Coraggio Consulting
Prince William Board of County Supervisors Meeting, Tuesday, June 4, 2024

Date: Tuesday, June 4, 2024
Place: Prince William County Board of County Supervisors, Virginia
Length: 9h 12m (video)
Official meeting video (Prince William County, Granicus): https://pwcgov.granicus.com/player/clip/3491
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 2026-11-01. Timestamps are [HH:MM:SS] into the meeting video.

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[00:08:32] So I'm going to sit back in the back and watch y'all clap first.

[00:10:06] Thank you, everyone, for joining us.

[00:26:24] It is now 2 o'clock. I'm going to open the board session. I would like to invite Pastor Adam Bolling from the First United Presbyterian Church of Dale City to give our invocation. Let us pray.

[00:26:44] Almighty and loving God, we come before you today and give thanks to our elected leaders. We especially lift up to Sandra Jefferson, Kenny Bodie, Tom Gordy, Gasly Vega, Victor Angry, Andrea Bailey, Margaret Franklin, and Bob Weir for their willingness to serve the citizens of Prince William County, Virginia for such a time as this.

[00:27:05] 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.

[00:27:22] 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.

[00:27:47] We offer special thanks this day to the Northern Virginia Family Service for their century-long commitment to providing invaluable support and resources to individuals and families in our community. We give thanks for their unwavering dedication to addressing the root causes of societal issues, fostering resilience and uplifting communities.

[00:28:08] Grant NVFS the strength and resources to continue their vital work and inspire us to support them in their mission to create a more just, equitable, and inclusive community for all. As we gather here today to mark the 250th anniversary of the American Revolution in Prince William County and in the town of Dumfries, Virginia, we give thanks for the sacrifices and contributions of those who came before us.

[00:28:39] We ask for guidance and wisdom as we strive to honor their legacy and continue to build a community that upholds the values of freedom, equality, and justice for all people. 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, as it says in your word, when the instruments of war will be transformed into instruments of harvest. And so we pray for peace. Help us all to be peacemakers, first in our own homes, in our own neighborhoods, and then

[00:29:17] in your world. We also offer our gratitude for the admirable work of the future kings as they have demonstrated excellence and dedication in their participation and victory in the annual student hard problem challenge. We ask for continued strength and guidance for this group as they continue to inspire and uplift young men in our community, fostering a passion for STEM education as they open doors of opportunity for the next generation.

[00:29:46] May their success serve as a testament to the importance of mentorship, education, and the pursuit of excellence. On this day, we are especially aware of the issue also of elder abuse in Prince William. We read that in 2023, there were 246 founded cases of elder abuse or neglect in Prince William.

[00:30:08] And so help us to do our part to ensure that proper social structures exist so people can retain community and societal connections so we will reduce the likelihood of abuse. Help us to educate and to be your hands and feet in our own neighborhoods.

[00:30:26] Help us to spread your love and light wherever we go. As we gather in reflection and gratitude, we also honor the dedication and service of the waste and recycling workers this day who tirelessly contribute to the health and well-being of our community. Help us all to do our part as well to care for your earth which you have given us to tend and keep. We also celebrate Immigrant Heritage Month this month and so we recognize that our county is one of the most diverse counties in the entire nation and is made up of courageous

[00:30:59] people from all around the world. People who left their homes, lives, and loved ones to seek refuge and opportunity here on our shores. Help us to celebrate the diversity here in our own communities and neighborhoods as we learn and grow together. And as we remember that all people, all people were created in your image. Help us all to love our neighbors as you taught us to do.

[00:31:27] Today we also recognize the historical significance of June 19th, the day when Major General Gordon Granger proclaimed freedom for the last enslaved black Americans in Galveston, Texas. This day, known as Juneteenth, represents the triumph over the darkness of slavery and the relentless pursuit of freedom and equality. We acknowledge the progress that we have made as a nation, but we also recognize the work that still lies ahead, Lord. And so may this day serve as a reminder of

[00:32:04] the ongoing struggle for equity and justice, inspiring us to continue the fight against all forms of discrimination and oppression. And so therefore we lift up the LGBTQIA plus community this pride month, especially our transgender neighbors who have been under attack for being who God created them to be. Help us to love others and accept them as blessed children of God, created with God's loving care and attention.

[00:32:37] Help us to make all LGBTQIA plus individuals feel not only welcome, but also wanted in Prince William County. Help us to stand up to hate and intolerance with love, education, and peace.

[00:32:55] Grant us all the insight to understand that the interpretation of biblical text should not be used as a weapon against marginalized communities, including the LGBTQIA plus individuals help us to see that using the Bible to justify discrimination and exclusion undermines the fundamental message of love inclusion and compassion that lies at the heart of many many faith traditions including Christianity for those of us who are people of faith may we be inspired to approach the scriptures and ancient texts

[00:33:29] with humility and empathy, recognizing the diverse cultural and historical contexts in which they were written. Guide us to interpret the teachings of the Bible through the lens of love and justice and mercy. Help us to delve deeper into the text, becoming serious students, looking at when they were written, who wrote them, why they were written, and what the original languages meant, So we can understand more fully what these ancient texts are saying for us today.

[00:34:02] And so, Lord, remind us that you have called us to live in a beloved community with one another despite our differences. As the proclamation today 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.

[00:34:24] And so, Lord, we give you thanks for the amazing diversity here in our county and in your world. And we pray that you bless our time together today. And all God's people said, amen.

[00:34:41] Thank you so very much for joining us today. Now, all rise if you are able for the Pledge of Allegiance.

[00:35:01] All right, thank you so very much. We are now going to move into item three, approval of the minutes. I'd like to have a motion to approve item 3a and 3b so move madam chair second all right any discussion all right let's vote vote unanimous all right thank you very much we are now going

[00:35:39] to move on to agenda item four before we get started I am going to pull off one of the proclamations resolution to proclaim I'm sorry not the wrong one resolution 4c I'm going to get back to that can i get a motion to approve items for a for b for d for e for f for g and for h so

[00:36:07] move madam chair second all right any discussion all right let's vote vote unanimous all right and then we are going to quickly um i would like to get a motion to um to move item 4c so move madam chair second any discussion all right let's vote motion passes six to one supervisor vega voting

[00:36:44] nay supervisor gordy abstaining from the vote all right so we are going to actually i'm going to move down to the podium first up is um to commend the 250th anniversary of prince william resolve supervisor bailey if you can join me at the podium all right if there is anyone here for the prince

[00:37:24] william county resolves commendation please come to the front of the clerk station supervisor bailey If you would like to, we have a summary if you would like to read it.

[00:37:44] Right here.

[00:37:55] Good afternoon, everyone. Commendations and Proclamation Item 4A to commend 250 anniversary years for Prince William County Resolves. If anyone is here for the Prince William County Resolves Commendations, please come forward.

[00:38:13] On June 6, 1774, citizens of Prince William County convened to propose a series of resolves against the British Parliament's treatment of the American colonies. These Resolves were some of the earliest passed in Virginia. The county and town of Dumfries will be holding festivities to commemorate the Resolves this week, June 6th and 8th.

[00:38:36] Today, we commend and commemorate the 250th anniversary of the Prince William County Resolves. Congratulations. Hi, I'm Leah Schmidt. I'm the chapter regent of the Prince William Resolves Chapter, National Society Daughters of the American Revolution.

[00:39:00] thank you supervisor bailey and distinguished members of the board of supervisors on behalf of my chapter my dar chapter i am deeply honored to accept this proclamation and commemorating the passage of the 250th anniversary of the prince william resolves the prince william resolves seemed as a testament to the courage and foresight of our forebearers who took a resolute stand against tyranny in the great in the face of great peril their commitment to liberty and justice laid groundwork for the freedoms we cherish today. Your support ensures that the memory of the Prince William Resolves remains alive, inspiring us to uphold those principles of liberty and justice

[00:39:37] that our revolutionary patriots fought for. As members of the NSDAR, we are dedicated to preserving the memory of those who fought for American independence, promoting historical education, and fostering patriotism. This proclamation reinforces our shared responsibility to remember the sacrifices made for our freedom and we are proud to be part of a community that values its history and principles that define us as a nation thank you again for this meaningful

[00:40:04] recognition just going through them so um future kings i just want to let everyone know we're going

[00:41:01] to do that one later this evening so next is item 4c um and that is to proclaim june 2024 pride month. If I can have Supervisor Bode, Maria Burgos, and anyone else here for Pride Month to come.

[00:41:35] Do you want to read the summary? All right. Thank you, Madam Chair, and thank you for everyone for being here. Item 4C, proclaimed June 2024, lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and trans, queer, and questioning, intersex, asexual, or agender, and more, LGBTQIA, plus Pride Month.

[00:41:57] If anyone hears from Pride Month, you're all here, so I won't go on with that. This month of June is recognized as pride month to mark the stonewall uprising of 1969 in which lbtqia individuals fought to be recognized as equal under the law we recognize that the lgbtqia plus individuals are at the at higher risk of discrimination and victimization due to long-standing service gaps and stigmas and affirm our commitment to correcting these historic wrongs we celebrate their achievements and affirm today that everyone is welcome in our community no matter the sexual orientation or gender identity. Prince William County proudly proclaims June 2024 as Pride Month.

[00:42:38] Thank you, Vice Chair Brody and Chair Jefferson. This is a momentous occasion for our Prince William County employees. This states that you are visible, that you're part of the team as always because we're an inclusive government and in so we are inclusive with our services to all who we serve that are diverse in Prince William County.

[00:43:08] This is an honor of the employees here in Prince William County, as well as Casa Brumar and those who are represented here today and more. Thank you.

[00:43:55] Madam Chair, I hate to do this, but some were bending and some were looking.

[00:44:33] You probably need to do a retake. I'm sorry. Quickly. Are you looking at it? What do you think? Photo. Supervisor Bailey suggested a retake. Do you think the photo looks okay? The young man was bending when you snapped it. Yes. All right. Come on, guys.

[00:44:49] Thank you, Madam Chair. Part two. Should we go out into the atrium, Key? All right. So we're going to be back in one second. Thanks, Key.

[00:45:14] Okay.

[00:46:13] Next up is item 4D, and that is the proclaimed June 2024 Immigrant Heritage Month. Come on down, Maria. And anyone else here for Immigrant Heritage Month, please assemble at the front of the room.

[00:46:31] Okay. All right. Immigrant Heritage Month honors and celebrates the courage of those who left their homes, lives and loved ones behind to make a new home in our community. In Prince William County especially, is one of the most diverse communities in the country. Immigrants are represented in every sector and profession, and they bring interesting and valuable new traditions and perspectives.

[00:46:59] We stand against xenophobia and violence that is too often targets immigrants, and we welcome people from every background as valued members of our community. We hereby proclaim June 2024 is Immigrant Heritage Month. Maria. Thank you Chair Jefferson. I so appreciate this. This is on behalf of all of our Prince William County citizens and employees. We recognize that taking your entire being and moving to another country to call home is not an easy task.

[00:47:35] And then coming here and feeling welcome and valued and part of the family is even harder. It's a journey, but we want you to know that in Prince William County, we value. We value your journey because it's not an easy one, but it's what makes the tapestry of Prince William County so robust.

[00:47:54] And we value the 150-plus languages that are celebrated every day through your families. So thank you very much, Chair Jefferson, for this proclamation.

[00:48:05] I feel like, Maria, you should just be stationed right over there.

[00:48:52] And if anyone else is here for Juneteenth, please come to the front. I'm going to be going outside for this picture. Definitely going outside.

[00:49:19] All right. Juneteenth commemorates the day in 1865 when Union troops arrived in Galveston Bay, Texas, and on that day, freeing nearly a quarter million enslaved black Americans. That was a full two years after the Emancipation Proclamation.

[00:49:36] As noted by the National Park Service, Texas was the farthest of the Confederate states. Enslaved holders there made no attempt to free the enslaved African Americans they held in bondage. This holiday has long been celebrated by African-American community, and Prince William County observes this day to reaffirm our principles of equity, equality, and justice.

[00:49:59] I am proud to proclaim June 19th as Juneteenth. Thank you, Chair Jefferson, for this proclamation again. It's a first for our Prince William County employees, and we want you to know that we're going to celebrate Juneteenth on June 17th, because June 19th is the holiday, June 18th is election.

[00:50:23] so all who you see here have been in that committee and they have been planning a wonderful

[00:50:29] day for monday june 17th and we look forward to seeing everyone there thank you we've been having

[00:53:18] some big groups today all right now on to item 4f anyone here for national waste and recycling workers week all right thank you so much prince william has recognized this celebration of this industry since 2014 the workers in our waste and recycling industry provide an invaluable

[00:53:56] service to our community by protecting our health and well-being we thank our public works department employees who will be recognized on june 17th and 18th for their contributions and i am pleased to declare the week of june 17th as national waste and recycling workers week today we proclaim june 17th and 18th as official recognition days at the landfill and compost facility does anyone want to speak thank you madam chair thank you members of the board uh it's with honor and and pleasure that we received this proclamation for solid waste staff and public work staff in

[00:54:35] general. Our staff worked very hard relentlessly to provide services to our residents and our customers on a daily basis both at the landfill and the campus facility and many other places. But to hear directly from our staff I would like to introduce Renaud, Yuri, our recycling manager to give us a few words about the landfill. Thank you very much. Madam Chair and members of the board, my name is Dreena Adruri and I'm deeply honored to stand before you today as Prince William County's

[00:55:13] Recycling Program Manager, representing the dedicated waste and recycling workers who tirelessly serve our community. As we gather here to recognize Waste and Recycling Workers Week, I'm reminded of these individuals' vital role in preserving our environment and promoting sustainability. Their commitment to excellence ensures the efficient collection and processing of materials contributing to the well-being of our county and beyond. This proclamation acknowledges their hard work and serves as a testament to the importance of their contributions to our community.

[00:55:43] On behalf of all waste and recycling workers, I extend a heartfelt gratitude for this recognition and reaffirm our dedication to fostering a cleaner, greener Prince William County. Thank you for your support. Just for the record, I'm Kitab Shemwood, the Acting Director of Public Works, and with me I have the Deputy Director of Public Works, Mr. Luke Heisman.

[00:56:06] Thank you very much.

[00:56:14] Next is item 4G, which will proclaim June 15th, Elder Abuse Awareness Day.

[00:56:43] Ms. Tierney, and if there's anyone else who wants to come up. You've gotten a lot of these, but I think today Maria wins. All right, the county acknowledges the contributions made by older adults to our community and the importance of maintaining strong social structures to provide health and well-being among this age group.

[00:57:06] Our elders deserve to be treated with dignity and respect, but all too often fall victim to abuse. As the 246 founded cases Prince William identified in 2023 made clear, reporting elder abuse or neglect is just a phone call away, and we encourage everyone to take time to understand their rights and reporting options to protect themselves and their loved ones.

[00:57:29] I am pleased to proclaim June 15th as Elder Abuse Awareness Day in Prince William County. Thank you, Madam Chair, members of the board. It is World Elder Abuse Awareness Day, so this is a worldwide event.

[00:57:47] The color is purple to wear. I kind of tried. And I do want to let everyone know that to report, it is 703-792. That's PwC on your phone. It's really easy to remember. PwC 4200.

[00:58:05] And with me today is Deputy Director Phyllis Jennings Holt, Our Assistant Director, Lena Purifoy, and our new Adult Protective Services Program Manager, Brenda Nolan-Patton. Thank you very much.

[00:58:21] I'd like to ask Supervisors Bodie and Angry to come down to the podium.

[00:58:56] And if there is anyone here from Northern Virginia Family Services, please come up.

[00:59:10] Hey, good afternoon. Thank you, Madam Chair. Let's see, we'll jump right in. So NVFS is a valued partner in our county and has been since 1924, providing a friendly and compassionate resource for individuals and families in our region to turn to when facing society's greatest challenges.

[00:59:40] Across 1,300 square miles of Northern Virginia, NVFS supports over 30,000 individuals and works to secure access to affordable housing, health care, nutrition, workforce development, education, and so much more. We thank their nearly 350 staff members who provide services in 16 different languages all together for their contributions to our community.

[01:00:02] We want to acknowledge the Northern Virginia Family Service for 100 years of outstanding, meaningful, and necessary services. Congratulations. Thank you so much, Chair Jefferson, Supervisor Angry, Vice Chair Bodie.

[01:00:23] Thank you so much for this recognition and for all of your support over the years. I'm Stephanie Berkowitz, President and CEO of Northern Virginia Family Service, and I'm joined by our board member, Dr. Sam Hill, and members of our team who are working every day in the Prince William community, serving individuals and families in need.

[01:00:40] NFFS began in 1924 when a few volunteers came together to collect coats and coal to help their neighbors through the cold winter. They saw a need and they responded. In the 1960s, our services expanded across Northern Virginia, and today we provide essential services to over 12,000 Prince William area residents each year.

[01:01:01] Today on our serve campus, we run a 92-bed emergency family shelter, and every night over half of those beds are filled with children. We operate a nearly 9,000-square-foot food distribution center addressing food insecurity in our community. We deliver high-quality, accessible preschool to hundreds of children and families at our early childhood center, And we ensure that our neighbors have access to essential basic needs, health services, youth initiatives, and workforce development opportunities.

[01:01:29] And while our work has evolved over time, we have stayed true to our core values, focusing on dignity, respect, and collaboration. And we are so proud to partner with the Board of County Supervisors, county staff, our faith communities, businesses, and residents throughout the greater Prince William area who volunteer their time to help our neighbors in need.

[01:01:51] thank you so very much for your support this was some of the largest groups we've had but we are

[01:03:06] going to move on to item 5 before we do madam chair thank you before the board votes on the consent agenda I need to declare a personal interest in item 5k involving the transfer budget and appropriation of funds to the schools my wife is a school's employee as a school's employee my wife and I are members of a group which is affected by this matter I will be participating in it because i am able to do so fairly objectively in the public interest thank you madam chair madam chair before the board votes on the consent agenda i need to declare

[01:03:39] a personal interest in item 5k involving the transfer budget and appropriations of funds to the schools my wife is a special education instructional aid with the schools as a school's employee my wife and i are a member of a group which is affected by this matter i will be participating in it because i am able to do so fairly objectively and in the public interest thank you madam chair all right thank you so very much we are now going to move on to the consent agenda can i get a resolution uh motion for items 5a through yes yes supervisor madam

[01:04:17] chair can we pull 5g 5k and 5o all right hold on let's see all right i don't know the cleanest way to say this i'd like to get a motion motion for all other items madam chair thank you second second thank you guys all right um i see the supervisor franklin has her hand up sure for

[01:04:52] discussion yes um just want to speak on item 5c um some of the reallocation just want to point out is going to the northwood bridge mobility um including for annapolis way so i just want to point that out for uh funds that will be going towards the woodbridge magisterial district thank you. All right, I don't see any other speakers, so let's take a vote. And again, this excludes

[01:05:21] 5G, 5K, and 5O. Vote unanimous. All right, we are going to move on to item 5G. Can I get a motion? So moved, Madam Chair. Second. All right, discussion. Supervisor Weir. Thank you, Madam Chair. I spoke against this last year and didn't vote in favor of it last year, and I'm not going to support it again this year. Thank you. All right, Supervisor Bailey. Thank you, Madam Chair. Madam Chair, I'm in support of item 5G.

[01:05:55] This is an item that has been long overdue and necessary, and I appreciate the long-term and studies that the Transportation Department has done to make sure that we are again putting the necessary ordinances and policies in place to protect our community.

[01:06:13] And so with that, I will be supporting 5G. Supervisor Bode, then Franklin. Sure. Thank you, Madam Chair. I just want to quickly ditto everything that Senator Bailey just said And just add that I've gotten quite a good bit of positive feedback from my constituents about the program.

[01:06:30] And so I think we should be extending it and keeping it going. We're getting a lot of good data from that. I've already heard of people anecdotally see each and every day people curb their behavior based on what they're seeing out there. And so we know that this was going to be a ramp-up process, and we're ramping up.

[01:06:46] And I appreciate everything the Transportation Department has done with police and everyone else to keep this moving. Supervisor Franklin. Sure, yeah, I just also want to point out that this is an important item because of where the discussion started. If you recall, because of the issues that we had on Cardinal Drive, I know Supervisor Angry really pushed for some type of resources or something that the county can do on our own instead of having to rely strictly on VDOT to curb speeding and to really go after those that make an effort to speed.

[01:07:19] And so I just want to point that out. I want to thank Supervisor Angry kind of for pushing for this. And as for myself, you know, this is important. We saw so many deaths on Cardinal. And, you know, we finally said enough is enough and that the county needs to have some type of resources that we can take into our own hand to make sure that we're sending a message.

[01:07:41] Supervisor Gordy. Thank you, Madam Chair. I struggle with this red light camera because, first of all, I do recognize, I mean, we had a very bad accident in the corner of the red light of Bristow Road and 28 on Sunday night.

[01:07:58] But I'm also aware of people who get stopped in intersections and get a summons that happened to my wife in Manassas. Somebody stopped to turn left beyond the intersection into a restaurant where she got stuck in the intersection and received a ticket.

[01:08:16] So I would love to see more information about this. Until I have more details about how this works, I can't support it because I do think it's one thing if you're speeding. You're catching people at speed. You're getting the radar, checks you.

[01:08:31] That's one thing. But when you're going through an intersection, you may get stopped in that intersection or have to slow down into the intersection because of something that's happening in front of you, and then the light turns red, then you get the camera. So I don't know enough about this program to say that what I'm understanding to be right or wrong, but I would like to know more.

[01:08:53] But until that happens, I can't support it. Thank you. Would you, Mr. Canizales, would you like to step up and just give us a little bit of insight? Sure. Thank you, everybody, for your comments. Appreciate them all and your questions. Just to address Supervisor Gordy, this is a pilot program, and that's exactly what we're doing.

[01:09:11] We're putting in a limited amount of these throughout the county to be able to come back to you and give you the type of information you're looking for to see if the program's working, not working, if it's doing the sort of thing you're talking about or if it's really catching the people. This program is something that the police takes a look at every video.

[01:09:28] Not only the police, but our consultants take a look at every video. Then the police take a look at every video to certify and make sure that there was an incident or a violation before that summons goes out. Those are the types of things we're going to see that happens when this program goes into place. Now, we had a one-year sunset on it, thinking we can get the program up and rolling.

[01:09:48] We have found out that it's a little harder than we thought trying to get the program up and rolling, mostly because we're having trouble getting VDOT permits for this, as VDOT has slowed down giving permits for this, as this program has been rolling out all over the state, and there's been issues in certain localities that have gone too fast in rolling it out and not checked off all their boxes.

[01:10:08] So we're taking our time, we're making sure we check off all our boxes, we're making sure we get the appropriate VDOT permits, and we're going to continue to roll this program out slowly and surely as a pilot program to come back and give you that information in the next year. So during the pilot program, will people be receiving summons?

[01:10:25] They will be receiving summons for part of it, yes, sir. They'll have a 30-day period where they will be warned that the system is up. The system will take pictures for those initial 30 days and send those warnings out to people as warnings with no summons. After that 30-day period, there will be summons starting to be sent up until the sunset clause of next August from the beginning of whenever that camera, if we're talking specifically about Linton Hall and 28, whenever that camera gets on board.

[01:10:53] Okay, thank you. Thank you, sir. Thank you, Madam Chair. All right, we have Supervisor Angry, then Supervisor Bailey. Thank you, Madam Chair. I won't belabor this. I'm happy to see this finally coming to fruition. And I will simply say we have to really start using technology that we have at our disposal for our police department.

[01:11:15] And right now, we all know that when a light turns red and you have a green light, people literally have to count to five before you go because so many people are running red light. It's become a part of life, and we need to stop that because those are where these accidents will happen.

[01:11:33] I appreciate your comments, Supervisor Gordy, because I hope this pilot program identifies those one-offs, if you will, and we can figure out how best to address those. But there is a bigger issue afoot here, and that is folks are literally running red lights, and it's become a norm, and we need to fix that.

[01:11:54] So thank you for introducing this and getting it finally on the agenda. Thanks. Thank you. And Supervisor Bailey. Thank you, Madam Chair, and Supervisor Gorey, thank you so much for your comments as well. And I had a concern initially when we went into this, but the studies will show, and it's an area specifically the studies that myself and Supervisor Franklin and Angry share on Cardinal Drive, that it showed that with the speeding and with the fatalities that we were having, that it bode the necessity for this.

[01:12:26] And so I also respect your opinion on this and your vote. There will be an opportunity to test what's going on in your district to assure that this pilot marries with what's going on in your district. Thank you, Madam Chair. Supervisor Bode.

[01:12:43] Thank you, Madam Chair. Just to reply a little bit more directly to Suara Gordy's concern, because we talked about this last year when we first did this, we're taking a much more nuanced perspective on this. We're being a lot more finessed with it, as Mr. Canizola said. there's going to be an officer or consultant reviewing each and every single time.

[01:13:00] So it's not just an automatic, well, the camera caught you, so you get the summons. If it's, from my understanding, if someone gets caught like you're talking about, there will be a review of that, then they'll come back. And Mr. Canislaus, did you want to talk about that? No, I just wanted to mention, Supervisor Gordy, it seems like, you know, we weren't able to talk beforehand, and my office and I, as well as Officer Peake, are more than happy to come to your office to give you a presentation and give you a little more information on the program itself.

[01:13:28] I'd greatly appreciate that. Thank you. Because, again. Yeah, I feel like I'm coming in at the very back end of all this. And as my colleague said, just to wrap it up, all those were concerns that we had initially last year. Through our conversation with PD, with the Transportation Department, we know that this isn't a program that people are looking to get you.

[01:13:47] Isn't revenue sharing, is there not a revenue driver? And, frankly, the program we're doing is different from the one that's actually in the city of Manassas because they took those lessons learned and because it's been so I want to call it predatory but so punitive there versus what we're doing here so we're definitely took that as a best practice to avoid those kinds of concerns all right thank you everyone let's vote motion passes six to one supervisor we're voting nay supervisor gordy abstaining from vote all right we are going

[01:14:26] to go on to 5k transfer budget appropriate over two million to Prince William County Schools representing their share of the 2023 Surplus General Revenues and Cable Franchise Fee.

[01:14:42] Can I get a motion? So moved. Second. All right, and discussion starting with Supervisor Weir. Thank you, Madam Chair. It will come as no surprise that I still have issues with this based on the revenue sharing agreement, but more to the point with respect to the Cable Franchise Frees.

[01:15:00] I brought up that issue during the budget session. I still haven't gotten an adequate response as to where we stand with cable franchise, what type of equipment we're funding for the schools and for the county, and until such point in time as I'm assured that the cable franchise agreement and revenues have been squared away, I will not be supporting this.

[01:15:23] All right. I don't know if anyone has anything else to say. If not, let's go ahead and vote. Motion passes 7 to 1. Supervisor Weir voting nay. All right. And our final item on the consent agenda, 5-0.

[01:15:43] It is to ratify Connect Trails to Parks grant submission by the Department of Parks and Recreation to accept budget-appropriate $100,000 in grant revenue to the Potomac Heritage National Scenic Trail at Neabsco Regional Park. So moved. Second. Supervisor Rear.

[01:16:02] Again, Madam Chair, given what I'm told are procedural deficiencies in this and issues of the recent weeks, I can't support continuing down this road. Supervisor Franklin and Bailey.

[01:16:19] Sure, and I don't know if Seth wants to come and address Supervisor Weir, but I, for one, obviously support this item. We've been trying to provide connections for the Potomac Heritage National Trail all throughout the corridor, even hoping to go as far north as possible as well.

[01:16:39] So obviously we have a lot of proponents who support parks and trails in the Woodbridge District who have been pushing for this and more than happy to support. Supervisor Bailey. Thank you very much, Madam Chair. This is a project that Supervisor Franklin and I share in that area, and the grant funding will help us to progress with the Parks and Recreation Department to make sure that there's improvements and growth so that it looks like the popular Neavsco area as well.

[01:17:11] But it is progress, if I could say it as best I can. When you say, Seth, it is progress, and we've been working on this for about almost four years, and so I do appreciate the progress that you've made in your department to make sure this is an opportunity for the citizens to have in the future to participate and enjoy with their families.

[01:17:36] All right, before you go again, Supervisor, did you want to hear from staff? Thank you, Madam Chair. Just to be clear, my opposition has nothing to do with the project itself, but rather with the process and risk management.

[01:17:51] And I think we need to start addressing this in a much more direct manner in the future. And I would suggest we need to talk about the underlying issues at some point in time in the near future. All right, thank you.

[01:18:09] I don't think there's, I guess, anything really for staff to address, so let's go ahead and vote on this. Motion passes, 7 to 1. Supervisor Weir voting nay.

[01:18:28] We are now moving on to public comment time. Please note that public comment time is for items not listed on today's agenda as a public hearing item. So first, I will call everyone up five at a time.

[01:18:47] Please, before you start speaking, state your magisterial district or where you generally reside as well your name. I have Barbara Dodge, Linda White, Layla Bartroth, Mary Ann Hartwell, and Alan Gloss. All right, let's let people get a minute to get settled, and we will allow our first speaker.

[01:19:32] I ask that everyone also, when you come in, please take a seat.

[01:19:45] And ma'am, I apologize, but we do not allow signs like that in board chambers. All right, thank you so very much. Our first speaker, I believe Ms. Barbara Dodge.

[01:20:02] Thank you for your patience. Good afternoon, members of the board. I'm Barbara Dodge of the Coles District. I'm here this afternoon to express with kindness, charity, and love my request to rescind June as Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender Pride Month.

[01:20:19] God is mocked by the public acceptance and celebration of homosexual sin in Pride Month. I'm not here to disparage or defame or hate anyone, but to defend truth and family. God gave us a brain to make judgments. While we should never judge the individual person, we should judge their actions.

[01:20:38] Telling people that our LGBTQ, that this is normal and healthy lifestyle, is not being truthful, charitable, loving. It is gaslighting. The LTG lifestyle kills the soul, kills the body, and destroys the family. The truth is not bigotry.

[01:20:55] Biology is not bigotry. Telling the truth has become the most dangerous thing you can do today in the United States of America. We are watching the death of women's sports because we won't tell the truth. We have become a culture of lies. LTGBQ is no longer tolerance but a celebration of lies, and we know who the father of lies is.

[01:21:17] Celebrating LTGBQ Pride Month is a form of grooving. Grooming is the deliberate act of bringing a child into a sexual, political, or racial ideology, practice, cult, or lifestyle without the knowledge or consent of his or her parents.

[01:21:32] For the aim of isolating them from their family so the external party can abuse and manipulate them. Celebrating LTGBQ attempts to normalize deviant behavior to children. An American College of Pediatricians article titled, Gender Ideology Harms Children, states that conditioning children into believing a lifetime of chemical and surgical impersonation of the opposite sex is normal and healthful.

[01:22:01] It is child abuse. Additionally, Michelle Critella, former president of the American College of Pediatricians, has stated that sex is hardwired from birth and it cannot change. How do we lose our common sense and sense of reality?

[01:22:18] First, we overlooked evil. Then we permitted evil. Then we legalized evil. Then we promoted evil. Then we celebrated evil. Now we persecute those who call it evil. Christianity and Christian virtues are the only answer to giving us a community of equality, justice, truth, and freedom for all.

[01:22:42] In the name of God, please rescind LGBTQ Pride Month. Thank you, and may God continue to bless America. All right, next speaker, please. Good afternoon. I'm Linda White, and I also am in the Coles District.

[01:22:59] I've spoken the last two years on this subject, and I've put it out time and again that sodomy is not love. As a matter of fact, it is a grievous sin that cries to heaven for justice. It's right up there with murder and not paying a just wage to the laborer.

[01:23:22] it's, and I wonder why, you have to wonder why we're being force-fed this ideology from our banks to academia, from our schools, the public libraries. There's a reason, and it's not because they have the best interests of children and people who suffer from same-sex attraction in mind.

[01:23:49] It is about control. It's about controlling the population. It's about people living by their passions and not their reason, which is why words pleading for common sense and following the natural law fall on deaf ears.

[01:24:12] Nobody wants to hear the truth because it doesn't make money for the big businesses like the hospitals who are doing transgender surgeries, just mutilating children who are not capable of making those kind of decisions and then live with the effects for the rest of their lives.

[01:24:30] They make money. The banks are making money. I mean, you ever go to your bank and see the screen that says, we celebrate Pride Month, and wonder, does the bank really care about my individual happiness or anyone's? No, they're making money off these people.

[01:24:48] It's like any other evil industry. It's like the abortion lobby. They're making millions slaughtering the unborn. That's the bottom line here, and that's what, you know, well, you people, by voting for all this and just getting sucked into it, you're just playing into the hands of this evil.

[01:25:11] And also, and I'd like to reclaim the month, frankly, because this man who supposedly said a prayer, referred to the Bible, repeatedly. That was not a prayer. That was a lecture. There was a lot of gaslighting. He was blasphemed against God to beg God to allow us to keep just doing this to his children. It's not the way to bring blessings down on our county or our families. It is the opposite. It is offensive to

[01:25:44] God. June, for the last 1,000 years, has been the month of the sacred heart of Jesus. It is the opposite of pride and the opposite of sodomy. So loving people enough to tell them the truth and not exploit them for the agenda. Thank you so very much. Thank you. All right, next speaker.

[01:26:12] Good afternoon, supervisors. I am Lila Bartraff from the Gainesville District, and I am here today to focus your attention on the new real estate tax assessments on Page Land Lane. I am not speaking just for myself, but also for my neighbors who are in the same situation. Since the rezoning in December, the Real Estate Assessment Office has reassessed the property along Pageland and revalued my home. This new assessment and tax bill is literally one-third of my entire household's annual income, one-third of all the money my husband and I earn. We cannot afford to pay this.

[01:26:53] My husband is a teacher for Prince William County, and I am a compliance specialist for a local company. We cannot miraculously earn this much more money in a year. And this isn't even a bill that is due once. No. This is now what our taxes will be every year until we sell our home. But we can't even sell it. Who would buy it? No family wants to buy a $500,000 house that comes with the same taxes as a home worth six times that. I cannot sell it to the data centers you rezoned it for

[01:27:29] because you are currently in court debating if that rezoning is legal somehow even though my land is not actually good for anything besides the home that currently sits on it you have decided that it should be taxed as if it is owned by a multi-billion dollar company but it's just owned by my family a teacher a compliance auditor and three young children we do not have the ability to pay this tax neither do our neighbors you cannot in good faith state that the value of our property is worth what a data center could develop it for when no data center can currently

[01:28:09] develop it. Raising this tax now won't bring in data center money sooner. It's just bankrupting your citizens. I beg you, please speak to the real estate office and revert these assessments back to the property's current residential use because these new tax bills will destroy the lives of dozens of families, including my own. Thank you. All right. Now, please have order in the chambers.

[01:28:40] Next speaker. Marianne Hartzell, Occoquan District. My 12-year-old daughter recently asked me, why does the government care about who gets married? I'm sorry, can you speak up a little bit? Yes, ma'am. My 12-year-old daughter recently asked me, why does the government care about who gets married? Why does the government care about speeding, fishing in a certain pond, graffiti, rather for what does the government care such that it writes and enacts these kinds of laws one role of the government is to protect its society by the regulation of its people's actions

[01:29:19] where one's self-control should suffice we all know that self-discipline too often fails we fall prey to greed lust anger and so the government makes and enforces laws to protect the common good of a society from the natural inclinations to which people succumb. Indeed, this common good is protected also by individuals who curb their own desires, sacrifice their own wants for the sake of the community. The government and its people must have this common good as their

[01:29:53] mutual goal in order for their society to thrive and even survive. We are all here because we want PwC to be a beautiful, healthy, safe place for ourselves and generations to follow. So we must ask, does Resolution 4C strengthen our community? Does it promote the mental health of our citizens?

[01:30:14] In the seeming protection of one group, have we victimized another? Does Pride Month celebrate the principles of equality, inclusion, freedom, and justice, the goal of this resolution? The drag show in Manassas on May 18th was promoted as a community event, but featured adult entertainment, and even the title of one performer, Ophelia Bottoms, made clear this sexual content is not community or family-oriented. It is not child-friendly, and it should not be promoted as such. It adds to the heavy burden children carry from sexualized social media, even pornography.

[01:30:49] It glorifies activities that are coexistent with higher suicide, depression, and anxiety rates, as recently shown by NIH and HHS. This resolution wants citizens to recognize people who identify as LGBTQIA+, as valued members of the larger community. But Pride Month diminishes that message. Individuals are valued members of a society, not because of their sexual inclinations.

[01:31:18] They are not defined by their sexual activities. They are not the sum of their actions. Rather, their dignity is the innate character that all men and women of every race and creed share. The pride flag may divide us, so let us raise the American flag, which unites us, and gather under it to value each other as neighbors, as we strive to be a nation whose soul is confirmed in self-control, its liberty in law, as the song.

[01:31:48] Please rescind the promulgation of Pride Month for the greater good of our community, and thank you. All right, before we have Mr. Gloss come, I'm going to invite the next round of speakers, Mohamed, and I apologize, sir, Al-Zahri, Novel Al-Zahri, Sued Hadid, and Amar Al-Zahri.

[01:32:12] So if you can make your way to the back to line up to speak, I'd appreciate it. All right, Mr. Gloss, the floor is yours. Good afternoon, Ellen Gloss, and I identify as a proud member of Margaret Franklin's Woodbridge District. Again this year, I watched my government genuflect at the Pagan Altar of Wokeness as this board celebrated with a proclamation what 14th century Italian writer Dante refers to as one of the seven deadly sins.

[01:32:42] Blatantly, the county has failed to honor the sacrifices of Americans who participated in World War II's D-Day, one of the most daring and audacious military campaigns ever taken, where American resolve was on full display as men painstakingly took back inch by inch land occupied by German invading forces. Many of the men sent did not make it home. A lot of them never even made it to the beaches of Normandy. I don't care what people do in the privacy of their own home or in their bedroom and you shouldn't either. It's literally none of the government's business

[01:33:16] what people do as long as it's legal and between two consented adults. I don't want the government in my bedroom, and no one here wants that either. But I do care, and we all should care, what our government chooses to support, honor, and praise in our names. By celebrating sexual perversion and forgetting the sacrifices of millions of Americans, 100,000 of which lost their lives during World War II, some of them, Prince William County's own sons, speaks volumes. Our World War II veteran population is dying off, and again this year, the county has chose to honor everything but their

[01:33:53] sacrifices. It says something. What the government chooses to highlight means something. So I'm going to tell you about my grandfather's brother, Theodore Gloss, one of millions of men who answered the call of their country and left their homes and lives to fight for the rights of others. Theodore grew up poor, like his father, his children, and all of my family. As a young man, he volunteered to enlist in the Army Air Corps, the precursor to the U.S. Air Force. Theodore was trained as an aircraft maintenance technician, and he was forward deployed in support of D-Day. Theodore died when I

[01:34:29] was a young man, and I never really got to know him, but I'm told of the things he did for his country, and I'm proud to have embarked on a similar journey. I implore this board to reset its priorities and honor the men and women of World War II and do it before they all fade off into the sunset. Thank you. All right, next speaker, please. Hi, my name is Muhammad Al-Jazari.

[01:34:55] My family in here, my family and I are here to talk about the torture and abuse. Please quickly just state where you live. I live in Stafford, Virginia. Thank you. We're here to talk about the torture and abuse, sexual assault that's happening right here in our county at the Prince William County Adult Detention Center.

[01:35:14] My family and I have been outside of the jail protesting for this abuse, for accountability. The jail has stripped inmates naked, sexually assaulted them, deprived people of food, water, clothing, basic human rights.

[01:35:34] That's all we're asking, basic human rights. My brother has been held in solitary confinement going on 14 months now. He was raped by correctional officers last year on May 24th. He was assaulted, beat up on April 17th and 19th this year.

[01:35:53] And when we call the police, they refuse to show up. Now, when you call the police, anywhere you are in America, when you call the police and an officer refuses to show up, you have a problem. In January, my mother and I were at the courthouse when an attorney assaulted my mother.

[01:36:15] It was caught on camera, and the police refused to file a report. Every officer I talk to from Prince William County says, not my jurisdiction. Every agency that I call in Prince William County, when I tell them that this is from the adult detention center in Manassas, They tell me that that's not our jurisdiction.

[01:36:36] They tell me to talk to the 11 jail board members who are in fact running the jail. You can't complain to your abuser. Now, over 15 people have come forward from inside the jail and talked about how they were stripped naked.

[01:36:52] They were beat up by officers, deprived medical attention, and these are pre-trial detainees. This is a violation of due process. It's a violation of the law. These inmates are, all we're asking for is leadership to take accountability for what's going on.

[01:37:15] This is America where every individual has the right to due process. The violation of the Constitution is happening right here in our county, and no one seems to want to address it. Every person says, not my jurisdiction.

[01:37:31] We have a jail board member who is the director for human rights in Prince William County, and he says, not my jurisdiction. When I called Christopher Shorter's office, his assistant wouldn't put me through the call. She says, not my jurisdiction. That's the message that we get.

[01:37:48] When you call the police and they refuse to show up to file a criminal complaint against the aggressors inside that jail that are wearing a badge, you have a problem. Casey Stevens assaulted my mother just the other day, and the prosecutor refuses to prosecute because he pays the right people.

[01:38:05] No one is above the law. This is America, and we want the Constitution to be followed. Next speaker, please. My name is Amar Al-Jazari. I'm here on behalf of an organization, Protect Inmate Project.

[01:38:21] Now, I've been going to the jail board meeting back in December 20, 2024, 2023, January 17, 2024. Now, when I went back in March, they shut down the jail board public meeting. And just recently, again, they shut down the public format to the public.

