by Neil Richard
The Board of Directors for the King George County Service Authority opened their last meeting of the year at 6:30pm. With roughly 80 people already in the room for the upcoming Public Hearing later in the evening, the Board did their best to move things along quickly.
There were no amendments to the Agenda.
There was no Public Comment. Mike Bennett said if it sounded like he was rushing the audience, he was doing it for them. He was implying that he was trying to get through their business as quickly as possible.
Christopher Werle began his report by saying it was longer than normal. He apologized in advance as he knew most in the audience weren't there to listen to him. He said that his term on the Board of Directors expired at the end of the month. He thanked the Supervisors for allowing him to serve as a volunteer over the last four years and thanked his colleagues on the Service Authority Board for their support and guidance. Werle said there were a lot of ups and downs over the years but felt the Service Authority is a much better place than it was before. He said there have been a lot of positive accomplishments over the past year including hiring Jonathon Weakley as General Manager. Werle said that Weakley's technical expertise and detailed reports have helped make significant progress in getting facilities into compliance as well as improving relationships with Virginia Department of Health (VDH) and Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ). Werle said that for the positive momentum to continue, all of the stakeholders must continue to work together.
Werle then listed several observations and suggestions from his time on the Board. First, Service Authority staff needs to continue their excellent work at keeping the Board of Directors and the public informed of any issues that may impact customers. Second, Weakley needs to continue to provide the Board with as much detail as possible in the budget cycle. Third, in turn, the Board needs to ensure that Weakley and staff have the resources needed to continue being successful. Fourth, Werle said that the Service Authority should continue moving in the direction of being run like a business. Werle said this included bringing on non-elected individuals to serve on the Board of Directors. Fifth, the Board must find ways to reduce the fiscal burden on the customers.
Werle expanded on this last point by saying the Service Authority needs thousands more customers, both commercial and residential, to help pay for necessary improvements, ongoing costs, and debt repayments. Werle said that focusing on just commercial growth makes no sense because businesses will not come here without the necessary population to support them. In turn, more residential customers would mean more services the County needs to provide. Werle said that even though high real estate taxes may be a burden, everyone may have to accept them. He said that Hazel Land was recently denied permission to expand their footprint in Hopyard by adding another 250 homes. He said the water and sewer infrastructure could handle this expansion and brought additional revenue to the Service Authority but the expansion was denied because they did not build the trail that was in their proffer.
Werle continued his analysis by saying that the Fairview Beach and Dahlgren Waste Water Treatment Plants (WWTPs) were not up to standards when they were acquired by the Service Authority. He hoped that the County could find a way to offset those costly upgrades at some point in the future. Werle also suggested looking into using revenue from the Landfill as a potential way to help pay expenses. He said that the Service Authority's originally chartered mission included solid waste management. Werle said that if none of the suggested options work, there's always the option of dissolving the Service Authority and creating a Utilities Department that falls under the County Administrator. He said this transition would allow the Service Authority to move their debt to the County's control and there may be a negative impact on the bond rating but there could be benefits to such a move.
Werle said that the discussions to reduce connection fees to help small business development would reduce the overall income for the Service Authority which could mean more rate increases for customers. He said that increasing rates for customers is not acceptable and felt that the small business assistance could be handled through a grant or low interest loan through the Economic Development Authority (EDA) or the County's General Fund.
Werle closed his report by saying that when he undertook assignments in the Army, some were during peacetime and some were during war. He said "some of those assignments weren’t much fun, and some weren’t very safe, but they were all worth doing." He said that any appointment to a board or committee involves a lot of time and commitment but, despite any adversity, there will be many success to be proud of. He said that he hoped more citizens "will step up and volunteer to work hand in hand with our elected and appointed officials, dedicated staff members, and other volunteers to the betterment of the KGCSA and the county. I promise you it will be worth doing."
Richard Granger thanked Ruby Brabo and Werle for their service on the Board. He thanked them for their leadership and hard work addressing challenges. He said it couldn't have been done without their help.
Cathy Binder echoed much of Granger's comments and thanked Brabo and Werle for their service and dedication.
Ruby Brabo said tonight was her last night too and that meant everyone got to hear her last report too. She said that in 2011, she educated residents about how much debt the Service Authority had. Once elected, she learned that the County wasn't following the rules by having all five seats on the Board of Directors filled by individuals other than the Board of Supervisors. She said changes were made and she appointed the first citizen member, Christopher Werle. She said that since then, everything has been cash funded and a second citizen has been appointed to the Board, Mike Bennett. Brabo said she tried to bring issues and questions to the forefront but continued to get push back from her colleagues on the Board. She was told everything was fine but that troubled her because of the number of complaints she got from residents. She was glad when Bennett joined the Board because he also began asking questions. Brabo said it took over 30 years to get into this mess and it won't fix itself overnight. She asked the residents to recognize that those sitting up there on the Board had nothing to do with the Service Authority getting into the mess and that they needed everyone's support moving forward. Brabo said her legacy is going to be citizen members on the Board. She said that helped lead to new management and she hopes the Service Authority will be run like a business. She then thanked Werle for his time on the Board and said the Service Authority could never have paid someone to do all the work he's done. To Bennett, she said that he didn't know what he was getting into but his skill set and knowledge have been helpful. To Granger and Binder, she wished them well.
