Good afternoon, everyone. I call the Abmar County Board of Supervisors to order for our 04/01/2026, no fools, 1PM meeting. The supervisors present at the dais are Supervisor Mike Pruitt of the Scottsville District, Supervisor Ann Malek of the Whitehall District, Supervisor B. Lapisto Kirtley of the Ravana District, Supervisor Sally Duncan of the Jack Jewett District, Supervisor Fred Missle of Samuel Miller District will be joining us virtually.
We will handle that here in just a moment. Also with us are our county attorney, Mr. Andy Herrick, our county executive, Mr. Jeff Richardson, our board clerk, miss Claudette Borgeson, and our senior deputy clerk, mister Travis Morris, is in support today here as well. We want to, thank our Albemarle County Police Department officers who are present with us today, Officer Joshua Penn and Officer Joshua Cox. We've got the Joshua team today. So thank you, gentlemen, both for being here with us. As I said, Supervisor Missal would like to participate remotely.
And in accordance with applicable board rules of the procedure, rule number eight(one) enacted pursuant to the Freedom of Information Act, we will need to vote, vote him in, so that he can participate remotely. Prior to the vote, mister Missal, could you please state your location and your reason for your request? Sure thing. Thank you. Can everyone hear me okay? Yes, sir. Great. Thank you. I am fighting a a virus, and I am located at my home in the Samuel Miller District. I appreciate this accommodate this accommodation. Thank you.
Alright. Thank you very much. Board, is there a motion to permit supervisor Missal to participate remotely? So moved. Seconded. Alright. The motion has been made and seconded. Without objection, if the clerk would please call the roll. Miss Mallett? Yes. Mister Pruitt? Aye. Miss Duncan? Yes. Mister Galloway? Yes. Miss Lupista Kirtley? Aye. Alright. Very good. Mister Missle, you are in the meeting. Thank you, and thank you, board. Alright. If everyone would now please rise as you are able and join us with the pledge of allegiance. I pledge allegiance to the flag of The United States Of America, and to the Republic for which it stands, Alright.
Thank you. And if now, if everyone would please join in a brief moment of silence. Thank you very much. Alright, board. We need to adopt our final agenda. Are there any changes or edits to the final agenda? Alright. I'm going to adoption of the agenda as posted. Second. Alright. The motion has been made and seconded. Without objection, if the Clerk will please call the roll. Miss Mallett? Yes. Mister Missal? Aye. Mister Pruitt? Aye. Miss Duncan? Yes. Mister Galloway? Yes. Miss Lakisto, Kirtley? Aye. Alright. Thank you, board. We will now move to number five,
brief announcements by board members. And where did my order go? Here you go. Alright. Supervisor Malek. Thank you very much. This past Sunday was the spring concert for the Albemarle High School Jazz Band, and it was at the Paramount this year, and it was fabulous. And Greg Thomas, who had been their leader for many years, was back as a visiting artist as well as John Dearth and lots of other folks from Richmond and DC. Andrew LaPrade is the new musical director, and he is following along in a great tradition. Secondly,
on the April 17 at 11AM will be the rededication of the Dogwood Memorial at, McIntyre Park, and all are invited. Next, Bill Moyer of the our SWA, Ravanna Solid Waste Authority, did a report on the fall special collections days. And I'm saying this now and to encourage people to participate in the upcoming April, special collections days. For household hazardous waste, 122 over a thousand vehicles and, in two days, 30,000 pounds of hazardous waste.
That's a lot. 123, of tons of pounds of furniture and mattresses, 25,000 pounds of appliances, and a 113 deliveries of tires, all from a 124 Albemarle County residents. So this is a great service. It is a budgeted expense for Ravenna, and I hope that all citizens will take advantage of that. And another little report to go with that on the 2025 recycling and reuse, 156,000 pounds of tires for the entire year. Scrap metal,
268,000 pounds. Vegetation waste, 19,208,000. These are things that comp those that composts on the site and is available for use after. Mixed paper, also over a million pounds. Cardboard, almost 2,000,000 pounds. Glass, 767,000 pounds. And that glass that that goes to McIntyre here and the convenience centers in Albemarle and then to Urbana actually goes to a reprocessing plant in Virginia. It is not thrown into roadways. It is actually made into other bottles,
which is very cool. Plastic is failing 235,000 pounds because now there's no place to sell it. Metal cans, 235,000 pounds. So, just wanted to put those out there. The Solid Waste Advisory Committee is working hard on ways that we can do better in the future, and I look forward to reporting more on that. That's all I have. Thank you. Thank you. Supervisor Lopisto Kirtley? Yes. Thank you very much. I just wanted to say that our cleanup crew, cleaning up, around the county is now in progress. I know they were on,
Prophet Road, and I know they're going throughout the county. This is the program that is paid for by the plastic tack plastic bag tax, and we are doing a lot of, cleanup. We do it in the spring, and we do it again in the fall. So a lot of that is being, cleaned up, and we're really, I think it's a really, really good program. So we're really appreciative of that because we don't want anything Remember, when you throw something out your window, it's going into the waste into this river. You're drinking that water from the river. So let's be careful.
Let's not throw anything out. Just leave it in your car until you can toss it away. And one other thing, don't forget to vote. It's our right. It's our obligation for in my opinion, April 21, I understand, is the deadline to vote. Thank you. Thank you. Supervisor Missal. Just a brief announcement on Friday, April 24 at the Hillsdale Conference Center. The Jefferson Area Board For Aging will be continuing their embrace every season, series. And if there's interest in more information on that,
it is available on their website, and it is focused on caregiver stories, lessons on care, family, and end of life decision making. So I just offer that, for the for the listeners. Thank you. Thank you. Supervisor Pruitt? Well, supervisor Lupisto currently stole what I think we've all come to understand is my thing to talk about, talking about elections. So with that out of the way, I guess I would only highlight it is it is Easter this weekend. It is a time that a lot of people take, time off, and it is also just happens to be the time of the year that God
likes to remind us all that we live in the South. We are going to have 80 degree weather, consistently through Saturday. So as you are enjoying perhaps a little bit of time off, over this week and weekend, for those who are able, please make sure to to also be thoughtful and conscious about your exposure to the heat and weather. Make sure you're wearing sunscreen and, exercising in ways that are responsible. That's all I got. Supervisor Duncan? I have nothing. Alright. I do not have any announcements today. We will move to item number six. We do have two proclamations on our agenda. The first is National Child Abuse Prevention Month.
We have, both Doctor. Mark Mendelson, Foothills Board Chair, and Brianna Valentino, the Program Director, with us. We will have, Supervisor Lupisto Kirtley will read the proclamation in the form of a motion. The Board will take a vote, and then we'd invite our guests to please join, join us at the podium and make some comments. And we can Yeah, if you all want to come down and come on down now and, you can be in the front row. We'll wait till you're there before we'll read the proclamation. Welcome to you all. Okay. Well, I just want to say that having been a CASA volunteer for five years before
becoming a supervisor, I'm very proud to read this proclamation, regarding National Child Abuse Prevention Month. Whereas Child Abuse Prevention Month is observed each April to raise awareness of the importance of preventing child abuse and neglect and to affirm our community's shared responsibility to support children and families. And whereas child abuse and neglect remain serious public health and social concerns affecting children and families across our region and preventing, and early intervention efforts,
including education, family support, and community engagement, help strengthen perspective factors for children and caregivers, and whereas strong families, supportive relationships, and engaged communities contribute to positive outcomes for children and collaborative partnerships among families, schools, community organizations, faith groups, health care providers, law enforcement, and department departments of social services, enhance our communities, coordinated response to child abuse and neglect. And whereas children's advocacy groups centers,
excuse me, CACs are codified in the code of Virginia as part of the Commonwealth's response to child abuse and neglect, serving as the neutral child focused setting for forensic interviews, medical examinations, family advocacy, and multidisciplinary team care review. And whereas our c, area our area's CAC, Foothills chill Foothills Children's Advocacy Center has partnered for twenty years with law enforcement, the Department of Social Services,
and the Commonwealth's Attorney's Office, conducting an average of more than 300 forensic interviews annually to support criminal investigations and prosecution efforts. And this community recognizes the importance of continued awareness, collaboration, and resources to support children and families impacted by abuse. Now, therefore, be it proclaimed that we, the Albemarle County Board of Supervisors, do hereby recognize April 2026 as Child Abuse Prevention Month and urge all community members,
organizations, businesses, and institutions to renew their commitment to protecting children, supporting families, increasing awareness of child abuse prevention resources, and participating in activities that promote child well-being. Signed this April 2026, Ned L. Gallo Ned L. Galloway, chair, Albemarle County Board of Supervisors. Second. Alright. The motion has been made and seconded. Without objection, if the clerk will please call the roll. Miss Mallett? Yes.
Mister Missal? Mister Missal? Yes. Mister Pruitt? Aye. Miss Duncan? Yes. Mister Galloway? Yes. Miss Lupista Kirtley? Aye. Alright. Thank you, board. And we would like to ask our guests, doctor Mendelson, to come first and invite you to make remarks. First of all, thank you very much. I'm Mark Mendelsohn. I'm a pediatrician and board chair for Foothills Children's Advocacy Center. Thank you so much for for the recognition. It's amazing work that we do, and to recognize the work in this proclamation means a lot to us. So on behalf of our staff,
our board, and most importantly, the children we serve, thank you very much. I'd like to briefly just remind people that we're adding hopefully a fifth arm of the Foothills Children's Advocacy work, and that's mental health services that we hope to add over the next year. So along with the other four arms that you described, I just wanted to let you know that we're working towards that goal too. So I'd like to introduce the people that are here today. Our medical, head of the medical evaluations, doctor Jamie Andrews, is here. She is a board certified child abuse pediatrician.
We have Adicelli Godoy, who's head of our family advocacy, who serves the caregivers, who have to learn how to deal with the situation that they've unfortunately been, put upon. And then Robin Goldstein is our development person. And then finally, Brianna Valentino is director of programs, and she's gonna speak for a couple of minutes. Thank you. Thank you. Good afternoon. Good afternoon. Thank you so much for recognizing April as Child Abuse Prevention Month. Again, my name is Brianna, and I'm the program director over at the Foothills Children's Advocacy Center.
April is really a time for us as a community to come together with a shared commitment to protect children and ensure that they grow up safe, supported, and heard. Nationally, about one in seven children experience abuse or neglect each year. Many cases do go unported, which means that the true number is likely even higher. In Albemarle County, there are over 1,800 reports of suspected child abuse and neglect in 2025, which resulted in hundreds of those reports requiring further investigation and intervention. Each of those reports represent children and families in our own neighborhoods who need support,
protection and care. Some children face an even greater risk. Children with disabilities are significantly more likely to experience abuse, often at rates two to three times higher than their peers. Youth who identify as LGBTQ plus are also at an increased risk particularly for exploitation and harm. These disparities call on us to be especially intentional in how we showed up for all children. But prevention is possible. Child safety is strengthened when families and communities build protective factors, things like tangible supports in times of need,
social connections, parenting supports, an understanding of child development in an effort to nurture children's social and emotional competence. These are the conditions that help families thrive and also reduce the risk of abuse. Prevention is also really about people. Every adult in this community has a role to play in creating environments where children feel safe enough to speak up. When a child discloses abuse, our responses matter deeply. We must be the adults who listen without judgment, who respond with care and most importantly who believe them.
When children trust they will be believed, they are more likely to come forward and that can be the first step towards safety and healing. We appreciate the commitment to strengthening families, supporting caregivers and also an effort to build a community where every child knows that they are valued, protected, and heard. Thank you so much for your time and for the proclamation. Thank you very much. I'm going to invite board members to make comments and or ask any questions. Supervisor Malek? Thank you. I would just say how important it is, the job you're doing for providing training for your staff as well as for families,
to be able to navigate when this when they find so just blowing it off. I mean, it reminded me of twenty years ago when my child came home from high school and reported something to me about one of her friend's parents. And when I asked somebody else who I assumed would know more than I, the immediate response was, oh, that can't be right. So that made me realize that this is what you all face every day. Thank you very much. Supervisor Lupista Kirtley? What you do is invaluable. You're saving the life of a child. You're preventing them from abuse,
from neglect. And I so appreciate that because, every child deserves to be happy, have a safe, loving home. So I cannot thank you enough for everything you do on behalf of our children. Thank you. Supervisor Missal. Thank you. I couldn't have said it better. The work that you're doing is beyond critical, and, I just am grateful for the service that you all provide to, a most vulnerable generation and and age group. Thank you. Supervisor Pruitt? Thank you again to echo my peers' comments so much for the work that y'all
provide and the rest of your team. I I know it is a deeply taxing field to work in. It is, kind of constantly rubbing an exposed nerve, every every day of that work. And I know that is, challenging and know that the work that you and your team do is deeply appreciated. Thanks. Supervisor Duncan. Just echoing the comments of, you know, thank you guys for the work you do. I I have, you know, five kids of my own, and I teach, and so I know how important working with kids are and listening to them and being a safe space. And so I'm really grateful that you guys do that.
I join my colleagues in the in their remarks and endorse, I think the phrase that when you mentioned social emotional competence when you said that, I hadn't quite you got me spinning here a little. We think of reported cases of abuse as the extreme things that you might be able to notice if you were witnessing it. And don't think of the more subtle forms of abuse, that if you have an adult who is not socially, emotionally competent, of how that could impact a developing child who is learning how to be socially, emotionally competent, and what the long term impacts of that could be.
That's something to really think about and reflect on. But again, we appreciate you all being here today. I'm going to ask Supervisor Lupisto Kirtley to bring the signed proclamation, down to you all. And thank you again for everything that you do and for being here this afternoon. All right. And we will move to our second proclamation today. This is a proclamation recognizing Dark Sky Week. We have with us, among others, Christine Putnam, the member of Dark Skies Piedmont. And we will have Supervisor Malek first read the you can come on. I mean, you can wait or come down. Supervisor Malek will read the proclamation,
and then we'll, vote and then invite you to make some remarks. You all can come down to the front row if you'd like to join, by all means. Thank you all very much. Proclamation recognizing Dark Sky Week as a motion. Whereas the aesthetic beauty and wonder of a natural night sky is a shared heritage of all humankind, The experience of standing beneath the starry night sky inspires feelings of wonder and awe. Many people in Albemarle County live under a dome of light pollution, excessive artificial lighting at night that disrupts natural darkness and may never experience the visual
wonder or ecological and health benefits of living under a dark sky. And whereas light pollution has scientifically established economic and environmental consequences, which result in significant impacts to the ecology and human health of all communities. And light pollution represents a waste of natural resources amounting to roughly $3,000,000,000 per year of wasted energy in The United States alone and contributes thus to climate change. And whereas Almirall County has adopted the biodiversity action plan to protect the many species which rely on undisturbed night environments to hunt,
mate, and thrive. Albemarle County is home to Fan Mountain Observatory operated by the astronomy department of the University of Virginia. The southernmost edge of Albemarle County is less than 10 miles from James River State Park, which is one of the four Virginia state parks designated as an international dark sky park by the International Dark Sky Association. Whereas, peak spring bird migration falls during dark sky week, and 80% of migrating birds fly at night and need starlight to navigate. Whereas the International Dark Sky Association is the globally recognized authority on light pollution and
has created International Dark Sky Week to create aware raise awareness of light pollution and provide free education, resources, and solutions to the public to encourage the protection of and enjoyment of dark skies and responsible outdoor lighting. Now, therefore, be it proclaimed that we, the Albemarle County Board of Supervisors, do hereby recognize April 2026 as International Dark Sky Week and ask each resident to join us not only in observing and pondering this important week, but also in raising awareness and support for protecting our precious dark sky resources.
Signed this April 2026. Nedel Galloway chair. Thank you. We need a second. Alright. Is there a second? Second. Alright. The motion has been made and seconded. Without objection, if the clerk will please call the roll. Miss Mallett? Yes. Mister Missal? Yes. Mister Pruitt? Aye. Miss Duncan? Yes. Mister Galloway? Yes. Missalpiester Kirtley? Aye. Alright. Motion carries. Thank you, board. And miss Putnam, if you'd like to come up. All right. Well, thank you guys so much. This is the third year that we've come before you and the third year that you have supported this International Dark Sky Week proclamation.
So really appreciate that. And recently, we have an updated comprehensive plan where there are multiple references to the county's commitment to addressing light pollution. We hope that the updated lighting ordinance will adopt best practices as recommended by the Illuminating Engineering Society and Dark Sky International, resulting in an ordinance that is both effective and enforceable. In fact, Dark Sky International has recently released their updated model ordinance, which uses best practices to ensure public safety while also reducing wasteful lighting because most
of our spaces are over lit with lighting with light that actually never reaches its intended target. And although the current the current ordinance requires that commercial lighting be fully shielded so that the light shines on towards the ground rather than up into the sky or creates blinding glare for people out to the side. Unfortunately, there are many businesses that end up replacing lighting or updating lighting that does not comply with the current ordinance.
And I see many examples of this. This goes unchecked unless somebody makes a complaint. So we would like to ask that more effort be made to educate businesses so they understand how to properly comply with the ordinance. This we are a long way to reducing this growing problem of light pollution. And I imagine it would be a much more cost effective approach than making a complaint and sending a compliance officer out to educate people. And it would be nice if businesses could make the right decision before they have
to be placed that lighting. So thank you again for your time and your support for responsible community lighting practices that not only protect the dark sky, but also the health and well-being of people and our neighbors, which includes, of course, all living things on our planet. So thank you so much. And would you like to introduce your guests that are with us today? These are all wonderful advocates of dark sky protections and, really, I don't know if we could introduce everyone one at a time,
but, they all join me in, thanking you and hoping for that strong that update of the ordinance and better enforcement and all the things I've mentioned. Unless somebody wants to add something. And we do have some handouts for you. And you can Thank you. Happily give those to the clerk, and we'll make sure we receive. Thank you, guys. Thank you. We're going to ask see if the board has comments and or questions. Supervisor Malek? Thank you very much. Carol, if you have extra things at the table outside, you might catch a few other distributions as people come to the meeting. Thank you all very much.
And I was particularly struck by the third year of the proclamation. It's the third year it's time to get on with it as far as because I know that your committee, National Heritage Committee, has been seeking updating the ordinance for years, especially addressing LEDs and the way that they function. I mean, when a particular gas station opened in Crozet, one could sit in your car on 02:50 and read the newspaper with the lights off because a 100 yards away, there was so much light pollution that spilled out. And that was just two years ago. So, I'm very grateful for all the work that you're doing.
I believe in the butterfly effect, and so I know none of us is is immune from, what is happening to the greater ecology as well. And I will just take a minute to remember in the late eighties and early nineties when my children went through fifth grade and Emily Tuning had a stargazing unit that they did, and they had to map all the constellations for, like, a month. Out in Earlsville back then, it was still very dark. We could see the Milky Way regularly. And the children from classmates from the city would come out and slide in the, you know, towels in the backyard and look at things there because they could not see it
at all. And it has clearly not gotten any better, unfortunately. So I really appreciate all of the work that you all are doing, and we will charge on. Thank you. Supervisor Lupisto Kirtley. I really appreciate everything you do, and I try in my neighborhood. I turn off my lights. Of course, I've been robbed three times. No. Just kidding. It's not true at all. But, I'm very conscious of that because here in Virginia, you can see the stars. And I don't think I don't think people really, really appreciate how seeing the stars, how important that is. You go out to LA, Los Angeles,
you don't see any stars. Every once in a while, few times a year, you don't see stars, because of all the light pollution. And you know you're getting into Los Angeles in an airplane maybe a half hour before you even land because it's all lit up. That's not what we want. We want the dark skies are important. It's important for our wildlife. And I'm just a quick question. Have you notified the news agencies that this is dark skies week so they can let everyone know? Well, we have not. We are working hard, but we hope that Could you you could
We hope that the county since We hope that the county, since we do have means of communicating with our citizens, will help us with that. But, yes, we probably should count. Can we give them your phone number? Absolutely. You got it. Thank you. Supervisor Missal? Great. Thank you. Well, first of all, really quick story. I can't help myself. I grew up as a kid living in a suburb of Philadelphia. And every summer, we would move we would go to Maine, to the Northwest Part of Maine. And I realized in the summer, there were stars in the rest of the time,
the rest of the year, I wasn't so sure. And so moving down here, I live in the rural area, and I am just incredibly appreciative of not just the ability to see stars, but the just, you know, the impact that the lack of clutter of visual light sources has on you as a person, and I'm I'm grateful for the work. And I think it's important that we're recognizing it, and I really appreciate the opportunity to raise awareness on this subject. I also agree that education is key. You know, having been in the development world for decades,
the full cutoff light fixtures have been part of our our, narrative. Right? And it's something that we've always, included in our developments, and it's just absolutely essential. I would challenge us to think about what's next. Is that still the best standard, or are there other things that we can be thinking about that might hold people accountable, developers accountable, but also, you know, continue to improve on what we are so blessed to have as an asset in Albemarle County. Thank you. Supervisor Pruitt? Thank you so much for your continued advocacy on this issue.
It is not lost on me that dark skies have a host of very, I think, practical, tangible benefits. Right? Light exposure squirrels up animals. It messes with our health in ways that you have to think about how it happens, but it does happen. That's all true. But, the thing that makes me really staunchly in this corner is is the qualitative and the intangible. I think it is important for us to continue to preserve the opportunity for future generations to have encounters with grandeur and and with the sublime.
I've talked during this before about, like, my memories of going out with my little constellation book with the glow in the dark stars in it, with my parents in the front yard where I grew up and was able to see the stars and map them. And I don't think that can be done anymore in the place I grew up. And I don't think, as someone who wants to have children one day in Albemarle County, I don't think I should tell them, well, wait till you're 18. You can go on a transatlantic cruise like I did to see the Milky Way again. That shouldn't be the only way that people have the opportunity to have these encounters
with the Sublime. So thank you again for your advocacy. Supervisor Duncan? Yeah. I have been lucky since we've lived in Albemarle County to live in a place where we can just walk outside and see the stars. And sometimes I forget that not everybody can, because it feels so normative to just, you know, see the sky. So I really appreciate it. I think dark skies are very important. I also want to point out you guys obviously know this, but for the public, you know, you can go to the observatory. They have free public, nights that if you, you know, haven't used the, large telescope there and haven't seen the skies,
that you can do that, which is really great. And obviously, you know, driving up to Skyline Drive, you can see the stars. But, yeah, it is just it's really fantastic, and we should be doing more to make sure that more people can enjoy it. I would remark that, you know, I'm always impressed, because I live in the development area, and I have since I've been here, with the exception of some few years out at the Lake, Lake Monticello. But even last night, as the moon was what it was last evening, walk taking a walk, And I tend to purposely do my walks where I return home after it's full
sunset dark. And how much you can see, even where I'm at right now, is only probably a mile from 29. And this would be back where it's near the railroad in Huntington and Cars Brook and that kind of area. And it was funny when somebody mentioned the migrating birds, because something flew I caught it peripheral flew over me. I'm assuming it was an owl because it was large. And also, if it wasn't, then then you guys might start questioning my sanity because there's not a lot of other things that I could explain it as. But the fact that that was even noticeable,
though, in a peripheral, and the comment I guess I'd make is that a lot of people, especially in the neighborhood where I'm currently at, turned their lights off. So it's not just like they've got their street lamps and their driveway lamps or even their porch lights on. A lot of the light that was coming were coming from inside the house, but their exterior lights, they're even keeping off as they live there. People come home, they get inside the house, they're turning the light off after dark. Very dark out in this, and I've noticed that because there's not a lot of street lamps and things up there except near the road. So, I think that's a good thing.
