Board of Supervisors (bos) Agendas & Minutes - Regular Meeting

Good evening, everyone. It is 6 o'clock. I'll call our July 28, 2026 meeting of the Board of Supervisors to order. I will note that we do have a quorum with all members present, with the exception of Mr. Martin. And I would also like to welcome Mr. Cook back. It's good to see you here, man. If you would stand, we have Pastor Natalie Drummond from the West End United Methodist Church to provide the invocation and remain standing for the pledge.

Let's pray.

Oh Heavenly Father, we come to you to know you, inviting your presence to be among us.

We ask, Lord, for your wisdom, for your discernment as the members of the council meet, Lord, as the people that they represent are here. Father, we ask that your presence be here as words are spoken with truth, Lord, but also with dignity and love. Father, we ask that you would just be among us, that you would just make the love that Jesus showed just let it be shared among all who are here today. Father, we come to you thanking you for your providence, thanking you that your will is perfect, and Lord, we pray that you would help our hearts to be bent towards what you want to accomplish. We ask all these things in the name of Jesus Christ. Amen. Amen.

indivisible, with liberty and justice for all.

All right, the first item on our agenda is to recognize some outstanding athletes for the county. Ms. Crockett is going to help me present these awards. Since she is the representative of East Swiftfield, she'll be reading out the resolutions for the Scott George Wythe athletes. So Ms. Crockett.

We'll have Skyler McBride come forward, please. Whereas Skylar McBride, a student athlete of George Wythe High School, is proudly represented Wythe County in elite track and field competitions, and whereas through rigorous training and unwavering perseverance and unmatched focus, Skylar McBride overcame previous injury and adversity to establish himself as a top triple and long jumper in the region. whereas at the 2026 Virginia High School League class one outdoor track and field state championship Skyler McBride soared to the top of the podium capturing the state championship title in the boys long jump with a phenomenal personal record leap of 22 feet two and a half inches. Whereas Skyler McBride's triumphant journey serves as a powerful testament to the community that grit, family support, and unyielding work ethic can overcome any obstacle, bringing immense pride to his coaches, teammates, and peers. Now, therefore, be it resolved that the Wythe County Board of Supervisors hereby recognizes and honors Skyler McBride for his extraordinary athletic achievements at the 2026 VHSL Outdoor Track and Field State Championship. and be it further resolved that a copy of this resolution be incorporated in the official minutes of the wythe county board of supervisors and presented to skyler mcbride as a token of the board's appreciation appreciation and esteem adopted on this 28th day of july 2026.

All right, I got a motion by Ms. Crockett. Do I have a second? Second. Second by Mr. Turrey. All in favor signify by saying aye. Aye. Anybody opposed, same size. Congratulations, Scholar.

Thank you. Now I have Emma Foster. Come on, please. Whereas Emma Faulkner, a remarkably talented and disciplined student athlete at George Wythe High School, has brought great distinction to Wytheville, Virginia through her spectacular distance running performances. And whereas through unwavering dedication, passion, and competitive spirit, Emma Faulkner has cemented her place as a dominant force in Virginia High School League Class 1 athletics. Whereas during the 2026 VHSL Class I Indoor Track and Field State Championship, Emma Faulkner captured two individual state titles by winning the 1,000-meter run and the 3,200-meter run. And whereas Emma Faulkner further solidified her championship legacy during the 2026 VHSL Class I Outdoor Track and Field season, securing the individual state championship in the 3,200-meter run with a time of 11.33.02. while also leading her team as state runner-up finish in the four by 800 meter relay. Whereas earning a spectacular total of three track and field individual state championship titles within a single calendar year is a rare and monumental achievement that reflects her incredible grit and worth ethic. Now, therefore, be it resolved that the Wythe County Board of Supervisors hereby commends and congratulates Emma Faulkner for her historic achievements in the 2026 VHSL Class I Track and Field State Championship. And be it further resolved that a copy of this resolution be incorporated into the official minutes of the Wythe County Board of Supervisors and presented to Emma Faulkner as a token of the board's appreciation and esteem adopted this 28th day of July 2026.

All right, I have a motion by Mr. Crockett. Do I have a second? Second. Second by Mr. Morgan. Any questions or concerns? All in favor signify by saying aye. Aye. Anybody opposed? Same sign. Congratulations, Ms. Faulkner. And I do have to ask, I know that was three for this year. How many total is that for you? Six, that's what I was thinking. So you can tell there's a lot of athletic ability in the room. So congratulations and all.

Yes, you had cross country in the fall on top of it, an additional to these. We decided to start combining them together to save on frames.

I was going to say, I've been here for six years, and you've been here every year that I've been here, it seems like. The next student athlete we want to honor is Trey Ward. So the first thing I want to do is I want to present Trey with his state championship title from last year. We did approve this last year and we just failed to get it to Trey. Yeah. Yeah, I didn't. I'm sorry. He's going to be standing up here for a while. All right. So with him on Resolution 2026-18 on a trade war of the rural retreat, high school track and field team. Whereas Trey Ward, a student athlete, Rural Retreat High School, has demonstrated exceptional speed, athleticism, and dedication to the sport of track and field. And whereas during the 2026 Virginia High School League Class 1 Indoor Track Championship, Trey Ward captured an individual state championship in both the 55-meter dash, setting the meet record at 6.6 seconds, and the 300-meter dash, 35.93 seconds. And whereas Trey Ward continued his dominant athletic trajectory into the 2026 Virginia High School League class one outdoor track and field session, securing the individual state championship in the 200 meter dash. Whereas these exemplary milestones build upon an illustration of high school career of Trey, Trey Ward's grit, work ethic, and leadership served as an inspiration to his peers, bringing immense pride and recognition and honor to the rural retreat high schools and the citizens of Wythe County. Therefore, be it resolved that the Wythe County Board of Supervisors hereby recognizes and honors Trey Ward on his extraordinary athletic achievements at the 2026 VHL Track and Field Championships, and be it further resolved that a copy of this resolution be incorporated in the official minutes of the Wythe County Board of Supervisors and presented to Trey as a token of the board's appreciation of his esteem. Adopted this 28th day of July 20, 2026, signed James D. Smith Chair. So he's going to set that one down.

And Trey and your .

Oh, yeah. I need a motion to approve. Second. Motion by Mr. Terry. Second. Second by Mr. Morgan. Any questions or concerns? All in favor signify by saying aye. Aye. Anybody opposed, same sign. Congratulations, Trey. So if I can have Brody Childers, Jake Robinson, Chaz Penright, and Trey Gordon. I told you he was going to be up here for a while.

How many does that make for you, Charlie? That's three. Seven. Seven.

Again, this gentleman and this young lady has been here often. With county resolution 2026 dash 19 honoring the rural retreat high school boys for the 100 meter relay team, whereas the rural retreat high school boys for the 100 meter relay team comprising dedicated student athletes Brody shoulders, Jake Rawlinson, jazz pin right and Trey Ward proudly represented with county at the high school level of high school athletics. And whereas at the 2026 Virginia High School League class one outdoor track and field championships, The retreat Indians relay squad, the labor master class performers to capture the individual state championship title and the boys for the one time 100 meter relay. Cross country finish line in a blistering fashion with a spectacular time 43.09 seconds. And whereas the state championship triumph caps off a historical season demonstrating i'm sorry domison bringing immense regional recognition pride and distinction to the rory street high school its coaches staff and the entire with county community now therefore be let be it resolved that the with county board of supervisors hereby extends its highest accolades and congratulations and official um come the nations to brody shielders jack rawlinson's chas penwright and trey ward for the moment momentum monumental 2026 virginia high school classroom one state championship and school's record achievement. We have further resolved that a copy of this resolution be incorporated into the official minutes of the Wood County Board of Supervisors and presented to the Rural Retreat High School Boys 4 over 100 meter relay team as a token of the board's appreciation and esteem adopted this 28th day of July 2026. I'm James D. Smith.

So moved. Thank you all. I'll entertain a motion to approve.

Thanks sir. Got a motion with Mr. Cook. Do I have a second? Second. Second with Mr. Crockett. All in favor signify by saying aye. Aye. Opposed, same sign. Again, congratulations. This is just a testament of the student athletes that's in the county and the dedication, not only that they put in there, but their parents put in to allow them to do what they do. So we do appreciate that. And I apologize if I butchered anybody's name. I'm kind of out of my element speaking in front of a group like this. But congratulations again. Yeah, and if the student athletes and parents want to go, you can or you can stay. I thought that was James Earl Ray up there reading that stuff.

Stay on top of that.

You got two pages.

All right, the next item on our agenda citizens time, I will remind you that this is a time for you to speak on issues about with county. I would ask you to be respectful for the speaker. If there's any conversations going on in the gallery, I ask that you take it outside, please get the respect of the people at the podium. They only get three minutes and we want to hear everything that they got to say. Miss Crockett will be keeping time. We do have several people I signed up to speak, so we were holding pretty strict to the three-minute rule. The first person we have is Ms. Brandy Klein.

My name is Brandy Klein, and I live between cornfields and orchards amid the forested hills and mountain streams of Wythe County, Virginia, just like the rest of you. I watch the farmers follow the seasons and worry over the droughts and the late frosts that kill the peaches. I raise my family here, just like you do. I wanted to share this poem with you. I didn't write it. It's changing here. I know it. Everywhere you look, somebody's putting in a new road, a new house, a new business, a new something or another. And I know we're growing. We need some of that. But we're changing the beauty out of things. It's not like you can't tear down a mountain. Anymore you can. And people do, more or less. So what's one mountain, more or less? Level off the tops. We might have something to farm. I never thought much about progress. And I certainly never thought of myself against it. But it turns out I am against it. And it's not because progress is bad. It's because progress, the way we're doing it, is so ugly. A mountain is beautiful. I'm young, I know that, and probably rash, but I swear I hope I die before the only thing that's left that takes your breath away around here is the smell. This is from Stories I Ain't Told Nobody Yet by Jo Carson. She wrote them over 30 years ago in Johnson City. Wouldn't she be surprised? They're still true. There always will be people like me and the others in this room who stand against the real boogeyman. Every dog has its day, but we aren't going away. We don't consent to another data center. You didn't ask us about the first one. You knew we'd say no. You decided and plowed forward with your dark and secretive act, forcing something we never asked for, figuring we'd accept your choice and swallow it. Don't let it happen again with another one. We need a land use resolution to protect everybody here. Just to be sure you understand, neither the land nor the people of Wythe County consent to this effort to squander our land and water. It's rather like rape, isn't it?

