this is certificate
a little hard there you go certification
closed session
pursuant to subsection 2.2-37-12 d
of the code of virginia 1950 as amended
each member of the board of supervisors
up on roll call certifies that the best
of their knowledge
only public business matters lawfully
exempted from the open meeting
requirements
under the virginia freedom of
information act and
only such public business matters were
identified in the motions by which the
closed meeting
was convened or heard discussed or
considered
in the meeting by the board of
supervisors
any member of the board of supervisors
who believes that there was a departure
from the requirements
shall stay so prior to the vote
indicating the substance of the
departure that
in his or her judgment has taken place
are there any supervisors who
believe a departure has taken place
since there is none if you agree that
the matters heard discussed or
considered during the closed meeting
were pursuant only to
the motions by which the closed meeting
was convened
please signify by saying yay or yes tim
lovelace
yes luanne wallace yes
carl ray yes steve breeding yes
david eaton yes horse christian yes
rebecca die ma'am your approval return
regular session
is
ma'am chair make a motion we amend the
agenda uh
if you would read those off please
is
and madam chairman i think i think
everybody's present in this room i
i told you to roll to do a roll call
vote earlier assuming there may be some
people out
in the hall but since everybody's here
in here and can see how
see see the vote i don't think you have
to do a roll call vote if there were
more people that do show up we would
have to switch back to that but for
time's sake i think you can vote
normally
adam chair i assume that we've only had
time to look at this
and the only thing i saw on it we need
to change the date
of the signature to today's date
but i will make a motion that the board
approves this resolution
i'll second it
however you i mean you can you can vote
normal just just because
everybody's in this room so everyone can
see so however you want to do that
abstain all right
so move
second
[Music]
uh
a second
oh
all right the first person we have is
carla glass
if you'll state your name and your
address please
and the subject for discussion thank you
okay i'm carla glass 428 claremont
circle castlewood
um state the business just uh
madam chair and board i want you to know
i'm coming to y'all to love tonight
it's a love that runs really deep for
this county
i've had opportunity after opportunity
to leave this county
but i love it if you look at our nation
you can easily see division
and more energy spent working against
each other
then progress in our nation and
unfortunately i feel the same about this
board
there are alliances and there's a divide
that is so apparent and it's so
disappointing
you're better than this we need you
to be better than this russell county
deserves better than this
i often teach leadership forums and one
of my favorite books is the ideal team
player
i consider this group a team the
three characteristics to make someone an
ideal team player
according to that book is being hungry
humble and people smart
some of you are feeling a seat
and need to have a hunger and a passion
for advancing this county
some of you are super hungry but you
lack
humility and you come across
as absolutely demeaning and not
representative
of the great people of this county
some of you lack people smarts
and you're being manipulated and don't
even see it
i implore this board to start with
yourselves
examine yourselves i sent a link to
lonzo
of a self-assessment you can take i've
got copies printed out here
if you want one start with yourself
figure out how to work on a plan that
advances
the county as a whole i am cheering
for the upper end of this county to be
successful
i'm cheering for the lower end of this
county to be successful
and i'm cheering for everything in
between i'm cheering for your this board
to be successful
i don't want you to fail you're our
leaders
we aren't each other's competition
the upper end don't compete with the
lower end
we're each other's advocates don't wait
until the next election so that you can
have somebody that you can work with
don't hope for that don't be a publican
that can only love and work with those
that are like them
be better figure out
how to work together
end this divide in these alliances
that are running rampant in this board i
can tell you how people are going to
vote
before you even vote that's sad
it is sad united we will stand
but divided this county will surely fall
you are the leaders you get to decide
which we do
that's all
[Applause]
all right our next person is sean vance
at the last meeting i have talked to
jess powers out here in the parking lot
i do believe he's on the emergency
management team
and he said that he was having problems
getting his job done efficiently
due to the vice horse and ray being
overseeing him
now i wish he was here tonight because i
ain't trying to throw him underneath the
bus but makes me concerned that our
money's not being handled correctly
he says he has the certifications he has
the
knowledge and he's being led by people
who do not
and if that's the way it is then there's
a problem with that
now and he also made a statement to me
about
how he was owed money for overtime that
the county has already gotten
and he has not been paid for now that's
his words not mine but any way you look
at it
i find there's a problem when somebody
who's working for
this county standing in the parking lot
telling me for 20 minutes
and jerry connor he was there with me
that
he has problems with the people who
oversee him and that
