February 25, 2020

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At a regular meeting of the Southampton County Board of Supervisors held in the Board Room of the Southampton County Office Center, 26022 Administration Drive, Courtland, Virginia on February 25, 2020. 6:00 p.m.

SUPERVISORS PRESENT Dr. Alan W. Edwards, Chairman (Jerusalem District)

William Hart Gillette, Vice Chairman (Capron District) Christopher D. Cornwell, Sr. (Berlin/Ivor District)

Carl J. Faison (Boykins/Branchville District) Dallas O. Jones (Drewryville District) Lynda T. Updike (Newsoms District)

Robert White (Franklin District)

SUPERVISORS ABSENT None

OTHERS PRESENT

Michael W. Johnson, County Administrator (Clerk) Beth Lewis, Deputy Director of Community Development

Jay Brenchick, President and CEO, FSEDI Richard E. Railey, Jr., County Attorney

Nora C. Atkins, Administrative Assistant

OTHERS ABSENT Lynette C. Lowe, Deputy County Administrator/Chief Financial Officer

Chairman Alan Edwards calls the meeting to order at 6:00 p.m. After the Pledge of Allegiance, Chairman Edwards says the first item on the agenda is a closed session. Supervisor Lynda Updike moves that the Board enter into a closed meeting in accordance with the provisions set out in the Code of Virginia, 1950, as amended, for the following purpose:

In accordance with §2.2-3711 (A) (5), Discussion with staff from Franklin Southampton Economic Development Incorporated concerning confidential communications and negotiations with commercial or industrial prospects, or the expansion of existing commercial or industrial businesses, where no previous announcement has been made of the prospects’ or businesses’ interest in locating or expanding its facilities in Southampton County.

A motion is required to convene a closed meeting for the purpose described above. Supervisor Dallas Jones seconds the motion, and the Board approves the motion to go into closed meeting. BOARD ENTERS INTO CLOSED MEETING AT 6:00 P.M. BOARD RETURNS TO OPEN SESSION AT 7:00 P.M. Chairman Edwards calls the meeting back to order at 7:00 p.m. following the closed session. Chairman Edwards says, okay, ladies and gentlemen, we will go to open session here. Welcome to everybody for the February 25 meeting of your Southampton County Board of Supervisors. It is good to see everybody here. And would somebody volunteer to give the invocation?

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Mr. Ash Cutchin comes forward and presents the invocation. Chairman Edwards says, thank you very much, Mr. Cutchin. We therefore need to go through the certification resolution. Sir. Vice Chairman William Hart Gillette says, Mr. Chairman. It is necessary for this board to conduct the closed meeting which was held in accordance in Section 2.2-3711. Supervisor Dallas Jones says, that is the wrong number. Vice Chairman Gillette says, I was reading the wrong one, excuse me. Chairman Edwards says, hold with us here. Vice Chairman Gillette continues,

WHEREAS, the Southampton County Board of Supervisors convened a closed meeting on this date pursuant to an affirmative recorded vote and in accordance with the provisions of the Virginia Freedom of Information Act; and WHEREAS, Section 2.2-3712 (D) of the Code of Virginia requires a certification by the Board that such a closed meeting was conducted in conformity with Virginia law. NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED that the Southampton County Board of Supervisors hereby certifies that, to the best of each member’s knowledge, (i) only public business matters lawfully exempted from open meeting requirements by Virginia law were discussed in the closed meeting to which this certification resolution applies, and (ii) only such public matters as were identified in the motion convening the closed meeting were heard, discussed and considered by the Southampton County Board of Supervisors.

Vice Chairman Gillette says, Mr. Chairman, I move that this motion be approved. Chairman Edwards says, yes, sir. Is there a second? Supervisor Carl Faison says, second. Chairman Edwards says, okay. All in favor say aye.

Dr. Alan Edwards AYE William Hart Gillette AYE Christopher Cornwell, Sr. AYE Carl Faison AYE Dallas Jones AYE Lynda Updike AYE Robert White AYE

Chairman Edwards continues, opposed, no. [No response.] The ayes have it. Chairman Edwards says, we did not vote on anything and we followed the Virginia law to the letter. Okay, we are down to #4, the Citizens Comment Period. If you would speak on anything concerning the County, come up to the podium there and give your name and address for the record, please. Mr. John Burchett comes forward and says, my name is John Burchette and I live in Sebrell. William Hart is my representative. I’ve been coming to these meetings for some time a couple of years after the disaster that we had with the sewer expansion in 2008, right after I retired from Newport News Shipbuilding. Dallas always made me feel welcome. I always did feel welcome with you all. Sometime after the 2016 election, we installed the blue light thing [timer]. And I don’t see it flashing, so I don’t know if that means we’re not using it anymore or she just forgot to turn it on. But even if it’s on, I appreciate it and I will certainly feel welcome again. Chairman Edwards says, well, we do welcome you, sir.

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Mr. Burchett says, thank you, I appreciate it. I feel welcome. Congratulations to all you guys who are on the Board, too. The first thing I’d like to hit on real quick is Shared Services. The city of Franklin, I feel they haven’t dealt with us fairly over the years that we’ve been discussing and involved in the Shared Services. In fact, when we spent I don’t know how many tens of thousands of dollars studying the proposed sewer hookup by Franklin to our sewage system, they made our County Administration and our Board of Supervisors look like a bunch of idiots. We spent all this money and we were counting on having some relief on our taxes from sharing this. We were grossly over capacity with the city of Franklin. And then all of a sudden, I think it was last year, they just turned it off and said, “We’re not interested anymore, we’re going to go with what we got.” And then the same thing happened with the Courthouse. They attended all the meetings, had votes in to expand the Courthouse to include their Franklin court system. And then all of a sudden, Ms. Jarratt (and thank the Lord for her) said at one of the meetings I attended in Franklin, “We can’t afford it.” We actually had somebody to say that somebody couldn’t afford to raise taxes and spend. But it cost us all kinds of time and money studying this Courthouse fiasco, and we got nothing out of Franklin – they got to be in it for their part of whatever it is they have to share with us. But otherwise, they’re knocked out. [Buzzer sounds.] That is only half of what I was going to say, but I appreciate – oh, one more thing that I wanted to say – Chairman Edwards says, you are so welcome, sir, we will let you continue. Mr. Burchett continues, I will share this about the County Office complex security. I think that during the discussion on courthouse security and all this, we need to think hard about making this building [Southampton County Office Center] secure. I don’t know if anybody has thought about it. But if you remember in the meeting in December, I believe, when the other board made the decision on the land that they changed from agricultural to industrial, those people were upset. I’m not going to say they would have done anything, but they were hot. You make decisions that affect people’s lives, and I think we need to have at least something. I know I appreciate the sheriff having people here, but we need to have something to make sure nobody comes through the end of this building with a gun or something. I mean, you never know, because when you got people’s lives you never know how they will react. Thank you. Chairman Edwards says, okay, who’s next? Mr. Burchett says, oh yeah, my stock club meeting’s tonight. Thank you. [Mr. Burchett leaves.] Mr. Glenn Updike comes forward and says, I’m Glenn Updike and I’d just like you all to take some notes. VDOT, since the snowstorm, has not been by and moved the limbs out of the road. You go by these trees that are down and they hit the side of the vehicle almost every time. The second thing is, to me, water is running down the road constantly. We don’t have any shoulders on these roads, and it looks like VDOT has refused and put cleaning the ditches out on the back burner until, it sounds like to me, it’s too bad. So, I would like to encourage you all to check with VDOT to see what could be done. So I’m not going to take up my full time today complaining, so mark it up. I would like to have my extra minute the next coming meeting. Chairman Edwards says, okay, anybody else? Mr. Frank Urquhart comes forward and says, good evening, council. Frank Urquhart, Berlin-Ivor District. Hello, Chris [Cornwell]. I just have a quick request as far as seeing if we can get some center line marking on Seacock Chapel Road between east Doles Crossroads and Blackwater River Bridge. I say, roughly 2-1/2 miles at the most. Because just like tonight when it’s real foggy and you’re trying to meet someone, being that the road when the weather’s no good, it’s hard to see where the side of the road is. Especially when you’re meeting someone in those conditions and with the soft shoulder. If you have a center yellow line marking, the two oncoming vehicles could better judge where that distance is from the side of the road. Just from a safety standpoint for the citizens. I just wanted to give some input to you. Chairman Edwards says, okay, anybody else? Mr. Jason Fowler comes forward and says, my name is Jason Fowler, Courtland. Your agenda item on the Courthouse tonight, I just wanted to make a couple of comments. I believe I spoke with everybody and kind of asked about the plan for the courtrooms, the number of courtrooms. Page 78

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of your proposal talks about the Courtroom Design and the proposal from the potential architect, “We anticipate potential renovations to the existing courtroom(s) and the possibility of at least one new courtroom in the separation of the Juvenile and Domestic Relations Court. We have also noted the potential need for an additional Circuit Court courtroom to better facilitate court scheduling. During the Programming Phase, it is common for an analysis of courtroom use/scheduling to determine the best possible options…” [Glavé and Holmes Architects. Architectural/Engineering Services for Repair & Renovation of Courthouse Facilities, County of Southampton, Virginia, October 3, 2019.] I just caution on putting money out for this firm, I think it’s $180-some thousand dollars and we still don’t know how many courtrooms we need. I think that’s a discussion that can be had prior to hiring an architect, internally between the judges and the County. Chairman Edwards says, okay, who is next? [No response.] Okay, then, last call. Anybody else want to address the Board tonight? [No response.] All right, last call, if nobody else wants to, we’ll close the Citizen Comment Period. [No response.] Thank you for your input. All right, we’re down to #5, Approval of Minutes. Does anybody have any questions, changes? Supervisor Lynda Updike says, I had one minor one, Westley Drake’s first name has a “t” in it. Ms. Nora Atkins asks, it’s Westley, W-E-S-T-L-E-Y? Supervisor Updike confirms, it’s W-E-S-T-L-E-Y. Ms. Atkins responds, that will be fixed. Supervisor Updike says, he was named after an ancestor. Chairman Edwards says, does anybody else have any changes? [No response.] All right, if there are not, I will accept a motion to accept the minutes as changed. Supervisor Faison says, so moved. Supervisor Robert White says, second. Chairman Edwards says, and seconded. All those in favor say aye.

Dr. Alan Edwards AYE William Hart Gillette AYE Christopher Cornwell, Sr. AYE Carl Faison AYE Dallas Jones AYE Lynda Updike AYE Robert White AYE

Chairman Edwards continues, opposed, no? [No response.] Okay, we’ll accept the minutes as noted. All right, we’re down to Highway Matters. Mr. Michael Johnson says, just one quick item to report, Mr. Chairman. You all may have noticed recent sidewalk improvements along Main Street, Courtland. VDOT has upgraded the sidewalks in front of the Courthouse and at the intersection of Main and Bride Streets with curb ramps and receiving sidewalks that have ADA-compliant detectable warnings, in preparation for the installation of two new marked pedestrian crosswalks. You have copies of the engineering studies in your agenda packages. Mr. Johnson continues, only one crossing will be installed at the Courthouse, that one will be on the north side of Court Street. The illustration in the study actually shows two there. Also the ramp that is illustrated at the intersection of Meherrin Road and Main Street will not be installed at this time. There will be four additional pedestrian crosswalks later constructed as part of the Nat Turner Walking Trail project. There will be one across Bride Street at Main, one across Court Street at Main, one across Rochelle Street at Main, and then one across Linden Street at Main. So, just for your information.

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Chairman Edwards says, thank you very much. All right, does anybody have any comments concerning the roads? Supervisor Updike says, I have the same comment as I had last time, that hadn’t been fixed. And there are a lot of limbs along the road, on the sides of the road and highway. Chairman Edwards says, okay, anybody else? [No response.] All right, if we don’t have any more comments, we’ll assume all the roads are okay. Chairman Edwards says, all right, we’ll go to the Appointments. The first one is the Industrial Development Authority from the Drewryville district, and I think Supervisor Jones was coming up with a name for us. Supervisor Dallas Jones says, I’ve got the young man. We haven’t okayed it yet. He told me he could do it, but he hasn’t given me the okay. But you’ll have it. I told him I’d give him until the end of March. Chairman Edwards says, okay, we’ll look forward to the next meeting then. And then the second item is the Western Tidewater Community Services Board. And I believe Supervisor Faison is seeking a successor to Ms. Lehman. Supervisor Faison says, I have Angela Vick. And I’ll get to you her phone number and address and all that. I lost that with the rest of the information in my phone. Chairman Edwards says, so you’ll be coming back to the next meeting with that? Supervisor Faison says, no, I’ll make the appointment now. I will get the information to Mr. Johnson later. Chairman Edwards says, so this motion is to appoint Ms. Angela Vick. Second? Supervisor Jones says, second. Chairman Edwards asks, any further discussion? [No response.] All those in favor say aye.

