Coraggio Consulting
Loudoun County Board of Supervisors, Business Meeting, Tuesday, October 17, 2023

Date: Tuesday, October 17, 2023
Place: Board Room, First Floor, Government Center, 1 Harrison Street SE, Leesburg, Virginia
Length: 4h 58m (video)
Official meeting video (county, Granicus): https://loudoun.granicus.com/player/clip/7442
Agenda (Granicus): https://loudoun.granicus.com/AgendaViewer.php?view_id=73&clip_id=7442

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 2026-10-19. Timestamps are [HH:MM:SS] into the meeting video.

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[00:01:04] I see someone is put into the boardroom through the tele-system. Can you hear us? If you are speaking, we cannot hear you.

[00:07:10] Oh, yeah.

[00:07:51] I don't know where my... Well, good evening, supervisors.

[00:08:27] Good evening, staff. Good evening, Loudon. I'd like to call to order the October 17, 2023 Loudon County Board of Supervisors Business Meeting. This room has a hearing loop. If you need hearing assistance, please switch your hearing aid to the tele-call mode.

[00:08:44] If you need a headset, we have those available as well. please see the clerk to request one. Mr. Buffington will not be joining us tonight. Mr. Sains and Mr. Letourneau will. They are both running a little bit late. They're coming from their day jobs, and they're both called to say they would be a little bit late.

[00:09:02] Supervisor Umstead, would you now lead us in the pledge, our invocation, and our words of inspiration? Thank you, Madam Chair. Dear Lord, we pray for the people of Israel, and we pray for all the victims of terror around the world.

[00:09:21] We pray for the people of Ukraine and we pray for those in our county, especially our children and for all of those around the world. Amen. If you would join us in the Pledge of Allegiance.

[00:09:36] 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.

[00:09:54] Okay. Supervisors and Loudon. I lost my Aunt June last Friday. My Aunt June was like a sister to me. And my cousin, June's daughter, June actually asked for her body to be donated to science and then be cremated, so we're not going to have a funeral right away.

[00:10:22] But my cousin, June's daughter, has asked me to be on a call to help plan or to at least start to get into place some things about June's memorial service.

[00:10:41] My cousin, Dia, is in Denver, Colorado. And so she said it would be around 4 o'clock or sometime after 4 o'clock. 4 o'clock in Denver is 6 o'clock here. And so for a period of time tonight, I will have to leave the dais.

[00:10:58] If I leave the dais during public comments, first, I apologize. Two, if you want to say something to me directly, I will give you a call if you'd like me to give you a call. I will always go back and watch the public comments that are given on the WebEx.

[00:11:19] But if anyone wants me to call them because I would have stepped off the dais, then I will. I don't know that I'll be off the dais very long because this is just kind of the, when are we going to have the memorial service, just the first facts. We're not planning the entire program.

[00:11:36] So I shouldn't be gone very long, but I will have to step off sometime at or after 6 o'clock. Thank you. Supervisors, without objection, I'm adding Resolution R-3 to the agenda. It is a resolution recognizing Reverend Gregory Spurlock to the agenda tonight, and I will present the agenda to Reverend Spurlock on Sunday.

[00:12:07] Are there any other additions or deletions to the agenda? Seeing none, the proposed consent agenda is as follows. R-1, proclamation to recognize Diwali holiday. That would be from Mr. Letourneau, who will join me down front.

[00:12:24] That is for approval and presentation. R-2, proclamation to recognize lights on after school day. That's for approval only. I think, is that, Ms. Glass, is that yours? Okay, that's Ms. Brixman's. R-3, as I said, resolution to recognize Reverend Gregory Spurlock for approval only.

[00:12:45] Item 1A, appointments and confirmations. Item two, administrative items in part of October 17, 2023. Item three, the U.S. Route 50 Long-Term Improvements and Sequencing Corridor Study Safety and Multimodal Access Addendum.

[00:13:02] Item 5A, Contract Award, Capital Projects Program Management and Reporting. Item 5B, Award Authority Increase Advanced Technology Solutions Aggregator. Item 5C, Award Authority Increase Digital Book Services.

[00:13:21] Item 5D, Community Development Block Ground Consolidated Annual Performance and Evaluation Report for Fiscal Year 2023. Item 5E, Amendments to Fiscal Policy Revenue Stabilizing Fund and Other General Updates. And Item 5G, Lovettsville Recycling Center Relocation.

[00:13:41] I will make a motion to approve the consent agenda. Is there a second? Seconded by Supervisor Brixman. Discussion on the motion. Ms. Brixman. Confirmations are in here, yes, Madam Chair? 1A? Yes, they are. Okay, great. I just wanted to...

[00:13:59] Did I not say him? No, I think you probably did. Maybe I didn't hear. Anyway, I just wanted to publicly thank Terrence Hostin, who's been serving on the Economic Development Advisory Commission for, I don't know, three years now, and just wanted to thank him for that.

[00:14:18] Madam Chair, thank you. Thank you very much. Anybody else? Mr. Kirshner. Thank you, Madam Chair. I just wanted to briefly mention and thank my colleagues up here as well as staff's work, Tony Hayes and Ernie Brown on the Lovitzville Recreational Center relocation. It's being there located at the new park, which we were able to open this year, and it's going to allow glass recycling in a larger area than it's currently being used in Lovitzville.

[00:14:46] So thanks for everyone's support and the work on this. Wonderful. Anybody else? All in favor, please say aye. Aye. Any opposed? That motion will pass 6-0-3 with three people being off the dais. The only thing I have today in my chair's comments is this.

[00:15:06] Council of Governments held our meeting this past week, And we got an update on the Housing Affordability Planning Program, also called HAP. HAP is the money that was given to us by Amazon as they relocated to this area to help with some of our housing issues.

[00:15:31] And so this was the second round of grant funding coming from HAP. The HAP funding is $75,000. It's small, flexible grants for local governments, for nonprofits, for housing developments from localities that are within COG.

[00:15:49] For this round, recommended grants included one from Maryland, two from the district, and four from Northern Virginia. One of them from Northern Virginia is coming to Loudoun. It's the Avonlea Housing Development Phase I.

[00:16:08] Phase one of the two-phase development, which will eventually be a senior housing for 277 senior family rentals. Phase one will develop 130 units at the 30% to 60% AMI, which is literally the affordable AMI.

[00:16:28] Because remember, 0% to 30% is low income. Well, actually, about 0% to 35%. About 35% to about 80% to 85% is literally affordable. 85% to 105% is workforce, and then you have senior housing, disability housing, veterans housing.

[00:16:45] So this actually meets a little bit of the low-income housing, a big portion of the affordable housing, and senior housing. So this does a lot of things at one time. The grants will be used for feasibility analysis, and it can also be used for design cost and community outreach when they start.

[00:17:06] So this is a big deal. Again, there was only four locations in all of Northern Virginia that received a grant. And so us being one of them is fantastic. And so congratulations to Avonlea. And by the way, congratulations to all of the staff that helped put this together and helped put that grant together.

[00:17:28] I think the grant was due in July of last year. And so thank you to the staff. All right. Let me find my voice for a cause. My voice for a cause today is the Friends of Loudoun County Animal Services. The Friends of Loudoun County Animal Services, FLCAS, helps animals in Loudoun.

[00:17:48] It's a nonprofit independent of any animal welfare organizations dedicated to raising funds for and providing support to the animals and programs of Loudoun County Animal Services. Today with us is Michelle Zabruski and Susan Kordak, And I asked them if they'd brought any of their furry friends with us.

[00:18:08] And she said, I could have bought my gecko. And I'm like, that would not qualify as a furry friend to me. But we are really happy. So what that said to me is you mean all animals. So that's pretty amazing.

[00:18:25] So why is this organization so important to the county? So as you know, Loudoun is a fierce, animal-loving community. And here in Loudoun this year alone, 75% of the animals coming into the shelter needed some additional care, whether it's behavioral, medical, so all of this costs money.

[00:18:44] And intake is up 40% from last year, so more animals need help than ever before. And so the services we provide directly, we fund the procedures at the shelter, whether it's medical or behavioral training, enrichment opportunities, surgeries, and really anything else that's needed.

[00:19:05] Last weekend, we sponsored free adoptions for the full weekend to try to get more animals out of the facility and into new homes. So just one more way that we're able to give back. In addition to that, we also have offered several microchip clinics throughout the county, and those are for all residents.

[00:19:22] So to help, if your animal becomes lost, we're able to get, you know, the animal back to you quickly. So normally, you know, I make sure that you all have the questions for Voice for a Cause, so you prepare. So I'm going to throw a question on you that's not, that you didn't get. Why, what number did you say was up?

[00:19:40] It was like how many animals are coming into the shelters up right now? Why do you think that is? One of the biggest things is just the increase in costs, the cost of living here. so a lot of folks are forced to move and we're forced to move they're forced to leave their pets behind because where they're moving to won't let them take them okay um or they just can't afford to properly care for them anymore so they relinquish them to the shelter do people know that like um loud and hunger relief will also help provide food for animals the people do people know all the other services i i hope so and that's one of the actually one of the things i was going to bring up okay i'm sorry the services that have been provided yes exactly in addition to um the

[00:20:20] Humane Society of Loudoun County, Loudoun County Animal Services, and the Friends of, we make sure that the Loudoun Hunger Relief Pet Pantry is fully staffed. So anybody in the community that needs pet food, we don't want any animal to ever go hungry. And we also partner with Loudoun Abuse Women's Shelter to ensure that anybody fleeing domestic violence, we're making sure if they have pets that need to be temporarily housed, that we have solutions for that.

[00:20:44] Wow. Can I throw one more question at you that you didn't expect to get? Do you all do anything with service or therapy animals? Not directly. I mean, we work a lot with the different groups within the county.

[00:20:59] So there are quite a few that, unfortunately, I didn't have a service dog to bring. But, yes, there are a lot of great groups that are doing those things in the community. Okay. And then my last question is, I'm sure after hearing you today, people are going to want to get involved. How do they do that? We're primarily a fundraising organization.

[00:21:17] So anybody interested in donating, flcis.org. If you're interested in helping us fundraise, please reach out to us through our website. And if you don't want to donate funds and you'd rather drop off donations for, like you said, the Loud and Hunger Relief Pet Pantry, you can go to the shelter over on Crosstrail.

[00:21:35] I know you guys know the facility. It's beautiful. If anybody else hasn't been there, please go visit. But, yeah, they can accept donations. And on their website, they have a bunch of satellite locations where you can also, if that location is convenient, to drop off things for the animals. What I know is that people's pets are their families.

[00:21:55] They are. And a pet can change your whole life. And so the fact that you all are doing this is so wonderful and so helpful. I know Selah would appreciate it. I know Maggie would appreciate any of a dog. I know Sylvia Glass has an animal that she says it's a dog.

[00:22:14] I've seen that animal. I'm not quite sure what that is going on right there. Chihuahuas. Not pecky. I think it's, was it Peppy? Is it Peppy? Poppy? What's his name? Paco and Bella. Paco and Bella, yes. So thank you so much for what you do.

[00:22:33] We appreciate you. Thank you. Yeah. Thank you. Mr. Hemstreet, do you have any comments tonight? Thank you, Chair Randall. I've got four comments for this evening. The first is that Loudoun County residents who wish to dispose of unwanted medications may do so safely at the next drug take-back day, which is Saturday, October 28th.

[00:22:55] The Sheriff's Office is partnering with the Leesburg Police Department and the Federal Drug Enforcement Agency to provide several sites throughout the county where a potentially dangerous expired, unused, and unwanted prescription drugs may be discarded. Since the program began in 2010, more than 18,000 pounds of unwanted prescription medications have been collected in Loudon.

[00:23:15] Details about this year's collection sites may be found at loudon.gov slash takebackday. Second, Loudon residents are encouraged to take advantage of the Virginia sales tax holiday, which starts this Friday, October 20th, and continues through Sunday, October 22nd.

[00:23:30] During this period, individuals can purchase qualifying hurricane and emergency preparedness items, as well as qualified school supplies and certain Energy Star and WaterSense products without paying state sales tax. Third, residents and visitors are invited to celebrate this year's harvest on the farm during the 30th annual Loudoun Fall Farm Tour this Saturday and Sunday.

[00:23:53] More than 40 farms and ag-related businesses are participating in this year's event, which showcases Loudon-made, Loudon-grown products and highlights the diversity of the county's agricultural economy. Plus, there are many hands-on activities and demonstrations designed for all ages.

[00:24:08] More information is online at loudonfarmtour.com. And then finally, as you are aware, hopefully, the ribbon-cutting ceremony for the new General District Courthouse at the Loudon County Courts Complex is scheduled for next Wednesday, October 25th at 5.30 p.m.

[00:24:25] Members of the community are invited to attend the event, which will take place in front of the new courthouse. The new building is scheduled to open to the public on October 21st. Those are my comments this evening, Chair Randall. Thank you, Mr. Hemstreet. Okay, supervisors, we do not have any information items tonight.

[00:24:42] We have, I believe, three action items. One of them will be taken up after public comments because there's a lot of public comments expected on the action item. But we will do the other two information items tonight, as well as nominations.

[00:25:01] But we'll hold nominations until Mr. Sainz and Mr. Letourneau arrive. So what we're going to do tonight is the Project Labor Agreement item. Would staff please come to the table?

[00:25:21] Good evening, ladies. Good evening, Chair Randall and the board. The item before you this evening is a follow-up from the action and the direction provided by the board at a September business meeting.

