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11-15-2001 Continued Meeting 1 CONTINUED .MEETING OF THE ISLE OF WIGHT COUNTY BOARD OF SUPERVISORS HELD THE FIFTEENTH DAY OF NOVEMBER IN THE YEAR TWO THOUSAND AND ONE PRESENT: BOARD OF SUPERVISORS Henry H. Bradby, Chairman Robert C. Claud, Sr., Vice-Chairman Stan D. Clark Richard K. MacManus Phillip A. Bradshaw (Arrived at 4:15 p.m.) ',, I ALSO PRESENT: LEGISLATIVE DELEGATION Delegate William K. Barlow Senator Frederick M. Quayle 'i 1 1 Also Attending: H. Woodrow Crook,. Jr., County Attorney W. Douglas Caskey, County. Administrator Donald. T. Robertson, Assistant County Administrator/Director of Human Resources Carey H. Mills, Recording Secretary Chairman Bradby called the continued meeting to order at 4:00 p.m. for the purpose of meeting with the County's Legislative Delegation. // County Administrator Caskey noted the County's list of legislative priorities, as adopted by the Board, had .been forwarded to .the County's . legislative delegation previously. Regarding funding issues, under the Comprehensive Services Act, Supervisor Claud stated the County needs additional funding to support this effort and the State has not been. contributing to the extent that it should. .Supervisor Clark stated the Assistant County Attorney is charged with assisting Social Services and the Judges have mandated her presence in court for all juvenile cases involving Social Services,. however, .Social Services only has a budget to pay for twenty (20) hours per month for her services. Regarding the E-91I tax, Supervisor Claud stated there would probably be a recommendation that. all telephone taxes be reviewed next .year. He stated the General Assembly would be reviewing all of the taxes on telecommunications with recommendations to follow.. 1 . . eo~~ 2~ ,ti~:524 Chairman Bradby noted his discontentment that cities and towns are. allowed to utilize certain areas for taxing powers, however, counties can not. Senator ..Quayle stated if there ever was a valid reason .for allowing citiesand towns, but not counties, to have certain taxing powers,.it does not exist. today. He stated he has supported this issue in the past and will continue to support any measure for counties to have equal taxing powers. Chairman Bradby stated other localities having taxing powers the County does not have has concerned. him for many years. He stated this revenue is needed to provide school and other services to the citizens of the County. Supervisor MacManus stated he appreciates the support of the County's legislative delegation on this issue, however, it seems it does not appear to be a consensus with the Delegates and Senators in Richmond. He stated it does not look as if counties having equal taxing powers as cities will happen in the foreseeable future which is hard to understand when there is such a consensus throughout the entire State at the local level. ..Delegate Barlow stated Delegate Dillard personally requested his support for northern Virginia having the power to have a referendum on whether or not they can have a local sales tax for transportation, which he agreed to support. He stated Delegate Dillard wants support for that, however, he does not want to offer support for the idea of localities to direct their own destiny and diversify their tax base rather than depending entirely on their real estate tax. Senator Quayle stated a Bill was introduced last year to put counties on the same footing as cities and towns. He stated he did not follow the Bill, but he would investigate further to see if he could find out what happened to the Bill.. Under funding for primary and secondary roadways, Chairman Bradby requested support as there are roads in the County, particularly in the secondary system, that need attention, but the County has a limited amount of funding. Supervisor Bradshaw stated funding is a major issue and the County is looking for the new Governor's approach that the administration will speed up some of the County's projects. Supervisor Claud stated the County is not receiving adequate funding to keep up with inflation under the secondary road funds. Senator Quayle. stated members of the legislature have expressed feelings of frustration in dealing with VDOT as well. He stated the Senate 1 1 1 2 ~o~~ 2J .-525 Finance Committee feels that VDOT is completely unresponsive which is a recognized problem that needs addressing. Supervisor Clark stated .when VDOT stopped servicing• ,.the outfall ditches this had an effect on County residents who live in low-lying areas causing septic tanks and wells to fail and property to flood. He stated the - County does not have the necessary equipment to service these ditches and this is a small thing VDOT could go back to doing. He suggested that when a road is accepted into the Rural .Addition Program, VDOT could at least maintain the roads with their graders which would satisfy residents and help the drainage, on these roads. ~~ 1 Regarding Unfunded Mandates, Chairman Bradby noted that the State is handing .down mandates but no funding to go along with them. County Administrator Casket' elaborated on the mandates being passed down from the State. He referred to the enforcement of non-tidal wetlands regulations by the Department of Environmental Protection and the ..inadequate staffing levels within that agency. to carry forward those regulations. Delegate Barlow stated any Bill which could result in a. mandate on a locality has to be introduced by the first day of the session. to help people notice the Bill right off. He requested staff to inform him of any legislation dealing with localities and requiring a mandate so that action can be taken to head it off. Supervisor MacManusrequested that any Bills introduced