Coraggio Consulting Prince William Board of County Supervisors Meeting, Tuesday, October 7, 2025 Date: Tuesday, October 7, 2025 Place: Prince William County Board of County Supervisors, Virginia Length: 4h 10m (video) Official meeting video (Prince William County, Granicus): https://pwcgov.granicus.com/player/clip/3705 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 2026-10-29. Timestamps are [HH:MM:SS] into the meeting video. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- [00:00:05] We got seats. We got seats. Now, the good in seats are always go fast. [00:00:18] All right. It is Tuesday, October 7th. We are now in session, and we are going to begin with a moment of silence. Thank you. [00:00:38] Please rise, if you are able, for the Pledge of Allegiance. [00:00:51] All right. Thank you, everybody. We are now going to agenda item number three, and that's approval of the minutes. [00:01:07] Can I give a motion for 3A, 3C? So moved. Second. All right. Any questions? All right. If not, let me call for the vote. Motion passes unanimously. [00:01:36] Supervisor Vega abstaining from vote. Supervisor Gordy absent from meeting. All right. We are now going into agenda item number four. That's accommodations and proclamations. I always love this. We have such a full audience. Then you'll all get up and leave. [00:01:52] And then we're lonely. All right. Can I get a motion for 4A through 4J? So moved, Madam Chair. Second. All right. There are no questions. Go ahead and take a vote. [00:02:20] All right. For 4A, Supervisor Franklin, if you can join me at the podium, and then for 4I, Supervisor Bodie, and 4J, Supervisor Franklin. [00:02:48] And would everyone associated with the Rotary Club of Woodbridge please come to the front. [00:03:02] Good afternoon. For 60 years, the Rotary Club of Woodbridge has demonstrated exemplary commitment to the health, welfare, and advancement of the residents of Woodbridge and Prince William County. Members of the Rotary Club of Woodbridge have lived the Rotary motto, [00:03:40] service above self through long-standing civic projects, scholarship programs, community partnerships, and volunteer service that have measurably improved the quality of life across our county. Their contributions to education, public health, youth development, disaster response, and charitable causes have strengthened neighborhood institutions, supported families in need, and inspire successive generations of community leaders. The Rotary Club of Woodbridge has worked collaboratively with local government, non-profit organizations, schools, and businesses to address community needs and promote civic engagement throughout Prince William County. [00:04:17] Therefore, today, the Prince William Board of County Supervisors hereby commends the Rotary Club of Woodbridge for six decades of faithful service, leadership, and volunteerism that reflect the highest traditions of citizenship. Thank you. Chair Jefferson, Supervisor Franklin, and members of the Prince William County Board of Supervisors, good afternoon and thank you for recognizing our 60th anniversary, giving me this opportunity to speak. I'm Dexter Montgomery, and I'm honored to stand here before you as president of the Woodbridge Rotary Club as we [00:04:54] celebrate 60 years of service above self across Prince William County and throughout the surrounding communities. Chartered in 1965, our club has spent six decades building friendships, developing leaders, rolling our sleeves up, and making a meaningful difference right here at home. [00:05:11] Over the years, our members have supported a wide range of local, international charities and initiatives that reflect the best of Prince William County. Among the organizations we've partnered with are the Good Shepherd Housing Foundation, Acts in Community Through Service Acts, the Arc of Greater Prince William, the Salvation Army, the Boys and Girls Club of Greater Washington, Boxes of Basics, and the Rotary Global Effort to Eradicate Polio through In Polio Now and Polio Plus. [00:05:40] These partnerships are truly the heartbeat of our service. I would also like to highlight one of the most inspiring examples of grassroots determination and civic collaboration in our county's history, the creation of the Potomac Hospital, now known as Sentara Northern Virginia Medical Center. [00:05:59] Potomac Hospital began as a community-driven effort, local citizens, civic groups, business leaders, and volunteers across the county behind the vision of establishing a hospital right here in Woodbridge. In 1968, the Potomac Hospital Corporation was formed to raise funds, acquire land, and build public support. [00:06:17] In 1972, Potomac Hospital opened its doors with 29 beds. Over time, it has grown into a major medical center and, after merging with Sentara Health, continues to serve as one of the region's premier hospitals. Members of the Woodbridge Rotary Club of Woodbridge, along with other civic organizations, were part of the fabric of community leadership, volunteering, fundraising, and advocating for local health and wellness initiatives. [00:06:41] At the Woodbridge Rotary Club, we take pride in having stood along with other community leaders in those early campaigns to bring a hospital to our community, a hospital built by the people for the people. Six years later, our commitment remains unwavering. [00:06:58] ROTY is in its best when we partner with county agencies, schools, nonprofits, and private sector partners. On behalf of the Woodbridge Rotary Club, thank you for recognizing this milestone and for your continued leadership and support. we look forward to our next 60 years together thank you all right everyone i should have said we're gonna wait to take we have so many people so if you guys have a seat we're gonna take all the pictures at once okay like at the end it's gonna be factory stock today oh wait [00:07:31] keeping all right the next group if we can have our planning department come up and anyone associated with 4b national community planning month you know that's what i was thinking [00:08:06] we have we have somebody there wow i didn't know you rolled that hard tanya large team but yet not large enough all right 4b and it's to proclaim october 2025 national community planning month thoughtful and inclusive community planning helps prince william county prepare for growth protect natural resources support economic development and enhance the quality of life [00:08:45] for all residents the american planning association has named october 2025 as national community planning month to highlight how planning is essential to every community and how planners help to identify solutions to communities most difficult housing transportation and land use issues and this month provides an opportunity to recognize the invaluable contributions of the staff of the prince william county planning office the planning commissioners and engaged citizens who work every day to make our community a better place for current and future generations therefore For today, the Prince William Board of County Supervisor hereby proclaims October 2025 [00:09:22] as National Community Planning Month in Prince William County, Virginia. Would you like to say some remarks? Thank you, Madam Chair. Good afternoon, board members. Tanya Washington, Director of the Prince William County Planning Office. [00:09:40] And we are very excited for the board's support for this proclamation of National Community Planning Month. As you all know, the work that we do, along with other county agencies and a community, literally shapes this county, literally shapes the communities where we all live, work, play, and retire. [00:09:58] I'm particularly excited for this opportunity to give kudos to the team, to our planning office staff. We have staff from all of our divisions, almost everyone here. Someone is still there, in case anyone stops by. But we have staff from our land use review division, community planning division, community planning and revitalization division, our countywide planning division, and the director's office. [00:10:24] And this team encompasses a broad range of disciplines and expertise areas that provides the support to the board and to our county for all of the great work that our office endeavors to do to help Prince William County to be a great place. [00:10:41] We have planners, architects, GIS specialists, administrative specialists, development services technicians. We've got kind of the wide gamut of expertise areas, and all of us collectively are here to serve the board and the community. [00:10:56] So with that, we very much appreciate this opportunity for this recognition of Community Planning Month, as well as for the planning office staff. Thank you. Madam Chair, Madam Chair, just very quickly, before everyone starts to walk out, Ms. Washington, I just wanted to say thank you for bringing your entire staff here. [00:11:21] And I know why you did, because there's so many folks that, frankly, the public never sees who are behind and under the hood of your department. And your staff and your department, frankly, are hidden figures among all the county staff because there's so many things that you and your office does that helps impact the lives of the better of our residents. [00:11:40] You know, they just see maybe one or two people during hearings, but there's so much else that goes on in your department. So I wanted to leave that with you, knowing that at least my one-eighth of the board, we appreciate you, appreciate you, and that you're not forgotten, and we appreciate your work. Thank you. [00:11:55] Thank you. All right, and after they take their seats, we'll have the people associate it with 4C, and that is October 2025, Crime Prevention Month. [00:12:17] Boy, the crowd, Connie. [00:12:34] I could just send it back to work. Now you can stand. October is Crime Prevention Month. [00:12:51] The National Crime Prevention Council is working with local police departments and community organizations around the country to create programs that raise awareness about crime prevention strategies, promote community involvement, and encourage proactive steps to create safer environments. [00:13:07] The Prince William County Police Department is participating in Crime Prevention Month because it is essential that all residents of Prince William County be aware of the importance of crime prevention programs and the impact that their petition patient can have on reducing crime, drugs, and violence in Prince William County. [00:13:24] Police-community partnerships, neighborhood safety, awareness, and cooperation are important themes of the Crime Prevention Month program. Therefore, today, the Prince William Board of County Supervisors hereby proclaims October 2025 as Crime Prevention Month in Prince William County and calls upon all residents to join the Prince William County Police Department in supporting National Crime Prevention Month. [00:13:49] Would you like to offer some remarks? Thank you. On behalf of Chief Newsham and the Prince William County Police Department, I want to thank the board for the recognition of Crime Prevention Month for October 2025. Thank you. [00:14:06] All right. Now, we kind of messed up with 4D because they should actually be 4-H on the agenda, but caught that a little late. So National 4-H Week, if everyone can come up. [00:14:28] It was bad. I was wrong. Wrong. [00:14:57] All right. And 4-D is to proclaim October 5th through October 11th as National 4-H Week. For over 120 years, 4-H has served America's youth with the mission to make the best better and is now the nation's largest youth development organization. [00:15:14] The 4-H's head, heart, hands, and health represent the core values of 4-H and guide youth in becoming engaged citizens and lifelong learners. 