Coraggio Consulting
Prince William Board of County Supervisors Meeting, Tuesday, June 6, 2023

Date: Tuesday, June 6, 2023
Place: Prince William County Board of County Supervisors, Virginia
Length: 3h 25m (video)
Official meeting video (Prince William County, Granicus): https://pwcgov.granicus.com/player/clip/3328
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.

----------------------------------------------------------------------

[00:00:01] Okay. Good afternoon. It is 2 p.m. on Tuesday, June 6, 2023. We will start off today's meeting with an invocation from Reverend Adam Bauer from the First United Presbyterian Church in Dale City. Mr. Bauer, and you'll need to turn on the, yeah, very good.

[00:00:17] So my name is actually Adam Boulding. That's okay. My pronouns are he, him, and I am the proud pastor of First United Presbyterian Church of Dale City in Virginia. Let us bow our heads and go to the Lord in prayer. Let us pray. Almighty and loving God, we come before you today and give you thanks for our elected leaders. We especially lift up Ann Wheeler, Kenny Bode, Victor Angry, Andrea Bailey, Margaret Franklin, Janine Lawson, Yesli Vega, Bob Weir, and their staffs for their willingness to serve the citizens of Prince William County, Virginia, for such a time as this.

[00:00:56] We thank you for the gifts that you have given to each of them, for leadership, discernment, direction, active listening, patience, and tolerance. We pray for today's meeting, for the decisions that will be made which will have an impact on the lives of so many.

[00:01:14] We especially lift up the marginalized in our county, the hungry, those without homes, the food insecure, those with physical health issues, mental health issues. We lift up those facing abuse or violence of any kind. Help us to be people who care for the lost and the least, for those who are often overlooked or who do not have a voice or a seat at the table. We lift up our veterans and those currently serving in our military. We thank you for their service and pray for peace in our world. Indeed, Lord, we look forward to the day when instruments of war will be transformed into instruments of harvest.

[00:01:54] On this day, we are especially aware of the issue of elder abuse in Prince William. We read that in 2022, there were 237 founded cases of elder abuse or neglect in Prince William. Help us to do our part to ensure that proper social structures exist so people can retain community and societal connections, reducing the likelihood of abuse.

[00:02:18] Help us to educate and to be your hands and feet in our neighborhoods. Help us to spread your love and light wherever we go. We also celebrate Immigrant Heritage Month this month, and so we recognize that our county is one of the most diverse counties in the nation and is made up of courageous people from around the world who left their homes, lives, and loved ones to seek refuge and opportunity on our shores.

[00:02:45] Help us to celebrate the diversity here in our own communities and neighborhoods as we learn and grow together, and remember that all people were created in your image. Furthermore, we lift up the LGBTQIA plus community this Pride Month, especially our transgender neighbors who have been under attack and just for being who God created them to be.

[00:03:09] Help us to love others and accept them as blessed children of God, created with God's loving care and attention. Help us to make all LGBTQIA plus individuals feel not only welcome, but also wanted here in Prince William.

[00:03:27] Help us to stand up to hate and intolerance with love, education, and peace. Remind us that you have called us to live in a beloved community with one another despite our differences. As the proclamation states, help us to celebrate the principles of equality, inclusion, freedom from discrimination, and justice for all who visit and reside in Prince William County.

[00:03:56] Finally, we pray for the victims of gun violence here in Prince William and around our nation and the world. Help us to recognize gun violence as the public health crisis it is. Help us to do our part to limit access to weapons in a nation where there are more guns than people.

[00:04:15] Help us to do as Christ called us and protect the most vulnerable in our world. So we especially lift up the children in our schools, parks, and neighborhoods. Keep them safe and secure until we can find solutions to this horrific issue.

[00:04:33] God of many names, come to us. Be with us. Move us in ways of loving kindness, peace, and justice. And all God's people said, amen. Thank you very much.

[00:04:50] If we could all rise for the reciting of the Pledge of Allegiance. I pledge allegiance to the United States of America and to the republic for which it stands, one nation, under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all.

[00:05:09] We are now on to approval of the minutes, agenda item three. The chair will entertain a motion to approve agenda items 3A through 3C. So moved, Madam Chair.

[00:05:26] Second. Any discussion? Motion made by Supervisor Bailey, seconded by Vice Chair Bodie. Any discussion? Seeing none please vote. Are they up? It's fine. Vote unanimous. Supervisor Lawson absent from vote.

[00:06:02] We are now on to our consent agenda items. It consists of six items. Are there any items anyone wishes to remove from the consent agenda items because they have specific questions or concerns that they haven't been able to have answered before today? Supervisor Weir. Okay. Could I get a motion on for B and D please? So moved Madam Chair. Second.

[00:06:31] I actually heard Supervisor Franklin and then Supervisor Bailey, okay, which is B and D only. Okay. I am so sorry.

[00:06:58] If we could start over. If we could get just a motion for 4B. So moved, Madam Chair. Second. Motion made by Supervisor Bailey, seconded by Supervisor Franklin. Seeing no for the discussion. Oh, Supervisor Franklin. Thank you.

[00:07:14] I just want to point out this application is a TAP application for a sidewalk on Colchester Road from Featherstone to Randall Drive. I've received several concerns from constituents about this area and the need to make the neighborhood more pedestrian friendly for our children and our families.

[00:07:34] So I'm more than happy to move this forward, and hopefully we can get some relief in that particular area. So thank you to the constituents that have reached out, and thank you to transportation staff for helping to work on this application. So thank you. Seeing no further discussion, please vote.

[00:07:55] Vote unanimous. Supervisor Lawson, absent from vote. Supervisor Weird, you want 4A? You need to turn your microphone on, please. In front of me.

[00:08:12] I'd just like to note, I'm sort of hesitant to vote on this evening. I'm a little uneasy with some of the changes. I'd like some more information as to why the requests to the liaison are limited to the Arts Council Board.

[00:08:31] I kind of get a sense as to why, but I'd like that clarified. It seems like not everybody's rowing in the same direction here. And I've also got an issue with the terms of some of the members, namely the appointees. And my understanding is that the appointees from this board's terms are limited as well and no longer coterminous.

[00:08:52] Is that correct? is there someone here who can address mr weir's questions please we've been working on this for a while it's been on the board but if you can turn on your microphone welcome mr thank you good afternoon madam chair members of the board seth hendler voss honored to serve as your director of parks recreation tourism the the charter revisions as proposed make no recommend no changes to the status of the box appointments which will continue to be coterminous with the board members the other

[00:09:30] question i have is there's a specifically enumerated item now b3 the arts liaison is not permitted to fulfill requests that fall outside of his or her official duties i just question where that's coming from given the earlier sections of b b1 and b2 yes uh yes sir mr we're a very good question so we are working very hard to draw very clear lines of delineation between roles and

[00:10:04] responsibilities of staff and arts council board members and so to further that end we added this clause in here to make crystal clear that the arts council role is administrative in nature and to make sure that the arts council is not being put in an awkward compromising position to be conducting arts council policy work or planning work that detracts that liaison from their administrative duties okay so this is simply so this simply applies to the arts council and his workings with the, his or her workings with the Arts Council, correct? Yes, sir.

[00:10:38] Okay. If there are no further questions, I'll entertain a motion for 4A. So moved, Madam Chair. Second. Motion made by Supervisor Bailey, seconded by Vice Chair Bodie. Any further discussion? Seeing none, please vote.

[00:11:01] Unanimous. That brings us on to 4C, Mr. Weir, Supervisor Weir. I'm not sure whether to address this to the county attorney, to the CXO, so I'll take potluck on this. On page 8, Section 2156 with regard to the Wetlands Board.

[00:11:21] There's a requirement for public notice on the board's website. I'm assuming that we have taken care of the logistics to set that up, and we'll have that prior to actually naming them so they can hit the ground running.

[00:11:42] Otherwise, they're going to be limited by their inability to post. Supervisor, I'm not sure if I fully follow. Are you wanting to have the names posted before they are?

[00:12:01] I'd just like to make sure that we're well on the way to getting their whatever website and web capability is required essentially from day one, that we're not going to put this off until after the appointments.

[00:12:17] We are prepared, yes. Let's go on pushing forward to Section 2.158, Authorities to Require Bonds. I suspect this is a question for Ms. Robel. So it's unclear in here, I'm assuming I know what the answer is, but who's going to be determining the bond authorities that they are going to levy?

[00:12:43] Madam Chair, members of the board, Assistant County Attorney Nathan Welch worked on this and he, as stated in our memo, this was a kind of like a cleanup, making sure the state code, our county code, was in compliance with the state code.

[00:12:59] So section 2-158. 158. Yes, on page 7. This is not a change from our existing policy as far as the language is a little clean up, but it doesn't fundamentally change any of what we're already doing.

[00:13:32] And then lastly on the wetlands board, 2-159, where you've made some changes with respect to granting or denying wetlands applications.

[00:13:54] I just want to ensure that they're getting proper legal support, and we've had this issue with the BZA. Is county legal staff supporting them at all on this? You're not. No, sir. I'm assuming we need to find some funding mechanism that's to require legal support or outside counsel.

[00:14:15] Madam Chair, members of the board, we can provide some training with regards to assistance that they or other boards, committees, and commissions need. But our office, because obviously we represent the board, maybe before various, especially with the BZA, which is a quasi-judicial body, we cannot ethically provide them legal advice.

[00:14:36] The question as to whether they need legal advice or not or simple training would be a policy decision. Is the BZA the equivalent of this Wetlands Board in terms of their quasi-judicial nature?

[00:14:51] I would suggest no. No. So are we in a position to give them direct legal support before they get all of us in trouble, potentially? We can provide them assistance with training, but if the – I do not believe that this is an entity such that we would be representing the county as a party before and we could provide them assistance.

[00:15:17] If it's outside the scope of our duties, we'll let the board know. My concern is that if they deny a permit and that is somehow judicially appealed, I'm assuming that the county attorney's office would defend in that particular instance?

[00:15:35] We haven't had one of those, and I'd have to take a look at it, but I'm not familiar with those. Well, it seems like we're expanding their powers a little bit in terms of investigation. We're making it. We haven't done any substantive changes other than bring it in line with the recent state statute.

[00:15:53] This ordinance itself is a model ordinance. The state promulgates it and says that any county or locality that is going to have an ordinance has to have this ordinance. I get that, but my reading of some of the changed language seems to indicate that they're going to have broader latitude than they previously did.

[00:16:15] They have no other latitude than what the state allows, and this language change is just bringing it in line with what the state. so it was older language that hadn't been updated but our authority the authority that the board gives them is only the authority that the state allows them to be given and so we can't go more we can't go less I get that but my reading of it seems to indicate the state whether intentionally or unintentionally seems to have broadened it a little bit I'm going to go ahead and vote for it but I just I'd like for you guys to take a look at it and just make sure that it just seems like

[00:16:54] they've got more authority to do things than they previously did just because of the way the language has been rewritten so the the couple the couple of instances in which the the state law actually made the language changes is in regards to notice provisions and that's in keeping with other notice provisions that were updated and something that i think the state uh is going to be looking at updating again. But it's something that is kind of bringing it in line with more modern notice ideas of, hey, maybe the newspaper isn't the best way of notifying people of what's

[00:17:33] going on. Maybe there may be some other ways. So those are things that are still being looked at. They made some changes throughout. This is one that they touched on. When looking at those, We had made changes in the past based off of specific statutes that the state had modified, but it didn't look like we had caught all of those changes in the past years.

[00:18:00] And so because we were looking at it and we had to make these notice changes and the statute says the locality that does pass this ordinance must have this ordinance, the language, we went ahead and went through and updated all of our language to match the states.

[00:18:19] And, Madam Chair, members of the board, in Section 2-168, that's the review of the decisions of the Wetland Board, and it goes to the commissioner. Okay. Two last things. Page, probably your page 83, my page 85, Section 26-125D.

[00:18:40] This goes to what I brought up several months ago with respect to TOT intermediaries. have we gotten any closer to being able to actually fulfill this new requirement in terms of collection and administration? That would be a question for Mr. Shorter and the Finance Department.

[00:18:58] We are, as you know, given the approval of the FY24 budget in the process now of preparing on July 1 when that budget becomes active to hire up for the tax administration.

[00:19:15] So I will say we will be working to fill those positions effective July 1. We certainly have been in preparation for the start of FY24, preparing job descriptions, job announcements, and preparing for the recruitment of those positions.

[00:19:32] So I'm assuming this is effective immediately, or are we just advertising? We're advertising. The public hearing will be June 27th, and the changes would be effective July 1. So we should be in position by July 1 to otherwise we're not going to be able to comport with this particular section and the new requirements.

[00:19:51] Where possible, we have initiated recruitment. I will say that we will certainly be doing our best to make sure that we are preparing now and by July 1 do our best to fulfill the scope.

[00:20:07] I will say that this will likely take time and that we will not fill all of those FTEs in the first tranche. All right. And then last but not least, Madam County Attorney, Section 26232, I don't see what the changes are.

[00:20:26] Procedures for granting tax exemptions? I believe it's in paragraph E that 5 was changed to 7 to be in line with the state code. So that's all it is? Yes. Thank you. Thank you. Would you like to make a motion on 4C, Supervisor Weir?

[00:20:44] Move to approve second motion made by Supervisor weird second by vice chair Bodie any further discussion seeing none, please vote

[00:21:04] I will now take If I could get a motion on for D E and F Proclamations so I can mention motion made by Supervisor Bailey seconded by vice chair Bodie any further discussion seeing none, please vote

[00:21:36] We will now, I'm going to go leave the days to read the proclamation. We're going to begin by declaring June 15, 2023. It is Elder Abuse Awareness Day, which will be accepted by our Director of Social Services, Courtney Tierney, and other people that will be introduced.

[00:22:05] So accepting this proclamation will be Lori Wilson, the Chair of the DSS Advisory Board.

[00:22:24] Proclaim June 15, 2023, Elder Abuse Awareness Day in Prince William County. Older adults deserve to be treated with respect and dignity as vital participating members of our community. In June 2023, the World of Elder Abuse Awareness theme is building strong support for elders aging unbound, recognizing that it's up to all of us to ensure that the proper social structures exist so people can retain community and societal connections, reducing the likelihood of abuse.

[00:22:52] In fiscal year 2022, there were 237 founded cases of elder abuse or neglect in Prince William County. Reporting elder abuse or neglect is a phone call away at 888-832-3858.

[00:23:08] Now, therefore, be it resolved that the Prince William Board of County Supervisors hereby proclaims June 15, 2023 at Elder Abuse Awareness Day in Prince William County. Thank you. Thank you, Chair Wheeler and members of the Board of County Supervisors.

[00:23:26] I'm Lori Wilson, Chair of the DSS Advisory Board. And with me here today are Courtney Tierney, Director, Phyllis Jennings-Holt, Deputy Director, Van Washington, DSS Assistant Director for Protective Services, and Marie Barnes, Adult Protective Services Program Manager.

[00:23:44] Thank you for proclaiming June 15th as Elder Abuse Awareness Day in Prince William County. World Elder Abuse Awareness Day was launched by the International Network for the Prevention of Elder Abuse and the World Health Organization at the United Nations. The purpose is to provide an opportunity for communities around the world to promote a better understanding of abuse and neglect of older persons by raising awareness of the cultural, social, economic, and demographic processes affecting elder abuse and neglect. As the number of older adults increases,

[00:24:23] The reports of abuse and neglect also increase. Year after year, DSS sees an increase in the reports of abuse and neglect and in investigations and found cases. Vulnerable older adults are particularly at risk for financial exploitation.

[00:24:41] These are our parents, our grandparents, and others who have contributed so much to our society. We ask that everyone report suspected abuse and neglect by calling 24 hours a day, 888-832-3858, or Monday through Friday during the business day, 703-792-4200.

[00:25:07] And if you would like to schedule a presentation to learn more, You may make a request through the Prince William County website at pwcva.org. Scroll down on the first page to email us. Thank you again for this proclamation.

