by Neil Richard
The King George County Board of Supervisors met with the Citizen Budget Advisory Committee On September 11, 2018. Unfortunately, I was the only Committee member to show. I would guess the rest of the Committee thought the last meeting was the end. Thankfully, those that presented to the Board all had solid cases for their future improvement projects with data and personal stories to prove their needs.
The meeting began with a brief detour from the planned Agenda when Dr. Neiman Young, County Administrator asked the Board to consider declaring a local state of emergency. There was some discussion as to if it needed to be done now and what the implications were for such a declaration. Dr. Young said that he could declare a local emergency without Board approval but preferred that the Supervisors make the decision since they were already in a meeting together. As for what it meant to the residents of King George, Young said it gave him some extra purchasing power for equipment as well as the ability to determine what staff was necessary to have on duty but that he would still need to answer for his actions to the Board within 15 days. With the Supervisors planning to meet at a regular Board meeting on the 18th, they felt comfortable with voting to declare a local emergency.
Dr. Young then went into the meat of the meeting by giving an overview of the topics for the evening. Each department with a Capital Improvement Program (CIP) project was there to present why there was a need, how much it was projected to cost, and what the planned timeline was for the project. Young said each department head had already presented their requests to the Planning Commission and the Finance Department. Both groups ranked the severity or level of need for each project and it was now time for the Board to hear the same presentation.
The first presentation was the proverbial elephant in the room; the Courthouse. Each of the seven individuals that spoke on the topic were in favor of a new building for the Courthouse. Three judges spoke about the need for increased security for themselves, witnesses, jury members, and attorneys. One Judge said he sentenced a man to prison and when he left the Courthouse, the man's wife was smoking a cigarette next to his car. He said while there was no incident that occurred that day, he worried that something could happen in the future. Another Judge said that when he started working in King George, he found mold growing on the law books in his office. There were also concerns about prisoners walking down a hallway past the judge's office, witnesses sharing a hallway and lobby with defendants, and that victims of crimes, including children, didn't have the necessary privacy to consult with their attorneys.
The list of issues grew when several stated that humidity was an issue inside. One attorney said she emptied the five dehumidifiers in her office daily while a court clerk said she had three dehumidifiers and had to empty them just as often. They said running reports in the morning was an issue because the increased humidity made the printers not feed paper correctly, sometimes causing delays.
Vic Mason, Clerk of the Circuit Court, summed up the Supervisor's dilemma nicely by stating that it "isn't politically popular to spend money." At a projected cost of $32 million or more, it is a lot of money to spend. But it was clear that there was a need for a new building, and several that spoke, including Sheriff Dempsey, said the Courthouse was a symbol of the County and its citizens.
Of those speaking about the current situation at the Courthouse, none mentioned that the current building was built nearly 100 years ago and has been modified and expanded several times. It is also the third Courthouse in the history of the County and, as one person stated, it has served its purpose and lived well beyond its useful life.
Dr. Young said that he regretted his failure to inform Dr. Benson, Superintendent of King George County Schools, about the CIP Meeting but would make sure he was given time to present his requests in the future.
Next up was Sheriff Dempsey who had a laptop replacement, radio communications system, and the tail end of a lease contract on his CIP request. Ruby Brabo asked if Dempsey could begin a staggered purchasing plan going forward so the expense could be spread out over several years. The Sheriff also gave some extra detail on the communications system he was asking for, saying that King George was one of the last counties in the area to use the older system. He said the new setup, a trunking system, would allow King George to better communicate with surrounding localities.
Chief Moody of the County's Fire, Rescue, and Emergency Services followed the Sheriff and asked for a new Ambulance, new fire stations, a new brush truck, and new AED units. This is a perfect time to remind readers that these are future requests and not set in stone. So when I say Chief Moody asked for new fire stations, he was simply telling the Board of Supervisors that there would be a need in the future to replace the station house in Dahlgren and to build a new station house in the Shiloh District. The idea behind the CIP discussion is to be forward-thinking and to plan ahead. Jeff Bueche asked for more details on the brush truck, as well as other vehicles in the Chief's fleet. Bueche said he had heard questions from constituents regarding the need for mini-vans or cars that didn't appear capable of responding to emergencies. Moody said those were purchased with grants or left over funds and were used by volunteers for official business, such as going to training sessions. Moody said his goal was to reduce the financial burden on volunteers.