4-H prepares youth for careers in STEM, agriculture, public service, and entrepreneurship, contributing to a skilled and future-ready workforce. [00:15:35] In fiscal year 2025, Prince William 4-H served 636 youth through clubs and camping programs and engaged with more than 16,700 youth in special interest programs, helping them become confident, independent, resilient, and compassionate leaders. [00:15:51] The national 4-H theme, Beyond Ready, reflects their commitment to preparing the next generation for a rapidly changing world by helping youth develop into resilient, adaptable, and lifelong learners who are prepared for any challenge. Therefore, today, the Prince William Board of County Supervisors hereby proclaims October 5th through 11th, 2025 as National 4-H Week in Prince William County and urges the community to learn more about 4-H. [00:16:17] We join in celebrating and recognizing the unique partnership between our county, Virginia Cooperative Extension, and our state university system as 4-H equips youth with future-ready skills while meeting them where they're at. Would you like to, would anyone like to offer some remarks? [00:16:41] Good afternoon, Madam Chair and members of the board. My name is Michael DeRosch, and I currently serve as president of the Noakesville 4-H Community Club, and I'm a member of Trigger Time 4-H. Today, I'm supported here by Ms. Marybeth Lurch, Ms. Pam Harden, Ms. Deanne Strand, Shailen Klinger, Mr. Sean Klinger, and my mother, Kate Ford. [00:17:12] And, of course, some of our 4-Hers, Ms. Lurch, Ms. Hardin, and Ms. Strand all work at our 4-H office, and my mother, Mr. Sean, and Ms. Shailen are all a member of my clubs, and then we are also supported by Ms. Thacker of the Virginia Cooperative Extension. [00:17:42] So on behalf of everybody on 4-H, I want to sincerely thank you for recognizing October 6th through October 11th of 2025 as National 4-H Week in Prince William County. This year's Beyond Ready theme speaks directly to the heart of what 4-H is all about, preparing youth to meet the challenges of a rapidly changing world with resilience, adaptability, and a lifelong learning mindset. [00:18:09] Since joining 4-H, I've been participating in public speaking contests, overnight camps, club leadership, and even statewide teen events like State Congress. [00:18:25] With the support of my leaders, I've been able to teach STEM and camping skills, and I've even led a food drive that served over 1,000 families in Georgetown South. I've even coordinated a buffer restoration project that planted native seedlings by Wakeman Pond. [00:18:49] Through the 4-H entrepreneurship project, I was able to launch a homemade soap business that allowed me to pursue my creative talents while also promoting sustainability. 4-H has really helped me develop leadership, service, and confidence skills that I know will definitely serve me in the future. [00:19:10] And unfortunately, a majority of other 4-H youth are in school at the moment. But since they aren't able to be here, my friend Jackie will be glad to speak for them as well. [00:19:25] Thank you. Hello, members of the Board of Supervisors. My name is Jacqueline Klinger, and I'm the vice president of the Noakesville 4-H Club. [00:19:41] I participated in public speaking, share the fun, and food challenge contests. I attended 4-H Fair Camp, and this year I attended 4-H Overnight Camp for the first time. 4-H is memorable to me because it has helped me boost my confidence. [00:19:59] It's made me more hands-on, taught me generosity, and helped me become more compassionate. It has also helped me nurture my love for nature. On behalf of all 4-Hers and Prince William, we invite you and the entire community to follow Prince William 4-H on Facebook and Instagram this week. [00:20:18] and beyond to see you firsthand the incredible activities happening and the work our youth are doing. Thank you again for your continued support and recognizing the impact of 4-H in Prince William County. We'll continue to live by the 4-H pledge using head, heart, hands, and health and truly make the best better. [00:20:47] All right, 4-H is to proclaim October 16, 2025, Imagine Day Without Water. With all associated with that, please come to the front. [00:21:16] Imagine a Day Without Water is recognized annually across the country to highlight the value of water in our lives and communities by visualizing the disruption in daily life without it. [00:21:34] Prince William Water works in partnership with Prince William County Government as well as other utilities and organizations to ensure that our community has access to clean, safe drinking water. Prince William County Water serves the Prince William County community by managing $1.2 billion in reliable infrastructure, delivering nearly 12 billion gallons of drinking water per year, and reclaiming over 10 billion gallons of wastewater per year. [00:22:02] Prince William County Water promotes the protection of our environment and our precious national resources through public education and awareness. Therefore, today, the Prince William Board of County Supervisors hereby proclaims October 16, 2025, imagine a day without water and affirms that water is essential to our community's quality of life, economic strength, and public health, and supports efforts to raise awareness about the value of our drinking water. [00:22:32] Does anyone have anything they would like to share? Madam Chair, members of the board, my name is Paul O'Meara. I'm the chairman of Prince William Water. [00:22:47] I want to thank you all on behalf of our organization. for recognizing Imagine a Day Without Water. As stated in the board proclamation, water is essential for our health, our economy, public safety, and our environment. Prince William County benefits from a truly world-class water utility. [00:23:06] Our general manager, Calvin Farr, and his staff have been recognized nationally for their work leading the industry. Just to give you a sense of how special the folks are working to deliver you clean water while protecting our environment, you need to look no further than the H.L. Mooney Advanced Water Reclamation Facility. [00:23:25] They recently received the Platinum 16 Peak Performance Award reflecting 16 consecutive years of 100% permit compliance with federal and state wastewater treatment standards. I would add this is particularly impressive considering the unique regulatory scheme of the Chesapeake Bay Act. [00:23:44] This award given by the National Association of Clean Water Agencies places the Mooney facility in the top 1% of 16,000 wastewater treatment facilities across the United States. Again, thank you, Madam Chair and members of the Board, for this proclamation. [00:24:04] Please know we greatly value the partnership between Prince William County and Prince William Water and look forward to continuing our relationship into the future. Thank you. [00:24:23] the end. All right, if those associated with National Disability Employment Month could come to the front. All right, thank you. And this is, again, to proclaim October 2025, National [00:24:56] Disability Employment Awareness Month. Individuals with disabilities offer unique skills and talents that are vital to a strong and inclusive workforce and economy. The month of October has been designated as National Disability Employment Awareness Month to recognize the valuable contributions of individuals with disabilities to America's workplaces and economy. For the year 2025, National Disability Employment Awareness Month is observed with the theme celebrating value and talent, recognizing the contributions of people with disabilities both past and present [00:25:35] and honoring this milestone leading up to America's 250th anniversary in 2026. Therefore, today, the Prince William Board of County Supervisors hereby proclaims October 2025 its National Disability Employment Awareness Month and encourages all citizens, employers, and community leaders to support this observance by fostering inclusive work environments and recognizing the inherent value and talent that all individuals bring to the workforce. [00:26:07] Would anyone like to share any comments? Thank you. I just wanted to say thank you to Prince William County government for fostering an environment where these employee resource groups can feel comfortable to form. [00:26:25] We're just a year old, our group, and I think we all really appreciate having a community where employees with disabilities or caretakers of individuals with disabilities or just allies to disability issues can get together, talk, and share experiences. [00:26:44] It's been very helpful, so thank you. And if everyone associated with 4G, and that's Domestic Violence Awareness Month, can come to the front. [00:27:29] 4G is the reclaimed October 2025 Domestic Violence Awareness Month. Domestic violence threatens the physical, emotional, and mental well-being of its victims, leading to lasting harm for individuals, families, and communities. [00:27:50] Children who witness domestic violence carry the trauma into their future, increasing their risk for health and behavioral challenges across their lifetime. ACTS, which was founded in 1969 and provides domestic service and has been providing domestic violence services since 1980, remains the Prince William, Greater Prince William area's only comprehensive domestic violence program, offering safe housing, court advocacy, individual and group support for children and adults, [00:28:21] a 24-7 hotline, prevention education, and crisis intervention services that are free, confidential, and available to anyone in need. ACTS works in partnership with law enforcement, the court, and the courts. In fiscal year 2025, ACTS sheltered 67 individuals in its safe houses, assisting more than 1,200 clients through court advocacy and accompaniment, supported over 2,600 participants in individual and group services, and provided 519 high-danger interventions through the Lethality Assessment Program. [00:28:57] Therefore, today, we, the Prince William Board of County Supervisors, hereby proclaims October 2025 is Domestic Violence Awareness Month and recognizes and stands in solidarity with survivors of domestic violence, honest works of acts and its community partners, and urges all residents to take part in efforts to build safe and healthy relationships and to end domestic violence. Does anyone, would you like to share a few comments? Good afternoon, Chair, members of the board, and community members. I'm Gwendolyn Diatillo. I'm a community educator for [00:29:36] Domestic Violence Services at ACTS, and many of you look familiar to me in this room, so it's great to see everyone. On behalf of ACTS Domestic Violence Services, I want to thank you for this proclamation recognizing October as Domestic Violence Awareness Month. This proclamation is not just symbolic. It lets survivors know that their lives matter and that they are not alone. [00:29:55] Domestic violence is the most common form of violence in the world, accounting for 15% of all violent crimes in the United States. Nationally, one in three women and one in four men will experience physical abuse by an intimate partner, and every minute, 20 people in the U.S. are physically abused. We know the risks are severe. Survivors of non-fatal strangulation are 750% more likely to be later killed by their partner. The presence of a firearm increases the risk of homicide by 500%. Greater than 90% of domestic violence injuries are to the head, neck, and face region. And separation, the moment when someone tries to leave, even the threat of leaving, is the [00:30:35] most dangerous time of all. This violence does not just affect partners. A study of intimate partner homicides found that 20 percent of the victims were not the partners themselves, but family members, friends, neighbors, law enforcement, officers, or bystanders. Every year, more than three million children witness domestic violence in their homes, carrying that trauma for the rest of their lives. At Axe, we respond to these realities every day. In our last fiscal year, and every fiscal year, rather, because you already heard our numbers, we shelter those who are in imminent danger who need a safe place to go. We have two safe houses, one on each end of the county. [00:31:13] We offer individual and group support. We