thank you
you ready yeah
good afternoon everyone I would like to
welcome you to the Russell County Board
of Supervisors June the 26th 2023 at 6
PM in the Russell County Government
Center I first like to start off with a
call of order in roll call Tim Lovelace
here
David Eaton
David Eaton will be calling in
into the
order
uh roll call
um
yellow hey David how are you sir I'm
good how are you uh I've got I've got
you on the line and when I go through
you have to
so state your name where you're at and
the reason for the call-in and the board
will have to make a motion pursue it to
subsection 2.2
3708.3 and then we'll make you eligible
to attend environment
David Eden
okay car Ray here
foreign
do you say you was on vacation
okay
Steve reading here Rebecca dye here
where's Christian present
and Luanne Wallace here Luanne Miss
Wallace you have a quorum thank you sir
um at this time I'll ask everyone to
please rise for the invocation and
remain standing for the Pledge of
Allegiance
let us pray father God lord we love you
we thank you and we praise you today
forgive us for where we fill you each
and every day and thank you for allowing
us to be a part of our local government
lead God and direct us and help us be
more like you in each and every way in
your name I pray amen
and to the Republic for which it stands
one nation under God
foreign
okay thank you at this time I need an
approval of the agenda please
and chair and make a motion we approve
the agenda as amended with the ad
with the amenity
we need to read
the amended Edition to the motion to
allow Mr Eaton to participate and vote
pursuant to the code read by Lonzo I'll
take it then sorry Steve I'll I'll be in
no motion to allow Mr E to participate
remotely into vote Pursuits to Virginia
code uh
2.2-3780-3708.3 in the in the policy
adopted by the county and the policy
adopted by the county
I'll second that thank you very much
um all in favor
any opposed any abstentions motion
carries
um so we've had the approval of the
agenda at this time we'll have our
public hearing and this is the Russell
County Physical year 2023 24 county-wide
budget
anybody sign up no money
okay
yes sir
I'm Charlie yes of District Six uh I
hear a lot of complaints about the
I call them trash dumps Mr Lester refers
to him as convenience centers but if
they're closed and somebody goes by to
empty their trash they're not convenient
and I'd like to see the board work on
this
thank you
thank you Mr Hess we all agree
anyone else
Mr Leicester it's all yours
well the first up on next on the agenda
is uh Michelle Robinette she is with the
Russell County Recovery the opiate
program Grant application that's before
you in your package she's going to come
up and speak to you uh about the
application for the Russell County
Recovery
well first of all thank you all for this
opportunity
um I'm not really sure what I'm uh what
you want to hear so I thought if it's
okay with you I would tell you how this
got started
um I know that uh Robbie Adams who's
there um uh
on the board of directors uh prepared we
prepared the application that came in
and so we're requesting 26 000 for the
fiscal year ending June 30th and a
hundred and eleven thousand two hundred
dollars for the for fiscal year 24. how
this came about and why we're also
requesting this is because to date 100
of the residents that we have admitted
to the two programs that we operate uh
have had demonstrated financial hardship
and uh
we and I have a snapshot in there taken
of a census uh on May the 25th that
shows really the majority of them are
now employed and they are paying the
fees so this is a program uh where it's
expected that they pay fees to in order
to live there
um but I wanted to show and point that
out because I felt like that also uh is
a helps support the need for this type
of program for Russell County
uh but to go back a little bit as to how
this happened as you all know far
Southwest Virginia is the epicenter of
the Oxycontin epidemic and it really
dates back that far and that was in the
early that was in the late 1990s early
2000s uh when uh the medical chief
medical examiner for Virginia and the
Virginia State Police started realizing
that there's something going on in Far
Southwest Virginia due to the
significant increase in overdose deaths
and then as other things that were found
uh was an explosion for the criminal
justice system with the judicial system
with probation uh the dockets Social
Services all of their Community uh
Partners or stakeholders in our
communities were being affected uh by
that
um and with the Oxycontin epidemic it
then led into the opioid epidemic which
then led to the prescription drug
epidemic which is and then has led to
the what is now referred to as the
addiction epidemic and that was coined
by at the time the gentleman the
commissioner for the Virginia Department
of Health who said we've gone through
Oxycontin and other opiates prescription
drugs and now it's a case of addiction
it's the addiction is actually the
epidemic that we're facing also it's a
Public Health crisis we not only had a
significant increase in overdose disc
but also accidental overdoses children
being placed in foster care or adopted
as a result of Parental issues it is we
had such significant increases with the
rates of hepatitis A B and C but
specifically hepatitis C that it was
called an epidemic in Far Southwest
Virginia for for not just Russell County
but our surrounding counties and I
usually am representing far Southwest
Virginia as a whole and Russell County
has been of course right in the middle
of this also such a significant increase
in IV drug use so the list goes on and
on as to how things started back in the
1990s and where it's brought us today
in my work prior to retirement I can
tell you that Russell County was always
at the head of trying to identify
Solutions I worked for a public agency
that was tasked with finding ways to
address this epidemic
um but coming at it from a treatment
perspective but also from Supportive
Services
and Russell County was always in the
Forefront for far Southwest Virginia in
saying there is a problem you know we're
admitting there's a problem what can we
do about it and as a result of your
all's continued interest
um
and being so proactive in it along with
some other stakeholders like the csbs
dbhds who oversees the csv's drug courts
became that actually
um they are a direct result of the
original Oxycontin epidemic also
District 43 adult probation is a direct
result of the Oxycontin epidemic due to
that the 29th circuit got an additional
judge as a result of that but with the
partnership of Russell County dbhds drug
courts and Dr Hughes Melton who was very
active in all of this as well
we continuously sought resources
programming anything that we could bring
to far Southwest Virginia and I go back
to Russell County was always right in
the thick of it and saying that there's
a problem we need to do something and
we're going to be supportive of that
so early on WE identified that one of
the hugest gaps in all of this because
treatment has a Continuum of Care we
have the recovery Community but the huge
the biggest Gap that we had was recovery
housing or sober housing uh we uh this
epidemic
became multi-generational so we would
have individuals who did not have a home
that was stable or drug free to return
to and this of course created an impact
on probation the
Judicial System the prison system
Department of Corrections in general uh
Social Services you name it there it's
it's it just uh continued in its our
reach so one of the biggest gaps was
where can people live if they were going
to work on recovery if they did not have
a stable safe home to go home to and
early on drug courts also recognized
that because a lot of people may not
know but uh
Mr Lester does drug court with the help
of the Supreme Court tried several years
ago to establish a regional drug court
which would be an actual program located
in Lebanon because that's where we
looked and found a potential property
that would serve as a residential drug
court program it would have been the
first in the state if we had been able
to successfully get funding for that and
it was to recognize that there were
individuals who could not participate in
drug court because they did not have a
place to live they did not have a safe
safe stable home to to live in and they
couldn't go back some a lot of them
could not go back to the homes that to
go back to family so drug courts also
early on and there was a partnership
here with our local government with the
Supreme Court with treatment to try to
fill that void tackling and targeting uh
people who were appropriate for drug
courts we did not get funding for that
although I will stay at the time the
secretary Hazel Secretary of uh Health
and Human Resources through two uh
um
governorships uh took a special interest
in Southwest Virginia and tried you know
to move resources down here and also
supported that it just did not get
through at that time so we continued to
brainstorm and
um there are individuals actually in
this room that stuck with us in trying
to find a way to you know address the
Gap and one of those was how can we get
recovery housing
um so we
um I wrote a proposal to dbhds asking
their Office of Recovery oriented
services to fund bringing down a
consultant to meet here in Russell
County to discuss to talk educate us
about what recovery residences were how
you would get them started how you would
maintain them uh their purpose and the
lady that came down was Sandy Camille we
were successful in getting the grant
approved by dbhds to bring her down as a
to serve as a consultant for Russell
County and she is a Statewide consultant
on this uh because of the success of her
programs in Lynchburg and there was also
interest in trying to replicate this in
a rural community because Lynchburg is
obviously more
um Urban there so
we were successful she came down on
October the 30th of 2019. we had 50
representatives from Russell County
Community
which also included people from Richmond
who came down because of their interest
in supporting this and we had a work
group everything was going to go forward
and then covet hit
and it put everything
on hold so
um when the opportunity came for funding
to go to VAR which is the Virginia
Association for Recovery residences uh
we were actually the first County that
they picked to do to fund because they
too wanted to see a help us help them
develop a rural model but because they
knew how long Russell County had really
worked to try to get this service and
get it established in the county so we