Dr. Alan Edwards AYE William Hart Gillette AYE Christopher Cornwell, Sr. AYE Carl Faison AYE Dallas Jones AYE Lynda Updike AYE Robert White AYE

Chairman Edwards continues, opposed, no. [No response.] The ayes have it. We will appoint Ms. Vick to that position. Chairman Edwards says, all right, we’re going to the Reports. It looks like we don’t have much. Animal Control, Solid Waste, and Personnel. Mr. Johnson says, I have a number of Personnel items to report, Mr. Chairman. We had one separation during the month, David Lee in the Sheriff’s Office, effective January 25th. And then we had a number of adjustments by the State Compensation Board, all within the Sheriff’s Office. The first is Forrest Hart, effective January 1st; annual salary moved to $38,674. Christy Boyce, effective February 1st; annual salary moved to $46,340. Harlee Bell, effective February 1st; annual salary moved to $40,493. Nina Clasp, effective February 1st; annual salary moved to $46,877. Jennifer Lashley, effective February 1st; salary moved to $37,070. Shana Rollins, effective February 1st; annual salary moved to $47,415. Jeron Richardson, effective February 1st; annual salary moved to $43,955. Scott Griffith, effective February 1st; annual salary moved to $52,062. David Worth, effective February 1st; annual salary moved to $43,840. And Sheril Joyner, effective February 1st; annual salary moved $65,597.

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Chairman Edwards says, okay, anybody have any questions? [No response.] Thank you very much, Mr. Johnson. County Treasurer Cindy Edwards speaks from the audience, Mr. Chairman, could I give a Treasurer’s Report, please? Chairman Edwards says, yes, you’re welcome. Ms. Edwards says, thank you. Chairman Edwards says, we didn’t mean to skip you. Ms. Edwards says, that’s okay. I want to give an update on the collection rates. Currently, the personal property taxes collection rate is 95.53%. The real estate taxes collection rate is 99.46%. The solid waste fee collection rate is 85%. Over the past several years, payment plans were only being made for the personal property taxes. Effective January 1st of this year, I started allowing payment plans for real estate and the solid waste, and the response has been overwhelming. The office has been full every day with people trying to get plans in place prior to Friday, February 28th, which is the deadline for personal property and real estate plans. I will be accepting solid waste fee plans through March 31, 2020. Chairman Edwards says, thank you. Any questions? Supervisor William Hart Gillette asks, what was the rate on real estate? Ms. Edwards says, 99.46%. Chairman Edwards asks, how does that compare with other years? Ms. Edwards responds, I don’t have that in front of me, but it’s very high compared to. Chairman Edwards says, are there any questions for this young lady? [No response.] Thank you very much. Ms. Edwards says, you’re welcome. Chairman Edwards says, all right. If we don’t have anyone else, we’ll move on to #10 which is the Economic Development Opportunities. Various Supervisors refer the Chairman to #9. Supervisor Jones says, we need to pay the bills. Chairman Edwards says, oh, Financial Matters [#9 on the agenda]. We’ve got to pay the bills. Did everybody have an opportunity to look at that? I guess we need a motion to pay the bills if there are no questions. Supervisor Jones says, so moved. Supervisor Gillette says, second. Chairman Edwards says, okay. Any further discussion on the bills? [No response.] All in favor say aye. The Board of Supervisors approved the motion to pay bills in the amount of $2,348,762.27 to be paid by check numbers 166978 through 167327 with a voice vote recorded as follows:

Dr. Alan Edwards AYE William Hart Gillette AYE Christopher Cornwell, Sr. AYE Carl Faison AYE Dallas Jones AYE

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Lynda Updike AYE Robert White AYE

Chairman Edwards continues, opposed no. [No response.] Okay, we’ll pay the bills. Now we’ll move to #10, the Economic Development Opportunities Associated with Offshore Wind Energy. Mr. Johnson says, Mr. Chairman, we have with us tonight Jennifer Palestrant, the chief deputy for the Virginia Department of Mines, Minerals and Energy. She made a presentation last month down at the Hampton Roads Planning District Commission which Supervisor Gillette had the opportunity to hear. And he was so excited about it he wanted all of you to hear it. So we have invited her here tonight to share what opportunities may be available to Southampton County associated with offshore wind. Chairman Edwards says, very good. And welcome. Ms. Jennifer Palestrant comes forward, and says, thank you so much. I appreciate it. I actually even have a few pictures for you. Let me get started right here for a second. [Loads PowerPoint.] Do I speak from here? Fantastic. Ms. Palestrant continues, good evening. Thank you so much for inviting me tonight. My name is Jennifer Palestrant. I am chief deputy for the Virginia Department of Mines, Minerals and Energy. I am overseeing the development of offshore wind for the state. And when I say for the state, I mean the entire state. So when I talk to people about this project, this is not just a Hampton Roads project, it’s not even just a Virginia project. It is definitely going to be Virginia and North Carolina, and perhaps squeeze in our friends from Maryland while we are at it. So as I go on and talk about this, don’t necessarily just think about this as a Hampton Roads project, but it’s all the way across the board. Also you all should know that my home is in Norfolk, and I’ve just spent the past three years at Tidewater Community College doing workforce development and economic development, so I spent lots of good quality time with our friends at Paul D. Camp, and you all are very blessed to have quite an excellent community college that will be very involved on the workforce side of what we’re talking about today. So, Southampton County will definitely be involved workforce-wise and I definitely want to see what we can do from an economic development standpoint as well. Let me see if I can find the technology. Ms. Palestrant says, so just to start a little bit, just to give you an idea about growth. When we talk about offshore wind here in the United States, what we see is a new industry. It’s an industry in its infancy. But this is actually a very mature industry in Europe. When I was in college, God bless me, thirty years ago, I had the privilege to study at the University of Aberdeen in northern Scotland. And from the bluffs behind the city of Aberdeen, you could see offshore wind on one side and offshore oil on the other, and that was thirty years ago. What we are talking about is actually globally a very mature industry with mature supply chains, workforce buildout, there’s lots of history and data behind this. But what you’re seeing here is the expected growth globally. And interestingly enough, the United States is now in 2017, starting off small but it is going to be a nice big chunk of that, especially as we work towards being able to float offshore wind platforms off the coast, where we’ve got deeper water. Just to give you a little bit of an idea behind how all of this is structured, we call this the Virginia Model. We’re the only state on the East Coast that does it this way. Basically we have the Virginia Offshore Wind Authority, which is the statewide body. I sort of call it my board of directors. They are appointed by the governor to oversee this. We have an executive committee for this offshore wind task force which we have broken down into these five areas. And you will recognize most of those logos as major organizations here in the region or throughout the state. So we are really trying to really get the best of the best minds around Virginia and Hampton Roads thinking about these things. Ms. Palestrant says, so let’s just talk a little bit about what’s been happening in the last year. Isn’t it interesting? I spent 12 years living in northeastern North Carolina in Pasquotank County, and I served as the president of the Elizabeth City Area Chamber of Commerce. Fifteen years ago we were talking about wind. We were talking about wind in a large way, and then it all kind of faded out. And in the last two or three years it has come back with gusto, which is a great thing. And the last six months have been pretty exciting. So first we had the Governor’s Executive Order 43 which is around electrical generation, having 30% by 2030 and 100% by 2050. In September we had Dominion Energy, and that’s the largest offshore commercial wind farm in the nation with expected 222,000 megawatts which will power basically 650,000 homes – which is all of Hampton Roads.

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Basically anything that is east of Williamsburg and all the way south to the North Carolina line. 650,000 homes. This January, Siemens-Gamesa was chosen as the supplier for these turbines. Again an excellent announcement, one of the best firms, most experienced firms in the world and they’re looking seriously at Hampton Roads. And I want to explain to you why. Just recently we had the announcement that they were leasing space, and my favorite part is that in May we will see the first steel in the water for the two test turbines (commonly referred to as the Sea Valve Project). I keep joking, we’re putting steel in the water this summer whether I have to get the boat and tow it out there myself! We’re going forward. Ms. Palestrant says, so the great question gets to be, “Why Virginia?” We’re talking about supply chain, we talking about economic development. You know, a lot of people call, our friends in New England, call Virginia “The Sleeping Giant,” and there’s a real reason why. When we talk about offshore wind here in southeastern Virginia, don’t think about this as one project. Make sure you’re thinking about this as two projects. The northern project is the Dominion Project, the one that we talk about here. But directly to our south, directly across the North Carolina line, is the Kitty Hawk Project which is almost as large. If you take those two projects together, you’re looking at about 500 turbines. But the interesting thing about the Kitty Hawk Project is, as you can see (if you just follow the line), that line goes to Sandbridge. Because there is no high density electrical pipe in the eastern part of North Carolina because the population density is low, Dominion’s never needed to build a heavy-duty access to the grid in northeastern North Carolina. That project’s going to have to come ashore in Sandbridge, although of course as I like to joke: I’ve lived down here for 25 years – it doesn’t matter whether I live in northeastern North Carolina or Norfolk, I still write my check to Dominion every month. So, it will be coming ashore in Sandbridge. It will be built like the Dominion Project. It’s going to have to be built in Hampton Roads. So when you think about this, make sure that you’re not thinking just one. Make sure you are thinking about both. Ms. Palestrant says, so, this gets to the question of the two reasons that make Hampton Roads the natural fit for offshore wind. It’s twofold. The first is that we have a very deep harbor with deep rivers which are getting deeper when we go to 55 feet, when the dredging gets finished (we go from 50 to 55 feet). The other thing is that, as we all know, we all like to take the name of the tunnels in Hampton Roads in vain, right? I drive back and forth to Richmond, believe me. But in this particular instance, our tunnels are actually our best economic development benefit. Before the Second World War, it was legislated that there are not allowed to be bridges, full and complete bridges, in Hampton Roads. They didn’t want anybody to be able to drop a bomb, sink a bridge, and close in the Atlantic fleet. So that’s why everything in Hampton Roads is a bridge-tunnel. So, you know, you can’t tell an admiral that they can’t get their aircraft carrier out if they want to. So, as a result, we have no air drafts. Now, I’m going to show you why that becomes extremely important. Right there [points to slide]. The reason why the air draft issue is extremely important. Those of you may recognize that is the Weston Hotel in Virginia Beach. It is the tallest building in the state of Virginia. The wind turbines that we are talking about are 100 feet taller than the Weston. These things are really large, and they’re also really heavy. So that’s where the issue of being able to go out vertically becomes so important. Because if we can float them out vertically, then it saves a lot money on construction and those kinds of things. And that’s part of the reason that Virginia is “The Sleeping Giant.” Because if you think about anything north of us, even Baltimore, there is this lovely thing called the Bay Bridge that’s in the way. They just spent $2 billion (that’s with a b) raising the Bayonne Bridge in New York City five feet trying to solve this problem. Didn’t work. They were also doing it for the supertankers. But that just gives you kind of a sense of scale. Ms. Palestrant continues, now of the things that’s amazing about wind. Keep in mind that we have been building ships in Virginia for 300 years. The thing that we do best in Hampton Roads is large scale maritime steel. I don’t care whether it’s aircraft carrier, a wind turbine, or a submarine. We do large scale maritime steel and we do it better than any place else in the United States. As a result, we have a workforce that is second to none in this area. And so you can see, especially on the right-hand chart, we have the largest workforce in ship building and ship repair. And we pay pretty decently as well which makes a huge difference. And since I know that we’ve got plenty of folks who commute into the more central part of Hampton Roads from here for the shipyards. This just gives you an idea. [Points to chart] These numbers were done about two years ago when we weren’t really sure what we were getting, how big the commercial projects were going to be. So do me a favor and just focus on the right-hand side. So that’s the highest scenario. So know that we know we have the Dominion Project and the Kitty Hawk Project, look at the high scenario numbers. We’re looking at anywhere from 10,000 jobs to well, well north of that – just depending on what we get. You probably heard that Siemens-Gamesa has actually made the public announcement that they are

