Coraggio Consulting
Chesterfield County Board of Supervisors Meeting - February 26, 2025, Wednesday, February 26, 2025

Date: Wednesday, February 26, 2025
Place: Chesterfield County Board of Supervisors, Virginia
Length: 6h 22m (video)
Official meeting video (CivicClerk): https://chesterfieldcova.portal.civicclerk.com/event/1226/media
Official agenda (CivicClerk): https://chesterfieldcova.api.civicclerk.com/v1/Meetings/GetMeetingFileStream(fileId=2039,plainText=false)
Official minutes (CivicClerk): https://chesterfieldcova.api.civicclerk.com/v1/Meetings/GetMeetingFileStream(fileId=2110,plainText=false)

Machine transcript (speech-to-text) produced by Coraggio Consulting. Not an official county record. Names and numbers may be misspelled; check the video at the timestamp before quoting.
Speech-to-text: whisper.cpp, model large-v3-turbo. Produced 2026-10-25. Timestamps are [HH:MM:SS] into the meeting video.

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[00:00:31] Good afternoon and welcome to the afternoon session of the February 26th Board of Supervisors meeting. Madam Clerk. Mr. Chair, the first item on the agenda is approval of minutes for the January 22nd, 2025 Board of Supervisors meeting. Mark was on second.

[00:00:51] I'll second. All in favor? Aye. Distention. Did you record that? Yes, sir. 4-0-1. Item 2, request to postpone agenda items and additions, deletions, or changes in the order of presentation.

[00:01:08] Staff has two requests. We would like to move item 13A, recognizing Mr. Holland for award and resolution to occur following the Pledge of Allegiance. We would also like to move item 13B, resolution recognizing Mr. Dallas A. Bradbury, Jr. upon his retirement, to the consent agenda.

[00:01:25] That is all we have. May I have a motion to approve the agenda as amended? So moved. Second. All in favor? Aye. Item 3, Everyday Excellence, Dr. Casey. Good afternoon, members of the board and the employees and the public that's here and that is also watching.

[00:01:44] We start every meeting with Everyday Excellence, which recognizes our frontline employees and all the services that they try and provide to our citizens, in some cases 24-7. So today is a special occasion. This is really a three-part exercise. So in capitalizing on having public utilities represented, you know, as a department, they've gotten much national, state, regional attention for years, and all of it's been earned.

[00:02:12] And so today, we're putting some faces behind that department. It's really representative faces. If I could fit all 324 here, we would, but we would never have all 324 here because we need someone 24/7 to be doing everything they're getting recognized for. So with that said, I want to introduce George Hayes, the director of the department.

[00:02:31] And again, it goes without saying, behind the department is a leader that not only is He's an expert in their field, but also has the care and attention to all of his workers. I interact often with Mr. Hayes, and it's a two-part exercise. What does the facilities need to be functional 24/7, and how can we best have the support employees to operate and maintain that same infrastructure.

[00:02:57] So with that said, I'll turn it over to Mr. Hayes with a three-part exercise. One is the recognition of these employees, especially, again, representative employees from the January 6, quote unquote, water crisis of the region, for which again, Chesterfield became a resource of intelligence, personnel, and actually water in some cases as we pushed water to the other direction for those that were most of need that we had the capacities to help.

[00:03:21] The second part we're fortunate to have here is State Senator Certivant. The state passed a resolution in recognition of our public utilities department, so we I thought it would be fitting for our employees here to witness that presentation of the resolution. And then last but not least, what we would have normally done on a regular February board meeting is the recognition of the Public Utilities Employee of the Year, which is really a departmental exercise that they themselves pick amongst their peers, their co-workers, who is representative of the department for that year.

[00:03:54] So sorry for the long introduction, but as Mr. Hayes always works hard, He's got a hard task in front of him in trying to do all these recognitions as well. Mr. Hayes. Thank you, and good afternoon, Mr. Chairman, members of the board, Dr. Casey and Senator Servin.

[00:04:10] I do want to take a minute to thank you for the opportunity to recognize the Department of Utilities today. With me presenting is Matt Remboldt. He's our Assistant Director over Operations and Maintenance. As referenced by Dr. Casey, it is really noteworthy that the employees we're getting ready to present before you today are only a small percentage of the 324 exceptional employees that we are able to attract and retain in the Utilities Department.

[00:04:36] Our ability to hire the best and the brightest in the region really is due to your support, the support of administration, and the support of our Human Resources Department. For that, before we get into the presentation, I do want to thank you for your support. As the Board is aware, the Greater Richmond region was impacted by an unprecedented water crisis after the City of Richmond's water treatment plant was compromised after a storm on January 6th.

[00:05:03] This resulted in a boil water notice and a water conservation notice that lasted for six days in the Richmond region. Throughout this crisis, Chesterfield County maintained our safe and uninterrupted water service to more than 360,000 citizens.

[00:05:21] As the only large water utility in the region with potable water, our staff did not sit back on their success. Instead, they took to immediate action and made extraordinary efforts to support our friends in the region. You'll recall when I addressed the board in January, I thank you for your continued support of the men and women whose quick and decisive actions isolated Chesterfield County's water supply in the hours that followed the flooding of the Richmond Water Treatment Plant.

[00:05:52] This immediate action preserved the city's limited remaining water capacity for their customers while protecting Chesterfield Utility customers from the adverse impacts that were experienced by thousands of households, numerous businesses, and hospitals in the Richmond region.

[00:06:12] Today, I want to introduce you to a handful of those dedicated staff, the true unsung heroes that ensure that our customers remain in safe and interrupted water service. And for that, I'm going to turn it over to Matt Remble to introduce some of these employees. Thank you, Mr. Hayes.

[00:06:32] Mr. Chairman, Supervisors, Dr. Casey and Senator Sternivant, I'd like to echo George's comments about the board's support of our employees. The recent water crisis really highlighted for us the department's core values of being a safe and reliable purveyor of water and wastewater services to the residents of Chesterfield County.

[00:06:50] We've all taken great pride in the last month in the numerous kudos and messages of thanks we've received from the public for keeping the water flowing in Chesterfield. It was really a large team effort. It would be impossible for us to squeeze all the dedicated staff into this room to have them meet you this afternoon.

[00:07:10] But I'd do my best to try to bring some of the key leaders that were essential as part of our response to the water crisis to be recognized by the board today. In total, the department identified 37 employees that, through their efforts, we were able to directly respond to the water crisis.

[00:07:27] And with that, you know, we were able to help support the region through recovery. First, I'd like to take a moment to introduce three of our leaders in the department. If I could get Chris Overby, Dave Soroy, and Mike Larson to stand up and be recognized.

[00:07:48] So these three gentlemen are center managers within the department with Chris Overby overseeing the county's water distribution system. Dave Soroy is the manager of our Addison Evans Water Treatment Plant and Laboratory Facility.

[00:08:07] And Mike Larson is the engineering supervisor that oversees the department's engineering technical support section. As the Richmond water crisis unfolded, it was these three gentlemen that led the coordinated efforts of the Chesterfield County Utilities Department through the crisis.

[00:08:23] It was in large part due to these individuals' skills, knowledge, and abilities that we were able to make this a largely non-event in Chesterfield County. Each of these individuals oversees a tremendous area of responsibility, and we extend our sincerest thanks for all of their hard work and effort through the water crisis.

[00:08:47] We owe them a lot of thanks. I want to share a sentiment that Chris shared with me when I asked him to join me today to be recognized in front of the board. Chris said, Matt, I don't feel like we did anything special. We did what we always do. We kept the water flowing.

[00:09:03] And it's with great pride that I can introduce these staff members to be recognized today everyday excellence because it's what these guys do every day that is excellent and supports the high quality life that the residents of Chesterfield County can enjoy. Next, I'd like to introduce you to three gentlemen that took time away from their families to support the regional recovery efforts as the water crisis unfolded. If I could get Tim Luft, Dan Sirocco, and Howard Vaughn to stand up

[00:09:37] and be recognized. As you can imagine, the City of Richmond's water treatment plant staff and the Henrico County water distribution staff was really working hard, working around the clock to see the boil water advisory lifted in the days following January 6th.

[00:10:04] When a bitter freezing cold weather snap was forecast for that following weekend, a regional call for mutual aid was fielded by Chesterfield County to support and provide relief for operators at the City of Richmond Water Treatment Plant and provide relief personnel on water main repair crews in Henrico County.

[00:10:23] It was Tim who raised his hand as a licensed Class II waterworks operator to go assist the City of Richmond taking a shift at the City of Richmond Water Treatment Plant following the crisis. And Dan, as a leak crew foreman, raised his hand, along with other repair crew members that worked with Dan, to be on standby to respond to Henrico County should a water main break occur that they needed additional staffing resources to respond to.

[00:10:48] We're fortunate that Cheshawil County was not called to respond to Henrico County in the days following, but we were ready to assist, and that regional cooperation was sincerely appreciated by our friends north of the river. The board may recognize Dan's name from one of the numerous customer kudos messages that we receive.

[00:11:06] You see, Dan led the crew that responded to the Christmas Day water main repair, in which, you'll recall, we received a five-star customer review about the customer service that Dan and his crew provided on Christmas. The customer, you'll recall, was amazed at the speed of the county's response on Christmas Day, as well as Dan's taking the time to explain to the customer what was going on, keeping the affected residents informed as to what was going on in the water distribution system in their neighborhood.

[00:11:36] This type of excellent customer service is the epitome of everyday excellence, and the department is proud of Dan and all the repair crew members who sacrificed time spent with their family on the holidays so that our residents can enjoy uninterrupted water service. Last to be recognized this afternoon is Howard Vaughn.

[00:11:53] Howard is our logistics supervisor and manages the department's parts warehouse. When we learned of the water crisis, it was Howard that reached out to make emergency procurement of cases of bottled water to distribute to our affected residents. Similarly, as Chesterfield began to field requests for bulk water delivery to support the recovery efforts at the region's hospitals, it was Howard who worked through the night and around the clock to supply and provide bulk water delivery to the tanker trucks.

[00:12:24] The staff and patients at the VCU Trauma Center and the Veterans Affairs Hospital may never meet Howard, but I can assure you that he rendered life-saving aid by facilitating bulk delivery of Chesterfield County water to those hospitals. On behalf of the Utilities Department, I want to sincerely express the gratitude we all feel being recognized by the board today at Everyday Excellence.

[00:12:44] In utilities, we all take great pride in not being in the news and providing an essential service to improve the lives of Chesterfield's residents. While we truly believe we are just doing our jobs, it became evident last month just how important these jobs are to our residents and the community. We could not be as effective at our jobs without the support we receive from the board.

[00:13:03] As good as we are, we know we are not perfect, and every employee in utilities appreciates the board empowering us to seek innovative solutions to improve customer service and delivery. That concludes my remarks today, and we'd be happy to take any questions the board may have.

[00:13:20] Board members, any questions or comments? I just want to say thank you for your everyday excellence and continuing to do great things in the community. I know when I first met George, he said, don't worry about calling me any time.

[00:13:40] And so I was out just a couple weeks ago. I was out walking my dogs during the freezing time. And I said, George, there's some water rushing out of someone's box. Can you send so? And he's just like, I'll send someone over right away. And so, again, it was on a weekend, and he responded, like, within five minutes.

[00:13:58] So thank you guys all for what you do. Mr. Chair, thank you very much for everything that you do. I think sometimes when these things happen, people actually get a reminder of certain things that are important in life, at least for your everyday life.

[00:14:24] And what we actually, as a community, try to strive and provide, you know, when the power goes out, for example, and people have no power, when the water goes out and they have no water. I mean, these are two really important things for people in their everyday life.

[00:14:43] You can probably get away with not having the Internet. You can probably get away with not having TV, but you've got to have water for sure. So it's just another example, which is why we always come to your all-staffs that you have every year, because it's so important for us to – it's one thing to say, it's another thing to show it.

[00:15:00] And we want to make sure we also show how much we appreciate everything you all do. It's just – it's amazing stuff. And you're right, we don't want to be in the media. We don't mind being it for good, but not for bad. Thank you, Mr. Chair. Thank you, Mr. Chair.

[00:15:18] And we will be talking a little bit about this, I think, throughout the next few weeks. But I just came back from Rwanda. And folks there, the way they get water is they carry five and 10-gallon tanks. And they put it on top of their head and they walk it miles.

[00:15:37] And everybody has that responsibility. Even the littlest of them are carrying what they can carry when it comes to water. So it's very easy to fall into the trap of entitlement and forgetting about gratitude. And so what was happening in January, I know all of us were sitting in a deep place of gratitude.

[00:15:58] You don't need to go to Rwanda to get reminded. You all were right there doing what you need to do. And as Matt said quite adeptly, a non-event. And they're the best kind are those when, you know, everything happened as exactly as it was supposed to unfold in those kind of situations.

[00:16:19] And I my quick text after this whole thing was unfolding was I'm so proud, so proud of Chesterfield and how this unfolded. So thank you all for your hard work, your selflessness. Yeah, just so, so, so grateful.

[00:16:39] Well, I, for one, am just tired of talking about utilities and how great they are. But we can't stop talking about how great you are because you guys keep on doing so many wonderful things. Again, we do thank you for that.

[00:16:56] I do think that it's important that not only when Ms. Snyder called you did you respond quickly, but when a citizen on Christmas Day called, they got the same response. It wasn't a response because it was Ms. Snyder calling. It was a response because that's what you do when someone calls about an issue.

[00:17:13] And I think that's very important for our citizens to know. But I also think it's good we didn't let water run all over the road. So thank you for that, Jessica. And, again, you know, I can't thank your department enough. We have lots of opportunities for comments from citizens in the community.

[00:17:31] And pretty much everyone from utilities is positive. And I can't always say all the comments that we get. probably most of them from our own decisions, but that aren't as positive. So thank you for being a shining light of departments in the county.

[00:17:49] Thank you for all that you do. Thank you for what you've done and what I know you'll do for our citizens in the future. Thank you. Chairman, if I may very briefly, I just want to thank George and them so much for their operations. I know when I was first elected, I spent an entire day going through your process.

[00:18:07] I learned about the Stabilization Fund and the wonderful things you and your predecessors have done. I appreciate you probably want a few utilities in the region that's a AAA bond rated and still AAA, as I understand it. So I think that's noteworthy. You can borrow at the very best rates to fix the equipment, which is so critically needed.

[00:18:27] Never wait till it breaks. Do it before. I think we've learned that well. So thank you all for your outstanding work and the tremendous job you do for Chesterfield and CISL. we don't take it for granted. Thank you. I appreciate all of your comments. And if I could just serve as a little coordinator, I think we can transition. If Senator Sturtevant wouldn't mind coming to the front, I invite any and all public utility employees, also Stan, George, and Matt as well, please. And Robert Wilson is here from Appomattox River Water Authority. It goes without saying his role and being his force that he manages at Lake Chesden, that again, that was a

[00:19:06] much dependent water source not just for Chesterfield County but some of Lake Cheston's water actually was pushed across the line into the city of Richmond during this process which was no easy engineering feat. So I want to recognize him as well. Senator Sturdivant please. Thank you Dr. Casey and thank you Mr. Chairman, Vice Chairman, members of the board. It's an honor to be here with you to recognize these great public utilities employees today. I think it was January 7th or 8th I was I drink a lot of water, and I was filling up my Nalgene bottle at home, and I said, you know what, and this was when Hanover was going offline, and RICO was going offline, and it

[00:19:42] was just affecting everybody around the region, but Chesterfield kept the water on, and I said, I'm going to reach out to Dr. Casey, I just sent him a quick text and said, thanks for, you know, keeping us out of this mess, and he was immediately responding and said The people at public utilities and some smart people down there realized we need to throw the switch to get us on Swift Creek Reservoir, whatever it was.

[00:20:07] I don't know exactly what you guys did, but you did the right thing, and you did it quickly. And we were in general assembly session at the time, and being in the city of Richmond, we didn't have water down there for several days. And you all have a great government affairs representative, and Natalie Spillman.

[00:20:23] And I said, you know, Natalie, we need to recognize the public utilities folks for keeping the water on in Chesterfield and helping our regional neighbors, which is great, too. But just the fact that you guys were there doing what needed to be done and keeping everything moving and working the way that it's supposed to, just doing your jobs, how much we appreciate that.

[00:20:47] So I had drafted up a resolution that passed unanimously in both the State Senate and the House of Delegates. It's sponsored by myself and the rest of the Chesterfield delegation. As we were drafting it, I wanted to have more language in there about how we're so much better than the city of Richmond.

[00:21:08] But Ms. Spillman is more diplomatic, and so we pulled some of that out. So this is something for you guys to, you know, put up in the break room or somewhere around just to kind of commemorate the appreciation and the important work that you did when it was people's lives were literally at risk, and we didn't have that problem in Chesterfield County.

[00:21:32] So I want to present this to you all. I'm not going to read it. I'm not going to read all of it, but I'll just say the important part. One of the important parts is, whereas after the severe weather event in January 2025 that resulted in limited water service and boil water advisories in several localities, Chesterfield County was able to seamlessly transition to alternative water sources and maintain a normal supply level of safe drinking water.

[00:22:01] And thanks to the resilient infrastructure, Chesterfield County was also able to provide assistance to individuals affected by the water crisis in the city of Richmond, allowing providers of essential services, including Chippenham Hospital, to maintain operations. Many other things in here.

[00:22:16] I won't read it all, but it's just a small token on behalf of the Commonwealth of Virginia and your fellow neighbors here in Chesterfield County just to thank you all for doing good work, and we appreciate you. So thank you very much. Thank you kindly, four supervisors, and I appreciate you having me.

[00:22:47] Mr. Chair, one last comment to them. People have to remember when the water goes out, you also lose all your water in the fire hydrants. If you look what happened in California, that could be disastrous. And so it's not just critical to have that drinking water.

[00:23:02] It's also critical to have that public safety. And I want to thank you for letting us take the time to digress a little bit. But back to the employee of the year. So if you thought it was good, now it's even going to get a little bit better. Well, thank you, members of the board, and thank you, Senator Sturtevant, for taking time out of your busy schedule to recognize some really well-deserving employees.

[00:23:26] They sincerely appreciate it, and it really does inspire them to serve our customers even more. So thank you. With that, and keeping with the theme of everyday excellence, I'd like to introduce you to another exceptional utility employee, Utilities Department 2024 Employee of the Year, Tara Kelly.

[00:23:46] So, Tara, you actually can come on up. I'm going to get in trouble after this for making her come up, but it's definitely appropriate.

[00:24:07] Tara is a customer service representative in our finance administration section with the utilities department. In utilities, as you know, we try to foster a culture where employees feel empowered to go above and beyond to serve our customers. Therefore, for Tara to be recognized by her peers for always going above and beyond speaks volume of her character and dedication, not only to the department, but to the customers that we serve.

[00:24:32] As documented in her peer nomination for Employee of the Year, whether she's demonstrating empathy to a widow coming in to close an account, suggesting process improvements for revenue collection, or demonstrating teamwork by picking up extra ships at the front counter, Tara has distinguished herself among a department with countless deserving employees.

[00:24:53] The peer who nominated Tara wrote, Tara is an altruistic approach, has an altruistic approach to not only work life, but also her personal life. She intuitively understands small gestures create large impacts.

[00:25:08] I have personally witnessed an upset customer leaving smiling or the relief from her understanding tone or how a small note on a desk has brightened someone's day. Simply put, a department with exceptional employees like the utilities department is made better by employees like Tara.

[00:25:28] And I'd like to let Tara take a moment if she'd like to say a few words to the board. And if she doesn't, maybe the board would like to say a few words. I'd like to thank you guys for having me here. Honestly, I wouldn't be, I don't think, in this position if I didn't have such great mentors.

[00:25:46] Like when Diane was here or Melissa, now Amber, they've really pushed me to go out of my comfort zone. So I really appreciate that. And I think that's why I'm here today. Thank you. Board members, any comments?

[00:26:08] I believe recently you might have helped one of my constituents about turning off a companion meter that they don't use anymore. So thank you so much again. That was something that they had included, I think, the regular email, just like the open email for information from you guys.

[00:26:27] And I reached out to George because I wasn't sure what to do with it. And by the time George and I got around to it, you had already taken care of it. So thank you. Mr. Chair. Considering how many people work for utilities and all of the excellent stories that we constantly get from them, for you to be an employee of the year, that's pretty spectacular.

[00:26:49] Thank you. And so thank you because you are, like many of our employees, you're the voice of the county when people come in and need help. So thank you for what you do. I just want to say thank you because you inspire others. That makes a difference.

[00:27:05] You're not a solo person, but you impact others. So thank you for what you do and all you've done. We appreciate your being here today. Thank you. And thank you, George, for introducing her. Thank you, Mr. Chair. I want to echo what Kevin is saying, Mr. Carroll, with regard to you.

[00:27:22] You're part of an incredible department of incredible people. And for those incredible people to recognize you as someone to be an employee of the Eurotara, that just shows where you are and the kind of work you do and how much it's appreciated.

[00:27:39] Sometimes it's just the little things that make really big differences. It's putting your little finger into the water and watching it happen, I mean, quite literally. And so thank you for your hard work. Thank you for what you do. I've always defined talent as passion and dependability, and you got them both.

[00:27:57] Thank you so much. You got talent. Again, thank you for all the little things, apparently, that you do that add up to a lot of big things. And also, don't be upset with George, because if he hadn't asked you over there, he knows that I would have.

[00:28:13] So it'll be my fault, not George's. thank you thank you thank you mr. chairman and board members item 4 item 4 work sessions a partnership for housing affordability annual update mr. Burton and mr. Rogers good afternoon

[00:28:49] kind of ministry I guess is walking out but mr. chairman members of the board thank you all for allowing us to provide another update and I know many of you were at our annual event earlier this year and got to see kind of a regional overview of some of the work that's been happening as a relates to housing and we'll drill a little bit further into the county and particularly we'll try to shed a little bit of light as much as we can at least as far as potential impacts of any federal programs related to housing that a lot of our providers work with your residents to to assist

[00:29:24] as it relates to housing so we'll provide what we can and Woody I guess we'll just turn it over to you to start with some of the trends that we've seen lately as far as housing sure so I'm Woody Rogers, the policy director at Partnership Housing Affordability. And just to give a little bit of an update about what we've been seeing over the past year regarding some trends.

[00:29:45] So, as I'm sure you well know, Chesterfield is growing quite significantly. Just in the past year, the county has added nearly 26,000 residents to nearly 400,000 in total population. It's the largest growing county in the state in terms of total number of residents.

[00:30:03] It's also the sixth fastest growing county in the state and the only one above 175,000 population in the top 20 fastest growing counties. So we also know that 85% of that growth is driven by migration rather than natural increase. And a lot of that migration is coming from other parts of the region as well as other parts of the state.

[00:30:22] So the housing demand is certainly there, driven largely by this population growth that is expected to continue. And so as such, we've seen the median home sale price continue to rise, not quite as exponentially as it did in the years after 2020, but still it's at record highs.

[00:30:40] In 2024, it was nearly $413,000 at the median sales price. And it just, it's continued to rise since then in January, the sales price rose to $424,000. So we're not seeing much of, definitely no decline and not much really of a leveling.

[00:31:01] It's still slightly increasing every month. So while we've seen that sales price increase by 43%, we've actually seen the income needed to afford the median sales price nearly double in the same time frame. And that's, of course, driven by, you know, when you factor in things like mortgage rates, you know, doubling or more than doubling since 2020, as well as increases to things like insurance costs. That means that, you know, in order to afford that median sales price of $410,000, you would need to earn almost $124,000 as your household. And for reference, about 60% of current

[00:31:38] Chesterfield households cannot meet that income necessary to afford the median sales price. So again, housing prices are continuing to rise and becoming less affordable to more households as things like median sales price and mortgage rates continue to be very high relative to historical trends. We've also seen rental prices increase since pre-pandemic levels. In order to afford the average rent in Chesterfield of around $1,500, a household would need to earn $60,000 to afford that. And when we say afford, we mean pay 30% of your income on housing or less.

[00:32:15] And so all that combined, we've seen housing cost burden, which is again, housing households who are not able to afford their current housing using that 30% of their income threshold. We've seen it kind of rising when as before it was going lower. Now we're seeing the trend kind of reverse in recent years. So compared to the rest of the region, Chesterfield doesn't have as many households living in currently unaffordable housing to them right now, but it's still a high rate. So especially with renters, we're seeing 47% of renter households are paying too much for their housing.

[00:32:54] For homeowners, it's around 20%. And when you, Chesterfield being the largest county in our region, that amounts to over 20,000 owner households and 15,000 renter households paying too much for their housing right now. Furthermore, when you're looking at extreme housing cost burden, which we define as households paying 50% of their income or more on housing costs, we're looking at one in four renter households paying half of their income and one in 10 owner households. So a lot of households in very unstable situations paying much more of their income than they should be on housing costs alone because of

[00:33:31] those price increases. And we can see some of those trends in real time through our housing resource line, which residents can call in for housing assistance and connecting to different housing resources. In 2024, we saw some increases compared to last year in terms of the total number of calls. I'll also point out in the summer, I think July 2024 was the highest number of calls coming from Chesterfield residents that we've seen since 2022. So the number of people who need resources for housing is increasing to levels not seen since really the sort of the middle part of

[00:34:09] the pandemic. And if I, if I may just contextualize the ebbs and flows throughout the year a little bit. Normally, this time of year, we see fewer calls from residents just because when it's around tax season and folks have greater ability to pay for things related to rent or to cover any costs that may be unexpected. So we usually see an uptick in the summer and particularly around the start of the school year. That's usually when we're going to see the biggest increase in calls. It's also a time when I think leases commonly end in July or August. So, you know, those sorts of things

[00:34:46] impact, you know, people having to move and pay things like security deposits as well as just finding affordable housing that they can live in and find. So we also know that, as I just kind of mentioned, some of the most prominent needs are for financial assistance that we hear about. So that's, again, things like security deposits, payment for rent and utilities, and then rental options, which is just looking for units that would be affordable to their household on the market as they exist. So, you know, basically 80% or more of our callers are calling about those two

[00:35:19] categories solely. We also know that, you know, for most of the callers that we get through the housing resource line, they are in pretty serious situations behind on rent and or utilities. So So these are households in pretty unstable housing, and they're kind of a paycheck or less away from potentially losing that housing.

[00:35:45] And then lastly, I'll just point out where we're seeing most of these callers come in the county, largely sort of in the eastern portion of Chesterfield, especially around the Route 1 corridor and the southern border with the city of Richmond around Chippenham Parkway.

[00:36:04] yeah, that's sort of the point in time look at the county, and there has been progress, if I can get there, that I'll let Javon talk about some. Yeah, and I know that you all have heard some of these numbers and figures, but just the regional perspective of what's happening, there is a lot of development taking place, particularly within this sector. So we have over 3,100 affordable rental units that are in the pipeline. That's a combination of for-profit and non-profit partners who are participating towards that we're seeing less and less senior housing get developed despite the significant increases that we have in the senior population so i would just point that out

[00:36:43] as a as a concern from a development standpoint we're not seeing that nearly as much as we used to and i think partly it's some of the programs that are designed to to construct this housing really doesn't incentivize it the way that it used to so that would be one that i would point out that's really noteworthy for for the county as far as development and then what we're also doing is really trying to encourage the corporate sector here across the region to to play a more outsized role as it relates to housing and i think there's been a recognition that the public sector

[00:37:17] particularly at the local level has been very involved in this issue over recent years but But there's still a need, particularly at the private and corporate sector level, to see a greater role played there. So we created this corporate playbook, and I wish I had some copies for you all today, but we ran out at our event, so we need to do another run of that.

[00:37:38] But they've been very receptive to this thus far, and I think the conversations that have been had really are trying to identify what role they need to play and filling gaps that maybe the public sector and philanthropy aren't able to do so I think that that's where we're going to start and we've had some encouraging conversations with willing corporate partners thus far and hopefully we can encourage a few more of them to join the conversation in the coming months so I'll just get into a few items that I really think are pertinent and I'll and I'll just kind of go directly to local dollars that that typically

[00:38:15] come from the federal government that the county is entitled to. CDBG, I won't use the alphabet suit, but community development block grant, home and emergency solutions grants. Those support a lot of our nonprofit partners who do things like home rehab, housing, home repairs for low-income folks, particularly for seniors. And it's really been a lifeline for many decades. And I think there's just a little bit of uncertainty as to, you know, where that funding exists. And for the county, the average from the last few fiscal years that you all have been entitled to is around $2.2

[00:38:52] million. So that's where that would stand. And, you know, I think there's a lot of conversations in this space as to, you know, the impact that would have locally, regionally, and we'll do our best to kind of coordinate with you all as far as just kind of localizing what the impact would be for your residents.

[00:39:11] And then the other thing I wanted to point to is just related to opportunities at the local level. So we've seen some really interesting things happen over the last few months as it relates to incentives and, you know, different zoning processes that allow for just different types of housing.

[00:39:29] And I think one that you all may have seen in the news recently was Henrico recently allowed a smaller lot size use, I think as low as 3,000 square feet, to encourage some building plans that builders have that would be smaller homes that are certainly more cost effective to build than your traditional single family that you're seeing get built today.

[00:39:52] Those numbers that Woody shared a little bit earlier around median sales price and new construction, I mean, that's just partially the reality of development today, but encouraging you know smaller lot sizes is one way that you could help address that at the local level and you know I think that that's something that there's some some plans out there that the building community would certainly be receptive towards that so there are some opportunities at the local level that I think you know the county's current process would allow for and you know we encourage you all to continue to engage in these conversations to explore that but I'm happy to close there and just open it up to any questions that you all

[00:40:30] may have whether it's things we talked about today or did not. Thank you. Board members, any questions, comments? Thank you, Mr. Chair. I saw that same article in the Times Dispatch. I was wondering if you could answer a question around that. They said that, yes, they were thinking about making a smaller lot size urbanization, those kind of things, but they also in the article said they weren't sure that it was going to really create affordable housing given other issues related to getting the materials and those kind of things.

[00:41:02] I was curious if you could speak on that. Yeah, I mean, that's a great question because inherently it doesn't reduce the cost of development, right? I mean, the materials still cost what they cost. The thinking is that certainly those would be homes that would not be at your typical price points that you're seeing now in some of the larger lots.

[00:41:21] And not only that, it's the 3,000 square feet and it's the 10 units per acre. So enabling them to take advantage of the increased density and economies of scale would theoretically help reduce some of the price points. Now, obviously, there still has to be a willingness on the on the development side.

[00:41:38] But, yeah, I don't think it's a silver bullet. So I definitely agree with you and have voiced some concern about the HUD funding coming through. Have you heard anything in your organization as far as because I know that HUD just fired like 50 people last week.

[00:42:00] So, again, is this, have you heard anything about the funding for those grants? We hear it in bits and pieces. I think some of the most recent notices that we've heard, some reductions in staff at the Richmond Field Office for HUD, which are really the point people for a lot of our nonprofits who have grants that need administration.

[00:42:21] And I think that the challenge there is that they'll tell you when someone goes on vacation at that office. It significantly delays their ability to, you know, administer that grant. And so if those individuals aren't there, I think there's just concerns on the ease at which they'd be able to draw down some of that funding. And then I think from the standpoint of, you know, funding that's been allocated for developments, what happens if some of that is paused or tied up and they're not able to close on their financing? And does this delay deals that are three, four years out to being even further out? So that's what we're still trying to make sense of with

[00:42:56] some of our partners. And looking at the numbers that you put, especially in the increased assessed values of houses or market value of houses, right? So some people understand it, some people don't, but it's market driven, right? So you look at the numbers that Weldon Cooper is showing between the last census data right now and in 2025, we've seen almost 30,000 plus people move into Chesterfield County. We have had, the reason they could move here, because we actually had units available for them to move to. If they didn't, if we didn't have new construction or apartments going up or townhomes going up, they wouldn't be able to move here. So, I mean, I think

[00:43:35] our challenge here for us is being able to maintain our infrastructure along with the new development, which has always been a challenge here, trying to make sure that we have the schools, which we're now finally building, road improvements, all of that. We actually approved a small house product and that development they walked away from it actually and of course you know part of it is you look at this as land cost when when the developer has to come in and buy the land and then how much is it going to cost put utilities in to put water in to put sewer in to put roads

[00:44:10] and all of that which it makes it very challenging for us to to get the price point down and even if we did it's still market driven which means if you build a thousand square foot house and someone's still willing to pay $300,000 for it, they're going to pay $300,000 for it. So I appreciate your presentation, and I'm glad that we shared this with the whole Richmond region, because this is a bigger problem, and it's not just here. It's all across the United States right now.