Mike Bennett said he had a Christmas present for the audience because he had no report. However, he did want to say that the kudos given to Weakley earlier in the meeting were timely as they would be discussing him later during closed session.
The Consent Agenda was approved.
The County Attorney, Eric Gregory, had no report.
Bennett said he got a lot of emails from Gregory over the past few days and thanked him for all of his work.
Next on the Agenda was a presentation from Gregg Bavisotto from MuniBilling. Weakley introduced him and gave a short overview of the need to bring in a vendor to manage utility billing. He said the top three requests from customers and the Board was electronic billing, monthly billing, and the ability to do direct deposit. Weakley said all of these could be accomplished with MuniBilling's cloud based service. Bavisotto then ran through the presentation that was included in the Agenda and said that MuniBilling owns their own software, allowing them to reduce costs.
During the presentation, Bavisotto said a customer could have multiple accounts in case they have a rental property and a main home. Brabo asked if it were possible to allow a landlord to look at a tenant's bill to see if they are actually paying on time. Bavisotto said yes, that is an option. Granger asked about integration with the County's current software and Bavisotto said it was covered. Binder asked about a fee to use a credit card and Bavisotto said it was 2.95%. Werle asked if there was a fee for electronic direct deposit and Bavisotto said there was not but there was a small fee, around 25 cents, for an e-check payment. Weakley asked about paying in person and Bavisotto said that was still possible with their system.
Brabo asked if the contract was approved, shouldn't it wait until the Board of Supervisors votes before obligating them to pay. Granger said the vote would be to authorize Weakley to sign a contract, not to obligate the County to pay funds. With that, the contract was approved.
Weakley then gave his General Manager's report, saying he would be brief and brilliant. Speeding through most of the details, Weakley said the Dahlgren WWTP was on track to meet the Total Nitrogen (TN) limits for the year. Brabo asked if there would be a fine if not met and Weakley said that was the case. Weakley continued that there were no issues at the Fairview Beach and Hopyard WWTPs. He said the Purkins Corner WWTP was on track to meet TN for the year and they invited DEQ to come out and take samples along side Service Authority staff. Weakley said DEQ did so and their sample collection numbers matched that of the Service Authority. Weakley said Oakland Park WWTP was also on track to meet nutrient limits for the year. In other news, Weakley said that a Request For Proposal (RFP) was submitted for the pump station work and he had a meeting with Sprint regarding their potential usage of water towers for their equipment.
Weakley said there were two items left on the DEQ Consent Order; the Operations and Maintenance (O&M) Manuals and the pump stations. Weakley said the Board had already approved work to commence on the pump stations and that Wiley Wilson should have the O&M Manuals completed by February. Weakley then took a moment to thank Brabo and Werle for their dedicated service and that he had gifts for them however Werle's name was spelled wrong so there would be a delay in the presentation. He asked that they both contact him to coordinate a time and date later.
The Board then went into Closed Session at 7:08pm and invited Dr. Neiman Young, County Administrator, and Gregory to attend. Bennett then said Weakley, Young, and Gregory would join them in a few minutes. They did so at 7:13pm before returning from Closed Session at 7:32pm.
Once back in Open Session, the Board approved finalizing negotiations for a water and sewer agreement with Hertenstein at the Villages project. Bennett said they wanted to approve that because the Planning Commission meets early in January and the current Board had been working on it for months. The Board then approved an amended contract for Weakley.
Bennett took a moment to thank Brabo for her service on the Service Authority and Board of Supervisors. He appreciated all that she has done for Fairview Beach. To Werle, Bennett said he set the bar high for citizen appointees. Bennett said he often jokes that he's never worked so hard for so little money. Bennett thanked Werle for his service and, even though the Service Authority isn't out of the woods yet, it's in a much better place.
The meeting adjourned at 7:35pm.
Meeting Attendees:
Christopher Werle (Board of Directors)
Jonathon Weakley (General Manager of Service Authority)
Richard Granger (Board of Supervisors)
Michael Bennett (Chairman, 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 January 7, 2020 at 6:30 pm at the Revercomb Building.
Previous Meeting:
Read about the previous Service Authority Meeting.
