Listed below are the regular meeting dates for the King George County Board of Supervisors and Service Authority Board of Directors for the remainder of 2020. Regular Service Authority meetings will be held at 5:30 p.m., and Board of Supervisors meetings will begin at approximately 6:30 p.m. All meetings will be held in the Board Room of the Revercomb Building, 10459 Courthouse Drive, King George, VA 22485, unless otherwise advertised. [EDITOR'S NOTE: The biggest change from the 2019 calendar is the start time for each meeting and the addition of the July 14, 2020 meeting.]
Showing posts with label meeting. Show all posts
Showing posts with label meeting. Show all posts
Monday, January 13, 2020
Thursday, January 10, 2019
Friday, October 19, 2018
OPINION - Citizen Budget Advisory Committee - Capital Improvement Program Part 3
by Neil Richard
The story of Capital Improvement Program (CIP) decisions is beginning to lengthen into an epic saga. During the first CIP meeting, we heard from all the County departments and their upcoming capital needs over the next few years. Some needs were more urgent than others, some needs were more expensive than others. During the second CIP meeting, we heard primarily from the school system what their capital needs were. We also heard Dr. Neiman Young, County Administrator, present his idea for solving the needs of the Courthouse staff.
The third CIP meeting, held on October 9, 2018, covered the Courthouse project in more detail with representatives from Moseley Architects going over several draft concepts, potential budgets, and completed assessments. As the evening wore on, it became clear that there was no clear answer or best solution to the problems in the Courthouse.
Tony Bell of Moseley Architects began his presentation with a basic outline of what has already been done and what might need to be done. First, they had already provided the County with four options for the Courthouse with the Courthouse staff preferring the option that cost about $31.5 million and would give them a brand new, stand-alone structure that would meet all of their space and security needs for the next thirty years. These four options were all based on data collected from the staff that uses the facility as well as backstopping or vetting those needs with industry standards as well as Virginia state guidelines. Bell gave a great example at one point of how the process worked by telling a story about a judge in an unnamed locality that asked for twelve court rooms. Bell said the guidelines and case load data only called for six court rooms. He said when they asked the judge why he asked for twice as much, the judge said that he always got half of what he asked for so he figured if he needed six, he better ask for twelve.
Bell's story was a great way to emphasize his point that they do fact-checking on their own to verify the needs are within the range of what is actually needed and not anything abnormal. Bell said this Space Needs Analysis was completed in August of 2017 and showed that the Courthouse currently has 24,274 square feet and currently need 58,119 square feet. In other words, the century old Courthouse is less than half the size of what staff needs to operate efficiently and safely. Additionally, the Space Needs Analysis showed that with expected growth rates for King George, the needs in twenty years would be for 65,836 square feet, roughly 8,000 square feet more.
In looking at the plan previously presented by Dr. Young, Bell said the budget for renovating the impacted buildings would range from $16 million to $43 million. But it's more complicated than just projected budgets. First, as a review, Dr. Young's proposal was to renovate the old King George Middle School and then move the County Offices into the building. Then, with the Revercomb building empty, renovate it into the new Circuit Court building. Then, with the current Courthouse building partially in use, renovate it to host the General District Court and the Juvenile and Domestic Relations Court. Dr. Young's idea essentially allows the County to meet the needs of the County staff and partially meet the needs of the Courthouse staff. It allows the County to extend the useful life of three buildings instead of leaving two buildings empty.
The complications come full swing when the projected price tag for the proposed plan is only slightly more expensive than a new, single-use Courthouse building. Plus, by splitting the courts between the Revercomb Building and their current home in the Courthouse, the staff still won't have the square footage they currently need. With this plan, they would end up with 42,500 square feet between both buildings, which is still shy of their current need for 58,119 square feet.
As Walter O'Reilly once said, the feathers hit the fan when Cathy Binder asked the Courthouse staff for an honest answer about if the plan would meet their needs. They obliged her and each answered honestly and succinctly with a "no."
This is where I feel the Supervisors will have a hard decision to make. They'll need to balance the needs of the Courthouse staff, who all support a new building, and the needs of the taxpayers, who all appear to not support spending so much money. I will keep my predictions to myself, but I feel that they will have some restless nights until a final decision is made.
There are a few other tidbits that further complicate the decision. First, the County is currently in good financial standing. Borrowing money to build a new Courthouse could hurt that standing. Borrowing slightly more money but spread out over several years may be easier on our rating. Second, renovating the existing Courthouse building while it is still in use will complicate the schedule. Third, when I asked why nobody mentioned the future use of the old King George Elementary School, it appeared that the Supervisors were in discussions behind closed doors about something. Fourth, as T. C. Collins from the School Board said from the audience, the School Board still hasn't heard any official presentation from the Supervisors about the potential move of the School Board Office and Pre-School to the old Middle School. Fifth, the Revercomb Building was designed to be expanded. This means it could be expanded to meet the needs of the Courthouse staff during the renovation. Finally, although it was a good suggestion by Ruby Brabo to consider moving the Courts to the 65,000 square foot old Middle School as it would meet their space needs, the cost to renovate that into a usable space for the Courts would be more expensive than renovating it for office space. In other words, the square footage might be right, but it would cost too much to make it meet the security needs of a Courthouse.
All in all, it will be a tough decision for those that need to make it and for those impacted by it.
With the bulk of the meeting over, the discussion quickly moved through the other CIP projects on the list. The Board tentatively agreed to move forward with the request for a new school phone system and bus replacement, the CAT6 and fiber network upgrades for the County offices, and the ambulance and EKG/AED replacements. Dr. Young successfully lobbied for his low cost but high impact document scanning project and John Jenkins asked that the Sheriff's request for new laptops to be strongly considered. Richard Granger also asked that in the future, a discussion be held to include ambulance and bus replacements in their respective department budget. His thinking was that if they come up every year, they really should be part of their yearly budget instead of a CIP request. Ruby Brabo did caution him that doing so would likely mean an increase in taxes but the general feeling was that for something this important, it would be acceptable.
By holding the purse strings tight, the Supervisors were able to tentatively fund half of the ten projects marked as "urgent" leaving only the Courthouse solution as a major question remaining to be solved. The projects chosen also gave them a very small gap in funding that would be pulled from the gas pipeline fund.
The story of Capital Improvement Program (CIP) decisions is beginning to lengthen into an epic saga. During the first CIP meeting, we heard from all the County departments and their upcoming capital needs over the next few years. Some needs were more urgent than others, some needs were more expensive than others. During the second CIP meeting, we heard primarily from the school system what their capital needs were. We also heard Dr. Neiman Young, County Administrator, present his idea for solving the needs of the Courthouse staff.
The third CIP meeting, held on October 9, 2018, covered the Courthouse project in more detail with representatives from Moseley Architects going over several draft concepts, potential budgets, and completed assessments. As the evening wore on, it became clear that there was no clear answer or best solution to the problems in the Courthouse.
Tony Bell of Moseley Architects began his presentation with a basic outline of what has already been done and what might need to be done. First, they had already provided the County with four options for the Courthouse with the Courthouse staff preferring the option that cost about $31.5 million and would give them a brand new, stand-alone structure that would meet all of their space and security needs for the next thirty years. These four options were all based on data collected from the staff that uses the facility as well as backstopping or vetting those needs with industry standards as well as Virginia state guidelines. Bell gave a great example at one point of how the process worked by telling a story about a judge in an unnamed locality that asked for twelve court rooms. Bell said the guidelines and case load data only called for six court rooms. He said when they asked the judge why he asked for twice as much, the judge said that he always got half of what he asked for so he figured if he needed six, he better ask for twelve.
Bell's story was a great way to emphasize his point that they do fact-checking on their own to verify the needs are within the range of what is actually needed and not anything abnormal. Bell said this Space Needs Analysis was completed in August of 2017 and showed that the Courthouse currently has 24,274 square feet and currently need 58,119 square feet. In other words, the century old Courthouse is less than half the size of what staff needs to operate efficiently and safely. Additionally, the Space Needs Analysis showed that with expected growth rates for King George, the needs in twenty years would be for 65,836 square feet, roughly 8,000 square feet more.
In looking at the plan previously presented by Dr. Young, Bell said the budget for renovating the impacted buildings would range from $16 million to $43 million. But it's more complicated than just projected budgets. First, as a review, Dr. Young's proposal was to renovate the old King George Middle School and then move the County Offices into the building. Then, with the Revercomb building empty, renovate it into the new Circuit Court building. Then, with the current Courthouse building partially in use, renovate it to host the General District Court and the Juvenile and Domestic Relations Court. Dr. Young's idea essentially allows the County to meet the needs of the County staff and partially meet the needs of the Courthouse staff. It allows the County to extend the useful life of three buildings instead of leaving two buildings empty.
The complications come full swing when the projected price tag for the proposed plan is only slightly more expensive than a new, single-use Courthouse building. Plus, by splitting the courts between the Revercomb Building and their current home in the Courthouse, the staff still won't have the square footage they currently need. With this plan, they would end up with 42,500 square feet between both buildings, which is still shy of their current need for 58,119 square feet.
As Walter O'Reilly once said, the feathers hit the fan when Cathy Binder asked the Courthouse staff for an honest answer about if the plan would meet their needs. They obliged her and each answered honestly and succinctly with a "no."
This is where I feel the Supervisors will have a hard decision to make. They'll need to balance the needs of the Courthouse staff, who all support a new building, and the needs of the taxpayers, who all appear to not support spending so much money. I will keep my predictions to myself, but I feel that they will have some restless nights until a final decision is made.
There are a few other tidbits that further complicate the decision. First, the County is currently in good financial standing. Borrowing money to build a new Courthouse could hurt that standing. Borrowing slightly more money but spread out over several years may be easier on our rating. Second, renovating the existing Courthouse building while it is still in use will complicate the schedule. Third, when I asked why nobody mentioned the future use of the old King George Elementary School, it appeared that the Supervisors were in discussions behind closed doors about something. Fourth, as T. C. Collins from the School Board said from the audience, the School Board still hasn't heard any official presentation from the Supervisors about the potential move of the School Board Office and Pre-School to the old Middle School. Fifth, the Revercomb Building was designed to be expanded. This means it could be expanded to meet the needs of the Courthouse staff during the renovation. Finally, although it was a good suggestion by Ruby Brabo to consider moving the Courts to the 65,000 square foot old Middle School as it would meet their space needs, the cost to renovate that into a usable space for the Courts would be more expensive than renovating it for office space. In other words, the square footage might be right, but it would cost too much to make it meet the security needs of a Courthouse.
All in all, it will be a tough decision for those that need to make it and for those impacted by it.
With the bulk of the meeting over, the discussion quickly moved through the other CIP projects on the list. The Board tentatively agreed to move forward with the request for a new school phone system and bus replacement, the CAT6 and fiber network upgrades for the County offices, and the ambulance and EKG/AED replacements. Dr. Young successfully lobbied for his low cost but high impact document scanning project and John Jenkins asked that the Sheriff's request for new laptops to be strongly considered. Richard Granger also asked that in the future, a discussion be held to include ambulance and bus replacements in their respective department budget. His thinking was that if they come up every year, they really should be part of their yearly budget instead of a CIP request. Ruby Brabo did caution him that doing so would likely mean an increase in taxes but the general feeling was that for something this important, it would be acceptable.
By holding the purse strings tight, the Supervisors were able to tentatively fund half of the ten projects marked as "urgent" leaving only the Courthouse solution as a major question remaining to be solved. The projects chosen also gave them a very small gap in funding that would be pulled from the gas pipeline fund.
Tuesday, October 9, 2018
2018-10-02 - Board of Supervisors Meeting Notes
by Neil Richard
The King George County Board of Supervisors began their meeting a few minutes later than normal due to some technical difficulties. They finally began the meeting at 7:44pm.
There were no amendments to the Agenda and there was no Public Comment.
John Jenkins was absent due to a death in the family.
Jeff Bueche began his Board report by saying he attended the water contamination meeting in Fairview Beach that was organized by Mike Bennett. Bueche said he was optimistic that there would be progress towards finding the source of the contamination. On the 30th, he celebrated his 18th wedding anniversary with his wife Anne. He felt it was appropriate to share because not only was she his wife and the mother of their children, but she was also his best friend and confidant.
Bueche then said he felt the Service Authority meeting held earlier was informative and that he was happy to see the duration of the meetings increase over what they were in the past. He said there was a lot of business to conduct that was important but felt a discussion should be had about separating the two Board meetings into two different nights. He said some citizens come only for the Service Authority meeting and some come only for the Supervisors meeting. Bueche said he didn't need a consensus tonight, just that he wanted the options explored and discussed.
Brabo interrupted and said the bylaws of the Board state that Supervisors have to be available until midnight and that, thankfully, they haven't needed that much time. She also said that, personally, she was unwilling to give up another night due to her numerous other commitments and meetings. Bueche said he understands that it makes it difficult but the two Boards are two separate bodies and hopefully in the future it wouldn't impact the Supervisors, meaning that hopefully in the future, Supervisors wouldn't sit on the Service Authority Board.
Bueche concluded his report by reminding everyone that the first annual KG QUE-FEST would be held on October 6th and 7th at Sealston Sports Complex and the Fall Festival will be on the 13th.
Ruby Brabo began her report by saying she attended the Local Government Advisory Committee (LGAC) meeting on the 20th, a National Association of Counties conference call on the 21st, and the YMCA 10th Anniversary Gala on the 22nd. On the 24th she attended the contamination meeting in Fairview Beach and thanked Mike Bennett for the time and dedication he has invested in his role on the Service Authority Board. From the 25th to the 27th, Brabo attended the LGAC forum and assisted in the Community Clean Up Day on the 29th. She thanked Annie Cupka for her work in coordinating things and hopes that it will become an annual event.
Brabo also attended the memorial service for Ed Veazey on the 29th. She said "he will be missed but his influence lives on through everything he touched within the County." She also attended the 20th anniversary celebration at Mary's Cakery on the 29th and went to a Chem-bio meeting on October 1st. At this meeting she felt the bulk of the meeting was related to the lack of communication and was thankful for the base leadership being willing to sit down and talk. During the meeting she learned that the base hired 600 employees last year and about 500 more next year but their capacity is limited in their existing facilities. Brabo said she also learned that many of the contractors working on base are doing so because of current issues with the Virtual Private Network (VPN) making it cost prohibitive for them to be located off base.
Cathy Binder reported that she attended the Capital Improvement Program (CIP) workshop on the 20th, the Rappahannock Area Agency on Aging on the 26th, and the Rappahannock Regional Jail Authority on the 27th. She said residents can attend an open enrollment event hosted by Rappahannock Area Agency on Aging to enroll in Medicare Part D. It will be held at the Citizen's Center on November 27th from 9am to 4pm. She said King George was also given the title to a van that can be used to transport prisoners to the Rappahannock Regional Jail. On October 2nd, Binder visited Brooks Park to see employees from Hilldrup Moving work as part of the United Way Day of Caring volunteer event. She also learned how to mulch and prune trees and shrubs from Master Gardener Linda Kline.
