by Neil Richard
EDITOR’S NOTE: Every single article published here on Project94 crosses at least two desks, goes before at least two sets of eyes, prior to publication. On the occasion that I have written articles, Neil Richard has been my editor. Likewise I have copy edited every piece he’s written. We use each other as a sounding board during these sessions. It’s worth noting that the four founding members of Project94 have different political ideologies. It’s part of what makes this publication unique. Collectively, we have no agenda other than to report the truth and let you, the readers, form your own opinions. On those occasions when we publish our opinions we clearly label them as such. I wrote a dissenting opinion piece on Chris Werle during the Service Authority fiasco, in part because I felt that his side of the story deserved to be told. Neil and I remain friends in spite of this difference of opinion. This is due, in no small part, to the quality of Neil’s character.
I say this because I want to be sure we are clear on this point: our allegiance is to truth, and to King George County. Neil had misgivings about writing up his coverage of this particular meeting, for reasons that should become clear in the text of the article itself. However it is our shared belief that providing coverage to you of your local government, and speaking the truth of the events of the night of October 15th, 2019, was the most important thing. Neil was the man on the ground that night. If you’re of the opinion that another reporter should have covered this, Neil would agree with you, and the decision to publish this rests squarely on my shoulders.
-- Sean Gates 10/17/2019
The Board of Supervisors began their meeting at 7:18pm.
There was an amendment to the Agenda to strike the presentation from the George Washington Regional Commission (GWRC). The amendment was approved.
Public Comment began with an announcement from Jeff Bueche that Public Comment would be limited to five minutes instead of the usual three minutes because of a request.
I gave Public Comment. To prevent any doubt over what I said, you can watch it here [beginning at 00:56].
Next to speak at Public Comment was Peter Karabots. He said the mood was tense right now and wanted to make a quick comment about Ruby Brabo. Karabots said she's been very transparent and honest with him and has offered a great communication channel. He thanked her and wished her luck in the upcoming election. Karabots then began to go through his originally planned statement. He said his family has been frustrated with the Wayside Park replacement process and Virginia Department of Transportation (VDOT). He felt the project was secretly planned and has kept residents in the dark. He said they were charged with finding property to replace the park and VDOT researched properties and sites but at no time did they disclose their plans to purchase his neighbor's property. Karabots said his neighbors quickly signed the purchase agreement and were sworn to secrecy for fear of losing the contract. He said the purchase plan wasn't revealed until the same day it was voted on. He felt the lack of transparency was unconscionable and the vote of the neighbors should count for something. He said the Board prevented their ability to lobby against the project and that research has shown that 75% of visiting patrons at the park are from Maryland, not King George. Karabots said the Supervisors aren't allowing him to have a voice and that they are elected to serve. He even said he was out in public and somebody walked up to him and said "aren't you the family that's getting screwed by the County?" Karabots said it's just wrong that politicians can do what they wish. He said it felt like most members of the Board didn't care. He also said he couldn't believe the County had no plans for the park when construction will begin on the new bridge soon. He asked for honesty and transparency.
John Jenkins opened his Board report by thanking everyone for their comments. He attended the joint meeting on the 8th and Fall Festival on the 12th.
Richard Granger thanked Karabots for speaking and added that he has heard from citizens that are interested in waterfront property as a replacement to Wayside Park. Granger said that finding property that met the needs and was publicly available was hard but the Board didn't want to use eminent domain. He said a bunch properties didn't pan out so this property met their needs and there are no current, definitive plans. On the 3rd, Granger toured the King George Middle School expansion project. He said it sounded like the school will be able to transition the 8th graders into the new portion by November and that will allow them to renovate the older portion of the school. He said they would hopscotch the grades around from there until they're done with renovations. Granger also attended the Capital Improvement Program (CIP) work session on the 3rd and the Courthouse replacement plan looked like it would allow for the County to double-dip a bit and meet some administrative needs for additional space. He said the County continues to grow and it's running out of space so the new building may be able to meet some of those space needs. On the 8th, Granger attended the joint meeting with the Planning Commission. He said the Planning Commission didn't provide a recommendation so the Supervisors now need to wait until they do so before the Supervisors can vote on the project. Granger also attended the Fall Festival on the 12th and, although he wasn't sure of the specifics, he felt like there was a substantial turnout. He had a lot of fun and it was a great opportunity to celebrate the County.
