Coraggio Consulting
Prince William Board of County Supervisors Meeting — Work Session, Tuesday, May 16, 2023

Date: Tuesday, May 16, 2023
Place: Prince William County Board of County Supervisors, Virginia
Length: 3h 12m (video)
Official meeting video (Prince William County, Granicus): https://pwcgov.granicus.com/player/clip/3313
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 2026-11-03. Timestamps are [HH:MM:SS] into the meeting video.

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[00:54:35] afternoon it is 2 p.m. on tuesday may 16th 2023 um if those who wish please join me in a moment of silence thank you if we could all rise for the pledge of allegiance public for which it stands

[00:55:05] one nation under god visible with liberty and justice for all thank you thank you uh we don't have uh anything before public common time so we will move directly into public common time um our microphone is at the back of the room each speaker will have three minutes to speak on any topic they wish if you can just give us your name and generally where you live in the county or your district at the beginning of your marks that would be appreciated and i will

[00:55:42] call up our three speakers for today jason grant ain johnson and theresa minns hello my name is jason grant i live in the brinsville district good to be in front of the board again presented of the coaches of Prince William County. As you know, for the past five years, we've been advocating for an indoor multi-use facility. We've had 1,500 signatures on a petition last year during the budget discussion. Hundreds of kids and coaches come and tell you the needs. You know what the needs are in the community. Biggest thing is the amount of time that families have to spend every

[00:56:19] weekend. We have to drive to Virginia Beach, Lynchburg, Blacksburg, Boston, New York City, just to be able to participate in indoor track and field. We're looking for a facility that not only would benefit track and field, but also basketball, volleyball, wrestling, any indoor facility, because there is no quality indoor facility in the D.C. metro area. And I've sent each of you a letter. I've asked all the other coaches to sign that letter and respect for your time so we don't have to hear 30 different people for three minutes. I know that can get long sometimes, but their voice matters, right? It's every high school in Prince William County, all the coaches, we're together. I encourage you to come to our conference championships on the east

[00:56:56] end. The Cardinal District is this week on the West End of Cedar Run District. We are competing for district titles and moving to our region and state meet by the end of the month. So if you want to meet with the families and talk to them and really get a feel of what those issues are, I encourage you to come out. Come find me. You'll hear me out on the track out there hollering at the kids in a very positive way. So we ask you to come out and join us. Three years of coaching.

[00:57:21] I've been coaching for 20 years in Prince William County at the high school and youth levels and also coach collegiate athletes as they come back over the summer. And there's two types of athletes always find. There's those who talk about wanting to be great, tell you all the things they want to accomplish, and they ask, what do I got to do to get better? And there's those who are willing to do the work necessary to become the best. Becoming the best is work. It's a commitment. We can't just talk about being great. We've got to take the action that allows us to be great. This board has an opportunity not to just talk about an indoor track. We've been talking about that for five years, right? Since we've been notified of the proposal that came into the county, we've been

[00:57:59] talking about an indoor facility. The ability to take action, to be the best community, to bring people to Prince William County, to increase our tourism dollars, to help the local businesses that'll benefit from a community where we bring people national caliber meets here to Prince William County, to be the area in the DC metro area that people come to. We say, we talk about being the best. I'm encouraging this board to take the action necessary to show why we are the best community in the D.C. metro area. And I thank you for your service and your time. Thank you very

[00:58:30] much. Next speaker, please. Good afternoon, Madam Chair, Board of Supervisors. Look, let me stand up straight. I saw myself last week. I said, oh, Lord, help me. County Attorney and County Executive, my name is Mrs. Johnson, and I'm from the Woodbridge District. I'm continuing to speak publicly. As a wife, of course, my husband's always outside with the children, a mother,

[00:59:09] expecting mother, an advocate for families who desire to foster and adopt the most vulnerable children within the child welfare system. Today, I would like to focus on my family's mission, because we failed all the way around if we speak publicly every week, but we don't advocate for other families, but my family's mission of empowering families with knowledge on the Foster to Adopt journey. The information I am sharing comes directly from various county websites here in Virginia. A state office of the Children's Ombudsman was publicly launched May 3rd, 2022. The purpose of this office was helping individuals who have concerns about the

[00:59:48] way the Department of Social Services, such as Prince William County, is handling child protective services or foster care cases. The office of the Children's Ombudsman can provide support in several ways. Number one, the OCO is available to assist when individuals don't understand why an agency took a certain action. Number two, they can advocate for policy, which we desire to as well as a family, to improve the system for children and families.

[01:00:18] And number three, in some cases they may be able to investigate to review a situation if they think the agency's action or decision violated laws or policies. The Office of Children's Ombudsman is confidential and is against the law for any agency to penalize you for contacting them.

[01:00:37] The Office of Children Ombudsman is part of the Office of the Governor and is independent from all other state and local agencies, so their reviews of cases can be impartial and thorough. Per Governor Glenn Youngkin, I am pleased that we are officially launching the Office of Children Ombudsman, which plays a critical role in improving Virginia's foster care system, facilitate complaints, and advocate for changes to child welfare system.

[01:01:05] My administration is committing to serving the next generation of Virginia's children. Foster parents should know about the Office of Children's Ombudsman prior to reaching critical points. Nevertheless, as we continue to pursue the legal right to adopt our foster son, which we all know is bumpy, we are looking forward to engaging in meaningful conversations with Governor Glenn Youngkin and Commissioner Danny T.K. Avula.

[01:01:33] Thank you. Next speaker, please.

[01:02:01] Three cements, the Potomac District. I want to thank our law enforcement for all that they do for us and our first responders as well. And remember, when I go to war, I go by myself because I already know you can't trust people.

[01:02:17] I don't care what party they're with. Okay, this gentleman that was just up here talking about a place indoor for track and whatever, Maybe I misunderstood something, but wasn't that Gander building, the one that's across from Sam's and Walmart, wasn't that open and empty for a long time?

[01:02:39] Why didn't we look at that building to deal with something like that? But no, you want to go for mental health because you are up to something. What? I don't really understand. Do I trust you? No, I don't. And you have earned my distrust.

[01:02:58] Okay, how to recreate a socialist state by Sal Alinsky. There are eight levels for this. Health care, control health care, and you control the people. Poverty, increase the poverty level as high as possible.

[01:03:14] Poor people are easier to control and will not fight back if you are providing everything for them to live. Debt, increase the debt to an unsustainable level. That way you are able to increase taxes and this will produce more poverty.

[01:03:34] Gun control. Remove people's ability to defend themselves from the government. That way you are able to create a police state. Welfare. Take control of every aspect of their lives. Food, housing, income, education.

[01:03:51] Take control of what people read and listen to. Take control of what children learn in school. Think. common core. Religion, remove the belief in God from the government and schools. Notice we don't say prayers here anymore. Class warfare, divide the people into wealthy and poor. This way, this will cause more discontent and it will be easier to take the wealthy, take taxes, the wealthy with

[01:04:22] the support of the poor. Racism, that is what class warfare controls. And I want you all to realize. I want to point out, well, I guess I don't have that much time. This board is nothing but a tool to destroy the Constitution. Yes, you are here to destroy America, and I will say what I like because the other people are either too stupid or too weak. You know, I don't know, but they're not

[01:04:54] paying attention. That gander building would have given us something for our athletic people. Why mental health i'll tell you why you want to destroy us thank you that will conclude our in-person public comment time and i believe we don't have anyone signed up uh for for remote so thank you very much vice chair bode anyway which moves us on to item number four county executive time mr shorter the floor is yours thank you very much madam chair and board

[01:05:32] I actually have a few updates today. I'll move relatively quickly, but I wanted to provide for a few responses. First to Supervisor Vega, last week during our board meeting brought up rightfully the challenges with the backup at our landfill.

[01:05:54] I will give due credit to Director Smith, Tom Smith, and team came up with a plan, implemented that plan this past weekend. There was some backup right at 8 a.m. when the landfill opens, but once it opened, they quickly got those cars in, and we saw great progress this weekend.

[01:06:17] So we'll continue to monitor. Appreciate that you brought it up to us, and we'll provide updates as we go. All right. Supervisor Weir also reached out to me and asked for a few updates today, and I want to go through those as well. So first update regarding the Noise Ordinance Working Group. As you all know, a consultant was hired, and that consultant made a presentation to the board on February 29th related to the noise study. The purpose of that study,

[01:06:53] as you know, was to capture ambient noise levels within the Great Oaks community, Great Oak community and was conducted between January 9th and January 12th. The consultant completed their modeling study for the Great Oak community, and we will be working with the consultant to share with the board and the community the results of the study.

[01:07:19] I do want to share that AWS has been, as you all know, replacing fans. They started that project in April, and we are seeing some very encouraging signs. from that work. We will continue to monitor, and I'm sure the community will provide feedback on that as well, but wanted to provide that update. I'll also say that AWS and the Great Oak community, they are meeting on a regular basis, and that communication is consistent. Supervisor,

[01:07:54] we're also asked about the status of the data center working group, and so the group members are currently being finalized. Ultimately, the plan is to have that group meet together mid-June. The first order of business for that group will be to work out together a work plan to define a consultant's scope and then to work to make sure that we bring that consultant on to assist with the development of a draft zoning ordinance and design and construction manual

[01:08:30] updates and changes. I also wanted to address the status of the Chesapeake Bay Preservation Area Review Board. As you will see, the chair plans to provide notice of intent today to appoint for the four members, Supervisor Weir, that you sent to her office, which means that the board will vote on those members next week.

[01:09:00] Ultimately, that will leave two remaining vacancies, one member and one alternate, and we will continue to work together to name those two.

[01:09:16] Once the board is reappointed, those four members, Public Works has talked about bringing that board together to orient those members, elect officers, and then discuss roles and responsibilities.

[01:09:33] And then I wanted to provide an update on a question we've received regarding Fairfax County and Fairfax Water review of applications for the Digital Gateway. I want to be clear that neither Fairfax County nor Fairfax Water have a role in implementing the Prince William County Comprehensive Plan.

[01:09:53] We have not received input from either agency. And then finally, Medicaid unwinding. This is certainly last, but it's not least. Many of you know that due to the emergency associated with the pandemic being shut down, public health benefits are also in a status where they need to be renewed.

[01:10:22] And so really this is just for the public's awareness. Some recipients will no longer be eligible for benefits and or have benefits be reduced. And so I want to make sure that the public is aware.

[01:10:39] The quickest way to have your benefits renewed or at least ask questions is to go to commonhelp.virginia.gov. That's commonhelp.virginia.gov. or you can call Cover Virginia at 855-242-8282.

[01:11:01] And, of course, residents can reach out to our local Department of Social Services at 703-792-7500. And certainly, Madam Chair, available for any questions.

[01:11:18] Thank you very much, Mr. Shorter. Supervisor Lawson, then Supervisor Franklin. Thank you, Mr. Shorter. Regarding Fairfax County and Digital Gateway, has the planning department requested their input? Is the practice that when we have adjacent jurisdictions over rezonings or land use applications, that it is common to seek input from our neighbors as we expect?

[01:11:47] For example, the town of Haymarket has rezonings. We certainly like to give our comments to, or Dumfries or whoever, our comments so they consider those impacts and vice versa.

[01:12:02] So I'd like to know if the planning department has sought comments from our neighbors. As far as I've been told and reported to, Fairfax County and Fairfax Water, based on our current practice, is not in the approval flow and wouldn't be reviewing applications.

[01:12:24] I hear you in terms of adjacent jurisdictions, and I'll ask that question if planning is not in the room to answer. Wait, I don't know if you want to. So we'll certainly come back. Okay. I'll say that because I've been asked that question before, and I know the planning office did look into it.