have specialists that speak in English and Spanish, but also have access to translation services. We provide high-danger interventions through our partnership with the Prince William County Police Department, and Roxanna's here representing them today. [00:31:32] And beyond direct services, we work with our community members through prevention and education, equipping people to recognize warning signs, connect survivors to resources, and support safety. And while October is recognized as Domestic Violence Awareness Month, ACTS holds awareness amongst and prevention programs throughout the year because this work cannot be contained to one month. We are grateful for our partnerships with law enforcement, the courts, schools, health care providers, faith communities, local government, community stakeholders, and multidisciplinary teams. And we honor those who have lost one loved ones to domestic violence as well as survivors who bravely share their testimonies. Together we can save [00:32:11] lives prevent abuse before it turns deadly and build a stronger safer community i thank you again for this proclamation and for standing with the survivors and their families together we affirm that abuse is never the victim's fault and that everyone has a right to a safe and healthy relationship and now i want to bring it up to our head of the domestic violence fatality review team rachel taylor hello thank you very much to the board madam chair i really appreciate um on behalf of everybody here doing this work in the county and what you've done. [00:32:45] ACTS is an incredible critical partner. They're the only emergency safe house we have in the whole county. But beyond that, we're working on several other initiatives that, without your help and support, would not be here. And I just cannot thank you enough for all of that incredible work. Through that, we've created, well, my position within the Office of Community Safety, where I work as a domestic violence coordinated response analyst. [00:33:08] And part of that work is I've been allowed to come into the community and work with individuals that have already been pushing for this work, very difficult work, such as ACTS. We've been able to accomplish a mapping session for resources for victims. We've done gap analysis. We're working on an initiative for the Domestic Violence Fatality Review Team, which you may hear about later. [00:33:29] But our work has actually been highlighted recently in the Advancing Pretrial Policy and Research. There was an article they provided titled Closing Gaps, Saving Lives, which highlighted the work of everything that's being done here in Prince William County with all of our important partners. [00:33:45] So thank you so much. All right. [00:34:01] For all those associated with Breast Cancer Awareness Month, please come down. [00:34:16] I guess our breast cancer awareness people haven't come. I'll just read this, and I will present this to them later. Breast cancer is the most common cancer diagnosed among women in the United States. Each year, about 32% of all newly diagnosed cancers in women are breast cancer. [00:34:36] Although more than 99% of breast cancers are in women, it affects men too. According to the American Cancer Society, about 2,800 men in the U.S. will be diagnosed in 2025, and about 5,10 are expected to die from the disease. [00:34:55] But lack of awareness and stigma can be barriers to detection and care in men. Since 1985, October has been recognized as Brandt's Cancer Awareness Month. Also known as Peak October, this designation is meant to raise awareness about breast cancer by promoting screenings and advocating for additional scientific research. [00:35:18] Therefore, today, the Prince William Board of County Supervisors hereby proclaims October 2025 as Breast Cancer Awareness Month and encourages our community to be aware of breast cancer prevention, treatment, and resource options. And the Prince William County Board of Supervisors hereby extends its deepest respect to breast cancer survivors, those battling the disease, and those who have lost a loved one to breast cancer. [00:35:42] We also applaud the efforts of advocates, medical professionals, and researchers working to find a care. All right, for 4-I, Supervisor Bode, if you can join me. And anyone associated with in the Company of Laureates Day. [00:36:09] Thank you, Madam Chair. For I, Resolution, Proclaim October 12, 2025 in the Company of Laureates Day. [00:36:27] Poetry is an art form through storytelling and song that predates the written word. In poetry, the rhythm, imagery, symbolism, and resonance of words speak to the universality of culture and embody the heart and soul of the community. Today, poetry spans a vast portfolio of genres that encompass, chronicle, and challenge our human story throughout the ages. [00:36:50] A Poet Laureate is a poet appointed to or regarded unofficially as holding an honorary representative position, particular country, region, or group. The Prince William County Poet Laureate serves to promote an awareness of poetry and to heighten appreciation of the art form and will forge a meaningful connection between poetry and the community by participating in public gatherings, initiating engaging dialogue with residents and by undertaking a project which makes poetry more available and accessible to people in their everyday lives. Therefore today the Prince William [00:37:25] Board of County Supervisors hereby proclaims October 12th 2025 to be in the Company of Lariats a day to highlight poetry encourage community participation in this ancient art form and honor our local writers who bring us creative verse thank you thank you would you like to say something i ask especially for supervisor bodie to present this to us because he has for several years now [00:37:59] been greatly interested in uh the proclamation that isn't just for the one day but it's for this whole year. In 2014, through the wonderful help of the Prince William County Arts Council, we were able to have the first state poet laureate representing our county, and we have the current [00:38:34] poet laureate here today a wonderful teacher and a wonderful promoter of all kinds of writing and especially poetry in the county and i'd like him to um be recognized this is john dutton yeah every even year of the two years of our program we elect a new poet laureate and it has [00:39:07] gone so well for us. And these poet laureates, you must know by now that they're so active in our community. And one reason is because we have wonderful supervisors. And with the blessings of the supervisors, we're able to be the Prince William County Arts Council, the poet laureate circle. And as John says, we are anchors. He runs this wonderful program for all of you. [00:39:40] We welcome you to our open mic on the fourth Friday in Manassas. He thought up the open mic, and we have so many citizens who come and say, I just don't know whether I can stand up, But they do, and over the years, we've had hundreds of inkers join us at this open mic. [00:40:03] And again, it's a program that you have helped us with, and we're really appreciative. And one more thing I want to say is that all of us are using computers now, but poets still use the power of the pen. So, Supervisor Bode, this is for you and the others up there who might once in a while need to write a check or do something with the power of the pen. [00:40:28] They come into that part, but sure. And thank you very much. Okay, one more thing I'd like to introduce, Kathy. Kathy and I have run this wonderful weekend. It's at George Mason University, Prince William Campus this year. [00:40:47] And for two days, we're going to have Poets Laureate from over six states all over Virginia, including the Virginia Poet Laureates. So, thank you. Thank you very much. And I represent Alexandra Haley, one of the original 2014 Poets Laureates. [00:41:07] Okay. Thank you. All right. I'm going to switch one supervisor for another one. [00:41:22] If we can get Supervisor Margaret Franklin and everyone associated with World Polio Day, which is the Rotarians. You've got like a two-for-one special today. [00:41:48] Good afternoon again. [00:42:08] Polio remains a threat in some parts of the world and continued efforts are essential to prevent its resurgence and protect future generations. Since 1985, Rotary International has been at the forefront of the global fight against polio, mobilizing millions of volunteers and resources to eradicate this debilitating disease. [00:42:30] The members of five Rotary Clubs in Prince William County, including Woodbridge, Lake Ridge, Manassas, Bull Run, and Gainesville Haymarket Rotary have been at the forefront of the fight to eradicate this crippling disease. They urge us to unite in our commitment to a polio-free world, honoring those who have been affected by this disease, and also celebrating the progress made through our collective efforts. [00:42:54] Today, we can achieve a future without polio. World Polio Day serves as a powerful reminder of the importance of vaccinations, awareness, and community action in the fight against polio. Therefore, today, the Prince William Board of County Supervisors hereby proclaims October 24, 2025 as World Polio Day and urges all individuals, communities, and organizations to participate in activities that promote awareness, education, and fundraising for polio eradication efforts. [00:43:29] Chair Jefferson, Supervisor Franklin, members of the Board of County Supervisors, thank you for recognizing World Polio Day 2025. I'm Pamela Montgomery, past president of the Woodbridge Rotary Club and a member of District 7610 Rotary Foundation team. [00:43:52] Did you know at the end of the 1980s, more than 350,000 children were paralyzed by polio every year? Today, Rotary and his partners have reduced the incidence of polio by 99.9%. [00:44:12] So close, but not quite there. Until we see the end of the polio virus, eradication efforts need additional funding to make sure that we can immunize more than 400 million children against polio every year. [00:44:35] We need to improve disease surveillance systems to detect any polio virus in a person or in the environment. And we need to hire more than 150 health workers to go door to door to find every child. [00:44:55] To help in this fight to end polio, District 7610 and its 2,000 members from Arlington, Charlottesville, to the Northern Neck, and our community members will be hosting a 3K walk to end polio on Sunday, October 26, in Manassas. [00:45:19] so please come out to join us to help win this fight. Again, we thank you for helping us raise awareness of World Polio Day 2025. Thank you. We are going to take a 10-minute recess to accommodate all the photos, so if everyone here who has received a proclamation or accommodation can go outside, we will take photos. Thank you, everyone. All right, everyone, we are on to item [00:45:57] number five that is the consent agenda before i move forward does anyone have anything they would like to pull we can if you have questions i'll go ahead and take the does anyone have anything they want to pull if not i will have supervisor franklin what are your questions what item sure on uh items 5e and 5f 5e and 5f can i first have for 5e page stacker if you can come [00:46:26] i'm sorry you'll get your moment rick you'll get your moment just a quick question so the grants for five thousand dollars um and obviously it goes to support uh financial counseling and like housing assistance and things of that nature but [00:47:04] exactly what will five thousand dollars do specifically so uh members of the board i'm paige thacker virginia cooperative extension the um five thousand dollars is the administrative fee to cover administering the $4 million in vouchers. [00:47:21] Gotcha. So it's just an administrative fee. Correct. Thank you for that. Yeah, sure. Thank you. All right, 5F, that is Chief LaBelle. Good afternoon. How are you? [00:47:44] Good afternoon. Thank you. Just a quick question. So the $1.7 million that we're taking from the fund balance, I