Hot on the heels of the Wireless Authority meeting, the Board of Supervisors opened their April 3, 2018 meeting at 8:42pm.
There was an amendment to the Agenda to remove Judy Hart, Commissioner of the Revenue, from the presentations planned.
Warren Veazey opened public comment with a brief summary of recent activities on the Dahlgren Railroad Heritage Trail (DRHT) [EDITOR'S NOTE - Neil Richard, a co-founder of Project94, is a member of the Friends of DRHT]. He said that even though it was winter, the trail hosted a half marathon in February with 129 runners and about 30 volunteers. He also shared that there was a Sheetz to Sheetz run in March with 17 runners and a local Boy Scout troop that hiked, biked, and camped on the trail. He said last weekend a group of 14 volunteers from the AEGIS Training and Readiness Center (ATRC) in Dahlgren came out to help clear and clean the trail.
John Jenkins opened his report by thanking Veazey for his comments and said it "proves that the trail is a positive impact on the community." Jenkins said he attended budget work sessions on March 26th and 27th and April 2nd. He said as a general comment the process has been pretty good and was the smoothest it's been since he's been on the Board. He said it wasn't perfect but it was a solid budget. He said the Board has an eye on the future with debt mitigation and that he's proud of securing our schools with School Resource Officers (SROs). He also thanked the citizens that served on the Citizen Budget Advisory Committee, especially Jeff Stonehill who accepted Jenkins' appointment.
Jeff Bueche opened his report by wishing everyone a Happy Easter season. He attended a Virginia Association of Counties (VACo) conference in Richmond on March 23rd and 24th and the budget work sessions on March 26th and 27th. He attended the local Emergency Management Committee meeting on March 29th where they discussed the recent wind storms and planned ahead for the spring storm season. Bueche attended the final budget work session on April 2nd and said that what he's learned from his first budget season is it's not a question of what's more important and that there's no right or wrong answer but that you can't fund everything. He also thanked the citizens for giving their own time, especially Neil Richard [EDITOR'S NOTE - Neil Richard is a co-founder of Project94.] from the James Monroe District. Bueche said he was glad that the debt was being addressed and that it's not just a line item anymore. He was also glad the Board was able to make two SROs happen and that while a third was still needed, two was better than none. He then went on to nominate Dixie Lee Washington to the Smoot Library Board of Trustees, who was approved. He also nominated for future Judicial reappointment Paul Tucker to the Board of Building and Fire Code Appeals and Steve Tarrell to the Board of Zoning Appeals. Both nominations were approved. Bueche closed with an update that T. C. Collins had resigned from the Landfill Advisory Committee and that anyone interested in serving should contact him.
Ruby Brabo's report was a mirror of her Service Authority Board of Directors report where she noted her participating in a conference call on March 21st with the Local Government Advisory Committee about the Chesapeake Bay Watershed. She said the local targets for the Watershed Implementation Plan are being set at the state level instead of the local level and that "communication with the state as these targets are set is going to be critical." She also participated in a conference call with the Governor on March 22nd about the upcoming state budget. On the 24th she taught the Social Media and Citizen Engagement portion of the Newly Elected Supervisors training session at the VACo conference. On the 26th and 27th she attended the budget work sessions and on the 28th she participated in the Regional Transportation Authority (RTA) meeting. She said she was happy to report the other localities involved in the RTA were eager to participate. On March 30th she attended the COMREL meeting and on April 2nd attended the final budget work session. She thanked the citizens for helping and thanked her counterparts on the School Board for working together.
Cathy Binder said she attended the budget work session on the 26th via phone and the 27th in person. She also attended the April 2nd budget work session and thanked the employees for their hard work and long hours put into making it happen. She also thanked the citizen advisors, including the one representing her district, Sherrie Allwine. She also attended the Newly Elected Supervisors training session at the VACo conference.
