Rescue squad, county budget among board discussions

When the Patrick County Board of Supervisors considers approval of the fiscal year 2024-25 budget on Tuesday, May 28, some members still may have questions about funding for the Jeb Stuart Rescue Squad, which was among the items debated during the May 13 budget discussion.

Noting the impact after the squad furloughed its paid staff and prepares to shutter, Clayton Kendrick said the county is not doing well with call response.

“I’ve heard several county-wide pages today that (the county’s backup service) Station 8 couldn’t cover. I don’t have a problem at all with the paid service, but I think the money can be more wisely spent if we help Jeb Stuart for the minimum that they’ve asked to keep running and go back, if they will go back,” Kendrick, of the Mayo River District, said.

Since its paid staff is gone and likely have other jobs, Kendrick said he is unsure whether the squad could begin responding to calls.

In the proposed budget, Kendrick said Emergency Medical Services (EMS) Director Scottie Cassell requested four paid staff be added to Station 8 at an estimated cost of about $240,000 for the cost. 

“Well, the last time that they asked for four employees, the total on it after all of the equipment they needed and everything else, for four employees to staff one more truck was $500,000,” he said. “If we can give Jeb Stuart what they asked for in some kind of way, shape, or form to help them, if they’ll go back, it would be spending money a lot wiser, and you can save several hundred thousand dollars right there.”

While he doesn’t have an issue with the paid service, Kendrick said Station 8 was originally created to assist the volunteer rescue squads.

“The way I’m seeing this, we’re not helping the volunteers, we’re growing that (paid) EMS, and that thing costs a good pile of money,” he said.

County Administrator Beth Simms said when Jeb Stuart made the request, it was $100,000 annually. 

The proposed budget includes an increase of 50 percent in funding for volunteer fire departments and a 31 percent increase in contributions for volunteer rescue squads.

“We added four additional positions to cover for when our volunteers can’t cover calls due to jobs, family obligations, etcetera,” she said. “There may have been a few other small line-item changes, but those are the big three. So, if there are changes, just let me know and we’ll adjust.”

Kendrick said he also noticed in the last updated budget that there are five volunteer rescue squads instead of the six in the county.

Simms said the county had been told Jeb Stuart would not operate after June 1.

“Therefore, they wouldn’t have been in operation after the fiscal year started. As I stated in the newspaper and as I think most of you have stated we’ve offered two options to Jeb Stuart and we stand, I know I do and I think you do as well, willing to assist,” she said. 

Kendrick said the county needs to work with the squad to see what it can do. He asked Joanne Spangler, the squad’s treasurer, for an update.

Spangler said the organization laid off several of its part-time paid staff that may be willing to come back.

“We had a couple that were working full-time hours. I know one of them already has another job, and the other is getting ready to start another job. So, I don’t know without going to each one of them if they would be willing to come back or not,” she said.

Kendrick said he received several phone calls from people asking for the county to help the financially strapped squad.

“There was an elderly lady in Patrick Springs who called me the other night. She was 88 years old, and she said Jeb Stuart had saved her life twice, and she didn’t want to see that rescue squad go,” he said.

Simms added the county doesn’t want the squad to cease operations either.

Kendrick said he thinks the county can come up with some funding to help, but the organization needs to decide if it can continue with its current staff.

Spangler said some funding from Medicare and Medicaid was received, and that has helped the organization get some bills caught up.

“Right now, we just have volunteers that are running, and that’s all we can do right now, and see if we can either get more money coming in or help from the county or whatever,” Spangler said. “We may be able to go further than June 1, but as far as bringing our paid people back, we would have to have some funding before we could do that.”

Jonathan Wood, of the Peters Creek District, said his biggest problem with handing over $100,000 to the squad is that the county would be handing it over to pay for salaries of those over which it has no control or accountability.

“You’re just handing it out. If they need new equipment, training, any of that, I would be on board 100 percent, but when it’s a short-term investment it makes it a whole lot more difficult, it really does,” said Wood, whose district also is among those that would be impacted if the squad closes.