[01:12:45] And based on, again, current practice, Fairfax County and Fairfax Water hasn't, they wouldn't play a role in reviewing applications for the digital gateway. Well, I'm suggesting that they do play a role in this one. Hopefully your staff told you that Fairfax Water, Fairfax staff, I believe from the county executive staff, as well as the Fairfax Board of County Supervisors unanimously voted on sending letters of comment, staff reports,

[01:13:21] everything of that nature to our county, to the planning department. I don't remember exactly who they were addressed to, maybe to the acting county executive at the time, the board regarding digital gateways CPA and so I would encourage you to ask your staff to reconsider that and and I think it's neighborly of us to that we expect the same of our neighbors especially of the towns who we border and in this case Fairfax has made it very clear that that they are concerned

[01:13:57] about what could be implications regional. And so I definitely plan to continue to raise this, and I don't want it to fall on deaf ears. So I highly encourage you to go back to the table and talk to your staff about it.

[01:14:14] I'll say, you know, happy to kind of follow the board's will on this. I will say when I hear review of applications, there's a, I think, formal process, us communicating with the county and communicating with other jurisdictions to get perspective is one thing.

[01:14:30] Us having the review formally, the applications, is a whole other thing. These review agencies are formal experts, and we try to stay consistent in that process of review. So, again, I will follow the rule of the board.

[01:14:45] Well, I'm not going to certainly seek their comments, their concerns. You may call it review. I would say seek comments, considerations. I don't know what the formal process is for your planning department, but I absolutely believe that we should be a good neighbor in the region and at a minimum show the professional courtesy to seek their comments on such a massive case.

[01:15:12] And as I said, they weighed in last fall, last year actually, not just in the fall, through a series of letters, especially from Fairfax Water and Fairfax staff, and then right before the CPA, Fairfax Board. So, again, I'm going to encourage you to work with your staff to follow through, and I'll follow up with you, you know, and give you more background if necessary.

[01:15:38] But at a minimum, maybe the formal review process that you're referring to is not what the Fairfax entities are expecting, but I think that it's fair to say that they're expecting some type of listening ear from our county. Very good. Thank you for that opinion, Supervisor Lawson. I just want to make sure that, you know, there's so much information that you just put out that doesn't, we'd want to make sure it's not misconstrued. And we can sit down, Mr. Shorter, with regards to, you know, the timing of some letters that were later deemed not to have the information in it, like the one

[01:16:17] from Fairfax Water that wanted us to run the water model, which we realized after we had them here in chambers that wasn't sufficient. Madam Chair you're misrepresenting. I'm sorry may I? No you're misrepresenting what I just said to Mr. Shorter. You're not at liberty to speak for me. No no I'm not. I did not give out any misinformation or misconstrue things. If you want to pick fights with me be prepared because that is not what I said. I did not say anything about a water model.

[01:16:47] I talked about a series of letters so if you want to pick a fight with me fine but I absolutely have the letters and the timeline to back it up thank you supervisor Lawson for clarifying that that um you know it's it's uh it's been um an interesting time with getting letters from from the board of uh I think we got a letter from the Fairfax County board that they had concerns there weren't things that they necessarily wanted us to do and I um I do realize that that our project doesn't actually border Fairfax County at all.

[01:17:22] It doesn't really touch Fairfax County. You know, we obviously heard their concerns, and we incorporated some of those concerns into the staff report for the CPA, and so I don't necessarily want to suggest that we should break procedure or do anything else that would be considered abnormal just at the request of one person.

[01:17:42] So I'm sure we can discuss this further as time goes on. I'm sure we can. Okay. Okay. Great. Supervisor Franklin. Okay, gather my thoughts. First of all, I would just hope that moving forward in these discussions, we again remain civil and, you know, when it's someone's time to talk, let them finish talking.

[01:18:09] I just want to ask with regards to Medicaid, have we reached, Mr. Shorter, to you, has anyone reached out to us about losing benefits? Are we getting a large amount of inquiries? I understand from staff there are 54,000 approximately residents that will have to go through this process of renewal.

[01:18:36] I have not gotten word yet that a large number of families and or individuals are no longer eligible and will be losing benefits. But the renewal process is just starting.

[01:18:53] So I think this is evolving. Sure. And my next question was going to be, what is our process for those? I know you mentioned where they can go to get information, but I want to make sure that we have some type of process in place for those that will be losing benefits to help them transition out and potentially linking them with other resources if necessary.

[01:19:20] Very good. I want to have Deputy County Executive Johnson stand and provide some additional comments on this. I'll say that we are not alone in this process. I'll also say that we have a very talented team of staff at Social Services that are on the line and available to help families and individuals through this process.

[01:19:46] But Deputy County Executive? Good afternoon, Madam Chair and Board Members. My expert just walked in behind me. I'll let her give you all the details. But the State Office of Social Services has been sending out notices, as Mr. Shorten mentioned.

[01:20:04] As soon as we find out that the unwinding was going to start and the federal government made their decision not to continue those emergency funding. They've been sending out notices to all recipients to let them know and be aware of how to reapply. Our office has been in contact with the state office in reference to gearing up and staffing up to do that.

[01:20:24] As Mr. Shorty indicated, it's just getting started. We don't know the full impact yet, and we will continue to monitor the situation. And DSS staff is geared up. I'll let Courtney talk about any details, but they're geared up to assist families as best we can to let them know about what is available if they don't qualify for benefits that they're receiving now.

[01:20:45] You good? Okay. Thank you for that information. Supervisor Bailey, then Supervisor Lawson again. Courtney, maybe I'm not good. I just wanted to, I'm good with the answer, of course, but I just wanted to refer back to during budget season, We had gotten a letter from your department in reference to the resources that were needed, and I just want to make sure in terms of as we go through the process that we're good.

[01:21:25] Want me to take it? I'll take it. No, I think I should take it. No, I'll take it. We're fighting over who's going to take it. Somebody take it. We continue to monitor this situation with the state. Ms. Tierney, her office has already been in contact with the state for what additional resources they're going to provide.

[01:21:45] The state is going to provide some funding for overtime work. We always need more staff in human services, so if that's what you're asking, yes. The current staff is, again, gearing up to handle the influx of increased cases. We are going to be working closely with the state in reference to how that volume is going and the speed of what we need to get this done.

[01:22:06] And if at some time we need to come back to Mr. Shorter to make recommendations for the board to bring on emergency staff, we'll do that. Thank you. Supervisor Lawson. Thank you, Madam Chair. Supervisor Franklin, I know that if one of our board members or myself misrepresented some of your comments, you would have done exactly what I did, which is set the record straight.

[01:22:32] My apologies for interrupting the chair, as we've all been guilty of that offense, but I'm sure you can understand why I want to make sure that my words were not manipulated. Mr. Shorter, I'll be sure to send this to you, but, for example, the reason why I, you know, just had that dialogue with you that I did, on October 25th, we received a letter from Chairman Jeff McKay of Fairfax County, and I'm not going to go through the entire letter, but I'm going to read you a couple excerpts of why I have the expectation that I do.

[01:23:10] We welcome the opportunity for our two counties to continue to work together on these issues that affect the quality of life for residents of both Prince William and Fairfax counties. And then in the closing paragraph, he says, and this is related to, you know, studies that have, multiple agencies have asked us to conduct robust studies.

[01:23:37] Let's see, in conversations with your staff, we understand that it's the county's intention to conduct robust and thorough studies of the potential impacts that may accrue from any proposed rezonings, including those to the quality of drinking water in the Occoquan Reservoir, as well as other potential impacts to the environment, historical, cultural resources, transportation, to work with rezoning applicants to ameliorate those impacts.

[01:24:09] We strongly encourage you to undertake those studies prior to the approval of any entitlements. We also encourage you to conduct additional analysis in coordination with Fairfax County prior to any final decisions, blah, blah, blah. So that's why I am sharing what I am, because I believe there's a possibility that you weren't aware of those.

[01:24:29] I very much appreciate it and very much appreciate the sentiment. I was only reacting to my understanding, at least, of the planning office's more formal application review process. We work with Fairfax County very closely in many ways, and I am sure that I'm not speaking out of turn by saying that we will do our best, as always, to communicate with our counterparts in Fairfax County.

[01:25:01] Now, if the chairman and or others have already communicated with the planning office, I may not be aware of those communications as relates to the digital gateway. uh applications that said i will certainly go back and ask and ask that question um and uh and follow up with you uh offline thank you very much absolutely okay seeing no further questions for the county executive thank you very much mr shorter we'll move on to county attorney times ms roble the floor is yours thank you madam chair members of the board this afternoon in closed

[01:25:39] session we will have consultation with legal counsel and briefings by staff members regarding the plans to protect the public safety as it relates to cybersecurity threats and vulnerabilities, with briefings by staff members and legal counsel concerning actions taken to respond to such matters, discussion of the information subject to the exclusion in Subdivision 2 of Section 2.2-3705.2, Virginia Code Annotated, where discussion in an open meeting would jeopardize the security of the county's information technology system and software programs, and discussion of reports or plans related to the security of government IT facility system or software program, along with legal advice and personnel discussion regarding the following

[01:26:18] pending internal audits on public safety communications center service level assessment, general government staffing level assessment, and penetration testing, all where discussion in an open meeting would adversely affect the litigating posture, bargaining position, or negotiating strategy of the public body, and these items are appropriate for closed session pursuant to 2.2-3711A 1, 8, and 19 of the Code of Virginia. Motion to certify, Madam Chair. Second. Motion made by Madam Chair, it's not a motion to certify, it's a motion for, to authorize.

[01:26:49] Authorize, sorry. Second. Motion made by Vice Chair Brody, seconded by Supervisor Bailey. Any discussion? Seeing none, please vote. Vote unanimous.

[01:27:06] Excellent. That moves us on to item number six, our work session first for today. We have two work sessions. The first is 6A, Parks, Recreation, Tourism, Public Works, Facilities, and Fleet Management. Not to do all that at once. And it looks like we will start off with Mr. Villarreal.

[01:27:28] Learning every day. Okay. Good afternoon, Chair Wheeler, members of the board. Matt Villarreal, Director of Facilities and Fleet Management. And today I'm joined by not Jason Pauley, but Tom Smith, Director of Public Works, and Seth Hendler-Voss, Director of Parks, Recreation, and Tourism.

[01:27:49] and today we're here to present the fiscal year 2023 third quarter quarterly project report. These are the projects that we will be highlighting today and parks gets the gold star for the most projects. All right first project that facilities and fleet management would like to highlight is the animal services center the restored space. Permit drawings were submitted for review. We

[01:28:26] anticipate receiving feedback sometime before the end of this month. We hope to put out a construction RFP by the end of the summer. We anticipate construction to be about a year. Construction will be dependent on the availability and lead times for the equipment used in the space. We have three projects that are in the design phase. For these three projects, we've begun the process of meeting with our end user and the architect. During these meetings, the architect gathers the program needs of the user and starts developing schematic designs. So we're in this

[01:29:01] current process for the Homeless Navigation Center East, Fire and Rescue Station 27, and the Public Safety Center classroom space. As you know, we had a community dedication last week at the future site of the Crisis Receiving Center.

[01:29:21] As you saw when you were out there, the exterior signs from the old Gander Mountain store have been removed, and a new banner is up announcing the future home of the Crisis Receiving Center. Staff from Community Services, Facilities and Fleet Management, and Connections, which is the contractor that will be managing the CRC, have been working with PECPEC and Associates, the project designer.

[01:29:43] The group has been defining the CRC build-out scope and the facility's design. PECPEC submitted a permanent set of plans to Prince William County's Department of Development Services for plan review and approval. Building development has placed the review of these plans on an expedited schedule.

[01:30:01] County staff continue to work with PECPEC on the interior and exterior finishes and details. Once the plans have been approved and permitted, a bidding process will be completed to hire a construction firm. The firm selection is scheduled to occur this summer with construction to expect it to begin in the fall of 2023.

[01:30:18] This project here is over at the Development Services Building. This is the office space that used to be formerly the GIS space for DOIT. We're moving the DOIT staff from the Owings Building over into this new space so we can expand the EOC.