[00:25:23] Next up, we have Proclaiming June 2023 Immigrant Heritage Month,

[00:26:10] and I believe our Equity and Inclusion Director, Maria Burgos, will be joining us with people she has also brought. Do you have people who are... I do. Yeah, why don't you call them out and have them stay in the front. Okay, if I could have the phone with us.

[00:26:27] The Commonwealth of Virginia and the County of Prince William are made up of courageous people from around the world who left their homes, lives, and loved ones to seek refuge and opportunity on our shores. Since 2022, National Immigrant Heritage Month has been observed annually at

[00:27:07] the federal level. The sacrifices of immigrant residents and their entrepreneurial spirit have contributed to the rich tapestry that has defined the character of Prince William County. Immigrants work in every profession in our community, including health care, public service, law, education, engineering, construction, caregiving, manufacturing, service, agricultural, and countless other industries. As residents of Prince William County, immigrants bring with them a new, with new traditions, customs, perspectives that play a vital role in our community. Despite the contributions of immigrants, they have faced discrimination, xenophobia, and violence. As a community of choice, Prince William County seeks

[00:27:46] to be a welcoming and inclusive community to all residents and visitors. Now, therefore, be it resolved that the Prince William Board of County Supervisors hereby affirms and proclaims the month of June 2023 as Immigrant Heritage Month and encourages the community to learn more about the rich history and contributions of our county's diverse and varied immigrant communities.

[00:28:07] Thank you. Thank you, Chair Wheeler and members of the board. One of the amazing things about the United States and living in Prince William County is that nearly all our families originally came from somewhere else.

[00:28:27] We're a community of immigrants higher than the national average and enriched by diverse languages and cultures. It's a source of our strength and something we can all take pride in. And this month, Immigrant Heritage Month, is a chance to share our Prince William County stories.

[00:28:44] I think about my mother and where my parents met and where she was born. And although born in Panama, her life as a military spouse brought her and our family here to Prince William County in 1976. This month, Prince William County stands with the immigrant citizens of Prince William County today as they share their stories.

[00:29:07] Patty Ochoa, Maricruz, Carranza, Salvador Roland, are from Woodbridge Workers Committee. Princess Felomena, Desmond, and may I have your last name well, Ogaugua, yes, represent the Virginia African Dysphoria Committee Chair.

[00:29:29] With us, we also have Hakan Asteev, Executive Director of the NOVA RAFT, American-Turkish Friendship Association, as well as Rafi Udin Ahmed, Executive Director of the Muslim Association of Virginia. As representatives of our community who represent over 154 ethnicities and 122 languages, Pierce William takes pride in celebrating Immigration Heritage Month as a remembrance of staying true to our heritage as a nation of immigrants and keeping the dream alive

[00:30:02] for generations to come and last we have proclaimed june 2023 lesbian gay bisexual transgender

[00:31:00] questioning intersex asexual and more lgbtqia plus pride month and ms burgos is coming up today and i believe she has people with her thank you thank you chair wheeler and members of the board yes no worries but but you're welcome but if you have a group with you there they can stand in the

[00:31:31] front while I read, which is what we normally do. Since the Stonewall uprising during the summer of 1969, June has been widely recognized and celebrated as lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, questioning, intersex, asexual, and more month. The Commonwealth Virginia recognizes LGBTQIA plus individuals as a protected class through the Virginia Values Act of 2020, and the Prince William Board of County Supervisors created the Human Rights Commission out of a need to enforce a human

[00:32:07] rights ordinance to prohibit discriminatory practices based on race, color, sex, national origin, religion, marital status, or disability, in employment, housing, public accommodations, education, and credit to now include sexual orientation and gender identity in Prince William County.

[00:32:23] The lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, questioning, intersex, asexual, and more residents of Prince William County are a vital part of our community, local community, and now have equal legal protections from discrimination. LGBTQIA plus individuals are at a higher risk of being victimized and discriminated against due to the inequitable service gaps that have been created as a result of homophobia, transphobia, societal sigmas, and legalized discrimination in the past. Pride Month is when LGBTQIA plus communities celebrates its civil rights history, its dignity, and educates the public about the service gaps, restrictions to resources, and illegal discriminatory practices

[00:33:03] facing their community while encouraging others to see them as valued members of our larger community now therefore be it resolved that the prince william board of county supervisors hereby affirms and proclaims the month of june 2023 as lgbtqia plus pride month and encourages the community to celebrate the principles of equality inclusion freedom from discrimination and justice for all who visit and reside in prince william county thank you thank you again

[00:33:35] chair wheeler and members of the board got it prince william county stands with the lgbtqia plus two-spirit community lgbtq a plus two peers two-spirit community is the acronym for lesbian gay bisexual transgender queer and or questioning intersex asexual two-spirit and the countless affirmative ways in which people identify. Leaders from Equality Prince William, President

[00:34:10] Dave Dooley, and members of the board, Jennifer Fishback and Deanna Bayer, are here with us today, as well as Casa Brumar, Heidi and Evelyn Brumar. They're here to accept the Pride Month proclamation. We have a long history of community members who have lived in silence, hiding their identity about who they are and who they love. Prince William County believes no one should live or work in silence. We believe all citizens must be treated

[00:34:48] with dignity, respect, and actions of inclusion. We believe all employees and community members should feel a sense of belonging, and we strive to take action to consistently make this consistently the case. We believe that to be human doesn't require finding an opposite to be against.

[00:35:08] So as we celebrate LGBTQAI Plus Pride Month, let us take pride in all that we have done to step forward to serve in Prince William County in the past, in the present, and in the future. As fellow LGBTQAI plus two-spirit community members and employee we value you respect you and thank you

[00:35:33] for your contributions to Prince William County your community and your home we are now on to

[00:36:36] agenda item five today's afternoon public hearings and budget amendments we have four items on today's agenda as stated agenda 5e has been withdrawn for today we are going to open and close these public hearings on a consolidated basis. I will officially open the public hearings on 5A through 5D. Ms. Madden, do we have anyone here to speak? Is there anyone in chambers who would like to speak on 5A through 5D? If so, please approach the microphone in the back. Seeing no

[00:37:16] one approach the microphone in the back, this will officially close the public hearings on agenda items 5a through 5d they're all over the map would someone like to make a motion second motion made by supervisor franklin seconded by supervisor bailey discussion supervisor franklin sure just want to highlight 5a and 5c for 5a the featherstone national wildlife refuge a segment of the potomac heritage national scenic trail and just want to say that obviously i support use of these funds including 1.3 million from the woodbridge magisterial district

[00:37:54] to complete an important segment of this trail obviously it adds to kind of the parks and wrecks particularly on the park side that we've been discussing for the woodbridge district so this is the last part to be completed and just want to thank staff for working to find funds to do this so thank you. Also, I guess I just want to point out for 5C, I just want to point out that this is the North Woodbridge Pedestrian Bridge, which will connect the Woodbridge VRE station to the future North Woodbridge Town Center, and so this pedestrian bridge will be a key component of the

[00:38:30] revitalization efforts to Route 1, and we've been obviously talking about how to make our county more pedestrian-friendly, particularly with new developments, and this is a great opportunity for us to do that so again thank you for staff thank you to staff for helping with this project and i um two more uh comments but i do want to ask was there anybody online who wanted to speak i just want to make sure that was legal before i closed it okay very good uh supervisor vega thank you

[00:39:00] madam chair seth i have a few questions for you if you could please come forward good afternoon madam chair members of the board seth handler voss honor to serve as your director of parks recreation tourism thanks thanks seth um so my question to you is have we uh used covid relief funds for this project or is this the first time that we're using funds that have been allocated for COVID-19 for this specific project? The latter, Ms. Vega. We have not, the board has not

[00:39:36] appropriated ARPA funds for this use to date. Thank you for that and I understand the importance of this project to my colleague but I'm having a hard time trying to justify the board approving half a million dollars for a project and just want you to be able to explain to me what the connection is, allocating specific funds that have been designated for COVID-19 for this specific project? Sure. So finance is probably best positioned to speak to this particular source of available funding, but in general, the board has approved appropriations of ARPA funds for other park improvement projects. So this falls within the same vein of current park projects

[00:40:15] in the sense that it is providing additional recreational opportunities, particularly targeted for those in designated census tracts, low-income tracts, basically, who could benefit from additional access to recreational amenities. And quickly, can you tell me off the top of your head what other projects of the like we funded with ARPA funding?

[00:40:36] Sure. So Veterans Park, for instance, in Woodbridge District, we funded the implementation of accessibility improvements, mainly sidewalks, and paving work as well. We also funded renovation work to an existing park, the Marunsco Acre Lake Park, which included new playground surfacing, accessibility improvements, new basketball court surfacing, et cetera.

[00:41:02] Okay, thank you. Yes, ma'am. Supervisor Brody. Thank you, Madam Chair. For my constituents of the Occoquan District, we have 5D, which is the next step in the Summit School Road Telegraph Road project. I wanted to thank Rick Canazales and his team for working with the school board.

[00:41:20] As folks in the Occoquan district may know, we have the 14th high school coming up in that area, and we very early on had our transportation staff reach out to the school division's transportation staff to really link arms and really look at that as a holistic project because it makes no sense to go in, build a school, redo the road, back and forth, what have you.

[00:41:39] So I really appreciate the work that they've been doing on that. So if you're over in that mini-built corridor, you see near that north side where Summit School Road dead ends. You see all that clearing going on. Then if you go down, telegraph near where the sheets is, you see clearing over there. That is all part of the Summit School Road extension project.

[00:41:56] So, again, appreciate the work that our team has done on it. Thank you, Madam Chair. Thank you, Vice Chair Bodie. Supervisor Bailey. Seth, if you would, please. Thank you, Madam Chair. Just as a point of clarity, 5A is a part of the Parks and Rec Master Plan, is it not, or is it?

[00:42:25] Which is this, Supervisor? 5A? Am I misunderstanding? 5A is, yes, it's contained within the Master Plan. It's basically the county's signature greenway corridor in the eastern part of the county. And it is the first half of a continual project that you'll have going on probably in the future?

[00:42:45] It is a component of a continuing project which extends down into the Potomac District all the way down to the county line at Stafford. And it is, you did make that presentation to us last month, was it, to explain about this project and the status thereof?

[00:43:03] About the Potomac National. No, about the continuation. About the Potomac Heritage National Senior Trail, yes ma'am, not this particular segment. Okay. But it's all part of one large. It's two different things. Yeah, this is one segment within a larger corridor. Okay. But I just, for my memory, I just wanted to make sure that, in total support, but I just wanted to make sure that it was a part of what you had presented before.

[00:43:25] It is, ma'am. Okay, thank you. Supervisor Franklin? Sure. And Seth, you may not want to go too far. Yeah, just want to clarify that this is kind of the last stretch for this portion of the Potomac Heritage National Trail, right?

[00:43:41] Yeah, in North Woodbridge. In North Woodbridge. Okay, yeah, just want to make that clear. we still have to get up to the town of aquaquan from belmont bay sure but uh yes but just wanted to make it clear that this kind of there's a for lack of better words a piece missing um here that that has yet to be funded and so that's what we're essentially doing today yes and so the other parts are are separate projects yes ma'am so i think we i think it's important to make that clear even though aquan portion is a separate project the powells creek portion is a completely different project yes ma'am traditionally we have broken the projects up because of the elongated time

[00:44:18] frame to complete the entire corridor so as the money is available we set up a cip account and move forward on a particular segment but it's all part of one vision okay well thank you um so we've already made a motion so seeing no further discussion please vote vote unanimous

[00:44:50] thank you that moves us on to public comment time for today today we have approximately 20 people signed up to speak each speaker will i will read the names off uh five at a time each speaker will have three minutes to share their views on anything before the board um or anything else they want to uh when i call your name please line up in the back and please make sure you state your name and generally where you live or your magisterial district at the beginning of your comments uh the

[00:45:23] first five speakers are linda ladario linda white diana bear guman gonzalez barbara dodge and that's the first five there's hi my name is linda but there's a gentleman oh there it is it's up and can you bend the microphone down so you don't sure make it easier for you there you go thank you thanks i have a handout actually to give the supervisors so can my friend just bring it to

[00:46:01] one of the ladies down there the clerk thank you so my name is linda loudiero and i'm in coals i live in the county obviously thank you for all your work that you do here in the county to the supervisors and the other employees obviously i um the handouts are perfect the handouts are basically a copy of this um i'd like to share some stats with you all with the hope that between now and next year you'll be able to create a resolution and a proclamation for a day

[00:46:35] at least, if not a week or a month, whatever works best. You could call it the traditional family day, straight pride, or you could call it the only group that can actually procreate day. Lastly, there's a sentence I've seen today on t-shirts. It says, not seeking special privileges, only equality. The same goes for heterosexuals. And after listening to all the speeches today, I was hoping, and that's why I'm spending the time here today to do

[00:47:09] this that um the board of county supervisors would as was proclaimed earlier stand with heterosexuals as it does the lgbtq special i don't know the different letters and um oh so lastly in conclusion if you add up all these days the days the weeks the months it's more than four months

[00:47:36] So this is from a tweet. The fellow is Sean Farish. I like what he puts out. And so there are in America four months, more than four months of special days that are dedicated to this group of people. And so maybe someone could give a day to straight pride. Thank you.

[00:48:00] next speaker please hello can you hear me good afternoon my name is linda white and um i'm in cole's district i'm here today because um as a christian and a roman catholic i could not sit quietly while my county my home where i've lived the past 30 plus years makes this proclamation

[00:48:33] against god and his his rights the rights of god and the rights of his children be treated with dignity, as you say, and his children to protect them from being used as pawns in the LGBTQI movement or religion, whatever it is. And frankly, I think we can make an argument that proclaiming LGBTQIA plus month is unconstitutional, because that is an establishment of religion.

[00:49:07] June has been, in my religion, the Catholic faith, since for at least a thousand years, the month of the Sacred Heart of Jesus. And I am deeply offended, as I think many of my fellow Catholics are, when we see him mocked by, and his laws, and his laws of love by this so-called pride movement.

[00:49:34] Pride is an odd word to use. I don't know why you're proud of your actions. they're a sin they're sinful i don't know why you're proud of um attacking god and christians and muslims and jewish people the whole history all our ancestors because evidently they were a bunch of homophobes until 20 years ago um i don't pride is opposed a god opposes if some of you i know for last year some of you claim to be christians well he has made abundantly clear

[00:50:07] that he opposes pride so i don't you might want to rethink that name it's really not it's not good um there's so much i could say but i've read it out of time however the truth is god created us like the pastor said in his image and likeness true he in male and female he created them and And Prince William County has decided it's smarter than God.

[00:50:38] It knows more, has more wisdom. This is not going to bring good things to our community. It's a blasphemy. And I'm ashamed, and I just cannot sit quietly and applaud and nod and smile.

[00:50:57] It's not going to happen. And I'm not apologizing if I've offended anyone, because my mother taught me it would be better to offend the whole world than Almighty God. Thank you. Next speaker, please. Hello, my name is Herman Gonzalez.

[00:51:22] I'm from the Dale City area, and I just had a plan. I plan just to increase the amount of food resources we have in the state of Virginia without deforestation. Think offshore oil rigs as an example.

[00:51:38] What if we had offshore greenhouses? These greenhouses can make small fruits and vegetables, things that come from bushes instead of trees. Garden tomatoes typically need one to two inches of water a week. Potatoes require around the same. Onions need one inch of water, including rainwater, a week to grow.

[00:51:57] These are the most used vegetables and fruits in the United States, and potatoes being the top by a large portion, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture. I have that link in the description. I have some statistics about tomatoes.

[00:52:14] Tomatoes need three feet deep to extend their roots. Potatoes need 24 inches, and onions need 12 inches deep to grow their roots. If we could create a greenhouse that has about a 10-foot deep soil that has like dirt, sediments, rocks, and create a greenhouse over that, that would protect it from the ocean.

