JULY 21, 2008
6:00 P.M.
![]()
| Board Present: |
Fitzgerald A. Barnes, Dan W. Byers, Willie L. Gentry, Jr., Willie L.
Harper, Richard A. Havasy, *P.T. Spencer, Jr. and Jack T. Wright
*P.T.
Spencer, Jr. arrived at 6:24. |
| Others Present: |
C. Lee Lintecum, County Administrator; Ernie McLeod, Deputy County
Administrator; Will Cockrell, Senior Planner; Jason Pauley, County
Engineer; Kevin Linhares, Director of Facilities Management; Bob Hardy,
Director of Information Technology; Robert Dube, Fire Chief; Jane
Shelhorse, Director of Parks and Recreation; Sherry Vena, Director of
Human Resources; April Jacobs, Revenue Recovery Administrator, Amanda
Reidelbach, Office Manager, Administration; Zuwana Morgan, Deputy Clerk
and Brittany Spaur, Records Clerk | 
CALL TO ORDER
Chairman Harper called
the July 21,
2008 regular meeting
of the Louisa County Board of Supervisors to order at 6:00 p.m. Mr. Havasy led the invocation,
followed by the Pledge of Allegiance.
ADOPTION OF THE AGENDA
On motion of
Mr. Wright, seconded
by Mr. Barnes, which
carried by a vote of 6-0, the July 21, 2008 agenda was
adopted.
PRESENTATIONS
Update Tourism in
Louisa County
Ms. Carolyn McCray stated there
had been a growing number of
visitors to the center. Ms. McCray said from
January to the middle of July there were
1,600 visitors
and in the last week there was another 118. Ms. McCray said the people
on Interstate 64
consider the Piedmont Crossroads Visitors Center a Virginia Welcome Center and the staff has to
correct them by
telling them
the center
belongs to Louisa,
Orange and Fluvanna counties.
Ms. McCray said they send tourist
to Louisa to shop and eat. Ms. McCray said they have sent
tourists to Joes
Place and Small Country Campground.
Ms. McCray said
the center has four
part-time
staff, four volunteers and a summer intern. Ms. McCray said the Farmers Market has been a great success. Ms. McCray
said they are trying to build the Mineral Farmers Market back up to
how it used to
be.
Ms. McCray said during the July
4th
weekend there was a 1.3 percent decline in travel, which was a
very small decline considering the rise in gas prices.
Ms. McCray stated the visitors center has seen people from Florida,
Pennsylvania, West Virginia, Connecticut, New York, Indiana and North
Carolina.
Mr.
Harper said when people come by for a place to eat
she could mention the Town of Mineral and Fredricks Hall.
Mr. Byers asked
had the County
considered any types
of grants from the Virginia Department of Tourism or any other Federal grant that
would help with any of the activities. Ms. McCray said yes. Ms.
McCray said there were collaborative
grants they had applied for several times. Ms. McCray said they didnt get the grant last time because their numbers were not where they needed to
be.
Mr. Havasy asked Ms. McCray had
her or her staff
applied for educational grants for themselves to learn about the future of tourism.
Ms. McCray said yes, she was
considering going to
Washington University where many other Tourism
Managers and Directors had taken courses.
Mr. Gentry thanked Ms. McCray and said without her energy none
of this would
be possible.
Mr. Barnes thanked Ms. McCray. Mr. Barnes
suggested getting a sign and putting it somewhere on Route 15 directing people
to the visitors center. Mr. Barnes said the
center was easy to miss. Ms. McCray said when the turning
lane was put in for Lowes they took down the sign. Ms. McCray said they
were in the process
of having VDOT put the sign back up.
Mr. Barnes said the City of Roanoke had formed something called Sports Backers to
draw little league tournaments to the area as
a source of tourism. Mr. Barnes said it had
been equated that each child would bring
between $200 to $250. Mr. Barnes said that provides money for the local
economy.
Mr. Harper thanked Ms. McCray and said it was her enthusiasm that made the center so
successful.