were very fortunate in that they were
going to fund us for three years to get
the program up and running and be able
to sustain itself
and the project design was to open a
men's recovery residence a Women's
Recovery residence and a community
resource center uh and we were
successful in doing all three of those
things uh our board of directors was
established we are Incorporated we're
also a recognized non-profit and those
were goals that we had to do you know to
meet the spirit of the funding we opened
a 20-bed facility for men here in
Lebanon also an eight-bed facility for
women we accepted our first admission on
July the 24th we
received referrals from treatment
probation drug courts Social Services uh
individuals in the community
self-referrals local government
referrals are have been non-stop since
because we are the only gay this was the
only
um County that had recovered residences
although the plan is to try to do this
in every County but with Russell County
taking the lead to help develop the
model for replication in other rural
counties so when we were preparing the
application we prepared a snapshot of
the program and we chose May the 25th on
May the 25th and I believe that snapshot
was included
um it showed that we were at capacity we
had a waiting list we were targeting
primarily uh in this tying into the
opioid abatement uh in this community
even though individuals may now be
abusing meth or other substances
the overwhelming majority either have a
primary diagnosis of opiate addiction or
they have a secondary diagnosis and are
being treated for that even though their
current drug of choice may be
methamphetamines or benzos or whatever
so this goes back it's it hasn't gone
away
um the impact of the original Oxycontin
epidemic so with that we have served two
pregnant women we have a history among
that snapshot of residents there uh and
you can see that there's a an age range
from 18 to
um
about 55
we are serving diverse communities a
history of heroin use fentanyl use we
have 13 on that day that were in
medication assisted treatment
recovery homes are not treatment
programs and that was the thing that
also made these type of pro this type of
program is different in that no
treatment has been and provided in the
program you link those you link
individuals who need treatment to the
community providers and that has been
done so we're utilizing you know our
community resources from the time they
come in until the time that they leave
we have served drug court participants
probation participants people have been
diverted from incarceration which helps
your days at the Regional Jail
we've had on that one day for instance
we had a census that had 95 percent of a
history of IV drug use 75 with
co-occurring mental health 14 with
co-occurring physical health we have
linked people to not only treatment for
the addiction but also for their health
issues and their mental health issues uh
the services that are provided on site
are what's called you all may know it as
peer services but within this model it's
called recovery coaches somebody who's
been experienced with living addiction
but also experience in living recovery
who helped guide and support that we
make sure they're linked to the
resources that you have in your
community
when we did this snapshot we had 22 out
of 28 of our peers as they're referred
to
employed that's huge
it really is because most individuals
come into these residences either from
treatment from jail from drug court from
family from homelessness or whatever and
they don't have that and so we have had
individuals successfully be employed
because of the support we also receive
from other stakeholders in the community
I think the snapshot really tried to
capture all the things that you may be
interested in looking at and where
referrals come from
um some of one of the biggest
stakeholders we have in this community
that supports these programs is your
Ministerial Association and I'm going to
tell you that when I'm asked from
Richmond and I have been asked by
different agencies in Richmond about
what would you recommend for a community
that's trying to do this I tell them
support of your local government but
also the support of your Ministerial
Association can make and break a program
like this uh your Ministerial
Association is phenomenal uh we also
have the support of all the major
um uh primary providers of services in
here plus we have not only the support
of local government but our delegates
we've even had a delegate more field
come and visit
um we are scheduling an open house next
month but also Senator Kane and Senator
Warner and their representatives have
expressed interest in this uh and being
supportive of this program we also tie
in this model ties into the recovery
Community because these individuals
maybe the ones who don't need treatment
or even if they do need treatment they
still need linked to the recovery
Community because no matter where they
live after this they're going to be in
recovery the you know hopefully the rest
of their lives treatment is time limited
but recovery is lifelong and so they are
tied in to the recovery community that
you have in Russell County and that's
NAA Celebrate Recovery which is three of
your bigger groups uh also one of
um air tasks are to provide even more
recovery support services or provide
access to those so that regardless of an
individual's Pathway to recovery they're
going to be able to access that resource
here in Russell County so we also can't
say enough for the support we get from
your recovery Community those
individuals who are in recovery and and
attending those meetings and getting the
word out and being willing to support
they come in and do meetings at our
programs and also support them in other
ways
um
another concept with these homes is the
need to be a good neighbor so if you're
going to be living in your community you
need to be a good neighbor to the others
in your community so one of the goals of
these programs are not just them working
on their self-recovery but to extend it
to being involved taking notice of what
needs to be done in the community and
being responsive to those needs and I
know some of the ways in other programs
that have done this uh like in the
program that were modeled after they
help out with shoveling snow or helping
elderly people in the community helping
with gardening just doing things as you
would and we do in their communities as
good neighbors so that's another thing
that goes with this model is uh modeling
for individuals how to give back to your
community not just the recovery
Community but your community at Large
our Resource Center uh the goal of it is
to provide education resources
um and make referrals provide access to
meetings for people individually to meet
with family members or somebody who may
come in and say I need help or I have a
family member who needs help or I know
someone to know where to link them to
also if you have somebody in high school
who's having to write a term paper a
research paper any information about
addiction and Recovery they should be
able to get at that at your resource
center and it's a place where people
anybody in the community can drop in to
visit to see what you have pick up
brochures pick up information or get
answers to your questions and also we
are going to be expanding what we offer
there by adding uh some groups that will
meet there so that there's even more
recovery resources and opportunities for
support a diverse more diverse
number of recovery Based Services
another thing that's important to know
about these programs and asking for your
support is that the goal is to become
far accredited and that is the Virginia
Association of recovery residences which
is a part of the national so this is a
national movement that's been in
existence since probably the late 90s
early 2000s and they have established
criteria expectations policies and they
do certification so one of our goals and
we've actually got our application in
the application's been accepted and
they're going to come to a site visit
and if we are certified by VAR then we
are open to be certified by dbhds now
these programs are not Medicaid billable
but maybe sometime in the future that
may be something that happens but with
that it shows that we're meeting
standards that have been established uh
both within the state and also National
in the service provision with this so
that's another thing to add to this
project is it's just not something local
thought up local it's following a model
that has established policies procedures
and expectations uh in order to show you
that we're able to do what we are
expected to do and again it's not
treatment but linking people to
treatment
um and when I checked today we had
three beds one two were being filled
today and one is being filled by the end
of the week so we'll be back at capacity
Again by the end of this week so we're
serving 28 people right now
and
um anyway
okay thank you if I may ask a question
if y'all don't mind um
you said that you're not accredited with
bar so on your sub VAR your submission
says no but you're going to do that yeah
shortly yes we've already uh submitted
the application and we've provided them
with all the documentation the only
thing that's left is for them to come on
site to actually see the programs to
look at stuff to make sure we do have
policies uh to interview the board and
staff and to actually have eyes on but
that's the last part uh I don't know if
I'm looking up there but that's the last
thing that we need to do for them to
make their decision but they have
indicated that everything we've
submitted then meets their expectations
it just requires the site visits before
they can
formally approve it but you've submitted
it is submitted now so I can change that
to yes okay but it yes it was uh
submitted
it is we've been doing it in pieces as
well
um and uh because it's a it's been a
process with different policies uh and
have you thought about this and have you
done this so they told us that they now
have everything that they need
it just needs a site visit to thank you
firm that it's all real anybody else
left yeah
Ms Robinette some questions
how do you turn how how's the length of
stay determined okay
um this model tells individuals who are
interested and who are appropriate it's
not just anyone there are guidelines as
to who we can accept uh but we ask for a
minimum of six months but we don't we
established no more than two years but
if they leave after two years and
they're still eligible at some point in
