Coraggio Consulting
Hanover County Board of Supervisors Meeting, Wednesday, September 10, 2025

Date: Wednesday, September 10, 2025
Place: Hanover County Board of Supervisors, Virginia
Length: 1h 19m (video)
Official meeting video (CivicClerk): https://hanovercova.portal.civicclerk.com/event/1387/media
Official agenda (CivicClerk): https://hanovercova.api.civicclerk.com/v1/Meetings/GetMeetingFileStream(fileId=4093,plainText=false)
Official minutes (CivicClerk): https://hanovercova.api.civicclerk.com/v1/Meetings/GetMeetingFileStream(fileId=4168,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 2026-10-24. Timestamps are [HH:MM:SS] into the meeting video.

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[00:00:00] Agenda has been amended. Any other amendments from board members? Seeing none, we will next move to the comment period. I will begin. I see our treasurer here, Mr. Boshan. Welcome. Good to see you, sir.

[00:00:17] And I'd also like to remind everyone and point out that tomorrow is 9-11. And here in Hanover, it is 9-11 day of service. And across our county, Hanover County staff and employees and departments will take part in the national movement to remember those, to honor those, and to show respect to those who lost their lives during the tragic events of 9-11.

[00:00:49] And I always like to point out that certainly a very tragic event took place. There were those that ran inside of that building. Let's keep them in our thoughts today and all day tomorrow.

[00:01:05] some of the work that will take place meals to seniors working with non-profits across the county and beautifying public spaces so you'll see this these events and this work taking place across the county tomorrow in remembrance of 9-11 and our board of supervisors is certainly appreciative of everyone who participates in this movement any other comments from board members

[00:01:37] Supervisor Dible. Thank you, Mr. Chair. As I mentioned in our last meeting, Western Hanover is extremely excited to welcome the return of Montpelier Days. This event is going to take place on Saturday, September the 27th. It's a great event for all Hanoverians and adjacent citizens as well and adjoining counties. It's going to be a time of great family events. We will kick it off with a parade at 10 a.m., which will travel through the historic Montpelier

[00:02:16] District and end at the Montpelier Center. And at that center, we will have lots of events and festivities, historic demonstrations, lots of vendors showcasing some handmade and farmers' goods, food trucks. I think we have five food trucks. We'll have live local music and we will also have interactive toucher truck that all of these young folks, our children love to go and

[00:02:52] climb on a fire truck or climb on. Rappahannock Electric is going to have one of their bucket trucks. We'll have a sheriff's vehicle there as well. In addition to the always got to have some of those jumpy things for the kids so we've got those. We'll have a classic car show and line dancing as well. So it starts off at 10 a.m. and goes till about four or five o'clock in the evening so mark your calendars for the 27th and join us at the Montpelier Center for the Arts and Education

[00:03:27] for a fabulously fun day. Thank you sir. Thank you for your comments. Any other comments from board members. Seeing none, Mr. Badesky. Thank you, Mr. Chair, members of the board. Just have a few updates today. I just want to share that we started the second Citizens Academy Engage Hanover this week. We had a very engaged group of citizens participating.

[00:03:52] That program has had great demand, and we're really proud of the efforts of the team, but really their citizens have shown up, and we learn as much in that process as hopefully they take away throughout that class but for those that have interest we'll continue to do those programs each year and I want you to just look forward to in February we'll be adding and starting a Fire and EMS Citizens Academy as well so more to come on that. Last evening we had a public hearing on the Route 301 Route 54 roundabout project. As always we got good feedback from our residents

[00:04:27] at that meeting but if individuals would like to learn more or give feedback you can still reach out to joe vadunas here at the county and we're glad to take that feedback number of upcoming events and thank you mr chair uh for the mention of the 9-11 day of service uh it's a it's a great opportunity for us to give back and the feedback that we've received from our not-for-profit partners in the community has been very rewarding over time and they look forward to this event as well but really a day to to honor the community and do some real good uh during the time we reflect on that tragedy um just reminder folks about the board workshop next week on the 15th and 16th

[00:05:07] 8 30 to 3 30 at pfg on route one and the 24th at 3 p.m that we will be celebrating the formal ribbon cutting for the fall line trail uh the fall line trail is a 42 mile trail that uh i'd like to say it starts and ends in ashland but it ends in petersburg um and our leg is the very first lake to be completed of the fall line trail that trail will also connect with the capital trail in richmond but our leg is nearing completion there's we'll still adding some wayfinding signage and and markers but uh really excited to have that done this board with cvta town of ashland

[00:05:45] and henrico county made a major investment in that project and excited to share that with our community so we welcome everybody on september the 24th at 3 p.m to the fall line trail ribbon cutting and we'll be joined by our partners at sports backers as well as representatives from the town of Ashland and Henrico County and so look forward to that day. Mr. Chairman that's all I have today. Thank you Mr. Badesky and any other comments? Seeing none we will move on to agenda item 4 as a presentation Virginia Association of Counties Achievement Awards. Mr. Gage Harder

