Coraggio Consulting
Albemarle County Board of Supervisors Regular First Meeting, Wednesday, March 4, 2026

Date: Wednesday, March 4, 2026
Place: Albemarle County Board of Supervisors, Virginia
Length: 5h 4m (video)
Official meeting video (Granicus): https://albemarle.granicus.com/MediaPlayer.php?view_id=1&clip_id=1452
Official agenda: https://albemarle.granicus.com/AgendaViewer.php?view_id=1&clip_id=1452

Machine transcript (speech-to-text) produced by Coraggio Consulting. Not an official county record. Names and numbers may be misspelled; check the video at the timestamp before quoting.
Speech-to-text: whisper.cpp, model large-v3-turbo. Produced 2026-10-14. Timestamps are [HH:MM:SS] into the meeting video.

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[00:00:00] All right, good afternoon. I call the Albemarle County Board of Supervisors to order for our March 4th, 2026, 1 p.m. meeting here in Lane Auditorium. With us today we have Supervisor Sally Duncan of the Jack Jewett District, Supervisor B. Lapisto-Kirtley of the Ravana District, Supervisor Fred Missel of the Samuel Miller District, Supervisor Ann Malick of the Whitehall District, Supervisor Mike Pruitt of the Scottsville District, and myself, Supervisor Ned Galloway of the Rio District.

[00:00:31] our county attorney is with us Andy Herrick our county executive Mr. Jeff Richardson our board clerk is Claudette Borgeson and our senior deputy clerk Mr. Travis Morris is manning cameras today so he is with us as well I want to thank the Albemarle County Police Department officers who are present we have Sergeant Jason Freistow with us and Master Police Officer Eric Ketchum thank you gentlemen for being with us here uh this afternoon um and with that if everyone could

[00:01:02] please rise as you are able for the pledge of allegiance i pledge allegiance of the united states of america to the republic which it stands one nation under god indivisible with liberty and

[00:01:19] justice thank you and if everyone would please now join in a brief moment of silence thank you very much. Board, before we move to adopt the agenda, we do have two minor modifications here. At

[00:01:58] Supervisor Malik's request, we are going to add to the agenda under item number 17, which is from the board committee reports and matters not listed on the agenda, a discussion regarding a letter from the board requesting the governor's veto of Senate Bill 443. And also for item number 10, which is the smart scale transportation project funding applications there was an update to attachment a in the smart scale transportation funding apps the updated attachment was posted to the website on march 3rd which was yesterday but just calling

[00:02:32] that to everyone's attention as that was a change in information so with that are there any other changes to today's agenda all right is there a motion to adopt the final agenda as amended yes we do have two items just fyi we will have two items pulled from consent today we'll deal with that when we get to the consent agenda motions so moved uh second all right we have a motion made and seconded uh without objection if the clerk will please call the roll ms lapisto

[00:03:09] kirtley aye ms mallet yes mr missel yes mr pruitt aye ms duncan yes mr galloway yes all right thank you board and with that we will move to uh brief announcements by board members supervisor Pruitt I have nothing today thank you uh supervisor Lapisto Kirtley yes I attended the um Boston show to Boston um event that they had last Friday I think some other supervisors were there I know that supervisor Malik and Missal were both there and it was very interesting because

[00:03:46] And if you have a chance to look at their website and give your opinion on whether or not you would like a plane that goes from Cho to Boston, that's what they're looking for. So there is a survey out there, and maybe we can put that on a newsletter or something.

[00:04:02] I'm not sure. But they are asking for people who would be interested in that flight, a direct flight. And they're looking at enlarging the airport, enlarging the parking, having a double-decker, and then a larger facility because right now when the planes back up, they actually back up onto the runway.

[00:04:30] We only have one runway. So that's not good. But, I mean, we get over 300 flights a day, I think 350, something like that. so it's very important to support our airport now this is going to take a long time it's not going to be done overnight it will take years and years and years because they'll have to get the funding and everything but that's what's in the um in the stars so to speak uh for the cho airport thank you thank you supervisor missal nothing to add thank you supervisor duncan um just one thing

[00:05:07] I just wanted to point out that PEC is hosting the Active Mobility Summit tomorrow night and Friday at the Wool Factory, and this is kind of about the focus this year is on the economic and social benefits that communities have when we have kind of active lifestyles and outdoor activities and sort of working towards how can we work on that more and promote that.

[00:05:31] So that looks like it'll be a really great event. All right. Thank you. Supervisor Malek? Thank you all very much. I do want to say I feel as if my equilibrium is returning after a month of total disaster during all the snow and ice and all the stress involved with that.

[00:05:49] And hopefully others who were similarly affected are going to be back to normal here now that we can see the earth and it's not six degrees anymore. That was bad. But I do have some starting off with some bad news and then good news later. The new March 2026 drought outlook from the NOAAdrought.gov website shows that we are in a severe drought now and it is expected to continue for three to six months.

[00:06:16] So I went to a presentation at the NACO conference from someone from NOAA talking about drought.gov and all the information that one can get there. I went and played on it and encourage all of you to have a look because there's a whole lot of detail about your particular, very granular detail about precipitation and a whole lot of other information, which is helpful.

[00:06:39] But it made me feel as if I was back in 2002. In 2002, we were 36 inches below normal after three years of lower rainfall. Today, we are 26 inches below over the last three years.

[00:06:54] And these kinds of things can change very quickly, so I do want to bring people up to that. In the good news category, on Friday, April 17th at 11 a.m. is the 60th rededication of the Dogwood Vietnam Memorial, McIntyre Park, East End.

[00:07:12] One will be able to drive in through the skate park and around to the hill just above the location to participate in that and hope everybody will come. Secondly, it is time to sign up for your Virginia Tech-sponsored and tremendously reduced-cost well water testing clinic.

[00:07:34] So you can contact the Cooperative Extension Office, and I will also have the clerk will have this information here in case anybody would like to do it. But now is the time to sign up and get one of those spaces. For $70, you get over $300 worth of water testing, all sorts of different components in your well water.

[00:07:51] Really, really important for those of us who have well water that we know what we're drinking and cooking with and that is all i have thank you very much great thank you i do not have any announcements today we do not have any proclamations or recognitions this afternoon so that will take us to item number seven public comment on matters previously considered or currently pending before the board other than scheduled for public hearings and vice chair missel will read our rules for public comment thank you chair during the time set aside for public comment on matters previously considered or currently pending before the board

[00:08:28] other than scheduled public hearing as individuals may address the board of supervisors concerning matters previously considered by the board or matters that are pending before the board other than items listed on the agenda for public hearing. Individuals are offered one opportunity for up to three minutes to speak at each board meeting. The sign-up sheet is managed by the clerk's office and up to 10 persons may speak during each matters from the public session. Timekeeping is conducted through a timer and light system at the podium the green light will go on when you begin speaking which begins your allotted time the yellow light indicates you have one minute to finish speaking and the red light indicates your time has expired and you will be asked to end your comments in

[00:09:06] order to give all speakers equal treatment and courtesy the board requests that speakers adhere to the following guidelines when addressing the board state your name and if you live in albemarle county or a magisterial district address comments directly to the board as a whole any written comments or other supporting material may be given to the clerk. If representing a group or organization, you may ask others present to raise their hands in recognition. Speakers may not share any unused time with another speaker. Back and forth debate is not permitted. Do not speak from your seat or out of turn. All comments are live streamed, recorded, and published on the Albemarle County website. And as a reminder, please be sure to introduce yourself and speak directly into the

[00:09:44] mics. Looks like we have two up there. Looks like we have five folks signed up, and we'll begin with Gary Grant. Good afternoon. Good afternoon. I don't always have to be first. Gary Grant, Rye District. I don't think I've ever made it clear that I don't dislike any of you or your

[00:10:20] county executive or his staff. However, from time to time, I don't like some of the things that the board does or your county executive does or your staff does or don't do. So again today, I have another list. It's not personal, it's business. Your county executive, to my knowledge, still has never apologized for the negative impact on people who had their personal information jeopardized by the county's lack of adequate online protections last year. How about this board apologizing for

[00:10:59] him. Your county assessor incorrectly reassessed my property by over $33,000 for 2026. That's been corrected now because I challenged my reassessment and won. However, I wonder now why I didn't challenge my reassessments every year for the 40 years I've owned my property in Albemarle.

[00:11:25] How much does the county owe property owners like me for real estate that has been assessed over market value for years? The millions of tax dollars your county executive recommends be spent on the Affordable Housing Expenditure Fund is not taxpayers' responsibility.

[00:11:48] Don't be taking money from those of us who pay our own rents and mortgages only to be forced by the county executive and actions by this board to also pay for other people's rents and mortgages.

[00:12:06] A question about change in the county's snow cone expenditures for FY27 has been emailed to your budget department. I promise to update you on an answer, whether it comes from the budget department or comes finally from Supervisor Galloway himself.

[00:12:28] Lastly, page 20 of your county executive's F-27 recommended budget states, and I quote, We will provide every customer with an experience that is professional, empathetic, and responsive. Professional, yes. Responsive, at times. Empathetic, never.

[00:12:50] Thank you. Thank you. Next speaker is Rob Probst. Good afternoon, Chair Galloway, board members. I do live in Albemarle County in the Rivanna district. Mr. Probst, your voice is a little light, so I'm going to ask you just lean in there and just be aware of that.

[00:13:18] how's that better okay thank you thank you for the opportunity to share some comments with you this afternoon I'm with a company called CEP solar we're a Richmond based solar development company I live and work here in Albemarle County as well as a couple of my other colleagues and I'm here to just provide a couple of comments as relates to the turkey knob solar project that you guys will be taken up in the agenda later on under a couple of special exceptions first I just want

[00:13:50] to commend the board for its vision and pragmatism to create a buy right provision for small solar projects that's as you know groundbreaking for the Commonwealth and we hope to be among the first projects to take advantage of the by-right provision in your solar ordinance and it's our mission and goal to develop a project that not only we're proud of but this board and the citizens the community can be proud of and even

[00:14:25] though it's it provides a streamlined process I think it's you've established something that certainly has a lot of elements to it to make sure that you have high-quality projects and and of course that's what we intend to deliver a high quality project without cutting any kind of corners and again that's something that's protective of the environment and also helps stabilize energy prices so

[00:14:56] thank you so much that's all thank you sir thank you next is Tom Loach good afternoon Tom Loach Whitehall district several months ago I appeared before the board to bring to your attention attention concerning deficiency found in the current land use subsidy program the documentation I provided for you came from the 1991 report by then County Administrator mr. Robert Tucker in his report mr. Tucker stated that implementing the land use program would entail additional taxes and by necessity this would mean shifting the

[00:15:35] cost to those who do not benefit from the program at the time I requested several changes to the current policy which for years has hidden the program's cost from Albemarle County taxpayers. However, despite my request for greater openness in county government, when I reviewed the current proposed budget for the county, I found no reference in the documentation to the cost of land use to taxpayers. You have 40 pages of documentation describing programs you fund, from all blessings flow to the women's initiative, but not one sentence dedicated to the land use program, which cost taxpayers over $14 million. While it is my

[00:16:12] My responsibility as a resident of Albemarle County to pay taxes is responsibility to the county to give me a fair and accurate accounting of what taxes I'm paying. It is not a privilege but the right of every citizen of the county who is required to pay an additional tax to clearly understand just how much that costs them and what it pays for.

[00:16:31] And Mr. Tucker's report, he states, "The critics of land use are correct in their assertion that land use program costs the county millions of dollars per year." As a resident of Albemarle County, I have already stated I have no problem in supporting rural preservation. However, I found myself once again reminding the board of the current situation with regard to the imposition of additional taxes to only a select segment of a residence without disclosure.

[00:16:56] This should not continue. Therefore, I am once again calling for the inclusion of the county budget, the total cost borne to taxpayers to support the land use program. Two, that those who pay the additional tax must clearly see a line item on their tax to show the total cost of their tax they're paying and also the reason the tax is levied.

[00:17:16] And three, since the program clearly exists to preserve rural character of the county and since the county's second program aimed at the same goal, that being the ACE program, then those who pay the additional tax should be given the choice to which program they want their tax money to go to. To do any less would be a demonstrative violation of the county administration and board of their obligation to ensure complete visibility of the system of taxation they administer.

[00:17:40] Thank you. Neil Williamson? Good afternoon.

[00:17:58] I am Neil Williamson. I serve as the president of the Free Enterprise Forum, a privately funded public policy organization focused on Central Virginia's local governments. Later today, you'll be conducting a work session on the lengthy zoning modernization project designed to implement the vision of your recently adopted AC44 comprehensive plan.

[00:18:18] I am told all the cool kids are calling this process ZMOD. This means folks working on this consequential three-plus-year zoning rewrite might be best described as Albemarle's ZMOD squad. In the late 1960s, the Mod Squad series, which aired just a few years before the current development area lines were drawn, squad mentor Captain Adam Greer famously stated, the times are a-changing. The same is true for Albemarle County Zoning Ordinance. It's beyond time for the ordinance language and intent

[00:18:57] to catch up with reality. Many changes are needed. In addition to the language changes, the Z-Mod Squad is seeking to implement up to 378 individual actions contained within the comprehensive plan. While the Free Enterprise Forum is particularly interested in the Board of Supervisors finally taking action on our long advocated position of allowing residential in commercial and industrial properties, we also ask that you answer three questions when evaluating the zoning changes suggested by the 378 proposed comp plan action items.

[00:19:35] One, does this make housing easier or harder in the development areas? Put another way, does it make housing more or less affordable? Two, will the proposed change help or hinder economic development? And finally, number three, does the proposed change matter? By focusing your energy on these three questions, you may help the community move forward or back. In the last 10 years, Albemarle County has taken huge substantive changes to become more business friendly.

[00:20:11] Unfortunately, at the same time, Albemarle has become less receptive to new housing within your Carter-era development areas. The Z-Mod Squad is not considering development area expansion, though they should, but the least they can do is make it easier to develop properties as the AC44 Comprehensive Plan dictates. To do anything less would be creating an ordinance as dated as the Mod Squad series is today. Thank you. Thank you. Next is Peter Krebs.

[00:20:46] Good afternoon, supervisors and members of the public, as well as county staff.

[00:21:09] I'm from the, my name is Peter Krebs. I'm from the Piedmont Environmental Council. We protect and preserve the lands and waters of the Virginia Piedmont while advocating for strong, healthy, and resilient communities. I'm here to announce the Active Mobility Summit. However, Supervisor Duncan beat me to it and actually probably said it better than I could.

[00:21:32] I'll just add a few program notes about the summit just to give a little more detail and color. So the Mobility Summit is this Thursday night and Friday morning at the Wolf Factory. Thursday night will be a celebration of the many wins that the community has had in the last year and look forward to more community wins next year.

[00:21:55] We'll have a keynote speaker named Pete Eshelman who's on the economic development team in Roanoke and also founder of an organization that promotes outdoor access. There'll also be a great invocation by local poet, Macasia Tolbert.

[00:22:13] Then Friday morning, we're going to have a special guest who I can now announce. That's Adam Spanberger, first gentleman of Virginia. So he'll be there right at 9 o'clock giving welcoming remarks. We're going to have two panels.

[00:22:30] One of them will include local leaders. It'll be moderated by our own, Kevin McDermott, and also our own Anne Wall. be on the panel, plus Jim Fries from the city, Julia Monteith from UVA, and also one of my favorite local business owners, Zach Roberts from Great Outdoors Provision Company. There'll be lots of fellowship and inspiration throughout both days. It's free. There'll be food and drink, and also a bike bus departing from the downtown mall, so if you don't want to drive, you can

[00:23:08] ride your bike there if you do choose to drive as in all cases with a wool factory please arrive via broadway street which i noticed was recently re-striped um i don't know if that'll be on our list of community wins but there is that um so yeah i look forward to seeing you all a couple of you are already signed up there's still room but we do expect to sell out looking forward to

[00:23:33] seeing you thank you thank you thank you thank you and last on our list is saivo flynn good afternoon board um saivo flynn a climate justice policy manager with the community climate collaborative uh last monday february 23rd charlott'sville city council sent a letter to fluvana county planning commission and the board of supervisors in advance of fluvana planning

[00:24:06] commission meeting um the meeting was to decide on some elements of the massive gas plant expansion that's being proposed for Fluvanna County out by Scottsville that I know you're all aware of. The planning commissioners ultimately decided to recommend that the board reject the special use permit.

[00:24:27] Monday, March 2nd, Charlottesville passed a resolution on the consent agenda ratifying the letter as an official city action. As you know, Admiral residents will be impacted if this proposal goes ahead.

[00:24:43] There'll be a significant increase of early death and the development and exacerbation of respiratory illnesses and cancers, not to mention the environment and climate harms that it will cause. Supervisor Malik, you warned us that we may need to expect up to six months more of severe drought.

[00:25:00] We know from the county's climate risk assessments that drought is one of the primary impacts from climate change we can expect to enjoy in the region for the foreseeable future. Climate change is caused by burning fossil fuels. Natural gas is a fossil fuel. Projects like these are directly responsible for Albemarle's climate change impacts like drought.

[00:25:21] C3 had previously drafted a proposed joint resolution between the county and city. In light of the action taken by the city, we're now asking for you to sign on to a joint letter from local leaders in local governments across the jurisdictions that will be impacted by the proposal if it goes ahead.

[00:25:37] The sign-on deadline is end of business Monday, March 16th. The letter will be sent on March 17th, the day before the March 18th to find a Board of Supervisors vote. Admiral residents are increasingly aware of the proposal and its risks and while we know it's not in the board's power to reject the proposal, supervisors constituents will be heartened to see a public stance from individual board members asking Cluvana leadership to reject the proposal. As you'll see on the packet that I'll submit, Supervisor Pruitt has already signed on. We hopefully anticipate adding five more names to reject this extremely damaging plant. Thank you. Thank you.

[00:26:17] All right. Thank you to all those who came to participate in public comment today. Public comment is now closed, and we will move to our next item on the agenda, which is our consent agenda. Today, we have two items that have been requested to be pulled from consent.

[00:26:34] Item 8.4, which are proposed projects for affordable housing investment fund support. That first request came from Supervisor Duncan, and I know a few others have joined in that request. The second item is 8.8 SE 202539 Turkey Knob Solar Farm. How we're going to handle these today, that whole request was made by Supervisor Malik, and I know others had some questions about that as well. We will address item 8.4, or I recommend we address that right after we vote on the remaining consent agenda.

[00:27:12] we will address item 8.8 the solar farm at the end of the afternoon's work session and prior to our closed meeting so that we can keep our other scheduled items on schedule and then and if we'll if action is going to be taken we'll take them at that time are there any other let me look I got another note here I do not all right are there any other items that need to be pulled from consent that were not previously requested. All right. Is there a motion to adopt

[00:27:51] the consent agenda as amended? So moved. Is there a second? Second. All right. Without objection, if the clerk would please call the roll. Ms. Pisto-Kirtley? Aye. Ms. Mallett? Yes. Mr. Missal? Aye. Mr. Pruitt? Aye. Ms. Duncan? Yes. Mr. Galloway? Yes. Thank you, board. So that will bring us to Then item 8.4, Proposed Projects for Affordable Housing Investment Fund.

[00:28:19] As this is an item that all of us have had some interest in, I think it's just more, it's easier to manage to just go through our normal speaking order. I'm going to, so that's Supervisor Pruitt will start. So I'm just going to turn to Supervisor Pruitt to get us going.

[00:28:37] And thank you, Stacey, for joining us. And I know Kaki's here as well if we have questions, et cetera. Thank you so much. Before I just jump in, I realize this has kind of been added to the docket as a thing we're going to discuss in the last 48 hours. Was there any component that you would want to present before we just jump into questions?

[00:28:56] I'm gathering from the fact that there's not one on the screen that the answer is no, but I just want to confirm. Stacey Pethia, Director of Housing. And I did throw together a real quick presentation, three or four slides, if you would like me to do that real quick, which might answer some of your questions.

[00:29:11] I'm not sure. And, Stacey, you're going to definitely have to use the louder voice and into the microphone, please. Maybe I need both microphones. Does that make it better? The mouse, sorry, the mouse has disappeared on me.

[00:29:43] Again, my name is Stacey Pethia. I am director of housing, and this is in response to the agenda item proposed projects for affordable housing investment fund support.

[00:30:04] And since there are some new members of the board, I thought I'd do a real quick history of the Affordable Housing Fund. It was created in fiscal year 2019. Initially, to support the Southwood redevelopment in phase one, it has expanded over time.

[00:30:22] It's really designed to support affordable housing projects that are one-time costs, so no ongoing support throughout this fund. And those projects should also support county strategic and housing goals. And historically, the funds have been distributed really on a first-come, first-served basis.

[00:30:38] So a nonprofit would come and say, I have a project. This is how much money we need to fill a gap or to make the project work. And then through discussions, it would be decided whether or not staff would make recommendations to the board for funding. As some of you may remember, May of last year, staff came to the board with a change in how the housing fund was operated.

[00:31:02] And that came in response to discussions and comments with the board in previous work sessions as well as with other community partners. And to look for ways, particularly from the board's perspective, on how they know the recommendations staff brings forward are the best use of county funds for those projects.

[00:31:22] And so what came out of the work session last year and that the board approved was a change in how the fund is administered. so it is now a competitive application process that will be opened once or twice a year depending on balance of the fund the affordable housing fund balance is now split in three ways so 40 of the fund balance would be used for grants primarily 40 of the loans funds would be primarily for loans towards projects and 20 of the balance would be set aside for staff identified emerging

[00:31:57] needs. The applications are reviewed by non-Office of Housing staff. We thought that was very important to bring some different perspective from outside of the housing world. And applications that are submitted must score at least 75% of the maximum possible score per each category in order to be considered for funding. And so as you saw in your agenda packet, four projects, four applications rose to that minimum score of 75 percent those four projects were a rental housing

[00:32:33] project with habitat for humanity they requested a grant in the amount of 1.35 million dollars and a loan of 450 000 support works housing requested an additional almost 378 000 and that is to replace a federal grant that was for energy efficiency work on the premier circle site the Vista 29 that the government has discontinued at the beginning of last year or this year.

[00:33:01] Piedmont Housing Alliance requested $1.4 million for capital improvement work on all of the rental properties that they have in the county. That work will be really instrumental in keeping those properties moving along for another 15 to 30 years. And the Local Energy Alliance Partnership or LEAP requested $776,000 for energy efficiency upgrades with low and moderate income homeowners in the county.

[00:33:29] There was an additional request from staff to provide $110,000 of that 20% set aside for staff-identified projects to support the Salvation Army's family shelters. There's a lack of family shelter beds for homeless families within the county, so it's really important to get those up and running.

[00:33:50] based on, I do have some numbers, based on that 80% of the fund that was available for loans or grants, the total available was just over $3.9 million. And those four applications that scored, reached the scoring threshold, really came into $4.4 million total, a little over that.

[00:34:14] So through discussions with the review team and the chief of human services and housing staff, the review team really recommended providing funding or recommending to fund these four projects at a level based on the score that they scored. That was a bad sentence, sorry.

[00:34:33] So as you can see, if Habitat scored 76% of the maximum total scores, then the review team recommended providing 76% of the total funding ask. If the board approves funding for all of those projects, there would be, I did have that written down somewhere, about, wrong slide, about $485,000 left for loans and grants for future projects. That money could be rolled over into

[00:35:07] the next fiscal year and used for projects with the next funding round. The additional money that is set aside for staff projects would equal, if approved for the Salvation Army Shelter, there would be an additional $882,000 remaining to be used for staff identified projects, and staff has a few on the radar that will be coming forward later this summer and into the fall. Those include a potential landlord risk mitigation fund, a potential family preservation housing assistance pilot program, and assistance with the emergency shelter being considered

[00:35:44] by the city. That's all of my presentation at the moment, so any questions you have, happy to ask. Answer. Thank you and thank you Supervisor Pruitt for requesting she do the presentation. Thank you. I think as you probably anticipated you you bit one of the questions but I just want to make sure I'm clarifying a question I came in with that I think you answered but both I looking at the spreadsheet that's contained in this consent agenda and members of the public including applicants express the concern of oh this does not add up to equal the total amount

[00:36:19] in the AHIF fund. Where's the remaining 1.5 million? It's the 20% set aside for staff-identified emergencies, some of which we've already identified, but it's not in this request in front of us. Is that accurate? This does, I just, this is more of a conversation kind of question. It is a 20% earmark per funding cycle. We're now actually at the end of a budget cycle, and we're considering another budget. And we have not already dispersed the emergency funds. As we get into a round where

[00:36:54] we might be re-infusing new money into the housing trust fund before we've spent down the emergency fund, is this a context that y'all have already considered? Do you expect to fully spend down the emergency reserve? What's it going to be 20% of in the future if we don't, right? Because you're going to be carrying over a previous 20% and now we're going to have a new 20%. You take my point.

