Board of Supervisors Regular Second Meeting   2/15/2023

It allows them the MSW fee of $54 if that's approved.

They will pay that fee, but they will not pay the $9 per item fee.

We'll just treat it as municipal solid waste.

And the outcome of these changes, it will generate about an additional $90,000 for Rivanna and decrease the contribution, the allocation that this board makes to these services.

Okay, so again you see the services we provide refuse recycling of the post closure of the landfill that has to go on for many many years to make sure the air and the water are being monitored from the cells that were not lined in when the landfill was started they did not have the contemporary liners there and we monitor the groundwater to make sure there's no contaminants that could be leaving the site

and I mentioned the vegetative debris pile and the mulch that we have.

We sponsor the amnesty events to take furniture and mattresses and appliances and e-waste and tires for free usually twice a year and again this board supports these events and services for the community and we already have the schedule for the spring and fall 2023.

So this just shows you the changes that yard waste would go from $48 to $50, non-freon appliances would be eliminated, domestic waste going from $52 to $54 along with construction debris, and the compostable waste commercial fee would be eliminated, the mulch sold fee would be eliminated, and the non-freon appliances fee would be eliminated.

So again, these are recommended to bring our charges in line with the local market to provide some practical adjustments in the way we weigh and charge people, particularly bringing appliances and helping us to get rid of the excess mulch we frequently have.

And it will generate some revenue for the both of us.

Thank you, Mr. Moyer.

We'll go through our order.

Yes, thank you.

you do for the county and the area in providing these services.

I'm just going to ask a question that's based not on what's here but on the memo that accompanied us and the materials in eliminating certain fees.

refers to net annual revenue reduction amounts.

And I just got a little confused, I guess, because it seemed as if, for example, the compostable waste, that it's no longer a viable program.

whether we would eliminate this or not, they're no longer, my understanding of what you're saying is they're no longer really providing it, so it's really not revenue.

We're expecting this as lost revenue anyway.

That's all I want to clarify.

I want to make sure I understood that we weren't turning over something that we expected to get otherwise.

Let's see.

Yeah, no other questions.

Yeah, we're working, trying to find the sweet spot of raising rates without decreasing the volume.

And again, if we may come back next year and we'll see how the bids we get for the next transfer contract come in, if they go up.

We could be back to the board saying, well, we think we can raise it again.

Thank you.

I really appreciate the management and counting the pennies and doing all the surveys around because helping us to be close to everybody else balances the distance questions that many people ask themselves.

And so that's great.

And I also appreciate the fact that the whole board is well informed.

And that's a big, big improvement from 10 years ago before you got here.

Appreciate all the work.

Thank you.

Supervisor Galloway.

Thank you, Mr. Moyer.

I mean, this all seems very reasonable.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Thank you very much.

I don't have any real questions.

Thank you, Mr. Moyer.

I don't have any questions.

I thought it was a very good presentation and I have full understanding.

Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Moyer.

I have one quick question.

Yes, and you do have to sign up, so you don't want to be late.

because it fills up.

Yep, I may not see you on the first Saturday after the first of July, but I will be bringing my truck out there to get some of that mulch.

Okay.

Your staff does a great job in a very dirty environment keeping it nearly spotless.

Thank you.

I know you and Mr. Andrews took a tour and

and we were glad you'd see it and had that impression.

I can tell you I grew up in North Garden so I used to go to the Ivy Dump as a teenager.

My father was a contractor and we were always taking debris out there and you pulled your pickup truck and just shoveled it off and it was not anywhere near the facility that we have now.

And I thank our staff and tell them you're the same comment you just made.

We have a world of improvement there and it is a solid waste landfill.

And this morning when I dropped off my recycling just down the street here at McIntyre, it's the same thing.

Your staff keeps it as clean as possible.

I'm either there or at Ivy.

Every few weeks I'm out there dropping off household garbage and everything and I'm looking forward to going to Keene.

Yes, ma'am.

We hope to have it for you soon.

Thank you.

It's available.

It comes with a driver as well.

All right, board, we'll go to item number 11, Kendrick Clean Earth Fill.

Mr. Stewart or Mr. Savoda?

Mr. Savoda and Ms.

Filardo, good afternoon.

Thank you and welcome.

I'm sorry, just a second please.

Oh, Board, we need to approve Resolution C on that last item.

My apologies.

Actually, Mr. Richardson caught it, so I appreciate him catching that.

So the floor is open to a motion to adopt Resolution C.

Attachments see a resolution to approve the modified tipping fees and other charges for the Ivy Material Utilization Center.

So moved.

Second.

Motion by Supervisor Andrews, a second by Supervisor McKeel.

Ms.

LaPisto-Kirtley?

Aye.

Ms.

Mallek?

Yes.

Ms.

McKeel?

Yes.

Ms.

Aye.

Mr. Andrews?

Yes.

All right, thank you.

And it's saved by Mr. Richardson.

Thank you.

All right, Ms.

Good afternoon Chair Price and members of the board.

My name is Jody Filardo, Community Development Director.

With me is Bart Swoboda, Zoning Administrator.

We're pleased to be before you today to present the second pass at a request from Mr. Tim Kendrick for waivers on zoning code section 5.1.28 in support of the reclamation of his farm.

This is a project of firsts.

The first time staff is bringing forward a recommendation to approve a special exception based on this section of the zoning code, the clean earth and inert waste fill activity.

The first time we've had the pleasure of working with this combination of folks, including Mr. Tim Kendrick, plus Mr. Andy Herrick, Deputy County Attorney, and Mr. Bill Fritz, CDD, Development Process Manager, and the first time we've worked with an applicant as committed to doing the right thing based on the specifics of our code.

Bart and I will first set the project in context, explain some history related to this, and then we'll walk you through our approach on code from which Mr. Kendrick is requesting waivers.

Finally, we'll offer a series of conditions for your consideration.

We're hoping to knit these pieces together for you, and then we'll pause for questions.

So let's begin.

Mr. Kendrick is the tenth generation of his family to farm this land located in the White Hall Magisterial District adjacent to Chris Green Lake.

The special exception relates to two separate parcels totaling approximately 232 acres.

These parcels are designated rural area in the comprehensive plan.

The historic use of both parcels is agricultural and there are no dwelling units on either.

This is the second time this property has been before the board for an exception to specific aspects of this code newly adopted in September of 2020.

The purpose of the ordinance is to regulate the impacts of the fill activity, not agricultural operations.

Regulations in the ordinance cover setbacks, location, and timing of the placement of fill, property sizes, and access, among a few other things.

After working on this special exception request for almost seven months, we're bringing forward our recommended compromises on those items of concern.

We will not be covering those topics on which staff and Mr. Kendrick agreed.

At the initial special exception board review on July 20, 2022, Mr. Kendrick requested an exemption from all regulations for fill activity.

Staff did not support that approach and neither did the board.

However, at that meeting, following the denial, you asked staff to work with the applicant on a solution and that's what we have for you this afternoon.

Mr. Kendrick has taken care to follow all requirements carefully and in compliance with state and county code.

Mr. Kendrick applied for a natural resources conservation service farm improvement plan, which was reviewed by the Albemarle Conservation Easement Authority on July 6, 2022 for compliance with the existing conservation easement already on his farm.

ACEA, after some discussion, found this plan to be appropriate given the terms of the easement.

Specifically, the terms of the NRCS plan allow for the, quote, establishing, reestablishing, maintaining, or using cultivated fields, orchards, or pastures, including clearing woodland areas for conversion to cropland or pasture land, as well as erosion control and restoration.

As an aside, Mr. Corey Kirkland, USDA NRCS District Conservationist, inspected Mr. Kendrick's property and confirmed compliance with his plan on December 20, 2022.

Mr. Kendrick's interest is in receiving clean earth fill so he can remediate his family's farm.

Members of the board, thank you.

This slide outlines the criteria to qualify for variation or exception within 5-128.

Should the board find that the request meets one or more of these criteria, the exception or variation may be granted.

In blue, the numbers 1, 2, and 5 are the criteria that have been met.

As we look at this particular slide, in the bottom left hand corner is Carriage Hill Drive, just to give you an idea how we access the parcel.

Mr. Svoboda, I'm not hearing you real well.

Could you move the microphone closer?

The easement has been in existence since the 1800s.

The home on lot number 136, which is not what the blue arrow is pointing to, but it's that particular lot above that arrow as a house that is 4405 Carriage Hill Drive.

That house was constructed within the setback.

In November, on November 11th in 1986, the BZA, the Board of Zoning Appeals, granted a variance for that home to remain in place.

The reason I bring that up is when we had some discussions the last time, we talked about the proximity of some houses to that easement, in particular one that's especially close.

The especially close house is the aforementioned house.

During those discussions, the BZA did alert the builder that there may be adverse impacts from the close proximity to that easement with the granting of that variance.

Staff also considered in analyzing this that the 15-foot variance granted by the BZA, so it went from 25 feet down to 10 feet.

The setbacks were different then than they are now.

Even with that credit of the 15 feet, the location of that existing easement does not meet the 50 foot setback nor the 100 feet from the dwellings on the adjacent properties.

This slide is a blow up of what we were just looking at.

The yellow line again is the access.

The green line is a secondary easement that's been in discussion about where an alternate route may take place.

So this alternate 60-foot right-of-way that has been a question of whether or not it could serve access to the Kendrick Farm on this drawing is the location that's approximate that based on staff's review of Placid Deeds, this is where that easement falls.

So the installation of an alternate route would actually disturb more acreage, about 1.6 acres, for just access, not part of the

Reclamation of the land and also it would run through water protection ordinance stream buffer as represented in the purple on this map.

This access would also need special exceptions granted due to its proximity to property lines.

In the previous application from July of 2022, again the applicant

requested unlimited activity.

Following the board's feedback, the applicant modified his request to have not more than four acres open to activity at any one time, which is two acres of activity for fill and two acres in reclamation.

So there's the ability to work in an area and also reclaim.

Staff finds that approach reasonable.

The applicant has indicated that because there is no control over the availability of clean fill, clean earth fill, or the weather, they cannot estimate the time needed to accomplish the project.

Based on this information, staff suggests that if approved and compliant with all the above limits, the activity under these special exceptions be permitted for up to five years.

Like the setback requirements for access, the limitation on how long the fill operation can operate is a method that helps protect and minimize impacts of abutting properties.

However, it is also a method that minimizes impacts for the larger community due to the increased possible erosion and disturbance of operations.

On this screen is the summary of regulations in Section 5A that allow the Board of Supervisors to approve a modification or waiver of the regulations for fill activity.

Fill regulations were adopted in order to protect public health, safety, and welfare.

Regulations are designed to limit the scale of activity in order to limit the impacts on adjacent properties and environmental resources.

Requirement compliance with the ordinance forwards the purpose of the ordinance and serves the public health, safety, and welfare.

Granting an exception satisfies the requirements of the ordinance to at least an equivalent degree.

Staff's opinion.

following slide are the conditions.

I don't want to run through all of them.

We've covered most of them.

I want to point your attention to specifically three of those.

One is number three and that trucks must access the site through the intersection of Advance Mill Road and Earliesville Forest Drive to the greatest extent possible.

That is the shortest route

from Early Advance Mill Road to the site.

Number four, the owners must provide evidence to the county of fill activity related to the special exception upon request.

Chair Price and board, just wanted to point out that the other options not covered by Mr. Swoboda were all mitigations offered by Mr. Kendrick.

