Coraggio Consulting
Prince William Board of County Supervisors Meeting, Tuesday, October 22, 2024

Date: Tuesday, October 22, 2024
Place: Prince William County Board of County Supervisors, Virginia
Length: 2h 55m (video)
Official meeting video (Prince William County, Granicus): https://pwcgov.granicus.com/player/clip/3568
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 2026-10-31. Timestamps are [HH:MM:SS] into the meeting video.

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[00:00:00] on the landscaping as well. So it's beautiful. It included, I think, about 100 bushes and 70 trees. Again, thank you very much. Thank you all for gathering here today to celebrate the successful completion of the Neabsco District Landscaping Enhancement Project on Ridgefield Road. This moment marks a significant milestone in our community's journey towards a more beautiful,

[00:00:36] sustainable, and welcoming environment. Ridgefield Road is a vital roadway in our district, and with this project we have transformed it into an attractive space for all of our residents to enjoy. This project is a testimony of our community's dedication and hard work. It reflects our collective commitment to improving the quality of life for all residents and fostering a sense of pride and ownership within our neighborhood. The enhanced landscape not only beautifies our surrounding but also promotes environmental stewardship and provides more opportunities for our outdoor activities.

[00:01:12] It is through our united efforts that we have brought this vision to life. Thank you. Property code enforcement inspectors work in the Neighborhood Services Division, which is within the Department of Public Works in Prince William County.

[00:01:40] Property code enforcement inspectors are involved in building code enforcement, including investigations while providing guidance and education outreach. Inspectors may have to testify in court when necessary. Our mission is to help residents understand, abide by, and raise concerns about compliance with property codes.

[00:01:58] These codes are designed to maintain adequate health and safety and support quality of life in the places where we live and work in Prince William County. When a complaint is filed, the inspector will first research the history of the property in the county databases and visit the property and determine if there is a code violation.

[00:02:15] If there is a violation, the inspector will identify what it is and then reach out to the property or business owners working with them for the best resolution to clear up the issue. The Property Code Enforcement Inspector takes great pride in helping to maintain safety, welfare, and property within the community by educating residents and businesses about the codes that keep us all safe and healthy.

[00:02:39] I'm Elias, and this is my story. I was jobless, was out looking for work for about six, seven months.

[00:03:01] My goal was to ensure that my kids and my family didn't experience the hiccup that I'm experiencing. I got a big loan, about almost a $35,000 loan. Of course, $35,000 ended up going pretty fast with the rain and every other thing that's required in the house.

[00:03:18] the moment where i realized that my account was negative like 320 something like and then i sat down and realized that there was no way i can get money from anywhere because i utilized the loan it was completely gone i had a credit card completely maxed out my car was about to be repulled because it was six months behind so i went online and when i entered jobs near me what

[00:03:43] popped up was Source Services in Princeton County. In trying to complete Elias' assessment, it was very difficult because he was basically a broken man sitting across from me. And you really can't go through the list of questions and get these generic answers when someone's down on

[00:04:18] their luck and hitting that rock bottom. We pushed the paper to the side and said, let's just talk. Let's, you know, talk. It's not leaving this room just between you and I. Where are you? What do we need to do to get you back on your feet that process was very uh for me it was embarrassing i had way too much pride and ego to approach social services uh because there's a prejudice and a stereotype with the name social services this is the assumption is uh either you're lazy or uh you're just a nobody basically and then she started telling me you know i'm here to help i'm

[00:04:57] here to it's very hard to hear that from somebody because you don't really hear that a lot as well where I come from, I just broke down and started crying. It was very hard for me because for me getting help was not what I anticipated. And then she just explained to me, hey, we're here to help.

[00:05:20] And once you're done with this process, you get off food stamps, you get off welfare, and you go along with your life. In Elias's situation, what we did was we looked at the experience he had and goals he wanted to pursue and we made referrals to different community partners in order to achieve the training and experience that he needed i was actually worried that he was going to come in and

[00:05:57] tell me he lost that fantastic dream job and i walked in and i sat down and she was like okay why are you here elias actually filled me in on what was going on with him and his family The good news was that Elias moved on to gain bigger and better employment opportunities and now has multiple businesses where he's giving back to the community.

[00:06:20] I do have my own company that I started where I'll provide cybersecurity training so folks can line jobs. It was just like Mr. LaFerry helped me. So now my goal is to go back and pay it forward by providing vocational training to folks who are unable to progress in life.

[00:06:39] Social Services has really transformed my lives. It transformed my life. I'm very happy that I went through that process. I'm very happy I went through Social Services. I'm very happy that I have Ms. Leferi as the person who is helping me out.

[00:06:55] I'm happy because the fact that the work that she's putting in actually works. It's because of her that I'm here right now. I just know I owe her some part of my life. So if Ms. Lefarious is watching this video, I really want to say that I love her dearly.

[00:07:15] And if she ever needs anything, I always got her back. Oh my. I wanted to do this because I wanted to make a difference in people's lives. Elias is actually one of the reasons why I'm here. The reason I continue to come to work every day is to help people like Elias.

[00:07:34] For me, this is something I'll never forget. I'll use this as an example for years to come. I'm Selene Wieckowski.

[00:07:58] I'm currently a police cadet at the Prince William County Police Department. So the cadet application process was fairly straightforward. You got a background check, a polygraph, went through a couple interviews. You started, you got full benefits, I have a full salary. You work full time and train and learn all about the department up until you go into the academy.

[00:08:19] It's a wonderful place to live and work. See yourself here at Prince William County. I'm Danielle and I'm a team lead in the GIS division.

[00:08:43] What GIS is, is geographic information systems, and GIS can be used in so many different ways. And it deals with patterns and trends, and you're able to take that data, and it can tell a story.

[00:09:01] We're a behind-the-scenes agency. We do a lot of the web apps for other agencies to help them do their job more efficient. And then the public and the citizens of Prince William County, they benefit from this greatly.

[00:09:19] If someone's coming into our office, they need our help. I feel like it's very important to educate them while they're here, to help them understand and walk them through the process. Prince William County is a county of people who care.

[00:09:38] We are here to help people and guide them. Building those strong relationships with our customers is so meaningful to us. I am very passionate about helping people. I love to help people. And Prince William County has just, I'm in my 24th year here, and it has been a wonderful place to work.

[00:10:03] I learn something new every day. Not only do I learn from my customers, but I learn from my colleagues. The team to me is so important. I have a wonderful team. They are very high performers.

[00:10:19] They go above and beyond on a daily basis. Just, I'm very proud of them. I'm very proud at how they help the public, how they help their colleagues. They are, they always go the extra mile to help that customer get what they need.

[00:10:37] That is the most rewarding part of this job, is knowing that you're able to help someone, guide them, and give them what they need to solve their problem. I'm Danielle, and that's how I serve.

[00:10:53] Child Abuse Prevention Month recognizes the importance of families and communities working together to strengthen families in order to prevent child abuse and neglect.

[00:11:18] Building resiliency is crucial in the prevention of child abuse. Resilience is the ability to bounce back during tough times and the process by which children and families meet personal and family challenges trauma and manage setbacks in adversity bounce back is an acronym created by dr helen mcgrath for some of the foundational principles of resilience specifically b bad times don't last and things get better oh other people can help

[00:11:48] support you if you talk to them you unnecessary worries make things worse and nobody is perfect Not you, not your friends, not your family, not anybody.

[00:12:03] C. Concentrate on the good things in life, no matter how small. E. Everybody experiences bad times, not just you. It is a normal part of life. B. Be positive, no matter how small the positives are, and find the laughter.

[00:12:20] A. Accept what you can't change, and try to change what you can. C. Control your feelings and actions by controlling your thinking. K. Keep things in perspective. even the worst moment is but one moment in life when things don't go as you want or if you get knocked down remember that you can bounce back and be okay again by building resilience and working together we can keep children and families safe and well if you're concerned about the abuse and

[00:12:53] neglect of a child please report it by calling the protected services hotline at 703-792-4200 or the state hotline 24 hours a day at 1-800-552-7096.

[00:13:27] Stream restoration is a practice of where a stream may be out of balance or have a lot of problems, and we try to repair that stream. And a stream restoration project is a device, a mechanism, for us to re-channel and reshape the way the water flows through the ground here so that we intercept more of the sediment send less of it downstream to the bay. So what we did here to restore this channel is we reconnected it to a floodplain, restored the function of the channel, and created lots of habitat for fish and bugs and near stream habitat

[00:14:04] for birds and other types of animals. We broke the stream back when we began agriculture in the 1700s. We cleared the forest, we got rid of the beaver, and that enabled topsoil to wash down into the stream, filled up the stream valley. We We identify impairments of the stream system and then we come up with a design to mitigate those impairments and improve the stream's quality for bugs and fish and animals.

[00:14:35] Through restoration, we are going to bring the balance back and we will do this by stabilizing the banks, reconnecting the stream to this floodplain, and by doing that we're going to prevent erosion, we're going to replant the riparian corridor which will actually buffer for pollution, and improve the habitat and protect the infrastructure where it's needed. The most important message from stream restoration is that it's a long-term solution.

[00:15:07] We're not doing this to try to fix the stream and have it be complete next week. In fact, stream restoration projects are unlike many other capital construction projects in that the day that we walk off the site from construction, it's at a very weakened state. We rely on the vegetation growing adjacent to the stream and on the floodplains to help stabilize the soils and the banks.

[00:15:25] You know, it takes a while for that vegetation to grow. The willow that you see growing behind me, That's it, throw in over a matter of weeks. This is three years old behind me. We get some criticism about what we do here and how we do it. Every tree that's been cut will be utilized in the project itself. So it's not like we're sacrificing something just to get it out of there.

[00:15:44] We're using it as a tool to improve the environment. This is a project that's good for the fish. It's good for the fish in our local stream. It's really good for the fish down in the Chesapeake Bay. So we're restoring our local habitat here. We may get mussels reintroduced here. We're certainly going to get a lot of frogs and tadpoles and amphibians moving through our wetlands and our floodplain here.

[00:16:08] And we got fish that are already looking for places to create new baby fish as they're swimming up Dewey's Creek. I would encourage people to get out and put their feet in the water. You know, there's nothing more satisfying as a stream restoration design engineer than coming back a year or two later and seeing kids playing in the stream, Seeing people walking the stream, picking up rocks, flipping them over to see what they can find.

[00:16:30] I think it's great to get out and just get your feet wet. Believe me, if you have kids, you're going to want them to have a better future as they get older and have a Chesapeake Bay that's cleaner. The process of doing a restoration is pretty extensive.

[00:16:50] You have the people who work for the county. We're the ones that usually identify the problems. Or we do watershed management plans with a consultant and identify stream problems. When that's done, then we select the stream that we want to repair. When that happens, then we get a consultant who will be our design consultant.

[00:17:08] The design process begins. So my involvement in stream restoration projects begins at the very start of the project, identifying the site, coming up with the reasons for impairment, studying the stream, and then understanding why the stream is impaired. I work with fisheries biologists. I work with geomorphologists.

[00:17:25] I work with landscape architects. I work with arborists. I work with floodplain ecologists, people with all kinds of different areas of expertise that inform the design. When that is complete and the design is finished, the construction phase will get involved, even before I get to that point.

[00:17:44] I have to do a lot of community service work. I have to spread the word to the citizens about what we're going to do and how it's going to benefit everybody. This is an amazing exercise where the engineers design a new shape for the stream channel to reflect a geometry that will minimize the flow of sediment by controlling the speed of the water that erodes the sediment and carries it downstream.

[00:18:14] Boy, when you start a stream restoration project, it looks like you're just ripping the place apart. You're bringing the big heavy equipment in and it looks like you're building another townhome subdivision. And so you might assume that you're doing a great deal of harm.

[00:18:31] But that's a necessary component of replanting the stream in a new location, restoring the stream banks in the floodplain, reconnecting the stream to the floodplain. I think we're doing a great deal of benefit, even though there is an initial harm.

[00:18:47] This project had a forested canopy over parts of it. However, in some areas, it wasn't necessary to cut down some of the trees. But every tree that we cut down didn't leave the site. The trees that were cut down, in many cases pushed over, were used in the channel as part of the restoration strategy.

[00:19:03] We do try to minimize the impact of the trees, particularly large trees that are within the landscape. But overall, we feel like the benefit of improving the restoration of the site and getting water back on the floodplain will offset the impacts to the trees. In time, we replant everything.