Tim Smith, Director of Parks and Recreation, then gave his presentation on the five projects he was looking at in the future. His first project, revitalizing the old animal shelter at Brooks Park, met with some resistance. However, it appeared by the end of discussion, the minor cost of $50,000 to turn the building into an education center met with approval. The tennis courts, located between the Middle School and High School, was also subject to discussion as to how it would be repaired. Lighting at Barnesfield Park, infrastructure improvements at Brooks Park, and an expansion at Sealston Sports Complex rounded out the list. Although those projects were slated for funding far into the future, the desire for a new Community Center, or Citizen's Center, was also on the list but not given a time frame. Smith said it was certainly needed and several Supervisors said they had heard complaints by residents not being able to use it because it was already booked.
Next up was Chris Dines, Director of Information Technology. His CIP list included new cabling and fiber optic lines, a new server, and a future switch for cloud-based functionality. Dines said the cabling improvements were to avoid leaks and the fiber optic lines would provide a redundant system for emergency operations. The new server would provide an off-site storage location with cloud-based access. All of these improvements would help County offices continue to function in the event of an emergency or disaster.
Dr. Young was the last to present, telling the Board that the County's current financial software would not be supported in the future and would need to be replaced. There was also discussion about the decommissioning of the Purkins Corner and Oakland Park Wastewater Treatment Plants. The Board felt like these facilities may not be as bad off as they were told in the past. Dr. Young also said the proposals came in too late to be included, but he was making progress in locating a company to digitize the County's records.
The evening wound down with some discussion of fund balances. While the audit is still in progress, there looked to be a little money left over at the end of the year. Dr. Young also told the Board that Wilma Ward, Director of Finance, had done a deep scrub of some old capital fund accounts and found some money left over. Ward said it wasn't a lot of money, but the capital projects had been completed so the funds were no longer needed. The biggest chunk of money was the funding set aside for a gas line into the Industrial Park that would no longer be pursued. This money, roughly $2.7 million, would be re-appropriated into the Capital Fund for future projects.
In the end, the biggest project, physically and financially, on the radar was a new Courthouse. Having been built decades ago and expanded and renovated numerous times, the general consensus from the Board was that repairing it again wasn't an option. While they still wanted to look at other options, such as using the old Middle School, they did understand the need for a new facility. And while the other projects may seem far off or smaller in scope, the Board appeared to be dedicated to being as fiscally savvy as possible while meeting the needs of as many as possible. With the old Middle School now belonging to the County, it was also considered as a future location for the Citizen's Center. While no final decision has been made on that building, or any future project, it felt good to see the Board looking at the current needs but also the future needs.
The King George County Board of Supervisors met with the Citizen Budget Advisory Committee On September 11, 2018. Unfortunately, I was the only Committee member to show. I would guess the rest of the Committee thought the last meeting was the end. Thankfully, those that presented to the Board all had solid cases for their future improvement projects with data and personal stories to prove their needs.
The meeting began with a brief detour from the planned Agenda when Dr. Neiman Young, County Administrator asked the Board to consider declaring a local state of emergency. There was some discussion as to if it needed to be done now and what the implications were for such a declaration. Dr. Young said that he could declare a local emergency without Board approval but preferred that the Supervisors make the decision since they were already in a meeting together. As for what it meant to the residents of King George, Young said it gave him some extra purchasing power for equipment as well as the ability to determine what staff was necessary to have on duty but that he would still need to answer for his actions to the Board within 15 days. With the Supervisors planning to meet at a regular Board meeting on the 18th, they felt comfortable with voting to declare a local emergency.
Dr. Young then went into the meat of the meeting by giving an overview of the topics for the evening. Each department with a Capital Improvement Program (CIP) project was there to present why there was a need, how much it was projected to cost, and what the planned timeline was for the project. Young said each department head had already presented their requests to the Planning Commission and the Finance Department. Both groups ranked the severity or level of need for each project and it was now time for the Board to hear the same presentation.
The first presentation was the proverbial elephant in the room; the Courthouse. Each of the seven individuals that spoke on the topic were in favor of a new building for the Courthouse. Three judges spoke about the need for increased security for themselves, witnesses, jury members, and attorneys. One Judge said he sentenced a man to prison and when he left the Courthouse, the man's wife was smoking a cigarette next to his car. He said while there was no incident that occurred that day, he worried that something could happen in the future. Another Judge said that when he started working in King George, he found mold growing on the law books in his office. There were also concerns about prisoners walking down a hallway past the judge's office, witnesses sharing a hallway and lobby with defendants, and that victims of crimes, including children, didn't have the necessary privacy to consult with their attorneys.
The list of issues grew when several stated that humidity was an issue inside. One attorney said she emptied the five dehumidifiers in her office daily while a court clerk said she had three dehumidifiers and had to empty them just as often. They said running reports in the morning was an issue because the increased humidity made the printers not feed paper correctly, sometimes causing delays.