The Board of Directors for the King George County Service Authority opened their last meeting of the year at 6:30pm. With roughly 80 people already in the room for the upcoming Public Hearing later in the evening, the Board did their best to move things along quickly.
There were no amendments to the Agenda.
There was no Public Comment. Mike Bennett said if it sounded like he was rushing the audience, he was doing it for them. He was implying that he was trying to get through their business as quickly as possible.
Christopher Werle began his report by saying it was longer than normal. He apologized in advance as he knew most in the audience weren't there to listen to him. He said that his term on the Board of Directors expired at the end of the month. He thanked the Supervisors for allowing him to serve as a volunteer over the last four years and thanked his colleagues on the Service Authority Board for their support and guidance. Werle said there were a lot of ups and downs over the years but felt the Service Authority is a much better place than it was before. He said there have been a lot of positive accomplishments over the past year including hiring Jonathon Weakley as General Manager. Werle said that Weakley's technical expertise and detailed reports have helped make significant progress in getting facilities into compliance as well as improving relationships with Virginia Department of Health (VDH) and Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ). Werle said that for the positive momentum to continue, all of the stakeholders must continue to work together.
Werle then listed several observations and suggestions from his time on the Board. First, Service Authority staff needs to continue their excellent work at keeping the Board of Directors and the public informed of any issues that may impact customers. Second, Weakley needs to continue to provide the Board with as much detail as possible in the budget cycle. Third, in turn, the Board needs to ensure that Weakley and staff have the resources needed to continue being successful. Fourth, Werle said that the Service Authority should continue moving in the direction of being run like a business. Werle said this included bringing on non-elected individuals to serve on the Board of Directors. Fifth, the Board must find ways to reduce the fiscal burden on the customers.
Werle expanded on this last point by saying the Service Authority needs thousands more customers, both commercial and residential, to help pay for necessary improvements, ongoing costs, and debt repayments. Werle said that focusing on just commercial growth makes no sense because businesses will not come here without the necessary population to support them. In turn, more residential customers would mean more services the County needs to provide. Werle said that even though high real estate taxes may be a burden, everyone may have to accept them. He said that Hazel Land was recently denied permission to expand their footprint in Hopyard by adding another 250 homes. He said the water and sewer infrastructure could handle this expansion and brought additional revenue to the Service Authority but the expansion was denied because they did not build the trail that was in their proffer.
Werle continued his analysis by saying that the Fairview Beach and Dahlgren Waste Water Treatment Plants (WWTPs) were not up to standards when they were acquired by the Service Authority. He hoped that the County could find a way to offset those costly upgrades at some point in the future. Werle also suggested looking into using revenue from the Landfill as a potential way to help pay expenses. He said that the Service Authority's originally chartered mission included solid waste management. Werle said that if none of the suggested options work, there's always the option of dissolving the Service Authority and creating a Utilities Department that falls under the County Administrator. He said this transition would allow the Service Authority to move their debt to the County's control and there may be a negative impact on the bond rating but there could be benefits to such a move.
Werle said that the discussions to reduce connection fees to help small business development would reduce the overall income for the Service Authority which could mean more rate increases for customers. He said that increasing rates for customers is not acceptable and felt that the small business assistance could be handled through a grant or low interest loan through the Economic Development Authority (EDA) or the County's General Fund.
Werle closed his report by saying that when he undertook assignments in the Army, some were during peacetime and some were during war. He said "some of those assignments weren’t much fun, and some weren’t very safe, but they were all worth doing." He said that any appointment to a board or committee involves a lot of time and commitment but, despite any adversity, there will be many success to be proud of. He said that he hoped more citizens "will step up and volunteer to work hand in hand with our elected and appointed officials, dedicated staff members, and other volunteers to the betterment of the KGCSA and the county. I promise you it will be worth doing."
Richard Granger thanked Ruby Brabo and Werle for their service on the Board. He thanked them for their leadership and hard work addressing challenges. He said it couldn't have been done without their help.
Cathy Binder echoed much of Granger's comments and thanked Brabo and Werle for their service and dedication.
Ruby Brabo said tonight was her last night too and that meant everyone got to hear her last report too. She said that in 2011, she educated residents about how much debt the Service Authority had. Once elected, she learned that the County wasn't following the rules by having all five seats on the Board of Directors filled by individuals other than the Board of Supervisors. She said changes were made and she appointed the first citizen member, Christopher Werle. She said that since then, everything has been cash funded and a second citizen has been appointed to the Board, Mike Bennett. Brabo said she tried to bring issues and questions to the forefront but continued to get push back from her colleagues on the Board. She was told everything was fine but that troubled her because of the number of complaints she got from residents. She was glad when Bennett joined the Board because he also began asking questions. Brabo said it took over 30 years to get into this mess and it won't fix itself overnight. She asked the residents to recognize that those sitting up there on the Board had nothing to do with the Service Authority getting into the mess and that they needed everyone's support moving forward. Brabo said her legacy is going to be citizen members on the Board. She said that helped lead to new management and she hopes the Service Authority will be run like a business. She then thanked Werle for his time on the Board and said the Service Authority could never have paid someone to do all the work he's done. To Bennett, she said that he didn't know what he was getting into but his skill set and knowledge have been helpful. To Granger and Binder, she wished them well.
