are you worse
I'm alive you look around see
cherry
red
good afternoon I'd like to welcome you
to the board of Russell County Board of
Supervisors reconvene meeting on May the
22nd 2023 at 6 PM in Russell County uh
Board of Supervisors meeting room I like
to first start off with a call of order
and roll call
Tim Lovelace here Carl Ray here David
Eaton here
stay braiding here Rebecca dye here or
is Christian president and Luanne
Wallace here ma'am you have a quarrel
thank you Mr Lester at this time I'll
ask everyone to please rise for the
invocation
let us pray father God lord we love you
we thank you and we praise you today
Father father forgive us for where we
fill you each and every day thank you
for allowing us to be a part of our
local government help us be more like
you in your name I pray amen
one nation under God indivisible with
liberty and justice for all
thank you at this time I'm going to ask
that we approve the agenda and I do have
an amendment so
um before we do that in new business
under number three
I would like to add a committee
appointment please
[Music]
thank you
[Music]
do I need to say what the committee
appointment is for you guys
okay this is for this is an ad hoc
committee that will just work on a
feasibility study
it will go away when the committee makes
some decisions and gets the study
underway
good enough okay then I'll ask that we
approve the agenda as amended I'll make
that motion thank you I have a motion I
need a second
thank you everybody
um all in favor
any opposed motion carries
thank you at this time we will open up
the floor for public hearing the first
thing we're going to look at is the
Russell County off-road recreational
vehicle ordinance or ATV
anybody want to comment on this
going once going twice
okay I'm going to close the public
hearing for the Russell County off-road
recreational vehicle ordinance
and
um do you want to dispense with that now
or keep going
it's not on here to re-look at
no that's for consideration
has everybody looked at the Russell
County proposed ordinance for
recreational vehicles
you need a motion I'll entertain
emotions
we accepted Madam chair exactly okay
several thank you
um all in any discussion from the board
discussion
everything that I stay with it is number
nine is all persons operating any
off-road vehicles you'll see shall be a
licensed driver or she'll be 13 years of
age well
um
a good point is to be age 16 and I do
know that the uh
some of the other trails that I have
ridden on is the parent if you're not 18
you have to sign a statement of
liability because they are a minor so
that's the only thing that I see that we
might need to come back and re-address
and it was also Steve pointed out to me
that if you're on a state road you need
to be at least 16 to have a driver's
license
so the only thing is maybe to scratch
the age 13 but other than that I think
this is good just thought that is a good
point Miss dye I think I think we do
need to make that age 16. uh All of Me
and my motion to accept it and change
the age to 16.
okay I have a motion to amend it Mr
Lester you got any more questions uh let
me get a second on that before we move
on all right now we'll discuss that
further
also without these vehicles have to have
insurance on if you're out on the road
they do and this that that Covenant is
in there yes yes well it says shall be a
licensed driver or
16 years old
you can be 16 and still not have a
license that is great
I'd say and or
end
probably you need needs to be a licensed
driver
and at least 16 years old okay
that's a good point
all persons operating any off-road
vehicle shall be a licensed driver and
shall
be 16 years of age or older and a
company
okay
yep
yes you can
there you go all right I made the
correction y'all good with that
already an amended motion do we need to
do another amendment
let's let's finish the discussion here
before we do anything else with this
ordinance
okay so we have amended this uh this Mo
this ordinance to include the license
driver and you must be at least 16.
with a learner's permit or now that
makes the risk
that has to Rebecca asks for that to be
stricken
yeah
period
that works yeah
foreign
I'm just making reference to
um the Hatfield McCoy uh trails in West
Virginia because I know we ride there
quite frequently and that is on your
when you get your license and when you
sign that waiver of insurance and
liability and you put that little
sticker on your helmet
that those are those are components that
uh the state of West Virginia has well
let me ask you will will be will VDOT
require Insurance to be on
so right now that's not number 12 11 and
12.
or they sign a waiver of liability on
the Primitive application form
that will be through spirit
so right now
stipulation number nine all persons
operating in any off-road vehicle shall
be a licensed driver and shall be
and uh
shall be a licensed driver and
yeah
and B that's it and be 16 years of age
or older
or the company by is that is that how
y'all want to or a company buy license
driver is either occupying the same
vehicle or occupying another vehicle
with prudent distance
well
I would just say she'll be a licensed
driver yeah yeah right yeah because you
have 316 50.
