The King George County Service Authority Board of Directors began their meeting with the normal call to order, brief invocation, and recital of the Pledge of Allegiance. The Board then made a sharp deviation from the normal agenda by going into Closed Session at 6:36pm. In addition to the Board of Directors and General Manager, John Jenkins and Jeff Bueche were invited along with Dr. Neiman Young, County Administrator, and Eric Gregory, County Attorney. Jenkins wasn't present at the time but arrived a few minutes later. Bueche, Jenkins, and Chris Thomas, General Manager, left the Closed Session at 6:57pm.
The Board returned from Closed Session at 7:23pm. Prior to opening the floor for Public Comment, the Board announced that Chris Thomas, General Manager, had submitted his resignation. The Board unanimously accepted his resignation. It will take affect on July 5, 2018.
Ruby Brabo then made a motion to censure Chris Werle, Chairman. The motion was seconded by Cathy Binder and again approved unanimously with Werle abstaining from the vote. Werle did make a brief comment that he accepted the Board's decision and strives to not repeat his past actions in the future.
There were no amendments to the Agenda.
Public Comment began with Renee Parker speaking from the podium. She said she came to the meeting hoping that Thomas and Werle were no longer going to be in place and knows that she's not alone with this feeling. She said there is an accountability to make decisions by being on the Board. She said if it were simply a financial decision based on DEQ fines that would be one thing but this was more than that as it's the "health and well being of the County" that uses the water sources. Parker said she applauds the Board for removing Thomas but finds it disturbing that the removal of Werle has not happened. She said they nominated him as a Board member and need to hold him accountable.
Jean Fraysse was next to speak at the podium. She said she's a long time resident of King George and supports the Board's decision to keep Werle. She said he's put a lot of personal time into working on the Board and it sounds like the Board will work more closely with him in the future. She also said she knows she's not alone with this feeling.
Mike Bennett then read a letter from Howard Yarus. Mr. Yarus' letter stated that the article by Cathy Dyson regarding the the Service Authority was embarrassing. He said that "the Board of Supervisors are responsible" for the inadequacies of the Service Authority and DEQ fines and asked to bring the sewer and water systems under the control of County Administration.
Ruby Brabo then read a letter from Kym Shymansky. Shymansky said that Chris Thomas and Chris Werle have "lied, deceived, intimidated, belittled, slandered and insulted many of your constituents." She said she and her husband now face misdemeanor charges and have been forced to evict his parents from their home. She went on to say that Werle and Thomas have made inappropriate comments over the years and have mistreated and harassed her and her husband. She said the "recent discovery regarding the DEQ violations further proves they lack credibility." She closed by saying both Thomas and Werle should be removed. She asked the Board to lead by example and with integrity.
Bennett then read another letter, this one from Yvonne Richard [EDITOR'S NOTE - Neil Richard, a co-founder of Project94, is the spouse of Yvonne Richard.] Though longer than the other letters that were read, Bennett was able to finish reading it without going too much beyond the suggested three minute time limit. In her letter, she again called for the removal of Mr. Werle and Mr. Thomas. She said after reading recent news articles, she has even more concerns over the current Service Authority leadership. She said Thomas' choice to not answer DEQ emails was unacceptable and his disregard in notifying the Board should be grounds for his termination. Richard said she was also disappointed in Werle's behavior and wondered how the Board could trust his statements going forward "when for the last year he has known so much, but shared so little." She then said that some in the community have questioned her qualifications to make these suggestions because of her gender or occupation. She said that being a Service Authority customer and having attended all of the recent Service Authority budget work sessions should qualify her enough. She also said she has been harassed because she asked for the Service Authority to test the water in Eden Estates in 2016. She said she has been treated as a second-class citizen by the Service Authority since then and all of her concerns have been dismissed, including those raised at a Town Hall in February of 2018. She said she "made several suggestions about ways in which to improve the public image of the Service Authority" but no action has been taken. She closed by saying that she understood serving on a Board may require hard decisions but the citizens were counting on them to make the right ones. Richard said a failure to act by the Board was in effect a sign of support for Thomas' and Werle's actions.It was clear that both prior to Public Comment and afterwards, those in the audience and speaking via written letters had no idea the actions the Board was going to take. In fact, when the Board immediately went into Closed Session before Public Comment, there were a few confused comments from the audience of roughly 25 people.