While there could obviously be improvements made, the fact that that's the case even being so close in, I think, is a testament to the efforts being made to achieve what the Dark Skies Initiative is all about. So we really appreciate you all coming and joining us here, with us today. Supervisor Malek will bring the proclamation down to you, if you would like to accept it. Now. They didn't get their picture. That's alright. Well, you're in the dark. And we appreciate both such folks that came out today for the proclamations. Thank you all.
All right, Board. We will move to public comment on matters previously considered or currently pending before the Board other than what is scheduled for public hearings. We do have a few folks signed up today. During the time set aside for public comment on matters previously considered or currently pending before the Board, other than scheduled public hearings, individuals may address the Board of Supervisors concerning matters Okay, that's redundant. Other than items listed on the agenda for public hearing, individuals are allowed one opportunity of up to three minutes to speak at each board meeting. The sign up sheet is managed by the clerk's office.
Timekeeping is conducted through a 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 speaking. The red light indicates your time has expired and you will be asked to end your comments. In order to give all speakers equal treatment and courtesy, the Board requests that speakers adhere to the following guidelines. When addressing the Board, state your name and if you live in Albemarle County, your magisterial district, address comments directly to the Board as a whole. Any written statements or other supporting material 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. Do not speak from your seat or out of turn. All comments are live streamed, recorded, and published on the Albemarle County website, and I would just remind our speakers when you're called down that you can adjust either the microphones and or the podium itself, so that you're able to speak directly into the mic. And with that, our first speaker today is Mr. Gary Grant,
and our second speaker will be Mr. Rob McGinnis, so you can be on deck, sir. It's not my place to do so, but, I would recognize former supervisor Sally Thomas who was here, and I commend her on, March 5. Waving at you from a from a There she is. Okay. Great. Super. Gary Grant, Riot District. April 1, a tricky day for governments at any level to hold meetings and make decisions about the public's money. Just to be clear, I'm not here to fool you. To date, I've attended three of your five community budget town halls with one more to come
on Thursday night. Some observations seemed foolish to hear the former senior center director ask the Rio District Supervisor at the Belvedere Town Hall to look for savings in the budget instead of relying on real estate reassessment increases. This came from a fellow who asked the Board of supervisors for and received $2,000,000 from Albemarle taxpayers to help build the membership center at Belvedere.
Seemed foolish to hear the Whitehall supervisor at the Western Albemarle Town Hall tell school board funding activists to talk to their school board about education money. This, after voting with four other supervisors to advertise a 15¢ increase in the car tax to housing affordability. Seemed electorally foolhardy, but refreshingly honest to hear the Ryvana supervisor answer in two words at the Lakeside
Town Hall the following question, what will it take for supervisors to give the schools the money they asked for? Her answer, four votes. Finally, a few more I'm not fooling comments from this forty year real estate and real property tax paying Albemarle resident who took out our own mortgage and paid it off early without any other taxpayers' help. Don't tax our cars to pay for other people's housing.
Keep religious impact separate from government. Any fool can voluntarily pay government more than what's on their tax bill, move affordable housing funds into the unaffordable school budget. Perhaps our students will become educated enough to solve all this for us at some future April Fools' Day. Thank you, Mr. Grant. Rob McGinnis? Good afternoon. My name is Rob McGinnis, and I'm here representing the Piedmont Environmental Council.
My comments pertain to Agenda Item 10, the VDOT Albemarle County Draft secondary six year plan. The county's comp plan addresses the value of rural roads, both paved and unpaved. Rural Area Transportation Action Item 4.3 states that the county, with the involvement of residents, should investigate a recreational rural roads program that supports active recreational and commuter use of rural roadways with low speed vehicle volumes. PEC strongly supports this and recommends that the county undertake this important planning initiative,
including aligning the rural rustic road program and the unpaved road improvement program with the relevant comp plan policies. Why does a county recreational rural roads program matter? Unpaved roads are essential parts of the Albemarle County fabric. Unpaved rural roads provide low stress places for rural area residents to walk, bike, run and ride horses. These are places where rural folks can meet, speak to one another and build community cohesion. And unpaved roads are part of the county's tourism ecosystem,
a major industry in Albemarle County accounting for around $1,000,000,000 of annual impact. That tourism is driven largely by the region's scenic and historic character. Residents from other parts of the county and Shawts will also visit and utilize rural roads. A number of running and biking clubs use them regularly, including high school teams. Multiple local businesses offer printed guides and group trips. These all contribute to the rural economy. At PEC's recent Active Mobility Summit, leaders from across the state shared success stories about economic development strategies that leverage the
outdoors. Albemarle County has an advantage with its scenic and historic rural area, which should be protected. Thank you for the opportunity to provide my comments. Thank you. All right. And we had no online, correct? Looks correct. Alright. We will close matters from the public, and that will take us to our consent agenda. I'm not aware of any items that need to be removed. Any? And I know you would like to work on I am going to call for discussion, because I know some remarks would like to be made on one of the items. So is there a motion to adopt or approve the consent agenda?
So moved. Second. All right. The motion has been made and seconded. I invite further discussion. Supervisor Duncan? Yeah. I just wanted to point out one thing that maybe only a handful of people in the county are as excited about as I am, But meeting minutes are really important. They are a really good source for government transparency, but also for local government history. It has been challenging at times to find meeting minutes of the Board of Supervisors. And so I'm very excited that I got to approve my first set of meeting
minutes and that we have meeting minutes from this year that are getting approved tonight. And so I'm the clerk's office has done, a good job of working really hard to get our meeting minutes updated. And so I just wanted to recognize that we are doing that, and I'm very excited about it. Thank you. Are there any other, points of discussion? I would just echo how important the literal format that we have is because it really tells the story of what happens as opposed to just the topic, which really doesn't help us. So thank you for bringing that up. Any further discussion? Alright. If the clerk would please call the roll.
Ms. Malek? Yes. Mr. Missal? Mister Missal? Yes. Mister Pruitt? Aye. Miss Duncan? Yes. Mister Galloway? Yes. Miss Lupista Kirtley? Aye. Alright. Thank you very much. The consent agenda is approved. And we will move to our presentation today, number nine, the Virginia Department of Transportation quarterly report. And miss Carrie Shepherd, who is also our amateur photographer today, is here. Hello. Hi. Good afternoon, mister chairman, members of the board. Pull up my presentation. Do Do you need some assistance there? I might.
Okay. Great. So I'm Carrie Shepherd. I'm here to provide the VDOT quarterly report. I'd also like to, before I get started, introduce a member of the audience that I brought with me. Mr. Matt Machotti, PE, has joined our team as the assistant resident engineer for land use. He's been with us just a couple of months. He came to us from New York State DOT, and we're very happy to have him. So I just ask that he be welcomed, and he's part of our team now and, appreciate that he's here. So I wanted to introduce him. Thank you. Welcome, sir. So to begin, for the preliminary engineering updates,
the Exit 107 Park And Ride project was awarded last December. Right now, there was a or current update is that there was a preconstruction meeting held March 24 last week with a notice to proceed on the project of March 30. The fixed completion date of that project is this coming December 30. So you should see a lot of movement on that project here very soon. 5th Street Hub And Trails project, that is still with right of way, but they are expecting to have that wrapped up very soon to meet the May 2026 advertisement date. Two fifty and twenty intersection improvements and corridor improvements,
that is also still under right of way. We expect advertisement still on track for winter of this year to early next year. And the rest of these projects are have remained unchanged since the last time I was here. Next, I'd like to talk about our design build bundles where there is a lot of movement. So the first element of the five part bundle, the Route 2 Fortytwo 50 roundabout and bridge replacement over 680 Brown's Gap Turnpike, that roundabout and bridge reopened earlier this month on the or earlier in March, March 13, with final completion expected mid summer.
Old Lynchburg Road, 5th Street Roundabout, that is also under construction at this time. John Warner Parkway, Ryar Road roundabout project and the Belvedere Green Tea, the construction is starting in the coming weeks. And for the last element, fifty three and twenty roundabout, the right of way plans are under review at this time. For our next bundle project, the Hydraulic District Avenue roundabout and the Fontaine interchange improvements and shared use path into the city. Public hearing was held May 22. CTV awarded the project early December of last year and the kickoff meeting was held in January.
And right now, the final design is underway. So there should be some movement out there on that project relatively soon as well. I know you'll be talking about this in greater detail here shortly, but for Aurora Rustics, just to give you a quick summary of what we accomplished last year and what we'll be starting with this year. Of course, we completed Starlight, Stoney Point Pass, Sutherland Glendower Road, Phases 1 And 2, Henderson Lane. And right now, we're going to be starting work on Blair Park to get that one finished up. Next for our construction activities. 601, same as it was last time I was here.
Its anticipated completion is July. Fontaine Avenue, construction did start on that in October. It's still one lane temporary signal in place. The completion is 2027. We also have a bridge replacement project on Stillhouse Creek Road, Route 693. The construction will begin April 6 and is expected to be complete by May 15. There will be a detour in place. And last, we have our Route 29 shared juice path, which has moved from preliminary engineering to construction. That construction started the week of March 9 with test bores and then clearing and
grubbing will begin. And that is all of my formal presentation. So I will take any questions or concerns that the Board I have one last thing before I take questions and concerns. I wanted to give you an update on our paving program, that has really taken off recently. So right now, plant mix has started in the Northwest part of the county. Also, service treatment, that's well underway. The southern part of the county is complete. They are working in the Western part of the county now and then they will move to the North. Also, our primaries will be, so those are all the secondary routes with service treatment and plant mix.
Our primaries, which will be asphalt, that's starting in late June, early July, and that includes Route 20 from Willow Lakes, which is just south of the off ramp to Scottsville to Red Hill. And then we have 250 out in the West, kind of near the Fluvanna County line. We have 29 northbound from Teal Lane South to 760 Red Hill School Road. The northbound lane, if I say that geologically right, Red Hill School Road to Teal Lane and then the southbound 29 from Brookmoor to Hydraulic. The paving map has been updated as well,
so that should be available online if you'd like to see the specific routes in more detail. Okay. Now that concludes my formal presentation, and I will take any questions or concerns. Thank you, Carrie. Supervisor Malek? No question, but when the 2425680 opened, it was immediately such a great improvement. Even during construction, it was an improvement from the old days. So thank you for all of that. And, that's the terrier on the ankle theory. Never ever let go once you've got the bike because it'll get there eventually. I'm really excited. Thank you very much. Supervisor Lupisto Kirtley? Yes.
I just wanted to inquire, regarding the Vulcan Road To 20 along 250. I know that's been delayed a year or two years, but you're saying now you think that it will. Do you think you will get all the required, right of ways for, or easements, by next winter, about 'twenty six, 'twenty seven winter? So the you're talking about the improvements at Peter Jefferson Parkway and Rolkin Road pedestrian improvements? Right. Well, no, no, no. From Rolkin Road to 20. Oh, okay. That yeah, the corridor improvement project.
That's the biggie. Yes. They they left some extra time in for right of way. So that is what they're working towards, yes, is an advertisement at the end of this year or early twenty seven. And what happens if they don't get them right away? Permission from the business. They they work through a process to to do so. Okay. Thank you. Mhmm. Supervisor Missal? Thank you. Thanks, miss Shepherd. I appreciate the update. I I have a couple of quick questions. One is, can you provide any updates on this is coming from a constituent's question. Any updates on the Old Ivy Road, Bel Air work, in general?
Is is this referring to the Smart Scale project? It's a combination of that and what's currently going on now on Old Ivy Road Oh, okay. The intersection of 250. We do I mean, we do have the Old Ivy Road bridge project that's out there that should wrap up this summer. As far as additional improvements, there are some proposed Smart Scale applications to the county or, the MPO that I think are under consideration. Okay. So this summer is the wrap up for the Old Ivy Road Bridge. Thank you. Yes. Second question is, Bergmar Drive, I want to just clarify in your presentation, I think you said the easement acquisition was starting in the 2027.
Is that accurate? Or was that completing in 2027? No. The add date is, the add date is 2027. So the next step is to acquire right of way to meet an add date of next year. Okay. So I'm sorry. When does the when does the acquisition of right of ways begin? What's the timeline for that? I would have to check for you, but I can get you that information. Okay. That'd be great. Thank you. Those are all my questions. All right. Supervisor Pruitt? Thank you. And I apologize if you said this and I missed it, for the 5th Street Old Lynchburg Road roundabout,
is the expectation and target going to be that in this coming summer asphalt laying season that, we're going to complete it inside of this calendar year? Yes, I believe so. I believe so. But I can check on what the fixed completion date is and let you know. Got it. And in the same way in the past, I was very much squeaky wheel as it got closer about the, the Glendale Road paving. I'm now going to start to be squeaky wheel as it gets closer about the 5th Street hub and trails.
Can you give me a little bit of context about what the next Few kind of milestones on that are going to look like and how that's going to interface with, Joe Citizen who commutes through that area or who uses the Ravenna Trail network there. So for that project, the right of way is being finalized. The ad date is still scheduled for May. I believe it's May 12. So once it goes to advertisement and it's awarded, construction should start roughly three months after that. And then as far as I feel like you're probably asking about specific details during
construction and how that might work with current trail users. Mhmm. Okay. It's also just the over trail intersection is one of the most contentious in the county, certainly the most contentious in my district. And I'm not clear if there's going to be impact on it currently. Maybe that is a question that we'll have more clarity on once once the bid is out. But if there is a known answer to that, such as, oh, we will make sure not to impact traffic at the Avon Intersection, that would be helpful to or not the Avon Intersection, sorry,
the 5th Street, intersection. That would be helpful to know sooner rather than later. Because I expect the moment people see vDOT vehicles out there, I'm going to start getting questions because I get a lot of questions about this intersection already. Well, and it's not going to be VDOT doing the project. It will be whatever contractor gets that, and they'll talk through those things, maintenance of traffic, things like that. But yes, I can see what I can find out. And if it needs to be worked out later in the process, I can let you know. Can you also let me know a little bit what ongoing cooperation with different county
departments can look like during this process? Because this implicates, parks projects, that are going to ultimately connect in. And there's also a DSS element in that. I think the project area might be very near, some encampments and might actually encompass some encampments in that region. So I'm just curious what that ongoing communication looks like if it is there between government agencies or if it's really just a private contractor goes out there and does what they do. I I we do our best to to coordinate, when we know about these things. I mean, we've been talking to the city and the county throughout the whole process.
So if there are details like that that we need to work out, I don't I don't doubt that we can. Okay. Thank you. Supervisor Duncan? Just a couple of things. One, I was talking to a friend this weekend who lives out in Crozet and wanted me to pass on just how incredible the roundabout is and how much better it has made it and how much safer it has made it. So that's everybody's very excited that's done. The roundabout at Hydraulic and District, do you know kind of how soon after final design is done that construction will start?
I believe, since that's a design build project, it's going to depend on which element they start on first, and which preference, whether that's Fontaine or hydraulic. So I don't have a good feeling right now which element they're going to start on. But they usually start construction fairly quickly. Sometimes they do the both of them at the same time. But I can definitely ask and see where that's at in the process. Okay. I understand. Thank you. Thank you, Terry. The, I know you all had a meeting with the community about the construction at the Warner Parkway and the Belvedere Green Tea. This would have been, like, the fifth like,
mid March, something like that. I I think to update them on timelines. I think some folks that didn't attend that meeting have asked me about working at night. Are those projects gonna be being done over not that I object to that, but I'm just I I I don't know. Do you know if they're planning to do construction work overnight? I'm not sure about night work for for, that would be close to residential, which is why I'm asking. Right. It is. Which we do take into consideration. I I would be I would be a little surprised, but I can check on that schedule too with our design build team. Because I get why you would do it. Yes. But and so I think some folks like that it maybe happens faster and doesn't
disrupt the day, but it is close in on residential. So I was just I think I have some folks. If you wouldn't mind following up on that one, that would be awesome. Okay. I can do that. And then just a follow-up on the Penn Park Road. I've been nagging about speed study. I know some things are being done, but I'm not sure where we stand on that one. Yes. It is still and I apologize this has, been a bit of a slow process, but our traffic engineering department, is still reviewing the existing conditions, before making the final the final determination. I love the engineers. Do they take my my snarky remarks as data when they consider
probably not. Alright. The Hillsdale, where it intersects with Rio, Northfield, Old Brook, the double Light, I mean, it's been an ongoing thing. The solutions are down the road, etcetera. But I know that right now, the short term is always looking at the signalization. It seems and I got a constituent email just yesterday. I was planning to bring up the northbound traffic going on Hillsdale and then heading west on Rio and getting stuck. I mean, it's queuing so much that that that not all the Hillsdale folks are can't be in the left turn lane. Mhmm. When it spills to make the left and get on to Rio,
there's not enough queue there to get everybody that's waiting, so they go through another round, which okay. But we're starting to get caught in the turn, so that then when it changes, there's a delay waiting for everybody who didn't wait at Hillsdale. They were caught in the curve. And then the conflict of the southbound coming down Northfields to head south on Hillsdale. The anecdotal observation is is I've been noticing on non peak times that this is happening. So I don't know if the signalization during the peak times,
I'm assuming is different, because you can just tell by the pattern when you drive through there that some things are different. But on a Sunday afternoon at two, when I see that same thing happening, I'm like, well, wait a minute. Is the signalization different? I think stuff changes there regularly, so I'm just calling it to say, hey. Is there a way to look at, outside of just the peak times, what's happening with the signals there to see if we're not stranding people in that turn as they head north and west, and then block off the people trying to go from Northfields down.
Some of the folks coming southbound on Old Brook and then heading east on Rio, it's since there's two lanes there, it seems to be enough queuing, the way that that light is signaling to let them release. I don't know why folks are confused about yielding. The folks who wanna go left, seem to be confused that you're supposed to yield for somebody that wants to come straight across. So I don't know if I don't know how to help that. I mean, I guess that's all driving pieces. But anyway, that intersection, I know, is a problem problem area. Okay.
And I'm just asking if maybe we could look at the how the signalization is done, maybe some light observation outside even of the peak hours to go, oh, maybe we need to adjust something there to help with what's happening. Because it's just a it's a dangerous intersection. Thank you. And then, yeah, that's that's all I had. I will call out to supervisor Missal. The two projects that you're talking about are one of our part of our four smart scale applications, the dual roundabouts at Canterbury and all of that, along with Boar's Head are one app,
and then the second app is just Canterbury and two 50 and the one roundabout, just to throw that out there. And It gives me a chance to remind the Board that on March 17, it would have been the twentieth, Friday the twentieth, the MPO had a special meeting where we started to brainstorm with, Sean and the folks at VDOT about outside of the normal ways that we get projects funded, how to start maybe thinking of them differently and strategically think of how to how
to go to get some elements done. I thought it was a good conversation and a good start. It wasn't a one off. That should hopefully turn into several other conversations, to try to get at things. So it's it's online. It's recorded if you wanted to watch. So just calling that out. But yes. One follow-up based on your comment about Bergmar. The sidewalk money from Crozet was swept seven years ago for that project to supposedly complete the pot so that it could be done right then. It was all a big hurry, and here we are seven years, eight years later.
So that is actually written in stone that it's going to happen? Yes. It's moving forward. Yes. And there's money in the secondary six year plan that was dedicated as well. Yes. I mean, all the telefees and all these other things that have been added on because the delays delay, delay, delay meant the cost quadrupled. Okay. So, when people who the Whitehall District drive by there all the time, too, and they keep saying, you know, when's it going to happen? So you said construction will begin this year at the '6? Advertisements, the '6? The ad date is 2027.
So eighteen months away from twenty four months away from now. Wow. Okay. Thank you. Supervisor Lupista Curley. Yes. I'm still concerned about the, speeding traffic and oversized trucks on Gordonsville Road from twenty two up to 02:31 on Gordonsville Road. Is there any way in half of it going up to 22 is 45 miles an hour. And then going from when it turns into 231, the other half is 50. Is there any way we could do I know it's been a few years since we've done a traffic study,
but I keep seeing increasing speeding and oversized trucks. But, I mean, is there any way we could actually, do another speed study? Put that in. Asking. We can check the crash history to see if that makes sense. But, another thing that we also look at is increased development, which has not occurred. So increased development. So if the conditions have not changed since the last time we did it, we likely will not do another speed study. But we can we can check the crash history from the last couple of years to see what that looks like. All right. Very good. Thank you, Carrie. Yes.
Thank you. The next item, number 10, it says v./albabarcounty fiscal year 2732, draft secondary six year plan. And now Barrick is with us, so and others coming up in support. To the Hawk Challenge. We get the eighteenth. Anytime I see Kevin step up, I gotta start thinking of questions to throw at him to Kevin. He's our legacy information person. Good afternoon. Alrighty. Good afternoon, Chair Galloway and board. My name is Albert Carina Plun. I'm a transportation planner within community development, and this presentation will cover the draft secondary six year plan for this year,
as well as a draft list of roads that'll be paved under the rural rustic program, and also the introduction of the unpaved road improvement program or URIP. So background, the secondary six year plan is a document that applies to roads in our secondary system. It identifies funding allocated for the next fiscal year and then estimates the available funding for the next five fiscal years. Telefeit funding stems from utility companies paying a fee to VDOT to put lines in the right of way. These are being used right now to help fund the Bergmar Drive extension project at
Airport Road that supervisor Malik just mentioned. This plan is updated and adopted by the board annually each spring. The SSYP is heavily informed by the Albemarle County priority list for secondary road improvements, unpaved roads, and is guided by the Albemarle County unpaved road policies and review process. This document was updated in May 2025 to shift responsibility of gathering signatures for paving from county staff to residents. So here's the current rural rustic process. A paving request is received from a resident or supervisor and comes to staff.
Staff reviews the road and compiles a list of residents who are eligible to vote. It sends the list and materials back to the resident that requested paving. The resident has until February 1 of, for example, this year to be included on this year's list to submit signatures with two thirds approval to be included in the upcoming SSYP. If enough residents approve of paving, VDOT reviews the road for rural rustic eligibility. Any questions? Good. If VDOT approves the road, it is prioritized with the other road requests. If VDOT does not approve of the paving, it is placed on the unable to pave list.
Excuse that. That was meant to say, if not eligible, alternate opportunity for improving the road will be with the HEROIP program. The draft secondary six year plan is presented to the board of supervisors in April for comment and feedback. Staff returns in May for a public hearing and adoption. Following the public hearing, the SSYP is adopted, and staff returns in June with resolutions for paving each of the roads as a consent agenda item. These are the six roads that have been requested and verified by VDOT for paving as part of this year's secondary six year plan, Gilberts Station Road, Jeannie Lane,
Murray Lane, Brokenson Road, Blacks Lane, and Old Sand Road. The board of supervisors can recommend to make changes to the draft secondary six year plan now before the final adoption at the May 20 public hearing. And for the new stuff. So the 2024, the Virginia General Assembly expanded the scope of the unpaved road funds regarding allocation of funds to to include non paving improvement projects. This change allows Albemarle County to develop a new program that prioritizes improvements for unpaved roads using the rural roads funds allocated every year for more within paving.