[00:06:20] Director of Communications, Virginia Association of Counties. Thank you for being with us, sir. It's a pleasure to be here with you. I'm Gage Harder with the Virginia Association of Counties. For the benefit of your constituents who may not be familiar with VACO, we've existed since 1934 to serve and support your efforts as county officials. We support counties in many ways, first through our advocacy efforts in the legislature and at the federal level, and we serve counties through our educational programs, member services, and

[00:07:00] communications efforts. In 2003 we started the VACO Achievement Awards to recognize counties that have adopted innovative approaches to providing public services and identifying programs that could serve as models for other counties to emulate. Today I'm proud to present Hanover County with two Achievement Awards. Just a few notes about the program. This was a 23rd year of the program and we received a record 155 entries that broke the previous record from last

[00:07:32] year of 145. um we selected 57 winners from 33 counties so it's still fairly competitive as only 36 percent of entries were selected as winners um hanover county has uh done some heavy lifting the last uh since 2021 you've all have won seven awards and you have 17 total since 2003 and that ranks you seventh all-time. A lot of sevens there. I'd like to pass the podium to Kristen and Debbie to speak about the two winning programs.

[00:08:07] Thank you. Good afternoon Chairman, members of the board. Thank you Gage and the Virginia Association of Counties for this incredible honor and highlighting programs that uplift our community. We are deeply grateful for the recognition in Hanover County Centenarian Celebration. To the Board of Supervisors and County Leadership, thank you for your unwavering support. Your belief in honoring our oldest residents brought

[00:08:46] this celebration to life. We're also grateful for our amazing partners, some of whom are with us today. Megan Tomes with Covenant Woods, Dr. Wright and Michael Sheff. They could not be here, Dr. Wright and Michael Sheff. Thank you for your generously hosting us and providing such a welcoming space. To Dr. Matua Mambo and Randolph-Macon College students, your creativity in bringing intergenerational storytelling to life was truly inspiring. And thank you to Elena Hernandez, our county attorney, for your guidance and supporting that partnership. And to Ms. Jackie

[00:09:24] Wisegarber of the Social Security Administration, we couldn't have done this without Jackie. Thank you for playing such a pivotal role in expanding the reach of this celebration. Because of your partnership every centenarian and their families in hanover county received a personal invitation ensuring that no centenarian was overlooked and to lee rook who's not here today with sign gypsies mechanicsville thank you for adding such a joyful and colorful touch to each milestone of the celebratory signage we had the big 100 birthday yard signs including 101 2 3 and 4 and military

[00:10:01] signs up there as well and thank you to doubt a senior consultants for their thoughtful sponsorship and to the hanover council on aging our department volunteers and the incredible staff of community resources susan morgan and francis your passion makes this program what it is and finally to the centenarians we have the privilege to celebrate this event is for them your their story strength and legacy reminds us what it means to serve our community so thank you very much and i do have a

[00:10:31] lot of our folks here because this is truly a collective effort and thank you board mr chair

[00:11:57] members of the board i want to thank gage and vaco for this honor we feel really grateful to be recognized among so many so many creative and impactful local government programs engage hanover is our community engagement portal really reflects the county's commitment to transparency two-way communication and making sure that our residents' voices are heard. So when we went about creating this platform, we didn't want it to be just a website. We wanted it to be a place where residents could easily find out what's going on in their community, share their input, and most importantly,

[00:12:35] feel like their voices matter, because they do. So I want to give a special shout out to my Deputy Director of Communication, Shelby Walker. She poured her heart and soul into this project. She's like Oz behind the curtain, making all the magic happen behind the scenes.

[00:12:51] So thank you again for this honor. It's really a pleasure to lead a team that brings heart and strategy and creativity to everything they do.

[00:13:11] Three, two, one. Thank you very much, and we look forward to your entry next year.

[00:13:37] Thank you very much, Mr. Harder, for being with us.

[00:13:56] Next on the agenda is a presentation of Proclamation. Battalion Chief Matthew Newell on his retirement. Mr. Jeff Stoneman, Beaverdam District. Mr. Stoneman. Thank you, Mr. Sheriff. Chief Newell, would you like to come down with your family and anyone else that wants to come down and be a part of this?

[00:14:18] A lieutenant firing a mess, and whereas Matthew Newell was assigned to a sort team

[00:15:41] and transitioned to the technical resource team in 2003, Matt's involvement with the team continued to grow throughout his career, culminating in the oversight of the special operations team. And whereas Matthew Newell was the truck program co-chair which developed and trained career and volunteer personnel on the intricacies of ladder truck operations and set the standards for that we still use today.

[00:16:11] And whereas Matthew Newell was the TRT training officer from 2006 through 2012. This solidified our role with the Central Virginia Technical Rescue Team adding Hanover as one of the four agencies that make up this task force.

[00:16:27] And whereas Matthew Hill was promoted to the rank of Battalion Chief in 2016 and in 2018 assumed the role of the Special Operations Chief where he oversaw the deployment of the Hannibal Fire and EMS Swift Water Rescue Team in 2025 to help with the flooding in southwest Virginia.