just take okay that that makes more
sense that's strictly straight to the
point it must be a license driver
and then also on on your ATV side
besides it all has the sticker that c is
not operated by anyone under age 16
that's the Yamaha Suzuki any of your
machines they also have that sticker on
it covered in liability
and say one of the things that the board
is going to have to do on this ordinance
I'm going to have to publish it because
we need to do a public notice with the
stipulations of these 17 restrictions
that the general public will be aware of
it because you can't just go out
anywhere around ATV after this ordinance
is approved it's got to be a designated
trail with designated signage VDOT
approved land use to make sure that only
in those areas under these 17 required
VDOT regulations or County regulations
that it is the area of operations so
this gives an opportunity for either the
the trails to be put in into in the
county sections or in town sections and
gives them the flexibility to be able to
expand this at will now the ordinance
that y'all have approved is it doesn't
get route Pacific and Termini and
Trailhead Pacific because if you did
that as you did add one or had to take
away one which we was discussing earlier
you would be in here revising this
ordinance so the mechanism that is in
place is with spearhead trails to
signage and overage along with VDOT land
use that you'll have an application on
file for it and you can change this at
wheel if you change the trailhead within
that that riding area or recreational
area so this makes it as simple as can
be it's not restrictive it say it
doesn't have a lot of covenants but it
gives the board some assurance that
there's not a 12 year old or 13 year old
running up and down the road on ATV
so
any more questions
number two
for a distance of more than five miles
on any Highway with posted speed limit
of no more than
35 miles an hour yes that is a state
requirement okay
yes it's also also with it and Ms Dame
can tag onto this from some of the West
Virginia folks but for Virginia
um you cannot be on primary roads at all
period because they are 55 miles an hour
so you can only be on a road that is 35
miles an hour or less and I will say
this for you all's information and for
public consumption even though the town
of Saint Paul has approved has approved
these guidelines for the town of Saint
Paul period they don't have a trail they
have a Trailhead in the county but they
have the right to ride to that Trailhead
which which is in five miles but they
cannot cross the four lane on 58. they
have to stop at the Food City and the
Hardee's they cannot go across to
McDonald's now their signage that says
you can't and they can get a ticket I
have seen ATVs at McDonald's but by law
they're trespassing over on VDOT stuff
that says no no so there's a lot of
stuff that people have to learn how to
deal with this so it's been difficult at
times I will tell you
I have a question
um
what about um
these Farmers now probably everybody's a
couple followers I do got four wheelers
from one session from another and they
do get out on the road that we call a
state maintained because they gonna be
prohibited that's not a primary Road of
55 miles an hour those are back roads
secondary roads real estate maintained
yes okay yes okay it doesn't fall under
no it doesn't no it's for agriculture
this is for recreational only ATVs and I
know if it did uh we'd be starting up a
count of one that may get pretty tight
that's it that's a good point
that's that's a good point and as far as
Farm use that's up to them and and the
regulations that
within B Dot and state but this one is
recreational remember the signage will
be there wherever you put the trailhead
and you'll have the flexibility of the
five mile radius to be able to hit the
trailheads cause the town of Honaker has
conveyed you know their interest in
these trailheads and they may have to
switch a Trailhead as long as they're
within that five mile race and signage
then they can change that access so
signing so the signage will be placed
appropriately yes to handle the Five
Mile yes it is
and one of the things coming from VDOT
one of the things that the local
residency is willing to do is
Virginia signage is hard to get they
only got one side crew in all Bristol
District so what they're willing to do
is me work under the contractor
the VDOT contractor on the signage
you'll be able to help with these
signages so I can order the signage for
these Trails headed as you designated
through the land use to be able to
implement these
I don't I don't even know where we are
we may need to dispense with the other
motion I think it would be easiest to
just withdraw the other motions and then
make a motion thank you and make a
motion to withdraw that motion I would
draw the signal okay we're back to
square one let's let's go at this again
I'll make a motion to accept with the
language that's currently in in the
motion that we've set forth sick okay I
have a motion and a second to accept the
amended ordinances ordinance that we
have described here which only dealt
with number nine really wasn't it all
right I've made those changes to all
persons operating any off-road vehicle
shall be a licensed driver period
okay
here we go all in favor uh any opposed
motion carries we've got an ATV
ordinance thank you very much
wow
right now in as a question from the
audience number seven all persons
operating or writing any off-road
vehicle shall wear eye protection of any
type of approved by the superintendent
Virginia State plays for use by Motors
motorcycle operators that is a state
requirement
it is is in there yes these are the
state stipulations
it's our eye protection but that's also
in the spearhead you have to wear
helmets approved helmets so those big
ones with the
yes the eye protection yes but you can
wear that big one that slides down all
the full face
most people that uh come to us say they
like the smaller helmets with the eye
goggles
my face masks
so they're in violation
all right uh moving on to the next
public hearing is um
the physical year of 2023-24 county-wide
budget
where do we start
any questions
anybody in the audience do we have a
sign up sheet nobody
okay we don't have a sign up sheet but I
see a hand go up in the audience
pressures
did I signed for the wrong thing
yeah
it's not about you
okay
budget comments