affects his job and his capability of
doing his job right
so if that's the case then we need to
figure out why employee of russell
county
is complaining about you all
that's what i got to say and what she
said i'm all for that
do we feel mccracken if you'll give your
address
concerned
mr mccracken
move on the next one larry hughes
you'll set your name and your concern
please
my name is larry hughes i live at 30
great hall drive in lebanon virginia
morrison county my concern is just
wanting to address the first amendment
uh or ordinance but uh it's kind of a
new point now
since you voted on it before we had a
chance to mention it so it doesn't do
any good to talk about it
just like this young lady said here i am
disappointed
last meeting i was upset i'm not upset
now i'm just disappointed i'm disgusted
i'd like to know i'm no you don't have
to answer me but i'd like to know what
your reasons why you don't want to
support
the first amendment why you don't want
to support the people that has a right
to voice your opinions that's what the
first one is about freedom of speech
freedom of press freedom of religion
and yet we got four of you are you know
voted no
one sustained and two's for it that's
very confusing
as a citizen as a loving citizen this
county
my entire life except for four years
when i was moved away i've been here
i'm 70 years old i've been here for 66
years
as this young lady said i'm disappointed
i am disgusted
i can't believe this county has drifted
so far apart
that you cannot support the people say
you know i know the resolution maybe has
no teeth to it at
but it doesn't have but so what you
would tell the county
we got your back you've elected us we
will protect you to the best durability
even though we made you can't but would
make us feel better that you did
but you'll stay here and vote no
and last last time you said that's what
your sisters told you
i don't think that's the case i really
don't think that's the case i don't know
why you both
know i guess my three minutes about up
but
i'll tell you is be ashamed of yourself
this young lady said
take an evaluation see where you stand
see if you are representing your people
i don't think you are thank you
next we have ms jennifer tremblay
address
good evening guys thank you appreciate
each and every one of you i really do
i think y'all doing a great job i'm here
tonight to speak about the resolution in
a different aspect
i agree with these guys at one aspect
but we're all standing here our first
amendment rights are
being heard as we speak that's what it's
all about
i've been in the health care i've
experienced the
code firsthand and we've just spent
thousands of dollars
in karezak money to get prepared
to buy the proper ppe the things we
needed
and as far as this goes right don't have
teeth
and so what's the point of that you know
to lose some restrictions make
a few feel like they have a looser
restriction my mother was deathly ill
at the first of december about lost her
they called 19 hospitals in five
different states
and she couldn't get a icu bed anywhere
because there were so many coveted
patients someone had to die
to get her bed and now she has bone
cancer
and if i carry covet home to her
i could kill her you know we're just now
on the cusp of getting our vaccines
this we we're almost there we just need
a little more push a little more time
and we can get through this and as far
as small businesses i have one i know
the suffering that goes on
and that but also my employees are
standing there with people coming in
without masks they're scared too
so it's time that we just push through
this and get through it together
and i really appreciate each and every
one of you each and every one of you
have helped and i'm coming as a citizen
today
but i just want you to know that there
are people out there elderly that need
ours to be together
and need us not to carry covenant home
to them thanks
okay next person is kelly
i was going to say that i live in a desk
at 248 west main street
i gave each and every board member a
copy of our quarterly report
with a picture of our new um
hands-free lockers so people can i mean
this is going to be helpful throughout
for people
we live in a 24 7 world if you're
working a schedule and the library is
not meeting
your need you can pick something up from
the locker at your convenience
24 7. uh
you can read the report and see but i
also gave everyone a copy of a flyer and
i'm dismayed that i didn't bring quite
enough to at least
hold one up to you guys the library has
a traveling exhibit
it's just basically banners with
information
but we're going to have two programs
associated with it
and the room is big enough that if you
want to come look at it you can
be six feet from somebody and the name
of it
is tea totalers and moonshiners
prohibition in virginia so it's really
fascinating and
one of the programs they're both going
to be virtual is stories from the
moonshine trade here in southwest
virginia from kathy shearer
and the other one is going to be music
from that error
and era and there's actually a little
bit of music available
if you come in there's an ipad on a
stand so it's a little interactive
and i hope you will take a look at that
we will also be doing a sort of
virtual tour of me or somebody else
walking through
the exhibit so even if you can't make it
you can kind of catch a glimpse of it
thank you
all right is there anyone else this is
all that's on this current list
does anyone else want to speak
yes please william ralph keene
i moved to this county five years ago
i live at 64 radcliffe lane cedar bluff
virginia i've lived in northern virginia
i was born and raised here in richlands
moved northern virginia in 1963.