[00:16:51] Matt also oversaw the build-out of the Technical Rescue Box Truck, which committed to service on his last working day with Hannibal Fire and EMS. And, whereas Matthew Newell received numerous awards throughout his career to include Firefighter of the Year, Matt prides himself on working his car career in the operations division and developing the people around him.

[00:17:18] Matt's dedication to the truck program and technical rescue program provides a foundation on which it will continue to grow. And whereas Matthew Newell served as both the Kainichi 401 and 402 and worked at Stations 10 Chickahominy, 6 Henry, 7 Mechanicsville, and 1 Ashlyn during his time with Hanover Fire EFS.

[00:17:47] And, whereas, Matthew Newell, on the 15th of July, 2025, retired from Hanover Fire NMS, leaving an impact on Hanover Fire NMS. Matt thanks his family for all the love and support they have given him throughout his career, with wife Lynn, sons Hunter, and Tyler and daughter Michaela.

[00:18:09] Now, therefore, be it resolved that the Hanover County Board of Supervisors, on behalf of the citizens, wish to express his appreciation and congratulate Matthew Newell for his 24 years of outstanding service in Hanover County.

[00:18:25] Furthermore, the board joins his co-workers and friends in extending his best wishes to him for a long, healthy, and happy retirement.

[00:18:36] I need another rope.

[00:20:02] Well, congratulations, Battalion Chief, and thank you, Mr. Sturman.

[00:20:24] Next on the agenda is Citizens' Time. By a show of hands, is there anyone here who wishes to speak at Citizens' Time? I see two. You will have up to five minutes. Procedures for Citizens' Time.

[00:20:42] Citizens' Time is an opportunity for members of the public to present comments and information to the board regarding any matter within the scope of the board's authority that is not on today's agenda for a public hearing. There are cards available in the back of the room. You are not required to fill out a card.

[00:20:59] However, it does make it easier for our board clerk to get the spelling of your name correct And it gives us your contact information in case we need to follow up with you after your comments Speakers who wish to address the board are requested to follow these guidelines Each speaker is asked to give your name in the magisterial district in which you live You will have up to five minutes time will be kept by the vice chair Speakers are asked to address their comments to the board and not to the audience The board does not permit the use of slideshows or other projected materials during citizens' time.

[00:21:37] However, speakers are invited to provide printed copies of the materials that they may have to the board. Handouts and other materials can be provided to the deputy county administrator, seated right here, Dr. Brown, who will ensure that the information will be distributed to board members and the board clerk.

[00:21:55] The board requests that the audience refrain from interrupting speakers during their recognized time. This rule applies to citizens' time and to any public hearing on today's agenda. The board appreciates the public input and cooperation during citizens' time.

[00:22:11] We'll now open citizens' time. Ma'am, I believe your hand was raised first. Please state your name in the magisterial district in which you live. You will have up to five minutes. Thank you. Good afternoon to the board.

[00:22:31] My name is Patty Bland, and I reside in the Beaverdam District Courthouse area. First, I'd like to say, and this is somewhat extemporaneous, I would like to comment on our part, Hanover's part, of the Fall Line Trail, the Ashland Trolley Line.

[00:22:47] That is a wonderful amenity. I commend it to everybody, whether you're a biker, a walker, a runner, a dog walker. It is lovely. It is peaceful.

[00:23:03] There is beautiful landscape to look at, and anyway, it's a societal good. Thank you very much. The Route 33 Gateway Small Area Plan is a welcome addition to Hanover County Planning Toolbox.

[00:23:25] It sets some guidelines that are always needed for such aspects as aesthetics, the environment, and gentler transitions among land uses, and preempts some of the more jarring aspects of development. This is a welcome move. Following this example, I would like to offer that Route 301 south of the courthouse complex especially is another spot in dire need of a small area plan, and I know these things aren't easy to implement. The courthouse is in the historic district, the courthouse area,

[00:24:00] and some of the land use in this neighborhood appears to be rural crossroads. These are good as far as they go, but more is needed. I fear leapfrogging development will destroy the beautiful rural transition and approach to the courthouse district. Please consider a feasibility study and ultimate crafting of a small area plan, at least to the south of the courthouse. I urge the county to get ahead of the commercial stripping of 301. Thank you. Thank you for your comments. Next, Pat,

[00:24:37] please state your name and the district in which you live. You will have up to five minutes. It's Pat, Chairman. I am Patricia Hunter Jordan of the Coal Harbor District, and I'm glad that the chairman and I on first name basis. I appreciate that. I'm glad to be here today, and I come forward with two concerns that I'd like to share with you. The first is our

[00:25:11] appointments to committees. I'd like to see those become a more fair appointment. I know that one recent appointment to the library materials committee came as a person who spoke against and one person who actually stood against some of the books that Hanover has banned. And I think if we're going to appoint someone with one viewpoint, I'd like to see you also appoint people with the others' known viewpoints as well, so that we'd have a balance on what we do here in the county.

[00:25:50] Secondly, my concern is about the current onslaught of people asking to have data centers. Our county people in our county are not in favor of all of the new data centers.