the future they could reapply not
everybody is going to be able to live
successfully
on their own in the community at the
same rate so that's why they're longer
because it recovery takes a long time it
takes a while uh and we want them to
learn how to live comfortably in in
recovery and also how to take care of
themselves uh in the ways that how to
wash clothes how to cook how to budget
uh how to handle stress how to get along
with people living an environment
because it should reduce it's expected
to reduce their chances of being
successful once they step out into
independent housing or return to
families that with that that sort of
leads into my next question about how
you transition these people out and and
as far as your life I guess your
resource center do you teach them any
kind of life skills you were talking
about teaching them how to balance a
budget
apply for loans I think it's very
important those are
those are not The Kinks but yes I've
actually talked to someone about doing
like many seminars on how to manage how
to balance a checkbook or how to
um uh do
um budgets how to do taxes and things
like that but a lot of that is taught by
learning from each other and things but
we do have plans to add access to a
whole lot more stuff but we can't do it
all at one time it's a process we have
to get full stable sure and I understand
things but those aren't issues that have
been identified uh things that a lot of
us take for granted we learn how to do
so we're taught how to do uh and uh
oftentimes individuals
in our area the addiction process starts
really early you know uh usually I'm
finding that first use is early teens if
not late childhood
um and so for some they've never had an
opportunity to learn those life skills
so we have individuals that come into
the programs who addiction came later
after they learned life skills we got to
help them brush it off you know dust it
off or whatever that saying is and get
them back on track and for some it's
literally teaching them a brand new
stuff skills that they didn't have
before
so transitional housing is that going to
be an issue
uh if you're talking about transitioning
from this this is really considered
transitional housing that's kind of what
I'm wondering you know it is a step down
from treatment programs Residential
Treatment programs the
model is seen as a step down it's also
seen as a response to the needs of uh uh
for re-entry uh for drug court
participants to be able to participate
in drug court uh whereas before they
didn't have it they were either homeless
or didn't have stable housing that would
support them while they were in drug
court so that's another thing judge
Moore
has agreed
or you know anyone from another County
they are going to follow for drug court
until that individual is ready to return
to their uh home uh home drug court
so that's another example of everybody
working together with that especially
since we weren't successful in getting
the regional drug court centered here
which would have served Southwest
Virginia and other parts of the state
where everything was done there but we
were not fortunate enough to get the
funding but that is still a goal overall
for drug court purposes for that so with
the question about transitional really
at this point it would be for them to
look for in their own independent
housing or to be able to return to
family or to relocate if that's what
they want to do into a new community but
it's to prepare them to be able to live
successfully and independently or to be
able to live successfully with a family
I would imagine you have a lot more
applications than you're able to accept
absolutely
one of the things that we had to answer
uh for continued bar funding was
do you have any similar resources
anywhere uh in you know what's the
closest uh this year Dickinson County
was funded by VAR to model what
Dickinson County Dickinson County is to
model what Russell County is doing here
and it's with the same funding so we're
setting up the same thing they've only
we've only gotten the women's residence
open right now in the resource center uh
and we've hopefully knock on wood we'll
get the lease signed for the men's
facility it's going to be on a much salt
smaller scale than here it will have if
all things work out we'll have a
capacity for 18. but I know that I had
to take all the surrounding counties and
Russell County was the only one that had
these services with Dickinson County
having just opened
um and accepted the first one for
Dickinson for the women's program now I
know other counties are trying to do
this and they have proposals and I think
some you receive some startup funding
and some but I even had to go into
Kentucky of course have lots of services
because that's been a huge initiative by
their Senator
um so in our neighboring Kentucky and in
West Virginia too we do have some but
not close but Russell County is the
closest so we get referrals actually
from all over the region and even a
little bit beyond because it's the only
recovery model in service that's
available
but the goal is to be able to replicate
this in all of our counties just like we
did with drug courts we started with one
adult drug court and now Southwest
Virginia had the biggest expansion of
drug courts in the state of Virginia
following the Oxycontin epidemic where
all the court of the county so we now
have an adult drug court in all the
counties in Far Southwest Virginia and
the goal is to be able to do the same
thing with this
um in all of our counties in Far
Southwest Virginia with Russell County
taking the lead and helping develop a
model that's going to work in a rural
community
and that's another challenge you know
with Transportation housing and
transportation are the two biggest
challenges and barriers to successful
recovery in any of our counties just
because we are Rural and we have
geographically distant communities
within our large
counties so uh where that was one of the
um
goals of VAR was to
support Russell County being successful
so that they can help replicate that in
neighboring counties when the
opportunity came up comes up
thank you anybody else any questions
comments
I had a question of what age do these
are people of things say from 16 to 21.
they have to be adults they have to be
adults yes 18 and
limits
on the batting
the ones our president participated
average age are they okay on
May the 21
St the 25th and we've got three more
coming in we had two peers that fell
between 18 and 25 10 that fell between
26 and 35 11 between 36 and 45 have 46
and 55 55 with five piers and that was
the oldest and this is actually very
similar to drug courts when we first
started uh because of that we these were
all very young individuals but now you
have addiction and they've aged so it's
not in common uh that it's no longer the
18 to 25 year olds that are coming you
know and doing uh that they're being
targeted it is those who are well into
adulthood
yes David
is there any been in any discussion or a
conversation
with a plan to over discuss with our
local businesses and industries
to inform them about this
because the lack of income
you know or structure of of being in the
workforce once they you know do great
court and trying to be a job
uh is conversation I guess with local
Industries to try to get the resistance
and help to be able to provide a uh a
workplace for these uh
legal also well they do I'll add Lonzo
answer there that I will say that you
all do have in
and have one company and I honestly
don't know the name of it but comes and
Picks Them Up or picks them up at a
point a pickup point and uh we have
several that are employed within walking
distance uh and that's that's another
barrier that most of them don't have
driver's license so uh we have to rely
on being able to get there but we do get
the word out
um and I know in the beginning we tried
to get the word out to everyone and not
everybody is receptive uh but we have
had businesses that are willing to
interview and hire uh that's why we have
20 on that day we had 22 out of 28 who
were already employed and we only had
one that was on disability
um and they uh if we had one that was
employed when they came into the program
but after on the May the 25th of those
20 of the 28 people one was employed
coming into the program but 21
additional people got employed after
they were in the program
oh that's good yes uh and I thought that
speaks well too because it's willing to
give people a second chance and that is
and that's something that we hear a lot
now uh is about the second chance are
you a second chance
um industry or business uh are you uh
Second Chance Community organization
where you do look and see that that
second chances are possible
yeah so well thank you for that and I
didn't know from an economic or
if you wanted to add to that that's just
what I can speak to
yeah this program is so new and it is so
pervasive that it
um not only from our drug courts but
from our community work programs the
core systems the businesses that
ministerial associations
this has Grant is has gained the
attention of the governor himself and
actually when she was talking he the the
governor and the Attorney General is
actually is trying to make slave to
attend the open house so the uh also the
director of the OAA McDonald which
opiate authority of State Virginia that
Senator pillion you know chairs he is
they have a big interest in this this
has hit the radar from here to Richmond
as a model
so that they're going to use in all of
the communities especially the rural
communities it's working well is is
developing but one of the things that we
all when we started doing the policies
and be able to get this we used it as a
step down process to get them out of the
environment between the interactions
because once you have an opiate uh
someone that dependency and you or a
drug dependency and you send them back
into the environment your your your
failure goes up tremendously you're back
in the same environment that you were in
so this is a
it this is a neutral place but one of
the things that we tied to it is the
ones that have unemployment they pay
monthly rent they do and what you're
going to see is the ones that's in there
and they come in and they come out they
will train they understand manage their
money because they're paying rent
they're buying their clothes they're
doing this but they're also learning how
to transition on their own without that
dependency of that environment
not going back to that same old
environment of drugs and it's it's been
very successful in short amount of
period of time and one thing to add on