Thank you. Thank you, Ms. Carl. Next person we have signed up to speak is Miranda Edwards.

Hi, my name's Miranda. I want to start off by saying I was not happy with Stacey Terry's comment made last meeting. I do appreciate Stacey calling me and Sarah talking to me on the phone. Jim Davis, the former president of Shenandoah University, stated, and I quote, be sure to understand a subject before providing an opinion and try to determine if one's view will add to general understanding before sharing, end quote. mr terry please keep this in mind when making a mockery of science over 13 000 people have seen your comment stacy my supervisor sarah and the rest of the board i hope you use your full supervisor time tonight to fully address our concerns One data center is one too many in our county. Bringing a data center to Project Park has opened Pandora's box to more data centers flooding into our county. We have nothing to protect us here. Without zoning, we have no say in data centers taking our farmland and being built next to our homes. I also want to iterate. The information provided by Fluidstack needs to be verified and provided to the public. Mr. Terry promised me that yesterday that he'll get on this. One thing our board is tired of is our lack of facts, but where are your facts exactly? You can't tell me where all these wonderful, fully built Fluidstack data centers are. You can't tell me a number of how many people Fluidstack will employ. Who is the end user once Fluidstack has built their centers? we as citizens demand the transparency each of you promise i want transparency also regarding the fluid stack representative she had only been with the company for two months when she did her presentation here and we have yet to see her or anyone else this does not lead me to believe she knew what she was talking about when she could not simply answer a question regarding where fluid stack locations are being built or where they are operational I expect the board to share your clear facts regarding fluid stacks since you all have shared multiple times. You do not look into what is shared. You just trust what is told to you by fluid stack zoning. Where are the people that are against zoning? Most of us are showing up speaking for zoning, so our county has a chance to fight these data centers. I want to make it clear that I am in support of zoning. and lastly june 30th i quote the minutes that supervisor terry made a motion second by vice chair morgan to authorize the county administrator to execute a letter of intent for potential lease with options to purchase a property in progress park we will answers transparency and facts regarding this information from your minutes i would like a clear answer from all of you after during today's meeting and also have some handouts i'd like to give

Thank you, Ms. Edwards. Next person we have to speak is Dena Allen.

Hello, I'm Dena Allen. I'm from Barron Springs area. Um, I want to thank Jesse for talking to me on the phone the other day I called and he took the call was very nice with me. I did have another question. You did say that that fluid stack is looking at looking at a property side I can't remember how you named it for the equipment to lease or something. And then I've got a letter of intent that come through the meetings that Sarah put an A on it. It was a letter of intent to purchase property in Progress Park. Is that the same property that you were talking about or is it a different property? You can talk about it at the end of the meeting, that's fine. You don't have to do it now. The other thing is zoning. I want it on record, I am for zoning. I know y'all keep saying everybody's against zoning, but I think there's more for it than against it. Everybody please call your representatives. Talk to them, let them know that you're for it, against it, whatever. Just please call, and we need zoning to stop these data centers. It's getting bad. As far as the fluid stack, the lady that came, same as her, looking through her history. She'd been there two months. She's a salesperson. Y'all bought it hook, line, and sinker. Y'all haven't checked anything out. I did hear that y'all are planning a trip to Richmond soon for a meeting or something. Is there any way that y'all could go and explore some of the data centers there? Bring back some information. See what the sound is. See what the citizens there say. Do some research. That's all we're asking. You want us to bring you facts? We've brought you facts. Please do the research. Go to these data centers while you're there. Take your time and go visit these people. Talk to the citizens. As far as I got, I think that's all I got. But thank you for your time.

Thank you, Ms. Howard. Next person we have sign up is Joe Upcabbage.

Good evening. Good to see you. You're healing well. I don't have time to talk about data centers or flock cameras tonight. There's something at the top of my list. It's the same thing that brought me here the first time, being sprayed. The first time I was sprayed, I came here, I got all the resources I could get. I called VDAC, but I couldn't pursue. because of intimidation and threats from other sources, and I still can't pursue. I made a post yesterday on Facebook about spraying. Four hours later, I was sprayed again. This time the trampoline was dripping wet. Now I don't know if it's legal. Can I go into any, you live in town, right? Can I go into town and say you have a chain link fence, can I go up to it and have a bottle with a skull and crossbones and spray your children or grandchildren sandbox toys and personal effects and walk away is that I don't know if that's legal, but that's basically what's happening. I know that where I'm from, if you spray anybody with the poison, you had better hope law enforcement is there because something's going to happen. I don't understand some things like the applicator license. If you have an applicator license, I'm not talking smack on farmers. You have every right to spray your own field. If you're leasing a field, you could spray that field, but I'm leasing a land and I have zero protections. There's nothing I can do. I can't get the name of the guy I asked. Nobody will give me it. No one will tell me what the chemical is. I'll call VDACs. They tell me I have a show in case, but then I can't proceed. Last night, somebody told me if I call VDACs, I'll get stitches. And then they quickly deleted the comment. I've been, uh, yeah, it's been going on nonstop and there's, there's no protections. And I know we got Dylan's rule. And I don't even understand that. Here's my analogy. I'll use marijuana. So federally, marijuana is illegal. But half the states decided to take matters into their own hands and say, I'm going to govern ourselves. Now, why can't we do that in Virginia? Why do we need to get permission to govern ourselves? As far as I'm concerned, I'm literally being poisoned. I have a baby crawling around the house. My dog's running. Our entire property was sprayed. There's not an inch of grass. That wasn't sprayed. The dog runs around and then comes in. My baby's got to crawl in that. And there's nothing I can do. There's no one I can contact. I'm completely at a loss. They say, oh, I've been spraying for 50 years and we're all fine. No, you're not fine. You've got birth defects and all kinds of cancers and diseases. Your family generation is kaput. You're no longer farming anymore. You're the last generation. And we've been doing it for, it doesn't matter how long they've been doing it. I don't think an applicator license makes them immune. And I don't think it says on the bottle that you can spray trampolines. My chickens, they all got sprayed. I got three dead chicks. I don't know if it was from that, but...

coincidence maybe i don't know but that's what i got right now thank you hey joe um before you sit down is that aerial spraying or are they is it what are they spraying from the area this is a private it's private it's someone's leasing the land it's a tractor i'll get with you after the meeting okay thank you thank you mr The next person we have is Sherry Burns.

Thank you. Glad to see you back, Mr. Cook. Again, Sherry Burris. I was hoping to see the Board of Supervisors last month, as I held, personally, an AI data center forum with the community center. I actually invited all of you by letter. I did not see any of you. It would be great to have you all come and learn from the panel of experts there. I also would like to see all of you Board of Supervisors engage with your public when we had our first annual WIT Fest, actually Earth Fest a couple weeks ago, but I didn't see any of you there. You may have been there, but I didn't see you. At Whitfield's first annual Earth Fest a few weeks ago, I conducted a community feedback poll. Whereas those willing to participate, I surveyed and asked the following. Rating one through four, one being the most important to you, place the number in the column when it comes to AI data centers. The categories were as followed. One, resource consumption, which includes power grid strain, water usage, and utility costs. Two, environmental and aesthetic disruption, which includes constant noise, visual impact, and air quality. Three is economic and property values, which includes your property depreciation, zoning changes, and low permanent jobs. And four is data center transparency, includes NDA, secrecy, and closed door projects. The final priority ranking of these four categories from highest concern to the lowest is as follows. Resource consumption is 54%. Environmental and aesthetic disruption at 18%. Tide, 18% is data center transparency. And economic and property values was at 10%. Collectively, this feedback reveals a clear and strong favoring from the community wanting to protect infrastructure and environmental impacts over economic outcomes and corporate transparency. But besides these statistics lies genuine emotions. Genuine emotions from your constituents. Please hear what they are saying. They have uneasy anxiety about the future of our neighborhoods, most basic resources. People aren't just voting on my paper poll. They have an expressed profound fear that their water and electric are going to go up. And they are afraid that their homes are not going to be secure anymore. They're afraid that everything is going to be diverted to feed insatiable appetite of corporate machines. It is the duty of those elected officials to not only listen, but again, hear us. Hear the citizens as we voice our concerns. And do not disrespect us. Because it does and it will impact us all in more ways than one. Thank you.

Thank you, Ms. Spurris. The next person we have is Miranda Shirts. I'm sorry. My apologies.

Good evening, members of the board and my neighbors. I am standing here tonight because Wythe County is digging into a dangerous political trench. We are dividing ourselves into us versus them, turning land use into a battle of red versus blue, and letting anger over past decisions paralyze our future. But while we are busy fighting each other, outside multi-billion dollar tech corporations are looking at our county as a massive open vulnerability. They know we are sitting ducks, and they are more than willing to pull the trigger and quickly. This isn't a battle between citizens and the board. The real threat is a massive loophole in Virginia state law. Because Wythe County lacks a local land use framework, outside developers have by right privileges to build massive industrial facilities directly adjacent to a family farm or a quiet neighborhood. They don't need a variance, and they don't have to face a single local vote. As long as we stay divided, our hands are collectively tied. To my neighbors who are angry and distrustful, your fears are completely justified. Nobody wants to see our rural landscape, our water tables, or our agricultural heritage destroyed by corporate greed and indifference. We have a right to defend our homes. But to the members of this board, we also recognize the immense legal and economic pressure you are under. We know that without a local ordinance on the books, your hands are legally tied by state regulations. You cannot protect us if the law doesn't give you the tools to do so. That is why we must stop treating this land use classification ordinance as an adversarial fight. It is not a weapon to be used against each other. It is a shield to protect us all. It is a protective insurance policy designed to secure local property rights, ensuring that Wythe County stays in the hands of the people who live here. We need to find common ground right here tonight. We need a pro-citizen ordinance that explicitly strips data centers and solar farms and massive utility expansions of their by-right building privileges outside of designated industrial parks. We must work together to ensure that any outside tech giant wanting to build a facility or run high voltage infrastructure is forced into a rigorous special use permit process with mandatory public hearings. If outside interests want to alter the landscape of our county, they should have to look every single one of us in the eye, supervisors and citizens alike, and ask for permission first. Let's give our supervisors the legal teeth they need to stand up for us. And let's give our citizens the transparency they deserve. Let's stop digging into our trenches. Let's stop the back and forth blame. And let's start passing the laws that protect our community. When we stand together as one with county, the developers lose their leverage. Thank you.