[00:37:19] Yes, I understand. That's a great question. At the moment, we are looking at using a good majority of that $882,000 for the three projects that are sitting in front of you. We just wanted to wait until after the budget has been adopted so we don't get in the way of that discussion and then bring this forward for consideration.

[00:37:37] So basically, the amount that we're carrying over is going to remain earmarked for emergency staff considerations. There will be a new 20% of the currently $5 million, So 1 million that will be identified for future emergencies.

[00:37:58] Thank you on that. Now, this has got to be the trickier part because it's got to start to become some normative policy considerations. And I want to apologize in advance because this is something I think we all could have hypothetically caught when we were talking about and approving the current formula that we use.

[00:38:14] But it hadn't occurred to me. And sometimes we need to see the rubber hit the road for it to occur. And so I realize I'm in the position now of kind of bringing up concerns about the formula as we're implementing what staff was already directed to do. But a concern that has leapt out to me is that these are actually two distinct concerns, that the criteria for scoring grants and loans are the same, and separately that grants and loans, as I understand it, are considered in a single funding application.

[00:38:49] So a blended application is considered together. I see, having watched the process play out, both of those separately seem like problems. One, that it would make sense for the scoring criteria to be different, because the kind of projects that would benefit from them are different.

[00:39:09] A LIHTC project serving 70% AMI, at 100%, 70% AMI, would very strongly be benefited by a loan, because it fully counts as equity. for their funding stack, and it is a much more achievable gap for them to close, whereas a deeply affordable development targeting 30 to 50 would not as much benefit from a loan and would more benefit from grants.

[00:39:33] And it seems like we would want to encourage the former to apply for loans and encourage the latter to apply for grants. And the other problem is that they are coming in the same application, which hypothetically, if an applicant is going to be behaving as a rational actor, that combined with the previous point means that no applicant should ever ask for loans.

[00:40:03] And so I would reflect that to you. I would first kind of get your reaction to that and see if you think that's an accurate kind of evaluation of what we've seen play out here. Well, I will say staff did not really consider the potential of an applicant asking for both a grant and a loan in the same application.

[00:40:25] That had not been something I have seen in the past, so that took me slightly by surprise. The way the requirements for both loans and grants is structured is that for-profit entities are not eligible for a grant.

[00:40:45] They are only eligible for the loans. And so that sort of takes out that pool. Can you remind me, is that a disability on our authority, or is that a decision we have made? That's a decision we have made. Okay. I don't believe there's any restrictions on the county's authority to do that.

[00:41:09] Nonprofits can request both. There are other jurisdictions throughout, particularly Northern Virginia, that staff will make the decision once those applications come in if those projects should be provided a grant or a loan. At the moment, we have decided to allow the applicant to decide which is more appropriate for their project.

[00:41:29] Some of that is staff capacity. Some of that is because this is a new process for the county, and we'd like to see how it works first. But that's definitely something we can examine. It strikes me as prudent that this be updated moving forward. I might ask this as an open-ended question because I know it's challenging.

[00:41:48] Do you see this as something that could be re-evaluated for this current funding cycle? There are applicants who are frustrated because they feel like they undermine their own application. I don't think we don't have enough time for that this time. But there is a plan to open, do a second cycle of funding with FY27 funding after the budget has been adopted.

[00:42:10] So we could certainly look at doing it that way then. The 2027 money hit sooner than the 2026 money did because we had to adopt the policies to say differently. Thank you. I think that makes sense. And that's kind of what I'd come in expecting, right? This is a policy problem rather than an application problem that I'm talking about.

[00:42:29] And so I don't think it makes sense to address a policy problem in the instant case in front of us. But I do think there's an application problem here, or rather, sorry, a policy problem here that we should and could address in the upcoming funding cycle because I have concerns about it.

[00:42:48] I have concerns that, I mean, very regionalist, right? I have concerns that projects in my district have accidentally undermined their own ability to secure strong amount of funding. The other thing I wanted to ask, you talked a few times about the review team that contains non-housing staff.

[00:43:11] Could you give us, without naming names, I'm not going to ask you to do that, could you give us a little sense of what that group looks like? Yes. So ultimately, the plan will be to have community members doing this. There wasn't a lot of time to get that set up.

[00:43:27] It takes some time to do that, figure out qualifications. During the work session last May, the board indicated that they would like to be able to appoint, read through the applications, decide who is on that committee. So that's going to come probably next year, not next fiscal year, but next calendar year, so we can get everything together and do it properly.

[00:43:48] So we chose representatives from different county departments. So the Department of Finance and Budget, the Office of Grants and Agreements, as well as facilities and environmental services. And this committee mostly reviews, because there's a quantitative part that determines the final output score, which is eligible, non-eligible.

[00:44:13] And there's also narrative components that are introduced. Can you help me understand how that quantitative part, the review committee, and the final percent on the dollar ask what that parsing out looks like? Where does one influence the other? Certainly.

[00:44:29] So there is a scoring matrix that goes along. There were separate scoring criteria. Very much the same for both rental housing and for sale housing. few differences like rental housing does require submission of a property management plan that is not required for home ownership so each component has different scores associated with it all of the applications that were reviewed are exactly what is all of you received yesterday so that is what

[00:45:03] the review team sees they see them online they score sheet as they go along that score sheet tallies automatically in the system and determines what their number score is, and then staff takes that and says, right, if there's a total of 275 points that this application could score because it's rental housing, this is the score that they received, and this is the percentage of points that they earned. Thank you. The final kind of thing, and in my mind, I would just say I'm

[00:45:35] Mentally comparing this a lot to the process we have for our nonprofit partners for social services disbursements, right? Where we have a very procedural process with a non-elected committee that reviews these, or historically that was how it was done.

[00:45:52] And frankly, we've gotten to a point where there is, not only is there not much second-guessing from the board, but it's kind of almost politically verboten. we've deliberately insulated it from elected decision-making because we would all do things like I represent Southwood and want to fight for more Southwood dollars. I want to reflect that as the goal of where we get there, but I think in the short term there might be an expectation of a higher level of transparency to make sure it's working under the hood before we develop that trust in the process. So I would begin by saying this. So with that on the table, I don't mean this

[00:46:27] sound unkind. The document that we received in here looks rushed. It is a single slide. There looks to be some working calculations numbers at the bottom of the Excel spreadsheet that I don't understand. And I say this is someone who I would pride myself as having a decent level of understanding with what we're talking about here. And I would also reflect that there are members, there are applicants who have questioned in kind of the 11th hour whether or not some math was done correctly. I'm not sure if this has been raised to you, I only just heard about it this morning. There was concern that was reflected to

[00:47:02] me before that. There was a concern more recently that actual math had been done wrong. I had not expected to say this 48 hours ago, but I'm now wondering if it might be prudent, because also these applications that you mentioned sending out, the board has had less than 24 hours to sit with.

[00:47:20] Some of them might not have even seen it yet, because it was at the end of the workday, which I recognize that means you were working through and past the end of the workday. I am wondering, I think at this point it might be my desire to have a moment to review this, to have staff to be able to investigate the suggestion that there was improperly conducted math on Saudis before we review it possibly either on consent or as a quick thing on next two weeks and soon.

[00:47:53] I don't want it to delay the disbursement of funding. I don't want it to delay any of these nonprofits. But I do think there might be an additional level of scrutiny that members of the board would like to take um and i would just close by saying that and i'm curious if you have any immediate reaction to that otherwise i will go along in the order uh no i did go back i will say it was um i just missed that calculation so it's as you're setting up spreadsheets it's yeah you put the calculate the the what is that thing called the equation of the top cell and then you just brought it down i had intended to go back and fix that and i and i

[00:48:31] forgot to do so. So that is my fault. I did go back through and review the applications and see what the change of score would be, and it would not have had an impact on the scores that were received. So the four that stood out and reached that 75% threshold were still the four that reached that 75% threshold. I don't doubt that. I might want to see the updated spreadsheet to review those scores myself before approving it. That's all I have, Chair. Thank you, Supervisor Pruitt, Supervisor Lupisto Kirtley. Yes, point of clarification, I want to make sure I heard you

[00:49:09] correctly that the people who are getting grants, that is separate from the people who are, that doesn't score as high as are the people who are non-profits. The scores are based solely on the type of project, whether it is rental housing or home ownership or rehabilitation.

[00:49:30] The percentage of the score, there's a maximum number of scores you can get for rental housing project applications, home ownership applications, and so forth. Excuse me. The scores are based on, they are modified for each application, so you're only going to read a rental housing application against the rental housing score sheet.

[00:49:55] There are different maximum scores that you can get for the different types of projects based on what is required in the application. So rental housing applications would require a 30-year pro forma to show that that project would be viable and financially healthy for 30 years, whereas you don't have that for a home ownership project.

[00:50:20] So the 10 points or 5 points that you would get for the pro forma with the rental housing application, you don't get that. And it's not included in the home ownership application. So there would be a difference in maximum scores between the two types of projects of 10 points, say.

[00:50:37] So if you get 110 points for rental housing, you would get 100 points on the home ownership application. You were addressing people or organizations that are eligible for loans or for grants. It's for both.

[00:50:53] for both okay because people applying for grants if they're a for-profit you're not allowing that you're just allowing grants for non-profit is did i hear that correctly or am i mistaken so grants are primarily for non-profit organizations building housing or rehabilitating housing if a not if a for-profit organization is going to build a 100 affordable property then they would be able to apply for a grant nonprofits are able to apply for loans or grants okay that's what I was okay that's what I was thinking about thank you very much

[00:51:29] thank you no other questions thank you supervisor missile yes thanks hey dr. Prathia thanks for thanks for the information for the presentation it was really helpful clarified a lot of things and I won't repeat questions that have already been raised I did have similar questions I have a few additional ones One is maybe just, I don't fully understand why we do not have visibility into the specific applications that we're requesting these funds.

[00:51:57] Is there a reason for that? I'm sorry. So when the applicants applied for this funding, are we able to see, is the public able to see the applications, or is that kept confidential? um it was decided because this is going on consent agenda to keep them out of the agenda packet but they can certainly be provided in the future okay um that would be helpful we will have to look at how to present them in your packet because they do require a large number of um supporting documents some of which can be hundreds of pages long so i don't want to overwhelm

[00:52:37] everything so we'll just need to look into how to do that right and i didn't know if any of that was proprietary or if there were any confidentiality issues that the applicants would wish to remain confidential, but just a thought. Some of that would probably need to remain confidential, and many of it doesn't.

[00:52:54] It's really a file size matter. I think a summary of each of those would be helpful. Absolutely. The other thing, and I know I saw this in an email and you responded today. I haven't had a chance to review it, but general comment, it would be helpful to see a comment or to see an accounting of sources and uses for housing investment funds in general, just to get a general sort of big picture.

[00:53:15] But that's sort of out of the realm of this discussion. We touched on some calculation discrepancies. I do think that's an issue that I'd like to look into further. And as I referred in my email, just does that impact any of the awards?

[00:53:32] I know that you mentioned, let's see, You mentioned that you confirmed that the four that reached the 75% threshold were still the four that reached that 75% threshold.

[00:53:51] I would be interested to know, are there others, however, beyond those that would have otherwise reached that threshold if there had been? So you're saying no? Correct. That mistake was strictly in the housing world. That was not shared with the review team.

[00:54:06] I see. That was just for our purposes, and I made a last-minute decision to include it in your agenda packet to provide more information, and I just forgot to double-check my work. I apologize. So it would not have had. That did not influence their reviews.

[00:54:24] Got it. Okay. It was very helpful to hear about that 20%, and supervisors prove its clarification to that, so thank you. I do have a question about how we plan to distribute that. So that 20%, you mentioned that there were some uses right here, these three uses.

[00:54:43] How do we identify what those uses are for those? So that 20% comes out of staff-identified needs. So they could be emergency needs that we see coming up, such as the Salvation Army family shelter beds. We know there's a lack in the county and the area in general, so this was a good way to support that project.

[00:55:05] projects that are listed here are related to issues that staff has identified over several years a landlord risk reduction fund risk mitigation fund whatever we're going to end up calling it really helps to move helps lower income families that may not have a security deposit to move into housing it provides sort of a security blanket for landlords we're looking at a family preservation housing assistance pilot um that would provide um it would help families that are

[00:55:42] struggling to either keep their child at home due to lack of housing stability or um have their child return from care due to lack of housing stability so this would be a pilot program to help overcome that we're still putting details together but that's um a huge issue yeah uh the county does provide um hotel space for many families in that situation so this is the way to to potentially save money in that regard um and then there's always the uh the the homeless shelter project that the city is working on on holiday drive that the county will probably come back with a

[00:56:18] recommendation for that as well got it and i i don't have any issues with any of those they're they're um important they're important for the community etc i i my only question is you know mentioned that there are rollover funds we're talking about the potential for that it just surprises me this is kind of an editorial comment I guess surprises me in this community where there is so much need that we have any funds that are rolling over and I would I think encourage us to try to find every resource we can to distribute those funds as needed and then the last thing I'll just say is to echo again what supervisor Pruitt mentioned which is I think it would be prudent to hold these materials and do a little bit more of a

[00:56:58] deep dive. I also think it's helpful potentially to provide some air time for applicants if they want to touch base with staff to get any clarifications beyond today. That's all. Thank you. Great. Thank you. Supervisor Gungan? Yeah, thanks for this presentation and the future recommendations. I also had concerns with the money left over because I think we need to be spending down to zero every year. My one little comment on this, and I know these are just potential, but the landlord risk, it sounds like it's actually helping tenants by providing them security deposits that I would love to see tenant reflected in the title and not just landlord.

[00:57:36] I initially asked for this item to be pulled more because I think it's important for the public and for us to acknowledge when we're spending affordable housing money and to see what can happen when we invest in affordable housing. And so I just wanted to highlight that some of these projects are providing housing for people making mostly less than 60% AMI.

[00:57:55] One of them is for almost 200 units for people making less than 30% AMI. So these are housing projects for people who would not be able to afford housing otherwise. I think it's important to recognize, especially I know later tonight we're going to get public comment about funding for affordable housing initiatives, that when we fund affordable housing, we're having literal, tangible effects on people's lives.

[00:58:21] And investing in housing is a public health initiative. it's public safety, it's good climate policy, it's economic development, and so investing in housing, we're able to basically, you know, invest in almost everything that we say our priorities as a county are. And so, you know, spending this $3.5 million on housing is a good decision that I think should be publicly recognized, and obviously we need to spend much, much more on it, but I also agree with Supervisor Missel and Pruitt on making sure that we're taking a second and look at the funding and the scoring for this particular one.

[00:58:57] Thank you. Supervisor Malik. Thank you, and thank you to my three colleagues who have asked many of the questions I had written down and for raising this to begin with. Let me go back up here. I had some things highlighted. I guess my original confusion, which has not yet been clarified, the original matrix that was sent showed a per-unit cost, and yet now we're being told that that if the and they were combined grants and loans which i have

[00:59:33] personal concern about it seems like you shouldn't be punished for asking for a loan that the county is going to be paid back you should be consider the cost to public dollars that is granted and that would probably although i didn't do any of the math um change the per unit cost significantly which then would change the 76% or the 84%, which then would change the percentage of the allocation.

[01:00:01] So I don't think it's immaterial, and maybe I just don't understand, but going along with all of the others, there is still so much that is not clear and not explained well enough for me to explain it to a constituent who calls me.

[01:00:19] That's always been my bottom line, is I have to be able to understand it well enough to turn around and say something to somebody else that sounds coherent and doesn't just destroy the trust of the county in somebody else's eyes and ears. So that connection seems pretty clear to me, and I haven't heard anything yet that would change that.

[01:00:36] So those are things that I need to learn more about before I'm willing to support this. While the concept is very important, and I know that the connection of housing to school student success and health and all those other things is incredibly important, And for someone who lives in a three-generation household, I know how important it is to have family around.

[01:01:01] So I get all that. But the details matter. And we know that there are always more needs than we have funds for, and therefore we have to do it right. And not just say, oh, we've got to spend this down real quick and let's just do it. That sends me running in the other direction really fast.

[01:01:17] Because we need to have the details and make sure that we're making the very best investment that we can make in every one of these categories. So I'm all for doing the homework. I could not do it when I finally got stuff late yesterday or at 11 o'clock this morning.

[01:01:33] So I have catching up to do, and I get it. I think the comments by others about the transparency is really important. There is, I would disagree, there is significant pushback on the community grants process because I think there are people who are not really informed about the topic.

[01:01:52] Arts, for example. making decisions that impact the board, and the board has more recently become reluctant to argue about it. I'm maybe the only one this year, too. But it makes a difference when we're spending tens of thousands for national things and we're giving nothing to our local people.

[01:02:10] In the same way, I think it's really important that we analyze everything. While I have no criticism for having county staff advise, none of those people in the positions that were listed have particular expertise in housing, other than being people.

[01:02:29] And maybe that was the basis on which you wanted advice, was just as human beings, what do you think about this? I would find it very difficult with my limited expertise in housing to score anything. I mean, the 0 to 10 is a terrifying thing for me to have to do, whether it's evaluations for staff or anything else.

[01:02:47] So these are my concerns. I may be the only one who has them, but I think that I will benefit tremendously from postponement of decision and a lot more discussion. I did write somewhere, things that will come back to the board, I guess when choices are made for each level of these, they would come back to the board for processing.

[01:03:09] That is what I remember from the adoption of the process last spring. It may be a consent agenda if the information is sufficient for the board members to read it and understand it and say, yes, I'm willing to bless this. But that's my understanding. if it's different and staff is asking for the ability to spend a million dollars all by themselves, I'm not ready for that. So that transparency is important for me. I don't know how many county residents have accessibility to any family shelter in the city, and taxpayers in

[01:03:46] Albemarle pay a considerable amount to the city every year in revenue sharing and therefore are already creating a very big pot of money for a lot of these services. So I'm wondering what other county benefits more directly can be provided to county residents through some of the other categories on your list and why I would like to know more about all of those things as well.

[01:04:10] Thank you. As it relates to this specific item, what I'm hearing is we would all like you to show the math. So I think the deferral for this to come back at the next board meeting, whether it's on it this has got enough air time that it'll we may have to work with the clerk to put it on the actual agenda uh just just to satisfy some of the concerns that i've heard surface here that i also agree with um a couple of the questions that i have build on others and i think if we do defer till then it'll give me a chance to ask those questions just in the interest

[01:04:44] of time um i will put in one comment that kind of climbs an elevation on this uh when we passed housing Albemarle and the specific nature of the trust fund that we were shooting for in that document, we also talked about coming with a standing housing advisory committee, that if that committee is set up properly, does this work, which is why I want that committee, and I've kind of brought that up since several times in the past, because then it's a combination of the

[01:05:19] staff work and the committee work that stand up of that committee is more on it but not more on us is on us to give that specific direction which has been a little as i've said before foggy after the passing of the policy document versus what housing advisory committee means and then wanting clarifying direction perhaps so i'm willing to forego probably four or five years of other comments I've made to say this is something that shows that maybe goes a little differently if we

[01:05:54] had that committee stand stood up in the way that I think folks would like to see happen and the parallel committee or advisory group would be our economic development authority how they process applications make judgments on them make decisions on them and then bring that to the board for final consideration. Could happen in a very parallel way, and I think a lot of other places that do this sort of thing on large scales do it that way, so that's my commentary for it, but if there's no

[01:06:29] objection, what I would hope for, and I could probably work with Mr. Richardson, Stemek, and Dr. Pethia to figure out what exactly should be in the coming packet for the next one, but I think all of us want to hit pause just so that we can understand it, see the math that's behind all the numbers uh and then make a good solid decision on at the next meeting but i think it's appropriate to delay the i know it's delays the dollars going back out the door but i don't think we can in good faith let those dollars go out the door without a better level of understanding um and then we'll

[01:07:04] go from there are there any questions from staff about what we're asking for or what we're what we're directing i'm sorry what add to the list please oh so in regards to the committee someone is going to have to make a recommendation or are we going to figure out the capability or the qualifications of the various sectors and stuff that's going to be on there. I thought that's what we were waiting for and so I didn't do it. I think we'll have an opportunity to probably get into that a little bit with the next agenda item. Thank you.

[01:07:41] Because we're going to be talking about priorities and housing Albemarle is on the list of priorities for the AC44 implementation. Yes, please. I think staff has everything we need from you. I just want to say that if there is any additional information as you're reading through what was sent late yesterday and early this morning, please let us know, and we can send additional information.

[01:08:03] Awesome. Thank you so much. Yes? I'm sorry. Did I understand you to ask about the previous awards and the detail, or somebody asked about the sort of history of we've given this much to Premier Circle and the follow-up to that, because that dollar amount has been reported, but where they are in the process, how many years it's been going on, what are the delays, what is the delivery so that we have a performance report as well because there's been a lot of money that's gone out the door without any perceived thing happening.

[01:08:32] So that would be nice to have information to be able to share that with constituents who call. We can certainly provide that. The spreadsheet that was sent this morning does include all of the funding through the housing fund that has gone to the project since 2019. It does not have the details of status project, but we can certainly get that for you.

[01:08:53] Thank you very much. And with the exception of the $300,000 and some thousand that surfaced today, all those other dollars were voted on by this board to go to that project. Correct. Yeah, the board will always vote on recommendations. Staff does not approve funding without staff board approval.

[01:09:12] We just bring the recommendations to you. Thank you. Thank you. Now, if there are follow-up questions, I'm going to ask that you send those to Stacey and Kaki and then copy Mr. Richardson on them as well. And then I would recommend, just because of all the folks interested in it, to copy your fellow board members with those questions, too, from the get-go.

[01:09:31] So we're all on the same page, and this won't get delayed further when it comes before the board in two weeks. All right, thank you very much. All right, we are behind, so I'm just going to just call that to everybody's attention so that as we move through the next item, we don't need to rush, but we also just need to not think we have a lot of extra cushion time either.

[01:09:56] So that will take us to item number nine, zoning modernization, AC44 implementation priorities. I know Leah is joining us, and we have others who are moving about that will be ready to... Come on, Bart, you know you're going to have to step up at some point, so you'd better get down here close.

[01:10:16] Good afternoon. Good afternoon, members of the board. Chair Galloway, we are not yet up. Leah, pull the mic down towards you, too, because you're very quiet.

[01:10:32] Thank you. Is this mic on? I think I, along with everyone else, is getting over a cold. Yeah, the mouse wasn't working.

[01:10:49] There we go. Yes, so with that in mind, to keep this moving quickly, good afternoon, Chair Galloway and members of the board.

[01:11:04] My name is Leah Brumfield, Senior Planner 2 in the Zoning Division of Community Development, and today I will be presenting the staff-recommended list of prioritized AC44 implementation actions, Essentially, how we are combining the two projects, the way that I have combined the two logos here.

[01:11:25] These implementation priority actions are based on the goals and vision of the comp plan, particularly looking at the big moves, the strategic plan, and also stated board directives. So the recommended list of prioritized actions will make up this regulatory modernization stage of the project, phase three.

[01:11:47] and will be a not insignificant part of the implementation of the comp plan for the immediate couple of years. So quick rundown in this presentation, we'll be touching on the project background. We'll do a quick review of phase two of the project. We did discuss that at length at the last zoning modernization presentation, November of last year. And since this work session is on prioritization of phase three, we won't be going too deeply into it at that point.

[01:12:19] But I will go into the work that has brought us to this point today, how the implementation actions in the comp plan relate to the staff recommended priorities of phase three, which is shown in attachment C of the board's packet. And I will be summarizing the actions we recommended to be prioritized.

[01:12:39] And then finally, we'll go into next steps for phase three. At the end of the presentation, we'll be asking for the board's feedback on our recommended priorities and our phase three plan in general but we don't have any specific approval requests at this time so for background phase one we established the tone modern language style and ordinance format of the new uh new project we worked with the berkeley group drafting four foundational articles of the new ordinance article one was general provisions two administration

[01:13:16] three is permits and applications and 10 was non-conformities and in august of 2024 we presented these four articles to the board at which point they were reviewed and given a general approval however we did not adopt the articles at that time since the new format of the ordinance will require a wholesale reorganization of all the new articles and we're not able to piecemeal shoehorn those into place at this time however that work has already been very useful to this point we've been putting the new layout and language into in already to work

[01:13:55] using it to rewrite our riparian buffer regulations and also our rewritten form-based code overlay district regulations so this is actively working and we are moving forward with it already. Phase two, which is currently underway, expands those foundational principles of the tone, the language style, the format of those four first articles, and expands it to the rest of the ordinance. We're currently rewriting the sections that will become Article 6, the use matrix, and Article 7, the use standards. And we're drafting those and other sections, and we'll be continuing

[01:14:35] that, and then bringing any questions or any issues to the planning commission and the board in work sessions over the next year or so. We'll also be doing reviews of those drafted language with internal and external stakeholders, but we're keeping in mind that the goal of this particular phase is to adopt the rewritten, reorganized ordinance quickly without substantive regulatory changes. So we are trying to move that along quickly. That new layout will provide us a foundation that is easier to work with, and that'll make the regulatory changes in phase three much

[01:15:13] faster and simpler. So phase three is also running concurrently. We are in that right now at this meeting. And it is encompassing the larger substantive work of enacting the comprehensive plan. This is just a couple of key dates, not every single thing that's going to happen over the next year, but this kind of illustrates how we're looking at the concurrency of both phase two and phase three at the same time. And just keeping in mind, as with every zoning text

[01:15:45] amendment, as we are aware, projected dates are approximate. So how do we translate that? Which was on October 15, 2025, we adopted our updated AC44 COP plan.