He also said the squad has not shared a line-item budget like county residents wish to see from the board. Rather, “it’s lumped in together. I think we need to see more before we can consider what Mr. Kendrick said over there and funding them. Because it’s your money just like it’s my money going somewhere, and I just want to make sure it’s going where it will do the greatest good for the greatest number of people.”

Doug Perry, acting chairman, said if the county gave one squad the additional funding, it would have to give it to all the other volunteer fire and rescue squads.

“Essentially, we’re paying somebody else to support their own paid service. I think that money would go further, and have some money coming back into the county, by putting that money back into our own paid service,” he said.

Kendrick said nearly every fire and rescue squad doesn’t have a problem with the county helping the Jeb Stuart squad.

Perry said the county definitely needs its volunteers.

“We cannot get along with our volunteers, that’s an absolute must. But financially speaking, I’m just not sure that would be the biggest bang for our buck, especially if we were to put that money back into the county’s paid service so that the soft billing the county does would at least come back to the county,” Perry said.

Noting that the squad ran more calls last year than Station 8 did and for a third of the cost, Kendrick said if the county employs the staff, it must pay associated costs of health insurance, Workman’s Comp, Social Security, “and all this, that, and the other. If they’re doing it, that’s on them not us, so you’re saving right there.” 

Steve Marshall, of the Blue Ridge District who attended the meeting via Zoom, said he believes the money would fix the problems short-term, but would have the propensity to grow bigger down the road.

“I don’t want to pass that kind of financial burden on Patrick County. My understanding is there have been solutions offered that allow the squad to keep their name, number, stay open as a volunteer squad, and it would just be a partnership with the county,” Marshall said, and he thinks that’s the best solution.

Regarding the budget as a whole, Wood said there are many changes the board doesn’t have control over.

“A lot of that comes from the state. Every time they have a budget meeting, I learn more and more about, a lot of those things we can’t change. I don’t necessarily agree with some of those increases, but when Richmond tells you they have to get an increase, telling us not to do it isn’t doing any good. You need to be going to Richmond,” he said.

Initially, Wood said he thought he could shave about $750,000 off the budget at once. “I tried, but so many things are regulated by the state that we can’t touch. I’ll be honest, it’s really discouraging that we can’t go in there and cut some of those things out. So, some of those decisions, some of those things you’ll talk about during public comment tonight, there’s very little if anything that we can do.”

The board also heard from several residents regarding the proposed budget.

Trena Anderson said she found it disheartening during the April work meeting that two supervisors stated they were “good” with the budget as presented at that time, “and they saw no reason to go back and look at the budget again as Mr. Kendrick thoughtfully suggested. That spoke volumes to me.” 

Anderson said the school system ‘chose’ to become top-heavy with multiple administrators, and noted that choices have consequences. 

“Please only give them the funds that the state requires. Please don’t fund their poor choices and waste more taxpayers’ money on an overpaid administrator, that money is for the education of children,” she said.

Anderson said the county’s EMS is at a critical juncture and the board needs to do what’s right for an aging population.

She also asked the board to force the Commonwealth’s Attorney to move her office out of the leased building it currently resides in and into the former School Board Office beside the Patrick County Administration Building.

The Commonwealth’s Attorney “needs to move over there, she needs to be required to move over there to save us money,” Anderson said, and asked if moving the real estate assessment up by a year would mean residents would pay more taxes sooner.

“This will tax many of us out of our homes. We’re not going to allow this to happen, this is going to be an even bigger battle than we have going on now. This is going to be a huge fight. You cannot tax Patrick Countians into prosperity, but you can tax us into the poor house,” she said.

Speaker Steve Ferring said he’s been asked if he has a vendetta against the Patrick County Sheriff’s Office.

“I do not, I state that unequivocally. I’m an accountant, I look at numbers. We’ve analyzed the county budget from the standpoint of the board, from the largest departmental budget first – that’s the sheriff’s department,” he said.