Thank you, Ms. Snips. And I do apologize for butchering your last name. The next person we have is Joe DeBoer.

My name is Doug the Board and I live at 158 Widener Way, Royal Retreat, Virginia. I hate to follow that speech because that lady hit the bottom line. Yes. I come tonight to issue a challenge to the leadership of the Republican Party to adopt a resolution to say that we want to get rid of the food tax in the state of Virginia. The chairman of vice, I call her, has received that. And if you need another copy, I can get you another, Mr. Chairman. We need to get started on this issue because we're going to have to make a decision with regard to how we're going to tax to make sure that we have adequate school system in our county. I think we'll pass. That's my own personal opinion because nobody will ever say no to our children, period. Nobody. We want to make sure they have quality education, just like the people that came in here tonight. We're doing it the right way. We have three high schools in our county. We could have done it years ago and had one. But we said no. And with county. Let's follow up on that. Because that is very, very important. to us, our history denotes that. Starts all the way before the Revolution, 250 years ago. Okay? What was the first revolution, resolution? Austin Deal. Think about it. I'll give you 51 minutes, 51 seconds.

Thank you, Mr. Ward. Our next person we have to speak is Susan Branscombe.

Good evening.

A land use ordinance is not about stopping growth. It's about guiding growth responsibly. It's one of the most important tools a community has to prevent incompatible development, protect property values, safeguard public health and safety, preserve natural resources, and ensure infrastructure keeps up with the decisions being made today. Some may dismiss these concerns as not in my backyard, but I can tell you I lived it. The Board of Supervisors approved a 900-acre solar farm in mine and my neighbor's backyard. Since then, we've experienced noise, flooding, erosion, loss of habitat, construction disruption, light shining in our homes, and impacts to our farmland and crops. When habitat is displaced, wildlife doesn't disappear. It moves. When land is permanently altered, the surrounding community bears the consequences. It happened to us. It can happen to anybody. Now we're looking at another major proposed thousand acre data center development on the eastern end of the county. Without a strong land use ordinance, large industrial projects can be placed where they don't belong near homes, farms, water resources and communities that are not prepared to absorb the impacts. A land use ordinance gives citizens a voice. It keeps loud polluting or high impact industries away from quiet residential or agricultural areas. It allows the county to plan roads, water, sewer, emergency services, energy needs and environmental protections before a project is approved, not after the damage is done. Wythe County lost approximately 15,675 acres of farmland. That's an area roughly the size of Manhattan in five years. That's 107 farms and a 13% decrease. That represented tens of millions of natural rainwater absorption and filtration, which increases our flooding risk and increases carbon in the air. There were 488,000 acres of land lost in Virginia in the last five years. That equated to 381,800 jobs and an 82.3 billion economic impact to Virginia alone. Farmland is not vacant land. It's working land. It produces food, absorbs rainfall, filters water, stores carbon in the soil, supports wildlife habitats, and sustains families and local economies. Farmland loss is a serious concern. Once farmland is converted to large commercial use, it comes back, does not come back. When the land's gone, it's gone. Y'all remember COVID? Y'all remember the empty shells? Less farmland means less food production, less water absorption, greater flooding risk, and increased vulnerability. With a growing population, the land use planning helps ensure the development does not come at the expense of our farms, our water, our food security, and our whole way of life. Water should be one of Wythe County's highest priorities because the New River has already dropped 2.89 feet, 1,530 cubic feet per second, which is a 30% reduction. Data centers can consume up to five millions of gallons of water per day. That's a town of 10 to 50,000. Wythe County has 28,000 residents. This matters where family farms, livestock, wildlife, and future generations all depend on reliable water. We also need to talk about electricity because that increases our demand. And in Northern Virginia, increased it by $192 a year. While that may be a lot, a lot, we have a poverty rate of 15.2% and immediate income of $57,745. We need to be pro-community. We owe it to our farmers, our homeowners, our children, and our grandchildren to have a way to do this. Thank you.

Thank you, Ms. Braxton. Next person we have is Robert Walton.

Good evening. I'm Bob Walton.

I live in Whitville.

I appreciate you giving me the time to speak tonight. For the record, I'm not anti-data center. I know we're a lot of anti-data center feeling here right now, right? I have questions about this data center. AI and cloud computing are growing. They're necessary. We need them to house the infrastructure that makes the internet work. um but as we consider projects like this i think it's really important that we rely on facts we rely on science and expert advice so that they can be planned properly to minimize effects on the public and on the public purse I'm a recently retired technology professional. I have 30 years experience. The last five years I spent moving the data center, the state agency's large-scale data system to a remote data center. So I understand how the facilities work. I understand how cloud-based environments work. And I understand how important they are to our economy. what I want to address tonight is the profound lack of professionalism and courtesy that this board has shown by cutting backroom deals with zero community involvement When you serve in public office, you work for us. We expect hard facts and independent expertise, not corporate PowerPoint pitches. It's being touted that these projects will add 200, 250 operational jobs. How many will actually go to the local residents? And what training are we providing local residents to do those jobs? Perhaps the worst issue here is the question of trust. You've lost trust that you once had by developing this under an NDA. How can we be expected to trust you with all the revenues you're talking about are coming from the data centers? How are we expected to trust you with the additional sales tax increase that you've put up for the vote? It's a lot of new revenue. We deserve clear, traceable plan for all incoming funds. Because you've broken our trust, we need three safeguards. First, countywide zoning. We need to adopt permanent countywide zoning to ensure future projects cannot bypass public oversight. Second, expose the true energy costs. I've heard a lot about the project using the closed-loop system. Closed-loop systems are great. They're new. They use a lot less water. You still have the physics of the heat having to be transferred from the water somewhere. So how does that happen in a closed list system? You use additional power. So we add to the strain on the power grid for the area. The third thing we need is a non-disclosure agreement ban for all public officials, elected, and regular employees. That's all I have to say. Thank you for your time.

Thank you, Mr. Walton. Next person we have is Kyle Ward.

The United States already has over 4,500 data centers. Virginia alone has over 700. The next country in the whole world only has 550. I feel like I can safely say that the majority of citizens in with county do not support any form of data center or AI infrastructure being brought into our county. I feel like I can also confidently say that there probably has not been a whole lot of research or study into these things and the consequences of them past the dollar signs that they provide and whatever assurances the corporations bringing them in and giving you. There's a reason all of these things have happened behind closed doors and it's not okay. Just the power and water drains, the high and low frequency noise pollution from these data centers are not something any of us want no matter how much revenue they generate. They are a drain on the world and only support the billionaires and corporations. I challenge you to put data centers and AI to a countywide vote and find out how we actually feel about these things rather than just forcing them down our throats the way that you have. It's not right and I truly hope you find shame in the actions that you have taken that are obviously against the wishes of the people you have been chosen to represent. Just by the words spoken tonight, I think it's fairly obvious. We do not want more data. We do not want AI and we definitely do not want to sacrifice any land in this county to support them whatsoever. I hope you take heed to what you have heard tonight and I would like to see much more transparency on these issues and let the residents you represent know what you're bringing into our county before it happens, not after. You are elected to represent the people and not bring these things into our county against our wishes.

Thank you, Mr. Ward. Next person we have is Wilma Justice.

Well, first off, I'm totally against zoning. And I'm older than most people in here. And I remember back in the 80s, it came up and it was a big deal then. But I believe actually when it came down to it, when I heard about the zoning, I thought, well, you know, they're trying to push the data center just to get the zoning through. And I don't believe it's a time to even talk about the land use zoning. But I think there's other ways you can accomplish things. One thing is Loudoun County has a $4.15 tax per hundred of assessed value on their computer equipment in their data centers. And a lot of localities in Virginia have dropped as low as like 24 cents on $100 worth. if Wythe County is going to go through with it or whatever why don't we just go the route tell them $5 on $10 why should Loudoun County people up there that's got money do a lot pay more than people here well you know the data center there is what I'm saying There's ways you can do it. Wythe County has right now, from what I understand, a two-cent tax, two pennies on every cigarette somebody smokes. That is something that is a sin tax. They've got it on. And if you can do taxes on stuff like that, and I hate smoking, believe me, but yet if you're going to penny a man to death or a woman that smokes higher than usual, why not go ahead and tax the data centers more? and you know there's a lot to think about 20 years from now I know there's the thing about the 72 million for schools if you tax the data centers enough you don't have to do that 1% tax additional you can get it from that and then another thing to consider is 20 years ago, we didn't even know most of us hadn't heard of data center. Technology is advancing so fast. What do we know that's going to happen 5, 10, 20 years down the road? And that's just the way I feel about it. You ought to really think about those things. tax the data centers. Let them pay the money, not us. Because you gave away land to the data center, 90-some acres. You've got the little man that's a barber in town, people, the people that's got restaurants that have to pay all their business taxes and everything. They don't get free land, free handouts. But you do to people that don't need it. Help the people in Wythe County. Thank you.

Thank you, Ms. Justice. The next person we have is Catherine Clemons.

Hello. Good evening. I'm trying to get my stuff. Hold on. I am so sorry. There we go. All right. First off, I want to say how proud I am with county for being here tonight and the recent uptick in involvement against AI and data centers. You guys need to understand that we're here because, as a community, we're scared. We're concerned about the uproar we're seeing all around our nation with AI centers and the struggles of our fellow Americans are now faced with every day because of them. We're not here simply because we want to come argue with you. I'm definitely not. I'd much rather be at home in my pool with my dogs right now. You see, the issue goes beyond fluid stack. The issue is once you allow one data center in, there's more that are gonna follow. And Wythe County is a hotspot. We've got everything a data center could need. Water, power, cheap land, and people ignorant enough to sell it to them. That being said, Fluidstack claims they only use 2,800 gallons of water a day with a closed-loop water system. That doesn't mean the next data center will. We are simply asking you to reconsider the issue you've allowed to make its way in. We've consistently brought facts for months, and to have them disregarded in such matter, it's insulting. We are not ignorant. We've done our research. Have you? With that being said, I wanted to state that I am fork zoning here in Wythe County under full agreement that you guys can and will promise to protect us from a major data center blow up. I know you guys have mentioned in prior meetings that you don't want more government involvement in your lives. But to mention, I'm not sure if you guys have seen the recent uptick in the flock cameras that are popping up, but they're intrusive to our privacy. And guess what stores our data and for whom? I'll give you one guess, data centers and the government. Just please protect us and protect our land. Thank you.