[01:30:41] Construction is in process, and we're estimating to have this completed by August 25th. DUIT's main office is being reconstructed right now as well. The goal of this project is to make the space more efficient and also to be able to move GIS into that space.

[01:31:02] The project should be completed by the fall of this year. I know that the slide says January 30th, but that is incorrect, so I apologize about that. At the courthouse, the design for the seventh courtroom in what was the jury assembly area has been completed and approved.

[01:31:24] We're working with procurement to put this project out for an IFB, and we're striving to have this on the street early this summer. Some additional projects as part of our renovation work at the Judicial Center. The Commonwealth Attorney's Office permit plans are approved.

[01:31:42] The project manual and IFB documents are being reviewed by procurement for approval and will also be reviewed by the county attorney's office before we put out an IFB for advertisement. And we anticipate to have this out by the end of June this year. Courtroom AV upgrades.

[01:32:01] Excuse me. The Department of Information Technology has completed an extensive technical review and budget review and presented their recommendations to the courthouse stakeholders this past week. DOIT is in contact with procurement to determine a purchase order requirements expected and expect to encumber the funds this month.

[01:32:22] Elevator monitorization, the JEO technical report from ECS has been received and the recommendations made to resolve the water infiltration that was reviewed. Now we're reviewing what their findings are and once the resolution is agreed to, the designer, SWSG, will submit 100% elevator design plans for permit.

[01:32:44] HVAC system improvements, we are still at 65% construction documents being reviewed internally by FFM staff. And we hope to get those turned around and submit the final plans for permit reviews sometime early this summer.

[01:33:04] Some additional judicial center improvement projects is the interior and campus security upgrades. The wireless network components serving the emergency call boxes are being installed and interconnected to wired network by DOIT. The finalization of change order initiatives and system debugging is still ongoing.

[01:33:23] We hope to have that project complete by July 1st. The judge's parking lot fence, the gate that we had been waiting on, and the controller have finally come in. They've been installed, and installation is finishing up, and we hope to have that done by June 1st.

[01:33:41] With that, I'd be happy to answer any questions. Thank you very much. Supervisor Weir. Thank you, Madam Chair. Just my own professional curiosity, the HVAC on the courthouse, do we know what the age or capacity of it is, and are we going to retain any of the existing physical plant, or are we replacing the whole thing?

[01:34:09] We're replacing the majority of it. There are a couple of components that we had replaced within a time period that makes sense to keep them. I think we have one large chiller on the roof that we're going to keep. It's been replaced within the last five years or so. But we, in this particular instance, we're redoing the vast majority of the system and upgrading it to make it more efficient.

[01:34:32] A lot of the components date back to the original construction of the courthouse. Any other questions? Okay. I'm sorry, I didn't hit my button because I couldn't get to it.

[01:34:48] Okay, Supervisor Bailey. Thank you. Matt, just thank you for the continual eyes that you have on the CRC. you guys did an impeccable job on Thursday and just to have the plans to see how the plans were really helped us conceptually understand where we are in terms of the timeline so just keeping us abreast was really important and thank you for how you're just moving the project along thank you I'd like to thank property management in particular Nandita Mukherjee she's the project manager for that. Matthew Pastore, he was the one who worked on getting the logistics of the things that we

[01:35:27] had from FFM set up for that event. And then also Dennis Flynn, who made the purchase happen. So thank you. Thank you. Okay. Up next, I don't know what order you're. Mr. Smith. Good afternoon, Chair Wheeler, members of the board, Tom Smith, Director of Public Works. Mr. Pauley got called away to a family issue, so you stuck with me for a little while. First project I want to talk to you is Powell's Creek stream restoration phase two.

[01:36:01] Supervisor Bailey and her staff came out and planted some of the final trees in the phase one area in the transition. So we're moving on to phase two, working on the stream banks and the stream channel right now and completion in the fall of 2024.

[01:36:17] I know during the budget sessions, the board asked several questions about stream projects, stream restoration. So we're working on a work session with you all in the future to explain the how, what, and when we do stream restoration, working with Mr. Shorter and his staff to schedule that, hopefully within the next couple of months. The renewable national gas project at the county landfill, this is again a public-private partnerships with a company named Opal. If you recall, we had some issues. They were trying to look at various routes

[01:36:51] for a gas line to serve the facility. They were looking at various alternatives based upon public input we had. And right now, they are concentrating and looking at a new route along Hoadley Road, which would tie in at the end of Hoadley right in front of the Starbucks there, if you know the area. They are currently, and again, the primary reason for that is to be less disruptive to individual property owners. They'll primarily be in the VDOT right-of-way.

[01:37:24] So they are currently working with VDOT and submitted information to VDOT to see if they can get a permit to do that. It is a little more costly with all the street crossings and driveway crossings, but that is currently the plan right now. They are pursuing, you know, subject to getting all the VDOT approvals. The project, the actual construction of the plant is well underway.

[01:37:48] As you know, this is an out-of-county company, out-of-county contractors, out-of-county engineers, So there has been some learning, working with our own building officials, our own permit officials. They ran into a few issues along the way, but they are working through those, thankfully for our building folks who are working with them to keep the project going.

[01:38:13] And again, the project is scheduled to complete it by the end of this year, barring any issues. Solid Waste Management Plan, I know we keep bringing this up. The Board approved this last year. The towns have all approved it, which is important because the towns are part of the region that we establish for this.

[01:38:34] And we're getting ready to submit it to DEQ for final approval. The reason this is important, just to advise the board, is DEQ, the Virginia Department of Environmental Quality, can delay permits issued, not only county permits, but any solid waste facility in the county if a plan is not approved.

[01:38:52] So it's important we get this plan approved so any solid waste permits, and the county is currently pursuing one, would not get delayed. I'll be happy to answer any questions. Thank you, Mr. Smith. Any questions? Supervisor Weir.

[01:39:12] As long as we're on the topic of solid waste, can you explain to me what's going on with toxic hazardous waste disposal, particularly at Ballsford, and why we can't accommodate that anymore? We currently have a household hazardous waste building and facility at the landfill that's open twice a week.

[01:39:34] A while back, we were doing household hazardous waste. I believe it was once a month, Supervisor, we were at Balls Ford Road. When the facility expanded with our current partner, Free State, we really ran out of the room. The area that we were doing it in is no longer available.

[01:39:49] So we really don't have the room right now. You've got to put some building or at least some temporary structures up there. have proper environmental controls so we have not done house and hazardous waste there since that facility was expanded and under construction boy five six seven eight years ago it's been a while so so we expanded the facility and cut a service we we ran out of room correct i mean uh we you know we encourage all our residents to go to the landfill wednesdays and saturdays from 10 to 5 and we have a we have a large building and a very sophisticated facility that can handle pretty

[01:40:25] much anything that comes in there quick question wasn't it hazardous waste that we had to refine somebody else to be able to do it and we stopped the contractor we have a new contractor um and it's working well uh a few bumps here and there primarily of them getting open on time but uh yeah the the the former contractor because of the increase in cost would not be was not willing to extend so we had to do a new bid and we're paying a lot more now but we do have a contractor we're working out. So we'll thank you for resolving that. Supervisor Bailey. Thank you, Madam Chair. Tom, I just wanted to go back to the Piles Creek project and just make reference to that

[01:41:05] about us planting the flowers. That was great fun. But what we did, we had a talk with the team about where all of that transpired between Montclair and Four Seasons and with the towers. And could you just kind of explain how that coexists in that area and what it means.

[01:41:26] Yeah, we have a power line going road through there. And one of the, you know, we work very closely with the communities, both Montclair and Four Seasons, and any project we do. One of the issues we always have when we do stream restorations is where to put some surplus dirt or material we may have to dispose of.

[01:41:42] I mean, in this particular case, we're able to work with Virginia Power and the power line. We actually will be able to put material, you know, seed it, make sure it's stabilized within the power line easement. and that was a good solution for this particular project. So, you know, so far it's gone very well.

[01:41:58] I think overall the community is very pleased. Thank you. I just wanted to bring that up into the attention of the fact that, you know, all of that can coexist in the same area. We're restoring, you know, green space as well as having technology above.

[01:42:16] Right. And with the community being involved in protecting the space. So I just wanted to make the community aware of that, that in that environment that's where that can coexist yes thank you thank you supervisor bode thank you madam chair uh thank you mr smith for the for the presentation just a quick question hopefully you know a few constituents have reached out in regards to the ongoing frustration with the the lack of service on sundays for the landfill um and some folks have expressed you know why is it sunday that they're they're they're closed you know most people who are home and have time to take a trip over there can go on sunday versus a weekday i know that's a common concern you've

[01:42:54] probably been uh expressed already so just for the public benefit can you talk about um it's there's a couple of reasons uh obviously staffing is still an issue uh within within public works we still have 40 vacancies that's too much uh that's 20 within solid waste the vacancies right now it's 30 percent um so we are still you know getting a little better in some of the positions We're still working on that.

[01:43:21] The refuse haulers in our county, and that's our biggest customer, let's be honest. When you talk about tonnage coming in, individual residents bring in between 10% and 15% of the refuse. The rest is all. And they run Monday through Saturday.

[01:43:38] And so those are, as far as getting the garbage off the street, so to speak, and getting it properly disposed, Those are the ones that we need to make sure we have proper hours in service. So that's one reason why during the week we're open from 6 to 6.

[01:43:54] Those are pretty long hours, 6 a.m. to 6 p.m. Sundays, and I'm being quite honest with you, is difficult to get employees to work. I mean, we're competing with the construction industry when we hire people. And we've had interviews where in the past, you know, you need to work Sunday, and they said we're not interested.

[01:44:13] Because if you look around at construction job sites, you see very seldom do you see workers working on a Sunday. That's kind of their day off. And that's just the marketplace, the way it is. So that's another reason. We're going to try to accommodate Saturday. We're looking at some other options, maybe even increasing the hours, some on Saturday.

[01:44:31] I know that's inconvenient for some, not being open on Sunday. I personally, I just moved, by the way, and I personally had made about 12 trips to the landfill. I went at 6.30 in the morning during the week, and I got in and out with zero wait. So not everybody can do that.

[01:44:48] Some people are, you know, already at work that time, or they can come in at 5 at night, you know. So I would encourage residents, if you can, if at all possible, come during the week. We are much quicker to get you in and out. But I don't know if that fully satisfies the customer's concerns, but that's kind of the reasons.

[01:45:08] Yeah, I appreciate it. So the last thing I'll say, and you just touched upon it, Tom, is that we still have quite a few folks, especially now that a lot more folks have returned back to their workplaces during the week. Six, getting back in time at 6 o'clock in the evening, getting home, getting their stuff packed up to the landfill, just still isn't tenable for a lot of folks.

[01:45:26] So I just wanted to offer that to you. As you look at tweaks, and it sounds like you are, think about that, please, because I know there's still folks that, frankly, they just can't make it. I understand. Thank you. Supervisor Vega. Thank you, Madam Chair, And thank you to the county executive also for the update that you provided during your time.

[01:45:44] And, Tom, thank you also. I know that every time I get an email or a call from a constituent, I let you know that these are the concerns. And they're still concerned about paying for a service that they're not getting. So my question is whether the county exec or you can answer, have we thought about contracting for those positions that have been vacant for so long?

[01:46:03] Because for a while, folks in the county understood that we have a shortage. And we can't seem to fill those positions. So how long is it going to take to fill those positions? And in the meantime, is it possible to hire somebody else through a contractor to get the job done?

[01:46:20] I'll ask Tom to start and I'll finish. Super Vagavega, excellent question. We have reached out, particularly for our maintenance worker labor positions. In many ways, the private companies are having the same issues of getting people. So in many cases, we've asked and reached out, and they just don't have anybody to send.

[01:46:39] I think what the board did in increasing some of the salaries for truck drivers, we have some bonuses available. That is actually helping. It's going to take us a little time. So we are diligently working with our HR folks to try to get these positions filled.

