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HomeMy WebLinkAbout1995-10-11 adj · 000044 October 11, 1995 (Day-AdjoUrned from October 4, 1995) (Page 1) An adjourned meeting of t.he BOard of sUPervisors of Albemarle CoUnty, Virginia, was held on October llr 1995, at 10:30 A.M., Room 241, County Office Building; McIntire Road, CharlottesVille, Virginia. This meeting was ad- journed from October 4, 1995. PRESENT: Mr. David P. Bowerman, Mrs. Charlotte Y. Humphris, Mr. Forrest R. Marshall, Jr., Mr. Charles S. Martin (arriving at 10:38 a.m.), Mr. Walter F. Perkins and Mrs. Sally H. Thomas. ABSENT: None. OFFICERS PRESENT: County Executive, Robert W. Tucker, Jr., and County Attorney, Larry W. Davis. Agenda Item No. 1. The meeting was called to order at 10:30 a.m., by the Chairman, Mr. Perkins. Agenda Item No. 2. PUBLIC HEARING on the proposed issuance of school bonds of Albemarle County in the estimated maximum amount of $7,850,000° The purpose of the proposed bonds is to finance capital projects for public schools. (Advertised in the Daily Progress on September 25 and October 2, 1995. ) Mr. Tucker said this bond application was approved by the Virginia Public School Authority (VPSA) on September 18, 1995. The Board must adopt a resolution to approve the issuance. A public hearing is also required, and that is the purpose of this meeting, however, the resolution must be adopted at a regular meeting of the Board, so will be included as an agenda item on this night's meeting. The public hearing was opened. With no one coming forward to speak, the public hearing was closed. Mr. Perkins noted that the official resolution will be adopted at the meeting tonight. Mrs. Thomas said the Board is obviously going to be criticized for not allowing sufficient time for public input on the new high school. Would this have been an opportunity for the public to speak about all school projects? Mr. Tucker said a more appropriate time would have been during the last Capital Improvement Program budget process. Once the CIP is adopted, and staff starts moving through the process, it more difficult to stop because the county is on a tight schedule. Mrs. Thomas said the public could have appeared today. Mr. Tucker said that is correct. The public hearing was advertised for 10:30 a.m. Mr. Davis said any comments received today would have been on how the project is paid for, and not on whether or not the project is built. Mrs. Humphris said the decision to build the new high school was made long ago. This is just the financing for the project. Mrs. Humphris said her school board member told her what happened at the School Board meeting on Monday night. She said if the subject comes up tonight, shewould like to say that some members of this Board were busy all summer attending the meetings that were all open to the public, heavily advertised to the public, and it was well-known by everybody in Albemarle County about the design of the new high school. In the last week there were meetings all day Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday, which were heavily advertised and they had to do with the sustainability issue. There was a final meeting at Walton and she attended that meeting. The room had a lot of people in ito The presentation was good, but there were few members of the public in attendance. There was more than ample opportunity to comment. She thinks the complaint that was made on Monday night was out-of-line. Mr. Marshall said he does not disagree with what the end result will be if it works. He just does not trust the technology. In his business, since he computerized, they have had five different computers. He just spends money updating, and it was supposed to save him money. It is actually costing him money. Mr. Bowerman said the'intelligent use of technology is very beneficial. The point was made that none of this stuff is new technology. None of it is state-of-the-art. Mrs. Humphris said that is the major point. It is state-of-the-shelf. It is not state-of-the-art which is untried. The analogy to Mr. Marshall's personal problems with computers in his business is not a good analogy because state-of-the-shelf is what the County will be doing, and state-of-the-art is what Mr. Marshall is trying to keep up with. Mr. Marshall said he trusts Mr. Bowerman because he has looked into it deeper than Mr. Marshall has, and he trusts his judgment on it. He is dubious about somebody selling him something and he not knowing what he is buying. Another thing he bought was the solar thing. Mr. Bowerman said it might be state-of-the-shelf but they won't be putting grass on the roof, or mow it, or irrigate it, or raise cattle on it. October 11, 1995 (Day-Adjourned from October 4, 1995) (Page 2) 000045 