Thank you, Ms. Clemmons. Next person we have is Ms. Donna Nichter.

Hi, I feel like we all need to take a nice collective deep breath. A lot of tension in the room. And I'm probably going to scratch most of what I was going to say because it's been said and you've heard it. I personally only have a glimpse of what should be included in the land use specifics. It's not my area of expertise. I want it to limit any more data centers, but I'd like to be assured that y'all are considering all the ins and outs that other counties are including as it seems that it can get quite specific. some have stated that you didn't know anything beyond what was presented to you initially about SOLUS ARCS plans and SOLUS ARCS isn't my concern as much as TAC and the next one and the next one if you don't know we certainly don't know we have learned that industry glossies and trainings don't always ring true down the line this on top of the closed door meetings and code names have created an atmosphere of mistrust and speculation folks only have what they are learning from other communities some of which are having quite a horrific effect on the environment and quality of lives all this is created as you have heard confusion anger and fear and many people we're all just trying to learn and do the best for with county and beyond and i say beyond because borders are man-made I appreciate the availability of board members to meet with residents, the community meetings held, and FAQs on the website to help answer questions and provide clarity. I'm still not sure how many people in the community even know about data centers or land use proposals. And I think of everything that I thought I wanted to say tonight, I want to drive that home. Like, how do we get more people to know? Supervisor Burnett, I think it was you that said that you plan maybe going to your community. Was it you last night? And getting more folks involved. I don't know how we get more people to know. Definitely more people are on board than have been before, and I appreciate everybody speaking up. But if enough people don't know about it, how can they step forward and say yay or nay to zoning? hear every day people that don't know maybe not every day I hear a lot people that don't know that this is going on they don't know about the data centers they don't know about the zoning until it's in their backyard they're just trying to live their lives mind their own business and do what they can to get by that's why we're trying to get the word out by standing on street corners putting up signs social medias holding rallies and info sessions Thank you. uh i do appreciate the recorded conversation between cindy mack and chair jamie smith regarding data centers it did clarify some points however it did bring up more concerns for me and i'll visit that another time i guess so so yeah my main question is how do we get the word out do y'all have lists of your constituents um you know i i know you invite us to have to come to the meetings and have more engagement How do we make that happen so that we can all work together? Thanks. DAVID BURRAGE.

Thank you, Ms. Nitschler. Thank you, Ms. Nitschler. Next person we have is Sara Bates.

good evening gotta admit i'm getting a little more comfortable with trying to come to speak to y'all than i did the first time um i have two points i'd like to address first one's minor but i think important there was a comment made by one of you recently that you were bothered that some of us have needed to leave early before the meeting was over i want to explain on a personal level i've had brain surgery four spinal surgeries multiple sclerosis ehlers-danlos syndrome which is a condition that leaves me with a quarter of normal physical strength both in my body and in my endurance if I get up and leave early it's because I've made a real effort to be here wanting to have a dialogue with you and I've reached my limit for the night so I apologize if it bothers you there was another person with me discussing it yesterday that said I need her to get up and leave because I got an urgent phone call. She made the effort to be here. She didn't want to disrupt this process by answering a phone call. So we have our reasons and it's not disrespect. Moving on to my second point, I've been hesitant to address this. I'm a person of faith, and I don't hope or expect that everyone shares my understanding of a higher power or faith. But I personally turn to that when I'm puzzled, when I'm bewildered, when I'm bothered by something. I grew up in the Presbyterian faith. I still default to it without deep thought. I turn to scripture, I turn to the concordance to guide my study and thought. I'll leave that with you and just say first listings I saw as I looked all this back up were first in Genesis a mandate to establish, mandate to work and keep the land. The second was God placed humanity in the Garden of Eden to cultivate it and to keep it. This establishes the Judeo-Christian principle of environmental stewardship. The third thing that really resonated with me was numbers 35, 33, 34. You shall not pollute the land, the earth in which you live. so those of you that felt free to tell me what i believed to reinterpret you were wrong this is my study this is my motivation this is my reason for feeling how i do and i think this is god's country the majority of us are supposed to share that same overall set of values and faith i would hope you would consider that thank you

Thank you, Ms. Bates. Last person we have signed up is Denise Davis.

Thank you, Mr. Smith. You said Denise, not Dennis. And I really do appreciate the opportunity to speak to you all tonight. I'm here to assure you that anything I say when I get up and speak is based on facts and it's true and valid. I do my research to provide the facts on the topic that I'm speaking, whether it's school funding or public education or data centers. It wouldn't behoove any of us for me to just come up here and roll stuff off my head. If you ever disagree with what I say or doubt what I say, then please ask me. And if I say something that's wrong and you know that it's wrong, tell me that too. I don't mind being corrected. But I do take umbrage to Mr. Terry inferring that speakers in the past up until the last meeting have not been providing facts because we do our homework and provide the source of the statements that we say while we while we're up here making our statements. So again, I want to reiterate that anything I say is true and valid. Secondly, I do support zoning. And I implore the board to bring the zoning ordinance to a vote soon so that more private property isn't bought and sold for a data center, which you don't have any control over. Mr. Smith I listened to the Ritt and Gumption interview had and thank you for doing that with her it did answer a lot of questions but during the interview you stated that an NDA was not signed but that Solus Arcs had asked that you all not provide information so if that's true the only question I have is why you felt or anyone on the board at that time felt you were needed to provide more loyalty to SOLUS ARCS than the citizens of Wythe County. And Mr. Terry, you asked where we were all when the glove factory was coming through. And I believe that was in 2020, 21. And if I'm wrong, tell me. But at that time, we weren't in a severe drought. The whole state was not in a severe drought, as we are now. Again, thank you for the opportunity to speak.

Thank you, Miss Davis. That's all we had signed up for, citizens' time, so I'll close citizens' time. It has been requested that we take a five-minute recess, so if you'll grant us five minutes, we'll be right back.

I didn't mean to put the glass down too hard.

Sorry. So we'll move on to the next item on the agenda. It's payment of invoices. All members have received the invoice, the packet of invoices, or any invoice that you have questions about or that you'd like to pull out.

I'll make a motion to approve.

I got a motion by Mr. Burnett. Second. Second by Mr. Cook. So any questions or concerns? Hearing none, we'll do a roll call vote. Mr. Burnett. Aye.

Aye.

Aye.

Aye. Aye. So approved. Next item on the agenda is approval of the minutes from July 14, 2026 meeting. So moved. Got a motion by Mr. Cook. Do I have a second? Second. Second by Mr. Terry. Any questions or concerns, additions or subtractions? Hearing none, all in favor signify by saying aye. Aye. Anybody opposed, same sign. So approved. Next item on the agenda is appointments. Mr. Byron, looks like we got the Mount Rogers Planning District Committee.

Yes, Mr. Matney passed away, as I mentioned, a couple weeks ago, and that position is now vacant.

I'd like to nominate Mr. Brian Vaughn to fill that role, fill that term, please, sir.

All right, I got a motion for Brian Vaughn. Do I have a second? Second. That's multiple seconds. I heard Mr. Morgan first. Any questions or concerns?

I'd like to nominate Andy Koehling.

All right, I got a motion to nominate Mr. Andy Kegley. Do I have a second? Second. Got a second. Mr. Burner? All right. Since we have two, we'll vote on the first one. So we're voting on Mr. Vaught first. So we'll do a roll call vote. Mr. Turney?

Aye.

Aye.

Aye.

Aye.

Aye. So approved. So congratulations, Mr. Vaught. Next item, we've got the school construction funding. Oh, I'm sorry, we're still on our appointments. New River Highlands RC&D, have we got anybody?

Still don't have an appointment there, so, yep.

Moving on to the next item, we've got the 1%, Mr. Byer.

Yes, Mr. Chairman. As you all voted last time for the 1% local option sales tax, our county attorney has the paperwork, and we'll look at getting that filed with the court. What we have here is some of the information Ms. Williams has been working on that we will share and want to continue just to make certain everyone understands this local 1% option. This is, as I said, a referendum. The voters will decide. It's eligible for new Capital School projects. It does not include any old projects. The projects planned are the construction of the new Spiller Elementary School, the renovations at Fort Chisell High School, the athletic facility improvements, school repairs, which are some roofs and some chillers, and the related debt service that goes with it. Those projects are estimated, total estimate for those projects is over 70 million, and by the ordinance, the tax must end no later than June, or by the resolution, the tax must end no later than June 30th, 2046. Taxable purchases, as things are purchased, and obviously there are items, food was mentioned earlier, food is not subject to this, grocery store food and items like that are not subject to this, and personal hygiene items are not subject to this. So as that tax is collected by the retailers, it goes to the state as additional 1% sales tax. And then the state sends that to us as a individual separate tax that would go into the restricted school capital fund that would be used to pay for the debt service for the construction and renovation projects. Important to understand the separation here. This money cannot go towards any of the school operations. So on the right side, teachers, staff salaries, instructions, transportation, student service, routine operations and maintenance, those continue to be funded by our general fund. Just like this year, we budgeted $2.5 million additional in operational funding to go to the school system for that purpose. The taxes proposed would be only for the construction of the new school facilities, the major renovations and additions, the improvements, and paying the debt service on those items. Anybody making the qualifying purchases in Wythe County. And we estimate that at least 40% of this would be coming from our visitors, our tourists, and those traveling along the interstate. I'll show a screen here in just a few minutes that has that information showing that. Why that is important is if we were to do a real estate tax only, that only hits the residents of Wythe County with a real estate tax. By doing this as a 1% sales tax, it allows us to use all the tourists that pass through this area to help us fund that construction. The ballot question simply stated, shall Wythe County be authorized to levy an additional local sales tax at a rate of 1% with revenues from such tax to be used solely for capital projects for the construction and renovation of schools in Wythe County, including related bond and loan financing costs, and with such tax to expire no later than June 30th, 2046. And the residents will have a simple yes or no answer to that on November 3rd. What I've got here, the first few columns of this is our current debt service schedule.

If you look going down the page, I'll let Martha go ahead one page here.

