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Board of Supervisors Special Meeting - May 07 2026 Minutes
Thursday, May 7, 2026 at 5:30 PM
220 Judicial Pl. Heathsville, VA 22473
Members Present: James Long, James Brann, Chip Williams, Al Fisher, Keith Harris
Staff Present: County Administrator Tadlock, Assistant County Administrator Drew Basye, Finance Operations Specialist I Morgan Wilson, IT Technician Carl Hayden, Finance Operations Specialist II Mary Dodson
1. Opening of Meeting 5:30 P.M.
A. Call to Order
The special meeting was convened by Chairman Brann and held at the Northumberland Courthouse located at 220 Judicial Place, Heathsville, VA 22473.
2. County Administrator Items
A. School Bus Discussion
Buses CIP 11122 Final.pdf
Mr. Donald Brown, School Bus Shop Mechanic, informed the Board of the old and aging bus fleet at the school. At this time, Mr. Brown stated that they have only one back up bus and they are continuously dumping money into repairs for the old buses because they have no other alternative. He explained the urgent need for a new school bus being added to the fleet. Mr. Brown is aware of the
Superintendent's replacement plan for buses and is in favor of them, but he is not interested in flooding the fleet with a bunch of used buses.
Chairman Brann mentioned purchasing two used buses while planning to buy one new bus next year. He believes purchasing the two used buses would build the fleet and allow for more back up buses in emergency cases.
Supervisor Harris encouraged the purchase of the same type of bus so the parts and software are the same and can be used interchangeably.
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Mr. Brown informed the Board that the lead time for a new bus is about a year, so if they were to purchase one tomorrow, it would not be ready until this time next year.
Chairman Brann asked Mr. Brown to reach out to the company and see if payment is required up front for a new bus or if the County pays when it comes in. Superintendent Leslie explained that the invoice for the FY23 new bus purchased came in Spring of 2023.
Chairman Brann stated that he doesn't want the school system to get in a situation where they can't take the kids to school, so the County may need to purchase two used buses and plan to purchase one new bus next year. He stated that if the County moves forward with the five-year plan, that will put the bus fleet way ahead.
Supervisor Fisher asked if the County would get this year's price if one was ordered now or would they have to pay next year's price when it is delivered.
Mr. Brown explained that the company provides a quote and gives him 30 days, but the quote is subject to change after that.
Superintendent Leslie informed the Board that she did pro-rate the bus prices in the five-year plan for average inflation.
Supervisor Harris also mentioned Mr. Brown's need for a software for one of his computers to communicate with the buses. He believed it could only be
purchased via credit card and asked Dr. Pica how they could proceed with this. Dr. Pica stated that there needs to be a request submitted so it can be budgeted. She explained that most companies will accept a purchase order, but if not there is a credit card available for this if that is the best and only option.
Supervisor Fisher favors the one new bus and one used bus purchase option. Supervisor Harris reminded the Board that a new bus wouldn't be available for a year and he's scared to leave the fleet with one extra bus in emergency situations. Dr. Pica informed the Board that there's another $120,000-$130,000 of additional revenue identified that will be returned to the County in case this affects their decision.
For clarification, Assistant County Administrator Basye mentioned that the $126,000 that is currently in the CIP has already been earmarked for the NES playground, so those monies cannot be considered for buses unless it is reallocated by the Board. In addition, the Board is holding a public hearing next week for the Capital Improvement Plan and buses are a part of the school's request in the CIP.
Supervisor Harris suggested moving on to the playground discussion and then they can come back and address the school bus issue.
B. NES Playground Funding Discussion
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return rev options for April consideration.pdf
County Administrator Tadlock mentioned that Dr. Pica has provided several return options for the revenue identified which can be accessed in the attachments. Mr. Basye clarified that their starting balance for the playground is $125,690.33 which is located in the capital improvement account. Dr. Pica explained that they also have $322,401 and the Board discussed hypothetically using $200,000 of those funds for the playground. Then there would be a remaining $122,401 that the Board could use for something else. This would bring the playground balance to $325,690.33. Dr. Pica reminded them there would be an additional $120-130,000 that would be returned to the County as well.
Superintendent Leslie stated that the school has quotes for $200,000 which would be for about half of the playground and the full quote was around $400,000 which was provided to the Board.