[00:19:20] We put down maybe at least 400 stems per acre of trees and monitor it as we do the monitoring periods. to see the success of growth and survival. - Consider it surgery. The doctor has to do an incision before the doctor can do the repair.

[00:19:37] So here we're seeing the initial part on the first day of development as something that's ugly and unattractive. But at the end of the operation, you have a much healthier spot.

[00:19:54] - As a designer, I believe the best way to measure our success is did we meet the goals and objectives of the project. In this case, our project objective here to reconnect the stream with the floodplain, stop bank erosion, and recreate lots of habitat for fish and bugs. And walking this site, it sure seems like we've met that objective. We have to do monitoring for a period of five to ten years required by the Army Corps of Engineers and Virginia Department of Environmental Quality. We come out here every other year and monitor the success of the vegetation. We look at each stream structure that's built and we do as-built

[00:20:31] surveys to make sure that the structure's integrity is still together and after that five-year period if the stream or any issues with the stream is taken care of it will be signed off by the core and the regulators as being a successful project we've created a place we've created a setting which is rare in prince william green open space not far from where people live in crowded subdivisions. This is a place for peace and quiet. This is a place for reflection. This is a place where the water running through the ripples gives you a different sense. This is a special place

[00:21:08] surrounded by a lot of ordinary development. So I look for an opportunity for people to get

[00:21:14] into these stream valleys and experience. Good afternoon everyone and welcome to our Tuesday,

[00:46:42] the October 22nd, 2024 Board of Supervisors meeting. Let's start with a moment of silence.

[00:46:57] As you're able, please stand for the Pledge of Allegiance.

[00:47:11] Indivisible, liberty and justice for all. All right, thanks everyone. So a few housekeeping items before we move through the rest of the agenda. Chair Jefferson is still out sick today and is recovering. Please keep her in your minds and hearts as she continues to recover.

[00:47:29] As a reminder to everyone watching and everyone in the chambers, items 7A and 9B on the agenda, the discussion adoption of the county's 2024 legislative agenda and the presentation on the affordable dwelling unit ordinance have been respectively have been deferred until our next meeting on November 19th. And also for folks who may be interested tonight, please keep in mind again that we canceled the evening meeting for 7 p.m. as the only item on the agenda for that session was the Ashton Data Center public hearing, which has been requested to be deferred by the

[00:48:02] applicant. Now on to item three, commendations and proclamations. 3A, commend Bennett and Gail Whitlock on 30 years of service and community support. Can I get a motion to approve? Second. Moving to properly seconded. Any discussion? Seeing none, please vote. Vote unanimous. Supervisor Franklin absent from vote. Chair Jefferson absent from meeting and all subsequent votes. Thank you.

[00:48:39] I will come down to the podium to give the commendation to anyone from Whitlock. Wealth who will be joining us. Thank you. So commendation for Bennett and Gail Whitlock. Whereas in 1994, Lakers residents Bennett and Gail Whitlock founded Whitlock Wealth, through which they have worked

[00:49:17] to positively impact the economic landscape and quality of life in Prince William County. And whereas the Whitlocks pride themselves on 30 years of award-winning service, growing their company to include a second location where they nurture entrepreneurs in the greater Prince William through One Million Cups and a business incubator.

[00:49:35] And the Whitlocks encourage employees to pursue professional growth, community involvement, and invite them to mentor the next generation through a paid intern program for students interested in finance and economics. And whereas, the Whitlocks' deep community roots are reflected through significant leadership roles in many community organizations over the decades.

[00:49:54] Quote, we truly work, live, and play here. It's been a joy to serve in many organizations with which we are associated, said Gail. And, whereas, Gale's service includes a role as a CASA CIS advocate, treasurer of the Potomac Health Foundation, past chair of the Prince William Chamber of Commerce, and Lake Ridge and Parks Recreation and Board positions in organizations such as the Hilton Performing Arts Center, Leadership Prince William, and the Optimist Club.

[00:50:19] And, whereas, Bennett is the past president of leadership Prince William, the Lake Ridge Rotary, and has held board positions with the Prince William Chamber of Commerce, Acts, and the Manassas Ballet Theater, and, whereas, we're getting to the end here, I promise, the Whitlocks encourage their employees to support causes dear to them individually to volunteer as a team, lending a hand to National Youth Readers' Day, making it real, Acts, Project Men to House, other worthy efforts, and, whereas, Galen Bennett further uplifted community initiatives by having Whitlock wealth sponsor nonprofits such as box of basics sweet julia grace foundation meals on wheels keep

[00:50:55] pretend beautiful in the house of mercy now therefore be it resolved but the princely and border county supervisors hereby commends bennett and gail whitlock on 30 years of outstanding leadership and community enrichment so she decided that she doesn't want to say anything but again

[00:51:13] congratulations thank you okay now we're going to move forward to number four our consent agenda

[00:52:02] does anyone have any items they would like to take off a consent agenda at this time all right seeing none can i get a motion to approve items 4a through 4-0 so move mr chairman second it's been moving properly seconded any discussion or highlights folks would like to do supervisor franklin sure um for 4a i know that there's been some discussions around uh the neabsco marina

[00:52:37] owners about kind of starting in 2026 um so does that mean that they're not included in this particular agreement just want some clarification on that correct so supervisor this uh this item really is exclusive to the association for uh lake montclair and the work that we've done there fully understanding that there's some additional work that's happening that will come as a separate item and so you will the board will in public will see that as a separate as a separate item that's great yet that was my understanding just wanted to make

[00:53:12] sure thank you supervisor Bailey thank you mr. chairman and to that thank you for bringing that forward mr. miss Franklin there was a discussion in reference to this for for your district as well so I I concur that should be focused upon but I want to thank staff for keeping this in the fore this has been a four-year project and it's finally come to coming to fruition and it's been a four-year project with with the homeowners association and the county working very closely together as well as the Marine Corps and so I'm

[00:53:50] really grateful that we are moving forward and as we did with the Montclair drainage pipe everyone can benefit from this this one step forward so thank you so much in advance for your hard work on this all right see I see no other speakers can we get take a vote vote unanimous thank you so much for that now on to number five public comment time everyone who has signed up for public comment time gets three minutes to speak please indicate your name and

[00:54:29] generally whereabouts in the county you live remote public comment time which I'm not sure we have anyone signed up for we yeah that's fine we'll have the same parameters we're not quite there yet but just saying so for in-person public comment time right now we just have Teresa mens and Harry Wiggins and it'll stay open for the next 15 minutes. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Harry Wiggins, 3525 Waters End Trail,

[00:55:05] Lake Ridge, Virginia. I want to comment on 4B. Speak up a little bit, Mr. Wiggins, into the mic. We're having trouble hearing you. I think it's on. You just need to speak up a little bit more. Is it on? Is it on? Okay. Yeah, I want to make a comment on 4B, which is finally coming to fruition. And we should all thank Delegate Sewell and Delegate Torian for getting the state funding portion of this project that will really provide relief for those folks

[00:55:36] living out at Bristow Manor. The main reason I want to speak today is the upcoming legislative package that the board is going to deal with on, I guess, November the 19th. One of the principal issues, as I see it anyway, and having met with seven of the supervisors here, is the Aquan Reservoir and our drinking water. I'd like to also commend Supervisor Gordy and Supervisor

[00:56:10] Franklin for agreeing to work together to try to solve this problem that we have. The salt in the Yaquan is at a level that exceeds the EPA recommended levels for drinking water every day of the year. And on 86 days of the year, it exceeds the situation where you can actually taste salt in the water. For the last 30 years, the salt has been increasing in the reservoir.

[00:56:40] In the last 10 years, it's been a hockey puck. It was going up, and in the last 10 years, it's been a hockey puck. And a county without water is not a county. You know, we saw what happened in Flint, Michigan with lead. Well, what you're going to read about Prince William County is you're going to read about salt and we have no drinking water. We have no other source right now of drinking water for Prince William County other than the Aquan Reservoir and a few deep wells out at the Mountain View area. Last year, our friendly Department of Transportation,

[00:57:15] State Department of Transportation, dumped more than 60 million pounds of salt in the Aquan watershed. And I think we all agree that that was a pretty mild winter when we had some snow flurries. But 60 million pounds of salt went on the roads in the Aquan Reservoir from VDOT.

[00:57:38] It's a pretty serious issue. There's lots of other issues with the aqua, but this is low-hanging fruit. VDOT is low-hanging fruit. Delegate Hinson put a bill in last year, got no support at all from this board or the previous board that would have stopped VDOT from putting salt down in the watershed.

[00:58:00] There are alternatives. They're more expensive, and I think that's VDOT's main objection is expense. If we don't do something about it, be prepared to spend a billion dollars at the Upper Aquan Service Authority to put a reverse osmosis system in.

[00:58:16] Thank you. Thank you, Mr. Wiggins. Ms. Menz, you're up.

[00:58:34] Theresa Menz, Potomac District. I want to thank law enforcement and first responders for all that they do for us. And I want to say God bless America and God bless Israel. I had a great evening last night.

[00:58:52] Down in North Carolina, the religious leaders got together and had a group rally. Dr. Ben Carson spoke. The most important thing he said was Christians don't want to vote for the least of the two evils.

[00:59:11] Well, Dr. Ben Carson stated, unless Jesus Christ is on the ballot, you are always voting for the lesser of the two evils. And the beauty about Dr. Ben Carson, he's not DEI.

[00:59:27] He got an education. He knew what he was doing. Many people spoke. They were great. Like I said, it was very uplifting. The topic was Jesus Christ, our Lord, and many faith topics. Pastor Graham prayed, our 45th President Trump spoke, and he had a lot of great things to say. Just a reminder, anyone who votes Democrat or is a Democrat politician, you are responsible for the death of the 13 servicemen and women in Afghanistan.

[01:00:06] Let's not forget the military that were also crippled, Maine. The sniper was not allowed to take a shot to protect everybody, so now he's crippled. $85 billion worth of military equipment was left in Afghanistan.

[01:00:27] Our best nice gargles, whatever, glasses are there. Something the enemy did not have. Now terrorists control the biggest airfield in Afghanistan. our tax dollars paid for all that general milley was in favor of supplying the terrorist he said oh it's too expensive to bring this back that's okay illegals and terrorists only matter to the democrats and unfortunately to the rhinos okay and the america american tax dollars go to all this

[01:01:04] it's just sad and we are being played by ukraine yes ukraine is playing us everybody's skimming off the top, our tax dollars, China, Russia, Korea, George Soros, our FBI, DOJ, and then we're in etc. And we're dealing with DEI, pride, and LGBTQ+. God is not in the Democrats vocabulary. Jesus Christ is not there either. God bless America. Thank you, Ms. Menz. Our last speaker is Ms. Piper.

[01:01:44] You're up. Thank you. Can you hear me? Yes. Okay. Hello, my name is Caprice Piper. I am a longtime community advocate for arts equality and the founder and executive director of Divine Inspirations Incorporated.

[01:02:08] It's a 501c3 non-for-profit organization located in the Woodbridge, Virginia area, impacting underserved children in all districts of our county. I am here today to address item 9c on the agenda, fiscal year 2025 arts grant disbursements as recommended by the arts grant panel and Parks and Recreation Commission.

[01:02:36] I would like to draw attention to RE3C of the 2021 through 2024 strategic plan, which emphasizes the creation and investment in diverse, equitable, and inclusive cultural, arts, and historic preservation initiatives that preserve and enrich the culture, history, and heritage of Prince William County.

[01:03:06] The concern I'm raising today is the lack of diversity and inclusive inclusivity among the 14 awarded organizations. Only one of the awarded organizations identifies as a minority or black owned business and is the only organization that serves low income, low income communities.

[01:03:31] Additionally, two of the 14 awarded organizations accounted for almost 50% of the allocated $193,000. One of these organizations is currently a million-dollar organization and does not have a notable record of the impact it has made on the Prince William County community.

[01:03:58] There are numerous organizations here in our county that are doing commendable work, often in the areas of the county that need support the most, such as communities with Title I schools. It is very disheartening to see such missed opportunities, and I urge the board to ensure that the review process maintains its integrity and truly addresses the needs of our community.

[01:04:24] I implore the board today to analyze the missions of the organizations and compare them to the needs of the community. Reach out to those organizations and consider extending them a courtesy invitation to apply next year because as we understand and know that if a organization as a non-profit is doing the work and making the impact in our community such opportunities can be missed and so we want to ensure that we are inclusive in the opportunities that we provide to our

[01:04:59] organizations that's doing so much work to impact our communities so I thank you for hearing me out and considering what I had to say today. Thank you so much. Thank you, Ms. Piper. And that was the final speak for in-person public comment time.