On the left-hand side is the years running from 25 through 47. At the top are the debt service. And the first one's the Max Meadows Elementary School that we're still paying for, the refinancing we did on several projects, the VACO VML, the George Wythe High School projects, literary loans on the Real Retreat High School projects. And then the last is the Scott Memorial Middle School project. so in in the dark black there you see our total public school debt service that is what we are paying in loan payments if you will every year this year 2.8 million dollars in loan payments uh that go to school system you see it continues in that above two million dollars up until we get about 2038 and then it starts taking substantial drops The next column is if we were to go out and borrow all of the money right now to start all of these projects combined, it would add an additional $5.8 million in annual debt payments for the school system. So that means we would go from paying $2.6 million in 2028 to $8.448 million during that time frame. In order to implement that, that would mean that we need to take our current $0.51 tax rate up to $0.72 per $100 in order to pay for the construction right now. I'll stop and make sure there's no questions from the board. Everybody understands where we are on that before we go on.

Which basically means if you got a house worth about $250,000, it's $1,300 a year now, and it'd be about $1,800.

Yes, sir. So the next page is just the same information over to the current school debt service. And then I just put Spiller as saying we were going to go ahead and do Spiller. starting in 2028, that would cost about $3 million in debt service for starting the Spiller, which would be about an 11 cent tax increase to bring in the $3 million in debt service. And what I took up top there is that that would bring our debt service up to about $5.6 million. So I just followed that debt service down until we got down to about 2040. If we added another $1.8 million for debt service for Fort Chisell High School, that would put us back up at the 5.6 million, and we'd be just running on that, on the 11 cent tax rate increase. But that would mean delaying Fort Chisell High School until 2040. Not recommending that, that's just trying to show the math. We could back it up five years and show another four or five cent tax increase there in the process. Nobody from Fort Chisel in the crowd throw anything at me. I'm just trying to show off numbers. I can do the reverse and do the Fort Chisel project and show where we pick up Spiller. But that's just showing a couple of the options that are out there. The next page talks about the, it's just the chart I was talking about, the option for sales and use tax. The revenues shown there are what the 1% sales tax generated for the localities in 2025. It notes that part of that had to be shared with the towns for those that have towns within them. That is why ours is showing 6.8, but when you take off the food and the personal hygiene items, that's why they're estimating between $5 and $6 million is what the 1% would bring in for us. The third column shows all of the population estimates. And then I just took and did a division of the total taxes brought in by the population, just to come up with what that means per capita. For Wythe County, If you divide it that way, it shows that per person, you know, we could be paying $242 each for goods. If you look at Smith County, they're paying $127. Pulaski County, $180. Grayson County, $61. Carroll County, $115. Bland, $97. No, Wythe County citizens are not spending that much more than the other citizens. That's just an example of the number of people that are coming into our community that are spending additional tax dollars. Pulaski County is bringing in $800,000 less than us in sales tax every year. despite having a population of about 5,500 more than what we have. Smith County, which is basically the same size, is bringing in about $3 million less. Carroll County is bringing in a little over $3 million less. That shows you that the 8177 overlap and the amount of commercial business that that brings into our area as well as those from other surrounding counties that come into our area to do commerce is what leads to that. So I did a couple averages. I took the averages of all of them on the sheet. It's $1.41, and based on that, we would be bringing in about 3.9 million would be my estimate if we were averaging what everybody else does. If I just did the average of the adjoining counties, we'd be bringing in about $3.2 million. So that is why I say that 40% or more of this will be generated by those outside of the locality. So I will be meeting with the school superintendent. We'll be meeting with representatives of the school board as well. And we will be putting out this information and answering any questions that people have about it. But just want to share that information with the board, with the public. And unless there's any objections to the flyer and stuff that Allison's put together, we will start sharing that immediately.

Thank you, Mr. Mayor. Just for clarification, the resolution that we passed at our last warden was not to raise the taxes. It was to put the referendum, to present it to the judge to be able to put on the ballot for the citizens of the county to approve.

It will take the citizens approving it on November 3rd. Yes, sir.

And then I'm sure everybody in the audience cringe when you started talking about the tax rate going up to 72 that's that was just uh that's purely an example of the process we're not looking to go that round all right thank you that's all anybody else have any questions thanks sir anything else uh no sir thank you is there any other old business we need to do mr

I am not aware of any, no, sir.

Mr. Hankins. All right. Moving on to new business. The first item we have is the consent calendar. All board members have received the consent calendar. Is there any questions or concerns about the consent calendar? Motion to approve. I got a motion by Mr. Cook to approve. Second. I got a second by Mr. Turrey. Is there any questions or concerns? If there are none, we'll roll call vote. Mr. Burnett? Aye.

Aye.

Aye. Aye. Aye. Aye. So approved. Next item is the With Plan Foundation grant application resolution. Mr. Byron.

Go ahead. I'll take that, Mr. Chairman. So every year we ask you to give us authorization to apply to the With Plan Foundation for specific program funds. One of the new state laws requires us to have automated external defibrillators, AEDs, at all of our athletic facilities and athletic events. So we think it would be a good opportunity for us to apply to the Withland Foundation to supply an adequate number of AEDs to meet that new mandate. It's not a mandate that we have to meet this year, but we will have to budget for county funds in the following year if this grant fund isn't awarded. So we'd like to apply for these funds with your permission.

All right. Thank you, sir. I will entertain a motion to approve as presented. So moved. Got a motion by Mr. Terry. I'll have a second. Second. Second by Mr. Morgan. Any questions or concerns about this resolution? All right. Hearing no, we'll do a roll call vote. Mr. Terry? Aye. Aye. Aye. Aye. Aye. Aye. So approved. Next item we have is the Progress Park Covenants, lot 35, plan review. Mr. Hankins?

Thank you, Mr. Chair, members of the board. Staff has received a site plan submission from the contractors who are working for Fluidstack. The initial submission is 71 plan sheets. It's a large plan set. And this is different from what I had in the memo that went out in your packet. I had intended to present, but we do have representatives of the company who are here and able to present tonight. So they'll be able to present on their own behalf. Just for background purposes, staff has given the plans administrative review. We've returned comments to the developer to ensure conformity with Progress Park covenants. That's really the only limitation that we have on the development there. So some of you have seen the site plan as part of committee meetings. Not everyone has seen those site plans. But our staff review included administration, engineering, building inspections, and wastewater. Our review shows that the site plan presented meets the Progress Park Covenants after those reviews and those submissions back to us. And I'm prepared to, or I'm preparing to provide the developer with that determination so they can move the project forward. We have, as I say, returned two rounds of responses. The developer has addressed those in a timely sort of manner, and they are consistent with what you have been promised as we've worked on this project and done the county's due diligence. The representatives have designers, construction firms, developers, architects, and associated companies who are involved in this process. We have a fairly large group that we're working with to get this done. They do have someone here tonight to review key plan sheets with you so that you can be familiar with those requests. And then once the presentation is done, I'll have to request for you to authorize from staff. So I'll ask, and we do have a presentation. Mr. John Pinchhorn is here to present on behalf of the developer.

Good evening, Mr. Chair, Mr. Vice Chair, members of the board. Thank you for your time tonight.

My name is John Penchorn. My background is civil engineering. I serve as the project manager for Stantec, assisting Fluidstack with this project.

I'm Brian Weier, senior civil engineer for Fluidstack.

Just a quick overview of the different teams involved in this project. You've got Fluidstack doing business as Archipelago Compute LLC on the documents submitted to you. You've got Stantec providing site and power engineering services, Jacobs providing building engineering and architecture and building engineering services, and IPS serving as the general contractor. Quickly, I just want to hit a couple of key points. I know the closed loop system has been already here. I wanted to state for the record that an application was submitted to the town of Whitfield for water supply for 3,000 gallons a day. That's when the site is in operation. So that's what's been applied for. And then the sanitary application has been submitted to the county for the same sewer supply. That is similar to about seven to 10 households. So that water and that sewer is serving domestic use for the employees working at the facility. That closed loop, once it's filled, sure, it might need a top off every now and again, every couple of years, but it does not receive a regular supply of water. And we just wanted to make sure that that was clear for the members of the board here. Additionally, one of the covenants that applies to Progress Park where this is cited requires that 65 decibels at 500 feet beyond the property line is met from a noise standard. We are still completing our final models and intend to share that with county staff as soon as possible. preliminary, we are well below the 65 decibels mark. And so we look forward to sharing those results with you and just wanted to kind of give you an update on where that was right now. We're here really to talk about the site plan. And so I just wanted to put that up on the screen here for you and talk through a couple Key items that are shown here. First of all, the entrances. This site will have two entrances. The first one, you can hopefully see it labeled Primary Site Entrance. That's to the southeast side of the project off of Kent's Lane. The second site entrance is up on what's essentially the plant northwest corner. That's labeled Emergency Site Entrance. That's how this would function. All business traffic would come in through the primary site entrance. It would go through the security guard checks. The emergency site entrance is truly just for emergencies. So in the event of a fire or ambulance style response, that's what that is there for. There are three retaining walls shown on the plan. I'm not sure if I can, I don't have a laser pointer to point that out for you. The first one is on the west edge, the planned west edge of the project. I'll get into a couple details on, we've included a slide to show you wall heights and finished material. The first one's on the west edge of the project. The second one is a little bit tough to see. It's between the building and the storm pond, kind of halfway in the middle there. And then the third one is to the northeast side of where that substation is. So those are where the retaining walls are on the site. The next item to point out is that substation, so that's up on the northeast corner. You can see the stormwater pond there in blue, and then the yellow block in the middle is the data hall itself. So as promised, here are the retaining walls. So again, that west one, it gets up to a maximum height of about 24 feet. The central one is about 30. The northeast is about 22. You can see it on the screen there. And then we've got included in the presentation the product type that we're intending to use. You can see it's made out of a concrete material. It has a stamped pattern. And we'd be selecting natural sandstone or something very similar, trying to you know, to the extent possible, blend in with the surroundings, blend in with the landscaping design, the fencing design, which you'll see more of here, and meet the common standards that apply to this parcel. Next, we've prepared two slides here with what we call the line of sight diagram. You've got a key map on the left side of this screen showing the different lines of sight, and then you can see the first three are presented to the right here. So section one would be someone standing at or maybe driving past the site entrance. You can see that they've got about almost 800 feet from the road up to where the fence would be located. I believe 791 of this . And that fence is 10 feet tall. We'll show you a picture of the fence in a minute. And you can see that they may just see the roof of a chiller just barely over the fence at that long distance. The next one is still on Pence Lane, looking directly plan north. If you were to look up at that substation as you're driving around the bend there, you can see that the existing landform blocks view of the fence entirely, actually. You would maybe see some of the overhead power similar to the existing overhead power that comes through there. The third one is looking at a straight plan west view of that same substation. It's a similar finding here with the landform a little bit closer to the road and providing even better screening. View 4 looking straight plain south at that substation. You can see here now we're looking over that that ditch or creek that comes through there. One important point to note that applies to 4, 5, and 6 is all of that existing vegetation that's still out there today is going to remain in that creek area. We have no intention of doing work in that area. It's very steep. It's very wet. Everyone is best served by leaving that alone. And so you are going to have you know, mature vegetation that doesn't show up in these line of sight diagrams, but will functionally be providing some additional screening above and beyond this. So with that, you know, looking south at that substation, you'll see the fence, you'll see some of that overhead power, and you'll, section four is approximately where the overhead power lines are coming into the site, so they're going to be traveling essentially overhead through that section line there. Section five is the only section we cut where you can actually see the building. Again, I'd like to point out you have that existing vegetation that is mature in that valley area. We do have elevations that we'll show you in a slide or two here. But you can see over the fence, you can see just the top few feet of the building from that point, just with the shape of the actual topography there. And then last, number six, you can see again that the existing landform is relatively high there and screening the building entirely to get close to the emergency entrance. I'm not an architect, but we do have building elevations. So I'm providing these for you. The first one is an elevation of the north and then the south side. So this would be the long side of the data hall. I'll point out on the north, which is the top image here, if you look all the way to the left side, you can see where the windows are. That's where the office space for the building is. And then these are the east and then west ends. Similarly, the east side is where that office space is, and so you can see all the extra windows there. And then the fencing. So this is a secure facility, and I believe one of the decisions you have to make here is approving the fencing for this project. Mr. Hankins will confirm. The red line in the key diagram to the left is where that fencing is proposed, if you can see that. And then we have three different types of fencing that are proposed for this site. You can see that they all look very similar. They just are actually three types of fencing from the same manufacturer. You have a standard security fence, which will be used at most places on the perimeter. You have one that's crash rated, which will be used at the point where vehicles can access the site. And then you have one that's got slats for privacy that'll be used to screen the substation equipment so that it's not visible to the public.