guess my question is how does that relate to the budget and your budget? The state collects a certain percentage of insurance revenue every year, sets it aside for a fund for each municipality and county to spend on fire training. [00:48:12] So this isn't part of the regular budget fund balance like we would talk about, bless you, with the fire levy. This is dedicated funds that the state sets aside for us. We coordinate with the state, their use every year, and it has to be used. can't supplant funds and it has to be used for so it's not a fun balance in the sense that we're used to understood thank you all right with that can i get a motion for 5a through 5f so move madam [00:48:45] chair second before we vote does anyone want to comment on any of the items all right let's call for the vote unanimous all right thank you so very much we are now on to agenda item number six and that is public comment time if you are speaking for public comment time you will start by saying your name the magisterial district where you reside um you get three minutes and [00:49:22] i'm waiting for us i'm sorry well i'm waiting for the list it's right there all right there ah it's hiding behind my screen all right so i will call figures speakers up five at a time martin jeter who knew he was first dexter montgomery um sol houseford hemsford someone from the potomac district okay you can go stand up at the back um dexter montgomery dr jack [00:49:56] and ashley stuttle can i have the overhead projector please can you test martin can you tap your mic is that better yes okay good afternoon chair jefferson and members of the board my name is martin jeter i live in the aquan district i'm here today to talk to you about a couple different subjects the first of which is the hoadley historical marker if you remember [00:50:31] i was before you almost a year ago 11 months ago or so to talk about this historical marker and we learned at that time that there was a proffer available to pay for this marker and i haven't been able to get any updates on it recently i reached out to the staff have not heard back so i was just hoping that you could help out to find out where we're at this has been six years now that we've been um since it was approved by the historical commission so um like to if you if you could get an update on that um the second thing i wanted to talk about [00:51:05] is the Klein Project CPA, and this is a comprehensive plan amendment that you're going to take a vote, I think take a vote on today, that would remove 25 acres of parkland in this area to put houses on it. And this is part of the Klein Project. It's outlined in yellow here on the sheet, on the visual you have. What I wanted to point out is the area below that, that's also marked parks and open space that that is privately owned land so that's just green [00:51:40] shading on a map that is not parks and open space it could be if the county would buy the land from those landowners however i don't know that there's that there's funds available to do that and the landowners i don't know if they're willing sellers so the point being that if you look at this and when you're considering removing this parks and open space land today you might think well we have parks and open space right right south of this right across the road but you don't and you probably won't ever have that so I just would hope you would keep that in mind when you look [00:52:16] into initiating this CPA the other thing is I wanted to touch on is this is the overall community plan let's see if I can get it straight here this is from a previous iteration this isn't the last one you saw of the client project we've we've been through a number of them this is from actually 2018 so the last project you saw had ball fields on the parkland uh on the on the right hand side of this visual um this this application wants to build houses on that but i just wanted to point [00:52:52] out that with this previous project uh the applicant was able to do everything they needed to do as far as building houses and still preserve that parkland and just i want to also note that your parks department is uh recommending against removing this parkland because the in the mid county area the park district in this area has the least amount of parkland of any district in the county so they're recommending against doing that uh so that's all i have thanks and have a [00:53:22] great meeting thank you next speaker please pardon me madam um names halverson first is james i am a potomac district super i'm a constituent of miss bailey's um i just want to take some time last night we both had a very busy as well as a joyful night um and i just i really want to take [00:53:58] time to appreciate the bocs's and especially miss bailey's office's uh support in uh supporting the mental health awareness events, and of course, as you can see, I'm wearing one of the shirts from one of the walks that they sponsored earlier this year, but I just wanted to give a shout-out for her, and working with one of the other projects that I'm working on, I was able to give a very good shout-out to our champion, Ms. Bailey, and I wanted [00:54:37] to extend the same to all of you who are supporting those with special needs of any kind throughout this county. And with that, I'll digress to the next speaker. Thank you. Next speaker, please. [00:54:58] Madam Chair, members of the board, good evening. I'm Jack Kuyumjin. I reside in the Occoquan Magisterial District. I'm speaking for LOCA, so could I have the five minutes in case I need it? [00:55:14] oh that's for public hearings this is just public comment time i'll do it in three minutes so i i had two items one is i wanted to be supportive of the comments that martin provided you on the klein project we have a deficit in that end of the county on parkland and open space so you really need to think about this and as a part of your stewardship function i mean when micron was going to expand, we were going to lose the ball fields. And so we were talking about this property [00:55:52] becoming the alternate, if you will, for all our outdoor sports. And so we really need to look at the new people coming to the area in that end of the county also need green space to recreate and to rejuvenate and to be one with the world. You know, we need to, this green space is really, really precious. So I just wanted to advocate for that. The other thing I wanted to [00:56:28] bring up is just some thoughts on the wildlife refuge at Woodbridge. The Aquaman Bay National Wildlife Refuge literally took an act of Congress to create that out of the Harry Diamond Labs. [00:56:44] And I just want to point out in the minute I have left that there's a difference between national parks and wildlife refuges. Now, in the U.S., we have 63 national parks. We have around 570 wildlife refuges. Now, the wildlife refuge is very different than a national park because you want to nurture the wildlife appreciation for nature. And that's why you don't have campgrounds [00:57:17] in a wildlife refuge, but you do in a national park. When the guidelines for flying airplanes over a wildlife refuge is that you shouldn't be less than 2,000 feet in the air. That's an air buffer. So think about the ground and the ground buffer. So as you exercise your stewardship function, as you look at Belmont Bay, and we have a quality developer there, but we do want to give [00:57:53] some very serious thought about that buffer area between the wildlife refuge and Belmont Bay. And if you look at the buffers around the country, there are bigger numbers than what's being considered. [00:58:09] So I'll leave you with that thought, and maybe we can pick up at another hearing. Thank you very much. Thank you so much. Next speaker, please. Good afternoon, Chair Jefferson, members of the board. [00:58:27] My name is Ashley Studholm, Occoquan District, and also Executive Director with the Prince William Conservation Alliance. My comments today are referring to the support for the Purchase of Development Rights Program. The initiation to amend language in the county code is a positive step towards getting a robust and successful Purchase of Development Rights Program up and running. [00:58:52] The Prince William Conservation Alliance has long advocated for a PDR program, and this is one of the key recommendations we supported from the Rural Preservation Study completed in 2014. As the county moves toward these amendments, I encourage staff and the board to look to our neighbors, particularly Fauquier and Stafford County, who have established effective and financially responsible PDR programs. [00:59:19] These can serve as useful models for designing a program that delivers rural conservation and preservation value for taxpayer dollars. It is important to remember that the primary purpose of a PDR program is resource preservation, protecting large parcels, and maintaining contiguous blocks of land that sustain our natural and agricultural landscapes. [00:59:42] As many of you know, we recently launched our Smart Growth Vision for Prince William County, the three R's of reaching our potential, reimagine, reinvest, and redevelop. Here we mention that a PDR program is an important tool for achieving this vision. [00:59:59] Strategically, a well-designed PDR program that protects large land areas in the Agriculture and Arts Overlay District and the Occoquan Reservoir Protection Area would help incentivize agritourism and resource protection while protecting critical regional assets like Marine Corps Base Quantico, Prince William Forest Park, and the Occoquan Reservoir from encroaching development pressure. [01:00:25] Finally, it's important that the program be structured to do what it's intended to do, which is to serve as a cost-effective resource preservation tool for larger parcels and protect contiguous lands. Prince William technically adopted the PDR program in 2021, and it's encouraging to see the county now taking steps to make it functional. [01:00:47] This, if well-designed, could be a smart way to reinvest in strategic lands that have benefits for residents countywide. And with just the few seconds I have left, I just want to also share support for the comments of Martin Jeter and Dr. Jack before me. [01:01:05] So thank you very much. Thank you so very much to everyone who's coming to speak in person today. I want to turn it over to Supervisor Bailey for remote public comment time. Thank you, Madam Chair. Are you there, Tarun? Hello? [01:01:22] Oh, Chris, how are you? Thank you so much. I see we have one person. We had one person sign up, but there is nobody here to talk to today. Okay. Thank you so much. Appreciate the support. Thank you. Have a good day. [01:01:38] Back to you, Madam Chair. All right. Thank you so very much. We are now going to go on to agenda item number seven, and that is public hearings. I am going to, unless there's any objection from anyone on the dais, I'm going to go ahead and open the public hearings for 7A, 7B, and 7C. do we have anyone no one has signed up to speak in person do we have anyone to sign up to speak remotely all right there is no one signed up to speak in person or remotely so i'm going to go [01:02:12] ahead and close the public hearings for 7a 7b and 7c before i ask for a motion does anyone have anything that they want to pull off because they have questions supervisor franklin i don't i don't need to pull it off but for 7b i guess i just wanted clarity and i did read through the staff report, but exactly kind of what the agreement would look like. [01:02:36] Seth Henler-Vos, if you can come to the microphone. Thank you. Good afternoon, Madam Chair, members of the board. Seth Henler-Vos, Department of Parks and Recreation Director. So this agreement that you're considering would be non-binding in that it's not going to bind the board to any financial commitment. [01:02:58] It simply is a framework that would allow for the potential for the county to co-locate trail new recreation trails along future sewer line easements or prop or free simple properties that the service