AT THE MEETING OF THE RAPPAHANNOCK COUNTY BOARD OF SUPERVISORS HELD ON THE 7th DAY OF NOVEMBER, TWO THOUSAND AND ELEVEN AT TWO O’CLOCK P.M. AT THE COURT HOUSE IN WASHINGTON, VIRGINIA

Present	Present	Absent
Roger A Welch, Chairman S. Bryant Lee, Vice Chairman Ronald L. Frazier I. Christopher Parrish Michael J. Biniek	John McCarthy, Co. Adm. Peter H. Luke, Co. Attorney Margaret R. Ralph, Clerk

Chairman Welch called the meeting to order.

The Pledge of Allegiance was recited. The Board and audience observed a moment of silence.

MINUTES: There was a correction to last month’s minutes: Pastor James Spiven was corrected to Pastor James Pittman. On motion of Mr. Lee, seconded by Mr. Parrish, the minutes of the October 2011 meeting were unanimously approved by the Board as corrected.

REVISED AGENDA: Changes to the posted agenda will be as follows: 1) Mr. Bobbitt, representative from Efficient Roll-off will not be present at this meeting. 2) On-line BoardDocs (agendas and Packets) will be tabled for a future meeting. 3) Three Budget amendments will be presented. Information on the Veteran’s Day program will be presented. On motion of Mr. Frazier, seconded by Mr. Biniek, the Revised Agenda was unanimously approved by the Board.

ABOUT OUR SCHOOLS: Dr. Boone thanked the Board Members for their recent tour of the schools. He hopes that there will be more visits in the future.

Engineering plans for the playground are almost complete and the new equipment will be purchased very soon. There is no completion date yet, but things are moving ahead very smoothly. Community volunteers, under an engineer’s supervision, will install the equipment.

Dr. Boone gave a brief report on other school activities: the flag football program was very successful, basketball and wrestling programs are now underway, Friday’s school play was great and there was lots of positive feedback, Veteran’s Day Program, School Board meeting tomorrow night.

The Superintendent’s Annual State of Schools address will be delivered on Thursday. At that time Dr. Boone will present the annual report for the schools.

A copy of the Strategic Plan, the Schools’ blue print for the future, was distributed to the Board.

Mr. Parrish asked about the number of special needs children in the system. Dr. Boone said that the percentage has increased due to school enrollment, but the number of children has actually decreased. Mr. McCarthy gave some information on a state audit that was done some years ago.

Mr. Parrish added that his fear is that if our system becomes “too good” there may be an influx of parents who will want their children in Rappahannock school system creating an undue burden on the system. However it is our job to do the best for the students we have. On the other side of the coin we have kids who are part of the advanced placement programs. What is the percentage of these kids. Dr. Boone said that because of the initiation of new programs, the number of advanced placement children would be increasing.

Mr. Lee asked about the steps being taken towards accreditation. Dr. Boone reported that the accreditation process is two-fold – we got the state part, but did not get the AYP because of school choice and reading statistics. He explained the use of a “school improvement” system because we cannot offer school choice, despite efforts to have neighboring system accept our students.

Mr. Biniek apologized for not making the tour of the schools. He asked about recent heating/ac issues. Dr. Boone and Mr. McCarthy are working with SRP on the problem. Mr. Biniek also asked if the Governor’s School program was being phased out. It is not.

Mr. Welch asked about block scheduling. The schools are still using this, but Dr. Boone reported that there are continuing discussions on various trends concerning this type of scheduling.

PUBLIC COMMENT: Mr. Welch opened the Public Comment session. There being no speakers, the Public Comment session was closed.

Mr. Welch made a comment concerning a candidate’s meeting that was held in Chester Gap. Another Board member and others conducted this meeting to allow the citizens to meet the candidates running in the up-coming election. Mr.Welch did not attend the meeting, not because of a lack of interest, but because he was not invited to attend and had no knowledge of the event.