make a budget comment yes ma'am
I am here wearing my rotary hat as
representing the Russell County Rotary
Club and the Heart of Appalachia
Community orchestra that meets and
performs uh primarily here in Lebanon
um they have partnered to do a musical
park and we've gotten permission from
the town of Lebanon and the town of
Honaker to put an instrument in the
Parks it's the kind of musical
instruments that you've probably seen at
Disney Disney World
um or
Dollywood they are outdoor musical
instruments they are not loud enough to
disturb the neighbors but they are
honest to gosh musical instruments they
are tuned so you know you play them
you're going to get pitches
you know it's not just banging on pipes
or something
and our hope is to have one in at least
three areas of the county
um because we had a town
in Honaker in Lebanon we went ahead and
went with them we do want to place one
in
um Castlewood but we just thought we'd
wait until we got those rolling to sort
of look for a site somebody has
mentioned well what about Cleveland I'm
like we're not going to say that's not
possible we just need to raise the money
we did ask you for some money and that
is because there are Arts grants from
the state Arts Council that will
basically match any money that is given
by a local government so you know
and if you give us money we can use that
as a match to apply for that Grant but
it is our hope to um get those rolling
We'll be asking for um
a rotary District Grant also and we do
have some money already in the bank for
that and we're selling bricks
so if you want to do a commemorative
brick I've already even though we don't
know where we're going to put one in
Castlewood the first brick I bought was
for my late sister-in-law who played
euphonium so you know it's got her name
and her class year you know CHS and
euphonium that was her instrument so you
can do that that's a great way they'll
be there as far as we know forever to
commemorate some money in the community
or celebrate someone so thank you
thank you what's your Gap
what's your Gap funding tell me how much
and right now we
've we've got
less than 2500 in the back but we had
somebody say I like this project I will
give you you know a thousand or two
thousand so we have that is
a sort of jumping off for but we need to
sell a lot for it we need to sell 100
bricks and that's partly how we're going
to pay
you know so that
except for the mortaring in the prep
work
you know that cost is absorbed so the
township lay it to make sure they're
happy that it goes down properly but
thank you
thank you okay I'm going to close the
public hearing for the um
the county-wide budget for physical year
2023 2024.
thank you madam chair
next under the new business of course is
the workshop part this is uh of course
we've had meetings on the budget
concerning where we're at and of course
everyone knows the state Virginia has
not still enough approved budget and
we're not going down that rabbit hole
like we did last year is weighed on them
so we've got enough numbers and enough
numbers of what we can generate within
the county on their own tax revenue and
what we have got from the federal and
some of the state agencies that know
they're not going to get any additional
funding so as a as we go through it and
give you an update from the last meeting
to now to give you all a snapshot of
what we're doing
um of course I released this today
this is we have to do this by law
advertisement to show our little
synopsis of what we're doing and
on Facebook I got I got a comment right
real quick before I could get in here
and explain why my numbers have changed
but I will go through it with them as
you can see up on the screen this is
fy23 and fy24 and some of the numbers
look percentiles look fairly you know
large but let's let's go through these
reasonings of course
one is the first one is the uh of course
the general government Administration it
went up 12.8 percent now
that sounds like a lot indeed is a lot
but one of the things you got to
remember is we're going through the
reassessment the assessor's office files
under this right here so this will be
for the assessors contractor which can
run from 150 to 180 000 so uh that is
one of the reasons for the increase in
that we have to do that by law so that's
in a cost we have to incur we don't like
it but we have to do it every county in
the state of Virginia has to second one
as you can see through the judicial is
five percent
Public Safety 2.3 okay the next one was
13.8 again solid waste our trash
contract
so that you're increasing your trash
component so
um other than that General Services
stayed at 2.3 Health and Welfare 1.9
education was level funding for the
schools and and the uh
community colleges the Parks and
Recreation is 4.2 percent increase
Community Development went up 10.6
percent that sounds like a lot but it's
it's only
Shiloh's position tourism positions and
what a little bit was that's that's what
we increased on that so
um non-departmental was
0.6 tenths of a percent and then the cap
outlay and the transfers that went from
19.5 that component is part of the
courthouse there what we call transfer
charges that will be charged to the loan
but is not paid by County taxpayers
dollars so but I had to put it in there
because it does come through our coffers
and I got to move it in and move it out
as the treasure will tell you so overall
the the good point is of all the
inflation no taxes being raised
4.1 percent now this budget does include
a seven percent increase
now in the state of Virginia has not
come up with a definitive negotiation
between the House and Senate yet
uh we have talked to the local
legislators and it it goes everything
from like this five six or seven
so they keep they do not even the ones
that said on the budget committee that
are here regionally can give me a
definitive number so
I'd rather go with a higher impact right
now if it if it comes down then it'll be
a cost savings to the county but it
won't be a surprise to the county
and based off of what we have done and
where we have cut and along with the
casino money which we have allocated out
to the fire and rescue we have paid for
the race program we have paid for the
college's cost and the judicial part
which we're required to do by law with
that moving that money and funding down
that released those fundings back in to