[00:25:40] At that meeting, the board provided staff direction not only to proceed with a pilot project labor agreement for the general government office building project, but staff was also directed to review and present recommendations for a transportation project in our current CIP that we could also apply a pilot.

[00:26:01] Upon review of our transportation projects and our current CIP with the DTCI staff, there are currently 10 projects in our CIP that exceed $35 million. $35 million, as a reminder, is the minimum threshold for the federal government to consider for PLAs, and so that's what uses our starting point.

[00:26:23] Of those 13, five are not scheduled to be under construction for several years, and staff did not feel that the board would want to consider those projects given the timing. upon review of the remainder of the projects. Although the majority of our projects do not include large complex components, we did identify one project for the board's consideration to apply a project labor agreement, and that is the Route 15 widening project from Whites Ferry Road.

[00:26:49] The current construction value is anticipated to be $44 million, which is expected to attract a significant amount of competition in the community, as well as it does have some unique components to it that Ms. Boyd can expand upon if requested.

[00:27:08] And we believe it could be a good candidate for a PLA. And with that, staff does not have any new information in the item as prepared from the Finance Committee. And we're open to any questions that you may have. - Thank you. Supervisor, you have questions?

[00:27:25] Mr. Kirshner. - Thank you, Madam Chair. So first of all, appreciate the work you've done on this. I have a lot of concerns. I know I spoke with this boy a little bit earlier. The primary concern, I look at some of the criteria that was made, and it alarms me.

[00:27:40] One of them is the minimal. So apparently you picked the project, this 15 project, which has been going on a really long time, and I've done everything I can in my term to try to accelerate this project and get it moving along because of the danger of that corridor. But one of the criteria that you have in here is a minimal impact on the community in case the project runs into complications and its delivery is delayed.

[00:28:04] That scares me a little bit because we don't want the delivery of this project delayed in any sort of way. So the question I have is because this is somewhat experimental, I'm concerned that this could introduce a more delay in this project.

[00:28:22] What assurances can you give me as the Catoctin supervisor that this, by entering into the PLA for this portion, that we're not going to see this delayed any further? As you well know, this particular corridor is well overused. And then secondly, after you answer that question, if you could also address for me, is there a secondary project that you would recommend if this one was not the one that we move forward on?

[00:28:46] Well, I think you're, Supervisor Kirshner, you're asking very good questions. One of the primary, so aside from the size of the project and the relative complexity of the project, one of the things that was really of paramount importance was the timing of the project.

[00:29:01] We wanted to make sure it was soon enough that a pilot would be useful, you know, the project schedule was going to have construction be soon enough so that it would be useful in terms of a pilot project, but also give us enough time to be working with experts. And we've had some conversation as staff about bringing on some expertise to advise us and how we set up the contract language to be able to accommodate a PLA.

[00:29:24] So we want enough time so that it's not rushed so that we can be deliberative about how we put together the contract. and give us enough time to be able to give this, you know, the attention it deserves. So this is ideal timing for us, and so I'm hopeful that that's reassuring to you that we have the timing that we need to be able to accommodate what we can.

[00:29:47] So in answer to your second question, there are some other projects that, you know, Ms. Middleton referred to, you know, there were a half dozen or so other projects. They just aren't quite as good as what we feel this one would have to offer in terms of complexity.

[00:30:03] So this project will have extensive traffic control. It will have some features that are unique to the Route 15 corridor in terms of contact sensitivity to be able to maintain. So some aesthetic features on the hard surfaces of like the small bridge, Any barriers that are out there would have some aesthetic treatments that may require some trades that we don't have in some of our other projects.

[00:30:29] So those were some of the more complex features that this project has to offer. Thank you. Madam Chair? Yes. You said there were other projects, but I didn't know what those might have been. Well, we will have a motion. You can talk within the motion.

[00:30:46] Mr. Turner. Been here a while. I'm having a day. Can I ask, if you know, it seems unrelated, you'll know where I'm going as soon as I ask it.

[00:31:01] Do we know what the final budget total was for the Georgia-Washington overpass? I'm sorry, I don't have that at my fingertips. I apologize. Well, they finished seven months early and used a voluntary PLA. So we have a sample size of one for a Loudoun County PLA that resulted in seven months early project completion.

[00:31:22] Despite dire warnings that civilization, as we know, would come to a screeching halt if we used a PLA, We now have a sample size of one that Loudoun County PLA finished seven months early with a PLA. That's all I have. Thank you. Thank you. I'm going to go in and make a motion.

[00:31:39] I move the recognition of the Finance, Government Operations, and Economic Development Committee of the Board of Supervisors direct staff to proceed with a pilot project, labor agreement project for the construction of Route 15 Whitening, Whites Ferry Road to Montressa Road. Motion made. Second. Motion made and seconded by Ms. Bricksman.

[00:31:54] And so I've actually had a reason recently to do a lot of studying on PLAs. And coming in ahead of schedule is the norm for a PLA project. This one came in a little more ahead of schedule than they normally do, but they normally come in about one to three months ahead of schedule.

[00:32:15] And although this is new to Virginia, it's not new. And so it's not like this is the first time this has ever happened before. My only question is help me out. So we've already had the money and all that for Battlefield to Montressor, correct?

[00:32:30] You all might not even know that. I'm a little confused by the corridor that we chose, White's Ferry to Montressor, because we've already, we've already, is that because we split the big, is that why? So it's just this part of it then. Okay, well that makes, that makes sense.

[00:32:46] That makes perfect sense. No, I've done, over the past week, I've done a lot of research on PLAs. And we had a very, and you've seen it, very good white paper that was put together on PLAs.

[00:33:04] And we are seeing how it goes. And I would doubt if all of a sudden we do something completely different and this PLA comes in under time. And there's a lot of misnomer on PLA.

[00:33:20] I have a whole book on it. If anyone would like any of my information on it, I have a whole book on it from people who support, people who don't support. It's a lot of interesting information. But this is not new to most of the country, to be honest. And so we will try these two pilot projects.

[00:33:38] That's why it's actually called a pilot, to see what it looks like and how it goes and how we come out the other end. You never know what's going to happen. If you never, ever try it, that's the word pilot. Mr. Letourneau. Thank you. Well, we've had, we've litigated this issue quite a few times, including just recently at the Finance Committee, so I'm not going to use my full three minutes on it.

[00:33:58] I will reiterate a few points. Number one, which is there are studies, I think both sides of this acknowledge there are studies that show both ways. I really need to emphasize that a voluntary PLA process is, wow. Sorry about that. You're that excited with my comment, I know.

[00:34:15] is completely different than a mandatory PLA. And really, where my concern on this is at the front end on who bids on the project. Because I know for a fact that most of the firms, not all, but most of the firms that do the primary amount of road building for VDOT and for Loudoun County do not have PLAs and will not bid on those kind of projects.

[00:34:38] And that has already played out, including in a neighboring jurisdiction that was a little bit ahead of us on this. So when you don't have the same amount of large firms bidding, it reduces competition and the price goes up. So to be very clear, that's my major concern with this.

[00:34:55] I actually think voluntary PLAs are great, and we had quite a few of those on the silver line on phase two. I know somebody was trying to make an argument about that. We actually had a lot of those. It's a completely different animal. In certain trades, it makes a lot of sense to do that because all of the labor is unionized, and so you want that.

[00:35:14] But in a road project, this to me is a square peg in a round hole. Even though I don't agree with it, I can understand it more on a building project. But on a road project, there's not a lot of subcontractors. There's not as much intricacy and specialization.

[00:35:30] And so I don't think we're going to get much benefit out of it. I think it's only going to serve to reduce competition. Obviously, it's a pilot. I will reiterate that I am interested in who bids and who actually does work. I think that that will be a bigger issue on the building stuff, probably. in terms of who's actually getting those contracts.

[00:35:48] But I do want to see that. We should check in. And I assume that the board would do its diligence when the pilot is over on this. So I will obviously vote against it. Thank you. Thank you, Mr. Kirshner. Thank you, Madam Chair. I'm going to associate a lot of my thoughts and concerns with Supervisor Letourneau.

[00:36:03] I hope that, God, I'm completely wrong. This is such a critical... I mean, there's only one or two other road projects, I think, in the county that are as critical as this Route 15 project. And the danger that it presents to those who travel it every day.

[00:36:19] I mean, most people know that this is really engineered for about 10,000. And on some days at its peak, we're getting over 30,000 cars a day. So I'm really concerned about pulling this one out and making it a pilot project. I hope to God I'm wrong. I hope Mr. Supervisor Turner's right. I don't think the world is coming to an end, despite the hyperbole that he suggested a little bit earlier.

[00:36:40] And I hope you're right. I hope we deliver this eight months. And I will eat my words, and I will come back to you, and I will say, you're right, and thank you very much. But I'm asking you, if it's late, you do the same thing for me. All right, fair enough. So I just don't think this is the right project, quite frankly, to experiment on.

[00:36:57] And it's just there's too much at stake for this project. That's why I was very interested in other projects that might be appropriate. It seems like this is going to pass with the votes here, but it's just such a critical project. and we have made a lot of progress, but it has taken a lot of time.

[00:37:14] So thank you very much. Ms. Bricksman. Thank you, Madam Chair. Supervisor Letourneau might correct me on this, but I believe Phase 2 of the Silver Line went a heck of a lot better because we had labor on it as opposed to Phase 1 of the Silver Line.

[00:37:33] The GW Bridge, Supervisor Turner stole my thunder a little bit, but I had the opportunity to attend the ribbon-cutting on the GW Bridge, and a lot of our labor brothers and sisters were there at the time, and VDOT was there as well because that project was in combination with VDOT. So I'm really proud to support this.

[00:37:50] They do come in early, seven months early in the case of the GW Bridge. We think it might have come in under budget, but we haven't quite got that confirmed. Listen, PLAs close wage gap. They reduce wage theft. Work tends to be higher quality, come in on time, and often under budget.

[00:38:09] So I'm really excited about the project, and I really hope that Supervisor Kirshner gets what he wishes for and that it is fine, quality work coming in early and under budget. Thank you. I think you're all I will say is, I don't know, I can go back and check.

[00:38:27] Mr. Kirshner said he was hoping there would be another road project that we use. So I go back and check. I don't think I've seen any e-mails from you, Mr. Kirshner, suggesting what that other road project should be. And, in fact, we didn't even agree to do a road project until fairly recently.

[00:38:42] And I don't remember you having any input on whether or not you would want another road project. But if you have one, I would love to hear about that. You know, Ms. Bricksman just mentioned it. Wage theft is a huge issue in northern Virginia.

[00:38:58] Wage theft is when people are promised one wage, and for various different reasons, they're not paid what they're promised. and a lot of time they're paid what's called under the table. Again, I've done a lot of research on this recently. Waste theft causes all kinds of other systemic societal problems.

[00:39:15] A lot of kids who are dropping out of school are dropping out of school so that they can actually make money for their families. A lot of people who are losing homes, even rental homes in our accessible program, are doing it because of wage theft issues.

[00:39:33] PLAs, now, there are a lot of discussions on, you know, does it come in under time? Does it come in under budget? All those discussions are real. But there are no discussions on whether or not it helps with the wage theft issue, which is an issue in this area. And so, you know, sometimes you can be penny wise and pound foolish.

[00:39:53] Wage theft probably costs so much more than it would cost to have a PLA. And so, again, it's a pilot, but we do have a lot of experience with this in every other state, just almost every other state around us and the federal government.

[00:40:12] And so it's not as if this has never been done before, and I believe we can do it correctly, and I look forward to finding the results. Now, I don't know, Mr. Turner and Mr. Kirshner are talking about eating their words. They don't even know if they're going to be back next year to be eating words. But we'll see how that goes.

[00:40:30] But let's all hope that it works out well, because it will help people. And when you talk about swan businesses, minority-owned, women-owned businesses, there's tons of information that it improves the conditions of swan businesses.

[00:40:47] So I'm excited to support this and look forward to the answers. Cheryl, you've done a lot of work on, you all both, but you've done a lot of work on this. you've done this whole term you've done a lot of work and a lot of things that weren't happening before i do want to say that i recognize that and i really appreciate all the work you've done so thank you very much yeah all right all in favor please say aye opposed nay that motion will pass five uh two two with supervisors laterno and kirschner opposing and supervisors buffington and sayings being off the dais for the motion thank you ladies appreciate it supervisors we're

[00:41:26] going to go to the next item, which is the non-profit organization request for property tax exemption by designation. Would staff please come to the table? Good evening. We're ready when you are. Unfortunately, Commissioner Wirtz and Deputy Commissioner Drake could not be here tonight, so. So they sent the A-team in. What's that? They sent the A-team in. That's right. So I am Chief Deputy Sue Breen, and with me I have our senior tax exemptions and deferral specialist, Barbara

[00:42:06] fink um each year we bring non-profit applications to you for exemption by designation last week five were presented to the finance committee which recommended three of them to come forward tonight to you they are a farm less ordinary um place to be added on memorized and loudon club 12.

[00:42:31] and there is a summary of the activities of the organizations in the item uh there is more detailed information in your attachments. I'm sorry it's over 700 pages, but we would be happy to answer any questions you have about them. Hey, supervisors, can we ask questions in the motion? Does anyone have some questions that would take longer than the motion? Okay, then I'm going to go on and make them, you have questions. Okay, Mr. Turner. No, no, I just want to advise you, I'm going to have to recuse myself from the discussion and the vote as I sit on the development committee of a place to be. Or we can split the motion and do that one separately so you can vote on the other two, if you'd like.