Therefore, Ferring said he started at those line items that constitute the greatest portion of the department’s budget. As a result of the review, Ferring noted there are several major expense items that he believes are in excess of the Sheriff’s Office’s goals and missions.

“For years now, the sheriff’s department has not had to justify its expenses. Prior boards of supervisors have approved these inflated budget numbers without question. Now the real question is are you going to do the same,” he said.

Ferring said he and others want accountability for the tax dollars and these expenses justified as contributing to the mission of the sheriff’s office. “Other county departments appear to provide a justifiable operating budget and are able to quantify the benefits to the taxpayer. The sheriff’s department has not done so.” 

He alleged that “there has been mismanagement of the sheriff’s department budget in the past, and this has recently been demonstrated by the dismissal of one employee after evidence of overpayment in the inmate food budget,” he said.

Speaker Leo White, said he keeps hearing about the need to raise pay for county officials, and “I do agree with that to a point.”

But “you know, when you’ve got a county that’s $40 million in debt and $10 million of that is interest, we don’t have a hospital, our roads are falling apart, we have trash all over the place, we’re losing a rescue squad come June 1,” White said before the county “needs to look at fixing some things first,” before giving “some big people some raises.” 

Until some of the issues are addressed, he suggested freezing the pay of any county employee making over $50,000 a year.

“I spoke with an individual from the Patrick County Food Bank, and they’ve come up here for the last three to five years asking the county for funds to help them feed the poor in this county. On average, 400 to 500 people a month go through that food bank. That’s over 6,000 people in this county a year, and that’s just the food bank,” White said, and added other organizations also distribute food to those in need.

“This isn’t Fairfax County, this isn’t Carroll County, this is not Roanoke, this is not Danville, this is not Henry County. This is Patrick County and we’re poor,” he said. “We’re poor. Stop looking outside the county and fix what’s inside here before you talk about raises.”

Vance Agee said county residents have endured a more than 30 percent increase due to inflation over the last three years.

“Our businesses have had to absorb an increase in minimum wages of 38 percent,” and incomes have “fallen significantly as a result of inflation, state and local taxation. Me personally, I have taken a decrease in my salary over the last 10 years,” Agee said and added he decreased his pay because his employees are important to him.

“All price increases have been adjusted moderately due to inflation. The end result is the consumer pays dearly due to poor management by federal, state, and local officials,” he said.

Agee said residents insist that all budgets and new hires be tabled and frozen until all positions on the board unanimously decide to move forward with a clear and concise agenda for the county.

Regarding feeding inmates, Valerie Loy said she’s noticed there is $10 a day spent per inmate. 

“If you have 10 (inmates), that’s $100 a day, $500 a week, $2,000 a month, $24,000 for us taxpayers to pay. When we went to school and we went on a field trip we packed a lunch, and they can do the same for the jail. It’s paid for,” she said.

Loy said raises should be earned, not doled out because of entitlement or because the same position in a different county is paid a certain amount.

“Also, vetting the board of supervisors. I’ve been in supervision for 25 years, we never hired anybody that was not vetted. Background checks, the whole nine yards. I’m told that the board of supervisors is not vetted, and they need to be vetted. We could have Charles Manson up there and we wouldn’t know,” 

Loy said that anyone who receives a check from the county should be vetted.

Rhonda Reef, administrator for Blue Ridge Therapy Connection, said she’s concerned with the status of the rescue squads.

The Jeb Stuart squad “ran a total of 205 calls to Landmark Drive in Patrick County last year. So, those calls were split between the nursing home and the assisted living there,” she said. “You know, we’re extremely grateful to Jeb Stuart for the service they provide to us. In our line of business, of course, we’re taking care of the most frail residents in the county.”

Whenever the residents have accidents or health problems, Reef said the agency needs to be able to transfer them quickly to a higher level of care.

“I am really and truly grateful for the paid service that we have here in the county as well, but whenever their truck is tied up, and we’re famous for tying their trucks up, we need somebody else to be able to depend on. Jeb Stuart always comes through for us,” she said.