to the show uh mentioned we we put in
for a Sansa ground that's the Federal
grant when we first did this we were so
successful well we were successful we
weren't we we
actually ranked third in the nation
we hit third with the funding during
Kobe was cut to two awardees so we we
made it to the doorstep and that's why
dbhds as Cheryl had mentioned before
when Kobe had hit in the extra Federal
funding came available they gave us that
opportunity because we ranked so high on
the federal uh uh scale and not the
turnout that happened that October the
30th because they could not get over how
many people showed up that day to say
this is a need and we want to learn
about and I want to say that because I
got comments from uh different agencies
but also from Richmond saying we
couldn't believe you have that many that
showed up for that meeting okay and they
still can't believe how many partners
you got I mean it's amazing this is a
little quiet little program that's
running that Russell cameras should be
very proud of you know the board has has
condoned with it y'all were in the first
meeting that we had in the conference
center
and everybody has been in it or through
it either directly or indirectly with
the menstrual associations with boards
with donations it's just been going on
and now and it's hit the radar of the
state so
and I'm gonna this has always stuck with
me too
to make the changes to the building
because we had to be ADA Compliant and
to get it ready we had gentlemen that
were on the work Crews that asked to be
considered to live there
uh they will so that was something
that's always stuck with me about this
particular program we had candidates
people wanting to uh to be admitted who
in the building wasn't even ready yet
but they saw what it was going to be
that's a and that's a true story
it sure was
any more questions
I think we're good thank you Ms
Robinette no thank you nice presentation
We Appreciate You nervousness
we're small but I know but
it's all intimidating thank you thank
you
thank you territory and I was just
hoping so much that I didn't get asked a
question and get stopped and thing you
know I should know that I think as you
noted early earlier Russell County's
been in recovery business for a long
time and this is really
the piece that everybody has been
waiting for
and I think the fact that you're getting
so many more applications than what
you're able to handle shows that there's
a drastic need for it and you know maybe
we need to be looking for more
facilities well well we have we had
looked at that but back to the bar
certification
back to the virus certification we have
already implemented everything for
certification we we already meet
certification just the site visits the
only thing that we're liking to have
certification
so that's the one and only component
that we buy
want to mention that that is one of our
long
long board of directors uh we've gotten
I've had people ask me about this from
other organizations because we have
representation from local government
from law enforcement from the court
system from uh you know a local
businessman here uh the Ministerial
Association is our vice chair Pastor
Jeff so that was another thing that I
get out I got I get asked about is who
is on your board and it's like you've
got a cross-section represented on this
board making sure that everybody's
interests are being looked at nobody's
being left behind
and I had a call the other day from a
county a judge in a county in Northern
Virginia who said that I've heard that
you all have started recovery housing
could you call me one day and tell me
how you all pulled that off in a small
rural County he said I'm up here and we
don't have a clue
um so I said well when you're ready to
talk we can certainly tell you how we
did it here
thank you
okay Mr Lester I think we've got you on
our presentation list for number two
thank you madam chair
uh on the presentation of course this is
the hopefully last meeting we've had I
think this makes what the fifth budget
meeting we've had
um for the FY 2324 county-wide budget
and uh this gives me an opportunity to
go through some last minute things and
that have not only come through the
state but what we're seeing and gives us
an opportunity to look at what is over
we're going to be uh dealing with over
the next 12 months third you know the 36
months
um
as we go through it the
um after talking with the House Majority
Leader uh as you all know it's entering
the news they are not even close to
getting the state budget so let's start
there so they're not close
so they're still negotiating uh
between uh
Taxation and raises and that was one of
the things that I put into the
resolution because I came down to the
last minute uh they haven't got it
passed so in the budget resolution I
have added a clause into the uh
resolution
for the fiscal year 2023-24
that had the same numbers that we had
looked at before other than the small
numbers that uh or changes that we
amended agile's request but
as the last resolution be still further
resolved that the Board of Supervisors
will amend the fiscal year 2023 24
county-wide budget to reflect the same
percentile of the Statewide budget
approved by the general assembly for the
fiscal year 23-24 Appropriations for a
Statewide employee salary increase
right now and this is the House Majority
Leader speaking so he's he's pretty well
it's 25 6 and 7. so
when it is set by the state this gives
an opportunity to go back and revise the
budget right now it is as the budget is
developed at seven percent so that's
that's the Maximum Impact so if we go to
six then that's an advantage and Etc so
uh but right now to show the maximum
impact on the county
because we don't want to come up with a
short file it is set at seven percent
now of course as we go through the
budget
um we have
these functions that I had mentioned
before we have 23 or 24 major core and
functions in the budget within the
county of course those are General
Administration judicial Public Safety
environmental General Services Health
and Welfare education parks and recs and
culture Community Development
non-departmental capital outlay and desk
service these are the ones that we must
list by the code of Virginia to show how
we utilize our taxes within the county
in the most efficient way as you can see
this is what we call the total general
fund
and as you can see right now we are
estimating that 29 million 175 691.
now to give you even a further breakdown
which is includes all these 55 different
departments which we'll go into in a
second this is a snapshot of the Russell
County 23 2324 county-wide budget
as you can see
uh education is 32 percent of the budget
environmental control is 23 which is the
landfills the transfer stations and all
the disposal sites Convenience Centers
whatever you want to call them uh and of
course Health welfare General Services
General Administration
judicial Public Safety and what we call
the other which is the Park and Rec
Community Development and capital
Adelaide now that makes up to 100 of the
budget right there as in snapshot
so here is what y'all had seen this is
how it breaks out even farther into the
55 major department listing when I say
General Administration that sounds very
simple that makes up as as we can see as
general Administration it's eight
percent but I know that eight percent
you have the Board of Supervisors the
County Administrator the Auditors
Commissioner Revenue appraiser
assessor's office procurement and
electoral
as Public Safety
now you have the Sheriff's Office liver
control fire departments rescue
departments State forestry we actually
have to find out too Regional Jail
building inspector 9-1-1 medical
examiner Emergency Management and animal
control that's that's the breakdown
under those components of course even
back to the education 32 percent that's
not only Russell County schools that is
the race program too and our annual
contribution that we have to do bylaw to
the Southwest Community College based
off our population demographics coming
out of schools
so again the judicial which is core
assistance measures office probation
clerks court security Commonwealth
Attorney Victor witness again under
environmental control which is the
second opponent we have disposal
operations inside landfills and transfer
stations
Health and Welfare we have Department of
Health
Pharma Social Services the community
service boards the Appalachians agency
with senior citizens
then it breaks down into the other which
is the parks community center's
Conference Centers Old Courthouse
Library Planning Commission Ida upsa
planning districts uh
the planning Housing Authority highway
safety tourism contributions Soil and
Water Virginia Extension Outlets Capitol
outlay the county Insurance town taxes
and Debt Service
it's a it's a 55 different components
that makes up this budget or operations
of course back again I had mentioned in
one of the other four meetings
when this board set in place in 2015
you had a 1.5 million dollar deficit
that is it period you had no way to make
it up you didn't have taxes in place you
didn't have anything in place to cover
it deficit that meant you were going
into another 1.5 million dollar deficit
if you had continued along the same path
you also had a three million dollar Rand
notes you were piggy banking off of
paying the debt load on borrowed money
with a high interest rate
so y'all have a lady that even the the
1.5 deficit you have alleviated a three
million dollar Rand note and at that
time you had a what we call a double b
ond rating which means not a good credit
rating
not actually we had to utilize the town
of Levin's Bond rating to do our
economic development project
period
you now have a double a bond rating by
yourself period
what would that meant on a double a bond
rate versus a b and b a three million
dollar loan at two percent which is what
we get now is 640 000 in interest
a three million dollar worth of Double B
is 2.3 million dollars in interest
that's the variance
it it it restricts what you can do from
a Community Development an
infrastructure development or an
economic development you can't go put
water and sewer either you couldn't get
the loan to forward to pay the interest
rate on period
since 2015 of course you know you cut
operations landfill restructure Contract
Services in in-house and other things
you've also over the eight years you've
gave uh 23 bonuses I mean pay increases
with two bonuses and you have right now
neither five six or seven percent which
would equal 30 percent pay raise since
2015.