that's what we have prepared for you tonight thank you does anyone have any questions i don't have any questions um i do have a comment well i do actually have one question i'm sorry would you be able to clarify what 65 decibels is just roughly

Yeah, I would prefer to submit that in writing if that's okay.

Yeah, could you get that to us as quick as possible so we can share it with the citizens?

And 65, to be clear, is what's in the covenant as the standard.

The preliminary plan that they, or the preliminary response they've given us indicates that it would be lower, more in the range of 50 to 52 decibels at 500 feet.

My question, my thinking is a lot of our citizens don't know what 55 decibels or 65 decibels is. And I was just going to look, you know, whether that's, you know, rocket ships taking off or is that conversation level? But if you just get that to us and write and I appreciate it.

We do plan to submit a full noise study to county staff for review and approval and we'll include analysis in there of more layman's terms and what those noise limits mean.

Thank you. My last one is you have sat here and heard our citizens, and we just want you to please provide them with answers to their questions, and to us as well. Because that's what they are in desperate need of, is answers that we have not been able to give them satisfactorily. So, please.

Is there a QA log where we can respond to those questions?

We can get those to you.

We actually, on our website, have a Q&A thing. So we can work with Ms. Williams, get some questions to you that may have come up or they're out there. And then we can add those to it.

We're happy to.

Thank you, sir. And that's all I've got. Anybody else have any questions? Go ahead, Sarah.

I'm sorry. I don't believe that you addressed electricity, water, and noise, but if that's in a different plan.

They actually did talk about water. They've applied for the 3,000 gallons on the water side and on the wastewater side. So that's answered our questions on that part.

Electricity demands.

Power consumption is going to be less than 300 megawatts, probably looking more like 210. IT load, but we'll get you confirmation on those numbers. We're working with that Appalachian Power through that.

So is that extra? Because the 3,000 gallons takes more. The water. The water takes more electricity to keep, to cool it because you lose less water.

That includes the cooling load. That's total power consumption. Be less than 300. We'll get the exact numbers.

Can you compare that for me? Since.

To like a household. Household. Yeah, we can do that. Right correlation of that. Household. Sure.

Mr. Attorney.

That was the questions I was going to ask.

So you mentioned the substation. Can you elaborate on what type of substation it's going to be?

Typical Appalachian AP substation with overhead lines and then MB feeders running to the data center.

Yeah, so they'll bring in high voltage feeds to the substation. It'll convert it to a medium voltage, which will come into the site and be converted to the voltage data to serve the building.

So it's not a secondary, it's just coming from their substation to yours?

Yeah, right across the street you can see there, there's a substation.

When you mentioned that, I thought you were putting a separate substation on to generate extra. no there's no generation plan for this project it's taken from high voltage to the medium voltage i just wanted to clarify that yes any other questions uh yeah last thing i'll just echo if you can get the information to us so we can share with the citizens i think that'll go a long way as far as the transparency piece that you've heard tonight so

So, Mr. Chairman, the two requests that I have, if there are no further questions, our covenants require county approval on the use of fencing at the property. We do have other industries within the progress park that use fencing. It wasn't shown, but there are also access controls, so gates, guard shack for the main entrance and for the emergency entrance, unless that's changed. uh that's still accurate there's a there's a gate at the guard shack or sorry there's a gate at the emergency entrance but not a guard check there the guard shack is only on the primary entrance okay um so um the the covenants require county approval of the use of fencing uh since other corporations use it and since it is a secure facility staff has reviewed the fencing preferences and we recommend the board authorize the use of the fencing, both the locations and the styles as requested in the presentation. And then staff also ask that you authorize staff to issue the county's determination that the site plan meets the progress part covenants.

All right, I'll entertain a motion to approve the fencing per the covenants and progress board. I'll move. Got a motion by Mr. Cook. Do I have a second? Second. Got a second by Mr. Board. And any questions or concerns about that?

This is about the fencing. Only about the fencing.

All right. Hearing none, we'll do a roll call vote. Mr. Byrne?

Aye. Aye.

Aye. Aye.

Aye.

So approved. I'll entertain a motion to approve the site plan as presented by, requested by Mr. Hankins. So moved. I got a second. I got a motion by Mr. Cook. Do I have a second? I'll second. I'll second by Mr. Moran. Any questions or concerns? Hearing none, we'll do a roll call vote, Mr. Terry. Aye. Aye. Aye. Aye.

No.

Aye. So approved. Anything else, Mr. Higgins?

No, sir. All right.

Thank you, gentlemen.

Thank you, sir. Thank you for your time.

You guys are sore not counting this.

I understand the frustration, but we have to be respectful. and find out what we want before you go.

We're going to be respectful, okay?

Well, I'm being respectful. Okay. All right.

Hey, Mr. Klein, you want to take in as well?

You ain't that damn good either.

You can take somebody else's puzzle, Bill. You want to get somebody's life.

Any other items removed, Mr. Byron?

No, sir. Mr. Rankin?

No, sir.

All right, here now we'll move on to staff reports. Deputy County Administrator, Mr. Rankin.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman, members of the board. First item is on the Asia Park court project. We do have $75,000 in grant funding from the Withland Foundation in the current year's budget. The county's put $100,000 toward that project. We put it out for bid. We received four bids for the project. The low bid came in at $421,000 from G&H Construction. That's well above our $175,000 budget. We have gone back, we've negotiated some value engineering with the low bidder. We've been able to get it down to approximately 318,000. We'd like a little bit of cushion just in case there are contingencies. So that gives a total project budget of 325,000. In order to do that, you'd have to appropriate an additional $150,000. This would provide a new basketball court and three pickleball courts at Azure Park. So the question is, do you want to proceed with this project using the additional $150,000, or would you like for us to call this project off and go back to the drawing board?

What's the pleasure of the board?

We've done a lot of work out there. I'd hate to slow down and stop on it.

And our current budget looks awful tight.

I know for some of the things that we've cut back on the budget, I mean, we're tight. But it's up to the board. DAVID BURRAGE.

Can we not cut some of that and use the money that we got there to get part of it done?

We've cut about as much as we're comfortable cutting out. The only other thing that we could cut was about $11,000 for an underdrain system. But we think not having an underdrain on the existing court is the reason why the cracks are so deep and so pronounced. So we'd like to have an underdrain system to make sure that we don't see that same type of cracking again. That would bring your project budget down to?

Still be over $300,000? Yes, sir. Again, what's the pleasure, Board?

Do we have any, how much usage will this get?

I'd like to be able to tell you. We don't get any usage on the courts now because they are in such rough shape. Occasionally we'll have a yoga class or something like that that goes out and uses it just because it is a flat space, but it can't be used for tennis or basketball. It's just not a safe surface to play on.

What liability do we have out there right now if somebody gets hurt or

whatever somebody could prove through a court.

So if it's that bad, do we have them locked?

We could have them locked or we could go ahead and start to do demolition on them and have a clear site for later development.

And we are not going back with tennis courts. We are going back with a pickleball. That is the popular sport now. And I predict that the pickleball courts will get a lot of use, because that is very popular.

I don't know anything about pickleball, so I don't.

Yeah. A wooden racket with a wiffle ball. That's the best way I can explain it. And that's about all I can tell you.

OK. Whatever the pleasure of the Lord, I need a motion if we're going to go.

Are we going to table it? Yeah, I think we need to investigate some more to see how much use this thing will get. Do I now? I'm sorry? So we can see how much use this thing will get.

Can we run this back through the building grounds committee? We can. We can refer it back. Yes, sir. Thank you. All right.

The second action item I have is follow up from last night's joint meeting with the Planning Commission and the summary that you have there on the sheet is wrong. I did hand out a memo to you before the meeting. So those folks who weren't at the meeting last night, we did make a considerable number of revisions to the mapping. We also made a few changes to the text of the draft zoning ordinance. You all wanted to go back to the public with some additional input sessions. You asked that they be scheduled as soon as we could practically do so, that they be held after giving a reasonable comment period for the public to be able to review the draft document and offer their feedback. That would give us time to do our outreach through our available media channels. And you also wanted to hold those meetings close together. You didn't want a big delay between them. We had at times a couple of weeks delay between the meetings that we did back in the spring. So staff has put together the following schedule. We'll amend or change as you direct, but we would publish the draft and the updated mapping tomorrow. We would open up a public review and comment period through August. Some of you mentioned the opportunity to do either town halls or informal meetings or engage with interest groups like the Farm Bureau and some civic groups. and allow us to do some public engagement and outreach so that would that would give us august to do that um so i would suggest that um you have your first meeting uh september 10th at royal retreat high school your second one at george wythe on september 14th and your third at fort chisel high school on september 17th so that gives you a week to do those meetings with our meeting schedules we have pretty tight window to try to pack those into. So if that's too tight, we can try to spread it out a little more.