Richard Granger also attended the CIP meeting on the 20th as well as a meeting on the 26th regarding river gauges in the state. He said these gauges will improve safety for those using rivers and streams as heavy rains in one part of the state will impact those downriver. On October 1st, Granger attended the same Chem-bio meeting with Brabo and said that attrition on base is about 6%. He also said it was important to note that the Chem-bio move to Indian Head was mainly motivated by it being a better fit to that base's mission compared to Dahlgren's mission.
The Consent Agenda was approved.
The County Attorney, Eric Gregory, reported that he has been working with David Brickley and representatives from the Friends of Dahlgren Railroad Heritage Trail (DRHT) to work on a cooperative management plan for the trail [EDITOR'S NOTE - Neil Richard, a co-founder of Project94, is the Treasurer of the Friends of DRHT.]. Gregory said things are under development and he is in communication with those parties and hopes to have something to present at the next Board meeting.
Next was a presentation by Steve Marzolf of Virginia Information Technologies Association (VITA). Marzolf said he was happy to hear he has until midnight to go through his presentation to which everyone laughed. His presentation was about the pending changes to the 911 system in the state and how it would impact King George County. He said the current network, which is analog, is going away and there's nothing anyone, himself included, could do about it. He was careful to emphasize that it wasn't Verizon's fault or anybody else's fault, it was just the nature of the the change in technology. He equated it to not being able to buy new movies on VHS tapes anymore. With that said, Marzolf said Fairfax County was the first to adopt the new system last year. After an intensive process, Fairfax found AT&T to be the best provider for the project.
Marzolf cautioned that deployment needed to be coordinated and that King George was part of the system that covered Fredericksburg and Winchester. He said there would be a period of time where both networks, analog and digital, would need to be supported as things are transitioned. The proposed schedule was for our region to make the change between January and June 2020, which was roughly in the middle of the schedule for the whole state.
Marzolf continued by complimenting the County's Geographic Information System (GIS), saying that only a few minor issues would need to be addressed. He said the new system would allow text-to-911, something that's important for the deaf and hard of hearing.
He then got down to the important part of the presentation, the cost. He said the current cost of the County's 911 system was roughly $368 per month. The new cost would be $5,481 per month. The good news is that the 911 Services Board would cover the cost increase for two years. He also said the 911 Services Board would cover the cost of the overlap between the new and old systems for six months and they were open to discussions if the County wanted to extend the newly installed fiber lines to schools, libraries, or government buildings. The 911 Services Board would also cover the cost of the new fiber being installed.
Marzolf said he was asking the Board to review the proposal and the contract Fairfax used. He said King George was able to do their own proposal request or use a vendor other than AT&T. He also said that if the County decided to work with AT&T and change their mind later, it was possible to do so, just like changing cell phone service providers.
He concluded his presentation by saying the new 911 system was here and not going away. He said everyone in the state and in the country would eventually need to switch to it.
Brabo asked about the cost of the new monthly fee and if that was based on the infrastructure that doesn't exist in the County from AT&T, noting that Verizon is the area's main service provider. Marzolf said no, it was just for the service being provided and that Verizon would actually be making the connection over the last mile. Brabo again noted the lack of AT&T infrastructure in the area and wondered if a regional procurement with Caroline County and other Northern Neck counties may be a benefit. Marzolf said Northern Virginia is experiencing the same issue with a lack of AT&T infrastructure and that was why Verizon was involved. In simple terms, he said that AT&T provides the service across the national network and pays Verizon for their local infrastructure.
Binder asked for clarity on the diverse connectivity and Marzolf explained it was a way to ensure the connection was safe from any harm. He said there are options for one connection, two connections in one path, or two connections in two paths. He said the latter was recommended because it provides for redundancy should something happen. He provided an example of an auger bit taking down the entire 911 system where a diverse connectivity system would bring the 911 connections into the building in two different locations.
Steve McKeever from Virginia Department of Transportation (VDOT) was next to present to the Board, regarding the Route 207 and 301 Corridor Study. He came before the Board to ask for their approval of the study. Brabo asked if a vote was needed and Dr. Young said he and Eric Gregory felt it was necessary to vote. The Board approved VDOT's Study.
Wilma Ward from the Finance Department was next before the Board, asking for their approval of a change order related to the Potomac Elementary School modular units. The Board approved.
Dr. Neiman Young, County Administrator, then asked the Board to authorize him to sign the Agreement related to the King George Middle School Turn Lane Project. Brabo interjected and said it was about time that we applied for revenue sharing. The Board approved.
Dr. Young gave his report by starting off with an offer from Bill Robie, a professor from George Washington University, to give a brief course on Public Policy for the Supervisors. Brabo said this topic came up because as a new Supervisor, she was given no guidance or mentorship. As the most senior Supervisor now, she said she's doing the best she can but felt a course like this would help everyone. There was a discussion on scheduling the course later this month. Dr. Young also reminded the Board that there would be a team building event later this month for the Supervisors.
The Supervisors went into Closed Session at 8:39pm and invited Eric Gregory, Dr. Young, Chris Werle, and Mike Bennett to attend. They returned from Closed Session at 9:22pm and adjourned.
Meeting Attendees:
Jeff Bueche (Board of Supervisors)
Richard Granger (Chairman, Board of Supervisors)
Ruby Brabo (Board of Supervisors)
Cathy Binder (Board of Supervisors)
Neiman Young (County Administrator)
Eric Gregory (County Attorney)
Absent:
John Jenkins (Board of Supervisors) due to a death in the family
Meeting Agenda
Next Meeting:
The Board of Supervisors will next meet on October 9, 2018 at 6:30 pm at Company 1.
Previous Meeting:
Read about the previous Board of Supervisors Meeting.
The King George County Board of Supervisors began their meeting a few minutes later than normal due to some technical difficulties. They finally began the meeting at 7:44pm.
There were no amendments to the Agenda and there was no Public Comment.
John Jenkins was absent due to a death in the family.
Jeff Bueche began his Board report by saying he attended the water contamination meeting in Fairview Beach that was organized by Mike Bennett. Bueche said he was optimistic that there would be progress towards finding the source of the contamination. On the 30th, he celebrated his 18th wedding anniversary with his wife Anne. He felt it was appropriate to share because not only was she his wife and the mother of their children, but she was also his best friend and confidant.
Bueche then said he felt the Service Authority meeting held earlier was informative and that he was happy to see the duration of the meetings increase over what they were in the past. He said there was a lot of business to conduct that was important but felt a discussion should be had about separating the two Board meetings into two different nights. He said some citizens come only for the Service Authority meeting and some come only for the Supervisors meeting. Bueche said he didn't need a consensus tonight, just that he wanted the options explored and discussed.
Brabo interrupted and said the bylaws of the Board state that Supervisors have to be available until midnight and that, thankfully, they haven't needed that much time. She also said that, personally, she was unwilling to give up another night due to her numerous other commitments and meetings. Bueche said he understands that it makes it difficult but the two Boards are two separate bodies and hopefully in the future it wouldn't impact the Supervisors, meaning that hopefully in the future, Supervisors wouldn't sit on the Service Authority Board.
Bueche concluded his report by reminding everyone that the first annual KG QUE-FEST would be held on October 6th and 7th at Sealston Sports Complex and the Fall Festival will be on the 13th.
Ruby Brabo began her report by saying she attended the Local Government Advisory Committee (LGAC) meeting on the 20th, a National Association of Counties conference call on the 21st, and the YMCA 10th Anniversary Gala on the 22nd. On the 24th she attended the contamination meeting in Fairview Beach and thanked Mike Bennett for the time and dedication he has invested in his role on the Service Authority Board. From the 25th to the 27th, Brabo attended the LGAC forum and assisted in the Community Clean Up Day on the 29th. She thanked Annie Cupka for her work in coordinating things and hopes that it will become an annual event.
Brabo also attended the memorial service for Ed Veazey on the 29th. She said "he will be missed but his influence lives on through everything he touched within the County." She also attended the 20th anniversary celebration at Mary's Cakery on the 29th and went to a Chem-bio meeting on October 1st. At this meeting she felt the bulk of the meeting was related to the lack of communication and was thankful for the base leadership being willing to sit down and talk. During the meeting she learned that the base hired 600 employees last year and about 500 more next year but their capacity is limited in their existing facilities. Brabo said she also learned that many of the contractors working on base are doing so because of current issues with the Virtual Private Network (VPN) making it cost prohibitive for them to be located off base.
Cathy Binder reported that she attended the Capital Improvement Program (CIP) workshop on the 20th, the Rappahannock Area Agency on Aging on the 26th, and the Rappahannock Regional Jail Authority on the 27th. She said residents can attend an open enrollment event hosted by Rappahannock Area Agency on Aging to enroll in Medicare Part D. It will be held at the Citizen's Center on November 27th from 9am to 4pm. She said King George was also given the title to a van that can be used to transport prisoners to the Rappahannock Regional Jail. On October 2nd, Binder visited Brooks Park to see employees from Hilldrup Moving work as part of the United Way Day of Caring volunteer event. She also learned how to mulch and prune trees and shrubs from Master Gardener Linda Kline.
Richard Granger also attended the CIP meeting on the 20th as well as a meeting on the 26th regarding river gauges in the state. He said these gauges will improve safety for those using rivers and streams as heavy rains in one part of the state will impact those downriver. On October 1st, Granger attended the same Chem-bio meeting with Brabo and said that attrition on base is about 6%. He also said it was important to note that the Chem-bio move to Indian Head was mainly motivated by it being a better fit to that base's mission compared to Dahlgren's mission.
The Consent Agenda was approved.
The County Attorney, Eric Gregory, reported that he has been working with David Brickley and representatives from the Friends of Dahlgren Railroad Heritage Trail (DRHT) to work on a cooperative management plan for the trail [EDITOR'S NOTE - Neil Richard, a co-founder of Project94, is the Treasurer of the Friends of DRHT.]. Gregory said things are under development and he is in communication with those parties and hopes to have something to present at the next Board meeting.
Next was a presentation by Steve Marzolf of Virginia Information Technologies Association (VITA). Marzolf said he was happy to hear he has until midnight to go through his presentation to which everyone laughed. His presentation was about the pending changes to the 911 system in the state and how it would impact King George County. He said the current network, which is analog, is going away and there's nothing anyone, himself included, could do about it. He was careful to emphasize that it wasn't Verizon's fault or anybody else's fault, it was just the nature of the the change in technology. He equated it to not being able to buy new movies on VHS tapes anymore. With that said, Marzolf said Fairfax County was the first to adopt the new system last year. After an intensive process, Fairfax found AT&T to be the best provider for the project.
Marzolf cautioned that deployment needed to be coordinated and that King George was part of the system that covered Fredericksburg and Winchester. He said there would be a period of time where both networks, analog and digital, would need to be supported as things are transitioned. The proposed schedule was for our region to make the change between January and June 2020, which was roughly in the middle of the schedule for the whole state.
Marzolf continued by complimenting the County's Geographic Information System (GIS), saying that only a few minor issues would need to be addressed. He said the new system would allow text-to-911, something that's important for the deaf and hard of hearing.
He then got down to the important part of the presentation, the cost. He said the current cost of the County's 911 system was roughly $368 per month. The new cost would be $5,481 per month. The good news is that the 911 Services Board would cover the cost increase for two years. He also said the 911 Services Board would cover the cost of the overlap between the new and old systems for six months and they were open to discussions if the County wanted to extend the newly installed fiber lines to schools, libraries, or government buildings. The 911 Services Board would also cover the cost of the new fiber being installed.
Marzolf said he was asking the Board to review the proposal and the contract Fairfax used. He said King George was able to do their own proposal request or use a vendor other than AT&T. He also said that if the County decided to work with AT&T and change their mind later, it was possible to do so, just like changing cell phone service providers.
He concluded his presentation by saying the new 911 system was here and not going away. He said everyone in the state and in the country would eventually need to switch to it.
Brabo asked about the cost of the new monthly fee and if that was based on the infrastructure that doesn't exist in the County from AT&T, noting that Verizon is the area's main service provider. Marzolf said no, it was just for the service being provided and that Verizon would actually be making the connection over the last mile. Brabo again noted the lack of AT&T infrastructure in the area and wondered if a regional procurement with Caroline County and other Northern Neck counties may be a benefit. Marzolf said Northern Virginia is experiencing the same issue with a lack of AT&T infrastructure and that was why Verizon was involved. In simple terms, he said that AT&T provides the service across the national network and pays Verizon for their local infrastructure.
Binder asked for clarity on the diverse connectivity and Marzolf explained it was a way to ensure the connection was safe from any harm. He said there are options for one connection, two connections in one path, or two connections in two paths. He said the latter was recommended because it provides for redundancy should something happen. He provided an example of an auger bit taking down the entire 911 system where a diverse connectivity system would bring the 911 connections into the building in two different locations.
Steve McKeever from Virginia Department of Transportation (VDOT) was next to present to the Board, regarding the Route 207 and 301 Corridor Study. He came before the Board to ask for their approval of the study. Brabo asked if a vote was needed and Dr. Young said he and Eric Gregory felt it was necessary to vote. The Board approved VDOT's Study.
Wilma Ward from the Finance Department was next before the Board, asking for their approval of a change order related to the Potomac Elementary School modular units. The Board approved.
Dr. Neiman Young, County Administrator, then asked the Board to authorize him to sign the Agreement related to the King George Middle School Turn Lane Project. Brabo interjected and said it was about time that we applied for revenue sharing. The Board approved.
Dr. Young gave his report by starting off with an offer from Bill Robie, a professor from George Washington University, to give a brief course on Public Policy for the Supervisors. Brabo said this topic came up because as a new Supervisor, she was given no guidance or mentorship. As the most senior Supervisor now, she said she's doing the best she can but felt a course like this would help everyone. There was a discussion on scheduling the course later this month. Dr. Young also reminded the Board that there would be a team building event later this month for the Supervisors.
The Supervisors went into Closed Session at 8:39pm and invited Eric Gregory, Dr. Young, Chris Werle, and Mike Bennett to attend. They returned from Closed Session at 9:22pm and adjourned.
Meeting Attendees:
Jeff Bueche (Board of Supervisors)
Richard Granger (Chairman, Board of Supervisors)
Ruby Brabo (Board of Supervisors)
Cathy Binder (Board of Supervisors)
Neiman Young (County Administrator)
Eric Gregory (County Attorney)
Absent:
John Jenkins (Board of Supervisors) due to a death in the family
Meeting Agenda
Next Meeting:
The Board of Supervisors will next meet on October 9, 2018 at 6:30 pm at Company 1.
Previous Meeting:
Read about the previous Board of Supervisors Meeting.