[01:16:01] And that provides us with the framework for the shape of regulatory modernization. This document that we adopted envisions a county that is green and resilient, welcoming and equitable, connected and accessible, and thriving and prosperous.

[01:16:19] And it has four documents, the plan policy, growth management policy, implementation, and the appendix. So within that implementation document, different aspects of the county are addressed from the development land use, development area land use, the rural area land use, environmental stewardship, thriving economy, all those different things in their own chapters.

[01:16:41] And then at the end of each of these topic area chapters is a list of actions which address the chapter's stated objectives in ways that staff, the board, and the community have recommended for this next phase of the county's growth cycles.

[01:17:00] Here we have just on the left a very small snippet of the rural area land use actions that are recommended just to show you what that looks like on that page. All these actions are grouped by objective, and they touch on things from grants the county should pursue to new public-private partnerships to zoning ordinance-recommended actions, recommended changes.

[01:17:25] There are almost 400 implementation actions in the comprehensive plan. Fortunately, not all of them directly relate to zoning ordinance changes. As noted, some of them are about policies. Some of them are about grant funding. something about internal policies or board initiatives that could be addressed at a later date or are currently underway as well. 40 of them, however, are directly related to zoning ordinances, ordinance changes that we're looking at near the short term. So it's around 40 actions.

[01:18:02] So in the addition, in addition to the implementation actions, in the end of each topic chapter, we also looked through zoning staff and planning staff together, looked through the comp plan to find the embedded AC44 assumptions, goals, and visions for the county that are not explicitly listed as actions. So for example, looking at this particular page, we have the neighborhood residential comp plan map designation description. This is the language that describes

[01:18:40] what a place that we are calling neighborhood residential should look like. And if in this description, we talk about primarily residential use with some neighborhood-scale commercial, retail, and institutional uses. However, the zoning ordinance currently has extremely limited lists of non-residential uses that are permitted either by right or by special use permit or at all achievable in residential districts that would correlate with this neighborhood residential designation in the comp plan.

[01:19:12] So in order to close that gap, in phase three of this project, we're looking at an amendment to the ordinance that would allow some kind of additional non-residential uses in a neighborhood-scale appropriate use.

[01:19:29] So that would be something that is possibly by special use permit, most likely with a number of supplemental regulations. But these are the kinds of things that we're pulling from the text that are not explicitly listed as ordinance actions that are in the end of the implementation chapter.

[01:19:49] So where we've seen these gaps in that action list at the end of the implementation chapter, zoning and planning staff together wrote what would we need to close that gap and where those sections are something that is repeated multiple times in the ordinance.

[01:20:12] something where it is a high priority for the county we added those to the actions list which again is attachment c in the staff's pack in the board's packet those ones are listed as ul or unlisted actions because they're not in that first list in the comprehensive plan so in reviewing both the listed and also the unlisted or implied actions in the comprehensive plan

[01:20:44] We worked very closely with our recently retired community development director, Jody Filardo, special guest this afternoon, prioritizing the actions with this criteria. First, we're looking at aligning those actions with the highest AC44 priorities described either in the topic chapter objectives or described as a big move at the end of that chapter.

[01:21:10] Additionally, the prioritized actions should have an impact on multiple community goals, something that could enrich activity centers, as well as availability of affordable housing, for example. We prioritized actions that are ready for implementation, something that will not require a, you know, five, ten-year study, and also regulatory changes that address issues that we see a lot, things like step-back waivers on four-story residential multifamily structures.

[01:21:43] We get that with almost every single application that comes in for those. And then finally, staff-prioritized actions that are dovetailing with existing ongoing work, things that are already happening, and then any actions that would immediately address staff or board-identified directives, which I'll go into a little bit, a couple of slides down. So this is what our attachment C looks like. And this shows how all of these actions are coming from maybe different chapters within the implementation chapter of the comprehensive plan. This is development area land

[01:22:22] use and also housing chapters, but they are all moving towards affordable housing initiatives. And the recommended prioritization ended up with three tiers of actions. Tier one is the actions that are crucial for immediate pressing implementation.

[01:22:43] They will be addressed in phase three of the zoning modernization project. We'll be trying to bring all of those to life. And there are 30 such actions, both the listed in the comp plan and unlisted in attachment C. Tier two is actions that will require additional technical research beyond the immediate capacity of this project.

[01:23:06] These actions could be rolled into phase three if time and staff resources allow, but they also may be addressed through individual zoning text amendments at a later date due to their nature of being something that is not as widespread or something as embedded in different sections of the text.

[01:23:23] And then finally, tier three contains actions that will require a larger scale additional planning effort. For example, the biggest one is things that will require more intensive engagement and community research to create our rural area land uses plan, which is a little bit ways out. But it's something that would touch almost all the aspects of rural area life and rural area land use planning. So these things cannot be taken under zoning modernization, because we just don't have the data, we don't have the information yet, and we don't have the

[01:23:58] prioritization and guardrails for these topics at this time. So these tier one recommended priorities, we've organized into seven often overlapping topics. They loosely correlate with topics covered in the comprehensive plan, but there are some that are just pulled out a little bit and are not necessarily mentioned in the big moves. The seven topics are not necessarily organized in any particular order, but they are affordable housing initiatives, activity center

[01:24:34] initiatives, economic development initiatives, modernizing and streamlining development review processes, increasing density across the development areas, increasing mixed use accessibility across the development areas, and the rural area special topics. We won't go over all 30 of the recommended actions, but I will review two of the priority topics and their associated actions to walk the board through our prioritization process so starting with the affordable housing initiatives the actions related to affordable housing we found in two chapters of the implementation document of

[01:25:13] the comprehensive plan the first was the development area land use chapter and that one had action 1.2 which allowed resident sorry recommends allowing residential uses in commercial districts. And just as a brief note, the actions that I have on the screen are very truncated and they're summarized. This is not the entire action. But that allowance of residential uses in commercial districts would have an increase in availability of units, increasing hopefully the

[01:25:50] affordability of residential units throughout the county and in different places. When we're looking at the housing chapter of the comprehensive plan, the actions recommended for prioritization range from incorporating the Housing Albemarle Affordable Dwelling Unit Program into the zoning ordinance to reducing minimum lot sizes and parking requirements. So there's a whole laundry list there. Overall, these actions are large and impactful, and they will require pretty intensive review, drafting, and a lot of work with community and development partners. But they are listed as recommended priorities because of their outsized impact on affordable housing which is one of the

[01:26:29] highest priorities in the comprehensive plan and one that both the board and the public have repeatedly strongly supported. With the drafting of the comp plan the community endorsed this recommended priority as affordable housing which is a fundamental community value that we are aiming for. So bringing these actions from the if from that approved community recommended comprehensive plan into the zoning ordinance is a direct and powerful step of bringing that value to life in the actual community that we live in. So skipping around a bit, we're looking at another topic area

[01:27:07] which is the rural area special topics and these ones are majority of rural area, sorry, the majority of the rural area recommended actions are intended to be addressed at a later stage but these particular actions are something that can be addressed sooner because they are a single-identified high-priority issue or they're something that doesn't necessarily require a large-scale land use research plan associated with it. So looking at the rural area land use actions, action 4.5 on page 4 of the attachment C in the staff report recommends revising the regulations for special

[01:27:47] events. The ordinance language that we currently have is very out of sync with the way we approve and administer special use permits in the rural area. Sorry, special events, special use permits. And since there is a perennially high amount of interest in special events, special use permits, this is something that is prioritized. Looking at the narrative of the rural area land uses chapter, One of the, again, unlisted actions is a repeated mention of protecting historic resources.

[01:28:20] On page 8 of the rural area chapter of the implementation document, they mention adaptive reuse of existing historic structures. But again, there's currently a very limited opportunity for adaptive reuse of those structures unless the structure was historically a restaurant, tavern, or inn.

[01:28:39] So under this special topic, prioritization, we are looking at investigating feasibility for additional permitted uses for registered historic properties, hopefully encouraging property owners to be able to protect that historic resource.

[01:28:56] And then that would also meet the chapter objective of protecting natural systems, water supplies, and historic and cultural resources. Then looking at the thriving economy chapter actions, the two that are listed here, 7.2 and 7.3, enabling agriculture-related agricultural support services, and then also allowing additional revenue streams for agribusinesses like restaurants, lodging, or other kinds of recreation.

[01:29:24] So these two actions impact both the rural area goals of preservation of unfragmented parcels and supporting local agriculture, and also support the thriving economy chapter's objective of encouraging a thriving and modern agricultural economy, which is why these particular ones are prioritized here.

[01:29:44] So with that in mind, staff strongly recommends the prioritized list of actions in attachment C of the staff report for implementation of AC44. And as we are moving forward with phase three, our next steps will be to receive the board's feedback on our prioritization, begin our general broad engagement for the topic for the project on all of these kinds of topics and the project in general, building community awareness and also building community learning about the zoning text amendment process and zoning in general.

[01:30:23] We will be building our focus topic groups with people with relevant experience in the topics. We'll be addressing in phase three and working with those groups to get input on details of how we'll be enacting these recommended actions from the COP plan into the zoning modernization project.

[01:30:41] and then we'll be drafting that new ordinance with the feedback in mind and finally reviewing it both internally and externally so with that thank you for your time today and at this point I would request the board provide any feedback they have on our recommended priority topics list and our general phase three plans thank you very much supervisor Pruitt it's just the first little AI me I've ever seen.

[01:31:16] I think that's supposed to be me in the bottom left. It's uncanny. Slightly unsettling. Briefly stunned. I want to begin by just asking a quick question. So we reviewed today the tier one lifts. I don't want to borrow the language that I know we had in the implementation plan of the comp plan, and I'm blanking on it, but something like the big blocks or something. These are kind of comparable.

[01:31:44] Um, big moves. Thank you. Big moves. Um, is there a meta prioritization within these tier one elements or is this kind of representing, uh, peak staff capacity for things that can be handled simultaneously? Um, when you say prioritization, do you mean within tier, within the tier one topics? Um, we don't really have a, a prioritization of that. We're looking at those. Um, uh, the, the goal for all of those is to be within this project um so when you do public uh um community

[01:32:20] feedback sessions they would be providing feedback on all the different things that have been identified in the tier one section uh we would be handling each topic separately okay okay but they would still be roughly a pace with one another is the um i don't think we're going to be having seven topic meetings uh within a week i think we will probably be handling them sequentially um but we don't have any particular um sequence in mind at this point understood not to put words in your mouth it sounds like there will be a a meta prioritization but it is not clear what that

[01:32:56] prioritization schedule is going to look like yet i think i wouldn't really say prioritization it's really more what comes up first um that that'll really be a um uh which groups can we build um which topics do we have time for at, you know, as we're handling phase two topics, that kind of thing.

[01:33:18] Great. That's actually all I have in the interest of getting us back out of schedule. Supervisor Lupisto Kirtley. Thank you very much for the presentation. I really like what you're doing, and it sounds to me, and correct me if I'm wrong, But it sounds to me like you're taking things that can be easily or more easily completed in a shorter amount of time because some of the other areas are going to take a lot longer.

[01:33:52] And so this way, it shows that we're getting things done because we are getting, you know, we're moving a little faster on the simpler things. I think you used that word, the simpler things. Yes. So that is definitely what we're doing with phase two.

[01:34:08] Phase two is bringing those changes that we can do as staff because they're really more administrative. Those things are moving quickly, and we're trying to bring those to fruition at the end of phase two at a much more rapid pace.

[01:34:26] The phase three things, those ones, there are some larger topics, which is why we have a longer time span allotted for them. Things like increasing mixed use in residential districts I know is not a small topic. So that's the kind of thing that we'll be addressing on a larger time span.

[01:34:44] But then some of the things that we have not allocated staff and time resources for finishing within that definite period, like the rural area land uses plan, those are things that we're not encompassing within phase three.

[01:35:05] Okay, where are you encompassing that? That is a long-range planning topic that is on the work program, which I will not speak about that work program, but I do know that it is on the docket.

[01:35:22] It's just not necessarily like this next couple of years. Okay, thank you. Those are all the questions I have. Supervisor Missal. Thanks. Thanks for the presentation, too. And I just have a few kind of broad questions, and I'll keep the specifics until later.

[01:35:40] One is I really appreciate you walking us through the process every time and showing us the building blocks that have gotten us to this point because it's a good reminder. I think it's really important. When you showed one of the slides, I didn't catch the number, but it was early when you had the little timeline that zigzagged back and forth.

[01:36:00] Can you remind us where there are opportunities? So between now and I think it was July is the next meeting, if I remember correctly, where the opportunities are for public input throughout this time, March and July. So the public input was primarily in the comprehensive plan.

[01:36:19] We do not intend to have town hall meetings for this. We will be hearing from the public on things that they need clarification on. I know that we are working closely with the CAPE team to get more information from the public on what information they need, but it's really more of an enactment of the comprehensive plan that we have already approved.

[01:36:43] so individual details on things that are very technical things like um soil volumes for tree health or um the heights of buildings for safety those kinds of things are not necessarily things that we really need the public to weigh in on um things that are should we have more affordable housing we have already weighed in on as a community and that answer is yes so i don't want to, we don't want to go and ask the same question over and over again. Yeah, I understand that. I guess I'll go, I'll riff a little bit off of that a little bit further. It just seems that

[01:37:20] maybe, maybe Mr. Svoboda is going to answer this. Seems like as you, to your point, yes, there are definitely things that were in the AC44 process that were well voiced by the community. I think there are certain things in a zoning ordinance, though, that there could be some input on, for example how well are we doing in terms of um efficiency right or turning projects around more quickly or sustainability being interact in involved in and intertwined in the in the zoning ordinance like you used affordable housing as an example where affordable housing you know adding

[01:38:00] resi to commercial is one way to help with those types of things so i think there are ways to support other initiatives, right, like sustainability or rural areas or whatever those are that will need to be baked into this zoning ordinance and could benefit from public feedback. Just something to think about. Bart Sobota, Deputy Director of Community Development. I'd just like to add to that and give you a little preview. The AC44 will be another update from that team will be coming in April, so that'll help tie some of this together. And as far as feedback goes, we'll be

[01:38:39] focusing a lot with the stakeholders. So on specific things like lighting or signage or housing, we'll have specific groups to do that rather than a mass public work session or public input session on the individual things, because we feel like those took place during the comprehensive plan and that's reflected in the goals okay hope that helps so you will be getting in information you'll get input you'll have reviews of some of the initiatives that you're

[01:39:11] yes okay that's great um let's see i think in terms of the priorities uh just a couple questions one is has the planning commission weighed in on the priorities um no we came to the board to ask about the board's priorities for um for this project so no information from the planning commission on it okay and um i think i heard this maybe i didn't i maybe heard this incorrectly you

[01:39:48] mentioned the tiers who went through tier one two three that was really helpful tier three did you mention that an example of that is the rural areas plan um so some of the actions in the comprehensive plan talk about things like uh allowing non-residential non-agricultural uses to be allowed in existing structures in what could theoretically be a crossroads community, although we don't really have a designation for that at this point.

[01:40:23] Looking into things like the crossroads communities and how that land use would be impacted, whether we have a designation for those, whether we're looking at village residential properties, a lot of different questions like that, that's the kind of thing that we would look at in the rural areas land use plan.

[01:40:40] Yeah. And that's a tier three initiative. Yes. So when you're talking about the near term special topics like revising regs for special events, additional historic property, all good things, I think at some point, I guess they'll be a part of a larger plan. And I would just want to make sure that we ensure that we have an action plan associated with the rural areas plan so that these tier three items don't just get sort of swept under the rug and kind of forgotten about for a couple of years. And then, you know, meanwhile, we're making a lot of smaller initiatives that

[01:41:15] are really part of a broader potential plan. Yeah, I do. As Mr. Savota brought up, I do think that you will be hearing a lot more about the rural areas plan and the intentions for the timing of that project and those particular initiatives that they're bringing forward when the long range team uh brings their uh brings their presentation to you excellent and then the last thing i'll say i think hopefully this is in the scope of your question is just a you know a reminder i know you'll do this just keep keep your eyes on affordable housing keep your eyes on sustainability

[01:41:49] how those are all interwoven since the intent was that ac44 would focus on climate action resilience etc as we're going through this those lenses are really important as we think about priorities and we think about more specific zoning categories that's all thank you supervisor Duncan yeah this is great I really love everything that you guys have in attachment see the priorities if all of these were in the

[01:42:24] zoning ordinance and match the comp plan I would be absolutely overjoyed so yeah I like what you guys have picked out. I also really like the kind of community outreach and sort of the creativity with, you know, the online resource, the podcast, all that kind of stuff.

[01:42:42] This looks really, really great. So I know this was a lot of work and will be a lot of work, but this just looks really fantastic. Thank you. Supervisor Malik. Thank you. And in concurrence with what others have said as well, but I do have a couple things I wanted to clarify.

[01:43:02] Let me zoom back here. So if I heard correctly from Bart, focusing on the stakeholders is what you're going to do. And we're getting a sign, if you could. Oh, not. Okay. There we go. I guess I'm ready here. So the stakeholder groups will be your primary source of input on this next element?

[01:43:22] Stakeholder groups and internal and external partners, things like VDOT, Parks and Rec, all of our departments that we work with. So these are considered customers? you know yes and but we always need to remember that our citizens are customers so i'm glad to know from the second page about the podcast and the other ways for people to stay in but it was very difficult with the earlier stakeholder groups for the ac44 for anybody not in the secret group to even find out what was going on or what was i mean there were no minutes there was nothing available i wasn't allowed to listen in i mean it was very bizarre so anyway i hope i think there

[01:44:00] was some negativity from that from the public. So I'm glad to know that you're going to have more information available as you go along. Because as I would say to my newly teenage children, I will find out. And when I find out from somebody else instead of from you, I will be even more angry than I am right now. So I think it's always important to share that information appropriately at the beginning. You mentioned four categories of growth management, policy implementation, blah, blah, blah. Environmental protection, sustainability was not there on that list that

[01:44:35] you mentioned. Where is it? I mean, it's in the framework, but it wasn't mentioned today. So I just want to make sure that it is in this next step. So the categories of the topics that are prioritized are based on the primary actions that are from the comprehensive plan. So the The sustainability topics that we have in the comprehensive plan right now are much more policy-based and less regulation-based.

[01:45:07] A lot of the actions in the comprehensive plan, as I read them, are things like expanding credits or reaching out to create partnerships or having initiatives. Those are things that are not regulatory. Those are policies or they are board-level initiatives that are not necessarily written into the zoning ordinance.

[01:45:31] But things like water protection buffers, those are regulatory, absolutely. And so that's what I'm looking for is to make sure that those environmental sides, where we've sort of fallen down in the last 20 years or since 2014 for sure in our enforcement because of the way the laws were changed, for stream protection.

[01:45:51] I mean, this is clean water, which is why the Whitehall District was down-zoned, basically, in 1980. And so we want to make sure not to lose that advantage that we have now for water protection. And, yes, it's a policy, but it also has to be regulated, otherwise it will fail.

[01:46:06] That's all. I'm sorry, are you referring to the riparian buffer ordinance? Well, that's just one example of the many ways that this has to be done. And Bart is nodding as if I'm to be reassured that everything's under control. Yeah, because that one is coming. Okay, very good. Secondly, I'm glad to hear you use the example of neighborhood residential in the rural area and a list of other uses, which will certainly help some of my constituents who have been sitting in the residential property unlivable on a crossroads that have not been able to basically do anything, even have a garden center for the last 20 years.

[01:46:46] So I assume that this sort of expansive approach may help people in that circumstance to be able to move forward, which is wonderful. I know your staff has spent a lot of time with one of my constituents for that very thing. So hopefully this is coming from that. Also very glad to hear about the ADUs for zoning.

[01:47:08] Smaller lot size is incredibly important because having smaller houses requires a smaller lot. Otherwise, it's not financeable. No bank is going to loan money if the land is costing more than 15% or 20% of the whole thing. So that's important.

[01:47:24] Modular homes, I'm really glad to see that because they actually allow people to build equity, whereas manufactured homes do not. So any place where, in my opinion, we could foster modular home use instead of manufactured, that would be a benefit for the people who live there and buy them.

[01:47:45] And someone mentioned a while ago that modular homes are forbidden in our county zoning, and Bart is shaking his head. And I keep trying to say, no, I have them all around me. Why in the world would you think that? but they've been told that maybe 20 years ago but anyway i'm glad to know i will put a big no by that so i have the rest best information um and i'll be interested to see how the changes are proposed for the special events in rural area i think we haven't seen many of those because so many of the people doing them are doing a run around through a you know i'm going to plant a hot plant and a raspberry bush and call myself a brewery and the state says fine and so that's how they're getting all of these special events.

[01:48:26] But there have been plenty historically over the years who have done the proper process very successfully, and so hopefully we will still have that available. And the public input, I will just say that last night in my report to the Crozet Community Association, which is 46 years old this year, I said, remember, the zoning modernization is starting, and please share your ideas.

[01:48:49] So people will be watching, I think. Thank you. I like the approach of track and react, given the public that ability versus having to do a whole other engagement. We just did years of engagement on this, and it's go time.

[01:49:06] And this board is the one that has to determine what the actions are and prioritize those actions and go. And anything else, frankly, process-wise, it's not about bouncing or blocking or boxing anybody out. It's about saving the time. I mean, we get enough criticism about how long things take.

[01:49:24] Well, you know, we just at the MPO had to reconsider a citizen advisory committee that's been longstanding and that was created 30 years ago because citizen engagement was very different 30 years ago than how we all do things now.

[01:49:41] And a track and react kind of method is pretty good. Here's where I can find it. I can see what's going on. If I have an opinion, I can weigh it in. And it moves with the speed of the actions that are happening. So I appreciate that. And when the board feels we need advisory reaction from regardless of which committees kind of live under our umbrella, then we can specifically ask for that. Let's send that out to X, Y, or Z. But it doesn't slow us down in the meantime.

[01:50:13] Because, I mean, look, you know, I think all of us, I've heard at different points, I know in my CAC meeting, in trying to get to the final vote on the comp plan, where I, you know, our citizen advisory committee members are a little more engaged because they're paying, you know what I mean, just because of being the nature of that committee member.

[01:50:34] And they're kind of looking back at you with eyes with, like, get on with it already. So they're happy to track and react, but I don't know that they would say, oh, you've got to bring that back here on everything that you do and let me take a look at. Move along. I think I misspoke or was earlier made a confusing statement myself, so I appreciate, oh, right, we're just looking at the zoning modernization.

[01:50:58] We're not looking at all the policy pieces related to that. But that is coming in April then because my comment earlier was about housing Albemarle. And we committed during the comp plan that that would be an immediate, supposed to get a regular five-year review, but it would need to be immediate upon the closure of this last comp plan.

[01:51:18] So I'm assuming in April we're going to learn about those prioritizations. Is that what I was catching on? Yeah, the April. Other work lists. The April meeting is the work list for the planning team. Housing Albemarle has some aspects of that rolled into both sides of this, both ZMOD and the long-range planning team work.

[01:51:41] But the overall housing Albemarle is outside of ZMOD. As well as other policy. Yes, it's the other policy. You just have to get my hat on that says, all right, put the zoning stuff in one silo and then the policies in another.

[01:52:00] Because when I see AC44, I'm still like, it's all there. But the action plan, you have to coordinate out. So I appreciate that. In terms of getting this whittled down to these 40 items, I think it's well done. I don't go through this and look at the other list and go, I mean, to march through it and go, well, you didn't include this one.

[01:52:19] We need to add a 41 or we need to do it. Because it's not as if we're saying we're not going to do any past the top ones. It's just the prioritization of their here. The meta-prioritization conversation was interesting. And I don't know that that has to be developed yet, because you can see how you go and what's working.

[01:52:36] Sometimes that changes right in front of you, like, oh, man, we could knock this one out right now. And you might not know that, you know, in May, or you know what I mean. So I appreciate that as an approach. But for the most part, happy with all of the action items that were whittled down in the 40.

[01:52:52] Are there any additional questions or comments for staff? Is there anything that we haven't reacted to that you wish we had? I think you've pretty much covered it. I do hear that we have some support and some trepidation about our alternative digital selves.

