Coraggio Consulting
Prince William Board of County Supervisors Meeting, Tuesday, February 28, 2023

Date: Tuesday, February 28, 2023
Place: Prince William County Board of County Supervisors, Virginia
Length: 8h 44m (video)
Official meeting video (Prince William County, Granicus): https://pwcgov.granicus.com/player/clip/3254
Official Board of County Supervisors page (Prince William County): https://www.pwcva.gov/department/board-county-supervisors

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 2026-11-04. Timestamps are [HH:MM:SS] into the meeting video.

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[00:00:06] Good afternoon. It is 2 p.m. on Tuesday, February 28th. For those who wish to, please join me in a moment of silence. Thank you.

[00:00:29] If we could all rise for the reciting of the Pledge of Allegiance. I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America and to the republic for which it stands, one nation, under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all.

[00:00:46] Thank you, and thank you all for coming out this morning. I would be remiss if I didn't welcome our new colleague to the dais, Supervisor Weir, who is up here. Yep, and I just want to say welcome. It's nice to have a full contingent now voting. It's been strange having an empty seat, so we are better off today.

[00:01:05] With that, I will move on to the consent agenda items. We're going to begin with Agenda Item 3, and we're going to do 3A through 3S, which is stopping right before the resolutions or proclamations, the proclamations and commendations.

[00:01:25] Is there anyone who wishes to pull off any items between 3A and 3S? Madam Chair. Oh, okay. Ah, okay. Actually, Supervisor Lawson. Okay. Thank you, Madam Chair. I'd like to pull 3E as in elephant, and then I did not give transportation a heads up, but got a simple question, what I hope is a simple question, on 3C as in cat.

[00:01:51] They were prepared for me to pull 3E, but C is hopefully another easy explanation. Supervisor Bailey? Thank you, Madam Chair. Madam Chair, I'd like to pull 3G.

[00:02:08] Okay. Sorry. There are a lot of items. That's okay. Is that it? I think so. Yes. Okay. Supervisor Vega? Thank you, Madam Chair. I also have 3C, but Supervisor Lawson already pulled it, so 3D.

[00:02:25] 3D as in dog? Yes. Okay. And last but not least, Supervisor Weir? 3 I and 3 L.

[00:02:44] Okay. Madam Chair. Supervisor Bailey? No, never mind. I'm good. Okay. So if I could get a motion on 3 A, B, F, H, J, K, M, N, O, P, Q, R, and S.

[00:03:04] Madam Chair. So moved. Second. Motion made by Supervisor Bailey, seconded by Vice Chair Bodie. Any further discussion on those? Yeah, Madam Chair. Supervisor Bodie. Thank you. Just very quickly, I know we're going to be talking about some of the things that were pulled, but for this motion, 3B, just wanted to highlight this is the Virginia Forest Sustainability Funding.

[00:03:23] I'm looking forward to seeing what our staff does with putting that funding to good use. We'll talk about more reforestation later during supervisor's time. Did we do P? Did we pull P off? We did not pull P off. So I just wanted to highlight 3B for folks in the audience.

[00:03:41] This is funding for a whole host of community services programs. I did want to highlight for the Department of Behavioral Health and Development Services funding for the adolescent portion of the Crisis Receiving Center. $2.1 million of ongoing funding is a big deal, especially for something like this, where it allows us to open up our Crisis Receiving Center, not only for adults, but for adolescents as well.

[00:04:04] So I just wanted to highlight that. Thank you so much, Madam Chair. Thank you. So we have a motion on the floor. Any further discussion? Seeing none, please vote. vote unanimous thank you and uh okay so then we're going to go through the items that people pulled off that they had questions about um we're going to start with uh 3c supervisor lawson thank you madam chair uh mr gonzalez 3c does that the the landing does that have anything to do with

[00:04:42] the uh or one of the applications have anything to do with the 123 interchange madam chair members of the Board, Rick Canazos, your Director of Transportation. Could you repeat the question, ma'am? Well, so I read a little bit of the staff report that specifically outlined the various projects or areas, and one of them is the landing, right?

[00:05:09] Yes, ma'am. Does that go up? Does this application, will that include the proposed 123, the new interchange that's under proposal? Route 1 and 123 or 123 in Old Bridge Road? Old Bridge. No, it does not go as far as that, ma'am.

[00:05:26] This is the landing, so it's basically in between Minnieville Road and the Prince William Parkway with Summit School and Telegraph coming through that area. This is in 95 on one side, Caton Hill on the other. That would be the definition of the landing to us. It's basically defined by the small area plan in our comprehensive plan, And we will be following that plan and enhancing that plan as part of this application if it's successful.

[00:05:51] Okay, I just remember that it said something about North Woodbridge, like the Potomac Town Center to North Woodbridge. And those are, okay, I just want to make sure, because I've talked to some business owners about the 123 and I want to make sure I'm not voting on something that...

[00:06:08] No, ma'am, and I know, we know the business owners, we're aware, we've been presenting, We've been discussing things with them for the 123 Old Bridge Road. Supervisor Rody's been aware and had those discussions with us. And we are not going as far as that on any of these projects. Thank you very much. Yes, ma'am. And then three E's an elephant.

[00:06:26] Yes, ma'am. Elizabeth, can you step up and let's... So this is a little more of a... No, no. And three E is regarding the agreements. Elizabeth Scullin, my assistant director, has been working directly with the attorney's office on this agreement, so I'll let her answer any questions.

[00:06:43] Whoever you prefer, you're the director. It's up to you. Elizabeth Scully. Thank you, Elizabeth. Good to see you. So this is a little more of a complicated case, and the history of it, we've learned we have conflicting site plans, or we have a conflict with the Iron Mountain site plan and the um what was the other one they're both iron mountain okay do me a favor summarize how

[00:07:16] we got here and why this hayden road um vacation needs to take place with or without the rezoning tonight we have the wellington glen rezoning and on the south side of wellington and then we have iron mountain which is not proffered they're all by right m2 so as part of the wellington glen proffers Wellington Glen owns some of the property north of Wellington which has since been sold to Iron Mountain so they proffered right away for Wellington Glen extended to the north of

[00:07:51] Wellington and they proffered that that would be their access to the northern property they also proffered to do a traffic signal warrant and to install it if required in the meantime Iron Mountain applied for a site plan for a data center that had access on Hayden Road and Wellington that was approved and unfortunately the there's no note on that site plan that says this is a temporary access the future access is through Wellington Glen and Hayden Road would be closed so now Iron Mountain wants to use the access at Hayden Road and close the access at Wellington

[00:08:29] Glen except for private driveway and they want to eliminate Hayden Drive which is a public road because it cuts right through their developable property. So when they abandon and vacate Hayden, they will build an alternate access to Wellington to allow VDOT to have access to their stormwater facility.

[00:08:51] Okay. Now the rezoning just asks, there are no proffers for a current property. The rezoning does have proffers. They're asking for a higher FAR and a higher height limit, and that's it. but the proffers that they included are taking over some of the proffers that Wellington Glen had in their original rezoning so that they can get those improvements done ahead of when Wellington Glen would have to.

[00:09:17] Now, even if the zoning isn't approved this evening, this agreement obligates Iron Mountain to do those improvements. Okay. Thank you for that history. I'm sorry. This is what Iron Mountain is. This is what's been approved. So you can see the right-of-way for Wellington Glen and for Hayden.

[00:09:39] Okay. And then the next one, Paula's showing it, shows that they want to just have a driveway off Wellington Glen, not make that a public road, and then tie into the existing Hayden. And VDOT has also approved this. Okay.

[00:09:55] And are we the last party to approve the agreement? I know there's multiple parties. And for the public's knowledge, we keep referring to Wellington Glen. and you might be thinking where is this arcadia apartment is well in singling right yes um we have signed copies from iron mountain and arcadia and we are the last ones to sign it after the board approves it okay so i just want to make sure everybody understands that this needs to this

[00:10:26] needs to be done and this is not contingent on the rezoning tonight like um we could do it tonight but agreements such as this are typically not handled at an evening session so I think that you've explained it very well and with that explanation I'm comfortable doing it this afternoon if my colleagues have more questions they can ask but one thing is clear to me this this road has to be this this conflict has to be resolved with or without tonight's rezoning

[00:11:03] correct and we had this agreement prepared a couple of months ago but it was thought prudent to bring it at the same time of the rezoning so that you would have the context. Thank you. You're welcome. Would you like to make a motion for 3C and 3E?

[00:11:19] If nobody else has questions. No one has questions. Madam Chair, I wanted to pull 3C as well. Oh, I'm so sorry. Yes. Do you have a question on 3C? I do. Okay, yeah. Thank you. So, Rick, I think we can lump 3C and 3D together. So, based on the staff report for 3C, it says consistent with the county's climate change mitigation goals.

[00:11:39] And then 3D says, implement MWCOG targets to reduce greenhouse gas emissions from all sources within the county to 50% of 2005 level by 2030 and to be carbon neutral by 2050. My question to you is, what have we done to ensure that these, because these are very aggressive goals, right?

[00:11:57] They are, ma'am. In terms of how much it's going to cost taxpayers, is it achievable, is it not? Where are we in regards to that? I don't want to respond for our sustainability person here, but I do want to mention that some of these items, as you see, the application on 3C talks about looking at roads in a different way, in a different manner, and being able to do some alternative methods of dealing with environmental issues, whether the water, whether through additional trails, whether through connections, whatever makes it green to help us out in the sustainability factor of that road.

[00:12:32] Now, again, we can't give you costs right now. We're asking for an application to actually be able to look at this and look at the type of information that you're asking me for today. But that is the intent of that application that you're discussing. Okay. Thank you for that. Just certainly don't want folks here at home to think that we're voting for something that is going to be unachievable, unattainable, and that we're going to be thorough as we continue to move along this process.

[00:12:55] And again, and I'll confirm with my colleague here, Paul Belita, but I believe some of those have been given to us by COG and their planning efforts and what they're suggesting for the region. So we're just kind of incorporating it into ours. Thank you. Thank you. Seeing no further discussion, I'll entertain a motion on 3C, D, and E.

[00:13:13] So moved, Madam Chair. Second. Motion made by Supervisor Bailey, seconded by Supervisor Bodie. Any further discussion? Madam Chair. Supervisor Bodie. Thank you, Madam Chair. Rick, thank you for the discussion about what this is. I just wanted to highlight that for folks in the Occoquan District, as was discussed earlier, This is a request for the concept of a landing at Prince William Transit Center.

[00:13:35] As folks all know, the Horner commuter lot in my district is the most popular and most well-used commuter lot in the entire county. This is a perfect opportunity for us to look at new ways of making that area a transit hub so we can get more people out of their cars, into buses, trains, other modes of transit.

[00:13:52] And this funding simply grants us the technical assistance funding to start looking at and analyzing those different things. So regardless of if you're attacking it from the green energy route or simply just wanting to increase mass transit, this is a really good idea. So I really appreciate the fact that you guys are looking at this.

[00:14:08] And we package D into this as well, I assume. So D, Regional Roadway Safety Program. We've talked a lot as a board over the last year or so about roadway safety. This, like the other one, looks to grant us technical funding so we can start looking at different ways of making areas safer in the county.

[00:14:28] I won't see all supervisors are angry because I know that part of this pertains to this district specifically, but having a Prince William County Street Smart campaign, which leverages resources from COG, other regional partners, actually look at having real public safety campaigns on the road goes a lot farther than anything we could do from this day.

[00:14:46] It's on changing the culture around people driving safely, unsafely, not walking safely. So I just wanted to highlight for that for folks who are here, and I wanted to see if you guys wanted to add any color or elaboration to that. No, that's great. Thank you, Supervisor Bodie, for your support. Thank you. Supervisor Franklin.

[00:15:02] Thank you. I wasn't initially going to say anything, but just ditto to what Supervisor Bodie just mentioned about some of the work that this county can do itself, again, instead of having to rely on other entities to do traffic mitigation, pedestrian safety, all of those things.

[00:15:19] We've been talking about this for the past year and a half, and particularly with some of the challenges that we've seen on Cardinal Road. Just had this discussion on Friday with a constituent who was very upset about her father passed away, and he would keep his van on the road.

[00:15:35] Someone came in and crashed into his van. So you can imagine her father passed away. She's already dealing with that. And then one of the things that reminds her of some of the things that he's done, that's now taken away as well. It's a lot. This gives us the authority and the ability to do more.

[00:15:53] So thank you. Supervisor Bailey. Thank you very much, Madam Chair, and again, ditto, ditto to what was said. But to add to that, this is driven by a series of conversations that we've had due to fatalities. And so, Rick, thank you so much for you and your team for keeping your eye on the radar and hearing our voices as we identify grant opportunities so it doesn't hit necessarily our funding from our budget, but it also looks at opportunities regionally as we look at the fatalities that's happened regionally.

[00:16:23] So thank you. Thank you, ma'am. Seeing no further discussion, please vote. Vote unanimous. Thank you. We are now on to item 3G, pulled by Supervisor Bailey. Thank you very much, Madam Chair.

[00:16:40] I wanted to take this opportunity. Rick, don't leave you and your team. No, ma'am. I wanted to take this opportunity to thank you. This is a project that has been on the radar, I would say, since around 2016, 2017, or maybe even before. And upon my collaborating with you in the early, just during COVID, we finally got into a place where we can provide, again, because of a lot of accidents, the lighting there at Stockbridge.

[00:17:10] And so I'm very much appreciative of that. This is also partnering with an upcoming project for Tallinn Drive as well. But this is specifically for Stockbridge. And for my citizens in the Potomac District, I want to say we did it. It's done. Thank you to the Transportation Department.

[00:17:27] We appreciate it. With that, I'll entertain a motion for 3G. So move, Madam Chair. Second. Motion made by Supervisor Bailey, seconded by Vice Chair Bodie. Any further discussion? So move, Madam Chair.

[00:17:43] Second. Okay. Seeing no further discussion, please vote. Vote unanimous. Thank you. That brings us on to 3I, Supervisor Weird. I am, sir.

[00:17:58] You need to turn your microphone on. Rick, could you give us a real quick rundown on status and timeline of this? where we stand, is engineering done, when we can expect some movement on the sidewalk project? Supervisor, we just wanted to say welcome before I let my staff member here answer your question for you.

[00:18:20] Welcome to the board and good luck with everything up there. I sense a twinge of sarcasm there. No, no, no, no sarcasm for sure. Good luck to you. Paulo Belita, my planning manager, who applied for these grants, he'll give you a rundown on them.

[00:18:37] Just so you understand, though, this is two different projects we're talking about, both on Old Carolina, but it is two separate projects that we have on this one item. That was my next question. Yes, sir. Madam Chair, members of the board, Paulo Belita with the Department of Transportation. Supervisor, to answer your question, we have two Old Carolina road sidewalk projects.

[00:18:58] The southern portion is south of the town of Haymarket Limits. The northern portion in question is the funding we just received as part of a funding update last year. So this is an agreement to begin that process. It's a federally funded project, so design will take approximately 12 to 18 months.

[00:19:15] We'll be working with the town as we implement design engineering. And the southern portion? I believe we're getting ready to go into construction, so that's underway. That will be completed prior to the completion of the other sidewalk. And that's still going to terminate south of the railroad tracks?

[00:19:32] correct that's all I had thank you if you have no questions you're welcome to make a motion on 3i so moved motion made by supervisor Weirskind by supervisor Lawson seeing no further discussion please vote you did it too quick there we go thank you that brings us to 3l chair members of the board 3l supervisor Weirskind yes ma'am

[00:20:11] I'm not sure quite who to address this to I guess Ms. Atreid although I'm not sure that's going to be the proper person is Ms. Atreid here yes Good to see you, Ms. Atrey.

[00:20:27] Good afternoon. All right. On the UOSA agreement, I'm assuming this is pretty much pro forma. Yeah, this agreement is actually sort of maintained by Prince William County Service Authority.

[00:20:43] Their board adopts the agreement first, and then it comes to this board as the governing body of Prince William County. But the day-to-day operations are between Prince William County Service Authority and UOSA. Which begs the question, is this a stopgaff effort or does this include, is 3 million gallons a day going to be sufficient to cover planned and proposed residential, commercial, and industrial in that area?

[00:21:12] And does it also factor in expansion into the rural area surrounding that area? Or are we going to be back here for another expansion down the line? And who ultimately pays for it? I'm assuming the ratepayers. So, Mr. Weir, this agreement has been amended several times.

[00:21:28] I can think of at least two times in my career, and I've been here about 29 years, and it's been amended, perhaps more. The request did come from Prince William County and the City of Manassas in terms of the agreement, of the amount that, the additional capacity that was wanted. So I'm assuming Prince William County Service Authority would have done some analysis to come to that number to make that request.

[00:21:47] But you're right. Down the road, if we need more capacity, Prince William County Service Authority would initiate that request, would take it to the UOSA and the UOSA Board. They would discuss, act upon it, amend the agreement. would go through their council, Prince William County Service Authority Council, and then ultimately our council to review the agreement.

[00:22:04] So, the details about the actual usage and capacity, I think those would be a question we would have to ask of Prince William County Service Authority. Thank you. Yep. If you're done with the questions, you're welcome to make a motion on 3L. Move 3L.

[00:22:20] Second. Motion made by Supervisor Weird, seconded by Supervisor Bailey. Any further discussion? Madam Chair. Supervisor Lawson. Thank you. I would just ask staff to make sure that somebody from the service authority and UOSA will be here for that public hearing in case we do have questions.

[00:22:38] Thanks. Seeing no further discussion, please vote. Vote unanimous. Thank you. I will now entertain a motion on our proclamations and accommodations for 3T, U, and B.

[00:22:55] So moved, Madam Chair. Second. Motion made by Supervisor Bailey, seconded by Vice Chair Bodie. Any discussion? Madam Chair. Supervisor Bega. Thank you. I notice a lot of new faces here in chambers, so for those that don't know, I have a personal policy where I abstain from all board proclamations and accommodations, so just wanted to go on the record stating that again, Madam Chair. Thank you.

[00:23:27] Supervisor Franklin. Sure, just want to thank Chair Wheeler for the recognition at Ebenezer Baptist Church, and thank you to Pastor Lundy for your service and for being here today, and then also want to thank Supervisor Bailey for recognizing Mumford Point Marine Day.

[00:23:46] Incredible history here to Prince William County. And quite frankly, and I would just say it, a good way to end Black History Month to do such a recognition. So thank you for that. I've had the opportunity to speak to some individuals in the past during some of my Black History Month programs about the history here.

[00:24:07] So I'm looking forward to actually hearing the comments and the remarks made. So thank you for putting that effort forward. Thank you. And I'll just take a moment. I know that Supervisor Bailey will recognize Colonel Brooks is here from our commander at Quantico Marine Corps Base.

[00:24:24] So thank you for being with us today. And I know you'll be up for the Mumford Point. So very exciting to have you in chambers. With that, I will please vote. Has everyone voted?

[00:24:42] Vote unanimous. Supervisor Vega, abstaining from vote. Awesome. We're going to begin with Irish American Heritage Month proclamation, and joining me at the podium, I believe, is Vince Fitzpatrick, Greater Manassas St. Patrick's Day Parade. Here we go again.

[00:25:12] Stand underneath here while I read. Okay. You will be seen on camera, which is, no, it's good. It's all good. Welcome. Irish American Heritage Month, March 2023. Whereas millions of Americans traced their roots to Ireland's shores, and whereas early Irish immigrants endured several hardships to build new lives, they transformed our largest cities into centers of commerce and industry and made great cultural, spiritual, and economic contributions which exemplified the diversity of our nation.

[00:25:45] And whereas Irish Americans played an important part in creating the fabric of our history through their service in government and military, also through their faith and family values. And whereas today many Americans of Irish descent continue to play a vital role in shaping our history and our culture, enriching all aspects of our lives.

[00:26:03] And whereas the men and women of the ancient Order of Hibernians, Father Edwin Kelly, Lieutenant Colonel John A. Dowd, and Father Michael Judge Divisions of Prince William County and Innisfal, Inc., are pillars in our community who represent the Irish-American population in the county.

[00:26:21] Now, therefore, be it resolved that the Prince William County Board of Supervisors hereby proclaims the month of March 2023 as Irish American Heritage Month. Thank you. Chairman Wheeler and the county board, again, I've been up here several years doing this, and we really appreciate this effort.

[00:26:47] We put a lot of effort into our Irish history, and this year, again, we're going to have another beautiful parade. We've got six pipe bands, several dance groups, and several, each in order of Hibernian's divisions.

[00:27:04] And the parade will be on Saturday, March 11th, in Old Town Manassas and at the corner of Prescott Road. And we'll march down through Old Town Manassas and finish at the pavilion, the Harris Pavilion.

[00:27:24] But we expect, I think they told me we have 96, the other day, 96 entries into the parade. which will probably be an hour, an hour and 15 minutes long, but it's going to be a really nice parade this year.

[00:27:40] Last year we got snowed out and we were really disappointed. So we're hoping and praying we get good weather and get to be able to have this, and we appreciate this. Okay? Thank you. Thank you. I'd be able to take a picture and then we'll...

[00:28:04] Next, we are honoring Ebenezer Baptist Church on their 140th anniversary.

[00:28:21] Coming up today, I know that we have a bunch, And it's Pastor Charles Lundy, Allison Anderson, the chair of the trustee ministry, Octavis Jones, chair of the deacons ministry, and Marian Hubbard of the church clerk, and I believe a few others before we, and if you all want to line up, you'll be on TV, and then you'll be welcome to say a few words, you know, give a wonderful pastor a microphone.

[00:28:50] So inspiring. Maybe that's what we need today. Ebenezer Baptist Church 140th Anniversary, whereas Ebenezer Baptist Church was founded on March 5th, 1883 in Woodbridge, Virginia, and whereas a church stands as one of the oldest African-American Baptist congregations in eastern Prince William County, and whereas since its founding, Ebenezer Baptist Church has weathered many turbulent periods in our Commonwealth's history and its 140 years of service and success, despite such turbulence, It's a testament to the enduring power of community and faith.

[00:29:25] Whereas the celebration of Ebenezer Baptist Church's 140th anniversary is a way of recognizing the long-standing faith and history of African Americans in our community throughout our history. And whereas, by celebrating the achievements and the longevity of Ebenezer Baptist Church, we celebrate the storied lives of many in the community who have made Prince William County what it is today.

[00:29:49] Now, therefore, be it resolved that the Prince William Bordia County Supervisors hereby recognizes and commends Ebenezer Baptist Church on the occasion of the church's 140th anniversary. Let me just say that on behalf of all the citizens of Prince William County that are part of the Ebenezer Church family, we are certainly glad to be a part of this growing and dynamic county.

[00:30:29] We like to see ourselves or consider ourselves as good students, sorry, good citizens of the county and progressive as well as actively taking a part in what Prince William County stands for, not only in the Commonwealth, but certainly in the United States.

[00:30:48] So we are just proud to be a part, and we appreciate you recognizing our contribution. And we're going to continue to be actively involved in all of those social programs that makes the county what she is as a place to be.

[00:31:05] So we thank you for your resolution. We're going to take a photograph.

[00:31:26] Thank you.

[00:31:49] I was about to say, next, Supervisor Bailey will be doing the Munford Point Marine Day commendation. Yes. If you are a historical figure with the Month of Point Marines and you are active in the Month of Point Marines organization, would you please come forward? And that would be our dear Colonel, please. Colonel Master Guns, please. Reverend Bailey, please.

[00:32:20] Thank you so much, Madam Chair. It gives me honor and a privilege to read this and acknowledge the great work of the Mumford Point Marine, being a wife of a Marine, a goddaughter of a Mumford Point Marine, and a goddaughter of the illustrious Sergeant Major Huff.

[00:33:05] I read as follows, Monfort Point Marine Day, February 28th, 2023, whereas the Prince William Board of County Supervisors seeks to honor the first African-American recruits in the United States Marine Corps, and whereas while the United States was preparing to enter World War II, hiring discrimination based on race was still the norm in the defense industry, and civil rights leaders were organizing for change.

[00:33:36] And whereas during the 1940s, roughly 20,000 black African Americans trained in harsh segregated conditions at the epitome of Montfort Point Marine Base in North Carolina and eventually helped to inspire the end of the military's longstanding policy of racial segregation.

[00:33:56] And whereas on June 25, 1941, the President of the United States signed Executive Order 8802, prohibiting racial discrimination in defense of industry or in government, opening all branches of the United States Armed Forces to African Americans, and on November 23, 2011, President Barack Obama signed into law the legislation awarding the Congressional Gold Medal, the highest civilian honor bestowed by Congress to the Mumford Point Marines.

[00:34:31] And whereas, as a grateful country, which includes Quantico Marine Base and a community that harbors many active duty and retired armed service members, we seek to honor the Mumford Point Marines who were determined to serve and to fight for their country abroad and heroes, even though they faze segregation when they return home.

[00:34:57] Now, therefore, be it resolved that the Prince William County Board of County Supervisors hereby proclaims February 28, 2023 as Montfort Point Marine Day in honor of the service and sacrifices made by this brave group of individuals to our country.

[00:35:15] Be it further resolved that the Prince William County Board of County Supervisors hereby encourages citizens to observe and recognize the achievements and history of the Mumford Point Marine. Congratulations. Ladies and gentlemen, I'd like to introduce our very own Colonel Michael Brooks, Quantico Base, if you'll come forward, please.

[00:35:56] So no pressure there, Supervisor Franklin. Madam Chair, members of the board, good afternoon and good afternoon to everyone here. I would like to acknowledge and thank Supervisor Bailey for inviting me here today to be a part of this recognition and honor given to the Montfort Point Marines.

[00:36:19] I would also like to thank Prince William County. You have been a steady partner to Marine Corps Base Quantico, our service members and our families and our veteran population that we have that resides here, and I really appreciate it. It has been recognized, it has been felt, and it is greatly appreciated for the partnership that you have given Marine Corps Base Quantico.

[00:36:41] So thank you. And the last, because I don't want to take the spotlight, especially when we have an original Montfort Marine here, but I would tell everyone here that I am extremely humbled standing here before you today because of this great American that we have and those great Americans that were the first.

[00:37:07] And I can't even imagine, actually, to be the first. Americans that had to go through a lot to serve their country, to fight for their country, just to fight for their country, and they broke barriers, and they proved to the country, they broke stereotypes and proved to the country that African Americans was worthy of fighting for their country.

[00:37:39] So, Master Guns, on behalf of Marine Corps Base Quantico, thank you so much for your sacrifice and your service. Ladies and gentlemen, I'd like to introduce to you the original Montfort Point Marine and our community, Master Gunnery Sergeant Braxton, if you'll come forward, please, sir.

[00:38:24] Good afternoon. As the colonel said, you couldn't really realize what we had to go through to be a Marine. You know, it's kind of tough when you're going to fight for your country and you're told you're not wanted.

[00:38:45] You don't belong here. We don't need you here. And you will never be a Marine. But after 11 weeks of going through hell, you see I'm standing here.

[00:39:01] And after boot camp, a few of us were designated to go to the Pacific. We went to the Pacific, and would you believe we wasn't segregated.

[00:39:24] We joined the white Marines on those islands. And you know, it's a strange thing. Bullets don't have black or white. And we found that out. And the white Marines found out that we could do anything they could do, and maybe a little better, because we wanted to do.

[00:39:44] We wanted to prove that we could fight for our country, and we were equal to anybody else that fought for their country. And so we stood it, and not only did I stay in World War II for the Pacific, they volunteered me for the Korean War.

[00:40:05] I volunteered for World War II, but I didn't have any idea that after going through that, they volunteered me for the Korean War. So that goes to show you that we had proved ourselves that we could fight.

[00:40:24] We had to fight to fight for our country. And now we are still, I hate to say, still fighting a little bit. Because it's better, but it could be a whole lot better. I wanted to say thank you, and it's a pleasure for me to be here to represent the Montfort Point Marine.

[00:41:39] Johnson. Yes. You said widely. Young man over here. That's you.

[00:42:17] That's young man here. I was one of the first black drill instructors that came out of that boot camp. We didn't have any idea that the colonel was going to call 20 of us and he says, just look, he's standing in a whole battalion of volunteers.

[00:42:39] He said, just look, all of you are volunteers but now we're going to He picked 20 of us to go to NCO Leadership School to read Drill Instructors. I hated everything.

[00:42:58] Thank this young man for coming in my footstep. Pastor London, yes sir, one time for the Marine Corps.

[00:43:19] Hurrah! Hurrah! You're scaring the civilians.

[00:43:40] Madam Chair. Supervisor Franklin. I do want to say, as everyone is settling down, if you don't know the history of the Braxton family here in Prince William County, you should look that up.

[00:43:58] Well, that's a good question. Supervisor Lawson asked, where can we find it? That's one of the reasons why I issued that directive to look at Prince William County's history, particularly African-American history, and I'm just going to put it out there.

[00:44:16] It would be great if staff could do some oral interviews, get it recorded, have individuals like Mr. Braxton on video so we can have this live on forever, because those stories are incredible. Well, let's hope the press, who I don't know if they're here today, will cover it.

[00:44:35] Absolutely. Okay, before we start public comment time, I have just one housekeeping item. I know that people are aware that both the application for Devlin Road as well as the Klein Project have been deferred by the applicant.

[00:44:55] The only thing that was on the agenda on March 7th in the evening was Devlin, and the only thing that was on the agenda in the evening of March 15th was Devlin, 14th was Devlin. I mean, so it was Klein, and so we need to officially remove those meetings from our schedule.

[00:45:14] Like, we voted one in and had a resolution. We need to vote it out. So I will entertain a motion to do that. Thank you, Chair. So move. Can I get a second? Second. Motion made by Supervisor Angry, seconded by Supervisor Bailey. Any discussion? Madam Chair. Supervisor Lawson?

[00:45:29] Thank you. I would ask that county staff do everything that they can to communicate to the public that on March 7th and 14th, these once-announced public hearings, or actually, yeah, not even, I don't know about Cline, but the Devlin public hearing was closed on February 7th.

[00:45:51] But whatever we can communicate to the public would be helpful. Thank you. Thank you for that. Madam Chair. Supervisor Vega. Thank you. You had inquired, I think it was last week, about the Cline application, and just want to let folks know here and at home that we've been working very closely with the applicant.

[00:46:08] There's been a significant reduction in density, which means that it's going to go back to the planning commission. So that's great news for us. I want to thank everybody that's showed up, that's spoken up, your voice is being heard. And with that, Madam Chair, I'm happy to let folks know that once we have made more progress on the application, we will have a date, certainly, and we'll go back to the PC and then eventually to us.

[00:46:29] Thank you. Okay. Seeing no further discussion, please vote. Vote unanimous. Okay. Thank you. We will now move on to public comment time, or at least start with in-person public comment time.

[00:46:45] Each speaker will have three minutes to share their views and opinions before the board. We ask that all speakers state their name, and the magisterial district, or generally where they live, at the beginning of their remarks. It will close after the first 15 minutes of in-person public comments.

[00:47:01] We're going to call them up five at a time, and today we have, right now, 15 speakers. Our first five speakers who want to line up at the back microphone are Dave Williams, Mary Jo Harwath, Carl Greeten, Russell Bryant, and Karen Sheehan.

[00:47:34] Dave Williams? I'm sorry, it's the back microphone. In the back. Yeah. I don't know. Are those the words you brought up?

[00:47:52] Okay. Okay. That's great if you want to leave them there. Please proceed. Good afternoon, Chair Wheeler and supervisors. My name is Dave Williams. I reside just outside the town of Occoquan, the Supervisor Bodie's district.

[00:48:09] I'm currently the president of the Occoquan Woodbridge-Lorton Volunteer Fire Department. I've been there for 22 years, six years of that, was an assistant fire chief, and before that, 15 years volunteering in Montgomery County Department of Fire and Rescue. Today, I'm pleased to announce to you that OWL is, again, the recipient of the Governor's Award for Outstanding Response of a Fire Department.

[00:48:33] This year, we received the award along with the Dumfries Triangle Volunteer Fire Department and the Department of Fire and Rescue for last year's innovative reaction and response to the I-95 traffic lockdown during the Snowmageddon. This was a unique situation, thinking outside the box to provide support to the motorists on I-95.

[00:48:54] All the departments working cohesively together enable us to best serve the citizens. The Department of Fire and Rescue provided command and medical support. Humphreys was able to provide food and water from local businesses, along with the distribution of it and the plow.

[00:49:10] And OWL responded with our all-terrain ambulance for access where larger ambulance units couldn't reach. Along with, OWL provided a plow, additional medical supplies, and food and water from our bingo and ladies' auxiliary stock.

[00:49:26] Last year, OWL was a recipient of this same Governor's Award, so this is the second year in a row. For our members' response, again, thinking outside the box, to save the lives of three county residents who, in the early morning hours, had gone unconscious due to carbon monoxide.

[00:49:44] Our crew's quick decision to take immediate action clearly resulted in the immediate rescue and successful resuscitation of all three residents. A few more minutes, it would have been a different situation. And the crew, thinking outside the box, along with a slight deviation in policy, resulted in this.

[00:50:05] If they had stuck to the letter of the law, it would have resulted very differently. OWL has a long, proud history since 1936 of working cooperatively with other departments. By the way, in 2023, this is our 85th year serving Prince William County.

[00:50:23] And we've got hundreds of members of the department, over 100 of which are county residents. As you consider the new fire and rescue system, Chief, please prioritize someone who is capable, willing, and committed to working with the volunteers in Prince William County.

[00:50:42] Additionally, I look forward to the board's support as OWL navigates the process to replace Fire Station 2 in North Woodbridge. This station was built in 1969 and no longer able to provide the necessary support to the county and citizens for today or moving into tomorrow.

[00:51:02] We're working with the Department of Fire and Rescue, and I look forward to speaking with you all in the future about that project. Thank you. Thank you very much, and thank you for all you do in the community. Next speaker, please. Hi, my name is Mary Jo Howarth from Victory Lakes in Bristow District.

[00:51:29] Good afternoon, and welcome, Supervisor Ware. So recap from the February 7th into the early morning hours of February 8th. Supervisors Franklin and Bailey used the word compromise, referring to Supervisor Lawson and then in turn to the residents along Devlin and Linton Hall.

[00:51:55] We have compromised. When Stanley Martin first planned for 1,650 units in 2015, called Stonehaven, to 516 units in 2020. The next time we heard from Truett Young was in 2022.

[00:52:15] That's two years later. We never heard anything for two years. And that was to rezone to light industrial, to accommodate 14 data centers and three or four substations. That would be known as Devlin Technology Park.

[00:52:36] Supervisor Bode, you proposed this idea, putting houses at the top of Linear Farm and Chris Young Elementary School.

[00:52:52] But then that would be packing 14 data centers and substations down in this little cramped space. If you notice, Bristow Montessori School is right there.

[00:53:11] And that houses toddlers in cribs and young students up to third grade at Bristow Montessori. Bristow Commons is there. Are you going to come and have dinner, eat outside?

[00:53:28] Your entertainment will be the hum of the data centers. and your aroma will be from the diesel generators. I don't think you'll come that far. Chair Wheeler, you stated, why would we build houses by data centers?

[00:53:46] Our question is, why would we build data centers by houses? Supervisor Angry, you summed it all up, saying this was a mess. We have to stop this.

[00:54:05] We can't keep going down the road. He's right. We can't keep kicking this can down the road. The land is zoned, residential. Keep it residential. Build the houses or build something that can benefit the community.

[00:54:24] Or just leave it for the animals and the trees and the people to be walking. Nice green space. Nice trees that we all need. Vote no on Devlin Technology Park.

[00:54:41] Thank you. Thank you. Next speaker, please. Good afternoon. I'm Carl Gretton. I live in the Gainesville District. I stand here again against the Digital Gateway CPA on Pageland Lane.

[00:54:59] A majority of Prince William County residents have spoken. It is astronomical that a small number of financial donors has beaten the big blue machine. Democrats have come across the aisle to support Bob Weir. We know the margin of victory was huge at 60 to 40 percent.

[00:55:15] As residents, we anticipate Bob will ensure Prince William County is a place where all families can thrive. He will protect parks and green space, expand transportation options, fully fund our schools, and continue to fight for jobs. We look forward to Bob and the rest of the BOCS to listen to and represent our families' interests, support policies that benefit workers and underserved communities, promote small businesses and entrepreneurs who live and work in the community, and to prioritize people over special interests.

[00:55:45] There's a campaign phrase that we want all the Board of Supervisors to listen to. If you talk the talk, then walk the walk. Democrats on the Board have received substantial donations from labor unions that have voiced support for data center construction.

[00:56:01] It is once again time to start the wave. The supervisors that supported the Digital Gateway have now seen what constituents want with the election of Bob Weir. Republicans have a resolution to oust the supervisors who voted for the Digital Gateway.

[00:56:18] ma'am, can I use the AV? Plan on the resistance to your primary coming up soon or your re-election in November. Kenny, Victor, Andrea, Margaret, and Ann, please read the tea leaves and just resign now. Whether it was the digital gateway residence or the board that has lied or given misinformation to Prince William County, there was a grand promise that tax bills would decrease because of the building of data centers. As we can clearly see from the new budget proposal from the county,

[00:56:57] The taxes for houses will go up 1%. This slide represents $490,000. Many houses in Prince William County are valued higher, which means a higher bill. This is more to fuel the fire for elimination of the board that voted for approval of the Digital Gateway.

[00:57:14] Congratulations, Bob, and we look forward to the primaries and elections. Thank you. Next speaker, please. Good afternoon, Chair, Supervisors, County Exec, County Attorney.

[00:57:30] My name is Russell Bryant, and I reside in the Woodbridge-Manchesterial District. Recently in the Prince William Times, Commissioner Gordy in part cited that all citizens utilizing cloud-related and connected services and devices have a duty to clean house, so to speak, with respect to save data as related to data centers.

[00:57:51] It's a type of house cleaning, spring cleaning, and due diligence. Prince William County also can execute due diligence for citizens via pushing for stronger current, stronger than current MS4 runoff discharge standards, lower height limitations for data centers and flex space industry buildings, wider setback distances between differing land uses, and mandating green energy usage for data centers, as Governor Youngkin recently announced for an AWS data center elsewhere in Virginia. Another area to consider is employing

[00:58:30] purchase of development rights for expansion of state and federal parks via and with appropriate legislation. Thank you. Thank you. Next speaker, please. And before our next speaker, I'll call off the next five. Tom Haworth, Ann Medford, Robin Stroud, Allie Stoger, and Patrick Harters. Please

[00:59:00] proceed. Karen Sheehan, Gainesville District, and I'm here to celebrate today. First of all, I get to celebrate being an Irish American, and I'm very proud of that. Second of all, I get to celebrate because my dad, my brother, and my son-in-law are all Marines, as well as my nephew and we are a proud family we are proud virginians and i am here with my air popcorn

[00:59:37] along with everybody else who has their air popcorn to celebrate bob weir joining the board this is an indication of a changing dynamic for the citizens for the board and for the county And I just want to sit here today through the entire 2 o'clock session and the entire 7.30 session and enjoy and gloat a little bit as well.

[01:00:16] Because it's been a long, hard slog. I will eat my air popcorn over and over and over today, every day, all the way through the summer and up until the elections when we can look at more dynamics changing on this board, in this county, and for our citizens.

[01:00:45] Thank you to everyone, everyone who proudly wore the red t-shirts, went around and collected recall signatures, manned the poles, knocked on doors, talked to your neighbors, talked to your families, and made people listen.

[01:01:06] The best story that I have is spending 12 hours at one of the precincts talking about the Wheeler recall and handing out the letter. the flyer, and there were definitely people there that weren't sure that they wanted to sign the recall. Many took the flyer and went home and said, I need to do some research. I need to look this up. I need to study this. Six people drove back to the school that I was at in the middle of

[01:01:41] all of that traffic, passed all of the parents waiting to get their kids, and came up to me and said, I read this, I went out, I researched, and I want to sign that recall. That is an indication of what is to come, and I am celebrating. Next speaker, please. Good afternoon. My name is Tom Howarth, Brintsville District. Though the issue has been deferred, I'm here to remind you that the Linton Hall-Devlin Road communities are united in their opposition to the proposed Devlin

[01:02:18] Technology Park rezoning. The message is simple. Don't build data centers near neighborhoods and schools anywhere. Thank you. Thank you. Next speaker, please. Madam Chair, my Board of Supervisors, I'm Ann Medford of the Occoquan District. I first want to express my appreciation to those of you that have supported collective bargaining and specifically those that support including provisional employees into our CBO. I come to you again to speak about the need for

[01:02:54] our provisional employees to be included in it and to be included in the collective bargaining ordinance, but I want you to know me a little bit better and why I keep speaking up. I've been a Prince William County employee for over seven years. I've been a resident for over, excuse me, nearly 14 years. I'm a trainer. I'm an instructor. I've worked in children's programming. I'm a Prince William County champion. I want us to love where we live because I truly do. I see what our

[01:03:31] provisional employees do every day, as I know you do. They welcome our children into camps, swim meets, preschools. They support me as a fellow member and employee. They show up in all manner of weather and always with a smile on our face, making this county a wonderful place to live.

[01:03:54] They protect me, my children, our larger community to remain healthy and always in a safe environment. When there's an emergency or a crisis or a danger present in our community centers, we are the first line of response to ensure safety.

[01:04:14] I want the people that give their talents and time to Prince William County citizens the right to speak at the table when decisions are being made about our benefits and our working conditions, and more importantly, when our benefits are being cut and eliminated.

[01:04:30] My tax dollars pay our provisional employees, and we deserve and have earned the right to be treated as equals with our full-time staff, our teachers, our police, our firefighters, our ADC employees.

[01:04:49] I expect and hope my board to amend the CBO to include provisional employees and allow us to continue to organize. I expect our county executive to support these efforts as well. This ordinance must include all full-time and part-time employees who work more than 90 days per year, regardless of our benefit status. Please make these changes, and I thank you for your service and for acting with a sense of urgency today and around these last several months that we've been working on this together to make the correct changes to our CBO. Thank you for your

[01:05:26] time. Thank you. Next speaker, please. Hi, my name is Robin Stroud. I live in the Coles District, Madam Chair, Board Members, and County Executive Shorter.

[01:05:42] Our paying members are the mission of Parks and Recreation, and we 520-plus provisional employees are charged seven days a week with fulfilling the mission. From the professionally certified instructors leading 123 group fitness, land, and water classes Monday through Sunday, trained and at the ready to also perform CPR and deliver first aid.