Mike Bennett said he had a Christmas present for the audience because he had no report. However, he did want to say that the kudos given to Weakley earlier in the meeting were timely as they would be discussing him later during closed session.
The Consent Agenda was approved.
The County Attorney, Eric Gregory, had no report.
Bennett said he got a lot of emails from Gregory over the past few days and thanked him for all of his work.
Next on the Agenda was a presentation from Gregg Bavisotto from MuniBilling. Weakley introduced him and gave a short overview of the need to bring in a vendor to manage utility billing. He said the top three requests from customers and the Board was electronic billing, monthly billing, and the ability to do direct deposit. Weakley said all of these could be accomplished with MuniBilling's cloud based service. Bavisotto then ran through the presentation that was included in the Agenda and said that MuniBilling owns their own software, allowing them to reduce costs.
During the presentation, Bavisotto said a customer could have multiple accounts in case they have a rental property and a main home. Brabo asked if it were possible to allow a landlord to look at a tenant's bill to see if they are actually paying on time. Bavisotto said yes, that is an option. Granger asked about integration with the County's current software and Bavisotto said it was covered. Binder asked about a fee to use a credit card and Bavisotto said it was 2.95%. Werle asked if there was a fee for electronic direct deposit and Bavisotto said there was not but there was a small fee, around 25 cents, for an e-check payment. Weakley asked about paying in person and Bavisotto said that was still possible with their system.
Brabo asked if the contract was approved, shouldn't it wait until the Board of Supervisors votes before obligating them to pay. Granger said the vote would be to authorize Weakley to sign a contract, not to obligate the County to pay funds. With that, the contract was approved.
Weakley then gave his General Manager's report, saying he would be brief and brilliant. Speeding through most of the details, Weakley said the Dahlgren WWTP was on track to meet the Total Nitrogen (TN) limits for the year. Brabo asked if there would be a fine if not met and Weakley said that was the case. Weakley continued that there were no issues at the Fairview Beach and Hopyard WWTPs. He said the Purkins Corner WWTP was on track to meet TN for the year and they invited DEQ to come out and take samples along side Service Authority staff. Weakley said DEQ did so and their sample collection numbers matched that of the Service Authority. Weakley said Oakland Park WWTP was also on track to meet nutrient limits for the year. In other news, Weakley said that a Request For Proposal (RFP) was submitted for the pump station work and he had a meeting with Sprint regarding their potential usage of water towers for their equipment.
Weakley said there were two items left on the DEQ Consent Order; the Operations and Maintenance (O&M) Manuals and the pump stations. Weakley said the Board had already approved work to commence on the pump stations and that Wiley Wilson should have the O&M Manuals completed by February. Weakley then took a moment to thank Brabo and Werle for their dedicated service and that he had gifts for them however Werle's name was spelled wrong so there would be a delay in the presentation. He asked that they both contact him to coordinate a time and date later.
The Board then went into Closed Session at 7:08pm and invited Dr. Neiman Young, County Administrator, and Gregory to attend. Bennett then said Weakley, Young, and Gregory would join them in a few minutes. They did so at 7:13pm before returning from Closed Session at 7:32pm.
Once back in Open Session, the Board approved finalizing negotiations for a water and sewer agreement with Hertenstein at the Villages project. Bennett said they wanted to approve that because the Planning Commission meets early in January and the current Board had been working on it for months. The Board then approved an amended contract for Weakley.
Bennett took a moment to thank Brabo for her service on the Service Authority and Board of Supervisors. He appreciated all that she has done for Fairview Beach. To Werle, Bennett said he set the bar high for citizen appointees. Bennett said he often jokes that he's never worked so hard for so little money. Bennett thanked Werle for his service and, even though the Service Authority isn't out of the woods yet, it's in a much better place.
The meeting adjourned at 7:35pm.
Meeting Attendees:
Christopher Werle (Board of Directors)
Jonathon Weakley (General Manager of Service Authority)
Richard Granger (Board of Supervisors)
Michael Bennett (Chairman, 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 January 7, 2020 at 6:30 pm at the Revercomb Building.
Previous Meeting:
Read about the previous Service Authority Meeting.
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