Loading...
12-14-23 - Work SessionWORK SESSION OF THE ISLE OF WIGHT COUNTY BOARD OF SUPERVISORS HELD IN THE ROBERT C. CLAUD, SR. BOARD ROOM OF THE ISLE OF WIGHT COUNTY COURTHOUSE LOCATED AT 17090 MONUMENT CIRCLE, ISLE OF WIGHT, VIRGINIA ON THURSDAY, THE FOURTEENTH DAY OF DECEMBER IN THE YEAR TWO THOUSAND AND TWENTY-THREE AT 3:00 P.M. BOARD MEMBERS PRESENT: William M. McCarty, District 2, Chairman Joel C. Acree, District 4, Vice -Chairman Richard L. Grice, District 1 Don G. Rosie, II, District 5 Rudolph Jefferson, District 3 STAFF MEMBERS PRESENT: Randy R. Keaton, County Administrator Donald T. Robertson, Assistant County Administrator Robert W. Jones, Jr., County Attorney Carey Mills Storm, Clerk CALL TO ORDER Chairman McCarty called the work session to order at 3:00 p.m. APPROVAL OF AGENDA Supervisor Rosie moved that the agenda be approved with the invocation to be delivered at the 5:00 p.m. regular meeting. The motion passed unanimously (5-0) with Supervisors McCarty, Acree, Rosie, Grice and Jefferson voting in favor of the motion and no Supervisors voting against the motion. COUNTY ADMINISTRATOR'S REPORT Jamie Oliver, Transportation Manager, provided an overview of VDOT's alternatives for the Route 17 Arterial Plan. The Board was advised that VDOT will be requesting action from the Board at its 5:00 p.m. regular meeting under Old Business. 1 County Administrator Keaton notified the Board about two accidents that had occurred on Route 620 within two hours of each other, one of which resulted in a fatality. Ms. Oliver was requested to contact the State Police's crash reconstruction team and inquire what potential improvements can be made to Route 620 to make it safer for motorists to pull out onto Highway 258. She was further requested to contact local law enforcement and the State Police to look at enforcement (trending). Mike Frickanisce, Director of Parks & Recreation, provided an overview of the proposed landscaping improvements to the front of the Courthouse complex which has overgrown shrubs that are creating safety issues. Said work will begin in March and end in April with all improvements going through the Historical Architectural Review Committee. The benches are to be preserved, if possible, due to their historical value. Garry Windley, Chief of Emergency Services, reviewed the current policy of replacing apparatus. The consensus of the Board was to accept the policy and add a condition for wrecked vehicles for continued discussion at the Board's January meeting. Don Jennings, Director of Utility Services, addressed the issue of stormwater utility fee billing for solar farm developments. He advised that the Stormwater Advisory Committee has discussed alternatives to the County's approach on solar farm development projects as related to stormwater utility billing. The County's Stormwater Division, to date, has billed solar farm facilities based on the impervious area needed for access roads, parking areas, buildings, etc. The 2 solar panel surface area itself has been included as pervious cover. This categorization was allowed in concept since the surface beneath the panel can be pervious and the overland flow can travel unobstructed beneath the panel. On March 29, 2022 DEQ issued a Memorandum that changed the stormwater design parameters used for defining the panel cover itself to be considered impervious. This definition change, coupled with the mandatory Stormwater Ordinance requirement to bill the owner of all developed properties based on impervious cover, prompted the Stormwater Division to consider whether all (existing and future) solar farm projects should be subject to increased stormwater utility fee billing to include the effective impervious solar panel surface area itself. On April 14, 2022, DEQ issued a subsequent memo that softened its position for design purposes to allow an extension of the effective date where panels must be considered as impervious. The County attorney provided the attached legal opinion on March 9, 2023 regarding the potential to bill the panel areas as impervious. The County bills all developed properties based on their impervious cover. The Stormwater Advisory Committee recommends solar panel surface areas be billed at the current stormwater utility billing rate as all other developed commercial properties within the County for the following reasons: 1.) the DEQ defined solar panel surface areas as impervious based on the memorandum dated March 29, 2022; 2.) the ordinance requires impervious areas on developed properties to be billed for stormwater management per the attached excerpt from the County's stormwater management ordinance; 3.) by the use of the word shalliby virtue of the property being developed/as it's not subject to any exceptions; 4.) the County bills other entities, such as churches, per their impervious area; 5.) a subsequent memorandum was released on April 14, 2022 that softened the definition for design purposes to a future date in 2025 when they will be considered impervious; and, 6.) it did not change the definition and both memos are silent on stormwater utility billing. ADJOURNMENT At 5:00 p.m., Chairman McCarty declared the work session adjourned. 3 William M.M4 rty, Sr., Chairman Carey iIOStorm, Clerk