Friday, August 24, 2018
2018-08-21 - Board of Supervisors Meeting Notes
by Neil Richard
The Board of Supervisors opened their August 21st meeting at 7:14pm.
There was no Public Comment.
John Jenkins began his report by jokingly saying he thanked everyone for their comments. In a more serious tone he did thank those in the audience for attending. He attended a George Washington Regional Commission (GWRC) meeting on August 20th and that ended his report.
Jeff Bueche began his report by saying school recently started. He thanked all the educators and those who worked through the summer to get ready for the school year and wished them luck. On the 14th he attended the Planning Commission and Board of Supervisors Joint Meeting to discuss the upcoming updates to the County's Comprehensive Plan. The current Comprehensive Plan is from 2013 and is required by state law to be reviewed and updated. On the 16th he attended a Virginia Association of Counties (VACo) Summit. He ended his report by moving to appoint Renee Parker to the Social Services Board of Directors. Her appointment was approved.
Cathy Binder attended the same joint meeting with the Planning Commission on the 14th as well as the VACo Summit on the 16th. She also hosted a Town Hall with Ruby Brabo regarding the purchase and plans of the former Cameron Hills Golf Course. She added that nothing is currently before the Board and that she enjoyed meeting with citizens and hearing their concerns.
Richard Granger reported that he also attended the joint meeting with the Planning Commission on the 14th and the VACo Summit on the 16th. From the joint meeting, he noted that he appreciated the streamlined process for plat approvals and thanked Jenkins for mentioning the Board's desire to remove the Dahlgren Primary Settlement Area from the future Comprehensive Plan. For the VACo Summit, he noted several education statistics, including that state aid for education has fallen in recent years and that instructional pay increases have slowed since 2009. He also attended a meeting on the 16th where he learned about the REAL ID rules and how they would impact residents in Virginia.
The Consent Agenda was approved.
The County Attorney, Eric Gregory, had no report.
Chief Lynd gave the Board an update on the Unmanned Aerial System (UAS) or drone program. He said they had purchased a DJI M210 and already taken delivery. Unfortunately, he said the FLIR (Forward Looking Infrared) system was on back order. Despite this, he said they had already flown several missions, including the recent J. C. Bean Sprouts fire and the collapsed roof at the old King George Pharmacy next to Rankin's True Value. He said several team members have taken and passed their FAA certification tests and several more are in the process. Lynd said Standard Operating Procedures (SOP) have been developed and refined.
Lynd said they have already met several benchmarks, including a meeting with Dahlgren officials. He said they had a good discussion with them and their no-fly zones as well as made sure they had an open line of communication. Lynd said the department's FAA exemption application has been approved as well. Going forward, he said they will continue training, conduct a lost person exercise, and schedule a demonstration for the Supervisors.
Granger thanked him for reaching out to the base and making sure communication lines were open with them. He asked how many pilots were planned to which Lynd said they hoped to get six pilots to ensure 24 hour coverage.
Next, Darren Coffey and Shaina Schaffer of the Berkley Group gave a presentation on the Mixed Use Development (MUD) ordinance. Coffey joked that it was hopefully more fun than the water and sewer update but probably less exciting than the drone update. Schaffer gave the basic timeline of events since they started the project in November of 2017. After researching existing MUD rules, architectural guidelines, best practices, and more, they presented a proposed ordinance to the Planning Commission and held a Public Hearing on June 12, 2018. The Planning Commission voted to forward the proposed MUD ordinance to the Board of Supervisors with a recommendation to reject the ordinance.
Their presentation continued with a few highlights of the proposed MUD rules where density could be 18 units per acre or five units per acre for single family homes. These density limits would be allowed by-right under the new rules and could be increased if the developer allows for more open space. Additionally, the MUD rules would require specific landscaping guidelines to be followed, increased pedestrian movement, bike lanes, and underground utilities.
Granger asked if the updated Comprehensive Plan removed the Dahlgren Primary Settlement Area, would the proposed MUD ordinance be in conflict by specifying the Dahlgren Primary Settlement Area as an area where mixed use was allowed. Coffey said the new MUD ordinance could be amended to reflect any changes in the Comprehensive Plan.
A long discussion regarding the traffic issues in Dahlgren, the base security concerns, and the general consensus to limit development in the area ensued. Additionally, there was back and forth discussion among the Supervisors and Eric Gregory, County Attorney, regarding the legalities of potential conflicts between the proposed Mixed Use Development ordinance and the future Comprehensive Plan. This conversation boiled down to Gregory saying that the Comprehensive Plan was a guiding document, not a legal set of rules. While it should be used to guide development, it was not strictly the only limiting factor in allowing, or disallowing, development. That fell to the zoning ordinances. With the Board's plan to update the zoning ordinances after the Comprehensive Plan is updated, there could be a short period of time where an approved MUD ordinance is in conflict with the updated Comprehensive Plan, thus opening the Board to a potential conflict.
After more discussion, the Board seemed to want to move forward with the Public Hearing for a proposed MUD ordinance with the expectation that it would remove the Dahlgren Primary Settlement Area before being passed. Gregory and Coffey felt that this would not be a substantive or more restrictive change that would require the ordinance to go through the public hearing process from the beginning. The Board also felt that by doing this, they could use the Courthouse Primary Settlement Area, the only other area being considered for Mixed Use Development, as a pilot for future iterations.
While the conversation was lengthy, Bueche did ask a crucial point for the future MUD rules. Seeing Chief Moody in the audience, he asked if the County had the ability to respond to an emergency in a building that's three stories, which is the highest allowed under the proposed MUD rules. Moody said that King George had a 35 foot extension ladder but had no ladder truck. However, he did say they rely on mutual aid and that there are several in the area they could ask to use. Moody cautioned that for an ordinance like this that allowed a 35 to 45 foot structure, public safety needs to be brought to the table to discuss things like sprinkler systems, rescues from a third story, and deploying water from a height greater than the 45 foot peak. He also said that as the County develops more, and taller buildings go up, there needs to be a discussion about getting an aerial asset here in the County so that there was no need to rely on outside help.
In the end, the Board voted to hold a Public Hearing on September 18th regarding the proposed Mixed Use Development ordinance.
Chief Lynd then asked for approval to participate in the NACo Disaster Services program. The Board approved.
Wilma Ward, Director of Finance, asked the Board to approve the purchase of a new school bus to replace the one damaged in an accident. The Board approved.
Dr. Neiman Young, County Administrator, asked the Board to approve a new County Freedom Of Information Act (FOIA) Policy that would allow the County to charge for the amount of staff time it takes to meet the FOIA request. The Board approved.
Eric Gregory, County Attorney, then gave an update on the Memorandum of Agreement (MOA) the County had entered into for the upcoming construction of the new Route 301 bridge. Gregory said the revisions would result in a loss of park land at Wayside Park and Barnesfield Park and that VDOT would mitigate that loss of land by transferring land to the County. Additionally, land held by Virginia Tourism Corporation, would be impacted, resulting in them acquiring a part of Barnesfield Park, therefore increasing the amount of land lost by the County and increasing the amount of replacement land VDOT would be replacing it with. The Board approved of the amendments to the MOA.
Dr. Young gave his report by stating he wanted to partner with the University of Mary Washington by creating an internship program for students to work for the County. He said the cost, $8,000 for four students, would be covered by the staff compensation budget. The Board approved.
With no Closed Session, the meeting adjourned at 8:12pm.
Meeting Attendees:
John Jenkins (Board of Supervisors)
Jeff Bueche (Board of Supervisors)
Richard Granger (Chairman, Board of Supervisors)
Cathy Binder (Board of Supervisors)
Neiman Young (County Administrator)
Eric Gregory (County Attorney)
Absent:
Ruby Brabo (Board of Supervisors)
Meeting Agenda
Next Meeting:
The Board of Supervisors will next meet on September 4, 2018 at 6:30 pm at the Revercomb Building.
Previous Meeting:
Read about the previous Board of Supervisors Meeting.
The Board of Supervisors opened their August 21st meeting at 7:14pm.
There was no Public Comment.
John Jenkins began his report by jokingly saying he thanked everyone for their comments. In a more serious tone he did thank those in the audience for attending. He attended a George Washington Regional Commission (GWRC) meeting on August 20th and that ended his report.
Jeff Bueche began his report by saying school recently started. He thanked all the educators and those who worked through the summer to get ready for the school year and wished them luck. On the 14th he attended the Planning Commission and Board of Supervisors Joint Meeting to discuss the upcoming updates to the County's Comprehensive Plan. The current Comprehensive Plan is from 2013 and is required by state law to be reviewed and updated. On the 16th he attended a Virginia Association of Counties (VACo) Summit. He ended his report by moving to appoint Renee Parker to the Social Services Board of Directors. Her appointment was approved.
Cathy Binder attended the same joint meeting with the Planning Commission on the 14th as well as the VACo Summit on the 16th. She also hosted a Town Hall with Ruby Brabo regarding the purchase and plans of the former Cameron Hills Golf Course. She added that nothing is currently before the Board and that she enjoyed meeting with citizens and hearing their concerns.
Richard Granger reported that he also attended the joint meeting with the Planning Commission on the 14th and the VACo Summit on the 16th. From the joint meeting, he noted that he appreciated the streamlined process for plat approvals and thanked Jenkins for mentioning the Board's desire to remove the Dahlgren Primary Settlement Area from the future Comprehensive Plan. For the VACo Summit, he noted several education statistics, including that state aid for education has fallen in recent years and that instructional pay increases have slowed since 2009. He also attended a meeting on the 16th where he learned about the REAL ID rules and how they would impact residents in Virginia.
The Consent Agenda was approved.
The County Attorney, Eric Gregory, had no report.
Chief Lynd gave the Board an update on the Unmanned Aerial System (UAS) or drone program. He said they had purchased a DJI M210 and already taken delivery. Unfortunately, he said the FLIR (Forward Looking Infrared) system was on back order. Despite this, he said they had already flown several missions, including the recent J. C. Bean Sprouts fire and the collapsed roof at the old King George Pharmacy next to Rankin's True Value. He said several team members have taken and passed their FAA certification tests and several more are in the process. Lynd said Standard Operating Procedures (SOP) have been developed and refined.
Lynd said they have already met several benchmarks, including a meeting with Dahlgren officials. He said they had a good discussion with them and their no-fly zones as well as made sure they had an open line of communication. Lynd said the department's FAA exemption application has been approved as well. Going forward, he said they will continue training, conduct a lost person exercise, and schedule a demonstration for the Supervisors.
Granger thanked him for reaching out to the base and making sure communication lines were open with them. He asked how many pilots were planned to which Lynd said they hoped to get six pilots to ensure 24 hour coverage.
Next, Darren Coffey and Shaina Schaffer of the Berkley Group gave a presentation on the Mixed Use Development (MUD) ordinance. Coffey joked that it was hopefully more fun than the water and sewer update but probably less exciting than the drone update. Schaffer gave the basic timeline of events since they started the project in November of 2017. After researching existing MUD rules, architectural guidelines, best practices, and more, they presented a proposed ordinance to the Planning Commission and held a Public Hearing on June 12, 2018. The Planning Commission voted to forward the proposed MUD ordinance to the Board of Supervisors with a recommendation to reject the ordinance.
Their presentation continued with a few highlights of the proposed MUD rules where density could be 18 units per acre or five units per acre for single family homes. These density limits would be allowed by-right under the new rules and could be increased if the developer allows for more open space. Additionally, the MUD rules would require specific landscaping guidelines to be followed, increased pedestrian movement, bike lanes, and underground utilities.
Granger asked if the updated Comprehensive Plan removed the Dahlgren Primary Settlement Area, would the proposed MUD ordinance be in conflict by specifying the Dahlgren Primary Settlement Area as an area where mixed use was allowed. Coffey said the new MUD ordinance could be amended to reflect any changes in the Comprehensive Plan.
A long discussion regarding the traffic issues in Dahlgren, the base security concerns, and the general consensus to limit development in the area ensued. Additionally, there was back and forth discussion among the Supervisors and Eric Gregory, County Attorney, regarding the legalities of potential conflicts between the proposed Mixed Use Development ordinance and the future Comprehensive Plan. This conversation boiled down to Gregory saying that the Comprehensive Plan was a guiding document, not a legal set of rules. While it should be used to guide development, it was not strictly the only limiting factor in allowing, or disallowing, development. That fell to the zoning ordinances. With the Board's plan to update the zoning ordinances after the Comprehensive Plan is updated, there could be a short period of time where an approved MUD ordinance is in conflict with the updated Comprehensive Plan, thus opening the Board to a potential conflict.
After more discussion, the Board seemed to want to move forward with the Public Hearing for a proposed MUD ordinance with the expectation that it would remove the Dahlgren Primary Settlement Area before being passed. Gregory and Coffey felt that this would not be a substantive or more restrictive change that would require the ordinance to go through the public hearing process from the beginning. The Board also felt that by doing this, they could use the Courthouse Primary Settlement Area, the only other area being considered for Mixed Use Development, as a pilot for future iterations.
While the conversation was lengthy, Bueche did ask a crucial point for the future MUD rules. Seeing Chief Moody in the audience, he asked if the County had the ability to respond to an emergency in a building that's three stories, which is the highest allowed under the proposed MUD rules. Moody said that King George had a 35 foot extension ladder but had no ladder truck. However, he did say they rely on mutual aid and that there are several in the area they could ask to use. Moody cautioned that for an ordinance like this that allowed a 35 to 45 foot structure, public safety needs to be brought to the table to discuss things like sprinkler systems, rescues from a third story, and deploying water from a height greater than the 45 foot peak. He also said that as the County develops more, and taller buildings go up, there needs to be a discussion about getting an aerial asset here in the County so that there was no need to rely on outside help.
In the end, the Board voted to hold a Public Hearing on September 18th regarding the proposed Mixed Use Development ordinance.
Chief Lynd then asked for approval to participate in the NACo Disaster Services program. The Board approved.
Wilma Ward, Director of Finance, asked the Board to approve the purchase of a new school bus to replace the one damaged in an accident. The Board approved.
Dr. Neiman Young, County Administrator, asked the Board to approve a new County Freedom Of Information Act (FOIA) Policy that would allow the County to charge for the amount of staff time it takes to meet the FOIA request. The Board approved.
Eric Gregory, County Attorney, then gave an update on the Memorandum of Agreement (MOA) the County had entered into for the upcoming construction of the new Route 301 bridge. Gregory said the revisions would result in a loss of park land at Wayside Park and Barnesfield Park and that VDOT would mitigate that loss of land by transferring land to the County. Additionally, land held by Virginia Tourism Corporation, would be impacted, resulting in them acquiring a part of Barnesfield Park, therefore increasing the amount of land lost by the County and increasing the amount of replacement land VDOT would be replacing it with. The Board approved of the amendments to the MOA.