Richard Granger thanked Veazey for his comments on the DRHT. He said he also attended all of the budget work sessions and appreciated the citizens working on it as well as their commitment. He said the Board is addressing some of the concerns such as debt and safety and will continue to address them. On March 28th he attended the Rappahannock River Basin meeting where they got a report on the natural resources priorities. He said he was not surprised that they include clean air, clean water, and clean energy. He also said there was a push to leverage existing resources instead of building new attractions.
The Consent Agenda was approved without comment.
With Eric Gregory, County Attorney, being absent, his proxy had nothing to report.
Drew Williams from the Berkley Group then presented the King George County Trailways Study [this is the extended version; the shortened version was used for the presentation]. Williams said that while they began with the County's 2013 Comprehensive Plan they also tried to look beyond it. He said they were looking for a results-oriented plan and not one that sits on the shelf. He said it was oddly fitting that as he was working on the plan he read the article in The Free Lance-Star about the DRHT. Williams said his group held meetings with various employees and stakeholders in November 2017 and discussed some of the Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, and Threats (SWOT). During the presentation, Williams added a few comments about the Route 3 "diet" being a low cost solution and that the DRHT was the spine of any future bike and pedestrian network in the County. At one point, Williams made reference to paving the DRHT and Brabo interrupted and said she disagreed that a hard surfacing would be ideal. She said stone dust would allow for a permeable surface, something that is important in the Chesapeake Bay Watershed area. Williams commented that this could make commute times slower but Brabo again emphasized that stone dust would be cheaper than a hard surface and wouldn't have that much of a negative impact on cyclists.
Denise Nelson, also with the Berkley Group, then added to the presentation by going into the two phases that were envisioned. She said there would be a more immediate return on investment for the County in the Courthouse and Dahlgren areas. She said extending the DRHT to the Stafford County line would help as would shared road signage on secondary roads.
Williams then returned to finish up the presentation with the bad news for the evening, the cost. He said that any way you slice it, it's a challenge and it will cost money. Brabo chimed in that while it is a challenge, the County has never planned with VDOT in the past. She also commented that VDOT would pay 80% of the cost for bike lanes if the locality paid the remaining 20% but that King George has never asked for that nor planned for that.
Jenkins thanked the presenters for coming out and agreed that it would take a lot of work but had to disagree with one point. He said that while extending to Stafford would be great, the Owens Road area in Dahlgren was more important. He said he's heard many complaints from citizens that ride or walk through the area. Williams said priorities could be shifted as needed and that right now, the presentation was still a draft.
Next up was the request from Dr. Young for the Supervisors to approve advertising for a public hearing for tax equalization. He said with the newly reassessed property values, the County would earn extra income at the current real estate tax rate. Because that extra income was more than one percent, a public hearing was required. Young repeated his same three options from the budget work session earlier in the week. The County can equalize the tax rate down to 67 cents per $100 in assessed value, keep it at the current 70 cents, or choose to go with a number in between. He also reminded the Board that during initial discussions about equalization, he had asked for their patience and had asked for them to address the County's needs first before discussing equalization. Dr. Young said the current rate would allow the County to meet mandated items such as an updated comprehensive plan, health insurance increases, and Virginia Retirement System (VRS) rates. He said it would also allow the County to fund County raises and new positions that were needed as well as allow for two new School Resource Officers (SROs) at County elementary schools. One final highlight Young mentioned was the ability to reduce the County's debt, marking the first time the County has done so and potentially the first county in the state to do so. The Board approved the advertisement.
Wilma Ward, Department of Finance Director, came before the Board to ask for their approval in transferring funds to pay the contract for the modular units at Potomac Elementary School. This was approved without comment. She stayed at the podium to answer questions about the financial status update she had emailed. There were no questions.
Next was an open discussion among the Supervisors regarding a potential incentive plan for water connection fees. Dr. Young said that John Jenkins had raised the question and was looking for a way to incentivize small businesses by paying back part or all of their water connection fees after the business had reached certain revenue milestones or a certain time period. Jenkins added that he thought the tax revenue the business paid to the County would help offset the incentive payment. Dr. Young said he spoke with the County's financial advisors and there was no threat seen to the Service Authority or the County but that the County Attorney, Eric Gregory, had some concerns over who would be making the payment. Gregory suggested that the Economic Development Authority (EDA) may be a better vehicle in paying out the funds to the small business but that the County could pay a grant to the EDA.