[01:38:42] Now, all I'm trying to do is I have recordings of phone call conversations with inmates about disturbing details whether these inmates have been struck naked, beaten up, sexually assaulted, denied medical. I have phone call recordings. And all I'm trying to do is supply it to Sheriff Glenhill.

[01:39:01] They're in the jail board meeting. Chief of police, Peter Newsham, he's a jail board member. Amy Ashworth, Commonwealth Amy Ashworth, she's a jail board member. Superintendent, Peter Melitas, jail board member. Raul Torres, he's on the Human Rights Commission, he's a jail board member.

[01:39:17] Now, they're refusing to take these recordings. They're refusing to look into what's going on with these inmates. One of them is my brother, Mustafa Al-Jazari. Now, the jail board is comprised of the chief of police, the sheriff, the commonwealth attorney, and the superintendent.

[01:39:35] It looks good on the outside, but is it not a conflict of interest to have all this authority paid $50,000 by the private jail? That's a conflict of interest. Every time you have an inmate that gets beaten up and denied medical, left naked in that cell, When you call Prince William County, the chief of police who was on the jail board getting paid by the private jail is calling off the wellness check into the inmate.

[01:40:00] It's a conflict of interest. I have recordings that I would like to supply to the supervisors and I would like these recordings to be looked into. Now, why am I here and how did I start doing this? My brother Mustafa Al-Jazari, his police report is falsified. We got a letter from Internal Affairs signed by the chief of police admitting that they had falsified.

[01:40:20] The investigator Robert Jones falsified that police report. That investigator is now on the Brady List for falsifying my brother police report. The dash camera has been edited, cut, and muted by the police department. The Commonwealth Attorney, Amy Asher, refused to release it to the community.

[01:40:37] Once she releases that dash camera, she's going to have to release my brother. We want the dash camera. We want the body cam of 18-year-old Juan Campos that was murdered on the hand of Correctional Officer Eric Lindsay. We want the body cam when the Williams County Police Department picked him up.

[01:40:55] Why does that kid, why does 18-year-old Juan Campos not have a mugshot? We won the body cam when the police picked him up. There's a lot of details where the police beat him up so bad, and instead of taking him to the hospital, they took him to a county jail where they covered his window. What's an 18-year-old doing in solitary confinement with a covered window?

[01:41:12] We won the body cam for Juan Campos. We won the CCTV inside the jail. Eight days later, this kid was murdered. And inmates that came forward, Mustafa Al-Jazar is one of them, is getting beaten up and denied medical inside the jail. And Prince William County Chief of Police, Peter Newstrom, refused to do a wellness check on him.

[01:41:28] All right, sir, you didn't state where you reside. Can you state that now, please, before you walk away? Yes, my name is Omar Al-Jazari. I live in Stafford, where we're at Protect Inmate Project. Thank you. Thank you, ma'am. The next speaker, please. And again, when you speak, please state your name and where you reside.

[01:41:50] Thank you for the time you gave it to me. I'm Nofella Al-Jazari. Please speak into the microphone. Thank you, sir. Oh, sorry. I came here to complain for Ami Ashwar, the prosecutor, control the judge, control the...

[01:42:11] Say your name, where you reside. My name is Naufel Adjazari. Yeah, Ami Ashwar controlled the judge, controlled the lawyer, controlled the jail, okay? And she used her power to make money through our pen.

[01:42:32] I'm Naufel Adjazari. I came here in 1996 as a Saddam's victim, with my six children, with my wife, running from border to border. United Nations sent me to the country, they say the freedom country, to have a dignity and law country, okay?

[01:42:59] My son, when I tried to speak for myself first, when Mr. President Bush made a decision to remove Saddam from power, a mechanical engineer. I applied to be U.S. military. And the prime minister inside Iraq hired me too. They hired me here as a U.S. military, and the prime minister inside Iraq hired me.

[01:43:26] I choose to work through prime minister's office to support American troops liberated Iraq from devil occupation. I mean Saddam Hussein. Mr. President, Mr. Petraeus, General Petraeus, he know what I did inside Iraq three years, supporting U.S. military and save their life.

[01:43:54] Yes. Okay. Last year, my son did accident. The investigator changed his word, said argue. He said, I am not arguing inside the car. The investigator said, yes, he said argue. He said, I am not arguing inside the car. We record the conversation between investigator and my son.

[01:44:26] We recorded. And I went to the chief of the police. We explained to him the investigator lie and changed the world of the I have documented from the chief of the police. He said the investigator was lying. Ami Ashwar, we hire lawyer. The lawyer said your son is innocent. We pay him $50,000.

[01:44:50] Okay, after that, we find the lawyer working with Amy Ashworth. He paid her campaign $4,700 from our money. And they're beating my son inside the jail.

[01:45:06] When we complained, they said, your son needs mental evaluation. After that, they beat him again. We have a lawyer. They record what they did with my son. It means my son in the torturing place. This is not United States in my mind.

[01:45:24] United States torturing a place because they changed his world. They're using our money from themselves. Sir, thank you so much. Before you go, I do need you to state where you reside.

[01:45:39] Is it Stafford County? Stafford County. All right, thank you. All right, our next speaker. Hello, how are you doing, everybody? My name is Saad Haddad.

[01:45:56] My son, named Mustafa Al-Jazari, who is in Prince William County Detention Center, Adult Detention Center. He is right there. He's there right now. My son, Mustafa Al-Jazari, I am here for my son.

[01:46:15] I have six children. First of all, my name is Saad Haddad. I live in Stafford. This is my husband. These are my kids who, like, they give speech. I want to continue to my husband. My son, Mustafa Al-Jazari, was abducted by Prince William County.

[01:46:33] By Prince William County. He was abducted. His name is Mustafa Al-Jazari. He was tortured by this jail. Prince William County Adult Detention Center, 10 corruption officers went inside his cell and beat him, sexually assaulted him, and naked him, took picture while he was naked, and starved him.

[01:47:01] Okay, this was on May 24 of last year, 23. Today, this year, on April 17 and 19, They went inside the cell again. While he was sleeping, they choked him.

[01:47:18] James Foster choked my son and other officers, Daniel, Tipton, other officers, we have their name. Now, because of the time, there is limit. My son is there. I am protesting in front of the jail, looking for justice.

[01:47:36] I need everybody to listen to me. I am in pain because of my son. They are torturing him inside this jail. They don't allow him to call me. I just want to check on my son if he's okay.

[01:47:52] Okay, they lied. Robert D. Drum lied in my son's report. We have record. My son record the conversation between Robert D. Drum, the crash investigator. They lied. Internal affair, no. No, my son is innocent.

[01:48:09] My son has dash camera inside his car. Amy Ashworth took his camera and hid it. She hid the camera. We need the dash camera to the public. So people see my son is innocent and is sitting there like suffering, starving.

[01:48:26] He cannot call me. I cannot visit him. The jail is doing what they are doing. They are torturing my son. And no one knows what's going on. I am protesting there. I am sleeping on the grass. I slept on the grass. It's been 48 days. I'm protesting now.

[01:48:42] People, community donated for our RV. And I'm sitting in RV right now in front of the jail. I need my son right. I need my son right. He did not do anything, okay? I need my son to be judged in public. Judge is corrupt because the judge kept Sarah Sammy lie, lie, and he did not stop her.

[01:49:02] They lie on my son's case. My son is innocent. Thank you, ma'am. I need everybody to know the situation. Thank you so very much. Thank you. All right. Thank you. Thank you, everyone, who is coming out to speak during public comment time. We are now going to be moving into public hearings, which includes Consolidated.

[01:49:18] I'm sorry. We have no one? Yeah. Do you have anyone remote? And I have my list right here.

[01:49:33] I was ready to go into it, but I'm trying to plow. I'm ready to go. Get more Skittles. No remote. All right. Public hearing. So this is how we're going to do this. I want to, so everyone knows, we are going to break this into three sections. We're going to do 7A.

[01:49:49] We're going to do remote. We're going to do in-person public common time. We will also do remote. Then we'll go to 7B through 7J, in-person, remote. And also between this, we're also going to vote on each of these. And then we're going to do 7L, 7M, in-person. remote vote so i think this is going to be hopefully a smooth system i'm just waiting for the list of signups i will open um i'm going to open the public hearing for item 7a

[01:50:25] no speakers in person what about remote all right so then i would like to i would like a motion i'm sorry i need a close i'm sorry i'm going to close the public hearing for item 7a um i would like to get a motion so move madam chair for 7a second madam chair all right no supervisor angry stepped

[01:50:52] away but if we can take a vote vote unanimous supervisor angry is absent from vote all right next i am going to open the public hearings for 7b through 7j do we have any in-person speakers

[01:51:21] we do if people can make sure they also take seats all right i have three people signed up

[01:51:52] everyone has three minutes to speak i ask that you please state your name and where you reside which magisterial district in which you reside. So I'm going to start with Freddie Hardin. Then it's Connie Berhain, Yesli Waldensack, and yes, there's another Yesli, and Miriam Higginbotham.

[01:52:20] So if you can make, if I've called you, please make your way to the microphone in the back. All right, sir, you may start. Good afternoon. My name is Freddie Hardin. I'm the president of the Reeds Prospect Homeowners Association.

[01:52:37] And that is in which district? That is in the Occoquan District. Thank you. We would like to express our strong opposition to Reed's Prospect Proffer Amendment due to unresolved issues. The process is important to our HOA as we will be taking responsibility of managing the townhomes and inherit any unresolved issues from completion of the project.

[01:53:04] We need to get this right. The Planning Commission advised the applicant at the public hearing on March 13th to engage with the HOA to resolve any issues. At that meeting, the applicant stated they contacted the HOA but did not disclose who they had been engaged with.

[01:53:24] We recently learned at our HOA board meeting that two of the Reed's Prospect HOA board members are agents of the applicant. Our HOA had not been informed up to this point of what had been occurring with the amendment.

[01:53:43] When I came on board as president a year and a half ago, I was never briefed by the previous president who is an agent of the applicant. Specifically, we believe that it is in the best interest of our HOA to address the following nine issues.

[01:54:00] Ensure receive any and all monetary contribution due to the HOA according to today's inflation rate and take into account residential children that will accompany the residents. Two, overturn advertising material to the HOA to ensure transparency in the advertising amenities in the sale of the townhomes as not to deceive potential buyers.

[01:54:29] We do not have a clubhouse and do not want the applicant or the sales office playing semantics at our HOA's expense. Ensure the roads are paved in and around the townhomes at the completion of the construction.

[01:54:46] Set reasonable work hours during the construction to reduce noise level. Address removal of the back stairs to the assistant living facility. The stairs are in close proximity to the potential residential garage, which also invites facility staff and visitors to utilize Reed's Prospect residential parking spaces reserved for Reed's Prospect HOA residents and guests.

[01:55:15] Provide additional signage for our community. provide a speed bump in a townhome area, and address the unfinished pedestrian trail. The modification letter in regard to the pedestrian trail mentions a proposal to add a sidewalk construction.

[01:55:33] Finally, one of the most important aspects of an applicant building in a community is to ensure that they are being good stewards of the community. It is not about what they have or what they have the right to do, but moreover, what is right.

[01:55:51] Thank you. You would have to ask before you speak. Before we got five minutes. You would have to make it, when you speak, when you come up, you would have to ask for the five minutes.

[01:56:07] So if you would like to do the five minutes, we will put that on. But again, please state your name, your organization, and what magisterial district you're from. My name is Connie Berhane. I'm with Occoquan District. Can't hear you. Oh, sorry. My name is Connie Berhane. I'm with Occoquan District, and I am a newly appointed board member at Reed's Prospect.

[01:56:30] In 2011, we purchased a home in Prince William County, Reed's Prospect, prior to my spouse retiring from the Army, a place we expected to call home, and of course we still do. We moved from Fort Belvoir Housing Community, which has a well-established community leaders platform that includes surrounding communities who come together to strengthen relationships.

[01:56:56] Many of you may participate in Fort Belvoir's forum. I believe Prince William County could do a better job to strengthen the relationship between partners, applicants, homeowners, and the county. This is especially important when applicants build new communities and are returned to complete a bill.

[01:57:16] In my personal opinion, I do not see strong forged bonds happening from where I sit. It is my understanding the applicant's approved project is a living document, which they have the right to amend over time.

[01:57:32] And that's okay, as long as they involve the community in which they are serving and are willing to listen to the concerns that will impact the community long after they are gone. I believe the county could also do a better job of capturing impact.

[01:57:49] I have not seen in this amendment that I have not seen in this amendment. Keep in mind when soliciting feedback, not all homeowners understand the language that comes out of these projects. And most communities have residents from various cultures, backgrounds with possible language barriers.

[01:58:09] This should be taken into consideration during any decision making process. I have never resided in an HOA community, nor have I ever heard of or read a proffer prior to moving here to Prince William County and into Reed Prospect.

[01:58:26] This is most likely the case for many homeowners. You don't know what you don't know. You also don't have the ability to ask questions about something you are not even aware of or exist. The county speaks this language, applicants have their language, and then there is interpretation of these languages by homeowners and potential buyers.

[01:58:49] It can be extremely complex and confusing for the average homeowners. I truly want to believe that the applicant cares about what will work best for Reed's community long after they have gone. However, it appears they are not concerned about the future of our community.

[01:59:06] I respectfully ask that you keep in mind that the final outcome of this amendment becomes the HOA problem. It is my hope that the county as well as the Applin would not want to create future problems for the HOA.

[01:59:22] It is imperative to capture resolutions and writing that would be in the best interest of the HOA. So I strongly urge you to postpone approval of this amendment to allow the HOA to codify resolutions and writing.

[01:59:38] Thank you for your time. All right, next speaker, please. Hello, my name is Miriam Higginbotham. I live in the Occoquan District. I'm a resident of Reed's Prospect on the end of the community where this proffer would be impacting development.

[01:59:57] I would just like to endorse comments made by Freddie and Connie. I'm a former HOA board member, and so I can attest to the inherent difficulties of dealing with the way our HOA is set up, where originally the apartments were supposed to be condos, so they each have voting rights, which means that the developer has a majority of voting rights in the entire community.

[02:00:28] And because of that, there are sometimes conflicts of interest and communication with actual homeowners. So what Freddie was speaking of in terms of whether there's actually been communication to the HOA in terms of actual residents versus the actual applicant themselves is definitely a concern.

[02:00:48] And hopefully Freddie will submit his full comments in writing so you can consider those. I'm just going to touch on one issue. He understands all the issues much better than I do. But I'm going to touch on one issue, which I have raised since we bought our house in 2012.

[02:01:04] And this deals with the traffic situation coming out of our community where you turn on from Reed's Prospect Drive onto Prince William Parkway. This is a left turn area with no signal. In fact, it's even worse.

[02:01:20] The signal there is a flashing yellow light that nobody knows what that means. And I raised this in an email in 2016 to VDOT. I raised this with you guys when we were discussing the Hawthorne Residential Approval of the Residential Center and talked with VDOT, was assured there would be follow-up with that.

[02:01:45] Nothing has changed. And so I was disheartened to go through and read this proffer and see all the red lining here, which cuts out all the considerations of a valid left turn lane there, actual signalization, which would put it in actual traffic light.

[02:02:04] At the very least, I've asked this board, I've asked VDOT to please just consider removing the yellow light. That has been there since we have lived there, so what, 12 years now? And just last week, I saw people coming down the parkway, seeing that yellow light, not knowing what it means.

[02:02:22] Do I need to stop? And they come to a full halt in the middle of the traffic lane. All the traffic behind them has to screech to a halt. I'm seeing accidents there probably at least twice monthly. I understand that apparently VDOT did a traffic assessment here.

[02:02:41] I don't know what that entails. I'm just very concerned, especially since we are bringing in more residents, more families to live in these townhomes, that there's going to be increased traffic there, increased accidents, and I'm really concerned about increased fatalities in that area.

[02:02:57] So with that, I appreciate your consideration of my comments and denying this proffer until there's been more full consideration. Thank you so very much. I don't see, I guess we had one more person, but she has not come to the microphone. SO WE WILL MOVE ON TO REMOTE, TO THE REMOTE HEARINGS.

[02:03:14] DO WE HAVE ANYONE FOR 7B TO 7J ONLINE? WE HAVE NONE AT THIS TIME. ALL RIGHT THEN. SO I WILL CLOSE THE PUBLIC HEARINGS FOR ITEM 7B THROUGH 7J. NOW IF I CAN GET A MOTION FOR 7B.

[02:03:30] Madam Chair, BEFORE WE DO A MOTION, COULD I REQUEST THE APPLING COME UP AND RESPOND TO SOME OF THE COMMENTS MADE DURING THE PUBLIC HEARING? YES.

[02:03:39] THANK YOU.

[02:04:39] good evening i am jessica pfeiffer with walsh koluchy lubili and walsh here on behalf of the applicant reeds prospect pwc llc the owner of these parcels i'm going to go super quick because i want to get to the crux of this which is the items that were raised the property is comprised

[02:05:19] of 12 subdivided lots today 12 subdivided parcels and the ask here is those parcels already subdivided are proffered to be live work homes which is commercial on the first floor residential above because they have no visibility from Prince William Parkway their only visibility is from a private road back in the community we're asking for them to just be straight townhomes

[02:05:47] so that is the entirety of the proposal and the ask with the proffer amendment so I just wanted to address a couple things and it looks like a lot of my slides aren't showing up but that's okay I did want to address a couple things that were brought up.

[02:06:09] So we had our Planning Commission hearing on March 13th. Following that hearing, we reached out to the HOA to set a time to meet. We had met previously, but we wanted to meet again, and we set that meeting for May 14th. After that meeting, we were provided with an executive summary from the REITs Prospect HOA of the items that were raised.

[02:06:31] We did provide a response on May 28th. I did just want to walk through a couple of those things. It is unfortunate that my slides aren't working, but that's okay. No worries. I can talk from this. So the monetary contributions that were referenced are level of service items from the original proffers from 2006.

[02:06:51] So those are monies paid to the Board of County Supervisors for transportation, libraries, fire and rescues, parks and recreation. Each townhome will be required to make a one-time assessment payment. And that is per the 2012 Amendment to the Declaration of Protective Covenants, Conditions, and Restrictions.

[02:07:13] And that money will go to the Reed's Prospect HOA. So that is money that each townhome will pay to go towards the HOA. And then the townhomes will be part of the HOA and any future assessments and dues and fees and maintenance of the roads and the clubhouse.

[02:07:31] The stairs were mentioned. the stairs are existing they were proffered as part of the Hawthorne assisted living facility I think county transportation and the county and the planning office wanted a connection pedestrian connectivity between the two we have put the reeds prospect HOA in contact with a representative from Hawthorne I'm not sure where those conversations stand the trail is something that was requested to be removed by the residents of Lakeside Court.

[02:08:05] They didn't want a trail behind their home back in 2013, and the developer worked with Chris Price at the time to remove that trail and do a separate connection to the sidewalk in front of their homes. We did receive comments about traffic calming, which we have said that we would be willing to look at maybe a speed bump or a speed table in the future.

[02:08:29] These are private roads. But if the HOA does want that in the future and is okay with maintaining that, we would be okay with putting that in. We were also asked about hours of construction. Hours of construction in the county are 6 a.m. to 10 p.m. on weekdays and 9 a.m. to 10 p.m. on Saturdays, Sundays, and legal holidays.

[02:08:51] We are willing to restrict those to 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. on weekdays and 9 a.m. to 7 p.m. on weekends, legal holidays. And we did provide all this in writing so that they would have it. In terms of the asphalt, if the asphalt is damaged in the location of the townhomes between Reed's Prospect Drive and the townhomes, we are absolutely going to pave that and repair it for them.

[02:09:21] We were asked to make sure that the trees on the subdivided lots are not too big. And what we had our engineer confirm is that the trees on the subdivided lots are going to be similar in size to the trees on these existing homes right here they are not going to be the street trees which are larger and in other locations of reeds prospect let me just make sure i didn't miss any these are the stairs they exist this is the hawthorne plan and hawthorne

[02:09:55] was required to put in those stairs there was also a concern about the existing bathhouse that was a proffer from 2006 the concern is that it is not big enough they would like it to be bigger it was proffered as a bathhouse we were asked to make sure that our residents understand that it's a bathhouse and not a clubhouse and the proffers are always provided to homeowners before purchasing their lots but also the bathhouse is existing so they can go take a look at the amenities when

[02:10:32] they're deciding whether or not to purchase in this community. This is the trail I mentioned. This is the connection that the Lakeside Court residents wanted removed because they did not want people walking through their backyards. And this is the connection that they asked for the developer to do instead, to connect to the sidewalk. The last item, we were asked about signage.

[02:10:58] The Reeds Prospect Homeowners Association would like signage. There was a uniform sign plan that was done with the proffers we are not proposing any additional signage with our 12 townhomes but we did provide them with the information for the signage that was previously approved so all that to say the other thing that we added and let them know is a courtesy review we added a courtesy review with both loka pelt and the reeds prospect hoa because we don't want this to be our first conversation we want to keep them updated on the construction the timing where our plans are

[02:11:32] at what's being proposed so we do have proffers that add that courtesy review both to loka pelt and to um the reeds prospect hoa and i have those to hand out and unless there's any questions i believe i touched on everything that was raised madam chair supervisor bodie thank you madam chair and thank you uh miss feiffer for for explaining some of those issues i know that this has been sort of an ongoing conversation to go to let's go in reverse order so adding the

[02:12:06] courtesy review I appreciate that consideration realistically though what could change in us adding a courtesy review at this point if we were to approve it based on the concerns that this community has right now so one of the things that was discussed was timing and just continuing the conversation so that they know when construction might start where we are at with our plans We can show them our site plan.

[02:12:33] We are in for concurrent processing, but we can show them our site plan and just really make sure that the conversation continues. Sure. And follow-up question, Madam Chair, if you don't mind. So let's go back to the stairs for a second. That was shared with me as a major concern.

[02:12:48] So those stairs were proffered as per the Hawthorne development, and that was in, what, 2019? Yes. Okay. And do those stairs lie on the Hawthorne property or on the Reed's Prospect property?

[02:13:04] They are on the Hawthorne property. So they are the property of Hawthorne. And so it wouldn't be within your purview to remove those steps anyway. That would be a conversation they would have to have with Hawthorne and not you all. Correct. And it might be a proffer amendment to the Hawthorne zoning.

[02:13:21] Which the building is currently under construction, not complete yet. And they might have to come back to us for a proffer amendment if they wanted to remove those stairs since it was proffered in to begin with that they would have those stairs and that connection okay appreciate that um the um the trail slash sidewalk so if i'm understanding this properly um there was originally supposed to be a trail you have it back there so behind those houses those homeowners said hey we don't want a trail there we don't want people walking our backyards understand that so then the the agreement that was brought is hey instead of doing that we're

[02:13:56] to come come down in front of the houses and have that trail connect to the sidewalk is that correct correct so there is a connection there just not where the trail was originally expected to be it's not a sidewalk in front of the homes is supposed to be behind the home so there's connectivity there it's just not behind correct okay appreciate that um and then the traffic calming portion you said that you you all would be open to having either a speed table or a speed a speed hump depending on on and that i would imagine that would be part of that courtesy review conversation hey we we want to do this if you guys want to do this this is what it would look like since it's a private road would you still have to go through the transportation department

[02:14:35] for us or that just be a private matter um so we did put in our responses to them that we would need to consult with county transportation um it would mostly be a private matter but i think it would probably be around in this location potentially i think we just would need to Consult on location, maintenance, and some people don't like speed bumps or speed tables.

[02:14:57] Just make sure that the community wants it. And understanding that, like you just said, it would be up to the community once it's constructed for them to maintain. And I highlight that because I know one of the concerns that was shared with me is assessments and all these things that are currently challenged points with the HOA and adding the maintenance of a speed table would be another obligation on their part once you all constructed it.

[02:15:20] Appreciate that. um signage my question there is um the request was hey can you add more signs because it was my understanding that some folks don't really know how to get back there there's not really good a sign and place making on getting back to and that's part of the issue um what was the consideration there on on not really looking into that request or what was what was the resistance to doing any sort of signage sure so we provided the uniform sign plan which was part of the proffers from 2006 and at the time they considered proffers for both the non-residential and the

[02:15:55] residential together there are a number of lots that have not been developed so the the main reeds prospect sign is supposed to be in this location and as everyone knows this corner at great bridge road and the parkway is not yet developed so there is not a sign here today i believe there's also going to be signage here and maybe in addition to the pillars signage here we are not proposing any signage I would be happy to give them the zoning ordinance and we did provide the design guidelines and the uniform sign plan okay appreciate that and I think that's the

[02:16:33] last question I had for you but I wanted to bring up staff madam chair if you if you will allow me supervisor weir has a question microphone thank you madam chair um you mentioned a limitation on construction hours. Is that a proper condition or an agreement you have with the HOA? It is an agreement we have with the HOA. We provided that to them last week in our matrix, but it is something that we told them that we would do. The county attorney is going to probably jump down my throat, but I don't believe that we can consider such an agreement. And if you want us to consider that agreement, I would suggest making it part of the proper conditions such that the homeowners

[02:17:13] you've got the agreement with will both have recourse and an enforcement mechanism. Otherwise, otherwise it's meaningless to me okay we can discuss that discuss it now tomorrow next week we can discuss it now i would i would ask to be added as a proper condition sure i guess well i oh my customers county staff you guys can talk about that yeah appreciate that so um question

[02:17:48] for staff because traffic and transportation and traffic station was brought up um part of the concerns here. So understanding that this was already subdivided into 12 live-work units, we're just changing those to 12 townhome units, what is the difference between the trips generated by the current conditions versus what would be done with this proffer amendment? Supervisor Bode, I'm going to have to refer that to our transportation department. Appreciate that.

[02:18:24] Yeah, Madam Chair, members, board, Paula Belito with the Department of Transportation. We don't have the exact number, but from my recollection, there was a ti deferral because there was a net decrease but i'll defer to the applicant to confirm so i apologize i don't have that exact uh trip gen number so tentatively it's a net decrease from the live work units to the townhome units correct okay i guess the applicant is still conferring

[02:18:58] and actually while that's going on um since i have you there paulo and and alex um the one of the constituents who's still here mentioned that uh that flashing yellow light on the parkway at reads prospect i know that's been an ongoing thing and i know i can't say too much about this but there is going to be another application across the street that will address that let me just put it out there but can you talk about that flashing yellow light correct at this time based on recent vdot signal warrant analysis it still does not meet warrants for signalization but you had mentioned this potential rezoning so i know vdot may have withheld the removal at this

[02:19:34] time so we can continue working vdot there was mention of concerns of potential incidents we can can verify that and we can pull the accident reports to see if that flash signal is impacting safety along the corridor and if i could paulo right where you're still there i'd be curious to see how many and this probably gets asked every time it comes up how many flashing yellow lights we have like that in the county and if we have the same kind of issues with it there's not many it is a unique situation right uh based on how the flashing signal signal is proffered so it is a unique situation but we can research and confirm and be happy to get back to you appreciate that Thank you, Paula.

[02:20:09] All right, is the applicant ready? We will include that as a proffer, the hours of construction. Sorry, my hearing's going. Sorry. We will add that as a proffer, the hours of construction limitation.

[02:20:25] Madam County Attorney, I'm assuming you need that in writing prior to the motion. Madam Chair, members of the board, we need the applicant to sign the proffers before the board votes, and we need to make sure that any motion includes the proffers that are amended as of today's date.

[02:20:42] Madam Chair? Yes. I would suggest that we move on with the rest of the agenda and pick this up after item 7N so that the applicant has opportunity to address that and we can move forward with other materials. All right, I was going to give us a recess, but all right. Madam Chair, I believe the applicant's already signed them.

[02:21:00] Yes. Okay. They are in progress right now. We have the applicant signing them. Okay. The board can't vote until they sign it. Acknowledge. So are they all signed by our folks too? Is that what I'm seeing? Nods. Everyone's signed. We don't have to sign them. So everyone that's asked has signed it already.

[02:21:18] Yes. Because we don't have to pause. Appreciate that. So then if everything is squared away. Sorry. All right. If everything is squared away, did you have anything else? I don't. I just wanted to see if any of my colleagues have any other questions before I make a motion.

[02:21:33] Well, we still have to close. Oh, did we? Wait. We have to do? We closed the public hearing. We closed? All right. It's closed. Okay. All right. So, Madam Chair, I would like to move 7C with admitted proffers dated Tuesday, June 4th, 2024.

[02:21:56] So, second. All right. Any, hold on. Supervisor Bode, I see we have further discussion. Yes. Thank you, Madam Chair. Understood that I know a number of constituents came out today, including leadership from the Reed's Prospect HOA.

[02:22:12] I know I've had conversations with a couple of those folks over the last few weeks. I know that part of this are longstanding challenges that the HOA has already had. I know that HOAs are not easy. I deal with HOAs every single day in my professional life. I know that each HOA has its own character, content, challenges, pain points.

[02:22:31] You can do a SWAN analysis on each individual HOA and have any number of issues that are going on. That said, this is a proffer amendment that simply changes 12 currently live work units into 12 condos or townhouses, which, as we heard, likely will decrease the trips generated as opposed to increasing them.

[02:22:51] I know that folks are always concerned when they see something new coming up, new development, what have you. I know that Hawthorne took some folks by surprise. But we're in a situation where there's not a lot more that the applicant could do, frankly, given what this application is.

[02:23:08] I understood that there are also other things that are coming down the pipeline. I alluded to one across the, which will hopefully and I believe will address the traffic lag issue, which I know a lot of my constituents have cared about for a long time. And I know it's on top of my radar as well. That all said, I will be supporting this.

[02:23:26] uh it i know that there are folks that are concerned about in the community um i appreciate the applicant adding that courtesy review per the proffers and i i want to express to them and stress to them that this needs to be an ongoing conversation with the hoa and be partners with them every step of the way through the process to ensure that they are aware of what's going on especially as it pertains to the construction the hours i appreciate uh supervisor or where are you adding that?

[02:23:54] I think that's a great addition. And just knowing that there are a lot of existing issues and existing anxiety in this community and that folks need to be sensitive to that. Thank you, Madam Chair. All right, thank you so much. There is no one else. We are, and this is just for 7C.

[02:24:10] All right, so then let's vote 7C. Vote unanimous. All right, now I would like to entertain a motion for 7B and 7D through 7J. So moved, Madam Chair.

[02:24:26] Second. Any discussion? All right, let's vote. I'm sorry, what is second? we're having some technical vote unanimous all right we are now going to move on to 7l and 7m m7 oh i forgot that that should have been part i 7k i'd like to handle 7k separately or at least have some questions on it please okay so then we will move on i'm going to give people a second to

[02:25:03] clear out um we are going to move on to 7k i'm going to open the public hearing um did you want that's separate do you have any i was going to do 7k through 7 all right all right seven i'm going to open the public hearing for 7k through 7m do we have any anyone signed up no one signed up in person what about remote none at this time all right so we have no one for 7k through 7m so i

[02:25:38] will close the public hearing on that if i can get a motion for 7k through 7m so move madam chair second all right discussion starting with supervisor weir madam chair i've got questions for both development services and the farm chief if anybody's here wade we've got fire coming up

[02:26:04] is me a voting 42nd yep madam chair matt smolsky fire and rescue also the fire official for the county thank you madam chair mr smolsky i've gotten a number of questions from the development industry with respect to this particular section of code and i haven't gone through every single portion of this, but one of their complaints that seems to be addressed by this, and I'm not sure

[02:26:43] that their particular issue is, is that if a unit arrives at a row of townhouses and the access road for those townhouses has the garage facing them, and the front of the unit does not have a road on it, that the design guidelines currently require a 10-foot sidewalk for a period or for a length, and then that is required if there's no road in front of that particular unit because you can't use the back.

[02:27:16] Is that my understanding? Okay, I'm slightly confused, Mr. Weir. The 10-foot sidewalk, I'm not sure we don't regulate the sidewalk or anything like that, so I'm confused with the question that you're asking. My understanding is that there is a requirement for a wider-width sidewalk in front of units with no street access.

[02:27:34] That's a requirement of the fire department fire code. I'm not sure, Wade. to allow access since the fire department apparently won't access through a garage? Again, Mr. Weir, I need more details on the question you're asking.

[02:27:50] The 10-foot sidewalk thing is confusing and throwing me. We don't have any, I don't know of any specific requirement about a sidewalk that's enforced by the fire department. It's my understanding it's a sidewalk requirement at the request of the fire department or part of the fire code. Madam Chair, that being said, could we defer 7K until we get an answer?

[02:28:12] Do we? Oh, wait, hold on. Supervisor Bailey. Okay. You said you wanted to defer 7K? Yes, ma'am. I'm sorry. It's a matter of procedure. Do we need to vote on something to defer it?

[02:28:31] We'll amend the motion. Madam Chair, members of the board, are you asking to pass it over during today's meeting, or are you asking for it to be heard at another meeting at which we will need to re-advertise and have another public hearing? And I don't know... Madam County Attorney, I'm willing to address it later in the meeting.

[02:28:48] I would just like an answer from Development Services as to what we're doing with this, since the fire marshal doesn't seem to know? Supervisor Frank, I also have Supervisor Bailey. You have some. Okay, I'm sorry. Supervisor Franklin. Sure. Definitely think we should address it, but I'm just curious, Mr. Shorter, if it's something that you or Wade can address.

[02:29:14] I'll go back and do the research right now. We are happy to go back and do the research. We are, to the Chief's sort of already stated sort of public comments, we generally don't regulate the sort of sidewalk. So if we could find language, and we're happy to, Supervisor, we'll work with your office to find the language, and we will be happy to come back up and address it later on in the agenda.

[02:29:39] Madam Chair, so that I'm clear what I'm looking for, There was apparently a DCSM requirement for a wider than normal sidewalk to accommodate fire and rescue personnel, I guess, with a gurney on roads or on units that are where the front of the unit does not face a road, but where the primary access is on the backside through the garage or a secondary entrance.

[02:30:08] Okay, there is a 10-foot requirement for emergency access. It's not for individual townhouses. Again, I need to go back and look up exactly what you're talking about, Mr. Weir. But if I could, Madam Chair, I would like to make a comment. We have this whole process. We've worked with members of industry, and everything has been resolved, both through the CDC and DORAC.

[02:30:31] And if this issue came up, if that is correctly described, you know, this particular, the 10-foot sidewalk thing, it wasn't part of the discussion. We had several discussions, but everything was resolved, and those two groups were satisfied with the move. Did you have something, Mr. Shorter? We are doing the research, and, again, if we could take this later on in the agenda, we will be happy.

[02:30:52] So then what we will do with 7K, I don't know how long it will take. We will move it to. Madam Chair, I would offer a friendly amendment to the motion that's on the floor. Yes. To restate the amendment as 7L through 7M. i appreciate that and we will move down 7k to um hopefully around agency time if that works out for us if we have the answer by then so for the amended motion 7l and 7m um do we need i guess

[02:31:23] do we need you accept all right 7l through 7 okay i'm sorry did anyone have before we vote anyone had anything else on 7l and 7m any discussion all right i'm sorry we're gonna take that down

[02:32:03] because I knew Bailey had something all right because you had your you were patiently waiting so can we take this down and go to all right this all right supervisor Bailey I'll turn on your I'm sorry I first of all let me just thank um um Chief Newsham and uh the county attorney's office for coming up with these creative ways of combating this uh arduous issue that keeps coming in front of I know in in my district I'm sure in several others but I just had a few questions I only have three questions and one is uh if someone's here to address before um first of all i want to thank

[02:32:41] them for the detailed uh attachment that they had for all of the fees and the cost that uh and i think it's in in our it's page 36 if i'm not mistaken but just the detail that uh that you went into to make sure that everything was covered but i wanted to ask before you know like a truck is towed how many tickets or fines or violations are there before that that happens or is it immediate mike please i do it all the time too guys so lieutenant chris rice with the police

[02:33:21] department's admin section uh so that requires three tickets three outstanding tickets so those are 30 days overdue before they're towed okay so that's good and then the other question that i had is there's a part in the report that we got on page 24, and it's item number six, and it states that the police department will not be held accountable for the cost resulting in any administrative errors made by the police department.

[02:33:52] So I had a level of concern about that in terms of accountability. Can you just kind of talk to me about that and what that looks like? Because if it's not a truck driver or citizen's fault, then we need to be accountable in our departments for that.

[02:34:11] Right. So I will say with that, that's more of the agreement between us and the tow company. If we find, and we do this quite often, where we have somebody that believes their car was towed inappropriately, we do a review of it, we determine that it was towed inappropriately or there was a misunderstanding, and the department is absorbing those costs.

[02:34:30] This is more of the agreement between us and the tow company itself. Oh, okay. So that if there's a disagreement between us and the tow company whose fault it was, we're not going to take that liability because an officer wrote down an incorrect VIN number, and we would have to work that out with the tow company.

[02:34:48] Okay. Such as it's a tow company's responsibility to notify the owner through DMV when the car is towed, the vehicle is towed, and that's in storage. Okay. So if something like that happens and there's a dispute, then we don't take that liability.

[02:35:07] Okay. Okay, I understand that. And if I can, Supervisor, just to make sure that we're answering your question, your concern is the liability being borne by the motorist. Yes. And so just to make sure that we are answering the question, that the administrative cost will be borne by the county or by the third party, not by the motorist.

[02:35:30] Okay. Okay. That's correct. Okay. okay thank you yeah that was my concern um but i i wanted to and again just briefly thank uh y'all for moving forward on this fast because this has been an age-old problem and i think we're on the right track with it as well so madam chair thank you all right thank you i don't see any other

[02:35:48] speakers so we can move forward thank you miss madam we can vote on this so unanimous all right thank you guys so very much we're going to move on to county executive time then county attorney time and hopefully around when we get to agencies at item 10 we'll i'll check in and see if we're able to move back to 7K.

[02:36:26] So, county executive time. Mr. Shorter, the floor is now yours. Thank you, Madam Chair, members of the board. I am only today asking for your consideration for item 8A, the appointment of Luke Heisman to the JET. So moved, Madam Chair.

[02:36:42] Second. Discussion? All right, let's vote.

[02:36:54] Motion passes. Supervisor Weir absent from vote. All right, did you have anything else? That is all from you. All right, then we are going to move on to item 9, county attorney time.

[02:37:12] Ms. Robill, the floor is now yours. Thank you, Madam Chair, members of the board. With regards to Item 9A, this afternoon in closed session, we will have consultation with legal counsel and briefings by staff members pertaining to the discussion or the consideration of the disposition of publicly held real property, including park lands, along with the consultation with legal counsel and briefings by staff members regarding actual litigation of Frank Washington individually and as trustee of the Scott Cemetery versus International Investments, LLC, and Prince William County, Board of County Supervisors, Circuit Court Case 22-6750, along with the accompanying consultation with legal counsel and briefings by staff members regarding

[02:37:52] specific legal matters requiring the provision of legal advice by such counsel pertaining to land use law, where consultation, discussion, or briefing in an open meeting would adversely affect the bargaining position, negotiating strategy, or litigating posture of the public body, and we will have consultation with legal counsel and briefings by staff members regarding specific legal matters requiring the provision of legal advice by such counsel pertaining to First Amendment law, panhandling ordinances, and traffic ordinances, 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.

[02:38:27] These items are appropriate for closed session pursuant to 2.2-3711A7, I'm sorry, 3, 7, and 8 of the Virginia Code. Motion to authorize, Madam Chair. Second. All right, let's vote. i doubt there's any discussion all right passes supervisor we're absent from vote all right and you have another madam chair members of the board item 9b is a result of the changes to the general assembly made during this past session but obviously with regards to zoning ordinances

[02:39:03] those can't automatically be adopted as an ordinance they need to go through the process so these resolutions relate back to what you did earlier adopting the county code updates So I would just request your consideration for this resolution to initiate the zoning text amendments or the zoning ordinances here in relation to the General Assembly's action during this past session.

[02:39:24] So move, Madam Chair. Second. All right. I don't think there's any discussion, so let's go ahead and vote. Vote unanimous. Supervisor Weir absent from vote. Thank you. What we're going to do to give the fire, I guess, additional time, let's go on to agencies.

[02:39:43] We'll go on to 10A, and I'll let you queue it up. Mr. Shorter. Thank you very much, Madam Chair, members of the board. Very pleased to invite Lisa and her team to the podium, along with Matt and the FFM team.

[02:40:00] We're excited to provide the update. Just want to acknowledge all of the great work and leadership on behalf of our agencies, particularly the leadership that Lisa and Matt have played in getting us up to this point. And so with that, Lisa, feel free to take away the mic.

[02:40:19] Thank you. Good afternoon, members of the board. I'm Lisa Madron, and currently serving as the Chief Transformation Officer. And I'm here today with Robin Fontaine, our Budget Manager from Community Services. And then I will be turning over for the second part of the construction update to Matt and his team at FFM.

[02:40:42] I will be providing you a brief update on what the CRC, or the Crisis Receiving Center, is, what it was needed, where we started, and where we are now. Our vision for the Crisis Receiving Center was to have places where adults and youth could go who were experiencing a behavioral health crisis to get the help that they needed to immediately resolve the crisis and where appropriate to get connected to mental health and substance abuse services, which involved co-locating some of the programs offered by community services to the Crisis Receiving Center.

[02:41:18] Our considering a new way of providing crisis services in the community was very timely as Virginia was also looking at what constituted a robust crisis system and also found that the crisis now model was such a system as this model provided a place to call services that would go out to individuals in crisis and a place for individuals to go.

[02:41:39] In July of 2022, a national transition was made to 988 as the digital code for the crisis lifeline, and Virginia also established a regional crisis call line. Mobile crisis has been offered in our region for several years, and Virginia also expanded these services.