[01:53:15] But other than that. Yeah, we're going to weigh in on that by the next time, too. I like it. I'm just glad there's no bald spots visible. Where did all these gray beards come from? All right. Well, thank you very much, Leah, for the presentation.

[01:53:32] Board, we would have had a recess, so I think we should take a quick, I would call it a five-minute recess if we can, just a bio break, and we'll come back and return as soon as possible to move to the next item. Great. You're live.

[01:53:58] All right, board, we are coming back from recess, and we will move now to item number 10, Smart Scale Transportation Project Funding Applications, and we welcome Jessica to the... Is this your first time here?

[01:54:14] This is. All right, I'll let you do your introductions because Ann and I got a little sneak peek at the MPO meeting, I know. Great. Thank you, Chair Galloway, and good afternoon, members of the board. I'm Jessica Dimmick. I'm the new principal transportation planner in the Community Development Department.

[01:54:31] If you remember Jessica Hirsch-Balloring, I am filling the position that she used to fill, working with Ms. Tanya Schwartzendruber and Mr. Kevin McDermott. Today, I'm sharing information on eight transportation projects in Albemarle County that are being considered for SmartScale funding applications.

[01:54:51] We're sharing this information today because the April 1st deadline for submitting pre-applications is coming up. Today, I'll share a brief overview of the SmartScale funding program and review the eight projects that are being considered for this round.

[01:55:10] These projects were previously shared with the board in November of last year as part the Transportation Quarterly Report. SmartScale is the primary method for funding large-scale transportation projects here in Virginia. It is administered by the State Office of Intermodal Planning and Investment under direction of the Commonwealth Transportation Board, and it can fund up to 100% of transportation project costs, including engineering, design, right-of-way,

[01:55:41] and construction. No local match is required. Localities and MPOs can each apply for up to four applications every two years. Pre-applications are required and they are due on April 1st. Full applications are due on August 1st. And we will be coming back to you all in June to request a formal resolution of support to accompany those full applications. The Commonwealth Transportation board selects projects through a competitive scoring process that reflects their transportation

[01:56:18] priorities, and projects that have been identified in state funding studies are generally most competitive. These are the eight projects that we'll talk about today. I'll walk through each one of these more in a little bit. Note that as staff, we are continuing to work with VDOT to refine these project descriptions and sketches. And so what you see today will change, will be tweaked in some form between now and the full application deadline. In fact, because these are moving so quickly, the project descriptions that we submitted at the time of the meeting packet

[01:56:58] deadlines have changed. And so I believe you have a special handout in your packet that shows the updated project descriptions. So let's look first at Barracks Road and the 29-250 bypass. There are two projects that are being considered for applications here, one from the county and one from the MPO. Both of these projects were identified in the Barracks Road Project Pipeline Study to address safety and pedestrian and bicycle access needs. On the west side of the

[01:57:33] interchange. This is a project that Albemarle County would submit for. This project will add a right turn lane on eastbound Barracks Road going on to the southbound bypass. It would close the median opening at Rikki Road, relocate the bus stop that is currently at Surrey Road over to the southeast corner of Barracks and Bennington Road, and it would construct a pedestrian connection from that relocated bus stop across Barracks Road to tie into the existing

[01:58:09] sidewalk. That would include a crosswalk across the ramp, a crosswalk across Barracks Road, and new sidewalk on the south side of Barracks Road. Immediately to the east of that is a project that the MPO would submit for. This project would make modifications to the northbound off-ramp, including extending the length of the deceleration lane, widening and realigning the northbound off-ramp to provide two left-turn lanes and one right-turn lane, adding sidewalk on

[01:58:46] both sides of Barracks Road from the existing sidewalk in the city to the intersection with the southbound ramps, and adding a crosswalk across Barracks Road. That crosswalk is the same crosswalk that's in the previous project, such that if only one of these projects is funded, that crosswalk would get constructed. Moving west to Crozet, this project was identified in the Crozet master plan, and it has been submitted in the past two rounds of SmartScale, and it has

[01:59:19] narrowly missed being funded both times. It is a project to convert the signalized intersection at U.S. 250 and Old Trail Road from a signalized intersection to a roundabout as well as add crosswalks and pedestrian connections. Moving on to Ivy Road near the 29-250 bypass.

[01:59:46] There are four projects being considered here. All of them have been identified in the Ivy Road project pipeline study and these are to address safety congestion mitigation and bicycle access needs. The first two are projects the MPO would submit for, and these make modifications to the mainline bypass. The first is to extend the length of the deceleration lane on southbound 250 to the off-ramp to give motorists a longer distance to change lanes and slow down in advance of the

[02:00:23] off-ramp. And then the other project is to extend the length of the acceleration lane to give a longer distance to merge onto US-29 and the northbound direction. Both of these projects are intended to reduce congestion and reduce congestion-related crashes.

[02:00:44] This project, Project C, and the next project, Project D, are related to each other. This project, Project C, we're calling full recommendations. It has a variety of recommendations from the Ivy Road Project Pipeline study, including a roundabout at Ivy Road and Canterbury Road, Old Garth Road, a roundabout at Ivy Road and Boarshead Drive, Coleridge Drive, a median in between the two for access management and to reduce conflict points, and a shared use path along Ivy Road in between the two.

[02:01:22] This project has a lot of benefits. It's also expected to be very high cost. And so the next project is a variation of the former project. that focuses on the roundabout at Canterbury Road and the shared-use path along Ivy Road.

[02:01:42] While this project has lesser benefits, it will also have a lower cost. We are planning to apply for both projects separately to increase the chances that at least one of these projects would be funded at this location.

[02:01:57] And finally, the last project is at Fifth Street and I-64 exit 120. This is a project that has been many years in the making. It has been identified over 12 or more years.

[02:02:15] This project was identified to be a diverging diamond interchange with a shared use path. That was identified as a preferred alternative and was submitted in the prior round of SmartScale. VDOT determined that the existing bridge over I-64 could not accommodate the width of the shared use path.

[02:02:34] In order to accommodate a shared use path, they would need a bridge replacement. which would make the project cost almost $80 million. Because that project was so high cost, it did not score very well and was not selected for funding. So VDOT has conducted this most recent study to value engineer the concept to be more competitive for funding.

[02:02:55] This is the current concept, which we are continuing to work with VDOT to refine. You can see it includes a diverging diamond interchange. It retains the existing bridge over I-64 and the existing sidewalk. It would add a new shared-use path from the northern part of the bridge deck to connect to the future 5th Street Trails Hub project at the Starbucks, and it would also add a new sidewalk connecting from the south point of the bridge deck further south along 5th

[02:03:32] Street to connect and tie into the existing sidewalk. So that's an overview of the eight projects that are being considered for submission. Pre-applications are required. They're due April 1st, after which point we cannot submit any new projects.

[02:03:54] And I would be happy to answer any questions. Thank you. Supervisor Pruitt? Thank you. Can we go back just one slide to slide 15? Can you help me understand? There's only one thing.

[02:04:09] I'm a little unclear what I'm looking at in the, in the, in the ramp on 264 going west or sorry, going east.

[02:04:26] Is that the shared use path going under the ramp? So up into the right of you. Further, further. Keep going. Keep going. Is that the shared use path going underneath the traffic ramp?

[02:04:45] I'm unclear what I'm looking at there. I see what you, I see your question. This is a shared-use path tying into the existing sidewalk on the bridge. So the path would narrow and tie into the existing sidewalk. It's not going under.

[02:05:01] Okay. And it's using the fact that there's... I'm just... I also want to clarify because I'm seeing crosswalk striping in other locations, but not there. Here. It's missing the crosswalk striping.

[02:05:16] That is a comment that we've identified to submit to VDOT. Okay. And I want to make sure I'm correctly understanding also this, the revaluation survey has been fully conducted. This is the product of that. And so there is no more additional. There is not an additional step that we're still conducting between now and submission of a product for actual deployment funding.

[02:05:41] Or am I misunderstanding that? I think you're correct there, Supervisor Pruitt. But they are still doing some minor refinements to this, such as we're asking them to reevaluate the full extent of the shared use path and see if we can maybe bring it all the way to the actual bridge.

[02:06:02] At the bridge, as we said, they can't add a shared use path on it and retain the bridge. So I think what we're probably going to end up having is a sign that says bikers must dismount to cross the bridge. um other than that you know it's going to be minor tweaks and and uh cost estimating that they're making between now and the final submission i don't think there's going to be any major changes thank you and can this is kevin just for the record if you would yeah of course uh kevin mcdermott i'm the deputy director of planning can you um for both my own reminder i i'm almost certain i've asked this question before but also for the for the board

[02:06:40] the public's reminder is there an anticipated gap in a continual shared use path between the the project outside uh cob 5th street and this if both of these projects uh proceed forward uh there there is still a gap that we are working to address so if uh there is the roundabout that's going in in front of cob 5th that that should be under construction within this year so likely this summer and that will add a shared use path along with the ABC development down heading north to

[02:07:19] the next intersection and then we are working with developers on the attain project to possibly extend that shared use path across their property and then you end up with a section of sidewalk that we currently don't have funding for that we'd have to continue look look for a way to complete and that brings you to this project so it's there's a gap of what would we would call a shared use path but it is still sidewalk it's just a less robust path width correct um great um i

[02:07:56] think that will be all i will leave my questions there for now uh supervisor lapisto currently yes i don't like i didn't pay attention to the slide number but if you go back the very i think it's slide two or three where barracks road was and you talked about uh the yes okay so there will or will not be a left turn lane going east from barracks road is that correct this left turn lane

[02:08:32] eastbound to go southbound on the bypass no no what am i getting my direction no westbound it's under the the left turn is is down and past the bridge here this one are you asking about the east sorry the eastbound left turn to go north on the bypass okay so that would be going under the bridge you couldn't okay that that movement will be retained okay there is a left turn lane all right yes thank you because you mentioned the median and i was a little confused

[02:09:09] sorry thank you good presentation supervisor missile great thanks nice to meet you welcome to the team and just a couple of quick questions on this slide while you've got it up and the the next slide I think do the do the late if you look to the left of this slide so further I guess that's south there's an additional turn lane where you go to the next slide slide seven and then go to slide eight and nine gosh well there was a slide I thought there were some

[02:09:47] improvements it's the one at um ivy so did those yes there does that does that lane connect to right sort of to the right there does that lane actually is there an additional lane that goes all the way down to barracks road on the north side northbound side on the northbound side yeah so this this is extending the acceleration lane right but it does acceleration tie into a deceleration lane uh yeah the it's not shown on here or you can't see it clearly but the intent

[02:10:22] of that uh of that acceleration lane is actually going to allow people to get off at um uh the leonard sand ridge exit yeah so you would be able to because we see so many uh vehicles that are actually trying just trying to get from ivy or old ivy up to leonard sand ridge this would be a continuous lane to connect to that it does not connect to the barracks road that doesn't go all the way down that far no just to leonard sandwich there's no additional right turn i got it out off of leonard sandwich drive okay got it thank you um and i can't help it but i know you had in here

[02:11:00] you addressed exit 118 um can you give us a little bit of an update there is it just we're still studying it. PEDOT is still studying it. They presented three, they identified three potential solutions and they were negatively received. All three were negatively received and they need more time to figure out a solution that works. So it's going to continue to be studied, but we will not have a solution ready in time for the smart scale funding deadlines. Thank you. And if I'm Remembering correctly, that does not include the improvements at Fontaine?

[02:11:39] Or does that include the improvements at Fontaine? The improvements at Fontaine are a separate project. Yeah, I thought so. Okay, that's all I had. Thank you. Supervisor Duncan? Yeah, I'm happy to see the Barracks Road stuff on here and the roundabout at Canterbury.

[02:11:57] I hate that intersection. The Smart Scale funding comes through six years after it's approved, correct? It's programmed four years out, so we're filling the last two years of the six-year program.

[02:12:15] So unless there's some sort of change by the administration to move a project forward, typically those projects start four years after the decision is made to award the funding. And that's then you get the money and then you start designing and constructing.

[02:12:33] and so like from application to if a project was picked how long is it before you can start before it's finished uh well that uh that depends on the project obviously and and timelines but um we typically see up to eight years between uh when a project's picked and when it actually gets completed for construction so is there any way like say the barracks road with the crosswalks on the sidewalk got picked, would there be any way to speed up the crosswalks so that we're not

[02:13:09] waiting eight years for a crosswalk? We can try and work with our VDOP partners and partners at the state to see if there's a possibility. It's difficult. They would have to probably move money from another project to put it on there. So it's something we can always try, but we have not done that really frequently. And historically how many projects are selected out of the applications? Is it like one? What we have in Albemarle County we've been up and down. I think

[02:13:44] some of the other board members saw a presentation on this a few months back but the past couple rounds Albemarle County has received a single project in the past few. Prior to that I mean And we've had up to nine projects actually funded through SmartScale in a single year.

[02:14:01] So we've had a lot of success in the past. These past couple rounds, not so much, but still getting at least one every year. And then just one other comment. It's also my understanding that not all VDOT districts work with municipalities in kind of the pre-application.

[02:14:18] And so I just think we're fortunate to be in a district that does work with us so that we have a good idea of what projects are feasible and have a chance of being more successful. So I do really appreciate that. Supervisor Malik?

[02:14:34] Thank you. Yes, this is actually really good news that I'm hearing. I see lots of dramatic improvements to what was talked about a couple of years ago in almost all the projects, which is great. And hopefully the powers that be in Richmond will agree.

[02:14:50] the uh on the shared use path from cob 5 north the one on the county side will go to stagecoach basically and then there's a gap on the east side do i have that right that from the roundabout on the county property it's easy to put one uh no we do not have a shared use path on the cob fifth on the east side of fifth street uh there is is part of that roundabout project they are making a sidewalk connection that goes to the bus stop in front of cob 5th but that's where it ends and then we don't have any other facilities so people who wanted to go the distance would hop

[02:15:29] over to the other side and go along on the abc project and on the west side correct and that right away is already set because of the approvals of both of those projects so there's no gap there there is a gap apparently way at the end on the south north end of the yards or something by the houses there so uh as i i was maybe not clear enough to explain there there is no gap in the network but it does go from a shared use path to a sidewalk and that sidewalk would connect all the

[02:16:03] way to our project so that wasn't the area where there was a gap in funding and we were just scrounging around yes so there is there you can see even see right here in front of that single family home that's out there there is a sidewalk that goes from here down to the entrance to the apartments the first set of apartments there um and then and then from that point on we would have the shared use path all the way to the roundabout okay makes very good sense uh i know over many years other communities have talked about mostly with railroad bridges hanging the

[02:16:39] pedestrian side off the side of the bridge and it's been very successful and vdot has said oh hell no double hell no on things like that but it's a really good idea and expands the use without having to put all those expensive peers in so i'm sorry we aren't able to make progress here when they do in other districts uh and the uh you mentioned the high cost of c for the ivy is that from the right-of-way two roundabouts i mean it's just the roundabout the right-of-way at birdwood basically is all you would need it's the magnitude of the improvements so two two roundabout projects

[02:17:18] plus a shared use path plus median is going to be a high cost we don't yet have cost estimates from vdot they're working on those but we know that anything in the 30 to 40 million dollar range is kind of the upper range for being actually competitive so we don't have cost figures yet but we're trying to hedge our bets so to speak and get at least something funded there yeah well the one at the trestle on 240 250 680 is 5 million bucks so hopefully the roundabouts you're proposing

[02:17:53] which are incredibly helpful will not be triple that that would be sad very good thank you very much um yeah i mean i'm happy to have these move forward i think for the some of the newer folks it's like this 115 exit this is a value engineered down project on resubmission what you're seeing with 118 is really that they they were going down and they hit the ground and now they know they have to bounce the hell back up because none of those i mean that's what sean was saying they're all

[02:18:28] half-baked at best that's a direct quote from mr nelson so the idea is uh just making costs less in money doesn't necessarily well i guess they might score better which isn't a foregone conclusion doesn't mean it's the best project for the improvement for the area so sometimes you have to stick to it i think and keep pushing on the project that you want because i think that impacts your your multimodal usage here but then the state change who knows what happens now if we've got new members of the ctv a new governor uh if the scoring you know i mean it's set for this round

[02:19:05] but in two years who knows the scoring could get reweighted and changed around again um and just don't know where you're going to go with that kevin i'm going to pick on you i did not give you a heads up about this but you love fielding on questions like that but back in the fall i'd inquired about our transportation priorities list and i know that uh at that time you had mentioned uh about the last time that report of the whole list of priorities was done if you it's going to and that we were kind of on hold with some AC44 work and things like that.

[02:19:42] Happy it doesn't impact what I think about these smart-scale applications, but thinking ahead to not just two years from now, any time we put a list of smart-scale applications together, it means other projects weren't selected. And I'm starting to lose sight because I'm working on an old transportation priorities list of what we need to be thinking about that's two, four, six years ahead of us.

[02:20:08] So all I'm asking for is update on when, whether it's a new process, new considered process, what have you, might be coming back before the board. We have picked that effort back up. Stimic is actually going to lead that.

[02:20:24] What we're doing right now is we are taking the similar process to what we've used before for prioritization, and we're going to update that and do minor refinements and bring that back to the board we expect in late spring of this year so that we have a list to work off of.

[02:20:46] And then we'll move from that point on, we're going to look at the potential multimodal transportation plan that could make broader updates to that process that would come back in the future. And this will all be part of the discussion when our long-range team comes back in about a month from now, I believe it is, so next month.

[02:21:08] So you'll hear a little bit more about that, but it is on its way. But the actual transportation list would be at a different point. It won't be next month. Yeah, that's correct. Next month is just letting you all know what these different projects that we're working on are.

[02:21:24] And then one of those is the initial prioritization, and that will be coming back a few months after that. Because that really drives beyond smart scale, then. It could drive sidewalk projects. It could drive – I would just – because I have the opportunity to, as you're thinking about the new prioritization process, thinking, too, about framing it in ways in terms of where they fall on a priority list of, Is this a project that really impacts where affordable housing is going up, where it could further economic development, not just initiatives, but benefits?

[02:22:03] So I think of how when we did the incentive for Home Depot, we were able to acquire almost all the right-of-way needed for the Hillsdale realignment. And that changes the likelihood because we just significantly reduced the cost of that project.

[02:22:22] So that should, I think, alter where sometimes it falls on a priority list versus just going one, two, three, four, five, because the weighting might even be different. And I don't know that we necessarily, maybe we did that in the past. I never thought about that. But I'm just saying is when that time comes and that comes forward, have that in mind, because I know that's been something that I've been thinking about.

[02:22:44] Thank you. Will do. We'll appreciate the feedback. Awesome. Thank you. Well done, Jessica. Thank you. Are there any other questions here? No, sir. All right. We will then move to, where are we at? We're at number 88, which we pulled from the consent agenda.

[02:22:59] So this is now SE 2025-39, the Turkey Knob Solar Farm. This was pulled by Supervisor Malik. And I'm just going to look to staff.

[02:23:15] Do we want to start with a presentation on this one, or should I let Supervisor Malik tee up our concerns? Mark's proposed a deputy director. I'm here with Rebecca Ragsdale, our manager of our review unit and planning.

[02:23:32] Mark, just point those up. Oh, I'm sorry. You're pretty good at, and the podium does adjust too, so you can hit the little arrows and raise the podium up if I need it. I guess the board's pleasure on whether we have a few slides that we have that we can do. I know we're running a little bit behind. We can address questions.

[02:23:53] To do the presentation, I'm going to go to Supervisor Malik because she pulled the item for some framing, and then we'll go from there. Thank you. Good afternoon, Rebecca Ragsdale.

[02:24:09] As Mr. Spivoto mentioned, planning manager for the current development review team and representing the review staff that have provided input for this item that included Mr. Lopacker, Mr. Fritz, Mr. Clark.

[02:24:25] So I will try and be brief, give you a quick refresher on the solar regulations that were adopted in July of 2025, and then narrow in and highlight some things that we included in the staff report packet and wanted to clarify for you as you consider this item.

[02:24:46] So this is a buy-write. This request is related to a buy-write solar facility. And what we allow now by right in the rural areas is a facility with a fenced area of 21 acres or less.

[02:25:03] That fenced area must include the solar panels and any stormwater facilities. Even the by right projects that disturb more than 10 acres would need a special exception if they are in an area that has been identified as a forest block or has been identified as a prime ag soil area.

[02:25:30] No solar energy facilities are allowed in forest blocks of a conservation value of 4.1 or greater, and we'll pull up that map in a second. So this request is for two modifications for a facility that would be up to 21 acres, but more than more than 10 acres and less than 21 acres and that is within an area that has been identified as a forest block generally and then also by the usda soils maps even with updated

[02:26:05] information and a very detailed field analysis and change in existing conditions there's no administrative provision so these are through the special exception process and again it allows us to look at existing site conditions and additional information like soils testing for example so orienting you to the site this as we mentioned in the packet is a 200 acre site that's shown in blue on the screen and it is off of buck island road which is about a mile south of its intersection

[02:26:39] with Thomas Jefferson Parkway. This application was received in December of 2025 after the regulations were adopted in July. The total parcel acreage is 200 acres, and that's what's shown in blue. Some features of the site we'll go over in a little bit more detail, but it is south of Buck Island Creek. This is the concept plan for the request that was in your packet, and I know it has a lot of information on it so i will walk walk you through that let me get my laser pointer

[02:27:17] here so the focus of the 21 acres is the fenced area so that is limited to 21 acres and is shown in the black outline that i'm snaking around so you can see just a illustrative representative representation of panels and stormwater areas this is a concept plan so the solar facility would require a site plan level of detailed plan review which would follow so it is illustrating around outside of the fenced area where required buffers would be located and then the rest of the 200 acre

[02:27:56] site remaining so it's a it's a 21 acre request and then the project area is about 50 acres so about 155 acres of the site not impacted by solar facilities at all there are a number of regulations we codified in section 5166 that were standard conditions you were seeing with special use permits related to these facilities so those other standards we included those regulations in your packet but they include things like height limitations the buffer requirements that

[02:28:31] i mentioned pollinator certification fencing that is wildlife corridor friendly and it prohibits these facilities and stream buffers for example and the forest blocks so we we sent unfortunately just this morning calling your attention to some of the information i'm going to show you on the slides the regulation is the standard in the regulation as i mentioned is referencing maps in our comprehensive plan this particular site is highlighted in red on the map the one on the left

[02:29:07] is the ranks the conservation value of forests in the conference plan so this is one that did not score even two points or greater i don't believe it had a score in terms of forest blocks but it was identified more generally as a forest block a small a small forest block in our mapping that's applicable based on the regulation there's information in the packet that the applicant provided that we can go into where the site had been cleared and trees removed for by right

[02:29:41] agricultural uses and they've identified what is remaining on the property so the special exception process is to consider allowing a portion of the facility excuse me a portion of the site adjacent to the power line which runs through about the middle of the property for solar panels the soils analysis again we we have what was i think characterized in the applicants analysis packet as a as a desktop sort of look at the soils and potential for prime ag

[02:30:17] soils and they have done the field work and the testing of the soils and that information was included and did not find that all of the soils within that project area met the definition of prime agricultural soil so we looked at the criteria and the well the factors per consideration and looked at the analysis that the applicant did which we didn't have any concerns with as far as their methodology and we had recommended approval of this item so i will pause now for any

[02:30:52] questions thank you and before we do questions supervisor malik this was pulled at your request if you want to set up any framing or piece i'll give you first go and then we'll thank you very much uh the yesterday was the first time that i received a packet that i could open because the one that came originally was 14 megabytes into the country that's not possible so last night and this morning i've been trying to catch up on some of this information that was in the giant packet but what i did not see in anything that was provided by staff was an analysis of what the ordinance says we're supposed to consider just here's the information from the applicant do what

[02:31:31] you're going to do that was my first takeaway over the weekend when i was trying to do my homework secondly there were no maps that showed topos or anything like that until late last night when i was able to get the big packet claudette was able to re-squish it so that i was able to open it later but it took some time to get get it squished enough for country broadband so that was my original concern was without enough information provided to be able to give a waiver i was rebelling against that and wanted to have some more information provided so one of them is the uh well several things the the prime soils i went through diligently all the

[02:32:11] packet and there are two the but they were something or 51 and 91 or 95 and 55 or whatever the numbers are there are two that are not prime that are down in the edges generally down in the swales but a lot of the area where the panels are planned is prime soil according to the individually or the private soil test that was done by nrcs all 25 pages of it so the uh it's not seems like something that we should just be casting aside because there may be a little bit that doesn't qualify but that wasn't under the panels anyway so there seems to be some non-connection

[02:32:51] going on there secondly the um the forest element is of concern because one of the concerns when we talked about the ordinance originally was that people would be cutting down forest and creating a moonscape and therefore making it easier to get something by right because it was very clear from public discussion and board discussion during the adoption of the ordinance that we were not going to be interested in harvesting and for purposes of a short-term 20 years solar project uh forests

[02:33:25] that could be providing all sorts of carbon and and economic ecological benefits so thus i am wondering since no information was provided about the whole sequence of the 21 19 of the 2021 21 harvest it was unclear whether it was hardwood or pine and so that's another interesting gap in the information and so that is what i'd like to have more information about let's see um do you

[02:34:00] have that information i mean either a forest is a forest in which case even if it's cut it's still a forest and so that doesn't it shouldn't mean that it gets a waiver right away just because somebody cut it so so the the the fact that it was already cut is not the primary reason for the recommendation of approval it was the context it's heavily mentioned in the materials and leads to the fact that the forest cover is no longer there but it was also the overall context and the conservation value of the forest block that was identified to begin with was part of it

[02:34:38] um and bart may may want to chime in but uh in terms of the timeline of the property uh i think that the packet does mention that the the trees were removed in most recently in 2021 beginning in 2021 and then you know forestry is a buy right activity these regulations weren't adopted until july of 2025 this special exception process is um to review this these types of requests on a case by case basis um other properties with different characteristics or a set of circumstances with

[02:35:15] higher conservation value we may not lead to the same conclusions um that we did with this one that we would find it at an acceptable location um for that limited um solar solar facility and 914,000 square feet is in my mind not limited but anyway that's just a different interpretation of the size of things when you're talking about 21 acres of panel area okay were the stumps removed from the land when it was timbered so they included some photos in the packet i was not clear about i

[02:35:52] didn't see any stumps but that doesn't i studied the pictures but that's another reason that it's not in forestry anymore and i'd just like to get that information um so i guess i will stop there and see what information is provided oh i do have one more actually sorry it's hatboro 95 and bugley 51 were the only ones who were not prime soils everything else on the map was so i just wanted to clarify that i had done that amount of homework and so i that's why it matters that when we write down that we're not putting stuff on prime soils then we should be living up to the ordinances

[02:36:32] as we adopted secondly um the the infiltration studies that were done the site where where compaction is tested really depends on where you're doing it and some of the sites were on there were actually where the landings were and where the 80 ton 80 000 pound lumber trucks are driving back and forth every day so it seems very logical that that land would be totally compacted and therefore not infiltrate but it also doesn't mean that the other 100 acres are

[02:37:08] impacted similarly so these are my concerns and as I said half in the dark because I didn't have all the packet but that's the way it goes thank you very much supervisor Pruitt can we go back to the slide you had one up there that had in red the areas that were identified as prime am I correct that this analysis of the prime soils is pre or post um the applicant's analysis with the boreholes this is pre this is pre and the applicant suggests that their borehole analysis would indicate that

[02:37:43] the the soils identified here as prime are are not in fact prime and they're only being listed as prime due to alluvial estimations of the soil quality and and topo they they provided that analysis if of the there is some remaining prime soils but not the extent that's shown on here sure and the the applicant's total footprint is less than 21 acres and it would only trigger if this exception only becomes relevant if there's more than 10 acres that are overlapping as prime this is already an incomplete overlap right because they're well there's no map to show where the

[02:38:22] overlaps are that's there's no map showing them both on the same thing at once we do have a map of the notional footprint of it, and we have a map of the challenged agricultural soil. The one other thing I guess I would raise is the applicant's kind of argument.