of people in water excuse me is acquiring for for infrastructure yeah and I guess my question is in practice what would that actually look like because obviously we want more trails we want walkability within our communities when you think about sewer lines do we want [01:03:35] trails along sewer lines? We do when we can. In fact, a lot of communities rely on utility easements to co-locate trails, and so this framework would basically set in motion a system whereby the Prince William Water folks will contact us when they're contemplating a new utility project, and it would give us basically the opportunity to partner with them on it. And in such instance, if we felt like it was a good opportunity, we'd bring it to you all for consideration. Okay. Supervisor Bailey. Thank you, Madam Chair. I don't want to [01:04:12] pull 7A. I don't want to pull it. I just wanted to have just a brief comment. This is a project If you don't have questions, we'll go ahead and get the motion, and we'll do comments within the motion. Okay. [01:04:28] You want me to move forward? Yeah. Would you like to move 7A, 7B, and 7C? Move to approve, Madam Chair. Second. All right. With that, Supervisor Bailey then Bodie. Thank you, Madam Chair. Again, just not to belabor the point, but this is a project that we've been working on for about three to four years, and I'm really excited that it's come to the agenda for approval, and it has to do with safety in the neighborhood, and so thank you to the agency, the transportation agency, for focusing on this and getting it done. We appreciate it. Thank you, Madam Chair. Thank you. Supervisor [01:05:04] Bode. Thank you, Madam Chair. Appreciate the question that Supervisor Franklin had. It sort speaks to what I was going to say. I appreciate, Seth, you and Prince William Waters are partnering on this. I know that as was said, a lot of the localities they do partner with utilities, whether they be within the purview of the county itself or outside ones. I know that other localities are also very successful in partnering with VDOT, with Dominion. I know that a lot of other places are able to get these easements to do trails along the power lines as well. So I wanted to kudos to to Seth. Kudos to Prince William Water. I hope that we continue to support Seth and they continue to de-silo their relationships [01:05:43] so we can have better synergies and better outcomes for our residents. Thank you, Madam Chair. All right. I don't see any comment, so I'd like to go ahead and call for the vote. All righty then. We are now going on to agenda item number eight, and that is county executive time. Mr. Shorter, the floor is yours. [01:06:11] Very good. Thank you very much, Madam Chair. I just have a few announcements, and then we will move to item 8A and 8B. First, by way of directives, the last time we were together, there were three new directives issued. During our last meeting, staff was directed to prepare and present an update on deer management and the status of tick-borne disease in the Prince William County area. This directive was assigned to public works. Staff was also directed to include the indoor sports facility as one of the potential scenarios to be considered by consultants [01:06:48] regarding the Landing Town Center. This was assigned to our Department of Economic Development and Tourism. And finally, staff was directed to provide the board with recommendations and proposed next steps for consideration in potentially regulating the retail sale locations of retail tobacco products and hemp products intended for smoking. [01:07:13] This directive was assigned to our planning office as well as the Department of Development Services. There were no directives closed during our last meeting. Madam Chair, I would also like to share publicly, and I know I've sent a memo out to this effect to the Board, that the county has recently received, again, reaffirmation of our AAA bond rating from all three credit rating agencies. [01:07:40] Tremendous achievement for our staff, and I know I've noted this before, but we are one of only 54 counties in the country with this distinction, and I want to recognize and thank, obviously, the board for its commitment to financial stewardship and also want to thank our staff, especially our finance and budget staff, whose day-to-day excellence makes it all possible. [01:08:07] In terms of additional kudos and awareness, I also want to make sure that the community and board is aware of a recently earned 2025 government experience project award from our Center for Digital Government. [01:08:28] This is for our demographics hub. The hub is an interactive web platform that makes the county's demographic information easily accessible to residents and businesses. Just want to thank DUIT for the great, great work there and always recognizing when one of our agencies or departments gets some sort of state or national award or recognition. [01:08:50] Lastly, Madam Chair, I want to remind everyone that our resource page is up and running for current and former federal government employees who might have been affected either by the shutdown or actions prior to shutdown. [01:09:06] The resource page is available on our county website, pwcva.gov, pwcva.gov. There's a link on the page, and we will continue to update that page with resources as we learn of them. And certainly we encourage anyone impacted to review the page and take full advantage of the services identified. [01:09:29] With that, Madam Chair, we are going to talk about federal shutdown as part of item 8B, but want to introduce item 8A. So I'm going to ask our senior deputy county attorney, Megan Kelly, to come up. [01:09:45] She's going to be making a presentation. But before she starts, I just want to, or as we get up the presentation, just really want to acknowledge with this ratification action the work of the negotiating team. so Megan Kelly, Stacey Walker, Michael Arena, who are both here, and I thought I saw Mitch Nason. Mitch is here. This would not happen without partnership, and so the board took action in 2022 for the adoption of a CBO and then took action to ratify a CBA in 2024. As part of that, [01:10:24] We are here now with a wage opener, and I just want to just again acknowledge the great work of the negotiating team associated with this ratification and all the work that they did. This is thankless work, hours and hours and hours together, and all the work that Mitch had to do with his membership to get us to this point. [01:10:50] So with that, thank you all for the work. Madam Chair, I'm going to turn it over to Megan Kelly to get us started. After Megan is done, we're going to have Dave stand up and give a presentation on the financial impact as required by the CBO. [01:11:08] And with that, Megan, I'll turn it over to you. Thank you so much, Mr. Schroeder, for the kind words. Madam Chair and members of the board, my name is Megan Kelly. I'm with the county attorney's office. As Mr. Schroeder said, we're here today to request that the board ratify the amended collective bargaining agreement between the International Association of Firefighters and the county. As Mr. Shorter said also, I will provide some background information. [01:11:34] Mike Arena, Senior Assistant County Attorney for my office, is going to give you some more substantive information before turning it over to Mr. Sinclair for the financial piece. There we go. So as you will likely recall, on January 16, 2024, the board ratified a collective bargaining agreement between uh the county and the iaff um it included oh oh did i do that sorry [01:12:07] i was refreshed earlier today so anything i touch gets messed up so i apologize about that um uh the contract from 2024 included a wage reopener um which was at the end of the second year it will be effective in july of 2026 and we started negotiating it in april of actually may of this year. The subjects we could negotiate included market adjustments, merit increases, and other monetary compensation. We collectively bargained with IAF from May until August of [01:12:43] this year and reached a tentative agreement on August 7th. And on August 14th, the IAFF membership ratified the tentative agreement, which is why we are here before you today. So Section 2-221 of the Collective Bargaining Ordinance requires that no CBA shall be effective or enforceable until a fiscal impact study has been conducted by the Office of Management Budget and that it be presented in a public meeting, so that's what we're going to do here today. [01:13:17] And you'll be hearing from Mr. Sinclair with regards to the specifics. And then, of course, the CBA wouldn't be effective until it's ratified here by the Board. So that is really the very basic background, and I'm going to turn it over to Mr. Arena for some more details. [01:13:34] Thank you very much. Good afternoon, Chair Jefferson, members of the Board, Mike Arena with the County Attorney's Office. Let's see if I can do this right. Right. I'm just going to very briefly highlight the substance of specific changes with the amended CBA, and I'll start with some pay scale changes. [01:13:54] For fiscal 27, effective July 1, 2026, the amended CBA will have a 4% annual step increase for steps 1 through 4. In other words, the progression between steps 0 to 1, 1 to 2, 2 to 3, and 3 to 4 will increase from the current 3% to 4%. [01:14:14] On the other end of the scale, employees who have reached the top step of their grade, otherwise known as topped-out employees, will receive a one-time lump sum bonus. three percent of their base salary as those employees obviously being topped out there's no further step to move on to so they will receive a lump sum three percent bonus for fiscal 28 effective July 1 2027 there would be a two percent market adjustment for the step increase from step zero to step one it will [01:14:49] increase again from four percent to five percent additionally the step increase from step four to step five will increase from 3 percent to 4 percent. So effectively these two both years changes will accelerate base salary increases for employees early in their career in the first five years. It's not referenced on this slide but it is in the amended CBA the tentative amended CBA that for fiscal 28 the topped out employees will once again receive a one-time lump sum bonus equal to 3% of their base salary on their merit date focal point. [01:15:29] Other monetary compensation items that are covered in the amended CBA, there is on-call pay. On-call pay would be new to the Department of Fire and Rescue. They don't currently have it. Essentially, employees assigned by the department to be on-call, so they're off-duty but on-call status, for a 12-hour period, will be compensated one-half hour at the employee's base hourly rate times one and a half. [01:15:57] So, for example, if they're on call for 24 hours, they would receive one hour at 1.5 times their base hourly rate. Field training officer pay, or FTO pay, this is something that was created with the part of the initial CBA. [01:16:18] Under the current CBA, county-certified paramedics who serve as FTOs receive a $1 an hour add-to-pay for all hours in which they serve as a field training officer. The amended CBA would effectively increase this by changing it from the $1 an hour add-to-pay to one hour at 1.5 times the employee's base hourly rate per shift they serve as an FTO. [01:16:41] And, of course, this is a specialty pay or a pay differential. It's in addition to the pay for their actual hours worked. Next would be the technical rescue technician stipend. This, again, is the current CBA established an annual stipend of $1,500 for department-certified technical rescue technicians. [01:17:00] The amended CBA would increase this stipend to $2,000 annually, very similar for the hazardous materials technician. The current CBA has a $1,500 stipend. That would increase with the amended CBA to $2,000 annually for department-certified hazmat personnel. [01:17:20] The fire marshal stipend would be brand new with the amended CBA. We don't have that