[0:00] Good evening. [clears throat] Welcome everyone to the September

[0:06] planning commission meeting of with county. And we have a quorum. Determine

[0:12] we have a quorum. And we will now proceed with the pledge

[0:18] of allegiance.

[0:23] I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America and to the

[0:28] republic for which it stands, one nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and

[0:34] justice for all.

[0:38] [snorts]

[0:41] [cough and clears throat] Our

[0:50] next item of business will be the public hearing.

[0:55] Carol Jean Bryant Duncan and Bryant Compton. Uh I'll entertain

[1:03] report from staff at this time. >> Okay. Um, Bryant Compton wishes to

[1:10] subdivide approximately 4.5 acres off of his property located along Beacher Lane

[1:14] in the Fort Chisel Magisterial District and give it to Carol Jean Bryant Duncan.

[1:19] Simultaneously, Miss Duncan wishes to subdivide approximately 11.3 acres off

[1:24] of her property um, located along Beecher Lane and give it to Mr. Compton.

[1:29] Because both parcels do not have 100t statemaintained road frontage, the

[1:34] proposed division of this property would leave two non-conforming lots. They are

[1:37] requesting a variance to section 5.3.18 of the ordinance in order to proceed

[1:42] with this proposed division.

[2:01] [snorts]

[2:04] So, as you can see, they're going to split it off and kind of make it

[2:10] a straighter. >> Clean it up a little bit.

[2:13] » Yes. [snorts] So, this is the 4.5

[2:19] that they will be taken off of this parcel and 11.3 that'll be taken off of

[2:26] this back parcel.

[2:33] And so it looks better. You >> set up those properties.

[2:40] » So right now this one doesn't have a

[2:45] rightway. I don't think if I'm not mistaken.

[2:49] Um Miss Duncan is the one that owns this parcel. So

[2:56] it this will give that parcel when they cut it down through here. It

[3:03] will give this parcel the rightway and then this will be joined with this one

[3:07] which will give it [snorts] the right away over here.

[3:16] Yeah. Off of this. Is that correct?

[3:24] » That's my mom's property, but yes, I >> as well as the one.

[3:38] » Oh, okay. So, this one >> Yeah, this one's yours, right?

[3:44] » Okay.

[3:50] It didn't have any right away anyway. It was not any use to them, but it' be use

[3:56] to me because I can put cattle on it and clean it up and

[4:01] have as much. [clears throat] >> So, if you with this parcel here, will

[4:08] you take this line out and join it with this parcel?

[4:12] » Well, I guess it would still go with the property that's in purple there.

[4:18] Oh, so you're going to add it to this parcel.

[4:20] » Yes, that's the other land is my mom. >> Oh, okay. I got you.

[4:25] » Louise. >> Okay, I got you. So, this will be joined

[4:28] with this parcel and this will be joined with this parcel. Yes.

[4:32] » Okay, that makes sense.

[4:40] » Do y'all understand that? Okay.

[4:46] [snorts]

[4:59] Anything else from staff? [clears throat]

[5:02] » No, not at this time. All right, we'll close the staff report and we will open

[5:07] up the public comment. If there's anyone who would like to come speak out, put in

[5:13] public on comments on this variance request, uh, please come up to the

[5:19] podium and state your name and address.

[5:35] Hello, >> my name is

[5:38] also owner at top on beach. I just want to make

[5:43] sure this it's not interfering with any right away through beach land right this

[5:48] division of properties and adding to taken from whatever it's not interfering

[5:52] with anything there as such because there there are several people that have

[5:56] rightaway on beacher lane and as long as everything stays the same everything

[6:00] should be fine you know I don't think I think uh the land should be divided up

[6:05] however they want it to be divided I don't you know I don't think anybody has

[6:08] a problem with that so uh as long as rightway is the same I That's fine with

[6:13] all land owners. >> They shouldn't change anything with the

[6:15] right way. >> Right. Right. I didn't think so. I just

[6:17] want to be confirmed. That's all that's all I have to say.

[6:20] » Thank you. >> All right. Thank you.

[6:28] Anyone else wish to speak on this? Uh,

[6:39] if not, we'll close the public comment section and we'll go to the next item of

[6:46] our planning commission discussion and action.

[6:56] Lane is a private private rideway. Correct.

[6:59] » Correct. >> So, no state maintained road frontage.

[7:04] Never had it. Never will.

[7:12] » How wide. >> Never is a very specific term.

[7:14] » Unlikely. >> How wide is the beacher lane? 20 foot.

[7:20] 30 foot

[7:24] » 20 ft. Okay. >> I'm just quoting the late Ron Hughes who

[7:28] used to be on the board. Used to build houses. That's that was his always

[7:31] comment. Never had never will. So

[7:38] » I personally don't see a problem with it.

[7:43] » I make a motion to approve the areas as requested.

[7:46] » It's been so moved to approve. Have a second.

[7:51] Right. It did. >> All right. It's been properly moved and

[7:54] seconded. We'll do a a vote from this side to this side.

[7:58] » I >> I

[8:00] » I >> And your variance is is granted. Thank

[8:05] you.

[8:08] [clears throat]

[8:21] And our next meeting,

[8:27] » we do exciting stuff in here. [laughter] Such a crowd.

[8:35] » What else was going on? [laughter]

[8:40] » Nothing. Looks like a quiet night.

[8:46] » And our next item is citizens time. If anyone else in the galler gallery would

[8:51] like to speak on any subject, you're welcome to it.

[8:59] » Okay. >> If there's no one no citizens time

[9:04] comments, uh I'll we'll go to the next item. Five minutes of the prior meeting.

[9:15] I didn't see anything wrong with with them. I moved to approve them, sir.

[9:19] » Yeah, I I read through it also and didn't didn't find any discrepancies.

[9:27] I'll entertain a motion. >> I did.

[9:29] » Oh, okay. I have a second. It's been properly moved and seconded to approve

[9:34] the prior meetings minutes. We'll do a vote from right to left again.

[9:42] » I

[9:51] » And now we'll proceed with the subdivision ordinance report.

[9:58] Mrs. ship. [clears throat]

[10:06] » Um, Roger and Beverly Win recently conveyed 2.593 acres to their adjoining

[10:10] owner, Michael Jones. Simultaneously, through a lot line revision, Mr. Jones

[10:15] combined the 2.593 acres with his 12.589 acre parcel um portion of tax map

[10:22] 50-251B and with his 1.201 2011 parcel 50-2124

[10:29] making a new revised parcel 16.383 acres. Mr. W also through a lot line

[10:35] revision combined his 3.793 acre parcel remaining tax map 50-251B

[10:42] and his 2.1585 acre parcel 51-128B

[10:47] making the new revised parcel 3.793 acres. Mr. and Mrs. wind through a lot

[10:52] line revision combined their two remaining parcels of 780

[10:57] 51-251A and 1.40 acre 51-251 making the new

[11:03] revised parcel of 2.180 acres all partial parcels will be used

[11:09] as residential agricultural and all parcels will be served by public water

[11:14] and private sewer and this plat was recorded August the 19th.

[11:20] This was a lot.

[11:27] [snorts] So, not only did they combine all of this and then these two,

[11:33] then the winds combined their two parcels,

[11:38] which was

[11:42] right here on that. >> It was a lot, which is good. I mean,

[11:48] they're cleaning stuff up, but

[12:39] questions

[12:45] » when they're cleaning stuff up. We don't have too many questions about that.

[12:48] » Okay. So the next one is the Gross Gross

[12:52] Brothers um recently conveyed 314 acres to their adjoining owner Buford Sers

[12:57] Sawyers I'm sorry simultaneously through a lot line revision Mr. Sawyers combined

[13:02] the 314 acres um with 71-86A making the new revised parcel lot 1.094

[13:11] acres and revised lot two will be 172.193 acre residual. Lot one will be

[13:17] used as residential and lot two will be used as agricultural. Both parcels are

[13:21] being served by private water and private sewer. And this plat was

[13:24] recorded August the 12th.

[13:28] This is the property I mentioned during our joint meeting with the board

[13:36] on the land use ordinance that that was listed

[13:41] as national forest. this one that lot two it is not national forest so that

[13:48] was the one I was mentioning >> okay I think

[13:52] » it's private rather than national forest >> have we cleaned that up I think we've

[13:56] cleaned that up since that >> I don't know the GIS has been updated I

[14:00] haven't looked so

[14:30] Yep.

[14:37] » Is the rest of that that's >> Yes. That in the brown is is a private

[14:41] property, not national forest.

[14:47] They got it's been it's included with the whole Ravens Cliff Collins Cove

[14:55] area. >> Huh.

[14:58] » You see that Matt

[15:09] » and that conservation recreation that that is Craig Gross close house. This

[15:15] should be agriculture or not.

[15:19] The light brown. >> Yeah, that's the gross close brothers.