[00:43:11] That'll be good. Okay. So I'm going to move the recommendation of the Finance, Government, Operation, Economic Development Committee for the Board of Supervisors to refer the eligible applications, a farmless, ordinary, and loud in Club 12 as identified in attachment 1 of the October 17, 2023 Board of Supervisors business meeting action item to the November 15, 2023 Board of Supervisors public hearing for consideration of an ordinance granting the required property tax exemptions.

[00:43:36] Second. Motion is made second by Supervisor Glass. So I'm actually very aware of all three of these nonprofits, and I will say they all do a different job, but an incredible job, all three.

[00:43:52] I will take this opportunity, since we're talking about it, to say that a farmless ordinary is right now looking for a new location for issues that have nothing to do with anything that they did wrong. They're looking for a new location. This is, Mr. Letourneau has talked about this.

[00:44:10] I haven't been feeling his light. I might be talking about it again. This process that we do, we may have to, you know, we've talked about finding a different way to do this process, and I don't know if we've done that yet for, you know, but having said that, I know that this is a staff-driven process.

[00:44:28] It's not a process that involves the supervisors except for the final subcommittee vote and final vote, and that is as it should be because all of us have nonprofits that we, all of our nonprofits do a great job. Some have nonprofits that we're a little more familiar with than others, and so it's best to do it in a process that kind of takes the supervisors out of it a little bit.

[00:44:51] Ms. Letourneau. Yeah, so I guess my concern is, and we talked a little bit about this finance, is that there really is no process. Exactly, yeah. There really isn't a staff process. There's just an application, and there's no vetting, and there's no ranking, and there's no recommendation provided to us.

[00:45:06] So sort of in real time at the finance committee meeting, the committee decided not to do two of the organizations, which I simultaneously agreed with that conclusion and felt badly that it was happening in that way.

[00:45:22] And it kind of speaks to me that we really need to do this better because organizations should know what we're looking for for these things. So I did say that should I return for next term, and Supervisor Brisman as well said this, that she would help. that we would try to come up with something that's a little bit better and more defined for how we do this.

[00:45:42] But in the meantime, I will abstain, as is my custom, from this item, but that's not a reflection of the validity of these organizations and the good work that they do. Okay. Anybody else have anything else? Ms. Umstead?

[00:45:59] Thank you, Madam Chair. The three organizations that are being recommended serve predominantly Loudoun County residents, not exclusively, but a very high percentage for all three of their clients are Loudoun County residents.

[00:46:21] And I think that's one of the items we've talked about or one of the criteria we've talked about in general when recognizing this kind of work. So I'm very happy to support all three. Thank you. Thank you.

[00:46:38] I should maybe just quickly say that a farmless ordinary works with people with differing abilities, and they do a lot of horticulture programs and animal husbandry programs and that type of thing. All the new, really interesting, not so new, I guess, anymore, but I guess like eight, nine years old information on some differing abilities show this this spike in interest and calmness for people who are both working in horticulture and with animals we've known that about animals for a long time we're not quite sure why that

[00:47:14] is also existing in in horticulture but it seems to work and then the other one is loud in club 12 which is a program for um for people in recovery and so um we always want to be find ways to be supportive of people who are in recovery and always want to find ways to de-stigmatize addiction across the board because people probably will not get the help they need to get if they feel they have a stigma on them. So thank you. All right. All in favor, please say aye. Aye. Any

[00:47:48] opposed? Any abstentions? Aye. Okay. So I think that is a 5-3-1 vote with Mr. Letourneau, who is very consistent, I should say, in this abstaining, and then Mr. Kirshner, Mr. Sains, and Mr. Buffington being off the dais. So, my next motion, I move the recommendation of the Finance Government Operations and Economic Development Committee to the Board of Supervisors for the re-eligible application by a place to be, as identified in Attachment 1 of the October 17, 2023 Board of Supervisors Business Meeting Action Item to the November 15, 2023 Board of Supervisors

[00:48:27] Public Hearing for Consideration of an Ordinance Granting the Request of Property Tax exemption, seconded by Ms. Glass. Mr. Turner will have to abstain on this vote as well.

[00:48:43] Recently, I went to New York. The creator of A Place to Be, which is music therapy, had an off-Broadway show that was a music therapy show that was called 20 Seconds.

[00:49:04] If you have ever, ever had the opportunity to go to a show at a place to be, they are just amazing and kind of almost life-altering. The work they do with young people, with adults, with everyone who have differing abilities of all types, and they do it through music therapy, is amazing.

[00:49:29] Thomas Schweitzer and Kim Tapper are phenomenal human beings who are really just doing God's work up there. And so they also have a new satellite location in Leesburg. They just cut the ribbon on that. And so all that we can do to help this absolutely phenomenal nonprofit, I will do every single time.

[00:49:50] So thank you. Mr. Turner, you can abstain on the vote and still speak to the vote and still speak. You're not recusing yourself. You're abstaining on the vote. So if you'd like to, then you have to leave the room. Are you abstaining? Okay. Anybody else want to speak on this item?

[00:50:10] Madam Chair, I had to step out. Is the motion the packet motion? This is the packet motion for a place to be, only a place to be. We've done the other ones already. Okay. Anybody else? All the people who say aye. Any opposed? Any abstentions? Okay.

[00:50:25] So it's one, two, three, four, five. I think it's the same thing. Well, no, it's 5-2-1-1, because we have five that said aye, two who are not here, one abstention, and one recusal.

[00:50:43] Is that right? Okay, all right. You guys need anything else? Nope, thank you very much. Thank you very much. All right, supervisors, we only have, let's, for Mr. Sands, because up here we will go on and do nominations.

[00:50:59] We only have one 5 o'clock speaker, and we only have one other action item. So what we might do is take 5 o'clock to, well, we can't do it. We actually have one speaker. Is our 5 o'clock speaker here yet? Person, you are our 5 o'clock speaker, sir? Just give me one second then, okay?

[00:51:15] We'll do nominations and I'll call on you. So let's go and do nominations, everyone. Actually, I think you're a second 5 o'clock speaker, unless your name is Tara Vandenberg.

[00:51:32] Are you Tara Vandenberg? You are, okay, all right, wonderful. If you have nominations, please put your light on Ms. Umstead. Thank you, Madam Chair. I would like to nominate Robert Wilber for the at-large citizen seat on the Environmental Commission.

[00:51:56] Thank you. Thank you. Anybody else? Nope. Okay, thank you. Then I'm going to go in and call you a little early, sir, to do the speak. You are our only 5 o'clock speaker. Please come to the podium. Good evening, sir.

[00:52:21] Good evening. I am here to speak for probably quite a few people in the building trade about this landmark monster. I don't know if you guys are familiar with it. I'm sure you're probably hearing it from somebody, I hope.

[00:52:40] I have no idea why we went to this system. It is not user-friendly. Right now, as of today, I wrote all this down. The e-permitting system that was here before, I have no idea why we went away from it.

[00:52:56] I could literally sit in my shop at 6 o'clock in the morning, go online, apply for a permit. Before lunchtime, I had it back. I could pay for it and call an inspection in the next day. Right now, as of today, well, let's back up.

[00:53:13] On September 18th, they were processing September 5th permits. Today, October 17th, we're processing September 13th. We're going backwards. I applied for three permits last week.

[00:53:29] It's a month. One of them is nothing. It's a simple porch. I'm an electrical contractor. All we're doing is adding three outlets and a ceiling fan. It's a month. So that porch is sitting there wired, wide open, can't cover it up, can't do anything for a month.

[00:53:48] I don't know where this is going to go. I went in last week to get the permits. Before I could walk in, five years ago, you could walk in. I could take my hand, write my permits, the old snail move, walk in, hand them to them.

[00:54:06] I walked out with a permit. Now I walk in with three permits last week because getting online and doing it is hateful. I will give up a half a day and wait to 82 average minutes to go upstairs to see them on the second floor. Now they won't even take my money. They throw it on a cart and they say it goes in the queue.

[00:54:25] So we're back ending my three permits are three simple, don't need to be reviewed, simple permits. Like I said, one of them is three outlets and a ceiling fan. Now that goes into the queue and all we're doing is back ending the permits and adding them to the end, which is already a, as of, like I said, October 17th, today we're processing permits that were applied for on September the 13th.

[00:54:52] I mean, this new system has managed to do something nobody else has ever been able to do in Loudoun County, and that's slow growth. I mean, that's flat bottom line. I mean, we're going... Sir, your time is up, but we heard you.

[00:55:10] Okay. We heard you. Thank you. Thank you very much. thank you y'all have a nice evening you too sir um okay supervisors we have um almost a half over half an hour until we can even do um proclamations of which we only have one proclamation for approval and so why don't we go on and just go on and read into closed session and do closed session right now mr sanes would you read us to closed session please sure i move that the board of supervisors recesses public meeting and enter into closed session pursuant to section 2.2 dash 3711-88 and 829 of the Code of Virginia to consult with legal counsel

[00:55:50] pertaining to the negotiation of a collective bargain agreement where public funds are being expanded and were expanded or expended? Expended and where negotiations in open session would adversely affect the bargaining position of the county. Motion made and seconded. Discussion on the motion. Seeing none, all people say aye. Aye. Any opposed? That motion

[00:56:09] will pass 801. Okay, we're

[01:43:16] back and Mr. Sainz is going to read us out of closed session, please. I move that the closed session be adjourned, that the Board of Supervisors reconvene its public meeting that the minutes of the public meeting should reflect that no formal action was taken in closed session and further move that the resolution certifying the closed session be adopted and reflected in the minutes of this public meeting. Motion is made seconded by Supervisor Bricksman. Discussion on the motion. All in people please say aye. Any opposed? That motion will pass 801. I said this at the top of the meeting and I should have just said it now

[01:43:49] instead of saying it twice, because saying it twice is not fun, but I had, I have my Aunt June has, my Aunt June passed away last Friday, and she is in Colorado, and my cousin wants me to, my Aunt June was very much like an older sister to me, wants me to get on the phone call with them somewhere after 4 o'clock Denver time.

[01:44:24] 4 o'clock Denver time is 6 o'clock our time. And so when my cousin calls me or texts me, I will leave the dais to go get on the phone call to talk about June's memorial service, and I will be back. If there is someone who has something that they want to say to me directly, I am happy to call you.

[01:44:45] I always watch the WebEx when I'm off the dais in case I miss something. I watch the WebEx anyway. But if there's something that is for me, then I am happy to call you and we can talk or find another way for you all, for someone to speak to me. But I do have to leave. Well, if I get the phone call that they're starting, I'm going to leave the day as sometime at six o'clock or after six o'clock. So I just want to put that out there again so people know if I'm stepping off the day as why I'm stepping off the day as. Also, there is a big thing over our faces on the WebEx. What is going on right here? No one can see us.

[01:45:24] Is that how that's broadcasting out? Oh, okay. Okay, that's fine. That's fine. We have... We didn't vote. My gosh, we didn't vote. Okay. For the closed session, we have to affirm.

[01:45:42] Affirm. Affirm. Affirm. Affirm. Affirm. Affirm. And I affirm. Did we vote? All the people say, did we vote?

[01:45:52] Okay. I apologize. Okay. Thank you. Wonderful. Yes, I did affirm. I did affirm. Okay. We have one resolution tonight for approval and presentation, and that is the resolution for Diwali. Mr. Letourneau lets me join him every year when he does this presentation, so we will come down front. There we go. Here you go, Mr. Letourneau. Hi, how are you doing, sir? Good evening, everybody.

[01:47:15] Well, we are continuing a tradition here, and I am proud to say that actually now many jurisdictions in our school system recognize Diwali. But when we started doing this, that was not the case. And as far as we know, we were actually the first in Virginia to start doing this over 10 years ago when I brought this resolution.

[01:47:35] So this is always an exciting time for us. I'll go ahead and read our proclamation this year for Diwali 2023. Whereas Diwali, which translates to the Festival of Lights, is the most important holiday and religious festival in the Hindu calendar. And whereas Diwali is observed each year by Hindus, Sikhs, Jains, and some Buddhists throughout the United States.

[01:47:55] And whereas Diwali originated as a harvest festival that marked the end of the growing season before winter. And whereas Diwali is a shortened version of the Sanskrit word Deepavali, which means a row of lamps. and the holiday celebrates the victory of good over evil, light over darkness, and knowledge over ignorance, as well as the Hindu New Year. And whereas Diwali is celebrated for five nights every year, where celebrants light small oil lamps, place them around their homes, along with other festive decorations, and pray for health, knowledge, peace, happiness, hope, and wisdom.

[01:48:29] And whereas Loudoun County has a large Indian American population that's actively involved in our communities, schools, sports, volunteer efforts, non-profits, businesses. And these residents will observe Diwali beginning November 10th, 2023, with the main festivities occurring around November 12th. Now, therefore, be it resolved that the Loudoun County Board of Supervisors and all the citizens of Loudoun County recognize the many contributions that Indian Americans make to our community and do hereby wish them a festive and enjoyable

[01:48:58] diwali celebration in 2023 chair randall would you like to say a few words mr letourneau does bring this resolution every year and i always appreciate it um he he didn't say it this year but he always does when i first got here and i saw these lights i thought my god christmas has started really early and then and then i learned what the lights was before when we when i started learning more about diwali so welcome to the board again and we look forward all of us participate and a lot of Diwali celebrations throughout the entire time.