So we just wanted to let you know that we're already in agreement on those.

These additional options are things that staff requested of him and we are recommending them to you.

They are in your attachment and as conditions.

All right.

Does that conclude the presentation?

Yes, Chair Price.

I didn't want to cut you off.

Thank you.

All right.

Thank you both.

We will go through our order.

One quick question.

You mentioned the records would be available if requested to the county.

They have their own plan.

The property owner, Mr. Kendrick, will have to follow.

Thank you.

Thank you.

To start, could you roll back one, please?

Because there's one.

That one?

Yes, this is perfect.

Okay.

In number seven, can you describe what each fill activity means?

Is that a cell where something is working?

Number seven, each fill activity.

What we're talking about there is the two acre chunks or less than that.

In some cases it may be a two and two or it may be a 20 foot wide swale that's 30 feet long.

So up to two acres could be in multiple small spots that are each kept under control and then when one is finished then it gets covered in some way until the season comes to have permanent vegetative cover established.

Does that make sense?

That is correct.

Okay.

Great.

I just saw that and I thought I better ask and make sure I haven't missed something.

Thank you.

I just have a couple of process things because the presentation has been very good as always.

from the packet.

It's very easy to go down the wrong rabbit hole in here, and you all have done a great job today to help pick the rabbit hole.

So the first one I read it, two acres by right has no volume element, which means that the 10,000 cubic feet that I saw in number seven down there doesn't apply to the by right section, which is underway right now.

Okay, so all of the math that I was doing to try to establish the numbers of loads to get to that 10,000 wasn't relevant because that's not what's in place right now.

But it could be relevant as it goes forward depending on how the, except that the conditions that have been offered have already taken care of a lot of that.

You've already described that.

Sorry, I'm taking a minute just to skip over some things here.

The adoption of the clean fill ordinance, as I remember, provided structure so that there would be a limited geography and a limited time.

This was to prevent some wide-scale storage disposal operations in other locations, not this place, some in the southern part of Albemarle and in other counties where there were

Mountains of dirt that was being taken in, and that was creating its own environmental problems for those communities.

So the soil deposition part of the question is very well in hand.

I appreciate all the work done with FSA and USDA and those programs that Corey Kirkland runs to make these kinds of improvements, and I know that

they will keep helping as incidents come up to give advice on how to solve problems when they do come up because Mother Nature does what she's going to do and we all have to deal with those.

I described already my understanding about covering the dirt with something in a temporary way in order to then be ready to keep it to permanent cover.

For the neighbors whom I have heard from and I think other board members have as well,

Their concern is not with all of the scientific work that you've already described.

It's with the impact upon them, which has been from the trucks and been their concern.

So in our adopted ordinance, how are potential impacts on the neighbor considered in your evaluation for your recommendation?

Can you talk about that?

Supervisor Mallek, there are a couple different things I'd like to share on that.

Number one, presently Mr. Kendrick had offered up a restriction in the hours of operation that are permitted in the ordinance.

So he is offering up limiting the hours of operation from 7.30 a.m.

to 6 p.m.

Monday through Saturday only, no fill operations to take place on Sunday.

In addition, he has offered up no more than 10 trucks may be used for fill activity on any day of operation.

Those number of trucks were not limited in the ordinance per se.

I think that the operation so far has already dealt with any dust or anything that would normally have been seen in some of the more things in urban Crozet, for example, where one pile is working, it's impacting 100 houses right over there.

So that is definitely the dust element I don't think is involved here.

And the short-term impact that is one of those eye of the beholder things, because some people think

six months or a year is a really long time and others have a different view.

So this includes the truck traffic which you've already addressed, the egress and ingress already established.

And the recommendation to route to Advance Mills Road will reduce the impact on Early Swell Forest Drive, the longest distance in the neighborhood.

So I understand that.

And the length of time

What was the basis?

Can you help us understand the basis for the five years?

Those were through conversations with the applicant and whether it was one or two or three or four or five and based on the number of loads in the staff report there's included a trip generator and with the amount of it's not a trip generator it is a list of actual

truck traffic that has come and gone to the site.

And so based on those numbers and the amount of traffic that we've seen and the projected amount of dirt could be more, could be less.

This is the number of years requested by the applicant.

So one of the things we were cautious about, let's say if we wanted to do three and the board felt maybe five was appropriate, if we had listed three as the condition similar to what we talked about with the Homestay you just reviewed, that you can go backwards but not forwards, meaning the board can be more restrictive on the ask but without re-advertising we couldn't open it up to say if we advertise three you couldn't go to five.

like now you couldn't go from five to seven.

So what would be the things to consider to choose one of those numbers?

And the second part of the question is without bringing any more process involved, if a shorter term number two or something were proposed, could there be a renewal based upon

Performance in a similar way that in some other elements we have if there are no complaints no reports of Something I think it's in the homestay things those kinds of records are presented to the board when there's a circumstance Up-to-date on all process and no complaints then that's considered so can you advise on?

and the applicant comes up on year two and a half.

Because it's a special exception and a board action, they would have to come back before the board to amend the special exception.

Now, a special exception can go on consent with staff's recommendation of approval without objection.

Frankly, I'm not certain that when we notify the adjacent property owners,

if all conditions have been met, that there still wouldn't be objections.

There's a fee for that that they would have to pay?

All right, that brings me to the end of my questions.

Thank you.

Thank you.

So in some instances it's information, some of it it's going out and checking, some of it's putting our eyes on it, that sort of thing.

Yes, yeah.

It was not suggested before.

I just wanted to make sure what I remember was something that seemed very unreasonable in terms of alternate route.

as it was explained and this is different but this cuts through the water and then you're building a new road so that's going to be as disturbing as if not more so than truck traffic.

Okay I think I got it and I think you did a second pass but if you could just clarify Jody you mentioned

There were specific conditions here that were offered that were not requested.

No problem.

The conditions that were offered by Mr. Kendry are condition number one,

The hours of operations being limited to 7.30 a.m.

to 6 p.m.

Monday through Saturday.

Number two, no more than 10 trucks may be used for fill activity on any day of operation.

Number six, no more than four acres of activity may be active at any one time.

No more than two acres may be in the reclamation process and no more than two acres may be in the fill activity process.

And then number seven, each fill activity must be completed within one year of its commencement.

All right, even hearing you restate number seven I was having.

Thank you.

Thank you very much.

I really like the way you have distilled this down for us.

It's very helpful because I must admit I read three times what was in the packet just to make sure I understood the information in the packet.

Will you just clarify because in the packet you are very specific about ten trucks, not ten trips.

Thank you, Supervisor McKeel.

So one of the things that is in your packet that we didn't put in this presentation because it just gets to be a tad overwhelming is Mr. Kendrick had provided to staff a log of actual trips over time.

And when we were calculating all of these trips, it appeared that one truck usually takes about an hour to come from the fill site to Mr. Kendrick's place to leave the fill behind and then go.

And so as we were running some numbers, it seemed as though 10 different trucks running

during this time period Monday through Saturday would be about the limit of the number of trucks that could make the cycle, if you will.

a little bit arbitrary, but we use this kind of fuzzy math to come up with this 10 trucks.

It does, and I sort of thought when I was reading the information in the packet that it must have to do with the amount of time it takes, but I wasn't sure.

You were very specific to say trucks, not trips.

So that's very helpful.

Thank you.

And just one other clarification.

They're not, for example, Earliesville Forest Drive is not a private road.

They're all maintained by VDOT.

Yes, ma'am.

And monitored and controlled by Almar County Police for the most part.

I mean, they're public roads.

All right.

Thank you.

Yes, could you please go back to the

site where it shows the roads, where it shows Advance Mills.

Let's see.

I'm not sure we have Advance Mills.

Hang on a minute.

OK.

This is Carriage Hill Drive.

And this is the easement.

So this is just a gravel road.

Correct.

I've been on it.

OK.

Oh, that's right.

You have been.

So as you leave the site and head left down Carriage Hill Drive, you would hit the stop sign.

Right.

And then you would take a right, and that would be the shortest distance back to Advance Mills Road.

So that is that portion.

As they come up there, where the blue arrow is, that gravel

Okay.

All right.

You'd wind up at the bottom where my little laser pointer is now.

Yes.

Okay.

You go.

Yes, that's appropriate.

And for

Bringing the fill to Mr. Kendrick's farm, leaving the fill, and then going back and getting another loan.

And ten trucks, would that then just be basically, that would still be a trip, right?

Going there, dumping it, and they're both pseudonyms, right?

Not exactly.

Thank you very much.

This has been a very good explanation.

And thank you.

I have no questions.

I will have comments.

Let me first just check.

Do any supervisors have any further questions of staff?

And you stated it, and I didn't put it down, and I'm not remembering the slide.

But of the six.

Number 11.

I'll be right there.

This one.

Correct, because he's not in an entrance corridor.

Correct.

Well, in the first go around, Mr. Kendrick was asking for relief of all of them.

Understood.

Thank you.

You're welcome.

Thank you.

Yes, thank you.

Just to make sure, I want to follow up on what Supervisor Albisto-Kirtley had asked.

So you mentioned the 10 trucks queuing up, but each would come one time.

because the impact to the site is 10 deliveries per day.

No, ma'am.

There will be only 10 trucks running during the day.

Each one will go leave from the site over to Mr. Kendrick's farm, leave the fill, and then go back for another round.

Part of the math on that is if we can get the dirt in faster, the project ends quicker as opposed to the other way.

So it kind of opens up that option to be able to either do it slower if that's how it works out, traffic.

Meaning a site farther away would take longer.

It's probably going to be less trips per day.

A site closer may have a little more trips per day, but will also cause the project to end sooner.

Okay, well that's, I'm glad that I asked because that was not clear to me.

A whole different level, I mean we have not because what was reported was one to five or 12 over four days or something like that which is not what

I'm not sure that you would necessarily have to expect that.

It wouldn't be restricted.

Yes, okay.

Of the six items here, what was described to me that I thought was really helpful was one of the six

When I first asked why the one instead of all, that was the understanding that made it make sense to me.

Okay, I'm gasping, but I'll stop there.

Okay.

If I could just follow up on that, but no matter how many trucks may be going with their loads, we're still working only on

a couple of acres at a time.

So there is a space limitation which would be different than a trucks or trips limitation.

So you can only put so much dirt in two acres at a time.

I have no further questions.

I will have comments, but I do want to check.

Do any other supervisors have any other questions?

I'm sorry.

I'm not familiar with the driveway except the last 30 feet of it, but if a second truck is coming, do they wait until the first one comes out?

Are there places to pass in the woods?

Someone needs to get thinking about where they queue up along Carriage Hill, for example, if they're waiting for someone to exit.

if they're all coming quickly.

So this is getting more and more complicated by the second, so I'm glad I'm not going to have to figure all that out.

We haven't run into that instance yet.

The exit entrance, the trucks would not pass each other there.

It's tight, and so the truck leaving would have to leave the site before one comes in.

All right, no further questions.

We'll go through comments.

I will say that I, you know, recognize that when this came to us before, it felt a bit open-ended.

All right, thank you.

Thank you.

I also appreciate all the extra explanations that have been provided by staff as I've tried to wrap my brain around all these details that I didn't understand as well as I should have at the beginning.

This is very challenging because there is presence in the neighborhood for vehicles for people that is going to have an impact on the residents in some way.

and yet what I have read in here and the process that is going forward according to our current regulations, there is no extra role to be able to ameliorate beyond what's been offered here today and what the staff has recommended because of the way the ordinance that they're living up to.