[15:28] We'll have to look at that.

[15:45] Okay, any more questions? >> Yeah, that actually helped that out

[15:49] because they found out when they had it surveyed because they're in the process

[15:52] of selling that lot too, uh, the property line went through the house.

[15:58] You can see it there. >> Mhm.

[16:02] » Except far the house.

[16:08] Anything

[16:16] else? Nope.

[16:21] All right. [clears throat]

[16:24] So, the next one is

[16:32] actually lost my folder. There it is.

[16:37] Robert and Jean Lance recently conveyed 1.41 acres to their adjoining owners

[16:42] Mary and William Crossup. Simultaneously through a lot line

[16:46] revision, Mr. and Mrs. Crosscup combined the 1.418 acres with their 1.721 acre

[16:53] parcel, making the new revised parcel 3.139 acres. All parcels will be used as

[16:58] residential and all part parcels will be served by public water and private

[17:03] sewer. And this plat was recorded August the 24th.

[17:26] Any

[17:44] questions, comments?

[17:59] I don't have any. >> Okay.

[18:03] » So, the next one um through a lot line revision, Mr. Paul Go and Mr. Paul

[18:09] Dwayne Go recently resubdivided their property of 18 parcels totaling

[18:15] 104.28289 28 289 acres located along Alagany Road in the Fort Chisel

[18:21] Magisterial District to create one revised parcel. This parcel will be

[18:25] served by private water and private sewer and this parcel will continue to

[18:29] be used for agricultural purposes. And this plat was recorded I don't

[18:36] remember

[18:48] August 26th.

[19:13] That's all I have on those.

[19:17] » Yeah, just by the looks of that, that was one of those

[19:21] [snorts] subdivisions that Harold Len surveyor did back in the 70s,

[19:27] early 80s, >> all those small lots

[19:31] of but long. >> You can see examples of that through

[19:35] that throughout the county. And

[19:39] » I see them every day >> in the one lot that cleans up things all

[20:35] I have the subdivision. And

[20:59] our next item, if there's no this shel is finished, we'll go to the coming

[21:04] events.

[21:12] See the board of supervisors meeting on September 8th at 6:00 p.m. and September

[21:17] 22nd at 6 pm. And the planning commission next meeting

[21:24] is October 5th at 6 pm and next Monday is a Labor Day holiday and

[21:31] on October 12th it's Columbus Day. So >> just as a reminder, Mr. Chairman, our

[21:38] community input session for planning commission and the board is Thursday of

[21:42] this >> Thursday night.

[21:44] » It's not on your calendar, but uh >> Scott Memorial 6 o'clock.

[21:48] » Yes, sir. >> And that's going to be in

[21:54] gym. >> Scott Memorial Gymnasium. Yes.

[21:58] » So that was the former auxiliary gym, right? No, it's a new

[22:03] » No, they built a new one. >> New gym.

[22:08] » So, it' be set up so that each district has a table. Folks can go to their

[22:14] district and talk to their particular representatives.

[22:18] The um

[22:21] the folks who come are welcome to talk to any of the supervisors and planning

[22:25] commissioners who are there. Um, but we particularly want them to talk to their

[22:29] district supervisor and with their feelings about the the

[22:34] ordinance and the map be known and staff will be mingling around and answering

[22:40] questions. You know, once folks are done talking to you if they've got additional

[22:43] questions for staff, they can come and talk to us or if you all need somebody

[22:47] to answer questions, you can signal to us and we'll we'll come and respond.

[22:52] » We'll take them way for you then. [laughter]

[22:55] Fingers are appreciated.

[22:59] » I said wave. >> You did say wave, but you just say I say

[23:03] California. I said wait. [laughter] >> Some of us just give one if we're lucky.

[23:16] » And our next item of business will be our manufacturing home ordinance request

[23:21] for revision of a special permit. Mr. Scott Horn.

[23:26] » Yes. So, I sent this memorandum trying to

[23:32] break it down for you all to understand what what he is asking for. Um, Mr.

[23:38] Scott, Jimmy Scott Horn of 6332 Stony Fork Road, Whitfield, Virginia, is

[23:42] applying for a revision to an already established campground located at 5965

[23:47] Stony Fork Road, US Route 52 in the Black Magisterial District. The special

[23:53] [clears throat] use permit was granted on November the 27th, 2018 by the

[23:58] planning commission and then the board of supervisors on December the 11th,

[24:01] 2018. Mr. Horn is proposing to take out campsites 10, 11, and 12 and a storage

[24:07] building that was on the property. Mr. Horn would like to leave nine campsites

[24:11] and add one two-bedroom mobile home site. Attached are maps of the current

[24:15] RV campground and one showing what changes he is proposing.

[24:20] I spoke with um Stacy Tuck Holiday in the W with County Health Department

[24:24] concerning the septic. He stated the requirements for a septic is 150 gallons

[24:29] per day per bedroom and 100 gallons per day per camper. There are two septic

[24:34] systems on the property and since this septic system was okay for eight

[24:38] campers, if Mr. Horn takes out three campsites camper sites, it should be

[24:43] good for two for a two-bedroom mobile home.

[24:52] So, this is what it was previous. And he's wanting to take out 10, 11, and

[25:02] 12. And I think this building's already gone. Is

[25:07] that correct? >> Yes.

[25:08] » Okay. So, this will be what it's he's proposing is to take those out and put

[25:15] the double wide trailer right there.

[25:26] I mean, it's the safety people saying it's going to work. I got

[25:31] I got nothing wrong with that. >> She's changing this the type of

[25:34] structure there instead of like quantity versus

[25:41] problem with >> you. We need a motion for that.

[25:50] Yeah. >> Yes.

[25:51] » We'll need a motion to approve it >> to

[25:53] » to approve it. >> So move.

[25:58] » I I believe your motion is that the board of supervisors recommend board of

[26:02] supervisors approve. The planning commission recommends the board of

[26:05] supervisors approve request as presented.

[26:08] » That sounds good. Thank you, sir.

[26:13] » Who second? It's been moved and seconded.

[26:16] » We'll have a vote to recommend this to the board of supervisors.

[26:20] » I >> I

[26:24] » Motion carries.

[26:37] This will go to the board of supervisors. Which meeting?

[26:44] probably the second September meeting because we've

[26:53] » public hearing. >> No public hearing required. It could be

[26:56] the meeting next week or as you get it on the agenda.

[27:02] » So, it'll probably be at the September 22nd meeting.

[27:04] » Yeah, think we could do it at the September 8th meeting next Tuesday.

[27:12] All right. Nothing else on that item. We'll go to our next item is new

[27:17] business application for creation of a and for districtformational

[27:23] purposes.

[27:32] [snorts] >> Whoops.

[27:40] So um I I went ahead and updated this agon and enforcal district um

[27:46] application for a new this is for a new agon forestal district um it had said

[27:52] previously um I can't remember the exact wording

[27:58] but I changed it from uh accompanied by maps andor aerial imagery or photographs

[28:03] that clearly show the boundaries I don't remember exactly how it was

[28:08] worded before. I wish I'd brought a copy of it, but I forgot to.

[28:12] » Um, but it was saying something about like satellite imagery or something. And

[28:19] so I just fixed it to where we could actually use our GIS or pictures or

[28:24] » sketches or whatever. >> Yeah. Something instead of

[28:27] » trying to be too complicated. >> We did on the last

[28:32] I'm going to guess Eric and Andy and them. They did theirs back in the 80s.

[28:36] 70s 80s. >> Yep.

[28:39] » Am I Am I guessing pretty closely? I know we we did did ours in the 90s

[28:43] » that Yeah. The Crockett Cove was >> uh there's East Crock East Crockett Cove

[28:49] and Crockett Cove. >> Mhm. Yeah.

[28:51] » Um and >> that should have been the 90s or early

[28:53] 2000s. >> 99.

[28:54] » Okay. And then uh like I said, Eric and them,

[28:59] they're 10 15 years ahead of us. So, it might have been in the 70s.

[29:04] » That should be the only ones that I know of that were that's out there other than

[29:08] the last ones here. >> Mhm.

[29:17] » Cuz you got about two this I know Doug Wilson's one two and then the one down

[29:22] eastern end close to where this thousand acre is at coming to that that they're

[29:29] looking at it. Did anything come out about that one?

[29:32] » You haven't heard? Okay. >> Okay.

[29:35] I talked to Ethan Henderson the other week, whatever. He talked like that they

[29:38] were going to do one the one that the one person who's a joining land owner

[29:45] toward the site is going to be he didn't want to join because he says if if it it

[29:51] comes to fruition that this this does come about, he'll sell his property and

[29:57] move. >> I don't know who that was.

[29:59] as what what Ethan said that he would sell his property and move.

[30:11] » So what what do you need from us, Lisa? Do you need us to

[30:15] » Nothing. This is justformational. Just letting you know that I changed it.

