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HomeMy WebLinkAbout1995-04-25 adjApril 25, 1995 (Adjourned Meeting) (Page 1) A joint meeting of the Board of Supervisors and marle County, Virginia, was held on April 25, 1995, be 000330 ~chool Board of Albe- ~inning at 7:00 P.M., in the Auditorium, County Office Building, McIntire Road, Charlottesville, Virginia. The Board of Supervisors' meeting was adjourned from April 19, BOARD OF SUPERVISORS PRESENT: Mr. David P. Bower~an, Mrs. Charlotte Y. Humphris, Mr. Forrest R. Marshall, Jr., Mr. Walter F. ~erkins and Mrs. Sally H. Thomas. ABSENT: Mr. Charles S. Martin. SCHOOL BOARD PRESENT: Mr. Russell Madison Cummings, Jr., Mr. William W. Finley, Mrs. Susan C. Gallion, Mr. George C. Landrith,I III, Mr. Michael J. Marshall, Mrs. Karen L. Powell and Mrs. Sharon S. Woodi. ABSENT: None. I OFFICERS PRESENT: County Executive, Mr. Robert ~. Tucker, Jr.; School Division Superintendent, Dr. Kevin C. Castner; Deputy ~ounty Executive, Mr. Richard E. Huff, II; and County Attorney, Mr. Larry W. Davis. Agenda Item No. 1. The meeting was called to order at 7:08 P.M., by the Chairman of the Board, Mr. Perkins and Chairman of theI School Board, Mr. Finley. Agenda Item No. 2a. Joint Meetinq with School B~ard. Public Hearing to solicit community feedback on Whether or not to exercise an option on a ll0-acre site adjacent to Piedmont Virginia Community College off of Route 20 South for location of a new high school and other potential governmental uses. (Advertised in the Daily Progress on April 13 and April 17, 1995.) Mr. Huff said the purpose of this public hearingl~ is to gather citizen input on whether the County should exercise an option to purchase approximate- ly 110 acres of land, adjacent to Piedmont Virginia community College and located in back of the Tandem School, for use as a newl~ high school, as well as other potential governmental uses. His brief presenta~tion will include the process that was used, how the staff reached this point, maps of the site, including an aerial view, and relative information. Mr. Huff said last summer a staff committee, usihg criteria from the County's Community Facilities Plan, began to identify ~otential sites, basically in the Route 250 East corridor and Route 20 South corridor, that would meet the needs for a new high school. The criteria included minimum acreage requirements and a scoring methodology for evaluating the sites. He noted that 14 sites were originally identified as meeting the minimum acreage requirements, as well as the other criteria that was established. The sites were located in proximity to the 1-64 interchange on Route 250 East and the Route 20 corridor from the 1-64 interchange to Route 7~8. The number of sites were narrowed from 14 to five, and from there negotiations began, along with geotechnical work on three of the sites. The staff the~ proceeded to evaluate the pros and cons of each site. In March, the County ~ecured an option on the Hillcrest site which is the subject of this public hea~ing. Mr. Huff then described the site by reiterating ~hat it is 110 acres, located directly adjacent to Piedmont Virginia Community College, with easy access to 1-64. A commitment has been made that if this option is exercised by the County, a connector road would be built between! Route 20 and Avon Street to access the site. This is in conjunction with a recommendation made in the Southern City Study. This site has public utilities including water and sewer and it is situated so that it could serve st.~dents from both the eastern and southern geographical regions of the Count~.' The purchase price in the option is $1.9 million. The site tends to lend itself well for the location of other public uses, i.e., rescue squad station, branch library or other governmental/educational uses. The current plan~ are to open the new high school in the fall of 1998. The school will be b~ilt to originally house 1,000 students with facilities to handle future expans[on of up to 1,500 students. Mr. Huff emphasized that it is important tO remember why this project has gotten to this point. The current student enrollment projections indicate that by 1998 when the new high school is to b.e opened, the high school enrollment will exceed the current h~gh schoolsI capacities by 700 to 800 students. As the staff went around the County and solicite~ public input, there was a tremendous amount of concern expressed about a s~te closer to the southern end of the County. One of the sites which wa~ given careful consid- eration was near Walton Middle School. He said there ~ere quite a few issues surrounding that site which made it difficult to work ~With. Since there are no public utilities on the site, the State Water ContrOl Board requires the County to provide 24,000 gallons of water per day for the h~gh school from ground water sources. A package treatment plant to handle the sewage needs of the site would be required at a construction cost of abproximately $500,000 with an annual operating cost of that package plant of't $20,000. Forty acres of the site would be difficult to develop. Lastly, thee analysis showed that O00, g April 25, 1995 (Adjourned Meeting) (Page 2) approximately two-thirds of the potential students for~the new school live north of Route 708. Mr. Huff said it was a balancing ~ct of trying to meet the needs of those in the eastern corridor, as well as! the southern corridor, in terms of transportation times and travel distances.l He added that the cost of transportation to the sites along the Route 20 corridor does not differ significantly at any of the proposed sites. Mr. Huff said he understands there has been some discUssion and/or concern regarding what type of additional traffic a ne~ high school at the Hillcrest site might generate in the entrance corridorb for the City, which I . are Avon Street and Route 20. The County's Transportation Department has estimated that the number of school buses routed in th~se corridors for access to the school would be negligible, if any. The intent is to access the site from the 1-64 interchange and the Route 20 corridor toI the maximum extent possible. Mr. Huff said this public hearing is not to disc ss the issue of redis- tricting. There have been no discussions regarding redistricting at this time. The focus has been to identify a site. Redistricting will be discussed after a site has been identified. There were no comments or questions from Board m~mbers, so at 7:16 p.m., Mr. Perkins opened the public hearing. Mr. Langden Mason, a resident of Scottsville, sa~d for the past two years the Board members have listened to southern Albemarle residents opinions about building the new high school on the land adjacen~ to Walton Middle School. The residents from southern Albemarle have normally let the progres- sion of County-related events unfold with neither agreement nor disagreement, but they have not been fighting for just the convenience of a high school at this site. They have been fighting for the right for ~hildren who live in southern Albemarle to have reasonable access to the same educational and extracurricular activities as other County children. ~e emphasized the word, "right," and not convenience. The citizens in southerh Albemarle are used to inconvenience in Albemarle County. If the children pl~y soccer, they usually travel over 35 miles to get to the soccer field every ~aturday; if the citizens work in Charlottesville, they usually have to travel over 30 miles; and to see a movie, they have to consider Route 29, No?th. During the past year, someone from the Southern Albemarle High School ~oalition has been in contact with at least one County official each month. At numerous times pages upon pages of signatures have been collected in suppor of building the high school on Route 708 at the Walton site, and the peoplelwho collected these signatures merely wanted to know when was the proper time to present the petitions. It appears to him now that there is no appropriate time, and if there was, it has passed. Secondly, for the past yearI, the Coalition was told there would be a Site Selection Committee which would hold a public hearing in August of 1995, where Albemarle residents could discus~ three sites. It is now April, one site is being discussed, and nobody is ~ite sure who is on the Site Selection Committee. He recalled a recent articl~ in The Daily Proqress which revealed some incredible facts. The Walton site!was eliminated suppos- edly because County officials said there were no present utilities, and 40 acres of the 108 acre site was not suited for development because of the topography. It seems to him that two years ago when i~ was chosen as a potential site, everybody, including those in this roo~, knew there were no utilities. He also has a feeling that the topography has not changed in the last 200 years. Now he is wondering if it ever was a potentmal s~te. He reiterated that he knows the Board members are in a difficult position, but he hopes they can appreciate the position of those people!in southern Albemarle, as well as citizens in eastern, western and northern A~bemarle. The Board members hold a position that is very difficult, especially when the communica- tions from them to the citizens are broken. He asked ~hs, the County officials continue to have public hearings when they are not hearing the public. Mr. J. B. Province said he is a resident of southern Albemarle. The peop].e in his area support a high school and they want! it built. A new high school is needed for the children, and it will definit61y help improve education in all of the areas of the County. He believes this has been a lengthy process. It has been a year since the Site Selection Committee first started, and citizens were told at that time that the process probably would be fz.nished by July or August. The other obvious concern at this point is that the citizens were given one option to discuss ton~g]~t, and as late as three weeks ago, they were told there would be three opts. ohs. He understands what this meeting is about, which is to decide if that!option will