives that you may not see for the short time. And I believe that this will help retain people, get people more active, and help y'all show your appreciation to us as volunteers. Thank you.

Thank you. Would anybody else like to come forward to address the board on the topic of this public hearing? Okay, seeing nobody else come forward, this public hearing is closed and we'll move to public address. We did also have a sign-up sheet for public address in the hallway outside the meeting room. There was nobody signed up on the sign-up sheet. Would anybody in the room like to come forward? Good evening, welcome.

Good evening, my name is Kelly Brennan and I'm from Reiner. First, I want to thank Supervisor King for expressing a desire to create a meeting format for open dialogue between board members and community members. And I'm pleased that that idea was well received and put on a future to be discussed by the board here. I think this is a tremendous idea that moves us in the right direction of creating lines of communication and trust between citizens and our local government. Hosting meetings of citizens on citizens' home turf, where it can be recorded and streamed, has the potential of reducing barriers for citizen participation by reducing travel time and distance, offering meeting space in a familiar and more comfortable place than FORMAL BOARD ROOM AND A SETTING MORE INVITING AND COLLABORATIVE TONE THAT IS TYPICAL THAN THE ONE THAT IS TYPICAL IN THIS SPACE. I THINK PEOPLE JUST CAN BE A LOT MORE COMFORTABLE IN THEIR HOME TURF. IN THAT VEIN, I'VE SPOKEN WITH MS. HILL ABOUT POSSIBLE WAYS TO IMPROVE AND INCREASE WAYS TO ABOUT THE WORKINGS OF OUR LOCAL GOVERNMENT, PRIMARILY INVOLVING EXPANDING THE RANGE OF TOPICS IN THE NEWS FEED ON THE COUNTY WEB PAGE AND THE FREQUENCY WITH WHICH THEY ARE UPDATED. A LOT OF THIS INTEREST FOR ME ARISES FROM THE DATA CENTER STORM DEBATE THAT IS HAPPENING IN OUR country right now and in the Commonwealth in particular for us. And to me, opening new avenues and lines of communication about the workings of government are critically important in addressing this issue as well as many others facing us. One thing I've learned in these conversations is that there is a tentative plan to hold a joint meeting between the Board of Supervisors and the Planning Commission on September 17th to provide and informational session on data centers. Again, I think this is a great idea, and I thank you for doing that. I would ask that this joint meeting include voices from all interested parties, including industry proponents, as well as environmental energy human dimensions, advocates. There are many people with expertise in these fields who could be invited. One right here is the Dan River Basin Association, just has outstanding information about environmental concerns and needs. I'm sure there's plenty of others. There are many people in this area who have that expertise at Virginia Tech and other places. And we should also include folks who actually have an experience of living next to data centers, just for that perspective. Because again, I feel like the more voices we have, the more we can make a better decision that really meets the needs and desires of our citizens. Another thing I've learned in this conversations with Ms. Hill is that there's a plan originating from this board to have a work session to discuss issues revolving around the Swan Compressor Station. coupled with a desire to hear more from the public. And again, I thank you for that, and I think that's a great idea. This would provide an excellent opportunity to present the summary of what's been going on with that compressor station and where we are with that process. And it also seems like an ideal opportunity to present... Okay, sorry, thank you.

Thank you. Is there anybody else that would like to come forward?

Welcome. Thank you. I'm Carola Haas and I live in Reiner. I just wanted to belatedly thank you all for the December resolution regarding the proposed MVP boost SWAN compressor station. It was really important that the resolution mentioned indirect and cumulative impacts as well as direct impacts. And I really want to encourage the board to ensure that you have an opportunity to review an impartial environmental impact statement as you requested. and or to perhaps invite local expertise to comment before any reconsideration of your hesitation about this facility. Cumulative impacts are so important, right? If I have a little smoke coming from my neighbor's campfire one day, you know, yes, it will have some impact on my lungs, but very minor. But I have, if I'm surrounded by neighbors and it's every day and it's all this smoke, it can like really dramatically increase increase my health risks. And so I really appreciate this board for acknowledging the importance of those cumulative impacts. Sadly, at the federal level, those are often ignored lately. And they say, oh, we just have to consider each unit independently. But for those of us living in the actual world, the cumulative impacts really do build up. And so I think that was so farsighted of you. And I just wanted to thank you for doing that and hope that you will continue to keep in mind that any environmental impact statement that comes back must address those before you would reconsider your position. Thank you.