[30:23] Uh, did you put here what the fee is

[30:28] [snorts] for that amount? >> No, that I'm going have to run that

[30:31] through the first meeting. >> Supervisors.

[30:35] » Yes. So, with the new with the new one, it's $500. We've already got that

[30:40] established. So, I'm going to have to run um No, I'll have to run it through

[30:44] the committee when we first meet on the committee, the aforestal district

[30:48] committee. Okay. Okay, >> I'll run it through them as to how much

[30:51] they want to do it for. >> I think

[30:54] » Do you have a committee with that or not? Or

[30:57] » I'm working on trying to get one. I'm having a really hard time getting people

[31:01] to want to do it. >> Eric or something like that there to the

[31:03] Andy or something that ones that been on it that done it before.

[31:06] » Okay. >> Yeah. Just tell us.

[31:12] » Yeah. I know a lot of the land owners [clears throat] over in my area have got

[31:16] conservation easements. >> Yeah. on their properties now help on to

[31:21] help with tax purposes, but I don't know whether they want to

[31:25] voluntarily do this or not. And >> that would be defeating their purpose

[31:29] with that. >> Yeah. If they've got conservation

[31:31] easements, I wouldn't I wouldn't fool with this.

[31:33] » I would go backwards

[31:38] » because that's a permanent thing. >> Yeah, cuz you have to have 250 acres,

[31:42] right? >> 250 core,

[31:45] » right? And then as much as you want within a mile

[31:51] » if someone if someone doesn't border you that they can be a mile down the road.

[31:55] » Correct. Still still attached to your >> It don't matter if it's five acres,

[31:59] » two acres, they can attach to it, >> but it would still have to be eggland.

[32:04] » Yes. >> It couldn't be they if all they had have

[32:09] is just a house site for 5 acres that wouldn't be considered.

[32:15] I don't know about what they >> because you can't generate you can't

[32:18] generate any kind of income. >> Would that be correct?

[32:23] » I don't as long as you make $1,000 farming if

[32:27] it's considered agricultural >> if it if you have a five acre house.

[32:31] » So that's for land use >> to get your land use correct. But with a

[32:36] forestal that's a tough question.

[32:39] » The small part [snorts] I've done a forestal district since I've been here.

[32:44] This is plowing new ground for me. But um I I believe you can include the

[32:49] smaller parcels in your in your district. Um but you've got to have that

[32:54] core like Lisa's talking about. >> You still wouldn't include a house site.

[32:58] I wouldn't think.

[33:03] » Wouldn't think. >> But a house with five acres.

[33:08] » Sure. >> That's

[33:13] houses are allowed in agriculture anyway.

[33:16] » So you you could have it all under one umbrella like that eent you're talking

[33:20] about there. I don't see why they would could unless they wanted to keep it

[33:25] separate. Guess they want to sell it separate from the other.

[33:30] » I don't know why you'd want to separate just put it all together.

[33:38] » I can't imagine somebody residential would go into the

[33:43] if they decided to move. >> Yeah. House right in the middle. you

[33:48] know, just sell the property around or sell the property in the middle the

[33:53] other end of that e

[34:02] see that one's

[34:07] in the agon forestal district. It's 1.825 acres.

[34:11] » Is that my way? >> Mhm.

[34:13] » Okay. Or that one. >> Yeah. See that? They don't own that one.

[34:19] It's Anthony Fodell. >> Was that at the church or is that

[34:26] located? >> No, it's it's right here. Right off

[34:28] Smooth Hollow. >> Okay. It's up on the right hand side.

[34:31] It's >> not far from my daughter's. [laughter]

[34:33] » Yeah. Okay. Across the street from there.

[34:36] » Mhm. >> Yeah.

[34:41] I mean, I don't these I'm sure is because they're joined

[34:45] with this one, but they're small parcels, too.

[34:48] » That's They were all house tracks when they were sold back in the 80s and 90s.

[34:52] » A bunch of those. That's what they were. That was all Vanar property.

[34:55] » That was all house tracks.

[35:02] I mean,

[35:07] I don't think it really matters if they want to add it into it. See, there's

[35:10] another one. >> That's yours.

[35:14] » Mhm. >> On yours, your parcel.

[35:16] » Thought you was getting close to ours. Mhm.

[35:22] » Yeah. I mean, that that's the house site. I

[35:27] reckon that's that house right there is not not in there.

[35:30] » That's Chuck and Ashley. >> Yeah.

[35:32] » Yeah. >> That's all.

[35:33] » But they could put it in there clearly. >> I mean that

[35:36] » if they wanted to. >> Yeah. I think it the way I would look at

[35:41] it, you got to look look at the rules. I I would think you have to generate some

[35:45] kind of income. You can generate something, but I mean you have to

[35:48] generate that. >> I have to look into it.

[35:51] » Be considered, you know, even for land use or even the act forest district.

[36:03] Yeah, I I'll look into it and see. I don't know that there's any rules that

[36:07] says how much it has to be. I just know it has to be a core of 250.

[36:11] » Yeah, you have to have that core to start with. Yes.

[36:17] » Each one of these is a standalone ordinance, right?

[36:20] » Yes. >> East Crockett Cove and Crockett Cove is

[36:24] together. And then there's Fair View and then there's Gutton Park. That's the

[36:28] only ones we've got. >> But but you have to pass a separate

[36:31] ordinance to institute one. >> Correct.

[36:33] » And it's not a permanent one. So it's not codified in our our code of

[36:37] ordinances. U each one would then fall under its own rules and guidelines.

[36:44] » Correct. >> As it develops.

[36:45] » And they would be it it could be four years up to 10

[36:51] years. >> I know when we did it the first time we

[36:53] did it for four. >> Yep. I said, "Well, we do it for four

[36:55] and if you like it, you stay with the do the 10 then." Some of them stayed, some

[37:00] of them did not. >> Yep.

[37:02] » That's That's what we done. >> I think that's what all of them's

[37:05] basically done. They started out as four,

[37:07] » did it? >> And then moved to 10.

[37:10] » Yep. So, they're all at 10 now. >> Okay. Guten Park is at 10, too.

[37:16] » Mhm. Okay. >> Yeah. It's not due. Well, Guten Park and

[37:20] Crocus Cove is due right now. Fair view is due in 29.

[37:27] » We're due next year, you said. >> Yes.

[37:30] » Yeah. >> Uh, one's in March and one's in May.

[37:34] » Okay. >> I think Gutton Park's in March and yours

[37:37] is in May. >> Okay.

[37:39] » We'll do it all at the same time, though.

[37:42] One meeting for all of it. you we have to have a a special

[37:47] meeting just or do we have to have a meeting with

[37:51] with us to do that? I mean uh so

[37:58] well I like I said I have to gather up a a committee and then we'll go we'll have

[38:04] to have a meeting in January. I I said I'm not going to start in December,

[38:08] which is >> no

[38:09] » when we should, but I it's too much going on in December. So, I'll just

[38:14] it'll be like right after the first of the year. I'll have a first meeting

[38:19] » and I assume I'll send out a letter to everyone with the application so that

[38:24] everybody can fill it out and bring it back to us and then we'll decide whether

[38:29] there's going to be a fee or not at the first meeting. And then, you know, I

[38:33] have some neighbors there that that may want to put their parcels in if they do.

[38:37] » Yes. >> They they're more than welcome to come

[38:39] and add it to it. Yep. >> I have the the one one the first is Mr.

[38:44] Hutchek. He has 25 acres and he has land use and then I take and farm his

[38:50] property. Then then the other guy in New Jersey, he has 200 some acres and

[38:56] there's about 40 50 acres there that I can that's open to that. We can do do

[39:01] his >> and we've got to take care of Mr. Mc

[39:05] McNameer. >> McNamera.

[39:07] » Yeah. >> Yep.

[39:10] » We got to take care of his at this too. >> That's it.

[39:26] And there any other discussion on the agricultural districts?

[39:33] If nothing else on this item, we'll uh go to the county engineer report. Mr.

[39:39] Ker.

[39:44] Oh, >> I didn't think you had anything.

[39:48] » Sorry.

[40:33] Huh? >> You said

[40:36] » that's the new one. Right

[40:42] there.

[40:47] » Yeah.

[41:05] That's good picture.

[41:09] I'm trying.

[41:14] » Johnny, you're having about as much luck as I did at work today. We had a meeting

[41:17] and uh plug that little thing in the side of the computer like I s on the

[41:22] screen there and you hit it and it never would connect to

[41:38] What's that? There >> you tell it to share.

[41:45] » There you go. You have to tell it.

[41:51] » Thank you. >> We got a picture of Johnny.

[41:55] » All right. This is lot 35. Uh this is their construction entrance.

[42:01] Uh this is the giant storm water management basin, ENS basin. You can see

[42:07] they got the the liner on the outside of the burn liner on the inside.