[00:44:35] There are housing problems everywhere. And the reason I wanted to say this is because a lot of people who may be watching this don't understand. They think that the county assesses the value, and therefore it goes through the roof, and it's our fault. Our assessments are based on market, on what the actual product sells for and actually we assess below market when we do our stuff so thank you for being here because it's important to have someone like yourself come here and explain these things so the community can see it and clarify what actually drives some of this and i will just say um you know i think on the supply side just it will vary locality to locality i

[00:45:12] think we um were presenting to henrico recently and i think they only have around 2.6 months of supply. It just means if development completely stopped, that's how long it would take to sell all the homes in the market. And typically, you want around six months of supply, and that hasn't happened there since 2012. So that's going to continue to drive.

[00:45:32] That supply is based on demand. So, I mean, right now, for example, if the market dries up, where people, you know, which we did see it slow down a little bit because of the increases in loan rates, but it's really about the demand. So we've seen a short window here because we've had so many people wanting to move here. That window could shift the other way if people stopped buying houses.

[00:45:54] Certainly. And I think, and I'll just speak from our nonprofit partner's standpoint, and I know we probably have to keep moving, but the challenges that they're facing right now with a lot of the clients they're working with who are receiving down payment assistance, closing cost assistance, if you will, they get out there and there's just no product for them. And, you know, it's great to have that assistance, but if they can't be competitive with all cash buyers or investors that makes it much more challenging.

[00:46:23] Yeah, thank you, Mr. Chairman. Yeah, you know, you point out some very interesting issues that I've seen for many years. My colleagues and I have discussed the possibility of waiving fees, of doing everything the county can do to help with, but we don't control the market in that respect, nor do we control developers and how they perceive and handle products.

[00:46:46] We've had many discussions in that area. What I'm hoping for, because this is somewhat of a crisis, is a comprehensive strategy, state, federal, that can work toward this problem. No one county, I believe, can solve it wholly, but rather in a comprehensive way, looking at it together, we can work toward a solution out of this crisis, if you will.

[00:47:09] You may recall the housing crisis that we experienced during the last Great Recession. We had way too many houses, foreclosures and the like. And so, again, thanks for the information, but I believe that we have to do it comprehensively.

[00:47:25] Thank you for your presentation. And you mentioned something that we're dealing with now within RANCO and that, you know, the regulatory environment we are is that it's voluntary. There's nothing compelling the development or building community to do this work. And if there are going to be fee waivers, I think the condition we've had with a lot of them through that program is there needs to be a dollar-for-dollar reduction and the price point passed on to the buyer.

[00:47:50] And so if, you know, that's something that you all would be considering, I think that would be a key requirement that would need to be in place. Well, I mean, the way we worked that out, Mr. Chair, is with the Value Worker Land Trust, with what we do at Ettrick Landing, which we all featured in your presentation, and that was a unique situation where we were able to donate the county land and then work with other grant programs to supplement what the cost would be.

[00:48:14] Now, that's the first of its kind in the United States, and it's only 10 houses. a much bigger challenge if you decide now we want to do 50 or do 100. Trying to find funds to actually offset all that is more challenging. And you really, as Mr. Holland said, you have to get a builder, a developer who's going to agree to a price point up front. I know we're running a little bit long, but I do have a few questions and comments. The affordable house definition, when people hear that, many people think different things. I think you touched on it

[00:48:49] to a certain point, can you afford your rent or your mortgage with 30% or less of your income being used to pay that amount? And I think it's important for citizens to hear that that's what we're talking about. Because affordable, if you make $65,000, $70,000 a year, that's still, I don't remember what the exact number is on that, but finding a unit that will allow you to move in is still difficult.

[00:49:22] So it's not like we're talking about people that are making $10,000 a year that have no real income. We're talking about people at all levels in all types of positions, including our law enforcement, our teachers, our nurses, our bankers.

[00:49:39] I mean, really, we're talking about a large swath of the community. So I just think it's important for people to hear that when we use the term affordable. The growth rate, I would just say that I believe your one slide, you showed like 26,000 in one year.

[00:49:56] And I believe that's from 2020 to 2024, not in one year. Because our actual growth rate is approximately 2%, which I know would probably surprise many people in the county. because when I ask them how fast they think we're growing, they think we're growing at anywhere from 10% to 20%, and we're really growing at about 2%.

[00:50:16] So I think it's important for people to know that 2% of 380,000 is a higher number than 2% of 200,000, but it's still a healthy growth rate. So we need to keep that in mind because if you're not growing at all, then you have lots of problems.

[00:50:34] We've seen that in other jurisdictions. And to Mr. Carroll's point, home values are going up because we still have a high demand. To your point, we don't have a parity in seller and buyer situation.

[00:50:49] It's still leaning towards the seller's market. That's why the home price, the home values are going up so much. That's why assessments have gone up so much over the last few years. And as far as assessments go, the county doesn't get to choose.

[00:51:06] We have a method that's prescribed by the state that we have to use. So to Mr. Carroll's point, that's why assessments come in where they do because that's based on the actual market rate, not what you paid for it, even if you bought your house 35 years ago. And we do have some people in the county that did and are in a tough spot because their costs for insurance and taxes are higher than they paid for their mortgage until they paid their mortgage off.

[00:51:33] So all of that does have to be taken into consideration when we make our policy on the Board of Supervisors. Thank you again for coming out and sharing. Thank you. B, Chesterfield Health District Community Health Improvement Plan Survey, Dr. Samuel.

[00:52:08] Dr. Casey, members of the Board of Supervisors, I'm Dr. Alex Samuel. I'm the Health Director of the Chesterfield Health District, part of the Virginia Department of Health.

[00:52:26] And I am very proud to be here today to be able to introduce two of my colleagues who are accompanying me. Janice Smith, our Chesterfield Health District Population Health Manager, and Jesse Brennan, our Health District Population Health Coordinator, who are about to present the culmination of two years of very hard work that they have led in collaboration with many community partners.

[00:52:50] Phase one was data collection and review to determine priority health needs in this county. and we shared that information about a year ago. Today, we'll be sharing phase two, which is working with community partners to develop a plan to address these needs. So I'll turn it over to Jenna. All right. Thanks, everybody. Good to see you all again. So as Dr. Samuel mentioned, we started this about two years ago in 2023 with a community health assessment. Our community health assessment is the data collection phase, where we evaluate the health conditions of a community,

[00:53:27] and we get direct feedback from our community residents. The community health phase and the data that we use is secondary data, so that's data that's available publicly through many different sources. In addition, we also work individually with community residents to get a granular level view and lens of what the needs are as the residents say that they are.

[00:53:51] The results of our community health assessment, we did 21 individual interviews with residents. We conducted or held focus groups with 83 participants, and we collected over 2,000 surveys of our specific Chesterfield residents.

[00:54:07] So we coupled this data with that publicly sourced data that we're able to pull. So what that looks like on a heat map, you've seen this before. This is not the first time this group has seen this map, but this is where the surveys were collected. You can see it's quite heavy on the Route 1 corridor and the North Chesterfield 150 corridor as well.

[00:54:25] We had focus group participants from the entire county. We had survey participants from all over the county. This is just where the volume of those surveys came from. So as Dr. Samuel mentioned, we took this data and we provided an analysis and identified themes that came from the data.

[00:54:46] And so we identified three themes. The first one was access to care, and this is access to health care. And you can see on the barometers, if you will, some of the statistics that came out from our secondary data sources around how Chesterfield relates or correlates with the Commonwealth averages as well. So we had a working group of the improvement planning process that helped really specifically hone in on access to care and how can we make changes in progress and suggested strategies to improve access to care based on what citizens were saying. And so you

[00:55:22] can see a list in the navy blue box there of some of the participants that helped us with that, some of the organizations. The second theme that we identified was mental health and access to mental health. So again, you can see some comparison statistics there available through secondary data. Again, this is not new information for this group as we've talked about it in different settings. And so working with our small group, our working group, and you can see the county was well represented in all of these groups, but you can see the organizations that participated in this conversation to develop strategies. And then the final priority issue that was pulled out of the analysis of the data

[00:56:01] was the knowledge of resources. And what was recognized is there's a lot of resources in the county are accessible to the residents, but people are unclear on how to access those resources, where to go to get those resources, the eligibility of those resources, the language access of those, right? The list keeps going and going and going, right?

[00:56:18] And so a group that was really specifically working towards coming up with strategies to help make that easier and facilitate access for county residents. So the CHIP process took us about a year. We spent all of 24 working on that. Those small groups, those organizations, over 20 organizations represented. The county had multiple departments and agencies represented in the work as well.

[00:56:44] But you can see our timeline there. We had, this was the large group meetings. We had small group meetings where groups convened to develop and debate, honestly, strategies and objectives on how to get after the different activities so these are the things that were that the group could commit to based on the scope of that working group the chesterfield excuse me community health improvement plan chip that's what those letters mean and so these are the goals that were identified as it relates to access to care and mental health there's a lot of crossover so combining these two groups and the strategies made sense after working in those

[00:57:23] small groups. And so you can see improving our workforce or increasing our workforce access, increasing access to preventative services, increasing awareness of community health disparities and the impact, and we've done some of that already, integrating behavioral health and primary care services together, linking those pieces together. And then you can see strategies for each one of those goals that the groups, the small groups came up with. As it relates to knowledge of resources this was a pretty simple goal is just to increase the awareness and improve the equitable access to the different um to different tools and resources that are already

[00:58:02] available and then some strategies that help support that so with that i'm going to turn it so so as i mentioned before i turn it over to jesse is um these goals and strategies were identified within the scope of who was participating in those working groups um so some of those limitations include staffing capacities at their organization, financial capacity or financial influence within their organization, the scope of what organizations are able to do as it is and as it stands, and then just the overall influence of the participant of that group and what they were

[00:58:39] able to do on behalf of their organization. I'll turn it over to Jessie. So as Jana mentioned, And the CHIP process does have its limitations as far as the breadth and depth of change that is within the power of the individual participants in all of these committees.

[00:59:04] In public health, upstream, downstream, and midstream refer to levels of intervention and the impact, the potential impact on the community. So downstream interventions help people manage existing conditions.

[00:59:20] People are already sick, we can help them manage their conditions with a downstream intervention. A midstream intervention helps mitigate the risks of people developing illnesses. And an upstream intervention can prevent health problems from occurring. So the CHIP committee, you know, in its limitations really was able to churn out some solid downstream and midstream strategies.

[00:59:47] However, throughout the process, committee members named and came up with a number of upstream interventions that they believe should be brought to local government leaders such as yourselves. And these upstream interventions are policy level change, systems level change, and it's change to the physical environment that can contribute to better health outcomes for the community. So I'm going to present the four recommendations that the CHIP committee has

[01:00:21] for the board and for local government leaders. I'm having trouble advancing. Oh, there we go. Okay. The first recommendation that the CHIP committee had was to increase the number of safety net clinics offering services to socially vulnerable and low-income community members in Chesterfield. Safety net clinics benefit communities by providing affordable primary health care services to underserved populations. Based on the data that we had

[01:00:58] available to us, we identified two specific zip codes that would really benefit from the presence of a safety net clinic, and that's zip codes 23234 and 23237, and for these reasons. So across these two zip codes, there are approximately 9,700 uninsured adults. There are some neighborhoods in these zip codes that have upwards of 20% of adults lacking health insurance. That's one in five people without health insurance. This, considered alongside the higher than average

[01:01:35] rates of poverty in these areas, indicate a significant need for free and reduced price public health care services, such as those offered by a safety net health care clinic. During the 2023 community health assessment, which is where a lot of this data was derived from, we had 450 approximate people in these two zip codes give us their input through the survey, and the numbers to the top two barriers to care were a lack of health insurance and an inability to cover costs associated with care.

[01:02:11] So there really is a significant need in these two communities. We see the impacts of this lack of care through the health outcomes. So census tracts in these zip codes have the highest rates of heart disease, diabetes, and stroke, and the lowest rates of dental checkups and preventive health screenings.

[01:02:32] And so the CHIP committee recommends that Chesterfield County consider incentivizing the expansion of existing safety net health care systems into the identified communities through real estate transactions, programmatic support, or ongoing operational assistance.

[01:02:52] Another recommendation from the group is related to mental health, and the recommendation is to increase free early education opportunities like Head Start in select communities. Head Start is an evidence-based program.

[01:03:11] It's proven to reduce poverty rates within participants, reduce incarceration rates for participants. It improves the educational attainment of participants. and it's also linked to significantly improved mental health outcomes for participants.

[01:03:27] The community identified that would most benefit from this is zip code 23237. If you're looking at the map, you can see a comparison between this zip code and zip code 23114 in Midlothian.

[01:03:46] So we see in 23237 that approximately 18% of children aged three to four are enrolled in school. So that's preschool-aged kids who are actually enrolled in preschool is 18%, compared to Midlothian that has a significantly higher rate of closure to 63%.

[01:04:07] In this zip code, there are 839 preschool-aged children, 686 of which are not enrolled in preschool. So while there are other areas that would also benefit from improved preschool enrollment rates, the census tracts within this zip code also have the highest rates of poverty, the lowest percentage of high school graduates, and the highest rate of reported mental distress, all outcomes which are proven to be improved for Head Start program participants.

[01:04:37] So the CHIP committee recommends that we initiate targeted outreach to the identified community, so expanding outreach to the community using bilingual school representatives who will be able to share information about the availability of the program, make information and enrollment forms more visible to community members, and increase seats in Head Start programs.

[01:05:05] The third recommendation from the CHIP committee is that we maintain stable housing with eviction prevention strategies. We know that housing impacts health by providing a safe and stable living environment. Stable housing can lead to improved physical and mental well-being through reduced stress, better access to health care, healthier lifestyle choices, and the list goes on and on. Housing was really a big issue that came to the surface over and over in our

[01:05:40] conversations with the CHIP committees. The community of opportunity is zip code 23234 specifically. Chesterfield County ranks fifth in the state for eviction filings. And of the top 10 highest evictors, Chesterfield has the lowest poverty rate. So a situation where a community has high rates of poverty, or I'm sorry, low rates of poverty, but high rates of eviction most commonly occurs because of high housing costs relative to income levels.

[01:06:13] Because the apartment complexes that initiated the most evictions in 2024 are both located in zip code 23234 in the Dale District, residents of this district would be more likely to feel the impact of eviction protections. I'm sorry. According to the RVA Eviction Lab, the estimated costs of responding to eviction from providing health care, emergency shelter, foster care, and juvenile detention for Chesterfield County ranges from approximately $20 million to $53

[01:06:47] million annually. And the CHIP committee suggests that spending the money on the front end would save money in the long term. So the suggested strategies are protecting against displacement through mandating eviction mediation, increasing emergency rental and mortgage assistance to the Department of Social Services, and implementing civil right to counsel in eviction hearings.

[01:07:17] The final recommendation that came out of the CHIP committee was a recommendation to standardize social needs assessment and referral processes across local government and community stakeholders. There are a lot of people living in Chesterfield County. There are a lot of really great county departments and organizations that offer services to these people. But there is a lack of data sharing, a lack of collaboration. There are many different eligibility requirements

[01:07:55] and systems that community members are required to navigate. And so the CHIP committee recommend And that we integrate standard social determinants of health assessments into the workflow of key public-facing positions across government and non-profits.

[01:08:15] So that means we're all asking the same information about social needs, and we're sharing that information with each other, and that we work together to adopt a common referral platform.

[01:08:31] So we're asking about the same social needs, and we're using the same platform to refer residents to the much-needed services that they need. That wraps up the recommendations from the CHIP committee, and we can open it up to the group for questions. Board members, questions or comments? Thank you, Mr. Chair. Thank you for your presentation and all your work over the last year. I think that your comments are right on target. When I was running for office initially,

[01:09:09] A mentor of mine, Dan Gecker, asked me the question, if in the event you're in a situation where you have to make a decision what's best for Midlothian or what's best for Chesterfield, which one do you choose? And I can tell you I answered incorrectly. I said Midlothian, where the answer is Chesterfield, because where Chesterfield goes, so goes Midlothian and the rest of the districts, period.

[01:09:33] So I think that folks that are in the 23114 area code or the 23113 area code sometimes forget how diverse we are as a community. And as a result, when 68% of those folks are in three to four years old and they're already in school, where you have 18% that are not in school, it's because of a lack of resources and how we have the responsibility to be paying attention to the entire county and what's best for the whole county.

[01:10:07] There are some folks that will say, like what Javon just said a second ago, our assessments have gone up so much. And as a result, it has gotten hard to pay our real estate taxes and all that kind of stuff. But where I'm looking at it from is what's best for the whole county because it's either pay me now or pay me later.

[01:10:26] But you're going to get paid as far as how important it is to take care of our entire county. So I appreciated that example, particularly just because I know Midlothian, how Midlothian is, how diverse they are, how diverse we are.

[01:10:42] And as a result, we need to be paying attention to all. So thank you for all your hard work. So I just recently was at a town hall with Deborah Gardner a couple weekends ago, and we had some daycare providers there.

[01:11:00] and they were talking about how they want to set up an appointment with me because their Head Start slots are being canceled because they're not going to be funded. And so they said that they already on their waiting list had openings only because they were, for people, they could only have so many Head Start slots.

[01:11:22] And so they could help more kids, but the kids that need the help aren't getting it because there aren't enough slots allowed for Head Start. Um, and they also mentioned that in Dale district, there was only two daycare center or pre, you know, preschool centers. And that's just, again, so that's the area that needs it the most. And those, and, and so again, I think there's some kind of correlation also with our schools and how, um, our schools do not allow, or do not appoint teachers when they come, they allow teachers to go to what districts they want to go to.

[01:11:59] I've had some conversations with some of the school board members about, you know, so if you had a choice of teaching at James River or down in your district at one of your high schools, they're going to choose to go to James River. And so the kids that need the most help are not getting it because those teachers, they try to incentivize them to go to those other districts that are not getting funded as well.

[01:12:26] But again, it's just so frustrating because if we have teachers, we should make them go where we instead of giving them the option because they're always going to choose the option of the lesser. And so I just think that we need to try to prioritize how we do those things and getting more early education centers here in the county.

[01:12:48] So that's I hear what you're saying. And it's also great to see the correlation of what Javon was just talking about and what you guys are talking about and how important it is to keep people from getting evicted and the stability needs of those kids also of getting evicted and then not having that stable household that helps them thrive when they're already underwater.

[01:13:13] So yeah, thank you so much. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I'm compelled to speak since you brought up my district naturally. Okay. Anyway, a number of fronts here. We're talking about health outcomes, diabetes, stroke, heart disease, et cetera, access to affordable care clinics, which will be a way to ameliorate that issue.

[01:13:40] We've talked about having a preschool here in this area. I think Dr. Case and the superintendent and I have spoken about having a preschool. We're in the process of building a new day-old elementary school, which will alleviate the pressures.

[01:13:56] We have a lot of pressures, probably more than most other districts in terms of education. And so building a new school, in addition to a Head Start program, similar to what we've already done, and those certainly need to be done. So there's a number of different fronts that your recommendations suggest that we should consider.

[01:14:15] But, you know, it's a situation that's fluid. It's not stagnant. In other words, and we need to work toward that because people move in, people move out, but still there are needs. And so no doubt about it, when you look at, as we talked about, the entire county, that's how we try to look at everything from a capital program, schools, building capital program, as well as health outcomes as well.

[01:14:44] And so when you look at, for example, just a few years ago, Bonsecure built this new facility on Route 1 in the Bermuda District. I mean, this was like a health desert. This area, right where we are, the county is a health desert. And that's why we've asked VCU to come in and to plant a site here. And so, you know, those are things that are in play and will hopefully continue. And I don't know if you have anything to add on to that, Dr. Casey, regarding the educational outcomes, but it all starts with prevention. It all starts with

[01:15:18] prevention, and that starts with early childhood, as you well know, so definitely. I know two or three years ago, I had Dr. Wurzer, the commissioner, study on daycare for this entire county, and they came back and looked throughout the state about daycare, and we didn't see a significant need for daycare in my district. I had one grandmother who needed daycare, but only one, and so we looked at that two or three years ago as to what daycare options do we need, but it's a multi-faceted approach to not just Chesterfield, but other providers complementing us and providing that.

[01:15:56] I did just want to add to Mr. Holland, we do have CECLA already in place, and we have been looking to add another CECLA-type facility in the Dale District that would also be able to serve some of the students that are along the route one corridor that wouldn't be too far from there as well. So we do have that in the works. We just, quite frankly, one of the hardest things to do is

[01:16:31] to find the location that you can do it at, let alone being able to get the capital investment in for the building, but having the location in the first place. Quite frankly, as Mr. Holland alluded too we are looking for a location for the dale new dale elementary school that we need to put in place very badly and that has been just as challenging so we are looking at both of those things which will help students in both of those in all of those areas i think it's important for

[01:17:03] people to know that we are aware of it and we are working on it thank you thank you all for coming oh go ahead i was just gonna um we're gonna distribute our our full report so this was a summary of our report. So you can add this to the binders that you already have and the other data that you have. But yeah, you'll see the report there. Thank you. I was just going to say that we had a program in Ettrick and the problem was we had put funds towards it. We couldn't keep someone staffed to actually run the pre-K program. And then we lost the ability to run it in the

[01:17:39] Ettrick Elementary School because it was not a state certified organization that was actually running. It was a great organization, nevertheless, concerns of Ettrick, but we couldn't keep staffing, and it wasn't certified, so we couldn't actually run it out of the schools. So again, the challenge is we're still trying to work on something down in Ettrick to try and deal with this issue. So thanks. Thank you for your time. C, Registrar's Office Update, Ms. Vera.

[01:18:24] Good afternoon, Dr. Casey, Mr. Chair, members of the board. Thank you for this time to speak about the proposed precinct changes. I have Leslie Foreman join me.

[01:18:41] She is the Elections Manager. Before I go into the specifics of the precinct changes, I want to speak on how we plan to inform the public once we receive all the approvals to go forward.

[01:18:56] So we anticipate notifications going out late April via the website updates, public notification, on-site signage at the precincts, and voter cards to be mailed to all residents involved with the precinct changes. Thank you to GIS, EGov, and Communications and Media for the assistance in helping us to spread the word.

[01:19:20] Also, a quick shout-out and thank you to Megan Malik for these wonderful maps that she created for us. So here we see a map of the relocation for Precinct 205 and 220 moving from Bensley Elementary School to the newly constructed Falling Creek Middle School, which is a long time coming, so we're glad to move it to that school.

[01:19:47] Due to the remodeling of La Prad Library, Precinct 405 must be relocated. The Lutheran Church of Our Savior has agreed to host the precinct for the June primary held on June 17. Remodeling of the large meeting room is expected to be complete prior to the November 4 general election, So the plan is to return the polling place to La Prad Library for the general election in time for early voting beginning October 20th.

[01:20:17] In case you're wondering, what about early voting during the June primary, since La Prad also serves as an early voting satellite location? Well, Central Library will be open for early voting for the June primary beginning May 2nd.

[01:20:33] Additional satellite locations will not be open for the June primary. We suggest moving 408 reams out of North Courthouse Road Library. North Courthouse currently hosts two voting precincts while simultaneously providing excellent customer service to their library patrons.

[01:20:56] So moving one precinct reams out of the library will relieve congestion within the building and in the parking lot. Plus, as you see on the map, the library is well outside the precinct boundary, Whereas the proposed new location, St. David's Episcopal Church, is 0.4 miles outside the precinct boundary.

[01:21:18] Forest View Rescue Squad hosted Precinct 513 for many years and sadly no longer wishes to serve as a polling location. They have certainly been a great partner to have and wonderful to work with each location. We propose relocating this precinct to Stonebridge Recreation Center.

[01:21:38] Leslie and I met with Whitney Curtis, the Executive Director of Richmond Volleyball Club, Luther Neal, Director of Parks and Rec, and Kimberly Graves, Recreation Center Supervisor, to discuss the logistics. They graciously agreed to allow us use of the entire building, so voters will enter through the front door and voting will be set up in that large volleyball court area.

[01:22:03] And Stonebridge Rec is .36 miles from the boundary of Precinct 513. Lastly, Precinct 515 must be relocated due to the construction of A.M. Davis Elementary School. We plan to co-locate Precinct 515 with Precinct 513 at Stonebridge Recreation Center.

[01:22:23] Since voting can be set up on that volleyball court, we can divide the room to create separate voting areas for each precinct. And Stonebridge is within the 515 Davis precinct boundary. So thank you for considering the proposed precinct changes, which would take effect for the June primary election.

[01:22:47] Open it up to any questions you may have. Board members, any questions or comments? So why was it Reams originally at Reams Road? I mean, Reams Road, the school is out of the district also.

[01:23:04] So, I mean. Yes, the school is out of the district. Reams was named Reams well before my time, and it was at the school. I don't know why it was the precinct boundaries could have changed, but it used to be, yeah, at the elementary school.

[01:23:25] Okay, huh, yeah, because there's really nothing other, I mean, there's no other larger facilities there in that district at all. And Leslie and I did our due diligence scouring the map. We reached out to several locations and we received responses, and this location agreed to host us.

[01:23:47] And we always want to be where we're welcome. Yeah, absolutely. Absolutely. Thank you. Yes, you're welcome. I understand the need, and I understand why we're going there. And I know we've had some churches that have been great partners over the years, but I do have a concern, and I'm sure you're aware of it, wherever we can relocate to another county facility versus a facility that, If there was a change in the pastor, priest, preacher, imam, whatever facility it was,

[01:24:24] they may decide no longer to host voting. So I just want to put the caution out. The one that we're doing for at one time, that doesn't bother me at all. We know that we're going to be okay, and that's not going to change in the next couple months.

[01:24:40] But for long-term voting sites, as much as we value the partnerships we've had with churches, including Mr. Hollins, which has been a great partner over the years, I just have a concern that going forward we need to try to be in county facilities.

[01:24:56] You're absolutely correct. And we do prefer to be in a county-owned building. So did you have anything to add? And, Mr. Ingle, I could just add, too, you know, even with the A.M. Davis, you know, that's because of the construction. So, maybe when we come back to you, you know, it goes without saying Reams.

[01:25:16] You know, if you're in the Reams precinct, you may think to go to Reams Elementary School. So, you could have that confusion. And we'll try and work with the Registrar's Office and our school, those are county-owned buildings. So, just for that clarification, and work with the Clover Hill District Rep, of course.

[01:25:32] But ideally, when we come back with A.M. Davis, we may also come back with Reams Elementary. It could be a goal. Reams Elementary School, just one more thing, is outside the one-mile precinct boundary. So we would request a waiver to be outside that boundary.

[01:25:48] And if there is a location within the boundary, within one-mile of the precinct boundary, we are required to be at that location. It's only if we cannot find a location within that boundary.

[01:26:05] Is it possible maybe to co-locate at AM Davis when they come back maybe for both of those districts? Because I know it's right across the street from, I mean, part of the district of Reams is right across from there. I'm just asking because the school is going to be bigger. So maybe that might be a, yeah.

[01:26:23] That's certainly something we can look at. Sure. Right. It's on Reams Road. It's on Rooms Road, right? Did you have anything you wanted to add?

[01:26:47] One question. When will you start working with the schools to do this? Oh, for the relocation? Yeah, for relocation. When will you start working with them? Because the issue has been that they will not close schools and there will be challenges, and so we want to work through that.

[01:27:08] Sure. We are in touch with Mr. John Thuma. And schools will certainly be closed to students. Now, that doesn't mean that teachers won't be there doing work days and work sessions, but we certainly have a partnership with the schools and will hope that they would limit the number of people that have access to the schools on Election Day.

[01:27:33] And as far as moving to the new Fallen Creek Middle School, since that's a new location for us, We'll be meeting with the principal there to determine the best place to place those two precincts as far as ease of access for the voters and all the things that we require for them as well.

[01:27:52] So that's also something that we're going to need to do for that transition. Thank you. One more point, Mr. Chairman. Also in terms of lighting, because it's late evenings when people are voting, and also access, people can see. and because we have a lot of seniors who access those buildings.

[01:28:10] And so I think that's critically important to have adequate lighting and signage. And so where to go so that they can know where to go because it's going to be new for many of them. Absolutely, yes. And just a reminder to our seniors that if they need to, they can vote curbside so they don't even have to get out of their car.

[01:28:27] That's right, and curbside voting is increasing. It's getting more popular, so thank you for saying that. I was just going to say that prior to each election, we do send something to each location, whether it be a community or a school, with what our expectations are of them and what they can expect from us, because it is definitely a partnership.

[01:28:49] And one of the things that is listed there and called out to your point, Mr. Holland, is the lighting. Because there have been times when we have gone from daylight savings to standard time that weekend. If it's automated, we have a problem.

[01:29:05] So that is one thing that we specifically have listed and asked them to be sure that they have followed up to make sure that it's safe for the voters. And we have in the past worked with buildings and grounds to get additional lighting to set up at those challenging areas, especially for new places to be able to see the signage when they get there at 6 o'clock in the morning to be the first one voting.

[01:29:29] So, yes. Thank you very much. Thank you.

[01:29:45] D, Planning Department Update, Mr. Gillies.

[01:30:03] Sorry. It's been a while since I've been sitting up here. Exciting times for the Planning Department this year. We've got a lot of things moving forward in the rest of 2025.

[01:30:24] In addition to the 75 to 100 cases you guys hear every year, the planning department and the planning commission will be bringing forward a number of special planning projects to you all. And we felt that now is a good time to just kind of give you a reminder of what's coming forward in the rest of spring and summer and fall of 2025 So you're not caught off guard and you can prepare accordingly for some of those projects, ask us additional questions and so forth.

[01:30:54] So today is just to kind of go over that kind of quick overview of what we have kind of on the docket for the rest of 25. First of all, we've got four zoning ordinance amendments coming your way in 25.

[01:31:11] We've got the first one being the zoning ordinance modernization, also known as ZOMOD. You guys may be growing tired of hearing about ZOMOD, but we're reaching that final kind of lap of bringing it for adoption and entering into the public engagement period of that.

[01:31:37] It is the biggest project we have going forward right now. this, just so you all know, is the change to Chapter 19. It is replacing all of the existing current ordinance with a new ordinance, which will be 19.2 and will be ZOMOD. So we've been working on it for a number of years, and we're really excited with the progress we've made with it and it is kind of the keystone piece of what we're doing in 2025. Secondly, we have to better

[01:32:12] align with all the work we're doing within ZOMOD, we need to make some adjustments to the subdivision ordinance or chapter 17. That will be so that we can handle some of the parcel and subdivision issues on a more fluid and streamlined method once we get ZOMOD approved. So that is another piece of the puzzle that needs to happen soon around, either at the same time or soon thereafter from the eventual adoption of ZOMOD. And then also the third would be a minor adjustment to

[01:32:49] the utilities ordinance, which is chapters 18. This will also go along with some of the things we have going forward with ZOMOD, particularly the utilities connection requirements. As you guys know, sometimes you have a zoning case that brought before you and you have the zoning aspect of it as to what the use is.

[01:33:11] And then you have kind of the amendment or the exception necessary for Chapter 18 of those utilities. We're combining all that into the ZOMOD so that it's not a two-part approval process. and it also, we think, fits a little more seamlessly within the ZOMOD ordinance.

[01:33:33] And then finally, a fairly minor one, and coming up fairly soon, and probably April to you all, is a minor revision to our existing zoning ordinance. This is to provide a little more sign flexibility for some of our schools and public facilities that may need a second EMC sign or some sort of additional information sign on campus.

[01:34:01] Currently, we've got it limited to just one, and there are opportunities for maybe two with different access points and bus delivery and parental delivery to some of the schools where having an extra sign would be a smart thing to do.