Mr. Rankins, I just noticed this. September 14th, we've already established as a joint meeting with the JIDA that night. So we will need to revise that date.

Wasn't on my calendar.

You know, i don't i don't want to seem like the jerk here i i mean i couldn't be at the meeting last night because i just didn't feel up to it but you know to me it just seems like we're kicking this can farther and farther down the road and the farther we kick it down the road the longer it's taking us to get any zoning and i've made it clear i'm so i'm for zoning and obviously people are coming in for zoning and we're kicking public more you know three more public meetings we've already been to the high schools once We've had work sessions. And now we're kicking it down the road again until September to have three more meetings to try to do something that's just, you know, it needs to be done. I'm not against the data center at the Progress Park, because I think that's where it needs to be. And it's been built that way for 20 years. We knew what we needed to know 20 years ago or not is irrelevant. That's what it was built for. I think it belongs there. I supported 100% but I don't support the one up Max Meadows. I don't support any more. September just irritates me. I'm sorry. I don't know how everybody else feels, but that's just how I feel about that's too far down the road. We need to do something quick.

So rails

I still have a lot of residents that tell me no more over the zoning than I do.

So we put a data center down in Barren Springs and you don't have problems?

No, that ain't what I'm saying. I'm not for data centers. I represent the voice of the lead mines district. And so my feeling is that I've got to reach more of my residents. I mean, I see the ones that come here. I talk to them. But to be honest and fair, for my lead mine residents, I've got to be able to reach more of them. And that's, I mean, I'm not saying I'm wanting to kick it down the road. But this is, at the end of the day, has to be something for the county residents.

Did I get it right?

Yeah, I think it's got to be right as well. I know the majority of the folks from the Fort Chisell district has talked to me about zoning in particular. They're against the zoning as well. They're against solar and they're against data centers as well. Other than what's in Progress Park. Nobody likes to see the big tracts of land sold. I don't. I'll echo what Mr. Cook says. That's where my stance is at. I don't like seeing farms being sold for this. I was against the I don't like to see solar come in here. I know Ms. Branscombe's here. I know what we did as far as that one. We really didn't have no levers to stop that solar farm down there. But I think we need to reach out. The majority of the people in this county um needs to have their voice heard as well um you know and i know there's not a lot of people here and a lot of y'all have mentioned that tonight that people need to get out so we need to make sure that we we touch base with them on that uh going to the farm bureau i think is going to be key as well which we mentioned that last night getting them involved but I'm good with having individual town halls in the Fort chisel district. I know, Mr. Burnett and Mr. Morgan both said they were going to do it. And Mr. Terry, I think you were going to be involved at some point. So we can do that to try to speed the process up. I agree with Mr. Cook, I don't want to kick it down the road no further than we have to. But we need to make sure it's right. We don't we can't just knee jerk and put something in place. It's not going to be efficient and effective for everybody. We got to make sure we get everything right.

Yeah. But do you not have a board? After the zoning goes in, there's a board, right? And if you don't agree with something or you need something changed in the zoning, you can go in front of the board, present your case, and get your land reclassified or changed. Is that correct?

Generally, you would do that in front of the planning commission. Right.

So why do we have to answer every individual little quirk on the thing right now Instead of getting something in place that we can keep out data centers and then handle individual things one at a time to make it perfect. Because you're never going to make it perfect, ever.

I just think we're taking too long.

Anybody else?

Well, I feel like it may be doing just like one, like they talked last night, like at Georgia High School, instead of doing all three schools, just do one countywide, which would save time.

That would speed it up. I know that we talked about I know Miss Williams you work with her to get it on all the social media outlets for us

We would do social media, we'll go on radio, we'll advertise at the newspaper, we'll put out flyers at highly visible locations around the county. The same thing that we've been doing to educate folks. I've had a lot of folks say that they didn't hear about it. It wasn't for lack of effort on their part.

So can you look at a date maybe in August that we can just do one meeting?

Yes, sir. We looked at some days today. August is pretty busy.

August 27 is a potential.

We looked at that. We looked at the 17th. We looked at the 20th. The week of the 17th is It's gotten a lot of items added to it, so it's a pretty busy schedule.

The 27th, I'll be out of town, which I still haven't. If you can send us some dates, Mr. Hankins, in August, then all of us can kind of agree on that.

I'll send that as a poll, if you don't mind. That way I'll make it a little easier. As for the rest of my report, our codification, the new code has been delivered to the courts, to the sheriff's office. We've got it in this space. We've got it in the county clerk's office and county administration. So the codification is available now. All of our mobile phone project is done. We did have the issue with the dog shelter. The equipment in that office has been replaced, and I believe everything is working now. We're getting calls for the folks who want to adopt dogs. And then I did want to highlight the manufacturer of the dehumidifier equipment at the arena is in town this week. They're working on some issues that we've had with that equipment, trying to get it to where it's functioning as it should. So I'll be on scene with our buildings and grounds superintendent and the contractor and some outside contractors tomorrow as they look at that. We do have our new athletics coordinator started with us yesterday, so we're happy to have Reed Spraker on board with us. We didn't have him come in tonight on his second day on the job, but we will get him in to introduce you as we get into August. Be glad to answer any questions you may have.

Anybody have any questions for Mr. Hankins? DAVID BURRAGE COUNTY ADMINISTRATOR, MR. BURRAGE?

THE FIRST ITEM, I WILL TURN IT OVER TO MS. MARTHA COLLINS, BECAUSE SHE PUT IT ON THE AGENDA.

I'm just requesting closed offices for the staff picnic on August 7th. Close at noon.

Typically, y'all are authorized to close in the office. We appreciate you all helping to sponsor the staff picnic. Between our full and part-time staff, it is quite a large number. I've not heard of any RSVP, but you all are more than welcome to attend. And if you're able, we'd be glad to have you across the street at Elizabeth Brown Memorial Park.

All right, now entertain a motion to approve this request. I've got a motion by Mr. Terry. Do I have a second? Second. Second by Mr. Crockett. Any questions or concerns about closing at noon for the county picnic? Hearing none, we'll do a roll call vote, Mr. Terry. Aye. Aye. Aye. Aye. Aye. So approved.

Next item, I don't think Mr. Jimmy Moss is in attendance from Mount Rogers PDC, but as you all know, we have been looking at the potential of a housing project. They were able to get some grant funds for us, and they have put out requests for proposals, and they would like to proceed with H&P, Hurt and Profit, for the proposal. They have requested that the In order to do so, it exceeds the grant amount, but they are willing to absorb $3,600 of their cost in the process, especially towards administration, and are asking if we would cover $3,500 towards that. I would request, in order to proceed with this project and use these grant funds for housing that is desperately a need in our area, that you all authorize amendment and appropriation of $3,500. to Capital Projects, Prez Jackson Housing.

All right, I'll entertain a motion to approve as presented.

So moved.

Got a motion by Mr. Turley. I'll have a second. Second. Second by Mr. Crockett. Any questions or concerns with this request? Hearing none, we'll do a roll call vote. Mr. Burnett? Aye.

Aye. Aye. Aye. Aye. So approved. The rest of my, Mr. Chairman, are just information unless there's any questions. Anybody have any questions for Mr. Burnett?

County attorney, Mr. Farther?

I don't have anything, Mr. Chairman. Thank you.

Yes, sir. Board reports, budget committee.

Yes, sir. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Budget committee met on July 23rd, 2026, and comes up with the following recommendations. The first one, the Brian Justice Assistant Grant, accept the Burns Justice Assistant Grant in the amount of $40,830, $40,831. to amend and appropriate the same amount.

All right, coming from the committee, it doesn't need a second. Is there any questions or concerns with this request? Seeing none, we'll do a roll call vote, Mr. Terry. Aye. Aye. Aye.

Aye.

Aye.

Aye. So approved.

Next item is a Sheriff's Office donation except the $1,000 donation from Fellowship Baptist Church and to amend and appropriate the same to 3102-470221.

Again, coming from the committee, it doesn't need a second. Is there any questions or concerns with this request? Hearing none, we'll do a roll call vote. Mr. Burnett? Aye.

Aye.

Aye. Aye.

Aye. So approved. The third, sole source purchase. Approve LENCO as a sole source vendor for the purchase of an armored vehicle.

Again, it comes from the committee. It doesn't need a second. Is there any questions or concerns with this request? Hearing none, we'll do a roll call vote. Mr. Terry? Aye. Aye. Aye.

Aye.

Aye. So approved.

The fourth item, victim witness whistleblower policy. Approve the whistleblower policy for the victim witness program as presented.

Again, come from the committee. It doesn't need a second. Any questions or concerns with this request? Hearing no more, do a roll call vote. Mr. Byrne? Aye. Aye. Aye. Aye. Aye.

Aye. Fifth Island DSS budget amendment request. Amend and appropriate $7,510 to the DSS budget for the additional 1% salary increase and health insurance premiums increase.

Again, come from the committee. It doesn't need a second. Is there any questions or concerns with this request? Hearing no, we'll do a roll call vote. Mr. Terry? Aye. Aye. Aye.

Aye. Aye.

Aye.

Next item, E911, transfer and organizational restructural request. Accept the lateral transfer of this current operations manager to the upcoming vacant shift supervisor position and to change the current operations manager position to the deputy director and shift training coordinator position to operations manager. Both the deputy director and ops manager position will be salary exempt.

All right. Again, coming from the committee, it doesn't need a second. Is there any questions or concerns with this request? Hearing no, we'll do a roll call vote. Mr. Burnett?

Aye. Aye.

Aye.

Aye. Aye.

Aye. And the last item I've got, Mr. Chairman, is FY27 budget amendment for 1% salary revision. Amend and appropriate $127,908 for the additional 1% cost of living increase in the fiscal year 2027 pay scale previously approved by the Board of Supervisors.

