by Neil Richard
In what I can only describe as confusing and confrontational, the Supervisors began their work session meeting at 6:30pm to review the draft Comprehensive Plan. Although I made an error in thinking the meeting began at 5pm, I was not the only one that was confused when only one member of the Planning Commission arrived to the meeting. What I was told would be a joint work session between the Planning Commission and the Supervisors turned out to be just a work session for the Supervisors. When I asked after the meeting, Kris Parker, Chairman of the Planning Commission and a member of the Smoot Library Board of Trustees, said there was some "miscommunication regarding the scope and intent of the meeting"
On top of the confusion of who should be attending the meeting, there was even more confusion over the format of the meeting. County staff asked for some clarity on how the Supervisors wanted the process to work. Kris Parker asked how the meeting would proceed, stating it could last until 3am if the Board continued on their current track of reviewing the Comprehensive Plan line by line. Jeff Bueche tried to clarify that additional work sessions would be scheduled if they were needed. Parker said he was given no Agenda for the meeting beforehand and would like to have the rest of the Planning Commission present. When Brabo said "you've had all your meetings by yourself, now we get to have ours" Parker asked "what's that supposed to mean." Brabo simply said "exactly."
Parker best summed up the evening by saying nothing in the drafted document is a surprise and the Supervisors have been made aware of everything through the year-long process. Additionally, several have attended open houses hosted by the Planning Commission and even gave their own feedback during those events. It was a little surprising to me that the Supervisors seemed less prepared for their own work session than I was, especially considering I didn't have a copy of the draft plan in front of me nor a copy of the most current Comprehensive Plan from 2013.
The Supervisors seemed determined to assert their dominance of the meeting and continued for the next two hours to review the drafted plan page by page. In what I expected to be a simple work session between two groups that had the best interest of the County in mind, it felt more like one group wanted to pick apart a year's worth of work. While the outbursts have become somewhat the norm lately, the biggest shock for me was the lack of input from the Service Authority. I think Jonathon Weakley's short tenure in his role as General Manager is a fair excuse to not have input ready now but I would hope that he can find time to provide feedback before the Comprehensive Plan is finalized.
Despite the animosity and confusion early in the evening, there were a few helpful and productive nuggets of information to come out of the meeting. Ed Murphy, the developer behind the Gateway Shopping Center in Dahlgren, said that the Holiday Inn Express was filled to capacity nearly all the time. His plans to build an extended stay style hotel and a climate-controlled self storage center near the Goodwill store are moving forward. Heather Hall, Angela Foroughi, Louis Pancotti, and Brad Hudson, all of whom were recently awarded County Challenge Coins by Brabo for their hard work, clearly had done their homework and were able to easily explain how and why the draft plan had changed. Parker also said that he felt the meeting was productive and made "good headway toward ratifying the document."
By the end of the meeting, I was a little disappointed in my representatives. While I realize they have a lot on their plates in their role as elected officials, and even more when you consider they work full time jobs and have families, I would have hoped that they had been a little more informed about the draft Comprehensive Plan. I was also seriously disappointed about the lack of support for green space or park land despite the continued drum beat of preserving the rural nature of the County. I left the meeting just about as confused as I was when it started.
In what I can only describe as confusing and confrontational, the Supervisors began their work session meeting at 6:30pm to review the draft Comprehensive Plan. Although I made an error in thinking the meeting began at 5pm, I was not the only one that was confused when only one member of the Planning Commission arrived to the meeting. What I was told would be a joint work session between the Planning Commission and the Supervisors turned out to be just a work session for the Supervisors. When I asked after the meeting, Kris Parker, Chairman of the Planning Commission and a member of the Smoot Library Board of Trustees, said there was some "miscommunication regarding the scope and intent of the meeting"
On top of the confusion of who should be attending the meeting, there was even more confusion over the format of the meeting. County staff asked for some clarity on how the Supervisors wanted the process to work. Kris Parker asked how the meeting would proceed, stating it could last until 3am if the Board continued on their current track of reviewing the Comprehensive Plan line by line. Jeff Bueche tried to clarify that additional work sessions would be scheduled if they were needed. Parker said he was given no Agenda for the meeting beforehand and would like to have the rest of the Planning Commission present. When Brabo said "you've had all your meetings by yourself, now we get to have ours" Parker asked "what's that supposed to mean." Brabo simply said "exactly."
Parker best summed up the evening by saying nothing in the drafted document is a surprise and the Supervisors have been made aware of everything through the year-long process. Additionally, several have attended open houses hosted by the Planning Commission and even gave their own feedback during those events. It was a little surprising to me that the Supervisors seemed less prepared for their own work session than I was, especially considering I didn't have a copy of the draft plan in front of me nor a copy of the most current Comprehensive Plan from 2013.
The Supervisors seemed determined to assert their dominance of the meeting and continued for the next two hours to review the drafted plan page by page. In what I expected to be a simple work session between two groups that had the best interest of the County in mind, it felt more like one group wanted to pick apart a year's worth of work. While the outbursts have become somewhat the norm lately, the biggest shock for me was the lack of input from the Service Authority. I think Jonathon Weakley's short tenure in his role as General Manager is a fair excuse to not have input ready now but I would hope that he can find time to provide feedback before the Comprehensive Plan is finalized.
Despite the animosity and confusion early in the evening, there were a few helpful and productive nuggets of information to come out of the meeting. Ed Murphy, the developer behind the Gateway Shopping Center in Dahlgren, said that the Holiday Inn Express was filled to capacity nearly all the time. His plans to build an extended stay style hotel and a climate-controlled self storage center near the Goodwill store are moving forward. Heather Hall, Angela Foroughi, Louis Pancotti, and Brad Hudson, all of whom were recently awarded County Challenge Coins by Brabo for their hard work, clearly had done their homework and were able to easily explain how and why the draft plan had changed. Parker also said that he felt the meeting was productive and made "good headway toward ratifying the document."
By the end of the meeting, I was a little disappointed in my representatives. While I realize they have a lot on their plates in their role as elected officials, and even more when you consider they work full time jobs and have families, I would have hoped that they had been a little more informed about the draft Comprehensive Plan. I was also seriously disappointed about the lack of support for green space or park land despite the continued drum beat of preserving the rural nature of the County. I left the meeting just about as confused as I was when it started.
I came to the meeting expecting a joint meeting.
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