Chairman Brann asked what equipment would be included in the playground if the Board invested $200,000.
Playground Specialist Joe Latham attended the meeting virtually and discussed the specs of the playground with the associated costs to the Board. He mentioned that the big question would be who they need to serve while meeting ADA accessibility standards. He stated that they could get a lot of equipment in that $300,000 mark, but it's a matter of how much accessible serving they need. The playground specialist presented the specs of the playground along with their associated costs, stating they can do more, or they can do a little less per the Board's request.
Supervisor Harris asked if it would save the County any money to move the playground to another site that doesn't already have drainage issues on it. Mr. Latham explained that it would if they have an area that's already sloped in a good direction to relieve standing water.
Supervisor Harris asked for his opinion on whether he thinks it's best to move the project to a different location.
Mr. Latham stated that there is drainage there, it's just a matter of getting it out of the playground and onto the asphalt.
Chairman Brann asked what the life expectancy is of the playground.
Mr. Latham stated the life expectancies of the equipment itself is a majority of the warranties on the equipment. A bulk of the equipment designed for this project has a 15-year warranty. In his professional opinion, he stated that 15-20 years is the best case scenario for a lot of the equipment. In terms of surfacing, they allow a 7-year warranty, but if it's well-maintained it could go into a 10-12 year lifespan. Vice Chairman Williams stated that he's concerned about moving the location of the playground because while ball games are going on, parents have one child on the field and their younger siblings on the playground. The current location allows
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parents to keep an eye on their children at the playground while watching their older children play ball.
Supervisor Harris asked how long the process will take and how soon the playground can be completed.
Mr. Latham stated that they can get right on it as their lead times are better than ever whereas the last couple of years they have not been. He explained that if they could move quickly with ordering the equipment, they would work to get it installed before the new school year, if not then the very early beginning of that. Chairman Brann clarified that the Board has a public hearing on the CIP next week, so they should wait until that is held before taking any action on these items. Supervisor Harris shared his concern of the drainage issues at the current location and doesn't want to run into the same issue years down the road.
Dr. Pica informed the Board that they'd have to get a survey and land assessment done if they were to move the location, and she anticipates that it would have to go out for bid due to the dollar amount.
Superintendent Leslie added that they have to place the order by the end of May to try to get it in by the start of the school year.
Chairman Brann mentioned if they placed it at the left rear of the school, it would eliminate a ball field and it's very wet back there at times. In addition, they need to stay away from the right rear of the school because there were issues with the drain field there as well.
County Administrator Tadlock agreed and mentioned that they just put in the mass drain field towards the rear of the building. There were also drainage issues across the road that they just spent quite a bit of money to resolve. He stated that whatever is done, they need to make sure it's going off in a slow manner and drained properly so they don't create any more issues they've tried to correct. The Board mentioned that there's more of a safety concern if they move it behind the school. Chairman Brann rather have children out front on the side of the school so they can be better monitored. He suggested letting the gentlemen come in and do the grading and drainage in the current location and move from there. Mr. Latham believes that grading the existing decomposing mulch, adding the drain lines, adding the subbase of 6 inches for the stone under the rubber and adding the French drain by the existing concrete curbs mitigates a lot of the drainage issues seen. He stated that the Board could also consider saw cutting joints into the curb to allow some water to escape onto the asphalt if it does get full.
The Board mentioned that the total cost of the playground is around $448,000, so if they were to appropriate $200,000 they'd be approximately $121,000 shy of the total cost.
Mr. Latham stated that they can value engineer the equipment and design to meet a different budget if need be.
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Chairman Brann asked Mr. Latham to provide the Board with a site drawing showing how the equipment would be arranged if they were to invest $325,690.33. Mr. Latham confirmed that he would work on this and send it over to Dr. Leslie. Supervisor Harris asked if they could add on to the playground years down the road if they wanted to.
Mr. Latham confirmed that they could.
C. School Budget Appropriations Discussion
appropriation options.docx appropriation options implementation details.docx Dr. Pica presented her appropriation options to the Board and explained that the risk, in her opinion, is great for option two (semi-annual appropriations) because there is one point of failure and it is does fail, she wonders who is going to pick up the controls to make sure the County does not over appropriate. She believes there are more controls in option three (annual appropriations) and if the Board would like, they can apply the same controls to the annual appropriations as the semi-annual appropriations.