Rachel Martin said she understands the board was able to create the proposed budget without a tax increase, but wonders what will happen next year.

“They’re talking about raising our real estate (values). You know, I really don’t want to be taxed out of my home. It’s been in my family since 1958. That would be a shame,” Martin said, adding that in reviewing the budget, it bothers her to see pay increases from seven percent to 18 percent for some of the government positions.

“Most regular people don’t get an 18 percent raise. I would never get that as a nurse unless I went back and got my master’s degree or my nurse practitioner or I moved up into a position where I leave my job because I don’t like what it pays me,” she said.

Martin said the county wants to keep people here, but not at taxpayers’ expense because people think they deserve to be paid more.

“Most people get a three percent increase. I’m pretty sure Social Security recipients, my mom being one of them, got a 3.2 percent increase this year. So, in my opinion, no one should get above that, especially these employees making well into the six figures,” she said.

“Personally, I would be ashamed to ask for more money if I was making $120,000 or $140,000 a year knowing” the information about the food bank. “I wouldn’t even be able to look people in the eye, to be honest,” she said.

Martin alleged taxpayers pay for the nice, luxury gas-guzzling government vehicles that county employees drive, and noted that her job also doesn’t provide her with a car to drive to work, although it does help with gas.

She doesn’t know how many times she’s missed her lunch while working, and Martin noted her lunch isn’t paid for by her employer.

“Unfortunately, our administrator thinks that we should pay for her lunch when she has to drive to Danville because she has to scarf down a PB&J (peanut butter and jelly sandwich),” Martin said and added “I didn’t like that comment” Simms made because Martin works in home health and has seen what residents go through.

“I have a problem too with certain people, all they bring up is defunding our sheriff’s department. The only services that I receive from Patrick County is the sheriff’s department and EMS,” Martin said, adding that she pays $3,000 a year for her daughter to attend school. 

The child no longer attends the Patrick County School division – which Martin said she believes is overfunded. “It’s a monster and it needs to be dealt with,” she added.

In other matters, the board:

*Heard from Spangler who thanked those who have supported the squad and noted the challenge its board is facing.

“It’s a difficult decision. I mean we’re going on 45 years of being there, and it’s not an easy decision to make – come under the county or to close or whatever. Especially with no more information that we’ve gotten,” she said.

Spanger said one of the options is to come under the county, but the squad wants to know what that would entail.

“We’d really like to have a few more details than what we’ve gotten because (the option is) basically come under the county, you can keep your number, keep your non-profit but doing that we have no trucks, we have no building. Why do we even need our number and our name if we don’t have anything,” she asked, noting the squad would not be generating any revenue.

Spangler said the squad would not exist if it came under the county, because the county would take its building, equipment, bills, revenue, and everything else. “We would have nothing. We haven’t figured out how that would come into effect for us to be able to do that, and what the purpose would be,” she said.

*Heard from Galen Gilbert, who said the squad covers an extremely large section, including Moorefield Store, Critz, County Line, Patrick Springs, and Stuart.

“How would that area be divided up? Station 8 was put here to assist the rescue squads in this county, not take us over. I’ve been there 45 years, and put a lot of time, a lot of energy, a lot of heartache, seen some of my friends killed in car wrecks, even one of y’all’s family members killed at the intersection there in Patrick Springs,” he said.

Like Spangler, Gilbert noted the squad doesn’t know a lot of the details, aside from the fact that the county wants its building. 

“For what they would pay to get that building is going to save the county beaucoup of money because I know Station 8 is wanting the building. I do know they need a place to put their trucks, but so does Jeb Stuart,” he said.

Gilbert said he wants to see more communication and less misinformation, “because just like you said, if they give us $100,000 everyone else will want it. Well, when they run 1,200 calls in a year, they can be asking for that help. We have several schools in our district. How’s that all going to be covered by Station 8 when they can’t get all the other calls answered,” Gilbert asked.