[00:26:10] While we may have to have one or so, I ask that you look at areas that already have business development, if we have to have them, and make certain that they are placed there and not anywhere near our homes and farmlands, anywhere like that.

[00:26:32] Because people move to Hanover to have the peace and the quiet and not to have pollution. The information says that data centers are going to be great.

[00:26:48] They're going to give money. They're going to employ all of these people. But if you look down the road, the employment at data centers decreases rapidly, and the effects on the environment are also well noted.

[00:27:05] So we ask that you take those things into consideration as you look at proposals to put data centers here in our county that we love and want to keep as it currently is and not follow up and make it this big industrial area. So we thank you. Thank you for your comments. Is there anyone else who wishes to address the board during citizen's time? Seeing none, citizen's time is

[00:27:38] now closed. Next on the agenda, consent agenda, Mr. Davis. Mr. Chairman, I've heard nobody wish to amend or uh remove anything from the consent agenda with that i move for approval of consent agenda second there is a motion and a second any discussion seeing none all in favor of approving the consent agenda please indicate by saying aye aye consent agenda approved next on the agenda agenda item 8 is a presentation report on the 2025-2026 school opening dr lisa penicup

[00:28:16] superintendent hanover county public schools thank you for being with us Good afternoon and thank you for allowing me to be with you. It's great to be with you this afternoon, Chairman Hertzberg, Vice Chairman Davis, Supervisors, Mr. Badesky, Mrs. McGee, and Mr. Walter.

[00:28:38] Each year at the Board of Supervisors meeting in September, I have the wonderful opportunity to present a report to you on behalf of the school division on the opening of our school year. I am excited to share with you that we have had a Hanover Strong start, filled with energy, optimism, and as always, a deep commitment to our students' success.

[00:29:02] From the time that our teachers returned to our We Are Family convocation and into the first few weeks of school, our schools have been buzzing with excitement and enthusiasm. While I will soon share with you some important data regarding our first few weeks of school, I'd also like to share with you that the start of school this year has been filled with moments that remind us why we do this important work.

[00:29:28] Our students have been making new friends. Our teachers have been igniting curiosity in our students. And even our high school students have been giving back to their own elementary schools by helping us welcome new students on the first day of school.

[00:29:46] Care is at the heart of what we do, and is at the heart of our Hanover County Public Schools family. We are so proud of what we have already seen this school year, and I am glad to walk with you through what has been a great start.

[00:30:02] First, let's take a look at the successful opening that we will build on in the next few months. Approximately 16,700 students in preschool through 12th grade have arrived in our schools. Our elementary schools provide more than 1,650 minutes of instruction every week and our middle school students attend more than 15,500 blocks every day. Our high school teachers instruct more than 2,000 unique classes. Our cafeterias have served approximately 64,300 meals in the first

[00:30:42] two weeks of school. Our buses have been traveling 10,620 miles every day and to put that in perspective, that's like driving from Virginia to California and back twice a day. Approximately 2.4 million people have been cumulatively reached on our social media during the back-to-school campaign. The expanded mass communications platform, ParentSquare, automatically reaches 99.6 percent of

[00:31:13] our families. And we are currently only recruiting for one teacher vacancy. And we're proud to share that here in Hanover with the support system that we have from our retirees that we have a retired teacher in that position until we find a permanent replacement. In other good news, our teacher attrition data this year is down from 11.58 to 9.65. Hanover hasn't seen numbers like that since

[00:31:45] 19-20. So we are getting close to our pre-COVID days, and I would like to share that the school board and I attribute that to our senior leadership, who many of them are here today, if you put your hand up, and not only them and other central office staff, but our principals and assistant principals who create cultures and climates that our teachers and staff want to be a part of. And through your support, they have the help that they need to make their jobs more doable. And as you know, teachers have heavy loads and we all know and appreciate that. And

[00:32:24] from our attrition and retention rates, I think what they're saying to us is they feel your support and we are thankful. As we highlighted during convocation, from our teachers to the cafeteria staff to counselors to the bus drivers and so many others, we are blessed with a tremendous close-knit family that makes the magic happen for our students each and every day. Our students continue to excel at the highest levels with test scores that place us among the highest performing

[00:33:02] schools in the commonwealth. As you can see, our students continue to outperform state averages in reading, math, science, and history. Hanover County Public Schools leads the metro Richmond region in all content areas. Hanover County, once again, has the highest pass rate in math among Virginia's 15 largest school divisions. When a school division is performing at such an exceptional level, every step forward represents extraordinary dedication and hard work, making these latest

[00:33:39] improvements truly exceptional. Scores increased in three of the four content areas, including a two-point gain in reading. These gains are a direct result of the collective effort of our teachers, our staff, our families, our students, and our community. Together, we have faithfully implemented the Virginia Literacy Act and utilized the high-quality instructional materials that were adopted by our school board last school year. This success reflects the intentional work and collaboration of our school board, our administrators, our teachers, and families

[00:34:17] in putting the Virginia Literacy Act and the Science of Reading into practice. We are proud of the progress being made and confident that this momentum will carry us toward even greater accomplishments. During the 25-26 school year, we have identified three focus areas that will be included.