be exer- cised. He believes there are several issues that have process possibly towards what might not be the best co are: 1) population that will be attending this high s where they will be coming from; 2) transportation; 3) a mistake when Western Albemarle was built in a rural 4) the feeling that somehow the southern part of the C represented. He recalled that Mr. Huff indicated two-thirds o north of Route 708, but he (Mr. Province) thinks it is two-thirds of the children live south of 1-64. He has show that 247 students come from the Scottsville and Y from the Gordonsville, Route 250 and Ashcroft area; an Western Albemarle area, south of 1-64. Regarding tran official said the bus ride will be longer as the site begun to drive this [clusion. Those issues 2hool, how many and zhe feeling that it was Dart of the County; and Dunty is adequately the children live just as easy to say ~ctual figures which ~ncey area; 167 come d 96 come from the ~portation, a County is moved further south. OOO332 April 25, 1995 (Adjourned Meeting) (Page 3) Information he obtained from~the County Transportation that on the whole, if. the high school was built at the of transportation would be saved each day for the chil Department indicates Walton site, 154 hours ~ren of southern Albemarle. It is true that if that site is chosen, thee children in the northeastern quadrant would lose 22 hours a day. He n~ted that 154 hours versus 22 hours, when children in the south would be r~iding for an hour and 20 minutes or an hour and 30 minutes, is not a bad bargai'.~. He then commented that the distance between 1-64 and Route 708 is nine m~iles. Mr. Province said he heard one man make a remark! concerning the location of Western Albemarle at a meeting last year and someho~ the comment sounded good. It did not come from any of the parents or students. Mr. Province said he wants his children to go to a high school with which they can identify and value. It will help the communities in the south prosper and help spread growth, money Mr. Province said $1.9 million is a lot of to pay for land. He believes the land needed for the school could have beeh purchased a lot cheaper in southern Albemarle. He suggested that perhaps the cmtmzens should have said in the beginning of the process that they wahted a high school built near Scottsville. Albemarle High School is a wonderful school, but it is too far away. He cannot believe the Board members could a~tually believe it is reasonable for a child to ride a school bus an hour an~ one-half in the mornings and again in the afternoons. He feels it is impossible for the students to have a lmfe at school. He sa~d an idea of~ building two moderately sized high schools has been coming up independently ini~ some people's minds and has been discussed. He knows it is not a simple issue!, but it should be given some consideration. It could be less complicated whenl~ redistricting is examined. He did some research at the Curry School and found some valuable information and ideas. He referenced several articles! he had read supporting smaller size schools. He does not want this to be a win/lose situation, although with this site, he thinks most of the people ~n southern Albemarle feel as if it is a losing situation for them. Mr. Province urged the Board members to not exercise the option on this property. Time is needed to study this matter and how it impacts the entire County. He suggested that a committee be appointed to do some research. This is a decision that will be affecting the County for a long time. He also feels County officials need to look for superior sites If the first sites selected are not satisfactory to the citizens, then others should be examined. Time needs to be taken and there is no hurry. Mr. John Carter, from Earlysville, asked why the! Board is considering 110 acres. Nobody has told the public why that much l~nd is needed. He thought there was a lot of unused land at the Walton site. He also thought an additional 20 acres at that site would be all that was~needed for a high school. Maybe this is not true, but it would be nice ~to know the facts. He wondered who got the idea of building another library Or maintenance facility, when mmllmons of dollars are bemng spent now to upgrade the exmstmng facmlm- tmes. He thmnks one of the reasons to bumld a large h~gh school ms to create good athletic programs. He asked who served on the Si~e Selection Committee. He does not like the way County officials work behind doors. He thinks it is a farce to not let the public know which sites were being considered. It was mentioned that the public was not to be informed about! the sites because it may increase the price. The County has eminent domainl, authority. It is nonsense to buy excess land for which there are no plans to use just because it is a bargain. The essence of any bargain is that the item is needed in the beginning. He ms talkmng about land for a hmgh school, not 50 or 60 acres for regular CoUnty use. He emphasized that County officials do not need to buy 110 acres, and they admit they do not need this much l~nd, and yet they propose to buy it anyway. The estimated cost for the ~ew high school has increased $5.0 million in one year - from $18.0 million to $23.0 million. He asked who makes these estimates, or is this the type o~ situation where County officials indicate they have to keep spending or what has been spent will be lost. Now County officials are finally going to get their connector road that nobody could figure out why it was really needed years~ ago. He added that all of these years the connector road was not needed, but ~Since a high school is proposed to be built in that area, now the road is necessary. This is similar to the Berkmar Drive Extended project. County officia%s could not sell the idea that the project was needed so they built Agnor-H~rt Elementary School in that area and the road was built. Past experience sho~s that Board members listen only to those who want to spend more and not to those who propose fiscal restraint. If the Supervisors had proceeded onI that basis, they would have opted to acquire the few additional acres needed at the Walton site. The publmc has been told that the landowner ms reluctant t~o sell. He remmnded them that they have eminent domain authority and he suggested they take the property. Just because and owner is reluctant to sell,, the County officials are going to make the 70,000 citizens of Albemarle CouDty pay for 110 acres. Most landowners are reluctant to sell unless their lan~ is on the market. Ms. Carolyn O'Brien said she has a child attendi and she prefers the Walton site for the following teas time on school buses for the Scottsville, Yancey and R Walton students could benefit from high school program and talented program, advanced math, language arts and 3) combining buses for high school students and middle g Walton Middle School ons: 1) less travel ad Hill students; 2) ~, such as the gifted foreign languages; and school students would April 25, 1995 (Adjourned Meeting) (Page 4) save taxpayer dollars. There seems t°be a lot of que proposed Hillcrest site. She wondered if the Site Com pursued the Walton site by offering a fair price to th if Mr. Landrith and Mr. Marshall were allowed to patti phases of the site selection. She asked about the dif 000383 stions concernin9 the nittee vigorously owner. She also asked ~ipate in all of the ference in the topogra- phy of the Walton site and the Hillcrest site regardin~ suitability. She noted that in order to obtain potential enrollment at ~the Hillcrest site, the district lines will have to be redrawn. She wondered ~ow many students from each district will attend the new high school. Regard'king the completion date of June 1, 1998, she asked if the juniors and seniors attending Western Albemarle High School and Albemarle High School would have the option of remaining at Western and Albemarle. She next lnqulredl about the cost of the connector road between Avon Street and Route 20, and she also wondered what will be the cost of the public sewer and water at the ~illcrest site. She asked, too, why the public was not informed at the May! and June community forums regarding the State Water Control Board requirements. Mayor Raymon Thacker said he had a resolution whlich was adopted by the Scottsville Town Council. He read the resolution (copy on file) which recommended and encouraged the location of the new high school on the property adjoining the Walton Middle School. Mr. Evan Snyder said he is a recent resident of Albemarle County. He served Albemarle County for five years with the rescuel, squad, and he has three children who go to Albemarle County schools. In 1998,~ his three children will be going to Scottsville Elementary School, Walton Middle School and Albemarle High School. Schools are for educating children, but ~education also consists of extracurricular activities. The Walton Middle SchoOl site is a nice area. He does not want any of his children to miss out on activities because of the distances they must travel. Dr. William Orr said he is President of the BUrll~y PTO and a resident of the Rivanna District. He currently has three children~ in the County schools, and his youngest daughter is twelve years old. She will enter the new high school as a sophomore in 1998. He remarked that sever,~l meetings were held at Burley, letters written, and notices sent home to the parents of the 450 students at Burley. His comments are almost a unanimohs opinion of the parents at Burley which he is representing. Burley pa~ents have had problems with the process for selecting the new high school sit~ since its inception. They have felt somewhat ignored, overlooked or taken for granted in the process. Burley is physically located in the City of ~harlottesville and it is not near any County neighborhoods. Despite this, the parents feel that most, if not all of Burley's students, will go to the hew high school. Since there is some talk of trying to keep families in schools and have feeder patterns, the Burley parents hope that when red!strlctlng is consid- ered, the logical choice would be that Burley and Waltbn be the two middle schools which would feed this new high school. There ~ere no public meetings held at Burley and the parents were not fortunate enough to have one of the Superintendent's forums or round table discussions during this process. He cannot understand if this was an open process to pick ~ new school site, why it did not start out that way. The Long Range Plannin~ Committee started out with the assumption and the position that this would b~ a school to serve the southern urban rural area. Since a great deal of the ~roposed growth and new growth is in the Rivanna District, it seemed that thes~ citizens should have had a fair chance to lobby for having the school on that side of the County. He suggested that if all of the children who are 15 and under were depicted on a County map and assigned a certain weight, such as an! ounce apiece, that County map would tip towards Hollymead. He stated thak Forest Lakes North, Forest Lakes South, Hollymead, Proffit Road, Ashcroft !