i recently moved back to this area i'm
very
for the six years i've been here the
county supervisors i've never met
any of you i've worked with a bunch in
fairfax county but the mail situation
here in this county
is atrocious
i've talked to miss die in regards to
the water
my water a young gentleman came to cut
my water off
the sixth day of january i asked him why
he said i hadn't paid my bill i sent
i showed him the check i sent a check in
on the 20th day of december
sixth day of january they came to cut my
water off
why the check
i called the bank the bank said it had
not went through
my wife called on the seventh day they
had not received it
the eighth day they had not received it
they
called they charged me a 30 dollar
late fee i got my bill this month
they charged me a 35 reconnection fee
why you didn't disconnect it young lady
told me
she said that they issued a work order
that's why
i've talked to miss dye about it they
don't want to give a credit to it
i've talked to morgan griffith's office
i know a couple congressmen senators
northern virginia i live beside
up they said it's atrocious you need to
get a handle on it
that's all i want to address is it
because i'm new here in this area
my relatives started in this area
they originally owned the land steward
caliber company before they bought it
i have a first cousin as attorney as one
of the
da's here and i think you all need to
look into this situation
and address it thank you yes thank you
sir
anyone else
any other comments all right
seeing none we'll close citizen's
comment period
constitutional officers
sing none all right we'll move on to
the county attorney reports and request
thank you madam chair and the first
thing that i have for the board's
approval tonight is the interim
agreement
regarding the courthouse what this
agreement does is
memorializes our agreement with ja
street
and also the architect to continue in
the conceptual phase
of developing um the courthouse design
and i have reviewed this document and so
has curtis
the project consultant on this
and we've we made a couple of changes
and we are
good with the agreement in its final
form and are asking for the board's
approval tonight
at this time we will take a motion to
accept this interim agreement
i'm chairman make a motion we approve
this agreement all right thank you steve
second second blue all those in favor
anyone opposed all right
thank you madam chair the next item i
have is
an agreement with the board of
supervisors
and the russell county psa that was
being required
by rural development as a part of the
consolidation the debt was restructured
and because of that restructurement
rural development does not
accept moral obligations that the county
usually does
in regarding the bonds and so they
require a separate agreement that
basically says that the board will
continue to do what
the board has been doing in the past and
appropriate the amount
of debt the debt payment to the psa each
year
with the exception of the three years
that they're going to be different
and this agreement has been approved by
rural development
and has been approved by the psa and i'm
asking for the board of supervisors to
approve that agreement tonight
so thank you david do we have a second
second
steve thank you any further discussion
all right all those in favor
anyone opposed all right the
the next matter i have for the board's
consideration madam sheriff
i bring to the board with a with a very
heavy heart
it's a resolution um
celebrating the life of ben chafin and
i drafted this resolution i started with
the
resolution that the general assembly
passed in his honor and
and put a few more details about his
service to russell county
and i know i can say unequivocally that
of all the jobs being had he really
enjoyed being
legal counsel for the agencies of
russell county and
and and being part of the progress
over the years of brussels county
celebrating the life of the honorable
augustus benton chafin jr
whereas the honorable augustus benton
chaffin jr a passionate advocate for
southwest virginia
and an accomplished attorney and state
legislator who earned bipartisan
admiration for his commitment to the
betterment of the commonwealth
as a whole passed away on january 1st
2021
and whereas a proud native of russell
county augustus benton
ben chafin jr grew up on his family's
farm and learned the value of hard work
and responsibility at a young age
he worked at a local meat packing plant
as a teenager
and he returned home most weekends while
attending college to help on the farm
and whereas a first generation college
student in his family
ben chafin received a bachelor's degree
from east tennessee state university and
a law degree from the university of
richmond
and whereas ben chafin established what
is now chaffin law firm pc
in the 1980s and practiced law
throughout southwest virginia
for more than 30 years in addition to
his work as a
as an attorney he served on the board of
the first bank and trust company
and held close to his roots in
agriculture as the owner and operator of
a beef cattle farm
and whereas ben chafin began his public
service to the citizens of russell
county in 1988 when he began
representing
the russell county department of social
services and represented the agency for
almost 30 years
and whereas ben chafin continued his
public service to russell county as
legal counsel for the industrial
development authority russell county
virginia
beginning in 1992 for 28 years the
russell county school board beginning in
2003 for 17 years
and the russell county public service
authority beginning in 2008 for 12 years
and and the board of supervisors russell
county virginia beginning in 2018
and whereas been chafing through his
representation of these russell county
agencies helped to elevate and provide
