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11-29-2018 Legislative Committee Meeting Minutes - FINALLegislative Committee November 29, 2018 Legislative Committee Thursday, November 29, 2018, Meeting VIRGINIA: The Legislative Committee of the Pittsylvania County Board of Supervisors was held on Thursday, November 29, 2018, in the Main Conference Room of the County Administration Building in Chatham, Virginia 24531. Ronald S. Scearce, Chairman, called the Meeting to Order at 4:30 p.m. The following Committee Members were present: Ronald S. Scearce Joe B. Davis Ben L. Farmer The following Board of Supervisors Members were also present: Robert W. Warren Dr. Charles H. Miller, Jr. Mr. David M. Smitherman, County Administrator/Clerk of the Board; Mr. J. Vaden Hunt Esq., County Attorney; Mr. Greg L. Sides, Assistant County Administrator for Planning & Administration; Mr. Richard Hicks, Assistant County Administrator for Operations; Honorable Shirley Y. Hammock, Commissioner of the Revenue; Mrs. Susan Dillon, Chief Animal Control Officer; Mrs. Karen N. Hayes, Deputy Director of Community Development; Mr. Michael Henderson, Chief Building Official; and Mrs. Kaylyn M. McCluster, Deputy Clerk, were also present. Approval of Agenda Motion was made by Mr. Davis, seconded by Mr. Farmer, to approve the Agenda, which was unanimously approved by the Legislative Committee. New Business (a) Discussion of Potential Revision to Elderly and Indigent Partial Real Estate Tax/Solid Waste Fee Exemptions There was discussion to potentially raise the total annual household income threshold for elderly/indigent partial real estate tax exemption from $18,000 to $25,000 with a cap of $450 on said exemption. Honorable Shirley Y. Hammock was able to explain how she arrived at the new figure of $25,000 for the Board using census information. Motion by Mr. Davis, seconded by Mr. Farmer, to suggest a cap of $450 for the exemption and support the recommendation to the full Board to raise the total annual household income threshold from $18,000 to $25,000. Unanimously approved by the Legislative Committee. (b) Discussion of Potential Revision to County Code Allowing Late (with Penalty) Land Use Application Filing Legislative Committee November 29, 2018 There was discussion regarding potentially allowing late Land Use Application filing with a penalty. Due to time constraints, it would be near impossible to make this effective this year, and the Legislative Committee decided to put this item on hold until the Summer to consider putting this item in place for next year’s filings. (c) Discussion of Potential Revisions to BOS Bylaws Mr. Hunt stated the BOS Bylaws were revised last year and are pretty clean. Mr. Hunt asked the Legislative Committee if there was anything in the Bylaws that they desire to change, and if so, the changes need to be brought before the full Board at the December Meeting to allow for the ten (10) day layover before they can be adopted at the January Reorganizational Meeting. There was discussion regarding the potential change to starting the Work Session at 4:00 PM instead of 4:30 PM to allow for more time. There was also discussion regarding Appointments to Board Committees. This would allow the Board the authority to remove Board appointees if necessary. Mr. Hunt asked if the Legislative Committee desired a vetting process for anyone interested in being appointed to any Boards and Committees. There are localities that handle their appointments in Closed Session and/or do an application process. Mr. Davis likes the idea of the Board being able to remove appointees, but does not really like the idea of vetting the appointees due to the Supervisor for that District being in control of that. Mr. Farmer stated he is open to starting the Work Session at 4:00 PM. Mr. Warren likes the idea of an application of the appointees. Dr. Miller also likes the application process and the ability to remove if necessary. Mr. Hunt will get these items on the December Work Session to present before the full Board. (d) Discussion/Review of Proposed Legislative Priority List and Discussion of Potential Retention of Lobbyist for 2019 Virginia General Assembly Session(s) Mr. Hunt presented a Legislative Priority List to the Legislative Committee. Staff is looking for direction from the Board on whether they desire to hire a lobbyist to assist in several key areas. VACo is lobbying on the State level, but there may be things that are beneficial if we hire a lobbyist, especially on the Cherrystone Dam Project. Mr. Warren suggested researching other localities to see which are already lobbying on things such as the Dam Project to possibly partner with them on that topic. Motion by Mr. Davis, second by Mr. Farmer, to authorize Staff to put this list in the form of a Resolution to be brought before the full Board at their December Meeting. (e) Discussion of Potential Revision to Noise Ordinance Mr. Hunt explained that Mr. Haskins, Commonwealth’s Attorney, recently had a case where he was unable to prosecute a particular charge relating to our Noise Ordinance due to a missing link in the current Code. The current Code references 40-60, which is wrong and should be 41-6. This will enable him to charge people for violations of the Noise Ordinance, and the way it is now he is unable to do so, because the Code is referencing a broken link. Motion by Mr. Davis, second by Mr. Farmer, to authorize Staff to advertise for a Public Hearing and bring before the full Board at their December Meeting. (f) Discussion of Potential Nuisance Animals Ordinance Mr. Hunt stated there have been several situations brought to Board Members’ attention concerning nuisance animals. This will only apply to domestic animals, and it will allow the Animal Legislative Committee November 29, 2018 Control officers to have some authority to do something, without an actual attack. This will be at the discretion of the Animal Control Officer and unique to each situation. There was consensus of the Legislative Committee to bring back to the Board during a Work Session in the future to review. (g) Discussion of Potential Grass and Weeds Ordinance Mr. Hunt brought before the Committee a potential Grass and Weeds Ordinance, which is allowed by the State. This is just to see if the Board has an appetite for something such as this, or to leave as is. This was attempted several years ago, and it was not successful in coming out of the Committee and being brought before the full Board. The proposed Ordinance would be limited to R- 1 only, and would also be based on phone complaints that are not anonymous. After some discussion, there was consensus from the Legislative Committee to bring this item back in the new year for future discussion. (h) Discussion of Potential Revisions to Inoperable Vehicles Ordinance Mr. Hunt stated the County currently allows three (3) or fewer inoperable vehicles to be kept on a property provided that each vehicle is shielded or screened for view by covers or vegetation. There have been suggestions by Board Members to potentially revise the inoperable vehicles ordinance, because the three (3) vehicle limit may fit some Districts, but not others. This would be complaint-based and could be restricted to R-1. After discussion, there was consensus from the Legislative Committee to bring this item back in the new year for discussion at a future Work Session. Adjournment Motion to adjourn made by Mr. Farmer, seconded by Mr. Davis. Mr. Scearce adjourned the Meeting at 5:50 PM.