[01:47:00] And maybe when we have our, if you proclaim Public Works Week next week, I'll make a few more comments. i just uh i just went to a retirement uh celebration for an employee who started at 20 years old he's a he's an equipment operator and he made a career working for public works those are the kind of people i really like to hire right now as you know those are the ones who stick around and really make a difference in our community you know looks like there are no more questions thank you very much mr smith as always thank you looks up uh is mr seth hendler voss welcome good afternoon chair members of the board seth hendler voss honored to serve as your

[01:47:40] Director of Parks, Recreation, and Tourism. So nearly all of the 2019 bond referendum projects are in some stage of development. Here you can see a cheat sheet. The Fuller Heights Park expansion design in the Potomac District will begin in fiscal year 24, and the Neabsco District park design located in the future courts development will be started in fiscal year 25.

[01:48:13] We're making good progress on working through the 31 ARPA projects. Thank you again for your support, $17 million as a reminder. And here you can see the recent repaving work over Brittany Park in the Potomac District and the paving of half of the Cat Harpin parking lot in the Gainesville District. The funding for Cat Harpin would not go the distance, so we're only able to pave half of the lot. Now, striping for these facilities will begin in just a couple weeks. In addition to what's pictured here, we're preparing to break ground on accessibility improvements and paving at Anne

[01:48:52] Moncure Wall Park in the Potomac District, and we are also obtaining fee proposals to begin the design work for improvements at Braemar and Rosemont-Lewis Parks in the Brentsville District. And lastly, work has commenced on the bunker replacement and the cart path repair over at the Prince William Golf Course in the Brentsville District. So in short, we have a pretty good handle on our ARPA projects. We've got a little bit more time to deliver them, and systematically we'll get to each and every one of them and make you all proud. Oh, going back to Brittany Park,

[01:49:28] It'll be the next park, which will see two new dedicated pickleball courts. So we're continuing to try to use these improvements as an opportunity to bring new amenities to meet the current demands and trends of your constituents. The building facility program continues to produce great results for our deferred maintenance needs across the system.

[01:49:49] As you can see here, we have replaced a failing retaining wall over at Turley Field there in the Neabsco District. since the presentation was prepared the the chin spa has been substantially completed so it looks much differently today we're on the punch list right now and hoping to open it up any any day that's in the aqua quan district here you can see some accessibility improvements we made at veterans park in woodbridge district additional improvements we made in fiscal year 24 including

[01:50:24] upgrading the picnic area and making the little league fields in the back more accessible among a few other things. Moving on to CFP projects, Rollins Ford Community Park, the newest park in our system, and the Brentsville District, it's actually 80% complete since the time that we put the slide deck together. You can see here that the custom fabricated playground is being installed and walkway and trail construction is also underway. We expect the project to be completed in August, but likely a little bit earlier if the weather cooperates with us.

[01:51:00] We made structural repairs to water slides at Splashdown and Water Works, Water Parks, and Veterans Community Park in the Gainesville, Neabsco, and Woodbridge districts, respectfully.

[01:51:18] We're planning to open up all pools on May 27th, with the exception of the Splashdown Water Park, which we plan to open on June 16th after school lets out. And this is because we still need about 45 guards over for Splashdown. So please spread the word. Tell your family and friends to go to pwcparksjobs.com, pwcparksjobs.com, if they have any teenagers looking for work.

[01:51:43] And it's not common, but we also would love to hire adults as lifeguards. We have a few, but let's buck the stereotypes and bring some adults over to our water parks. They, too, could serve our community. Beautiful-looking slides, right? They look brand new.

[01:52:01] We replaced the front doors at the Sharon Bauckham Dale City Rec Center in Neyapsco District. Much more easy experience getting in and out. We completed the design for the Broad Run Greenway Bridge replacement in the Brentsville District.

[01:52:22] We're at 100%. We'll be submitting for the site plan, the building plan for the abutments, and the flood permits in early June, first week of June. And that'll be a three- to four-month process. Once we get through that process, we'll have to go to the procurement process, and hopefully we'll be able to begin construction in early calendar year 24, so around February.

[01:52:45] I appreciate your patience, Supervisor. Lawson, I know this is a very important project for you and it is for us. Stabilization work continues on Brentsville's oldest structure, the Williams-Daw House. This is a bit of an outdated photo. It looks much different today. We're going to offer some hard hat tours on May 27th, so come out for that. Or if you want a private hard hat tour, we're happy to provide those as well. You can visit pwcparks.org for more information about those tours. That again is pwcparks.org and i do want to give a shout out to our contractor as well as our staff tradesman

[01:53:24] who did an immaculate job with this renovation and when you tour the facility you'll be able to see all of the all the work that got put into stabilizing it it was in very bad shape a lot of water damage a lot of mold issues and parts of that house were rebuilt essentially from scratch as you can see here with the roof itself, the roof joist structure, and then all of the brick siding from the second level up, you know, through the eave segment.

[01:53:57] So kudos to our team. We still do a great job of that very customized, specialized work using internal forces. Madam Chair. Supervisor Lawson. Thank you. if I could just ask Seth just to give everybody watching and the board a little context as to where this is. It's pleasing me to hear people randomly say, I didn't know there was a house there because it was covered in vine. There's a historical significance to it. Do you mind just giving a quick? Sure. I won't do it as well as Rob Orson and his historic preservation staff,

[01:54:34] But it's the oldest standing structure in the Brentsville district and in the Brentsville, particularly the old Brentsville town, which was the county seat way back when, the center of government. And it's across the street from the Brentsville courthouse center, which includes the jail and a school and a church.

[01:54:53] So it enabled us to expand this historic campus to do more interpretation of the original Brentsville community. So thanks to you and the board, we're able to save this structure as well as acquire some land around it to expand our park holdings.

[01:55:12] And if I recall correctly, our clerk of the court is Jacqueline Smith. I believe the first clerk to the court in the county lived in this house, but I'd need Rob to confirm that. There is a connection there. Yes, ma'am. I will say projects like this, they send a really strong message to the community about how much you and our staff value historic preservation.

[01:55:44] And these are the projects that draw the envy of a lot of other historic preservation offices who wish that they were able to preserve, put resources into houses like this. This is the fun work. The design and permitting for the house and park bond projects in Nicole's district is rounding the last bend.

[01:56:03] We're preparing to submit for the building plans for the bleacher stands and the auxiliary building expansion for permitting. And we are hopeful that this fall we'll be able to start construction. So we're going to work in close collaboration with the league to make sure we come up with a construction schedule.

[01:56:21] It's not going to disrupt their service delivery too much. Staying in the Coles District, we are working with the Northern Virginia Conservation Trust to draft the conservation easement language. We hope to bring a resolution to the board following a public hearing process later this summer or in the fall.

[01:56:41] And we'll be starting the design process following the conservation easement, most likely due to some staff limitations. But we want to get that design process moving. We know everyone's eager to continue that work. That's about 300 acres of property that the board has approved to put in conservation easement for protection and perpetuity.

[01:57:03] The Hellwig Park Artificial Turf Bond Project in the Coles District is also under design. We're about ready to submit for the site permits. And Northern Virginia Soccer Club is also working parallel to us on their design work for the field house, which the board approved recently.

[01:57:28] And that field house will be located in general in that area denoted by the blue box. Again, that project's being funded by NVSC. It's not a bond project element. Moving over to Long Park in the Gainesville District, we recently re-estimated the traffic congestion improvement project costs, which include adding a turn lane, some signal modifications, and reconfiguring the ingress and egress of the parking area.

[01:58:02] The costs now for the entire scope of work are estimated to be in the $5 million range. The project is shovel-ready, and we're currently in the process of exploring funding options. We're partnering with our DOT friends on this project.

[01:58:23] The bridge replacement design for the Neabsco Greenway bond project is at 75% completion. Over to Powell's Creek Crossing, which is a bond project that will literally span the Woodbridge and the Potomac districts.

[01:58:40] We're wrapping up the consultant selection for this project. We expect to kick off the design in late summer. We're going to have to bring the design contract to the board for approval following our purchase regulations. Very excited for this project. This is going to be a great opportunity for us to think big, think outside the box, and do something special like we're able to do over at the Neabsco Creek Crossing. The Occoquan Greenway Bond Project is moving along nicely. We'll be setting the bridge

[01:59:13] for segment three on Thursday morning. Here you can see the abutment formwork and the general bridge location. The Northern Virginia Disc Golf Club is wrapping up construction on the new championship 18-hall disc golf course at Forest Green Ball Golf Course. They're going to be parallel courses. This is in the Potomac District. And we're currently mulching up some of the organic debris, make everything look nice, adding some steps, installing the signage, and we're working with Supervisor Bailey's office on a ribbon-cutting date, hopefully in the next few

[01:59:50] weeks. Moving back over to the Woodbridge District, we are still waiting on permit review to be concluded for the accessible parking area there off of Blackburn Road to provide more convenient access to the boardwalk. And lastly, the Featherstone segment of the Potomac Heritage National Scenic Trail in Woodbridge District is shovel-ready, and we're preparing to bring a resolution to the board next month to transfer budget and appropriate the additional funding

[02:00:29] necessary to close the budget gap. And then we have a review process by VDOT for the bid documents, hopefully advertise the project in the fall and get constructed in early calendar year 25, 24 rather, if not before.

[02:00:46] Happy to answer any questions that you might have. Thank you very much. We'll start with Supervisor Franklin. Sure, just a very quick question. And Seth, we've talked about this a few times, but can you remind me with regards to the Boardwalk ADA parking?

[02:01:02] I know it's kind of under-designed, but if you can just remind me kind of what we're thinking, because some of the feedback that I've heard for this particular photo that you have that you have listed um will build like the parking but then do we know and i think this this little box will explain it a little bit but do we know how individuals are to get from that parking site to the actual boardwalk because as you can as you know there isn't any type of sidewalk for them to easily um transition to the boardwalk so just trying to figure out once they get out of the car kind of what they're yeah if you can just talk about that a little bit that

[02:01:42] yeah if you can verbally just kind of explain that so right where that cursor is located will be a new sidewalk which will allow folks to connect from the accessible parking stalls down to the boardwalk path itself excellent thank you and then just want to put in a word that i know we have um like a bench i think leading to the actual boardwalk but it would be great to get some benches actually on the boardwalk so that people with disabilities or who just need a break can sit and enjoy the view. That's another concern that I've heard. And let's work together to figure out

[02:02:17] how to get some additional benches. Yes, ma'am. We will definitely do that. There are benches on the boardwalk, but there's an area where we can provide a few more and we'll make that happen for you. I took it down as a note and we'll get it scheduled. Supervisor Bode. Thank you, Madam Chair. Seth, thank you for the presentation and the progress as always, especially on the Greenway, Occoquan Greenway.

[02:02:37] Very exciting. I've had constituents reach out because the bridges came into their neighborhoods to be dropped in. And so it was a little anxiety-inducing for some of them because their parking spaces got taken. But at the same time, your team and folks from the Parks Department have been out there to sort of help people realize what's happening.

[02:02:54] Hopefully we won't keep them there for too long. Can you give us a brief timeline on where we are right now with the Greenway? where we're going beyond the bridge. Sure. So folks have a better idea of where we're going. Sure.

[02:03:10] Thanks, Supervisor Bode. So there are numerous eight segments that make up the Aquacron Greenway Corridor, and right now we are juggling all of them practically at the same time, with some exceptions. So the bridge project is for Segment 3.

[02:03:28] We also are waiting on permits for a bridge replacement for Segment 4. We are working, I'm trying to go in order here, We're working with Dominion Energy to get encroachment approval to run the trail down the power line easements for Segment 6, leading to the Who's Run water crossing, which is, I think, at 100% design right now.

[02:03:54] And then moving on from there, we are working with DOT on the connection down to the town of Aquaquan along Tanyard Hill Road, which will include Ellicott sidewalk improvements.