[01:05:15] Do we have anyone online? Do not. Ms. Vega, you have the week off again. All right, so that's it for public comment time. Now on to public hearings. I would like to group a few of these together based on what they are.

[01:05:32] So 6A and 6B would like to, because they're related to transportation projects, and 6D and 6E as they're both related to the same project and the same magisterial district. I don't have any concerns with that. All right, so we'll go in order. So first, let's go into 6A and 6B.

[01:05:53] Did staff want to give presentation on those? Okay, no. Do you have anyone signed up for 6A or 6B? We do, okay. So while that is happening, I will hereby officially open the public hearing for 6A and 6B.

[01:06:10] Is Ms. Menz the only speaker for those? Ms. Menz, you have the floor. Threesome Menz, the Potomac District. I really wish there was a presentation being made before I was up here to speak.

[01:06:39] My time is very valuable, and I don't have a lot of time to get in the depth of everything. But let me tell you what I saw happen at the last meeting you had that really, really upset me.

[01:06:56] Actually, the first meeting of the month. you were talking about data centers, okay? And I'm sorry I forgot to bring the name of that, what was on the docket, okay? But when the supervisors were talking about everything or the presentation was finally being given, it was brought up about Dominion and Novak. Not in any of the presentation before we were able to speak were Dominion and Novak ever mentioned,

[01:07:35] okay and it really a lot of it really wasn't clear to me okay and I tell you what every time Dominion and Novak are involved we should know about it because let me tell you about Novak Queen Anne she was on the board of Novak she's got lots of connections throughout Prince William County and that's what we have that's wrong with Prince William County the connections and all

[01:08:10] these people that came here to speak during the data centers, their time was being abused. They were being abused. We were all being abused. So I would like to see presentations before I'm supposed to come up here to speak, okay? And I want it to be clarified. And if Dominion and Novec are involved or anybody like that, I want to hear about it. I want to know about it. Stop covering for queen anne stop shafting prince william county stop shafting the people that

[01:08:49] bring their time here and have to deal with the lies coming from this board i rest thank you miss men's are there any other folks from the public in the audience who would like to speak to items 6a or 6b all right seeing none i will hereby close a public hearing for 6a and 6b do we have any questions for staff before we have motions made all right i will entertain a motion for uh 6a and 6b so move mr chairman second all right it's been moved and properly seconded any discussion

[01:09:29] on these items seeing none please vote vote unanimous thank you now it's on uh to 6c it's my understanding that we did get some information uh this afternoon uh that will likely cause us to defer it but mr venegas you have the floor good afternoon uh vice chair uh voting and supervisors My name is Alex Venegas from the planning office.

[01:09:57] We did receive a request to defer item 6C, overturn administrative denial of home occupancy certificate, Gonzalez Family Day, home to date certain December 10th, 2024. Ms. Bailey, would you like to make a motion as this?

[01:10:14] Yes. Thank you, Mr. Vice Chair. I appreciate the county staff, the coordination with the information that we got late in the wee hours of the morning. We appreciate your fast movement on this, so I move to defer this item until December 10th. All right. Do I have a second?

[01:10:31] Second. Moving in properly seconded. Any discussion or questions? Seeing none, please vote. Vote unanimous.

[01:10:52] Thank you. Thank you, Mr. Venegas. Thank you. Thank you to staff for getting that turned around for us ahead of the meeting. Appreciate you. All right. Now for 6D and 6E. Is it pronounced Alarosa? Okay. So we have 6C and 6D.

[01:11:08] Did we have, did staff want to give presentations on those or did we just want to open the public hearing? Gordy, did you want to, presentations or just want to go to the public hearing? All right. That said, good deal. Let's go ahead and officially open the public hearing for items 6C and 6D.

[01:11:25] Ms. Menz, you're currently the only one signed up for it. Once again, Theresa Menz, Potomac District. And I stand behind what I said.

[01:11:43] I appreciate a little presentation, and I also want to know who the people are involved. This may be okay, but I'm telling you, that one meeting that we had, and nobody until after the fact mentioned Dominion and NOVAC.

[01:12:04] It's your job to look out for us, not our job to have to watch you all and see what you guys are doing. Okay? So I will be speaking up from now on. so start taking care of prince william county i'm i've just seen too much underhanded stuff going on and i don't even know the stuff that the data people know we have been betrayed by america

[01:12:39] has been betrayed by our politicians self-serving all of you there's things i could tell you that are disgusting right here in this room okay that's all i have to say i want presentations i want to know things thank you miss men's anyone else to speak for items 6d or 6e in the chambers seeing none miss madden do we have anyone online all right i will then hereby close the public

[01:13:13] hearing for 6d and 6e any questions for staff before we go into motions seeing none so there's a gordy um thank you uh mr vice chair um i'd move that we approve uh items 6d and 6e do i have a Second.

[01:13:30] Second. Mr. Vice Chair, just real fast, we've been working on this project for three years now. It's been in the process for a long time. But this site is the original Noakesville School, basically the K-8 school in Noakesville.

[01:13:48] It has a lot of history. The gym in the back, incidentally, was built by returning veterans from World War II who just got together and said, school needs a gym, let's build a gym. and it just shows and it reminds us of the resiliency and the gumption of the Noakesville community. And so I'm glad we're finally here and can get this project approved and actually designate this through the comprehensive plan amendment as a historic site. Thank you.

[01:14:20] Thank you. Appreciate that. So as a Gordy, anyone else? All right. So, you know, for the discussion, let's vote. Vote unanimous. Great. Thank you, everyone. That closes out our public hearings item six for the afternoon on to item number seven county executive mr shorter the floor is yours thank you very much vice chair bode and members of the board want to make a few

[01:14:53] quick announcements and then we'll move on to item 5b quickly in terms of directives issued last week there was only one directive issued related to the vaco 2024 credentialing that credentialing form has been sent off to VACO by our clerk and that item is now closed. Also wanted to make sure I mentioned the early voting sites and want to just encourage our residents to take full advantage.

[01:15:26] Certainly the sites are very busy but not busy enough to say you will be waiting in line because you won't. So come on down to our early voting sites. We are well above average in terms of early voters and voters by mail. So just want to encourage anyone who is interested in voting early to take advantage of the sites. Also, just as a reminder, the board encouraged and I certainly took the board up on the opportunity to coordinate better with our towns. And so we met for the first

[01:16:00] time last week, had a great exchange with all of our town managers. We will continue those meetings quarterly moving forward and I will say they all expressed a real genuine interest in better coordination with the county really appreciated staff and how certainly of late we've been better coordinating with them in terms of services so just wanted to make sure that the board knew that those meetings are happening and I've kept to the promise with that I will say that as our vice

[01:16:34] chair mentioned item 7a has been deferred until november 19th we are working to make sure that the items that that the board members have mentioned to us that we are trying to make sure that they are coordinated in a way and presented in a way on the 19th that is clear to the public and with that item 7b before you move on sorry mr shorter i have two speakers in the queue supervisors franklin and then bailey yeah just want to um in terms of the discussion

[01:17:13] around the arts grant obviously we've had a constituent kind of speak about concerns with regards to that i would just encourage her and if we can have staff kind of talk to her and explain the process for applying that this is an open process anyone is welcome to apply and then obviously there are certain requirements as to when it comes down to specific awarding of the grant but if we can have staff just maybe reach out to her she's still here maybe have that conversation or at least get her contact info we don't want people to think that this is a closed

[01:17:47] process absolutely so that's the first thing and then also just want to thank the county for drafting the letter with regards to the medication for EMS teams. I did see the joint letter that the congressional delegation has sent off, which is good. I do want to encourage us to make sure that the letter isn't the stopping point, the letter that they sent, and to make sure that they're actually following up with these agencies to determine what next steps may be available, and if there's any type of relief for these counties, ourselves included.

[01:18:23] So I don't want us to send a letter and for them to tell us that they sent a letter and then that'd be the end of the discussion because we really do want some type of relief on this item. So I just encourage us to continue to engage with them, particularly on the legislative agenda, and I'm going to continue to be asking about this to make sure that, again, they don't stop at the send button.

[01:18:43] So thank you. Thank you. Thank you for that, Senator Franklin. Concur and agreed all around. Supervisor Bailey. Thank you, Mr. Vice Chair. Thanks to the county exec for having the meeting with the towns. It's real important that we move forward that relationship.

[01:19:02] It's been kind of lying dormant, so we appreciate the effort in moving forward. They are an important resource, economic resource to the county, as well as just blending the entire county. So we really appreciate the effort in that vein.

[01:19:18] So that's all I have. Thank you. And before, the last thing for me, we've had two constituents speak during public comment time, one about water and the other about NOVAC and Dominion. I know in our previous meeting you reminded us when those meetings are. Can you just please remind us again on when those meetings will be? Sure, will do. We will hear a presentation from Prince William Water on December 10th, and Dominion Energy Virginia will be here on December 10th as well.

[01:19:43] Thank you so much. Free to go. That said, and certainly appreciate, Supervisor Bailey, what you mentioned about the towns. We stand alone. I don't know that other counties are coordinating with their towns in this way. And so I certainly look forward to the future.

[01:20:01] It was a great session, great topics. We talked emergency management coordination. We talked strategic planning. And we also talked about elections and election coordination and look forward to. And they've made some great suggestions. I'll say that this is not a one-way conversation either.

[01:20:19] It's not the county providing information. The town's had a lot of questions, a lot of information exchanged. So I certainly look forward to the coordination and discussion. That said, really excited to have Katab stand and represent Public Works and all the work that they have been doing around litter abatement and beautification.

[01:20:42] We've all gone to some of the beautification announcements and really look forward to this presentation and the questions that will come. And with that, I will turn it over to Kitab. Mr. Vice Chair, members of the board, good afternoon.

[01:21:06] My name is Kitab Shamut. I'm your director of public works. So today I will give some information and some background on two activities that are managed by public works, which is litter control as well as beautification.

[01:21:22] We at public works take pride really in managing these essential activities because they do provide safety, they provide beautification, aesthetic, as well as sustainability to our community. To have a clean and available public space as well as neighborhoods that are looking great is something that we are very proud of.

[01:21:45] So the agenda, again, we're going to be talking about both the beautification and landscaping, which is managed by our Neighborhood Services Division, as well as Solid Waste Division managing the litter control. And we'll go through that as we go through the slides. We start with a couple of nice, beautiful pictures, and I've probably seen some of that at the ribbon curtain, some flowers and some planting right at the nose median where there's a lot of congestions and traffic happening there to give that focal point is always something appealing and nice.

[01:22:18] And more pictures showing some of the flowers, some of the trees that we've planted in different parts of the county as well. So about purification project regulations, a lot of our landscaping is really taking place within VDAT-controlled right-of-way, whether it's in the road itself or around the roadway in the medians and on the surrounding right-of-way, available pockets and stuff like that.

[01:22:44] So it is essential that our planting and our planting plans to be approved by VDAT and permitted by VDAT, because at the end of the day, although we maintain them, they are there under permit. So it is important that we select the type of plants that can meet the requirements of VDOT with height, with the type and the size, because it's important that we are not creating, by creating a focal point, not creating also a hazard situation with bigger trees and stuff like that.

[01:23:12] So they have to be low enough to allow for the site distance of vehicles maneuver, because a lot of that is happening right at the nose mediums when there's a lot of activities taking place. Sites maintained. We maintain about 55 landscaping sites, which totals about 250 acres of median and right away within VDAT-controlled space.

[01:23:36] Each site is under a VDAT permit, like we mentioned, because that's all the sites that we really have access to, and those are the roads that we are trying to really beautify. Maintenance include, and we also maintain, we have a contractor on board, Rebus Landscaping, that does a lot of our maintenance.

[01:23:52] This is an on-call contractor, and the maintenance includes all the stuff that we do in our backyards, right? Mowing, weeding, mulching, trimming, watering, and seasonal planting and fertilization as we go through because it's one thing to plant and another to maintain, and we've probably seen that on Route 1 in the past where we, you know, the other picture that I was shown is actually of the median on Route 1 after it was really maintained by our department.

[01:24:23] The budget for the landscaping maintenance is about $1,083,000 a year. And of course, as I mentioned before, the department that actually takes care of, not the department, but the division that takes care of managing that contract and making sure that the plans are up kept and all of that is the neighborhood services.