NEW
BUSINESS
Resolution - To ratify and
affirm the Board Of
Supervisors authorization for the Industrial
Development Authority of the Town of
Louisa to issue up to
$159,500,000 of its Pollution Control Refunding
Revenue Bonds to
Virginia Electric and
Power Company
Ms. Lisa Williams said last year they brought
this resolution before the Board. Ms. Williams said because of the
financial market the funding went away and it had been delayed. Ms.
Williams said it had now been 12 months since the public hearing. Ms.
Williams said under the Federal Tax Code a public hearing was only good for 12
months, so the authorization had to be done over. Ms. Williams said VEPCO
was in the process of refinancing. Ms. Williams said the IDA passed the
resolution last week and nothing had changed on the resolution. Ms. Williams
introduced Mr. Al Smith from VEPCO and he said he would also answer any
questions the Board may have.
Mr. Byers asked if the Town of Louisa and
IDA had taken action. Mr. Harper said yes they
had.
On motion of Mr.
Barnes, seconded by Mr. Wright, which carried by a vote of 6-0, the Board adopted a resolution to ratify and affirm the Board
of Supervisors authorization for the Industrial Development Authority of the
Town Of Louisa to issue up to $159,500,000 of its Pollution Control Refunding
Revenue Bonds to Virginia Electric and Power Company.
Discussion Request to proceed with
the playground at the
Betty Queen Center
Ms. Jane
Shelhorse said originally when the resolution was done last year for the capital
budget, the playground was budgeted for $56,000. Ms. Shelhorse said out of
the $56,000 she was planning on spending $52,000 for the equipment, $3,000 for
the fence and $1,000 for unexpected items. Ms. Shelhorse said after
talking to the playground representative and the fencing company the amount came
to $56,500. Ms. Shelhorse said she was asking for $57,000 for the
playground out of CIP monies. Ms. Shelhorse said she could take $1,000
from the site work because a lot of that had already been done. Ms.
Shelhorse said the $1,000 for site work and the $56,000 for the playground had
already been budgeted and she would like to spend that before the prices went up
and so the children could enjoy it before the weather changed.
Mr. Byers said he still believed we were in a
economic down turn and it looked like the county would be spending $4,000 more
than budgeted. Mr. Byers asked Ms. Shelhorse if other means had been
looked at to get the money needed.
Ms. Shelhorse explained the
amount did not exceed her budget, she had budgeted $52,000 for the playground
equipment and rest was budgeted for fencing and site work. Ms. Shelhorse
said the project was budgeted for $56,000.
Mr. Byers asked if this
exceeded her budget. Ms. Shelhorse said no it did not exceed her original
budgeted amount. Mr. Byers said he stood corrected.
Mr. Barnes said
he would like to commend Ms. Shelhorse for having the foresight to get the
playground done before the price was affected by the economy.
Mr. Gentry
said he has been to the Betty Queen Center quite often since the pool opened and
the skate park and pavilion have all been very active. Mr. Gentry said
this summer was doing better than a lot of people expected.
On motion of Mr. Gentry, seconded by Mr.
Barnes, which carried by a vote of 6-0, the Board approved the request to proceed with the
playground at the Betty Queen Center.
Discussion Request to
proceed with the bid
process for the Animal
Shelter roof repairs
Mr. Kevin Linhares stated he was requesting approval to
go out to bid for the roof of the Animal Shelter, which had been previously
requested in his budget. Mr. Linhares stated what he had just given the
Board was his estimated cost for the upgrades. Mr. Linhares said he just
wanted the Boards approval to go out to bid to see what the costs were and he
would come back to the Board and get their approval or disapproval to move
forward.
Mr. Byers asked what was the value of the facility. Mr.
Linhares said it was hard to say at this point. Mr. Linhares said it was
built as a veal barn and it had some upgrades, but in his opinion it was still a
veal barn. Mr. Linhares said it definitely needed some work if it was
going to be kept for the use of an animal shelter. Mr. Linhares said to
build something new would probably cost between $750,000 to $800,000.