in this year which is a different year
we had additional preparations which uh
uh from the casino and people worry
about that under the the code of
Virginia that was written for the
casinos which has 13 11 counties and two
cities involved in this agreement under
the code of Virginia the legislation
General Assembly passed Jim McLaughlin
of United which is the casino he wanted
this put in to give to the Southwest the
coal counties in Southwest Virginia as a
benefit for to give back to the
communities and of the 600 000 of the
casino funds is restricted for public
safety education and transportation
those are the only things we can
contribute with is fun
we gave 156 000 875 to Fire and Rescue
straight off the top of this year's
budget we increased their budget by
almost 50 percent each
you uh we also took care of the sbcc
annual payment and the race program of
233 201 and the rest had to go for court
operations like you heard right here
from the opiate the addictions travel
the other things for court operations
also during the last meeting there was
one of the biggest budget line items
that we were dealing with going back to
the waste management contract which we
came in in line with after multiple
negotiations as Tim and Carl will tell
you multiple negotiations and a couple
times restart your own contract we
finally got to wear a price that we can
live with and maybe we'll improve on
that as time goes on too
um
currently in the county as I pointed out
before we have 41 fully funded County
employees in 38 part-time the rest
our constitution officers or Grant
supportive or federal or state supported
Physicians of the 14 full-time I've got
I mean of the ones 41 that I've got here
full-time 14 of them make minimum wage
14 of the 41 are are minimum wage
employees
as you can see
here is the 25 major core budget
operations that you had seen before
which we brought up the numbers out of
the 29 million that you've seen for the
total budget which includes DSS and all
the other operations federal and state
total comprehensive 24 almost 23.7
million dollars is in the 20 in these 25
core operations period which you have to
do by law
that's it
here is the breakdown of the full-time
employees as you can see as the landfill
I guess we have seven Administration
that's my office I got four register's
office if you alleviate one or who
you're going to take one from the
register ain't got but one in most of
the other offices the treasurer has two
tax coordinator one judge secretary won
but you get the point there there's not
a lot of administration in labor here in
all these 55 different departments 25
major core assets and operations the
part-time employees are disposal sites
in the landfill they they're sitting
there working 10 hours 15 and tailing
and doing the trash not a major
expenditure of the 29 million dollars
County Administration Court bail us and
the library I got seven at the library
of the out of the 37. that helps at the
library
as a as a also as a snapshot I want to
give them during the covid and during
arpa funds which I'll have that at the
next board meeting from the uh archers
Club accounts which certification
to the fire departments and the rescues
we have gave out 1.3 million dollars
that is what we give out as you can see
in Appropriations cares and arpa since
July 2020.
to March of 23 March of 2023 you gave
him
1.334 million dollars
to help them operate and again I'd
mentioned before y'all also increased
their budgets as you can see here on the
fire and rescue you took up from last
year's expenditures using the lottery
money 50 increase in their budget
Appropriations before all the fire and
the rescues are within the county
now the next thing this goes into the
presentation that was done by Cheryl for
the recovery house this is the Regional
Jail
now what does this say one is two things
first during this year's budget we have
budgeted for 160 inmates which was 2.2
million dollars with a debt load of 484
thousand dollars this year taking the
recovery houses moving these out we're
down we went from 160 to 110 budgeted
that's 50 drop into how's that translate
too I'm getting ready to show you it
went from 2.2 million to 1.7 million on
operations and dropped a debt load
service from 484 to 372.
what is that in savings
real numbers
in the bank in the cash into treasure
jobs
580 163.27
that's how y'all are operating you're
not raising taxes you haven't raised
taxes in 23 years the tax rate 23 years
ago was actually a peanut higher than it
was
it's cut costs and efficiency of
operations piece by piece operation by
operation five hundred and eighty
thousand dollars that's that's unheard
of every County in Southwest Virginia
going what are y'all doing over there
they would actually pay just get the
model of the program you're getting
because it's worth six hundred thousand
dollars to send and run these programs
and not only now that's real cash not
putting them in jail that day does not
include the extra work that you get done
at the community centers the libraries
all over through the county the towns
the government center this Government
Center is cleaned by one of them that
used to be here
we we have no housekeeping staff we do
not at the courthouse it was the
community work program
neon and at I know that it was mentioned
also at the community at the disposal
sites where that we should use them
there too but the problem is this they
have to be supervised they cannot just
be arbitrarily they have to have
supervision and they have to be under
control you know in that control in that
environment until they go back to the
housing component so
now to go on to what Cheryl had said as
the county
this is a little bit of demographics
from our County stats from our aging
population I don't know but this is not
just from Russell County's perspective
but is this also from a national
perspective Bloomberg two days ago and
that I had these looked at a couple
weeks ago and then Bloomberg pretty well
confirmed it in 2030 people ate 65 or
older are going to have a higher
population than the ones that's 18 and
below
that's 20 30. that is seven years from
now
so right now of our total population as
you can see in the demographics between
2020 2030 and 2040.
our population is going to drop
or and it's also going to age
now
how does that translate into jobs now
here is what is a snapshot that we
pulled out from the University of
Virginia and the Virginia Employment
Commission in the counties right now in
Russell County we can tell you based off
of where they pay taxes where they
report to they're filed with the IRS and
Virginia Employment Commission they
Place tax so we can trade track the
employees where they work at and where
they travel from into in their place of
residence right now
in Russell County we have 10 the top 10
raised students are commuting two which
is tassel County number one Washington
County number two
the top 10 places the Warriors groups
are commuting from which is Washington
County and Texas Tazewell County the
reverse now what does that play into
if I look at
all of our workers are total Workforce
we if you look at the numbers Community
cat commuting out of Russell County is
5436 community
you only have 27 8 commuting in you're a
51 loss they're communicating out now
what does that say now Russell County is
the heart of Southwest Virginia Seven
Counties touch our borders it's easy to
go to Buchanan County work in the mines
it's easy to go to tassel it's easy to
go to Dixon it's easy to go to Scott
County Tennessee we've got them we've
got everywhere worthy work exactly where
they
so it is easy to trim and try them out
but
what that's going to do over the next
three years or five years up to 30.
is going to translate you got to bring
back more in that number
of commuting out is going to get greater
and greater to where you're seating the
travel out than working in you've got to
get and where I'll I'll go into that in
a little bit in through here now what we
have when people talk about Russell
County's unemployment rate now even
during the pandemic now our current
employment rate is right now 3.6 percent
now that that is not bad for Ruskin
people in Russian work it's your it's
these other things the population the
younger generation the older generation
is retiring younger generation is
getting smaller we have 3.6 in the state
in the United States is 3.6 so we're up
with the national this is just reported
as of June the 2nd this is how soon this
is
so we have an unemployment rate of 3.6
the Virginia has 2.9 and the United
States has 3.6 now
the unemployment rates
uh between each
of these different businesses in Russell
County we're up to 599 businesses I know
that Mr breeding asked all the time he
wants a list of the 599 businesses
or be able to track the ones that come
in and ones that come out
now how does that come out to play is
employment by sizes and the rest but
here is your 50 largest employers in the
county of course the Russell County
School Board is number one they include
federal state and local Samuels is
number two Walmart three CGI Etc these
are the top 50. now here was the one
that that gets really interesting the
employment by the industrial which we
know in Southwest Virginia you got we
got government which includes the
federal the state and the local and we
got good health you know health care of
course you got mining queries and the
rest but the majority of these were long
bars right here is I say it's it's in
retail and accommodation and food
service that's where those new jobs are
coming from those are not what we've yes
so this is the most interesting one I
liked that most from our perspective
from Economic Development was new
startup firms
we've had
23 new startups in 22. in new businesses
in Russell County that's it I mean they
have filed for their IRS their seven
seven sixties they have put their
paperwork in for a business either a
single proprietor all the way up you've
got 23. now of that 23
if I look at the new hires by industrial
again right here's the chart that big
loan bar retail
next is one accommodations and Food
Service even your new startups are
accommodations
now what does that translate by the age
of workers your population and the rest
is this
you got the 3.6 percent unemployment
you're in match with the national
watch should be focused on is not your
employment rate is the quality of jobs
what jobs you get in here now should be
able to sustain a family
they've got to be
competitive with right now I can you can
go to Walmart because we're competing
with them right now I'm trying to hire
or McDonald's I'm serious you're at
fifteen sixteen dollars on these retail
jobs that you're competing with to try
to get skilled workers quality jobs
quality environment that's the ones that
will actually frame that 57.78 back into
Russell County they will come if you
develop those quality jobs you can bet
on it
they will pull out of Townsville County
or the mechanics or the welders that and
that's going in the Buchanan camp or
Dickson County to work at Washington
County to work they will come back
so I know that is a lot to say it but
that is it in a nutshell but you here is
the demographics you got 3.6 you're
working well but next 36 months
you're going to have to work towards
quality jobs quality jobs
if you don't it's going to back into the
same you have 22 new startups Food