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seriously looking at Hampton Roads for blades. The big numbers are in foundation so we are trying to court as many foundation companies as we can. Again I tell people we’re not just focused on the 500 turbines. I want the whole supply chain. So I want us to be able to build parts for any offshore wind project that happens from Maine to South Carolina. And when in doubt, I’ll tow them to Texas if that makes Texas happy. So keep in mind, it’s not just these two projects. When we’re talking about growth and economic development, we’re talking about the whole supply chain. As much of it as we can get here is what we want here. And again, keep in mind that one of the things that is the key to all of this. This money is not tied to the Department of Defense. God bless the Department of Defense who has gotten us a long way in this region for a long time, no doubt. But the best part about all this is that it’s not DOD-tied. So from an economic diversification standpoint, it’s huge. It’s absolutely huge. Ms. Palestrant says, so on your right-hand side, most of you will recognize Big Blue from Newport News Ship Building, the big crane that actually can lift the housing from the ground and put it on top of an aircraft carrier. And I think you can see it, I think that’s the Ford there that it’s moving. Ash Cutchin says, it says Abraham Lincoln. Ms. Palestrant continues, it does? Okay. You’re right, it does. The one on the left is actually a substation. So when you cable the wind turbines together they have to go to a substation that is still at sea, before it comes into the grid, that’s a substation on the left. See, the relative comparison between a substation and the top section of an aircraft carrier. So again, very similar skill sets. I call it the 90% skill set. There is 90% of skill sets needed in maritime that are identical in what is needed for offshore wind. So just again, we have it here. We just have to grow it. And my hope is that wind will benefit from maritime, but that maritime will also benefit from wind. That they will increase all the way around. Now one of the other interesting things is that when we talk about being able to serve a wide range. You can see the projects down there in the purple and the blue on the left [points to slide], and then basically its goes up to the north. So you can see that we can transit towers, blades, turbines via ship very easily well to the north where things could either be assembled or we could move them in complete sets. Ms. Palestrant says, so in conclusion, let me just put it to you this way. What we have right now is a once-in-a-generational opportunity. We have an opportunity to take an amazing skill set that we already have – ship building and ship repair, maritime trades – which we do amazingly well here. We have an opportunity to take it and bring an industry to us for the entire United States that would probably double the size of our maritime workforce. And it would make Hampton Roads look like the workforce of the Second World War all over again. That’s the kind of scale that we’re talking about. And it’s an opportunity that we do not want to miss. Because, as the Supervisor heard me say, we will not get this opportunity again. This is our one chance at this, so I’m trying to sort of spread the word, answer questions, engage as many folks as we can, look for as many opportunities that we can. So that is what I’ve come to say, so I am glad to answer questions for as long as Mr. Johnson says I still have time. Mr. Frank Urquhart says, I have a question for you. Ms. Palestrant says, excellent. Mr. Urquhart continues, on the proposed project and stuff, how much ready infrastructure do you have and how much manufacturing will have to be built into the manufacturing stream? Ms. Palestrant says, good question. We have to do some very fundamental work, because these are so big and so heavy. There is a piece of legislation before the legislature right now for, you’ve probably heard, $40 million for Portsmouth Marine Terminal. Because these are so heavy, we have to actually take Portsmouth Marine Terminal and reinforce it, because otherwise they will literally sink, which would be bad. So we have to do that. That’s the most basic piece of what we need. We’re going to need a lot more workforce in terms of just trying to really grow our workforce. If I could start turning out 250 welders a week, I would be the most popular person on the East Coast. We’ve got a lot to do around a workforce. Manufacturing, we have a lot of the skill sets. And there’s still land left. There is still land for laying down and set up. Yes, sir.

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Mr. Ash Cutchin says, I have a couple of questions. How long and how heavy is one of those blades? And secondly, how much land would a company need in order to construct a plant to manufacture them? And would they go by rail? So adjacent to a railroad would be a prime situation. Ms. Palestrant answers, well, one blade – hold on, let me just give you something to look at. [Changes slide.] Here we go, one blade is the length of a football field. Mr. Cutchin says, 300 feet. I didn’t know railroad cars were that long. Ms. Palestrant says, yes, sir. But when we’re talking about this, that’s why Hampton Roads becomes so important, why the port area becomes so important. Because the assembly has to happen at the port. So what we’re looking at is, what pieces can we have built in other places that can be moved? There are going to be some things, like especially the blades. And the foundations are going to have to be built seaside because literally all you want to do is roll them into the water. Mr. Cutchin asks, so a local company that might make components of the blade might could be here. How much land would they probably need – one block – and would proximity to a railroad be a consideration? Ms. Palestrant says, railroad is always good. And land would depend. We’re generally looking at about 5-acre lots just as a start. On the water, we’re looking at least 5-acre blocks right now. Just depends upon the size of the components. They could be large, they could be small, and so it just depends. Because we’ve got microcomputers. Mr. Cutchin asks, I just have one other. [Looking at other hands up in the audience.] Ms. Palestrant asks, okay. I tell you what, can we wait? Mr. Cutchin says, sure. Ms. Palestrant says, yes, sir. A voice from the audience asks, you mentioned you were the economic development director in a political setting. They have onshore wind farms in Elizabeth City. Did they lower people’s light bills or have they helped the bridge system? I know they’ve been there probably for two decades now. Ms. Palestrant replies, no, they actually built that wind farm after I left. So it’s been there about 10 years. No, I don’t know the answer to that question, but that’s a good question. I will have to look into that. Again, it’s about the tradeoff between trying to get away from the petroleum and moving us more towards a renewable that will last us. Just keep in mind that as we talk about fossil fuels, they are finite resources. Keep in mind, there are three things that you cannot use renewable for. I can’t do jet fuel, I can’t do rocket fuel, and I can’t make steel with renewables. Those three things actually are part of a lot of what we do in Hampton Roads. So keep in mind that those are three things that we can’t do, and so we really have to protect those fuels to make sure that we can continue to do that. Yes, sir. Mr. Frank Urquhart asks, as far as inside of the components flow, what vendors do we have closest that we will be competing with? You know, just like the generators on the Siemen’s units, where are the closest Siemens manufacturing? Ms. Palestrant replies, Denmark. So, and the concept is that Siemens will come here and build a plant in the United States, and that’s what we’re going after. Mr. Urquhart says, and my second question was, you are saying that they were looking more along the lines of a vertical ship-out to the construction site? So that means that they are going to want to put numerous towers on one barge to go out there, because that looks very unstable. How are you going to ship vertically? Ms. Palestrant says, no. Actually the concept is to tow them, and not to put them on to something that actually floats them out. So that is our hope, to be able send them out vertically and there’s still a lot of work to be done around it.

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Mr. Urquhart says, so in your diagram there, that’s basically a flotation device on the bottom? Ms. Palestrant says, yes. Mr. William Hart Gillette asks, how far off shore will they be? Ms. Palestrant says, 26 nautical miles, so you won’t be able to see them sitting on the beach. Mr. Ash Cutchin asks, on the ones that they have on the North Sea, are they bothered with ice on the blades? Ms. Palestrant says, no, not that I’ve heard. I’m actually leaving for Scotland on Saturday so I will ask. Mr. Cutchin says, thank you. Ms. Palestrant says, no problem. Mr. Frank Urquhart asks, how close to the bottom of channel are they? Ms. Palestrant says, it depends on where they end up. Mr. Urquhart says, the reason that I say that’s right where the sea shelf is and it drops off. Ms. Palestrant says, oh, yeah. That’s part of it – that you’re actually on, they have to be on the shelf. If they go off the shelf, then it’s too deep and then we start talking about floating platforms which the technology’s not ready for. Yes, sir. Another voice from the audience says, after these wind turbines are built, how much money each year is needed to maintain them? Ms. Palestrant says, I haven’t seen any numbers. Basically, you need one person for every four turbines to be on a rotating basis to maintain their life. A lot of the basic maintenance, there’s a lot of the visualization that will be drone-driven, which I think will be some interesting technology. But that’s part of the whole supply chain. If we can bring the supply chain here, then we’re looking at easily 30 years worth of construction jobs in front of us. And then we’ll have ongoing repair and maintenance. Yes, sir. Another voice from the audience asks, the blades themselves, how often (say, overseas) do they have to be replaced and what is their lifespan? Ms. Palestrant says, they’re generally fiberglass, and so they can be repaired more easily. I have not, again I’ll have to ask that question next week, but I have not heard of anybody who actually had to replace them. Usually because fiberglass is fairly easy to repair. Yes. Mr. Ash Cutchin asks, on a comparative scale, is this a better deal than solar? Ms. Palestrant says, dollar for dollar, not necessarily. You all know solar around here. Not necessarily. This is much newer technology, it’s got a ways to go in terms of getting the true cost down. But it’s coming, it will happen over time. But today, solar is going to be cheaper. Plus, there’s any time you don’t have to do something in a maritime environment, that cuts your cost right there. If we tried to take the solar farm and float it, then you’d see the numbers go sky high. Mr. Cutchin says, thank you. Another voice asks, how many acres are in the Dominion project? How many megawatts are you going to produce in an average day? Based on that, how many megawatts per acre? Ms. Palestrant says, I haven’t done that division. You guys have given me great things to go back and work on. This is awesome. So, I think the project is 200,000 acres, so it’s big. It’s large. Yes, sir.

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Mr. Urquhart asks, compared to the North Sea build, how is our wind velocities off shore compared to theirs? Because ours are very windy. Ms. Palestrant says, yes, it is a very windy place. Hang on a second. [Pulls up another slide.] All right, the right-hand side basically is the East Coast sort of mostly north of us. The further north you go on the Atlantic Seaboard, the windier it gets. There are two reasons that we have seen wind [energy] develop in New England sooner than it has here. One is that the cost of power and the cost of energy in New England is substantially higher than it is here. The other is that it’s just windier. You could just say that Bostonians have a lot of hot air. [Laughter.] I don’t know if I’m supposed to say that. But it is natural that we would see more. As you come down the coast, basically once you get to South Carolina, the southern part of South Carolina, it kind of peters out. We have good wind here off shore, especially since being placed twenty-six nautical miles out really helps. There’s a lot of good study around that. Mr. Urquhart says, one last question. The positioning of these fields, are they statistically positioned to where they are staying out of the historical hurricane strike distance? Ms. Palestrant says, I wish there were such a place in the world to stay out of hurricane strike distance. The answer to that is no. They were very specifically sited to Department of Defense requirements. If you think of our ocean out here, this is a very, very busy place. Between the Navy, the port, our commercial fishing fleet, our recreational fishing fleet, submarines, you name it – that is a very busy place. Actually 10 years ago, the Dominion Project was sited with the Navy. We literally sat down with the Navy 10 years ago to site these projects. And we actually already have a second project – sort of doing one, we do the second. Provided this one goes smoothly, the second project will go immediately behind it. And it will look identical and go immediately behind it. But this has been done very specifically with the Department of Defense. Chairman Edwards says, okay. Does anyone from the Board have any comments or questions? Supervisor Gillette says, this pipeline that’s on hold right now – Ms. Palestrant says, yes, sir. Supervisor Gillette continues, how is that affecting this project? Ms. Palestrant says, the natural gas pipeline? Supervisor Gillette says, as I understand it, it is going to the Supreme Court, since it crosses the Appalachian Trail. Ms. Palestrant says, that is my understanding. It’s not. And interestingly enough, the pipeline is controlled by the Department of Environmental Quality and we actually have nothing to do with it, which I was kind of thankful for. Supervisor Gillette says, I understand that, but the implementation of the pipeline to provide some energy to produce what you’re talking about. Ms. Palestrant replies, yes, and that’s the challenge is that we need more natural gas in Hampton Roads. Supervisor Gillette asks, the question is – are you getting involved to get the pipeline? Ms. Palestrant says, no, sir. That’s an interesting thought, though. I will take that one back because since it’s not our department, it’s not something we get involved in. But I’ll ask the question. Supervisor Gillette says, that could be a mess. Ms. Palestrant says, yes, sir. I have to agree with you there. Supervisor Gillette says, the other question along with it. They look like sitting ducks to me. Do you want to respond to that?

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Ms. Palestrant says, well, the Coast Guard and the Navy obviously they’re very, very involved in this. Supervisor Gillette says, I mean if we wanted to hide a bridge and we’re sticking it out there like that – Ms. Palestrant says, you mean this [refers to slide]? Those are underground lines that you’re seeing. Supervisor Gillette says, the windmills aren’t. Ms. Palestrant says, no, sir. They’re not. But cybersecurity – Supervisor Gillette says, it looks like to me that’s an easy target. Ms. Palestrant says, the cybersecurity is a big issue. There will be substantial security for them in terms of lighting and cameras and all that kind of thing. But that’s true of most anything, unfortunately. Supervisor Gillette asks, what’s it going to take to protect them? Because if we are dependent on that grid there, and kaboom. My electricity was off an hour, I had neighbors who were off for 24 to 36 hours last week. That kind of looked like to me it would be hard to protect out there. Ms. Palestrant says, true. I think that structurally that’s true. I think from an electrical generation standpoint, you know, protecting the digital side of it – again, that’s another good thing for me to go back and talk about it, absolutely. I know that we had a lot of conversations around it. The Coast Guard is doing a lot of good work around it. That’s basically it’s their responsibility combined with obviously Dominion having to have a protection plan. Mr. Urquhart says, to answer your question, basically that Dominion power grid thing is exactly sitting in the middle of a very high security zone which protects Norfolk Naval Base. The Kitty Hawk thing down there is exactly sitting in the Naval Weapons Training area. So you always have jets, rockets, frigates out there with the Aegis weapons systems up there monitoring that. That is a highly defended area. Ms. Palestrant says, I appreciate what you said. Supervisor Gillette says, I understand, but sometimes all that changes very quickly. Ms. Palestrant says, that’s true. Supervisor Gillette says, by November. That concerns me. Chairman Edwards asks, any other comments or questions? A voice from the audience asks, I didn’t get an answer to my question. I was curious just how many megawatts is coming out of the project for Dominion. Ms. Palestrant says, oh, 2.6. Mr. Cutchin says, it says something about 8 gigawatts. Ms. Palestrant says, that’s for both projects together. It’s 2.6. Voice asks again, megawatts? Ms. Palestrant says, megawatts. No, gigawatts. Sorry. It’s been a long day. I’ve started in Norfolk today and I’ve been to Richmond. Chairman Edwards says, okay. Any further questions? Ms. Cindy Edwards asks, what about marine life? How does that affect marine life and the fisheries, commercial fishing?