[01:34:18] So we're coming forward with that minor adjustment to the current zoning ordinance in April and not waiting for ZOMOD to get that in place. So those are the four zoning ordinance changes we're moving forward with. Just to dig a little deeper within ZOMOD, we kind of want to share with you kind of our next steps for that project because it's going to be ramping up from now until July and September.

[01:34:48] In March, we will be finishing the draft three of the zone of ZOMOD. We spent a lot of time in 2024 going through draft two and getting everybody's comments and suggestions on what needed to change in from draft two to draft three.

[01:35:10] We will be bringing that out in mid-March. On March 18th at the Planning Commission's work session, we'll be doing a summary of all the major changes from draft two to draft three within ZOMOD and explain that.

[01:35:28] We'll be also releasing that draft three to the general public after that meeting. So we'll have a good part of March and then all of April and May for people to comment on the draft three of ZOMOD.

[01:35:44] And just to give you an idea, in 2024, we spent a lot of time going through draft two. We had eight work sessions with the planning commission. We had seven meetings with the advisory committee during that time.

[01:36:03] And we had nine meetings with the committee of the future and going over the ZOMOD. And I lost count of all the hours staffs worked on trying to make all these amendments. So we have really dug deep to try to make the changes from draft two to draft three.

[01:36:19] We're still anticipating probably a need for a draft four. But, you know, God willing, that'll be maybe the last, the final draft that we have. But we'll see how that goes. In April is kind of where we start really ramping up.

[01:36:35] We'll have six community meetings throughout the county. Each district will have at least one. We're doing two in Matoica because you're so large, and we didn't want to have people having to drive that far to go to a community meeting, so we've kind of split it on both sides of Matoica so that both can go.

[01:36:57] Excuse me? They're just so big. I mean, you just can't cover both. Anyway, at those community meetings, we've spent a lot of time from a staff perspective of trying to figure out the best kind of format to use.

[01:37:17] We're going to have, I don't want to go into too much detail, but we're going to have basically kind of a quick presentation of what ZOMOD has in it and the different districts and so forth. And then we've got a fairly elaborate system of tables and kind of open house where people can go ask specific questions on various topics or chapters within ZOMOD.

[01:37:36] We're going to have over a dozen planning staff members at each of these to help with that. we're also going to have a table set up for individual questions or inquiries of citizens to ask what their conversion would be from the old ordinance to the new ordinance regarding their particular piece of property. We're going to have laptops. We're going to have the ability for just enter an address and show you were zoned R7 before. Now you're going to be SC over here. And so have that type of opportunity to kind of give them a good comparison from a

[01:38:14] staff's level for that. So they'll walk away from that meeting, hopefully having a little more confidence in what is going on and what the change is. And in most cases, it's not going to be much change to their setbacks or their bulk standards or what have you. Everybody's going to be able to fit within the conversion. We've spent a lot of time trying to make sure there isn't going to be a lot of problems in reference to people's existing properties. We are also going to go to six various libraries at regular business hours and have staff members there so that they

[01:38:50] can, people could come in and check out a book, but then also maybe ask questions about ZOMOD and again, have the conversion ability to answer their questions on that at the various libraries. And then we'll move into May.

[01:39:09] May is going to be where we'll continue to get the public input from all the community meetings we've had and assemble all that. And in the same process we've now used for draft one and draft two, we'll have for draft three and trying to see what changes would need to be made based on the comments we're getting in with the portal and at these meetings and so forth.

[01:39:31] All this will be recorded and documented as to how we're handling those type of changes. With the end of May, we'll be closing off kind of comments for draft three and rolling up our sleeves for draft four and what needs to be changed there.

[01:39:47] We're seeing June as being the month where we'll have a very extensive work session at the Planning Commission for ZOMOD and the final draft, hopefully, before going out. uh, into July, which we're hoping, uh, July 15th is going to be kind of our target date for a community, for the, uh, public hearing for, for ZOMOD. And then, um, you know, if, if needed, we're going to have, uh, a work session for you all, uh, again in, in August or 221s or however

[01:40:21] we want to handle maybe that last kind of, uh, look at, uh, um, uh, ZOMOD before we're hoping maybe a september uh plan um public hearing for for zoma that's that's our plan we we we could shift sorry we may shift uh you know a month uh just depending on public input and some of the things that come up but uh we promised you all uh early on that we were going to wrap this thing up in 2025 and i think we're right on track to be able to do that with with what's uh what we have

[01:40:57] proposed. In addition, we've got some other projects going forward, the comp plan amendments. I'll quickly just kind of go through those. We have a fairly simple change, changes to the chapter nine, which is the environmental chapter. And basically that just kind of adds some new data and showcases some of the county stewardship programs in reference to the environment. We didn't have that back in 2019, so we thought that was a good ad to do. We have the Planning Commission

[01:41:34] public hearing on that on the 18th of this month, and then coming to you all most likely in May for that approval of Chapter 9. Then we have Chapter 10, which is our land use chapter within the Comprehensive Plan. Again, going back to ZOMOD and some of the changes that we're proposing within that. It really makes sense to do a bit of alignment and some restructuring of some of the land uses within Chapter 10. We're not going to be changing, you know, really the direction of those land uses, just kind of making sure the language matches up with the new language that

[01:42:12] we have in ZOMOD. So not a change in direction necessarily, but more just kind of making sure that the wording of both the comprehensive plan and the new ZOMOD would make sense. And that would be, we have it estimated at a public hearing at the Planning Commission in August, just after ZOMOD gets approved in July.

[01:42:37] We'll come the next month with Chapter 10 for a public hearing on that. And then you all would hear that later that fall, maybe October or November of 2025. And then finally, we are looking at making some changes to Chapter 13, which is our thoroughfare plan chapter, and basically this is to consider some new recommendations for what to do primarily with the East-West Freeway.

[01:43:02] We have some modeling going on with CDOT and as to some future adjustments that might be needed to be made on that, and we'll be coming back to you with some more suggestions on that, and probably a work session like this for Chapter 13.

[01:43:25] Finally, we have a few smaller projects underway within the kind of long-range planning department. We've got the Northern Route 10 corridor plan within the Dale District. We've got, that's a section from Ridgedale to 288, that kind of midsection of Route 10.

[01:43:49] We've been meeting with Mr. Holland and Dr. Hilton about some of those future changes there. I think that's been going pretty smoothly. We anticipate seeing that maybe having a public hearing in April or May of this year.

[01:44:05] And for the Planning Commission, you all may be in June of 25 for the Route 10 corridor. Then we also have the larger corridor, which is the Eastern 60 corridor, which is shared between Clover Hill and Midlothian.

[01:44:22] This is basically from Chippenham all the way up to the Johnston-Willis Hospital area and looking at some of the adaptive reuses that need to be occurring within that.

[01:44:38] We've had some meetings with Dr. Miller and Ms. Snyder about some of the ideas there. We anticipate seeing that come into a public hearing in fall after we get through ZOMOD and all these other adjustments that are ZOMOD-related coming back with a public hearing for that at the Planning Commission.

[01:44:59] And then depending where all that fits, either kind of late fall or early winter, you would all be seeing that Eastern 60 corridor plan come to your desk. And then finally, once we've completed the Eastern 60-quarter plan, we hope to rev up on the Western 360-quarter plan within Metolica.

[01:45:24] And this would be the section kind of from Fox Club all the way to Skin Quarter. We've met with Mr. Carroll and Mr. Owens about some of the general direction maybe that needs to go. But that one we really haven't really kicked off too much yet. We're trying to make sure we clean our plate before we ask for seconds.

[01:45:43] So with that, I'm happy to answer any other questions you might have, but just hope that gives you a little idea of what's in store for the rest of 25. Board members, any questions or comments? All right, looks like you can get off easy today.

[01:46:03] Thank you for your time. E, proposed FY2026 utilities operating budget and FY2026-2035 capital improvement program. Mr. Harris.

[01:46:25] Mr. Chairman, Mr. Board, today really kicks off your formal presentation of your FY26 budget. You see all the major milestones up here. I won't walk you through those in too much detail, but I think the theme of the day dictated that it was a good time to have utilities in front of you.

[01:46:45] We back in here for your longer work session on the 12th. The highlights of that will be the superintendent will be here to present what is adopted by the school board tomorrow night. So they are set to have that in place by March 1. And then we roll into our community meetings throughout the bulk of March.

[01:47:05] Your public hearing on the 26th of March, normal sequence, and then finally adoption on April the 9th. So we've had some monthly updates up to this point. Those have more sort of been just kind of, you know, what's going on as we go through the process. But today, these are the actual formal components of the county administrator's proposed budget that you'll get, you know, over the course of the next 45 days.

[01:47:27] So with that, I'm happy to turn it over to Mr. Hayes and his staff. Thank you, Matt. Good afternoon, Mr. Chairman, members of the board. Dr. Casey, great to be with you again. It's my honor to present the Department of Utilities fiscal year 26 budget. Presenting with me today is Kathy Sobczak. She heads our finance and administration section. In today's budget presentation, we're going to be reviewing our proposed fiscal year 26 total operating budget, also reviewing our 10-year capital improvement program, as well as review three of our larger, more exciting capital improvement

[01:48:02] projects with you today. And then we're going to turn it over to Kathy, and she's going to go through the proposed fiscal year 26 rates to support our investment and operations and infrastructure to ensure our customers remain in reliable water and wastewater service.

[01:48:20] The fiscal year 26 operating budget sits at $105.1 million, which is an increase of $1 million from the current year. The pie chart on this slide shows you our three categories in our total operating budget, which include operating personnel and capital outlay. On On the personnel budget, that currently sits at 34.1 million dollars, which is a 1.2 million dollar increase from the current year.

[01:48:45] We are requesting one additional position in the Department of Utilities, its Administrative Secretary position in our water distribution section. The idea there was that Administrative Secretary would take some burden off of some of the supervisors so they can focus on their core functions of providing safe and reliable service, as well as meeting the growing customer base and new and ever-changing regulations.

[01:49:06] We also are mirroring the general fund as far as merit increases in this category. The largest component of our total operating budget is the operating at $66.6 million. This represents an $800,000 increase from the current budget.

[01:49:24] The main reason for that increase is increased chemical costs at both our water and wastewater facilities. The operating capital outlay is the smallest component of our total operating budget, but But it is the component that fluctuates greatly from year to year based on the larger equipment and machinery they have that reaches the end of its useful life.

[01:49:47] On the slide, you can see some of the items we have budgeted. We're replacing two dump trucks, also a nutrient analyzer at our state-certified laboratory. And the capital outlay budget actually decreased $1 million this year. So if you take the increases in operations and personnel, that equals a $2 million increase.

[01:50:06] If you look at the decrease of $1 million with the capital outlay, that nets a total increase in the total operating budget of $1 million, which is under a 1 percent request for increase.

[01:50:23] Next, we're going to talk a little bit about our Capital Improvement Program, and the Capital Improvement Program is the largest component of the Department's long-term fiscal activity. These infrastructure costs truly are what drive our rates. It's the pipes, the tanks, all the plants that really would drive utility rates.

[01:50:43] These are funded by revenues, use of reserves, and our revenue bonds. The current 10-year program covers $1.7 billion, with a B, projected investment in our infrastructure. About 46% of our total 10-year CIP is in the categories of pipes, pump stations, tanks, and the contractually required payments to the city of Richmond for the infrastructure that serves Chesterfield County.

[01:51:08] The remaining 54 percent, and this is what caught my eye on this slide, the remaining 54 percent provided needed additional capacity at both our water supply and our wastewater treatment as our existing facilities near their permitted capacity.

[01:51:24] The Department of Utilities has established strong financial policies to ensure adequate funding to meet future infrastructure expansion, replacement, and maintenance needs. Mr. Holland made a comment on the last presentation about our bond rating. Mr. Holland, you'll be happy to know we checked as of this month.

[01:51:41] We are one of only nine water and wastewater utilities in the nation. One of nine utilities in the nation that are water and wastewater that have a triple AAA bond rating. So the group continues to get smaller, which makes us even more proud of that accomplishment.

[01:51:59] This year, I briefly wanted to take you some of our more exciting, larger projects that we have planned for the county. The first is the Appomattox River Water Project, which is our fourth water supply. We also wanted to touch a little bit on the Addison-Evans Water Treatment and Plant floodwall, as well as plans we have to expand the wastewater treatment capacity at our Proctor's Creek Wastewater Treatment Plant.

[01:52:23] First, we're going to touch on the Appomattox River Water Plant Project. As you know, currently the county is extremely fortunate to get its drinking water from three sources. Those three sources are shown on this slide with the blue dots.

[01:52:39] In the north, we have the James River. In the middle of the county, we have the Swift Creek Reservoir. And to the south, we have Lake Chesden. As we continue to grow and expand our customer base, we must plan to meet our customers' future needs with new supplies.

[01:52:56] The Appomattox River Water Treatment Plant will be the Chesapeake's fourth safe and reliable water supply. Diversifying our water supplies provides redundancy, reduced pumping costs, and also improves reliability. On this slide, the fourth water supply is shown with the gold star.

[01:53:14] Something that is unique about this water supply is it's going to be located in the tidal portion of the Appomattox River, which will be extremely drought tolerant. That portion of the river rises and falls with the tide, regardless of rainfall.

[01:53:30] On this slide, we zoom in a little bit so you can kind of see where the project is. And you can see to the right side of the slide is our Royal Water Pump Station area, the property we purchased.

[01:53:46] And to the left in red is the water treatment plant site. They're connected by two and a half miles of a Royal Water transmission line that we're going to install. The intake site is a 33-acre property located on the Tidal Appomattox. It's just west of 295, where 295 crosses the bridge, and it's just east of historic Point Rocks Park.

[01:54:06] The treatment plant site is an 89-acre site, and it's located in Ashton Creek Industrial Park. That industrial park is already zoned I-2, which is appropriate for zoning for a water treatment plant. To give you an update to the board, we have obtained our Virginia Marine Resource Commission permit to construct a 40 million gallon per day intake in the Tidal Appomattox River with screening facilities that are protective of both environment and the fisheries.

[01:54:33] We also have obtained our DEQ Virginia Water Protection Permit. Those permit our 15-year cycles. In the first 15-year cycle, we've been permitted to withdraw 29.8 million gallons a day. We have entered into a contract with Black & Veatch, which is a nationally recognized engineering firm for the design of the new treatment plant.

[01:54:55] These are some renderings of the conceptual footprint of the first phase of the water treatment plant, as well as the Royal Water Pumping Station. We anticipate it will take about, we just started on design, but it will take about three years to design the facility and about five years to construct the facility. The current schedule has the fourth water supply online producing water in the year 2033.

[01:55:17] And that's first phase of the project would be a 40 million gallon per day withdrawal from the river. The first sizing of the treatment plant would be 20 million gallons a day with a price tag of $426 million just for that first phase. I'm actually going to go back to this slide because I also understand that the board has received some questions on this supply, especially since it's located in a tidal portion of the river. And some of our customers have asked, are we concerned about salinity in this portion of the river? And just like our customers take water quality very seriously,

[01:55:53] so do we. As part of the permitting process for the Appomattox Water Treatment Plant, The Department of Utilities contracted with the Virginia Marine Institute of Science to conduct a very sophisticated fine-resolution particle tracking model that was completed in March 2022 as part of our application process for this plan.

[01:56:16] It included reviewing the current and future salinity concerns in this area. The report is available to anybody that wants it. The constituent that questioned it, I had forwarded the report to the board members so they could forward that to the constituent. The model simulates an extended drought for more than one month in the summer, which is a worst-case scenario.

[01:56:35] And in this worst-case scenario, salinity with and without the withdrawal was first observed well downstream from where we're planning our treatment plant. It was actually where the Chickahominy River confluences with the James. The model also concluded that our peak withdrawal had negative impact on the salinity for the entire James River.

[01:56:56] The amount of water we're pulling out is insignificant to the amount of water that's going down the river. In addition to the above study, our consultant has reviewed the historic raw water quality data from the existing Virginia American Water Treatment Plant that is currently downstream and has been operating for decades to ensure that we design the plant correctly to meet our needs.

[01:57:18] In addition, we are planning to perform a year-long water quality sampling effort to ensure that the design of our treatment systems meet the daily and seasonal changes of the water quality in the river, in this portion of the river. These models that we're doing are extremely sophisticated, and they're also not inexpensive.

[01:57:37] That VIM study we did, I think, was about $125,000. The year-long study we're going to do is going to have a price tag of around $5 million. So, again, just like our customers, we take water quality very seriously, and we want to make sure that we design a proper plant to meet the rural water conditions.

[01:57:57] The next project I'd like to highlight is the Addison-Evans Water Treatment Plant Floodwall Project. As those of you know, Addison-Evans was built some time ago in 1967, and it was actually constructed at the lowest point around the reservoir. It was actually constructed in a floodplain before the floodplain was even definition.

[01:58:15] It wasn't defined yet. And the plant has experienced flooding as early as two years after construction. And as this board knows, over the years, we've had some serious flooding at that facility. The facility is extremely important to the county and utilities. It is a 12 million gallon per day conventional treatment plant that supplies about 15% of the county's water or serves a population of about 50,000.

[01:58:39] So, again, a very important component of our infrastructure. The floodwalk will consist of constructing a 1,500-foot flood wall around the plant to protect the plant and the reservoir as a long-term water supply for Chesterfield County. The wall that we're constructing is actually 5 to 18 feet tall, depending on the topography of the land.

[01:59:00] But because the treatment plant is in the bottom of the bowl, the top elevation of the wall will only be 18 inches above the normal pool elevation of the reservoir. Therefore, we don't see any viewshed issues. We also have designed the wall to be two foot higher than any historic flood at that facility.

[01:59:19] Design is currently complete, and we're awarding the contract. The contract has been awarded to Cocosin Industries, and construction is anticipated to take about two years. The cost of the project sits at $21.2 million, but we were fortunate that our staff were very aggressive in applying for every and all grants for this project, and we've successfully achieved a grant for $8.7 million to help with the cost of this project.

[01:59:46] This is in your district. I think what we're going to do is we've had multiple community meetings about this, but since construction is going to start in April, about two months, when we have our hydrilla meeting this year, we're probably going to include this in the public presentation to make the public aware of this project. The last project we want to talk about is the Proctus Creek Wastewater Treatment Plan Expansion Project.

[02:00:10] The Proctor's Creek Wastewater Treatment Plant opened up in 1975 and serves a significant portion of the county. Its current capacity is 27 million gallons a day. Again, as the county continues to grow and develop, we need to make sure that we have enough wastewater capacity in the county.

[02:00:26] The first phase of the expansion of the wastewater treatment plant at Proctor's Creek will involve the construction of a flow equalization basin. The second phase will be expansion of the actual treatment trains at the facility to be able to physically treat more waste. And the ultimate goal on that second phase is to expand that facility from 27 million gallons a day to 54, doubling the capacity of that facility.

[02:00:52] This is a rendering of the flow equalization basin. The equalization basin basically acts as a shock absorber. At our wastewater treatment plants, flow doesn't come in on a constant basis. We have what we call diurnal flow patterns. When people use water in the morning, we get hit with higher flows.

[02:01:09] When they come home at night, we get hit with higher flows. That diurnal flow pattern creates issues from a treatment perspective, not only for the hydraulic loading, but also for the pollutant loading. What these basins do is they act like a shock absorber for the hydraulic loadings, shaving off that hydraulic peak.

[02:01:26] And they also act as a shock absorber for those pollutant loadings because the waste is mixed within those basins. So we can slowly feed that wastewater into the treatment process and you get a more consistent waste. And when you do that, our operators are able to dial in the treatment process and that saves on operational costs.

[02:01:49] The project also includes new core screens and improved grit removal, which will help protect downstream equipment. The initial available equalization basin will be 12 million gallons a day, and 6 million gallons a day is planned for expansion sometime in the future for a total of 18 million gallons a day.

[02:02:06] To give you an idea of the size of this facility, it's the size of a football field 40 feet deep. So these are just huge facilities. The design is complete for this. We anticipate construction to take four years. We're going out to bid in April, and the construction of the basin has a price tag of about $150 million.

[02:02:29] Further expansion of the plant with new trains will start in the year 2032. With that, I'll turn it over to Kathy to go through the rates that are going to support these projects that we have planned. Yeah, George spends, and I collect.

[02:02:47] So, as George said, our capital project budget is about $1.7 billion over the next 10 years. And we contracted with a rate modeling agency, Stantec, to review what our rates would need to be over the next period of time to pay for the things that we anticipate we need to do so that the citizens do have that steady, clean, safe water supplies.

[02:03:14] And so this is a slide that we show you pretty much every year. This is our average residential customer who uses seven CCFs of water, which is roughly 5,250 gallons or so. This would be a 5% increase in our rates based on the customer charge, the capacity charge, and also the volume or usage charge for our customers.

[02:03:46] You can see the breakdown between the water and the wastewater increases between the two different sources. The monthly bill would increase $2.76, which is at 4.24%.

[02:04:03] But I just want to point out affordability has been a big topic in today's meeting. And so this is our first look at what affordability is when we're proposing the rates and we're working with our rate model is that the CPI for the water industry in calendar year 24 went up 5.81 percent so our proposal at 4.24 percent is our first gut check that says yes you know what we're proposing is is reasonable for you know for our customers that we're not asking for large increases and one of the reasons we do the rate study and periodically and the purpose

[02:04:42] of the rate study is to keep our rates steady so that we don't see huge up and down rate shock and unaffordability for some of our customers. And this is another slide that you're used to that you're used to seeing as well. It's that same 7 CCF usage that shows our total bill would be $67.89 a month. And then it compares that same 7 CCFs of water usage to the piers in our region.

[02:05:11] And you can see this is our proposed increase rate of 6789, comparing it to the existing 2025 rates of our peers in the region. Now we expect all of them to have a rate increase as well, which would just make our rate even more favorable to the people that are in the Central Virginia region.

[02:05:38] And that was our second gut check is to compare ourselves to the people that are in the region. but we've added this third gut check is this water affordability study was done by the EPA given to Congress. And water affordability is real, as we've heard with the other two presentations today. And there's really some populations in need. So the EPA affordability threshold equals to someone working eight hours at a minimum wage. That would be an affordable

[02:06:12] water and sewer utility bill. Minimum wage in Virginia is $12.41. So if you look at the bill for the proposed budget that we have in front of you, it would be equal to someone working five and a half hours a month to be able to pay their monthly utility bill. So this was our third gut check on affordability is that we're well below this eight-hour recommendation by the EPA.

[02:06:42] When we worked with Stantec on the rate model, we looked at what the monthly bill would be, but we also looked at what connection fees are. This is a standard slide that we show you every year that would show you what our 5-8-inch meter, which is our typical residential meter, connection cost would be compared to some of our peers throughout the state.

[02:07:11] And it's a 5% increase in both the wastewater and water connection fees, which would be a total of $11,996 for connection for what would be like a new home. That's an increase of $301 in the water connection fee and an increase of $270 for the wastewater connection fee.

[02:07:38] But this, again, for this meter, if you compare us to other localities that are our peers, this is where our connection rate would be. Again, this is our proposed 26 rate. Comparing it to the other localities' existing fiscal year 25 rates, again, we do expect our peers to also have rate increases.

[02:08:03] So this would, again, keep us very competitive with the people that are our peers throughout the state. This one's a little bit harder to read, but I wanted to share this with you too. The 5 eighths inch meter is the one that we have a lot of, over 100,000 of our meters. I mean, it's by far the biggest meter type that we have out in our system. But just to kind of give you another indication is with the one inch meter and the two inch meter, our rates are the one on

[02:08:39] the left. That's our proposed rate for fiscal year 26. And it's comparing it to other localities that are our peers in the state. And to give you an idea where we are on a size other than just that one five-inch meter that we show you pretty much all the time. And we work with STANTAC to look at what we are charging compared to the other localities. And then also, based on our future expenditures you know what what rates do we need to be charging so these are the rates for for some

[02:09:14] of the larger meters and where we're making a bigger change and we're gonna and we're gonna and i need to spend a little bit more time explaining this is a this is a bigger change for the three inch meters and above these are smallest population of meters but what we found is that with the meter technology evolving over time, different types of meters let more water flow through them than other types of meters. So while our county code right now just goes on size, three inch, four inch,

[02:09:50] six inch, eight inch, you know, STANTAC helped us understand that actually the actual physical diameter, size of the meter isn't really the driving force of how much water that that meter can pull. So one residential meter, the 5 eighths inch meter, pulls, can pull at a maximum 20 gallons per minute. So we consider that one residential unit. So we compare all our other meters to that 5 eighths inch meter that can pull the 20 gallons per minute rate of ERU. So if you look at this

[02:10:28] slide on the top example, it's a three inch meter. It's a compound, either a class two or fire meter. The max flow rate that we have in our American Water Works Association M22 guide tells us that that kind of meter can draw 350 gallons per minute.

[02:10:45] If you divide that by the 20 gallons per minute that the meter at your home can do, the 5 eighths inch meter, this 3 inch compound meter equals 17 and a half houses. It pulls 17 and a half more times than the one ERU at a home.

[02:11:05] so they can and then you can and then you can see the other meters and the other sizes and even like even the four inch meters you can see one meter it has pulls 30 erus one pulls 35 and one pulls 37 and a half even within just that one four inch meter size you've got a seven and a half inch is seven and a half eru difference on the same size meter our code right now only has one amount for a four inch meter, we're seeing that different types of meters can pull more water. And so we are

[02:11:42] proposing here that we right size the ERUs for the connection fees and for their capacity charges based on the actual meter types and what they can draw from the system. So this is a paradigm shift for utilities we pretty much have always gone just by the size of the meter now we're doing a size and type meter and like i said it's based on american waterworks association standard

[02:12:16] so um that's how we have that's how we have come up with these eru amounts then um the next area where we've looked at our fees is um this install and service lines typically the developer installs service lines um if it's like a one-off house and stuff you know they'll ask us to do it but i mean they totally can get another contractor to do it it's not that we have to do it but if they ask us to do it we are going to increase our service line charges for like installing a five-eighths inch meter the current charge is twenty eight hundred dollars and the proposed charge is thirty

[02:12:54] nine hundred dollars um it's based on the actual cost of the of the labor actual cost of materials and we hadn't increased it since july 22 so we this isn't a year over year increase this has been an increase over over based on several years and then the other um charge that we're proposing to increase on this slide is the meter installation and again it's a lot of it's driven by the actual cost of the meter itself um as you've been aware we've switched to the ami meters they're more

[02:13:33] costly than the non-AMI meters. So labor and materials, again, is a driving cost in these installation increases that are proposed. And then you can see the larger meters also have increases. And I just want to bring your attention that the companion meter has been $800 for several years. And we're proposing, again, due to the materials and the labor, to increase the cost of a companion meter to nine hundred and thirty dollars to install um this isn't really too much

[02:14:11] part of the budget but there's an it's on gonna i just heads up on your consent agenda agenda item tonight we're going to do some ordinance amendments as we were installing the ami meters we found a lot of the meter boxes were obstructed um one actually had a cactus planted over it um so um We're going to be asking for like a one-foot access around their water meter.

[02:14:39] And then now that we've installed the AMI meters, we're electronically getting alerted when the meter's been tampered with. And we're starting to see a significant enough number of people tampering with our equipment that we want to implement tampering.

[02:14:59] But at public hearing, I just want to give you a heads up on it. not really included in our revenues expenditures part of the budget, but this is something that is a concern for us. This would be the opportunity for them to pretty much pay us back for the equipment that they damaged. So as not to, we want the people who damage it to pay for it rather than everyone in the system to pay for any damages. And only thing on your consent order is on your consent tonight is to set the public hearing for March 12th. We'll have a public hearing March 12th

[02:15:31] get in more detail on this topic. Yeah. And then the last set of fees that I want to talk to you about are strong waste surcharges. We basically have these four costs that we track what the actual cost is of treating these. These are charged basically to anybody who provides us with the water that contains any of these contaminants. And we're looking at a 10% increase in the BOD, a 10% increase in the fee for the total suspended solids. And at this time,

[02:16:07] we're not looking at any changes to the total nitrogen, total phosphorus rates. So again, just trying to right size it and make sure that we are covering the costs from the people that are actually using those services. And these increases only apply and charges only apply to our industrial customers. And then just want to remind you that we do have a public hearing scheduled for our utility rates on March on the March 26th and then we will be our budget would

[02:16:43] be included in the adoption of your April in your in your in your April meeting we want to again thank you so much for your support what you have done for us is amazing and you know we really appreciate the thing you know that that you give us that attention to come to our staff meetings and encourage our staff and that you recognize the people that who think they're just doing their jobs you know but in every other locality they're going over and above and you know and and to them it's just like normal and so it you know it's it's great that you guys can recognize them for doing

[02:17:21] that over and above that they think is so normal and so we're just really proud of our accomplishments we're really looking forward to some of these projects that we showed you today um and we have some significant investments coming so while yes we're coming forward and asking for rate increases you saw the projects he gave you know you saw the you saw the projects we're gonna you know as we continue to grow we're gonna run out of capacity we need the you know we need to we need to be so far ahead of the curve because as george pointed out it's years three years to design you know five

[02:17:59] years to build it's just like the whole school thing you know you just got to be out you got to be planning out in front of the curve and so um that's what we're trying to do but we're also trying to bring that stable increases instead of wait until we want to build the plant and we say oh we need a lot so we're asking for the steady stable increases to pay for the things that we're we've got on our 10-year plan so we appreciate you guys thank you we're more than happy to take any questions the boards may have board members any questions or comments just a quick comment

[02:18:35] I just did some math in that, you know, a typical bill for our residents are $814, give or take some pennies. For Henrico, it would be $1,068 for a year.

[02:18:52] So that's a difference of $253 per year. So when we're looking at whatever the rate is here or in Henrico and stuff like that, it's one of those situations where it might be less somewhere else, but you're paying for it somewhere else. So I think it's so important for folks to understand that. That if you have a typical, in Chesterfield, a typical is about $150 per penny per household on average, this is $250 plus per household. So I just want to kind of call that to folks' attention.

[02:19:31] Thank you, Dr. Mahoney. Mr. Chair. Just curious, I noticed that the, and when you're looking at the connection fees, the connection fee for a meter is higher than the connection fee for sewer. What's the rationale behind that?

[02:19:47] When I look at some of the other jurisdictions, their connection fees for sewer are a lot higher than their meter connection fees. Why is ours different? So I can't speak to other municipalities on how they derive their fees, but I can tell you one of the things that I was very happy with when I came to Chesterfield County is that we base all our fees on true cost.

[02:20:08] And so we run models that take a look at what infrastructure we've currently invested in, what we need to invest in, and then that sets the rates. So all of our projects, every single project, is divided into either wastewater or water bucket.

[02:20:25] The funds are kept separate. And then within those buckets, there's expansion projects and non-expansion projects. You might even have one project that is a combination of both. If you're replacing an aged water line, for example, and it's currently 8-inch and it needs to be 16-inch, we actually calculate what percentage is non-expansion or just rehabbing the old line and how much is expansion.

[02:20:48] All those expansion costs get paid for with connection fees. And so when you have these large projects that you need to expand facilities like a $426 million first phase water treatment plant, the connection fees basically cover those costs.

[02:21:04] Another thing that we do that's a little different than other municipalities is that when we issue debt and we have relatively low debt with extremely low interest rate, when we do issue debt, we try to issue it to that expansion component.

[02:21:19] So it doesn't burden, our debt doesn't burden the existing customers that the debt is paid for. We use that expansion money for expanding projects like the fourth water supply so that future customers are paying the majority of that debt service for that future water supply.

[02:21:36] Other utilities I know sometimes don't have rate models, and they'll do across the board a certain percentage, 5%. If you look at when we propose rates, we have to show you every line because our rate models are telling us each of those lines are going up a different percent.

[02:21:53] And I know Mr. Holland always indicates that a few years ago he came to utilities and sat down and went through our books, and he went through those rate models and saw where all those rates were coming from. So I'm a nerdy engineer. I like these type of things. I love spreadsheets.

[02:22:08] So when I ask staff a question and they can drill down in that rate model and tell me where the cost came from, It gives me confidence that I can sit before the board and the public and let you know that we can stand behind the proposed rates. So am I simplifying it too much when I say that in the future it's going to cost us more to generate water than it is going to cost us more to take care of the waste?