*Heard from Karen DeCapp. She noted the Patrick County Chamber of Commerce recently posted the needs of the food bank are increasing by 100 families a year. “With no hospital, citizens are transported to Martinsville or North Carolina, and in critical situations this could be the difference of living or dying. The last and best hope is the amazing rescue squad, yet PC may discontinue a paid staff due to lack of funding.”

DeCapp said $100,000 per year was requested to keep the staff operating. “Receiving $198,000 of ‘pay to play’ money for approving a solar facility to do with it whatever the county wants, why can’t these needs be met? Where is the pay-to-play money,” she asked.

*Heard from Benjamin “Ed” Pool, who directed his comments to the county attorney. Over the last six months, he alleged several board members and the Planning Commission have engaged in “deceptive misrepresentation” as to the dangers of cadmium and cadmium telluride used in solar panels.

“To be clear, chemical manufacture safety data sheets have been presented to both government bodies, prepared in conformity with the EPA (Environmental Protection Agency) regulatory guidelines,” Pool said, adding the documents list “both chemical formulations as hazardous to human health, aquatic species, and long-lasting water degradation.”

Pool said the commission, and in at least one presentation, a supervisor publicly stated that cadmium telluride was safe to eat.

“Most recent evidence of this ill-informed bias occurred at” the April 8 meeting, “when citizen Heath Spence expressed concerns of cadmium toxicity and was interrupted by direct input by the board chair that this was cadmium telluride, a different safety data sheet number and not cadmium,” he said.

While this statement is true, Pool said cadmium telluride is highly toxic and stands in the same EPA TSCA (Toxic Substances Control Act) category as cadmium.

“Furthermore, when hazardous chemical investigators search for toxins, poison, or leeching, they do not check for cadmium telluride but rather cadmium, which is the breakdown toxin,” he said.

To date, Pool noted neither the commission or the board have presented any safety data sheets from First Solar or Energix, which are necessary to make an informed risk assessment to the health and safety of the product introductions being proposed to the county.

“This is deeply concerning considering that over 90 percent of the solar products available on the marketplace do not contain cadmium telluride,” he said. “Again, while commission members have publicly stated there is no risk of contamination or leeching, there does not exist a written statement from a corporate signatory from the manufacturer or installer in order to establish a clear-cut liability or remedial action to protect” the county, Pool said.

He requested the county attorney to advise “officials to cease and desist with any further erroneous statements concerning the toxicity of cadmium telluride and cadmium without executed releases exonerating the citizens of Patrick County of any future liabilities, tax increases, or punitive remedies should damages occur, and place those liabilities personally upon the individual or individuals who misrepresent the EPA TSCA categorization and the chemical manufactures liability to establishing safety data sheets.”

*Approved the April 8, April 22, and April 29 meeting minutes.

*Approved the bills, claims, and appropriations.

*Proclaimed May 2024 as Ruritan Awareness Month.

*Heard a broadband update from Brightspeed Virginia Director of Government Affairs Chris Dillon.

*Approved the installation of a cell tower near Patrick County High School (PCHS).

*Approved the E-ticket ordinance. Perry said this streamlines the process for issuing uniform summons for law enforcement and court personnel.

“This ordinance is requesting that Patrick County impose an assessment fee of $5 as part of the cost of each criminal or traffic case in the juvenile/domestic relations court, general district court, or circuit court of the county where the defendant is charged with a violation of any statute or ordinance by local law enforcement,” Perry said.

The $5 assessment fee would be held by the Treasurer and is subject to disbursement to local law enforcement solely to fund the software, hardware, and associated equipment costs for the implementation of this electronic summons system. 

*Approved American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) requests worth $9,083 for a pump replacement at pump #4 and building inspector wages and benefits needed through June 2023. A request to transfer $11,455 in unspent funds on health insurance, PPE/supplies, UTV, and turnout/special ops gear was also approved.

*Heard the administrator’s report.

*Heard the supervisor’s reports.

Steve Marshall, of the Blue Ridge District, attended the meeting via Zoom.