AT THE REGULAR MEETING OF THE RAPPAHANNOCK COUNTY BOARD OF SUPERVISORS HELD ON THE 5th DAY OF DECEMBER, TWO THOUSAND AND FIVE AT TWO O'CLOCK P.M. AT THE COURTHOUSE IN WASHINGTON, VIRGINIA

Present	Present	Absent
Charles K Estes, Chairman Robert P Anderson, V-Chm Roger A Welch S. Bryant Lee Ronald L. Frazier	John McCarthy, Co Adm. Peter H. Luke, Co Attorney Diane Bruce, Clerk	None

Chairman Estes called the meeting to order. All members were present.

MINUTES: On motion of Mr. Lee, seconded by Mr. Anderson, the minutes of the November 7, 2005 meeting were unanimously approved. The vote was recorded as follows: AYE: Estes, Anderson, Welch, Lee, Frazier. NAY: None.

AGENDA: On motion of Mr. Welch, seconded by Mr. Anderson, the revised Final Agenda was unanimously adopted with the following amendments which were made due to inclement weather: (1) The Tier III public hearing is continued until December 12, 2005 at 7:00 p.m. and (2) the Salvano application is continued until the January 4, 2006 meeting. The vote was recorded as follows: AYE: Estes, Anderson, Welch, Lee, Frazier. NAY: None.

SCHOOLS: Superintendent Robert Chappell reported as follows:

(1) Distributed December calendar and newsletter.

(2) Cafeteria roof is being repaired but the warranty may be in jeopardy.

(3) Renovations: The School Board is looking at alternatives for a band room because costs have exceeded earlier estimates. Cost estimates to convert the fitness room to a band room are $150,000. The School Board will need $28,000 in additional funds to meet that cost. Superintendent Chappell requested the Supervisors to appropriate that amount from any unspent FY2006 funds that are returned to the General Fund at the end of this fiscal year.

On motion of Mr. Lee, seconded by Mr. Welch, the Board voted unanimously to allot $28,000 from any unspent FY06 school funds to the School Board to apply toward construction of a band room. The following recorded vote was taken. AYE: Estes, Anderson, Welch, Lee, Frazier. NAY: None.

PUBLIC COMMENT:

Clyde Humphry, Stonewall-Hawthorne District, read from a letter regarding runaway taxes. He suggested that (1) the School Budget process is broken and (2) no contracting project should ever be commenced if only one bid is received. (Letter with papers of meeting.)

Aline Johnson, School Board member from Piedmont District, gave thanks and praise to the Supervisors for their support of the schools.

Phil Irwin urged the Board to support the proposed Tier III designation of the Hazel River.

There being no others to speak, the Chairman closed the public comment section of the agenda.

OLD BUSINESS:

Personal Property Tax Relief Program (PPTRP): The General Assembly has adopted an Act to cut off growth of the car tax relief program; consequently the county's ordinance will have to be amended. The county has the option of adopting either a Specific Rate Method (SRM) or a Reduced Rate Method (RRM).

Mr. Luke explained that the RRM is very complicated, requiring different rates per vehicle. The SRM is simpler, exempting a specific amount and allows for exempting vehicles of $1000 or less. The SRM rate would be the same on all cars, regardless of value. Values above $20,000 are not subject to relief regardless of the method adopted.

On motion of Mr. Lee, seconded by Mr. Welch, the Board voted unanimously to advertise the Specific Rate Method (SRM) for public hearing at the January 2006 meeting. The following recorded vote was taken. AYE: Estes, Anderson, Welch, Lee, Frazier. NAY: None.

Six-Year Secondary Road Plan: The secondary road public hearing was held in November. David Cubbage, Resident Engineer, explained that the proposed resolution includes all changes suggested at the public hearing in November. On motion of Mr. Anderson, seconded by Mr. Welch, the Board voted unanimously to approve a Resolution to Adopt the 2006-2007 thru 2011-2012 Rappahannock County Secondary Six-Year Plan and the 2006-2007 Fiscal Year Budget. (Attached hereto as Exhibit A and made a part of these minutes.) The following recorded vote was taken. AYE: Estes, Anderson, Welch, Lee, Frazier. NAY: None.