Brabo commented that the EDA still owes the County a million dollars and that she was extremely hesitant to give them any more money. Jenkins said he hadn't suggested the EDA but things could certainly be discussed. Brabo also voiced concern over the existing Service Authority system being able to handle the increased load of more customers when the Service Authority was struggling sometimes to supply service now. Bueche said he liked the idea in principle but didn't want to extend the program to larger businesses. He also said that what a small business was would need to be defined. He said that an incentive plan could attract more small business to the area, especially to the future mixed use development area. Jenkins said small business can certainly be defined, there was just a lot of categories to look at. A date was set for a work session on April 24, 2018 at 6:30pm to further discuss the topic along with additional input from Ryan Gandy.
Dr. Young then began his report by saying the Rappahannock Area Community Services Board (RACSB) asked to have the Supervisors reappoint Beth Elikins. Brabo asked that the decision be tabled until the next meeting because she felt that the Supervisors were just reappointing people over and over again without taking a step back to see if anyone else would like to participate. She also noted that this was nothing against Mrs. Elikins. The Board agreed to table the appointment.
Next, Young said the Comprehensive Policy and Management Team (CPMT) asked the Supervisors to appoint Mollie Morris as an alternate. The Board approved.
There was no Closed Session so the meeting adjourned at 9:45pm.
Meeting Attendees:
John Jenkins (Board of Supervisors)
Jeff Bueche (Board of Supervisors)
Richard Granger (Chairman, Board of Supervisors)
Ruby Brabo (Board of Supervisors)
Cathy Binder (Board of Supervisors)
Neiman Young (County Administrator)
unnamed (proxy County Attorney)
Absent:
Eric Gregory (County Attorney)
Meeting Agenda
Next Meeting:
The Board of Supervisors will next meet on April 17, 2018 at 6:30 pm at the Revercomb Building.
Previous Meeting:
Read about the previous Board of Supervisors Meeting.
There was an amendment to the Agenda to remove Judy Hart, Commissioner of the Revenue, from the presentations planned.
Warren Veazey opened public comment with a brief summary of recent activities on the Dahlgren Railroad Heritage Trail (DRHT) [EDITOR'S NOTE - Neil Richard, a co-founder of Project94, is a member of the Friends of DRHT]. He said that even though it was winter, the trail hosted a half marathon in February with 129 runners and about 30 volunteers. He also shared that there was a Sheetz to Sheetz run in March with 17 runners and a local Boy Scout troop that hiked, biked, and camped on the trail. He said last weekend a group of 14 volunteers from the AEGIS Training and Readiness Center (ATRC) in Dahlgren came out to help clear and clean the trail.
John Jenkins opened his report by thanking Veazey for his comments and said it "proves that the trail is a positive impact on the community." Jenkins said he attended budget work sessions on March 26th and 27th and April 2nd. He said as a general comment the process has been pretty good and was the smoothest it's been since he's been on the Board. He said it wasn't perfect but it was a solid budget. He said the Board has an eye on the future with debt mitigation and that he's proud of securing our schools with School Resource Officers (SROs). He also thanked the citizens that served on the Citizen Budget Advisory Committee, especially Jeff Stonehill who accepted Jenkins' appointment.
Jeff Bueche opened his report by wishing everyone a Happy Easter season. He attended a Virginia Association of Counties (VACo) conference in Richmond on March 23rd and 24th and the budget work sessions on March 26th and 27th. He attended the local Emergency Management Committee meeting on March 29th where they discussed the recent wind storms and planned ahead for the spring storm season. Bueche attended the final budget work session on April 2nd and said that what he's learned from his first budget season is it's not a question of what's more important and that there's no right or wrong answer but that you can't fund everything. He also thanked the citizens for giving their own time, especially Neil Richard [EDITOR'S NOTE - Neil Richard is a co-founder of Project94.] from the James Monroe District. Bueche said he was glad that the debt was being addressed and that it's not just a line item anymore. He was also glad the Board was able to make two SROs happen and that while a third was still needed, two was better than none. He then went on to nominate Dixie Lee Washington to the Smoot Library Board of Trustees, who was approved. He also nominated for future Judicial reappointment Paul Tucker to the Board of Building and Fire Code Appeals and Steve Tarrell to the Board of Zoning Appeals. Both nominations were approved. Bueche closed with an update that T. C. Collins had resigned from the Landfill Advisory Committee and that anyone interested in serving should contact him.