Thank you. Would anybody else like to come forward to address the board on any topic? Seeing no one, we'll close public address, and we do not have an addendum this evening, so the next item on our agenda is to go into work session. The purpose of this work session is to discuss the fire and rescue comprehensive assessment. Is there a motion?

So moved.

Second. Okay, Madam Clerk, if you'll call the roll, please.

Ms. Biggs? Aye. Mr. Grafsky? Aye. Ms. Caron? Aye. Mr. Kitts? Aye. Mr. King? Aye. Mr. Fijikowski? Aye. Chair DeMont? Aye. Seven ayes.

All right, I don't know, okay, go right ahead.

All right, you've had an opportunity to look through the comprehensive fire and rescue assessment, which is quite detailed, and I know it's gonna take some time for us to work through, so we wanted to have a series of work sessions to help with that process, and as a reminder, the Board of Supervisors is going to meet with Christiansburg Town Council on August 17th to discuss funding options for fire and rescue, And county and town staff have been meeting, including Kim Eagle and myself, to talk about plans for that meeting and to, we're regular, gonna meet once a week until the August 17th date to evaluate the funding options and plan for the meeting. And we wanted to, because we know that that's one of the first items, address. We wanted to then give you an opportunity to give us some feedback about what you might prioritize next. So Chris is going to do a presentation for you and then we'll get some feedback from you at the end. Thank you.

Great.

Thank you. So the focus of the presentation is just a little reminder, a little orientation. The overall study focused on about six strategic themes that are addressed. And you think the study's looking into the future and focused on governance and oversight. improved resource allocation and staffing, funding, which is a big topic, health and safety of our volunteers and career staff, so the actual practitioners in the field providing those services, level of service, countywide approach, countywide system approach, and then dispatch and communication. So when you read the study, it has all of its chapters, but you can kind of narrow it down to six big topic areas. And then the second kind of big construct of the study was the consultant's perspective and recommendations. And they were presented in kind of three phases, if you will. Phase one being short-term, immediate, things we should probably work on like now. Phase two is intermediate. probably in a couple years it's not something necessarily that you have to wait but it'll probably be several years before you can really start to address those and then phase three is extended it's probably five eight ten years out some of those are really expensive some of those just take time some of those you have lots of different perspectives that you have to work through So we kind of took all those the recommendations that were presented and just to present them in one single slide of 300 page study is phase one phase two and phase three and those are just back to the the general topics that we would the consultant presented as when to start addressing them and One of the things that did come up and the meeting with Christiansburg about funding is a perfect example. These are the consultant's recommendations based on what they heard, what they felt and how they could see us addressing them. but we control that, you control that as the board, as well as the two towns and their town council. So where, and this is kind of the point to start tonight, is where some of these recommendations and priorities lie is in the vision of what the consultant said, but you get to choose your path forward. And some things may be more important to you. We may have better opportunities to address them and just have a different perspective. This is just the way the report is organized. So really the question that we just wanted to present and just start tonight with, we have multiple work sessions we will plan into the future. You know, how we as staff kind of digest the report and organize it into presentations, actionable opportunities, things we should work on, try to figure out. We'll do that with you and with your direction. That's really all the formal part that I have. Angie did touch on, we are actively working as staff to develop a presentation with Christiansburg staff on the town's fire and EMF services as it relates to funding. They pay for bulk of all their services we provide some funding today and then this would provide some analytical approach to you know is there a different funding model the report touched on several different ideas ultimately you know we're evaluating them and we'll provide our perspective and recommendation with some data to to back that up and support it So really with that, I don't have anything else formal to present, but would be happy to either answer questions or if there are some points. For example, Mr. Grafsky asked the question at a presentation, why was health and safety in the third phase? If there are some things that are priorities, it may not be all of it, but we could do that much sooner. It just depends on what your priority is and how we can address that.

So you're looking for guidance tonight, one, on framing the joint meeting that we have with the town of Christiansburg, but then also so we can kind of look at a series of work sessions or discussions. What are board members most interested in having deeper conversations about? Am I picking this up correctly?

I think the August 17th meeting, we don't need guidance on that. I think we have enough for that. But I guess if you have some topic that you really want to prioritize, if you want to let us know that. Otherwise, I think we can work through the study. Yeah. and kind of look at the order that was presented and see what makes sense for us. But if anybody has something that they wanted to bring up as a top priority.