[02:41:59] What the significant gap in Prince William County, however, has been a place for individuals experiencing a behavioral health crisis to go and get immediate help. Hospitals have been the place individuals have gone but have not been able to meet the need, and if a psychiatric bed was located, it was often outside of the region for Prince William County residents.

[02:42:19] A crisis receiving center will fulfill the third part of this robust crisis system, as it is a place for those seeking help voluntarily or under a temporary detention order. The crisis receiving center offers immediate assessment and 23-hour observation and treatment.

[02:42:38] For those who may need longer treatment, residential crisis stabilization beds are on site. The Crisis Receiving Center also provides withdrawal management for those withdrawing from substances as the multidisciplinary team providing services includes medical staff.

[02:42:57] Community Services is contracting with Connections Health Solutions, an experienced national leader in crisis services to operate the Crisis Receiving Center for adults and the Crisis Receiving Center for youth. Connections has been working collaboratively with CS and Prince William County on the design and the construction of the CRC and has been instrumental and a strong partner in getting legislation changed this year to allow on-site medications and the use of seclusion at the facility.

[02:43:26] They have also established an on-site program team who is working to develop relationships and connections across our community. We first began this journey focused on starting the adult CRC with the funding provided through the county, but as you'll see, we're going to be able to address both the adult and the youth CRCs.

[02:43:47] Because the need is so great for a CRC, it may seem that this initiative may not be moving fast enough, but this is a huge initiative never done like this before in Virginia, and it really began as a directive three years ago.

[02:44:04] Approximately 16 months later, the funding was approved by the county board, which was thought to be for phase one or part of the adult CRC, eight 23-hour units and eight beds, rather than the 16 and 16. The request for proposal that we put out and awarded to Connections allowed us to move forward with our full adult CRC vision of the 16 and 16.

[02:44:28] In December of 2022, the Department of Behavioral Health and Developmental Services provided community services the funding toward part of the youth CRC. The full vision at the time was for eight 23-hour units and eight beds for youth.

[02:44:46] Just over a year ago, Prince William County purchased the Worth Avenue building, and we have the dedication ceremony there in what looked like a big warehouse, and it does not look like that today. A year ago, Community Services submitted an application to the state for ongoing funding needed to double the youth capacity to 16 and 16.

[02:45:09] This past March, I was notified by the department that we would be receiving the ongoing funding for youth in July. The General Assembly further assured and supported our funding, And we are very grateful for the support and the funding that will allow us to offer these very needed services to adults and to youth.

[02:45:33] This slide shows the estimate for full operations of the adult and the youth CRC with 16 23-hour observation units each for adults and 16 crisis stabilization beds each for adults and for youth.

[02:45:50] And this slide shows our current funding, operational funding, and one-time funding. Again, we're truly thankful for the support of the funding and all of the advocacy. Our vision has changed in that we now are able to double the youth capacity to match the adult capacity.

[02:46:11] And while I have spoken primarily about the CRC, a very important part of our vision is creating the connections with the co-location of our community services programs that will remain under community services operations. These programs have been operated at our Manassas and Woodbridge sites, and we will be relocating some of these services to Worth Avenue. Our community crisis response services that include our emergency services, outreach, and co-responder will be here, as well as the eight programs that are listed here. Our access or intake, assertive community treatment, trauma

[02:46:46] program, New Horizons youth program, peer programs and a drop-in center for peers, our medication assisted treatment and recovery programs, and homeless outreach. Next steps, construction will continue and we are hoping to open the CRC and co-locate the CS programs in 2025 spring for obtaining the occupancy permit and hopefully the license for the summer but by summer of 2025 and

[02:47:23] I'm going to turn it over for the update to Matt. Chair Jefferson members of the board Matt Villareal director of facilities and fleet management, and I'm here today to give you an update on the

[02:47:54] construction process. As you see, we've awarded a construction contract to Taft, who's our general contractor. They were given a notice to proceed in January, and they started demolition work in February. As you can see, and then what they've been working on since then is tearing up the concrete slab to lay electric conduit and also the sewer lines for the facilities. There are lots different additional sewer that we had to put in as part of the construction process in the picture

[02:48:30] you can see what the outside the facility looked like in april 2023 and then on the bottom right is what it looks like today may 2024. here's a picture of kind of the first phases of tearing up the floor getting the sewer lines put in getting the electric conduit put in the ground so that we can start getting the framing and building the office spaces and the treatment spaces in the facility we've made some significant progress in roughing in the mechanical electrical

[02:49:05] plumbing the framing for the spaces and drywall is well on its way our next big milestone is we're working actually on right now is the installation of the steel and support columns for the facility we actually that was delayed i wasn't delayed that they were not available right off the bat usually you do that first but the gc could not get them immediately so he went ahead and started working on the other things and then they're coming in behind and putting that stuff in right now as we speak project is on time it's within the project budget as we speak top left or to the left is the picture of the inside

[02:49:43] that building April 2023 and on the right you see May 2024 you can see where the framing has begun give you an idea of the work that's been going on in that facility this is a layout of the facility the CS space that's community services area. That's going to be office spaces for their staff to work with the clients and also to manage the CS day-to-day operations. The CRC space, that's the area where they'll have the clients in treatments areas. That's going to be run by the connections group. And then the CRS space

[02:50:18] is the crisis response service area. Right now, primarily, the construction has a lot of the framing that we've done has been done in the CS area. We are now working our way over to the CRC and CRS side. And so we're making good headway. This is a rendering of the end product of the building on the exterior. This is our first rendering. We may make some adjustments to it, but this is where we're at right now. And with that, I'd like to show you, or one more thing to

[02:50:53] show you. So these are kind of our milestones. As you can see, we've done project design. We've procurement we're in construction we anticipate being in construction until april 2025 and then with building occupancy in april 2025 and then move in is tenderly scheduled for may of 2025 so with that i'd like to show you a video that i filmed yesterday to give you more of an

[02:51:19] understanding of what's going on in the facility yep sorry that's the main entrance this is a office space and community services that drywall is purple it's impact resistant so the clients can't damage it and can't hurt themselves.

[02:51:51] This is an example of the steel joists and things we've been putting in. These are CICS office spaces.

[02:52:04] This is a long hallway that connects the CS space to the CRS space in the back of the bottom of the building. And then to the left where all that framing is, that's where the CRC will be located. So as you can see, there's a lot of construction going on there.

[02:52:26] We've been making a lot of progress. We've got a lot to do, but we're making headway.

[02:52:39] With that, I'd be happy to answer any questions. All right, thank you. I just wanted to wait for the speakers to load. Supervisor Bailey. Wow, we've come a long way. First of all, I just want to thank my colleagues for your continued due diligence and support of this project.

[02:53:04] We all have worked very hard in making sure that this project moves forward in collaborating with UMAT and with Lisa and your teams. And you've done amazing. You've done amazing. So I thank you for your due diligence. I hear it's going to open up tomorrow, and I thank you for that.

[02:53:23] But also I wanted to thank you specifically because I think, correct me if I'm wrong, well, two things that are great that has happened. The fact that the governor saw this as a very, this was one of the only projects that was named in the governor's budget by name, Prince William County.

[02:53:48] And so I applaud you for that and the work that you've done. And I applaud you for fighting for the ongoing funding. Because, again, I say when you heal mines, you heal the land. And so you saw the importance of that. I also want to applaud you and ask you, I may be wrong about this, but for the trauma program, is the new, for service members, is the veterans piece, is that a newer piece?

[02:54:14] Because that was something we talked about, but to see it come to fruition is really great. The trauma program is really allowing trauma services for anyone. Typically with community services, we have prioritized those with serious mental illness, but anyone can receive evidence-based trauma services.

[02:54:34] And in particular, one of the Step Virginia items was to provide for CSBs, to provide services, particularly to service members, veterans, and their families. And we've integrated that particular service delivery within our trauma program.

[02:54:51] So we offer both at that site. That's wonderful. But the veterans piece is also critical as well. Is that a newer piece? I don't recall that we planned that on the onset. That's service. The veterans piece has been a service in community services with the Step Virginia Initiative.

[02:55:11] Okay. Thank you, Lisa. And thank you both for great work. I appreciate it. - Thank you, Madam Chair. - Supervisor Vega. - Thank you, Madam Chair. Lisa, just real quick, on slide three, we see some of, actually, no, it's not slide three, it is seven, Lisa's, but not now.

[02:55:50] They wanna give me a tutorial, what do you think that means? - I mean, I don't necessarily think we need this slide, but there it is. So in terms of partnerships, have we thought about expanding that list? For example, the adult detention center, probation, pre-trial?

[02:56:07] in terms of being on site? - Or seeing what their needs are, how they can contribute to this as well, their needs? - Well, we do have an advisory group that meets with respect to the evolving nature of the CRC, and that's an advisory committee that meets quarterly.

[02:56:28] We can certainly look at having them being a part. Connections is reaching out to the community, And we welcome the partnerships. So if they haven't reached out specifically to someone with the ADC, I can speak with them and ask them to do so.

[02:56:46] - I think it would be a good idea. And then the last question I have, slide three. We talk about youth quarters and adult quarters. Can you just talk a little bit about the arrangement there? 'Cause I don't see it in this presentation, but I do know that early on when we were talking about the CRC, We discussed that a little bit, in terms of location, you know, what safety measures we have in place to ensure that they don't, what's the word I'm looking for?

[02:57:17] Mingle or-- - Interact. - Yes. - There are totally separate entrances and exits. They do not have access to one another, and that's why in the presentation I've tried to really emphasize a youth CRC and an adult CRC for that specific reason.

[02:57:37] Connections has the staffing that's appropriate for serving youth. They offer CRCs in Arizona for youth, and they have experience with this. And the adults is also totally separate, separate entrances.

[02:57:53] There's no commingling. Thank you. All right, Supervisor Bodie, then Supervisor Franklin. Thank you, Madam Chair. I wanted to echo some of my colleagues have already said. I wanted to thank you for this work. Again, I know there's a tension between we've been long overdue for something like this, but knowing how quickly we've come in such a short period of time.

[02:58:12] So I wanted to commend that. Matt, your team as well. Also, again, wanted to publicly thank our partners in Richmond. I know this has been a bipartisan push, and it was highlighted, excuse me, as Supervisor Bailey said, as a priority. So I wanted to say thank you for your advocacy as well.

[02:58:31] A couple of questions since we're on this slide. The New Horizons Youth Program, how is that going to be interactive? Is that going to be one that's going to be completely relocated? How is that going to work with the CRC? We will still have a presence on the west side of the county. And we are moving our clinic-based and some of our touchdown in-home services.

[02:58:53] New Horizons has several programs within that. But they're in the schools, but they also have a clinic base in the evenings. And so our groups and our clinic base will be located for that eastern side of the county. Appreciate that. On that note, I know some of it is still going to probably be an ongoing conversation, but when it comes to the schools and transporting folks that may be in need from the schools to the CRC, is there already been talk about who's going to be responsible for that?

[02:59:21] How is that going to work out? Connections works. That's part of the connections that they have for that, to look at what are the transportation needs for individuals and how to get someone, individuals there. I can't say that they will be cabbing everyone, but they are very aware of the transportation needs and looking to work in partnership.

[02:59:44] Appreciate that. And my last question goes along the same vein as something that Supervisor Vega asked in terms of partnerships and folks that we, you know, especially within the house of our agencies, have there already been conversations with how 911 communications is going to interact with this, knowing that they have a role to play, obviously, with this as well?

[03:00:02] Well, I think, in particular, they will, our regional crisis call centers. So the 988 number goes to the regional call centers, but in particular, we still give out the number for our regional crisis call center. And as is happening now with co-responder and the Marcus Alert, certain calls that don't merit the need for a co-responder response are diverted to the call center.

[03:00:29] And the Crisis Receiving Center would be a piece of that in terms of referrals and information for folks. Appreciate that. That was going to be my last point, is that the regional folks will obviously know that this exists and that this will be part of their network and their continuum of, hey, where to send people when they need care.

[03:00:49] It is. And we're probably the first to open it, and we will be likely in the region. And it is a regional program with the state money. everybody in the region has plans for opening something similar to great to hear we're pioneers thank you so much all right supervisor Franklin sure I actually wanted to talk about it being a regional facility obviously we don't want to turn away anyone who is in crisis and you know we have a responsibility to service those individuals my question is how do we guarantee that Prince William County residents are not turned away if all of

[03:01:26] our beds are full? So a lot of this is really the model and doing it a different way. And the crisis now model, unlike how we've done crisis services before, is there a bed available? You go through the 23 hour first because the purpose of the crisis now model is to immediately start meeting your needs and that's why the chairs are so vital and if you need longer than 23 hours then a bed is looked at but more than 60 percent of individuals can be resolved at that state

[03:02:06] also being able to access medication immediately through connections and then having our programs on site, we do believe, I mean, that model has worked in Arizona, and we do believe that that would allow the movement that one has through the Crisis Now model.

[03:02:27] We aren't able to guarantee a spot, but the model works to really address and have folks come back if they need to for medication, if they can't be hooked up with a psychiatrist interest within 23 hours connections will see them until they get them hooked up in the community yeah and i would just encourage us to continue to think about the worst case scenario which is that all of our beds are full and we have someone locally that is in crisis what do we do in that moment if we think they absolutely cannot be sent back home and then i think it's important to pay

[03:03:04] attention to other localities to see when they plan to move forward with something similar to ease congestion if it ever gets to that. Mental health services are at an all-time high, and so I think it's important for us to be thinking about those worst-case scenarios.

[03:03:21] Absolutely, always, and that is part of the model. And you may recall that there's another regional CSU only that Connections will be running and is opening this month in Chantilly. You may recall that that was run by another vendor that pulled out, and Connections is taking that on.

[03:03:42] So definitely increasing the network and where referrals can be made if that's needed. All right, thank you so very much. Is there anyone else? I don't see anything. Really appreciate this.

[03:03:58] This is very important and very informative. Thank you so very much. So we are ready to go back to agenda item 7K. Do we have anyone from, I guess, Fire who is?

[03:04:14] Madam Chair, all of my concerns have been addressed. All right, great. So then let's move forward with the motion. So moved. Second. All right, any discussion? All right, let's vote. Vote unanimous.

[03:04:38] All right, thank you so very much. We are now on to supervisor's time before we go around the horn. We have a number of appointments to take care of. Let's see. Let's look at 7, like a motion for 7, I'm sorry, 11A, 11A through 11K.

[03:04:59] So moved. Second. All right. Discussion? If not, let's vote. Vote unanimous. All right. I don't remember where we left off last time, but I'm going to start with Supervisor Bailey, if you would like to start with Supervisor's time.

[03:05:20] Absolutely, Madam Chair. Good afternoon to everyone. I had a busy May, May 15th. Thanks to my staff for attending the National Building Safety Celebration with Mandy Spinner and her group, and it was wonderful. On the 16th, we had the honor of attending the Youth for Tomorrow 35th Annual Burgundy and Gold Celebration, where we were entertained by Mr. Peyton Manning, and he's a big jokester, so that was fun.

[03:05:48] On the 17th, my office presented a proclamation to the Trillium Center in the honor of Cynthia Dudley, one of our stakeholders that was walking alongside of us for the crisis receiving center. We will miss Cynthia. She was the director of the Trillium Center and she passed away in March and so we will miss her. On the 18th I want to thank my staff and the county exec and speakers and resource vendors and all of those in the community for our annual 5k mental health awareness walk.

[03:06:18] It's difficult to determine how the weather will turn out but I'm grateful that all of those that hung in there we had a grand old time so I may 20th thanks to my chief of staff for conducting our annual staff retreat and training it's always good to engage employees that we have on our staff to make sure that they're growing as well and so the chief I appreciate you on the 21st thanks to my staff for attending the Chamber of Valor Awards and that was

[03:06:51] extraordinary as well um and i attended the pwc retirement ceremony where there was over 300 employees educators and support staff and administrators that were honored on the 22nd i had the pleasure of attending uh chair wheeler excuse me madam chair chair phyllis randall uh state of county address for loud okay keep going on may 23rd thanks to uh the economic development and Tourism for recognizing Mr. Asad Chaldry, who is a business owner in my district. He owns

[03:07:29] the Comfort Inn and Candlewood Suites in Dumfries, and we wanted to show him our appreciation by giving him the Business Appreciation Award for that month. The Chief and I had the honor to attend the PwC Bar Association Beat the Odds, honoring our seniors who have overcome the odds here in our county with the PwC Juvenile Justice System with their scholarship awards, and all of them were absolutely exceptional. And Gabriel, we still see you. On March 24th, along with my colleagues, I attended the memorial service, of course, and it's always a wonderful time to honor those that have

[03:08:09] served on our behalf and for our lives. On the week of 28th through June 1st, my staff and I attended high school graduations. It's always exciting to see how our youth is moving on with their lives, and hopefully they will come back and honor us with their presence and their skills once graduating from wherever they go. June 2nd, I attended the William Woodbridge Lions Club installation of new officers. Congratulations to our own new officer for the Lions Club. And then on the 4th, today, we had the absolute delight of being a part

[03:08:45] of the power of pride on the pavilion, the Connaughton Pavilion, and it's a beautiful day. It's absolutely a wonderful time to show awareness to the issues of the LGBTQIA community, and so we all love them. Upcoming events, June 6, 250th anniversary of the Prince William Resolve in Merchants Park. Please come and join us at 11 o'clock, and we'll also be participating in the Dumfries State of the Town Address with Mayor Wood and the Council.

[03:09:20] On the 8th, I look forward to being the guest speaker at the Women in Community Actions Founders Day, an organization that has been established here in the community that have helped our students, helped our seniors, and they're still going strong. Lastly, June 4th, every year, the United Nations International Day of Innocent Children Victims of Aggression is observed to raise awareness about the children who suffered a lot throughout the world and are victims of physical, mental, and emotional abuse.

[03:09:53] So on this day, the U.N. affirms its commitment to protect the rights of children. And then lastly, Madam Chair, I've got 36 seconds. Thank you to the CRC team that is bringing it forth to fruition. We appreciate you. and to the HOAs and Copper Mill and Saddlewood subdivisions for bonding with the VDOT maintenance systems to make sure that the community is protected with the roads,

[03:10:24] and to, again, the police chief and to the county staff for making sure that those issues with the towing piece is taken care of. Madam Chair, thank you very much. great timing supervisor weir thank you madam chair i can probably do all of mine in 36 seconds um just want to remind the public that the gainesville district strategic plan meeting will be this thursday night at 6 30 tyler elementary please contact my office if you've got any questions or need further information and i want to address some comments that were made during

[03:11:00] citizens time i'm going to probably step out of my swim lane but um real property taxes my office has been tracking quite a number of them in a number of areas, particularly in the Gainesville District. We have our own questions. We have our own concerns. We have heard from a lot of residents, not only in the Pageland Corridor, but up on Bull Run Mountain and in other places, and I just want to make it very clear. Our office, nobody's office up here behind this dais, to my understanding, has any authority over assessments or the process, and we have no authority to change

[03:11:39] the assessments. There was an appeal process. My understanding is it's going to be a quite crowded one this year, but I empathize with a lot of what people are saying, but quite frankly, this is one of those areas that we are limited, and although we would like to do something and we hear your complaints. We are precluded from doing anything unless I'm unaware of some certain procedure, policy, or law, but I don't believe that that is the case. Thank you, Madam Chair.

[03:12:16] Supervisor Bodie. Thank you, Madam Chair. I will just say I went to quite a few of the same events that my colleagues have already said. I know Supervisor Bailey, you and your staff have been to a lot of the same things that me and my staff have been to, so I want to ditto a lot of that. I did want to uplift Cynthia Dudley, as Sue Reza Bailey said, long-time advocate for mental health, on the street mental health, which was desperately needed, and she will be sorely missed by the entirety of the county.

[03:12:45] I was also able to attend as part of the Make Your Mark sort of roving series that Economic Development is doing to uplift businesses. I was able to go to Verano, which is a newer shop in the town of Occoquan. It's on the ground floor of the same building as Bar J, Occoquan Optical, and all those shops.

[03:13:06] It's actually owned by the same management that owns Occoquan Optical. Really happy to see folks that are thriving so much they open a second business in the county. So really wanted to highlight Ms. Rachel and Verano. I actually went back during the Riverfest this past weekend to avail myself of purchasing something from her shop.

[03:13:25] I promised her I would when we were there with economic development. So I got my wife a nice present, even though it's outside of anything to do with dates of obligation to give to your wife. So I wanted to uplift Verano again. Also on that note, I wanted to uplift the Occoquan and their Riverfest.

[03:13:41] It was a great time this year. I know last year, unfortunately, this time of year, last year it got rained out. Glad to see that the weather was largely better this time around. thousands of people came through the town of Occoquan over the weekend, especially on Saturday. So wanted to celebrate them, celebrate all the folks that came to spend their money in Prince William County in the town of Occoquan.

[03:14:02] I got to judge the row your boat competition. The mayor partook in that competition, the chamber of commerce. We had a gentleman who dressed up as Fred Flintstone and made his boat look like he was Fred Flintstone.

[03:14:18] We had a lot of great creative folks that participate in that competition. I was happy to participate in that as well. Last but not least, just wanted to highlight that we will be continuing to look at doing a date for a new, another strategic planning conversation, this time with the youth. I had a great conversation with folks from 4-H and the Cooperative Extension on doing that here in the near future. So anyone who's out there who has a young person who's interested in having a voice in the future of our county please reach out to my office would love to hear from your youth thank you so much

[03:14:56] madam chair supervisor angry thank you madam chair uh yeah so a lot happened since the last meeting i'm just gonna read off because this is just too much um so thank you uh let's start here with the burgundy and gold attended that was a great event 35th annual uh congratulations to our Fire and Rescue Cadet graduates.

[03:15:22] I want to thank the Bar Association and the Bar Foundation of the Beat the Odds Banquet for having me as their keynote for the young folks there that did so well. So really great event. Congratulations to all of them.

[03:15:38] I also attended the National Building Safety Month celebration. Great event. I want to thank CASA for having me over at the community fair. That was a very packed event. So congratulations on a successful event. I want to thank the men of Omega Psi Phi who invited me to the cookout.

[03:15:54] It was a fundraiser for St. Jude. It went very well. And I want to welcome the Spring Gates Chapel, which is a Ghana church right here in Prince William County. So I want to welcome them, and congratulations on a successful opening.

[03:16:14] Also, Neabsco Elementary Career Day. That was very good. I attended that and got to interact with 5th, 4th, 3rd, and kindergartners. So that was a great event. Thank you for having me. And just this morning, this afternoon, attended the Power of Pride celebration, so congratulations on that.

[03:16:33] And our Business Appreciation Month, we recognize Home Comfort, Down Home Comfort Cafe, which is a very nice southern cafe right over here on the corner of Minnieville and the Parkway. So if you're ever over in that area, swing by.

[03:16:48] They got some great food, and we'll love to see you. And I want to take the opportunity to once again congratulate Jabez Reeves. He's our Garfield graduate that's going to – he's an Olympic qualifier. But he was named Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference Outdoor Track Athlete of the Year.

[03:17:06] The Minnesota State Senior won both the 100-meter and the 200-meter events at the NSIC championships and was a member of the 4x100 relay team that finished first. He scored the second most points at the NSIC championships and currently ranks fourth in NCAA Division II in the 200 meters and 13th in the 100 meter.

[03:17:30] Congratulations, lastly, to all of our high school graduates. That was a fun-filled pack last week, and so congratulations, everyone. Madam Chair, that is all. Thank you, and Supervisor Gordy. Thank you, Madam Chair.

[03:17:47] I just want to start off by, first of all, congratulating all of our 2024 graduates. I was honored to attend graduation ceremonies for Brentsville High School, Patriot High School, Gainesville High School, and Unity Reed High School. It's an impressive class this year, and I think many of the schools actually broke or came close to breaking records in the number of scholarships that they were receiving, that their students were receiving as they enter college next year.

[03:18:18] So I just really want to congratulate them. I also want to congratulate the Brentsville women's soccer team for winning the third straight regional championship title, as well as the Brentsville baseball team for also being regional champs. They are both playing in quarterfinals tonight, so we want to wish them all the best as they compete tonight to continue to advance to the state championship.

[03:18:43] I also want to congratulate Brentsville's Kayla Smith in her sweep of the short sprints. She won the Class III state title for the 100-meter dash and the 200-meter dash. Gainesville's Trent Daniels on winning the state championship in the 3,200-meter run. Patriots' Henry Burge for winning the state championship in the 800-meter.

[03:19:02] And Patriots' Lyndon Amauateng for the long jump state champion. So congratulate all of them on a fantastic season and continue their pursuit in each of the events that they're participating.

[03:19:20] I want to remind all the folks out in Brinsville that our Community Dumpster Day will be this Saturday from 8 a.m. to 2 p.m. at Piney Branch Elementary School. And my wife's already told me we're loading up the trailer, and so we'll probably see you all out there.

[03:19:37] I want to, you know, as everybody said, it's been a busy time since we last met. And I just want to highlight a couple of days, many of the things that have already been mentioned. But I also want to recognize May 18th was an Oaksville Day, even though it was a little wet, a little chilly.

[03:19:56] We still had a great crowd and a wonderful time celebrating what makes an Oaksville very, very special. Just a great community event and seeing folks out despite the weather. The week of the 20th was Business Appreciation Week.

[03:20:12] I had a great opportunity to go and visit a lot of our businesses. On Monday, visited K-Sports, which is an indoor sports complex. We actually do have some in the county. They actually do have basketball tournaments almost 38 weeks out of the year.

[03:20:29] So they kind of give us a little bit of insight into what sport tourism looks like. So I was really happy to go meet with them. Met with, on Tuesday, went to Planet Direct, which is a 100, over 100,000 square foot direct mail facility supporting organizations and a lot of politicians in their direct mail pursuits from all over the country.

[03:20:54] It is a national organization. I mean, they are supporting people from everywhere. So it's just so impressive. Then on Wednesday, we visited Alvarado Dentistry in Bristow, Gainesville, and then Grace Haven Flower Farm in Noakesville. And then Friday, I went to the Gainesville Piedmont Tire and Auto.

[03:21:12] They're a growing tire and auto business. They have some in Haymarket as well. And then was joined by our economic development team at Noakesville Meats, otherwise known as the Brat House. And if you're looking for a place to get local meats, local pork, local beef, local chicken, local pickles you can go to Noakesville Meats they have and they have a wide variety of German style brats that are just fantastic so on the 23rd I was very pleased to have

[03:21:48] County Executive Shorter join me in a white knuckle tour of Brentsville he was often holding on to the the handle and but but thank you for joining us and and just kind of offering a little bit of a vision for Brentsville in the future and and excited to hear of your thoughts as well and then of course on the 24th the Memorial Day ceremony here at the county complex was very very special thought our veterans commission did a great job working with county staff to put on a

[03:22:22] very well done event. On the 30th, joined Lake Manassas Homeowners Association for their community meeting. And then yesterday was able to tour the historic Williams doll house in Brentsville, which is we're in the process of trying to restore the oldest house in the Brentsville area. And so look forward to seeing how we as a county can continue to improve that home um and then last night we had our strategic planning town whoa i wasn't paying attention to

[03:22:57] time hurry up and go oh i'm sorry and then um i do have i do want to recognize june 6 as our d-day memorial um and so uh and then i do have one directive um without objective uh without objection i'm directing the planning staff to provide the board with recommendations for the board's consideration regarding a corridor study for the sudley redevelopment area from its intersection with Bullock Drive to the border with the city of Manassas. The study should provide options related to planning, economic development, mobility, schools, law enforcement, and community services that provide a holistic approach to redevelopment that addresses affordable housing,

[03:23:35] transit, business, and job creation, homelessness, literacy, and causes of poverty and crime within the corridor. The recommendation should include a timeline with cost and should align with the Prince William County's comprehensive plan's goals for activity centers and redevelopment corridors after staff provide the board with the recommendation on the proposed study.

[03:23:53] The board may then consider a resolution at a future board meeting to conduct such a study. Thank you, Madam Chair. All right, Supervisor Franklin. Sure, thank you. On May 17th, I participated in Bike to Work Day at the Whibbridge VRE. We had several commuters and bikers who dropped by and participated in the drawing for an electric bike.

[03:24:13] So congrats to whoever won that. On Saturday, May 18th, we held Dumpster Day at Fred Lynn Middle School. And although it was raining, we had many residents that still came out to declutter, and we collected over 1.79 tons of debris. And we also had our shred truck on site.

[03:24:29] So I just want to thank everyone who came out to participate, including our public works crew, as well as our volunteers from the Woodbridge Potomac Civic Association. For the past two weeks, as mentioned, I've participated in several graduations across the county, but particularly want to highlight Freedom High School, which is the only high school in the Woodbridge District.

[03:24:49] I just want to congratulate the class of 2024. On May 24th, in conjunction with the Economic Development Office, I recognized an outstanding business in the Woodbridge District, Aroma Latin Fusion, and Stonebridge Town Center. I had the opportunity to meet with the owners, the chef, and the manager to show our appreciation to them for doing business in Prince William County and more specifically in the Woodbridge community.

[03:25:14] And so I just want to thank all the staff there. They did an incredible job of making us feel welcomed and comfortable. I believe they were closed at the time that we came by, but not only did they open for us, but there were people walking by, members of the public, and they also welcomed them in as well.

[03:25:32] Last night, my office hosted a strategic planning town hall at the Ferlazo building where several residents attended and shared their vision for the future of our community. I just want to thank them for sharing their concerns, visions, and input. We are in the process of creating a focus group to continue that discussion.

[03:25:51] And so if you are interested, please reach out to our office. And then lastly, earlier today, I spoke at the county's Pride Month celebration. So I just want to thank the county staff for organizing that and inviting all of us to participate and show our support.

[03:26:07] On Tuesday, June 11th, my office will host a virtual strategic plan focus group. The size of the group is limited to 20 residents. But again, if you are interested, please let us know as soon as possible. And lastly, I would like to do a notice of intent to appoint Randall Webb to the Weapons Control Committee and as an alternate to the Persons with Disabilities Committee.

[03:26:28] And I would also like to do a notice of intent to appoint Carly McDowell to the Persons with Disabilities Committee. With that, I yield. All right. Supervisor Vega. Thank you, Madam Chair. For the sake of time, I attended all of the events that all of you already mentioned.

[03:26:44] Just want to highlight that we had our strategic plan town hall and it was a very successful one. I would say I would like to thank our county executive, Mr. Shorter, for attending and our deputy county executive, Mr. Quentin Haynes, also for being in attendance. I don't think that Mrs. Wallace is watching and I don't blame her for not watching our meetings when she doesn't have to.

[03:27:03] But just want to give her a shout out also for the way that she ran the town hall and for all of her help in preparing for our town hall. I want to just congratulate all of the graduates of the class of 2024. It's really exciting to be able to partake in these graduation ceremonies.

[03:27:19] A little lengthy, but kind of emotional. In my household, we're wrapping up freshman year and sophomore year in high school, so I can't even begin to wrap my mind around the fact that I'm going to have a senior pretty soon, too. So to all of the parents that were low-key crying, I feel your pain.

[03:27:37] But it's part of life, right? so congratulations to all of our graduates and I wish you all the best as you move forward with all of your goals also want to go ahead and thank our teachers and everybody in our school division the last day of school for Prince William County is this coming Friday I know that my kids are counting down the days in fact they feel like they shouldn't even go for the rest of this week because there's nothing going on but thank you to all of our teachers for all that you do I know that it's not easy being in the classroom but you're certainly appreciated also want to go ahead and wish my friend supervisor

[03:28:15] Victor angry very happy birthday we kind of had the opportunity to celebrate but may you be blessed with many more and finally I'm gonna go ahead and make a bunch of notice of intents to appoint I know I speak fast but if you miss anything I'll follow up in an email so I want to go ahead and appoint Chris Gertie to the Lake Jackson Sanitary District Advisory Committee, Jane Byer to the Parks and Recreation Commission, Martin Jeter to the Prince William County Sustainability Commission, James Gestrich, Mark Bonner to the Solid Waste Citizens Advisory Group, Robert Goodes to the Weapons Control Committee,

[03:28:48] Kuldeep Singh to the Taxicab Review Board, Arshtip Panu to the Solid Waste Waste Citizen Advisory Group, and our meet Paul Singh also to the Solid Waste Citizen Advisory Group. I probably butchered your names. I apologize, but the resumes should be on file. And that's all I have, Madam Chair. Thank you.

[03:29:12] All right. I'm going to let birthday boy go because he forgot something. Thank you, Madam Chair. So I have the exciting announcement. I can't believe I almost forgot So I want to thank Amazon Web Services and Communities for actually saving the Dill City 4th of July Parade.

[03:29:30] So they're going to be a big supporter and sponsor to make that happen. So it's official, and we're going to be moving forward. So I hope to see all of you out there on July 4th. Thank you, Madam Chair. All right, thank you. Old age?

[03:29:47] No. Ooh, all right. You know I love it. Wait, wait. I just wanted to know. Someone forgot. Someone should proffer me some Sour Patch Kids. He knows what this is all about, okay? All right. So I'm a sugar fiend.

[03:30:04] All right. So first of all, I just want to start really quickly by congratulating all the 2024 graduates. This was my first graduation series. And it was, I mean, it was beautiful. It was lovely seeing the young people, you know, starting on, you know, the next chapter of their lives. I want to highlight Unity Read, because there were so many first-generation graduates, and that was particularly touching.

[03:30:27] So I attended six of our county high schools, and I plan to prioritize the ones I didn't make this year or next year. I also just want to let everyone know I am holding a town hall in Belmont Bay on Monday, June 10th at Belmont Elementary. The event starts at 6 o'clock, and I am also working with Delegate Roja Henson for a town hall in the 19th House District.

[03:30:49] that is scheduled for June 27th. We are working to look down a location. I encourage everyone, a little plug for my Facebook page, you know, to follow me on Facebook and to sign up for my newsletter. And it goes through, you know, all the events that I have up as well as some upcoming events in the county.

[03:31:08] I would also right now like to make a notice of intent to reappoint Martin Jeter to the Chesapeake Bay Preservation Area Review Board. And I have one quick directive regarding Solheim Cup, you know, with additional hotel space.

[03:31:25] So without objection, I direct county staff to advertise a public hearing on July 2nd, 2024, for the board to consider a lease of roughly 43,560 square feet of county-owned property at Innovation Park, located in 9349 Hornbaker Road, Manassas, Virginia, 201092 NLT Hotel, LLC.

[03:31:50] I hope I got all that right. So with that, I'm hungry. Sorry, Madam Chair, you're instructing the county to what? To advertise a public hearing on July 2, 2024 for the board to consider a lease of roughly 43,560 square feet of county-owned property at innovation park located in 9349 hornbaker road manassas virginia 20109 to nlt hotel llc it's our temporary hotel for soul home cup so we're going to have um

[03:32:23] you know a public hearing hopefully if there are no objections from anyone and um for us to consider a lease everyone feels good i don't see anyone jumping to their i'm happy we're all happy all Right. Did you want to say something?

[03:32:41] Well, only to provide clarity if there's a need to provide clarity. Okay. So Wade will come up and have a... We're leasing it to a hotel company. Madam Chair, members of the board, Wade Hugh, Deputy County Executive.

[03:32:57] This is property, county-owned property, next to where the boutique hotel is being built, near the two silos, Black Sheep Complex. They need an area for their construction so they can bring materials in and kind of almost use it as a lay-down yard while they're building. And so it's a one-year, it's a request for a one-year lease.

[03:33:15] So it's vacant land that we have right now that's going to help them out with construction. So we ain't paying anything, okay? We got that? We ain't paying nothing. They're paying enough. No objections. Madam Chair, I'm trying to figure out what the connection to Solheim Cup was. I'm sorry, I wasn't. I was thinking about something else. I apologize.

[03:33:30] Okay, thank you. Leave me alone. I am hungry, y'all. Yeah, sorry. I just want food. You know what? I'm thinking of those Sour Patch Kids because I'm really hungry right now.

[03:33:46] know just you know so we we got we got food we have a closed so that's all i have um we let us now pack up our stuff we will depart for our closed meeting um and then i believe we might have something to report out and then we will you know come back at seven o'clock so we good i'm

[03:34:09] hungry let's go closed session can i get a motion to certify second thank you any discussion let's

[03:34:42] take a vote supervisor gordy is it working for you sir oh that's okay all right very good vote unanimous supervisor bailey absent from vote all right we're going to recess we're going to take

[03:35:16] a six minute recess until seven o'clock thank you speak with that and then we'll go into um mid county do we have who do we have from future kings raise your hand do you is mr king coming

[03:35:46] he's okay all right so all right everyone we are going to resume with our evening session it is 701 I am going to start with proclamation as I mentioned we have a proclamation for future kings

[03:36:22] that we were not able to present during the two o'clock session so Mr. Angry come down with me and

[03:36:28] we will present that proclamation. Thank you Madam Chair so earlier today we we did a proclamation

[03:37:04] or accommodation for future kings and so these gentlemen right here I got to talk into this so these gentlemen these two gentlemen right here two of the students that went down to Orlando and did some very cool stuff. So I'm going to read what that is real quick. And a little bit about Future Kings and the same thing.

[03:37:23] So Future Kings, this organization which empowers local young men of color from economically disadvantaged communities to pursue careers in STEM. This school year, they brought four Prince William High School students to Orlando, Florida to compete in researching and proposing solutions for a strategic military hard problem.

[03:37:43] The panel of judges consisted of military members and industry experts congratulated the students, George Tamaklo, Safa Islam, and Donovan Reed, and Logan Cunningham on their presentation skills, collaboration, and creativity that contributed to their win.

[03:38:01] Today, we commend these young men, their chaperones, Dr. Eric King, and their supportive families on a job well done for winning the annual student hard problems challenge at the Inter-Service Industry Training, Simulation, and Education Conference 2024. Congratulations, gentlemen.

[03:38:17] I would just like to thank Supervisor Angry and the Future Kings for the support throughout the process.

[03:38:37] Coming down to Orlando and winning was not something that we initially anticipated, But I feel like we had a really great support group and a really great team plan as far as coming into the competition and finding out how we were going to present and win the whole thing.

[03:38:58] I'm grateful to the Future Kings. The Future Kings is a program that's designed to equip high school students of color with opportunities through STEM to prepare us for the workforce. And Safa and I have been able to get a lot of experience in the engineering field that we'll use, hopefully, as we enter college and beyond.

[03:39:22] Which is funny. Yeah, George said everything I was thinking. I want to thank Prince William County for supporting Future Kings. I know they've supported Future Kings, and Future Kings has helped us, leading to our success in Orlando.

[03:39:44] That was a very great opportunity that definitely would not have come just through our normal public school education. through activities like Future Kings, which empowers even boys as young as middle school, is really helpful, and we got an experience that I definitely will not forget.

[03:40:00] So thank you.

[03:40:02] As I noted earlier, we are going to go a little out of order

[03:40:57] because I know we have a lot of people here for item 13A, but right now we only have one person who's signed up to speak for 13B. Before I move on to that, I just want to see if we had anyone from the applicant for Waterloo Solar.

[03:41:14] yes sir would you like to do you have a presentation or anything about the project i always get it wrong i'm which one which one the big one i got it yes ma'am madam chair

[03:41:48] ms robo mr shorter in my day no one ever said those things and i want to make sure i know you're here both of you madam chair my name is john foote i'm with walsh collucci libeline walsh and i do represent a holocene clean energy which is the applicant for this project uh before we we actually go through the presentation, I'm going to make a few brief comments that I think are appropriate because I believe this proposal needs to be understood in its context. Like almost every application that you see, it's a proposal by a private developer, private company that's been

[03:42:26] engaged in the solar business for quite some number of years. It's very experienced. But this is also an extremely important application on its own merits. Solar is a sector of the American economy that did not actually begin to develop until the late 2010s and early 2000s and then into the 2010s. This is because there were technological developments, decreasing costs of panels, supportive governmental policies, and growing environmental awareness. We are here only the second solar facility that's ever been presented to the Board of County Supervisors

[03:43:02] of this county. As to this specific proposal, before we go through a brief presentation, I want to address a couple of issues that have come up during the course of our work bringing this application to the board this evening. These questions have actually been raised to us far more than any of the technical questions which have been presented as the review went forward.

[03:43:26] This application is fundamentally to convert sunlight into electricity that does not presently exist and to place it on the NOVEC grid to increase its liability to its service, its customers, including me.

[03:43:48] This county, my county, has made an extraordinary and exceptional commitment to renewable energy. The Community Energy and Sustainability Master Plan was approved just this past October, and it sets out a couple of important policies that this board has announced for itself.

[03:44:07] The first is to use 100% renewable energy countywide by 2035. That's less than, that's 11 years from now. It's to use 100% renewable electricity in county government operations by 2030, which is six years from now, and to achieve 100% renewable electricity in county government operations by 2030.

[03:44:31] Just on May 14th, which is like the ink is still not dry on this, The Board initiated the Comprehensive Plan Amendment to take the CESMP and to integrate that into the Comprehensive Plan, which means that the county has, in fact, taken even further steps to incorporate the concept of sustainability into its governing land use documents.

[03:44:54] The county's electric or utility services plans encourages developments that have extensive new power requirements to purchase clean energy through power purchase agreements or renewable energy credits, RECs. And as I believe you're aware, this project will, in fact, produce the potential for RECs.

[03:45:12] Your Sustainability Commission passed a resolution with respect to this application, which said in its recitals, the Prince William County Sustainability Commission agrees with the view of the Office of Sustainability that the county has set climate mitigation goals, which this project clearly contributes to with reduction of greenhouse gas emissions and incorporation of renewable energy.

[03:45:36] Meeting the goals that this board has set will not occur, will not happen, if renewable sources are not in fact approved. You are not overburdened with applications for renewable energy in Prince William County.