With Public Comment concluded, the Board began their reports.
Mike Bennett reported that on May 30th, he assisted with a group of National Association of Counties (NACo) staff that were visiting King George. He gave them a tour of Fairview Beach and spoke about the erosion control grant before getting lunch at Tim's II. He said the group of about 30 individuals were looking at economic development and various other successes and challenges faced by rural communities.
Richard Granger had no report.
Ruby Brabo said she also attended the NACo visit and also said that the grant for Fairview Beach took a long time and it would not have happened without Chris Werle's help.
Cathy Binder had no report.
Chris Werle began his report by saying he attended a COMREL meeting on May 23rd. He said he spoke to the Dahlgren representative at the meeting and discussed the potential for an inter-agency support agreement that would help both groups reduce costs on chemical supplies as well as support during emergencies. He said he hoped to schedule a joint meeting in the near future. The same day, Werle said he watched as Service Authority technicians made repairs to a broken transducer at the Hopyard Farms Waste Water Treatment Plant.
Werle then responded to many points in the recent article by Cathy Dyson that he felt were incorrect or incomplete. He said the article gives the impression that when Virginia Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ) notified him of the lack of communication from Chris Thomas, that Werle did nothing. He said this was not the case and that upon learning of the issue, he discussed with Thomas at length that "he could not just stop responding" and suggested he do so immediately. He said in the past 11 months, there have been "no further notices of non-responsiveness." Werle said he has talked to DEQ and explained what was done and felt his response to the Board was adequate but in hindsight, he should have told the Board everything.
He went on to clarify that while Mike Bennett's response to Cathy Dyson was a joint response, Werle was not part of that joint response. Werle said he and Bennett agreed that Werle's response should be separate from the joint response from the Board of Directors. Werle then clarified that the burst sewer main mentioned in the article was in fact a lateral and fell under the responsibility of the property owner to notify DEQ and clean up. He said that despite this, Thomas mobilized his staff and cleaned up the spill. Werle said he felt Thomas' failure to mention this at a Board meeting was a minor oversight at worst. He continued his statement by saying that while it is true that too much Nitrogen can kill fish in the water, the amounts released in the past were not at the levels that would cause harm to plants, animals, or humans. He said that in fact the rate of chemicals being released was so low that the Service Authority has earned nutrient credits. Werle concluded his statement by saying he felt that the outgoing Chairman should meet with the incoming Chairman as well as the County Attorney and County Administrator to discuss any outstanding issues or unilateral actions that can be taken. He also suggested that at the first meeting of the year, the Board should compile a full list of routine and emergency action items, that way the full Board is aware of all the issues for the coming year.
The Consent Agenda was approved.
The County Attorney, Eric Gregory, had no report.
Next on the Agenda was the adoption and appropriation of the Service Authority's FY2018-2019 Operating and Capital Budgets. Both were approved. Next was the approval and adoption of the amended Service Authority Regulations. The amendment was to clarify the rules around the unauthorized use charges and meter tampering charges. Chris Werle added a few comments about how this had been discussed at a previous Public Hearing and that the suggestions given were incorporated into the newly revised amendment. The Board approved the new changes. Mike Bennett then added for the benefit of those in the audience that the comments from the public were important enough to warrant a second look at the amendment and helped further define some of the language. He added that he wanted to let everyone know that the Board did listen and made changes accordingly. Next was the authorization to allow the County Administrator to approve payment of the July warrants. This was done because the Board will not meet during July. It was approved.
