The Botetourt County Board of Supervisors held its monthly meeting at the Botetourt County Administration Offices last week in Daleville.
The board’s first item of business was electing Dr. Richard Bailey as new chairman and Dr. Mac Scothorn as new vice-chairman, effective immediately. Additionally, the board made the necessary committee, commission, and board appointments for 2022 and adopted the bylaws, which have not changed since 2021.
The Board of Supervisors’ monthly meetings will continue on the fourth Tuesday of each month, with the third Tuesday in December 2022 (Dec. 20) being the exception due to the holiday break.
Botetourt County Agriculture Extension Agent Kate Lawrence introduced the county’s new Horticultural agent, Shawn Jadrnicek, who brings a lot of experience with him. He is an organic farmer and will be involved in the county’s agricultural activities.
Director of Financial Services Tony Zerrilla introduced the new finance employee, Katie Davis, a graduate of Roanoke College. She previously worked in Roanoke City as an accountant and budget analyst.
Botetourt Fire & EMS Chief Jason Ferguson introduced Adam Dickerson (Read Mountain Fire & Rescue) graduated on Jan. 12 Fire Academy No. 20, along with Manny Arevalo (Troutville), Chloe Deal (Botetourt Class President, Troutville), David Johnson (Troutville), Sullins Johnston (Troutville), Noah Lankford (Troutville), Rosemary Lavelle (Troutville), Daniel Rasmussen (Troutville), and Josh Sprouse (Troutville). Academy No. 20 was a shared class consisting of Botetourt County and Roanoke County volunteers.
“I learned a lot from a talented group of instructors and look forward to putting it to good use in service,” Dickerson told the board last Tuesday.
County Administrator Gary Larrowe asked the board to ratify the state of emergency declaration on January 16 due to the winter storm. The board approved the ratification.
Assistant County Administrator David Moorman asked the board to reconsider the starting pay for career Fire & EMS staff members. The board approved this consideration. Starting compensation for Basic Life Support staff pay changes from $36,468/yr. to $40,000 and Advanced Life Support starting pay from $40,480 to $45,000. The board commended the county’s fire and EMS personnel for their hard work.
VDOT Regional Engineer Ray Varney and Assistant Regional Engineer Ashley Smith provided their monthly report. This meeting served as Varney’s last meeting reporting on behalf of VDOT as he’s retiring at the end of the month. The board thanked Varney for being a pleasure to work with and appreciated his attention to detail on various projects throughout the county over the years.
Director of Communications Tiffany Bradbury and Kristen Chaffin updated the board about the county’s new, cohesive website launching on February 1.
Buchanan District Supervisor Amy White spoke about the history of the Botetourt Farmers Market and how it’s grown over the past couple of years. Market managers Scott and Grace Harwin presented a recap of the market’s 2021 activities to the board. The market plans to hold the Tomato and Honey Festivals and an inaugural Flower Fest in the spring. The managers spoke about the market’s expansion, which includes starting a capital campaign to find s permanent home and developing a “mobile market.”
Deputy Zoning Administrator Drew Pearson requested to refer petitions for Zoning Ordinance text amendments for adding a new land use category for the “Rental or Leasing of Equipment” and a new land use category, “Donation Collection Center,” to staff and Planning Commission for their consideration and public hearing. The board approved both referred requests. The board moved for denial for Pearson’s request to add the land use category “Storage Building Display and Sales.”
Chief Jason Ferguson continues to widen the BOCO footprint into the Roanoke Regional Radio System. The committee requested that the board allow them to move forward with discussions with Roanoke Regional Radio System and Morecom. The board authorized the Emergency Committee to move forward into the engineering and design process of Botetourt’s potential incorporation into the Roanoke Regional Radio System.
The board reappointed Gary Cronise to the Building Code Board of Appeals, and Scott Caldwell reappointed to the Board of Zoning Appeals. Tim Lucas was appointed to the Planning Commission.
To read the itemized agenda from last week’s meeting, visit https://botetourtva.gov/your-government/board-of-supervisors/.