[02:22:31] I would answer it depends. You know, one of the challenges that we have is new and ever-changing regulations. You know, to give you an example, you know, Chesterfield County declared our county lead-free. We had not found any lead service lines in the entire county.

[02:22:49] You can imagine the impact of an older utility, say, like the city of Richmond. This new regulation comes in and says in 10 years all lead service lines have to be removed. We are extremely fortunate in Chesterfield County to have a newer system that we don't have to deal with that challenge.

[02:23:06] But to try to compare, say, the city of Richmond's rates on their replacing those, they have to replace all these service lines that are existing because it's an older city compared to Chesterfield, It just puts us at an advantage, and that one example just from a regulatory change will change the scales on water and wastewater.

[02:23:23] Now you've got to spend more on the water side of the house, even though customers may not realize that, that it was one new regulation that came out. One day you didn't have to do it. The next day you did. And these are multiple millions of dollars projects that have a true impact on rates.

[02:23:43] Hey, Mr. Chairman, George, do you still use a rate stabilization model? Are you all still using that? Yeah, so Mr. Holland indicated about our rate stabilization model. Another thing that when I came to Chesterfield County, I was very fortunate to come here.

[02:23:59] A lot of directors that were a lot smarter than me came up with our rate stabilization reserve model that is truly the envy of everybody in the region. Right now, to give you, there's a lot of parts of that rate stabilization model. But one thing we do, we have three components to our billing for our customers.

[02:24:19] We have a customer charge, a commodity charge, which is the volume charge, and a capacity charge. That capacity cost, for the most part, goes into a rate stabilization reserve that, by our financial policies, that rate stabilization reserve can only be used for the replacement of aging infrastructure.

[02:24:37] The challenge that the United States has of aging infrastructure going beyond its useful life is significant. And directors well before me that were a lot smarter than me came up with this rate stabilization reserve that's based on depreciation of assets.

[02:24:52] Right now, since I've been director since 2015, we've been contributing 100 percent of our annual depreciation into this rate stabilization reserve that only can be used for the replacement of aging infrastructure. The other thing, another interesting thing on the rate stabilization model is that if you, it also looks at the total accumulated depreciation of your assets and you have to maintain at least 25 percent of your total accumulated depreciation in a reserve.

[02:25:22] If we dip into that reserve, I have to declare a financial emergency and come before the poor to declare that a financial emergency. Those sound financial policies have set us up to be one of only nine water and wastewater utilities, an entire nation that has a triple AAA bond rating because of the foundation that was built well before me.

[02:25:42] I can't take credit for it, but I'm smart enough to see genius when I come and to keep on with the program. So we have been contributing 100 percent to our of our annual depreciation into that rate stabilization reserve so that we don't have the aging infrastructure problem that a lot of utilities do have.

[02:25:58] Thank you again for coming. I think it's really important for our citizens to understand when there is a rate change what is behind that rate change and to understand how that relates to the other jurisdictions in the area and sharing how much we are putting back into our infrastructure and making sure that our aging infrastructure is replaced where other jurisdictions may not have done that at all or even use some of that money that they should have saved for that in other parts of their budget for something totally different.

[02:26:38] I'm thankful that we don't do that in Chesterfield County, and that's why we have water that's clean when other people don't. So thank you. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. F, state legislative update, Ms. Spillman.

[02:27:07] Good afternoon, Mr. Chairman, members of the board, Dr. Casey, Mr. Minx. We're glad to be back here in Chesterfield. The General Assembly has officially adjourned on Saturday evening, signee dies.

[02:27:28] So at least for the time being, I said to somebody earlier, I think it's a lot like being on parole. We've got an ankle bracelet that keeps us here until they call us back for special session. So I think a lot of what we predicted going into this session and being a challenging session ultimately came true.

[02:27:44] And so there's, you know, we use this analogy of not being able to fulfill our bingo card based on everything that happened between the Richmond water crisis, Virginia icing over, snowing over. There was a delegate that collapsed on the House floor.

[02:27:59] He was okay, but just severely dehydrated. There was a devastating flood across Southwest, tragic airport accident down at Reagan. and then kind of closing things out with this big cloud of uncertainty as we are evaluating really just preliminarily the state taking a look at how do we assess what's happening at the federal level and so to that end the Speaker of the House has organized an emergency group that came together Saturday morning to take a look at some very basic information trying to gain and understanding hearing from economists and other federal or financial experts from around the state just with a briefing to begin to unpack what that universe looks like

[02:28:38] from a federal workforce and federal programming standpoint in the state of Virginia. So Northern Virginia, as an economic engine for the state, certainly could take an impact, in which case there are parties engaged and following closely. And so to that end as well, the Speaker of the House had amended the procedural resolution running concurrent with this 2025 session has been the 2024 special session, and therefore they've added language in that resolution that gives them the ability to come back and gavel in to discuss and address whatever those potential impacts could be and what that looks like.

[02:29:13] We don't know when that might be. We don't know, but there's an outstanding item that would allow them to do that. So all of that said, as the backdrop for what we were revealing, there were 1,994 bills this session. that's exclusive of any resolutions. About 100 bills were sent to conferences here. That's a little bit of a high number, and so I think that's indicative of this being a short session year and a lot of more complex, heavier topics coming into play that needed some additional time for further conversation and negotiation to figure out if we're going to find resolution or leave

[02:29:48] something behind to come back to at a later year. About 900 bills have made it out of the General assembly that will be sent along. And so early on, we flagged about 400 bills and of those about 150 remain in play. So local government topics dominating this session were around housing and land use, not to be surprised, public safety, solar development, data centers, local finance, our local authorities. And so just a reminder to none of this is over till it's over. And so April second is the reconvene session when we'll come back and look at amendments or vetoes and figure

[02:30:27] out what the governor has signed at that point. Some of the more significant housing and land use topics were either defeated early on or considerably watered down. And so really just local permissibility to address issues like accessory dwelling units and affordable dwelling units. In the public safety space, we spent a lot of time on cameras. They really dominated a lot of discussion there related to regulations and oversight and transparency and how we can use local monies that are collected from civil penalties that might be assessed. And so Delegate Sebald had a bill that ultimately was defeated in committee. However, Senator Williams-Graves, her bill did prevail and there was a deal made

[02:31:06] where there was some language from a revision of Sebald's bill that was incorporated. And so So the Williams-Graves bill will expand a new technology use within school zones, work zones, high-risk intersection areas, allowing for a technology to be placed on pedestrian crosswalks with stop sign monitoring devices.

[02:31:31] And so this legislation, as it was amended, included some of the Siebel language, like I mentioned, that would limit the uses, allowing monies to stay local, but identify specifically what they can be used for. It does have a grandfathering clause in there, though, as well, that would allow for existing commitments to already be fulfilled.

[02:31:50] We worked with Delegate Lefwich to amend language in another camera-related bill that was requiring additional signage to be placed as a locality that does not maintain our own right-of-way. We don't have that ability to place additional signage there without the explicit regulation or VDOT having the authority to do that.

[02:32:07] And so there was amended language that we presented and he accepted, allowing for documented evidence to be in compliance with the bill that ultimately passed. And then one of the more high-profile camera-related bills related to automatic license plate readers, this topic has been around for the last three years and has been through a lot of work.

[02:32:27] The last 14 months, it was spent with the Virginia Crime Commission studying this topic, working with stakeholders from the vendors to legislators to users, localities across the state. And so ultimately, the Crime Commission had endorsed a bill that really sailed out of the House with broad bipartisan support. However, once they made it into the Senate, they adopted some amendments that materially altered the structure of the bill for the reasons why we were fundamentally there in the first place, which was to grant the authority to VDOT to be able to authorize the use of these cameras in the right-of-way. Nobody's disputing the effectiveness of this technology,

[02:33:05] and that was very evident, but it was much more about how the technology would be used and potential, in their words, expansion, but in our viewpoint, more of the authority to VDOT to be able to use them in the right-of-way. And so the bill, as it exists today, implements a reenactment clause that does not allow for it to be authorized within the right-of-way, and it limits the data retention period from 30 to 21 days.

[02:33:31] at 30 days, Virginia would have been the most restrictive data retention state in the U.S. So we have drafted a letter that Mr. Engel has initiated in response to the position of the bill as it is today to the governor's office, suggesting that there could be some amendments made that put the bill back into the introduced form or otherwise could veto as there's quite significant impacts to our public safety efforts with the structure of the bill as it exists today.

[02:34:02] Solar continues to be a really widely debated topic, but with that, the bills that were presented were mostly defeated. And so the ones that would have preempted local authority were defeated. Despite an effort to address data centers, largely driven by the JLAC report that came out at the end of last year, the bills did not make it through.

[02:34:25] And so there was one bill that remained, HB 1601, and that's related to land use considerations for siting future facilities that would require an applicant to provide a site assessment before adding a new data sitter with 100 megawatt peak demand.

[02:34:42] There are a number of bills related to finance. And so Delegate Watts carried HB 1743 this year, and it was intended to protect businesses from double taxation. That was a very complex bill, and due to the nature of a lot of just nuanced technical pieces that needed to be worked out because there wasn't a whole lot of work put into it before session, it was decided to be amended for a workgroup study that the Department of Tax is going to take up.

[02:35:10] Not sure when we will see the results of that report. HB 2234 amended CBTA code language that aligns with similar protections related to personal liabilities that are afforded to the Hampton and Nova Transportation Authorities.

[02:35:25] Senator Majority Leader Scott Surveld's collective bargaining bill was approved out of the bodies, but it has a delayed effective date of 2026. However, we expect that this will see a veto by the governor. There was no additional funding identified in the budget for this.

[02:35:42] HB 2485 creates, I'll say would create the framework for the retail cannabis market in the Commonwealth, But again, based on the governor's public comments, we expect that this will also be vetoed. There's a bill that was approved establishing the Virginia Sports Tourism Fund, and so that was approved by both bodies, and there was money identified in the budget for this as well.

[02:36:06] Additionally, a bill was approved to expand the definition of clean energy that explicitly adds fusion to state code that had not been previously identified. There is also budget language in there to support Commonwealth fusion systems contingent upon the MOU that Chesterfield will go into with VEDP for those monies.

[02:36:27] So, regrettably, the 9-1-1 dispatcher's enhanced benefits bills did not make it, despite there being about, I think, a half dozen bills with legislators from both sides of the aisle carrying this topic. It's been sent back to JLARC to study, so hopefully they'll make an actual recommendation.

[02:36:43] But otherwise, not sure why we can't move this topic forward. And so monies are minimal in the grand scheme of things. It's about $750,000 to address the state component for 9-1-1 dispatchers. So we are still having conversations, but left our heads shaking on that one.

[02:37:03] While Delegate Cherry's court venue bill, if you recall, that was allowing for the judges to make decisions about where court could be offered, provided that if we were taking on an additional judge position or two judge positions, there was some flexibility on where court could be held.

[02:37:19] That bill passed, but the bill that would have authorized the additional judge positions was significantly amended. And so there are only going to be three new positions across the state right now. They are not in the 12th Circuit. It's the 9th or the 1st, sorry, the 2nd, the 9th and the 31st.

[02:37:37] And so there was a lot of discussion on this topic. there's members that believe there needs to be some revisions on how we evaluate the need for additional judge positions. And so that's been sent back out to figure out what does that process look like. So this is just, again, some highlight information from the session. Following the April 2nd reconvene, we will provide a more comprehensive update and report out to you all so that we know what the impact is for Chesterfield as new legislation hits the books come July 1 or whatever that delayed effective date is.

[02:38:12] We'll also keep you apprised, of course, when we know of any special session, if that may occur. But before I turn things over to Casey real quick, I just want to thank the incredible team that we have here at Chesterfield from our budget folks who are providing fiscal impact analysis. People really pay attention to that information.

[02:38:28] We're a large locality, and so it makes a really valuable input into looking at these bills and understanding and assessing that impact. Appreciate our attorneys, and so jumping on calls, other subject matter staff, being able to help us review these bills and offer amendments that we can get a lot of things done very quickly in this short amount of time. Casey, I think over to you. Good afternoon. There are a lot of budget amendments. Couldn't possibly read them all to you, so I'm just going to try and hit some of the highlights. As you know, the 11 House and Senate budget conferees who met to resolve the differences between the two proposed budget versions reached an agreement last week, and both

[02:39:07] bodies voted on Saturday to adopt that final budget. On the education topic, over $200 million was set aside to functionally eliminate the support cap for K-12 education. In previous estimates, we saw that that would probably be about $12.4 million in additional revenue for Chesterfield. Similarly, just over $50 million for the special education add-on, which for Chesterfield could translate to about just under $3 million for supporting those students. And lastly, A $1,000 bonus for teachers and support positions, which could mean about $6 to $7 million for Chesterfield.

[02:39:46] One interesting thing about that is in past years, there is a local match required and not a lot of flexibility. This year, there's greater flexibility for local school divisions to distribute that as they see fit. And additionally, the budget did not include provisions for the 1% local sales tax option for school construction.

[02:40:05] So that is not included in the budget version that was sent to the governor. So those are the education highlights. On the compensation topic, it maintains the 3% raises for state and state-supported local employees. There's also a 1.5% bonus for state and state-supported local employees, so that would be effective for the local side on July 1st.

[02:40:28] In the economic development space, Natalie already touched on a couple of those topics, but there's also some funding for the business-ready sites program over the biennium. The governor introduced $90 million over the two years. Um, the conference report shifted some funding up 20 million increased in the first year and then removed 50 million from the second year of bringing it to a total of 60 million over the biennium. Um, in the public safety space, um, you're all very familiar with the med flight topic.

[02:40:53] Um, that stands today as it was introduced in the budget. So we're continuing to receive the general funds that were flowing through the Virginia state police, as well as the language that directs the Office of Emergency Medical Services to determine the cost allocation for those flight medics for the MedFlight program and cover those through the trauma care fund.

[02:41:16] So it directs that there shall be a payment made through that item. In the human services space, in the governor's introduced budget, there was language that would cap the state reimbursement for special education private day services. So if those costs were to increase more than 2.5%, the state is basically not responsible beyond that point and so in the adopted version they increase that from 2.5 to 5 but there is still a cap that has been put in place for Chessfield we have seen the rate increases average around nine percent so that additional four percent the county would be responsible for they're estimating that impact of about 450,000

[02:41:54] that is dependent on what those rate increases do turn out to be but that's just a preliminary estimate as of today. Additionally, the Child Advocacy Center has received an additional $1 million from TANF funding for those programs across the state. In the community development space, we're also going to see a small amount of money set aside for a work group associated with Senator Van Valkenburg's recovery residence related bill related to oversight of those programs. There's also a language amendment that directs DBHDS to align and monitor recovery support services which includes recovery residences and some other items as well and making that

[02:42:33] information publicly available it also maintains the introduced budget wqif deposits as well as provides 40 million to the stormwater local assistance fund to provide matching grants for local governments administering stormwater programs moving to the tax policy space it does eliminate the car tax credit proposed in the governor's introduced budget and instead includes a one-time $200 tax rebate for individual filers, $400 for joint filers. It also makes some adjustments to the standard deduction and the earned income tax credit. But also in the tax

[02:43:10] base, as Natalie mentioned earlier, the impacts of the federal workforce and funding reductions is something that the state's still working to get their arms around. It's still very early stage on that. The first meeting of the House Emergency Committee on Saturday, they brought in experts from a variety of groups. And the common thread throughout all of their presentations is that we don't know much yet. So at this stage, the focus seems to be primarily on preparing for the state to react as we get additional information. So with that said, I'll just mention there were a couple of budget items in the language that were included that emphasize this point. The state hasn't made significant cuts in response to specific federal changes,

[02:43:48] but they are ready to react. A few of those amendments include the Department of Taxation must provide fiscal impacts of any change to federal income tax policy within 30 days, and if the cumulative impact of those federal changes would decrease the general fund by more than $100 million, it directs the governor to submit a budget bill within 20 days of receiving that fiscal impact estimate. It also stipulates that Virginia will not automatically conform its income tax structure to any federal income tax changes through January 2027.

[02:44:20] That would increase or decrease the state general fund revenues by any amount over the next five fiscal years. It also requires the Department of Planning and Budget to estimate within 30 days the fiscal impact of changes to the federal grant revenue. So if it changes by more than $100 million, that same number, in the current or succeeding fiscal year, or if the general fund expenditures need to increase by 1%, the governor must also consult with the General Assembly about convening a special session in response to federal grant changes.

[02:44:53] And then lastly, any excess FY25 revenues that are not required for the Revenue Stabilization Fund deposit. The first $20 million are earmarked for the Virginia Military Survivors and Dependents Education Tuition Waivers. The next surplus funds are required to go to the Water Quality Improvement Fund, But then beyond that, they are going to be set aside for any impacts of reductions to federal revenues.

[02:45:20] That, any questions? Board members, any questions or comments? The PDF that you sent with the update on all of this, it's a lot to digest, but it's certainly a lot for you to put out tonight and this afternoon for the citizens to hear about, but we at least have an opportunity to read that document, and there's a lot of good information in there.

[02:45:45] Yeah, tremendous job this year at the General Assembly. You really worked hard, and it shows. Thank you. Thank you for fighting unfunded mandates and loss of local ability to make decisions. That's very important.

[02:46:01] So thank you for your work on that. Thank you. G, consent agenda highlights. Mr. Harris. Mr. Jarvie, very quick, in the interest of time, I have four consent items for your consideration tonight.

[02:46:21] First and foremost, Audit Finance took this up at their last meeting, but we have the award of our audit contract at Cherry Beckert for another five years. They're our current auditor, and we had three responses, and they were the selected firm. So that's in place on your consent agenda tonight. We also have a resolution of support for an EDA bond, actually in Henrico County. It's a little bit of a different setup, but this is a bond secours effort. They're making investments throughout the state, and so the bulk of those are in Henrico.

[02:46:58] No obligation or involvement for us other than the support piece. There's no Chesterfield debt or bonds or anything like that. That is how state and federal law is structured that you all have to have that resolution of support, so that's on your consent item.

[02:47:15] It is for improvements at St. Francis, so it does have direct benefit for the community. You have your opioid grant applications. You have three of those. On your consent agenda, as you remember, this money's been trickling in over the course of the last several years.

[02:47:33] You've got three small grants, two of which focus on essentially supports for pregnant women that are struggling with substance abuse. Then you have a small sub-grant allocation for Chesterfield providers to do some of the same work.

[02:47:50] So we will take this slow. We've got several million dollars more to go, but I think this is a nice logical step. And then lastly, the award of construction contract for your animal services building. That was constructed in 1975, 10,000 square feet. Obviously, the demands of that particular line of business has grown tremendously.

[02:48:11] So this increases our capacity to hold animals in the facility, as well as a medical space so that we can do veterinary care on various animals that we have. So that's been funded. It's just the award of that construction contract for that particular facility. will be constructed here on the campus very close to where the existing building is so without having to take any questions you might have board members any questions or comments thank you item five reports board members are there any questions regarding the reports

[02:48:45] seeing none the reports are approved item six 15 minute citizen comment period on unscheduled matters this time is designated for citizens to talk to the board of supervisors it is not a time for dialogue with board members and it is not a question answer period those conversations can easily occur with individual board members outside of the board meeting as a reminder the board's procedures state no citizen shall speak on any matter of business that is a subject on the board's agenda for that day and each speaker shall have three minutes to address the board we have five

[02:49:22] speakers. Our first speaker is Amina Kendrick. Sure. Hi. My name is Amina Kendrick. I'm a resident of Chesterfield for a decade and I came today to find advocacy. I'm facing a retaliatory eviction

[02:49:59] and I'm having a really bad issue at the Chesterfield Department of Social Services and the Division of Child Support Enforcement Bureau. So the past eight months, I've just been calling these different numbers like legal aid, these eviction hotlines, and these different resources that are not available for just various reasons, or I'm just deferred.

[02:50:39] I don't know what it is, but ultimately I just decided that maybe I should come today and try to plead my case and see if I can find the advocacy. And that's all.

[02:50:58] Thank you. Thank you. Mr. Chair, do we have your contact information? We do. Next speaker. Douglas Bradham.

[02:51:21] Before you get started, before your time starts, do you want, I understand you're working in three parts. Do all three of you want to sit there together and work together for nine minutes? Are you going to do three minutes apiece? Okay, just checking to see what you want to do. Well, thanks a lot. My name is Doug Bradham.

[02:51:37] Today you'll hear from three reps from Chesterfield Citizens for Responsible Government. The objective of this group is to stay on this slide, and I hope today you'll take these comments and data as constructive and not critical because we are offering some recommendations and solutions, and we want to work with the county, county management, and the Board of Supervisors to improve the results we see here in the county.

[02:52:04] This is a summary of the subjects you'll be seeing today. I'll be talking about the first item, then Tom Ager will pick up, and then Tom Kerr will pick up. This is the data that you'll see today.

[02:52:25] It came out of Freedom of Information request, and we've been working on this information for about the last year. And I've met with some of you in this room, and we've had some pretty good discussions, long-term discussions. As a matter of fact, a lot of time is spent on this. and you have copies of what you'll see today in much more detail.

[02:52:45] This just represents a fraction of the information that's been developed. We've been working to analyze Chesterfield County spending and try to get a handle on the history of what's going on.

[02:53:04] We've gotten the information that we talked about in the Freedom of Information Act, and in a brief time I have today, you'll be seeing a fraction of these slides, as I said, that have been developed, but we believe the slides provide sufficient evidence to conclude that county spending and real estate property tax levels are out of control.

[02:53:23] I'm making some comments today on behalf of the taxpayers of Chesterfield County. This is a slide of total county spending, so we've gone from $1.4 billion to $1.9 billion in total spending in this period of about six years.

[02:53:46] This is a graph of the residential and commercial tax base. So we've gone up pretty dramatically in terms of the taxes that have been collected by the county through residential and commercial property taxes.

[02:54:06] And commercial here includes the 122, roughly, apartment complexes that exist in the county. This next slide, let me find the other one, this slide here, I'd like you to spend a few seconds looking at that.

[02:54:21] Because this is the one slide that told us, in our opinion, that spending and taxation is out of control. We're spending about 40% more money over this time period versus the inflation rate, 21.1%, and then the population growth, 10.2%.

[02:54:41] So we're spending it twice, the inflation rate, and we're spending four times the population rate. This is the commercial real estate revenue we've talked about. Mr. Bradham, your three minutes are up.

[02:54:57] Okay. All right. Tom, you want to take over? Sure. Thank you for seeing us, and thank you for your service. Lots of meetings and lots of hard work.

[02:55:15] I appreciate that. I'm Tom Ager. I'm a 40-year resident of Chesterfield and a parent of the public school system, and I'm just here to hopefully help you all and support taxpayers. The first thing I want to get to is I think our group has had some ongoing conversations about cost reduction.

[02:55:43] And I know you sincerely, I'm sure you sincerely believe that it's important to maintain a tight ship and lean, mean machine in it. And we appreciate it. And I think you have an informal program toward that goal. Our recommendation is to try and formalize it if you can.

[02:56:01] Second topic is our school system. And here is a graph of our total spending. As you can see from 2020 on up, our spending is going up. Yes, COVID and everything like that, understandably.

[02:56:17] And we're growing, and that's a good thing. Annual cumulative change in total education spending, the total is we're up 45.5% in total education spending. The total number of students are increasing because we're gaining in population.

[02:56:38] And they're growing at a relatively good clip, but nothing dramatic. The annual increase is about 5.8%. Average spending per student has jumped about 40%, as I've said before, from about $10,000 per pupil to $14,000, a little over $14,000 now.

[02:57:00] The cumulative change in the spending per student is up 40.4%. I like the fact that we invest in our kids. I like that fact. The concern I have is this graph here, which is a ranking of Chesterfield County schools and the total average percentage of schools in the Virginia system, in Virginia, that is, that we're better than.

[02:57:31] And as you can see, in 2016, we were better than 73.8% of the students. After that, we peaked at 75 in 2017 and then a downward trend ever since.

[02:57:47] I think we can all agree we can do a lot better than that. I really wish we could work together and fix this because I know we can. Thank you. I'm Tom Curl, and I'm part of this group.

[02:58:16] First slide. In our opinion, there are some things that have really improved in the past year. Number one, financial transparency has improved. We appreciate that. investments in public safety school infrastructure continues to improve we appreciate that we also appreciate the constructive dialogue with the board of supervisors and staff we think that county management and us talking back and forth in this public debate only makes for better government and that's our intent and candidly our older members that we're working with many that can't get down here on a regular basis they appreciate that tax credit so thank you for that

[02:58:52] now where do we go from here what needs improvement the collectively the you know the point is how can we collectively improve? We still believe spending is too high, and it should be capped at 3% after years of double-digit increases, in fact, increasing more than 2x inflation and 4x population growth. The data doesn't lie. The primary way you manage costs is you do that through a continuous improvement program. We've offered the Board of Supervisors intellectual capital, we've offered staff intellectual capital, and we're willing to work with you for free.

[02:59:26] School performance, Tom nailed it. That should be nonpartisan. Everybody in here should be shocked and alarmed. This downward trend, this trajectory between all of us is unacceptable and it's unsustainable. This is the future of our county. This is the future of our country. This is about our children and our grandchildren. Slide number three, we believe all the surpluses should be returned to the taxpayers. Chesterfield likes to compare itself to Henrico. Saw that multiple times today. So please return all that money to the citizens, just like Henrico. And in terms of EDA,

[03:00:05] we believe in our heart of hearts that this is the greatest area for improvement. The fact remains there's an 80-20 mix of residential to commercial taxes collected the past 20 years, and it's going to be that way for the foreseeable future. That's a fact. We've been told that. We actually spent a few days last week driving through and walking through multiple EDA sites, so we know what we're talking about. And it's candidly, it's disappointing we've had to ask for the past year for more EDA transparency and proof that these investments are really proving a return to the taxpayer. What we received, which is disappointing, is we received the county

[03:00:39] PR machine coming alive on EDA, as well as a taxpayer-funded presentation by legal counsel. We believe the taxpayers were wasting their money, or you wasted taxpayer money on that presentation, and candidly, we didn't learn anything. You continue to fund failed EDA projects and fund outrageous tax abatements we're not able to find, and we could be wrong. You tell us any 40-year tax abatements approved in Virginia or Chesterfield County, and if we're wrong, we'll admit it. If they have in it, we ask you to show us. We believe the recently approved 40-year abatements for new hotels is irresponsible, and if I'm right, Mr. Holland, you agree.

[03:01:18] Mr. Curl, your three minutes are up. Okay, 10 seconds, please, if you don't mind. So the next question is, where do we go from here? We realize you have hard jobs. We're not here to be combative. we also recognize you have no staff if you look at our team we've got very educated very smart very very very well experienced people who are willing to help you as staff so use us the real question is is we believe our objectives are the same as yours we really want to make this about the future of our children our grandchildren we will make it a better better place and a better place to live for all and we are willing to help you that is our intent thank you for your time

[03:01:56] Our last speaker is Brenda Stewart.

[03:02:13] Good afternoon. I'm here today to bring some attention to accomplishments of one of my neighbors on Woodpecker Road in Chesterfield County. And I take some of these comments from the obituary of Dr. Margaret Dabney.

[03:02:29] Dr. Dabney made her graceful transition from this life to the next on February 3, 2025, at the remarkable age of 104. True to the spirit that defined her, she passed surrounded by her beloved family. And these comments come from Barbara Furman, who had nominated Dr. Dabney for Margaret Dabney Day in Virginia.

[03:02:53] Dr. Dabney was a pioneer in her endeavors to identify and teach children with a broad spectrum of abilities and talents who might otherwise go unrecognized. Without her literary, thousands of talented, primarily minority youngsters in Richmond and many surrounding counties would not have achieved their fullest potential.

[03:03:10] Born in 1920, Margaret was the only child of Alice Mead, a brilliant mathematician with a master's degree from Columbia University and Dr. William Gittins, a distinguished physician from Barbados who had come to the U.S. to earn his medical degree at Howard University. At the age of 15, she graduated early from high school and left home to pursue a brighter future at Wellesley College, becoming one of the early black students to attend this prestigious institution.

[03:03:36] In Boston, she met Bernard and Dabney, a brilliant and kind Latin student who would become her partner in both life and their shared mission of making the world a better place. Together, they became a powerful duo in the academic and social spheres, excelling both individually and as a couple.

[03:03:52] Their journey led them to Virginia State University, where Margaret and Bernard's careers took flight. Margaret became dean of the School of Education, and Bernard was appointed dean of the English Department. Together, they worked tirelessly to support and uplift the educational system, unwavering support for children from marginalized communities.

[03:04:13] Margaret was an unwavering advocate for public education, believing firmly in her personal motto that when public education fails, democracy fails. Her career was marked by significant achievements, including the founding of Richmond Community High School and Appomattox Regional Governor's School.

[03:04:30] Margaret's accolades include a bachelor's degree from Boston University, Doctorate in Education from Vanderbilt Peabody University, the Outstanding Women of Greater Richmond Education Award, and the Lifetime Membership Award from the Virginia Association for Education of the Gifted.

[03:04:45] She was also honored with the Citizen of the Year Award, Oliver W. Hill Senior Award, the Human Relations and Education Award from the Virginia Education Association, and was conferred by the state of Virginia with Dr. Margaret Dabney Day.

[03:05:02] And yet, despite the vast professional success she achieved, Margaret's greatest joy was always her family. As a mother, grandmother, and great-grandmother, her home was filled with love, laughter, and warmth. She opened her heart to the children of her friends, often taking them under her wing once their parents passed on and nurturing them as her own.

[03:05:19] Dr. Margaret Dabney's light continues to shine through her descendants, her community, and the countless lives she touched. Her legacy of education, love, and service endures, and she will be forever remembered with gratitude and admiration. She was a wonderful neighbor.

[03:05:36] Thank you. I just wanted to call public attention to her accomplishments. I wasn't sure there had been any in our county, and she was absolutely a wonderful resident. Item 7, closed session.

[03:05:55] One, pursuant to Section 2.2-3711A5, Code of Virginia 1950 as amended to discuss or consider prospective businesses or industries or the expansion of existing businesses or industries where no previous announcement has been made of the businesses or industries' interest in locating or expanding their facilities in the community.

[03:06:17] And two, pursuant to Section 2.2-3711A3, Code of Virginia 1950 as amended to discuss the acquisition by the county of real estate for a public purpose or the disposition of publicly held real property where discussion in an open meeting would adversely affect the bargaining position and negotiating strategy of the public body. Mr. Chair, we need a motion to go in a

[03:06:40] closed session. Roll call. Oh, I'm sorry. That's when we come out. All in favor? Aye. Good evening.

[03:07:47] Welcome to the evening session of the February 26th Board of Supervisors meeting. I verified that all board members have received copies of the comments posted on the online comment portal for consideration on matters before us tonight. These comments are part of the public record and will be attached to the meeting minutes. At this time, Mr. Holland, will you lead us in the invocation?

[03:08:09] Yes, Mr. Chairman, thank you. Shall we pray? Eternal and almighty God, our Father, we thank you, first of all, for yet an opportunity to pray, to call upon your holy and righteous name, And more importantly, just thank you for your kindness, your mercy, your grace, your compassion upon us.

[03:08:31] We pray, O Heavenly Father, for peace throughout our world, and especially our communities. We pray that there will be peace and that thy people will be blessed. Now, bless this great county. Bless these supervisors who are here and all who connect with Chesterfield County.

[03:08:48] We thank you for endowing us with wisdom, knowledge, and understanding. And in all we do, help us to do justice and always love mercy and walk humbly. We pray with you in our going and coming. Anoint us now. We pray for service for thy people and bless thy people.

[03:09:05] We pray in the name of our Lord and Savior. Amen. We would like to call forward Deputy County Administrator Matt Harris to lead the Pledge of Allegiance. Pledge of Allegiance to the flag of the United States of America and to the republic for which it stands, one nation, under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all.

[03:09:36] Item 11, recognizing Supervisor Holland for recent award and resolution. Would our invited guests please join the board on this stage? Board members, can we go around to the front? And then we have some special guests tonight.