I very much appreciate

the effort of the landowner to go over and above on many of these things and certainly for the work that he's doing with NRCS and FSA to take care of that problem.

As I said earlier, the soil handling is not the issue for the neighbors.

It's how is it going to impact me, which is, I think, a very justifiable question and I'm sure that they will not be

without some notice of things going on.

I am frankly surprised about the many, many, many trucks per day, but I hope that there will be a way to figure that out so that it's not impacting the use of the other roads around because the school bus, et cetera, that needs to get going on the roads as well.

So my magic wand is deep, deep, deep down in the drawer here.

I don't have the solution that would make everybody be able to be happy.

But I do appreciate that the applicant has made the effort to respond to all the requirements that have been put on him.

Thank you.

Supervisor Galloway.

Thank you, Chair Price.

When this was before us, before asking for relief from the entire ordinance,

was the sticking point for me.

I do recall in that meeting that it came down to the access way, not the activity.

That was the complaint and the impact of those who would be opposed.

So I'll just simply say that there is no great solution here in terms of trying to allow

what one owner wants and then come to some sort of compromise with the others with what they want.

I don't think another access way to this property is reasonable.

So that's not an option to me.

So the current access has to be allowed.

How that house got so close to this road is beyond me.

but if what is to be said is true that they should expect impacts that basically should not have been allowed to be built the way it was.

Now, it is, I do think, I mean it was clear to me in prepping for the meeting that it wasn't the number of trucks and that trips could be more than the number of trucks.

I get it.

But in similar fashion when Belvedere was building out and they were moving the dirt

Huge nuisance to that community.

And things had to be done to route the trucks the right way and that sort of thing.

But I think everybody did know that the more trucks they saw, the faster it would come to conclusion, even though it was a pain in the butt.

I can't imagine that this applicant is going to want to drag this out for five years, because the project needs to come to fruition.

I mean, there's a reason behind doing this.

But it's not just availability.

of the source of the fill comes into play as well.

When it becomes available, you have to go get it, get it out, and move it.

So I appreciate the fact that while the five years can be concerning, I guess everybody involved would want it to come to conclusion a lot sooner than that.

But I think the conditions help address that.

So I would say this, though.

based on what

so that if the applicant knows that I've got an availability of source filled coming, which could increase the volume on a given week that perhaps communication to the residents could be known so that then that week you know, okay, there could be increased volume this particular week.

This is a state road, a public road.

I understand people walk on it and bike on it, but it is a road.

So I believe there are other amenities that can be used for that.

But since if the activity is going to be allowed to progress there, and we know other people are using that, then that kind of back and forth communication would be helpful.

Again, going back to Belvedere, the developer there tried to make sure he communicated through their particular HOA volumes and amounts and keeping people apprised of the activity.

That back and forth will help make this better, whether there's enough

I don't know what the word is.

Whether that's possible or not, I don't know.

But I would certainly recommend it so that if we know there's going to be multiple trips, the community can be apprised and be ready.

And then obviously the county will do what we need to do to make sure the conditions are being met and complied.

Just to piggyback quickly on what Ned just said, we do know that there are trails throughout this community, so if the neighbors, Ned, knew ahead of time, or Martin, knew ahead of time and there was great communication going on, then they wouldn't be caught out.

Perhaps they could utilize their trails better and the timing.

I also want to piggyback on the fact that I remember very well when we were building the grade separated intersection, right?

and at the same time there was a bridge that was being built in the city and the city said you cannot work at night because it will disturb people and we said absolutely work right through the night

Get it done fast and get out and we were completed with that project and then and while the city was still and I'm just saying the city was still building their bridge seemed like to me for a year or two after so it's a matter of Do you want to rip the band-aid off or you know?

exactly or very slowly so I really appreciate being the trucks and this this approach because I do think for the neighbors it probably won't be five years unless there's some real extenuating circumstances and to get in there and get it done and get out quickly not only benefits Mr. Kendrick but it also benefits the neighbors as well and

I also just want to take the time to thank Mr. Kendrick and the staff and everybody for getting together and working on this because we really have a better solution.

Thank you.

Yes, I just wanted to commend the staff and Mr. Kendrick for working together on this solution.

There's building that's going on in developments all over the county and unless we are ready

to airlift dirt and concrete and everything onto the site, we're going to have trucks.

So that's something we have to live with, but this compromise to me is an example of how our county works, how our staff works with people like Mr. Kendrick and also values our agricultural background in promoting that.

I'm thrilled with the, because I was out there for a couple hours and I'm really, and the little cows are so cute, the babies are calves, oh they're so cute.

Anyway, but I just think that this is a really good compromise and I commend staff and Mr. Kindrick for coming up with this.

And once again, like Supervisor McKeel said, not everyone's going to be happy, but that's not the point of a compromise.

Not everyone can be happy.

Well, rather than just simply repeat everything that Supervisor Galloway, McKeel, and LaPisto-Kirtley just mentioned, I echo those remarks with great appreciation to staff, Mr. Kendrick, for the work that you all have put in this, and while I don't keep a time clock

I would say that I have probably put as much time into this particular application as any, having been out to the property and met with Mr. Kendrick on a number of occasions.

I appreciate your patience working through this.

Recently I talked about incrementalization as a negative, and that was with regard to the Montclair Stream.

I see this as positive incrementalization and it reflects why absolute standards sometimes work to our detriment rather than to our benefit.

So the ability of Mr. Kendrick and staff to come up with this piece by piece process I think will end up with a much better project and product that everyone can be pleased with.

And I think ultimately everyone will be pleased

It's just going to take a little while to get there and I fully support this project.

So any other comments from supervisors?

If not, the floor is open for a motion.

Two potential resolutions.

N is in November to approve or O is in Oscar to deny if the supervisor desires to make a motion.

Is this N?

I have a motion to approve on your screen if that works.

Thank you.

And I will just thank again the staff for the organization getting us here today.

I move to approve special exceptions requested in SE 2022-68

Kendrick Farm, Clean Earth Fill to modify the requirements of Albemarle County Code 18-5.1.28A7A11 and B5 for clean earth fill activity on parcels 32-100 and 32-200 for the reasons listed in the resolution to approve attachment N.

of the board packet and with the conditions listed therein.

Alright, I heard the motion from Supervisor Malek and by a noes the second by Supervisor McKeel.

Ms.

Ms.

Malek?

Yes.

Ms.

McKeel?

Yes.

Ms.

Yes.

All right.

Thank you, Board.

All right, good afternoon everybody and we'll get back to order.

We are a couple of minutes late.

At this time, we'll move to item number 12.

We have a presentation regarding the Albemarle, Charlottesville Regional Jail Renovation Project Financing Strategy.

And I understand, Mr. Rogers, you will be kicking this off.

Yes, ma'am.

Good afternoon.

I do not see a presentation up here.

Am I missing it?

While Doug is helping us out, hopefully, I want to introduce my partner, Roland Cooch, because he's got to catch a four o'clock call that we both are supposed to be on.

So I'll do the whole presentation.

But many of you know me with Davenport & Company.

I've been your financial advisor with David Rhodes going back to the early 2000s.

and so Roland actually, Dave and I have been working together 30 years.

Roland and I have been working together 29 years.

So just in case down the road, because this process with the jail is going to take a couple of years and there might be a meeting where I can't make it.

I just wanted you all to know who he was so he wasn't a stranger when he came up and spoke to you.

He actually worked with Nelson County so he has that connection so he had introduced me to that board and then we both actually presented to the city of Charlottesville as well.

This presentation you're going to see has actually been presented to the other two entities already.

All right, thank you.

And I apologize that our delay has impacted you.

Thank you for being here.

Looks like they're working on the presentation right now.

And what we were going to do today, I was going to walk us through the presentation.

Colonel Coomer is here if there are questions related to non-financing items that I can't answer.

to wake up, so thank you.

So again, we are acting as financial advisor to the jail authority, a Davenport company.

We're selected to help through the process.

It's been a while since we've done some regional jails, but there is a process that the state has, and what I'd like to do this afternoon is walk you through that.

Also, what we're going to talk about is the timetable.

It's a two-step process.

You know, when we do financing for you all as your financial advisor, it's usually just one process.

But there's actually a two-step process when you're doing jails.

The first is an interim financing process.

And that's the one that I spoke about earlier that will be coming back to you all later in the spring.

The second one is the permanent financing, which comes at a later date, where we will take out that interim financing and permanently finance the part that's not going to be funded with from state funds.

And then I'm also going to walk you through a very preliminary budgeted cash flow so you can see how it will look.

Obviously, we're working with preliminary numbers at this point, but I just want to give you a sense of what things might look like based on early estimates.

So the process in Virginia, the Commonwealth basically will reimburse up to 25% of eligible costs.

So one of the things that has to be done is we have to put together a plan.

It's a community-based corrections plan and planning study.

It goes before the Board of Local and Regional Jails.

Happy to announce that that has been done.

and has been approved by them and so now it is actually at the next step which is it goes to the General Assembly for approval and inclusion in the Governor's budget.

That's where it sits now, so it's in that process right now.

So we hope to hear back from that process as the General Assembly wraps up its business here in the next several weeks.

Once that's approved, that reimbursement is set aside.

and made available, but only once the project is complete.

And that's important because we have to obviously come up with the funds to actually build the project before it's complete.

So that's where some of the interim comes in.

So again, this is very typical of what happens with jails that are done in the Commonwealth.

So it's two parts.

First part is interim financing, where we'll actually go out and borrow enough for the authority to actually get its plans to hire an architect, build the plans, get the plans together, get all the engineering costs put out so that it's ready to go to bid.

Because we don't want to go out and borrow a bunch of money before we know what it's really going to cost.

So the first step is to do that interim financing.

The authority is working through the process right now of getting someone on board once we know that number.

We'll be able to start putting together that interim financing process and come back to you all for that approval.

Part two happens much later down the road, and we'll talk about schedule in a little bit.

That is where the bids have already been received.

We know what our total costs are.

We go out and do a permit financing for those costs that are not eligible for the reimbursement, the 25% reimbursement from the state, and we'll permanently finance that long term.

At the same time, we'll do what's called a Grant Anticipation Note, or GAN.

That is for those project costs that are eligible for that reimbursement because, again, the state doesn't pay us back until we've actually completed the project and everything's signed off.

So for today's purposes, our assumptions are going to be that the cost is $49 million.

That's a number that Mosley's

given us as an initial estimate.

We're going to, for this purpose, assume that 48 of that 49 is eligible for the 25% reimbursement.

So for our purposes, we assumed $1 million wasn't, which means $12 million would be reimbursed by the Commonwealth.

Now, one of the things that, in terms of the way debt service is allocated, is based on inmate days per the service agreement that was just amended.

So for 2023, that number, as you can see on the board there, is roughly 46% for you all, and then 41% for Charlottesville, and 13% for Nelson.

So that number is what we used.

Now, that number will change over time, obviously.

But for the moment, we just used those estimates for all the debt service from day one until the end.

But as you know, that will change year to year.

So for the interim financing, we assumed a $5 million project cost would be the initial amount borrowed.

We just, for a planning rate, used 4% in a term of 18 months.

And then that would, and the assumption is right now, that would be repaid a year from now, basically in the summer of 2024.

So here's our schedule.

So we're at number one right now, which is basically giving everyone, including you all, a briefing on the process.

