[0:23] good evening ladies and gentlemen the time has arrived for us to commence

[0:28] our March 2nd 2023 Board of Supervisors meeting

[0:34] we will now be favored with an invocation by digging Daryl Rollins

[0:46] good evening Dr Elliott board members Mrs Rollins

[0:51] Mr Harrison

[0:55] Mrs I'm sorry Mrs Perkins indeed everyone

[1:00] under the sound of my voice amen let us pray

[1:04] father God lord we thank you this evening though God for amen this awesome

[1:09] opportunity God to once again be here in the land of the dying amen hoping one

[1:16] day o God to make it into the land of the Eternal living

[1:19] father God right now Lord we we thank you for another day

[1:24] God we act right now oh Lord that you will bless this board oh God and its

[1:28] members bless our administrator oh God we actually would bless everyone under

[1:34] the sound of my voice oh God reminding us all oh God that the words

[1:38] we may speak tonight o God and the meditations that we may have in our

[1:42] hearts amen it should be indeed it must be amen acceptable in your sight and

[1:49] although God we may not agree on all issues Lord we can certainly agree to

[1:55] disagree in a respectful way and so bless us right now God and we shall be

[1:59] blessed keep us oh God and we shall be kept and for that God you alone shall be

[2:05] glorified for us in Jesus name we pray thank God amen amen we do now call this

[2:12] meeting to order and we will at this time have a moment of silence

[2:29] thank you let us stand now for our Pledge of Allegiance

[2:43] our nation

[2:58] board members you have before you our agenda

[3:02] for our scheduled meeting uh and I need a

[3:08] ction on the adoption of the agenda agenda with one special request to add

[3:14] to the agenda that is a special recognition

[3:17] for a very valuable citizen of our County if we could get a

[3:25] motion on the agenda if there are no questions on it put it before the board

[3:29] now for action

[3:38] that we will adopt the agenda as it has been presented with the addition

[3:44] a second this has been probably moving second all in favor let it be known by

[3:48] the voting sound of I aye opposed the gender has been adopted

[3:54] the first item is our special recognition

[3:59] yes

[4:02] again good evening we've had our work session but I will again speak to our

[4:07] chair and members of the board and Mr Harrison Miss Perkins and all that are

[4:12] assembled I cannot tell you that he gives me such great pleasure to be able

[4:17] to present this surprise recognition on tonight we know that we just came out

[4:23] the heels of February being black history month and we are pleased that

[4:27] the Surry NAACP have recognition in the county in honoring on black history but

[4:33] March is women's history month and if you look

[4:38] this way you can see that you have amongst us a very notable woman

[4:45] in Mrs Judy little Mrs Judah little I said a surprise right

[4:50] yes so Mrs Judy little became the first woman elected and the

[4:57] first African-American woman to serve on this Board of Supervisors when she was

[5:03] elected in 1999. this year marks Mrs little your 23rd

[5:10] year as a public servant and a loyal and dedicated member to the board

[5:15] having retired after 33 years of working with the United States Department of

[5:20] Agriculture your service passion and commitment for

[5:25] Community extends over 50 years oh I never thought of it

[5:36] [Applause] accolades are many as you have served on

[5:41] many boards and commissions most notably your election as the

[5:47] 2015-16 president of the Virginia Association of counties that is huge yes

[5:53] and your term on the Sarah County Board of Supervisors as chair Vice chair and

[5:59] certainly an Engaged member so during women History Month a time when we

[6:03] celebrate the economic political and social achievements of women we

[6:09] congratulate you Mrs little thank you for your service to the residents of

[6:14] Surry County now while we do not have a properly worded resolution in full on

[6:19] tonight all framed up to present to you the action on tonight is to ask the

[6:25] board to do a properly worded resolution and we can certainly present that to you

[6:30] at a later date thank you so much thank you and prior to the board taking that

[6:35] action I'm going to ask Mr Elliott as chair to present you

[6:39] with this in honor again and recognition of your service to Surry County

[6:45] and as you know Mrs little you have some surprise visitors in the audience so

[6:50] family of Mrs little of your mind standing

[6:54] [Applause]

[7:06] we want to present this to you for your dedicated service to the citizens of

[7:12] Surry County as being the first and only woman who has been elected to the Board

[7:18] of Supervisors of Sarah County thank you for your service and may God continue to

[7:22] bless you

[7:25] thank you

[7:36] this is a little would you like to have any comments at this time

[7:39] sure if if it's okay okay thank you first of all to those who

[7:47] are here in my family um and those others who are here from my

[7:52] community I appreciate you being here I was kind of shocked when

[7:57] I will why did they pick tonight to come because one of them has been before and

[8:02] the other one has not been before or by two daughters and

[8:08] um so I was like I don't know what's going on about that but anyway but I

[8:13] won't just want to say um thank you

[8:16] um to the Board of Supervisors and the administration for the recognition

[8:21] tonight I certainly appreciate it and I had never given it a thought that I have

[8:26] been serving Surry County for 53 years but I will say that it has been a

[8:32] blessing I love Surry County and when I went into it that's why I went into it

[8:39] was because I do love Surry County and thank all of you I certainly appreciate

[8:45] I love plants so this is right on thank you thank you Miss Lowe board members we

[8:52] have before us our consent items uh

[9:00] we do have a before us our consent items and

[9:03] and they be in the approval of the draft minutes from our February the second

[9:08] meeting and our work session on February the 23rd uh the approval of the draft

[9:13] minutes for our joint meeting with the school board on February the 27th and

[9:18] the approval for accounts payable for the month of January a request for a

[9:25] public hearing uh dealing with uh easement then a Crest

[9:30] we have two requests for public hearings three requests for public hearings and a

[9:35] budget amendment appropriated Grant funds that we receive from gen and

[9:39] Foundation to receive those funds are there any questions on those items do we

[9:43] need to pull any one of those items out for discussion

[9:48] if there be none we will ask for action on our consent items

[9:55] Mr chair our move that we approve our consent items listed one through eight

[10:02] you have a motion of a second second second it's been a problem to move and

[10:05] second all in favor let it be known by the voting sound of ah

[10:09] emotion is carried board members the next item on our

[10:13] agenda is our public Hearing in regards to the Surry County comprehensive

[10:18] comprehensive Plan update Mr Wade

[10:31] good evening chairman Elliott good evening members of the board

[10:34] Miss Rollins Mr Harrison

[10:38] and Miss Perkins tonight we have a four-year public

[10:41] hearing for the Congress of Plan update the appointed commission had been

[10:46] working on this project for a little over at this time a little bit over a

[10:49] year now and through various

[10:53] Avenues of of public involvement we do have our Consultants here tonight that

[10:58] have assisted us with the process Summit behind me

[11:03] miss Ann Darby and she'll be doing the presentation tonight for you all and if

[11:08] you all have any questions please please let us know but she's here

[11:13] to do your presentation for us thank you thank you Mr

[11:20] hi good evening Karen Elliott members of the board thank you so much for having

[11:24] us here again my name is Ann Darby I'm the planning department manager for

[11:28] Summit design and engineering and we've had the honor of working with Surrey

[11:33] with staff the Planning Commission for just about a year now working on this

[11:38] comprehensive plan amendment I want to just review a little bit the offered the

[11:44] process the opportunities for engagement we started with public participation in

[11:50] April 2022 we held two focus groups they were comprised of a variety of different

[11:56] stakeholders they were landowners they were people who were forced energy

[12:01] projects I'm going to keep accidentally saying solar because solar is what came

[12:06] out when we talk about energy projects we also had a public open house at that

[12:09] time in April we also started a public survey that was distributed we had 181

[12:15] responses they're mostly people that are very focused on on the issue already we

[12:20] closed that survey in June and we published a summary of the survey

[12:24] results and we also sorry then in June 2022 we

[12:30] continued that conversation with the Planning Commission we went over many

[12:34] many many different uh and I just I just say that to say that you know it's this

[12:39] has been very thoughtful and very um very methodical we discussed many

[12:45] different uh scenarios with the Planning Commission you'll remember that I was

[12:49] here in June of 2022 to discuss the progress with you we offered at that

[12:54] point three solutions to the board and that not excuse me not Solutions three

[12:59] options and that was a alternative that would create policy

[13:05] that wouldn't allow any new energy projects

[13:08] the alternative of having no new restrictions or something in between the

[13:12] board at that time said something in between and we went forward with GIS

[13:15] analysis a lot of GIS analysis which we will I will present to you also in this

[13:20] in this presentation so in that's last summer and lot into

[13:25] last fall we continued with that analysis we went back to the Planning

[13:29] Commission and we were in constant contact with staff on this in October we

[13:33] had a second open house to Omit to review the draft we had a lot of

[13:37] comments on the draft we spoke again to the Planning

[13:41] Commission in November 2022 and then the Planning Commission made a

[13:44] recommendation to approve the amendment as it is in the in the final version

[13:50] in their meeting last month and then tonight obviously is a public

[13:54] hearing just to recap there were two focus

[13:57] groups two open houses in the survey we did a lot of research we researched what

[14:02] other localities in Virginia do we researched what other localities across