Mr. Tucker said what this Board did, along with the School Board, was to authorize the design work to continue, and the answers that Mr. Marshall wants will come later. Mr. Bowerman said he and Mr. Perkins serve on the committee. From the consultant and architect are coming recommendations for a mix of different proposals that collectively have pay-backs of different numbers of years. The recommendations will be listed and will be explained. Some recommendations might have as short a pay-back as two years, while others might extend for twenty years. It is possible that all of the twenty year items will be eliminated, and only a combined pay-back of ten years be considered, but the committee will know what is being paid for. Mr. Marshall said that is all he wants. He also agrees that the statement was out-of-line because the Board is not spending $2.0 million on technology that no one knows anything about. The Board is spending "X" amount of dollars to find out whether the $2.0 million will be spent. That is why he voted for it, and that is why he will support it tonight. Mrs. Humphris said the public did say they want an environmentally sustainable high school. Mr. Bowerman said if h__e is as vicious as he was with the School Board on Monday night, Mr. Bowerman will move for a recess. He can disagree with the Board, but he cannot act toward this Board as he did before the School Board. Mrs. Thomas suggested that the chairman lay stronger ground rules. Mrs. Humphris said that what happened Monday night should have never happened. Mr. Davis said no one has the right to disrupt a public meeting. He cannot carry on a dialogue with individual members of the Board, or challenge members to make a motion one by one. He can be called out of order. Anyone who is being disruptive can be requested to sit down. Mr. Tucker said that is a tough call sometimes. The chairman can also assure that the person directs all comments to the chair and not to the audience or other members of the Board. Mr. Marshall said there is another problem about attitudes that will happen tonight, and he does not want to see it happen. On Item No. 12 concerning commercial stables, he has met with two people who are very bitter at each other and in a feud. He agrees with Mr. Beegle's letter that this item should be deferred until after the state study. Mro Marshall said he does not believe a commercial stable has been defined by the Planning Commis- sion, and he believes it needs to go back to them and be defined properly after the study has been done. He does not think the Board should listen to 30 or 40 people speak and fight each other over something he will not vote on until he finds out what is going to happen in January with the study. Even though the study does not say anything about commercial stables, it is going to say how important the horse industry is to this state, and he thinks the Board needs that information before making a decision. He does not believe anybody has adequately defined a commercial stable. He thinks the recommenda- tion from the Planning Commission should be sent back to them. Mrs. Thomas said she does not agree that the Board should not listen to the public tonight° She believes that many of the citizens came to the third Planning Commission meeting and the Commission said they had already had the issue discussed at a public meeting twice, and they would not hear it a third time. The fact of the matter is that most of the people did not come until the third meeting, so they felt that they only came to the one meeting, and because they were not heard, are feeling more frustrated than the usual participants. Mr. Marshall said he will not vote on it tonight. Mrs. Humphris asked for an explanation. She noted that she had read Mr. Beegle's letter. If Mr. Marshall is saying the state study (whatever that study is), will tell the Supervisors how important the horse industry is to Albemarle County, she believes that everybody understands how vital the horse industry is to Albemarle County. To her, that is not a reason to not make a decision. She agrees that maybe the definition could be better° Mr. Marshall said he had hoped that there would be something coming from that study which would define the term "commercial stable." As far as he is concerned, he thinks this should be a part of the upcoming Comprehensive Plan review, and be defined in that plan. Mr. Perkins said the Board can hold the public hearing tonight, but defer making a decision until later. Mr. Marshall said he intends to announce right at the beginning that he will not vote on the amendment tonight. Mr. Martin said there is a fair amount of hostility about this issue. October 11, 1995 (Day-Adjourned from October 4, 1995) (Page 