What was attached in your packet was the draft of the unpaved road improvement program or URIP. It will identify, prioritize, and improve unpaved rural roads in Albemarle County with unpaved road funds that are currently being used for rural rustic. It will also be done concurrently with rural rustic. URIP would be for unpaved roads that have been identified for improvements by VDOT and Albemarle County and would include the roads that were previously considered for rural rustic but did not meet VDOT qualifications. Roads could not be improved with Europe Europe and paved with rural rustic funds the
same year. They will need to be prioritized separately. Europe roads will not need the two third support of residents since the actual surface of the road would not change. Europe projects will be permanent infrastructure improvements rather than maintenance task orders. For example, resurfacing gravel or fixing potholes would not qualify for Europe funds, but a project where you update some of the stormwater facilities, do major grading could be some of the examples of what would be a Hubert project. It'll be programmed five years out like rural rustic projects within the SSYP and will
be included in the work session and the public hearing for the SSYP. VIDA is currently reviewing our proposal and making their own comments and suggestions. I look forward to your insights on the proposed plan. Few recommendations to run through the process this year are Birches Creek Road, Batesville Road, and Hammock's Gap Road. Staff would like feedback on these three items. We would like to obviously, we have the public hearing on May 20, but we'd like to hear your feedback on the changes that were made to the rural rustic process last year, provide feedback on the proposed URIP, and provide feedback on the draft SSYP in general.
And thank you. Alright. We'll go through to see what questions we have. Supervisor Malek? Thank you very much. So I'm very grateful to all the work to get Senator Perry's gravel road improvements into process finally. That that's really great. And I think that that reading the staff reports, I got all wound around the axle with the first report, then many of the questions were answered in the second one. So I should have read them in reverse, because I the clarifications I have is there were things in the chart on page
well, anyway, I can't oh, 10 a four that said BOS request for paving that I absolutely did not do. So there were a whole bunch of clarifications on there. I did request maintenance for sure and fixing the ditches and looking at something else rather than just ignoring everything. So that when that kind of information gets put out there, I hope that those kinds of corrections can be made. I'm glad to sit down with somebody to to go over those. But Fox Mountain Road, Brown's Gap Turnpike, Wesley Chapel were all maintenance requests, not paving requests. So, saying that they're waiting for a resident petition just got everybody totally torqued up.
And with that, it's hard to deal with, or not enough traffic or whatever. So I don't I guess I'm confused about what does a retained road mean in the chart? It says retained unpaved roads. That's where I sort of went down the rabbit hole, and I don't know what that means. So the retained unpaved roads is meant to be roads that do not wanna be paved by residents. So So what we used to call do not pave list Do not pave list. Do not pave list. Okay. Do not pave list. The the Europe it it would still the roads on the do not pave list
would still be eligible for Europe projects Right. Because there's not paving going on. Right. Right. And that's that's been what we've been seeking for many, many years, which is great. Are you able I guess I can look them up. I didn't have time to look them up ahead of time to have a dot map at some point in the future so we know where without having to go through GIS, which doesn't work at my house, where all these roads are. I didn't realize that there was any part of Baysville Road that was still gravel, so I'm confused about where that section is, first of all, to try to do my homework. But I will try to find a map here and look at,
while other people are talking. But the whole process, I'm glad that it's moving forward. I think it'll be very, very helpful. What you described are permanent improvements. So fixing the ditches, Wesley Chapel has places where the ditches are now five feet wide and the road surface is eight feet wide. And the school bus can't hardly get across even in one direction. So those are the kinds of things that are permanent improvements that hopefully will be sound enough so that the next guy the next amateur road grader who goes through there doesn't just put all the gravel back in the ditches again, which is what's causing some of the problem.
And so I really look forward to all of that detail, and I hope that you will report back in along the way rather than when it's all done so that we can provide more impact more input in the future. Thank you. Supervisor Lupisto, currently? Yes. Thank you very much for the presentation. A couple of questions. One of the roads that's supposed to be under Rustic Royal that you're addressing is, Gilbert Station Road. Is it a small stretch, or is it the whole thing? I'm asking for a reason. It's it's the small stretch.
I believe off the top of my head, it's between, there's a subdivision on the, I guess, eastern side, and it goes down a hill and it curves and ends at the bridge at I believe it's the creek that it crosses right there. Okay. Does it also involve 40 there's a homeowner at 4073 Gilbert Station Road. He is the only homeowner on a stretch of road, so I'm not sure if the chart gives us that information. Is is a stretch of Gilbert Station Road that's unpaved. Small stretch,
maybe, I don't know, quarter of a mile, half mile. And he's the only one that lives there. And we went to get they neighbors went to get his permission, and, unfortunately, he had just passed away. So it's everything is going through probate and everything. But I'm wondering if that is the section of road, that would cover 4073 Gilbert Station Road. If you could maybe find out and let me know. I wanna confirm. Yes. Off the top of my head. I don't I don't remember off the top of my head, but I can confirm. Okay. Thank you. That I would really appreciate. Okay. The other thing is Hammock Scap Road. I saw that you had something in there.
Does that go for paving, does that go all the way up to where the school bus turns around? Because I understand now the school bus to pick up children has to actually back into a driveway, because of the condition of the road and everything. Is will that cover that area? So Hammocks Gap Road was paved as a rural rustic, I believe, in fiscal year twenty three. Right. Right. A few years ago. It was paved up to just past the bridge at the driveway. Correct. Hammix Gap in this case was referred to as a potential Europe project since,
paving rural rustic paving is unable to continue on the road because it is too narrow, and there's too much ditches and vegetation on the side to allow for the width that's needed. But there can be some improvements that can be done to spot improvements in places to to make the road better. So for Hemmex Gap, there wouldn't be any more paving. It would be looking more to see what improvements can be done. I don't have any specifics right now. This is something we work with VDOT in the future on this process to, maybe do a bus turnaround or something like that so we have a more usable
road out there. Okay. If you could keep me informed of that, that I would greatly appreciate. Thank you. No other questions. Supervisor Missal. For the awkward delay, hopefully, I'm timing this right, and you can all hear me. Yes, sir. First of all, really pleased, and fully support the unpaved road improvement program. I think that's it's really critical and necessary. So thank you for that. I'm curious as the DEQ and the core and others, modify stormwater requirements and plans. How does VDOT, sequence improvements to stormwater on rural roads,
for example? Carrie, do you wanna answer that? I am bringing up Carrie Sheppard to answer that question. Thank you. So traditional russet roads, based on the guidance and criteria that we have to follow, is exempt from stormwater management. As far as these improvements to, gravel roads, I guess we'll have to look at the specific improvement, but we're not going to be adding impervious surface. So stormwater management should not come into play. We're looking at, you know, larger drainage improvements, widening a curve or providing some additional widening. So if it got to the point where we had to consider stormwater management,
we would have to have that conversation. But I'm doubtful that, that would be the case in a lot of situations. Thank you. I'm just aware of a few areas in the Samuel Bello District, at least. I think they're in this district, I'm fairly certain, that have significant drainage issues that are caused because of the lack of stormwater management. And I just was curious to see how that all played in. I understand the the, exemption, but I'm not sure that's always the the best choice. And I I appreciate you're saying that there maybe are some, some alternatives to that or some things that could be looked at. The next question I have is the last question is just a very specific question,
and it has to do with a rural road in, near Yancey. And I believe there were some complications and misunderstandings between property owners and vDOT, and, the road is actually not in the vDOT system. So asking for a whole series of people who have signed a petition and put in front of myself and even Jim Andrews before me. How what is the best way that they should move forward with bringing that in or having that reviewed and brought into the system? And maybe, Kevin, I think you might have actually been part of this conversation too.
It's for Dawson Lane. Yes. Thank you. Kevin McDermott, I'm Deputy Director of Planning, and we had looked into Dawson Lane. It is not currently in the VDOT system, and, the county does not have any program to, to do the necessary improvements that would allow that to be brought into the system. We've talked with Carrie and the state does not either. So, it ends up being on the private property owners that,
are they get access from the road to be responsible for any of that, any improvements necessary to bring it to state standards, which would then allow the county to move forward with trying to get that acceptance. So, I'll just I'll just say that we would look for those private property owners to hire an engineer to evaluate the road to determine the work necessary for that, to bring that to state standards and then we could work with them through the, through our subdivision road plan process to then get it into the state system once
that that work is done. Great. Alright. Thank you very much. That's all my questions. Supervisor Pruitt? I'm not sure I actually have any questions. Thank you. Supervisor Duncan? Hi. Yeah. I have a few. One, I am in favor of the, the road improvement project. Not a super huge fan of the rural paving project in general. But what, I agree with the public comment made of that we should, create a recreational road program. But what I would really, strenuously request and like to see is the traffic count, including runners,
bikers, pedestrians, outdoor recreation, and not just traffic. A map that goes with this would actually be helpful because, yeah, the Gilbert Station Road, at first I was like, oh, my gosh, you guys are paving the whole thing, but it's really, like, not even half a mile. But I was looking up the six that are scheduled and comparing them to a Strava heat map. And so you can see where people are running and where people are using the rural dirt roads. And none of these are on them, so that's fine. But on the upcoming roads, there's a mile of Broad Axe Road that is heavily used by runners.
You can see that in the Strava heat map. And so, I think we should include that in our evaluation of what roads we're paving, allow you know, obviously, this is a huge running community. The public comment actually said a lot of stuff I was going to say about high schoolers and the college students using the roads, that we know people value the real roads. And so even, you know, if we include the data that we have that's literally publicly accessible, or allowing them input on, hey, these roads are coming up. We might want to pave them. Do you guys use this?
Because I think we should also take into account the public good and the public good of having real roads and allowing people to run on them, because if we just start paving them and only say, oh, here's two roads you guys can run on, the traffic is already really bad. When you have, you know, three high schools go to run the same road on Saturday morning, the traffic is bad. The parking is bad. It's not a fun running experience when there's a bunch of people running. And so making sure that we are keeping enough unpaved roads that the running experience is good, that there's room for everybody. And so including at least including the data on where people are using these roads
for recreation and not just cars would be really helpful. I appreciate your suggestion. That's all right. I'm going to say this and then just fact check that I understand it. This is the new process for getting something that has failed to meet the paving requirement, all of your steps. So the residential requirement. I'm thinking of Bleak House Road. So Bleak House Road, I remember having this conversation. It sounds like that if a community votes it down, we're saying that that is one of the VDOT requirements not met? Or is there am I confusing that standard with with a county just process point?
That is the the the two thirds vote is just a county process point. That is not a VDOT process that's unique to Albemarle. If it if it receives a two thirds vote in the new process, receives two thirds vote, and goes to VDOT and VDOT deems it ineligible for paving due to a variety of reasons, then it'll be ineligible for paving just in general even if it has a 100% support just because Yeah. It can't be done. But it could be done or projects could be done with that road under URIP, which is the point of that. So Under Europe is not just for roads that fail the vDOT check.
It's for unpaved roads in general that want improvements done or that need improvements done. My concern is the staff time necessary when a resident requests a road to be paved that triggers everything. And I remember us having a discussion, because it looks to me now when you follow through the steps, which I don't have up in front of me, it says that if a resident makes the request, you go back to number two, but I saw a point about how it's put on a do not pave for at least six years. So for Bleak House, now fact check me,
I move in on Bleak House, I want the road paved. A year ago, the community said, no. We put it on a do not pave list. I come to the county and go, I'm making a request for paving. Do you say to that person, sorry, that got voted down last year, and you have to wait at least five more for this even to be reconsidered? Yes. Is that how the process works? It should be requested, I guess, 2030 would be the the first year would be eligible to go back. Okay. That's good because that's the way I understood it, and I just seem like that's what was written.
I just want to confirm that I was getting it right. My question is on the, and I'm thrilled about the Europe fund funds here. But, to and and I don't know if Carrie needs to come back up or not. So the things that are being done to unpave roads still fall under the general maintenance because it says that there's a punctuation missing, which confused me. Relaying or smoothing gravel, ditch cleaning, maintenance duties will not be eligible under Europe funding, because that falls under maintenance. And they are on a schedule and they go, or if there is major issues,
there is a process for that. The storm when you were discussing the stormwater improvements, are stormwater improvements here specific to doing, like, like hard surfacing? Because to me, it seems like on a rural road, ditch cleaning is a stormwater measure, or it could be an improvement. If the water is just coming down and just going across the road, then fine, it needs to go to maintenance. But if there are some roads where the way the water is routing and and the ditch is pushing it onto the road, making you need to ask for maintenance more frequently,
it seems like that would be a good situation to go in and go, well, hold on, both through the erosion control measures and how the ditches are working as the stormwater system, quote, unquote. So that these could be details that get ironed out at some point, just so I understand it. But how are you or has that even been been thought about at this point? We have not sat down with VDOT and gone over our proposal yet in detail, so we haven't ironed out those details about what stormwater, biggest improvements would be. One thing I was imagining could be culvert replacement and carrier,
Matt, if I'm do you wanna speak up to that? Yeah. I I was just I was just gonna say, I mean, I think it depends on the road and the level of improvement that's needed. If it's just pipe replacements, then then we would see that as routine maintenance. But we do have situations where roads frequently flood. Right. And we do a hydraulic analysis, and the box culvert that they recommend to be sufficient for that is we have we have no way to fund that type of infrastructure. So that could be an example where, you know, we could look at places to try to eliminate flooding if it's possible Okay.
And try to, you know, just look at different drainage patterns to make larger improvements than we would normally through maintenance. Okay. All right. I think I understand. Thank you. That was all my questions. We're yep, another. Thank you. Your story about Dawson Lane or whoever Kevin mentioned is a real reminder about why we should be very, very careful about allowing private roads anywhere because I know the one in my district, there are five houses on this place. There's no way five people can even pay the engineer, much less repair the road,
which was put in in the fifties when there were no rules for anything. And they're now, you know, they they're just stuck. So it's a real dilemma that I'm not sure we have the capability to solve right now, and I'm sorry about that. The thing I did not respond well enough to was the, recreational program, which I think is a wonderful idea as we've all spent a lot of time on Ridge Road and other places. But something to add to your list as you're working on the criteria for that is how trailhead development parking area will be done because I know it was a landowner who donated the land at, Miller School Road and Dick Woods for that parking area there,
so all the people running there have a place where they're not going to cause trouble. Whereas we don't have that solution yet on Ridge, and so it's a real impediment to the survival of the people who live there when all the teams of the university club brings out 35 cars on a Saturday morning and totally blocks the road. So those are the kind of sharing issues that we have not figured out how to do yet. That that will be very helpful. And another question, which you probably figure out later, or I, when you do, I I look forward to hearing more how the fund allocation will be happening because what I've seen recently over the last you know,
it's evolved over twenty years is that there are not enough roads that really want to be that where the people want them to be paved. And so we're now spending hundreds of thousands of dollars to pave things with very few cars on them. And so I think that this new program gives us an opportunity to actually spend dollars in a much more meaningful way than to just say, well, we have this gravel road money. And for years, we were told we couldn't do anything but pave it. Thanks to senator Perry, we now have a choice. So I look forward to this, happening in the future.
And the clarification Carrie just made about Clark Road, there was a really big pipe thing there. But if that was done under maintenance, that sort of gives me an idea that in places where a pipe fails and truckloads of gravel wash out into somebody's yard, that's still a maintenance issue as opposed to or could be as opposed to doing something much more major. But, this is very exciting. Thank you very much. Thank you. Alright. Supervisor Lopez de Kerley? Yeah. Quick point of clarification, because I've seen, on our present your presentation and then here for Gilbert Station Road,
is that under the Europe or is that under will that be paved? That's a real rustic. Pardon? The the portion of the Gilbert Station on the presentation and to be paved between the the bridge and the subdivision is a real rustic. Okay. Thank you. Alright. Thank you very much. Thank you. Unless there's still other Fred, did you oh, hand raised. Supervisor Missal? Yes. Thank you. Just a couple of things real quickly. Ned, I I appreciated your comments and reiteration about the stormwater. That's exactly where I was thinking. You know, those situations where the stormwater is such that it actually causes washout and is,
a safety hazard. And then, supervisor Malek too, I think just reiterating that point, the folks along the road that I referenced Dawson Creek would be I I don't wanna speak for them, but likely it would be a challenge to go through the process that's necessary to be able to create a safe access to their homes. And many of them are aging, and, it's really challenging for them to even get their mail on a daily basis because they have to walk down to the end of the road where the mailboxes are. So, you know, not an idea for us to talk about today,
but I'm wondering if there were available funds, at the county at some point that we might consider to help people who are on private roads, in situations where there are, challenges and they're unable to, pay for the engineering, etcetera, etcetera, and upgrades, but that they might have a source of funds that might enable them to retain the safe access. Thank you. All right. Any additional questions? Alright. Thank you very much. Thank you, board. Alright, board. We are at our recess time, a little ahead of schedule. So if we, would go ahead and we'll take that break,
we can get a little extra time for our budget. So we will take fifteen minutes and be back at fifty, 02:50. All right, board. We are we'll move to item number 11 on our agenda, continuing work of the fiscal year twenty seven operating and capital budget. Mr. Bowman, you're going to lead us through this section, I believe. Yes? Yes, I will. Thank you for the introduction. Andy Bowman, assistant chief financial officer. Today is work session number five on the fiscal year '27. It says recommended, but it's now the board's proposed budget. And, as I start these meetings,
just to recap where we have been. To to date, the board has held a, public hearing and four work sessions on the board. At the fourth work session, the board of supervisors proposed a tax rate and a budget for, public, feedback. We are in the middle of that feedback. There have been five town halls completed. The six one is tomorrow night at Albemarle High School, and then we will be back with the board on April 15, for the public hearing on the recommend I'm sorry, the board's proposed budget and the board's proposed tax rates. All of those hearings will be on that night,
the fifteenth. Also, if the board would like to continue discussion anything in the budget, that would be an opportunity on the fifteenth as well. Today is not the final or or even really the second to final discussion because the board has another opportunity to discuss the budget on April 22 when it is, scheduled for adoption. So for today, there is no specific direction or action requested of the board. If the board would like to provide any direction to staff, that can be incorporated into the materials that will come forward on April 22. But this is really just continuing some discussion that the board has had at prior work sessions. So today's agenda and kind of these parking lot topics that are out there,
last time in the work session, there were about eight or so parking lot topics that the board worked through, some of which the board provided direction and they were included in the board's proposed budget. I have not included on this slide some of the items just around, tax rates, housing, and schools. Those are larger items that the board is in the middle of getting public feedback on, though the board can certainly discuss those if they would like to. What we have on the slide are some smaller items, that the board has discussed but did not give any affirmative direction, one way or another. So they are, there's currently, items in the budget,
but this is another opportunity if the board would like to direct staff for changes. So, first in the general fund, as we discussed last time, the, Albemarle County Emergency Relief Program that's administered by the Department of Social Services, known as ACERF for short. This included $360,000 in the budget. The board expressed a desire to potentially amend that, and that's still on the table the board would like to consider. Over the last few work sessions, the board has discussed changes to particular human services and arts and cultural process agencies, and that option is available to the board if they would, like to pursue it. Looking at the capital fund,
the item requested for additional discussion is the Dogwood Vietnam Memorial Foundation. Staff did have a follow-up to get some clarity with the city on where their approach is. The the update, just to clarify, is the city, has 100,000 of cash that would be provided to the foundation. They also have an in kind contribution for the land at the interchange where the pedestrian bridge and ramp would be put into place. At this time, there is no additional funding beyond that, dollars 100,000 in in kind that is planned to be provided in the city's fiscal year twenty seven proposed budget.
So, other topics are really just for the Board of Supervisors to consider as they would bring them. I'll say this is actually my second to last slide. This will be the shortest presentation I have today. But just a reminder to the Board as they would like to consider any changes, this is a slide on the really those adjustments they can make to accommodate any items on the previous slide or other items the board may want to raise. So the reserve contingencies after the board's adjustment last time in fiscal year twenty seven is currently $663,000 Staff would recommend just keeping $350,000
at the minimum of that just based on historically what tends to come up, but that still provides about $313,000 above that recommended minimum if the board would like to do something. The board could also carry that full reserve into fiscal year twenty seven, should they desire. On the one time portion, there's a little over half $1,000,000 of one time reserve contingencies that would be available for one time expenses. And then in the CIP, there is $394,000 remaining balance in the CIP Advancing Strategic Priorities Reserve. So we reviewed last time with the Board with some of the adjustments that will
be considered to Acerfin the agencies. From a pure financial perspective, some of those could be funded or many of those could be funded through these buckets on the slide. But whether the Board would like to is really the decision that the Board will need to consider between now and April 22. So I can toggle back between these slides. I can pull up other slides from other work sessions if it helps. But really, this is a time for the Board, just to discuss any other changes to its parking lot or other items they would like to have for the Board. And staff is available should the Board have any questions. I'll go just through our round and see if there are questions and or items
for discussion, and we'll we'll just see how this goes. Supervisor Mount? Are we gonna go topic by topic, Sort of it organized. We can do that. Is there anything maybe, maybe what I would suggest is, is there anybody that's going to introduce anything new Oh, okay. To the parking lot or to what's on the screen that we should get that surfaced at least quick so that we know what all things we may have to discuss? I do not have anything new. Alright. Let me just do a check on that then. Supervisor Lapisto, currently, any new items? Supervisor Missal?
K. No new items. Supervisor Pruitt? Oh, I'm a little surprised. So it it's not listed there, and I know it's a very central part of the budget discussion, so I'm going to raise that, AHIF is not not listed in the parking lot. I I think it's probably going to displace conversations of ASERP also, frankly, because I I don't know about you. I've not been receiving, as I have in past years, constituent feedback on ASERP and demands for additional funding. That's it's frankly it's a little suis fonte. It's me identifying this as a concern,
and there's only so far I can carry something that I am the main person I'm hearing that from. Oh, don't get it. Supervisor Duncan? Yeah. I would just agree adding a half to the list. Alright. Got it. Alright. Well then, why don't we go through the items where we're at? Because I know the board the last time when we were talking about the agencies, the board, it was kind of left with you can give this some thought. We still don't have to make any final decisions on them today, but if there are ideas of how to, to address those, then we can certainly bring them up or hear new thoughts from supervisors.
So did you have that list, Andy, that you wanna I I do have a more detailed slide that I can pull. It kinda puts all of these on one page. Slide three does pretty well. It will appear. Yeah. Even I'm sorry. You said slide three. The slide three in the handout sort of gives us topics to go to if if that's where we're supposed to how we're supposed to organize things. It was. Trying not to be disorganized. So I I can verbally speak through what they were. And so the, the the Foothills Child Advocacy is there's four of them, I'll say. Well, five, including the Dogwood, Memorial.
So, the Foothills Child Advocacy Center, they had a request of $130,000 The proposal was an increased funding, but it does not fully fund the request. The proposed amount was just under $98,000 There we go. And so there is a, roughly $33,000 impact if the board wanted to fully fund that request or less if they wanted to go in between. The OAR, restoration program I'm sorry, offender aid restoration therapeutic docket. I'm up here on the right hand side of the slide, if it helps. There is an impact of a little over $70,000
for the Board who can permit me in some proximate numbers there, which you can see from the proposal to the request. In the arts and cultural process, the Charlottesville Ballet and the band were identified. The discussion the board had last time, but again, just discussion, no vote, was taking their proposed funding back to the twenty sixth adopted level. That would be $2,500 for the ballet and $3,000 extra for the band. And then you can see the Dogwood Vietnam Memorial, where there is a request of $600 proposed $250,000 The city has, the $100,000 cash, the in kind contribution and nothing sooner.
