The monthly County Board of Supervisors meeting was held on Monday, July 11, 2011 at the County Office building. Below is a detailed report of the results.

Board of Supervisors Meeting July 11, 2011 Public Comment Period Mary Carper – 911 Communications Representing the 911 Communications Dept. and being a 9 year employee, she requested the Board give a raise to County employees. Also she said if another department gets a raise then they should too. Elliot Cassidy- Sheriff Dept. A sheriff deputy for 11 years said they should get a raise since they had none in 4 years. Carolyn Tatum – County Treasurer She said County employees had not received a raise in 4 years. She wants the Board to seriously consider giving a raise for employees, excluding constitutional officers. Charles Vivier –From Blue Ridge District representing the Taxpayer Watchdog Group He thinks the Board should wait until the County audit is complete before making pay raises. He has heard of a 10% reduction in taxes, which he thinks is election year politics. He reminded the Board that the 2011-2015 Forecast prepared by Robinson, Farmer and Cox Assoc. recommended they maintain a cash balance of 10%. So he says stick with their budget and wait on the audit. Mickie Martin- 911 Coordinator She spoke of dedicated and hard working employees, many who have to work a 2nd job. She asked that employees be given a raise. Lois Straitor – Sheriff Department She does not feel it is fair for one department to get a raise and others not get a raise. She feels that Sheriff Dept. employees work in high risk jobs and they deserve a raise. Ward Stone- Sheriff Department- Investigator-Supervisor He says deputies are at the bottom of the pay scale in the State of Virginia. There are some dedicated hard working employees that deserve a raise. He says the Sheriff is not asking for a raise. County Employees Pay Raise Dr. Lock Boyce made a motion to give County employees a 3% raise across the board, excluding constitutional officers, excluding County Administrator, Tom Rose, excluding School Board employees and excluding Social Services employees (already awarded a raise). The motion was seconded by Karl Weiss The motion was approved 4-1, with Roger Hayden voting no. Line of Duty – Speaker Chris Cary –VACO He spoke to the Board in favor of opting out of the VRS Line of Duty insurance and going with VACO program. Motion was made and seconded to opt out of the VRS (State) program, and it passed unanimously. A second motion was made to go with VACO for the Line of Duty Act, it passed unanimously. Joan Rogers – Social Services Joan came before the board and explained their decision to give Social Services employees a 3% raise, after review and approval from the Social Services Board and approval of their annual budget. They had not replaced an Eligibility Worker (annual cost approximately $45,000) and was able to award a 3% raise. Social Services complied with the County’s request to reduce their budget by 5% and the raise did not cause them to have to increase their budget. Also, the Social Services employees are at the bottom of the minimum pay range. Joan also reported their department has been rated at the best Level II agencies by the State Board of Social Services and is in one of the top 5 in the State. Dr Boyce, as a member of the Social Services Board, apologized for not informing the Board of Supervisors of this action. Ron Knight and Crystal Harris were upset that this raise was awarded “under the radar� without public knowledge. It was concluded that the Board of Supervisors and the Social Services Board should meet and come to a better understanding of how this should work. It will be an announced meeting with public attendance. Roger Hayden suggested the Attorney General should offer an opinion on this matter, but it was agreed this might not be necessary. The Board decided that no further action would be necessary on their part since they approved the appropriation at the last month’s meeting. Appropriation for Water Project-County Schools The board unanimously approved the appropriation from the lawsuit settlement in the amount of $380,000 which would be rolled over to the current fiscal year. Appropriation for payment of School Construction Project The board voted 3-2 to appropriation payment of $1,336,000 to complete the school construction project. Voting no was Crystal Harris and Karl Weiss. Initially Roger Hayden voted no, but on a re-vote cast a yes vote. He did this at the recommendation by Allen Black, County Attorney. The no votes by Harris and Weiss was because of concern about the $2.3 million suit that TU Parks made against Ameresco. There was concern about this lawsuit and that no County Board of Supervisors was contacted by the School Board for any kind of explanation. West Piedmont Planning Commission Budget Cut West Piedmont Planning Commission ask the County to re-instate the 5% budget cut, amounting to $507. Karl Weiss made a motion to reinstate the budget to level funding, with a 2nd by Crystal Harris. This motion passed 3-2 with Boyce and Hayden voting no. Dan River Park Budget Cut Roger Hayden made a motion to reinstate the 5% budget cut experienced by the Dan River Park Association ($500) and further reinstate the budget cuts to all the parks (Total $2500). This motion was lost for a lack of a second. Bills Claims and Appropriations This was approved unanimously. Tourism Strategic Plan This was approved on a 4-1 vote, with Lock Boyce voting no. Motion was made by Roger Hayden and seconded by Karl Weiss. Boyce questioned what the Tourism Advisory Committee had done to encourage tourism. He wants to “clip their wings�. He said this gives them the O. K. to go on a shopping spree and seek more grants like the Mayo River Trail. Power Line Easement – Appalachian Power The Board voted unanimously to award an easement for a power line at the Mountain Top Recreation Park, near Meadows of Dan. Rural Waste Tom Rose announced the lowest bid for the Waste Franchise was Waste Industries. This was for a 3 year contract, that the ability to cancel in 30 days if necessary. The other bidder was Rural Services, which is the current contractor. Waste Industries agreed to separate out the commercial waste from the residential waste and price each one separately. Waste Industries residential waste was quoted at $13.58 per month whereas, Rural Services was bidding $18 per month. Roger Hayden offered a motion to reject all bids and eliminate the franchise arrangement. This motion lost for a lack of a second. Lock Boyce made a motion to go with Waste Industries, the lowest bidder. Second was by Crystal Harris. The motion lost on a vote of 4-1, with only Boyce voting yes. Karl Weiss expressed his opinion that 1. we are getting no complaints about Rural Services, 2. this is a Patrick County business with Patrick County employees, employing 5 people, 3. They buy fuel locally, and 4. this action would put Rural Services out of business. Lock Boyce made a motion to go with Rural Services, 2nd was by Karl Weiss. This motion was passed unanimously. At 9:55pm, the Board voted to extend the meeting time beyond 10:00pm. After a brief recess, the board reconvened at 10:15 pm and voted 4-1 to rescind the previous action. Motion was made by Boyce and seconded by Harris. After discussion at the break, the board felt there was confusion about the details of the bid for the commercial waste and Tom Rose would seek clarification based on the size commercial bins and the number of bins and the number of residential customers. Waste Industries was 50% higher on 4 cu. Yard commercial bins and 25% higher on 6 cu. Yard commercial bins. For the time being the contract with Rural Services will continue until this matter is resolved at the next meeting. At 10:20pm, the board reconvened in Executive Session to discuss contracts and personnel. Reported by : Tom Bishop