[00:34:39] One is the kindness and anti-bullying campaign. This will include a division-wide emphasis on kindness-themed activities, lessons, and celebrations. While academic growth and achievement remain at the heart of our mission, we know that kindness creates the foundation for safe, supportive, and thriving schools.

[00:35:03] Whether it's welcoming a new student, lending a hand to a classmate, or offering a word of encouragement, these simple acts have a profound impact on the lives of others. We will continue to provide engaging learning environments that are free of mobile devices.

[00:35:21] We are also thankful to be in the process of constructing or design phase of three schools. Beaver Dam Elementary School and Battlefield Park are set to open in the fall of 2026 and Washington Henry will follow in the fall of 27.

[00:35:42] There has been great excitement and optimism during the start of the school year as we have welcomed our students back to school. We'd like to show you a look at some of the back to school joy that we have seen.

[00:35:55] Our students are our why. We have the honor of serving our community's most precious resource,

[00:37:50] the children. We are eager each day to be excellent in our teaching, our learning, and our leadership, as we recognize that by doing so, we are empowering our students to be confident and productive lifelong learners. It has been a great and energetic start to the school year, and we are looking forward to the continued success of our students and staff. We thank you all for your support of our schools. Thank you very much for your presentation, Dr. Pinnico.

[00:38:21] Thank you. Any questions or comments from board members? Well, seeing none, I'll just make a few comments since you're here. We would just like to express our appreciation for all that you do, you as superintendent, and for all that everyone on the staff, for all that you do, for all that the school board, for all that you do. There's a lot of, you know, moving parts in the school division as you saw that 10,000 miles a day just for the bus and also to all the teachers and the

[00:38:56] staff and all the bus drivers and whether you're preparing meals or you're helping to keep the schools clean or helping to keep the buildings and grounds straight we appreciate you thank you so thank you very much I'll share that with everyone in the school division I know they will greatly appreciate it please do thank you ma'am thank you okay we are going to take a five

[00:39:27] minute recess we'll come back at 2 50. okay the time is 2 51 board of supervisors meeting is called

[00:47:03] back to order next on the agenda presentation voter registrar update miss theresa smithson general registrar director of elections hanover county thank you for being with us ma'am hard oh hello it's a really hard act to follow um dr penny cuff but i'm going to try and do my best So, a little bit of dry information for you.

[00:47:35] These are your current stats and the number of voters that are registered in each of the precincts. And it's kind of interesting in that I looked up the Weldon Cooper estimates from 2024, and there's about a 4% increase for our county as estimated.

[00:47:56] And we see that reflected in our voter registration number. So, looking at the growth from 2022 to now, South Anna District has the highest growth of just registered voters.

[00:48:14] Now, keep in mind, we're not counting the babies and anybody under the age of 18. This is just qualified voters. And it's in line with that 4% increase. But I do want to just go back a little ways to that January 7th, the perfect storm of an election.

[00:48:35] that was a special election called for the 10th Senate seat. And anytime we get a special election in January, that is our Christmas card to each other because we're going to spend Christmas together.

[00:48:53] But the writ came down on December the 11th and then all the candidates had until December the 16th to qualify. And that gives us a very short window from early voting starting and us planning, because the schools were going to be open that day, and of course the winter storm hit. So it kind of worked out that the schools were closed because of snow, but it was through the efforts in partnership with Battalion Chief Corey Beasley, who is the Special Ops Emergency

[00:49:30] Manager. I'm not Special Ops, but the Emergency Manager for fire. We partnered with Carrie Wright, the school's emergency manager and her team, the sheriff's department, Captain Ratchford in town of Ashland, the special operations commander, Shell Horse. All of us came together in that very narrow window to say, these schools are going to be open. How do we safeguard these folks and keep our students separate from the voters? And with Parks and Rec's participation and support

[00:50:05] with administration. We came up with a game plan. God saw fit to close the schools that day so we didn't have any problems with voters interacting with students but we did have to have support for our officers of elections. Their average age is around 65 to 70 years old and they can't drive in ice and snow. So the firefighters stepped up, picked up our officers of elections from their home at 4 30 a.m carried them to the polling place and then took them home at night and that included

[00:50:43] bringing the chief to our office to drop off the election materials and ballots so january 7th special election really showed the commitment that our county has in supporting these elections and making sure that our citizens are safe whether they're voting or whether they're serving in the polling place. So a big old thank you. Oh, and did I forget the water crisis? Yeah, we were suffering.

[00:51:10] It was a great day, but we managed through it. So our next election was the Democratic Party primary. We had a little over about 5,700 folks show up. It was a county-wide primary. The Republican ticket was already locked in with the withdrawal of the, I think it was Lieutenant governor withdrawal. But we did have 911 folks show up over in the Wickham building

[00:51:42] to cast the ballot early voting. We had a few vote by mail and a few folks visited the polling places. So it was not a very eventful election for that primary, but we still have to go through the whole process and our officers of elections are just fabulous when it comes to doing that.