Service retail accommodations that's it
there was not one industrial land sorry
you've got to have apologize so any
questions
I know there's a lot to throw at you at
one time
I will I'll be glad to send it to you
later on
yes
so
so as far as a financial condition the
fiduciary responsibilities of the Board
of Supervisors
the county is okay so you're telling me
we don't have any of that waste
if they do please come and show me
and I came from you know 30 years in the
government and you know and I'm
conservative and you when you say that
concern waste was spending now it's I'm
looking at it going okay
I really worry about this me and the
treasure actually we we actually go at
this over and over trying to keep his
competitive but one of the things you
all can do is
you you've got we're competing with I
got 41 employees I mean where am I at as
far as waste was spending now if it's
pencils that's not Material you can go
at 29 million dollars all day long at
pencils and paper you'll never get there
and let in the only way your your budget
your Finance is sound
if if you want to open up and I know
that I'm going here on this one the
disposal sites were opened up and it was
convenience of the previous General Mr
Hess
they had y'all had already asked me to
look at it so we we're at the point that
due to the contract negotiations of the
waste management
due to the SEC the county budget we're
in financial sound that is at the option
and discretion of the board supervisors
if they want to open up on Wednesdays
now that is up to them
now as you can see in the other couple
things that I pointed off in the budget
if you had time to go through the 60
some odd pages of it and you know of the
55 different cores of course we also put
money in there for the spearhead Trails
you've got the trails money that you did
now also I put a line in there for the
lower bed late which is by the way
that's Grand we got a Grant during the
meantime 25 000 from a Virginia Economic
Development Authority faceta to pay for
our study so the money that we were
trying to find they gave it to us
so now that gives the money back to the
Board of Supervisors for
a line item that I put in y'all's budget
for discretionary spending that will
give you the better men in the community
the seat is really paying for it I
imagine Apple's funding for funding that
gives y'all an opportunity to go back in
during this year and take care of what
got dropped or didn't get attention
ain't gonna say drop didn't get
attention during the two years of covid
not that we couldn't do it if you
couldn't get the materials to do it you
couldn't get the people to do it and you
couldn't get anything I mean it came to
a standstill during that time so we're
coming out quality jobs you Community
Development and you've got a balanced
budget I mean it's solid
for now I think it's remarkable
I think it's remarkable
given the economic conditions that we
we're up against and the inflation that
we're seeing that we're able to do this
in what I see down the road I know there
are jobs that are coming
we're just right around the corner on
suddenly
pure salmon you know 220 Salon jobs
probably within the next 18 months
construction
there's a couple of the ones that the
Ida is working on there I know they're
getting close I mean if we can just get
over this but again
that 57.78 that number sticks in my head
is going out of this County now I talked
to Washington County and of course when
uh we're all on the op um the casino
board and and from a tax perspective as
long as you live
and and breathe in Russell County you
know they they work there yeah you pay
taxes here we want you to live here but
one of the things that we're also going
to have to approach is if you bring the
5778 back which is going to spread
you're going to have to get more housing
I'm telling you you have no houses you
the market is bare you can't find a real
place you can't find a house to buy
we're still trying to get some money to
do a housing study
and
Cumberland Plateau Housing Authority so
we we need that in the worst way you
pure salmon or another prospective job
that we're working on right now was the
Implement right now you have nowhere to
put them period
I mean you won't you will not find it
not for the quality jobs that you're
talking about I talked to Senator that's
worth at the groundbreaking that sure
the other day I talked to him about that
and he's he's aware of it he's
he's working on it
or these but there's not a good answer
for it you know because of the inflation
that we're seeing he's telling me 250
dollars a square foot to build a house
sale it is 250. so a quarter of a
million dollars for a thousand square
foot house is not
we've got some estimates here lately and
that's about what it is but
and and the thing about it is if you put
pure salmon in and you put in a business
down here
those jobs are are in the 50 to 60
thousand dollar ranges these people are
not going to stay in a one-bedroom
apartment I'm telling you they will go
to Washington County and live just like
you did with Northrop Grumman we need we
need to think outside the box a little
bit and we were talking about the
possibility of see if we can find some
Grant months money to maybe buy some
property and install the utilities which
is always a big upfront cost for the
developers and maybe try to get that
back on the back end of everything
the taxes and such
so we need to we need to be thinking
along that line you can find some areas
that we could go to even if you gave the
property to them you would get them back
out of the real estate person property
more than the value of the land would be
period right I have a 20 house site
already I got a plan from Virginia Tech
and the county has property
I've got some real estate property on
sale residents it's got to be a good
price
you've almost if you've got property
work
s that's a big plus water and sewer you
have to have the developers electricity
Water and Sewer believe it or not to
move into a single phase three phase is
astronomical now those three things
water sewer and electricity you better
have on that site if you can get natural
gas it'd be great too that's just the
added benefit but but these things are
going to have to get in place you're
going to have to work if they go in they
go in next week if they go in next month
and I'm not I'm not giving away anything
I'm telling you right now you have no
place to look
a mine has water but it doesn't have
soil and has electricity to it you got
two of the three I got two l seven l
seven laws
but I'm not giving them away
but this is not a bad thing to look at
if you got an opportunity but you're
going to have to hyper focus on quality
housing and these things not not to
smile things you know don't knock the
paper not the pencils that he that's not
going to get you where you need to be in
three five seven years from now
well I told Travis in order to do what
he's talking about we're going to have
some federal health and State Hill and
they are out in funding you know to do
some of this stuff I'm going to look at
it you know I think we've got to do
something housing is going to be
critical and I'm talking worker housing
yeah working half million dollars
worker housing and that's all they're
looking for
because you can go you can go to the
assessor's office it gets really
competitive when people come into the
assessor's office looking for property
you know it's bad I mean instead of
looking online and Zillow and this and
when you have them coming in saying okay
when's it is so-and-so going to sell
their property are you thinking about it
I go down to North Carolina where my
kids live and I see all this cooker
cookie cutter housing you know built up
and I know why because they can they can
build a lot of houses off the same set
of plans and they can do it
substantially cheaper when they buy the
boat materials and Travis even said that
she said I can mail three or four ounce
at the same you know off the same design
he said I can do them a heck of a lot
cheaper you know then and put them in
either the same units and then the ones
we're looking at like condos and stuff
you you've already got
one of the four walls that you already
need just by building the other adjacent
units so I mean it's a well you know
rental properties as well you know
there's no rental property
[Music]
well what I run into I'm trying to sell
my property is they want a double wide
or module and they're not allowed
because most of the younger couples
are telling me they can't get a
contractor to build what they call stick
house
they can't find a contract to do it
not not at any reasonable price
250 is the going price that that
considering the price of the property
Shore water and of course electricity
already in that area and so I may do
that I mean they've got quite a bit of
money involved but I'm starting a
homeless if I didn't want to go to Marco
or devil why you know it's it's one of
the things from the demographics is
it costs so much to build new they're
trying to go after the old houses that's
why you have no Surplus in this County
inventory because the old houses as soon
as they hit the market sometimes they
have so not even going on the market
I've seen them sell in one to two days
well we've got people that are actually
renovating houses you know they're
they're doing rehab projects one or two
houses at a time Woody McClanahan and
even bill right you know they're they're
doing all sorts of Angie's there's a lot
of them doing a lot of and they say one
to two days it's already sold before
they even get it completed
it is so before they can put the carpet
down anything yeah well one I know for a
fact that Woody's let some people pick
out what they wanted you know
that's an easy sale
but the point is is again you've been
fighting Good Financial stewards the
county has a double a bond rating you
have you have you're financially stable
to move forward with what you want to do
and you can have things you're not
hindered you're not boxed in but you're
going to have to hyper focus on quality
jobs Economic Development Housing and
Community infrastructure what am I
saying is that means stuff like
communities or bed Lake
places to go places to eat because
they're you don't want them zipping
through here to the casino because I was
with the owner of the casino last week
he was in my office and I talked to him
right face to face and right now their
their own project for the two towers in
the stage they're projecting 2.5 million
people coming through this place
and they're they're hitting every number
they're exceeding every number
we might even end up I've got six
hundred thousand we might end up at 700
000 or even better we don't know the
final number yet because it is
succeeding so fast that we can't get to
the correct number until the June 30th
date
so
when they're built out fully into the
Hard Rock
no telling they have contracts with
country singers rock singers I mean
these are big big names and they're
going and they got a 50
000 capacity stage that's that's modeled
on this
thing and they do come through here
because they got to come through 19 and
58 out of the other states you touch
Seven Counties other than that we also
talked about it is 81. I mean that's it
or you want to drive Highway 11 anybody
wants to try that beat but the fastest
way is 58 19 or 81.