invaluable services to the citizens of
russell county
and whereas desire is to be of further
service to his community and the
commonwealth ben chafin ran for and was
elected to the house of delegates in
2013
becoming the first republican to
represent the fourth district in more
than 20 years
and whereas ben chafin was subsequently
elected to the senate of virginia during
a special election in 2014
and ably served the residents of
southwest virginia in the 38th district
until the time of his passing
whereas ben chafin was a staunch
proponent of public education
responsible economic growth
second amendment rights and access to
health care for all virginians
and whereas ben chafin consistently
supported job creation in his district
helping to establish the invest
southwest virginia partnership
to promote the coal fields as a region
as a future site of renewable energy
infrastructure and high technology
business development
whereas ben shafen served the residents
of brussels county virginia and the
entire commonwealth with the utmost
dedication
integrity and distinction and whereas
outside of his careers
ben chafin was an avid outdoorsman who
relished every
opportunity to appreciate southwest
virginia's natural splendor
he volunteered his time and leadership
as former president of the russell
county rotary club
and enjoyed fellowship and worship with
the congregation of gracewood community
church in lebanon
and whereas ben chafin will be fondly
remembered and greatly missed by his
wife of 38 years laura
his children sophia audra augustus iii
and their families and numerous other
family members friends and
colleagues now therefore be it resolved
by the board of supervisors of russell
county virginia here by note with great
sadness the loss of the honorable
augustus benton chaffin jr
a respected statesman attorney and chad
champion for russell county
and be resolved further that the clerk
of the board of supervisors of russell
county virginia prepare a copy of this
resolution for presentation to the
family of
augustus mitten chaff and junior as an
expression of the board's respect for
his memory
so you need a motion to accept this
please
i'll make that motion david and steve
thank you all right all those in favor
you want to post madam chair if it's
okay
at this time i'd like to kind of expand
katie knows a little bit about
this but uh i was in conversation with
some of the family
and judge moore and
they have they want to let
you know when we really are going to
miss ben i mean
ben was a russell county citizen and
also represented southwest virginia
well and it's just a
such a shocker and such a great loss to
all of us
i judge moore has asked me to let the
public know
that they are working on something
with the family's respect and taking the
time that the family needs
to maybe do a possible portrait or
something
to identify the life of ben
and like we did for his uh sister there
when we did that portrait and placed it
in the courthouse so
i've kind of just and i think with the
board's permission leave it up to
more and the family and then they can
present back to us
up on our verification to do that if
that's fine with you all
i told them i would present it tonight
and let them know that
i'm sure we'll have complete consensus
and everybody will be in
complete support but i just want to let
everybody know
thank you board members i sincerely
appreciate
that the last item that i have
for the board's consideration is
due to all of the issues with covid and
just
reevaluating our emergency management
services
department and how we can make it better
i have
i have researched the issue and by the
code
either board members or the county
administrator can be the director of
emergency management services which sort
of
oversees emergency management services
in our county
i've spoken with the chief chief
operating officer
over our region which makes up about 19
counties
and discussed the issue with him
and gotten some feedback there and i
think
my my recommendation to the board moving
forward
to help provide some continuity given
that the county administrator in his
office has been a large part of the
response to the pandemic
that it would be most beneficial to the
county
to to replace
the board members as the director of
emergency management services and
and pursuant to the code designate the
county administrator
as the director of emergency management
services
i know in in our region we are the
minority
that still follow that and i think
again it will help provide continuity
and and a more
cohesive response and i think it will be
very beneficial to the county in
in many ways in in the in the operations
of that
of that part of the county
you need a motion to okay
go ahead ma'am chair i would like to
make a motion
to make the county administrator the
russell county emergency services
director
and to place the emergency services
coordinator under the direct supervision
of the county administrator
and to eliminate the two board
supervisor positions of emergency
services director and assistant
emergency services director this will
result in an overall savings of 2700
and in 10 years it would be a savings of
27
000 and any mileage and expenses that
might be charged to those services
we have a second second
all those in favor uh anyone opposed
no okay
and all right thank you
next are the county administrators
reports and requests
thank you madam chair first on the
county administrator reports and request
of course is the virginia
telecommunication initiative
the beta grant as some of y'all have
seen in the paper this is
this is funding that from department of
housing and community development that
was in the paper concerning
the 16 million dollars that was given to
the cumberland plateau planning district
to work with point broadband on
expanding our internet within our region