[03:45:52] This is the second one. You've got one. No others are pending. It's also been suggested that this is an industrial use, but the zoning ordinance doesn't define industrial use in Prince William County. You could go through dictionary definitions of it, but what I would say is that the zoning ordinance does not define it.

[03:46:13] It does identify uses that are industrial, for example, brewery and distilling facilities, industrial equipment sales, coal storage. There are 73 uses by right in the M1 zone, 27 by special use permit, for the purpose this board has set out to encourage development of heavy and intensive industrial processing, manufacturing, and storage.

[03:46:37] 45 uses in the M2 zone and 22 by special use permit, quote, for research and development centers, light industrial manufacturing, warehousing, wholesaling, and related office, and institutional uses. The M2, MT district, excuse me, which I wrote many years ago for a former member of the board, is to encourage development of heavy industrial uses, and in particular those which generate considerable truck and or heavy equipment traffic, which require access to more than one mode of transportation.

[03:47:08] A solar energy facility is permitted in all three of those industrial districts, but it's a use without noise, odors, glare, or traffic, hidden behind extensive screening with a finite life. It is the only use that is available in an industrial district that is also available in an agricultural district with a special use permit, heavily conditioned to the point that it will not be visible to its near neighbors or to the traveling public. No one considered the Noakesville Solar Facility to be industrial when that was approved some years ago

[03:47:44] and constructed just a couple of years ago. If the farming family that owns this property thought it can continue to make profitable use of the land by farming, it would have done so. However, it found something else to grow on the land that is more profitable than hay or soybeans, electrons. When the facility is complete, it will be covered in grass and pollinators with eight different native species and panels that rotate with the sun. What isn't inside the solar arrays can still be used for agricultural purposes. At the end of its operational life,

[03:48:21] the solar equipment and supporting infrastructure will be removed, and the property will be restored to its current condition or better. Change has come to this county and will continue to come. There's a lifespan of approximately 30 years. In 1990, 30 years ago, the population of this county was about 216,000 people. When I started practicing as deputy county attorney in 1977, it had been 125,000 and 130,000. Today, it's around 490,000 people. So if we're talking about a 30-year

[03:48:56] lifespan what will this county look like in 30 years it's not going to look like it does today just as it doesn't look like it did when i moved here not every farmer wants to do this and not every property or property is suitable for its use but where it is valuable it is a use that benefits many you're you're largely familiar with this you say it's gone you know where it is up on

[03:49:23] log mill road uh and let me hang on a second this this of course is log mill road right here and this is Route 15. This is a close-up, and you can see the property has been farmed for many years by the Latham family. Cindy, are you here? Cindy Latham. I'm sorry, I didn't realize I was sitting right next to you, Cindy. Okay. And this property, if you look closely at the map, what you're going

[03:49:59] to see is that not only has it been farmed, but it's been farmed right up to what is the stream going through here, which we now know to be RPA and which will be largely preserved if this property is approved for its use. It is zoned A1. It is comprehensive plan AF, agricultural and forestal.

[03:50:17] But when the staff, we went to the planning commission for a comprehensive plan PFR, public facility review, and the planning commission found that it was in fact consistent with the comprehensive plan. So your staff report has told you that this proposal is in fact consistent with every element of your comprehensive plan. We don't need to talk about this. I just talked about the importance of what you're doing here with respect to your comprehensive planning and other adopted policies. This is what it looks like. Up at top is what it is on a home.

[03:50:51] This is what it looks like down below. And as I believe you're all aware, these all rotate with the sun during the course of a day. So at no point are you higher than nine feet. And that's only when the sun is at when it's up at the end of the day, when it's up at its highest. But otherwise, it goes to flat. And the sun can obviously feed the grass that's planted below it during most of the day. Don't need to put this before you very long. You know how it works.

[03:51:18] Sun comes in, and it goes to the utility grid through a process done on site and put on power lines that we will show you. This is an interesting slide because we're doing about 220 acres of this, but it's only going to be 120 acres of actual solar panels.

[03:51:38] These parcels here have to be carved out because of the peculiarity in the county zoning ordinance that, frankly, I don't think makes much sense. But you can't have a dual use of agricultural property. So to have a home on this property means you've got to create a separate parcel if you want to also have a solar farm with a special use permit.

[03:51:59] That's the way the ordinance reads. So these will be three homes. This is where Mr. William Latham lived with his wife. She's still alive. And Cindy, I think, kind of lives. Don't you live down here, Cindy, about there? And these are, I think, will be deeded to two sisters.

[03:52:23] This is just a landscape plan. The most important thing to observe is that there is a huge amount of landscaping. This will be a preservation area here of trees. This as well. There are virtually no trees on the site, as you saw a moment ago. These will all be protected. We're also putting in a buffer zone.

[03:52:41] I think it's 15 feet long here. And we added this in because the Planning Commission wanted more buffering along here, even though the existing buffering from Route 15 makes it very difficult to see up into this property. It's added over here because from the north, if you can see it from the north at all, this is where you'll be able to see it, so that'll be added.

[03:53:06] The wetland impact plan reflects the fact that there are wetlands and RPA here, but none of that is impacted by this development. It's all been carefully designed to avoid impact to the wetlands, and therefore you won't need core permits to accomplish it.

[03:53:23] These green areas up here are a result of a compromise with the planning staff over reforestation of the RPA. The original request that it be 100% of the RPA, that actually has constitutional limitations because the impact of this is so small, but we did reach agreement to plant in these areas plants deemed to be suitable during the site plan.

[03:53:46] This is the layout of the plan when it would finally be built. There are small areas here that are going to be potential stormwater management ponds. This is the access point into the property. These will be for the residents of these homes. They will not be used by the solar facility.

[03:54:04] There are little areas in here that will be lay-down areas, so equipment can be stored there. You won't have to disturb a lot of the ground by piling stuff on it, and they won't be storing anything off the site. All of the roads in here will, in fact, meet the fire marshal's requirements for getting in and out and into the solar arrays.

[03:54:28] Oops, sorry. What I want to point out here is that this is where the substation that this is feeding to goes. This is a Novex substation called the Log Mill Station. The area in which the above-ground equipment will be around in here at some point, and it will be undergrounded to here.

[03:54:52] Everything's underground up here except the panels themselves. And then it comes up out of the ground and attaches to the line that's already there. And from that line, it will be run down the existing lines to the substation. No new lines will be installed. They may be upgraded.

[03:55:08] The poles may be replaced. There may be one or two other poles that have to be added, but that's not going to change. It's not a big transmission system. This is purely distribution level. This is a 20-megawatt facility that's proposed. That's not utility scale. Utility scale is one that I've done a solar farm in Culpeper that's 1,800 acres.

[03:55:27] That's utility scale. Now, line of sight, this is from Route 15, and that's taken from right here, looking back up. Now, this is what's there today, but with the additional plantings, you won't be able to see back in there.

[03:55:46] Same from the corner. there'll be additional plantings back up in here because this is about 0.15 miles back from the road because there's a parcel in between. It's also owned by the Latham family. This is from Log Mill Road itself. Driving up Log Mill, if you were up there today, what you would see is a fairly scrubby little fence that's made out of barbed wire and maybe some wood. But when you plant this, it's going to become this. And I will show you a picture in a moment of an existing

[03:56:21] facility in North Carolina and what that means. This is from Log Mill Road and Meander Creek, which is up here at a quarter of a mile from where any of the panels will be. Looking back down here, you will not be able to see anything in the facility back in here. They will all be shielded by the buffer here. And this is from Parnell Court, which is about three-tenths of a mile up the hill. Similarly, you won't be able to see it from there. Can we say that no one on the mountain will ever see it? No, we can't say that. The mountain, Bull Run Mountain goes up the hill.

[03:56:58] There are probably people up there that can see it, but they will be a fairly small number and we can't, you know, there's a famous line that somebody told me what the people believe they own what they can see, but that's just not what we're talking about here. This is mitigating the impact that is possible to mitigate. This is a mountain road and it goes all the way up. In fact, mountain road is the main road up at the top of the hill, as I'm sure those of you who know the mountain? No. Here, log mill and mountain road again, looking down log mill and mountain road is, we're standing in mountain road taking this picture. And this is from the north side of the

[03:57:36] property up here. Largo Vista is the main road up here, looking back down at the site. There's a lot of growth that's already in there. And because of the weakness of it in here, that's why this piece of additional landscaping will be, will be placed. This is an existing Holocene site in North Carolina. That is a 10-foot screen of trees. Now, they don't show up and grow that day that way the first day, of course, but this is after they've been in place for a couple of years, 10 feet. This is going to be 15-foot minimum around the facility. And as I did not mention before, there will not

[03:58:16] be fences around the entire site. Each of the solar arrays will be fenced, but not the entire site. This is another picture of what you can see. That's what you see. No solar farm, but there's one back it. The solar energy facility is behind that in both cases. Now we've talked about this before but they love to have sheep here and they've made contact with about four shepherds to bring sheep in because sheep are wonderful. They're a great natural lawnmower and that cuts down their maintenance costs on the facility if they bring sheep in and so as I say they've made

[03:58:52] contact with people to do this and the thought here is quite simply that they will be able to keep the grazing will keep the grass down here and the grasses are all in fact covered in the conditions of the special use permit. There are I forget 30 some odd conditions of the special use permit which were hammered out with the planning staff over literally weeks of discussion and include conditions requested by the planning commission. Emergency access roads, panel maintenance roads, all of these have been confirmed with the fire marshal's office. Some people have asked well

[03:59:31] why do you have this kind of a mitigation plan? Well, there was a day when you used oils that could in fact be toxic or create problems. Those days are past. Now it's been described that it's almost like baby oil or some other similar oil. It's not toxic anymore. It used to be, but not so.

[03:59:48] But this will all be taken care of in plans at site plan. We've talked about decommissioning. I'm not going to go through these slides because decommissioning is statutorily required. It requires a plan to take this thing apart and return the site to the condition it wasn't before or better, once the facility is stopped, once it's closed down.

[04:00:09] Not only do you have to do that, but you have to post a bond to do it, so that if somehow everybody in the room were to die, the county would have the funds to take it back to its condition now or better. Very few public services, no school, few emergency services, no water or sewer at the site, no traffic post construction, noise, lights, emissions, very little, they said no, but very little site grading because the site's flat, it's been farmed for decades.

[04:00:39] We've already talked about environmental compatibility, and the community benefits are that you get this long-term fixed price for NOVAC because of the way the power purchase agreement works between the two. It's a fixed price for the life of this facility, and that's going to translate itself into somewhat reduced prices for the consumer, me.

[04:00:59] And we were on the phone with Mr. Jamarillo today about the enhancing of grid reliability, and that's a very important point for NOVAC. And, Madam Chairman, I've probably talked too long already, and so I'm going to stop.

[04:01:16] I thank you for your kind attention. We're here to answer any questions you may have. All right. Letting the populate. Supervisor, ooh, I was going to guess it was going to be Supervisor Weird, but Supervisor Bode. Thank you, Madam Chair. Thank you, Mr. Foote, for the presentation. My only question right now is about the sheep grazing, because the sheep grazing, because I know that it's been talked about, you know, even though this is going to be largely developed as a solar farm, there are going to be other sort of...

[04:01:44] synergistic and simultaneous agricultural uses, and the sheep is one of those. Do we have a firm commitment for you that there will be sheep that will be on the site at some point? The answer is no. We do not yet have a firm commitment before shepherds have, in fact, talked to this whole Palestinian people and have expressed interest in doing this because at this time we haven't made a contract with them because we don't have a permit.

[04:02:08] But the answer is it's very much in their interest to do it, and if we've got four shepherds that have got sheep we want to put out here, I'd be very surprised if it didn't come to be. Thank you. Supervisor Weir. Thank you, Madam Chair. I've got one technical question. Is 20 megawatts generation, is that peak or average?

[04:02:27] That's peak. Average is? Am I correct about that, Greg? Yeah, that's correct. And the average is? It's going to depend on the sun and depend on the day. I don't know. Greg, could you step up, please?

[04:02:45] Introduce yourself to the fine people here. Good evening. Greg Peterson, COO of Holocene. So we have a computer program that we've run that calculates the hourly production of the entire year. So 8,760 hours of the year, it shows us exactly what the production is each of those hours.

[04:03:06] I can tell you that. I can show you that. I don't know the average. I would just guess probably in a day, it's probably something around 12 megawatts, maybe 14 megawatts. What happens is NOVAC has a ceiling, an amount that we can generate.

[04:03:21] We're going to build more because we can generate more until we get to that ceiling that Novak freezes us at. It's called clipping. So if you draw a bell curve, you're generating up in the morning until you get to about 11, 10, 30, 11 o'clock in the morning, and then we just generate at 20 megawatts, and then as the sun starts to go down, then we drop back down.

[04:03:44] Building it larger allows us to generate more in the morning and in the evening, but we can only – it's called clipping. and we have to limit it because NOVAC requires us to do that. Did that answer your question? Not really, but it's close enough.

[04:04:00] Okay. All right, Supervisor Bailey. This is, you said you have to clip it. Is that what you just said? Yes, ma'am. Layman's terms, what's clipping?

[04:04:17] Limiting the power output from the facility to 20 megawatts so that that's what NOVAC can take. To level it out? Yes, ma'am. Okay, I got you. No, no, no, I'm good. I'm a quick study, too. I just heard that. We use inverters. The inverters actually do that. We program the inverters to say you can't go over 20 megawatts.

[04:04:35] Okay. So they just draw a flat line until it drops below 20, and then... And it's programmed in already? Yes, it is. Okay. Makes more sense to me. Okay, thank you. All right, thank you. I don't know if anyone from staff, if you, Mr. Venegas, if you...

[04:04:51] We're right here, Madam Chair. Good evening, Madam Chair, Supervisors.

[04:05:14] My name is Alex Venegas from the planning office, and I'm one of the planning case managers for Waterloo Solar Special Use Permit. I don't have much more to add. Staff looked at this project.

[04:05:31] Again, it's in the A-1 zoning district. The long-range land use or comprehensive plan use is the classification as agricultural forestry, which A1 is implementing district, and solar energy facilities are allowed in the A1 district through a special use permit.

[04:05:56] This is the general location that the applicant went over. It's primarily near Route 15 and Log Mill Road, right off of Log Mill Road. Staff is recommending approval. This is the long-range land use, agricultural forestry, and A1 agricultural for the zoning district.

[04:06:18] The applicant did submit a public facility review, which was reviewed by staff, as well as a planning commission, and it was found to be in accordance with the comprehensive plan. And the applicant has committed to providing a decommissioning plan in conjunction with State Code Section 15.2-2241.2 during the final site plan with the conditions dated April 15th.

[04:06:46] And the applicant has also provided us with a siting agreement, which we will bring later to a future board meeting. Again, staff is recommending approval. The solar facility will provide alternative energy source, improve the overall grid reliability, will provide some economic benefit to the county, and the project will have a limited impact on the county services in terms of traffic, road infrastructure.

[04:07:18] schools parks and minimal impact on police and fire it's a primarily a passive and silent use it's not like other industrial uses that where you have a lot of noise or odors or pollutants and the good thing about solar facilities is with the decommissioning you can bring the land back to the state where in the future if you want to use agricultural uses on that property you can do that. So with that, staff supports this application and I'll gladly take any questions.

[04:07:55] Supervisor Weir. Thank you, Madam Chair. Mr. Venegas, I'm curious, what economic benefit does it provide? So it provides tax, some tax revenue to the county through the agreement that the siting agreement that we have. Is it solar panels? My understanding is the solar equipment itself is tax exempt from a personal property standpoint?

[04:08:21] That sounds like a Michelle Autry question. Yes, we will follow up with that. Good enough. Thank you, Madam Chair. All right, Supervisor Gordy, then Supervisor Bailey. I'm sorry, Madam Chair. Yes, you want to respond? The answer is that much of the equipment is, in fact, tax exempt under state law.

[04:08:40] The siting agreement that will come before the board promises to the county it will pay those taxes anyway. And that's been drafted and submitted to the county attorney in planning already. All right, before we, I'm sorry, did you have a follow-up for him, Supervisor? actually have a follow-up for the county attorney if indeed they're tax exempt under state code how can we circumvent to take stack the state code and apply a tax that we're not allowed to tax the state code authorizes the board to enter into a siting agreement thank you ma'am all right

[04:09:12] supervisor gordy um on the uh decommissioning plan um we're looking at about what a 20 25 year life of the solar farm um do we know from a county perspective i mean you it says removal recycling and or proper disposal um of the energy equipment facilities or devices um do we as a county have the capacity to support that um decommissioning uh recycling do we have the equipment do we have

[04:09:46] the locations do we have have we evaluated this from an environmental perspective so we haven't evaluated it, you know, whether our landfill could handle, you know, the recycling of that material. But there are places throughout the Commonwealth that can do that. And I would have to defer to the applicant and where they would take it to have it recycled. But the answer to the question is, no, I'm not, I'm not aware if our landfill could handle recycling those materials.

[04:10:17] Madam Chair, as I believe you're aware, there are no toxic materials that are in the panels, for example. But one of the purposes of the decommissioning plan that has to be submitted to and approved by the county before the site plan is approved would include a provision about how you're going to get rid of this stuff.

[04:10:38] And, in fact, at that time, we'll be talking to the folks at the landfill. Now that Tom Smith's gone, I've got to figure out who it is. But we will be talking to them about whether they can take it. If they can't, then that decommissioning plan will say where it's going to go, and it'll be someplace that can take it.

[04:10:56] Thank you, Madam Chair. Supervisor Bailey, then angry. Thank you so much. Alex, thank you for coming up. Thank you. Thank you, John. You answered my question. I'm more than certain, but I just want for the community, this has been socialized with our sustainability director, and I'm sure she's in support.

[04:11:20] So the applicant actually met with Julia Mano, and I think it was Martin Jeter, and they discussed this project with them. That's one of the things that the Planning Commission asked them to do.

[04:11:35] The applicant wasn't obligated to do that, but they went ahead and did it and met with them. And I appreciate that, because when you say the PFR was in compatibility with our comp plan, it needs to be in compatibility with her as well. So I appreciate that.

[04:11:51] Thank you. Thank you, Madam Chair. Supervisor Angry. Thank you, Madam Chair. I think my question probably for Mr. Foote or the gentleman that kind of knew the numbers there. Just a curious question. So you said there's another one of these locations in Noakesville?

[04:12:11] Yes, sir. How many of these are in the country? Or I don't know if that's a relevant question. But how many places do you build or where are you building? He can tell you this is only – they've done several of Virginia, but only in one county have they done more than one.

[04:12:29] Okay. Any out-of-state, any out-of-Virginia? Yes. We primarily focus on the southeast. Okay. So North Carolina, South Carolina, and Virginia are really our target. Okay. And then my final question. Can you walk me through, maybe walk us through?

[04:12:47] So when the energy is captured from the solar panels, you said it runs through and gets into the Dominion power line. Like, is this used for primarily that area, let's say the Gainesville area? Like, how is that power distributed once it's all collected?

[04:13:03] Yeah, that's a good question. So it feeds back into the log mill substation, which is about three-quarters of them. It's NOVEC, not Dominion. Yeah, it's NOVEC. A NOVEC, ah, okay. So that's a NOVEC substation fed by a NOVEC transmission line. It'll feed about three-quarters of a mile down the road on a distribution line that's an existing distribution line.

[04:13:22] It'll feed into that substation, and once it feeds into that substation, then it feeds into the NOVAC grid for this local area. So there's a NOVAC station called Log Mill right there, and then down Highway 15 a few miles, there's an Evergreen substation on the east side of Highway 15.

[04:13:38] Those are all tied together. So you don't know where electrons are going to flow, but for the most part, it's going to feed all the load, meaning houses, schools, and industry and commercial. Residences in that area. I don't know if Mr. Jaramillo is here, who's the vice president of power at NOVAC, but what that means is, effectively, they can take energy and take it elsewhere.

[04:13:57] They can direct it elsewhere. Okay. Thank you. Supervisor Bailey. Thank you, Madam Chair. Real quick. I just wanted to make one comment, also, in reference to this project. Some of us sit on the Council of Governments board, And this project is a great example of when we talk about environment and sustainability from that perspective in a regional perspective.

[04:14:25] And so I just wanted to let you know that you were like in compatibility not only with the comp plan, but also with our regional boards and the requirements that we have to adhere to and grow in our county. All right. Thank you.

[04:14:40] All right. So thank you very much for your presentation. I am going to now open the public hearing for item 13B. I am going to call speakers up. We actually have six, so I'll call all six of you up. I ask that, you know, all speakers have three minutes.

[04:14:57] I ask that you state your magisterial district and your name. So first we have, and I apologize for any names I mispronounce, John Rohde, Tad Wilson, Elizabeth Mataramah, Inez Bahi, this one, the last one, I'm sorry, Burkhard, Rhodes,

[04:15:24] don't I don't know I apologize and Vida Carroll hello my name is John Roddy live on Lookout Road about a mile west in the Gainesville district we have line of sight to the job or to the project my wife and I have been there for about

[04:16:02] three years but when we've attended the public hearings on this job initially we were on the fence, but after we saw the incorporation of the comments that came up at some of the public hearings, the improvements to the buffer area, the non-glare panels, and some of the other changes that were made, we are supportive of the job.

[04:16:28] We did some more homework. Holocene has a very good reputation in comparison to some of the other energy providers or solar energy constructors who have left a path of destruction in their wake in Virginia. It doesn't seem to be the model for Holocene, so we actively support it and are in favor of the approval of the special use permit. Thank you. Thank you. Next speaker,

[04:17:04] please. Hi, I'm Tad Wilson. I'm from the Gainesville District. I represent an HOA that sits directly to the south of the proposed project a couple of things the first speaker mentioned context i think understanding the resident context is very important as you think about this project and frankly you know some of this is not of your creation but it's of your inheritance there's a lot of cynicism and mistrust about development projects three key points i've pulled my community

[04:17:40] a couple times on this, and it's roughly 20% are like, yeah, it's okay because it's better than a data center, which is not a ringing endorsement, but realpolitik here. Yeah, cringe. I saw you there. 40% said we're against it because we think it's violative of the agricultural nature of the community and, you know, people moved in for those reasons, et cetera, et cetera. And then there's a hard 40 percent that says this is the camel's nose under the tent this is the first industrial use

[04:18:12] in the agricultural area right there so that's just my HOA if you talk to the folks at the paddocks we got the nice view from there they're going to tell you roughly the same thing the second one is the process has not been awesome the initial information session actually had a not working link so when we went out to the zoom meeting we weren't able to get in you know supervisor Weir's office tried to rush and scramble and help folks get in, but the fact is you had a lot of people left on the side. Even today, the advertisement for this meeting, if you drive by going 45 miles

[04:18:51] an hour, planning office is in 50-point font. Board of Supervisors is in about 12-point font. You literally can't read it. I'm not saying it's intentional. It's just you have this cumulative effect of people being like, this is kind of not feeling great. We saw a little bit of that earlier where we're talking about this is agricultural because we're harvesting electrons I mean we could rezone McCourt we're harvesting a little bit of hot air you know just a little also guilty of charge madam chair like you know at

[04:19:29] one point I was thinking do we need to like pull Pete Candlin back in here to make an unserious comment but somebody else beat him to the punch then you get into stuff like RPA and other things there are things that a residential user or a residential person would not be able to violate.

[04:19:45] And the last one is, for us in the district, this is the canary in the coal mine. We are in the crosshairs of transmission lines. We're in the crosshairs of data centers. We've got lots of 100-acre parcels around us. We're looking not just to our supervisor, but to the Board of Supervisors to give us some assurance that there's due consideration here and that the interest of residents are also taken into consideration.

[04:20:09] So thank you very much. Thank you. Next speaker.

[04:20:12] I'd like to show this video to the Lathans just to make sure they're making the right decision for themselves and their families to remain living on this property.

[04:20:50] It's about a two-month-old video. They spent almost two years oil-driving poles into the ground, which was actually horrendous to listen to.

[04:21:11] I feel now that they've taken the home away from me. It's not a home. It's a house. That's the feeling I have. Our home was put up on the market in 2022 and in the two years we've had two viewings.

[04:21:28] Our auctioneer has told me that he is getting lots of emails regularly and he said to me that they'd come back and they said that they're not interested because it's basically on a solar farm. We have become the solar capital of Ireland, which in my opinion is fantastic because of the dividend that we will hopefully get as these produce power.

[04:21:48] I think it's something like 8,000 acres at the moment is in planning or has been planned. And that's a very, very small percentage when you look at County Meath overall, which is quite a large county. It's come about not by accident, but because of the concentration of sunshine, believe it or not, within this area here.

[04:22:04] It's also the proximity to market, so we're right beside Dublin. I know that there are some people who would say, well, I don't like the look of them. Hopefully within those areas, and when you see the additional planting of the native hedgerows, and the hedgerald being grown around the particular farms, that you will see them not being a visual hindrance.

[04:22:26] Each of these farms have to give two euro per megawatt hour of power produced to the community. And where these are, you will have better air quality. And farms have a guaranteed income now. They can plan. They can plan forward. They can plan for their kids. That's huge.

[04:22:41] And that makes rural communities more sustainable. And we're into that part of climate change where the runaway effect happens. when you see how serious the crisis is you kind of say to yourself okay there's no more nicey-nicey about this these are things that we actually have to do this is probably seeming the way progress is going and so be it i can't do anything about that but i basically don't want to live on a solar farm it's not nice to look at basically and then the generators going you know you can hear them even lying in bed security lights lighting all the time towards your home it's not a nice

[04:23:18] place to be basically and i just i feel like somebody needs to come and be reasonable like i'm not looking for lotto numbers i just want i want to be compensated and i want to be let off basically as i said the home is gone for me and my family okay it's a house now thank you thank you i don't think that's what you wanted us to hear but all right next speaker

[04:23:54] sorry ma'am would you um one please speak up because we can barely hear you and also make sure you say your name and your magistrate district do i put it on here it should be on so my name is inis ball this is boca coda and we live on duffy drive on bull run mountain in hay

[04:24:26] market. And so, I mean, I like sustainable energy and everything, but these solar panels today, in my opinion, don't have enough energy output to be really sustainable. So I read basically several reports that it takes basically like 20 years in many instances to be profitable if you

[04:24:58] have a solar farm. Also, I read a study from Nevada that solar panels increase the temperatures around us, and so it would lead to more heating the environment. And then you have also the cloud seating now. So you have a better output if you have all the sun coming down, but if you have more

[04:25:29] cloud seeding that we see now daily in our area, in my opinion, you have less energy produced by those solar panels. And that's actually what I want to put also in. Thank you. Thank you, ma'am.

[04:25:48] Next speaker, please. My name is Pukat Khoda, and I sincerely apologize for my writing, especially my last name, but you pronounced my first name perfectly. I didn't have a question. I just wanted to have the time in case Enes, my previous speaker, doesn't have enough time.

[04:26:12] And then final speaker. Hey, Vida Carol Brinsville. So I'm here. I know you guys are going to pass this, which is fine, but I object to this being called a solar farm.

[04:26:30] It's about as much as a farm as Mid-County Industrial Park is a park. Let's call a spade a spade. It's an industrial usage, and it's a soft industrial usage, but it's in an island of rural and agriculture space, and I was telling my son about how I was, you know, the meeting tonight, and he was kind of asking me what was it about, and I was trying to explain to him energy consumption, and he has a really large marble collection, and I started

[04:27:04] showing him, and I thought it was appropriate, so I'm going to do a little visual. Okay, so in this exercise, every marble is 10 milliwatts, megawatts of energy. So the maximum output for this solar farm is 20 megawatts, which is two marbles. Okay, let's rewind. You guys just approved Parsons data facility a couple months ago. That's four data buildings, each one about 60 to 90 megawatts

[04:27:44] usage. I'm going to go on the high end because we're going on the high end with estimating what this solar farm's producing. So four buildings at 90 megawatts each, that's 360 megawatts. Okay, this is Parsons that you all approved, okay? Now let's go back a little bit further in time to Devlin Tech Park, which is nine data facilities, 90 megawatts each, that's 810 megawatts. That's 81 marbles. Okay, this is Devlin, all right? This is the solar farm and this is Devlin. Now let's go

[04:28:23] to the big one, the digital gateway. If it's built, God willing, it's not, 2,000 to 3,000 megawatts. I'm going to split the difference and the limits of my son's marble collection and say 2,500 megawatts. That's 250 marbles. This is the digital gateway, okay? I'm all for doing this. I'm all for clean energy. I'm all for green energy, but the solution is not more of these.

[04:28:54] it's restrictions on these it's data center reform do better i know you're gonna pat yourselves on the back for this one i'll see you in a few minutes for mid-county all right guys all right we um we have we are going to go i don't know if we had anyone else signed up for 13b 13 we have two more okay no i if you're here for 13b is regarding waterloo solar um just for clarification

[04:29:30] because i know we have some people from out of the county public comment time is when you could talk about things that are not on the agenda but public hearings are for specific cases so just say your name please and your magisterial district ma'am good evening my name is Jessica Grove and I live in the Gainesville district I kind of ditto with what Vida just said but I live relatively near to where the farm is going to go and while I appreciate the idea of a solar farm and clean energy you know it's something that I tell my boys every night before dinner you have

[04:30:06] to eat something that has a mom or came from the ground and that would be that would be something that comes from a farm this does not fit that criteria it's not a farm just like the cloud isn't up in space and i'm all for clean energy but this is the wrong place to put 200 acres of solar farm thank you all right thank you we are going to move to um remote one more okay all

[04:30:44] Right. Come on. Sorry. You're kind of tall. I don't know how I missed you. Sorry. Hi, I'm Chris Grove from the Gainesville District. I just want to echo what Jessica and Vida said. You know, Supervisor, I think you should question the expansion of industrial area in the rural side of the county.

[04:31:04] I realize that the previous board abolished the rural crescent, but it's still an incompatible land use from my perspective. The one – a couple questions I would like for you all to ask the proponent for this is what is the – if there wasn't that 20-megawatt cap, what is the overall energy production percent – or what is that high value of what could be produced?

[04:31:36] And at the point where they actually put the cap on, where is that excess energy going? Is it completely shut off or are those photovoltaic cells still sucking the sun's energy in and it's being displaced off as heat?

[04:31:52] Because that is a major consideration, especially in the rural areas that generally have a cooler climate than the urbanized areas of the county. So that is another consideration for us. And if we get another 2,000 acres of data centers, another two miles down the road, that's going to just increase the heat gain of our area.

[04:32:12] So it's going to be fun in the summers. Thank you. All right. Thank you for your patience. Now, before I go over to remote, I just want to see if there's anyone else. Once, twice. This is 13B, Waterloo Solar. All right.

[04:32:28] I am going to move to in-person. I'm sorry, remote. Do we have anyone signed up? Thank you, Madam Chair. Thank you, Ms. Madden, Ms. Van. How many folks do we have signed up for 13B? We have three speakers for 13B, and your first speaker is Mike Ketchmerick.

[04:32:47] Mike Ketchmerick, Heritage Hunt, Gainesville. I'm going to be speaking against this solar project. We have plenty of rooftops that can hold solar panels. The data center should fund these projects on residential homes before we start to plaster farmland and solar panels.

[04:33:07] My main concern is the county position on the CPA lawsuit involving Prince William's Digital Gateway. Your lawyer stated that the Board of County Supervisors has no obligation to listen to the residents. They only have to check the box by having a public hearing.

[04:33:23] So all public hearings and comments are only performative art. So I'm only making these comments for your entertainment. I believe public comment time in Prince William County is similar to an idea from the original Star Trek series. You remember when Spock was captured by the Romulans at the same time Kirk was trying to steal the cloaking device?

[04:33:44] The scriptwriters introduced the Romulan write a statement, which gave a condemned prisoner the right to make a statement before being executed. It did not change your sentence, but it only delayed your death. It was needed in the show to give Kirk time to do his mission.

[04:34:02] In Prince William County, public comment time only delays the announcement and vote of a predetermined decision. No obligation to listen to residents means all decisions were made before the meeting began.

[04:34:20] It's clear that talk is cheap. It means nothing to you. The only thing that has any influence on the majority of the previous board was how much money they got for their next campaign. Things need to change in Prince William County so the public comment time can really be taken serious.

[04:34:37] If you need a bond issue to borrow money, which requires the voters to agree in the next election, I believe the board should have to receive the same voter buy-in before you change a comprehensive plan. The comprehensive plan has much more impact on residents than any bond issue.

[04:34:57] That change would restore the importance of public comment time. Right now, it's only entertainment. So thank you very much for hearing me. Thank you, Mr. Kaczmarek. Next speaker, please. Your next speaker is Rachel Ellis.

[04:35:14] Can you hear me? Yes, we can. Ms. Ellis, please proceed. Thank you. Rachel Ellis, Gainesville District. Chair Jefferson and Supervisors, I'm asking you to please vote no on this project. While I appreciate that you're trying to find and use alternative energy sources, please do not fool yourself into thinking solar farms can even come close to providing the energy needed to power all the data centers that this board continues to approve.

[04:35:53] an average data center building will conservatively have a load demand of 65 megawatts one megawatt requires 10 acres of space for a solar facility thus one building would require 650 acres for solar generation a solar farm of this size will barely power one-third of a normal data center and it certainly will not power a hyperscale data center a single hyperscale data center can require up to 150 megawatts of power or 1,500 acres, which is needed for solar generation.

[04:36:30] This is equivalent to the energy consumption of a decent-sized city. This project does not belong here. Even though it's called a farm, it is industrial use in the middle of agricultural land and near residences, but we know it's going to pass. Because as a supervisor, you're going to boast that a solar farm is an example of your commitment to the environment and sustainability, But with the next vote, you will approve a data center development that would need thousands of acres of solar to power.

[04:37:00] Your words and actions matter as a supervisor. Please vote no on Waterloo Solar. Thank you. Thank you, Ms. Ellis. Next speaker, please. Your next speaker is Karen Sheehan. Hello, can you hear me?

[04:37:24] We can, Ms. Sheehan. Please proceed. All right, my name is Karen Sheehan. I'm in the Gainesville District, and I request five minutes representing the Coalition to Protect Prince William County. Yes, ma'am. Please proceed. I support solar panels to generate electricity.

[04:37:43] We have panels on our roof. They are safe, sensible, and appropriate. This application claims the facility will have very little impact on its surroundings or the natural environment. It views solar energy development as a use that is compatible with and even akin to traditional farming.

[04:38:05] I beg to differ. My objections are that this facility will cause excessive runoff, erosion, sedimentation, and irreversible damage to a critical watershed, and it will place an industrial utility in Prince William County's protected agricultural and forested area.

[04:38:26] The application says there is a commitment to preserving undisturbed wetlands. Steps will be taken to maintain, as able, existing surface flow, ensuring the wetlands receive pre-development flow.

[04:38:42] I say they won't be able. The panel installations are right next to the 100-year floodplain on both sides. Solar panels are impervious surfaces. Impervious surfaces cause runoff and erosion.

[04:38:57] We have witnessed the accelerated water runoff from our rooftop solar panels during our Virginia rainstorms. On prom farmland, introducing panels is introducing disconnected impervious surfaces above valuable pervious soil, which is easily eroded.

[04:39:20] My property is less than one mile away from this site. Our land abuts Black Branch. The streams and ponds on the log mill property feed into the Black Branch, which feeds into Bull Run. Bull Run is a prime source of water for the Occoquan Reservoir.

[04:39:38] We have experienced multiple times heavy rainstorms overflowing the banks of Black Branch. The construction and operation of a facility right along the same waterways is going to continuously cause erosion and the addition of more sedimentation into the Occoquan Reservoir, no matter what Mr. Foote and the applicant will claim.

[04:40:08] How do county erosion and sediment control standards address and handle the introduction of impervious solar panel surfaces to pervious farmland? In 2023, Virginia DEQ's Director Mike Rollband acknowledged that nearly 70% of the solar facilities across the state that the DEQ was overseeing had significant issues complying with stormwater regulations.

[04:40:38] What we're seeing on the ground is huge problems, quote, unquote. The environmental plan analysis of the county calls out the goal of preserving, protecting, and enhancing significant environmental resources and features, which includes the identification of problematic soil issues, preservation of native vegetation, enhancement of surface and groundwater quality, limitations on impervious surfaces, and protection of significant view sheds.

[04:41:13] How does this comport with that? The county's strategic plan includes protecting the natural environment. Its goal is to impact the quality of life in all facets of the community.

[04:41:29] This proposal does not protect the natural environment and puts at risk the quality of life for the entire community. Industrial utilities do not belong in our rural area. As Tad and Jessica and Mike and Rachel and multiple others have said, this will be just the reason and the excuse that we will see data centers and other industrial uses taking over more and more and more of our county.

[04:42:08] And, as was pointed out, 20 megawatts is insignificant contribution to the grid. Our county can better maximize solar on rooftops, over parking lots, next to roadways, covering road exchanges.

[04:42:25] This greenwash project constitutes an insignificant contribution to renewable energy. It will significantly contribute to the degradation of our Alcaquan watershed, and it is an inappropriate industrial use in protected agricultural lands.

[04:42:45] Please vote noon. Thank you, Ms. Sheehan. Ms. Vann, are there any other remote speakers for 13B? No more speakers at this time. Right. Thank you for your assistance. I'm sure we'll be back for 13A. Madam Chair stepped away, so I will come back.

[04:43:03] Did the applicant want to respond to any of the concerns that were raised during the public hearing? Not unless there are questions that have been raised for the board.

[04:43:23] All right. Well, thank you then. So I am going to, did you close 13? All right. I am going to close the public hearing for 13B. And thank you very much. So we are now going to, sorry.

[04:43:40] I would like to now entertain a motion for 13B. I'm moved. Second. All right. Discussion. All right. Supervisor Weir. Thank you, Madam Chair.

[04:43:56] And as a supervisor of record in the future, I'd like the courtesy of being afforded to make the motion on this. I'm not going to support it. It's not going to come as any surprise to anybody. I've heard a dissertation on industrial uses and how this isn't defined in the zoning ordinance.

[04:44:16] A lot of things aren't defined in the zoning ordinance. Do you know what defines it? The uses, the areas in which it's allowed, industrial areas. Therefore, it's an industrial use. It's permitted in the industrial districts. Quite frankly, it's simply incompatible with the surrounding use, plopping it down in the middle of what is essentially farmland and houses up on the northwest corner of our great county.

[04:44:44] And I've got a newsflash for people. You can't harvest the sun. You can't grow electrons. Quite frankly, it's a violation of the principle of conservation of matter, simple physics. But more to the point, and somebody mentioned this earlier, this is the camel's nose under the tent.

[04:45:05] This is the first data center. This is the first time we're going to put an incompatible use in the wrong place, and it will continue. This will establish the precedent that attorneys like Mr. Foote and Mr. Looney will use in the future.

[04:45:24] You can't deny us because you put it here and you allowed it there. There are better places for this. I would question why we don't have this at the dump. I would question why it's not at a VDOT parking lot or on top of a data center. You want to put it in appropriate places? There you go.

[04:45:43] But throwing it in the middle of Bull Run Mountain, in my view, it's not a good idea. Somebody raised earlier their membership on a MCOG committee. This board appointed me to VACO's energy committee.

[04:46:00] And we've been meeting with Dominion with respect to their IRP. And I can tell you what VACO's first concern, first voiced concern at the county meetings with Dominion was in data centers, was in generation.

[04:46:17] It was solar panels in the rural areas. And the rural counties that bought into this to begin with are now having buyer's remorse. significant ens problems loss of farmland that they can't recover loss of revenues the list goes on and on it was the first it's telling that it was the first thing on vaco's list this is a land use case this isn't a sustainability initiative we shouldn't be using this as greenwash to pat ourselves in the back and go look how sustainable we are we need to address this within the confines

[04:46:52] of it being a land use case generations been made it been mentioned 20 mega 10 20 megawatts at peak I suspect that's actually overstated, but it's artificially capped at 20 megawatts at peak.

[04:47:08] What do you do at night? What's it generating at night? Is the average 12? Is the average 8? Is it worth, is that juice worth the squeezing? In my view, probably not. It's been noted that the entirety of this project would power less than one-third of one data center building.

[04:47:37] I suspect it's actually less than that. It's probably about one quarter. Think of all the land it's going to take up to do that. You want to put it in a compatible place, I'll stand side by side with you, but this isn't the place. You know, it's had to be contrived in terms of tax structure to be some measure of economic benefit to the county.

[04:48:01] I suspect it's a very limited amount. I haven't seen the numbers. And last but not least, I did consider the Noakesville solar farm at industrial use years ago, Mr. Foote.

[04:48:16] I made the same arguments then. The only difference between that and this is that the family subdivision process hasn't been bastardized and that that was used to accommodate this creates another problem for me. Again, Madam Chair, wrong place, wrong application. It's not compatible, and I'll leave it at that.

[04:48:42] Thank you. Supervisor Gordy. Thank you, Madam Chair. When I came in tonight, I came into this with a pretty open mind about this. I wasn't sure how I was going to vote. I was just going to listen to the folks and draw a conclusion.

[04:49:00] I live right beside the Noakesville facility. It's in my backyard, not literally in my backyard, but when it was being installed two summers ago, it was all day every day with ho-rams going. So whoever's planning to live around this, God bless you for at least one summer.

[04:49:18] It's going to be very noisy. The statement that was made, here's the reality. Every farm produces energy. Every farm produces energy. It's either in the form of a vegetable, it's in the form of beef or pork.

[04:49:35] It's energy. That energy is usually food. We're taking farms. We've been doing this since 2005. we've been taking our farmland, and we've been converting it into energy for houses, for cars, and now we have a lot of problems. We have price escalation in our food. We have food insecurity.