[03:09:53] Some of the previous board members that have served with Mr. Holland on this board. Dorothy Jekyll, representing the Bermuda District. Tara Carroll, Leslie Haley, and Dan Gecker representing the Midlothian District. And we have representatives from the YMCA and from our General Assembly, from the Senate, Gonzala Hashmi, and from the House, Carrie Coyner.

[03:10:20] I'm sorry, I had that on my sheet. Janice Ford, who was the clerk of the board that kept all of them going during that time. Well, good afternoon, and we are just delighted to be here to honor our supervisor, Jim Holland.

[03:10:52] I want to thank Jim for all of the incredible years of service, commitment, and leadership, and a remarkable trailblazer, someone who has brought communities together, who has mentored so many people all throughout, not just in Chesterfield, but all throughout Virginia, and has certainly served as an inspiration and a mentor to me.

[03:11:15] Thank you, Jim. I served alongside Jim Holland when I was on the school board here for eight years, and honoring Jim Holland this month, it was really special in the House of Delegates and in the Senate. We work very hard to honor Black History Month, and we have speeches every day on the House floor, and we often honor people who've left a mark on the legacy for our communities.

[03:11:40] So this year is particularly moving for me to honor Jim Holland as part of our celebration of Black History Month on the House floor, being the first African-American to serve as chair of the Chesterville County Board, and also looking back at every governor appointing him to boards and commissions throughout the state, going back to Warner, is just remarkable.

[03:12:04] I shared a little bit on the House floor how important it is when you work across the aisle with folks. I quoted back to our days the recession that hit and housing crashed and we were really struggling in every locality in Virginia but Dan Gecker at the time and Jim Holland and myself and David Wyman sat around at the joint finance committee meetings trying to find a path forward to rebuild our schools and our community for the services that had slowed down at

[03:12:38] that time and we didn't always agree but Jim Holland always showed up to the table and he didn't leave until we had finished going through every single item and his focus was always on what was best for the people that we represented not any one side or the other and that's such an important thing and you continue to lead that way so the legacy that you've left I was honored to do that on the house floor. Good evening I'm Jody Alexander I'm the CEO of the YMCA and I'm actually

[03:13:11] representing the Chester YMCA and the Board of Directors, as well as the YMCA, for an honor that we just recently gave to Mr. Holland. And I have a couple of prepared remarks that I'd like to share. And I need my glasses to do that. The YMCA was honored to present this year's Chester Family YMCA Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Service Leadership Award to Supervisor Mr. Jim Holland in recognition of his outstanding and visionary leadership in Chesterfield County.

[03:13:48] This award is more than just a recognition of Jim's professional achievement. It stands as a testament to his unwavering commitment to the betterment of all of Chesterfield County residents, a commitment that mirrors the principles that Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. fought for throughout his life.

[03:14:08] The Volunteer Selection Committee acknowledged Jim's exceptional leadership in heading numerous public health initiatives and his unwavering commitment to empowering young people. His service closely aligns with the Y's mission as a youth-serving organization whose cause is to strengthen the foundation of the community.

[03:14:29] The Y is proud to recognize individuals like Mr. Holland who understand the importance of service and live it out every single day. We are so honored to be able to share that award with you. On a quick personal note, I am new-ish to the region and I did get the opportunity to spend a little bit of time with Jim on an inner city visit and there were a lot of super important people there and he didn't know me but I got the chance to sit beside him at a dinner and it was as if I was the only person in the entire room and it just really

[03:15:06] speaks to the sincerity of the relationships in at a personal level and at an overall community level so congratulations well I and and just briefly there's not a whole lot I can add because I can tell you that I mirror all of those comments but I also remember serving alongside you on the commission the airport commission and the incredible just depth of understanding and the deep dive you

[03:15:43] did into the financials and the perspective that you continued to add was incredibly invaluable. And I don't think people always understand all of the different opportunities and the cross-regional work that we've had the opportunity, and you in particular with all these years of service, have had all of the folks that you have brought that wisdom to and just that very measured approach.

[03:16:09] You know, to be quite candid, I don't think I've ever seen you lose your temper. I don't think I've ever seen you raise your voice I certainly have heard a very deliberate discussion and you make a very measured and informed opinions that really have just really brought difference people have listened people have taken note from that and you have made impacts that you probably don't realize beyond that I can call you my friend I say that we have worked so collaboratively together i don't know that everyone can always say that i think we in

[03:16:44] chesterfield have been incredibly blessed with the boards that we've had over the years and i'm so pleased to have had the opportunity to also feel like you mentored me as i came on the board new and um and the friendship we created thank you thank you so much well i can i think i can easily say except for judith i probably go back the farthest with um jim holland because we work together on PTA County Council when our children were in elementary school our children who are now in their 40s right Jim our children are for it and I do echo what everybody says here and I can tell you back then he was a servant

[03:17:24] trying to do what was best for the people best for the children and on the Board of Supervisors and of course we didn't always agree on things like I didn't agree with with a lot of people up here on a lot of things but we always got along and we always worked together for what was best for the community and could always count on Jim to do what was best for the community so I enjoyed the 12 we found ourselves back together 12 years together on the board after our elementary school years perhaps the worst thing you can do is hand a retired politician a microphone so this is a classic era you know as Carrie began to

[03:18:02] mention Jim and I served eight years together on the budget and audit committee during my eight years on the board those were interesting times for those of you who don't remember 08 we came in with money and we left without money but I will tell you having a CPA and somebody who clearly was focused on maintaining service levels allowed us not only to do the only real dollar tax cut this county had seen in hundreds of years and I think the only one since by the way current board take note but we were able to do it in a way that you know

[03:18:41] maintain the dignity of the organization maintain the focus of the organization and a lot of that is thanks to Jim's ability to go through to maintain and to do what was right for our community and so I am forever thankful for that time with Jim on the committee I will also say for those of you who haven't watched it delegate coiners comments on regarding Jim on the floor of the house which is circulating are particularly you know telling and nice and great and completely accurate so we appreciate that that but Jim I'm happy to have had the opportunity to serve with you well it's

[03:19:21] probably I'm gonna introduce my wife for you all who don't know she's in the shadows many times this is my wife of 52 years by the way and so she always checks me I can tell you that quickly so I listen but anyway I've learned from each of you I'm humbled and thankful and especially the Mark Luther King award who was one of the great, great Americans who gave his life, as you well know, in service to our country.

[03:19:56] And our country is so much better because he came. And I'm so thankful. And that was my whole intent on service when I started. I didn't know where we would be. And Dan and I were right. We had five years of decline in revenue. People don't realize that in this county.

[03:20:11] We thought we were coming in with flushes of cash. And Lord knows that we know it. We all of a sudden had to look at everything, every budget. and we did it, we took it, and so with everyone here. So I'm humbled and thankful for this. As someone who came from North, I'll just say briefly here, and I don't want to be long, from North Carolina, the six of 12 children, I know what poor is like.

[03:20:37] And so I always think about people who have leased in our communities because those are the ones we keep taxes low for, and we provide the very best quality services.

[03:20:55] And that's always my goal is to provide the very best. I haven't always been right on everything, but I think of having boards and having colleagues like these, you always make sound and great decisions, and so I'm thankful for that opportunity to do that here in Chesterfield County.

[03:21:13] I can't believe that the years have gone by as fast as they are because we're going from morning to night. As my wife often say, I'll see you late tonight or I'll see you in the morning. And so gone, during the course of the region, as you well know, when you're a CPA, you get asked to do a lot of things, and you have to dig into the budgets.

[03:21:32] And we did, Dan and I did, when we looked at the budgets for our schools to make sure our children had the very best, our teachers, and to make sure that our county was the very best. And, you know, many people around the country, as I've traveled over the years, have always recognized Chesterfield as a leader throughout the nation.

[03:21:52] It's one of the best managed and run counties throughout the nation. We don't have a triple-A just because we have one. And, of course, only nine in the nation have a triple-A utility as well. And so that's a unique thing about Chesterfield. And so when you drink good water, thank our utilities department, as we did, as we did just a few weeks ago.

[03:22:15] So, again, I'm humbled and thankful for the opportunity. I'm thankful for you taking the time to be here tonight for me. Nothing special for me. I'm just honored to serve and to be a part of a difference in making the lives of others. It's always about others.

[03:22:31] As Dr. King once said, the most pressing and urgent question is what are you doing for others? And he often advocated that. So I thank you all for your resolutions. I thank you for everything you've said. And I greatly and humbly appreciate it. I'm mighty humble. And I give the glory to God.

[03:22:48] To God be the glory for the great things he has done. And let's continue until our day is done. God bless. God bless.

[03:23:17] So on the House and Senate floor, we both were able to give heartfelt remarks about Jim's leadership. But the resolution we are reading aloud tonight for everyone to hear for our commending resolution joint both House of Delegates agreed to by the House of Delegates February 18th, 2025, agreed to by the Senate February 20th, 2025.

[03:23:40] Whereas James Holland, an Army veteran, accomplished accountant, and faithful public servant, has served on the Chesterfield County Board of Supervisors since 2008. And whereas born in Gates, North Carolina, James Jim Holland served in the United States Army and was stationed at Fort Liberty, North Carolina from June 1972 until December 1974.

[03:24:00] He volunteered for the United States Army Airborne School and served in the 2018th Airborne Corpse 118th Military Police Company as a paratrooper and military policeman during the de-escalation of the Vietnam War.

[03:24:16] And whereas Jim Holland earned a bachelor's degree with honors from Fayetteville State University in 1979 and received a master's degree in business administration in 1980 from North Carolina Central University. And whereas Jim Holland has been a resident of Chesterfield County since 1987, he retired from Philip Morris USA and Philip Morris International, and he is a certified public accountant CPA who served as president of Holland & Company CPA in Chesterfield County.

[03:24:42] And whereas Jim Holland has inspired numerous young men and women as an accounting professor and CPA advisor at Virginia Commonwealth University, and whereas Jim Holland was elected to represent the Dale District on the Chesterfield County Board of Supervisors and has proudly served his constituents for 17 years, during that time, he served as board chair in 2014, 2021, and 2024, and served as board vice chair in 2010 and 2022.

[03:25:11] And whereas, during his tenure on the board, Jim Holland was part of some of Chesterfield County's most notable successes, including the LEGO Group's decision to establish its United States manufacturing plant in Chesterfield, a multi-billion dollar investment by Commonwealth Fusion Systems to build the world's first grid-scale commercial fusion power plant in Chesterfield, and the successful navigation of the many challenges related to the COVID-19 pandemic and related economic impacts while transitioning many local government services and programs to be delivered virtually.

[03:25:41] and whereas jim holland oversaw the passage of bond referendums in 2013 and 2022 and participated in two complex decennial redistricting processes serving as board chair during the 2021 redistricting process and whereas jim holland was part of some of dale district's most notable successes including the replacement of beulah elementary school and fallen creek middle school the approval of courthouse landing, and the adaptive reuse of the old Beulah Elementary School as the Beulah Recreation Center. And whereas Jim Holland's devotion to his community has led him to pursue

[03:26:18] various civic endeavors and to become involved with several local organizations, including the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants and the Virginia Society of CPAs, the Chesterfield County Drug and Alcohol Abuse Task Force, and the Chesterfield County Council of PTAs, the Jacobs Athletic Association, the Manchester High School Band Boosters Club, and the Supervisory Committee of the Virginia Credit Union, and whereas Jim Holland, as a long-time and closely engaged member of First Baptist Church Centralia, also serves faithfully as a deacon and Sunday school teacher, and whereas Jim Holland was appointed to serve on the Richmond Region

[03:26:52] Tourism Board from January 2008 through December 2024, and whereas Jim Holland was appointed to serve on the Chesterfield Budget and Audit Committee, later renamed the Chesterfield Audit and Finance Committee from January 2008 through December 2015 and was reappointed in January 2020 and currently serves. And whereas Jim Holland was appointed by Governors Mark Warner and Tim Kane to the Board of Commissioners for the Virginia Public School Authority from 2002 to 2008, including services chair in 2008. And whereas Jim Holland was appointed by Governors Bob McDonald and Terry McAuliffe to serve on the Virginia Board of Accountancy from 2013 to 2017

[03:27:32] and the National Association of State Boards of Accountancy's Ethics and Continuing Professional Education Committees from 2014 to 2017. And whereas Jim Holland was appointed by Governor Ralph Northam to serve on the Virginia Opioid Abatement Authority in 2021 and was reappointed by Governor Glenn Youngkin in 2023 to serve as treasurer.

[03:27:53] And whereas by demonstrating an unwavering commitment to enhancing the lives of others, Jim Holland has embodied the ideals of public service and has worked tirelessly and effectively to make Chesterfield County a wonderful place to live, learn, work, and play.

[03:28:08] Now, therefore, be it resolved by the House of Delegates, the Senate concurring, that the General Assembly hereby commend James Holland for his service as a member of the Chesterfield County Board of Supervisors and achievements in other leadership roles. And be it resolved further that the Clerk of the House of Delegates prepare a copy of this resolution for presentation to James Holland as an expression of the General Assembly's admiration for his contributions to Chesterfield County and the Commonwealth.

[03:28:35] I know we've been up here for just a minute, and I'm sure Mr. Holland is ready to sit back down because of his humble self.

[03:28:56] it is black history month and what we've looked at today everything that you've done is a part of the history of the county and it's fitting that this month we celebrate you but we do want to remind everybody that this is just the second year of his fifth term he's still got almost three years left so i told him earlier gilligan went on a three-hour tour and we're going to take him on a three-year tour for the next three years to make sure that everybody is able to know and celebrate all the things that Mr. Holland's done for the citizens of Chesterfield County.

[03:29:32] Thank you so much for all you've done.

[03:29:53] Item 12, County Administration Update, Dr. Casey.

[03:30:50] Thank you for the members of the public and the Board of Supervisors. County Administrator's comments, I have five of them tonight. And if I could introduce Kerry Rhodes from the Sheriff's Office, Major Jones, and Delegate Coiner one more time. This is a potpourri of some sheriff recognitions but first in recognition of Delegant Coiner's advocacy for our sheriff's office there was a resolution also presented before the General Assembly that we worked on on her behalf and helping formulate some of the words but she carried it and was the inspiration behind it so I'll just start and introduce Delegate Coiner but we have a few other things to talk about

[03:31:30] with the Sheriff's Office. Sure. Thank you. It was an honor to recognize our Sheriff's team on the House floor. I serve on the State Behavioral Health Commission, and we were very grateful for the time that the entire Commission was able to spend out in our Chesterfield County Jail and the amazing best practices that are in place there. It is not lost on us that that does not happen without local support. We spent a lot of time this General Assembly session passing laws to try to make our jails better but the bottom line is if you have strong leadership at the local level running your jails support from your board of

[03:32:09] supervisors you don't need a whole lot of laws to ensure things are done well if you have the right people we honored heart on the house floor for the work and the amazing things that are going on there we were able to highlight how many of the programs not just that they're doing in the jail but the real reason for the recognition was what they're doing to serve residents when they leave to continue a strong journey of recovery and resources that improves our recidivism rates, ensures that they are strong members of their families and are able to obtain jobs and be successful when they go back

[03:32:43] home. So it was fitting on the house floor that day. We love our folks from the sheriff's team who are in uniform, but that particular day, it was a whole host of people who provide all the other therapeutic supports that were there. And I think that just really highlights how Chesterfield County, you're doing things differently. And it was an honor to recognize what you're doing and how successful it is. Thank you for what you do. And thank you to the entire team at Chesterfield County Jail. Thank you. Thank you, Delicate Coiner. And I just want to also add on top of the the heart program, Carrie Rhodes was prominently featured with with some others in Rolling Stone's

[03:33:19] featured article last month about this addiction recovery program. So Carrie, I want to thank you personally and professionally for what you're doing. Any comments you'd like to make about HAARP? I don't think HAARP or the sheriff, who wishes he could be tonight, had our imaginations aren't big enough to really capture what happens in HAARP or somebody like Jelly Roll coming and spending time with us or a 14-page spread in Rolling Stone I may have no musical talent there's no other way I'm getting in but you know I'm just I'm so proud to be part of what Chesterfield

[03:33:57] County does we could not do it without your support and we could not do it without the sheriff and I couldn't do it without the major and the sworn staff that support all the out-of-the-box things that we do in that jail because we know there's not one path to recovery and we need to give people every option that they have so that they can come out into the community and be productive members of Chesterfield County and contribute as productive members and so that matters but thank you all for all your support we couldn't do it without you and we're really proud of what we're doing so thank you. Thank you Ms. Rhodes and last but not least Major Jones can speak

[03:34:33] to really you know as harp is a portion of our inmates it's not all of them but the caretaking for the 300-plus inmates there 24-7 is under a lot of regulations that are governed by the state. And Major Jones can speak to the compliance processes that they just went through and the success they had from that.

[03:34:52] Good evening, everybody. We just had a January 14th and 15th, we had an unannounced visit from BLRJ to come in and do an inspection of basically all of the life, health, and safety standards that are associated with BLRJ.

[03:35:11] There's 43 of those standards out of the 130 that actually exist. Those 43 standards, again, apply to the life, health, and safety of the inmates and staff of the jail. And I'm happy to say that during that time, we had 100% compliance of all of those standards.

[03:35:31] And I just want to thank Major Jones, Ms. Rhodes, and again, Delegate Coyner again for her advocacy at the local level on behalf of the state. thank you if Tommy Tucker who's the director of our emergency communications center could also come down it goes without saying that this is an example of a department that's always tried to be on the forefront of technology in the name of public safety and so mr. Tucker has a couple of things to share with you just illustrating recent accomplishments and things they've initiated again in

[03:36:10] the name of protecting our people and protecting our public safety sworn officials. Thanks, sir. He just took my opening statement, but I wanted to showcase one of our newer technologies that we do have in the center that not only helps our constituents who call into the 911 center, it helps the providers out in the field with information that we can provide to them. The name of the software is called Prepared 911 Live, and what this software does, it's a video feed into the 911 center, so we can give access to their phone. We send them a link to

[03:36:45] their phone, they click on the link, and then we can see what that individual is seeing by pointing their phone at it. That gives us a tremendous amount of information about what is going on during that incident, and we can pass that information along to the providers while they're en route to the law enforcement, while they're coming to the scene to ensure that we have the right resources going to the right location. Some of the instances we would use this software for is priority one type calls, some in-progress type calls, shooting type calls, law enforcement, really threat type calls. We use it for fire calls mostly, which provides us a tremendous

[03:37:23] amount of information as they're responding to the call. For specialty team responses, well, we have vehicles in water. We can see exactly what's going on. As we like to say, a picture's worth a thousand words, and it absolutely is to us. Some of the other aspects we can use this program for is texting back and forth to the caller so we can take different questions that they may have. We can send them a link directly to their phone. So what that allows us to do is to send them the information they need so they have that. They don't have to write it down. They won't forget it. It goes directly to their phone. And then we can get off the phone to be able to process another call that comes into the center. So it's a great aspect for us. And

[03:38:02] those are the different features that you can use with the texting back and forth into the center. So what happens when we do send you this link? One thing I want to make sure everybody understands is that we do not take over that phone. We have no access to settings of that phone.

[03:38:19] All we have access to is the camera that they're giving us the live feed. So we will send the person the link. They will click on that link, and it will come up and say, can we have your location? They'll hit OK or hit Allow, and then the next one, they will hit the Play button on the next slide that you'll see.

[03:38:37] So it has two points of verification that they want to use this software. At any point, they can not click on this link or just, you know, disconnect the call. Once they do that, basically what we will see is what they're seeing. The phone starts on the outward-facing camera, so we're not looking at the person.

[03:38:53] We're looking at what they're seeing. It also gives us the location of where they're at. That's another verification on their location, so we know where we're sending the resources, and it's the correct resources going to the correct location. Here's some of the examples.

[03:39:09] I'd only included fire calls here for this so we can see what is actually on fire the middle picture there The caller was saying that there was a trailer on fire. Well, what is the trailer? Is it a flatbed trailer? You know what what is actually going on? But now we can see that this is a camper on fire See what the location of that fire is is it close to any exposures and make tactical decisions based on what we're seeing there just Yesterday, I believe it was, we had a fire in a house.

[03:39:37] We're able to use the software. The lady was at the front door. You could see fire straight up the steps in the kitchen to the left. I mean, that's incredible information to pass on to the fire units responding before they even get on location so they can make good decisions. The final one over there, we also try to give good information.

[03:39:55] If you can notice to the right of that picture, there's somebody's leg sitting in the smoke. So we can say, hey, get out of the smoke. That's not good for you. So we can give safety messages as well on trying to keep people around that call safe. So any questions on that?

[03:40:12] I'd be happy to answer, Mr. Chairman. In the process of when these recordings are taking place, are we recording them in our dispatch center? Yes, sir, we do. And we do have the ability to archive those if necessary. Well, I mean, I think the importance of that is twofold.

[03:40:30] One, as an example in the fire call that you just showed, you know, the fire department responding may see something in that recording that could indicate in early on an accelerant being used. But from an evidentiary standpoint on all those different types of cases that you showed, you know, well, just you want domestic assault.

[03:40:49] There's always a he said, she said, well, he, you know, she says, well, he hit me and he said I didn't. Well, now we have an opportunity to have it on camera, which will help those officers when they get on scene because they can utilize that information to actually help determine to make arrest or not. Because sometimes it's a little more difficult when you have one person saying it happened and one person saying it didn't.

[03:41:08] So the fact that we're recording all this, and obviously we've worked on what the chain of custody would look like. I'm sure that there's a process in place where the officers will have to come and take custody of the evidence and so forth and so on. And so I think this is a great program for us to have for many, many, many reasons for public safety.

[03:41:30] And, you know, the other thing about body-worn cameras that the offices wear sometimes makes people behave themselves. So hopefully if someone knows that they're getting live-streamed, they'll behave themselves, and maybe a crime that could have happened will be prevented because they'll think twice about it.

[03:41:46] So I think this is a great program. So is it possible for the feed to be fed to the respondent also to their cars or on their computers or no? Well, for safety reasons, we do not send that to an MDC.

[03:42:01] So we do not want them looking down at the MDC at a live feed and then have an accident. But what we do now, especially for a fire call, we send that link to the shift commander or battalion chief who is not responding to that call.

[03:42:17] So they can see, make tactical decisions, call the units responding on the radio and say, this is what's occurring and this is what I want to happen. Or we'll call into the ECC and make a comment of, you know, let's reduce that response. Let's upgrade this response. So we do send that to providers, not responding providers.

[03:42:35] Thank you. That's what I was asking. It's awesome. Board members, any other questions? Thank you very much. Yes, sir. Thank you. Thank you, Mr. Tucker. Just three other items fairly quickly. Each year, the Virginia Workers' Compensation Commission issues a dean's list of the best of the best for those in the private and public sector that timely file electronic transmissions of information, enabling claims to be settled and processed more accurately and more timely, often to the betterment of the person who may have been injured on the workplace.

[03:43:10] Chesterfield is on this distinct list for the fifth straight year and is the only local government in the state of Virginia to be on that list. So I do want to offer congratulations to our entire risk management department and claims team under the leadership of Dave Johnson. And this is on behalf of the county and school employees as Workman's Comp.

[03:43:29] I also want to recognize Matt McLaren. He's the Deputy Director of Economic Development. Just recently, this past week, he was appointed to the Executive Committee of the Greater Richmond Association for Commercial Real Estate. It's an organization that provides opportunities for commercial real estate professionals, public and private.

[03:43:46] mostly it's a private entity, a private sector that is, for them to network, gain invaluable insight through educational programs, and proactively address issues impacting the industries. I've been told that the executive committee appointment is the beginning of the rise to being president of the organization in a few years.

[03:44:06] So again, I want to congratulate Mr. McLaren. And last but not least, you know, after a long but productive negotiation process with Competitive Racing Investments, LLC, or CRI, both parties are prepared to have a special announcement on-site at Southside Speedway March 11th at 2.30 p.m.

[03:44:27] I want to especially thank CRI Partners, Economic Development, and the Board of Supervisors, all focused on a positive outcome since the negotiations commenced. And that media announcement was released earlier today. That is the conclusion of my comments.

[03:44:45] Item 13, board member reports. Ms. Snyder, I think you're up first. Thank you. First of all, we had Snowball Festival came back again this year for the second time with fun activities, music, food, to help kids of all ages enjoy and celebrate winter.

[03:45:09] The weather was more wintry like this year. It wasn't 70 degrees like it was last year, but it was a great day. There were so many people in attendance. It was more spread out this year, so there weren't as many line congestions.

[03:45:28] Had a great time. They had some awesome new inflatables. I went on the Mount Everest slide. It was huge. Had a great time. But thank you so much. This is one of those. There's also a synthetic ice rink that people can go on.

[03:45:43] And, of course, coal was there as well. Mr. Carroll and was it just Mr. Carroll? It was just Mr. Carroll? Yeah. And you were there, too.

[03:45:59] Yeah, I was going to say. Mr. Carroll and Mr. Ingle and I attended the Brighton-Stratton College Commencement in January to celebrate the incredible achievements of these graduates. Keynote speaker was Angela Royston. We know her a lot.

[03:46:17] She comes to a lot of our events from Virginia Credit Union. They do some great work in the community. She shared a compelling speech about her decision to be a beacon of strength and embarking on an uncharted journey filled with firsts and opportunities. So as always, congratulations to all the graduates.

[03:46:40] So this event I attended because I love art, and this was the PTAs, the Chesterfield County's PTA Reflections Art Ceremonies. And I was just in the audience waiting, and the school board member was not able to attend, And so they came and asked me to present some awards as well.

[03:47:02] So this was an awesome event. The theme this year was Accepting Imperfections. The kids are, they're some really awesome, talented kids. They did some musical performances, singing, dancing, playing piano, art that was done and shown around the outside of the event.

[03:47:27] And then they had a nice little gathering afterwards. So if you ever get a chance to go to this, I highly recommend it. It's a great showing of all of the artistic abilities in our schools. I attended the legislative reception hosted by the Asian American Society of Central Virginia, the Asian American Store Owners Association, and the Coalition of Asian Pacific Americans of Virginia.

[03:47:52] I was also joined by many local leaders. the governor and lieutenant governor were there. Mr. Danny Avula, the new mayor. It was a great, they had some great food there as well. So it was a great connecting with lots of local business owners and had some great conversations about needs in the community. So also not pictured anywhere. I did attend a community conversations hosted by Deborah Gardner. Some of our staff also

[03:48:29] presented. We had some great conversations. Mr. Engel was there as well, discussing ongoing county development projects, mental health initiatives, and health care services in the community. I had the opportunity to attend a CIS, that's the Communities in Schools, bus tour. So this is an opportunity for people to experience, um, some of what communities and schools does in our, um, our title one schools here in, in the County. So we started out our morning at

[03:49:05] Falling Creek middle school, um, went to the elementary Falling Creek elementary school, and then went on a bus, um, over to LC bird. We met with some of the kids, um, in the high school that were explained some of their experiences that they've had with CIS, very touching stories about the impacts and the help that they receive through this wonderful program that is offered in our school systems.

[03:49:40] Also attended the amazing, had an amazing time at the Organization of Chinese American Lunar New Year celebration, marking the start of the year of the snake, symbol of good luck, prosperity, and longevity. It's a wonderful event, so many great dance performances, bright costumes, et cetera.

[03:50:01] And again, lots of great food. And that concludes my report. Thank you. Mr. Holland? Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Chesterfield takes great pride in keeping constituents informed about the budget process, the county administrator's recommendations, And then the board decides afterwards, once it has community meetings.

[03:50:22] So I want to invite all residents and are welcome to attend any of the town halls listed on the screen above the Dale District. Specifically, it's at the Beulah Recreation Center on March 17th. And of course, in addition, if you're unable to attend that session, you can also include a virtual option that will be available on March 25th.

[03:50:47] via the county's Facebook page. So we look forward to sharing the plans the county has coming. Lots of good things are going on in the Chesterfield community to gather feedback, but also to include your input, your suggestions, your ideas, as we are a county that believes in inclusiveness in terms of ideas and suggestions with regard to our budget, which is our blueprint for making things happen for the next year.

[03:51:14] Thank you. Mr. Carroll. Thank you, Mr. Chair. Well, as you can see, we attended a wonderful event, Ms. Schneider and I, down at the Black History Month kickoff celebration at Virginia State University.

[03:51:34] This year marks the 36th year of our participation with Virginia State University. Some danced, I did not, enjoyed delicious food and connected with local business owners who expressed their enthusiasm for community engagement. And that young man you see standing in the middle was told the night before, hey, can you emcee this for us?

[03:51:53] He did an outstanding job, and I looked to see him on some TV channel in the future, so I made sure I got my picture taken with him because I said, you're going to be famous one day. Unbelievable. Next slide. You know, we had a building here in the complex that's recently been destroyed, but I had the honor of helping present the name from that building, the Rose Building, signed to descendants of James T. Rose, Jr., the first real estate assessor here in Chesterfield County.

[03:52:24] We're grateful for their dedicated service for all our employees and extend a heartfelt thank you to the Rose family returning to the county complex to receive this sign in his honor. And this was something that was actually brought forward by one of our retired police officers, who is a friend of the family, and a fellow FOP member, Hank Holland.

[03:52:43] You see his picture, I guess, on the far right. And so we were happy to give them that keepsake. Next slide. Well, and of course, we attended the RVA Sports Awards, hosted its annual celebration for those who brought their best game faces to the region.

[03:53:02] I think we appreciate the leaders in our community for striving to make an impact through exercise and healthy living. This award ceremony showcases the power we have in the region and our champions. And as much as I would like to, I would say I'm not going to mention all of the great awards that our kids got because they're from different districts.

[03:53:21] And, you know, we would just say that our kids from Chesterfield County were very well represented in this and recognized, as opposed to trying to say, oh, my district did this. It was really great. Next. I'd like to take the time to highlight the Pleasant View School.

[03:53:42] It's a one-room schoolhouse that has functioned as an elementary school for African-American students. Actually, it was in use until 1947. The school is down on River Road in Cheshire County, just down the street from Epitone Plantation.

[03:54:00] The school serves as a historic landmark and embodies the early 20th century African-American education during the era of public school segregation. Thanks to the collaboration with Cheshire County Parks and Recreation and Legislative Affairs Liaison Casey Walker, Pleasant View School has achieved preliminary eligibility for grants from the Department of Historic Resources and various black, indigenous, and people of color funding sources.

[03:54:26] We want to make sure that we keep this site in great shape and actually make some amendments to it in the future so it could actually serve the public again. We're deeply appreciative of their dedication to our community and look forward to providing updates on grants that may be awarded later this year.

[03:54:42] Mr. Chair, there's one event that I attended that's not on here. My wife and I attended the Stop the Stigma Gala, which was held at the John Marshall Hotel in Richmond on February the 15th. it was an 80s theme now you know why there's no pictures um but that organization um and the founder's brother had passed away um from a fentanyl overdose um it was their eighth year having this gala and it was it's a fundraiser and the money that they use funds our recovery academy here in chestwood county helps to fund that it helps to fund the heart program um and it was a

[03:55:21] tremendous amount of people from the community there to support this fundraising event, and I was just honored to be there to represent the community. Thank you, Mr. Chair. Thank you. Dr. Miller. Thank you, Mr. Chair. Good evening, everyone. First thing I want to talk about is the Vaco County Government Day. This is a day when a lot of the supervisors from across the state come together to discuss legislation that's happening in the General Assembly.

[03:55:53] When I was elected, the first question almost I asked Mr. Holland was, could I serve on the Board of Directors for Chesterfield County? It's an incredible opportunity to get a feel for what's happening across the state and to see what other folks are wrestling with and being able to also learn from them and learn from us.

