BLACKSBURG -- Montgomery County supervisors used Saturday to take a long-term look at upcoming needs and projects, including expansions at the firehouse in Elliston and at the Christiansburg library, and reorganization of the layout and location of county offices.
In a five-hour session in a conference room at Warm Hearth Village, supervisors and senior county staff talked through a lengthy array of issues likely to require time - and money - in coming years.
"You're setting the framework," supervisors Chairwoman Mary Biggs told other officials.
Assistant County Administrator Scott Woodrum gave an update on projects already in progress, including a $13 million park project in Riner, scheduled to be finished in January; the $8 million construction of a magistrate and court services facility next to the courthouse in Christiansburg, to be finished in July; and $650,000 of outdoor improvements at the Blacksburg library, to be completed next month.
Woodrum outlined a proposal to renovate the Elliston firehouse, saying that planning still had a good ways to go. The goal is to expand the firehouse to accommodate not only volunteers and the county's first paid fire crew, but also emergency medical teams. Woodrum said that after everything is considered, it may turn out that the site is too small to hold all that would need to be there.
In May, the county paused development of a new EMS facility in Shawsville while Elliston options were explored in more detail. "We wanted to make sure we were going in the proper direction," County Administrator Angie Hill said Saturday.
"We're looking at either/or," Woodrum said of the two sites.
Years ago, the construction of a new fire station in Elliston instead of Shawsville drew a certain amount of discussion. Supervisor Steve Fijalkowski said Saturday that he thought there was less concern now about the location as long as emergency services are in place. Still, he noted, with growth, the county eventually will have to add another station somewhere.
Another in-process planning effort is a major expansion of the Christiansburg library that was studied in 2016 but never went beyond that. Biggs said that she was disappointed that the county didn't move on the earlier plan but agreed with staff that enough had changed that new plans should be drawn up.
Other supervisors agreed, with Anthony Grafsky saying, "I'm in support ... as long as we don't do what we did eight years ago, create a study and put it on the shelf."
Another topic Saturday was how to use a 2.4-acre, county-owned site on Cinnabar Road, next to the county animal shelter and formerly the site of a now-demolished county garage. One idea has been a corral for the large animals that the shelter sometimes handles, and also storage for parks and recreation equipment.
Biggs asked that any structures added to the property be in keeping with stone and timber look of the animal shelter. "I hate metal buildings that sit there and rust," Biggs said.
Supervisor Todd King quickly replied, "You get what you can afford," and Supervisor Derek Kitts agreed.
Another item on the possible projects list were restrooms and a storage building at the county's Old Town Fields facility in Shawsville. An initial estimate for the work's cost was $580,000.
Fijalkowski said he supported adding amenities to the site and praised the Eastmont Community Foundation, which manages Old Town Fields and puts on events there. He noted that Shawsville Middle School uses the site as well. Other supervisors said that while details still needed to be worked out, they supported the proposal as well.
Reconfiguration of the county Government Center, opened 22 years ago in a former garment factory in Christiansburg, is another area that needs attention, Hill said. This was not so much a construction project as a realignment of office space and possibly the move of some staff off-site.
Hill said that the Government Center's initial setup was designed with a 20-year perspective but government functions have shifted with departments needing more or less space. Piecemeal adjustments have left related areas, such as those dealing with new construction, in widely separated parts of the building.
"We're functioning but it's not ideal," Hill said.
A coordinated reorganization is taking shape, but department heads have not had a chance to weigh in, she said.
Hill said one possibility is moving some offices to a county-owned building at 201 Radford St. in Christiansburg. Supervisors said it is up to Hill, as county administrator, to figure out where to locate various offices - though if it came to buying or selling property, or major expenditures, they would have to authorize it.
Other topics Saturday included looks at whether the county should adopt the Virginia Property Maintenance Code to increase enforcement options for unsafe rental properties, and the state Fire Protection Code, which could allow more enforcement of various open burning rules.
On the Property Maintenance Code, Fijalkowski said he worried that when problems were found with rental units, some landlords would raise rents to cover repairs and some would simply no longer rent the property.
"It sounds like if we do adopt it, we're going to be putting a lot of people out on the street," Fijalkowski said.
Supervisor April DeMotts, who works in property management, said that it is always challenging to keep a balance between upkeep and affordability.
Supervisors said that as an immediate measure, they would consider dropping a $50 fee presently charged when a renter asks the county to review the condition of a rental property. In the past three years, there have been six such complaints filed, staff said.
On the Fire Prevention Code, county officials said that adopting it would create a county fire marshal who might have more authority to enforce restrictions on open burning. But supervisors said that they were not sure that the added expense of a marshal was justified at this point.
Mike Gangloff
(540) 381-1669
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