Cathy Binder said she attended all of the same meetings except for the Fall Festival. Regarding the Middle School expansion, she said they were doing things right this time. Binder said she was there when they moved kids from the old High School to the new High School in the middle of the year and it feels like this time they're doing it better. She said the current Fourth Graders will be the first Sixth Grade class to use the newly finished Middle School. Binder commended the Planning Commission for the great questions they asked and even though they didn't get to talk because the meeting went past midnight, she really appreciated their work. Binder said she attended the Ira and Gladys West Scholarship fundraiser dinner and said it was nice to see people talk about the Wests. Binder said it was awesome to hear what they've done in the community, not just on base but also in their neighborhood. Binder said she appreciated my comments and courage to speak. To Karabots, she said she has talked to residents in his neighborhood and said he wasn't sharing all of the information he had, including emails. Binder said in the end, it's VDOT and Maryland that are making the decisions and she was sorry. She said they would take into consideration residents and the Parks and Recreation Department about what to do but the idea of a water park was a bit of an exaggeration.
Ruby Brabo then gave her Board report. To prevent any doubt over what she said, you can watch it here [beginning at 18:27].
Jeff Bueche attended the tour of the Middle School and the CIP meeting on the 3rd as well as the joint meeting on the 8th. Bueche said that the Planning Commission did a great job but as of right now, the rezoning application decision lies with them and was not a discussion for the Supervisors as they didn't want to influence them. Bueche attended the Fall Festival on the 12th and said he had a unique view. He thanked both American Legion halls for their efforts in having the 310th Engineering Company out of Fort A. P. Hill bring a boat and a Humvee. He said it was very unique to stand on a boat and he had an exciting ride. He thanked everyone for coming out to speak.
The Consent Agenda was approved.
Sheriff Dempsey then gave the Board a presentation on the King George Sheriff's Office marking it's fifth accreditation. He said that out of 340 agencies in Virginia, only 100 are accredited. Dempsey said the Sheriff's Office has been accredited since 2003 and gets inspected and assessed every four years. He said this year, they were found to be in 100% compliance with 190 standards. Dempsey said this is nearly 3,000 specific points of compliance.
The County Attorney, Eric Gregory, had an update on the proposed dissolution of the Wireless Authority. He said everything was prepared to dissolve it at the November 19th meeting and it will require calling a special meeting of the Wireless Authority because their next regular meeting isn't until January 2020. Gregory said that the documents will be ready and it includes roughly $40,000 in cash that would go into the County's General Fund as well as some outdated equipment that will revert to the County. There was consensus to advertise the special meeting.
Brabo asked about the agreement with Metrocast, now Atlantic Broadband, and what that meant about entertaining other companies if they were interested. Dr. Neiman Young, County Administrator, said the franchise agreement allows them to operate in the area. Brabo said that was for cable but they also have internet through cable so she was asking if they needed a Wireless Authority meeting to put out a Request For Proposals (RFP) to get other cable companies to come. Gregory said that wouldn't need to come from the Wireless Authority, that the Supervisors could issue that RFP. After some discussion, consensus was reached to create an RFP.
Next on the Agenda was a Public Hearing on the Potomac Landing Golf Cart Community Resolution. Gregory read the prepared statement from the Agenda and, with no Public Comment, the Resolution was approved.
The second Public Hearing of the evening was on the Proposed Amendments to King George County Noise Ordinance, specifically related to the use of firearms at night. Again, Gregory read from the Agenda. Brabo said it shouldn't be approved as presented because the lawful discharge statement wasn't correct. Granger said it was and explained it that the lawful discharge of a firearm was allowed except under the specific scenario given; non-hunting related, between 10pm and 6am, and over 65 decibels. After Granger's explanation, Brabo understood and apologized. Granger said it was a little confusing. Bueche said in layman's terms, for the public, that firearms are still allowed but not during the hours of 10pm and 6am. Granger clarified that only non-hunting activities. Bueche asked if farmers could hunt at night and Gregory said there are certain circumstances where you can hunt at night, such as for raccoons.
Ken Stroud opened Public Comment by saying that a lot of shooting happens at night and it's annoying. He wanted to know if sighting in hunting rifles was allowed as that activity related to hunting.
Barbara Gaborow said she has a neighbor who likes to shoot an AR-15 all day and all night. She said you can hear it from across the street and when they first heard it they called the Sheriff but were told they couldn't do anything about it. Gaborow said her neighbor didn't care because he continued to shoot at all hours. She was also concerned about safety as the neighbor only lives on a few acres.
Stroud rose to speak again but Bueche said everyone gets one turn to speak.