[14:06] and other states do and different ways that that localities in Virginia are

[14:12] able to limit to the degree that they see Fit Energy projects again the gis

[14:18] analysis and I'll go through that I'll show you a bunch of maps they are in

[14:22] line with best practices and they're in line with public input so we again to

[14:27] reiterate talked about this a lot discussed a lot with the Planning

[14:30] Commission Board of Supervisors and then there was

[14:34] one Planning Commission subcommittee that was very very involved

[14:38] um there's this PowerPoint says several drafts of the comprehensive plan

[14:42] amendments we counted today there have been 17 drafts and those drafts are

[14:47] reflective each time each change was reflective of another comment uh

[14:51] Planning Commission comments board comments and public comments I do want

[14:55] to address one um all of the public comments that were

[14:59] made last time we presented to the Planning Commission we we took notes we

[15:03] wrote them down and the Planning Commission discussed them in detail and

[15:07] we made the the changes that the Planning Commission recommended one of

[15:11] the ones I do want to point out is that someone made a comment that a question

[15:17] about whether or not making these new restrictions or where energy projects

[15:22] may be developed would take away someone's property rights if they were

[15:26] in the agricultural M1 or M2 District there's we did a GIS analysis said that

[15:32] there's very few there are very few properties that that would apply to but

[15:35] the fact is that because any pros property right now that one anybody

[15:39] wants to develop into an energy project has to go through a conditional use

[15:43] permit we're not taking away any property rights that a resident

[15:47] currently has so that's that's um a well-researched but a short answer in

[15:52] the end so again when we did Community

[15:54] engagement what we heard these are just some bullet points of what we heard the

[15:59] most loudly and the most clearly utility scale solar is mostly what's on people's

[16:04] minds the energy projects theoretically this could

[16:07] um you know this amendment would deal with battery storage with

[16:12] wind if that's ever an issue but utility scale solar clearly I think everyone

[16:15] knows that that is the the projects that are in most in question distributed

[16:21] solar and Community solar so smaller solar projects are much more generally

[16:26] accepted to be located anywhere in the county seventy percent of survey

[16:31] respondents believe that energy projects new energy projects should be limited to

[16:35] a quote very small percentage of land in the county so we took that from the

[16:39] beginning that's the feedback we heard in this this amendment is reflective of

[16:44] that the most significant items of concern were displacement of wildlife a

[16:49] loss of farmland and Timberland loss of historical and agricultural character

[16:53] people then that that came from proponents of Tourism proponents of

[16:57] Agriculture a lot of different camps had the same concern and that was loss

[17:03] of this character there were some issues from previous

[17:05] solar developments about traffic Wildlife passage storm water and

[17:12] variants from site plans I believe that a lot of these things have been that

[17:17] have been cleared up so that new projects are going through a more strict

[17:21] more rigorous process and so these problems probably shouldn't happen again

[17:24] but we did hear that a lot and it's worth mentioning

[17:27] so our GIS analysis what we did was look at the county and and we

[17:34] sorry yeah we looked at the county as a whole we looked at the different

[17:38] residential areas the residential Corridor and the residential investment

[17:42] area that are treated in very specific ways in the

[17:46] comprehensive plan towns and then Wetlands where you wouldn't be able to

[17:51] develop something anyway wetlands and water

[17:54] first of all just under 200 000 acres are in the county as a whole as you can

[17:58] see that the county boundary goes into the river

[18:02] so we then first removed the river removed water remove Wetlands from the

[18:08] land area that we are considering for our analysis we removed towns and key

[18:13] residential areas that's almost 30 000 acres and that again it's in the current

[18:18] comprehensive plan that so I conflate them all the time we all

[18:22] conflate them energy projects are not supposed to be in the town's residential

[18:25] areas or the residential Corridor that's current Uh current recommendation from

[18:30] the plan the Planning Commission was concerned

[18:33] about historic sites and Parcels so they asked for those to be removed so that

[18:38] there is consideration in the creation of energy projects around historic sites

[18:44] they ask that they be buffered and this was back and forth and I think that this

[18:48] is probably you've seen drafts of this but by a half mile it went back and

[18:52] forth between a a mile and a half mile ended at a half mile

[18:57] so if we combine those areas that are inappropriate for development so

[19:01] historic areas Wetlands water towns and residential corridors

[19:08] 84 000 Acres about and those are the areas so basically

[19:12] these maps are just opposites of one another as you can see

[19:16] so there are areas that are not appropriate for energy projects there

[19:21] are about 113 114 000 Acres and then we looked at transmission lines

[19:27] so we all know that we want energy projects to be the most effective most

[19:31] efficient as possible so located near transmission lines this is a one mile

[19:35] buffer so that leaves 55 000 Acres about

[19:41] so it Narrows down to land where energy projects might be appropriate they're

[19:46] still over 35 000 Acres that energy projects might be appropriate within

[19:51] transmission lines outside of a mile of historic areas outside of towns outside

[19:57] of residential corridors so this is just a brief summary of the

[20:03] policy it differentiates between utility scale

[20:07] solar Community scale solar and distributed and we stick with State

[20:11] definitions of those and then it just it says that the county

[20:15] will support the installation of distributed energy facilities wherever

[20:19] considered appropriate and set clear permitting standards a lot of this a lot

[20:23] of the amendment is making recommendations to no matter what the

[20:26] decision is make sure that it's very clear from the beginning so someone

[20:29] doesn't come to story think they can maybe develop a property into an energy

[20:35] project and then get knocked down so it's for everyone's benefit very clear

[20:38] from the beginning uh so distributed energy projects will

[20:43] be allowed by right in residential commercial and mixed-use Zoning

[20:46] districts utility scale energy projects are

[20:49] limited to more to no more than 10 percent of developable land that's over

[20:54] 15 000 acres and that is in response to both Planning Commission comments a lot

[21:00] of the public and uh survey feedback and what we heard at public open houses and

[21:04] also what we heard from the board which was to find something in between totally

[21:08] limiting and not limiting at all so utility scale and Community scale

[21:14] energy facilities will be considered if they meet the following conditions

[21:17] within one mile of the transmission line and that's measured by the centroid of

[21:23] the panels if this is or the energy producing equipment whatever that is and

[21:28] that is so that a this might sound familiar that's so that

[21:32] a developer could not purchase a property and then purchase other

[21:35] properties to get closer to a transmission line this makes that very

[21:39] clear that we're talking about the centroid of the energy producing

[21:42] equipment so the project must be screened from

[21:46] residential corridors residential investment areas and towns

[21:49] the property must be more than 0.5 miles from historic sites

[21:55] no part of the facilities should be within 750 feet of any place of worship

[22:00] or any Cemetery uh every project must provide Wildlife

[22:06] corridors so that you're not preventing and that's again a lot of what we heard

[22:10] we heard from a lot of hunters about different changes and movements of

[22:15] wildlife deer deer behaving differently um so continuous Wildlife quarters to be

[22:20] provided vegetative screening should prevent the facility from being seen

[22:25] from residential commercial or mixed-use areas and any noise generated that's

[22:30] another thing that we heard back in the focus groups is noise and that is to

[22:34] noise generating elements should be at least 750 feet however that wherever

[22:39] that is situated from residential commercial or mixed use areas so that

[22:42] cuts down on the impacts of the projects and so also the projects can be within a

[22:50] half a mile of existing Community scale or utility scale energy

[22:55] continued the that's just a more General statements not about placement but in

[23:01] general it says that the amendment says that supporting the use of agrivoltaics

[23:05] which is farming with uh solar equipment for example

[23:10] um that would be supported if that ever were to come up advocacy in general for

[23:15] the increased Financial benefit from additional solar facilities so I know

[23:19] that you've all been part of the conversations of figuring out how a

[23:23] county can benefit the revenue sharing and so if there's an opportunity to

[23:27] advocate for increased Revenue sharing according to this amendment the county

[23:32] would be in favor of that and strengthen requirements for solar facility

[23:36] decommissioning just to make sure that whatever is created at the end of its

[23:42] useful life the land goes back to the way it was as

[23:45] much as possible so and the amendment also makes recommendations to clarify

[23:50] the approval process it doesn't this hasn't been exactly worked out so it's

[23:55] not specific it recommends to clarify the approval process right now there's a

[24:00] multi-step process of rezoning and then a conditional use permit and a citing

[24:04] agreement so the the however that works the amendment recommends clarifying that

[24:11] simplifying that so that they're not unintentional barriers to development of

[24:17] new project one of the options is to create a new

[24:21] Zone zoning district for utility scale solar again it's not specified there are

[24:26] ideas there and there's the gis analysis and recommendations to clarify

[24:32] so in conclusion this has been a very thorough process starting last April to

[24:37] now to March we have involved the community people have given a lot of

[24:42] input the Planning Commission in particular the Planning Commission

[24:45] subcommittee has been very very active in thinking of many many different

[24:50] scenarios and parsing out wording in us and doing more and more analysis it has

[24:56] been it's been one of the most thorough well thought out

[25:01] processes that I've ever been a part of honestly

[25:04] um and the the ideally it should benefit the county and the developers by