[01:49:36] And so we look forward to being there. Thank you. November 11th. November 11th. Would anyone else like to say something? Please, yeah. Om Bhadrangarne Vishruñyama Devah Bhadrampashe Makhchabir Yajatra Sthirai Rangai Stroshtu Vagam Sastanobihi Vishema Devahidam Yadayuhum Swastina Indro Vridyashravah Swastina Pusha Vishpaveda

[01:50:14] Swastina Starcho Arishtanemi Swastina Vridhaspadir Dhadatu om shanty shanty shanty hi okay i'm alok shirvastu with the hindu temple here and most of our congregation lives in the loudon county so thank you very much loudon county doing this and because you started now other counties are falling honestly that is true so this is about the diwali the hindu festival also for buddhist and for the sikhs and all and it's like our christmas if we

[01:50:52] pray goddess Lakshmi for the prosperity so Panditji just said about Sanskrit mantra to bless the Loudoun county so remain the per capita income highest in the country you know that's that's because of a very large Indian committee over here so thank you very much and just for your knowledge our vice president today we worship goddess Lakshmi he's a goddess of prosperity and for your information our vice president Kamala Devi actually Kamala means Lakshmi. Kamala means goddess who is sitting on the lotus, you know, that's another name of goddess Lakshmi, that's the celebration and Devi means goddess, so our vice president represents the Diwali too very well in the country.

[01:51:32] So again, thank you very much for this, you know. Hi, my name is Ayush Patel and I go to Stonebridge High. Diwali, the Hindu festival of light signifies the victory of good over evil. The bright colors of Rangoli in Indian art symbolizes hope, beauty, and tradition while the light of lambs not only removes the physical darkness, but helps remove the darkness from within.

[01:52:02] On behalf of BAPS Swamran Temple in Chantilly, Virginia, I would like to invite you all to join the festivities on November 11th this year. BAPS Swamran Sanstha, a global Hindu organization, inaugurated Akshadam on October 8th in East Windsor, New Jersey.

[01:52:18] It is the second largest Hindu temple globally and the largest one in the Western Hemisphere. The key element of this is that 12,500 volunteers have come together to build this Akshadam, giving services ranging from three days to three years to 12 years.

[01:52:36] It's not just a place of art and architecture. Rather, it's a place to develop lifelong values aiming to reconnect everyone, including the youth like me, with core values of service, devotion, and harmony. In celebrating the inauguration of Akshadam, a three-month-long festival of inspiration was conducted.

[01:52:55] One of the cornerstones of this festival was performing a three-month-long Vedic Mahayagna, a Hindu ritual representing the longest-running rituals in the Western Hemisphere. It offered a unique opportunity for thousands of well-wishers, including children, to offer prayers for peace both personal and global.

[01:53:12] A series of inspirational programs were held to nurture values. These events appreciated and paid tribute to numerous devotees, volunteers, community leaders, and dignitaries from all over the world. To name a few such programs, the Festival of Inspiration celebrated the value of service in a special assembly themed My Country, My Duty.

[01:53:33] This motivational program celebrated and showcased the significance of serving our local communities and highlighted our collective duty to be upstanding citizens of our country. An event named Interfaith Harmony Day brought together delegates representatives from Christianity, Islam, Jainism, Judaism, Hinduism, and the Buddhism communities.

[01:53:55] Akshreddam's celebrations not only inspire those who attend, but will continue to inspire those who will visit for generations to come. Beginning tomorrow, October the 18th, Akshreddam Temple will open its doors to all people of faiths and backgrounds. I would hereby like to invite you and your families to come experience this magnificent landmark.

[01:54:14] Thank you. I can hold this for the picture.

[01:54:35] Absolutely happy to see you.

[01:55:06] Thank you.

[01:56:14] Or can we see you again?

[01:56:16] All right, so it's about four minutes early,

[01:59:36] So I'm going to start calling people for public comment. If I don't call you, if I call your name, well, if I call their name and they're not here because it's not 6 o'clock yet, I will go back to their names around 6 o'clock. And then if they're not here at 6, I will go past their names. And so I'll call you in order so you just know that your next order is coming up.

[01:59:55] The first person we have is Michael Litman. The second person is Fred Ferras. And the third person is Marilyn Manny. Mr. Lippman are you here? You are. Hi how are you doing sir? I called you the other day I think.

[02:00:13] Good to see you. Okay can you guys hear me? We're ready when you are. Chair Randall, supervisors my name is Mike Lippman and I'm a board member at Ashburn Village. In the spring I met with a group of current and former Loudoun County Master Gardeners. Some are behind me here who had an idea to coordinate HOAs to address the growing issue of invasive plant species.

[02:00:37] We had no idea, but quickly learned how prevalent, known, and concerning the issue was throughout Loudoun. Today, 27 HOA boards from all eight districts, representing nearly 200,000 residents, have formed a consortium known as the Loudoun Invasive Removal Alliance, also known as LIRA.

[02:00:54] You received a letter last Wednesday, signed by the members of LIRA, explaining the initiative, why we need your help, and the consequences of doing nothing. Tonight, you will hear directly from several HOA representatives, a farmer, a wine producer, environmental experts, and even a local student, that's assuming everybody makes it, with his story about what happens when invasives get out of control. We did approach the state. David Reed put me in touch with Matthew Wells, director of the Virginia Department of Conservation and Recreation, who oversees invasives. He shared that this is truly a statewide issue he's struggling with, and if Loudon could figure it out, we would be a poster child for Virginia.

[02:01:35] And it's not just Virginia. It could be the nation. The tragic wildfires in Hawaii, the economic impact on fruit producers and wineries from here to California. There's even a Bradford Pair bounty program in Kentucky. This is truly a nationwide issue.

[02:01:51] Invasives are also a global issue in scope and impact that's comparable to climate change. And why not Loudoun? Wealthiest county in the U.S., data center rally, Napa Valley of the East Coast, strategically positioned near D.C. What we do here matters and gets statewide and national attention.

[02:02:08] We can do this, and we are motivated. We are looking to you, the Board of Supervisors, for help to help us tackle this serious and growing issue. We need your help, financial support, and leadership. Thanks for listening. Thank you, Mr. Littman. Thank you very much.

[02:02:25] Fred Ferraras, followed by Marilyn Manny, followed by Leon McCormick. Good evening. Is this podium or that one? Either one is fine, sir. Well, good evening. Once again, my name is Fred Ferraras. Sorry to correct the pronunciation, but it happens.

[02:02:41] And I'm the president of the Willowsford Homeowners Association located in the Little River District. I'm here as one of the signatories to the letter that was submitted to the board last Wednesday by the Loudon Invasive Removal Alliance, or LIRA. There are several other members of LIRA who are here tonight.

[02:02:57] We kind of occupy the back corner of the room here. And there's more here than we're actually signed up to speak. We're here in force. We represent a large number of HOAs. In consideration of the Board of Supervisors' time, we decided to limit the number of speakers while keeping our message focused and relevant.

[02:03:14] Willowsford is a community that sits on 4,300 acres of land and that's home to approximately 7,500 residents. We're unique. We're recognized as one of the nation's premier agri-hoods where more than half of the land is designated as open space under the stewardship of the Willowsford Conservancy.

[02:03:32] Our community is committed to ensuring that our forests, wetlands, and community common spaces are protected for our residents to enjoy. we have programming that leverages volunteers to help remove small invasives such as garlic mustard weed and larger invasives such as autumn olives and the tree of heaven we are but one of many entities that are dealing with the issue of invasives and we need to coordinate and scale our activities across the county so how could this work what could a funded program do to eliminate invasives and replace them with native species we envision that the program would start in year one

[02:04:08] by hiring consultants and experts in the field to scope the level of the problem and outline the project. Some form of education would likely be needed, and materials posted to inform entities on how to remove and replace invasives. Then we envision a grant-like program where HOAs and other entities would apply for resources to help in their removal and replacement efforts. As Mike Lipman said before me, what we do here matters, and it will garner attention. We are requesting your commitment to establish and financially support a program that will improve our communities

[02:04:42] and open spaces, and with your leadership, will be the example for other local governments to follow. Thank you for what you do, and thank you for listening. Thank you. I do have one question, and Mr. Lipman, I should have asked you this question as well. You all are speaking on behalf of your HOAs, yes? On behalf of our HOAs and as signatories to the Alliance. Okay, all right.

[02:05:03] thank you thank you sir um marilyn manning followed by leon mccormick followed by jane kirschner good evening hi good evening i'm marianne manning and i would like to request a switch with kimberly spiegel she actually has to leave early unplanned so absolutely what number are you i don't know where you're at mr spiegel hold on just a second she was eight she's eight i see you you're 10 that's fine wonderful good evening i'm here representing sycamore hill homeowners Association in Leesburg. I've been the general manager for over 15 years, and I'm very excited

[02:05:40] about that. I attended my first symposium back six or seven years ago, held by the Environmental Piedmont Council, called Common Area for the Greater Good. And I said, this is great. I'm a farmer. They know what they're doing. Let's get this done. So I went back to my homeowners Association at our next board meeting. And I said, invasives are a problem. Let's get it rectified. They're like, Kim, you know what you got to do? Just do it. So since that day, we have been planning naturescape after naturescape. We've gotten rid of probably 80%

[02:06:18] of our invasives at my property. It's an everyday education thing with the kids. They're so excited to learn the who, what, where, when, why of native plants, how the butterfly starts out in a chrysalis from a caterpillar, and how it emerges into a butterfly, flying all over. And they're excited.

[02:06:40] And that's what I want for all the communities in Loudoun County, for us to be more ecologically represented and do the greater thing for the county, for each property, and for each home, benefiting not only us, but all the wildlife in Loudoun County.

[02:06:57] Thank you for listening. Thank you. Thank you very much. Leon McCormick, followed by Jane Kushner, followed by Jack McNamee. Good evening, young man. Greetings, Chair Randall and supervisors.

[02:07:13] My name is Leon McCormick, and I am a senior at Tuscarora High School in Leesburg. About a year ago, I was talking with Anders Vinstrand, the head of horticulture program at Northern Virginia Community College, about the Bradford pear tree infestation around my school. He told me that it was one of the worst cases of Bradford pear tree I've ever seen, and the pictures of it were even used to show his class as an example of what happens when invasives are left to grow out of control.

[02:07:37] Not only did this shock me that this was what my school was known for, but also a supposed landmark in our county. Invasive plant outbreaks such as the Bradford pear tree have many adverse effects on the environment. In this case of Bradfords, which are short-lived and fast-growing, they are quickly able to crowd out native plants forming dense, thorny thickets. These thickets provide horrible habitat for local wildlife, create significantly weaker carbon sinks than the long-living native oaks that used to be there, and can attract pests that can damage agriculture and even carry diseases. The Bradford pear tree problem around Tuscarora High School is nothing new. Five years ago, when the Bradfords

[02:08:16] still numbered around 50,000, a group of students in the school attempted to start an effort to remove the Bradfords and bring attention to the issue. But the initiative never gained enough traction before they graduated, and the Bradfords were left to fester. Now the population of the Bradford pair around Tuscarora has more than doubled, making it only harder to deal with. It takes about 500 to 1,000 to remove a single Bradford, and even once they're cut, they will sprout from their roots and produce 10 more in where they fall, making them inexpensive and time-consuming to deal with. While you could use pesticides and clear-cutting to destroy the thicket

[02:08:52] for a cheaper price, these actions are ecologically devastating, especially hard to do around vital ecosystems like the native trout stream that goes through my school grounds. This leaves the very expensive and labor-intensive option of slowly cutting away the Bradfords, which can cost hundreds of thousands of dollars, if not millions. This problem and expenses could have been easily avoided if they were taken care of sooner.

[02:09:18] Another similar invasive that I'm sure everyone is familiar with is the Tree of Heaven. Both the Bradford pear and the Tree of Heaven spread extremely quickly when left unchecked and dominate over the existing native plants. Unlike the Bradford, the Tree of Heaven is still relatively new, along with many other invasive species in the area. That is why it is ever so important that the county take up the initiative to lead and fund efforts like Lyra in order to stop any more invasives from becoming problems like the Bradfords that take many years and a lot more money than it should to restore the native ecosystem.

[02:09:48] Thank you. Say it right there. Supervisor, if you don't mind, I'd like to ask this young man a quick question, if you don't mind. Do you know if when Tuscarora was built, that was the tree, do you know if the school system planted those and that's how they got there, or were they invasive already?

[02:10:09] Do you know? To my belief, so the school before it was originally built was farmland, and farmland, when it was built, cleared away all the native trees. And then Bradfords, when they were introduced, were very popular in the suburban neighborhoods that were popping up around Leesburg. And then they quickly spread into the farmland, which was lacking of native plants to combat the Bradfords.

[02:10:33] So it was just open season for Bradfords, along with many other invasives, to take over. I understand. Thank you. Thank you very much. Thank you. Jane Kushner, you will be followed by Jack McNamee, followed by William Hatch. good evening all right good evening thank you so much for listening um i'm here representing the cascades community association which is in the algonkian district and our board unanimously voted in favor of signing on to the letter that you received a few days ago asking for support and financial assistance for the hoas in loudon to remove and mitigate the spread of non-native

[02:11:08] invasive species which really are threatening our forests our woodlands our watersheds our bodies of water, our meadows, our common areas, and even our landscaped areas in our communities. I serve as the chair of the committee in our community that deals with beautification of our landscaped and common areas. And some of you know also that I'm a master gardener and I work for the National Wildlife Federation. So I'm going to share with you a few things from a new report that's just come out from the UN about invasive and alien species. The new report found that there's

[02:11:47] 37,000 alien or invasive species all over the world, and they've been introduced by human activities, and they're resulting in a global economic cost that exceeds $400 billion every year. The report also found that without intervention to prevent their spread and their impact, that the total number of invasive species globally will be one-third higher in 2050 than it was in 2005. So it really is a huge growing problem. But the good news from the report is that it found that also when invasive species that have established an area are eradicated, that's a tool that works.