Granger said that sighting in a rifle may fall under the provenance of hunting but asked if that was up to the Sheriff's Office. Gregory said he doesn't have a solid black and white answer. He said it may be up to the officer responding. Gregory said they struggled with that and felt it was a potentially difficult answer to provide an ordinance for considering the parameters. He felt the ordinance was adequate enough to address issues but may be subject to challenges.
Bueche said that he felt they were on a slippery slope and that the government isn't always the solution for everything. He said a good point was raised about sighting in a weapon but on the other hand law enforcement needs the tools to do their job. He said he has an issue with the government fixing issues and that the answer isn't always legislation. Jenkins said he felt it was more about giving the officers the tools to do their job. He said if he were called to the scene he would use his discretion and that this would be a tool that could be used to make that determination. He said that the Deputies can measure the decibel level and he'd rather give the Deputies the tools needed and asked if Dempsey had any comments.
Sheriff Dempsey said that it's a good point and that repeated gunfire is the problem and that his Deputies respond to complaints, they don't go around and patrol with a decibel meter. He said the Deputy will take a measurement from the property line and that the noise needs to be loud. Dempsey also said some of the noise complaints derive from the rifles but sometimes it's the targets being shot at that can be loud and disruptive.
Binder asked who does the decibel reading and they clarified that it was the Deputy. Jenkins agreed that it's hard to measure just one shot and it has to be constant noise. With that, the Supervisors approved the change.
The last Public Hearing was about the Highway 301 (James Madison Parkway) and Route 3 (Kings Highway) speed limit increase. Dr. Young read the notes from the Agenda and clarified that VDOT wasn't entertaining any requests from localities to maintain current speeds but rather they would only consider requests to not increase speeds in key areas.
There was no Public Comment but Binder read an email from a resident, Kerry Nicholson, who said the speed limit should not be raised. Nicholson said she grew up on the roller coaster section of 301 and it was dangerous to live there. She said there were several instances of people going into the median to avoid accidents and, to make things worse, they already drive above the speed limit anyway. Nicholson said that people run red lights in the County and complaints to the Sheriff's Office have resulted in nothing changing. She said that 301 doesn't need to be an alternate to Interstate 95 and she's seriously thinking about moving out of the state now.
Granger asked if VDOT would consider bus stops just like they would entertain infrastructure as a reason to keep speeds lower. Dr. Young said he explained that the Supervisors have concerns about bus routes and mentioned the previous accident on 301 last year. Young said that VDOT would not consider bus stops, only key infrastructure points like the bus maintenance facility.
Binder said she was disappointed that our VDOT representative never answered her phone today and felt like they were putting up the middle finger to residents by doing this. She said she may be more emotional than others on this issue because her daughter uses one of those bus stops. Binder said she wanted to point out that her house is in one of those areas studied but there are other things too like an antique store. She also said that the new development in Oakwood would create more traffic coming off Eden Drive and didn't understand why VDOT didn't care about the safety of citizens, especially with the new bridge coming. Binder said she won't support a resolution.
Dr. Young said that VDOT owns the roads and not the County and said he did express the strong concerns of the Board about the increased speed limit. He said he thought the locality would have input and was told no, it's a regional thing, not just King George. He said it didn't feel like they would entertain every concern in every locality and that it was more data driven. Binder said the data would change once the bridge was open but said she knew Young couldn't do anything about it.
Brabo said she was concerned that the areas considered for the speed increase included areas that were only zoned 45 mph. She said an example was Route 205 (Ridge Road) where Eden Drive is located. Brabo said she felt it could be justified to make a case to stop the increased speed zone in the area of Jersey Road, La Grange, and Barbara's Way. She also said it made no sense to increase the speed in a commercial area. Brabo asked if a letter to the Secretary of Transportation would help by voicing their concerns over the bus stops not being considered. She also reminded everyone that VDOT has used flawed data in the past.
Bueche said he wasn't going to take an ultimatum from VDOT. He said he's heard from citizens voicing support for both increased speeds and not. Because it was evenly split he decided to do his own research and felt it wasn't justifiable to increase the speed which means an increased stopping distance. He said that while there might not be any serious accidents, that may change with the increased speed. Bueche said he saw the bus accident and noted that there were several along the areas studied but felt that wasn't taken into consideration.
There was more discussion about adding the bus stops to the map, who to write a letter to, and adding the number of houses along the road. In the end, the Supervisors decided to send a letter asking to not increase the speed limit, limit those areas where the speed does go up, and to appeal to the Secretary of Transportation.
Christopher Clarke, Director of Parks and Recreation, then gave the Board a summary of the Complete Count Committee that was formed by the Supervisors for the upcoming 2020 Census. Clarke said the committee is tasked with ensuring everyone is counted only once and in the right place. He said that while there is funding through the Census Bureau and the GWRC, he would like an additional $5,000 to aid in the efforts. He said that uncounted residents could cost localities about $2,000 per year due to lost Federal funding. The Board approved the funds.