And so if it helps the Board just to kind of do some math, if someone wanted to do or the Board wanted to do all of those, we'll put ASRIF to the side for a second, that reserve contingencies would drop down to about $550,000 and that CIP, advancing strategic priority reserve, would have roughly $50,000 So, the financial ability is there for the board. It would just be for the board from a policy decision which items they would like to move forward on or not. Okay. So I'll just go through our order, see if there's any response here or new updates from supervisors.
Supervisor Malek? Thank you. So questions. Yeah. For ACERP, we would decide adding more to it would be a later decision depending on how things shake out. Is that because, I mean, that has been something that I think is really valuable and goes straight to the people as opposed to plans or something. So That's something we've we've said in previous discussions of this. I'm I'm sorry, chair. I don't have a suggestion right now, but that's something that I think is incredibly beneficial if we can come back around to that later. Certainly, for the Foothills and the OAR, if we can do that,
I think that would be incredibly impactful for the individuals involved and the the sort of wider community benefits for both of those, for Foothills and for for OAR. I did do quite a bit of work trying to understand the both the the chart that was sent out in the question number five and, responses to questions number five and was trying to understand how to make sense of all of the recommendations that were in there because impact on county residents,
in addition to the whatever the broader community sense is, impact to county residents did not seem to be at all correlated to the amount of money that's given to agencies. And I was trying to make sense of this, and I'm I should have forwarded this to other people, and I will do it now. But like Live Arts, their own numbers, 809 County residents, and they're being recommended $12,500 Whereas an agency that says 6,200 county residents is being given 5,000. Ixark Park in the city has 2,000
residents and is still being recommended to get a whole lot of money. So the Discovery Museum, they say they have 13,000 residents, but I don't know what the source of those numbers is. There's never been anybody there checking whenever I've taken little people there. So I just wanna understand why the amounts are such as they are, and that's sort of a process discussion under the third bullet here on our agenda for today that I'm trying to get some understanding about. The, I think that putting the ballet and the art and the band back to where they were in
'26 would be a, sort of reasonable first step because of the impact that they do have. And, we'll be talking about this now or later. You can. Okay. I'm shocked that the new information you gave today about the Dogwood, we were told for months that the city of CIP had $250,000 in it for this project. And I'm feeling pretty shot down that this is now they've pulled the rug out from under that. So, I will just add that the benefits, go way beyond the old soldiers who were visiting the the,
memorial because the connection to the shared use path that goes all the way to Rial Point and into the city and connecting the users of the county shared use path along the Parkway, the Warner Parkway, into all the facilities at the McIntyre and then also being able to connect over to the wye, over a proper surface and getting safely across the Parkway are really good reasons why I think that the investment in the capital in the bridge is incredibly important.
I won't bore everybody with the ancient history on the causes for all of this because the old plans would have we wouldn't have had to be doing this. But, I'll just leave that out there. I'm very much in support of finding extra money, and I thought mister Richards was gonna perhaps be able to shake out some couch cushions over at the city side in the after the last meeting, but you can respond on that if you choose And that's all See what the rest of the folks want to do on that All right,
and we can as we build here, we're going through the order You can both react to others, ask questions if you need to, and then have your own items. Supervisor, Lupisto Carga. Thank you. Just to go through screen eight right here, the ACERP, I don't have a problem increasing that because I think it does affect a lot of people. Same thing with the, Foothills Child Advocacy Center. That one, I I wouldn't mind increasing some. I when I say some, I don't mean the entire amount. Perhaps. I don't know. We're negotiating all that,
I guess. The arts and cultural process, Charlottesville Ballet And Band, I would, be in favor of going to the FY '26, what was proposed what was done there. The Dogwood, Vietnam Memorial, I'm in favor of increasing it some. I'm surprised that the city's only doing a $100. I know that they're doing a land. They said, well, they're given the land. The land's been given. So, that's how I feel about that. But I have, another question regarding slide four. I'm not sure I understand everything. This is potential funding.
So what you're saying is ongoing one time. IMCIP adjustments. These are all amounts of money that we could actually, a, use or, b, use some of it or, c, save. Is that correct? Yes. These could be used to fund the items, that we're talking about or it could be saved. Okay. I'm so I'm in favor of doing a little, some. I'm not in favor of using all this up. I think I've mentioned before I'm on the saver side. I know not everyone agrees with that,
but I'm on the saver side only because I'm really concerned about the next couple years. I think we're headed for some problems. Maybe locally, we'll be fine, but I'm just very concerned. And I would rather have it, and then as time goes along, maybe allocate some of it additional monies. That I would not, that I would be in favor for. Is that something that we could do? Could we kinda like hold on to, let's say, some of it in each category? And then let's say we realize we we really need a fund,
really need additional dollars for, the disabled and elderly regarding tax relief and such, being able to pull from that and use that at that time should we need it. Yes. Any items that are not, whatever balances in the reserve contingencies would then become a budget management tool as things come up. Should there be a higher percentage of people who qualify for tax relief or, you know, pick pick really anything unexpected that could happen. There's always a few 100,000 every year that something will happen. But it just becomes a budget management tool for the board,
that staff would work with, during the year as those things come up. Okay. So it's kind of like a safety valve and that that we've always used and always had. And that way, we can, help as we know what's coming up, which we don't know at this point. Correct? Yeah. It would be a tool in the toolbox to help that. Okay. Thank you. Supervisor Missal. By saying okay. Should I start again? Sorry. It's timing again. Yeah. A few comments. I just wanna begin by saying, by my not mentioning AHIP, it was not my intent to not have that on the list. I had assumed that was already being captured as we discuss the possibility of allocating
personal property tax or some other funding mechanism. So I just reinforced that from the supervisors that mentioned it. The second thing I wanted to mention is, you know, as we look at these categories, I'm also in support of increasing the funding to each one of them. I think the challenge I have is that feels somewhat arbitrary, and maybe that is the role that we have to play. But for example, I think, you know, as we think about Albemarle core emergency relief program, obviously, a really meaningful program that needs to be, supported. And I believe could you remind me,
mister Bowman, what do we have in the budget already planned for, that program? The $360,000 is, what's proposed in fiscal year twenty seven. Oh, sorry. I see that now. Yes. Okay. Got it. Got it. Thank you. And then Foothills, the same I mean, all of these are very valid. You know, I would say that I think someone mentioned returning the Charlottesville Ballet number to their fiscal twenty six, adopted number. I think there was a a reasonable, purpose for it increasing, by such a large margin. And I think there was some justification for that being reflected as serving Albemarle County
residents. I don't remember exactly what it was. I think it may have had to do with some operating expenses not previously being included. Seabelt band. Yes. And, the Dogwood Vietnam Memorial, I think we're allocating $2.50 now. You know, again, and I appreciated supervisor Malek's comments about the broader impacts that that has on the community. And so I would also advocate for the increase there. I think, you know, as I look at was that slide four or in this case, the potential sources, I may be misremembering, but I thought the recommended minimum was 250,000,
not $350,000 at the last meeting. Am I remembering that incorrectly? Just to clarify, dollars 250,000 is really the minimum of what we've seen, but it's ranged some years a little bit higher, some years has been a little bit lower. So staff had a conversation before this meeting to give the Board something to respond to and suggested $350,000 minimum, but the Board has got the full flexibility if they'd like to spend that down to $250,000 That is within the Board's discretion. Okay. That's good to know. Thank you. And so that leaves, I guess, about 1,200,000.0, 1,217,000.000
that we're talking about here. The other the comment that I I'd heard was, is there a way to sort of kick the can down the road a little bit and think about offering funding at a future date? I would be hesitant to do that just having been involved with several non nonprofits, you know, over my time. I mean, they need to know where this funding is coming from and what that amount is to plan for, you know, you name it, personnel or or strategic planning or what they'll ever they're able to accomplish over the years. So I don't think we really wanna push it out. I think we should make a decision and make it now if is,
you know, during this budget season if at all possible. And then the last thing that I I would mention is I know we've got sort of back and forth, and we've seen so much input on so many levels from people in favor of increasing personal property tax to cover affordable housing or not in favor of it like we heard today and have have seen in emails. I would just want us to remain open to utilizing some of these funds if there is not consensus that we should be looking at a personal property tax increase. So that I have in the back of my mind as well. And maybe that's the reason we wanna make sure this gets on the list.
Thank you. Alright. Supervisor Britt. Thanks. So I want to just state first that I think we should be trying very explicitly to reach decision points. Decision points have numbers and finite statements. So I'm going to try and consistently say things I think tend toward decision points. I also just want to remind my peers on the board as we're talking about, funds and save versus spend. Setting aside my own stated, you know, preference for being a spend versus save person, I would remind the board that we have a 10% operational reserve.
We have a 2%, budget stabilization reserve, and that is before we even talk about any of the funds that we're discussing right now. Right? These are these are not the saving for a rainy day. These are not the hurricane funds. These are these are spare monies. They are there to be spent. And so setting aside the the amount that, our budget office has already said, this is the minimum that we should keep in here for basically rounding errors or unexpected expenses. I'm thinking things like when we have code enforcement do remediation. Right? That has to come from somewhere. Excluding that amount that has been set aside,
I think our goal as as elected officials should be identifying where every one of those dollars is going to go in this budget cycle, as best as we can. So I I see that as roughly, you know, around 1.1, 1,200,000.0 that we're playing with. And if staff wants to disagree with me on that or change that characterization, help me out. But I'm that's $3.15 in ongoing, from the reserve for contingencies that we have about to play with. About half 1,000,000 in one time from the reserve con for contingencies and about 400 in the advancing
strategic priorities. Am I roughly correct here? Yep. Great. That's that's what we're talking about and playing with, and that's hemmed in in the universe we've created with our, proposed, advertised tax rate. I've previously said that I see myself as already having made the strategic decision regarding, agency funding. We did that when we adopted policies that directed, human services on how they would rank and prioritize these concerns. And so I can agree with supervisor Lopisto Curly on everything she said.
I can say, oh, I would like to fund that more. I would like to fund that more. And that's all true. I am not going to vote to fund those things more. I think the only one that I the only ones I could even countenance are the ones that are basically, rounding errors in our budget. I'm not going to sweat about 3,000 to the Charlottesville band. But I appreciate the point that supervisor Missal has made in the past on a philosophical point that our role is is to be advocates and political actors, and it does make sense that we can be influenced by things that are non
non quantitative. But I also think it's helpful to have a line that we draw. This is the line I'm drawing, on this, as far as decision making, and I think that's helpful for how we're structuring our budget. And I say that knowing how many personal people I know in my life from Foothills are messaging me right now. I got an email while I've been sitting here from a constituent from Foothills. Anyway, my stated goal has been 10,000,000 to AF. I know we have a lot of members of the public whose stated goal is 10,000,000 to AF. I by my estimation, we have, what, 2 and a half million in gap to make up if we have the entire
proposed, property, personal property tax rate. That closes about halfway if the entire unallocated amount of funding that we're discussing today, moves toward AFIF. That would get us to what? 8.6 thereabouts, of which a decent chunk is, ongoing. Talking about the, reserved for contingencies, the about 315 that would be ongoing. I I think that would be a prudent use of this because it is responsive to one of the most consistent community demands we hear. I would further raise, I've suggested this before, The amount that is in the economic development fund,
I think there's a demonstrated need for our economic development fund. We are using it. There's an obvious economic development activity that we want to support. And I also think we have a lot of tools with which we can be quite agile on economic development that extend beyond, individual grant disbursements. A lot of our economic development, activity, most of, I think it's fair to say, of our economic development activity does not take the form of grant disbursements. It's done in the form of tax statements and TIFs. And if push comes to shove and there is some existential, oh, we will lose this
county shaping project because we don't have an extra 1,000,000 in the economic development, program. I also trust this county's ability to be clever and agile in how we meet that demand on short notice even if that money was not available in the economic development fund. So I believe there's a proposal to fill an additional 4,000,000 in the economic development fund. I would suggest that be 3 and an additional 1,000,000 be dedicated to AHIF in in this calendar year, which gets us, I think, what,
$200,000 $300,000 away from the target of $10,000,000 which I think is close enough to take credit. All right. Any other items? No. I mean, again, ACERP is my baby. I would like to see it more robustly funded. I think that is a good place, and I made this point before. Right? The AHIF uses a competitive, funding model where additional funds during the year, especially smaller dollar funds, don't do anything. They just go into the pool for next year, whereas new funding infusions, smaller dollar funding infusions throughout the calendar year for ACER have an immediate identifiable need
where they can immediately be useful. If there are, I'm I'm blanking on the word, but, basically, savings identified over the course of the year, budget recalculations. I think it is a, a thoughtful and helpful place for those funds to live rather than going into another, contingency for us to utilize and reallocate at the end of the year, you know, rather than have it sit in a sit in a fund for us to argue about every May. I would rather go into a fund where it's immediately utilized for the public good. Alright. I tracked some of that. Did staff track some of that as well? Just making sure because we're going to get it's going to get complicated,
I think, if we, as we go. Supervisor Duncan. Yeah. I have met with a couple of agencies to try and understand sort of the agency funding process, what it's like from their end, why it feels like they have to lobby us now for this. And that has been really helpful. When we come back to it this summer, I do have a lot of questions and thoughts about kind of how the process works. But in general, I still am not in favor of adjusting the money amounts, and sort of for clear decision making, I would be in favor of putting,
you know, a million of this into AHIF and the other two, dollars 300,000 into ACERP. So when you say a million of this, basically, akin to what supervisor Pruett Right. I I had I had one point here in my addings too. Okay. So you two are based I mean, is it fair to say you're on the same page? Yep. Any other questions or items? Nope. Who we got next? Me. I'm next. We forget Fred. Oh, Fred. Did we do we did Fred. Didn't we do Fred? Did we do Fred already? Okay. Yeah. We did. So Okay. Yeah. Very good. I have a couple of questions.
At my town hall, Jacob and Andy, you were both there, and I fielded a question about fuel, given the current world situation. And we had both diesel and gas vehicles in addition to others. I answered that question about that. We and and I want to clarify if I got it right. I mentioned a fuel reserve, which I might be misremembering from my school board days, but then also said that's precisely what a budget stabilization reserve is there for. So if you could just correct my own understanding,
because I don't want to be misremembering fuel reserve that's not existent. Yeah. Once upon a time, there was a fuel reserve. But really when the board created the budget stabilization reserve for the first time around 2017 or so, I think a lot of that intent was not having smaller reserves, but having a larger central reserve that's a little more flexible. Great. And so the the essence of the strategy is the same, but the terminology of a fuel reserve would be a little dated, if that helps clarify. You know, I don't necessarily see us arriving at final decisions on some of these,
but kind of it's starting to coalesce to where people are peep where people are. But I think I wanna understand more about what that potential risk could be, if there's a way to theorize it. We're already at what, $5.50, 5 something like that for diesel per gallon. We're at 4 for gasoline. I don't know if we have different rates based on how we do things. If there's like a wholesale rate or something. I don't remember a lot of these deep I mean, this goes back to my days of thinking of school buses and how that those really can impact us.
14,000 miles a day. And I mean, I have to think of that too. I mean, I don't know if the school board keeps a fuel reserve. I feel like we did at one point, but then when the policy changed, it may have been the same philosophy, that you keep bigger reserves for these type of things. But anyway, the idea of if this goes if gasoline went to a $5 to a $6 how that hits us, same with diesel, and what the amounts are, because I don't have an I don't have a sense of scale. I know it impacts us. But I but when I think of a one percent,
like, we're using half a percent of the budget stabilization, we're using half a percent next year. So really, we only are carrying the 1% budget stabilization right now. And I want to think of that number related to this very specific world event that's happening, that I don't, that I think can be, I mean, I don't think we'll be guessing in October, but boy, things could change big time just in every single day with this stuff. So, I don't know if you have a response to that now, but it may be I would think that's a bring back or a send out to us by email.
We can provide more detail. I think it just generally helps for a perspective. The county's fuel budget projected for fiscal year 'twenty seven now is about $1,100,000 to $1,200,000 and we can get that exact amount when we share that. The overwhelming majority of that is in the police department and fire rescue because they are the ones who are providing services. Certainly, parks use full use fuel, the sheriff uses fuel, our community development inspectors use fuel, but certainly not on the scale of public safety. And so, that that's one where just think of that as within the county, but there'll also be vulnerabilities where just our transit providers,
how they would be impacted, and other services who have fuels in nature. So we can provide some details, but that is just like everything in our budget management, that's one of the factors we'll need to watch closely in the coming months. I I don't necessarily think this changes my mind about because I'm guessing this will fit that under some of the more risky things, if they came to pass, could exist in the 1%. But I feel like we need to understand that, or at least I do. And then I wanna, you know, think about how, like, we're already considering the half a percent for next year that may have to we
have may have to be ready to be flexible depending on I mean, if some other thing pops up in addition to what we know now, which is not out of likelihood, I just want to have my head wrapped around it. The the, some comments on the agency review because I've been giving some thought about this. The only one that is swaying me right now is supervisor Pruetz been calling it a rounding piece. And I'm still persuaded by the gentleman that came and talked, who's not even affiliated with the Seaville Band, but gave an actual reason over and beyond the application that I think justifies the
$3,000 Otherwise, I'm at the point where I'm arriving to say that I'm holding steady on these agency pieces, because I feel like those dollars joining with supervisor Pruitt and Duncan could be better served in our housing fund than through those agencies. That's probably not gonna be a popular statement with some, but that's my priority, that I I, I think the dollars need to get into the housing piece. And and that's where I'm at on it. And I think, though, that enough questions have come up
of different kinds. So I I so I think of the Foothills question is is an operational or an organizational piece that I have some questions about. Some of the one year, two year, and the changes we've made, I think need to be revisited now that we've gotten around, and then some of the populate who they serve, both in the arts and in the agency. There have been enough questions that have come up that I drop into the process bucket that I feel like the board needs to contend with, but I'm not I'm not willing to go in and start selectively picking.
I I I appreciate and understand supervisor Missal's point because I think he he made it very clearly, but, I don't, I don't join in that for this I don't join in that, period. I would rather make sure the process is there, and that I can have, confidence in the process. But with all the questions have come up, that's I need my confidence restored a little bit in how this is how this is playing out. When do the agencies find out? What is it at the county executives recommended that day? Is that when they find out what they're getting recommended?
That day, we'll send them an email with the recommendation, the budget, the process, kind of how to get involved. If anyone changes at the proposed budget, we would communicate that to them. Obviously, it's not final, but hey, there's been a change. And then they would be notified after the budget is appropriated. We would then be working with them for the distribution of funds. So I'm sorry. I didn't understand. Did so if I'm the c bill band, do I find out the day the county executive makes his recommendation when the proposed is? That's that's the release date for the first. And that was just I've never asked that question before. I didn't know if they got a heads up or something that this is what
to expect. Yeah. The intent is for the board of supervisors to know first and then for everyone else to follow. So Got it. Well, you know, the thing that I'm really I'm not struggling with this, but I want but I'm hyper I'm being attentive or paying attention to, is if monies move from wherever to AHIP, are they one time dollars or are they ongoing dollars? And I will state right now that I think it's more important to get ongoing dollars into that fund than one time dollars,
where I feel like even getting a lesser amount that's ongoing into the account, in some ways, is more beneficial than a higher amount from a one time source because it's ongoing. Hence my reason for some of my votes so far in in considering moving the tax rate to help to help do this because it commits it to the to the ongoing dollar amounts. But I mean, I don't disagree with using the one time monies for that purpose either. I still have some sense that we should leave $2.50
or $3.50 in this, but part of me is wanting to understand that fuel reserve more for that particular question. Because the other types of things that have that have come from that fund over the years, you bring back to this board for consideration. There's nothing I'm not thinking of examples where it doesn't doesn't need our say so. The only exception would be if there is something very small in administrative, and that's in those, exceptions, I don't think there's many of them. We would use county executive authority in a report to the board, but we would use that extremely carefully because that's not for policy decisions. That would be some I don't know.
If we if we had a transcription error of two numbers flipped in the budget and someone was all $41 perhaps we would adjust that administratively. I'm making that up as an example. The team may have a better example. It's really intended to be the board's reserve for policy uses, more than, an administrative tool. Yep. Got it. The the is is it do we know is the dogwood piece from the city, the idea that they think between the $100,000 and the land donation that that equals $250 Is that the rationale? That's what they're I mean, they're that's what they're and that that's not a critique.
It's just I want to make sure. Yes, sir. That's correct. So that's why the $250 had showed up. Yes, sir. That's that's exactly the case. The, where are they at? And do we know where dog vet group is with relative to if if they get the just for ease of conversation, the two fifty from the city and the two fifty from us, what that means, to their efforts to do everything they need to do for the project. Do we have that? Like, in past, when we've dealt with some of these, they'll come forward and perhaps have private donors that are willing to match if the city and the county
step up and commit to it, etcetera, etcetera. It's always been on a bigger scale. I'm thinking Boys and Girls Club. I'm thinking the Y. I'm thinking the Center. But do we know any of that kind of info? What may help is now that the county and city budgets are out is we could do a follow-up with that agency on that particular question that if the county and city budgets were adopted as currently proposed, what would be their next steps? Would that be responsive to what you're looking for? Yeah, I think so. Okay. Because sometimes these projects, if they're not, you know, there's a request, especially for a capital project, if there's a request,
even if you meet the request, if it if it can't happen for another an out year, that could change your decision and when the the dollars are needed. And the commitment sometimes can be all that's needed to help. So that's kind of what I'm asking the question for. If if they only get what is currently proposed, what does that mean to the life of the project versus if they got an extra like, if they got an extra $50 from each place, does that really move the needle on the game plan? Is what I'm, I guess, what I'm getting at. Because if it's,
you know, if it's a million dollars more or $500,000 and I'm sorry that I don't know the scope of the project off the top of the head. The total request to all sources was $2,400,000 And so, but we can take that as a follow-up with them. Because that that doesn't necessarily change the dollars, but if it could change when the dollars go out the door, which I think could change some of the things that I'm thinking about. The only other piece I would add, the proposal about perhaps taking the million from economic development and some of this money
is to go to the AHIF, I'm open to that as a as a solution and a a way to move forward, with just where I'm at personally. Part of the reason I'm very open to that is I'm not I'm not sure like, I just don't know as a supervisor where this board lands on our proposed tax increase. So if the tax increase doesn't go through, it just so happens that the way that supervisor Pruett has bathed this to almost 10, that if for some reason the personal property tax does not pass, that knocks us back to five, but the new proposal today gets us back to the is the backup to get
us back to seven and a half. And that's compelling to me to move from the buckets that you've, you've suggested. I mean, it wouldn't be exact, but it's close. Starting close. So I'm willing I'm willing to for public consumption to say that that's I'm very open minded to that as a way to move forward, on that particular item. And then, I mean, it's not up for discussion today, but the we do know that we received a letter from the school board chair relative to suggested CIP projects.