[01:06:05] Front desk employees charged with greeting each person at the counter while considering, does this person represent an active shooter threat? Do I need to activate a code ADAM for a child suspected of being taken from the center? All while transacting the day-to-day business of the centers.

[01:06:22] Custodians cleaning bathrooms, equipment, general use areas, setting up events, interacting with members. Personal trainers impacting our members to attain quality of life, mobility, strength, functional and performance goals. The November 22nd ordinance denies over 520 of us a seat at the collective bargaining table. We were informed that the Board of Supervisors were taking 90 days to review changes to include us. The 90 days has come and gone. We've shown up week after week asking you to change the ordinance to include us. It's a worthy ask. We have zero input when decisions are

[01:06:58] made that directly impact our working conditions, pay, and benefits. Fitness instructors and personal trainers who've been with the county with multiple professional certifications for years still have beginning fitness instructor. Our access to facilities and equipment where we certify teach paying members and training was stripped away. Instead, we're told to ante up $432 a year for a discounted member fee. We don't have access to the county's main employee communication portal to receive information and provide our input unless we make our way somewhere to an on-site county worksite computer. Yet if we don't show up as scheduled and deliver,

[01:07:38] who keeps these revenue centers, Chen and Dale City, operational? Mr. Smith said to me that he was sore for two days after last week's Aquafit class that he and his wife took with me. I asked him if that was a good thing. He said, oh yes, it was just when I needed. Three years ago, I couldn't walk after multiple surgeries with the last one resulting in a fused spine. The water classes have been life-changing for me and my wife. Remember when she had both knees replaced a year and a half ago? I do. Ms. Jones walked in with a cane last week. She said, here I am, Robin. I'm ready

[01:08:14] to work. Seth Hindler-Vos, our executive director, stays in his message to the community. Our staff is committed to ensuring you have an exceptional experience at every turn. We 520-plus provisional employees are that staff delivering on Seth's commitment to the community, and we deserve a seat at the collective bargaining table. Please change the ordinance to include us. Thank you.

[01:08:39] Thank you. Next speaker, please. So I'll begin. This is Allie Stoger in Gainesville District, and I'll begin where I left off a couple of months ago when I last spoke, which is where's my map?

[01:09:04] Well, I finally got a map with a little help from my friends. Didn't get it from the county. What you're looking at does not include a large part of the overlay district. This county has only built out 12 percent, 12 percent of the data centers already zoned. This is what's left to still go into Gainesville District and Bristow and Haymarket. A small fraction of that, probably about 2 percent of that, has been built out. Yet this board is intent on, apparently, on zoning the

[01:09:39] Prince William Digital Gateway, as well as, you know, hopefully Devlin's off the map, with so little built out. How do we know what's going to happen? When it comes to our water supply, we know some of the members of this board believe that they got a pass on water night. But as anyone in medical, environmental, or scientific fields can tell you, the concept of additive impacts resulting in a cascade of tipping points is the key to understanding climate change and environmental danger and medical issues.

[01:10:17] If you review the information from the famous water night, you'll find the expert in the room stating his concern about cascades and tipping points. But you don't have to be an expert to realize that putting over 100 data centers in this small area of the county will trigger a cascade of environmental and health issues for the community.

[01:10:39] We know there are unresolved noise issues, and what's being considered today is the smallest Band-Aid possible. The only thing that would protect this community is hitting the stop button like Chandler, Arizona did. The primary job of this board should be protecting the citizens, and this Band-Aid does not even come close.

[01:11:01] We know there are unresolved electrical grid issues associated with potential increase of diesel pollutants. We know the Historical Commission and Environmental Sustainability Commission are opposed to the Prince William Gateway. We know every environmental group is opposed to the Prince William Gateway.

[01:11:20] Earlier today, I emailed each of you my February 2023 update to the additive and interdependent sources of diesel pollution related to massive data center zoning approvals in Gainesville, Haymarket, and Bristow.

[01:11:37] Please take the time to read the report. In it, you will find that Portland State has done some significant studies that could help our community. We know, and you know, why the data center frenzy must come to a halt. Thank you.

[01:11:53] Thank you. And before our next speaker, I'm going to call up the last five. Wendy Ault, Bethany Kelly, Ken Knorr, Elena Schlossberg, and Margarita Moylan. Please proceed. I'm Patrick Harters from the finally represented Gainesville District.

[01:12:15] Congratulations, Bob. After 18 long months, we finally have someone that we could call and talk to that represents us, and I don't have to bother Janine and Yesley all the time. Edward R. Murrow comforted our country after World War II, and he said, if we dig deep into our history and our doctrine and remember that we are not descended from fearful men. One thing I love about this country is we are not a fearful group of people. We stand up for truth. We stand up against oppression. Throughout the entire history, whether we look at whatever oppression has come

[01:12:51] our way, whether foreign, domestic, national, or local, we have come together as a people, Republicans, Democrats, even the Whigs a long time ago. The conservatives and liberals and libertarians have always come together under the purpose that we are a people that will not be oppressed. This government, this local government, has been the most oppressive local government we have seen in Virginia's history.

[01:13:18] I have called it the most corrupt government in Virginia's history. And the consequences are coming. We go to a meeting that I work all day and I come to a meeting that goes on for 11 hours only to have supervisor angry after 11 hours within two minutes propose a pre-written proposal and everybody jumping to second it and the meeting and totally disregard our voice.

[01:13:42] And all we ask for is a voice in this county and we have not had that. I predict that if you continue down this road, we will see resignations done. We will see primaries. Each of you are being primaried, and that's a good thing.

[01:13:59] We're seeing Republicans and Democrats come together for these primary candidates and truly challenge you. I know, Supervisor Bodie, you have not been challenged on a primary, but justice is coming, and that's going to be challenging. So we look at the challenges we have as a people and what we have overcome.

[01:14:18] And our strongest voice that we have is the vote, and the vote is coming, first in June and then in November. And if you continue down this road to push industrialization onto us against our will, our voices will be heard.

[01:14:36] This board will look drastically different come June and come November. Next speaker, please. Good afternoon, Chair Wheeler and board.

[01:14:52] Thank you very much. My name is Wendy Ault, and I live on Poplar Ford Trail in Sudley Springs, Virginia, on the other side of the proposed digital gateway. It's not in my personal backyard, but I'm going to take up the NIMBY issue.

[01:15:10] In fact, the Manassas Battlefield Park is everybody's backyard. It's open to everybody to enjoy. It's a beautiful green space that doesn't need to be denigrated by multitudes of data centers. it just, it's almost unconscionable to me that one could do that. Exempting the largest growing industry in this county, and the largest project that it seems to me has been done here in the 43 years I've lived in this area, and worked in this area, without considering environmental impacts

[01:15:47] importantly, and protecting the citizens importantly, it just seems to me to be, it's unbelievable. So, but here I am after many, many, many hours, and it's clear to me that we are not taking those things into consideration. We are not taking that responsibility seriously, and I have to agree with the previous speaker. I'd also like to welcome Mr. Weir to the board. I think it's going to change the conversation, and I'd also like to say that I'm one of the many Democrats for Bob voters. I have crossed the aisle more times in the last couple of months than I can even imagine,

[01:16:26] And it's been a delightful experience to work with like-minded people to preserve the environment, which is not a partisan issue. I want to thank you very much. Thank you, Supervisor Lawson, for being a voice for those of us who feel that this is clearly, clearly an important issue for our future, clearly an important issue for our children and grandchildren, and one that deserves more contemplation and more study.

[01:16:52] Thank you. Thank you. Next speaker, please. Good afternoon. I'm Bethany Kelly, and I reside in the Brentsville District. I'm here to speak to you once again about Devlin Technology Park.

[01:17:09] While I'm aware that Stanley Martin has requested the indefinite referral, I'm not naive enough to think that it's going away. I know that it is going to come back to haunt us once again, and it's probably going to be at a time when we least expect it. In January of 2023, we had just a few weeks' notice that it was coming back on the agenda for the February 7th meeting.

[01:17:34] I sat for three long nights in a row in the Spring Hill Suites in Gainesville and listened to Mr. Young try to convince a very large crowd all three nights that the only acceptable use for the piece of land that he purchased with the supposed intent of building homes was to put data centers on it.

[01:17:56] He also looked at everyone in that room and said he would never build houses on this piece of land and he would never request to defer this project. and yet here we are again. We all know this is just a waiting game. He will bring this back to the board as soon as he feels that he can guarantee the votes to get it approved. And unfortunately, no matter how long he waits, that will never make data centers the appropriate use for this piece of property. It's zoned residential. That is what it should be. There are homes on three and a half sides of this piece of property. There are schools on each end of this piece of property. And it's

[01:18:35] ridiculous to think that we could even split this property and put homes on a third of it and data centers on two-thirds of it, because that's not going to make any sense. Mr. Young has said he's not going to build any homes on this property. He will not build homes on that one-third remaining next to Chris Young Elementary, because as he said, no one wants to buy a new home next to a data center. And he's absolutely right about this. As a local professional real estate agent who's been working in this area for the last 10 years, I can tell you people don't want to purchase a home

[01:19:12] next to an industrial area. And if they do purchase by industrial or even by commercial, those homes come at a huge discounted price. It's like a fire sale. So for those of us who's lived here for 10, 20 years, we bought our homes thinking it was going to be a great investment.

[01:19:31] If somebody decides to drop 14 massive data centers right in the middle of it, then yeah, our homes are going to be at a discount and may be sold at a fire sale price if we can even sell them. Just as a side note, when I spoke to you earlier this month, we had nine homes on the market in Virginia, or in Bristow. As of today, we have seven. We don't have any inventory. We need homes. And if you want prices to settle down and it become a fair market, then that's what belongs

[01:20:02] on this piece of land, nothing else. Thank you. Next speaker, please. Ken Norah, Gainesville District. I don't have any prepared comments today. I'm going to speak from the heart. I want to congratulate this board for making the hard fiscal decisions in the last three years to come up with innovative and creative solutions to set the future of this county financially in good steed. There's a lot of programs, a lot of needs, a lot of projects that need to be funded, and it's

[01:20:36] been this board that's done what previous boards could not do for 30 years. For 30 years, this board sat here and couldn't come up with financial solutions didn't have the creativeness didn't have the innovativeness and didn't have the drive to come up with the financial backing to solve solutions that this county has this is the most diverse county it has the most diverse needs it has the most diverse school system it has financial needs and it's the board's responsibility to come up with those solutions and i congratulate you for doing so thank you

[01:21:08] thank you next speaker please can everybody hear me now i just want to make sure so my name is Elena Schlossberg. And I'm sorry, I just want to make sure that you thank you chair. So my name is Elena Schlossberg. I live in the Gainesville district. And I too am celebrating. I just want to say, Supervisor Weir, Supervisor Bob, whatever it takes, I'm just so thrilled. And the people

[01:21:46] that came out, I think you can see my shirt now. I'm a Bob Weir Democrat. And lots of people who came out to vote for Bob? First time they ever voted for a Republican. And do you know why they came out, Chair Wheeler? Because of policies that you're shoving down their throats. And do you know who helped get Bob elected? It was people from all over the county, even people from Dale City came and they were at polling precincts. They were trying to educate the public. So I just want to

[01:22:18] share that I'm just thrilled that you're here, Bob. I want to thank Bob and Supervisor Lawson for supporting me when my mother passed away January 28th. And I want Chair Wheeler to know and the Democrats to understand, my mother was a courageous woman and she raised a brave child.

[01:22:57] And if you think that you can intimidate me by calling me a bad Democrat because I vote people over party, you have very much underestimated me. What I find shocking is that Mr. Weir, Supervisor Weir, and I were here August 2nd, and we informed each and every one of you that we were facing blackouts because the grid could not withstand the amount of data center development that was already approved. I just want to make sure I have everybody's attention here.

[01:23:35] we are going to be relying on dirty diesel to power data centers on those days that are red alerts. So when I dragged, I want to, my mother raised me well, I want to offer an apology and a correction, Chair Wheeler. When I dragged down the 40 pounds of coal and left them down there and said, you're going to have to run diesel generators on dirty coal, I was wrong. We will be running them on dirty diesel. The facts and the science are hitting you all square in the face and your

[01:24:11] constituents will be breathing in that dirty diesel. I expect this board to take a leadership role and comment to DEQ that running our data centers on diesel fuel is not acceptable. I love you mom. I miss you immensely. Jews say may their memory be a blessing. She is a blessing now. I don't have to wait and what my mother would say is baruch hashem i miss you mom and i'm standing

[01:24:43] here today being a voice for the voices that you all are ignoring you know um mr wright you're we know that we know i know you know decorum we generally try to keep decorum we don't clap we don't you know and you're welcome if you cannot keep yourself in check you're welcome to leave thank you our final speaker please my name is margarita moylan and i'm a 21 year resident

[01:25:22] of the Gainesville District. I've stood up here in front of you several times now, and it's not something I particularly enjoy. I feel like my voice and many of the voices who come here to speak are not heard. We in the Gainesville District did not have representation for at least 12 months with the conflict that Pete Canlan had. Thankfully, we now have Bob Weir. The damage has been done.

[01:25:57] We had no vote. You guys voted in some very significant things that affected the Gainesville district specifically. I was struck yesterday by what I didn't see. I attended the swearing-in of Bob Weir and was shocked that four of his fellow representatives were not there.

[01:26:21] In the spirit of working together for the county, I do hope the election showed you all that we want our voices heard. If you simply chalk it up to NIMBYism, as stated by Chair Ann Wheeler, so be it. More of what we don't see are data center projects in the Bodie, Franklin, Bailey, or Angry districts.

[01:26:46] Maybe I'm missing something, but if your constituents had to face 90 data centers within one mile of their homes, I'm sure more NIMBYs would sign up and speak out. Something else we don't see.

[01:27:04] Are there more data centers hidden in one of the 11 non-disclosure agreements the county has signed? It was very apparent that some of the landowners who have sold their land for the Prince William Digital Gateway agree with those of us NIMBYs left in the county.

[01:27:22] One of them posted on social media, and I quote, I am going to miss you. We have sold our farm in Gainesville, moving to the Stanton area in June, Taking my weather station with me. I will still follow you.

[01:27:38] I need your wit and humor, coupled with weather. You might be one of two reasons I'm still on Facebook. Data center development is moving us out. Western Prince William County is slowly getting uglified by poor planning decisions.

[01:27:57] Pretty much says it all. The other thing that I do not see is the mention of the massive data center projects in the Wheeler report. If this is something you are proud of, why do you leave them out of your reports?

[01:28:13] Let's hope that you all have taken note of what the citizens of the county want, and more importantly, what we don't want. Do your duty and represent the citizens accordingly. Don't allow yourselves to be bought.

[01:28:29] Show some integrity. Thank you. That concludes our in-person public comment time for today. Ms. Benton, do we have anyone online? Did you sign up?

[01:28:45] I did. It's on her paper. I did sign up late. Is it still appropriate for me to share? Was it after the first 15 minutes? You signed up for the public hearing. So where are we going with this? May I have the three minutes or? Yes, please state your name and generally where you live and realize that you signed up for the public hearing, not public comment time.

[01:29:08] Okay. My apologies. No worries. Chair Wheeler, supervisors, executive shorter. My name is Ilana Naylor. I'm a resident of the city of Manassas. I also come before you as a master's prepared registered nurse who took care of sick children in the hospital for 39 and a half years.

[01:29:28] There were over 100 people yesterday at the DEQ, the Department of Environmental Quality, speaking about the variants that they're choosing to consider in relationship to diesel generators. The hazards of diesel fuel are the following, and there are multiple, but I'll highlight two of them.

[01:29:46] Nitrogen oxide are emitted by cars, trucks, buses, and the transportation are the largest sources of emissions, followed by power plants, diesel-powered heavy construction equipment, and other movable engines and industrial boilers.

[01:30:06] Sulfur dioxide, the amount of sulfur in diesel fuel, is directly related to the amount of pollution produced when the fuel is burned in an engine. Higher levels of sulfur increase pollutants. So the net effect of both of these pollutants are soot in particulate matter, oxides of nitrogen, which contribute to the production of ground-level ozone, or smog, if you will, and acid rain, hydrocarbons, carbon monoxide, and other HAPs, which are known as hazard air pollutants.

[01:30:39] The air pollution can cause heart and lung disease. It can also damage plants, animals, crops, and water resources. They increased the inflammation of the airways, worsened cough and wheezing, reduced lung function, increased asthma attacks, and as you probably all know, childhood asthma is on the rise, and a greater likelihood of emergency department and hospital admissions.

[01:31:07] While the industry is known in the diesel world to have ultra-low sulfur diesel available with substantially lower sulfur content, however, using the concept of economies of scale in a new way, one data center using diesel fuel really is no threat.

[01:31:27] 300 data centers using diesel fuel, even temporarily, is a health care nightmare. So when we go before the DEQ because they're considering a variance and they said yesterday that they were only considering one time from March to July, nobody believes that.

[01:31:49] And the responsibility of the DEQ is to make sure the pollutants in our air are safe for the population. But in terms of economy of scale, when you have diesel generators to the volume that are being proposed, we will have absolutely no accountability for the amount of pollutants they put into the air, which will affect human as well as the environment, as well as water.

[01:32:15] So please, I urge you to stop this madness of the data center proliferation. Thank you. That will conclude our in-person and remote public comment time for this afternoon. We are going to move on to item 5A, a public hearing for the adoption of an ordinance to vacate .42472 acres of Bristow Road right-of-way.

[01:32:40] Mr. Canizales, do we have a presentation on this or just... Okay. This will officially open the public hearing on item 5A. Ms. Madden, do we have anyone signed up for item 5A?

[01:32:56] No. Okay. If anyone here who's not signed up would like to speak on item 5A, please approach the microphone in the back. Seeing no one approach the microphone in the back, this will officially close the public hearing on item 5A.

[01:33:22] Supervisor Vega, that's in the Coles District. Would you like to make that motion, please? Yes, Madam Chair. I would like to move 5A forward for approval. Motion made by Supervisor Vega, seconded by Supervisor Lawson. is there any further discussion did they click the button okay but but do they need to they didn't okay but we'll just make sure when you're making your motion if you can make sure you click the button that'd be great um any further discussion supervisor have you signed up to no i don't have

[01:33:56] a screen to oh are you talking about yeah so i just so we get in the habit of okay well one okay supervisor lawson i just wanted to take the opportunity to i know this isn't um supervisor Vegas District, but I know that Art Kloss, who was a VDOT employee and now Prince William County Transportation employee, was very helpful in facilitating this.

[01:34:25] I know that my office helped as well, so I just simply want to thank Art in particular for helping this Coles constituent. Thank you. Okay, seeing no further discussion, please vote.

[01:34:47] Okay. Thank you. That moves us on to our next public hearing, 5B, the amend the county code maximum permissible sound levels generally regarding our sound ordinance.

[01:35:07] Do we have a presentation on this at all? Because we went over it last time. Is that correct? Okay. Then I will officially open the public hearing for item 5B. We have 11 people signed up today to speak.

[01:35:25] I'll call the first five, if you can come up, if you generally, everyone will get three minutes if you can state your name and generally where you live in the county, and keep your comments to the public hearing item, that would be great. And our first five speakers are Tom Horwath, Russell Bryant, John Liver, Dale Brown, and Allie Stoger.

[01:35:50] Good afternoon, my name is Tom Horwath, I live in a Brentsville district. I'm not a scientist or health official, but I know that noise standards must include exposure limits such as time duration as well as decibel levels. According to the CDC, the effect of lower noise levels over long periods is the same as louder noise levels over shorter period.

[01:36:12] Data center noise is 24-7. I don't see how data centers will be any quieter at night than during the day. Cooling will still be needed. My home HVAC system is as noisy during the day as it is at night. How can data center systems be any different? Will state or county health officials be involved in determining the acceptable noise level and exposure limits? This is a potential health emergency for the affected neighborhoods and schools. Noise doesn't know land boundaries. The problem isn't as simple as a matrix in an ordinance.

[01:36:41] Facts are needed in addition to community input. How will the noise ordinance be enforced? I don't think it's reasonable to expect that the police department will be up to the task. What will the reporting mechanism be? Will the county have the expertise and staff to identify violations and enforce a noise ordinance that data centers will comply with. What level of monetary fine will be sufficient to make data centers comply? All this needs to be outlined in the noise ordinance. I note that the attachment on the staff paper, quote, sample language, unquote, appears to be very similar to the Stanley Martin noise proffer for the Devlin Technology

[01:37:18] Park to include exemptions for off-nominal operations. The resulting noise levels would only be enforceable during normal operations at the data center. Is your staff copying those noise specifications, or did Mr. Young copy proposed staff recommendations? Please make decisions based on facts, not proffers. Thank you. Thank you very much. Next speaker, please. Good afternoon, Chair, Supervisors, County Exec, County Attorney. My name is Russell Bryant, and I live in the Woodbridge District. I'm encouraged by having the item for the code. I recognize that it will follow on and

[01:37:57] provide authorization along with the resolution in 8B to actually address the zoning ordinance and the design and construction standards manual. I am concerned that there is a sunset clause in this because that assumes that the design and construction standards manual and the zoning ordinance updates will be completed within a year. It should not have a sunset until those items have

[01:38:30] been implemented and are enforceable by the zoning enforcement officers. That is my input. Thank you. Thank you very much. Next speaker, please. Good afternoon. I'm Dr. John Liver from the Gainesville District, and I'm here to support this resolution. As you all know, the Noise Ordinance 14 predates any of the data centers and really predates the industrial areas within our county encroaching on residential areas.

[01:39:03] So I very much support the concept of cleaning up the noise ordinance and the other ordinance that support it. We still need to have discussions about what noise is being generated by anything that's approved, but the ordinance does not require that.

[01:39:19] As Ms. Robel knows, the state code 15.2980 severely limits the amount of penalties and actions that the county can take if there is a noise violation. The next speaker is going to talk a lot more about that and doesn't allow anybody to really force them to comply.

[01:39:41] I was involved in the discussions with the town of Warrington for the approval of an SUP for a data center right there in the gateway to their town. The Prince William noise ordinance is very similar to the town of Warrington's noise ordinance in the fact that it really has no enforceable provisions to it.

[01:40:03] But what they did in Warrington is they require that with the SUP application and with REZs and other types of similar applications, they require a noise study to be done. The noise study didn't do a whole lot to change the vote.

[01:40:21] However, what it did do is it started the discussion. Started the discussion around town councilmen. It made Amazon admit to the fact that they were going to be a noisemaker. It made Amazon look at their noise. It made Amazon think about their noise and it made the town of Warrington think about how they were going to enforce this ordinance, which they found out they couldn't enforce it and didn't have means to enforce it.

[01:40:46] And Fauquier County doesn't even have a clue what's going on. But as a result, it increased awareness. It drastically changed the proffers to reduce the noise and set up Amazon to doing other actions, as you'll hear by when Dale Brown speaks.

[01:41:03] So, by requiring a noise study with the application process, it sparked the discussions. This needs to be done. I know that Noise Ordinance 14 is done to protect the residents, to protect our health as a resident living nearby a data center.

[01:41:22] I will live less than 2,000 feet from a data center. This resolution today is a first step, but please only consider it as a good first step to start putting the Band-Aid on. Thank you. Thank you. Next speaker, please. Yeah, just give her a moment, one moment, and we'll start.

[01:41:49] I'd also like to request five minutes as the president of an HOA. Yes, please. And I even got it right side up. Even better. All right, so that's a noise chart. So thank you very much, Chair. Good afternoon. My name is Dale Brown. I am president of the Great Oak Subdivision Homeowners Association.

[01:42:07] All of you have come to know Great Oak and our noise problem very well over the past year. Sadly, it has now been one year since we were forced to start living with the continuous and audibly irritating and health-impacting noise from the Amazon Web Services Tanner Way Data Center complex. Prince William County completed an independent study of the AWS noise on 21 February.

[01:42:27] I thank the board and the county staff for your efforts to get this done. Kudos. While answers to the community questions generated from this report are still pending, the 72-hour data collected for the study reaffirms the harmful noise levels being experienced within my community. Noise levels consistently hover around 60 decibels day and night, and you can see on the chart, the blue, the top line is at 60, the bottom line, that's the daytime level, and the lower line is at 55, which is the nighttime level. This is collected from July of last year till last week. As of today, the AWS voluntary mitigations have not changed the noise

[01:43:03] energy emanating from that facility. From July 2022 through mid-February, these noise levels have exceeded the nighttime ordinance level 94% of our measurements and the daytime level in 45% of our measurements. While we have no resolution to date from the AWS noise, site grading has begun for data centers at 9905 Godwin Drive within the city of Manassas and at Brickyard Way adjacent to Tanner Way in the county. The Godwin Drive site is 1,800 feet from Great Oak added to the 600 feet from Tanner Way and the two-story Brickyard Way site is 1,600 feet from Great Oak. These will increase

[01:43:39] overall noise levels by adding to the noise from Tanner Way regardless of further AWS mitigations which are due to start in March. Agenda Item 5B affecting the noise ordinance exemption is an important clarification. However, it will not help Great Oak or any other community.

[01:43:55] First off, the noise ordinance is unenforceable per the working group memo and conversations I have had with PwC police. They simply cannot cite, they can easily cite a noisy residential neighbor, but how do they determine the noise contribution from one to three data centers near Great Oak and then who do they cite at the data centers?

[01:44:13] Further, Virginia Code 15.2-980 limits civil fines to $500 or less. If this noise ordinance change is enforceable within the county, the small civil penalty will surely dissuade voluntary industry mitigations. The fine will be an expensive way to avoid fixing the noise problem.

[01:44:30] I don't think I got five minutes there because I'm not. Okay, to be effective, the noise ordinance must be completely revised to proactively address new businesses such as data centers, new and existing residential communities, and future plans within Prince William County, as Mr. Liver said.

[01:44:47] Studying updated ordinance from Chandler, Arizona, and Niagara Falls, along with the engagement of sound consultants, would go a long way to making the outdated 1989 ordinance more appropriate and effective in 2023. I also suggest you change the initiation contained in Agenda I-8B.

[01:45:03] This would be to require a sound study prior to planning approval to measure current or baseline noise levels while also forecasting or modeling operational noise levels. It should also require noise studies when necessary during operations to verify that planning commitments have been met.

[01:45:19] This will allow county planners to challenge industry designs early in the process to avoid expensive problems later like we have in Grado. The proposed change would also provide for the detection of subsequent operational noise level increases, allowing them to be addressed as they occur. Zoning and planning decisions could be made with more information while also ensuring that the county residents are subsequently better protected.

[01:45:41] This change would also place the burden of this testing process on industry and limit any county staffing concerns as noted in the documents attached to 8B. As you know, Great Oak is the first community known to be impacted by data center development in our county. I once again ask you to defer all permit and zoning approvals for data centers until noise impacts from data centers are better understood and covered by well-developed policies within the county.

[01:46:02] I thank you for this opportunity and look forward to your continued assistance. Thank you. And before our next speaker, I'll call up the next six. Bethany Kelly, Elena Schlossberg, Ken Nahr, Neal Kelly, Kathy Kulik, and Josh Levy.

[01:46:25] Allie Stoger, Gainesville District. About a year ago, we found out about Village Place and I-6629 Tech Park being approved at the intersection of Catawapan and 55. Around the same time, it became evident that Chandler, Arizona, was having severe noise issues.

[01:46:46] Chandler had 4 million square feet of data center space when they stopped zoning for data centers because they realized they had uncontrollable problems with data center noise impacting their residents. This, on the map here, has happened in 55.

[01:47:08] Since then, we zoned Amberley and possibly Devlin, And, of course, we have the Prince William Digital Gateway. We don't even know how many data centers are going to be around Gainesville High School. Google has not made that clear.

[01:47:23] It looks immense, whatever it is at Mango Farms. We have unresolved noise issues. As I said, only about 2% of what's in Gainesville, Bristow, and the Haymarket area has been built out.

[01:47:40] So we don't know what the noise problems will be. Those data centers at Tottenham 55 are literally within, I don't know, 100 feet of those people's homes. And we still have, for some crazy reason, John Marshall Technology Park across the street, still under consideration for data centers.

[01:48:02] That's mind-boggling to me. A year ago, I stood in front of this board after we had provided this board a white paper that detailed the noise problems in Chandler. It detailed exactly the steps Chandler was taking, and I stood here and said that Prince William County is going to get a reputation of what not to do and where not to live.

[01:48:23] Those were my exact words, except I said it more shaky because I think it was my first time speaking to this board. But since then, we keep going and going and going and going. This doesn't make sense. Loudoun County has stopped after 33 million square feet.

[01:48:39] We have already zoned 47 million square feet. Again, only 12% of that 47 million square feet has been built out. We have yet to see the first building of the first mega data center campus outside the overlay district at Gainesville Crossing be completed yet.

[01:48:59] We don't even know the noise we're going to get from these mega data centers. The only rational solution is bring this thing to a halt the way that Chandler, Arizona did. It makes no sense to zone even one more data center anywhere near a residential area, including the Prince William Digital Gateway, before we have a chance to analyze and hit the halt button the way Chandler did and the way that Loudoun County has done with far less approved than what we have already approved.

[01:49:31] Thank you. Next speaker, please. Hi, I'm Bethany Kelly, and I reside in the Brentsville District. I'm here today to speak about some concerns I have with the county's noise ordinance.

[01:49:48] Even though it's the stated goal of the county's comp plan to, quote, designate appropriate transition areas between incompatible uses and environmental resource protection areas to minimize undesirable impacts to the community, it is currently not happening as data centers are dropped all over the county, especially the western end, with less than sometimes a hundred foot buffer. As was discussed earlier, the Great Oak community is having all sorts of issues. So there's really no reason for us to rehash those. But as we're now looking at the development of massive data center campuses in multiple locations on the western end of the

[01:50:26] county, the noise issue needs to be resolved and figured out not after these giant buildings are built, but before. And none of the data centers currently operating or being built should be exempt from any of these changes when they happen to the noise ordinance. While some of the developers do want to try to offer solutions through proffers and trying to work with the communities after the damage is done, that's really not good enough. So you have to have a new noise, you know, we have to get the noise ordinances figured out and then the enforceability has to come because I have sat here and I have heard over and over, even if we come up with these, we can't enforce them. So it's not

[01:51:06] going to do us any good. As was mentioned with Great Oak, when they call the police, you know, they come out and they really don't know who to talk to. Who do we deal with? What do we do about it? So let's wait till we have 50 plus data centers all running between Mango, Hunter, the Microsoft. If Devlin Tech Park goes through, it's just going to be a bunch of finger pointing.

[01:51:28] It's not mine, it's theirs. So unless we figure out the ordinances and how to enforce them, we're not going to get anywhere with this um you know i also just want to bring up one of the exemptions in the current noise ordinance is for construction i live in victory lakes in bristow and i kid you not every morning somewhere between 6 a.m and about 6 23 the jackhammering starts the beeping of construction vehicles and something else i don't have any development within a mile of my house. Most of them are two to three miles from my house. And yet, Monday through Saturday,

[01:52:06] that is what we hear in our bedroom. I can't even imagine how bad it's going to get when they start building back closer, you know, Mango, Hunter, Devlin. Those are right across the street from my neighborhood. So for all this, I just want to say we really do need to make good changes to the noise ordinance. Make sure that we think about construction in it too, because we're looking at maybe 20 years of build out on some of these. And then how are we going to enforce it? And on the end note, please stop dropping these massive data center complexes in neighborhoods. They don't

[01:52:41] belong there. Thank you. Next speaker, please. Good afternoon. My name is Elena Schlossberg, and I live in the Gainesville district. And I would like five minutes, please, as the Coalition to Protect Prince William County. Sure. Thank you. I know that was an irritation for you, Chair, the last time we had public meetings, and I came up every time and took my five minutes.

[01:53:10] So, but that's how kind of the legality works. So I don't have any prepared comments, but I do want to share that what people are telling you all in multiple ways is that there's a problem here. And when you know there's something wrong, you should do better. There should be a noise ordinance.

[01:53:33] I want to talk a little bit about how the overlay was adopted. The overlay was adopted as a result of the Haymarket transmission line. And what that was supposed to do was ensure that there was not buy-write anywhere, everywhere throughout the county.

[01:53:49] Because that's what was happening then. Literally, there was no place where the data centers were supposed to go. So they were everywhere. They could be everywhere. So the overlay looked at, with Chris Price at the time, where was the appropriate already zoned industrial areas?

[01:54:05] Where was the power? Where was the water? Where was the sewer? Generally, industrial areas are not supposed to be near residential homes, in rural areas, and near schools. What is happening now is a result of very poor planning on behalf of some of these supervisors right now.

[01:54:27] You have an opportunity. So here are the things in front of you. One, you know there's definitely a noise issue, which we were not aware of then, but you know now, you know there is not enough power in the grid. You know that, right?

[01:54:43] There's not going to be enough solar as a grain of sand on a beach. That is why data centers are going to have to be run by their diesel generators. So my recommendation is that you all take this opportunity to do better, to understand these impacts on communities now. I was interested in something that Supervisor Bailey said, which I really respected, was that one of your constituents came to you and they had a problem, and you wanted to address that problem. Local government level, that is actually your main job

[01:55:21] is to listen to your constituents. And so when you think about if your constituent Supervisor Bailey came to you and they said, data centers are creating a lot of noise and a lot of pollution, what would you do? You would say, let me see how I can resolve that. That's your job. And that's the most, you are the closest to your constituents on a local level. Is that not correct, Supervisor Angry? Your constituents come to you with a problem and they expect you to address it. I think it's really important when you look at the data center development, what would your constituents

[01:55:56] respond if it were them? Let's just say, Chair Wheeler, there was, I don't know, the Boy Scouts parcel was zoned to all data center development. And suddenly, Dominion Valley was saying, whoa, whoa, whoa, wait a second. We're going to have all this noise 24-7. Now we're going to have diesel generators coming on the hottest parts of the day for months at a time. We will be breathing those noxious fumes. You would have to respond. My recommendation is that you all pause. You pause to get a handle on what is happening here. I don't know why you smirk at me, Chair Wheeler.

[01:56:34] it's not funny. These people are coming to you and they are concerned. You listen to Dale Brown? Imagine if that were you. Your role as an elected leader is to channel empathy. What good does all this money do if people who live here are miserable? If the reputation Prince William County has is we're just industrial blight everywhere and it doesn't matter where you live in the county. Those noxious fumes, wind is going to take them. In fact, they're even going to

[01:57:08] take them out of Northern Virginia. What we are doing here in the Northern Virginia region, by not taking a serious look on how these data centers are going to get their power, the noise impacts, we are impacting not just ourselves, but the region. I want to remind everybody, we all pay for their infrastructure. All this infrastructure Dominion talks about putting in, that's not going to be enough even through 2030, we all pay for. You are allowing a monopoly utility and the most

[01:57:43] wealthiest corporations in the world to profit off our misery. And it's time that you stepped up and you paused. Thank you. Next speaker, please. Ken Nahr, Gainesville District. I want to thank Elena for that because the Haymarket Power Lines were the genesis, as I understand it, as she explained it for the data center overlay if I was that correct so and they were supposed to go where

[01:58:16] the data center overlay is so whoever designed that and whoever was in that process takes responsibility for that I'm sorry you're if you can't keep decorum I ask you to leave please thank you Gainesville High School is in the overlay the entire high school is in the overlay Amberley station is surrounded by the overlay. So for those people that designed the overlay, that was okay at the time. The overlay is the problem. I think Supervisor Angry has pointed out numerous times.

[01:58:54] The overlay is not a good place for the data centers. There are 26 communities immediately adjacent to the overlay. There are over a dozen schools immediately adjacent to the overlay. So for whoever designed the overlay, that didn't seem to be a problem in 2016 or 2019, the previous board. Not this board, the previous board. I'm not as smart as a lot of these people, and I don't have the degrees a lot of these people do, but my neighbor does. He is a PhD in physics. He does do

[01:59:31] sound tests for NASA. He creates satellites for countries to include the United States. He creates instruments for satellites for a variety of countries. I am smart enough to turn on an instrument and read a number. The last time I talked to you, I'd take 150 decibel readings around all the data centers in the county. I've now taken 225 readings every day of the week,

[02:00:05] all times of the day, from nine in the morning to three in the morning. The only time to include Great Oaks, the only time I've gotten a reading above 60 decibels in Great Oaks along the side of Tanner Way is when an airplane or vehicle traffic on 234 has gone by. A helicopter landing at the Manassas Airport or an airplane landing at Manassas Airport are the only ones that have gotten above 60 decibels. The decibel reading since my original sighting has gone down three

[02:00:43] decibels since the last summer. So really, there are things being said in here that aren't true. Chandler has not stopped data center development. Thank you. Thank you. Next speaker, please.

[02:01:06] Good afternoon, Board of Supervisors. My name is Neil Kelly, and I reside in the currently represented district of Gainesville. It is nice to come to this building and have somebody sitting in that seat that I feel represents our district. Thank you, Bob, for undertaking this, and I wish you a lot of luck, and may God be with you for your new assignment. What we're discussing here in this resolution is a noise ordinance. This ordinance should not be only considered for the data centers, but should be included for everything county-wide. The last time this ordinance was

[02:01:46] updated was in 1989, as previous speakers have said. So let's bring our rules and our regulations up into the 21st century. In a few short months, in less than a year and a half from now, we're going to be 25% completed of the 21st century, and we're still using noises that are worried about somebody's eight-track or cassette player making too much noise at a party. So let's take this step, take the first step, get this study underway, and just like everything else that has been asked of in the process of the hearings over the years that we've been coming here is take a look and see how is this going to affect things later on down the road. Numerous studies have

[02:02:23] proven that there are health effects from too much noise, the low noise that is emitted by the HVAC systems on these data centers, in addition to other noises that we can try to mitigate throughout the county. So let's find out how we can make a rule that is enforceable, something that we can use to tell people that, hey, your building is making too much noise, your data center is making too much noise. And other than them saying, we're going to pay $500 an incident and walk away with it and chalk it off as a cost of doing business, we need a rule and a regulation that has some teeth and is enforceable. Thank you. Thank you, Mr. Kelly. Next speaker, please.

[02:03:06] Good afternoon. Catherine Kulik. I'm the vice chair of the HOA Roundtable of Northern Virginia, Yeah, and I'd like five minutes, please, Mr. Vice Chair. Thank you. And I guess we now know why Ken doesn't have the fancy degrees.

[02:03:24] If he's going to run around the county with his own, quote, noise meter, he really ought to take a little time and spend the night in some of those neighborhoods and really hear when the noise is loud because that's when it is. It's not very nice, and it's frankly quite insulting for you to say that you have taken genuine and quantifiable noise readings when you don't even live in those neighborhoods.

[02:03:47] This noise chart was used by Great Oak HOA President Dale Brown a little earlier, and I wanted to bring it back because, as you can see, there's a line for 60 decibels, which is the daytime limit on our noise ordinance, assuming it applies all the time in residential neighborhoods for air conditioning and heating, which you're about to vote on.

[02:04:09] That's great. And 55 at night. As you can see, there are constant violations. At the January public hearing in Warrington, when they were considering whether or not to approve the SUP for the data center, the Amazon attorney, John Foote, got up and said in front of everyone on camera that they never, Amazon never, ever has violated the noise ordinance at Tanner Way.

[02:04:38] Yes, that's what he said. Go back and watch the tape or the video. So that's what you get, the attorney for the developer saying that, a bald-faced lie in a public hearing.

[02:04:55] But I am here today to support this particular move and this motion to update the noise ordinance. It's a long time coming. In fact, it's been nine months since Ms. Rebecca Horner first proposed it and kept everybody on pins and needles every month saying it's going to come before the board, it's going to come before the board, and finally it has.

[02:05:17] So great. Very good. But it's not enough, and it's not nearly enough. And we hope that the next thing you're going to consider in Item 8B will be to initiate a study. and an effort to look at your construction design standards manual to consider the full impact of data centers.

[02:05:38] We've seen in many other jurisdictions, Chandler, Arizona, Niagara, New York, Franklin, Tennessee, and right here now in Prince William County, which is basically ground zero for data center noise, that the readings have to be, that the noise emissions have to be much lower in order for a community, a residential community, or an incompatible use to be able to exist.

[02:06:05] next to a data center. So that is something I hope that you all will seriously look at. Further, there is a huge problem with enforcement. And a number of other speakers have discussed this. But no ordinance is worth its salt if you can't enforce it. And right now, there is not a mechanism to enforce noise ordinances on a data center operating anywhere in the world. Period. Full stop.

[02:06:34] I spoke about this a little bit the last time, but the simple fact is these centers are built with incredible layers of redundancy. They are not meant to shut down. They are designed to remain operating to not shut down. Every bit of design that goes into them is counter to the idea of shutting down.

[02:06:55] So how will you deal with this when a data center violates the noise ordinance? Do you plan on revoking their occupancy permit? What will that mean? Are they going to offer to shut down? How will they do that?

[02:07:11] So one serious thing to consider is how will you enforce it and seriously enforce it? Fines don't matter. This is the wealthiest and most profitable industry in the history of mankind. Enforcement, enforcement, enforcement. Thank you very much, and I do support this.

[02:07:28] Thank you. Next speaker, please. Thank you, Madam Chair. My name is Josh Levy. I'm speaking on behalf of the Data Center Coalition Association of Leading Data Center Owners and Operators.

[02:07:44] I will only require two minutes today. I really appreciate the opportunity to speak briefly to indicate and add our support for amending the noise ordinance to eliminate the nighttime commercial sound exemption for the heating and cooling systems as proposed. This exemption was not adopted nor maintained at the request of the data center industry.

[02:08:02] We also support the creation of a working group to develop additional recommendations to the board and very much appreciate and look forward to the opportunity to participate in stakeholder discussions as the process moves forward. Thank you. Thank you very much. Before I close the public hearing for 5B, is there anyone else in the room who would like to approach the microphone in the back and speak on item 5B?

[02:08:30] I was just waiting to see if the guy moving was going to go to the microphone. Okay. So I assume not that we'll officially close the item 5B, public hearing, for amending the, no remote, okay.

[02:08:50] 5B, will someone make a motion, then we can have discussion? So moved, Madam Chair. Second. Motion made by Supervisor Angry, seconded by Supervisor Bailey. Discussion. Madam Chair. Supervisor Bodie.