OLD BUSINESS:

School Energy Projects Update: Mr. McCarthy gave Walt Maben authorization to work with Bob Haggar of Veteran’s HVAC on the thermostat problems in the elementary school. All thermostats will be checked and repaired or replaced as necessary.

Mr. McCarthy gave a brief synopsis of the causes and repairs of the problems that Mr. Biniek inquired about earlier in the meeting. The new furnace in the elementary school is now operating very efficiently.

Most energy “fixers” are now complete with only the windows and HVAC at the high school still to be done.

Bond Closing: Our bonds were sold through BB&T Capitol Markets last week at a very favorable interest rate of 1.99051%--much better that we had anticipated. Mr. McCarthy briefly explained the interest and payment structure. No action is necessary at this meeting, but Mr. McCarthy will have some additional information and suggestions concerning our debt service at the next meeting. So far, everything is going quite smoothly.

Solid Waste Contract: At this meeting Mr. McCarthy commented on our current solid waste contract. Because of a scheduling conflict Mr. Bobbitt, Efficient Roll-off, will speak at our next meeting. Basically, what he would like to do is to offer a plan for a different destination for our solid waste. Currently we are in the first two year-renewal extension of a long-term agreement with Culpeper County. Mr. McCarthy continued with a brief explanation of the terms and conditions of that contract. We have actually three entities involved in various phases of trash removal: Culpeper County, Community Trash and Efficient Roll-off.

Community Trash and Efficient Roll-off have installed their own materials recovery facility in Culpeper (MERF-a facility where bulk trash is taken and separated into various “piles”). In essence it is the same operation that Culpeper County has, but it is a private business. What Community Trash and Efficient Roll-off are hoping to propose is to get all of our business. At some point the Board will have to decide if they want to put our contract out for bid for a better price. We have done a lot of business with Culpeper. However, the Board will be looking for the best contract price.

A brief discussion followed. Mr. Biniek asked if Culpeper wants to continue our contract. The answer was yes. Mr. Parrish suggested that a citizen’s advisory group be appointed to study the trash disposal situation and report back to the Board. In answer to a question from Mr. Frazier as to the goal of such a group, Mr. Parrish commented that it would just be for suggestions and brainstorming. Mr. Lee supported this idea. Mr. Welch commented that such a group might help the Board understand the entire process. Mr. McCarthy will develop a proposal and report back at a later meeting.

Deer Processing at Muskrat Haven Farm: This program will be starting shortly. Basically, the County is paying Muskrat Haven Farm $50/deer carcass processing. The meat is then sent to the Food Pantry for sale. It has been a very successful and effective program and benefits many of our citizens.

VDOT Presentations to Commonwealth Transportation Board: Included in the Meeting packet were two proposals made by VDOT to the State Transportation Board: one concerning Devolution of Secondary Roads and Revision of the Secondary Road Standards.

Devolution would require the localities to take over the responsibility of improving, maintaining, repair and construction of all secondary roads. There is little interest in most localities. However, the recommendation will be made to the Governor. This change will present a huge burden for Rappahannock, with very little in infrastructure to deal with it. Mr. McCarthy is very concerned about this issue and urged the Board to stay involved.

Revision of Secondary Road Standards involves secondary roads that are in the community but do not meet the standard road requirements. We have had two in the recent past: Smith Creek Road and Bank Road. Regulations are very strict and have very stringent requirements. A brief explanation followed.

Update on Accelerate Virginia Program: The Meeting packet contains a very comprehensive report on the measuring of broadband access in the county. No real surprises in the results. Best speed is in zip code 22640 and worst in zip code 22713. The Board and Mr. McCarthy thank all residents who logged in and participated in the study.

NEW BUSINESS:

Department of Forestry: A representative from this agency will be at the January meeting to answer any questions that Board Members may have. Mr. McCarthy will ask Reid Folsom to participate in the presentation. Mr. McCarthy asked that the supervisors think about any topics they would like to have included in this discussion, to give the list to him, and he will contact the agency.