[03:56:13] So it's something I very much look forward to. It's just an incredible honor to be with other elected officials going through what the General Assembly is considering what's going to work locally for us sometimes the General Assembly is under the idea that maybe something that should not happen on the county level should happen on the state level and I'm appreciative of Natalie Smillman and all your work that you've done with the General Assembly one of the things that I was able to present with Natalie's help of course was how we can take care of our folks through

[03:56:48] life flight and making sure that we had the the opportunity to make sure that that continued to be funded on the state level for us. So that's Avico County Government Day. It's an important day to have for all of us to hang out and to talk and figure out what works best on the county and the local level. Freedom Recovery Centers ribbon-cutting. As some of you know I'm a certified substance abuse counselor. I've worked as a substance abuse counselor for 25 years And I'm so excited that Freedom Recovery Centers has opened up here over in Gateway Center.

[03:57:28] They're going to do some great work there. And it was one of those snowy mornings, and their answer was, we're going to have this no matter what happens. And I was like, deal. I'm going to show up no matter what happens. But I'm just so excited that they're here.

[03:57:43] They're going to be serving our community and helping our folks that are working and living with and wrestling with addiction. So thank you, Freedom Recovery Centers, for the invitation to come to the ribbon cutting. I couldn't be more honored, and I'm glad you're here.

[03:58:03] So it's been a busy month, and I see that Carrie is still here. I'm glad you're still here to answer questions along the way. My deepest appreciation to Carrie and to Sheriff Leonard for inviting me to have the opportunity to go to Rwanda, hang out with kids, and also to talk with other leaders around the entire world on trauma and treatment of trauma.

[03:58:28] This was a symposium that was hosted by the Peaceful Heart Network, and it was just such an incredible opportunity to learn from folks around the world on how they treat trauma. Rwanda, as you all may recall, went through a pretty, even horrible, isn't even the right word, genocide in the late 90s.

[03:58:52] And so the trauma that has resulted from that kind of experience with 800 to a million people that were killed by machetes. And to be there and see how the community is healing, to spend time in their prison and to get a feel for just how we can help and what we can do for them, what they're able to do for us to learn from each other.

[03:59:20] There's a video, it's a short video, that I think, Carrie, you put together, so I would like to present that right now by sound.

[03:59:50] Are you able to check that if I go on to my board report and we just come back afterwards if you can get it with me? Let me see if there's anything else I had. That almost concludes my report.

[04:00:10] All right. This month, we were able to attend, or I was able to attend with Dr. Casey, a meeting with Congresswoman Jennifer McClellan. She hosted a meeting with Chesterfield, Richmond, and Henrico leaders to discuss the priorities for this year, including federal funding and opportunities for collaboration between local, state, and federal government.

[04:00:35] More specifically, our county partners discussed economic development opportunities and federal investment in infrastructure. Next. So this tour, this ribbon cutting I got to do on behalf of Dr. Miller.

[04:00:54] He was unable to attend that day, and I was glad that he wasn't there. Not because I didn't want you to be there, but because I probably wouldn't have gone, and it was worth it. We welcome MetaTours to the county. MetaTours is a health and wellness center that offers cryotherapy, red light, compression, dry floating, and virtual reality meditation therapies to help the body and mind thrive.

[04:01:23] They do some other stuff in there. There was a challenge where they had people that got in water that was about 40 degrees, and one person stayed in there for almost 20 minutes. It speeds up your metabolism and helps you recover, especially if you lift weights or do strong workouts.

[04:01:43] It helps bring your muscles back faster, at least that's what I'm told. I'm not sure I'm getting in 40-degree water, but some other things that were pretty interesting, They actually had a setup for people that wanted to learn and practice cage match fighting in there.

[04:02:03] So they have a cage. And they also have a boxing rink. So not only do they have the normal things that you would find in most of the gyms, you have a bunch of interesting other things to go with it. I think they're going to do really well.

[04:02:19] And I appreciate the opportunity to do that ribbon cutting for you. Next. Recently, again, Dr. Casey and I were able to attend the Chester Night Out, I mean the Chamber Night Out, I'm sorry, organized by the Chesterfield Chamber of Commerce and was held at St. Francis Medical Center.

[04:02:37] The chamber members gathered to discuss the hospital's achievements and to gain insight into heart health. Coincidentally, February is also Heart Health Awareness Month, and we also learned about the relatively recent additions that they put into the hospital to add more beds to serve our citizens in Chesterfield County. So that was a very informative night, and it was great to see everybody there. All right. This morning, I had the opportunity with several other people from

[04:03:15] the county to attend a Lego packaging facility tour. So for those of you that don't know, Lego is operating in the county already in a temporary location down in the Walthaw area.

[04:03:32] This morning, Governor Yunkin hosted the event. We got to go through and tour the facility, see how a bunch of Legos were packaged. We found out that if there is a barcode on your Lego package and it's got the letter F in it, then it was produced in Chesterfield County.

[04:03:55] So if you go buy a Lego kit, look and see what the scan is on it and see if you find that F that was put together here. We also heard from the Lego COO, Karsten Rasmussen, and he gave us an update on the factory.

[04:04:16] Right now, they already have 400 people working in Chesterfield County, so they've promised 1,761 jobs. they've already brought 400 of them to the county they also let us know that they are very close to finishing all of the ground work and everything below the ground so within the next two months we should actually see the building coming up out of the ground so that'll be very exciting and I believe got a couple more earlier this month I was able to sit down and do

[04:04:50] a podcast discussing issues in Chesterfield County and the Bermuda District, especially projects that were planned for the whole county and for my district. We spoke about the budget process, transformational projects of Commonwealth Fusion Systems, which actually came up today in our discussion with LEGO as well. They were very excited about that. We talked about transportation projects we talked about capital updates that were supported by the referendum so if you have

[04:05:24] a couple extra minutes and you want to listen to something that uh give you a little bit of information on what's going on in my district in the county i'd ask you to go ahead and just tune into the podcast and listen and finally um we i'd like to invite kim conley up to the front as I always like to have the opportunity to invite her to the front.

[04:05:48] And she loves to come up there. That's one of her favorite things. She's the Director of Community Engagement and Resources and I'd like to ask you to speak to the significance of Black History Month and the special events that were held here in the county.

[04:06:04] Ms. Connolly. Thank you, Ms. Dingo. Good evening, Mr. Chairman, honorable members of the Board of Supervisors, Dr. Casey. As co-chair of the VSU Chesterfield County Black History Month Celebration Committee, I want to express our sincere gratitude for the opportunity to share a few highlights from this month's celebration.

[04:06:24] We deeply appreciate your ongoing support, commitment, and participation in this annual program for more than 36 years. It's vital that we continue to educate our community on the rich history of Chesterfield County and the profound legacy of African Americans.

[04:06:40] To share just a little update, this year's theme was African Americans and Labor, inspired by the committee to highlight a variety of topics, talents, and cultural arts throughout the month. As in previous years, Mr. Carroll mentioned this, we kicked off the month with a lively entertainment and movement that included Mr. Carroll, which we couldn't get him on the floor, and Ms. Snyder, which we did get on the floor, as well as Dr. Abdullah.

[04:07:06] A big thank you to DJ Reggie Mack and Break It Down RVA Lion Dancers that kept us all on the floor all day. Our community had the opportunity to experience events this month such as Henley and Lou singing the blues, music of the civil rights movement, a performance by Teresa G, movie matinees of Hidden Figures and 42, A conversation with honor judge, a session to learn about black labor leaders, a small business workshop on empowerment through enterprise with Sassy Jones, a vendor market

[04:07:44] and fair, which we all, if you can see Mrs. Snyder, she's wearing some of the tie from the vendor fair, and the history of Jackson Ward presented by the Black History Museum. And that's just to name a few of our events this month. Unfortunately, due to inclement weather last week, we had to postpone one of our favorite signature programs, the Business Breakfast and Scholarship Recognition.

[04:08:07] We are rescheduling this important event for March, where we will award six $2,500 scholarships to deserving Chesterfield County high school seniors who plan to attend Virginia colleges or universities. In total, this month, we have had over 30 exciting programs and activities across the county with over 1,600 participants thus far.

[04:08:33] This has been a dynamic year of events and participation from our community since our COVID times. There's still one more program to go along with our scholarship recognition to come in March. As you can see from some of the highlights, the photos highlighted on the screen, these programs were engaging, educational, and well attended.

[04:08:55] I would be remiss if I did not take this opportunity to acknowledge that none of these collaborative programs would be possible without the hard work, dedication, and support of the following committee members. jennifer shepley and pam white and i as i say their names a few of them are in the audience jennifer shepley and pamela white from chesterfield county public library can you stand if she calls your name tanya lebo chesterfield county parks and recreation donna charles cosky and audra lancaster boyce from chesterfield county public schools theresa bonovus and her

[04:09:32] team chesterfield county constituent and media services diane mallory chesterfield county Historical Society of Virginia, Yodonis James, Regina Barnett-Towler, and Gwen Dandridge from Virginia State University, and with support from Virginia State University, Chesterfield County, Chesterfield County Public Schools Communications and Media Departments. Please join me in thanking this incredible team for their dedication and planning such a successful month of programs.

[04:10:07] And I would also like to take the opportunity to express my gratitude to the corporate and community sponsors whose annual funding makes these programs possible. We truly could not have hosted this celebration without the continued support from sponsors such as Columbia Gas, Virginia Credit Union, the Honorable James and Mrs. Judith Holland, Dr. Shura Bailey, and Millard Stiff of Stiff Solution LLC. A huge thank you for them for continuing to support us each year. So let's give them applause. Finally, I would just like to take a point of privilege

[04:10:45] just to thank Dr. Casey, Dr. Abdullah, and Dr. James Worsley for their ongoing leadership and support. They come to me saying, so what are we going to do next year? And when the community asked, what is Chesterfield County doing? I said, we're going to do it bigger and better each year. And we could not do that without your support and their support of all that we do each year.

[04:11:06] So I say thank you to each of you for all of you that you do every year and making sure that you're not supporting, you're not only supporting it, but you're making sure that we stay aligned with our county's vision. So thank you so much for all you do. And we're excited and looking forward to programs next year.

[04:11:22] Thank you again. That'll conclude my report, but we're going to go back to you. Go ahead. I'm sorry. I just wanted to add something to that young man that I spoke about. His name is Daryl Dyson.

[04:11:38] He's going to be a graduate from Virginia State University this year. He went to Manchester High School, so he's a homegrown young man, very distinguished. And he's going to be doing an internship. I wasn't kidding, with Channel 6, so look for him on TV. With that, I think we have the video ready now.

[04:11:56] All right, let's play the video. Mr. Chairman, members of the board, Dr. Casey and citizens of Chesville County. I apologize for not being there in person today. I really would have preferred to have been there in person to address the board and let you know about our recent trip to Rwanda, which we just got back in the early part of February.

[04:12:15] Unfortunately, I'm out of town, and I appreciate the opportunity to do this through video. I would also like to thank Dr. Mark Miller from the Board of Supervisors representing the Lothian District for accompanying us on this symposium representing the Board of Supervisors. Because if it was not for the Board of Supervisors' support and the support of the county administration, we would not be able to do the things we do in HAARP every day or to help the citizens we are assisting.

[04:12:39] Thank you. We're just very honored to have been asked to be part of this international symposium on the use of trauma tapping tools and havening in the treatment of trauma, which we use here in Chesterfield County Jail and specifically the HAARP program as well.

[04:12:56] And only three jails or prisons in the world were invited to be part of this symposium. One was a prison out of Great Britain, another was a prison in Rwanda, and the third was Chesterfield County Jail. representing the three best programs in the world to treat trauma through the use of trauma tapping tools and havening.

[04:13:18] - Tapping is about hitting energy points. So we're gonna just use the ones we use in here. So first we're gonna start with side of the hand and we're just gonna tap like 10, 15 times a point. Trauma tapping is a combination of acupressure points and cognitive behavioral therapy and positive psychology all rolled into one.

[04:13:36] And so they were using it in Rwanda and they were using it in the UK and using in different parts of the world where language was a barrier. People in different tribes with different languages and so they just took language out of it. And what they saw very quickly was that people got relief and people that had great suffering. And we know a thing or three about suffering here in HAARP.

[04:13:54] And so it's a very simple tool to kind of turn emotion down in the body and lay a new signal on it by activating these acupressure points at the same time. Under your nose. - HAARP has not only attained a national audience, We have now an international audience, and it's got worldwide attention.

[04:14:12] And I think the organizers at the symposium saw what was going on here. And it wasn't just that we were using tools, trauma tapping, havening, things like that. We were getting solutions, proven solutions, and getting results. I lost my son in 2019 to an overdose, and traditional therapy was not helpful to me.

[04:14:32] It was not helpful to him in his own struggle. Talking about things is a band-aid in a lot of ways. And so I was looking for things that really were affecting change. I came across tapping and explored it and very quickly realized what a powerful tool it was and could not believe the results that I was getting.

[04:14:51] And I was really skeptical at first. I was trying to disprove it, and I couldn't. And what I was seeing was people get immediate relief, and I found that myself with my own trauma. We've had a number of studies done for our program, and we have two studies that have shown our recidivism rate is either at 23% or 18%.

[04:15:11] The national average in this country is 70%. All of those numbers equate to money, but more importantly, lives saved. What we did was we started to train our peers, which are the participants in HAARP, and then we started to see them use it with each other.

[04:15:26] And we realized that that was just as effective as me using it clinically. So they use it peer to peer, they use it with each other, they use it when we're not here. And then we started to train and we used it with our Sheriff's Office staff and first responders. So I've trained firefighters, I just finished regional dispatchers all over the state.

[04:15:44] And then I recently did a training at one of our senior living communities here in Chesterfield County. And so we've got them tapping away too. So I love that it's a tool that anybody can use. All you need are hands, willingness, and stress or trauma, which we all have plenty of. So I know there's a lot of questions asked of why this international symposium was held in Rwanda.

[04:16:03] Genocide plays a very important role in that country still today. It left such an issue with trauma with everybody in that country. It probably is the center point of trauma needs in the world today. So that's why this was held in Rwanda.

[04:16:18] I don't think you'll find a country suffering more with trauma issues than there. If you can imagine, you know, family members killing family members, neighbors killing neighbors, friends killing friends. In this day and age, people who have grown through that genocide don't know who to trust, don't sleep at night.

[04:16:37] The trauma is so heavy and laden in that society. That's why it's the center point for this symposium. It's really an honor. I think Chesterfield County is leading the way in these kind of out-of-the-box, innovative ways to treat trauma and addiction. It's just not something that's done in corrections.

[04:16:53] And so I think the sheriff's a really brave leader in protecting that and allowing us to do that. And Chesterfield County has been a big champion of it. There's been an organization of great minds in the world come together for this symposium. And the end state will be a paper.

[04:17:08] They're going to work with a university and develop a paper to be published in about 10 months. And that paper will highlight the best practices worldwide in treating or addressing trauma through the use of trauma-tapping tools and havening. Our takeaway from this is we've learned more about the tools we use, so we're able to gain even more knowledge on how to apply it further within our own HARP program and general population in the jail as well to get even greater results helping people with their underlying trauma to get them into long-term integration back with the community.

[04:17:45] Thank you, Kerry and Sheriff Leonard, for you pulling this together. One of the things I love about Chesterfield, I worked for Chesterfield for 13 years, is that when an employee, when someone who works for Chesterfield says, I have an idea, and a supervisor says, run with it.

[04:18:17] And that's what's happening. It continues to happen consistently around Chesterfield County. And so, Kerry, you know, I have an idea. And for Sheriff Leonard to say, run with it.

[04:18:31] And that's how it works. I can't describe how this opportunity changed me. It was so powerful, and you kind of get a feel for it from the video. But all of that energy is now here in Chesterfield. It continues to be, and we're just at the very beginning. We're just at the very beginning. So, Mr. Chair, that concludes my report.

[04:18:59] Thank you. We may have some community meetings coming up that we might need to get a five or 10 minute tapping up front before we start. So thank you for that. Clerk. Item 14, resolutions and special recognitions. A, resolution recognizing Ms. Pamela Goode, mental health support services upon her retirement. Will Ms. Goode and her guests please join the board on the stage?

[04:19:53] Madam Clerk, will you read the resolution? Yes, sir. Whereas Ms. Pamela A. Goode retired from Chesterfield County Mental Health Support Services on February 1st, 2025, after providing outstanding service for over 26 years. And whereas Ms. Goode was hired as a part-time residential counselor on May 27th, 1998, and then as a full-time residential counselor on January 23rd, 1999. And whereas Ms.

[04:20:32] Goode was promoted to residential supervisor in 2001 and to residential senior supervisor in 2010. And whereas Ms. Goode coached Special Olympics basketball and volleyball, chaperoning state tournament games in Richmond and Virginia Beach.

[04:20:49] And whereas Ms. Goode coached Thunder, a gym-based special needs cheer team, as well as created Girl Wins, a cheerleading group, and Abracadabras, a youth dance team. And whereas Ms. Goode served as an advisor to People First and routinely attended ARC conferences, as well as other events and trainings.

[04:21:10] And whereas Ms. Goode arranged activities for individuals including day trips to King's Dominion, the Spirit of Norfolk, and at Massanutten. And whereas Ms. Goode was instrumental in developing the residential program for Mockingbird Group Home specifically to provide supports and services for individuals on the autism spectrum.

[04:21:32] And whereas Ms. Goode trained staff in CPR, first aid, and CPI. And whereas Ms. Gude was Mental Health Support Services Employee of the Year in 1999 and 2006. And whereas Ms. Gude was hired as a services supervisor for Chesterfield Employment Services in 2014 and was instrumental in obtaining group-supported employment sites in the community.

[04:21:58] And whereas Ms. Gude was awarded the Association of People Supporting Employment Award in 2016. And whereas Ms. Goud played a significant role during the COVID-19 pandemic by having over 150 masks made for individuals continuing to work, as well as arranging for CES individuals to receive vaccinations, including arranging and providing transportation.

[04:22:23] And whereas Ms. Goud diligently worked during the implementation of the new agency electronic health record and the development of a billing process for the Department of Aging and Rehabilitative Services. and whereas Ms. Goode dedicated her career to the services of others, supporting individuals and staff alike with genuine care and compassion, making a difference in countless lives.

[04:22:47] Now, therefore, be it resolved that the Chesterfield County Board of Supervisors this 26th day of February, 2025, publicly recognizes the outstanding contributions of Ms. Pamela A. Goode and extends appreciation on behalf of its members and the citizens of Chesterfield County, congratulations upon her retirement, and best wishes for a long, happy, and healthy retirement, and be of further resolve that a copy of this resolution be presented to Ms. Gude, and that this resolution be permanently recorded among the papers of the Board of Supervisors of Chesterfield County, Virginia.

[04:23:22] Can I get a motion? All in favor? Aye. Well, after 26 years, this is your opportunity to share with us. Do you have anything you'd like to say? Oh, gosh. Well, it's been a complete honor and a joy to work for the mental health department in Chesterfield County. I had wonderful co-workers, fantastic teachers and leaders, supervisors, trainers, but we all know, make no doubt, that the people that taught me everything I know are

[04:24:02] the people who I was paid to work for. So it was fun. It was fun. Thank you. Let me say something. Here's what makes Pam so special. She wanted to hug all the people she worked with, all the handicapped people she worked with, and they wanted to hug her back, and that's what she's most proud of.

[04:24:32] Pam and I worked together when we were at Chesterfield Mental Health, so you were named Employee of the Year for Chesterfield Health in 2006. I was in 2007, and so it was humbling to be kind of following you. as because you have a heart of gold um you're absolutely right patience uh you are just the way that you are with the folks that we serve uh is quite humbling to just see that you fight you just lead with your heart and always saw it and um it's good to see you congratulations so much

[04:25:07] to be proud of thank you i will say just a couple of things i've had the pleasure of of working with Pam for the full 26 years um I've seen her work day in day out always with a smile on her face Fred is exactly right um the clients you if she walks down the hall they're running up to her they know her all you know you know them all by name they know you by name um and so much of her resolution you know was not about her day-to-day 8 30 to 5 job you heard about coaching special

[04:25:42] Olympics basketball, volleyball, cheerleading squads. Pam did all of that to provide a quality of life to individuals that they would never have otherwise. So thank you so much, Pam. She's already talking about maybe coming back part-time, so we like to hear that, but you deserve the best, Pam.

[04:25:59] You've done so much for us, and we really appreciate it. It sounds like you have definitely a very kind heart, because it takes someone like that to work with the communities that you work with and to touch those people in the heart and and make them joyful and want to spend time with you and that's just amazing and based on what they're saying here on your little resolution I think that you probably will be back part-time because I don't know that retirement works very well for people like you so

[04:26:35] well on behalf of Chesterfield County you know we started off today with the 24/7 Department of Public Utilities you heard from emergency communications and the sheriff's office, other 24-7 type departments. Public safety goes without saying, just viewed as 24-7. Many people don't realize there's a line of business of mental health, boots on the ground that is, of clients. There's also phone calls that people take 24-7 as well for those in crisis. So I know that the clients that you have, you know, technically they may be defined as a client per

[04:27:08] some federal or state definition, but you and your employees, they're considered family. So much so that the family members themselves are so thankful for what you have done for them and their lives and may that person have the best life they could possibly have, be productive where they can be, and in some employment services. You've had people who have died because they've lived a long life with you all, but those are funeral services you go to as if they are family. So those are the heartbreaking moments. And during the thick of the pandemic, when everyone was running away from

[04:27:43] each other, you did not. You stayed with those clients. And some of those clients may have come down with COVID during a period of time. I remember hearing all those calls and just thinking and praying for you all, but you were on the front lines as unsung heroes. There's no pictures to post and thank yous to pass around. You're treating them like a brother and sister. So we have a small token. I'll give this to your husband here. It's your name with your years of service engraved in a brick. It's the duplicate brick. It's going to be laid forevermore in front of our historic courthouse steps with many of your fellow peers from yesteryear as well. So we are indebted to

[04:28:23] you and tap a little bit and come back up part-time. Thank you. Item 15, new business. A, approval of a

[04:29:17] performance grant agreement with Super Radiator Coils, Mr. McLaren. Good evening. Chairman Engel, Board of Supervisors, and Dr. Casey, I'm Matt McLaren, one of the Deputy Directors of the Economic Development Department, and it is my pleasure to be here with you this evening.

[04:29:40] Very quickly, I wanted to introduce this item to you for your consideration, and I believe up here on the screen you'll see it, but this is a business that's been in Chester Hill County called Super Radiator Coils. Many of you attended this event. This is in the Clover Hill District, And back in the fall, they announced an expansion here, which is, which consists of $22 million in capital investment.

[04:30:04] It will create 160 jobs and add an additional 80,000 square feet of manufacturing space. Super Radiator Coils is a family-owned business, and it operates here in Chesterfield, as well as with locations in Minnesota and Arizona. They design and manufacture heat exchangers and specialty coils for industries such as power generation, commercial and industrial HVAC, data center cooling, and the military, among others.

[04:30:30] This Chesterfield facility, which employs roughly 400 individuals, has been named a RTD top workplace each of the last six years. And this is the facility's fourth expansion during its 44 years in Chesterfield, the most recent of which occurred in 2022.

[04:30:45] To compete for this investment, Virginia supplied a $610,000 Commonwealth's Opportunity Fund grant to the company. And tonight, we ask that you approve the performance agreement that matches these funds at the local level. The majority of our local match is made up of recently finalized bus infrastructure in the Midlothian area, which is known as the Route 60 local transit service, with the balance to grant a rebate of their marginal increase in real estate taxes to a maximum of $140,000.

[04:31:16] The new revenue from this project is expected to cover this amount within the first full year of the expansion opening, and this will fully match the Commonwealth's $610,000 grant. I appreciate the opportunity to discuss this with you, and I'm happy to answer any questions you may have about this agreement. Board members, are there any questions? I have a motion. So moved.

[04:31:41] All in favor? Aye. Thank you. Be consent items. Mr. Chair, there have been no requests to remove items from the consent agenda for public comment. Do any board members have any items they wish to remove?

[04:31:59] All right. Need a motion to approve the consent agenda? So moved, Mr. Chairman. Second. All in favor? Aye. Item 16, 15-minute citizen comment period on unscheduled matters.

[04:32:20] This time is designated for citizens to talk to the Board of Supervisors. It is not a time for dialogue with board members, and it is not a question-answer period. Those conversations can easily occur with individual board members outside of the board meeting. As a reminder, the board's procedures state, no citizen shall speak on any matter of business that is a subject on the board's agenda for that day, and each speaker shall have three minutes to address the board.

[04:32:44] We have five speakers, if they will please come forward and speak in this order. First is Laura Lee Thompson, Keith Kittinger, Dee Yates, Greg Allen, and Jason Haas.

[04:33:09] Good evening, members of the board. I'm Laura Thompson, one of your countywide electeds for James River Soil and Water, and I have an intern who's going to be sharing time with me if you'd like to introduce yourself. Hi, everyone. My name is Benjamin Reeves.

[04:33:24] I go to Bright Point Community College, and I'm a senior at Midlothian High School. Good to be with you guys this evening. So thank you. We're all friends here. But I just wanted to talk about some of our accomplishments at James River Soil and Water, give some shout-outs to some community members' accomplishments, and also some thank yous to some members that might be in the audience so last year for the program year we were we gave over $90,000 for Virginia Conservation Assistance Program with the Virginia Conservation Assistance Program we also gave over $14,000 of funding to people who are economically disadvantaged

[04:34:03] so it covers the upfront cost because normally it's a percentage we also provided agriculture projects to over 70, over 70 projects for over $144,000 to Chesterfield County to support our local farmers. We do a lot as far as environmental education in the county and I want to give a congratulations to Elise Mackey who's one of my interns who got first place for the poster contest with for virginia soil and water for the whole state for hand-drawn and then we also had hazel

[04:34:41] boone from chesterfield public schools who got first place for the poster contest locally and she got the first place poster contest for the whole nation and she's from chesterfield so i wanted to say congratulations to two of them they beat out all everyone from virginia for the high school senior level so that's great accomplishment and the theme was may the forest be with you

[04:35:04] We have three staff members. We have six directors. Four are elected. Two are appointed on the main board. I currently have 35 interns and management fellows. And last year I did over 476 volunteer unpaid hours on this board. And on top of that, had over 40 interns.

[04:35:26] And we applied for funding, if you want to talk about the EPA. So we applied for funding with the EPA. We likely won't receive those grant funding because there's less grant funding that is being allocated. But we are hoping to break that apart and apply for some other local grants.

[04:35:45] So Ben was in charge of our budget. How much did we ask for? So the grant application was just over $12 million for Capital Region Lane Conservancy, Chesapeake County Parks and Recreation, and James River Soil and Water Conservation District. And so Ben, who's one of our high school students, was in charge of drafting the $12 million budget.

[04:36:06] With my 40 interns, we taught everyone how to be grant writers, how to draft budgets. It was over a 100-page application, and although, you know, we probably won't get awarded, that comes back to here. So, I see we are at time. I appreciate it, and let's continue doing great things.

[04:36:23] Thank you. Next speaker. Yes. My name is Keith Kittinger. I live in the Tarrington neighborhood in the Middle Oathian district.

[04:36:39] I am a lifelong Chesterfield County resident, product of the public school system here, and my wife taught school in Chesterfield for 30 years, so I have deep ties to this county. It has been a wonderful place to raise my family and to live. I'm here tonight to poise my concerns about two issues that I and some of my fellow citizens are very concerned about, that is excessive spending in the county and explosive growth that I see especially over the last five years.

[04:37:08] Spending initially I think was fueled by the federal COVID relief money and more recently by the explosive increase in home assessments and resulting increase in real estate revenues. My own home assessment has gone up 42% in the last five years.

[04:37:25] As reported in the February 9th Times Dispatch, Chesterfield has the highest number of new residents in the entire state for the period of 2020 to 2024 at just over 30,000 new residents. Compared to second place Loudoun County with just over 18,000 new residents.

[04:37:45] And RICO over that same period of time had 11,500 new residents. The explosion of high-density housing in the county has fueled most of this growth and has put tremendous strain on our schools, roads, utilities, police, and fire.

[04:38:01] It shows an apparent lack of oversight by the county and the planning commission and the board of supervisors, and perhaps a hangover from an earlier time when the county was run by developers. The board of supervisors is elected and charged with responsible spending and growth in this county.

[04:38:21] Just because a developer owns a piece of property in the county does not mean it can be developed unrestrained. The increase in real estate taxes is not sustainable for many taxpayers who are retired and lived on a fixed income. I realize that the county is offering a 5% credit this June, which many of us see is largely symbolic.

[04:38:42] An article in Today's Times Dispatch reports that Henrico is dropping their rate from $0.85 to $0.83 to $0.100 and returning a surplus of $18.3 million to their taxpayers. A long-term cost reduction continuous improvement plan is needed.

[04:39:00] I understand this has been discussed for some time, but has not yet become a reality. We see that cost reduction is a primary focus at the federal level now with the new administration. This will likely result in the loss of federal grants to localities, yet another reason why the county should consider a cost reduction plan.

[04:39:21] The county has spent millions of dollars on economic development with little return for the taxpayers except more crowded schools, roads, and a strain on public utilities. I would recommend that the Board of Supervisors put an immediate freeze on all economic development spending until an active cost reduction plan can be implemented.

[04:39:41] Mr. Kittinger, your three minutes are up. Thank you for your consideration. Thank you. Next speaker. Hello, Board of Supervisors and everyone else here today.

[04:40:03] I am here today to present a situation that is in need of county capital improvement funding. It's the condition of the tennis courts at James River High School, which have been a problem for a decade. Cracks were actually filled in 2020.

[04:40:23] Within less than a year, those filled cracks had failed. The faculty at James River High School have been requesting repairs through the proper channels since that time. You can see the pictures up here. These are of all six courts that James River has.

[04:40:40] I'm bringing this issue to the entire board because the hazardous conditions of these courts do not just impact the student-athletes at James River High School or Midlothian District. They impact the student athletes from all the schools across Chesterfield and beyond that compete with James River High School.

[04:41:01] Students from each district will be expected to play on these courts. There are several disappointing aspects of this situation, but one that should concern the entire board is that there are three entities that have responsibility or skin in the game here, CCPS, Parks and Rec, and the county.

[04:41:23] But from everything I understand, none of these three entities plans or budgets for the true maintenance or replacement of the public schools' outdoor amenities. All the courts, tracts, and fields should have regular maintenance and do all have life expectancies when they're put in place.

[04:41:47] These courts, which were installed 25-plus years ago, have never been repainted or resurfaced. The life expectancy of a tennis court is not 30 years, especially those that have received no maintenance.

[04:42:03] I understand that Chesterfield County is one of the fastest growing areas in the country. Let's not let business and progress make us lose focus on a primary responsibility, which is the safety of our residents.

[04:42:21] And that should include our children. The parents of the student-athletes from James River High School ask that you please find funding to make these courts safe again. Thank you for your time and your consideration.

[04:42:42] Thank you. Next speaker. Good evening, Mr. Chairman, members of the board, Dr. Casey.

[04:43:04] My name is Greg Allen. Last month, I started you on this planning road trip. I want to continue by showing you what we are missing with residential housing. I shared with you last month that Wynwood at Fox Creek offers a broad range of small lots and townhomes all mixed together.

[04:43:23] The homes in Wynwood range from the mid $300,000 to the mid $800,000 in current value. It is a diverse and thriving community, yet it required a complex zoning process that you still go through all the time. Now, we often talk, oh, I'm sorry, this was the pictures of Wynwood, two hands.

[04:43:43] We often talk about the missing middle housing, but we don't reach its goal. Its goal is to promote a diverse range of housing that would be market rate affordable, not using any tax credits or subsidies, but we're not reaching market rate affordability.

[04:44:03] So who are these missing middle buyers? There's five segments, starting with single young adults, young families starting out, single parents, families forced from a frugal lifestyle, and elderly people, both single and couples. And you might notice these last three segments are people who would be moving out of larger houses, freeing them up for the market that's needed. But let's consider what it means

[04:44:40] to not have market-rate affordable housing. The boom that would be created out of making this market-rate affordable housing available is huge. Conversely, how much would apartments rent The rents start dropping if these population segments could find permanent housing.

[04:44:58] So the true missing middle is about decent affordable housing. The major home builders have products that achieved this goal but have not brought them to our community. These are Ryan Homes being sold in North Carolina. These smaller homes sell for under $250,000.

