The
Wise County Board of Supervisors met in a Workshop Meeting
on Thursday, May 4, 2000, at 6:00 p.m. in the Board of Supervisors
Meeting Room located in the Wise County courthouse.
The following people were present:
Honorable
Robert Adkins - Chairman
Honorable
Virginia Meador
Honorable
Douglas Mullins
Honorable
Edgar Mullins
Honorable
Betty Cornett
Honorable
Douglas Stallard
Honorable
Donnie Dowell
Honorable
Jeffrey Salyers-Members of said Board and
Shannon
C. Scott-Acting County Administrator
Karen
Mullins - County Attorney
Annette
Underwood-Executive Secretary
PRAYER
Rev.
Will Gype-Pastor Gladeville Presbyterian Church in Wise,
led the Board in prayer.
PLEDGE
ALLEGIANCE TO THE FLAG
IN
RE: PUBLIC
HEARING/SALE OF COUNTY PROPERTY/CARFAX AREA
It
was noted that a public hearing has been duly advertised
for this date to receive citizens input regarding the sale
of a portion
of County property located in the Carfax area of Wise County
for the purpose of
road construction.
Chairman
Adkins asked for comments from the floor.
There
being no public comments, the public hearing was closed.
IN
RE: APPROVAL
OF AGENDA
The
following items were added to the agenda:
-
The
PV Forensic
Team
-
J.J.
Kelly Little League Football
IN
RE: PUBLIC
HEARING/SMOKING ORDINANCE
It
was noted that a public hearing has been duly advertised
for this date to receive citizens' comments regarding a
proposed amendment to the County Smoking Ordinance.
Chairman
Adkins asked for comments from the floor.
There
being no public comments, the public hearing was closed.
IN
RE: PUBLIC
EXPRESSION
Dr.
Jay Lemons introduced several young people from the Wise
Primary who
entertained the Board of Supervisors with song for financial assistance in getting a playground at the
Wise Primary School.
IN
RE: PUBLIC
HEARING/WISE COUNTY ZONING ORDINANCE AMENDMENT
A
public hearing was duly advertised for this date to receive
citizens' comments regarding a proposed amendment to the
Wise County Zoning Ordinance.
Chairman
Adkins asked for comments from the floor.
There
being no public comments, the public hearing was closed.
IN
RE: PUBLIC
EXPRESSION
Nancy
Hamn, representing the Fairview Community Center, invited
all Board members and their families to attend the annual
picnic of the Fairview Community Center on May 21st at 1:00
p.m.
She
further asked that the Board consider any financial contributions
that may be available for the center.
Mrs.
Frank Clay, representing the Coeburn Civic League, gave
a brief review of the functions of the
Coeburn Civic League and the services the Civic League
offers to Wise County.
She asked for any financial assistance the Board
may have available to help with the operating expenses for
the Civic League.
A
citizen from the Pound area asked that a museum be erected
in honor of Frances Gary Powers who has been
given more
metals than anyone in the State of
Virginia.
IN
RE: UVA-WISE
RADIO STATION
Scott
Pippin, representing UVA-WISE Radio Station, thanked the
Board for its support in getting the UVA-WISE Radio Station
up and running. He
spoke briefly on the good quality of programming, the outreach
of the radio station and the desire to expand the signal.
In order to do this expansion, extra funding will
be needed from the Board of Supervisors as well as other
donors. Mr.
Pippin asked for the Board's continued support in this endeavor
with a donation of $10,000 as was made last year.
Gary
Williams, Support Chairman of
WISE FM Radio Station, noted that the $10,000 seed
that was sown by the Board last year into the WISE FM Radio
Station set an example that was followed by other donors.
He asked the Board to consider honoring this same
amount of funding this year.
IN
RE: BSG SUBDIVISION
DEVELOPMENT AT ESSERVILLE
Don
Jack Mullins, representing the BSG Subdivision Developers
at Esserville, informed the Board that Wendell Barnette,
Don Green and Ben Sergent are proposing to develop a subdivision
on a 41-acre tract of land located in the Esserville section
of Wise County.
The
proposed water usage will be approximately 10,000 gallons
of water per day which will be provided by the Town of Wise
or the PSA.
The
proposed sewer service will be provided by the City of Norton
but a request is being made to the Board of Supervisors
for a portion of its sewer allocation in the CNW Wastewater
Treatment Plant in the event this service would not be a
part of the City of Norton's allocation.
This same request will be made to the Norton City
Council.