[02:04:14] So that project still has been awarded to the engineering firm, but we've not kicked off that project yet. We also have plans to go back to Segment 2, which runs along the edge of Lake Ridge Park, to make some modest trail realignments to try to get us out of low-lying areas and drainage channels.

[02:04:42] So we haven't started full design on that yet, but we're going to try to get that going here soon. So that's where we're at with the project. We've got our best people on it, and we're trying to move it along as quickly as we can, as well as keep the HOA updated.

[02:05:00] They've been very patient with us and gracious understanding the complexity of this type of work. And I appreciate how much your folks have been working hand in glove with the HOA. They feel like you guys are doing the right job and keep being in close contact with them. So I appreciate that.

[02:05:16] Last one, Madam Chair, if I could. You didn't cover it here, Seth, but I think it was last week the board approved a part of, I think, the consent agenda. So the first step in those accessibility improvements at the K-9 Gunner Dog Park. Yes, sir. Do you touch upon that very briefly, please?

[02:05:32] Yes, sir. Thank you. So you're referring to providing an accessible walkway from the parking area up to the dog park, which currently does not exist. so those drawings have been completed uh they're in permit right now i believe and you all uh thankfully approved the encroachment agreement with i think it was novec for us to cross through their easement with the sidewalk and we're going to be using capital maintenance project funding to construct that project once the permitting is done so hopefully sometime probably most likely in

[02:06:09] the fall we'll have that we'll have that underway appreciate and that includes an accessible parking area as well we're also going to put a pad to set the port-a-john on top of so we're trying to stretch the dollars to make some other improvements out there as well which will be the precursor to some larger improvements that we hope to do one day that we've been working on with your office and the Prince William dogs organization appreciate it thank you supervisor vega then supervisor bailey thank you madam chair uh seth going back to doves landing

[02:06:44] um and piggybacking off of uh what supervisor buddy was talking about in terms of a timeline do you um have an idea how long it's going to take for the design phase uh to be completed sure so uh given the size of that park realistically and all the public engagement opportunities we want to create it could be a nine month process six to nine month process if I can get a project manager dedicated to that project and just see it through from finish start to finish which I'm which I'm working on right now likely going to have my

[02:07:22] deputy director take lead on that so we'll get through that as quickly as we can I'm making sure that we make sure that we obtain all the input and and cover all of our bases because we know it's a sensitive project for people yeah thank you supervisor Bailey thank you very much madam chair um Seth thank you for your presentation I want to um go back to which one do I want to go back to the um the Brittany Park yes ma'am uh presentation um that's an older park and I like

[02:07:58] the um upgrades that you've done in the park particularly with pickleball pickleball was good But I just wanted to ask if, and I know you've done some renovations at the basketball courts as well. Yes, ma'am. When I go by there, I see a lot of the little kids playing soccer.

[02:08:17] Would there be any embellishments, if you will? I mean, I know embellishments mean dollars, but do you have any plans in the future for that? Because that's a great soccer field as well as restroom areas.

[02:08:33] Is that in the plan as well? I'm just asking because it's getting more and more active, and so that's why I ask that. Thank you, Supervisor Bailey. You mentioned bathrooms. Was that the last comment you made? I did. Okay, okay. Bathrooms cost a lot of money these days to build, so that would be a capital improvement project.

[02:08:51] So I would be glad to talk with you about expanding that scope and seeing how we can work that project into the six-year plan, including soccer areas and any other ideas that you have.

[02:09:07] We're hoping to focus the money, and we've committed to focusing the money on accessibility improvements, mainly improving existing as opposed to expansion for operating budget considerations.

[02:09:24] And I think if we have additional funding left over, we would probably try to focus our attention on that parking lot. which is pretty fissured and alligator. I'm going there, yeah. Yeah, but I'll keep you abreast of that project, and we can set up some time to talk about some future enhancements out there.

[02:09:43] Okay, and it's a great example. You turn that tennis court into a pickleball court, and so that makes it user-friendly as well. I believe we're going to have both. I think we're going to preserve tennis and have the pickleball. Okay, all right, good. All right, don't do that. Don't take it away. Okay, so the other thing that I wanted to mention was – Let's see, Britton, you said disc golf June.

[02:10:05] Yes, ma'am. We're doing good. And that will add an extra element in terms of commercial tax base to our county. Yes, ma'am, we believe so. Could you explain that, please? Yes, ma'am. So the Nova Disc Golf Association designed that course to be what I call a championship course with the intention of drawing tournaments here from the region and outside the state.

[02:10:23] And so after a few years of being established, they expect to start trying to attract some of those larger events here, which will result in folks staying overnight, spending their money in Prince William County. But when it's not doing that, it's going to be a fantastic amenity for the disc golf community who right now have to travel and spend their money outside of Prince William County just to practice.

[02:10:45] Yeah, yeah. So I appreciate that in its entirety. And then I want to go, and I know I want to go to Powell's Creek. I'm glad that Supervisor Franklin and I share that. It is going to be a fantastic project. But I know you're in the design phase for that, correct?

[02:11:05] Consultant selection, ma'am. Consultant selection. So as we go forward, it's something we talked about during budget season. That's an opportunity for us also to partner from a federal perspective in terms of granting. Am I wrong about that? No, ma'am.

[02:11:21] So any time we have revenue available dedicated to projects, it's an opportunity to leverage taxpayer dollars for other funding sources. So to the extent that we might need some additional funding for a project like this, we certainly would be in a strong position to leverage the existing appropriated bond funding for grant funding.

[02:11:40] For grant funding. And could you just briefly describe from a regional perspective how this will serve the region? Sure. So the Potomac Heritage National Scenic Trail is one of our hallmark recreation facilities. It's a national trail. It's part of the national trail system.

[02:11:57] We're fortunate to have it run right through Prince William County. And as you know, the trail runs from Allegheny Highlands down to Chesapeake Bay. And we want our share of it, 13 miles of it, to be the best 13 miles of the whole segment.

[02:12:14] So it should attract some level of tourism visitation once it's fully complete. We don't know to what extent. But it's part of our brand. It's part of our story. It's part of what is going to set us apart from other jurisdictions.

[02:12:32] Because of the experience folks are going to have when they traverse the county, as you know, going through the Neabsco Creek area along that boardwalk, it's an unforgettable experience. And this will be another unforgettable experience. The more you link together those unforgettable experiences, the more the story spreads, the more people want to come into the county to spend their time here.

[02:12:52] So, in aggregate, we think the Terminator Senior Trail is going to really help elevate our position as a leader of recreation and cultural heritage in the region. Thank you. Supervisor Angry.

[02:13:10] Thank you, Madam Chair. I love the doors, what you did on Sharon Bauckham. Are you doing that for Chin? Do they have those on the Chin Center gym? We do not have plans to replace the doors at Chin, no, sir.

[02:13:26] Because the doors at Chin open like the old doors here, too. Yeah, I love it. I think that should be kind of a model. I'm pretty sure it costs, so we'll figure out costs. But I like that. That's good. So it's accessible. The other question I just had really was on Turley Field.

[02:13:42] Thank you. I mean, Turley Field is a brand-new field, 100%. Last piece missing are those scoreboards. Can you just give me an update on scoreboards? And we talked a little bit to Rod Mancini about Wi-Fi at all the parks.

[02:13:58] He was saying that totally on the list, of course, and it'll be some time before they get to that to get them Wi-Fi accessibility. I think that's going to be the final piece for that field anyway. Yes, sir. Thank you, Supervisor Angry. So if the existing scoreboards have good bones, then we can, and they're modifiable.

[02:14:19] Is that a word? Modifiable? then we'll be able to modify them with the Wi-Fi technology, the Bluetooth technology to be controlled from smartphones. And we could probably do that within our existing resources. I don't expect that's going to cost a lot.

[02:14:34] Now, the scoreboards that don't have good bones or don't have modern systems that will lend themselves to being modified, then they'll have to be replaced. And so my folks right now are going through the system to identify what scoreboards are antiquated and need to be replaced.

[02:14:50] And we will put together a total cost package for that, and then we could work with your office. If there are significant capital funds involved, it would have to be run through the budget process. We could put them into the building facility program queue.

[02:15:06] Probably wouldn't rise to the level of other priorities, such as accessibility. Or we can put them into CIP. We can explore that together. Okay. Seeing no further questions, thank you very much. Thanks for all the projects you've got going.

[02:15:23] that will conclude our work session item on 6a i believe the quarterly report and that brings us on to 6b the library presentation with an overview of library services and i believe the director deborah wright is here today welcome is right thank you all right um good afternoon madam chair members of the board deborah wright library director i appreciate you taking time to let me be on the agenda today i've been wanting to um give an overview of library services ever since I've been director, and that's been over six years. So I'm very excited to be here today.

[02:15:59] There's nothing for you to approve or vote on, but I just want to share a snapshot of library services. There is a little bit of future looking ahead that I will cover as well. So it's kind of a little bit of our agenda. So it takes a village to fulfill our vision. And so in addition to the frontline public staff that visitors encounter when they visit any of our 12 branches, we have a number of staff and separate divisions working behind the scenes daily to ensure that we fulfill

[02:16:33] our vision and mission. You'll hear a little bit about them as we go through. So we are currently in a strategic plan. We're in year five. When I became director in early 2017, it was impressed upon me that I needed to develop a strategic plan for libraries. I was told it had been a while and actually we can't find a record of any strategic plan for libraries in the past so we engaged in a very robust public information gathering process we had multiple stakeholder groups we spent about

[02:17:08] 18 months developing this plan and we went live on January 1st 2019 our plan has been a driver of decision making for our service provision it's tied to a lot of staff members goals and it's allowed us to succeed in ways that we would not previously have imagined. I'm very proud of this plan. An unintended benefit along the way was that our commitment to serving our community that was reinforced through this strategic plan ultimately served us very well when the challenge

[02:17:41] of COVID-19 came along. So the next few slides will tell our story in the context of our seven strategic priorities of this plan. And as I said, we are in year five, so we are currently planning for the next five years. So starting with technology. Traditional thinking may say that libraries are just books or physical materials to check out, when the reality is that our libraries can be at the forefront of technology use and the need to keep up with the latest trends. Believe me, our patrons communicate that to us regularly. Use of public computers has been a public library

[02:18:19] core service for a couple of decades now and when wi-fi became available it quickly became an expectation that we would offer that access. We do have a very strong partnership with Rob Mancini and his team and so we are working together on the digital inclusion piece and every day we see the reality of this need in our facilities where members of the community come to us to access a myriad of life services, work, education, any kind of online communication using our devices and our

[02:18:54] Wi-Fi. And as some of you may recall, conversations in this very room during COVID, Department of IT worked with us to enhance and expand our Wi-Fi parking lot reach when we were shut down. We do have anecdotal observations of patrons who routinely used our parking lots during the shutdown. We could tell there were teachers teaching class. We saw them holding their books up for the kids to see or conducting business. We also began offering a few Wi-Fi hotspots for

[02:19:28] circulation in 2019, again prior to the pandemic. We dipped our toe in that water and then we expanded exponentially during the pandemic, and this year we began circulating Chromebooks. Technology also impacts our broader level of services, such as our makerspaces, which I will touch on a little bit more shortly. So going fine-free in 2021 has removed barriers to access for some members of our community who had found themselves blocked from library services because of the large amounts of fines owed. We're very happy that a number of families have found

[02:20:06] On their way back to us, all we've asked for is that they return our library materials. We aren't interested in charging them the nuisance fees if they just bring our materials back. And so we have happily welcomed some folks back. They've returned materials and have checked out more.

[02:20:22] I can tell you that I have reviewed data on this several times in the last almost two years and have been very pleased to see that our patrons are being good stewards of library materials. They're returning them without extensive delays, even with no fines, and our wait time for popular materials has not been adversely impacted at all with this change.