Dr. Young gave his report by stating he wanted to partner with the University of Mary Washington by creating an internship program for students to work for the County. He said the cost, $8,000 for four students, would be covered by the staff compensation budget. The Board approved.
With no Closed Session, the meeting adjourned at 8:12pm.
Meeting Attendees:
John Jenkins (Board of Supervisors)
Jeff Bueche (Board of Supervisors)
Richard Granger (Chairman, Board of Supervisors)
Cathy Binder (Board of Supervisors)
Neiman Young (County Administrator)
Eric Gregory (County Attorney)
Absent:
Ruby Brabo (Board of Supervisors)
Meeting Agenda
Next Meeting:
The Board of Supervisors will next meet on September 4, 2018 at 6:30 pm at the Revercomb Building.
Previous Meeting:
Read about the previous Board of Supervisors Meeting.
2018-08-21 - Service Authority Meeting Notes
by Neil Richard
The Service Authority Board of Directors held their second meeting after a summer break on August 21, 2018. They opened the meeting at 6:31pm.
There was no public comment and the only report from the Board came from Chairman Chris Werle. He stated he attended a South Potomac Community Relations meeting on August 9th and met with Service Authority staff on the 13th. Dr. Neiman Young, County Administrator, also attended the staff meeting where Dan Hingley, Interim General Manager, gave the same report to staff that he had given to the Board of Directors the previous week. Werle said the meeting was productive and helped improve communication between staff and the management team. Werle met with Wiley Wilson and Draper Aden on August 14th to review the Utility Master Plan which should be complete by October. On the 15th, Werle created a spreadsheet to track the outstanding debt. He said, assuming there was no new borrowing and payments were made on time, the debt over the next 17 years amounts to $32.7 million dollars. He said about $2.3 million is paid in debt service every year with about $1.4 million going to principal and $900,000 going to interest. Werle closed his report by stating he wrote a Service Authority Customer Corner article for Ruby Brabo's newsletter on the 16th. Although this was his first newsletter published since April 2017, Werle did have a draft article created for June 2018 regarding fire hydrant operations and maintenance.
The Consent Agenda was approved.
The County Attorney, Eric Gregory, had no report.
Dan Hingley, Interim General Manager, then began his lengthy and detailed report. Unlike reports of applause after his previous presentation on August 7th, there was no applause from the audience. Despite the lack of applause, there were several Service Authority employees in the audience that would be recognized for their efforts during Hingley's presentation.
Hingley began his report by saying there continues to be improvements in both water and wastewater systems. He said they are also continuing to address the corrective actions given by the Virginia Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ) in their Consent Order dated July 11, 2018. The Consent Order has over one hundred actions to be taken and is open for public comment until September 5, 2018. Hingley said training will occur at the end of the month for staff and that overall, the numbers from the wastewater treatment plants have improved since July when compared to the numbers from January through July. He also said they are working to increase in-house testing capabilities, specifically for phosphorus.
Mike Bennett interrupted, stating Hingley knew he would and was okay with it, and asked how often the testing should be done. Hingley said ideally it should be done daily at some facilities but generally speaking it should be done when the facility discharges. He continued by stating that the annual average limit for Total Nitrogen (TN) and Total Phosphorus (TP) can't be met for the Dahlgren Waste Water Treatment Plant (WWTP) but recent numbers are well below the limits.
Bennett asked how the limits were set and if they were higher or lower than normal. Hingley said the limit is set by the permit issued from DEQ and it was a reasonable limit but about as low as possible. When asked why they were so low, he said that the Dahlgren WWTP was subject to more strict limits because of a Water Quality Improvement Fund (WQIF) Grant. Werle added that Hingley was correct and that the limits are for about 20 years. Hingley also said that if the limits were exceeded, grant funding had to be repaid. Fairview Beach WWTP also has WQIF limits imposed and has exceeded those limits as recently as March of 2017.
Hingley continued his update by saying that they are working to control algae growth, which was one of the DEQ corrective actions required. He said the Hopyard WWTP will need to work hard to meet the annual average limit for TP. The Fairview Beach WWTP won't be able to meet the annual average limit for TP but it served as a good example of how Service Authority staff voiced ideas that resulted in improvements. Hingley said this was a positive sign that the culture is changing for the better. He said the Purkins Corner WWTP TN and TP measurements are slightly above the limits but they are working to bring them into compliance. The Oakland Park WWTP has seen a big turn around thanks to Tim Maciejewski and his maintenance staff. Hingley said Tim, one of the staff members present in the audience, has worked to make repairs and improvements, resulting in reduced chemical usage.
Hingley then proceeded to report on the water supply system. He said the chief water operator was also present in the audience and has also worked to make improvements on that side of the Service Authority. Hingley said the Oakland Park system is operating at adequate capacity and has no significant operational issues. The Canterbury system has one well functioning and a second well that will be repaired shortly.
Bennett asked why there was a second well to which Hingley responded that it was required by the Virginia Department of Health (VDH). He said that VDH requires a second well to be available for use, but not necessarily in use, when there are more than 49 user connections. He also said that permits may stipulate how many wells need to be available.
Hingley continued with the Circle system, stating that it is at the maximum number of connections allowed per the grandfathered permit, however the usage is currently "in excess of existing assets." He said that if it were to be permitted now, it would need additional wells to meet the needed capacity.
The Dahlgren system had a large failure at the Saft well recently and was the source of numerous King George Alerts. He said the well pump failed and they've identified the root cause and made emergency repairs for the short term. He also said that several other wells on the system are running at about half of their capacity due to age.
The Fairview Beach system has one well in service but to meet permit requirements needs two more wells. Hingley said there are two more wells but they have been out of service for over a year. He said bringing them online may prove difficult because they are located in areas with high iron and manganese. Bennett asked if all three wells need to be functioning even though the single well meets capacity needs. Hingley said yes, all the wells need to be functional but not necessarily in use to comply with the permit. He said the sand filters may be seized due to the length of time they've sat idle.
Hingley continued that the Hopyard system has one well in service and it meets capacity. Two other wells are offline and one should be able to be fixed quickly.
Hingley made another positive impression by giving an update on the Ninde's Store system. Not because he said the system was operating at capacity to meet the needs of the 36 connections, but rather because he pronounced the name Ninde correctly. He did caution that a failure of the single well for that system could result in an outage for those customers and that the aged infrastructure needs to be rehabilitated.
He then proceeded to discuss the St. Paul's and Owens systems. He said both systems are small and directly adjacent to each other. Hingley said that in years past, they had been interconnected however, for reasons unknown to him, the isolation valve was closed, therefore separating both systems. He said they flushed the connection line, tested for bacteria, and when the test results came back clear, they opened the valve. He said it has been in operation like that since Friday, August 17th. He said the outage that occurred in June would have had a minimal impact had this interconnection been functional.
Werle chimed in that the Walnut Hill subdivision would also connect the St. Paul's, Owens, and Dahlgren systems when it was complete.
Bennett added a pertinent point about the St. Paul's and Owens systems by saying that the complaints they received recently needed explaining. He said customers complaining about a lot of Service Authority management being present in the area and lots of spraying water led customers to believe this was behind the water issues in Dahlgren. He wanted to "put that rumor to bed" by saying it had nothing to do with the Dahlgren system or recent issues, but was rather the staff working on the connecting line between the Owens and St. Paul's systems.
Hingley continued his update by discussing the Courthouse system. He said it was permitted as a single water system but has been unofficially operating as two separate systems. He said about ten years ago, a three inch section of pipe was abandoned in place and never replaced, thus creating two distinct systems. He said the "western" half had three wells and the "eastern" half had two wells. In the west side, he said two of the three wells are operating while only one of the two wells in the east side were working. Hingley said he is working to bring the backup wells into service and that despite there being two halves, bacteria samples have been taken from both halves to ensure the water is safe for consumption. He also said VDH is aware of the split system and the Service Authority will work to install the 650 feet of pipe necessary to reconnect the two halves.
Richard Granger asked if all five wells needed to be online to which Hingley responded that all five need to be capable of going online but may not necessarily need to be in use all at the same time.
Hingley concluded his report by saying that they are continuing to make operational improvements, continuing staff training and staff workload adjustments. He said progress has been made and that he intends to continue to operate with full transparency. He closed by saying while he may be making some changes, it's been thanks to the employees helping that the improvements have been made and that they have been eager to do so.
Werle also echoed Hingley's praise thanking the staff present in the audience.
Bennett clarified an earlier point that the staff training at the end of the month is being conducted by DEQ at no cost and here in King George. He said this was part of their negotiation with DEQ and they were willing to make it easier for the County due to the limited Service Authority staff.
There being no Closed Session, the meeting adjourned at 7:10pm.
Meeting Attendees:
Christopher Werle (Chairman, Board of Directors)
Dan Hingley (Interim General Manager of Service Authority)
Richard Granger (Board of Supervisors)
Michael Bennett (Citizen)
Cathy Binder (Board of Supervisors)
Neiman Young (County Administrator)
Eric Gregory (County Attorney)
Absent:
Ruby Brabo (Board of Supervisors)
Meeting Agenda
Next Meeting:
The Service Authority will next meet on September 4, 2018 at 6:30 pm at the Revercomb Building.
Previous Meeting:
Read about the previous Service Authority Meeting.
The Service Authority Board of Directors held their second meeting after a summer break on August 21, 2018. They opened the meeting at 6:31pm.
There was no public comment and the only report from the Board came from Chairman Chris Werle. He stated he attended a South Potomac Community Relations meeting on August 9th and met with Service Authority staff on the 13th. Dr. Neiman Young, County Administrator, also attended the staff meeting where Dan Hingley, Interim General Manager, gave the same report to staff that he had given to the Board of Directors the previous week. Werle said the meeting was productive and helped improve communication between staff and the management team. Werle met with Wiley Wilson and Draper Aden on August 14th to review the Utility Master Plan which should be complete by October. On the 15th, Werle created a spreadsheet to track the outstanding debt. He said, assuming there was no new borrowing and payments were made on time, the debt over the next 17 years amounts to $32.7 million dollars. He said about $2.3 million is paid in debt service every year with about $1.4 million going to principal and $900,000 going to interest. Werle closed his report by stating he wrote a Service Authority Customer Corner article for Ruby Brabo's newsletter on the 16th. Although this was his first newsletter published since April 2017, Werle did have a draft article created for June 2018 regarding fire hydrant operations and maintenance.
The Consent Agenda was approved.
The County Attorney, Eric Gregory, had no report.
Dan Hingley, Interim General Manager, then began his lengthy and detailed report. Unlike reports of applause after his previous presentation on August 7th, there was no applause from the audience. Despite the lack of applause, there were several Service Authority employees in the audience that would be recognized for their efforts during Hingley's presentation.
Hingley began his report by saying there continues to be improvements in both water and wastewater systems. He said they are also continuing to address the corrective actions given by the Virginia Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ) in their Consent Order dated July 11, 2018. The Consent Order has over one hundred actions to be taken and is open for public comment until September 5, 2018. Hingley said training will occur at the end of the month for staff and that overall, the numbers from the wastewater treatment plants have improved since July when compared to the numbers from January through July. He also said they are working to increase in-house testing capabilities, specifically for phosphorus.
Mike Bennett interrupted, stating Hingley knew he would and was okay with it, and asked how often the testing should be done. Hingley said ideally it should be done daily at some facilities but generally speaking it should be done when the facility discharges. He continued by stating that the annual average limit for Total Nitrogen (TN) and Total Phosphorus (TP) can't be met for the Dahlgren Waste Water Treatment Plant (WWTP) but recent numbers are well below the limits.
Bennett asked how the limits were set and if they were higher or lower than normal. Hingley said the limit is set by the permit issued from DEQ and it was a reasonable limit but about as low as possible. When asked why they were so low, he said that the Dahlgren WWTP was subject to more strict limits because of a Water Quality Improvement Fund (WQIF) Grant. Werle added that Hingley was correct and that the limits are for about 20 years. Hingley also said that if the limits were exceeded, grant funding had to be repaid. Fairview Beach WWTP also has WQIF limits imposed and has exceeded those limits as recently as March of 2017.
Hingley continued his update by saying that they are working to control algae growth, which was one of the DEQ corrective actions required. He said the Hopyard WWTP will need to work hard to meet the annual average limit for TP. The Fairview Beach WWTP won't be able to meet the annual average limit for TP but it served as a good example of how Service Authority staff voiced ideas that resulted in improvements. Hingley said this was a positive sign that the culture is changing for the better. He said the Purkins Corner WWTP TN and TP measurements are slightly above the limits but they are working to bring them into compliance. The Oakland Park WWTP has seen a big turn around thanks to Tim Maciejewski and his maintenance staff. Hingley said Tim, one of the staff members present in the audience, has worked to make repairs and improvements, resulting in reduced chemical usage.
Hingley then proceeded to report on the water supply system. He said the chief water operator was also present in the audience and has also worked to make improvements on that side of the Service Authority. Hingley said the Oakland Park system is operating at adequate capacity and has no significant operational issues. The Canterbury system has one well functioning and a second well that will be repaired shortly.
Bennett asked why there was a second well to which Hingley responded that it was required by the Virginia Department of Health (VDH). He said that VDH requires a second well to be available for use, but not necessarily in use, when there are more than 49 user connections. He also said that permits may stipulate how many wells need to be available.
Hingley continued with the Circle system, stating that it is at the maximum number of connections allowed per the grandfathered permit, however the usage is currently "in excess of existing assets." He said that if it were to be permitted now, it would need additional wells to meet the needed capacity.
The Dahlgren system had a large failure at the Saft well recently and was the source of numerous King George Alerts. He said the well pump failed and they've identified the root cause and made emergency repairs for the short term. He also said that several other wells on the system are running at about half of their capacity due to age.
The Fairview Beach system has one well in service but to meet permit requirements needs two more wells. Hingley said there are two more wells but they have been out of service for over a year. He said bringing them online may prove difficult because they are located in areas with high iron and manganese. Bennett asked if all three wells need to be functioning even though the single well meets capacity needs. Hingley said yes, all the wells need to be functional but not necessarily in use to comply with the permit. He said the sand filters may be seized due to the length of time they've sat idle.
Hingley continued that the Hopyard system has one well in service and it meets capacity. Two other wells are offline and one should be able to be fixed quickly.
Hingley made another positive impression by giving an update on the Ninde's Store system. Not because he said the system was operating at capacity to meet the needs of the 36 connections, but rather because he pronounced the name Ninde correctly. He did caution that a failure of the single well for that system could result in an outage for those customers and that the aged infrastructure needs to be rehabilitated.
He then proceeded to discuss the St. Paul's and Owens systems. He said both systems are small and directly adjacent to each other. Hingley said that in years past, they had been interconnected however, for reasons unknown to him, the isolation valve was closed, therefore separating both systems. He said they flushed the connection line, tested for bacteria, and when the test results came back clear, they opened the valve. He said it has been in operation like that since Friday, August 17th. He said the outage that occurred in June would have had a minimal impact had this interconnection been functional.