And I don't I'm not going to make commentary necessarily on that, other than to say that I sat through the school board meeting this past Thursday. The school board didn't take any votes on the, so let me start over. Basically, staff made some recommendations, much like our staff do here, for consideration. They did so both on the CIP and to start deciding that if the operational dollars aren't sent over, what happens on their side? They've not made any of those decisions yet as a board, but they have started to have some discussion about it. The request that came over in the letter was basically staff's idea or request of
the CIP. I think that at the next school board meeting, that those both the recommendations for that and operating will get a fuller, a more in-depth discussion, perhaps even in other ways, by the school division. But at, at this point in time, in terms of the specifics of how they are suggesting using the CIP dollars, it doesn't change my rationale for the bigger purpose of what we have suggested, which I endorsed the past meeting, which is the risk, of how we're trying to be risk averse to what happens in year three,
when we think about budgets, and how we can start pulling together some cash to really get out a different strategy to to get CIP requests done. They've if they move the high school to an out year, they move the, the preschool center to an out year. They pull forward renovations. But for example, 6.4 of the Albemarle renovations, the their total project's like 17.5. So the value engineering, they have not got into those levels of details yet. I think they just want to know, in some ways, what we think about it, because it's if they do all that discussion about how to value engineer your 6.4
and there's no support for it, well, then they could have been discussing other things. And it's just the muckiness of how this process works sometimes. So I'm I'm just saying is this current supervisor, based on what I've been hearing and giving more thought from the moment that the county executive recommended the budget, that I'm only getting more and more convinced that the plan to do the, the the reserving of it for CIP in year one and two, be ready for any potential volatility in year three, and then go full in on the work that I know we're doing for data
changes to inform these projects, that I'm I'm almost at the point where I'm ready to say that we shouldn't be doing any CIP projects on either side of the house until we get that information in hand and start informing things better. And that that includes county projects. I don't know what that means to us. Like if I said, yeah, we're not doing this new school CIP project, and we're not doing a local county CIP project. If it's funded, great. But if it's not, we're on hold until we figure out this information and this data collection. So I'm trotting this out as a new idea,
and staff has not had a chance to react to that, and I'm not expecting one today. But I suspect that if, as an idea that I'd I'd myself wanna understand what that would mean to us, if that were the case. But those are my thoughts on some of these items, just food for thought. And I guess I'll go back around to see based you know, you can oh, I see Fred has Fred, I'll just go back through the order, and we'll just keep having a discussion. If you all want to start having some back and forth with one another, we're not going to be that strict in the order here, because this is one of the few times where that type of discussion is helpful
to one another to make the decision. So, but I will start with, supervisor Malek and then give each person a chance to surface things. Thank you. And I will, start with where you just ended, which is until the 1% referenda sales tax passes, that's an absolute another supporter for holding off on anything designated because in case it can't be used for supplanting, or paying for already approved projects, we have to wait. I think in order to be able to qualify let me go back up to my list here. So my opinion about
the, whole policy changes, Often, when policy changes such as for the arts and culture or the social services things, it's a very broad brush. And I think the questions that were asked a couple of board meetings ago showed that there were a whole lot of things that we didn't get because we didn't know when we started. So I'm not personally going to rely on the broad brush approach as being the end of the road. It's just where we are right now. And I think it's really important that we get a much better process and that we are actually seeing that the dollars are going where the dollars were intended to
go and being delivered on time and on budget. So I'm not willing to draw a line and say, I don't wanna have anything more to say about this because it is our job to make sure that the dollars are going in the most effective way, whatever they are. Regarding the, there was a statement that economic development fund is not in cash, but we do not qualify for government opportunity funds without cash. And that's the $50.50 match for projects. So that is something that we need to keep in mind. I'm not saying anything about the 4,000,000 versus 3,000,000 or whatever, but, I just I don't have a really immediate memory of how that money has evolved
over you know, how it's gone in and how it's gone out over the last couple of years. So that would be interesting, perhaps, if that's easy, for Emily to give us or somebody. The the same thing goes for the AHIP process, is that there are many, many more questions than answers on that whole process that we talked about a couple of meetings ago. And so before my money is allocated to that, I would like to be able to support it, but I need to have a much better process laid out of how things are going to be done, the timetable for NOFOs to be released, the opportunity for verification of the claims that people make when they do applications.
And this is one of the reverting back to the arts and culture for a second. I have forwarded to everybody my little Excel sheet where I just copied the numbers out of Andy's questions number five answers to show the differences and the way and I have no correlation, no information was provided about why one agency with who supports 800 people's participation is getting $12,000 whereas another one that has many, many more is getting much less. So there if we're gonna be having some rational approach to this, there needs to be a more deliberation or more information provided to the budget decision
makers who are supposed to sign off on this because, as I said, that's our job is to get the information and make proper decisions. The fuel reserve was a fairly terrifying aspect because our fire engines have to be able to get there. And so I'd I would be interested to know if the school board actually has the reserve. We talked about this in 02/2010 when the last recession was. And it was a really big deal back then. It was like $400,000 set aside for fuel for the buses, in a special account. So that's something someone else brought up,
and I'm very interested in how that turns out, In addition, let's see. When the Dogwood application was made, the city and county were asked for 600,000, and Cree Deeds, our senator, brought home 600,000 from the state, and that would have covered the whole project four years ago. It has been mired in bureaucracy ever since, and I am very disappointed that it still seems to be mired in bureaucracy because the price is going up. And as I said, there were other, benefits in addition.
So I don't know what the final result will be on that, but I think it's has tremendous benefits for our pedestrian transportation system all the way up toward Rio as well as, for the individuals who go there. The, and I already mentioned about the CIP, so I will stop there. But please take a minute at your leisure to look at that Excel sheet. I think you will find it interesting. Thank you. Alright. Thank you. Supervisor Lupisto, currently? Thank you very much. There's a lot I agree with what what with what supervisor,
Malik said. I did wanna ask the Dogwood Memorial. How long has that been there? Is it fifteen, twenty years? I don't know. The the Dogwood? Yeah. I think it's its fiftieth. Fifteen? Fifty. Fifty. Yeah. Okay. I'm quite sure. So then that means the land was donated fifty years ago. The land's been city land forever. Right. It should I mean, I will just if we're allowed to to back and forth here Go ahead. The city gave the land for the y Right. And got $2,000,000 credit for that. The county put in $2,000,000 in cash.
Right. So So Paid at the office is my response to this. I think that answers their question about them only giving a 100,000 because of the fact that they gave the land. I mean, are they just dirt. Yeah. They're just keep okay. Well, I think we all understand that. Sixty years. Mike, just check the Sixty years. So they've been using the land thing for six Okay. Got it. No. They've been in the memorial's been in McIntyre Park for sixty years. For sixty years. Got it. I liked what supervisor Galloway said about how the CIP works, and how maybe we need to look at that and to evaluate that,
because I'm not sure I understand everything regarding the I mean, of course, we all understand the the projects that we wanted there to coming in, but the process. I'm going to also say, I would like the same information. If we're gathering information on that, if we're gonna redo that, I'd like to see the same thing for our affordable housing trust fund for AHIF. How is that working? How is the data working? How many homes are we getting? How how much is being spent? But some actual data on that because right now,
it's it seems like a number has been thrown out, 10,000,000. I remember when I first got on the board, it was 5,000,000. Costs go up. So I guess it's gonna be another 5,000,000 probably for next year or the following year, that just keeps going up. I just wanna know the numbers. Is it is it working? Is what we're doing working? Is what we're doing? Could we look at the whole program and maybe focus on rentals and lower rentals to give people a chance to earn save money and then eventually get out of
the holder and so to speak, so that they can save money and then buy a home if they want. A lot of people don't wanna buy homes anymore, and I realize how expensive they are. But, I think we should look at that whole program. And frankly, I think, 80% of AMI for homeownership, I think that's high. I except I would be in favor of having something like that for our first responders. Those are the ones you want living in our county. When a disaster happens, you want them there. I'd be happy to like I said,
I'd be happy to have that for them. But I think 60% AMI for renters, I think that's high. I think I would rather put the money frankly into, lowering that so we can have more people in rentals maybe for a period of time. I mean, I can't think of the entire thing how to do it now, but there are much there are people out there but smarter than me. They could figure out how to help the most people that we need. Maybe and they know this for a period of time. They've they've gotta work this out.
So that's my feeling, about that. I'm just not frankly interested in throwing more money at it without knowing the real data. Alright. Hold on. Okay. We haven't thrown any money out. I know. I'm sure the proposal goes or what it's used for. Right. We've been doing this program. We're in year, what, four? Right. Five? The year we did our first, we hit 5,000,000. We had $20,000,000 in requests for that $5,000,000 So this is not some random thing that we're just throwing out, and I don't think we should be saying that out loud to the community.
We just had this conversation for this year's applications the last meeting, where it was very clear what the projects were, how much, and how much was going out the door for what rentals and homeownership, what the units were, so the data is there. Now if you want it all combined into one comprehensive piece to look over the last four or five years, I would imagine that we can do that. But I I get a little uncomfortable if we start to say things like, well, I don't know where the money's going or what it's going towards. It's very clear where it's going. No. I I no. No. I know. I know where the money is going.
I want to make sure it's being spent, in a way that helps the most people. That's So that's what my question that you're questioning the the applicants and what they've said and how they're going to use it? No. No. No. No. No. No. Not at all. I'm just I want to make sure that the the monies that are being spent, that we're helping the people that need it the most. And I do believe that 60% AMI is high. I think it should be maybe 50% AMI. Those people we could help and with rentals. Alright. I think perhaps that that's a whole different conversation perhaps. That's what I was getting at.
That is a whole different conversation. Process wise, Albemarle, housing Albemarle is at our next meeting. Where's Ann? Ann left the room at a very oh, no, she's right there. I couldn't see you. It's the first time that Supervisor Lupisto Cirtley has blocked somebody. The, First time I've heard that. The housing album, Mara, is coming back for the work plan piece that's coming up in a future agenda. The timing on that. I'm just I don't I've asked this a few times, and I sometimes get cautious head nods. And it's time to start when I and I hate to say it,
but as I start to hear these kind of conversations for the board that we have to get this locked in because I don't know what to expect, because a process question about housing Albemarle when you start talking about AMIs and our policies, that is handled differently than the AHIF program. AHIF isn't exactly determined by our you come in for rezoning, you get 20% units at 60% AMI for thirty years. And this is getting muddy with that. So at the end of the comp plan, we said we were going to immediately move to a review of housing Albemarle because
the comp plan said we need to review it and update it every five years. And I remember because I made the request that it would be immediate. So I'm expecting at a future meeting that we're going to hear the game plan for that, and that's the question I'm asking. So, Ann Wall, deputy county executive. I'm up here with, Cackey Demick, chief human services officer. I would, mention this to the board. There are two streams of activity that the board will hear presentations about in upcoming meetings. The first are significant projects related to AC 44 of which the update or renovation,
I believe they call it, of Housing Albemarle will be acknowledged. There will also be a future presentation specifically about the update to the Housing Albemarle study at the at a June meeting. Do you know the date of the meeting? We just started scheduling things. So on May 20, we'll come back before the Board with an AHIF review that will inform our fiscal year 'twenty seven distribution process and hopefully will answer many of the process questions that have come up here and at previous meetings.
And then after that, we'll look for a time for the AC for the housing Albemarle renovation. There's one meeting in July. There's already a number of things on there, so I don't want to make a promise that it'll be June or July, but we're looking right now to schedule that. Right. So we got two different process questions that are coming down the pike. One would be dealing with housing Albemarle, which is a bigger umbrella, AHIF, which is specific to the dollars we're talking about in this budget, to load up for next year, that we've already directed and said we would be addressing and tighten up before we
go back out for applications in August, if I remember the timing of that right. So your process questions and those data questions, I think, can get lumped into those different pieces. Okay. I think that if you feel like you have to wait till then to commit to putting funds into this year's AHIF, then, okay, then that that's clear. But I want I just, let's be careful about saying that we don't know where dollars that we've sent out the door. We don't know where they're going or what they're doing. Because that's what I heard. No. No. That's no. The the I wanted the data to go with the numbers that we're spending.
I'd love to hear from, Stacy how many homes, I mean, concrete data, how many homes, how many people were put in I understand. But when you say concrete data, you're suggesting the data we've already received isn't concrete. I'm sorry to be getting into this. I apologize for that, if that's what you're saying. But we have data already, and we have to remember what that data is as it comes forward because we've made decisions for these dollars that have gone out the door. Mhmm. And it undermines the credibility of those past decisions. So I I I would Not the intent.
Not the intent. But while I I wanna police that as we're considering putting more dollars into a fund that I think is important to get more dollars into. If I may, chair, a a little bit of back and forth to respond to this. Supervisor Lupisto, clearly, we've talked about this before, so I'm gonna I'm going to try and differently characterize what you're asking for because I think it's a helpful discussion. It sounds to supervisor Galway and frankly to me right now, like, you're asking for more concrete data, but having to have this conversation with you, I think you're maybe asking for a bit more,
like, advice from staff on, normatively, is this the high if we're saying housing is the priority, is a housing investment fund that mostly does, you know, developer focused grants and loans, is that the highest and best use of of our limited county resources to deliver housing as a broad objective? And here, I would want to kind of respond to that because this is something I say sometimes on the board. At a certain point, we are decision makers who have to reach a decision with really limited information.
And if we feel like if we feel like we're we should not expect staff to tell us what the right decision is. That is not their goal. It's our decision it's our role to kind of weigh in and exercise a bit of normative weight. This is you know, we we didn't have staff advice or information on rent stabilization as a priority and whether or not that would be a good idea. But I'm like, you know, I can go read a study myself. We didn't have site staff advice on whether or not biking at the reservoir was good or bad. And I'm like, well, I I think I can go read a study and go decide for myself.
And in this, this is another thing where I say, well, that is something that is put to me with a decision maker based on the limited information we have from staff and also from what I can go and learn myself, and now to speak now prescriptively, normatively about my position on this issue. As someone who knows more than your average bear on this subject, I do think this is the highest and best use is challenging. It is the appropriate use at the stage that we have built out our affordable housing infrastructure in this community, because it is a necessary first step for so many other deliverables.
Right? It is challenging for our federal voucher program to deliver results when there are not easy places to place them. Right? This is a huge issue I have in the southern part of my district. There's nowhere someone gets a voucher, they have nowhere to freaking go. You know? There's nowhere that is low enough rent to qualify, and this delivers this helps deliver inventory. It also is going to be a crisis I am concerned about, and I use the word crisis. We use we overuse the word crisis, but, almost all of our tax credit buildings are built in the nineties.
A huge amount of our affordable housing inventory is from the nineties. They are all about to require redevelopment. All the ones that are done with tax credits are going to likely be sold to venture capitalists to redevelop them for for profit. That is we talk about needing to get 10,000 more affordable units. We are about to actually be falling back without continuing significant investment. So I I see this as the important first step. We can then have, you know, depending on how flush we feel, we can then have follow on conversations about, an additional local voucher to really pull down rents in really targeted,
concentrated ways for really high need people. We can have follow on conversations like that. We can have follow on conversations about making homeownership more affordable for people who aren't elderly but still face tax burdens. We but making my decision as a decision maker, and knowing kind of what our overall set of resources looks like, I think this is the first step. And for that, I think it is this is the scale it needs to be at to be able to reach that. And that is where I put on my, you know, my politician, my decision maker hat and say,
I have limited information. I have what I've been able to learn on my own and what I know from the county. And this is the conclusion I reach and fight for on that. Right. I have no I agree with that, and I totally agree with that. And I have always known this we only have another month to make a decision. And so I'm not expecting anything to happen within the next month. I'm talking about for a process for the future, as we're mentioning also regarding the, funding for arts and culture.
We're talking about that process also. I think that needs to be worked on, redone because we've had differing views and who gets what. So, that's something for the future. So, yes. Outside of the is there any other thoughts on this particular discussion before I keep moving through the order? So I think we've got those pathways there. I appreciate the explanation. Sorry, that was longer than I meant to part of that part of deciding where these dollars end up is making sure we have the values behind it, of where our priorities are at. So I appreciate that.
And we also, like, who is on staff is also tracking with me and the supervisors these process things that are post budget type of stuff? Do we have that being tracked as well? Yes. So our intent would be in the summer. What we've traditionally done, we would bring back on a regular agenda item really the community capital nonprofit, human services and arts and cultural and bring those as a package for the Board. That hasn't been scheduled yet, but July ish is probably what we would aim for, of course, working with the clerk. You know, the,
and Ms. Waller and Ms. Dimnick spoke to the other time line of the AHITS review would be really separate from those. There would be some overlap and certainly the housing out more of those. So those are items that staff would bring back as a regular order to business following the budget. Got it. And just we always also do a little bit of a review as a board that say, hey, the budget process, we always have reaction and a chance to weigh in on that post budget as well. Other than planning to put me in a headlock at the next Excuse me. Just a couple of comments. You know, it's interesting to think about the process and what Supervisor Pruitt mentioned resonates and that
is, you know, we should be focused on, making decisions. Excuse me. I'm sorry. And, you know, the obvious outcome of a three three tie is really a non decision. So as I think forward about, conversations around AHIP, around some of the other, social human services and arts and cultural agencies and how they're funded, etcetera, etcetera, and I listened to what supervisor Duncan shared, which Was, well, maybe we take a million and put it towards AF, and the other 200,000 or so goes towards the arts and cultural. And I'm also hearing people saying we should not be funding affordable housing with a
tax increase. So these are just some random thoughts that come to mind. One is excuse me. You know, there's the there's the possibility that that 15¢ increase, which was made and recommended, not decision making, but a recommendation was made with a great deal of thought and consideration about the current conditions that people are facing in terms of tax, assessments, etcetera, and how to balance that. You know, maybe that 15¢, that additional money goes towards or some form of it goes towards supporting human services, arts,
and cultural. And some of the funds that we're looking at now rather than going towards those goes directly to AF because I that is a huge priority for me as well. I had an interesting conversation with, I will say, a local affordable housing developer that everyone in the room knows today about AF, and we were discussing the fact that the funds that are allocated for this year were not fully expended. They were not fully spent. And we talked about the $10,000,000 goal, and we talked about whether or not that would be if that were there,
would that actually be utilized year one? And he didn't make a judgment call on that. But what he did say is the reason that we didn't see it fully spent this year is because there's a bit of a backlog in terms of development projects and the timing of them and their ability to take full advantage of any HIF fund. So I just offer this for thought. You know, obviously, these are just discussions. If we made an incremental effort, maybe that's not good enough, but if we made an incremental effort to get from where we are today, let's say, it's $7000000.7500000.0
dollars in the Ahif Fund, that's today and then next year is $10,000,000 I'm just wondering what that might look like in terms of the development community's absorption of those funds. And I know we've heard there's a big need for affordable housing, but there's also a pipeline issue, that is a reality in terms of applications that the county is seeing. So, I don't know. I'm just thinking through how that might look, but I also do wanna make it clear that I am a big supporter of AF. And, as I focus on this and as I think about this as a supervisor would
be in a position to support increases there, I'm just not quite sure how those increases will be allocated yet. And then the last thing I'll say, and I use this I said this before, when I met talked first time. Is this word arbitrary? And I think someone said one of the supervisors said that, you know, we need to think more clearly about a process around this somewhat arbitrary funding of favorite or the loudest voices associated with human service, arts, and cultural requests. And I wondered if there was a more objective approach to this.
Again, just throwing this out there to consider maybe it's next year or or subsequent years. If we have additional funds, is there an objective way to allocate those funds that takes some of the more politicized guesswork out of the process. Those are my comments. Got it. I was gonna make a comment. Supervisor Pruitt, that's up to you for a round here. First, I do want to just kind of respond to, I I didn't respond to it because I'm about to speak. So, respond briefly to supervisor Missal's suggestion of a of a more incremental approach.
Does our calculus change if we, agree collectively to 10,000,000 next year? I've said I thought pretty clearly before. I will say it again very clearly. I I will probably feel comfortable putting my carving knife away on this year's budget if this board were in agreement that 10,000,000 is a planning consideration that is baked in for next year's budget process. I don't know if that means I vote differently on the property tax increase because I think that's probably gonna be necessary regardless of what's which direction we get there. If it's in next year's budget or this year's budget,
I there's gonna have to be a tax rate increase most likely to support it. But it means I might put my carving knife away for the economic development fund. I would be much more, I think, comfortable with a more, cautious approach to this year's budget if I think this board seemed in agreement on that moving forward. I haven't heard consistent agreement on that, so I will just leave it at that. But, that would give me, I think, a little bit more breathing room in this, budget cycle. I will also just I want to respond to the, because so far, Chair Galway has been the only person who mentioned the schools,
in a very brief conversation with him before this. I kind of shared my immediate reaction to the new letter that we received from the schools. And as has been my theme this year, I think these are immediate reactions that the public deserves to also hear, rather than things that we share with each other, which is it. I found it more frustrating, frankly, because it seemed like a sudden pivot in what the ask was that made it unclear to me what I should even be trying to respond to in order to try and get the school's desired outcomes. It it's not clear to me that there was board consensus on what we received
as a new request. Right? So for the public, the new request is, the full amount, but as the CIP in the control of the schools and no longer for saving for a high school, but now for more short term renovations of existing high schools, which y'all will remember that when talking about saving in the CIP, I am mostly only interested in saving in the CIP if it is necessary to hit a specific saving goal such as with the, with the high school. This also, I think, realized some of the board's expressed concerns previously
of school divisions being a, a fast moving and inconsistent partner on how they treat their savings. There was some concern that if they had control over their own CIP set aside for savings, that we would not be able to guarantee that it is going to be carried forward in a way that can be actually used for new high school construction. I see this eleventh hour on the eleventh hour shift in the proposed or in the request from schools as being a demonstration of that concern.