[42:12] Um of course this is a

[42:18] that's the same pond. It's just a little I'm going around taking pictures. This

[42:22] is the other little pond. Well, actually a pretty good size pond as well that

[42:25] they're constructing over here.

[42:30] Right here's the other pond. And of course, they've got uh

[42:35] big old top soil stockpile right here. The silo is still standing.

[42:41] This is coming on around. This is Gatorade and Amcore,

[42:45] y'all. Yeah, y'all can see my cursor, can't you? They got a big old uh stock

[42:50] top soil stockpile here as well. They got a lot of their materials and uh car

[42:57] parking and gravel and stuff over here. the little trailers and everything.

[43:07] So anyway, just wanted to show you what what's going on on the site.

[43:12] » Where's the structure going to be exactly? Right there near the solid on

[43:16] this side of the solid. >> The structure the building

[43:21] » the building is going to be uh basically right in here.

[43:29] Let me get my bearing. Yeah, the building's going to be like right in

[43:32] through here.

[43:36] Kind of at a little bit of an angle like this because it's kind of squared up

[43:40] with the basins down here.

[43:47] Here's the other little basin that they constructed.

[43:51] This is, of course, you can see the railroad in Kinslane.

[43:55] If you look off in the distance, I think Bottomley has more equipment uh going

[44:00] picking corn back there than they got on this site.

[44:05] We couldn't figure out what it was for the longest time, but say they're doing

[44:09] a pretty good job on the ENS. They've got the outlet protection. They've got

[44:12] their silk fence. They got the matting. So, so far so good. This one here is

[44:19] telling >> them about the silk fence.

[44:23] » The silk fence is is a reinforced silk fence. It has a chain link fence on the

[44:29] back side of it. It's not your stuff that you see at Lowe's. It's uh a lot

[44:35] stronger. Plus, it's reinforced with chain link fence on the back side. Uh I

[44:40] don't think I can zoom in close enough so you can see it, but it's it's it's a

[44:47] very strong uh silt fence. It's not super silk fence. I think it's actually

[44:53] stronger than super silk fence. What was the reason for putting it

[44:56] there? >> They wanted to make sure that nothing

[44:59] was going to get away from them. >> It's a It's about that tall, but it's

[45:03] silk fence that, you know, you see sil fence on jobs gets hit with water, blows

[45:08] out. >> Uh I don't think this is going to do

[45:10] that. The chain link fence behind it plus the spacing on the post is

[45:14] » closer than it should be or closer than required.

[45:22] This is the outlet structure. Um, they're not quite finished with it, but

[45:27] it's really close. You can see it has the anti- vortex, so it doesn't vortex.

[45:31] When it vortex, it slows the water down, actually. So, these little baffles in

[45:35] here keeps it from creating a vortex. And also, this is the trash rack. It

[45:42] keeps all the trash from getting out. It goes up and under, the water will go

[45:45] underneath and then over the crest of the spillway.

[45:50] This is a uh slope protection. This is a slope

[45:55] drain coming into the basin. You can see it's got outlet protection. It's got the

[45:59] slope drain. It actually has inlet protection as well. So, this is to

[46:03] protect the slope of your pond. A lot of people will run ditches right into the

[46:06] pond. And then once it gets to that slope on the pond, it'll eat it out.

[46:10] » That one will be grassed over eventually.

[46:13] » It's they've really, if you can see, some of these areas are getting green.

[46:18] But that's what that's what you'll have eventually that they'll all be grassed,

[46:21] right? >> Yeah.

[46:28] And that's me and Will. [laughter] But that's all I have. We did go around

[46:32] and verify that was bottomly picking corn. There was a lot of dust coming off

[46:36] that site. We couldn't figure out what it was, but it was it was bottomly

[46:41] picking corn down Kitten Lane, not Kint Lane. Back behind State Police

[46:45] Headquarters. Y'all got any questions?

[46:55] » Did you get all the um railroad ties and all that kind of stuff fixed down there?

[47:01] You was going to fix >> We've got the railroad fixed at crossing

[47:07] uh re-auged. We still have some issue. Um

[47:12] uh we've talked to some engineers and stuff about what we can do to fix that

[47:16] curve so it'll stay engaged longer. We've got gauge rods all the way around

[47:19] it. Uh seems like the tangent section stay uh engaged a lot better than the

[47:25] curve. So we're looking at options there. Um I just sent Stephen a internal

[47:31] cost estimate on what I think it'll cost. It's It's pretty expensive, but

[47:36] um I think we can probably do it a little bit cheaper, but

[47:41] um I got to talk to some of the railroad folks. What they're recommending is, uh

[47:45] heavier gauge rail in the curve with the wider plates, uh mainline ties, which

[47:52] are a little bit bigger, more robust. And uh to replace that, we would have to

[47:57] do it a little bit at a time so we keep Gatorade running. You can tie it to the

[48:01] existing rail. So, it just takes a a different kind of plate because the

[48:06] heavier gauge rail is a little taller, but that's what we did at the crossing

[48:10] when we fixed it.

[48:14] We're still looking at options there, though, to try to long-term fix. Save

[48:18] the county a bunch of money hopefully because we're spending quite a bit of

[48:22] money keeping that thing engaged right now.

[48:30] that the data center you just had up on the screen. How many acres is the

[48:35] building? >> 11 acres, 500,000 square feet somewhere

[48:40] around there. Uh the site itself is 68 acres. Uh that's the limits of

[48:45] disturbance. They've actually reduced that a little bit because uh they

[48:50] shifted the pond away from the trees so they wouldn't have to get into the trees

[48:54] and get into the bat migration stuff. So, the pond's going to stay the exact

[49:01] same volume, exact same elevations and everything. It just won't be uh it'll be

[49:04] a 52 feet closer to the building so they can save the trees.

[49:12] The total property in the lot is 99 acres.

[49:15] » Yeah.

[49:19] » Essentially half a Gatorade.

[49:25] » Yeah. Gatorade's about a million square feet, I think. Any

[49:33] other questions for Mr. Cancer?

[49:40] [clears throat]

[49:42] If if no more questions for Mr. Ker, we'll have our exeicio report with Mr.

[49:50] Bernett.

[49:53] » I have a few things. one, we've uh approved the 1% tax to be

[50:01] voted on this fall. And so I went around to the school says the school is

[50:08] havingformational session. So I went to Fort Chisel, listened to uh Dr. Street

[50:14] do the presentation. He does a very good presentation. There wasn't anything that

[50:18] I could add. Um, so basically the 1% during the lifetime

[50:25] would do $73 million worth of school construction that we could start this

[50:31] spring and and do all the school constructions all at once and and and so

[50:38] in about a three to four year period we'd have all of our schools done for

[50:43] Chisel, the new Scott Spiller School, however they're going to call that um

[50:50] ball fields, lights, tracks, just about anything that uh not just

[50:57] about anything but I mean you know the fair amount u

[51:01] just forformational purposes we are carrying right now that wouldn't do the

[51:07] 1% would do nothing with this because it's only for future school but right

[51:11] now we have roughly $26.7 million of school school debt that would

[51:19] as the one if the 1% passes, we would start Fort Chisel and well, we'd start

[51:24] the the new elementary school in Fort Chisel, but we'd be paying that debt

[51:29] down and it would almost be over with by the time the 1%'s over with. So, so we

[51:36] conceivably see it our debt being paid down normally and then the 1% being u

[51:44] taken care of future school construction.

[51:48] We estimated that 40% of the 1% would be paid for by travelers. So, so that's

[51:56] better than just about any other county around us that only has one interstate

[52:00] going through them like Pilaski or or Smith or you know. So uh so we are in a

[52:06] very good position. School board actually has almost everything in place

[52:10] to be able to move really quickly on the new Scott Spiller Elementary School. So

[52:17] I mean that would be once they knew they could do that. I mean they've done got

[52:23] preliminary drawings. They've done I mean I don't know how much more they

[52:27] would need but they're super close to that. Um, so tell people about the 1%.

[52:34] Uh, the other week, uh, four of us and and a bunch of county staff went to

[52:39] visit data centers in Hero County. We met with their economic development

[52:45] authority and they told us that they started building data centers in the

[52:50] late 90s and they have continue to building them. They're uh they have one

[52:55] main industrial park that has right now about 24 data centers. When they get

[53:01] done, they'll have about 35 data centers. And so they it stretches over

[53:06] almost 30 years. Uh we asked them numerous questions of of of

[53:12] water usage. Uh they said their water usage was about 2% of what Henrio County

[53:18] uses, which was about 57,000 gallons a day on last year's numbers. We couldn't

[53:25] find this year's current numbers. U we actually went and visited 14 data

[53:32] centers. We went around and looked. They do use enormous amounts of electricity,

[53:37] but as far as noise, u we couldn't determine any additional noise. The road

[53:44] noise behind us was more louder than than the the data centers. We um didn't

[53:50] have any really good ma metrices to to determine temperature, but 15 miles away

[53:56] was the same temperature as it was right next to them. So, I don't know how well

[54:02] that was. Um we asked them about water discharge if they noticed over the years

[54:07] any additional water discharge going to their sewer system. So so a lot of good

[54:11] information as far as you know the data centers and and and some of the concerns

[54:17] that uh we had that we read same as as everybody

[54:23] else reads. And um so you know we came back uh I I shared the information with

[54:32] uh at the data center out on the east very eastern end of the county. They're

[54:37] wanting to uh be open and they they expressed interest. That's the reason

[54:41] y'all all have their contact information and they want to do community meetings

[54:46] and they want to talk to everyone and uh they want to talk to the homeowners and

[54:51] and and be as open and approachable as possible is what they indicated to us.