be able to pay for these increases in
the solid ways the raises and the other
operating costs and inflation so right
now again this year again y'all are
balancing the books without raising
taxes
down is 4.15 4.1 percent increase now
the rest of the total budget of course
the coal Road
uh Department of Social Services the CSA
programs the canneries which is a very
important thing uh
the day in the Dane sewer fund we got a
total of 36 million 549 691. now that
includes both federal and state and
local Revenue
I've got one question yes sir uh I want
to go ahead and bring this out now I
guess because uh I talked to Miss
Wallace about this and
we're the only now that we've passed
this ordinance for the ATV we're the
only County in the whole area
that doesn't support spearhead
financially
and
I've met with the director I think Miss
Wallace has me with them also and she
gave me some very important information
as far as some funding that's been
allocated
but
to me we don't have any skin in the game
I mean as far as support you know they
they need to hire a ranger
and when I discuss this with them uh
that is a very important position that's
a job so whatever this money that we
could help to allocate they're not
asking us for eighty thousand like the
other counties offered they're asking us
for 35
000. half of that will go for the trail
maintenance half of it would go for the
Ranger
and it's very important because since
I've been on this board all I've heard
is how much money uh that this has is an
impact in our area
um I know Scott's here and we're working
on getting the trails done over in in
the area to tie all these others
together uh
but if we don't have any skin in the
game it's and also I will tell you
spearhead gives our residents the same
break on the permits as everybody else
and and we're not we're not funding them
I mean we're not giving them any money
whatsoever
and to me it's uh
if you don't have skin in the game it's
kind of hard for them to
to Pony up and want to help us I mean
that's the way I look at it you know as
far as that but I just want the board to
take us into consideration because we
have some opportunities here to get some
Trails opened and get them going so
people will start coming here and
spending their money and and you know I
think it'd be an economic boost too
because on these Trail sites there's
going to be people who want to you know
maybe put up lodging or uh stuff so it's
kind of like the chicken and egg deal
but if we don't put something in there
to help help them uh we're asking them
to do certain things for us that and
we're not
we're not in it I mean we're not in
we're the only County in the whole area
that's not putting any money in into
their effort and this is a state run
uh facility and Miss Wallace sent me
some really good information as far as
uh some allocations of some of the
things that are good for our area but if
you're building campgrounds and you're
building these facilities and you can't
get your Trail open because you're not
supporting them and I'm not saying that
be the facts I'm not saying they
wouldn't open it because of that but I'm
just saying to me personally if we're
not
he's married into them uh you know it
makes a huge difference you know what
I'm saying so
I think that we ought to look at trying
to
come up with some Appropriations I mean
that's not an extreme lot of money
compared to what other Counties have put
in to their area trails and you can look
at Buchanan County and what they've
built and what they've done and how much
money's in Tazewell County and some of
these other areas that's uh
I mean they're bringing in a lot of
people from all other areas and I'll
give you an example of this we was able
to support the Appalachian Gateway and
Horse Trail Association and let them do
what they did on County property
uh a week and a half two weeks ago they
had one of the largest horse shows
they've ever had in the region they have
four professional football players come
and show their horses in Cleveland
Virginia
and they were packed out they had 500
entries they had over 2 000 people and
little Andy's Market sold out of
everything I don't reckon he had
anything on shelves even in the store
that's he sold so much and I think that
not only that but any of that stuff that
we can bring into our region and our
County uh gets people here and it's
going to be hard for uh any any of our
supervisors that want to continue
forward with this and and the towns to
uh to get the movement we need unless we
put some money in behind them Lonzo can
you can you check and see if you can
scrounge up about 35 000
. we don't we really don't know until we
get the the state money and if it comes
in at six percent yeah we should be good
and see one of the things that I you
know being as conservative as I am y'all
know me
um the casino money I have kept down
until we get the final numbers and you
know then they post it in the paper this
is the biggest month ever and I'm going
I'm trying to keep it down you're you're
saying you're advertising you know this
so but what I'm saying is that'll be a
number that will be more applicable to
this this is Casino money this is
tourism this would be appropriate for it
um y'all stance over the years has been
this and we've been asked many times
over the years I like to be telling you
the truth to give to spearhead trails
and y'all were very adamant no Trails no
money
okay
now on the trails they're starting to
develop and they're coming they're
already being built to getting ready to
open and you're getting ready to start
on one down in the whole entire area so
let me run back we have a meeting here
at the first of June so I'll have the
casino money and the total numbers of
what we'll be receiving so that would be
appropriate fun to look at
yes and I will tell you this uh after
talking to Stephen them they would and
Tim they said they would commit to hire
uh the Ranger from Russell County
uh so it'd be a job and that's a state
job so that would be a ranger and that
would be his job and a position so you
know you could take that into
consideration I mean 35 000 I mean you
know uh would support the Rangers job
well and then half of that money would
be to keep the trail up and keep it done
I mean I don't want to build these
trails and then we'd be on the back
burner of Maintenance because we've not
appropriated any funding because that