[02:20:44] So we did a good job of removing barriers with that move that you all approved. The partnership with our library foundation has grown significantly over the last few years and we've had many grants secured for us through them that has allowed us to expand our program offerings to things like our winter reading program, girls who code, a lot of outdoor places and spaces activities such as our pollinator gardens, some composting activities, and these are just a few. We partner with several agencies to provide popular non-library services to our

[02:21:20] community as well, such as our free volunteer tax assistance from the AARP, always very popular, passport application process in collaboration with the State Department, access to mobile medical services, and a more recent partnership with Catholic Charities to provide food distribution in some of our branches. We have a long-standing partnership with our public schools and have worked over the years to help provide access to resources, information about our resources, as ways to support both our teachers and our families of learners. We also work closely with

[02:21:58] a number of homeschool groups. Our official community partner is Literacy Volunteers of America, Prince William, and the language classes that we partner with them to hold have been a staple in our libraries for decades, and they have continued to expand as more of our library branches have offered them. And our public library's response to community needs during COVID-19, not a path I would have chosen to travel, specifically the vaccine call center, and then subsequently our test distribution service at 12 branches allowed us to show up in a whole new way for our community in a great time of need.

[02:22:40] I always call this the staff development goal. We do make it a priority to make sure that our staff have the knowledge and skills to succeed in their role and to adapt to the changes that impact our services. The success of our strategic plan priorities that creates new requests and expectations from our community has led us to realign some staff.

[02:23:04] So with a centralized programming office, which we have created within the last few years, we can fulfill needs for some program coordination. And this is a helpful feature now that we have 12 branches. And then last July 1st, we created our separate Community Outreach Services Division, realigning existing positions, that has expanded our ability to more fully meet the growing demands for outreach service.

[02:23:30] So what does outreach mean in library world? So it means libraries without walls. And I know that we have other county agencies who are also exploring this concept. I know Parks has talked about it, as well as Area Agency on Aging. It's taking services to the community, especially to those who may have obstacles that prevent them from visiting our branches, whether those challenges are mobility, age, transportation, life events.

[02:23:57] With the ever-growing digital content that we provide, we see that it's a vital need that we get out and let people know the kinds of library services that they have available to them. We're also able to physically deliver materials to senior centers or boys and girls clubs, some other agencies we're working with.

[02:24:17] And we can provide programming, educational opportunities, and even access to technology in locations throughout the community. And again, it's about going outside of our buildings to provide library services and library information. So our library spaces. Our library spaces' strategic priority focuses on aligning library spaces to meet 21st century library user needs.

[02:24:43] Our newest facilities, Haymarket, Gainesville, Montclair, and Manassas City, were designed with those needs in mind and opened their doors in preparation to meet 21st century users. But our older buildings have needed some work to upgrade, update, and reimagine the spaces that meet today's needs.

[02:25:05] We've been very fortunate in the last few years to have significant renovations at Chin Park, Central, and Bull Run libraries, a little smaller renovation at Dale City. Many who visit our libraries today are looking for a study space, a small group meeting space, a place to plug in and access the internet, to engage with work or a class online, or even to attend a library program or another community event that's held in our building.

[02:25:34] Optimizing our outdoor spaces over the past few years has also met the interest of our community and expanded our program offerings with a focus on environmental and sustainability topics, such as with our pollinator gardens or our outdoor space at Central Green.

[02:25:53] And about those programs, if you can imagine it, we are probably doing it. Story times and summer reading, always. Book discussion groups, STEM and coding activities for kids and teens, repair cafes, informational programs for new and older adults, ranging from health information, financial literacy, nutrition, legal, and all manner of life topics. Our Relic team at Central Library continues to provide genealogy and local history sessions, and our MAGIC staff regularly present information to support

[02:26:29] small businesses and to those seeking grant funding. On a side note, I am happy to report that recent trends show us that we are returning to some pre-pandemic numbers, and I can tell you that's not necessarily true in all communities, according to my colleagues.

[02:26:45] Our makerspaces are appealing to hobbyists, lifelong learners, hands-on learners, crafters and makers, younger and older visitors, and even local entrepreneurs or small business owners have utilized these services. While we believe that our services have breadth and depth beyond just traditional educational support, We also believe this is one of our core services, and we do strive to continue meeting those needs by providing access to an array of online resources to support the needs of learners.

[02:27:22] In 2020, we added access to Career Online High School, and I do need to make a correction here. It's actually for ages 20 and up. It's an opportunity to earn a fully accredited high school degree for those who've aged out of the public school system. It was a little rough start in 2020, but we've had some graduates, and we have interests growing in this area.

[02:27:43] So our library foundation is working with us to secure some more funding. And then our collections. Speaking of a traditional core service, access to materials is certainly what we are known for.

[02:27:58] What our public does not always know is the depth of types of materials and the ability to access remotely and digitally. Again, part of our mission is to reach out and make our community aware of what they have the opportunity to utilize 24-7.

[02:28:14] So just briefly touching on looking ahead to the future, these are maps from our comprehensive plan. So libraries are part of the education chapter in our county comprehensive plan. The 2019 update continues to identify the need for more physical library spaces, which is a carryover from previous comp plans.

[02:28:38] One map shows our cardholder density, just cardholders. The map on the right shows it's relative to the geography. So, for example, we don't expect to have cardholders in Prince William Forest. Again, a graphic from information from our comp plan.

[02:29:00] According to our plan, we have about half the square footage of library spaces that we should for a population of our size. Not trying to belabor that today. And I don't have to tell you that our county population continues to grow. This is one of my favorite graphics from the budget book, not because of our size of the dollar, but really, so I had staff and OMB staff confirmed our numbers for us.

[02:29:28] So really the point I'm trying to make, it's not about asking for money. But I hope that I have demonstrated for you a little bit about what a great value our library is for the services that we provide for our taxpayers. They're very robust. I would put our library services against any other library system.

[02:29:47] And we're always taking the pulse from our community as to whether we are meeting their needs. We do survey them regularly, annually. We also get input after our programs and events. We have a volume of activities and events for all ages and interest.

[02:30:04] But we also have access to all manner of resources, educational, historical, informational, literacy supporting, and just plain recreational. Many of these, again, are available remotely 24-7. So while we wait for more libraries to be opened, and the purchase of the Linton Hall land was a great move in that direction, we do see it as one of our strategic priorities to promote our library services in all the corners of our county to all of our age groups and agencies and organizations serving our community.

[02:30:41] So regardless of the number of branches we have or end up with, there are always members of our community who can't get to us, and we certainly want to share with them the information that's available to them. Every time staff go to an event, to a festival, any time when they're out in the public away from the libraries, they come back and over and over again they report of people who say, I did not know I could do that at my library.

[02:31:07] I did not know my library had that. We would love to acquire a bookmobile to enhance and expand this service. Again, I'm not here asking for that today. This would allow us to go into neighborhoods who don't have easy access or an easy commute to a branch. I have begun this conversation with some of you, and I'm hoping that we can find a way to utilize proffer funds from various districts to achieve this goal.

[02:31:34] We did do a new revised plan with a slightly smaller bookmobile, hoping it might be a little more attainable. So I will be circling back to you. And I'd like to move on to some more why we think this is important.

[02:31:52] We definitely are seeing our need. So also, I think the other infographic thing, okay, I saw it was in the agenda packet, but you have the other page. It has a lot of data on it.

[02:32:08] um it's i think it should be at the end of there okay all right so it's again it's a lot more numbers um and most of interest i think is at the bottom of the page it shows what um those and to my knowledge are recent numbers of what it would cost if individuals were to subscribe to some of these services if they're paying out of pocket this is how much they might pay whereas if they use their library card and um take advantage of the services that we have available they can save those monies so again as I said we love our numbers we love statistics we love that it shows

[02:32:43] that we're reaching a lot of our community but we know that behind all of those numbers are people and that never is something we never forget luckily we have many patrons who let us know on a regular basis whether it's when they're in a branch on our social platforms emails to us emails to me directly, how much they appreciate what we do. I just wanted to read a couple of sentences from one patron who posted on Facebook back in April, and I thought her story really resonated with me, and I just wanted to share. It's a mother of two who's been very busy raising

[02:33:21] her children for some time, and she's put off doing her own reading and taking care of herself for some time. So around Christmas, she says, I finally got back into reading after not picking up a book for probably the last decade. Between two children and work, reading was just not something I had time for. But with the children now older, I found it was something I really missed and wanted to get back into just for overall mental health improvement. I have been doing two or three books a week since Christmas, all from the library. I've read books I've wanted to read for decades. I've discovered authors that I didn't even know existed. And I have found that

[02:33:57] I am so much more relaxed and calm since I started reading again. Everyone has been so great about helping me find the books that I'm looking for. I wanted to make sure you all knew what a difference you have made in the last few months in my life and in my quality of life. Thank you for your patience, your acceptance, and your willingness to help. Happy Library Week. You all are amazing. And then what I want to conclude with is a very short, it's less than two minutes video. It's really about our outreach services. There is video footage in here of our staff currently performing this service out in our community and then there's some footage from

[02:34:34] other libraries who already have bookmobiles so prince william public libraries has long expanded their services past traditional book lending by providing computer and internet access pollinator gardens composting areas central green story trails passport services to maker spaces career online high school, and many more. But based on the 2020 population, they are providing all those services with only half the library space needed per capita. Steps are being taken to address the

[02:35:12] deficit. The Linton Hall land purchase will eventually lead to a whole new brick-and-mortar library. But with a projected 37% population growth from 2020 to 2040, further expansion of library reach and services will be needed. To take the next step, PWPL has formed a new department with 3.5 FTEs, Community Outreach Services. They have the unique capability of taking library services beyond the branch's doors and into the community. Expanding which

[02:35:47] services they can provide on their outreach visits will benefit every district and every resident in the county. With a bookmobile, they will be able to bring library resources to neighborhoods that have not had them before and to people who cannot visit a library. A bookmobile was an important step in the founding of Prince William Public Libraries to meet the needs of the burgeoning county. Today, bringing the bookmobile back will once more give libraries the flexibility

[02:36:15] to reach the growing population where they are. Anne, I'm happy to answer any questions.

[02:36:28] Thank you, Ms. Wright. Thank you very much. I'm just going to start off just because I love libraries. And I will say when I moved here in 2001, I remember going into the little library and saying to the librarian, you know, libraries, they're a central part of communities and they're so important about community centers. And she goes, oh, we don't look at libraries like that. And I was, you know, I was like, oh my, that was, it's obviously change. And so thank you for all the changes that I've done.

[02:36:58] I do have one question and one comment. What's a Whisper Room? It is a recording studio, and I believe someone on this day has been in the Whisper Room. It's at our central library, and so recording studio, think of it that way.

[02:37:16] Okay, thank you. I saw that up there. Soundproof, yes. Yes, you go in there and whisper and say things. And, you know, the other thing is I want to thank you. I had forgotten, and I think it was in our first budget, that we got rid of library fines. Thank you, because I think that was put forward by your area, and I think that was wonderful, and that just made me smile.

[02:37:38] So thank you very much. Thank you. With that, I'll go to Supervisor Bodie. Thank you, Madam Chair. Thank you, Ms. Wright, for the presentation. Chair Wheeler stole the first thing I was going to say. I remember us having a conversation as a board about eliminating those fines and how some folks had concern at the time from this day about the impact it would have on the return of materials, and what have you I appreciate you following up with us with this presentation saying hey no that's not the case and frankly some folks who have been hesitant to bring this stuff back knowing they're going to get hit with a fine or now yeah no here here it is I you know free and clear and what have

[02:38:14] you so I appreciate that also wanted to give you kudos for your partnership on the Lake Ridge Light Library for folks that don't remember what was that it was last week last week we we did approve uh those profit funds from my office to help expand programming there um you know like i told you when we when we toured the facility a couple months ago it's one of those hidden gems in my district that i think that doesn't get as much notoriety since we have chin park which is such a prolific library but i think that we do need to do some work on our community libraries

[02:38:44] like that which leads me to my actual question um beyond the larger libraries and like the linton hall purchase which was mentioned a couple times what is the future you see in us expanding our offerings when it comes to more of those smaller neighborhood libraries that i know that we can at least get we can get a lot more bang for our buck because it doesn't need to be a completely big giant building and things like that uh i know that when the county started uh looking at um small area plans um and i believe like north woodbridge is one of those um that and it was

[02:39:20] recently brought up during a master plan review there is a thought of looking at like you said slightly smaller not i would never do a library as small as our existing neighborhood libraries but it doesn't have to be a 20 or 25 000 square foot building there is definitely a shortage of library space on the western side of the county so even with linton hall there's still probably room for and i can tell you haymarket is busting at the seams so we need some relief out there but I think using county planning guidelines for like door development and small area plan development is a great way to do that.