3) 000046 Agenda Item No. 3. Medical Plan/Wellness Program, Update. Mr. Rick Huff, Deputy County Executive, said that at the joint meeting with the School Board on October 4, 1995, the Boards approved a one-month premium refund for employees enrolled in the County's health insurance plan as of June 1, 1995. They also agreed to use the additional reserve to increase the incentive for participation in the proposed voluntary health screening from $50 to $100. The Boards directed staff to offer employees receiving the refund a choice between taxable cash and a nontaxable refund. Staff now provides the following information for consideration: Nontaxable refund. IRS regulations will not allow a refund of these premiums as nontaxable income. The only option available to an employee is to tax defer the refund by participating in one of the County's deferred compensation programs. 2e One month taxable refund. The initial staff proposal for a two-month premium refund was based on providing a refund to employees in proportion to their contribution to the medical insurance program. The impact on an individual is signifi- cant for anyone who has been paying for family coverage as compared to someone paying single coverage. Since the excess reserves were accumulated based on these contribu- tions, staff feels the two-month refund is the appropriate course of action and asks the Boards to reconsider the recommendation based on this additional clarifying informa- tiono Increased inventive. Staff supports the decision to in- crease the incentive for participating in the voluntary screening from $50 to $100 as this would raise the level of participation. If the Boards agree to approve the two-month premium refund, staff recommends that the Boards consider funding the incentive from the refunded Board contribution. This would still retain the $800,000 minimum reserve. Motion was offered by Mrs. Thomas, seconded by Mr. Bowerman, to approve the staff's revised recommendation for a two-month refund and funding of the increased incentive of $100.00 for participation in the voluntary screening program, subject to the School Board's concurrence. Roll was called, and the motion carried by the following recorded vote: AYES: NAYS: Mr. Martin, Mr. Perkins, Mrs. Thomas, Mr. Bowerman, Mrs. Humphris and Mr. Marshall. None. Not Docketed. Mr. Davis handed to the Board members a package of materials in reference to the zoning text amendments which are on this night's agenda. He said these amendments are in ordinance form and there was a slight "tweaking" of the language, but there were no substantive changes from the Planning Commission's recommendations. Also, Mr. Davis handed to the Board some information regarding the reversion issue. Mrs. Thomas asked if she should mention her letter. Mr. Davis suggested an executive session at 6:30 p.m. today. Mr. Marshall said he could not attend at that time. Mr. Bowerman suggested having the executive session now, and members could stay as long a possible. Miss Neher mentioned that Mr. Monte Pace has now responded and wishes to remain on the Land Use Classifications Appeal Board. Motion was offered by Mr. Martin, seconded by Mr. Bowerman, to reappoint Mr. Monte Pace to the Land Use Classifications Appeals Board, for a term which will expire on September 1, 1997. Roll was called, and the motion carried by the following recorded vote: AYES: NAYS: Mr. Martin, Mr. Perkins, Mrs. Thomas, Mr. Bowerman, Mrs. Humphris and Mr. Marshall. None. At 10:56 A.M., motion was offered by Bowerman, seconded by Mrs. Humphris, to adjourn into executive session under Section 2.1-344(A)(7) to consult with legal counsel and staff regarding specific legal matters concern- ing reversion. Roll was called, and the motion carried by the following recorded vote: AYES: NAYS: Mr. Martin, Mr. Perkins, Mrs. Thomas, Mr. Bowerman, Mrs. Humphris and Mr. Marshall. None. At 11:25 A.M., the Board reconvened into open session. Motion was immediately offered by Mr. Bowerman, seconded by Mrs. Thomas, to certify that to the best of each Board member's knowledge only public business matters APPROVED BY BOCS DATE'7.. 7_.~ ~'~ INITIALS~ 000047 OCtober 11, 1995 (Day-Adj~u~ned fr°m october 4, 1995) (Page 4) lawfully exempted from the open meeting requirements of the Virginia Freedom of Information Act and identified in the motion authorizing the executive session were heard, discussed or considered in the executive session. Roll was called, and the motion carried by the following recorded vote: AYES: Mr. Perkins, Mrs. Thomas, Mr. Bowerman, Mrs. Humphris and Mr. Marshall. NAYS: None. ABSENT: Mr. Martin. Agenda Item No. 4. Adjourn. With no further business to come before the Board, the meeting was immediately adjourned.