Werle chimed in that the Walnut Hill subdivision would also connect the St. Paul's, Owens, and Dahlgren systems when it was complete.
Bennett added a pertinent point about the St. Paul's and Owens systems by saying that the complaints they received recently needed explaining. He said customers complaining about a lot of Service Authority management being present in the area and lots of spraying water led customers to believe this was behind the water issues in Dahlgren. He wanted to "put that rumor to bed" by saying it had nothing to do with the Dahlgren system or recent issues, but was rather the staff working on the connecting line between the Owens and St. Paul's systems.
Hingley continued his update by discussing the Courthouse system. He said it was permitted as a single water system but has been unofficially operating as two separate systems. He said about ten years ago, a three inch section of pipe was abandoned in place and never replaced, thus creating two distinct systems. He said the "western" half had three wells and the "eastern" half had two wells. In the west side, he said two of the three wells are operating while only one of the two wells in the east side were working. Hingley said he is working to bring the backup wells into service and that despite there being two halves, bacteria samples have been taken from both halves to ensure the water is safe for consumption. He also said VDH is aware of the split system and the Service Authority will work to install the 650 feet of pipe necessary to reconnect the two halves.
Richard Granger asked if all five wells needed to be online to which Hingley responded that all five need to be capable of going online but may not necessarily need to be in use all at the same time.
Hingley concluded his report by saying that they are continuing to make operational improvements, continuing staff training and staff workload adjustments. He said progress has been made and that he intends to continue to operate with full transparency. He closed by saying while he may be making some changes, it's been thanks to the employees helping that the improvements have been made and that they have been eager to do so.
Werle also echoed Hingley's praise thanking the staff present in the audience.
Bennett clarified an earlier point that the staff training at the end of the month is being conducted by DEQ at no cost and here in King George. He said this was part of their negotiation with DEQ and they were willing to make it easier for the County due to the limited Service Authority staff.
There being no Closed Session, the meeting adjourned at 7:10pm.
Meeting Attendees:
Christopher Werle (Chairman, Board of Directors)
Dan Hingley (Interim General Manager of Service Authority)
Richard Granger (Board of Supervisors)
Michael Bennett (Citizen)
Cathy Binder (Board of Supervisors)
Neiman Young (County Administrator)
Eric Gregory (County Attorney)
Absent:
Ruby Brabo (Board of Supervisors)
Meeting Agenda
Next Meeting:
The Service Authority will next meet on September 4, 2018 at 6:30 pm at the Revercomb Building.
Previous Meeting:
Read about the previous Service Authority Meeting.
Thursday, May 17, 2018
2018-05-15 - Service Authority Meeting Notes
The King George County Service Authority Board of Directors began their meeting at 6:31 pm. There were no amendments to the Agenda.
When the floor opened for Public Comment, one gentleman approached the podium. Chris Werle, Chairman of the Board, clarified for the gentleman that this was the public comment period for the Service Authority and that if he had a comment about the upcoming Public Hearing on the changes to Service Authority Regulations, he would have time later. So the gentleman sat down and waited.
Werle asked Neil Richard [EDITOR'S NOTE: That's me.] if the letter from Yvonne Richard was to be read into the public record [EDITOR'S NOTE - Neil Richard, a co-founder of Project94, is the spouse of Yvonne Richard.]. Mr. Richard advised Mr. Werle that no, the Board could read it at their leisure. As I was informed later, it was supposed to be read into the record so a copy of the letter is below.
There being no further public comment, the Board began with their reports. Mike Bennett, Richard Granger, and Ruby Brabo had no report. Cathy Binder was absent at the time, although she would arrive later during the meeting.
Chris Werle reported that on May 7, 2018 he visited the Hopyard Farm Wastewater Treatment Plant (WWTP). He noted the Ultra Violet (UV) Systems were in operation and that he read the Operations and Maintenance (O&M) Manuals. He said these O&M Manuals included a cover letter from Virginia Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ) that said they had been reviewed and approved. Werle said the DEQ approval letters were also present at all other plants in the county.
Taking a short deviation from the meeting notes to provide further details and an opinion, the mention of the O&M Manuals being present at all plants appears to be a reference to an inspection of the Oakland Park WWTP where DEQ noted that they were missing. In a response to the February 13, 2018 inspection visit, Chris Thomas, General Manager, told DEQ in a March 30th letter that "The operator on site during the inspection was unaware of the location of the O&M Manuals. The Manuals were not located in the laboratory area. However, they were in the back control room. These Manuals have been relocated to the laboratory area." Unfortunately, these are the least of the issues found at Hopyard Farm's WWTP. According to a DEQ email, part of a pending Consent Order may include signage at the Hopyard pier warning users of potential E. coli exposure. This warning is based on frequent "UV maintenance issues, the difficulty in obtaining replacement parts for this system, the regularity of high E. coli numbers, and the proximity of the outfall..." While these details are still being drafted, it's clear there are issues at Hopyard Farm's WWTP.
Returning to the meetings notes report, Werle continued his report by stating that on the 11th he received the proposed agreement from KGI Communications and that it included all of the modifications previously discussed. The lease will be for five years at $1,000 per month. After that, the lease would have a three percent escalation factor applied for the next five years. The first 12 months would have lease payments waived and an additional six months would be waived if KGI showed documentation proving it was necessary. There was also a stipulation that if any funds were received from the Economic Development Authority (EDA), it was to be used to pay any waived lease payment first. Werle said on the 14th he met with Chris Thomas, Travis Quesenberry, County Engineer, and Steve Lynd, Emergency Management Coordinator, regarding the engineering contract for the Fairview Beach stabilization project.
The Consent Agenda was approved and the County Attorney, Eric Gregory, had no report.
Next up was the Public Hearing regarding the proposed changes to the Service Authority Regulations, Section 9, Paragraph I. Werle read some highlights from the changes before opening the floor for public comment. The gentlemen from earlier in the evening approached the stand and identified himself as Phil Grimes. Mr. Grimes stated his issue is that there are old pipes in Fairview Beach and if there was an emergency break between the meter and the building, the property owner would be responsible. But since "pipes don't break at 9 am" he would like to see some language that allows citizens, especially customers, to turn off their meter in an emergency. Grimes also said the language about "authorized representatives is unclear" and asked if that meant a plumber or somebody else. He asked if the Board could issue something to those that are considered designated representatives so they could be easily identified.
Werle said he made a good point about the emergencies. He said if a break was on the customer side and the flow were sufficient enough, it would be reasonable for the property owner to turn off the meter and then notify the Service Authority of the situation. He said this has happened in the past and "we have not and would not charge a penalty." Werle suggested maybe adding a preface to the first paragraph about emergency situations but would need to define what an emergency situation is as well as what a designated representative is.
Ruby Brabo asked Eric Gregory, County Attorney, if that would require another call for a public hearing. Gregory said no, that the suggested revisions would not be substantive enough to require another public hearing. He said the Board could adopt it tonight with those revisions in mind or they could direct state to make changes and vote later.
Brabo said she would rather come back and vote later after everything is defined. Gregory advised against trying to craft the new language tonight. Brabo concluded her comments by saying "this is why citizen input is needed." No action was taken by the Board, effectively tabling the discussion and adoption of the changes until a later meeting.
Next on the Agenda was the lease agreement with KGI Communications. Werle again reviewed the tentative agreement citing the five year lease, three percent escalation, and waived payments. He did clarify that the escalation rate of three percent would be for the second five year period, not each year within that period. He said that the loss of income would be minimal and only about $1,500 and he felt that any back and forth negotiations wasn't really worth it. Werle further clarified and corrected that statement in a May 16th email stating that "KGI wants to apply a blanket lease escalation factor of 3% across all 5-years of the second 5-year lease period. I then said we would lose about $1,500 in revenue if we didn't apply the escalation factor each year. That was not correct." He went on to show the math behind the potential loss of income to be $3,828 over the life of the second five year lease.
Brabo chimed in by saying she, Dr. Neiman Young, County Administrator, and Ryan Gandy, Director of Economic Development, met with KGI Communications regarding the addition of a second tower lease under the same terms. Werle was surprised to not have known about this discussion and said a second tower wasn't in the draft contract. Brabo said the Board can do one now and work on the second one later. The Board approved the first contract.
Chris Thomas, General Manager, began his report by saying he had three items to discuss. The first was the numerous water leaks during the week, saying that there were six leaks total. They were located on Dahlgren Road, Delegate Drive, Roosevelt Drive, Inaugural Drive, and Owens Drive. He said the leaks on Delegate Drive, Inaugural Drive, and Owens Drive were all caused by contractors and that the one on Inaugural Drive would be charged back to the contractor.
Brabo asked if Miss Utility had been called by the contractors before digging. Thomas said yes, but they still hit the lines. Bennett asked why only one contractor was being charged and Thomas said the other contractors remained on site and helped make the repairs. This particular contractor did not help and would therefore be charged.
Thomas' second update was regarding the industrial park sewer pump station. He said Virginia Power has transferred power and that the station was started up today and is in service. He said they were only waiting for the phone service to be installed for the auto-dialers.
The third update from Thomas was regarding the three years of data on commercial connections that Bennett had requested in a previous meeting. He said there was no real way to look at and find what an average would look like. He said it depends on the service being provided, either water, sewer, or both, the size of the meter, as well as the average daily consumption. He said without knowing the particulars of the business, it's hard to know what the average would be.
Brabo said if the meter was the same size, why was sewer larger than water. She said that didn't seem right that connection fees are so different. Werle said that sewer is higher than water. Brabo asked why the connection was more. Thomas said each connection has three pieces; the actual connection, the availability, and the debt service which is higher for sewer. Brabo said this is just the connection, not the service. Werle and Thomas both said yes. Brabo again asked if debt fee is included in connection fee to which Werle and Thomas both said yes. Werle then added that it was described in painful detail in the regulations. Bennett asked Ryan Gandy, who was sitting in the audience, if he got a copy. Gandy said no to which Bennett said he would make sure he got a copy.
Brabo, still looking at the spreadsheet (as seen above), said she didn't expect to see such a difference between all the businesses. Bennett said to the audience, trying to clarify for those that didn't have a handout from Thomas, that the Board was trying to review the connection fees to see if it really is a burden for new businesses, especially small ones, coming to King George.
Brabo again said it was quite a range. Bennett said that was more polite than what he was thinking in his head which drew a few laughs. He said some businesses have a reasonable amount while others are much more. Brabo said when people ask why it's hard for a small business to open, she said Murphy's Express can afford $8,662 for water but it's hard for Blush Salon to afford $11,183 for sewer.
The Board then went into Closed Session at 6:55 pm to discuss, possible litigation, personnel matters, and potential disposition of public property. Invited were John Jenkins, Board of Supervisors, Jeff Bueche, Board of Supervisors, Eric Gregory, County Attorney, and Dr. Neiman Young, County Administrator. At 7:25pm, Bueche left to take a phone call and returned about 15 minutes later. At 7:32pm, Cathy Binder arrived and joined the Closed Session. At 8:15pm, Bueche, Jenkins, and Chris Thomas left the meeting. The Board returned from Closed Session at 9:03pm, making it the longest Closed Session of the year at two hours and eight minutes (the Closed Session on April 17, 2018 was a mere two minutes shorter).
The meeting adjourned at 9:03pm.
Meeting Attendees:
Christopher Werle (Chairman, Board of Directors)
Christopher Thomas (General Manager of Service Authority)
Richard Granger (Board of Supervisors)
Michael Bennett (Citizen)
Ruby Brabo (Board of Supervisors)
Neiman Young (County Administrator)
Eric Gregory (County Attorney)
Absent:
Cathy Binder (Board of Supervisors) - arrived at 7:32pm
Meeting Agenda
Next Meeting:
The Service Authority will next meet on June 5, 2018 at 6:30 pm at the Revercomb Building.
Previous Meeting:
Read about the previous Service Authority Meeting.
When the floor opened for Public Comment, one gentleman approached the podium. Chris Werle, Chairman of the Board, clarified for the gentleman that this was the public comment period for the Service Authority and that if he had a comment about the upcoming Public Hearing on the changes to Service Authority Regulations, he would have time later. So the gentleman sat down and waited.
Werle asked Neil Richard [EDITOR'S NOTE: That's me.] if the letter from Yvonne Richard was to be read into the public record [EDITOR'S NOTE - Neil Richard, a co-founder of Project94, is the spouse of Yvonne Richard.]. Mr. Richard advised Mr. Werle that no, the Board could read it at their leisure. As I was informed later, it was supposed to be read into the record so a copy of the letter is below.
There being no further public comment, the Board began with their reports. Mike Bennett, Richard Granger, and Ruby Brabo had no report. Cathy Binder was absent at the time, although she would arrive later during the meeting.
Chris Werle reported that on May 7, 2018 he visited the Hopyard Farm Wastewater Treatment Plant (WWTP). He noted the Ultra Violet (UV) Systems were in operation and that he read the Operations and Maintenance (O&M) Manuals. He said these O&M Manuals included a cover letter from Virginia Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ) that said they had been reviewed and approved. Werle said the DEQ approval letters were also present at all other plants in the county.
Taking a short deviation from the meeting notes to provide further details and an opinion, the mention of the O&M Manuals being present at all plants appears to be a reference to an inspection of the Oakland Park WWTP where DEQ noted that they were missing. In a response to the February 13, 2018 inspection visit, Chris Thomas, General Manager, told DEQ in a March 30th letter that "The operator on site during the inspection was unaware of the location of the O&M Manuals. The Manuals were not located in the laboratory area. However, they were in the back control room. These Manuals have been relocated to the laboratory area." Unfortunately, these are the least of the issues found at Hopyard Farm's WWTP. According to a DEQ email, part of a pending Consent Order may include signage at the Hopyard pier warning users of potential E. coli exposure. This warning is based on frequent "UV maintenance issues, the difficulty in obtaining replacement parts for this system, the regularity of high E. coli numbers, and the proximity of the outfall..." While these details are still being drafted, it's clear there are issues at Hopyard Farm's WWTP.
Returning to the meetings notes report, Werle continued his report by stating that on the 11th he received the proposed agreement from KGI Communications and that it included all of the modifications previously discussed. The lease will be for five years at $1,000 per month. After that, the lease would have a three percent escalation factor applied for the next five years. The first 12 months would have lease payments waived and an additional six months would be waived if KGI showed documentation proving it was necessary. There was also a stipulation that if any funds were received from the Economic Development Authority (EDA), it was to be used to pay any waived lease payment first. Werle said on the 14th he met with Chris Thomas, Travis Quesenberry, County Engineer, and Steve Lynd, Emergency Management Coordinator, regarding the engineering contract for the Fairview Beach stabilization project.
The Consent Agenda was approved and the County Attorney, Eric Gregory, had no report.