[04:45:15] And Ryan Homes shows how to, I'm sorry, these are those homes I was mentioning. As you can see, $219,000 to $142,000. And they create a lot of architectural variety with these homes. So where I am going with this is that we don't have a zoning district that actually creates what we need to achieve with affordability.

[04:45:37] I am suggesting one new residential zoning district called R1 that mixes a range of small lots and housing products to achieve our Crown Plan densities while preserving much more of the force of character of the site by using these smaller products. And by having all of the allowed products in one zoning district, it provides for a much simpler zoning process.

[04:45:58] This is where I'd like to keep taking us on this planning road trip as we continue. Thank you very much. Thank you. Next speaker. Good evening, Chesterfield Board of Supervisors.

[04:46:27] I'm Jason Haas. I'm resident of the Dale District. Sir, thank you for your service. I'm a 24-year U.S. military veteran. I'm a federal employee, and I was born right here in Richmond, Virginia. I'm a son of Virginia, and I'm a human.

[04:46:44] And right now, our freedoms, our human freedoms, are under attack. Power is being consolidated by those who want control, not liberty. On February 19th, 2025, the official White House Twitter, Instagram, and Facebook accounts posted an image of the president wearing a crown with the words, Long live the king.

[04:47:06] That should send shivers down everyone's spine. The words on that flag, the Virginia flag, Six Semper Tyrannus. I was waiting for it. Thus always to tyrants, I'm a Virginian. I have no king. The man who co-authored Heritage Project 2025 is now the appointed head of the OMB, has openly stated one of his goals for federal employees is to put them in trauma. Let me say that again. A government official has declared that his goal is to inflict

[04:47:41] maximum trauma on public servants. That's me and the officials in this room. And yes, I have gotten and all the doge emails. Six Semper Tyrannus. Chesterfield is home to many federal employees, and I can tell you firsthand that every day I go into work at Fort Greg Adams, and I see good, hardworking people shaking in fear. I see them crying. They are not political operatives. These are our friends, our neighbors, our families. These are public servants that keep the checks and balances in place of this nation. Burn it all down, then the checks and balances are gone,

[04:48:19] and power will consolidate at the top. Then how long before they come for the rest of us? Sixth Semper Tyrannus. Supervisors, the Virginia governor just released a website dedicated to assist terminated federal employees.

[04:48:35] This is called Virginia Has Jobs. Please go look at it. It is a joke. It is a fancy link to Indeed and LinkedIn search engines. It is a website that goes nowhere and shows that our governor is disconnected from his constituents. And yes, I've called him several times.

[04:48:52] This is why I'm talking to you, because you live in our communities. Everyone in this room knows someone affected by this, and if you don't, you will soon. You are our representatives at the local level. We need you to make the connections and become our voices.

[04:49:10] Hold the governor accountable for all Virginians. He wanted a job. He needs to do it. Tell him to stand up for the Constitution. Tell him Sixth Semper Tyrannus. Tell him we have no kings, and remind him he raised his right hand just like all of us right here.

[04:49:26] thank you thank you madam clerk item 17 deferred items from previous meetings we have none item 18 zoning requests mr chair you have four cases on your consent agenda this evening for the benefit of the public consent cases are those cases where the applicant accepts staff's recommendation and there is no previous opposition for each case on the consent agenda staff has received written confirmation from the applicants that they agree with the conditions being imposed and that all All propers are offered in compliance with state law.

[04:50:05] First is 23SN0122 in Dale Magisterial District, Dominion Energy Iron Bridge substation expansion is a request to rezone from light industrial I-1 to agricultural A, plus conditional use to permit expansion of the existing electric power transforming station on 21.75 acres known as 7500 Iron Bridge Road.

[04:50:29] Enhancements to the transforming station would include new equipment on an expanded gravel substation pad, repairs to the existing asphalt access road, storm water improvements, and landscaping enhancements to help better buffer the site from Route 10.

[04:50:47] The Planning Commission and staff recommend approval subject to the conditions in your staff report. Staff, we can go straight to the...

[04:51:02] Ladies and gentlemen, this is a public hearing on case 23SN0122, Dominion Energy. iron bridge substation is there anyone who would like to speak to this case if so please come forward and state your name seeing no one this case is back before the board it's in the uh dale district thank you mr chair can i just confirm that we close the public hearing yes the public

[04:51:33] meeting is closed thank you thank you mr chairman i move approval of the case s and excuse me 23 sn 0-1-22, any associate conditions? Second. Next is 24SN 1131 in Midlothian Magisterial District.

[04:52:00] Buford Road Nursing Home Facility is a request to rezone from residential R-15 to corporate office O-2 with conditional use plan development to permit exceptions to ordinance on 2.86 acres, known as 236 Buford Road, a three-story, 52,000-square-foot care facility containing 105 beds is proposed.

[04:52:23] The Planning Commission and staff recommend approval subject to the conditions in your staff report. Ladies and gentlemen, this is a public hearing on case 24-SN-1131, Buford Road Nursing Home Facility. Is there anyone who'd like to speak to this case?

[04:52:39] If so, please come forward and state your name. Seeing no one come forward, I'll close the public hearing. It's back before the board, and this case is in the Midlothian District. Well, thank you, Mr. Chair.

[04:52:56] This is an example of the community working together and clearly being able to see that this is something that's necessary in the community. I particularly like this project because it's literally right across the street from one of our fire stations in EMS.

[04:53:11] So it's an opportunity, I think, for the community to rally around what it looks like to be a really good project. I want to say to Ann Miller, thank you for your work with all of this. and then also with Frank Petrosky and the work that you've done. And with that, I'm going to go ahead and move for the approval of case number 24S and 1131, subject to the conditions in the staff report.

[04:53:35] Chair, I'd like to second that with a comment. Go ahead. If you listened to one of the speakers in the work session earlier today, this is some of the product that we absolutely need for our community, as we have an aging group of people like me, I guess.

[04:53:51] Hopefully not yet. But we have an age group in our community that will definitely benefit from this. Any other discussion? All in favor? Aye. Next is 24SN 1208 in Bermuda Magisterial District.

[04:54:09] Coxondale Residential is a request to rezone from Agricultural A and Residential R7 to Residential R12 District with conditional use to permit neighborhood recreational facilities plus conditional use plan development to permit exceptions to ordinance requirements on 23.61 acres, known as 2100 Coxondale Road.

[04:54:30] The applicant proposes to develop a 55-lot subdivision containing focal areas, a dog park, trail network, and sidewalks within the development. The Planning Commission and staff recommend approval subject to the conditions in your staff report. Ladies and gentlemen, this is a public hearing on case 24-SN-1208, Coxondale Residential.

[04:54:53] Is there anyone who'd like to speak to this case? If so, come forward and state your name. Seeing no one, I'll close this poll. Sorry. I don't think there's been enough research done on the road situation involving this neighborhood and that location.

[04:55:27] Coxendale, Real Vista, and Osborne and Old Stage has already jammed up way too much traffic already. Is there any more research going to be done on this traffic problem potential?

[04:55:46] we can let the applicant speak to it um i can't speak to their case i would say that i believe this is a 55 plus neighborhood so um they typically don't drive at the same time as other people do but i'll let the applicant make their give a rebuttal if they feel they want to is there anyone here that's involved with this project i i will let them come up and um speak in just a minute so somebody is going to come up and speak if they would like to yes the applicant can come

[04:56:23] they are here can you raise a hand okay i guess get in touch with them okay okay is there anybody else that would like to speak to this case seeing no one i'm going to close the public hearing it's back before the board this case is in the bermuda district um does the uh applicant want to speak

[04:57:00] to the case no okay um this is a 55 plus community um they do drive during the day mostly when other people aren't on the road. I've actually talked to this age group many times, and they have told me they purposely make sure they go when no one else is out there.

[04:57:23] And this is a product that we need for the county as our fastest-growing population in the county is our 55-plus. So with that, I make the motion to approve case 24-SN-1208, subject to the conditions in the staff report.

[04:57:38] I'll second. All in favor? Aye. Next is 24SN 1269 in Clover Hill Magisterial District. Campbell Recreational Vehicle Parking is a request for conditional use to permit the parking and storage of a recreational vehicle outside the rear yard in a residential R7 district on a 0.31-acre parcel known as 2554 Brook Forest Court.

[04:58:04] The Planning Commission and staff recommend approval subject to the conditions in your staff report. Ladies and gentlemen, this is a public hearing on case 24SN 1269, Campbell Recreational Vehicle Parking.

[04:58:22] Is there anyone who'd like to speak to this case? If so, please come forward and state your name. Good evening. I'm Jerry Turner.

[04:58:50] There seems to be a lot of these kind of projects coming down the pike of trailers. I'm not a camper. The one I sat through last week in planning, the people that were there were very passionate about camping.

[04:59:10] I don't care about camping. I did that when I was younger. I'd rather go to a motel room. But the rules are what y'all voted on, passed, whatever that says.

[04:59:25] I don't care how you do it, as long as you treat everybody the same. You can't pick and choose who you can let park the camper in the front yard or who you can't. As long as you treat everybody the same, I have no problem with it.

[04:59:41] You also need to correct your restrictions if you're going to start letting all these people park wherever they want to park them. Thank you. Any other speakers?

[04:59:58] Seeing none, I'm going to close this public hearing. It's back before the board, and this case is in the Clover Hill District. Thank you. Thank you, Mr. Turner. I appreciate your input, and I know that they have made some concessions that they are going to be planting a row of evergreens to block the one side that is not, except for the front.

[05:00:24] Um, given that I, I, because there's been a meeting and this was agreed upon by the neighbors, um, I, I moved to approve case two, four S and one, two, six, nine, um, with the conditions in the staff report.

[05:00:45] Second. All in favor. Aye. Mr. Chair, that concludes your consent cases for this evening. You have two discussion cases on your agenda this evening. First is 22SN0089, Thacker's View Rezoning and Exceptions.

[05:01:05] Mr. Ramsey. Good evening, Mr. Chair, members of the board, and Dr. Casey. Thacker's View Rezoning and Exceptions is a request to rezone from agricultural to residential R-12 with conditional use to permit neighborhood recreational facilities and a bed and breakfast facility plus conditional use plan development to permit exceptions to ordinance requirements.

[05:01:27] Specifically, exceptions are requested to permit use exceptions for a restaurant and townhouse tracts, as well as modified development standards for the proposed residential development, including shared-use pathways as well as recreational amenities. A residential development with neighborhood recreational amenities and a restaurant tract, commonly known as Thacker's View, is proposed.

[05:01:47] The property contains 138.52 acres and is zoned agricultural. Surrounding properties are zoned residential. a mix of R9, R25, and R40, and these are to the west, south, and east. The Swift Creek Reservoir borders the property to the north. The communities of Woodlake and the landing at Swift Creek border are adjacent to the property. The subject property is outlined in white in the images in the current slide. Properties to the west, south, and east are currently developed with single-family dwellings.

[05:02:19] Woolridge Elementary School also lies along the southwestern border of the property. The aerial image illustrates the site being occupied by several dwelling units across several different parcels with most of the property being wooded. A bed and breakfast with a special events business has been operating on the property with zoning approval since 2002.

[05:02:37] The comprehensive plan designates the property for suburban residential one, which suggests the property is appropriate for residential development at a maximum density of two dwelling units per acre. This density was suggested in the plan, as well as prior comprehensive plans, to limit the impact of runoff from impervious areas on the reservoir.

[05:02:57] The property is also designated as a waterfront opportunity site. These areas are opportunity sites for alternative land uses to those recommended by the land use plan map that would capitalize upon their proximity to water and associated water amenities. These sites should be designed to encourage year-round use, capitalize on views and other opportunities offered by their proximity to water, and in accordance with the guidelines suggested for community mixed-use areas.

[05:03:22] The proffered conceptual plan is shown in the current slide. A mix of cluster homes, townhouses, and traditional single-family R-12 lots with a restaurant tract are proposed. The community would include neighborhood recreational amenities to serve these dwelling units in this development.

[05:03:40] overall residential density would be limited to a maximum of 260 dwelling units. 88 of these 260 dwellings could be developed as townhouse dwellings. Development conditions for single family dwellings include the conceptual elevations shown in the current slide, as well as high quality building materials, which prohibit vinyl siding and specifies roofing materials. Foundation materials are also specified to be brick or stone veneer with enhanced requirements for masonry being used on slab foundations. Required variations for the front elevation of dwelling units has also been provided. Treatments for porches and stoops on the front elevations are

[05:04:19] also specified. Garage door widths are further limited to not exceed 60 percent of the width of the dwelling's unit's front facade or the corner side elevation. Development conditions for the proposed townhouse dwellings include their centralized location shown on the conceptual plan, which is highlighted on the left-hand side of the slide. The applicant has also proffered conceptual elevations shown to the right. The applicant has once again proffered high-quality building materials, again prohibiting vinyl siding and specified roofing materials, with enhanced garage doors that use neutral colors to minimize their appearance. Required variations for the

[05:04:57] front elevation dwellings as well as the townhouse buildings has also been provided. Foundation materials are specified to be brick or stone veneer with enhanced requirements for masonry being used on slab foundations. Treatments for porches and stoops on the front elevations are also once again specified here for the townhouse dwellings. Dwellings with side elevations that face a public road, a private parking lot, or single-family lot will feature enhanced side elevations where building facades are highly visible. Enhanced architectural features and landscaping will be employed on these highly visible dwelling elevations.

[05:05:32] And then finally, road widths for the public roads serving the townhouses would be a minimum of 32 feet wide. Exceptions relative to the permitted uses, specifically townhouse and restaurant uses, are proposed. Use exceptions can be approved for up to 30% of the property's gross acreage.

[05:05:51] The applicant's request and concept plan show approximately 11% of the gross project acreage being dedicated to these use exceptions, so that's well below the 30% maximum provided in our zoning ordinance. In addition, design standards to permit cluster style lots in the R12 district, modify the townhouse district requirements, and the ability to modify requirements for an internal shared use pathway are part of this request. Staff is supportive of these exceptions. These modifications will allow for flexibility in site design based on the existing development pattern, unique constraints of the site, greater protected common areas for the community, and the desire to create an

[05:06:30] attractive functional and cohesive development with a mix of uses that are provided that provide adequate transition to existing area development to address concerns expressed through the public engagement process enhanced buffers have been provided along Woolridge Road and along the southern property line adjacent Highbury Woods subdivision the Appling has provided a 100 foot buffer along Woolridge Road which is the minimum width required when located in the upper Swift Creek's special buffer area. Adjacent to the Highbury Woods subdivision, a 65-foot buffer has been proffered where a buffer would not have typically been required. To ensure that vegetation

[05:07:08] is retained in these buffers, the applicants have proffered that all existing healthy vegetation within these buffers will be retained and the buffers remain undisturbed. Further protections for these buffers include the use of native species if supplemental or replacement plantings are required, designating these buffers on construction plans, and providing orange safety fencing if land disturbance is within 25 feet of the buffer, and a requirement to locate all buffers within common area of the development. The applicant's proposal will require development of common area and recreational amenities for portions of the cluster and townhouse development.

[05:07:45] Common area is required for the proposed lot area reductions being sought for the cluster homes in this development plan. The applicant's proposal includes common area requirements for the townhouse tract. Amenities for the development will include the use of existing residential amenities, and this is a wood dock, gravel pathways along the reservoir, gazebo, existing wall features, and a boat ramp, as well as new amenities that include an open-air pavilion, and that being no larger than 800 square feet, as well as a dog park and community garden.

[05:08:17] Additional amenities may be programmed for the development time of plans review. The request will allow up to 3.3 acres of the property to be used for a restaurant. Hours of operation, loading times, and design requirements are outlined in the proffered conditions. If developed, a public address system may also be operated with this use. Operation of the public address system would have noise limitations as well as specified hours and days of operation. The applicant is requesting to also carry forward the bed and breakfast use with the current proposal. Again, zoning approval for the bed and breakfast use as well as the

[05:08:52] special events business have been on the property since its original approval in 2002. This use continues to operate on the property today and this again is specifically only for the bed and breakfast use the bed and breakfast use would cease once the first subdivision section is recorded phasing for the overall development has been limited to the completion of road improvements or the passage of a date certain and that's specifically the applicants proffer to prevent no more than 130 lots being recorded until either the Woolridge Road extension and Woolridge Road

[05:09:27] widening projects have been accepted by the transportation department or after December 1st, 2027, whichever occurs first. And then lastly here to address concerns expressed at the public engagement process, limitations on construction activity have also been provided. Construction activity is limited to specified hours each day of the week. Construction activity is defined as land clearing, grading, installation of infrastructure, and construction of dwelling on a vacant lot. After the December 18, 2024 Board of Supervisors hearing, the applicant provided staff with two new proffered conditions for the property. The applicant has proffered to increase

[05:10:05] the minimum tree canopy requirement from 20% to 30%. The required tree canopy will be preserved and located in recorded open space or common area. The applicant has also proffered language to address potential encroachments for sanitary sewer and pedestrian trails facilities within the resource protection areas. Any area with the resource protection area that is cleared for a permanent easement shall have a corresponding tree preservation area provided next to the area being impacted. A conceptual depiction of this requirement is shown in the graphic on the slide.

[05:10:39] The tree preservation boundary will also require signage to be installed along the boundary to notify homeowners of the feature if it encroaches onto their lot. After the January 22nd, 2025 Board of Supervisors hearing, the applicant updated the master plan to reduce the total number of townhouse units in the development to 88 units or eight dwelling units per acre. Proffered condition 12K was added to restrict the building height of all residential dwelling units to be the lesser of three stories or 40 feet. And lastly, proffered condition 21 was added to reinforce staff's enforcement and penalty actions for any unpermitted tree removal on the property.

[05:11:18] The Planning Commission, with a vote of 4 to 1, recommended approval of the request. Staff continues to recommend approval of this request as well. The proposed development will contain a mix of residential dwelling types that are consistent with the Comprehensive Plan's land use plan designation for suburban residential one uses.

[05:11:38] The proposal's density is consistent with the plan's recommendation of supporting residential uses at a maximum of two dwelling units per acre. The applicant's proposal provides a high-quality residential development that will be consistent with residential development in the adjoining Wood Lake and surrounding subdivision communities.

[05:11:54] The request supports the plan's general land use guidelines provide housing variety in an area predominantly developed for single-family residential uses. In addition, the development's proposed buffers, site design, roadway connections will also support the plan's guidelines relative to land use transition, compatibility of uses, and integration of these pedestrian facilities with existing area development. Staff finds that the proposed use exceptions in the request are one necessary to support the commercial site for the waterfront opportunity area on the property second is desirable in their location within the project

[05:12:31] and with the townhouses providing a unique mix of housing types and then finally three that these use exceptions are appropriate land uses when considered as part of an overall development concept for the property quality site design passive recreational amenities and architecture are proffered by the applicant would create a unique and viable development and enhance the surrounding community. The exceptions requested in the ordinance requirements and development standards are consistent with similar projects providing high quality building design and materials as well as an integrated network of streets, sidewalks, connected open spaces and

[05:13:05] amenities appropriate for residential projects. Staff notes that the development's traffic impact will be addressed by providing road cash proffered payments and or road improvements. Lastly, I'll note that the citizen comment portal had 11 comments placed into it for tonight's public hearing. At this point, I'd be happy to answer any questions for the board. Board members, are there any questions for staff? Ladies and gentlemen, this is a public hearing on case 22SN0089.

[05:13:41] Thacker's view rezoning and exceptions. Is the applicant present? Would you like to speak to this case? Good evening, Mr. Chairman, members of the board, Dr. Casey. My name is Ann Miller. I'm a planner with Balzer and Associates representing the applicant this evening. I do want to thank Ryan Ramsey for his presentation and all the work that he and other staff members have put into this case over the past few years at this point. We really appreciate all the work he has he has done

[05:14:16] and we are pleased to bring this case before you with both the staff's and the planning commission's recommendation for approval. I'll try not to repeat too much of the information you just heard, but do want to touch on a few key points. As you may know, the Thacker family, who are the current property owners and the applicant for this case, have owned this property since 1976. Their family welcomed numerous people from this county and beyond on their property through celebrations, which was an event venue for weddings, graduations, birthday celebrations,

[05:14:51] and beyond. According to his daughters, Mr. Thacker wanted to share his property with people and give them the opportunity to enjoy the reservoir the way that he and his family have enjoyed for decades. Due to several reasons, celebrations came to an end for the family, but two of Mr. Thacker's daughters and their husbands want to continue his desire by creating a place for people to enjoy this property. And this is what the family believes they have done with this proposal. When the family first came to us with the desire to develop their property, We first looked at the county's comprehensive plan.

[05:15:26] As noted by staff, the property is appropriate for residential development at a maximum density of two dwelling units per gross acre. It is also designated as a waterfront opportunity site. There were a lot of initial conversations, and when the idea of a restaurant came up, the family saw that as a great opportunity to serve the greater community within the corridor, given its proximity to arterial and collector roads, and the opportunity to utilize the existing structures in the area near the water to create a unique experience on Swift Creek Reservoir.

[05:16:05] The proposed subdivision with a mix of residential dwelling units, including single-family detached units on both larger lots and what are known as cluster-style lots, and townhouse units are all consistent with the other part of the land use designation, Suburban Residential. As noted in the staff report, the request supports the comprehensive's general land use guideline to provide a housing variety including townhouses in an area predominantly developed for single family residential uses the concept plan included in the staff report is based on different comments we have received over the past few years from staff county representatives through technical

[05:16:42] reviews and the community including comments we've heard from woodlake community association who have been involved since the initial process as our immediate neighbor comments we received at two community-wide meetings in the spring and summer of last year as well as comments received at other meetings we have had including a woodlake town hall brander mill men's club meeting and a few meetings with the friends of swift creek reservoir the applicant team has spent a lot of time on this case since the original submittal back in 2022 and have continued to make changes

[05:17:16] based on community impact and feed input and feedback such as but not limited to moving the townhouses from along the reservoir to the center of the development to create at least 650 feet which is about almost two football fields um or more between the units and any adjacent property line including the reservoir uh increasing the buffer oh sorry increasing the buffer along highbury woods um as ryan noted buffers are not usually um are not required between single family developments but we originally offered 50 feet because that's what woodlake had done their side

[05:17:55] 50 foot of open space but increased it to 65 feet after you know hearing concerns from the neighboring property and trying to accommodate a larger buffer at that location we added also added language to the buffers proper condition as mentioned that is above and beyond what is required by ordinance and we've also provided the trail connections to the elementary school Redfern and Woodlake pending their cooperation and necessary easements to provide connectivity per the county's policy. As mentioned before, additional changes have been offered since even

[05:18:34] the Planning Commission hearing back in November. We further reduced the number of townhouses not to exceed the eight units per acre. We added the condition about the height, stating that the maximum principal building of any structure on the property, residential property, shall not exceed three stories or 40 feet which is the same language of the zoning ordinance but just reiterating that from r12 and rth districts we added a condition that stipulates that the width of the trees removed from any encouragement within the rpa such as the sewer easement

[05:19:08] shall be preserved in an area outside the rpa to compensate that loss and any encouragements have to be approved by the department of environmental engineering we are proffering to preserve a minimum of 30 percent of the existing tree canopy located to be located in recorded or open space or common area oh sorry things which is 50 percent more than what is required by the current ordinance and then we also proffer that any unpermitted tree removal shall be subject to

[05:19:41] penalties and or enforcement action as identified in the county code so we recognize that protecting this land has been a top priority for those involved in this zoning case over the past few years, including the family and developer, the neighbors, interested citizens, and the county staff. I believe one of the planning commissioners summed it up well during the planning commission hearing when he said, developers do not want to remove trees or clear-cut properties. Stormwater management requires them to capture and treat 100% of runoff, which often means reshaping the land to accommodate that runoff. We believe that the case before you, with that in mind, strikes a

[05:20:21] balance between preserving large areas of trees including that 30 percent existing tree canopy while also allowing the development to meet the necessary stormwater management requirements after the rezoning process the project will undergo stringent reviews by local and state agency to ensure compliance with the proper conditions and all the applicable codes there have been many changes throughout the course of the project but to summarize we firmly believe that the proposal for you represents a high-quality mixed-use development that will offer valuable neighborhood amenities, including recreational spaces that will improve the quality of life for

[05:20:58] future residents and well-designed common areas and open spaces, provides thoughtful transitions to neighboring properties with enhanced buffering and trail connections, and a restaurant site that capitalizes on the waterfront opportunity identified in the comprehensive plan. The exceptions requested are to achieve this site this site design which aims to protect environmental environmentally sensitive areas while creating a distinctive project with a variety of uses much like other plan unit developments in the area such as wood lake and brandermill this was achieved not only by gathering input from county staff and the community but also by incorporating that feedback

[05:21:37] into a well-designed cohesive and visually appealing appealing development that respects and preserves the area, environmentally sensitive areas. The Thacker family has been a longstanding and supportive neighbor in this community and will continue that tradition with the next phase of development known as Thacker's View.

[05:21:55] With that, I will ask if you all have any questions. Board members, do you have any questions? I do have one. Somehow I missed the outdoor PA system, and I understand that there was some kind of limitation on the decibel level.

[05:22:15] Can you just tell me what that decibel level is? requirement is? In reference to the restaurant use? Well, I thought it was in reference to the pavilion, but it may have been to the restaurant. So with the pavilion, let me make sure I just have it correct for you. With the pavilion, we actually proffered that there would be no public address systems. That is prohibited with the pavilion. And then with the restaurant use, It would not exceed 50 decibel levels, which is the same as what is out there today.

[05:22:51] Thank you. Yes, of course. Any other questions? All right. Thank you. Ladies and gentlemen, this is a public hearing on case 22 SN0089, Thacker's View rezoning. Is there anyone who would like to speak to this case?

[05:23:07] If so, please come forward and state your name.

[05:23:21] Hello. Good evening. Good evening, Chairman, members of the Board of Supervisors, County Staff, and Developers. my name is Paula Gordon and I am here on behalf of the Friends of the Swift Creek Reservoir we're a group of over 900 concerned residents and community advocates concerning the for the zoning of the residential development at Thacker's View located on the Swift Creek Reservoir first I want to take a moment to sincerely acknowledge and thank each of you for your continued dedication to the people of Chesterfield County your efforts whether through engaging with the community working with the developers or ensuring responsible oversight, do not go unnoticed.

[05:24:01] We deeply appreciate the time and thoughtfulness you've shown throughout this process and including our many meetings on on-site tours and discussion regarding the development at Thacker's View. In particular, I'd like to extend my heartfelt thanks to Jessica Schneider, who graciously has met with us on several occasions, being in her district in Clover Hill, her willingness to engage into these important conversations and her dedication and understanding to hear our concerns has been greatly appreciated. And Jessica and Ms. Schneider, we thank you for your time and support and leadership through this process. We also want to extend our gratitude to the developer

[05:24:39] and the county staff for their ongoing collaboration with the community. We are encouraged by all of these positive steps that have been taken thus far, but we do want to note a few more critical concerns that we have and we need to have addressed before moving forward.

[05:24:56] The Friends of Swift Creek Reservoir strongly believes that this development, if approved as it currently stands, still can pose some significant risk to the long-term health of our environment and community. While we acknowledge the developer's efforts and the county's support, we ask that the Board of Supervisors not approve the application without the necessary protections that we have outlined in previous communications and on-site discussions.

[05:25:21] Here are the protections that we need to ensure this development still will align with our shared goals of sustainability, transparency, and responsible environmental stewardship. The first one is the protection of the buffers. We request that all of the undisturbed buffer areas be legally documented to ensure the long-term protection.

[05:25:42] Given the past issues with lax oversight on other properties, it's imperative that there are more proffers included to secure protections for the trees within the designated buffer zones. Number two, the clarity in the conceptual plan and approval of the preliminary plat.

[05:26:00] The wetlands, RPAs, buffers, and the 40% green space and the 30% tree canopy must be clearly identified on the conceptual plan. We request that the Board of Supervisors review and approve the preliminary plat to ensure full transparency and avoid surprises during the development process.

[05:26:19] Number three, the utility placement oversight. This site is environmentally sensitive, and we ask that not just county staff, but the board and the planning commission should also have a final approval over the utility placements in RPAs. Ms. Gordon, your three minutes are up.

[05:26:35] Okay, thank you. Are you almost finished? Yeah, I'm about three quarters. Yeah, I give you another 30 seconds. Okay. I mean I am speaking on behalf of a group If you can get the group to raise their hand and if there's two more that aren't speaking then I'll give you five minutes Okay, yeah, I can finish it under that if you can finish in 30 seconds. Thank you We would like the board and Planning Commission to have some more final approval over the utility placements and the RPAs without this additional layer of oversight the project could unfold in ways that would not align

[05:27:12] with your original intentions number four the community notification as a key representative of the community the friends of the swift creek reservoir does request to have written notice of any material changes and updates at each stage of the process just as any adjacent property owner does this ensures the transparency and allows them to advocate effectively on behalf of the community Number five, for tree root protections. We've seen how construction can impact tree health, so we request stronger protections such as protective mats and the RPAs. We also ask that

[05:27:46] the developer hire any certified arborist to provide expert advice on tree and root protection and assess the replanting efforts. A thorough tree survey is also essential to ensure that the number of trees in the development is preserved as promised. Number six, stronger tree preservation and replanting commitments. The planning commission should oversee replanting efforts to ensure meaningful restoration. We request a proffer for environmental engineering inspectors to monitor tree protections throughout the construction process. Number seven, the 40%, there's only one

[05:28:23] more point after that, 40% green space commitment. If there's a 40% green space commitment, if it was genuine, then it should have been explicitly proffered and mapped out before any vote takes place to ensure that accountability. And number eight, the wetland protections and oversight.

[05:28:39] We would like better confirmation that the wetland protections will be upheld throughout the process given that the Army Corps of Engineers authority and we still want local assurances that are essential to safeguard those critical environmental features. To conclude, we'd ask that the Board of supervisors, which is the only body that can ensure these protections at this stage, is to carefully consider these requests before moving forward with any approval. These measures are not only vital for preserving the environment but also for maintaining trust within our community and it is a through proactive and responsible oversight that we can ensure this development

[05:29:18] will benefit both the residents and the environment for years to come. We thank you for your time and consideration. We appreciate your leadership and commitment to our shared future and again special thank you to Ms. Schneider for her dedication and working with us and we are proud of the work that's been done thus far. Thank you. Thank you. Next speaker. Good evening. My name is Lisa Disselkamp and I'm an adjacent homeowner living in Woodlake directly across from the Facker View property.

[05:29:52] I am here to raise concerns about the proposed pavilion in Woodlake. The pavilion in the area on Long Rock Harbor is 15 by 15 feet. That's 225 square feet, which is the standard for areas around the lake. What Thacker has proposed is an 800 square foot pavilion. While they state that it's only for families, this is as large as a small home, as Greg Allen pointed out earlier. And I challenge the idea that this is only for family use. The reason I do is noise. I've lived near

[05:30:30] celebrations for years. In my backyard, I can hear things like, throw the garter, and what's, you know, who's going to celebrate this? I can literally hear that in my house and in my backyard, and that pavilion for celebrations is much farther away. The other thing that you'll note, if you can put the schematic up. It's right next to two planned homes. Who wants to live next to an 800 square foot outdoor pavilion? It puts existing residents in Woodlake and including those planned residents at

[05:31:04] risk of noise, light, and other kinds of pollution. There are plenty of existing buildings on the property, an extremely large dock and covered pavilion, and other areas planned. It's not necessary to put a pavilion right next to a large pavilion right next to existing homes. If you look in Woodlake, our large pavilion is very separated from any residential areas and it is noisy and it is a gathering place. I would like to thank the Thacker planners for putting in that there's no

[05:31:41] public address system. However, that's not going to prevent people from bringing their boom boxes and different kinds of speakers and being quite loud and boisterous in that area impacting the enjoyment of all the residents in the clipper cove area that live there today i know that this development has a sense of urgency from the developer's point of view and i know it's been been in process for many many years but that sense of urgency does not override getting it right

[05:32:11] I'm also a member and founding member of the Friends of Swift Creek Reservoir group, and I urge you to take every precaution because the developers and the owners will move away. We will be left with what remains, and I urge you to take into consideration all the additional conditions that the Friends of Swift Creek Reservoir have asked for tonight.

