Snoddy Elected To Chair Board
Published 3:48 pm Thursday, January 12, 2012
BUCKINGHAM – Monday night's meeting of the board of supervisors began with County Administrator Rebecca Carter welcoming the three new supervisors who were elected in November-Donnie Bryan, representing District 2, White Hall Precinct; John Staton, representing District 4, Maysville Precinct; and Cassandra Stish, representing District 5, Glenmore and Wrights Precincts.
As customary, the January meeting included the election of officers. When Carter called for nominations for chair, Supervisor Joe Chambers nominated Supervisor Bill Talbert. In turn, Supervisor Stish nominated Supervisor Monroe Snoddy.
Talbert's nomination drew two yea votes, his and Chambers; and five nays from Supervisors Danny Allen, Bryan, Snoddy, Stish, and Staton.
Subsequently, Snoddy won the chairmanship with yea votes from himself, Allen, Bryan, Stish, and Staton.
After accepting the gavel from Carter, Snoddy told his fellow board members, “Thank you for your trust. I'll give it my best.”
Following the meeting, Snoddy shared that he is looking forward to chairing the board at what he described as an exciting time with the upcoming completion of two major construction projects-the upper and lower elementary schools on Route 20 and the county administration complex.
“It is a very humble feeling to be able to serve the people,” he added.
When Snoddy called for nominations for vice chair, Bryan nominated Allen. Staton followed with a second and Allen's nomination drew the board's unanimous support.
While continuing their reorganizational chores, supervisors also approved their By-Laws and Rules of Practice and Procedures as presented with several revisions proposed by the county administrator.
Those revisions include allowing changes in the order of business as deemed necessary by the county administrator and/or chair.
In an effort to provide more information to the public, Supervisor Staton introduced a proposal to post the monthly board packet online at the county's website www.buckinghamcountyva.org.
He explained that the online material would also include addendums but would exclude confidential information regarding personnel, litigation, and/or negotiations.
Offering the reasoning behind his proposal, Staton shared, “So that the public can have full access and can see what I see.”
Carter said that after conferring with Jamie Shumaker, the county's information technology manager, they agreed that they would be able to post the board packets online.
However, she said they would need to block account numbers. She explained that the public would still be able to see every bill that is paid, the recipient, and the amount.
“We will need to work on how to get some of those account numbers out of there,” said Carter. “We should have that done for the February meeting.”
Explaining that there were concerns about space, Carter said they would probably only be able to leave the respective month's board packet online for one or two months.
During its January 9 meeting, the board also took on the task of making committee assignments.
For the two board representatives to serve on the water/sewer committee, Bryan nominated Staton and Staton nominated Bryan. Both agreed to serve and their fellow board members confirmed their approval with a unanimous vote.
When the board moved on to appointments for the finance committee, Talbert questioned whether they needed a finance committee when they had County Administrator Rebecca Carter and Assistant County Administrator/Finance Director Karl Carter. Crediting the two as being “excellent people,” he said they do all the county's finance work.
Responding that she would rather continue with the committee, Stish nominated Staton.
In turn, Bryan asked Chairman Snoddy to serve on the finance committee. Subsequently, both Snoddy and Staton were appointed by a vote of support from their fellow board members.
Although Talbert, who has served on the personnel committee for the past four years, agreed to continue in that position, Allen nominated Stish and Stish nominated Bryan. Subsequently, the board voted to confirm their appointments.
Continuing with the appointments, Staton nominated Stish as the board's representative on the Commonwealth Regional Council Board of Directors. Her appointment drew the board's unanimous support.
Supervisors also unanimously agreed that Allen would continue to serve as their representative on the Planning Commission. Allen has served in that capacity for the last four years.
In other appointments to the commission, Stish nominated Sammy Smith to fill the seat she is vacating. The nomination drew the board's unanimous support.
Chambers nominated Chet Maxey to represent District 6, Slate River Precinct, on the Planning Commission. The board unanimously agreed and appointed Maxey who will be replacing Hank Hagenau, whose term expired on December 31. Due to the recent redistricting, Hagenau is now in District 4, Maysville Precinct.
Facing expired terms of all of the members of the Board of Building Code Appeals, supervisors, with a motion by Stish, reappointed that full board. Members, who are not appointed by district but serve on a countywide basis, include Gordon Rush, Jordan Miles, Steve Metro, Billy Morris and Raymond Peaks.
According to information provided in the board packet, the Board of Building Code Appeals is called on when there is an appeal on a decision made by the county's building inspector.
Supervisors approved the FY 2012-2013 budget calendar as presented. However, Carter noted that the calendar is tentative and subject to change in accordance with the progress of the budget sessions.
The calendar calls for budget requests due to the county administrator by Friday, February 10. During the March 12 meeting of the board of supervisors, departments and agencies are scheduled to make their budget request presentations.
On Monday, March 19, the county administrator will issue her recommended budget to the board of supervisors. Then, on Wednesday, March 21, supervisors will meet for their first budget work session. At that time, the board, if it is ready, may consider adoption of the proposed budget and tax levies for the required public hearing.
However, if another work session is needed, it would be held on Thursday, March 22.
On Friday, March 23 and March 30, the proposed budget and tax levies would be advertised for public hearing, which is scheduled for the board's regular monthly meeting on Monday, April 9. On the following Monday, April 16, supervisors are scheduled to consider final adoption of the budget.
Near the conclusion of the meeting, Supervisor Stish announced that she has created a Facebook Page for the Fifth District, Buckingham County-James River (5th) District News & Information, and would also be creating a web page.
Welcoming countywide use of the sites, Stish explained that they would include governmental information that pertains to the entire county.