which we greatly need
uh and of course the pandemic showed
just how we
you know how weak our system was and how
much we need within the
in in these areas not just to serve the
kids but serve the households
and a lot of the uh
jobs that have transitioned to either a
house or
yeah either at home this will give the
flexibility
to you know with the county residents
and children to be able to
outreach this grant and
of course we have board members that sit
on the the coming plateau planning
district
on this and uh this is shower between
the of course russell russell county
buchanan county tazewell county
and dickinson county um but
talking to them you know they're they're
working on theirs too so this will fill
the gaps
in addition to all the other grants that
are in place
but as far as the
layout will be the board will be giving
that information out later
we're trying to fill out what is not
being done and get it to the
area as fast as can with point broadband
and the board members will be glad to
report back to
the citizens as soon as they get a plan
in place
of course this is the announcement of
government northrom
for the 29.6 that was given as you can
see
in the state and as as well as y'all can
see
becoming plato ended up with 16 of the
29 million dollars
so that again that's advocacy from the
board of supervisors
these committees the coming plateau at
setting in and advocating
between the other districts for this
initiative
so of course this is going to click
it's will be connecting more than 11 700
households
this is what the estimate is in
businesses in the institution to serve
broadband services
leveraging over 34 million dollars
you get a member this is also a private
public investment so what the
virginia puts into the pot into the
initiative grant is is also matched
by the provider so it's a total of
34 million dollars going into the region
in addition to the other grants that are
in place
london i'd like to make comment on that
yes sir absolutely
that the money that was awarded is only
a portion like you said of
the total commitment that i guess point
broadband now has taken over i think the
total project
including all the caf2 areas and
was close to 40 some million 45 million
dollars
so they were committed they received
federal funding to do the caf2 areas
criminal plateau planning district
company
committed a million dollars out of their
revenues to add on to that
plus the money that was that was
received into this vita
but that's not to say that everybody is
going to be hooked up that's only the
areas that they agreed
to look at which is a vast majority of
all the four counties
in russell county i asked joseph pumpkin
in particular when we could expect
to have all his work done in brussels
county and he told me by the end of 2022
if this grant was awarded but
there will be additional money coming
down and i know lou and i have a meeting
with puckett on the 18th to look at
those
areas that are not going to be covered
under
this big funding item and i think it's
it's our job now to find funding out of
this additional
code money that's going to be coming
down to fill in these small areas that
they think is not economically feasible
for them to get into
so we need to be doing that and that's
that's what we need to be working on
after we
the the big deal on the 18th is to
have them define the areas that they're
going to serve with this big funding
package they have
and then we can look and try to fill in
the gaps to
some of these last mile areas so that's
that's kind of where we are right now on
this
thank you mr braden and and the point is
and that was one of the big comments
that we got from the public during this
pandemic
you know internet for the children
number one tim will tell you that
i think we we went hot on buildings
uh anything that we own we have got
routers and we've got them live we got
them hot on the schools
i got them on the county buildings
libraries anywhere that we can
we can go live to give give them access
to
but you know as mr breeding has pointed
out and
miss wallace is on the committee too so
they will they will be making you know
that strategic plan to be able to fill
these gaps
and you know we're working with the
other counties in cumberland plateau
next on the county administrative
reports is
the uh of course the vr energy
conservation revenue bond this is the
virginia
says program and i know that y'all only
glasses to see this so
one encrypts it this is what the board
of supervisors
had done with their energy performance
agreements with the schools to build
them up
uh to get them energy proficient on
natural gas
water windows to get them under all the
high schools
all the schools in some capacity or not
this was years ago
but the point on this this grant
in in in this project it is a
uh it is a reimbursed by the fed the
treasury at 75
so of course this year the school will
be getting back 144
917 dollars and 26 cents
this is a subsidized grant we
we did the loan we installed equipment
and it's subsidized by the federal
government
the total credit remaining on the grant
as everyone can see is 838 000
out of the total and uh this project is
as well paying for itself not only are
we getting the 75
percent subsidy from the feds we're also
getting
the energy performance savings from each
one of the schools that we have reduced
their energy at with our electricity the
water bills
and and the installation
we have made these facilities uh more
safer for the children
and while at and also doing a cost
savings
next on the county county administrator
reports is
the this is vdot let me take this one
down
this is a reporting of the interagency
coordination meeting on the joint
permit application this is a requirement
for virginia department of
transportation anytime they do a project