Vic Mason, Clerk of the Circuit Court, summed up the Supervisor's dilemma nicely by stating that it "isn't politically popular to spend money." At a projected cost of $32 million or more, it is a lot of money to spend. But it was clear that there was a need for a new building, and several that spoke, including Sheriff Dempsey, said the Courthouse was a symbol of the County and its citizens.
Of those speaking about the current situation at the Courthouse, none mentioned that the current building was built nearly 100 years ago and has been modified and expanded several times. It is also the third Courthouse in the history of the County and, as one person stated, it has served its purpose and lived well beyond its useful life.
Dr. Young said that he regretted his failure to inform Dr. Benson, Superintendent of King George County Schools, about the CIP Meeting but would make sure he was given time to present his requests in the future.
Next up was Sheriff Dempsey who had a laptop replacement, radio communications system, and the tail end of a lease contract on his CIP request. Ruby Brabo asked if Dempsey could begin a staggered purchasing plan going forward so the expense could be spread out over several years. The Sheriff also gave some extra detail on the communications system he was asking for, saying that King George was one of the last counties in the area to use the older system. He said the new setup, a trunking system, would allow King George to better communicate with surrounding localities.
Chief Moody of the County's Fire, Rescue, and Emergency Services followed the Sheriff and asked for a new Ambulance, new fire stations, a new brush truck, and new AED units. This is a perfect time to remind readers that these are future requests and not set in stone. So when I say Chief Moody asked for new fire stations, he was simply telling the Board of Supervisors that there would be a need in the future to replace the station house in Dahlgren and to build a new station house in the Shiloh District. The idea behind the CIP discussion is to be forward-thinking and to plan ahead. Jeff Bueche asked for more details on the brush truck, as well as other vehicles in the Chief's fleet. Bueche said he had heard questions from constituents regarding the need for mini-vans or cars that didn't appear capable of responding to emergencies. Moody said those were purchased with grants or left over funds and were used by volunteers for official business, such as going to training sessions. Moody said his goal was to reduce the financial burden on volunteers.
Tim Smith, Director of Parks and Recreation, then gave his presentation on the five projects he was looking at in the future. His first project, revitalizing the old animal shelter at Brooks Park, met with some resistance. However, it appeared by the end of discussion, the minor cost of $50,000 to turn the building into an education center met with approval. The tennis courts, located between the Middle School and High School, was also subject to discussion as to how it would be repaired. Lighting at Barnesfield Park, infrastructure improvements at Brooks Park, and an expansion at Sealston Sports Complex rounded out the list. Although those projects were slated for funding far into the future, the desire for a new Community Center, or Citizen's Center, was also on the list but not given a time frame. Smith said it was certainly needed and several Supervisors said they had heard complaints by residents not being able to use it because it was already booked.
Next up was Chris Dines, Director of Information Technology. His CIP list included new cabling and fiber optic lines, a new server, and a future switch for cloud-based functionality. Dines said the cabling improvements were to avoid leaks and the fiber optic lines would provide a redundant system for emergency operations. The new server would provide an off-site storage location with cloud-based access. All of these improvements would help County offices continue to function in the event of an emergency or disaster.
Dr. Young was the last to present, telling the Board that the County's current financial software would not be supported in the future and would need to be replaced. There was also discussion about the decommissioning of the Purkins Corner and Oakland Park Wastewater Treatment Plants. The Board felt like these facilities may not be as bad off as they were told in the past. Dr. Young also said the proposals came in too late to be included, but he was making progress in locating a company to digitize the County's records.
The evening wound down with some discussion of fund balances. While the audit is still in progress, there looked to be a little money left over at the end of the year. Dr. Young also told the Board that Wilma Ward, Director of Finance, had done a deep scrub of some old capital fund accounts and found some money left over. Ward said it wasn't a lot of money, but the capital projects had been completed so the funds were no longer needed. The biggest chunk of money was the funding set aside for a gas line into the Industrial Park that would no longer be pursued. This money, roughly $2.7 million, would be re-appropriated into the Capital Fund for future projects.
In the end, the biggest project, physically and financially, on the radar was a new Courthouse. Having been built decades ago and expanded and renovated numerous times, the general consensus from the Board was that repairing it again wasn't an option. While they still wanted to look at other options, such as using the old Middle School, they did understand the need for a new facility. And while the other projects may seem far off or smaller in scope, the Board appeared to be dedicated to being as fiscally savvy as possible while meeting the needs of as many as possible. With the old Middle School now belonging to the County, it was also considered as a future location for the Citizen's Center. While no final decision has been made on that building, or any future project, it felt good to see the Board looking at the current needs but also the future needs.
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