[00:52:08] To give you a little bit of overview from our voting turnout over the last four years, if you recall early voting started in 2020, that's when we kicked it off. 2020 presidential election is always big. And I always say that voter turnout, if you look at it over a series of years, it looks like an EKG.

[00:52:30] You go up for presidential, then you dip a little bit for gubernatorial. The gubernatorial almost four years ago was at 68% turnout. And we are anticipating a much higher turnout for this very historic governor's election because we're going to be making history in electing the first female governor in the state.

[00:52:58] Speaking of making history, the Election Day Page Program is a codified program that allows us to reach out to our students in our county between the ages of 15 and 17 to serve as election day pages in the polling places in november working with dr penny cuff and her educators we have kicked off that program this program is also open to our home school as well as faith-based schools so we put the word out but the students must be a u.s citizen

[00:53:36] they have to attend a mandatory training and they have they receive they receive your certificate and then of course our department of community resources actually gives them civil service hours so they can add that to their transcripts on the other side of that people that get paid or we call it volunteerism with a tip is our officers of elections and again they must be a u.s citizen

[00:54:05] they have to be a registered voter in Virginia. We like to take our folks in Henrico and the city of Richmond, have them come work in Hanover, and every now and then they steal our officers. So it's a back and forth tug of war. But they also have to attend mandatory training, and they always have to maintain the safety of the citizens and the integrity of the vote. If anyone is interested in becoming a student page, they can reach out to their educators or government teachers

[00:54:45] in their schools or call us directly. And if you want to have an opportunity to make history as an officer of election, we do have that job listed on the county's jobs website. So I know everybody wants to hear about September. Here we are. September 19th kicks off the early voting for our November 4th election. We're really excited about it. We are ramping up our support with officers at presidential levels because we really believe that this is going to be a very big election.

[00:55:23] It's not just a Virginia-focused election, but it's national, so people are watching from outside our boarders. So we are prepared for it. Our vote by mail will also kick off on the 19th. So we'll get close to 4,900 ballots out the door on the 19th or next Friday. And what's really cool this year is that the legislators saw fit, given our technology, that instead of closing the voter

[00:55:59] registration rolls 21 days before an election. They've now reduced that to 10 days before an election. The reason for that is back in the day, they had to print paper poll books and send out to all the localities in the Commonwealth. They no longer need to do that. We, with our technology now, we can update the voter registration rolls and the poll book in time to allow folks to either update their voter registration or register for the first time. Same-day registration will then

[00:56:33] begin after those books have closed on the 25th, meaning that no citizen that wishes to cast a ballot on election day or an early voting center will be denied. And a lot of great news. Thanks to your support, we now have the updated and latest version of the digital ballot scanner. It's called, we'd like to call it the ds 300 this is high speed low drag processing of ballots as a voter puts them in so we're not going to have to stand around for hours waiting for a mile long tape to print

[00:57:10] off that is going to be much faster than what we're used to so we're really excited about that we will use those for the first time in november look at that questions comments anything thank you your presentation any questions from board members see y'all know my job better than i do thank you so much i have i have one ma'am yes sir the um the ds300 is that a ballot scanner it is it is the ballot scanner and tabulator okay so we continue to use paper ballots and then they go into the

[00:57:45] scanning machine right ballot scanner and then they're counted at the end the best thing about using the ES&S system. When we started with the HAVA Act from the Hanging Chad way back when, this county was smart enough to say, we want a paper ballot trail. And they went with the ES&S M100 scanner at the time. And it's just like back in the day when you took an SAT and you put it into the machine and it read the dots, that's exactly what this does. And we've upgraded over the years this is the third iteration of the digital ballot scanner and tabulator so we're

[00:58:25] still with the same company we haven't gone into any issues with allegations of connectivity because we've proved it over and over again that this system does not do that well thank you and i know this is a lot of work with all the the 45 days and mail-ins primary seasons and then you had a special election oh yeah 2024 was fabulous because we had march presidential we had a june

[00:58:58] primary we had the june recount of the fifth then we went into the presidential election in november january 7th was a special it was it was a lot so yeah i'm still here a little grayer for it but we're still here and kicking mr davis did you have a comment no ma'am well i do you do a phenomenal Job, I said of your office earlier today at a legislative committee meeting that with some of the changes, we talked about what it costs to run an election and it's extremely

[00:59:32] expensive and we've talked about asking the General Assembly to just shorten some of the days of early voting and interestingly enough, in Northern Virginia and down in the beaches, some of our friends in those localities, while they may have different political views, agree that it's just a tremendous amount of work and effort.

[00:59:56] And, you know, so maybe if they go to 30 days or 15 days or 21, whatever it might be. But my comment was is that your office and you have performed, you've been asked to run a marathon at a sprinting pace. And it's amazing what you've done.

[01:00:12] And I think that comes from both sides of the aisle. I've had folks who reach out to me from the Republican Party, the chairs and leadership over there, And I've spoken to previous chairs and leadership in the Democrat Party, and they all share the same view of your office, which is phenomenal.