[25:09] providing Clarity and laying out the priorities

[25:13] so I'm happy to take any questions thank you board members are there any

[25:18] questions in regards to the presentation

[25:24] if there be none We Now open up

[25:27] our public Hearing in regards to the adoption of the update to our

[25:33] comprehensive plan if you would like to speak on this

[25:38] matter you come to the podium state your name in your district and you have three

[25:41] minutes to speak

[25:45] where we do have two that signed up it is Mr Sam Edwards in regards to the

[25:50] comprehensive plan is he here

[25:54] siblings

[26:00] good evening Mr chairman board members and staff thank you for giving me the

[26:05] opportunity you know I had as we were saying the

[26:09] Pledge of Allegiance the last few words says in liberty and justice for all

[26:13] I'm concerned about land owners rights I think that this is a model

[26:18] that can create besides the fact we're restricting landowner rights

[26:23] in my mind I think it creates a model for future

[26:27] infringement on man under his rights whether it's solar you want an RV park

[26:33] you want to build a Meat Processing Plant

[26:37] if somebody doesn't like how it looks they can come and get enough people

[26:41] together and prevent these projects from taking

[26:45] off

[26:48] the pay Consultants have told me that it's more like 7 000 acres are available

[26:54] in Surrey not the 15 000 this out there because if you take these overlay maps

[26:58] that are referred to tonight and

[27:01] you're Consulting explain that uh in their calculations it was fifteen

[27:06] thousand I've got Consultants that say a seven thousand so I think we're

[27:09] restricting it too much

[27:12] in addition to that the one that really kind of surprised me

[27:16] or shocked me a little bit was the half mile from historical sites I think in

[27:21] Surry County eventually as we increase the number of historical sites in Surry

[27:26] County it will be impossible

[27:29] to have a solar or any kind of development

[27:34] and in reality I know everybody likes to keep Timber Agriculture and all that

[27:38] together and sorry tourism and thinking that's going to be the economic

[27:41] development package of the future I just don't think that's strong enough

[27:44] to support the money that's needed to run our

[27:49] government as it continues to grow

[27:53] we need more higher paying Economic Development like solar to support it and

[28:00] I think we're short-sighted and in

[28:04] allowing that

[28:07] last but not least I'm kind of repeating myself here I just feel like the land on

[28:11] the rights are being stepped on it's the farm and Timber owner if farm and Timber

[28:16] owners want to keep their land as let it be their choice that would limit it

[28:21] but they don't want their farm and they don't want their Timber to use for salt

[28:24] that's and as long as where they put it doesn't

[28:28] affect others negatively like put up the screening make it far enough

[28:32] away so people can't see it okay that's fine

[28:35] I'm not sure how much impacted nobody's really done a study about how much

[28:38] impact it's going to have on the deer population in Surry County

[28:42] I don't know how many of you all have been

[28:44] so unfortunate to hit a deer but there seems to be plenty and why would the

[28:49] Game and Inland Fisheries bring coyotes into Surry County to control the deer

[28:52] population if we were running it to a shortage

[28:55] I just don't think that's a logical argument

[29:01] thank you very much sir

[29:06] Mr Gray Creswell

[29:15] chairman members of the Board of Supervisors hello staff appreciate the

[29:20] opportunity to speak before you this evening my name is Greg Cresswell I'm a

[29:23] senior development manager with AES clean energy

[29:26] AES clean energy is a subsidiary of AES headquartered in Arlington Virginia

[29:32] a little bit of background on the company locally you know us as the

[29:36] developers and now the constructors of the Cavalier solar facility

[29:41] that is located here in Surrey and also in Isle of Wight

[29:46] broadly AES owns 455 operating sites across the U.S and in Virginia we own

[29:53] five operating sites roughly 800 plus megawatts with another 3000 megawatts in

[29:59] development so fret of experience behind us

[30:03] the proposed Surry County comprehensive Plan update contains several strategies

[30:07] which we believe have Merit and would agreeably assist Surrey in maintaining

[30:11] responsible growth for the energy energy industry while keeping the desired rural

[30:16] characteristics in the county other revisions We Fear have a sense of

[30:21] being more uh more specific and prescriptive in nature rather than in

[30:26] keeping with the use guidelines in a traditional comprehensive plan

[30:30] I'd like to discuss a few of those points with you this evening and I'll

[30:33] try to be quick I know I've only got a few minutes and quite a you know quite a

[30:37] few things to discuss specifically objective five strategy two represents a

[30:42] 10 cap on developable land I would suggest that's a pretty reasonable

[30:46] number one thing that I would suggest along

[30:50] with that would be how we Define that 10 percent cap and what is developable land

[30:54] or what has already been developed if you look at existing projects are we

[30:58] considering the entire parcel are we considering the portion of the parcel

[31:02] which has actually been developed if you have open land outside developed or

[31:07] outside of the fence it could be used for AG purposes could be used for Timber

[31:10] could be used for other purposes that are not necessarily energy related so I

[31:15] think that might be another alternative to look at how we phrase this

[31:20] objective five strategy three references Center the project site must be within

[31:25] one mile of existing high voltage transmission lines

[31:29] I do have a little bit of concern that this could actually be contrary to what

[31:32] it's trying or what its intent was designed for if you cite facilities

[31:36] together in a narrow distance of an existing infrastructure it leads to a

[31:41] highly concentrated and Visually disruptive utility Corridor Mr Chris

[31:45] Willis your three minutes sir that's about three minutes yes sir

[31:49] thank you very much thank you if you have any handouts you would like to

[31:52] present to the board we'd be glad to take it yeah that's all thank you very

[31:55] much for the opportunity thank you

[32:00] are there any more comments in regards to the comprehensive plan

[32:06] yes Mr Drew

[32:10] the topic I want to address and good evening Lord and congratulations to

[32:16] Michigan miss little i i attended the January PC meeting when they discussed

[32:22] uh the comp plan and and I know those pros and cons and I know those people

[32:26] are going to be negative and people positive on the changes but we'll have

[32:29] to say having served with y'all and gone through some solo hearings guidelines

[32:34] are much much needed um again although the pros and cons to

[32:40] them I wish we would have had some in the very beginning and when I was

[32:43] serving on that would have made a whole lot a whole lot easier

[32:47] what I want to do was just a reminder though

[32:50] um when I attended the PC meeting that was language that has been taken out

[32:55] of this comp plan that's in front of you all this evening and our thanks to the

[32:58] PC Planning Commission for doing that is that they talked about simplifying the

[33:04] um the development process by only

[33:07] requiring a cup and Ms little and I were only two here this evening I guess that

[33:12] were on the board at the time when the solar ordinance was passed in that time

[33:17] we said we needed it was passed fairly quickly and that we need to go back and

[33:22] revise this solo ordinance as well as at the board meeting we inserted a rezoning

[33:27] in that ordinance and I at that meeting actually made the motion and explained

[33:32] to the other board members that rezoning developers don't like it but it protects

[33:38] the citizens a cup is easier and more legal liability won't go into the

[33:43] details but we board members actually inserted that in and so when y'all do

[33:48] start looking at the ordinance I would hope that you would continue with the

[33:51] rezoning I even heard about making a and we talked about it at that meeting about

[33:56] making a new category because we don't have one really I think it's industrial

[34:00] or something that's that's in that now and and we'll say this is that

[34:06] Miss Perkins I don't know if Hardy Cash was still at Hampton when you were there

[34:10] but he certainly was when I was there and he would sit in on the meetings and

[34:13] he would speak up from time to time I said what what's his role and they said

[34:20] Ombudsman and I said well what's an ombudsman they said well Mr Cash was

[34:24] here when we passed the zoning ordinance in 1964.

[34:29] he's the guy that knows all the history and so it was little I don't know when

[34:33] you're planning to retire from the forward but when you do I suggest you

[34:38] make her the ombuds woman and I and I laugh about this but that

[34:43] does need to be continuity because we do forget

[34:47] the reasonings why and that's just the reason and one little thing is that

[34:52] something when I did read the comp plan update and again I appreciate y'all

[34:56] doing it plan planning Commissioners and the flannels and and consultant is that

[35:01] it mentions small nuclear I was a little I think it's a little vague there's

[35:06] other energy type projects I guess is what I'm saying from wind to different

[35:09] things and I wouldn't real clear you understand me of what the what the plan

[35:15] uh Encompass and that's it and thank you and congratulations to you again thank

[35:20] you thank you Mr

[35:27] there'll be no other comments from the floor we will now close the public

[35:31] hearing and are there any comments or concerns from board members

[35:36] any questions of Staff any comments on what has been presented

[35:44] if not uh we can move forward on

[35:48] the recommendation for the approval of the amendment to our comprehensive plan

[35:54] is there and emotions from the board at this time on what's before us

[36:03] Mr chair if I may I would like to

[36:08] remove myself from voting on this issue yes Miss Carl we understand

[36:15] are there any questions on what's before us

[36:20] if there are no questions chair would entertain emotion

[36:23] for approval or denial this is Chairman

[36:27] um I don't have a question at this moment but I don't think I'm quite ready