In early April, we're going to distribute an RFP request for proposals for this interim financing in late April We will get those responses back.

We hope at the same time around that same time the governor will approve the budget

and the 25% reimbursement will be approved.

Later in May, we would bring the results of the RFP process back to both the authority board as well as the member jurisdictions.

And then we would hopefully get your approvals to continue moving forward.

The architect engineer contracts would be awarded in June, and then we would close in the interim financing around that same time.

So that's part one.

Part two, again, is that permanent financing.

We need to take out that ban that we just did, also issue the GAN for the reimbursements.

That would be taking place probably about a year or so, maybe later.

The amounts that we've got here for our estimates would be about $13.5 million for that grant anticipation note.

Not only do they pay that $12 million, but they also pay for a portion of the interest for the interim financing.

So that's why it's a little bit higher.

Knowing that we're going to be a little bit further out in time, we used a little bit higher interest rate of 4.5% in the three-year because, again, depends on when the project is done.

We did a three-year term for that can.

And then the actual bonds were roughly about $35.5 million at a 5.5% interest rate, 27 years the first couple of years interest only, and then 25 years of debt service after that.

So the schedule there would be

Again, in June, we get the architect engineers on board.

We close that interfinancing.

Basically, about six months later, the Department of Corrections, they require value engineering on the design.

So we'd have that before them, hopefully six months after we bring the architect engineers on.

In March of 2024, we would basically hopefully have all the documents complete for construction, have all the design approvals in hand, be able to advertise in May of 2024, get the bids back in the same month, and then in the June-August time frame, issue the permit financing and the grant anticipation notes.

The construction contract would be negotiated in August, notice to proceed in August, and then substantially complete roughly 14 months.

That's a number that's still obviously in process.

But that would put us in around October of 2025, final completion around November of 2025, and then hopefully within a few months, seven or eight months after that, get the grant anticipation note paid off from the state.

So this is giving you a sort of a,

summary, if you will, of what the cash flows and the impact might be to the county.

The first several columns denote the various financings we just talked about.

The first column is the debt service on the first band, the grant anticipation note, interest, then the projected takeout of everything, basically the permanent financing in the third column.

So the fourth column is the total debt service that basically would be paid back by the member jurisdictions.

The next three columns are, again, using the percentage allocation shown on the earlier slide, basically our estimate of what the debt service might be.

So you can see Albemarle there in the final column.

So roughly $100,000 impact in 2024, about $1.2 million in 2025 and 2026, and then it levels out after we start repaying the principal back on the permanent financing, about $1.2 million, again, based on the numbers and estimates that we've shown you to this point.

All right, thank you very much.

Mr. Rogers, we will go through our order.

Yes, thank you.

Just as a plan for financing the project makes a lot of sense to me.

I understand that these numbers are based upon the rolling averages of inmates and the cost there.

And that these costs, of course, won't be determined until this project is bid.

We're looking at, I guess, June as architect engineering.

I'm just trying to understand where are we in terms of design at this point, in terms of what this facility will be.

I understand that we're not trying to increase the number of beds, but we're going to probably increase the space to make it more amenable.

Yes sir, the community-based corrections plan that we... You should introduce yourself.

Oh, my apologies.

I'm Martin Coomer, Superintendent of the Albemarle Charlottesville Regional Jail.

Thank you.

We did a community-based corrections plan which is necessary to achieve the 25% reimbursement from the state and that plan gave us some ideas of what the community would like to see in the jail renovation, my staff, stakeholders, the courts, local law enforcement, and so forth.

We've wrapped all that into a rough design that's required to put before the Board of Local and Regional Jails to put a price tag on it.

So the final design has not been done at this point, but the idea to achieve what was recommended in the community-based corrections plan does require adding square footage.

We would tear down a section of the oldest part of the jail and kind of rebuild that, and that's where the majority of what was identified would be included in the new plan.

However, that could change when we actually had an architect enter to actually start designing the process.

We have a rough idea right now, but it's really just something to put a price tag to it for the Board of Local, Regional, and General for the reimbursement.

And I guess I'm interested in more about the process of that.

I understand the architect engineering firm will be involved.

You've had the community-based stakeholder input.

Yes, thank you.

This summer, when we actually do get an architect on board, it's at that point that we will make it known to the public that we're now in the design process, and we would welcome public input from anybody.

Okay, thank you.

Yes, sir.

All right.

Thank you supervisor Galloway.

Yeah, I don't have any No, I don't have any questions.

Since this is, we tend to think about this as we're funding it through a bond and folks tend to think about this as a capital project.

Great question and if I could interpret maybe a little bit what you're asking is

As your financial advisor for a moment, it does not impact your debt ratios or any of the debt to assessed value or debt service to expenditure ratios that we look at when we're evaluating your capital improvement plan.

This is debt of the jail authority, and so even though you all are responsible for paying it, the way the rating agencies look at it is that it is an operational cost from you to your portion to the jail authority.

So that's a great question.

So I see Ned is nodding his head and it looks like he might have a question.

So you want to speak to the operation, so how actually, you know, when I pulled up, went back and looked at this year's budget, right?

And it says public safety expenditures by Albemarle County.

and that's $53,478,000.

Albemarle, Charlottesville Regional Jail is 8% of that amount and then you go down and you see how much we are paying, have been paying.

I guess I'm getting at if the board could have a good understanding of how we fund the jail, if that makes sense.

We send money to the jail directly.

So every year we develop a budget.

We meet with the budget committee representative for each of three jurisdictions.

I first determine the expenditures, payroll cost, and then we determine all other revenue sources aside from the jurisdictions.

then we determine how much more money I need to fulfill the needs of the facility.

We then go back to the three jurisdictions and based on each of your inmate population over a five-year average, that determines the percentage of the remaining revenue that I need in order to complete my budget.

So we get paid, depends on which jurisdiction, either monthly or quarterly, we get those payments in.

You have a question?

I understand the cons.

I get it.

So in terms of the debt service and all of that, but where are the funds parked on our side?

I didn't think about this, but I'm glad to hear because this works also through other places that we do it.

So I get it on the debt capacity.

Debt doesn't impact our equation, but it's an operational cost.

Yes, sir.

You would see in your upcoming budget, for example, the total cost that the jail authority is seeking from Albemarle County based on its proportionate share that includes the number that you saw for the interest only cost for the bond anticipation note for FY24.

And there will be an explanation in the narrative that would differentiate between overall operating cost and what the increase is attributable to.

We don't typically at the county level kind of break it down in the line item detail like they do at the jail authority level.

That's certainly possible.

It's easy to do.

We don't typically do that.

But my understanding would be in going forward, you would see it just reflected as a single contribution that you would make to the jail.

And then any level of detail that this board needs to understand how those revenues to the jail are used could be provided.

That amount is in there for however many years it takes to pay it off.

Does that help?

No, I get it now.

And just for the record, that was Doug Walker, Deputy County Executive.

Thank you, Chair Price.

Thank you.

All right.

Yeah, so you mentioned Diantha, or excuse me, Supervisor Mallek, that

Eight percent, I'm sorry.

It was eight percent of the entire public safety.

.

Right, right, right.

I'm sorry you said eight percent and I heard eight million.

I like dollars.

What I believe the 8% came from is a placeholder to both the costs that you would normally provide to jail and operations costs in addition to your interest payment for this year.

What I was referencing is our budget, and I'm sorry if I've muddied the waters, but if you look at our Albemarle County Public Safety budget, which includes

Dale, the police department, the ECC Center, and all of our other public safety agencies.

ACRJ represents 8% of that $53 million.

If you go here in our current budget and look at it, then you can go down and see what our actual was last year.

Does that help?

Yes.

Great, thank you.

It'll be on top of that eight percent.

Supervisor McKeel, how many dollars are in the budget right now for that?

Could you speak into the microphone?

I'm sorry.

So it's fiscal year 23 adopted is $4,132,000.

So $4.1 million is what you have now.

In 2027?

Right.

OK.

Another million two in 2025.

Right.

Right.

OK.

Thank you.

All right.

What we're doing in 25 and 26 is still constructing the project, so generally we don't start repaying the principal until it's complete.

Right, I just want to understand, and if you could go to slide number

Six, please.

I would just say that's a really quick time frame to get a lot of things done.

So I'm very impressed.

There's been a lot done obviously with the plan and so we're in a holding pattern right now waiting on the General Assembly and the Governor's budget to be approved.

Obviously, that could drag on, right?

And I understand it may slide, but yet still, that is a six-month window, basically, that you've got a lot of things, whenever it starts and whenever it finishes.

I just want to comment that that's a lot to get done.

And then if you go to slide four, Superintendent Coomer, I have a question for you.

At the bottom of the slide, the last little table there,

I take it by reading this, the clear meaning to me is that is a proportion based upon inmate days of residents from Albemarle County, the City of Charlottesville, and Nelson County.

That is based on a five-year average through FY23.

I would just add, as an anecdotal comment for our community,

Albemarle County's population at the beginning of this year was approximately, I hate to use approximately with an exact figure, but 116,421, Charlottesville's 47,477, and Nelson County 14,703.

If you do that as a percentage,

Albemarle County's population is almost exactly two and a half times the city of Charlottesville, yet our inmate days is not two and a half times theirs.

Nelson County is approximately 10% of ours, and they are way above that.

So I would say kudos to the residents of Albemarle County for having a much lower inmate day calculation than our neighboring communities.

So thank you.

This is great.

Well, it's really everybody.

It's law enforcement, it's our community.

Yeah, all of it.

The whole system.

And it would be great to have an agenda item at some point for this board to really understand how much work is being done in the community.

around criminal justice and to try and get the population in the jail lower.

We're at the lowest level right now.

I mean, Martin can speak to that.

So there's really a lot of work that's happening in the community.

That's not to say, though, that we can never get rid of jails.

I mean, I know there are people that need to spend time there.

Thank you all very much.

Really appreciate it.

We can move now to item number 13, the United Way of Greater Charlottesville and I understand Ms.

Raspetto will be joining us via Zoom.

So we'll need to clear that item off of the computer so we can open up our next one.

Will that be Ms.

Kilroy to the rescue?

I know they can do that.

All right, thank you.

We'll wait for the clerk to let us know when our speaker has joined us.

Here we are.

Good afternoon.

Thanks for having me.

I appreciate it.

Just going to pull up the presentation here and share my screen.

So I just want to start by thanking each of you for supporting the United Way.

You've all met with me over the past year and have been involved in what we were doing at United Way and sort of the new narrative we're creating and been very supportive.

So thank you again for allowing me to be a guest and share some of the progress we've been making in the last year or so since I last visited.

I'm going to run through things, and I'll pause and see if there's questions as I go.

I think I have 15 minutes, so I'm going to do my best to get it all in.

And then at the end again, if there's some questions.

So I wanted to share that we've just completed our five-year strategic plan.

And as you can see, the overarching goal for the United Way is to eliminate barriers for minority and economically disadvantaged populations and enable them to achieve financial stability and thrive economically.

This may be achieved through coordinated service delivery among peer agencies supported by task force coalitions focused on long term system level change.

Through this, we may begin to eliminate a dependency on these services such that individuals can thrive economically and become financially stable.

So that statement really represents where the Inanna Way is today and where we'll be into the future.

And we've built some very specific goals around achieving that statement.

So goal one is to help lift 1,800 families out of poverty over the next five years.

And we are specifically basing a lot of our work in an equity-based approach.