Other Roads Discussion: Mr. Welch reported that since since the construction of a pond adjacent to Hittles Mill Road, the stream floods west of the bridge making the road impassable. He asked if VDOT could assist in any manner, suggesting that ditching may help. He also requested that culverts in Bean Hollow be cleaned.

Integrated Directional Signing Program: In response to Mr. Lee's inquiry about a highway sign near Massie's Corner advertising Griffin's Tavern in Flint Hill, Mr. Cubbage explained that VDOT adopted the Integrated Directional Signing Program which permits a business to pay a fee to have a directional sign installed along a highway. This program, which is a profit making venture for VDOT, comes from the Central Office in Richmond; local transportation offices are not involved. He added that the only way to remove the sign is to go to the business and ask them not to participate.

Book Barn Report: Mr. McCarthy submitted a report on the revenues and expenditures to date. Revenues and expenditures have been $64,969.70. The project is not yet complete and will require another $20,000 to $25,000. The additional funds will be privately raised. The high school Building Trades class will help with the project. (See papers of meeting.)

High School Track Project: All bids were rejected. Fund-raising opportunities will be explored by the committee. The project will restart in the spring.

PDR Program—Massie Easement: The Virginia Land Conservation Program announced 22 grants including the Massie Meadow Grove property. The full $300,000 grant as sought was approved. Complete sign off will be in March.

Voting Machines: Justice Department approval has been received approving the change for touchscreen voting machines. Cost to the county was 15% of the total; the Commonwealth paid the remaining 85% through a Federal Grant.

NEW BUSINESS:

Region 7 Legislative Platform: Transportation and management and cost of growth are the primary issues. On motion of Mr. Frazier, seconded by Mr. Lee, the Board voted unanimously to endorse the Region 7 Legislative Platform. (See papers of meeting.)The following recorded vote was taken. AYE: Estes, Anderson, Welch, Lee, Frazier. NAY: None.

National Incident Management Systems (NIMS): The Fire and Rescue Association recommends adoption of NIMS for managing domestic and emergency incidents in the county. NIMS is an enhancement of the Incident Command System (ICS) that is being adopted nationwide at all levels of federal, state, county and local jurisdictions.

On motion of Mr. Anderson, seconded by Mr. Lee, the Board voted unanimously to adopt the National Incident Management System Resolution, attached hereto as Exhibit B and made a part of these minutes. The following recorded vote was taken. AYE: Estes, Anderson, Welch, Lee, Frazier. NAY: None.

Volunteer Fire & Rescue Association: At the request of the VFR and on motion of Mr. Lee, seconded by Mr. Anderson, the Board voted unanimously to adopt a resolution requesting its representatives to the General Assembly to support legislation returning Emergency Preparedness Funds collected from vehicle registrations during the years 2002-2004 to localities. (Resolution attached hereto as Exhibit C and made a part of these minutes.) The following recorded vote was taken. AYE: Estes, Anderson, Welch, Lee, Frazier. NAY: None.

FY05 Budget Appropriations Corrections: The county's auditor has prepared revised appropriations that will correct FY05 overages in the amount of $40,113.00. The net effect is a reduction in appropriations for the General Fund of $467,982.00 which reverted to the General Fund surplus. With the amendment, FY05 was still a positive funds year.

On motion of Mr. Anderson, seconded by Mr.Welch, the Board voted unanimously to adopt the revised appropriations for FY05 as shown in Exhibit D, attached hereto and made a part of these minutes. The net effect of the exhibit, prepared by the county's auditor, is to change FY05 appropriations to reflect those shown in the second column from the right, labeled "Cash Basis Expended." The following recorded vote was taken: AYE: Estes, Anderson, Frazier, Lee, Welch. NAY: None.