[04:49:58] And where did all that come from? It came when we started prioritizing farmland for energy production. It goes back to 2005, when gas prices started going up, and then we started burning ethanol, making ethanol, it takes seven gallons of fuel to make eight gallons of ethanol. And so over that time, we've been continuing to take our farmland. And so what has been the net result of that? Well, the corporate farmers in America are now going to the places in the world with the cheapest land in order to produce food. Guess where that is? It's the Amazon rainforest. It's

[04:50:37] sub-Sahara Africa. Don't think that the decisions we make here do not have global implications. they do. They have global implications. And many of you have left those places to come here because you couldn't afford to live in that place anymore because of skyrocketing food costs and because the devaluation of the dollar. We continue to make these local decisions without understanding the global implications. But then I started the issue with Mike Roban, who's a man I know I

[04:51:12] greatly respect. And so I found the article and clearly we have not done enough homework in this Commonwealth on the impact of water runoff as it relates to these solar panels, and apparently it's pretty significant. And so until we have a good answer on how we're going to mitigate this, I cannot in good conscience support this until we know, until we have a better stormwater management policy as it relates to these solar panels, because again, apparently it's pretty significant. So unfortunately, I will not be able to support this case tonight. Thank you.

[04:51:49] Supervisor Vega. Thank you, Madam Chair. I'd like to know a little bit about the history of the property, what's been happening, what's been going on there in recent years. I'm not sure, Alex, if you or the applicant can elaborate on that. Yes.

[04:52:06] I believe she will tell you the property has been in the family for decades and has been farmed for decades. Madam Chair, I have one more thing.

[04:52:23] Just to remind you also that the Noakesville solar farm was put in, and now we have 2,000 of industrial land sitting in my backyard. All right, please proceed. Introduce yourself. Hi, I'm Cindy Latham, and I live on the farm in Haymarket.

[04:52:42] And the farm has been used and leased between family members and a couple of outside local farmers when they wanted to use it. When I first moved out there 35, 40 years ago, I guess, It was family use for cattle and alfalfa was being, and orchard grass.

[04:53:09] And then it moved into, what's the name of the company just down the street? Virginia Beef, thank you. Virginia Beef leased it for a few years, and they were doing landscape grass. But then the market for residential plummeted, and they couldn't sell the grass.

[04:53:30] And so then it went back to family members farming it for hay and straw and alfalfa and just soybean, a lot of soybean, yes. Thank you, Sandy.

[04:53:48] You're good. Anyone else? Supervisor, you're good. Anyone else? All right. Let's go ahead then and vote. Motion passes 6 to 2.

[04:54:08] Supervisors Weir and Gordy voting nay. All right. Now we are going to move on to 13A, and I appreciate everyone's patience. I thought 13B would be a little bit faster because in the beginning we only had one person. So we are going to move on to 13A, and that is the rezoning and proper amendment for Mid-County Industrial Park.

[04:54:27] I also just wanted to let everyone know that because there were a lot of concerns and questions about power, so I had invited Mr. Arnold Singleton. He's the VP of Engineering at NOVAC. He will also be on hand to answer any questions about power should they come up.

[04:54:44] So, first, we are going to start with the presentation from the applicant. Thank you, Madam Chair. My name is Mark Looney. I'm an attorney with Cooley. And I am actually pinch-hitting tonight for Corey Stewart, who has been the shepherd of this application for the bulk of its life.

[04:55:03] But, unfortunately, his mother was recently placed into hospice, and so he is attending to her. And so I agreed to step in and to try to do the best that we can to move this along tonight. So I appreciate your indulgence. I'll go through the presentation as quickly as I can, but as an overview, the property that is the subject of this application is a little over 64 acres.

[04:55:30] It is currently split zone between MT and A1. Two-thirds of it is A1. One-third of it, a little more than one-third of it, is M2. The application that we have before you tonight is to consolidate the A1 and the MT zoning to MT and M2 under a single set of proffers.

[04:55:52] We also have modifications for building height to go up to a maximum of 80 feet in height. Just to orient you, the property, I'll call it on the lower right-hand side of the screen, is an overview of the property itself.

[04:56:08] The left-hand side with the cul-de-sac is the existing MT zone property. The property to the right is the A1 zoning area. As you can see from the other pictures that are on the screen here, the commercial side of the property is utilized for contractor offices and other industrial activity today. There are roughly 120,000 truck trips that come into and out of that site today, and there are just shy of 30,000 vehicles per day that travel Dumfries Road in front of this site. The comprehensive plan for

[04:56:46] the county designates this area as i3 for long-term planning purposes with a t3 transect which means that is it it is planned among other things for light industrial uses and data centers as as principal uses the property has been from the inception of the overlay district for data centers included in the data center overlay district and as i'll show you later in more detail, there are existing high-voltage transmission lines that diagonally cross the property today.

[04:57:22] Because of the use of the property as it exists today, there are significant impacts to the property and the environmental conditions of the property. 37 percent of the site today, particularly on the heavy industrial side, is already impervious surface and, in certain instances not cared for particularly well from an environmental standpoint. 15% of the land area is covered by the transmission line easements, which means that it is cleared so that the transmission lines can exist there. And the A1 zone portion of the property contains a series

[04:58:01] of cleared home sites, septic fields and wells, and other activities. There was at one point a wetlands area on the property in the northwest corner. As you can see on the upper picture there on the right-hand side, it actually was filled at some point roughly 15 years ago, and only about 0.3 of what was intended to be a 1.5-acre conservation area has, in fact, been retained as trees. When this application went to the Planning Commission last month, there were a number of

[04:58:37] concerns expressed by the public, by the members of the Planning Commission, and at the end of the day, the Planning Commission did not recommend approval of the application. Since that public hearing, the applicant has spent a significant amount of time working with your planning staff, working with individual members of the board in a series of conversations about what could be done to make the application better, to make it better fit your comprehensive plan, and to better conform to the county's high expectations for how these projects are designed and implemented.

[04:59:11] The five areas that were of focus are listed on the screen here, and I'll go through all of them in more detail as we get into the mitigation measures that have been implemented since the Planning Commission public hearing and, in fact, from when the staff report was issued last week that contained additional proper revisions.

[04:59:31] At a high level, what I'm going to focus on is improvements to buffers and commitments to reforestation on the plan, additional measures to screen the uses from adjacent residentially zoned properties, to focus on environmental improvements, including relocation of stormwater facilities and better buffers and protections around the resource protection area that exists on the property, and then finally adjustments to mitigate some of the extra height that is proposed with this application. Taking each of these in turn, along the eastern side of the

[05:00:09] property, along the right-hand side of the screen over here, there was a commitment added to preserve at least 100 feet of the existing tree area along the buffer with the adjacent residential community to the east. That expands in certain locations out to as big as 300 feet, And then there's a further commitment to do reforestation in areas between that tree preservation and where the data center and substation facilities would be located.

[05:00:42] There's also a commitment for a 12-foot architectural screening wall around the substation, which is the square box here in the middle of the graphic here, as well as along the eastern boundary of the property along here to mitigate visually both the substation and the data center buildings from the adjacent Mallard's Overlook residential community.

[05:01:08] And I'll note that five of the seven homeowners who live along the edge of the property over here have indicated to the applicant that they are either supportive of the application, not opposed to it. Two residents along that cul-de-sac didn't respond to overtures from the applicant in terms of the mitigation measures that were proposed.

[05:01:32] In terms of other enhancements along Dumfries Road, there was a commitment added to expand the buffer from 35 feet to 50 feet, inclusive of some supplemental landscaping areas, a commitment in the proffers to limit data center buildings within 125 feet of the existing edge of pavement, meaning no data center buildings could go within 125 feet of Dumfries Road.

[05:01:57] That was, in fact, a substantial commitment requested by Supervisor Vega that was incorporated into the proposal along with the extra buffers that I believe Supervisors Franklin and Angry had mentioned in conversations with the applicant. And the heights of the buildings located closest to Route 234 were lowered down to 75 feet as a maximum.

[05:02:18] In terms of additional environmental mitigation measures that were added, I talked a little bit about the buffer along the eastern side of the property. The stormwater management facility at the top of the page was moved from the left-hand side closest to the RPA to the right-hand side of the property in order to then be able to come back in and reforest this area, which was proffered with the industrial zoning back in the early 2000s to be preserved as a conservation area in this location.

[05:02:55] We're in fact going to be reforesting in that area, creating a buffer up against the existing RPA and replacing that paved area that I showed on the first slide. We also have committed as part of the application to purchase wetlands mitigation credits at a two-for-one ratio to replace lost wetlands resulting from the existing development on the property, as well as to implement stream monitoring within the RPA with the appropriate state partners in this.

[05:03:29] All of these things were things that Supervisor Bode, Supervisor Bailey, Supervisor Vega raised in individual meetings with the applicant, saying, these are things you need to do to make this application stronger. And we've also added a proffer for a minimum of five sustainability measures that must be incorporated into the design of the project. In terms of the particularities of the substation and its location, we've added a proffer for a landscape buffer around the perimeter of the substation along with a 12-foot screening wall as I mentioned earlier. Those were

[05:04:07] things that Supervisor Vega had specifically requested. We pushed the substation closer to the existing transmission lines in order to create greater distance between the substation and the adjacent residential community to the east and we added a proffer I believe at the chair's request that said if the location of the substation has to change because in earlier plans we actually had the substation or the applicant had the substation on the north side of the transmission lines due to either additional requirements from Novec or Dominion that it would have to come back

[05:04:42] through the PFR review process before those moves could be done. Finally, in terms of additional commitments related to the massing and height of the project, as I mentioned, we lowered the building height to 75 feet along Dumfries Road. We put the commitment in that the buildings can't be any closer than 125 feet to the existing edge of pavement. Importantly, we proffered the maximum finished floor slab, meaning the concrete floor on which the data centers would

[05:05:15] then be constructed vertically, cannot exceed 355 feet above the mean sea level. For comparison purposes, the existing roadbed in Dumfries Road is 370 feet above mean sea level, which means that the buildings will be sitting at the ground floor 15 feet below where the existing Dumfries Road is, which means that the effective building height above the road when standing in the road is only going to be about 60 feet versus the 75 feet that is proffered as part of the plan. And I'll also

[05:05:50] you'll see here the distances to the various elements within the project, a minimum of 600 feet for the closest data center to the existing houses to the east. Finally, just a couple of other proffers that were added coming out of the Planning Commission to address specific comments that we had heard. There's a prohibition in the proffers on construction parking on 234 within the right of way so that we're not construction activity is not impeding or creating impeding traffic or creating safety problems. We've got a proffer in that says that we will minimize the need to truck

[05:06:29] soil off the property and located elsewhere in a dumping facility or elsewhere. We'll try to what's called balance the soils out, which means that you take soil from the high side of the site and you repurpose it on the low side in order to create a flat building pad. And then we've added some additional commitments related to noise and acoustical studies, so that there's both a commitment not to exceed certain noise levels that are greater than what the current noise ordinance mandates, as well as an obligation to go back and fix any problems should they arise in the future, which we obviously don't expect.

[05:07:07] So with that, I will stop and answer any questions that you all have. Madam Chair. Supervisor Vega. Could we hear from staff next, if my colleagues are okay with that? and then um i'd like to hear from the public also before we really go further into deliberations and discussions i will grant that since it is your district okay thank you all right staff if you

[05:07:28] would do it come up with your presentation good evening madam chair members of the board scott meyer in the planning office um so i'm going to fill in the gaps for uh what mr looney had talked about so this is a two uh component application it's a rezoning and it's also a proffer amendment

[05:08:02] So just to clarify, this is the graphic right here. So when this application first came in, it was only the rezoning of the eastern portion.

[05:08:20] Just want to make that clear. And then with the second submission, when Corey Stewart had taken over the project, this proffer amendment piece was added in. So just to clarify, the initial piece was the 40.9 acres to the east, and then subsequently the proposal was also to amend the proffers on this 23-acre piece as well with the Colchester Park Drive Industrial Park.

[05:08:49] Also, there is right-of-way that is included in the area of the proffer amendment that is proposed to be vacated and also conveyed. So the total area is 64.66 acres. Just wanted to clarify that.

[05:09:04] Staff is recommending approval, as stated in the staff report, with the proffers dated May 17th. And I'll get more into that a little bit later. Right now, it's currently planned in our comprehensive plan as I-3, which is industrial uses.

[05:09:23] Data centers are among those uses. They're not the only uses, though. It's also in the data center opportunity zone overlay district. However, it is immediately abutting an existing residential area. I actually did the rezoning on this 11 years ago, so I'm very familiar with this area.

[05:09:41] And at the time, the idea was to have more of a semi-rural residential development. But we've always known that to the west, we have this other area planned for industrial. not necessarily data centers but the anticipation was that when the time comes this area it already is industrial but this other piece could be developed as a such industrial use this is in the staff report and again the total project area is 66.4 acres we have basically the combined

[05:10:18] reassembled project area which as i mentioned before just under 44 acres is the rezoning from a1 to m2 which is light industrial and then it's also amending the proffers associated with the industrial park for data center use options and that is currently zoned mt which is industrial transportation with the latest request we have the building height which is now up to 75 feet for areas within 250 feet along dumfries road that was lowered before everything was 80 feet

[05:10:52] subsequent to the planning commission the applicant um had lowered that it does not include rooftop equipment so with this we could have up to 95 feet all inclusive for areas uh potentially outside of 250 feet from dumfries road uh the landscaping um it's variable width along the eastern portion a big part of this at the planning commission uh and staff uh had this concern as well and still does is the proximity of the site to residential um we can't overcome that but what

[05:11:27] we could do is we can ask for additional mitigation the site is constrained because we have that power line isn't going down the middle so what do we do we try to you know look at what we can do and we have a variable with undisturbed forest in a reforestation area which is at least 100 feet in width on the eastern part of the site that's been substantially increased from what we saw before the planning commission and it's now a 35 foot hcob buffer along with the 15 foot landscape enhancement area so we basically have a long dump freeze well what we have have had before

[05:12:04] excuse me just to go back here for once so this is okay so this is showing the site right here we have the overhead power lines basically cutting right through it these are the existing setbacks based on the latest submission.

[05:12:22] This is the environmental constraints analysis. Staff does have concerns about, according to the environmental constraints analysis, there are a lot of higher priority natural resources on the eastern portion of the site.

[05:12:39] There's also the resource protection area. We appreciate how the layout is having more reforestation, but we're not getting what was there before. And the policy is, and this is vacant land to the east that we have these intact forested areas, we have more of these higher priority resource areas.

[05:12:58] So in summary, the environmental section is still a no, based on staff's analysis. We still felt that we couldn't overcome that, but we do acknowledge that there has been progress made. So this is the existing, basically condition right here.

[05:13:16] This is the road, again, that's going to be replaced, and it's going to be conveyed back to the site, but we have a reconfigured access. This was the conservation area, and before we had, this is all, you know, undeveloped A1 with some residential on it right now.

[05:13:33] So with the latest development, excuse me, we have three proposed data center buildings. We have the substation here, but staff continues to have concerns about the massing and the overall impacts of this being so close to residential.

[05:13:50] Yes, this isn't the overlay, but we respectfully feel that you're on the edge of the overlay. So you have to account and you should mitigate appropriately for that. We feel the applicant has done the best they could, but they don't have to do this layout and they don't have to do what they're choosing to do.

[05:14:07] They want to do what they're choosing to do with this proposal. So that's an important thing. We still feel that more should be done to control the massing and the overall height. It's gotten better. There is buffering.

[05:14:23] There is reforested areas. The substation, we had a data center building here, but I don't know necessarily, and we don't feel, is it better? It's just maybe a little lesser impact to some extent. But, again, the overall massing combined of this so close to residential, we have to do our responsibility when we review these applications, and we still feel that that is an issue.

[05:14:50] So, with the latest analysis, community design was previously a no going to Planning Commission. That has become a yes. There's still numerous concerns, though. Environment is still a no. And just to highlight some of the main weaknesses, impacts to high-quality resource areas, loss of protected wetlands, conservation area to be vacated, and there is a potential for additional impacts with the electric substation.

[05:15:18] We don't know all what that will be right now. We've asked the applicant to have some contingencies into caveat when they get into siting the substation, but we don't know ultimately how that will all unfold. excuse me pardon me um and the overall project weaknesses are land use proximity to uh residential and the unresolved massing concerns pardon me excuse me with honey it works thank you okay so

[05:15:56] planning commission recommended denial it was a unanimous denial not good not ideal uh the applicant has done a considerable amount of work uh and they came to us again in my staff report i outline what they were able to do again you know we do need to acknowledge that but staff is recommending approval subject to the proffers date at may 17 and that's what's in your published staff report the applicant actually late on friday they had sent updated proffers staff had no idea that was coming saw it monday morning we've had no time to review and vet that respectfully we just

[05:16:35] can't given our you know the timing but our staff analysis is based on the revised proffers dated May 17th and that's the analysis that we we have to respectfully stand behind and staff based on the proffers dated May 17th we are recommending approval again because you know the data center is consistent with the i3 technology flex lane use designation it is a targeted industry again it doesn't have to be the only solution to develop the site and we feel it isn't the opportunity overlay district for data centers that encourages data centers and we feel

[05:17:13] they've done what they could for context sensitive solutions but again we can't overlook the massing in the proximity to residential and we recommend approval and with that I'll try to answer any questions thank you we also have transportation staff here as well as watershed and planning if needed. Thank you. Thank you. And Supervisor of Record asks that we keep moving forward. So I appreciate it. We're going to get into some, you know, thank you for sticking around because we're going to get into some questions later. What I'm going to go ahead and do is open the public hearing for item 13A. We are going to start with in-person public comments. And I'm going to call people up

[05:17:52] five at a time. You have five, I'm sorry, you have three minutes. You have five minutes. You have three minutes to speak I respectfully ask that everyone state their name and their magisterial district and I do this because I will get stares from the other end of the day is from our legal council but we need to make sure that we she stared at me a few times we need to make sure that we follow protocol so your name and your magisterial district so first I'm going to call up Mr. Dennis

[05:18:21] Peterson. I have A.J. Steranowitz, Jono Cain, Kalia Cain, and Brooke Turner. All right, sir, you may go ahead and speak. My name is Dennis Peterson. Please speak up into the mic. My name is Dennis Peterson, and I live in the Gainesville District, and I only want to talk in one area of

[05:18:58] what we're doing today, and that is the tax consequences to all those in the county. Now, We had a couple of young men come in early this afternoon or this evening, and they were exceptional young men.

[05:19:15] They had achieved great goals for themselves and for their communities. And these are the kind of young men that we would like to continue to develop in our county, to be able to buy homes and raise families.

[05:19:31] Now, when I was younger, I'm pretty old, but when I was younger, I remember my dad always bellyache and about having to pay taxes. I'm pretty sure you've probably all heard the same thing. But we lived in a community that was only a housing development community, and we had small cities and cities all around us that had developed areas. And we paid probably three times as much in property taxes as they did, because we didn't have any industrial base to depend upon.

[05:20:02] And so when I start thinking about it is if we don't look forward to the future and provide opportunities to expand our county, and in doing so, our county is going to protect the individuals.

[05:20:22] But we need to have resources to do that. I look to data centers to be an extreme source of taxable revenue for the county. And in doing so, county taxes are always going to go up. But you can smooth the going up by having industrial basis.

[05:20:41] And if you don't have industrial basis, then the property owners are going to end up bearing the burden of the tax. And I just want to say that as we look forward into the future, 20 years from now, what are we going to look like?

[05:20:57] I mean, we've got iPads, we've got cell phones, we've got television, we've got electronics that we never even could consider 25, 30 years ago. but we have them today. And if we don't allow opportunities for these companies to come in and to improve our electronic footprint, then we are going to have them go somewhere else where we might not benefit from them. And certainly if they leave this county, we will not benefit from their tax base. And so if we want to continue to live the lifestyle that we have and to continue

[05:21:36] with opportunities, then we need to protect that opportunity for young couples and new children to move into this area. And I really want you to consider supporting the data centers just in order to relieve the pressure on the whole county of property taxes that they will provide for us.

[05:22:03] Thank you. Thank you. Next speaker. Good evening.

[05:22:22] My name is AJ Staranovich. I live in the Potomac District, and I'm a homeowner in the community most affected by the proposed data center project. Our community is actually split between the Coles District and the Potomac District. I strongly oppose the Mid-County Industrial Park.

[05:22:40] The developers' recent changes failed to address our concerns about health hazards, property values, and community disruption. The project significantly impacts our homes and our quality of life. The proposed power station will be 100 feet from the nearest residential lot.

[05:22:59] The minimal distance is alarming and will significantly impact and detract from our neighborhood's quality of life. The lack of adequate buffers means our views will be replaced by unsightly power stations. For perspective, the distance between these two homes on John Mallage Drive is 115 feet.

[05:23:19] That exceeds the minimal distance of 100 feet. There is no amount of buffering or screening that can make the distance between a substation pictured here in a neighboring county and our residential area.

[05:23:36] Noise pollution is another critical issue. Noise pressure doubles with an increase of just three decibels. That means a three decibel increase to the average person will feel like a 100 increase in noise. Constant noise from diesel generators except from noise ordinance will be significant intrusive presence.

[05:23:56] While documents indicate that noise levels will be monitored, the effectiveness of such measures is currently unclear. The visual impact of the data center cannot be overstated. The massing and height impacts, including a proposed building height increase up to 80 feet, plus an additional 15 feet for rooftop mechanical equipment, will be significantly impactful.

[05:24:19] The new data center will have variable siting options, leading to inconsistent landscaping and potential gaps in visual screening. Despite efforts to enhance buffering and tree preservation, these measures fail to address the concerns in our single family residential community.

[05:24:36] Mr. Stewart's recent observation that the board has never declined a data center application within the overlay district shows poor skepticism and poor leadership. Considering the optics of a former board member representing the developer and reports of substantial campaign contributions to supervisors from the developers behind the project makes this all very troubling for our residents.

[05:25:00] Do not make this a transactional decision. I urge the board to consider the long-term implications for our community, prioritize the welfare of our residents who will live with the consequences of your approval, protect our property values, preserve our views, and prevent noise pollution that will degrade our quality of life.

[05:25:20] Thank you. Thank you. Next note. Okay, I'm going to say this one last time. If I have to stop for clapping or any other noise, I will clear out board chambers. This is a very long meeting, and I'd like to get through it, and I'd like to be respectful of everyone's time and make sure that we hear all the speakers who have signed up.

[05:25:39] All right, sir, you may go. Thank you. Good evening. My name is John Kane, and I live in the town of Haymarket. I am so privileged to own and operate two businesses out of Prince William County. I am a Class A contractor, RightNow Industries, and I have a Bacon Bros fine meat company, and I depend greatly on data, invoicing, software, computers, just like everybody else.

[05:26:07] I find myself in this building often doing permits and things like that, and I deal regularly with the board, the people in permitting, and the people I pay the taxes here, And I find the people to be very faithful in their duty and thoughtful to carry out their rational duty.

[05:26:32] So regarding the Mid-County Industrial Park, the world has changed even from when I was a kid. I grew up 80s, 90s, you know, like right in the era of seeing pre-digital turn into digital. And I know that we drastically depend on a digital world.

[05:26:50] Everything that we do, it's like the classic photo of the guy holding up the iPhone, the amount of stuff that we fit in our pocket. I mean, there's probably roughly 45, 50 people in here, and every single one of us has a computer in our pocket.

[05:27:07] There's many out on the desks, and we need storage for that. Their data serves a big role in our daily lives. As a service contractor, I can take 30 pictures of one water heater at somebody's house so that I can have it for my technicians, and we can share that information across the board.

[05:27:28] My bacon snack company heavily relies on Internet sales and Internet marketing and SEO, and it is a great service to the area for us working people that are just trying to serve the community and, you know, as a proud member of the community, I do take that pretty seriously. So I would ask that you vote in favor of this project and that really this county should be proud to have an opportunity to provide these type of

[05:28:06] or get the benefits from data centers and their completed projects. And additionally, sorry, Additionally, well, again, we live in a digital world. There's plenty of legislation that's going through through Congress and the House and the Senate for digital currencies, digital assets.

[05:28:28] I mean, even our finances are becoming digital. So the benefit of it is great for our community. Thank you. Next speaker, please. Hello. Hello.

[05:28:44] I'm Kyla Cain. I live in Gainesville District, and, you know, I'm a very small new business owner in the county, And the data centers have helped bring revenue and helped me a lot with, you know, with my whole business.

[05:29:02] And as you guys just heard, we all do have cell phones and lots of data. You've got pictures of your grandkids or, you know, you're trying to do things for work. We all store a lot of things, and it's a nice thing to have at the data centers. People are against it, but we all can't stop using our phones, so we need somewhere to store this data.

[05:29:21] I mean, this is a thing that we've come to, and it's a nice thing that we're able to have it. I also have two small children in schools, and this is a good thing for us, I think, for taxes, in that we could do more for the children and bring more parks and more just stuff for everyone.

[05:29:40] I know it's a negative thing, but it's also a really positive thing, and it's not as effective in a negative way as you think. Everyone thinks, oh, it's going to be so horrible or the building's going to be so ugly, but they actually look really nice. I live next to one. And it's really just not as horrible as it's put out to be.

[05:29:59] And I just think it would be great for the community. I love Prince William County. I've lived here for 24 years. And I think that the Mid-County Industrial Park would be a good vote for this county. Thank you very much for your time. - Next speaker.

[05:30:15] - Hello, my name is Brooke Turner and I'm a homeowner in the Gainesville district. I taught in Prince William County schools and I still am a teacher and an educator in my own home, and I'm also a real estate agent.

[05:30:31] I do most of my work here in Prince William County. I want you to know that I strongly support the Mid-County Industrial Park Project. As a realtor, I have seen how the tax revenue from data centers continue to improve the community. Our schools are improving, and as an educator myself, I am grateful for that.

[05:30:47] We get better paid teachers, we improve our school buildings, and it's less overcrowding in our schools. The county is able to continue to hire more police officers and firefighters as well, which are many of my clients. This helps keep our community safe. Just as we are seeing in Loudoun County and all of its data centers that have come up, people also are still wanting to move to Prince William County.

[05:31:08] I have not seen any negative effects within my own personal clients or sales impacts due to negativity. I've sold many homes in Western Prince William County. The most recent was just down the road from this projected site. It had multiple offers and went way over asking price.

[05:31:24] There was no issue at all. Another home I just put on the market was in Heritage Hunt right in Gainesville. We had multiple offers and that also did not impact anything with the data centers coming in with Digital Gateway. My clients have not had any issues nor have they ever voiced concerns of any of them.

[05:31:41] I've never seen a data center negatively impact the sales prices of homes nor offers presented in any capacity. I've only had clients mention the added bonus of tax benefits as they have seen in Loudoun County when they have moved from there to our county themselves. It has never been mentioned as a detriment to our area.

[05:31:58] I have examined this project and its location specifically and I feel that it is a good one. Please vote yes for the Mid-County Industrial Park. Thank you for your time. All right, let me call the next group of speakers and I ask if you're not waiting in line to speak, if you please have a seat.

[05:32:15] I have Steve. Thank you. Ashley Stuttle, Julie Leifert, Cheryl Petty, and Brad Nelson. If all of you can come up to the front or come up to the back, I have me.

[05:32:41] I'm Steve Hetrick. My family is original from one of the Occoquan families, a lifetime resident here in Prince William County. I live in Lake Jackson, environmental friendly community. When it comes to making a decision on the data centers or the industrial parks, you have to make a decision based on the least of two, less of two evils.

[05:33:01] With the industrial park truck barn, which is not under the Chester Bay Watershed Act, it's basically a toxic disaster with leaching into our air and groundwater. streams, rivers, and the Chesapeake Bay, vast amounts of pollution, and forever chemicals.

[05:33:19] And when I say forever chemicals, I mean they're forever. They don't go away. Also, you have 300 trucks discharging diesel fuels, pollutants, traffic problems on a daily basis. Also, you have to realize that these trucks on this truck barn is not under the Chesapeake Bay Watershed Act.

[05:33:38] Therefore, it could be an asphalt plant or a concrete plant could come there, which would cause considerable more problems. In making a decision as educated residents, I have to look at the long-term effect and future of our children, community, and our environment. The data centers. The buildings are now designed looking like office buildings.

[05:33:59] They're not like those center block boxes like people have been seeing. The new generation generators are now whisper quiet, and they don't use diesel fuel because it's costly and the diesel fuel degrades. They run off of propane and natural gas. Also, during major blackouts, the generators can feed electricity back-to-the-grid emergency situations for like schools, the state police, and the fire department up the street.

[05:34:26] Another benefit with the community is a long-term blackout caused by sabotage or storms. The data centers, once finished, don't have very many employees operating it, but the data center itself supports thousands of businesses in the community. Without the data centers, no business can operate.

[05:34:43] What business can you have that you don't need an internet or a cell phone? How convenient, I mean, now with these conveniences like smart toasters, smart refrigerators, smart homes, they all rely on data centers to operate. GPS in your car, security systems, home monitoring, streaming services, and many more all rely on data centers to operate.

[05:35:06] Without data centers, there's no advancement of the business community, and the quality of a life will suffer because we rely on so many necessary necessities provided by technology and which all rely on data centers to operate. The cost of cleanup of these toxins in the ground will be tremendous, and you have to have a business model to afford it.

[05:35:29] The data center is a long-term revenue stream which they can fill the cost of cleanup in their leases, which you can't do with most businesses, and also it doesn't put a burden on the taxpayers. Compare the data center operation to the industrial farm, there's just no question.

[05:35:45] It's a toxic, leaking, polluted, and spewing diesel fumes. Thank you, sir. Thank you. I have five minutes because I'm doing the Jackson community. I put that on there. You did not. I have it right on there.

[05:36:01] It says I'm representing Lake Jackson community. It has to be, first of all, with all due respect, whenever you are coming up to represent an organization, Do you have to tell us beforehand that you are requesting the five minutes? Well, I even told the lady when I was signing up I was requesting five minutes.

[05:36:16] I only have just a couple more minutes to say. Are you on the board? Yes. No. Are you on the board? With all due respect, I understand that everyone wants to speak and have their turn. Well, okay. I mean, I'll sit down. But anyhow, the Lake Jackson community that I put out, they said they were for the data center, and they said get it in there and tax it.

[05:36:36] So there you go. Thank you. And again, I know that this is a very tough topic for a lot of people, but I am asking that we respect the process and that we respect everyone who has come here to speak. Good evening, Madam Chair, members of the board.

[05:36:52] My name is Ashley Studholm, Occoquan District, with the Prince William Conservation Alliance, and request five minutes, please. See, folks, that's how you do it. Ashley's also a frequent flyer, but go on. It helps. The Prince William Conservation Alliance is an environmental nonprofit working to create equitable and sustainable communities through stewardship, advocacy of environmental friendly policy, and creating opportunities for residents to engage in decisions that impact the quality of their lives and the future of

[05:37:27] their communities. And I'm here today to share a few of my concerns, of our concerns regarding the Mid-County Industrial Park. This proposal is next to a neighborhood and across the street from the Prince William Forest Park and falls short of addressing community and environmental concerns.

[05:37:46] This is going to come to you in three parts. So I first want to mention that we have previously advocated for keeping data centers to the overlay district, particularly when we were in discussions surrounding the Potomac Technology Park within the legislative boundary of Prince William Forest Park, and the Pre-W Digital Gateway next to Manassas National Battlefield.

[05:38:10] However, since then, we have learned a lot, and in terms of the impacts of the single industry and with the number that has been approved in a very short period of time we're concerned about the cumulative impacts that we will be facing as we have outlined in our op-ed with our partners at the national park conservation association and the and the resolution that from the sustainability commission requesting for a pause of data center development i think also

[05:38:45] outlines this pretty well. So number two, while the staff recommends approval, they do so noting that it is inconsistent with the comprehensive plan sections on the environment, and it is also inconsistent with the community energy sustainability master plan. So let's talk about the illegal filling of the wetlands. Instead of addressing this violation, the proposal seeks to build on top of the wetland and fill it in completely down to the RPA.

[05:39:20] And I think that this is setting a dangerous precedent for disregarding environmental regulations. And if approved, we're sending a signal that you can circumvent these violations by requesting to build more intense development than what's by right and then proffering some credits.

[05:39:43] And even if this is technically in compliance, which I'm not sure it is, but we have to ask, is this how we want to move forward? And lastly, I know I'm preaching to the choir when I say that Prince William County is really a special place.

[05:40:04] And I want to point out one thing here. So I'm just going to share this map of our region, looking at the image of a satellite. And I don't know if you can see it here, but you might notice, thank you for that guidance.

[05:40:36] So you might notice this wonderful green belt that extends from Prince William Forest Park and goes north all the way into Fairfax. And this is our forest belt.

[05:40:52] And it protects the headwaters to Quantico Creek and Powell's Creek and streams that feed into the Occoquan Reservoir. And it also provides habitat for flora and fauna and attenuates air, water, and noise pollution and captures carbon dioxide, that pesky gas that we're concerned about in terms of climate change.

[05:41:18] And you'll also notice here this kind of lighter blob. And that's where the landfill is that we can see pretty clearly and where the independent hill area is.

[05:41:34] And so my question that I'll leave you is this, will this area become the epicenter of deforestation, or will it be contained by the beautiful greenscape that surrounds it and allow these trees that have working for air, water, and climate for free?

[05:42:03] And I think it starts with this proposal. Thank you. Thank you, Ms. Studholm. Next speaker, please. I'm Julie Leffert, Woodbridge, and I just ask that you approve this. I think it's a good thing for the county.

[05:42:19] Thank you. Thank you. Next speaker, please. And if folks could speak into the microphone a little bit more. Some of us are having trouble hearing folks. Thank you. Hi, my name is Cheryl Petty from Woodbridge, and I highly recommend approving this project.

[05:42:35] I think it's good for the county. If we don't get the revenue, another county will. Thank you, Ms. Petty. Next speaker, please. And as our next speaker comes up, let's call up Patrick Harders. I think this is Tracy Fitzpatrick, Al DeCharlesi, Deidre Annam, and Karen Inman.

[05:42:58] Please proceed, sir. Hi, my name is Brad Nelson, and I live at 4882 Aquan Club Drive, and I highly recommend and support this. Thank you for your services.

[05:43:14] Thank you, sir. Next speaker, please. Patrick Harders from the Gainesville District. Sometimes things just don't pass the smell test. So I had my occupation.

[05:43:30] A lot of times I'm driving out in Western Loudoun County. The other day I was going down Highway 50 through Upperville, Fockier County, into Loudoun County, beautiful rolling hills, scenic pastures, wedding venues, wineries, and it's gorgeous.

[05:43:45] I turned down Highway 15. It's still beautiful. I cross Bull Run, and I know it's all going to be an industrial waste. So it's going to be the same beautiful hills, the same forests are going to be turned into an industrial waste. Today we're here at another rezoning application for another data center, and I look at what we went through over the last 10 years, but especially in the last two to three years, and how much corruption we went through, investigations, meetings.

[05:44:15] We remember meetings going on for 24 hours, and thank God that's not happening anymore. So I really applaud this new board and the elections that happened. There was a lot of excitement for the restore of people having a voice in the government and the government listening. It was said in a recent email about a year ago that Prince William County is different, and it was stated that, as you know, our county is unusual to other Nova localities as our approval process is very relationship-orientated. That was said by a

[05:44:52] previous board member for this application. When I say this doesn't meet the smell test, we shouldn't see our political appointees or people that we've elected in office moving into the private sector and saying, I have the relationships to get this passed. And that's what we saw with this application. I find that we need a new feeling in Prince William County.

[05:45:19] We need to have a restoration, which we've seen in the last six months, where our political appointees, our political officials, listen to the people. And although this policy doesn't affect me, and this is nowhere near my house, I think it's important that we don't make everything an industrial blight, that we don't build data centers continuously, not looking at the energy concerns and not looking at, you know, the impact it's going to have on the local communities.

[05:45:47] And when I was 14 years old, I only have a few seconds left, but my uncle gave me a letter. When you're 14 and you get a letter, it's pretty exciting. And at the bottom, it just said, uh mark 836 so i looked it up and it says what does it profit a man to gain the whole world and lose his soul and i believe that as that had a huge impact on me but as the people we are like if somebody donates money to your campaign it doesn't mean they own you there's no strings attached to it you still have the ability to make the decisions that are going to set this county in

[05:46:21] the right direction and so i i really implore you to make that decision today to to make sure that this passes a smell test. Thank you, Mr. Harder. Next speaker, please. Hi, my name is Al Deshall.

[05:46:40] I live here in Manassas. Everybody here knows we have to have communications. We have to have computers. We have to have cell phones, our automobiles, our stores. Every system that we use requires computers. It's something we can't live without. We can't say we don't need more of them because we do need more of them. That's why they're building them. The demand is there and we have to realize that. All the roads in this area have changed. They've gotten larger. That's because are the people that are here. You have to advance. I worked for a company once, and they were looking

[05:47:14] for a piece of property, industrial. They couldn't find any in this area that would work for them. Do we have too much? They don't think so. They don't think there's enough. Business has to survive. We have to survive. The hospitals have to survive. We need communications. This is what it takes.

[05:47:35] We need to do it. Thank you. Thank you, sir. Next speaker, please. Good evening. I'm Deidre Inman. i'm a mom of four from the gainesville district i think you guys probably heard my youngest yell while you guys were talking about the other proposal um i don't usually come out to hearings like this especially on a weeknight with my youngest son but i'd like to respectfully ask for your vote in favor of the mid-county industrial park i work in stem um and the mid-county industrial park would provide a lot of needed opportunities for people like me to work in stem locally rather than having to commute out of the immediate economy to places like reston

[05:48:13] which might not seem that far to people outside of Prince William, but we all know how much 66 traffic sucks. It would also generate more tax revenue for the county, so hopefully that'll lower the tax burden on us as residents, meaning it's a win-win to me.

[05:48:29] The schools my kids attend, the library we love, shout out Haymarket Gainesville, and the services my kids need will be better funded, and it'll be more financially feasible for young families like mine to continue living in this community. I understand and respect the arguments of my peers with respect to conservation, but it's perhaps outside the area of responsibility for this board to dictate overarching cloud architecture oversight and reform. I think that might be better addressed by federal regulators, which would be also to the benefit of our friends and neighbors in Loudoun County. We all need and use the backbone architecture of the cloud.

[05:49:08] Why not bring the positive impact to our community of a project that everybody is going to need anyway please vote in favor of the mid-county industrial park thank you miss inman next speaker please and as she comes forward i'll call the next five folks uh christy curley uh rodney mosley colin mason mike powell and jeremiah mason please proceed good evening i'm karen inman i live in gainesville as do my daughter son-in-law and my grandchildren please vote in favor of mid-county industrial park the increased tax revenue provided by this project will make it

[05:49:48] easier for people like me on fixed incomes to thrive in this community by easing our tax burden and we'll improve our public schools for my grandkids and further fund social services for retirees thank you very much for your time thank you ma'am next speaker please hi everyone my name is crystal curly i'm here to tell you why i would like to request you to vote in favor of the mid county industrial park i live in manassas manassas district thank you and i work in Gainesville as a small business owner and a therapist for children with special needs I am a staunch advocate for the children and families I work with in this

[05:50:26] county and voicing my support for this proposal is a clear way to support these kids and their families Prince William like all counties has a nearly infinite list of funding priorities and a very you know finite budget augmenting that budget with increased revenue and economic development from projects like the mid-county industrial park are a no-brainer for our community please vote in favor for the mid-county industrial park thank you thank you miss curley next speaker please good evening thanks for the opportunity to speak this evening my name is rodney mosley i'm in the coals district my wife

[05:51:04] and i have raised our six children from zwinn county over the past 19 years we're here in support of the mid-county industrial park when the county put this land in the data center overlay district and identified the long-term uses as industrial they did everything right the borders on three sides are ideal for placement but the landfill on one side the heavy industrial and even on the side were the homes that used to be an old landfill and when we were here many years ago when that was up and there was it was known it was going to be bordering industrial and there was no issues at that time the rezoning of this land should not have be a surprise to any of the

[05:51:42] homeowners on that side it was placed in the overlay district years before those homes were built uh the long-term plans for this is industrial so if this project is denied or any it is or any complaints are raised i might be less happy when this project comes back in future years with a separate industrial suitor the county's benefiting financially from the diversification of its tax base with a greater share from commercial sources this project significantly increases the tax revenue from the land it makes sense to develop the land following the long-term plan of the county and benefit from the tax revenue now instead of for stalling this development

[05:52:21] and having us all come back here at some point in the future and repeat all these steps, litigating it out on a different type of proposal. Thank you. Thank you. Next speaker, please. Thank you for the opportunity to speak tonight. My name is Colin J. Mason.

[05:52:37] I'm a professional filmmaker, and I live in Gainesville. I came here tonight to express my support for the Mid-County Industrial Park. I owe my livelihood to the Internet. Data centers are the backbone of a robust Internet. And in a world with multiple internet connected devices per household, there's something that we use every day, whether we want to admit it or not.

[05:53:01] We live in a world where more and more tech jobs are being shipped overseas, while cost of living continues to rise. Honestly, most of the opposing arguments I've heard to data centers in general essentially boil down to some version of, this is needed, but we don't want to be the ones to solve the problem.

[05:53:18] I'm not interested in participating in that mindset, and I ask that you not be either. This is an opportunity for us to capture high-paying jobs and keep them in our local community. It raises property values in a sustainable way, gives people job options that don't involve sitting in traffic for hours every day, and provide tax revenue that benefits our infrastructure and our schools.

[05:53:40] Please do the right thing as local government and vote in favor of our local economic interests. Vote yes for the Mid-County Industrial Park. Thank you. Next speaker, please. Mike Powell, Gainesville District. Currently based in Haymarket.