(which has another section to be built) as well as Glemmore are all building up rapidly. He pointed out that Dr. Hurt just received permission to build a subdivision of 1,100 houses on the north side of Pantops. It has bee~ the contention of the County citizens on the eastern side in the Rivanna Dis~trict that they should be heard as to where the new high school should go. I~ is his feeling that if the growth areas are considered, as well as the Planniilg Commission's projec- tion of where the growth areas should be, the place where a new high school should be located would be somewhere between Pantops ahd Proffit Road. This was never considered although citizens from this area ~_ere told that when options for the new high school site were being studied, there Would be a public hearing where a number of options would be givei~, and the citizens could speak to the one that they would like the best. His fear, at that time, was when the final three options were considered, all ~hree of them would be on Route 20 South. It did, indeed, get to the point wisere all three of the sites being considered were on Route 20 South. Another aspect of the site selection which does is the. relationship of the new site to the other two h somewhat misleading to say that both of these schools He did not know, until this process began, where the W district was located. Western opened in 1977 and for under utilized with not enough students. Because of that, the boundaries have been expanded and now the northern boundary for Wester~ comes all of the way to Barracks Road, loops around Albemarle High School t~ the Reservoir, and then goes north toward White Hall. He has friends who~live~ in Ivy Farms, and they tell him that on a clear night in the fall when Albemarle High School has a football game, they not only can see the lights, but~can also hear the band playing. Yet, students from this area have to travel i2 miles to Western. ~ot seem logical to him kgb schools. It is ~re at over capacity. ~stern High School number of years it was April 25, 1995 (Adjourned Meeting) (Page 5) If the south side of the county is considered, t~e Western district comes all of the way around to the Rivanna River belo~ Monticello on the south side of the City. Blue Ridge Hospital is in Western'sI district, as well as this new site. His point is that the overcrowding at the high schools is really not so much at Western, but, instead, it is at Albemarle. This is true because of the northern and eastern subdivisions whmchI have been built, and if the boundaries of Western were put in a more logical place, then the new school would serve the overcrowding at Albemarle. Bur!ley parents have talked about how many of their children might be going to the new high school, and it is their hope that when one step further is taken and ~edistricting is done, the whole Burley district be included in the new high Ischool district and that it will not be split at the middle school level. ThisI might take expanding the boundaries for the new high school all of the way'~ver to Route 29 North to take in all of the children who go to Burley, but i~ would certainly be nice if there were a feeder pattern or a family of schools where the children could stay together and all go to the same high school~. Dr. Orr said he thinks the County officials have! shown great compromise and wisdom in selecting this new school site because he belmeves it is the best site. He does not know if anybody will be totally happy w~th any one site. The people who live on his side of the County a~e not happy with the site, but they are willing to accept it. Selecting a kite is a big issue, and , what is best for the Rivanna District has to be consmdDred, as well as the Scottsville District. There are also children who liv~ close to Gordonsville and past Stony Point near the Orange County line, who ~ave almost the same distance to travel on buses, as the children from Scot~sville. He got a copy of the bus routes from the Transportation office, and there is less than ten minutes difference in the time the children are originally picked up on the routes in the eastern part of the County as opposed toI Howardsville. On Route 20 close to Barboursville, one of the bus routes goes ~n and out of Orange County in order to pick up children who live in that akea. After considering this situation, he does not th~nk a better site could be found anywhere in the County than the site chosen. /He had been arguing that the best place for the school would be around Tow~ Park or somewhere on Route 20, North or perhaps on Proffit Road. However, ~f all of the advantages are considered for this particular site, and if the whble 110 acres for the various other things that the County might need in the! future are considered, he thinks there are more advantages to this site. ThiD site will allow access to classroom space at Piedmont Virginia Community Coll~ge for the advanced students who want to take something more than what is 6ffered in the high school. It gives use of the PVCC library and possiblY!the athletic fields. The cross country track could be shared with the new high school, as well as the parking lots, although he is not sure this would w6rk, because of the layout of the parking lots. He looked at the site thms afternoon and he was amazed at how nice it is. The site ms an elevated, plateau-type site, and a lot of it is nearly flat. There is a pretty lake at the edge of the property which could be tied into the aesthetics in the plannin~ of the use of that property for a school or for whatever other County uses there may be a need for. Dr. Orr then mentioned the discussions which hav~ been held recently relating to a minor league baseball team in CharlottesVille. He suggested that perhaps if the land was supplied by the County, t~en the stadium could be built privately. There are a number of possibilities With this site. He also noted that it is much more accessmble than travelzng Route 20, South to get to school. He referred to Mr. Carter's statement relatin~ to the Meadow Creek Parkway. He added that maybe the school is a good reason to build the Meadow Creek Parkway, because it could help bring students frgm the growth areas near Hollymead. He reiterated that the proposed site is beautiful, and it has historic significance. He can speak for the people fr6m Burley Middle School, almost unanimously, when he says that they support the!proposed site. Since the Burley parents are giving the Boards t~eir support, they would also like to make a suggestion as to what name this ne~ high school, if it is built at this site. They do not think it should be na~ed Southern or Eastern Albemarle High School. He said there are three schools in the state named after Thomas Jefferson; there are none named Montzcello. He suggested the new school be called Montmcello Hmgh School. Thms would g~ve the school a distinctive name and would localize it for County residents. He believes the County officials have done what is best for most of the people mn the County. The people at Burley congratulate the Boards, as well ~s Mr. Reaser, who have worked hard in choosing a site. Ms. Elizabeth Yancey, a parent of a child at Burney Middle School and one at Agnor-Hurt Elementary School, said her child wa~ redistricted from Woodbrook to Agnor-Hurt and has already expressed her ~pinion on attending a new high school as a junior. The people in the northern part of the County also have a sense of community, and the community wher~ she lives is in the northeastern part of the County in the Charlottesville!District No one there relates the new high school as having anything to do with them, because they are within shouting distance of Albemarle High School.~ They only live a mile or two from Albemarle High School. She asked why thes~ children should have to worry about a new high school. To get the enrollmeht of the students that will be needed to fill the new high school, the studen[s will have to come from somewhere, and she does not think they will all be commng from south of Route 708. She would personally like to see a new high school near CATEC, because there is available space and it is close to wh~re she lives. However, April 25, 1995 (Adjourned Meeting) 000~ (Page 6) she can support the Hillcrest site although it is an inconvenience for a lot of people in the northern part of the County. She added that if the time it takes to get across town is considered, it will be found that it will take 25 minutes most days. One of the good things about the H!illcrest site is that Cale Elementary School is a short distance from the proposed new high school. She knows from working in an elementary school and being a volunteer that there is a desperate need for a volunteer force. High! school students coming into the elementary schools can provide a positive rol~ model as far as one- on-one tutoring of students in the elementary schools.I Ms. Steele Howen, the Principal at Burley Middle School, complimented the Board members on what she feels is a good compromise of the needs of the various communities which will be served by this new hiigh school. Her comments are to issues of educational facilitation that would be accomplished by choosing the Hillcrest site. One of the things which can be facilitated by this site would be the seamless curriculum from high s~hool= to college. With PVCC so close in proximity, students could take advantage of its various programs. Since the site is close to town, internshipS, work study programs and student jobs would be facilitated. Being close to 1-64, transportation for extracurricular activities would be facilitated, rhe proposed site is also close to the University of Virginia which engages in a significant number of partnerships with Albemarle County schools. She al~o mentioned that if schools in the 21st Century are considered, school business partnerships are going to be a vital part of what is going to be done. A school which is close to town will help facilitate the school business parth~rships. She can also see a process of collaboration with local artists and ~riters to help enrich the school in the fine arts areas. She again complimested the County offi- cials on their choice. / Mr. Peadar Little, Secretary of the Burley PTO,~xpressed support for the proposed site, as well as Dr. Orr's remarks. The ~ ~r~~a on many occasions to review this process, and at this ~.