[36:33] to vote for the uh boy

[36:39] I think we may need to take a little more time to digest what we're saying I

[36:46] do anyway I need a little more time to digest all that has been

[36:52] um proposed in this project

[36:58] any other comments or questions from board members

[37:01] chair I agree with Miss little I think it's the way it's not did a great job

[37:06] with the information however it's a lot to digest we just want to make sure that

[37:11] this uh can make accurate decision on whatever we decide to do

[37:14] thank you Mr Pierce then we have two when and one uh staining then we will

[37:21] table this uh action until further notice

[37:30] next item on our business is moving to new business it is the Virginia outdoor

[37:36] Foundation amenities and Improvement grant for Surry County pops and Rec

[37:46] yes um Mr chair I am going to ask Mr Harrison uh Deputy County Administrator

[37:54] if he would present this item to the board

[38:00] yes ma'am good evening chairman Elliott members of the board

[38:03] Mrs Rollins Miss Perkins um pleased to announce that staff has

[38:08] diligently been working on a Grant application with the Virginia outdoor

[38:12] foundation and a huge thanks to Mr Hal Godfrey who is our chair of our Eda for

[38:18] the connection to vof basically in essence what this

[38:22] application is about is many of you know that we have been looking to do some

[38:27] improvements in our Parks and Recreations facilities

[38:30] and this application allows us to do so um through

[38:35] um of deed of easement I'm indeed for um open space and conservation with vof

[38:42] and from what I'm understanding we're able to apply for up to two to five

[38:45] hundred thousand dollars for improvements in amenities at Parks and

[38:48] Recreation

[38:54] are there any questions from the board that I could entertain

[39:02] Mr Harrison Mr

[39:07] is there a deadline for the I have no problems I I want us to apply

[39:13] is there a deadline yes ma'am there's a deadline on the 7th of March we have a

[39:19] community meeting scheduled for the sixth so we have all the preliminary

[39:22] information already written up we want to hear from the community as well just

[39:27] to get some input from them and we'll apply um submit our application on the

[39:31] 7th so 7th of March

[39:34] okay Mr travel question too yes Mr Pierce thank you Miss Harrison for this

[39:39] uh for this opportunity uh the committee Community uh meeting on the Monday is

[39:46] that we're at March 6 um with those suggestions be put into

[39:49] the grant or is it or what the funds come in first and then from the

[39:53] suggestions you'll make this so there's flexibility Mr Pierce

[39:58] um we are going to take in information from the community the the money from

[40:03] the um the grand to go towards overall infrastructure plans

[40:08] um we're suggesting certain amenities we'll hear from the community on certain

[40:11] amenities and we just have to make sure we keep in constant communication with

[40:14] bof as to what we are using the funds for so we have flexibility with vof as

[40:19] we spend the funds and we definitely intend to take in the community's input

[40:22] on how we spend the time

[40:26] it's not a matching Grant so in essence all we have to do is put an easement on

[40:31] the Parks and Recreation grounds which is approximately 104 Acres and so

[40:36] there's some wooded acreage there as well as your own open space for fields

[40:40] and so on so um all deed of easement for open space and conservation

[40:45] and that's all we have to do with vof we don't have to put any

[40:51] of the application thank you for that you're welcome

[40:56] yes Mr chairman members of the board um there is a resolution that's included

[41:02] in your agenda material that the board will need to take action on tonight

[41:05] thank you Mr Harrison for um for working on this again board members this is

[41:11] another opportunity that we're seeking um Grant funds for to support the

[41:17] development of the Parks and Recreation facilities some of you may remember that

[41:23] back in 2017 or 18 roughly that the board went through a very similar

[41:29] discussion process amongst the communities when we talked about making

[41:34] some considerable site improvements to the current parks and recreation

[41:38] facility kind of talked about whether or not we wanted to do something with one

[41:41] of the schools again this is again an opportunity that was presented before us

[41:47] to actually apply for a good amount of funding to help in the advancement of

[41:52] some major improvements that according to some strategic initiatives that this

[41:56] board you'll have talked about over the last past few months staff exercise due

[42:02] diligence and trying to seek Grant funds to support the development of Parks and

[42:07] Recreation facilities so the community meeting that Mr Harris and just

[42:11] mentioned will take place on Monday at six o'clock or seven six 6 p.m at The

[42:20] Parks and Recreation Center and we encourage the public to come out to make

[42:24] comments for that the resolution that you have before you if I may read it at

[42:29] this time chairman states that uh the designation of Sarah

[42:34] County parks and recreation facility as an open space to be preserved for

[42:39] recreation and conservation with the Virginia Outdoors Foundation whereas the

[42:44] Surry County Parks and Recreation campus exists to Officer County Citizens and

[42:49] visitors public recreational access and amenities whereas the Surry County Board

[42:54] of supervisor intends to improve existing and introduce new recreational

[43:00] amenities at the Surry County Parks and Recreation campus whereas the Surry

[43:04] County Board of supervisor supports the County's application for funding the

[43:09] Virginia Outdoors foundation for the protection of the grounds for open space

[43:14] conservation and Recreation for public use now therefore be resolved at the

[43:19] Surry County Board of Supervisors here about authorizers and an easement to be

[43:24] placed on Sarah County Parks and Recreation campus by the Virginia

[43:27] Outdoors Foundation upon Surry County be awarded a grant for open space

[43:33] Recreation and conservation fellow board members we do have the

[43:37] resolution 2023-02 for the designation of Surry

[43:42] County parks and recreation facility as an outdoor space to be preserved for

[43:46] recreation and conservation with the Virginia outdoor Foundation what is your

[43:51] pleasure on this resolution it's true yes a move that we are

[43:58] a move that we approved this resolution in 20 to

[44:03] 2023-02 the designation of Sarah County parks and recreation facility has an

[44:07] open space to be preserved for recreation and conservation with the

[44:11] Virginia Outdoors Foundation board members we have a motion on the floor

[44:15] can we have a second it's been properly moving second all in

[44:19] favor let it be known by the voting sign of aye

[44:22] aye opposed resolution has been adopted

[44:27] the next item before us goes back to our first order of business

[44:33] is that is a motion to prepare a resolution for Mrs little we just want

[44:39] to thank her tonight we want to give her something to take home with other than

[44:42] the plan so we want to entertain a motion from the board to prepare a

[44:48] resolution for Mrs little in regards to her service to the county

[44:54] Mr chair uh mood that we uh go ahead and get in the process of preparing a

[44:59] resolution for the honorable Miss Judy little

[45:01] you have a motion carry a second second problem over second all in favor let it

[45:06] be known by the voting sound of I pose Chris little will get her

[45:10] resolution thank you thank you so much thank you at this time we will turn the

[45:17] meeting over to our account administrator for her report yes thank

[45:21] you again Mr chairman and um I guess this is the night of recognition

[45:25] um so my first item that I'm going to ask the board to consider tonight we

[45:30] have another citizen that is assembled before us and we know this citizen is no

[45:36] stranger to his service in the community as well so at this time I am going to

[45:42] ask Mr Urban Jones who has served as Surry County's Parks and Recreation

[45:48] director but come forth to receive his honors on tonight

[45:57] foreign

[46:04] board members um at the request of Mrs little

[46:10] um we have a resolution Mr Jones to present to you on this evening

[46:16] um and this resolution reads that Mr Irvin A Jones was inducted into the

[46:22] Norfolk State University Athletic Association Hall of Fame class of 2023

[46:28] on February 17 2023 along with his Norfolk State College football teammates

[46:36] and six other athletes Sarah County Public Schools hired Mr

[46:42] Jones as a torrent officer in 1980 and a coach for track and field and football

[46:48] he remains a coach today totaling 43 years of service in the coaching

[46:57] field yes Applause

[47:02] [Applause]

[47:06] Mr Jones has also coached basketball for 19 years and remains in this position as

[47:12] well in 1983 Mr Jones was hired as a director of Parks and Recreation for

[47:19] Surry County and retired in 2017. he is currently teaching group exercise

[47:25] classes for seniors at Surrey Parks and Recreation as it stands today

[47:31] the Board of Supervisors of Surry County wishes to recognize this Milestone to

[47:37] Irving A Jones life and the many contributions that he has made to help

[47:42] make Surry County a better place for all citizens through his active

[47:46] participation in the fairs of the county now therefore be resolved that the Surry

[47:52] County Board of Supervisors hereby extends Hospital appreciation to you Mr

[47:58] Irvin A Jones for his Endeavors aimed at improving the quality of life for the

[48:03] citizens of the county Mr Jones and Mrs Jones I believe is here and I'm not sure

[48:09] of any other family members if you want to stand and be recognized as well

[48:13] because we know behind every good man there's a good woman

[48:17] [Applause] The Zone all you have done for Sarah

[48:30] County and what we know you will continue to do we present to you this

[48:34] resolution and gratitude for your service to this County

[48:42] [Applause] as long as you can you can have a remark

[48:47] if you would like to do so if you don't have one I Tell You Me and

[48:52] Mrs Jones got a thing

[48:57] thank you so much for this for this award I try to hold my emotions in it's