Budget Amendments:

Add New Revenue Item 1800-1862 Tourism Advertising $ 15,000.00

Add New Title 8504/5201 Postal Service $ 1,500.00

Add To existing & retitle 8504/5401 Visitor Guide $ 15,000.00

No new funds are involved in these changes.

On motion of Mr. Biniek, seconded by Mr. Parrish, the Board voted unanimously to accept these budget amendments.

APPOINTMENTS: Sandra Maskas’ term on the Community Services Board will expire on December 31. She is eligible and willing to be reappointed. On motion of Mr. Frazier, seconded by Mr. Lee, the Board voted unanimously to reappoint Ms. Maskas to the CSB.

Mr. Frazier has agreed to serve as the government representative to the Piedmont Workforce Network Board. A business representative is also required. The incumbent, Steve Ray, is eligible for reappointment for a term beginning July 1, 2012 – June 30, 2014. On motion of Mr. Lee, seconded by Mr. Biniek, the Board voted unanimously to reappoint Mr. Ray.

CORRESPONDENCE: None

Mr. McCarthy called the Board’s attention to the Regional Commission’s Annual Report Data Summary. It does have some interesting information on ways we are like our neighboring counties and how we differ. There is some very interesting statistics.

INFORMATION: --October Building Permit Report

--VDOT Report

--Tourism Report

--RRRC Annual Report and Date Summary

--Reminder – Veteran’s Day Program at RCHS on 11/11

CLOSED SESSION: On motion of Mr. Parrish, seconded by Mr. Lee the Board voted unanimously to retire into executive session in accordance with Section 2.2-3711A of the Code of Virginia:

1. To discuss the performance, salary of specific public officers, appointees or employees of the Board of Supervisors under Section 2.2-3711A.1.

2. To discuss the investing of public funds where competition or bargaining is involved, where if made public initially, the financial interest of the governmental unit would be adversely affected under Section 2.2-3711A.6.

The subject matter of the closed meeting will be: Building Office staffing and computer services contracting.

The roll call vote was recorded as follows: Mr. Welch Aye

Mr. Frazier Aye

Mr. Lee Aye

Mr. Biniek Aye

Mr. Parrish Aye

On motion of Mr.Parrish, seconded by Mr. Lee, the Board voted unanimously to reconvene into open session.

The Chairman polled the members of the Board as follows: “Do each of you certify that to the best of your knowledge only public business matters lawfully exempted from the open meeting requirements of the Virginia Freedom of Information Act, and only such public business matters as were identified in the motion by which the closed meeting was convened, were heard, discussed or considered by the Board of Supervisors in the closed meeting?”

The roll call vote was recorded as follows: Mr. Welch Aye

Mr. Frazier Aye

Mr. Lee Aye

Mr. Biniek Aye

Mr. Parrish Aye

ACCOUNTS: One additional account was presented. On motion of Mr. Lee, seconded by Mr. Biniek, the Board voted to accept the accounts. Mr. Parrish abstained from the vote.

The meeting was adjourned until the 5PM session.

5PM Session: Mr. Welch called the meeting to order.

School Budged Amendment:

The School Board has requested a budget amendment in the amount of $654,822.92. These funds are predominantly state special education and Title 1 funds. Also included are carryover stimulus money, carryover Federal government and job stimulus funds, and previously donated funds. This addition represents no local dollars.

Mr. Welch opened the public hearing. There being no comments, Mr. Welch closed the public hearing.

On motion of Mr. Lee, seconded by Mr. Biniek, the Board voted to approve the addition of $654,822.92 to the School Budget. The roll call vote was recorded as follows:

Mr. Welch Aye

Mr. Lee Aye

Mr. Frazier Aye

Mr. Biniek Aye

Mr. Parrish Aye

On motion of Mr. Frazier, seconded by Mr. Lee, the Board adjourned.

______________________

Chairman