Ruby Brabo's report was a mirror of her Service Authority Board of Directors report where she noted her participating in a conference call on March 21st with the Local Government Advisory Committee about the Chesapeake Bay Watershed. She said the local targets for the Watershed Implementation Plan are being set at the state level instead of the local level and that "communication with the state as these targets are set is going to be critical." She also participated in a conference call with the Governor on March 22nd about the upcoming state budget. On the 24th she taught the Social Media and Citizen Engagement portion of the Newly Elected Supervisors training session at the VACo conference. On the 26th and 27th she attended the budget work sessions and on the 28th she participated in the Regional Transportation Authority (RTA) meeting. She said she was happy to report the other localities involved in the RTA were eager to participate. On March 30th she attended the COMREL meeting and on April 2nd attended the final budget work session. She thanked the citizens for helping and thanked her counterparts on the School Board for working together.
Cathy Binder said she attended the budget work session on the 26th via phone and the 27th in person. She also attended the April 2nd budget work session and thanked the employees for their hard work and long hours put into making it happen. She also thanked the citizen advisors, including the one representing her district, Sherrie Allwine. She also attended the Newly Elected Supervisors training session at the VACo conference.
Richard Granger thanked Veazey for his comments on the DRHT. He said he also attended all of the budget work sessions and appreciated the citizens working on it as well as their commitment. He said the Board is addressing some of the concerns such as debt and safety and will continue to address them. On March 28th he attended the Rappahannock River Basin meeting where they got a report on the natural resources priorities. He said he was not surprised that they include clean air, clean water, and clean energy. He also said there was a push to leverage existing resources instead of building new attractions.
The Consent Agenda was approved without comment.
With Eric Gregory, County Attorney, being absent, his proxy had nothing to report.
Drew Williams from the Berkley Group then presented the King George County Trailways Study [this is the extended version; the shortened version was used for the presentation]. Williams said that while they began with the County's 2013 Comprehensive Plan they also tried to look beyond it. He said they were looking for a results-oriented plan and not one that sits on the shelf. He said it was oddly fitting that as he was working on the plan he read the article in The Free Lance-Star about the DRHT. Williams said his group held meetings with various employees and stakeholders in November 2017 and discussed some of the Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, and Threats (SWOT). During the presentation, Williams added a few comments about the Route 3 "diet" being a low cost solution and that the DRHT was the spine of any future bike and pedestrian network in the County. At one point, Williams made reference to paving the DRHT and Brabo interrupted and said she disagreed that a hard surfacing would be ideal. She said stone dust would allow for a permeable surface, something that is important in the Chesapeake Bay Watershed area. Williams commented that this could make commute times slower but Brabo again emphasized that stone dust would be cheaper than a hard surface and wouldn't have that much of a negative impact on cyclists.
Denise Nelson, also with the Berkley Group, then added to the presentation by going into the two phases that were envisioned. She said there would be a more immediate return on investment for the County in the Courthouse and Dahlgren areas. She said extending the DRHT to the Stafford County line would help as would shared road signage on secondary roads.
Williams then returned to finish up the presentation with the bad news for the evening, the cost. He said that any way you slice it, it's a challenge and it will cost money. Brabo chimed in that while it is a challenge, the County has never planned with VDOT in the past. She also commented that VDOT would pay 80% of the cost for bike lanes if the locality paid the remaining 20% but that King George has never asked for that nor planned for that.