[49:01] been a great pleasure pleasure to be working here in Surry County

[49:05] and a little thing about it too when I graduated from Norwich State and I first

[49:10] worked in Isle of Wight County with the recreation department and then

[49:13] I was Dr Penn called me into the Surrey to to work at LP Jackson and start

[49:19] coaching there and then uh and the opportunity to come

[49:23] and work at the regulation Department and it's been a blessing to be working

[49:29] here in this County and then I have a blessed wife who's been my support

[49:34] and the special blessing like that said she for the first time she let me cook a

[49:39] few weeks ago on Valentine's Day but uh with all that mine and then a special

[49:43] thing too A lot of people don't know that William Dick Price who was was my

[49:47] coach in our state uh our family is originally from Surry

[49:53] County and he was his mother passed away when

[49:56] he was two years old and he never got to know a lot of his relatives in Surrey

[50:01] and he was due to come here for a big family Union which we always have a lot

[50:05] of them and Siri and uh but before that uh they one time they named William Dick

[50:11] Price Stadium out for him enough Stadium then he couldn't make for that reunion

[50:15] then the next year was coming to two weeks before that he passed away but he

[50:20] was an inspiration to to to me and and and for Syrian uh and

[50:25] he had he didn't plan for me to come to work to see everybody the Lord worked it

[50:29] out that way and I appreciate that I thank you all so much

[50:33] again I thank my wife and for for marrying me and let me cook one time

[50:38] Mr Jones before you go I see you have some mighty big rings on your hand how

[50:43] many state championships in Syria did you take part in five state

[50:47] championships that deserves a handcraft thank you Mr Jones

[50:57] at this time I will ask Ms Chaplin to come

[51:03] Economic Development update if you're ready Miss chaplain

[51:09] so much members of the board Ms Rollins

[51:15] certainly appreciate Mr chairman having me here this evening

[51:20] um we're going to talk about a little bit of what's happening at the Surrey

[51:22] Marketplace It is Well underway it is an exciting project and I know that many of

[51:29] you have been questioning about it and we've we've been working on this for

[51:33] several months and right now the concrete floors have been cut open and

[51:37] much of the piping and conduit has already been in there been replaced the

[51:42] bathrooms are underway flooring was picked last week the ceilings and

[51:48] lighting are almost complete with the LED lights it's looking great looking

[51:51] bright in there and remember again I've told you this it is an old building so

[51:57] there's been some surprises that has happened with some rot and all of that

[52:01] has been replaced and they're doing a great job and identifying issues from

[52:06] the renovation and repairing those as we move forward

[52:09] um

[52:12] the the requirements for this building are

[52:16] food grade requirements so of course all of those are being done to spec the

[52:20] steel framing is almost complete uh and and when I say still framing it's like

[52:25] the studs but they're actually steel uh the old HVAC units are gone and the new

[52:31] units are all in and they're really kind of uh efficient units they're the the

[52:35] large ones that are outside that are kind of The Oblong rather than the big

[52:39] square units very new technology that is supposed to have high efficiency so

[52:45] it'll be great for the store power and electrical systems in the building are

[52:49] being upgraded to the new code standards and of course the electrical permit came

[52:54] in last week so that is moving along some of the areas that have been open

[52:57] can now be closed up uh the increased power capacity with the electrical

[53:03] upgrades all the refrigeration and freezer

[53:06] equipment will be coming to the store in the next couple of weeks after the

[53:11] floors are actually done in the front part of the store when you go into the

[53:15] front entryway the back doors it was determined today the glass doors will

[53:20] still be a back entry there so I know many people are familiar with the

[53:23] building um

[53:26] the areas where the wood had been exposed on

[53:31] the outside the soffits have been replaced there a lot of the areas on the

[53:35] outside because it's an old building had poor drainage areas all of that is being

[53:40] repaired so it's not just the interior it's the exterior as well

[53:43] contracts are making weekly contractors are making weekly progress on this and

[53:49] pretty much every single week we're having a meeting with Eda and staff and

[53:53] bringing things forward with that with that project so hopefully in the next

[53:58] two to three weeks you'll start seeing more and more and yeah you'll notice the

[54:03] windows are all boarded up we want it to be a surprise but I can assure you

[54:08] things are moving in addition to that uh one of the things

[54:12] that we're working on many of you have heard about the business grants that the

[54:16] Eda is offering we've had several applicants for that and we are booked

[54:20] with meetings to review and talk with the folks and answer any questions

[54:24] through uh Mr Howell with the Eda Hal Godfrey sorry about that and talking

[54:33] to people answering questions about the applications but we've had some good

[54:37] candidates for that as well so continuing to work to enhance our parks

[54:42] and properties that we have to offer Economic Development solutions for

[54:46] companies that may be looking for a new build and this year we are excited that

[54:52] the site that's over that that actually touches on 460 we preliminarily will be

[54:58] working on some phase ones for that and some other

[55:03] standards that are required to you know be able to attract some Industries happy

[55:07] to answer any questions you may have in regards to Economic Development

[55:12] um anything from the court

[55:18] Mr sure yes let's go um can you give us an estimated opening

[55:25] date for the market uh I can give you an estimated

[55:29] construction date will be completion of construction will be late spring and the

[55:36] the opening would be shortly thereafter and again barring no surprises that we

[55:44] run into because we had gotten a couple of delays as it relates to the wood that

[55:49] was rotted and some of the soffit and you know additional construction that

[55:53] had to be done because when they've opened up things they've had uh hidden

[55:57] damage that they didn't realize was there when they initially looked at the

[56:01] building but that's you know a renovation rather than a new build

[56:07] are there any any other questions for Mrs chaplain in the champion

[56:12] question if you don't mind yes Mr Speaker excuse me for my ignorance but

[56:15] if there's a um like a blueprint or something

[56:18] if um we could see exactly how the inside may look inside the store that

[56:24] they're talking about tomorrow yes all of the plans are there located on site

[56:30] and if you have an interest in in coming over I'm happy to meet you there and

[56:35] actually all of the plans for everything the plumbing plans the uh construction

[56:41] plans everything and it shows you you know the walls and everything that's

[56:45] there and we keep them inside the store just in case

[56:48] someone wants to come back from Administration or you folks happy

[56:53] thank you for that you're certainly welcome that would include a little tour

[56:56] possibly

[57:01] get that out

[57:07] Miss Chaplin okay um if there's no other questions from

[57:11] the board why you're standing um there is another item that I may get

[57:15] your assistance and touch on as pertains to Economic Development as Workforce

[57:20] Development being a component of Economic Development and I know that

[57:24] she's back there probably smiling but I just cannot help for asking her to just

[57:28] come forth and just have a seat up front for a second uh Miss Linda Golston

[57:32] Workforce Development and Mr Harrison if you have any comments please share but

[57:37] board members I had this awesome opportunity today to go down to Virginia

[57:43] excuse me to uh Dominion power training facility now if you are recall board

[57:49] members last year I'm doing the budget process you know it's our role to sort

[57:54] of kind of help you all take a landscape of the community and kind of see some of

[57:58] the things and recommend policies to you all

[58:01] um that's consistent with some of the goals and objectives that you all had

[58:05] asked us to do so on last year I presented to the board the fact that we

[58:09] need to think about Workforce Development in the county and the fact

[58:13] that we need to pay attention that we do have dominion facilities here and the

[58:17] fact that we have a wonderful student population in Surry County and how we

[58:21] can connect those opportunities so you all thank you Board of Supervisors for

[58:25] agreeing to put some funding in our current Year's budget to help with a

[58:30] Workforce Development program whereby we can connect with some businesses like

[58:34] Dominion so today we had the opportunity I've I've told Miss Golston and asked

[58:40] her it's an opportunity to execute in a program today I had the opportunity to

[58:45] go and witness eight students eight uh from Sarah County High School the

[58:51] assistant principal Mr Pope was also there so I'm sure that he shares my

[58:56] comments along with the school board and Dr Sims but that was one of eight

[59:00] students uh all 18 year olds from surikana high school who have gone

[59:05] through a uh four-day training program with dominion and they talked about how

[59:11] much they had learned so much by this opportunity for them to be able to go

[59:16] there and see and witness the various operations and procedures and dominion

[59:21] and the fact that they are now aware that there is opportunity right here in

[59:26] Syria whether or not they choose to go to college or whether or not they chose

[59:30] to seek a different career path um their eyes were open and they said

[59:34] their minds were open and there was so much appreciative of the opportunity to

[59:40] take a part in this internship program um I'm sorry I probably could go on on

[59:45] and on because I really got goosebumps and I was tickle ping but I want to give

[59:48] Miss Golson an opportunity even though I didn't prep you ahead of time but if you

[59:53] just want to say something board members um this is something that she executed

[59:57] with uh Dave Zimmerman and uh again just some wonderful opportunity so miss

[1:00:03] ghosts and they just spoke so highly of Surry County and Miss ghosted in her

[1:00:07] work to help bring this internship program so can we give her a hand please

[1:00:12] foreign

[1:00:17] board members I would just like to thank Ms Rollins for the vision and thank the