[02:38:44] We are in a special exception posture with this. The applicant's argument seems to be that neither criteria for special exception actually applies to them, that the soil is not of agricultural quality, despite what our estimates show.

[02:39:02] But they're like, we have more up-to-date information on soil quality. And additionally, we have more up-to-date information on non-disturbed forest block. This is almost going to be more of a common, and I'm also looking over to county attorney on this.

[02:39:21] This is almost more of a comment than a question. But it seems like they are presenting to us, this actually does not apply to us, but the only way to adjudicate this is through a special exception Because that's going to be cheaper for everyone than adjudicating it in circuit court. This is a supervisor Pruitt That's a great question. This is a discussion that we had at the staff level as to what the applicable standard was and the ordinance does refer to The county's maps rather than to any additional information that that is provided by the applicant I know there's been some concerns expressed about the ability of an applicant to clear-cut a forest and then sort of move the goalposts

[02:39:58] So that the standard no longer applies the standard in this case is the county's maps which date to 2016 So that does provide sort of a standard and fixes the goalposts so that subsequent clear-cutting doesn't affect the county's analysis Of what constitutes a forest block and what constitutes prime formula farmland understood?

[02:40:17] and it also makes it pretty clear that we are definitely in a normal special exception posture and the applicants arguments are just that there I would say persuasive arguments in favor of approval, but they're not saying that it does not apply to them.

[02:40:33] That's correct. And the only way for those standards to change would be if the board, by an ordinance amendment, wanted to identify a different standard as to what constitutes a forest block or prime farmland. I appreciate that point. I think our previous policy-based discussions on why to kind of fix a line in the sand are prudent. But similarly, I actually do find the argument that is presented by the applicant through their engineering firm also quite persuasive and i think there's a there's a principle of equity at play uh given that there was clear cutting before we actually adopted the policy we adopted that policy with that clear goal line to to avoid what i think the board would consider bad faith applications of

[02:41:13] their by right use of forestry i don't think that's what we see with this applicant unless we're saying they were prognosticating on our likelihood of passing this ordinance and preemptive that that gets into a meta-analysis of what the applicant is thinking that i don't think is helpful so i hear the concerns i think it is an interesting kind of test case of our um of our new ordinance but i also find that applicants arguments for why this should be approved to be to be about as persuasive as they could be uh given the context thank you uh supervisor

[02:41:50] lapisto kirtley thank you i don't have any questions at this time supervisor missal thanks Just a couple of quick questions. One is sort of echo, I think, moving forward as we see more of these applications having an overlay would be helpful to see because it gives you that direct connection.

[02:42:09] Second thing, and I hope I didn't miss this in your conversation, and it's tied to my third question, so I'll just combine those. You've made a modification or a recommender of modifications to the resolution. You've struck language that relates to the additional property beyond this current application, the larger piece.

[02:42:29] Can you explain why you made that change and if there are any regulations or plans for that larger property outside of the fence or outside of this project? Well, that change was in part based on some concerns from the applicant.

[02:42:52] And also, when we discussed it, we focused on the general accord condition. We felt like that covered the concerns about limiting the facility to the project area. So we refined it so that the condition was more closely aligned with the project area instead of the entire 200-acre parcel.

[02:43:12] Got it. There is a great deal of stream buffer and existing vegetation in that eastern part of the property, which is to the right there. So we didn't feel like it was necessary the way it was written. It just said it would be allowed to go back to forestry, which is the ordinance allows that already.

[02:43:32] So that was the reason for that change. That's helpful. Thanks. So essentially it just can revert back to forestry. Yes. Okay. That's all. Thank you. Supervisor Duncan. I have no questions. That comes to me.

[02:43:47] I don't have any questions. Supervisor Malek, I'll hit you on the order. Thank you. I do have one follow-up. There is some harvested buffer area within the fence line. That's what I was understanding was just going to be left ignored.

[02:44:04] And if that is, it's bare dirt now, and if it's not remediated, it's just going to grow up in Atlantis and other invasives. So is the staff intention to have the area within the fence that's already been clear-cut, mediated in some way, remediated in some way, so that it does not create a disaster?

[02:44:24] Yes. What will be required? So it will be required. There are several sections of the ordinance that are applicable, WPO and the site plan section of the ordinance. And we have, it won't be, it will have to be replanted and restored and stabilized.

[02:44:43] can't be left disturbed. There's different planting standards. I'm not sure the exact area you're pointing to, but the applicable planting standard would apply. Okay, so that the visible buffer is one thing, but the base of takeover protection is another thing. Bart has something to add. Bart's about a deputy director of community development. Within that 21 acres, there will be, and their Supplemental regs do apply, so we have things in the regulation already done at the site plan stage

[02:45:22] that will stabilize that portion of land that's disturbed and also part of the planting plan for what happens within the boundaries of the solar facility. Along with that, there's another 22 acres of buffer around the fenced area that basically is forestry, but it's buffer, so that is also a protection.

[02:45:46] So we have the 21-acre solar site, 22 acres of buffer, and then 155 acres of, we'll call it regular agricultural property beyond, which equals about the 200. Well, all of that is very helpful.

[02:46:03] And as I may be the only one who would find it helpful, but when these come up next time, if there were a link that could say these will take you to the regulations the staff will be using, That would be a wonderful thing to put people's minds at ease when the public is finding out something and none of us can find anything on the website, so having that link would be really, really helpful.

[02:46:23] Yes, ma'am. There are some lessons learned for us here, and we will adjust appropriately. Super. Appreciate your help. I'm seeing additional questions. Supervisor Pruitt, then Missal. I'll just follow the order. Just one quick saved round. This is actually a two-pronger, so two quick saved rounds.

[02:46:41] Am I correct in remembering that we have clustering provisions in our solar ordinance? I vaguely remember a discussion about this, right? Like if you have within one mile multiple different, but I don't remember how that exactly works.

[02:46:59] We do. There's a table based on size of fenced area and then a corresponding separation. So this is beyond any of those separation requirements. and kind of the where you might guess i'm leading into this i know that buck island road has a recently approved larger uh community scale uh i think it was community scale not utility scale it was near the cusp um solar project and before that one of our first uh solar projects in the county is right across the street from that um can you help locate us in in proximity to those

[02:47:37] uh i i don't have revana solar on the map um and this is the measurement is from fenced area to fenced area so going from memory uh buck island solar is over here this was approved by special use permit uh and then revana solar is off the map but there's a little bit of it that extends yes on the other side yes on the same side as this site the same side of the road is this site Thank you, and those are past the fenced area markers that would trigger any of our yes, it's 2,000 feet

[02:48:12] There web beyond that supervisor missile. Thanks. Just briefly. Could you go back to the site plan, please? I Think my question is answered. I'm good. Thank you. All right. No further questions or discussion. This is in Scottsville There would need to be a motion to And if I might suggest I would point out to the supervisors that we provided the revised resolution in the yellow So to the extent that there's a consensus to adopt this, the motion would be a motion to adopt the resolution to approve Turkey Knob Solar as revised March 2nd.

[02:48:51] Would it still be attachment F? It would not be attachment F. This supersedes attachment F. I move to adopt the resolution to approve SC2025-TAC-0039 as amended in the staff report on the yellow sheet. Is there a second?

[02:49:08] Second. All right, the motion has been made and seconded. Any further discussion? All right, if you would please call the roll. Ms. LaPista-Curtley? Aye. Ms. Mallett? No. Mr. Missel? Aye. Mr. Pruitt? Aye. Ms. Duncan? Yes.

[02:49:24] Mr. Galloway? Yes. All right, motion carries, 5 to 1. Thank you. And we're at 4 o'clock. Mr. County Executive, did you have reports from the County Executive this evening? No, sir, I do not because of the fact that we'll be presenting the budget at 6.

[02:49:41] Yes, sir. All right, I just was going to pull that ahead if you did. All right, board, we're ready for our closed meeting motion then. I move that the Board of Supervisors convene a closed meeting pursuant to Section 2.2-3711A of the Code of Virginia under Subsection 1 to discuss and consider appointments to various boards and commissions, including, without limitation, the 5th and Avon Community Advisory Committee, the Community Policy and Management Team, the Crozet Community Advisory Committee, the Equalization Board, the Fire Prevention Code Appeals Board, the Local Board of Building Code Appeals,

[02:50:16] The Piedmont, Virginia Community College Board, the Police Department, Citizens Advisory Committee, and the Village of Rivanna Community Advisory Committee. Second. All right, motion has been made and seconded. If out of objection, if the clerk will please call the roll. Ms. LaPiesto-Kirtley? Aye. Ms. Malick? Yes.

[02:50:32] Mr. Missel? Aye. Mr. Pruitt? Aye. Ms. Duncan? Yes. Mr. Galloway? Yes. All right, board, we will meet in room.

[02:50:52] All right, good evening. I'm going to call the board back to order. We are coming out of closed meeting. Is there a motion to certify the closed meeting? I move that the Board of Supervisors certify by a recorded vote that to the best of each supervisor's knowledge, only public business matters lawfully exempted from the open meeting requirements of the Virginia Freedom of Information Act and identified in the motion authorizing the closed meeting were heard, discussed, or considered in the closed meeting.

[02:51:24] Second. All right, the motion has been made and seconded. Without objection, if the clerk will please call the roll. Ms. Lepista-Kirtley? Aye. Ms. Mallick? Yes. Mr. Missal? Aye. Mr. Pruitt? Aye. Ms. Duncan? Yes. Mr. Galloway? Yes. And thank you, board. And motions coming out of closed meeting? Yes, sir. I'm pleased to make a motion to appoint the following to various boards and commissions. 5th and Avon Street, Aaron Liebach, Crozet CAC, Nathan Alderman, Iwa Har and Aaron Houlihan, Equalization Board David Mitchell and James

[02:51:59] Naughton pvcc board Diantha McKeel Police Department citizens Advisory Committee Bonnie Brewer Denny King and Donna Price Village of Rivanna Community Advisory Committee Edward Doug Earl second all right the motion has been made and seconded without objection if the clerk will please call the roll I miss Malik yes mr. Mitchell I I do have one addition though one correction to that I left off three names go ahead with the vote and then we'll do a new new motion. Aye. Mr. Pruitt? Aye. Ms. Duncan? Yes. Mr. Galloway? Yes. And go ahead with the other

[02:52:37] three. Thank you. I'd like to amend my motion at the Village of Ravana Community Advisory Committee. In addition to Edward Doug Earle, I'd like to add Howard Hottinger, Renee King, and Richard Randolph. All right. Is there a second? Second. All right. Without objection, if the clerk will please call the roll. Ms. Lapista-Kirtley? Aye. Ms. Malik? Yes. Mr. Missel? Aye. Mr. Pruitt? Aye. Ms. Duncan?

[02:52:59] Yes, Mr. Galloway. Yes. All right. Thank you, board. And earlier today, we moved item number 14 from the county executive, which did not include a report earlier to the agenda, but that will take us right to item 15. This is public comment on matters previously considered or currently pending before the board. And we do have signups this evening. The vice chair will go through our rules.

[02:53:27] Thank you, Chair. During the time set aside for public comment on matters previously considered or currently pending before the board other than scheduled public hearings, individuals may address the Board of Supervisors concerning matters previously considered by the board or matters that are pending before the board other than items listed on the agenda for public hearing.

[02:53:47] Individuals are allowed one opportunity of up to three minutes to speak at each board meeting. The sign-up sheet is managed by the clerk's office. Up to 10 persons may speak during each matters from the public session timekeeping is conducted through a timer and light system at the podium the green light will go on when you're speaking when you begin speaking which begins your allotted time the yellow light indicates you have one minute to finish speaking the red light indicates your time has expired and you will be asked to end your comments in order to give all speakers equal treatment and courtesy the board requests that speakers adhere to the following guidelines when addressing the board state your name and if you live in albemarle county your magisterial district. Address comments directly to the board as a whole. Any

[02:54:26] written statements or other supporting material may be given to the clerk. If representing a group or organization, you may ask others present to raise their hands in recognition. Speakers may not share any unused time with another speaker. Back and forth debate is not permitted. Do not speak from your seat or out of turn. All comments are live streamed, recorded, and published on the Albemarle County website. And just as a reminder, please introduce yourself and please speak into the microphone. Thank you very much. So I'll begin with Susan McCulley.

[02:55:00] Hello, I'm Susan McCulley and I'm a resident of the Samuel Miller District. When I was a kid and our family went anywhere crowded or unfamiliar, we always made a plan. This was before cell phones.

[02:55:21] The only tool we had was that my dad was tall and easy to spot in a crowd. So we approached, whenever we approached a concert or a subway station or a country fair, we decided if anyone gets lost or we get separated, we meet back here at the venue entrance or the next subway station or at the fried dough stand. You get the idea. I don't think we ever had to use the plan, but it helped us to have one. We knew we'd be okay if something frightening happened.

[02:55:52] The plan let us relax and trust each other, and we knew what we would do. Now, if my parents had had a plan, but they didn't share it with all of us, it wouldn't have helped us at all. The only way this works is when the plan is made and then clearly communicated.

[02:56:10] You see where I'm going, don't you? I'm here again to urge you to make a clear statement and establish policies regarding how the county will respond when federal immigration agents arrive in this community.

[02:56:26] Just like preparing for last month's snowstorm or making plans for the Luke Combs concert in April, getting clear on how the county will handle what could happen in an ICE action simply makes sense.

[02:56:43] It's not hypothetical, it's practical. And communicating about those plans allows the community to understand what the county can and cannot do for them. The resolution that the city passed regarding immigration enforcement actions and their letter to the Virginia Congressional Delegation and statewide leaders is a good model.

[02:57:05] Like them, we ask you to make commitments to civil rights, due process, and community trust, and to make clear how you will respond in the case of a frightening incident with federal agents. what we ask isn't radical what we ask is common sense what we ask is for you to make your position clear and to communicate that position to reassure a community facing rampant fear thanks thank you

[02:57:34] thank you alicia lanahan good evening my name is alicia lanahan i live in the scottsville district i've reread all the remarks we've delivered over the last 10 months we talked about kilmar Abrego Garcia and the other egregious mistakes made by ICE early on. Now we watch them abduct and detain infants and toddlers and little boys in blue bunny hats. We've learned that cruelty is

[02:58:11] the point. We've talked about how ICE, bolstered by the National Guard, escalated their tactics in LA, Chicago, and Portland. Minneapolis taught us that this administration is willing to kill people. All along, we've asked you to take a principled stand, one that reflects our commitment to the Constitution, to the rule of law, and common decency. You've remained silent. We submitted a thoughtful, measured resolution articulating our values as a community and intended to restrain the lawless actions routinely used by ICE. You remain silent. The city passed a resolution

[02:58:49] articulating community values that also reflects legislation working its way through the General Assembly that will restrain ICE, you remain silent. When asked by SEBA Weekly how or if the county government is preparing to protect us from ICE, you remain silent except for this terse statement, the county cannot disclose public safety tactics, to which I call rubbish. We have attended these meetings for 10 months. We know that the county executive works tirelessly to

[02:59:24] ensure every department has the resources it needs to provide an effective community response. The winter storm was a case in point. You received a report about preparations before the storm and an after-action report when it was over. The roads retreated. Schools and other activities were canceled. We knew who to call in an emergency. All the relevant information was available to the public. The threat posed by this administration continues to be a moving target. Actual responses will depend on facts on the ground.

[02:59:59] Nothing prevents you from passing a resolution. Nothing prevents you from reassuring the public with formal statements as well as direct messages to those who are most likely to be affected by a federal action. Whether it's immigration, protests, or election interference, you must be, we must all be prepared.

[03:00:19] Thank you. Bruce Eads.

[03:00:32] Good evening. My name is Jim Carpenter. in the Jack Jewett District, and I'm here with the Dogwood Vietnam Memorial, and I have three minutes, and Bruce will follow up with his three minutes, if that's okay. The Dogwood Vietnam Memorial will hold its 60th rededication ceremony on Friday, April 17th at 11 a.m., honored the 56 fallen heroes. We appreciate how many of y'all will be saving the date for us and

[03:01:09] showing up. The past year, our foundation completed a $250,000 memorial brick plaza in the UVA Wall Phase II addition to the memorial. Now our focus is to turn the ADA access to their beloved Hill that Heals. In the spring of 2019, our Fair City Council approved setting up a working group of veterans organizations along with city staff to meet six times. That spring and summer determined the best solution toward gaining ADA access to the memorial and the park.

[03:01:45] For our citizens, we all agreed the best solution was to construct a pedestrian bridge across the John Warner Parkway with an adjacent accessible parking lot on the Knoll on the east side.

[03:02:00] We presented our findings for a $2.5 million budget in the city manager in November of that year. It was well received by the ideas, and it looked like in 2020 it was going to be a group session, and they would go ahead and prove that. However, COVID hit. Fast forward to December 2022, the city council revisited our proposal and passed a resolution endorsing the solution that we could

[03:02:33] receive a Virginia DHR grant for $600,000 to be used on the project only. We've received this funding May 2023 and immediately engaged RACI Engineering of Luray, Virginia to design the project. One year later, RACI Engineering completed the required testing and design pertaining to bids on the project. And that, amazingly enough, was at $2.5 million.

[03:03:03] My name is Bruce Eads. I'm from the Whitehall district. I live in Earlisville. So, I grew up on Cherry Avenue, but anyway, I still love Charlottesville, obviously.

[03:03:22] Plants were then tweaked and then, in November of 2025, submitted to city engineer Brennan Duncan for site review, where they are at this time. Of course, VDOT must approve the pet bridge design, since it is all bridges in the area are registered.

[03:03:42] But it is the same supplier of the other approved bridges in the area, so we don't think that's going to be a problem. We needed to make sure, the city said, that utility right-of-ways are clear, and we did extend the bridge 10 feet to address that problem.

[03:04:00] So it's now 110 feet long to get us out of that right-of-way. There may be other questions from city staff, but we have Tyler Austin with RACI Engineering on it. They're our design contractor.

[03:04:16] Of course, the good news is city councilors approved the resolution that they will accept the ADA access project into their parks and trails system if it is constructed according to city engineer's plan approval. And they already have the project in their CIP at $100,000.

[03:04:34] $104,000, actually. We want to thank the Albemarle County for putting it in their FY27 county budget. and includes a donation of $250,000. Our first casualty, of course, was Champ Lawson Jr. from Burleysville.

[03:04:55] And he was the first of many that we lost in Vietnam. So it's been a long road since the city council first passed the pedestrian bridge concept alternate G in 2008.

[03:05:11] And founder James D. Schistler, you may remember him, he worked for the city for many years, and I were on the Dogwood Festival together, and we began working with the city on the proposed Meadow Creek Parkway interchange and how it would affect the historic Dogwood Vietnam Memorial. Jim insisted that not be moved as it is the oldest and first public civic Vietnam Memorial in the nation. So, for lost access through the McIntyre Golf Course parking lot due to the interchange construction required that a new ADA access be found. We

[03:05:48] all know we found a solution the city agrees we found a solution and we just need to uh and it was approved by city council in january resolution of this year we now now we veterans just need to fund it and build it thank you and simplify thank you we have one more name on this list although there were several who signed up um for an item related to a later public hearing so they've been moved to the public hearing so if you don't hear your name called it has been moved to the public hearing

[03:06:23] list. Our next speaker is Tom Olivier. Good evening. I'm Tom Olivier from the Samuel Miller District. Today, many of the Earth's natural systems are unraveling. These disruptions stem from vast recent increases in human numbers and the rise of industrial societies. Now,

[03:06:58] climate change, biodiversity losses, and other crises are worsening and reinforcing each other. If we do not begin commensurate corrective actions quickly, today's young people and our future generations will live on a damaged and far less supportive planet.

[03:07:16] Given its environmentalist history, you might think Albemarle County would be a leader in containing environmental crises. Not now. Albemarle County has dropped its former cautious approach to growth and is busy playing developer. The county is promoting large projects such as Rybano Futures in the 29 North Innovation Corridor with seemingly scant examination of surely extensive environmental costs.

[03:07:45] The Planning Division in Community Development appears to have lost much of its previous commitment to environmental protection. For example, planning staff proposed cutting the rural areas chapter from the recent comprehensive plan. They also proposed capping open space easements.

[03:08:01] Outside of comprehensive planning, staff proposed a data center ordinance without evaluating likely large effects on local greenhouse gas emissions. I recently sent to you a proposal for significant restructuring of county planning processes.

[03:08:18] The restructuring is designed to enable a more complete response to worsening environmental crises. A key provision calls for the re-establishment of a new department focused on rural areas planning, natural resource conservation, and climate action.

[03:08:35] It would exist outside of community development. This new department would offer expert policy recommendations directly to the Planning Commission and Board of Supervisors and work on a path for our community toward a more sustainable state.

[03:08:50] Economist Milton Friedman once wrote, Only a crisis, actual or perceived, produces real change. When that crisis occurs, the actions that are taken depend on the ideas that are lying around.

[03:09:06] With more and bigger ecological crises headed our way, you might find it useful to keep this proposal somewhere lying around. Thanks for your consideration. Thank you. That concludes our list.

[03:09:22] All right. We will close matters from the public. Thank you for all those who came out to speak this evening. and we will move to the next item on this evening's agenda number 15 which is our public hearing on the county executives fiscal year 2027 recommended budget mr richardson good evening good evening mr chair members of the board thank you so much for the opportunity to be here this evening and i will point out to members of the public and the community that may be listening tonight this will be the second presentation that we have done uh to the board of supervisors on the

[03:10:01] fiscal year 27 recommended budget. The full presentation from last Wednesday afternoon is posted on the county's website and can be found if someone listening this evening would like to go back and look at the full presentation. This evening's focus is on, of course, the FY27 investments in our five-year CIP, and I will start with some comments that lead into that, but this will be a bit of an abbreviated version from what we went through last evening.

