Tuesday, March 5, 2019
Monday, March 4, 2019
OPINION - Credit Ratings and Travel Policies
by Neil Richard
In a gloriously short budget work session, the Board of Supervisors heard from Davenport & Company, discussed the landfill's impact, and adopted a new Travel Policy.
Beginning with the presentation from Davenport & Company, Kyle Laux and Griffin Moore presented to the Supervisors and the Citizen Budget Advisory Committee members where the County stood financially. As with previous presentations from Davenport, the County's financial advisor, the news was positive. From 2004 to present, the County has "received five separate upgrades" to their credit rating and currently stand one step below the highest possible rating. This high rating was reaffirmed in 2017 from all three credit agencies, Moody's Standard & Poor's, and Fitch. While each agency gave high marks for a strong budget, good financial policies, and liquidity, they all noted the County's debt and the need for a more diverse tax base or economy.
During the presentation, Laux explained one of the charts that showed the relatively low real estate tax rate of 70 cents per $100 of assessed value. In comparison, the median for the state is above 80 cents and many Northern Virginia and Richmond area counties are over one dollar. Jeff Bueche asked how the landfill revenue factored into this lower tax rate and Ruby Brabo said it made the rate 28 cents lower. Dr. Neiman Young, County Administrator, pulled up the exact number on his computer and said it was 27.7 cents. The general idea, and concern, behind the question was that the landfill has a finite life and that tax rates may rise drastically in coming decades, especially if the tax base doesn't become more diverse.
Moving back towards the positive side of the presentation, Laux touched on the County's debt. Although $74.3 million in debt principle and $28.1 million in debt interest is not positive, the County's plan to mitigate or reduce the debt early reflected in a savings over time of about $5 million. There was also some discussion of what the County's debt would look like if it included the Service Authority debt although there are no plans by the County to absorb that debt.
The last item on the Agenda was a discussion of the new Travel Policy. It was a short discussion. Jeff Bueche said that, as the Chairman, he took the blame for the last budget work session getting out of hand. He said he spoke to each of his peers individually about the updated policy and asked them to submit edits and comments to Dr. Young to draft the amendment. With that, the Board then voted to approve the amended policy.
The following text was added to the existing Travel Policy:
Once the Board approved the additional language, they then voted to appoint Ruby Brabo as the Virginia Association of Counties (VACo) and National Association of Counties (NACo) liaison.
There was a little discussion about the school's pending budget proposal and Bueche suggested that each Supervisor reach out to their respective School Board peer prior to the meeting to discuss the school's budget. The Supervisors intend to hear school's proposal at their next budget work session on March 14th.
In a gloriously short budget work session, the Board of Supervisors heard from Davenport & Company, discussed the landfill's impact, and adopted a new Travel Policy.
Beginning with the presentation from Davenport & Company, Kyle Laux and Griffin Moore presented to the Supervisors and the Citizen Budget Advisory Committee members where the County stood financially. As with previous presentations from Davenport, the County's financial advisor, the news was positive. From 2004 to present, the County has "received five separate upgrades" to their credit rating and currently stand one step below the highest possible rating. This high rating was reaffirmed in 2017 from all three credit agencies, Moody's Standard & Poor's, and Fitch. While each agency gave high marks for a strong budget, good financial policies, and liquidity, they all noted the County's debt and the need for a more diverse tax base or economy.
During the presentation, Laux explained one of the charts that showed the relatively low real estate tax rate of 70 cents per $100 of assessed value. In comparison, the median for the state is above 80 cents and many Northern Virginia and Richmond area counties are over one dollar. Jeff Bueche asked how the landfill revenue factored into this lower tax rate and Ruby Brabo said it made the rate 28 cents lower. Dr. Neiman Young, County Administrator, pulled up the exact number on his computer and said it was 27.7 cents. The general idea, and concern, behind the question was that the landfill has a finite life and that tax rates may rise drastically in coming decades, especially if the tax base doesn't become more diverse.
Moving back towards the positive side of the presentation, Laux touched on the County's debt. Although $74.3 million in debt principle and $28.1 million in debt interest is not positive, the County's plan to mitigate or reduce the debt early reflected in a savings over time of about $5 million. There was also some discussion of what the County's debt would look like if it included the Service Authority debt although there are no plans by the County to absorb that debt.
The last item on the Agenda was a discussion of the new Travel Policy. It was a short discussion. Jeff Bueche said that, as the Chairman, he took the blame for the last budget work session getting out of hand. He said he spoke to each of his peers individually about the updated policy and asked them to submit edits and comments to Dr. Young to draft the amendment. With that, the Board then voted to approve the amended policy.
The following text was added to the existing Travel Policy:
10. Board of Supervisors
a) Official travel subject to County funding by any member of the Board of Supervisors must be submitted via a spend plan to be approved by a majority of the Board of Supervisors prior to the adoption of the operational budget. Each Supervisor will provide their spend plan to the Board for consideration, to include location, duration, purpose, benefit to the County and an estimated cost for each expected travel occurrence. The spend plans will be discussed for adoption or denial during a budget work session or regular meeting of the Board of Supervisors. This process is to provide full transparency to the public on Supervisor travels for engagement with our local, regional, and national partners.
b) A Supervisor travel budget spending cap must be adopted by the BoS for each fiscal year. Should the cap be exhausted, any future travel subject to County funds must be previously approved by a majority of the Board of Supervisors during a regular meeting of the Board. Justification of said travel shall be provided to the Board in a public forum for full transparency to the public. In the event travel is not pre-approved by the Board of Supervisors, said travel, if conducted, is not subject to reimbursement.
c) The Board of Supervisors will also appoint an elected official to serve as a liaison to the Virginia Association of Counties (VACO) and the National Association of Counties (NACO). This position will require additional travel outside the region and additional costs incurred. While the associated travel with this role may be significantly higher than the travel plans of other Supervisors, the liaison’s travel will remain subject to the spend plan and process as outlined above.
Once the Board approved the additional language, they then voted to appoint Ruby Brabo as the Virginia Association of Counties (VACo) and National Association of Counties (NACo) liaison.
There was a little discussion about the school's pending budget proposal and Bueche suggested that each Supervisor reach out to their respective School Board peer prior to the meeting to discuss the school's budget. The Supervisors intend to hear school's proposal at their next budget work session on March 14th.
An Interview With Sheriff Steve Dempsey - Local Leaders #4
by Neil Richard
The basic idea behind this interview series is to interview local leaders that live, work, or have an important impact on King George County. We have asked various citizens for recommendations on who they see as a local leader. Additionally, we feel that everyone has a story and it deserves to be told. So we want to know their story. As you can see with the questions below, we want to share their story with the rest of the citizens in King George County. If you have somebody you would like to nominate for a future interview, please contact us.
Sheriff Dempsey provided me with a printed list of his military, law enforcement, and educational background. These accomplishments were not entirely captured during the interview but show a deep understanding and breadth of experience in law enforcement. His educational background included graduating from King George High School, an Associates from Germanna Community College, and graduating from the Rappahannock Criminal Justice Academy. Sheriff Dempsey is also a graduate of the Metropolitan Police K-9 Academy, the FBI National Academy, and the DEA Drug Unit Commanders Academy. He served in the Virginia National Guard from 1972 to 1978 and was honorably discharged.
Boards. I'm on the Rappahannock Regional Justice Academy Executive Board. I'm on the Jail Authority at Rappahannock Regional Jail. I am on the Tri-County Narcotics Task Force Command Board. And I'm on the Board of the YMCA. And I'm currently serving on the Virginia State Child Fatality Team which is appointed by the Governor. I hold the position of President of the Virginia Sheriff's Association. And last year I served as the State Chair for the Virginia Special Olympics.
I graduated from King George High School in 1972.
I started with the Sheriff's Office in May of 1980.
What do you remember about your grandparents?
I did not know my grandfather on the Dempsey side. But my Grandmother Dempsey, I remember her as being very much a loving, compassionate, caring grandmother. My mother died when I was six years old. My biological mother. My Grandmother Dempsey moved in with us and took care of us. My brother, myself, and my dad, for two years. She just come right in the next day after my mother died and took care of us as if we were her own. And never stopped. She was just that way about her whole family. She just cared. She was the center of the family. Everybody went to Granny Dempsey's house. For lunch, for food, for anything we needed, you went to Granny Dempsey's house. She was the center of the Dempsey family.
My mother's parents, they were the same way. They were not as much involved in our family as my Grandmother Dempsey was but they were always there. They were always home. They lived in the city of Fredericksburg. They were great grandparents. Both sides of my family were, great grandparents. Loving grandparents. Compassionate grandparents.
What historical events influenced your life the most?
So you're looking for something historical in my lifetime. Interesting question. There are certain things I remember well. I remember John F. Kennedy's assassination. I was in fifth grade. I remember hearing that. I'm not sure I could say it influenced me in anyway. My mother dying when I was six years old probably had the greatest influence on myself and my entire family. So I'm not sure it's a historical event.
Certainly 9/11. Again that was an event that was very impactful. I was standing in the Sheriff's Office where we heard that the tower had been hit with the first plane and I was able to get to a television in the 911 center and watched the second plane hit. and immediately that was very impactful as well. Started a chain of events that changed the way we do business in the police force.
As far as in my career, the Lisk-Silva case was probably the most impactful case. And influenced my career a great deal. Had a great impact on my career. That case had a huge impact and influence on my career. I'll say that anytime, as a result of that case, anytime we have a child go missing in King George County, I'm alerted. And we immediately go full speed forward for missing children. If it turns out to be a runaway or something else, if we have a missing child, we work fast. That case probably had the greatest influence.
Your mom dying when you were six obviously that had a huge influence on your life. What came about as a result of that? Your grandmother moved in, but what else changed?
My dad was a good dad but as a result of my mom passing away, he became a Christian. And we, as a family, at that point immediately started attending church on a regular basis. And my dad became quite involved in ministering himself even though he was employed with Virginia Power Company, now Dominion, at the time. He became quite involved with church. So that had a huge impact on the family. We immediately attended church and eventually we all became Christians. That was huge. Our family made a huge turn-around. My grandmother was a strong Christian lady and she came in and said this is the way it was going to be. She gave everybody marching orders, to include my dad, who was her son.
Outside of work and home, what is your favorite place in King George?
Church.
What person, place, or thing do you think is the most underappreciated in King George County?
The historical value that we have in King George County is great. I know that we have a Historical Society, and they do a good job. It's a small group of people. We have some very historic homes. I think it's the King George Historical Society. I'm not a member of them but I may become one when I retire. But it's certainly underappreciated. They have a museum, they do a lot of work. You know, King George is rich in history. Marmion. Cedar Grove. Caledon. It's a lot. A lot of homes.
Who is your inspiration or mentor?