So I will start with some questions and I'm looking at one of our fire volunteers and the board's liaison to the Fire and Rescue Commission is kind of a good starting point. Do you guys want to duke it out on who goes first?

Again, and I've talked to staff. I'm still working through it because I'm really trying to develop some questions for staff and for them, for the group that did the evaluation. But one question I have is I keep hearing this over and over again of Christiansburg. What about Blacksburg? Because it's a singular county.

Correct.

Anything?

Yeah, I think from throughout the whole study, the study, the genesis to the study was a County Christiansburg discussion of services and funding and the board kind of expressed, we really need a bigger picture study before we just enter into financial discussions. as we brought Blacksburg to the table as part of the whole system. They have a very strong volunteer system that was apparent in the study, that was reflected in the study. That's their position. So they were not... as much in a position to, to have as many needs, uh, that has, that has been expressed. Um, so with that, we, you know, we're kind of, I think working towards, you know, where we see the biggest priority and the biggest need, uh, and that started in Christiansburg, um, Blacksburg, not that they don't have needs by any means. It's just, that was where the priorities kind of laid.

And I haven't seen it yet on a agenda for the town of Blacksburg to discuss with all of town council.

See, and I understand where they're coming from. I just, I just, it gives me angst as we sit here and grow as a County and the towns grow into the County and responses are spread out. And I know there was a fire where seven different departments actually responded and the coordination and the overall, the oversight and to have incident management control centralized and it, a bunch of different things you've come up about, you know, dispatch channels, uh, and operational channels. And it, it, I have issue with the point that within the county, there are separations, but I understand some of it, but I also understand as we continue to exponentially grow, how important it is to have a cohesive plan for the entire group. So if you've got one group that sits off to the side and goes, oh, I'm fine, I don't care if the rest of the house is on fire, my room's fine, then you're still gonna have a problem. It may not happen now, but it will happen soon And I just think it's very, it's, I'm just a little perplexed at how narrow the vision is for certain areas. So I'm gonna leave that right there and I'm gonna let this go to other questions. Cause I've got some, now I've got some other questions I'm thinking about. So I'm gonna let this go that way.

Okay.

Yes, ma'am.

Good point. Supervisor King.

Thank you, sir. I just want to put out a caution to this board and the staff. I know this study was asked for. I've had a lot of time to read books. Before we implement anything, I think it's very important We talk to the actual people that's out there doing things. One thing may be good for one area, but it's not good for the other. It's just like in this book, it brought up turnout gear. People got different turnout gear. Well, if they actually ask the departments why, it's because each department has different needs. I just want to put caution out there that before we implement anything, because it's gonna make us or break us. But I do appreciate the staff working on it, I really do. Thank you.

Okay, do we have any more burning quits, Supervisor Biggs?

Um, the one thing that I was, well, not just one thing, but one of the things I'm really concerned about is the information about the dispatch service. Like we spent a lot of time and money bringing all of that together so that it would better serve citizens. But in this report, um, there seems to be a problem first with a lack of data and then, um, At the bottom of page eight, it said that as a part of a review of the communication system, the number and type of dispatch and operating channels need to be merged and streamlined to improve personnel safety and to reduce the workload on the dispatch center. multiple agencies having their own dispatch and operating channels that other departments may or may not be operating on is an extreme safety issue. So I guess I'm looking for why is that, number one, and we spent all the money on the radio system, like what's happening? So maybe that could be part of a discussion because that keeps popping up.

Very good point. Supervisor Grafsky, Caron.

First of all, it's like you read my mind, Chris, using my previous example, because I was going to bring back up the health and safety thing. And again, not that every single recommendation necessarily within that section, but I think there are bits and pieces of that that probably fall into some of these earlier phases, whether it's governance and oversight or things like that. But, you know, I see or I I perceive health and safety as being key to some of these other things like recruitment and retention and long term health of you know, the membership or, you know, after volunteers, you know, finish their service having healthy, happy, productive lives after that, you know, and not being at risk because of any sort of environmental or occupational hazards that they may be exposed to throughout that.

Supervisor Caron.