[01:24:41] And I do have some of my staff here, and I have the champion that takes care of that is our Kathy Holtz Lander, and she does a great job working with your offices and your staff to really provide for the space and the location and the type of plants that goes into those spaces. Landscaping beautification in FY24, the board budgeted half a million dollar for projects within the county, seven different locations. Again, our staff and Kathy and her staff worked directly with the board members' offices on the location and the type of planting,

[01:25:17] and all seven projects were completed requiring VDAT permit, as I said, and all completed and are available to the public and we actually joined some of those in the ribbon curtains. The other activities that we take care of and also it adds into the beautification of landscaping and medians and roads is litter collection which is a very important activity. It does really give us a better look on the road when it's all clean and nice and this as you drive through this it tells you that the community really is up kept. The primary goal of litter crew is to ensure that

[01:25:55] the county primary roads and when we say primary we're saying roads that are heavily traveled on and not primary as we are considered um are free of litter and debris to the best of our ability you know the breeze could be very small but crew responsibilities include routine roadside litter collection according to rotating schedules we have a schedule and they hit that schedule as we go and and once that schedule is complete they'll go again and and that and so on so forth uh and we We support community cleanups, events, you know, there's an event or something, we coordinate with us and we will have the crew the next day or even on the same day if possible to

[01:26:34] make sure that it's clean and kept as intended. Collaborate with other departments. We'll work with transportation, we'll work with the parks, we'll work with others to make sure that we are maintaining those facilities as best as we can.

[01:26:51] In FY24, we had some vacancies and we were able to fill those vacancies and we were able to have two full crews for litter and when we only had one before with one with what that yeah I'll talk about the other one in the next slide and we were also able to hire a supervisor for that for the litter control to be able to manage schedule and or and oversee the process more closely and FY25 the board

[01:27:22] also provided $417,000 of funding to add a third crew to the team, four FTEs to be added to that, to the letter control team. We are so far able to hire two, and we're in the process and going through the interviews to have the other two on board as soon as possible. Actually, interviews will be going in the next week or so. Road segment scheduled. Our rotation or our length of service is about 150 miles that we go through that originally with one crew who were able to go through that rotation and again if we're not pulled out of that to

[01:28:00] actually you know take care of some other activity or whatever is about six months but with with the two crews now being on board we're able to do that in two months per crew somebody would think should be three months and the idea is the quicker you go through the rotation the less degrees will be on the road and and you'll be able to accomplish that task a little faster.

[01:28:23] And with a third-letter crew that will add to this, and we're able to add more miles to our rotation, to our inventory or to our trip, but we also are able to pull one of those crews and attain to a situation that requires it, and some of those heavy roads like 234 Route 1 and Minerville that are traveled, and we know that from our history that they generate more than other roadways.

[01:28:51] And these are typically the type of roads that we maintain. Some of them are, as according to VDAD, primary. Some of them are secondary. But usually we look at the commuter routes where more traffic are on the roadway. And just to give you some stats on what we've done last year versus this year.

[01:29:07] In FY24, we collected 158,610,000 pounds of litter. Now, we're proud that we've collected it, but we're not that so proud that it actually was on the road. And so far, in two months, we were able this year to collect about 24, 520.

[01:29:25] So if you do the math, we're getting very close to that number. Strategic oversight. New litter crew supervisor was created to coordinate and monitor efforts and enhance overall activity effectiveness.

[01:29:42] We have that person on board, and he's doing a great job. Optimized litter collection. Crew adheres to set collection schedule. Now, we have a schedule. We have a route, and that is what you're going to have to be going through this until we alter it and add to it as we go. Enhanced community engagement, and that is very important.

[01:29:59] As I just mentioned that, we are on track to meet the 158,000 pounds. We like to collect as much as we collect, but at the same time, we really don't want to see a lot of debris out there. So public awareness campaign is very important in this case. So education is very important.

[01:30:15] We're collecting, but the education at the same goes side by side to really improve that situation and make Prince William County the prettiest county in North Virginia. So with that, we are working directly with our communication department towards really trying to reach that goal, which they're helping us dearly and they're doing the best they can.

[01:30:34] And with me here to continue this presentation is Nikki Brown, our communication director, to give us some of her feedback on that part of the presentation. And we'll take questions at the end if you have. Good afternoon, members of the board, Nikki Brown, communications and engagement.

[01:30:52] I have the distinct pleasure and honor to introduce you to Trashy the raccoon if you have not seen him yet. Very exciting for us. I'll give you a little bit of context of who and what Trashy is. So as Katab had mentioned a while ago Public Works came to the communications office, asked for some help and how do we get information out to the public about litter and trash and how to dispose of appropriately we put our heads together we went through a lot of different thoughts and ideas did some research about what other jurisdictions are doing

[01:31:31] and it seemed like everybody else for the most part we're really focusing on as Catawba mentioned like the amount of trash collected so how many water bottles or how many plastic bags those types of things all that's great it's important it certainly can be very impactful so there is a place and a time for that but we really wanted to create something that was more engaging for the public really allowed folks to pay attention and say what is that let's let's look at something fun and creative while getting our message across so we

[01:32:06] created trashy who is a take off the mayhem all-state commercials so he is he's he's cute but he is definitely mischievous and he can get into some trouble um so with that i'm going to show a video that we released earlier this year and then we'll talk about how we're going to use trashy in the future i'm a raccoon i'm snacking i'm munching

[01:32:46] and i don't care where my litter goes i mean if humans don't care why should i let's be honest if you cared about your community you'd make sure to do your part but not throwing your trash and litter on the ground hey do you want a trashy community

[01:33:09] do you want to find a raccoon what's your excuse that that's trashy uh we have uh so that is trashy

[01:33:54] we kind of did a soft launch this summer just to kind of get a feel for how folks would respond to him it has been very positive so you can see we've done uh you know some anti-litter messaging around trashy we did a trailer for that video uh we did the video we've done social media graphics we've We'll post it on social, we'll talk about that in a second.

[01:34:15] We put it in our community newsletter, performed really well in the newsletter. We worked with Public Works to put a paid ad in the Fall Fund Guide with Inside Nova. And then I would be remiss if I did not point out Dr. Sam Hill in the back there, who has been a great supporter of Trashy and just the communications office, It has really done some great stuff and very helpful in terms of getting this out into the community, getting it in front of local groups.

[01:34:49] You know, talking about T-shirts. So we love Dr. Hill. He's been a great partner in all of this with us and getting the community, the local community colleges involved as well. So I won't spend a lot of time on this 'cause I don't want to focus too much on this, but again, Trashy's done pretty well for us and this was more of a soft launch.

[01:35:12] So the fact that we've had thousands of video views and then obviously the number of unique users who saw the video and the thousands, that's great for us. We know there's more to do and we can do better, but I think it's a great start. So how are we gonna use Trashy in the future?

[01:35:30] So we do and are looking at upcoming campaigns. We have another video that's already been done, so we'll start pushing that out, but we're looking at actually doing campaigns where we're engaging the community to work with us, maybe send us some photos of them picking up trash and making sure their trash gets to the appropriate place, but don't be trashy, cover your load.

[01:35:54] I know the board has mentioned that being an important topic. We've talked about tires. I know Supervisor Gordy, you had mentioned that you're saying that, so we have some ideas around that. Some ideas where, and looking at trashy going out with the litter crews and how, you know, with the litter crews so excited about that as well and then doing just more kind of social media graphics and photos other outreach message those are so those are all pretty organic ways of doing this looking at other and different ways to doing outreach working with Public Works on paid ads you saw I mentioned the fall fund guide doing more things like that we're looking at

[01:36:33] putting trashy in movie theaters and in streaming ads where we can target Prince William County specifically Public Works had a great idea of wrapping their bus so if you've been out to the landfill and done the landfill tour you know there's a bus out there that sits near the roads of wrapping the bus in trashy material which is great and then we've actually talked with Omni right about putting this information inside their buses as well I know Public Works has talked about school outreach and then we would like to get trashy more out into the community doing events so dumpster days and those types of things I will say

[01:37:10] we have found that kids love trashy which is great we love that and apparently adults do too which is also great but it has been a very positive I think way for us to do this in a little bit different and creative way we have lots of ideas around it you'll be seeing a lot more of trashy in the near future future and like i said we'll be doing more very more interactive campaigns with the community around him and with that i think that is the last one so happy to take any questions all right thank you miss brown and mr shamut really appreciate the presentation your hard work on this we do

[01:37:50] have some questions as comments so it's filling up actually okay um franklin vega gordy everyone okay let's start with franklin and vega so uh thank you for um the presentation uh this is great excuse me obviously we've had a lot of discussions over the past year about just making sure that we can keep our county clean and so you guys have done a wonderful job on route one i thank the county for keeping dumpster day i think things like that also help um love to see this campaign coming about and so i think we're moving in the right direction because ultimately we just want

[01:38:27] people to take pride into the county and so I'm glad that we were able to have the additional FTEs and I really really appreciate our litter crew public works I see Kathy in the back we miss you at dumpster day stop by some time but but this is an important step in it it may sound small but for revitalization communities like mine things like litter really impact how people treat the community and so it's really important and the litter crew knows that i call quite often but it's because i want route one to look nice because that's what my residents deserve but we also have

[01:39:04] to make sure that we're taking care of our of our neighborhoods one question i do have is with regards to working with our local grocery stores and other stores because i see a lot of baskets And it's my understanding that our litter crew actually can't remove baskets.

[01:39:21] And I think I called Kathy and wants to say, Kathy, I'm going to remove this basket myself, and I was. I was going to get a pickup truck and remove a basket because it had been there for days. But thankfully, the crew took care of it, but we really shouldn't have to. And so I'm wondering if we can talk a little bit about making sure that we have relationships with our grocery stores and our Walmarts and our Targets to make sure that they're taking care of their property as well.

[01:39:54] I have Monica Backman. She's our division chief for Solid Waste. Good afternoon, members of the board. I'm Monica Gorman. I'm an assistant director in Public Works, and I manage the Solid Waste Division. As Supervisor Franklin, we have not, since the litter crew, transitioned to Solid Waste.

[01:40:14] We have not engaged with private property owners, such as grocery stores. So thank you for that idea. I just wasn't aware that that was an issue. So we'll reach out to your office, I have staff, and we can just look into that further. Thank you, Supervisor Franklin.

[01:40:32] Supervisor Vega. I know that Supervisor Franklin gave several thanks, but I want to give a special shout-out to Kathy, only because I send you a ton of emails, and you are on top of it, and you're super responsive, so thank you for that. Katab, question is for you.

[01:40:48] I think you're the one that can probably answer, and if not, you can tag team, and somebody will provide an answer. I'll do the best they can. I want to speak for the Coles District. Obviously, people are super excited about the beautification projects. We were just a few weeks ago over in the Sudley Road corridor with Supervisor Gordy doing the ribbon cutting for that.

[01:41:07] But I do get quite a few emails from folks inquiring as to the relationship that you have with the county arborist because they want to know, are these plants native? If so, to what extent? Could you elaborate a little bit on that and if there is some consultation going back and forth?

[01:41:25] Right. Well, I mean, we work with our contractor and we're aware of the native plant, native and non-native plants. We try to mix it as much as possible. Again, as I mentioned before, being in the Vedat right away restricts us to the type of plants and the size of plants that we can be within that.

[01:41:42] So we try to mix as much as possible, but to have, we cannot go to a tree situation. And I know a lot of the native can be more of a bigger size plants, but we'll do the best we can when we are off the roadway, off the median, to do that and mix it up.

[01:41:58] And I think, Kathy, we were able to mix that up in several of our projects, to have both native and non-native at the same time. Again, you know, these are smaller pocket areas in a very busy intersections. We're trying to get the best bang for the buck in terms of color, in terms of blooming, in terms of stuff like so.

[01:42:15] That's why we always try to choose stuff that really blooms and provide you with that kind of a, and that's why we try to mix it as much as possible. but none-native adds a lot of color to that situation. Thank you for that. That, I think, is going to be helpful, not just for me, but for my colleagues here on the dais and better answering those questions that we get from our constituents.

[01:42:35] So thank you. Thank you for that, Suraz Vega. I've been getting the same questions. Now, Suraz Agordi. Thank you, Mr. Vice Chair. Going back to the grocery store, one of the other challenges we have with some of our shopping centers, We see, especially on windy days, a lot of the debris and a lot of the trash is blowing out of the parking lots into, you know, the roadways into, you know.