Sheriff Dobson. My inspiration is God. My mentor is certainly Sheriff Dobson. When he took office as Sheriff, King George County did not have 24 hour patrol, did not have a 911 system, and he, through his growth with his vision, he established all of that. We started out with a 24 hour patrol and built on that and where we are today. 911 system and our communications and fire and rescue and dispatch and police dispatch for the County, we have state of the art 911 system. We built upon it all to have what we have today. I recognize and appreciate that.
Something he always taught, and I'll try to go back and remember this and piece this together. Never get too big to pay attention to the small complaints that we get as a Sheriff's Office. And never remain too small to where you cannot handle large complaints. And he always stuck with that. He told me that more than once.
What is your ideal vision for King George County in the future?
I'm not sure I can answer that for the whole County. Certainly we want the County to remain somewhat agricultural and rural. I would say that. We've always enjoyed that. But at the same time we want to balance the County to where we continue to look for revenue to where we can maintain public safety as a priority. The Board of Supervisors for the last twenty years has been very supportive of the Sheriff's Office, Fire Department, Rescue. We have good equipment, good staff, our numbers are somewhat sufficient to provide the necessary means for the County. If we want to keep up, the saying is, which my dad used to tell me, is it's easier to keep up than to catch up. And King George has done well with that. And we want to make sure we keep keeping up.
Our population, geographically, is going to continue to grow. Some of the Northern Neck counties are declining but King George is going to grow. And we need to grow with it.
What do you feel are the top 3 issues to address in King George?
One of those is to keep up with public safety needs for the citizens of King George County.
Certainly we want to maintain our educational needs for the County.
Third, seeking a source of revenue to support the above two issues. I'll be before the Board tonight to discuss that, the cigarette tax. If we can get that approved, that would be a huge source of revenue for King George.
What do you feel are the top 3 successes in King George?
Sort of overlapping previous comments but I think we're doing it right. Our priority has certainly been staffing in King George. Public safety is certainly one of my concerns and we've done well with staffing the needs for King George's public safety. And staffing the administration, Service Authority, Waste Management, I think King George has done a good job of staffing for the needs and services for King George. So staffing is one success.
Certainly securing and making some good decisions for revenue sources. We've tracked in some good sources of revenue, certainly the industry that we have like the landfill. Walmart. So some good industry for revenue.
Third one. The YMCA is a good one. The YMCA is a huge benefit to King George.
What person, place, or thing do you think we lack in King George?
We lack medical services. And I'll say this maybe a better way. We lack sufficient medical services.
And I don't know how to word this, this is just thinking about it sitting here. An awful lot of businesses establish in the Dahlgren area. And we don't see a lot here in the King George area. A few, but not a lot. So a better balance of location of businesses. But still, you think about it, anybody living west of 206 and Route 3, they probably go to Stafford County to do business. Or Fredericksburg. I live out there so for me, it's closer. Going to Dahlgren is further for me.
And one other thing we lack in King George is a Courthouse. I know it's a political thing coming up but we need a Courthouse real bad.
Introduction
The basic idea behind this interview series is to interview local leaders that live, work, or have an important impact on King George County. We have asked various citizens for recommendations on who they see as a local leader. Additionally, we feel that everyone has a story and it deserves to be told. So we want to know their story. As you can see with the questions below, we want to share their story with the rest of the citizens in King George County. If you have somebody you would like to nominate for a future interview, please contact us.
Sheriff Steve Dempsey, King George County Sheriff. Behind him is a painting of his father, Willis Dempsey, by Victoria Garrett.
Basic Biographical Information
Sheriff Dempsey provided me with a printed list of his military, law enforcement, and educational background. These accomplishments were not entirely captured during the interview but show a deep understanding and breadth of experience in law enforcement. His educational background included graduating from King George High School, an Associates from Germanna Community College, and graduating from the Rappahannock Criminal Justice Academy. Sheriff Dempsey is also a graduate of the Metropolitan Police K-9 Academy, the FBI National Academy, and the DEA Drug Unit Commanders Academy. He served in the Virginia National Guard from 1972 to 1978 and was honorably discharged.
Boards. I'm on the Rappahannock Regional Justice Academy Executive Board. I'm on the Jail Authority at Rappahannock Regional Jail. I am on the Tri-County Narcotics Task Force Command Board. And I'm on the Board of the YMCA. And I'm currently serving on the Virginia State Child Fatality Team which is appointed by the Governor. I hold the position of President of the Virginia Sheriff's Association. And last year I served as the State Chair for the Virginia Special Olympics.
I graduated from King George High School in 1972.
I started with the Sheriff's Office in May of 1980.
Personal Questions
What do you remember about your grandparents?
I did not know my grandfather on the Dempsey side. But my Grandmother Dempsey, I remember her as being very much a loving, compassionate, caring grandmother. My mother died when I was six years old. My biological mother. My Grandmother Dempsey moved in with us and took care of us. My brother, myself, and my dad, for two years. She just come right in the next day after my mother died and took care of us as if we were her own. And never stopped. She was just that way about her whole family. She just cared. She was the center of the family. Everybody went to Granny Dempsey's house. For lunch, for food, for anything we needed, you went to Granny Dempsey's house. She was the center of the Dempsey family.
My mother's parents, they were the same way. They were not as much involved in our family as my Grandmother Dempsey was but they were always there. They were always home. They lived in the city of Fredericksburg. They were great grandparents. Both sides of my family were, great grandparents. Loving grandparents. Compassionate grandparents.
What historical events influenced your life the most?
So you're looking for something historical in my lifetime. Interesting question. There are certain things I remember well. I remember John F. Kennedy's assassination. I was in fifth grade. I remember hearing that. I'm not sure I could say it influenced me in anyway. My mother dying when I was six years old probably had the greatest influence on myself and my entire family. So I'm not sure it's a historical event.
Certainly 9/11. Again that was an event that was very impactful. I was standing in the Sheriff's Office where we heard that the tower had been hit with the first plane and I was able to get to a television in the 911 center and watched the second plane hit. and immediately that was very impactful as well. Started a chain of events that changed the way we do business in the police force.
As far as in my career, the Lisk-Silva case was probably the most impactful case. And influenced my career a great deal. Had a great impact on my career. That case had a huge impact and influence on my career. I'll say that anytime, as a result of that case, anytime we have a child go missing in King George County, I'm alerted. And we immediately go full speed forward for missing children. If it turns out to be a runaway or something else, if we have a missing child, we work fast. That case probably had the greatest influence.
Your mom dying when you were six obviously that had a huge influence on your life. What came about as a result of that? Your grandmother moved in, but what else changed?
My dad was a good dad but as a result of my mom passing away, he became a Christian. And we, as a family, at that point immediately started attending church on a regular basis. And my dad became quite involved in ministering himself even though he was employed with Virginia Power Company, now Dominion, at the time. He became quite involved with church. So that had a huge impact on the family. We immediately attended church and eventually we all became Christians. That was huge. Our family made a huge turn-around. My grandmother was a strong Christian lady and she came in and said this is the way it was going to be. She gave everybody marching orders, to include my dad, who was her son.
Outside of work and home, what is your favorite place in King George?
Church.
What person, place, or thing do you think is the most underappreciated in King George County?
The historical value that we have in King George County is great. I know that we have a Historical Society, and they do a good job. It's a small group of people. We have some very historic homes. I think it's the King George Historical Society. I'm not a member of them but I may become one when I retire. But it's certainly underappreciated. They have a museum, they do a lot of work. You know, King George is rich in history. Marmion. Cedar Grove. Caledon. It's a lot. A lot of homes.
Professional Questions
Who is your inspiration or mentor?
Sheriff Dobson. My inspiration is God. My mentor is certainly Sheriff Dobson. When he took office as Sheriff, King George County did not have 24 hour patrol, did not have a 911 system, and he, through his growth with his vision, he established all of that. We started out with a 24 hour patrol and built on that and where we are today. 911 system and our communications and fire and rescue and dispatch and police dispatch for the County, we have state of the art 911 system. We built upon it all to have what we have today. I recognize and appreciate that.
Something he always taught, and I'll try to go back and remember this and piece this together. Never get too big to pay attention to the small complaints that we get as a Sheriff's Office. And never remain too small to where you cannot handle large complaints. And he always stuck with that. He told me that more than once.
What is your ideal vision for King George County in the future?
I'm not sure I can answer that for the whole County. Certainly we want the County to remain somewhat agricultural and rural. I would say that. We've always enjoyed that. But at the same time we want to balance the County to where we continue to look for revenue to where we can maintain public safety as a priority. The Board of Supervisors for the last twenty years has been very supportive of the Sheriff's Office, Fire Department, Rescue. We have good equipment, good staff, our numbers are somewhat sufficient to provide the necessary means for the County. If we want to keep up, the saying is, which my dad used to tell me, is it's easier to keep up than to catch up. And King George has done well with that. And we want to make sure we keep keeping up.
Our population, geographically, is going to continue to grow. Some of the Northern Neck counties are declining but King George is going to grow. And we need to grow with it.
What do you feel are the top 3 issues to address in King George?
One of those is to keep up with public safety needs for the citizens of King George County.
Certainly we want to maintain our educational needs for the County.
Third, seeking a source of revenue to support the above two issues. I'll be before the Board tonight to discuss that, the cigarette tax. If we can get that approved, that would be a huge source of revenue for King George.
What do you feel are the top 3 successes in King George?
Sort of overlapping previous comments but I think we're doing it right. Our priority has certainly been staffing in King George. Public safety is certainly one of my concerns and we've done well with staffing the needs for King George's public safety. And staffing the administration, Service Authority, Waste Management, I think King George has done a good job of staffing for the needs and services for King George. So staffing is one success.
Certainly securing and making some good decisions for revenue sources. We've tracked in some good sources of revenue, certainly the industry that we have like the landfill. Walmart. So some good industry for revenue.
Third one. The YMCA is a good one. The YMCA is a huge benefit to King George.
What person, place, or thing do you think we lack in King George?
We lack medical services. And I'll say this maybe a better way. We lack sufficient medical services.
And I don't know how to word this, this is just thinking about it sitting here. An awful lot of businesses establish in the Dahlgren area. And we don't see a lot here in the King George area. A few, but not a lot. So a better balance of location of businesses. But still, you think about it, anybody living west of 206 and Route 3, they probably go to Stafford County to do business. Or Fredericksburg. I live out there so for me, it's closer. Going to Dahlgren is further for me.
And one other thing we lack in King George is a Courthouse. I know it's a political thing coming up but we need a Courthouse real bad.
Monday, February 25, 2019
2019-02-19 - Board of Supervisors Meeting Notes
by Neil Richard
The Board of Supervisors started their meeting at 7:44pm.
There were no amendments to the Agenda.
Public Comment opened with Renee Parker voicing her thanks and a reminder. She said she has watched meetings of late and the actions of the Board appeared to be antagonistic at times. She said their duties may result in stress but the bond they shared in their first year working together, and the respect they had for each other, was obvious. Parker said each member brings their own strengths and that in the past they reached out to others for help and that set a wonderful example for the young in the community. She thanked the Board for their hard work and reminded them that they have achieved a lot. She said people probably aren't beating down the door to thank them. Parker closed by urging the Board to keep the competitiveness out of their meetings.