So we've named that 630 of those families would be black families.

Goal two really relates to our school readiness work.

So we want to increase by 10% kindergartners from economically disadvantaged families who pass developmental benchmarks and increase the number of black kindergartners who pass by 20%.

We'll talk in a minute, but there's several disparities that kind of lead us to the decision to have those goals.

And then goal three is to build a more connected community through a deeper understanding of race and equity.

Some of the indicators that we've looked at in achieving these kind of very specific goals is the rate of poverty that still exists in our community, which is 17% of families cannot afford sort of the essentials of life.

We have that sort of budget breakdown.

This represents sort of an average early childhood early childhood scholarship family that the United Way currently serves.

Most of our families are earning about $30,000 a year for a family of four.

And you can see from the diagram by the time you pay for child care, which averages anywhere from $15,000, $20,000 a year, depending on the age of your child, if you can get a spot.

We're having a real issue with getting spots right now for children that are subsidized for early education.

That's what you can plan to pay.

And then, of course, we know rent is always a challenge in our community.

So we know that the struggle is real for families that are trying to get by on less than 200% of the federal poverty level in our community.

And we just want to call attention to the fact that this isn't shared in an equitable way.

35% of our families making less than $35,000 a year are black families versus 14% white families.

That information comes from the Orange Dot report.

We look at some other key indicators of poverty in our community.

Home ownership continues to be a challenge.

Only 24% of black families own their home compared to 50% of white families.

Access to capital, another area United Way spends a good amount of time working in.

We see the denial rate being much higher for black applicants compared to white applicants.

and same with early education, 104% lower scores for black children than white children on kindergarten literacy assessments and 145% more likely to fail kindergarten literacy assessments for economically disadvantaged children.

And even in the health disparities, we see 9% shorter lifespan for black individuals, the white individuals here in our community.

So we know a lot of this stems from poverty and the fact that poverty has been relatively intractable over the past 10 plus years.

So the question is, what do we do about it?

And how can we make a significant difference and really start to change this dynamic?

And so over the past four years, nine organizations came together.

United Way has been convening and providing backbone support to this effort for the Financial Resiliency Task Force.

I've spoken to some of you about this one on one.

And this group of individuals has been meeting monthly.

And I'm going to just kind of switch to the diagram of who's involved.

Has been meeting monthly since the summer of 2019.

It's all of the directors and or sort of the top strategic partnership person on that organization has represented the agency.

And the ideal is really identifying how we can work better together and how we can better serve people that are accessing services that are less than 200% of the federal poverty level.

And so as you can see, agencies involved are those that you know well, City of Promise, Habitat for Humanity, New Hill Development, the CIC, Uhara Foundation, Piedmont Housing Alliance, Network to Work, and MACA.

Each one of these agencies has determined which services that they can provide that helps somebody move along the financial continuum to a more financially stable place.

And we've evaluated a matrix to kind of get an idea of what the indicators are and where we're trying to get folks.

So we look at things like credit score, what their income is, what their housing situation, what kind of job they might have, what kind of transportation and what kind of childcare they have.

The group that we've really kind of honed in is folks that are what we call a level three.

They're generally making anywhere from fifteen to thirty thousand a year.

And we're trying to get them to forty five thousand dollars a year, which is what we call sort of financially stable.

It's not enough to really build wealth for your family, but it's enough to cover the core basics.

And the idea is a family would go into this referral network.

They would commit to three years of participation.

They would get their credit established or pulled so they kind of knew what their credit score was.

And they could work with a financial coach to determine where they wanted to get in terms of their credit score, depending on their own independent financial goals, if they're looking to purchase a home through Habitat, that type of thing.

They'd also look at their income, what their monthly budget is, and their debt-to-income ratio.

And then we would determine with them in the driver's seat what type of financial goals they had for themselves over that three-year period.

and then we would continue to work with them and making sure that they were able to access those services through the different agencies that you see represented here.

What makes this different is that those services would be prioritized for those individuals.

A lot of what's happened in the past is an individual might come to the United Way and they might get a scholarship but they are also looking for other services from some of our key partners and depending on

Whether those programs are available, they may or may not be able to access those or receive those.

So the idea is that each one of the agency has a peer support person that's working together.

All of the different agencies have a good working relationship having been together now for four years establishing this referral network and basically have better connectivity and better coordination of service delivery.

One of the conversations I'm having with both CACI with the county and with MISTI with the city of Charlottesville Human Services is looking at getting folks that have been calling the emergency pathways hotline over the past few years needing COVID support into this referral network.

So we're working on a system that would allow the operators to basically flag individuals that had the profile for this particular effort and we would be able to refer them back to United Way

and basically take them through the assessment to see if they're interested in going into this program.

And a lot of folks are coming to us because they have an emergency need, but once we can kind of deal with the emergency needs, helping them plan for more of a long-term financial solution.

I'm going to pause for a second.

Why don't you go ahead and do your whole presentation and then we'll do a round of questions.

In the upper left corner, if you'll click on the green dot, that should make it a full screen just below that row over to the left.

There you go.

Okay, there we go.

Okay, so the Envision Pilot is a program that we started a few years ago.

We work with Habitat for Humanity and basically the referral network essentially is a more expanded version of this program, but the family investment program is where United Way invests $10,000 in a family over two years, so

They essentially go through the Pathways program at Habitat.

They have a financial coach.

All of them are looking to own a Habitat home.

A lot of them aren't in a position when they come into the program to purchase a home, and so we work with them to help them realize their own financial goals.

As they hit financial milestones, United Way releases funds to them.

So a lot of folks come in having what we call bad debt, so they have high-interest car loans.

student loans, personal loans, things of that nature.

Most of them don't have high credit scores, and many of them want to go back and get improved workforce development support.

So people after being in the program two years, you can see at the beginning, we had six renting, four in public housing, and one homeless.

And at the end of two years, three had been able to purchase their habitat homes, three had purchases pending, four had moved from public housing, and one from moved from homeless to public housing.

You also see that we're able to increase by 13% the average credit score of these individuals and 12% increase for their monthly income and 19% increase for their average hourly wage.

And you can see the difference in what we consider to be healthy debt versus bad debt when they entered into the program.

We've just taken on another 20 families through this program with Habitat.

We have five different families from Southwood and then the Balancer from the city and the county.

and they'll be entering into a similar arrangement where they'll be working for two years to be able to essentially get home ownership.

We are now asking each and every family United Way serves to also enter into the financial resiliency task force so that they're actually making a bigger commitment to sort of long-term financial stability and we're doing the same for all of our early learner scholarship families.

One example of a family we served is Kizzy, a little bit about her story.

She's a single mom of three.

She was working in a local hotel as a housekeeper.

She entered into the financial resiliency task force and family investment program, was able to get financial coaching through Habitat, United Way Health with Match Savings.

We helped her get an affordable line of credit, support for her continuing education.

and she was able to purchase her first home.

She started her own company, a cleaning company, and she's also going back and doing medical billing and looking at getting her code exam.

So huge, huge difference just over three years or two and a half, three years working with Kizzee with a $10,000 investment and some supportive coordinated service delivery between United Way and Habitat.

So again, these programs are in their early stages, but we see a lot of positive outcomes starting out.

Another program I want to tell you about is the Envision Grants Partnership.

Some of you sat on the EDA and listened to our presentation, but the county has agreed along with the city and United Way to move forward on investing $150,000 back into minority-owned businesses, which we're very excited about getting off the ground.

We're going to launch this a little later this spring.

We're going to open up quickly on April 21st.

will be a three to four week application period, and then we'll have a two to three week period of reviewing those applications with a goal of funding by the end of June.

This will complement our Minority Business Alliance grant program that we've been running for about four years.

So each of these grants are higher at the $10,000 level and expanded outcomes.

We're hoping for more job creation and to contribute to the local tax base through this program.

And we've had a very successful program for over three years now with the Minority Business Alliance.

These were the most recent recipients.

These grants are $5,000, and they're part of the Minority Enterprise Partnership.

And you can see the diversity of people that were looking for funding digital marketing, senior at-home care, fashion apparel, mental health counseling, food service, catering, and sports medicine.

Just to name a few, we've done a little over 18 grants through that program over the past three years.

And just as some folks ask, what about the CIC?

We work very close to Stephen.

He does primarily loans.

One of our conversations early on is it would be great to have a grant program that can help people either grow their credit or improve credit, make capital improvements into their company, and then they would go and apply for a loan.

So this is kind of on the continuum of adding program services where there's gap.

This is really the gap that the grant program has been able to support.

Another key program in the United Way is Driving Lives Forward.

We launched this two years ago with Carter Meyers Automotive and Virginia National Bank.

We basically work with families that are referred right now mostly through network to work.

We work very closely with Ridge.

We administer his loaner program, so we own the loaner fleet that he manages.

When people leave the loaner fleet, the idea is to get them into a vehicle that has a low interest rate.

and a low payment and we do that by doing down payment assistance.

Virginia National Bank administers the loans for us.

We privately fundraise the funds and we're able to get people into lower interest rates than they would find in the regular marketplace.

We try to get payments to no more than $300 a month.

That's the goal and we try to make terms no longer than 48 months.

What we see for a lot of the clients we serve is they don't have reliable transportation.

They try to take the bus that never works for families that have to work nights.

And a lot of our families work two jobs and a lot of them work at night.

So this is a key program that we're in the middle of growing right now.

One recent example, a person went to Carter Meyers to get a loan on a vehicle.

She didn't realize driving life support was an option for her.

She was offered a 16% interest rate.

with $2,000 down, she was going to pay close to $443.

This was on a 2016 Sonata.

She got referred back to the program.

We were able to cover the $2,000 down payment for her, got her a 5% loan, got her payment to $314 over 48 months, so savings of $161 a month.

If you think back to the diagram I showed you at the beginning of the presentation, $161 a month is a significant difference from this to the families that we serve.

And so this is, again, how we're trying to solve some of the transportation gap in our community.

I'm going to speed it along now just because I know we don't have a lot of time and say that United Way continues to be deeply involved in the early ed space.

We have several new programs that we've brought online over the past few years.

We are the current Ready Regions Blue Ridge lead.

There are now nine regions across the state of Virginia that are integrating early education through the Department of Education.

It's shifted over from the Department of

We've been working on making that transition, but United Way has picked up 22 counties through this effort so we now oversee Stanton, Augusta, the Waynesboro area, Harrisburg up to Winchester

This is a little map of what the territories look like across the state.

We work on this project with the Virginia Early Childhood Foundation and we have subgrantee partners over in the valley that we work with.

Mixed delivery continues to be one of the key programs that we offer both here and over in our programs in the valley.

Basically take private child care centers and we make sure that children who need subsidy support can get into the child care provider slots by taking public funds and matching it with private funds.

This year we placed 77 children using the mixed delivery program.

It's made a significant difference for local families and you can see on the right hand side sort of what the ethnicity breakdown is for families that are seeking this type of child care support.

Coordinated enrollment is another significant program that we launched over the past two and a half years.

We work with the city and the county school systems on this program, as well as, it's been significant in getting children better coordinated with the best preschool program that fits their family's needs.

So we have a full-time person that works at United Way.

We collect applications online now.

So a parent can go in and walk through the application, putting in what their particular filters are based on where they live.

what kind of income they have, what kind of transportation they have to find the the best fit for them and then through that system the coordinator that works for United Way but represents our local partners is able to then get them connected to that preschool program and we've seen a huge increase in enrollment especially this last year as we've grown the program so the whole idea is to make the whole system easier for both parents and the school system to navigate.