Okay, being of course new for all that, you know, trying to absorb and learn as I go and also I'm going to have the hard copy and reread because it's hard to read everything on the screen. But what I took from, you know, so far in the presentation we had from the, people that did the study, seems like the way that we are and as we are growing, we need to have an oversight as a board. And that means, I think, even though there are individualistic probably aspects of, you know, fire and rescue, different towns in the county, seems like that they suggested we should work under one umbrella as an oversight. So if we are not gonna, I mean, when I receive reports I would like to kind of follow the reports. So if we're not going to follow the reports, why we ask the reports, all right? So that's my thinking. And I think one thing, if I take anything they said we should kind of look at it as a whole entity and address the issues. So I hope we can do that. And I think the data collection that they emphasize, personally, I think important. Having a fire marshal and fire inspector and an OR, I think it is important. And having some subcommittees to work in the different aspects together again, under one umbrella, and every fire and rescue department can send a person for those subcommittees, and I think they can work together and come up with good plans. And again, there are so many items, obviously, how we prioritize what is first is really tough, and I think, I'm hoping work sessions along the way we may discuss FURTHERS AND I WAS ALSO LIKE SUPERVISOR GRAFSKY I THINK HEALTH AND SAFETY SHOULDN'T BE ON THE EXTENDED PHASE ONE BUT MAYBE IN THE I DON'T KNOW IF IT COULD BE IN THE SHORT TERM BUT I THINK IT'S REALLY IMPORTANT IF WE WANT TO KEEP OUR STAFF WORKING HARD AND ENOUGH STAFF TO VOLUNTEER OR CAREER PEOPLE I THINK WE HAVE TO PRIORITIZE THAT AND Yeah, I'm kind of all over the place, but I don't know where we can start. But I feel like the working all together, it was what was suggested through the study. So that's how I feel.

Vice Chair Fizikowski?

Get away without me saying something?

Well, I understand your feeling of being all over the place because this is a huge study. Some of the things that I kind of look at, I look at what do we have now? Is it a mess? No, it's not a mess. We have one town that seems to have to respond to more calls in the county and that may just be because the area around Christiansburg just has more people. But I think one of the most important things that we could address is this formula that you all are working on, and I'm not gonna beat that, but I think that would go a long way to satisfy the towns, both towns, because they both deserve, if they are going out into the county, you know, whether it's mutual aid or whether that's their area they cover, we need to compensate them or pay for those services in a fair manner. I think that's really important. But as I go through this book, because that's what it is, I see a lot of land mines, a lot of land mines because our volunteer rescue and fire are independent. And I think we need to tread lightly on, and this kind of leads back to what Supervisor King said, I think we're gonna need to kind of tread lightly on initiating some of those recommendations because they could have very detrimental effects on our volunteers. Maybe even something as simple as setting up subcommittees. You know, volunteers work. Most of them have jobs. I'd probably guess that all of them have jobs. So that may be hard for them to take on extra committees. Is it a good idea? Yes, I think it's a great idea. but you know, a lot of these things, they seem so matter of fact, but, um, and I'm not sure if they were looking to, uh, mold and shape Montgomery County into the finest answer for everything kind of, uh, departments or if they're just making recommendations. So, uh, yeah, I think, uh, there's a lot of things that are gonna have to be considered as we pick the issues that we want to embrace, how we do that and in what order that we do that, I think it's gonna be pretty important, thank you.

So I don't have really anything new to add. I do think what Supervisor Biggs brought up about making sure that data is collected in a predictable and cohesive manner would be a really, really good first step. And I also was under the impression, you know, we've spent a lot of money on radios, we've got the dispatch center, and so We have all of the tools and maybe we need to kind of think about how do we make sure that these calls, the data is being recorded in the same way consistently throughout the system because we can't understand the system unless the data can kind of give us more information. So I definitely agree with that. And then I also agree with Supervisor King that in a hybrid system with many volunteer departments, it's unrealistic to ask everybody to do the same thing, not only because they're volunteer independent stations, but also because the needs are different. So a firefighter responding to a call in downtown Blacksburg is responding to a very different environment than a firefighter responding to a call on a farm in Reiner. And so the needs of the departments are very different. So I don't think that it's, you know, this is the one size fits all. This is how everybody's turnout gear is going to look. These are the trucks you get. I don't think that that's a good approach. So I think that there's pieces of it that should be everybody does this this way, but then there needs to be respect. That's very clear advice, I know. We're living in the gray. But I do agree with my colleagues that there is a lot to this. We've gotta prepare for our joint meeting with the town of Christiansburg. I'd be interested to see if Blacksburg wants to come back at some point and have a discussion about this because if they're happy, that's wonderful, but they're also part of the whole. And so we need them to be on team, you know, county wide fire and rescue because they're a big part of that. And I think Virginia tech rescue is also a part of this. And so making sure that all of the pieces are, Are you know working together? I think it's pretty important Does anybody else have anything that they would like to add Chris have we like? Given you a whole lot of different direction or do you feel pretty good about what we've given you so far?

