The Accomack County Board of Supervisors voted to advertise public hearings for the fiscal year 2021 budget and the tax rate, after making changes to provide for the first year of costs associated with a regional public safety radio communications system.
No tax increase is needed this year to pay for the beginning stage of getting a new system, but a one penny hike will be needed next year.
The total cost for the system is around $6 million if multiple vendors are used — Accomack’s share is around $4 million and Northampton’s share is around $2 million.
That is less than the initial figures discussed when Mason introduced the budget earlier this month.
The cost for Accomack the first year is $100,000, which will go for consulting services, according to Accomack County Administrator Michael Mason.
The project is expected to take just over three years to complete.
Supervisor Donald L. Hart Jr. and Vice Chairman Ron Wolff met with two Northampton County board members on Feb. 12 to discuss the regional system.
Mason, who also was there, said, “At no time did I hear anyone advocate that the brakes be pumped on this.”
A consultant’s report found the current public safety communications system is lacking.
“Not only do you have issues down the road with even getting replacement parts,…you have a communication problem that today, in worst case, can result in loss of life,” Mason said at the Feb. 3 budget meeting.
The board rejected a request from the Accomack County Fire and Rescue Commission to allow volunteer fire companies to submit an audit to the county only every three years, rather than every year.
Doing an audit every year is a financial hardship on the companies, according to the request made by the commission.
Mason did not recommend changing to a three-year audit cycle for several reasons.
First, county policy requiring a yearly audit applies not only to fire companies but to all entities that receive $10,000 or more in county funds.
An annual audit is a deterrent to fraud, he said in an agenda note, noting that one of the reasons the policy was created was the embezzlement of more than $100,000 from the Onley Volunteer Fire and Rescue Company by a treasurer.
Supervisor Robert Crockett said he was opposed to the request, noting, “to have a good audit, it has to be every year.”
Volunteer fire companies receive between $128,000 and $140,000 annually from the county, he said, in addition to ambulance billing money where county-paid EMTs are stationed.
An audit costs them around $3,500 annually, he said.
The board took no action, keeping the policy requiring an annual audit in place.
The board approved a list of priorities for transportation projects in the county.
The Smart Scale application cycle for state highway department funding comes only every two years, and competition for funds is statewide.
First on the board’s list is widening and adding shoulders to Redwood Road, a project Supervisor Donald L. Hart Jr. has called for over the past 30 years.
Hart noted that the road serves three public schools, as well as businesses and residences.
Other supervisors spoke in support of Hart’s request to make Redwood Road the number one priority for the Smart Scale application, including Crockett, who said, “It’s not a good road.”
The board’s second priority is making Route 175, also called Chincoteague Road, from Route 13 to Atlantic Road into a four-lane, divided highway.
Third is making Route 175 from Route 13 to Atlantic Road into a three-lane road.
The fourth priority is crossover improvements on Route 13 in Onley or Market Street improvements.
The board voted last month to submit two different applications to the highway department for the improvements to Route 175, hoping that one will make the cut for funding in the statewide program. The board’s preferred option is the four-lane highway, according to the motion members approved. The three-lane option is less expensive and would add wide shoulders and a turn lane in some areas to the road.
The estimated cost of building the four-lane highway is $27.6 million, according to a preliminary study.