[02:12:23] And the report concluded that tackling invasive species really is achievable. So in my community in Cascades, we have about 2,800 acres that are managed landscape and common area. And just this year alone, we've had volunteer efforts to remove them. We've spent almost $20,000 just on really small, specific problems that we've had. They're sort of urgent problems. We really haven't made a dent. The homeowners associations in Loudoun really cannot do it alone, so they need your support and they need the county's help. Thanks so much. Thank you, Ms. Kirshner.

[02:12:58] William Hatch, followed by I'm sorry, no, that's not right. Jack McNamee, followed by William Hatch, followed by Mary Ann Manning. Good evening, sir. Good evening. I'm Jack McNamee, Chairman Randall of Supervisors. I'm a 21-year resident of Loudoun County, living in River Creek, and a member of a part of the Leesburg District.

[02:13:25] I'm here to speak as part of the Loudoun Invasive Removal Alliance as kind of the technical person of how do you make this work, meaning that 27 HOAs, how do you make all this kind of work across the line between groups?

[02:13:45] So in my community, I've been supported and been able to sit down and have seven or eight grants completed as part of a project applying for them. So my goal is to take that knowledge and apply it to the other HOAs as they go through the process.

[02:14:05] I liken this approach to the invasive process to the 1960s. I kind of look at it when you drive down in a car and you've got something in a car, you just throw out the window. Well, Lady Bird Johnson kind of changed that. And now you look out the window and there's stuff on the ground out there.

[02:14:22] Well, it's kind of like if you look at Bradford Bears and Tree of Heavens and stuff like that, they become obvious. Probably the best example of that is drive down Battlefield Parkway right at Route 15 as it goes into town and look straight ahead.

[02:14:37] And if you can't count 25 Tree of Heavens, you aren't counting right because they're all invasives there. Well, in our communities, we have the same case. We have them in our gullies, we have them in our things, different areas throughout the community. So my goal was to work with each one of the HOAs to develop a plan so they can best approach this for the group.

[02:15:00] And what we need is education and understanding the issue. And basically it is a case of getting the residents in the county to work together to tackle this problem and taking account that these invasives are on steep slopes, easements, wetlands, floodplains, all those different cases, how do we organize the work to be done in those areas?

[02:15:30] And finally, in the end, we see the effort as a joint effort to educate first our HOAs and then the task of actually working with the county natural resources and the urban forester and others to develop an educational approach to the schools So everyone kind of understands what we're doing as a process.

[02:15:50] So that's me. Oh, my gosh. I'm sorry. Your time is up. You are kind of fascinating. I'm sorry. I apologize. Yeah, your time is up. Thank you, sir. William Hatch, followed by Mary Ann Manning, followed by Donna Wadowski.

[02:16:11] Good evening. Good evening. Good evening, Chair Randall and county supervisors. I'm Bill Hatch. My family grows wine and beef south of Leesburg. We've been there for about 74 years, and I want to address you all about the invasive species.

[02:16:27] And we're kind of being invaded right now. Just a little side note, you know, they came in through Pennsylvania from China, and they've worked their way down to Winchester, now in Leesburg, and right by the courthouse. There's a huge colony of invasive spotted lanternfly that have come in, and we need to take care of them.

[02:16:50] But I want to address you all about the invasive species and how they can make farming quite difficult. Farming is by no means inherently profitable. We work hard, and with a bit of luck, we might break even. However, open farmland is an important resource in Western Loud, and I think everybody realizes that.

[02:17:12] We've been struggling with new invasive pests every decade for the last 50 years that I can remember. These pests are problematic on our farms, and they're also problematic in homes across Loudoun County. For example, about a decade ago, we had a problem with an invasive species called the brown marmulated stink bug.

[02:17:37] These insects overwintered in homes and were problematic for agricultural production. Now we're facing the spotted lanternfly, which is a nuisance. But more than that, it is in our communities, it's also affecting our wine, our grapevines.

[02:17:54] They're not in our vineyard yet. We've spotted them on our farm. I think most farms have spotted them, but the numbers are still relatively small until next year. We're worried about next year. We can be proactively in looking at the landscapes and identifying and managing invasive plants such as the Tree of Heaven.

[02:18:16] Now, just take a little pause. tree of heaven cannot just be cut down you have to slash the tree and then put a very powerful herbicide in in the trunks the only way to kill it because if you just cut it down you'll have 40 or 50 more trees of heaven and we've been doing that all around our farm and i think our neighbors have as well if we work together we can have less problem with this spout and lanternfly i don't want i don't know what the next invasive species will be Mr. Hatch, I'm sorry, your time is up.

[02:18:52] Thank you. Thank you very much. Appreciate it. Although I did just pull up Tree of Heaven on my... It looks really pretty. So Marian Manning, followed by Donna Wadowski, followed by Jim Bingle. Good evening. Hi, thank you. Good evening, Chairman Randall, Supervisors.

[02:19:10] My name is Marian Manning, and I'm a board member with Belmont Community Association in the Ashburn District. Our association is joining with other HOAs in the county to request the support of the Board of Supervisors as we work to manage the ever-growing issue of invasive species.

[02:19:27] As I'm certain you're aware, the increasing numbers of invasive species in our area has the potential to play a significant role in the health and safety of our residents. Bradford Pears, a common site in the area, are a hazard to human safety due to their weak wood structure and heavy limbs.

[02:19:46] It's a lot of weight coming down on a person, a car, a roof, or a power line. Found in most HOAs, they were planted by developers due to their low-cost and fast-growing appeal. There's a substantial cost to homeowners every time one comes down.

[02:20:03] Another example is Japanese steelgrass, a highly flammable once it dries out in the fall. It represents the type of non-native grass that recently led to the tragic fires in Hawaii and have been happening nationwide. It's also the spread of a fire that approached the Round Hill Elementary School two years ago was also blamed on Japanese still grass.

[02:20:26] We all probably know someone who has suffered or continues to suffer from the effects of Lyme disease. While the disease is spread by deer ticks, the expanding supply and distribution of ticks and their associated disease-causing pathogens are increasingly shown to be assisted by the presence of certain invasive plant species.

[02:20:48] Several invasive plant species, such as Japanese honeysuckle and barberry, both of which are prevalent in Loudoun County, have been definitively shown to harbor and boost those tick populations by enhancing microhabitat and survival. Invasive plant species also inflict big changes on native vegetation, altering the frequency of fires, nutrient cycling, water availability, and soil erosion.

[02:21:13] The loss of native plant diversity through invasive plant pathogens may indirectly affect human health through disturbances in environmental quality. Protecting natural landscapes can contribute positively to human health through protecting future medicinal resources, reducing impacts of pollution, toxins, weather extremes, and providing recreational places that support physical and mental well-being.

[02:21:40] Studies have shown that there are links between invasive species and a decline in environmental quality. Ma'am, your time is up. Oh, okay, thank you. I know it goes best. Thank you. Donna Wadowski, followed by Jim Bingo, followed by Cheryl Wright. Good evening. Good evening. Supervisor Umstead, thank you for responding to my email on the attack on Israel.

[02:22:02] Prime Minister Netanyahu said today, Hamas is the new Nazis. Chairman Randall, to this day, you have not given a written response to the attack on Israel. At least the Prince William County Human Rights Commission issued a statement condemning the attacks carried out against Israel by Hamas.

[02:22:26] The Anti-Defamation League has said that Black Lives Matter has given in-person support for anti-Israel events supporting terrorist activity. Rob Bantz, the Democrat candidate for the House of Delegates, supports Black Lives Matter, along with other Democrats, including members of this board.

[02:22:47] On another note, Washington, D.C. has one of the toughest gun laws in the nation and a crime rate spiraling out of control. Loudoun County, on the other hand, has minimum gun laws and has the lowest crime rate in the metropolitan area.

[02:23:06] So, Supervisor Briskman, how do you reconcile this since you have said that we have a gun violence problem in Loudoun, which we don't? If you want Loudoun County to remain as one of the safest places to live and raise a family, vote to re-elect Sheriff Chapman.

[02:23:24] Supervisor Briskman, in an audio recording, you attempt to single-handedly take out Sheriff Chapman and convert to a police department, but you failed. I would play the profanity-laden audio recording.

[02:23:39] However, I will leave it for another day. The citizens of Loudon need to wake up to the negative publicity heard around the world about schools, Commonwealth's attorney, and the Board of Supervisors. We need to clean up the mess that they created, and the only way to do so is by hiring an inspector general to ensure that fraud, waste, and abuse doesn't occur in our county.

[02:24:05] Thank you. Thank you, ma'am. Jim Bingo, followed by Cheryl Wright, followed by Lynn Wright. Good evening, Ms. Bingo. Good evening, Chair Randall and board members. My name is Jim Bingo, representing the Piedmont Environmental Council. We strongly support the amazing HOA grassroots initiative on invasives for several reasons and urge you to as well. When residents get involved on issues of concern in our community, we all benefit because residents understand positive and negative aspects of the issues on a granular level, and they can engage to improve our

[02:24:44] environment. From the start of my work at PEC, my job has involved helping residents understand issues and take ownership of them to make Loudoun an even better place to live. This is the very first time I've ever seen this kind of initiative from an HOA collective, and I have been blown away by what the initiators and the HOAs have done and want to do collectively to take on this challenge. No single agency or the government or a single community can tackle this problem on their own and be successful across the board. We already know that many are working to reduce the

[02:25:22] negative impacts that invasives, both flora and fauna, present for the environment. But in a coordinated public-private approach, utilizing experts who can guide the process, offer counsel to HOAs and their landscape companies, and coordinate projects, this kind of effort can make a huge difference. And when HOA boards get involved, they can also act as educators in their communities to help residents understand the value of choosing native plants to help restore ecosystems that are challenged by invasives. Now, I am not representing the Environmental

[02:25:57] Commission in my comments, but I just would like to add that the Commission greatly values and encourages this kind of citizen engagement to more effectively address all of the environmental challenges that we face as a county, state, nation, and world. And finally, I would like to thank Vice Chair Sains for his taking the initiative a step further with new language in the draft zoning ordinance, and appreciate your support for that. Thank you. Thank you, Ms. Bingle. Cheryl Wright, followed by Lynn Wright, followed by Natalie, I'm sorry, I think it's And that's why men's are on us.

[02:26:34] I think I got that right. Good evening. Hi. Good evening, Board of Supervisors. My name is Cheryl Wright. I live at 20247 Gleadsville Road in Leesburg. I am speaking in opposition to the commercial treatment facility now operating three homes right next door to my house.

[02:26:50] Our community has opposed this facility from the moment we heard that this private equity firm purchased these homes. Why our Board of Zoning and this board have let this facility operate out of our neighborhood is beyond my comprehension. Fairfax did not let this company operate in their county, so they came next door to Loudoun County.

[02:27:08] This is a congregate housing facility, not allowed in AR1 District. They are not group homes. In my opinion, other than the big private equity commercial firms lining the pockets of Loudoun County, I just do not see the legality of allowing this to happen. Loudoun Zoning stated that Newport could operate these commercial treatment centers if they are licensed by the state.

[02:27:27] The Virginia Code does not supersede local zoning. The zoning administrator herself also found congregate housing facilities to not be allowed in residential zones. This is a compound of three facilities. These three houses are not separate group homes, nor will they operate separately.

[02:27:44] It's three houses that share a pipe stem driveway, and they have stated that they plan to share resources like a chef and a food service, numerous staff members, not to mention amenities such as the pond, the pool, and the tennis courts. There will be a maximum of eight residents per house, which means upwards of 95 people rotating in and out of this commercially operated compound each year.

[02:28:06] The people seeking treatment at these facilities are not residents of these homes on a permanent basis. They do not receive their mail here. They do not register with the DMV. They don't pay taxes for living in the county, nor do they register as Loudoun County voters. The people staying at these compounds are there for an average of 45 days on a temporary basis.