~.k ~.emet site meets some of the essential criteria as originally outlined. It is a good site with flexibility for the future. The site iD central, not just for people who live close,to the City, but it is about equ~l distance for those living in the northeastern corridor, as well as those ~iving in the southeast- ern corridor. Transportation time, distance and safety have been well balanced between a lot of opposing forces. The site iD well situated to serve the children of a s~gn~f~cant port,on of the County of Albemarle for many years to come. However, there are some open questionsl, and he thinks it behooves the members of the two Boards to provide someI open and thorough answers in the upcoming days. The first question relates to the cost of the site, and he wondered if this cost is defensible, and ~f it is comparable to sites of similar size and in a similar location. Secohdly, he asked if future demographics indicate that this site would serve the children of Albemarle. He asked if the southeastern site stands to be a bette~ site than a site further north, as Dr. Orr has pointed out. He would l~ke to suggest that the redistricting be organized so that the feeder systems ~f more sane proportions are obtained and that children who are going to elementary school together will later be able to attend middle and high school to~ether. Mro Little pointed out that the site has some unique advantages. The proximity to PVCC is a major advantage and the proximity to Cale Elementary School offers some unique advantages for tutoring and mentor~ng. The flexi- bility of the site for future public uses is also an a~pealing aspect. He then urged the Boards to proceed with the acquisition ~f this site, but he would like answers to his questions. He also congratulated the Site Selection Committee for doing a truly trojan task in trying to balance all the interests of all the people with whom they have had to deal over!the last year or so. He then thanked the Board members for their time. Mr. Thomas Lively said he was a teacher at Walto~ Middle School for 22 years. He is not married, but he has 2,700 students Who are his children, and he cares about them. For years the parents have been bromised by one adminis- tration after another that there would be a high school built in the southern part of Albemarle County. He pointed out that the sit~ of the proposed school is not in the southern part of the County. Instead, i~ is in the central part of the County. He feels thcs lsa dlsservmce to the t~xpayers and most importantly, to the children in that area. He thinks that putting the new high school next to Walton Middle School would help because some of the services at the new high school could be utilized at W~lton. The children are still being asked to ride the school bus for an hour o~ two to go to school every day. Building the new school at the proposed si~e will not help the children of southern Albemarle, and if the map is examined, it will be found that the new school will be located 20 miles from Scot~sville. If the school is built on the Walton site, the children who are performing at a high school level could be allowed to go to the high school and take Algebra I and Geometry, which they cannot take at Walton at the present time, because there is no one to teach these courses. Foreign language an~ computer labs at the new high school could also be used by Walton students,! as well as the tennis courts and baseball fields. He is unsure if there,will be a swimming pool, but he hopes there will be one, and, if so, that facilkty can be used by Walton students. For years the children in southern A~bemarle have had to depend on their parents to get them to athletic events~ Many of the eighth graders are capable of playing sports, but because of ~he distance they have to travel, they cannot participate. He urged Board me,hers not to build the new high school on Avon Street. He asked that it be b~' ilt on the Walton property where the facilities can be used and Walton can be improved. He and April 25, 1995 (Adjourned Meeting) (Page 7) the teachers are proud of Walton. Many of the childre County have to overcome more than any other group of c He pointed out that about 40 percent 6f the children a 00033/; in this part of the hildren in this County. Walton only have one parent households, and almost 50 percent of the childr~en are on reduced lunches. There is not much of a drug problem at WaltoD, because the school is far enough from Charlottesville that it makes it diffi~cult for people to come out there to bring drugs. If the school is built on the proposed site, it is exactly three-quarters of a mmle away from the worse drug distribution street in the City of Charlottesville. He feels that drug de~alers are going to move into that area, and there will be real problems at the new high school. He . does not want these children exposed to that. He aske'd the Board members again not to build the school on Avon Street Extended. He requested that the school be built on the Walton property where the southern part of the County can be served. He said it is unfair not to serve thesle children and their parents. MS. Mary Dilbone said she moved to Albemarle County ten years ago, and she wishes this high school had been built three years! ago. She has four She Wmshes there could be a children to graduate from Albemarle High School. ~ ' school on every block, but she thinks what is best for! Albemarle High School has to be considered. The pressure has to be taken fr~m Albemarle High School and that is why a third high school is being built. She recalled that one of the speakers mentioned he had only heard one person sa~ that Western Albemarle High School was a mistake. She will be the second oneI to make that statement. When she moved here she heard a lot of people say thati Western was a mistake, and she does not want to see that same mistake happen Dgain. She stated that people have to make choices in their lives, and when they choose to live in certain areas, there are consequences that go with tha~ choice. If people live far away, they have to drive the distance. She l~ives on Route 743 and her dilemma is gettmng out of her driveway wmthout being killed. She said that as parents and responsible adults what ms best has to be done for Western and Albemarle High Schools. Ms. Theresa Rhodes said she lives in Mill Creek, which is directly across Avon Street from the proposed site. Up until A~gust, she doubts that this was on the list of sites, because there was a discussion at that time with the Board of Supervisors relating to a rezoning o~ this site. She recalled that a shopping center was proposed to be built on part of this property, and she wondered when the site came into the school site selection process. She realizes that in August, discussions wer~ being held with the Planning Commission and the Board of Zoning Appeals. ~he Commissioners and BZA members were indicating that part of the site directly connected to Route 20 was much too boggy on which to build. She wondered what type of access can be built and how easily it can be built on that one section. Mr. Marshall noted that the site for the shoppin~ center is separate from the school. Ms. Rhodes agreed that the property is adjacent to the school site, although the same types of issues came up! when the shopping center was being considered. County officials were wohdering if the section connected to Route 20 was buildable, and the informatibn from the Commission was that it was too boggy to be an appropriate site fo~ a shopping center. The connector road was mentioned during the shopping c~nter discussions, and people were told by VDoT representatives that it was e~ghteenth on the priority list of roads to be built. They were also told that it might be six years or so from this past August before the connector! road could be built, without the high school being involved. She said at t~is time the tax assessment was $1.69 million, and she pointed out that! now the price has increased to $1.9 million. She does not know if the 1,~nd is worth that much money. She then mentioned that County officials are tal, ing about exercising their option, and having rescue squad and fire station~ facilities built on the site. She wondered exactly where in this 110 acres wo,~ld they be built. She would like to know more about the plans for the site. ~Mill Creek will be directly affected by the visual impact of a new high s~hool and sports facilities. She is interested in how the site will be'. developed. She wondered if this site is chosen for the school, would ~t put restrictions on other privately owned adjoining properties, whether it would restrict building a shopping center in the future. She thinks the histo.