[01:00:28] But I did make one kind of—years ago, I was teaching a class to some folks that were of a different generation. I was telling my wife that I was talking about wax on, wax off, and they kind of looked at me, and they didn't understand it. So, you know, I did like the crank. She said, honey, if they don't understand wax on, wax off, they're not going to get—I realize there's a generation or two.

[01:00:48] So I leaned over to Ms. Floyd when you mentioned hanging Chad, and I asked her if she remembered hanging Chad, if she got that, just because she's slightly of a different. Yeah. But we talked about that for 10 or 15 years. Yeah, I mean, it all comes down to, at the end of the day, counting the legal votes and getting them out, and I always kind of chuckle that folks are sitting there and it's 8-15 and they're lined up at your office and they're like, what is taking so long, you know?

[01:01:21] Yeah. I mean, we very seldom have had, I mean, I don't know, have we ever had local results or any of our results past midnight? No. I don't think so. No, sir. And that's amazing. I mean, to get it done on the day and to have those results out, and I mean, most of them are out well before 9, 9.30, but we've never gone past midnight, have we?

[01:01:44] No, never. That is just, it's unbelievable. I mean, really, it's hard to fathom when you think about all of those paper ballots that were filled out by hand and that you were able to have those numbers be able to be tabulated and reported back to you and have you initiate the reporting of that.

[01:02:03] It's just really phenomenal. Well, it's a team effort. If the officers of elections weren't properly trained in knowing what was, you know, essential, first step, And then, of course, you know, my staff of Super 4, they're the ones that are working together.

[01:02:18] And, I mean, it looks like somebody kicked a fire ant hill in our office. So you're more than welcome to come and watch and help. But, yeah, it is amazing. They do a great job. That is. Thank you, ma'am. Thank you, Ms. Chairman. You're welcome. Any other questions or comments from board members? Seeing none, thank you very much, ma'am, for your presentation.

[01:02:37] Thank you for having me. Bye. Okay, next on the agenda, agenda item 10 is a presentation, building permit fees. adoption of resolution for exemption for buildings and structures owned by hanover county or the hanover county public schools mr richard gordon chief building official hanover county thank you for being with us sir thank you mr chairman members of the board again for the record my name is richard gordon chief building official for hanover county and before you today for consideration is a resolution to exempt hanover county and hanover county schools

[01:03:16] from building permit fees for construction projects as a bit of background for this currently building inspections collects permit fees for both county and school construction projects as an aside we are not unique in that regard about half of the localities regionally still do this the fee schedule is adopted by the board of supervisors and the only current exemption we have as part of the fee schedules is sanctuaries and places of worship so when these fees are assessed the fees are either paid by county schools or potentially by

[01:03:53] the contractors performing the work so building inspections expenditures are paid currently from the general fund we don't function as an enterprise fund but the intent of those fees is to defray the cost of inspection activities so these fees when they are paid by general services or contractor are paid either directly or indirectly from a capital improvement project budget. So the current impact of fee collection. So the fee collection process creates an

[01:04:29] administrative cost. The most obvious in that is is staff time for processing of the fees. Also for smaller projects, different county projects will use purchasing cards and there's a fee associated with using those cards. When contractors are actually the ones who apply for the permit and pay the fee, oftentimes they will mark up their fee charge more of a convenience fee than anything else for obtaining the permit themselves. Also, whenever Building Inspections collects a permit fee for any purpose, 2% of that fee goes to the

[01:05:06] Commonwealth of Virginia for administering the Virginia Building Code Academy. So there is a fee, you know, there is a cost associated with assessing these fees. Now, the reason that we currently collect fees for county projects is the fee collection is an accounting tool. So again, building inspections fees are structured to cover the cost of department operations, which is over 90% staff salary and benefits. And those fees are based on estimated construction cost, which is an indicator of how

[01:05:43] much effort is required for staff to conduct that work. So elimination of the fees would mean that building inspections would have a lower reported department revenue, but essentially there's no reduction in actual county revenue. These are funds that are simply passed from one budget to another. So just some historical data to give you perspective. Over the last three years, fees collected from county and school projects have varied from 3 to 14 percent of the total

[01:06:16] fees collected by building inspections. You'll see in FY25, we had $305,779 collected for schools projects. That is associated with two elementary schools that are currently under construction. So depending on the amount of capital improvement going on either in the county or the schools, it can have a significant effect on department budget. Below that on the right, you'll see a chart that shows that our current fee schedule approximately over time matches our revenue

[01:06:50] collected to our expenditures, which again is the goal of the fee collection. So should the resolution be adopted, building inspections would be reporting equivalent fee data for county and school projects during the budget cycle as a way of alleviating any concerns about the actual level of effort carried out by the department so before you're a few potential motions for this resolution I will say that the Finance Committee has reviewed and recommended this forward to the board as a way of reducing administrative costs

[01:07:28] and I'd be happy to answer any questions are you finished with your presentation sir yes sir thank you for your presentation any questions or comments from board members Supervisor Dibble yeah I just wanted to hello I I thank Mr. Gordon for his efforts in our committee meeting.