Next to speak was Vera Means who wanted to voice her deep concern over the proposed gun range at the former Cameron Hills Golf Course, specifically citing that the application appeared to be a work around for the developers by making it a campground. She then went on to note specific issues with the application, as well as the interviews in a recent newspaper article, including a lack of a signature block, discrepancies in the number of ranges desired, and the confusion of the associated uses. She said an application like this would open the door to allow campgrounds to be developed on farm land and then gun ranges allowed as part of those campgrounds. Means also cited issues where the developer noted that neighboring properties already have a high usage of firearms and said she would like to see that evidence because she doesn't hear it. She also asked to see the evidence that the developer talked to neighboring property owners because they never talked to her.
Jeff Bueche reminded Mrs. Means during a pause that she had exceeded her allotted three minutes. Means apologized and wrapped up her statements saying she also had concerns about the developers claim that they could recycle lead, would perform sound testing, and promote small business. She said this was not an issue of gun rights but rather an issue of wants versus needs.
Next to speak was Kim Dodge. She said that on Thursday she left King George and saw a Sheriff's unit at Port Conway and Route 3 and noted that the traffic on Route 3, Kings Highway, has increased massively. Dodge said that many people complain that they have to stop at the stoplight at Hopyard, Port Conway Road and Kings Highway, but she's thankful for it. She said she noticed the recent installation of the blinking yellow turn signal and felt it was a danger as she was almost hit at the intersection. She warned the Board that Hopyard wasn't even half full yet and that traffic is continuing to get worse in the neighborhood with people speeding and not stopping at stop signs. Dodge said she would like the flashing yellow turn signal to be removed and said they were dangerous.
Linda Petersen then spoke about her opposition to the proposed gun range near her. She thanked the Board for their service, time, and energy. She said they have to take into consideration a lot of issues and it takes them away from their families. Petersen said she grew up in a small town in rural Iowa with a lot of hogs and farms. She said when she first drove into King George, she was reminded of her home town with all of the farmland on both sides of Route 3. She said the rural quality is what makes King George special. As Board members, Peterson said they have seen the growth, the financial responsibilities, and specific concerns of residents. She said when considering the special exception permit for the gun range, she felt it had a new name but was the same business. She said as with any business venture, the most profitable will likely be built first, meaning the gun range. Petersen closed by saying the new application was like a father telling a kid no and then the kid going to their mother to see if they can get what they want.
Billy Clift was the last to speak during Public Comment. He said he has spoken many times before the Board and didn't want to take up too much of their time tonight. Clift said when he saw the application that had campground on it, it felt like a poor attempt to slide one in on the County, maybe even a bold attempt. Clift said there were vague comments and inconsistencies in the application and that residents still don't know what the plan is other than they know it's a gun range.
John Jenkins began his report by thanking everyone for coming out to speak. He said he always appreciates them. Regarding the campground and shooting range, he said the Board would cross that bridge when it came to it. As for the application, Jenkins said the associated uses seem vague and it might be best to forward those concerns to the Community Planning Department. Dr. Neiman Young, County Administrator, said that Community Development is tracking the concerns and that detailed discussions are taking place.
Jenkins continued that the stoplight at Hopyard was in Granger's district so he wouldn't comment too much on the issue but said Virginia Department of Transportation (VDOT) would be the one to talk to about the issue. Continuing, Jenkins attended the budget work session on the 13th. He said on the 17th, the King George High School Wrestling Team had the highest placement in the State Tournament in school history taking 8th place. Murrill took 6th place, Murgas took 4th place, and Indseth took 1st place. Jenkins said that Indseth was only the second State Champion in wresting from King George and that it was pretty amazing. Jenkins said they did better than he did but he's not bitter or jealous. He added that sadly, he was informed of the passing of Brian Albertson. Jenkins said he either wrestled or coached somebody in the Albertson family and that Brian had a positive influence on the community. Jenkins said that in talking to the family, they have asked that, in lieu of flowers, for donations to be made to a memorial fund set up by Wilma Ward, Director of Finance, and Chris Clarke, Director of Parks and Recreation. Jenkins said donations can be mailed to the Parks and Recreation Department at PO Box 71, King George, VA and to include Brian Albertson Memorial on the memo line.
Richard Granger opened his report by thanking Mrs. Parker for her comments on civility. He said that things can get heated but thanked her for her comments. Regarding the proposed gun range, Granger said that he apologized for his comments at earlier meetings that the project would require a special exception. He said he had no malicious intent and no intent to mislead anyone. He said the project would need a special exception permit to be approved by the Planning Commission. Regarding the traffic light, he said he would reach out to VDOT. Granger continued by saying he also attended the budget meeting on the 13th. He then clarified that at the last meeting there was a briefing by Ryan Gandy, Director of Economic Development, about the Fredericksburg Regional Alliance (FRA). He said there was a misunderstanding in reading the information presented and that the budget amounts listed were set by the localities, not the FRA. In other words, Granger said, the return on investment wasn't quite the same as they originally thought.
Cathy Binder was next to report. She also thanked everyone for their comments and appreciated Mrs. Parker's comments on civility. She said Parker is usually right on when looking at everything. Regarding the gun range, Binder said she understands everyone's feelings. To Dodge, Binder said she was also amazed at how much traffic has increased. Binder continued, saying she was at the Service Authority budget meeting on the 11th and the County budget meeting on the 13th. She said it was wonderful to hear about the good work and education that the Social Services Department contributes to the community. Binder also thanked the Finance staff and other employees for helping the Supervisors make better decisions. Binder said she regretfully had to inform the Board that Nancy Haenlein was resigning from the L. E. Smoot Library Board of Trustees but wanted to nominate Joseph Gaborow to take her place. The Board approved.
Ruby Brabo was next with her report, noting that on the 7th she met with the President of Atlantic Builders, Chip Taylor, and others to discuss affordable housing. On the 8th she met with the Pitts family to discuss Medicaid Waivers. On the 12th, Brabo met with the Annie Cupka, Economic Development Specialist, and Dr. Young at the Total Machine business in the Industrial Park. Brabo said that between King George and Richmond there are 15 shops like this that could hire about ten people right away to work Computer Numeric Control (CNC) machines. She said that Rappahannock Community College (RCC) is already working to train students in this field. Brabo attended the budget meeting on the 13th and participated in a National Association of Counties (NACo) conference call on the 14th. She joined the Friends of Caledon on the 18th to tour the Lake Caledon area to learn more about the property and potential fundraising efforts to aid in Caledon State Park annexing the site. To Mrs. Dodge, Brabo thanked her for the information on the blinking yellow light. Brabo said the Board has no say over that but will allow Granger to look into since he's already doing so. Regarding the proposed gun range, Brabo said she appreciated the diligence of Mrs. Means in looking at the application and noting the discrepancies. Brabo said it was unfortunate that she had to do all of that documentation but complimented her for her dedication. She said that for everyone else that comes to speak before the Board, their feedback is important but many people don't realize it. Brabo said that citizens notice things they are passionate about. She said she herself had raised a concern over the campground area and how much acreage was going to be used for camping compared to the gun range and it didn't measure up. She then moved to appoint Daniel Hughes to the Landfill Advisory Committee and the Parks and Recreation Advisory Committee. The Board approved. [EDITOR'S NOTE: Neil Richard, co-founder of Project94, is also a member of the Landfill Advisory Committee.]
Jeff Bueche was next to give a report. He started by thanking everyone for speaking and taking time away from their evening to do so. He told Mrs. Parker that her words didn't fall on deaf ears. Regarding the gun range, Bueche said people often wait too long to comment and appreciated them for coming out early in the process. To Mrs. Dodge, he thanked her for her comments and had faith that Granger was on top of it. On the 11th, Bueche said he attended the joint meeting with the Chamber of Commerce, the King George Builders Association, and the Career and Technical Education (CTE) Advisory Board. He said the presentation about the apprenticeship program was enlightening and could be beneficial to various stakeholders in the community. He recommended any business that needed a skilled workforce to look into the program at www.doli.virginia.gov or to reach out to the King George County School system.
Bueche continued, saying he attended the Social Services meeting on the 12th, the budget work session on the 13th, and enjoyed a great breakfast at the high school on the 18th to benefit the Student Lunch Fund. Bueche said he will be hosting a Round Table Discussion at Caledon State Park on March 22nd at 6pm. Expected to attend are Mike Bennett from the Service Authority Board of Directors and T. C. Collins from the School Board. Bueche then moved to appoint Shellie Renz to the Smoot Library Board of Trustees. The Board approved. Bueche also asked that if anyone was willing to serve on the Planning Commission, to please email him at Monroe@co.kinggeorge.state.va.us.
The Consent Agenda was approved.
The County Attorney, Eric Gregory, had no report.
Next on the Agenda was a request from the Department of Community Development to accept Willow Hill Road into the VDOT Secondary Road system. The Board approved.
Wilma Ward, Director of Finance, then asked for the Board to approve the updated Credit Card Policy. Brabo asked for some clarity around the purchase of gift cards. Ward said that generally only Parks and Recreation and the Sheriff's Department use the County credit card to purchase gift cards. The Board approved the updated policy.
Ward stayed at the podium and asked for the FY19 Budget to be amended to appropriate the Rescue Squad Assistance Fund (RASF) grant for the Emergency Services Department. The Board approved.
There was then some discussion about removing the preliminary plat review process from the Supervisors. Dr. Young said that the Board had already removed the final plat reviews from their work load and was seeking guidance on if the preliminary plat review should also be removed. Early consensus seemed to be that the Board was okay with that but after some discussion the Board decided they would like to keep the process in place. Bueche noted that he didn't want to impede on property rights but summed up the concern of others and himself by saying that he preferred to have the preliminary plats come before the Supervisors even though they can't necessary deny a by-right use. He said he would rather know about a project coming in than be kept in the dark. Brabo agreed and added that the Oakwood Estates development was a prime example where the Planning Commission approved the development but that the Virginia Department of Health (VDH) said septic systems needed at least an acre. She said past Supervisors chose to ignore that and felt that a second set of eyes was beneficial.
Dr. Neiman Young, County Administrator, had a short report, noting that he would like the Board to consider reappointing Robb Harling to the Economic Development Authority. The Board approved. Young also said that Virginia Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ) would be hosting a public meeting on March 14th in the Board Room regarding the CROPS, Inc. permit request. Young said he also had a last minute addition to his report with the request from Section Three of Potomac Landing to include their newly completed roads in the VDOT system. Young said they wanted to add Section Three to the golf cart community and that VDOT would need an application for the land use on behalf of the Homeowner's Association. Brabo asked if this would cost any money aside from staff time. Young said no, the application fees are waived. The Board gave consensus to proceed.