I feel good about what you give me so far I think two things just to as a little bit of feedback one is in terms, say like in terms of Blacksburg, we're basically just, they have expressed they will have an opportunity, an invite to come. We just haven't. received that yet as to which meeting works best. Certainly our presentations at the beginning of the summer, it'll be after school starts and a little bit later. But we certainly expect to present the same thing to their council. Their chiefs are just as involved as every other chief. They're very engaged with Chief Geary, so we're all working very closely on all the topics. And then some of those topics, we're already working on. So like radio channels, there's a group working on radio channels. There's a group working on how best to, are there some changes that would benefit the data collection to be more consistent? We have lots of data, but Can it be even better? And the answer is it can. So they're working on that. And then Christiansburg's working on some health safety related to health screenings for their volunteers and how do we work together on something like that. So there's like some health safety things, which is a very broad topic. that we are all, you know, kind of already working on some of that. Maybe we already started before the study even started, but the study has to capture all that. So there's a lot, there is a lot being worked on. And so that's the place that we will continue to bring back, you know, kind of some of that feedback and where we're going. Um, and then I think some of the feedback too, that, that I received was, yeah, we can, you know, kind of organize some presentations around those topics. And then to Angie's point, some of this we'll keep moving through at the pace that we feel like can be supported, but we're not making decisions. It's having the dialogue, having the conversations, whether that's with our elected officials, with the Fire and Rescue Commission, and just bringing everybody along that best fits the process.

And as far as the dispatch is concerned, that comment in the report that says that, it implies that dispatch is coming through different systems. It's not coming through different systems. Sometimes calls are dispatched to individual channels that are related to agencies, but it is one dispatch center. It kind of implies that calls are going to different call centers and that is not the case.

Okay. Does anybody else have anything that they would like to supervisor King?

Also in the study, it says about having committees with the Fire and Rescue Commission. That's good. I mean, that's fine and all. But also, instead of just the chiefs and whoever doing these committees, it also needs to be firefighters and EMS workers. And I know REMS staff and firefighters, Elliston and everywhere has their duties they got to do during the day. So maybe we could have commission meetings in the evening time so volunteers can attend and be involved. Did the two towns get a copy of this magazine?

Yeah, both towns have received it digitally, and they have physical copies as requested. Okay.

Thank you.

Yes, sir. Supervisor Bix. So my question is, and make sure I get this straight. So when we meet with Christiansburg, the two staffs are working on an agenda?

Yes.

Okay. And so it will be focused on, I guess you'll be telling us what will be focused on, but I was just wondering,

wondering what it might be focused on like facilities personnel it's going to be focused on operating costs the funding formula for the overall operating cost not capital but all other um operation and maintenance personnel all of those costs we're going to evaluate the options the funding options that are in the study and then determine if one of those fits us well or if we need to maybe combine a couple elements from different options into one and see if the staff can agree between Christiansburg and the county on what the best path forward is to present to you in a unified way.

Okay. All right. Thank you.

Good luck. Thanks. Any more questions, comments, concerns? Supervisor King. This is Frank.

On the joint meeting with Christiansburg, It may have to be a pretty good lawn, because this is a big book. And we're going to have, what, 14, 20 people there asking questions. So should we have one lawn or two? Whatever. I mean, that's something we need to decide on.

I think the focus of the first meeting is going to be about funding, and maybe we can get through that. If we can't get through that, though, we can certainly have another meeting about that. And then I think that after we figure out the funding piece, there will be other pieces that we need to meet with Christiansburg about to work through those at future meetings.

And maybe since Blacksburg's getting ready to figure out when they can meet with us, we can invite some of their town council if they just want to come and sit and listen.

they'll also be able just like anybody will be able to watch it streamed live as just like all of our meetings.

And I understand your point about, you know, that it's a lot to cover and it could be lengthy. So we'll have a mutually agreed on agenda with topics that we're gonna discuss just to make sure that we're coming into the room. These are the topics that we've agreed to discuss. That way we're making the most efficient use of the time on those topics with the opportunity to have future meetings on other topics as needed, so. Okay, is there a motion to come out of work session? So moved. Second. Okay, any discussion? Madam Clerk, if you'll call the roll, please.