~y of this property needs to be taken into consideration before a decision! is made. Ms. Karen Frizzell, a parent of a student at Burkey Middle School commented that, it would be great to have neighborhood high schools, but the number of students needs to be considered. A lot of m~ney is being spent on the new school, and a central location in the County m~kes more sense. She has not heard anyone mention the difference in travelihg to the Hillcrest site, as opposed to traveling to Albemarle High. She ~ealizes the people from Scottsville have a long way to travel, but she would t~ink that traveling to the Hillcrest site, as opposed to traveling to Albemarle High School, would save them from going through a lot of traffic. The buses will not be travel- lng by plants or urban congestmon, whzch she has to do~3ust trying to get from her home in Key West to Albemarle High School. She ha~ a daughter who just graduated from Albemarle High School, and she thinks that a strong administra- tion is the answer to the proximity to possible drug dmstrmbutzon areas. A strong administration at any school will respectfully ~eal with the protection of the children. 0003 7 April 25, 1995 (Adjourned Meeting) (Page ~i' Christine Thomas remarked th~ She is from s~uthern Albemarle,~ County. The people in southern Albemarle are paying t~e same taxes as other County residents, but whenever they ask for somethingmor make a suggestion, they are overlooked. If their money is going to pay fbr this new high school, then she thinks it should be near them. She was a student who had to ride more than 20 miles a day to school. This has been golDg on zn southern Albemarle for over 40 years. It is not fair to these ~esidents to keep sending their children over 20 miles to school on a buR. It was dangerous when she was in school and it is even more dangerous, Because there are more cars on the highway. She asked Board members to consider the Walton site, because it is already paid for and there is no use spe~ding the taxpayers' money doing something else. Mr. David Hartman said his property fronts on Ropte 20 North, and he lives approximately 125 yards from the County line. T~is puts him closer to Orange County High School and the Gordon Barbour Elemehtary School than to the relevant Albemarle County schools. This means 45 to 5!0 minute bus rides for · I kindergarten children, as well as an hour and 40 mmnutes to Burley and an hour and 15 to 20 minutes to Albemarle High School. Building this school will not change any of these bus times. This is one of the disadvantages that citizens choose to accept by living in the peripheral parts of ~he County. There are infrequent police patrols, long bus rides and sometime~ the citizens do not get to the public hearings. He recalled that there wa~ no hearing on the site selection process within 15 minutes of where he lives,! and there is no water and sewer service in that area. They also wait longer! for fire and rescue services than people who lmve closer to town. These dlsadvantages are offset by the advantages of living farther out in the County,I which include privacy and lack of some of the urban problems. This is a choice that the citizens make, but the logical arrangement of the County is that there is a central core around the City. He feels it is, therefore, logical to continue to bumld i , the important County services near concentrations of population and growth. It would seem to him, in accordance with the County's growth patterns, the logical place to put this school would be near State F~rm or on the Rivanna Farms property at the corner of Route 20 and Proffit R~ad. He was shocked to hear tonight that no properties north of 1-64 were considered. This seems entirely unreasonable in this process, but given the p~litical situation and the facilities available, the Hillcrest site seems to be an appropriate compromise for the new high school. He is not speakin~ to the additional land and the proposed County uses for that property. He is~referring only to the high school, when he says he would be in favor of exercising the Hillcrest option. Mr. Perkins informed Mr. Hartman that there werel some sites considered north of 1-64. Mr. Hartman replied that this was not What he understood from the staff's statement at tonight's meeting. Mr. Huff ~aid there were sites considered in the Pantops area, as well as the Route 26 North area, during the site selection process. / Ms. Barbara Coleman, from the Scottsville area,Lemarked that one of her main concerns relates to the report that the owner expressed reservations about selling the land at Walton Middle School. She thinks it is sad if the main reason, or if one of the deciding factors for the!focus on the site at PVCC, was because the owner did not want to sell the l~nd. She then ques- tioned if the owner has any ties at all with Albemarle!County, other than the land. She asked if he cares about the students or how!far they have to travel. She referred to the comment that someone made!at tonight's meeting that Cale Elementary School could benefit from the high school being located close to it. She agrees with that statement, but she ~lso thinks that Walton could just as easily benefit from the high school. It!was also brought up tonight about the benefits of the high school being inlclose proximity to PVCC. It has always been her understanding that befor~ a high school student can take classes at PVCC, there is a process that has to be followed. Just because there is a high school next to PVCC does not m~an there is going to be a mass exodus going to its classes. She next addressed the issue of the University of Virginia's student teachers coming to th~ new high school. She commented that the County now has the teacher cadet pr6gram at Albemarle High School. Her niece participates in this program, and she is doing her work at Scottsville Elementary School. Student teachers come 6ut all the time to these outlying schools, and she does not think this sh6uld be one of the deciding issues. I Mr. Steve Kolesar stated that he lives in Scarbo~ough Place, which is on the northern edge of the southern part of the County, 6r in the center of the County, depending on how people consider this locationI He is concerned because it seems the proposed site was chosen as a comDromise between students who live in southern Albemarle and eastern Albemarle t6 try to reduce busing time for both. This high school will probably be ther~ for 40 or 50 years, and he thinks the long range plan for high schools wit$in this County needs to be considered. As the County continues to grow, and h~ expects that the northern part of the County will grow faster than anywhere else, a fourth high school will probably have to be built ten years from n6w. The high school, which is currently in the planning stage, will have be~n placed somewhere that it will have to stay as a compromise for students who ;on't be going there any more. He suggested that what is going to be the best [or the County for the year 2005 or 2015 should be considered rather than wha is the best solution for 1998, when the high school goes into use. The nu~)er one criteria for where the high school will be located should be to min~.mize the time that children spend on buses, whether it is for people in t]~e eastern part of the April 25, 1995 (Adjourned Meeting) (Page 9) County or the southern part of the County. It is a ha d struggle for children who spend a lot of time on those buses and whatever car be done to minimize this time should be done. Ms. Catherine Burton remarked that she did not c~me to this meeting intending to speak, but she thinks there is a misconception. She keeps hearing people say that the school should be in a central location, and they are referring to where the children live. She has beer a County bus driver for 25 years. There have been long bus runs in the pa~t and there are still long runs. Some of the long runs can be helped and others cannot be helped. She has graduated four daughters from Western Albemarl~ High School. They went to Albemarle High School first and it was a long bus ride either way. She has nothing to gain except to say that there are b~ses coming from the southern side of the County, such as Warren and Scotts~ille, loaded with children. She recalled that one gentleman had said tohight that Blue Ridge Hospital zs zn the Western Albemarle Hzgh School dlstr~ct. She pointed out that the line for the Western district is Carter's Bridge. School buses from Mill Creek come all the way to Carter's Bridge and go %o Western Albemarle High School as a result of redistricting. She drives her school bus to Western and a lot of the drivers have long bus runs. ~hose buses coming from Warren and Scottsville and Esmont are fully loaded, even if they do not pick up another student from the time they leave Carter's B~idge until they get to the high school. If there was a high school at Waltonl, at least buses could unload, as they do with middle school children now, an~ those children would not have to ride that long way. There is a difference~in pulling a loaded nonstop bus load of high schoolers and pulling a bus that is stopping along the way and loading up as it goes. She also remarked that after school programs would mean a great deal to students if the hzgh School was located close to Walton, and it would mean the world for the eighth graders at Walton to go next door, such as the students do at Henley and Jouett. She asked that the Board members think about this issue for the benefit of those students who have long bus rides. She knows the Keswick area has t~e same problems, and a lot of those buses are loaded, and they are traveling long nonstop distances. Those children are worn out before they get to school ~nd they are certainly worn out before they get home. She emphasized that when the Board members make their decision, she hopes they will think about t~ese long bus rides, as I. well as the suggestion from the people who are requestzng that the school be put in the central part of the County. She commented that Western Albemarle zs overcrowded, and the students have already been redzstrzcted and given longer bus rides, even from the Mill Creek and Route 2~ SOUth area. It is not going to help by having the new high school in the PVC~ area, although the Mill Creek students might get to school a little sooner. Ms. Marian Fuller, a County school bus driver, s~ated that she had two children who attended Walton Middle School and graduated~ from Albemarle High School, and she has two more children currently in school. One of her children will be starting at Walton next year. She li';es east of the southern and northeastern portions of the County. When she started driving to Walton 15 years ago, even the middle school children going to Walton from Stone- Robinson had an hour and a half bus ride. Today the s.;udents she pick up from Stone-Robinson have a 45 minute ride. The people from the Keswick area need consideration as much as the people from the Scottsvillke area. She is in favor of the proposed site for the new high school, al';hough she knows there are a lot of differences of opinion. Mr. Bob Darin asked why a Southern Albemarle hig!