[02:39:58] I appreciate it because I know that as we have conversations through some of the land use projects we have and working with the development community, we think about other amenities. We think about parks and playgrounds and facilities and amenities and things like that, even office facilities for, you know, sort of those little modular live work areas.

[02:40:18] But we don't talk nearly enough, I think, about having instead of a pocket park, a pocket library where, again, there's a lot of daylight between, like you said, a neighborhood library as we have it now and a Chin Park or a Gainesville Haymarket library. So I think that there's more room for us to collaborate there.

[02:40:36] And I hope some of our friends in the planning department is thinking about that as we see projects come through the door. And the last comment I'll make is since we don't have the infographic up there anymore, the figure you have at the end is $1,525 in subscription savings for residents if they use a library system over getting all those things separately.

[02:40:59] Right. So that's big, and that's really a public service that I think needs to be highlighted. And that doesn't take into account our library receipt printers. I don't know if we're still doing it right. We are still doing it because I know sometimes I get it myself. We'll show a patron when they check out how much money they just saved by not buying those books flat out.

[02:41:17] So, yes. Thank you so much. Thank you. Thank you. Supervisor Franklin. Sure. I just want to say thank you for the work that you all did during COVID. I know you mentioned that that's not a road you thought that you all would be kind of traveling down. But you all really did an excellent job of pivoting.

[02:41:34] And allowing the county to really utilize your library space to help with the vaccination information and to give out test kits and things of that nature. So I appreciate all the library services you provide, but I really just want to say thank you for the work that you all did during COVID.

[02:41:50] So thank you. Thank you. Supervisor Bailey. Yeah, thank you. Thank you, Supervisor Franklin. I agree. Thank you for pivoting, because it was a time that we really need, all of us needed to pivot and serve. So we appreciate you. I wanted to ask two questions.

[02:42:08] One is the maker space. Is that across the county, or where is that? We have them in our two most recent renovations. We were able to incorporate those spaces, so that's Central and Bull Run. And it has not escaped the staff's notice that those both are on the western side.

[02:42:26] And so there is a lot of interest in trying to do something maybe at Chin Park. Depending on how robust the space is determines how much square footage you need to devote to it. So there is definitely interest, and I would say we are looking at being able to do that.

[02:42:41] Yes. Okay. Thank you. I need to hear that. And then with your ESL classes, when you look at that in terms of expanding it, have you considered or would it be an opportunity to expand with a not-for-profit like CASA?

[02:43:01] in terms of because I know that they in their resource center they have those types of areas so would that be a partnership as it relates to possibly it also may be something literacy volunteers may already be looking at I know our partnership with them is mostly revolves around library space use but that is something we could I could certainly reach out to them and see if they are considering that as well yeah and with that just the just the part you've made some excellent partnerships thank you for the partnerships that you do with hyzer boys and girls club it really means a lot so with our community partners i think that probably would

[02:43:40] be a growth opportunity as well so yes yeah thank you thank you thank you supervisor angry thank you madam chair great presentation thank you you know neosco district has gone through and going through a whole revitalizing and you know we got a lot of stuff happening the last missing ingredient is our library is yeah that's the last missing piece to the puzzle and i know we're working on trying to figure that out at you know end of the day it's a beautiful little library but everything you said about the space is it's not a lot of space in there so so i just i just want to emphasize

[02:44:17] that as it's it's it's it's on my head just in my top of my head to you know to pull out and do something about so we'll be having those discussions still and i love the mobile library So I know that's what you want to do first. So we'll definitely be working. Come on back and we'll make that a reality.

[02:44:34] All right. Thank you. Will do. Thank you. Supervisor Lawson. Thank you. Deborah, do you serve or can you serve assisted living facilities and nursing homes? Is there a request for that?

[02:44:50] We have actually gone into. Yeah, so our branches have done that in the past. There are not all of them equally allow access, but we have had some of that, and that is something we would want to explore more of because, obviously, they're not able to come to us.

[02:45:12] So you do have a practice of going to certain facilities? We've taken materials to them, yes. Materials as in books? What do you mean? Absolutely. Okay. Do you reach out yourself in your community outreach program, or are you waiting on them to call upon you?

[02:45:36] How does that work? So with our new office, our staff are assertively reaching out to different agencies. I will say we're a little constrained by the lack of a vehicle, but we are working with our senior population.

[02:45:51] We've been doing it for some years. So the senior centers themselves, we've gone and done programming for, but then some of the facilities, as you describe, I know the one near Potomac we've gone into. Are you referring to a lack of a vehicle as in the bookmobile?

[02:46:08] Right. Yeah, to be able to load up things. I'm sorry, I was in the middle of asking something. Sorry. Or are you referring to, like, excuse me? Oh, I thought you were, okay, got you. Are you referring to county, like county employees going out and about to the community?

[02:46:30] I don't know what you meant by that. If we have. Because I would imagine that your community outreach has to maybe go visit these facilities. Yes. Okay. Yes, and they do, and they will, and we're very willing to do that. That is one of our target populations we'd like to reach.

[02:46:48] What I mean by the vehicle is, if you saw in the video, the idea of having the lift gates, to be able to take actual carts of books and go into a place where the residents could then come and choose their materials, that would be wonderful. Okay, and I'm asking because that's something that we can certainly help facilitate.

[02:47:06] I mean, I know in my district alone there are a handful of assisted living facilities and, well, independent living and then assisted. So I'd be happy to help coordinate any type of outreach. And are these the gals that are with you today?

[02:47:23] Are they the community outreach? No, this is my deputy director, Rebecca Lowe, and branch coordinator, Jessica Coffin. Okay. Could you connect us with their new positions? Sure. Okay. Yeah, I'm certainly willing to do that. There's a new one on Sudley Manor that is probably very interested in your services.

[02:47:47] And then I forgot the other question I had for you, but thank you. I last week was at the senior picnic. I don't recall if you were there or not. There were quite a few people there. But anyway, I just couldn't help but think of our senior population.

[02:48:06] And, of course, I'm sure that they thoroughly enjoy your services. They do. Thanks. Thank you. Okay, well, seeing no more questions, thank you for coming out. That was great. Really appreciate it. Thank you very much. Thank you for your time. Thank you. So that concludes our work sessions for today.

[02:48:24] It brings us on to item number seven, supervisor's time. Well, I thought we had people to appoint, but I guess that's not. I just have announcements, and that was last week. I'm just going to start to my right today, Supervisor Vega, and then we'll just work our way down.

[02:48:41] Thank you, Madam Chair. First off, hope everybody had a wonderful Mother's Day. I've been blessed with two beautiful kids, and I certainly enjoyed my day, so hope everybody got some time to spend with their moms. I know that some of us here on the dais don't have our moms, but we've been blessed with women that the Lord has put in our path that serve as that mother figure rules.

[02:49:02] Also, last Wednesday, we had a great event at the Crisis Receiving Center. It was a great ceremony. I want to thank staff for working hard also in putting it together and for my colleagues' unanimous support. I know, Supervisor Bailey, you made an emphasis on that, unanimous, and so it was a great day to finally see it come together.

[02:49:20] Also, I left before he arrived, but Governor Yunkin did attend, and he also gave remarks, And so I want to thank him and his leadership for leading this topic across the Commonwealth. On Thursday morning, I was up bright and early along with the chair for a grand opening of the Sprouts Farmers Market on Sudley Road.

[02:49:38] I know that I certainly love to have access to great quality food. And this grocery store is going to be a welcomed addition to the Sudley Corridor. So I was really excited about that grand opening. Yesterday, I had a call with Wade Hugh and our county executive, Mr. Shorter, in regards to the noise issue that we've been having with the Great Oak community.

[02:49:58] I do want to say that we have, in fact, been seeing some improvements in regards to mitigating efforts with this issue, so I'm very pleased about that. And again, I want to thank our county executive and staff for continuing to listen to the concerns of my constituents and bringing it to the forefront of the discussion to include our request to ensure that their voices are heard as we continue to put this working group together.

[02:50:21] Today was also a busy morning. We were up and early. It is Business Appreciation Week here in Prince William County, so it was really great to connect with folks from our Department of Economic Development and visit a few businesses here in the Coles District to include the Vita Health Spa and McKay's used bookstore.

[02:50:39] Finally, the Old Centerville Road Ribbon Cutting Ceremony is coming up. I know that Gretchen Johnson from the Department of Transportation has sent out the invite, and we are excited about that. So for those that have not received the invitation, the ceremony will take place at 11 a.m. at the corner of Old Centerville Road and Summersworth Drive.

[02:50:58] That's all I have, Madam Chair. Thank you. Thank you. Supervisor Franklin. Sure. On this past Saturday, I hosted the Woodbridge Community Dumpster Day at Fred Lynn. And just want to thank the Woodbridge Potomac Civic Association for volunteering, as well as the work done by Kathy Holzlander and her team over at Neighborhood Services.

[02:51:20] They did a wonderful job, as always, and I just want to thank all the residents that came out, had some great conversations there. The next dumpster day will be on September 30th at Rippon Middle. I just also want to acknowledge the Senior Citizens Picnic that was also held last week.

[02:51:37] I did not get a chance to go, but wanted to acknowledge the work that was put into that and to thank residents for coming out to that. I also want to acknowledge for Business Appreciation Day, I had the opportunity to honor and meet with Peer Touch USA, which is an antimicrobial coating system.

[02:51:59] They basically help to clean surfaces. And so it is a home-based business by a husband and wife. And I just want to recognize Mr. Sonny Yilmaz and his wife for the work that they have been doing. And so thank you to Christina Nguyen and her team, Clarice Grove, and Michelle Weatherly for setting this up and allowing us to be able to meet with and honor our businesses in the district.

[02:52:26] And then lastly, I just want to do a notice of intent to appoint Brian Landrum to the Architectural Review Committee. His resume should be with staff, and that's it. Thank you. Thank you. Supervisor Bailey. Thank you, Madam Chair.

[02:52:43] I just, first of all, I, like Supervisor Baker, just wanted to say I got the best little mama in the world. She's at an assistant living facility, and I got to spend Sunday with her, and I thank God for her 88 years.

[02:52:59] On the 11th, I had the honor of being the emcee for the CRC, the community service building dedication and groundbreaking. And I just want to say, wow, it was wonderful.

[02:53:15] And to Chair Wheeler and Lisa Madron and her staff and to my colleagues, I am honored that you would allow me to represent you in that way on Thursday. It was truly a blessing for the community in that we had over 200 people attend.

[02:53:32] And to Governor Youngkin, thank you for attending, speaking life more so into this building, and for your commitment to say this will be the state of the art building for the state of Virginia, and he will make sure that his fiduciary responsibilities are upheld.

[02:53:48] I thank you, sir. On May 11th, I also had the opportunity to meet with Chief Smolsky and Brian Meisner for a briefing with their staff to talk about the drill that they're going to be conducting at the Quantico Base on May 25th to make sure that they are equipped and ready for any derailments That will happen at Quantico Base.