I'm I'm no long and, again, if I were to say, oh, I'm going to do exactly what School Divisions wants me to do with this vote right now, I don't know what the vote I'm supposed to take is, which is a terrible position for me to be in. And it's also inconsistent with the request that has been put forward to the parent community and that they have been aggressively advocating for, which I've been, you know, actually consistently supportive. Oh, I hear you. I hear that you want to see you have concerns about operating funds. You're concerned about how initiatives that you value might be impacted by a slight decrease
in operating funds. So I will support, and I I did support in a three three vote, the additional operating funds. And now that is not what the newest request from school divisions asks for. I like to avoid saying I'm confused on this board. I like people to have faith that their, lawmakers know what the hell they're doing. But I I am confused on what is expected of me right now from schools, and so I I am much more comfortable with the position that the board, reached previously now than I was, which is an unfortunate for the schools,
effect of this new pivot, and I'm much more comfortable with us retaining the entirety of that, six four, in the CIP than I was previously, which I had previously voted against. Sorry. I think that's all I have to respond to. Very good. Supervisor Duncan. Yeah. I guess, okay, I'll start with schools. I mean, selfishly, I liked the letter because it's 6,400,000.0 for Albemarle High School, but I don't think we should be, you know, governing by our own personal anecdotal desires. For the record, my son attends Albemarle High School. I
I mean, I'm still in favor of my original vote, but I do kind of listening to all this, and Chair Galloway had a email response to somebody over the weekend maybe that was very thoughtful and laid out a lot and frustrating in its logic and thoughtfulness because it really made me, think about what I had already, you know, wanted. But it was really well done, so I really appreciated that. So I think sort of my stance on school funding this year would be what
Supervisor Missal had proposed as sort of a compromise of funding this year and not next year. I think the idea of doing some sort of joint planning, I guess similar to Supervisor Prewitt's conversation about housing and, you know, staff planning for next year, I would feel the same way about schools if we had a plan that we were gonna, you know, communicate more effectively and work together and come to, like, a common understanding on how we're going to fund schools in the future. I think there is a lot of
reasonable, arguments you made that maybe the 54% is not sustainable going forward for a county of this size and with this many urban needs, which is super frustrating, because obviously there's still a ton of funding that needs to be done in the schools and there's you know, we're making up a lack of funding for so many years in a lot of ways. So that, I guess, is sort of my thoughts on the schools. I guess sort of related, I think, also in order to get the funding that we need for schools and for agency funding, you know,
we just this is obviously unpopular. We need more money, whether that's through taxes or through more economic or through more aggressive economic development. One of the things I did when I was really studying the agencies and kind of talking to them and trying to understand the process is, You know, they were also talking about their application experience with the city and with, like, the Virginia Commission for the Arts and Bama Works and stuff. And so I looked at the city's, budget and I printed out I used last year's since they were, like, already set, but I printed out our agency funding pages,
and I printed out the city's agency funding pages. And they're organized sort of different, so like the bottom line is, you know, not apples to apples at all. But I went through and I highlighted the same agencies that get funding from both of us. And it's incredibly embarrassing. The city funds their agencies so much more than we do, and it's because they have higher taxes. And so if the public wants good schools I was talking to, a couple of people yesterday, two days ago, and you look at the surrounding county schools,
their buildings are nicer, their sports facilities are nicer, They probably some of them are more rural, so maybe their, you know, all their funding is going into the schools. But if people want us to have the equivalent buildings and facilities, you know, that attract people, if they want us to fund these agencies like this, if we want a bigger tax relief program, like somebody has to pay for it. And so I just the fact that the city's taxes are so much higher than ours, I think, is instructive of either either we're going to fund these things or we're a county
that's just going to fund the bare necessities, and you have to go elsewhere for your needs. Okay. I want to do a thank you. We're going to do a check here with staff and look at Andy because I've been tracking some of this. There seems to be I didn't hear objections to bringing back further information on the fuel reserve just so we can understand potential impacts on that. The agency's review process, the process of that would happen later post budget. Yes. There does still seem to be supervisors interested in perhaps funding over what the recommendation was, while three have said not
so we have to still kind of track that as an option that the board will have to decide. There's the I I explicitly heard two people open two people who could endorse or would be interested in doing the move from economic development to AHIP. I heard one say she was open to understanding it more and a few that did not speak to it. What I'm trying to do is get these options so that the next at the decision point, we're going to have to put these up on the board and say, alright,
board. Let's make some votes and some motions and get these get these settled. So AHIF has still got some moving parts on it, like the agency piece in some ways, although bigger dollars. The Dogwood piece, we asked there was some extra information there that is to have come back. And then I'll then I'm gonna defer to you to see if I missed something in that review, and supervisor certainly can weigh in as well if I missed something. I may have missed if you said it, but I think for the idea is if it part of the money on this slide, a portion could be for AF,
a portion could be for ACERF. That was a comment made by, at least one supervisor I heard. Again, not direction, but just option trying to capture all the things that were thrown out. And and for Scholes, I didn't really hear any divergence from our current proposal, at least yet. It sounds like there could be consideration of within that proposal, but there's not any decision to change what we've proposed. It just may be the how it gets how it plays out of what's proposed. And I have thoughts on that. The split idea, I know that you had mentioned supervisor Missal raised that before,
so I'll make those comments in a, in a moment. But that I think that's still kind of tracking. We have to eventually just make that hard decision. Is there anything, I guess, today that this that staff I don't think the board was I don't know. And you'll have you can speak for yourselves. I don't think any of us were walking in making hard and fast decisions today, but trying to tighten things up a little bit because we're still hearing from the public. We still have public hearings to go through. I think some of my decisions change by at some point when we vote on the tax rate. I think that that's going to be meaningful,
and then choices could change based on that. So there's still time that we're doing this appropriately. I think discussions like we had today are important, especially for our public to hear us get into the weeds and hear different values suggested and different things that we're going to focus on. I think that's important, because that's what's behind our choices on the dollars. So just another then. Is there anything we've missed, Andy? No. I think just some clarity, at one point, there was some question about more data on the economic development fund. I know the board has received some in the Q and A, but is there any information around the economic development fund staff can provide that would
assist the board? I saw people lean in. So supervisor Malek, you brought up the open idea. Is there anything specific there that you were interested in? Well, I just Information wise. That the, I've lost track of what the dollars were that were matched for the governor's fund and things like that, that we have to have cash for. It's just like the the, the ACE program. We don't even have the money for cash to draw down the state money. We're giving away money to other communities who are keeping their things going. So I never want to do that if we can avoid it. We funding something enough to double your money is a very good approach.
So I just I've sort of lost track over the last couple of years of what the churn has been. So historical trend report, perhaps. Yeah. We can provide that. And if it wasn't said, Mr. Sumner reminded me, we'll have a follow-up to get the clarity on the fuel reserve, and we'll ask that same question to the schools as well to bring that back. And it looks like I saw you lean in supervisor Pruett. I was just I I think it's a kind of similar ask, but with the economic development fund, something I've mentioned before is kind of the history at which it has been plussed up and the history of which it has been drawn down. Like, a a I think a very simple ask,
but just would be helpful to have either as a table or a graph. Because my understanding is we plussed it up a state level for a while, and then it got drawn down pretty quickly. It's a big investment. Yeah. Yeah. We can provide that. Specific economic development fund, any other informational pieces Well inside of that? I'm going to come around to you anyway, but just on that item, is that Okay. Well, I was going to mention, piggybacking on what supervisor Malek said regarding the ACE committee, because I know that that's something that's been closed down, Not closed down, but put on what hiatus,
and that's something that I would like to see come back because I think that's important for the county. So consideration of of some kind of, are we reinstituting it? Because I'm on that committee, and we haven't met. And so are we reinstituting it? Are we gonna allow any kind of funds or anything? And then regarding the Economic Development Authority, to supervisor Duncan's point, I think for the next two years, I mean, that's that's gonna be, in my opinion, that's gonna be extremely important to be able to bring in new businesses into Vibana
Futures. And if we didn't if we weren't ready to be able to act so quickly regarding AstraZeneca, as we all know, we wouldn't have had that. And that that that is at and absolutely changes everything for us. I think we're gonna be in a really good position in two or three years that we'll be able to have more funding for schools, which I strongly support, more for CIP. But I just think we need kinda like we just need to get there because this will happen. And I will tell you,
Economic Development Authority, that's the that's the mechanism that is going to bring all this in. Thank you. Sally, anything to add on the economic development info? Fred, anything to add on the request for the economic development monies? Supervisor Missal? Do we need to change the screen for him to be able to talk? I don't know if he's responding or not. There he comes. Was there anything additional there, supervisor missile? No. Thanks for asking. Alright. Anything that we needed that you needed a decision, a final decision on today from staff just due to timing and things?
No decision is required today and no decisions are really needed until April 22, but the Board also has an opportunity until April 15, should they wish to continue any items. But perhaps, I'll make a suggestion at the end of the fifteenth of sort of here's sort of the game plan of how we would walk through these issues with the board on the twenty second, just to make sure that we have everything buttoned down. But in the meantime, we'll provide these Q and As by e mail. If you're listening from the public, those will be online as well. Do you happen to have the budget calendar at this point?
In fact, you probably won't here it is. It's probably not on the budget. When do you are you is the next school board budget work session going to be they're on spring break next week. They would normally meet. I don't know I don't know if the school board meets next week or not. Do they get spring break too? Yeah. I I believe it's April 16, and I believe they're continuing to there's, budget discussion that they started, last week. So the next chance for them is when? The April 16? Yes. Alright. And I just wanted to put that on people's, radar so that you because that's probably the next point where we hear information or
could get new updates than what we have currently. I mean, outside of public comment and stuff like that. Alright. Yes? Are we going around again for just some wrap ups? We can because I you know We can write some things down. Because if there are things that we missed, then I wanna make sure we get them surfaced because we don't want anything to be popping up on us new at the next meeting. So, yeah, I'll just do another round. More background than anything else. The Tamara Holmes is the new director of VHCD. She is a real friend of local governments. And someone on her staff reached out to me at a meeting recently and said,
for the first time in years, Alamo County didn't apply for a whole category of stuff. What's going on? And I said, I have absolutely no idea. So if there are process improvements that need to be made for whatever it is, Platt lots, something that the state needs to give us millions of dollars. We need to solve those problems so that we're not leaving money on the table. This is more of the same, I was mentioning before. The I've been just baffled at the information that seems to be told to the parents that the local government is not and they're asked to ask for full funding,
but $20,000,000 more over the last two years, they cannot say their budget was cut. I just that kind of pouring gasoline on fire is not helpful, and I frustrates me a lot, because the parents are being misled, then they're mad because we respond and say, well, here's actually what happened. And they go, well, why did they say something else? So that's a problem. Chair has asked multiple times about the strategic plan. They don't have one. Their long range building plan seems to be it, and we're told that's what you're gonna get. This is really difficult.
And, I've seen a lot of this over many years, and we went into sort of a passive phase where, you know, whatever they asked for, that's what we got, but it was never enough. I mean, when you were chair, it was a very different time than it is before or since. Much more information provided and and working rather than going straight to the barricades. And just the, I mean, we have the data that finance put together for us after that December meeting that makes it all very clear what local government has done.
And, yes, it is easy for city to fund their agencies more, but we county taxpayers give them more than $20,000,000 every single year. And I really people who contact me have said, why do we keep getting yelled at for not doing what they're doing when we're paying for a lot of the things they're doing, including their AAAA and their LCI? Do not take this $20,000,000 into account. And that, to me, is so unfair. So anyway, I'm gonna stop complaining now, but I just wanted to get those things out there because I think they're important
to this discussion. Supervisor Lupisto, currently, any additional items? I think I'm done for now. Supervisor Missal, any additional items? Thank you. No additional items other than just to underscore what supervisor Malek just said about not leaving dollars on the table. I think we also have a very friendly, audience at the state level in terms of the state government now with a new housing director, I believe, who was just, appointed. And so I I do think we need to look at the process and look at all our opportunities, make sure that those are being,
sought. That's all. Thank you. Thank you. Supervisor Pruitt? I have nothing to add. Supervisor Duncan? Nothing else. All right. I do not have anything additional at this point. I think good conversation, final check-in with staff, good with today with what we've what you've received. Could you put it could you put it on contingencies? So, Mr. Chair, as as the Board leaves today and has additional discussions, I think what staff recommended, and I'd really point out the fact that this is ongoing funding as opposed to one time, I would draw your attention to the reserve for contingencies at $6.63.
And after discussion today, staff, said that they're comfortable with that money being at the $2.50 to $3.50 mark going into next year. So if you if the Board is so inclined, at the fifteenth through the twenty second to pull additional funding, just know that's an ongoing stream of funding. And if and the difference between $663,000,000 and $250,000,000 is $413,000 of ongoing funding if the board is considering additional funding for, the Affordable Housing Investment Fund or whatever the discussion is.
The other thing, board, and I feel inclined to tell you this, is one of the questions you could have asked me today is what's the minimum amount of money that you're comfortable with in the economic development fund going into next year, mister Richardson? And my my answer to you would be, probably about $3,000,000 as a floor for us to work off of going into next year. It's difficult to predict, and we can go back and look at historical spending in the economic development fund, but none of that would have told us, fifteen months ago that AstraZeneca was gonna be here,
knocking on our door last fall. So predicting the future in economic development is is impossible. You're not gonna be able to do it. And so what you do, just like what you have in front of you right now, is you have ongoing contingency. You have onetime contingency. And I'd also point to the board's strategic reserve. That's onetime money, but it's $394,000 that the board has full purview over to be able to plug where you want to plug it on your initiatives that that you're trying to get a jump start or just get over a threshold or go where you need to go with it.
But as it relates to economic development, the opportunity fund, I would be comfortable. We've got a placeholder in for 4,150,000.00. I'd be comfortable going into next year if the board says, you know, we want to move some money around. Board staff, where would you go first? I would probably look there and say, I think that if we drew that to end of three or low threes, we we will probably be just fine going into next year. The final thing I'll tell the board, because it's my job to do this, is that this is not a normal budget year that we're going into in FY
'27. This is the first time in my career, and I've done 34, that, that I've recommended using one time money to balance. And I'm recommending that we we use one time money out of the strategic reserve to $3,000,000 to balance next year, and I'm gonna recommend it again going into the next year, which is the full 1% that supervisor Pruett was talking about, and I believe supervisor Galloway mentioned as well. The only reason that I can recommend that as an as an okay budget decision
for your consideration is that when we look out into FY '29 and FY '30, we see relief on the way due to the industrial investment. Miss Pruitt asked me in the first meeting when I whenever I presented the budget, what would you have done if there was no AstraZeneca? I would have recommended a 2¢ tax rate increase. That's $6,000,000 because we saw no relief. All we'd have been doing is kicking the can down the road, and Andy and Jacob would not have supported me recommending to you using one time money out of the budget stabilization fund when we have no strategy to plug that
gap. If nothing changes with our economy and if nothing changes with our industry that's planning to come, '29 and '30, we can begin to refill the budget stabilization reserve. And the other thing that's even more exciting than that, we may, if we have more success out of Ravenna, be able for the first time to be talking about dedicated funding to some of these things that the board wants done with ongoing revenues, which means you're not dealing with it each year with one time money. And that's a big deal.
And I know this board knows that. So, Mr. Chair, that may have been more than I needed to say, but if there's questions from the board on that, I'm happy to answer those questions. No. I appreciate all of those comments. Are there any questions based on those comments? All right. Thank you, sir. And, where are we at? So we are ready for our closed meeting. Do we have a motion to go into closed meeting? Oh, I Oh, she's got it. Go ahead. I was looking this way. I Oh, sorry. I move that the Board of Supervisors convene a closed meeting pursuant to Section 2.2-three 711 of the Code of Virginia.
Under subsection one, to discuss and consider appointments to various boards and commissions, including without limitation the Agricultural and Forestal District Advisory Committee, the Natural Heritage Committee, the Pantuffs Community Advisory Committee, the Planning Commission, the Police Department Citizens Advisory Committee, and the ACPS Advisory Committee for Environmental Sustainability. Second. Alright. Without objection, if the clerk could please call the roll. Miss Malek? Yes. Mister Missal? He's already walking into the room. He's got it. He had to leave early. Did you say yes, mister Missal? I said yes.
Yes. Okay. Good. All right. Mister Pruitt? Okay. Aye. Miss Duncan? Yes. Mister Galloway? Yes. Miss Lopisa Gertley? Aye. All right, board. We will go to Room 241. All right. Good evening, everyone. At 6PM, we are coming out of closed meeting. Is there a motion to certify the closed meeting? 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 motion authorizing the closed meeting were heard,
discussed, or considered in the closed meeting. Second? All right. Without objection, if the Clerk would please call the roll. Ms. Malek? Yes. Mr. Missal? That's awkward silence. Yes. Thank you. Mister Pruitt? Aye. Miss Duncan? Yes. Mister Galloway? Yes. Miss Lupita Kirtley? Aye. Very good. And motions coming out of closed meeting, please. Yes. We have some appointments for boards and commissions. For the agricultural and forestall district advisory committee, we have Mike Rose. For the Natural Heritage Committee, we have Rowena Zimmerman.
For the Pentops Community Advisory Committee, we have Olivia Branch. For the Planning Commission, for, for the Scottsdale area or the we have Mary Catherine McLean Brown. And for the Police Department Citizens Advisory Committee, we have Nicole Hall. And for the for the Albemarle, County Public Schools Advisory Committee for Environmental Sustainability, ACES, we have board member liaison, Sally Duncan. Second. Alright. The motion has been made and seconded. Without objection, if the clerk would please call the roll.
Miss Mallett? Yes. Mister Missal? One more time there, Fred. Mister Missal? Okay. We're not hearing them. There he goes. Mister Pruett? Yes. Aye. Miss Duncan? Yes. Mister Galloway? Yes. Miss Lupista Kirtley? Aye. Alright. Very good. Thank you, board. We will move to item number 15 from the County Executive. Mr. County Executive, any reports this evening? No, sir. Not this evening. Thank you. Great. Thank you. And we will now turn to item number 16, public comment on matters previously considered or currently pending before the Board other than what
is scheduled for public hearing. Great. All of our speakers this evening are in person. During the time set aside for public comment on matters previously considered or currently pending before the board, individuals may address the Board of Supervisors concerning those matters. Individuals are allowed one opportunity of up to three minutes to speak at each board meeting. A sign up sheet is managed by the clerk's office. Timekeeping is conducted through a 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 speaking. The red light indicates your time has expired and you will be asked to end your comments. In order to give all speakers equal treatment and courtesy, the Board requests that speakers adhere to the following guidelines: when addressing the Board, state your name and if you live in Albemarle County, your magisterial district Address comments directly to the Board as a whole. Any written statements or other supporting material 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, and please do not speak from your seat or out of turn. All comments are live streamed, recorded and published on the Almore County website. And, we just ask that when you come down to the podium, make sure you adjust the microphone so you can be clearly heard. And the podium also adjusts up and down. The controls are at your left, if you need that as well. Our first speaker this evening is Ms. Rebecca Brown, to be followed by Mr. Robert Brown.
So Ms. Brown, if you'd please come down. Good evening. Good evening, board of supervisors. My name is Rebecca Brown. I am a Rio District resident and a chapter leader with Virginia Organizing. Everybody say hi if you're with Virginia Organizing. Okay. Before I get to our ask, I wanna thank this county. Khaki Dimock, Caitlin Malcolm, Anthony Harrow, this board. You committed to revising voucher wait list notice and our removal protocols, to adding disability to the ACRP priority preferences, and to developing a public inventory of accessible housing units.
And these are real wins, and we are really grateful. Thank you. So the reason I'm here personally I've had 16 surgeries. When I was in the hospital getting a kidney auto transplant for blood flow I was removed from the housing voucher waitlist in Harrisonburg. I missed one notice. It was an email and I was in the hospital in a progressive unit. I waited for years, a lot of years, and it went to someone else. That is not a system failure at the margins. That is a system working as it was designed with one notice against the people
it's supposed to protect. And here is what I'm asking for tonight. Currently, Albemarle County holds 40 unused mainstream voucher slots for non elderly disabled residents that exist on paper but have no current federal funding behind them. 800 people are on your unified voucher wait list. 200 in sick them qualify for those mainstream slots right now, but your wait list is closed so these numbers don't come anywhere close to reflecting the number of people who need a voucher or the number of people permanently disabled who are desperate.
The numbers don't reflect the need. A portion of an expanded AHIF 5% to 7% if the fund's $10,000,000 could activate those slots immediately and when federal funding becomes available families could move to the federal program and local dollars could recycle to the next person. Charlottesville City has done a program like this for eight years and it works. On home ownership the AhIF already lists it as an eligible activity. Your own administration plan already contains the full framework and those are just two ideas. There's many more. And when you look at what counties across the country do to build long term
housing stability there's no shortage of proven models. I have a full policy brief that I'll be e mailing all of you tomorrow, and my brother Robert will continue this when he speaks. Next. Thank you. Thank you. Mr. Brown? Following Mr. Brown will be Alicia Linehan. Good evening. I'm Robert Brown. I also live with my sister in Rio District. We share the same genetic condition. We're both disabled. I also have had a number of head injuries adding to that. I want to thank the Board for what you've already done raising the ACERB cap,
removing the last resort requirement, committing to review how people get removed from wait lists. These things matter to people like us, and it's appreciated. When you are disabled and your housing is unstable, nothing else can stay stable. Your medical care, your benefits, your ability to manage the paperwork that keeps you alive. It is not a failure. It's not a personal failure. It's just what happens when the system removes you from wait list, like if you're waiting for surgery or while you're having surgery, rather. Counties across the country have built locally funded bridge programs,
homeownership pathways for disabled residents, risk mitigation funds for landlords, accessible housing registries. These are proven tools that do not require waiting for federal action. And again, Rebecca will be sending you a policy brief with information on some of that tomorrow. Albemarle holds 40 mainstream voucher slots designed specifically for non elderly people with disabilities, and that only exists on paper because it's not actually funded federally. There's two zero six people currently on the wait list that qualify for those slots,
and that's only the disabled population. The full wait list is 800 people. And it's currently closed, which means that nobody new can actually apply to try to get that assistance. The gap is a funding gap, not an eligibility gap. They a locally funded bridge program lets the county decide who they can prioritize. The AHIF can close that. Please fund the AHIF at $10,000,000 Thank you. Thank you, sir. Alright. Miss Lenahan,
and then Susan McCully is, to follow. Good evening. My name is Alicia Linehan. I'm a resident of the Scottsville District. Remember the words, we don't want to draw attention to ourselves, and we must honor the supremacy clause. That was not this body's response to Brown v Board of Education when it chose to participate fully in massive resistance, nor was it this body's response to the ratification of the twenty fourth amendment to the constitution in 1964 prohibiting poll taxes in federal elections. Until 1966, Virginia,
all the way down to the local level, continued to exclude poor white and black voters in state and local elections. In Harper v. Virginia Board of Elections, the Supreme Court ruled that the fourteenth Amendment prohibits states from requiring citizens to pay a fee or tax to obtain access to polls, all polls, in all elections. So historically, this body has been vocal, visible, and resolute in its efforts to deny people the rights conferred by the court and the federal government. Today, threats to our right to vote and the safety of elections are real concerns.
You may be thinking that managing elections isn't our job, and that's true. However, upholding the rule of law and community safety is your responsibility. Sending ICE on April 21 would be a splashy reaction to a state that just elected a woman to be the Democratic governor of Virginia and the persons elected to deliver to respond to the State of the Union. This is also an election that may help thwart the gerrymandering efforts begun in Texas. This from the Brookings Institute. The administration has already begun repurposing personnel amid the current government shutdown.
ICE agents have been deployed to major airports to handle passenger ID verification and other TSA related duties, To which, I'll add ICE deployment to Paris Island on graduation day to monitor the guests arriving to celebrate the achievement of their young marines, a ceremony I have attended myself. This precedent of using immigration enforcement for domestic civil oversight raises a chilling possibility, the potential redirection of these agents to monitor, monitor other sensitive civic spaces,
such as polling locations. While trust between law enforcement and citizens has fallen to historic lows, concrete policy action can repair the bonds that hold communities and democratic institutions together. What role will the Albemarle Board of Supervisors play this time around? What will you do to prevent interference and intimidation on April 21 and in the elections to come. Thank you. Thank you. Susan McCully, and then is it this it looks like Saben Sabine?
Sorry if I have mispronounced. Good evening. Good evening. I'm Susan McCully, and I live in the Samuel Miller District. We've been coming to the board to ask for your commitment to protect county residents from unlawful overreach of the federal government for nearly a year. We thank you for your 02/18/2026 letter to the federal delegation. And today, we ask you to take tangible action toward that statement and your duty to protect our rights. Our public comments over the past many months have focused on ICE actions.