Dr. Young then asked the Supervisors to fund $13,000 for the upcoming 300th Anniversary for the County. He said that there are several events planned through the year and the committee that was formed to steer the events is now ready to market them. He did caution the Supervisors that the budget enclosed with the Agenda is strictly a sample budget. Granger asked if the Tourism Advisory Committee (TAC) agreed with the funding assessment and Young said they did. Granger said he assumed that was the case but just wanted to make sure. The Board approved the funding.
Brabo said that while the Board was on the topic of the TAC, it was brought to her attention that not all applications for TAC funding are being brought before the Board for approval. She said an application from Christina Burroughs was declined initially but when Burroughs took the feedback from the TAC and made changes, she was told she couldn't resubmit a new application. Bueche asked if there was an appeals process for people applying for TAC funding to come before the Board. Young said that the TAC sits with staff and hears an application and Brabo said the Supervisors were the deciding body, just like with the Planning Commission, Landfill Advisory Committee, and other committees. She said she took issue with the fact that a corrected application was refused. Brabo said that nobody else has appealed to the Board before after being denied so she wasn't sure why staff denied the resubmitted application. Dr. Young said that staff didn't deny it, the TAC did. [EDITOR'S NOTE - Neil Richard, a co-founder of Project94, is the Chair of the Landfill Advisory Committee.]
Thus began a lengthy discussion about how many applications from the TAC, or other committees, the Supervisors need to see. They also discussed what an appeals process would look like for those people or groups that are denied funds by a committee. Dr. Young warned the Board that they may get 30 to 40 applications and it may be overwhelming. Granger said he would like to reach out to the TAC and hear the whole story. As a point of decorum, it wasn't Granger's decision to recognize him from the floor but Dave Zabelsky, Chair of the TAC, was in the audience trying to be recognized. He later gave additional information regarding the application in question and said that the original application was indeed denied but there has been no further communication from the applicant to resubmit. He also said that several groups have resubmitted applications in the past after being rejected once.
In the end, Gregory said that the TAC isn't an adjudicatory body and they only have the authorization given to them by the Supervisors. He said that there is effectively an appeals process in place because anybody that submits an application can always go before the Board to request a consideration through the annual budgeting process. He said the TAC is a tool for that process and is only an advisory body, not a governing one. The Board decided that maybe they needed an addendum to clarify things.
Dr. Young then gave his report by saying the Board attended the joint meeting with the Planning Commission on the 8th. He said that the Planning Commission voted to defer the decision and discussion on the project until their next meeting, November 12th. Brabo said that the Supervisors sat through the meeting but didn't have their turn asking questions. She said she had a lot of questions and asked how to proceed in getting answers to them. Dr. Young said a meeting could be set up with Heather Hall to answer any questions she may have and said that several of Brabo's colleagues have already done so.
Young then continued by saying the archeologist in charge of the dig that would be conducted at Wayside Park said the County maintains the right to ask for any artifacts found. Binder said that was great and that the Historical Society has said they would be interested in seeing the artifacts preserved here in King George. [EDITOR'S NOTE - Neil Richard, a co-founder of Project94, is a lifetime member of the King George County Historical Society.]
Dr. Young said he had a letter from the Tri-County/City Soil and Water Conservation District asking for candidates to fill vacancies on their Board of Directors. Bueche asked if they had a deadline and Young said no. Brabo said the letter asked for candidates but didn't give a number. Young said he wasn't sure but guessed they were looking for the largest pool of candidates they could get. Brabo suggested everyone find one person which would mean five candidates.
The Board then went into Closed Session at 8:53pm and invited Dr. Young and Eric Gregory to attend. They returned from Closed Session at 9:31pm.
The meeting adjourned at 9:32pm.
Meeting Attendees:
John Jenkins (Board of Supervisors)
Jeff Bueche (Chairman, Board of Supervisors)
Richard Granger (Board of Supervisors)
Ruby Brabo (Board of Supervisors)
Cathy Binder (Board of Supervisors)
Neiman Young (County Administrator)
Eric Gregory (County Attorney)
Meeting Agenda
Next Meeting:
The Board of Supervisors will next meet on October 23, 2019 at 6:30 pm at Company One.
Previous Meeting:
Read about the previous Board of Supervisors Meeting.