The Supervisors then went into Closed Session at 8:44pm and invited Annie Cupka, Ryan Gandy, Dr. Young, and Eric Gregory to attend. Cupka left the meeting at 9:03pm and Gandy left at 9:12pm. The Board returned from Closed Session at 9:38pm.
The meeting adjourned at 9:38pm.
Meeting Attendees:
John Jenkins (Board of Supervisors)
Jeff Bueche (Chairman, Board of Supervisors)
Richard Granger (Board of Supervisors)
Ruby Brabo (Board of Supervisors)
Cathy Binder (Board of Supervisors)
Neiman Young (County Administrator)
Eric Gregory (County Attorney)
Meeting Agenda
Next Meeting:
The Board of Supervisors will next meet on February 26, 2019 at 6:30 pm at Company 1.
Previous Meeting:
Read about the previous Board of Supervisors Meeting.
The Board of Supervisors started their meeting at 7:44pm.
There were no amendments to the Agenda.
Public Comment opened with Renee Parker voicing her thanks and a reminder. She said she has watched meetings of late and the actions of the Board appeared to be antagonistic at times. She said their duties may result in stress but the bond they shared in their first year working together, and the respect they had for each other, was obvious. Parker said each member brings their own strengths and that in the past they reached out to others for help and that set a wonderful example for the young in the community. She thanked the Board for their hard work and reminded them that they have achieved a lot. She said people probably aren't beating down the door to thank them. Parker closed by urging the Board to keep the competitiveness out of their meetings.
Next to speak was Vera Means who wanted to voice her deep concern over the proposed gun range at the former Cameron Hills Golf Course, specifically citing that the application appeared to be a work around for the developers by making it a campground. She then went on to note specific issues with the application, as well as the interviews in a recent newspaper article, including a lack of a signature block, discrepancies in the number of ranges desired, and the confusion of the associated uses. She said an application like this would open the door to allow campgrounds to be developed on farm land and then gun ranges allowed as part of those campgrounds. Means also cited issues where the developer noted that neighboring properties already have a high usage of firearms and said she would like to see that evidence because she doesn't hear it. She also asked to see the evidence that the developer talked to neighboring property owners because they never talked to her.
Jeff Bueche reminded Mrs. Means during a pause that she had exceeded her allotted three minutes. Means apologized and wrapped up her statements saying she also had concerns about the developers claim that they could recycle lead, would perform sound testing, and promote small business. She said this was not an issue of gun rights but rather an issue of wants versus needs.
Next to speak was Kim Dodge. She said that on Thursday she left King George and saw a Sheriff's unit at Port Conway and Route 3 and noted that the traffic on Route 3, Kings Highway, has increased massively. Dodge said that many people complain that they have to stop at the stoplight at Hopyard, Port Conway Road and Kings Highway, but she's thankful for it. She said she noticed the recent installation of the blinking yellow turn signal and felt it was a danger as she was almost hit at the intersection. She warned the Board that Hopyard wasn't even half full yet and that traffic is continuing to get worse in the neighborhood with people speeding and not stopping at stop signs. Dodge said she would like the flashing yellow turn signal to be removed and said they were dangerous.
Linda Petersen then spoke about her opposition to the proposed gun range near her. She thanked the Board for their service, time, and energy. She said they have to take into consideration a lot of issues and it takes them away from their families. Petersen said she grew up in a small town in rural Iowa with a lot of hogs and farms. She said when she first drove into King George, she was reminded of her home town with all of the farmland on both sides of Route 3. She said the rural quality is what makes King George special. As Board members, Peterson said they have seen the growth, the financial responsibilities, and specific concerns of residents. She said when considering the special exception permit for the gun range, she felt it had a new name but was the same business. She said as with any business venture, the most profitable will likely be built first, meaning the gun range. Petersen closed by saying the new application was like a father telling a kid no and then the kid going to their mother to see if they can get what they want.
Billy Clift was the last to speak during Public Comment. He said he has spoken many times before the Board and didn't want to take up too much of their time tonight. Clift said when he saw the application that had campground on it, it felt like a poor attempt to slide one in on the County, maybe even a bold attempt. Clift said there were vague comments and inconsistencies in the application and that residents still don't know what the plan is other than they know it's a gun range.
John Jenkins began his report by thanking everyone for coming out to speak. He said he always appreciates them. Regarding the campground and shooting range, he said the Board would cross that bridge when it came to it. As for the application, Jenkins said the associated uses seem vague and it might be best to forward those concerns to the Community Planning Department. Dr. Neiman Young, County Administrator, said that Community Development is tracking the concerns and that detailed discussions are taking place.
Jenkins continued that the stoplight at Hopyard was in Granger's district so he wouldn't comment too much on the issue but said Virginia Department of Transportation (VDOT) would be the one to talk to about the issue. Continuing, Jenkins attended the budget work session on the 13th. He said on the 17th, the King George High School Wrestling Team had the highest placement in the State Tournament in school history taking 8th place. Murrill took 6th place, Murgas took 4th place, and Indseth took 1st place. Jenkins said that Indseth was only the second State Champion in wresting from King George and that it was pretty amazing. Jenkins said they did better than he did but he's not bitter or jealous. He added that sadly, he was informed of the passing of Brian Albertson. Jenkins said he either wrestled or coached somebody in the Albertson family and that Brian had a positive influence on the community. Jenkins said that in talking to the family, they have asked that, in lieu of flowers, for donations to be made to a memorial fund set up by Wilma Ward, Director of Finance, and Chris Clarke, Director of Parks and Recreation. Jenkins said donations can be mailed to the Parks and Recreation Department at PO Box 71, King George, VA and to include Brian Albertson Memorial on the memo line.
Richard Granger opened his report by thanking Mrs. Parker for her comments on civility. He said that things can get heated but thanked her for her comments. Regarding the proposed gun range, Granger said that he apologized for his comments at earlier meetings that the project would require a special exception. He said he had no malicious intent and no intent to mislead anyone. He said the project would need a special exception permit to be approved by the Planning Commission. Regarding the traffic light, he said he would reach out to VDOT. Granger continued by saying he also attended the budget meeting on the 13th. He then clarified that at the last meeting there was a briefing by Ryan Gandy, Director of Economic Development, about the Fredericksburg Regional Alliance (FRA). He said there was a misunderstanding in reading the information presented and that the budget amounts listed were set by the localities, not the FRA. In other words, Granger said, the return on investment wasn't quite the same as they originally thought.
Cathy Binder was next to report. She also thanked everyone for their comments and appreciated Mrs. Parker's comments on civility. She said Parker is usually right on when looking at everything. Regarding the gun range, Binder said she understands everyone's feelings. To Dodge, Binder said she was also amazed at how much traffic has increased. Binder continued, saying she was at the Service Authority budget meeting on the 11th and the County budget meeting on the 13th. She said it was wonderful to hear about the good work and education that the Social Services Department contributes to the community. Binder also thanked the Finance staff and other employees for helping the Supervisors make better decisions. Binder said she regretfully had to inform the Board that Nancy Haenlein was resigning from the L. E. Smoot Library Board of Trustees but wanted to nominate Joseph Gaborow to take her place. The Board approved.
Ruby Brabo was next with her report, noting that on the 7th she met with the President of Atlantic Builders, Chip Taylor, and others to discuss affordable housing. On the 8th she met with the Pitts family to discuss Medicaid Waivers. On the 12th, Brabo met with the Annie Cupka, Economic Development Specialist, and Dr. Young at the Total Machine business in the Industrial Park. Brabo said that between King George and Richmond there are 15 shops like this that could hire about ten people right away to work Computer Numeric Control (CNC) machines. She said that Rappahannock Community College (RCC) is already working to train students in this field. Brabo attended the budget meeting on the 13th and participated in a National Association of Counties (NACo) conference call on the 14th. She joined the Friends of Caledon on the 18th to tour the Lake Caledon area to learn more about the property and potential fundraising efforts to aid in Caledon State Park annexing the site. To Mrs. Dodge, Brabo thanked her for the information on the blinking yellow light. Brabo said the Board has no say over that but will allow Granger to look into since he's already doing so. Regarding the proposed gun range, Brabo said she appreciated the diligence of Mrs. Means in looking at the application and noting the discrepancies. Brabo said it was unfortunate that she had to do all of that documentation but complimented her for her dedication. She said that for everyone else that comes to speak before the Board, their feedback is important but many people don't realize it. Brabo said that citizens notice things they are passionate about. She said she herself had raised a concern over the campground area and how much acreage was going to be used for camping compared to the gun range and it didn't measure up. She then moved to appoint Daniel Hughes to the Landfill Advisory Committee and the Parks and Recreation Advisory Committee. The Board approved. [EDITOR'S NOTE: Neil Richard, co-founder of Project94, is also a member of the Landfill Advisory Committee.]
Jeff Bueche was next to give a report. He started by thanking everyone for speaking and taking time away from their evening to do so. He told Mrs. Parker that her words didn't fall on deaf ears. Regarding the gun range, Bueche said people often wait too long to comment and appreciated them for coming out early in the process. To Mrs. Dodge, he thanked her for her comments and had faith that Granger was on top of it. On the 11th, Bueche said he attended the joint meeting with the Chamber of Commerce, the King George Builders Association, and the Career and Technical Education (CTE) Advisory Board. He said the presentation about the apprenticeship program was enlightening and could be beneficial to various stakeholders in the community. He recommended any business that needed a skilled workforce to look into the program at www.doli.virginia.gov or to reach out to the King George County School system.
Bueche continued, saying he attended the Social Services meeting on the 12th, the budget work session on the 13th, and enjoyed a great breakfast at the high school on the 18th to benefit the Student Lunch Fund. Bueche said he will be hosting a Round Table Discussion at Caledon State Park on March 22nd at 6pm. Expected to attend are Mike Bennett from the Service Authority Board of Directors and T. C. Collins from the School Board. Bueche then moved to appoint Shellie Renz to the Smoot Library Board of Trustees. The Board approved. Bueche also asked that if anyone was willing to serve on the Planning Commission, to please email him at Monroe@co.kinggeorge.state.va.us.
The Consent Agenda was approved.
The County Attorney, Eric Gregory, had no report.
Next on the Agenda was a request from the Department of Community Development to accept Willow Hill Road into the VDOT Secondary Road system. The Board approved.
Wilma Ward, Director of Finance, then asked for the Board to approve the updated Credit Card Policy. Brabo asked for some clarity around the purchase of gift cards. Ward said that generally only Parks and Recreation and the Sheriff's Department use the County credit card to purchase gift cards. The Board approved the updated policy.
Ward stayed at the podium and asked for the FY19 Budget to be amended to appropriate the Rescue Squad Assistance Fund (RASF) grant for the Emergency Services Department. The Board approved.