We see the use of what amounts to a secret police force as the root of the biggest concerns in a time of faltering democracy. One of these concerns is our right to vote. Voter suppression and intimidation are in the air. Yesterday, the president signed an executive order cracking down on mail in ballots. In states across the nation, local law enforcement are seizing voting voter rolls. The party in power continues to push for the Save America Act, which is straightforwardly a poll tax and a voter suppression bill aimed particularly at married women,
Black and Brown people, the elderly, and the poor. We increasingly see the government use ICE not just for aggressive and wide ranging immigration enforcement, but for any actions where bullying, intimidation, and threatened violence might serve governmental purposes. As Alicia pointed out, last week, ICE agents were stationed at airports around the country, ostensibly to help the overtax TSA. Since ICE isn't well trained for their own jobs, let alone TSAs, They mostly stood around and looked at their phones,
but the goal was normalizing the presence of heavily armed paramilitary forces in public places. So mission accomplished. The biggest threat to the failing and unpopular administration is the upcoming midterm elections. What better way to continue its campaign to normalize threat and intimidation than to send federal agents to polling places in a blue state with a woman governor. Our question is, what commitments will you make to us now to ensure that voting in the county
on April 21 will proceed without the presence of federal law enforcement. In this time of distrust, fear, and uncertainty, what will you do to keep voting free and fair? Thank you. Miss Sabine? Good evening. My name is Rain Sabin. I am a resident of the Whitehall District and a member of the Charlottesville Albemarle chapter of Virginia organizing. I wanna start this meeting by thanking the board for proposing a budget that does not slash necessary services. I am here because I have lived inside the safety net. And while federal cuts may not impact our 2026 local budget,
I am concerned about what will happen next year. The demand for essential services in Albemarle County is and long has been increasing. The big beautiful bill is cutting nearly 1,000,000,000,000 from Medicaid to provide tax breaks to some of the richest people in our country. I'm here to ask, what is your plan to keep funding in place for our local direct service providers and the social safety net that supports the well-being and vitality of our community? I benefited greatly from Medicaid when I was growing up. When I was a student at UVA, I used the Medicaid expansion to cover my health care.
I needed several outpatient surgeries, and I don't know how I would have managed the bills or the co pays without that coverage. Medicaid ensured I could heal properly and finish my degree. Later, when I first started my own business as an artist and a grant writer, I used Medicaid again. That coverage gave me the freedom to contribute to my community in ways that I couldn't have if I needed to stay at a full time job to keep my health insurance. How will Albemarle County protect its residents from the dire impact of these health care cuts? Additionally, I ask you to follow through on the request Rebecca Brown made tonight and the
commitments that Cocky Dimock made to our chapter to improve the county's housing services. Please fund AHIF at 10,000,000 and build the housing infrastructure this community needs. The safety net works when it is funded and when it is designed to catch people who might otherwise fall. When our neighbors have health care and housing, we all benefit. Thank you very much. Thank you. And our final speaker, is it Almohin? I can't see the letters in the last three letters. I apologize. Good evening. My name is Waka Samulhan. An architect designer, a resident of the Whitehall District, and a member of the Albemarle Charlottesville chapter of the Virginia organizing.
I want to thank this board for taking the community needs into consideration as you develop the fiscal year twenty six budget. I came to this country in 2013 as a refugee. My family entered with the status, and we were enrolled in Medicaid and SNAP while working full time at minimum wage. I want to be clear on, what that looked. Full time work, legal status, we did everything right, and yet we still struggle with the cost of living in Charlottesville. The programs we relied on did not make us comfortable. They made survival possible while we were still learning English, still finding our footing,
still trying to build something stable in a city that's not inexpensive. I studied at the University of Virginia. I used Medicaid expansion as a student, and I'm now an architecture designer who thinks about housing every day as part of my work. And what I see both in my own life and in my professional training, is that housing stability is the foundation everything else is built on. You cannot hold a job reliably without stable housing. You cannot manage health condition without stable housing. You cannot build a life in a community without somewhere permanent to be.
Albemarle is asking working families, refugees, disabled residents, and people on fixed income to compete in one of the highest rental markets, here in Virginia. The county has the tools to change that. AHIF is one of them, and I ask to fund it at $10,000,000. Finally, please follow through on a request for real time tracking of accessible units, published ASERV data, and formal wireless anti purge safeguards with actual deadlines. Albemarle is a county with the resources to do all of this. The question is whether we do it now, while people are waiting,
or later after more of them have gone through. Thank you. Thank you very much. That was our final speaker. I apologize for mispronounced names. And now we will close public comment. Board, we will move to item number 17. This is our public hearing this evening, ZMA twenty twenty three-seven, Northpointe Amendment. And Ms. Ragsdale, you are going to start us off this time tonight. Yes. Thank you, Rebecca Ragsdale from Community Development. And I'll be presenting this rezoning that also includes a special use permit that,
we will have a motion slide for you when you're ready, but, like to remind you at the beginning that we have both the rezoning and a special use permit before you this evening for the Northpointe development. Northpointe was rezoned in 2006, to one of our planned development zoning districts. It's actually planned development mixed commercial, and it includes a special use permit for to allow the residential uses. And it also included the special use permits necessary for stream crossings in the flood plain, from 29 into the development.
The request is for portions of the development that are not developed, about 152 acres of the total two sixty nine that were rezoned. And as I mentioned, it's a request that involves both the rezoning to amend the application plan and the proffers associated with it and the special use permit conditions to increase the number of units from eight ninety three up to 1,600. So it's seven zero seven additional units and then make adjustments to the commercial areas
to reduce the amount of commercial to 250,000. Through this process and review of the materials that were originally approved with Northpointe, we have also worked with the applicant to modernize them in terms of the materials being consistent with our current ordinance and a number of things that were previously included with Northpointe, which was actually, ahead of some of our ordinance amendments. It includes eliminating some of those things because it's already in our ordinance. So it's more simplified documents in some ways, but not losing any of the fundamental elements of the rezoning.
So as a reminder, Northpointe is between Route 29 and I'm going to get my laser pointer. It's a long Route 29 and, access from Prophet Road, and Pritchett Lane is on the eastern boundary of the project. Pritchett Lane is also the boundary with the rural area. Orienting you, I mentioned that it includes the undeveloped portions of Northpointe. About five forty seven units have been built and are accessed from the middle entrance across from Northside Drive. And this includes those properties that are,
in the portions, the Northwest residential area, the northernmost portion of the property, the school site areas, and then the remaining portion along 29 and towards Prophet. This is the existing zoning map to show you, there is, there are some properties that North Point surrounds that are still zoned rural areas that are not included with the rezoning, but this is primarily, all of the areas that are already zoned, planned development, mixed commercial. I mentioned that the rural area is on the other side of Pritchett Lane, which is the boundary.
South of this, of course, is the intersection with, Airport and Prophet and some of the Forest Lakes Hollymeade developments. And then we also have some of the industrial districts across 29 with the UVA Research Park and some of those, areas as well. The comprehensive plan that is applicable based on when this rezoning was submitted and AC 44 was approved is the 2015 comprehensive plan, which is in a lot of ways, the AC 44 is, similar in the land use designations. It's a combination of mixed commercial,
with centers. And then, large portion of the properties that are subject to this rezoning are designated for urban density, which would be, six to 34 dwelling units per acre. And then the yellow areas are our neighborhood density designation, which was three to six dwelling units per acre. Across Northpointe, it was approved at about three three point three or so dwelling units per acre, and this will take it up to, almost six dwelling units per acre, still well within and obviously below the density of the comp plan.
Switching to the proposal itself, this is the application plan and the governing document for where primarily residential areas would be located in purple, and then, the commercial areas are in blue, which are those areas that were previously designated commercial. Some of the blocks where the school site is labeled, were intended to be commercial as well. Some of them were also on the original application plan, residential. And a primary change with this, in addition to the adjustments with units and square footage,
of course, is the school site, which was located over here in the original application plan. I will tell you, if we need to, we can refer to that. I have it in the slides, but I was focusing on, the current request, but we can refer back to it if we need to. Following the planning commission and after some discussion, there was also an update to the application plan to contemplate some neighborhood scale commercial in the southernmost eastern corner of the residential area up to 10,000 square feet. The, as a planned development district,
we have a number of sheets included with the application plan. This one is showing you, where the parks and open space, will be, And there are a number of different types of open space, which includes, conservation areas for environmental features. There are public greenway dedications that will continue to be offered. Greenway access points are now called out specifically on the application plan to make sure that those will still be provided and shared use paths. There is I wanted to point out there is a lot of open space and
floodplain and buffer between the commercial areas and the, relocated school site. I don't know why my pointer is not cooperating. This slide is, the previous slide is more so focused on open space generally in the public dedications for greenways. At a rezoning stage, we get a conceptual plan in terms of all of the additional active recreation that will be required, which will need to proportionally be more because they are including more, residential units. So the active recreation and the parks will be
governed by the ordinance, and they will still need to meet the minimum requirements of our ordinance. And they have also set out a schedule and shown us generally how they can achieve that within the residential areas. This by no means, includes a final park plan. We would receive that during the site plan, process to ensure that those amenities are provided. Switching gears, to the proffer package and, how they're addressing impacts for this rezoning, they are continuing to offer a school site which has increased to 13.5
acres and as you have seen in their information, is a school site that they can deliver that will meet all of the other proffer requirements, as far as grading, compaction and providing utilities to a fully usable site. The affordable housing proffers have been updated to be consistent with the policy that's applicable at the time this rezoning was submitted, which is 15%. This proffer, Northpointe, when it was originally approved, included some fairly extensive proffer, some of which they've already satisfied with lump sum cash payments.
So we've noted that in terms of the $300,000 that was provided for affordable housing and $100,000 for a transportation study. Transportation was analyzed extensively again with a new TIA focusing on the inter the key intersections, and also looking at making sure that the existing road network was sufficient, to handle the additional traffic. I mentioned the school site that continues to include the deadline of delivering it within two seventy days.
When I say deliver, dedicating the land and having done the planning and provision of utilities to the site within that time frame, two seventy days from when we request that. Affordable housing, I mentioned that this the policy is the pre-two thousand and four policy that's applicable, and this just provides you a breakdown, comparing the proposed proffers with the applicable policy. They meet all of those provisions. There was one update that we just needed to make, or that they offered to make, that we pointed out between the commission and board that they brought the period of
affordability in line, with the applicable policy of ten years. Transportation, as I mentioned, the key intersections were analyzed, and those we included the TIA in a summary of those improvements. The TIA demonstrates that those intersections will still function well, with the proposed improvements and in consideration of the adjustments to the traffic. For residential, overall, it's a decrease in the number of trips total. The updates to the proffers for transportation are more in line with what we see
and are tied to trip generation. In terms of the triggers, one significant or one notable change is, of course, that the northernmost entrance is no longer required by the proffers. The TIA demonstrated that the intersections and traffic network will still function at those acceptable level of levels of service. We have more transportation experts here, our planning director and deputy director that can speak to some more specific questions if we need to get into that. But overall, eliminating that entrance was
acceptable to VDOT and in terms of the analysis of the rezoning. I will this is just a summary of our findings. As I mentioned, it's consistent still with the recommendations of, the master plan for nonresidential uses. It's fully consistent with the applicable, housing policy and then noting that when we had the Planning Commission public hearing on March 10, there was the recommendation for both the rezoning and the special use permit, to, approve it. So I will pause there for any questions. All right.
Thank you, Rebecca. Supervisor Malek, any questions? Not at the moment. Thank you. Supervisor Lapisto Kirtley. Could you go back to Slide 12, please? On that slide, I noticed you have for sale. It says for sale slash for rent. At 80% AMI for rent? Yes. That's what was applicable under that policy. Got it. Okay. And then all the roads on the inside are private or v dot roads? So the the Or combination? Public. They're all public roads. Well, this the major framework of streets, and what's been approved so far are public.
There are certain provisions in the subdivision ordinance for certain narrow instance of cases where we can approve private streets in the development area, but these are all public with what we've discussed here. Thank you. No other questions. Supervisor Missal. Thank you. Thank you, Rebecca. I appreciate it. So a couple of quick questions. One is, can you do you know how that $300,000 of, affordable housing funds is being used by the county? That was, like I said, received closer to when the rezoning was originally approved. I believe it was used at the time for down payment assistance.
Okay. So it's all been long expended, though. They have. Including the 100,000 transportation study funding? Yes. Got it. Do you know if the Albemarle County Public School System has reviewed the school site for feasibility? Yes. We've been checking in with them, both county staff and the developer, and coordinating, throughout the duration of this rezoning and even before about the school site. Thank you. I have a couple more questions, but I'll save them for the applicant. Thank you. Alright. Supervisor Pruett? I have no questions at this time. Supervisor Duncan?
Just kind of one question. So this was originally rezoned and approved in 2006, correct? Yes. So twenty years ago? And there was about nine just under 900 units that were approved for that one? Yes. Correct. So have those and I know only four fifty or so have been built Were those 900 originally in, like, the pipeline study? I'm not sure when the first pipeline study was done, but say the four fifty unbuilt, are those part of, you know, the pipeline when we're like,
we have X amount of units are in the pipeline, would these be part of them? The unbuilt, yes. So my main point is that it's taken twenty years to get to this point. We only have four fifty units. And so when we talk about how many housing units we have in the pipeline, it's taking forever for them to get built. That's all. Got it. What is the the, I got I had the opportunity to sit in on the planning commission on this one and listen in. The road connection, what is Vedant's official stance on this? Is it if if the road was built, that they they wouldn't want a traffic light?
Like, what what are what are some of these details? Do they want they don't want the connection. They do want the connection. But if it if there is a connection, it's a right in, right out. It it didn't seem clean to me to understand what VDOT's stance on this was other than what folks were attributing to them. Do we have what do you think? There's some factors that factor into our consideration. One of them, just the physicality of being able to build the road itself. Flat Branch Creek runs really close to 29. Oh, no. I I understand. I just didn't know.
Did would VDOT allow a a traffic light if the road were built, forgetting how difficult it is to build the road? There's an existing light there. I'm sure we could have made that work as a connection. With with the Lewis And Clark Drive piece. So there's no adding so the the light conflict was with an earlier or the southern entrance? There was conversation about a traffic light in there, and I was I'm trying to rectify what was being attributed to VDOT specifically. So maybe I'm confusing the new road and the existing entrance. Kevin could probably give you better on the history of this.
Sure. Thanks. Kevin McDermott, Deputy Director of Planning. So initially, there were three entrances on '29 expected and they were all going to be signalized. Follow, as they move through the process, those initial the two that we currently see or that we still see on the plan, VDOT did not really they weren't excited about having those as, signalized intersections because they thought it would, not preserve the flow on '29 as well. So they requested that the applicant switch those to R cuts,
which is what's out there now, to be able to improve that flow. They, had allowed the existing light to remain at Lewis And Clark under the previous rezoning. Under this rezoning, they didn't really make a comment on whether or not there would be, whether they would allow that light or not because the light was no longer, proposed there. So they were, they I would say they were happy to see that additional leg removed. If the applicant had pushed forward and tried to get that additional leg,
I think as, as mister Barnes said, I think that we probably would have been able to find get it to work, but VDOT didn't really have a comment as to whether or not they would have wanted it. My guess is they would have not liked it. So their concern was what does it mean for the light timing because there's an additional turn or all the extra turns that may come in and out of there? Exactly. I think the only other point I would add is that the two RCUTs do have the capacity to have signals added to them in the future and the proffers reflect that. Say that again? The two RCUTs have the capacity to have lights added to them in the future
if it meets warrants. Right. That's in our proffers because that's easy. And those signals are, they operate better or they would be able to, keep the flow on 29 better than a standard four leg signal. So that's why they're they allow signalized R cuts, but they're hesitant to allow a standard four intersection. Got it. The alright. Now the piece about the stream and all of that, the the from from the county's perspective, if there was no choice but to build, what does that mean for the stream and the steep slopes and all the topography
that's out there from a from that standpoint? As it's often said with engineering, anything is possible if you put enough money at it. That particular one, because the creek's proximity to the to the road, you're probably it's in the it would be built the widened road would be built in the flood plain. There would be probably retaining wall. I haven't seen it engineered out, but retaining wall to hold up that lane. And then there was also some significant challenges to the elevational difference between where 29 is and the sort of the hill that's central to this site would probably necessitate
a fair amount of grading. Anything's possible and probably could be done. And would it need a and the cross would be would there be a bridge involved out there if they were? What's out there now is an old crossing that would need to be rebuilt. Whether it would be end up a bridge or whether it would end up being a culvert system, I don't know. I can't tell you at this time. Right. But it would be the similar to the retaining wall, meaning having to deal with the stream and Yeah. Exactly. You know, any time you're the retaining wall would be running parallel with the stream, you know, parallel with 29,
and so it has its impacts. Obviously, the bridge or culvert system would have associated impacts with the stream too. Got it. The other questions I have about it, I'll ask the applicant. Are there any other questions at this point for Sam? I would just the last point, just to make sure we get all the transportation, we did, maintain the profit for our shared use paths to come down to that location. It will be it will have its own challenges to try and continue on to cross the road there, what have you. But at least we have that option for that interconnection of bike ped in the
future. Cross the road meaning? Right there. The the signal, crossing 29. 29. I'm To North Fork or something. It'll be something we'll have to work through with VDOT. Okay. We'll have its own challenges. Alright. We will open the public hearing. And do we have folks no folks signed up tonight? Well, then I don't need to read these. The public hearing will have the applicant will have ten minutes. They can come forward for that presentation, and then we will go from there. Okay. My name is David Mitchell. I work for Great Eastern Management Company. I'm the Construction and Development Manager,
for lack of a better term. We have our engineer, Brian Mitchell, and our attorney, who just keeps me straight. So staff has done a great job explaining why we're here. I'll reiterate some things. But at the end of the day, we are asking for a reduction in commercial and an increase in residential. This is our you've already seen this these are the properties that are part of this rezoning. Everything else here is out the door, if you will. The apartments are built and they're not fully occupied, but they're fully built. The first 106 units,
we probably got 102 occupied homes. There's four vacant lots right now. It's still in Section 1, which is this area. We built the clubhouse and pool, which I'll talk about. We call this 2A and 2B. It's about 42 lots. I'd say there's four or five vacant lots right now. We just opened up or not just, about six months ago opened up this section, 40 more lots, 20 are probably occupied or under construction. The remaining sixty, seventy ish lots are still to be platted and used.
Roads are fully in. The infrastructure is fully in. The stormwater is fully in. We put everything in except for the final asphalt topping because the contractors it's heavy equipment. It will destroy it. So there's no point putting it in yet until the homes are done, and then we come out, top it and turn the roads over to DDOT. Let's see. This is existing conditions, current conditions, kind of what I already went over. Pay attention to some of these blue streams. These are intermittent mainly, but there are a few perennial streams. We do have a core permit that we have already received. We just got it at the end of last year.
It was a haul, as you can imagine, which is why these things take so long. We have to kind of coordinate county needs, VDOT needs, DEQ, federal government needs and then obviously what the market will bear. And that's why it's kind of taking so long. That's why we have 23 in front of our number. This is the core impacts, which is the primary reason we are here. The core of engineers changed the rules at some point between our original zoning and our current time, and the red areas denote areas that are they kind of overlap,
not 100%, but they overlap stream areas that we cannot build on. And the reason there's not a finger is you don't just have the stream you can't build on, but then you have corresponding stormwater facilities grading or whatever that's on either side of the stream, whether it's a perennial or intermittent. And we lost about 48 acres of usable land. Some of that was in the school site. You can see the red kind of goes up in here to the school site area. And so the school and we as the developer both are suffering from the same problem.
So we're trying to solve them all together at the same time. This is our plan. This is our conceptual plan. Please don't look at building locations and think that's exactly where it's going. We did this to kind of do a fit on the property to, figure out what actually could physically fit on the property because we need to come up with numbers for the traffic analysis, and this is the best way to do that. You can see we have the school site moved. We swapped out the school site for basically everything going forward, our townhomes, condos, and apartments. It's going to be attached housing.
That is for a number of reasons, but the primary one is the property that is left over after all of those fingers of streams kind of chop you up and don't enable you to flatten everything, you end up with five, seven, maybe a six acre piece of land that only apartments basically only attached type structured housing will fit on. The more expensive, larger lots to the that have and frankly, the old farmland that was the Rolling Hills, have already been utilized for the single family detached homes that are currently being built.
This is an overall of our changes and primarily regarding traffic. You can see we have a reduction in commercial. We have an increase in residential and the result is in the 27%, let's just call it 28% reduction in overall traffic. That feeds into maybe one of Mr. Galloway's questions was why is the intersection going away? The intersection is going away for two reasons: one, right there, 28% reduction in traffic overall but secondly, the two as frustrated as it was not to as frustrated as it was to
fully design and turn in two regular eight way intersections, and turn them into VDOT and then they call us up to Culpeper and say, yeah, we don't want that. Start over. The good thing on that is those, R cuts have a higher capacity for traffic than a regular intersection, which is probably why VDOT likes them, And they don't stop traffic on the main thoroughfare as much. So it's a combination of two things. We're dropping our traffic counts and the infrastructure we're putting in has a higher capacity
than was originally needed. So we took one of the traffic we took out the most problematic, for all the reasons that we just talked about, entrances off of 29. Let's see. This is our zoning map. Rebecca already went through it. It just denotes the areas that we can what we can build and where we can build it. It also kind of shows our primary traffic improvements. We have the Spine Road that that makes connection all the way from Pritchett, goes into the property and then has two connections out on 29. Parks, again, Rebecca has been through that.
I don't think we need to dwell on that too much. We I'm gonna show you some of the things that we've already built. This is our clubhouse. This is a six lane, 25 meter, pool that can support a swim meet for elementary school kids and, you know, the swim teams that are around here. We have a clubhouse and we have a gym. There's also I didn't take a picture of it, but one side is a gym and the other one side is a gym and lockers and bathrooms, and the other side is a common area that people can gather with a small kitchen, they can have parties, whatever. This is the park. I love this park. I specifically asked for this park to be designed this way.
It's where your kids can go jump around on stumps and hurt themselves and, learn to be resilient, which is the proper way to put that. And there's a better look of our pool. We have our pool. We have the baby area. We have two adult sitting areas, and we have lots of shade, and shade actually over top of the baby pool, which is kind of nice. The architect did a really good job. And then we got this area here with, grass. And there's a there's a chimney and a fireplace and a gas log set. We also got some, ranges out here and various seating areas. You can kind of come out and spend the day. And they do.
Normal parks, play areas, we've got this we've actually got two of these now. We we had one. Now we built the second one. Same thing, double basketball courts, but this this one has pickleball, of course, and, basketball. The other one has tennis, volleyball, and basketball. And they're on concrete slabs with that rubber. It's a little I guess, I talked about resiliency, but, okay, you don't get your knee skinned if you fall on that one. Trails, I want to point some out back to trails. I mean, we've extended originally and from the original zoning, we had a multiuse path from this traffic circle to basically this property line point
right here. We've extended that where that multi use path is going to tie into a path that's up here at these townhomes on Pritchett, Prophet. I never say it right. On Prophet, it'll run all the way through the property by the school site, up past the clubhouse, basically just bracket the entire residential area. The school site will be in the middle. It's a five minute walk from maybe seven minute walk from these houses way out here. And then you'll come down through here and do this residential section and there'll be a connection out here to, 29. We also have a greenway that we're dedicating to the county and access points,
more importantly, from our multi use path. There's a swale here that I've walked myself on both of these that's it's a trail system, but it's certainly doable. And then these are our traffic improvements, which we've already gone over. So overall, you know, summary here is we're here to deal with the Corps of Engineer regulations, first of all, because it's just a fact. We've provided much more of a mid level housing, not the single family homes that are there now, townhomes, apartments, and condos. We're increasing the number of HUs.