Next up was the Public Hearing regarding the proposed changes to the Service Authority Regulations, Section 9, Paragraph I. Werle read some highlights from the changes before opening the floor for public comment. The gentlemen from earlier in the evening approached the stand and identified himself as Phil Grimes. Mr. Grimes stated his issue is that there are old pipes in Fairview Beach and if there was an emergency break between the meter and the building, the property owner would be responsible. But since "pipes don't break at 9 am" he would like to see some language that allows citizens, especially customers, to turn off their meter in an emergency. Grimes also said the language about "authorized representatives is unclear" and asked if that meant a plumber or somebody else. He asked if the Board could issue something to those that are considered designated representatives so they could be easily identified.
Werle said he made a good point about the emergencies. He said if a break was on the customer side and the flow were sufficient enough, it would be reasonable for the property owner to turn off the meter and then notify the Service Authority of the situation. He said this has happened in the past and "we have not and would not charge a penalty." Werle suggested maybe adding a preface to the first paragraph about emergency situations but would need to define what an emergency situation is as well as what a designated representative is.
Ruby Brabo asked Eric Gregory, County Attorney, if that would require another call for a public hearing. Gregory said no, that the suggested revisions would not be substantive enough to require another public hearing. He said the Board could adopt it tonight with those revisions in mind or they could direct state to make changes and vote later.
Brabo said she would rather come back and vote later after everything is defined. Gregory advised against trying to craft the new language tonight. Brabo concluded her comments by saying "this is why citizen input is needed." No action was taken by the Board, effectively tabling the discussion and adoption of the changes until a later meeting.
Next on the Agenda was the lease agreement with KGI Communications. Werle again reviewed the tentative agreement citing the five year lease, three percent escalation, and waived payments. He did clarify that the escalation rate of three percent would be for the second five year period, not each year within that period. He said that the loss of income would be minimal and only about $1,500 and he felt that any back and forth negotiations wasn't really worth it. Werle further clarified and corrected that statement in a May 16th email stating that "KGI wants to apply a blanket lease escalation factor of 3% across all 5-years of the second 5-year lease period. I then said we would lose about $1,500 in revenue if we didn't apply the escalation factor each year. That was not correct." He went on to show the math behind the potential loss of income to be $3,828 over the life of the second five year lease.
Brabo chimed in by saying she, Dr. Neiman Young, County Administrator, and Ryan Gandy, Director of Economic Development, met with KGI Communications regarding the addition of a second tower lease under the same terms. Werle was surprised to not have known about this discussion and said a second tower wasn't in the draft contract. Brabo said the Board can do one now and work on the second one later. The Board approved the first contract.
Chris Thomas, General Manager, began his report by saying he had three items to discuss. The first was the numerous water leaks during the week, saying that there were six leaks total. They were located on Dahlgren Road, Delegate Drive, Roosevelt Drive, Inaugural Drive, and Owens Drive. He said the leaks on Delegate Drive, Inaugural Drive, and Owens Drive were all caused by contractors and that the one on Inaugural Drive would be charged back to the contractor.
Brabo asked if Miss Utility had been called by the contractors before digging. Thomas said yes, but they still hit the lines. Bennett asked why only one contractor was being charged and Thomas said the other contractors remained on site and helped make the repairs. This particular contractor did not help and would therefore be charged.
Thomas' second update was regarding the industrial park sewer pump station. He said Virginia Power has transferred power and that the station was started up today and is in service. He said they were only waiting for the phone service to be installed for the auto-dialers.
The third update from Thomas was regarding the three years of data on commercial connections that Bennett had requested in a previous meeting. He said there was no real way to look at and find what an average would look like. He said it depends on the service being provided, either water, sewer, or both, the size of the meter, as well as the average daily consumption. He said without knowing the particulars of the business, it's hard to know what the average would be.
Brabo said if the meter was the same size, why was sewer larger than water. She said that didn't seem right that connection fees are so different. Werle said that sewer is higher than water. Brabo asked why the connection was more. Thomas said each connection has three pieces; the actual connection, the availability, and the debt service which is higher for sewer. Brabo said this is just the connection, not the service. Werle and Thomas both said yes. Brabo again asked if debt fee is included in connection fee to which Werle and Thomas both said yes. Werle then added that it was described in painful detail in the regulations. Bennett asked Ryan Gandy, who was sitting in the audience, if he got a copy. Gandy said no to which Bennett said he would make sure he got a copy.
Brabo, still looking at the spreadsheet (as seen above), said she didn't expect to see such a difference between all the businesses. Bennett said to the audience, trying to clarify for those that didn't have a handout from Thomas, that the Board was trying to review the connection fees to see if it really is a burden for new businesses, especially small ones, coming to King George.
Brabo again said it was quite a range. Bennett said that was more polite than what he was thinking in his head which drew a few laughs. He said some businesses have a reasonable amount while others are much more. Brabo said when people ask why it's hard for a small business to open, she said Murphy's Express can afford $8,662 for water but it's hard for Blush Salon to afford $11,183 for sewer.
The Board then went into Closed Session at 6:55 pm to discuss, possible litigation, personnel matters, and potential disposition of public property. Invited were John Jenkins, Board of Supervisors, Jeff Bueche, Board of Supervisors, Eric Gregory, County Attorney, and Dr. Neiman Young, County Administrator. At 7:25pm, Bueche left to take a phone call and returned about 15 minutes later. At 7:32pm, Cathy Binder arrived and joined the Closed Session. At 8:15pm, Bueche, Jenkins, and Chris Thomas left the meeting. The Board returned from Closed Session at 9:03pm, making it the longest Closed Session of the year at two hours and eight minutes (the Closed Session on April 17, 2018 was a mere two minutes shorter).
The meeting adjourned at 9:03pm.
Meeting Attendees:
Christopher Werle (Chairman, Board of Directors)
Christopher Thomas (General Manager of Service Authority)
Richard Granger (Board of Supervisors)
Michael Bennett (Citizen)
Ruby Brabo (Board of Supervisors)
Neiman Young (County Administrator)
Eric Gregory (County Attorney)
Absent:
Cathy Binder (Board of Supervisors) - arrived at 7:32pm
Meeting Agenda
Next Meeting:
The Service Authority will next meet on June 5, 2018 at 6:30 pm at the Revercomb Building.
Previous Meeting:
Read about the previous Service Authority Meeting.
Thursday, February 22, 2018
2018-02-20 - Board of Supervisors Meeting Notes
Struggling with the same technical issues that plagued the latter half of the Service Authority meeting, the Board of Supervisors got off to a bit of a rocky start. Things were further complicated by the absence of Dahlgren Supervisor John Jenkins who was stuck in traffic due to a work emergency. The County Attorney, Eric Gregory, clarified and reminded the Board members and audience that Jenkins was allowed to participate because of a Board policy adopted in 2016 that allowed for this under certain conditions. Gregory said Jenkins would have to notify the Chairman in advance of the phone usage, the Board would have to approve his participation, he would have to identify himself on the phone, and he would need to be audible to those attending the meeting. Gregory said Jenkins had notified Richard Granger, Chairman, of his need to use the phone to attend. Jenkins then identified himself on the phone and the other four members of the Board approved his participation via phone.
With that, the meeting began with a public comment from Jim Lynch. Mr. Lynch wanted to let the Board know that during the presentation from Maryland Transportation Authority (MDTA) and Virginia Department of Transportation (VDOT) at a previous meeting about the new Nice Bridge, the decibel portion of the presentation may not have been clearly presented. He said that while the difference in sound that a noise wall allows may sound like a small amount when noted as only 10 decibels (dB). However, the decibel measurement scale is logarithmic in nature. In other words, the numerical difference between 70 dB and 80 dB is only 10 dB but 80 dB is twice as loud as 70 dB. Lynch also said he asked for a copy of the analysis via the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA), but has yet to hear back from MDTA if he's allowed to see it. He also wanted to note that the bike and pedestrian communities on both sides of the river support a separated bike path due to safety concerns.
The Board then began giving their reports. Jenkins said via the phone that he would wait to give his at the next meeting when it would be easier to hear him and he could read from his list safely.
Jeff Bueche attended the Chamber of Commerce meeting at King George High School on February 12th and was highly impressed with both the educators and the students. He said his favorite line from the night came from SkillsUSA: "jobs ready day one." He also attended the Social Services and the budget work session on the 15th.
Ruby Brabo's report began with her attending a Rural Action Caucus dinner on February 7th. She said she also met with Delegate Ransone and Senator Stuart about the potential meals tax increase and was joined by Eric Gregory, County Attorney, and Dr. Neiman Young, County Administrator. She said they asked for the increase because it would benefit the County and the Service Authority. Brabo said she also participated in several conference calls, attended the budget work session, and she reminded everyone that the Leedstown Resolutions would be celebrated this Saturday at Ingleside Winery. Again the static and feedback from the microphones and speakers made it difficult to understand but it also sounded like Brabo met with a Supervisor from Charles County, Maryland and was told they have the authority to keep the current Nice Bridge intact. She was then asked if King George would be interested in keeping the bridge there for bike and pedestrian use and she responded yes.
Cathy Binder's report began with the same Chamber of Commerce meeting as Bueche. She said she too was impressed by the students and teachers and said CTE (career and technical education) was important. Binder also attended the budget work session on the 13th. She then tried to appoint two citizens to positions that were open on a committee or board, but there was some confusion as to if the positions were appointed by the Board of Supervisors or if they were appointed by the court system based on a recommendation from the Board. It was agreed that the County Attorney would research the issue and verify the process for the next meeting. Binder did nominate Roger Knicely to the Parks and Recreation Advisory Committee. The rest of the Board approved of the appointment. Binder then nominated James T. Johnson to the Wetlands Board and the Board approved. Binder concluded by reading a Resolution to recognize February as African American Heritage Month and it was approved by the Board.
Richard Granger began his report by thanking Jim Lynch for his comments. Granger attended a meeting regarding broadband internet in the region, the budget work session, and the recent COMREL meeting. He nominated Chris Parker to the Planning Commission and the Board approved. He said he had similar appointments that needed to be tabled like Binder until the next meeting. He did ask those in his district that might be interested in serving on the Social Services Board to contact him.
The Consent Agenda was approved without comment and the County Attorney had no report.
The Public Hearing on the old Passapatanzy Voting Office on Fletcher's Chapel Road then began. Dr. Young gave the basic details on the building and property noting that it was no longer used by the County and that no staff voiced any reason to use it. He did say that the County Attorney found a restriction regarding the deed that may impact its use and asked the Board to table the vote until the research could be completed.
Carl Springer, an adjoining property owner, then spoke. He was the one asking to purchase the property and commented that there were trees on the property line that pose a potential hazard to nearby homes and buildings. He also said the property is home to old tires, abandoned cars, and trash. Springer also noted that the building was left unlocked and was in serious disrepair. He asked the County to allow him to buy it or to allow another adjoining property owner to buy it.
Brabo thanked him for making the offer to buy it but wanted to table the vote until the next meeting.
David Howard from Waste Management gave an update on questions from the previous meeting. He said the vertical expansion would give the landfill another 17 years of life making for a maximum of 31 years before it reaches its structural limit. He said the only potential for future expansion would be horizontally with a purchase of adjoining land. He said there was a potential for doing that with another 50 to 60 acres that could be purchased in the future. Howard said they are always looking for ways to make the landfill last longer but the idea for removing compostable materials from the landfill would actually not help. He said those items, the green waste, was beneficial to the breakdown of the material in the landfill and helped things decompose faster. He also mentioned that if composting was done separately, there would be an issue with smell which he felt nobody wanted to deal with. Howard then clarified that the property in question from the last meeting that was suggested as a potential location for a thrift shop was currently rented. He said the renters had put forward the funds to make enough repairs to prevent if from being condemned. He also said Goodwill has containers at the landfill for those gently used items that could be donated instead of thrown away.
Brabo asked about cells being reopened after the landfill settles and Howard said no, cells would not be re-opened. He said that the top would eventually settle over time to a flat surface once the landfill was closed. Brabo then asked about issues getting adequate and acceptable cover for the landfill and Howard admitted that it is still an issue but they have been able to acquire approved coverings. He also said they purchased adjacent property to gain access to extra soil.
Christopher Rock, President of the International Association of Fire Fighters (IAFF) Chapter 4388, then gave his presentation on the local chapter. He gave a brief history of the IAFF and the goals for the local chapter. He said the goals for this year were to work on community outreach, to improve staffing levels, to promote safety in the workplace, and to implement peer fitness training for members.
Brabo thanked him and asked if the local chapter is only comprised of paid personnel. Rock said it was. Brabo then said she took some offense to the point on staffing levels and said that in years past, only two stations were open and manned by four or five people. She said Federal minimums required 11 staff members and that was currently being exceeded with 12. She also said that all three stations were now open and staffed. She said she still feels that the issue with staffing levels may be in how it is being managed.
Jen Surber from Flatiron Development then gave her presentation on Pine Forest Apartments and their request for a Low Income Housing Tax Credit (LIHTC) and to designate the property as a Revitalization Area. The County Attorney and County Administrator then clarified that the County was being asked to make the designation and a tax abatement of no more than $2,000 over three years. Surber said the plan was to refurbish the apartments and potentially make a small addition to the community space. She said the improvements would include everything from a new roof to new paint and from new appliances to new flooring. She said the project would be EarthCraft Platinum certified, which she said was similar to a LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) certification. She said the designation was necessary to obtain the credits which were necessary to make the improvements and repairs. She said the repairs would be made to vacant apartments first then residents would be rotated through as possible on a voluntary basis. Surber said no resident would lose their apartment. She said that while they are asking for a tax abatement, they are not asking for funding from the County and they do expect the assessment to go up after repairs are made.
Brabo commented that it was nice to see a property owner take pride in their property. A motion was made and approved to hold a public hearing on the issue.
Next up was Fronce Wardlaw of Project FAITH presenting the Angelwood Marshall Homes Project. She said she was coming before the Board to ask for Community Development Block Grant Funds just as she did in 2016. She said that previously, the Board had given her support and she received a letter of intent for the project but due to timing issues the project never began. She said that since her original attempt, the project has expanded and is now planned to be 35 single family homes with the first phase of construction to include 17 homes. The remainder would be built in the second phase. She said she is asking for roughly $695,000 in grants from various sources and plans to extend public water and sewer to the new homes. She said all of the homes would be on one-third acre lots and have three bedrooms and two bathrooms. Wardlaw said the targeted home price was between $190,000 and $210,000 and has pre-approved 18 households that have qualified household income within the $48,000 to $65,000 range. She said the new homes would be located behind the existing Angelwood development off Route 3 and would be bordered by that development and Colby's Lane. She said that in working with the neighbors on Colby's Lane, the Angelwood Marshall development would install a buffer along the road that would include a wrought iron fence and vegetation. Wardlaw said that in the past, the County has waived permit fees and would like to ask for the same waiver again with this development as it would show a "notable level of County benevolence" which is necessary for the grant. She did say they plan to pay the Service Authority connection and usage fees.
