by Neil Richard
Jeff Bueche once again held a Town Hall for the residents of his district, James Monroe, as well as the entire County of King George. With the strong storms that came through just an hour before the meeting, the location changed at the last minute due to a power outage at Caledon State Park. Bueche instead hosted his meeting at the Fairview Beach Fire House.
As with his previous Town Halls (a list is below), Bueche invited T. C. Collins, School Board Chairman, and Dr. Neiman Young, County Administrator, to attend. Also invited was Vic Mason, Clerk of the Court. Bueche said the main goal for the evening's discussion was to talk about the infrastructure needs in the County. He listed a few, including broadband internet, a new Courthouse, and medical facilities.
The discussion circled around these topics, along with the water and sewer needs, affordable housing needs, and what to do with vacant buildings. When talking about the vacant buildings, one of which is the old King George Middle School, the discussion quickly grew heated when talk turned to the recent news about the School Board budget request.
Bueche defended and repeated many of his comments and opinions from earlier Supervisor meetings but a few in the audience, and at the head table, disagreed. While not necessarily arguing with each other, it was clear that Collins and Bueche had very different ideas on how much funding the school should receive. It could be argued that Bueche's biggest gaffe of the evening was suggesting that the band students sell chocolate bars to raise funds for their uniforms. Collins, and others in the audience, felt troubled by the suggestion. A mumbled suggestion to cut the Supervisor's travel budget instead drew at least one chuckle from the audience.
The evening wasn't filled with all negative news though. The audience did have suggestions for solving financial and infrastructure issues in the County. Bueche said he, Dr. Young, and Cathy Binder toured the Westmoreland Courthouse recently and saw a lot of promise in using a similar building design in King George. Although Mason said the needs of King George would not be the same as Westmoreland, it did sound like some of the features in the Westmoreland Courthouse were similar to his needs in King George.
Other audience suggestions included bringing back fundraisers for the Fire and Rescue Department, selling the old Middle School, and making the Service Authority part of a public utilities department. In what felt like the biggest surprise of the evening, the Service Authority was not discussed as much as expected however there was some healthy debate over the positives and negatives of privatizing the Service Authority versus turning it into a County department. There was also some discussion on the history of the Service Authority and how it had acquired so much debt.
As I am a member of the Landfill Advisory Committee, the most interesting suggestion for me during the evening was to reserve the last few cells of the landfill for only King George County trash. By limiting what goes into those cells to only trash from residents, it would ensure a longer lifespan for the benefit of dumping trash for free. I don't know if this would be possible but I feel that it's a good idea to look into. The cost to dispose of trash and recyclables is rising in many areas, including places in our region, so if we could preserve that benefit for residents, it is certainly worth looking at.
Dr. Young had the most interesting question of the evening, asking what percentage of expenses should be for the schools. I was the only one to accept the challenge and answer. Other interesting topics discussed included the possible expansion of the Career Technical Education (CTE) program. Some in the audience gave great anecdotal evidence on how a CTE program had a positive impact on their lives but had very little financial impact on the schools. Also discussed was how to handle existing properties owned by the County but sitting unused. Some in the audience suggested selling them while others felt rehabilitating them was necessary.
After two and a half hours, it was clear that the bulk of the conversation was finished. It is unclear how many of the suggestions will be put into practice but it was good to hear that some residents cared enough to have ideas. While the conversation on funding educational needs got a little heated at times, the rest of the evening was full of a civil and productive discussion.
Previous Town Halls hosted by Jeff Bueche:
Jeff Bueche once again held a Town Hall for the residents of his district, James Monroe, as well as the entire County of King George. With the strong storms that came through just an hour before the meeting, the location changed at the last minute due to a power outage at Caledon State Park. Bueche instead hosted his meeting at the Fairview Beach Fire House.
As with his previous Town Halls (a list is below), Bueche invited T. C. Collins, School Board Chairman, and Dr. Neiman Young, County Administrator, to attend. Also invited was Vic Mason, Clerk of the Court. Bueche said the main goal for the evening's discussion was to talk about the infrastructure needs in the County. He listed a few, including broadband internet, a new Courthouse, and medical facilities.
The discussion circled around these topics, along with the water and sewer needs, affordable housing needs, and what to do with vacant buildings. When talking about the vacant buildings, one of which is the old King George Middle School, the discussion quickly grew heated when talk turned to the recent news about the School Board budget request.
Bueche defended and repeated many of his comments and opinions from earlier Supervisor meetings but a few in the audience, and at the head table, disagreed. While not necessarily arguing with each other, it was clear that Collins and Bueche had very different ideas on how much funding the school should receive. It could be argued that Bueche's biggest gaffe of the evening was suggesting that the band students sell chocolate bars to raise funds for their uniforms. Collins, and others in the audience, felt troubled by the suggestion. A mumbled suggestion to cut the Supervisor's travel budget instead drew at least one chuckle from the audience.
The evening wasn't filled with all negative news though. The audience did have suggestions for solving financial and infrastructure issues in the County. Bueche said he, Dr. Young, and Cathy Binder toured the Westmoreland Courthouse recently and saw a lot of promise in using a similar building design in King George. Although Mason said the needs of King George would not be the same as Westmoreland, it did sound like some of the features in the Westmoreland Courthouse were similar to his needs in King George.
Other audience suggestions included bringing back fundraisers for the Fire and Rescue Department, selling the old Middle School, and making the Service Authority part of a public utilities department. In what felt like the biggest surprise of the evening, the Service Authority was not discussed as much as expected however there was some healthy debate over the positives and negatives of privatizing the Service Authority versus turning it into a County department. There was also some discussion on the history of the Service Authority and how it had acquired so much debt.
As I am a member of the Landfill Advisory Committee, the most interesting suggestion for me during the evening was to reserve the last few cells of the landfill for only King George County trash. By limiting what goes into those cells to only trash from residents, it would ensure a longer lifespan for the benefit of dumping trash for free. I don't know if this would be possible but I feel that it's a good idea to look into. The cost to dispose of trash and recyclables is rising in many areas, including places in our region, so if we could preserve that benefit for residents, it is certainly worth looking at.
Dr. Young had the most interesting question of the evening, asking what percentage of expenses should be for the schools. I was the only one to accept the challenge and answer. Other interesting topics discussed included the possible expansion of the Career Technical Education (CTE) program. Some in the audience gave great anecdotal evidence on how a CTE program had a positive impact on their lives but had very little financial impact on the schools. Also discussed was how to handle existing properties owned by the County but sitting unused. Some in the audience suggested selling them while others felt rehabilitating them was necessary.
After two and a half hours, it was clear that the bulk of the conversation was finished. It is unclear how many of the suggestions will be put into practice but it was good to hear that some residents cared enough to have ideas. While the conversation on funding educational needs got a little heated at times, the rest of the evening was full of a civil and productive discussion.
Previous Town Halls hosted by Jeff Bueche:
[2019-03-28 - Updated to include a link to the December 14, 2018 Town Hall.]
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