Board considers finances, departmental needs in midst of ongoing pandemic emergency response

The Warren County Board of Supervisors navigated its way through a variety of requests for approval of financial dispersals, some routine, some a consequence of the current COVID-19 pandemic and emergency response, and others somewhere in between.

At the in-between mark seemed to be Commonwealth’s Attorney John Bell’s request for approval of $37,064 for “case management software” that would help expedite his staff’s ability to deal with a variety of caseload responsibilities. Those include some anticipated from current pandemic response delays on court proceedings, increased staff working from home restrictions, and State Supreme Court-level changes to Discovery order responses he said would “increase drastically” prosecutors’ office workloads.

Commonwealth Attorney John Bell. File photo.

Bell said the software would allow his staff to “do in minutes, rather than the massive amounts of time it now takes” the background work that precedes courtroom appearances.

“Now once the judicial emergency is over, it’s going to fall on us like a ton of bricks,” Bell told the supervisors of the eventual end of COVID-19 slowdowns on the judicial process, adding, “and if we have the appropriate technology we can handle this much, much better than we would be able to do with our current system.”

While he admitted the software package was “not cheap”, he added that it wasn’t the most expensive of its type available either. And most encouragingly for a board facing still-unknown revenue consequences of the COVID-19 (Coronavirus Disease-2019) pandemic and emergency management response, Bell said he was fairly confident he would be able to cover the total expense of the software from State Comp Board revenues available to his office. He had already been able to transfer $10,000 from Comp Board funds and said he had received an indication that the remainder would be able to be transferred from his office’s “vacancy salaries” allotment.

So, what he was seeking from the supervisors Tuesday was authorization for the purchase to allow training on the new software to begin, in the full expectation that any County revenue utilized would be fully refunded.

On a motion by Archie Fox, seconded by Cheryl Cullers, the board unanimously approved the request.

Other budgetary requests came from the Department of Social Services in the amount of $12,000 to facilitate the continuation of the homeless thermal shelter program through the COVID-19 response; authorization of appropriation of an additional $534,370 in state funding county public schools were found eligible for – the money will be used for textbook purchases in the current budget, and approval of $57,628 to the Sheriff’s Office for an updated call/radio recorder for the 911 emergency communications call center. The current system was described as outdated to current emergency response needs.

Thermal shelter cots. File photo.

All requests were unanimously approved on roll-call votes requested by the chair due to the remote link-up of two board members.

About that bug
As with the commonwealth attorney’s office funding request somewhere between COVID-19 response recommendations and elsewhere, seemed to be where the supervisors were as they fielded a three-person board quorum (Mabe, Cullers, Fox) in the caucus room adjacent to the Warren County Government Center’s (WCGC) main meeting room, with two members (Carter, Oates) present by phone hook-up. Also physically present were County Administrator Doug Stanley, Deputy County Administrator Bob Childress, and Board Clerk Emily Ciarrocchi.

Earlier in the week during a discussion of the advisability of media presence on Tuesday morning, April 7 meeting, County Attorney Jason Ham said his advice was that the minimum amount of people necessary to chair, present and broadcast the meeting be physically present for Tuesday’s meeting.

In fact, during his report to the board by remote connection, the Harrisonburg-based Ham reiterated the importance of social distancing and work at a distance as the nation, Virginia and localities approach what has been described by U.S. Surgeon General Jerome Adams as a “Pearl Harbor moment, our 9/11 moment” regarding a potential spike in the spread of the COVID-19 Coronavirus pandemic that recently surpassed a thousand fatalities a day in the U.S.

“Hello all, I’m sorry not to be here; but it’s the best thing, I think, for all of us in these difficult times,” Ham told his County colleagues before briefing them on federal legislation that could impact the county government and its employees were they to be impacted with COVID-19 symptoms. That includes up to two weeks of fully paid leave if employees contract symptoms or were diagnosed with COVID-19.

While not recommending its enactment at this point, Ham referenced a letter to the board concerning a state code section 15.2-1200 on the “General Power of Counties to Adopt Quarantine regulations”.

“I just want you to know all the tools you have in your toolbox to try to fight this,” Ham said, noting about 3,000 COVID-19 cases in Virginia, including another 1,000 in the D.C. area 70 miles to our east, which he noted pandemic-wise is “right in our backyard.” Thus far six cases of Warren County residents have been confirmed.

Ham observed that his legal firm had been split into two teams, “So one side never sees the other and we work from home on the other days. So, I encourage everyone to be safe, and will answer any question,” of which none were forthcoming.

The Supervisors adjourned to closed session at 10:45 a.m. to discuss the EDA’s $21.3-million civil litigation against Jennifer McDonald and 14 co-defendants, as well as the Town of Front Royal’s amended $20-million-plus civil litigation against the EDA, and the appointment of a replacement for resigned EDA Board of Directors member Mark Baker. No action was taken following the closed session.

Following that closed session’s adjournment at 12:45 p.m. and a 10-minute break, the board was led through a budget work session which adjourned at 1:37 p.m. Much of that 42-minute work session featured discussion of unknown variables on the County’s tax revenues due to the COVID-19 state and local emergency declarations and the unknown duration that restrictions on travel and business openings might continue.

County Administrator Stanley led the discussion and was joined by two former County Finance Directors, Carolyn Stimmel, who has been helping with the EDA’s preparation for its 2018 and 2019 audits, and her successor, now also employed elsewhere, Andre Fletcher.

With the budget public hearing scheduled for next week, the board reviewed the process by which the public may comment remotely. That process is to submit comments in advance of the 7 p.m., April 14 meeting to board Clerk Ciarrocchi. Further information is available on the County website or by calling the County Administration number.