[1:00:23] board for the funding to be able to bring it all together I contacted

[1:00:28] um two of the gentlemen at Dave Zimmerman and told him what I wanted to

[1:00:32] do and immediately they just jumped on and we were having weekly meetings the

[1:00:36] school system the kids were excited when I went to meet with them I asked

[1:00:42] them what would make them want to go there and they said to find

[1:00:45] opportunities in Siri and then one of the young men said to get paid but it

[1:00:51] was they were so excited their ads were opened up and they said they all I think

[1:00:56] all eight of them said they felt the closeness yes I work in of what they saw

[1:01:01] and they saw families and it was one young lady who was going to school for

[1:01:05] Society for psychology and she said she had changed that and was thinking about

[1:01:10] going to to be a painter so I just want to thank everyone for the

[1:01:15] opportunity that we will be able to Grant to the students and they have

[1:01:19] already gave us another date that they want to continue to grow this program to

[1:01:24] expose the kids to see what they can do right here in sarri County absolutely

[1:01:28] foreign

[1:01:34] and I I cannot help also to say that they said that they were very surprised

[1:01:38] of the diversity um that they saw down that dominion and

[1:01:42] all I'm going to say is is women history month and a lot of women in in higher

[1:01:47] positions work at Dominion so they was very happy to see that

[1:01:52] um so they talked about the diversity and they talked about

[1:01:55] um just a whole array of things that I'm sure that would make you all proud as

[1:01:59] well board members and citizens so thank you again for that Mr Harrison you any

[1:02:04] comments no you all have said it all amazing okay

[1:02:08] great job

[1:02:11] thank you um board members the only other thing I

[1:02:15] have um as you can see on number two on that item there was a mid-year Financial

[1:02:19] Outlook but we did move that to our work session on this evening um as you all

[1:02:25] know that we are in the midst of our budget process and I can say that I look

[1:02:29] forward um to working with the board and helping

[1:02:32] develop a budget that we would be presenting

[1:02:35] um to the board on the first Thursday in April

[1:02:38] um my email address is M Rollins at surrycountyba.gov if there's anyone have

[1:02:44] any uh questions in the comments as we are preparing for that budget process

[1:02:48] please feel free to email me those comments or questions

[1:02:53] um other than that Mr chairman we do need to go back and take action on one

[1:02:59] new business item okay board members we

[1:03:04] fail to I failed to get a motion onto table the item number one of our

[1:03:11] public hearing in regards to the

[1:03:24] not my mistake number two on the new business Marina management agreement we

[1:03:30] need a motion to table that until our next meeting

[1:03:37] been probably moving second all in favor let it be known by the voting sound of

[1:03:41] aye aye opposed motion miscarried thank you we will now open up our

[1:03:47] meeting for public comments and we have first

[1:03:52] public comments Dr Daniel I want to say your name right I don't

[1:03:57] know if it's a wild pea Shea or shop one of the two Shea all right

[1:04:06] ladies and gentlemen Dr Daniel Shea Surry County resident for about five

[1:04:11] weeks now and this place is very very special

[1:04:15] um over our year building our home and visiting the county we've had so many

[1:04:19] positive welcoming experiences from residents and County officials

[1:04:23] I'd like to thank the citizens and business owners I've met for being so

[1:04:26] kind and helpful on people like rose I talk to people on the ferry it gives me

[1:04:30] 20 minutes to meet people I've never meet before and you know if you bumper

[1:04:33] stickers offend me they'll find out what you're thinking bumper stickers inspire

[1:04:36] me I'll find out what you're thinking too but people like rose who heads of

[1:04:40] County trash pickup Dave who brings his expertise from Hampton Roads Vineyards

[1:04:43] to my backyard and current nine Vines I'm no competition for them

[1:04:48] um cupcake and sandwich shop owners and roadside standowners and so many more

[1:04:52] wonderful people I've had positive and helpful

[1:04:55] experiences with your inspectors people like Matt Westheimer and Miss Francis

[1:04:58] Bailey post office is federal but I'd like to thank postmaster Ms Patricia

[1:05:02] Sims and Lele and Charlene who have all been so kind and helpful

[1:05:06] and I've had the pleasure of meeting the County Attorney Ms Lola Perkins

[1:05:09] who is very friendly and clearly eager to make a positive impact so I look

[1:05:14] forward to getting to know all of you better as we spend more time here so as

[1:05:18] of this moment I'm too new to comment on the comprehensive plan or much of

[1:05:21] anything else political here I do know that what Drew us to Surry County was

[1:05:26] its rural character and the people and I'm hoping to see our rural friendly way

[1:05:31] of life preserved and I hear elements of that as you discuss the comprehensive

[1:05:36] plan so thank you all for being very thoughtful with that as far as

[1:05:41] preserving our way of life as Rural and friendly I know I support that my family

[1:05:46] supports that I'm sure many others will as well so thank you for your time and

[1:05:49] for your service to Surry County I look forward to getting to know all of you

[1:05:52] better thank you

[1:05:59] next we have Miss Fran bonds

[1:06:09] good evening I am Fran Barnes from Claremont history I will say to Dr Shea

[1:06:14] I think you've been to our Historical Society

[1:06:18] so do come there because we're right down the road here and that's what I

[1:06:23] just wanted to make sure I know all of you receive our newsletter hopefully if

[1:06:28] we didn't goof on any addresses uh I did Mr bird I learned you were missing but

[1:06:32] Miss Dawson took care of you I don't know if that's I'm too busy and I miss

[1:06:36] things but we are having a program on Monday March the 13th and it's in the

[1:06:40] newsletter but just wanted to make sure the public knew that this is going to be

[1:06:44] really neat this is a Miss I'm not sure he's a doctor and I want to make sure of

[1:06:48] that Mr Andrew Andrew Andre Taylor I'll get it he is an oral historian and he

[1:06:54] has been hired at William and Mary in I think in the year of 20 in 2020

[1:06:59] he came as the uh the pandemic was going on and I think he was somewhat Limited

[1:07:04] in what he could do then but he's rolling as I understand he is going to

[1:07:08] talk to us all of us it's free to the public although we're going to start

[1:07:11] putting out a donation basket because it takes money to do some of these things

[1:07:17] um but he's going to talk about doing or taking oral histories especially from

[1:07:22] our elders here that have I have a friend who's 92 and he is he's very

[1:07:26] familiar with Claremont Manor and the days when Melissa Rogers the movie star

[1:07:31] was there and I want to get those stories from him he's told me I need to

[1:07:35] write them down and so we're looking forward to this

[1:07:39] he's going to tell us how to do that why to do that I think we all know that

[1:07:43] um and um just give us some ideas and then we

[1:07:46] hope to do this and this kind of came about because we went over to the old

[1:07:50] school African-American School in Claremont and we realized there's a lot

[1:07:55] of stories there and we don't know them and then a lady came in of Surrey

[1:07:59] resident and she said tell me about loafers oak loner's oak loafers Oak

[1:08:04] we nobody knew much about that and what's the story and why was that name

[1:08:07] that and then another person was looking at the records that Women Marry and saw

[1:08:11] that Bowen the late Bohannon now but and Hannah had stories over there from his

[1:08:17] many many family histories and so I think it's a great idea to do this and

[1:08:21] that's this is coming on Monday March 13th and it is at the parks and rec our

[1:08:26] programs always start at seven Mr Taylor says he will come early so if you want

[1:08:30] to come into 6 15 of course Mr Rollins I got to have the building open at 6 15

[1:08:37] and and he will talk to people ahead of time and I told him we would have him on

[1:08:41] the nine o'clock Ferry because I didn't want him to sit an hour he said he did

[1:08:45] not make wine mine waiting till 10 if somebody had questions and want to talk

[1:08:49] to him so it's going to be a great program and we welcome everyone I want

[1:08:54] to add real quickly that I work with Ervin Jones for 10 years and Pony

[1:08:59] Baseball and it's sad to think of all the people who worked in the pony

[1:09:04] baseball here that have passed away but I'm sure Irvin was really glad when my

[1:09:08] youngest son went to high school and he didn't have to put up with me anymore

[1:09:11] because we we found umpires he marked the feels he is truly a a inspiration to

[1:09:18] all and the kids all know him because he we just did Pony Baseball for 10 years

[1:09:23] and and I appreciate him and he tells me he's a great cook but I don't know about

[1:09:27] that

[1:09:30] thank you next we have Mr Trevor Brinkman

[1:09:41] uh Mr chairman board members County Administration citizens and guests my

[1:09:45] name is Trevor Brinkman carsley District I'm a veteran Surry County High School

[1:09:50] teacher and I'm here to speak in support of the school board's proposed budget

[1:09:54] which asks you to commit to a process which will begin to work to restoring

[1:09:58] equity and transparency to the payment of all teachers

[1:10:02] your support of this proposed budget will finally begin to correct systemic

[1:10:06] problems which have disproportionately harmed dedicated veteran teachers

[1:10:11] all of you support paying teachers at the published salary scale you need to

[1:10:16] justify to your constituents why we are spending more money on schools in a time