Richard Granger asked when the deadline was for this and Wardlaw replied March 30, 2018. Granger asked how long she knew about the grant and she responded that she had been working with Dr. Young since December 2017. Granger said it felt similar to the timeline from 2016 and that it was a short time frame. Granger was clearly upset that the proposal had come before the Board with such short notice and that there was very little time left to hold a public hearing on the issue and get action from the Board before the deadline. Wardlaw said she didn't wait intentionally and takes full responsibility for any misunderstanding or miscommunication. Granger said it puts stress on staff and while exceptions are tolerated, he doesn't appreciate the last minute stress.
Granger then asked for clarity about Wardlaw's mention of the Dahlgren base and the need for low-cost homes for first-time home buyers. He wanted to know how many military families would qualify for the project and be first-time home-buyers. Wardlaw said that of the 18 families that have already qualified, five are military families and two are disabled veterans. Jeff Bueche then commented he had only heard about this project when he read it in the Agenda and wasn't sure he was in a place to vote tonight because he has yet to look at all of the impacts, including how subsidized housing could skew the local housing market.
Ruby Brabo commented that she wasn't excusing her but that in Wardlaw's defense, the County has never given her staff to get this grant. She said Wardlaw has written the grant, both in 2016 and now, and that the delay in 2016 was largely due to the Board being slow to approve re-zoning. She said to stop the project now would not look good. Brabo also said she sits on the Joint Land Use (JLUS) Committee and that the base in Dahlgren was excited for the project as it would meet a need. Brabo also said that the County has invested a lot of time and staff already to make this happen and it would mean revenue for the Service Authority and that Chris Thomas, the Service Authority General Manager, has "blessed it."
Granger again reiterated his concern over the timeline and that while he doesn't necessarily want to stop the project, he does want to note his concern about the timing and doesn't like waiting to the last minute. Brabo asked if it would be necessary to hire staff to write a grant and Granger said he would certainly look at it in this budget cycle. Brabo again commented that Wardlaw wrote the grant herself and was doing the County a favor by doing so. She said she didn't want to penalize the community. Granger again said it penalizes the staff and he felt the need to do it right.
At this point, Wardlaw commented that there was still ample time to take care of everything and that public hearings can still be advertised. Cathy Binder asked if waiving the permit fees were vital to the project. Wardlaw answered no but that there was a need for the County to promote it's benevolence or approval of the project. She also said Angelwood has not paid them in the past but that waiving the fees was not a requirement.
Dr. Young commented that he was not worried about the staff time involved in writing the application. He did say his concern was that there would be 17 to 35 homes that would need to be reviewed by the Community Development Department and that it currently only has one staff member and some work has to be contracted out. He asked the Board to not waive the fees as they have done in the past. Young also said that he was notified last Wednesday to include this item in the Agenda. He said he had talked to Wardlaw via email several times since December but that he found no correspondence that said he talked to her about any need for public hearings or the short time frame.
Wardlaw again said that she takes responsibility for not highlighting the guidelines that gave this information and assumed the County was aware. She said she can appreciate the reasoning for not waiving the fees but that doing so would make the homes more affordable. She also said there are only four home plans that would need to be approved.
Dr. Young again said he would like the Board to not waive the fees. John Jenkins had arrived in-person prior to this point and began his comment by apologizing for being late. He echoed Young's concerns about waiving the fees. He then said that while affordable housing is a concern in the County and he appreciates everything Wardlaw has done for the community, he had to echo Granger's concerns about the lack of notice and the extra burden on the staff.
Brabo cautioned her peers to recognize the Board's involvement with other agencies and "how it impacts our reputation as a whole" with their perception as a Board.
A motion was made to approve the grant and public hearings with the amendment to not waive the fees. Brabo and Binder voted Aye with Bueche and Granger voting Nay. Jenkins was deep in thought for a good 30 seconds before finally voting Aye. And with that, the motion passed.
The Tourism Advisory Committee then presented their update from the previous meeting regarding the additional funds for the Fall Festival and the Girl Scout project to install an interpretive sign at Lambs Creek Church. Ryan Gandy and Saundra Pearson clarified that the Board of Supervisors had previously approved roughly $11,000 for the Fall Festival and the amount before them was an additional $4,000 to cover additional advertising. They said the Tourism Advisory Committee had approved the application for the additional $4,000 but it was now up to the Board to approve the actual funding.
Lauren Gebstadt, the Girl Scout behind the historical sign at Lambs Creek Church, presented her project to the Board next. She said she has been in the Girl Scouts for about ten years and first heard the suggestion for a sign at the church when she was volunteering at a soup kitchen. She said she loves history and thought this would be a great project. Ms. Gebstadt said she approached two different sign companies and was given two quotes. One was for a wooden sign that was cheaper but would only last ten years while the other was for an aluminum sign that was more expensive but would last 30 years. She said she opted for the more expensive sign because it would last longer and require less maintenance. She said the sign company, Sign Enterprise, donated the material and labor, thus bringing the cost for the project down to the $571.20, which was half of the original amount. It was this $571.20 amount that she was asking the Board to fund.
A motion was made and passed to approve funding for the Girl Scout sign but to deny funding for the Fall Festival. Binder commented that she had to abstain from voting due to her involvement in Fall Festival and cautioned that the Tourism Advisory Committee should not promise funding. Gandy replied that the funds were not promised but he would take the feedback to the Committee and remind them that only the Board has the authority to approve funding. He also said he would remind those applying for funds of this process as well.
The Department of Parks and Recreation presented next with a request for the Board to approve their entering into a contract with Stoker Construction to perform repairs and improvements on the Citizen's Center bathrooms. If approved, construction would begin in mid-March and finish by April. Granger asked if the funds were approved in the 2016/2017 Capital Improvement Plan (CIP) budget and if there was any reason why it was so late in getting to this point. The response was that various delays, including estimates being higher than expected, were the source of the slow down. Granger requested that if any CIP funds, in any department, went unspent in the future, that the Board be notified. It was mentioned that this delay was brought up in previous meetings and Granger promptly apologized for missing it. The contract was approved by the Board.
Next was a discussion about a potential Blighted Building Ordinance. County Attorney, Eric Gregory, said that in various locations in the County have been identified as blighted and the Board has the power to adopt an ordinance to address these properties. Bueche said the County doesn't have staff to enforce the ordinance and that he doesn't want to create a police state but he does want a mechanism in place to allow the County to take action. Gregory said he would be happy to draft an ordinance and would be sure to address any potential property rights or due process issues. Jenkins said the biggest issue was abandoned structures and that currently the County can't do anything about it. He said the language in the Agenda regarding how to address nuisances seemed to be a little loose. Gregory commented that state code does have provisions to allow addressing of certain things by counties but that cities and towns tend to have more power because of different rules. He also said spot blight and public nuisances are handled differently.
Jenkins asked if a property resembled a landfill, could it be considered a threat to health and Gregory responded that it potentially could. Jenkins said he spoke to Chief Moody and that, with his fire marshal, he can deem a home unsafe but there is currently no timeline for enforcement with the home owner. Gregory cautioned that a specific timeline may prove difficult as every case is different and the County wants to be sensitive to the property owner's situation. He referenced an issue in the past with a property in Fairview Beach being long and involved but that it was eventually resolved. Brabo said she was happy to have a Board willing to address the issue of blight. She said an ordinance wouldn't mean a quick fix but it would be just another tool in the toolbox that the County can use. The general consensus from the Board was to have Gregory create a draft ordinance.
Neiman Young, County Administrator, said in his report that the Fire and Rescue Department would be hosting a disaster preparedness training session on April 9, 2018 and asked the Board for their availability to attend. He asked the same question regarding the 98th Civil Affairs Battalion's parachute landing at Fort A. P. Hill on April 13, 2018.
The Board then went into Closed Session with Robin Tenney, Smoot Library Director, and others at 8:49 pm. Tenney and the rest would leave at 9:42 pm while the Board wouldn't return from Closed Session until 10:27 pm. The meeting adjourned at 10:28 pm.
With that, the meeting began with a public comment from Jim Lynch. Mr. Lynch wanted to let the Board know that during the presentation from Maryland Transportation Authority (MDTA) and Virginia Department of Transportation (VDOT) at a previous meeting about the new Nice Bridge, the decibel portion of the presentation may not have been clearly presented. He said that while the difference in sound that a noise wall allows may sound like a small amount when noted as only 10 decibels (dB). However, the decibel measurement scale is logarithmic in nature. In other words, the numerical difference between 70 dB and 80 dB is only 10 dB but 80 dB is twice as loud as 70 dB. Lynch also said he asked for a copy of the analysis via the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA), but has yet to hear back from MDTA if he's allowed to see it. He also wanted to note that the bike and pedestrian communities on both sides of the river support a separated bike path due to safety concerns.
The Board then began giving their reports. Jenkins said via the phone that he would wait to give his at the next meeting when it would be easier to hear him and he could read from his list safely.
Jeff Bueche attended the Chamber of Commerce meeting at King George High School on February 12th and was highly impressed with both the educators and the students. He said his favorite line from the night came from SkillsUSA: "jobs ready day one." He also attended the Social Services and the budget work session on the 15th.
Ruby Brabo's report began with her attending a Rural Action Caucus dinner on February 7th. She said she also met with Delegate Ransone and Senator Stuart about the potential meals tax increase and was joined by Eric Gregory, County Attorney, and Dr. Neiman Young, County Administrator. She said they asked for the increase because it would benefit the County and the Service Authority. Brabo said she also participated in several conference calls, attended the budget work session, and she reminded everyone that the Leedstown Resolutions would be celebrated this Saturday at Ingleside Winery. Again the static and feedback from the microphones and speakers made it difficult to understand but it also sounded like Brabo met with a Supervisor from Charles County, Maryland and was told they have the authority to keep the current Nice Bridge intact. She was then asked if King George would be interested in keeping the bridge there for bike and pedestrian use and she responded yes.
Cathy Binder's report began with the same Chamber of Commerce meeting as Bueche. She said she too was impressed by the students and teachers and said CTE (career and technical education) was important. Binder also attended the budget work session on the 13th. She then tried to appoint two citizens to positions that were open on a committee or board, but there was some confusion as to if the positions were appointed by the Board of Supervisors or if they were appointed by the court system based on a recommendation from the Board. It was agreed that the County Attorney would research the issue and verify the process for the next meeting. Binder did nominate Roger Knicely to the Parks and Recreation Advisory Committee. The rest of the Board approved of the appointment. Binder then nominated James T. Johnson to the Wetlands Board and the Board approved. Binder concluded by reading a Resolution to recognize February as African American Heritage Month and it was approved by the Board.
Richard Granger began his report by thanking Jim Lynch for his comments. Granger attended a meeting regarding broadband internet in the region, the budget work session, and the recent COMREL meeting. He nominated Chris Parker to the Planning Commission and the Board approved. He said he had similar appointments that needed to be tabled like Binder until the next meeting. He did ask those in his district that might be interested in serving on the Social Services Board to contact him.
The Consent Agenda was approved without comment and the County Attorney had no report.
The Public Hearing on the old Passapatanzy Voting Office on Fletcher's Chapel Road then began. Dr. Young gave the basic details on the building and property noting that it was no longer used by the County and that no staff voiced any reason to use it. He did say that the County Attorney found a restriction regarding the deed that may impact its use and asked the Board to table the vote until the research could be completed.
Carl Springer, an adjoining property owner, then spoke. He was the one asking to purchase the property and commented that there were trees on the property line that pose a potential hazard to nearby homes and buildings. He also said the property is home to old tires, abandoned cars, and trash. Springer also noted that the building was left unlocked and was in serious disrepair. He asked the County to allow him to buy it or to allow another adjoining property owner to buy it.
Brabo thanked him for making the offer to buy it but wanted to table the vote until the next meeting.
David Howard from Waste Management gave an update on questions from the previous meeting. He said the vertical expansion would give the landfill another 17 years of life making for a maximum of 31 years before it reaches its structural limit. He said the only potential for future expansion would be horizontally with a purchase of adjoining land. He said there was a potential for doing that with another 50 to 60 acres that could be purchased in the future. Howard said they are always looking for ways to make the landfill last longer but the idea for removing compostable materials from the landfill would actually not help. He said those items, the green waste, was beneficial to the breakdown of the material in the landfill and helped things decompose faster. He also mentioned that if composting was done separately, there would be an issue with smell which he felt nobody wanted to deal with. Howard then clarified that the property in question from the last meeting that was suggested as a potential location for a thrift shop was currently rented. He said the renters had put forward the funds to make enough repairs to prevent if from being condemned. He also said Goodwill has containers at the landfill for those gently used items that could be donated instead of thrown away.
Brabo asked about cells being reopened after the landfill settles and Howard said no, cells would not be re-opened. He said that the top would eventually settle over time to a flat surface once the landfill was closed. Brabo then asked about issues getting adequate and acceptable cover for the landfill and Howard admitted that it is still an issue but they have been able to acquire approved coverings. He also said they purchased adjacent property to gain access to extra soil.
Christopher Rock, President of the International Association of Fire Fighters (IAFF) Chapter 4388, then gave his presentation on the local chapter. He gave a brief history of the IAFF and the goals for the local chapter. He said the goals for this year were to work on community outreach, to improve staffing levels, to promote safety in the workplace, and to implement peer fitness training for members.
Brabo thanked him and asked if the local chapter is only comprised of paid personnel. Rock said it was. Brabo then said she took some offense to the point on staffing levels and said that in years past, only two stations were open and manned by four or five people. She said Federal minimums required 11 staff members and that was currently being exceeded with 12. She also said that all three stations were now open and staffed. She said she still feels that the issue with staffing levels may be in how it is being managed.
Jen Surber from Flatiron Development then gave her presentation on Pine Forest Apartments and their request for a Low Income Housing Tax Credit (LIHTC) and to designate the property as a Revitalization Area. The County Attorney and County Administrator then clarified that the County was being asked to make the designation and a tax abatement of no more than $2,000 over three years. Surber said the plan was to refurbish the apartments and potentially make a small addition to the community space. She said the improvements would include everything from a new roof to new paint and from new appliances to new flooring. She said the project would be EarthCraft Platinum certified, which she said was similar to a LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) certification. She said the designation was necessary to obtain the credits which were necessary to make the improvements and repairs. She said the repairs would be made to vacant apartments first then residents would be rotated through as possible on a voluntary basis. Surber said no resident would lose their apartment. She said that while they are asking for a tax abatement, they are not asking for funding from the County and they do expect the assessment to go up after repairs are made.
Brabo commented that it was nice to see a property owner take pride in their property. A motion was made and approved to hold a public hearing on the issue.