[02:09:05] Thank you, Madam Chair. Appreciate staff taking the time to bring this back to us. And there's been a lot of talk among folks from the public about enforcement, and I think that's a fair question. So I was wondering if anyone from staff had anything they could add to this conversation to see if what we're going to be working through during this sunset period to work on enforcement and what the plan is from there?

[02:09:30] Because, frankly, it's a completely fair thing to say, you know, it's great to have this on the books, but how do we enforcement, what can we do? So anyone from staff, I would love to hear that. Madam Chair, members of the board, as you know, Prince William County gains its legal authority from the General Assembly, and the General Assembly has put in a code section with regards to civil penalties for violations of noise ordinance.

[02:09:55] and those civil fines shall not exceed $250 for the first offense or $500 for each subsequent offense. If the board is interested in stronger penalties for the noise ordinance, the board could put that into your legislative agenda for the next year for the General Assembly, but we are limited to based upon what the General Assembly provides the authority for you.

[02:10:15] Thank you for that. And Supervisor Vega would like me to clarify that the noise ordinance would be enforced by the police department, per the code. Supervisor Lawson.

[02:10:30] Thank you. Madam Chair, Ms. Robble, can you repeat the fines? Madam Chair, members of the board, civil fines will not exceed $250 for the first offense and $500 for each subsequent offense.

[02:10:46] Okay, thank you. And then I guess I'll look to Mr. Shorter. Sorry to put you on the spot on this, but I would imagine that this is going to be incredibly difficult for our police department. They do what needs to be done, though.

[02:11:02] Have you and the Chief of Police had conversations about, it's my understanding that you have to be certified as a police officer to take these readings, and maybe I'm wrong on that, but how are we going to manage this from the enforcement side with the police department?

[02:11:25] Sure, thank you for the question, Supervisor Lawson. We have discussed it. I have not spoken to Chief Newsham, but I will say that this period of time that we're going to utilize this year for the working group to provide additional recommendations, we will also use this time to make some observations about enforcement.

[02:11:48] And so where we need to make changes, where we need to add capacity, we certainly will do that. And in terms of training and additional support for police, we will certainly provide that during this year. And certainly when we come back, the working group, with recommendations, we'll be coming back with recommendations around enforcement as well.

[02:12:10] Thank you. Thank you. And can I assume that somebody from the police department will participate in that working group? You are correct to assume that. There are a number of agencies that will participate. They are actually going to be meeting for the first time this week on Friday, and the police department is a part of that working group.

[02:12:31] Thank you. Sure. Supervisor Vega. Thank you, Madam Chair. First off, I want to address a comment that was made during public comment time in regards to noise readings. I'd like for folks to be aware that the county has paid for a noise study and that I find that comment to be very offensive to the folks of the Great Oak community.

[02:12:52] For a little more context, we paid for a noise study that found 17 readings of over 60 DVs in just four days at Great Oak, and that's just Great Oak alone. Nobody more than me on this dais knows the suffering and pain that folks in the Great Oak community have experienced because of this issue.

[02:13:10] So I'm absolutely happy that this is coming before the board and that we're going to vote on this. I know that this is not by any means going to be the ace in the hole that we were hoping, but I do believe that this is a good step moving forward and that we're headed in the right direction. Michelle kind of stole my thunder here, So I know that a $250 fine, a $500 fine, is not even a drop in the bucket for big giant tech companies because they are a billion-dollar generating industry.

[02:13:39] But with that being said, I think that news of them being fined will be a good reminder, right, that we are holding them accountable and that we're doing right by you, the citizens, and a gentle reminder that they have to be good neighbors to the folks that reside around these data centers.

[02:13:56] so I'm happy to see this being moved forward. I am looking forward to the discussion that we're going to be having here shortly in regards to the working groups that we're going to be putting together. I think that it's going to speak volumes, the folks that we can appoint, those that are actually dealing with these issues, and I look forward to that conversation and the great contributions that they will add to this.

[02:14:15] So I want to thank county staff and everybody that was involved in bringing this to us, and I'm absolutely going to be supporting this. Thank you, Madam Chair. Thank you. Supervisor Weir. Thank you, Madam Chair. I think I'm going to surprise everybody with my take on this.

[02:14:31] As many are aware, I'm kind of a policy wonk, particularly when it comes to planning. And although I understand the intent of the amendment, I can't support it. When you start talking zoning and changes to the zoning amendments, and you do changes like this, this particular one doesn't address the underlying issue, which is industrial or data center noise.

[02:14:58] It merely takes the exemption and carves out residential homes and grants that exemption only to residential homes, which are probably a negligible percentage of the total noise violations. By doing so, you create a circumstance where an entity that was previously exempt is now no longer exempt, and you haven't made a provision for how to deal with it.

[02:15:26] So you're suddenly changing midstream who is and who isn't exempt without dealing with the issue of how you're going to now deal with the people who are no longer exempt. It creates unintended consequences. It creates uncertainty in zoning.

[02:15:44] I think if you're going to adopt a policy change like this, it's got to be thought through to address not only residential but commercial and industrial as well, You've only done half the job on a zoning amendment that's not going to – it's going to get you part of the way down the road, but it's going to create more issues, and it doesn't accommodate the underlying problem.

[02:16:08] It's a nice thing to throw out there, but at the end of the day, it's so incomplete, I think, that you're going to cause – it's going to cause the problem not only for enforcement, but it's going to cause problems for zoning in terms of how are they going to determine the language to deal with entities other than residential when you get around to redrafting the ordinance.

[02:16:33] I like the suggestion that staff has for additional change options, but in this particular form, unless you address the unintended consequences and you essentially make provisions for the other uses, this amendment isn't ready for prime time.

[02:16:54] Supervisor Lawson, then Supervisor Franklin. Thank you, Madam Chair. It's my understanding this is specific to our noise ordinance, though, not the zoning ordinance.

[02:17:10] So I'm going to support this because I think it's a good first step. We absolutely have a lot to work through on the zoning side. And that conversation is going to start in a few minutes regarding the working group and whatnot.

[02:17:28] But I think that this is a good first step to address the noise ordinance and totally understand what Supervisor Weir was expressing. My biggest concern, of course, is how are we going to enforce this new noise ordinance?

[02:17:46] But the fact that we can now enforce it is a great first step. I have a lot of confidence in Prince William County Police Department, and I'm confident that Mr. Shorter and the Chief of Police will work through the nuances of our officers that are out there on the streets at 11 o'clock at night at at great oak or um you know the the apartment building on horn baker that is next to a complex in my district which we are working with to reduce reduce that hum but the good news is is

[02:18:20] now we have something that we can actually enforce albeit not great but it's a good first step Supervisor Franklin. Thank you. Just want to thank Supervisor Weir for those comments. I think that's a very thoughtful assessment that you put forward.

[02:18:39] I do agree that this is at least a first step in this discussion and that we obviously need to continue the discussion or hopefully we'll see down the road that the issues that we're seeing with a couple of data centers that we know have challenges will be rectified and we won't have those issues with any other data centers moving forward.

[02:18:59] I will say on the enforcement side, the penalties are certainly low. Obviously, it's a General Assembly issue, and we can have those discussions with members of our General Assembly. But I think my take on it is I actually think that it should be another entity doing the enforcement as opposed to the police department because, as we know, they have a lot of challenges already themselves.

[02:19:21] And so to add this to everything else that is within their responsibility, I think is asking a lot. My recommendation would be, and I'm just putting it out there, not that we have the authority to do this ourselves, but my recommendation would be to have it go under a different agency that helps with, I'm not going to say zoning enforcement, But, for instance, we have neighborhood services that help us rectify issues if people have garbage or trash in their yards and things of that nature.

[02:19:53] We get those type of calls all the time. And then we have an entity that helps to go out, work with the homeowner or the business to rectify whatever that complaint was. And then usually things are better after that. So, you know, for the General Assembly, that would be my recommendation.

[02:20:09] but again i think this is a um at least a good first start into the discussion supervisor bode thank you madam chair and uh just very quickly and i appreciate everyone's comments so far and that's why i asked a question i did initially about enforcement because i just want to make sure the members of the public who don't follow this stuff all the time understand just how limited we are to enforce this and to add to that is what supervisor franklin just said which is we have a lot that we're asking our police department to do to begin with and for them to be the ones also literally police this kind of thing. It's going to cause challenges that we

[02:20:43] don't foresee. I would love for us at some point to also get some expertise, whether it's under county staff's umbrella, holy or contractual services that look at noise, that look at the issues that we have with noise in this situation with others. Because as was said before, this is just a small part of a much larger problem. This doesn't touch the backup generators, right? This such all upon a lot of other different things that go under the data centers and the noise that they cause.

[02:21:11] The HVAC systems are just one part of a much larger whole. So I hope that as we continue to have these conversations, we're going to talk about the ZTA later, that we have a more holistic conversation about how we're going to address these noise issues. Thank you, Madam Chair. Madam Chair. Yes, Ms. Rubble.

[02:21:28] I apologize. I need to clarify. The code section that I was referring to is the Virginia code section that gives localities should they choose to enforce their noise ordinance through a civil penalty. Prince William County has adopted the ordinance that the violation of the noise ordinance is a Class 2 misdemeanor.

[02:21:48] We do the criminal enforcement in our county code, and the Class 2 misdemeanor is, let me pull it up, punishable by confinement in jail of not more than six months and a fine of not more than $1,000, either or both.

[02:22:06] So I apologize for the confusion. So, be a class two misdemeanor, confinement in jail for not more than six months, and a fine of not more than $1,000, either or both. So, the police would be responding, and then a class, Prince William County has clarified the noise ordinance violation as a criminal class two misdemeanor.

[02:22:35] And a class two misdemeanor is confinement of jail of not more than six months, and a fine of not more than $1,000, either or both. If you could email that to the board, that clarification, that would be great. So I'm going to jump in just for a moment and just say I just want, I don't want confusion. I mean, we are simply, this is just a first step.

[02:22:51] That's why it has a sunset clause in it. This was the quickest, easiest thing we could do, which was take away the exemption for commercial air conditioning at night, which was in the ordinance. And so we have now gotten rid of that exemption, and they are now, you know, that was really just a first step.

[02:23:10] You know, if you go on to item 8B, it goes into how we will be reviewing the entire noise ordinance and our zoning and everything else. And this was just something we could do immediately to make sure people were in compliance at night. I don't want anyone in the public to be confused about that.

[02:23:29] Okay. Then Supervisor Weir, then Supervisor Vega. I'm not going to belabor the point, but I think that's kind of my problem. Quickest, easiest, usually results in unintended consequences. And I'm not going to play a lawyer up here, but I'm concerned with by limiting the exemption to an existing ordinance and then enforcing it against those who are already in place and operating what sort of position that will leave the county in.

[02:24:03] And I think that's something that needs to be addressed before this is adopted, lest we end up in civil litigation with commercial entities. I just don't think it's a good idea to go down this road without that consideration. Thank you. Supervisor Vega? Thank you, Madam Chair.

[02:24:20] This might be a silly question, Michelle, but now that we have different numbers and that you read a different code, who would be arrested in this case and put in jail? When we had the working group of county staff after the board gave the directive earlier in the summer, the police department representative in our group stated that normally what the police department does is when they receive a complaint with regards to noise violation, they go out.

[02:24:54] Most of them are going to be neighbor to neighbor having a party, and they go out and they try to say, you know, education first to get voluntary compliance. The police department has the practice that if they have to go out three times in one night, that's when they would cite them.

[02:25:11] The police department does have the meters, and it's normally a supervisor is the one that has been trained to utilize the meters. It will be an issue as to who the police will be citing with the criminal. Is it the manager on duty? Then is it the owner of the company, et cetera?

[02:25:29] We understand that there will be an issue with regards to the criminal enforcement and who would be responsible in going to jail, which is why we proposed having a sunset to be able to work through all these issues to get the various stakeholders in place. Thank you. Okay.

[02:25:47] Seeing no further discussion, Ms. Madden, are you ready to – I think there's a motion already. We've been doing motions. Everybody gets to speak twice, up to five minutes, even with your questions while we're in the discussion phase. Ms. Madden, I think we're ready to vote.

[02:26:02] Motion passes 7-1. Supervisor Weir voting nay. That brings us on to item number 6. Thank you very much. That brings us on to item number 6. Mr. Shorter, the county executive time, the floor is yours.

[02:26:21] Thank you, Madam Chair and Board. Actually, earlier during public comment time, President David Williams recognized the fire and rescue system for their award and the governor's 2022 recognition.

[02:26:38] And that was certainly, I was going to give the fire and rescue system that recognition today. And so thank you to President Williams for providing those remarks. And that is all for me now. Madam Chair. Thank you very much.

[02:26:54] Supervisor Bodie. Thank you, Madam Chair. Just very quickly, quite a few folks brought up the overlay during their comments. And two years ago, we initiated a review of the Data Center Operative Zone Overlay District. That was completed last year, I want to say, at some point.

[02:27:14] Could we have an update on where we are with that and when it might be coming back before the board? Sure. Thank you, Supervisor Bodie. My understanding from staff is that, yes, there was a preliminary draft published in late October. That preliminary draft was reviewed and provided for the public comment, I believe, via online portal.

[02:27:38] Agency reviews were taking place as well. Earlier this year, the consultant working on the overlay Syntec architecture did also do a review. They did not recommend changes based on the comprehensive plan update.

[02:27:56] My understanding now is that in about four to six weeks, we plan to bring additional comments back to the public. Those comments will be used for a second draft update that will come back to the board as a working session.

[02:28:18] We also plan to come to the Planning Commission and eventually back to the board for a public hearing. Appreciate it. Thank you so much. Supervisor Weir? Thank you, Madam Chair. Mr. Shorter, I spoke to you yesterday and I wanted to bring this up so the rest of the board is aware.

[02:28:38] I would like, in some relatively... near future times, since we've been talking a lot about water. We've been dealing with you, Osa, on that today, and there are issues of water studies. What I would like to know, given all of these water issues, is what is the status of our Chesapeake Bay Act compliance?

[02:28:58] What is the status of the Chesapeake Bay Preservation Area Review Board? And kind of an explanation from either staff or staff, I'm not picky as to who gives the explanation, but an explanation as to why the review board has remained unstaffed for a decade and why every RPA and water use issue that's supposed to go to the Chesapeake Bay Review Board in compliance with the Chesapeake Bay Act has been administratively approved.

[02:29:29] I can't fathom that every one of those issues over the past decade could be administratively approved when prior to the board last convening, it was a relatively common occurrence for the board to hear them. So if I could just get some sort of information on that in the relatively near future, I would appreciate it.

[02:29:49] Thank you very much for the question, Supervisor Weir. So I appreciate you bringing it up yesterday. I did have an opportunity to talk with staff. I believe Tom Smith is here. We met about it this morning.

[02:30:05] There is an update. I will say that there was an audit last year by DEA, no deficiencies. This is an active review board. And as far as the update that he sent earlier today to you, it lays out the review compliance requirements, and we are in compliance.

[02:30:31] We are, if the staff isn't here today to provide that update, then we'll make sure that we schedule some time to provide a more detailed explanation. Could you elaborate on active review board?

[02:30:48] Because last time I checked, they were either vacant or... Supervisor Rear, if you want to save directives just to get information for supervisor's time, that would be okay. I don't know if this is really the time for this discussion. I have a question with regard to what he just said in terms of an active board.

[02:31:05] I mean, which board is active? Sure. So I'm happy to provide an update. We can talk about it offline. That's fine. I'm just kind of curious which one is active. Sure. So a note was sent by Director Smith a bit earlier this afternoon.

[02:31:22] The Chesapeake Bay Preservation Area Review Board is an independent board and only meets as needed and is so reflected sort of on the website. Board members have indicated that they do not see a need to meet unless a specific case needs to be reviewed.

[02:31:42] And so this is in compliance. My understanding is that this is in compliance with our requirements. Now, that isn't to say that there are one or two board seats that need to be reappointed, but the board is in active communication.

[02:32:02] And, in fact, I spoke to Mr. Morris, Clay Morris, earlier today about this as well. Again, happy to provide offline. I'll save some time and talk offline. Thank you. Thank you.

[02:32:18] Supervisor Vega. Thank you, Madam Chair. Mr. Shorter, I just want to share my concerns with you. Certainly don't want to speak for the rest on this dais, but, you know, unfortunately, our planning office has now become a revolving door. Much of what we do as county supervisors pertains to land use cases, and we had another very regrettable departure last week in MECA, who was always very professional and pleasant to work with.

[02:32:42] I don't know what the solution is, but just kind of wanted to hear your thoughts, if we have a plan already in motion. I've had some folks reach out to me directly, folks from the community, addressing their concerns, and just kind of want to hear from you again where we're at or if you're going to be coming to the board at a later time with a plan of action to address the issues that we're experiencing in the planning office.

[02:33:07] Very much appreciate that question, Supervisor Vega. And, yes, we've been working to make sure that we provide some support, some additional support to planning. And so with that in mind, a number of personnel actions were announced last week. Rebecca Horner, who, as you know, has a great deal of experience with planning, has led planning, is now singularly focused on making sure that we provide the support there for the planning office. That said, Wade Hugh, who is here, has been named Acting Deputy County

[02:33:42] Executive for Community Development, while Rebecca is focused in on planning. That said, we have also initiated, immediately initiated recruitments for the Director and Deputy Director and a current planning manager in planning, that recruitment was already underway.

[02:34:00] The consultant that did the recruitment for the previous director will be partnered with to do the second recruitment, so the recruitment for the director and deputy director.

[02:34:17] That said, I actually met with Director Rebecca Horner in planning earlier this morning just to get an update on where things stand. And a number of additional items will be coming into play. I do plan to update this board with some of the contractual support that we plan to provide in planning, as well as capacity building that we plan to do in planning during this period.

[02:34:46] I agree that we need to make sure any time one of our agencies has that kind of transition in leadership that we quickly and immediately, as we have done in this case, provide the support and continuity in our operation that we did in the case of planning.

[02:35:06] So with that, happy to answer any additional questions. Supervisor Lawson. Mr. Shorter, I just want to commend you for that decision, and thank you for being so quick about it as well. Absolutely. Thank you.

[02:35:22] Supervisor Bailey. Thank you, Madam Chair, and I agree with my colleague, Supervisor Lawson. The communication and the immediate responses that you've given us during this period has been very reassuring and letting us know that you and your staff are focused continually on our projects, and I do appreciate it as well. Thank you.

[02:35:46] Okay. Well, thank you, Mr. Shorter. That will move us on to county attorney time. Ms. Robel, the floor is yours. Thank you, Madam Chair, members of the board. We have one item for discussion in closed session this afternoon. It will be consultation with legal counsel and briefings by staff members pertaining to the discussion or consideration of the acquisition of real property for a public purpose to include for parks and recreation purposes where discussion in an open meeting would adversely affect the bargaining position or negotiating strategy of the public body.

[02:36:14] And this item is appropriate for closed session pursuant to 2.2-3711A3 of the Virginia Code. So moved, Madam Chair. Second. Motion made by Supervisor Angry, seconded by Supervisor Bode, Vice Chair Bode. Any discussion? Seeing none, please vote.

[02:36:32] Vote unanimous. Love this new system. It's just great. Okay. That brings us on to agency presentations, item 8. 8A is finance, extend the filing in finance.

[02:36:49] Payment due dates for the BPOL, Business Professional and Occupational License Tax Renewals. Ms. Atrey, do we have a presentation? No, I think it's pretty straightforward. Can I get a motion on 8A? So moved, Madam Chair.

[02:37:05] Second. Motion made by Supervisor Bailey, seconded by Supervisor Vega. And we have discussion. Supervisor Weir. Very quickly, I spoke with Ms. Atrey about this yesterday, and given the second issue with the bills, I'm just asking if the extension is long enough or if more time is required to deal with the second issue.

[02:37:35] Michelle Attrade, your Chief Financial Officer. Yes, we do believe it's enough time. We have planned a trip from March 7th. We will be visiting their facility, taking a tour of their plant as they prepare for the BPOL billing to ensure that it is accurate and goes out without a hitch.

[02:37:53] And so we will be doing that next week. As long as we get these out, if we have them out by March 15th, that's 30 days notice by law we're only required 14 days so we have a buffer built in but the plan is to have them out 30 days in advance and if we visit next week the plan is to print next week and we'll watch them mail them thank you ms atreed okay um supervisor bailey ms atreed if you is this the same thing we did last year as well or is this something new no this is something new okay last time we extended we extended because of during the covid yeah point yes okay so it's a

[02:38:32] different yes i thought so okay thank you yeah these were bills that didn't get mailed timely enough for our taxpayers so it's the right thing to do i've already waived penalty and interest i have the authority to do that so any of our taxpayers are not being hit with penalty and interest okay thank you for being proactive thank you ms atry okay um seeing no further discussion please vote vote unanimous supervisor angry absent from vote okay thank you uh next on is 8b office

[02:39:09] of executive management initiate amendments to the design and construction standards manual and zoning ordinance to address the potential impacts of data center uses ms horner welcome good afternoon chair members of the board rebecca horner i uh you've already had a robust discussion today so i'll jump right into it this is a request to initiate the design construction standards manual as well as the zoning ordinance to allow staff to begin the process to prioritize it in the work program and work with the public. As noted, there'll be a working group put together

[02:39:46] not only to monitor the progress from the noise ordinance change that you just made, but also to provide us feedback on impacts they're feeling so that we can utilize those two initiated documents to propose amendments to address impacts. The way that it's requested to be initiated, it's very broad so it's not specific to impacts to noise it's impacts of data centers so we would be able to address a broad number of issues that are raised to us the working group is a staff

[02:40:21] working group but we would like to engage public members who have already been involved in this process expressing issues with noise directly in the working group which will include a number of departments as noted and the police department is one that even though they wouldn't be enforcing the zoning ordinance or dcsm we would like to have their feedback in the working group because of the noise ordinance change that was made today and if the noise ordinance working group or data center working group does provide additional feedback related to the noise ordinance we'll

[02:40:56] have somebody there who can provide feedback in that discussion but we would go through a typical public process so once the working group puts together their thoughts with the draft it would go before the general public so we could get general public feedback eventually it would get to a planning commission and to the board for adoption i'd be happy to answer any questions you might have so i'm gonna take the point of privilege of starting off thank you i you know i know this was an issue you know initiated and staff was um is going to work on this i mean obviously we have issues i mean it's not only noise but it talks about buffering berms and setbacks and i think

[02:41:36] we all understand that you know given what happened with with uh one um that we've learned from already that you know perhaps what we have when we have transition areas aren't enough and so i appreciate staff going out and doing this um i think it's a good thing the one question i have is actually with regards to um supervisor weir's question i you know we have a one-year sunset provision on the noise ordinance because we know we were going to make changes and things I assume that this won't take a year I hope not okay I guess I'm just you know from expectations management you know we're assuming that it won't you know that it will be a priority and we will put

[02:42:13] resources toward it I believe and so I just wanted to go on record as saying that so thank you very much for I know which is going to be you know a detailed process which is great I think that's what we all need at this point in time so thank you as noted in the staff report we intend to come back with a request with a contract for contractual services to help us we can bring an expert on board also help with the engagement which will help us expedite the process as well that's great and I just encourage us all to I know that's even sometimes procurement can slow us down with regards to getting a contract let's try to not do that this time so I you know it's it's a it's

[02:42:51] government so with that i will turn it over to supervisor bode thank you madam chair um and just did a lot of the comments uh my my question though um as part of the initiation of the zta and the dcsm are we actually also going to be looking at our processes our land use processes surrounding data centers for example not requiring sups in the overlay even when it's next to residential for example um some of those granular things that frankly i think are missing from our processes and that as the chair alluded to have led us down to challenging and sometimes tragic

[02:43:28] ends when we've made decisions aboard because we're just frankly not doing as much due diligence from a land use process in certain circumstances the initiations that you're considering today would not however we have an initiated zta for the overlay district so if the working group brings up this as an issue which i assume they will we do have an initiated zta that we could incorporate those changes into i appreciate that because if you didn't say that rebecca i was going to ask for a handshake between those two initiations because it frankly should happen because as was said by the public we do have a number of properties in or directly next to the existing overlay

[02:44:06] that there really should be more mitigations in place for and right now by right will not get us there so i want to make sure that that's part of the thinking as we move along um just comment because I know we're not in discussion technically yet. But I hope that, as you said, Rebecca, that this initiation looks at all impacts of data centers, not just noise and not just setbacks or berms.

[02:44:28] We're also talking about building height, noise, sound mitigation. That's tonal sound, not just the overt noise that we hear all the time. Environmental impacts, energy, the use of backup generators, and land disturbance because we've heard all of that as it sort of does.

[02:44:45] But I just want to make that clear as we go through this so that we don't lose sight of why we're doing this. Because in the staff report, it just really focuses on noise, and I know that's where we started from. But I want to make sure that we're going holistically with this. Thank you.

[02:45:01] Thank you, Supervisor Buddy Dean. But, yeah, I mean, and actually, you did add some things in that weren't there. So, very good. Supervisor Bailey. Yeah, I agree. They did add something in there. We are really appreciative of that because it is all-encompassing. But I just wanted to kind of pinpoint you a little bit.

[02:45:18] Once the contract is established, we can create a timeline, correct? Yes. I like yes. I like yes. Thank you. Thank you so much. Supervisor Lawson. Thank you, Madam Chair. Hi, Rebecca. Thank you for leading this.

[02:45:35] And I would also like to add, if Supervisor Bodie did not mention it, light pollution. I know that I don't recall exactly what the planning department's process is, but what do we do with the applications related to the transmission lines or their source of power?

[02:46:02] Remind me what the current process is so that we can have maybe some more certainties as to. The current process is that when a data center comes in, they need to identify their source of power, which has been challenging because they haven't been able to get certainty from Dominion, but it is a requirement that they identify their power source.

[02:46:28] Okay. But if I understand it correctly, it's challenging because Dominion isn't able to, what's the word I'm looking for, state specifically if they're going to be able to provide from that existing transmission line, right?

[02:46:53] I think it has to do with many different power agreements in play and when each will be triggered and at what time and at what megawattage. so it's certainly not not set in stone like a proper could be correct so we will your working group have include that in the discussion as well can you we can we can discuss it a lot of that's out of our control because of dominion but certainly we can discuss it okay and that's what makes it so difficult um on that piece of it and then the other the other piece that i would like discussed and and it probably really goes back to the noise ordinance again but i think it's good

[02:47:32] for your group to discuss is the construction noise and right now our noise ordinance has that exemption and that that is certainly um worthy of of at least considering changes um i know for a fact that people endure because our noise ordinance right now allows construction noise i think monday through friday as early as 6 a.m and you know i i think that we as as a board and as the

[02:48:10] county should maybe have those conversations with the industry of course at the table but will you include that in your working group yes thank you supervisor bailey thank you so much um i i'm supervisor lawson thank you for mentioning about the light the lighting that is absolutely a big opportunity not just with data centers or whatever but whatever industry it is and and I want to remind you of the illustrious Lidl grocery store in my wonderful district and the opportunities

[02:48:44] that we had and Wade you know with the lighting with that so please please please add the lighting piece and it is essential it is essential thank you thank you Supervisor Lawson. Supervisor Vega.

[02:49:01] Thank you Madam Chair I just have a quick question in regards to the working group happy that affected residents are going to be included my question is how are specific members of the community going to be chosen we have an internal working group with the department team on friday of this week and we're that's our first order of discussion is how do we determine what the members need to who needs to be included and how do we solicit that membership we don't want it to be too large obviously but we want all of the voices at the table and like i said this is a working group it's not exclusive of public process and public input and I know we can't appoint but

[02:49:41] we can make recommendations okay thank you supervisor Lawson so to that point how how can we submit recommendations how would you like that just contact me and let me know okay thank you but just to be clear just because we recommend people doesn't mean that they go on okay it's a It's a similar process to what we did with the ADU ordinance.

[02:50:09] We worked with you to identify members. But we also did ask groups to consolidate themselves so we didn't get too large. Yeah. Okay. Great. Thank you. Can I just say, though, I think that, you know, for example, Dale Brown.

[02:50:27] I can't think of anyone better in Prince William County right now as a constituent who can participate in this working group more so than Mr. Brown. Of course, I'd like to recommend a constituent myself, but I'm sure... That's going to be my proposal for obvious reasons.

[02:50:44] Right, right, right. And so I would forego anyone in Brentsville as long as Mr. Brown has a seat at the table. And he and I have been in contact, so... Okay, I know that, Supervisor Vega, you wanted to make the motion because you initiated this back whenever we did this.

[02:51:05] Would you like to do that? Yes, thank you, Madam Chair, and thank you, Rebecca. I know that you've been in contact with Dale and folks from the Great Oak community and in direct contact with my office, so I appreciate all of your efforts in bringing this forward. So with that, Madam Chair, I would like to make a motion to adopt a resolution to initiate amendments to the DCSM and the zoning ordinance.

[02:51:26] However, my motion includes a few changes to the proposed distributed resolution as shown in the document. I am passing right now. I have already shared this before today's meeting with the county attorney, and she's signed off on it, and I also shared it with the chair today. So she's put forward a motion with the changes in red that the county attorney has reviewed.

[02:52:02] We've been sitting here and adding things anyway. It seems pretty innocuous. Supervisor Franklin. Sure, just want to, if I can just ask about the word operations and just maybe an example of what that could mean. Madam Chair, members of the board, Supervisor Vega shared this with us for any legal issues earlier today and she originally wanted to add in operations instead of uses. In our opinion, use is broader than operations, but we understand where she's coming

[02:52:39] from and so therefore we moved it from a different area that she originally proposed to put it in there. Okay, yeah, just so I get why you did it. I'm still asking what is the difference between operations versus uses? So if I can, Michelle, so data center uses is a vague and ambiguous term.

[02:52:59] operations is what they actually do which is why i requested that we add that okay and then just last question um baseline and post operational phases i'm assuming uh well what i'm assuming is after construction then once it gets into like the work that they actually do is that what baseline and post operational phases means yeah that whatever mitigations we're putting in place are actually working so could someone give me a second so we can enter the discussion phase Okay, then seconded by Supervisor Franklin, and then now we're in discussion.

[02:53:34] Supervisor Bailey. Thank you very much. Just in amending the motion, Supervisor Vega, would you mind adding the additional word of lighting to this since we've had the discussion?

[02:53:52] Would that be okay? I'm not opposed to it. If no one else is. Okay. Okay. A friendly amendment, so that's taken, and it's seconded. it's okay with the second also yes okay so we now have an accepted friendly amendment with the addition of the word lighting or after environmental impacts lighting and land disturbance are you okay okay you're done okay supervisor we're madam chair i hate to be the grammar nazi but i'm

[02:54:26] concerned where it says post-operational phase ms madden would that mean post post-operational is in after they closed operations. So I would suggest operational phase because that's when they're actually operating. Post-operational would be after the facility closed. I would take it. Did you mean Ms. Robo instead of Ms. Madden?

[02:54:49] I certainly don't. Yeah. I'm sorry. That's fine, sir. I'll ask Deputy County Attorney Alan Smith to respond. Good afternoon, Madam Chair, members of the board. Mr. Weir, to your question, that was trying to include some concerns that Ms. Vega had.

[02:55:07] I'm fine with that change. If that's the will of the board, I think that it reflects the board's desire. I would offer it as a friendly amend, just to strike the word post, because I think it creates a circumstance where it could be interpreted as after the facility closes. So if I may, Madam Chair, baseline is before operational phase, and so at site planning, right?

[02:55:32] And so repeat what you're offering, supervisor, we're post. Just striking the word post so that you're addressing conditions during the operational phase, not after closure of the facility, because post-operational would conditate after the facility is closed.

[02:55:52] Are you okay with that friendly amendment? It's just a grammatical issue. Post-operational, it means that it's closed. It's after it's finished operating is what he's saying. Well, we want to make sure, right, that everything's being addressed even after completion.

[02:56:11] Is that what you mean? After opening, completion. Yeah, because oftentimes there are other things that come about after construction is completed, and I want to make sure that we have an opportunity to address that after they're done. I'll defer to the attorneys, but I would suggest that operational would cover all phases after construction.

[02:56:31] Madam Chair, members of the board, I think we could go with language that states, you know, before construction has begun and then once each phase of the operation has commenced. Would you take that friendly amendment? Okay. Yes. Will you, as a seconder, will you take that?

[02:56:47] I think that makes sense. Thank you. Okay. So, Supervisor Franklin, you're lit up. No, I was going to. Okay. Okay. Seeing no further discussion, please vote. Vote unanimous.

[02:57:06] And I assume you can catch all that, Ms. Madden, if you go back to the tape. Yeah, no worries. Okay. That brings us to Supervisor's time, item number nine.

[02:57:24] If I could just, we have some standard things. I know we've talked about, and Supervisor Bodie has passed out his 9D last week. Now it's on the agenda. If I could get a motion for 9A through 9D. So moved, Madam Chair. Second. Motion made by Supervisor Bailey, seconded by Supervisor Bodie.

[02:57:42] Is there any discussion? Madam Chair, I do. Okay. Sorry, I didn't press to speak. Okay. What's up? I just wanted to know if it's possible to split the question. I certainly do support Measures 2 and 3 and have no issues with that, but I have issues with Measure 1, so wanted to know if we could split the questions so that I could support those two measures and not one.

[02:58:07] No, no, she's talking about 9D. She doesn't want climate mitigation and resilience. She just wants the other things. Right. You said 9 through D. No, I said D. I did. So, okay, why don't we go through 9A through 9C?

[02:58:26] Can I get a motion for 9A through 9C? Second. Okay, 9A through 9C, to be in a discussion, please vote. That clears that up, whatever was on your board, so hopefully that matches. And so there were to 9D. Vote unanimous on 9A through 9C.

[02:58:43] Okay, if I could get a motion on 9D, a second, and then we'll have discussion. So moved, Madam Chair. Motion made by Supervisor Bailey, seconded by Supervisor Franklin. Did someone else second it? Well, no, it was Kenny's. Okay, it was Kenny's resolution.

[02:59:02] Okay, seconded by Supervisor Franklin. Seconded by Vice-Chair Bode. Okay. So, discussion. Supervisor Vega.

[02:59:19] So, I guess my initial motion is to split the question. Yeah, I'm making the motion to split the question. Okay. So, there's a motion on the floor that precedes the other motion, which is to split the question.

[02:59:35] Is there a second on splitting the question? Second. Splitting the motion, sorry. Second. You're going to second her splitting your motion? Yeah, and I would ask her why. Okay, so there's a motion on the floor to split the question. Discussion. Thank you, Supervisor Brody, for agreeing to that.

[02:59:51] I kind of alluded to some of the concerns that I had earlier with the consent agenda. You know, I always am concerned about what the cost of things are going to be and how feasible implementing these mandates and our measures are going to be. And so I have issues with Measure 1s, but certainly don't have any issues with Measures 2 and 3, and I'm happy to support those too.

[03:00:10] Sure. And Madam Chair, if I could. Supervisor Brody. Thank you, Madam Chair. And I appreciate that, Supervisor Vega. I guess just in response to that, I guess it's asking for staff to provide a plan which includes a cost estimator and doesn't preclude all types of vehicles.

[03:00:27] Basically, as the code that was written that references this looks at looking at all types of vehicles, and if there are internal combustion vehicles that have a better cost overall versus a hybrid or versus an electronic vehicle, They would still recommend going with that internal combustion engine vehicle.

[03:00:45] It's just allowing tools to decide where we go with our county fleet. It doesn't mandate or dictate anything. I just want to make sure that's clear. At least not yet, right, until we acquire the information that you're seeking by initiating this. Sure. Right, and so that's the issue that I have with the cost of living being what it is today and with inflation.

[03:01:05] I just can't in good faith support Measure 1, but I'll reiterate that I'm happy to support Measures 2 and 3. Okay. No, no, that's one. Yes. Two being Trails and Blue Ways and the Reforestation Project. No, there's actually three.

[03:01:23] Okay, sorry. Very good. Got it. I read it wrong. Okay. So we have a motion to split the question. We're in discussion. I would, you know, I'm just going to go on and say I would rather not split the question. I would just rather keep it whole as it is, and you're welcome to vote against it.

[03:01:40] I, you know, do you, Supervisor Bodie? I don't think it's worth fighting over. Let's just do it. Let's just allow us to split the question. Let's move on. Thank you, Supervisor Buddy. So, point of order. Yeah. First of all, we need to clearly state what the motion is.

[03:01:56] So, how about we start there? On, but specifically on what? That's what I want to make sure the public is clear on. I know what it is, but we just need to state it out publicly. Split the question so that we can vote on Measure 1, and then we're going to take a vote on Measure 2 and 3.

[03:02:13] Okay, yeah, so we need to state what Measure 1 is. So I would measure one is climate mitigation, resilience, fast track measures regarding carbon neutral fleet. That's one. And then the other one is carbon neutral, fast track measures regarding countywide trails and blue ways and reforestation.

[03:02:32] Thank you. Okay. So we have a motion. We'll do we have to go back and vote to split the question? Yeah. Okay. Okay. Let's just vote. Okay. Let's vote to split the question.

[03:02:49] This is splitting the question. Vote unanimous. So, Madam Chair, I move the first one forward, which is the carbon neutral fleet. Great. Can I get a second on that?

[03:03:06] So moved. Second. Motion made by Supervisor Bode, seconded by Supervisor Bailey. Any discussion on the carbon neutral fleet? Hold on. That's right. I got Supervisor Lawson. And then Supervisor Bailey.

[03:03:26] Vice Chair Bode. And then Supervisor Lawson wanted to speak. I thought Bailey. I thought, no? Okay. So, a couple questions for you, Supervisor Bode. Is the MCOG goal the carbon neutral by 2040, or is that our own set goal by our Sustainability Commission?

[03:03:49] I was trying to, because we have, well, the Sustainability Commission made recommendations to us as far as, like, being carbon neutral by Prince William County government to be 100% carbon neutral by 2050.

[03:04:05] Right. So is the 2040 MCOG, or? 2040 is based on the recommendations from the sustainability commission oh i i thought it was 2050 so that's the mcog goal but what came from the sustainability commission oh okay i'm sorry i'm sorry that's why i'm asking um and then uh just to reiterate this is simply to ask for a plan that would include a cost estimator.

[03:04:36] Right. Because we all know to go green is very expensive. And so obviously we have to be very mindful and selective or diligent about it. So I'm going to support it because I actually am curious what this plan will entail.

[03:04:53] And if I could, Madam Chair. Supervisor Bodie? Yeah. So thank you, Madam Chair. And I appreciate that, Supervisor Lawson. And just to go into that a little bit, last year the General Assembly passed a law which enables their own folks to look at a cost calculator, like I said, and they also, in that legislation, then allow technical assistance and locality to leverage that calculator as well.

[03:05:17] So it's just looking at calculations and in costs. It's not saying, hey, we're going to move forward with anything. It's just bring back the information on what that would look like. So absolutely. And I'm going to chime in during discussion and say that going green isn't always that expensive. Sometimes there are incentives and other things, federal programs, state programs.

[03:05:35] So to make the blanket statement that going green is very expensive, I don't think that's necessarily true all the time. And I think we, it can be. Anyway, so just want to put that point out there.

[03:05:50] So thank you. Seeing no further discussion, please vote. Thank you. Motion passes, 6 to 2. Supervisors Vega and Weir voting nay. Supervisor Brody.

[03:06:08] Thank you, Madam Attorney. I'd like to make a motion for us to pass both the trails and blueways, aspirational trails map one, as well as the reforestation project. Second. Motion made by Vice Chair Bodie, seconded by Supervisor Bailey. Any discussion? Seeing none.

[03:06:23] Sorry. Supervisor Lawson. Thank you. I just want to take this opportunity, if Charlie Grimes happens to be watching. Mr. Grimes was at the Ducks Unlimited banquet where I was on Friday night and received an award specifically for, and it was loud.

[03:06:46] I didn't get to hear all of his comments, but it was specific to conservation, the Trails and Blue Ways Council. So, Mr. Grimes, just want you to know that we're grateful for your work to our county. Supervisor Bailey, then Supervisor Bodie. And I also want to say to Mr. Grimes, thank you for your subliminal messages about Trails and Blue Ways and your focus on it.

[03:07:10] He's always got great input, so I just wanted to say congratulations as well. Supervisor Bodie. Thank you, Madam Chair. Just for the public's edification, these last two issues are, the first is incorporating the Trails and Blue Ways Aspirational Trails Map, which was dated April 26, 2022, and submitted to us on May 31, 2022, in the Parks, Recreation, and Tourism Master Plan, as well as the CountyWise Trail Plan found in the Comprehensive Plan's Mobility Chapter.

[03:07:37] Basically, there's a lot of words to say that the Trails and Blue Ways Council came up with an aspirational trails map of connectivity of trails all across the county. And although we adopted some of those recommendations, we adopted the comprehensive plan back in December, we didn't incorporate them all.

[03:07:53] So I want to make sure that staff can look back and look at what those deficiencies are to see what would be good to bring forward to add to it. And the second one is basically looking at recommendations to further improve our reforestation program. We approved an item earlier on in this agenda that's getting monies to do reforestation across the county.

[03:08:14] I just want to make sure that we continue to improve our reforestation efforts, and as county staff, look at that plan and come back with recommendations on how to improve that plan. Thank you, Madam Chair. Thank you. Seeing no further discussion, please vote. Vote unanimous.

[03:08:34] Thank you. Okay, we are on to supervisor's time. We're going to go around the horn, and today I'm going to start to my left with Supervisor Bailey, if that's okay. That's absolutely okay. Madam Chair, thank you very much. Good afternoon, everyone. Let me start by saying on February 16th, I had the pleasure and thanks to the Human Rights Commission for putting on a wonderful Black History Month program.

[03:08:57] It was absolutely excellent. On the 16th, thanks to Todd Reed, our park ranger, for coming to my office and telling me all I needed to know about the updates for his position and his team. Thank you for all that you do. You are unsung heroes.

[03:09:13] February 17th, I would like to thank Mayor Derek Wood and the Town Council for the invitation to participate in his extended work session. It was absolutely excellent for us to come together in partnership with the county and just talk about the things that we've achieved and the future thereof.

[03:09:31] On the 20th, congratulations to the youth in our community for an excellent youth empowerment town hall that we shared with the Town of Dumfries. We had a panel, an exceptional panel, from seniors in high schools to middle schoolers talking about their concerns with gun violence, mental health, bullying, and all the other things that are affecting them during the school year and the school environment.