I wrote 106. It is 107. Please ignore that number. We're moving the school to a usable site, doing the same grading that we had originally, requested. It's a slightly larger site. It's kind of just a function of the school site gets the property between two streams that we can't fill. Then we have access to the greenways, and we've extended that multiuse path a little farther to make it basically, you walk through the entire property on that multiuse path or ride your bike or push your stroller or whatever. So, that's it. I'm happy to ask any questions that you might have.
Alright. Supervisor Malek, questions? Thank you very much. From doing the homework, I wrote down one. Now I have to find it. Can you talk a little bit about something that was in the homework about no difference in units for the payout versus the build then. In other words, you're using a cash and load for these instead of building the new ones? No. We're building. Understand that correctly? I don't that's that's not an option, is it? No. We're building it. Hallelujah. No. I don't think that's an option. I mean, we did pay money back in o six or '7 or whatever,
but Very good. We I wasn't here at the time, but I will call you down to my my barricade there. Thank you very much. Okay. I'm all set. Thanks. Supervisor Lopez Cook, currently. Regarding the, the connection to Lewis and Clark, my understanding also that the Department of Environmental Quality got involved because of the stream and everything making it much more difficult. There's a 14 foot drop also. It's about, I'd say it's a 20 foot drop from the roadbed of 29 to the streambed. You're asking Mr. Galloway was asking about additional stream and you would.
Right now, the profile of that existing road, so old farm road access, is 15 feet wide, 16 feet wide and then it goes down at really a one to one slope. It's not what we would build nowadays. So whatever that math works out to, 50 feet wide, 50 feet wide, he's the math guy. 50 feet wide, that's how much stream is impacted now. If you were to run a road through there and it would have to be a, you know, a a culvert pipe and a fill just like our middle entrance, I mean, ours was two fifty feet of stream bed to get filled.
There's not a lot of difference in the change in elevation with ours at the middle and that one at the far north. So you're talking about filling another 200 feet ish of stream for the perpendicular crossing, right? Not talking about any of the additional retaining walls and the construction within the flood plain and next to the streams. Again, like I said, its traffic volumes have dropped. Our existing, improvements have more capacity. That is a redundant connection, and
we got rid of it. Thank you. No other questions. Supervisor Missal. Go online. Do you want me to pull my thing down? Do you wanna see the space? Sure entirely. Alright. Thanks. Can you hear me? Yes, sir. Great. Just so you know, we're getting a pretty nasty storm here in Southern Albemarle. So if I disappear, you'll know why. Hey. Thanks for the presentation. I appreciate it and for stopping by to walk me through, this, couple weeks ago or a month ago. That was really helpful. I appreciate the resilient stump activity zone, especially. I think that's that's very helpful. So thanks for that. I have a couple of sort of nitpicky questions I guess.
One is, if my math is right, your two zero seven units is what was that? I think the staff report said something like 13.5 of the total units, 1,600 units? Yes. So, yes, let me give you the quick and dirty on that. The original project from 'six had eight ninety three units. Keep in mind, this is 2006. In 2006, we wrote the only difference between our affordable housing I shouldn't say only, the major difference between our affordable housing that we proffered in 2006 and what was
in place in 2003 when we applied was the percentage. We were if you did the math on the percentage of the number of units, we were somewhere around 12.5% of the units at 80% AMI, rent or whatever. So when you take the new $7.00 $7,000,000 and you apply 15% to that, the weighted the cumulative together because we're our rezoning is asking for 107 more. We're applying 15% on that, but we're not applying a change on what's already been approved.
So that's why it's 13% when you do the math, right? Yeah. I know. I get it. I'm tracking with your math, and I know every unit of affordable housing counts. My my math was telling me, you know, did you consider calculating it as 15% on the total allowed units of 1,600, which would have brought you to $2.40 versus a total of $2.17 for an additional 23 units. I did not. Okay. Switching to transportation, few quick questions. One is I assume that the TIA that you completed included updates on Route 29.
You said that actually, I think you answered that question. And do you know if it included background traffic Yep. Generated by the Absolutely. Economic development initiatives coming in? Not not AstraZeneca, but it did it did include, the university's recent rezoning for the residential. They asked us to take that into account. There was another Kevin, what was there was another large project they wanted us to take into account. VDOT basically was like this is or the county did too. This is coming. We know this is approved. Take into account these projects that are not built yet but are coming down the
pike, and we did do that. I think the universities was the biggest one. The other ones were maybe a few things in, Brian, do you know? There's also a growth factor. Well, yes, there's the standard growth factor, but he's asking, is there another project that we included? I don't think so. I think it was just mainly the university because a lot of that traffic is gonna come, you know, through Airport Road. Yeah. Understood. I just wanted to I was really curious about AstraZeneca, and I don't think the timing probably worked out, so you could have had that. No. At least yeah. No. It did not. I think that is all my questions for you. Thank you.
Okay. Thanks. Alright. Supervisor Pruitt? Just a few things, and these are mostly, I wanna make sure I'm understanding something correctly, so I expect a yes, no answer, and probably a yes. You sound like a lawyer. Well well, get ready. Is this a congressional hearing? Well, wamp wamp. Well, I don't mean it that way, but I hear you. I'm I'm looking at the school site proper, and I I read it as creating three mutually exclusive possibilities of the disposition of that area. Either it is used as a school,
and we say that it is used as a school before the end of 2028. It is used for a park, and we say that it's gonna be used for a park before the end of, 2028. Or we say nothing, and on 01/01/2029, you give us half $1,000,000. Is that a correct understanding of that? Yes. Wonderful. And I also want to make sure I I'm again, I think the answer is yes. It says that the in the third alternative, this land would then be used for other residential uses that
I would not understand that it's changing your total rezoned authorized use. It would just let you play with footprint a little more. Yes. But I would very likely come back and ask for something. Helpful. Alright. That's all I got. Okay. Supervisor Duncan? I have no questions. Have would you have an idea, would the cost to do that northern entrance point be similar to the cost to do the the one you built, the main entrance? Or would it be more so because of the topography? Like, do you have a ballpark on what the actual I can tell you what I mean, I'll tell you what we paid for ours,
the the meat, ours, the middle entrance, the one that's there. It was a contract six years ago, for just shy of $5,000,000 but did it have the similar issues with the stream and the so I mean, it's a pretty good comparison. Yes. We had a huge fill. It was like, what, 40 foot fill on that thing. Right? No. I mean, I'm good. There there was a there was a stream running right through the entrance that we had to fill and pay the core for and all that good stuff and pipe it and blah blah blah. But, yes, it's very similar. And, yes, that's about right. And then the road,
I mean, that's the crossing or is it the road? Yes. So that number I gave you is the entrance to the to like, I don't know, 150 feet in, 200 feet in because you kind of VDOT doesn't let you just build a finger that somebody can they want cars to be able to pull in there and if somebody made a wrong turn or whatever, it's a safety issue. But there's, I don't know, 100 feet. If you look at our entrance now, I don't know if we've got anything, Brian will talk about it. Brian Mitchell, Townside Engineering. We did the civil engineering work for that middle entrance.
It was, David is correct, it was about $5,000,000 but that included R cuts out in the front. Mhmm. We actually did a site plan, for both, for that entrance. It's a full eight it's called an eight lake signal. An eight lake signal stops traffic, allows left to move, allows the so other traffic move. And, you know, I didn't like that, so we came back and did it with an r cut. That, that cross scene has, I think, double eight by eight box culverts in it, and then the fill section for it. And so, the the 5,000,000 that David, is quoting, it included some of the re 29 ARCA work as well.
It wasn't just The entrance. The entrance. Yeah. Okay. Good. I think that's all. Oh, you have more? Oh, I thought I saw you raise your hand. All right. Are there any other questions for the applicant? All right. Then we will and there was I'm just confirming. There was no sign ups. Correct? Right, we will close the public hearing. You should have signed up before we had started. Is the sign up sheet still available to the clerk? Is there no objection from the board? I will. Excellent. You can come forward, sir. You're going to have three minutes to speak. The light will turn green when you begin. We ask that you state your name and your magisterial district if you live in
the county. When you have a minute left, the yellow light will illuminate, and when it turns red, we'll ask you to conclude your remarks, please. Yeah. This is Greg Delaney. Jack Jewett. So I would just make a comment on behalf of a lot of people in the county that are very frustrated with the level of traffic that we have and the lack of consideration of what these units bring to the traffic in the county. And I know that many of these are we need more affordable housing, but as a longtime resident of the county that grew up and went to school here from K through 12, the price of housing has gotten unaffordable for people who have lived here for thirty
or forty years. We've seen this we've seen this community be transformed. And so my question to the to the board would be what what is is there are any studies have been done to show that these approving these apartment complexes by the thousands are leading to more housing affordability in the county. So because it certainly doesn't as someone that just try has been trying to buy a home and just recently bought a home, that certainly does not seem that that's been the case. So and then and also with in general with the traffic,
there's a very palpable frustration. And I just don't know if Charlottesville can be Richmond with the topography. But for example, the apartment complex that was built right over or is being built currently, that everyone says, how in the world are we going to have the traffic come in on Ivy Road there? And the current the improvements I don't even know what improvements are being done, but I thought, are there any improvements that possibly can be done? Because that backs up severely at 5PM. So I would just ask you take into consideration the people that live here, and I know you do, and I appreciate your service. But, there is a downside to continuing to build.
We have a lot of units under construction right now in the county. So I'd just like to ask that that be taken into consideration. Also, how many vehicles per day I don't know if I saw in the presentation how many vehicles per day is this going to add to the roads? I know that supposedly, going from commercial to residential is supposed to lower it, but certainly doesn't seem I mean, the LatAmity units will lead to a lot of additional industrial cars on the road. So appreciate the appreciate the time. Thank you. Thank you. Mr. Mitchell, if you choose, you have, of course, five minutes for rebuttal, if any. Alright. Now the matter is back before the board. Thank you, board, for your consideration.
We will close the public hearing portion. The matter is back for the board. Are there any additional questions for staff? I'm just gonna look to my left and my right. Why don't I go around real quick? You can ask questions and or make any comments as you wish. Supervisor Malek? Thank you. I guess I it's not impacting this proposal particularly, but VDOT is very good at synchronizing all the lights up and down. I get them all green all the time, so adding one more to get people safely in and out doesn't seem to be an issue to me. I'm not beat up,
so I don't have a word about that. But it is frustrating when it continually comes up that we can't do all these things because, when it's not the case. But, thank you. I don't really have any questions right now. And while I, understand the desirability to have more places to go in and out just to have more options, I remember back in 02/1978, the struggles that they had trying to engineer the roads they've already done and the huge impact of the grade and fill. And I was upset about tearing down all the green waste to put in the
utilities. Poor David got yelled at a lot about that. So, I understand the evolution of it, but I'm okay right now. Thank you. Alright. Supervisor Lupisto, currently? Yes. I just wanted to say I've been, very involved in this project for quite a while now. And, I think what has been proposed is is really, really good, frankly. I have heard from a number of constituents, and and they have concerns, actually, similar to what the gentleman said, regarding more homes coming in traffic. The things that we hear regarding anytime there's a development.
Anytime there's a development, we hear the same types of things. And I understand that, but remember, we as a board made a decision not to go out into the rural area. So we're going higher and denser in the development area. Will that change one day? Probably. I can see that changing. But, in the meantime, when you do that, you have to also put the infrastructure, water and sewer, which costs a ton of money. So I appreciate what has been done. I think it's a good proposal. I I have also heard the concerns of the constituents that have emailed me and
called me. And, I respect that, but I will say that this is a good project, and I will be supporting it. All right. Supervisor Missal. Great. Thank you. So I'll just lead off by saying I support this project. You know, I appreciate the challenges that this group has been facing and I understand the changes to the core regulations and how that's impacted their development significantly. You know, I say all that, but I also am cautious as we see more and more development applications that come to us with a request to increase the residential uses and to decrease commercial,
and we've seen several of them. My concern is that we don't compromise these developments in a way that compromises connectivity, right, and the value and the quality of the the community itself. You know, the mixed use component is something that I talked to the applicant about, and they they, were clear and and shared with me their vision for that. Interconnections so that there are, trip internal trip connection opportunities to keep them off the adjacent roads, and ensuring that we don't remove essential services.
So I also appreciated the comment, around the lap pool and the fact that that is hopefully open to the community for events, swim meets, etcetera. You know, that's that's something also that's helpful. And, I guess the last thing I'll say is, you know, this is adjacent to a major artery, an arterial collect connector. And I think, as we think about development and the appropriateness of development relative to traffic, this is one of those that makes good sense. And so, yeah, I am prepared to support this. Thank you. Supervisor Pruitt? Thank you. First off, yep.
I I support this project. It's in the development area. That's where this goes. I would echo, supervisor Missal's note and concern might be a little strong, but we'll say concern. Right? I, was meeting with a nonprofit developer earlier today who mentioned, oh, you know, we've got a plan for, one of these five on ones. There's gotta be commercial on the bottom. I'm like, oh, excellent. I look forward to six years from now when I get to review you rezoning that commercial on the bottom for residential, because that is the direction of seemingly almost every land use decision that comes before this board,
for the last year. There are obviously ramifications for that that I think this board needs to be aware of, and I don't think we're not. I hope we continue to lean into what resolving the the policy and practical concerns on our tax base that creates as we review our our zoning refresh and how that's going to work with how we realize our comprehensive plan and our our thinking around activity clustering. Mhmm. Alright. Supervisor Duncan? Yeah. I have seen the emails and the concerns,
especially around traffic. I will not go into the weeds again like I did last time, but I do want to point out, that in twenty two thousand and six, the traffic counts from Airport Road up to Camelot were 38,000 vehicles a day. And in 2019, they were 39,000 a day. So it can, I didn't do the most recent counts? Yeah. Traffic's terrible at 05:00 anywhere in town, but perception is not necessarily reality, and how it is at 05:00 is not how it is,
you know, twenty four hours a day. And just kind of reiterating some of the other comments that twenty nine is, you know, this main corridor, that they are trying to move people through, and that the road can handle the traffic. Also, just even in the three months that I've been on here, I've heard people say, you know, oh, we can't have development because we need infrastructure first, and, you know, we need schools and all this kind of stuff. And they have built the road infrastructure first. Like, the extra lanes are there. The R cuts are there. So I appreciate that, you know, this is what happens when it takes twenty years to get a development is you can put the infrastructure in first.
So, you know, that is one plus. And I know there's future traffic improvements coming, like there's, you know, a roundabout coming that will help. So I have no concerns about traffic whatsoever. I also think just in general, people are, you know, we've had a lot of emails opposed to this, And, yes, this is in the development area. It's on '29. You're across the road from the airport. Like, this feels like this is the place that we would have development. I'm excited about what's coming, hopefully, with the commercial. I'm excited about the school coming, that people can walk their kids to the school.
And it is a really pretty sight. I've driven it. And, yeah, I'm excited that this is happening. My only complaint is that the buildings are not taller and there's not more housing. Alright. I will be supportive of the project as well. I understood and appreciated those who wanted that northern connection. But also having listened to this board when streams are involved or slopes are involved, not to mention the cost that would add to the project and what that would mean, for the rest of the I mean, look, when a large piece like that gets put in play,
it gets passed on to the cost or the affordability of the units that are going to be there, both commercial and the residential. We've had other projects get hung up because of road projects. And while it, yes, it maybe goes against some of the connectivity issues or the connectivity aspirations we want, it has prevented a lot of things from being constructed, and that we've had to find clever workarounds, if not removing those road projects, which ultimately, for the projects I'm thinking of across the road, are not going to be, prohibitive to how the traffic moves in and through to lose one connection through a
smaller smaller area. A little different because it's going to a main artery, but I could I could not imagine if this was coming in with the road connection in the level of scrutiny in terms of the streams and the bridge crossing that that the board would probably delve into, and would probably be a problematic connection for us from from a standpoint. I'm, actually happy for the school site change and location. I recall back when I was a member of the school board, we used to make jokes that this elementary school, if we ever used it, would have been called Cliffside, because but the site was pretty restrictive,
in terms of actually being usable for a school. So the fact that it's going to where it is going, I think, is going to be a better site for that. So for the and the fact that we have a funded project out there that that'll come online. I don't know how the timing works out relative to the residential coming, the additional residential you have yet to build and our plans for the Northern Feeder Pattern Elementary School. But there probably won't, you know while it may not be there for the folks that live there now, for future builds, that will be the relief so that Baker because Baker Butler is,
overcrowded. And I think this was it the was the school count in here the extra amount for just the add on units, or was it for the whole development? There was, like, 54 or something like there was a spread of like 42 to 60 students for elementary. Based on the new units. Just the new units. So there was a previous number for that. But with the with the piece coming across the across the road, the fact that a new school is going up there is going to be definitely needed. So I'm glad that's a funded it's rare where we can say there's a funded
school project with a new build coming to help alleviate some of the concerns. The final comment I'll make will be to the speaker, who is here. Yes, there are projects that I how to find all that information that you alluded to sometimes can be tricky because they're attached to different projects in different places, depending on what it is. But, just earlier today, we had some discussion about our own transportation projects. Last month, we had updates about what we were submitting to the state for funding for projects, and then each one of these applications that come forward has its own traffic analysis.
So the difficult answer is you got to pay attention to us all the time related to the philosophy of dealing with growth. Where things are going and then the infrastructure that's the, that may or may not come along with it. But with that, I will stop, and we will entertain a motion. Okay. I move to adopt, the ordinance attachment g attached to the staff's report to approve CMA20237Northpointe. Second. All Alright. The motion has been made and seconded.
Is there any further discussion? Alright. If the clerk will please call the roll. Miss Malik? Yes. Mister Missal? You said yes. Yes. Mister Pruitt? Aye. Miss Duncan? Yes. Mister Galloway? Yes. Missalpiester, Kirtley? Aye. Alright. The, motion carries. You all are approved. Good luck. Mister Chair, there's also a a matter regarding the special use permit that is before the board this evening. No. They did not put that up there. So if we might have the, motion for that. Not included in attachment. Oh, that's not. I move to adopt the resolution attachment A, attached to the staff report to approve SP 2020 Three-nine
Northpointe. Second. All right. The motion has been made and seconded without objection that the clerk will please call the roll. Miss Mallett? Yes. Mister Missal? Yes. Mister Frewett? Aye. Miss Duncan? Yes. Mister Galloway? Yes. Missal Piecer Kirtley? Aye. Alright. Very good. All set. Thank you, board. We will move to from the board, committee reports and matters not listed on the agenda. Supervisor Malek. I'm trying to think if I've had any committee reports, and I don't. Thank you. Supervisor Lapisto Kirtley. Yeah. We didn't have a,
CAC meeting because we had the budget meeting, so no reports. Thank you. Supervisor Missal. Thank you. No reports? Supervisor Pruitt? Yes. So since our last meeting, we had a CARTA, convening. I there are three things that came out of that, two points of discussion, one action. The action was, my appointment as the CARTA rep on the, Regional Housing Partnership, which also, as I know this board knows, implicates a later, appointment that this board will make, which will now be a different person other than me.
Additionally, we had two presentations, that stirred a good bit of discussion. I'm going to talk about one of them, and I'll leave the one about, bus shelters to supervisor Duncan because I know that impacts her district much more directly than it does mine, and she knows more about it than I do. So I'll talk about the prioritization study update that we received. As a reminder, This is, the implementation prioritization study. This is the next step on now that we know what our established needs are, what is it going to look like to actually, implement service expansions,
that would fill those needs? This is, I would say, a very early, update. The main progress that we were updated on was, we have now talked to people. We have gotten an inventory of all the studies that have been done before. I I dunk on, transit sometimes for having a lot of studies and not much action. I just want to say, I'm gonna count it real quick. One, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight, nine, ten, eleven, twelve. There are 12 applicable studies that they have to review of previous studies that we have done around transit planning in the region,
and they have established an initial framework, for how they're going to qualitatively consider our own concerns, on a kind of binary, set of concerns of expanding transit intensity versus expanding transit footprint, and how we would weight those. I said qualitatively that we actually had a back and forth about this. It's actually still going to go through a quantitative framework at some point as far as actual individuals served. But the consensus was that we want to slightly value intensity over expanding footprint of
transit, with the thinking that that is what builds the ability of individuals to rely on a transit service, and that is something that is important when you get over an early hub of ridership acceptance. And that's all I'm gonna say on that. Thank you. Supervisor Duncan. Yeah. After that, they did a presentation on the history of CAT, which was really great and interesting. It went back and they showed, like, the original buses from 1975. And I actually the presentation was so well put together, I used it in my local government class and walked through it and taught them
about CAT. And then after that, they did do a bus stop inventory that the city is doing. And the slides for that are really great, but they're basically going through and looking at every single bus stop in the system and seeing what it has, what it needs, what improvements would look like. We also just got an email today that also includes the data on, like, who's using the bus stops, like how many people are getting on and off at each stop to see which ones are more used. And they are looking at, you know, what can they do to improve
some of them, like signs, you know, evaluating trash cans, that sort of stuff. And when you, you know, touch it and actually, like, make an improvement and an upgrade, then you have to make it ADA accessible. And so they're also looking at that and looking at which ones can get, you know, improved without, kind of, triggering that, but looking at, you know, the bases, what buses, which ones have shelters, all of that kind of stuff. So it was actually super interesting and just, like, good data to have on how our bus stops, you know, look and work and what they need. So,
yeah, it was super interesting. All right. The Regional Housing Partnership had its quarterly meeting in March. Supervisor Pruitt was in attendance. The outside of the area presentation that was done that day was on the National Housing Crisis Task Force. I will send that to you, just the link, if you wanna go see what they're about and the action plan they're working on. The it's it's a national thing that is being led with the efforts of the mayor of Cleveland, Justin Bibb, and mayor of Atlanta, mayor Andre Dickens, if I recall.
And then, he went quickly through because he only had thirty minutes to present and had to pick which things he should follow. I think some of which was interesting, to see what else they're doing in different places. The question and answer state, point was very, I think, compelling. So if you want to go back and listen to the presentation, listen to the conversation that happened afterwards, that meeting was this past, I guess it was a week ago, Wednesday. So you can find the link there. And then after that, I did go to, the group that was tasked with or tasked by city manager,
mister Sanders, on the, dealing with the homelessness issue, the house, that they had purchased the property to do, low barrier shelter. That group gave a presentation to the city council, so I was able to sit in on most of that prior to going to one of the budget town halls to see what they were. I mean, basically, these were different options of what could be planned in the building, what the level of service would be, how many, beds, that sort of thing. So, funding and all of that is yet to really be there, because these are the the nonprofit agencies that are involved that did the,
did the bulk of the work. But it was interesting to see what they're planning there. And then I did mention the MPO meeting that we had on the twentieth, that you can go listen to VDOT and some of the talk that we had around the smart scale, applications. So that's what I had there. Any other things pop up? I would just mention on the housing crisis, task force presentation. I mentioned earlier in today's meeting that our role as decision makers and at some point going out there and figuring out what we believe and what things we think are more valuable is a great one stop shop of different types of local level
housing, interventions that localities can engage in and kind of case studies of individual things. It it is I think I think their website and information is a really excellent primer of different things localities can do. Some localities can't do. They might not be all practically everything. Right? In the smaller Oh, and I thought of one more thing there, but now I've forgotten it already. Okay. Alright. Well, if there are no other items, then without objection, we will adjourn to April put my glasses on. 04/15/2026, 1PM here in Lane Auditorium.
Thank you, everyone, and be careful driving. I'm hearing