[03:10:33] And Mr. Chair, I do have members of the executive team from the finance department, our budget team. Many of those members are here tonight. And our goal, of course, is that after we turn it over to you, you conduct a public hearing. If there are any questions tonight from board members or anything that you would like to clarify before we move into the budget work sessions next week we certainly want to do that this evening for the board all right so board again thank you for the opportunity uh to be here this evening my

[03:11:11] name is jeff richardson i'm the county executive and i would always start by thanking our staff for helping to get us to this point in the process we have a lot of work left ahead of us but this evening i'm going to go through and and hit the framework of what's included in the fiscal year 27 budget i'm going to talk with just a couple of slides starting out before we get into the details and i want to talk about the board commitment the staff commitment to maintaining a set of financial policies and that we adhere to these policies uh every year as we work through

[03:11:47] the budget process which really starts in earnest in the fall takes us through december and then we get into the uh the nuts and bolts of the budget when we present it followed by a number of work sessions. Adhering to the policies allows us to maintain a triple AAA bond rating, and that allows us to be good stewards of taxpayer funds. Ultimately, this means that we save money and that we can do more with the money that we have over time. Being a county that has a triple AAA bond rating, we're one of 54 counties out of 3,000 counties in the United States, and that data is

[03:12:21] of October 25, 13 of the 54 counties are in the Commonwealth of Virginia. So Virginia is known from a fiscal standpoint as a good government state, and we're proud to be a part of that group. In our community, the University of Virginia is also AAA, one of four public universities in the United States, as well as our partner city, the city of Charlottesville. They also carry this rating. So board, I'll just start by talking about that framework, and this is something that's been alive and well in Almar County for decades, and I'm certainly proud to be a part of an organization

[03:12:59] that is built on sound financial policies. So board, also our commitment to performance improvement and cost savings, as we talk a little bit about what our organizational values include. Another principle of our county is a culture of continuous improvement and placing structure and change with our project management work that we do to advance programs within the county to ensure a return on investment of our people, process, and systems.

[03:13:34] Process and systems modernization. This board has been very supportive over the last few years in our county's investing in technology to enhance government efficiency, to enhance customer service, modernizing many of our processes, our systems.

[03:13:50] This would include, let me give you a couple of examples, our human resources information system, which now we are much more apt at streamlining, integrating HR processes for our employees into technology and software while removing the use of outdated technology.

[03:14:09] It also includes our financial systems, which is known as EPNL, I'm sorry, which is known as FMS, finance management systems, which is aimed at improving financial systems integration, and this helps us with our vendors on procurement, accounting, and budgeting.

[03:14:29] And finally, EPNL, our enterprise performance and learning, which is in our community development department. This is another example of significant technology investment where we're in the process of working through streamlining processes and modernizing platforms, not just for our staff but for our customers.

[03:14:47] This also involves staffing and efficiency studies. We continue to conduct staffing studies to review current operations and administration, the interrelationship between departments, internal and external, in our county, as well as providing insights as to how it compares to industry standards, similar localities, and best practices.

[03:15:09] So, board, you might ask, when we do this work, what's the result of the work? The result is in the far right box, where we were able to reduce positions year over year. For the last two years, we've reduced positions, and this is outside of public safety.

[03:15:26] we have less positions than we had two years ago and that's with a mounting increase for calls for service across county government and so this this this investment in efficiency this investment in performance improvement us measuring what we do and then reporting back to the board in our annual report this all is meant to be able really to do more with less all right so let's talk a little bit more about the recommended budget one of those common questions that we get from the community

[03:16:01] and the board gets this and certainly the staff does where does the money go this is a graph that was put together by our community relations staff trying to show on a dollar brought into the county where does the money go and this doesn't trace every single penny but we're looking for where the big blocks go. Over half the money, 52 percent of all the money that comes into Albemarle County for public services is earmarked for education. This includes the local transfer for the school's

[03:16:35] operating budget as well as the planned projects and our CIP and also the service on our existing debt. The next largest category is public safety. Public safety receives 14 cents of every dollar. This includes funding for our police department, our fire and EMS services, as well as the support for our volunteer fire departments.

[03:16:55] In fiscal year 27, community development will include CIP investments for the build-out of Boulders Road out at the Ravanna's Future site, and this will bring the total investment to 11 cents. within county operations we are holding at 10 cents and you find you will find county operations that are covered but it also includes investments such as the climate action fund and finally health and welfare and the growth of our affordable housing fund is at eight cents respectfully

[03:17:27] so board um to cut excuse me i got choked i'm sorry it would have been more appropriate for me to get choked last year when i was recommending a four cent tax rate increase

[03:18:04] thank you very much board i apologize this budget is balanced on a real estate tax rate of 89.4 cents per $100 of assessed value. That is our current tax rate for Albemarle County, and if you look at the slide, there are no recommended changes to the tax rates for what was adopted

[03:18:40] in fiscal year 26. I want to take a minute, and I want to look at fiscal year 27 obligations. You're going to hear us talk a lot about obligations in this budget. Obligations really mean what we look at over year over year the the commitment we make to do certain things in our budget and for our community and it has a multi-year effect on us paying for what these obligations are examples of

[03:19:19] what i'm talking about are operating cost in next year's budget for two new schools we also have a commitment as we have pulled down federal dollars from fema to pay for firefighters within our fire and Rescue Department, those federal dollars have three-year life cycles, and after three years, it's expected that that federal funding, as it goes away, that local government must pick that up.

[03:19:48] We also have key partner agency agreements, and those agreements are growing. We have a commitment to market-based compensation. We also have a changing federal funding landscape, revenue-sharing agreement with the city, and increasing debt service.

[03:20:10] All of that are examples of obligations. Excuse me, one more second. Jeff, do you want us to take a few minutes and we can recondite? I don't want you to struggle through this. We can stop for a few minutes and pick right back up.

[03:20:27] I just apologize to the board and to the general public. I've not been coughing today, and I just got, I just started coughing. I apologize. I'll tell you what, why don't we take five minutes and we'll just pick right back up. It'll give you a second because under stress, I don't know how anybody regains there.

[03:20:45] So we'll take if it's, I don't think anybody on the board would object. All right, board, I'm going to call us back to order.

[03:21:02] Mr. Richardson, you are welcome to continue when you are ready to do so. Mr. Chair, thank you very much. And members of the board, I'm very sorry. I did not mean to get choked up. I'm sorry I kind of stumbled through those last three slides, getting to where we are. And for the members of the public that are here this evening, I apologize for the delay and for folks at home as well.

[03:21:22] So let's talk just a minute about multi-year tactics, the funding bridge. The county executive's proposed budget for fiscal year 27, it includes revenue from the county's budget stabilization reserve. We have a 2% budget stabilization reserve that we have had in effect now for about four years.

[03:21:43] And this year's budget recommends using one quarter of the 2% reserve, a half of a percent, both in fiscal year 27 and again in fiscal year 28. This will leave us with an additional 1% that will remain in the reserve to provide flexibility should we encounter unexpected financial needs over the next 12 to 24 months.

[03:22:03] In addition, in this budget, I am recommending that we transfer to the CIP $6.4 million that would be in the CIP for a determined project in the future. I would recommend to this board that we put this out in year five and that over the course of the next couple of years. Let's continue to keep an eye on our economy. As Dr. Bailey pointed out last fall, that we've got a partly cloudy, partly sunny economy. And at a regional and state level, we're continuing to watch things with a watchful eye on anything that could affect county

[03:22:38] funding. In addition to that, this also includes a school transfer, a school operating transfer that we'll talk about in just a minute. But over the next couple of years, we've noticed a couple of things within the school's budget at the state level that is volatile and that 6.4 million held in the cip it could go to a future school project that's yet to be determined or if we hit volatility in the next 12 to 24 months this board may need to consider a recommendation that would reprioritize that cip placeholder to replace lost revenue so that's something that is embedded in this year's

[03:23:14] manager's recommended budget. So we tend to focus on the general fund during budget season because that's where the tax revenue is received. It is the primary funding source for schools, capital, and debt, and it's where this board has the maximum amount of policy discretion.

[03:23:36] General fund expenditures, as you can see, is balanced at $512 million. And I'd like to point out to the maroon area in the bottom left corner of the donut that that's a 43% transfer to schools that is from the general fund and as we get into the schools budget work session our budget finance team will be able to talk the board through the funding that is recommended for schools the the guideline with the the funding split and answer any of the board's questions that you may

[03:24:12] have. Okay, as I promised, we're going to move into some of the key investments recommended in this year's budget. These services and initiatives prioritize our community's safety and well-being and education, and of course, always ensuring a high level of quality service and maintaining a strong quality of life. In police, we're providing funding for three new police officer positions starting mid-year next year to support public safety. We've added 19 police officer positions

[03:24:45] since 2021. These officers, along with previous additions and investments, will help ensure coverage meets demand across our community. I would point out that over the last three years, our calls for service and police have gone up 19%. We've recently undertook a comprehensive public safety staffing study that assessed our police and fire rescue departments to help ensure that we're most effectively providing those public safety resources and response to our community this study reviewed industry standard and best practices and it made multi-year recommendations that will serve us well

[03:25:25] over the next five to seven years it studied infrastructure deployment staffing staffing strategy it addressed our changing risk profile as a county and as we continue to grow and change year after year the budget continues the multi-year implementation of those recommendations. In addition, this budget contains $2.3 million to keep salaries in our police department competitive for purposes of recruitment and retention. Turnover in public safety is extremely expensive, and based on this assessment, the pay scale for the police department will be revised to maintain competitive positioning within our

[03:26:05] respective labor market. Albemarle County is committed to ensuring fire rescue has the resources needed to serve our community effectively. Just as I benchmarked police calls for service going up 19 percent in the last three years, fire rescue and EMS related call requests have gone up 14 percent in the last three years. In recent years, this board knows that the county has successfully leveraged federal grant funding for fema safer grants

[03:26:39] to help us to be able to bring on paid professional firefighters with federal money we've been successful in obtaining four grants today and we have hired positions in fire rescue and that's to offset shortages with our professional volunteer firefighter programs that stations that are all across the county as i said we've successfully competed for four grants since fiscal year 21 totaling 12.7 million dollars and we have hired 57 firefighters with that money in this coming

[03:27:16] budget we have local funding for 30 positions in fy 27 that federal funding is going away and as you can see on the slide that amounts to 1.7 million dollars this has been a strategy board that has paid off very well for us because when you pull down three years of federal funding it gives you three years to begin to feather in the cost locally for these firefighters otherwise we'd have had to pick up the cost right out of the gate or deal with the gap in service delivery this budget also contains nine hundred thousand dollars for fire rescue to continue to keep salaries competitive for recruitment and retention as i've said turnover is expensive and we've also

[03:27:55] positioned ourselves to pursue a fifth FEMA grant to implement staffing study recommendations. And as I said earlier when we were talking about police, the fire department also underwent the study for the public safety staffing study within the department. There are recommendations that we will begin to put into play over the next several budgets. Also included in next year's budget is a recommendation for three additional sheriff deputy positions. With the opening of new courts over the past year, more facilities coming online in future years, these positions are being

[03:28:35] added to assist with the day-to-day operations of the office, including courthouse and courtroom security, inmate transportation, and civil processing. Emergency management. This is an important area for Albemarle County government, and we're recommending that, and this is a budget neutral reorganization. We are pulling the Office of Emergency Management from the fire rescue department to a standalone office within the public safety function of Albemarle County. This function would report directly into the county executive's office. The Office of Emergency Management is responsible for

[03:29:11] strategic planning, coordinating, and execution of emergency management activities across all phases of emergency management. This includes preparedness, response, recovery, and mitigation. OEM serves as the central point of contact for emergency management activities, including coordination with state and federal agencies as necessary, as well as state and federal regulations, and maintaining alignment with the National Incident Management System, NIMS, and the Incident Command System, ICS, standards. So emergency management has been a key priority for Albemarle County for

[03:29:50] several years. Most oftentimes, it's going to be weather-related events, multi-day weather-related events, and it takes a lot of coordination with the city, with the University of Virginia, the state, and our regional partners. We think this next step is a prudent next step as we continue to strengthen this function. Also included in this budget is $20.7 million of new funding for the mark county school school division this is a 7.3 percent increase year over year from from this year

[03:30:30] to next year it also embedded in that 20.7 million dollars is nine million dollars of additional local funding that i'm recommending go to schools at this funding level we are we believe that there's funding operations included in this for two new schools that will open next year And we believe they have full funding necessary to open and operate those two new schools.

[03:30:57] This also, we believe, fully meets the obligations of public schools with their collective bargaining agreement, including salary increases for staff, teachers, additional positions that are included in their recommended budget that's necessary due to planning time, lunch breaks, and so forth.

[03:31:15] They also have a commitment to market-based pay and keeping the positions that they survey every year market competitive. And then finally, I would point out, per the schools, that they continue to rank very high across the state for per-pupil funding and low class sizes.

[03:31:34] So we're excited to continue to partner with schools. This slide shows increased revenue for public schools operating budget over the last 10 years. And this includes the FY27 recommended budget. On average, the total public schools fund ongoing operating revenues have grown 5.8% every year.

[03:31:56] This period incorporates a wide range of changing circumstances, as you can see by this graph, such as tax rate increases that have been earmarked for public education, the opening of school additions, changes in state funding, and the pandemic's initial revenue decline, followed by the historically strong revenue growth that followed it.

[03:32:17] Board, I'll point out that this chart shows ongoing sources. For example, this chart does not include that in the FY26 budget that the board approved a $7.7 million one-time allocation that went from local government to schools to take that money and put into the joint local government schools health care fund.

[03:32:41] that 7.7 million dollars is not is not anywhere on the screen based on how their budget is designed they're not allowed to keep reserves above two percent that's why we've got to keep an eye on our reserves to be able to help the schools if they have a drop in state funding or they have something unexpected happen and we're trying to help them to stabilize operations for fiscal year 27 for the second year in a row we have a total of five million dollars for the affordable housing investment fund that we've recommended. Investment in Albemarle housing. The county continues to

[03:33:20] invest in developer incentives and other initiatives to expand affordable housing options. Efforts focus on increasing the supply of affordable homes and rental units, supporting workforce housing, and assisting residents in securing stable housing. Since the affordable housing investment fund was created in fiscal year 19, Albemarle has invested over 22 million dollars into affordable housing projects and programs. Funding for these sources and for these projects and programs came from a variety of sources including the affordable housing

[03:33:53] investment fund, American Rescue Plan Act, ARPA, and human services funding programs. These funds have supported the construction or preservation of over 1,700 units of affordable housing both rental and owner-occupied. It's also served to support shelter and supportive services for over 280 victims of domestic violence and 539 individuals experiencing homelessness, and then also housing counseling and navigation support for over 788 individuals and families. I also

[03:34:29] want to talk at the bottom of this slide a 20% increase to the Elderly and Disabled Tax Relief program. The FY27 budget includes a 20% increase. This provides real estate and mobile home tax exemption for taxpayers who qualify under age, finance, financial, or medical guidelines. Total funding available for the program for the coming year will be $2.8 million. That's almost one cent on the tax rate. The increase is due to expenditure trends of the program and changes in income thresholds, financial worth criteria, all approved by the Board of Supervisors in January.

[03:35:07] Next year's budget has a recommended continuation of dedicated water resources funding to cover water resources operating and debt service payment costs and reserve for CIP projects. Climate action funding is also included with $300,000 of one-time funding that would go in fiscal year 27, and it will match the one-time funding that was put into the program in fiscal 26. There is a carryover projected going into next year of reappropriated money from this year for programs yet to be completed. Those would include residential energy improvements, county building energy efficiency

[03:35:46] programs, the energy resource hub, the climate action collaborative initiative, the climate resilience cohort support. Also board I'll point real quick to a hundred and forty thousand dollars that is earmarked from the plastic bag tax for a continuation of our roadside litter program as you know we have a vibrant volunteer program in the county that does quite a good job but we've collected $440,000 since the implementation of the disposable plastic bag tax was created in fiscal year 23 from December of 24 to December of 25 the

[03:36:23] plastic bag funded roadside litter cleanup program has cleaned in Albemarle County over 1,000 miles of road and has collected over 3,900 bags of trash from our roads in Albemarle County. So this is an example of the board diversifying the tax revenue, creating a consumer tax, and that is five cents on plastic bags. It's devoted to cleanup programs in the county, and we've got good data to show how that's working for our community. We'll take a minute and talk about economic development. The fiscal year 27 recommended budget includes $4.15 million of

[03:37:03] additional one-time funding for economic development. This fund was designed to provide ready, flexible funding to support economic development opportunities. I'll give you an example that we learned during the AstraZeneca attraction effort over the last year that our ability to quickly respond to the needs of the state, the questions they have on infrastructure improvements and commitment to being site ready it was critical in landing the company here in albemore county economic development opportunities don't come on a predictable schedule this board knows that so we always need to balance cash on hand against unknown future opportunities having

[03:37:41] a sufficient fund available allows us to have stronger comfort approving funding for good opportunities aligned with our strategic plan our economic development strategic plan knowing that we have got a focus, a very razor focus, on the type of industry that fits best in Albemarle County.

[03:38:06] The Board of the County recently undertook a study on how to understand the different classes of property that drive the services that we deliver. You've got a summary of that in this slide in front of you.

[03:38:23] What I wanted to point your attention to is the orange-yellow color at the bottom. That's commercial and industry. And I'll point your attention to in 2015. In 2015, 10 years ago, we had a 15% tax base that covered commercial and industry.

[03:38:40] Ten years later, we have slipped to 11.3%. In the far right bottom box, you can see that the cost for service on business and industry commercial investment. For every dollar we receive, we pay $0.32 in service delivery.

[03:38:58] So there is a revenue margin of $0.68 that we plow back into our budget. for services, operations, and investment, all aimed at quality of life and service delivery in Albemarle County. I want you to look at the residential and multifamily over the same period of time. It's gone from just over 65% to almost 74%. And that really is not so much new homes, it's a combination of new homes and assessed value growth. And we've not significantly lost

[03:39:32] commercial and industry. It's just that residential has significantly outpaced it. And when you look at the top right-hand box for service delivery and the cost for every dollar received on residential and multifamily, it cost $1.31 to serve. These are statistics that match up nationally. This is not just Albemarle County. This matches up across the United States. And so when we talk about revenue diversification strategy to keep Albemarle County affordable, we've got to pay attention to the amount of commercial and industry investment in our county because it is a affordability strategy

[03:40:09] and it is a tax-based diversification strategy. It's in my work plan over the next five years to get that 11.3% number back to 15%. With the investment that we've seen over the last couple of years, we predict that in five years we will be back hovering around 15%. And I believe that in order for us to begin to see the relief that we need, we need to be into the 17% to 18% range at a minimum. I'll switch and talk just for a few minutes about our workforce. It's one of our

[03:40:47] six strategic goals. As you can see, it supports goal number six, which is a strong workforce and good customer service within our county, consistent with past county budgets, our county's compensation philosophy. The 27 budget includes a review of classified scale positions on a two-year cycle and to make appropriate market adjustments so that we maintain market competitiveness and keep our turnover rates low. It also includes a 2% COLA and a one-time bonus for classified staff.

[03:41:18] It also includes $1.4 million in our budget devoted to staff training and development, as well as recognizing that our health care fund, while stabilized, is still dealing with health care inflation and we're going to need to invest an additional eight percent in that over the next year. This is a busy slide and we talked about it last week. It's intentionally busy because this slide represents 68 partner agencies in which we devote 40.7 million dollars of funding

[03:41:56] on a yearly basis. We recognize that our local government cannot meet every need alone by funding non-profit and community organizations, we strengthen the regional safety net and improve residents' access to vital services. Let's look just for a minute at what some of this looks like.

[03:42:16] Public safety, $14.5 million next year. That's a 20% increase in FY27 from 26, and it's really across five partner agencies, including the Albemarle Charlottesville Regional Jail, The Emergency Communications Center, the 911 center, which is a partnership between the city, the county, and UVA.

[03:42:38] And then also, Charlottesville, Albemarle, SPCA. This is funding increases to support operating costs and service demands in our animal sheltering through our third-party contract. It also includes transit agencies at $8.2 million.

[03:42:57] dollars that includes charlottesville area transit cat micro cat which is the on-demand public ride share service that operates in the charlottesville area transit and paid for by the county as well as jaunt jaunt is a regional public transportation system providing paratransit services and almar's rural demand response and commuter services it also includes libraries and tourism. That includes our Jefferson-Madison Regional Library, which is a partnership, and we're investing more money there, as well as the Charlottesville-Albemarque Conventions

[03:43:32] and Visitors Bureau, and it's trying for us to continue to strengthen our regional tourism and economic impact. It also includes health and welfare, non-human service priority funding for Region 10, the Blue Ridge Health Department, AHIP, and the Jefferson Board on Aging, and then finally Public Works at $3.5 million. That's Ravana Solid Waste Authority taking almost all of that, which provides for our county recycling, solid waste, household hazardous waste disposal services

[03:44:04] across the county. Human Services Funding. 29 programs, $1.6 million. This prioritizes programs that serve the most vulnerable members of our community, including elderly residents, households with kids under the age of six, medically vulnerable individuals, enhance compliance to ensure that funded programs are both effective and and accountable let's take a second and look at our cip board this has gotten a lot of attention and it will continue to in our

[03:44:43] budget talking about our cip and and five-year cip and what we're able to afford to do so i'll talk just for a minute that the county's in the process of executing the five largest cip projects in the history of the county that's the quartz complex the ravanna futures property purchase and the construction of three new schools these five projects have budgets that total together 296 million dollars and as they are complete they create a funding obligation over the next 20 years

[03:45:18] following issuing the bonds to pay for them and board i remind you with respect that the county's debt service is our mortgage payment and it continues to grow because you and the staff through our strategic plan we're trying to address the strategic needs the not just the operational but the capital investment in order for us to address problems and opportunities and maintain a strong quality of life here in Albemarle County. This is a snapshot of the schools the CIP plan that is right now earmarked for school projects over the next five years and

[03:45:55] that totals $196.8 million. And you have an upcoming budget work session where we will dig into the details of what that means. Also, in the CIP, you've got about $160.3 million that's dedicated to a variety of local government projects. And you'll notice, Board, that in years 3 through 5, and that's years 29, 30, and 31, that we look light in new projects because we're having to focus on maintaining ongoing programs paying our debt service and keeping an

[03:46:30] eye on out your obligations so board that wraps me up the staff was supposed to time me to see how long it took i respectfully asked at the time that i was coughing and that we had to take a break that that be taken away from the time please and that not that not be unduly counted against me but the key takeaways from the fy 27 recommended budget no proposed changes to the tax rates obligations continue to rise and we are planning with a multi-year eye on paying for those obligations service demands are evolving and we need to continue to

[03:47:09] evolve to meet the changing community needs we have an evolving tax base we need to plan ahead for significant investment and folks what you're seeing is us doing prudent multi-year planning that will continue to shape the future this budget prioritizes education public safety and a strong workforce it It includes funding the schools, transitioning our FEMA funding to local government funding for our firefighters, adding new police, adding new sheriff positions, keeping our pay competitive, and we need to continue to recruit and retain high-quality public servants.

[03:47:44] Most of our investment is tied directly to the board's multi-year strategic plan, and I'm excited about that. This plan that we hear about from our community includes affordable housing, environmental stewardship, economic development, while following our own financial policies and preparing for significant future capital needs.

[03:48:05] Finally, this budget is a two-year bridge budget that maintains stability now and positions Albemarle County for long-term success as we strengthen and diversify our tax base. Mr. Chair, thank you for the time this evening. I'll turn it over to you for the public hearing, and again, the staff will be available to take questions as they come up.

[03:48:25] Thank you very much. Great. I'll do it. Just a quick pass to see if there are any questions before we hear from those who signed up to speak. Supervisor Pruitt? Yes. So I will just note, this is a summary of what I said during the previous budget hearing, having thought about it a little bit more, and also just for the public's benefit.

[03:48:46] I had a constituent talk to me recently in the grocery store and asked me very pithily like, so what's in the budget? What are we looking at? And for my own kind of thinking through it, I've started to think every year, having done this now twice, there's kind of the key budget stories.

[03:49:05] And from our legislative perspective, there's the things that we recognize that we can change between now and then in a really compressed timeline. And so I've started trying to think of the budget in terms of what are the asks and what are the places that might have give to get there. From my reckoning, and this is also going to be speaking a little subjectively, I'm thinking it looks like the big asks that I'm expecting us to be talking about a lot this year, and other supervisors might have differing things.