Dr. Pica created a new funding option during her presentation and informed the Board that they could appropriate the money in full and direct the County finance team to only do the deposits for the first half of the year. She explained that no other deposits would be made without the Board's permission.
Chairman Brann asked if this would still allow the school to be placed under categorical spending.
Dr. Pica confirmed yes that they would still be in categories.
The Board asked Dr. Pica to create a step by step proposal of the new funding option with the pros and cons.
D. Stantec Change Order Proposal School Well Project
Mr. Hardcastle, Maintenance Supervisor at the school, presented the change order proposal from Stantec for the school well project the Board. He explained that the cost is $25,320 and the County has already paid $12,290.38. The permit application fee is $9,000 and the County recently paid Capital City Services $2,916 to locate the utility lines.
Mr. Basye explained that the Board approved $22,632 of which the County has paid $12,290.38. Mr. Basye clarified that leaves $10,341.62 already earmarked to Stantec, and a total of approximately $84,452 remaining.
Mr. Hardcastle requested the Board move forward with $15,000 and approve the proposal.
Chairman Brann doesn't see an issue with moving forward, but requested an exact figure be presented for the record.
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Motion to approve the change order from Stantec as presented to include an increase of $2,688.00 to be set aside for Stantec utilizing funds earmarked for the school's well project. The Board previously approved $22,632.00 for Stantec to perform the well assessment and the change order presents a new total of $25,320.00.
Moved by: Keith Harris; seconded by: James Long
Aye: James Long, James Brann, Chip Williams, Al Fisher, and Keith Harris
Motion Carried 5-0
E. FY 27 Budget Update
Presentation FY27.pptx
County Administrator Tadlock presented the draft budget for fiscal year 2027 in the amount of $48,878,924 which includes initial requests submitted by the departments and an adjusted tax rate of 51 cents. The equalized tax rate due to the reassessment is $0.4721 (the rate that would bring in approximately the same amount of revenue).
Chairman Brann asked if the Commissioner has done any adjustment for this upcoming year in relation to the land use program.
Commissioner of Revenue Todd Thomas discussed the land use program and left it as is. He stated that he is in favor of land use to help the farmers and the County is consistent with Westmoreland.
Mr. Tadlock stated that the budget does include, on the County side, a 2% proposed salary increase and approximately a 2% increase in health insurance. The VRS multiplier increase is included for higher hazardous duty multiplier (1.7% to 1.85%). The current rate for VRS is 12.88% and the new biennium rate is 15.03%. If the Board moves forward with the higher multiplier for hazardous duty, the biennium rate will be 15.96%, an increase of approximately $60,184. Mr. Tadlock stated that the budget also included a 2% salary increase for the school division as well as the 4.5% health insurance increase.
Mr. Tadlock informed the Board that the undesignated fund balance did increase this year; the balance is approximately $7.7M. The budget does include options related to discussions with Davenport regarding revenue and continuing to build a solid fund balance. Mr. Tadlock explained that Davenport is willing to come back and discuss additional fund balance policies and procedures to the Board. One of the challenges the County is facing is that the state has not adopted its final budget yet.
Mr. Tadlock then provided an overview of the County's debt service and a proposed schedule for budget adoption.
Dr. Pica asked if the first page includes both the contingency and the reserve or just the lower amount for the reserve.
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County Administrator Tadlock stated that amount would just be going back to the undesignated general fund balance.
Dr. Pica stated that their discussions consisted of $1.8M and the chart only listed $838,000, so she wondered if the Board has already made a decision to not include both of the options she discussed. She suggested advertising a higher tax rate to collect more to add to both the contingency and the reserves. Dr. Pica stated the 51 cent tax rate doesn't give the Board the option of looking at anything more than a $700,000 deposit into the reserve and gives no option for a rainy day fund. She informed the Board that Davenport recommended 2% of the budget be added to the reserves and 2% of expenses be added to the contingency fund. Dr. Pica stated that there have already been cuts to the budget identified that can bring down the tax rate. She explained that she doesn't want her taxes going up either, but she's concerned about the amount the County has had to dip into the reserves the last few years which has also put the County in a position to borrow money. She stated that twice a year tax billing will help, but it's going to raise costs for the Treasurer's Office based on the budget that they currently have so that needs to be considered.