EDITOR’S NOTE: Every single article published here on Project94 crosses at least two desks, goes before at least two sets of eyes, prior to publication. On the occasion that I have written articles, Neil Richard has been my editor. Likewise I have copy edited every piece he’s written. We use each other as a sounding board during these sessions. It’s worth noting that the four founding members of Project94 have different political ideologies. It’s part of what makes this publication unique. Collectively, we have no agenda other than to report the truth and let you, the readers, form your own opinions. On those occasions when we publish our opinions we clearly label them as such. I wrote a dissenting opinion piece on Chris Werle during the Service Authority fiasco, in part because I felt that his side of the story deserved to be told. Neil and I remain friends in spite of this difference of opinion. This is due, in no small part, to the quality of Neil’s character.
I say this because I want to be sure we are clear on this point: our allegiance is to truth, and to King George County. Neil had misgivings about writing up his coverage of this particular meeting, for reasons that should become clear in the text of the article itself. However it is our shared belief that providing coverage to you of your local government, and speaking the truth of the events of the night of October 15th, 2019, was the most important thing. Neil was the man on the ground that night. If you’re of the opinion that another reporter should have covered this, Neil would agree with you, and the decision to publish this rests squarely on my shoulders.
-- Sean Gates 10/17/2019
The Board of Supervisors began their meeting at 7:18pm.
There was an amendment to the Agenda to strike the presentation from the George Washington Regional Commission (GWRC). The amendment was approved.
Public Comment began with an announcement from Jeff Bueche that Public Comment would be limited to five minutes instead of the usual three minutes because of a request.
I gave Public Comment. To prevent any doubt over what I said, you can watch it here [beginning at 00:56].
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| A rough transcript of my Public Comment. |
Next to speak at Public Comment was Peter Karabots. He said the mood was tense right now and wanted to make a quick comment about Ruby Brabo. Karabots said she's been very transparent and honest with him and has offered a great communication channel. He thanked her and wished her luck in the upcoming election. Karabots then began to go through his originally planned statement. He said his family has been frustrated with the Wayside Park replacement process and Virginia Department of Transportation (VDOT). He felt the project was secretly planned and has kept residents in the dark. He said they were charged with finding property to replace the park and VDOT researched properties and sites but at no time did they disclose their plans to purchase his neighbor's property. Karabots said his neighbors quickly signed the purchase agreement and were sworn to secrecy for fear of losing the contract. He said the purchase plan wasn't revealed until the same day it was voted on. He felt the lack of transparency was unconscionable and the vote of the neighbors should count for something. He said the Board prevented their ability to lobby against the project and that research has shown that 75% of visiting patrons at the park are from Maryland, not King George. Karabots said the Supervisors aren't allowing him to have a voice and that they are elected to serve. He even said he was out in public and somebody walked up to him and said "aren't you the family that's getting screwed by the County?" Karabots said it's just wrong that politicians can do what they wish. He said it felt like most members of the Board didn't care. He also said he couldn't believe the County had no plans for the park when construction will begin on the new bridge soon. He asked for honesty and transparency.
John Jenkins opened his Board report by thanking everyone for their comments. He attended the joint meeting on the 8th and Fall Festival on the 12th.
Richard Granger thanked Karabots for speaking and added that he has heard from citizens that are interested in waterfront property as a replacement to Wayside Park. Granger said that finding property that met the needs and was publicly available was hard but the Board didn't want to use eminent domain. He said a bunch properties didn't pan out so this property met their needs and there are no current, definitive plans. On the 3rd, Granger toured the King George Middle School expansion project. He said it sounded like the school will be able to transition the 8th graders into the new portion by November and that will allow them to renovate the older portion of the school. He said they would hopscotch the grades around from there until they're done with renovations. Granger also attended the Capital Improvement Program (CIP) work session on the 3rd and the Courthouse replacement plan looked like it would allow for the County to double-dip a bit and meet some administrative needs for additional space. He said the County continues to grow and it's running out of space so the new building may be able to meet some of those space needs. On the 8th, Granger attended the joint meeting with the Planning Commission. He said the Planning Commission didn't provide a recommendation so the Supervisors now need to wait until they do so before the Supervisors can vote on the project. Granger also attended the Fall Festival on the 12th and, although he wasn't sure of the specifics, he felt like there was a substantial turnout. He had a lot of fun and it was a great opportunity to celebrate the County.