currently. Basically, employees who are assigned by the department to act in a role as a fire marshal will receive a $2,000 annual stipend. Then there is the referral incentive bonus. [01:17:39] That is for employees referring candidates to join the department. They would receive a one-time $500 bonus upon successful completion of the candidate's probationary period, purpose being to boost recruitment outcomes, expand the candidate pool, and recognize employees who help bring in successful new hires. [01:17:58] That covers the items that have an associated cost that have been priced out by the Office of Management and Budget. I will say this is not an exhaustive list of every single change and amendment in the amended CBA, which is, of course, covered in the materials included with the agenda item, but this covers everything that has a budget line item attached to it. [01:18:24] So unless there are questions, I will turn it over to Mr. Sinclair to talk about costs and the five-year fiscal impact. Let's go ahead and go through both presentations, and then we can hold our questions. Good afternoon, Chair Jefferson, members of the board, Dave Sinclair, Director of the Office of Management and Budget. [01:18:48] Before I just review this last slide real quick, I'd just like to publicly thank Jeff Stamp and Sidney Englehart of our office. They are the subject matter experts for developing these estimates and their speedy turnaround time during this process. [01:19:04] So this slide summarizes the estimated costs of the amended CBA with IAFF. In fiscal year 2027, the estimated cost of all these amendments is estimated to be just over $3 million in fiscal year 2027. [01:19:28] That's right here. And then by fiscal 28, that would increase on a cumulative basis to $5.8 million. These costs are not currently programmed in the board's adopted five-year budget plan for fiscal 27 and fiscal 28. [01:19:49] We would have to incorporate them in the proposed budget and proposed five-year plan. I do want to emphasize for the board that we do have some of the original articles, the last complement of staffing necessary to achieve a 50-hour average work week of 30 personnel already programmed in the five-year plan in fiscal year 2027 at a cost of $6.7 million. [01:20:21] When you combine the amended articles and that last complement of staffing, the total cost of new budget in fiscal 27 is $9.7 million, and the cumulative cost in fiscal 28 would be 11.4. [01:20:40] However, those positions already programmed and included in your adopted five-year plan. so really this is the new cost in fiscal year 2027 and fiscal year 2028 and with that i'll be happy to try to answer any questions the board has um i just my first question i'm going to take this you know where would this put us in comparison to other northern virginia jurisdictions like how competitive are we uh this will keep us competitive again this is based on a 50-hour [01:21:17] work schedule, and I want to give some credit to the union for recognizing that during the negotiation process. Is that right there? Yeah. So we remain competitive, but it is contingent on completing the 50-hour work schedule. If it's at the current 56-hour work schedule, we're behind. Let me, Madam Chair, if I can, Megan, if you could just talk about the compensation study and how that guided, if you will, the negotiating. [01:21:52] Absolutely. Thank you, Madam Chair. So when we reviewed the compensation study, from a fiscal standpoint, there were some issues with regards to us being behind. But what the union was very much interested in, and Mr. Nason is here as well, is increasing the step value at the front end of the pay scale such that people would, when they got here, they would move up more quickly. And what that meant was at the bottom of the scale, they topped out more quickly, but they topped out at a lower, they didn't, they didn't top out the same amount as they did before because [01:22:28] the money was preloaded. So it was more of a structural approach that we took. And it was also, I can say, I think without being outside of school, that it, you know, it's a first step in terms of recognizing that the structural changes are what will allow the recruitment and retention of new members of the fire department, because they'll be able to recognize that once they get here, they'll move up more quickly. So does that answer your question? It does. I just had a couple other questions. Can I get my second allotment of five minutes? I just, because I had a couple [01:23:05] other questions, you know, and first of all, how close are we to achieving the first 50-hour work week i know because that was also a personnel number and then how are we doing with recruitment and retention if anyone can answer that i see you chief labelle i have chief labelle i can i can go ahead and defer to him i will tell you that he's been represented to me we are right on track with the 50-hour work week but i will defer to chief labelle who probably knows more about it than i do chair jefferson's members of the board tom labelle your fire chief um we're online uh in the next [01:23:44] budget cycle would be the last 30 to achieve 90 over the three-year time period. We're having obviously the same issue any public safety academy has. We bring people into the academy. Not everyone makes it through, but we are in line to achieve the July date for heading to the 50-hour workweek. [01:24:05] We also have put together a committee to look at what that structure of the 50-hour workweek would look like and they should be getting back to us uh really the beginning of this coming calendar year the intent is to be able to give employees about a year's notice of what the new schedule looks like so that they can plan for vacation graduations things like that is there going to be like an interim like if we're not if we don't make that 50-hour work week is there going to be some kind of maybe a 52 or something because i know that that's one of the big concerns with fire That schedule has been very tough on them. [01:24:40] If I may, we have a contractual obligation to meet. We'll meet the contractual obligation. I appreciate the clarification. Thank you. I'm going to go over to Supervisor Angry, then Vega. Just a question for Mr. Sinclair. [01:24:58] Just a quick question for you. Let's say we find ourselves in a situation financially that we actually have to look at budget constraints in areas. Are we locked into this? Like, could this be an area that if we have to focus on this, this is a big increase? [01:25:16] It is contingent upon appropriation by the Board of County Supervisors as part of the budget. Is that fair? That is absolutely true. It is contingent on budget and appropriation. [01:25:32] And by ratifying this contract, we're basically, the Board is providing a good faith promise that they will, in fact, budget and appropriate funds to fund the contract. Having said that, hypothetically speaking, sir, there is a fair amount of time between now and April. [01:25:51] And so if extraordinary circumstances were to arise, such that in the opinion of this board, after receiving input from staff, that was not as possible, right, you are not locked in contractually. But there are certainly impacts to choosing not to fund it if there aren't significant extraordinary circumstances. [01:26:10] Thank you. All right. Supervisor Vega. Thank you, Madam Chair. Hi, Dave. The question is going to be for you. Are you able to, I obviously asked that you all provide additional information, and you did shortly before we started this meeting. [01:26:27] Are you able to put the chart that you sent to the board up on the screen right now? I am not. I would have to put it on the projector. You can't access it via e-mail and then put it up? Okay, that's fine. [01:26:44] I have the information here. So the question is, and I just want to ensure that I'm understanding this information that was provided to us correctly. So there will be a total added expense, let's not call it a burden just yet, to the taxpayers of this county of $80 million if this board signs off on this ask today. [01:27:02] Yes. So if I may just provide some context, that is correct. That's what we said. What we did is we included the original articles that were approved by the board almost two years ago and funded in the FY25 and FY26 budget. [01:27:21] And then we included the amended articles that the board is considering today. And when you add all of that, the costs from fiscal year 25 through fiscal year 28, those cumulative annualized costs over four years does total $80.9 million by our calculations. [01:27:45] Thank you. That includes 90 positions to achieve a 50-hour work schedule, as well as what the board originally approved in, I believe, 2024 as part of the original CBA agreement. [01:28:02] Okay, so $80.9 million. And I want to expand a little bit more along the lines of the question, or rather the point that Supervisor Angry was trying to make. So I want a little bit more of an explanation, if you will, for you all to elaborate a little bit in terms of what contingency plans we have in place should there be a shortfall. [01:28:25] Naturally, we'll have to let the process play out, Supervisor Vega, in terms of our general revenue forecast, but also we'll have some presentations lined up for the board and the Finance and Budget Committee in the ensuing weeks to lay out some of those budget issues that the board and the committee are going to be facing, as well as staff, of course. [01:28:50] Thank you, and hypothetically speaking, should there be a shortfall, what are we looking at in terms of the possibility of cutting essential services and or having to look at raising taxes? Staff right now is not looking at the option of curtailing services. [01:29:06] What about the other part of the question? I think that's perhaps more appropriate for the Finance and Budget Committee next week when we talk about the FY27 budget outlook as well as revenue options for the committee. [01:29:22] Thank you. I'm not sure that this question is for you, but for whoever it is, feel free to come up to the podium. I want to know how this agreement compares with other county employee groups. Sorry, within Prince William County? [01:29:43] Correct. So at this point, the only other bargaining unit is the police bargaining unit. And at this point, we are still in the midst of negotiation. So we do not have a contract yet with them. Thank you. And I do ask because one would have to assume, right, that such a consideration for one would trigger another one. [01:30:03] And then the possibility of us looking at the entire workforce and those asks. And so I think that it's prudent for this board to look ahead. and think about the impacts that committing to this today would create for all of us as we enter budget season and the challenges that we're facing in terms of the shutdown and how that might impact this board and the budget moving forward. [01:30:28] So that was a reason for my ask, and I'm sure we're going to be talking more about the budget and those impacts here in a bit. Madam Chair. The last question that I have is, and this one is for you so you can stay, What safeguards exist to prevent future grievances or demands tied to this specific agreement beyond the withdrawal of the October 2024 grievance? [01:30:46] I apologize. Can you repeat the question? Yes. What safeguards exist to prevent future grievances or demands tied to this agreement beyond the withdrawal of the October 2024 grievance? So grievances with regards to complaints by employees about the contract? [01:31:03] Well, as long as the collective bargaining ordinance is in effect, which is adopted by this board in 2022, those are the provisions that rule over what can and can't be done with regards to employee grievances and the like. [01:31:19] We do have processes that were set up through the collective bargaining agreements. Additionally, the labor relations administrator, who was appointed by a committee, set forth additional procedural rules with that regard. [01:31:34] But