Administrator
Scott advised that he, Chairman Adkins, and Ron Helton had
met with the CNW Authority
regarding the County's sewer allocation and taps.
There will be further negotiations concerning this
allocation and taps. Regarding the proposed subdivision, further information will
be needed before a determination can be made as to which
entity the sewer allocation will be charged against.
There
being no further comments, the public expression period
was closed.
IN
RE: ROADS
AND HIGHWAYS
The
Coal & Gas Roads payments were reviewed.
A
resolution approving The Annual Plan for Roads and Bridges
needs approval at the next meeting.
A
request has been made for the installation of a "Children
At Play" sign on Hunter Road in Esserville.
The
Board needs to authorize the Chairman and the Highway Resident
Engineer to participate in the
additional funding of the Revenue Sharing Program.
VDOT
REMARKS
T.
G. Branson, Highway Resident Engineer, gave the Board a
brief update of ongoing construction throughout Wise County.
IN
RE: RESOLUTIONS
OF APPRECIATION
Donald
Ratliff and John Prince, members of the Coal & Gas Road
Committee, presented to Leland Branham, retired Highway
Resident Engineer, a resolution of appreciation
for his years of service and dedication to Wise County.
Chairman Adkins presented a resolution of appreciation
to Mr. Branham from the Board of Supervisors for his dedication
and commitment in making Wise County a better place to live.
Edgar
Mullins, former Chairman of the Coal & Gas Road Improvement
Committee, received a resolution of appreciation from the
Coal & Gas Road Committee Chairman Doug Stallard, for
his service to Wise County and its citizens while serving
on the Coal & Gas Road Committee.
IN
RE: REGIONAL
JAIL UPDATE
Bill
King reviewed and discussed the concept of the regional
jail and the benefits that would be reaped by the county.
Mr. King stated that if
the Board is interested in the regional jail, a resolution
requesting a further study
would need to be adopted.
Mr.
King stated that upon adoption of
a resolution, there would be a joint venture with
the counties involved to establish a Southwest Virginia
Regional Jail Task Force to be composed of not more than
three representatives of
each county and appointed by each governing body.
The Sheriff of each county would be one of the three
appointees.
There
was some discussion on including a juvenile facility in
the preliminary planning of the regional jail that would
also be a tremendous asset and keep our children in this
area.
IN
RE: LAKE ESTONOA PROJECT
A
forty-five minute slide presentation on Lake Estonoa Project
was presented by students from
St. Paul High School.
Nikki Buffalow, Project Director,
asked for financial assistance from the Board to
help fulfill the dream of the students from St. Paul High
School to complete the Lake Estonoa Project.
IN
RE: COAL &
GAS SEVERANCE TAX
Dickenson
County has asked Wise County to join forces with them and
be a player in getting a clarification of the meaning of
gross receipts, for the purposes of severance taxes levied
on coal and gas. To
date, there has been no cost figure presented to the Board
as to its share of said cost.
There
was some discussion on the meaning of "gross receipts".
Administrator
Scott recommended that this matter be considered during
the budget process.
IN
RE: CNW / COUNTY
SEWER STATUS
Administrator
Scott informed the Board that he, Chairman Adkins, and Ron
Helton had met with
the CNW Authority regarding the county's sewer allocation
and taps in the CNW
Wastewater Treatment Plant .
The sewer allocation is 400,000 gallons per day and
the taps are now at eight (8) with any increase to be negotiated.
IN
RE: CHILDREN'S
PARK WISE PRIMARY
Will
Gype, representing the children of Wise County, asked the
Board for financial assistance in constructing a playground
at the Wise Primary School that will be enjoyed by all children
in the area. A
firm, Leather & Associates, from New York that specialize
in designing special playgrounds for children has been contacted
regarding this project. This playground will be built by the community volunteers and
the children for an approximate cost of $140,000.
The Town of Wise donated $25,000 and the County is
being asked to donate $7,500.00.
The School Board has agreed to take on the "ongoing"
maintenance of the playground and to participate
in landscaping for the property
which together would have a dollar value of approximately
$10,000 to $15,000.
IN
RE: LONESOME
PINE AIRPORT/TRANSFER OF PROPERTY
Ron
Helton and Bill Sutherland asked the Board for its consideration
in transferring county property to the Industrial Development
Authority. In the development of the airport, and in the airport's master
planning activities since that time, the Cumberlands Airport
Commission has identified certain properties as being land
not necessary for future
development of the airport.