[1:10:20] of declining enrollment enrollment is disconnected from the

[1:10:24] disparity that unequally impacts chronically underpaid staff

[1:10:28] I plan to explain to you the origins and impact of this opaque inequity

[1:10:32] during the recession of 2008-2009 the schools were asked to cut their budget

[1:10:36] it is a complicated story but the solution of freezing of pay skill steps

[1:10:41] meant that the staff may get bonuses or mandated percentage raises but they

[1:10:45] could not expect pay scale step increases

[1:10:48] however published pay scales continued to increase annually and in an effort to

[1:10:53] recruit new teachers veteran staff were not paid at these publicly stated

[1:10:58] amounts new hires were paid at published scale but veteran teacher contracts were

[1:11:03] adjusted to Frozen rates and have varied by teacher

[1:11:07] here's an example of three veteran teachers who have all taught at Surrey

[1:11:10] for the last 14 years one has 22 years of experience and is

[1:11:16] underpaid by 10 steps another teacher has 15 years in Surrey but is underpaid

[1:11:21] by nine steps a 12-year veteran is underpaid by eight steps

[1:11:26] why are these teachers paid off the published pay scale by different numbers

[1:11:30] why is the teacher with the most experience hurt more than his colleagues

[1:11:35] burning these chronically underpaid veteran teachers back to the Equal Pay

[1:11:39] is an important investment in the future of Surry County schools these dedicated

[1:11:43] teachers have earned less while saving the county money for years only to see

[1:11:47] new hires making more money than them I believe all County agencies should be

[1:11:52] transparent and pay at their published scales

[1:11:56] and to treat all employees in an equitable manner

[1:11:59] I'm also upset that the people who have educated my three children and devoted

[1:12:04] years to Surrey schools are chronically underpaid in a manner that lacks

[1:12:07] transparency why do teachers who have taught in Surrey for a long time get

[1:12:12] paid less than newer less experienced teachers

[1:12:16] I am a teacher and I love my job I'm currently the county teacher of the

[1:12:21] year I have taught a dozen subjects coach soccer collaborated on grants

[1:12:26] invested in my own education to provide new and better opportunities for my

[1:12:31] students and given Surrey students countless hours outside of the classroom

[1:12:36] here are some facts my actual step is 22. I am paid at step

[1:12:43] 12. that is an under compensation of 9138 dollars compared to the published

[1:12:52] pay scale that's nineteen percent less than the county is saying that they're

[1:12:56] paying me that's just this year

[1:12:59] when I was at step 20 I was paid at step 14. that was a loss of thirty eight

[1:13:05] hundred dollars when I was at step 17 I was paid at step

[1:13:09] 15 and under compensation of one thousand eight hundred dollars

[1:13:22] deserves some Applause from the

[1:13:28] I was getting ready to call y'all the congregation amen

[1:13:32] thank you for your service to students in Sarah County

[1:13:36] at this time there were comments

[1:13:41] for the bird I want to say congratulations Miss little for your

[1:13:45] service to our County I also want to say congratulations to Coach Jones for all

[1:13:49] your service thanks thank you Miss Barnes for bringing up the Pony Baseball

[1:13:52] because I used to ride with Miss Barnes plenty of times in that station wagon

[1:13:57] and uh also remember uh Coach Jones umpire behind me while I was playing

[1:14:00] catcher so thank you for that your service um Mr Jones I want to say keep

[1:14:05] up with great work Miss Golson for all that you do for our students and

[1:14:08] connecting them with opportunities for internship opportunities and career

[1:14:12] exploration continue to do that uh kudos for that and also Mr Brinkman I want to

[1:14:18] thank you for your connect uh your service to our County and um also I want

[1:14:22] to say thank you for advocating for salary Equity because it is important uh

[1:14:26] and I'm a huge advocate for uh for educators so uh you know continue to do

[1:14:30] what you do and hopefully we can uh we can work towards progress in that area

[1:14:34] and again thank you Mr Rollins thank you all for your

[1:14:38] your service to our County

[1:14:42] thank you thank you Mr bird we we have again Mr

[1:14:48] Drury signed up uh to speak on and the way he sounded we missed him he

[1:14:54] wanted to come back for public comments so we'll open it back up for Mr jury for

[1:14:57] three minutes

[1:15:04] we read it very thoroughly no problem sir so thank you for recognizing Mr Jen

[1:15:08] and forward this evening I just want to talk

[1:15:13] briefly um

[1:15:16] in the 1990s I had the opportunity to um into the light to be in the corporate

[1:15:21] world in the business world and it allowed me the opportunity to visit

[1:15:25] communities and Community meetings sometimes as the applicant from from

[1:15:30] Canada right on down through middle North America on down into South America

[1:15:37] and the reason I bring this up is I saw a lot of rural areas and Villages

[1:15:41] attempting to survive just like we are here in Surrey and they continued to to

[1:15:47] do so and of course we compete against them in a way but it's not a issue

[1:15:52] that's just here it's it's everywhere and what I saw what the successful ones

[1:15:58] were actively involving their citizens in that government and advocating for

[1:16:02] the citizens and I bring this up because we citizens

[1:16:06] living south of the Black Water I'm not sure why that Quirk went when they drew

[1:16:09] the Surry County Line but they came out of the swamp and

[1:16:12] locked us off but for the ones that live south of the

[1:16:18] black water we've got two energy projects going on

[1:16:22] that at the present and field we don't have anyone advocating for us

[1:16:29] one I don't know maybe you'll have it maybe not we call it the locals we call

[1:16:34] it the Columbia Gas Line it's the big natural gas line it's two

[1:16:38] lines that go through southern Surrey on down to Norfolk I think maybe it's owned

[1:16:44] by TRC or something at this at this point

[1:16:47] it's an existing gas line and they've proposed a new 24 inch gas line uh going

[1:16:53] down that same easement the first one was put in the 1950s and they're

[1:16:58] upgrading it to a 24 inch one part of it is they're going to double

[1:17:03] the size of the easement for construction

[1:17:06] is happening now um

[1:17:09] and I don't mean to over complicate this but

[1:17:14] the citizens lab we are waking up in the mornings and seeing people going across

[1:17:18] our property and I call it trespassing and we have to go out there and say who

[1:17:22] are you and what are you doing and they say they tell us and but anyway we try

[1:17:28] to be polite a lot of activity is going on over that

[1:17:32] and I'm going to meet with the representatives Saturday to try to

[1:17:36] figure out what the heck is is going on are they talking about starting

[1:17:40] construction on that um

[1:17:43] they tell me probably in 2024 and uh not indicating you can understand when

[1:17:50] you've got a 300 foot swath going across the fields it's going to be very

[1:17:53] disruptive to us landowners as well as the farmers in the county so so

[1:17:58] hopefully the farmers and all of us will be compensated I just want to make you

[1:18:02] all aware of that I'm not sure what local government officials can do other

[1:18:07] than tell them to be nice to us and tell us

[1:18:11] when they're coming on our property and especially seriously especially on

[1:18:15] Sundays you may have people on your property so I think I've got a good wife

[1:18:20] from Texas that's gotten them straight on that so uh I think they're they're a

[1:18:23] little bit more polite to us now so the other one is the Align methane

[1:18:28] project and this is very confusing for people because we've got two entities

[1:18:32] working in the same area so you never know who to call when you see people on

[1:18:37] your property um

[1:18:40] as you all know presently I'm contesting this the legal notice of this project as

[1:18:45] a citizen an attorney in the DiMera hearing it has been delayed and I'm sure

[1:18:49] miss Perkins has kept you all informed of that and I think it's late April or

[1:18:53] something is when that's going to come back

[1:18:55] what's that three minutes is up yes sir well thank you so much

[1:19:01] all I want to say is that the project is progressing over there and again we just

[1:19:07] don't feel like we have anyone over that advocating for us and we just wish we

[1:19:11] could change this and thank you

[1:19:20] continuing with with uh the gender board comments left off of Mr bird would go to

[1:19:26] Mr Pierce

[1:19:30] thank you chair uh good evening to everyone thank everyone for coming out

[1:19:34] tonight I think everyone who's listening to us at home I just want to continue

[1:19:38] with the thank yous I guess this means a lot of acknowledgments so it seems like

[1:19:42] we have been giving great news all night so I'm going to continue that uh by also

[1:19:46] congratulations

[1:19:49] for making history right here in Sarah County Mr William Stafford thank you

[1:19:54] guys for your updates and everything with that Coach Jones congratulations

[1:19:58] man funny content real quick story about Coach Jones uh Coach Jones coached me uh

[1:20:03] in school uh we won the state championship together uh for his uh

[1:20:06] state championship in uh basketball at Sarah County high but also too I share

[1:20:11] this story of some of my students how I tell my old coach told us a story one

[1:20:16] time that uh he was playing football you know you need 11 players to play but

[1:20:20] evidently I think some players got sick or something and they only had eight so

[1:20:24] Coach Jones said he had to hike the ball uh catch it through it and catch it so

[1:20:29] he played at the center the quarterback and receiver so uh you know to say that

[1:20:34] to hear that he won uh was inducted in the Hall of Fame in Norfolk State and I

[1:20:38] was always questioning that story but hearing that actually I I think you were