[03:09:58] And I want to thank my school representative, Justin Wilk, for your participation and partnership with myself and the mayor as well. On the 22nd, thank you to Chief Newsham for my third podcast. And, Chief, we appreciate all the work you and your team are doing in our community.

[03:10:17] We discussed concerns and challenges as it relates to the upcoming community public safety initiatives and how we're going to help to partner together within the county to resolve next steps for healing our community as we go forward in healing our community and public safety.

[03:10:39] On the 23rd, myself along with my colleagues attended the Prince William County Chamber Business Award and silent auction. And congratulations to our own Colonel Michael Brooks for the award that he received.

[03:10:56] And we just had a great time there. It was a great time, and to the county exec for your participation and support as well. Also on the 23rd, thanks to Chris Adams and Don McGrath from our transportation department for attending the Van Buren Village HOA board meeting.

[03:11:15] It's a small HOA, but a very resourceful HOA, and we're working on a project there. So we appreciate your support and responding to that community. On the 25th, I want to thank Mayor Wood again for hosting his wonderful Black History Month program where his keynote speaker was someone we don't know, Reverend Cozy E. Bailey.

[03:11:39] And it was an absolute wonderful event at Little Union Baptist Church, one of our historical black churches in the Potomac District. Also on the 25th, I had the opportunity to attend the 23rd Annual Virginia Black History Month Gala.

[03:11:56] That is a regional gala, and we were honored to present the Jenny Dean Scholarship Merit Award there. And so that was an excellent participation regionally for Black History Month. On the 27th, it was a pleasure having a conversation with our Prince William County Potomac School Board Rep, Justin Wilk, where he was on a podcast as well.

[03:12:23] And we talked about concerns within our schools, but also Justin has a vision for our school and working with our school board and our school superintendent. And so it was excellent. We didn't want to stop talking about our students and what a great advancement he is making with his relationship within the school system.

[03:12:46] On the 28th today, I attended the Commonwealth Coffee Honoring Black History Month with Senators Warner and Kane. And each year, it just gets gooder and gooder in terms of that. So I'm really excited about next year's participation. On the 30th of March, we are going to have a Potomac District Community Town Hall, and it's going to be at the Potomac High School from 6 to 8 p.m., where our staff will come and support that activity and give us an update, give us the community an update on where we have been, where we are, and where we're going to.

[03:13:23] And so thank you for all who have said yes already and for the county exec's support as well. Thank you very much, Madam Chair. That's all I have. Thank you, Supervisor Bailey. Vice Chair Bodie. Thank you, Madam Chair. Just very quickly, first, I want to thank my colleagues for the support for my Fast Track resolution.

[03:13:41] Appreciate that. In the coming weeks, I'll be bringing forth the second part of that is our Fast Track directives. I handed both of those out earlier on last year. I got some feedback from folks, wanted to bring them back out sort of separately as opposed to as one big block. So just wanted to let folks know that's going to happen. Also, thank my colleagues for their support.

[03:14:00] a couple quick updates from me on the 21st right here in McCourt we had the Prince William County landfill renewable gas pipeline open house a couple of my colleagues and I attended that alongside members of the public was a situation where I think staff outnumbered the number of constituents here and there for a little while but it was a really good showing in terms of how staff and the folks at Opal really wanted to get ahead of this now that we know that we need to do better with it to really get the word out to the public and really answer questions and I think it It was a really good open house, and I heard from quite a few folks that attended that they have a lot better understanding of the project moving forward.

[03:14:38] On the 24th, I was able to attend the Woodbridge Senior High School Multicultural Night. If anyone hasn't been to the Multicultural Night for Woodbridge High School, they light it up. It was a really, really great event. I appreciate Principal Abney and her staff inviting me to it. Woodbridge High right now oscillates between being the biggest and second biggest high school we have in the county.

[03:15:00] It's also one of the most diverse. And you see that on full display during the multicultural night. We had countries from all over the world represented in the different presentations that the students gave, as well as the Parade of Nations that they did. And I will tell you that especially the Ghana detachment, they lit the place up.

[03:15:21] Everyone was going crazy over their performance. I really appreciate the opportunity there. And that's it for me. Thank you so much, Madam Chair. Thank you, Vice Chair Bodie. Excuse me. Supervisor Lawson. Thank you, Madam Chair. I actually just have one directive I would like to offer.

[03:15:38] If with no other objection, ask the county executive to invite Dominion Energy and or PMJ, who runs the grid, the grid operator, to come to the board and brief us.

[03:15:57] Actually, I'd like to include representatives from DEQ and the health department possibly to brief the board given the announcement recently of DEQ considering the emissions variance and what they anticipate to be preventing power outages from March through July and the data center diesel generator use.

[03:16:26] I just think maybe it would be really beneficial for this board to have a deeper understanding as to all the different key players or elements in this. Would everybody be okay with that type of a? So I don't know if you're going to be able to get PJM to come in and speak and get a representative.

[03:16:43] And I don't know whether it is really Dominion or it is PJM. I think it's PJM and DEQ driving this, and you might want to have DEQ in. I don't know necessarily where Dominion fits in on that. and um you know pgm is a right is a that's why i said and or yeah um but somebody from the energy side and then deq and of course i was asking a couple folks i was talking to about the deq um because you know their um public hearing yesterday and i thought well why not the health department too are they participating in this now granted deq is charged with regulating

[03:17:23] environmental air quality but as people raise concerns about asthma i thought well maybe this is something that the health department is following i'll let the county executive decide if the health department should be part of this briefing but um just i would i think it would be beneficial for the board and the public thank you um yeah some i mean i'll leave the timetable up to you but obviously sooner the better our only way we're in budget season that's it we just have so much budget stuff going on I understand but this is

[03:18:00] unique in the sense that it's it's underway or will be underway later this year if DEQ grants the variances I believe it was March through July that sound right that they were considering anybody know for sure March through June 30. March through the end of June. Okay. Thank you. Thank you. Supervisor Weird.

[03:18:24] I'll keep it mercifully brief one more time. Thank you to Gainesville. Two, well, three things. Got a notice to appoint Catherine Keelig to the Historic Commission and reappoint Sarah Moser to the Board of Equalization. The clerk I'm led to believe has been delivered the documentation. And then thirdly, I'm with Janine on this. I'm one of those, I'm one of those people that has a family member who is terribly impacted by severe asthma.

[03:18:55] And I've got grave concerns over what DEQ has planned. It's bad enough in the summertime for that family member, especially on Code Red days. I have spent time in the ER and other places with that family member on a nebulizer after going outside.

[03:19:15] This causes me grave concern, particularly for people who live in closer proximity to where these diesel generators would go. I'm also not buying into the argument or the assertion that this is just through June. I can remember when they first adopted the General Assembly legislation to address the extension of rezonings and other stuff as a result of the housing crisis in 2007, which I think are still going on now, 15 years later.

[03:19:45] So I don't see it ending in July, but that's all I've got. Supervisor Angry. Oh, yes. I just wanted to just acknowledge the directive. We will certainly work together on the planning calendar and then reach out to the various stakeholders and figure out a date that's appropriate.

[03:20:07] Very good. Thank you. Supervisor Angry. Thank you, Madam Chair. So first I want to comment on item 3D that we approved on consent agenda earlier. the grant application for the planning board, which has the roadway safety program retrofitting program.

[03:20:25] That's going to significantly help out the Darbydale-Forestdale road corridor. As you know, Neabsco District, Dale City is one of the oldest districts, so when we talk about pedestrian safety and traffic, we have to find ways to be creative with our roads.

[03:20:43] So I'm very happy with this grant. What we hope this will do is set the standard for the rest of the county as we're looking at a lot of these legacy roads and making these improvements. So I want to thank once again our transportation department, Rick Canizales, and your team for going out here doing this work, getting these grants and making this stuff happen.

[03:21:02] That ties also to a constituents I had in my office just yesterday talking about the loud mufflers and traffic and speeding and really what are we doing about it. It was, you know, I'm not known for doing a lot of town halls.

[03:21:18] I say, if you've got a problem, come to my office, we'll fix it. I'm happy that these constituents did that. We had a great discussion. We actually had out Captain Costilla, and I think it was Lieutenant Day. And so we had a very robust discussion about our police force, what they're doing, how much they do.

[03:21:35] Even if you've done ride-alongs, which we all have, we see that our police force is taxed with more than just policing. And so there is a discussion, and, you know, there's improvements happening where we're building the force out, and we're looking at, you know, improving all of those different departments.

[03:21:53] I've always, as we discussed, our detectives need to go detect. Our traffic police need to go enforce some traffic. You know, we have all these different sections in the department. Right now we're so short that we're putting people in different areas because of the need and the concern. So we know the concerns.

[03:22:09] We have to address them. I just want to throw that in there as I had that conversation. And it was a great conversation. Next, I want to talk about the Opal Fuel, more like open house we had. It wasn't really a town hall. That was a great event.

[03:22:25] We had 18 constituents come out. And I will tell you why it was, is that those 18 constituents gave us even more ways of how to get that done. And what I mean is we have two routes that we were proposing on that. If you know anything about that, you can look it up. But we may have an opportunity for more just looking at different things.

[03:22:44] And all that came from discussion from the constituents and just having that conversation. So I'm very happy we had that. I know there were some communication breakdowns earlier. So I'm hoping that that particular event helps us improve how we communicate on these projects going forward with our community.

[03:23:01] Very proud of that. I want to just speak a little bit about Northern Virginia Regional Commission, which is a commission in Fairfax that represents the region. They have a couple of partnerships that are to be commended. There's a Transitioning Military, Military Spouse, and Veterans Task Force that's literally going out to look at the issues that are going on inside our installations as well as in our communities.

[03:23:25] One of those big ones being child care. There's a problem everywhere. So how do we combat this? How do we get folks working and not having to worry about the children dropping them off or what that child care facility may look like.

[03:23:42] Is it certified? We know we have a lot of not certified organizations doing things just because they're trying to meet the end. So working on that, I'm very proud of what NBRC is doing. So I'm going to put that out there. This is my spotlight hour.

[03:23:59] I want to spotlight our police department. So I've been getting a couple of emails, and it's basically been two, really commending our police force. One was a bad auto accident with some young students involved. I got an email and a call from the mom said that the crews I ride there were so respectful to their children, really worked with them, made them feel good.

[03:24:18] It was a great environment to be in. Got another one from another call out of Manassas. Not going to get too specific, but I do want our police force to know, folks who are recognizing what you're doing, keep up the outstanding work. You don't hear it enough, I'm here to give it to you.

[03:24:35] And then I want to just kind of talk a little bit about, you know, I went out, I know, and this was out in Supervisor Lawson's area. I went out and met with a lot of the Devlin community, and I want to thank them, and particularly Danielle, who opened her house to me.

[03:24:50] And she makes a mean, oh, that crumb cake or whatever that, man, she can cook. So, but I was very, I'm happy to be out there. You know, we had a great conversation. I know this is, again, we're in a tough place in this county with everything going on with data centers and this, but we're going to get there.

[03:25:08] We're going to get through this. There's a lot that's been done, and I'm not here to point fingers at anyone because it is this board that has now the charge of how we fix this. So I'm happy to go out, and I always say it. I may represent the Appsco District, but I'm one-eighth of a board that represents 482,000 people.

[03:25:25] So I will go anywhere, talk to anyone, especially if you're making home-baked goods. but you don't have to do that just you know really i just i will i will come out and speak with anyone so thank you uh to everyone that was out there uh you know a few families came out and it was a really really good conversation and then last but not least you know she don't want me to do this but i have to do this because you've run out of time oh but can i can we won't okay just keep it we really try to keep it to five minutes okay i'm sorry well i feel like i didn't say nothing all day now anyway i just want to um really um give a uh thank you to uh one of my staffers, Ms. Amanda Fink. She's going to be moving on from the office.

[03:26:04] So if you all know her, she sent her emails out of communications to folks. She has been a blessing for me for the last four years. She's been with the county for 12. The great news is she's just moving within the county. I won't say where. She doesn't want me to tell you where. But she's moving within the county, so I'm happy that she's still going to be a part of this great family. And so thank you, Ms. Amanda Fink, for all that you've done for me, for the Neopsco District.

[03:26:27] As our constituent services, you're the best. Thank you, Madam Chair. Thank you, Supervisor Angry. And considering how little you speak compared to the rest of us, I'm sorry, I cut you off. You're much more brief. Okay, Supervisor Vega.

[03:26:44] Thank you, Madam Chair. First off, congratulations again to Supervisor Bob Weir. I know that folks in the Gainesville District are happy that that seat is no longer vacant. I want to go ahead and let folks know that on February 16th, I had the chance to attend the MIDCO meeting on the topic of the Kline Farm Project, where I had the opportunity to break the news, great news, about the current proposal being pulled by the applicant.

[03:27:06] It sounds like the applicant is hearing our concerns, your voices, and that of the surrounding community as it relates to density, and I look forward to hopefully steering that project in the right direction so both the Kline family and the surrounding community at large can come to a plan both sides can be happy with.

[03:27:22] On Friday, I had the privilege to go on a tour with Chief Park Ranger, Todd Reed. We met at my second home which is where I spend my spring and summer afternoons coaching a fantastic group of young girls in soccer and that would be at Helwig. So of course drove around and discussed all of the exciting news new things going on there. We went over to Dove's Landing for those in the community that weren't aware. Dove's Landing is now officially under a conservation easement which I know is great and welcome news to so many of us in the community who wanted to keep that beautiful area preserved for decades to come. Lots of exciting

[03:27:59] new things happening in the Coles District in regards to parks, and I encourage my colleagues to go out there so that you can see how your votes are impacting for the greater good, I would say, the Coles District and our county as a whole. Lastly, you may have noticed that one of our regular speakers hasn't been seen in a few months here in these chambers. Miss Janet Rosenthal went to be with the Lord on February 19th.

[03:28:22] Supervisor Lawson and I attended a very beautiful memorial service for her this past Friday at Chapel Springs. For those that remember Ms. Rosenthal, she always gave us a piece of her mind, but did it in a very respectful manner. So I will say it for you one more time, Ms. Rosenthal, here in these chambers, may God bless America and may old glory always fly.

[03:28:45] Our sincere condolences to the Rosenthal family. And with that, Madam Chair, that's all I have. So sorry to hear that. Thank you. Supervisor Franklin. Sure, thank you. I want to start by again just thanking Chair Wheeler and Supervisor Bailey for the recognitions that we did today.

[03:29:07] I know I mentioned earlier about the Braxton family, so this may spark your memory. Unity Braxton, that's named after the Braxton family. So I thought it was wonderful to see them here. But if you don't know the history of the Braxton family, the Porter family at Porter Traditional School, named after the Porter family, and a number of many other families in this community, Benita Fitzgerald and her sister, and many people know about the work that Fannie Fitzgerald did to help integrate the school.

[03:29:40] So lots of history in Prince William County, and a lot of those individuals are still living. So we got to get that history while we can. So I'll just keep saying that. So on Thursday, February 16th, attended the Prince William County Black History Month program at the Ferlazo building.

[03:29:58] And thank you to the Black History Commission for organizing that event. It was a wonderful event. And to be honest, I think it was the best one that I've been to. So kudos to the committee. Very good. Later that evening, I had the opportunity to give community updates to the Woodbridge Potomac Civic Association business networking event.

[03:30:18] Thank you to those that came out. We had a couple of new members, so it was fun getting a chance to meet everyone. And then on Saturday, the 18th, I stopped by Freedom High School for their community outreach event where various community partners attended. And thank you for Freedom High School for always welcoming me.

[03:30:35] Thank you to the principal there who came up to me. And she's very short, so it's hard to find her sometimes, but it's true. than me that's the question well she she may be actually she may be a little bit shorter than you but but she is such a joy she's been with the school um this is her first year uh with freedom um of her positive reviews so um so i just want to thank the principal for all the work that that she is doing um and on the 23rd i attended the principally county chamber of commerce business awards and silent auction event um set with economic development who won an award so congratulations to our economic development team i think we always say we have one of the best

[03:31:13] economic development teams in the county, and I truly believe that. And then last night, I hosted my third annual Black History Month program. I was joined by Delegate Candy King, E.J. Scott, and Emmett Fletcher, and we discussed the topic of black civic engagement.

[03:31:29] I just want to first just thank my staff for the work that they've done. They're the ones that have to put kind of all these programs together. I pretty much say this is what I think we should do, and then they go out and execute. So Pamela Montgomery, Bertha Johnson, Edwin Gonzalez, thank you for the work that you've been doing, and particularly last night.

[03:31:48] One of the reasons why I mention that is because we had really good turnout. It was a really good discussion, and I always get nervous when I host events because you never know if people are going to show up. You never know if they're going to have a good time. You never know if it's going to be boring or not. But I got a lot of good feedback last night, and I just want to thank everyone who participated in that discussion.

[03:32:08] I also want to thank Curtis Porter, who provided some remarks last night, Mayor Derek Wood, Chair Wheeler, who was able to stop by. And then we were also joined by Dr. George Hampton, who was also on the call. So thank you to those individuals. Upcoming events, very quickly, I'll be reading to second grade class at Kilby Elementary School.

[03:32:28] I'll be practicing to make sure that I'm in good standing. On March 6th from 7 to 8.30 p.m., I'll be at Belmont Elementary where I'm hosting a meeting with residents of Belmont Bay to talk about possible traffic calming measures in their neighborhood.

[03:32:43] And we'll be joined by Prince William Department of Transportation and VDOT. And then also on Friday, I'll be attending the EduFuturo Gala. EduFuturo is an organization that provides educational resources to immigrants, immigrant youth, and their families.

[03:32:59] And then lastly, just want to announce that we are constructing 12 bus shelters up and down the Route 1 corridor, and we are also making current bus shelters ADA compliant. So if you have questions about that, please let us know, and we'll be sending out information about that project.

[03:33:18] So happy to be able to announce that. And I yield. Thank you, Supervisor Franklin. I'll try to be quick. I just want to go over some of the things. I mean, so much is happening that people really sort of should be aware of. You know, on February 15th, Supervisor Bailey and I joined the federal, state, and local officials in Springfield at a press event to support Virginia's case for being the best designation for the FBI headquarters, which really fits in with just so many things in our area and so many of our residents and Quantico and everything else.

[03:33:50] So that was good to be there, fingers crossed. On Thursday, February 16th, I also got to attend the Prince William County Black History Committee celebration, and it was just exceptional this year with all the entertainment and some of the really moving historical items that people were covering.

[03:34:08] On Friday, February 17th, I attended the Northern Virginia Black Chamber of Commerce Congressional Funding Award event over in the city of Manassas, where they celebrated the chamber's initiatives and support they had received for congressional funding and recognized the impact they've had on black businesses and that black businesses make in Northern Virginia. The same thing, I got invited to give remarks at the Town of Dumfries Council Planning Retreat, which was really fun. On Tuesday, February 21st, I also attended the County and Opal Fuels Community Information Forum, which I thought was really quite a great overview of what that project is and the benefits to the county.

[03:34:47] I think people really learned a lot and saw what a great project it was. On Wednesday, the 22nd, I went out to Fort Belvoir Community Leaders Luncheon hosted by Colonel Joseph Messina at the Fort Belvoir Garrison Commander. It was great to make that connection with Fort Belvoir because so many of our residents work at Fort Belvoir is what I found out that day.

[03:35:09] And so having that connection really is beneficial for Prince William County. On Thursday, the 24th, I attended the Prince William Chamber of Commerce Business Awards also, where I was honored to present the 2023 Prince William County Business Partnership Award to Velagio Hospitality Group President and CEO Marcus Silva for all they have done in terms of commitment, placemaking, historic preservation, economic development, and community engagement out of two silos and everything that they have there.

[03:35:38] It's had a transformative effect on Prince William County. I was also at the Town of Dumfries Black History event and got to hear the wonderful Reverend Bailey, so inspiring. Always got to remember he's a preacher, but he was really, really good. Yeah, it's really, you know, really, he's a really good speaker, really enjoyable.

[03:35:58] And just for anyone who's watching, I just want them to let us know that, you know, we've talked a lot about the school zone at Battlefield High School. Someone texted me a picture as we speak, the signs for 35 miles an hour zone going up next to Battlefield High School on Route 15 or going up as we speak.

[03:36:13] They should be finished within the week. Yay. I think that'll make a lot. And then we'll work on the rest of that in terms of safety. And so that was really wonderful. And I do have an at-large appointment at the request of the Gainesville supervisor, and it's my intent to reappoint Joe Passanella to the Board of Zoning Appeals, where he is currently, his term is coming up, just to put him on as a Board of Zoning Appeals appointee.

[03:36:42] I think he probably has to go through the court system again, even though it's a reappointment, but he's been on there for quite some time and apparently is a good member, a member in good standing. And that will be on the agenda next week. With that, we can move on to the next item on the agenda, which is a closed meeting.

[03:37:05] So we'll be doing that alone. And then we'll come out and report after that, and then we'll be having dinner here in the county building. We're not going anywhere this week. We don't have enough time. Yes, we'll take a 10-minute break before the closed session at 10 of, and then we'll be back out to report, and then we will be back out for our 7.30 meeting.

[03:37:26] Thank you.

[03:38:00] Session, we have nothing to report out, but I will entertain a motion to certify that we only spoke about what we're supposed to speak about.

[03:38:28] So moved. You made the motion? No, no, that's fine. So we're going to talk about that. So motion made by Supervisor Vega, seconded by Supervisor Bodie. The Vice Chair Bodie made and seconded by Supervisor Vega.

[03:38:46] Okay, any further discussion? Seeing none, please vote. Vote unanimous. Okay, that's good. We will recess until 7.30 when we will be back for our evenings.

[03:39:04] Good evening.

[03:39:30] Welcome back to board chambers for today's meeting's evening session. We're going to go on to Agenda Item 11, but I did want to give some deference. I believe in the House we have the Mayor of Dumfries and the Vice Chair somewhere.

[03:39:49] I just wanted to recognize them when we have other elected officials in the House. So, very good. Okay. We're on Agenda Item 11. There are three items on today's public hearing consolidated agenda.

[03:40:06] The first, no worries, no worries. I thought I was missing something, which sometimes I do. The first item on the consolidated agenda is an ordinance for the special use permit for the Potomac Mills Mobile in the Aguaquan Magisterial District.

[03:40:30] And then we have also on the consolidated agenda a proffer amendment for the Innovation Town Center in the Brentsville Magisterial District. And last but not least, an ordinance for a special use permit for Milestone Towers at Fleetwood Drive in the Brentsville Magisterial District.

[03:40:50] So we don't have presentations on those because they're unconsolidated, but I will now open the public hearing on items 11A, B, and C. Ms. Madden, do we have anyone signed up for 11A, B, and C? Okay, if anyone here wishes to speak, even though you're not signed up on 11A, B, and C, feel free to go to the microphone in the back of the room.

[03:41:17] Seeing no one approach the microphone in the back of the room, this will officially close the public hearings on our consolidated agenda, items 11A, B, and C. It's Brentsville and Occoquan, I guess.

[03:41:36] So moved, Madam Chair. Second. Oh, sorry. That's okay. Motion made by Vice Chair Bodie, seconded by Supervisor Bailey. Is there any further discussion on 11A, B, and C? Seeing no one on my monitor to sign up to speak, please vote.

[03:41:55] Vote unanimous. Okay, that was simple. Now, thank you for all the people who came out for 11A, B, and C. I don't know whether you want to take your... Okay, everyone, we'll give you a second if you want to clear chambers for that.

[03:42:13] We are now on to our standard agenda regarding public hearings on land use. The first one is 12A, which is a special use permit for Casa Light Noakesville Child Care School.

[03:42:37] Mr. Meyer, are you going to give your presentation? Is that how we're doing this? I was going to say, does the applicant have something? Okay. Okay. I saw you standing there, but, and you need to turn the microphone on.

[03:43:01] If you can turn the microphone on. Awesome. Thank you. Welcome. Yeah. Good evening, Honorary Chair Board.

[03:43:18] Good evening, Honorary Supervisors. My name is Latim Rechon, and I'm going to present to you a Kazalite School project. Just to tell you a little bit about me. So I have a PhD in engineering, and I used to teach mathematics at high school and also at the college.

[03:43:42] So education is, you know, something very important for me. So let's go back to Casa Light. So, yeah, so the school is going to be located in Knoxville, in Prince Williams County.

[03:44:03] And so it is located in Catalan Road, and it's in front of the Tickley Elementary School and also the Patriots High School.

[03:44:20] For the summary for this project, so for this presentation, I'm going to present you the project goal, our philosophy, school accreditation, school capacity and utilization, learning approaches, classes offered, special classes, collaboration with neighboring schools, project layout, and the store management system, parking numbers and projects benefit to the Prince Williams Council.

[03:44:55] and the benefits to the Prince Williams County and to the community. So this project is one of the kind where the private school is associated to the childcare. The capacity will be like 160 students and the education will be focused on STEAM and education programs. So the project will follow the rules and

[03:45:26] the requirements outlined by the DCSM. So this is a picture like how it will look at the front. We will respect the green. So this is from the sky. So this is how it will look with the parking, with the cars and the green

[03:45:56] all around. So the philosophy for this school, so it is using the STEM education programs. The students will be involved in using innovation and creativity, critical thinking, problem-solving, and sparking imagination where they can, you know, push to express themselves, you know, by using art. The school will be

[03:46:33] accredited by the Virginia accreditation for private education and for the the the private school will do education will be equivalent to the public education so as I said that you know this the capacity will be 160 students so the to the private school will prepare students for the kindergarten

[03:47:05] And then the child care will offer after school classes for students coming from elementary school, middle school, and high school.

[03:47:25] For the private school, the education will be based on cognitive development, language and literacy, physical development, social, emotional development. So all what, you know, the early education needs for those students to succeed.

[03:47:43] For the child care, the classes will be classes of mathematics, physics, and reading, and languages.

[03:48:01] So we will offer special classes like science experimentation, robotics, programming, and horticultural. So the last, the horticultural is a very important program for us where we want the students to apply science to agriculture.

[03:48:21] So they will grow plants and vegetation and they can follow the growing using computers, collecting data using computers and trying to understand, like playing with, they can plant with the soil, with no soil, with the water and with no water.

[03:48:43] So all the new technologies that they can use and to see what is the difference. we will offer also the summer programs and activities so like if students they need to take new classes they can take new classes or they can take classes that's where they they are having difficulties like in math or physics or in writing or reading something like that we are we will offer also the summer

[03:49:16] camp where will be access join activity education and activities where they can go to the pool or traveling or visiting monuments so so those programs will be also offered to the students like level of the middle school and high school because in our area there are not that lots of programs where those students that age you know they can they can go to you know attend any camp summer camp for the collaborating with the neighboring schools so because we are in

[03:49:56] front of those two schools so the first one is that the those schools they do have the the SAC programs for students they can you know attend get help from any subject where they are not succeeding but the problem is you know there is a waiting list. They don't have enough room for for a lot of students. So I talked to the principal of the Tikri wood and he told me that you know they need help. They have a waiting list. So for that you know we can help them get some students and you know offer them some after school classes where they can

[03:50:36] you know get better in some subjects. For also for the there are students where they need to take summer classes they have issues you know like with some subjects like math mostly math so so those students normally they go to different school during summer and take those classes so we can help also you know offering some classes and especially that we are just in front of the their schools so this is the actual site for now so there is nothing on the

[03:51:10] the land piece of land so this is the what is the proposed project so the i don't know

[03:51:33] so so yeah so the bottom one is the the the private school and then the top one is oh yeah oh yeah okay so the the so this is the the for the private school and this is for the the the child care so the agriculture will be the the horticultural program will be in this piece of land so this is like two acres and this is like three acres this piece of land so we worked with the with VDOT and with the the Prince Williams County Transportation Department and we come out with the so

[03:52:08] where the so the entrance will be right in right out we we are going to have a topper here, about like 200 feet, where you know cars when they come and continue to come and want to get in the school so they will go to the right and then they want to stay in the Catalan Road. So this is very important.

[03:52:34] So this is about this one. So this is more you can see in detail. So this is the entrance as it was proposed by VDAT this is the topper here so so yeah so this is the this road you know will will be around school and then you know they can just this has both ways to enter for the storm management system so we are

[03:53:08] proposing the bioretention so this this technology is is is very public it's popular and it has some advantages for the lack of the quality a quantity of water for the store water and also that cleans water so by using vegetation it It does clean water, so the water, when it's leaving the storm management, you know, it is clean water.

[03:53:42] So that is very important. So those are some properties of, you know, those bioretention. So the quality of the water, it helps with climate also, and then, you know, using vegetation to clean the water.

[03:53:58] So now we are to the parking numbers. So this is the DCSM table where it is given the numbers for parking by students for the parking.

[03:54:15] So this is the calculation we made. So it has, like, we come out with 44 parking. So we will have around like 31 teachers for the students that are like in the child care.

[03:54:34] They are around 60, so the parking will be 10 for them. There will be three buses, marking like six. So we will have some teachers that are like just temporary to replace the teachers because the teachers, they cannot, so they work like eight hours.

[03:54:57] So those temporary teachers, they can replace them when they leave or when they go to the lunch or something like that. So for those numbers, to validate those numbers, what we did, we checked some area schools to see what are the numbers that they are using for the parking.

[03:55:18] So this is a merit school in Bremer, so they have 40 parking lots. This is the learning experience in Manassas, they have 52 parking lots. This is Everbrook in Bristol, they have 31 parking lots.

[03:55:39] And then, you know, the latest one is what the project will bring to the community and to the county. Well, so for the community, mostly it's education, that's very important because, you know, early education is so important.

[03:55:55] That's kind of, you know, that's the stage to put, you know, the students to succeed. So we will be hiring, like, 31 teachers with administration, kitchen lady, cleaning the company.

[03:56:13] So all of this, you know, there will be some benefits of hiring and also paying tax. The salary, it will be around $40,000. It depends on, you know, how, like, the experience and certification and how many, like, full-time or not full-time.

[03:56:38] And then the real estate tax, that's, you know, and income tax that the school, you know, pays to the county. So this is what I have for this presentation. Thank you very much. Thank you. I was going to just go on to the staff presentation. Supervisor Lawson.

[03:57:03] Thank you. Good to see you tonight, sir. You've done a very good job of shepherding this case through, and I think staff has a presentation as well, but I don't have any questions for you. I've asked my questions. You've addressed them. My colleagues may have questions, but I just want to commend you for your work.

[03:57:23] you've been working on this project for quite a while. Thank you. Supervisor Franklin, did you have a quick question? Sure, yeah, yeah, quick question. I know that we're here mostly on the land use portion, but I do have a programming question. I'm just curious as to if there's any capacity for those with children with disabilities or special needs.

[03:57:47] Yes, we will have... Can you turn the microphone on? Yeah, we will have a program to students that they have special needs.

[03:58:04] So, yeah, I didn't add it, but there will be one class, yeah, for the special use. Yeah, so we have like the entrance, you know, for the like handicap or, but we also like for students that because they are, I saw, you know, I was sometimes, you know, doing substitute as a teacher and I was with the like the not handicapped but those like a special special students they are smart but they are not normal and

[03:58:40] that's you know yeah so those we will have some classes for those students especially this good because they will be close to the nature so they can you know go outside and then walk with them and they will be you know thank you and And I do just want to clarify that we're talking about individuals with special needs, and so we don't want to characterize them as not being normal or out of the ordinary.

[03:59:06] They do have special needs, so I just want to clarify that. Yeah, yeah, yeah, special needs, yes, yeah, yeah. Very good. Well, thank you. And I know we have a staff presentation. Is that you, Mr. Meyer? Welcome, Mr. Meyer. Good evening, Chair Wheeler, members of the board, Scott Meyer in the planning office.

[03:59:36] The applicants have gone through the presentation. Just a few things I would like to add to this. One of the things that's interesting to point out is that this application, when it first went to the Planning Commission back in October, we still had our older version of the comprehensive plan.

[03:59:54] That created numerous policy conflicts where this used to be in the formalized rural area. It's a rural-like area in areas, but it's no longer the rural area. We also had prohibitions for connecting to public sewer. that has also since gone away because our new comprehensive plan has amended sewer policies as well. So there were numerous comprehensive plan policy issues earlier, but they have since gone away. So that was one of the reasons for deferral from the Planning Commission, and the applicant

[04:00:29] has been responsive to the concerns. This is just the context. This is a site right here. It's five acres we have a patriot high school here clay elementary school here this of course is a kettle run and this is noakesville road right here so just to give you an overall context you'll see the area is larger lot residential it's it's on the opposite side of where the schools are but we feel that as conditioned you know this meets the this meets the intent of the comprehensive

[04:01:05] a plan. The new land use designation is residential neighborhood. It's still zoned A1, of course. These are some photos looking into the site from the high school right here. It's wooded. Looking into the site, you'll see the middle school is up here, just some different perspectives. We have the high school and the elementary school. This is Kettle Run in front here. We've already gone through the background the applicant has but the primary use of the site will be a private school

[04:01:40] the secondary component is child care facility we have extensive use parameters that are conditioned in the special use permit the overall limit will be 160 children 100 for the students and we have 60 for the child care we have hours of operation that are conditioned as well there's access improvements that the applicant has done a great job with there will also be an agricultural demonstration area in the rear of the site which we feel kind of pays homage to the agricultural like rural like area of the vicinity

[04:02:17] we have a perimeter landscaping you've already seen this these are just again elevations they're in the report showing different conceptuals of the school we have specific building materials such as primarily brick to be used for the facility planning commission recommended approval with the conditions they also asked for an additional condition for enhanced stormwater management which the applicant has agreed to and staff is recommending approval with the revised conditions dated january 11th we have as i mentioned operational parameters we have

[04:02:52] landscaping we have different design elements we feel it's context sensitive you know with what is around for the site we have a clearly defined primary use as a private school child care as a secondary component um we also feel that uh now with being uh connected to public sewer and public water it meets the intent of the current policy which is our newly adopted comprehensive plan staff has recommended approval and i'll be happy to answer any questions if there are thank you that was for the applicant wasn't that was a 20 minute for the applicant because he went

[04:03:28] pretty fast no more thank you mr. Meyer really appreciate it are there are there any questions for uh planning staff or mr. Meyer this evening supervisor lawson thank you madam chair um mr. Meyer I asked the applicant this I'm just asking for the sake of public's knowledge um t clay wood patriot high school right there t clay wood in particular to service uh the children of this school you have the curve right there on Kettle Run and the applicant has a

[04:04:03] write-in write-out approval and I asked how will children after school be transferred over and I believe if I remember correctly there will be a van or bus okay if you speak you need it yeah like so they will we will have a buses two or three so they go to the school and those students that they will come to our school they will come in the bus they will bring them to the school and then their parents will come after they pick them up okay so so for

[04:04:39] anyone that is you know watching this paying attention we will not have children walking they will not be on foot crossing no there is no walk could be a very dangerous yeah yeah scenario if that were the case at the beginning You know, the transportation department asks to do the, like, the walk-in.

[04:05:00] And then they said, no, no, you know, we are not going to. So, thank you, sir. Scott, do we have anything like that embedded in the SUP? Supervisor Lawson, go ahead. Do we have anything embedded in the SUP that will prohibit any type of pedestrian approval?

[04:05:21] We, the site will be served by sidewalks. We have on-site parking as a requirement. right um we we also have a prohibition against you know drop-offs in front or children walking to the school okay that's what i'm looking for yes prohibition of walking correct correct that is that is in the in the conditions or where do we have that uh that safe measure or safeguard and i'm sorry to catch you on the fly i just literally just thought of that we talked about it but i want

[04:05:56] to make sure that 20 years from now um whoever's you know operating the school and the public school and casa light know that that's just less something dramatically changes there with the road infrastructure in condition number seven supervisor law so we have obstruction of travel ways ensure that any vehicles associated with the use do not obstruct fire lanes the adjoining uh road network

[04:06:28] um i thought there was something about parking on the site actually well again i want to remind you my concern is pedestrian traffic okay um i don't know if there's even miss roble are we allowed to i know that the school like patriot high school in particular does all they can to discourage student walkers but okay mr meyer i don't know if we can legally do that so

[04:07:04] So just let it be known that it is a concern of mine. Okay. Noted. Sounds like we're going to do everything we can to prevent it. Yes, just to add, so the elevator school, they don't let students out, you know. So either they go with their parents or in their buses.

[04:07:21] So there is no one can just go outside the school and walk. Right. So, yeah, so we have to have, like, permission. At Tclay? Yes. You're right. Yes. Patriot's a different discussion. Right. Supervisor, I'm sorry. Condition 2D and 2F, talk about that, shall drop off and pick up.

[04:07:42] Okay. Drop off and pick up of children from Kettle Run shall be prohibited. It needs to be all on site. So I hope that at least addresses the concern that they won't be walking across the street. Okay, thank you. You're welcome. So I'm done asking questions.

[04:07:58] I'm ready to move for approval. No, public hearing. Oh, yeah, thank you. Yes, that's right. No, that's usually I'm the one who forgets the public hearing. So seeing no further questions at this time for applicant or staff, I will officially open the public hearing for 12A.

[04:08:15] Right now we have three speakers signed up. I'll call the speakers three at a time. You can line up in the microphone in the back of the room. Everyone will have three minutes, and please state your name and generally where you live in the county before your remarks. Our speakers are Marianne McCone, Acha Mumad, and Shaqat Mumad Mahmood.

[04:08:41] If the three people want to line up in the back of the room, that would be great to speak in the microphone. Is this on? Yes, it is. Just make sure you speak into it. You need to speak a little bit closer. My name is Marianne McCone. I live in Brentsville, and Kettle Run is my main road to get in and out of where I live.

[04:09:03] And I'll tell you, after 2 o'clock, between 2 and 3.30, it is impossible to drive down Kettle Run and get it to my place. Because whoever decided to build the school, the Patriot and Clay, did not take into consideration that parents are going to pick up, drop off their kids.

[04:09:29] And as a result, the lane going off of Vent Hill, turn right, and on to Kettle Run so that you go Kettle Run, goes like this, and to continue, the lane is totally filled with cars.

[04:09:45] And so you have three choices. You either go to the next road, which is Schaefer, but I usually forget, and I end up behind people just idling along Kettle Run, and I'm often there for 15, 20 minutes.

[04:10:00] unless I do what everybody else does, and you go around them into oncoming traffic, and you continue, and hopefully you don't get into a car accident. And I have seen nothing about traffic congestion in the mornings or in the afternoon and what's going to happen with more drop-offs, more people.

[04:10:22] And so my commute is horrible, thanks to all the parents who are inconsiderate and decide that they have to line up because the high school won't let parents onto their property.

[04:10:40] They have to go drive up to the elementary school and pick up their kids' high school or elementary school. So there is this line that is there almost every single day, and you have not much of a choice to do.

[04:11:00] And I think it's really poor planning on the part of Prince William County. And if you put in another school, it's going to get even worse. And the residents of my area are affected, and I don't think that's right, considering most of the people don't even live around where I do.

[04:11:20] And I don't see, I have, I'm surprised that there has been no traffic, no one has talked about what to do about traffic. It's almost like nobody sees it, but all you have to do is show up around 2 to 3.30 almost every day, and there you've got it.

[04:11:43] So I hope you will take that into consideration when you vote and require that something be done. Thank you. Thank you very much. Next speaker, please. Hello, everybody.

[04:12:00] My name is Aisha, and I lived in that area approximately 11 years. Can we speak up just a little bit? Okay. Can you hear me now? Okay. I start now. So I live in that area approximately 11 years, and my kids went to the T. Claywood.

[04:12:16] It's a very nice school, but there is no much private schools. When I was in that area, I sent my kids to a private school called Gaines Richmond Center. In private school, kids get one-to-one attention, and when I see this plan for this Castle Light school, I think if they will pay attention towards math, science, and English, when kids will join the elementary schools, they will be ahead of their classes.

[04:12:48] It's a good program. It's a good opportunity for the parents who want their kids to be in the honor level classes to be joined when they come to the public school. So I have two kids.

[04:13:04] We had the same process. My kid went to the private school for a couple of years, and when they joined the public schools, they were ahead in their classes. Second thing is this program is good because they're going to be more closer to the nature.

[04:13:21] The program I saw is the kids are going to be growing fruits and vegetables that they will understand more. So it's like if you have concern with your kids, you have no time for your kids, This program is perfect for those parents who cannot give attention or time because of their own busy-at-work or some other reasons.

[04:13:44] So this program definitely is good for... So I will definitely recommend this school. They have a lot of good plans in the future for the kids, and that's all I wanted to say at this point.

[04:14:02] And another thing I will say that if anybody saw documentary, Elon must also have a private school for math and science, which is a good program for the kids. So this is something similar I can see, not at that level, but at some level that kids are going to have a lot more interaction and working with the math and science programs.

[04:14:24] Thank you. Thank you. Next speaker, please. Hello. My name is Shaukat Mahmood. As Aisha mentioned, we also lived in Bristol for almost 11 years prior to moving to Haymarket.

[04:14:45] So what I wanted to talk about is the importance of this school within the community. Our both kids went to TK Hollywood and also the private school.

[04:15:01] And we felt that when there were no other opportunities after the schools for kids to learn and do their homework. So this school provides an opportunity for kids to not just to go to the daycare.

[04:15:20] This school will provide the opportunity to do their homework. You know, they can learn extracurriculum activities. They can learn gardening. They can do anything. you know, the school offers.

[04:15:38] So this school will be really good for the community. I mean, I have talked to multiple parents around that area in the Bristow and Tree Claywood since I lived there, and they are all looking forward for the school.

[04:15:58] So they keep asking us whenever I bump into somebody and they say, hey, when are you guys opening up school? So what I wanted to stress is a lot of people are anxiously waiting for this school to open up.

[04:16:17] And I looked at the curriculum that Castle Light offers. It offers wide, different programs that kids can utilize and learn from this program.

[04:16:38] So I will strongly, highly recommend this school for the community. It is good for the folks living in that area. Bristol, Gainesville, Haymarket, they can all benefit from that school. Thank you very much. Thank you very much.

[04:16:56] If there's anyone else who would like to speak on 12A, please approach the microphone in the back of the room. We have someone approaching, please. Hi, my name is Maggie Hansford. I'm in the Brentsville area. Since we're speaking at schools, I thought I should share a couple teachable moments that I saw supervisors miss.

