Chamber News

Board of Supervisors Meeting - June 28-2010-Stuart

The Patrick County Board of Supervisors met on Monday, June 28, 2010 at 6:00pm in the County Administration Office building on Rucker Street, Stuart, VA. This is the monthly Work Session.

Board of Supervisors Meeting on June 28, 2010 As reported by Tom Bishop Board Member Crystal Harris from Smith River District was absent. Public Comment Period 2 citizens gave public comment. Danny Foley-Mayo River District He urged the board to run the County like a business. At this point they are experiencing a windfall with the twice year billing of taxes. In the future they will have to either cut expenses or raise taxes to meet their obligations. Don Stanley - Blue Ridge District He spoke in favor of the ability of individual residents being able to construct private wind turbines with a height of 200 ft. or less. This would require a change to the current wind turbine ordinance. His approach is for people to be able to significantly reduce the monthly cost of electricity. The board reaction was generally favorable, but no action was taken. Mayo River Trail Dr. Lock Boyce made a motion to appropriate additional future funding for the Mayo River Trail. Second by Roger Hayden. Jay Scudder said the Board had already approved this as a Capital project and along with the appropriate funding. Karl Weiss, Chairman, said it had already been approved in past meetings when Ms. Harris was present. He did not believe that it should be reconsidered while Ms. Harris was absent. Alan Black, Attorney, said you cannot bind the next board on an undisclosed sum of money at some point in the future. Also his contention was that this was already approved in the budget for 2010-2011. Temporarily, Karl Weiss stepped aside as Chairman, and made a motion that this matter be tabled until the next Board meeting. It was seconded by Ron Knight. The vote on this was 2-2, with Mr. Hayden and Dr. Boyce voting no. The motion failed. At 6:55pm, a break was taken while Crystal Harris was called on conference phone so she could vote on Dr. Boyce’s original motion. At 7:02pm, the meeting resumed with Crystal Harris attending by conference phone. Vote was taken with Dr. Boyce and Roger Hayden voting No, and Crystal Harris and Ron Knight voting Yes. Karl Weiss abstained. Chairman Weiss declared the motion lost with a 2-2 tie vote. School Construction Project Dr. Roger Morris gave a detailed report and slide show on the status of the Patrick County Schools construction project. He explained the payments and transfers approved at the last Board of Supervisors meeting as follows: $5,000,000 was for construction funds for fiscal year 2009-2010 for invoices up through June 30, 2010 $3,000,000 was requested to pay for all invoices and payroll for the first part of fiscal year 2010-2011. $750,000 was for transfer from County funds to School Board funds for the beginning of the 2010-2011 fiscal year to pay bills and payroll as needed $10,000,000 was requested for payment of construction bills and invoices out of the 2010-2011 fiscal year. These amounts are not for additional funds, but requests the Supervisors to appropriate funds currently budgeted, in accordance with Section 58.1-301 of the Code of Virginia. He reported the stage of completion of the various schools as follows: Hardin Reynolds 38% Patrick Springs 76% Stuart 58% Blue Ridge 60% Meadows of Dan 55% Patrick County High 52% Woolwine 50% Dr. Morris brought with him to the meeting, the County School principals from throughout the County, Board Chairman Bobby Rorrer, and other Board office personnel. Sewer and Water Problems - Town of Stuart Town Attorney, Chris Corbett gave a report on the problem with the Sewer and Water lines underneath Stuart Forest Products and on Campbell’s Branch. A recent storm had broken the 8 inch sewer line when the floor collapsed and made the 10� water line unstable. The sewer line was temporarily patched. These are main lines serving numerous businesses and residents in the Town of Stuart and are considered critical lines. The Town was asking for $261,000 from the Tobacco Commission monies assigned to the Patrick Springs Water and Sewer project. They have found it feasible to make this transfer in light of the fact the Water and Sewer project bids are under budget. Motion was made by Dr. Boyce to use Patrick Springs Water and Sewer Tobacco allotment to fix this problem, not to exceed $261,000. Second by Ron Knight. Vote was approved 3-1, with Roger Hayden voting no. Solid Waste Fees There was not enough support on the board to install a new fee structure. The consensus was that the best approach was to monitor the current practices and find ways to improve the it as it is currently structured. At 8:40pm the Board voted to go into executive session. At 9:15pm. They came out of Executive Session and Attorney Alan Black told about an agreement that was made in year 2001 with Emerald Investors to provide water and sewer as part of the consideration of 8.27 acre tract of land purchase situated on Rt. 58 and Popular Drive. This was documented in IDA and Board of Supervisors meetings but was not covered in a written contract. This may require a lateral bore across U. S. Route 58 will result in an expenditure estimated in the range of $35,000-60,000. No action was required by the Board at this time. Meeting adjourned at 9:40pm