[1:20:41] probably right coach so give you that one but yeah but again congratulations

[1:20:45] man um but moving on to Ms ghost and I

[1:20:49] really appreciate what you do for our local community uh

[1:20:53] jobs we understand that's a hard task not only locally but nationally I

[1:20:57] understand a lot of people don't want to work like they use so I don't know

[1:21:00] what's going on it must be something in the water but uh hopefully hopefully get

[1:21:04] that resolved right here in our in our local community Cherry County by just

[1:21:07] being pioneers and incorporating that in our youth right there and where it all

[1:21:12] starts I believe right there in our school system so continue that good work

[1:21:15] and I did hear a lot of students uh talk about that so it is a great great

[1:21:19] accomplishment for you and your staff um I want to remind everyone in order

[1:21:25] for us to work together we need to come out to these Community engagements I

[1:21:28] believe we have one coming up on uh Monday March 6th so just remind everyone

[1:21:32] to come out there to voice your uh input tell us the staff here in the in our

[1:21:38] government center exactly what you guys are looking forward to see so that way

[1:21:42] we can kind of meet on a common ground to see how we can work together so again

[1:21:46] that is uh Monday March 6 at 6 00 pm at the uh Sarah practicing rank so please

[1:21:53] come out there and support that please [Music]

[1:21:56] um almost done uh Mr chair I almost

[1:21:59] promised uh last but not least uh I want to um thank you all everyone who gave

[1:22:04] out their comments today uh Mr Brinkman thank you for all your your hard work

[1:22:08] and due diligence I can bounce for Mr Brinkman he's a hard worker and he's

[1:22:11] really dedicating what he does to our students here in our um our community so

[1:22:15] keep up the good work on that um and as well as Miss Barnes uh Dr Shea

[1:22:19] welcome um the what what um uh District are you

[1:22:23] and Dr said don't know all right we're gonna have to find that

[1:22:28] out before we leave today okay so yeah but welcome

[1:22:31] huh okay

[1:22:35] all right we'll we'll we'll figure we'll figure that out but we'll work welcome

[1:22:41] welcome and uh Mr Jerry thank you for your your feedback uh and um and

[1:22:45] everyone else too and lastly and this I promise this is it uh you know um as a

[1:22:50] farmer you know we're about to get cranked up pretty soon uh in these uh in

[1:22:53] the highways I know I'm excited to get back in the tractor so I just ask this

[1:22:57] uh the citizens just to be patient you know as far as the farmers out there

[1:23:01] trying to get to their fields um you know we want to get off the road as soon

[1:23:05] as quickly as possible so we just asked you guys just be patient understand

[1:23:09] there's a lot of safety concerns when we're driving this heavy and Wide

[1:23:12] Equipment down the road so just be mindful of that and thank you for the

[1:23:15] time chair thank you thank you Mr Pierce uh Mr

[1:23:21] Calhoun thank you chair um I just I'm not going

[1:23:25] to go through all the accolades that have been said I I um absolutely applaud

[1:23:31] everybody who um who's been brought up today Ms little

[1:23:35] especially you with your number of years of service

[1:23:39] um I would just like to again welcome Dr

[1:23:42] Shea and then uh and the others who spoke tonight

[1:23:47] again as I've always said at every meeting I ask that you please invite

[1:23:52] your neighbors your friends your family to come to these meetings listen speak

[1:23:57] up and and give us some support um in in the growth of of Surry County

[1:24:04] just ask that you all do that and and I appreciate all y'all being here those on

[1:24:09] television I wish all a great evening thank you

[1:24:13] thank you Miss Kyle Mrs little

[1:24:17] um I sort of like um Mr Calhoun I am very appreciative of all the um thank

[1:24:26] yous for me tonight it was a surprise I don't want anybody to think I was not

[1:24:31] surprised I was very surprised and shocked actually but I also just

[1:24:36] want to say thank you to my board members and to those who have spoken

[1:24:41] tonight we hear you some things we can accomplish some things we cannot

[1:24:46] accomplish but we do appreciate you sharing those things that are of concern

[1:24:52] to you we want to welcome the gentleman to survey our home here in on the James

[1:24:59] River we love story as I have already outstated Surrey has been my home I was

[1:25:06] born in Surrey and moved away but came back and have been able to be fortunate

[1:25:12] enough to serve the county so then miss Golston oh my

[1:25:18] um Mrs goston is an excellent Workforce person she has worked for our

[1:25:23] County for quite a while and done a great job

[1:25:26] she fought a long time to get those students to go to Dominion

[1:25:31] she didn't understand why but now she understands it did finally happen so

[1:25:36] thank you Miss Goldston and we do have some new employees we're

[1:25:40] going to thank them for being here and to my family thank you for taking out

[1:25:45] the time to come out and and for keeping it a secret believe me they didn't say a

[1:25:51] word and they normally do so thank you for that

[1:25:56] um I love the county love you all all citizens and we're I mean you know you

[1:26:02] have decisions to make and those decisions we have to make them based on

[1:26:06] sound judgment and what we feel like is better for the community so thank you

[1:26:11] all for coming out tonight and be safe when you leave here God bless

[1:26:16] thank you madam Vice chair I would like to say Dental to all uh comments that

[1:26:22] have been made tonight that's applicable and we think the citizens for being out

[1:26:27] tonight this is an exciting time to be serving the citizens of Surry County we

[1:26:33] have a lot of irons in the fire the board is contemplating a number of

[1:26:37] things to make Syria all the better than what it is I brag about Syria where I go

[1:26:42] I think this is the best County in the world

[1:26:45] but we want to do even more to make it even better so I thank you all for

[1:26:49] taking the time out and as uh honorable Mr Pierce stated uh there's a Community

[1:26:54] Action meeting on Monday night please come out and we're going to have a

[1:26:58] presentation for the citizens to see and to get input from the citizens as we

[1:27:03] Endeavor to improve the best County in the world so thank you all for coming

[1:27:08] out tonight and there is one item before we

[1:27:12] leave the board comments that I will bring up and that is on yesterday

[1:27:17] evening I believe it was the passing of Miss Gene Stewart who's a volunteer

[1:27:23] member of the Denver volunteer fire department so we as a board would like

[1:27:28] to have a moment of silence and honor of citizens who gave her civic duty to this

[1:27:34] County

[1:27:44] thank you we pray the strength of the steward family at this time

[1:27:49] board members you have before you are reports one coming from uh

[1:27:55] Blackwater Regional Library the director's report and we have the

[1:28:00] billing officials report are there any questions on the reports that we

[1:28:04] received

[1:28:10] if there be none we do have our January investment letter

[1:28:15] are there any questions on our investment letter

[1:28:20] if there be none we will move now to closed session we'll ask our legal

[1:28:23] counsel to give us the code section that we may go into closed session

[1:28:27] thank you Mr chairman required today is to convene a closed

[1:28:32] session pursuant to one Virginia code section 2.2 3711 A1 to discuss

[1:28:40] appointments to The Economic Development Authority and Virginia code section 2.2

[1:28:46] 3711 A8 to consult with legal counsel regarding obligations related to

[1:28:53] management of County property located in the Surrey district and Mr chairman I

[1:28:58] will need a motion and a second we have a motion to enter in closed session

[1:29:02] have a motion of a second second problem moving second all in favor let it be

[1:29:07] known by the voting sign of aye aye motion is carried we will now enter into

[1:29:11] closed session

[1:29:20] foreign

[1:31:34] Mr chairman I moved that we would appoint Mr Howell to the um Eda

[1:31:40] you have a motion do we have a second

[1:31:46] it's been probably moving second it's done with roll call vote for Mr Trenton

[1:31:50] Howell uh Mr Pierce all right let's go home

[1:31:57] Mrs little all right Mr Burger

[1:32:01] aye I wrote its eye as well

[1:32:05] due to the vote need to we have no need to carry this

[1:32:10] last name for the apartment Mr chair can I make a comment please yes Ms Cowan I

[1:32:16] just like to make my comment I

[1:32:20] this vacancy was in my district and I was not

[1:32:26] ified or asked or anything about Mr Howell you all knew my position last

[1:32:32] month in the meeting

[1:32:36] requesting Miss Diane cheat to be on the board

[1:32:39] and all of a sudden I feel like I've been ostracized because she's in my

[1:32:46] district and representing my district and and I and I'm promoting her to be on

[1:32:53] the Eda

[1:32:57] it's pretty sad that you don't support my efforts and my thoughts of who that I

[1:33:03] would like to be on the Eda board and and even have a comment regarding that

[1:33:09] issue and going behind my back I feel and not even talk to me about it thank

[1:33:16] you very much

[1:33:23] are there any other matters of business that entertainment board at this time

[1:33:29] if not the board would entertain a motion for adjournment until our

[1:33:34] move we do not have a date until further

[1:33:38] notice except my April 6th April 6th day we have a motion could have second

[1:33:47] been probably moving second all in favor let it be known by the voting Center

[1:33:50] most caring the meeting is a turn

[1:33:57] foreign foreign

Board Of Supervisors Meeting March 2, 2023 Final

Transcript