[02:28:26] basis. They are only in these homes on a temporary basis. We've already experienced numerous safety issues with this facility. I recently heard that two patients have left the property, seemingly trying to escape, one even being pursued by the commercial facility's van, trespassed on neighbor's lawns, and walked down Gleadsville Road in the road as we have no sidewalks. Keep in mind this is not a walking-friendly road. There have been commercial delivery vehicles blocking traffic on Gleadsville is the gate to enter the compound is too narrow for commercial vehicles including most emergency vehicles. God forbid should anyone behind that gate of that facility need emergency

[02:29:03] services. I absolutely do not understand why Loudon is allowing this to happen. A facility such as this should be commercial type in that commercial type of area. Ma'am I'm sorry your time is up but I did I did speak to I said we got the gentleman's name yesterday and you're is right yeah i have your name to to call okay yes thank you thank you very much good evening good evening supervisors um we last spoke in september i also live on gleadsville road gerald and i are neighbors and um since we last spoke uh we the third house next door to us has

[02:29:43] just received its zoning permit been issued a zoning permit um so i realized that on these the sixth of september we had a board of zoning appeal meeting here and since none of you all were able to attend i thought i would just let you know a little bit two of the board members of the bza had to say regarding this facility rehabilitation facility trying to pass itself off as group homes mr page moffitt i quote said number one which has been made is apparently there are at least 26

[02:30:18] districts within Loudoun County in the zoning ordinance where they could have done this. Where they could have done it, but yet they go for the AR1 district, which is a rural district limited to single-family homes. Secondly, I am still not convinced that this is a proper group home under the provisions of the statute. We keep talking about residences and everything, but they're not really living there. They're being treated there, and then they go home, so it's not really a group poem, I think, in the finest sense of the word, which is what my neighbor and I have been trying

[02:30:53] to say for almost two years now. Okay, and then a second board member, Mr. Kelly Gray, says he has absolute utmost respect for the zoning administrator and the staff here. He means over 20, I mean over 20 years, these folks have done nothing but spectacular work, and I think that, but I think that we fumbled the ball on this one. And it is really too posed to go to three and perhaps four individual houses operating separately? Or is it morphed into a campus-like operation that would be precluded in AR1 and something that the Commonwealth and the county did not anticipate

[02:31:31] when they put pen to paper initially? In other words, is it really congregate housing disguised as multiple separate and distinct dwellings? Are there three separate dwellings between five and residents each, or is it really a larger parcel with 21 or more residents? This is what we have been trying to say. These are not group homes. Why is the county allowing themselves to say that they are? Please rescind these permits. This is ridiculous. Thank you, Ms. Wright. The name I just remembered, the name of the person I spoke to yesterday was Mr. Bergeron,

[02:32:11] Louis Bergeron, as I talked to you yesterday. Good evening. Hi, good evening. After you, you will be Avis Renshaw. And then on the WebEx would be Christy Felosius. Good evening. Okay. Good evening, Board of Supervisors.

[02:32:27] I'm Natalie Manzanatos, a board member at Brookmead Condominiums. I'm actually the president. A mile down the road here in Leesburg. Our community comprises of 126 units within nine buildings and a clubhouse. One of the smaller guys here. Upon joining the board last year, I enlisted the help of Loudon Wildlife Conservancy, a nonprofit organization I've been volunteering with for several years to assess our community's environment.

[02:32:52] I don't know if you saw, but we won the Fourth of July parade float this year. Their professional recommendations are outlined in a detailed report that we have fully embraced to go native. Our community is responsible for maintaining a dry pond, vital for stormwater management, as it drains to Tuscarora Creek.

[02:33:08] This pond is adjacent to several other HOA communities and a large piece of development land that is overrun with invasive plants encroaching on our dry pond. We've already spent around $2,000 to remove a majority of the invasive English ivy around the residential buildings, which were suffocating our AC units, damaging our siding, and wreaking havoc on our wooden fence line.

[02:33:31] This was one of the more manageable invasive species, and there are even more formidable challenges ahead, such as addressing the invasive tree of heaven, which comes at a higher cost. I'm here because this isn't just about our community. It's a microcosm of the larger issue faced by communities across Loudoun County.

[02:33:51] While the financial burden is significant, the consequences of inaction are dire. We as a community are already doing our part, but we need your support. Thank you. Thank you. Avis Renshaw, followed by, we'll go to the virtual, and that would be Christy Palozaris.

[02:34:10] And then after that would be Michael Myers. Good evening. Good evening, board. I'm Avis Renshaw of Lost Corner Farm, and I'm here to speak in favor of the invasive plant request by the multiple Loudoun HOAs. From a farmer's perspective, we are well aware of constantly battle and rarely conquer the invasive species affecting our crops and farmland.

[02:34:32] It's a Sisyphean task when undertaken alone, but HOAs have a more far-reaching and successful outcome if done in a timely and well-coordinated manner, utilizing their vast membership. The fact that HOAs are recognizing, organizing, and bringing this issue to the board is quite laudable.

[02:34:54] The HOA ability to disseminate information to a large cohort of county residents and then require implementation will be crucial to the successful venture. Extension's expertise will also be a necessary resource to move forward with this project because Loudoun's own agent, Beth Sastra, understands well the nuance of successful eradication, the importance of performance timelines, and a plethora of environmental considerations.

[02:35:21] It's not easy. It's not easy, and it has to be done really with good guidance. The potential cost is amazingly significant, but a well-coordinated campaign undertaken and executed in concert within the whole of the county has the tremendous possibility for a fruitful outcome.

[02:35:40] At this point in time, there's no state-level requirement for control of invasives, so you guys will be really innovative here, and the state will love it. The Loudon Initiative is progressive, innovative, and will hopefully be replicable. And I personally look forward to HOAs pushing beyond the current static sort of non-native planting norms to create drought-tolerant native plantings and even vegetable gardens and fruit trees, maybe, for residents.

[02:36:07] Who knows? And maybe a communally recognized, keen appreciation for prime soils will come out of this endeavor for the whole county. Thank you. Thank you, Ms. Rinshaw. Before we go to the Webex, give me one. Okay, let's go to the Webex.

[02:36:47] We have Christy Foulezas. Forgive me if I'm pronouncing the name incorrectly. Are they online? I am, yes. Go ahead. Thank you.

[02:37:05] I'm Christy Foulezas, the general manager for South Riding Proprietary, which is located in the Dulles District. And tonight I'm speaking in support of item number four. You may ask why HOAs are best to lead this effort. 60% of all the Loudners live in HOAs.

[02:37:23] We've established accountability structures and routinely managed very large projects and contracts. We can educate our residents on the importance of this issue. And with that education, our residents can affect the need to change. I'm going to be very brief this evening. I think everyone who has spoken so far on the topic has done a great job.

[02:37:42] And I thank you for your support on this matter. All right. Thank you very much for your time and your statement. Next, we have Michael Myers in person, followed by Lauren Law on the WebEx and Stephen Birnbaum on the WebEx.

[02:37:57] Michael. Hi, my name is Michael Myers, and I'm representing Loudon Wildlife Conservancy tonight. I want to thank Supervisors Turner and Letourneau for co-sponsoring the board member initiative to develop recommendations on how the county could assist in development of an invasive species removal program. And I want to thank the board for considering this initiative. I also want to thank all the HOA leaders who have come together to help move this idea forward. Planning native plants and removing invasive species is at the core of what Loudon Wildlife supports, and I'm so grateful that this is being discussed tonight. Studying this issue for how to provide assistance to HOAs to help tackle invasive species is an important step towards finding solutions. I don't

[02:38:35] like to be alarmist, but we should all be alarmed at the negative impact invasive species are having on our community. As was previously mentioned by Liam, beyond HOAs right now there's a former field that is now a monoculture of Bradford pear at Tuscarora High School that is also working its way across fields and meadows towards Morven Park, killing the biodiversity and ecological value of adjacent meadows that formerly had a diversity of native plants. This is just one example of the many harms of invasive species. What is being proposed tonight will help slow the spread and creep of invasives. I will take a moment to reiterate my support for the county to hire more natural resources management staff, wildlife biologists, and ecologists who could help lend

[02:39:14] their expertise to tackling these issues, and to recommend that Loudoun County should have a natural resource management plan for parks and government-owned properties. This would offer a proactive approach towards managing invasive species and natural resources on our public lands. I'm not just a bearer of bad news or ideas without action. Personally, I'm looking forward to continuing to work with others in the community to craft solutions on how we can all be better stewards of our natural resources in this county, and I look forward to bringing forth more solutions in the future. Our wetlands, natural areas, and open spaces are used by wildlife, and humans derive a multitude of benefits from the existence of functional ecosystems. Clean air, clean water,

[02:39:54] and places where we can view the awe and wonder of nature and where we can recreate. They offer immense physical and mental health benefits. So I want to thank you all for helping create Allaudan where people and wildlife can thrive together. All right, thank you. Next we have Lauren Law on the Webex, followed by Steve Birnbaum on the Webex, followed by Peter Dalton in the room. Lauren Law, are you there? Yes. Can you hear me? Yes, ma'am. Go ahead.

[02:40:22] Okay. Thank you, supervisors, for having me come and speak. And I also want to say I really enjoyed the Diwali presentation. I'm here to speak about the uptick in anti-Semitism, which not only is worldwide and nationwide. In fact, if you look at the FBI statistics, There are a greater number of hate crimes against the Jewish community compared to any other type of minority when you consider the number of people within that group.

[02:40:57] I've lost family in the Holocaust, and I feel that the term Nazi sometimes is used too loosely and in humor when it's not to many of us. What I'd like to ask is if there's any type of program to sensitize people to anti-Semitism, which we now call Jew hatred, in place in the county, and if not, would there be one established?

[02:41:28] Thank you. I'm asking a question. I don't know. The supervisor, the chair, Randall, has left, so I don't know if anyone can answer that question. Yeah, this is public comment.

[02:41:43] Unfortunately, we do not respond directly to questions asked of us, but what I would suggest you do is send us an email to the Board of Supervisors with your commentary and your question, then we can respond accordingly.

[02:42:01] Okay. I just feel that it would be important to have something in place in the county. I would appreciate that. Okay. Thank you so much. Hopefully you follow up and send the e-mail, and we'll respond accordingly.

[02:42:19] Thank you. Can you tell me where to send the e-mail address is? It's bos at loudon.gov. Thank you. Thank you. All right, next we have Stephen Birnbaum on the WebEx.

[02:42:39] And if I said your name incorrectly, please correct the record, please. Thank you, Randall, and supervisors. My name is Stephen Birnbaum. I'm Jew. I'm the child of Holocaust survivors. I'm Israeli, and I served in an elite unit of the IDF.

[02:42:56] I have over 15 years of public safety, and I've worked to keep Jews safe here, including with many of you. Today's the 11th day of hell. My friends and family were attacked. My unit lost five heroes last week as they fought like lions to rescue hostages. I have friends on the front lines as we speak.

[02:43:13] When I look at the incident back and forth involving social media here in Loudoun, I think the saddest thing I see is all this political tribalism over something that all civilized people should be united on. Nobody attempted to rationalize Al-Qaeda on 9-11. Nobody supported ISIS when it attacked Paris or beheaded captives.

[02:43:28] We didn't hear what about-isms are both sides then. Those who only excuse terrorism when it targets Israel are those who find Jewish blood to be cheap. Harvard, UPenn, NYU, and many other schools are rightly being called out for failing to do enough to cut ties with employees of groups who have openly supported Hamas ISIS.

[02:43:44] Donors are cutting hundreds of millions of dollars from those schools because of their failure to act. Starbucks has failed to do enough to cut ties with its own employees and labor union express support for Hamas savages. Over the past week, Jews have watched in horror and fear as large crowds in cities across the country and around the world have cheered for the actions of the Hamas savages. The days of giving a pass to quiet anti-Semitism because of political tribalism are over.

[02:44:08] The days of tolerating whataboutism when Jews are savagely murdered in their homes. Women were raped with objects until they died as their babies were lit on fire in front of them. Engaging in whataboutism for this savagery is anti-Semitic. I've worked with Chair Randall in the past on Jewish community security and I know Gary Katz well.

[02:44:24] The image that Chair Randall was posted was anti-Semitic, period. Doesn't mean she's anti-Semitic, nor that she fully understood what she was doing. I read Gary's letter. He didn't call her anti-Semitic either. Alicia Brand did, and she's wrong. But Gary called her post anti-Semitic, and it is. And he criticized her response once that was pointed out.

[02:44:41] I, too, was left disappointed that she failed to react fast enough or strongly enough once the anti-Semitic nature of the image was pointed out. And I'm extremely disappointed that she, like Harvard, UPenn, NYU, Starbucks, and many others, has failed to completely disassociate herself from her employee after his past virulently anti-Semitic posts were brought to light.

[02:44:59] Facts matter, and it's untruthful what many people have said that Gary called Chair Randall anti-Semitic. I don't believe she is anti-Semitic either, but her actions were disappointing, inadequate, and it was right to call that out. There are no more passes for anti-Semitic whataboutisms or the cheapening of Jewish blood.

[02:45:14] Thank you. Thank you. Next, we have Peter Dalton, followed by Jessica Mendez, followed by Rebecca Siglaus on the Webex. Is Peter Dalton here? Okay, do we have Jessica Mendez?

[02:45:34] Are you Jessica?

[02:45:47] Recently, Chair Randall made a post on social media that was anti-Semitic. She argued with the fact on whether or not it was anti-Semitic and finally discovering that it was, didn't really apologize for it and just substituted out a picture.

[02:46:12] a lot of us have said already, you know, we don't necessarily believe that Trey Randall is anti-Semitic, but her post was. And what we want is somebody that takes accountability for their actions. So somebody that will recognize that they did something wrong or posted something incorrectly, didn't realize, you know, the letters on the shoe of the picture, didn't realize what it was actually depicting, and just assumed, because a Jewish friend had posted it, that they would know on whether or not it was anti-Semitic.

[02:46:47] But the bottom line is she is an elected official. She's held at a higher standard. When she makes social media posts, you have to look at what you're posting. You have to do your own research. You can't just take it on its face and just repost what somebody else posted.

[02:47:04] I would have liked her just to apologize instead of saying, oh, I didn't really know, or just recognize that it is and make an apology and move on. um this just shows her continued you know lack of taking accountability for her actions just like her extravagant trips to Ghana and other countries just accountability is the common thread here you know just hold yourself to a higher standard and take accountability for your actions that accountability continues to her handling of her chief of staff social media posts which have been

[02:47:42] as recent as 2021. His use of Nazi in place of not see is disgusting and the very least irresponsible. You know, she alluded to all of his posts that he had made several years ago and that she knew about those posts when she hired him. So she knew he was anti-Semitic, misogynistic and anti-LGBTQ, all of those things. She knew those when she hired him and he continues to make irresponsible choices. She needs to also, that accountability needs to extend to her employees, and people especially as important as her chief of staff.