it's in the board members packet on
route 678 which is
mall creek this is the this is work
that's going to be done
by the state forces this project will do
repairs to bridge number 64
6248 located on route 678 along mull
creek and rosa county
these repairs will consist of
reconstruction the ring
wing walls on the downstream size of the
abutments
the existing wing walls have failed and
will be removed from the channel
so again it's uh on mall correct 678 and
we'll also keep these citizens
informed when this work starts to begin
next on the county administrator reports
is
the state and local economic interest
financial statements i want to thank the
board and all of our committees
and authorities for submitting their
uh economic interests and financial
disclosures requirements
and uh next on the county ministry
reports
is let me get through this vdot does
enormous environmental impact
i apologize
there we go thank you
uh next on the accountability reports is
the uh
russell county uh fiscal year 2122
budget meeting schedules of course we're
in that time of the year again um
the board of supervisors over the past
this board setting especially has been
very conservative
uh of course you have no you have not
seen any real estate
tax raises or you've never seen any
raises in personal property actually the
last
tax increase that was 1999 which is one
cent higher
than it is currently so that in 20 since
1999
it was 64 cents on 100 in 1999 it is 63
cents on 100
as a currently today so of course
to point out is that they are very
conservative
in their approach we live within our
means
and in what cost savings as you have
seen
through grants and cost savings through
energy performance or
other cost-saving cuts that's why they
have been able to deliver the services
at the same level
so the next budget meeting
with the budget committee of course is
uh
on the september the 7th i mean february
the 17th
this is departments will be given their
budget request
and by march the 12th will be
compiling all the all the department's
expenditures
of course we will hold public hearings
in may
before it's approved and everyone's
welcome to attend
and we'll approve by law by the code of
virginia
we have to prove it by june the 30th so
we are looking at scheduling right now
and
no changes approval of the budget at the
june regular meeting on
june 7 of 2020
next is again into the grants again
this is a the belfast water line
extension
project phase three notice if anyone
doesn't know
we also have a 928 thousand dollar
grant from dhcd with the russell county
public service authority to do phase two
now this is to proceed with phase
three this is the notice by the
department of housing
and uh the coming plateau planning
district to begin
our next grant application into phase
three
into the belfast area within uh ms
dye's area so i needed approval to
proceed with the public notice
on the phase three the belfast the
belfast water line extension project
phase three notice i got to define that
summer
thank you david steve all right all
those in favor
aye aye anyone post
okay next on the county administrative
reports is of course the dane sewer line
this is another grant that we have
went after this and is for 2.5 million
dollars
from the department of housing and
community development that's in miss
wallace's area
this uh was has been endorsed by
you know the arc manager program manager
through the virginia department of
housing community development
this is the daint sewer plant
that's currently within the dane area
this project
will take that one offline and move it
into
the town of saint paul which the county
currently has a capacity agreement with
and not just from an environmental
perspective but from a
grant perspective this is 100 grant
money
so ms wallace do you want to elaborate
on that
i don't but i've been waiting on this
i'm glad it's here
thank you man i need there i will just a
minute if
if you all will allow me um the little
tiny community of sun virginia
uh has their own little package plant
and uh our very own caitlyn is here and
she's can attest to that and
but anyway they have uh tirelessly
waited for some help
because they have to expend that uh and
keep that little plant going
and so this is going to be able to take
that community
and put it into the trunk line so we're
i'm just very proud of that and pleased
with that so thank you board i
appreciate everybody that's helped me
and worked on this
thank you miss white thank you ms as you
all can see up on the screen i need a
board approval
for the application and actually it
comes out
with a total and all other the funding
is 2.799
750 2 million 799
7750 i need approval for the application
for the dhcd
through department housing for the daint
regional
uh sewer line extension project i'll
make that motion
all right steve austin second second all
right
thank you all right all those in favor
anyone opposed and again
next one of course again is
uh a request from the sheriff's
department
and this is the change out to three cars
this is a
with a lease agreement and this was
that is used in their investigations
and this also as you can see this will
have a savings of
ten thousand two hundred seventy dollars
and eight cents
over the current lease i need approval
for these three vehicles
so david all right do we have a second
second carl
all right all those in favor all right
you want to post
okay thank you madam chair um
next on the county ministry request is
of course a resolution this is
for the approval of the secondary
highway six-year plan
of 2019-20 through 2025-26 and the
construction priority list
the board of supervisors approved the
six-year plan
last month at the board this is just the
resolution in
endorsing what their approved plan was
there has been no changes to it and
again this is just the resolution to