[05:53:57] I grew up around Manassas. I wanted to speak in support of this data center proposal based on my experience. When I didn't live in Prince William County, I spent many years in Front Royal, out west, and it's a beautiful area, limited opportunities, and I've just seen over the years many investors and companies coming in with proposals for new industries.

[05:54:22] One year we had a proposal for a solar park. One year we had a proposal for a data center. And we would always get very excited, and then when it comes down to the details, get cold feet, the government backs out, and 20 years later, we still have no local industries, housing prices have gone up, and we don't have the jobs to pay for it.

[05:54:43] If you want a good job, you have to go somewhere else. So when I look at these proposals happening back here in Prince William, I know these are complex questions, but just from a layman's perspective, I wanted to speak in support of making it work. Let's use our local resources to create jobs and wealth here in our own county.

[05:55:03] I think living in the world capital for data centers is an incredible, unique opportunity, and I'd hate for us to miss out. So I would urge you to consider supporting this proposal. Thanks for your time.

[05:55:21] Next speaker, please. Hi, my name is Jeremiah Mason. I've lived and worked in Gainesville District. Projects like the Mid-County Industrial Park make Prince William an attractive community for young families like mine. My wife and I are early in our careers, and high property taxes threaten our ability to own a home anywhere in Prince William County.

[05:55:46] Driving down property tax while potentially increasing funding for public works would make our dream of owning a home in a community like this much more attainable. Please vote in favor of Mid-County Industrial Park. All right, I'm going to call up our next round of speakers.

[05:56:02] I have Jacob Schwartz, Jackie Reese, Stephen Ward, Matt Berry, and Jamie Eshoo. Hi, good evening.

[05:56:21] My name is Jacob Schwartz. I'm in Shenandoah County. I'm sorry, you're in Shenandoah? Yes. So I apologize, sir. We actually have a sign-up for people who are outside of the county. What I will do, I will actually move you towards the end because we like to have residents speak first and then have residents or I'm sorry people outside of the county so I apologize we will I'm circling you we'll come back to you I'll have Elizabeth Matarama take your place or

[05:56:53] the next speaker but I'll have her go up to the podium oh sorry your name ma'am all right I will also move you down so let me so we have Stephen Ward Matt Berry Elizabeth Matarama Rosemary Wright and I'll call up your husband Bill Wright too. Make him move once. Hello everyone my name is Stephen Ward. I'm living in the Coles District. I'm a business owner in Manassas and we've been

[05:57:30] in business for 40 years and we're in an industrial park which every area needs industrial parks and this location where this mid-county is going in is I've been at this property for over 20 years visiting. I was there this weekend and where all the homes are that everybody's in question about There's so much forest in between the property where the substation would be.

[05:57:54] You can't even see the houses through the woods that is there now. So I'm in support of the Mid-County Industrial Park. Next speaker, please.

[05:58:55] Elizabeth Martirana, Mid-County for 44 years, Gainesville for four years. And I am so angry right now listening to all these people, I can't stand it. If you haven't lived in that area, then keep your mouth shut Because it's ridiculous that you're here.

[05:59:15] Good God. I could read what I wrote and read to the planning commission. I'm not going to do that, though. I'm just going to refer to it. We have five elementary schools up there, or not elementary, five schools. You've got Coles, you've got Benton, you've got Colgan, down at the bottom you've got Ashland, and then you've got Independence non-traditional school.

[05:59:41] And what's next to that non-traditional school? but the school board offices. You put all these freaking data centers, you're going to be hearing from parents out the wazoo in about 10 years. These kids cannot learn with the data centers buzzing all day long. We already know that. We know what happened at Great Oak and Manassas, okay?

[06:00:07] Those five schools have over 5,000 students, and you see that beautiful green down at the bottom, Prince William Forest Park, and up on the left, we've got Helwig Park. Well, you know, back in April when the Planning Commission was meeting, just before their meeting, the county finalized a deal with the Northern Virginia Soccer Club that has over 500 teams and 5,000 players.

[06:00:38] They're going to build a $1.5 million indoor soccer field up there at Helwig. Are you kidding me? You want all these kids playing outside at these schools and at Helwig with all these data centers surrounding them.

[06:00:55] It's absolutely ridiculous. Helwig is 132 acres. It has eight soccer fields, five baseball diamonds, a miracle field for those with disabilities, two basketball courts three tennis courts six bath pickleball courts a mile walking trail playground picnic tables grills and a small county library i spent hours and hours at that field with my children growing up that's where they played soccer and these people here if one of them would trade homes with you right now the people that live on john mallard would you live in their homes

[06:01:32] if they gave it to you not one of you would quit pretending that it's okay to build this this complex of data centers next to these people who live there in john mallard drive lane whatever it is thank you next speaker how do you how do you follow liz good evening this is i'm rosemary brown wright and i live in gainesville and i appreciate the opportunity to comment on the mid-county industrial park rezoning. This is another land use change and one that I personally

[06:02:11] do not agree with. I am reminded of the adage, give them an inch and they take a yard. If only the data center industry would be content to live within the data center overlay and build according to specified guidelines, perhaps we wouldn't be here. But no, they always want more and it is the more part that concerns me. There are many reasons to say no. First, they want it higher. Second, they only care about the sellers who have the property inside the proposal who will benefit financially, and not about the adjacent residents who reside in Potomac Reserve who are staying.

[06:02:50] Third, the Environmental Resource Protection Overlay, ERPO, and I believe the credit this one goes to Corey Stewart, even though the lawyer was actually referring to it a little bit, who said, and I quote, "There is an existing environmental issue on the site that will have to be cleaned up," close quote. Even your staff in office said the environmental side of this is a no. We need to listen to what they're saying.

[06:03:17] They're telling us no. Fourth, the Prince William Forest Park is across the street. Why is it the developers and perhaps some of the supervisors here do not remember that this particular, that this is a particularly cherished national park? Five, I find it very curious that some of the supervisors here have accepted sizable financial donations from the developers who do not live in our county, but are pushing for approval.

[06:03:47] Six, our very own planning commission and every one of its members have said no to this proposal. Should I keep going? Perhaps not, but neither should this board keep going and catering to the data center developers. Please come together with only your citizens in mind and vote no.

[06:04:06] And for everybody here who thinks we need more and more data centers, count them. We've got them. How many do we need? Thank you. All right, hold on, Mr. Wright. Before we let you go, I want to call up the next group of people.

[06:04:23] I have Kevin Knapp, Nadia Seva-Gonzalez, Lisa Trope, and Keith Endagonini. All right, sorry, make up. Hello, my name is Bill Wright. I live in Gainesville.

[06:04:39] Prince William County has never denied a single data center application. Since Gainesville Crossing breached the floodgates in December 2019, this county has become the poster child for reckless data center development. Do we aspire to be the nation's foremost bad example?

[06:04:57] Has anyone peaked at the news reports lately? You can't miss the daily warnings of the destructive effects of excessive data center development. Tonight, we'll hear that Mid-County Industrial Park is in the Data Center Overlay District, inferring that no argument should be raised against it.

[06:05:14] But even the Overlay District has standards which virtually every application seeks to waive. Such routine abuse is one of the reasons this board is considering doing away with the Overlay District. On April 24th, this application was unanimously rejected by the Planning Commission.

[06:05:30] We'll hear how much it has been enhanced since. My bet is what has been enhanced is the applicants' overtures to the supervisors. What is it going to take before some of our supervisors stop taking the side of developers who seduce them over the citizens that elected them?

[06:05:47] At what point does the public interest transcend your personal ambitions? The unbroken string of data center dominance owes far more to influence peddling than to merit. Do you all endorse the Citizens United ruling that says money is speech?

[06:06:03] Because it is money that is talking here, and money is the only thing keeping this awful application afloat. Exceptions to prudent development standards are driven by the applicant's appetite to enhance their profitability. It is up to our elected representatives to restore an equitable balance between developer aspirations and community preservation.

[06:06:25] The long-standing imbalance in this county needs to end, and it needs to end tonight. Former Supervisor Pete Cantlin wrote in a May 7, 2023 email, Our county is unusual compared to other NOVA localities, as our approval process is very relationship-oriented.

[06:06:43] Is this another odious relationship-oriented deal? We know from experience that each lousy decision begets the next one. Gainesville Crossing was cited as precedent for the Prince William Digital Gateway. The Hunter property development was cited as precedent for Devlin Technology Park.

[06:07:03] And you know that if Mid-County Industrial Park is approved, it will be cited as justification for the Potomac Technology Park just across the street. Start on the road back to representative democracy by denying Mid-County Industrial Park. Thank you.

[06:07:21] All right, next speaker, please. Hello, I'd like to use the display. My name is Kevin Knapp. I am in the Coles District. I'm one of the residents on John Mallard Drive. With my house, behind it is the data center, or the proposed data center. We've heard a lot of people talk in the affirmative, asking for approval for this data center because we're an increasingly digital age.

[06:07:42] We are, everyone needs the internet and computers. However, I'd like to remind the board, remind everybody here that we are not talking about just data centers in general. We are talking about one specific site. We're talking about cutting down almost 40 acres of trees, and that is directly behind my house.

[06:07:58] We're talking about one specific site. We're talking about rezoning agricultural to industrial. So this looks just like the overlays that we've seen many times throughout these presentations. I will orient you real quick. This is up is pointing north.

[06:08:15] To the right, to the east, you'll see the five houses on John Mallard that are closest to the data center. There are other houses on John Mallard that are also very close to these data centers as well. This is also a model built to scale, if I turn it to the side.

[06:08:38] So you can see from the perspective of those homes. This is built to scale. These are massive buildings. That is the substation right there. This will significantly impact when we cut down the almost 40 acres of agriculturally zoned to build these data centers.

[06:08:54] It will impact homeowners. It will impact our quality of lives. The noise pollution from the generators will impact us. And we are also, there is a house, one of those houses on John Mallard has been for sale. It eventually came off the market after 38 days and no offers because people don't want to live directly next to a data center and industrial park.

[06:09:18] Again, we were talking about this specific rezoning request as well as the request to go above and beyond with the exemptions for this particular data center park. So I would like to ask for the board to consider us homeowners and the residents that will be living right next to this center and cutting down these trees and to think about more than just the county and campaign coffers.

[06:09:42] I ask that you vote no. Thank you. Next speaker. Hello, my name is Noelia Sebo. I live in the Coast District. I also live in John Mother. That was my husband.

[06:09:59] First, I wanted to say they say that we are okay with this. We are not okay. None of those, nobody in those five houses, not in the rest of Jamal, not in the rest of community. We are not okay with this data center.

[06:10:16] Just to make that clear, since it seems that we feel abandoned by our county on this matter. We have reached out multiple times through various outlets, and to this day, we're still waiting for an answer.

[06:10:35] Meanwhile, we have seen how the county have been working with the applicant again and again and again. We just feel defeated and frustrated. Because for more that we try and fight, it seems that the outcome has already been decided.

[06:10:52] It seems that this data center is just going to be approved. However, here we are once again, holding to the hope that in order to protect the livelihoods of the residents, the Board of Supervisors will make the best decision and not only deny this rezoning, but also readdress the data center opportunity zone.

[06:11:16] Just to be clear, we are not against data centers. My husband works in IT, and so does many people in our community. But do we need these many data centers in Northern Virginia? 70%. 70% of data centers in the world are in Northern Virginia.

[06:11:34] 70%. Do we need one more? Are we at fault? Do we need to have a giant, three giant buildings behind our houses? Because we need one more data center in the world. There is no more space in the United States to put data centers in.

[06:11:57] Also, I wanted to address, it has been said that there have been substantial changes since the planning commission of this plan. I was here for the planning commission. There has not been any substantial changes whatsoever. All the trees that they say that we're going to have, those trees are cut down.

[06:12:18] The buffer that they're living is nothing. We're going to see completely through. And as you see in the 3D model, the buildings are going to be so high, the former that there are trees, we're still going to see them. If you guys knew that this is going to be built, why did you guys let Potomac Reserve community be built in there?

[06:12:39] When we bought the house, we were told that was a reculture. It's how it's going to stay. That's why all our families bought there, and now that's where we've seen it. Thank you so much for your time. All right, next speaker, please. Hello, my name is Lisa Troupe.

[06:12:58] I am an owner of one of the five houses that's impacted with the data center trying to move over there. I want to give a little insight about myself. I'm a 23-year disabled veteran.

[06:13:17] We moved about 17 times already. Now I'm being forced to move again. I know a lot of you all say, well, you don't have to move because the data center is going there. But I do, for health reasons, because the noise pollution, the lighting from the data center, the 12-foot wall that they say they're going to put up for noise reduction, that's only going to come to my driveway because my house sits a little bit higher than the other homes. So there's no noise pollution discipline for me. I'm not saying don't build the data

[06:13:56] center. Just find somewhere else to put it. It's literally in my backyard. Nobody wants that in their backyard. The noise, the stress of the noise, sleepless nights from the noise, the bright lights. I suffer from excruciating migraines and headaches, and this would not be beneficial for my health. I'm asking you not to approve the data center for John Mallard Coast District. Thank you.

[06:14:32] All right. Before I have the other speakers, I'm going to call the next group up. Carla Siles, Thomas Whitmore, Matthew Stevenson, Vida Carroll. Good evening, Madam Chairman and Associate Supervisors. Please speak into the mic a little better. Yeah. Good evening, Madam Chairman and Associated Supervisors. I would like to thank the board members for your service and dedication to the county. My name is Keith Antononi. I live in the Coles District. I live in Prince, I have lived in Prince William County for over 40 years. I have a business in the county for over

[06:15:10] 30 years as well. I am also one of the landowners of this project. I purchased my property back in 2002 it was a dream location for my forever home nestled in the middle of the woods surrounded by trees and birds and nature we love we always enjoyed loving sitting on the front porch listening to the whisper of the wind and passing as it passes through the trees and the pleasant sounds of birds singing away no man-made noise except when one of our neighbors came home we couldn't

[06:15:47] even hear the traffic off 234 at that time a couple years later i had a new neighbor it is now the house the Mosley's live in, Mr. Mosley spoke earlier. It's not a tragedy. I didn't mind sharing another little piece of tranquility. Another four or five years later, GDC Trucking was proposing to rezone the property adjacent to the north of us, and of course, we were all opposed of having a trucking company, heavy equipment, construction equipment, company moving next door to us. We went through the zoning meeting, spoke our piece on the matters, but at last, it was

[06:16:24] approved it was at this time and we had discovered about the property had been designated as a future commercial retail excuse me industrial area even though we were still listed as a as class a which is agriculture land the industrial park went in next door now with the trucking company next door to us we lost the quiet that we all enjoyed so much along with the sounds of the traffic from

[06:16:57] Route 234 and the trucks starting up at 4 to 5 a.m. six days a week and the trucks coming and going in and out of that industrial park. We also would awake in the middle of the night or excuse me early in the morning to a low rumble in the house from the vibrations of all these trucks being started at the same time in the morning. Now not only did we have the noise but also the smell of diesel exhaust from the trucks when we stepped outside. Our thoughts just can't be good for environment, let alone our health. Three million years passed again. We had notice of 20 plus

[06:17:35] homes, which you know as the Ballard residents, wanting to be built just east of our property, but right next to all of our properties that are in this proposed development. So for the next couple years, we dealt with the construction of the development of all these new neighborhoods, listened to all the cars come in, people mowing the lawns, everything going on. And now with the new neighborhood we also get to listen to the traffic off of minneville road most recently we've had to endure i am sorry sir but your time is up i'm sorry thank you but i want you support

[06:18:14] this this this um proposal okay thank you all right next speaker video and chairman and other supervisors my name is tom whitmore i'm from nicole's district in manassas and i came here tonight to you know express my approval and my support for the mid-county industrial park and the data centers. We've been here and talked about data centers before and their benefit to the community especially the high value tax revenue that we get and how it can impact an entire

[06:18:50] community not just a handful of people but every taxpayer in the county and I remind everybody that And in 2023, this board was able to reduce our tax rate from $1.21 to $1.04. That was the one and only significant tax decrease in the rate in 30-plus years in this county.

[06:19:10] And it's a result of the additional revenue that's been gained through the data centers. But I realize that sitting here, there's another issue that needs to be spoken about. And that's how we got to all this opposition. It began in 1997-98, when a large group of people wanted to oppose Disney coming here.

[06:19:30] And they wanted to preserve the rural flavor of Prince William County and the farm views. They wanted to be able to drive past farms and wineries and such. But they didn't understand that at west of here, on those drives out 50 and 66 and out Route 7, when you see all that country atmosphere, it's because there are conservation easements.

[06:19:53] Fauquier County, 50% of the county is in conservation easements. Clark County, 70%. Loudoun on the western end, 27% of the county is in conservation easements. That's why you have those country views. This movement pressed on, and very shortly after 98, the rural crescent became a reality.

[06:20:15] 40% of the county became in a district to remain rural. This took away the development rights of all those landowners. A few years later, 1984, the one-acre zoning for the A1 district turned into 10 acres.

[06:20:32] So it was a steady pressure to prevent any kind of development going on in the county. So the board stated goal 30 years ago was to get 30% commercial property to 70% residential property so we'd have a healthy tax base and community.

[06:20:50] And over the years, this movement has supported that. then we're still at around 15 to 85 percent, the same as it was 30 years ago, because we made no inroads. But the high value of the data centers has really helped us, you know, achieve it without getting, you know, this higher increase.

[06:21:08] So I would say this board has two overwhelming responsibilities. One is to continue approving projects that will, you know, better the life of everybody in Prince William. and to, number two, honor the rights of all those landowners that are here that didn't put their properties into conservation easements where they expected the county to develop.

[06:21:28] That's why they came to Prince William, as my family did. Thank you. Thank you. Next speaker, please. Good evening, board. I'm Matthew Stevenson from the Coles District. I believe that I am the closest single lot to this development that's not in the Mallards development itself.

[06:21:48] I am the plot just east on the western side of Minnieville. Would you please speak up a little louder? Yes, ma'am. I'm sorry. Better? Okay, so I'm the lot to the left of Minnieville, adjacent to where this data center is supposed to go. I've been there for 38 years. I'm second generation there.

[06:22:07] And my entire family supports this development. If you stop to look at what's next door, we have the landfill, the juvenile detention center, mid-county fleet maintenance, the GDC eyesore with all these brick-and-back contracting companies.

[06:22:24] I've been watching the county map for five to ten years, well before Mallard's Landing was built, and this has been proposed to go industrial for a long time. So I simply came to voice my opinion that I support it, and I think I am probably the closest person physically to the project.

[06:22:42] So thank you for your time. All right, before we go on to Mrs. Carroll, I wanted to call up the two other people that I bummed to the end, Jackie Reese and Jamie Eshoo, if you guys want to make your way to the back. There may be a couple people in the atrium too who are going to tag on. Okay, Vita Carol Brinsville, so I'm no surprise, opposed to this project. This is a terrible, lazy application. There is more of a proffered buffer between Dumfries Road and the data centers

[06:23:19] than the residential homes and the industrial complex. So it's a project that's been rushed since day one. Thank you to staff, by the way, for your work on this. And the reason for this being rushed is actually in the staff report.

[06:23:37] The applicant is in a contract with an end user, likely Amazon, that's set to expire. So since when is this board and this county's planning office responsible for an applicant's poor contract? The applicant is not even presenting a viewshed. I had to see a resident basically present a viewshed study. I mean, that's mind-boggling. This is right behind a residential community. And where's the baseline noise study? Great Oaks is a community that Supervisor Vega has fought to protect. Thank you, Supervisor Vega. And Great Oaks is what, like 600 feet away from these homes with a buffer?

[06:24:13] i i mean the majority of this application it's in the overlay that's pretty much the only thing it has going for it it's a1 land land that has never ever ever been considered for heavy industrial use it's been considered for light office office industrial office use um you know the the overlay this is a perfect case in point why we need to reopen the overlay it is a five year old outdated uh guideline for what we're doing with the data industry in this county and

[06:24:47] i mean it the hyperscale data buildings are just not the same as they were in 2019 the this is going to be nearing 100 feet in height with the the equipment on the top and there were no objections last week when chair jefferson thank you issued a directive to revisit this so i mean why can we not bring that into the discussion tonight and um you know to put it frankly i'm not comfortable with the applicants ties to the digital gateway project and i think you can see kind of how they brought people out tonight it's very reminiscent of that you know the applicant

[06:25:23] has donated very large financial donations and the applicant's employees to people three of you sitting up here um mind you very dramatic differencing political persuasions um the applicant's an out-of-county developer he was integral in the digital gateway deal um like you know is this pay to play prove to me this is a different board and i am i'm so optimistic for change in this county and i'm so optimistic that this is a gonna go differently than it did with the last board, but this is troubling to me. Prove to me that it's not pay to play. Prove to me that

[06:26:03] you care about the residents who live here and the residents that it will impact wider with energy infrastructure. Thank you. Thank you. All right. I see some other people, symbols in the back. Since I called the two of you, I know you're out of the county. I'll let you go speak. The other 30 people standing, did you all want to speak as well? All right. So make your way to the microphones, everyone. Good evening. My name is Jackie Reese. I'm a Woodstock resident, but the vast majority of my work is here in Gainesville. If you could speak up, ma'am. Sorry? If you could

[06:26:39] speak up. Sure. Good evening. My name is Jackie Reese. I'm a Woodstock resident, but I've been commuting to Gainesville for work for the past four years, and the majority of my clients and family reside in this area. Although I live outside of Prince William County, I spend a tremendous amount of my time here, and I can clearly see the value of this proposal. As an artist, directly contributing to the culture and economy of this community, I see a critical gap that could be solved by approving this proposal. Outside of the immediate commuter counties, economic

[06:27:15] opportunities diminish. The Mid-County Industrial Park in Prince William would provide significant job opportunities within commute distance for some of those economically depressed communities. Please vote in favor of the Mid-County Industrial Park. Thank you. Next speaker, please. Hi, good Good evening. My name is Jacob Schwartz, also in Woodstock and Shenandoah County.

[06:27:41] I own a business in Warren County, and we do visual effects and animation for film and commercial. We are intimately aware and are witnessing a rise of data-based pools and applications for consumers and people in our industry and many others.

[06:28:03] And this industry, as you all know, is growing rapidly. You know, it makes me sick to say the buzzword AI again, but this is growing. And basing a lot of our operations out of Front Royal in Warren County, Warren County has kind of fumbled the ball a lot with, I think it was mentioned earlier, they've funneled the ball a lot on development projects that bring this kind of opportunity to our locale out there.

[06:28:38] And, my apologies, in general, like, I'm just incredibly jealous of your opportunity here in Prince William County to host these data centers and reap the rewards that they do bring.

[06:28:57] You know, I understand there are some downsides and, you know, there's give and take your responsibilities to everyone in your county and the greater good for everyone, the economic forum, the, you know, environmental, like, it all comes together. So this is a decision that you have to make.

[06:29:15] But you're increasing your labor pool of highly skilled, educated, high-paying jobs. Property taxes from these things. Like I know personally, just from our own mini data center in our office, property taxes, they add up.

[06:29:37] So your industrial and commercial base that was mentioned before, strategic plan, I think that's wise and necessary going forward. You know, you've got to tap into what industry there is before, you know, the norm is to offshore a lot of industry, and this is something that's sticking around, so should definitely work on untapping that.

[06:30:07] And I guess, I mean, just from the outside looking in, I would highly recommend considering and voting yes on this bill. So thank you. All right, thank you. Next speaker, please. Good evening, Chair Jefferson.

[06:30:31] and supervisors. My name is Jessica Grove, and I live in the Gainesville District. I came out tonight to ask you to vote no against Mid-County Industrial Park. I really hope you took the time to watch the Planning Commission meeting a few weeks ago. If this project wasn't so detrimental, it would have been entertaining. Not that I've ever enjoyed NASCAR, but Corey Stewart's presentation was a little similar to that, except it was just one wreck after the next. I'd like to remind you that the Planning Commission voted unanimously no. You would think that a former chair would be a little bit more prepared for the questions he would be required to answer, but I'll forgive him.

[06:31:08] Maybe he might be feeling guilty for being involved in what seems to be a project where money is being passed around faster than COVID. I know we all know that power is an issue, and I'd like to remind the Democrats on this board that typically you care about the environment, but here we are again trying to suck more power from West Virginia coal, destroy families' lives from Northern Virginia to West Virginia, with federal eminent domain to run more transmission lines.

[06:31:37] Are you aware that the projects you're approving now will not only affect the neighbors of Potomac Reserve, but hundreds of families across multiple states? The residents of Potomac Desert do not deserve this. They wanted to live with a forest of mature trees behind them, and they had the assurance of that since some of the land is in the Powell's Creek watershed. When is this county going to start listening to his residents and realize the impacts to our grid reliability, air, and water quality. We need guidelines, not transmission lines. And then off the cuff,

[06:32:16] you know, people are talking about, we need these data centers for our daily lives. I'm sorry if you need a refrigerator to tell you that you are out of milk, and we need 40 more data centers to tell you that you have a problem. This is for AI. And if you guys have watched any videos on what AI is doing to our lives and our communities, this is not even for the United States. This is data being used across the world. And it's coming here. And it's destroying our lives. And they get the

[06:32:56] benefit. Watch a video on what AI is doing. How many writers and artists are being put out of business because AI is creating their own, which is awesome because CEOs are now old white men. So that's cool. There are lawsuits all over the place because they're using faces like Jennifer Aniston and Angelina Jolie on videos that we shouldn't be watching in here. So what is this

[06:33:27] good for? What is AI good for? And why are we putting it here? Thank you. Next speaker, please. Chris Grove, Gainesville District.

[06:33:48] I'm just going to keep it short and sweet. I really recommend that you vote no for this because I'm just waiting to see when the board is going to start voting no and stop following the campaign donations and all of the influence peddling that's going on here.

[06:34:06] Go look at Haymarket, Gainesville District, and look what's already happened with all of the data centers that have been put in and the ones that are pending to be put in outside of the overlay. and at what point are you just gonna get rid of the overlay?

[06:34:26] Please vote no, thanks. - Next speaker, please. - Good evening, members of the board. Ashley McWilliams from the Coles District.

[06:34:43] I drive past this property every day. I want to say, while I am very glad to see that the applicant has made some concessions regarding increased buffer near John Mallard Drive, and they are agreeing to keeping the forest cover and reforestation in those areas, the impact on the surrounding community, especially along Route 234, is still too great.

[06:35:11] Number one, the buildings are still too close to the road for 75 feet tall, plus an additional up to 20 feet rooftop equipment, 95 feet total. Number two, the 35 foot buffer plus 15 foot landscape strip is still completely inadequate for buildings that are 75 feet tall with rooftop equipment to 20 feet more 95 feet these buildings can reduce their footprint and still be profitable and the setback i believe should be 200 feet the buffer should be 150 feet and birming should be used to improve planted screening i've said it a hundred times the people

[06:35:50] of prince william county and especially of cole's district live our lives on 234 when we drive to work when we drive to school we go out to eat we go jogging on the trail we live on 234 too so any changes to minimize the negative impacts on the surrounding community have to take in take into consideration our lives as well we need increased buffers and birming those things can help to

[06:36:23] reduce the negative impacts i'm not saying approve or deny just amend this please thank you all right thank you so very much we are going to move to remote um to our remote public hearings do we have have any speakers online thank you madam chair miss madden miss fan how many folks do we have online currently we currently have four speakers and your first speaker excuse me is neil kelly

[06:37:00] good evening my name is neil kelly from the gainesville district i hope everybody can hear me now we can please proceed sir yes thank you okay uh without going over and rehashing things that have been said tonight and almost every other board of supervisor meeting that i've been to in the last two and a half to three years.

[06:37:26] The item on the agenda tonight is whether or not to allow the mid-county industrial park zoning reallocation. I would like to say, Board of Supervisors, this is your chance to make history. Please, say no.

[06:37:41] All you have to do is just say no. Let's start the trend. We've witnessed year after year after year of the previous board allowing data centers to be built anywhere, everywhere by anybody. Now is your chance to make history. When you came into the McCourt building tonight, you have the opportunity to make history and keep Prince William County back on the right track that we've seen the board taking it to since your new election.

[06:38:06] So please, make the fact that our chief deputy council attorney, Alan Smith, said that you only have to have a hearing, you don't have to listen to us, prove them wrong, and listen to the people say this is not the right project at the right time. Your planning commissioners all voted unanimously against this.

[06:38:24] When was the last time anybody voted anything unanimously in Prince William County? So listen to them. They're the people that you as the board entrusted as your planning commissioners. And to us, the citizens, vote no. That's all we have to say. Thank you. Thank you, Mr. Kelly. Next speaker, please.

[06:38:41] The next speaker is Rachel Ellis. Can you hear me? We can, Ms. Ellis. Please proceed. Rachel Ellis, Gainesville District, Chair Jefferson and Supervisors.

[06:38:57] I am asking you to vote no on the rezoning for Mid-County Industrial Park. The Prince William Planning Commission voted 8-0 to deny Mid-County Industrial Park. This application is the prime example of someone trying to shove a round peg into a square hole.

[06:39:14] This is the same applicant, Mr. Mulhausen, that former Supervisor Pete Canlan exchanged emails with and stated, quote, our county is unusual compared to other NOVA localities as our approval process is very relationship-oriented, end of quote. A former Prince William County Chair, Mr. Stewart, and a disgraced former Prince William County Supervisor.

[06:39:36] It makes a regular citizen question what type of relationship they bring to a data center application. We know what Mr. Malhausen brings to this application, money. Travis Turner, also a co-applicant and co-worker of CanLyn, has donated money as well. Campaign donations to Supervisors Bailey, Franklin, and Vega.

[06:39:56] Campaign donations from a non-resident to both sides of the aisle. Supervisor Bailey, while this is in the Coles District, this application is literally knocking on the door of residents of the Potomac District. Please tell them that they're worth more than $19,000 in donations.

[06:40:13] Supervisor Franklin, $15,200 in donations. Supervisor Vega, your integrity matters. This application is different from Parsons. It is directly adjacent to homes. And you heard tonight that residents are not okay with this.

[06:40:31] Regardless of what the lawyer is saying, residents are not okay with this. You will be remembered for your vote tonight, whether you stand with the residents or with the data center and washed up politicians. Bailey, Franklin, and Vega, you do recognize that campaign donations don't get you elected.

[06:40:51] Residents get you elected. Just look to the middle of this dais to understand that. Supervisor Ingrid, who do you think subsidizes the cost of building the transmission lines and substations to power the data centers? Your constituents do. Supervisor Gordy, you cannot say we need to re-examine the data center overlay district and then continue to say yes to every application that appears before you in the overlay.

[06:41:16] Supervisor Weir, you already know the power grid cannot sustain what this board continues to approve. Supervisor Bode, I have two words for you. Possum point. Chair Jefferson, this application is riddled with shady money flowing from the applicant to three of the sitting supervisors.

[06:41:35] While it may be legal, it does not mean that it is ethical. Prince William County continues to recklessly govern when it approves millions of square feet of data centers without knowing the cumulative impacts to our grid reliability, air and water quality, and water resources sustainability. It is time the industry, data center industry, hears the word no.

[06:41:53] Please vote no. Thank you. Thank you, Ms. Ellis. Next speaker, please. Your next speaker is Karen Sheehan. Hello, Karen Sheehan, Gainesville District. I request five minutes representing the Coalition to Protect Prince William County.

[06:42:12] Yes, ma'am, please proceed. It is amazing the gyrations after gyrations after gyrations that this application is going through in order to try to make itself at all attractive to the county.

[06:42:41] When you have to go through that many contortions, you should just acknowledge it isn't right. It just is not right. That is an agricultural area, and it is there for that reason.

[06:43:08] The gyrations and the mitigations that they're trying to throw up, it doesn't pass the smell test, as was referenced earlier. And the concern I have is that this board isn't passing the smell test.

[06:43:29] If you pass this with all of its problems, there is too much going on behind the scenes, too many machinations, too much orchestrations.

[06:43:49] It is not right for the people. It is not right for the county. And we have already in operation and in the pipeline so many data centers.

[06:44:10] This county is never going to be hurting for data centers with what has already been approved. Now, that doesn't mean that they're going to get powered because the industry doesn't know where the power is going to come from, and they're desperately trying to find the power to somehow get for everything that's been approved, which means that this county isn't guaranteed to even realize the revenue for what has been

[06:44:49] approved. So you need to put the brakes on. You need to come to your senses. You need to look at the writing on the wall. This is not right. This is not needed. This should not be approved. Do the right thing for the citizens, for the residents, and let us take a breather

[06:45:17] and get accustomed to what is the onslaught that is coming anyway without adding this to the mix. It is not fair to the people of that district, to the people of our county, to add this or anything else. Thank you. Thank you, Ms. Sheehan. Ms. Van, do we have anyone else? Your next and last speaker is Chris Carroll. All right, thank you. Mr. Carroll, please proceed. Good evening, Christopher Carroll

[06:45:55] speaking tonight as a private citizen of the Brentsville District, and there are two points I want to focus on tonight. First, the merits of this application, and second, what the staff report references as, quote, a general distrust of the applicant. First, as a reminder for anyone who didn't follow, this was unanimously recommended for denial by the Planning Commission.

[06:46:15] Unanimously. Not one representative of this board thought that this plan was a good idea, and there are a lot of reasons for that. The applicant was removing an already approved buffer on Dumfries Road. They're asking for height increases on data centers. The applicant could give no specifics on a substation that was literally going to be in residents' backyards.

[06:46:33] They were building over an illegally filled in wetlands area instead of protecting the environment and following already established in-place proffers. There was no line of sight completed for the residents. And I could go on. I was there. And instead of taking the time to go back and work through these issues with the staff and the public, instead, here we are about a month later, as we are expediting this through to help the applicant with their contractual deadlines.

[06:47:00] Since when are we as a county running our business based on developer contractual deadlines? That is their problem. That is not a county problem and I for one am tired of seeing staff put through the ringer to do the impossible when it is a completely avoidable problem. And now tonight to have a stand-in applicant attorney who picked this project up today? That's how we're deciding things right now in the county?

[06:47:23] What I'm hearing tonight is a lot on the merits of data centers. There's no denying that. That's not what is being voted on tonight though. Come back next week for the overlay conversation. What I'm not hearing is anyone speaking in favor is literally anything on this specific site, this application. And that's the problem. Once again, data centers do not belong next to residential homes. I'm not sure how we are here again. In a Prince William Times article after the controversial Devlin rezoning, another next to residential homes. In explaining his position, Supervisor Bode stated, I think there's a broader consensus near these projects that they don't mind

[06:47:59] continuing data center development. They understand that they are good sources of commercial tax base. However, there needs to be a shift on how the rules of the road are written as it pertains to these projects. That shift on these rules, that for starters, that data does not belong next to residential, that begins tonight, and I hope the new board sticks to that sentiment to Chair Jefferson's vision to the county residents, to the electrical grid, and not to their donors.

[06:48:24] This environmentally sensitive land is zoned A1. Data is not allowed here by right, and the 90 to 95-foot data centers, all inclusive, are not the light industrial that has been consistently planned here that the community expected. The minimal changes that have taken place since the planning commission do not address the one thing that cannot be changed, location. Keep data centers away from residential. Deny this rezoning. Thank you very much. Thank you, Mr. Carroll.

[06:48:51] Ms. Vann, I assume he was the last one, just confirming. Yes. Thank you, Ms. Vann. As always, for your assistance, have a great night. Back to you, Madam Chair. All right, thank you so very much. I am going to now close the public hearing for item 13A.

[06:49:08] We've heard from people in person and remotely. With that, I am going to turn to Supervisor Vega if she wants to offer a motion to move this forward. Yeah, but before I do, I have questions, and I know that all of us have questions. kind of like the agreement at the beginning all right all right i am going to ask mr looney to please come up i do have um some questions and i would like for him to expand on the questions so first off i'd like to thank everybody that took the time to come out and speak in particular those folks that live in the coals district uh this hasn't been an easy project um it's been a tough

[06:49:42] one but we were elected to uh uh i guess you can say uh sort through all of uh the challenges and try to come up with solutions to make a project better. I'm not going to not acknowledge the fact that yes the planning commission did unanimously vote to deny this but the process in a land use case doesn't end there. It's our job as a board to try to make it better to get it ready for prime time and that's exactly what we've done. So to everybody that showed up to speak my constituents and those that don't live in the district thank you. I also want to thank the applicant for

[06:50:16] investing a lot of time in trying to get this project to where it is today and to my colleagues because it hasn't just been me and the applicant working on this it's been a I would say unanimous effort to try to make this project better and to most importantly address the concerns raised at the PC level and from members of my district and so with that Mr. Looney it's no surprise to you and it shouldn't come to a surprise to the public that I've visited this this property I'm in the very early stages of it I was just there recently again and I want you to talk a little bit more about the condition of the property because there's

[06:50:54] a lot that's been said you know from staff in regards in regards to their concerns but let's be clear that the the current state of the property is not the doing of this application and so I want you to talk a little bit about that the current conditions of this site thank you miss big if you can give me one second to pull up a slide. I think it will help answer the questions. So I want to ask, or I want

[06:51:30] to answer your question, but I want to answer it also in the context of what Commissioner Carroll, who was the last speaker, referenced in his comments, which effectively were, why are we here and why are we having this conversation about this particular property? And let's start with the fact that there are not one, but two different lattice tower transmission line facilities that run diagonally through the property that are 144 feet tall that sit and reside within, I believe to be

[06:52:06] at least 160 foot wide easement. The consequence of those transmission lines, consequences of those transmission lines are multiple. Number one, what it means is that the power is already there on the site. It doesn't need to be brought in from elsewhere to power whatever data centers were to go on the property. Secondly, it necessarily meant, I presume, that the Board of Supervisors, Board of County Supervisors, in the past and as recently as last year, determined that as a result

[06:52:46] of the presence of those transmission lines, this property was better utilized for industrial and commercial uses as opposed to residential uses. There are places in Northern Virginia abutting the Washington Old Dominion Trail that were a former rail line that were converted into transmission corridors for Dominion, and there are houses literally directly up against the W&OD Trail.

[06:53:12] In this instance, the county has chosen to take a different path, which is as a result of having the transmission lines across the property. You have planned it for industrial uses for multiple years. You also have the landfill immediately to the north of the property or northwest of the property.

[06:53:32] So the confluence of the presence of 144-foot-tall transmission lines, not one but two lattice towers carrying those transmission lines, the presence of Route 234 in front of the property and the considerable traffic that goes up and down that area, you've chosen to designate this as industrial.

[06:53:55] Once it was developed for industrial uses, there are certain things and certain expectations that came along with that. One is you're going to have significant heavy activity associated with it. You have, as I mentioned, significant truck traffic coming in and out of the site.

[06:54:14] Over time, there have been environmental contamination that has occurred as a result of that. There are things that, frankly, shouldn't have been done in developing and operating the property. There was a proper commitment to establish a one-and-a-half-acre conservation area in the northwest portion of the property that, as I mentioned earlier, has been essentially filled in with a parking lot and driveways and part of the contractor's offices that were there.

[06:54:43] Part of what we are doing with this application is to try to mitigate those mistakes of the past. The way that we are going about mitigating them is to, one, restore the area to a more environmental condition. It touches on the resource protection area.

[06:55:00] We're going to come back in and we're going to reforest the areas that should have been protected previously. We've also committed that we will establish a like kind one and a half acre conservation area within this northwest corner to essentially replicate what should have been done in the past.

[06:55:18] We've committed to purchase offsite wetlands mitigation credits to address the fact that the wetlands were filled by the by the existing uses on the property. We have somebody from Virginia Waters, Allison, sitting to my right over here, who can talk about, if you'd like, the details of how those mitigation credits work.

[06:55:37] But in essence, the waterfall of preferred methods for dealing with wetlands fills is to seek off-site mitigation as a first measure. And then there's a waterfall that get back down into trying to replicate them in person on site.

[06:55:58] So we're trying to take all of the steps that are necessary to try to remedy the challenges of the past, to acknowledge the presence of what's on the property today, and to ensure that in doing so, we're doing it in the most responsible method.

[06:56:16] It's about trying to balance out those environmental concerns. It's an industrial site today. It'll be a cleaner industrial site tomorrow. There are encroachments on the RPA today. we will eliminate those encroachments and put a buffer around the perimeter of the RPA.

[06:56:35] We're going to purchase wetlands credits, as I mentioned, to deal with the mistakes of the past. We're trying to do everything that we can to remedy the current situation and bring the property not just into compliance, but better than it operates today. Do you want to do anything real quick again?

[06:56:54] I have other questions too. Do you want to do your... I'll let you go. In regards to substations, there's been a lot of focus on the substation, and I know that my colleagues expressed concerns in your meetings and discussions with them. Can you please talk a little bit about the improvements in terms of the buffer surrounding the substation, because it's something that I had asked for, and also the need for one or two?

[06:57:22] So let's talk first about the location of the substation relative to the rest of the development. As you were aware, earlier versions of this plan had a data center on the south side of the transmission lines, meaning closer to Route 234 Dumfries Road.

[06:57:47] The way the plan has been revised, largely through suggestions from you and from others, was to push data centers to the north portion of the property on the other side of the transmission lines and to place the substation south of the transmission lines.

[06:58:06] Subsequent to the Planning Commission, the reason for, I should complete my thought, the reason for doing so is, one, it puts the buildings farther away from the residence on John Mallard Drive. Secondly, it puts the element that has the least amount of, I'll call it structure associated with it, closer to the residential, meaning you don't have a building that is sitting there.

[06:58:33] Thirdly, in the version that came following the Planning Commission, but before it got to the Board, we pulled the substation closer to the transmission line easements, as close as we could, to create greater distance between the substation corner, which is, I can show it up on the screen, this area right here, between the substation corner here and the closest property line to the houses on John Mallard over to the east. In doing so, it allowed us to establish the 100-foot

[06:59:09] tree preservation area that we've identified as part of the plan. We've added an additional 15-foot landscape buffer around the perimeter of the substation, as well as a proffer commitment to provide a 12-foot opaque screening wall around the perimeter of the substation, as well as to continue that wall all the way down to Dumfries Road, so that we're not just screening the substation, but we're also screening the data center that would be perpendicular to 234.