Mr. Grafsky?

Aye.

Ms. Caron? Aye. Mr. Kitts? Aye. Mr. King? Aye. Mr. Fitchikowski? Aye. Ms. Biggs? Aye. Chair DeMott? Aye. Seven ayes.

Okay, next on our agenda is the consent agenda. Is there a motion?

Motion. Second.

Second. Third.

Any discussion on the consent agenda?

What about that airport committee?

I know, what about that airport authority? Resolution to reappoint Supervisor Biggs to the Virginia Tech Montgomery Regional Airport Authority where she has done a great job. Any other questions or discussion? Madam Clerk, if you'll call the roll, please.

Ms. Caron? Aye. Mr. Kitts? Aye. Mr. King?

Aye.

Mr. Fitchikowski? Aye. Ms. Biggs? Aye. Mr. Grafske? Aye. Chair DeMonts? Aye. Seven ayes.

Okay, moving on to new business. Our first item of new business is an ordinance to establish a tax rate for the separate classification for personal property taxation for motor vehicles. This relates to certain members of Volunteer Rescue Squad or Volunteer Fire Department. Angie, did you have some information or anything you wanted to say before we take a motion?

We have received the commissioner of revenues office as of noon today, I think had received 64 returns from fire and rescue volunteers and we, Chris did planner math and I did my math, but it was the same answer. We extrapolated those numbers and based on the 64 people that have applied so far, If 150 volunteers applied for this and the values stayed about the same as we've gotten so far, the tax benefit that the volunteers would receive would be about $52,000 if $1 is the rate. And volunteers have until Wednesday to turn those in, this Wednesday, July 29th.

Okay, thank you, that's a great information update. Is there a motion?

So moved.

Second. Okay, any discussion, questions?

Is this rate the one that we all kind of settled on? I remember we did see several options with costs involved. I'm trying to remember, We've talked about it so many times, it's very confusing.

We did see several different options. And so we voted to advertise at a dollar per hundred. We have a motion and a second on the motion at a dollar per hundred. And I think, at least I'm speaking for me, just me, I am comfortable within year one with that being the rate because it gives us the opportunity to see how effective the program is, if it is used, how much of a change in the tax rate. income collected results and then we could always reevaluate and go down if necessary. I can't envision wanting to go up. Okay.

Thank you. That's a good explanation.

Any other questions or discussions? Okay. Madam Clerk, if you'll call the roll, please. Mr. Kitts?

Aye.

Mr. King?

Abstain.

Let me find it here. Mr. Fijikowski? Aye. Ms. Spitz? Aye. Mr. Grasky? Aye. Ms. Caron? Aye. Chair DeMonts? Aye. Six ayes, one abstain. Great.

So the next item, and these two go hand in hand, this is to adopt a policy for personal property tax exemption for volunteer fire and rescue members. So now that we have adopted the rate, we need to adopt a companion policy to determine who is eligible for that rate. Is there a motion? So moved.

Second.

Is there any discussion? I know we've discussed this at length in work sessions, so seeing no discussion, Madam Clerk, if you'll call the roll, please. Mr. King?

Abstain.

Mr. Fijikowski? Aye. Ms. Biggs? Aye. Mr. Grasky? Aye. Ms. Caron? Aye. Mr. Kitts? Aye. Chair DeMott? Aye. Six ayes, one abstain.

Next item is a resolution to support Montgomery County Public Schools School Construction Assistance Program grant application. Angie, I understand there's just a little bit to say before we take a motion.

Yes. This is to authorize me to sign a letter that supports the schools applying for these funds. We've had this letter come before us in the past, and we did not... move forward with it because it says that we agree, the Board of Supervisors agrees to maintain or increase the percentage of local revenues dedicated to public education throughout the duration of the financing of the project. And in the past, the projects that came before the Board were related to debt financed projects that lasted 20 years. These projects that are being applied for now are all gonna be cash funded so that clause in the agreement doesn't really apply to us.

Great, thank you for that explanation. Is there a motion? So moved.

Second.

Okay, is there any discussions or questions about the information that Angie presented?

So the county's not liable for any of it? That's correct. Okay. Okay.

And these are being funded by cash, by capital reserves or whatever it may be.