[05:32:33] Thank you. Next speaker. Good evening again, Mr. Chairman. My name is Greg Allen. I'm actually not here to speak against this case.

[05:32:50] I'm here to acknowledge that our residential zoning districts and our zoning processes do no longer serve the development process in Chesterfield or you, the citizens, anyone. There is no way the development community can ask for the densities that are recommended in the comprehensive plan and not have a ton of exceptions that they have to apply, which put you in a very difficult position of trying to balance all these exceptions with the mitigations and is it a fair trade? It's just difficult and the citizens fight it and we go through months

[05:33:29] of process. What the development community has to do is they take each property because each property is unique and they figure out the amount of land they have minus the wetlands and the RPAs and so forth and then they choose the largest lots that they can fit all that density in and you can see the difference. If you look at the air at Westchester where they have the 3,000 square foot lots or Doug Sauer's project was just approved with the 6,500 square foot lots and these lots that are larger. It just depends upon how much land is available and that's the size. The reason

[05:34:07] why I am promoting this R1 district that actually, you know, awards the developers who will use the smallest lot sizes and residential products in an imaginative package and the trade-off is that that the citizens will see in return much more forested area that's saved and and so the zoning process starts to be of let's look at where the forested area is that protects the character of the county and what people see next door to them versus the land that is developed to the full

[05:34:42] intensity of the comp plan intended and so if you have that type of a single district that just fits what the development community needs and what our citizens would like to see which is forested area, then all of a sudden you have a zoning process that's no longer a fight and no longer a fight for you to have to oversee. So when I come up here, I'm not going to be speaking against these zoning cases anymore. You know, what I'm going to be speaking to is getting a zoning district that serves everybody properly. And I appreciate that you allow me to come up once a

[05:35:17] month and give a little more of that presentation. Thank you. Thank you. Next speaker. Good evening.

[05:35:40] I'm Jerry Turner. Two years ago, I wouldn't have got up and said anything about this because I was on my own way of water. I wasn't worried about what the county was doing with their water. This, what you're doing here, you're putting a lot of water that I will eventually be drinking into the system because they can do what, say what they want to. They can't treat that water like nature does. Those trees that they're going to tear down and cut down are not going to be

[05:36:13] there to protect that water down the road. The other thing is, you look at the number of the schools, they're already at capacity, the exceeding capacity. Some of the schools are being built out there. They probably won't be ready for two or three years. I'm not sure how long this is going to take for this to get developed. But those schools that are already being built, they're probably already exceeding the capacity. It'll be interesting to see when they do open up how

[05:36:49] much your capacity goes down in these other surrounding areas. But this one right here is going to make it even more crowded than what it is so like some of the people said before the county needs to slow down on their development let's take a break we need to we need to just slow down and let the the community catch up with the development with uh with all the housing and the the infrastructure it is not the infrastructure is not keeping up with the housing thank you

[05:37:25] Thank you. Any other speakers? Seeing none, I'm going to close this public hearing, and it's back before the board. I'd like to give the applicant an opportunity, if they would like, to come up and speak to the concerns that were raised.

[05:37:49] keep it brief unless you all have any questions but um one thing about the pavilion i just wanted to make known that we've um we've proffered it not to exceed the 800 square feet it can also be less than that and that actually that open air pavilion proffer actually came from conversations with the friends of swift creek and then kind of bringing to our attention that they didn't want the public address system and a maximum size and things like that so that was actually a reaction to discussions with them and you know noise ordinance and things like that are all enforced

[05:38:25] by the county still they'll have to follow all of those codes and we can even look into the HOA documents if those would also enforce that information some of the other things they touched on kind of the buffers and my understanding you know everything we've written in proper conditions are you know legally bounding run with the land so whoever develops this land we'll have to abide by that in the future it will have to be abide by those proffers unless they are changed by a board of supervisors in the future so from our standpoint we feel like we have put as many protections as we can by proffering all that information you know the rpas the buffers

[05:39:03] everything are shown on the conceptual plans they'll have to be shown on the preliminary plots and the construction plans which are all reviewed and approved by the county and state agencies and my understanding is inspectors come out during the construction process to make sure all of this is being abided by so we feel that we really have put all those protections in place but if you have specific questions i'm happy to answer those um just kind of wanted to point those out board members are there any questions for the applicant so ann is it possible to i mean this

[05:39:38] is possible there's no saying that the pavilion has to be 20 by or whatever 20 by 40 no it just cannot exceed 800 square feet it could be a lot smaller they wanted to so it hasn't been designed yet but we just put in a provision that I couldn't exceed that amount and it's going to be at the top of the ridge right it's not yeah so that was kind of into the no you know it's not in RPA we've also put that in the proffer that has to be outside provided outside of the RPA and that was really just to provide that focal point that was from initial conversation with staff and kind of the planning of the property and kind of when you drive into

[05:40:17] that main road that would be sort of your end end point yes thank you mr chair just so with the pavilion my my memory was that there was already a because i went out to the property walked it um there was a cement um i don't know what you would call a platform already there large is that the pavilion that we're talking about is that what it's going to be no actually um that's more in this

[05:40:50] area right now. So it would actually be further down into that same field area, though. That's already kind of cleared up there, but just because of how the property sits, the existing pavilion is more where some lots would be, but kind of the general area. So that's going to be pulled up?

[05:41:08] Yes. Okay, that's my question. Is there an HOA for this? Yes, there will have to be an HOA for the property because there is open space and common area provided. There has been preliminary talks with possibly being part of Woodlake Community Association, but that will be up to Woodlake to make that decision and that vote.

[05:41:28] If they do not become part of Woodlake, then Dackers View will have its own homeowners association. And they'll have to provide, and we've proffered in the conditions as well, that the HOA will maintain all the open space common areas and et cetera, kind of, and also the townhouse area.

[05:41:46] Any other questions of the applicant? I do have a question. Is there anybody here from environmental engineering? He's out in the lobby.

[05:42:01] I think he just ran out the door. Hopefully this is not too taxing for you.

[05:42:17] Can you just explain the process of reviewing the environmental engineering, reviewing of the site plans and then the inspections that take place during the development process?

[05:42:32] Many of the aspects that were mentioned of the additional proffers that were requested are part of the review and approval that we go through with the RPA. The encroachments in the RPA have to go through an assessment and approval.

[05:42:51] One of the things that was mentioned was a proffer to protect the RPA buffers. The enforcement of whether it's a proffer or it's protection of the RPA, it's done the same way.

[05:43:07] So it goes through code enforcement, so it's basically you're putting a double protection on that's going to be enforced the same way. So it really wouldn't serve the purpose to put an additional buffer protection in the zoning case because it's going to follow the same enforcement.

[05:43:24] So during the inspection process, we have inspectors that make their rounds. Currently, we have 370 active projects or so, close to 380 in the county. We have 12 inspectors that make their rounds, get to those about every two weeks.

[05:43:41] They inspect the site to make sure it's in compliance with the environmental regulations that we have authority over, the stormwater management, the erosion and sediment control, checking the land disturbance permit and the limits of disturbance.

[05:43:57] So if they clear outside of their approved land disturbance limits, so one of the concerns was that trees might get cleared that aren't supposed to be well that would be picked up during the inspection process and then they would have to replant in those sensitive areas if it's in the wetlands or in the RPA so those are things that we deal with on a regular basis also we deal with the street lights and the road construction during our inspection process I think that covers the overall majority of it is there anything I missed that you might be

[05:44:37] No, I just wanted to have the citizens understand the role of environmental engineering throughout the process, because I think many of the concerns that they have sounded to me as though they weren't sure there was an enforcement mechanism and what would happen if somebody did something wrong.

[05:45:00] And if they did and that was discovered through the normal inspection process, then they would be subject to whatever penalties we would normally enforce for somebody that cleared an area that they shouldn't, including possible fines and replanting.

[05:45:20] Is that correct? During the construction process, we have a lot more authority over those type of things. After construction is complete and the permits are closed out, if there's a violation in the RPA, it's a little bit harder to go after and get enforcement, typically because we don't know about it unless it's reported to us, and then it has to go through a code enforcement process to get either compliance or it goes to court for civil penalties.

[05:45:53] During construction, it would be under environmental engineering. At the completion of construction, everything would still have to stay marked, all the limits of disturbance, all the RPAs, everything that had to be protected has to be signed and marked.

[05:46:09] And if citizens in the area were concerned that something was happening, then after the completion of that construction, they would reach out to code enforcement who would verify whether or not somebody had violated it, and if they had, then that would have to be dealt with at that time by code enforcement, correct?

[05:46:32] Correct, and we usually work together with code enforcement. So that they know what was there and what wasn't. Yeah, to provide the technical assistance. Thank you. yeah to that point mr. Smedley is that any different than what happens right now when people clear their trees anywhere else along the reservoir it's the same process yeah and so anyone that has already cleared their trees along the reservoir could be getting could get a font or a notice that they're in violation and have to replant is that correct that's correct and typically we go through the process of where they have to either replant leave it alone

[05:47:11] let it grow back a variety of mechanisms. Thank you. That's it. Thank you. Board members, any other questions? All right. This is in the Clover Hill District. I'm sorry. Did I close it? I did close it, right? Yes, you did. I closed it. Okay. I thought I did. It's been a long time. Yeah. Okay.

[05:47:40] So, Jerry, to schools, I want you to know that there has been redistricting. The middle school has already been redistricted that will be opening this year in August. And the Tomahawk Middle School that these kids would be going to will be going down to 65 to 75%-ish given the current redistricting that was decided on in December by the school board. It is believed that the other, so then the elementary school would open in 26. And I don't think that these

[05:48:16] would be even purchased before or even getting in the ground before then. So we have thought about that, and that's something that Mr. Miller had brought to my attention as well. So I made sure to look into that.

[05:48:33] Ms. Miller, is it possible, just to ask a question as far as the pavilion, is it possible to put no larger than 500 square feet?

[05:48:54] Okay. You would have to add that. You'd have to impose that condition. This is a conditional use, right? Yeah, it is a conditional use, but she can't proffer that condition right now. No, but I could impose that condition. I can impose it. Is that okay? We would have no issue with it. Okay, thank you. Okay, so again, this is kind of like a baby for me.

[05:49:20] This has been kind of like the first project that I have taken from, it's over a year that we've been working with the first time I met with the family, walk the property. I've met with the family and with Ms. Miller multiple, multiple times. I've met with the Swift Creek groups a couple times in the last three or four months. I've met, had been at community meetings. For me, this property, I wanted to make sure to save as much of the green

[05:49:53] as possible. As Greg had said, that's where my heart lies. And all of the trees along the outside of the reservoir will be remained, especially this property fed really well into that because it's built kind of on a slope along the reservoir. And so it's perfect to, and that's all RPAs along there. Some of those RPAs are, I believe the original maps that I saw, I mean, the RPA is, the buffer there is going to be at minimum 150. There's some areas that are up to

[05:50:27] 220 feet deep i mean when you look at them and so um and we made sure to have a buffer all the way along wood uh woolridge i just really feel like i want this to be something where you're not going to i i know you'll notice it sometimes but i feel that that was important to me and so i feel that we have done what we can to make this a good project and i feel that the family and and miss Miller has really put forward their best efforts to accommodate all of the requests. And so given

[05:51:06] that, I would like to, so I don't know how, I'd like to move to approve the case 22SN0089 with the conditions in the staff report, as well as impose a no larger than 500 square foot pavilion.

[05:51:23] I also, in addition, am directing staff to send written notifications to the Woodlake Community Association, the residents of Redfern Station, Rock Harbor, Highbury Woods, Chestnut Bluff, Standing Oak, Clipper Cove, and the landing at Swift Creek when the preliminary plat and construction plans are submitted so that you will be notified of that.

[05:51:50] i will be happy to sit down with you and review those if at that time um because this is i i have a feeling i'll probably be stopping in to check on the project sometimes but thank you so much for all of this and with that i ask for a second please i'll go ahead and second it any other

[05:52:20] discussion all in favor aye all opposed no i'm quick the last discussion case is 24 sn 1209 magnolia green track cc amendment mr ramsey good evening again mr chair members of the board and dr casey magnolia green track cc amendment is a request for amendment zoning approval it's case 89 sn 0343 to modify the restriction for building size limitations on non-residential buildings in

[05:52:59] the community center cc tracks and adjust the use restrictions relative to schematic plan and phasing requirements. Specifically, removal of the limitation on retail and office building square footage within the CC tracks as well as the ability to phase developments within the same track as requested. The property contains 88.11 acres and a zoned residential R9. Surrounding properties are zoned residential R9 to the north and a mix of neighborhood business C2, general business C5, and agricultural to the east, west, and south. The subject property is outlined in

[05:53:35] white in the images in the current slide. Properties to the north are occupied by a mix of commercial, townhouse, single-family, utility, or recreational uses as part of the greater Magnolia Green community. Properties to the west, east, and south are either vacant or occupied by commercial uses.

[05:53:53] The aerial image illustrates the site being mostly undeveloped. The comprehensive plan designates the western portion of the property for regional mixed use, with the remainder of their property to the east being designated for community business and neighborhood business uses. The current slide shows the approved overall conceptual plan for Lower Magnolia Green on the left-hand side, and this designates the tracks and specific uses for the property.

[05:54:20] In this request, development of commercial and residential uses are either proposed or underway in the Community Center CC Tracks and Magnolia Green, and those are found in the red shading. The subject properties are highlighted on the right and all identified currently as community center tracts.

[05:54:40] The CC tracts permit a mix of commercial and restricted residential uses. Except for a recently completed daycare facility along Magnolia Green Parkway, the remainder of the CC tracts in this request are undeveloped. Modification of building sizes, overall square footage limitations, and residential use restrictions relative to schematic approval and phasing requirements within the CC tracts are proposed.

[05:55:03] Up to 364 dwellings could be developed on parcels 4, 5, and 6 with the existing zoning approval. Staff notes that no additional residential density is being proposed with this request. The applicant has provided an enhanced design intent for the village green component with a requirement to place it on parcel 4 and show its design with the preliminary site plan for the same parcel.

[05:55:31] Next, the applicant is aimed to provide further guidance and achieve the design requirements provided in the original zoning approval. The applicant will be required to submit a current copy of the comprehensive design guidelines for the CC tracks.

[05:55:47] These guidelines will be reviewed by the Director of Planning and address design standards for both residential and non-residential development. Prior to the issuance of the first building permit on a parcel, the parcel shall be subject to the declaration that establishes the design guidelines for the development.

[05:56:05] To further enhance quality for development in the AC or any of the CC tracks as part of this request, the applicants provide a requirement to prohibit the use of vinyl siding on the property. To address community concerns, the applicant has also provided a restriction that any residents in any AC or CC tract as part of this request shall not use the existing pools, tennis courts, pickleball courts, and any accessory buildings serving these amenities that are part of the greater Magnolia Green community. In addition, the use of the age-restricted clubhouse serving single-family uses of Magnolia Green would also be prohibited. The applicant's request would also

[05:56:45] modify the use restriction for an integrated schematic plan of the overall project. Instead, each CC tract would now be responsible for identifying the location of residential and non-residential uses through the plans review process. Phasing for residential uses will also be amended to permit residential development to commence once 50 percent of the CC tract parcel is under construction for non-residential uses. Additionally, development of an existing daycare facility on parcel six would satisfy the non-residential use requirement for the CC

[05:57:18] tract parcel only. Conditions of zoning to Magnolia Green limit the overall square footage of retail and office buildings to 20,000 square feet in the AC and CC tracks. In addition, retail uses are further limited to no more than 12,000 square feet, and no individual retail or office building shall exceed 5,000 square feet. These limitations severely restrict the non-residential development potential for the larger CC tracks in this request, which are more than 88 acres in size.

[05:57:51] Therefore, the applicant is requesting to remove this restriction from the CC tracks and have these restrictions applied to the AC tracks only. Additional clarification was also added to clarify that residential development may be contiguous or on top of non-residential land uses in the CC tracks.

[05:58:10] To further enhance the street design in the CC tracks, the applicants provided a requirement to install sidewalks, streetlights, and landscaping along Magnolia Market Avenue and the East-West Collector Road. Lastly, the applicant has provided a list of prohibited uses for the property, including automobile repair, outdoor kennels, mortuary specified recreational substance retail sales, and a convenience store with fuel pumps on parcel one.

[05:58:39] The Planning Commission, with a vote of 4-0, recommended approval of the request. Staff continues to recommend approval as well. The proposal to remove the building size limitations for retail and office buildings in the CC tracks will permit larger tenants to develop in the commercial portions of the Magnolia Green development.

[05:58:56] The removal of the total square footage limits on the retail office uses in the CC tracks will allow for a greater portion of these tracks to be developed for non-residential uses. Development of non-residential uses will provide neighborhood and community commercial uses to serve the greater Magnolia Green community.

[05:59:14] In addition, the applicant will continue to apply existing restrictions on retail and office square footage for the activity center or AC tracks. The request to modify residential phasing requirements will ensure that non-residential uses are underway within each CC track prior to any residential uses being developed.

[05:59:32] Additionally, a schematic or site plan process will be used to document the location of residential and non-residential uses on individual CC tracks. Again, no additional residential units are being proposed with this request. to further enhance quality for the development the applicants proffered a detailed design intent a specific location for the required village green improvement requires the submittal of the design guidelines for the cc tracks enhanced street design standards for two internal collector roads prohibits specific uses and prohibits the vinyl signs of permitted building material for the property and then to address the community concerns with additional residential development

[06:00:10] the applicants proffer to prohibit once again those future residents of the cc tracks from using those existing facilities and amenities within Magnolia Green. I'll quickly note that the citizen comment portal had two comments that were provided for the public hearing this evening, and at this point, I'd be happy to answer any questions from the board.

[06:00:31] Board members, do you have any questions? Mr. Chair, just so the community knows what's going on in a nutshell, when this case was passed in 1991, the original units for the Mag Green were around 4,800.

[06:00:48] Was that roughly what the original units were? Correct. And then when the county purchased the upper mag piece, it removed about 1,400 units from that case. But there's still roughly about 3,500 units that can be built in this section of what we call lower Magnolia.

[06:01:04] Is that correct? Yes, sir. Including, in this case, 364 multifamily. What the applicant's trying to do here, and you saw the limitation on it, that when they set this up, They said you could only put 20,000 square feet of commercial.

[06:01:23] Now, all of those people who live in those neighborhoods that I've talked to, a lot of them, and I knocked a lot of doors in there when I was running for office, they expect for commercial growth to come out here to actually provide amenities for them, like restaurants and things like that.

[06:01:41] And when the current zoning, the way it is, they can't do that. So this is really about trying to open it up so that they can have an opportunity to be able to do this, and I've seen what the developer has proposing for the type of development out here, and I think it really is, I don't know if you have pictures of it in your presentation.

[06:02:01] They may have it in theirs, but it's pretty spectacular, and so I just want to make sure the community understands that. Am I pretty much saying that right? Yes, sir. Okay. That's why they brought the zoning case forward. Thank you. I may have more questions later.

[06:02:18] Any other questions at this time? Thank you. Ladies and gentlemen, this is a public hearing on case 24-SN-1209, Magnolia Green Track CC Amendment. Is the applicant present?

[06:02:36] Would you like to speak? Okay. All right. Is there anybody else in the audience that would like to speak to this case? Did I open the public hearing?

[06:02:53] You did. Okay. All right, making sure. Good evening. I'm Jerry Turner. The county and the state are getting ready to spend a million dollars, at least, building sidewalks on Hull Street and courthouse.

[06:03:12] This is right down the road. I'm sure y'all are going to say, well, they're going to build a sidewalk to nowhere. That developer can build it a whole lot cheaper than the county can.

[06:03:31] So you need to start looking at stuff that's along Hull Street and make sure there's a sidewalk all the way down Hull Street. But if you don't do it now, the county is going to have to do it in the future. Thank you. Thank you.

[06:03:49] We have any other speakers coming forward?

[06:04:01] Good evening. My name is Phyllis Quast, and I live in Magnolia Green. my question on all of this is schools.

[06:04:17] I live in a townhouse there. My granddaughter lives three blocks away and goes to the schools. They opened the Magnolia Green Elementary School, and it was at capacity the very first year. The very first year.

[06:04:34] There was apparently no plan for the fact that there are still homes to build and now and apartments then were built and now you're talking about 364 more homes is there a plan for where you're going to put these kids because the space at magnolia green elementary is already taken over by trailers i don't you know commercial buildings yes the people in my neighborhood say they'd like to have more things out there but where are you putting the children

[06:05:07] thank you anybody else seeing no one else i'm going to close this public hearing this case is back for the board. Does the applicant want to come back up and say anything or come up and say anything? Mr. Chairman, members of the board, Jeff Geiger here on behalf of the applicant.

[06:05:42] I would just like to address the two comments that were brought up. One, we have an integrated network of sidewalks within the project. We will be providing sidewalks to connect the commercial with the residential, with the schools. I will just kind of reiterate what I think you already know we have three new schools coming up planned for in upper mag there might be others here could talk to you about capacity and planning that went into those but there will be a new elementary school new middle school and new high school really appreciate mr ramsey's summary mr carroll's

[06:06:19] summary we are here just to fix a couple things that came to light that were inaccurate or drafted wrong in the original rezoning and we appreciate the board's support of the amendment that's before you any questions of the applicant any questions of staff all right mr carroll this is in the motoka district thank you mr chair a couple things um to answer your question ma'am um in the original zoning case in 91 if you were the if this map was able to scroll up above it you would see that there

[06:06:58] was actually planned locations for an additional elementary school a middle school and a high school That land was never accessible for us. When the county purchased it on the eastern side a couple of years ago, we held a community meeting, public hearings, and we passed two zoning cases, Upper Mag East and Upper Mag West.

[06:07:18] The East case actually had in it a brand new elementary school, which we broke ground on this spring. That will open up in 2026. A middle school, 1,800 student middle school, which is a twin of the Falling Creek Middle School, which opened up this year.

[06:07:33] That will open up in 2025. and that's an 1800 student school it's at the end of westerly parkway and south of that along duval road there will be a brand new high school built that's all on land that was part of the magnolia green neighborhood in its original purchase also in that zoning case which is amended coming forward there was originally 911 houses which we are now going to take away from that zoning case which remove trips per day and the land around those schools will become a conservation easement for people in the community to have walking trails and things like that and

[06:08:08] that's that's in the process of what we're going now so you're right um there was five years ago no plan for schools and this board acted very quickly to to take care of that issue which we did uh and this the new middle school coming out of the ground is is just spectacular and all these schools will have brand new uh fields facilities everything to provide amenities for the community So yes, that's something we had to address.

[06:08:37] But originally in this zoning, in those lower parcels, they're already approved for 364 units. They can already build them. Now they cannot build, they can build the first 224, but they can't build the other ones without having 50% of the commercial built in the bottom end of those AC tracks.

[06:08:57] And so this is really about trying to provide those amenities for your community in the future. Do I think that commercial growth will start on this next year? No, I don't. The developer may have a better idea than I do, but there's so much land between here for commercial growth, between, we'll say, Ottedale Road and there, but eventually you will see companies that want to come out there and provide these amenities, and if they don't change this, then you can never get them.

[06:09:28] So this is a way to ensure that in the future you have an opportunity for some nice restaurants, a nice town center. I've seen what they're proposing. And if they build it the way they're saying they want to build it, whoever does it, it's going to be beautiful. It really is.

[06:09:44] One of the arguments that people make about putting commercial in like this is they say, well, now you're going to create a traffic problem. What I find is that when you put neighborhood commercial in, the neighborhoods that are there use it. When Hidden Wit Brewery opened up in the western port of Hull Street, a lot of people who come out of your neighborhood go west to get the hidden wet brewery because they don't want to go east to go to Longhorn or Lone Star. When Cosby Village opened up with the new Chipotle and the other restaurants that are going in there, now people don't have to go all the way down to Kamlo Center Parkway to go to

[06:10:21] Chipotle. And so by trying to bring commercial growth out here for you, it will actually change traffic patterns and provide better amenities for the community. And so, Mr. Chair, for many reasons, I think this is an important case for the future.

[06:10:36] It's not something I think will happen tomorrow. I could be wrong. But for all those reasons, I make a motion to approve case number 24SN 1209 and the conditions in the staff report. And I'll go ahead and second that. And Mr. Chair, just as a last comment, we deferred this case twice because we met with many community members out in Mad Green that had concerns, and we tried to put provisions in place working with the developer which i believe we have to ensure that when the time comes with someone whether it's this developer who owns the property now or if they sell it to somebody else who knows that they will be held to a standard to provide and build something that will

[06:11:16] be very nice in this part of the county for this community and all the other communities around there to use second mark second i'm sorry um before we vote i did just want to address one other thing. It's not necessarily directly related to this case, but we hear a lot of talk about schools and the population in schools, and it is true that there's areas of the county, and this is one of them, that got behind because there wasn't a good plan prior to 2021, 2022, where this board

[06:11:56] and the school board worked together to address most of them in the bond referendum, and we still have one additional that's not in the bond referendum in the Dale district that needs to be addressed with elementary schools that we're all working on together as well. But if you go and you look at the number of new students, K through 12, not including CECLA, which is a preschool, but K through 12 students in the county from 2019 until today, there's only 482 more

[06:12:28] students today than there was in 2019. We are not overloading the schools. We have a problem where we had gotten behind on population, on the facilities and schools in certain areas that we are working on to make up. But we have been almost flat in student increase. And the actual growth rate in people in Chesterfield County is only 2%. When I ask most people in public meetings what they think the a good healthy growth rate is they usually say three to five percent

[06:13:03] and we're only growing at a growth rate at two percent in population now two percent is a lot when you have 350,000 people but it's still only two percent growth we are not growing at a strong rate people when I ask them how fast they think we're growing they think we're growing at 10, 15, 20 percent, but we're actually only growing at 2 percent. And our schools are almost flat on enrollment overall. Again, where you have, actually where you have more density in the apartments, they've been producing maybe 10 in about 100 units. They produce about 10 kids

[06:13:43] in the newer apartments. The houses that are three or four bedroom houses typically produce about 29 kids for every 100 units and um the older apartments that had three and four bedrooms in them which is not the product that's being developed in general they they had a number closer to 40 students per 100 so they were more than the residential homes but the newer apartments when you build one and two bedroom product which is pretty much what almost all the new apartments coming out of the ground are you're not bringing kids you're bringing our 55 plus which is our

[06:14:22] fastest growing population and you're bringing in our young professionals that need a roommate to be able to afford to live and that's who's coming in and moving into these units not families so i know that it's it the apartments of 15 20 30 years ago that those thoughts are actually correct But the thoughts on today's apartments in one- and two-bedroom just do not produce that number of students that they were, and that's why we're almost flat.

[06:14:53] In schools, if you went to any of the school budgets, they will tell you the same thing. They shared that, that they were relatively flat, and they're projecting to be relatively flat for the next several years. So I just wanted to make those statements, and with that, I'd like to call for the vote.

[06:15:09] If I could just make one more comment based on what you said. I mean, those are all great points. I will say, Matt Green does have a lot of families moving into it because we're building all of our new houses, which is why we're building these new schools. And we do have a lot of kids that are coming out there because of that.

[06:15:26] And I really want to thank the board and the community because, quite frankly, the community, y'all voted for the bond referendum in 2022 that has allowed us to fast-track these schools. And the board agreed to actually issue bonds to build two middle schools to fast-track those schools.

[06:15:45] I want to thank you to the community for the bond referendum, which has helped us tremendously get caught up, but also thank you to the board. Now I'm done now, Mr. Chair. Dr. Miller. Thank you, Mr. Chair. I mean, I'm hoping you're right.

[06:16:00] I think you're right that there's a perception out there that there's been an explosion, certainly in the Midlothian area. There's a lot that was approved, and a lot is being built out there, And it really does generate a great deal of fear. It certainly generates a great deal more traffic in the Midlothian area.

[06:16:19] And I'm watching very closely at what I'm approving, what I'm not approving to ensure that we do meet that balance that needs to occur. I do know that ultimately we want to start to save money with regard to being able to get rid of the trailers.

[06:16:39] I'm hoping there's some redistricting that occur that can level things out. I get regular phone calls from my constituents that will say, well, I know that Stratus is saying that there wouldn't be very many, but Mark, go out to the apartment buildings and look what the school buses are picking up.

[06:16:59] And so I'm hoping that you're right on, that that's what's going on, and we're not overwhelming our teachers. They, in so many ways, are our heroes every day. And as a former high school English teacher myself, it can be pretty tough when the classes are packed.

[06:17:17] So as we're moving forward, I appreciated Ms. Snyder looking into, okay, how is Thacker's view going to, and I appreciate the energy you took toward, okay, there will be redistricting. It already occurred, so we don't have to worry as much about that.

[06:17:35] So I'm grateful for your message. I think in so many ways, we're going to have to see how it plays out. But so far, your numbers are right on. But as these other units get built, I'm hoping that Stratus has the ability to really be accurate in what is able to be predicted.

[06:17:58] So thank you. And with that, call the vote. All in favor? Aye. item 19 public hearings a to consider request to vacate a portion of a taxiway easement across the property owned by uphoff investments llc miss snow good evening mr chairman members of the board dr casey this is a public hearing to consider the vacation of a portion of a taxiway easement within the airport industrial park uphoff investment llc has requested the vacation of

[06:18:37] portion of the easement for the development of up off car and air museum this request has been reviewed by staff and approval is recommended after the public hearing ladies and gentlemen this is a public hearing to consider requesting to vacate a portion of taxiway easement across the property owned by up off investments is there anyone here that would like to speak to this issue

[06:19:15] If so, please come forward and state your name. Seeing no one, I'm going to close this public hearing. It's back before the board for discussion. Mr. Chairman, thank you for this because I spoke with Mr. Uphoff, and he was very excited about this project at the airport.

[06:19:37] And so I'm very pleased to see that it's come to this point in time. And so I'll make a motion to approve this, and certainly there are other comments, I'm sure, relative to this need.

[06:19:52] Second. Aye. Aye. All opposed? No. 5-0. B, to consider request to vacate a portion of Galen Avenue and Lots 11 through 19, and portion of Lot 20, Block E, and Lots 17 through 21, and portion of Lot 22, Block F, within suburban property of John L. Patterson.

[06:20:18] Ms. No. Mr. Chairman, members of the board, Dr. Casey, this is a public hearing to consider the vacation of a portion of right-of-way known as Galen Avenue, lots and portions of lots within suburban property of John L. Patterson's subdivision. WDV LLC has requested the vacation for the development of Swift Creek Contracting. All adjacent owners were notified, and there was no opposition to the request. The request has been reviewed by county staff, Verizon, Virginia Electric and Power Company, and Comcast, and approval is recommended after the public hearing.

[06:20:51] Any questions for staff? Ladies and gentlemen, this is a public hearing to consider the request to vacate a portion of Galen Avenue and lots 11 through 19 and portion of lot 20, block E and lot 17 through 21 and a portion of lot 22, block F within suburban property of John L. Patterson.

[06:21:17] Is there anyone here that would like to speak to this issue? If so, please come forward and state your name. Good evening, Mr. Chairman, members of the board. I'm Dean Hawkins, representing the owner of the property. We're asking for this tonight, and Lynn Snow has been very helpful in preparation and working with us.

[06:21:38] We're just kind of doing some house cleaning here and cleaning up some lot lines, and we've also requested a reduction in the RPA buffer, which has been approved in this area. So this will allow us to do a nice development there. No one else?

[06:21:59] I'll close the public hearing, and it's back before the board. Is there any other questions? Seeing none, can I get a motion? So moved. Second. All in favor? Aye. Item 20, 15-minute citizen comment period on unscheduled matters.

[06:22:18] We have no speakers. Mr. Chair, we need a motion to adjourn to a press conference on March 11, 2025, at 2.30 p.m. at 12800 Genitoe Road to announce plans for the future of Southside Speedway and to then adjourn to the regularly scheduled Board of Supervisors meeting on March 12, 2025, at 2:00 PM in room 502 of the county administration building.

[06:22:44] So moved. Second. All in favor? Aye. I figured you'd want to do that one.

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