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Large Conference Room
March 15, 2018 5:00 p.m.
Agenda
1. Welcome | Moment of Silence and Recognition of New Members - Mayor Foster, Chair
2. Approval of Minutes of November 16, 2017 - Mayor Foster, Chair
3. Auditor Report, Financial Update - Rosalie Majerus
4. FY 19 Budget - Rosalie Majerus, Gary Christie
5. Strategic Planning
a) Comprehensive Planning Process - Kelly Hitchsock
b) SERDI Regional Assessment, Roanoke Valley Alleghany Regional Commission - Executive Wayne Strickland
6. Proposed Retirement of the Region 2000 Name - Gary Christie
7. Office Space Update - Gary Christie
8. Rural Transportation Planning Work Program FY 2019 - Scott Smith
9. Items from Staff - Gary Christie
10. Items from Council
11. Adjourn – Next meeting April 19, 2018, 5 p.m, LGC offices; MPO meets at 4 p.m.
Executive Summary
1. Welcome | Moment of Silence and Recognition of New Members - Mayor Foster
New members:
a) Charlie Watts, Campbell County Board of Supervisors
b) Sara Carter, Amherst Town Manager
2. Approval of Minutes of November 16, 2017 - Mayor Foster
3. Audit Report, Financial Update - Rosalie Majerus
4. FY 19 Budget - Rosalie Majerus, Gary Christie
The FY 19 budget is presented for your consideration. There are no additional revenue streams anticipated for the early portion of FY 19. The VDOT PL Transportation numbers are not finalized and subject to change, but staff believes the numbers will be level.
Taking action now will give the Services Authority Board and the Workforce Development Board information on how to budget for wages and fringe benefits for FY 19.
Highlights from the FY 19 budget include:
a) 2% merit based pay increase for employees
b) Reduction in VRS costs for the next two years
c) Increased health insurance costs (9.4%) shared by employer/employees
d) Projects that will begin
a. Hazard Mitigation Plan Update
b. Administration of GO Virginia Workforce Grant
c. Amherst County CDBG Construction Ready
d. Amherst Town VDH Sedimentation Basin
e) Projects that will continue
a. Madison Heights CDBG
b. Town of Appomattox Meadowlark Neighborhood CDBG
f) SERCAP Regional Assessment Process included
g) Funds for regional legislative liaison services are not included
h) With Matt Perkins moving from an Administrative Assistant role to a Special Projects role we moved him from the Administrative line to the Operations line which is why the Administrative line decreased.
We’ve made adjustments to the budget format. We’ve taken out all of the WIOA salaries and benefits from the LGC line items and incorporated the WIOA salaries and benefits into the WIOA Expense line. The WIOA salaries and benefits detail appears in the Workforce Development budget which is reviewed regularly by the WIOA Finance Committee and quarterly by the WIOA Board. Removing the WIOA salaries and benefits from the LGC lines gives a cleaner picture of LGC related salaries and benefits.
Recommended Action: The Local Government Council FY 19 budget is presented for your consideration and approval.
5. Strategic Planning
We’ve had several conversations over the last several meetings about:
• next projects for the LGC
• examining existing operational plans
• creating a regional strategic plan that meets the Virginia Code requirements of 15.2-4209-4212
• Bringing in the Southeast Regional Directors Institute to lead a 360 Organizational Assessment
Planning and Development Director Kelly Hitchcock will provide a brief summary of the LGC-generated regional plan between 2012-2017 and outline a proposed process to develop the 2018 Region 2000 LGC Strategic Plan, a DHCD program requirement.
Mrs. Hitchcock will present a proposed series of local activities incorporating SERDI’s Assessment to establish a Regional Strategic Plan.
In November it was suggested that we invite another regional commission to talk about their experiences with SERDI and the Regional Assessment. The Roanoke Valley Alleghany Regional Commission Executive Director Wayne Strickland will join us for our March meeting.