[06:59:40] In terms of the number of substations, or is it one, is it two? It's one because there would be an element of the substation that is part of, as I understand it, part of Dominion's facilities, and there would be a part of the substation that is part of Novec's facilities. Dominion's facilities pull the power down out of transmission and convert it into distribution, hand it off to Novec, and Novec distributes the power into the property. There are potentially two

[07:00:18] different elements in terms of that infrastructure, but it's all on the same building pad, essentially. It's all within the same fence line, for lack of a better way of describing it. As I said, one is Dominion and one is NOVAC.

[07:00:36] The sizing of the substations is dependent in part on how much power is being pulled down. If it's a dedicated substation that goes into a single use, it's going to behave differently than a regional substation that is feeding more than one set of data centers, potentially.

[07:00:55] It matters whether the substation is 300 megawatts or 180 megawatts or 100 megawatts. The amount of power that is being pulled down influences the design of the substations that go with it. So we've had folks who plan these all throughout the region look at this in terms of the sizing.

[07:01:15] they're confident that the size of this particular substation pad will serve this development. And frankly, if we got it wrong and we have to come back and make an adjustment, we're right back in front of the board or we're right back in front of the planning commission with a PFR, public facilities review, of the substation.

[07:01:33] So it's incumbent on us to get it right. And I can tell you that the applicant wouldn't be here tonight if the applicant wasn't confident that they got it right based on the information they have now. All right, what I'm going to do, hold on, and I regret, honestly, we should have done it how we typically do it because I did have someone from Novak who was here, but he had a go.

[07:01:55] So, and I think he would have been a great resource for us to answer some of these questions regarding power. But this is where we are. So, I'm going to go over to Supervisor Weir, Gordy, then Bodie, and I also want to remind everyone on the dais, we're going to go out around the horn. Everyone gets, you know, two bites of the apple, five minutes each, but we will also have additional time when we actually have the motion and have a discussion on this.

[07:02:16] so with that supervisor we're thank you madam chair i've got questions for both staff and mr looney but i'd like to start with staff could you quickly walk me through the history of how this application has grown when it grew how how much it grew and what is different now than it was say how it's different now than it was at the beginning of the year sure supervisor we're

[07:02:52] scott meyer in the planning office again um so yeah i'm looking at my staff report here where right i'm on page five i uh have background context okay when did when did the application get larger uh the application got larger between the after the first submission after the first submission so um we had a discussion about the first submission in approximately early february

[07:03:32] of 2024 uh yes yes sir this year and then when the application came back in in march in march that's when the 21 acres was added so here we are less than three months later correct it was to a fail what was the rationale for rushing it through that quickly given the discussions we've had over the past year about one year limits uh the applicant has claimed that they have contract issues and it's not our issues but we're trying what type of contract issues i don't know the details of it so we're scheduling our timeline now for planning projects given all of the ones

[07:04:10] we've got in the backlog based on the applicant's contractual thanks mr looney next question is for mr looney oh sure excuse me how you doing mark i i feel a little bad you know given how quickly or how soon you've had to take this over and you know i kind of feel like i'm kicking a cripple but then I realized you're a competent and well-compensated attorney, so I kind of got over it.

[07:04:41] I appreciate the compliment. Thank you. You've got a credibility issue here, and I'll ask you flat out. Does the applicant have an end user? Supervisor Weir, even if there were, and the answer is that the only person who has the property under contract is the applicant, period.

[07:05:04] And any questions that go beyond that get into attorney-client confidentiality that I'm sure you're not asking me to violate as part of this. But I can tell you most assuredly, the only entity that has the property under contract is the applicant that is before you tonight.

[07:05:23] So even though this question was asked at Parsons and then the answer was no, and then lo and behold, a couple of weeks later, here we come with the sale already complete. You understand you've got a bit of a credibility issue here. The answer that I gave in that context was that there had been multiple expressions of interest in the property, which was also true.

[07:05:43] Do you know what the load demand is? Roughly 180 megawatts. For three buildings? Yes, sir. 60 megawatts each. So this is going to require both a step-down and a 235 kV substation? That is my understanding, yes, sir. One will be owned by Dominion, one will be owned by Novak?

[07:06:00] That's my understanding, sir. Given what the current construction types are, we are familiar with these. There's one right by my house. Do you have a sense of what the acreage is going to be and whether you can fit it in that plat? Because I don't think so. The application shows a little over five acres total for the step down and the conversion over to distribution power.

[07:06:25] As I said earlier, the applicant has had professionals in this industry looked at it and been given assurances that that would be sufficient in terms of size. And as I mentioned earlier, the sizing is dependent on how many megawatts are coming out.

[07:06:43] If it's 300 megawatts, it's going to be different than if it's 100 megawatts. Are these contracted engineers, or is this Dominion or Novec giving you that response? Contracted engineers. Contracted, which I have a problem with here. I've had a lot of dealings with Dominion.

[07:06:59] I sit on a lot of boards with them. I've done SCC testimony. You know where I'm going with this. And here's a question. If they're going to have a step-down substation, I cannot fathom that Domitian is going to go to the millions of dollars, tens of millions of dollars of expense for a step-down substation to only supply that one parcel.

[07:07:23] So if they go to that expense, do you have any way to limit, and I'm sure the answer is no, from whence or to what other locations they will run new transmission lines to new substations from that step-down substation?

[07:07:42] So let me challenge the premise of your question first, and then I'll come back and answer it. Frankly, I don't know how Dominion is ultimately going to provide transmission services to this site.

[07:07:58] We haven't gotten that far in the planning process. It could be that there is a step down from the 500 down to 230. Let me save you the trouble. I've actually asked Dominion and have it in writing, and the answer is yes, it will require one step down and one.

[07:08:14] substation. As I said earlier, that is one solution. Yes, sir. Another solution is Dominion is in the process of rebuilding a number of their transmission corridors now. I don't know what they're going to do here. I don't know when they're going to do it here. Another option is that in the connection with rebuilding of transmission lines, there are abilities to hang additional transmission lines within the same corridor that could include a 230 that doesn't require a step down from 500 to 230 to distribution. I don't know how they're going to do it.

[07:08:44] Well, unfortunately, I do have a little more insight into that. And this particular transmission line is not in their upgrade plans, at least the ones from PJM and the ones that Dominion currently has. Therefore, absent stringing a new 235 kV line, which is not in their plans right now, it will, as a matter of course, require a step down. There's only 500 kV lines there. So the question is, if they plant a step-down substation at that location to service the 235 kV substation, Dominion's not going to build a step-down simply to provide service to one 235 kV.

[07:09:23] They're going to, for their own network reliability, grid stability issues, they're going to run additional service lines off of that substation, the step-down one. So everybody in that area needs to be aware that wherever the next need comes along 234 could be across the street it could be up at parsons they're going to be running more transmission lines off of that 500 kv step down it's inevitable in fact it could even run right through the neighborhood that you're trying to protect i understand my time is up and i'll come back to my next question all right because i have

[07:09:57] gordy thank you madam chair um i just echo the concerns of a supervisor we're i there's not been one conversation that i've had with dominion that doesn't require five acres of something everything seems to be five acres um from switching stations to substations um to putting power underground um so um when i met with the applicant last week uh they said that they would provide me a letter about saying that everything could fit there i never received that letter if you have that i would like to see it um but so far i've yet to see that um but the claims are

[07:10:37] being made and i have no confidence in those claims based on my experience with the numerous conversations i've had with with dominion over the past uh three and a half years um on your proffers um when i did meet there were two things i tell every uh to ask till every data center there's three things i'm going to ask you one where's your power coming from number two where are you parking all the construction employees when you're talking about hundreds of cars a day and number three what are you doing with all the dirt now on this site you're digging in the ground

[07:11:14] 15 feet as i understand to bring the height down for these buildings based on my calculations we're talking about 4.9 million cubic feet of dirt that's going to be removed out of the ground it has to be placed somewhere now in your proffer number three you said that um that you would create final site plan approval measures designed to minimize the need to remove excess soil from the property via truck transport, but then you give yourself a lot of outs, provided nothing or

[07:11:52] there's a typo there, herein shall restrict or limit the applicant's ability to remove contaminated rocky. I'm sorry, you put a shovel in ground, you're pulling rocks. I just tilled a field on Sunday. I pulled 10 rocks out of the field. Everywhere you go, there's rocks in this county.

[07:12:10] or otherwise unstable those terms are very squishy to me and as somebody who's having to deal with the incessant um convoys of dump trucks hauling dirt through the rural area of the county running from prince william into stafford um and they're literally destroying our roads and i've taken our staff around to show them how badly damaged these roads are and some of them were just repaid last year um and at 4.9 cubic feet of dirt i don't know how you're gonna be able to keep it on that site

[07:12:47] um and and this is a problem we've got to figure out you folks on the front row you need to help us figure this out because we can't do this for 30 years and that's our build-out plan we cannot afford this and at some some point we need to make these guys pay for this because vdot doesn't have the money to pay for all this road destruction that's taking place um supervisor so i know i'm preaching a little bit here but i appreciate your attempt at addressing my concern i'm just i don't

[07:13:21] think this proffer offers enough stickiness to hold the dirt to the site i i appreciate your comments um and we were endeavoring to do what you ask us or what you ask the applicant to do um and just to provide a little bit more context the site uh has a fairly dramatic slope across it one of the other proffers we have talks about the finished floor slab for the lowest floor in the buildings would be no greater than 355 feet above mean sea level what that necessarily means is that

[07:13:58] we will take dirt from the high side and we will move it to the low side in an effort to meet in the middle at 355 which is 15 feet below the current elevation of of 234 when we do that the objective is to try to balance the site out to where we're taking just enough from the high side to fill in on the low side to be able to hit the 355 to to limit the amount of off-site distribution of the soil coming out of it.

[07:14:31] We can't put contaminated soils back in, so that has to be removed. As you said, there's a boatload of rock material subsurface. Some of it can be used depending on where it is in the subsurface some of it can't be and it's going to have to be taken off site there's just no no other way around it we don't really have unstable soils in this area to speak of so I'm not anticipating that but the intent of the proffer was not to put ourselves in a bucket or in a bind where we get in the construction starts or the end user

[07:15:08] starts their construction discover something they didn't anticipate or that the the depth of the of the contaminated soils is is deeper than what they thought and they had to truck more out so we have to have some flexibility to deal with those particular circumstances but the objective was to try to limit the amount that had to go off and we did come up with a proffer to deal with the parking along 234 because you correctly pointed out there are circumstances even today where construction workers are parking within the right-of-way or just outside the right-of-way. And so we were attempting to be responsive to that as well.

[07:15:46] Yeah. Mr. Tony, thank you for those answers. Yeah, I mean, I think this is just, and I know my time's up here, just to close the comment. The, I mean, this is a unique requirement to dig down for a data center. And so this is the one that really concerns me as it relates to this dirt.

[07:16:08] And I think this, again, I'm very concerned about what the overarching impacts will be beyond the site. Thank you. You've got a precedent proffer. Supervisor Bode. Thank you, Madam Chair. Mr. Looney, first question for you. And you referenced you have a compatriot from talking about water, Virginia Waters.

[07:16:29] Could you have her talk a little bit about the current environmental conditions and where you would leave it if we were to approve this in terms of the water quality? Yeah, I'm Allison Austin with Virginia Waters and Wetlands.

[07:16:45] I did preliminary site work for the environmental constraints analysis. So your question is in relation to the industrial portion. Correct. So as far as I am aware, there has not been a phase one environmental site assessment, which would catalog the nature and the extent of the contamination that is there.

[07:17:12] But by visual examination during site visits, it's pretty obvious there has been some diesel and organic range contamination in the soils. So there's likely to be some surface and subsurface contamination there.

[07:17:29] Also, the area adjacent to the GDC property, which was supposed to be preserved, was not. It was filled in and vehicles were parked on that.

[07:17:45] And that was all cataloged when I was out there as well, which was also brought up by Watershed. So that was a condition that I don't think anybody was aware of until it was investigated at that time. So at this point, it would need to be mitigated to address that environmental impact that has happened in that area.

[07:18:07] And one of the best ways that that is handled is through mitigation credits. Clean Water Act requires no net loss. That basically comes down to purchase of mitigation credits. It was determined 20 years ago.

[07:18:23] The hierarchy is purchased from a wetland bank, then from Virginia Marine Resource Commission. Then you have permitting responsible on-site and permitting responsible off-site mitigation credits. Preferred for both federal and state is to purchase from a mitigation bank.

[07:18:40] So that would offset the impact that is currently from the current landowner that's there. Thank you. And my second question is for staff. So I don't know if this is for Mr. Meyer or whoever else needs to ask this. So this is in the overlay. This entire parcel is in the overlay.

[07:18:59] Yes, that's correct. That being said, Mr. Meyer, I'm not sure if you have the entire institutional knowledge of this, But why was this parcel placed in the overlay? Why was this? I don't know, but David McGettigan can answer that. Thank you for the question.

[07:19:16] David McGettigan from the planning office. So when the overlay was first created, we looked at industrially planned and zoned land that had electrical transmission lines going through it. So this site met those two criteria, and that's probably why it was placed in the overlay district.

[07:19:38] And before you walk too far, Mr. Magetting, I appreciate that. How long has the eastern adjacent parcel been planned residential? I'm not sure the answer to that question. I would have to look back and see.

[07:19:55] I don't know. Sure. So to answer, to ask a slightly different question, this parcel, I believe, has always, this product parcel has always been in the overlay, right? It wasn't taken out and put back in. From the formation of the overlay, it's been in the overlay. That's correct. And because of the electrical infrastructure that's there and it's industrially planned, which has been also the case this entire time.

[07:20:19] Right. Yes. Around the landfill and industrial planning has been around the landfill for a long time. That's correct. Including the part that's currently zoned A1. Yes. Thank you. And I'll come back for my next round, Madam Chair. All right. Supervisor Bailey. Thank you, Madam Chair. The first thing that I've got three things.

[07:20:39] And the first thing that I wanted to say was for the developer. So, Mark, if you would, please. Thank you so much. And I'm saying thank you because I want to make a point of how we got here. You started off in your presentation by talking about the concerns that several of us had.

[07:20:58] And I can only speak for my one-third. You mentioned three of us, my one-third. And I want to address them because it's important. It's important that when we first met early on with this, my concern was the citizens. for you to go and meet with the citizens, and that took place.

[07:21:14] And because of the five houses that were there, I had a concern about that, and you addressed that concern, and it was obvious tonight by the ones that are for the project because you engage with them, and that's very key because of how this project is going to be positioned.

[07:21:33] So that's very important. That was very important for me. And the other thing is the buffers as relates to them as well. And you fulfill my request in terms of increasing the height of the buffers.

[07:21:50] And so if I haven't learned anything else from the data center industry, that's very, very important when we're talking about where it's placed, where it's placed. And so I do appreciate that.

[07:22:08] Other thing that I am concerned about that I think we need to step back for a minute and really take an assessment of is the water assessment. That's key. So we need to do something about that because if I've learned anything from the data center project, that's very key in making sure that the citizens understand that.

[07:22:29] So I just wanted to make those comments. The other thing that I wanted to say is Supervisor Vega and I share officially one project together. And that's across the street at Potomac Tech. And she's got the housing piece, and I've got the other part on the other side.

[07:22:49] And we've worked very closely together. Yeah, we do. No, I just said that's Independent Hill. I meant Independent Hill. But I'm going to Potomac Tech. That's where I'm going. Independent Hill. And so she and I have worked very hard to make sure that in terms of the citizens, the housing, and whatever else is going to go on my side, it's solid with the citizens.

[07:23:11] So nothing is happening with the Potomac tech part that people, you know, that we were talking about tonight. Nothing is there. But I'm saying that as an example of on this side, it's an unofficial part because I don't have a connected project with her.

[07:23:27] But the Potomac side was very important to me in working with her to make sure that all of these answers were, all these questions were answered as we got here. And I was not going to support the project until you answered them, and you did so.

[07:23:46] So I just want to point that out to the Potomac side, you know, because it's not a project in Potomac. It's a Coles project. And so I'm very satisfied with how you came back with those answers. And so I just want to say that to you and then to Alex.

[07:24:10] Alex. You, Alex. No, not Alex. Scott. Scott, yes. I'm good, Mark. I meant Scott. Scott, I think that our commissioners did a great job. I want to ask you a question.

[07:24:26] Our commissioners did a great job in working collectively and making a decision. And I don't have any problems with that, being that my commissioner was the head of that, of the commissioners. And I think they have to stay where they are when they make their decisions as they pass it on to us.

[07:24:46] The responsibility is here with us now, not with them. And so as the planning department came to recommend this for approval, tell me, please, again, just quickly, that decision was based on what?

[07:25:11] Going to planning commission or where we are? No, coming to the department. Why did you recommend it for approval? Oh, we look at the comprehensive plan. We look at land use. Compatible with comprehensive plan. Compatible with comprehensive plan. it's in a data center overlay yes we look at how their impacts are being mitigated design factors scale context sense sensibility we have to tell the whole story of course but yeah those are the key things yeah those are the key things that we look at and and and your lat when you did your

[07:25:43] your presentation your last thing you said was you feel confident that what that we could support the project based on how it was proffered again we haven't looked at these most recent recent profit right you looked at March 17 correct correct yeah but we look at 17 yeah yeah yeah that's correct March I'm sorry may 17 my bad I'm sorry but with that you're confident that what you see is supportive overall yes okay yes nothing's ever we're gonna I'm sorry we're gonna move on and I'm

[07:26:22] can I just hear I'm almost done but I just wanted to hear you're confident that where we are is a good place yes okay again the most recent proffers we have not looked at right I just want to say that again okay all right because we have a lot of questions on this so I'm also going to I'm going to ask a couple questions and I'm going to go back to supervisor Vega because I know she's still this is you know something in her district and she still has a few questions then I'll go back in order because I think after this everyone will have almost everyone have you know gone through I don't think you've said anything my question is I'm looking at the proffers the most recent

[07:26:59] under architectural screening there is one about the substation a minimum of 12 feet in height I'm just wondering how tall is the substation that you're anticipating there where it comes down off of the transmission lines there has to be essentially an arm that goes up and grabs the power and brings it down. That arm is about 75 feet in height. The balance of the other equipment at ground level is somewhere in the 25 to 40 foot tall range, depending on the

[07:27:36] size of the substation and the amount of power that it has to hold at any one time and convey out. But it ranges sort of 75 feet where it goes up and grabs the power and then comes down from there. All right, thank you. I'm also kind of tap dancing. I have one other comment. I was going to let everyone know that I want to thank Mr. Arnold Singleton. He is Vice President of Engineering at Novak. He is actually joining us remote. So if anyone has any questions regarding actual power, Novak is going to be the primary provider of power to this site. So he will be the best person to

[07:28:13] direct that to. The other thing I just want to note, because we're talking a lot about incompatible land use yes this is in the data center overlay but if you look across the street across on 234 dumfries road we have a parcel of land that is zoned rn4 and that is high density residential i just want everyone to consider that when we're thinking through this you know we are going to have to make some additional changes you know if this is voted because i don't feel comfortable having high density residential right across from um 234 for this project so i just wanted to name

[07:28:48] them that's something that my planning commissioner um had also named but that's something that i want to mention i am going to go now to um supervisor bago weir gordy and bodie and again if anyone has any questions um thank you mr you know singleton for joining us remotely thank you madam chair um i want to ask dave this question i don't know if dave there you are a little bit I'm going back to the history of this piece of property roughly when do you have a year in which this was zoned for light industrial when it was plant you

[07:29:26] mean planned no I would have to go back and and look at old comprehensive plan to see that I don't know if you could confirm I would appreciate that because I did a little bit of digging on my end and based on what I found on the web on our website um it dates back to 1991 okay so just because it matters because there's a lot of um thing that things that have been said about you know the history of when this was zoned what or planned for or designated for and so i think it's very important um and i would appreciate it if you could confirm because that's what what that's what i found online 1991 um has the county ever taken

[07:30:05] position to classify data centers as heavy industrial no no thank you on that note the next question I have is going to be for mr. Looney can we please talk a little bit about noise and the noise ordinance and where we're at with that so as you're aware in your current noise ordinance it only regulates the the generator components it doesn't regulate the HVAC equipment that is associated

[07:30:40] with the data centers the proffer that the applicant has put forward would include the HVAC equipment in the noise standard so that it also or they also became part of what the mitigation is supposed to address there's also a couple of other proffers that deal with specific elements of noise one is a tone factor certain HVAC equipment has certain tones associated with it others don't and this establishes a tone component to the noise proffer as well

[07:31:17] there is a requirement to hire an acoustical consultant to evaluate the noise coming from the site and then a separate proffer that in the event that there is a perceived violation of any of these standards then there would be a requirement to mitigate it so it's a holistic proffer in the sense that we're we're expanding the scope of what's included both in terms of the equipment that is included the performance standard in terms of the decibels and the tone and then an enforcement mechanism on the back side that represents a zoning violation

[07:31:55] and a continuing zoning violation to the extent it's not corrected thank you and then going back to the buffers because it was a very important condition i would say to garner support from the folks that live right next to the properly property line uh initially at the pc level or at the pc hearing um that area was going to be cleared at my request and based on the feedback that we got from the constituents that is now all undisturbed yes yes plus reforested post development now um there were concerns raised about dirt one of the the main reasons again why I asked you guys to consider digging down was because of concerns

[07:32:34] from you know my constituents folks that live in the surrounding areas as to the height of these buildings and so can you talk a little bit about that also I know that we haven't seen this this this be done before at least not to my knowledge here in Prince William County I would encourage the data industry to you know maybe consider it more as we move along but that's a conversation for another day but can you talk a little bit a little bit about that sure i'll expand a little bit on what i was talking with supervisor gordy about which is that because of the slope on the property and the fact that we're trying to meet a a certain height of above sea level in terms of

[07:33:09] where the base of the building begins there's an opportunity to to excavate on the high side and to fill on the low side the effect of which brings the height of the finished slab at grade down about 15 feet below Dumfries Road, which necessarily means that it's going to be effective building height, looking at it in terms of the top of where the flat roof would be on the building, would go from 75 feet, which is the proffered limit for buildings within a certain distance from Dumfries Road, down to 60 feet.

[07:33:44] That's from the Dumfries Road side of things. With respect to looking at it from the residential, pushing one of the things you encourage the applicant to do was to flip-flop the location of the data center buildings and to put the substations in between substation in between the residences and the data center buildings which necessarily meant that the buildings themselves are pushed out a fairly significant distance from those existing homes you can't just look at where the property line is you actually have to look at the homes and you have to understand what's what's the homeowner viewing from their perspective

[07:34:19] the farther that a building is often the distance into the horizon the smaller it looks in terms of the height of the building where you've experienced elsewhere in the county challenges with data centers are where they are immediately abutting the the houses and there's not a lot of distance between it regardless of the amount of screening that occurs part of the benefit of your suggested solution or approach was to put greater distance between those existing residences and the data

[07:34:52] center buildings, which makes them, one, stay below the tree line from a perspective of somebody in the houses looking out, because the farther they are off in the distance, the smaller they look. And secondly, you're taking advantage of the existing buffer on site with the residences, meaning what's in their backyards today, the proffered tree preservation area that is heavily wooded on the common boundary line, on the development parcel, and then the reforestation that would grow in over time, admittedly, to provide an additional buffer through the tree

[07:35:29] lines. We also have proffers that talk about using, as part of the design guidelines, earth tones and other things to mask what the buildings would look like through the trees once developed. Thank you. And then my last question is going to be for staff. And so it doesn't matter to me who wants to come up. I just wanted to mention that it's confirmed that the 1990 is when it was changed to industrial. Light industrial. Yeah. Thank you. So a lot has

[07:36:04] been said about dirt. Is it safe to assume that the dirt that's being hauled all throughout the county doesn't just come from data center construction you could assume that yes okay is there anything that we have currently in place some form of mechanism to control or regulate um let's say if a property owner wants to go ahead and have dirt dumped on their land can you control or regulate that i think dave wants yes thank you um so yeah currently in the in the

[07:36:39] zoning ordinance if there's going to be more than uh 15 truck trips then uh we require a special use permit um and of non-agricultural fill on a property say that last part again of if you're going to fill a property with non-agricultural fill which this would be that's going to be limited to 15 truck trips a day thank you for that um that's all i have for now madam chair thank you supervisor weir thank you madam chair i'll continue with mr looney um presuming that

[07:37:16] this will require a step-down, and that's obviously above 115 KV at both ends. Is this going to need a certificate of public need from the SEC, and how long do you think it's going to take? You know, Mr. Weir, if the NOVAC representative is on the line, I would defer to him on that.

[07:37:33] This would be a Dominion issue, not a NOVAC. NOVAC doesn't deal with transmission. I can give you an answer, which is as long as there's no new transmission lines off-site that cross other properties i don't believe the introduction of a substation generates the need for a cpcn but i have frankly haven't looked at that question in a while let's presume that the engineering is done for both of the substations and i think we're in agreement that there's going to have to be two um if they don't stations it's all one well a step down in a substation

[07:38:12] we've got like i said there's one within sight of my house i know what they look like and how much land they take up if it doesn't fit you have to reconfigure the parcel are you going to reduce the number of buildings are you simply going to move the data center closer to the uh we potentially move the data center closer to the residential neighborhood one that's speculation two um speculation because you've left it open-ended no no we haven't this is this is going to answer your question which is we have proffered limitations on how close the data center buildings can be to existing 234 today. It's 125 feet minimum setback from the existing edge of pavement.

[07:38:50] We also have a proffer that shows the location and size of the substation pad on which it can be built, 5.19 acres. There is a provision in your zoning ordinance that allows for minor modifications under certain circumstances, but it's a judgment call of your zoning administrator and typically to the supervisor of the district in terms of whether those modifications fit with within the substantial conformance requirement of the proffers.

[07:39:16] So in the event that there needed to be an adjustment, it's possible that it could be done so long as it was otherwise found to be in substantial conformance and we didn't violate the 100-foot setback from the residences. We didn't violate the reforestation area. We didn't violate the setback from 234.

[07:39:34] And if we did shift the location, we have a proffer that says that we have to come back through a PFR process to do so. Lastly for you, wonderfully you've got an effective lower building height from 234. Great. Mean feet above sea level?

[07:39:50] Yeah. I'd like to thank the applicant for doing that, but my purpose was getting it mean feet above sea level to address the residential side. It was supposed to bring it down from the residential side, not from 234, and I was assured that was happening, but I guess it hasn't because my look at the topo map shows that it's actually sitting higher than the residences next door, so it's actually going to appear taller.

[07:40:14] I don't, I don't, again, the appearance is a matter of a number of things. It's distance. It's screening in between. It is, it is not just where the finished floor elevation of the building is or the roof line.

[07:40:30] It's the distance from both of those. I would challenge you to go over to Village Place and tell that to the people that live next door. I, I understand. I'm telling you it's a, it's a different circumstance and a different set of facts. And I'll leave it at that.

[07:40:45] All right. Mr. McGittigan, the 15-truck limit on dumping, does that include bona fide ag properties, or is there any limitation on how many loads can be dumped on a property deemed to have a bona fide ag use?

[07:41:12] So the limitation is for non-agricultural fill. So if the fill is for agricultural purposes to level their land for a field, then that's not included. So it's non-agricultural fill. It doesn't matter whether it's a modified farm or not, if it's non-agricultural.

[07:41:31] Even if they're building the property up? They're building the property up for agricultural purposes, then that's not regulated. Do we have any way of regulating what goes in?

[07:41:47] Are we monitoring the trucks? Yes. That's news to me. Our neighborhood services would go out and count the trucks. They've been having, certainly, difficulty with that.

[07:42:05] We do have a zoning text amendment that's been initiated to address that situation, but we have not brought it forward yet. I'm not even going to comment. Thank you, Madam Chair.

[07:42:21] All right, Supervisor Gordy and then Bodie. I just want to go back to Supervisor Vega's question. Yes, the data centers are bringing out a tremendous amount of dirt. I followed the trucks back to the data center site, so I know where it's coming from, I also know they're dumping rocks in the middle of the medians.

[07:42:40] Boulders are falling off of trucks into the road. I've had people complaining about mud on Hornbaker Road because of all the dump trucks coming out of the Avanti site. And so it is a significant challenge that we have to address, and we need to get ahead of it.

[07:42:58] Back to the dirt. Different question, though. Do you anticipate any blasting needing to be taking place on this site? You know, Supervisor Gordy, I can't answer that question right now, in part because I'm new to this tonight and in part because I just don't know.

[07:43:19] Okay, well, here's my concern. You've got these homes right next to your site. If you start blasting, they need to have a pre-blast inspection before you start blasting.

[07:43:36] And then after blasting, they need to be ensured that they've been protected from the blasting on that site. Now, I know we're kind of late in the game here, but I don't see any proffers in here about any pre-blasting inspections and post-blasting inspections to help protect these property owners from any potential damage that may occur.

[07:43:55] And that's something I would think that you would want to ensure, if you're going to be building that close to those families, that you're going to want to make sure you want to protect them if blasting does occur. That's all I have, Madam Chair. Supervisor Bode.

[07:44:12] Thank you, Madam Chair. my question is probably for staff talk to me about traffic in the current conditions versus traffic after this is approved because right now a good portion of this site is is trucks right trucks are parked there trucks are being serviced there trucks are moving in and out so i didn't see a sort of a traffic analysis in the staff report per se but there was a 2022 vdot annual average daily traffic count which is a little bit over 26 000. can someone from staff talk to me about preconditions for traffic versus after as based on the site.

[07:44:50] Supervisor Rody, we have George Philips here from Transportation. Thank you, George Philips with Prince William County DOT. I would have to look at the VDOT AADT counts.

[07:45:06] They do give a percentage of truck traffic in their current data, but I don't have that handy. It's typically in the range of around 5%, but I'd have to check that for you. Sure, but to ask it in a slightly different way, Considering what this site is being used for now, which is basically storing trucks, servicing trucks, what have you, and what this site would be should we approve it, which is a data center, which a lot of people out there rightfully talk about don't have a lot of traffic that's associated with them, only have maybe a handful of jobs, ones that complete, what have you.

[07:45:36] There's going to be a decrease, I would imagine, in the amount of traffic to and from the site and on to 234, right? Compared to what the traffic is today, yes. They are low-trip generators, and the truck traffic in terms of that would be mainly during the construction period of the site.

[07:45:56] And I think Mr. Looney wanted to add to that maybe. Sorry, Supervisor Bode, just to give you round numbers, our projections, given the applicants' projections, given the current activities on the property, is that the trucks in and out, So you've got two trips, one in, one out, represent in total about 120,000 truck trips per year coming into and out of the site today with, as I mentioned earlier, a little under 30,000 vehicle trips per day along that section of 234.

[07:46:30] If there are 50 employees coming in and out of the site each day, one in, one out, and they all drive, you know, that's 100 vehicle trips a day. so significantly fewer over the current condition appreciate that next uh to shift to power and manager i want to commend you for having the novak representative jump back on um remote my question is for them there's been a lot of talk about the size of the pad what we're going to need for this want to hear any sort of uh of elaboration for the novak representative if they believe that the current pad that's being planned for this site would be sufficient for the substation that's

[07:47:10] being proposed and needed to to power the site good afternoon uh chair jefferson and board my name is arnold singleton i am the vice president of engineering with novak and the question posed at hand is the pad large enough to power the site um the real answer to that question right now is is still kind of speculative because it's in the feasibility stage and in the feasibility stage we look at the different options and there's a lot to be considered um when you're into that phase

[07:47:47] we have to look at the counting requirements we have to look at no vet requirements dominion requirements and the customer requirements and we try to balance all of that in in uh designing that that substation pad and so pad for us can go anywhere from five to ten acres all depends on the requirements on that site.

[07:48:14] Appreciate that. And a slight follow-up question. Have you, in your experience, seen substations of this size power a campus that's like this? I'm not sure if I understand your question, sir.

[07:48:31] Yeah, so in your experience, have you ever seen a substation that's proposed for this size power a data center complex like the one that would need the power as similar to this one? And the question to that is yes.

[07:48:48] Like I said, you know, with my experience of what we have currently today, our pads, you know, to power the data center campuses ranges anywhere from 5 acres to 10 acres. And so this is probably one of the smaller ones.

[07:49:05] So I would say, you know, based upon what we have and what we are currently studying, that, again, there's a lot of requirements that have to be considered here. And my staff now is going through that feasibility study to make sure that that pad is aligned.

[07:49:25] We do what we call a test fit to make sure that the substation and the switching station and the transformation station will sit on that pad. Thank you, Mr. Richardson. Thank you, Madam Chair. All right. Doesn't look like we have any more.

[07:49:41] Anyone else? Any other questions? All right. Well, thank you so very much, Mr. Looney, for, you know, being able to go through those questions. Thank you, Madam Chair. Just one reminder for the board. I know the staff report has proffers dated May 17th, and the 31st is the most recent set.

[07:50:00] Thank you. Yes, it is. Thank you. Mr. Singleton, if you're still there, if you could just hang out a little bit longer, just in case. No worries. All right. he's gone he's gone if we can hold on to him all right sir if we if you don't mind just hanging out in the background you know just in case something else comes up i really appreciate you and for your flexibility and for being able to join us remotely um so i don't know um supervisor vega if you're ready if you want to make the motion uh thank you madam chair and again i just want to thank

[07:50:39] everybody i know it's what time is it it's 11 15 um again uh this has been a project that's been in the works for quite some time now and i i just again can't say it enough i want to thank everybody that showed up whether you're for the project or against the project i know that i've been thorough that i've been diligent and that i've done everything in my power to make this project better to address the concerns of my constituents in the coals district while also thinking about the future and where we want to go as a county you know there are a lot of things that have been said the media reports on what they want to report but let me be very clear one little caveat that they

[07:51:16] decided to leave out and i think it's important to say it and to be on the record because a lot of people have mentioned it whether it's here in person or virtually they talk so much about donations what they didn't report in that article is that everybody but with the exception of one of one person of one donor has been a supporter of mine since 2019 when i first decided to run for this seat facts matter and you have to ask yourself why don't they report on the facts what do they gain from it they want to capitalize off of people's emotion and they want to continue to pit us against one another and divide us. This is a land use case. I look at it through those

[07:51:53] lens. My job is to make sure that I put forth the best possible product. It's not going to make everybody happy. That's never going to happen. But I am proud of the work that we've done. As you've been able to witness here tonight, it hasn't just been Supervisor Vega. It's been a collaborative effort from everybody on this day. It's even the ones that didn't speak. I think it speaks volumes when we have meetings that go over two hours trying to come to an agreement meet halfway and even some of the supervisors that are not going to support it they made their asks and the applicant did everything that they could to try to fulfill those asks and I thank them for it because some

[07:52:32] of their asks um you know they okayed and and and they approved so with that madam chair I would like to go ahead and move rezoning um 2024-0006 uh for approval with the proffers that have been on May 31st and just want to also state for the record that those proffers were submitted to county staff on Friday because we were still working on those proffers and trying to make sure that all of us were on the same page again those were not just my asks these were assets that were made collectively as a team as a board and that's the reason why they were submitted on Friday and so

[07:53:11] County Attorney am I good in asking for those proffers to be adopted if the majority decides to approve this project today yes ma'am that would be your motion to approve and i just want to clarify it's rezoning and proffer amendment uh rezoning 24-0-0-6 but the proffer stated may 31 of 2024 second all right supervisor bode then angry thank you madam chair and and thank you to everyone who came out i know there were people uh who were supporting this i know there are people who were against this i know there's some long-standing issues on why even folks who uh would normally be on the fence or even supportive of this because it's in the overlay

[07:53:51] are skeptical. I hear you, I understand you, I see you. At the same time, I also want to commend Sue Barras-Rvega for all the work that she did on this project, working with our staff, working with the applicant, working with her constituents, working with our colleagues on the dais to get to where we were and are now. I'm going to be supporting this for a couple different reasons. One, as was stated before, this isn't just verdant land that's being clear to build a data center this is at least part of this land a industrial redevelopment project we have a

[07:54:26] currently a disparate site that there there are a lot of concerns from an environmental standpoint that are being done uh there's truck traffic there there's unsafe conditions on 234 hours results what this site is currently being used for i've been to this site several times i've driven by it many times even before this project as of this project coming down the pipeline i've been over there. I've seen how it is. I've seen some of the things that folks have talked about. The trucks that start up at four o'clock, five o'clock in the morning. I've heard from folks on how this area is currently used as an industrial truck traffic area. And we're currently redeveloping this with

[07:55:02] this project into something that will be not nearly as impactful for people's daily lives, should everything go through. I'm supposed to. All those folks that are nearby. That's one. Number two is the state in which this will be left once it's done. We had someone who's an expert come and talk to us about the water credits and how that's their preferred way on the state and the federal level to address the water quality issues that are being done and the fact that under the current conditions, that environmental protection area was already filled.

[07:55:35] It's currently being filled and being used as a parking lot. There is truck maintenance being done there. There are a lot of things that have already been done to that site. And yes, we can talk about what we would want it to be, you know, refilled and dug up in terms of making it into a pristine waterbed again.

[07:55:51] But frankly, that's beyond what we can do environmentally as of right now. And it is the preferred way of restoring this land to what it needs to be. So that's number two. Number three, most importantly, is the applicant, through working with the Supervisor Vegas office, have moved the data centers as far away from the residents as possible and put in as many buffers as they've been able to fit onto a constrained property.

[07:56:14] Understanding that there's still gonna be concerns around the noise, what have you, but the applicant has addressed it the best of their ability and so the noise mitigation issues, in terms of the buffering, in terms of the screening, and working with individual homeowners next to their properties on how best to custom fit what's next to their properties to fit this make it work for everyone involved that's important as you know far too often we've heard folks come in and say these developers come in they just blanket everything they treat everything as a one-size-fits-all they get out of town there's no individual interaction with homeowners that is not the case with this situation and i want to commend the applicant for working with

[07:56:52] folks on such a ground level for it all right before we go on to the next person i know this is a tough conversation for folks but i'd appreciate it if we would show no i'm sorry Hold on. I'm actually going to take my time right now, please. I'm going to say I do appreciate Supervisor Vega for working with the applicant, and I appreciate the applicant, too, for working with all of us who came to them with questions, comments, and concerns.

[07:57:24] And I live near the community, and I've gone out to the community, and I've talked to people, and I have my concerns about this project. I will not be supporting it. However, I will say that the people on this dais have put in a lot of time on this project.

[07:57:41] I have personally engaged with the applicants. And you know what? I'll also say it. Lord knows I had a lot of fun beating up on you, Jeff. You know this. You put in a lot of money, you know, in my primary against me. And I have a lot of fun poking at you.

[07:57:58] But I am going to give you your credit for doing what you can to make this a better project. I'm just still uncomfortable with it. You know, despite the additional buffering, despite, you know, agreeing to dig a little deeper to mitigate the high concerns, I do have concerns about it.

[07:58:16] That's why I'm voting against it. But there are a couple things throughout this process that I just do have to speak to. There isn't a lot of trust in local government. And I understand based on the previous board and a lot of the actions that they took, there's not a lot of trust.

[07:58:35] But this current board is really working hard to get to a better project. This isn't the data overlay zone. They have made significant changes. The planning commission, I'm sorry, the planning department approves this project.

[07:58:54] It's not what I want for this area, but it is not, it has met some important hurdles. I personally don't feel comfortable with it. But this notion that everyone who is voting for it is somehow corrupt or has been bought off, it's really insulting and embarrassing. Let me say that again. It's insulting and embarrassing.