confirm
the january boards meeting on the
secondary system construction program
do you have any anything you want to
elaborate no i wish we could have added
another
project but they wouldn't allow it so at
least nothing's coming off so that's
good
yeah yeah yeah it is because they cut
around
and that was a good point to make
because if anyone has been
in these meetings the state of virginia
did cut their transportation budgets and
they did do a lot of
trimming yes they did especially not
only in the construction but as
as well as in the maintenance next on
the county administrator
do you need a motion to approve all
right we have a motion to approve this
so do we have a second thank you david
all those in favor uh anyone opposed
thank you madam chair next is uh on the
county ministry request is for the ems
uh job description changes i need a uh
approval for the uh the job descriptions
uh now that uh i'm the emergency
management director
make these changes to the current job
description i need a motion
i'll make that motion
do we have a second see carl
all right all those in favor anyone
opposed
what
thank you ma'am chair last on the county
ministry request is
i need a motion to set the salary of the
deputy register that was hired at
nine 24 sixty dollars i need a motion
for approval
i'll make it thank you david
second second steve all right all those
in favor
aye aye anyone
okay of opposed thank you
madam chair that concludes mandarin
county administrative reports and
requests
thank you
next on our agenda is any matters
presented by the board
tim do you have anything no ma'am david
yes ma'am i just had
a couple things uh i'd talk to william
mel counts he is a
russell county a native raise his family
here in russell county he is
in buckhannon county tonight because
they have their meetings the same night
we do
so he is now the new director of the
lebanon district vdot
and he is really excited about working
with us here
in russell county and trying to help us
with a lot of
you know the needs and stuff that we
have and it's good to have somebody like
that
i know jr took a position in in the
bristol district and
now that males here and i'm sure tim
have you had opportunity
i've told him about you on the highway
department but
that's it's good to have him i think
he'll do a great job
second thing is i need an update lonzo
actually from vdot
about the miller creek veterans memorial
bridge
that was passed and accepted and i have
not
had an update on it yet because i've got
some veterans there on
miller creek and other areas in laurel
branch and some different areas it's
contact to me
they would like with cove but it's a
little hard but you know as far as
i've got the approval from the landowner
as far as the erection of the sign
and being able to put that in so if you
could get me an update on that i'd be so
grateful
yes sir also i'd like to thank missy in
the workforce program
we all know in this county we got a
trash problem
and we know we got people bringing trash
in from other counties we know that
but i'm going to tell you something
these people work tirelessly
to go back and have to pick this garbage
up off the side of the road
and then put it back in these cans and
it's a shame
i've got two dump sites right now in my
district and lonzo knows about one of
them
that something's gonna have to be done
either we're going to have to really
take
a hard look through the budget this next
budget year about
opening our trash sites longer making
them more
you know feasible for the citizens of
the county
and work something out with these other
regional partners in these other
counties i'd rather take their trash and
have them throw it over the hill
i mean i don't know what the answer to
that is i wish i was bright enough to
know but
i think there's got to be a mechanism in
play that we could work together
on a regional basis if if another county
brings their garbage over here let's
partner with them and say hey i'd rather
have it in the can than over the hill
and i've got two horrible you know lonzo
you've seen the pictures on one of them
horrible sights and i and i'm not just
i'm i could
almost speak for the full board here
that we're facing the same
issues going up the road to belfast on
the side of the road going down to dane
or saint paul or
or in peanuts district we and orrs as
the large member of tim's district
i wish people would have enough respect
as we've talked about having respect
have
respect and love for our county and
please
please if you see somebody throw out
something out that wind
call somebody call the law i get so sick
in my stomach and seeing all this but
that's
i just want to vent over that because i
went up there twice to tour this
site and it's it's horrible
and something's got to be done
i'll just uh say that in regards to the
internet service we have three
applications
that are have been submitted now don't
we launch that
yet we had we had three applications
that have been submitted we had one
in addition to all these other grants
that were submitting on their own the
county has two
uh that was approved in tim's district
there's three others that setting up
within the problem band team
in richmond wait waiting for the money
to come in one of those is clarks valley
the other is drill and corn valley and
corn valley
yes sir so if there are other areas
that you want us to look at get in touch
with us or us know
we'll know more after this meeting that
lou and i have on the 18th where those
holes are you may be covered in one of
these
vita or one of these cap two areas or in
some of the other areas that we're
planning to get into but
i want to i want to try to get it to the
you know that last mile out there
because there's
some there's some areas that i'm sure
that point broadband is going to
consider
it's not economically feasible for them
