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11-28-2023 Work Session - FINAL PITTSYLVANIA COUNTY BOARD OF SUPERVISORS’ WORK SESSION November 28, 2023 VIRGINIA: The Pittsylvania County Board of Supervisors' ("Board") Work Session was held on November 28, 2023, in the Board Meeting Room, 39 Bank Street, SE, Chatham, Virginia 24531. CALL TO ORDER (3:30 PM) Dalton called the Meeting to Order at 3:30 PM. ROLL CALL The following Board Members were present: Darrell W. Dalton - Chairman, Callands-Gretna District Timothy W. Dudley - Vice-Chairman, Staunton River District Nancy K. Eanes - Dan River District Ronald S. Scearce - Westover District Robert M. Tucker, Jr. - Banister District; and Robert (“Bob”) W. Warren - Chatham-Blairs District. William V. (“Vic”) Ingram - Tunstall District participated remotely via phone due to vacation via cruise ship in the Caribbean. APPROVAL OF AGENDA Motion to approve Agenda. RESULT: 7-0 (Approved) MOVER: Warren SECONDER: Tucker AYES: Dalton, Tucker, Warren, Scearce, Dudley, Ingram, Eanes NAYS: None ABSTAIN: None PRESENTATIONS a. IALR Quarterly Report Telly Tucker gave a quarterly report to the Board regarding recent happenings and programs at the Institute for Advanced Learning and Research. His full presentation can be found on the County's website at www.pittsylvaniacountyva.gov. b. VDH Funding Retention Request Van Der Hyde introduced representatives from the Virginia Department of Health ("VDH"), Dr. Spillman, Krystal Davis, and Wesley Marshall. They presented to the Board a request to retain funds in the total amount of $246,421.57 ($103,627.57 in carryover funds from the FY23 year-end settlement and $142,794 in FY24 unmatched funding) for software installation in the Chatham office for Environmental Health purposes, and for the remaining funds to go toward the purchase of two (2) vehicles to serve the County. Warren recommended this request being taken to the Finance Committee before making a commitment regarding these funds, and he also recommended that Hunt investigate the County being able to use its lease program for VDH cars. Motion to send this item to the Finance Committee in December. RESULT: 7-0 (Approved) MOVER: Warren SECONDER: Dudley AYES: Dalton, Tucker, Warren, Scearce, Dudley, Ingram, Eanes NAYS: None ABSTAIN: None c. Broadband Project Update Zach Church, RiverStreet, presented the Board an update regarding the County's Broadband Project. He stated that currently there are sixty-two (62) customers active in the Sandy Level area. Cleanup and final testing is still needed in the Lakeside serving area. RiverStreet is currently working on permits for Java and Strawberry. Church’s full presentation can be found on the County's website at www.pittsylvaniacountyva.gov. STAFF, COMMITTEE, AND/OR CONSTITUTIONAL OFFICER REPORTS a. Reassessment Update Patsy Budd presented to the Board an update regarding the Reassessment Project. The appeals were conducted by several different methods, and in all cases, the citizens were listened to, and their concerns were considered. 1,003 informal appeals have been conducted. It is anticipated that the notices will be mailed to property owners who sought an informal appeal with Pearson's within the next three (3) weeks. Budd’s presentation can be found on the County's website at www.pittsylvaniacountyva.gov. b. Sheriff Deputies' Short Term Disability Benefit Subsidy During the recent review of the Sheriff's Memorandum of Agreement ("MOA"), a discussion was had concerning the need to provide a Short-Term Disability Benefit ("STDB") for newly hired full-time sworn Sheriff's Deputies to help with recruitment and retention. Currently, new employees earn a total of eight (8) hours of sick leave per month and eight (8) hours of vacation leave per month. This leave is used to cover employee absences. Since Deputies are in a very high-risk job, they may experience injuries that take them out of active work for an extended period and would leave them with no income. Since it takes a while to accumulate enough leave to cover such an absence, a STDB is being proposed to cover lost time for the first two (2) years of employment for newly hired full-time sworn Deputies. This benefit, with a total monthly cost to the Deputy of ten dollars ($10), would provide a two-thousand dollar ($2,000) monthly benefit, if approved by the insurance carrier. This item has been included as item 15 of tonight's Business Meeting under the Consent Agenda for potential approval. There are three (3) Constitutional Offices that are a part of the County's Pay Plan, and they all have a Memorandum of Understanding with the County. The Sheriff's Agreement is set to expire at the end of December 2023. The original MOA had one (1) section where he wished to change one (1) word as follows: Item 13. The Sheriff acknowledges and agrees that, except as required by law, any increase in funding by the VCB to the Sheriff and/or his/her employees/appointees above the level of compensation set by the County’s Uniform Pay and Classification Plan shall may be used to supplant County funding of the Sheriff and his/her employees/appointees’ salaries. The Sheriff's Office is having difficulty hiring and retaining deputies and to help with this effort, the County would like to subsidize all but $10 per month of the premium cost of the maximum Short-Term Disability Benefit ("STDB") of $2,000 per month (“Subsidy”), which is offered by the County’s third-party Benefits Administrator. According to the STDB Carrier, a full-time employee must work a minimum of 40 hours per week annually to qualify for this benefit. The County will cover this STDB Subsidy for two (2) years from date of hire. Additionally, for the first year of the STDB implementation, Deputies with less than two (2) years of County service would be offered the STDB Subsidy beginning January 1, 2024. Said Deputies would be allowed this STDB Subsidy for two (2) years from this date. Newly sworn FT Deputies that fall under this STDB Subsidy and choose to opt out of this STDB Subsidy will be required to sign a waiver stating that they were