[02:54:10] They will be taking their show on the road, not only to my staff, but also to Mayor Kevin Young in Quantico. They will be talking to them as well to make sure that people are aware that it's going to happen, but it's for safety reasons. On May 11th, it was my pleasure to stop and to honor the 40-year anniversary for our service authority with our new CEO, Calvin Farr, and his staff and our appointees board.

[02:54:40] It was a great celebration, and so we thank them for the level of service that they offer to our citizens here in Prince William County and the impeccable way that they do it, just understanding that Prince William County is a very loving community, and it deserves the best.

[02:54:57] On May 11th, I also attended the Youth for Tomorrow 34th Annual Burgundy and Gold Banquet, and it was so much fun to see the students that live there at Youth for Tomorrow, but also to hear the laughter from Terry Bradshaw and Howie Long.

[02:55:13] It was amazing. I'd also like to first thank all of those who prepared to participate in the 3rd Annual 5K Mental Health Awareness Walk. My apologies for the postponement to October 14th, but I'd rather have you safe and dry than wet and not enjoying yourself.

[02:55:34] And so that was the reason the weatherman predicted that it was going to rain, and we postponed it to October the 14th, which will be World Mental Health Day. So keep that in mind, and we'll get all the information back out to you, and we will continue to have the special guests that we have for you on October the 14th.

[02:55:52] And then, again, to the economic development team, Michelle Weatherly and Clarice Grove, for honoring a special business in Quantico Base. And I don't have the name here in my notes, but you know who you are.

[02:56:08] And so thank you for acknowledging them on May the 11th. Upcoming events on the 20th, I will be participating in the resource pop-up food drive event with the Clerk of the Court, Jacqueline Smith, and our Commonwealth Attorney.

[02:56:26] It's going to be at Triangle Plaza in Dumfries, Virginia from 10 to 2 p.m. We're going to have a lot of fun with the whole family, and we'll have a lot of resources there for the community. On the 17th of June, keep in mind that will be our Dumpster and Shredding Event Day. It will be at Washington Reed Elementary School from 9 to 1 p.m.

[02:56:45] We invite all to come on the corridors of 234 to the corridor of Route 1. Thank you, Madam Chair. Thank you, Supervisor Bailey. Vice Chair Bodie. Thank you, Madam Chair. A few quick things. First, you know, we've gone to a whole host of events over the past couple weeks.

[02:57:01] My colleagues have mentioned some of them. I went to the Outstanding Educators event at Hilton last week, our annual great celebration of our educators in our community and just seeing the wonderful things that our educators and our principals are doing. for the children in our community.

[02:57:18] Also had a chance to get over to the annual Prince William County Police Academy's annual commemoration of the fallen officers in law enforcement that either lived or worked in the county. They added an extra candle this year, so that's always tragic.

[02:57:33] But it's also a really great celebration of the ultimate sacrifice that not only those law enforcement officers make, but also their families in sharing them with us in their public service. I also got a chance to go to the 40th anniversary of the service authority and present in my capacity as vice chair the commendation that we passed last week and got to pull some legs there and remind folks that the service authority is older than me and commend it and celebrate them and all the work they've done to consolidate and improve our water quality over the last four decades.

[02:58:10] I wanted to wish everyone, all the mothers out there and those that serve as mothers in different lives, a happy Mother's Day. And I want to link that to the great dedication we had for the CRC last week in that I shared this in my remarks on Thursday, but I lost my mother in 2016 due to complications around mental health, substance misuse, and homelessness.

[02:58:35] And I know that has she been diagnosed with her bipolar disorder early on in her life, her life trajectory would have been much different. And so knowing the vital service that a facility like the CRC will do, I hope that we can continue to do work like that that will improve and save lives in the community.

[02:58:53] Thank you so much, Madam Chair. Thank you. Supervisor Lawson. Thank you, Madam Chair. I want to give my notice of intent to appoint Amy DeRose to the Animal Advisory Committee. And I believe you have her resume. And then I also want to thank the businesses that hosted me on the tour last Thursday, last Wednesday, whatever day it was last week.

[02:59:16] I unfortunately wasn't able to stay for the entire Crisis Receiving Center dedication because we had been arranging this business tour for weeks in advance. But I want to thank Little Rocketeers Child Care and Preschool in Bristow. And then Offix and Out of the Blue that are both located in Gainesville had a great day.

[02:59:37] Great conversations on how we can help, how the county can help assist all these businesses. So thank you to the small business owners that work your tails off to make ends meet. And you're certainly an important part of our community. And speaking of communities, tomorrow night I will be attending a community meeting for an application for a residential development that has been submitted to the county in recent months.

[03:00:04] I have not seen, but it is going to be tomorrow night at Hilton Garden Inn and Haymarket. That's May 17th, 7 p.m. The applicant is hosting it. It's American Community Developers, and we are doing our best to alert folks that there is an important community meeting, and I believe Supervisor Weir will be in attendance with me.

[03:00:28] So if you happen to be watching this, please take note. If you live in, especially in the Haymarket area of either the Gainesville District or the Brentsville District, you may be very interested to know about this project. Again, that is at the Hilton Garden Inn in Haymarket, 7 o'clock, Wednesday, May 17.

[03:00:46] Thank you very much. Supervisor Weir. Thank you, Madam Chair. I was noticed before the meeting that today is National Mimosa Day. Do with that what you will. On a more serious note, I'd like to afford my further congratulations and appreciation of the Fire Department for the 7th Annual Medal Day last Saturday.

[03:01:08] It was a rather moving ceremony at times, and I don't want their contributions and their efforts to go unrecognized. I will be attending the meeting tomorrow night, 7 p.m., the Hilton Hotel in Haymarket.

[03:01:25] It's for the High Point application on Route 15, just south of the railroad track. So all those areas around Somerset Crossing Drive, villages of Piedmont, too, town of Haymarket. If you're interested, it's 7 p.m. at the Hilton.

[03:01:43] Thank you. Thank you. Supervisor Angry. Thank you, Madam Chair. Allergies. My God, it's horrible. First, I just want to congratulate all the nominees and the winners for the Outstanding Educators Ceremony.

[03:01:59] That was a great event. So congratulations to all of you. Tomorrow, and I'm going to just get this one out. So tomorrow looks like at, that's Wednesday. Tomorrow, the National Building Safety Month Celebration Event.

[03:02:17] That's happening tomorrow. Okay. Yeah, tomorrow at 2 p.m., and it's in the plaza out here. So come on by, hang out. Also tomorrow evening, similar to what you guys are experiencing, I'm having a community meeting for the Prince Dale Apartments.

[03:02:34] That's the by-right development off of Prince Dale and Dale Boulevard. That's going to be here at the DSB tomorrow evening at 7 p.m. So we're going to have, you know, a few folks in attendance. The Franklin Johnson Group is the developers. Public Works will be there, development services, transportation, and our police department.

[03:02:53] So we look forward to seeing anyone that wants to come out and hear and ask questions about the Prince Dale apartment development that's coming up on the corner of Dale Boulevard and Prince Dale. Also, if you didn't know and if you're not playing, John Jenkins for the Kids Golf Tournament 2022 is going to be this Friday at the Old Hickory Golf Course.

[03:03:16] The reason I bring that up, if you're not going to even be playing, Boys and Girls Club of Greater Washington, you know, a very important part of Prince William County. So just want to throw the plug out there to donate to this organization, contribute to this organization, even stop by the golf tournament, and you may learn a few things about the Boys and Girls Club of Greater Washington.

[03:03:36] And that is it, Madam Chair. Thank you. Thank you. Busy week, but I'll just try to be brief. Last week I got to attend the Prince William Chamber Economic Development Breakfast where the Secretary of Health, John Lyttle, spoke, and that was really excellent.

[03:03:53] and that night I also got to go to the public school's Outstanding Educators Ceremony. We have some really wonderful, wonderful teachers in Prince William County. I stopped by the Veterans and Adult Drug Program specialty docket open house last week at the courthouse, and I'm just sort of mentioning that because people may not know that we have, you know, something new that we have specialty dockets, one for veterans and one they call drug court, which are really helping out the community and really very well run.

[03:04:22] I got to enjoy, and I won't be talking more about the Crisis Receiving Center, but it was a wonderful, wonderful day on so many levels. I briefly stopped by the Prince William Service Authority. You know, the Service Authority is so, so well run, and we are so lucky to have them.

[03:04:39] And 40th anniversary, it was just a great reception. I got to have a speaking engagement, the Sprouse Farmers Market ribbon cutting at 6.45 a.m. Yes, thank you, yes. Supervisor, Reg and I, were there at 6.45 a.m. And then that was actually followed by a ribbon cutting at the Giant Delivers site over off of Ballsford Road, which was Giant is now having a delivery service out of that facility, which is important to note because they were able to do that so quickly because we put in the distribution overlay district back in 2021.

[03:05:18] And so that was one of the first things that came out of that, which was the giant facility. So that was great. Got to stop by the Older American Month Celebration at Camp Snyder in Haymarket, and there were a lot of older Americans having a great time dancing and singing and raffles and eating food.

[03:05:35] And I did not dance, no. It was hopping. It was hopping. Let's see. Oh, and then yesterday, I sort of hesitated. I was very blessed to be able to speak at the groundbreaking at the ceremony for the Capital Area Food Bank in Lorton, which this board, you know, voted to contribute $1.5 million to.

[03:06:03] And they are breaking ground. They're knocking down the old facility, putting up. It's going to be so great for food insecurity in our area. But I was sitting next to Congressman Connolly, and he left unexpectedly because of what happened at his office, which was sort of puts a pall when I think back on that day.

[03:06:25] Last but not least, I want to mention, you know, this is sort of the Ballsford Road interchange. You know, usually a road doesn't bring people just to give unsolicited comments. But I've gotten so many unsolicited kudos for people going through the 234 bypass, just going through the Ballsford Road interchange where it has transformed their commute.

[03:06:49] And so I just want to say thank you to our transportation department for the people who got that going. It was done with 66 concessionaire funds and maybe some NVTA funding. I think it was all concessionaire funds. But NVTA had to recommend the project. Anyway, it is great.

[03:07:06] I drive through it every day when I come to the office, and it's a road, and it's very, very exciting. So it's a road, but I still think it's really exciting. With that, I do have a notice of intent to appoint the individuals to the Chesapeake Bay Preservation Area Review Board.

[03:07:22] I apologize, Supervisor, that email got lost that you had sent me regarding these. Three of these are reappointments, so hopefully they can still serve until they're reappointed. And they hopefully have been serving. And then there's one additional one. I don't know which one is which, but I'll just mention them.

[03:07:38] I think James Klackowitz is the new one. James Yankee is an existing. Elizabeth Warden is existing. And Terry Hill is an existing. I think the three are always. Okay. Okay.

[03:07:54] Well, so those are four. And I believe you have the resumes, Ms. Madden. So we can approve those at the next week's meeting. With that, we can move on to Agenda Item 8, which is the board will now convene for closed session.

[03:08:11] It's currently 4.15. Maybe if we could take a five to seven-minute break, and I'll meet in the back. And then we'll come and report out, and we will adjourn. Thank you.

[03:08:56] Okay, we are back from closed session.

[03:09:46] If I can get a motion to certify. So moved. Second. Motion made by Supervisor Bodie, seconded by Supervisor Bailey. Any discussion? Seeing none, please vote. Vote unanimous.

[03:10:05] Supervisor Bailey is going to report out for a closed session. Madam Chair, I move to accept the internal audit report, the public safety communications center service level assessment, the general government staffing levels assessment, and the penetration testing.

[03:10:21] Second. Motion made by Supervisor Bailey. Seconded by Vice Chair Bodie. Any discussion? Seeing none, please vote. Vote unanimous. I'll entertain a motion to adjourn. Move to adjourn, Madam Chair. Second. Motion made by Supervisor Bailey, seconded by Vice Chair Bodie.

[03:10:39] Any discussion? Seeing none, please vote. We are adjourned.

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