[01:43:02] And I've called a couple of times, thank you guys for responding to issues related over at Innovation. And so, you know, kind of, you know, also, you know, maybe encouraging some of these grocery stores to where the cart returns are to have a trash receptacle so that people are putting their trash in.

[01:43:23] um because i know a lot of i'm seeing a lot of that where it's just really coming out of the parking lots um and just working with those shopping centers to try to come up with a better plan um as far as trashy is concerned um and you if we want to utilize him for dumpster day um and have him out um you know to greet those who are coming to participate um is that something he also would be willing to do and if so who do we contact to arrange that we contact Nikki or do

[01:43:55] we contact well it was a male voice that's all I know mayhem to be female too we'll just say that so I would say Supervisor Gordy if you coordinate with public works we can coordinate with them and see what we can do to have someone out there okay perfect thank you and I do you know having spoken to our little crew who's been out at dumpster days they take a lot of pride in their work and and so we i again just want to thank them uh for how the work that they do and i really want to

[01:44:32] thank them for their enthusiasm and the commitment that they have to keeping our community clean um you've got a great crew and uh really proud that they're with us so please pass that along to them. Supervisor Gordy, that is a great idea about trashy being in the dumpster. And thank you to Monica. She really keeps a good operation going. Thank you. Thank you for that, Supervisor Gordy. Supervisor Ware, you're up. Thank you, Acting Chair. Katab, it's that time of year,

[01:45:07] and I have a specific type of trash that just irritates me. One is a year-round problem. One is an election year problem, which is signage in the median strip in the right-of-way, both commercial and campaign signage are we still removing those and i'm not accusing anybody here of doing that uh because there's been sort of an on and off policy with respect to taking that stuff out of the median and the and the right away and i'm curious where we stand right now because i'm tired of seeing campaign signs three weeks after the election still sitting in the median

[01:45:42] we we're definitely doing that i mean you know the goal is a certain number we are way beyond that number and we have both i think the little crew folks as well as our neighborhood inspectors both of them are collecting any signs that are within the right of way great and timely points as a way i appreciate that and there should definitely be the the um on the the campaigns to deal with that yeah just mentioned to me 14 000 signs have been removed so far so anyone's watching

[01:46:17] who works with any of the campaigns keep that in mind please thank you for that supervisor angry Thank you, sir. So first of all, to the litter crews, the amazing team. Please always thank them for me. I really love when they're out in the dumpster days. Great. They're going well. Just have a question for you. So I don't know who can answer this.

[01:46:41] So when we talk about, like, trash on the roadway, one of the things, and I've mentioned this before, is the grass growing out of the curb. Like, I know we don't use chemical anymore, so that's not, you know, we're not able to kill that in that fashion anymore.

[01:46:56] But now, like, you know, those bushes are turned into little trees. I mean, like, if you, some of the curbs are really not some, like all the curbs. I'm hoping we can get, like, a street sweep or something that can get in there and get all that out. because it's the curves now that are driving me the craziest the most because the weeds are just growing down Dale Boulevard, down all the side roads.

[01:47:19] And so I don't know how we can tackle that, but that one's got me the most. I will be recommending to this board that we continue funding the beautification projects that we did and the meetings, that we fund that for FY26, and we add that because that has been really a real great piece, and the folks love it.

[01:47:40] We're here, and people love to see those beautifications, so I just want to say that. And then the whole Trashy. Can I book Trashy for this weekend? I'm a real serious question. I got a community event this Saturday, and I would really like to have Trashy there.

[01:47:57] So I don't know how we book Trashy, but, you know, I would like to book Trashy for this weekend. It might be a little short notice, but if you send me an email, we'll see what we can do with that. Okay, you know, I don't even wear the costume myself. I mean, I have it for you.

[01:48:12] Yeah, and then the last, just one question, because I did get a great comment here. So, you know, the Woodbridge Community Choir is actually doing an Adopt the Highway this weekend in conjunction with our community.

[01:48:28] So the Adopt the Highway Program or Adopt the Neighborhood, Adopt the Street, which office does that fall in? Is that a county project or is that a VDOT? I think it's a VDOT. Okay, so do we coordinate with them on that? I'm sorry. Kathy's coming up to correct the record.

[01:48:50] Kathy Holtzlander, Public Works, Neighborhood Services, and the Director's Office. Supervisor Angry, there's two different programs. The Adopt a Highway program is run through VEDA, but our community partner, Keep Prince William Beautiful, doesn't adopt a spot for local neighborhoods.

[01:49:07] Okay. Do we have information on that? If we could push that out, because to go to this about us being responsible for cleaning up our own communities. I would like to get all of those opportunities out to all the organizations, even folks that just want to help do that on a weekend, just to make sure it's up front that I can push all that information out and we can push that information out so we can give everybody the opportunity to be a part of the solution.

[01:49:32] That's a great idea. I'll send the information to your office, and I'll also work with our communications department to ensure it goes out in the next newsletter, Blast. Thank you. Last but certainly not least, Supervisor Bailey. thank you so much mr. chair vice chairman um we all love trashy that that's a creative that's a wonderful idea nikki thank you so much uh for that and we want to invite him providing his schedule will allow you know i see he's busy uh to be a part of our dumpster days or whatever because i think it does it sends a message to the community and gets them involved as well so

[01:50:12] thank you for that. I want to thank Catawba and his team for my beautification day. It was absolutely phenomenal, even in the rain. We had a good time, and so the community have been getting good, positive responses from it, and so just thank you so much for hearing us. That's very important. I want to go to something that Supervisor Franklin said about the baskets.

[01:50:38] it's ugly it's ugly so I know you weren't aware Monica it's okay please help us with that I think it's it's a it's a thing that our homeless population also is really focused so just to give you an area of where where I'm talking about you know but the other thing that I want to offer is when we talk about the beautification piece and the trash pickup if we can extend it in my district a little bit and dumfries down the route one quarter from cardinal down i would appreciate

[01:51:18] it just to give you a view of where i'm talking about that's very important as well 234 looks tremendous but in that area it needs a little love and care so just putting it out there but all-inclusive you're doing a great job and we really appreciate you hearing us thank you everyone And I'll just wrap up by saying, commending the team, Monica, Katab, Nikki, Kathy, everyone else.

[01:51:46] Want to commend the county exec for bringing everyone together on that. I know that we as a board, previous board, talked about litter and different things for quite some time. But you actually brought forward a plan with last year's budget. And it's paying dividends. We're seeing the change in the community, what have you.

[01:52:01] And I will tell you, as one of the superpowers that represents several gateways into the county, it makes a difference. You know, people who visit say different things. People who live here have to commute from 95 say different things every day. But frankly, our business community, because we know that folks part and parcel to all of our conversations about economic development, people have an impression when they pass through these gateways into the county and these long stretches of roads such as 234 and what have you.

[01:52:27] So it does make a difference. I know Senator Franklin sort of underscored it well. It may seem like, in the grand scheme of things, a small thing, but how folks view us and how, frankly, our constituents view ourselves is a key and important thing. So I wanted to commend you on that. Now on Trashy, and I'm not going to ask to be booking Trashy.

[01:52:47] Mr. Trashy. Mr. Trashy. Mr. and Mrs. Trashy. Appreciate that. And I would say appreciate you doing the outreach on social media. If you guys can lean into also TikTok, because Instagram is great.

[01:53:07] All those other ones are great. But we also know there's a constituency of younger folks that they only live on TikTok. They only message each other on TikTok. I have several teenagers at home. That's all they do. They may have Instagram. They may have some of these other things. But their main line of communication, the main way they even give and share things with each other is TikTok.

[01:53:25] So I would urge that as well. If I could just add real quick, we would love that. Unfortunately, we are not allowed to use TikTok. That is, I think, a state and federal, if I understand correctly. But to your point, and again, Mr. Short and I have talked about this with teenagers, Instagram seems to be the place where they're at, my son in particular.

[01:53:49] So we are happy to put some focus there and bring more to that platform as well. So that's a great idea. I appreciate it. The Instagram shorts, the YouTube reels, all those short videos, That's how they all communicate nowadays. So that was the second to last piece.

[01:54:06] And I agree with my colleague. Definitely a program that we should be building on each and every year. You know, the county is only growing, and the needs will continue to grow. And the last thing I'll leave alongside the conversation about shopping centers and shopping plazas is also let's reach out to our religious institutions, our community organizations, our civic groups, and also our HOAs, frankly, because there's a lot of sort of joint responsibility around that, and we know that there are parts of the community where you might have a VDOT-owned place, and then it suddenly goes off into a private road, and you may have trash that

[01:54:43] obviously knows those boundaries between what's VDOT, what's state, what's local, and what's the HOA-maintained stuff. So as long as we can continue to foster those kind of relationships and really put on the radar, hey, this has to be an all hands-on deck committee driven response, I think the better off we'll be. So thank you so much for that. Any other final questions? So Shorter.

[01:55:07] Thank you, Vice Chair. Bodie, I just want to echo some of the comments that have been made and express my just sincerest appreciation to our director, to Kathy, to Luke, just for all the work. Their excitement, and you all have seen it, especially during the ribbon cuttings of the beautification projects is contagious so just want to appreciate each of you for the leadership and for the creativity uh also obviously uh wade hugh for the leadership uh as well uh and so with that i think that is all for me vice chair bode thank you so much great discussion now on to item

[01:55:43] number eight county attorney miss robo you have the floor ma'am thank you madam by mr vice chair and members of the board for closed session this afternoon we will have consultation and discussion with legal counsel and briefings by staff members pertaining to the acquisition of real property for a public purpose, with the accompanying legal advice from counsel and briefings by staff members regarding specific legal matters requiring the provision of legal advice by such counsel regarding land acquisition of property interests for right-of-way on the site of Triangle Service Station, U-Haul, and Clear Channel Billboard at 18314 Richmond Highway, owned by Evelyn R. Barnes as trustee under Evelyn R. Barnes' revocable trust,

[01:56:22] where such consultation 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 pertaining to discussions concerning an economic development item regarding the expansion of an existing business or industry where no previous announcement has been made of the business or industry's interest in expanding their facilities in the county and where discussion in an open meeting would adversely affect the litigating posture, bargaining position or negotiating strategy of the public body these items are appropriate for closed session pursuant to 2.2-3711a 3 5 and 8 of the code of virginia so moved

[01:57:01] second moved and properly seconded to go toward the closed meeting any discussion hearing none please vote vote unanimous thank you so much now on to agencies we will start with 9a good afternoon mr vice chair and members of the board tanya washington planning director with the planning

[01:57:39] office i'm also joined by eric griffiths with our long-range planning division who will be leading a staff presentation so i am here just to provide a very quick introduction this item is to is requesting that the board initiate cpa 2025-00002 quantico memorial chapel comprehensive plan amendment i just wanted to note again that this request is simply for the board to initiate the cpa after initiation staff will then conduct a more in-depth briefing we also understand from

[01:58:17] the requester that they will submit a concurrent rezoning application if the board initiates the cpa additionally we are aware of communications that came from the national park service yesterday and so we are prepared to address that during the presentation as well as to answer any questions so with that i will turn it over to mr griffiths to walk us through the presentation vice chair bode supervisors eric griffiths with the planning office i'm the case planner for this

[01:58:53] particular case so just to give a brief overview of the location here we're talking about a three and a half acre uh property that's you know fronting joplin road um it's in the vicinity of quantico national cemetery that's certainly south of the site and as um director washington said um the the requests or one of the things that they want to do uh with this is that the

[01:59:26] project is to uh to address you know prepare or constructing a funeral home that will sort of assist the adjacent land use um currently this is a zoned r4 all the adjacent properties are zoned r4 except for a small parcel that's zoned m1 the long-range land use is parks and open space and i want to take this time to address the uh handout that you uh just got uh because um one of the things the reason why this is parks and open space is that this was this area is part of the

[02:00:06] congressional authorized boundary for Prince William Forest Park, and just want to spend some time talking about what that means. And essentially, you know, what the congressional authorized boundary is, it's not exactly park proper. It's not, you know, park property. It's just an area that was established by Congress that it could, that the federal government could purchase property without congressional approval if it should expand in the future. So that's why this boundary was established. Most of that land holding in this area is privately owned. There's