There was then some discussion about removing the preliminary plat review process from the Supervisors. Dr. Young said that the Board had already removed the final plat reviews from their work load and was seeking guidance on if the preliminary plat review should also be removed. Early consensus seemed to be that the Board was okay with that but after some discussion the Board decided they would like to keep the process in place. Bueche noted that he didn't want to impede on property rights but summed up the concern of others and himself by saying that he preferred to have the preliminary plats come before the Supervisors even though they can't necessary deny a by-right use. He said he would rather know about a project coming in than be kept in the dark. Brabo agreed and added that the Oakwood Estates development was a prime example where the Planning Commission approved the development but that the Virginia Department of Health (VDH) said septic systems needed at least an acre. She said past Supervisors chose to ignore that and felt that a second set of eyes was beneficial.
Dr. Neiman Young, County Administrator, had a short report, noting that he would like the Board to consider reappointing Robb Harling to the Economic Development Authority. The Board approved. Young also said that Virginia Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ) would be hosting a public meeting on March 14th in the Board Room regarding the CROPS, Inc. permit request. Young said he also had a last minute addition to his report with the request from Section Three of Potomac Landing to include their newly completed roads in the VDOT system. Young said they wanted to add Section Three to the golf cart community and that VDOT would need an application for the land use on behalf of the Homeowner's Association. Brabo asked if this would cost any money aside from staff time. Young said no, the application fees are waived. The Board gave consensus to proceed.
The Supervisors then went into Closed Session at 8:44pm and invited Annie Cupka, Ryan Gandy, Dr. Young, and Eric Gregory to attend. Cupka left the meeting at 9:03pm and Gandy left at 9:12pm. The Board returned from Closed Session at 9:38pm.
The meeting adjourned at 9:38pm.
Meeting Attendees:
John Jenkins (Board of Supervisors)
Jeff Bueche (Chairman, Board of Supervisors)
Richard Granger (Board of Supervisors)
Ruby Brabo (Board of Supervisors)
Cathy Binder (Board of Supervisors)
Neiman Young (County Administrator)
Eric Gregory (County Attorney)
Meeting Agenda
Next Meeting:
The Board of Supervisors will next meet on February 26, 2019 at 6:30 pm at Company 1.
Previous Meeting:
Read about the previous Board of Supervisors Meeting.
Thursday, February 21, 2019
2019-02-19 - Service Authority Meeting Notes
by Neil Richard
The Service Authority Board of Directors began their meeting at 6:30pm on February 19, 2019.
There were no amendments to the Agenda.
There was no Public Comment.
Chris Werle began his report by stating he attended the budget meeting on February 11th. On the 13th, he met with Mike Bennett, Jonathon Weakley, Dr. Neiman Young, Travis Quesenberry, Dean Hoagland, and Draper Aden to discuss and review their comments on the draft feasibility study to decommission the Purkins Corner and Oakland Park Waste Water Treatment Plants (WWTPs). Werle said their comments were resolved and would be incorporated into the final report.
Richard Granger said he also attended the budget work session on the 11th and noted that budget work session for the 20th was cancelled due to inclement weather.
Cathy Binder noted that she attended the budget work session on the 11th as well as her first Agenda meeting on the 15th.
Ruby Brabo reported that she attended the budget work session on the 11th and appreciated the citizens that volunteered their time.
Mike Bennett also attended the budget session on the 11th and echoed Brabo's comments thanking the citizens for their hard work. He also clarified that the budget deficit noted during the work session, roughly $200,000, was a little too preliminary. He said the shortfall was relevant to the repairs and maintenance side of the budget, not the overall operation of the Service Authority. Bennett said there may be some other accounts that could make up for the shortfall. He also said that the Board of Supervisors had agreed to waive the cost allocation for the next fiscal year and that it would help the Service Authority a great deal. He thanked all of the Supervisors for their assistance. Bennett also attended the the Draper Aden meeting on the 13th as well as the Agenda meeting on the 15th. He noted that Binder would be joining them at future meetings.
The Consent Agenda was approved.
The County Attorney, Eric Gregory, had no report.
Mike Bennett then gave an update of Phase I of the Utility Master Plan. He said he thought it would be a good idea to get a presentation from Wiley Wilson and that previous discussions were around having it be part of the budget work session cycle. Bennett said that maybe it would be better instead to have them present in a regular work session, along with Draper Aden, to allow more time for questions and answers.
Jonathon Weakley, General Manager, gave his report next. Highlights of his report include discussion about the Hopyard Farm water system. As Weakley was describing the issues, Brabo asked if it was something to be concerned about because it was the newest system in the County. Weakley said yes but they feel they have narrowed it down to an electrical issue, they just haven't pinpointed the exact cause. He said he thought it might be an issue of "dirty power" from being at the end of the line but he wanted to be careful and not blame the power company without knowing all the details. He said he was going to look into getting a power recorder to chart data and then, if it was the power supply, work with the power company to find a solution.
Also of note was the Fairview Beach water system. Weakley said that the upcoming flow testing was because of an ISO survey that was due soon. Bennett said they've had really good water in Fairview Beach for awhile now and "I don't think anyone in Fairview Beach has said that."
Weakley then noted, sadly, that the Ninde water system storage tank was in danger of failing. He said the 6,000 gallon storage tank is leaking and that a previous survey noted it may not pass the next inspection in November. There was some discussion over rehabilitating the well house and storage tanks versus replacing them. Brabo said that even with a band aid fix, it may not give much more life. Werle said that Draper Aden said it may not be salvageable.
On the sewer side of the Service Authority, Weakley's report highlighted a new hire at the Dahlgren WWTP and their early initiative to become trained and licensed. Weakley said other open positions will be interviewing soon. Weakley did share some positive news, saying that Tim Maciejewski, Oakland Park WWTP Operator, reached out to a chemical supplier directly and ended up saving the Service Authority about $3,000 per month. Bennett said that he wasn't an engineer but getting chemicals from an engineering firm didn't seem like the best deal and thanked him for finding the savings. Brabo said it was amazing what a fresh set of eyes can do.
Weakley added a little more positive news, saying that future Water Quality Improvement Fund (WQIF) grants could be used for the bulk storage of chemicals which would in turn save more money in the future. He said he had to do more research to see if it was an option in the future.
Next was an update on where each WWTP stood regarding the Total Nitrogen (TN) and Total Phosphorus (TP) limits. Weakley noted that he researched a previous question about better aligning the Dahlgren WWTP permit, with a TN limit of 4.0mg/L, and the WQIF grant, with a TN limit of 3.0mg/L. He said they wouldn't be able to change either but warned that new permits typically use the grant limit as a starting point. There was then some discussion as to previous work done in 2017 where samples showed much lower numbers but suddenly they rose in 2018. Brabo said she remembered there being something done by the previous General Manager and staff that was supervised and reviewed by Virginia Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ) and even the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). Brabo asked if Weakley could look into that to see what happened. Werle agreed, saying he saw the lab reports and the lower numbers. Weakley said he would be happy to do so.
Regarding the nutrient tracking, Weakley shared that all WWTPs were operating within limits except for Dahlgren, which had TN of 0.7mg/L over the grant limit but 0.3mg/L under the permit limit, and Oakland Park which was right at the TN limit of 15.0mg/L. Bennett noted that the Total Nitrogen limits at Purkins Corner, 10.0mg/L, and Oakland Park, 15.0mg/L, were larger than the other WWTPs and that was likely the reason DEQ asked for a feasibility study on closing them down.
Speaking of the feasibility study, Weakley said the final report from Draper Aden would be coming soon along with first phase of the utility master plan from Wiley Wilson. Weakley also brought back an answer to Brabo's earlier question about projected connections and actual connections. Weakley said that the projection last year for connections was 62, with 53 being residential water and sewer, six for residential water only, and three commercial connections. He said to date, there have been 42 connections, with 37 being residential water and sewer, three for residential water only, and two commercial connections. Werle said that was roughly one third left to go to meet the projection with one third of the year left.
The Board then went into Closed Session at 7:22pm and invited Dr. Neiman Young, County Administrator, Eric Gregory, County Attorney, and Jonathon Weakley, General Manager.
The Board returned from Closed Session at 7:40pm.
The meeting adjourned at 7:40pm.
Meeting Attendees:
Christopher Werle (Board of Directors)
Jonathon Weakley (General Manager of Service Authority)
Richard Granger (Board of Supervisors)
Michael Bennett (Chairman, Citizen)
Ruby Brabo (Board of Supervisors)
Cathy Binder (Board of Supervisors)
Neiman Young (County Administrator)
Eric Gregory (County Attorney)
Meeting Agenda
Next Meeting:
The Service Authority will next meet on February 25, 2019 at 6:30 pm at Company 1.
Previous Meeting:
Read about the previous Service Authority Meeting.
The Service Authority Board of Directors began their meeting at 6:30pm on February 19, 2019.
There were no amendments to the Agenda.
There was no Public Comment.
Chris Werle began his report by stating he attended the budget meeting on February 11th. On the 13th, he met with Mike Bennett, Jonathon Weakley, Dr. Neiman Young, Travis Quesenberry, Dean Hoagland, and Draper Aden to discuss and review their comments on the draft feasibility study to decommission the Purkins Corner and Oakland Park Waste Water Treatment Plants (WWTPs). Werle said their comments were resolved and would be incorporated into the final report.
Richard Granger said he also attended the budget work session on the 11th and noted that budget work session for the 20th was cancelled due to inclement weather.
Cathy Binder noted that she attended the budget work session on the 11th as well as her first Agenda meeting on the 15th.
Ruby Brabo reported that she attended the budget work session on the 11th and appreciated the citizens that volunteered their time.
Mike Bennett also attended the budget session on the 11th and echoed Brabo's comments thanking the citizens for their hard work. He also clarified that the budget deficit noted during the work session, roughly $200,000, was a little too preliminary. He said the shortfall was relevant to the repairs and maintenance side of the budget, not the overall operation of the Service Authority. Bennett said there may be some other accounts that could make up for the shortfall. He also said that the Board of Supervisors had agreed to waive the cost allocation for the next fiscal year and that it would help the Service Authority a great deal. He thanked all of the Supervisors for their assistance. Bennett also attended the the Draper Aden meeting on the 13th as well as the Agenda meeting on the 15th. He noted that Binder would be joining them at future meetings.
The Consent Agenda was approved.
The County Attorney, Eric Gregory, had no report.
Mike Bennett then gave an update of Phase I of the Utility Master Plan. He said he thought it would be a good idea to get a presentation from Wiley Wilson and that previous discussions were around having it be part of the budget work session cycle. Bennett said that maybe it would be better instead to have them present in a regular work session, along with Draper Aden, to allow more time for questions and answers.
Jonathon Weakley, General Manager, gave his report next. Highlights of his report include discussion about the Hopyard Farm water system. As Weakley was describing the issues, Brabo asked if it was something to be concerned about because it was the newest system in the County. Weakley said yes but they feel they have narrowed it down to an electrical issue, they just haven't pinpointed the exact cause. He said he thought it might be an issue of "dirty power" from being at the end of the line but he wanted to be careful and not blame the power company without knowing all the details. He said he was going to look into getting a power recorder to chart data and then, if it was the power supply, work with the power company to find a solution.