Right, the transfers that we make to the school construction fund every year from their tax rate that is set aside for that purpose, yes.

And will these all be, like this probably sounds like I'm, Saying, well, I don't know if we'll be able to maintain funding for school. And that's not what I'm saying, but like, do any of these have the potential for being like multi-year projects, even if they are now? Okay. Thank you. Great.

Okay. Any other questions or comments? Seeing none, Madam Clerk, if you'll call the roll, please.

Mr. Fitchikowsky? Aye. Ms. Biggs? Aye. Mr. Grafsky? Aye. Ms. Caron? Aye. Mr. Kitts? Aye. Mr. King? Aye. Chair DeMott? Aye. Seven ayes.

Okay, the next couple of items are kind of, I think, some more end of the year cleanup type items. So the next item is the Electoral Board and Director of Elections Fiscal Year 27 Budget Reconciliation. And this is an appropriation. Did you have anything to present or say before we take a motion?

The next three appropriation resolutions all reconcile the state approved budget to the county budget because the state was approved after our budget. So they're kind of housekeeping items. And the third one reconciles the library's budget to their state approved budget and also appropriates the Floyd contribution.

Okay, so on the first with the Electoral Board and Director of Elections, is there a motion?

So moved.

Second.

Any discussion or questions?

Seeing none, Madam Clerk, if you'll call the roll, please.

Ms. Biggs? Aye. Mr. Grafsky? Aye. Ms. Caron? Aye. Mr. Kitts? Aye. Mr. King? Aye. Mr. Fijikowski? Aye. Chair DeMonts? Aye. Seven ayes.

Next item is the Compensation Board Fiscal Year 27, Budget Reconciliation. Is there a motion? So moved.

Second.

Any discussion or questions? Seeing none, Madam Clerk, if you'll call the roll, please.

Mr. Grafsky? Aye. Ms. Caron? Aye. Mr. Kitts? Aye. Mr. King? Aye. Mr. Fitchikowski? Aye. Ms. Biggs? Aye. Chair DeMott? Aye. Seven ayes.

Okay, and then the next, as Angie mentioned, is the regional library fiscal year 27 budget reconciliation and Floyd Library budget appropriation. Very eager, very eager.

Second.

Okay, is there any discussion? Madam Clerk, if you'll call the roll, please.

Ms. Caron? Aye. Mr. Kitts? Aye. Mr. King? Aye. Mr. Fitchikowski? Aye. Ms. Ficks? Aye. Mr. Grafsky? Aye. Chair DeMoss?

Aye. Seven ayes. Kidding, of course, aye. All right, next is fire and EMS revenue recovery appropriation.

The county serves as fiscal agent for Blacksburg soft billing revenue recovery program, and so we collect the money and then we pay that to them. So this appropriates the fourth quarter of fiscal year 26 to pay to the town of Blacksburg.

And I'll just read out the dollar amount. This is the fourth quarter only $191,056 collected in soft billing for the town of Blacksburg. Is there a motion? So moved.

Second.

Any discussion?

Yes.

Yes. We'll go right ahead.

This is something that... For many years, Blacksburg resisted for one reason or another, and I am so glad that they've decided to follow this path because it makes total sense. That's why people pay insurance premiums is to get coverage to cover things like this, and it's only right, and it definitely takes the burden off of the town. So I think it's a great thing. I'm glad to see it.

Well stated. Any other comments? Okay. Seeing none, Madam Clerk, if you'll call the roll, please.

Mr. Kitts. Aye. Mr. King. Aye. Mr. Fijikowski. Aye. Ms. Biggs. Aye. Mr. Grafsky. Aye. Ms. Caron. Aye. Chair DeMonts. Aye. Seven ayes.

Okay, and we'll kind of change gears here for our last item. Scrolling down to make sure it is our last item. Okay. This is a proclamation for Montgomery County's 250th anniversary. So this resolution recognizes and commemorates the 250th anniversary of us at Montgomery County. Is there a motion?

So moved. Second. Any discussion? Just thank... Jen and everyone for all the work they've done on it.

Where's my license plate?

You need to get your friends to order some license plates and then we might be able to do it.

Okay, Madam Clerk, if you'll call the roll, please.

Mr. King?

Aye.

Mr. Fijikowski? Aye. Ms. Biggs? Aye. Mr. Grafsky? Aye. Ms. Caron? Aye. Mr. Kitts? Aye. Chair DeMonts? Aye. Seven ayes.