would you don't want to go out of the
gate open the trail and then
people start complaining about the trail
because of the maintenance I want to
have some I just want to have some and I
mean lose Trails ready down there in her
District it's ready to open up but we
just need a a ranger in place uh and
that's that's a security thing blanket
for me to make sure that you've got that
position uh there to be able to to to
govern that area and be able to do that
and I mean if you look from one into the
Russell County to the other we've talked
to them about coming down through back
Valley and going into down toward the
falls and Lebanon and coming into
Lebanon and you know I mean it's going
to be far-reaching more than I think we
ever dreamed if we can get all these
easements
and see and just looking at both the
proposed you know the trails one one of
the things you've got to remember too is
Wizard Ranger it also
as Mercy management director believe it
or not they get lost they get hurt we do
have calls on the trails and the search
and rescue has to go find them or they
have to go out and help them out because
some of them gets a little aggressive on
the ATVs and they end up hurt and they
have to drag them out in their toe Mount
so if you're going to do the trails and
if you don't after the first year what
going from you know building one of
these and then walking you know and
developing these after a year your
maintenance if you don't do it they
won't come back you'll have nothing but
ruts
washouts it's almost like a VDOT road if
you don't maintain it you're not going
to keep it and they're not going to come
back because they got you know the ones
in Pocahontas to ride they've got the
the ones that Rebecca referred to you
know yeah I mean they're nice I mean and
that's where they're going to go because
these ATVs that you're riding down as
Steve had mentioned before they cost as
much as a car
I mean you're talking some high money
and these are the ones that come into
popular Gap these are not just a Mom and
Pops that are coming off their you know
Farm on a on a two or three thousand
dollar ATV these boys are coming in with
some high dollar equipment yes well I
will tell you this I'm really impressed
with the new director
I was a little leery as a board member
in the past you know I told him I said
you know you every 50 miles you build
we'll do a drawdown you know because I I
didn't feel comfortable just giving them
a check to do anything but uh now I do
feel confident with the new director uh
he's in place he he managed the Capitol
Police and you know I just I feel good
about trying to get this moving forward
and he's willing to help and also uh you
know Cleveland's sitting here ready to
go left or right you know we go today
and four-wheel we can go to Homemakers
four wheels
the River Band
[Music]
came while walking trails so and that's
that's a lot a lot of people don't
realize that when DCR gave their six
year strategic plan on what is here and
I said I was looking at the map it's
almost like a VDOT map I was looking
okay Dane uh
Saint Paul trails and then I've got a
Holden acre I got equestrian trails and
then if I flipped a whole acre it's an
ATV Jeep Trail and then have the River
float right through the middle I mean
you've got a lot of things to bring
people in you've got to give them the
belt I mean they were put in another uh
the people that don't know as far as the
Cleveland Park they've upgraded it they
have got uh playground equipment for the
kids we're actually they're building a
shelter with nature conservancy right
now and see properties rolling they are
so are going to put in a boat launch
into there too that nature conservancy
is paying for so at the campground yes
sir I don't want to keep talking about I
just so passionate about this now but I
just I'd like to see us when we do
marketing and do signage just like what
Carl said let's do some designation
signage you know along with whatever we
got to do on the signs to get people to
you know come into certain directions or
you know whatever but I think that would
be a good way to do some marketing
tourism marketing and have some
additional signage or language that says
you know you can go here 0.5 miles you
can be at this location or whatever
another good spot for that would be out
of hansonville people coming from
Abington from Kentucky 58 uh Townsville
you know they could go to all the places
you know they ain't Cleveland
well and see with some of that if we
take it under our umbrella and take some
of the you know the signage off of VDOT
as long as we these all might be done
specification 3M reflective they have to
beat all that but the point is this
as long as our program pays for the
signage
and they're in compliance with VDOT we
can Implement these strategically to
direct them and that's one of the things
that I spoke to Buchanan County Board
about you can go over a popular Gap and
they got like two signs about that size
right there it says Barbara Gap I mean
if you're doing 35 you miss it I'm going
where's the ones you missed it where was
the turn off I'm serious they put all
those millions of dollars into that
thing and they bring in those peoples
and it's kind of a little teenage sign
out there on the road it's ridiculous
[Music]
it's it is ridiculous and you're right
it needs to be at handsville it needs to
be coming into the county can't get them
before they get in and we're going to
Market it on our tourism sites and we're
in Shiloh she's a wiz at this and and
she's and what assets have we gotten in
in our resources she's going to push it
and she can crank these out to all the
major agencies and and the apps and the
movements to say hey this is you know
the Pinnacles this is a question Trail
down at home acre this is the Jeep Trail
in I mean in Honaker the question Trail
in Cleveland but you know the ATV trail
and dank
yes
well a lot of people you know coming off
the interstate on 81 as soon as they see
it sign it gives them an opportunity to
say hey let's go check out Dane hey
let's go check out Cleveland hey let's
go check out the panicle park let's go
towards Homemaker you get you know they
may go down there the next visit they
may come to Cleveland then the next
visit they may come back well it's like
when you go across the Washington
Russell County Line into Washington
County if you don't notice Hidden Valley