Water Quality Improvement Fund Grant Proposal: Mr. McCarthy reported that the Department of Parks and Recreation has grant funds available for programs to improve water quality. A grant proposal to enforce the Erosion and Sediment Control Ordinance, if awarded, would provide a 50/50 state/local match. Almost the entirety of the locality's 50% share will come from the Corp of Engineers Water Quality project reported on in November as well administrative oversight provided by the County Administrator's office. No cash is required of the county. This project is expected to help meet the requirements of the 2010 Chesapeake Bay Act.

VA 2007 Community Program: Virginia celebrates its 400^th anniversary in 2007. A statewide range of events and activities are being planned. Scrabble School may be able to be tied into the program. Candy Wroth, in the County Administrator's Office, will oversee the county's participation in this program.

VDOT IntegratedDirectional Signing Program: See minutes relating to Six Year Secondary Road Plan in Old Business, above.

Board of Assessors: The Assessment Board's work cannot be completed by December 31, 2005. On motion of Mr. Anderson, seconded by Mr. Welch, the Board voted unanimously to authorize the County Attorney to petition the Circuit Court for an extension until January 31, 2006. The following recorded vote was taken. AYE: Estes, Anderson, Welch, Lee, Frazier. NAY: None.

APPOINTMENTS:

Library Board: James Gannon's term expires December 31, 2005. He is not eligible for reappointment. Mr. McCarthy was directed to advertise for interested applicants. By general consensus, this matter is continued until the January 4, 2006 meeting.

CORRESPONDENCE: None

INFORMATION:

Building Office Report: Total construction from October 22, 2005 to November 21, 2005 was $3,088,723.00. Year to date totals: (See papers of meeting for more detail.)

Year to date totals:	2004	2005
New Home Construction	63	53
Commercial Buildings	11	14

ACCOUNTS: On motion of Mr. Frazier, seconded by Mr. Anderson, the Board voted unanimously to pay the accounts payables dated December 5, 2005. The vote was recorded as follows: The following recorded vote was taken. AYE: Estes, Anderson, Welch, Lee, Frazier. NAY: None.

EXECUTIVE SESSION: On motion of Mr. Anderson, seconded by Mr. Welch, the Board voted unanimously to retire into executive session pursuant to Virginia Code §2.2-3711A.3 to discuss or consider the acquisition of real property for a public purpose and to Section 2.2-3711A.7 to consult with legal counsel regarding probable litigation. The subject matter of the closed meeting is (1) property acquisition and (2) two alleged zoning violations and authority to initiate legal action. (The resolution is attached hereto as Exhibit E and made a part of these minutes.) The following roll-call vote was taken. AYE: Estes, Anderson, Welch, Lee, Frazier. NAY: None.

On motion of Mr. Frazier, seconded by Mr. Lee, the Board voted unanimously to reconvene into open session. The following roll-call vote was taken. AYE: Estes, Anderson, Welch, Lee, Frazier. NAY: None.

Whereupon the Chairman polled the members of the Board as follows "To the best of your knowledge, do each of you certify that only public business matters lawfully exempted from the open meeting requirements under existing Virginia law, and only such public business matters as were identified in the motion by which the executive meeting was convened, were heard, discussed or considered by the Board in the executive meeting just held?" The following roll-call vote was taken. AYE: Estes, Anderson, Welch, Lee, Frazier. NAY: None.

Zoning Violations: The County Attorney was authorized to filed suit on behalf of the Rappahannock County Board of Supervisors against Donovan Zeh and Charles Presgraves for zoning violations.

There being no further business, the meeting recessed at 4:07 o'clock p.m. Due to inclement weather, the evening session had been continued until December 12, 2005 at 7:00 p.m. by earlier resolution.

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Charles K. Estes, Chairman