[00:52:38] I believe that that would give us more food resources over the ocean without causing deforestation. And I have more in-depth research on this plan.

[00:52:56] I could email it to one of you guys later on. Thank you. Thank you. feel free to email us. Next speaker, please. Ms. Baer, if you want to go. It gets a little too high. Do I have to turn it on? Is it okay? My name is Deanna Baer from Potomac Magisterial District. I want to thank the board again for acknowledging Pride Month.

[00:53:30] It's very special that you do that. The quality of Prince William fought many years to have this proclamation, and it is heartening to have your support these past few years. There are some people who believe that God is all-powerful and created all creatures on earth, who believe that God cannot make a mistake. Those people should be the first to stand in support and defense of the LGTBQ plus of community, as there are same-sex pairings in all creatures on earth. There is hate

[00:54:08] for these pairings in only one creature, the human one. There are some who use their religions to spread this hate, and try to harm children. This is nowhere in the Christian Bible, nor any of the other holy books, and I've read most of them. God did not preach hate. Jesus did not preach hate.

[00:54:35] Have you heard of the do unto others as you would have them do unto you, or love thy neighbor as thyself? There were no exceptions to these teachings. And always, we are all human beings together. As the parable of the Good Samaritan taught, we must take care of each other, not try to destroy any of God's precious creatures, human or otherwise. And always remember, all children are

[00:55:12] precious. All of us must nourish them, protect them as they grow into their true selves. Again, I want to thank the board for their support. It is very meaningful to so many people who have had to fight just to stay alive and had to hide who they their true self was so thank you thank you before our next speaker i'm going to call up the next five michelle dominguez ain johnson ricardo payne

[00:55:46] carl greeton and kim b miller please proceed good afternoon members of the board i'm barbara dodge from the coles district i'm here this afternoon to express with kindness charity and love my request to rescind June as lesbian LTGBQ plus pride month. God is mocked by the public acceptance and celebration of homosexual sin in the pride month. I'm not here to disparage or defame or hate anyone, but to defend truth and family. In order to strengthen our community in regards to

[00:56:24] equality, justice, and freedom for all, we must deal in the truth. The truth is that God created us in his image and likeness. God only creates good. Individuals with free will can use free will for good or evil. We have a soul and are to be treated with both respect and dignity.

[00:56:42] God gave us a brain to make judgments. While we should never judge the individual person, we should judge their actions. Telling people that are LGBTQ that this is normal and healthy lifestyle is not being truthful, charitable, loving, or loving. It is gaslighting. The LGBTQ LTGBQ lifestyle kills the soul, kills the body, destroys the family.

[00:57:04] The truth is not bigotry. Biology is not bigotry. Telling the truth has become the most dangerous thing you can do in the USA today. We are watching the deaths of women's sports because we won't tell the truth. We have become a culture of lies.

[00:57:20] LTGBQ is no longer tolerance, but it's a celebration of lies. As we know, who is the father of lies? It was pride that changed angels into devils. The truth of the LGBT lifestyle is woe to those who call evil good and good evil, who change darkness into light and light into darkness, Isaiah 5.20.

[00:57:44] Celebrating LTGBQ plus Pride Month is a form of grooming. Grooming is the deliberate act of bringing a child into a sexual, political, or radical ideology, practice, cult, or lifestyle without the knowledge or consent of his or her parents.

[00:57:59] for the aim of isolating them from their families so the external party can abuse and manipulate them. Celebrating LGGBQ+, attempts to normalize deviant behavior to children. First, we overlook evil.

[00:58:15] Then, we permit evil. Then, we legalize evil. Then, we promote evil. Then, we celebrate evil. Then, we persecute those who still call it evil. Christianity and Christian virtues are the only answers to giving us a community of equality, justice, and freedom for all.

[00:58:35] In the name of God, please rescind LGBTQ Pride Month. Thank you, and may God continue to bless America. I'm sorry, we don't allow clapping displays of overt booing, hissing, or congratulatory.

[00:58:53] So for those who are new to chambers, we don't do that. Our next, I only, Michelle Dominguez, Ayn Johnson, Ricardo Payne, Carl Greeton, Kim B. Miller. Good afternoon.

[00:59:15] My name is Ayn Johnson, and I am from the Woodbridge District. And as always, good afternoon, county supervisors, Madam Chair, county attorney, and county executive. I'd like to start a little bit different today, but still going to start.

[00:59:31] It's always putting things in perspective. I would like to thank my Heavenly Father. My husband was not here at the moment. He had to get to work. My earthly father, who's here, Ricardo Payne, my mother, who couldn't be here with us today, but she definitely desired to, and for my family supporting me in the spirit of advocacy.

[00:59:51] I thank God for calling me to be a voice for the voiceless, especially foster children and foster families. Exodus 15, verse 2, the Lord is my strength and my song, and he has become my salvation. Dear County Executive Christopher Shorter and Courtney Tierney, I believe I saw her earlier today, I'm not for sure if she's still in Chambers, wanted to make it very clear to you.

[01:00:14] My family, we're not a policy. We're not just another email. When we think about your job, Mr. Shorter, it's more than you just sitting on a podium. When our lives were interrupted and things happened to my family, you weren't there. Were you there and are you there now?

[01:00:32] When my son sees a picture of Bumpy, Bumpy is our foster son. A lot of people know his name. Are you there when my son sees a picture of Bumpy and says, Bumpy, are you still alive? Are you safe? I miss you. A four-year-old is saying that. Mommy and daddy didn't train him to say that.

[01:00:49] He's asked us that quite often. My daughter, Primrose, she looks at my phone. She sees a picture of Bumpy. She's one years old. What does she say? Bumpy, Bumpy, Bumpy. But I'll go back to Lord Tennyson. Lord Tennyson says, Bumpy, you're safe. You're going to come back home. You know what, Mr. Short, I ask you this. Are you afraid to act because the same people you're a picture with on social media are the same people you must hold accountable? Mr. Short, I'm not angry. I want

[01:01:22] to make that very clear. I am absolutely positively not angry. I'm not overwhelmed. One thing I am is disappointed. The same disparities and dismissiveness that my family faced from the Department of Social Services is the same tone deaf, politically correct, and probably morally incorrect sound you continue to make. I read this recently, Lord, make me strong, not for the sake of possessing strength, but to make me sufficient for the crisis in the moments and the lives of others who reach out to

[01:01:57] me. Thank you. Next speaker, please. Good afternoon. My name is Pastor Ricardo W. Payne.

[01:02:14] My daughter and son have been here talking about this matter, about our grandson as a foster child, and I've listened, I've listened, and I've listened. To date, I'm still listening because nothing has been done. We talk about what we're going to do. We talk about this being the land of the free and a person is innocent into proven guilty. I said the same thing, not even a courtesy of a phone call. I was very clear. I do not appreciate some referring to my daughter as a

[01:02:51] guinea pig. I do not appreciate the fact just a common courtesy of a phone call to say, you know what? Something is wrong, and we need to check this out. This is not a political statement. This is a straight-up family statement. It's wrong. It's wrong today. It's wrong tomorrow. I'm not concerned about policy. I'm well aware of that. As the United States Army officer, I've served my country. My dad died as a veteran serving our country, but everyone is concerned about

[01:03:27] what their view is why not does someone at least answer my daughter and my son's question about a child that they took on the responsibility it's not politics it's not business as usual it's a straightforward question we spend time everyone talks about what they want to talk about well i'm talking again i don't appreciate it my name is ricardo w pain i live in triangle virginia i pay

[01:03:59] my taxes. And I would expect someone to call and answer in a very direct fashion my daughter's and my son's concern. That is my family, no differently than your family. And I would expect, yes, you notice I use the word more than once, expect the same courtesy. Thank you. Thank you. Next speaker,

[01:04:26] please. Mr. Greeton, I believe you're next. I'm sorry. That's right. Good afternoon. I'm Carl Gretton. I live in the Gainesville District. We are against the Digital Gateway CPA on Page and Lane and its associated rezoning. The diesel issue in Northern Virginia is so big that it defies

[01:05:03] belief. There are 130 million square feet of data centers on the books now, and Julie Bolthouse of the Piedmont Environmental Council did an estimate that indicates it would be like running New York City on diesel. Don't fall for the hydro-treated vegetable oil story either. The scale of getting data centers taken off the grid for periods of time will exceed the amount of vegetable oil available. Pardon the following numbers. You'll just have to sit through this. Check your email soon if you give me your address. An average data center generates 1.5 to 3.0 megawatts of power.

[01:05:43] Each 2 megawatts, which is the average size generator at half load, burns 72 gallons of diesel per hour. A full load burns 140 gallons per hour. With an estimate of 120 buildings with about 45 generators each, on average, there will be 60 million square feet of buildings in the Gainesville-Bristow area.

[01:06:06] This is conservatively 5,000 generators. A half load of 5,000 times 72 equals 360,000 gallons of diesel per hour. A full load is 700,000 gallons of diesel per hour.

[01:06:23] For four days or 100 hours of running time during a heat wave, 36 to 70 million gallons of diesel will be needed. So where is this supply coming from? An average-sized tank truck holds 10,000 gallons. In other words, we'll need 7,000 trucks for 100 hours or 70 trucks for one hour.

[01:06:45] At 60 feet average length for these trucks, if they touch, they would stretch 75 miles. The lines of trucks on a highway with 100 feet between them would extend from Gainesville to Trenton, New Jersey. An average large tank farm storage tank holds 1 million gallons.

[01:07:04] So we'll need 70 storage tanks to supply these 100 hours of running time. Neabsco, Occoquan, Potomac, and Woodbridge Districts, we appreciate you will step up and build tank farms that are large enough to hold the needed diesel.

[01:07:20] Bottom line for all these numbers is that during high electrical usage, the data centers will have to run on an extraordinary large amount of power, which is simply not available. Please evaluate Loudoun County after their data centers are online. In summary, vote against the rezoning of the Digital Gateway and reduce the problems associated with diesel storage and exhaust fumes.

[01:07:43] Thank you. Before our next speaker, I want to call our last four in-county speakers. Wanda Lee Smith, Kelly Hucklaw, Bill Billiard, Grace Lintner, and Alan Gloss.

[01:08:04] Please proceed, Ms. Miller. Hi, my name is Kim B. Miller. I'm in Dumfries, Potomac District. I can't appear to talk about something totally differently, but when the Spirit moves me, I move with the Spirit.

[01:08:20] Not always, but I try to listen sometimes. So, what I have to talk about today is inclusion. As a Christian, I have to speak on inclusion because it was brought up in this room. Inclusion is loving God and loving His words and loving His people.

[01:08:39] Not some of His people, not when it suits you, not when they do what you want, not when they act the way you want them to act. If I am to be Christ-like like I claim to be, then I need to love his people, every single one of them. And if I'm not showing them love, I'm showing them hate.

[01:08:56] Because you see, there's no gates in heaven. There's no fences. So you've got to pick a side now. You either speak up for people when you have the ability to, or you keep silent. And silence is agreeance. So my silence cannot be unheard.

[01:09:15] Whether you believe in the way someone loves or doesn't love does not give you the right to erase their existence. Whether you believe that they should have right or not, for you to say that someone shouldn't have pride in who they are, who are we becoming that we decide who can be happy, who can have pride, who can say I love myself and why?

[01:09:35] Are we really sure we want to say that's Christ-like? Be very careful when you speak for him. I try to be. I'm not perfect. I make a lot of mistakes. We all have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God.

[01:09:52] But for me to point to anybody in this room and to call you horrible and ungodly is not who I am. Because that would be a judgment that I would put on my head. And I don't want that judgment. I don't want him to look at me and say, I sent you there to be a better judgment for me.

[01:10:10] To show people the light, not the darkness. Make your point, yes. Love Jesus, yes. Love your family, yes. But if your love causes destruction for another person, I ask you to look at who you claim and deserve.

[01:10:27] Jesus is the Prince of Peace. And if you're not about peace, are you about Jesus? I'm not judging anybody in this room. I'm stating what I had to state, just like everybody else did. Love is the greatest gift.

[01:10:44] If you're not giving that, your argument falls on deaf ears. King said it best, hate begets hate. If you're looking for love, be an example of it.

[01:11:01] Thank you. And our next five speakers are Wanda Smith, Kelly Hucklaw, Bill Billard, Grace Littner, and Alan Gloss. I'm Wanda Smith. I'm from the Neabsco District. I sent an email yesterday.

[01:11:18] Oh, sorry. Chairman Wheeler, am I supposed to just talk to you or may I speak to the room? Speak to the room, the board, whatever you wish. I just want to make sure I'm not violating any freedom of information rules because I'm on a committee and we have to speak only to the chairman. I want to make sure, and that's the Art Council.

[01:11:35] I just want to make clear that I'm not violating. I sent an email to each and every one of you yesterday. You may not have had time to read it. So I would like to read it here. I am writing to the Prince William County Board of Supervisors to request that Resolution No. 4A be sent back for revision or vote no.

[01:11:54] Number one, the resolution asks for the Prince William County Board of Supervisors to void the 2022 to 2024 elected Prince William County Art Council board members as of June 30, 2023. These are Prince William County Art Council members who pay dues and are volunteers who agreed to serve. By doing this, you are eliminating the Prince William Art Council members from representation. Actually, this eliminates the complete elected board as the other half of the board members' terms do end on June 30, 2023, and that only leaves the Prince William County

[01:12:33] Board of Supervisor appointees. What does this say to our art community? We want art in our county, but we don't want you to serve on the Prince William Art Council Board. Number two, changing the number of Prince William Art Council board members from 17 to 10 also is sending a message that you don't want the Prince William Art Council members to have enough representation.

[01:12:58] If you want great art in this county, they need to have plenty of representation. I hope that your appointees have talked with you on these items. Some of the appointees may not know about number one, as I happened to look at the agenda for today's meeting, and the resolution was going to be held June 6th.

[01:13:17] This has not been brought up at the Prince William Art Council meeting on voiding the 2022-2024 elected terms. I'd be happy to talk to anyone because I do serve on the board. I represent, in a sense, the audience, and I'm not part of an art organization.

[01:13:36] Just so you know, thank you for your time, and I am Supervisor Angry's appointee to the board. One of the things that I don't know is when that resolution was received by the board because at our May 9th meeting, there was a nomination report, And the nomination report, which I'm sorry I didn't bring copies for all of you, recommends that all current members of the class of 24, those directors elected to serve, will complete the one year left in their terms.

[01:14:09] So I'm not sure why they're asking you to end their term on June 23rd, June 30th, 2023, in the resolution. Thank you very much for your time. Thank you. Next speaker, please. Good afternoon, Supervisors. My name is Kelly Hanna-Claw, and I'm the Brentsville District Representative.

[01:14:35] I wanted to share a visual, if I could, for a quick second. The heart I did. It's hard to get on there. The heart, basically. Here we go. Very difficult.

[01:15:00] You just lay it down, and there you go. There you go. There we go. You can leave it down. We can see it. It's very large. I painted that for a show that's coming up in Woodbridge, Virginia. at the Open Space Arts Gallery and the Arts Council and the Prince William County Art Society, putting together a show to celebrate Pride Month.

[01:15:26] And the title of this piece is Care More About Who You Love Than Who Others Love. Care more about who you love than who others love. And love each other. I also came here today to just speak briefly about the resolution that was first on the agenda today.

[01:15:46] Thank you very much, supervisors, for voting unanimously for that. The Arts Council spent a lot of time, starting back in December of last year, going over lots of different members' input, changes, additions, ideas.

[01:16:04] We spent three months talking about it, discussing it, having committing meetings, and it was voted in by the board. So I wanted everyone to know in the room also that this was a community effort to get this Arts Council Charter resolution passed.

[01:16:22] And a lot of thought went into it. I know that some of the members even who voted no at the meeting, their input was the majority of the input that went into the actual document. So it is a very fair method that it was done.

[01:16:40] We also had the oversight of our Department of Parks, Rec, and Tourism Director, Seth Hendler-Vos, as well as our parliamentarian, Donald Garrett. So thank you again, and have a great day. Thank you. Next speaker, please.