Lake they used to have a little bit of
sign down there was about that big again
now you go through there it looks like a
billboard there's a reason for that
there is a reason then not to go up
there and sit under the shade tree
because he draws people in and and it's
not the tourism is not the only answer
it's a piece of the answer yeah but if
you have jobs here people want to it's
like the casino they come down through
there and we sit on the board they they
bring their children with them and they
didn't they're not die hard people that
sits down under their thumb is die hard
to sit down there and play but once they
get in they want to go out into areas
they the kids are not going to sit there
and watch mom and dad play the slots
so they need things to do local
and that's one of the things that we're
partnering with the casino when we do
those those videos for either the Jeep
trails the uh Pinnacles that's going to
be coming on the big screens setting at
the casino they're already partnering
with us and we're developing the videos
so if you're going to put it in place
and you're advertising they're going to
come over here and then if you get here
and then got you ain't got it
you're they're going to get frustrated
so
that's the little small component well
thank you uh Mr Eaton
and and uh for that great eco-tourism
speech
I've been waiting on that for several
years thank you
um and you did great by the way
with that being said our billing that we
get an invoice from spearhead we have
been doing getting those are they just
25 have they raised it to 30. they were
right now the ones we received and have
been to through this fiscal year has
been 25 000. that was the that's how
that's what they've been building so Mr
Eaton can we start at 25
Steve asked us for 35
. and that includes maintenance and then
rankings
well I tell you what let me like I said
this is going to come out of the casino
let me let me see
okay
I mean
I mean if it's coming out of the casino
man there's no better
well and and no you don't
those two David
but see but see David's being Steves and
Carl yes
we didn't do discretionary funds but
yeah guys how would you like to and I'm
saying we were talking about the City of
Bristol sitting in casino
the point is this
yeah you you're in a year with Hyper you
know High inflation you haven't raised
taxes you're given a seven percent pay
raise and I'm getting ready to talk
about another thing
as far as that we worked out too on the
employee health insurance
on employee health insurance is single
employee plus one in the family
the committee dropped
the premiums through all three programs
635 dollars a year
what that equates to is
County employees pay on a 12-month time
period and that's
53 dollars a month back in their pocket
real money
the teachers pay on a 10 month and that
is 64 a month straight without even
considering the four percent
the Board of Supervisors and the school
board made the promise when this got
stabilized with our when it went into a
1.5 million dollar deficit notes Steve
and Tim were both on that at committees
we've made promise to the employees that
once we got it back to the 80 20s best
co-pays we could get best out pocket
Pharmacy Etc we would look at dropping
the premiums and this is the first phase
so they felt comfortable with the that
reduction and we'll we'll continue to
monitor each and every year
yes he is now that's another good story
so you got from five to seven building
and you got the health insurance you've
lowered it now here's the other thing
that we've got to deal with
a t
and the reason I bring that up is they
are saying they're closing the doors
it's already in the paper and everyone
is very much aware of it but one of the
points that we're trying to work with is
work with the company of course
Tim contacted me last week and he had
some employees that were looking for a
hot spot or a workspace it's called
co-space
and to be able to utilize because they
do not have internet at home one thing's
the ATT was going to do was keep their
employees that work here the facilities
but the employees were still work and
perform the same jobs but some of them
did not have internet to be able to do
it they will provide the equipment
but they needed the hot spot and strong
enough with to be able to run their
programs so while looking through it I
reached out to Dr Wright so on the
college side he's going to designate one
of the classrooms which Ernie's now
taking over they're working it out and
we're going to have a space in there for
up to 20 that can CO as a co-working
space if it's a t or anything else so
yeah you can come here so we're we're we
got a position for about 20 25 people in
there that's that's got a designated
place to be able to do this until they
can you know
to work
yes
I think that's outstanding co-working
spaces are just the thing these days
because so many people are working from
home and they don't have a constant
uh email or internet access so these
will have a constant IPS or whatever
this word is those letters are yes and
they're working with my it group right
now but I want to thank Dr Wright for
offering this because he actually it is
his face but we this called The Board of
Supervisors and the Ida by surprise you
know
you know as much as you call a surprise
when the atnt so they'll be marketing
that building for facility for other
reasons
hopefully they'll be well but here is
the point our County employees that are
here they'll have a place to work to be
able to keep their livelihood and not
have to worry about you know if they
live up in a route that doesn't have
access they can come here and utilize it
and it's a great facility it's one of
the rooms that's close to the cafeteria
it's got access space and back it's one
of the college's classrooms so
and thank you for working on that and
thanks to Dr Hyde for helping us
absolutely a wonderful thing that we can
do for our people he's been a wonderful
partner yeah
so
with that I think that's all I've got
right now and you've got a balanced
budget with a five to seven percent
you're going for seven percent you've
lowered the health insurance you've got
everything taken care of the fire and
rescue has increased by 50 on each side
so uh
any other questions
[Music]
and hopefully we'll only attack you
still have to have two more budget
meetings believe it or not this public