Jenkins thanked the presenters for coming out and agreed that it would take a lot of work but had to disagree with one point. He said that while extending to Stafford would be great, the Owens Road area in Dahlgren was more important. He said he's heard many complaints from citizens that ride or walk through the area. Williams said priorities could be shifted as needed and that right now, the presentation was still a draft.
Next up was the request from Dr. Young for the Supervisors to approve advertising for a public hearing for tax equalization. He said with the newly reassessed property values, the County would earn extra income at the current real estate tax rate. Because that extra income was more than one percent, a public hearing was required. Young repeated his same three options from the budget work session earlier in the week. The County can equalize the tax rate down to 67 cents per $100 in assessed value, keep it at the current 70 cents, or choose to go with a number in between. He also reminded the Board that during initial discussions about equalization, he had asked for their patience and had asked for them to address the County's needs first before discussing equalization. Dr. Young said the current rate would allow the County to meet mandated items such as an updated comprehensive plan, health insurance increases, and Virginia Retirement System (VRS) rates. He said it would also allow the County to fund County raises and new positions that were needed as well as allow for two new School Resource Officers (SROs) at County elementary schools. One final highlight Young mentioned was the ability to reduce the County's debt, marking the first time the County has done so and potentially the first county in the state to do so. The Board approved the advertisement.
Wilma Ward, Department of Finance Director, came before the Board to ask for their approval in transferring funds to pay the contract for the modular units at Potomac Elementary School. This was approved without comment. She stayed at the podium to answer questions about the financial status update she had emailed. There were no questions.
Next was an open discussion among the Supervisors regarding a potential incentive plan for water connection fees. Dr. Young said that John Jenkins had raised the question and was looking for a way to incentivize small businesses by paying back part or all of their water connection fees after the business had reached certain revenue milestones or a certain time period. Jenkins added that he thought the tax revenue the business paid to the County would help offset the incentive payment. Dr. Young said he spoke with the County's financial advisors and there was no threat seen to the Service Authority or the County but that the County Attorney, Eric Gregory, had some concerns over who would be making the payment. Gregory suggested that the Economic Development Authority (EDA) may be a better vehicle in paying out the funds to the small business but that the County could pay a grant to the EDA.
Brabo commented that the EDA still owes the County a million dollars and that she was extremely hesitant to give them any more money. Jenkins said he hadn't suggested the EDA but things could certainly be discussed. Brabo also voiced concern over the existing Service Authority system being able to handle the increased load of more customers when the Service Authority was struggling sometimes to supply service now. Bueche said he liked the idea in principle but didn't want to extend the program to larger businesses. He also said that what a small business was would need to be defined. He said that an incentive plan could attract more small business to the area, especially to the future mixed use development area. Jenkins said small business can certainly be defined, there was just a lot of categories to look at. A date was set for a work session on April 24, 2018 at 6:30pm to further discuss the topic along with additional input from Ryan Gandy.
Dr. Young then began his report by saying the Rappahannock Area Community Services Board (RACSB) asked to have the Supervisors reappoint Beth Elikins. Brabo asked that the decision be tabled until the next meeting because she felt that the Supervisors were just reappointing people over and over again without taking a step back to see if anyone else would like to participate. She also noted that this was nothing against Mrs. Elikins. The Board agreed to table the appointment.
Next, Young said the Comprehensive Policy and Management Team (CPMT) asked the Supervisors to appoint Mollie Morris as an alternate. The Board approved.
There was no Closed Session so the meeting adjourned at 9:45pm.
Meeting Attendees:
John Jenkins (Board of Supervisors)
Jeff Bueche (Board of Supervisors)
Richard Granger (Chairman, Board of Supervisors)
Ruby Brabo (Board of Supervisors)
Cathy Binder (Board of Supervisors)
Neiman Young (County Administrator)
unnamed (proxy County Attorney)
Absent:
Eric Gregory (County Attorney)
Meeting Agenda
Next Meeting:
The Board of Supervisors will next meet on April 17, 2018 at 6:30 pm at the Revercomb Building.
Previous Meeting:
Read about the previous Board of Supervisors Meeting.
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