Cathy Binder said she attended all of the same meetings except for the Fall Festival. Regarding the Middle School expansion, she said they were doing things right this time. Binder said she was there when they moved kids from the old High School to the new High School in the middle of the year and it feels like this time they're doing it better. She said the current Fourth Graders will be the first Sixth Grade class to use the newly finished Middle School. Binder commended the Planning Commission for the great questions they asked and even though they didn't get to talk because the meeting went past midnight, she really appreciated their work. Binder said she attended the Ira and Gladys West Scholarship fundraiser dinner and said it was nice to see people talk about the Wests. Binder said it was awesome to hear what they've done in the community, not just on base but also in their neighborhood. Binder said she appreciated my comments and courage to speak. To Karabots, she said she has talked to residents in his neighborhood and said he wasn't sharing all of the information he had, including emails. Binder said in the end, it's VDOT and Maryland that are making the decisions and she was sorry. She said they would take into consideration residents and the Parks and Recreation Department about what to do but the idea of a water park was a bit of an exaggeration.
Ruby Brabo then gave her Board report. To prevent any doubt over what she said, you can watch it here [beginning at 18:27].
Jeff Bueche attended the tour of the Middle School and the CIP meeting on the 3rd as well as the joint meeting on the 8th. Bueche said that the Planning Commission did a great job but as of right now, the rezoning application decision lies with them and was not a discussion for the Supervisors as they didn't want to influence them. Bueche attended the Fall Festival on the 12th and said he had a unique view. He thanked both American Legion halls for their efforts in having the 310th Engineering Company out of Fort A. P. Hill bring a boat and a Humvee. He said it was very unique to stand on a boat and he had an exciting ride. He thanked everyone for coming out to speak.
The Consent Agenda was approved.
Sheriff Dempsey then gave the Board a presentation on the King George Sheriff's Office marking it's fifth accreditation. He said that out of 340 agencies in Virginia, only 100 are accredited. Dempsey said the Sheriff's Office has been accredited since 2003 and gets inspected and assessed every four years. He said this year, they were found to be in 100% compliance with 190 standards. Dempsey said this is nearly 3,000 specific points of compliance.
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| Sheriff Dempsey is applauded for the hard work of his department. |
The County Attorney, Eric Gregory, had an update on the proposed dissolution of the Wireless Authority. He said everything was prepared to dissolve it at the November 19th meeting and it will require calling a special meeting of the Wireless Authority because their next regular meeting isn't until January 2020. Gregory said that the documents will be ready and it includes roughly $40,000 in cash that would go into the County's General Fund as well as some outdated equipment that will revert to the County. There was consensus to advertise the special meeting.
Brabo asked about the agreement with Metrocast, now Atlantic Broadband, and what that meant about entertaining other companies if they were interested. Dr. Neiman Young, County Administrator, said the franchise agreement allows them to operate in the area. Brabo said that was for cable but they also have internet through cable so she was asking if they needed a Wireless Authority meeting to put out a Request For Proposals (RFP) to get other cable companies to come. Gregory said that wouldn't need to come from the Wireless Authority, that the Supervisors could issue that RFP. After some discussion, consensus was reached to create an RFP.
Next on the Agenda was a Public Hearing on the Potomac Landing Golf Cart Community Resolution. Gregory read the prepared statement from the Agenda and, with no Public Comment, the Resolution was approved.
The second Public Hearing of the evening was on the Proposed Amendments to King George County Noise Ordinance, specifically related to the use of firearms at night. Again, Gregory read from the Agenda. Brabo said it shouldn't be approved as presented because the lawful discharge statement wasn't correct. Granger said it was and explained it that the lawful discharge of a firearm was allowed except under the specific scenario given; non-hunting related, between 10pm and 6am, and over 65 decibels. After Granger's explanation, Brabo understood and apologized. Granger said it was a little confusing. Bueche said in layman's terms, for the public, that firearms are still allowed but not during the hours of 10pm and 6am. Granger clarified that only non-hunting activities. Bueche asked if farmers could hunt at night and Gregory said there are certain circumstances where you can hunt at night, such as for raccoons.
Ken Stroud opened Public Comment by saying that a lot of shooting happens at night and it's annoying. He wanted to know if sighting in hunting rifles was allowed as that activity related to hunting.
Barbara Gaborow said she has a neighbor who likes to shoot an AR-15 all day and all night. She said you can hear it from across the street and when they first heard it they called the Sheriff but were told they couldn't do anything about it. Gaborow said her neighbor didn't care because he continued to shoot at all hours. She was also concerned about safety as the neighbor only lives on a few acres.
Stroud rose to speak again but Bueche said everyone gets one turn to speak.