[54:59] And um so

[55:03] some of the things that that u even though we don't want to count our

[55:08] chickens uh for the X hatch is some of the possible thoughts of

[55:15] using the money from the one in Progress Park is uh to help pay that school debt

[55:24] that we uh we was talking about just earlier of the 26 million, but we also

[55:30] carry about 25 26 million of debt in the water services and um that money could

[55:38] be applied to that. so that we can pay that debt down and try to lower our

[55:43] water costs at the same time and do additional projects to get water to more

[55:48] county citizens. Those are just some things that's being tossed out. We we've

[55:53] indicated that we was going to do some uh task force groups with like u school

[56:00] board members and and community members just to get a plan in place for the

[56:07] additional revenue from the progress park. um that way. And again,

[56:16] uh I remember the glove factory and we still get no money from it and probably

[56:21] never will at this point. And so until I actually start seeing money come in, I'm

[56:26] not going to say, you know, because we can get to the point they could build a

[56:30] building too and then disappear. So, and that Oh, and I just realized that

[56:37] Sheriff Klein announced that he is canceling a contract with the flock

[56:43] cameras. >> Yep. I got I got that notice on my phone

[56:46] while I wanted to know that was literally he posted that on the

[56:49] sheriff's during this meeting. So, about 30 minutes ago

[56:52] » and that consists of >> four cameras.

[56:55] » Four cameras. I know the town of Whiff has

[56:57] » one max is going into town going toward >> one on 21 at the carpet outlet.

[57:05] » There's three townreat's

[57:14] involved in this stuff too. >> Well, there's three there's three flock

[57:18] cameras at Lowe's pointed inside the parking lot. It's the Lowe's owns those

[57:25] cameras. >> So that's all I had unless y'all had

[57:29] questions. >> I got one for you on this AI place down

[57:33] in [clears throat] K Eastern Pan. How far along are they

[57:38] with this? Are they in the plan stage turning in plans or

[57:42] » right now? They do not own any property >> and they have no permits

[57:48] » just testing water. Well, they they've done their geotech. They've submitted a

[57:54] 288 page plan set to the county engineer for review and DEEQ as well. They've

[58:00] submitted for their storm water plans and their [clears throat] their ENS

[58:05] plans will follow that. So, but they're they're pretty far along.

[58:12] » They they have until bas based on the document that they filed with the court.

[58:16] uh that their option runs through January 4th of 2027. So they have

[58:23] another three months, four months to u finalize their land transaction.

[58:29] » And this this will be grandfathered if this would happen any zoning stuff that

[58:34] would bar in the works. >> If there is an affirmative government

[58:38] act between now and uh the time that the zoning is implemented, then yes, they

[58:44] would be grandfathered. >> But have their permits between now and

[58:47] then they have to come >> it would go before the zoning. So

[58:53] » other question the data center that's coming in at Progress Park, do we know

[58:57] who the consumer is going to be for that data center?

[59:00] » Uh they have not publicly indicated that. Um if you do some research on

[59:05] Fluid Stack and their connections, you can probably

[59:08] probably infer who that's going to be. uh and it is a compute campus as I

[59:14] understand not a storage campus. So it's you know compute campuses generally

[59:19] support AI or uh computing functions. >> I think there's some concerns with the

[59:25] not knowing because other projects that have been done in the past have not come

[59:30] to fruition. So I think if we're going to do other projects we need to think

[59:35] about the stability of jobs that are coming in for our community because

[59:38] several projects fall by the wayside and didn't have a lot of good information

[59:43] about consumer consumer

[59:47] » when we met with the uh

[59:54] I can't say that publicly yet >> um

[59:59] so generally if you look at the the industry um

[1:00:04] you have companies like Anthropic or GBT, you

[1:00:10] know, some of those that are on the AI side

[1:00:14] along with your big four, you know, your Microsoft, Amazon, Meta, and

[1:00:21] » Google. Um, so those are your main players. And what

[1:00:26] happens frequently is that you'll get a company that will come in, they'll

[1:00:30] identify a site, they'll they'll make all the arrangements for the the power

[1:00:34] and any utilities that are needed. they they'll develop that initial plan and

[1:00:38] then those get bought out by a secondary and then there's a final user that will

[1:00:43] be that third transaction. It's a lot like it's a lot like the solar farms

[1:00:48] that the ones that show up first are not the ones that are going to operate it.

[1:00:59] » Uh m Mr. Burn it. Of the 14 data centers you went and visited,

[1:01:05] was any of those a Google data center or Alphabet?

[1:01:12] That's the parent company of Google? >> I remember the only one that I remember

[1:01:17] specifically was the the Meta and there were several of those

[1:01:22] » and it's one of Meta's largest campuses in in the world.

[1:01:28] Yeah, Meta is the parent company of Facebook and Instagram.

[1:01:33] » That's the only one I can remember specifically.

[1:01:35] » See, that's the fuss. That's the fuss they had down in Ron Oak about the water

[1:01:39] » because Google uses they don't use a closed loop. They use

[1:01:44] they just bring the water in, run it across their chillers, and put it back

[1:01:47] out in the in the wastewater. And I know they announced they're going to do a

[1:01:53] closed loop system down the bottom top because Carman's Cove cannot take that

[1:01:58] much water out every day. 13 to 14 million gallons I think is what it was.

[1:02:03] So I was just wondering if you that was one

[1:02:09] of the things that they they indicated that every one of their data centers u

[1:02:15] was closed loop or recycled their water. and uh and that was the reason their

[1:02:21] water usage was only 2% of what the county used. Um

[1:02:28] and and they did indicate that their covenants and their zoning uh helped in

[1:02:38] controlling how they built those data centers because some of the data centers

[1:02:42] are required to be built to a certain energy level. Um and and so of course

[1:02:48] the higher energy level you go, the more expensive it is. And the buildings was

[1:02:52] actually really attractive. I mean, they they wasn't they didn't look like jail

[1:02:56] prisons or I mean, they looked, you know, really nice structures. The

[1:03:01] grounds around it was kept really nice. Um because it was all flat. You really

[1:03:06] didn't know there was anything there until the driveway opened up between the

[1:03:09] trees and then you could see. And uh they like planting lots of vegetation

[1:03:14] around them for various reasons. one, they're very secure areas. I mean, they

[1:03:19] all have security guards and and nice big tall fencing and and that kind of

[1:03:25] thing. And um and and true, they do use a lot of power and they did have long

[1:03:31] lines of generators sitting there. Um but

[1:03:37] » were most of these in industrial parks or just house?

[1:03:40] » There was there was a big industrial park. Um,

[1:03:44] and then the 600 there there was a few that scattered out in the county. They

[1:03:48] said, uh, that of course we didn't go see. Uh, what I did notice they building

[1:03:53] several in the main industrial park and the dump truck traffic was crazy. It was

[1:04:00] bumper to bumper worse than what was actually out on the interstates and and

[1:04:04] around the you know where you you know I don't know how many people went to

[1:04:09] Richmond but you know the traffic was worse with dump trucks in the industrial

[1:04:14] park than it was out in in the county. Um, and you know, it was one of the

[1:04:19] things that that I thought about when they leased the lot right next to the

[1:04:24] one in Progress Park to move that dirt to keep those dump trucks off of our our

[1:04:30] VOTE roads. U because I mean it it was just unbelievable. I mean it was and it

[1:04:36] wasn't just dump trucks. I mean it was road tractors, dump trailers. I mean

[1:04:40] bumper to bumper. I mean it it's hard to explain how many dump trucks there was.

[1:04:44] a lot of equipment moving from sight to sight.

[1:04:54] » I I'll follow up on that if you don't mind. We've had a lot of questions about

[1:04:58] water and water usage. And just one thing for for folks to keep in mind for

[1:05:02] the water that gets distributed through most of the the town or most of the

[1:05:06] county system, our maximum lure at the near river water treatment plant in my

[1:05:12] neighborhood is 6 million gallons a day. How long does it take six million

[1:05:17] gallons to flow by the Ivanho River gauge on the New River?