[02:00:43] a lot of single family homes, one church nearby. You can see on the map here, there is a small parcel that's currently a county registered historic site. That was purchased by the parks by the federal government as part of the Prince William Forest Park. I don't know exactly what it's it's pretty much open there's nothing um there's nothing on that site i don't exactly know the the history behind that site but uh the request is to change the uh the long-range

[02:01:21] land use for office mixed use uh on the adjacent property as we've demonstrated here um as far as a build-out analysis uh proposed capacity uh will probably establish a few jobs that will that will assist with local employment new office jobs associated with a funeral home another thing to note is that this area is within the marine corps base quantico special planning area and that special

[02:01:57] planning area was established to ensure that adjacent land use is compatible with the marine corps base and certainly a funeral home would be certainly compatible at least with with the cemetery which is to the to the to the south um so again it's some of the things just going over the you know marine corps base is a is a valuable asset and um some additional items related to the special planning areas is you know this area was established to reduce impacts to military

[02:02:33] operation cooperative land use and certainly as i mentioned a proposed you know frugal home will help help do that considering that Quantico National Cemetery is south of the site. So staff recommends initiation for the following reasons. Certainly this will support employment capacity which is adopted through the strategic plan. The CPA provides opportunity to support Quantico National Cemetery which is adjacent to Quantico Marine Base. The proposed location of the property

[02:03:11] along Joplin Road is certainly well suited to do that north of the site and certainly the requester will establish a companion rezoning and that will help us to sort of mitigate whatever impacts there may be from this development to the site and just as a reiterate what was already said initiation of CPA does not mean the board must approve at this time it just means that we're going to study the opportunity here for further consideration and that's all I have for you well thank you very much thank you Ms. Washington Mr. Griffiths for your presentation I only have one speaker right now

[02:03:49] Supervisor Ware thank you Mr. Vice Chair I do have several questions on this do you know what the planned land use was prior to the last count plan being adopted I don't think we do we would have to go back and look it was a one uh and quite frankly it was a one in the draft I've got the map here somewhere uh the draft comp plan until it changed at the last moment to parks and open

[02:04:25] space this is one of many parcels in that area and one of hundreds of parcels in the county that comprise several thousand acres land that's privately owned either for residential or commercial business usage that the county took a green pencil or green magic marker and designated parks and open space in the long range land use plan regardless of what it was what the underlying zoning is and potentially creating issues for some property owners in the future.

[02:04:58] It's interesting that with the last comp plan revision very recently, we essentially down planned this from agricultural to parks and open space. And now the request is to take it and order it not only several and replan it, not only several orders of magnitude greater than what it was a couple of years ago, but even another order of magnitude above parks and open space. I understand sort of the argument for employment, but it's rather limited employment. And you're picking out a singular parcel within an area of

[02:05:37] parks and open space that stretches for several thousand acres right there. Are you at all concerned what impact this will potentially have on surrounding uses, surrounding properties, what this may entail for them in the future.

[02:05:54] And I've got concerns about spot zoning here. I'm also a little concerned that they're asking for OL when there are a variety of lesser zoning designations that accommodate funeral home by right and preclude any other by right uses if replanned and rezoned that might be significantly more onerous in that area than a funeral home.

[02:06:20] I've got a real problem with the process here. so i will start the response with the initiation of the cpa if it is initiated and then subsequently with the rezoning application all of the issues that you have raised are ones that would be examined more closely and the staff will be able to make some determinations provide the applicant will have to do additional analyses and then we'll be able to come back to the board with a recommendation as to whether or not both this requested cpa is is warranted as well as the change in the rezoning that would be requested i would simply note that in my mind and in my

[02:06:59] experience that's those are questions that should have been addressed in this staff report before you recommend initiation at least touched upon again the purpose of initiation is simply that we have to get the board's formal approval to actually begin to to do our deeper analysis when we have requested comprehensive plan amendments so this is a step that will actually allow us to do that additional determination and evaluation this is simply the author the authorization to actually begin that process but one thing

[02:07:35] I wanted to note compared to rezoning and special use permit applications when we get those applications we have to simply begin to act on those in terms of doing our analyses with regards to comprehensive plan amendments they have they must be initiated by the board before we can formally work on them Thank you.

[02:07:56] Supervisor Vega. Thank you. And, yes, Ms. Washington, we know that we're not approving anything. This is just initiating the CPA, but I understand the points that Supervisor Weir is making, and I think that two terms on, the board kind of knows what happens with these initiations, right?

[02:08:12] And I hope that the questions that Supervisor Weir has asked are fully addressed and properly vetted because we oftentimes know that even though there are great concerns, staff will still make recommendations. And again, I don't want to downplay your concerns because I do think that they're valid.

[02:08:31] I have an easy question. How many chapels do we currently have in Quantico right now? I don't think we have an exact amount of, we'd have to get back to you with that. Do we currently have operating funerals?

[02:08:50] You're talking about chapels, funeral homes, just specifically? Yes, on base. We don't know? No, we don't have any? Okay, thank you. And the reason why I ask is because it's quite a large base, and I can see the need for it and why they're asking for it.

[02:09:07] So I wanted my colleagues up here to know that we currently don't have any and that there is a need for it while still acknowledging the questions that Supervisor Ware made. Thank you. Thank you for that. Supervisor Gordy. Yeah, that kind of, my question goes very similar.

[02:09:26] I was trying to figure out, is there a chapel already on the National Cemetery? Um, and is this any way affiliated with the VA, um, or is this purely commercial? This is, this is not associated with the VA. It's a privately commercialized funeral home who, who wants to do this.

[02:09:46] Uh, my knowledge of, I don't really have a great knowledge of what's currently in the, uh, national cemetery. So I, I, I, I hesitate to answer, sorry, I hesitate to answer your question on that one.

[02:10:02] But, I mean, I think that there kind of seems to be a need maybe, and that's why they're doing this. That's what my feeling is, at least. Well, I have gotten behind a funeral procession going down Joplin Road.

[02:10:18] It's a long way to go behind a funeral procession. So, okay, yeah, I'm just trying to understand the need here. And then I guess, you know, as we get into the, you know, looking at the transportation piece of this, you know, the impact of it being across the road rather than on the same side.

[02:10:43] So, but I do echo some of the concerns that Supervisor Weir echoed or he put forth just sort of where we are in the process and how we got here. So I appreciate you taking the time to explain that.

[02:10:59] Thank you. Supervisor Bailey. Thank you very much, Mr. Vice Chair. I appreciate it. I appreciate the initiation of and going to support the initiation of also because it's in my district, because I know that there is a need.

[02:11:19] And I've had several conversations about in reference to Quantico and the need there, and there are no funeral homes on that end. And it is a long procession to my colleague's suggestion to get from way across the county over to Quantico Base.

[02:11:38] So I really appreciate the initiation, and I appreciate the discussions that we have had in reference to this. I think because of the need, it's necessary because Quantico Base is a partner, is a neighbor, certainly the former commander of the base.

[02:11:58] And I haven't had a chance to talk to the current commander, but these are some of the discussions that I've had in reference to them just being partners and how do we assist in this way. I respect and also appreciate the questions that have been asked by my colleagues, especially Mr. Weir.

[02:12:17] Bob can always find the I's dotted and cross T's that we may not see, so I really appreciate his questions. But to give you some sense of security to my colleagues, there is a need. So I just, and to Supervisor Vega, you're right, once we initiate CPAs, things happen.

[02:12:38] I get that as well. But I just wanted to say to my colleagues that there is a need and appreciate your comments as well. So that's all I had. I appreciate staff really delving into this to just kind of see what we need to do going forward.

[02:12:55] I really appreciate that because we can't do what you do. So that's all I got. Thank you. Thank you. And I know Subraza Gordy is back in the queue, but before he goes, there's a couple of things. I know that currently on base, they just have sort of that staging building right now.

[02:13:11] I went to a viewing for my brother-in-law there earlier this year. So I know that's really the only actual building. It's not really a funeral home or anything like that. So I know there's a need there to piggyback on what Subraza Gordy asked. So just to be clear, since it's not linked to the VA or anything like that, will they also be doing funeral arrangement things for other private folks outside of the base?

[02:13:31] Is it the primary clientele, folks that are for the base? Do you have any elaboration on that? I don't think so. I don't know. Is the applicant here? Can you guys speak to that? Primarily. Just for the base.

[02:13:48] Primary. Primary. Could you go up to the podium, not to put you on the spot, but folks who are listening online wouldn't be able to hear you. Vice Chairman, and while he walks up, there is a chapel on base.

[02:14:05] Right. And the building is on the National Cemetery. Right. So we've got to make sure that we... Right. Hi, I'm Austin Haynes. I'm the representative for the applicant. The, our goal is to work, this is going to be called Quantico Memorial Chapel.

[02:14:21] The goal is to work with Quantico Marine Corps Base and with the National Cemetery. There is a need in the local area. The gentleman that is the applicant has multiple funeral homes in Prince William and is a longtime Prince William resident.

[02:14:39] So this is just something we think is a real positive, and we can address the other concerns that have been brought up. Appreciate that. And my last question is for staff, if at the end of the evaluation of this and looking at what that concurrent rezoning might become, would staff come back with maybe a different land use designation recommendation instead of OMU2?

[02:15:05] Once we do our analysis, we will be in a better position to determine if we think a different land use designation would be appropriate. But it's a possibility. Yes. Okay. Thank you for that. Okay. Supervisor Gordy, you're up again. Yeah, thank you.

[02:15:21] And, yeah, I just want to clarify. I mean, the cemetery is not owned by Quantico. It's owned by the VA. This is a – and it's not just for Marines. Any veteran or their spouse can be buried at the cemetery.

[02:15:39] So it doesn't – you know, people who are buried at Quantico National Cemetery aren't necessarily from Quantico. I could be buried there. Who knows? That may be where I get buried. We'll see. We'll both be there, right? So, you had mentioned earlier that you'd received a letter, and I'm assuming that letter was from Prince William Forest Park.

[02:16:01] Could you share with us the gist of that letter, what their comments were, if they were concerned, support, what their position was? The planning office did not receive a letter from the National Park Service. We understand the National Park Service superintendent for Prince William Forest sent an email to the county that was subsequently forwarded to the planning office.

[02:16:22] And as I understand in that email, expressed opposition to this, to the requested comprehensive plan amendment. I could pull up the information, noted that the site lies within the congressionally authorized boundary.

[02:16:42] And I think raising one or two other points, but that was the sort of summary of what we understand from that email. Thank you. Supervisor Bailey. Thank you very much. Just for point of clarity, there is a chapel on Quantico Base that services civilians, but mainly military.

[02:17:03] And there is a small chapel located, a very small memorial chapel, just for ceremonial purposes. Like I went to an Eagle Scouts ceremony there, but it's very small in back of the Marine Corps Museum.

[02:17:20] So there is no services in terms of additional services in terms of funeral services in that area right now. So I just wanted to be clear with everyone. But I love it when my colleagues know what's going on in my district. That helps me, you know. Thank you. Supervisor Ware.

[02:17:39] Austin, if you could return to the mic. Yes, sir. I'm going to offer a suggestion for not tonight, not today, but in the future. I'm a little uncomfortable with OMU.

[02:17:56] There's a long-range land use designation. And I'm a little uncomfortable with OL, and I suspect that my fears and perhaps many of the fears or concerns of the Parks Department would be addressed if you lowered both the long-range land use designation and the actual rezoning designation.

[02:18:17] There are a number of other things that are significantly lesser in impact than OL, at least in potential other uses, should your deal fall through. I'm glad it's not PMD or PBD, but, for example, you could do a B1, you could do a B2, you could do a B3.

[02:18:33] You could actually just go back to the A1, which was its original designation, and do an application. You wouldn't have to do it well. Is it R4 right now, or is it A1? It's R4. You could drop it back down to A1, do an SUP, and then everybody's copacetic.

[02:18:50] Just my thoughts. A lot less screaming. You were embarrassing me as I'm the one who actually suggested this. So I may have done a bad job for my client. But having said that, I'm more than happy to look at all that. You can just take the feedback back.

[02:19:06] That's right. If they have any questions, you have my number. I have to reverse my billing. Thank you. Sue Razovega. Thank you, Mr. Vice Chair. Mr. Shorter, not sure if this is for you or for Ms. Washington, but can the board get a copy of the email sent to us?

[02:19:21] I certainly don't intend on delaying this here today, but I think it would be important for the board to have access to it and read what it says. Absolutely, Supervisor. My understanding is that the email was sent to the board's email account on yesterday. I don't want to give the gentleman's name.