hearing you got to have
the school board will be coming talking
to you at the June 1st meeting then that
will be a public hearing that night and
then we'll have to reconvene by code of
Virginia Katie will tell you uh
two weeks later
depend upon your schedule to pass the
final budget
and by the end I will have your answer
on the 35
but it looks good it looks promising so
it does look promising
okay so if I may interrupt I'll take
Chairman's prerogative right right now
while we're in discussion on this I do
want everybody to understand that there
is economy in this particular talk that
we're having today about tourism and
dropping dollars into our coffers and
I'm going to give you one example
um and I'll have to use the town of
Saint Paul because they kind of are the
they have risen to the top because they
tried this so long ago and it was a
little painful at first so I'm I'm
looking back here at my home acre
friends and this side
um this this way of thinking is a little
bit painful and you will get there
um but there's going to be naysayers in
all departments so you just have to deal
with it as you as it comes and sometimes
it'll be different for your town as it
was for the town of Saint Paul
but let me tell you where we went we had
a coal Severance tax that went to zero
about a hundred almost a quarter million
dollars
all right that went to zero and what
happened was during that time period of
all these things coming together was the
trails and the river riding but the
trails was the one that brought it to
light because there was no food tax
there was no cigarette tax to mention
there was no lodging but the food tax
and I'm going to tell you not you can
their budget is wide open so I'm going
to tell you something but anyway this
year this quarter in the town of Saint
Paul
they have 92
000 in food tax multiply that by four
you guys and see what they have recouped
from the loss of coal Severance just in
food that not that does not count their
lodging now if you can pull that kind of
money into your little towns and your
little areas
that's not us that's not being born on
me I'm not eating that much stuff down
there I might go once a month how often
do you all eat out what I'm telling you
is someone else is helping you
supplement your needs in your
communities
and I'm going to say something else to
Carl the state park is ripe for horse
riding
that is absolutely we've been asked
multiple times about putting horses on
the ATV trails but that's not working so
you've got to have two separate places
to go and those people come with the
same amount of money hordes of them
David's already proved that
so if if he had some extracurricular
activities going on over there while
you've got four football players and so
many race car drivers and everybody else
over there with their horses they might
accidentally bring an old trail horse
and they might want to ride and stay a
couple more days and dump some more
money into your economy
yeah and that was one of the things when
I was doing this budget I was I was very
surprised that you know uh the meal
taste that we have is doing really well
and it's coming from The Travelers
believe it or not that casino the Ralph
5819 used to be between 12 and thousand
twelve thousand thirteen thousand cars
at that intersection count it's now it's
15 to 16
000 pushing Sunday 17 at that route it's
coming either you're going to be ready
or we're not so
well I'll tell I hadn't said anything to
miss Wallace about this but I'll tell
you just an example with that horse show
Matt D's which lives in Cherokee North
Carolina to put on the show he rented
the fairgrounds
down there off the fair Association
60 stalls they stayed down there in
Castlewood they rented 60 Styles and
they had it all set up down there where
they stayed and then they came up to
Cleveland to show so we got the benefit
having them in multiple locations
and I didn't hear anything but just
everybody was so enthused and so I mean
they loved this area I mean that's all
they talked about and I know we take it
for granted a lot because we live here
but when you have those kinds of
Outsiders coming in and seeing the
beauty of the area and the
accommodations they couldn't believe it
and Roger and his wife done a wonderful
job getting them set up down there and
they stayed in Castlewood and they come
up to Cleveland they showed and that was
just an amazing event but I wanted to
let them know that it's just not one
area I mean this could cultivate into
many many opportunities for all of us in
the county you could you know a lot of
people go down you know Pigeon Forge and
surveyorville and they ride those trails
and I'm going first time I ever did it I
was in the military and never been there
in my life until my wife took me I said
I rode through it and I said well this
is like riding through your own skin I
mean I ain't seeing nothing I'm not
seeing right now and I mean what is the
difference you just didn't know where it
was after the other you can see more
bear here than you can down there
all right yes ma'am sorry about that um
okay on the agenda again
those are the major budget topics that
I've got again we got two more meetings
I will I'm getting more final but you're
probably at 99 plus right now off of
what we did other than what the governor
has is proposing so you know but the
point is whether he's ready or not
because that's the next point last point
he's not going to be I've heard June
July or August and it's all but we're
going to pass a budget with a
stipulation in the Covenant if the
amendment of the salaries will go back
and fix we'll we'll have that
stipulation in there we'll implement the
salary upon the governor's approval
whatever the number is so that's all I
have
okay so we closed the public hearing for
the budget yes ma'am all right
then I'm moving on so the county-wide
budget Workshop what's here next time
is that what we are the next Workshop
will be the June 5th meeting is that it
yes okay
well I guess it is this is the end of
May
all right so moving on to number two the
CSA supplemental allocation request yes
ma'am this is really
um a not an additional request this is
just something that appropriation that I
we appropriate at the beginning as they
get towards the end of it their money's
there so I you've got to make a formal
move for the request for the
supplemental so of course they're asking