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Ms. Palestrant replies, absolutely. So part of what has to be done, it will be started in about two months, in April. Dominion has to do a very extensive marine life study. So that will be ships, helicopters while they are working with the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management to trace avian and whales, porpoises, you name it – as they’re traversing through the area. So they will trace that. There are certain times of year when we can’t – right now the plan is that there will be piles that have to be pile-driven. There are certain times of the year that you can’t pile-drive, because right whales use that for their north-south passage. So there are about four months out of the year that we won’t be able to do construction out there. Then when they are doing construction, there will be helicopters and spotters out there at all times watching if anything is coming into the area. And if there is, they’ll shut it down as the whales or whatever come about. So we are in the process of having some good conversations with fisheries. We’re lucky out here in this region because the fishing fleet doesn’t dredge by nature, and so it is not as large as our friends in New England. But we are having some really good conversations with them about how we can site things so it will have the least impact and getting some good ideas about where people are fishing. Ms. Edwards says, there is some commercial dredging in this area, because I have kinfolk doing it. Ms. Palestrant says, yes, but it is just not as much. We’re trying, and you can give them my information. I’d love to talk with them and see if they would be willing to share. We are trying to get as much data as we can as to where people are working. Yes, sir. Another voice from the audience says, two quick questions. Did you say that you have to stop construction four months out of the year? Ms. Palestrant replies, yes, sir. He says, so if you have something half-built, you just stop? Ms. Palestrant says, yes, you try to time it so that doesn’t happen. But when the whales are migrating, they shut down construction during migration season. He also asks, so who foots the bill for this study? All these fish and helicopters and – Ms. Palestrant says, Dominion. This is part of the document that will go the Bureau of Ocean Energy and Management. He adds, and is passed on to the consumer. Ms. Palestrant says, right. I know, I know. Believe me, I’ve been fussing at them. They need to come up with a better solution. Mr. Ask Cutchin asks, if they lower the channel to 55 feet, how much mud is that going to leave on top of the Chesapeake Bay Bridge tunnel? Ms. Palestrant says, I don’t know. That’s an interesting question. I think most of it is going to Craney Island. The dredging material is going to Craney Island. Mr. Cutchin says, if they have to deepen to channel over the two tunnels to Baltimore and the Chesapeake Bay Bridge tunnel to 55 feet also. Ms. Palestrant says, sure. I do not know. Mr. Cutchin says, that will not leave much mud on top of them. Chairman Edwards says, okay. Are there any more questions before we move on? Ms. Palestrant says, and Mr. Johnson has all of my contact information. If anybody has any questions, if anybody has any concerns, please – please – please, reach out and let me know because that’s what I’m here for. And I do not mind. I had a lovely drive down here this evening and I do not mind coming back.

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Chairman Edwards says, we want to thank you very much for a very excellent presentation and quite informative. Ms. Palestrant says, glad to do it. Mr. Urquhart says, would you put this presentation up online somewhere? Ms. Palestrant says, I haven’t put it up yet but I can. Chairman Edwards says, okay. We’re going to move on to the Project Update of our newest industry added to the Turner tract, and that’s Mr. Brent Burger. Welcome. Mr. Brent Burger comes forward and says, thank you, sir. Mr. Chairman, Board, and I say, welcome new members. I wanted to basically provide an update on where we’ve come over the last year since our unanimous approval in the Board in January and agreeing to the contract and performance agreement the same time. Since last year, we have entered into a number of acquisition and funding opportunities. We are sorting those out today, and they’re ongoing. I think we’re kind of near the tail end of that. Once we get that stuff wrapped up, I believe are going to be putting shovels in the dirt near the Enviva site, probably by Q4 this year. Mr. Johnson and I have coordinated on a number of access road and utility information, as well as with Mr. Brenchick on some of the navigation of the requirements throughout the county. The update to get to this point over the last year, we have now achieved approximately about 9,000 starts/stops or processes at our Franklinton facility who some of you all saw about a year and a half ago. And that equates to approximately about 120,000 operating hours, nearly 50 million pounds of rubber processed and demanufactured. That is close to nearly four years of operation with only 6 process towers running at our pilot facility in Franklinton. The intent for the site here, as some of you guys remember is 16 process towers. Essentially all of our processes scale up about 2.6 times. We have also added or not added, I shouldn’t say that – we have done some substantial engineering on our power generation equipment and process there, and will be bringing that to Virginia as well. And with that, we have seen an increase in our planned capital investment, as well as an increase in the job creation strategy and average salary that we intend to pay our employees. So right now, we’re at $25 million, 35 employees, and an average salary of $42,000. The anticipated groundbreaking in Q4 this year has a lot of caveats to it. We have to make sure that we’re planning accordingly. The opportunity for this funding comes with a lot of mandates in a lot of other facilities. Currently we have two that are being planned for Virginia, the first one being in Southampton County here. We have worked with Ms. Jarratt and Mr. Johnson and Mr. Brenchick for a while, getting to this point, but we are getting very close to start to break some ground here. We intend on engaging local engineering firms, local construction firms, local manufacturing in hiring and training directly out of this job market. It will have the employees that we were talking about a minute ago, but 35 employees locally here out of Southampton County and Franklin city area. That is our bread and butter. We intend on bringing that expertise and that skill set locally here to this county. So my intent today was just a quick update. So I would love to invite you guys down to the Franklinton, North Carolina to see the pilot facility and review things in detail, especially the new folks that have just joined. We have some information if you would like for me to send it through Mr. Johnson. But we are very excited. This is our first new expansion facility, and this is becoming essentially the basis of design for all plants that we are working on. We have a lot of work to do, but we’re starting here and we’re really excited about it. We’re moving closer and closer to putting shovels in the dirt. Chairman Edwards says, thank you. Does the Board have any questions? [No response.] Mr. Burger, we welcome you to the County and thank you very much for your presentation. Mr. Burger says, thank you, sir. Chairman Edwards says, all right now, #12 is our Public Hearing. Mr. Johnson says, Mr. Chairman, our public hearing tonight is related to a zoning map amendment for Brian and Vicky Sementelli. This public hearing is held pursuant to Section 15.2-1427 and 15.2-2204 of the Code of Virginia, 1950, as amended, to consider an application by Brian and Vicky Sementelli, the owners, for a zoning map amendment seeking to amend the zoning of approximately two acres of a 35.59-acre parcel identified as Tax Parcel 93-36 and it is proposed to be changed from R-1, Residential, to Conditional Highway Service Business, CB-3, for the installation of a trailer and trailer equipment sales and repair facility, including welding and fabrication, into an existing

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building that was used as an automotive repair facility. The property is located at 26444 Dogwood Bend Road, Franklin, Virginia, on the northwest side of Dogwood Bend Road approximately 460 feet southwest of its split from Smith’s Ferry Road. It is in the Franklin Voting and Magisterial Districts. Mr. Johnson continues, at its meeting on January 9, 2020, the Planning Commission voted unanimously to recommend approval. The notice of tonight’s public hearing was published in The Tidewater News on February 9, and February 16. All the adjacent landowners were notified by first class mail as required by law. After the conclusion of tonight’s public hearing, the Board of Supervisors will consider the comments offered and proceed to approve, deny, or defer action on the proposed amendment. Ms. Beth Lewis, who is the Secretary of the Planning Commission, will provide some introductory remarks after which all interested parties are invited to come and express their views. Chairman Edwards says, welcome, Ms. Lewis. Ms. Lewis says, this should be a pretty straightforward one tonight. The Sementellis have lived in Southampton County for a long time. You probably remember this little building on Dogwood Bend Road. It was, as I understood at the Planning Commission meeting, it’s been a motel and a general store and a car dealer, and a lot of commercial uses. It has never been a residential use; however, the zoning is R-1, Single Family Residential. The plan designation is Industrial. Across the street is Mr. Mosina’s welding shop. But this property has R-1 Single Family Residential zoning. And the Sementellis would like to move their utility trailer sales and service and repair into this facility. As they spoke at the Planning Commission meeting, they like the looks of the building, as do the Planning Commission members. They like the kind of retro look. They cleaned it up. They’re painting, they’ve cleaned up the shrubs, and they put in some security. They continue to work on the building, and they would like to have the appropriate zoning for this use. The whole site is over 30 acres. But on page 19 of your materials you will see a survey. It is a narrow, very deep lot. If you start at the north end, it backs up to 58. Then there is a 10-acre lake, then there is a 100-foot wide utility easement which traverses it diagonally. Then there were 5 acres that were cut out for a cell tower. And then there is this part up at the front by Dogwood Bend Road. This is the only part of the property that they’re going to use right now, so this is the only part of the property that they seek a zoning map amendment for. The application was reviewed by VDOT who said no site plan that was going to be necessary. They did not see any need for any improvements at this point, any changes, any turning lanes, or any changes to the entrances. There are already a couple of entrances. The back of the lot is fenced where they keep their stock. The Sementellis offered proffers with this, conditions. The conditions include:

The applicant will not be storing any junk/wrecked vehicles. The applicant will be purchasing additional outside lighting, and a security system with

cameras has already been installed. The business will not operate on Sundays. The business will not operate past 7:00 p.m. on weekdays and 5:00 p.m. on Saturdays. The applicant will be beautifying the existing building with landscaping and painting, etc. The uses are limited to automobile or truck trailer or bus sales, service and repair including

body or fender repair. This is from the zoning ordinance, so this is our language that they’re not going to do. But not auto salvage or junk.

Any major repair or storage of equipment and materials, or damaged vehicles shall be inside a completely enclosed building.

And automobile or truck part sales will be wholesale or retail but not storage or sale of junk. Ms. Beth Lewis continues, the property has been in use. They are not doing any grading. They are not doing any clearing. The storm water guys went out there and said that the back part where they keep the trailers is grass. At this point, there is no need to put any gravel or pavement or anything. The ground is in good shape. If the size of the vehicles gets to be such that the ground starts to be torn up, they will be required to put down some gravel. But the storm water guys say there is no need for any improvement like that at this point. Ms. Lewis says, at the Planning Commission meeting, Mr. Sementelli spoke. Mr. Mosina who owns the welding shop across the street spoke. And the Planning Commission made a unanimous recommendation of approval. I haven’t received any telephone calls, any questions about this property at all. I would be glad to answer any questions.

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Chairman Edwards says, thank you. And anybody have any questions for Ms. Lewis? Ms. Lewis adds, and the Sementellis are here. Chairman Edwards says, thank you very much. If not then, this is a Public Hearing – we will open it for comment. Mr. Ash Cutchin comes forward and says, I have a question, sir. Ms. Lewis, how close is the closest dwelling that is occupied? How many feet, do you have any idea? Ms. Lewis says, I do not know, sorry. Mr. Ash Cutchin says, if none of the immediate adjacent property owners object, I recommend that you approve it. Chairman Edwards says, all right, anybody else have any comments? Mr. Brian Sementelli comes forward and says, if I may. Chairman Edwards says, just give your name for the record, please. Mr. Sementelli says, my name is Brian Sementelli. I’m the applicant. I’m just here to answer any questions you all may have. Chairman Edwards asks, anybody have any questions for this gentleman? [No response.] It doesn’t look like it, and we thank you. Mr. Sementelli says, thank you. Chairman Edwards says, all right, is there anybody else out there need to make any comments? [No response.] Last call. If there are no further comments, we’ll close this Public Hearing. And we will discuss it among the Board. Does anybody have any comments or questions? Supervisor Gillette says, well, with regard to the closest neighbor, I think I read in the report where Mr. Mosina would be glad to look up and see somebody. I think that statement was there. Chairman Edwards says, well, it went to the Planning Commission with absolutely nobody opposing it. I think it’s a win-win situation for this County. We will get something that we need here, somebody will be paying some taxes, and I’m 100% in favor of it. Anybody else want to comment? Supervisor Gillette says, Mr. Chairman, I move that we accept this application and approve it. Supervisor Updike says, second. Chairman Edwards says, okay, it is moved and seconded. We will accept the rezoning from R-1 to CB-3. Any further discussion? [No response.] Okay, we will go to the vote. All those in favor, say aye.

Dr. Alan Edwards AYE William Hart Gillette AYE Christopher Cornwell, Sr. AYE Carl Faison AYE Dallas Jones AYE Lynda Updike AYE Robert White AYE

Chairman Edwards continues, opposed, no. [No response.] The ayes have it. So, unanimous. Chairman Edwards says, all right, Budget Request – Western Tidewater Free Clinic. This is Ms. Rountree. Welcome.