going back to the budget I had a
question the fire department rescue they
got a 50 increase in the budget by
Appropriations in last year yeah well
just Powers Department of Emergency
Management I didn't see anything at all
increase in his he doesn't do grants now
I can't do grants I ain't got somebody
to help him so should they not be an
increase in his budget for operation
expense no yes there actually is going
to be increased because I actually Jess
has interviewed for a part-time and he
has to pick one out uh he was starting
the week after July the 4th so I'll be
adjusting that for the salary that's one
of those things that you suggested as
they're hired
yes there's a part-time that's coming in
that just chose and it'll be helping you
how do you talk I talked to him
yesterday but I haven't talked with him
two or three weeks and we don't go that
far I found out he's on vacation yeah
he's on vacation that's correct
but again between
all the economic things you got the
Emergency Management and its rest but
um the fire and rescue as you got up
here in the front of your screens you
know they got each one of them across
the board a Nile fire and rescue got a
50 I mean I appreciate beginning I'm not
kicking against him again and also well
you know the County employees
uh I like to see them get up to that uh
so we can attract more people remember I
got 14 of the 41 is part-time I mean has
a minimal wage salary minimum wage
um Walmarts and Burger King or
McDonald's
you know attract them with the wages and
benefits and mention the benefits and
one of the things you got to remember is
we were also reduced you either get a
five six or seven percent increase
in salary that's the state you know that
will come through it never that'll apply
both on full time and part-time we also
lowered the health insurance premiums by
600 and
20 some dollars a year 29 a year what
that equates to is an extra 50 or 60
dollars teacher 60 County Employees 50 a
month straight that's automatic into
their paid uh paid role that's a benefit
that's actually in essence a pay raise
so again
yes sir
it would be good if we could have a
conversation conversation with them on
the kind of get an idea from their
perspective
what they're playing is going forward
uh maybe you could send this that
information to the Planning Commission
and the Ida
to give them an Insight of all that
information and I really appreciate all
that and I appreciate you
go to us from the board uh to be able to
review and look at this
I think we are in a
in a position where we're gonna have to
think outside the box and and do some
team building and talk and have some
conversations with our Planning
Commission to see if they've got plans
going forward I know they have a lot of
Regulation and they have to deal with
the health department different aspects
uh there's a lot of restrictions uh
without infrastructure it's hard to grow
[Music]
and without infrastructure you know it's
a a very large expense
for anybody to do anything on that
property and you know I know I've talked
to Steve and different ones about
growing our infrastructure base uh like
a sewer playing enhancerville and
different things like that that like you
said you know without those amenities
the infrastructure projects it's hard to
grow in those areas because of the huge
expense that that we're facing but you
know I would like to see from the
planning commission's perspective
what obstacles are they facing uh or
what plans do they have going forward
to try to
maybe eliminate some things to grow uh
these these opportunities I've asked for
them to have conversations and with
Realtors
maybe have a Realtors form uh to where
we get all the Realtors to come in and
sit down and kind of from their
perspective see what obstacles they're
facing I like to be able to be educated
to know
you know what everybody's dealing with
here so we can address it in a manner
that it might be a it might have to go
toward the legislators it might be
something that we need to have a
conversation with them in regards to
what obstacles that we do have in play
uh to be able to overcome
to grow this area in this region I don't
know if a new subdivision that's went in
locking I can't tell you when to do 70s
I know there's a lot of people buying up
homes and remodeling them and sell them
or rent them out uh I see a lot of that
going on but I don't know any new
constructed subdivisions that are going
in and in the subdivisions that I am
aware of
you don't see a lot of building going on
in those uh areas and I don't know if
it's something that we legally can do to
offer some sort of incentive plan to
help help
the situation of the housing market
uh to grow this portion of this because
it's critical because that's the return
on investment that we're going to get
on these new homes are built then we get
that return
and then get them to stay here live here
and spend their money here
arrive into the into the area and I know
then
it's going to be very difficult I mean
I mean Broadband business
a lot of these companies are starting to
see that they don't need the large
buildings and the infrastructure and
these people didn't actually do
everything they need to do from their
ATT
uh to see you know what what
conversations we need to be having or
the thought for us is to to maybe come
up with a different idea or different uh
to grow our economy in in this area well
and see that's a good point see the bill
inspector Works under us and all the
buildings expect it's basically new
construction and that's that's an
anomaly to us because what you will see
in single-family homes that are being
developed in the county
and I'm going into Steve's district will
be UCM out at the high school they're
developing homes where the jobs is now
where I'm going with this is this if you
go put two new businesses and four
supervisors knows what I'm talking about
on both sides of the county they're not
going to travel back and forth you you
you're going to have to get some
development
throughout the county and there has been
not a new subdivision in you know
they're building within the old
subdivision
or re renovation in the old subdivisions
but there is not being a construction of
a new subdivision it's all about
utilities that's it sewer water sewer
electricity
you know
you know spend their money they go to
Grants
they'll travel from Swords Creek
people live in Belfast
but live down in Castlewood they go down
to shopping you know Wise County they
don't they don't spend a whole lot of
money and uh in the area of Russell
County and I think we and you know I
mean look at Claypool Hill how it's grew
and in these areas we've we've gotta
we've got an opportunity you know
the properties and those areas up in
that area if we had the types of the
infrastructure of that that is needed
for housing growth and uh and even even
large retail box stores uh to come in
and and pay the taxes here within the
Russell County area night and so they
don't drive they don't drive outside the
county going to these other areas
exactly exactly at 5778 again
that's that's the target
the next three years you'll have them
all working gear
so but with that being said all these
things are going to have to be worked
with but the the good thing is you don't
have to focus on on the county budget
you're going to have to focus on what
needs to be done next 36 months next 48
months five seven years strategic plan
so
that being said if there's if there is
no more questions I have to have a
motion you need a motion to approve the
budget I will make a motion that we
approve the 2324 county-wide budget has
presented by Mr Lester okay I have a
motion I need a second so I have a
second from Mr Ray uh any further
discussion please yes one more all right
one more thing one more Point let's go
back to the Wednesdays for the disposal
I'll need that included with a separate
motion the disposal is open to back up
on Wednesday I make a motion to do that
yeah either this one I'll need a motion
okay let's let's get the budget passed
first all right we have a motion to
approve the budget as presented by Mr
Lester this evening all in favor
um any opposed
any abstentions motion carries now I'm
going to look for another motion to open
the motion that we
on Wednesday uh
we have several we have a motion and and
everybody is seconded I think so
we need hours on that uh I would like to
go see that between uh 12 p.m and 7 P.M
and keep our additional hours the same
if we can that's up to the discretion I
mean from a budgetary standpoint well
that that work okay all I'm in my motion
from what seven to 12 P.M
12 P.M to 7 p.m and still keep the
additional hours Monday Tuesday yeah
that's that's a big that's a big bonus
yes absolutely restate the motion that
we open them on Wednesday from 12 P.M to
7 pm
yes thank you Mr Brady and I have
everyone seconding that included David
from his vacation spot in Savannah
Georgia or South Carolina
and um anyway
all in favor
any opposed that's the best we can do
any abstentions motion carries thank you
very much for that Mr
Lee thank you madam chair now next well
next is the uh
we have
always on that trash business I had a
statement I've had several people
complain to me about the people at
worksheet dumpsters getting stuff alum
I don't see a big problem Kathy
something now that you think somebody
else can use but I'm getting several
complaints from citizens they don't like
the idea
well
we try as as far as the man signs you
know and we have two problems well each
one of the side attendants will tell you
if someone's coming in with a washer
dryer or a piece of furniture they'll
set it to the side if and that's the way
we do it that we we are not going to
take for somebody that says I want to
give this away but you know whoever
needs it it's it's we do the clothes we
used to do the clothes the same way
right before the pandemic and then we
had to stop that but we're not going to
hinder anything the only thing that we
have a problem with is if they get in
containers and they end up getting hurt
with needles get bit you know or or I
mean there was one that jumped in the