~ school is not built in Southern Albemarle, and a Northern Albemarle high scho,)l built at the proposed site. Mr. Robert Tobey, a resident of Mill Creek South remarked that he believes the County should exercise the option to buy ';his property and move with all deliberate speed to build the high school. Ti~e Hillcrest site is in or near a designated growth area and it is probably on~ of the best types of growth that the County can have in that area. When ar~as around Western Albemarle High School and Albemarle High School are ex~mined, it will be found that the schools have a low impact, and the other deveiopment around those areas are pleasing to the communities. He lzves zn this area, hzs chzld would go to the proposed new high school, and this is the t~e of development he would like to see in the area. Mr. Kevin Cox commented that there is one issue ~hich has not been discussed, and it is pertinent to this situation. He ~entioned that the City is very likely going to become part of the County, and~he thinks there is a good chance of that happening within the next five yea~s. If this happens, there will be the proposed new high school on the Hill~rest site, as well as Charlottesville High School and Albemarle High School ~11 in the urban areas. The City and County never seem to be in agreement and this is a good example. The County is about to build a high school in the urba~ area and the City is beginning to consider the process of reverting to townlstatus. This situation causes him to want to urge the Board members to proceed with caution, given ~ . what the future may hold for the City and County relatzonshzp. Mr. Clifton McClosky said he appreciates the chance to make a brief statement'. He hates to always disagree with his friends and neighbors in southern Albemarle County, but as a person who lives ciose to Walton Middle School, he has been concerned from the outset with tha~ site and the impact on the ground water supply, as well as the possible pollution because of the lack of a sewerage system. A lot of viewpoints have been h~ard, and he thinks it April 25, 1995 (Adjourned Meeting) (Page 10) is clear that people in Southern Albemarle County pay 0003.39 heavy price for their location, but it is also clear that people in other ar~as of the County have been, or will be, paying a heavy price. It seems to hlim that the Board members will have to balance out the conflicting viewpoints and considerations in a fair and reasonable way. If the utilities, the a the location of not only existing students, but future into consideration, it seems to him that the Hillcrest reasonable compromise. He hopes the County officials Hillcrest site proposal. Mr. Perkins asked if anyone else wished to speak forward. At 9:05 p.m., Mr. Perkins closed the public any of the Board members wanted to make comments. ~cess to good roads and students, are taken site provides a ~ill go forward with the · No one else came Rearing, and asked if Mr. Marshall said in response to one of the spea Mr. Landrith have not participated in the site selecti schools. Years ago when Cale School was built, he, Pe house and the staff chose the site. He realizes that school and it was a local situation. He remarked that more broad reaching and this leads him into the questi Sharon Wood have disagreed about this issue from the b~ginning, and there have been good reasons for this disagreement. Mrs. Wood ha~ children in her district who ride long distances to school and he does!, also. This meant she wanted the school to be built on the eastern side of the County and he wanted the school to be built on the Walton site. A compromise with the proposed site has been worked out, but nothing is definite, yet. He then recalled that Mr. Province had mentioned there were 247 children in the Scottsville and Yancey area, 167 in the Route 2~0 area, and 96 from the Western Albemarle High School area. This amounts to 5~0 children and he wondered from where the other 500 children will be coming, if the school is · opening with 1,000 students. Mr. Willie Smith, Director of Transportation, answered that the proposed figures came from the current enrollments in those areas. He went on to say that the numbers of students! were also considered in other areas. Mr. Marshall asked if he is saying that ~tudents will be pulled from areas which are currently unknown. Mr. Smith replied, "yes." Mr. Marshall commented that some students could come from ~he Samuel Miller District, and in that case, the Walton School site would be closer. Mr. Smith answered that anything is possible. Mr. Marshall remarked that health and safety hav~ not been mentioned tonight, but he is concerned about those issues. He n~ted that a woman was killed at Keene yesterday. He emphasized that the worst roads in the County are in southern Albemarle, as far as curves are concerhed, and unfortunately some of the people in that area drive too fast. The children who live deep in southern Albemarle are being driven on very dangerous ~oads for long periods of time. He is not saying the road between Gordonsville and Shadwell is not dangerous, because it is. He would like an accurate figure of how many children are coming from that area, as opposed to thos~ coming from below the Walton School site. He does think there is a much lar~er number of students coming from the southern end of the County. aat~ Mr. Marshall went on to say that everybody has ot of figures indicat- ing there are two-thirds of the students below 1-64, also two-thirds above Route 708, but no one knows where they will be coming ~rom until the redis- tricting occurs. This is a tough decision for him to nave to make, because there are children in southern Albemarle who for years! have driven long distances and families who have suffered hardships. Yet, there is a community of people in southern Albemarle which wants to grow, a~d he believes it is the only community in Albemarle County which feels this way. A school is needed near this area in southern Albemarle, and for this reason he would like to see the school at the Walton site. On the other hand, the! Scottsville District is made up of four precincts, Monticello, Porters, Covesv!lle and Scottsville. More people live in the Monticello Precinct than in th~ other three combined, and ~ost of the people who he has talked to in this pr~c:i~nct want the school built at the I{~llcrest s~te. Th~s puts h~m ~n a pred~a~:%ent, as far as numbers of people are concerned, in trying to make a decision. He came to th~s meeting w~th an open m~nd, and he w~ll continue t? keep an open mind. He understands that Mrs. Humphris has some things to say about the water, etc., at the Walton site, and he would like to hear some mor~ discussion from Board members. He would also l~ke to know why the property s price ~s now at $1.9 million when 't was $1.6 million, since he understands that the County is 97 percent accurate on its assessments. Mr. Perkins asked if Dr. Castner wanted to make Castner replied, "no" ~er's question, he and Dn of any of the ~er Way, Keith Ritten- ~ale was an elementary a high school is much phs that he has. He and Mr. Perkins also asked if there was a cost avail~ road. Mr. Huff said the estimated cost of the connect, projected in the CIP in prior years, is $1.3 million. the entire Hillcrest site, which included more acreage~than the 110 acre option, was $2.4 million. He would have to do some mo~e work on these figures to get the amount for the 110 acre site. Mr. Marshall commented that the land on Route 20 did not include the proposed 33 acres on Avon Street. Mr. Huff said he wo'~ld have to get that information. Mr. Marshall said he knows the land was lot included on Avon Street, because when this was first discussed, he had ~ssumed that 140 acres ~ble for the connector )r road, as it was The appraised value on ~ny comments. Dr. April 25, 1995 (Adjourned Meeting) 000'240 (Page 11) were involved. He was then told that all of this acreage was not involved, but there would be a right-of-way for the road. He n~xt asked how accurate the value is for the additional piece of land. Mr. Huff replied that some contracts were considered which were in existence for portions of that property, as well as sQ~e per acreage prices. The County's assessment on that entire acreage was brqken down in terms of frontage on Avon Street, frontage on Route 20 South, the acreage that includes the lake and the balance of the property. 