[03:49:33] The three that I'm tracking on is big asks I'm expecting possible movement on, school capital. It's a huge story. It's all over the news. The housing trust fund, we're halfway to the target, but we're not there. And school operating funds, that's always going to be a tension point, and here is the first time in a long time that we've changed our percent-wise contribution to schools.

[03:49:59] The places that might have a give to help get toward any of those things, There's $6.2 million that we're putting into capital reserves on behalf of the schools. There is an economic development fund that is refunded up to $4 million.

[03:50:17] Sorry, not up to. That is refunded at $4 million. $4 million new infused when $4 million is previously what took several years to fill the economic development fund up. And there is always the possibility of a tax rate being considered. Those are the things I see as possibly having give, and those are the things that I know from public comment from the emails that I get and the angry phone calls I get are our places of community concern and those are I I'm not saying I'm specifically going to use any of those tools and I'm not committing to getting toward those three goals but those are the things I'm hearing as the goals from the community and those are the places

[03:50:55] at this point in time very very early in the budget cycle I see as potentially being targets of where to find that money um and with that i will uh turn it over all right supervisor lapisto kirtley i like your proposed budget i think it's fair i think it's balanced i think it meets a lot of our needs we don't have unlimited amounts of money to do everything that we want otherwise we would do it it just doesn't work that way people do want us to be very cognizant of the tax rate

[03:51:32] the real estate property, the real estate tax rate, because it's costing them a lot of money also to fund a lot of these other programs. So we have to be cognizant of that. I like what's been proposed. Anytime you change something, then you're going to have to take from someplace else. And I think you're going to have a lot of pushback because I do believe we've, I think you've done great job as far as narrowing it down what the community wants what we can do

[03:52:05] and and how we can pay for it thank you supervisor missile thank you chair I want to commend staff for the great work to get us to this balanced budget to this point also echo something that you've said in the past which is we have more problems and opportunities and we have money and so keeping that in mind as we move into the budget season is is going to be um sobering i think but also in some cases hopefully rewarding as we look to some of those trade-offs that supervisor pruitt mentioned which i agree

[03:52:40] with um and i'll just say that i look forward to working on uh with schools on the two on twos and with uh all of us on the work sessions coming up in the next few weeks to better understand some of the details that you've gone through um i do have specific questions but i know they'll likely be answered next week and through the work session so i will pause there great supervisor duncan um yeah i'm sure during the work sessions we'll get into a lot i would just say kind of off the top my main concerns are funding for housing i'm also pretty uncomfortable with the 6.4 to

[03:53:18] cip instead of to the schools and then i also would like to see more funding for climate initiatives but again recognizing that there are always lots more requests than there's money for supervisor malik thank you and thank you for the homework we all have a lot to study and come up with good questions to ask in the upcoming meetings i see this as the beginning of the process not the end so we all have a lot to learn we also have to figure out what we can control and what we can't and the local government being the bottom of the the governmental hierarchy

[03:53:55] has to pick up the pieces when other levels of government fail to do their job. So we know they're increasing state and federal mandates. We will have to decide how to manage to protect our citizenry. And also in our minds, I think, is the large number of Almond County residents who are strapped to the end to meet their tax obligations.

[03:54:17] And so we have to be keeping them in mind as we go forward with all this work. But I appreciate you all being here. I look forward to hearing what you have to say. Thank you, Supervisors. This will be the first of a couple of public hearings, and then obviously we'll be doing work sessions in public for folks that give your comments today, but we hope that you'll come back and give us additional comments as we work through the process.

[03:54:42] But with that, we will move to those who have signed up to speak this evening on the recommended budget, and Vice Chair Missel will take us through our speaking rules. Great. Thank you, Chair. During public hearings, the board will acknowledge speakers addressing the item listed for public hearing.

[03:54:59] Speakers are limited to one appearance of three minutes per public hearing item. Timekeeping is conducted through a timer and light system at the podium. The green light will go on when you begin speaking, which begins your allotted time. The yellow light indicates you have one minute to finish speaking. The red light indicates your time has expired and you will be asked to end your comments.

[03:55:18] In order to give all speakers equal treatment and courtesy, the board requests that speakers adhere to the following guidelines. When addressing the board, state your name, and if you live in Albemarle County or a magisterial district, address comments directly to the board as a whole. Any written statements or other supporting material may be given to the clerk. If representing a group or organization, you may ask others present to raise their hands in recognition. Speakers may not share any unused time with another speaker. Back and forth debate is not permitted. Do not speak from your seat or out of term. All comments are live streamed, recorded, and published on the Albemarle County website and again just a reminder to please introduce yourself and to speak directly into

[03:55:55] the microphone so we can hear you all right with that i will start with denise zito miss zito to your left you're going to see little arrows you can move that podium down if you look to your so we can see you because we can't thanks oh there you are and i would just as a general note to everyone you can adjust that podium up or down if you are

[03:56:32] if you're too tall or a challenge if you're challenged. Am I supposed to speak into both? Please do. All right. Impact, raise your hand. Good evening. My name is Denise Zito. I live in Free Union, which is in the Whitehall Magisterial District. But in addition to being here with Impact, I'm a member of the Society of St. Vincent de Paul. This is a 200-year-old worldwide Catholic organization that gives direct assistance to those in need. Our group in Charlottesville was founded six years ago. Those in need call us, we send two volunteers to visit with them,

[03:57:10] we hear their situation, and then we pay up to $1,000 of their rent to keep them from being evicted. We only help a family or individual once every 12 months. Last year alone, we collected and distributed over $200,000 in direct aid. We receive over 100 calls a week, and of course we can't help everyone who calls, but the stories are heartbreaking. People who are disabled and they can't pay their rent. We heard about a trailer with a hole in it, no lighting, no heat.

[03:57:45] Mothers with their children sleeping in their cars because they can't afford a deposit and a first month's rent. But others are working two or three jobs to try to afford their rent. Their car breaks down, they're injured, they lose a week of work. The university lays them off when school's not in session. We are not talking irresponsibility. We are talking about people living on the edge through no fault of their own. The local apartment complexes make it difficult for the renters and us to pay. There's the rent, and then there's separate fees for trash and for

[03:58:22] utilities. Some of the local apartment complexes, if a renter is late, require that renter to take cash from their bank account and pay at the Walmart or 7-Eleven, where the payment is then wired to the apartment owner. I myself have carried $1,000 in cash to the 7-Eleven, pay someone's rent, and of course there is the $3.99 privilege fee for the privilege of doing so. Impact has been talking to this board for nine years. The problem is overwhelming for the churches trying to help these people. We've provided a viable solution in the form of $10 million, not $5 million, $10

[03:59:02] million. Commitment to affordable housing. While you wait, these people are drowning, and the churches alone cannot help everyone. All the impact congregations pour money into this community in direct aid to those in need, and we will always do so. But this is clearly a public policy issue where rents skyrocket and wages don't keep up. It's a supply problem. The Society of St. Vincent de paul joins impact in urging you to finally fully fund the affordable trust fund affordable

[03:59:36] housing trust fund with a recurring 10 million dollars annually thank you thank you thank you vicky bravo i'd invite folks if you're in support of the speaker that you can raise your hand to show that support it's actually visually easier to see how many are supporting a speaker that way versus the collapse thank you good evening my name is vicky bravo and i'm a member of impact We're so pleased that the Affordable Housing Investment Fund is up and running.

[04:00:14] It represents years of work and thoughtful consideration by Dr. Pethia and the Board of Supervisors. It won't help reduce the affordable housing crisis unless it has a meaningful amount of funding.

[04:00:31] We know that every year the county receives more proposals than you can fund. The proposed budget calls for $5 million in the fund, and we need at least $10 million. When we first recommended $10 million a year, it was estimated that it would fund about 330 units per year, so 3,300 units in 10 years.

[04:00:54] Now it won't fund that much, but it will be able to make a dent in the need. UVA has a goal of 1,000 to 1,500 affordable units in 10 years. The city also plans to build several thousand over the next 10 years.

[04:01:12] If all this happens, we won't solve the problem, but we also won't continue to fall behind in the way we have in recent years. We commend Dr. Pethia and the Board of Supervisors for the many hours of work that have gone into this.

[04:01:28] We need the funds to make it worthwhile. As Albemarle County grows business, we must have the housing to support it for all the necessary levels of workforce. We're already behind. Thank you.

[04:01:45] Thank you. Heidi Gilman Bennett. Hi there. Heidi Gilman Bennett, Sanville Milla District.

[04:02:01] I'm a volunteer leader of Family Council with members representing all public schools in Albemarle County. I'm here tonight speaking personally on funding for schools.

[04:02:11] First, operating budget. High quality public schools are expensive to run, as you know. Spending about $20,000 per student is not actually unreasonable, especially given the high cost of living in Albemarle County and the critical need to keep competitive with Charlottesville City Schools and others for teacher salaries, compensation, working conditions, like getting teachers a short lunch and bathroom breaks that are negotiated.

[04:02:41] in collective bargaining this is the shirt that i wore recently in richmond to advocate for state funding it says fund our schools many of us elected and volunteer as well as students have worked really hard to ensure that albemarle county receives its fair share from the state but although the state cip formula shifted for the better you are proposing to withhold 6.4 million I am not a fan. The county executive's proposal is to place that money both this year and next

[04:03:17] in your hands, the board of supervisors, to spend as you see fit, which could be on schools or maybe not. Seems to me you're playing a game to force school leaders to reduce budgets. I get it. But what you need to understand is that under the direction of the new chair and vice chair of the school board, our elected school leaders and members of the public, including myself, are already asking an insane number of questions and getting answers. It's different than past years. I urge you to let them do their jobs, to come to you with a needs-based budget for serving our kids and educators, and do not withhold money that belongs to the schools. Second, capital budget. I'm a mom

[04:03:54] with an MBA. I see the financial situation the county is facing. I see many yellow vests behind me asking for important things. I'm here on my own, and I'm personally grateful to every one of you for visiting schools in person this winter with family counsel. What you saw are schools that have not been renovated in too many decades, kids in temporary trailers, and schools that are bursting at the seams. The physical buildings are harming our kids' ability to learn. These are not school buildings that will convince future AstraZeneca employees to relocate here. I'm worried. I ask, are these school buildings that reflect a community's commitment to children and families

[04:04:33] and teachers? I think not. So yes, I will continue to advocate to the school board for effective use of operating budgets and well-planned capital improvement. But I also urge you, as you go to your constituents in town halls to stop the us versus them of the two boards of adults and focus on the kids. We need you to build confidence in our public school system, please, especially as we look towards a potential ballot initiative. Thank you.

[04:05:02] Thank you. Karim Clarkin? Good evening. My name is Kara McClurkin, and I'm the Executive Director of Bennett's Village. We're building a multi-generational all-abilities play space at Penn Park.

[04:05:22] Bennett's Village is one of the community's third places, public and welcome spaces that serve as essential, accessible community gathering spots for social interaction, belonging, and physical and mental well-being. I stand before you tonight as both Bennett's mom and as the Executive director to advocate for the recommended money in the CIP budget to help us build the next phase of Bennett's Village, the central play space. I grew up in Elmira County and my parents still live in the same house that I grew up in. Over the years, we've had four or five generations of our family gather together in county and city parks for playdates or to celebrate birthdays, anniversaries,

[04:06:00] and holidays. For five years, my son Bennett joined those celebrations as well, as did his grandparents and great-grandparents who used walkers and other mobility devices. Bennett lived with spinal muscular atrophy and used a power wheelchair to navigate the world. Unfortunately, our community parks are not designed for kids or adults in wheelchairs. They're not designed for many community members, those with cochlear implants, those who need bigger changing tables or quiet, calm spaces. They're not designed for those who need access to electrical outlets for medical or communication purposes, those who have difficulty regulating body temperatures, who need additional benches in order to take frequent breaks.

[04:06:39] Many playgrounds use wood chips, gravel, or sand, making it difficult for wheelchairs, strollers, or those with balance issues to safely navigate. We used to take Bennett all the way to Richmond, to an all-abilities playground, where he could play independently with his friends and family. But he longed for a place within his own community where the barriers for play could be lowered for him and many others.

[04:07:01] Bennett died unexpectedly in 2018. But his dream of a place to play in our community lives on in Bennett's Village. Many of you tonight have probably already experienced the first phase of that dream, the treehouse at Bennett's Village. I wonder how many in the audience have visited since we opened that project in January of last year or have already been part of Bennett's Village programming.

[04:07:23] Feel free to raise your hand. The treehouse we are working on, now that the treehouse is complete, we're working on the central play space, which will feature numerous inclusive design elements, a ground-level merry-go-round, swings for all abilities, Cardio equipment for parents and caregivers to get exercise as well.

[04:07:40] A track with frequent shaded seating for those with respiratory mobility or other medical needs. A freestyle track to support safe thrill-seeking movement. A climbing play tower with a concrete slide. Concrete does not interfere with cochlear implants. And an open area for relaxation or group play.

[04:07:59] Successful models of inclusive play spaces have significant financial investment from local government resources in public-private partnerships. many of our potential funders individuals foundations and other government agencies want to know more about local support please support us thank you thank you reverend susan carlson my name is susan carlson i'm a member of the unitarian universalist congregation of charlottesville i live in the white hall district in crozet and i am one of the co-presidents of

[04:08:37] IMPACT. This year, IMPACT will hold its Nehemiah Action on March 24th, where 1,400 people will gather together because we have all heard the need for $10 million a year for affordable housing in Albemarle County. We're glad to have the majority of supervisors committed to attending the Nehemiah Action on March 24th, and we're grateful that the current budget proposal allocates

[04:09:13] $5 million this year to go towards the Affordable Housing Investment Fund. Unfortunately, the housing crisis in our community is a huge problem that you well know because you've heard about it every single year. It's a huge problem that's getting worse every year. And how do we know that. We know that because we hold meetings in our congregations, in our community. We hear

[04:09:46] the stories from people, as you've heard some today. And so we know that this is a huge problem that people cannot afford to live in Albemarle County. They have to live far away from their jobs, from their health care, from their children's schools, from their places where they have to take cars that maybe can't afford either, that cost so much in gas these days. We cannot abide by this

[04:10:22] moral travesty, for we believe that a budget is a moral document, and this is getting worse and worse every single year. It's hurting our people, and we've heard it for the last eight years during testimonies at the Nehemiah Action. You've heard it too. I cannot urge you strongly enough to fully support the investment fund so that the housing crisis doesn't blossom and bloom even more.

[04:10:55] This crisis requires bold leadership, commitment, and action. And we believe that you, our supervisors, have the moral authority and the will to change this through the budget and will support you as you do it.

[04:11:15] Thank you. Thank you. Jane Colony Mills. Good evening. I'm Jane Colony Mills. I'm a resident of the Whitehall District and Executive Director of Loaves and Fishes in the Jack Jewett District. I'm here to say thank you, but also to help raise awareness of the affordability crisis in our community.

[04:11:41] With Albemarle County's first ever funding for loaves and fishes in the FY26 budget, we've provided a week's worth of free healthy groceries customized for dietary restrictions, cooking and storage capacity, and cultural preferences to nearly 97,000 people since July 1, 2025.

[04:12:02] 50% of those people are Albemarle County children, adults, and seniors. More than 6,000 Albemarle County residents each month. The need has grown 13% over the previous year. Albemarle County's FY26 $40,000 CIP grant allowed Loaves and Fishes to replace a 13-year-old walk-in freezer with a safer, more efficient unit, expanding our capacity to store healthy frozen foods and feed more people.

[04:12:33] The freezer replacement project is actually a testament to the power of community partnerships. with funding from Albemarle County, the Blue Ridge Area Food Bank, the Perry Foundation, and four individual family donors, and with construction management by the Building Goodness Foundation.

[04:12:50] Lives and Vicious was able to demolish and remove the original freezer, excavate the concrete floor, insulate the footprint beneath the new freezer, pour and cure a new concrete pad, install a new freezer and cooling equipment, upgrade electricity and drainage systems to eliminate condensation issues, and bring the new freezer fully online while only missing six food distributions.

[04:13:13] But we were quickly back to providing the critical safety net services because food-insecure Albemarle County residents rely on us for their monthly food. I'm very grateful for Albemarle County's support for what we do and that Mr. Richardson and the county finance budget have proposed a 7.3% increase in funding for loaves and fishes, The largest direct-to-the-public free food distributor in our community.

[04:13:42] I hope the Board of Supervisors will approve this increase. And I want to thank you for partnering with us to increase access to healthy, culturally appropriate food for our neighbors. Thank you. Michael Monaco.

[04:14:04] Good evening, Board. My name is Michael Monaco. I live in the Whitehall District in Crozet. And personally, I want to pay a little more in taxes. Like many of my neighbors, I'm here to speak about the Affordable Housing Investment Fund.

[04:14:23] It seems like the fund is, bit by bit, struggling to life or staggering to life. Notwithstanding today's decision to bounce approval of $3.6 million in grants and loans to the next Board of Supervisors meeting, we are finally seeing the fruits of having an actual fund with an actual governing policy.

[04:14:40] But the investment fund will always be weaker without strong, dedicated funding. I heard several supervisors earlier today express a desire to see the fund spent down entirely every year to make the most of our budgeted dollars. I would support that choice. The need in our area is evident.

[04:14:58] And it's just a matter of connecting that need to the dollars with a coherent application process. But I only see $1.3 million in dedicated funding for the foreseeable future. Without reliable year-after-year funding, I worry that we will discourage the long-range and large-scale investments in affordable housing that we really desperately need.

[04:15:21] I recognize, too, that our obligations do continue to grow. I do not envy the set of choices ahead of you. I know, too, the pressure that you receive to keep assessments and real estate taxes low. But I see what my neighbors in the city of Charlottesville pay as their tax rate.

[04:15:38] It's more than me. I see what my city neighbors pay into affordable housing more than me. And I think about how few people I know who can accurately tell you exactly where the city ends and the county begins around our boundaries. I think about how the tents at the Free Bridge encampment might sit in the city, but look right over 200 feet to the county.

[04:16:02] We are one community. This is why I'm asking you to consider a one-cent real estate tax increase dedicated entirely to affordable housing. I believe that a one-cent increase this year would come out to a little over $3.3 million in revenue, which would bring the overall total, when you include the projected carryover from FY26, to about $9.7 million.

[04:16:26] and FY27. That one cent increase for the median homeowner in Albemarle County would cost them $4 a month. Personally, speaking for myself, I would rather pay an extra $4 a month to contribute to a $10 million affordable housing investment fund. I believe that this budget, a moral document, should reflect the needs and priorities of the people it serves. I know there are thousands of families who are living on the thin line, burdened by the cost of rent, thousands of my neighbors who are not sure where they will lay their head next month or even tomorrow. I know what I am asking

[04:17:04] for tonight. I am asking for permission to pay about $4 more in taxes every month in order that my government might serve my neighbors. Thank you. Thank you. Frances Lee Vandell. I also live in

[04:17:37] Whitehall. I'm Frances Lee Vandell, and I often speak for more low-income housing in Albemarle, probably since the 90s. Charlottesville carries the bulk of the housing that we have and they're doing well with it. I visit the crossings, the crescent, and the people

[04:18:13] are very grateful for being able to live there, and they take good care of their facilities. I'd also like to say that Albemarle puts 10% of its land into development. 50% of that

[04:18:42] is in the private market. And the people who own the 50% do not want to develop it. So we're left with 5% often. And there's a need, possibly, I think you should consider it, of broadening the development area. Because I don't know how we're going to find housing. Thank you.

[04:19:20] Thank you. Teresa Willis. Good evening. My name is Teresa Willis and I'm from the Rio District. I serve as a board of directors member of Foothills Children's Advocacy Center.

[04:19:53] I'm here to express both appreciation and concern regarding the proposed FY27 allocation of $97,527 for Foothills.

[04:20:11] It's a 5% increase over the last year, which we appreciate, but it does not adequately reflect the scope of the work of Foothill staff in our essential role of Albemarle's child abuse responsive system.

[04:20:29] The Children's Advocacy Centers in Virginia are codified in the Code of Virginia as part of the Commonwealth's response to child abuse and neglect. We are embedded in the Crimes Against Children investigative process.

[04:20:50] Foothills serves as a neutral, child-focused location where forensic interviews are conducted, on-site medical examinations are conducted, family advocacy takes place, and multidisciplinary team case reviews occur.

[04:21:12] When a child discloses abuse, law enforcement, the Department of Social Services, and the Commonwealth's attorney rely on our Foothills team to coordinate the investigative process.

[04:21:28] Yet Foothills is the only investigative partner in that system that is not fully publicly funded. Law enforcement is funded, DSS is funded, the Commonwealth Attorney's Office is funded, but although we're embedded, we're not.

[04:21:49] For FY27, the projected cost to serve Albemarle children and facilitate this work for Albemarle is $355,177. We are requesting just a portion of that, which is $130,000, and this will help to ensure children continue to receive timely forensic interviews, coordinated medical care, strong family advocacy, and effective multidisciplinary team reviews.

[04:22:27] We thank you for your continued commitment to protecting children in Albemarle County. And we welcome to meet with you individually to provide additional data to answer questions about this.

[04:22:48] Thank you. Thank you. Richard Fox. Richard Fox, Jack Jewett District. This may come as a surprise to some of y'all, but we actually have a lot in common and we can agree on a lot.

[04:23:07] Ned, I commend you for your approach to community development and your business sense. Mike Pruitt, we first met while I was working a table for Dave Norris on Election Day. That also may surprise some of you guys up there. Dave's a good friend. But what you've done and how you've listened to the agricultural community really does mean a lot to them, and it's gone a long way in building some trust there between local farmers and the board.

[04:23:30] Sally, I look forward to working with you as my representative in Jewett. i really think we can work together and i'm excited for a fresh start in that district b we've never really had anything to work on until now but i look forward to working with you uh mr missel liz speaks highly of you i like your background and i like what you've had to say about working on some community development projects removing some possible red tape if it means getting the right projects put forward i think that's going to open up a lot of great projects even from some people who financially can't afford to bring stuff through the general process of getting those developments looked at and and you know i ran a campaign against you but i commend

[04:24:10] you and i respect the daylights out of you and appreciate everything you've brought to this board over the last 12 16 plus years um and you've been a staple on here and i commend you for that and i think we can work together on other things too i think one thing i want to start working on and have an open mind and open conversation about is the revenue sharing agreement and how we can bring some of those funds back into the county and how we can help specific county causes. We could help the housing budget. We could help the health and welfare budget. We could avoid tax increases in the future. I'm not saying nuke the thing. I mean, I would love it if we nuked it personally,

[04:24:47] but I understand we made a commitment. We have an agreement. We have to follow it to a certain extent, but we should at least be willing to have a conversation and an open mind about what we could possibly do to renegotiate, get out of it, whatever, put something on board, and just collectively have positive thought. And I think we can achieve that. I look forward to working with you all on that in the coming weeks and meeting with you all and emailing you all about that topic. Thank you. Thank you. Karen Mann. Hi, my name is Karen Mann. I am a new resident of

[04:25:24] Albemarle County in the Scottsville District. I'm also the pastor of Sojourners United Church of Christ. My congregation is one of the many congregations that participate in impact. We've also been active in Pacham for many years and had the privilege of hosting the men for two weeks at the beginning of this winter shelter season in November. We're honored to make this commitment every year because we believe that caring for our poor and unhoused neighbors is central to our faith. But as much as we are honored to host our neighbors experiencing homelessness every year, we also believe that everyone should have access to affordable housing, not simply

[04:26:00] temporary shelter. We believe that justice requires not only to meet our neighbors' immediate needs, but to change the systems that perpetuate those needs in the first place. So I'm here with other folks from Impact this evening to ask you to commit to that $10 million for the county's housing fund.

[04:26:17] I mentioned that I am a new resident of Albemarle. We just moved. We bought a new house in January. It took a lot of fancy financial footwork to make that happen, and we are definitely feeling the pinch now. But I recognize that we carry an immense amount of privilege to make that move happen, even with the high cost of housing here.

[04:26:39] But not all of my neighbors, not even all of my parishioners, are able to afford to live here. Just this evening, I met with a couple that I am marrying next month. They would love to stay in this area, to be close to their jobs and their community, but even after they combine their two incomes, they are having to look further and further out to find something they can even remotely afford.

[04:27:00] We need affordable housing, you know this, and not affordable in name only. We need deeply affordable housing that is safe and accessible for all residents of our community. With the looming cuts to basic social safety nets, more and more of our neighbors will be at risk of losing their homes or will be unable to continue to live in this area.

[04:27:21] And many of our would-be neighbors will not be able to find affordable housing in our community. Our well-being is bound up with the well-being of all of our neighbors, regardless of their economic status. We cannot enjoy the beauty and peace of our community. I cannot enjoy the beauty and peace of my new home until all of our residents and neighbors are able to live in beauty and peace in a home that they can afford.