[02:48:22] Thank you. Thank you. Next, we have Rebecca Sieglas, and please correct the record if I pronounce your name correctly, and that's on the WebEx, followed by Woody Turner. Rebecca, are you there?

[02:48:40] Is Rebecca on line? This is Lauren Law. I was asked to unmute. We, due to technical issues, it looks like Rebecca has not joined.

[02:49:02] However, we needed to unmute the unknown caller to make sure it was not her. Okay. All right. We'll come back. Woody Turner. Mr. Co-Chairman and members of the Board of Supervisors, my name is Woody Turner, Mr. Rogers, and Mr. Hempstreet.

[02:49:26] This is going to be a very short presentation, and I'm hoping I can reserve my time for the next time I come in and go over. The first thing I wanted to say, I'm here on behalf of the Lansdowne Conservancy. The Lansdowne Conservancy certainly supports the efforts and the things that have been said about invasive species.

[02:49:46] But I'm here tonight briefly to talk about Dominion Power. And what I want to do is invite you to a meeting with Dominion Power that's being hosted at the National Conference Center on November 2nd at 6 p.m.

[02:50:04] It's being held on behalf of the Lansdowne Homeowners Associations. That's November the 2nd at 6 p.m. We would invite you and more members of your staff if you could join. And I wanted to say that is my time.

[02:50:20] That's all I need to say. But I did want to say on a personal note that I appreciated what Supervisor Turner had to say about the brave people who are fighting on our behalf as well as the rest of the world. And my hat's off to you, sir, for your support.

[02:50:38] I fly their flag at my house proudly. thank you okay thank you and we'll go back to webex again is we were able to get rebecca or no she has not joined the line okay and peter dalton has you joined us yet nope seeing none okay and we don't have anybody else correct okay public comment is closed thank you all right uh supervisors next we are going to go into item uh number four board member initiative support for the loudon

[02:51:11] Invasive Removal Alliance. This is a BMI that is brought forward by Supervisor Letourneau and Supervisor Turner. Just starting to be a common theme between items between these two. So very good. Who would like to start first? I can go straight to a motion if you'd like. Go ahead. Thank you, Mr. Chair. I move that the Board of Supervisors direct staff to research and develop recommendations on how the county could assist in the development of an invasive species removal program and identify potential funding sources that may be available for such

[02:51:49] a program. Seconded by Supervisor Letourneau. I'm sorry, I'm in my chair. You're still on from last night. Yes, we have a motion made by... It's tough to shake off that... Motion made by Supervisor Turner, seconded by Supervisor Letourneau. Thank you. Mr. Turner, for your opening. Thank you very much. Well, I want to really thank Mike Littman, who has been bird-dogging this for right from the very beginning. He's just done a phenomenal effort. I echoed Ms. Bingle's words. This is an unprecedented collaboration among the county's HOAs. Representing by my count, when I looked at the letter 160,000, I saw the Brambleton HOA president say 190,000. I'll give you the benefit

[02:52:28] of the doubt. It's a pretty staggering number. It's just shy of a quarter of a million people in Loudoun County, and that's pretty amazing with a population of 450,000. It's like half our population represented. My apologies to Supervisor Bristman, who did send me an email back in August and said I would like to co-sponsor this. Mike reached out to both myself and Supervisor Laterno deliberately so it was a bipartisan initiative, and I understood that, but I completely forgot. I've been a little busy since August 25th. I hope she'll give me some slack on that. And also, I wanted to commend her planning commissioner, Jane Kirchner, who's been very

[02:53:03] evolved and done a lot of the work with Loud Invasive Removal Alliance. So thank you all. There's a lot of room here for a lot of credit, but really it belongs to the HOA members that have put forward this initiative. I really do commend you. We've crafted this board member initiative pretty carefully. This is a start of what should be a huge undertaking across easily a decade. So I want to manage expectations here, partly because of some comments in the first conversation I had with Mike. I do not want you to think that the county will drop five or ten

[02:53:40] million dollars on your heads and say, go forth and do good things. That's not the way we do it. And I wouldn't want to do it that way because that path is strewn with rocks and potholes. This initiative basically asked county staff to look at this idea and see how the county can support it.

[02:53:59] There's three kinds of wins when you're flying an airplane, a headwind, a tailwind, and no-wind. No-wind's kind of no big deal, but when you're trying to get from point A to point B, a tailwind is what you want, and you never want a headwind. So the first thing we want to do is make sure the county does no harm. We don't want to be a headwind for this initiative.

[02:54:15] We want to be a robust tailwind, and that's what we're trying to do. And so that's what this initiative is trying to do. And Supervisal Turner and I may differ on the next step. I will probably, I will tell you, introduce a motion during the end of year fund balance discussion to get this started with a $250,000 slice to get a consultant to come in and lay out a strategy and an action plan and help staff and take the burden off their shoulders to say, how can county staff support this effort in a practical way?

[02:54:46] I mean, this could get so big, I can see schools all over the county that have made this their project. I can see Eagle Scout projects all over the county supporting this project. It has huge potential, and I would like a consultant to kind of frame that out. So that's the intent is to get the ball rolling here, and I'm very proud to co-sponsor this motion.

[02:55:06] All right. Thank you, Mr. Turner. Mr. Letourneau. Yeah, I'd like to thank Supervisor Turner for really spearheading this, and Supervisor Brissman and her planning commissioner have been involved for a long time as well. I'm a little bit later to it, but I got involved because of the HOA interest that was out there and understanding the issue.

[02:55:24] And I appreciate Mike Lipman taking time with me as well to talk through it a little bit and talking to some of my HOAs in the Dulles District as well. You know, I'm a process person. You guys kind of know that. So I kind of like to do things in steps. And the first step is to sort of define the problem, define what the county's involvement can be, be an organizing force.

[02:55:45] I'm not necessarily opposed down the road to directly contributing to it or bringing a consultant on if that's what staff want to do. But I kind of what the point of this initiative is first is to get them involved, because I don't know how much the public knows that about us.

[02:56:01] But my clock's not running, by the way. I'll talk forever. But I want to go. But I we can't just ask staff to do things. So, you know, even if you came and said, can you help us with this, that's not how we operate.

[02:56:19] The corporate body, which is all of us together, have to give direction. So the first step here is I want to get our staff engaged in this. I want to be involved in it. And we have a lot of smart folks here. You've talked to some of them. We have Master Gardeners. We have others. But we also have folks on our professional staff.

[02:56:35] And we have some resources and access to folks that it would be difficult for, you know, the public to do. So I want to get them working on this. and then let's see where it goes I think that I'm not defining it you know in any way in particular but let's see where it goes I do think that one of the things we can do is advocate not just for county funding but also state and federal and and we have grant managers here that specifically look for these opportunities we can engage with the federal government on this there's a lot of angles to this that we can do and I think as Supervisor Turner said this is not going to be a short-term

[02:57:11] thing because it's not going to be a short-term problem and whether we're engaged or not that's the case but i think we can help be an organizing force on this um and it's it's useful and productive for us to do that so i i am glad to be a part of it and support it and uh appreciate all the engagement from hoas i echo what what some of the speakers said um you know sometimes we get a little lonely up here uh representing eastern loudon because we hear very frequently from our towns and we have wonderful towns in loudon county for sure but we hear a lot from them

[02:57:46] we don't hear as much from some of our larger communities in the east and i always like to say you know i have a single hoa and we heard from christy tonight uh that has 25 000 residents in it you know that's that would be this i think the second largest town in the county if it was a town and so it is tremendous to see this level of engagement and involvement we've seen it on a handful of times you know during my 12 years on the board and and it really is um heartening to see because being on an hoa board is very thankless i've done that job before um but you know you're doing it because you love it and because you care about your community um and so this is a way you

[02:58:24] know to really to really give back so thank thank all of you for what you're doing thank you thank you miss brixman thank you um through the chair mine i asked supervisor letourneau a couple questions sure do you envision that um hoas would come and ask for grants i possibly but i i don't know do you know how much it's going to cost okay interesting um i am obviously going to support this i love it i know that my planning commissioner worked on it a lot i'm just poking supervisor letourneau a little bit because uh i don't think he's ever voted for something where he didn't know exactly how much it was going to cost and where the money is coming from and i can think of at

[02:59:04] least two initiatives from myself and I think Supervisor Sainz where we couldn't get Supervisor Ola Turner to vote for it because we didn't know exactly. But these things are great. It does get us involved. I always like the idea of studying things before we, you know, like Supervisor Turner said, just throw money at it and go do good things, right? Sometimes it takes a little longer than we would like when we have to study things. I know that a couple initiatives that I've brought have taken a little longer than I would have liked. But in the end, our staff does a great job, and the consultants we hire, I think, do a phenomenal job. And if there's any county or staff

[02:59:43] or community that could put something like this together and be an example for the nation, really, on how important this is and, you know, have a program started that maybe we could model for other folks I think ours is the community that can do it so thank you guys thank you for acknowledging that I wanted to co-sponsor I'm not gonna fall on my sword over it but I'm really proud of this and I love to support it thank you thank you Ms. Glass thank you Vice Chair Sains I also want to also commend

[03:00:19] Supervisor Turner and Supervisor Letourneau for this BMI as well as for Vice Chair Sains yesterday at our zoning ordinance meeting with the motion for having at least 80% of natives when developers come in to, you know, to build in our community.

[03:00:42] I think that's really important. Now, I'd also like to thank Mr. Mike Littman for making that phone call and letting me know that you know about this and how excited and you know how much not how knowledgeable he was regarding this and you know you hear a little bit about invasives but you know you all have a lot of information and it's great to hear from you all so that folks know about it and I think education is will be a really good part because I don't think our residents actually know that the

[03:01:20] Bradford Pear isn't invasive. You know, we have them all up and down my neighborhood, and I know, and I said before, the one that we had in front of our house, I think it was one of the hurricanes that came in about 10, 15 years ago, and he just took it down, and we just got rid of it, but, you know, just to have that education, let folks know what is a native and what's not, what's an invasive in our community is really important so i will be um supporting this motion thank you okay thank you um yeah real quickly i'll just say yeah thank you for bringing this

[03:01:58] um this project forward uh talking to all of our offices uh about the the issue uh thank you to the supervisors about this bmi ford and as supervisor glass said yeah i think last night what we voted on part of the zoning uh ordinance rewrite is definitely a step in the right deck right direction for to make sure in the future and moving forward that we do not get these plants and planted in our developments moving forward so but I would also hate to be a cloud a dark cloud after a nice shiny day I will say that I think you you need to continue your efforts

[03:02:35] and lobby our General Assembly members and ask them to do the same like what we did last night uh at the at the at the coming well at the state level um even though obviously we're going to be more focused on loudon county but you know we better to have this uh done the exact same way for this the whole state and then also encourage you to talk to your uh landscapers and start spreading the gospel to them as well so they can be aware of what they're doing if they're not already aware and making sure that they're when they're planting new plants and trees and shrubs and the like in other neighborhoods who might not have a HOA, who might not be paying attention,

[03:03:15] that they stop these proceedings moving forward. So I applaud you on all the efforts, and we will see what staff comes back with this BMI, and then we'll go from there. But thank you for all your work so far. Madam Chair, did you have any comments on this one?

[03:03:31] - I did, thank you, thank you. Thank you for everybody coming in, and I have so many questions, And I'm obviously going to vote in favor of this, but just that little bit of time, you all, just tonight, I've learned so much.

[03:03:48] I looked up the plants, and it's interesting because I have a feeling that some of these plants were planted, like the trees, because they're so pretty. Like that pear tree thing is gorgeous, but I had no idea that was invasive. I had no idea. And so just, I think that one of the things that, one of the things you all asked, because for us kind of like to help with a lot of different ways, but for me to help, I have to be educated myself a little bit more.

[03:04:15] And I will say this is not something that I was really educated about. I don't, I guess a tree of heaven you would never think would be invasive because it's real life. A tree of hell. A tree of hell. But a couple of people I have down here, I probably would give you a call just to understand how this happens more.

[03:04:37] Is this because the HOA plants them because they cost less money, because they look really good? If we do take out invasives, is there anything else that we can put in that is, I don't know what the word is, that's more powerful or overrides the invasive, that type of thing?

[03:04:56] somebody mentioned the spotted lanternfly do invasive bugs come in because invasive trees are here because I did not know that I this is this was all very concerning very disturbing and very interesting and I want to know more and so I will be reaching out so I can get a little more educated thank you thank you mr. Turner you're closing thank you mr. vice chair a couple of points I'm going to hit on really quickly so we first I would like to read into the record for the minutes so the official minutes of the meeting have the HOA letter in them. They're not in there now,

[03:05:32] but they will be in the minutes by reading those into the record. Second, I mentioned schools. I can envision an entire education program where HOA representatives go into their local schools and teach the kids about invasives. Now you're creating an entire army across generations about invasives. I love the idea of approaching Richmond and our legislature to do this statewide.

[03:05:57] This is long overdue, and it's a great legislative proposal that I think probably would easily be bipartisan. I want to frame the county's involvement. It was brought to my attention today, and I'd forgotten this, but it's true. The county cannot spend taxpayer money on improving private property, which means if we're going to have an invasive removal program, we're going to have to split responsibilities between public and private lands as we move forward.