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Ms. Rountree comes forward and says, thank you. Good evening, Chairman Edwards, Board of Supervisors, and other County officials and staff. My name is Renee Rountree. I reside at 405 Royal Dornoch in Smithfield. I’m here this evening as a board member of the Western Tidewater Free Clinic. I want to thank you for your past support and for your consideration of our 2020-2021 budget cycle. We are grateful for Southampton County’s financial investment in the Western Tidewater Free Clinic since 2007. We have created a home for thousands of patients in need. With community partnerships like yours, the Clinic has been able to provide care for more than 5800 unduplicated patients through more than 168,000 onsite visits. These patients have received free medications with a retail value of more than $49.7 million. In 2019, Western Tidewater Free Clinic served 1403 distinct patients in 13,502 total visits including 595 dental patients in almost 2000 dental appointments. 9.3% of our patients were Southampton County residents representing 131 people served in 1316 visits, including 2 Southampton County public school employees. Your support makes it possible to us to provide these chronically and often critically ill patients with lifesaving, comprehensive, coordinated care through the many services offered onsite at the clinic including medical, dental, vision, pharmacy, mental health, and also through our specialty referral partnership network. Sometimes transportation is a major barrier for many of our patients from Southampton. In an effort to ease this problem, we have started offering eligibility and re-eligibility appointments twice a month at Franklin Cooperative Ministries in Franklin. In 2019, we scheduled 149 patient appointments there and we see about 7 to 9 patients each time we go. The Clinic would not exist without our volunteers, donors, community partnerships, and staff. We have approximately 21.1 full-time FTEs and a volunteer base of over 140 volunteers, including medical and dental professionals and many administrative volunteers. During 2019, the 7100 hours donated by volunteers counted for approximately 3.4 FTEs. Two of our volunteers reside in Southampton County which includes 1 board member. Last year we received donations from 7 Southampton County civic and faith-based groups and businesses, totaling $1450. Our shared goal is to improve the health of our patients and enable them to take care of themselves, their families, and their jobs and to continue to be productive citizens. Ms. Rountree says, our story is about Mr. M. He is one of those patients who first came to us ten years ago when he became too sick to work. He lost his job, his income, and his health insurance. He got the health care that he needed as a patient at our Clinic and when he got better, he found another job. He no longer needed our services. Mr. M returned not much later with his employer as they gathered a group to help spruce up the Clinic grounds. And he eagerly volunteered to help. He told us he was just so glad that someone was there when he needed them, and he wanted to return the favor. Unfortunately Mr. M suffered another unexpected health crisis. Almost exactly two years ago, his day had started like every other day, with him hard at work. Suddenly he collapsed on a suspended catwalk and lay for the next four hours alone in a remote section of the work yard. Thankfully he received a call and was just able to reach his phone. It was his mother on the other end of the phone who heard his voice and a whispered plea for help, and quickly called his employer’s office. Mr. M was immediately transported to the local fire department where he was airlifted to the hospital. He suffered a massive stroke and would spend the next 30 days between the hospital and an assisted living facility. Mr. M had been without his vital blood pressure medication for 30 days because he was unable to afford his medication due to a high deductible and that caused the stroke. Again, Mr. M was left unable to work and without health care coverage. However, he remembered his former health home and called us, because he knew everyone else kept telling him no but the Clinic always told him yes. He said he knew this was one place that would help him out because we had helped him before. Ms. Rountree continues, our 2019 Clinic operating expenses are budgeted at $1.9 million, with a monthly cost of about $165,000 to operate. Thank you very much for your consideration of our 2020-2021 funding request of $36,900 which would cover the annual cost of care for 30 Southampton County patients through about 388 visits. Thanks to our community partnerships, for every $1 donated to the Clinic, we provide $7 of medical services. Our average annual cost of care per patient is $1200, making the Clinic cost to serve Southampton County patients in 2019 about $157,000. Again, thank you for your investment in the mission of our Clinic, and I would invite each of you to tour the Clinic to see the County’s investment at work. I would be happy to answer any questions. Chairman Edwards says, thank you. Anyone have any questions for this young lady? Supervisor Gillette asks, how many clinics do you operate?

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Ms. Rountree replies, just 1. Supervisor Gillette says, just 1? Ms. Rountree says, yes, sir. Chairman Edwards says, it is a very needed service and they do an excellent job of it. We certainly will consider you very highly in the budget for this coming year. Ms. Rountree says, thank you, sir. Chairman Edwards says, thank you very much. Okay, #14 is the 2020 Funding Request for Southside Remote Area Medical Corps, and Jean Blackburn. Do we have Jean here? Mr. Johnson says, Jean is here, Mr. Chairman. As you all are probably aware that the Southside Remote Area Medical Corps is a non-profit, volunteer medical relief organization that provides free health, dental, and eye care to people in remote areas of the United States and other places throughout the world. They are funded through donations and rely on volunteers from the community, as well as professionals including physicians, dentists, optometrists, nurses, pilots, and veterinarians to provide care. They coordinated their first free clinic in our area in June 2017 at the Greensville County High School and they have repeated it annually each year since. The public response has been overwhelming, attracting hundreds of attendants and volunteers alike. Among the many volunteers are local physicians, dentists, optometrists, nurses, x-ray technicians, and dental hygienists as well as many with no medical training. Their fourth annual event is scheduled for June 27 and 28, again at Greensville County High School. They are expecting more than 700 volunteers and anticipate seeing more than 800 patients who will receive medical services along with added dental and vision services. Mr. Johnson continues, Ms. Jean Blackburn who is an Office Associate here with Southampton County Department of Social Services has been actively involved on the leadership team of Southside RAM since the start four years ago. She is here tonight to answer any questions that you may have and they are requesting a financial contribution from the local communities of Brunswick, Greensville, Mecklenburg, Southampton, Sussex counties as well as the cities of Franklin and Emporia to defray a portion of their operating expenses. Just for your information, Southampton County has contributed $1000 each of the past two years. Chairman Edwards says, thank you very much, Mr. Johnson. Anybody have any further comments or questions? [No response.] All right, then we’ll move right on to the Surplus Property Designation. Various Supervisors note that action is needed regarding the funding request for Southside RAM. Supervisor Gillette says, in arrears, I did have one question. Is this $1000, Ms. Blackburn, for the fiscal year we’re currently in or are you asking for it for the next budget cycle? Ms. Jean Blackburn replies, that would be for this year’s clinic. Supervisor Gillette says, this year’s clinic. Chairman Edwards says, we do need a motion to go through with this. We could give them $1000, and we’ve done that for the past two years. Supervisor Jones says, so moved. Supervisor Faison says, second. Chairman Edwards asks, any further discussion? [No response.] All in favor say aye.

Dr. Alan Edwards AYE William Hart Gillette AYE Christopher Cornwell, Sr. AYE Carl Faison AYE Dallas Jones AYE

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Lynda Updike AYE Robert White AYE

Chairman Edwards continues, opposed, no. [No response.] The ayes have it. Supervisor Jones says, my church has a couple of people who volunteer with them. Chairman Edwards says, okay, I understand they do a big business up there. Supervisor Jones says, they do. It’s a really busy place. Mr. Johnson says, Chairman, if it’s in order, I would like you all in joining me in giving Ms. Blackburn a round of applause. She does a great job. [Applause.] Chairman Edwards says, thank you very much for your dedication and service. Chairman Edwards continues, #15 Declaration of Surplus Property Designation. It looks like we have a Crown Victoria which has been rode hard and put away wet. It has 220,000 miles on it. And we need a motion to declare it surplus property. Supervisor Faison says, so moved. Chairman Edwards asks, second? Supervisor Gillette says, second. Chairman Edwards says, all those in favor say aye.

Dr. Alan Edwards AYE William Hart Gillette AYE Christopher Cornwell, Sr. AYE Carl Faison AYE Dallas Jones AYE Lynda Updike AYE Robert White AYE

Chairman Edwards continues, opposed, no. [No response.] It is declared surplus property. Chairman Edwards says, okay, we will move on to #16. And this is Consideration of an Agreement for Architectural Services concerning the Southampton Courthouse. Mr. Johnson says, so following the interviews of the three highest-rated architectural firms back on November 18, a compilation of the rankings by members of the respective governing bodies (which included 6 members of the Franklin City Council and the 7 of you) indicated a consensus that the firm Glavé and Holmes was the best qualified and offered the most meritorious proposal for Courthouse repairs and renovations. Mr. Johnson continues, Mr. Andrew Moore and Mr. Tom Potts (who is with Silling Architects) met with Chairman Edwards and Councilman Bobby Cutchins on February 5 to review and discuss the project approach and the proposed scope of work, which is limited at this point to an existing conditions survey and preparation of the architectural program – which, when I say that, really means confirming the space needs, developing the conceptual plan, and coming up with the preliminary cost estimate. It was agreed that the proposed scope of work, which is contained on pages 68-74 of their proposal dated October 3, 2019, was appropriate and Mr. Moore was asked to prepare and present a detailed proposal for the work. It was further agreed that the architectural fees associated with any later phases of the project which will include schematic design, bidding phase services, as well as construction administration, will be negotiated and approved by the governing bodies following approval of the architectural program by all parties, and then we will update their architectural contract accordingly. Mr. Johnson says, included in your agenda packages, you’ve got a copy of their detailed proposal. They are proposing a fee of $147,950 for the initial phases of the work. And in a related matter, I

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seek your consideration in appointing one additional member of the Board to join Dr. Edwards in representing the Board’s interest in future meetings of the stakeholders. Supervisor Updike says, and I would like to recommend William Hart Gillette for that. Chairman Edwards says, all right, is there a second to that? Supervisor Faison says, second. Chairman Edwards says, thank you very much. All in favor of that say aye.

Dr. Alan Edwards AYE William Hart Gillette AYE Christopher Cornwell, Sr. AYE Carl Faison AYE Dallas Jones AYE Lynda Updike AYE Robert White AYE

Chairman Edwards continues, opposed, no. [No response.] Then [to Supervisor Gillette], you are the second member. Motion carries unanimously. Chairman Edwards says, the first thing that we need to look at to go back before we do this is the approval of the contract. This is a notice of intent to award the contract for architectural services to Glavé and Holmes. This was a firm that was selected by both Franklin city government and us. And I’ll leave it there. Anybody have any comments? Supervisor Gillette says, I do. If you will bear with me. I read this thing more than once and when I re-read it and see that several things have to be decided. And I think one was brought up tonight about the courtroom, the third courtroom I suppose. And I don’t believe that’s come to the conclusion as of yet. Having said that and not sitting on this Board previously, but I do seem to recall that Judge Eason’s letter was very concerned about progress of the Board and for this Board to get started. And with having selected Glavé and Holmes, this Board has rated them as well as the Franklin Council has rated them the top firm to do business with. There’s some language in the proposal that I just wanted to comment on. We find ourselves at a point to try, in my opinion, to implement some balance in this scenario. It seems to me that things got out of balance several months ago, maybe more likely a year ago. And I think the language in here talks about those things. It talks about the elements that have to be brought in line with the project, the overall project, in solving several things. So I don’t get so off the rails here, the balance is an esthetically pleasing integration of elements. Now the elements are interesting to maintain that balance. And I’m referring to page 2 of 10-1 on the letter that was sent in February of 2020, where it says, consideration of the meeting of the Virginia Guidelines for Court Facilities, if additional space is required then we will consider both the feasibility of adding new space via new construction and the incorporation by nearby buildings owned by the County into the program. And I commented to Mr. Johnson earlier that we need to keep that in focus. And it seems like to me after reading this two or three times, if we’re not careful with the Guidelines and the structure of those Guidelines that relate to renovation, the lines can become blurred again and we end up on the same line that will virtually cause renovation to cost us new and effectually the same. So I think the balance is important here to maintain our focus. And those elements are the Virginia Uniform Statewide Building Code, the Americans with Disability Act, and of course the Virginia Courthouse Facility Guidelines. Now page 3 of 10 in the section after the previous section I referenced, talks about the County’s budget for the project. I don’t think the County at this point has arrived at a budget for the project. Mr. Johnson says, correct. Supervisor Gillette continues, with that said and considering the letter that Judge Eason wrote wanting us to progress, I thought about the project that had already been done and the County spent quite a bit of taxpayer money to produce it. And that was a plan that was designed for renovation that was rejected. I think it was somewhere in the neighborhood of $7 million. I don’t want to see a duplication of money to produce another plan that may be similar to that and run into the same