Mr.
Harper said he believed there was a proposal for the whole project to be done
for approximately $750,000 and he wanted to reiterate that he had no intention
of spending that money on the animal shelter. Mr. Harper said that was his
perspective on it and he would leave it up to the rest of the Board.
On motion of Mr. Wright, seconded by Mr.
Barnes, which carried by a vote of 6-0, the Board approved the request to proceed with the bidding process for the
Animal Shelters roof repairs.
Discussion Establishing a
debt policy for Louisa County
Mr. Ernie McLeod stated the Board had discussed establishing a debt policy. Mr. McLeod said he thought there could be a committee formed of two Board
members and himself or he could bring something back to the Board. Mr.
McLeod said he wanted to know what the Board preferred.
Mr. Byers asked would the public have to be notified if two
Board members are paired to form a committee. Ms.
Pandak said the
public would not in this case because they would
not be meeting with another entity.
Mr. Harper asked was the county
limited to a percentage of their budget that could be
accrued in debt.
Mr. McLeod
stated he did not think there was anything in the ordinance. Mr. Harper
said he thought it was in the State Code.
Mr. Lintecum
said he believed the State Code limited the county a percentage of their real
estate value.
Mr. Harper said there were already guidelines and he thought it was very
wise to have a policy. Mr. Harper asked the Board would they rather have a
committee or did they want Mr. McLeod to find out the information and bring it
back to them.
Mr. Wright said he thought a committee would be good.
Mr. Barnes said
Albemarle County
had a Long Range Planning Committee. Mr. Barnes said the committee looked at capital projects. Mr. Barnes said the committee
consisted of citizens, the Director of Facilities for
Schools, the County
Engineer and a Board member. Mr. Barnes said
the committee had been very well received because
it included citizens, a Board member and School Board members. Mr. Barnes said
most of the capital
debt was from school expenditures. Mr. Barnes said he thought it would be
wise for the Board to look into setting up something similar.
Mr. McLeod said it was
a good idea.
Mr. McLeod said it would take longer to put a debt policy in place because
you would have to form a committee.
Mr. Harper agreed and said he thought the
involvement of citizens and other agencies would be very important going
forward. Mr. Harper said the
people appointed to that committee would be extremely important. Mr. Harper asked the Board if they wanted
to move forward on the Long Range Planning Committee or just do the
debt policy.
*Mr. Spencer arrived
at 6:24
p.m.
Mr.
Wright said he thought they were two separate issues.
Mr. Barnes said he thought
they would be the
same thing. Mr. Barnes said most of
the debt would be accrued from capital
expenditures. Mr. Barnes said he thought it could be
done and suggested
that a date be set. Mr. Barnes said he has heard from so many citizens
that they would like
to have input in these type of financial decisions because it impacted them and their lifestyle.
Mr. Harper suggested that Mr.
Barnes, Mr.
Havasy and Mr.
McLeod come back to the Board at the next meeting with
suggestions.
Mr. Havasy said he was a part of enough committees.
Mr. Harper asked did anyone want to volunteer. Mr. Spencer said he
would.
BOARD APPOINTMENTS
Mr. Spencer stated Mr. Robert Whitlock resigned from
the Ag and Forestal
Committee because of his health. Mr. Spencer said he would like to present
him with a plaque for his years of faithful service.
Mr. Harper asked that Ms. Wright be given a plaque for her time on the Commission on
Aging.
COUNTY ADMINISTRATORS REPORT
Mr. Lintecum stated he was still working on the
Civil War Committee and searching for names to be
considered by the Board.
CONSENT AGENDA ITEMS
Resolution - Authorizing a supplemental
appropriation to the CIP for records preservation program
On motion of Mr. Barnes, seconded by Mr.
Wright, which carried by a vote of 7-0, the Board adopted a
resolution authorizing a supplemental
appropriation to the CIP for records preservation program.