[01:17:00] Madam Chair, board members, I'm Bill Billard, Manassas-Coles. Well, I stand before you here today to say that I support gay rights, especially their right to bear arms against anyone who tries to do them physical harm.

[01:17:18] And I support their First Amendment rights to celebrate Pride Month and to peacefully and appropriately assemble to express their beliefs. There was a time when gay people were collectively blamed for the AIDS epidemic, much like how gun owners are collectively blamed and punished anytime there's a tragedy involving firearms.

[01:17:37] So bigotry is bigotry. And if you want to sum up my political views, I believe interracial gay couples should be able to defend their cannabis fields with fully automatic machine guns. So that sums it all up. But my heart also goes out to those in that community who suffers greatly from depression.

[01:17:54] I was not aware of how heavy the fight against their inner demons were until I buried a friend of mine who was a homosexual. He took his own life five years ago. That was a heavy tragedy. And that goes to show that there is a shadow, a heavy shadow, that follows the pride flag.

[01:18:10] Pride is definitely not a word or not a wise word that should be used. If you remember in the Holy Scriptures, pride is the first sin that caused Satan to fall. Unfortunately, it can be a gateway to sin, filling us with arrogance, which separates us from God. Now, modern LGBT activism has been hijacked by queens and cry bullies, expressing hate, anger, and violence to anyone who opposes their actions under the guise, love is love.

[01:18:35] I'll give you an example. There was a pastor who was preaching to sinners and baptizing sinners in Vancouver, and he was violently attacked by many modern LGBT activists. That was very progressive. Now, another problem we have is the attack upon children's innocence, bringing them to drag shows covered as Drag Queen Story Hour.

[01:18:58] Drag shows is sexual content, and it should be only for adults. Now, that's not just my saying. That is a saying from actual gay people and professional drag performers who do not agree with this. And I don't see why children would want to bring their children to such a thing.

[01:19:13] When you do so, you are sacrificing your child upon Satan's altar. That is evil. Now, there's also a problem with sexually explicit material for children to read in public schools, which is an abomination.

[01:19:30] Children should not be sexualized. Grooming or young this way is child abuse. And no doubt there's an agenda to normalize pedophilia. Now, that being said, we all, June, people fly the pride flag.

[01:19:46] They have every right to do so, but it shouldn't be flown on government buildings. Today is June 6th. It's D-Day. It was a day when American soldiers fought against national socialists who threw homosexuals in concentration camps and tried to exterminate them.

[01:20:03] Today we should be flying the red, white, and blue. That is the rainbow that we should be flying in the fight against fascism. So thank you all, and God bless. I'm sorry. You can either abide by our rules, what we ask everyone to do, or I will ask you to leave.

[01:20:20] Thank you. Our next speaker is Ms. Littner. Good afternoon, Chair Wheeler and supervisors. My name is Grace Littner from the Coles District. I just came here for my friends in the LGBTQ plus community to say happy Pride Day and to be a support.

[01:20:46] And I thought I would read this poem, and it's very well known. They're song lyrics by Bob Dylan, The Times They Are a-Changin'. And I'm going to preface that by saying I think the times are changing for the better, where we're not ruled by the majority and people have to hide who they love.

[01:21:16] I'm straight, and I have a husband and two daughters. And yes, I can procreate, but people can adopt. And a family is a family, whether it has two fathers, two mothers, or a mother and a father, or a single parent.

[01:21:35] So I'm going to read this poem. Come gather around people wherever you roam and admit that the waters around you have grown and accept it that soon you'll be drenched to the bone.

[01:21:53] If your time to you is worth saving, then you better start swimming or you'll sink like a stone for the times they are a-changing. Come writers and critics who prophesize with your pen and keep your eyes wide the chance won't come again and don't speak too soon for the wheels still in spin and there's no telling who that it's naming for the loser now will be later to win for the times they are a changing come senators congressmen please heed the call don't stand in

[01:22:30] the doorway don't block up the hall for he that gets hurt will be he who has stalled there's a battle outside and it's raging. It'll soon check your windows and rattle your walls for the times they are changing. Come mothers and fathers throughout the land and don't criticize what you can't understand. Your sons and daughters are beyond your command. Your old road is rapidly aging. Please get out of the new one if you can't lend your hand for the times they are changing.

[01:23:07] The line is drawn, the curse it is cast, the slow one now will later be fast. As the present now will later be passed, the order is rapidly fading, and the first one now will later be last for the times they are a-changing.

[01:23:24] Thank you. Thank you. We have three speakers, not Prince William County residents, Joan Duda, Anthony Coelho, and Susan Bardenhagen. Good afternoon, Alan Gloss-Coles.

[01:23:45] I wanted to commend the board for their remembrance of D-Day today. I really appreciate the observations that the board has done. It's really telling that having our historical record retold over and over is very important so we don't have to repeat the sins of the past.

[01:24:10] So I really appreciate what the board did in remembrance of D-Day today. Today I came to talk to you about the Virginia Supreme Court ruling in Gloss v. Wheeler against the five members of the Board of County Supervisors who chose to have an illegal meeting back in 2020. The county decided to allow the board, those five members, to purchase their own defense on behalf of the county. The county paid for the defense of their criminal actions.

[01:24:50] Court has ruled, has provided an opinion saying that the board, those five members of the board, illegally conducted a meeting back in 2020. Did not invite the public, did not invite other members of the board, did not inform the public like the law says they have to. They violated the Virginia Open Meetings laws. Now, for whatever reason, the county attorney allowed these five members to go out and purchase their own lawyers. I don't know why that decision was made. I don't know how that

[01:25:26] decision could have been made to spend so much money without a public vote. I came here to ask the board to publicly vote to either continue funding or get a refund from those individuals who have been determined by the Supreme Court to have broken the law. That's taxpayer money that does not belong to you. I don't care what your position is. If you broke the law, you broke the law. The county didn't. We want our money back. Thank you. Next speaker, please. Good afternoon,

[01:26:05] ladies and gentlemen. I'm Joan Duda, and I live in the city of Manassas. The times may be changing, but the truth never changes. I appreciate the opportunity to speak with you today and request that you please rescind the proclamation to designate June as Pride Month in our county.

[01:26:24] Before the word pride was usurped in the way it is today, it meant, quote, a consciousness of one's own dignity, unquote. Those are good words, right? Every human being has a dignity.

[01:26:41] That dignity is not based on our sexuality or skin color, our age or intelligence, our country of origin. It's not even based on our abilities or our disabilities. As the good reverend said when he opened with a prayer earlier, every human being has dignity because each of us is made in the image and likeness of God, solely because we're made in the image and likeness of God.

[01:27:09] Another meaning of the word pride is, quote, a feeling of satisfaction derived from qualities that are widely admired, unquote. Allow me to give you an example of that definition. This past Saturday, June 3rd, the beginning of June, Christians all over the world celebrated the Uganda martyrs. For those of you that did not excel in geography, Uganda is a country in East Africa. These 22 young men were brutally executed by their ruler because they would not condone or

[01:27:43] participate in unnatural and unchaste acts. Yes, homosexual acts. As Christians, we celebrate their faith in God, and the truth, the courage of these young men. Almost 50 years later, they remain an example of the cost of witnessing to truth.

[01:28:05] You probably won't face a horrific death by voting against designating this month as Pride Month. However, you most likely will suffer in some way for that vote. But like the Uganda martyrs, you will display a real reason to have pride Because you will be witnessing to truth Please, with God's help Be brave enough to do that Many are praying for you Thank you Next speaker, please Afternoon Thanks for coming together today We've got some pretty serious issues to discuss

[01:28:44] But my name is Anthony Colella I'm the owner and operator Of a local solar installer Named SunPower by Edge Energy We're about 50 people Got started in 2006 About 30 minutes away And for the last year Fourteen years I have been running our solar operations.

[01:29:03] Basically that means all of our designs, our permitting, engineering, a lot of project management for several thousand systems throughout the Virginia, Maryland, and D.C. area. Personally, I have actually tried permitting about 30 projects, residential projects, for solar panels in Prince William County over the last two years and have been only successful in getting three, three out of the 30.

[01:29:29] And all three of those came with several, several months of delays, lots of reviews, revisions, costs, and ultimately what costed the homeowners several thousand dollars completely unnecessarily. Because of that, I have actually completely pulled out of Prince William County 100%.

[01:29:46] I'm not doing business here. I'm not hiring here, advertising, installing, or selling here. And I know that all of my local competition and installers and many regional players have also done the same. As a county who claims to be pro-solar, that's a shame.

[01:30:04] What this is doing is it's not giving access or not giving residents access to a variety of different choices in solar at a fair and reasonable cost. Ultimately, that means installers like myself are not bringing revenue to the county. And the county ultimately is not taking fees and taxes and everything that would otherwise be millions of dollars worth of solar installed right here in the county.

[01:30:28] The reasons for this are pretty simple. There's three. Number one, there's an overbearing and complicated online permitting process that's just not within industry standards. I respect it's built for general construction, new homes, and businesses alike, but it's not for solar, and it just doesn't make sense. Number two, engineering requirements that are often redundant and excessive.

[01:30:45] Also, again, not in line with industry standards. And then three, a cost that is typically more than quadruple every other county in Virginia and Maryland and the District of Columbia. So I implore you guys, please stop stalling and apply pressure to the permit office to make a more streamlined and affordable option for residential solar.

[01:31:08] That could be something new, a program called Solar App Plus, or it could be modeled around any of your existing counties around us in Virginia or Maryland. Either way, we need to change this. We need to change it right now in summer of 2023. Thank you.

[01:31:24] Thank you. Next speaker, please. My name is Susan Bardenhagen.

[01:31:40] I am a resident of Greater Prince William County, residing in the city of Manassas. I have sent emails and documentation concerning 4A on today's agenda since last Thursday.

[01:32:00] I have been a member of the Prince William County Arts Council for at least 20 years. My digital archives go back to 2004, when I was secretary for the fiscal 2004 cycle, and I had to have been elected as a member rep during the 2003 to 2004 in order to serve as per the original charter of 1991.

[01:32:26] I have actively served in almost every officer position except chair of the Prince William County Arts Council, and I have served on all of the various committees, including the 2021, 2022, and 2023 Kathleen K. Seafelt Awards for Arts Excellence, which many people in this room or who have left but were here today attended.

[01:32:53] In the last two years, I have noted and attempted to address the lack of following the Prince William County Arts Council's 2018 charter, the misinformation and inaccurate listing of both the directors and members of the Arts Council, the biased and negative speaking about and towards both the Prince William County Arts Council members and organizations, and our noteworthy, as been proclaimed today, diverse and inclusive community

[01:33:27] by a DPRT staff member, both in writing and at public meetings. And I have, since December 13, 2022, been an active member of the appointed and approved ad hoc charter committee. Many of the directors have appealed to both supervisors and DPRT staff to address the inaccuracies and lack of protocol with respect to our approved budget, our charter of 2018 being followed, and even the

[01:34:00] county providing a roster of our fiscal 2023 membership. Item 4A on the consent agenda is not an accurate reporting of the Prince William County's council's actions, nor is the so-called revised charter an accurate rendering of the committee's attempted efforts. I am here today as a member of the community and an individual member of the Arts Council, speaking for those who have questioned and spoken up at meetings,

[01:34:39] have suffered and been demeaned since 2021. Thank you. This will conclude our public comment time. Ms. Madden, I don't believe we have anyone online. Is that correct? Okay.

[01:34:55] Well, that will conclude item number six, moves on to item number seven, which has been withdrawn for today. our only public hearing which moves us on to item number nine that's all right number eight uh county executive time mr shorter the floor is yours thank you madam chair and board members a few quick updates and i'll uh and i'll certainly be open to any questions as you are aware and may remember a resident of the homeless shelter at the forlazo building brought forth concerns at our

[01:35:34] previous board meeting about meals, pillows, and lighting at the shelter. As a reminder, since the public health emergency was declared and the need for social distancing, the Perlazo building has been used as a shelter for up to 50 adults experiencing homelessness. So on meals, pillows, and lighting, as far as meals, the Cooperative Council for Ministries has provided meals to the Hill Barge Homeless Prevention Center every day for almost the last 30 years.

[01:36:10] And they also provide meals for the drop-in center, falazo shelter, and supportive shelter, as well as meals for the hypothermia shelter during cold months. DSS relies strongly on this partnership and keeps food items on hand in the event a shelter resident has food allergies or need other or different kinds of food provided for health reasons but does not have the resources and, again, relies heavily on that partnership.

[01:36:43] In terms of pillows, DSS has purchased bed bug-resistant pillows for all beds, which should arrive this week. In terms of lighting, since the shelter is in a gymnasium at the Frolazo building, there are flood and emergency lights that come on when the lights are off. The emergency lights are dim and less bright, lights that are dim at night for safety reasons. The lights are kept on in the hallway as well so residents could get back and forth to the restroom and for the security guard

[01:37:21] who is monitoring for his security as well. We certainly take the health and safety of those in the shelter very seriously, and we appreciate the gentleman sharing his concerns with us for awareness and good news. He has been formally referred to rapid rehousing effective May 23rd.

[01:37:45] I also want to provide you all with a brief update on the Johnson family foster care case. I will say normally I would not provide an update on a situation this sensitive during a public meeting because foster care cases are confidential. However, because the complaint against staff and the processes followed by the county are at issue, we felt it necessary to let you know that we take these matters seriously and are reviewing the actions taken by staff and the Johnson's

[01:38:19] while allowing a separate legal proceeding related to the foster care case to follow its due course. I've asked our Deputy County Executive for Human Services to review the actions taken by staff to meet with the Johnson family to allow the opportunity to present any information they felt important for us to review.

[01:38:42] My office held an in-person meeting with the Johnson family on May 4th, answered questions, provided information, and subsequently met with the DSS director, Courtney Tierney, and her team. We are currently conducting a review of the staff materials and the information provided by the Johnsons related to her experience with county staff and should complete this review this month.

[01:39:09] If needed, DSS staff will work with the county attorney's office in the handling of any future legal matters related to the foster case, which is, again, confidential and not appropriate for any public forums, especially this one.

[01:39:28] Please know that we will address any concerns or process improvements on the county staff side should any be identified by my office as part of this review. And finally, I would also like to congratulate Dr. Sullivan, who is the Operational Medical Director for the county's fire and rescue system, who was selected as the winner of the Northern Virginia EMS Council Regional Award for Physicians with Outstanding Contributions to EMS.

[01:39:59] This award recognizes a Virginia-licensed physician who exemplifies outstanding leadership and dedication in pre-hospital care. I hope you will join me in congratulating our medical director on this great achievement.

[01:40:16] And that is all, Madam Chair. Madam Chair. Thank you. Supervisor Bodie? Thank you, Madam Chair. Just a request for perhaps a future meeting. I have gotten a lot of recent questions on the community safety initiative and sort of where we are in that.

[01:40:32] I know that we approve positions in that in the FY24 budget, and I know that work has been done by Dan Alexander and some other folks, but I know that the public is interested in seeing this begin to roll along, and I've gotten a question on that, so if we get an update on that at some point in the new future, I'd appreciate it.

[01:40:52] Very good. Happy to do that. Supervisor Begg? Thank you, Madam Chair. Mr. Schroeder, I don't expect you to have the answer off the top of your head, But I would like to request that we all be updated as to how much ARPA funding we still have remaining.

[01:41:09] Happy to. And I wanted to follow up with you real quick on my request to possibly open the landfill up on Sundays and looking into trading off, you know, closing at another day of the week where there's not as much traffic. Do we have any updates on that? Sure. In terms of the ARPA update, happy to provide maybe something in writing just so we can give the detail to the board.

[01:41:30] and I'll address it briefly during my time the next time we're together. In terms of the landfill, number of issues primarily related to staffing.

[01:41:46] I will say that the haulers that we service at the landfill haul on Mondays through Saturday. And so opening on Sunday will not benefit sort of private haulers and all those organizations, businesses, et cetera, that haulers support.