so long as a collective bargaining ordinance remains in place and the collective bargaining agreements remain in place, the safeguards are what is contained in those documents. Okay, just wanted reassurance. Thank you. Thank you, Madam Chair. I'm sorry, Mr. Shorter, did you have something to add? [01:31:52] Yes, thank you, Madam Chair and Supervisor Vega for that question. I'll also say, so Dave said it, we are going to be talking about the FY27 budget outlook next week. To answer your question, though, or at least to give some additional context, we are very much doing a compensation study, compensation and classification study, for general government employees. [01:32:18] So that will be for the board's consideration this budget cycle. As Macon said, we are still in negotiation with the Police Association, but that certainly covers it. And we will keep in mind all of our workforce as we continue to navigate the various market adjustments that we're doing. [01:32:41] And we're trying our best to align where possible all of the adjustments that we are making consistent with the compensation and classification studies that we're doing for all of the various categories of staff. All right. Supervisor Bailey. [01:33:00] Thank you, Madam Chair. And to the county exec's remarks, thank you so much for just saying that because the alignment of all of this is absolutely imperative. But I just want to, for the partnership, Megan, and what you said, I think this is so essential for this, and it is an expensive investment. [01:33:22] You know, we're not going to overlook that, but it is a critical investment in that we've been working on this four to five years. And to have the partners that are sitting at the table, I think that's the piece we've always been missing. And so knowing that the investment is large and knowing that it might have an impact considering the climate that we're in right now, I think it's really necessary when we look at retaining good talent and acquiring good talent. [01:33:54] And I think that's where we have been missing, kind of missing the boat in board decisions for this great, pristine fire department and police department that we have. So I just want to name that, and I always say that, Madam Chair uses those words, but name that because it's essential as we go forward and retain the talent that we have in protecting our community. [01:34:19] So I know we've got this just at the beginning. I know it's a big dollar sign attached, but I see this as a win-win as we go forward in making critical financial decisions in our budget coming forward. And so I just appreciate the hard work because we've been talking about this almost five years. [01:34:39] So that's just my comments. And thank you. All right. If there are no more questions, I would like to go ahead and get a motion. We can have discussion within that motion. So move, Madam Chair. Second. I'll go to second to Supervisor Franklin. All right. Discussion. Supervisor, angry than Bodie. [01:34:56] Thank you, Madam Chair. I didn't want to waste the time of questions. This is insane. I'm just going to talk to you, the board, here on this. I mean, this is literally Groundhog's Day. And we could have done this exact same thing in 2020 when we went to a 56-hour work week. It's literally a master class in changing it again and coming back. [01:35:15] You say we want to make a world-class system. When are we going to do this again? And I'm simply going to, listen, I'm frustrated with this. I really am. It's just a lot of money going on here. I've asked over and over, you have stations that are double staff. [01:35:34] If we're going to do this, I think the other side of this has to be, are we efficient in what we're doing right now? that answer is clearly no to me and if you go out there in the field and look at it you will see this i don't need two fire trucks in one station i don't need to say i need 200 more firefighters to cover this county when you're not utilizing your volunteer services even remotely to this but you're asking for these things i don't want to be the dead excuse me that's a horrible thing to say i don't want to belabor this i'm not going to go into it in detail i will simply say i i can't [01:36:09] support it i don't support it and we can do this a better way that's it all right thank you Supervisor Pody. Thank you, Madam Chair. Just to go in a slightly different direction on this, I appreciate the CXO and staff, including our labor relations folks, and the association, the union, for coming together in the spirit of collaboration on this. [01:36:37] I know that a lot has been done in the short period that we've had collective bargaining in place. I know that a lot of different perspectives have been shared on that, likely across the bargaining table over the last year or so, especially now that the wage re-opener was had. Also want to just highlight the fact that we are already in a new iteration, at least considering it, of the agreement that was already done a couple years ago, and that this should itself be a moment to highlight and celebrate that, right? [01:37:08] We know that other localities who have tried this have not had as much success keeping everything streamlined and keeping all the parties at the table in agreement, but you all have been able to do that with this process. with relative lack of tension, I'll just put it that way. [01:37:24] So I just wanted to highlight that, and I will be supporting this because it has been mutually agreeable, and I know that it speaks to the spirit of both parties and the good faith effort that's been given, and I continue to support our fire department. Thank you, Madam Chair. [01:37:41] Supervisor Franklin, then Vega. Yes, thank you. Just want to thank staff for the tremendous amount of work that you all have done, Not only on this, I know that we're still working on general government. And as mentioned, there's still some work to be done with police as well. [01:37:59] But I think this is actually quite the day. You know, it's been a long time. And quite frankly, some of our associations have been talking about collective bargaining way before we even got here, right? This has been a big issue within the General Assembly in allowing localities to even consider this. [01:38:19] And so the fact that we've made it this far where we can actually get a ratification, I think, is actually pretty exciting. With regards to the budget piece, it is true. I mean, this is quite the figure, but this is what it looks like to invest in your employees, in your county employees. [01:38:41] And so particularly as we talk about public safety, if we want to show support, this is a really good way to do so. So I just want to thank not only staff, but obviously our associations for really pushing this and getting involved. [01:38:59] And a lot of times we see staff versus the employees versus management when it comes to collective bargaining agreements. But I will say that this is a good example of how when you work together, you can needle thread and get beyond some of the tougher discussions for the greater good. [01:39:16] So thank you to all involved. Thank you to Fire and Rescue. I will say that our volunteer firefighters are incredibly important as well. And I believe at the beginning of this discussion, we said that, listen, while we can only do collective bargaining for county employees that are fire and rescue would work hand in hand with our volunteer fire departments to figure out how to continue to supplement with regards to staffing and making sure that everyone whether your career or volunteer have the resources they need in order [01:39:51] to protect our communities and so I hope that it will be a continued discussion and I have faith and our staff that that will continue to be a top priority thank you supervisor vega thank you madam chair i did have um one more question that can be answered yes or no megan is there a timing component to this that this has to be ratified today agreed upon today no there isn't no um i certainly do appreciate uh the work and the collaboration that's been put behind this i um [01:40:30] initially it's doesn't come to a surprise to anybody that i have not been a supporter of collective bargaining, and this is a good example as to why. It's not a conversation about whether we support fire and rescue or public safety. It's about being fiscally responsible and prudent, and my opinion is that I cannot blindly support an agreement without first addressing potential budget shortfalls. I believe that we can support our members of public safety and the entire workforce. I just do not believe and maintain that position that collective bargaining is the way. [01:41:00] I sounded the alarm from the very beginning when we were initiating these conversations, and here we are. And so I would offer to my colleagues that if there is not a time component to this, that we perhaps wait and really analyze what those budget shortfalls may be and what our options would be moving forward. There's a reason why I asked for the numbers that I did in the way that I did. And I thank Dave for his transparency. And again, it's $80.9 million for one department. [01:41:35] I do believe that there is a better way forward and that we can still work on this, and I would like to support certain initiatives, but I cannot do so at this time without having all the other concerns that I have addressed. Thank you, Madam Chair. All right, thank you so very much. [01:41:52] And again, I do want to thank everyone who is involved with the negotiations, because I know it gets tough at times, but we've made it through. Obviously, on bias, I think that we have the best fire and rescue system. [01:42:08] I also think that we have the best police system, but how do we keep the best? We have to be competitive, even in a tough economic environment like we are in right now. We have to remain competitive. We have to prioritize community safety, and really the way to do that is to make sure that we are offering competitive wages and benefits. It's hard to recruit. Now, I feel like, you know, silly saying that when there are people in the audience who know how tough it really is [01:42:43] to recruit. But we are competing with other jurisdictions, not just in Northern Virginia, but across the country. We're not seeing as many people want to go into police or go into fire and rescue. We've got to be realistic about what it takes to meet the moment. And yes, this is costly. [01:43:02] It's going to cost us money. I cannot put a price on public safety. And I've said this during budget season, if we're going to have to cut something, then we're going to have to figure out what it is to cut. But education and public safety are my two top priorities. And so I'm going to put my money where my mouth is. I'm going to support this. I'm going to support this because we have to support this. I'm going to support this because in order for us to recruit and retain top talent, we need [01:43:40] to meet them where they're at. And I trust the guidance of the union. You know, Mitch, you have done an amazing job advocating for the men and women who put on that uniform each and every day. So I want to applaud you for that. I want to applaud you for being their spokesperson, their advocate, for really putting what you're hearing and what you're experiencing out in the field, letting each and every person on this board know. Because we don't know unless we hear from the [01:44:17] community unless we hear from you and i want to meet the moment i want to meet their needs i don't have any other speakers i'm trying to look up the front i don't remember if we have emotion do we gotta call yeah we have the motion so unless there's anyone else let's go ahead and take our votes motion passes four to two supervisors angry and vega voting may all right [01:44:51] mr county executive teaming up the next one thank you very much uh and thank you team for item 8b Madam Chair given the events of last week I wanted to we've added this to the agenda this discussion around the local