1 Mr. Perkins then asked Mr. Huff if he would name! the Site Committee members. Mr. Huff answered that the Site Committee w~s comprised of himself; Carole Hastings, Assistant Superintendent; Willie Smith; A1 Reaser, Director of Building Services; and Wayne Cilimberg, Director of! Planning and Community Development Department. Mrs. Thomas said she wrote down some of the questions that she heard this evening. One question related to why there was such a hurry to build this school, and she thinks that the population that is being faced has been described. She asked if there was anyone in the school system who can describe the crowding in the two high schools, and what is causing the feeling that 1998 is almost too late for a new school. Mr. Reaser answered that there are nearly 2,900 high school students now, and if the.!fifth, sixth, seventh and eighth graders are counted who would be in high school in 1998 there will be 3,500 students. These are actual children who are imn school now. Mrs. Thomas then inquired as to how many acres t~e high sChool would need. She recalled the statement from one of the spea~ers that only 20 acres were needed. Mr. Reaser responded that a high school Weeds 45 usable acres. Mr. Perkins said he thought when Mr. Carter referred to the 20 acres needed for a high school, he meant there were only 20 ~dditional acres needed at the Walton site for a high school. Mr. Landrith remarked that there is some excess land at the Walton site with the adjacent property. He said the excess land plus 20 acres would make the 45 necessary ~cres for a high school. Mrs. Thomas recalled that people have stated the! Walton site is already paid for, but she noted that the site is not big enough for a new high school, nor is any other property the County currently owns. ~he then mentioned that the connector road has been in the County's plans for nany years. This road has been an important part of trying to develop the soathern portion of the County in a reasonable way. She said the Highway Department is not very helpful in paying for roads ahead of time, and it has ~een realized for years that this road was desperately going to be needed in o~der to have any kind of reasonable traffic pattern in the southern area below ~he City. For once County officials are looking ahead and trying to make ~rrangements to have a road as part of a project. Mr. Marshall mentioned that if the Hillcrest site is selected, the road will be constructed north of the Tandem School. He asked if there are any plans for Route 20, and he noted that there is a bad curve in that area. Mr. Perkins commented that Mr. Marshall should have as goo~ an idea about that as anyone else would have at this time, but if the traffi~ justifies improvements on Route 20, chen they wmll be done. Mr. Marshall stated that thzs wzll be an additional cost. Mr. Perkmns remarked that Route 20 m~ a prmmary road, so a request would have to be made to get the improvements moved ahead in the prmmary allocatmons. He said County offmcmals would have to make such a determination with the VDoT staff. / Mr. Bowerman asked whether the Walton site or thee Hillcrest site would have the most passenger miles on Route 20. He explained that for the Walton site, there will be students from the northern part of the County, as well as part of the County traveling on Rout~ 20. At the from the southern Hillcrest site, there will be students from the southern part of the County traveling on Route 20 longer, but students from the northern part a~d eastern part of the County would spend less time on Route 20. He inquired', as to the balance between those two sites, as far as Route 20 traveling ~ime is concerned. He is asking this question, because he has heard a lot of! comments about the safety on Route 20. Mr. Reaser answered that travelin~ time on Route 20 is considered to be almost equal with the two sites, but it is impossible to figure accurately because it is uncertain where the dmStrmct lines will be drawn. He said this is why the transportation savings were considered as equal to both sites. Mr. Landrith said when the comment was made that the Walton site would save the County money, he thinks the implication was t~at if only 20 addition- al acres at Walton were needed to make a high school site available, then that 20 acres would be less expensive than 108 or even 45 a~res elsewhere. He does not think the argument had to do with enough land alreldy at Walton, but it was that the excess land could be used. Mr. Finley recalled that Mr. Marshall had mentioiled the precincts and he wondered about future growth in these precincts approximately five years from now. Mr. Marshall responded that a project will be co~ning before the Board of Supervisors next Wednesday relating to Mill Creek Nort which would allow 200 more houses. The Monticello Precinct is growing rapidly as is Keswick. Mayor Thacker is also trying to get more growth in Scottsville and a lot of people are moving in that direction. April 25, 1995 (Adjourned Meeting) (Page 12) Someone from the audience asked if Mr. Marshall ~s referring to the population of the Monticello PrecinCt, Or if he is talking about school age children. Mr. Marshall replied that he has looked at ~he number of registered voters and there are more registered voters in the Monticello Precinct than there are in all of the other precincts combined. He ~as using this informa- tion, because that is usually a good guide to figure oat where the population is located. Mr. Smith said he would like to address the iss~ mentioned by Mr. Marshall concerning the number of students involved in the population of the new high school. He said the number of students relates to current students who, it is known for a fact, will attend the new high school if a high school is built below 1-64. These are students who are currently in the Albemarle or Western districts of the Walton Middle School district and includes students along Route 250 and in the northeastern part of the County. In order to get the 1,000 students necessary for the new high school, ~ number of other areas were considered, such as the area along Routes 250, 22 and 231 to the Louisa . County and Orange County lines. He went on to say that Ashcroft and Glenorchy were also considered. He emphasized that the figures ~onsidered by the Site Committee related to the eventual redistricting that would have to occur in order to fill the new high school. could ~r~r~l~i~c~tl~s~e~d~a~? ~_~er~ii~c~i~ed~e~ut~he school wherever he wanted it. r. Smith noted that redistricting has not been attempted, yet. He said only numbers have been considered. He went on to say that the Site Committee was examining the issue of building a high school which would accommodate 1,000 students, although it hap not been decided which areas would go to the new high school. He said students were put into small groups, and they were identified by numbers in a particular area. h 11 d t ' h h f Mr. Mars a sai i appears no imt at be ore ~ site can be chosen, it should be known from where the children will be comingi. Mr. Smith commented that the Site Committee looked at redistricting as a t~tally different process than trying to locate the high school. Mr. Huff remarked that when the Agnor-Hurt site ~as bought, the purChase price was $43,000 an acre; the Cale site purchase pric~ was $13,125 per acre, plus the water line had to be run to it; and the price of $1.9 million for the Hillcrest site is just over $17,000 an acre. He menti6ned that the Forestry Department had an option on a portion of this site. H~ said the Forestry Department did not' build on the site, but the option w~s $38,460 an acre for approximately 26 acres, which would have been cut out ~f the center of this property. The issue of fairness of the $17,000 an acr~ for this site was balanced against what was thought of as comparative property in terms of Agnor-Hurt and Cale Elementary Schools, as well as thel Forestry Department's option on a portion of this property. Mr. MarShall asked what the assessed value is fo~ the additional property at Walton. Mr. Huff replied that the total lb8 acres considered at the Walton site was substantially less than that and w~s approximately $3,000 or $4,000 an acre. Mrs. Powell commented that her children began school here in Albemarle County although they have both already graduated. Shel said a long time has been spent trying to get one high school site approvedl, and she does not see how two sites could possibly happen. She attended all!of the informational meetings and several of them were held at Western Albemarle High School and Albemarle High School to try to give the community input or information regarding where the students were located. She thinksl the staff did a good job in trying to get such information to the community!, and she hopes all of the people at this meeting were able to get that information. As far as the Site Selection Committee is concerned, if anyone had aBked her, she would have been able to tell them who was on this Committee. Thi~ was not a secret and the people who were mentioned as being on the S~te Selectzon Committee were the same ones who presented this information to the public throughout the entire process. The Board of Supervisors, the School Board and the Planning Commission met in executive session several times to dmscuss the issues of various sites throughout the County. The County officials were unable to give the public information as far as those sites, because ~f the competition of pricing, etc. She emphasized, though, that the public,was given the opportu- nity to talk with various members of staff, School Board, Board of Supervisors or the Planning Commission about other items of interest they felt were not properly addressed at that time. She thanked the staf~ members for all of the tmme and effort they have put mnto thms process mn trying to make sure details were gathered. Her children attended Albemarle High S~hool and with the growth that is developing in the northern corridor, mo~e and more students will have to be pushed out of that school. She remarked that these students cannot go to Western, but they have to go somewhere. She pointed out that most of the growth, as it is now, is coming from the nprth and the east. She noted that a lot of time has been spent examining this', matter, and the staff and Board members have not gone into these issues blindly. She has spent a lot of time on this matter and feels that what is best~for the entire County needs to be considered. The County does not have unlimited resources to build schools. Mr. Perkins said no decision would be made tonight. He pointed out that Mr. Martin is absent, and his input is desired. April 25~ 