[02:19:40] It came in 546 yesterday. Yeah. I'll resend it to the board right now. All right. So I don't see any other questions.

[02:19:57] Thank you to staff. Thank you to the applicants. Mr. Haynes, always good to see you. It looks like we still need an action here. So looking for a motion. Move for approval. Mr. Vice Chair? Got a motion. Do I have a second?

[02:20:12] Second. Motion second. Appreciate that. Any further discussion? All I will say is you've been given some homework, Mr. Haynes. I appreciate the dialogue and the conversation by the board.

[02:20:29] That's all we have. Let's take a vote. Motion passes.

[02:20:46] Do you want a re-vote? We can do a re-vote.

[02:21:17] All right.

[02:21:37] Well, let's take a re-vote. Motion passes unanimously.

[02:21:54] Supervisor Weir abstaining from vote. All right. Thank you for that, everyone. Obviously, as a reminder, we have deferred action on 9B, the conversation about the formal dwelling ordinance to November.

[02:22:11] Now on to 9C. I think it's Mr. Handler-Voss. Good afternoon, Vice Chair and members of the Board. Seth Handler-Voss, honored to serve as your Director of Parks and Recreation here in Prince William County.

[02:22:28] So I'm here to answer any questions you might have about the recommended grant panel disbursements. Those were presented to you on the 8th and deferred through today. You all had some questions, which were responded via e-mail on the 18th of this month. So happy to answer any questions.

[02:22:45] Still might be lingering. I agree. Any questions? I don't want to necessarily act yet because both Bailey and Franklin are. Mr. Schroeder, did you want to add anything?

[02:23:02] No. Well, I will say just I want to appreciate Seth and his team. We've been emailing quite a bit to make sure that all of the questions were answered. I want to appreciate our deputy CXO as well. We were even emailing over the weekend, so I just want to acknowledge that.

[02:23:22] I'll also say, and the board is aware of this, we went through a pretty significant turn or transformation, I would say, in this program and the way that we treat applications about two years ago, a year and a half, two years ago.

[02:23:38] Was it 2018? 2018, okay, so 2018. And so what is reflected here and what has been communicated in the staff report and via email is the result of the board's work. And so just want to make sure that that was said out loud and appreciate that Seth led through that process as well.

[02:23:58] I might add, Mr. Shorter, we actually consulted with the Virginia Association for the Arts. I may be bungling the name there, but we work with them to make sure our policy was drafted in a way that was congruent with other jurisdictions in the way that the state runs their programs as well.

[02:24:16] So we feel pretty confident that our policy is fairly sound. But, of course, every policy can be tweaked and updated based on the wishes of the board and the changing community. Appreciate that. Supervisor Angry. Thank you, Mr. Vice Chair.

[02:24:33] Can I make a comment? Is it okay? Just make a comment because I know we've gone through some iterations with arts counseling and really have tightened that whole process up. But, again, like this grant process isn't really new, you know.

[02:24:52] And so if there's any tweaking that this board wants to look at with it, then we really should be having discussions with you, Steph, right, and then your council because, you know, it's a pretty vibrant group.

[02:25:08] And the thing that grows is trying to capture all of the art in Prince William County and have to be a part of this so we can understand what we're doing, whether that's from painting to music to dance to, you know, poetry. Like, all of those venues are captured in this.

[02:25:25] And if we're missing someone, then that's where we hope we can get the word out that they know to be a part of this. I don't want to belabor it. I'm just, you know, really, you know, happy that the council, you know, They're still going, and they're doing some fine-tuned things. So I just wanted to say that, man, because I really like this.

[02:25:42] Do you need me to make a motion on this? Oh, we have to raise our Bailey wanted to speak to it. Okay. No, no, no. Okay, so, yeah, I didn't know you had some. I'm sorry. It was on, then I turned it off. Seth, and to the county exec, I appreciate both of you.

[02:26:01] I appreciate your comments. I really do. I'm going to absolutely support this. I was in the beginning all the way, but I think there is an opportunity for us to tweak, to revisit, and how we are outlining, you know, we are fiduciaries of our funding, and I said that in the beginning.

[02:26:21] And the thing that, it kind of went off the radar, I would say, for the board, because in the past we've gotten visits from you, Seth, in terms of this, and a collective discussion, and that didn't happen this time. So I fully support the Art Council and those 14 entities that's on that list.

[02:26:41] But I think there is an opportunity as we grow to look at other 501c3s in our community that serve our community in a very vast way. And I think it's important that in that communication of that, you're talking to the board would benefit you in terms of how we go forward.

[02:27:02] This is an excellent sampling of the current 14 that serve the community, but I think that there is an even broader sampling. So I certainly support what you've presented, but I think there's an opportunity for us going forward.

[02:27:22] I know there was a discussion about this before Mr. Shorter came and to talk about how we did this in the past. So there is an opportunity for us to have broader discussions. So thank you for your time in presenting these 14 applicants.

[02:27:39] We appreciate all that you do. Did you get a motion, Supervisor Bailey? So moved. Supervisor, I agree. It's been moved and properly seconded. I don't see, oh, I see Supervisor Ware in the discussion. Thank you, Mr. Chairman.

[02:27:54] I'm going to reiterate, but I'm not going to go into great depth about this, but I think I said enough last week. I have serious concerns over how this money is allocated from both procedural and from a percentage basis. I am not a fan of allocation-based primarily or at least what seems to favor size over need.

[02:28:17] I think there needs to be a longer look taken at what percentage of each recipient's budget is used for in terms of how much they use to provide for services and how much they provide or how much of their budgeting on an annual basis they use for administrative and salary costs.

[02:28:39] I'm very uncomfortable with this, and I'm not going to be supporting it this year. Thank you. Appreciate it. I don't see anyone else. I will say thank you to Seth. Thank you for the team who continues to work on this each and every year. Thank you, Mr. Shorter, for giving us a little bit more intel into the resolution that came around.

[02:28:57] I will just say that, again, this is a process that's been ongoing for some time, but we had a constituent who represents an organization that does good work in the community who felt that she had been left out. So there's some outreach that should still be done. I think that as we continue to have good organizations that are out there in the community doing good work, we should always try to refine, enhance, and reinforce how we outreach and make sure that it isn't just assumed that folks are aware of when deadlines are to apply for things such as that.

[02:29:26] With that, seeing no other further concerns or questions, let's take a vote. Motion passes, 5 to 1.

[02:29:46] Supervisor Weir voting nay. Supervisor Franklin absent from vote. All right. Thank you so much, everyone. We are now done with our item number 9, agency's time. It's now down to supervisor's time.

[02:30:01] And before we go around the horn, we have a number of appointments, so can I please get a motion to approve 10A through 10B? So moved. Second. Been moving in properly seconded. Ms. Madden, do you have clear who seconded that? Yes.

[02:30:18] All right. Appreciate that. Not seeing any discussion on that. Let's take a vote. Vote unanimous.

[02:30:37] Supervisor Franklin absent from vote. Thank you so much. Before we go around the horn, I did have two directives to give on behalf of the chair. I know she usually goes last, but she did request that I do that first. So give me one second to bring up the language for them.

[02:30:56] The first directive is to incentivize revitalization in the county. So here's the actual directive itself. Without objection, I would like to direct county staff to update the board on redevelopment, revitalization, and reinvestment strategies currently in progress within targeted communities and commercial corridors throughout the county.

[02:31:16] Additionally, staff will identify and recommend federal, state, and local funding options that can be leveraged to encourage and incentivize these efforts and future efforts. This information and recommendations will be shared with the board as a presentation at a future meeting. Okay, appreciate that.

[02:31:34] Directive number two is to revisit the Board of Supervisors' action in support of a TNVR, Trapped, Neuter, Vaccinate, and Release program. The language is as follows. Without objection, I would like to direct county staff to provide an update on the Trapped, Neuter, Vaccinate, Release, or TNVR program memo provided to the Board of Supervisors on March 8, 2023.

[02:31:57] The update should include an updated review, provide recommendations on the issue of free roaming cat colonies in the county, whether staff recommends amendments to the county code, and a review by the county attorney's office for any legal issues. Staff is also directed to provide the board with a fiscal and operational impacts of a trapped neuter vaccine release program for the fiscal 2025-2026 year.

[02:32:22] This information and recommendation should be provided to the board in a memo and or presentation future board meeting as staff determines appropriate they should also work with the animal advisory committee on this matter before bringing the matter back to the board all right thank you and so now we will go around the horn we will start with supervisor bailey thank you very much good afternoon to everyone um on october 6th um it was a wonderful day kind of chilly but chief labelle and the county exec and my colleagues and the past chiefs the

[02:32:59] past chiefs. Yes. And, um, and my colleagues and others celebrated the groundbreaking of the fire and rescue station number 27. How about that? October 17th. Uh, thanks to my staff for attending the basic recruits session, number 58 graduation and congratulations to all who, uh, got, became a part of our public safety that it's so exciting when that happens much success to you as well. And then on the 18th, thanks to Principal Preston at Potomac Middle School for having a wonderful event. Are you smarter than a fifth grader? I think not. It was a great

[02:33:38] event. So thanks to staff for attending with my school representative, Justin Wilk. And then on the 19th, I was honored to speak at the Cultivating Youth Annual Gala, addressing mental health and suicide in our youth. It was a wonderful, wonderful event at O'Hickory golf club. And for those students, I'm so proud of you, just for your courage and for your ability to just stay in the fight. I really appreciate that. I also attended Mayor Wood's fifth annual Mayor's Ball and Community Awards ceremony, where our own very Tisha Lewis Campbell received

[02:34:15] Warrior of the Community. She works at Fox 5, so we appreciate all that you do for our community. On the 21st, thanks to Captain West and his staff for a wonderful tour of the adult detention center and presentation of all the programs in the facility.

[02:34:31] It was eye-opening, and thank you so much for your guidance in that, and we look forward to future partnerships. Upcoming events on the 23rd, looking forward to attending the Salute to the Armed Forces hosted by Prince William County Chamber, a celebration of our local military community.

[02:34:46] On the 26th, glad to be speaking for the Democracy for Girl Scouts event. Looking forward to that as well. And then on the 27th, I'm looking forward to the Dumfries Pink and Purple event honoring Breast Cancer Awareness Month and bringing awareness to the end to breast cancer and domestic violence.

[02:35:06] So very important. And then lastly, on the 11th, we'll be celebrating on Veterans Day with our county. I just wanted to acknowledge, if I could, for A, for the Mount Clare dredging, I really, really appreciate how we move through that process and we're getting it done.

[02:35:25] And to Montclair, we always have you on our minds in the community, so thank you for working with us. And then 4C, the Potomac Shores project on Cherry Hill. That's something that's in our own former Supervisor Hilda Barks community.

[02:35:42] But we've worked really hard with Potomac Shores developers and the service authority, and we really, and Dominion, and Dominion as well. And so we really appreciate that partnership and making sure that that community is whole again. So thank you so much, Mr. Vice Chair.

[02:35:58] Thank you. I'm going to jump over. Don't get too excited yet, Supervisor Weir. I'm going to jump over to Supervisor Gordy. I'm going to start at the ends. You're keeping us on our toes, I see, Mr. Vice Chair. All right, just two quick items. Number one, notice of appointment. I'm providing notice of my intent to appoint Marianne Hill to the Committee for Persons with Disabilities.

[02:36:19] My staff has sent over her resume and contact information. I just wanted to thank Matt Villarreal and the Fleet and Facilities Management team. They held an event this morning at Unity Reed High School. It was a recruitment with the students there.

[02:36:36] I had a great time visiting with them and seeing the excitement of the students and the engagement to demonstrate opportunities with the county for employment following high school. So a great program. Really appreciate the work that our fleet and facilities management does to reach out to our young folks.

[02:36:58] And so I just want to thank them for that. That's all I have, Mr. Chair. Thank you, sir. Now, Sue Reservoir, you're up. Surprise. I actually have more this time than I usually do. I just want to point something out to the residents in the Gainesville and the Brentsville districts and potentially anybody traveling through western Prince William County.

[02:37:19] There will be a road closure on the 29th and the 30th at the Route 15 train crossing outside of Haymarket for railroad construction. I'm sure that's going to make traffic just an absolute joy those days, so just be aware.

[02:37:37] I'd also like to give my commendation to the fire department for the response to the house explosion in Piedmont and recovering the dog alive six days later, somewhat of a miracle. I'd also like to recognize those people who showed up at our town hall last week.