Also of note was the Fairview Beach water system. Weakley said that the upcoming flow testing was because of an ISO survey that was due soon. Bennett said they've had really good water in Fairview Beach for awhile now and "I don't think anyone in Fairview Beach has said that."
Weakley then noted, sadly, that the Ninde water system storage tank was in danger of failing. He said the 6,000 gallon storage tank is leaking and that a previous survey noted it may not pass the next inspection in November. There was some discussion over rehabilitating the well house and storage tanks versus replacing them. Brabo said that even with a band aid fix, it may not give much more life. Werle said that Draper Aden said it may not be salvageable.
On the sewer side of the Service Authority, Weakley's report highlighted a new hire at the Dahlgren WWTP and their early initiative to become trained and licensed. Weakley said other open positions will be interviewing soon. Weakley did share some positive news, saying that Tim Maciejewski, Oakland Park WWTP Operator, reached out to a chemical supplier directly and ended up saving the Service Authority about $3,000 per month. Bennett said that he wasn't an engineer but getting chemicals from an engineering firm didn't seem like the best deal and thanked him for finding the savings. Brabo said it was amazing what a fresh set of eyes can do.
Weakley added a little more positive news, saying that future Water Quality Improvement Fund (WQIF) grants could be used for the bulk storage of chemicals which would in turn save more money in the future. He said he had to do more research to see if it was an option in the future.
Next was an update on where each WWTP stood regarding the Total Nitrogen (TN) and Total Phosphorus (TP) limits. Weakley noted that he researched a previous question about better aligning the Dahlgren WWTP permit, with a TN limit of 4.0mg/L, and the WQIF grant, with a TN limit of 3.0mg/L. He said they wouldn't be able to change either but warned that new permits typically use the grant limit as a starting point. There was then some discussion as to previous work done in 2017 where samples showed much lower numbers but suddenly they rose in 2018. Brabo said she remembered there being something done by the previous General Manager and staff that was supervised and reviewed by Virginia Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ) and even the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). Brabo asked if Weakley could look into that to see what happened. Werle agreed, saying he saw the lab reports and the lower numbers. Weakley said he would be happy to do so.
Regarding the nutrient tracking, Weakley shared that all WWTPs were operating within limits except for Dahlgren, which had TN of 0.7mg/L over the grant limit but 0.3mg/L under the permit limit, and Oakland Park which was right at the TN limit of 15.0mg/L. Bennett noted that the Total Nitrogen limits at Purkins Corner, 10.0mg/L, and Oakland Park, 15.0mg/L, were larger than the other WWTPs and that was likely the reason DEQ asked for a feasibility study on closing them down.
Speaking of the feasibility study, Weakley said the final report from Draper Aden would be coming soon along with first phase of the utility master plan from Wiley Wilson. Weakley also brought back an answer to Brabo's earlier question about projected connections and actual connections. Weakley said that the projection last year for connections was 62, with 53 being residential water and sewer, six for residential water only, and three commercial connections. He said to date, there have been 42 connections, with 37 being residential water and sewer, three for residential water only, and two commercial connections. Werle said that was roughly one third left to go to meet the projection with one third of the year left.
The Board then went into Closed Session at 7:22pm and invited Dr. Neiman Young, County Administrator, Eric Gregory, County Attorney, and Jonathon Weakley, General Manager.
The Board returned from Closed Session at 7:40pm.
The meeting adjourned at 7:40pm.
Meeting Attendees:
Christopher Werle (Board of Directors)
Jonathon Weakley (General Manager of Service Authority)
Richard Granger (Board of Supervisors)
Michael Bennett (Chairman, Citizen)
Ruby Brabo (Board of Supervisors)
Cathy Binder (Board of Supervisors)
Neiman Young (County Administrator)
Eric Gregory (County Attorney)
Meeting Agenda
Next Meeting:
The Service Authority will next meet on February 25, 2019 at 6:30 pm at Company 1.
Previous Meeting:
Read about the previous Service Authority Meeting.
Tuesday, February 19, 2019
History of the Service Authority - Part 3 - 1965 to 1970
by Neil Richard
In previous articles covering the history of the Service Authority, Part 1 covered 1948 to 1959 and Part 2 covered 1960 to 1964.
Beginning in 1965, the State took notice of the pollution in the County. In March, the State Water Control Board condemned Williams Creek and Machodoc Creek to prevent shellfish harvesting. In April, they said it was not due to the most recent residential developments. Despite this claim, in May the State Water Control Board approved 100 homes and the Willow Oaks Apartments to flow their treated waste into Williams Creek. Also in May, the development called Cloverdale changed its name to Bayberry.
An engineering firm, Russell and Axon, presented a study that showed a need for a central water and sewer system. D. M. Martin, an engineer for the firm, presented a petition signed by 75 voters in support of a Dahlgren Sanitary District. The Board of Supervisors passed a resolution asking Circuit Court Judge S. Bernard Coleman for a bond referendum to create the Dahlgren Sanitary District. On April 20, 1965, the Circuit Court finally created the Dahlgren Sanitary District.
July saw sewer problems at King George High School and Lawrence Roller, the school Superintendent, asked for a single lagoon to solve the problem. He requested five acres at Arnold's Corner for the lagoon. That same month, local meetings were held with the Sanitary District Committee, the Dahlgren Civic Association, Sydnor Pump and Well Company, various health officials, consulting engineers, and interested residents. The purpose was to discuss the Dahlgren Sanitary District.
By the end of July 1965, 220 of the 228 qualified voters within the Dahlgren Sanitary District voted to approve a $700,000 bond by a vote of 132 for and 88 against. Along with the voters, Supervisor Woody Saft also approved the measure. It was noted that only those residents living within the Sanitary District would pay the tax.
Moving into to 1966 we begin to see disagreements and issues with how the newly formed Dahlgren Sanitary District operated and what the water and sewer system requirements should be. These disagreements sparked meetings in Richmond with Deward Martin and Jeule Elliot, both consulting engineers, legal advisor Alfred Garnett, Wilma Pounds of the State Water Control Board, Supervisor Woody Saft, and even Senator Paul W. Manns.
In late 1966, the Stafford Well and Pump Company was authorized to operate the water and sewer system in Bayberry Estates. Douglas and Dickinson, Inc. of Warsaw was approved to install a water system in Ninde that couldn't exceed 80 connections.
1967 brought more progress, and strife, to the budding Dahlgren Sanitary District. In March, the Board of Supervisors approved the tentative terms from the Farmers Home Administration (FHA) to clear the way for a a $55,000 bond for the Dahlgren Sanitary District water and sewer system. The bonds sold at 4.5% interest and would be payable in 34 years. This was much less than the $700,000 approved by residents but the consulting engineer, Deward M. Martin, said this was the most that could be obtained from FHA. $84,000 in Federal grants had already been approved. Martin also said that money could be saved by using a two-stage lagoon instead of a treatment plant as well as by using ten inch pipe instead of twelve inch pipe. Martin recommended using the existing wells instead of elevated storage tanks but that the tanks could be added within two years. Martin also said the fire hydrants could be added in the future. Supervisor Woody Saft didn't like Martin's ideas.
In April of 1967, the Board of Supervisors approved the advertisement of bids for the water and sewer system in the Dahlgren Sanitary District. The bids came back in May. Of the eight sealed bids submitted, the lowest was $649,653.43. Once again, reports said that Supervisor Woody Saft was not happy. Later that month, the Supervisors approved the following contracts:
Water systems
The total for all contracts was $527,808.58. The Supervisors also included $113,000 to purchase land, purchase the existing Sydnor well system, pay legal and engineering fees, and highway inspection fees. This brought the total cost of the project to $651,000 with a recommended safety cushion of $20,000.
Deward Martin again contributed his opinion by saying that even though the FHA loan was guaranteed for $550,000, he had been assured by the FHA that it can go up to $600,000. The State Water Control Board, via the Water Pollution Control Administration, also gave a grant for $71,000. It was also noted that there was an attempt to sell the $700,000 bond in 1965 but the National bond market took it's worst drop in twenty years and it never sold. It was also stated that the County applied for funds from Housing and Urban Development (HUD) but was denied.
The State Water Control Board and Donald Zepp, State Game Warden, tested the water in Machodoc Creek in July 1967 and found it to be too salty for large mouth bass eggs, frys, and fingerlings to survive. That same month, Dahlgren resident Howard Yarus, Supervisor Woody Saft, attorney A. W. Garnett, and engineer Deward Martin went to Richmond in an attempt to get the State Water Control Board to approve moving the stabilizing lagoons in Dahlgren.
In August 1967, the Dahlgren Sanitary District installed their first water lines from Ferry Dock Road north along Potomac Drive. They also installed lines on Forest Road, 15th Street, Gordan Drive, 14th Street, and South Williams Creek Drive. The Dahlgren Sanitary District elevated tank had a 75,000 gallon capacity. Mr. and Mrs. Nicholas R. Quesenberry deeded over 6.89 acres to Dahlgren Sanitary District.
By September 1967, the Dahlgren Sanitary District purchased the Sydnor water system and authorized Supervisor Woody Saft to act as agent to make the Dahlgren Sanitary District system operational. A few months later, the Supervisors placed a Want Ad for a full-time agent.
To close out 1967, the Dahlgren Sanitary District acquired land from Mrs. Rose Q. Payne (0.228 acres), Mr. and Mrs. Clifford C. Reed (0.425 acres), and Willow Oaks, Inc. (1 acre). The residents of Bayberry Estates began complaining about cloudy water. The Board of Supervisors approved water systems at Panorama Woods, located between Comorn and Fairview Beach.
In February 1968, Otis L. Zirkle is hired as an agent for the Dahlgren Sanitary District at a pay rate of $5,000 per year. In March, the Board of Supervisors approved renting a building for Zirkle to operate out of for $20 a month. The Supervisors also approved the purchase of office equipment and supplies for Zirkle for $304.50.
The Board of Supervisors instructed the County Clerk, V. Elwood Mason, to write to the owner of the Bayberry Estates development and contractor John T. Ellington. The Supervisors wanted to know what Ellington planned to do to fix the water issues in Bayberry as the state water test results said the water was not drinkable.
Closing out 1969, the Supervisors amended the Dahlgren Sanitary District operating ordinances to allow 45 days, instead of the previous 30 days, before a penalty was imposed for any unpaid bills.
In previous articles covering the history of the Service Authority, Part 1 covered 1948 to 1959 and Part 2 covered 1960 to 1964.
Beginning in 1965, the State took notice of the pollution in the County. In March, the State Water Control Board condemned Williams Creek and Machodoc Creek to prevent shellfish harvesting. In April, they said it was not due to the most recent residential developments. Despite this claim, in May the State Water Control Board approved 100 homes and the Willow Oaks Apartments to flow their treated waste into Williams Creek. Also in May, the development called Cloverdale changed its name to Bayberry.
 |
| June 24, 1965 - Bayberry Estates |
An engineering firm, Russell and Axon, presented a study that showed a need for a central water and sewer system. D. M. Martin, an engineer for the firm, presented a petition signed by 75 voters in support of a Dahlgren Sanitary District. The Board of Supervisors passed a resolution asking Circuit Court Judge S. Bernard Coleman for a bond referendum to create the Dahlgren Sanitary District. On April 20, 1965, the Circuit Court finally created the Dahlgren Sanitary District.