Mr. Tadlock ran numbers based on Dr. Pica's request and informed the Board that it would require a 57 cent tax rate to be advertised, but he would want to confirm the numbers before advertising as he did these numbers on the spot during the meeting.
Chairman Brann clarified that the budget total does not include the reserve fund as revenue this year, so there is no shortfall of $2M, it's just separate from the budget this year although it's been included in the past.
The Board asked Mr. Tadlock to confirm his numbers before they decide on advertising the 57 cent tax rate and discussed scheduling a work session to take action on advertising the tax rate.
Chairman Brann requested that a resolution be prepared and presented to Ms. Connie Livesay at the regular meeting on May 14, 2026. He also mentioned that the Gardy's Mill Pond hearing is on May 28, 2026 from 5:00-7:00p.m. at the Callao Volunteer Fire Department.
**Chairman Brann requested a 10-minute recess.
Assistant County Administrator Drew Basye explained that the Stantec change order was misunderstood, so instead of approving an increase of $2,688, Mr. Hardcastle is requesting that the Board consider approving an increase of $14,978.38 as the amount due to Stantec is $25,320. In addition, he asked for $9,000 for the DEQ permit for the well, so the total request is $23,987.38.
Motion to rescind the motion made approving the change order from Stantec as presented to include an increase of $2,688.00.
Moved by: Keith Harris; seconded by: Al Fisher
Aye: James Long, James Brann, Chip Williams, Al Fisher, and Keith Harris
Motion Carried 5-0
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Motion to approve the change order from Stantec as presented to include an increase of $14,978.38 and to approve $9,000.00 for the DEQ required permit. The total approved is $23,978.38 utilizing funds earmarked for the school's well project.
Moved by: Keith Harris; seconded by: Al Fisher
Aye: James Long, James Brann, Chip Williams, Al Fisher, and Keith Harris
Motion Carried 5-0
3. Items Related to Closed Meeting
A. Convene into Closed Meeting § 2.2-3711 A(1),(29)
Motion to Action: A. Convene into Closed Meeting: Convene into closed meeting as permitted by Virginia Code Section 2.2-3711 (A)(1),(29);1. Discussion, consideration, or interviews of prospective candidates for employment; assignment, appointment, promotion, performance, demotion, salaries, disciplining, or resignation of specific public officers, appointees, or employees of any public body; and evaluation of performance of departments or schools of public institutions of higher education where such evaluation will necessarily involve discussion of the performance of specific individuals. Any teacher shall be permitted to be present during a closed meeting in which there is a discussion or consideration of a disciplinary matter that involves the teacher and some student and the student involved in the matter is present, provided that the teacher makes a written request to be present to the presiding officer of the appropriate board. Nothing in this subdivision, however, shall be construed to authorize a closed meeting by a local governing body or an elected school board to discuss compensation matters that affect the membership of such body or board collectively.29. Discussion of the award of a public contract involving the expenditure of public funds, including interviews of bidders or offerors, and discussion of the terms or scope of such contract, where discussion in an open session would adversely affect the bargaining position or negotiating strategy of the public body.
Moved by: Chip Williams; seconded by: James Long
Aye: James Long, James Brann, Chip Williams, Al Fisher, and Keith Harris
Motion Carried 5-0
B. Reconvene into Open Meeting
Motion to reconvene into open session.
Moved by: Keith Harris; seconded by: Chip Williams
Motion Carried
C. Certification of Closed Meeting
Motion that the Northumberland Board of Supervisors return to Public Meeting and certify by roll call vote that only public business matters lawfully exempted from open meeting requirements by the Virginia Freedom of Information Act, and as were identified in the motion convening the closed meeting were heard, discussed or considered during the closed meeting. The vote on the motion was passed by a roll call vote as follows: Aye: Keith Harris, AC Fisher, Jr., James M. Long, James W. Brann, Charles H. Williams
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Moved by: Keith Harris; seconded by: James Long
Aye: James Long, James Brann, Chip Williams, Al Fisher, and Keith Harris
Motion Carried 5-0
4. Closing of Meeting
A. Adjournment
The Board scheduled a budget work session for Tuesday, May 12, 2026 at 5:30 p.m.
Motion to adjourn.
Moved by: Keith Harris; seconded by: Chip Williams
Motion Carried
Board Clerk - E. Luttrell Tadlock