You can see from some early data kind of what we're seeing in terms of families, the composition, 40 of our current families are homeless, 33 are parents under the age of 19, the preponderance of families are single-parent households, 310 have less than a 12th grade education, and you can see there to the left kind of what the racial makeup of families are that are looking at this program.

Total applications so far were 2377 over the past two years in this program.

The Early Ed Scholarship Program continues to be a big program for United Way.

This county has generously funded this program.

This past year invested about $161,000.

We've done 38 scholarships this past year.

And again, this program is crucial for families that can't afford the anywhere from $15,000 to $20,000 a year price tag.

Most of these families are placed in the nonprofit center, so Bear Early Learner Center, the YMCA, Java, MAPCA.

Santa Fund continues to be another program that we do a lot of work throughout the county and the city.

We provide basically supplies for children who can't afford them and clothing.

So this is a year round program.

We work with the counselor at the local school.

They're able to identify the families most in need.

We give vouchers to those families and they're able to go out and shop for what they need.

Basically, a lot of back to school type needs, back to school clothes, shoes, eyeglasses and medicine for children.

It's a great program for the community.

We get a lot of local private philanthropy investment in it.

And this year we're looking at doing some extra school drives with both the county school system and the city school system.

We continue to impact grants.

So you can see that we invested about $210,000.

The model that we're moving to now, most of the groups you see here are already strategic partners of the United Way through our task force work.

And so the way that we'll be working in the future is we'll be only funding those individuals that are part of our task force that are working with us on systems level priorities.

And so that way, we know the funds are going directly to the targeted issues and the five-year goals that we've established.

And lastly, we do a lot of work around what we call connecting the community through a deep understanding of race and equity.

We do a weekly radio program that's hosted in WINA.

We interview different black leaders in the community from all different sectors and talk about their lived experience and present a different narrative that exists here in our community that not everybody gets the opportunity to hear about.

We do community table work where we bring people together from diverse backgrounds and have conversations about issues that matter to all of us in our community.

We also partner with the Virginia Film Festival and work through Virginia Public Media to really get the word out about the work of the United Way and the work that we're doing in the realm of equity.

We've sponsored a film this year, an early education, a woman who had built out an entire program in Alameda County out in Oakland and gotten major significant investment from the county to invest in early education.

So it was a documentary on her story and how she went about doing that.

So really it's about education and communication and

You know, expanding the networking for individuals.

We've had over 100 radio shows for Envision and now those 100 guests get together, which is really great.

We've been able to create a lot of networking opportunities as this went off, which has been wonderful.

And this is a mural that we put up back in the fall, just to end with this image.

It's a new narrative done by a local artist, Jay Johnson, that you can see pictured there that really stands for what Envision is all about, which is the United Way's

I would very much appreciate the slide deck so that I could spend a little more time going through it.

I recognize that we have in our audience our Director of Social Services.

I don't know if there's any further comments there that would be appreciated, but no other questions.

Thank you.

No questions, but I'm feeling a little overwhelmed, as always, when I talk to Ravi.

All right.

Yeah, I wish there was more breadth and depth.

Ravi, the complexity to move somebody's income up, given all the different pieces of that puzzle, what is in place when the emergency happens?

Because usually at some

I mean it's complicated enough, but when a big event happens that could basically hit the restart button or whatever plan or programs you're in complicates that.

So, Rails is a good way to put it.

You know, emergency funding is tricky.

We've dispersed, for the county alone, over $400,000, or excuse me, $4 million in emergency funding through the CARES Act funding in ARPA, so there's a lot of need for emergency funds.

To answer the question, we try to build in at United Way a small fund so that if somebody is committed to working with the financial resiliency task force, there'd be a fund to help them with any sort of emergency needs that come up.

A car breaks down.

Some days at work are missed.

Most of our folks don't have PTOs.

So to kind of keep people even while they're getting through the program.

Other partners have similar programs.

PHA has a small emergency fund program.

Network to Work has a similar program.

So I think within the organizations that are part of the referral network, each of us has a small

I think

All right.

Thank you.

Well, and you know, you and I have met separately and you went over some of this with me previously, and I know you have worked with our economic development authority as well on funding and some of the issues that you all do.

I really am impressed and like the idea.

Just specifically, one program caught my attention, which was the coordinated enrollment program.

Thank you.

Yeah, that's a long time coming.

And it's taken a lot of patience and a lot of hard work on behalf of our local school system and our Department of Social Services, which has been relatively involved in working with long-term families.

So but it's working now.

And in fact, we think much better for families to access early care.

Yeah, it used to be that you have to go into a local school and fill out a paper form.

So

Well, it was very cumbersome, and it just wasn't working.

So this is great.

I really appreciate it.

And I don't have any specific questions.

I think getting the slide deck would be great so that we can actually go through and look at it.

Thank you very much, Ravi.

I think with the slides, we'll be able to take a couple hours what it took you 15 minutes to go through.

But really appreciate all the information

especially for me, the early childhood education program.

I really like that.

I did have one question.

Are some of the people that you work with, are some of them working under the table?

And the reason why I say that, doing that actually hinders them from perhaps

You know, we really only know what people report.

So, you know, if somebody sits with us and fills out an application for, let's say, an early learner scholarship, you know, we can ask them to give us any reportable income, but we'll not know if they have sort of other sources of income unless it's disclosed.

So it's a tricky situation.

There's only so much information we can require that somebody hand over to us.

We would learn that the hard way when we used to administer the Seville tax aid program, people would give us some of their income information.

We'd file based on that and then the IRS would track them down.

They come back to us upset because they owe money and you know, where did this come from?

Well, it's reportable income, right?

So again, we can only work with what we know.

I worry about the people that are not reporting it being taken advantage of by employers.

Absolutely.

I think a lot of that when we build out the financial coaching model are the kinds of things that we can uncover and have conversations with our clients about.

But a lot of that takes time and trust.

Almost every client we have, there's a component of just getting to know their particular situation and building in that trust with them.

And that kind of then leads that dialogue and conversation about what their real financial situation is.

That's, I would say, why the coaching role is so critical and probably an area of great need.

We could certainly use more financial coaches

at each of the agencies that you saw listed today.

Thank you.

And I concur with all of those comments.

When we met a few months ago, you really helped me to understand more how at least the understanding or knowledge that I perceived of United Way in years past, which was basically money comes in and it's distributed, is very different from what I'm seeing here today, which is actually bringing

resources to individuals and I am so impressed with the actions that y'all are taking to help lift people out of poverty into stability and then into economic growth and build that generational wealth so thank you so much for what y'all are doing everybody who's involved in this and for sharing all of this information in your time with us today

Thank you very much.

We did move on our agenda item number 21 from the board committee reports matters not listed on the agenda.

This would normally be at the end of the meeting.

Well, you and I both attended the SWAC Solid Waste Alternatives Advisory Committee meeting and we heard an excellent presentation from one of the members on number one PET recycling.

We learned that it's a seller's market as far as that goes and so it's something we hope to look into with Rivanna as far as being able to find ways that not all number ones are the same.

but they're very desired at this point so number one is number two and recycling number two is number one.

Thank you.

Thank you very much.

Just a very brief report on my 80 hours at the NACo conference.

The legislative days were Saturday and Sunday and then I came home to let others go to the speeches and fancy dinners because the legislative stuff is really what interests me.

EELU is the Environment, Energy and Land Use Committee.

There were several different resolutions debated hotly and approved, thankfully, our population

on the committee seems to have shifted so many more, many fewer times in the tiny minority than there used to be.

But reauthorization was supported for the national heritage areas.

This comes up every 15 years.

The Journey Through Hallowed Ground, which comes right through the middle of Albemarle, is one of the 50-some national heritage areas in the country and it was also support for a new one in New Mexico.

So that was great.

Also, presentations from various EPA people on the regulations in development on PFAS, its manufacture, its use in products, and required disposal of materials containing it.

Also, funding programs and testing requirements coming for communities who receive these toxics into their water supplies.

I think the trouble that Roanoke County is in, they've already spent almost $14 million in the last couple of months trying to fix this or get a handle on it.

So there's far greater impact for them.

And there was a lot of discussion amongst the 80 people on the committee about accountability for the source businesses but also the source jurisdictions when something like this happens.

Avoidance of this risk is something we all need to think about.

Arts and Culture Commission on Sunday morning shared a series of community videos about the use of arts to help in healing.

This is a federally funded grants program, competitive grant program that these communities

received funding for.

One was a community in Hawaii that had been totally wiped out by the Kilauea volcano eruption a few years ago and the ways that they were using art to bring people together in that healing process.

I will share the videos once I get them.

They were just eye-popping.

Also other communities where they're focusing on the use of art materials and art process for helping people with substance abuse to heal and also to bring families connected back together again.

And the last committee meetings were about veterans and military services.

Getting sufficient funding for the Toxics Act that we all supported in our legislation last year is what's high on the priority list because this is a many times increase in claims the VA is facing for these kinds of exposures that are now called presumptive, which means anybody in the theater where this was happening is guaranteed to get services.

The bill before us now in Congress is the CBSO, which is County Veterans Services Officers.

I have to find out whether we even have one on county staff here.

Trevor can probably help me.

But the communities who do have their own CBSO have found a tremendous increase in the return.

Spending a million dollars or spending a dollar gets you eight dollars back.

in the kinds of services, cash services that their veterans are receiving from the federal government.

This is money they've earned.

This is going elsewhere if we don't help them bring it to themselves.

And then those funds are circulated through the community.

So the communities who are greatly expanding their numbers of CVSOs are seeing a tremendous benefit for their finances as well as for the livelihoods of their veterans.

and just some reports out on the Operation Greenlight, which is something that's been happening over the last couple of years in the sort of November, December timeframe to where communities put green lights in the windows, but it's all a visual way to bring recognition and awareness to the services, the Veterans Administration and all the different agencies supporting our veterans that are active duty.

Yesterday, Keith Smith and I did our regional housing partnership presentation to the Nelson County Board of Supervisors.

And it was a very robust conversation afterwards, focusing in on what are the actual steps we can take, but then also making sure that while you're attacking the housing issue, how wages plays into that.

They were skidding their first look at their compensation study, some data back.

It's always interesting just from that

perspective.

We in Albemarle say, oh, our fire and police and our teachers can't afford to live here.

Well, that's what they're saying.

So our folks are living there, and their folks are living somewhere else.

And then obviously, when they were looking at that, it's always interesting to hear, well, why is Albemarle in our comparable?

Because it's a different

area, and they're like, well, that's who we compete with to get employees.

So watching the dynamic play out around that is interesting, but I just want to flag that that's the first that I'm aware of of the region area doing compensation study where they're starting to get some feedback on.

And I know the Thomas Jefferson Planning District Commission has asked all the bodies to share kind of what they're learning.

But I would hope that our staff is also looking as those reports get reported out, we can go look at that and see what they're learning.

They were focusing in on their Department of Social Services, I know, for that.

So that was just a little tidbit that I happened to be there while we were waiting to do our own presentation.

The second item, as I know I'm sure the other supervisors agree, I'm very appreciative, Mr. Richardson, to you and the team, and I see Chief Reeves here, Captain Jamerson, Kevin McDermott for the Traffic Town Hall, Supervisor McKeel and I got to host ours.