Okay, next we'll move to our reports. Our county attorney is not with us this evening, so we'll go straight to the county administrator's report. Thank you.

Jen and I meet at least once a week. We meet... Many more times than that. But we have a regular meeting once a week that we go over kind of strategic things. Last Tuesday we met and she proposed an idea to me that I think is really great to start doing a monthly pulse check podcast. And it will be three to five minutes and talk about some things that are going on at the county, pretty concise, but it might be things that are of interest to citizens. So I thought that was something that I wanted to share with you all and we'll keep you posted as we move forward with that. And then I had the opportunity over the past couple weeks to speak at the Leadership NRV with Supervisor Graske. That was an enjoyable time to talk with those folks about local government. The Leadership NRV is sponsored by the Chamber of Commerce for a minute. I couldn't think of who they were. And then also last week I was able to participate on the Chamber of Commerce Eggs and Issues Infrastructure Panel. So that was enjoyable as well.

I did hear that you did a great job. Thanks. Like from several people. Well, that's nice. I appreciate that. For representing us so well. Okay. And now we'll move on to board members reports and let's start with supervisor Biggs.

Well, I was there along with some other supervisors and Angie did an outstanding job. She made us all proud of, um, working here in Montgomery County. And I mean, I sincerely, you did a great job. Thanks, I appreciate that. But what was interesting about it was finding out what was going on, especially with Virginia Tech, and then in Blacksburg, I found out information I didn't know. And Christiansburg was really good. I mean, I sort of wish we had that just in another venue for people.

It was good, and we had good attendance, too. Infrastructure was almost... not exactly what the topic was about. It was about infrastructure, but in ways sometimes people don't think about.

It's really good. So that was it. Thank you.

Supervisor King? I'm sure. Ripped the Band-Aid off.

Don't have much to report. I have been meeting with several citizens on two issues. One issue is cell towers. It's a lot of different issues. conversations about cell towers. The next one is a heated issue, data centers. And there's a lot of different views on data centers. But I just want to inform this board, you know, I have been meeting with people and speaking with them on this, and it is a hot topic.

Supervisor Grafsky.

Uh, as Ms. Hill stated, uh, in her update, we participated in the panel, uh, with the, for government day with the leadership NRP group. And that was, that was a lot of fun. Uh, and then I got to stick around for another 45 minutes after that and, and give a presentation, uh, to that group on, on something else. But, um, last week. in addition to eggs and issues, which you had also had the best magic wand request, if you could wave your magic wand. I'll let you tell everybody about that. But on Friday, we had our kickoff meeting with our local Cooperative Extension Office for the Executive Leadership Council. And so this is a group that I think existed prior to the pandemic and then kind of fizzled out. And now the Extension Office is wanting to spin that back up. And so we had our initial meeting on Friday, like I said. well represented, some names that some of you have probably heard before. But the focus of this group is really going to be to help elevate the visibility, the programming, the fantastic work that Cooperative Extension does. And they've got their hands in a lot of things with very few resources. So it was really fun to learn more about Cooperative Extension, their different programs. uh and and some of the upcoming opportunities so i think the first big thing that we're going to be trying to do is once their new building is ready to move in is is get a great turnout for their open house and um and getting them settled there uh i feel like there was one other thing um oh i i've talked to a couple of volunteers uh fire volunteers they're super excited about this ordinance like like now that's this is like legitimately a meaningful thing. And so they're super appreciative and excited about that. So thank you all for your support there. And then I think to Supervisor King's point particularly about data centers that it might come up if I get to go see some concerts.

So I'm just going to throw that out there now. if I could introduce Chair DeMott.

Oh, well, thank you, thank you. And I'm glad that everybody yelled at me, because the Tomato Festival, we definitely don't want to miss that. And I also just want to highlight, before this board meets again, Downtown Blacksburg, Inc. will have the Stepin' Out Festival on August 7th and 8th. That's a Friday and a Saturday. I think it's like 10 a.m. to 10 p.m. both days with live music. No river, but there is a creek that runs through downtown. But do plan to visit and attend that event. Also, the town is definitely starting to pick back up. It's almost U-Haul season in Blacksburg again, so keep that in mind as you're navigating the roads that more patience is starting to become necessary. And I don't have anything else to add. Nobody is flagging me down. Steve got to speak. All right, this meeting is adjourned.