[01:42:06] I will say that from a staffing perspective, we are in competition with not just our surrounding jurisdictions, but private entities for staff. and working on Saturday and Sunday is very difficult for us to keep staff interested, even with overtime.

[01:42:27] This is not, at this point, staff are not interested in additional overtime, and making it mandatory and bringing staff in on a Sunday is very complex, and we've lost staff due to it.

[01:42:45] We are certainly still exploring, but it is a difficult and very tall order to open on Sundays. I think, I don't know if Director Smith is here, but certainly happy to have him provide some additional context.

[01:43:01] But I'll say that we are continuing to explore. If we are able to find some solution where we can bring in enough staff to open the landfill on a Sunday, I will certainly provide that information to the board in writing and also make an announcement about it during my time in our board meeting.

[01:43:20] And thank you for that, and I understand the challenges that we are facing in regards to staffing, but also it's very inconvenient for the taxpayers of Prince William County, and that should be our priority in ensuring that they get the service that they're paying for, which right now is not working out.

[01:43:36] As I shared with you all, folks do not have as easy access to the landfill Monday through Friday because they're working, and our hours of operation do not, you know, work with working schedules. And so I know that some of the measures that we implemented that improved Saturday's visit to the landfill came about the increased number of personnel working on Saturday.

[01:43:56] And so I do know that there have been, you know, I wouldn't call them studies, but that Tom and company has looked at the days during the week that have most traffic, least traffic, and I would like for us to continue to look at those days and do a tradeoff where we're giving staff off sometime during the week so that they can come and work in on Sundays because that is what works best for folks trying to access the landfill here in the county.

[01:44:19] But I do appreciate your efforts, and I want us to continue looking into us arriving at a point where we can open up the landfill on Sundays. So thank you. Supervisor Franklin. Sure. Just want to thank you for addressing and working on the DSS issue, but also wanted to just flag thank you to staff for working very diligently on the Fralazzo facility.

[01:44:46] I did receive a message actually on Friday from the gentleman that spoke who was incredibly thankful because the pillows had actually already arrived. And so thank you to you. Thank you to staff. I don't see them in the room, but he was very, very thankful for that. So thank you. Supervisor Weir.

[01:45:04] Thank you, Madam Chair. They're much shorter to dovetail on Supervisor Vega's comments. I mean, I get the challenges, but I look at it this way. In the FY24 budget, we have, in essence, doubled the fee impact on the residents.

[01:45:25] At the same time that we have doubled the fee impact, we've cut the services. It's not only the Sunday service and the problems that people have getting in and out of the landfill. It's the options for disposals of Balls Ford, no longer taking, you know, household chemicals, that sort of thing.

[01:45:46] And Saturday I found out that dumpster day next year is in question because of staff transfers. So I don't know what the answer is, but if we are going to double the cost to the average taxpayer in fees, I find it hard to justify cutting the services, and I think we need to find a solution, and we need to find a solution quickly.

[01:46:13] I'm not sure what it is, but that's what we pay you for. Yeah, let me be clear. I think we all desire the same thing. If it was a matter of me just switching shifts, I would do that. There is a national shortage of the people power, I'll say, that collect our trash, recycling, and compost, and a shortage of the people power to man our landfill.

[01:46:42] And so if we don't have the ability to staff, there isn't an answer to give. So we will certainly continue to explore. This is not a challenge we could buy our way out of.

[01:46:59] If we could just increase salary and get more staff, we certainly would come to the board and ask for additional resources to do that. This is a challenge of making sure that we're continuously recruiting, we're being very creative with pay, certainly, but that we're also training up additional CDL drivers and doing all of the work that we need to do to increase the pipeline. This is not a Prince William County only challenge, though. And we will, again, be as creative as possible

[01:47:35] to try our best to make sure, even if that best means that we are increasing the hours of operation during the weekday, which, again, I'm not making the commitment that we can do that. I have not spoken to the DPW team or public works team about that. But I will say that those are the kinds of ideas that we're certainly exploring where we could be as customer-focused as possible.

[01:48:08] That said, as far as I know, we do have some of the best in terms of operating hours. We have the best operating hours in the region in terms of the hours open and hours closed.

[01:48:25] So we're doing our best, and we'll continue to do that. Supervisor Franklin. Sure. I actually was just going to raise the point that you actually just made about, you know, it's a challenge that we've all been facing. We've gotten the constituent complaints about it.

[01:48:43] But if it's something that we could, you know, snap our fingers and solve, obviously we would do. But staffing is the number one issue. And that's not something that I don't, you know, I don't think that we can quickly resolve. And I know that other jurisdictions are also facing some of the same challenges.

[01:49:02] What I would encourage our colleagues to do, and Supervisor, you mentioned Dumpster Day. I host two Dumpster Days a year. I think all of us, if not most of us, probably host at least one. But, you know, if we need to increase the amount of dumpster days that we host to help out until we can kind of more permanently solve this issue, then I think we need to all consider kind of what we can do to be helpful to staff as well.

[01:49:27] And so I'd be willing to host additional dumpster days if that helps. Supervisor Bailey. Thank you, Madam Chair. And ditto, Supervisor Franklin. I think she and I do, all of us have dumpster days, and it does help.

[01:49:45] And I know that it is a regional problem because we're sitting on the boards and we're having those discussions, and it is a regional problem. And I trust the staff, Tom and his staff, because they have such an efficient landfill that they let us know in advance that there is a concern.

[01:50:07] to the county exec you know when we hire i know that we want to get the best subject matter experts that we possibly can uh and not and be very mindful of the taxpayers dollars as we're making those recruitments and they are subject matter experts and so i trust the decision uh going forward it it everybody knows it's an inconvenience but it's a regional inconvenience and so i appreciate the steps that you're taking to uh make sure that that's taken care of with

[01:50:38] that said i do have a request of you um uh one of the things that uh again with tom and his due diligence and his his team um that he's been working with me is on possum point and i appreciate um the uh the collaboration that you and the efforts that you've made with my office along with tom to make sure that we are going in the right direction as we look at this very sensitive

[01:51:09] environmental concern um and and so what my request is is that um if if if it's not an inconvenience that uh timing of something that i asked at his presentation his last presentation that maybe some either he specifically him or his team can make an appointment with each one of the supervisors to give a status update on possum point as we navigate this tenured severe problem in our county, that Tom and his team would give an update to each one of the supervisors

[01:51:47] so that they are abreast and understand the status and where we're going as we resolve this 10 to 12-year-old problem. And it is that severe. So if you would, please, sir.

[01:52:02] Happy to do so. Thank you. Thank you. Okay. That concludes County Executive Time. We'll move on to County Attorney Time. Ms. Robo, the floor is yours. Thank you, Madam Chair, members of the board. we have no items for closed session this afternoon okay well that makes that simple thank you that brings us to supervisor's time um if we could begin with our appointments if i could get a motion on 10 a and 10 b second motion made by supervisor lawson and supervisor bailey

[01:52:35] any discussion seeing none please vote vote unanimous um that moves us on to our individual supervisor's time today i'm going to start to my right and we'll go around and go from miss No, Ms. Vagan, yes, and yes, she'll be last, Ms. Bailey.

[01:52:56] Okay, thank you. On Friday, I participated in the Prince William County Memorial Day service where we honored those who paid the ultimate sacrifice for liberty and freedom, and I just want to thank all of our families here that have people that served, and thank you to the county for hosting such a wonderful memorial.

[01:53:18] I also toured Emerald Ironworks with Congresswoman Spanberger. And we basically were in conjunction with Goldman Sachs, I believe it's called their 100 Small Business Program.

[01:53:35] But basically, they connect small businesses with resources, whether it be through the SBA, whether it be through local jurisdictions, mentoring. I think they even provide some financial support.

[01:53:50] And so we were joined by other small businesses as well, took a tour of the facility and then had a discussion about the needs of small businesses, particularly within this region. So that was a wonderful event. And thank you to Justin with Emerald Ironworks for hosting everyone.

[01:54:08] Also, I participated in a screening of the Little Mermaid for young members of our community and their parents. And so that was a wonderful event on, I believe that was on Sunday, actually. And I just want to thank Delegate Candy King for hosting that event.

[01:54:24] Had a wonderful time. And I don't think I've seen the Little Mermaid in years. And so it was great to kind of sit with the kids and see their reactions. And then also I just want to congratulate the class of 2023. I know we had some graduations over the weekend with Bridge High School.

[01:54:41] I believe there were some graduations today. I think Patriot was yesterday. Maybe Brentsville today. Am I getting those wrong? Unity Reed. Okay. And I attended the Forest Park High School graduation on Sunday, which was a lot of fun.

[01:54:56] So congratulations to the class of 2023. I know we've got several more graduations coming up. I'm looking forward to seeing some of my colleagues there. And also, I just want to point out upcoming event on June 10th, my office will be, we will have a booth at the Taste of Woodbridge Festival at Stonebridge Potomac Town Center.

[01:55:17] So the festival will run from 11 a.m. until 6 p.m. So please stop by to say hello, and we will be near the Apple Store. So see you then. Thank you. Thank you. Supervisor Vega? Oh, I misunderstood you.

[01:55:33] I thought you said I was going to go last. I thought we were going that way. All right. So on May 24th, I had the pleasure of attending the ribbon-cutting ceremony for the Pruitt Family Behavioral Health Center at Youth for Tomorrow.

[01:55:48] I just want to state how important this facility is going to be here for Prince William County as we continue to talk about mental health and the challenges that come with it. This facility offers additional services to folks that may be struggling with mental health issues, anything of the like. And so I highly recommend folks to visit Youth for Tomorrow's website online so that you can get additional information as to the services that they're providing.

[01:56:11] On May 26, I attended the county's Memorial Day service here at the McCourt Complex. It was a beautiful ceremony, as always, and I hope we were all able to take a pause from our cookouts and travels to reflect on the lives of those we've lost in defense of our nation. Looking ahead, I'll be attending a meeting on June 25th with business owners from the Balls Ford Road and Sudley Road corridor with the police department to discuss the rampant and unfortunate increases in crime that these business owners have been experiencing since May 2020.

[01:56:41] I would like to thank members of the business community and just the community in general for reaching out to my office. I know that these are challenging times as we continue to struggle also with staffing within our police department and as crime continues to run rampant in our county. but please do know that we are paying attention and that we're doing everything that we can to ensure that we get things under control.

[01:57:01] Spoke already to you, Mr. Shorter, about the landfill update, and I do thank you again for your continued efforts in ensuring we find that happy medium, whatever it looks like, so that we can have folks here happy in the county along with staff. Also want to make sure that we all remember that today is the 79th anniversary of D-Day.

[01:57:19] Seventy-nine years ago today, over 4,000 men lost their lives liberating Europe from the horrors of Hitler and the National Socialist German Workers' Party. The first ones off those boats knew that once they docked, they'd be sitting ducks and likely wouldn't be returning home, but still, they got off.

[01:57:35] They were our modern-day heroes, and their bravery and courage continues to resonate to this day. And finally, Madam Chair, I would like for you to provide an update to the board in regards to the procedures when it comes to prayer. for the longest time the board has not had prayer during our board meetings and you have preferred that we do a moment of silence and that has been by your personal preference although i am of the opinion that i know the real reason why we're not having prayers on before our board meetings be that as it may i want to share with you all that i received an email on may 24th and the email stated that a prince william county chaplain was asked by one of our county employees

[01:58:13] to provide the benediction at the memorial day observance and later the prayer was canceled quote-unquote because it is divisive she added that there was a quote-unquote recent policy change taking prayer out of all ceremonies of all the ceremonies to take prayer out of the memorial day observance one in my opinion was not the right one and we shouldn't even be doing that in the first place and so I want to know what is the policy moving forward and what we're going to do to make sure that this is not happening I don't understand why prayer has become controversial I don't like it it shouldn't be if people want to come here and pray before our board meetings they are welcome to do so. I know that at one point you stated that we didn't have chaplains

[01:58:51] or pastors that were available. If that's the case, I am more than happy to make myself available to pray before our board meetings, but I don't want us to be picking and choosing who can stand before this podium and this governing body and pray when we're excluding others. And if my memory serves me correctly, and correct me if I'm wrong, I do not ever voting on a policy that removes prayer from our county-sponsored ceremonies or even prayers in these chambers. And so I understand that if you're not able to provide an answer for me right now that you need more time happy to give you the time but I certainly do think that we need to establish some parameters and follow those parameters so that people don't feel like you know we're picking and choosing who can pray when

[01:59:30] and that we're completely taking prayer out of our ceremonies because per our own county employee that is the response that she gave this chaplain and Mr. Shorter I don't know if you have anything that you would like to add but again I don't ever recall the county or us voting and taking such a position on this issue I'll just address those there are two very separate separate issues with regards to our commemorative ceremonies I will let staff address that going forward that wasn't a policy decision made by the board and you know it depends on what there are policies set by

[02:00:06] staff as opposed to policies we don't set every single policy in the county so let me finish yeah but it just says that we took we took the vote madam chair that's why we did not take a vote no no i know we didn't but i'm just telling you that the response was that the board made the decision well we will correct in making sure people get the correct information and so we'll address that going forward and and i'll let uh chief executive shorter um talk about that with regards to prayer at the board meetings it's you know for years we went out and we solicited people and um to do prayer and it turns out that that apparently is not legal to go solicit people

[02:00:43] okay and it was made a decision that people had to come to us if they wanted to do a prayer um and so uh especially especially during covid we didn't have people and so um a lot of it defaulted to just a moment of silence um i i do nothing to go out and solicit prayer because that's apparently illegal um the gentleman who was with us today asked contacted the clerk of the court i believe ms madden sorry clerk of the sorry clerk of the board i know like that um and asked to come and speak and maybe ms roble would you sort of can you edify this so because i have not made no changes i am not doing anything we are still

[02:01:22] following the same procedure and i'm trying to follow the law madam chair members of the board if you'd like i can prepare some more information and bring it to you in closed session to once again, provide legal advice, with regards to there is a distinction between legislative prayer, which is the prayer that is given at board meetings, at Congress, et cetera, and then county-sponsored prayer at other events, such as our police recruit graduation, et cetera.

[02:01:48] The United States Supreme Court has had several issues with regards to this. I was trying to quickly find in the rules of procedure, the board has adopted a policy with regards to the invocations. You are correct, Madam Chair. The courts have ruled that you cannot solicit someone to come here.

[02:02:06] It is open for anyone who wants to come and provide prayer to you. But I will organize everything, pull our old memos, and I will add this to the closed session for next Tuesday if you would like. Madam Chair. Supervisor Vega. Thank you. Ms. Robo, is there a reason why we can't have the discussion in the public view?

[02:02:24] I don't understand why we have to go to closed session to talk about prayer. I would prefer to give my legal advice to the board in confidence in case you have any questions to be able to provide my best advice to you. And thank you, Madam Chair, for that. I just want to be very clear that I didn't say, I didn't mean to imply that you were doing something differently.

[02:02:42] I just want to be very clear that if somebody reaches out to the board, to the clerks, and says that they want to pray before our board meetings, they are welcome to do so. Thank you. That is correct. Madam Chair. We're going through supervisor's time. I understand that. I'd like to ask Ms. Robel regarding her.

[02:03:01] Supervisor Lawson. Ms. Robel, will you include on your memo to the board the discussions related to other county-sponsored events that was referenced? You mentioned the police ceremonies as an example, but Supervisor Vega was specifically referencing the Memorial Day observance, and I would assume that that falls into the same realm, but can you advise us?

[02:03:28] I will provide you advice with regards to county-sponsored events and then legislative prayer. Yes, ma'am. All right. Thank you very much. We'll move to Supervisor Angry. Thank you, Madam Chair. It's been a busy week, but I just want to highlight two things. One is happy birthday, Ms. Gertrude LeBlanc.

[02:03:49] She's 100 years old, actually last week, and she's a World War II Army veteran. So happy birthday, ma'am. Secondly, I want to highlight and commend the Prince William Barr Association for their Beat the Odds program.