You know, we all I'm sure learned a lot during those, and if they're yet to come, you will learn a lot, but the thing I'd like to mention is that

You know, how many times Supervisor McKeel and I have held joint town halls on budget and have had one or two people show up.

And we do one on transportation and traffic safety and we filled the room at the center, which is an auditorium.

I don't know how many people that is, if it was 40 or 100 or what it was.

A lot of people there, so the lesson learned for me is that I know why we do and attempt to do town halls during the budget season, but it seems like that doing it on these other types of topics could be of bigger import or have bigger impact for our residents.

Thank you all.

I mean, Captain Jamerson did a great job.

Kevin McDermott, as always, does a good job in those situations.

So I appreciate Mr. Richardson, you and everyone else that spearheaded getting those organized and put out there.

Thank you.

And just to piggyback on what Ned was just saying, it really was amazing how many people we had turn out.

And we really appreciated the staff's work on this, everybody that participated.

Anyway, but it was really good and I look forward to getting the presentation that they showed.

The reason I'd like to get the presentation is because the data that they presented was magisterial district specific or at least area specific.

For us to be able to get the police data that they were sharing from our two districts would be great.

Just let me, a couple of other things, I have to go back and look at my notes.

I noticed that Sally Hudson has sent us an email regarding a survey and I thought, oh my goodness, another survey.

But what this is, the Secretary of Transportation and the Chairman of the CTB have requested the General Assembly look at the smart scale

process for review.

There is a link for the survey.

I think it would behoove us to take this seriously because for our locality, SmartScale has made all the difference in the world for funding.

and I think Ann's nodding her head because we used to lose all the time to Northern Virginia and to the Newport News and the large population centers and this process has leveled the playing field and I see other people nodding too.

So I think giving input or if we have suggestions as to how to make it better,

but I would be very unhappy if that smart scale process went away and something else replaced it that was going back more to the way it used to be, I guess is what I'm saying.

So take a look at that email that's just come in sometime today.

Just a couple of other things too.

I know that and I don't know if Kaki's still here or not.

I know, oh, I see Sean back there.

You're still there.

I know that at one point we were interviewing for the positions that would be filling the new response team for the mental health.

I would just like an update at some point.

I'm not talking about tonight, but it would be great to understand where we are in that process and an update because I have people from the community asking me

and just to kind of catch us up on where we are in that process would be great as you have time.

And I will mention again, we've had some emails and discussions again around our invasive plant list.

It would be really great if we could somehow or another figure out a way, and I know staff is overwhelmed with lots of stuff, but if there was a way that we could think about that, maybe after budget cycle, I'm not sure, because we're about to go into budget and I get that, as well as that home occupation list that we've talked about reviewing, just to kind of keep those in our conscious, right?

Would be great.

Thank you.

Yes, thank you very much regarding the invasive plants.

A long time ago.

So it would be nice, because we actually have a current list, we just haven't approved it yet.

And I know we want that as part of the comprehensive plan.

but maybe we could just have it on the website as in draft form saying draft and this is the proposed one so that as developers look at putting in plans they're using this updated list even if it's tweaked a little bit but it's a lot better than the old one that is currently on the website so I put that out if everyone

Agrees, maybe that's something you know, I'm looking for affirmative nods Anyway, so we met our 29 North CAC met and we actually offered ourselves as guinea pigs a

for the AC44 project to go over the questions, because they gave us one question, and we kind of looked, and it's like, what?

So we said, give us all the survey questions.

We'll fill them out, and then you can go from there.

But I'm sure they've also presented those survey questions, or at least one of them, to each of the CACs.

But for the process, we've offered to be guinea pigs

that they could use in any way that would help the process.

So that's all I have.

Thank you.

We are prepared to go into a closed meeting.

Oh.

Thank you very much.

I move that the Board of Supervisors convene a closed meeting pursuant to section 2.2-3711A of the Code of Virginia under subsection 8 to consult with legal counsel regarding specific legal matters requiring legal advice related to the public animal shelter operated for the county and the city of Charlottesville by the Charlottesville Albemarle Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals, CASPA,

Good evening.

I'll call the board back to order at six o'clock.

I don't have a hard copy.

What?

I should have it memorized.

I move that the Board of Supervisors certify by a recorded vote that to the best of each supervisor's knowledge only public business matters lawfully exempted from the open meeting requirements of the Virginia Freedom of Information Act and identified in the meeting authorizing the closed meeting were heard discussed or considered in the closed meeting.

All right.

We have a motion from Supervisor LaPisto-Kirtley and a second from Supervisor Malek.

Ms.

LaPisto-Kirtley?

Aye.

Ms.

Malek?

Yes.

Ms.

McKeel?

Yes.

Ms.

All right.

Thank you, board.

We'll move to item number 16 from the county executive.

Good evening, Mr. Richardson.

Yes.

Chair Price, I do.

Thank you very much.

Ms.

Kilroy, thank you so much for queuing up the February 2023 County Executives Report.

Thank you.

Several of the items that, thank you, Emily.

Several of the items that we're talking about, this board has already mentioned this afternoon, so I'll try to be brief.

The first of which is the let's talk about traffic town hall.

We have the final one tomorrow night at North Garden Fire Station.

I believe in the first two town halls, the traffic town halls, I believe we had 112 citizen community members who participated in those two town halls.

And those were from last week.

and so tomorrow night is at North Garden Fire Station.

The first two events were well attended.

It gave the community an opportunity to ask questions about roads that they travel most.

A recording will be available online later this month in case

Community members were not able to attend the live session.

I do want to thank, and the board did a great job earlier, of thanking our staff.

I also want to thank VDOT, who partnered with the county and attended both events last week.

So we certainly appreciate their partnership.

Our Fire Rescue Department welcomed officially Recruit School 22 earlier this month.

22 recruits who became full members

of the Fire Rescue Team and will be going through their onboarding for the next six months.

Beyond the skills training, the practical testing, classroom sessions, these recruits will learn the importance of teamwork, dedication required for public service, and the value of a career with Fire Rescue and Albemarle County Government.

And as an aside board,

I know that this past Monday night, the Fire Rescue Department hosted all of the recruits' families, and they were there at our Fire Rescue Department Monday evening welcoming the families on board, learning the spouses, the children, immediate family members, and welcoming them into the broader Fire Rescue family.

So that certainly was a good evening.

Board, you'll probably laugh at me by

Preparing our community again for winter safety as I think it reached 70 degrees today in Albemarle County.

But it is still wintertime and you never know when severe weather could hit.

Now is a great time for our community to please take stock of your household preparedness for snow, ice, and power outages.

It's a good practice to keep 72 hours worth of food, medicine, and other essentials in your home.

Sign up for Code Red.

communityemergency.org, the county's newsletter at albemarle.org.

Follow the county's social media channels to stay informed before, during, and after severe weather.

Congratulations to our environmental services team for a recent grant award from the Department of Environmental Quality for just under $860,000 to fund

half the cost of the first phase of the Biscuit Run stream restoration project, which seeks to improve the stream that is currently considered impaired.

The project is in design phase and will focus on a one mile area within the park boundary and will include channel, flood plain grading, and the foundation of pools and riffles through grade control structures constructed of local wood material and imported rock.

A reminder to bring your own bag.

That saves you five cents while shopping in Albemarle County.

We've placed a bin in the lobby of both of our office buildings for people to give one or take one in order to ensure everyone in our community has access to reusable bags.

Now through March 10th, we're asking the community to share their feedback on the seven comp plan topics.

We just started phase two.

We're looking for input that will help shape the goals and objectives for each topic.

Topics include community facilities, economic development, housing, land use, and transportation.

And that is at engage.albemarle.org forward slash phase two.

In the consent agenda are some informational reports.

The one I want to highlight this evening is the new residential dwelling unit permits.

Year-end data for 2022 is now available.

Coming off the high volume experienced in 2020, the past two years are similar to 2016-2017 in terms of permits.

We continue to see a large share of multifamily units.

We continue to see growth concentrated most in the development area.

Permits kicks off the private construction but also the local government process of reviews and inspections that our community development and fire marshal staff.

We've had a few questions about when the final construction of the new interchange at exit 124 and US 250 East and Pantops will be complete.

VDOT shared that there is major work remaining, final surface asphalt and striping.

All of that is weather dependent.

They both require that the surface be approaching 50 degrees

and rising with no precipitation.

The crew can only do these activities under full lane closure and that would be between 9 p.m.

and 5 a.m.

They will perform these activities as soon as the weather permits for at least one week and that's probably going to be likely March or April.

Once the project is completed, VDOT will continue to tweak the signal timings, the phases,

the phasings to optimize the intersection and sync it with the rest of the 250 corridor.

So, Board, when you go through there, it's a construction project and you see that when you go through it every day.

So the public, if they can just be patient with us because VDOT and the contractor, they're working hard as we move through the final stage.

Our Office of Equity and Inclusion is partnering with the city to host a children's financial literacy workshop at the Jefferson School African American Heritage Center on Saturday, February the 25th from 12 until 2.30.

The day will focus on the book Mahogany Goes to Wall Street by Jay Bradford.

Jay will read excerpts from her book and attendees will receive a copy.

The event is geared toward youth in the third and fourth grade, but all are welcome.

We do have our 2022 community report that is available, too.

I've seen a copy of this.

Yes, thank you.

So we published digitally the annual community report for 2022 online earlier today, and we'll be promoting that over the next several weeks.

It's a great way to sort of share some of the known and unknown things that happened over the course of the year here.

We try to highlight every department and so some of that's more public facing and some of that's more internal but it's a good celebration of all the work that everyone's done and when we have the physical copies printed we'll make sure that we get those into your mailbox and we'll be promoting again we'll be running that over the next couple of a couple of weeks and I am Emily Kilroy, Assistant to the County Executive.

And Chair and members of the board, the final thing as I wrap up, I believe this is our last slide.

I did want to mention that our staff is aware, I'm sure this board is too, that we have received some concerns from the general public in the last week to ten days regarding the relationship we have and concerns about operations.

at our SPCA where we contract with SPCA to do sheltering services for Albemarle County government.

Our relationship most specifically exists in the police department where we have animal control officers who go out and respond to calls on a day-to-day basis and then they work back through the SPCA sheltering services.

We work closely through the Police Department with SPCA on a regular basis, as you might guess, but we also are in partnership with the City of Charlottesville, and that is a three-party agreement that's been in effect since 2009.

The Virginia Department of Agriculture and Customer Services

They've indicated that they are aware of the concerns expressed publicly and they have also indicated to us that they are reviewing this matter which also includes a recent inspection.

It's my understanding that the county will receive the results of that inspection and I expect that to occur sooner rather than later and then the staff will certainly follow up with this board on any actions

I'm happy to answer questions if there are any from the board.

Thank you, Mr. Richardson.

We will go through our order.

Thank you for all the work you do and an excellent report.

Real quickly on the first substantive slide on traffic, I don't know if it can be brought up, but it said, I just want to make a point that it says 65 million average vehicle trips in Albemarle County roadways each year.

and if I do the math that comes out to 180,000 trips a day, almost 180,000 trips a day for every day of the year and no doubt more on weekdays than on weekends.

We clearly have to concern ourselves with traffic on the roads but also with alternatives to car trips and I hope that we'll have more ways to help people get around without a car in the future.

Thank you.

I'm sorry, he didn't ask a question, but I would love to make a comment.

Would you like to make a comment?

With your permission, please.