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problem and duplicate spending. I think we need to start with that; that’s already been done. The taxpayer’s money has been spent on it. Yes, the judge had deficiencies in it that he enumerated in his document to the County. However, there’s been no attempt to address those deficiencies with the judge according to the Guidelines. Now the Guidelines enumerate some things in there for renovation. In my mind, your counties that have larger populations, more activity in the courtroom and so forth, and they also have more business and they have a greater way of generating a revenue stream to build courthouses that are much bigger and much larger and newer and more in keeping with the architecture that a lot of people desire. But those Guidelines that talk about renovation are in there, it seems to me, for rural counties that are not congruent with some of our neighbors to the north or neighbors to the east that gives us a chance to balance things with budget and the citizens’ desire to hold expenses to something that’s doable and payable by the citizenry of Southampton County. So what I’m trying to say is, in the light that we haven’t set up a budget and we have spent the money to produce that plan, I think we should allow that as a starting point so as not to duplicate the spending that I have commented on two or three times. And we need to go back, I think, and start looking at the balance and keeping our focus on those issues so that those lines do not become blurred and we end right back up where we were. That’s of the utmost importance to me as a Board member. And we’ve already spent the money, plans have been drawn, nobody’s asked, “What can we do to fix this?” – to come into compliance with a plan that a rural county like ours with the revenue stream that we currently have to get it and again to maintain the Guidelines. I’m not talking about trying to do something that’s not contained within the Guidelines, but there are some things that are allowed for counties such as ours that don’t have the revenue stream that other counties have. That we could come up with a plan that would satisfy all entities and maintain the balance that is necessary to get a project up and approved by the citizens of Franklin and the citizens of Southampton. Supervisor Gillette says, so with that, I’ll end it with the word that’s in the language in here. The word is consideration. I find that interesting to look that up in the dictionary. It goes right back – consideration and balance go right back to two parties coming up with an economic plan that’s balanced. That’s basically what you get when you look those two words up in the dictionary. It brings in economics. I find that very interesting since they use those two words in this proposal. They are two words that I think we need to stick to. And they’re important, they wrote them, they put them in. And as a Board member that’s what I’m looking for, I’m looking for a balanced plan that the people can accept, they’re a part of the elements that have to be balanced as well as the court system and as well as these other agencies that have to be satisfied, the handicapped, and so forth. So I’ll be quiet. That’s what I get for reading this over 3 times. So I just wanted to make that, from my perspective, make it clear so the citizens can understand. Ironically, I think that’s why I got elected. Because I really think – and yes, it’s going to require a lot of work – but I really think it can be done. And that’s why I volunteered to serve, and I’ll do my best to see that we can come up with a plan that everybody can be pleased with and get it done. Chairman Edwards says, I agree with your comments, and getting back to the February 5th meeting. We made it very clear to the architectural firm that we didn’t want any studies repeated that had already been done. Supervisor Gillette says, you should have told me before I read this thing. Chairman Edwards says, yeah, okay. You didn’t ask me. They say the smart guy is the one who knows all the questions, not all the answers. As far as two or three courtrooms, we are just going to have to sit down with the judges when we will have later meetings with them, including you. And if they demand three courtrooms, we’re stuck with three courtrooms. If they go with two, then with discussion we will go with two. But we absolutely have to satisfy what they want, within reason. Supervisor Gillette says, well, am I correct in saying won’t Franklin have something to say on that issue or no? Mr. Richard Railey says, it depends on if you’re talking about the issue of circuit courtrooms, if you’re talking about the issue on the clerk’s office, if you’re talking about the issue on the commonwealth attorney’s office – yea, they have a lot to say. Supervisor Gillette says, because they pay a percentage of that. Mr. Railey says, they pay a percentage.

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Chairman Edwards says, 22%. Supervisor Gillette says, well, my question is the additional courtroom, doesn’t Franklin have a comment on that? Mr. Railey says, yes, they have a comment. Right now as I understand it, they have pretty much walked away and said they’re going to keep their own courtroom and don’t want to participate. That’s my understanding. So the other courtroom that’s mentioned – there’s two things. I think I’ve answered you on Franklin’s involvement, but the other courtroom could be another circuit court room and that’s a matter of consideration of where they are. For instance right now there’s a three-week jury trial going on. So the circuit court is shut down. Now, in the new courthouse in Isle of Wight, they don’t have but one circuit courtroom. So that’s something to think about, too. Now, two courtrooms – and Lord knows, I’m in the fourth quarter. I’m perfectly happy with this courthouse. But this is the only courthouse that I practice in, and my practice is extensive, that does not separate the juvenile and the general district court. In other words, it does not separate the children from the adults. Supervisor Gillette says, okay, and in this document it said it would look at the buildings that we currently own should additional space needs arise. Mr. Railey says, yes, I read that and that caught my attention, too. Chairman Edwards says, you know, throughout this process, Franklin put a fair amount of money into renovating and modernizing what they have, safety precautions, etc. Supervisor Gillette says, I would hope that we would get credit for progress, for producing a plan that was rejected. It’s still progress because you got something to start with. You can go back and ask some questions and begin at that point to make corrections. Supervisor Christopher Cornwell says, and that’s ultimately the big unknown, I think, for all of us sitting here is what is the judge’s thoughts are on this thing. I don’t know what the rest of this Board here has heard, but my phone has been ringing from through-the-grapevine information as far as what the judge is going to do with our courtroom, and how he’s planning on shutting it down in July, and how he’s not going to have any additional cases scheduled after July 15. And how the Suffolk city sheriff is planning to arrange his courthouse so that he can accommodate our entire caseload. And then I get a phone call from the Isle of Wight County sheriff’s command staff telling me the same thing – they’re planning on absorbing our caseload coming mid-July. And then I read in The Tidewater News about Franklin doing the same thing. So that’s the only information that I’ve got on where the judges might be thinking or what Judge Eason is planning on doing come July. I don’t know how we get together in the room with him, sit across the table from him, and ask him what he considers forward progress to be and whether he’s satisfied or not with the decisions on forward progress we’ve made to keep from having to shut down our courthouse prematurely. And our citizens having to incur all the expenses of relocating all that stuff for a very extended period of time while we build a new courthouse or remodel our current courthouse. Mr. Railey says, well, one thing for sure, if we started on the renovation the first of July, you’d still have to transport jurors and personnel and go to other courthouses, probably for an extended period. So that’s inevitable. And it’s going to cost money and it’s going to inconvenience people. Supervisor Cornwell says, so if we can delay having to shut our courthouse down long enough to where we’re ready to put the shovel in the ground, a year possibly – by the time we get all this architectural service done and we’re ready to put the shovel in the ground. I understand that at that point we need to relocate our services. But we saved our citizens a year’s worth of sheriff department’s overtime and relocating jurors and transporting jurors and security. And the rental of the spaces in all these other localities. The longer we can put that off, the better off our citizens’ pocketbooks are going to be. Supervisor Robert White says, I know Amanda Jarratt sent a letter to the judge. Have we gotten any kind of response from him on that? Mr. Johnson says, not that I’m aware of.

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Supervisor Gillette asks, well, was there any discussion about using – you say there was – maybe using the plan that was drawn and that never was considered after the judge’s letter? Chairman Edwards says, well, I don’t think we had anything. Mike [Johnson], you want to comment on that? Mr. Johnson says, that specifically wasn’t discussed. What we did talk about was we did more pay-per-need additional studies that we had already done. For instance, geotechnical borings, things like that, where we already had the data for. We weren’t going to pay for that again. We were just going to provide the architects that information. Supervisor Gillette says, it seems like to me that the decision of Franklin has made it possible to revisit the $7 million plan and get that straight. It might go more than that, but at least it’s a starting point if we don’t have to duplicate spending to produce. And a side conversation I had with the previous architect, sort of about our additional space needs, and if it’s determined five years from now that we don’t – whoops, we didn’t need this space – I asked the architect would I get my money back. And he told me no. I don’t want to put the citizens of the County in a position to say, “Whoops, we didn’t need the space,” in five years, and we’re on the hook for millions of dollars of additional space needs when it’s not actually needed. And so I think that’s enough to use what we’ve paid for and just ask the question, “Okay, what will work?” I think for most people, that’s the rational way they go about it, if they’re building a house or even a development. Somebody comes in here with a development want us to approve and it’s rejected, the first thing they’re going to do is reapply and say, “Okay, tell us what will work.” And it’s worked out again to keep the balance. Chairman Edwards says, well, I think we were pretty strong on that in that meeting that we did not want to pay for anything we’ve already done. We asked them, the architect, to use everything possible that we had already paid for. Supervisor Gillette asks, and they were agreeable to that? Chairman Edwards says, well, yes, I thought they were. Supervisor Gillette says, that didn’t have anything to do with construction, that was just structural tests and design – where are the power lines, and where are the water lines, and all that kind of stuff. I think progress has been made because we have a plan to work with, myself. That’s the way I see it. Hey, I agree with you, we’ve made progress. Chairman Edwards says, and I personally think we need to find out exactly where Franklin stands – how much they’re in on this, or not in on it. I have never been satisfied with anything I’ve heard, whether they are or not. Supervisor Gillette says, well, I can’t speak to that. Supervisor White says, what kind of input did Bobby Cutchins have at the meeting about them? Chairman Edwards says, he didn’t have very much at all. They just sort of listened. Supervisor White says, but they’re on the hook for 30-some percent, no matter what? Is that correct? Chairman Edwards says, well, it’s 22%, I understand. But I’m not so sure how much that they are still on the hook for that. Supervisor White says, I guess that’s a question for Richard [Railey]. Mr. Railey says, well, now I’m on the hook. Chairman Edwards says, we had an agreement with them, so I understand. Mr. Railey says, let’s put it this way. You know, if they want to pull their JDR court and their general district court out of the mix, that’s their priority. But as far as the Commonwealth Attorney, as far as the circuit court, as far as the Clerk’s office of the circuit court – the statutory law indicates, and

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the case law indicates very strongly, they could be forced to pay. All right, you don’t want to pay an investment, but you’re going to pay this much rent. And maybe that’s an absurd example, but by the mandate of the statute, they are going to be responsible for paying. Supervisor Faison says, when they decided to move their general district court with the circuit court, we’re still sharing that, right? Mr. Railey says, that’s right. Supervisor Faison says, and they don’t have any choice except to pay – like you say, either with the construction or renting it. And I think it was Mr. [Bobby] Cutchins who mentioned that they understand that whatever Southampton does, they still have to pay their share. Chairman Edwards says, it’s either pay us now or pay us later. Mr. Ash Cutchin says, it’s all about the money. Chairman Edwards asks, any further comments or discussion? Supervisor White says, so if we award the architectural services to Glavé and Holmes with a motion tonight, is that when you will meet with them? And then we can tell them what needs to be done and tell them to take a look at the $7 million plan to see if we can work something out of that. Chairman Edwards says, as far as I’m concerned it would. I think everything’s still open. Supervisor White says, so we’ve still got all that stuff, Mike? Mr. Johnson says, yes. Supervisor White says, the full architectural drawings and everything? Mr. Johnson says, well, they weren’t full architectural drawings, they are concept plans. We hadn’t invested in full architectural drawings yet. Supervisor Gillette says, but that’s part – that’s why I brought it up – because that’s what was read under the consideration of the agreement. Conceptual plans were in there. That is something they definitely would take a look at. I didn’t want to sign that thing and then they say, “No, we’re going to do our own,” when we’ve already paid for it. Supervisor Cornwell says, if we vote the move forward with a motion to have Glavé and Holmes do it, then the $7 million plan could be where it starts still. If we don’t move forward with this, then that’s completely off the table. Chairman Edwards says, I think all the options are on the table. I mean, we haven’t signed anything about what options – how many courtrooms or whatever. Supervisor White says, that will be determined after talking to them. Chairman Edwards says, yes, I do think in the past four or five years we’ve been stumbling around. That’s what has unsettled the judges concerning this letter about July or August. So I think, from my standpoint, we need to show strong initiative here and go ahead and grant this notice. Supervisor White says, yes, I think we need to go forward with it. Chairman Edwards says, I think if we make the mistake tonight and put it off another month, this shows that we don’t have the backbone for it. Supervisor Cornwell says, one of the significant things I noted when doing my ratings and listening to the presentations of all three of the architectural firms. With Glavé was their liaison that they have on staff that specifically works between them, their architectural design work, us, the Franklin City Council, and the judges. Somebody to communicate what our monetary limitations are with the judges and meeting their desires and needs as far as complying with the Guidelines as set forward.

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And I think having them in our court and having that representative to work as the liaison with the judges might be beneficial to us as he makes the case that we’ve made forward progress. Supervisor Gillette says, Thomas Potts. Supervisors Cornwell says, yes. Chairman Edwards asks, any further discussion? [No response.] Well, Board, as we talked enough, what do you say? Anybody brave enough to make a motion? Supervisor White says, I make a motion we move forward with it. Supervisor Updike says, I’ll second it. Chairman Edwards says, and there’s a second. Any further discussion? [No response.] I really think that’s the appropriate move. So I call for the vote. All those in favor of moving forward say aye.