All right. Again, coming from the committee, it doesn't need a second. Any questions or concerns with this request? Hearing none, we'll roll call vote. Mr. Terry? Aye. Aye. Aye. Aye. Aye.

Aye.

And that's all I've got from budget for you, sir.

All right, we'll move on to Board of Supervisors' time. Mr. Terry, while you've got the hot mic.

Thanks, sir. First, thank you all for being here tonight. Thanks for the comments. I appreciate that very much. Thank you for your kindness. Like Mr. Cook said, like Mr. Smith said, I do not support data centers out in the county on farmlands. in progress part of the park was built designed for that that when I do support but the one out on the farm any kind of vacant farmland I am NOT a supporter of anything outside of the industrial park I've had some dialogue with some you know and that dialogue is meet with whoever, answer whatever questions I can. I've also spoken to Ms. Edwards, and I'm working on getting you some answers to the questions that we discussed on the phone yesterday. So, again, thank you all very much. I appreciate it. I apologize. I didn't mean anything disrespectful with my last comment, so I do sincerely apologize. And, again, thank you all for being here, and I hope everybody has a blessed morning.

uh i have the same thing i'm not for data centers out in the county out of the industrial park but we need to get this zoning right so we don't we don't need to be pushing too hard we need to get it right before we go i want to talk about the issue of respect the phone call i got day before yesterday from a woman. I was driving down the road and she called me and just some of the things she said I can't repeat here. That is a total lack of respect. We live here too. So when they talk to me like that, I'm a little bit afraid to admit that the redneck comes out of me every once in a while. That's just the way it happens. But when I asked her her name, wouldn't tell me. So I don't know if she lived in this county or not. So that's the biggest thing I have.

Mr. Cook, welcome back again, my lord. I have nothing else to say. Mr. Crawford?

I wanted to talk about a couple of things. Ms. Bates talked about conversation about people leaving. That was a comment that I made, and I would like to provide some more context about that. I do not find it disrespectful when people have to leave. I have been working since about 530 this morning. I'm tired. I'm hungry. So I completely understand. I think for me, this is a very foreign thing. I am used to a way of leadership of interacting and talking. honestly sitting up up here somewhat makes me uncomfortable um when i was talking with miss edwards she reminded me that um we have board of supervisors time and we need to use it my context around people leaving was when people talk during citizens time and then leave it feels like we're not talking to the people who are talking to us She also reminded me that we're on YouTube, and I continually try to forget that. But I will try to remember that from now on. No, I do not find it disrespectful. I don't take it personally. I know that people have lives outside of here. I think I would much rather address these with a phone call or face-to-face, but everybody's still here tonight. Also, I hear what you say about trust, and I feel the people of Wythe County need to have trust, and by trust, we get facts. I feel like, for me personally, I've said that I don't support data centers out on private property. I come from farmers and we protect our land. But I also don't feel like we should get I don't feel like that we should have any more come to our community without verifying that the promises that people are making to us are true. I believe that concerns are real and that we need to know more about the impacts that it has on us as citizens.

Thank you, Mr. Clark. Mr. Murray? Well, I'm going to change just a little bit. I did do a quick study. Biologyinsights.com says that 65 decibels is normal conversation between two people a few feet apart. That was just biologyinsights.com. And so in July, and we covered a little bit, or a whole lot, over 1%. But I had quite a few people call me with comments of different things. And I feel like I've repeated myself enough that I'm a broken record. So on YouTube and here, I wanted to go over a few things.

So five years ago,

And one of the first things I was part of was lowering our tax rates on our real estate and personal properties. We managed to keep that tax rate low during that time. And we started a emergency services department with the county, with the lead mines rescue squad, and down in the lower tree. It costed us millions of dollars. And we was able to do that with no tax increase. We built a school with no tax increase. We invested new equipment and at least seven new large mainline fire trucks with no tax increase. We created a pay scale for employees and identified areas that we could hire new employees to better serve our citizens with no increase. We did a 9-9-9-1-1 call center upgrades with no increase. We did a 911 towers for communication for our police department, our fire rescue, so that any part of the county they can call on the radios and contact, again, with no increase. One of the things that we do every year in our budget for all departments is we build our budgets from zero, and then we build them out every year from scratch as departments are needed. Some of the comments I got was that we were scratching for every dollar that we need and that was just wanting to raise taxes and that is not what my experience up here on this board has been i will say that we are facing tough times we balanced the budget last year we balanced the budget this year we're going to have to be hard thinking next year about getting money from somewhere i would like to see money growth from growth in the county people moving in businesses coming in instead of revenue growth by taxes increases i'd rather have growth by people coming in spending their money so that was just some of the things that i spent many hours talking on the phone with people this past week And I just wanted to put that out there on the YouTube and the people here. That's all I've got. All right.

Thank you, Mr. Barnett. First thing, I've got several things. One thing that I really want to do, I want to provide some clarification or context to Ms. Davis. I know the NDA that I mentioned on the podcast, none of the board members here, including myself, we did not sign NDAs. That was signed by the executive director of the joint IDA. We did not. Us not putting anything out, we were asked not to say anything until the company provided their statement. i'm just speaking for myself i was assuming that they were going to make that statement pretty quick we found out they didn't so that's i think the frustration with all of us has been shared with the joint idea and soulless art people with in the past i know you've heard us talk about mr bar or talk not talk about mr bar but talk with mr about getting them in here to get that information out they didn't provide it i'll take the blame on my blockchain on me i should have been a little more upfront once i've seen that they was dragging their feet we should have just went ahead and done something on that piece so i do want to clarify and thank you for bringing that up and i like what you said if if you bring your facts and if we say if you say something we think's wrong we can you feel good before we question you i feel the same way if i say something that's out of line call me out on the carpet for it don't call nobody else if I said it just come to me I'm very available I'll make myself available some people's in the room now it's invited me out to a community and we met I'll come to any community meeting as long as I'm in town and it works with my schedule I do my best to work that out to get and talk about whatever we want to talk about so i'm not one that's going to be sitting in this seat the only time you see me is here you know if you can stay after our meeting i'll talk to you i'll try to come out as much as i can before the meeting and then get back up here but if you need to talk to me feel free if there's something you disagree with that i said feel free You know, we're all human, we make mistakes. But I did want to provide a clarification on that for Mr. Davis there. Second thing I don't want to talk about, we did have the zoning meeting yesterday with the Planning Commission. It was a work session. A lot of the people in the room, there were several people in the room tonight was there. We did make a lot of changes. We went through and changed a lot of things from commercial to ag, from industrial to in areas that we felt like it. So once Mr. Hankins and Ms. Williams gets that updated and put it out, social media, I'll just urge everybody to go to that and look at that. Look at your specific areas where you live. If there's questions or concerns or anything that you feel needs to be changed, reach out to me or any of these board members that's up here. I know Bradley feels the same way. Bradley's actually out of town, but he feels the same way. Feel free to reach out to us with any of those questions. We do need to make sure that we get this zoning right because the zoning, we don't want to have to keep going back and revising it. We want to make it a first pass through and it's going to be good for everybody. And it's going to work for everybody to keep the people out. But we don't want, especially outside of the industrial parks, it's on these big chunks of land that's in the area, especially farmland. We want to keep it as farm and ag industry in the county. So we do need to do that. So there is a meeting with a community here, local. Just feel free to reach out to me after this meeting. They're going to meet on the 13th of August. I can't make it unless our meetings in Richmond end early and I drive back. If Mr. Byer drives back, we're probably not going to make it back in time. I'm just fucking funny, Mr. Byer. But if we can be back, I'm going to try to get back in time to make that meeting. But I don't think our time's going to allow for us to get back in time for that. which I've already talked to the folks and I've got, I think Mr. Byrne's going to try to make it on my behalf. I don't know if Mr. Terry's going to make it or not. So we'll try to get that there. Mr. Upcabbage, if you can get your information to Mr. Byrne about the spraying and we'll do our best to try to help you out on that piece. Or at least get you in directionally into the right group that you need to be talking to. This is just me being me. If somebody's threatening you, you need to talk to Mr. Klein. Everybody has the right to express their concerns without repercussions. That's just my standpoint. Lots of people does a lot of stuff that I don't like, but I don't threaten to do that. It's your right. So I would just recommend that. Thank you, sir. Mr. Mayor, I know I sent you some pictures about the library. Was we able to see?

I have not followed up with Amy on that. I will follow up with her on that.

OK. And just for clarification, that's the regional libraries responsible for the grounds, upkeep of their ground? Yes. That's pretty bad. So if you could follow up on that. That's all I've got. The next item on the agenda is a closed meeting under the Code of Virginia 2.2-3711-81. personnel select staff salaries and code of Virginia two point two thirty seven eleven eighty three acquisition disposition of real property East Whiffle and the Fort Chisell districts. I'll entertain a motion. So moved. A motion by Mr. Curry. You'll have a second? Second. Second by Mr. Byrne. Roll call vote Mr. Byrne. Aye. Aye. Aye. Aye. Aye. Aye. We're now in closed session. All right, I'll entertain a motion to come out of closed session. So moved. Got a motion by Mr. Terry. I got a second by Mr. Morgan. Do a roll call vote. Mr. Burnett. Aye. Aye. Aye. All right, we're now in open session. Mr. Terry, your recertification.

Yes, sir. Whereas the Wythe County Board of Supervisors has convened a closed meeting on the state pursuit of an affirmative recording vote in accordance with the provisions of the Virginia Code of Info Act. And before I section 2.2 of the Code of Virginia requires a certification by the Wythe County Board of Supervisors that such a meeting was conducted in conformity with the Virginia law. Now, therefore, be it resolved that the Wythe County Board of Supervisors hereby certify, to the best of each member's knowledge, Excuse me. Only public business matters lawfully exempted from unpermitting requirements by the Virginia law were discussed in the closed meeting to which a certification resolution applies. And only such public business matters as were identified in the motion to convene in this closed meeting were heard, discussed, and are considered by the Wood County Board of Supervisors. And I'll make that a motion, Mr. Chairman.

Second. Got a second. Well, Mr. Cook, all in favor signify by saying aye. Aye. Anybody opposed? All right. Anybody on the board member have any other business to come before the board? Mr. Breyer? Yes, sir.

Not if I know what's good for me, Mr. Chairman.

Mr. Breyer? Yes, sir. Ms. Collins? I'm good.