[04:17:17] I'm hoping this isn't the first time that you all saw the slides. When we looked at the slide for the staff, it said kitchen lady on it. We just need to be very mindful when we're building our schools. If the public schools had such language, that would not be appropriate.

[04:17:36] We have to think about how we speak about the workers in Prince William County and take time for that teachable moment. Also, when the developer was presenting this, I was asking the people around me, just clarifying that the words when we were talking about special needs students, that it was noted that they're smart but not normal.

[04:17:57] So please, as leaders of this county, take a moment, think about what is said in this room. There was two very teachable moments that we could have shared and said there's a better way of saying instead of kitchen lady, we could talk about food service.

[04:18:14] We could talk about cafeteria workers. There's different ways that you could say what we teach in our public schools. So that being said, I worked at T. Claywood. I opened that school. The traffic on that road is exactly what the neighbor said off of that road for multiple hours of the day.

[04:18:37] You're looking at a high-density car rider line that is down the line because guess what? You can't walk. And why are we talking about building schools while saying, are you sure kids can't walk? So think about that when you're building schools because we want walkable communities.

[04:18:56] Thank you. Okay. Ms. Madden, do we have one in at 1 on line? Okay. This will officially close the public hearing on item 12A.

[04:19:17] Does anyone at the dais have any questions for the applicant? You got it. Supervisor Lawson. Thank you. So, unfortunately, the Noakesville resident who spoke at the public hearing, I don't think she stuck around, but I still want to address her concerns.

[04:19:40] So, Mr. Meyer, where are you? We head up to the podium. I don't recall, did this project trigger a transportation impact analysis? Yes, it did. Supervisor Leslie. Yeah, they submitted a traffic impact study.

[04:19:56] Okay. And what Ms. McCone was speaking of is real. Those are absolutely some longstanding frustrations that we've had out at Kettle Run. I totally agree with her that it was poor planning on the part of the county where they chose to build Patriot High School and tea clay in the rural area none of us in this room up at this day has had any decisions in that but we're still dealing with it um so i want to be sensitive to her concerns um so so casa light

[04:20:33] did receive a write-in write-out from vdot correct yes they have a tapered turning lane remind me what do me a favor pull up uh what you have for transportation road improvements for this project and then while you're doing that um dude i i know that we had a conversation at one point with the applicant did we ask the applicant to um stagger their times contrast to like when t clay

[04:21:09] would start and and times are in the day so that we don't have more gridlock right there on that little road uh we don't have that in the conditions um is there a reason why you didn't ask for that Yeah, so this is the right-to-right-out right here.

[04:21:31] The traffic impact analysis, a port shop, concrete, right-to-right-out, that was what was recommended. We did not, I don't recall getting into that specifically.

[04:21:47] Okay, what about the turning lane or is it a tapered lane? It is a, there is a, it's a 200-foot transition taper that leads to a 100-foot turn lane. Okay, and that is a VDOT requirement?

[04:22:05] That is based on mitigating the traffic impacts that are generated, yeah, at this location. Okay. There was a lot, there was some back and forth of that and some modifications. Sir, would you consider allowing a condition that, or can you come up to the podium and talk to me a little bit about your start time?

[04:22:26] Yes, so we are. So it doesn't conflict with all the traffic? Yeah, it doesn't, because we start at 6 a.m. So mostly, you know, the parents will bring their kids, you know, from 6 to, let's see, even 8. See, so particularly when they start at 8.45.

[04:22:45] So at that time, we are almost done because, you know, there may be one car or two, whatever, but not like the majority will be already there because, like, parents that they work, they bring their kids before 8. So, and then the parents, they will just drop off their kids, same thing.

[04:23:05] They will be also, you know, bring them early. So maybe I'm a little confused. You have 60 children that will be in the daycare, but that's that afternoon. That's after, yes. Okay. After 2.30. Okay. So of your 100 students for the private school, you're saying a lot of them will still be dropped off in the early morning hours when mom and dad head to work.

[04:23:27] Yes. Okay. So it's not like you're going to have lots and lots of cars for a start time at 9 a.m.? No, no, no, no, no. Okay. Yes. So they will, like, the time where, because, so you have, Patriots, they start early, 7.30.

[04:23:44] So, you know, almost they are done, but so we are not touching their traffic. So it's essentially before school daycare transitions into the school day? Yes. Okay. I just am trying to alleviate mitigation concerns. What about pickup time for kids?

[04:24:02] So pickup time will be after 4, so that means the tickly is closed already, and then Patriot is closed. Okay, and to my planner, this is all considered as part of your SUP recommendation? Thank you, sir.

[04:24:18] Well, there's, in the application, Lateef had presented, used kind of more of like an operational summary, similar to how we would look at daycare, but on a much larger scale. Okay. Yeah, but it didn't translate to actual conditions with that, but we have.

[04:24:38] Full disclosure, most daycares aren't literally across the street on a two-lane road, curved across from a big elementary school. I just want to make sure that, well, how many blind spots on this? And that five years from now, when I'm not up here to answer for it, you know, are you hearing me?

[04:25:01] I just want to make sure we're covering all our bases tonight. Yeah, so we have transportation here if you need any further insight with that. Elizabeth, you want to offer any insight into this? Are you satisfied with this SUP, with the conditions?

[04:25:20] Yes, I am. And to be honest, they asked for a full intersection, so they would have left ins and left outs. And we negotiated right in, right out because of the curve and because of the traffic that's coming from Patriot. Okay. And they gave us the hours of operation.

[04:25:38] they aren't conditioned to specific hours but you could condition them to specific hours so if they didn't run a daycare but had more of a school you could condition that if you wish what would you suggest that would look like well right now they say they open at six most daycares get dropped off between six and seven thirty and that avoids the peak hour for both the elementary school and the high school and then pick up after four o'clock avoids the peak hour of both the high school and the day in elementary school how does that sound to you sir yeah that's what you are

[04:26:13] planning on yeah the parents they they pick up after five so nobody comes at four so at five canton london road is empty so there is no issue there okay yeah thank you are you done because supervisor we're as a question sure supervisor we're sort of dovetailing on what supervisor lawson said i'm not going to hang it up for this but i've got a real concern with the design there you've got a you've got a taper on the private school side that starts on a curve it's a rather

[04:26:49] significant curve at the same time you've got a taper servicing t clay wood on the other side of the street and if at any point in time you have essentially co students arriving or leaving at the same time from both locations human nature being what it is and we've already heard the resident talking about how she copes with the traffic in the morning by passing on the passing on the left in what is ostensibly a no passing zone. With tapers and cars backing up on both

[04:27:27] sides of the street, I'm not wild about the design. I'm not going to hold you up on it, but it's certainly not something that I would desire. Supervisor Angry. Thank you, Madam Chair. I don't have a question, just a comment. I think this is a bigger issue, what we're talking about here.

[04:27:49] A, I just mentioned earlier about how much of a shortage we have of child daycare, so love the project. Now, the schools ain't going to like this. But this is more than just to the one speaker's comments. This is more than just at this school. I don't know if it's been since COVID. You know, my kids are grown now out of school. I made it to the finish line, so I don't have to worry about that anymore. But the fact that all of these cars pack up when you go to any school, people are picking their kids up in their cars now. The buses aren't where the children are. The buses are even

[04:28:25] empty so this is a real issue across the county with how do we get kids back on school buses and not have these backup of cars in all of these schools this is more than just this location and i think the question even uh supervisor weir just asked points to what's going on around a lot of schools you know um so your your hours and what you've done to to really mitigate these concerns for your daycare your castle light school i think you've done all you can i think what you've awakened in us is really a real conversation for hopefully our joint board that

[04:29:01] we can start talking about uh all of these cars that literally sit outside neighborhood schools schools on cardinal drive i can just go through every one of mine where cars are lining up even back off of dale boulevard to pick their kids up so just want to make that highlight that concern thank you madam chair thank you supervisor angry just yeah so because we are picking up those students from those schools, we are reducing the traffic because the parents they don't have to come. So this is important too. Supervisor Lawson? Thank you.

[04:29:37] Scott, Mr. Meyer, do you mind coming up here and offering? Sure. Do you see any other fixes here? If the board wishes, you could consider the applicant offering or developing a or expanding upon their operation plan that would have basically pickup times drop-off times I'm trying to think off the cuff here it would probably be it would be more of an operational plan under C under

[04:30:12] condition under use parameters C hours of operation 6 a.m. to 7 p.m. and then right below that you have D child drop-off and pickup are you saying maybe beef that up a little bit the board could consider maybe maybe it would be a new bullet about uh you know the applicant shall develop an operations plan to ensure that pickup drop-off does not conflict with adjacent school traffic i'm with you i mean yeah i think i think

[04:30:49] you're i think you're getting at where the board could consider adding that okay well let's do that if is the applicant willing to if we condition that i think that's something that you can work into your operations what do you think I don't think you know there is any issue with the timing because you know we start earlier and then they will leave

[04:31:21] later so the the time where the schools are out or in we are not operating at that you know they are not we are not waiting for the lots of traffic at that time let me ask this so sir yeah you open at six yeah but you might have children being dropped off right at the heart of Patriot High School's opening which is around 7:00 a.m. my kids went there I'm very familiar with the gridlock the lady that spoke it's real the problems real so I just want to make sure that your parents aren't frustrated and caught in the middle of that

[04:31:59] traffic and I'm sorry that we didn't flush this out better while we were on working on this but would you would you so at that time if they come at like 645 so so in front of the Patriots you know there are two lines the Patriots they are on the right side so so that people going straight they stay on the in the middle so that means they don't conflict with them but our or you know parents they are not coming that way they will come from Shepherd so they will come the other way so which is a very empty at that time okay so you're saying

[04:32:36] Then T. Clay Wood is probably a bigger concern than maybe Patriot's a bad example. And you're saying by the time T. Clay starts... Yes, we are almost done, yes. There is no traffic because they start at 845. There's no parents that drop the kids at 845.

[04:32:55] All of them, you know, before 8. And then the pickup is after 5. Okay, how about this? Can we add a condition that during site plan the applicant will work with the county and with the school staff to ensure that the operations are not conflicting and adding to the traffic congestion.

[04:33:15] I'm confident you all can work it out. I don't want to – I want this project to get approved, but I also want to make sure that we're not creating other challenges down the road because it's going to come back on the eight of us.

[04:33:35] Can I say something? Sure. So, you know, they wanted a left-hand turn in, and they compromised by having right in, right out, which means you have to go all the way around Schaefer and come around the curve because you're not going to be coming down where the school is, where it's all backed up, and I suspect that's why we did this because it mitigates the fact that, you know, people are going to be coming out.

[04:33:54] So it's the other side of the road. I just, you know, the applicant is setting up a school. I'm grateful that we're having education and programs for our kids, and this is an exciting thing, and what we're giving him is less flexibility. Well, I understand, but this is only...

[04:34:09] Am I going to finish? And so, you know, because there's issues at Patriot or down the road on the other side, I just don't see that it necessarily interfaces with this, and it doesn't feel right to penalize him for and exist like the woman who was upset.

[04:34:25] But it really has nothing to do with his because it's on the other side of the road, and people won't even be interfacing with the people coming down going into Patriot. Well, so I appreciate that, but let's all remember, this is a land use case. So we look at this through the lens of how he's going to use the land, whether it's a school, a church, a retail center.

[04:34:48] That's how we look at these cases, which is why we're diving into the details about traffic. So do you believe that the queue on Schaefer Lane that comes around to Kettle Run is caused more by the Teak Clay Wood congestion than Patriot High School?

[04:35:08] Because it does exist on both directions. It exists at the time of Teak Clay Woods, which is after 845, which at that time we won't have traffic at that time. Okay. And then even if people will come, they will go to the tupper so that they are not, you know, conflicting with the TKU.

[04:35:30] And so you said, you know, like parents will come at 645 or something, but, you know, parents, they can come, you know, you cannot tell them, yeah, we have condition, you know, just look at it and then don't come. See, there is no way.

[04:35:45] Okay. Well, I tell you what. Yes. Thank you very much. I'm sorry that, you know, we had this exercise. And I'm going to trust that my transportation planner feels confident in this SUP.

[04:36:03] And I hope that it doesn't come back to create problems. But if it does, we'll have to deal with it, whether I'm sitting up here or not. Somebody will. I just hope that I'm not creating more problems. We also have Supervisor Weir and Supervisor Bailey.

[04:36:20] Supervisor Weir. Mr. Meyer, could you come back up for a second? I want to understand something. I agree with the chair. I don't want to penalize the applicant, but I've got some concerns here. Could you walk me through the movements, both southbound on Kettle Run from Vent Hill?

[04:36:46] You've got two accesses to the public schools, one at the high school, one at the elementary school, correct? Yes. And I thought I heard that which entrance you used was limited by some sort of policy, or did I hear that incorrectly?

[04:37:04] Is there unlimited access at Patriot? at patriot yeah um excuse me okay it is i'm gonna because i thought i heard somebody say parents had to bypass that yeah there's a loop road here at no i thought somebody was saying the parents for the other drop off yeah so the the entranceway uh supervisor rear would be

[04:37:39] in here yes but the kettle run movements there's no issue with anybody using that upper entrance to kettle run that's what i thought i heard up further up north yeah up the whole school up here There's no issue with the movement there.

[04:37:55] Anybody can use that, parents or students, correct? Or is that, I mean, that's where I'm, I think I've heard it both ways. Are the parents who are dropping off allowed to use that right turn, if they're coming southbound, into Patriot?

[04:38:13] Because I thought I heard it didn't. Can I weigh in? Are you sure you're, well, okay, yeah, I guess. So he's asking a question, and honestly, I don't know what the answer is, because I know that Patriot has made internal changes at times, at various times.

[04:38:32] I was just over there a week or two ago, and they have cones, and they are able to, through their cones, control, I believe, access, traffic. So I don't know how to answer your question.

[04:38:49] And here's why I asked the question, because if there is access, if there's a limited access into Patriot, and you're forcing people down to T. Clay Wood in a southbound movement, and then you've got other people coming the other way on Schaefer and then having to make the left into TK Wood, and then you've got, so you'll have people stopped to make the left with a full taper southbound, and then you're starting a taper going into the new school.

[04:39:21] You're creating, I mean, that's worse than the mixing bowl on the beltway. And if it's simply a function of, and I don't want to throw them under the bus, but I will, But if this is a function of the high school's controls that they're placing on ingress and egress from the high school, then suddenly it's having an impact on a potential commercial establishment.

[04:39:48] It strikes me when they, as it stands right now, it's probably not an issue, but land use has changed. And they may have to change their policy if that's what's going on. Just a concern. Supervisor Bailey.

[04:40:10] Madam Chair, this may be a little remedial, but I was just wondering, And one part of the report that staff did, it had the hours of operations, 6 a.m. to 7 a.m. p.m., 6 a.m. to 7 p.m.

[04:40:29] But for the child drop-off and pick-up, there's no time frames. Could you explain that? I mean, is there a reason for that? Would that kind of help the situation in terms of in and out?

[04:40:46] I was just wondering why there was no times there. I don't have a specific answer, but maybe perhaps the applicant could. So the question is, are you talking about like at the beginning? Just the time frame. Okay.

[04:41:02] So, you know, so early in the morning, there will be parents bringing their kids that, you know, to drop them later at their schools. Right. Okay. And then there will be parents bringing their kids, you know, to stay all day.

[04:41:18] Right. Okay. So this is like before eight. Now. I get that, sir. Yes. Pardon me for cutting you off. What I was trying to get to is why was that not in the report? That's what I was asking, Scott, really.

[04:41:35] You know what I mean? That should be in the – and that would be a guideline. I'm not trying to cut you off. I get what you said about your hours of operations, but for the drop-off and the pickup, there was no time as put in there. So that he would have ramifications or requirements as to how that traffic pattern would go.

[04:41:56] yeah that's what i was asking yeah so uh i checked other schools that's how it works for those they care they don't give like you know uh in the application they just have the first the starting and the end they don't have like you know they will be uh working until eight or something because okay it's not like the the public school where you know at eight that will or they close that's it So those are open because it depends on the parents.

[04:42:25] Okay. Yes. So there's no specific time? There is no specific time. Okay. Thank you. Okay. Seeing no further questions, Supervisor Lawson, do you want to make a motion? Yeah, Madam Chair, I actually, I do feel like we need to add some type of condition to protect, you know, the logistics of all three schools.

[04:42:50] and specifically the safety concern of that curve and the tapered lanes in both directions. So I'd like to move for approval with an additional condition that the applicant work with the school division during site plan.

[04:43:09] Ms. Horner, would site plan be the right opportunity to just make sure that we're coordinating with the school division on their operations so they don't conflict with each other and create more transportation and safety challenges.

[04:43:26] Madam Chair, members of the board, Rebecca Horner, yes, site plan. So a condition that requires them to provide details at site plan would allow them to work that out and would be a condition of the site plan. Okay, because the school division also, you know, for each school year, they can change the times that schools start, And what if 10 years from now they decide that elementary school kids are going to go before the high school kids?

[04:43:54] I mean, so we have to make sure that there's a collaboration here. Agreed. And that's why I'm saying something specific with times. Everything's so fluid. I mean, if they flip the high schools to early on. So is everybody saying just working collaboratively with the school system during site plan to make sure there are no conflicts.

[04:44:15] Thanks. Would that be okay? Yes. And I'll second that. Okay. As long as the applicant's fine with that. Okay, it's the idea that we just work collaboratively together and seconded by Supervisor Bodie. Okay, any further discussion?

[04:44:31] Madam Chair. Supervisor Lawson. Sir, I just want to thank you. I know that you probably weren't expecting quite this conversation, but when we have a public hearing and people raise safety concerns, I had some concerns myself, but I just feel like we really needed to have this conversation and make sure that everybody's safety is protected.

[04:44:50] So thank you so much. Please vote. Vote unanimous. thank you thank you look forward to that thank you very much we are now on to item 12b which is the rezoning 2021 kh data capital development in the brentsville magisterial district i believe we

[04:45:17] have ms cameron here representing the applicant this evening you know i always break it so it's just me so first we will hear from the applicant ms cameron start us off good evening members of

[04:45:55] the board. My name is Jonelle Cameron with Walsh, Colucci, Lubillai, and Walsh. Here tonight on behalf of the applicant and affiliate of Iron Mountain data centers, with me here tonight are representatives from Iron Mountain as well as Johnny Lim, our civil engineer. Iron Mountain is seeking approval of this rezoning to increase the height from 60 feet to 70 feet and to allow for a maximum FAR of 1.0, which aligns with the data center overlay district maximum FAR. This slide shows the property subject to the rezoning, which consists of a little more than 37 acres.

[04:46:35] The existing Iron Mountain campus facility is in this location here. PW Parkway, Prince William Parkway borders the rezoning area to the northeast and Wellington Road to the southwest. Property is zoned M2 light industrial without proffers, and as you will see on the next slide, it is located within the data center overlay district. As such, data centers are permitted by right on the property today. The applicant seeks this rezoning to add proffers to the property in order to allow

[04:47:10] for a height modification from 60 feet permitted in M2 to 70 feet, and again to allow for the maximum floor area ratio of 1.0 FAR. This would maintain the existing M2 zoning district, but subject the rezoning area to proffers and additional requirements that are not required today. The newly adopted comprehensive plan designation is industrial with the T3 transact.

[04:47:38] This designation focuses on data centers and light industrial development. M2 is an implementing zoning district of the I-3 designation and data centers are a primary use. Staff has noted that the proposed 1.0 FAR is not compatible with the FAR recommended in the comprehensive plan.

[04:47:57] However, staff acknowledged that the 1.0 FAR is permitted in the data center overlay district. Furthermore, the applicant has the ability today to construct a maximum of 1.0 FAR on the property. This slide shows the property's location within the data center overlay district.

[04:48:17] As you can see, the property is located in the heart of the data center overlay, which as you know is where the county has targeted this type of development due to the existing infrastructure and overall compatibility of the use. This slide shows the general development plan.

[04:48:36] The applicant has proffered to substantial conformance to the general development plan. Staff notes as a weakness concerning the lack of proffered layout. However, the county has historically approved rezonings without such details and industrial areas for data centers, particularly within the overlay, to allow flexibility at site plan and final engineering.

[04:48:58] The applicant has committed to the access location and buffered landscaping around the perimeter of the property. To offset the lack of proffered layout, the applicant has agreed to proffer interior parking lot landscaping, which is proffer 11, tree canopy requirements, which is proffer 12, height limitations on rooftop mechanical equipment for buildings greater than 60 feet in height, which is proffer 4, and other architectural features that I will review with you on the next slide.

[04:49:28] Staff also notes a weakness regarding overall clearing and grading proposed for this rezoning. It should be noted that the limits of development outlined on the GDP are the same limits of development that were shown and approved on the buy-right site plan. However, the applicant did agree to preserve the existing vegetation within the 50-foot buffer adjacent to Prince William Parkway and prohibit any additional utility crossings.

[04:49:52] The DCSM permits perpendicular minimal utility crossings within buffers, which would be allowed in this instance to cross the buffer and result in a loss of some of the vegetation. However, in connection with the height and FAR increase, the applicant has agreed to prohibit those crossings.

[04:50:14] This slide is a conceptual layout of the rezoning area to give you an idea of what the potential layout may look like on the property. So VA 3, which is this building here, is an existing building that is currently under construction right now on the property.

[04:50:34] That building is less than 60 feet, so it did not require the height modification. All three buildings have been site plan approved. The increase in height for VA 4 and VA 5 will require a site plan amendment to increase the height from 60 feet to 70 feet.

[04:50:53] The area that you see, the fluorescent green, demonstrates the tree preservation areas that were shown on the general development plan the slide before. I should also mention that VA4 and VA5 shown on your screen are buildings that Iron Mountain is constructing for a user.

[04:51:13] So these are built to suit buildings for that particular user. The applicant has proffered general conformance to the building elevations that you see on the screen. In this instance, the applicant needs the flexibility of these building elevations.

[04:51:29] VA 3 will look more like the Iron Mountain existing building. VA 4 and 5 are general conformance with the building elevations that are proffered here. The applicant, in addition to the building elevations, has agreed to proffer four of the five data center overlay design criteria to ensure a high quality product.

[04:51:51] As many of you know, looking at all the data centers, the data center overlay district only requires two out of five design criteria. Iron Mountain has doubled that here. The applicant has also agreed to limit rooftop mechanical equipment to a maximum of 15 feet in height for any data center building that exceeds 60 feet in height.

[04:52:14] And not part of this presentation, but I did provide you all revised proffers based on a discussion that we had with Supervisor Lawson today. She specifically requested that we address noise. So on the revised proffers that you see for the public that does not have a copy of those proffers, proffer 13 is a proffered condition to the noise ordinance.

[04:52:41] It does not include heating and cooling as an exemption to the noise ordinance decibel levels. I understand that the board today, earlier at the board hearing, you all did an emergency, not an emergency. Okay. You all did a regular noise ordinance change that has a sunset clause.

[04:53:03] This proffer does not have a sunset clause. So this requirement will last regardless of what happens at the end of the day with the sunset clause of the noise ordinance that was done earlier today. We also have an exemption for emergency operations. And finally, this proffer has a requirement for a sound study to be done prior to the issuance of a building permit for any data center building over 60 feet that includes heating and cooling systems for the property and i can answer any questions you all may have who would have thought i'd be the easy one tonight

[04:53:42] quick one tonight knock on wood yeah to say that out loud yeah okay i knocked thank you ms cameron uh supervisor vega oh didn't know i was going to be the first one um jonelle uh thank you for the presentation and you just mentioned that you um handed us an updated proffer statement under 14 it says emergency operations emergency operations shall not be subject to the limitations outlined in proffer 13 above for the purpose of the of this section the term emergency shall mean any situation arising from sudden unreasonably unforeseen events beyond the control of the facility.

[04:54:22] Which situation requires the immediate use of the emergency generators to restore normal operation of the facility? Can you give me an example that would fall under that emergency? Absolutely. In the unlikely event that there is a power outage, the data center companies cannot control Dominion and or Novac, so that would be an emergency in which the generators would come on.

[04:54:44] Okay. Thank you. I just want to point out that we have a typo under 15. Issuance, issuance, right back to back. So I just want to make sure you're aware of that. Okay, I will cross that out when I provide you a signed copy. Thank you. Thank you. Supervisor Bodie.

[04:55:00] Thank you, Madam Chair. Thank you, Ms. Cameron, for the presentation. Just a couple of questions. Yes. And you could actually go back to the slide you just zipped through that one. And I don't need it for the actual... Entrance? Okay, just the aerial? Just the aerial. Okay, yes, sir. Arcadia Run is right there.

[04:55:16] And I actually went by the site back on Sunday just to get a lay of it. And I know that that building is already under construction. The one, was it VA3? VA3, correct. Frankly, there's not a lot of buffers there right now. And the trees that are there are probably not much taller than me.

[04:55:32] And I'm up the miraculously average out of 5'9 1⁄2". So knowing that Arcadia Run is literally right across the street there, what are we doing to make sure that the folks there are comfortable with the view shed of that new area?

[04:55:47] Absolutely. So Arcadia Run, for those in the audience that might not be familiar, it's this property located in here. So the data center, so there's this area in here, not part of this rezoning. This area behind is. So the area that is directly sort of across from Arcadia Run will have a 50-foot buffer. That area is the area where VA3 is currently being constructed so that building and parking has already been site plan approved and the parking

[04:56:22] has been constructed so the 50 foot buffer is what is being provided in that area in there for va3 it's about 325 feet from the multi-family property line and 475 feet if you do building to building and that is what is already approved under construction so if we look at va4 and five, and it might be helpful if I can go back to that slide if you don't mind. So for VA four and VA five, those buildings are approximately 830 feet from the building to the property line. And

[04:56:59] then if you do building to building about 977 feet. Okay. And then to go back to noise for a second, I know that a lot of the conversations around noise that we've had in the last six to seven months have been around where you put the equipment on the buildings where they're oriented and either the ability for that to be diminishing or amplifying into effects and i know that the other side this is literally on the other side and you have it up here is prince william parkway correct um so how have folks been looking into as you build more buildings and increase the density

[04:57:36] of the buildings on this site we're looking to diminish and not amplify the noise from the data centers the noise from prince william parkway or the noise from the data centers so can you repeat the question i'm sorry so orienting the equipment on the building helps how you deal with the sound so how are you guys looking to deal with the sound vis-a-vis the orientation of the equipment absolutely so what we proffered is that we would do a sound study prior to the issuance of a

[04:58:11] building permit that has heating and cooling systems located inside of it. And that's because when you do a build to suit, they build the building, but it's a shell building. So there's no generators or any other equipment that may make noise. So when you do that building permit, you would have to do a sound study. And that way, you know, okay, well, my equipment is going to face X way. And if it faces X, this is what that sound does. Sound study may say, great, This is what the sound is, all good.

[04:58:43] Or the sound study may say, nope, you need to relocate where you put that because that's not good. And so that's how we drafted this proffer. In that way, it is looked at before you can get that building permit for that portion of the building, if that makes sense.

[04:59:00] It does. And why I brought up Prince William Parkway is because this existing sound, what was expressed to me at some point was that if this is done the right way, you won't hear the buildings because of the existing noise that's already there because of Prince William Parkway. And the other side of that is if we're going to be having sound go anywhere, it should probably be going towards the noisy highway, Prince William Parkway, and not towards Arcadia Run.

[04:59:23] I agree. Supervisor Weir. Welcome. Oh, I said welcome. Oh, sorry. My hearing's not that great anymore.

[04:59:41] I'm sort of piggybacking on Supervisor Vega's question with respect to emergency usage. I'm assuming that will extend to a waiver from DEQ if they waive it from March through June.

[04:59:57] I am going to have Chris from Iron Mountain come up and answer that question. Good evening. I'm Chris Gilmette with Iron Mountain Data Centers, the Director for Design and Construction. The emissions permits will go in for the generators separately.

[05:00:19] And the way those emissions permits are usually set up is they are exempt. The emissions restrict us in what we can produce in a non-emergency status. So if there's a prolonged powder outage, we're allowed to run our generators through the duration of the outage.

[05:00:36] And I'm not aware of, you know, in regards to a utility outage, any restrictions that would be upon us for any certain months of the year. Let me be clear. We spoke about this earlier, and I apologize if you weren't here for it, but I don't have any faith that if a waiver is instituted by DEQ for data centers to use backup generators to generate their power for them, that it will extend only until July 1.

[05:01:03] If they extend the waiver in the future or they issue it again, I'm assuming that simply the fact that DEQ has issued you a waiver to allow you to use generators, not because of a power outage but because of the potential for a brownout because of demand and the inability of the power company to provide sufficient capacity that you will run your generators and thus be exempt under this provision.

[05:01:30] Would you call that an emergency? I understand your question now. I'm not aware of the waiver that you're referring to being approved yet, and that was not part of our original development plan. That is a more recent development.

[05:01:47] The sound studies that actually I do not have an answer in regards to the waiver because we're not intending on that being approved. It's beyond our control, so therefore...

[05:02:02] I understand. I hope you understand my concern that I don't think the capacity issue is going to be a short-term issue. I certainly don't think it's going to be limited to March through July 1 of this year, especially with increased demand. So it's like everything else that happens in Richmond.

[05:02:19] It's likely to be extended. And I just want to make sure that you're not factoring in your option to use generator capacity as something that falls into your emergency operations clause.

[05:02:34] If you're willing to define it only to times of power outage, I'm okay. But I don't think that's the way it's written. Can we look at that, Supervisor Weir, and get back to you? I see four other people back there asking questions, so I'd rather them vet that question and then get back to you on that one.

[05:03:01] Supervisor Lawson? Thank you. Ms. Cameron, thank you for working diligently with me. and, of course, your client, related to the ongoing concerns and the growing concerns related to sound. The proffers that you have submitted certainly attempt to really mitigate the concerns.

[05:03:27] I know that we as a county still have to implement, you know, operations when it comes to enforcement, and we're obviously going to be working on that. But this number 15, the sound studies in particular, can I ask you to also include a county-approved acoustical consultant?

[05:03:52] I knew this question was coming. I got approval in advance. So can I read what I received approval for? I can handwrite it and give it to Michelle and Rebecca while staff is doing their presentation. Sure. Okay. Prior to conducting a noise study, the acoustical consultant performing the sound study shall be subject to county approval, and the applicant shall be responsible for the costs and expenses for said acoustical consultant to perform the work outlined in the proffers.

[05:04:23] In the event the county disapproves an acoustical consultant, the applicant shall then provide the county three alternative acoustical consultants for the county to choose from. That sounds really good to me, but I'm going to leave that up to my attorney. I knew you would. You're welcome.

[05:04:42] Supervisor Brody. Thank you, Madam Chair. Just last question about generators and noise. A lot of folks have brought up diesel generators as the go-to backup generators for these buildings. Are there any other generators that could be looked into, propane, some other type of fuel that isn't nearly as dirty or as concerning as diesel?

[05:05:05] Yes, again, Chris Kilmatt of Iron Mountain. I personally have looked into using natural gas generators in lieu of diesel on the property. Initial discussions with the gas utility provider is that the infrastructure is not in place to support the massive amount of gas that would be needed for a facility of this type.

[05:05:33] And Iron Mountain, as a corporation, has committed to going to be carbon neutral, you know, many years, several years out. but the technology and the means to do so for facilities of this scale are not really available to us at this time. The other item is that the other technologies for this size of a power plant are very, very cost prohibitive.

[05:05:54] So it would definitely change both the site disturbance, the area that would be needed to accomplish the goal. But we do go through the DEQ emissions requirements, and we have provisions in place as the facility grows to increase the emissions controls on our new future generators, and if needed, the additional ones.

[05:06:19] That was part of what we're working with DEQ on now as we update our emissions permit for the campus. To follow up on Supervisor Weir's question before about the waiver from DEQ due to power, I understand the purpose of that waiver would be to overcome power shortages in availability in other parts of Northern Virginia, particularly Loudoun County, where Dominion Power has not been able to meet the demands of the data center development projects and other projects in the area.

[05:06:56] Here, within the Novak territory, Iron Mountain is building a 300-megawatt substation, and we have secured that power, that full amount of power. So we have, under our control, all the power that we would need for our campus, and it was far more economical than running our own engines, which are very cost-prohibitive.

[05:07:15] So our intent, Troy, Mr. Troy Hill, runs our campus here in Virginia, and, you know, he reminded me of the cost associated with running the engines, And we do that only at last resort when there is no other alternative, such as utility-provided power. Hopefully that answers your question.

[05:07:31] Supervisor Weir? I've got you still in line, and we'll come back to you. How about that? Supervisor Bailey, then Supervisor Weir. Mine is short and sweet. I really appreciate the discussions to mitigate the noise concerns that you and Supervisor Lawson did earlier, Because I think it's a great example for the community with an existing data center as we go through this expansion of how we can get ahead of it.

[05:08:02] And we talked about this earlier today, and Supervisor Vega brought it up in her proposal for the noise study. So I really appreciate you putting that in the proffer piece to get us ahead of the game as we're expanding this, because that will let us know before it's completed what needs to be done to make it better for the community as well.

[05:08:24] So just wanted to point that out. Supervisor Weir, and then we also still have a staff presentation, don't we? Supervisor Weir. I'll make it quick, but if you could. I think you've gotten to the heart of the matter, but I don't think it really answers the question that I posed.

[05:08:48] Yes, you have a substation, but what's being proposed as a waiver and what I'm assuming will be a rolling waiver for some period of time, and you're right, a lot of it has to do with Loudoun County, And quite frankly, a lot of it will have to do with Prince William County in the future. It's not an issue of you having a substation.

[05:09:06] It's the greater issue of whether there is the generation capacity and whether the grid network can sustain the load that's placed on it, not simply from your substation or from your transmission line, but from what's going on regionally. So, again, if you're willing to exempt out the conditions of that waiver, I'll be good, but I don't think you're going to be willing to do that or of any potential waivers by DEQ to allow you not in a blackout situation, but in a reduced capacity by them situation.

[05:09:46] I understand your concern. I'm not so certain that that is what's applicable to us. So when I, as a developer, look to the power problems, I do an application for power to NOVAC or Dominion, and they say yay or nay whether it is available based on their load studies, because they are committing to deliver that to us.

[05:10:07] So further development has been stalled for other projects that do not have a contract in place such as we have. So we have a commitment from NOVAC, who gets the power through Dominion's transmission lines, to committing that power to us, and we have paid to reserve that as well.

[05:10:27] Bear in mind, this isn't a power proffer. This is a noise proffer. Yes. So, I mean, it all gets to the noise aspect of it, independent of the power issues. Now, if you could mitigate the noise and still operate them, that's a different story.

[05:10:46] But what you're asking for is an exemption, and you're saying that other sources of backup generation are cost-prohibitive in this particular model, but those other sources of generation, my understanding is things like propane, natural gas, that sort of thing, significantly quieter than a diesel generator just by the nature of the operation of the equipment. I think the noise to the different technologies is a different discussion for another day. But it's

[05:11:23] relevant to this condition. We can get back to you after the staff presentation if that's okay. I don't want you to think I'm blowing you off but let's talk about internally. Thank you. Thank you. Okay, I'd love to have the staff presentation because we still also have a budget presentation tonight so I Welcome. I know they've already gone over a lot of it in detail. Don't know how much more you have

[05:11:45] to cover. Which one am I? All right. Yeah. No, no, don't. Please don't. Good evening, Board of Supervisors. I think Janelle covered the whole thing sufficiently and succinctly. I don't need to go over all of that stuff again. She said everything I was going to say. Staff is recommending approval for the various reasons outlined in the staff report, as well as mentioned up on the

[05:12:22] screen. The proffers sufficiently mitigate the anticipated impacts. The requested height increase will not result in adverse impacts on abutting properties. The requested height modification does align with the recommended building heights in the comp plan. The proposal supports the development of target industry. This proposal is in the data center overlay district and the zoning is consistent with the existing uses on the site and on most of the abutting properties.

[05:12:54] I will open it up to questions if you have for me to kind of keep the momentum rolling that you guys have already started. Thank you. Do we have any questions for staff this evening? Supervisor Lawson.

[05:13:12] Thank you. Mr. Perez, so considering this is already zoned M2, and I don't even know how old that zoning is, do you know how old it dates back? I don't know, no, but it is existing, and it does not have proffers on it now, so it did not go through rezoning.

[05:13:28] Right, and in the overlay. True. So we're having this discussion tonight because essentially they're requesting a 10-foot height modification, which has kind of opened up the whole discussion.

[05:13:45] So right now we have land that's zoned M2, so they could be building data, but with no proffers. So tell me what are we, if this is approved, what do we get in return for their 10 feet in height?

[05:14:02] So everything you're saying is correct. This is M2 zoning. Data centers are permitted by right right now. They have an approved site plan to do some of the stuff they're already proposing to do. This rezoning is really requesting the height modification of the 10 foot.

[05:14:17] If they were not requesting the 10 foot height modification, being that it's in the overlay district, they could already just request the 1.0 FAR. But because they're requesting the height mod, that's triggering that 1.0 to not just be a buy-write scenario.

[05:14:35] Thus, it's been added to another modification. And that's what we're talking about today. Some of the things that the applicant has agreed to or proffered to voluntarily, we've got proffer four, which speaks to the rooftop mechanical equipment being limited to no more than 15 foot height for buildings above 60 foot they chose the 60 foot because 60 foot is the permitted height in the m2 now with the requested modification they're asking for 70 foot if this was under the regular zoning ordinance we wouldn't have a way to

[05:15:11] regulate the rooftop equipment for this specific mechanical equipment so by them putting on 15 foot they're adding an additional proffer that kind of limits that. And that is much needed, I believe. So, in other words, they could add 25 feet of mechanical equipment right now with their buy rate?

[05:15:31] Yes. And we couldn't do anything about it? Exactly. Other data center proposals, staff has been mentioning this in the staff reports. We've been trying to reel it in with some type of proffer like this that many applicants have voluntarily proffered. We've been trying to get applicants, in general, to include rooftop mechanical equipment in the maximum height of the building.

[05:15:56] A lot of applicants have been really hesitant in doing that. Rather, they've been relying on maybe a 15-foot maximum above the max building height, such as this proffer. And at this point, I believe that's definitely better than nothing. Okay. You've got proffer five coming in.

[05:16:13] That's the building elevations. If this was by right, they would not need that. It is proffered to general conformance, so we don't have as much teeth as we would need to totally enforce that exact view. But generally, this is what it would look like, and there are some slides which show it.

[05:16:30] We're getting proffer number seven, the principal building facades. They'll be to Wellington Drive as well as Prince William Parkway. If this was not being proffered, the principal building facade would primarily be to Prince William Parkway only.

[05:16:50] But with this proffer, they're also doing Wellington Drive. In that same proffer, they've also talked about using four design standards versus the two that the ordinance requires in the overlay. So that's an additional above and beyond what we're looking for.

[05:17:08] That's some of the additional proffers that they have been agreed to give. What about, so right now, they're proffering a 50-foot buffer on the parkway. That's existing trees or woods, right?

[05:17:25] Yes, you're correct. It's existing trees they're preserving along the parkway in a 50-foot buffer. If this was not approved tonight, would they be able to clear that? Or would our DCSM require some type of buffer? The DCSM would not require a 50-foot buffer along the parkway.

[05:17:45] It would not? It would not. Okay. I think you might be getting a 10-foot if there was parking back there. But I don't think there's parking back there based on their schematics. I do not have a site layout for this proposal. That was mentioned by Janelle as one of the weaknesses.

[05:18:02] In rezonings and special use permits, we do try to get site layouts. The applicant was unwilling to do that. They wanted to keep flexibility. I'm just asking. I don't know, and maybe they can answer. Would that be also because they need to work around what their sound studies are going to possibly challenge related to placement of buildings and equipment?

[05:18:31] I mean, I can't speculate on that. These proffers, we just got right at the beginning of this meeting with you guys, so they have not been reviewed by staff, but theoretically that could be some of the reasons why they wanted to leave some room. So speaking of site layout, what is currently approved for open space, and are there any changes, increases, or decrease in open space with this rezoning?

[05:19:00] In the M2 zoning, it's a 20% minimum open space. The applicant is doing 20%. We're not gaining or losing anything based on this going through the rezoning process or any proffers. Okay. All right.

[05:19:15] And what do you know about any type of outreach, and maybe this is a question from Ms. Cameron, related to Arcadia-run apartment buildings that's, you know, the residents on the other side of Wellington. Do you have any idea? I'll definitely throw that to the applicant.

[05:19:32] I did not receive any communication from the public on this myself. So if that's all you have for me, I'll go ahead and let Janelle take over for this question. I think I do. Yeah, I think that's it for now. Supervisor Weir has a question, but why don't you come up, Ms. Cameron, and answer that last one, and then we can go to Mr. Weir.

[05:19:55] And, Madam Chair, for the record, for everybody, Ms. Cameron just inherited this case. We have been working with Brian Prater, and he's unfortunately really under the weather right now. So I'm impressed that she's been able to pick it up and run with it like she is, considering she just got it Monday morning.

[05:20:15] Thank you. I've been in the background, but not as much. As far as outreach, thank you for asking that question because I did not mention it earlier. But Iron Mountain has extensive outreach to Arcadia. They actually have an email dedicated just to the Arcadia residents.

[05:20:32] They provided a letter to them to let them know what was happening before construction of VA3. Also, if there were any issues, they can send an email to the email address and or contact somebody from Iron Mountain directly. You're welcome.

[05:20:50] Supervisor Weir. We've got two real quick questions for Mr. Perrette. Well, I hope they're quick, and then I'll just leave it be until after the public hearing. In your analysis, is the height modification that's being requested a prerequisite to actually achieve the 1.0 FAR, or could they achieve it without the 10-foot addition?

[05:21:15] I believe they could do the 1.0 without the height mod. I suspect it is. It would just be more of the property eaten up in building. instead they're going up. That's what I'm getting at. Would the footprint have to be expanded to attain the 1.0? Yes. So without the height, there is no request for the 1.0? If they were not requesting the height modification, this wouldn't be here today. Because they wouldn't be able to

[05:21:50] achieve the 1.0 without expanding the footprint and thus getting below the 20% mandatory open space requirement. How did they design the site? I'm not really sure. Yeah. And then the other quick question, well, it's not quick. It's a little complicated. Having stood on the other side of this dais, one of my least favorite two-word phrases in the English language is on balance. I think everybody up here knows that. So what I would like is an explanation from staff how the buffering and landscaping with tree preservation and water quality monitoring

[05:22:26] offsets 96% clearing, elimination slash clearing of the wetlands and an intermittent stream, as well as the existing tree canopy cover not being met through preservation. How is that on balance consistent with the environmental plan?