[02:37:56] We saw a bunch of new faces with a whole bunch of new complaints. We'll be addressing the new ones and the old ones. Pay market day was last Saturday. I'd like to give some particular shout-outs to a variety of departments, obviously public safety for both the emergency crews and the PD support, but also a variety of other agencies that provided my office with a lot of literature and tchotchkes, all of which left.

[02:38:24] We came home with virtually nothing, and that would be aging, the library, animal services, EDA, public works, transportation, and historic preservation. The second and last Gainesville Dumpster Day is this Saturday. It's at our office, 13575 Heathcote Boulevard.

[02:38:43] It's going to run from 8 to 2. The shred truck will be there from 9 to 1 or until full. Given the shred truck calls we've been getting, might want to get there early. And then last but not least, there's a police department trunk or treat Wednesday on the 30th from 5.30 to 8 p.m.

[02:39:03] or until the candy runs out. macy's parking a lot at manassas mall the candy should last longer if we don't show up i've seen some of you going to the candy jars uh and that's all i have if my son shows up that's not my fault anyway uh sures or franklin you're up i want to highlight a couple of recent events on last tuesday i attended the port potomac hoa meeting and provided an update on several items

[02:39:37] of interest including a lot of transportation items we were also joined by our transportation department who talked about particularly transportation study on port potomac and indus drive and talked about also issues generally within the leesylvania area so we'll be scheduling a town hall soon to share the results of that study with the entire community on wednesday october 16th i attended the public hearing on the marina way extension sponsored by the department of transportation very informative we had a good number of residents come out very helpful in

[02:40:12] helping to understand the history of that corridor and got some great feedback on how we can improve the plans as well so we're working with transportation to incorporate some of those resident feedback that we received so thank you to the residents that came out upcoming events tomorrow night at 7 i will be speaking at the newport estate annual hoa meeting so if you live living in area please come out i'll give an overview of what we've been doing in the in the community as well as talking about some of those transportation items if you know this particular area it's right behind port potomac and so a lot of the transportation issues are the same so i will

[02:40:51] be doing that lastly i just want to recognize mr joel martinez who recently passed away great figure within the Woodbridge community one of the first people that I sat down to talk to when I came into office we worked on several projects and events together and very sad to to see him go but we will be honoring him and thanking his family for his service to the district as well as to the larger Prince William County area so just want to take some time to

[02:41:28] recognize joel thank you thank you supervisor franklin thank you for highlighting mr martinez and his contributions to our community it is a big loss supervisor angry you're up thank you sir first uh want to also congratulate police basic recruit session 58 on the graduation welcome to the family if you have never been i'm going to recognize um judge irving kim irving honora irving She chairs the adult recovery program, and so they had a graduation last week.

[02:42:03] And so anytime you're by the courthouse, you just want to stop in one of those courtrooms and kind of see how those things go. They're pretty amazing, and so I want to congratulate the graduates of that particular course. I know they've got some more ongoing, so, again, if you're in the area, stop by and see them.

[02:42:20] And then lastly, I just want to put out there for the last time that this Saturday We're going to be having our community there at Cloverdale Park, where hopefully you'll see Trashy. But that's from 1 to 4.

[02:42:36] Yes, that's from 1 to 4 at Cloverdale Park this Saturday. Hope to see you all there. Thanks, sir. Last but not least, Madam Pro Temp Vega. You know you saved the best for last, right? Come on, guys. It's true. It's true. Thank you.

[02:42:55] I want to start off by congratulating, because I know how much he loves to be put on the spot, Supervisor Weir. His son actually graduated from the police academy this past week, and so I know that it was a very joyous moment for him and a proud moment for him.

[02:43:12] He's blushing. Yes, we see it. So congratulations to Supervisor Weir and to your son, who now is part of our police family here in Prince William County. Also, I want to mention that I, too, along with Supervisor Angry, attended the adult recovery court graduation ceremony.

[02:43:33] And I can't say enough how grateful I am that we have a program like this one and want to give a special thank you to everybody that plays a vital role in ensuring that these folks are successful and that are in compliance with the program. As somebody who has a loved one that has struggled with recovery, just sitting in that courtroom and listening to some of the graduates speak and address the courtroom was very touching.

[02:43:57] And I recall one graduate who said, I just want to live and was so thankful for the opportunity and just to hear their gratitude and opportunity really to be able to have a second shot at life really meant a lot to me.

[02:44:16] And I want to thank everybody that plays, again, a vital role in ensuring that folks are successful. We all have struggles and challenges and, you know, for various reasons end up in situations that perhaps we never thought we would. But it's just really neat to know that as cliche as it may sound, there is light at the end of the tunnel and that you can overcome a difficult season in your life.

[02:44:38] And once again, to everybody that plays a role in programs of the like, thank you. want to end by also issuing a directive i know that i spoke to supervisor franklin about a directive that she issued back in 2022 where you instructed county staff to look at the board's ability and or authority to regulate towing i had a constituent reach out to me who happens to be a realtor and a home assessor and he shared with me that the i guess property that he was getting ready to list. The permit was inside of the home, and he stepped out of his vehicle for about maybe two minutes at the most to retrieve the parking permit, come back, and then be able to perform his

[02:45:17] job. When he came back, his car was already gone. It was towed. And so we have situations like this happening all throughout the county, whether it's FedEx, Uber Eats, Amazon, you name it, where folks will park for a very short period of time, and then they come, and their vehicle is gone. I know that at one point we kind of referred to this as predatory towing and after reading supervisor Franklin's directive I think that her request is a little bit different than mine and so if there are objections I obviously like to hear your opinions or if you guys have a friendly amendment I'd also be interested in entertaining it but without objection I would like to direct legal counsel to

[02:45:57] collaborate with the county executive or his destiny to develop language that will strengthen our county towing ordinance and eliminate predatory towing practices. And if there are no objections or friendly amendments, that's all I have. Madam Counsel. Mr. Vice Chair, members of the board, this is the first I'm hearing of this.

[02:46:17] Would you like for our office to work with the county exec's office on policy recommendations and then determine whether those are legally authorized? Because I'm not quite sure what the board would want. We can come back and review it. Both Mr. Shorter could do the policy, we could do the legal and come back and then wait for further direction from the board as to whether advancement is needed with a ordinance amendment is that what you're asking for well i mean after looking at what we currently have there's nothing really that specifies exactly what i'm looking for currently on the books and if i'm wrong let me know but my directive i think was clear yes i want the county

[02:46:55] attorney's office to work with the county executive to be able to provide very good option i have not reviewed the current ordinance related to parking enforcement so what we'll do is we'll absolutely take the directive and we'll come back if there if there's any problem associated with the language then I'll come back and we'll we'll discuss it otherwise we will follow up as we do with all directors and I do know in looking at the response to Supervisor Franklin's 2022 directive that

[02:47:27] I guess our towing commission, we have a towing commission committee was consulted, but they don't regularly meet. It is on a needs basis, and so not sure if we want to engage them as well.

[02:47:43] I'll leave that up to you all to decide. And to be clear, just so I'm clear, are we talking about private tow companies that are coming into the county to tow, or are we talking about tow operations that we provide?

[02:48:00] No, the latter. Okay, okay. Professor Franklin? Sure, and maybe to clean it up a little bit, maybe the directive can be for the county attorney to come back with whatever options may be available within our purview as a county with regards to regulating towing, and then maybe once we see what those options are, we can seek language.

[02:48:32] We can provide the legal authority that the board has and coordinate with Mr. Shorter and his team on whether amendments will be needed to the county code. Supervisor Vega, are you good with that? That's fine. I didn't see any objections, just I appreciate the conversation there.

[02:48:51] I know predatory towing is a concern among various communities, so I appreciate you two partnering and looking into that. So as we are, I know you had an item that you forgot to go over. I apologize, Mr. Chairman. I did have yet another directive for the consideration.

[02:49:08] I said, without objection, I would like to issue the directive to the county staff to provide background information and staff's analysis regarding the designation of private properties with existing residential or commercial uses and or structures as parks and open space on the long-range land use map and the comprehensive plan and direct the county attorney to review the matter for any legal issues.

[02:49:31] This information and any recommendations should be provided to the board in a memo and or presentation at a future board meeting as staff determines appropriate. Well, thank you. I want to make sure that there are no objections.

[02:49:46] Not very good. Happy to take it back. I will say to the board, I sent before the board meeting a memo outlining plannings, list of priorities, and board directives. I want to make sure that we have a conversation about priorities and when this could possibly come forward given the significant amount of work that the planning staff is already doing in this regard.

[02:50:14] So just wanted to make sure I said that out loud. We will have that conversation, and I'll follow up maybe to the chair's office or maybe in the next board meeting with how we will be able to do this by way of priority. Yeah, so that's a good point.

[02:50:30] So did you maybe want to work that into either our next meeting in November or one after that, and we can start beginning to talk about priorities? Or how did you want to address that piece? I'll follow up. I'm not sure if we'll need to be creative about how we facilitate that conversation.

[02:50:48] I'm not sure if a board meeting is the best way to do it, so I'll follow up. I would argue that that's something we need to do, an open session. The directors were given an open session. The priorities involve funding. And I doubt that's subject to closed session provisions, Madam County Attorney.

[02:51:09] Yeah, I wasn't suggesting that we go into closed session. What I was suggesting is that we maybe do, like we always do, meet with individual members, make sure that board members understand that list, and then come back to the collective board with a better facilitated conversation so that we could best utilize your time.

[02:51:31] That makes sense. Thank you for that. So I just have a couple items. I wanted to thank everyone who came out to Barktoberfest this past weekend. I know it was in competition with PetFest, as it called, at Stonebridge. That wasn't planned necessarily, but appreciate folks going to both and some folks coming to Chin Park.

[02:51:53] It was a really great time. Really appreciate all the county agencies that continue to go out to the Chin Park Fall Festival that we partner with every single year and really, really appreciate all the folks who made it a success. Next Tuesday, my office will be hosting a traffic safety town hall at the Tall Oaks Community Center of Cotton Mill Drive.

[02:52:14] It'll also be hybrid, so if folks want to tune in online, they can. It's from 6.30 to 8.30 again next Tuesday. I've mentioned it a couple times, but I will be partnering with Supervisor Bailey in her office to do a housing town hall on Wednesday, November 13th. It's tentatively planned to be at the Potomac Mills Ikea, but more details will follow on that.

[02:52:34] And the last two items here is the county exec mentioned it earlier, but early voting is ongoing. Please get out and early vote if you can. The locations are open every weekday, and we will also have one final Saturday of early voting as well.

[02:52:52] So please, as you are able, exercise your right to vote. And last but not least, folks might be wondering why I have a Mickey Mouse up here and why I'm dressed in yellow. Last year, I mentioned it before, I lost my son, Cyrus, back in August of 2023.

[02:53:09] Today would have been his 11th birthday, so wanted to just commemorate that in a small way. Really appreciate the folks at Lake Ridge Elementary School, where he attended before he passed. They actually dedicated a rock garden in their courtyard to him. Had a chance to visit that today. And for everyone out there who's a parent, cherish every single day you have with your kids.

[02:53:30] That's all I have to say. Thank you. With that, we are done with our afternoon, most of our items here in the afternoon. It's time to adjourn or recess, recess for closed problems.

[02:53:49] All right, we are back from our closed meeting. Can I get a motion to certify? So moved. Moved and seconded. Any discussion? Seeing none, please vote. Uh-oh, Bailey. Yeah, Gordie Bailey.

[02:54:06] All right, please vote. Vote unanimous. We have one item coming out of closed session for action. Supervisor Bailey, you have the floor. Thank you, Mr. Vice Chair. I move to authorize the settlement in lieu of condemnation of property interest on the site of Triangle Service Station, U-Haul, and Clear Channel Billboard at 18314 Richmond Highway and authorize additional compensation for reestablishment expenses or moving and reestablishment costs route one fraley boulevard widening project for the potomac district i have a motion do i have a

[02:54:46] second moving properly second any further discussion seeing none please vote vote unanimous all right that brings us to our final item on the it's been moved i can't second it moving properly seconded thank you so much everyone our next meeting is november 19th it was where angry not debatable

[02:55:14] let's vote i got all day supervisor are you upstanding what's vote unanimous there we go Again, next meeting, November 19th.

[02:55:32] Thank you so much, everyone. We are adjourned.

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