1995 (Adjourned Meeting) (Page 13) Mr. Marshall inquired as to when the vote would 000.342 Oe taken on this issue. He also wondered if there was a time frame involved. ~r. Tucker replied that . a decision should be made before the end of the fiscal year. Mr, Marshall asked if there would be a work session held between th~ School Board and the Board of Supervisors with a decision being made at that~' time, or would it be made during an open forum. Mr. Tucker said the dec~slQn would probably be made during an open meeting, but it would be up to the! Supervisors and School Board as to whether or not they would like to have a 3~o~nt meeting. Mr. Marshall remarked that a lot of questions ha~e been raised tonight He is willing to compromise on the H~llcrest site, but he is not willing to do so until he sees where the children will be coming fr°~ who will be going to this new school. There might be enough children livin~ in the southern and western parts of the County to accommodate a new high ~chool and he thinks that a school in the southern end of the County would ~o a tremendous amount of good. Mr. Bowerman asked who could speak to the matter! of redistricting. Dr. Castner said in a future meeting he could give the Supervisors some hypotheti- cal situations. He also wondered if an estimate of students for the new high school relating to the proposed site would help. Mr. Marshall said he would like to see some proposals. He knows he has no authority to hold the school officials to anything. Mr. Finley asked what involvement the School Board will have in the final decision since a site has been singled out. Mr. Perkins said he certainly thinks the School Board should be involved i.~ the final decision. He is sure there will be other items for discussion by the two Boards between now and when the option must be exercised. The School Board's involvement can be one of the topics of discussion during a joint meeting. Mrs. Thomas asked if it was clear to the staff a~d Board members what questions need to be answered. She has only heard one question which she thinks should be easily answered. Mr. Marshall reiterated that he wants to know wh ,t areas the students will be coming from to the new high school. Mrs. Thomas commented that she does not want to ~elay the process because it will be on a tight schedule to get a high s~hool built by 1988. She hopes answers can be received quickly to the questions. She urged Board ~h members to prepare their questions in such a way that t e staff will know precisely what is desired and can get the information ~o them quickly, so this decision can move forward. Mr. Finley pointed out that answers to redistricting cannot be handled very quickly. Dr. Hastings said she had avoided speaking tonight, because she will be the new Principal at Walton Middle School. However, she does need to clarify some points relative to her current role in the County!. A work session was held between the two Boards last fall, and at that poiht information with regard to travel time, etc., had been requested, and i,~ was shared with the Boards. She also recalled that the Boards were given information relating to how the original projected enrollments of the new high~, school were derived. She would be happy to get this information copied and sent to the Board members tomorrow. Based on current enrollments for FY! 1994-95, there were , approximately 902 students being added to the new h~gh school. She said 326 of these students would come from the Walton Middle School district, fed by Cale and Red Hill Elementary Schools. These would be ~he students trans- ferring from Western Albemarle High School. She added! that 409 students would be Walton Middle School students which were fed by Sto~e-Robinson, Scottsville and Yancey Elementary Schools, and these would be the ~tUdents transferred from Albemarle High School. These figures were develobed when consideration was being given as to whether or not there would be enough enrollment for a high school in that area. She noted that 150 students~are from Burley Middle School, plus another 17 from Ashcroft and Shadwell. T~_is made up the total of 902 students for the new high school. She then pointed out that by deleting these students from Albemarle and Western Albemarle H~gh Schools, Western would have an enrollment of 1,023 students, and Albemarle High School would have 1,539 students. She commented this was just a starting point to show that if the school was put at the Hillcrest site, students could be gathered from those areas. She also recalled that the Boards w~re informed that the travel distance was balanced, because there were some increases, as well as decreases in travel time. She noted, too, that the ma~or impact on any group was relatively minor. Mr. Marshall remarked that he thinks Dr. Hasting~ just told him what he wanted to hear. He asked Dr. Hastings where in the Wa%ton School area were the 326 students for the new high school coming from. /Dr. Hastings replied that these students were fed by Cale and Red Hill Elementary Schools, and they would be transferring from Western Albemarle High Schobl. Mr. Marshall then inquired if the 409 students were coming from Yancey ahd Scottsville. Dr. Hastings answered that the 409 students, to which she ~eferred, would be coming from Stone-Robinson, Yancey and Scottsville. She said these students would be attending Albemarle High School. April 25, 1995 (Adjourned Meeting) (Page 14) Mr. Marshall then noted it appears that 150 stud Rivanna District, and the remainder of them are coming District. Dr. Hastings stated that a ten year enrollm oooa4a ~nts are coming from the from the Scottsville ent projection is available. She thinks Mrs. Powell's comments were very accurate when she indicated that the growth for this school division ove!r the next ten years is not south of Route 708. The growth is north of Route ~,708 and to the east. She emphasized that there will be more growth to the n'orthern and eastern sections of the County based on the ten year enrollmen~t projections, at this point, although enrollments change over the years, the Mr. Perkins then asked Dr. Hastings to break figures down to show the students coming from Yancey and Scottsville, as we~ll as Stone-Robinson. Mr. Finley asked if these were just numbers, or were lines actually drawn. Dr. Hastings replied that these are fifth through eigt{th grade students who were actually enrolled in their respective schools, a~d they were projected into the future enrollment. Mr. Finley asked again zf only numbers were used. Dr. Hastings answered affirmatively. She went on bo s~ay, however, that the Boards' concern at that point was whether or not, if a! new high school was built in that vicinity, there would be enough students! without a lot of impact to the transportation time. The pro]ectlon enrollments were studied based on current figures. The location of these students'Were !then considered and it was found that 902 students could be found for the ne~ high school without drastically impacting the transportation time. Dr. Castner commented that he was reminded by onte of the Board members he had been directed to include the citizens of the af!fected areas so they could start being ~nvolved in redlstrlct~ng, instead of lust ~nvolvlng a staff committee. He next remarked to anyone in the audience', who might be affected that there will be a represented group involving the c~itizens and the staff to provide recommendations on redistricting to the Supermntendent. He will then present these recommendations the School Board. This !,is Why he is hesitant to get into any concrete information at this time. He mentioned that Dr. Hastings had presented some of the initial ~nformatmon to the Board members last fall. Mr. Bowerman noted that the Supervisors spent approximately four hours in executive session discussing this issue. He said the Site Selection Committee started out with 13 or 14 sites and through !staff input and partici- pation by individual School Board members and SupervisOrs, a process was followed where a school would be located that made sense~- to the community, locationally and educationally. Decisions were made that affected the sites which were appropriate or not appropriate. This point was not reached in a vacuum. He said the 13 or 14 sites which were examineld can be made available to the public, because they ranged in many areas other! than the two that have been discussed tonight. For various reasons, as the p~ocess Was follOwed,' either because of travel time or because of locationall criteria or future growth, these sites were eliminated. The Hillcrest si~te seemed to be a good site to bring to public hearing because it met the needs of the community with as much sensitivity to the population as possible. Mrs. Gallion said County officials have been cri.ticized for not doing a better job at long range planning. She commented that' although other issues are not being discussed for this site, she thinks thisI site presents an option for County officials in the future to plan for the community of people who live in the Route 20 South area with services such as ~ rescue squad, library and other things which will benefit that community. T~is needs to be consid- ered although these things will not be discussed tonight. It is to the County s benefit to thznk about future options. If th~mngs cannot be afforded now perhaps they can be done in ten years. She mentioned that additional land will cost a lot more, if the County officials wait ten years to buy it. There was no further discussion. Item No. 2b. Other Matters Not Listed on the Ag~enda. There were none. Agenda Item No. 3. Adjourn. At 9:50 p.m., Mrs. Humphris made a motion that the Supervisors adjourn the meeting Mr. Bowermsn seconded the motion. Roll was called and the motion carried by the following recorded vote: AYES: Mr. Perkins, Mrs. Thomas, Mr. Bowerman, Mrs. Hu ~hris and Mr. Marshall. NAYS: None. ABSENT: Mr. Martin. At this time, Mr. Landrith made a motion, seconded by Mrs. Powell, that the School Board adjourn. On a voice vote, all voted iye. 7 ~airman ~