Granger said that sighting in a rifle may fall under the provenance of hunting but asked if that was up to the Sheriff's Office. Gregory said he doesn't have a solid black and white answer. He said it may be up to the officer responding. Gregory said they struggled with that and felt it was a potentially difficult answer to provide an ordinance for considering the parameters. He felt the ordinance was adequate enough to address issues but may be subject to challenges.
Bueche said that he felt they were on a slippery slope and that the government isn't always the solution for everything. He said a good point was raised about sighting in a weapon but on the other hand law enforcement needs the tools to do their job. He said he has an issue with the government fixing issues and that the answer isn't always legislation. Jenkins said he felt it was more about giving the officers the tools to do their job. He said if he were called to the scene he would use his discretion and that this would be a tool that could be used to make that determination. He said that the Deputies can measure the decibel level and he'd rather give the Deputies the tools needed and asked if Dempsey had any comments.
Sheriff Dempsey said that it's a good point and that repeated gunfire is the problem and that his Deputies respond to complaints, they don't go around and patrol with a decibel meter. He said the Deputy will take a measurement from the property line and that the noise needs to be loud. Dempsey also said some of the noise complaints derive from the rifles but sometimes it's the targets being shot at that can be loud and disruptive.
Binder asked who does the decibel reading and they clarified that it was the Deputy. Jenkins agreed that it's hard to measure just one shot and it has to be constant noise. With that, the Supervisors approved the change.
The last Public Hearing was about the Highway 301 (James Madison Parkway) and Route 3 (Kings Highway) speed limit increase. Dr. Young read the notes from the Agenda and clarified that VDOT wasn't entertaining any requests from localities to maintain current speeds but rather they would only consider requests to not increase speeds in key areas.
There was no Public Comment but Binder read an email from a resident, Kerry Nicholson, who said the speed limit should not be raised. Nicholson said she grew up on the roller coaster section of 301 and it was dangerous to live there. She said there were several instances of people going into the median to avoid accidents and, to make things worse, they already drive above the speed limit anyway. Nicholson said that people run red lights in the County and complaints to the Sheriff's Office have resulted in nothing changing. She said that 301 doesn't need to be an alternate to Interstate 95 and she's seriously thinking about moving out of the state now.
Granger asked if VDOT would consider bus stops just like they would entertain infrastructure as a reason to keep speeds lower. Dr. Young said he explained that the Supervisors have concerns about bus routes and mentioned the previous accident on 301 last year. Young said that VDOT would not consider bus stops, only key infrastructure points like the bus maintenance facility.
Binder said she was disappointed that our VDOT representative never answered her phone today and felt like they were putting up the middle finger to residents by doing this. She said she may be more emotional than others on this issue because her daughter uses one of those bus stops. Binder said she wanted to point out that her house is in one of those areas studied but there are other things too like an antique store. She also said that the new development in Oakwood would create more traffic coming off Eden Drive and didn't understand why VDOT didn't care about the safety of citizens, especially with the new bridge coming. Binder said she won't support a resolution.
Dr. Young said that VDOT owns the roads and not the County and said he did express the strong concerns of the Board about the increased speed limit. He said he thought the locality would have input and was told no, it's a regional thing, not just King George. He said it didn't feel like they would entertain every concern in every locality and that it was more data driven. Binder said the data would change once the bridge was open but said she knew Young couldn't do anything about it.
Brabo said she was concerned that the areas considered for the speed increase included areas that were only zoned 45 mph. She said an example was Route 205 (Ridge Road) where Eden Drive is located. Brabo said she felt it could be justified to make a case to stop the increased speed zone in the area of Jersey Road, La Grange, and Barbara's Way. She also said it made no sense to increase the speed in a commercial area. Brabo asked if a letter to the Secretary of Transportation would help by voicing their concerns over the bus stops not being considered. She also reminded everyone that VDOT has used flawed data in the past.
Bueche said he wasn't going to take an ultimatum from VDOT. He said he's heard from citizens voicing support for both increased speeds and not. Because it was evenly split he decided to do his own research and felt it wasn't justifiable to increase the speed which means an increased stopping distance. He said that while there might not be any serious accidents, that may change with the increased speed. Bueche said he saw the bus accident and noted that there were several along the areas studied but felt that wasn't taken into consideration.
There was more discussion about adding the bus stops to the map, who to write a letter to, and adding the number of houses along the road. In the end, the Supervisors decided to send a letter asking to not increase the speed limit, limit those areas where the speed does go up, and to appeal to the Secretary of Transportation.