[05:22:45] Seems like your pluses are significantly less than your minuses. Right. Yeah, when we're reviewing these projects, we really got to take everything in balance. Again, this was a by-right scenario. If they weren't requesting the height mod, the buffering was substantial compared to what a buy-right development would have done.

[05:23:09] The stream going through the middle of the property was something that we struggled with. However, that would be dealt with a site plan. They would be going through the waiver process to get that approved with the Army Corps. So nothing that we did with this rezoning would change what the buy-right scenario would be with that.

[05:23:30] The limits of the clearing, again, Janelle spoke to it as well. They're already permitted by right to go with the data center. It was mentioned as a weakness because I would have liked them to come down on some of that, but they did not, so that's where it's at.

[05:23:48] And that's sort of what I'm getting at because you've just said the other phrase that I can't stand, which is dealt that site plan, dealt with that site plan. On balance is a subjective thing.

[05:24:04] It's not objective. And I'm just going to say this once, and I'll hopefully never have to say it again at any board meeting, your job is objective, our job is subjective to some degree. So determining if it's on balance in a subjective manner, especially with that level of clearing and grading versus what your potential offsets are, I think is a question best left to us.

[05:24:29] With respect to the limits of clearing, I understand it was done in the previous rezoning. I don't know when the previous rezoning was done. I don't know what the conditions of the previous rezoning were. I don't know if the 0.5 FAR was a condition of the rezoning or a proper condition of the rezoning, a stipulation of the rezoning.

[05:24:46] I don't have that documentation, so I can't go back and look at it. But with respect to the limits of clearing and grading, it seems to me that based on the zoning that was in place at the time, development standards that were in place at the time, the limits of clearing and grading were significantly less than what were required.

[05:25:06] One of the phrases that I hear quite often from federal employees when I'm doing regulatory work is, I'm not responsible for the mistakes of my predecessors or mistakes of other people in my office. And in this case, we're not responsible for mistakes that were made however many years ago.

[05:25:22] But I'm not going to be constrained by the errors of the past, but that's just a comment. I'm not real happy with the way this is. But if they couldn't achieve that 1.0 FAR without going up, then this is essentially going up to obviate going out, which they can't because of the restrictions on percentage of open space.

[05:25:50] Is there a question in there or are we done? Okay. Was there a question in there or were you just? Okay. So, looks like we don't have any other questions from the dais. With that, we will open up the public hearing for 12B.

[05:26:08] Ms. Madden, do we have anyone signed up for 12B? Before I go to online, is there anyone in the chamber who would like to speak to 12B? Please approach the microphone in the back. Seeing no one approach the microphone.

[05:26:26] Do we have anyone online, Ms. Madden? Okay. Are you getting up to speak to the microphone? Okay. Please state your name and generally where you live, and you'll have three minutes.

[05:26:45] Thank you. Good evening, board. Justin Engel. I am in the Coles District. There were a few things brought up that I heard on this, and I wasn't originally going to speak on this matter, but energy and noise. And there was a mention of sunset and heating and cooling.

[05:27:10] And my biggest question is going to be, is there any differentiation in data centers and sunset and what we consider heating and cooling and what we consider heating and cooling for mechanical equipment. Because in a data center, we're cooling that space 24-7-365. We do not turn the air off at seven o'clock when we turn the lights out. It is required to cool that space 24-7-365 because they are cooling the equipment. Now, with that said, when we talk about heating

[05:27:49] and cooling, are we talking about space for comfort? Or are we talking about mechanical energy necessary to cool the equipment from the heat that is generated from the equipment and that's not just turned off at sunset so this talk about noise ordinance and noise ordinance for heating and cooling i think it's very necessary that we differentiate between those two things the other thing is the energy we keep talking about the energy we keep talking about energy using and how

[05:28:20] much it taxes our resources. Ten times per square foot. A data center per square foot compared to the average household uses ten times more electricity than your average household. Now, when our data center is ten times larger than your average house, what does that say per piece of property? A lot. A lot of energy used. And I think there's a lot of numbers that people don't

[05:28:56] understand or don't see and haven't been shed light on, but I think it's very important that one full disclosure to the people of what we're talking about when we just say more electricity or taxing our resources, that people really understand how much more it is taxing our resources, how much more a data center is using power-wise and consuming compared to your average house or even your average commercial building. They're skeleton buildings. They don't have people inside of them they don't create that many jobs but that equipment that's inside does not

[05:29:34] stop working 24 7 that equipment is running and that's what's necessary to run a data center because it is that's what that equipment's there for thank you thank you is there anyone else in chambers who would like to speak this will officially close the public hearing on item 12b um we are uh it's in the brentsville district supervisor lawson janelle do you want to come up and sorry Ms. Cameron sorry no it's you don't do that supervisor Lawson once told me that sometimes

[05:30:12] I have to remember I'm speaking to the audience and not just the board who sometimes we meet with before so I just want to clarify the sunset provision I don't know if anybody else was but I thought it would be helpful so and I know you all were knee-deep in it earlier today but the zoning the noise ordinance prior to the 2 p.m hearing today had decibel levels but it exempted heating and cooling systems from the nighttime decibel levels the board today enacted a legislation

[05:30:47] or changed that ordinance to say heating and cooling systems are no longer exempt from the nighttime decibel levels except for residential they the board has decided and not speaking for the board but what i watched the board has decided that they are going to put a sunset provision on that clause and create a working group to see how it works meaning that at the end of x amount of time that provision will be revisited or expire our specific proffer is it is not exempting heating

[05:31:23] and cooling systems from the nighttime decibel levels and this proffer runs with the land so next year if the board decides to revisit the noise ordinance and that exemption our proffer would still have the exemption for heating and cooling systems running with the land of this property so i just wanted to clarify that for everybody thank you very much miss cameron you're welcome uh supervisor lawson would you like to provide a motion for approval well not yet because we've got some other things to yeah remember she was going to talk to her client about about the

[05:32:02] other the deq request that cannot be accommodated because we don't know at the end of the day what that legislation is going to say or do or even be enacted so that request cannot be accommodated okay can you explain or have um chris come back and explain the commitment that they have from novek and how the way i understood him iron mountain um is maybe an outlier in the data

[05:32:38] industry and and they're not contributing to the data center absolutely assumption i will have chris come up and explain that or but they're certainly consuming a lot of power but it sounds like they have a guarantee so they're not part of the power grid concerns yes is that a fair way to ask it yes thank you supervisor lawson the the difference the difference being here is that we have applied for the power and and reserved it through commitments from novek as well as commitments

[05:33:15] from our mountain to pay to pay for reserving that demand uh in advance of the other developments that were coming behind us uh outside of the novek territory where there wasn't there wasn't sufficient power to allow further development so we we had uh came contracted with novek for this substation roughly two years ago over two years ago and then uh further expanded it 18 months ago so um i think part of the issue that's developed is timing with a lot of the projects in Loudoun County were being developed without guarantees of power.

[05:33:51] And then when Dominion made the announcement that there was no further power available to feed the new developments that were underway, they came to a halt. Several of those projects were stalled or delayed indefinitely until power could be provided. And follow on to that, which was much surprising to me because the emissions requirements were only getting greater for generators, To hear of an exception being granted or considered to allow generators to be run to offset a power shortage, I attributed that purely to allowing future development to continue and not so much an issue of power being available today

[05:34:28] and for the projects already committed to and approved by the power companies. So there is a possibility that someday you'll need to run diesel generators to help the grid and the consumption by all of us here in Northern Virginia.

[05:34:45] There is a chance that, right? By the current regulations, no. It's not allowable, and it's still a theoretical issue being discussed. Okay. Okay, well, I'm trying to learn this as I go.

[05:35:03] As am I. Yeah, yeah. I've realized as a county supervisor that there's a lot of things I have to learn as I go. Supervisor, we also have a question before you make a motion. Okay, that's fine. Yeah, I have a few more questions. I have a few more questions myself.

[05:35:20] Okay. Well, do you want to – is it on this, though? Because I'm going to go to other things. I'll wait. Okay. Thank you for that. Let's talk – let's go back to tree preservation. Somebody mentioned Army Corps regarding the weakness on page 16, the limits of clearing and grading.

[05:35:39] Supervisor, we were asked about that earlier. Does your client have to receive some type of Army Corps permit? Or they must already have it if they have site plan approval. Johnny is shaking his head that we already have Army Corps of Engineer approval because we have site plan approval for this site.

[05:36:01] And just along those lines, as we start talking about buy right and preservation or not, this property is zoned M2 today, not subject to any proffers. So there's no previous proffers on this site. Correct. And that's why I want to keep reiterating that there's a lot of things that will happen.

[05:36:23] This definitely feels like a give and take tonight. You need 10 feet, and in return, I'm going to really request X, Y, and Z. And with that, we've got the tree preservation in the back along the parkway.

[05:36:41] Correct. Without that, 50 feet would be required, but it could all be cleared. Right. Higher design features. Higher design standards over what is required in the design guidelines for the data center overlay district. And the facade on two sides, Wellington and the parkway.

[05:36:59] Correct. Okay. And by the way, Iron Mountain, I remember I went to their ribbon cutting. I want to say it was back in 2016 or 17. Governor Terry McAuliffe was there. It was a big state economic development project as well.

[05:37:15] And I will say that Iron Mountain was the first one in the county to really step up their design. So I commend them for that. Let's see, we talked about rooftop mechanical equipment. The FAR, what is the 1.6 million square feet?

[05:37:35] Is that? 1.0 FAR. Exactly. Okay, if we weren't here tonight, do you know how many square feet you would be able to build by right? I can ask Johnny that question. Yep, absolutely. Thanks. I think I asked that yesterday, and you guys were looking and couldn't find it.

[05:37:53] So I think what you're asking for is not what we can do by right today.

[05:38:25] So in the overlay, we can do 1.0 FAR. But what could we actually fit on the site today? Is that what you're asking? No, I'm asking what could you build today? By right? Square feet, by right, under the zoning ordinance today, We can build a 1.0 FAR by right because we are in the data center overlay district.

[05:38:47] Right, but you don't have a square foot amount? It's 1.6. So it is still 1.6. Correct. Okay. Correct. You would be wider, not taller. Because Supervisor Weir commented that you can't spread your foot. The question is, can you physically? We could probably not get to 1.6, but we could get pretty close to 1.6.

[05:39:08] Okay. That's what I was trying to get. Yes. Is it 1.4? Is it, you know, 1 million square feet? I don't know. I'm not an engineer. Me neither. But Johnny is saying you could get pretty close. Johnny, the engineer, thinks it is close to 1,600? Okay.

[05:39:25] Thank you. You're welcome. I don't see any further questions or comments. It went away. Well, we're at a point where we either need more questions or a motion. Madam Chair, supervisor lost.

[05:39:43] Thank you. So this is a case where we already have a lot of by-right uses. And if it weren't for the height request, we wouldn't be here tonight discussing this Iron Mountain complex.

[05:40:01] And I took the opportunity with this height request to improve the entire project. And I am very appreciative specifically about the sound proffers.

[05:40:18] They're not perfect, but I think that they're certainly a lot better than getting nothing. Because if we were to deny this, then we don't have anything built in to mitigate noise.

[05:40:37] And the fact that you're willing to do this on the front end during site plan is certainly helpful and commendable. I've already talked about all the other things that we can get from this project. And so with that, I am going to move for approval, recognizing it's not perfect.

[05:40:57] but sometimes you can't let perfect get in the way of good and this is one of those cases and it's it's actually better than good can i just ask a clarifying question because there were a lot of proffers that went around so just confirming dated february 28th with the existing with the additional proffer requesting that the acoustical consultant be approved by the county and i gave that to Michelle Robel a signed copy that she approved. So I just want to make sure everybody is on the same page with what you're asking for. I'm glad you did, Ms. Cameron. Yes, that's what I

[05:41:33] had in my head, but glad that we're verbalizing it. Second. And I think the county attorney is shaking her head down there that she has it. Motion made by Supervisor Lawson, seconded by Supervisor Bailey. We're in discussion. I see I have Supervisor Weir, so I will let Supervisor Weir start off we all get to speak twice and we have five minutes Supervisor we're I hope this only takes once because I'm going to rattle a whole bunch of things off and leave it at that I can't support this and There are a couple of reasons why we talk a lot about reserving power having power

[05:42:12] Being guaranteed by power by the by the power companies and I think as evidenced over Christmas That's just not the case anymore. That's not the reality And as a result of that sort of issue you're seeing Forecasts come out from both PJM and Dominion about what what we're going to face in the future And that's sort of driving what DEQ is doing with with the sense of in sense of the way in the sense of the waivers One of the things that I heard tonight And there's not a whole lot I can do about it given the circumstances of how I got up here I've got a set of proffers on a rezoning tonight

[05:42:47] I don't know what the original conditions were and that nobody on this board knows what the what the original conditions of the original rezoning are quite frankly an anathema to me. It should have been provided in part of the package given to the rest of the board so they can make an informed decision about what the actual benefits of any proffers that we're getting are over what we're granting and additional rights. How do monetary proffers offset visual and noise impacts or even environmental

[05:43:21] impacts. You know, the inability of the applicant to stipulate or proffer a manner of backup power, potentially other than diesel. No building location on a GDP. But we're saying you're going to have 830 feet. Well, that's less than a football field. And if anybody's actually stood on a football field and looked at the other end, it's not that far. It's not as far as it's made to sound. At the end of the day, I'm not going to put myself in a position

[05:43:58] where I'm going to make things worse for the people that are already there and for what's already been rezoned. And I just don't believe that in this particular form, this rezoning application will benefit the community from a health, welfare, or safety standpoint. Thank you.

[05:44:19] Supervisor Bode. Thank you, Madam Chair. It's my understanding that there aren't any existing conditions on the property. Anyone can, that's what I thought. So if there are no existing conditions on the property, like Supervisor Lawson said during her comments, this is an improvement, not a deterrent.

[05:44:37] So I just wanted to clear that up because, again, as far as I know, anyone can correct me if I'm wrong on this, there's zero conditions on the current existing property based on the previous rezonings. So to clear that up. I also want to commend the applicant for working with Supervisor Lawson's office to getting us to where it is. Because, again, there's a lot going on in the public discourse about data centers and noise, and that's why I grilled you a little bit, so I know that we're having the right dialogue because again by right before it was a wild west people just erect buildings and move on with their lives and now we're dealing with those repercussions those consequences in other parts of the county but on the merits of this current case i can support

[05:45:15] it based on what you guys are doing that said um i have more global concerns not about this project about this general area so you could the staff could you bring back the second slide or third slide, the one that shows the long-range land use map around this site. Thank you. That's perfect.

[05:45:40] So the concern I have, this one, like I said, it's on the other side of the road, like people said. Most of this is, even though it's catechorm for Arcadia Run, folks are doing a pretty decent job buffering noise, what have you. My concern is, is that everything that's planned around Arcadia Run, that RN4, is I3 right now. I'm sorry, I'm getting deja vu to previous things that this board has approved, where we're encompassing a residential with potentially industrial uses.

[05:46:12] I don't know what the applicant or whoever owns that land has planned along the way, but there are other undeveloped parcels farther down around this that I'm not sure what it's going to be. So I just want to make sure that as we continue to look at this general area, that we're careful about how we're going through this and what we're approving and the kind of mitigations that we have in place as we work with applicants because I don't want to get into a point where we have suddenly a residential apartment complex that has unmitigated industry all around it.

[05:46:44] Now, again, this applicant has done a very good job of mitigating what staff believes, what they believe, what the Planning Commission believes, or the impact associated with this, but I want that to be the standard and not the above and beyond, if that makes sense. I just wanted to say that, Madam Chair. Very good. Supervisor Vega.

[05:47:00] Thank you, Madam Chair. You know, we've got some requests here in the county from data centers in particular in my district to go from 60 to almost 100. And I do think that this is a request I can support. I find this request to go from 60 to 70 to be a reasonable request.

[05:47:19] And I do want to tell the applicant and Jonel that I appreciate what you've done in terms of accommodating the concerns by the Manassas Battlefield and also to include your mitigation for noise concerns. This is in the Data Center Overlay District.

[05:47:37] I don't want these folks to be penalized for everything else that's going on outside of the Data Center Overlay District. So for those reasons, I will be supporting this. Supervisor Franklin. Sure. Actually, those were a lot of the comments I was going to make. No conditions on the original application.

[05:47:55] Of course, this is in the overlay. And I think what we have now or what we're about to do is significantly better than five minutes ago in what's currently there. So I do think the applicant worked diligently with the supervisor to get to where we are.

[05:48:14] I won't belabor the point, but, again, it's the question of what do we have now versus what do we get. And I think we get a lot more than what we've seen. And, you know, if there are other modifications that come before this board, this is the exercise we ought to take.

[05:48:31] Thank you. Supervisor Angry. Thank you, Madam Chair. Iron Mountain, you have been good business for Prince William County, all right? What's the history of Iron Mountain? You know, you guys used to push paper on pallets and store it, you know.

[05:48:47] And this campus that you have, everything that everyone here has said, you're right where you need to be. This makes all the sense in the world. My only, I'm not even going to say that because I feel like we could have been done with this by 7, but that's just me thinking out loud.

[05:49:07] But I appreciate us going through this exercise. Maybe I don't really mean that, but I'll say that. But thank you again for all that you've done because you really didn't have to do much of what you did, but you did, and so we're here now, and so congratulations.

[05:49:26] Supervisor Bailey. Thank you, Madam Chair. I am going to support this project. I appreciate your partnership in the community, how you support the community and being a community partner, not just for your work. I do remember, as Vic would say, Iron Mountain and microfiche.

[05:49:42] I remember that. And you've come a long way, baby. And you are working with the community and with the supervisor because Janine knows this project. And, you know, she can be hard on you with certain things, and you've worked with her.

[05:49:58] And so, and Johnnell, we appreciate you going to get the answers on the spot to assist us, to help us understand. And again, I'm going to reiterate that this does speak to what we talked about earlier with the noise mitigations. It's very important that we go along with what we have voted upon.

[05:50:17] And I see how this can work hand in hand to make sure once the project is expanded and finished, that it adheres to what our requirements are. So I appreciate it, and I will be supporting it. Supervisor Lawson, for your second time. Thank you. I would just say that when the overlay was created as a reaction to the Haymarket transmission line and that whole debacle, this was included in the overlay.

[05:50:43] And as we've stated over and over tonight, this is already zoned M2 with literally no proffers. I would argue that approving this improves my constituents across the street in the Arcadia apartments because I was able to negotiate improvements that I've already laid out.

[05:51:08] So I would say that this is absolutely better for them. And Iron Mountain, thank you again for setting high standards for the industry and I'm happy to approve the project.

[05:51:26] Okay, seeing no further discussion, we can vote. Motion passes seven to one. Supervisor Weir, voting nay. Thank you very much. That moves us on to our next agenda item, which is our budget presentation.

[05:51:45] We do have Supervisor Angry who needs to do a COIA before our budget presentation. Thank you, Madam Chair. Madam Chair, before the county executive begins his presentation on the proposed FY 2024 budget, I need to declare a personal interest in this matter.

[05:52:10] My wife is a special education instructional aide with the schools. As a school employee, my wife and I are members of a group which is affected by this transaction. Because I am able to participate in this matter fairly, objectively, and in the public interest, I will be participating in the board's consideration and discussion of the proposed budget.

[05:52:30] Thank you very much, Mr. Supervisor Angry. Okay, so that brings us on to item 13. We have a presentation from our county executive on the proposed fiscal 2024 budget. Mr. Shorter, the floor is yours.

[05:52:56] All right. Good evening, Madam Chair and board members. On the record, I am Chris Shorter, your county executive, and I am pleased to present this year's FY24 proposed budget.

[05:53:12] This $1.6 billion budget is lean. And we'll talk about some of the cost savings and realignment later in the presentation. It's green. We'll talk about some of the sustainability actions and investments that we plan to make as an organization as part of this proposed budget.

[05:53:37] And it's balanced. I wanted to start this presentation off showing some love and acknowledgement really to the entire team.

[05:53:52] really no no way I could be standing here before you after only being here in the county for for two months and speak intelligently about this budget and about about what we are proposing without Dave Sinclair and the management and budget team without Michelle at read and the finance team without without all of the deputy CXOs who are here tonight, just really, and all of the agency directors and their teams.

[05:54:27] Really, this process started in the fall, and I want to really acknowledge them for all of the submissions, all the information prepared. They have just been absolutely amazing, and we are here today because of them and all of the work.

[05:54:44] We, for the last two months, in coaching me along and making sure I understood, I just really, again, want to appreciate the team. All right, to get into it, this budget, as you know, the general fund is the largest of our funds.

[05:55:04] And we wanted these two first slides to really give a sort of macro picture of what the budget revenue looks like. It's really divided into three categories. As you all know, real estate, personal property tax, and then other local taxes such as utility and local sales.

[05:55:27] In terms of expenses, again, three major areas. The transfers out to schools, the adult detention center, and the capital fund, capital projects fund. The salaries for our employees, the 4,586 FTEs associated with our organization.

[05:55:49] and then contractual services that provide for the programs and services that our government performs. Really wanted to make sure that we gave a big-picture overview of the structure of the budget and the functional areas and how they are broken out.

[05:56:12] As you can see on this slide, this is public safety, and I know some may not be able to see it fully, public safety, human services, community development, and general government. This is essentially how our government is structured, and you can see that we are funding across the board important services and programs in each of those functional areas.

[05:56:37] What you see on the far right is our allotment to schools, and we will certainly talk a bit more about schools. All right, here comes the budget books. Wow, you all look quite happy to get budget books.

[05:57:06] Yes. All right, okay.

[05:57:35] All right, so again, what you can see on this slide is the actual funding allocation for each of the functional areas of government. You can also see the FTE counts. And so what we provide for public safety, what we provide for human services, et cetera, et cetera.

[05:57:52] A very important slide and a real indication, if you will, of the breadth and scope of our government. Budget priorities. The next series of slides will really focus in on what we've talked about in the past and what we will be doing as part of this FY24 budget.

[05:58:15] We will talk quite a bit about maintaining the school's revenue agreement and what that looks like, obviously mitigating in the investment in the school's division, mitigating the impact of the rising real estate assessments via the tax rate that we will be recommending and then advertising later this week, expenditures, and so ensuring, and you will see in the next few slides, our significant leap forward in terms of the investment in our workforce and our

[05:58:51] appreciation for the men and women who serve Prince William County every day. We will focus on board actions and the direction and guidance that the board has given us in the past. Certainly I've personally, you know, sort of looked at last year's budget presentation and have been coached along by Elijah and the team, and we will certainly look at the opportunities, and I really want to just acknowledge the team here again, and the cost savings that will be identified as part of this proposed budget.

[05:59:26] All right, so we'll start really with the decisions that have already been made, the decisions that have been made by the board that had an impact on this budget and the budget discussions. Obviously, back in December, the decision around the police pay scale adjustment was made that is outlined as part of this FY24 budget at $12.9 million. The hiring incentive

[05:59:59] plan was identified at that same time and moved forward at that same time. Both very key components of this budget and represented in the budget totals. The property acquisitions identified here, the firearms training in the land adjacent to the McCourt building is represented by $1.6 million in FY24, the debt service for those facilities.

[06:00:29] And in ongoing years, FY25 and beyond will cost $4.1 million in debt service. We are beginning to prepare as an organization for the collective bargaining that we will be doing, and ultimately are funding seven FTEs as a part of this budget across our government to prepare.

[06:00:55] We're also proposing that we fund contracts associated with elections, administration, mediation, and collective bargaining. A total of just about $17 million, really, that we added to the budget discussions, really, before the discussion started, because they were decisions that were already made.

[06:01:23] All right. Compensation. Very popular slide. A very important one. Again, as I indicated a few minutes ago, we are proposing a significant investment in our workforce with this proposed budget, much needed investment in our workforce to make sure that we are competitive.

[06:01:47] What you see here on this slide is really, to a large extent, based on the consultant recommendations that you heard from our compensation study just a few weeks ago. That compensation study really focused in on the market adjustments that you see identified here.

[06:02:08] In addition to the market adjustments, we are adding a step increase for public safety personnel or sworn personnel and a merit increase for civilians or non-sworn personnel. And so I'm going to direct your eyes to the table at the bottom of the slide.

[06:02:30] and you see essentially our recommendations based on the consultant's study, I should say consistent with the study. We have ADC at 7.2%, and we are recommending fire and rescue at 9.8%, the sheriff's office at 9.8%, and police at a step increase of 3%.

[06:02:57] And for civilian employees, for FY24, a 9% increase. You all know that the consultant in the case of the sheriff and our civilian population or civilian employees also recommended a bit beyond what we are recommending as part of the FY24 budget because we couldn't fit it in.

[06:03:23] So we are also recommending for FY25, an increase, market adjustment increase for civilian employees at 2.5% and for the sheriff's office at 1%. So that brings, it's essentially us working the compensation adjustment over two years versus one.

[06:03:47] We are also including in this slide the cost of, and I'll say that the cost of the $12.9 million that I identified in the previous slide, we've included in this $54 million, and the incentive plan we've also identified here.

[06:04:07] The local salary supplements, we talked about when we were having a conversation about compensation. This really supports state employees and non-Prince William County employees and our supplements to support them. And I am also including and recommending, as a government, a board salary adjustment in the same way that we are adjusting the staff's salary.

[06:04:33] So in this case, we are recommending that the board's salary adjusts where board members would essentially be earning $74,000 per year and the board chair would be earning $84,000 per year.

[06:04:48] Now, as you know, based on the memo that Michelle Robles sent out a few days ago, based on Virginia Code, this has to be done in a way that you are voting on the next board's salary. And so you are not allowed to vote on your own salary, but instead on the next board's salary.

[06:05:10] And in that regard, this would not become effective until January of 2024. So that said, for FY24, this adjustment would cost $140K.

[06:05:25] And in the years beyond, it would be $280K. All right. All right, in terms of budget initiatives, really consistent with, again, your guidance and direction.

[06:05:43] We want to go through a few slides here that are consistent with our strategic plan. Strategic plan goal around quality education and workforce development. You see here the increase to the schools division at 10.1%.

[06:06:01] This is $72 million above what was allocated last year. This is the single largest cash increase to the schools in the history of this agreement. And I want to make sure that we say that out loud.

[06:06:19] Our support for the schools and support for the schools division is clear as part of this proposed budget. Strategic goal around resilient economy. I want to quickly move through this. We are including membership in NOVA Economic Development Alliance.

[06:06:37] This is a very important membership, and really we work together with jurisdictions in northern Virginia to advertise our region as world class and make sure we are working together to do that. We are also including funding in FY24 for the LPGA Solheim Cup marketing and look forward to bringing that event to the county as well.

[06:07:04] Continuing with resilient economy, we are including here FTEs, all supported by non-general fund revenue. So I want to be clear in this slide, in the FTEs that are listed here, they are being supported by land development, building development, and fire marshals fees.

[06:07:33] Moving on to transportation and mobility strategic plan goals, I want to make sure I highlight on this slide the PRTC local subsidy request. This is listed as a request because we are not necessarily recommending, I am not recommending as part of this budget, $21 million.

[06:07:57] This is PRTC's request that we wanted to make sure that we identify for the board. I want to highlight that this is a 60% increase over last year's allocation for PRTC. Ultimately, we all understand that we support PRTC via fuel tax, fuel tax that is forecasted at $17.6 million.

[06:08:23] Anything over that $17.6 million, we are finding other revenue sources to fund. That said, fully understand that the board will likely have questions for PRTC, and we have invited PRTC for a working session in early April to answer questions that the board might have about their request and to make sure that they have an opportunity to speak publicly about their need.

[06:08:53] It's important because in FY25, they are also projecting an additional 12.2 percent, actually not percent, but 12.2 million dollar increase, an additional 58 percent increase over this request.

[06:09:11] So, again, a very important conversation and one that will lead to us understanding sustainability. All right. Strategic goals around safe and secure communities.

[06:09:26] We were not able to fund, given the significant investment in staffing this year, able to fund many of the staffing plans that agencies submitted in the fall. We were able to fund a few of the staffing plans out of the general fund, and you see here two of them.

[06:09:46] The community safety initiative we have talked to the community about and actually presented to the board, A very important initiative that helps with prevention, and so we are funding at four FTEs, community safety.

[06:10:04] We are also, as you all know, at the final year of our investment in the Commonwealth Attorney Staffing Plan, and so we are investing the final seven FTEs from what is a total of 24 FTEs over this past three years.

[06:10:24] We are also investing and included an energy manager in this proposed budget to assist with the sustainability master plan. This is critical, and this FTE will be a part of the Office of Sustainability and, again, a very important investment in sustainability here.

[06:10:51] In terms of the stormwater management fee, we are requesting or recommending in this proposed budget a 7.8% increase in the stormwater management fee to assist with the stormwater assessments, restorations, a significant investment, again, and one that is critically needed.

[06:11:11] You see here on this slide, and I'm certainly happy to answer questions after, how that is broken out by housing type. All right. In terms of the solid waste fee, this fee has actually not been increased in 25 years since the start of the fee.

[06:11:35] And so I don't I don't have to tell this board that we are in critical need of investments at our landfill. And so as part of this fee increase, we are investing in and continuing the life of our landfill by 35 plus years with the capital investments we plan to make.

[06:11:56] There's been significant discussion at the board level about litter control, and that is also included as part of this stormwater fee increase. That said, I believe that based on our calculation, this will be the equivalent of two additional crews, and it's going to be a combination of in-house and contractual services.

[06:12:20] Again, how that is broken out is listed on this table, and I'm happy to come back to answer any questions that the board might have about this. Critical investments in IT and information technology infrastructure around the county.

[06:12:38] I will say this is really just a drop in the bucket. There's a much more significant need here, and you will continue to see us recommend additional investments in information technology across the board. These are investments in critical current infrastructure and investments in some new infrastructure.

[06:13:02] So I'm happy to kind of come back to this if there are specific questions about some of the various technology systems and or programs. Really wanted on this slide to make sure that we were focused in on making or making clear the need for us to continue to maintain and by maintaining, increasing the cost and investments in some of these areas.

[06:13:35] So with casualty insurance and workers' compensation, really this is due to increased staffing. and the need for us to cover those increased employees. In the case of parks, maintenance, and utilities, we are providing maintenance and support for new parks in the splash pad.

[06:13:52] And in the case of tax administration and procurement, these are 13 new FTEs, again, not supported by our general fund, but instead supported via new revenue. And so we are projecting that these 13 FTEs will bring in additional revenue due to compliance and better enforcement.

[06:14:16] And happy to come back to this. As I talked about staffing plans, I just want to make sure that I'm clear that ultimately the addition of these FTEs and those in development services and planning are all FTEs that won't be supported by our general fund.

[06:14:33] and therefore I did not count as part of the staffing plans that were submitted by our agencies. Again, increased cost here for utilities and custodial services and leases.

[06:14:48] I do want to bring the board's attention to our community partners program. Obviously, we are continuing the investment in our communities partners program, increasing by 5% the current program, and also providing an additional $100,000 to add new community partners.

[06:15:11] This is a very important step for this proposed budget. We will be bringing back, based on a clear rubric and a pattern, if you will, of partners applying to be community partners with the county, We'll be bringing back some recommendations on additions to the program.

[06:15:37] All right. Talked at the beginning of the presentation about budget realignment and cost savings. I will say thanks to the great work of the team, we identified almost $6 million in cost savings.

[06:15:55] This is, to a large part, due to your clear guidance last budget cycle for us to take a look at vacancies and make sure that we were being smart about where we needed to realign our organization.

[06:16:11] So that said, we have identified 32.5 positions or FTEs that will be eliminated as part of this proposed budget at a savings of $2.6 million. We've also moved five FTEs from what is now personnel services, meaning actual FTEs, to contracted services.

[06:16:40] That is to say, we are having a very difficult time bringing in the technical expertise on the IT side in the public sector. And we find that it is much easier to fund those FTE, to fund those professionals via contract.

[06:16:59] And so we are moving those funds from FTE into the contracts formally as part of this proposed budget. Other savings, the Social Services Children's Services Act is a mandated service for our county.

[06:17:19] and we support young people with special needs, what we are finding is that year over year, the population of young people requesting support is going down. And so this correlates to that decrease. We are fully prepared as a county to pivot and adjust as needed if the population of young people needing the service begins to increase year over year.

[06:17:50] So that said, we have saved $2 million there. And finally, we've asked all agencies to reduce their contract services by 1% to identify an additional $1.2 million, again, to save costs and fund some of the investments that we are making at the start, that we identified at the start of the presentation.

[06:18:15] And so the budget summary, as you could see on this slide quickly, the five year financial plan with balanced balanced budgets throughout. And I'm happy to come back to this slide. I'm sure we will.

[06:18:31] And then finally, well, not so final, but the tax rate we are recommending as part of this proposed budget is 97.7, which represents a decrease from the current rate of a dollar and three cents.

[06:18:52] Ultimately, this would represent a 1% increase given the real estate assessments and a on average $49 increase for residents. All right. This, as you all know, has to be advertised at the end of this week on Thursday.

[06:19:13] And so we'll be looking tonight to get any direction otherwise. And if not, we do plan to move forward with advertising at ninety seven seven in terms of personal property tax, the business tangible and computer peripheral tax.

[06:19:30] We are recommending as part of this proposed budget, a 15 cent increase. This this as part of this proposed budget, which brings us to 180 over the current rate of 165. We are, as you can remember, leaving the fire levy flat.

[06:19:48] Dave Sinclair talked a few weeks ago in the CIP presentation about the investment that we plan to make with the additional twenty three dollars on average in terms of the renovations, maintenance, and in the case of two fire stations, the rebuilding, not rebuilding, but the building of two new fire stations.

[06:20:11] Important investments, a $4 million investment in our fire stations, and a very important statement for fire and rescue, or to fire and rescue. This is a slide that is certainly familiar with the board and with our community, really just a layout, if you will, of the tax bill and how by proportion it is being allocated.

[06:20:43] We talked about the schools, 57.2% allocation from our budget, public safety, general government, human services. You could see how it's broken out here. And I think a very unique way. I appreciate first time I saw this, I was like, oh, this is very helpful. All right. In terms of engagement, This budget is now live and available online.

[06:21:11] Our budget staff responds to questions and answers questions, I believe, was it 48 hours? Yeah, I mean, in terms of the amount of time to respond.

[06:21:28] Yeah, no pressure. So we are trying to be as responsive as possible in terms of questions that come in, but it is live and active now and invite the public certainly to interact with the materials online.

[06:21:44] And this finally is the calendar. So we plan to have three budget work sessions in March to talk through many of the questions that I'm sure you all have and that we will likely have with you and your offices as we go forward to get to approval. We are scheduled to do budget Um, adoption, uh, currently on April 25th, uh, and markup on April 18th.

[06:22:14] All right. And I think that is it. And I'm certainly available to answer questions as they come. Thank you. Thank you, Mr. Shorter. That was pretty good for two months. No, I know it. Uh, thank you to staff for all the hard work.

[06:22:31] Um, okay. We have some questions. Supervisor Angry jumped right in. Hey, I got in the queue first. You got there first. Yeah. Mr. Shorter, thank you, sir. I just have four. I'm going to go to four slides. We'll be very quick. I know this is the start of the whole process, so I just want to get some clarification going in.

[06:22:49] Slide 12, which is the school's question I have on that, the 10.1 increase over FY23. So when we say the revenue sharing agreement is 57.23% and the 10.1% increase, we're just saying that's a difference.

[06:23:06] The revenue sharing agreement is still 57.23 and not 67.24 going forward, right? That is correct. So the 10% just represents the increased assessment, really the increased revenue that we received as a county. And that is indicative of the 10.1% and the $72 million.

[06:23:25] Thank you, sir. And so slide 15, I just want to get this slide out the way before the rest of my colleagues, we go deep down this rabbit hole with this. I recognize that, you know, as the chair of PRTC and their budget that they've requested and the fact that it's so large and never been done before, we're going to have them come in and have a discussion about that.

[06:23:45] But we also, on the PRTC Commission, given the fact that Princeton County makes up 92% of that budget, we understand that we are the drivers of our bus, well, pun intended, drivers of our bus system, right? And so before we get down that rabbit hole of discussing that and what that is, I know they've basically thrown everything they want at it.

[06:24:08] We will have that discussion. Already sure that's not going to happen. We know that for a fact. But what ends up coming out of that will be the discussion. I do want to put a pin on the fact that when we talk about the fuels tax that funds the bus system, we've known over the last i don't know how many years 10 5 whatever that that that is not going to sustain itself so we're going to have to eventually figure out a funding stream that works for our bus system so um you know i know as as these come in and they talk about it we always end up with that same discussion point at the end of it all so at some point we're going to have to

[06:24:46] have a real discussion about how this bus system that is a very functioning and outstanding bus system, and COVID did hurt it tremendously, what is the future of it, and how do we save it? And we now have two facilities, so let's remember that, east and west facilities that are good to go. So just want to flag that. And then slide 21, the, well, I put this on here, but just the community partners piece, I just wanted to flag, but I think you scratched that one because you mentioned that you're going to work on some other solutions on that as well.

[06:25:26] And then slide 27, peripheral tax. I want to get to that. And I want to point out that, you know, it was the previous board, and I remember and recall in 2019, that we established that resolution that said we were going to have the then CXO work with the data center industry to work on increasing that peripheral tax to a point of $2.

[06:25:50] Over a five-year period, I believe, four or five-year period. Well, next year ends all that. So, you know, I will go on record of right now saying that $0.20 that was short to get to $2, I would imagine we're going to be seeing that next year as far as that budget increase goes, which would get us to what we had agreed upon back in 2019 of that process.

[06:26:10] So I know there's been a lot of folks in contentions about just raising and do all this, but I just want to say that it's amazing how fast four years goes. because here we are now, next year will be that mark to actually get that to where we had stated, well, even the previous board had stated they wanted to do that.

[06:26:30] So I just want to flag that. And that is it for me. I'm done. I'm not going to ask another question. Thank you, Madam Chair. Thank you, Supervisor Angry. Point of privilege, I'm going to jump in. That agreement was in 2020 with this board. The old board didn't do that. That was completely when we got on with going up to $2.

[06:26:47] Just no confusion there. No confusion. But just in 2019, my first motion on this board was to try to go to $4.20 with the premium board. Right, yeah. And then we put it in place in 2020. We put it in place 2020 where we worked that incremental.

[06:27:03] Yeah, that wasn't before we got here. That was us. Supervisor Franklin. Sure. I just wanted to highlight a couple of things. And we're going to have a lot of discussion over the next several weeks about this budget, you know, the things we need to kind of prioritize and things that we need to realign.

[06:27:22] I do want to just highlight the solid waste provision, particularly on litter control. I think that's something that we found over the past year has become more of a priority for this board than before. It may seem very small in terms of litter control.

[06:27:38] No one really thinks about that. But when people drive around Prince William County, we do want them to feel that this is a nice place to live and work in. Litter control, I think, is an important part of having that done. We've seen, I think, since the holidays, it appears that there's been more increase or an increase in litter that we have across our major roadways, particularly 234.

[06:28:05] We've seen some challenges on Route 1. So I'm glad to see some additional investment, particularly on the litter control contract. Also, just want to point out to Supervisor Angry's point about Omniride. We definitely need to have a deep discussion about those numbers, obviously.

[06:28:25] Part of the challenge is, as mentioned, our fuels tax is what first and foremost pays for our transportation services throughout the Commonwealth. One of the challenges is that, obviously, the price of oil and things of that nature impact fuel prices.

[06:28:43] And so what you may get in revenue one year may not be the same. And to Supervisor Angry's point, that's not sustainable long term. I personally think that the General Assembly needs to step up and help better fund our transportation systems. And they actually need to be the ones to come up with a reliable and permanent solution for how do we pay for transportation throughout the Commonwealth.

[06:29:07] These budgets from local governments are usually strapped. We have to figure out how to give our employees what they need, how to get other programs and services, what they deserve. And so the state needs to step up on some of these larger items, such as transportation.

[06:29:23] So that's my opinion there. And then, of course, I just want to mention about public safety and some of the increases there. Would love to just remind staff that we did ask for some information back on the FIRE 56-hour comparison with regards to other jurisdictions.

[06:29:42] So looking forward to having continued discussions there. Thank you. Thank you. Supervisor Weir. If you could go to slide 23.

[06:29:58] All right, do you know what the delta is between the savings of the FTEs and the cost of the contractual services? Is it a positive or a negative delta?

[06:30:17] Go ahead, please. May I ask, sir, do you mean the bottom portion of the slide, the ones that are eliminated but the savings shifted to contractual services? Well, yeah, what is the delta between the savings and the cost of the contractual services?

[06:30:35] is it positive or negative it's net zero so your contractual services are costing me the exact same money amount of money as the FTAs I can't say that definitively but it's uh we're not giving them any extra money for contractual services we took the savings from the positions shifted it to contractual services the agency has to make it work right okay so the yes I want to add uh page

[06:31:03] slide 10 my understanding is this is based on the contract the contractors study results based on policy guidance from the board 20 years ago correct from our discussion yesterday correct but just to make sure everyone understands that statement uh i want to make uh so we the consultant used uh northern virginia counties uh and david helped me make sure that

[06:31:37] remember this, Alexandria, Arlington, Fairfax, Loudoun. And as part of our general philosophy, when we are comparing market, we are comparing ourselves against those jurisdictions. And so, yes, that policy has been in place for some time. And the reason I bring that up is because when you start talking cost of living, different areas of this county have different costs of living. And if you're going to determine an average, you need to include the other areas around it. You're not

[06:32:10] You're not getting a true average or a true mean by focusing on those areas that are significantly different than we are and much more significantly than we are now rather than 20 years ago. So if everything else that we use the 20-year look back on is now no longer relevant, for example, I wrote it down here somewhere, well, Rural Crescent, 20 years ago, no longer good policy.

[06:32:38] 25 years since the solid waste increase, now we have to do it. I would suspect that 25 years, a model 25 years old for policy on analysis of other jurisdictions and how we relate to them is probably in need of some revision or at least looking at.