[02:04:06] So 17 young folks, we had a dinner for them last week, and they will graduate, and they graduated from this program that they put on in the court system. All are, you know, stumbled and ended up in the court system and went through this program and now are moving on to be productive citizens.

[02:04:25] And so I want to congratulate all 17 of them and also thank the Bar Association for putting that program on. It's a great program. So if you have the chance to look into that, it's an awesome program. Thank you, Madam Chair. Thank you, Supervisor Angry. Supervisor Weir.

[02:04:41] Thank you, Madam Chair. Unusually, I've got a couple of things tonight, which is not my norm. I would be remiss as a boomer, the child of the greatest generation, the son of a World War II veteran, not to make note of today.

[02:04:57] uh and the sacrifices that that generation made to keep our country free on a more upbeat note i would like to congratulate the battlefield graduating class which is doing their graduation ceremony during this meeting so unfortunately neither i nor supervisor lawson can be there this afternoon but my congratulations go out nonetheless um and then i have a warning for the board uh my office had the tyler elementary student government council in last week to talk

[02:05:33] about a community center um they'll be heading your way because i sent them your way um if you think people at citizen's time are tough wait till these 13 elementary school kids come into your office um because they're not taking prisoners or no for an answer i'm sure you'll hear from them directly uh but it was quite refreshing to get their perspective uh i also like to thank uh the people out there that uh sponsored thoroughfare day on saturday um thoroughly enjoyable um quite

[02:06:08] quite the event quite the spread and especially after having stood out in the heat of dumpster day all morning at suddenly elementary um mr shorter i would appreciate with respect to dumpster day uh if i understood my conversation with staff on saturday that that may be threatened in the future as the litter staff has is going to undergo a transfer to different duties if we could look into that to ensure that we have staffing to continue dumpster day operations in the in the

[02:06:44] coming years that would be great and that's all i've got thank you supervisor lawson thank you madam chair uh mr weir i look forward to sitting around a table with elementary school kids and what did you say they're going to lobby us on community center in the west end great i think that sounds like a great conversation um speaking of students i have enjoyed attending high school graduations yesterday i was at brunsville's graduation in the afternoon and then in the evening at patriot and the weather couldn't have been any better for these celebrations and this afternoon, I was at Unity Reads graduation, which is exactly why I was late to this board chamber.

[02:07:22] My apologies. I thought maybe I had enough time, but clearly I did not. And I want to make a couple comments regarding some votes that I missed. I actually was planning to vote for the adoption of the Arts Council Charter and had notified my appointee, Kelly Hanaclaw, who spoke during comment time, and I appreciate the work that she did to go into that, as well as Mr. Seth Handler-Voss and others, and would have, had I been here, would have supported that. Had I been

[02:07:57] here, I would not have supported Pride Month. I have a long record of voting against that as a conscious objector to my faith, the faith of many people that I represent, and the faith of other people that that don't share my faith but pride month is in conflict with the beliefs that they have and i will maintain that that the government should not be forcing a quote celebration of thing of behaviors that they have a moral objection to nobody is spewing hatred it's simply that we don't

[02:08:33] agree with the agenda and I would have done what I've done in the past which is voted against that had I been sitting here and on a very exciting note it it has been an exciting time in the world of sports for Brentsville high school students so we've got a new state championship team and in Prince William County. We have the Patriot Boys track that I actually shared with the athletic director last night that I would like to coordinate. Madam Chair, we'll work with your office to

[02:09:10] coordinate the Boys track team to come down sometime this summer, probably before they all go off and do their things in the fall, college and whatnot. And then in Brentsville, we have the girls softball and soccer going to the state quarterfinals and the Brentsville Boys baseball going to the state quarterfinals and then another point of recognition for three students in Prince William County two Patriot High School students these by the way this is not sports related two Patriot High School students and Supervisor Vega one of your Hilton students I think this is

[02:09:49] super impressive three Prince William County students from the model judiciary program at C.D. Hilton and Patriot High School competed at the Virginia Supreme Court's annual moot court competition. My neighbor happens to be one of the recipients, Mr. Greg Rui, Elaine Yu, a junior at Patriot, and the gentleman from, or I'm sorry, not a gentleman, Rebecca Clark from Hilton High, all won their respective moot court cases as determined by the four Virginia Supreme Court justices and one sitting judge who presided over the appellate court. And what I think is really

[02:10:25] interesting about the moot court is they are arguing cases as if they were arguing them before an appellate court. So the cases hypothetically had already been to trial. So they're stepping up their game even more, which I find remarkable. I unfortunately didn't know that my neighbor was participating. I would have enjoyed watching him. He's the grandson of a federal judge, so I'm thinking that Greg is going to probably take after his granddad, but just wanted to also highlight academic achievements of Prince William County students, and Madam Chair, that's all I have,

[02:11:01] but I really do enjoy bragging on Brentsville students. Thank you so much. Thank you. Supervisor Bode, your Vice Chair Bode. Thank you, Madam Chair. On the 25th of May, I attended the Center for Environmental and Natural Sciences Water Sculpture Ceremony at Freedom alongside some of my colleagues. And that evening, I also attended the Old Bridge Road, Prince William Parkway intersection public information meeting at Kerrydale. Kudos to Paolo Bolida and the rest of transportation staff for putting on that information meeting. We gained a lot of great feedback on that project from the public, especially our businesses over in that area.

[02:11:34] On the 26th, I attended early in the morning the Business Appreciation Month event at AIM, human performance at Tackett's Mill. And then I went on to the Memorial Day commemoration that folks talked about previously. Also want to thank my Veterans Commission appointee, Nancy Jean-Louis, for her participation on both the committee and the event. And also that evening, I attended the Omega Sci-Fi Scholarship Award Ceremony, where they gave scholarships to quite a few different students, both entering college and those graduating from college, and their next chapters in life.

[02:12:07] On the 31st of May, my office held an Occoquan Mobility Town Hall called Mobility Matters. I want to thank Paolo, Megan, Richard Weinman, and everyone else from our DOT for their participation there. Dr. Bob Schneider and Joe Stansby from OmniRide, and all the residents who participated and tuned in to that town hall.

[02:12:27] If you missed it, it's on our website and as well as on our YouTube page for my office. On the 1st of June, I attended the Prince William County Schools Retirement Ceremony for our outstanding educators at Garfield High School. This was for all countywide educators who were retiring, but it was held at Garfield.

[02:12:45] We also had our PRTC OmniRide Budget Adoption Meeting that night as well, so we were doing double duty. Also, on the 4th, I attended the Woodbridge Senior High Graduation. It was a really, really great celebration. I know that some of my colleagues joined me there.

[02:13:01] The Viking Village is the biggest high school in the county. They had a lot of really great accomplishments with this senior class. They really reflected on the fact that this senior class, they were freshmen and sophomores when the pandemic hit four years ago.

[02:13:17] So they had sort of unique challenges that many before and after them did not face necessarily in quite the same way. Today, I wanted to also join some of my colleagues in acknowledging D-Day and all those who put themselves literally on the front lines against the fight against fascism around the world seven decades ago.

[02:13:36] Also wanted to do another throwback to when this board enshrined non-discrimination policies on the basis of gender identity and sexual orientation into our human rights ordinance. And I appreciate my colleagues back in 2020 who have supported us on that. Looking ahead on the 22nd of this month, we will be having our Alcon District Community Safety Town Hall.

[02:13:55] It's going to be in person recorded as well for folks who can't make it in person but will be in person and please be advised in sometime in the near future on when that where that's going to be and finally without objection i would like to direct staff to explore what it would take to implement a conservation easement on the davis ward park site as they continue to work through my previous directive on having a master plan that's all i have madam chair thank you supervisor bailey thank you madam chair good afternoon everyone. On May 24th, I enjoyed the ribbon cutting at Youth for Tomorrow with Madam Chair

[02:14:31] and my other colleagues at the Cecil Pruitt Jr. Center for Behavioral Health, and it was an absolutely gorgeous day, and thank you to Youth for Tomorrow for what you do to serve our community. Thank you to my staff for attending the Potomac Senior High School Award Ceremony.

[02:14:49] I hear that there were a lot of scholarships passed out, and our students across the county are doing exceptional, not just athletic, but in conjunction with their athleticism academics. And I'm very proud to say that. On the 26th, I was grateful to attend the very sincere, jovial, and respected funeral for Ms. Elsie Garrison in the Dunfries community, 101 years old at the United Methodist Church.

[02:15:17] And she left a legacy of, as someone mentioned this afternoon, a legacy of love for those and for everyone here in this county. And, Ms. Elsie, we will miss you. And I want to offer prayers for the gentleman that same day because of his grief for his family had an unfortunate passing out on that same day.

[02:15:39] And he passed away on that Sunday. And so the legacy of love is essential in politics. Thank you to all of my staff for representing our office on the Memorial Day service event. We must continue to pray for and remember the following service, men and women of our country.

[02:15:57] On June 1st, I attended the Prince William County Retirement Ceremony at Woodbridge High School. It was absolutely wonderful to see the camaraderie and the collaboration and the respect for those who have served our children here in Prince William County. On June 2nd, what a great experience I had with Colonel Brooks and Representative Spanberger as we went through the wonderful Quantico training operations exercise in boots and all that gear.

[02:16:26] It was a lot of fun. It was an honor also later on that afternoon to be with Representative Spanberger as she initiated in Prince William County the initiative called the POWER Act that addresses fentanyl and substance use treatment around the table in our county.

[02:16:45] And so it was an exceptional meeting as we address, again, substance abuse and mental health. June the 3rd, thanks to the Parks and Rec team, Janet Barkmark and the staff for the great ribbon cutting for finally, what, disc golf.

[02:17:03] It was so much fun. So along with Pickleball, we've initiated from the Potomac District two new sports in our county. Everybody needs to join us. It was an exceptional affair. On June 4th, I had a wonderful time at the graduation for Woodbridge High School.

[02:17:22] Excuse me, not Woodbridge, but Forest Park High School. It was so much fun to see all the excitement of the parents and the team. On June 5th, I just want to say happy anniversary to my husband of 40-plus years, Cozy Bailey.

[02:17:39] Thank you so much for the ride, honey. And thank you to David McGettigan and the planning department for coming in and having a meeting with me on my anniversary date at the time that I requested about the future of Potomac. On June 6th, my office will be attending the Unity Reed High School graduation, and congratulations to all of the seniors.

[02:17:59] June 7th, I will be having a town hall with Montclair residents to address their issues with the wonderful silt that we've been discussing for over a year. And on the 14th, with Potomac Shores, and Supervisor Franklin, I meant to say this to you before, but with Potomac Shores to discuss the lighting issue that's in Potomac Shores and the unfortunate fatality that we had there.

[02:18:24] There is a fix, and we are working on it. June 17th will be Dumpster and Shredding Day at Washington Reed Elementary School from 9 to 1 p.m. I invite all to come to help us as we address the issue that we've discussed before.

[02:18:40] And lastly, today is World War II D-Day, and we thank you for the souls that have passed on, that served, and for the legacy that is left behind. Thank you, Madam Chair. Thank you, Supervisor Bailey. I'm just going to run down some things for the last two weeks.

[02:18:58] For the Business Appreciation Month, I got to visit U.S. Foods Manassas Distribution Center, which they recently expanded. Really incredible place. They're putting solar on the top of their building, too. And it's just, it was right up in the Wheeler Report, but it was really just an excellent place to visit.

[02:19:14] Glad they decided to expand here. I was honored to be able to speak at the Youth for Tomorrow ribbon cutting for the Pruitt Administration and Behavioral Health Center. Youth for Tomorrow was such a great addition to our county. I also attended the annual Beat the Odds program hosted by the Prince William County Bar Association.

[02:19:30] I also got to visit Premier Martial Arts in Woodbridge on Thursday the 25th, which was a great example of a small business that was able to weather the pandemic through federal and local help and still flourish. I got to speak at the county's Memorial Day commemoration. Later that day, on Friday the 26th, I participated in a ride-along with the PwC Police Department on the eastern end of the county.

[02:19:53] Memorial Day, I was able to stop by and attend the American Legion Post 364 in Woodbridge, their annual Memorial Day picnic, and speak to some of our residents here who had served. It was a wonderful event. On Wednesday, the 31st, I got to speak at the Police Department Promotion Ceremony.

[02:20:11] Always great to see that we're adding so many wonderful people to our ranks. On Thursday, June 1st, I attended Communities in Action, Building a Better Virginia at the White House. That was a lot of fun, and they talked about some of, we heard from around the Virginia area about different places that were using the money from the federal government in different ways, and it was really quite fascinating.

[02:20:33] I also attended the retirement ceremony at Garfield Senior High School for the people who are leaving the Prince William County school system. Last Friday, I attended Fridays at Five concert here in the government center. It was busy.

[02:20:49] It was noisy. It was great. lot of great music it was yes it was hopping it was hopping um i'm never gonna let that one down it was hopping and uh you know i just kudos to the staff for putting that on you could just see that the community brought out chairs and really really enjoyed it um you know and i know we're going to keep on doing that so thank you to staff for that um let's say oh i also on saturday i stopped by uh the merchant park in dumfries for a stop the community violence picnic put on by PowerMax, an organization that does a lot of community outreach.

[02:21:22] I'm going to feature them in the Wheeler Report this Friday. This past Sunday, I got to participate in the ceremonies for Woodbridge and Forest Park High Schools always, so our student body is always just so amazing. I'm so grateful to be in Prince William County with our school system. Finally, this morning, I got to participate in a virtual roundtable with some of my seatmates, with Congresswoman Abigail Spanberger, with her office talking about the grants that are available on the federal level as well as what we were interested in from our local level about seeing what they could work on. I do have two directives sort of one that people probably know is coming. It's as the

[02:22:02] board knows the taxicab review board needs vacancies filled by interested and experienced members to allow them to conduct their important business. One immediate past member of the taxicab review board has several businesses and owns property in the county and has served on the Taxicab Review Board for over 30 years and is well-versed in the rules and regulations of the taxicab industry in Prince William County, has acted as a chairperson for many years and is willing to continue to serve.

[02:22:27] Recently, he relocated to a neighboring county and therefore is ineligible to serve pursuant to the current county code, which requires the members of the Taxicab Review Board to reside in Prince William County. According to the county attorney, this residency requirement is not a requirement by Virginia Code.

[02:22:44] Therefore, I would love if we could exercise our authority to enact a reasonable regulations of taxi cabs within the county. Therefore, I'd like to, without objection, issue a directive to the county attorney to prepare an amendment to Section 27-37 of the Prince William County Code to strike the residency requirement for members of the Taxi Cab Review Board and to include this proposed amendment for board consideration with the annual county code update in June.

[02:23:12] Okay. I want to direct the county attorney to prepare an amendment to our current ordinance to Section 27-37 of the Prince William County Code, rather, to strike the residency requirement for members of the Taxicab Review Board and to include this proposed amendment for board consideration with the annual county code update in June.

[02:23:39] Madam Chair, members of the board, that directive was drafted a while ago. And so it was not included in the annual county code update, but we will do it separately and bring for you a resolution to authorize a public hearing for the separate code amendment on that.

[02:23:55] Okay. So sorry about that. Also, I would like to direct the county executive to collaborate with the city managers of the city of Manassas and the city of Manassas Park to develop a separate shared services billing agreement that formalizes the mechanics for the annual shared services billing.

[02:24:16] which is something that apparently we sort of need. Any objection to that? Okay. With that, I was going to say move on to the next item, which is the closed meeting, but we don't have a closed meeting today. So right now it's 4.30. We are going to recess until the 7.30 public hearings for our land use cases.

[02:24:39] The board will be going to dinner. And so this is different because we normally don't go to dinner because we had a pandemic and we were always eating in, and so I solicited suggestions, and I'm going to suggest we go to Not Your Average Joe's in Stonebridge.