[04:27:45] And we have to do it in a way that centers the voices, needs, and dignity of those who are most directly impacted by the lack of affordable housing. Thank you. Thank you. Tom Eckman. Good evening.

[04:28:09] I'm Tom Eckman. I'm from River Vonley District. I've been working on affordable housing for a long time, And I really believe that the real need for housing is for people at lower income. That's where the biggest shortage is, and that's where the biggest need is.

[04:28:31] And eight years is a long time to be working. I'm really glad that we're finally getting it started. But during that eight years, I've lost about six members of my church that needed affordable housing, but they couldn't get it.

[04:28:47] We've got too many luxury apartments. We need our more lower rent incomes. And the best way to do that is with a housing trust fund because it can take that $10 million and leverage it up to eight times.

[04:29:03] And that is a good investment for you all because now all of a sudden you put $10 million in, you leveraged it by eight times, and that gives you a return on investment because now you're going to get some taxation from that in addition.

[04:29:21] and it's going to create homes for the people who need it the most. I think our budget is like $5.1 million, or whatever it is, but $10 million is 2% of that budget.

[04:29:40] You've got 52% going to the schools. Most of the income coming into our budget is coming from real estate, and we can't afford $2 million to help the people who need it the most. I think we need to find that $10 million on a recurring basis and be like the other counties that are doing it across the country.

[04:30:03] I think we've got a great place here, and we've got a lot of wealth in our community. So I encourage you to put $10 million in the housing trust fund. Thank you. Tannis Fuller? Look at this fancy up and down situation.

[04:30:36] Good evening, members of the board. My name is Tannis Fuller. I live in the Scottsville District, and I'm here as a resident and the director of administration for Foothills Children's Advocacy Center. I'd like to thank you for the support that you have given to the CAC over the years. And as the board begins the budget review process now, I ask that you reconsider the proposed grant award to Foothills allocated in the FY27 budget and increase it to our requested amount.

[04:31:03] When a young person, a child or a teen, has or is suspected to have been the victim or survivor of a crime, physical or sexual abuse, there are four key players in the investigative process. Law enforcement, the Department of Social Services, the Commonwealth's Attorney, and Children's Advocacy Centers.

[04:31:20] For two decades, law enforcement, DSS, and the CA have relied on foothills to provide a neutral, child-focused location where children and teens receive an age-appropriate trauma-informed forensic interview conducted by specialized, trained interviewers. We also provide forensic medical exams performed by medical experts in conjunction with UVA. Caregivers benefit from family advocacy and referrals to community resources that happen concurrently with the forensic interview and the medical exam, and our work directly strengthens criminal investigations, protects evidence integrity,

[04:31:57] and supports successful prosecution outcomes. I'll repeat a little bit of what my colleague Teresa noted. Virginia Code requires that each jurisdiction in the Commonwealth establish a multidisciplinary team to conduct regular reviews of new and ongoing reports of sexual assaults involving a child, including child abuse or neglect.

[04:32:19] The Code additionally requires the participation of four agencies, the Commonwealth's Attorney, Law Enforcement, Department of Social Services, and Children's Advocacy Centers. Unfortunately, only three of those agencies are fully publicly funded. Foothills Children's Advocacy Center is not. For fiscal year 27, the projected cost to serve the approximately 85 children we anticipate seeing from Albemarle County is in excess of $350,000.

[04:32:51] We have requested $130,000 from the county and hope that the Board of Supervisors understands the critical role that we play in ensuring that young people continue to receive the support and the services that we offer. Thank you for your time. Thank you. Peggy Gilgis. You got that right, Fred. Good evening. I'm Peggy Gilgis, and I live in the Jack Jewett District. I'm here this evening

[04:33:27] to ask that you give more attention and more support to sustainability in your planning and budgeting. Sustainability is defined as meeting the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs. I agree with Tom Olivier that sustainability deserves a higher profile within county government operations and should be its own department, similar to the Office of Sustainability in the city of Charlottesville. Listening to the initial

[04:34:01] budget meeting from February, I heard much more emphasis on economic development than on conservation or climate action. I don't think I'm alone in worrying that the population growth that economic development brings affects our sustainability. Environmental impacts and big infrastructure expenditures come with growth. And, you know, as an example, there's some eye-popping expenditures in the fiscal year 27 budget including i think 10 million of the 42

[04:34:37] million that's required to build boulders road extension and in the next few years 250 million dollar investment in a new high school the budget also proposes more regular investment i'm i'm not making judgments about these investments. I'm just saying $5 million toward affordable housing and $4 million toward economic development. By contrast, the Climate Protection Department is budgeted to receive a relatively puny $300,000, and the ACE Conservation Program

[04:35:17] has not been funded for several years now. Meanwhile, humanity has crossed seven of nine crucial planetary boundaries, causing dramatic changes to our climate, putting to our biodiversity levels of pollution, land use, freshwater, and oceans, putting the ecosystems that support us at risk globally. So I think that here in Albemarle, we need to do our part to prevent compromising the ability of future generations to have a good quality of life and a habitable

[04:35:56] planet. We have a climate action plan, a biodiversity action plan, a stream health initiative, a plan to create a rural area plan, and I just think that a standalone sustainability department could advance these interrelated plans together. So please consider this as you discuss

[04:36:19] the county's future planning and budgeting. Thank you. Thank you. Phil Reese. Good evening, Mr. Chairman and members of the board. My name is Phil Reese and I live in the Rybana district.

[04:36:42] My chief concern with this budget is that it is 13.5% more than last year's budget. I've now heard this presentation twice and I still have not heard that this budget is an increase of 13.5% year over year. With inflation at 2.7%, do you think it is reasonable to have a budget that is rising five times faster than the rate of inflation. I appreciate the county executives decided not to increase the real property tax rate. There's a lot of talk about this budget being balanced, but in order to do that, it requires adding $49 million in debt and taking

[04:37:21] $7 million from the use of fund balance. When county taxpayers take on this much debt, it puts added stress on future budgets. For next year's budget alone, the debt service will cost $40 million for both school and county government debt service. And the county executive said earlier tonight that this figure amount is going to continue to increase. If I recall correctly from last week's presentation, debt service will double in five years. Every dollar spent on debt service is a dollar that can't go to new classrooms, public safety, or tax relief.

[04:37:57] We need a clear plan of slow borrowing. You are building financial obligations that will long outlast this board. Rising debt service is diminishing future flexibility and increasing the probability that future boards will face a choice between cutting core services or raising real estate taxes. This is not a sustainable path. I want to give you all some credit where I think it is due. Your financial policies enable Admiral to continue holding its triple AAA bond rating.

[04:38:28] Thank you for having that part of your financial policy. That indeed does ensure we get low interest rates. But at the same time, you have not been seeking to get the lowest interest rates possible. And the only way to do that is through general obligation loans. I ask that you seriously consider using general obligation loans going forward so that our county can get the lowest interest rates possible. Why would the board not want to save money in this way? Lastly, I think the county needs to seriously consider options to change the revenue sharing agreement with the city of Charlottesville. I understand that both parties need to agree to a change, but this is

[04:39:02] costing out moral taxpayers 20 million dollars a year and rising. Consider putting the money in an escrow account. Let the city take us to court. Force the city to come to the negotiating table. Demand that delegate annual offer sponsor legislation that would null any revenue share agreements whenever the annexing of land is under a moratorium. These are just a few ideas I came up with in the last couple hours. By creating, by creating, I sure hope our county is not under

[04:39:36] the same revenue sharing agreement 40 years from now thank you thank you and last on our list is rebecca brown does not appear is rebecca brown here all right thank you that concludes our list and there was no online correct awesome all right thank you for everyone who came out to give the speaking we will uh close the public hearing but we're going to come back to the board for comments questions uh so you're welcome to stay and listen to his chat if you'd like but you also uh not that

[04:40:16] We can see the yellow getting up to the exit. I'm just going to go through our order for additional. This would be everything, guys. This is comments, questions, reactions, anything you heard tonight to kind of set up our work session. Supervisor Pruitt?

[04:40:32] I'm not sure I have much substantively to add, although I will just mention we had more than one person mention revenue sharing. I think it goes without saying that as someone who represents the county of Albemarle, I would love it if we were not beholden to a revenue-sharing agreement.

[04:40:49] That would significantly expand our taxing authority. As an amateur lawyer, not the county attorney, but as a lawyer, I can't think of a way to wriggle out of it unilaterally. And that includes legislation. Any legislation would almost certainly not be able to retroactively affect a contract that's already been agreed to.

[04:41:10] The only way to get out of it is going to be political. It's going to be by playing nice, and it will be challenging. Folks, if you could take your conversations out into the hallway, please. We are still conducting our meeting. Thank you. Is that all your comments?

[04:41:28] Supervisor Lapisto Kirtley? Yeah, I'm satisfied. Thank you very much. No questions. Supervisor Missal? I'll just briefly thank the public who's come to speak tonight, and a lot of the comments that were raised resonate with me, and I'm looking forward to being able to work through these challenging budget decisions and be an advocate for you all.

[04:41:49] And I'll leave it at that. Supervisor Duncan. On the revenue sharing, that was one of the first things I asked the county executive when we had one of our first meetings. So, yes, I also obviously would be in favor of changing it.

[04:42:04] And I think it is fair to recognize, too, that our counterparts in the city are reasonable people. Some of us are friends with them, that I don't think it necessarily has to be a contentious discussion, but I do think it maybe eventually is worth raising.

[04:42:23] The other thing that I'll just say for the purpose of preparing our budget work sessions is that I also would be in favor of a one-cent tax raise for housing. And then that's kind of all I have right now. Thank you.

[04:42:39] Supervisor Malik? Thank you very much. no questions right now but i'm very grateful for all the people who came and spoke and shared their concerns because we always learn a lot from our residents and need to keep struggling along here thank you supervisor um one quick note and i apologize i meant to catch this before everyone left so if the other folks from impact could share it i like to mention this every year the practical deadline for a lot of your advocacy is sooner than you think it is. So either if you're Mr.

[04:43:12] Reese and want us to reduce our tax rate, or if you're Mr. Monaco and want us to raise it by a cent, that decision needs to be made by this board. Our willingness to make that decision needs to be made in two weeks from now. At the next regular full board meeting is when we advertise the maximum tax rate. That caps and hems in a lot of the future possibility for budget discussion. It doesn't mean budget can't change, but that is kind of, I would say, an important advocacy deadline. Can't go up. Great. All right. So I would just put out there that

[04:43:51] we haven't heard the revenue sharing come up in the last couple of years. It's come up before in the past, but we do have to remember that the future county or the past county residents did vote for it which sometimes when you have your own referendums that they vote for makes it interesting when you go try to advocate to go the other direction at least that's what because there are creative ways that you can which we have lobbied the state for where it's not necessarily been to get rid of the revenue sharing agreement but it's ways to tweak where that funding counts when

[04:44:29] they do things like local composite index so we all have to remember that at $22, $20 million in revenue sharing, when they calculate that out, the state acts like it's in our coffers. And if we could get them to adjust it and say that $20 million is not in our coffers, that would be helpful to us. In our past advocacy of that effort at the state, the state said, your voters passed this, go fix it through your voters. So there wasn't a lot of interest. Now, We haven't attempted that in 10 or 12 years, that sort of effort.

[04:45:05] But even those type of things have ran into what you have to basically accept your past, if you would, and what voters have agreed to do. I don't think there'd be a supervisor here that wouldn't like to have that $22 million on our side of the fence.

[04:45:22] I mean, $6.4 million for the schools. We're getting asked for $5 million more for affordable housing. We've had people in the past, whether it was tonight or in things, ask us to equalize the tax rate, which would be at least probably $6, $7, $8 million to get down. And I haven't even done that math yet as we get into the work session.

[04:45:41] I don't know the exact dollar that the Bennett's Village request was. Another $40,000 for the Foothills Advocacy Center that was being asked for tonight. But right away, we're already up to $12, $13, $14 million in requests just in the last 90 minutes.

[04:45:57] And we could cover that with $22 million. But every, you know, that bit of, what, did we hit him as $22 million? That's probably, what, $0.07 on the tax rate? So that, so we are paying for city services.

[04:46:13] I mean, that's just the reality of the situation. But I bring all this up as a long way to say, board, of course, if there's talk or discussion about increasing revenue, which would be a tax rate increase, then that will equate to about $3.3 million per penny, just to play around with some of the requests that we're receiving.

[04:46:34] If you want to stay within the recommended budget, but you want to see things go to different obligations, then you have to be ready to say where it's going to come from in order to do that, which is what Supervisor Pruitt was also alluding to. So as we're working through the work sessions, that's going to be an important part of the work that we'll have to do since since this is in our laps now to work through but do appreciate all the input tonight from the members of the public and we'll be working through the work session so please I hope I hope all the folks paying attention tonight just don't pay attention tonight but pay attention to all those work sessions as well and we come back out and give us feedback at

[04:47:14] our town halls and in the additional public hearings that we have so thank you all very much. Tonight we still do have number 17 from the board, committee reports and matters not listed on the agenda. And there is a specific item about Senate Bill 443. We'll handle that with Ms. Malik when we get to her in the order. But I'll just go through the general comments of where you're at with committee reports or other matters. Supervisor Pruitt, any items here this Stephen? Mr. Chair, I've had no committee meetings since last board meeting. All right.

[04:47:51] Supervisor Lapisto-Kirtley? No report. Thank you. Supervisor Missal? No, sir. No reports. Supervisor Duncan? I don't have any committee reports, but I did sit in on the town hall on Sunday afternoon that Amy Lauffer and Katrina and Cree Deeds had, and that was super helpful to hear kind of an update on where things are, but the one thing that I found really interesting is that Amy said that they have put money in the budget to study sort of the school funding and the LCI in general.

[04:48:25] She said it's been in, like, they've wanted to do it before, but there's never been funding, and this time there is funding. So hopefully, you know, the outcome of that will be interesting to see, but at least they're going to study it. Like a JLARC study or what kind of study? Like to study whether or not they should fund schools based on need instead of just general per people and just sort of look at making school funding more fair or I'm not sure.

[04:48:55] Great. Is that all? I'm sorry. Supervisor Malik. Thank you very much. The meeting, Crow State Community Association, I mentioned earlier, a large collection of people from many different neighborhoods talking about reporting into each other about what they were learning about what was going on in the Crow State community.

[04:49:15] It's a wonderful other opportunity, in addition to the Croce Community Advisory Council, which is chartered to work on the master plan areas. But this is community-wide and very similar to what many neighborhood associations across the jurisdictions, across the county do.

[04:49:33] The thing I will bring up now is I sent you all an email about the passage of Senate Bill 443. And I will just shoot across. This is a draft that you can consider rather than digging around in your emails.

[04:49:50] There's one of those for everybody. And while you're looking at this, this is part of what came in the email as well. I just took it from the template that was sent for discussion purposes. In addition to taking away local decision-making, the legislation which has passed exempts installations from requirements that applicants have already given to localities.

[04:50:13] So we have, I think in the letter I said 1,676 acres already approved for utility scale and mid-scale solar development. Where the impact will be from this bill is that every one of those applications will be able to, by writing, with no regulation, no site payment, no agreement with the county to offset costs, they'll be able to plunk down these battery locations anywhere, even adjacent to where their approved parcel is, and there's there. So I think this is an incredible

[04:50:51] overreach and another unfunded mandate in addition to taking away the local decision-making. Other communities have talked about the impact to their fire and rescue. There's no provision for communication as we have for our ordinance. It would basically undermine the ordinance which we worked years to adopt to require the county to basically minimize what work we have already done. So it punishes the localities who have done work already, and there's no impact at all for communities who have not approved any solar installations. I refuse to use the word solar

[04:51:29] farms because there's no production of food or anything going on there. So anyway, I will leave this for your consideration and hopes that you might agree to send with the chair a version of something from these facts in the draft to the governor and also i have the contact information for the commerce and labor secretary as well as the local government liaison in the cabinet so i will try to answer any questions you have or get any feedback you have any questions now for

[04:52:03] supervisor malik mr pritt i actually i have a question stemming from this for council um for already approved projects, I could kind of see two different arguments for how this would affect them. One argument would be, oh, the state supersedes us. The state therefore says this shall be allowed as an accessory use. The other argument is we have an understanding at contract with the party and that therefore can't be interfered retroactively with the state.

[04:52:35] I don't know which one it is. Right. And that's a good question. And the implication isn't entirely clear there is an enactment clause with this particular bill that stipulates that any connection request that's been filed prior to July 1st, 2030 will be subject to the local ordinance as it existed on July 1st, 2026. Okay. So there is a bit of grandfathering through an enactment clause. But again, the question you raise is a valid one in terms of this just creates one of the downsides of this bill is that creates uncertainty for previously approved projects.

[04:53:09] In addition to that, I will use the machinery and tools tax as an example. In previous solar installations, there have been contracts, part of our approval for the special permit. The legislature has wiped those out by changing the rules and the percentages up to 500 megawatts.

[04:53:30] You don't have to pay anything. It has basically taken away revenue that the county was counting on to offset the expenses of these things. So that has been the legislature's behavior already, and I do not expect it to change. Supervisor Lupista-Kirtley, any questions here for Supervisor Malik, Supervisor Missal?

[04:53:49] No, no questions. Supervisor Duncan? No. I guess my thing would be you're asking us to take this, consider it, and then if we would like to do it as a board, we can get back together and figure that out. Do we have an idea of timing? Is this on the shot clock?

[04:54:05] It has gone to the governor, so it's seven days. that's my understanding which is i'm sorry i didn't figure this out before five o'clock on monday i would um 6 30 i think if the if the super are the supervisors prepared to say that they would where they stand on this or do they need some time to consider it if they support or disagree or agree with i just have one quick question i mean i generally just skimming this and reading the other counties the other communities motions or or um i i guess i wonder if something like this do we usually or have we in the past run this past staff just to

[04:54:42] get a quick over some thoughts and our legal staff is the only one who would be okay in the past anyway you know okay i mean i don't see any issues with it personally but i would like some time to well and there's two layers because we can individually we can write and send any letter we wish so the the mat the reason it's being discussed here is if we want to agree as a board to send it with a stance on it. So you all can leave here and if you agree, send a letter. So that's not really the question. The question is, do we want to do this as a board to send to the governor?

[04:55:19] Over the governor. Over your signature. Right. On behalf of the board type of thing. Supervisor Pruitt? I would say I hear and I understand the argument that Supervisor Malek is raising. I find it sympathetic. I don't know that I find it sympathetic to overcome what I think the delegation and the general assembly is trying to accomplish i find their cause similarly sympathetic um because not every uh locality that houses solar in this commonwealth is as uh thoughtful on the issue as as this locality is and i understand there are real

[04:55:58] land use concerns that the general assembly is trying to overcome i would raise just right next door to us in Fluvanna, right? You can only house solar in light industrial and industrial zoning, and there are therefore a lot of land use hurdles that need to be overcome to make solar even remotely viable. So I hear the concern you're raising, and I also hear like the muddiness that this creates, because our friends in the General Assembly aren't the best draftsmen all the time.

[04:56:32] i i hear the mightiness it creates i i don't know that i personally would support um this if it goes to a vote for the board all right supervisor lapista kurt yeah i i just don't know enough about it haven't had time to study it or anything so i would just if everyone wants to do it you know on their own i think that's great uh but i just i don't know enough to really commit so i don't feel good about that supervisor miss i'm sorry were you done yeah supervisor missile yeah no i i appreciate this generally sympathetic just like a little bit more time to look at it and

[04:57:06] support individuals sending it um as a board i i guess that's a determination we have to make as a board uh supervisor duncan um i still to be quite honest don't know a lot about the solar stuff so i don't have an opinion on this i would just say as a principal if we're going to start sending letters from the board about bills i could come up i'm sure with a whole list of things that i would love the board to sign on um that i just don't know if in practice it's a good idea um so with what i'm hearing we do not have the support to send a letter on behalf of the board

[04:57:44] i would say for those of you who are still saying i would like a little time to consider it that you can send an individual letter uh you know directly to and you have the template here that we can we can consider um and if you have your own bills that you track you remember you don't always have to you can whip away and send stuff to delegates senators and the governor as well uh just be mindful that you can't say you're speaking on behalf of the board you're just speaking on your behalf as a one person uh in in virginia um all right did you have other committee reports or

[04:58:22] items? I do not. Okay. Then that's up to me. So NACO, we did go to NACO and did, I think I saw Ann send out like a summary. From one of the committees. From one of the committees that come out. So as the NACO folks send things, it's kind of easy to forward things over there. We got a lot of great information on federal legislation. If you're tracking that, there is movement on things that could be helpful to us relative to housing coming from the federal level.

[04:58:58] It does seem to be one thing that has been getting some bipartisan support, because it seems like very little is moving through, but housing is one spot where there's some legislation that is moving, and we'll see what else can potentially come from it.

[04:59:14] It was interesting. I had the opportunity to hear the Japanese ambassador to the United States talk, and And it was in an economic development type of conversation. And now I think with the type of thing that he was representing Japanese investors and the type of places they're investing in, communities like a Charlottesville-Albemarle isn't necessarily their target.

[04:59:38] I mean, I'm talking big metro areas where they're going. But it was interesting when he was asked what do investors tend to look for regardless of the size. And the two things he mentioned was regulation and infrastructure. So is regulation easy to get projects up and running as fast as possible?

[04:59:59] And then is the infrastructure in place to allow us to operate effectively and efficiently? So it was interesting to hear that as the response. But as other things come up, I'm sure Ann and I will be sharing that. At the Metropolitan Planning Organization, we did finalize what would be going through MPO, which you saw earlier today, through the smart scale applications.

[05:00:21] We did put a pause on our Citizen Transportation Advisory Committee, whose purpose had become, I guess, unfounded or unclear over the years. It was originally doing a lot of work with the long-range transportation plan, but we had a lot of good people on that committee.

[05:00:41] And it just seemed like they, in terms of advisory and what its point was, was not being met. and the committee decided to take a pause on it since the purpose is not clear. It will give us about a year before the work on the next long-range transportation plan begins, and we're going to look then at more of an ad hoc committee type style of how we could stand up a citizen transportation advisory committee to be useful to the MPO on projects that may also then be of interest to folks there.

[05:01:11] So if you hear anything about that from any of our own appointees, that's what's going on there. A lot of them live in Rio, so I think they're already covered. And MPO, out of the December meeting, you've all heard Ann and I talk about the funding, how transportation funding works in the Commonwealth.

[05:01:32] If you haven't had a chance to watch that meeting, you can still go back to December 17th and watch the presentation. From that meeting, Sean Nelson, who's the chief engineer of the Culpeper District, had made a recommendation that it would be a good idea for the city and the county via the MPO, the representatives on there, to come together and start to strategize more on how to get projects done, not even necessarily just smart scale.

[05:01:58] So we will be having a special meeting that's going to start having that kind of conversation, and it built out of the funding conversation, discussion with staff from both the city and the county. it's the first time that that type of suggestion has come from vdot or from anyone frankly so i'm looking forward to that kind of conversation uh because i you know the folks at vdot are saying yeah well let's see what else we can try to get done uh and get creative and be more strategic and making and getting some of these projects through um so looking forward to that conversation

[05:02:31] in april um yeah i will add on to that that it's really important as the uh as agreements are made covering improvements i'm thinking of fontaine research park and the for the rezoning for extra buildings there the university or foundation whichever it was back then made the commitment to cover the fontaine improvements and yet all of a sudden it landed on the county's dime when i reached out to staff about clarifying that they said well it's been transferred to the foundation or academics whichever way it was and so we can't hold them to it anymore and that's just one of the

[05:03:09] reasons why it's so important when something is granted agreed upon get it closed up right away whether it's a donation of an easement get it closed up right away don't let it linger for 20 years because then all of a sudden new owners will say oh i don't want to do that and then you're going to round and round in circles i remember that 20 years it took to open the road between um what i mean uh hollymead and south forest lakes because it had sat so long that the neighbor said No, I don't want that there.

[05:03:38] And it literally took 10 years of constant work to get it done. And now, of course, everybody counts on it. But it was one of those difficulties to carry forward. But Sean Nelson is a great blessing in the Culpeper VDOT, so I'm looking forward to that.

[05:03:54] And I just remembered, too, that he had mentioned that during the last snow event, how we had some roads that had been put into the public system, but they hadn't updated on the plowing. So I know VDOT's working on that to get that rectified. So I was pleased to hear that report as well. So just share that with the other supervisors.

[05:04:11] All right, great. Thank you all for those reports. All right, well then, without objection, we're there. We will adjourn to March 9th, 2026 at 5 p.m. in room 241 for our budget work session.

[05:04:27] And just as a reminder, you can send questions to Andy Bowman and team ahead of time, and those will be tracked and sent to us but also listed on the website for our review. All right, thank you, everyone. Have a good evening. Thanks.

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