[07:59:18] And I also want to be clear. I hear people. I go out. I meet with people. I talk to them. But just because we have a disagreement doesn't mean that I'm not listening or no one on this board is listening. Just because we're not doing what people think we should do or say that they want us to do. We were all elected. We were all democratically elected. And we have to work together to figure out how to move this county forward. Now, I didn't speak in 13B. Kind of wish

[07:59:54] I did. And you know what? I'm going to mash some of those comments in here too. Because we keep talking about industrial and incompatible use. A data center is industrial. But even getting into a solar farm, I take exception. My family actually does own land. Not like a cute little harby farm, a little 10 acre or one acre. But my family owns, my immediate family, own 40 acres of land in Mississippi. My family collectively owns like 200 acres of land. Everyone wants to live near a farm, but no one wants to be a farmer. And I can actually speak to that from experience,

[08:00:30] because I'm not down in Mississippi farming that land. My son doesn't want it either. But we're trying to keep it in our family. And when people say it's a canard, oh, it's just something people are saying, you know, to get solar, to get this, to get that. There are a lot of hard choices we're going to make on this board. And there are a lot of people, though, I noticed the same people week after week who don't want to see anything change, don't want to have discussions, want to come here and yell at people and bash people and trash people. We're not getting paid a lot of money

[08:01:08] up here to do this we're doing this because we care about our community we're doing this because we want to be active involved and be part of the solution so you know i'm a little testier than normal um and this is a very contentious project i understand and i feel bad for the families who are worried your home is your largest investment i i understand the anxiety because when we look at data centers next to residential areas we're always looking at the worst case example we're looking at villages. You know, we're looking at Great Oak. And I'm hoping that those will remain

[08:01:46] the exceptions, but not the rule. But so that is when I did feel compelled to jump in here because I have seen Supervisor Vega work really hard on this. We have gone back and forth on this. We've had several conversations. She has encouraged me to meet with the applicants. I have been texting with the applicants daily i've been texting with some of the own homeowners that i've met with to see what are their concerns and if we can continue to mitigate them but i do want to be clear i'm

[08:02:22] sure i i you know what i want my other five minutes and then i i want my see i'm sure this is what happens when you get elected can do what yeah i just want to make sure you know but the one thing i again i i really am tired on is the attacks against this board and how personal has gotten how personal attacks have gotten also against our staff this is a thankless job and anyone who thinks this is easy and who wants to come up here and be an armchair critic go ahead

[08:02:56] and do the job yourself because that's one thing i'm going to be honest with you when i won it was humbling it was very very humbling because i knew that as far as much fun as i had in the back throwing spitballs at my predecessor throwing spitballs at some of you guys who are up here I couldn't continue to do that once I was elected I had to learn how to lead and to build bridges and it is harder to build a bridge than it is to burn one so I'm just saying that because I do want to defend the work that my colleagues on this board has been doing they're not making popular decisions

[08:03:35] I don't agree with the decisions always they don't always agree with my decisions but we are doing the best that we can under the narrow confines that we can this project is in the data center overlay this project has approval from our planning department who are experts in planning this project yes will bring revenue to our county for me it's just not enough and that's okay i will still next meeting have respect for my colleagues who vote differently i am chair of the board of county supervisors i'm going to lose this vote and some people are going to look at me and

[08:04:14] you know why couldn't you do this you didn't work hard enough you i'm letting people vote their conscience that's what I'm doing so I just want to be very frank about what's going on we're going to continue to have our discussion everyone has had a chance to speak who wanted to speak they could have spoken you could have spoken during public hearings if you want to speak during public comment you may so do so but I will not allow people to interrupt this meeting I've seen enough ugliness in this chamber I cannot if you want to sign up you know for a public comment and blast me away, blast me away, but we're going to get through this boat. I want people to

[08:04:54] understand how hard that we have worked on it, and I want to let you know that it is okay to have disagreements. It's okay to have discussions. It's okay to be in the public square, but leadership, leadership, real leadership means reaching across the aisle. It means having conversations with each other. That's what leadership is. It's not burning down the house down because it makes me feel good.

[08:05:24] so this is something I just wanted to get off my chest this is where I stand how I'm going to move the board forward is what I've been trying to work on in the six months that I've taken this since I've been in this role it's a hard job I'm learning a lot there are things that you know I had preconceived notions about that I that have been challenged so please you don't have to assume good faith and I know that this is a tough emotional decision but my colleagues have been

[08:05:58] working very hard. I don't think that they're being swayed by a few dollars. I know that many of them have taken votes that are contrary to some of the people who gave money to them. This is what politics is. I'm not going to agree with everyone. I'm not going to agree. There are a lot of people on this audience who gave me money, and I voted for things like Parsons that they didn't particularly like. Because honestly, I didn't think it was the worst thing in the world.

[08:06:27] And there are going to be products that I vote against that I do think the worst things in the world. So I am going to get off my soapbox. I'm going to thank all my colleagues for all their hard work on this project. And I'm going to let Mr. Supervisor Angry go next. Thank you, Madam Chair, for those comments. But I'd like to give Supervisor Voldy back a minute and 14 seconds.

[08:06:51] He's had a lot of time today. I have. I'll just take that and I won't say anything else if you don't mind. All right. Thank you, Madam Chair. And I want to commend you and ditto a lot of what you just said. And to answer the constituent more directly, since it might be your first meeting here. This is an interactive process. At this point, there's no back and forth between the audience and the board member. That's the quorum. That's how we operate. It isn't specific to you or this one. I just want to make sure you know that. That said, the last thing I wanted to say was, again, this is in the overlay. Part of this parcel is already zoned for industrial.

[08:07:24] That means this is not, and if there can be a data center there, it's what kind of data center and how high it can be or how much mitigation in place. If we vote no, there still can be an industrial use here. There can still be a data center that gets put here and without us being able to put any mitigations in place whatsoever because the buy right restrictions there are a heck of a lot less than what the applicant has agreed to with this project. So I wanted to make sure people are reminded of that because part of this land is already rezoned industrial and since this isn't the overlay, there could be a data center in some part of this parcel. It's just a

[08:08:01] lot less rules of the road that could be, and guard rules put on place of it. Thank you, Madam Chair. Now, Supervisor Ingrid. Thank you, Madam Chair. I just want to thank Supervisor Vega, and it should be noted that this is the first land use data center case that we've had that really has been a unanimous process, so it has been bipartisan in the sense that we all dealt with the applicant and really worked on putting this together.

[08:08:31] So I want to commend Supervisor Vega. That's probably shocking because a couple of years ago, we weren't performing at this level. So I want to recognize that in this process of what we just did. So thank you, Supervisor Vega. Great project. Supervisor Rear.

[08:08:49] Thank you, Madam Chair. And I know I'm spitting in the wind on this, but for once, you know, it's not in my district or Supervisor Gordy's. So I really shouldn't care. But I've got an equal responsibility to every resident of this county, regardless of what district they're in.

[08:09:09] um, to represent their risk, their interest. And quite frankly, you mentioned insulting and embarrassing, and I'm going to take a shot at staff on this. The rush process by which just went through is insulting and embarrassing. It's insulting and embarrassing to me, and it's insulting and embarrassing to everybody in the Gainesville district that's had to deal with this over and over again. Well, we've got other applications stacked like cordwood in the planning office. ZTA is stacked by cordwood, but you move heaven and earth to get this out in a hurry in less than three months. You haven't even adequately reviewed the profit, if reviewed them

[08:09:47] at all. And that's just not acceptable to me. But like everything else that comes with us with data centers, it's not that I'm against the data center. If this came in as a by-right use, we wouldn't be having this discussion. But it's always more, more, more. How much more square footage can we get? How much more height can we get? How much more dense can we get? And they couldn't get this as a by-right use. They would be limited. We have a credibility issue here. 2.30 this afternoon, I got an email from the applicant, and I'm going to read you a portion of it. First, I wanted to let you know

[08:10:25] that we have secured the support of all homeowners directly adjacent to the project site who expressed concerns. They are sending out letters of support for the project and or will be showing up tonight to speak in favor of the project. They must have missed the six people more than I heard speak against it who are immediately adjacent to it. You want to see my problem? My problem is credibility. Credibility from the applicant with respect to that email and other things in this email that I now question, credibility with respect to end users. There's been no credibility on this whole damn project from day one. At 80 feet, it's higher than Village Place. Put the

[08:11:05] equipment on top, it makes it even worse. And you're going to screen the use. Go tell the people at Village Place that you're going to screen the use. They'll laugh in your face. This property is going to further diminish the value of the data centers we've got. We've already got an excess of them. We're giving a 10% discount on real estate property because we have too much data center, And we're adding more, making the problem worse.

[08:11:37] Impact on other tax revenues, everybody's saying, oh, it generates all this money. Not if it's a DOD plant. You just approved Parsons, it's Amazon. I'm betting that's a three-letter agency contract, so we won't be seeing any tax revenue out of that. Which brings us to the power.

[08:11:55] The transmission isn't there. The generation isn't there. The infrastructure isn't there, and we're making it worse. Each passing application that we address or approve, we're increasing the problem.

[08:12:12] not just for us, the London Virginia region, the Mid-Atlantic region. And the worst thing is the people that you're impacting most, because the people that are going to have to pay the millions, hundreds of millions, billions of dollars in infrastructure costs. It's not the data center industry, and it's not Dominion Power, and it's not Novec. You're laying this cost on the rate payers, both in Dominion and in Novec. They're otherwise known as the taxpayers of the voters of this county. Given what you're doing here, the vote on Waterloo Solar this afternoon is hypocrisy.

[08:12:51] 20 megawatts in exchange for 180. Nice deal. Eight to nothing with the PC, and we're going to probably approve this. You can't tell me that land use in Prince William County isn't relational or transactional because it is. Thank you, Madam Chair. Supervisor Bailey. Thank you, Madam Chair.

[08:13:15] Don't cut me off. I just got, I've got four quick things to say. I want to thank you, Madam Chair, for your comments um i really do appreciate it because we do work hard and um and and and we we accepted the job because we know what comes along with it we all did and so i appreciate your comments sincerely and then secondly to supervisor vega uh thank you so much for ushering us into this process allowing us to be a part of the process and give comments and our opinions in

[08:13:50] your district and all of us can be very territorial with our districts but you allowed us to have input and that is a first as supervisor angry has said we appreciate that and then thirdly to our developers um sometimes you guys bring us a bad rap but sometimes you get a bad rap and uh we know that but the key to that is us working with you to get what the citizens need and what's best for this county and that's the improvement and that's the change from over 20 years ago and so we need

[08:14:28] to keep doing that and so tell your colleagues we're not going to be soft but we're going to represent the citizens and we appreciate uh you helping us to do that because that's very important when we disagree and we agree and then um lastly um i want to say that um i appreciate all of my colleagues we're having better conversations and that's important we have grown and we cannot as madam chair said we cannot be divided by opinions we have to listen and make decisions and that's

[08:15:06] why we're here and so that's all i got madam chair i'll be supporting the project all right supervisor gordy then franklin thank you madam chair um i also want to thank uh supervisor vega um and i want to thank the applicants for all the hard work that they've done to try to meet the needs and the concerns that we've all had on this board. You know, I always work, even though I may not support a project, I always do try to make it, try to influence it in the best way possible to get the best product when we're done with it. To me, the problem with this site

[08:15:43] goes back to when the homes were authorized by a previous board. Had they not approved a project next to what would eventually become an industrial area we wouldn't be here tonight even having a conversation but two wrongs don't make a right the homes are there and we have zoning for a reason to keep industrial activities away from residential that's why zoning was created and so we're in a

[08:16:17] place today and we continue to run into this in this county because because of past decisions and because we essentially have allowed developers to have an outsized influence on our comprehensive plans instead of being more strategic about what we want to achieve as a county. And so I cannot support this because it is next to homes. The other thing that concerns me is that I know we talk a lot about the trucks, but one of the things we're talking about in this county is where do we

[08:16:54] park all the trucks? We have a site here where people are parking trucks. So when the site goes away, where are the trucks going to park? And I've heard, been told, they'll go to Stafford. Now they're going to go to Stafford. Where are they going to go? We already have a problem for truck parking in this county, and now we're going to make it worse. If you take a look at the data center overlay, particularly in the Brentsville and Gainesville districts, what's left, what's sitting on those parcels, is current economic activity. Small businesses in industrial areas

[08:17:31] and small businesses in business districts. This is the first, but there are more to come where data centers are buying out land currently occupied by small business.

[08:17:47] It was said that there's no industrial land in this county. Well, guess what? This is making it worse. Because what's happening is the data centers are making the land so valuable that no one can afford it. And the taxes are now so outrageous that they can't afford to pay the taxes.

[08:18:06] So the small business guys are selling out. So we're not moving in the right direction when we say we want to diversify our economy in this county. we're putting more eggs into a single basket um the last thing i'd say is if you are a homeowner within a thousand feet of this site take pictures of your foundation take pictures of your walls because if they do start blasting you need to have recourse but if you don't have the pictures you won't have any so i highly encourage you to do that since there are no proffers in this thing

[08:18:42] related to um pre-blasting inspections thank you madam chair and supervisor franklin sure um i just I just want to point out that it hasn't been really stated or offered, but even if this passes, there still needs to be continued dialogue with the residents of that community.

[08:19:02] So I would offer that the discussion doesn't stop tonight. And as a matter of fact, it should ramp up if this were to pass with those residents. And really, the developers and the applicants need to develop a relationship, a sustained relationship with the nearby community and making sure that they're aware of what's going on at each phase, that if they have questions, they know who to call directly.

[08:19:28] And so I don't think that that has been offered or stated, but I think it's something that is important and necessary. We can say that we support the residents and we heard the residents and we listened to them, but it needs to continue and even ramp up, I would say, even after tonight.

[08:19:48] All right. Thank you, everyone. I guess that's it for everyone, so let's go ahead and take our vote. Motion passes, six to two, supervisors.

[08:20:06] Oh, wait, wrong thing. Wait, hold on, hold on. Sorry, I had to do a re- because I made a mistake on mine. I would move to reconsider. Sorry, I wasn't paying attention too much.

[08:20:24] Can we just retake the vote? Yeah, here we go.

[08:20:49] All right, motion passes, five to three, supervisors. Weir, Gordy, and Chair Jefferson voting nay. All right. Thank you so very much. Now we are going to move on to public comment. I apologize. I wasn't paying too much attention. We are not going to be clapping. We're going to move on to public comment time. Mr. Singleton, thank you so very much for your time. We appreciate you.

[08:21:17] You may now drop off. You're welcome. Thanks a lot. Thank you. Thank you, sir.

[08:21:26] All right. All right. We are going to, first of all, if you, everyone needs to have signed up

[08:23:06] Or we're doing public comment time. People need to have signed up for this. I am going to start calling everyone. The rules have not changed. I'm going to call people five at a time. You have three minutes to speak. And please say, again, your name and your magisterial district.

[08:23:27] First, we're going to start with Jeffrey Bronco. Then we're going to go to Brenda Villa. Then Joy Nichols. from nelson um granados and then rocham bronco so those are our first five speakers is it possible that we wait for supervisor bailey our our district supervisor to come back if you well if someone wants to come after you we're all all right so could we page her i mean

[08:24:03] she she if she's in the back just a little cheat sheet we actually have tv we have screens in the back so but if you really want to wait i will call up um kevin knapp i'll call up kevin knapp he's coming back all right here we go these are potomac people andrea they really needed you all right we're ready hello my name is jeffrey branco i live in the potomac district i live in

[08:24:41] the town of dumfries on curtis drive in prince william estates and um we're a small little neighborhood tucked between Quantico Creek to the north of us, I-95, Route 1. We have 113 houses one way in and out of our neighborhood. The neighborhood's been there since 1960s, and there's a property to the south of our neighborhood of 18 acres that is on Prince William County property outside the town of Dumfries that a developer has purchased and is planning on putting 152 townhomes

[08:25:21] on it was approved by the county and they got approval from the town of Dumfries to purchase and tear down one of the houses in our neighborhood and then use our neighborhood streets as the only entrance and exit to their neighborhood so we're anticipating an extra 1300 vehicles per day traffic from from the 152 homes. There was no communication from the county or from the town to the residents

[08:25:56] of our neighborhood about this additional traffic or anything else. We found out about it after the developer cut down all the trees on the 18 acres. We're concerned about the traffic. We're concerned about them only having a single entrance exit to the neighborhood. We're concerned about safety. We are pleading to the county to step in and try to help with looking at a possible second entrance to the neighborhood that the developer is putting in so that we can reduce some of the traffic. As some of you might know, our neighborhood comes out to Route 1 in the town

[08:26:33] of Dumfries. Curtis Drive connects to Grand Park Road. That is the worst intersection along Route and it cannot handle the extra it can't handle the traffic we have right now it certainly can't handle another 1300 vehicles per day and we also have some stormwater issues that we are dealing with the property to the south of the neighborhood also is uphill of us and it all the stormwater that comes down right now is flooding a little stream that goes through the neighborhood it

[08:27:10] floods people's floods and saturates the yards, basements, garages, and this new development is just going to further exacerbate the problem with the stormwater runoff. Looking for the county to maybe help with the town. The town doesn't have the infrastructure or the expertise to deal with the stormwater issues we're having right now, and they certainly are struggling with helping us with the with the traffic and everything else thank you for your time all right next speaker

[08:27:44] please my name is Brenda Vi I'm Potomac District good evening Madam Chair and Board I'm here in same issue I reside in Prince William Estates this is going to be a nightmare for us only one way in one way out we did not know anything about this development until the tree started coming down I understand and know that because it was a county project you had no obligation to notify us but this is going to really be a safety issue for us also it's all really going to be within the creek

[08:28:24] and everything else supervisor bailey you know god rest her soul lc garrison had the problem with the flooding and everything before this is just going to make it a lot worse i mean everybody has lived with a whole lot of issues in there they came in they bought that house it's one way in one way out right there where the house is. I have pictures. I will show a gift to all of you where you can see from everything that's there. I made a copy for everybody. It's going to be a nightmare. I mean, the truck traffic alone you'll see will be hard enough. But then to think about

[08:28:58] we have elderly citizens. We have children in the neighborhood playing. They could very easily look over around Gateway, End Street, Anderson Road. I mean, the town takes care of their own roads. And then this is county people that will be coming in on our town roads.

[08:29:18] We don't get the resource like that. You all are getting the proffer and the money and everything from this development. The town's not getting anything. You're going to get the tax dollar off. Please help us. We need your help. Next speaker, please.

[08:29:36] Hi, I'm Joy Nichols, Potomac District, and I live in Prince William Estates for 51 years. And then going back further, my parents bought one of the original houses. so there's a lot of people. Brenda Vise lived there forever. Jeff Bronco, he grew up there as well, so there's a lot of original homeowners in our tiny little old community with one entrance in, one entrance out. At the light that is H-E-L-L, you could sit there for four times before you even

[08:30:13] get across, and they're already going to be widening Route 1. Can you imagine the next three years at that intersection alone and now we have all those townhomes 152 townhomes the town of Dumfries claims they knew nothing about it they heard it from us last month when we're telling them did you know the whole the Prince William County land that's right behind all the trees are down what's going on oh we don't know they had no idea they claimed and I'll say claimed with quotes that they had absolutely no idea that some town manager that doesn't work there anymore

[08:30:49] um signed off on this project when they were handed it from the from the um from harbor um project reserve so but prince william county you know that's a buy right for that land for them to use it what we don't understand is how on earth the county was involved in a piece of property that was going to be developed there was no access so that's where that ended and then it went to I guess Dumfries I don't know because no one can find any paperwork with a signature on it

[08:31:24] did you find it I hope so I'd like to see it okay so um but the problem is is our development as it is stands right now with our little community there's smaller streets there's cars parked on both sides of the streets it's hard to even fit a car going back and forth side by side when the two cars already parked I can't imagine with all the construction traffic we're supposed to have construction in there for three to four years and they haven't even pulled the trees out they're going to be knocking down one of the houses and the other house conveniently is now going to be

[08:32:01] a construction headquarters and then they're going to resell it so we already know that there's a tax problem there in the tax office about the assessment of those houses now after they were bought by the construction company for the or the buyer I should say but there's just so much traffic there already and with all that stuff coming in and going out our roads can't handle it and they can't make those tight turns they're going to have to go through the entire neighborhood to get back up to where they are they can't just come down Curtis Drive they're they'd not be able to make that turn and we have children in there and it's an older community there's families and

[08:32:39] there's no way that many cars can add on to our street to go out not with the school buses thank you so much. Next speaker, please. Hi, my name is Roisin Brangle, and I live in Prince William Estate, and I agree with her. She already spoke for me. I just want to ask for help.

[08:33:08] I want you to please go to our community and take a look for that property, and please help us. Thank you. Good night. All right, before our next speaker, I want to call up our next group of five. Kevin Knapp, Nadia Seva Gonzalez, Zamzam Salaya, Patricia Mangar, and Vida Carroll.

[08:33:43] Good evening all. Thanks for giving us the time. I know you're all tired, so please don't fall asleep when I give you my case. Can I use the Elmo, miss? Please, thank you. I live, my name is Nelson Granados.

[08:34:00] I live in 4130 EB Drive, and I'm across the street from the project where it's going to be. And I would like to show you what we're trying to show here, that I'm one of the victims where the house is being flooded a few times. And that's why we worry about that our houses seems like they are in flooded zone.

[08:34:22] And when the project comes, all the stormwater is going to add more water on the stream, and that's going to make us worthy because I won't be able to sell my house because nobody wants to buy flood insurance when you buy a house. And that was the whole point of moving into the neighbor because it was peaceful.

[08:34:39] But now I won't be able to sell my house later on because nobody wants to pay flood insurance when you buy a house. And let me see if I can show you the last flood I had. I don't know if you will be able to see it.

[08:35:00] Should I reduce the brightness?

[08:35:13] Now, that's how the stream gets when it rains, and that's the last flood I had. Now, look at that street. When we were trying to call the town of Dumfries, and guess what?

[08:35:33] Nothing happens, and now they say that they didn't know nothing about it. I brought the famous major, and I show him the stream, and guess what he'd say?

[08:35:49] He'd say, I didn't know the stream was part of Dumfries. This is how it shows how much he knows his town that he's running. he spent most of the time running his barbecue restaurant instead of knowing or spending time in his office when we need him but when it's time for work they all come to my house and say hey what do you need we are here for you but guess what when they get the place they forget about

[08:36:21] us look at that flood look at that look at that and now check this out see all that is all mud but the water went up to four feet high that's after so this is what i'm worried about if we

[08:36:56] don't stop this project. Look at the width of the street. That's where they're going to run two lines, one car park on the left, one on the right, and they're going to add bump on it. So if an emergency car wants to run and pick up someone for the emergency, how long is it going to take

[08:37:13] for him to reach? That's my basement. Let me show you the stream. This is how clean they keep the

[08:37:45] stream up in the woods. Okay. Well, at least you get the point. Thank you, guys. Thank you, sir. next speaker please good evening my name is patricia mangan i've lived in prince william estates in the town of dumfries for 30 years i'm retired now and it was my plan to stay in the

[08:38:20] neighborhood but with 130 153 townhouses being built with access into our neighborhood they'll have at least two to three cars each. So that's 350 to 450 cars coming through our neighborhood to get to Route 1 and Main Street. We can't handle it. Our neighborhood is a very small

[08:38:54] single-family home neighborhood where people know their neighbors. It's small enough so you can walk around the neighborhood and meet people on the other side in just a very short distance.

[08:39:12] We'll end up being an access for a townhouse neighborhood. It'll devalue our properties over time because potential buyers, if we do put our houses on the market, won't want to move into a neighborhood with the kind of traffic we'll end up with we can't handle it we know we can't and future buyers won't want to buy we won't be able to sell our homes at market value they'll be

[08:39:48] devalued so that's another aspect of what will happen to us if they if the townhouse community is allowed easement into our neighborhood. Thank you.

[08:40:05] Thank you, ma'am. So our next speakers are Vida Carroll, Bill Wright, and Liz Madronix. Madronix, sorry. Liz. Good evening.

[08:40:30] My name is Zamzam Salah. I live in 3830 Dominion Drive, and I'm living there for 20 years. I moved from Fairfax County. I chose Dumfries because it was quiet and older family owned.

[08:40:53] And we're not just going through with the floods where my neighbor, his house, I have a fan. I swear to God, half of my car was full.

[08:41:10] And he was using a pocket, a pocket. And from here to down, he was inside the mud and the water. And we couldn't drive, me and my husband. And that water comes also to my side, which is the other end.

[08:41:26] And we are already suffering from the highway. When the highway is completely full, people use Route 1 to get all the way to Florida. They have to go there, both north and south.

[08:41:44] We are in trouble, and it's just getting worse. Now it's summer. I can't get to my house. I have a life in Fairfax. My husband works in DC government. We cannot, we cannot get to our house or get out.

[08:42:01] If there is any little thing that happens in front of my house, we cannot get out from our own properties. There is only one gate. If this development wants to do anything they need to get another access so we don't suffer more than we are.

[08:42:16] And the elderly, if anything happens, No emergency can come through and help us when this development starts. It is not about making money. We are taxpayers. We live there.

[08:42:33] Our parents died there. I have people who have been there from day one, 60 years, who live there. And today they're elderly. They cannot walk. They can't believe what's happening. And we are competing with Stafford.

[08:42:51] Yeah, Dumfrey's government told us, look at Stafford. We're not Stafford. We're a small little town. We cannot go this way. We cannot go that way. And Stafford has a big land.

[08:43:06] So why are we competing with a location where they can go anywhere they want? I am very, very sad that this is what's happening to our little town. We're here for you guys to help us.

[08:43:22] I know at the end of the day, you will decide what you guys agree together, but think about how much our lives will cost us, and the builders will make the money, and we will suffer at the end. Thank you for your time. All right, next speaker. Yeah, Vida Carol Brinsville, and first off, I want to go on the record. The person who interjected was the person sitting directly behind me, so just... I know, wasn't you? Okay. If it was me, I would own it. I'm texting Chris right now let him know that i'm gonna play a clip from the devlin tech park hearing on november 28th

[08:43:59] last year proposal was first introduced to us because of great oak i mean what other example do my colleagues on this day is need you're flat out ignoring those concerns you're flat out ignoring the concerns that the district supervisor has raised and the supervisor weir has raised the facts are what they are and they're indisputable but here we are yet again getting ready to vote and you know how the vote is going to go down.

[08:44:25] So because you're not going to hear it from them, I want to apologize to you all and say that I'm sorry that you continue to be dragged. It wasn't enough to shove 500-plus homes down your throat and you all got over it and you ate that piece of pie or the whole pie, but that wasn't enough, no.

[08:44:43] Let's go ahead and pull the rug underneath you all and give you something far worse. Why is it far worse? Because it is absolutely going to impact their quality of life. It will, and I know without a shadow of a doubt, And I've said it before, and I'm going to say it again until they get sick and tired of hearing it.

[08:45:00] They would never, ever, ever, ever vote to put seven to nine data centers behind their backyard. Never. And it's sickening, and it's infuriating, because people come here with a sense of entitlement. Applicants come here with a sense of entitlement.

[08:45:16] Just look at the way they speak to us, the way they address us, because they already know how the vote is going to go down. The pie has been baked a long time ago. And I would challenge anybody to correct me and say that I'm wrong. Nothing anybody that has said here is going to persuade you to vote differently.

[08:45:36] It's not going to happen. We're losing a very strong advocate in Supervisor Lawson, but January can't come fast enough. I had a conversation with the incoming chair, and I'm hopeful that we're going to see things turn around.

[08:45:52] And I thank the chair for her vote tonight. Because you know how this works. The pressures and the powers that be are going to descend upon her so that the status quo can stay alive and well. I'm going to be done speaking here shortly, but you're going to hear my colleagues justify their yes vote when there is no justification in supporting this proposal.

[08:46:16] So once again, I apologize to you all, but I want to thank you for your courage, for your tenacity, for continuing to come, for continuing to show up, because nothing that I've just said right now is new to you all. You've known it. You've known it from day one, yet you stayed in the fight.

[08:46:33] And I hope that you continue to do so. Because if there's something that makes politicians uncomfortable is when you, the people, hold us accountable. To quote Ms. Vega, there is nothing, no, hang on, I wrote it down.

[08:46:55] Whoops. To quote Ms. Vega, there is no justification for this yes vote. Thank you. No justification for this yes vote, Ms. Vega. Next speaker, please. Hi, Bill Wright, Gainesville.

[08:47:13] Unscripted this time. I was going to go home, but after this evening's exhibition, I thought I should offer some extemporaneous comments. Okay, so I heard all the protestations of noble intent, and I listened to them, and I'm not buying it, okay?

[08:47:33] This county is a cesspool, a cesspool. And if the people on that dais had any ethical standards, you would realize it. Some of you, I'm sure, do. Some of you swim in that cesspool willingly.

[08:47:51] Some of you swim in it reluctantly. But the problem is you all share the stink. And there is a profound distrust from the citizens of what's going on up there. And tonight is an excellent example. Now, Supervisor Vega, we have been on the same side of some issues before, as was just illustrated by the recording that was played.

[08:48:16] And you, I think, scolded some people for bringing up donations. I think what you said was that people who donated to you have donated to you since you've been a supervisor. But as I recall, the most prolific donor and the applicant in this mid-county project lives in Fairfax County.

[08:48:38] So if he has been donating to you since you ran as supervisor, he must have wanted something from you. So the idea that nobody on that dais is affected by donations is absolute baloney, okay?

[08:48:55] Please don't insult our intelligence. You insult us enough with your votes. Now, I believe that the staff of Prince William County are honest, hardworking, honest, good people.

[08:49:10] But I also believe they have bad habits. And Supervisor Weir pointed out one of them tonight. They are so preconditioned to accommodate applicants that they put the citizens in the back seat. Why was this application even considered tonight when it was only to accommodate the applicants' bad planning?

[08:49:35] Now, I don't know where we go from here. And Chair Jefferson, you know that there are few people that worked as hard to put you in the chair that you're in as I did. And that was in the hope that evenings like this would no longer occur.

[08:49:56] It's a profound disappointment. And I know you've got a lot of work to do to progress from the level we have sunk to. Thank you. Next speaker, please. Elizabeth Martirana, Prince William County, 48 years, Gainesville District now.

[08:50:20] I can't tell you how disappointed I am. I'm embarrassed. I'm disappointed. and the five of you who voted for this project, I want to read this quote.

[08:50:37] Children are the world's most valuable resource and its best hope for the future. John F. Kennedy said that. We, you, me, everyone here, we have to do for this county, for our children.

[08:50:57] But right now, I asked Chair Wheeler, Chair Jefferson, and Mr. Shorter to arrange a field trip to the western end of the county. Just coming over to the Hilton Center to be sworn in in January is not enough.

[08:51:13] You truly need to come see the disaster in the making. It truly is in the making. Chair Jefferson, I'm not sure if you've been at our end of the county much. It's absolutely mind-boggling and incredible.

[08:51:32] I was on a team where we went to the school board offices a few months ago. We met with an associate superintendent. We explained the air conditioning and air handlers that are located on the top of the data centers.

[08:51:51] We explained the noise from them. We explained how many of the generators are around the perimeter of these data centers. The fuel oil.

[08:52:08] We explained the impervious surfaces. We explained how the noise would be bothersome to not just the children, but to the people who work there. They totally got it. They asked unbelievable questions, very astute questions.

[08:52:27] We answered the best we could. We showed pictures. We showed graphs. We did everything. But then they went like this. It's not up to us. It's up to the supervisors. The school board needs to have a seat there, too. They need to have a seat on the planning commission because the children in our county are the ones who are going to suffer the most.

[08:52:50] We told them an estimate would be $50 million per school that you're going to have to pay to rebuild for all these schools you're going to have to shut down. I promise you we're not exaggerating and if you don't understand something about what I just said, ask planning, ask us, call us. We'll take you on a windshield tour of the western end of the county so you can see the disaster in the making because it's mind-boggling. It makes me sick. It's embarrassing to say I've

[08:53:26] lived here 48 years. My husband, I can't talk anymore. Thank you. All right. I want to call our next group of speakers. We have Nofel, Al-Zahri, I'm sorry, I got it earlier, or I should say yesterday, Amar Al-Zahri, Sued Hadid, and Mohammed Al-Zahri. Can I have five minutes? No, it's, we have three minutes. The English, my second language. I, do you have a translator, sir that's okay okay if you have a do you have if you have someone who can translate for you

[08:54:05] i can give you additional my name is no fail at jazari i'm a mechanical engineer i'm living in stafford virginia before 20 years ago same address my son did accident before one year ago and they put him in the jail by false report we hire a lawyer he said i need to study the case before i

[08:54:39] be his lawyer. Okay, when he studied, he said, your son is innocent. I will be his lawyer. Last month, we filed a bond for him, and he explained the lawyer, explained to the judge, it means this is false report. They changed his word. For example, it means he said, I didn't argue the

[08:55:10] investigator. He said, I argue. 180 degrees different. Okay, and he explained to the judge, He said 50% of the accident in the United States like that.

[08:55:25] Because somebody, some car hit his car when he tried to drive his car in the corner, other car hit him. This is what happened. Okay, and the judge, he said, I need to see all the evidence, all the case.

[08:55:42] After two hours, he saw everything. He said, I didn't see any criminal in this case. He should go home. Ami Ashwar, the commonwealth attorney, she refused to go home because he was tortured in her jail.

[08:56:05] And she controlled every lawyer we hire. And she controlled the judge. I have document what I am talking about. She controlled the lawyer. She controlled the judge. She controlled the prosecutor. Okay.

[08:56:24] And hater. It means the lady hates our nationality, our religion. I don't know why. She is U.S. citizen. I'm a U.S. citizen. When Mr. President Bush decided I'm originally from Iraq, when President Bush decided to remove Saddam from power, I'm Saddam's victim.

[08:56:45] I'm from the family, lost a team member in his death machine. I filed to be U.S. military. They accept me as a U.S. military, but the prime minister inside Iraq, he hired me. He gave me a position.

[08:57:01] I chose to work through his office with General Petraeus to protect the angel who liberated us from evil. I believe everybody liberated us from evil occupation. Military United States, I was in the middle of the day.

[08:57:19] They told me, spy off U.S. Spy off U.S. Thank you, sir, for your time. I'm sorry. Next person, next speaker, please. Okay, I'm looking for justice. I need one. We understand, sir. I know this is very hard for you and your family.

[08:57:36] Outside Army, Ashwar, control. This is what I'm looking for. Sir, your time is now over. If you do not stop speaking, I will have police escort you out. Thank you. You know, Supervisor, I'd like you to remember that that's my dad who served this country when you tell him the police is going to escort him.

[08:57:58] I just want you to consider that. My name is Amar El-Jazari. I live in Stafford. When I couldn't find an organization that can help my brother and bring justice for my brother, I started my own, and I called it Protect Inmate Project. I'd like to use the Elmo to show the Supervisor a couple of documents.

[08:58:23] Investigator Robert Drum, that falsified my brother police report, is today on the Brady List for falsifying my brother police report. It's been 13 months my brother's been in solitary confinement. Supervisor Vega, I'd like to echo what you said earlier.

[08:58:43] For the past five, six hours, we've been talking about land dispute. Here, we're talking about my brother's life. Facts matter. The investigator is on the Brady List. This is a letter from the Chief of Police, Peter Newsham, from Internal Affairs, signed by the Chief of Police, Peter Newsham.

[08:59:03] that they had falsified my brother's police report. I have the 72-page discovery. My brother tells the investigator I hit the brake, it goes all the way to the floor, and there is no brake.

[08:59:19] This is the discovery. The police department inspected the vehicle and they found out that the back caliper did not work. The vehicle had no brake.

[08:59:36] I stole the dash camera from the Commonwealth attorney. 13 months later, the Commonwealth attorney refused to release a dash camera to the community, but she charged my brother with murder. After 13 months of solitary confinement, The Commonwealth Attorney will release four seconds of the dash camera. But I stand in front of you and I tell you I have the full dash camera.

[08:59:55] It's on my social media platform and the community at large is watching it. And there are questions in the narrative of this Commonwealth Attorney. That dash camera is cut, edited, and muted. That police department cut the dash camera, muted the dash camera, and edited the dash camera.

[09:00:17] We've been in the parking lot, the jail parking lot, for the past 49 days, camping in the jail parking lot. And instead of having someone come out and talk to us, the county attorney send 40 deputies, 40 deputies.

[09:00:40] Now, why was the Elmo cut? Ma'am, why was the Elmo cut? I've still got 26 seconds. It's still going. All right, good to go, ma'am. The county attorney send 40 deputies, drone over our head, deputies on top of a building, telling us to leave.

[09:00:59] Ma'am, you infringed on our First Amendment, and you just opened yourself to civil litigation. My brother's Eighth Amendment has been suspended, and his due process has been violated. 13 months of solitary confinement.

[09:01:16] I asked the Supervisor to look into what's going on with my brother, Mustafa Al-Jazari. Thank you. All right, next speaker, please.

[09:01:35] I'm also here to talk about the abuse that's going on at the Prince William County Adult Detention Center. Now, when this all started, my family believed that police will do the right thing. My family believes that law enforcement will do the right thing.

[09:01:54] If we report this incident, law enforcement will do the right thing. That's what we believed. We believed that if we go to the prosecutor and we show her the evidence, she's going to look at the evidence, look at the facts, and she's going to understand that this officer, Robert Drum, falsified Mustafa's statements.

[09:02:15] Because I recorded that call. And when I looked at the police report, the statements that Robert Drum put in quotes are the complete opposite of what Mustafa said. Mustafa stated, I did not argue. Robert Drum writes, Mustafa states, I was arguing.

[09:02:33] Mustafa says, I don't know what happened. Robert Drum states, in quotes, Mustafa stated, I know what happened. Now, when a magistrate looks at those statements alone and sees that this was a tragic accident, and he sees that Mustafa made these quotes, he's going to get an arrest warrant.

[09:02:55] Mustafa was arrested that night. We didn't know why until a few months later when the police report came out. And I remember that call because my brother never said those things. We sat down with internal affairs, my brother and I, sat down with internal affairs, and he agreed with us.

[09:03:13] First Sergeant Sean Shelton agreed. The report does not match what your brother said in that recording. And he verified that Robert Drum also recorded the same call on his body cam. He called Amy Ashworth, and Amy Ashworth stated to him that she's aware of the inconsistencies.

[09:03:32] We say inconsistency as a nice way to say lies. She's aware of the lies from day one. Yet, this conversation with Sean Shelton happened on a Wednesday. The following Tuesday, my brother is indicted with the same lying officer.

[09:03:51] Now, I want to take your time and show you that in Prince William County, there's no justice. There's no justice for my kind of people, for you people. I'm going to play this video. This is by Casey Stevens.

[09:04:06] This is a video from the courthouse where Casey Stevens assaults my mother in a courthouse, and he gets away with it. He walks away scot-free. I'm going to play this video.

[09:04:29] So it's upside down. And while you're adjusting it, would you just state your name and where you live for the record? Yes, ma'am. My name is Mohamed Al-Jazari, and I live in Stafford. Thank you.

[09:04:44] I'm sorry, your time is...

[09:05:09] Did it cut off? Did it cut off? Your time is up. I just want to say, ma'am, just one last statement, that Casey Stevens assaults my mother. The Sheriff's Department refused to charge him. I went with my mom. We filed a citizen's complaint, and Amy Ashworth brings in Commonwealth Attorney Eric Olson from Stafford, and our court was supposed to be held on the second floor in a public hearing, just like everybody else, but it was moved to a private courtroom in the juvenile domestic floor, on the first floor.

[09:05:48] Now, the prosecutor refused to talk to my mother. He dismisses the case. Your time is up. Thank you. Thank you. I just want to let you know, ma'am, there's no justice in this county for our people. according to Casey Stevens you people all right ma'am hello how you doing my name is Saad Haddad I live in Stafford this my family um I am protesting now as I mentioned earlier about my

[09:06:22] son case Mustafa Al-Jazari I'm protesting in front of the jail every day sitting there sleeping there I found there is no justice there is no justice everybody's covering up for each other from the judge, from Commonwealth Attorney Amy Ashworth to the jail, all of them are corrupt. I am here

[09:06:53] looking for justice. I need your help because I don't see justice there. The reason why I'm here because I heard this is a human rights office because this is, I heard this is government center.

[09:07:09] So please, please, I am looking for help. We are here. I feel we are lonely. No one is for us. I need you, like, to stand with us, please. Now, I'm asking for investigators.

[09:07:30] Like, I need the right person to come to see what's going on in this jail, in Prince William County jail. They are torturing my son, and no one cares. No one cares. So the reason why I'm here, and until now, I have a healthy problem.

[09:07:47] I'm awake from 7 o'clock morning, and I'm sleepy, tired by protesting there. So I need your help. Please, please help us. This is my family. We are, we are like abused.

[09:08:05] They abused my son. They tortured my son. They kept him in solitary confinement for 14 months and they put him in protective custody and they are bothering him, torturing him. That's why I am there. I don't have home anymore to go, to go back. So I am sleeping in front of the jail.

[09:08:24] Please send someone to us to listen to our situation. Please, this country is a great country. That's why we are here. That's why we came to this country. We thought this is the justice country. But I don't see justice as of today. I don't see any justice in this country.

[09:08:41] I need your help, please. We don't have anywhere to go. The local FBI is corrupt. The judge is corrupt. Prince William's judge is corrupt. That's what I saw and I have experience. Please send us someone to speak, to express our feelings, talk what's going on in this county. So I just want to say I need help. Please send me right people so we can explain. We can give the evidence we have. My son is innocent and sitting there, they are torturing him every day, every minute. They are starving him. They don't allow him to

[09:09:18] talk to me, to call me. I want to make sure my son is okay. So please, I need your help. That's thank you for listening i know this is hard on you and your family thank you thank you thank you for listening to us all right um thank you everyone who has stayed it is time to adjourn second we have a remote speaker oh damn it's too late all right wow all right miss van uh please let our remote speaker speak how many people we got ryan bartruff good evening uh I'm anchoring the meeting.

[09:09:58] Members of the board, Madam Chair, my name is Ryan Bartroff. I'm a resident of the Gainesville District. I'm speaking tonight in the hopes that you will address a grave concern both for myself and the Pageland Lane community. Not long ago, we received a reassessment of our property taxes as a result of the rezoning process for the digital gateway.

[09:10:18] The new total is crippling for an individual family, and most of our neighbors cannot afford what the county says they owe. These new assessments are based on the idea that our properties can now be developed for commercial use, but the Digital Gateway Project is mired in legal challenges.

[09:10:36] And while we wait, the Pageland residents are just that, residents. Our homes do not bring in tech industry income. They're just our homes. Despite the fact that these properties have not been sold, they are being taxed as if they're already in the hands of QTI and Compass.

[09:10:56] And if that were the case, those billion-dollar companies probably wouldn't flinch at the numbers that we saw in our tax bills. But when I look at it, all I see is bankruptcy. I see families faced with losing everything. I see an impossible bill that will come due over and over again the longer the approval process drags on.

[09:11:17] Now that you understand the gravity of the situation, I hope you will ensure that the families on Pageland are not forced into poverty by capricious, reckless, and inappropriate taxation. please correct the reassessment to reflect that pageland is not yet a collection of lucrative data centers it is still a community of families thank you thank you mr brought ruff is there anyone else miss van no that is all moved to adjourn second let's vote we're we're in voting

[09:11:55] who cares take your pick we care vote unanimous all right our next meeting is next week tuesday on June 11th.

[09:12:16] It will be a work session. Thank you very much, everyone. Have a good night. Get home safe.

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