[02:24:57] Does anybody have a problem with that? Okay. We'll have to work out a list of where we go for dinner now that we're having time to go to dinner, and we'll figure that out. We will be meeting, I think 5.15 should give us enough time to drive down there.

[02:25:14] Does that sound good to everybody? Yeah, side door, if anybody wants to join us at 5.15, we will be at Not Your Average Joe's eating in Woodbridge. Thank you. We'll be back at 7.30.

[02:25:27] Good evening.

[02:28:42] Welcome back to board chambers. It's now the 7.30 p.m. evening session with our public hearings. On our consolidated agenda for the evening, we have one, which is the rezoning for King's Crest and the Occoquan Magisterial District.

[02:29:00] I am going to open the public hearing for Agenda Item 12A. We have some people signed up to speak. And can you check online, Ms. Madden, also one minute. When I call your name, please line up in the back of the room, and the microphone is in the back.

[02:29:19] Everyone will have three minutes. Feel free and just make sure you state your name. And generally where you live in the county, Magisterial District is fine at the beginning of your remarks. We have Delton Nichols and Jack Kuyumjian. So good evening, everyone, and good evening, supervisors.

[02:29:48] I'm Delton Nichols, live in Hunters Ridge, and I'm here representing MITCO in Martin Jeter's absence. So we are happy in MITCO to support King's Crest. And this has been very well planned, and the applicant has worked with the community.

[02:30:12] and gotten feedback from the surrounding community members and has made changes based on that feedback, which is very good. And the project's housing density conforms to both the previous semi-rural residential comprehensive plan classification.

[02:30:35] And the property's environmental features are well protected. and the buffering for existing neighborhoods, homes, is substantial. The project is a good fit with the surrounding community in terms of lot size and character of the properties.

[02:30:57] As a matter of fact, we haven't heard any negative comments or feedback from the surrounding communities concerning King's Crest. The plan will result in 48% of the property remaining undisturbed, and the project will feature low-impact development techniques, and this is all particularly important due to the project's proximity to the Occoquan Reservoir.

[02:31:24] And we appreciate the applicant's effort for protecting the specimen trees and ER acres. And the only concern that we have at this time is that we do question the need for the Prince William Department of Transportation, the requested provision, for an interposal connection that would extend Fingerleg Way into the Delaney Track.

[02:31:53] This connection could lead to significant traffic through existing communities when the Delaney Track is developed and the Delaney Track already has a dedicated access point on the Prince William County Parkway. And so these are our comments and thank you very much. Thank you very much. Next speaker, please. Good evening, Madam Chairman and members of the board. Jack Creams, your president of LOCA. I'd like to ask for five minutes. I don't think I need it, but As president, I just want to make sure I cover the points.

[02:32:31] Sure. We met with the applicant on September 29th, and so it's been some passage of time. We've checked in with them on different details. But I will say this has been the most comfortable project to review because while there was some bumpiness in the very beginning, things smoothed out very quickly because we wanted to have a harmonious community with the surrounding neighborhood.

[02:32:56] And like Hunter's Ridge and the surrounding communities that have a rural street design, they have ditches and no sidewalks. There's no direct access via the Prince William Parkway, but via the existing residential connections for King's Crest.

[02:33:17] King's Crest is not having any new entrances. They're using all the existing entrances in the surrounding adjacent residential communities. And also the RPA and perennial stream on the north side is protected.

[02:33:33] We had focus on the north because it was closer to the Aquaman Reservoir, and we have a slightly higher density on the north than we do on the south. But to us, it made a lot of sense as we saw the separation from the parkway. We thought, well, we could go a little higher density on the south side.

[02:33:50] But the north is what we were really trying to focus on for the Aquaman protection. And we did have extensive discussion on tree preservation on the north side closer to the RPA near the Aquacorn Reservoir.

[02:34:06] That was a very, I think, fruitful discussion. And we have agreement with the applicant that we will have a courtesy review. So when the final site plan is approved, before it's approved, all the communities will get together, LOCA, MIDCO, Hunters Ridge, and the surrounding communities, and we will have a discussion on tree preservation and such. All the lots will be on Well and Septic. It fits in harmony with all that's in there right now. And I do want to bring up one thing that Delton brought up,

[02:34:40] was the VDOT is requiring an inter-parcel connection from King's Crest to the Delaney parcel. And we thought this might be overkill for the harmonious and quiet neighborhood that we have there considering that Delaney already has guaranteed access on directly on the parkway.

[02:35:01] And we look at this as a possible cut through that it's not a positive for the quality of life for the existing residents there. And there is a plan to put in dry ponds for stormwater management on the property. We have a lot of impervious area to protect groundwater recharge, and we were also having a discussion on the historical aspects of the Priest Mill, the 1700s facility. It's just outside of the King's Trest property, and it's entirely contained on the Delaney Tractor,

[02:35:39] as far as we know. But we definitely wanted to support this. There was no angst at all on the overall concept. We would just like to comment that the VDOT interpersonal connection bothers the community in our discussion, so we really don't think that would be a positive.

[02:35:59] Thank you very much. Thank you very much. Is there anyone else in chambers who would like to speak on 12A? If so, please approach the microphone. Ms. Mann, do we have anyone online for either of the public hearings? This will officially close the public hearing on item 12A.

[02:36:21] Because it is unconsolidated, we're not going to have an applicant or staff presentation. It's in the Occoquan District. I'm trying to get back to my... Yeah, Madam Chair, I would like to move 12A forward. Second. Motion made by Supervisor Bode, seconded by Supervisor Bailey.

[02:36:42] Okay. We have a motion on the floor. Discussion. Supervisor Lawson. And can you start timing us? Supervisor Lawson. Well, you can time me all you want. but I need to ask staff a question regarding Dr. Jack's comments related to VDOT.

[02:37:03] So we've had a public hearing, now I'd like to address the concerns. And for the record, I do appreciate MIDCO and LOCA's involvement in this project and commend them for it, but you raised a good question. How are we going to address it?

[02:37:21] George Phillips with Prince William County DOT. We asked for inter-parcel connections to, in this case, to minimize local traffic, having to go out on Prince William County Parkway, then go back into the community next door if they wanted to do that.

[02:37:44] In looking at the Delaney Track, it does not connect to any other roads except Prince William Parkway. There are no other inter-parcel connections to the north or to the east from it. So, you know, staff's position is that we will continue to recommend and desire that with this application.

[02:38:03] I appreciate that, George, but are you confident that you'll eventually get VDOT to approve it? Or what are the assurances for the concerns that the community have raised and for any concerns that we might have? In terms of the two communities, we don't know how the Delaney track will develop, to be honest.

[02:38:26] But is this something that has to be approved through VDOT, right? That's my understanding. Okay. It's also something that we asked for as well. Right. We agree with VDOT in this case. Okay. So just like to manage expectations, is the community fully aware that there's some uncertainties here?

[02:38:48] That's something I'd probably have to talk to. Maybe Supervisor Bode wants to weigh in on it. Yeah. I was going to say the applicant, we talked about this a little bit if he wanted to, Mr. McBride, if you wanted to address that. Sure. Happy to. just one of the things that as an applicant we worked with the community and between us this is actually a vdot requirement it's an automatic requirement of connectivity of the road network what happened was we wanted to preclude for the community in the future no matter what happens

[02:39:27] with delaney that this would not occur so we filed a waiver we paid we met with vdot we met with DOT. Unfortunately, VDOT's position, quite frankly, and we told the community, their position was, well, we see your point. It may be prohibitively expensive to do it because there are some water courses, some steep topography. That's one of the criteria of our waiver. And they said it may be that. It may not be a good idea at the time, depending upon what Delaney's development pattern

[02:40:02] is and use but we're not going to tie our hands in the future and i can tell you and you probably know better than i that's kind of vdot's way of of operating um they don't like to pre-make decisions so nothing will be done by this development to further that connection we have to make a reservation which we're not building houses there anyway so nothing will be built there And in the future, that decision will be with the Delaney land use, which means the Delaney zoning.

[02:40:39] Obviously, if it's not rezoned and it goes by right, you won't have that connection. Does that help? It does. It absolutely does. And I like this dialogue because I'm hopeful that it is helpful for the community's sake.

[02:40:57] And as you know. We are, too. That's where our houses are going is right there. Right, right. and, you know, manage expectations. Yeah, exactly. Thank you. Are there any other questions? Supervisor, do you have a question?

[02:41:13] I've got a question both for staff and the applicant, and I'd prefer staff give their answer first. Looking at the history of the case, and in September of 21, September of 22, March of 23, and April of 23, the profit amount for affordable housing was $500 per unit.

[02:41:38] in looking at the case file, there is no justification or analysis that supports that $500 per unit proffer. And, you know, it strikes me that something like that, a conditional proffer like that has to be in some fashion attributable to the impacts of the development or the impacts to a public facility. And I don't see any justification for it at all. And then suddenly

[02:42:10] you go 13 days later from april 28th of this year to february 11th of this year and the proffer amount jumps from 500 per unit to 2500 per unit how did that occur and why and what is the justification uh good question supervisor weir um so one of the things that's very important to the county right now is our affordable uh dwelling units we don't have a an ordinance in place but we're working on that and over the years we've been having applicants contribute to the

[02:42:48] affordable dwelling unit what is it I'm sorry the housing contribution fund and they've been providing money into that fund over the the past as far back as I know and a couple of years ago they realized that that money might not have been enough so we've been seeing cases coming forward where they're offering a little more like a thousand fifteen hundred and based on our conversation in

[02:43:23] this specific case what you're asking is why did it jump up to where it is I'm going to give you my answer and then I'm going to let the applicant address your question as well but with respect from staff position, you know, we spoke with the applicant, they realized that the development community has contributed more in recent cases and they took a look at that and then they made an offer of $2,500 per unit in the proffers. At the planning commission, we accepted it

[02:44:01] with the understanding, you know, that we do need more affordable dwelling units and if we can't get that, then we need some fund until we can get an affordable dwelling unit ordinance. So this occurred at the Planning Commission hearing level? That is correct. And then it was, was it suggested by the Planning Commission? Was it just simply given to them? Did it occur? I mean, how did that process work? I can let the applicant describe that because they were the ones that recommended it.

[02:44:27] Thank you, Mr. Weir, board members. Basically, as you all know, residential builders, like many others deem a monetary proffer appropriate to provide affordable housing in Prince William.

[02:44:48] We deem it reasonable and appropriate. All of them are done voluntarily. I know I personally have done them in Prince William back in 2012, although probably earlier than that. I think your question really related to the amount, not the need, because it's in the comprehensive plan and a strategic plan so let's address that the need that was a marker we were trying to find because there's been no guidance and the county has stayed away from guidance until stayed away

[02:45:24] from providing guidance and it's not an los so the question is what do the builders proffer and it becomes a pattern and practice a discussion among builders of what is our fair share quite frankly. We've tried to do everything right in this application. We didn't have clarity on what that number was, so we were stuck with, quite frankly, a number that was back in an earlier case in 2016 that I had used. We all know what housing costs have done for people and families, for

[02:46:03] renters for owning homes since that time and since 2012 certainly. So we found that there have been board approved housing proffer amounts. We found that out right before the planning commission and we immediately since we were searching to do the right thing and that we immediately agreed to it. Our concern before that was we're not going to reach an amount that's unfair and not in line what everyone else was contributing. So that was the hesitation and the delay, Mr. Weir,

[02:46:42] Supervisor Weir. So that's how we got here. There is a nexus. Quite frankly, I think it's been proven that jobs and businesses follow housing, not the reverse. So with housing, especially executive housing such as this, you're going to have more jobs, more business. That's a good thing. But every one of those businesses virtually in the county has employees who need affordable housing.

[02:47:11] Affordable housing allows people not to drive from outside the jurisdiction, which helps with traffic congestion. It also allows many public employees who provide services to these new people a place to live that's closer, which also not only improves service, quite frankly, it reduces traffic congestion into the county those two things we think as builders and developers increase the

[02:47:45] desirability of our neighborhoods which increases the desirability of the houses so that's in a nutshell a long answer to your short question and you've sort of gotten to the heart of the matter which is the nexus and this is where i'm sort of having the issue with every other monetary proffer you've got are other proffers of a non-monetary sort. You've got a written justification and an analysis. In this case, you don't have an analysis that shows that nexus and the argument that it's

[02:48:24] suddenly changing because of prior cases. The two prior cases that I'm aware of, one is at a significantly lower level and recently adopted, and the other one hasn't been adopted yet. And there was a similar circumstance in the case history of the one that did get adopted where it suddenly changes.

[02:48:43] And I sort of got a problem with an applicant going for 18 months and one, two, three, four, four different submissions, four revisions to the proffers where you are consistent for 18 months at $500.

[02:49:02] And then suddenly at planning, it switches. There's no analysis at the front end for the $500, and there's certainly no analysis at the back end for the $2,500, which leads me to question how enforceable is that proffer if the developer chooses at some point in time in the future to not follow through on it.

[02:49:25] State law has taken care of that. I think the county attorney will agree that once you make a monetary proffer, the developer cannot back away from that. You've got our signature on the proffers. There's no requirement under state or county regulation to do a monetary analysis for a housing assistance proffer or any other community enhancement type proffer.

[02:49:53] That analysis is geared towards a level of service for specific capital infrastructure, right? What we're talking about is assistance for housing in the community, not public housing, built housing.

[02:50:11] So again, that's why there's no analysis. But believe me that it is an enforceable proffer. You can't enforce the ones back from 2012 at the lower amounts. You can enforce these the same way.

[02:50:26] I would argue that given the, I'm going to come dangerously close to UPL here, but I would argue that given the precedent of the Albemarle case in 2021, that is no longer the case. I don't think so, but we talked about me coming to talk with you, and we can talk about that case, too.

[02:50:44] I disagree with you. I'll leave it at that for the moment. Questions? Supervisor Bode? I didn't have a question. I was going to comment. Supervisor Vega, question? Thank you, Madam Chair. I do appreciate your line-up question, Supervisor Weirin Lawson, because those are the questions that I initially had.

[02:51:03] and I do appreciate the applicant's intent and their acknowledgement of the need that we have in regards to affordable housing. My question, though, is to the applicant. I want to know who will bear the cost of this $2,500 per unit proffer. Will it be you, or will it be passed down to other homeowners to no fault of their own? Well, I think the answer to that is the market determines the price of the housing. Whether you have high proffers or low proffers, price of the

[02:51:38] housing is going to stay. So I say it comes out of the hide of the builder or the developer or the landowner, or if they're so prohibitive, the project doesn't get built. It doesn't affect homeowners' prices. Thank you for that. I do want to go ahead and read to you what the county attorney's brief stated to us, because I think it's important for us to know. Chair, members of the board, if you're going to be providing our legal advice in public, I would offer to provide you legal advice in closed session.

[02:52:11] You have our memo to you. I would prefer that you not read our confidential attorney-client-privileged information in public. I'm sorry. I thought the attorney's brief was not confidential. It's marked confidential on the very front of our memo to you.

[02:52:26] So I think that then this is actually an item that I would say we have to go into closed session and discuss because the advice that we've gotten goes contrary to me being comfortable moving forward in voting in support of this project. I do like this project. I do want to note that before redistricting happened I was elected to represent you know both the south side of this project and so I love the project in its essence. I do believe that Locopel and Midco is spot on when it comes to their support of this project but I do have very significant legal concerns about moving forward and not having clarity on us supporting this with

[02:53:05] the proffer that I do want to know and be on the record saying, you know, jacking up the contribution 10 times per unit over the previous amount and five times the amount the applicant previously offered. Madam Chair, members of the board, would you also like to discuss the issue with regards to the hay market crossing rezoning? I can add them both into this closed session resolution if that's what you'd like. Sure. So it would be consultation with legal counsel and briefings by staff members regarding specific legal matters requiring the provision of legal advice by such counsel pertaining to legal advice regarding land use and proffer

[02:53:42] law to include legal advice with regard to rezoning 2022-0010 King's Crest and rezoning 2022-00014 Haymarket Crossing 2, along with consultation with legal counsel and briefings by staff members pertaining to possible litigation where such consultation, discussion, or briefing in an open meeting would adversely affect the bargaining position, negotiating strategy, or litigating posture of the public body.