A discussion item was next on the Agenda to look into how to deal with the potential for lengthy closed sessions at Service Authority meetings. Werle said it appeared through early discussions that the only viable alternative was to delay the start of the Board of Supervisor meeting but he said he learned that it may cause issues with that Board. He felt that it would be best to delay any decision but to still keep it on the table for discussion. Ruby Brabo said maybe informally telling the public that the closed sessions would be first and therefore allow them to better figure out when to come to the meetings. Werle said he hoped that the sessions would be shorted in the future and Bennett apologized to the audience for how long it takes but that it was necessary. Brabo said that in the past, Service Authority meetings were very short and some citizens wondered how it was possible to even conduct business in such a short amount of time. She said maybe the meetings were longer now because the Board is actually taking care of business.
Chris Thomas, General Manager, was next and began his report with a follow-up of the pending lease agreement with KGI Communications. He said everything has been agreed upon but they were just waiting for the details on how the equipment was going to be installed on both towers. He expected to have that information shortly. His other update was regarding another lease, this time with Sprint, that was resurrected from the past. He said they have resubmitted paperwork to use the tower in Monmouth and have tentatively agreed upon a payment of $2,500 per month. He said he thought it would come forward for approval soon.
Brabo asked how long the contract was for and Thomas said it should be the same as the KGI contract.
Bennett then made a brief statement before the Board adjourned saying that as the newest member of the Board, along with Binder, that he may not know all the rules. He wanted to clarify that he was appointed and not elected and wanted to respond to those asking for Werle's removal. He said the Board has had some issues and that it's been more difficult than imagined. He said Werle has made mistakes and admitted to those mistakes and will do things differently going forward. Bennett said that the question for him was what is best for the Service Authority. He said for him, personally, it was best to keep Werle on the Board. With his negotiations with DEQ and ability to give more time than other Board members, Werle was an asset. Bennett said he has heard the complaints but disagrees.
The meeting adjourned at 7:58pm.
Meeting Attendees:
Christopher Werle (Chairman, Board of Directors)
Christopher Thomas (General Manager of Service Authority)
Richard Granger (Board of Supervisors)
Michael Bennett (Citizen)
Ruby Brabo (Board of Supervisors)
Cathy Binder (Board of Supervisors)
Neiman Young (County Administrator)
Eric Gregory (County Attorney)
Meeting Agenda
Next Meeting:
The Service Authority will next meet on June 19, 2018 at 6:30 pm at the Revercomb Building.
Previous Meeting:
Read about the previous Service Authority Meeting.
The Board returned from Closed Session at 7:23pm. Prior to opening the floor for Public Comment, the Board announced that Chris Thomas, General Manager, had submitted his resignation. The Board unanimously accepted his resignation. It will take affect on July 5, 2018.
Ruby Brabo then made a motion to censure Chris Werle, Chairman. The motion was seconded by Cathy Binder and again approved unanimously with Werle abstaining from the vote. Werle did make a brief comment that he accepted the Board's decision and strives to not repeat his past actions in the future.
There were no amendments to the Agenda.
Public Comment began with Renee Parker speaking from the podium. She said she came to the meeting hoping that Thomas and Werle were no longer going to be in place and knows that she's not alone with this feeling. She said there is an accountability to make decisions by being on the Board. She said if it were simply a financial decision based on DEQ fines that would be one thing but this was more than that as it's the "health and well being of the County" that uses the water sources. Parker said she applauds the Board for removing Thomas but finds it disturbing that the removal of Werle has not happened. She said they nominated him as a Board member and need to hold him accountable.
Jean Fraysse was next to speak at the podium. She said she's a long time resident of King George and supports the Board's decision to keep Werle. She said he's put a lot of personal time into working on the Board and it sounds like the Board will work more closely with him in the future. She also said she knows she's not alone with this feeling.
Mike Bennett then read a letter from Howard Yarus. Mr. Yarus' letter stated that the article by Cathy Dyson regarding the the Service Authority was embarrassing. He said that "the Board of Supervisors are responsible" for the inadequacies of the Service Authority and DEQ fines and asked to bring the sewer and water systems under the control of County Administration.