Because it ties directly to the town halls, and Jim, I know you'll be there tomorrow night, but if Captain Jamison from the Albemarle County Police Department were here right now, he would say, yes sir, it's over 180,000 trips per day, and people need to pay attention when they drive.

Distracted driving is one of the most significant reasons for accidents and Captain Jamerson talks about that at the traffic town halls is what they observe in the community because our police officers, there's a lot of traffic on our roads and they cannot be everywhere at every interchange and be all over the county at one time.

We're just not set up that way and people do have some responsibility to pay attention when they drive.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Thank you.

You know, it's just so important that we get the facts every time before we take actions.

And I think everything that we see from traffic, these reports are really helping us to make sure that we know where the problem areas are so we can work with our community to be safer through everything that you've covered in your report tonight is really important.

We just have to have the facts before we make decisions.

Nothing further than board, we will move to item number 17 from the public.

matters on the agenda but not listed for public hearing or on matters previously considered by the board or matters that are pending before the board.

I have from the clerk that we do have three people signed up in person and no one has signed up online.

So Vice Chair Andrews, if you will read the procedural rules for

Yes.

During the time set aside for matters on the agenda but not listed for public hearing, individuals may address the Board of Supervisors concerning matters previously considered by the Board or matters that are pending before the Board other than items listed on the agenda for public hearing.

Individuals are allowed one opportunity for up to three minutes to speak at each Board meeting.

and timekeeping is conducted through a timer and a light system at the podium.

The green light will go on when you begin speaking, which begins your allotted time.

The yellow light indicates you have one minute to finish.

The red light indicates your time has expired and be asked to end your comments.

To give all speakers equal treatment and courtesy, the board requests speakers adhere to the following guidelines.

When addressing the board, state your name and if you live in Albemarle County, your magisterial district.

Please address comments directly to the board as a whole.

Any written statements or other supporting materials may be given to the clerk.

If representing a group or organization, you may ask others present to raise their hands in recognition.

Speakers may not share any unused time with another speaker.

Back and forth debate is not permitted.

Please do not speak from your seat or out of turn.

All comments are live streamed, recorded, and published on the Albemarle County website.

Thank you.

Our first speaker, Sally Duncan.

Good evening, and if you would just bring the microphone close to your mouth, please.

My name is Sally Duncan.

I'm a resident of Albemarle County.

I live in the Rio district.

I'm here on behalf of Livable Seaville to talk about homelessness in the Charlottesville and Albemarle area.

Housing is a human right, and it's a clear violation of that basic right when someone experiences homelessness in our community.

The underlying problem is also clear, insufficient housing.

Homelessness is worsening in our area.

According to the Blue Ridge Area Coalition for the Homeless, the point-in-time count for our area jumped by 50% to 266 people in 2022.

And more than 440 people accessed the Haven State Shelter Services more than 19,000 times in 2022.

We need

Why People Become Homeless, it results in harmful policies and defers real solutions.

In their recent book, Homelessness is a Housing Problem, Greg Colburn and Clayton Page Aldrin analyzed data from across the country and concluded that it's not the levels of drug use, poverty, unemployment, or mental health problems that predict levels of homelessness in an area, nor is it the weather or the relative generosity of local social services.

Rather, it's about housing.

The authors found that the cost and availability of housing explains regional variation in homelessness, specifically low rental vacancy rates and high rent.

That should sound very familiar to us in Charlottesville and Albemarle.

We need to move beyond stigmas to solutions and ensure there is adequate funding and housing to prevent homelessness from occurring in the first place and get people experiencing homelessness back into secure housing.

I'm here this evening to hand out copies of the book, Homelessness is a Housing Problem, to each of you.

We've included a flyer from The Haven with information about the invaluable work they do in our community.

We hope that you'll read this book and that as the county develops a new comp plan, rewrites its zoning code, and develops its budget for next year, you'll implement its lessons so that homelessness in the Charlottesville-Albemarle area will be rare, brief, and non-recurring.

And once you've finished reading it, please pass it on to someone you think will benefit from learning more about this important topic.

Thank you.

And if you'd like to give the books to the clerk, she can distribute them to us.

Thank you.

Our next speaker, Heather Rowland.

Good evening.

I'm Heather Rowland from the Samuel Miller District and I want to revisit the topic I spoke about at your last meeting, namely the controversy surrounding the Charlottesville Albemarle SPCA regarding its toxic work environment and the mistreatment of animals in its care.

On February the 9th, the Board of CASCA belatedly announced that it had appointed Maguire Wood's law firm to conduct a third-party investigation of the allegations.

Is this progress?

Maybe.

Does this mean Albemarle County has no need to proceed with its own inquiry overseen by Deputy County Executive Trevor Henry?

No, it does not mean that.

In my view, the county's investigation remains both appropriate, because it's CASPA's single biggest funder, and essential.

We do not know what the terms of reference McGuire-Woods have been given.

We do not know if they've been authorized to speak to current or former staff and volunteers.

Note the board itself refuses to do that.

We do not know if McGuire-Woods' full report will be released.

We do not know if the inquiry is seeking the truth or simply providing cover for the Kapska board to maintain the status quo.

There is every reason for skepticism based on the Kapska board's track record.

The board's approach to discharging its obligations in the face of widely circulating rumors and allegations was to ask the CEO, Angie Gunter, if there was any substance behind the rumors and to simply take her word for it when she said there was not.

The CASPA board chair, Jen Corby, continues to make false, totally unsubstantiated, and frankly defamatory claims on the record, such as the issues raised by CASPA concerns are new.

That is untrue.

The photos circulated by CASPA concerns are fake.

That is untrue.

The board of directors of CASCA has demonstrated blind allegiance to senior management and repeatedly failed to act in the best interest of the shelter, its employees, its volunteers and its donors.

The animals, the staff and the volunteers at CASCA and not least the taxpayers of Albemarle County are relying on the county's study to provide the truth about operations at CASCA.

Please don't let us down.

Thank you.

Our next speaker, Theresa Hepler.

Good evening.

Thank you.

My name is Theresa Hepler.

I'm here in both my personal capacity as a resident of the Samuel Miller district and as an attorney with the Legally Justice Center.

And I'm here today to ask you to pause the jail renovation plans.

I am asking you to do this because I believe we need more robust community engagement and that a work group is needed

to better inform people in both Albemarle County and Charlottesville about the best ways to keep people out of jail.

And I have three main reasons for this.

The first is that any expenditure of taxpayer dollars, particularly a project costing an estimated $72 million requires robust community input.

There has been very little community engagement at this point.

A handful of poorly attended listening sessions in the middle of a pandemic is not enough.

The jail superintendent's conversations with some people is not enough.

Not a lot of regular people know about this and it is not clear if incarcerated folks have been consulted about whether they want a nicer jail or better community supports that would actually prevent them from going to jail in the first place.

Second, this board is empowered and I urge it to fund programs that address people's needs that prevent them from entering the criminal legal system.

The population at the jail has been declining.

We should be talking about how to ensure that that population continues to decline.

There is an idea that has been going around that you can't control what judges and prosecutors do, but here's what you can do.

You can fully fund our community services board based on Albemarle's wealth and population size.

If you do not think Region 10 is working, we need to figure out why and fix that and not build a shinier cage.

We need to invest in affordable housing to reduce the impacts of poverty.

We need to invest in diversion programs like the new restorative justice program and the markets alert system and we need to invest in mental health education because these such supports keep people out of jail and it gives judges and prosecutors options.

Albemarle County contributed $0 to Partner for Mental Health in 2022, $0 to the Fountain Fund, and $0 to the Bridge Ministry in 2022, and it's just now in 2023 starting to fund those services.

It does not make fiscal sense to invest in a jail with a population that is decreasing when there has been little effort to actually

in Charlottesville.

like door-knocking surveys, listening sessions, and to research cost savings and provide a public-facing recommendation.

Thank you for your remarks.

If you're not finished, ma'am, if there are things you didn't complete, you're welcome to give them to the clerk.

I was done.

Thank you.

Okay.

Thank you.

All right.

That is correct.

All right, board, we'll move to item number 18, first public hearing.

This will be SP 2022-00017, Maple Grove Daycare Center.

Good evening, Chair Price, members of the board.

My name is Kevin McCollum.

I'm a senior planner with the Albemarle County Planning Division.

Tonight I'll be giving staff's presentation on Special Use Permit Application SP-22217 Maple Grove Daycare Center.

This is a proposed special use permit for a child day center within an existing church.

The subject property is located north of the city of Charlottesville at 3210 Prophet Road.

The property is about 1,500 feet east of the intersection of Airport Road, Seminole Trail, and Prophet Road.

It is 6.86 acres and is zoned R1 residential.

The site is home to an existing 18,000 square foot church building currently used by Maple Grove Christian Church.

The parcel includes existing parking areas, two playgrounds, a basketball court, a youth center in the rear, and a parsonage building in the front.

As mentioned, the property is zoned R1 residential and a large majority of the surrounding properties

are also zoned residential with single family houses.

The properties to the west include the Lighthouse Christian Church and Preschool, Bright Beginnings Preschool, and a variety of commercial uses along US 29 North.

The profit road townhomes are also being developed on the property immediately to the west and across the street.

The applicant has requested a special use permit for a five day a week child day center for up to 50 children.

at this existing church facility.

The proposed daycare program would operate from 7 a.m.

to 6 p.m.

Monday through Friday year-round.

The Child Day Center would utilize the existing buildings, parking areas, playgrounds, and basketball court.

The concept plan provides an overview of the site layout

The concept plan provides an overview of the site layout and shows the proposed parent pick-up and drop-off loop.

Based on the findings in the staff report

The proposed use is consistent with the Places 29 Master Plan.

The proposal provides a daycare option for those who live and work in the area, and because no detrimental impacts are anticipated to adjoining properties, staff recommends approval of SB 2022-17 Maple Grove Daycare with the proposed conditions.

With that, that concludes my presentation.

Are there any questions?

All right, thank you.

We'll go through our order.

Supervisor Andrews?

No questions, thank you.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Supervisor Galloway?

No, thank you.

Thank you.

Thank you, Supervisor LaPisto-Kirtley.

No questions.

And I have no questions.

I take that as an indication of the thoroughness of your report.

We will now open the public hearing.

So let's see.

We do have the applicant here.

All right.

Thank you.

Applicants are limited to a 10-minute presentation of the proposal.

and are allowed a five-minute rebuttal at the close of the public hearing.

Timekeeping is conducted through the timer and light system at the podium.

The green light will go on when you begin speaking, which begins your allotted time.

The yellow light indicates you have one minute to finish.

The red light indicates your time has expired.

You'll be asked to end your comments.

All right, thank you.

So, Mr. Bailey, I understand you're here.

Thank you.

I appreciate your time.

This will be short because Kevin has already covered almost everything I had.

Location

We're surrounded by residential communities on the east side.

We are not seeing that.

So give us just a moment.

You have the presentation mode in the top left corner.

Thank you.

Here we go.

No worries.

So Kevin went over where we're located and the size of our facility.

And we're sited by three residential areas.

Right here is ongoing and then these are established communities.

And again, this is the main building.

That's where all the daycare operations will occur.

This is our youth building and that's a parsonage that will not be part of the daycare as well.

Currently our main building is approved by the county to have 400 persons in worship and 60 in pre and elementary school children attending Sunday school.

And right now we're about 25% capacity.

We're still struggling a bit for COVID and a lot of our parishioners still watch online.

We have a children's wing of about 2800 square feet.