[1:05:23] Today with a lower water level, it took about 16 minutes for that maximum to

[1:05:27] flow by the the Ivanho gauge. So the water that we actually used today

[1:05:33] probably took about nine minutes to to flow by. Well, we don't take all that in

[1:05:37] at one time, but it gives you some perspective on how much water we have um

[1:05:43] how much capacity we have here. >> How much would Blue Star want to use

[1:05:48] water quantity? How much was Blue Star on on

[1:05:53] the books before they left the town? >> Much much more than any any

[1:06:00] » because I mean and that wasn't going to be treated that was going to be

[1:06:03] processed and somewhat treated or released right back into the sewer

[1:06:07] system. >> Right. Uh we were going to have to

[1:06:09] expand we actually did expand our sewer system capacity. We have a a pump

[1:06:14] station that if they were to start operating tomorrow, we could handle the

[1:06:17] sewage that they send to us. But um you're also going to have to expand the

[1:06:22] wastewater treatment plant on Log and u since the that project hasn't advanced,

[1:06:29] we haven't proceeded with expanding the treatment capacity. Um we have the plans

[1:06:35] um but we we could probably get that bid out within a couple months and get that

[1:06:40] project back underway, but um we're not having to do that. the um the data

[1:06:47] center in Progress Park has filed a permit for 3,000 gallons of waste water

[1:06:51] a day. So, it's not even a lip on the radar for what what passes through the

[1:06:56] U. >> They're going to pre-treat that or just

[1:06:58] go spread out raw. >> There's no need for pre-treatment. It's

[1:07:01] u it's all domestic. So, it's flushing toilets. It's, you know, running sinks

[1:07:07] and kitchens. It's washing hands. It's filling water bottles. Just

[1:07:11] » gray water. Any

[1:07:19] other questions for Mr. Bernett? >> Thank you for going and bringing it

[1:07:24] back. >> It was a long day.

[1:07:29] » It was a long day.

[1:07:35] » And our next item of business is our deputy county administrator report.

[1:07:41] » I don't have an awful lot to report. I've been working on things related to

[1:07:44] um your project and a couple of other projects. Um

[1:07:50] so I I have made some changes to the um the ordinance as as you directed in your

[1:07:55] joint work session with the board of supervisors been making map changes and

[1:08:00] I think we've gotten most of them. There are still a few that um

[1:08:06] we may have to do some further sorting out on. Um,

[1:08:10] one of the properties that uh, you all asked to be moved back from industrial

[1:08:15] to agricultural, the property owner would prefer that it

[1:08:19] remain industrial. >> Mr. Mr. Bberger,

[1:08:23] » no. Okay. >> Mr. Marshall.

[1:08:26] » Okay. >> Think I think owns more acreage.

[1:08:30] » Okay. Well, I' I've talked to him twice. Um

[1:08:36] so there there are a few of those that that you know we we may yet still have

[1:08:40] to work on. Um there is a draft online u you know with the the changes uh that

[1:08:48] have been directed so far. Um we've had three or four additional

[1:08:55] comments come in. Um, one gentleman in particular submitted

[1:09:02] very lengthy, probably three or four pages of requested changes. Um,

[1:09:09] we will when the time is right and we have further direction on how to

[1:09:12] proceed, we will come back to you with those and see if you wish to pursue any

[1:09:17] of them. At this point, staff hasn't gone in depth. Um the ones that I have

[1:09:23] looked at I I haven't haven't seen a lot that I would recommend that you change.

[1:09:28] Um but um

[1:09:32] we will see what happens Thursday uh with that. Um we'll see what sort of

[1:09:37] turnout we have. Uh you all may have got a citizen alert on your phones earlier.

[1:09:42] Um just reminding folks of that meeting. um our staff Lisa Allison Williams um

[1:09:52] Leanne Nester in the administration office um several others have gone

[1:09:56] around the county they've distributed flyers and a lot of the convenience

[1:10:00] stores um you know different areas around you parks um you know just if

[1:10:07] there was a venue that we thought we could reach people our staff has gone

[1:10:10] out and and they've done outreach just trying to publicize this meeting trying

[1:10:15] to get as participation as we can. Um I would remind you that so far the the

[1:10:21] public participation that we've had is still less than 1% of the county

[1:10:24] population. Um we'd like to hear from people, but if

[1:10:30] we don't hear from people, what do we assume?

[1:10:33] Either they don't care or they don't think it's going to matter. Um

[1:10:38] I know which one I tend to fall on. You know, most people this isn't going to

[1:10:41] touch their lives, so it's probably not going to bother them that much.

[1:10:45] Um,

[1:10:48] but I think that people need to realize that, you know, it does have some

[1:10:52] long-term bearing in how we're able to manage uh the development of of the

[1:10:57] county. So, we we need to be mindful of if there's a tool that we can use, it's

[1:11:02] not going to bother most people. Let's talk about, you know, what it

[1:11:06] takes to get that in place.

[1:11:14] Um, moving on to broadband. Uh, I did go

[1:11:18] around on a tour last week with Citizens Telecom. So, they had their um physical

[1:11:26] plant manager, their CEO along with staff from the Mount Rogers Planning

[1:11:31] District Commission, which is the the grant holder for this project. Um, and

[1:11:36] DHCD. Um so I I tagged along looked at the areas that they are wrapping up.

[1:11:42] They are almost through with the uh VD2 project. Um they have uh completed at

[1:11:48] Miller's Creek. They completed all the way out Connors Valley Road. Uh they

[1:11:53] they we went up Stillwell. Um we we we saw a lot of areas on the eastern end of

[1:11:58] the county that they were still working on. Uh they they were um back up in

[1:12:02] Bertha Farms um trying trying to get um a lot of that work finished. Um they

[1:12:09] finally were able to find a rightaway easement that they were able to attach

[1:12:14] to and dig their trenches and take their cable up in there even if they couldn't

[1:12:18] get land owners to respond uh to request for easements. So um much of the eastern

[1:12:24] end of the county will have access to fiber by the end of September. So they

[1:12:31] do have some additional funding made available um in the bead project. Uh so

[1:12:38] the folks who are in those scattered sites that were maybe too far from the

[1:12:43] fiber line to to be served that they will you know be eligible to to get some

[1:12:49] funding uh from this particular grant. Um

[1:12:55] so hopefully the folks that want to have some highspeed access uh will will have

[1:13:00] access to it by the end of 2027. Are they doing any Wi-Fi hubs like local

[1:13:07] community Wi-Fi hubs? >> Uh they have been trying to they haven't

[1:13:11] had a lot of success. >> Yeah, I read some but I didn't hear the

[1:13:15] whole >> um so some of the grant funding required

[1:13:19] that they make publicly uh accessible nodes. Um, so they they've looked at

[1:13:25] places like fire departments, rescue squads, uh, convenience stores, uh,

[1:13:29] community gathering locations, just trying to make sure that if we go

[1:13:34] through another pandemic and something happens that, you know, folks who don't

[1:13:38] have any access at all aren't all having to gather in the McDonald's parking lot

[1:13:41] to get Wi-Fi. >> I just wonder how that was going.

[1:13:45] Anything else? >> I'll ask for an update on that. Um, I

[1:13:49] know that they have uh done quite a bit of outreach to folks that they thought

[1:13:52] might be receptive to it, and I know they've installed some, but I don't

[1:13:55] remember what those locations are. So, I'll ask for an update on them.

[1:14:02] I would think that anywhere that you have to provide shelter for people,

[1:14:06] power outage, snow, something at your fire departments or

[1:14:12] schools, that'd be a good place to have have that, I would I would think.

[1:14:17] » Yep. We're trying to make that happen. Um they will be installing uh fiber

[1:14:23] either late this week or sometime next week at the um with county east station,

[1:14:28] the old lead nine station. Um that that's currently served by cable and the

[1:14:33] bandwidth isn't what we need it to be. So they're going to run fiber there and

[1:14:37] that's one of the last um public locations that they'll they'll have to

[1:14:41] get to to reach. >> That was citizens on coax there, was it?