Ruby Brabo then read a letter from Kym Shymansky. Shymansky said that Chris Thomas and Chris Werle have "lied, deceived, intimidated, belittled, slandered and insulted many of your constituents." She said she and her husband now face misdemeanor charges and have been forced to evict his parents from their home. She went on to say that Werle and Thomas have made inappropriate comments over the years and have mistreated and harassed her and her husband. She said the "recent discovery regarding the DEQ violations further proves they lack credibility." She closed by saying both Thomas and Werle should be removed. She asked the Board to lead by example and with integrity.
Bennett then read another letter, this one from Yvonne Richard [EDITOR'S NOTE - Neil Richard, a co-founder of Project94, is the spouse of Yvonne Richard.] Though longer than the other letters that were read, Bennett was able to finish reading it without going too much beyond the suggested three minute time limit. In her letter, she again called for the removal of Mr. Werle and Mr. Thomas. She said after reading recent news articles, she has even more concerns over the current Service Authority leadership. She said Thomas' choice to not answer DEQ emails was unacceptable and his disregard in notifying the Board should be grounds for his termination. Richard said she was also disappointed in Werle's behavior and wondered how the Board could trust his statements going forward "when for the last year he has known so much, but shared so little." She then said that some in the community have questioned her qualifications to make these suggestions because of her gender or occupation. She said that being a Service Authority customer and having attended all of the recent Service Authority budget work sessions should qualify her enough. She also said she has been harassed because she asked for the Service Authority to test the water in Eden Estates in 2016. She said she has been treated as a second-class citizen by the Service Authority since then and all of her concerns have been dismissed, including those raised at a Town Hall in February of 2018. She said she "made several suggestions about ways in which to improve the public image of the Service Authority" but no action has been taken. She closed by saying that she understood serving on a Board may require hard decisions but the citizens were counting on them to make the right ones. Richard said a failure to act by the Board was in effect a sign of support for Thomas' and Werle's actions.It was clear that both prior to Public Comment and afterwards, those in the audience and speaking via written letters had no idea the actions the Board was going to take. In fact, when the Board immediately went into Closed Session before Public Comment, there were a few confused comments from the audience of roughly 25 people.
With Public Comment concluded, the Board began their reports.
Mike Bennett reported that on May 30th, he assisted with a group of National Association of Counties (NACo) staff that were visiting King George. He gave them a tour of Fairview Beach and spoke about the erosion control grant before getting lunch at Tim's II. He said the group of about 30 individuals were looking at economic development and various other successes and challenges faced by rural communities.
Richard Granger had no report.
Ruby Brabo said she also attended the NACo visit and also said that the grant for Fairview Beach took a long time and it would not have happened without Chris Werle's help.
Cathy Binder had no report.
Chris Werle began his report by saying he attended a COMREL meeting on May 23rd. He said he spoke to the Dahlgren representative at the meeting and discussed the potential for an inter-agency support agreement that would help both groups reduce costs on chemical supplies as well as support during emergencies. He said he hoped to schedule a joint meeting in the near future. The same day, Werle said he watched as Service Authority technicians made repairs to a broken transducer at the Hopyard Farms Waste Water Treatment Plant.
Werle then responded to many points in the recent article by Cathy Dyson that he felt were incorrect or incomplete. He said the article gives the impression that when Virginia Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ) notified him of the lack of communication from Chris Thomas, that Werle did nothing. He said this was not the case and that upon learning of the issue, he discussed with Thomas at length that "he could not just stop responding" and suggested he do so immediately. He said in the past 11 months, there have been "no further notices of non-responsiveness." Werle said he has talked to DEQ and explained what was done and felt his response to the Board was adequate but in hindsight, he should have told the Board everything.