to take it there
and i want while this grant money is
available i want to identify those areas
and try to go after and put more
applications in
you know to some private providers you
know if point didn't want to do it we'll
find somebody
i go clear in other areas that
that will go after those areas we just
need an agreement with
point that they will guarantee to
provide services off their line
from that point on steve sent your own
is can i ask one question please
for lou and steve i appreciate what you
guys are doing
on that uh is there any going to be any
more sale
sale site money come available i mean
i am desperate in drill and swords creek
they are in between the buckhannon
county area region
i need a sales site back well that
that's all handled through the
uh cumberland plateau company and the
vcc virginia coalfield coalition
and we've got a meeting sometime coming
up here before too long please luke
would y'all put a request in for me
they're they're trying yeah i'll come
out there and help you back
i agree it's about time that we got some
stuff for russell county because they've
been concentrating down in buckingham
county and
trying to satisfy roger they put a cell
tower down there and they
actually sit too low and he's right
underneath it and he still can't get him
sir well i've got property owners and
i've got some people sitting in the
audience that knows people
that we can get a lot a site location
easily
uh it's it's really a danger because you
get out through there and it's so spotty
and there's gaps out there like you just
said earlier with the
no broadband but you don't have any cell
phone service either
it's so uh and i've worked with all
these other providers and stuff trying
to get them to build
to that area and they say well it's just
not economic
let me ask you if we have internet
service into those areas you can ride
off that camera yes yes okay
so we need we need a long-range plan to
combine all that together
if you need me fill in all these games
y'all let me know i'll help you anyway
thank you that's it
it's okay carl no madam chair
hello
um
uh
uh charlottesville virginia
that um
thank you yes
yes
mr christian i would just i don't mean
to interrupt but
um um we don't want to talk too much
about personnel because obviously mr
powers has
a right to his privacy i mean
i i i just don't want us to do anything
that would somehow violate that
um
ready
mr king mr king i and i apologize and
we we limit our citizens comment to that
that one time and so to be fair to all
citizens and i'm i'm sure you weren't
aware of that that we
that we limited to that time well i will
it's my turn to speak in my matters and
i can sympathize with him and this is
what happened to me
my brother and myself our yards are
connected
i got my water bill the wednesday the
week before
the whole next week around to the next
monday
he gets his water bill we have the same
mail carrier
our mailboxes are two numbers apart
and please tell me how that happens and
i apologize to mr king because
that is bad he's been here all these
years and
why would his water be cut off it's
really an unjust thing to some of our
senior citizens
don't go to the mailbox every day don't
go to the post office every day
but what's to say it's not their fault
the mail is behind and we need to
apologize
and i did ask and i will give you all a
phone number
that i called and i asked
and they assured me that my
next bill when it is printed
i will get a text and i will get an
email
and my email will have a copy of my
statement
so if you want it corrected here's the
number
nine nine one zero
two zero zero and that's miss
rhonda lester she was very cordial very
polite
she told me that the problem the program
that we have now that we've bought or
they have bought
because the psa is their own authority
if you give them that information they
will send out to you
a notification when that bill is being
printed
we know the mail is going to be slow but
i i'm
hoping that i will get my notification
this month
that my bill has been printed and being
sent to me
and maybe if we start calling and they
start putting that in their program
it will allow us to have better
communication with them
second thing i want to tell is i've had
calls from several of my folks
about getting internet and broadband and
tv
and internet whatever they need which we
all need
society has changed we have doctors
appointments we order our medicine we
shop
our kids are home at school everybody
needs
internet and fast
i did find out they asked me was it
going to be just
cable or is it going to be uh fiber
it is going to be fiber all of these
grants
all these applications that have been
sent
there's not a one on this board that
didn't vote for those three applications
to be sent and improved for our citizens
i agree with steve we need to fill in
the gaps
not everybody's going to get it they say
i have excellent service
i do not i do not have internet i
it's awful i have to go to the west end
of the house on the carport lean
sideways and raise my phone up to get
any service or it's cut off
it's terrible and there's lots of folks
that are right with me
so if we know there's a gap or it's not
good please contact us and we will work
steve's on that committee lose on that
committee
we will try to fill in these spots that
you all
need service we want you to have it
and we'll work with you to get it
broadband is going to do
point broadband is going to do a lot but
like steve said we will
work with other funds to try to fill in
the rest of those gaps for you all
all right i will hush all right at this
time
i will take a motion for to
set our next meeting march the 1st
and i will have a motion to adjourn does
anybody
so move madam chair david do we have a
second
horse all right all those in favor
march the first