July saw sewer problems at King George High School and Lawrence Roller, the school Superintendent, asked for a single lagoon to solve the problem. He requested five acres at Arnold's Corner for the lagoon. That same month, local meetings were held with the Sanitary District Committee, the Dahlgren Civic Association, Sydnor Pump and Well Company, various health officials, consulting engineers, and interested residents. The purpose was to discuss the Dahlgren Sanitary District.
By the end of July 1965, 220 of the 228 qualified voters within the Dahlgren Sanitary District voted to approve a $700,000 bond by a vote of 132 for and 88 against. Along with the voters, Supervisor Woody Saft also approved the measure. It was noted that only those residents living within the Sanitary District would pay the tax.
Moving into to 1966 we begin to see disagreements and issues with how the newly formed Dahlgren Sanitary District operated and what the water and sewer system requirements should be. These disagreements sparked meetings in Richmond with Deward Martin and Jeule Elliot, both consulting engineers, legal advisor Alfred Garnett, Wilma Pounds of the State Water Control Board, Supervisor Woody Saft, and even Senator Paul W. Manns.
In late 1966, the Stafford Well and Pump Company was authorized to operate the water and sewer system in Bayberry Estates. Douglas and Dickinson, Inc. of Warsaw was approved to install a water system in Ninde that couldn't exceed 80 connections.
1967 brought more progress, and strife, to the budding Dahlgren Sanitary District. In March, the Board of Supervisors approved the tentative terms from the Farmers Home Administration (FHA) to clear the way for a a $55,000 bond for the Dahlgren Sanitary District water and sewer system. The bonds sold at 4.5% interest and would be payable in 34 years. This was much less than the $700,000 approved by residents but the consulting engineer, Deward M. Martin, said this was the most that could be obtained from FHA. $84,000 in Federal grants had already been approved. Martin also said that money could be saved by using a two-stage lagoon instead of a treatment plant as well as by using ten inch pipe instead of twelve inch pipe. Martin recommended using the existing wells instead of elevated storage tanks but that the tanks could be added within two years. Martin also said the fire hydrants could be added in the future. Supervisor Woody Saft didn't like Martin's ideas.
In April of 1967, the Board of Supervisors approved the advertisement of bids for the water and sewer system in the Dahlgren Sanitary District. The bids came back in May. Of the eight sealed bids submitted, the lowest was $649,653.43. Once again, reports said that Supervisor Woody Saft was not happy. Later that month, the Supervisors approved the following contracts:
Water systems
- Section I - G. L. Howard, Inc. - $112,350.90
- Section II - Elevated water tank - Pittsburgh-Des Moines Steel Company - $38,300
- Section I - Gravity systems - T. A. Loving Company - $218,350.90
- Section II - Sewage Force Mains - Halifax Builders, Inc. - $28,154.88
- Section III - Sewage lift stations - Halifax Builders, Inc. - $72,900
- Section IV - Sewage Treatment Lagoons - Moore, Kelly & Reddish - $58,000
The total for all contracts was $527,808.58. The Supervisors also included $113,000 to purchase land, purchase the existing Sydnor well system, pay legal and engineering fees, and highway inspection fees. This brought the total cost of the project to $651,000 with a recommended safety cushion of $20,000.
Deward Martin again contributed his opinion by saying that even though the FHA loan was guaranteed for $550,000, he had been assured by the FHA that it can go up to $600,000. The State Water Control Board, via the Water Pollution Control Administration, also gave a grant for $71,000. It was also noted that there was an attempt to sell the $700,000 bond in 1965 but the National bond market took it's worst drop in twenty years and it never sold. It was also stated that the County applied for funds from Housing and Urban Development (HUD) but was denied.
The State Water Control Board and Donald Zepp, State Game Warden, tested the water in Machodoc Creek in July 1967 and found it to be too salty for large mouth bass eggs, frys, and fingerlings to survive. That same month, Dahlgren resident Howard Yarus, Supervisor Woody Saft, attorney A. W. Garnett, and engineer Deward Martin went to Richmond in an attempt to get the State Water Control Board to approve moving the stabilizing lagoons in Dahlgren.
In August 1967, the Dahlgren Sanitary District installed their first water lines from Ferry Dock Road north along Potomac Drive. They also installed lines on Forest Road, 15th Street, Gordan Drive, 14th Street, and South Williams Creek Drive. The Dahlgren Sanitary District elevated tank had a 75,000 gallon capacity. Mr. and Mrs. Nicholas R. Quesenberry deeded over 6.89 acres to Dahlgren Sanitary District.
By September 1967, the Dahlgren Sanitary District purchased the Sydnor water system and authorized Supervisor Woody Saft to act as agent to make the Dahlgren Sanitary District system operational. A few months later, the Supervisors placed a Want Ad for a full-time agent.
To close out 1967, the Dahlgren Sanitary District acquired land from Mrs. Rose Q. Payne (0.228 acres), Mr. and Mrs. Clifford C. Reed (0.425 acres), and Willow Oaks, Inc. (1 acre). The residents of Bayberry Estates began complaining about cloudy water. The Board of Supervisors approved water systems at Panorama Woods, located between Comorn and Fairview Beach.
In February 1968, Otis L. Zirkle is hired as an agent for the Dahlgren Sanitary District at a pay rate of $5,000 per year. In March, the Board of Supervisors approved renting a building for Zirkle to operate out of for $20 a month. The Supervisors also approved the purchase of office equipment and supplies for Zirkle for $304.50.
The Board of Supervisors instructed the County Clerk, V. Elwood Mason, to write to the owner of the Bayberry Estates development and contractor John T. Ellington. The Supervisors wanted to know what Ellington planned to do to fix the water issues in Bayberry as the state water test results said the water was not drinkable.
Closing out 1969, the Supervisors amended the Dahlgren Sanitary District operating ordinances to allow 45 days, instead of the previous 30 days, before a penalty was imposed for any unpaid bills.
Friday, February 15, 2019
OPINION - Putting Details, Magic, and Drama Into A Budget Session
by Neil Richard
Having just left the second Open House hosted by the Planning Commission, which was more heavily attended than the first one, I once again entered the realm of the budget work sessions held by the King George County Board of Supervisors. I noticed three main topics rise to the surface in this meeting. I'll try to cover each.
Next, Dr. Young asked for guidance on the Smoot Library's request for additional funding to staff their Adult Services Librarian position. Young said this was an existing position, not a new one, and that the Library opted to remove funding for the job because it was level funded last year. Both Brabo and Bueche asked if the Library had done any fundraisers to help increase their revenue as the Supervisors had asked them last year. Cathy Binder, who is also a member of the L. E. Smoot Memorial Library Board of Trustees, said the Library has events planned for this spring and summer. Bueche said he was disappointed that they hadn't followed through with the fundraising and Brabo suggested that maybe it would serve the County better to join the Central Rappahannock Regional Library (CRRL) system to save $200,000 a year. Being painfully familiar with the proposal of CRRL taking over the Smoot Library, I knew this savings only looked true on paper. King George County contributed $384,858 to the Smoot Library in 2017 according to the library's 2017 Annual Report. This is very close to the drafted proposal from CRRL last year of an annual fee of $374,490. As I learned last year, joining CRRL isn't as beneficial as it may seem. In looking strictly at the potential savings to the budget, it would be just over $10,000, not $200,000.
Jane Yuan, Executive Director of the Rappahannock Area Community Services Board (RACSB), gave a presentation to the Supervisors and the Citizen Budget Advisory Committee. She detailed the services offered to residents, both those in need and those in the community. Of note was the REVIVE! Training they offered (which I wrote about here) and that they treated 1,628 King George County residents in need. Yuan did caution the Supervisors that due to law changes, there would be expected shortfalls in their budget of about $200,000 next year and potentially $600,000 the following year.
Dave Coman, Director of Social Services, also gave some further details on his use of the Thurman Brisben Homeless Shelter. By referring single individuals there, Coman said he saves the County money. He said the Thurman Brisben Shelter can house a person for 90 days as well as feed them and offer them access to public transit at no cost. Otherwise he would have to pay $250 to $300 per week for just a hotel room. Because of his financial responsibility and tenacity, the Supervisors agreed to fully fund the request from Thurman Brisben.
Ryan Gandy, Director of Economic Development, gave a shortened version of his previous presentation on the Fredericksburg Regional Alliance (FRA). While there were no new details, it was explained that the budget amounts cited in the original presentation were not clarified enough. As we previously reported, each locality contributes one dollar ($1) per capita. However, the spending budget cited was not the budget of the FRA but rather the budget of the locality. Therefore, our previous return on investment calculations were flawed. Instead, the spending budget for each locality is simply a representation of what each locality is willing to spend on economic development. To put it simply, Fredericksburg spends $971,249 while King George spends $164,081. With this clarity in mind, the Supervisors felt a need to look at the overall percentage of the Economic Development budget compared to the entire County budget when doing future comparison. They felt this would be a better measure of efficiency. During the conversation about bringing businesses to King George County, it was noted that some parcels in the Industrial Park do not have three phase power or broadband internet, both of which are frequently necessary for a manufacturer to do business.
Additionally, Coman said that his DSS team is the only one to partner with the Commonwealth Attorney to use those requiring community service hours as their judicial payment to society. Coman said these individuals are used to make repairs to the elderly residents in the County that are in need. He was careful to note that these were repairs and not improvements. He also said this process, and many others that he has used over his lengthy tenure, have earned our DSS team many awards.
Jeff Bueche said that he was appointed to the Social Services Board last year and fully expected to dig into their budget to root out waste and excess. He said that instead he found a group of hard working people that are very frugal with their money. Although I am not personally familiar with Coman or Social Services, it was very clear that his employees worked hard for very little money because it was the right thing to do. Brabo questioned if they were part of the compensation study done by the County and Wilma Ward and Dr. Young said they were not because they were not technically County employees.
When Brabo said no reports are given to Supervisors on their travel expenses and that no staff had told her in the past three years that she had overspent, Granger agreed and said that was a great reason for a new policy on how Supervisors handle their travel expenses. He said that because there has been overspending, it needs to be addressed and that a new policy seemed like the best option. According to materials handed out during the meeting, the travel expense budget was exceeded in FY16, FY17, and FY18. FY18 was the worst year with a budget of $7,500 and actual expenses of $18,924.90. No clarity was given on how much of that was reimbursed to the County from other entities such as NACo.