He went on to clarify that while Mike Bennett's response to Cathy Dyson was a joint response, Werle was not part of that joint response. Werle said he and Bennett agreed that Werle's response should be separate from the joint response from the Board of Directors. Werle then clarified that the burst sewer main mentioned in the article was in fact a lateral and fell under the responsibility of the property owner to notify DEQ and clean up. He said that despite this, Thomas mobilized his staff and cleaned up the spill. Werle said he felt Thomas' failure to mention this at a Board meeting was a minor oversight at worst. He continued his statement by saying that while it is true that too much Nitrogen can kill fish in the water, the amounts released in the past were not at the levels that would cause harm to plants, animals, or humans. He said that in fact the rate of chemicals being released was so low that the Service Authority has earned nutrient credits. Werle concluded his statement by saying he felt that the outgoing Chairman should meet with the incoming Chairman as well as the County Attorney and County Administrator to discuss any outstanding issues or unilateral actions that can be taken. He also suggested that at the first meeting of the year, the Board should compile a full list of routine and emergency action items, that way the full Board is aware of all the issues for the coming year.
The Consent Agenda was approved.
The County Attorney, Eric Gregory, had no report.
Next on the Agenda was the adoption and appropriation of the Service Authority's FY2018-2019 Operating and Capital Budgets. Both were approved. Next was the approval and adoption of the amended Service Authority Regulations. The amendment was to clarify the rules around the unauthorized use charges and meter tampering charges. Chris Werle added a few comments about how this had been discussed at a previous Public Hearing and that the suggestions given were incorporated into the newly revised amendment. The Board approved the new changes. Mike Bennett then added for the benefit of those in the audience that the comments from the public were important enough to warrant a second look at the amendment and helped further define some of the language. He added that he wanted to let everyone know that the Board did listen and made changes accordingly. Next was the authorization to allow the County Administrator to approve payment of the July warrants. This was done because the Board will not meet during July. It was approved.
A discussion item was next on the Agenda to look into how to deal with the potential for lengthy closed sessions at Service Authority meetings. Werle said it appeared through early discussions that the only viable alternative was to delay the start of the Board of Supervisor meeting but he said he learned that it may cause issues with that Board. He felt that it would be best to delay any decision but to still keep it on the table for discussion. Ruby Brabo said maybe informally telling the public that the closed sessions would be first and therefore allow them to better figure out when to come to the meetings. Werle said he hoped that the sessions would be shorted in the future and Bennett apologized to the audience for how long it takes but that it was necessary. Brabo said that in the past, Service Authority meetings were very short and some citizens wondered how it was possible to even conduct business in such a short amount of time. She said maybe the meetings were longer now because the Board is actually taking care of business.
Chris Thomas, General Manager, was next and began his report with a follow-up of the pending lease agreement with KGI Communications. He said everything has been agreed upon but they were just waiting for the details on how the equipment was going to be installed on both towers. He expected to have that information shortly. His other update was regarding another lease, this time with Sprint, that was resurrected from the past. He said they have resubmitted paperwork to use the tower in Monmouth and have tentatively agreed upon a payment of $2,500 per month. He said he thought it would come forward for approval soon.
Brabo asked how long the contract was for and Thomas said it should be the same as the KGI contract.
Bennett then made a brief statement before the Board adjourned saying that as the newest member of the Board, along with Binder, that he may not know all the rules. He wanted to clarify that he was appointed and not elected and wanted to respond to those asking for Werle's removal. He said the Board has had some issues and that it's been more difficult than imagined. He said Werle has made mistakes and admitted to those mistakes and will do things differently going forward. Bennett said that the question for him was what is best for the Service Authority. He said for him, personally, it was best to keep Werle on the Board. With his negotiations with DEQ and ability to give more time than other Board members, Werle was an asset. Bennett said he has heard the complaints but disagrees.
The meeting adjourned at 7:58pm.
Meeting Attendees:
Christopher Werle (Chairman, Board of Directors)
Christopher Thomas (General Manager of Service Authority)
Richard Granger (Board of Supervisors)
Michael Bennett (Citizen)
Ruby Brabo (Board of Supervisors)
Cathy Binder (Board of Supervisors)
Neiman Young (County Administrator)
Eric Gregory (County Attorney)
Meeting Agenda
Next Meeting:
The Service Authority will next meet on June 19, 2018 at 6:30 pm at the Revercomb Building.
Previous Meeting:
Read about the previous Service Authority Meeting.
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