[01:07:52] I wanted to publicly thank you for addressing this situation and generating this cost savings for us. It's made my head spin for years while we were doing it this way. And I so appreciate when I ask a question, I don't receive from you an answer that, well, that's the way we've always done it.

[01:08:12] You listen, you digest it, and we either move forward or not with it. So I appreciate your willingness to at least listen and do things better, make our workplace better because of it. So thank you, sir. Thank you for your comments.

[01:08:28] Supervisor Pritchard. Thank you, Mr. Chair, and thank you, Ms. Dibble. I think the comment I made in our committee meeting is we're charging ourselves to get permission from ourselves to do work for ourselves for no other reason than good accounting practice.

[01:08:45] I think it's a I'm not a good use of effort and I really do appreciate your bringing this talk to us Thank you for your comments any other questions or comments from board members. I just had a couple questions I just want to make sure I understand this correctly so to construct a new structure a building permit will still be

[01:09:15] Required and in a permit will he permit still be issued the same as always the process for obtain the building permit will be the same We will simply waive the fee as part of the permitting process. Okay, so you mentioned the school so that the Contractor would still be responsible for filling out the application going through the process Posting the permit maintaining the permit calling in all the inspections. It's just that the fee will be zero. Yes, sir Is that right? Okay And one of the concerns I had about this was you know a lot of work

[01:09:51] there's a lot of work that building inspections has to perform on some of these permits as you're aware from footings to the walls to HVAC to gas to electrical there's a lot of work and I wanted to make sure that the end of the year your numbers weren't off and I brought that concern up I think what I heard you say is that to to show that I heard you mention the phrase equivalent data so Can you expand on what that means?

[01:10:24] So since the fees are calculated based on the estimated cost of the work, it's simple enough to report the equivalent fees that would have been assessed for county projects as a way of establishing how much effort was expended by staff on review, inspections, and processing of the work.

[01:10:43] So we would, in addition to our normal budget data, we would include information about what fees would have been collected based on the total estimated cost of county work. I think that's good for accounting. I think that is excellent. I'm glad to hear that.

[01:11:00] And so the contractor still has to go through all the steps, all of the work, and your department still has to perform all the inspections, rough in, scheduling, posting, and all of that. So all the work will be the same.

[01:11:18] It's just that the dollars will be zero, and then one of the savings here is actually processing the checks. So you won't have to so the contract won't have to go into their accounts print out a check bring it have It pay with a credit card or whatever it is. So will that amount of work be reduced if we do this right here?

[01:11:38] Yes, the processing time for for finance and our administrative staff will be reduced and again Some of the the ancillary savings would be that that state levy charge that 2% would be across the board for Any fee that's paid we wouldn't be paying paying the state to pay ourselves essentially in that situation Okay, so there's some real benefits to doing this And the biggest concern I had was the accounting and you've got that figured out so at the end of the year There will be equivalent data to to justify all the work that you guys are doing Whereas the dollars coming in is so much less now. Yes, sir. Okay. Well, that sounds good

[01:12:17] Okay, that concludes my questions and comments anyone else Okay, seeing none. I do believe this is finance. So Supervisor Dibble. Thank you, Mr. Chair I want to make a motion to approve the resolution updating the building permit fee schedule to provide that buildings and structures owned by Hanover County Or the Hanover County public schools are exempt from paying building permit fees Second there is a motion and a second any discussion seeing none all in favor. Please indicate by saying aye

[01:12:57] resolution is passed sir thank you very much thank you next on the agenda's closed session supervisor davis mr chairman i move that the board of supervisors take this meeting into closed session pursuant to the following authority virginia code section 2.2 3711 a3 consideration of acquisition of real property for luke for public purposes on lewistown road ash cake road roundabout project g pin seven seven eight eight eighty eight seventy four one three there is a

[01:13:33] motion and a second all in favor of closed session please indicate by saying aye aye the board is in

[01:13:39] closed session okay okay time is 336 board's back in session mr davis mr chairman i move that the

[01:17:02] board of supervisors certify that during closed session only public business matters lawfully exempted from the open meeting requirements of the freedom of information act and only such public business matters as were identified in the closed session were discussed there is a motion and a second all in favor please indicate by saying aye aye board is back in open session chair recognizes mr stoneman thank you mr chair uh i'd like to make a motion um to move that the board of board authorized advertisement of a public hearing on october 22nd 2025 at 6 p.m regarding adoption

[01:17:42] of a resolution that would approve the acquisition by condemnation or other means of fee simple right-of-way and easements for the parcel with gp gpn 778-88-7413 in connection with the Lewistown Road, Ashcake Road, Roundabout Project.

[01:18:03] Tuckham. There is a motion and a second. All in favor, please indicate by saying aye. Aye. Motion passes. Next on the agenda is announcements. Any announcements from board members? Mr. County Administrator?

[01:18:20] Nothing more. Seeing none, we will move on to adjournment to September 15th, beginning at 8.30 a.m. for a Board of Supervisors workshop to be held in the training room at Performance Food Service, located at 10, 399 Washington Highway, Glenallen, Virginia.

[01:18:39] We are adjourned.

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