[1:14:45] [clears throat] Oh, what's central link now? They're

[1:14:48] called broadband. >> Um that that coax uh is generally

[1:14:53] capable of 100 megabit downloads and 20 megabit uploads. Um

[1:14:59] our camera system uh that we use for security there needs more bandwidth on

[1:15:04] that. Not to mention all the providers and that their reporting that they're

[1:15:08] able to do electronically now. Yeah, we we we need

[1:15:11] » an upgraded capacity there. It's no that's probably Pioneer Cable Ed Arnold

[1:15:16] installed with that. So that's some of the original stuff he installed with

[1:15:19] probably. So it has been there a while. >> Is citizens turning some people on to

[1:15:26] the I mean getting hooked them hooked up and getting

[1:15:29] » they are and they've been making a really good effort to do outreach. Um

[1:15:33] » you all may have met the CEO. She was at the first meeting at Fort Chisel

[1:15:38] just to connect people. We we've suggested several things that they could

[1:15:41] do to get out and meet people who are more specifically on the eastern end of

[1:15:45] the county. Uh so they reached out to ruran clubs and

[1:15:51] churches and social groups and um you just tried to get the word out that

[1:15:56] folks do have another option now uh for their their speed and for the areas that

[1:16:01] have have been connected by fiber you can get gigabit service. So

[1:16:05] » I'm only at fiber and I've not recognized any

[1:16:09] and decay of service. It's still just like it always is. We have every tablet,

[1:16:14] television all we want in the house and it never buffers. So they got very good

[1:16:19] system and just kind of surprising that I we ain't see little jumps or

[1:16:23] something. With most of the providers I've had in

[1:16:26] my life, I was happy if I got 80% of what they promised me. And generally

[1:16:32] with citizens, it's it's closer to 100% they offered.

[1:16:41] what you said

[1:16:46] and we have a help successfully. I think it's a good thing to do. The other thing

[1:16:52] I was thinking about what Jesse said about utilizing money for certain

[1:16:56] things. Fire

[1:17:03] in the county.

[1:17:06] » We had one of those discussions today. Um we're we're getting ready to do roof

[1:17:10] repairs at um Baron Springs Fire Department and at the with county east

[1:17:14] station that they both have a water infiltration problem. Um

[1:17:19] those fire stations and rescue squads are around 30 years old, not getting any

[1:17:24] younger. Um the some of them have have been treated better than others. Uh but

[1:17:30] as we look forward, do we need to replace our fire stations and um EMS

[1:17:36] buildings um you know in line with what we're doing with the schools? And so

[1:17:41] certainly that we have plans for that in our capital improvement plan. Um the the

[1:17:47] timing will be up to when does the money start coming in and how much of it uh do

[1:17:51] we apply to that specific area. Um as far as equipment goes, we're generally

[1:17:56] in pretty good shape. Our our EMS folks will take possession of a new ambulance

[1:18:00] within the next six weeks. Um and we have several newer ambulances purchased

[1:18:06] within the last four years. Um fire departments are generally in good shape.

[1:18:10] Uh we we've invested um in in several new apparatus since I've been here. Uh

[1:18:16] but you've got to keep that going and uh >> you might have to look at a ladder truck

[1:18:20] if that other >> that comes in. That would be a definite

[1:18:24] need. >> We we've already had conversations with

[1:18:26] the developer for that project that they have asked us what do you need? Uh and

[1:18:32] one of my first responses in emergency services was to tell them that the fire

[1:18:36] station that will serve that location uh is not big enough for an aerial

[1:18:40] apparatus even if we had it. >> So uh we may be able to squeeze a quint

[1:18:44] in the Max Medit Station, but we'd have to give up

[1:18:47] » have to give up two other trucks and it'd be tight. Um so you we're

[1:18:52] realistically going to have to look at what our options are on some of those

[1:18:55] stations going forward. I'm not advocating for building $10 million fire

[1:18:59] stations, but we can probably do better than metal buildings.

[1:19:15] those kind of things.

[1:19:23] » Um it would be of particular interest too if there was an expansion into

[1:19:28] battery energy storage. Um you know you've got to be mindful of while the

[1:19:33] odds of a thermal runaway are low, they're never zero. So we would have to

[1:19:39] know how to fight that. And so it's not just providing the equipment, but also

[1:19:42] providing the training necessary. And that shouldn't be on the county to

[1:19:47] provide that training. It should be on the developer of the the project to to

[1:19:51] provide the training so that we can fight it the right way.

[1:19:59] [snorts]

[1:20:01] Anything

[1:20:11] else for Mr. Henkins?

[1:20:18] Those hand sign those hand signals are still better than most of the ones I

[1:20:21] get.

[1:20:26] If nothing else for Mr. Henkins, we'll go to commissioner concerns.

[1:20:32] I was going to bring up can we get rid of the block cameras but see the Mr. the

[1:20:36] sheriff has picked me to it. So I'm a small government guy but there

[1:20:43] have been instances where those cameras did um point us in the right direction.

[1:20:49] Um, you know, the very first week they were up when Sheriff Foster was still

[1:20:53] the sheriff, um, there was a lady with Alzheimer's, um, from North Carolina who

[1:20:59] drove through the the camera closest to Jackson and our folks were able to

[1:21:05] locate her and get her back home safely by by the use of that technology. But I

[1:21:11] get that a lot of folks are fearful of that technology and what it can do. Um

[1:21:16] it it like any other technology can be abused. Um but I have not known our law

[1:21:21] enforcement folks to do that. >> And um

[1:21:25] also I've took a lot of phone calls and inperson

[1:21:32] I would say some of them are confrontational

[1:21:35] over the last two weeks. It's not over the land use ordinance is

[1:21:40] over this 1% sales tax. people raising cane over this one 1% sales tax. I've

[1:21:47] had to explain to them I said you

[1:21:52] got to if the 1% passes uh

[1:21:57] travelers and out of state and out of county people will help pay for the

[1:22:02] schools. If not, your real estate could go up 20 cents on the hundred and I said

[1:22:07] you're going to be paying for all of it. >> Exactly.

[1:22:10] » And that's happened two times before. If people are ignorant, I mean, a lot of

[1:22:15] people are ignorant. They just say tax no

[1:22:18] » if the 1% local option doesn't pass, we would have to do those upgrades 100%

[1:22:26] based on property taxes that we receive. Um, and as Mr. King pointed out and Mr.

[1:22:33] Bernard did, you you can't rely on that revenue before it starts coming in. And

[1:22:38] even once it starts coming in, you need to be mindful that it can go away just

[1:22:42] as quickly as it got here. Um, so the 1% would give us the option of um having a

[1:22:49] pretty significant discount. I don't know about y'all, but I still use

[1:22:52] coupons. Um, you know, I'll open up my food line app and I'll I'll pick out

[1:22:57] which coupons I'm I'm going to use this week. Uh, we're getting a pretty

[1:23:01] significant discount on new schools if we use this local option. Um, you know,

[1:23:07] it's like getting 40% off and I'll take that bargain just about anytime.

[1:23:12] » Yeah. I've been explaining to people I said that 1%

[1:23:16] will be the fairest tax there is. >> If you don't use it, you don't get

[1:23:21] charged for citizens. >> Have you all had any people complain?

[1:23:25] » I've had a couple. I've had a couple didn't understand why. And after I

[1:23:29] explained to them the 20% deal, I said, "Would you really pay 52?" What is it?

[1:23:34] 52 53% now. And I said, "Would you like to pay

[1:23:37] 7172?" They said, "No." I said, "Well, at 1%

[1:23:41] all these people come here eating wine." I just wish we get some more restaurants

[1:23:45] like Chick-fil-A, Roadhouse. Because I'll tell you, I did

[1:23:49] I did a little research. There's 58,000 cars come through this intersection

[1:23:54] today. You know how much how many Rhino Cats? 57. We've got a thousand more

[1:23:59] comes through this intersection here than Ron does.

[1:24:02] » Yeah. But they got >> We can't get a chicken.

[1:24:03] » Yeah. They got 250,000 people live down in that bowl, too, and we only got

[1:24:07] 28,000. I

[1:24:10] » I've I've done a lot of work with those um those restaurants and hotels over the

[1:24:15] years that base their metrics on any number of things. A lot of them do base

[1:24:20] it on number of cars passing by, but they also u look at your local

[1:24:24] population. And if your local population is not big enough that they're not

[1:24:28] coming. >> Yeah. And I remember I don't know how

[1:24:31] many years ago it was when Chick-fil-A said that we did not have enough lunch

[1:24:36] crowd for them to locate here. Well, Chick-fil-A also looks at at other

[1:24:40] metrics. Um, median household income

[1:24:45] is one. Chick-fil-A is not going to let somebody locate somewhere where it's

[1:24:49] going to possibly fail. So even if a franchisee were to say I want to put one

[1:24:54] in withful Chick-fil-A as a corporate entity has to sign off on that and they

[1:24:59] won't sign off on it if if it's not going to meet their metrics.

[1:25:02] » If you don't put it they won't cut them problem. You don't get I mean we got a

[1:25:06] corridor for for women with fortunes on both sides that you can have it lined up

[1:25:11] and you put them over there. I guarantee you roll in some people because people's

[1:25:15] hungry. They come through here they get gas. Look the tax review on gas. I get

[1:25:20] y'all get pretty good on gas. If you did that same thing with the food, you know,

[1:25:23] they stop and eat when they fueled up. >> There's a reason why Starbucks built on

[1:25:28] a sea park. >> Absolutely.

[1:25:31] » And just just remember, we got three Taco Bells within a three mile radius of

[1:25:34] one another. >> Three, four wins in Canada.