Mr. Helton presented a sketch of
approximately 100 acres of surplus property that
would be compatible with the proposed business technology
park. He asked
the Board to consider adopting a resolution that would transfer
Wise County's interest in the surplus airport property to
the Wise County IDA.
A
letter of support for this transfer was received from the
Cumberlands Airport Commission.
IN
RE: JUDICIAL
SALE/ADDITIONAL FUNDING
Treasurer
Rita Holbrook gave an update on the Judicial Sale and asked
the Board to reconsider her request for an additional $20,000
to continue with the Judicial Sale since there is an attorney
who is willing to do the title searches at a reasonable
price. She
noted that she had presented further information on the
Judicial Sale process which would help the Board understand
the importance of the sale.
Donnie
Dowell brought to the Board's attention that since this
request has already been voted on, the only motion that
can be made is to reconsider the motion that was made at the last month's meeting which was to consider
the additional $20,000 during the budget process.
There
was a lengthy discussion on the parliamentary procedure
in reconsidering a motion.
Attorney
Mullins noted that another request would have to be substantially
different than that of the original request before it could
be considered.
Dan
Fast, Attorney for the Judicial Sale, explained the procedure
of the sale, the time involved and the cost for doing the
title searches. He
noted that on a daily bases he is told by some delinquent
tax payer that they will not pay their taxes, never have
and never will. He asked the Board to consider further funding to finish the
sale now in progress.
Mr.
Dowell asked Ms. Holbrook to provide data to the Board regarding
a past Judicial Sale and the results from that sale and
the benefits that were reaped by the county from said sale
. This type
of report would educate the Board on the time-frame involved
in completing a sale, an estimated cost for the process
and the benefits reaped by the County.
After
further discussion, Attorney Mullins was asked to present
to the Board a possible legal method in which
Ms. Holbrook's request may be reconsidered for discussion.
Mr.
Dowell cautioned the Board on taking this type of action
because this is such a "gray area" and should
be tread cautiously.
IN
RE: COYOTE
DAMAGE CONTROL PROGRAM
During
the 2000 session of the General Assembly there was an effort
to secure additional funding for the Cooperative Coyote
Damage Program administered by Virginia Department of Agriculture
and Consumer Services.
This is a cost-share program funded by federal, state
and private funds to protect livestock from coyote predation
in our county as well as the rest of the state.
It
has been recently learned that Virginia Department of Agriculture
and Consumer Services would be willing to lobby the State
legislature as well as the U.S. Congress for extra funding
for this program, however, the Governor must direct that
VDACS pursue these available funds.
It
is being requested that local county governments write the
Governor of Virginia and request that he direct the Virginia
Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services to lobby
for these funds.
RECESS
The
Board took a brief recess at 9:50 p.m.
The
meeting reconvened at 10:05 p.m.
IN
RE: BUDGET
REVIEW
Administrator
Scott reviewed the proposed FY 2000/2001 budget cuts and
add backs that he had completed according to the Board's
request. He
stated that there were decreases in all departments.
Edgar
Mullins asked that money be placed in the proposed budget
to re-hire three (3) of the employees that were laid-off
in December l999.
After
further discussion, it was the consensus of the Board to
continue discussion on the budget at a recessed meeting.
Edgar
Mullins left the meeting at this time.
IN
RE: OTHER ITEMS
DISCUSSED
-
Indian
Creek Water Project Appropriation of Funds
-
Resolution
of Recognition/Dean
Debbie Sydow
-
Resolution
Virginia Community Crime Control
-
Judicial
Sale/Attorney Fees
-
Rezoning
Request/Hudson Branham
-
Building
Refund
-
Dance
Hall Permit
-
MOU
Travel Charge Card
-
Appointments
-
Budget
Advertisement
-
Payment
of Accounts
-
E-911
Payments
-
Blackwood
Landfill Enterprise Payments
-
Indian
Creek Water Project/Administrative Agreement
-
Indian
Creek Water Project/Authorize Drawdowns
-
Closed
Session / 2.1-344A.1
Personnel
-
Board
Comments
IN
RE: CHANGE
DATE OF MAY 11TH BOARD MEETING
Chairman
Adkins stated that two Board members would be unable to
attend the May 11th Board meeting due to conflicts in their
schedules. It
was requested that the May 11th Board meeting be changed
to an earlier date which would allow these two members to
be present.
After
discussion, it was the consensus of the Board to meet on
Monday, May 8th at 6:00 p.m. and to ratify this action
at that time.
There
being no further business, the meeting adjourned at 11:40
p.m.
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