include that full funding sources be identified in any mandates which would allow both parties to know where those funds are expected to come from. Under Social Services, Chairman Bradby stated the County is one of the high-growth areas of the State and needs these kind of .facilities to accommodate the growth taking place. Senator Quayle stated he made it known that he was going to ask the Local Government Committee to pass .over until .this year any measures dealing .with growth issues to-allow the difrerent groups to talk. He stated there are major issues that need resolving and the Local. Government Committee is aware of the County's concerns. Supervisor Bradshaw stated. the County's growth has been moderate and .the County is in the process of controlling the growth and learning to manage it better. He stated the County is working. diligently on its side as far as utilizing the tools that the County can to recapture. its costs. Delegate Barlow stated. he understands..from. the Coalition on High Growth that it is not proposing any legislation this session. • 3 eoo~ 20 :; : 5?6 Supervisor Claud stated it is the intent that there be a truce between the shelter industry. and the Coalition of High Growth. Delegate Barlow inquired of County Attorney Crook .about the County's ability to downzone. County Attorney Crook responded that the County has the authority to down zone property. However, this authority is limited by the circumstances of each case. For instance, if the property were zoned for development and located in a planned development district with public water and sewer available, it would be very difficult to justify down zoning. If the property were located in an agricultural area, had been zoned for .development but the area did not develop, did not have public water nor public sewer available, inadequate roads, it could be down zoned to agricultural or other less intensive use. However, any down zoning would require public hearings and ordinance amendments. Regarding local issues, specifically the cigarette tax, Donald T. Robertson, Assistant .County Administrator/Director of Human Resources, stated that not included in the Board's agenda. is information concerning the tax rates of neighboring localities. He stated both towns in the County have a cigarette tax of $.25 per pack. He stated the County has a major obligation for .schools, but lacks the. ability to tax something that. cities and towns can tax. Delegate Barlow stated there are only two (2) areas in Virginia that are not heavily impacted by the tobacco industry. He stated anything that appears to be anti-tobacco, the legislators are going to vote against. He stated he would be glad to support the County in its effort to levy a cigarette tax because he sees no reason why the County should be denied the right to levy such a tax. Supervisor MacManus inquired if resolutions or letters of support from other communities bear much weight with .the legislative body in Richmond. He noted he has spoken with other neighboring localities that willingly support the County's efforts to meet its local needs. Delegate Barlow stated letters of support help, but legislators from the southside or Richmond will probably vote against it. Supervisor Bradshaw suggested the. County get the .Hampton Roads Mayors and Chairs to endorse it which consists of sixteen (16) localities and northern Virginia's Mayors and Chairs to also endorse it. He stated these two (2) regions have a large block in the General Assembly. He stated the County is just looking for equity in its taxation efforts. 1 4 Supervisor Clark stated the members from that Committee representing those areas voted against the County's ability to tax sand. He stated they approach the County for various areas of support, but they have not been supportive of the County's efforts. 1 1 Supervisor Bradshaw stated the amount of sand leaving the County is increasing and he has taken the position of voting against the extension of permits because of the taxation issue. He stated if the. County could get some form of severance tax from it he would vote for it. He stated the trucks hauling the sand from the County increases the .transportation and. tears the roads up. Supervisor. MacManus stated that VACo's Education Steering Committee is going to strongly. push increases for teachers' salaries. He encouraged the legislators to allow accreditation to come from various sources and not rely so heavily on SOLs. Senator Quayle stated he intends to work for this on the Senate side and Delegate. Jones will take the lead in the House of Representatives. Regarding Social Services funding, Supervisor Bradshaw stated there have been .changes in the funding structure over the last several years. which remains the focus. He stated the Comprehensive Services Act is having a tremendous financial strain on localities. Regarding manufactured homes in agricultural areas, Supervisor Claud stated there is an effort coming from the Housing Study Commission that manufactured homes .and modular homes be defined as single family residences. Alan S. Nogiec, Director of Parks and Recreation, addressed the issue of stabilization of Fort Boykin. He stated the Virginia Historic Preservation Office coordinates several grants, one (1) of which is a General Assembly Grant and-would require a budget amendment. He stated. he is willing to offer this amendment and the County is grateful for whatever funds it may receive to offset this cost. Delegate Barlow thanked :the Board for- briefing him and Senator Quayle on its issues. He stated he would support the County in all its efforts. Chairman Bradby thanked the legislators for meeting with the Board. and for any assistance~they can: provide from the State level. J/ 5 '