Granger continued with his reasoning behind a new policy by stating that any other department isn't allowed to just "blow past" their budgeted amounts and that it wasn't right that the Supervisors aren't held accountable. Brabo began to say that her involvement in various committees and boards has been a good return on investment when John Jenkins interrupted and said it felt like this was turning into more personal attacks on either a specific Supervisor for their travel or for their ideas. Cutting to the quick, Jenkins cited the recent questions raised on social media about Supervisor travel and said that transparency seemed to be the key to addressing both Brabo's and Granger's concerns and ideas. Jenkins said that he looked at the Essex County policy and liked the idea that they publish their information on their website. Jenkins said he was comfortable with each Supervisor coming to the table with their expected travel needs and was fine if each Supervisor had different amounts.
Jenkins then questioned existing policy by saying it would put Dr. Young in an uncomfortable position if he had to tell his boss, the Board of Supervisors, that they were over budget. Cathy Binder agreed that it would put staff in an awkward position. Jenkins said they also need to keep future Boards in mind. Jeff Bueche suggested that everyone should come with a spending plan that shows a forecast for expected travel and then the Supervisors can vote on it at the beginning of the year. Bueche said that if anything unexpected comes up, it can be addressed during the year by the Board but that the plan up front would be transparent. He also said it would put the burden of following the budget on the Supervisor to ensure they don't overspend.
Brabo did ask the citizens present if they had an opinion on the topic. One citizen noted that she was fine with the travel as long as it benefited King George County. Any travel that was to further an individual's political aspirations beyond their current role wasn't right. Bueche further explained that by putting a plan out there for the public would help Supervisors be held accountable to their constituents. Brabo again reminded everyone that the expenses shown don't factor in the revenue received from reimbursement. She said her expenses for the annual NACo conference in July were covered by NACo. Granger again said that because of overspending, he felt a need to create a fiscally responsible policy for travel expenses. Binder asked where money came from to cover any overspending and Brabo and Dr. Young said it came from savings in other departments.
Brabo again said that no staff member had come to her and told her she overspent. Binder said it didn't seem like a fair argument that an employee would go to their boss to say something like that. Bueche again said it puts Dr. Young in an awkward position.
Brabo made one final parting comment before the meeting ended, saying that none of her peers on the Board had the courtesy or respect to bring the social media posts on her travel to her attention. Jenkins said that was a fair point but that during the conversation this evening, he never mentioned anyone by name. Brabo said she hasn't had that kind of disrespect in four years.
Having just left the second Open House hosted by the Planning Commission, which was more heavily attended than the first one, I once again entered the realm of the budget work sessions held by the King George County Board of Supervisors. I noticed three main topics rise to the surface in this meeting. I'll try to cover each.
Details
Dr. Neiman Young began the meeting by asking the Supervisors for information on how they wanted to proceed with two items. The first was the cost allocation for the Service Authority. He said in past years it was about $60,000 and this year it was dropped further but he felt it would be better suited to drop it even more to $1,000. Based on this meeting, the previous Service Authority Budget Work Session, and prior year discussions, the Service Authority was a wholly independent entity. However, because the Service Authority and the County shared many services, it was felt that there needed to be a line item to charge the Service Authority a fee for the services the County provided. Dr. Young noted that in the past, this amount was never paid by the Service Authority and caused some accounting issues. Ruby Brabo clarified that the Service Authority never paid because the Board of Supervisors voted to not bill them for it. The Supervisors agreed with Dr. Young to drop the amount to $1,000 to serve as a smaller placeholder in the books.Next, Dr. Young asked for guidance on the Smoot Library's request for additional funding to staff their Adult Services Librarian position. Young said this was an existing position, not a new one, and that the Library opted to remove funding for the job because it was level funded last year. Both Brabo and Bueche asked if the Library had done any fundraisers to help increase their revenue as the Supervisors had asked them last year. Cathy Binder, who is also a member of the L. E. Smoot Memorial Library Board of Trustees, said the Library has events planned for this spring and summer. Bueche said he was disappointed that they hadn't followed through with the fundraising and Brabo suggested that maybe it would serve the County better to join the Central Rappahannock Regional Library (CRRL) system to save $200,000 a year. Being painfully familiar with the proposal of CRRL taking over the Smoot Library, I knew this savings only looked true on paper. King George County contributed $384,858 to the Smoot Library in 2017 according to the library's 2017 Annual Report. This is very close to the drafted proposal from CRRL last year of an annual fee of $374,490. As I learned last year, joining CRRL isn't as beneficial as it may seem. In looking strictly at the potential savings to the budget, it would be just over $10,000, not $200,000.
Jane Yuan, Executive Director of the Rappahannock Area Community Services Board (RACSB), gave a presentation to the Supervisors and the Citizen Budget Advisory Committee. She detailed the services offered to residents, both those in need and those in the community. Of note was the REVIVE! Training they offered (which I wrote about here) and that they treated 1,628 King George County residents in need. Yuan did caution the Supervisors that due to law changes, there would be expected shortfalls in their budget of about $200,000 next year and potentially $600,000 the following year.
Dave Coman, Director of Social Services, also gave some further details on his use of the Thurman Brisben Homeless Shelter. By referring single individuals there, Coman said he saves the County money. He said the Thurman Brisben Shelter can house a person for 90 days as well as feed them and offer them access to public transit at no cost. Otherwise he would have to pay $250 to $300 per week for just a hotel room. Because of his financial responsibility and tenacity, the Supervisors agreed to fully fund the request from Thurman Brisben.
Ryan Gandy, Director of Economic Development, gave a shortened version of his previous presentation on the Fredericksburg Regional Alliance (FRA). While there were no new details, it was explained that the budget amounts cited in the original presentation were not clarified enough. As we previously reported, each locality contributes one dollar ($1) per capita. However, the spending budget cited was not the budget of the FRA but rather the budget of the locality. Therefore, our previous return on investment calculations were flawed. Instead, the spending budget for each locality is simply a representation of what each locality is willing to spend on economic development. To put it simply, Fredericksburg spends $971,249 while King George spends $164,081. With this clarity in mind, the Supervisors felt a need to look at the overall percentage of the Economic Development budget compared to the entire County budget when doing future comparison. They felt this would be a better measure of efficiency. During the conversation about bringing businesses to King George County, it was noted that some parcels in the Industrial Park do not have three phase power or broadband internet, both of which are frequently necessary for a manufacturer to do business.
Magic
Dave Coman stayed at the table to then go over his budget in the Department of Social Services (DSS). Much like the school budget, there is money from Federal, State, and local agencies involved, making things complex. To help simplify things, Coman said for every $100 he spends, he gets roughly $85 back from the state. Because of his good working relationship with Wilma Ward, Director of Finance, he's able to get those reimbursement payments processed quickly and easily.Additionally, Coman said that his DSS team is the only one to partner with the Commonwealth Attorney to use those requiring community service hours as their judicial payment to society. Coman said these individuals are used to make repairs to the elderly residents in the County that are in need. He was careful to note that these were repairs and not improvements. He also said this process, and many others that he has used over his lengthy tenure, have earned our DSS team many awards.
Jeff Bueche said that he was appointed to the Social Services Board last year and fully expected to dig into their budget to root out waste and excess. He said that instead he found a group of hard working people that are very frugal with their money. Although I am not personally familiar with Coman or Social Services, it was very clear that his employees worked hard for very little money because it was the right thing to do. Brabo questioned if they were part of the compensation study done by the County and Wilma Ward and Dr. Young said they were not because they were not technically County employees.
Drama
The meeting ended with a bit of drama. The Supervisors began to review their own department, line by line, and when they got to the topic of giving themselves a raise, Richard Granger said he was okay with taking the raise but if future meetings showed a need to raise tax rates, he felt any raise for the Supervisors should be the first thing to go. The rest of the Supervisors seemed to agree. When they got to the line item for travel expenses, the drama began. Recent social media posts drew attention to Ruby Brabo's travel expenses and when Granger noted overspending in the past and suggested a new method of giving each Supervisor their own travel allowance in addition to another central pot of money, Brabo seemed to take offense. She reminded her peers that they supported her running for office in the National Association of Counties (NACo) two years ago and that she told them then that it would require additional costs.When Brabo said no reports are given to Supervisors on their travel expenses and that no staff had told her in the past three years that she had overspent, Granger agreed and said that was a great reason for a new policy on how Supervisors handle their travel expenses. He said that because there has been overspending, it needs to be addressed and that a new policy seemed like the best option. According to materials handed out during the meeting, the travel expense budget was exceeded in FY16, FY17, and FY18. FY18 was the worst year with a budget of $7,500 and actual expenses of $18,924.90. No clarity was given on how much of that was reimbursed to the County from other entities such as NACo.
Granger continued with his reasoning behind a new policy by stating that any other department isn't allowed to just "blow past" their budgeted amounts and that it wasn't right that the Supervisors aren't held accountable. Brabo began to say that her involvement in various committees and boards has been a good return on investment when John Jenkins interrupted and said it felt like this was turning into more personal attacks on either a specific Supervisor for their travel or for their ideas. Cutting to the quick, Jenkins cited the recent questions raised on social media about Supervisor travel and said that transparency seemed to be the key to addressing both Brabo's and Granger's concerns and ideas. Jenkins said that he looked at the Essex County policy and liked the idea that they publish their information on their website. Jenkins said he was comfortable with each Supervisor coming to the table with their expected travel needs and was fine if each Supervisor had different amounts.
Jenkins then questioned existing policy by saying it would put Dr. Young in an uncomfortable position if he had to tell his boss, the Board of Supervisors, that they were over budget. Cathy Binder agreed that it would put staff in an awkward position. Jenkins said they also need to keep future Boards in mind. Jeff Bueche suggested that everyone should come with a spending plan that shows a forecast for expected travel and then the Supervisors can vote on it at the beginning of the year. Bueche said that if anything unexpected comes up, it can be addressed during the year by the Board but that the plan up front would be transparent. He also said it would put the burden of following the budget on the Supervisor to ensure they don't overspend.
Brabo did ask the citizens present if they had an opinion on the topic. One citizen noted that she was fine with the travel as long as it benefited King George County. Any travel that was to further an individual's political aspirations beyond their current role wasn't right. Bueche further explained that by putting a plan out there for the public would help Supervisors be held accountable to their constituents. Brabo again reminded everyone that the expenses shown don't factor in the revenue received from reimbursement. She said her expenses for the annual NACo conference in July were covered by NACo. Granger again said that because of overspending, he felt a need to create a fiscally responsible policy for travel expenses. Binder asked where money came from to cover any overspending and Brabo and Dr. Young said it came from savings in other departments.
Brabo again said that no staff member had come to her and told her she overspent. Binder said it didn't seem like a fair argument that an employee would go to their boss to say something like that. Bueche again said it puts Dr. Young in an awkward position.
Brabo made one final parting comment before the meeting ended, saying that none of her peers on the Board had the courtesy or respect to bring the social media posts on her travel to her attention. Jenkins said that was a fair point but that during the conversation this evening, he never mentioned anyone by name. Brabo said she hasn't had that kind of disrespect in four years.
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