Christopher Clarke, Director of Parks and Recreation, then gave the Board a summary of the Complete Count Committee that was formed by the Supervisors for the upcoming 2020 Census. Clarke said the committee is tasked with ensuring everyone is counted only once and in the right place. He said that while there is funding through the Census Bureau and the GWRC, he would like an additional $5,000 to aid in the efforts. He said that uncounted residents could cost localities about $2,000 per year due to lost Federal funding. The Board approved the funds.
Dr. Young then asked the Supervisors to fund $13,000 for the upcoming 300th Anniversary for the County. He said that there are several events planned through the year and the committee that was formed to steer the events is now ready to market them. He did caution the Supervisors that the budget enclosed with the Agenda is strictly a sample budget. Granger asked if the Tourism Advisory Committee (TAC) agreed with the funding assessment and Young said they did. Granger said he assumed that was the case but just wanted to make sure. The Board approved the funding.
Brabo said that while the Board was on the topic of the TAC, it was brought to her attention that not all applications for TAC funding are being brought before the Board for approval. She said an application from Christina Burroughs was declined initially but when Burroughs took the feedback from the TAC and made changes, she was told she couldn't resubmit a new application. Bueche asked if there was an appeals process for people applying for TAC funding to come before the Board. Young said that the TAC sits with staff and hears an application and Brabo said the Supervisors were the deciding body, just like with the Planning Commission, Landfill Advisory Committee, and other committees. She said she took issue with the fact that a corrected application was refused. Brabo said that nobody else has appealed to the Board before after being denied so she wasn't sure why staff denied the resubmitted application. Dr. Young said that staff didn't deny it, the TAC did. [EDITOR'S NOTE - Neil Richard, a co-founder of Project94, is the Chair of the Landfill Advisory Committee.]
Thus began a lengthy discussion about how many applications from the TAC, or other committees, the Supervisors need to see. They also discussed what an appeals process would look like for those people or groups that are denied funds by a committee. Dr. Young warned the Board that they may get 30 to 40 applications and it may be overwhelming. Granger said he would like to reach out to the TAC and hear the whole story. As a point of decorum, it wasn't Granger's decision to recognize him from the floor but Dave Zabelsky, Chair of the TAC, was in the audience trying to be recognized. He later gave additional information regarding the application in question and said that the original application was indeed denied but there has been no further communication from the applicant to resubmit. He also said that several groups have resubmitted applications in the past after being rejected once.
In the end, Gregory said that the TAC isn't an adjudicatory body and they only have the authorization given to them by the Supervisors. He said that there is effectively an appeals process in place because anybody that submits an application can always go before the Board to request a consideration through the annual budgeting process. He said the TAC is a tool for that process and is only an advisory body, not a governing one. The Board decided that maybe they needed an addendum to clarify things.
Dr. Young then gave his report by saying the Board attended the joint meeting with the Planning Commission on the 8th. He said that the Planning Commission voted to defer the decision and discussion on the project until their next meeting, November 12th. Brabo said that the Supervisors sat through the meeting but didn't have their turn asking questions. She said she had a lot of questions and asked how to proceed in getting answers to them. Dr. Young said a meeting could be set up with Heather Hall to answer any questions she may have and said that several of Brabo's colleagues have already done so.
Young then continued by saying the archeologist in charge of the dig that would be conducted at Wayside Park said the County maintains the right to ask for any artifacts found. Binder said that was great and that the Historical Society has said they would be interested in seeing the artifacts preserved here in King George. [EDITOR'S NOTE - Neil Richard, a co-founder of Project94, is a lifetime member of the King George County Historical Society.]
Dr. Young said he had a letter from the Tri-County/City Soil and Water Conservation District asking for candidates to fill vacancies on their Board of Directors. Bueche asked if they had a deadline and Young said no. Brabo said the letter asked for candidates but didn't give a number. Young said he wasn't sure but guessed they were looking for the largest pool of candidates they could get. Brabo suggested everyone find one person which would mean five candidates.
The Board then went into Closed Session at 8:53pm and invited Dr. Young and Eric Gregory to attend. They returned from Closed Session at 9:31pm.
The meeting adjourned at 9:32pm.
Meeting Attendees:
John Jenkins (Board of Supervisors)
Jeff Bueche (Chairman, Board of Supervisors)
Richard Granger (Board of Supervisors)
Ruby Brabo (Board of Supervisors)
Cathy Binder (Board of Supervisors)
Neiman Young (County Administrator)
Eric Gregory (County Attorney)
Meeting Agenda
Next Meeting:
The Board of Supervisors will next meet on October 23, 2019 at 6:30 pm at Company One.
Previous Meeting:
Read about the previous Board of Supervisors Meeting.
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2019-10-30 - EDITED - The spelling of "eminent domain" was corrected.
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