[03:06:28] I don't know how complex that's going to be, but it's an issue that we would expect someone to sort out and find out about. But that is a legal restriction. I would expect, assuming we get a consultant, that's still a big if, but if we get a consultant, that the consultant would come up with an inventory of potential funding resources so that we know all the grants available.

[03:06:50] Some of those, as Supervisor Letourneau pointed out, the county could really help with a federal grant or a state grant or keep you posted on how that the timing of that and how to write that application and those sorts of things because you have a lot of grant experience. But I would assume that funding source is going to be is going to be an issue going forward that we can that that's part of the strategy.

[03:07:12] And then finally, this I don't want to I want to avoid mission creep. But to someone's point tonight, I don't have never I think it was Miss Bingle's point. I've never seen HOAs collaborate like this across the county, and as Supervisor Letourneau's point, the HOA, I mean, that's a quarter of a million of our residents.

[03:07:32] There's a whole bunch of things that I can think of going on in Lowndon County right now that if a quarter of a million residents spoke with one voice, would get a lot of attention. So maybe some sort of a permanent liaison structure or informal framework for HOAs. I know there is an HOA association, but this has a lot of real practical hands on the ground our feet on the ground kind of pioneering work that you all have done that could translate into a whole bunch of other initiatives again don't let it turn into mission creep but it's very exciting what could happen here so i commend you all thank you all very much i really am proud to

[03:08:09] sponsor this and i ask for my colleagues support thank you okay we got a motion by supervisor turner second by supervisor letourneau all in favor please say aye aye any opposed that motion will pass 702 with Mr. Kushner Buffington off the dice. Jazz hands, please. Jazz hands. No clapping.

[03:08:30] Jazz hands. Now I'm going to take this meeting back because Mr. Sainz is going to get out of control with all that crazy clapping. Thank you all very much. Supervisors, we actually haven't taken a break break because we went to closed session and came back. So let's take a break, come back, do board comments, and then go back to closed session, and we'll be finished for the

[03:08:54] evening. Let's take a break. Okay, Amanda, can you, there we go. Okay, we are back, and we are going to

[03:23:21] go to during two board comments. Let me find my disclosures myself, and then we'll go to closed session after board comments, and then we will go home. Board comments, Ms. Umstead. Thank you, ma'am.

[03:23:36] Just everybody remember, the Leesburg Kiwanis Halloween Parade is coming up. It will be held, as always, on Halloween. Please plan to get there by about 5 p.m. as they will close the streets.

[03:23:55] You can march from Ida Lee down to the Safeway down King Street. And please bring candy, because there will be a lot of kids on either side of the road hoping for some, and we're just looking forward to that.

[03:24:12] And thank you. Thank you. Ms. Bricksman? Thank you, Madam Chair. By way of disclosures, on October 5th, we had a meeting with Cooley on Commonwealth Center and the Aligned Data Center application.

[03:24:28] On October 10th, we had a meeting with Cooley and Willard Retail on Cascades Marketplace application. On October 10th, we met with Michael Capretti and Ben Miller on the old Arcola application. And on October 11th, we had a meeting with Willard Retail and Cooley on Cascades Marketplace again.

[03:24:45] I just want to, a couple things kind of flew by on consent tonight that I just want to bring attention to. First of all, it was the proclamation to recognize lights after school day. I'm really looking forward to joining Chair Randall. I think it's going to be at Horizon Elementary, which is where my kids went to school, to present this to the after-school program.

[03:25:07] And as my colleagues know, I'm always looking for ways to recognize and honor those who care for our children so that, you know, our parents can work. And then secondly, we get a lot of commentary from the public, a good amount of commentary from the public about the data center revenue that comes in.

[03:25:28] And, you know, if we have so much revenue coming in, why don't we save it somewhere? And I think we've kind of struggled with this in our term, but thanks to staff, we figured out kind of a way to do that that should smooth over the fluctuations that we sometimes see in our budget due to the instability of the taxes that come from the data centers.

[03:25:51] So it's called a revenue stabilization fund, and staff is recommending that we start funding it maybe with fund balance in this 25 budget cycle, and then put as much as 10% of the data center revenue in there if it's over what we are projecting.

[03:26:10] Um, and I'm, I'm sort of simplifying it, but, but I wanted it on the record that we, we have heard folks about this, um, sort of like extra fund, they quote unquote extra funds that come into the County that sometimes, um, we, and also have suffered because the projections were higher than what came into the County.

[03:26:34] So you might recall, during COVID, we had an $80 million hole blown into our budget because the data center folks couldn't upgrade their chips. And then also because of the electricity constraint, we're looking at a projection of maybe $130 million a year, I believe, lower than we would have projected in that revenue.

[03:26:56] so this will also smooth out those sorts of things so we aren't scrambling if it happens to be lower than we're projecting, but also if it happens to be higher than we're projecting, we can save for the years that it might be lower, if that makes sense. So I just wanted to say that on the record so the public can know that we actually did that when I think our first two years we didn't think we could, so I commend staff for putting that together, and if anyone wants to look at it, it's item 5E in tonight's agenda if you want all the details.

[03:27:25] Lastly, Madam Chair, so far this year, we have had 550 mass shootings, over a dozen mass shootings since the last business meeting on October 3rd, actually. There have been 34,244 total gun deaths in our country.

[03:27:40] 15,104 were homicide murder unintended, 19,140 were suicide. The deaths include 237 children under the age of 11 and 1,136 teens.

[03:27:55] ages 12 to 17 it is the guns thank you thank you very much miss glass thank you madam chair i have two disclosures on wednesday october 4th my staff met with representatives from cooley to discuss the aligned data center application on thursday october 5th wednesday october 11th and thursday october 12th our my staff met with representatives from cooley and peterson to discuss the commonwealth Center residential application. Thank you, Madam Chair. Thank you. Mr. Turner. Thank you, Madam Chair.

[03:28:30] Just to reiterate, the October TLUC meeting, Transportation Land Use Committee meeting for October 18th is canceled. I just would like to mention the site to the Vantage Dentist Center site in my district that I attended last Thursday. Pastor Michelle started a program whereby if construction uncovers what may be human remains that they stop construction protect the site and then call her and a number of other authorities that can identify whether or not it's human remains they thought they'd uncovered some human remains in that site and so they shut down the

[03:29:05] operation or covered it and then fenced it off and Thursday Pastor Michelle and I went out and by the time I got there she'd already determined it was and and the technician the scientist that was where they're determined it was not human remains it was probably some sort of a monument or burial site that was kind of blocked off with stones but there were no human remains on site the fascinating part was that she had gone to the construction crew in advance and told them and educated them on what to look for and so they knew immediately what to do and when they encountered it and and out of preempted that's all her program and and so kudos to her kudos to her

[03:29:41] but and the whole vantage crew was out there they did a phenomenal job and um They worked very hard to make sure they did it by the numbers, and they did, and it was really impressive, the whole operation. On Tuesday, October 10th, my staff and I met with Ben Wales and Colleen Gillis from Cooley LLP, Stuart Prince and Bruce Gould from Peterson Company, as well as Bill Junda from Gordon to discuss the application for Commonwealth Center Residential.

[03:30:06] And on Friday, October 13th, my staff met with Packy Crown from Bowman Consulting to discuss the application for Goose Creek West. That's all I have. Thank you. Thank you. Mr. Letourneau. Thank you. Disclosures, I met with my staff and I met with Cooley on the Defender Drive residential application on Tuesday, October 10th. I met with Cooley as well, along with my staff on the Cedar Terrace residential application on Friday, October 13th. That's Toll Brothers, and it is actually next to Avonlea Mixed Use Development. That was just

[03:30:45] recently in front of the Planning Commission. On regional updates, we mentioned before the one millionth rider at Dulles Airport Station. That was exciting. We've had 3 million on Silver Line Extension as a whole since it opened, so less than a year. This morning, so it turns out during last year's legislative session, the General Assembly passed a new WMATA accountability requirement requiring the two board members and the general manager to give a presentation to the

[03:31:21] Commonwealth Transportation Board annually. That happened today. The CTB, fortunately for me, was meeting in Northern Virginia. That will not always be the case, but it was this time at Reagan National Airport and in the historic terminal. Interesting setting there.

[03:31:38] And we gave a presentation to Secretary Miller and the CTB about WMATA's current state and future fiscal condition, which I think all of you are pretty familiar with at this point. at the last metro board meeting we did present scenarios to use preventive maintenance we talked a little bit about that but that would get our deficit down next year from 750 to potentially as low as 365 million at the next metro board meeting next week we're going to be discussing

[03:32:09] fair and service scenarios service reductions and fair increases with an eye toward metro additionally contributing toward reducing the deficit essentially things that we think we can do with I mean everything will have an impact but without huge impacts to the service to sort of get the number as low as it possibly can be and then we're going to need the region the state others to fund the remainder and so that is kind of the process that we're going through and discussion

[03:32:44] that we're we're having um and you know we have a budget process that's similar to ours so this is sort of budget development for us just like we're doing um and then the general manager will present the budget in december and then we'll vote on it in april um one timing issue because of the fact that closing that deficit will not be resolved by january we will have to likely issue warn notices notice of potential layoff to several thousand metro employees that is because unless we know

[03:33:19] for sure that we have funding in the process that we we take and and of course this is through the existing labor contracts takes about six months to lay somebody off the layoffs would would happen for more junior people which means that it takes more people to get more savings which has a greater impact on service. And so that is just the unfortunate reality. And then because of Title VI, service reductions, when they occur, have to be taken through an equity lens, which

[03:33:54] means, as I've told you all before, that Virginia would probably see more significant cuts. So just all of you serve on different boards. Just please, you know, help spread the word on that but one of the top line messages should really be that metro has taken a 750 million dollar deficit for next year creatively tried to find ways to bring it down to 365 it's working to try to find internal ways to bring it down even further but there is a limit to what we can do and that is only short term and so that is my regional cheery reasonable update on

[03:34:32] Thank you, Madam Chair. Thank you, Mr. Sains. Thank you, Madam Chair. Manitory disclosures. October 6th, went with the applicants for the Commonwealth Center, my staff and mine.

[03:34:51] And as usual, thank you to our residents that came out to speak to us this evening regarding issues that are near and dear to your hearts. You could have been anywhere but here, but you chose to be here and speak to those issues. so we appreciate you taking the time to do so.

[03:35:07] So thank you. Thank you. On the 9th, my chief of staff met with Colleen Gillis, Amanda Williams, and David Robinson on the Aligned Energy Data Center application. On the 10th, my chief of staff met with Ben Wells and Bruce Gould on the Commonwealth Center application.

[03:35:23] Both my chief of staff and I have had discussions with John Peterson in the Commonwealth Center application, and I've had several conversations with Michael Capretti about the old Arcola application. So last, I guess you had to know, last week I shared a Facebook post from a friend of mine who happens to be a friend who is very strong in their Jewish faith.

[03:35:47] And the picture on the post, some said, reminded them of a picture from a movie. The movie is called The Boy in the Striped Pajamas. The picture was not from the movie, in fact, not at all. But some said it reminded them of that. Because it reminded them of that, I took the picture down, changed the picture, and immediately apologized on the same platform of which I put the picture, which was my Facebook page.

[03:36:12] I always feel like if you offend somebody at a certain place, you should also apologize in that place. So it was my personal Facebook page. I issued a full-throated apology on my Facebook page where the picture went, and I issue a full-throated apology right now.

[03:36:31] But just to be clear, the picture was never the picture from DeBoer in the striped pajamas. I would never, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever have put that picture up or have used that picture. So that's all I'm going to say about that. Thank you.

[03:36:47] All right. Mr. Sands, will you read us back in the closed session? Yes. I move that the Board of Supervisors recess this public meeting and enter into closed session pursuant to Section 2.2-3711A8 and 829 of the Code of Virginia to consult with legal counsel pertaining to the negotiation of collective bargaining agreement where public funds are being expanded and where negotiations and open session would adversely affect the bargaining position of the county. Motion is made and seconded by Ms. Glass. Discussion on the motion. All in favor say aye. Aye. Opposed? That motion will pass 702 with Mr. Buffington and I guess Mr. Kirshner

[03:37:26] has left the days as well. Wonderful. That part is true. All right. All right. We are back and

[04:56:43] Mr. Sainz is going to read us out of closed session. I move that the closed session be adjourned and that the Board of Supervisors reconvene its public meeting, that the minutes of the public meeting should reflect that no formal action was taken in closed session and further move that the resolution certifying the closed session be adopted and reflected in the minutes of this meeting.

[04:56:59] Second. Discussion on the motion? Discussion on the motion would be that when we went in the closed session, we had Ms. Bricksman with us. She had to go home during closed session, so she's not here to vote or certify on this closed session.

[04:57:16] She just went that on the record. And evidently, Mr. Turner feels like he needs to have two mics now and not one. Yes, Mr. Turner? Discussion on the motion? I affirm. I affirm. We haven't got that far. All in favor, please say aye.

[04:57:32] Aye. Any opposed? Yes, that motion will pass 6-3, but there was one person who was with us when we went in who's not here now. Why would everybody please affirm, Mr. Letourneau? Affirm. I affirm as well.

[04:57:48] I think that is all supervisors. All I will say before I hit the gavel is this is our last business meeting before the election. I believe that when I looked back on the successes of this body, they have been impressive and numerous, and I wish everyone the best, and I wish you safety, more than anything else, safety in these last three weeks as you were campaigning.

[04:58:21] We are adjourned.

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