other type
it was one that jumped in the container
and there was a raccoon in there and let
me assure you it will come out quick so
but the point is this we're not going to
you know well I think what we need to do
there I've had several complaints I'm
talking double digits of people in the
dumpster while people are coming they're
throwing it out they're cussing them
when they throw in trade they don't know
they're there they're not got a vehicle
they're dropping these people off
and they're you know crawling in the
dumpsters they're going through people's
trash you don't know if they flew away
their social security number personal
information you know they're thinking
it's going into that being it's going
and being discarded and uh you know and
I've had people uh had a lady call me
from Cleveland said that she was a
fairing line and one parked this truck
got out went down a dumpster and the guy
come out and he cussed him and you know
they get some people in the line trying
to get through and he just helped the
whole lineup I mean we need to you know
get them to call the cops or whatever or
and I would I wouldn't care if we got
some kind of uh I would like to see us
purchase something to put on our site
attendants that they can wire the video
uh when they're at work and leave it
there for the next site attendant and
demand sites and that way if you have
any controverty uh you know with anybody
you know it's not a he said she said
it'll be video recorded of exactly what
happened well we have in since and this
has got more pervasive here in the last
few months and Mr alt
um from all of them and what have we
have conveyed to the disposal the side
attendance is and we we've also actually
got it in policy procedure and we're
taking that out and putting it up in all
the science we're given a briefing to
them these are the do's and don'ts in
the trash sites you you know we don't
want to stop anybody from getting that
that chair or if they want it but you
can't call in a dumpster you know
there's there's ways of doing it and
there's ways of not doing it and
um they have been their first line is
when someone goes in and they they get
uh defensive and they don't want to come
out of the container there to call us or
the sheriff's department so that that
will become the standard protocol so I I
mean
yeah because it is to legally
trespassing it is it and that's the way
it will be treated so
yes Alonzo and and this is just me not
being that observant my husband usually
takes off
dress signs at all these locations that
that clearly state to do not enter yeah
yes because I mean you have to
trespassing is a little strange you know
it's not just well this is our property
this is our rules you have to give them
notice that this is not that behavior is
prohibited and that's one of the things
that uh we're also looking at and we've
talked with Commonwealth Attorney young
we've also went to that point this is
how far this has gone like Katie said it
has to be posted no Trace facing allowed
do not enter after dark we've got hours
and posts and times and cameras this is
going to go up on all of them now the
last one that was put in is Finney and
we're completing the all of the signages
on it the next one will be sun which
will have all the signages on the end
and it and it's it's it's a group or a
handful that's trying this and they're
going to learn the hard way in the
lesson I hope they're listening because
you're about to encounter it because
we were at the Commonwealth Attorney and
notifying the sheriff's point so if
you're listening ask for it if we can
we'll be glad to give it to you
if if not do not go in that container
because once it goes in that container
it comes bro that is correct and it
comes very dangerous like I said you got
glass you got you've got animals you've
got needles in there you got private
information in there and that's that's
not the way to do business
you know putting uh
oh well you know mail stuff in there
I thought well
I'm sure they're not digging for that I
wouldn't think they'd be big they will
they will
what they should do if anybody's
listening shred your information that
just by go to Walmart and get you a 40
Shredder and as you get it just zip it
through that's the way it's done because
they are stealing information you see it
on TV all the time and if there's a way
to get it they're going to try it so
uh we had one that over Cleveland even
after the lights went out he I mean we
had signed cameras and he'd crawl under
the fence
yeah
so
other than that we'll take care of the
dumpster divers and we'll give anybody
that anything that they want but uh the
sites are now open 12-7 on Wednesday so
that clears that up can we get that put
in the paper or anything like that a
couple of leases under the new budget
all this will start at first July
yes sir
yes sir yeah any more questions
thank you you're welcome man
okay we're up to new business
it was at our new business
is everybody happy with that all right
good uh next I'm gonna have to call for
Citizens comments
I see none all right constitutional
reports and requests I see none County
attorney reports and requests I don't
have anything for this meeting thank you
very much County Administrator reports
and requests we've heard enough of him
I'm almost done and this is the thing
that y'all deal with last time and I
went we went back to review the minutes
and everything this is just a little bit
of housekeeping and this also has a
letter from Judge Moore uh the Virginia
Supreme Court uh Declaration of state
holiday on July the third I need a
motion for that we we went on to the
July 10th scheduling the board meeting
so I need to just to clean up the
housekeeping to make that complete so I
need a motion for July 3rd 2023 as a
Disney state holiday I'll make that
motion thank you Mr Ray I have a motion
on this second I'll second I have a
second
um any further discussion
hearing none I'll call for the vote all
in favor
[Music]
any opposed thank you
any abstentions motion carries next
we're moving to the resolution
supporting a temporary closure of Route
687 for bridge replacement yes ma'am as
you can see that I laid on you before
the resolution this has uh two
components to it this is a this was also
on the last meeting this is a reconvene
meeting this is a resolution supporting
the temporary closure and the
right-of-way license for Route 687
Bridge replacement on Roanoke Hill Road
so
it is at the request the Virginia
Department transportation to close this
portion of the road while the bridge is
being built and that that automatically
triggers where we're going to have to
build an alternate route in for public
safety for firing rescue to get in and
ambulance is the beginning to the
residence off of Roanoke so it uh
the second component after the
resolution will be is uh KD as a county
attorney she will be working with us and
The Nature Conservancy to do a
right-of-way uh licensing with it and
then we'll also have one with the
contractor so we'll be one with the
nature conservancy and the additional
one with the contractor for their
responsibilities
I'm looking at that agreement now it
wasn't something that I felt that I
could get approved because the way that
it was originally drafted it was from
The Nature Conservancy to the contractor
and so the language is going to have to
differ quite a bit and then also we'll
have to work out an agreement between us
and the contractor as we're going to be
the holder of the temporary license
yes as a governing board and this
resolution will give us no authority to
proceed and notification to be Dot and
the contractors that were going with
this venue with the right-of-way
licensing between us and and nature
conservancy and us and the contract so
we don't have a Slowdown here that's
great keep everything okay as you can
see also in it you already had the
proposed route it's already that far
into Zion B dot is pushing this hard and
fast and furious to be able to keep this
project on on scale so okay I need a
motion I'll consider a motion for the
resolution supporting this so move Madam
chair thank you Mr breeding I need a
second second any further discussion
I'll call for the vote all in favor any
opposed
any abstention motion carries Madam
chair that concludes the county
administrative reports and requests
very good thank you at this time I'll
have board discussion and reminders Mr
Lovelace
uh just thanks to the board for
reopening the convenience sites on
Wednesday
that's a biggie Mr Ray yeah I'd like to
also thank everybody for doing that it's
a much needed
for our trash sites and also I want
everybody to you know try to get out and
enjoy the fourth and celebration in
Cleveland on the third I think
Homemakers on the first in Lebanon on
the fourth
very good um I'm going to call on Mr
Eaton are you still with us
what's up
yeah so these two guys
thank you all right
thank you David uh Miss Brady
I I appreciate lines on what the work
you put into this budget
appreciate the fact that we're able to
open this trash by the fact these this
trash facility opened up on Wednesday by
the fact that we've looked at the
economics we've understood and we've
fixed the budget now we've had some
improvements in the budget we're able to
do it without any Financial impact now
so that's all I've got to say
no thank you Mr Christian I appreciate
your thoughts being open that's going to
help quite a few people they say well
listen I text dollars to even pay for it
and we are getting all this
inconvenience and yet we want our tax
dollars to go to cut out some
inconvenience so I think it's going to
please quite a few people when I hear
about this
and on my final note I just want to say
happy Fourth of July to all of you guys
I I wish you the a very wonderful
holiday and I do appreciate the fact
that we have uh stepped into the garbage
business very tenderly to see how we can
do it the best we can do it truthfully
and none of us know anything about
garbage but we sure are learning so
thank you Mr Lester it's been an
experience
and at this time I will adjourn this
board to meet again
um on July 10th six o'clock here