[02:54:07] These items are appropriate for closed session pursuant to 2.2-3711A7 and 8 of the Virginia Code. So moved. Second. Motion made by Supervisor Weir, seconded by Supervisor Bailey. Any discussion? Seeing none, please vote.

[02:54:24] Vote unanimous. We'll be back.

[02:57:28] We are back from closed session.

[03:00:24] Can I get a motion to certify, please? So moved, Madam Chair. Second. Motion made by Supervisor Bailey, seconded by Vice Chair Bodie. Any discussion? Seeing no discussion, please vote. so i thought we were all back vote unanimous supervisor we're absent from vote okay so i'm going to turn it over to mr venegas okay um madam chair and supervisors um we had a conversation

[03:01:03] with the applicants uh based on the concern that was expressed about the housing preservation and Fund, and I'm going to invite Mr. John McBride up to discuss that. Good evening. We are willing to reduce the amount. We do want to do our fair share. We want to have the proffer. I think all of you want that. It's a matter of the amount, is my understanding. We're willing to go with $1,000

[03:01:40] per unit. We're aware of December of 2021, I think, was one of the more recent residential zonings. We're not aware of any current ones other than a couple that were at $2,500, one or two. So we're willing to do that and amend our profits. Quite frankly, we're running into a deadline on our contract. We think we have a very good project that the community likes, and we really need to

[03:02:11] move forward with it. Otherwise, the estate, which is now controlled by VPI, might not let us stay in the game. Thank you. So we are in the middle of a motion, but Supervisor Lawson, you want to, do you have further questions? I have a, not anymore. Okay. Okay. Yeah, I think we need the motion to be amended. So moved as amended, Madam Chair. Madam Chair, has the applicant signed proper stating the change? Okay. Yeah. If you could just sign it before they vote on it, please.

[03:02:48] Thank you. Second. Okay, I have the amended motion. Sounds good. Okay. What is that?

[03:03:12] For discussion, Supervisor Bodie. Sure, Madam Chair. Thank you. Putting all that aside, this is a great project. I appreciate Delton. I appreciate Dr. Jack and everyone else who came out in support of this. I appreciate the applicant and everything they did along this long road to get here when they worked with the community.

[03:03:28] They made this fit in this area, and they got the community that currently exists there to be all in for it, too. I think that that made you a very good neighbor in this case. And I'm really happy that we're able to support a new housing development in mid-county that fits with the character. And also is very respectful of the existing environmental resources on both the south and north side.

[03:03:46] I know especially the north side, there are a lot of challenging topography there, environmental resources, the Occoquan Reservoir, the whole nine yards. And I also want to congratulate staff on working with the folks along the way there. And I just want to say I wholeheartedly approve this. Thank you, Madam Chair. Thank you.

[03:04:02] Seeing no further discussion, please vote. Vote unanimous. Okay. Congratulations. Thank you for doing business in Prince William County.

[03:04:18] That moves us on to our next rezoning, item 13A, which is now going to be treated as a consolidated, as part of the consolidated agenda. I will open the hearing, public hearing, for item 13A.

[03:04:36] Ms. Madden, has anyone signed up for 13A? Is there anyone in chambers who would like to speak on 13A? please approach the microphone in the back of the room.

[03:04:55] Ms. Mend, do we have anyone online? Not for this public hearing. This will officially close the public hearing for item 13A, the rezoning of Haymarket Crossing 2. Ms. Cameron.

[03:05:13] Good evening, Chair Wheeler and members of the board. My name is Jonel Cameron with Walsh Colucci. It is our understanding that there were concerns about the $2,500 proffer amount. The applicant is willing to change the proffers.

[03:05:29] So that affordable housing amount goes back to the amount that we originally submitted, which is $250 per unit. I am amending the proffers now if you give me two seconds before the motion, and I can hand those over to the clerk. Thank you.

[03:05:45] Can I get a motion? Supervisor Weir, this is in your district. Madam Chair, now that my issues have been addressed, I wholeheartedly support the application and would move adoption. Motion made by Supervisor Weir, seconded by Supervisor Lawson.

[03:06:01] Have you signed those amended proffers, Ms. Cameron? I'm making the change. This happened faster than I was expecting. We'll wait until you finish, and then we'll vote.

[03:06:37] Okay, we have the finished amended proffers.

[03:06:53] We can now vote. Ms. Madden, please vote. Vote unanimous. Okay, thank you. 13A, rezoning of Haymarket Crossing passes unanimously. Thank you for doing business in Prince William County.

[03:07:12] It's not too late. It's only 9.10. We're not doing too bad. We're moving along. Thank you for coming out, gentlemen. That moves us on today to public comment time. We have four people sign up for public comment time.

[03:07:30] I will call all four. When I do, please line up in the back of the room. If you're still here, you will have three minutes. Please state your name and generally where you live in the county. Gary Pentec, Carol Fox, Alan Gloss, Bill Billiard.

[03:07:53] Please remember to state your name and whereabouts you live in the district.

[03:08:08] You may begin. Gary Pentec, and I'm from Gainesville. I'm going to be discussing these data centers, especially the one at Village Place Technology Park at Cat Harpen and 55 in Haymarket.

[03:08:25] The site is about 70, probably 70 feet above the center line of 55. It's way up there. My wife and I, this past weekend, visited the village place, townhouse complex, and we both concluded that the data centers will be an infringement upon the quality of life for these owners and renters of these townhouses.

[03:08:50] The data center walls were approximately 100 feet from some of these properties, these buildings. I believe their values will go down shortly, and I think it would be difficult to sell them. And one can only conclude that the EESG folks, billionaires, including Fink, Soros, and etc., have used their great wealth to push such projects upon the middle-class and upper-middle-class areas

[03:09:24] to meet the World Economics Council's goal of destroying middle-class and upper-middle-class neighborhoods. The PUC individuals, some of them, were useful tools in helping to fulfill this mission.

[03:09:48] Fellow citizens, vote these tools out of office and take control of your destiny. Follow the money. Thank you. Thank you. Next speaker, please. Hello.

[03:10:05] My name is Carol Fox, and I have provided you with some pictures that we can take a trip around the Gainesville area, and you can see some of the data centers that are currently being built. First up is the data center called Gainesville Crossing.

[03:10:21] This is located at Route 29 and Heathcote. It's in the state of completion. They are installing the air handlers, the air conditioners on the roof, and they're installing all of the generators in.

[03:10:40] When this building is finished, there will be a total of 96 air conditioners on the roof and a total of 72 generators will be used to produce the electricity needed for that particular data center when it comes online.

[03:10:56] If you look at the next picture that I provided for you, that is the picture of what one generator looks like. It's almost the size of the trailer part of a tractor trailer. So please take a good look at that and understand when the electric grid is overpowered that you are going to, that they will be turning off the electricity and moving to these generators.

[03:11:24] The next one up that I provided for you is Village Place. First you're coming down Village Place on Route 55 and you see the sign there that says Cat Harpin. Route 55, it's supposed to be improvements, road improvements, but there's no road improvements yet.

[03:11:39] The view from the Prince William County Rescue Fire Station in Gainesville is the next picture, and you see the building is 70 feet tall, and there are three more to be built there. That is a 220-megawatt facility, all four of them, and the next view that you see is the view from Tyler Elementary School, and notice the size of the car compared to the size of the walls when you look at it.

[03:12:05] Now go around to the corner, the back end of this data center, and you will see the 100 feet and the promised screening that is offered there for the residents, the little scraggly four-foot-high evergreens that will never grow more than halfway up the size of that data center.

[03:12:27] Now moving on to the next picture is a picture of the I-6629 Technology Park. You will see in the distance a tractor trailer moving down Route 66, and you will see the houses and apartments that are houses that are across Route 66 that are already inundated with Route 66 noise.

[03:12:48] This is going to be a 336-megawatt facility, and so far with all these three facilities, the Gainesville Crossing, the Village Place, and this one, it's almost 850 megawatts of electricity.

[03:13:04] That's enough electricity to power all of Gainesville and have extras left over. And the noise you happen to hear right now is the noise that is produced by data centers. You all thought data centers were silent and quiet? I'm sorry, your turn is up.

[03:13:19] Thank you. Thank you. Next speaker, please. Man, that was noisy. Madam Chair, members of the board, it is D-Day.

[03:13:36] So good to see, long time no see, it's so good to see y'all's faces again. I hope everyone has been proudly displaying the red, white, and blue to commemorate the brave Americans who fought against national socialism and fascism.

[03:13:52] It brought about the end of Hitler's regime. Now, one of the first things that Hitler did when he came to power was taking guns away from the people, especially the people who were his political opposition and considered a threat to Germany.

[03:14:09] Today, people will use the rhetoric, threat to our democracy. Sounds familiar. Now, I've heard that there's been some calls to prevent carrying guns on county property because misinformed people believe this will somehow reduce gun violence. Now let me do some mansplaining. Mass shootings happen mostly in gun-free zones. Localities and states with strict gun control laws have higher crime rates. Yet some

[03:14:47] of you believe that making county parks and county property a gun-free zone will make everyone safer. That makes zero sense. Y'all should know that an ordinance like this will only benefit violent criminals, rapists, and madmen. I refuse to believe that anyone here is that ignorant, unless you want to penalize an upstanding citizen who rightfully refuses to comply with such a ridiculous order or ordinance. So don't go forward with something like this or put it on an agenda.

[03:15:20] We will fight hard and stand against this to ensure that liberty will reign throughout our county and the beloved Commonwealth of Virginia. Oh, I still see we've got some time left. You know, instead of data centers, we probably should open up more gun rages in the county to teach the people some marksmanship.

[03:15:38] That's something we need more in this county, not data centers. So thank you all very much. Have a good night. Be safe. Next speaker, please.

[03:15:56] Ellen Gloss-Coles. Earlier today, I came before the board and thanked the board for honoring the men who died on D-Day on this day in history in 1944. Apparently, I was wrong. See, I was late to this afternoon's meeting and I inadvertently printed off the agenda from the 2019 Board of County Supervisors where the previous board, under Corey Stewart's leadership, proclaimed June 6th as a solemn day of memory.

[03:16:22] Today, this board did not honor the 79,000 Americans who lost their lives on the beaches of Normandy and across Europe that day in the push to liberate Europe from the clutches of real-life Nazis. One million Americans of every persuasion were wounded or died freeing Europe and stopping one of the largest genocides of an ethnic group.

[03:16:45] this board didn't honor them today last year the year before matter of fact this board has never honored the 79 000 men who gave the ultimate sacrifice 79 years ago today do you know who this board decided to honor today elders immigrants and the lgbtq they actually didn't mention a thing about d-day until bill billard who just left and i talked about it during public comment time then they fell over themselves to say something after the fact about it completely disrespectful

[03:17:20] you see folks people spend time on the things they actually care about this board bent over backwards to honor people who make it a point to advertise who they choose to have sex with since january 2020 the people that sit here on this dais have made a mockery of this county they haven't listened to you they cut you out of the you the public out of the conversation heck they even cut members of their own board out of the conversation because their voices did not matter to them. So why would you think the public's voice would matter to this board majority? They

[03:18:00] don't. Do you know that when Ann Wheeler held the illegal meeting in 2020 that she never told the public about and four of her lemmings followed her there? She actually told the judge that she sat in front of that illegal meeting because, and I quote, I am the leader of the county. Miss Wheeler, I'm afraid that you are going to find out real soon what the good people of this county really think of your type of leadership. Folks, the polls for the Democrat primaries are open right now through June 20th. Please go vote right now. And in November, please send the rest of these self-centered losers packing. Because until you do, this majority will continue to violate your

[03:18:35] rights and continue to dismiss, diminish, or even erase sacrifices of the good people of prince william county in favor of their fringe cause du jour please go vote thank you this will conclude in person public comment time ms madden do we have anyone online i'll turn it over to vice chair bode thank you madam chair ms van can we have that uh person come forth and speak there

[03:19:05] are two speakers your first speaker is melinda vicasian hi good evening melinda vicasianne coles district good evening chairman wheeler and all county board members thank you for this opportunity to speak to you. I am Melinda Bicasciene and have been a resident of Prince William County for 19 years, and I've worked for Prince William County for 17. I've been employed as a

[03:19:43] contractor, a temporary employee, a permanent part-time employee, and currently a full-time permanent employee. I tell you this because I have a varied experience to base my concerns and celebrations. I support and ask you to support successful and fair collective bargaining ordinance and the formation of a union for all Prince William County employees, including the general Prince William County employees, who have not historically had a strong unified voice.

[03:20:14] I've been speaking to other employees across the county from different departments and have learned that the concerns are similar no matter where they work. Many staff do not feel that they are protected from unfair labor practices. Staff have shared that they keep their head down and move forward as to not to attract attention. They do not feel that they have a real voice in their departments and fear raising concerns. I have also discovered that use of unbenefited part-time employees is common across the county including community services parks and recreation and many others and they have few

[03:20:50] protections. We need to stop hiring and we need to retain our employees that we train because they keep leaving for other localities for more money and a safe place to express their voice. We must support our staff here at home in in our own county. We must be successful to continue to grow in a positive way. We must work collectively to improve the Prince William County collective bargaining ordinance to include one, improve working conditions so that staff may feel safe to give input and feel safe doing so.

[03:21:27] Two, include all staff regardless of full-time, part-time, or provisional status. Include rights to bargain over working conditions whether it be while moving about the community to individual homes or working in an office building setting. General Prince William County employees must have a seat at the table. Thank you for your time and prompt attention to these concerns. We must support changes to the collective bargaining ordinance as Prince William County general employees are the brick and mortar and support our community members across the county from infants to the

[03:22:07] aging. Thank you so much for your time. Have a wonderful night. Thank you, Ms. Wykoss ENA. Next speaker, please. Your next speaker is Melanie Weist.

[03:22:28] Hello. Am I connected to the room? Yes.

[03:22:47] Yes. Thank you. So good evening. My name is Melanie Weist. I am a volunteer with the local chapter of Moms Demand Action. I am also a nurse practitioner in the county.

[03:23:02] I am also a volunteer with the Medical Reserve Corps of Virginia. When the county called and needed volunteers to roll out our COVID vaccines, I was on the front line of that rollout. It is something I'm incredibly proud of.

[03:23:19] And now I feel that the violence in this community, especially firearm violence, is the much larger threat. It's no longer COVID. And I once again feel called to speak out on behalf of my community and the challenges with regards to safety that we're currently facing.

[03:23:40] I would like to thank the members of the board for moving forward with the safety initiative. I truly believe that is the first step that we need to take in improving safety in this county. I would also like to mention that as I was sitting in the waiting room to speak, I received another notification of an active shooter tonight at Potomac Club.

[03:24:01] There was also another mass shooting in VCU. Seven people were shot today. And I have to say, when is the violence? When is it going to be enough? To the prior speaker who wants to open more gun ranges, please do, because in this county, in order to carry a firearm, it is not even necessary that one knows how to shoot it.

[03:24:25] So, in conclusion, I would like to continue working as a community towards the safety and for common sense gun legislation and gun reform. I do not feel that firearms are allowed on park property, and I hope to continue working with the county and with the board.

[03:24:43] to improve our safety of our children. Thank you. Thank you, Ms. Weist. Is that our last speaker, Ms. Vann? Yes, that was your last speaker. Thank you, as always, for your assistance. Back to you, Madam Chair. Thank you, Vice Chair Bodie.

[03:24:59] Thank you, Ms. Vann. As always, that will conclude our meeting for this evening. I will entertain a motion to adjourn. Motion to adjourn. Second. Motion made by Supervisor Angry. Quick second by Supervisor Bailey. Any further discussions? Seeing none, please vote.

[03:25:20] Vote unanimous. We are adjourned. Music

----------------------------------------------------------------------
Coraggio Consulting · aguyonx.com