[06:32:57] But while we're on the slide, I'm looking at the ADC and the fire and rescue lines vis-a-vis the general government line. So in year one, ADC grand total is 7.2 and 9.8, respectively, versus 9 for general government.

[06:33:18] In year two, ADC and fire are at 3 and 3, and general government's at 5, which means after two years, you're increasing general government versus fire and rescue and adult ADC more than you're raising, you're giving general government more of an increase than the fire and rescue and adult detention center, And it's actually greater than that because you're applying a greater percentage to an increased rate in year two over year one.

[06:33:47] So why are we treating the fire and rescue people in the ADC so significantly different than the general government ones? Let me say this just because I know that many of our employees are listening. Us making this recommendation as part of this proposed budget is consistent with what we saw two weeks ago.

[06:34:11] in terms of the consultant's recommendations. And so what we see by way of general government or the non-sworn workforce, the consultant recommended a shift in the pay bands and salary scale and a shift for all employees of 8.5%.

[06:34:33] And so we could not fit that 8.5% in the FY24 budget. And so what you see here is us reflecting the 8.5% over two years versus one. Now, I fully understand that there is a need for us to show appreciation for all of our staff and for all of the men and women who support our county.

[06:34:59] That said, you know, the hiring incentive plan that was funded as part of this proposed budget in the decision that was made by this board last year will be critically important, especially when it comes to hard to fill positions. I'm just saying the numbers, the numbers don't quite generate the same result.

[06:35:20] It's a math thing, but I'm not going to I'm not going to dwell on it. The last thing is, if you could go to slide 27. I just wanted to point out the obvious.

[06:35:37] Maybe I'm hoping my math is right. But if each nickel of additional computer peripherals tax only generates $1.4 million, that's $300,000 per penny, correct? Roughly three and some change. Yet that same penny, when applied to the real estate taxes, generates $8.6 million.

[06:35:58] $300,000 and some change versus $8.6. And I hear a lot about how the data center peripheral tax is going to save everybody's real estate taxes. At $300,000 a penny, it's going to take a lot of pennies to offset a single cent on the real estate tax rate.

[06:36:16] I just wanted to point that out. It sort of bolsters the argument that I've long made that the peripherals tax is not quite the golden goose that it's made out to be, and I'll leave the rest of it for the time being.

[06:36:33] Supervisor Bodie. Thank you, Madam Chair. Thank you, Mr. Shorter, for the presentation. You know, I sort of said tongue-in-cheek earlier, but I think you did a really good job absorbing enough knowledge of the last two months to be able to give a good concise budget presentation to us. That said, it's just a couple of things I wanted to highlight before I ask some questions. The Community Safety Initiative, I know that's something that has been talked about quite a bit by this board about a way that we're able to get more eyes and more people involved in having a holistic communication about safety. So I appreciate the commitment that the staff has made to that. To the Energy Program Manager for the Office of

[06:37:13] sustainability I think that'll be key that once the CSMP is adopted they'll be able to be the one to help reach out to the different county agencies to actually get the plan up and running so I appreciate that in terms of my questions to go back to the slide slide 23 on the vacancies not to put you on the spot but I see that a lion's share of that savings came from the ADC yes did Should we then reinvest a lot of that lion shirt back in the ADC or did you just go back

[06:37:51] in the general fund and you guys sort of recalculate we're going to get to the ADC? Well, for the purposes of the savings here, it went back to the general fund. What we are committed to doing, certainly if there are population shifts or I should say increases in the average daily population at ADC, we are certainly prepared to make sure that we support them in a way that we should. And so we will quickly pivot to add additional

[06:38:22] funding to make sure that we have the number of FTEs to support the population. And I may be happy to have David talk a bit more about the population if needed, but I will say that the logic here was just really to right-size the staffing associated with the population that they serve.

[06:38:52] The only reason why I highlight that is that we've heard from another number of ADC personnel over the past few days about the challenges that they have in their profession. And now we're in a place where they're looking at other agencies and some of what other agencies have received recently, and there's concerns there.

[06:39:11] And I know that the ADC, based on the fact that we did do that incentive program for them, not but a couple months ago, they are a hard to recruit and a hard to retain profession, all the folks that are there. So I want to make sure that we're still being sensitive to that as we're making adjustments across the enterprise.

[06:39:31] I so appreciate you bringing it up. And yes, I've received the emails as well. And I'll say wholeheartedly that we appreciate the men and women that support us at ADC very much, that the 7.2% is a historic increase that I'm certainly proud of.

[06:39:52] But when compared, it certainly doesn't make our employees feel good. I will say that we will be very creative when it comes to ADC in all of the hard to fill positions now that we've been given the leeway to do so.

[06:40:09] And so with the with the hiring incentive plan or program that we've now proposed be funded as part of the FY24 budget, We will be working very closely with ADC to make sure that we are providing the retention bonuses, providing the hiring bonuses, and doing everything we can to support the men and women that, again, support us at ADC.

[06:40:33] And I plan to repeat that later this week at our town hall with our employees. Appreciate that. And just two more things, Madam Chair. To go to slide 15 for a second, I want to give you all kudos for the transportation staffing.

[06:40:49] the traffic safety engineer and the long-range planner i know those are two things that we've been looking to do a little a lot more of you know that overlay between planning land use and transportation but also the safety piece too because as we continue to look for funds especially like the um the items we approved this this afternoon with the grant funding that traffic safety will become a more and more of a big issue so i appreciate that my last sort of question for right now goes back to the compensation uh slide which i think is you'll probably find it before i

[06:41:24] do yep slide 10 um two weeks ago uh as was said before we had asked a couple of questions in regards to especially the fire and rescue department and it's my understanding that we don't have quite the data yet on either the split out between how we compare another 56 hour work week localities, but I had also asked for differing levels of compensation, you know, 15, 17, 20.

[06:41:55] Do we have any of those numbers yet? We do plan to come back as a part two to the compensation study presentation that we had a few weeks ago. And I think that's scheduled for March 14th.

[06:42:13] And so during the March 14th work session, my hope is that we'll be able to clarify and answer many of the questions that were raised. I think we do have some information now that we could provide, but wanted to make sure I said that out loud.

[06:42:29] So, Mr. Bode, each additional 1% market value adjustment for fire and rescue will cost the general fund approximately $800,000. Okay, I appreciate that.

[06:42:45] And very, very last thing to go back to something that Supervisor Weir brought up earlier, the 27th, slide 27. I'm just going to say this now because I've said it quite a few times, is we need to do something about that computer and peripherals tax rate.

[06:43:03] Brought up with you all when I had my meeting with you, I think that we haven't been aggressive enough when it comes to raising that rate. I'm open to us having a discussion as a board about where we land this year. I understand that staff has impression upon, at least me, that they're wanting to be sensitive to how much of a shock we send to industry.

[06:43:24] However, I feel like as this is an up-and-coming, not so much emerging, but now here-to-state industry, we really need to look at how they pay their fair share into the community, and I think we really need to have a serious discussion about that. Thank you so much, Madam Chair. Before we go to the next questions, I just wanted to recognize another elected official.

[06:43:43] Sheriff Hill is here with us this evening, so I just wanted to let everybody know that and welcome him. I'd like to recognize the elected officials who are in chambers with us, so thank you for coming out this evening. Next, I'll go on to Supervisor Vega. Greatest boss ever.

[06:44:01] Thank you, Madam Chair. So speaking of outdated plans, I do want to, at some point before the final vote on the budget is taken, And for us collectively as a board to discuss the revenue sharing agreement that we have with the schools.

[06:44:20] I think that a lot of folks have issue with the board writing literally a blank check. 57% of their tax dollars going to the schools without us asking any questions as to how that amount of money is being spent. I think that if we look at what has transpired over the last three years when it comes to test scores.

[06:44:38] when it comes to achievement when it comes to mental health we have a right as a board to ask specific questions as to how this money is going to be spent and I look forward to having that conversation with my colleagues as to whether or not you know this revenue share agreement that we have with the school has worked out over the last what how long has it been since it's been implemented I don't even know a long time so so just you know since we're talking about a discussion with PRTC since we're talking about a discussion on the data center rate, I think that it's important that we have this discussion as well. If we could please go to

[06:45:17] slide 8, I want to ask you if that $1 million is approved under collective bargaining, what is the total taxpayer burden for this since we started both for the general workforce and the schools?

[06:45:37] I'm not sure. What would be the total amount spent if that 1 million for both the general workforce and the schools? I'm afraid I don't have the data for the schools, ma'am. We would have to find that out for you. So once we make the transfer, right, they spend it on whatever it is that they want, and that includes collective bargaining. So I would like some figures, if possible. Right, okay. Thank you. Thank you. And

[06:46:07] then slide 12, this $72 million increase, this is in addition to the 41 we just sent over? This This $72 million represents the delta between what our allocation was for 23.

[06:46:32] So in 23, we are, well, I should say, what we are proposing based on the revenue projected for 24, what we are proposing is a 10.1% increase over this year's allocation.

[06:46:50] And so that represents $72 million. So say that last part again, $10.1 million? So 10.1% represents the increase over this year's allocation.

[06:47:07] And it is fully based on our agreement proportion. So it is not something that by proportion we wouldn't have done year over year over these past few cycles. It's a larger amount this year, given the large size of revenue.

[06:47:29] Okay. Thank you for that. On slide 17, just wondering, the increase to the stormwater management fee, is there anywhere else this money can come from to make up for the shortfall? Okay.

[06:47:47] The stormwater management fee is what we refer to as the special revenue fund, meaning the revenue generated by the fee may only be used for stormwater management fee. It also means that the county's general fund and real estate tax bill isn't paying for storm water.

[06:48:09] The fee itself is somewhat self-sustaining. Okay. So, in other words, that's it. There's no other? Yes. Okay. And then this question is for you, Dave, since we've been corresponding a bit back and forth.

[06:48:28] And just to confirm for the public, per your email yesterday, the increase in new spending from last year is $125.8 million? That is the increase in the general revenue estimate compared to FY23 adopted.

[06:48:45] Okay, thank you. And if this were to be passed, what is the compounded increase in taxpayer spending since this board took over? I would have to calculate that. Okay, so you're going to get back to me? Yes. Thank you. I'll also, if I may, verify with your office the compounding.

[06:49:05] I want to make sure I understand that problem. Okay, and I assume you're also going to need time for the next question. So in addition to that, I would also like the compounded average increase per homeowner. Okay, thank you.

[06:49:21] That's all I have for now. Thank you, Madam Chair. We'll go to Supervisor Bailey. Thank you, Madam Chair. Mr. Shorter, thank you for a great presentation and very detailed and distinct. And I want to just, in terms of general highlights, we need to support our schools, but I agree with Supervisor Vega.

[06:49:45] I certainly would like to have in detail how those allocations are going in terms, and I know it comes from the schools, not from us, but I would like to see that as we go forward. but totally in support of the 10.1 if we decide upon that as a group in support of the schools.

[06:50:07] The solid waste fee increase over the dump replacement, I think that's, you know, 25 years. That's a long time. And so we really, a lot of times we are dealing with a lot of old stuff that has been in existence for a long time that we're trying to make better for our citizens today.

[06:50:30] So I applaud you for looking at that as an opportunity for us in terms of an increase in fee. I think that is, we have to look at different avenues that we can do that. I want to also make mention on page 8 for the collective bargaining piece, we had a citizen that came tonight that was very interested in advocating for us to move forward with that.

[06:50:58] and I would certainly appreciate and support that as we go forward. If there is going to be a cost associated with that, that's no secret to us. So the $1.1 million is no surprise, but I think it's absolutely necessary as we go forward and support our employees with this collective bargaining process so that it is behind us rather than something that we're just dragging out, as our citizen said earlier today.

[06:51:27] On page 10, we've had a lot of discussions and a lot of emails about the salaries for our public safety sworn and non-sworn employees. And thank you for being here tonight to all of you who have been advocating on your organization's behalf, Fire and Rescue and Sheriff and the Police and the ADC.

[06:51:55] I think that the report, coming from an HR background, the report that we got from our consultant was very inclusive, I mean conclusive, and very overall gave a total picture of where we were from back in the day to how we need to bring it forward.

[06:52:14] There may be an opportunity to bring it forward more, but I think this is a great start as we look at this. not a final decision, as we all know in this audience, but it is a great start. And so I just wanted to acknowledge that because they work hard and they want to take care of their families, live, work, and play in the environment where they are working. So I appreciate the efforts in terms of that and being able to talk with you more what that looks like going forward.

[06:52:43] On page 12, the other thing that I wanted to acknowledge is the Northern Virginia Community College piece. Our Northern Virginia Community College works so hand-in-hand with our school systems. And some of us, I know the majority of us, if not all of us, have had conversations with the new provost. And so I think this is an opportunity for us to provide early college programs for our students going forward, but also provide a workforce development programs for those students that may not want to go to college.

[06:53:18] And so it's an opportunity for us to really look at, as we expand in serving our community, a different way in doing so. And so I know that this is not something new, but something that is expanding. And so I certainly appreciate you opening our eyes to that as a part of this budget program.

[06:53:39] I think it's essential when we look at the audience that we're serving. Page 13, I wanted to acknowledge the LPGA, SOCOM Cup marketing piece because this is an example of us bringing a commercial tax base to our community, and it's not talking about data centers.

[06:54:00] Absolutely. And so I want the community to know that. Janine and I have talked about that. There are different and various ways that we can do that without talking about data centers. And so I just want to bring that home to our community to let you know that though we've been talking about data centers, and that is an opportunity, I think, as well, but that's not the only opportunity.

[06:54:24] And so I would implore my colleagues, please let us have conversations about that. I think this is a great example. This will put us on the map even more, and it will also bring a commercial tax base to us. So just not to belabor the point, but I'm acknowledging that because I think it's an opportunity.

[06:54:43] How much time I got? Am I messing up? No. Okay. So I got my pages here. I'm good? Okay. So on page 15, being a part of the PRTC board, I want to thank my colleague, Mr. Chairman, from the PRTC board. We do need to have Dr. Bob come in and talk to us about this.

[06:55:06] We do need to support our citizens and keep our buses running. No, we're on strike right now, but we do need to substantiate this amount of money and why it looks like this, and so we'd like to have the work session.

[06:55:22] Absolutely, I could support that. And then page 16, the Commonwealth Attorney's Staffing Plan. No, Community Safety Initiative. Dan, again, I applaud you for bringing that forward.

[06:55:38] We need that in our community because we are experiencing some public safety activity that is not of Prince William County. And so this initiative needs to go forward. I can definitely support that. Dan, thank you for shopping it in the community.

[06:55:54] I need you to shop it more. Commonwealth Attorney Staffing Plan, this is an extension. She came and she made a presentation to us before. And thank you for the continuity, Dave, and to the county exec for this so that we can finalize this and make sure that that entity is whole.

[06:56:13] The thing that I want to bring to your attention that we have not talked about is the Public Defender's Office. And I will be having an extended conversation about that as well. That office is a part of our community, is a welcome part of our community, and it needs to be supported in any way possible as we go forward and protecting those citizens that may not be able to afford the cost of protecting themselves.

[06:56:40] And so I'd like to have that extended conversation as it relates to our budget. I said about solid waste. I think for information technology, that is the way to go. Everybody's contracting that entity out.

[06:56:55] It will save us money as a zero debt to us. I think that's important that we do that. And so I'm in full support of that. Community partners, and Elijah will tell you that that is something that I brought forth initially in my first year in 2020, and he and I worked on that, and it's important that there are other community partners within our community that can serve at a higher level.

[06:57:25] So this program is essential as we go forward without expending the cost to the budget, to our budget, as we partner with other community partners to serve our community across the county. So that's, I commend all of you for your insight on that for the future for us.

[06:57:44] So that's real important. What else? Oh, question that I had that my colleague Kenny Bodie and I just said with the Social Services Children Services Act.

[06:58:05] Social Services Children Services Act. You said that that was a savings because you've noticed that that need has gone down. Could you clarify that for me, please? Sure. Before the pandemic, the number of private education, special day school placements was increasing about more than a third year over year, 30, 35% year over year.

[06:58:34] Once the pandemic hit, the number of placements started leveling off. In the FY21 budget, we increased the budget substantially in anticipation of continued increases year over year.

[06:58:51] Since those costs have leveled off, we are able to realign this budget to reflect costs the past few years. I want to emphasize for the board and the community, we are not reducing services, and we have aligned the budget that still allows for some future growth.

[06:59:14] So no child is being denied this mandated service. I want to be very clear on that. Yeah, I'm sure. I'm sure that's not the case. My concern is I know that there have been increased opportunities for services for children with autism, and that's always on my mind.

[06:59:34] And so I'd like to have a further discussion in reference to that because there may be some opportunities that we are missing that we may not see. So I just want to keep that on your radar as we go forward. And then lastly, I do want to say that I share concerns with my colleague, Mr. Bodie, about the business tangible computer and peripherals.

[07:00:00] I know that that might be maybe not the popular thing. Maybe popular is the wrong word, but I think it's an opportunity for us to look at that. We want to keep good business relationships, but I think there's an opportunity for us to have those discussions before we close out this budget year.

[07:00:21] Thank you, Madam Chair, for the time. Thank you. I've been keeping track of everybody, Supervisor Lawson's next, and then I'll go after you. You haven't gone yet, have you? No, but I had to run the ladies' room, so Supervisor Franklin's going to go ahead of me. You know what? I'm going to send it back to you because I was going to ask Chair Wheeler to explain what Solheim was for the public.

[07:00:41] You're welcome to. That's a great – thank you for teeing that up for me. No pun intended. So while I was out, did she – all right. For all of you who don't know what Solheim Cup is, it's the Ladies PGA International Tour that will be hosted at Lake Manassas Robert Trent Jones.

[07:01:06] We were selected for September of 2024, and I'm a very new golfer, and I have to say I'm excited to host it. In 2015, we hosted the Tiger Woods Invitational, and that was super exciting as well.

[07:01:22] So that's what Supervisor Bailey was referring to, was the Solheim Cup. And I believe it's very similar to, like, the President's Cup, where the European team plays the American team. But, of course, this is for the ladies. But men, we certainly welcome you to watch the gals golf.

[07:01:44] Anyway, am I good to go for asking questions? You go, then I'll go. Okay, great. Yeah, there you go. So I do have to take this moment to tell you all that Sheriff Hill is not my boss, but he is a constituent and he is a golfer. He's an avid golfer. So I'm sure he's excited about the Solheim Cup as well. So let's talk about the ADC and Fire and Rescue a little

[07:02:16] bit let's start with the ADC ADC we I'm I know that last year at this time I was like really hammering the the vacancies in the ADC and community services and some in the police department and I appreciate your your work on reducing the cost because the population is about half of what it had been at least that's my understanding my concern with the with the proposal on the adc

[07:02:50] pay adjustments is that it is going to leave our our jail officers the lowest in the northern virginia region do we do we have numbers comparisons for where that where this will put us? I mean, Colonel Meletus has had a really difficult time recruiting. So what do we know about where this will leave us? So to be clear, the compensation study as it was presented really focused on making sure that in terms of market adjustments, it was recommending, the consultant

[07:03:27] was recommending putting us middle of market. And so the recommendations here at 4.2, 6.8, and 6 percent respectively, we believe put us at middle of market. Now, what we have not always done well is do step increases and or merit increases that keep our employees sort of in the

[07:03:59] place within the scale or within the band that keep us competitive. And so in terms of the 7.2 percent. Based on the consultants' feedback and analysis, this puts us in a competitive place.

[07:04:17] Now, that said, I am very sensitive to the feedback I've gotten over this last few days, as I'm sure you all have as well. I will say we have been given some flexibility by you to really lean in in terms of hiring incentives, pay bonuses, retention bonuses, et cetera.

[07:04:41] And I certainly do plan to work with ADC to that effect. This is the beginning of the process. So ultimately, any changes that are made over this next few weeks in working with you in approving this budget, we'll come to that when we do.

[07:05:01] I just don't want to give the impression that that this has that this has anything to do with how much we appreciate the work that they do every single day. Right. And I appreciate that comment. I believe all my colleagues have toured the adult detention center.

[07:05:19] I did years ago, and I was astonished at the responsibility. There is absolutely no room for error and the heavy burden on Colonel Meletus and everybody that works there to make the operations go.

[07:05:43] And as you all know, they've received awards for how well they run our adult detention center. They're nationally accredited, and I just want to make sure that we're never in a situation where we were with the police department where a lot of people were leaving in droves because of compensation.

[07:06:05] Do you know, Mr. Shorter, what our peers are looking at for their pay adjustments for their ADCs? We do have some sense of that. Some of our comparison jurisdictions have already gone, have already presented their proposed budgets.

[07:06:23] So I'm happy to kind of send what we know under a separate cover to the board. Okay. And as you said, this is fluid, and this is the beginning. Yep. So we'll have to kind of just wait and see.

[07:06:39] But I'll just go ahead and throw this out there on the first night of this season that I'm going to be very watchful on where we land with this compensation adjustment. And then let's talk about fire and rescue a little bit to just kind of piggyback on Supervisor Bode earlier.

[07:06:58] I raised a couple weeks ago what I think is a big difference is our fire and rescue 56-hour work week. A lot of their peers don't have that, I guess, is it 48?

[07:07:19] They don't have the 56-hour work week other than Fairfax, right? if i recall correctly loudon's at 48 help me out what yeah i don't i don't know if david you remember the breakdown okay well so find out for you okay um but i i think it's important and this was i'm assuming that same conversation as the adc this gets us at what you think is or what you're projecting is mid-market yes so what i'm concerned about and i expressed it in december when we adjust the police pay is I worry that we're going to have big differences in our public

[07:07:58] safety pay bans, and I don't want that to happen. They're all incredibly important, and I don't want tension between our folks that serve us in the police department, folks that serve us in fire and rescue, and I want to make sure that we're doing everything that we can to reduce those tensions and if comp and obviously compensation is going to be a huge piece of that conversation um so i'm going to also say that i think that we need to i've heard from a lot of them um and i

[07:08:35] gather that they're they're not thrilled with the with the proposal and i think that it sounds like it's something that maybe the other board members are looking at as well i don't i gather i'm not the only one um so tonight's not necessarily the night to throw out other numbers but appreciate appreciate um everything that you've done to to help get us here yeah and i'll say this i mean these are historic highs they are right i appreciate that i'm not getting you know sort

[07:09:12] of pushback on even proposing this right and so the fact that we are at this point where we could be proposing these kinds of increases for recognizing that our employees have gone without and an invitation to continue the conversation I'm excited about.

[07:09:32] Well, and to your point, there are historic highs, but we're also experiencing a crazy time and labor shortage across the country. They're just kind of crazy times altogether in the labor market um i mean heck my 19 year old son's making 23 bucks an hour uh and that just i never would have thought that a 19 year old would be at the hourly rate rate um sorry luke i just disclosed your personal information but but i'm just trying to raise that point that's where we are today um

[07:10:11] So I was going to ask another question about public safety, general government, 6%, you got 2.5%, so there's your 8.5%, that was the combined market rate that you were referencing earlier? Correct.

[07:10:26] Okay, what is the, is it still 37.5 hour work week for general government, but what is, overtime for general government is still after 40 hours, is that right?

[07:10:43] I actually don't know the answer. Yes. It's like I'm getting. Yes, consistent with FLSA. Okay. Okay. And then one more question about general government. Community services. Where are we with our mental health workers? They were the ones that I was also really concerned about last year.

[07:10:59] Another very difficult career. Where are we with that? They are accounted for as part of general government or the civilian part of our workforce. Okay. But as far as vacancies, do you know, has Lisa been able to make serious progress on those challenges?

[07:11:22] I don't know if it's helpful, ma'am, but community services vacancy rate is just a little over. It's around 12% for the department as a whole. I don't have data specific to our therapists. Do you recall, Dave, what that vacancy rate was last year for the therapist?

[07:11:42] It was much higher. We have made strides in that area. I can't specifically give you numbers tonight, ma'am, but we have made strides. Okay. CS vacancies down around 50 for the entire department.

[07:11:58] Okay. Yeah, can you dig into that compared to last year? Yes. Thank you. Okay, so I actually want to talk about that computer peripheral rate. And for a little background, I was a big defender of not raising it.

[07:12:19] For a long, long time, I was up here fighting Mr. Chairman Corey Stewart and Supervisor Canlon and Citizen Bob Weir at the time. But then we had a legislative change, and that was supposed to fix everything and make assessments uniform from Loudoun and Prince William and everywhere else in the Commonwealth.

[07:12:38] And now I'm like, okay, now we can talk about that computer peripheral rate. So I appreciate that my colleagues up here have said that they're open to having a discussion about it. Mr. Sinclair, guessing you've ran some numbers of scenarios, are you ready for some scenarios?

[07:13:05] I'm always game for numbers. Okay. Like, for example, what would we generate with, we're at $1.65, so what would we generate at $2.65? And to be, just before David answers the question, with every increase, we are still going to be dividing by school division.

[07:13:31] So it is, we want to make sure that we incorporate that into whatever the county. Oh yeah, we have to share 57% of it, right? And we are at $1.80, if you want, I mean, in the budget, we're at $1.80, so maybe you want to work up extra from there, if that's better.

[07:13:47] Thank you. That's a good point. So we'll go to $2.80. Increase by a dollar. I'm just going through hypotheticals right now. They're working. So an increase by $1, what we are proposing.

[07:14:06] If the rate increased exactly $1, that would generate $20.8 million. $20.8? Okay. Above what's in the current budget.

[07:14:21] Right, right. It would generate another $21 million. Roughly, yes. Yeah. Okay, and then you can assume that $3.80 would generate $42 million, right?

[07:14:38] A $2 increase to the current rate, $42 million. Okay, and a 50-cent rate would increase $10.4 million. Just easy math like that, right? Okay, are we going to set advertised rates tonight?

[07:14:54] Yes. Any change in what I'm recommending, that guidance should be given to me tonight. Okay. The advertising happens on Thursday. Go ahead.

[07:15:10] My apologies. The advertisement will appear in the newspaper, not this Thursday, next Thursday, but we have to send the advertisement proofs to the newspaper this Friday. okay okay so one last question for your team um what about uh up to the loudon rate which actually we can't do that because our our personal property what's the highest rate we can the current general classification personal property is three dollars 70 cents okay so then

[07:15:45] so when i said uh 380 it really couldn't go that high 370 is the highest okay um all right thank Thank you. I don't want to get ahead of everybody else, but plan for me to bring that up tonight.

[07:16:12] So a couple of things. I'm going to jump in since I'm, you've already gone once, Mr. Bode, correct? Okay. I do want to clarify just about the hours for the fire and rescue. Alexandria, Prince William County, Fairfax City, and Fairfax have 56.

[07:16:36] Somebody has 50, and Arlington has 50, and Loudoun has 48. So I just want to make sure that there's good information out there. Yeah, and you can clarify that. I just want to make sure that there's good information out there because there are a bunch at 56, but there's also one at 50 and one at 48, namely our neighbor, Loudoun.

[07:17:03] So I'm going to jump all over the place. But if we could start at slide 15. the PRTC and I apologize I didn't look at this this closely and I didn't realize I don't I think I'm an alternate to the PRCT board PRTC board um okay but so this says that they're requesting a 7.9% of a 7.9 million dollar increase over last year correct which is like a 30% increase or 50% increase because we're

[07:17:37] giving them 14 so it must be a that's a lot that's a lot okay so but that's in the budget no it is it is there this is this is prtc's request uh so we will uh what is what is in the budget is the fuel tax revenue okay and anything over that revenue we would have to find another funding source to cover okay but so but so 17.6 is in the budget correct okay i didn't

[07:18:11] understand that and okay so they're just requesting if i may to be yeah well crystal clear for the board the 21 million dollars is prtc's local subsidy request it is not necessarily what the county executive is recommending in the proposed budget historically prince william county funds its local subsidy to prtc from its motor fuels tax allocation that it obligates to prtc you pass a resolution to that effect as part of your budget that you approve each April.

[07:18:47] The situation that we are running into is that PRTC's motor fuel tax estimate is only $17.6 million, supporting that local subsidy request of 21.

[07:19:04] So what that means is we are dipping into the motor fuels tax fund balance in the amount of $3.3 million. In fiscal 24, which Prince William County can choose to do, the problem is not necessarily in fiscal 24, but in fiscal 25, because PRTC's projections is that the local subsidy is going to increase another $12.2 million to approximately $33 million in fiscal 25.

[07:19:40] And that is no longer sustainable within the existing motor fuels tax construct. Our fund balance will run out, and we will either have to make decisions on services or come up with another funding source in addition to the county's motor fuels tax revenue.

[07:19:59] So the current fund balance is $12,000, $8,000, probably? I think I'm going to say it's around $6 or $7 million. Okay, great. And then we're just eating into it, and then it'll be gone. Okay. So I'm glad you clarified that. That is if we decide to fund at the full request.

[07:20:15] Right. Okay. Another one was slide 23. I just wanted to talk about the FTEs. You know, last year, you know, we talked a lot about all the FTEs, and we had, you know, sheets and sheets of paper, and I committed that this year we would move some of that money around and take care of it, and Supervisor Caitlin said, unfortunately, he's not here to see it because he said, oh, that's never happened in his eight or ten years on the board.

[07:20:41] But, you know, it's actually happening. Maybe not all of them, but, you know, hopefully if he's watching, he's probably asleep by now. But, you know, anyway, you know, at least we're trying to deal with some. And so I really appreciate the fact that staff has dealt with that.

[07:20:57] You know, the only other thing I really want to touch on at the moment is the community partners slide. And I don't remember which one it is. You know, we're giving our existing community partners a 5% increase, and that's X amount of money. And then we've set aside capacity for new partners next year.

[07:21:15] It's $100,000. You know, I just think at some point we may want to allocate more than $100,000 for new partners because I know there are a lot of people who are interested in becoming community partners. And I know you said you're going to have a rubric to figure out how we add those kind of people.

[07:21:33] And I think we need some kind of process for our community partners. I was sort of saying this recently. It's, you know, anyway, we need maybe a better system. But I do think, given some of the people who have approached us to become community partners, I'm just throwing out to my colleagues.

[07:21:51] I mean, I'm not talking a lot of money. I'm just saying, you know, maybe let's double that and have a few more community partners to try out over the next year or so. Just throwing that out there for now. But that's all I've got for now. Supervisor Bodie. Actually, never mind, Madam Chair.

[07:22:07] Your talk about the hour rates of all the other fire departments is what I was going to say. And I think that I heard that Alexandria is going to go down to 50 by July of 2025.

[07:22:25] So they might be, yeah, 25. That's a couple years from now, but still something to consider. But you stole my thunder with the hours. I was like, good information out there. You know who I am. Supervisor Bailey. Thank you, Madam Chair. I just wanted to, to my knowledge, just I'm piggybacking on something that you just said about the community partners.

[07:22:48] not to beat you over the head with it at all, but that is so important as we go forward. And to my knowledge, and please correct me if I'm wrong, the last time that we had new community partners was in 2020.

[07:23:06] I might be wrong, but we are, to what Madam Chair is saying, we're getting requests a lot from people or organizations, 501c3s wanting to serve.

[07:23:22] And so we really need to have a new process, just endorsing that, and to really look at what the needs really are. Because if you talk about serving a population, you know, if we're balancing the budget and you're talking about reduction for those CSA services, maybe that's an opportunity as an example that we can use a community partner to supplement that.

[07:23:50] So we really – it's going to be a paradigm shift, I know, but I'm saying that on behalf of the small LLCs in the community. We really need to do that. And then the other thing that I just wanted to bring to the fore is the fact that there are grant opportunities that I know that our finance department knows about and transportation, all the agencies.

[07:24:16] There are more grant opportunities now coming out of COVID that we need to take advantage of. And so if that means quite possibly, I'm just putting it out there, that we in this general population that we have a grant writer, that's important because that will pay for itself.

[07:24:35] Just putting it out there in terms of us having another revenue source for the budget. Thank you, Madam Chair. Supervisor Franklin. Sure. Just a quick question. For PRTC, how much is in the fund balance currently? I think it's around $6.5 million, $7 million.

[07:24:54] Okay. That's all I wanted to know. Thank you. Supervisor Weir. Mr. Sinclair, what would the real estate tax rate have to be to establish a flat tax, not a flat rate? A flat tax bill on average.

[07:25:15] The real estate tax rate that would generate a flat tax bill is exactly one cent lower than the county executive's proposed rate. that rate would be 96.7 cents per $100 of assessed value.

[07:25:32] And that would generate how much of a loss from the revenue side? Okay, the value of a real estate penny is $8.6 million. I do want to point out that at 96.7 cents, the revenue loss is actually approximately $9 million because we lose a little bit on investment income, things like that, sir.

[07:25:57] All right. Supervisor Weir, anything else? Your light's still lit. Are there anything else? Sorry. Okay. Supervisor Vega.

[07:26:14] Thank you, Madam Chair. Dave, I want to piggyback off of Supervisor Lawson's conversation in regards to the data center tax rate. How much could we decrease residential tax bills if we increase the data center tax rate to 370? I would need a couple minutes to figure that out, if I may.

[07:26:34] If it could be today, because I think it's important to the discussion that we're having. i'm not sure we have still public comment time right so if it could be today dave please supervise are you done yeah okay supervisor lawson thank you madam chair so dave i just want to make sure my math up here is correct so if if we're at a computer peripheral at a dollar 80 right correct i'm sorry we are at a dollar 80 thank you mr shorter um and we uh go to 370

[07:27:10] which is what the most we could do under personal property my calculation is that's 52 million dollars and i want to make sure i'm calculating that correctly because it's it's a dollar 90 jump and at 1.4 million yeah i was a political science major so i just want to make sure

[07:27:40] yep or math i thought it was uh 42 at 380 yeah that's why i was so it might be a little less that's what that's why i'm wondering where i went wrong if you increased um the business tangible personal property tax rate to three dollars and 70 cents that would generate what 53.2 million

[07:28:20] And in terms of the real estate tax rate, I think that's approximately $0.06. Okay. So maybe the numbers we said earlier were a little off because I do remember it.

[07:28:36] But, okay, so $0.53, $0.53, $0.52 was right. And then, I'm sorry, the real estate tax rate, say that again, about the $0.06? That would be the equivalent of almost $0.06 on the real estate tax rate.

[07:28:55] I thought Supervisor Vega was interested in that. It would be about $0.91. Thank you. You know, before we go any further with this, you know, I'm going to jump in and talk about how we talked about this three years ago, and we committed to a schedule.

[07:29:18] One of the reasons we didn't just triple the rate and why the previous board just didn't triple the rate was because regarding the integrity of the county, when you ask someone to come in and do business and you have a rate of $1.25, you know, we're already increasing at 50% while we're here.

[07:29:36] You know, just tripling it sends, it's not even so much shockwaves to the data center industry where it's almost a bait and switch. So you can go down this and say it's $52 million, but it's the integrity of our economic development people who have to go out and talk to other businesses when people go out and say, oh, yeah, you know, they had an advertised tax rate and they brought them in, and then we just sit here and triple it.

[07:30:01] And so, you know, I think it's a little irresponsible to just start throwing around numbers. If you want to talk about other increases, that's fine. But I really, you know, we had this discussion a few years ago, and we agreed to just give certainty to the industry and raise it every year.

[07:30:20] And I understand if you want to adjust that somewhat, but you're sitting here talking about tripling it. And I think that's, I frankly think that's irresponsible. It's not that I don't want to bring money into the county, but I'm trying not to, you know, hurt the integrity of the county from an economic development standpoint.

[07:30:38] Just so before we proceed with this discussion, I really have to say that, and I want everyone to think carefully about the conversations that we had and the things that we committed to. Supervisor Franklin. Sure. Just wanted to, I guess while we're on this train, yeah, tripling the rate I think is a bit drastic without having conversations first.

[07:31:03] But if we're going to have a serious conversation about what an increase looks like, I do want to have a realistic discussion. So I want to level set that because I think that's kind of where we are in the discussion. So not sure about tripling, but where are we with other numbers, I would say, or ask.

[07:31:20] Next is Supervisor Angry. Thank you, Madam Chair. I just said all this. Okay, again, we had a resolution that was for five years. Next year will be the fifth year, and it will be at $2, which is what we agreed to when we put that process in place.

[07:31:42] And in 2019, as I was saying before, the previous board wanted to jump that all the way up to 420 or whatever they could do. But that is literally the year we had the discussion. And then the next year, this board put in place the resolution that took it there.

[07:31:58] Now, what you want to do about the next year? Knock yourselves out. But I will say, you know, for me, and thank you, Madam Chair, for stating that. I mean, it is what we agreed to. It is that trust factor for not just a data center or what we're going to do with the taxes, but any other business resident, anyone coming in the county.

[07:32:20] That was our word that we gave. So I'm willing, for me, my word is good because that's what I said, and that's what we agreed to. And so next year we can have whatever discussion we want, or we can do it tonight. But I'm not looking to increase for what we just did now.

[07:32:37] And next year is the $2, which is what we said we'd do. So I would like to ask. Madam Chair, could I ask? Well, no, I'll save it because we're on this data center increase. So I'll just save it. I know I've said to many of you individually and we have certainly talked internally as staff about what what the process would look like post budget approval.

[07:33:04] for us to actually work with the industry to come up with, for next budget cycle, another series of increases to the peripheral tax. So that said, I just wanted to make sure that you knew that we had certainly talked about this internally and are prepared to develop the process quickly and even bring language to the board to make sure that we are very directed in our approach to talking with the industry.

[07:33:36] after we get through this budget cycle. Supervisor Vega. Thank you, Madam Chair. I would have to say that I disagree with your comments about us being irresponsible. It's quite simple. You know, where is the integrity when it comes to looking out for the homeowners, for the taxpayers of this county?

[07:33:56] I will remind my colleagues on this day, I said over the last three years, we've taken an additional $1,400 out of their pocket. So it's simple. Do we represent the taxpayers, or do we continue to give big corporations tax break? We talk about a budget. It's aggressive, $125 million in new spending.

[07:34:13] You know, there seems to be a lot of conversation about how data centers are going to generate all of this revenue in the hopes of reducing the tax burden on the homeowners. Well, this is our opportunity. So if we're going to have this conversation, which it sounds like we are, as we continue to move down the budget process, I very much look forward to that.

[07:34:30] My commitment will always lie with the taxpayers of Prince William County and not big tech. And so with that being said, I want to remind you all that the $0.91 would allow us to give our overtaxed homeowners an almost $300 tax cut from last year, if my math is correct.

[07:34:48] And again, I'm just, you know, doing it here on the fly. But, you know, for the folks here and for the folks watching at home, we're elected to represent you. I understand that we need business partners in this county, but I think that enough is enough. They've had a free ride for a very long time, and all of the conversation about how they're going to generate all of this revenue, We have shortfalls when it comes to fire.

[07:35:07] We have shortfalls when it comes to the police department. I'll add that with $125 million in spending, not one new police officer is being proposed for funding. Not one. We've seen the increase in crime, whether it be shootings, stabbings, robberies, up and down this county.

[07:35:23] But with $125 million in new spending, not one new police officer is being funded with this. So we have to talk about priorities and how we're going to fund the very needs that this county needs and what the taxpayers of this county expect from us, the board. Mr. Sinclair, can I ask you a quick question, and I don't know whether you would know it offhand.

[07:35:44] If we didn't have the current data center revenue, how many pennies on the tax rate would that be? I don't have that data in front of me, ma'am. Okay, because I suspect that what you're not acknowledging is that there is a current impact from data centers on our current tax rate.

[07:36:05] Otherwise, it would be higher. Supervisor Bodie. Thank you, Madam Chair. Just a couple of quick comments and a question. I appreciate the conversation thus far. I will remind folks watching, though, that this is the first board to increase the computer peripherals tax in a long time. Does anyone from staff have with them the last, before our board took office, when the last time the computer peripherals tax was raised?

[07:36:31] It was always $1.25. For a long time. I think that's how it started. So I just do want to say that this board has done work with that. So I think that needs to be acknowledged. But my question is to go back to something that was asked earlier.

[07:36:47] It's sort of a compound question for Dave, and I've asked it already offline, so I know he probably has this up front. How much would we have to raise the computer and peripherals tax to then lower the real estate tax to be that average tax bill that was asked earlier?

[07:37:08] Sorry, Supervisor Brody, we were kind of having a sidebar convo. Can you repeat your question? Right. So how much would we have to raise the computer and peripherals tax to then lower the average tax bill to be flat tax, to generate a flat bill. Right. You would need to raise the computer peripheral tax.

[07:37:26] I think we calculated a precise $0.32, I believe. So that would be $2.12? Correct. $1.80. Yes, correct, $2.12. $0.32 above the proposed rate of $1.80.

[07:37:49] Supervisor Lawson. Thank you, Madam Chair. Great question, Supervisor Bodie. And your colleague, Supervisor Weird, done math, and was that 211? 211 is a more accurate number. Okay. It's actually a little bit of a fudge factor.

[07:38:06] Yeah, he was clearly a math major. No, no, no, no, no. So just a little background. I was on the board, and as I said earlier, vigorously defended the $1.25 for a few reasons.

[07:38:22] And one of them was that difference in assessment methodology. And the industry had convinced me that we were assessing our real estate values on data, you know, exponentially more than Loudon by literally hundreds of millions of dollars.

[07:38:38] And so their argument was, well, we're paying you a lot more real estate taxes and you're collecting less on computer peripheral. And it all kind of evens out in the end. I said, okay, I was convinced. That's changed. there was a law that changed that i want to say to at chair wheeler's request um senator mcpike prince william county member of the delegation championed and apparently it wasn't good enough i don't i don't know but things have changed and this is also before data centers have created a

[07:39:15] lot of the problems that we're as a board dealing with um i didn't vote for that schedule but supervisor bode is absolutely right in pointing out that this this board was the first to increase that that rate i think it's time to talk about increasing it in a more aggressive manner and i like the idea of um maybe going up to 211 advertise it even a little bit higher if we want

[07:39:48] to we can always come down from the advertised rate um and and give us some room to work with and i will also add that if we reduce the real estate rate that also affects the data centers and the real estate assessments so keep that in mind too um so i don't know if right now is the time to make the motion to advertise a computer peripheral so i i i'm can i say one thing before you make the motion? Sure. I know that the, and I'm just going to go there, I know that the general

[07:40:28] legislature changed that methodology, but we're still using the original methodology. We didn't change ours. As in we, as in the county? That's correct. Well, I just wanted, I just, I think it's important to know that I, and maybe Mr. Shorter, you can briefly, I mean, am I correct in saying that? You are correct. Yep. So, so the law that they wanted didn't accomplish what they sought?