offered the STDB Subsidy and declined it. At no time will the Deputy be able to elect the STDB Subsidy after the waiver has been signed. The $2,000 monthly benefit is 41.42 per month, and the new MOA allows for a subsidy of that short-term disability benefit. The County would pay $31.42 per month and the deputy would have to pay $10 per month. Right now, there are twenty (20) employees that qualify, which is approximately $7500 per year. After discussion, Dalton requested County Staff bring back information for this benefit to potentially be offered to other employees, to be sure no one is left out. Motion to approve this MOA as presented and move to the Consent Agenda at tonight's Meeting. RESULT: 7-0 (Approved) MOVER: Warren SECONDER: Tucker AYES: Dalton, Tucker, Warren, Scearce, Dudley, Ingram, Eanes NAYS: None ABSTAIN: None c. Solid Waste Briefing ((1) Fund Review; (2) Potential Director Hiring Discussion)) Turille presented a recommendation to elevate the Solid Waste Division to its own Department and hire a Solid Waste Director. Butch Joyce, LaBella Associates, was also present to make the same recommendation that the County hire a Solid Waste Director. Tucker asked about the capacity and how long it would take to get to 100% of projection. Joyce stated the capacity is 60+ years of life, and if the County continues taking the same amount as it does now, it will be year 2087. Warren stated that he did not agree with this recommendation. He stated the citizens made it very clear that they do not want the County to be in the trash business. Warren stated that he does support the hiring of an Assistant Public Works Director under the direction of Adcock. Motion to move forward with recruiting an Assistant Public Works Director to work in conjunction with Adcock. RESULT: 7-0 (Approved) MOVER: Warren SECONDER: Dudley AYES: Dalton, Tucker, Warren, Scearce, Dudley, Ingram, Eanes NAYS: None ABSTAIN: None d. Facility Improvements Funding Discussion In 2022, The County contracted with Ameresco, an Energy Savings Company, to audit all County buildings (except schools) to identify energy-saving measures and projects. What Ameresco found were mechanical equipment failures; thermal comfort issues; many heating, ventilation and cooling (“HVAC”) systems not operating properly or efficiently; antiquated or inefficient lighting systems; and the lack of a functional building automation or control system. An automation system provides for much more efficient utilization of HVAC and other building systems. In most energy savings program projects, the building upgrades are funded by utility costs and operational savings. In the County's review, all the identified projects were too extensive to be covered by the energy savings alone. County Staff reviewed the recommended project list and identified the measures that provide the greatest benefit to the County, improve the conditions and comfort issues inside its facilities, and address some significant deferred maintenance issues that, if left unaddressed, could cause significant future problems. This project list was presented to the Board at its August Work Session. The Board expressed some concerns about the overall cost of the capital improvements, how the debt would be serviced going forward, and if any grants would be available for these projects. Over the last several months, Ameresco and County Staff investigated potential grant funding for these projects but were unable to identify any that would apply to these projects. Due to the immediate needs and conditions present at the Sheriff's Office (Moses Building), Adcock asked the Board to consider a pared-down project that would address just this building. This will allow County Staff to continue researching funding options or other possibilities for the completion of the other identified projects. Motion to move forward with this project and authorize Adcock to negotiate with Ameresco for a potential reduction in cost. RESULT: 7-0 (Approved) MOVER: Tucker SECONDER: Warren AYES: Dalton, Tucker, Warren, Scearce, Dudley, Ingram, Eanes NAYS: None ABSTAIN: None CLOSED SESSION Warren recommended the Board Member Elects be allowed to sit in on the Closed Session. Due to time constraints, the Legal Closed Session will not be discussed tonight. Motion to enter Closed Session. The Board entered Closed Session at 6:25 PM. RESULT: 7-0 (Approved) MOVER: Dudley SECONDER: Tucker AYES: Dalton, Tucker, Warren, Scearce, Dudley, Ingram, Eanes NAYS: None ABSTAIN: None a. Discussion concerning a prospective business or industry or the expansion of an existing business or industry where no previous announcement has been made of the business' or industry's interest in locating or expanding its facilities in the community. (1) Legal Authority: Virginia Code § 2.2-3711(A)(5) Subject Matters: Projects Bourbon, Bakery, Big Dipper, 30, and AM Purpose: General Economic Development Project Updates on Unannounced/Prospective Businesses/Projects/Industries RETURN TO OPEN SESSION & CLOSED SESSION CERTIFICATION The Board returned to Open Session at 6:57 PM and the following Certification was recorded: PITTSYLVANIA COUNTY BOARD OF SUPERVISORS’ CLOSED MEETING CERTIFICATION BE IT RESOLVED that at the Pittsylvania County Board of Supervisors’ (“Board”) Work Session on November 28, 2023, the Board hereby certifies by a recorded vote that to the best of each Board Member’s knowledge only public business matters lawfully exempted from the Open Meeting requirements of the Virginia Freedom of Information Act (“Act”) and identified in the Motion authorizing the Closed Meeting were heard, discussed, or considered in the Closed Meeting. If any Board Member believes that there was a departure from the requirements of the Act, he shall so state prior to the vote indicating the substance of the departure. The Statement shall be recorded in the Board's Minutes. Vote Nancy K. Eanes Yes William V. (“Vic”) Ingram Yes Ronald S. Scearce Yes Robert M. Tucker, Jr. Yes Robert (“Bob”) W. Warren Yes Timothy W. Dudley Yes Darrell W. Dalton Yes ADJOURNMENT Dalton adjourned the Meeting at 7:00 PM.