Dr. Alan Edwards AYE William Hart Gillette AYE Christopher Cornwell, Sr. AYE Carl Faison AYE Dallas Jones AYE Lynda Updike AYE Robert White AYE

Chairman Edwards continues, those opposed, no. [No response.] Okay, we’ve stepped into the water. Supervisor Faison says, there were two separate motions. Chairman Edwards says, we’ve already done the second one. All right, we’ll go to Supervisor Cornwell who brought up some interesting things about a bill in the Senate and a bill in the House concerning local gun and ammunition control. I’ll turn it over to him if he’d like. Supervisor Cornwell says to Mr. Johnson, do you want me to read the whole resolution, Mike, or do you want to do it? Mr. Johnson says, it doesn’t matter to me. I don’t want to steal your thunder. It’s your issue, man. Supervisor Cornwell says, Consideration of a Resolution Regarding Control of Firearms by Localities. Many of you all are aware of what’s going on in Richmond and what’s being proposed, and what they’re talking about there. This is what this Resolution pertains to. And I’ll be brief with the description of it as I go through it. Supervisor Cornwell continues, legislation related to the control of firearms by localities (Senate Bill 35 and House Bill 421) has passed in both the Virginia Senate and House of Delegates. While there are currently differences in the legislation, a Committee of Conference will be created to resolve them, and some variation of the legislation is expected to be enacted by the General Assembly and signed into law by the Governor. While the legislation grants localities the authority to enact certain ordinances to control the use of firearms, it does not require them to do so. Accordingly, myself, I have requested that the matter be placed on the agenda for tonight for discussion by our Board so that we can publicly express its intentions regarding the additional authority that is expected to be granted to us by the state. Supervisor Cornwell says, in summary of what they proposed in Richmond is enabling us as a body to enact additional resolutions and ordinances specific to Southampton County and buildings in and around our county, parks (there is a list of things), where we can impose more restrict, more stringent infringements on you all and your Second Amendment rights. They are giving us that authority. And basically what I wanted to talk about tonight is this resolution, and I’ll read it now for you all that basically says we’re not interested in doing that. We’re not interested in any way further inhibiting any citizen of Southampton County’s Second Amendment rights further than what the state already has. So the Resolution reads:

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BOARD OF SUPERVISORS, SOUTHAMPTON COUNTY, VIRGINIA RESOLUTION 0220-17 WHEREAS, Senate Bill No. 35, AMENDMENT IN THE NATURE OF A SUBSTITUTE (Offered by the Senate Committee on the Judiciary on January 13, 2020) proposes to amend and reenact §15.2-915, Code of Virginia, authorizing any county, city or town to prohibit by local ordinance the possession or carrying of firearms, ammunition, or components or any combination thereof in (i) any building, or part thereof, owned or used by such locality for governmental purposes; (ii) in any public park owned by the locality; or (iii) in any public street road, alley, sidewalk or public right-of-way or any other place of whatever nature that is open to the public and is being used by or is adjacent to a permitted event or an event that would otherwise require a permit; and WHEREAS, House Bill No. 421 proposes to amend and reenact §15.2-915 authorizing any county, city or town to adopt or enforce an ordinance, resolution, or motion governing the possession, carrying, storage, or transporting of firearms, ammunition, or components or combination thereof in the locality; and WHEREAS, the Board of Supervisors of Southampton County, Virginia wishes to publicly and officially express its position, in the event that the aforementioned or similar legislation is enacted by the General Assembly of Virginia and signed by the Governor. NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED by the Board of Supervisors of Southampton County, Virginia that it hereby expresses that it does not intend to exercise any such authority which may be granted by the General Assembly of Virginia pursuant to the aforementioned or similar legislation.

Supervisor Cornwell continues, and that’s what I have brought to you tonight. Chairman Edwards asks, any questions on that tonight? [No response.] Well, I will go around and poll everybody. I vote yes. William Hart Gillette? Supervisor Gillette says, yes. Chairman Edwards says, yes there. Supervisor Cornwell? Obviously you are going to vote yes. Supervisor Cornwell, yes. Chairman Edwards asks, Supervisor Faison? Supervisor Faison has no response. Chairman Edwards asks, do you want some more time to think about it? I’ll move on and come back to you. Supervisor Faison says, do that. Chairman Edwards says, Supervisor Jones? Supervisor Jones says, I’ll go along with it. Chairman Edwards says, you have voted yes? Supervisor Jones says, yes. Chairman Edwards asks, okay. Supervisor Updike? Supervisor Updike says, yes. Chairman Edwards says, yes. Supervisor White?

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Supervisor White says, yes. Chairman Edwards says, okay. We have 6 yeses, and Supervisor Faison has no vote. Supervisor Faison says, yes. Chairman Edwards says, yes. Supervisor Faison has voted yes. So it is unanimous. We will send this resolution on to whomever we need to send it to. Ms. Atkins asks, Mr. Chairman? Mr. Johnson says, point of order. Do we have a second? Ms. Atkins says, that was my question, do we have a second? Supervisor Updike says, I thought I did. Chairman Edwards says, she seconded it. Ms. Atkins says, I didn’t hear. I’m sorry. [Motion made by Supervisor Christopher Cornwell; seconded by Supervisor Lynda Updike. Motion carried unanimously. Summary of votes follows.]

Dr. Alan Edwards AYE William Hart Gillette AYE Christopher Cornwell, Sr. AYE Carl Faison AYE Dallas Jones AYE Lynda Updike AYE Robert White AYE

Chairman Edwards says, all right. If there are no other questions, thank you, sir [to Supervisor Cornwell]. Thank you for your research and your interest. That kind of slipped by me. All right, we’ll go to #18. Something more simple. Consideration of a Reimbursement Resolution Related to Purchase of a Roll-Off Refuse Collection Truck. Supervisor Updike says, I have a question. Was that budgeted in this current year? Mr. Johnson says, yes. As you may recall, the adopted FY 2020 annual budget, which is your current year, included up to $32,000 for the financing of a new roll-off refuse collection truck. We are planning to move forward in the next couple of weeks with the purchase of a new 2020 Peterbilt. The cost of that truck will be $161,598.05 and that will be financed for 5 years. The Virginia Local Government Financing Corporation is in the process of issuing a Request for Proposals on our behalf for the financing of the refuse truck and for this year’s group of school buses. As you may recall, we upfronted the cost and took delivery on two 14-passenger buses last fall and we are looking to take delivery on three additional 65-passenger buses in the next month. We also intend to upfront these costs which are $323,642.00 for the 3 remaining buses, and subsequently reimburse ourselves for all 5 buses with the proceeds from the project financing. We expect to close on the loan in very late April or early May, and the final financing terms will be presented for Board consideration at your April 28th meeting. In the meantime, in order to accept delivery of the refuse truck, we also intend to upfront the full cost of that with cash reserves, and subsequently reimburse ourselves following the loan closing this spring. In order to comply with federal law, it is necessary for the Board to adopt a reimbursement resolution, a copy of which is included in your agenda package. It simply declares your intent to reimburse yourselves for the cost of the refuse truck with the proceeds from the project financing once they become available. The resolution adopted by the Board last September already authorizes reimbursement for the school buses. Chairman Edwards says, all right. Thank you. Any discussion on this, questions? [No response.] We have been buying these buses every year for seven or eight years. I think without that the bus service for the schools would not be healthy at all. All right, any discussion? Is there a motion that we adopt this resolution?

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Supervisor Jones says, so moved. Supervisor Faison says, I’ll second. Chairman Edwards says, it has been moved and seconded. Is there any further discussion? [No response.] If not then, all in favor say aye.

Dr. Alan Edwards AYE William Hart Gillette AYE Christopher Cornwell, Sr. AYE Carl Faison AYE Dallas Jones AYE Lynda Updike AYE Robert White AYE

Chairman Edwards continues, opposed, no. [No response.] The ayes have it. It is unanimous. Chairman Edwards says, all right. #19 Recommended Priorities from the Southampton County Citizens Transportation Advisory Committee. Mr. Johnson says, Mr. Chairman, if I can direct your attention to the screen behind you there, I have just a brief presentation. Ms. Updike asked me, last month I think, if I could add this for this month for you all. Your Citizen Transportation Advisory Committee consists of 9 members. You see them listed here. Several are in the room: Mr. Cutchin, Mr. Potter, and Mr. White – I’m not sure if I missed anybody else. We’ve got several members here tonight. Just as a reminder, this group was created by the Board of Supervisors in November of 2018. It began functioning early last year in January 2019. They meet quarterly, so they have had five meetings since they were organized in January of 2019. Their mission is to provide the board with a citizen’s viewpoint on transportation issues, strategies, funding, and priorities. So they had asked me at their last meeting, they actually developed a list of priorities. They asked me to present these priorities to you all. Mr. Johnson continues, so the first priority is Safety in the Courtland Business Corridor, and associated with that are four specific recommendations which I will go over in just a minute. But at a very high level, the first recommendation is going to be to reconfigure the intersection at Storys Station Road to what’s called a signalized R-Cut. I will show you exactly what that is in just a second. Included with that is construction of U-turn areas east and west of the existing intersection. And I’ll show you what that looks like in a minute. Also they are asking you to consider moving forward with reconfiguring all the crossovers (and there are 4 of them) between the DMV and Courtland USA, limiting them to one-way traffic. So 2 of those would be converted just for west to east traffic, and 2 for east to west traffic. And then the last recommendation is to extend the eastbound right turn lane which currently stops just past the exit from the Dairy Queen, extend that all the way to Charlie Edges’ Strip Shop and set it down there. For those that aren’t familiar with what that is, that’s a picture of it to give you the visual [points to slide]. Mr. Johnson says, so the first recommendation is to reconfigure the intersection at Storys Station Road and Southampton Parkway to what’s called the signalized R-Cut. The estimated cost of doing that is between $1.2 and $1.8 million. I’ll blow it up just a little bit for you. The most significant change in this reconfiguration is no longer would a motorist be able to go straight across Storys Station Road into Agri-Park Drive, nor would they be able to go straight across Agri-Park into Storys Station Road. The signal remains, but basically motorists leaving Agri-Park Drive would now be forced to turn right only and would go down. And if they wanted to head westbound, they would get in that left lane. There would be a new turn lane constructed over in the median area. And they would make that U-turn where you see the blue arrow at the bottom corner, and turn back around to head in the westbound direction. Similarly, motorists coming from Storys Station that wanted to go to Food Lion or Hardees or back towards Franklin, would turn right, also get in a new left-turn lane just up in front of Jack Randall’s area, and then would make that U-turn, come back around and go back through the light. The reason that it improves safety is that it does reduce the total number of friction points in that intersection. In addition to that, you can see how the actual crossover is reconfigured. You can see there are stop bars installed here and here. And motorists actually have more room to queue up. They actually get in what is currently now the crossover, and they stop

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there, and they wait for the light to stop the traffic from the oncoming lane before they proceed to make their turns. So any questions about how that R-Cut works? Mr. Ash Cutchin asks, Mr. Johnson, as you point out, if I remember correctly, there’ll be no right turn on red going on 58 from either Storys Station Road or Agri-Park Drive, right? Mr. Johnson replies, it would be posted, “No Turn on Red”. That’s right. So in addition to that, I mentioned the crossover improvements, and this is just the high level to show you where the crossovers are. The first one, of course, is right in front of the DMV. The second one is here at Dairy Queen. This is the Simmons farm that you see over here. The third one is across from the Simmons farm and this is Helena Chemical. And then the fourth one is down here right in front of Courtland USA. So they’re the four crossovers. What they are suggesting, and of course the one at the DMV has already been done, that is limited already. You can turn left as you’re headed west to get into DMV and turn back around and go east. But leaving DMV, you can’t go straight across. They fixed it so you have to go down and take a U-turn and go back around. So they’re looking at recommending doing something very similar at the other crossovers, but they work in opposite directions. So the next crossover, which is down at DMV and the Simmons farm, would be limited so that you can only cross over going from east to get back into the westbound lane. People that are going west right now can get into that crossover to make that U-turn there, so they would no longer be able to do that. You have to go all the way back to DMV to come back around and make that U-turn. Now in addition to that, I mentioned the right-turn lane here is also extended so people that want to get into Grigg’s Tractor for instance would now have that right-turn lane extended all the way down. And that would go all the way down to Charlie Edges’ Strip Shopping Center down there. So continuing down the 58 in the east direction, this is the crossover at Helena. Again this one allows motorists that are headed west to cross back over east to be able to get back to Helena or the car dealership here. But you would no longer be able as you were heading east to cross over the other way. You would have to be able to go up to the next one to be able to do that. Mr. Johnson continues, so this is the one at Courtland USA. This is that strip center down here. So you can see that right-turn lane comes all the way this far, and then it begins to taper back in, and you don’t get to the turn lane again until you get down right in front of Food Lion. It’s already the right-turn lane as you enter Food Lion, and then there’s the right-turn lane as you enter Hardee’s. So those would remain as they are. Supervisor Gillette says, well, it looks like to me it extends. Mr. Johnson says, see the red line moving up? The red line’s moving back up into the lane of travel. So that as you get to the right side of the screen, there is only two lanes above that red line. Supervisor Gillette says, okay. On the other side of the screen. Mr. Johnson says, correct. Supervisor Gillette says, where the gun shop is. Voice from audience says, how many accidents have been involved in that area over at Storys Station? What would justify all this money? Mr. Johnson says, we’ve got the data. We can show you the actual figures. I don’t remember off the top of my head. I did not have it as part of the presentation tonight. Mr. Cutchin says, may I make a comment? Mr. Johnson says, yes, sir. Mr. Cutchin says, at our meetings, our transportation meetings, we had a lot of citizen input that came and talked a lot about it. People are concerned about the Storys Station intersection. Voice continues, so how many have been hurt? Mr. Cutchin replies, I have no idea, but I know that people came and complained meeting after meeting after meeting about that.