Next up was Fronce Wardlaw of Project FAITH presenting the Angelwood Marshall Homes Project. She said she was coming before the Board to ask for Community Development Block Grant Funds just as she did in 2016. She said that previously, the Board had given her support and she received a letter of intent for the project but due to timing issues the project never began. She said that since her original attempt, the project has expanded and is now planned to be 35 single family homes with the first phase of construction to include 17 homes. The remainder would be built in the second phase. She said she is asking for roughly $695,000 in grants from various sources and plans to extend public water and sewer to the new homes. She said all of the homes would be on one-third acre lots and have three bedrooms and two bathrooms. Wardlaw said the targeted home price was between $190,000 and $210,000 and has pre-approved 18 households that have qualified household income within the $48,000 to $65,000 range. She said the new homes would be located behind the existing Angelwood development off Route 3 and would be bordered by that development and Colby's Lane. She said that in working with the neighbors on Colby's Lane, the Angelwood Marshall development would install a buffer along the road that would include a wrought iron fence and vegetation. Wardlaw said that in the past, the County has waived permit fees and would like to ask for the same waiver again with this development as it would show a "notable level of County benevolence" which is necessary for the grant. She did say they plan to pay the Service Authority connection and usage fees.
Richard Granger asked when the deadline was for this and Wardlaw replied March 30, 2018. Granger asked how long she knew about the grant and she responded that she had been working with Dr. Young since December 2017. Granger said it felt similar to the timeline from 2016 and that it was a short time frame. Granger was clearly upset that the proposal had come before the Board with such short notice and that there was very little time left to hold a public hearing on the issue and get action from the Board before the deadline. Wardlaw said she didn't wait intentionally and takes full responsibility for any misunderstanding or miscommunication. Granger said it puts stress on staff and while exceptions are tolerated, he doesn't appreciate the last minute stress.
Granger then asked for clarity about Wardlaw's mention of the Dahlgren base and the need for low-cost homes for first-time home buyers. He wanted to know how many military families would qualify for the project and be first-time home-buyers. Wardlaw said that of the 18 families that have already qualified, five are military families and two are disabled veterans. Jeff Bueche then commented he had only heard about this project when he read it in the Agenda and wasn't sure he was in a place to vote tonight because he has yet to look at all of the impacts, including how subsidized housing could skew the local housing market.
Ruby Brabo commented that she wasn't excusing her but that in Wardlaw's defense, the County has never given her staff to get this grant. She said Wardlaw has written the grant, both in 2016 and now, and that the delay in 2016 was largely due to the Board being slow to approve re-zoning. She said to stop the project now would not look good. Brabo also said she sits on the Joint Land Use (JLUS) Committee and that the base in Dahlgren was excited for the project as it would meet a need. Brabo also said that the County has invested a lot of time and staff already to make this happen and it would mean revenue for the Service Authority and that Chris Thomas, the Service Authority General Manager, has "blessed it."
Granger again reiterated his concern over the timeline and that while he doesn't necessarily want to stop the project, he does want to note his concern about the timing and doesn't like waiting to the last minute. Brabo asked if it would be necessary to hire staff to write a grant and Granger said he would certainly look at it in this budget cycle. Brabo again commented that Wardlaw wrote the grant herself and was doing the County a favor by doing so. She said she didn't want to penalize the community. Granger again said it penalizes the staff and he felt the need to do it right.
At this point, Wardlaw commented that there was still ample time to take care of everything and that public hearings can still be advertised. Cathy Binder asked if waiving the permit fees were vital to the project. Wardlaw answered no but that there was a need for the County to promote it's benevolence or approval of the project. She also said Angelwood has not paid them in the past but that waiving the fees was not a requirement.
Dr. Young commented that he was not worried about the staff time involved in writing the application. He did say his concern was that there would be 17 to 35 homes that would need to be reviewed by the Community Development Department and that it currently only has one staff member and some work has to be contracted out. He asked the Board to not waive the fees as they have done in the past. Young also said that he was notified last Wednesday to include this item in the Agenda. He said he had talked to Wardlaw via email several times since December but that he found no correspondence that said he talked to her about any need for public hearings or the short time frame.
Wardlaw again said that she takes responsibility for not highlighting the guidelines that gave this information and assumed the County was aware. She said she can appreciate the reasoning for not waiving the fees but that doing so would make the homes more affordable. She also said there are only four home plans that would need to be approved.
Dr. Young again said he would like the Board to not waive the fees. John Jenkins had arrived in-person prior to this point and began his comment by apologizing for being late. He echoed Young's concerns about waiving the fees. He then said that while affordable housing is a concern in the County and he appreciates everything Wardlaw has done for the community, he had to echo Granger's concerns about the lack of notice and the extra burden on the staff.
Brabo cautioned her peers to recognize the Board's involvement with other agencies and "how it impacts our reputation as a whole" with their perception as a Board.
A motion was made to approve the grant and public hearings with the amendment to not waive the fees. Brabo and Binder voted Aye with Bueche and Granger voting Nay. Jenkins was deep in thought for a good 30 seconds before finally voting Aye. And with that, the motion passed.
The Tourism Advisory Committee then presented their update from the previous meeting regarding the additional funds for the Fall Festival and the Girl Scout project to install an interpretive sign at Lambs Creek Church. Ryan Gandy and Saundra Pearson clarified that the Board of Supervisors had previously approved roughly $11,000 for the Fall Festival and the amount before them was an additional $4,000 to cover additional advertising. They said the Tourism Advisory Committee had approved the application for the additional $4,000 but it was now up to the Board to approve the actual funding.
Lauren Gebstadt, the Girl Scout behind the historical sign at Lambs Creek Church, presented her project to the Board next. She said she has been in the Girl Scouts for about ten years and first heard the suggestion for a sign at the church when she was volunteering at a soup kitchen. She said she loves history and thought this would be a great project. Ms. Gebstadt said she approached two different sign companies and was given two quotes. One was for a wooden sign that was cheaper but would only last ten years while the other was for an aluminum sign that was more expensive but would last 30 years. She said she opted for the more expensive sign because it would last longer and require less maintenance. She said the sign company, Sign Enterprise, donated the material and labor, thus bringing the cost for the project down to the $571.20, which was half of the original amount. It was this $571.20 amount that she was asking the Board to fund.
A motion was made and passed to approve funding for the Girl Scout sign but to deny funding for the Fall Festival. Binder commented that she had to abstain from voting due to her involvement in Fall Festival and cautioned that the Tourism Advisory Committee should not promise funding. Gandy replied that the funds were not promised but he would take the feedback to the Committee and remind them that only the Board has the authority to approve funding. He also said he would remind those applying for funds of this process as well.
The Department of Parks and Recreation presented next with a request for the Board to approve their entering into a contract with Stoker Construction to perform repairs and improvements on the Citizen's Center bathrooms. If approved, construction would begin in mid-March and finish by April. Granger asked if the funds were approved in the 2016/2017 Capital Improvement Plan (CIP) budget and if there was any reason why it was so late in getting to this point. The response was that various delays, including estimates being higher than expected, were the source of the slow down. Granger requested that if any CIP funds, in any department, went unspent in the future, that the Board be notified. It was mentioned that this delay was brought up in previous meetings and Granger promptly apologized for missing it. The contract was approved by the Board.
Next was a discussion about a potential Blighted Building Ordinance. County Attorney, Eric Gregory, said that in various locations in the County have been identified as blighted and the Board has the power to adopt an ordinance to address these properties. Bueche said the County doesn't have staff to enforce the ordinance and that he doesn't want to create a police state but he does want a mechanism in place to allow the County to take action. Gregory said he would be happy to draft an ordinance and would be sure to address any potential property rights or due process issues. Jenkins said the biggest issue was abandoned structures and that currently the County can't do anything about it. He said the language in the Agenda regarding how to address nuisances seemed to be a little loose. Gregory commented that state code does have provisions to allow addressing of certain things by counties but that cities and towns tend to have more power because of different rules. He also said spot blight and public nuisances are handled differently.
Jenkins asked if a property resembled a landfill, could it be considered a threat to health and Gregory responded that it potentially could. Jenkins said he spoke to Chief Moody and that, with his fire marshal, he can deem a home unsafe but there is currently no timeline for enforcement with the home owner. Gregory cautioned that a specific timeline may prove difficult as every case is different and the County wants to be sensitive to the property owner's situation. He referenced an issue in the past with a property in Fairview Beach being long and involved but that it was eventually resolved. Brabo said she was happy to have a Board willing to address the issue of blight. She said an ordinance wouldn't mean a quick fix but it would be just another tool in the toolbox that the County can use. The general consensus from the Board was to have Gregory create a draft ordinance.
Neiman Young, County Administrator, said in his report that the Fire and Rescue Department would be hosting a disaster preparedness training session on April 9, 2018 and asked the Board for their availability to attend. He asked the same question regarding the 98th Civil Affairs Battalion's parachute landing at Fort A. P. Hill on April 13, 2018.
The Board then went into Closed Session with Robin Tenney, Smoot Library Director, and others at 8:49 pm. Tenney and the rest would leave at 9:42 pm while the Board wouldn't return from Closed Session until 10:27 pm. The meeting adjourned at 10:28 pm.
Meeting Attendees:
John Jenkins (Board of Supervisors)
Jeff Bueche (Board of Supervisors)
Richard Granger (Chairman, Board of Supervisors)
Ruby Brabo (Board of Supervisors)
Cathy Binder (Board of Supervisors)
Neiman Young (County Administrator)
Eric Gregory (County Attorney)
Absent:
John Jenkins participated via phone until his arrival in-person at 8:02 pm.
Next Meeting:
The Board of Supervisors will next meet on March 7, 2018 at 6:30 pm at the Revercomb Building.
Previous Meeting:
Read about the previous Board of Supervisors Meeting.
2018-02-20 - Service Authority Meeting Notes
The February 20, 2018 meeting of the Service Authority Board of Directors began on time at 6:30pm. It would be a very short meeting.
With no public comment, the Agenda moved to reports from the Board. Only Chris Werle, Chairman, had a report. He met with the General Manager, Chris Thomas, and Mike Bennett, fellow Board member, for several days to review the expenditure data for the upcoming 2018/2019 budget. The highlight of his report was that the Virginia Department of Emergency Management (VDEM) announced the funding of Phase I of a grant to make repairs in Fairview Beach. The Fairview Beach Riverbank Stabilization Project was awarded $230,193 from the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) as well as $61,384 in state funding. With the total cost of the project slated to be about $307,000, the funding from FEMA would cover 75% and the state another 20% of the total price tag. Werle stated there was a hope that the Virginia Department of Transportation (VDOT) would cover the remaining 5% of costs but said other local opportunities for funding are also being explored. Werle then cautioned that while this was certainly promising news, this was only Phase I, the engineering study, and not a guarantee that any repairs would be made after the study was complete.
Bennett then added a few comments stating that as a resident of Fairview Beach, "we're happy and excited" and that even though it's only Phase I, "we can't get to Phase II without getting to Phase I first." He also said the Army Corps of Engineers program that would study the same issue would only cover 65% of the funds so the funding from FEMA was a better deal. Bennett also thanked Ruby Brabo for her leadership in getting the grant as well as Werle for his efforts in writing the grant. Bennett then said the FEMA study would look at storm water runoff while the Army study would not, so again, this was a better deal for the County. Clarity was also provided as to why the sewer line was placed between the road and the beach and it was because when it was installed, there was 30 to 40 feet of river bank there.
Dr. Young, County Administrator, added that they should know by the end of February if VDOT was willing to contribute to the project.
The Consent Agenda was passed without comment.
The General Manager, Chris Thomas, then gave his report. He reminded everyone that the first budget work session would be held on February 27, 2018 at 6:30pm at Company 1. He said he was asked to give an overview of the Service Authority and the facilities at this meeting but he would also present preliminary budget expenses. He also gave an update on the Dahlgren treatment plant and the final cost of the stone that was needed to complete the project. There was some technical difficulties in the Board Room making things hard to hear but it sounded like roughly $149,000 was left to be paid. He also gave an update on service connections, both residential and commercial, in the County.
And with that, the meeting adjourned at 6:43pm.
With no public comment, the Agenda moved to reports from the Board. Only Chris Werle, Chairman, had a report. He met with the General Manager, Chris Thomas, and Mike Bennett, fellow Board member, for several days to review the expenditure data for the upcoming 2018/2019 budget. The highlight of his report was that the Virginia Department of Emergency Management (VDEM) announced the funding of Phase I of a grant to make repairs in Fairview Beach. The Fairview Beach Riverbank Stabilization Project was awarded $230,193 from the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) as well as $61,384 in state funding. With the total cost of the project slated to be about $307,000, the funding from FEMA would cover 75% and the state another 20% of the total price tag. Werle stated there was a hope that the Virginia Department of Transportation (VDOT) would cover the remaining 5% of costs but said other local opportunities for funding are also being explored. Werle then cautioned that while this was certainly promising news, this was only Phase I, the engineering study, and not a guarantee that any repairs would be made after the study was complete.
Bennett then added a few comments stating that as a resident of Fairview Beach, "we're happy and excited" and that even though it's only Phase I, "we can't get to Phase II without getting to Phase I first." He also said the Army Corps of Engineers program that would study the same issue would only cover 65% of the funds so the funding from FEMA was a better deal. Bennett also thanked Ruby Brabo for her leadership in getting the grant as well as Werle for his efforts in writing the grant. Bennett then said the FEMA study would look at storm water runoff while the Army study would not, so again, this was a better deal for the County. Clarity was also provided as to why the sewer line was placed between the road and the beach and it was because when it was installed, there was 30 to 40 feet of river bank there.
Dr. Young, County Administrator, added that they should know by the end of February if VDOT was willing to contribute to the project.
The Consent Agenda was passed without comment.
The General Manager, Chris Thomas, then gave his report. He reminded everyone that the first budget work session would be held on February 27, 2018 at 6:30pm at Company 1. He said he was asked to give an overview of the Service Authority and the facilities at this meeting but he would also present preliminary budget expenses. He also gave an update on the Dahlgren treatment plant and the final cost of the stone that was needed to complete the project. There was some technical difficulties in the Board Room making things hard to hear but it sounded like roughly $149,000 was left to be paid. He also gave an update on service connections, both residential and commercial, in the County.
And with that, the meeting adjourned at 6:43pm.
Meeting Attendees:
Christopher Werle (Chairman, Board of Directors)
Christopher Thomas (General Manager of Service Authority)
Richard Granger (Board of Supervisors)
Michael Bennett (Citizen)
Ruby Brabo (Board of Supervisors)
Cathy Binder (Board of Supervisors)
Neiman Young (County Administrator)
Eric Gregory (County Attorney)
Next Meeting:
The Service Authority will next meet on March 7 2018 at 6:30 pm at the Revercomb Building.
Previous Meeting:
Read about the previous Service Authority Meeting.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)