[1:25:38] » The the 1% if it does pass is 20 years or 25 years.

[1:25:42] » It's 20 years. So, uh if it were uh passed this year, it would expire in

[1:25:47] 2046. and it could be redone again if you so

[1:25:54] if you if you thought you had a need >> that's not in the enabling legislation

[1:25:59] that the general assembly passed. >> So do do it just one time and then then

[1:26:03] » that that that could change between now and 2046.

[1:26:07] Um one of the other considerations is that this is

[1:26:13] just for school construction rehabilitation.

[1:26:17] Um, it is not for teacher salaries. It's not for operating. It's not for buses.

[1:26:22] It's for those major projects. It's it's for construction. Um,

[1:26:27] » how many other counties around that that's going to that's going to try to

[1:26:30] pass this? >> There's quite a few. Um, some have opted

[1:26:35] not to. Bland opted not to. Okay.

[1:26:40] » You don't have you don't have nearly the number of businesses over there, so it

[1:26:43] wouldn't have that big an impact. I still argue it would have some impact,

[1:26:48] but they could do something with those funds, but they've opted not to and that

[1:26:52] that's the right of their board to decide to to go that way. Um, so a lot

[1:26:57] of other localities have reached out to us. Um, they have seen some of the

[1:27:01] publications that we've put out and they're interested in using similar

[1:27:05] materials because um, while their circumstances aren't

[1:27:09] necessarily the same, some of the thing same things hold true. So, they want to

[1:27:13] use some of the materials that we've produced.

[1:27:16] I seen this morning on the news that there will be three statewide

[1:27:20] constitutional amendments on our on our your ballot this winter this November.

[1:27:25] » Yeah. Plan on spending a little longer in the ballot box this time than you

[1:27:28] usually do. >> Yes. Yeah. We don't have any countywide

[1:27:33] elections, but we'll have n nationalationwide. So,

[1:27:38] » yep. We have a US Senate and US House both up this time.

[1:27:43] » But, uh I know >> and Some people may ask why we're not

[1:27:48] as a county actively out there vocal and promoting the 1% tax. We can't by state

[1:27:56] code um assert that people should vote one way or the other. I can individually

[1:28:01] tell you how I'm going to vote. I'm going to vote for it.

[1:28:04] » Um but I I can't tell people, you know, how

[1:28:08] they ought to vote. uh we have to present it in a neutral sort of format

[1:28:12] and let people make up their own minds. >> That's why I was going to ask on

[1:28:16] likeformational meetings and stuff because I think a lot

[1:28:21] of people are confused over what the wording is.

[1:28:25] » Well, Dr. Street uh spoke to the joint governing bodies last night, made a very

[1:28:29] compelling argument. Um he has done informational meetings in he did Fort

[1:28:35] Chisel Friday night before the football game I think and he was doing tonight at

[1:28:39] Sheffy um you know while this meeting is going on otherwise I would have gone to

[1:28:43] Sheffy. Um you know he's doing some of those around the county just to help

[1:28:47] people get a better understanding of of what we're asking or the ballot question

[1:28:52] they'll be asked to to vote on this fall. Um he has some really great

[1:28:58] pictures of the architectural render renderings for uh the new elementary

[1:29:04] school here uh in town and uh the Fort Chisel High School renovations. Um as

[1:29:12] well as the athletic fields uh that would be done as part of this

[1:29:17] initiative. So he points out rightly so that we cannot

[1:29:22] host a regional uh sporting tournament or sporting event. Our tracks are not

[1:29:28] big enough. They don't have the right surfaces. Um we don't have lights on

[1:29:32] most of our athletic fields. So the games that we go into the night, we have

[1:29:36] to play somewhere that has lights. So that means our athletes are traveling

[1:29:40] further uh away, spending longer away from their studies while they're

[1:29:44] traveling to ball games. Um he also points out that um because we will be

[1:29:51] addressing some of this aging equipment including some some chillers and air

[1:29:55] conditioning equipment um you know getting our schools air conditioned and

[1:29:59] climate comfortable um because we will be spending less on maintenance that

[1:30:03] will give them less fun uh give them more funds for operations. So teacher

[1:30:08] salaries, teacher benefits, uh school supplies, um you know, student activity

[1:30:12] supplies, all those things will have more money because we'll be spending

[1:30:16] less on maintenance than they have. >> Yeah, I do know like I've seen the the

[1:30:22] board meetings, Mr. Mr. Joe Deour talking about the lights at Speed

[1:30:26] Elementary School. That's the only baseball field in the county that has

[1:30:30] lights. >> You you may know a lot more about those

[1:30:34] lights than we do. We don't know who installed them or when they were

[1:30:38] installed. >> Mr. Joe Bass and the community installed

[1:30:41] them. >> Okay.

[1:30:44] I think I owe somebody some money. They they bet today that uh the Basses were

[1:30:49] involved in that. And I got an email the other day asking

[1:30:55] us to I know Whifffield the town they're doing their comprehensive plan and they

[1:31:00] want they want people in the county to to to answer that or not or

[1:31:05] » I got the same email. Um I'm a little conflicted about whether I should answer

[1:31:10] or not. Um I I tend to think that it's more for the folks in to help make those

[1:31:16] determinations. If they want my help, I'll be glad to to offer my opinions.

[1:31:21] Did you get one, Rusty? >> I did. Good.

[1:31:25] [snorts] >> I just I just I just I just was curious.

[1:31:29] I mean, >> that's what we build.

[1:31:32] » Pretty good size cabins.

[1:31:40] It's 168 in. >> Any any other concerns for the

[1:31:46] commissioner concerns at this time? >> My mic. I'm done. I run my mouth in

[1:31:51] this.

[1:31:55] Our next item will be our land use ordinance review.

[1:32:00] » I've already talked about that unless you all just have something that you

[1:32:03] found that's wrong or that needs to be corrected or updated or changed.

[1:32:07] » I'm good.

[1:32:14] » Yeah. >> Don't have stuff like that. I mean that

[1:32:19] that's not not updated. >> Yeah, you there's only about 19,000

[1:32:25] parcels. So I'm only get one or two of them wrong.

[1:32:29] » Is there a large quantity of people comment about it or just a few?

[1:32:33] » We really have haven't had much in the way of calls. Uh we we've had like I say

[1:32:37] maybe three or four additional online submissions.

[1:32:41] That would be worth probably just seeing if the board wants to bring it back and

[1:32:45] just say, "Okay, if that's what they want,

[1:32:48] do it. It's done. Then we move on." I mean, that's just my thought. I mean, I

[1:32:53] could be totally off base. >> Well, you know, this this thing Thursday

[1:32:56] night is not the last opportunity for the public to to be engaged. Uh, if if

[1:33:02] you all are ready and the board's ready to move on to public hearings, uh, that

[1:33:06] there will be opportunity, and I'm I'm willing to bet that we won't have it in

[1:33:09] this room. Um >> as of right now,

[1:33:17] » right? So you all would need to make a recommendation that the current draft or

[1:33:22] any subsequent draft be adopted by the the board. Um so

[1:33:31] » and the board still may have something to bring back to change. Well, it it may

[1:33:36] mean another joint meeting, you know, just to to wrap it up and make sure that

[1:33:40] y'all are on the same page. Um, you know, about the earliest that you could

[1:33:44] expect to even consider passage is maybe November, just based on when it would

[1:33:51] take, you know, you all have to set your public hearing. The board has to set

[1:33:56] its. We have to meet the advertising requirements for that. Um, and then we

[1:34:00] have to actually have the public hearings. So it's it's too late for you

[1:34:04] all to set one now for October. So the first window I think would be November.

[1:34:10] Um that's at the very earliest.

[1:34:15] » You'd have to do it by the our normal business meeting. Correct. You could

[1:34:19] just add another meeting at the end of the month like in October, end of

[1:34:23] October. >> You could if you saw value in that.

[1:34:27] » Well, I I guess that would just move the process on faster.

[1:34:32] Well, that's one thing that I think that you and the board need to reach

[1:34:36] agreement on and we can help facilitate that.

[1:34:39] » I think another meeting between us and the supervisors to make sure we're on

[1:34:44] the same page and that they want it then we

[1:34:49] » and it it may be that the board has some conversation about this Tuesday at their

[1:34:53] meeting. uh if they want to follow up from that. Um

[1:34:59] I I can't say until the agenda is done or we see what the board members have to

[1:35:04] say next week. >> Um

[1:35:09] well, we'll find a little more after Thursday, too. So,

[1:35:13] » yes, sir. I don't want to step on their hel.

[1:35:29] » If nothing else, I'll entertain a motion.

[1:35:33] » Motion to journ. >> Second.

[1:35:37] » It's been properly moved a second >> to adjourn the September meeting of the

[1:35:42] W County Planning Commission. I'll take a roll call vote from this way.

Wythe County Planning Commission Meeting | September 1, 2026

Transcript