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Mr. Tommy Potter says, I think it’s important to note when you talk about money, this is not necessarily County money. This is money that we are asking VDOT to invest in these strips of roads to make this safer. So it’s not – Voice says, but it’s still our money. Mr. Potter says, it’s our money, I agree. But it’s money that we’re – if I remember right – we’re fighting with other localities in the state for our share of the pie. This is our chance to make this safer. The audience member continues, I can understand with that side lane more down for improvement. As far as changing the crossovers and making this crazy squirrel job at the stoplight, I don’t see the purpose. Ms. Linda Simmons says, explain to me how I’m coming out of the Simmons farm and turning right to get to Franklin. And excuse me, but I don’t remember in 15 months getting any invitation or any notices on when these meetings were. Since you all were – Mr. Cutchin says, you stood right here in one of them. Ms. Simmons says, I came to one. I came to your first one. So I intended to keep up with it, but I have not had any feedback on Highway 58. We have been on that corridor 40 years and have not heard from anyone on this committee. Mr. Potter says, they’ve been posting these things. Ms. Simmons says, okay, where’s the feedback? Nobody has asked us about anything on any kind of input about anything on this corridor. Explain to me how I leave my yard and how do I get to Franklin? Mr. Cutchin says, go down to DMV – [Indistinct voices join in.] Ms. Simmons says, that’s a safety hazard. That is a severe safety hazard. I don’t even go that way now. And we can’t move that fast. And we’re a farming family. That’s a safety hazard right there. Mr. Johnson says, so you use the crossover at Dairy Queen right now? Ms. Simmons says, I cross over directly from my driveway – Mr. Johnson says, straight across. Ms. Simmons says, into the median and turn left to go to Franklin. I have no intentions of turning off the curb in front of Dairy Queen, in front of DMV. No intentions. That is extremely unsafe for anybody on that road that does it. I already pointed it out to what’s-his-name down at the administration at VDOT. Various members from the audience speak over each other. Ms. Simmons says, I will see that something is done if that is implemented. That’s a safety hazard for everybody on the road. People coming around that curve, the traffic is not enforced. State police are trying to do what the County should be looking at. That curve is dangerous in and of itself. The only accident that has been out there since those guards have been up has been a fatality. A fatality. I will not go there. You can put that in the paper, you can put it anywhere you want with it. Start with the paper. Chairman Edwards says, it sounds like we need another meeting to resolve this. Mr. Johnson says, so the second priority is Safety at Southampton High School. And what’s recommended there is reconfiguring that crossover at the entrance to the high school to what’s called a Continuous Green-T. All right, it still allows left out, right out, left in, and right in. What it does is allow the channelization of the traffic that’s making this left turn. It adds this accel lane on the

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left side so they are able to merge into that traffic rather than have to wait for it to be totally clear and then jump out there from a dead stop. And it would also add this turn lane here [points to slide]. Now the one thing that this recommendation does include, and I want to go back to the previous slide to show you, is traffic that is coming off of 35 on the ramp here, there is not enough sufficient room to be able to get into this left lane. So there would actually be the little white barriers, and those folks would have to go up to the next crossover to make the U-turn to come around. So if you’re coming from Franklin on 58, you just simply get into this left lane right about up in here [points to slide]. But if you’re coming off the ramp, you have to come by, turn around, and come back. Mr. Johnson says, so priority #3 was at New Market Road. Their suggestion there is simply to lengthen the westbound turn lane to VDOT standards. It’s a very small turn lane there right now. It doesn’t meet any standards. It’s just enough for maybe one car. And also to construct an eastbound right turn lane to VDOT standards so you would have an accel lane coming out of New Market Road headed east. Mr. Johnson continues, priority #4 was the lighting of the roundabouts. Of course, there are two roundabouts here in Courtland. The one on the north side of 58 would have six 30-foot LED lights. The estimated cost of that would be $180,000. The one on the south side of 58 would be one high mast, an 80-foot light. The cost of that is about $225,000. Mr. Johnson says, and then priority #5 relates to Camp Parkway. Again this is another innovative intersection, looking at a signalized Green-T here [points to slide]. Traffic that is coming from Franklin that wants to make that left turn on to 58, there would be a signal installed here that would stop the traffic that is headed eastbound never stops, but the traffic that is headed westbound would be stopped by that signal light there. When it’s clear, the person makes the left turn into this channelized lane and merges into the traffic headed eastbound. This is similar for those of you all who travel to the Outer Banks, sort of similar to the intersection there at South Mills (US Route 17) where you cross over the lanes and hit the channel and merge with the traffic. So the cost of that is about $800,000 to $1.2 million. Mr. Johnson says, so these are the recommendations from the CTAC. It’s up to you all whether – they’re simply concepts. There’s been no real design done. They’re just simply ideas and cost estimates. To advance these projects is going to take a little bit of money, but it’s no need to waste VDOT’s money in going through the engineering if it’s not something you want to pursue. So we’re at the point if you all want to pursue applications for funding in the upcoming cycle this year, we need to begin to make plans on if you want to advance any of these concepts and submit applications. Supervisor Updike says, I have a question. If I come out of Hardee’s over at Grayson and Emma’s and I want to go west, I have to go east over and get into the left lane? Mr. Johnson says, get into the left lane. There’ll be a new turn lane installed there on the left-hand side on the inside of the median. Supervisor Updike asks, what about the traffic that’s coming? Mr. Cutchin says, no light, no signals. Mr. Johnson says, no light. You stop until it’s clear and then you go. Supervisor Updike says, yes, but there’s no light for people eastbound either, is it? Mr. Johnson says, yes. The stoplight remains. And there’s no turn on reds, so you have to wait for the red light to stop the traffic before you make that turn. Chairman Edwards says, what say you, Board? Mr. Cutchin says, may I make a comment, Mr. Chairman? Chairman Edwards says, yes, sir.

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Mr. Cutchin says, before you all decide on recommending these things, I’m very much open to having people come and re-discuss the Dairy Queen. We accepted a lot of information from the state input into this. This was not a decision this committee made on our own. We would gladly reconsider the Dairy Queen crossover. Ms. Simmons is welcome to come, and we have these meetings every quarter. And because she didn’t come, I thought she just wasn’t interested once we agreed on the Storys Station intersection. Ms. Simmons says, I’ve been interested for 40 years. Mr. Cutchin says, I understand that, you don’t have to reiterate it. Ms. Simmons says, for 3 solid years. Ash, you weren’t here. They didn’t listen. People have been killed. Chairman Edwards says, now, now, let’s keep it friendly, please. Supervisor Gillette says, for members of the committee here, what is your recommendation? To pull that one out and recommend the others? Or continue with all of them? Mr. Cutchin says, many people in this room won’t live long enough to see a shovelful of dirt turned on any of this. But my first recommendation is to hold up approving it until we have at least one more meeting of our committee to consider other people’s comments. And they can all be invited. A lot of times when we come, nobody shows up until they find a mistake. Supervisor Gillette asks, and submitted as a package? Mr. Cutchin says, that’s what I recommend doing, but I’m just one member. Mr. Tommy Potter says, I would agree with Mr. Cutchin. If I remember right, are we up against some deadlines with VDOT in submitting these packages? I know we’re only meeting quarterly. As a member of this board, if we need to meet to listen to some concerns and make some adjustments earlier than our next quarterly meeting – as a member of the board, I am open to that. But will you refresh my memory of what deadlines we are facing with VDOT to get our proposals in? Mr. Johnson says, the final submittal date for the funding applications is not until late summer/early fall. But he mentioned a pre-application period like in springtime, where you need to sort of get your project in there and have it initially vetted for feedback. So if we wait until we meet again, we don’t meet again until April? Mr. Cutchin says, yes. Mr. Johnson says, that’s cutting it pretty close. Mr. Potter says, I’m open to an earlier meeting of the board. Mr. Cutchin says, I’d be willing. Other CTAC members present concur. Supervisor Cornwell says, those that are present that serve on this committee, is there any information from the state that tells us whether or not it is safer for traffic to travel in a merged lane or safer to make a U-turn? And here is kind of what I’m getting at. I’m thinking about my son, 16 years old, driving to school at the high school. He’s going to get off at 35 onto 58, just like the aerial view shows. Okay, I’m thinking about him driving, he’s going to come up to speed and merge over two lanes to come up into the left turn lane and turn into the high school. Or, he’s going to be forced to go down to a separate crossover, stop and make a U-turn. It doesn’t sound as safe to me. I don’t have the study on it. Mr. Cutchin says, is he not allowed to continue south on 35 over 58 and go by the middle school? Is that not allowed? I don’t know. Off of 58?

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Supervisor Cornwell says, I don’t think they are – we used to, couldn’t anyway. I don’t think they can. Mr. Potter says, I’ll address your concern, because I think that was one of my concerns I brought up in these meetings is that prior to my daughter driving, my wife or I took her to school every day. Now that she’s 16 and got her license, she drives herself. What I’ve noticed is that every morning at that intersection, it’s about a 50-50 split. You have 50% of the students and faculty going to the high school to utilize the turn lane directly in front that turns into the parking lot. But because that lane backs up so far into the turn lane, there is another 50% that already goes down to the next U-turn, the next cutover, make the U-turn and comes back. The thing that this plan would do would increase that turning lane there in front of the school so it would give it extra yardage so that it wouldn’t back up. And there would be percentage that would have to go down to the next turnaround that could continue to do that. But one of the things that it does solve is that in the afternoons or in the mornings, all the traffic that is leaving the school, it controls the egress from the school back out to 58. That redo was something that we asked VDOT to look at extensively because one of the things that when we look at the state to allocate money to us is when there is economic development or safety improvements to the corridor. So it’s about a 50-50 split now. Someone from the audience asks, can I ask you a question? What’s the difference in having Capron Elementary with a 35 mile an hour speed limit with Southampton High having a 35 mile an hour speed limit while they are entering school and leaving the school? Mr. Potter asks, did Tommy [Catlett] address that, Mike? Mr. Johnson says, he did. I think it’s statutory. The speed limit in front of schools is, I can’t remember if it’s 10 or 15 miles an hour below than the posted speed is the way they establish that. The one at Capron is kind of grandfathered because the posted speed was lower there when it was posted. Mr. Potter says, that’s right. When it was posted. The audience member says, so 50 is the lowest it can go. Mr. Potter says, I think that’s right. Mr. Johnson says, I think it is 10 miles below the posted speed. Mr. Frank Urquhart says, to get it referenced in my mind right, you saying you’re coming across 35 where there’s a flyover going over 58, correct? And there’s an access beyond 58 to go into the school. Supervisor Cornwell says, seems like a much safer option to me as well. Mr. Urquhart asks, what sense would it be to try to run a drag race on 58 to get to the exit when you could just come straight down 35 and go in on the middle school side? Mr. Johnson replies, that’s where all the buses are coming in, so they don’t the student traffic and the bus traffic coming in the same way. Mr. Urquhart says, it seems the logical thing is either have traffic back up on your flyover than you trying to have cars race down the short distance with a stack-up in a turn lane, where you have traffic running – Mr. Cutchin says, I don’t think they let the students go south, turn into the middle school and go into the high school because of the buses. I don’t think the school let’s that happen, is that correct? Mr. Johnson says, this wouldn’t be a short distance, Frank [Urquhart]. If you’re coming off of that ramp on 35, you have to go down to the next crossover. That’s 0.3 miles. So there’s plenty of time to get over in that left lane. Mr. Urquhart says, I was just looking at it to say two cars headed to Emporia right at top speed and then you have a person on the exit basically coming over four lanes.

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Mr. Cutchin says, yeah, you’re right. Chairman Edwards asks, all right, any other comments how to resolve this? Supervisor Updike suggests, I think we need to study it a little more. Chairman Edwards says, I think that, too. [To CTAC members] When is your next meeting? Mr. Cutchin says, April, but we agree to come earlier. We agree to have an earlier meeting. Supervisor Updike says, pick a date. Mr. Cutchin says, let Mike Johnson pick the date. Mr. Johnson says, I’ll check the calendar and make sure. Chairman Edwards says, I think that’s a fair resolution. Have another meeting to see if we can iron out these concerns we’ve heard tonight. Mr. Cutchin says, and we’ll let Ms. Simmons know when the meeting is. Chairman Edwards says, sure. All right, we’re down to Miscellaneous. Mandated Conflict of Interest Training. We have some stuff on that, Mr. Johnson? Mr. Johnson says, last time I checked we still had one board member that needs to complete it. That was as of February 20. It could be done by now. I will get with that board member. Chairman Edwards says, all right. Partners in Progress. Mr. Johnson says, just a reminder, March 17, at 7:30 a.m. at The Main Event in Franklin. Chairman Edwards says, Notices, Correspondence, and Articles of Interest. Supervisor Updike says, I have one thing. Nat Turner is the African American recognized tonight on Fox 43, and it’s filmed in Southampton. Mr. Cutchin says, it’s channel 2. Channel 2 on Charter. Supervisor Updike says, it’s 43 on my TV. Mr. Cutchin asks, what time? Supervisor Updike responds, at 10:00, I assume. It was filmed about six weeks ago. Chairman Edwards asks, anything else for Late Arriving Matters? [No response.] No Late Arriving Matters, everything was on time. Okay, citizens of Southampton County, I want to thank you for your indulgence tonight. I think we accomplished some things. And we’ll entertain a motion to adjourn. Supervisor Jones says, so moved. Supervisor Gillette says, second. Chairman Edwards says, all in favor can be dismissed. We are now out of session. The business of the meeting being concluded and with no opposition, the meeting is concluded at 9:30 p.m.

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_______________________________________ Dr. Alan W. Edwards, Chairman _______________________________________ Michael W. Johnson, County Administrator (Clerk)