Regarding the regional strategic plan to meet Virginia Code 15.2-4209, the LGC has for the past few years utilized the Virginia’s Region 2000 Partnership document as the Strategic Plan for DHCD reporting purposes. However, with the dissolution of the Partnership, there is a need to develop an updated LGC document that will serve to guide future program and project activities.
August: An electronic survey will be completed by members of the Council, other local elected and appointed officials, and other regional leaders whose opinions are valuable. Survey questions will include:
• What’s good about the Council?
• What concerns you about the Council?
• What is the most valuable thing you receive from the Council?
• Is there an opportunity out there that you think the Council should be engaged in that it is not?
• If you could change one thing about the Council what would it be?
September: There would be up to six focus group sessions (1 1/5 hours) facilitated by SERDI staff over parts of September 17-19. We determine how the focus groups are shaped, but it could be:
• By geography
• By sector
o Managers/Administrators
o Planners
o Economic Developers
o Workforce
o Staff
Some of the same questions in the electronic survey will be asked, but these focus groups will allow the facilitators to get more in depth answers about their perspective of the Council and how we can increase our relevancy and usefulness to our customers.
We would have an expanded LGC meeting on September 20 with SERDI staff to lead a review of the comments heard and conduct a strategies work session, not to exceed 1ó hours, likely off site. SERDI will present several preliminary rough draft strategy recommendations for discussion and seek strategy recommendations from the Council as well.
October: SERDI will submit a complete record/report of the Council assessment including final recommendations.
Recommended Action: Endorse the approach to create a regional strategic plan through the process recommended by staff and the SERDI Regional Assessment.
6. Region 2000 Name Change - Gary Christie
Recommendation: Staff recommends that the Local Government Council retire the Region 2000 name. Staff recommends returning to the Central Virginia name, but recommends more input on whether we call ourselves a Local Government Council, a Planning District Commission or a Regional Commission.
A name change would require a charter change which requires ratification by a minimum of six of our member jurisdictions.
A small committee could review the name choices and also review any other charter changes that might be appropriate.
It would also likely start name changes among the following organizations:
• Region 2000 Workforce Board
• Region 2000 Services Authority
• Region 2000 Radio Board
See attached overview by Transportation Director Scott Smith. (Attachment)
Recommended Action: Authorize the Chair to appoint a committee to recommend a new name and to review the Council’s Charter to determine whether any other updates are appropriate.
7. Office Space Update - Gary Christie
You may recall that the Lynchburg Business Alliance has invited us to share some of their office space. Below are their offer numbers:
$14/sq. ft. ($8 rent plus $6 utilities)
3% annual increase on the rent, utilities are prorated and may increase/decrease
$48,272 for FY 19 for 3,448 sq. ft.
Estimated $282,000 renovation cost
10 year lease
(Attached is an estimate of the renovation cost.)
Staff recommends thanking the Alliance but declining the offer because of the large renovation cost that would impact our reserves. We are also concerned that the rental rate is too high considering the renovations necessary. Staff feels that the space is too tight with growth areas only available in the interior of the building which are less suited for office use.
The advantage to the Alliance building is that the square foot space is less as the meeting rooms are not included in the square foot cost.
Staff recommends that we continue to explore other space options.
As a reminder, here are the numbers for our current space in the Bank of the James:
$13.87/sq. ft.
2% annual increase
$89,396 for FY 19 for 6,063 sq. ft., including parking
Month to Month arrangement
8. Rural Transportation Planning Work Program FY 2018 - Scott Smith
9. Items from Staff - Gary Christie
The Regional Hazard Mitigation Plan Update is starting…Each jurisdiction has agreed to a $2,500 match for the project. Let us know if you want the $2,500 match billed this year or next year. (Amherst County has already paid.)
Reminder that we will be contracting with Virginia Tech’s Center for Geospatial Information Technology to lead this 18 month project.
10. Items from Council
11. Adjourn – Next meeting April 19, 2018, 5:00 p.m.
