The $1 fee per vehicle at the Transfer Station will remain in effect for at least 30 days following a 3 to 2 vote by the Patrick County Board of Supervisors at the July 8 meeting.
Ron Knight, director of the Transfer Station, alerted county officials of issues when the fee was implemented July 1.
County Administrator Tom Rose said Knight shared concerns that included the need to have additional change on hand, the loss of an employee due to the time needed to collect the fee, getting behind on other work dur to the time it takes to collect the fee and other challenges.
Rose said $400 was collected within the first four-days of implementing the fee, and that Knight wants to continue the fee and make the changes needed to accommodate the challenges.
Lock Boyce, of the Mayo River District, said that Bull Mountain Road, near the hospital is “filled with household trash,” including four mattresses that were recently dumped. Boyce said he will pay someone to clean the refuse from the property.
Additionally, he said many residents have expressed ire at the new fee, which “doesn’t make any damned sense. What are you going to do, hire a new person” to collect the fee, he asked. “We ought to stop it right now.”
Given the 20 percent real estate tax increase, Boyce said the county should eliminate the fee at the Transfer Station, otherwise “you’re dinging them for a buck for every load they take to the Transfer Station.”
He made a motion to discontinue the fee, which was seconded by Karl Weiss “for the purpose of discussion.”
Jane Fulk, of the Dan River District, said she hoped the fee would be used to help address a crack in the Transfer Station. “Maybe we could find the money somewhere else, but I don’t know where,” she said of the crack in the tipping floor.
The state Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ) is requiring the county to make repairs, according to Geri Hazelwood, assistant county administrator.
“CHA Companies is our solid waste project manager. They did an initial evaluation, and we’re just to the point now where its time to meet and discuss the proposals and talk about steps going forward,” Hazelwood said.
Rose said that meeting with Sandra Warner, of CHA, was scheduled to be held July 16. He has worked with Warner and the company many times in the past and anticipates “everything will go smooth.”
Crystal Harris, of the Smith River District, said the board discussed green box sites several years ago, but found the proposition cost prohibitive.
Weiss noted the board initially supported the measure (except for Boyce) with the idea that “we would have a plan in place before we ever started this. I think we ought to retract” the fee “until we give it a lot more thought.”
“The idea came from our budget committee,” Rickie Fulcher, of the Peters Creek District said, noting the county has a $444,000 deficit at the transfer station after collecting fees in the last fiscal year.
“We hoped to start this to generate $68,000, which is a long way from addressing that $444,000, but it’s a start,” Fulcher said, adding “I certainly hope people don’t throw their trash on the side of the road” due to the $1 fee.
“It’s very disappointing. I can’t get any help from law enforcement for the littering,” Boyce said, adding a liter conviction is punishable by up to a fine of $500.
Fulcher noted that Knight requested 30 days to evaluate the fee.
The board later voted 3 to 2 to continue the fee, with Fulcher, Fulk and Harris in support; and Boyce and Weiss voting nay.
In other matters:
Fulk requested time to address some concerns about “erroneous information” that has been “circulated regarding some of our committees and the citizen volunteers who serve on the committees.”
Fulk, of the Dan River District, also serves as the liaison Board of Supervisors member for the EDA, Tourism, 911, Broadband, Personnel, and School Board committees.
“Nobody on the EDA committee has asked for mileage payments from the county. The EDA only wants to do the best they can for Patrick County. This rhetoric and accusations by certain parties against citizens who have only the welfare of Patrick County in their heart has been a big disappointment to me,” Fulk said.
“When citizens are asked what has EDA done for them they need to know that the EDA has helped with Griffith Lumber, Ten Oaks, Ten Pin Alley, Patrick Building Supply,” The Results Companies, Hanesbrands, Inc., she said, adding that the agency also “worked diligently trying to acquire the hospital or find someone who would buy our hospital when it closed.”
Although unsuccessful at the time, Fulk said “the EDA has not given up on a hospital and is still looking at affordable options.”
The county’s tourism council also has not asked to be compensated for mileage, “and it is disheartening to me and committee members when they are bad-mouthed and accused of mismanagement of funds by people who should know better,” Fulk said.
Funds overseen by the Tourism Advisory Council (TAC) are similar to Social Services funds, Fulk said, adding both “come into the county and are paid out to help people in the county. Tourism must use a huge portion of their funds for marketing, this is a mandate. The goal of tourism is to bring tourists into Patrick County to spend their money. Each person on the committee is working toward building a better tomorrow for Patrick County.”
Because of the misinformation, Fulk said she has had “trouble getting people to serve on committees because they do not appreciate being cast as villains of some soap opera orchestrated by people who have hidden agendas. As one of the board members who served on the Budget Committee, I can guarantee that neither one of us has ‘lined our pockets’ with any county money and I am becoming tired of hearing this falsehood.”
According to the June minutes, the council voted to offer mileage to and from meetings to its members as an option.
*Heard from Derek Wagner, captain of the Jeb Stuart Rescue Squad. He advised the board that the squad will receive $218,000 from the Virginia Rescue Squad Assistance Fund to help pay for a new ambulance.
He requested $67,142 of the squad’s allocated capital improvement funds to pay the local match required for the state funds.
“Currently, our fleet consists of three Advance Life Support (ALS) ground transport ambulances and one basic life support (BLS) response vehicle. Unit 310 is a 2001 Ford F-450, Unit 311 is a 2015 Dodge 4500 Osage, and Unit 312 is a 2008 Ford F-450,” Wagner said.
Those units have acquired “a significant amount of mileage” with the hospital shutdown, he said, adding that translates into more mechanical malfunctions, which cost more than $40,000 in maintenance repairs in 2018.
Supervisors will vote on the request at their Aug. 12 meeting.
*Approved $800,000 requested for the Children’s Services Act (CSA) budget appropriation. Up to $1 million had been set aside for the expense, according to discussion at the meeting. According to online information, the CSA provides services to at-risk youngsters and their families.
*Considered a Request for Proposals for HVAC contracts.
A letter included in the board packet from Professional Refrigeration Co., LLC, stated that due to a planned retirement, a service and maintenance contract for all county buildings will end Aug. 31. A second contract for controls monitoring will remain in effect until an adequate service provider is found and a new contract approved.
The letter also addressed a contract submitted several months ago to the county regarding upgrading the control system “whereby the current remote access is accomplished with a dial-up modem, and the contract was to connect the controls system to the Internet” for remote access.
“Due to unforeseen anomalies within your local network and your Internet gateway, completing this task was problematic and beyond the scope of the contract,” the letter stated.
“This apparently was due to some experimentation by your IT department concerning changing your Internet service providers. Because of these problems, I am withdrawing this contract at this time,” the letter from Thomas Uhlman stated. He added that if the network becomes stable in the future, he would consider a new contract if in a position to do so.