Resolution - Endorsing the Virginia Juvenile Crime
Control Commission Act VJCCCA) grant renewal and maintenance of
effort
On
motion of Mr. Barnes seconded by Mr. Wright, which carried by a vote of 7-0,
the Board adopted a resolution
endorsing the Virginia Juvenile Crime Control Commission Act (VJCCCA)
grant renewal and maintenance of effort.
CORRESPONDENCE
Mr. Lintecum said
the first letter was from Comcast and the Board would have to consider
their renewal. Mr. Lintecum said the Code gave them a couple of options; the first thing they
would have to do was notify the Board of Supervisors in the future that they would be
looking into a
franchise renewal request.
Mr. Harper
asked what were the two options they had.
Mr. Lintecum
said they would do it as normal and there were new sections in the Code that
allowed things he
didnt quite understand.
Ms. Pandak said it was common
for Comcast to send
these
letters out to
communities. Ms. Pandak said they could
either use the policy itself which would be the
National Cable Act or they could provide notice that they wanted to use the Cable Franchise
Ordinance, which was under State Law and was fairly confining.
Mr. Barnes said the county needed
to stay on top of the TV deal for the High School with Comcast.
Mr. Barnes said the housing allowance had clients making use of the monies for affordable housing.
APPROVAL OF BILLS
Mr. Byers asked how did the expenditures track with the appropriations. Mr.
McLeod said the last time he was able
to print a report
everything was still in the guidelines that the Board had set earlier. Mr.
McLeod said some agencies were very close to going over. Mr. McLeod said he knew the
Sheriffs Department was very close and he would guess that CSA would be
over. Mr. McLeod said the next report would
give him the updated
information.
Mr. Harper asked why were there two resolutions in the
Board Packet for bills. Mr. McLeod said one was for bills
in FY 2008 and the other was for bills for FY 2009.
Mr. Wright asked how could the FY
2009 be over budget in two weeks. Mr.
McLeod said the new
budget was not in the system until June was closed. Mr. McLeod
stated it was not
over, it was just
the way that report ran.
On motion
of Mr. Barnes, seconded by Mr.
Wright, which
carried by a vote of 7-0, with Mr. Gentry
abstaining from bills pertaining to himself, the Board adopted a resolution
approving the bills for the first half of July 2008 (FY 2008) for the County of
Louisa in the amount of $312,355.40.
On motion of
Mr. Barnes,
seconded by Mr. Wright, which carried by a vote of 7-0, the Board adopted a
resolution approving the bills for the first half of July 2008 (FY 2009) for the
County of Louisa in the amount of $1,108,176.25.
Mr.
Byers said at
the next meeting
he would like to see how the expenditures were
falling with appropriations. Mr.
McLeod said he would have better numbers at the
end of August opposed to the beginning.
Mr. Barnes said with the uncertainty of gas prices the Board could implement a
five or 10 percent hold back until a certain period of time to those
budget items if the Board had concerns, excluding the schools because they had
already been dealt with. Mr. Barnes said he was not advocating, he was just putting that out
there.
APPROVAL OF
MINUTES
On motion
of Mr. Barnes, seconded by Mr.
Spencer, which
carried by a vote of 7-0, the Board adopted the
minutes of the July
7, 2008
meeting.
LEGAL
Sittinger Claim
Ms.
Pandak said there was a drafted resolution in the Board Packet to deny the claim of
Bill Sittinger.
Mr. Harper said there was a recommendation from the County
Attorney to deny the claim.
On motion of Mr. Byers,
seconded by Mr. Barnes, which carried by a vote of 7-0, the Board denied the claim of Bill Sittinger.
ADJOURNMENT
On
motion of Mr. Wright, seconded by Mr. Barnes, which carried by a vote of
7-0, the Board voted to adjourn the July 21,
2008 meeting at 6:37 p.m.
BY ORDER
OF
________________________________
WILLIE L. HARPER,
CHAIRMAN
LOUISA COUNTY BOARD OF SUPERVISORS
LOUISA COUNTY, LOUISA, VIRGINIA
|