[07:40:57] Correct. So we are developing a document to explain our method and also explain the law that was passed and so how Virginia Code, what was intended, and what was actually experienced.

[07:41:18] Michelle Atri is going to come and answer this question better than I can. Well, go ahead. I don't want to extend the night any longer, But go ahead since we're on the subject. Hi. Good evening, Michelle Atreger, Chief Financial Officer.

[07:41:36] So we did change our methodology. There's three approaches to valuation. And they carved out a piece that we have to use the cost approach with, which we are doing. However, what did not change in the law is in the Constitution that properties must be valued at fair market value.

[07:41:52] That piece needs to change for us to we believe we are assessing at fair market value. market value is what properties buy and sell for in the market at an arm's length transaction which is what we do for all of our businesses um and so that's that's what needs to change for it to be something less well did senator mcpike offer that additional change this session because it would be a constitutional constitutional that's right you did say that wow and nobody realized that until after that's correct well i still maintain my position and so with that i am going to move

[07:42:30] that we advertise a computer peripheral rate at $2.15. We had other people who had questions. You said you wanted to speak before I made my motion. That's true. Okay, there's a motion on the floor.

[07:42:48] Pete, your question? Your motion, I'm sorry? Sure. Well, the county executive is looking for direction on advertising tax rates. And, I mean, typically we start off with real estate, but since we're on personal property, I'm moving that we advertise a rate of $2.15.

[07:43:06] And with that, we can't adopt rates at the end of the season higher than what we've advertised. So we can come down from the $2.15. I mean, I could say $2.50, but I think I'm being reasonable in saying $2.15.

[07:43:27] And to achieve a one-cent reduction for some tax relief, that gets us to the flat tax bill, I believe. I mean, this is something we'd have to all work on in the budget cycle, but we've discussed those numbers.

[07:43:51] I'd be happy to second your motion, but before I do it, Madam Chair, can I ask a quick question about Ms. Atrey's response to Supervisor Lawson? Or actually, it's probably for the county attorney. Aren't we a Dillon rule, and don't we, or rather, Dillon rule state, and shouldn't we abide by state law?

[07:44:13] Ms. Asher, she did explain that we are abiding by the state law. Yes. All right. Well, I'll second your motion, Supervisor Lawson. Okay. There's a motion on the floor made by Supervisor Lawson, seconded by Supervisor Vega, to set the advertised tax rate for the peripherals tax.

[07:44:33] I don't know what you want to call it, personal property tax for computer peripherals tax at what number did you end up with? 215. So 35. Okay, we're in discussion. Supervisor Bodie. Yeah, thank you, Madam Chair.

[07:44:49] So I appreciate the direction that we're going on this. My only question is that at this point, if we're going to do that, because I like the flexibility, right? It gives us more flexibility based on where we're going to look at and address some of the issues we brought up tonight as a board.

[07:45:07] But the other question I have now that we're talking about this is, could we then earmark a couple of cents on that for different things? Affordable housing, sustainability, land acquisition, and a PDR program. So we know how much each cent would generate based on that.

[07:45:25] Would this be the point where we start building some of those funds that we're looking on on the extra cents that we're looking at to add to that? That's something to throw out there for conversation. We'd give you roughly $1.2 million extra. I want to be also clear that this advertisement and the rate would be for all businesses and not just for data centers, to be clear.

[07:45:50] Supervisor Franklin. Yeah, so a couple of things. I do like that we're having this discussion. I think I would like to continue to discuss what potential numbers could look like.

[07:46:08] One thing that I was maybe thinking about was $2. Now, of course, we can always come down to that. But I think this is a conversation that I think we need to continue to have. And we definitely need to sit down with industries.

[07:46:23] And thank you for that reminder that this is not just data centers. So we would need to also sit down with other industries that may be impacted by this discussion as well. I will also say that while I support all of those things, affordable housing and some of the other things you mentioned, I do want to make sure that we're careful to earmark funds for certain projects in a sense of we don't know what's going to come up down the road.

[07:46:50] And I would like the flexibility to figure out where our general revenue funds go, quite frankly. Not opposed to it? I think we need to continue to talk about what that looks like, because I don't want to put us in a box in saying, okay, we can only fund these important programs, But then another situation comes up where we need funding for it, can't do it, because we've already earmarked funds going towards certain projects.

[07:47:17] So those are my comments. You know, yeah, we just need to continue to have the discussion. Supervisor Vega. Thank you, Madam Chair. It would mainly impact the data center industry. Just want to be very clear on that. And if this were to be approved, it would not be 0.977.

[07:47:36] it would be a residential rate of .965, correct, Dave? It'll be 967. So to reduce to an equalized budget, it would be exactly one cent, so 96.7.

[07:47:55] Okay. Supervisor Bailey. Thank you, Madam Chair. I really like the discussion that we're having and the direction that we're going. I don't think we're ready to make the decision tonight because there's other variables that we need to look at.

[07:48:16] But I think this also focuses on something that community is saying to us, and we have to listen to that. But I think we're not prepared tonight to make the final decision because we have to have additional discussion with our finance department and understand exactly where this is going to hit and not guess at it.

[07:48:40] But I like also that you're prepared tonight, anticipating that we're going to have this discussion. That's real important in terms of support and making sure that we have a final decision. Yes, we certainly were, and I appreciate, Supervisor, you saying that.

[07:49:01] It is important, given the time frame that we're dealing with, that if we're going to receive direction, I don't know when the board, well, the board won't be back together to make a collective decision. So if there's going to be some direction that's different from what I'm recommending, we will want to see that tonight, please.

[07:49:26] Supervisor Weir. A couple of things. In terms of your desires and the next time the board meets, the only thing that's driving a decision by us tonight to set the rates is your desire to get the publication out and out of the way.

[07:49:46] there's no statutory requirement and i get the time frame but there's no real time crunch to do it either so if we want to take another meeting to do it we've got plenty of time to issue to issue the guidance on rate we're not we're not pinned to tonight tonight tonight we can we can never we can go lower but we can't go higher tonight is the night we're setting the rate what i'm saying is we don't have to set it tonight we don't have to meet that deadline because we have plenty of time between now and the end of the fiscal year to do it. Many jurisdictions, I don't like, mind you, I would love to set it tonight. I don't like waiting, but there is an opportunity to carry this

[07:50:26] out to the next meeting. It'll change your budget calendar, but there is no requirement that it be done. I just wanted to point that out. You're right. I would love to continue this discussion, but in order to continue the discussion, if you're going to have flexibility to adjust the other rates, and if you're going to set the rate tonight, the target rate, or at least the maximum rate, then you have to set it high enough, regardless of whether you're going to actually adopt it or not, when it comes time to pick the budget up, you have to set that rate high enough to give you flexibility on other things.

[07:51:05] So if you want to try and address real estate taxes for everybody, data centers, residences, that sort of thing, then you're going to try to offset that in some fashion with data center revenues, or if you want to increase spending even more than it's already increased, and you want to have the flexibility within the data center tax to do it, then you need to set it at least $215 tonight because that gives you the opportunity to continue the conversation.

[07:51:34] Right now, this is just a budget exercise. With respect to the integrity of the county, I mean, things change. Maintaining that the current level of data center taxes wouldn't have been offset by other development in lieu of data centers or different spending priorities based on realizing that you didn't have that perceived revenue stream.

[07:52:09] It's a hypothetical situation, and it's not one that you can apply versus reality at this point in time. You can't go back in time and try and figure out how much you wouldn't have made or how much you would have made with something else. It's a fool's errand and a useless exercise.

[07:52:24] We need to deal with what we've got. So, from a budgetary standpoint, if you want the flexibility to adjust things in the coming months, in the coming weeks, in the coming months, then I would suggest the following. I would suggest setting...

[07:52:43] Is this a substitute? I'm just going to make the suggestion. If I have to substitute it, I will. But I don't want to do that at this point in time. I would suggest $215 as a peripherals tax and leaving the advertised rate for real estate at $977.

[07:53:00] And if we have to lower it and play... this gives everybody the flexibility it doesn't lock us into it doesn't lock us into either scenario and it gives you the opportunity to adjust both one neither whatever you want uh but if you want the maximum flexibility i would i would advertise the rate at 977 for real estate and i would advertise it at uh 2.15 for the computer peripherals tax so you can continue

[07:53:25] the discussion and work the numbers i don't see any further discussion anybody else well there's a motion on the floor. We're in the middle of discussion. Supervisor Franklin, then Supervisor Lawson.

[07:53:48] Yeah, I'm hoping that we can, that there are other numbers that maybe we can discuss because I'm leaning towards not supporting this, but I would like to continue discussing numbers that potentially we can all support. I'd also like to put forth a proposal where we discuss the number, hopefully we can agree on it, and then discuss other incremental increases moving forward to set the rate and then also to, well, advertise the rate, but then I'd also like to discuss incremental changes or increases moving forward.

[07:54:26] So similar to what we did before, except discussing a new rate and then incremental increases from that rate over the next few years. Madam Chair. Supervisor Lawson.

[07:54:42] Thanks. I just want to make sure I understand you, Supervisor Franklin. Are you talking about further discussions tonight about a different computer peripheral rate or just ongoing in the, I'm not sure I understand. My apologies for that.

[07:54:57] So what I'd like to do is if this doesn't pass, I would like to continue discussing a number that we can all agree on perhaps. Tonight? Yeah. Well, because we have to tonight, right? Right. But with.

[07:55:14] Well, for advertising. No, we don't. Supervisor Weir, tonight we set a tax rate. It has to be advertised. We can go lower, but we can't go higher. So anyway, so agreeing on a number tonight, but then also talking about what additional incremental increases could look like over the next few years.

[07:55:41] That's what I would like to kind of put on the table. I know we need to vote on this motion first, but just wanted to put that out there. Supervisor Weir, then Supervisor Bode is going a second time, and it will be Supervisor Weir going a second time for discussion. First or me first?

[07:55:58] Supervisor Weir. I just want to confirm, Mr. Sinclair, we are not required to set the maximum right now. We have plenty of time. It does not have to be done tonight. It just screws up your budget calendar. That's it? That is correct.

[07:56:14] If the board wants to have the official public hearing on the budget on the evening of April 11th, we must advertise it 30 days, the real estate tax rate 30 days in advance, and that would be advertised in the newspaper next Thursday. We have to get the proof to the newspaper this Friday. Board can choose to have the official public hearing later in April. That is not something I recommend. I don't think you want to have the public hearing

[07:56:52] the night of budget markup i also don't necessarily recommend that you push budget adoption into may but the board can choose to do that can can i can you elaborate as to whether that is common practice in other jurisdictions as i know it is the board has adopted in may in the past yes thank you supervisor bode then supervisor bailey thank you madam i just wanted to turn to the county attorney because i saw her move her microphone at some point to see if she was anything she wanted to add to that. Madam Chair, members of the board, I was just going to say that the

[07:57:27] Virginia code used to require that the county adopt your budget by May 1. It was changed to May 15th, but because the schools often are dependent upon what the county adopts with their budget for planning purposes, this board has historically, not always, but historically adopted based upon the last slide in Mr. Shorter's presentation with the count, the dates, and that's how we then backdate. So as Mr. Sinclair said, you're not setting the rate tonight. All you're doing is giving direction to advertiser rate. You can go lower, but you cannot go higher

[07:58:06] than what you advertise. Supervisor Bailey. Yeah. And to the county exec, is that what you're recommending? I mean, all due respect to your calendar as well. I would like to get direction tonight thank you and a lot if i can just in respect of that and and the work that they have to do i think that's only fair we're not novices at this anymore i'm just saying we need to be able

[07:58:38] to make a decision collectively um and honor that so um i i think it's better that we proceed tonight um you know we're not necessarily i mean it sounds like there's an appetite for for some to increase the rate you know from my point of view we agreed to something else but you know this is

[07:59:12] the will of the board and you know if if you want to set it at 215 tonight and then we can always work down so that you know probably won't happen you know we can go ahead and do that we just you know we have a tight budget schedule as it is and so we can sit here and discuss it further Does someone want to offer up a substitute of motion, you know, something lower?

[07:59:40] I, you know, I'm, it's Supervisor Lawson. We're actually, I mean, we're sort of past the point where everybody's sort of spoken twice, but Supervisor Lawson. Thanks. So I did have a question a little bit ago. I don't think anyone else asked it.

[07:59:57] Data centers are the lion's share of computer peripheral revenues, correct? So do we have any idea, like, is 5% of the rest of computer peripheral revenues from the other industry or other businesses?

[08:00:16] Do we have any idea what the breakout is? We could certainly provide it. I don't think we had the breakdown, the proportional breakdown tonight. Okay, thank you. And I would just say that, I don't know why I did that. I think that we need to give direction to the county executive tonight.

[08:00:35] and you know things have changed dramatically and honestly as much as we might want to set a schedule we don't know elected bodies change circumstances change business climates change everything is subject to change so even though we we can set a schedule for the next five years that doesn't mean it has to be followed we cannot commit future boards to to any rates

[08:01:06] right right supervisor vega thank you madam chair uh just to be clear if we were to set uh the the data center rate at 215 um we can i know you said it's unlikely but based on the conversations that we've had and on the appetite of the board it seems like we want to have further discussion so just because we set it at 215 today doesn't mean that that's what it's going to be so just want right just want to make sure that we understand that if we're really serious about having this conversation. It gives us the opportunity to have that discussion and come

[08:01:44] to some type of agreement. What it's going to be, I don't know, but we just can't go over 215. To Supervisor Weir's point also on increasing the data center tax, I just want to make sure that we're also being mindful of actually giving the taxpayers some relief here. So I think it's important that we propose what we were just told, the .967, because that ensures that they're going to actually get a tax break. I don't want us to think that just because

[08:02:18] we're increasing to 215, now all of a sudden we can add additional spending based on some of the comments that you said, Supervisor Bodie. So I just want to make sure, right, that the purpose is not to further grow government but to give the taxpayers a much needed tax break so i would like to advertise it at 0.967 something's better than nothing 967 or 977 well we have a motion on the

[08:02:47] floor for the 215 i just wanted it out okay um there's a motion on the floor for 215 for the peripherals rate please vote motion passes five to three supervisors angry franklin and chair wheeler voting nay okay we're moving on to the tax rate madam chair do have a

[08:03:21] comment it's real estate yes supervisor so so so this passes which which I accept I did have an alternative but I'm too late no no no yeah yeah yeah but but exactly but but I'm good with where we are so for the real estate tax rate you said 96 7 I'm just well okay is there a second on that No. Well, I would like to propose that.

[08:03:56] Yes, Supervisor Weir is correct. It's not a tax break, but it would definitely be a flat bill. Is there a second? I am. Discussion? I'm going to start off.

[08:04:12] I have trouble with no flexibility. Our whole budget is on $9,777, is that correct? Not advertising at least what our entire budget is based off of, which is $9,777. So you can always go down, and we can get to 96.7.

[08:04:31] That's fine, but I have trouble with advertising 96.7 because our whole budget is based on 97.7. Madam Chair. Supervisor Franklin. I actually have questions, and we've already talked about this, but just so that I'm clear, what is the current rate?

[08:04:51] 1.1, okay, 1.03. What is proposed in this budget? One, I mean, I'm sorry, 9.77, so 97. And the motion on the floor is for 967. Correct. Gotcha.

[08:05:08] Supervisor Weir? I'd just like to point out that at 967, in conjunction with a 2.15 computer peripherals tax, you are actually funding the entire budget and a little bit more because what you're doing is you're offsetting the reduction.

[08:05:26] So you're actually funding the budget at something like $1.5 million more than the county execs budget, something along those lines. I'm doing it off the top of my head, but that's roughly what it is. So we're not advertising a rate that doesn't accomplish the CXO's budget under that circumstance.

[08:05:52] Any other discussion? Seeing Supervisor angry. Yeah, thanks, Madam Chair. I mean, yeah, it's very clear since we just increased the whole peripheral that you've got an opportunity at this lower, you know.

[08:06:10] Madam Chair, members of the board, you did not adopt a 215 board. Yeah, not a doubt, but advertised. You set a rate to be advertised. The adoption comes after your public hearing. So let me stand correct on the word. At the advertised rate, it's clear that with that rate, you can get down to a 96.7 or whatever it is you just proposed.

[08:06:31] So, yeah, so just wanted to clear that. I'm just suggesting we not do that tonight. We may end up there, but I'd rather keep it at the CXOs, 97.7. We have 96.7, motion, no other further discussion.

[08:06:49] Please vote. Motion fails, four to four. Supervisors Bailey, Bodie, Franklin, and Chair Wheeler voting nay. Substitute motion, another motion.

[08:07:09] Supervisor Weir. I was about to. Supervisor Bailey. Supervisor Bailey. No, Madam Chair, I move real estate taxes 0.977 tax rate.

[08:07:30] Is there a second? A second. Motion made by Supervisor Bailey, seconded by Supervisor Franklin. Okay. Supervisor Bailey, Supervisor Franklin.

[08:08:02] You ready? Okay, so Supervisor Weir, we're in discussion now. Supervisor Weir.

[08:08:21] I'll second. We have a substitute motion on the floor at 973.

[08:08:43] Okay, and I think it was seconded by Supervisor Vega. Excuse me?

[08:09:08] 973, it's a little less than splitting the baby, but that's fine. Correct. So if we have speakers, my button isn't working for speakers.

[08:09:30] It's gone away. I don't see anything. Does anybody want to speak, Supervisor Weir, on the substitute motion?

[08:09:47] nope okay we have a substitute motion seeing no further discussion please vote motion fails three to five supervisors angry bailey bode franklin and chair wheeler voting nay any further discussion on the existing motion 977 i my button doesn't work so you'd have to let me this says mine says

[08:10:22] motion number four on here so i'm not going to vote it's okay it's okay let me click no it says nine ten minutes. Let me clear the whole. Yeah. Right. Darn it. I thought you wouldn't catch that.

[08:10:50] Mind if I just do a voice on the 977? Thank you. All right. Supervisor Bailey? Yes. Supervisor Franklin? Aye. Supervisor Angry? Aye. Supervisor Bode? Aye. Supervisor Lawson? No. Supervisor Vega? No. Supervisor Weir? Chair Wheeler? Aye. Motion passes six to two. Supervisor

[08:11:26] Lawson and Vega voting nay. Okay so now we have the rest of the rates that we have to do like stormwater all the fees and all those things. Anybody want to? Madam Chair. Make them as they're proposed. Supervisor Lawson. I was just going to suggest that the county executive advertise the other rates because there's a lot of them as he's built into this proposed budget. I'll second that. Motion made by Supervisor Lawson seconded by Supervisor Bode. Any discussion on that motion?

[08:12:03] Why don't we take a voice vote on this one? Madam Chair, Supervisor Lawson. The only thing I just want to say is to Mr. Shorter, Mr. Sinclair, and everybody else that's worked so diligently on this budget, thank you.

[08:12:22] I know you work on it for countless hours, so thanks. Okay, Ms. Madden, can you take your vote? Supervisor Lawson? Aye. Supervisor Bode? Aye. Supervisor Angry? Aye. Supervisor Bailey?

[08:12:38] Aye. Supervisor Franklin? Aye. Supervisor Vega? No. Supervisor Weir? Chair Wheeler? Aye. Motion passes. Seven to one. Supervisor Vega voting nay. Okay, so we've got some advertised rates. I think we're all set. Thank you so much. Thank you for, you know, the patience of going through this with us.

[08:12:57] And I know we'll be having revenue probably next meeting or so. Is that true? It is the next meeting, I believe. And we'll talk about revenue. So thank you, Mr. Sinclair, as always, wonderful budget. Supervisor Vega. Just real quick, again, thank you to staff, and thank you to our county executive.

[08:13:13] You're officially a veteran. This is your first budget. Well done. Thank you. To be clear, we haven't really finished the budget. No, but this is his first time presenting it, and for being his first time, you're official now. Thank you. Awesome.

[08:13:31] Okay, that brings us on to public comment time. Tonight we have a bunch of people signed up for public comment time. I'll call them five at a time if they're still here. Please state your name and generally where you live in the county, and you will have three minutes, and there will be a timer.

[08:13:53] Our first five speakers are Noelle Schott, Mike Beattie, Rena Rios, Martha Samayu, and Dustin R-A-P-P-U-L-N.

[08:14:14] Can you hear me okay? That's good. I have my phone down. Can it be projected on the screen, please? And I'm requesting, do I need to zoom in or anything? I'm sorry, pardon? It's three minutes.

[08:14:30] I'm part of an organization, so I'm requesting five minutes. That's during public hearings, but this is public comment time. Okay. Sorry. Hello, I'm Noelle Schott, Occoquan District Appointe on the Animal Advisory Committee. I'm also the Vice President of the Prince William SPCA, and I volunteer foster with the Animal Services Center.

[08:14:48] First, let me say thank you for the new Animal Services Center. It is gorgeous, and the staff is amazing. Slide 25 of your brief tonight about the budget showed the grand opening of the animal shelter. We're requesting that you review the police department's staffing plan because the proposed budget does not include the three veterinary positions required to operate the full scope of the veterinary suite that is already available in the shelter.

[08:15:11] The total for the three salaries based on industry costs is approximately $250,000 plus benefits. That's a veterinarian, a vet tech, and a vet assistant. There are ways we can offset this cost. Let's talk about adoption fees. Currently, 80% of the dogs and cats entering the shelter have to be spayed and neutered. In 2022, this was over 2,500 dogs and cats. Currently, the adoption fee, which has not been raised in over a decade, is only $45.

[08:15:39] That does not include the cost to spay and neuter because the cost is paid directly to external vet clinics. For the three external vet clinics that work with the shelter, spay and neuter costs range from $175 to $280 for animals under 50 pounds and can go up to $400 for animals over 100 pounds.

[08:15:56] For my estimate that you see on the screen, if you raise the adoption fee by $155 totaling $200, which is comparable to our surrounding counties, you have an opportunity to allocate $390K towards labor. Number two, by having the veterinarian staff on site, we will be able to reduce the length of stay for animals. Today, if I adopt an animal that needs to be spayed and neutered, they remain at the shelter until a vet appointment is scheduled that keeps the animal at the shelter for an additional five to seven days and it costs fifteen dollars a day to care for the animal that could be another 200k available to you to help offset these labor costs number three based

[08:16:32] on my understanding of the current state shelter regulations because we do not have a veterinarian on staff we can no longer buy medication in bulk that has increased your costs by having this vet position you will reduce your costs number four let's talk about how this can help prince william County Schools. Currently, we're the only county in the area that does not have veterinarians on staff. Therefore, we are the only county in the area that does not have the veterinary science program available in our high school. If you all remember from COVID, we have a capacity issue with veterinarians in our area. There are not enough veterinarians. By implementing a veterinarian at our shelter, Prince William County Schools can implement the veterinary science program in our

[08:17:09] career and technical education program, which I know they desire to do because we have talked to them about it. And finally, number five, let's talk about how this will better care for our animals. Currently, we have a vet contract, but that veterinarian can only come twice a week to the shelter. That means animals only come in intake for, can only be intake at that time. This would provide better care for the animals because shelter medicine is different than just community support. Again, I know I'm running out of time. I ask you to please work with the police department and Mr. Anthony Cleveland to review the staffing plan to add these three positions. Thank you.

[08:17:44] Thank you very much. Next speaker, please. Mike Beattie. Reena Rios. Okay. Martha Samayu and Dustin something. Okay. Our next five speakers are Keith Savage, Eric Beard, Patty Bright, Pat Vickerson, and Alicia Gloss.

[08:18:16] I guess I should say good morning to the chair and to the board. Reverend Dr. Keith Savage, I live in the Coles District. As much as I've enjoyed this conversation, I want to make sure we don't forget about justice that's needed.

[08:18:35] As we talk about the budget, and I know we're looking to get it a flat tax, but we also need to make sure we take care of the justice needs that we have in our county. As we look at the budget process that you are doing, I'm here advocating to make sure that the public defender's office also gets the justice and the budget that it needs.

[08:18:53] It doesn't need to be flat. It needs to be increased. And so I'm advocating that this board also look at making sure that they increase the budget for a public defender's office. We say in our Pledge of Allegiance, the last thing we say, and justice for all. Well, justice means that every part of the criminal justice system actually gets a fair.

[08:19:14] I see the Commonwealth's attorney is getting an increase. it is necessary. The bench is also going to get an increase. That is necessary. You cannot have a complete, fair, and true justice system unless every leg of the justice system also gets the type of support financially that is needed. And so I'm asking that this board not overlook the justice as you have this wonderful exercise of feeding this shark fest. Let's not forget about the justice that is needed for all citizens as we look to make sure that everyone has a fair shot.

[08:19:48] I want to read a quote as I close from the late jurist and the Associate Supreme Court Justice Lewis F. Powell Jr. This is what he said. He said, equal justice under the law is not merely a caption on the facade of the Supreme Court building. It is perhaps the most inspiring ideal of our society. It is one of the ends for which our entire legal system exists.

[08:20:13] It is fundamental that justice should be the same in substance and availability without regard to economic status. Please keep justice in the forefront of your mind for all of our citizens, not just some. Thank you very much. I really appreciate this board.

[08:20:29] Thank you very much. Next speaker, please. Good evening, Madam Chair, members of the board. My name is Eric Beard, and I am here on behalf of the Prince William County Police Association.

[08:20:45] First off, I would like to thank all of you for the work that you put in at the end of last year to once again make the police department compensation competitive in the northern Virginia area. The association and I look forward to working with you this budget season to make sure that Prince William remains competitive when it comes to all public safety going forward into the next fiscal year.

[08:21:08] Thank you. Thank you. Next speaker, please. Hi. Happy March. I'm Dr. Patty Bright. I'm a veterinarian, and I live in the Occoquan District.

[08:21:25] I'm also the newly elected chair to the Prince William County Animal Advisory Committee. So I want to thank you all for, this has been very informative tonight. I, too, am here, like the woman from the SBCA, to advocate for additional funding in the budget for three positions at the animal shelter, one being a veterinarian, two being a veterinary technician, and then three being a veterinary assistant.

[08:21:46] As you are all aware, this board has helped us to create an outstanding animal shelter. We've made a big investment, including a state-of-the-art surgical suite. And unfortunately, right now, that surgical suite is idle. So nothing is happening there.

[08:22:03] We've got this great investment, and it is literally just sitting idle. And until we can get these three positions in place, nothing can happen there. So we do have, as Ms. Schott mentioned, we do have a part-time veterinarian that comes to the shelter. they are primarily just treating animals. They are not doing surgeries. So I think that by bringing these additional positions to the shelter, we are not only going to increase the level of service that we're providing to the county, but we're also going to be implementing some cost savings. So over the long term, we have healthier animals. These animals are going to get out of the

[08:22:37] shelter quicker. Those animals that are injured or sick, if they are in the shelter, the sooner we can get them diagnosed and treated, the sooner we can get them out of the shelter. In addition, we know that if these animals do have medical conditions, and we don't, and the adopters are not well informed about that, these animals are at a higher risk of being returned to the shelter.

[08:22:58] So by giving these potential adopters more information, we increase or decrease the risk that they'll be returned. For those animals that do have a more severe illness or sickness, then often have to go to rescue or foster. Again, if we can get these animals treated, if we can get them diagnosed, we have a better chance of getting them to a rescue center. So again, we are reducing the time in the shelter. And then finally, I just wanted to talk a little bit about animal welfare. By having these positions in there, we already have one veterinary technician that is at the shelter. Hiring the second veterinary technician will have a completely different role. They will be involved primarily in surgery. They will be providing anesthetic

[08:23:37] services during surgery. But the good news is if we have two veterinary technicians there, we can overlap them. So we will have someone on site, a medical expert on site seven days a week. So even if the veterinarian isn't there, those technicians can triage these animals or they can reach out to the veterinarian and get more direction for things that need to be done. So it would be a significant improvement to animal welfare. And as Ms. Schott also mentioned, you know, there are ways to offset these costs. We're asking for a total of about $250,000.

[08:24:05] That's really quite small, I think, relative to what we've already invested in this shelter. But again, we can offset that. And so I think in the long term, this is a good investment for the county. So thank you for your time. Thank you very much. Next speaker, please. Alicia Gloss-Coles.

[08:24:26] Congratulations, Supervisor Weir, on your appointment to the board. This chair has made many disparaging statements over the years, but recently commented on the Gainesville special election. And I quote, the Gainesville district is a historically right-leaning district with a long history of election results like this.

[08:24:42] It certainly doesn't represent the larger Prince William County electorate. I do think that maybe opposition to some local development projects in the region may have increased turnout on the right as nimbyism, not in my backyard, is alive and well in Prince William County, but I would hardly call this a referendum in those projects, end quote.

[08:24:59] Not in my backyard is alive and well, according to the chair. How dare we don't want data centers 100 feet from our homes? How dare we be concerned about environmental noise that is annoying, distracting, or physically harmful, and debilitating on our quality of life?

[08:25:15] How dare we have a right to relaxation and enjoyment where we live and raise our families? I say to the chair and to the rest of this board, how dare you? Stop forcing others to live in a situation that you wouldn't want to do yourselves.

[08:25:30] Chair Wheeler, the voters spoke loud and clear in the Gainesville election and rejected your leadership, policies, and direction this board is taking the county in. With the chair's recent statement, she has marginalized the voters of the Gainesville district and any voice that is in opposition to her failed leadership.

[08:25:47] Remember that this November when we elect a new chair. Regarding the proposed budget, I wouldn't say I'm shocked, but the proposed $126 million in new spending of taxpayer money is absolutely astounding. This budget would give a pay raise to each supervisor from $43,422 to $74,000, and the chair $49,452 to $84,000.

[08:26:14] That is a 70% raise. Do you think it's appropriate to give yourself such a massive pay raise? before taking care of employees. In the Army, we have a saying, leaders eat last. What's not in us, and by the way, speaking of justice, as the gentleman spoke before me, our police need justice.

[08:26:35] They need more officers. What's not included in this proposed budget is funding for additional police officers. So do you value a pay raise over community safety in your districts? Supervisor Franklin stepped out, but she'll hopefully hear this later on. Last month, she held a Woodbridge town hall to increase violent crimes and stabbings and prostitution in her district.

[08:26:56] But I would think that community safety would be a priority in everyone's district. If not, you could do what she did by having her local 7-Eleven's liquor license removed, hoping it reduced crime in the area if they couldn't buy alcohol. I digress. We need this board to be good stewards of the people's money. Stop wasteful spending.

[08:27:13] Treat our money as if it were your own. But we will soon see what your priorities are when you vote on this new proposed budget, won't we? Our next five speakers are Alan Gloss, Laura Hart, Tracy Lennox, Justin Engel, and Mitch Nason.

[08:27:37] Should we wait for Supervisor Franklin? It's your time in the microphone. Okay, Alan Gloss-Coles, despite page 7 listing mitigating the impact of increased real estate assessments as a budget priority, Chair Wheeler's chastising the board tonight to keep data center rates low speaks volumes, and she's proven over the last few years she's totally cool with raising residence taxes.

[08:28:06] Included in the colossal $126 million increase in spending is a $54 million increase for employee compensation. It does not add a single emergency employee, not one cop, not one 911 operator, nothing of the such. Not to be undone, though, the board wants to give themselves a pay raise.

[08:28:25] 10%? Nope. 70% more for these elected officials. I bet there are some county employees that feel cheated right now after hearing that. We don't have a revenue problem in Prince William County. We have a spending problems. And that problem rests squarely on your shoulders, not ours.

[08:28:45] Mary Burgos, the county's new $200,000 a year DEI director, chartered a survey which asks 21 questions all about feelings. This survey cost the people of the county $78,000 or $3,700 per question. Who thought this was a good idea, a good use of taxpayer money? You, Mr. Shorter, one of your deputies, that's the same price as a 2023 Cadillac Escalade, and we just blew that money. What's most comical, the contractor who sold Mary Burgos this soup sandwich of a survey couldn't even be bothered to personalize it into a county survey, instead calling it a company.

[08:29:24] Mary got snookered, and none of you were paying attention, but we the people have to pay for it. This is but one example of foxes minding the hen house. This type of irresponsible spending is repeated over and over throughout this county, and it ends up at an annual cost of $1.6 billion with a B dollars.

[08:29:47] I bet if we dive a little deeper to see what bidding actually took place for this survey contractor, I'm certain we'll find little to none happened. No other bids happened. Rip up this budget proposal and start over. This should never have been put in front of the public. You know, I'd like to end tonight with a special shout-out to Ms. Janet Rosenthal.

[08:30:06] She passed away recently, but she was a regular here, here to hold this board accountable. Y'all remember Ms. Rosenthal, don't you? Every time she came here to speak to this board, she would say, God bless America and make old glory always fly.

[08:30:25] And I want to tell you, I hope that she flies today. Thank you. Next speaker, please. Good evening, good morning, whatever it is. My name is Laura Hauffler.

[08:30:41] I live in Occoquan District. Can you speak a little more into the mic? It's hard to hear you. Is that better? I'm short, sorry. Is that better? Yeah, that's better. Thank you. So I live in the Occoquan District, and I'm here today. I should tell you what I'm doing.

[08:30:57] So I'm a canine behavioral trainer, a business owner here in Occoquan, and a pit bull rescuer and volunteer. And I'm also the newly elected vice chair for the ACC. So I'm here to advocate for the veterinarian for the animal shelter, and I'm going to tell you why.

[08:31:24] Prince William County has a variety of residents of all socioeconomic backgrounds and demographic backgrounds, and our community builds strong bonds with our pets. So the veterinary function in our county shelter becomes very important because pet owners with higher incomes and high liquidity usually have easier access to vet care.

[08:31:50] However, we must be sensitive to the situations of pet owners in our county residents in lower income brackets that may face more challenges meeting their pet's needs for veterinary care.

[08:32:06] When vet care is not accessible to the shelter and is not accessible to people elsewhere, there's going to be way more diseases. There's going to be more parasitic, bacterial, and zoonotic diseases.

[08:32:23] And making the service available through the shelter will increase wellness for all the pets in the county. Pet illness is one of the key reasons for lower-income populations relinquishing pets for euthanasia as well.

[08:32:43] So a veterinarian and staff in our shelter would be able to help with this, as well as providing free spay and neutering services, decreasing unwanted pets and reducing suffering for all of the pets in the county.

[08:33:03] I'm asking you tonight to support the tiny little $250,000 budget proposal for the veterinarian for our county animal shelter. Thank you very much.

[08:33:20] Thank you very much. Next speaker, please. Good morning. Thank you for what you do this time every year. My name is Tracy Lennox. I'm the chief public defender for Prince William County.

[08:33:36] I actually live in Manassas, but the office of the public defender is in the Sudley Tower on Sudley Road. This is a special year in the world of the criminal justice system. Gideon v. Wainwright is 60 years old this year. The United States Supreme Court in Gideon said that reason and reflection require us to recognize that in our adversary system of criminal justice, any person hailed into court who is too poor to hire a lawyer cannot be assured of fair trial unless counsel is provided for him.

[08:34:08] They further wrote that the noble ideal of fair trials before impartial tribunals in which every defendant stands equal before the law cannot be realized if the poor man charged with crime has to face his accusers without an effective lawyer to assist him.

[08:34:25] The Office of the Public Defender is both a bulwark and a symbol of this requirement of fairness and equality in the criminal legal system. In an adversarial system like we have, the foundation of our constitutional protections are due process and equal protection under law.

[08:34:42] A public defender's office is necessary to ensure people in poverty, people overwhelmingly black and brown who are charged with crimes, have an equal chance at justice. Government financial support of both sides of the adversarial system in an equal way is the only way to avoid putting a heavy thumb on the scale of justice against those who are too poor to afford an attorney.

[08:35:04] Our county is actively reaching for better solutions to the problems of addiction, mental health, and homelessness. The public defender is a critical force in these solutions, working with other stakeholders like the courts, the Commonwealth's Attorney's Office, Community Services, OCJS, and the police department and others to create a more fair, more effective, and more healthy legal system.

[08:35:26] The advent of the public defender has given other stakeholders a partner where they hadn't had one in the past. Just as we have given a voice to the most marginalized and the most needy in our communities, please, I'm asking you tonight to make us competitive with other government legal offices and fund our offices at parity with the Commonwealth's Attorney's Office at 46% of our state-allocated salaries.

[08:35:50] Just in briefly closing, I would just say every other Northern Virginia public defender's office receives a higher supplement from 22 percent in Arlington, 25 percent in Loudoun, parity for most lawyer staff in Fairfax, and full pay parity for the Alexandria and federal public defenders. Our salaries are not competitive within the field of public defense, nor are they competitive within the realm of legal, of government legal offices. The county, the commonwealth's attorney at entry level makes about $10,000 higher than my staff. It's much higher at the upper levels of management.

[08:36:26] I ask you to help us to take Gideon seriously this year and increase the supplement that you're providing the Public Defender's Office. Thank you. Thank you very much. Next speaker, please. It's Justin Engel. Justin Engel, Coles District.

[08:36:48] First of all, thank you for moving the public speaker time all the way till the end of the meetings. It makes it real nice for us that don't get paid for this, whereas you guys do. But here we are. Good morning, everyone. And especially good morning, Bob Weir.

[08:37:06] Welcome to the board. thank you very much for everything you've done and are about to do. A couple things I want to talk about. Data centers, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah. They're taxing on our community. We know this. The people don't want it, yet it keeps coming up, keeps coming up. Yes, Lee, thanks for clarifying everything that was going on with Iron Mountain and the fact that that was already in an area that was dedicated for and used for data centers. That clears things up. But that doesn't

[08:37:44] mean that we should change the structure of other areas in our county to allow data centers to come in. The other thing I want to talk about, schools. We give a large amount of money to our schools, and we have no say at all in what they do with it. This is bad business for us to continue to throw money at an entity that doesn't improve, we still have issues, and we continue to throw more and more money at it, is strictly bad business. I'm not saying our schools don't deserve good

[08:38:21] money. I'm not saying our county and our people and our students and everybody in this county, we deserve good schools. But what we need to do is figure out a better system. Continuing to throw more and more money at it without seeing a good fix in place is bad business let's come up with another plan of what to do with our schools whether it's we have more say and what they do with the money what somehow some way shape or form we have to come up with a better plan what we've been

[08:38:52] doing and just throwing money at it has not been working our schools need improvement um board members. All right, I'm going to talk on this afterwards. All right, now I'm going to talk on it. The numbers were wrong. It said 0.1 million, so that's $140,000. 30,000 times eight is $240,000.

[08:39:17] Somebody needs to check their math on that slide. The other thing I'm going to say, public services, do not cut money on public services. Police department, adult detention, and i guess we've removed rehabilitation center it's important that we rehab the people that get sent to jail it's important that our cops police firefighters ever all of those entities public defenders department are well paid and appreciated in our county and we need more of them thank you

[08:39:53] thank you next speaker please good morning madam chair members of board i think i might be your last one so um i'll start with the only thing i really planned on bringing up this evening and that was the 401a cash match plan that wasn't included in the no improvements were included in the budget just to set the stage there the 401a cash match plan was was completely stopped in 2010 it was raised to 0.5 percent in 2015 and it's been stagnant since then so i wanted to raise that but

[08:40:32] then i'll move on because i want to thank everyone for their their conversation this evening i've been coming before you for the past four five months explaining the staffing crisis has been going on in our fire department. It persists to this day. We've lost two people since the last time I was before you. We're up to 47 people this fiscal year. We're 90% above the five-year trend.

[08:40:52] You have all the numbers. The case is what it is. But as the meeting goes on and you all get into tax rates, sometimes I think we have a tendency to drift away from those very personal discussions that you all were having at the dais earlier in the meeting. And so I'd like to make sure we don't leave that as you all go into it. It sounds like there's going to be a work session on the 14th to discuss to discuss compensation it's very near and dear to the fire department because we're talking about significant problems that were in that compensation study 6.8 percent is it needs to be about two and a half times that in order to actually hit the middle of the market in the north virginia region you talk about which fire departments are on a 56 hour work week like

[08:41:27] ourselves the only ones are going to be stuck on a 56 hour work week are fairfax and fairfax city fairfax city just improved a one percent cola tonight last night for their starting salary it's going to go to over $63,000. Fairfax is going to be getting a 2% COLA. They're going to roughly $61,000. With the presentation, with the 6.8% that we're talking about, we're still down around 56%. We're significantly behind the market, both at an annual, if you're comparing this to other 56-hour work weeks, and on an hourly basis, it's even more significant. I think you all know that, and I just wanted to re-highlight that you all, and bipartisan, everyone on the dais brought

[08:42:06] concerns up and it sounds like it's going to be up for discussion on the 14th. And so as you all are discussing those rates and you're deliberating your heads in the next couple days, just please understand that doesn't even start to address the shortcomings in our staffing models. We don't meet the regional standard for our engine companies. We don't meet the regional standard for EMS supervision. We're still several firehouses behind. There's some of them in the CIP, but you've got to put people in them. A decade and a half ago, we lost a firefighter in a fire. And in that line of duty death report, after we lost Kyle, we said we were going to start

[08:42:41] staffing our fire engines with four people. We haven't done it. So everything we're asking you all to take up now is just to deal with the immediate vacancies that we're having now. But there's still significant need beyond that. So please, as you go through deliberations over the coming weeks and months, keep all of those very important topics in your mind. And the last 10 seconds to the staff that's putting in the work and that's doing this. You do an awesome job every single budget season. Thank you for the time. And to the supervisors, thank you all for sticking this thing out after midnight to do the good work on behalf of the taxpayers.

[08:43:14] Thank you. We don't have anybody online so that will conclude our public comment time for this evening. I will entertain a motion to adjourn. So moved, Madam Chair. Motion made by Vice Chair Bodie, seconded by Supervisor Bailey. Can we...

[08:43:35] Yeah, okay. Well, we might stop, yeah, we might stop using the buttons for motions and seconded. Anyway, please vote, please vote. Supervisor Weir, would you just hit a button for me, sir?

[08:43:54] I did. Oh, are you a yes or, yeah, okay. I'm going to go with a yes. Okay. Vote unanimous. 30 seconds.

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