for and it's just a little bit
has a little bit of cushion in it comes
third fiscal years run from June to May
and and yeah there yeah I got the DSs
director here uh yeah I need a motion
for fifty three thousand one ninety six
nineteen I'll make it and this is one of
the most conservative programs does a
wonderful job
thank you I have a motion and a second
for fifty three thousand dollars and
change oh just discussion discussion
with this this is for the additional
children that have entered foster care
that has to be taken care of yes sir
thank you man
um either their education their uh
services for physical therapy speech
therapy uh academic or their room and
board placement so it's just for the
additional children that have come in
Decatur thank you for that explanation
I'll call for the vote all in favor uh
any opposed any abstentions motion
carries all right moving on to number
three I'm taking Chairman's prerogative
here and um over the couple of years
we've heard about trying to get to
Laurel bed Lake and so uh I have been uh
asked to help take care of this and I'm
going to do this tonight so I would like
to point a committee for to do work on a
feasibility study and Mr Lester I know
you're a busy man but you're at the top
of the list and the other two is Steve
uh breeding and David Eaton would you
guys serve on that
okay
consider it done
by Declaration of the committee chair
here or the chair of the board so you
all go forth and work on a feasibility
study I think it's practically done
and let's see where we can go with that
all right any more we're going to start
with uh board discussions and reminders
Mr Lovelace uh just again I want to
thank you Lonzo and Dr Wright and Ida
for working it out for the employees of
ATT and whoever else may can use it
Mr Right no ma'am Mr eight Miss Brady uh
I just want to put a flag about the
animal shelter we're gonna have to get
that thing we've met on it before the
committee has met but you know there's I
get some comments out in the field you
know there's some frustration because
they can't see what's happening and I
know you're in the process of moving
have either moved or or getting ready to
move the power pole up there utility yes
sir okay so when when that gets done we
need to try to sort of scoot that up and
I know you at the end of the year when
we reconcile your accounts
we need to see if there's some money
that we can move into that category and
try to get that facility started I know
we're going to do it
you know let's get the foundation doing
get shell building done and then we can
kind of work on it as we go along yeah
the uh that's again that time of the
year and we've like I hate to say it but
the pandemic kind of you know
helped us out during that time in that
respect vdac's not going to be too very
much patient very much no no I will do
sir that's all I have management
Mr
no nothing Mr Christian yes I did get it
on this discussing about the trail a
while ago but
not only are people fascinated and
getting on these Trails but to drive up
and down our highways and see the
Contour God's creation Mountain Valley
little thing and I get fascinated every
time I go down New Garden Road looking
down in deep Halls you're riding along
here and up on the mountain and so many
people out of the state
they use this flat land
they get fascinated the Appalachian
region of all this God's creation of
mountains and valleys and everything
and this is 12 business will help them
to get out and see even more that's you
know you can't see on a regular
automobile Highway yeah can you imagine
if you had trails in Saint Paul
equestrian in Cleveland
Jeep and ATV and Honaker the lower bed
Lake open and and the clinch running
through
years and years ago they looked at
putting the dam over on the Clinch River
over around
Fanny over in that area somewhere
somewhere somewhere over there because
Ken Tucker was telling me about it and
Dr Smith
he was on the senate in the he was in
the legislature or seen it one or the
other I can't remember but Roy was
uh working on that and uh Kenneth said a
couple of Old Farmers over there got
together and sort of killed it you know
but there was one road that it crossed
out so I got kind of interested in it I
picked out a spot over there and I put a
dam in there and brought it up and see
how far it would back water it back
water it all the way to Blackford Bridge
Little River and it made one of the most
beautiful
likes that you've ever seen some of that
farm some of that old Farmland over in
the New Garden area would have been a
Lakeside property
it's it's just I'll bring it in show you
guys one sometime but it was just real
interesting you know what could have
been
you know and you could have probably
done it at that time but you you never
do it today yeah well the good thing is
you got 330 acre Lake
already
yeah
330 Acres
it's huge
okay Chairman's prerogative I will uh
speak a little bit
um we've talked a lot about
um
plans for all of our communities and I
just want to say that we have uh Miss
Kim Smith is now the executive interim
executive director our very own Kim
Smith is the executive director for the
heart of Appalachia tourism Authority
she's working really really really hard
along with our Shiloh and um the plans
for the destination Center are coming
along and that's going to be the the
spoke and the wheel type thing that
we're going to send people out into our
region into all the places that they
need to go so the marketing piece that
we're talking about here with signage
and everything is going to be generated
through that big engine she's working on
a big Grant right now and that is the
driving tour on Route 640 that comes all
the way to Tazewell County which is
designated as the Virginia Department of
Transportation heart of Appalachia
tourism hike bike trail but you can
drive it
so that's she is working on a plan right
now hopefully to get money to do this
there may be some hurdles along the way
but she's prepared for those so just so
you know that Stewart Landing Cattle
Company which is beautiful driving
biking area in there
yeah and Route 80 is a biking trail
designated from Washington that's right
on both sides that is one of the
national
recognize routes as far as a biking
trail
so we we got a lot going on thank you
guys and gals for today we appreciate it
at this time I will adjourn this meeting
thank you