impacts associated with the federal shutdown there is a lot obviously that is still unknown but wanted to have Dave Sinclair give a overview just a brief overview of where the county is impacted and so with that Dave I'll turn it over turn it over to you. [01:45:24] Thank you. So the federal fiscal year, fiscal year 2026 began on October 1st, 2025, and typically the federal budget is done through 12 annual appropriation bills, which establish federal spending authority and must be passed by the Senate and signed by the president by September [01:45:56] 30th of each year. Unfortunately, appropriations were not passed by the September 30th deadline, So the federal government was forced to shut down on October 1, beginning October 1. [01:46:16] The last shutdown, full shutdown, occurred in late 2018, late 2019, and that lasted 35 days, just for perspective. [01:46:38] So there's a couple things I want to emphasize for the board and the community. Mandatory spending programs will continue that are not subject to annual federal appropriations. This includes things like Social Security, excuse me, Veterans Administration, Medicare, Medicaid. [01:47:01] However, some of those services to the public could be impacted, such as the issuance of new cards, longer lines, things like that. Services funded by user fees, such as the U.S. Postal Service, service will continue. [01:47:18] And there are services funded by annual appropriation that will be impacted. Essential services will continue to function. However, employees will work without pay. Some of those examples include, obviously, national security, medical care of inpatient and emergency outpatient care, air traffic control and other transportation safety, although you may face longer lines trying to check in to catch a flight. [01:47:53] Law enforcement and criminal investigations, of course, will continue. Those are essential services and emergency disaster assistance. However, non-essential services will cease and employees on furlough status will not receive pay either. [01:48:15] Not included on this slide is there are some discretionary programs that will not be affected by the federal government shutdown because they received their FY26 funding almost on a prepaid basis during the FY25 continuing resolution. An example of that, based on our reading, is Title I grants for local education agencies. As I mentioned earlier, federal employees are not paid during the shutdown. [01:48:53] Essential and non-essential employees will not be paid. However, back pay is guaranteed once federal government reopens via the Federal Employee Fair Treatment Act, which was enacted in 2019. [01:49:16] However, federal contractors are unlikely to be paid during the shutdown. Obviously, this will be handled on a case-by-case basis, depending on the firm. Obviously, they are not guaranteed back pay. [01:49:34] We have a couple of very basic demographic information here regarding federal government workforce estimates. These numbers are stale. I want to say that up front for the board. We have about 450,000 federal government workers in the DMV region. [01:49:53] That's as of March 2024. Things have changed since then. And there are 400,000 contractors in the region. As of February of 2025, there were approximately around 30,000 federal government workers in Prince William County. [01:50:17] These figures are subject to change due to federal government's deferred resignation program and reduction in force actions. This slide highlights direct federal funding received by the county in the FY2026 budget. [01:50:40] This includes both the county and the schools. So for perspective, we're talking about $169 million received by the schools and the county. That represents about 4.8% of county revenue. [01:50:58] The schools comprise about 55% of that total, or $92 million, and the county, approximately $77 million, 45%. As we drill it down into the detail, schools receive $92.3 million. [01:51:17] Those come in two major buckets. $44 million is for their food service program, school lunch and breakfast programs through the USDA. And $48.3 million is in their operating fund, Title I, Title II, Title IV federal funding. [01:51:43] On the county side of our approximately $77 million, nearly $50 million is in housing, the Office of Housing and Community Development. After that, our Department of Social Services is about $20 million, and I'll get into the detail on that on the next slide. [01:52:08] As the county executive mentioned in his introductory remarks, currently there are a few details known directly from federal agencies. However, generally speaking, based on the 2018-2019 shutdown, services might be extended for one or two months, certainly through the current month of October, using prior year appropriations. [01:52:38] Federal agencies have available to them the use of carryover funds from prior year appropriations. However, the continuation of services is not guaranteed and is contingent upon remaining fund availability. [01:52:53] As we talk about Prince William County schools and their federal funding, the good news is Department of Education, Title I-A and Title II-A funds and IDEA funds, They are advance funded and will be available October 1 of this current year, which allows it to be distributed as usual despite a federal government shutdown. [01:53:25] So there's good news there. School lunch program, a little more concerning. Uh, they expect to continue operate federal USDA expects to continue their operations for a school lunch and school breakfast programs, uh, at least through the current month of October. [01:53:47] However, a longer shutdown can lead to, uh, reimbursement delays by the federal government and for school districts to, uh, use their own funds to continue those programs, at least until the federal government reopens. [01:54:06] Some of the largest county agencies, as I mentioned earlier, is housing, receiving 29% of federal funding to Prince William County government. Excuse me, 29% is overall federal funding. [01:54:25] The good news there is housing choice voucher program, we believe, is funded through the end of the current calendar year. So we have a little bit of time there. And HUD programs, such as CDBG and HOME program, they remain available due to advanced funding. [01:54:55] In terms of social services, SNAP, we do expect to have enough funding from prior year carryover appropriations at the federal level to continuing paying benefits through the month of October. [01:55:15] After that, it gets to be a little dicey. And I want to emphasize that the Commonwealth of Virginia will have a role to play if the federal government shutdown continues beyond the month of October. [01:55:31] That's when states will have to make a decision whether they want to continue providing those benefits up front in the hope of being reimbursed by the federal government afterwards. However, we are a little more concerned as staff about the WIC program, women, infants, and children. [01:55:55] I don't have any concrete information, but I am a little concerned based on my reading that that program could be jeopardy later this month. I'm talking a week, perhaps two from now. [01:56:11] And then, of course, there's temporary assistance for needy families that is aid to low-income families with children. In the past shutdowns, states have used their unspent funds from prior year allocations to sustain that program. [01:56:33] And they could also use state maintenance of effort funds to sustain the program as well. So I anticipate that more of the same if that happens. This is the final slide. The duration of the shutdown is obviously unknown at this time, although I am hopeful that both sides are starting to talk. However, it is contingent upon congressional and presidential actions. Prince William County will continue revering our [01:57:07] contingency plans for services that are reliant on federal funding, and the Office of Management and budget. We'll work with county agencies to monitor the situation, and we'll keep the board apprised of the situation. Thank you for your time, and I'll try to answer any questions you may have. All right. Thank you so very much. Obviously, with a location like ours, it's heavily dependent on the federal government. There's going to be a lot of impacts felt, particularly downstream. I just want to understand SNAP. Do we have any indication what the state is thinking in terms of how it will handle new cost-sharing requirements [01:57:46] with respect to localities? I think, if you don't mind, Chair Jefferson, I think that might be better suited for the next discussion. I'll wait. [01:58:02] All right, I'm getting a little ahead of myself. Thank you. All right, anyone? Supervisor Vega. Thank you, Madam Chair. Thank you again, Dave. So basically we are going to have to wait and we'll have a better understanding of what the situation looks like Should the shutdown continue after the month of October? [01:58:22] Generally speaking, yes, ma'am. Okay. On this very slide that you have up there, it talks about evaluate Prince William County contingency plans for services relying on federal funding. Can you expand a little bit on those plans, or do you still want to wait to see where we're at? So some of the factors that could impact that is whether or not the federal government will reimburse the Commonwealth of Virginia or Prince William County if we choose to sustain those funds with state or local funds. [01:58:52] That's a big factor to consider. I don't know if I answered your question. Sort of. Okay. But it's good enough. Are we being proactive in terms of trying to leverage community partners? [01:59:10] Dave specifically mentioned, concerned specifically about the WIC program. I know that we have a lot of great partners out there and nonprofits that would be willing to step up and help. Are we doing that already, or are we still kind of like trying to get a feel for where we're going to be and for how long? [01:59:28] Thank you for that question, Supervisor. I'll say that, yes, the community of nonprofits, certainly our community partners program, we are very much, I think, as a community, bracing ourselves and where there are service needs, we are seeing those needs. [01:59:46] I started my comments during County Exact Time talking about the resource page on our website. That resource page includes food, counseling, coaching for resume, job transitions. So that work is absolutely happening. [02:00:03] We have not as yet made any budget decisions. We have not come to this board to make any budget decisions or make any ask associated with impacts from the federal government or the shutdown. But in terms of work, services, coordination happening within this community, I would say that work has started. [02:00:25] And where there is a need, we have been approached by several community groups for additional support to meet what is anticipated to be a growing need. And the last thing I'll say is should we go beyond the month of October, I would like to see some numbers in regards to doing an analysis or an estimate of some sorts in regards to a reduction in local sales tax along with the impacts to the meals tax. [02:00:53] I think that that's all going to be relevant as we move forward with budget discussions. That's all I have, Madam Chair, thank you. - Thank you, Supervisor Brody. - Thank you, Madam Chair. Thank you, Dave, for this, and I want to thank the county exec for sort of being nimble and reacting to this and getting this on the agenda, 'cause I think it's to the point, Supervisor Vega made it, it's an important conversation to have, knowing how much uncertainty, you know, we're only about a week or so into this, I'd say half a week if you consider business days, but we still don't know what we don't know yet about how this is gonna play out. [02:01:23] Dave, on one of your slides earlier, you mentioned the law that was signed back in, I would say, 2019 that guaranteed that once the government reopens, folks will be paid. Now, I've read in the news over the past couple of days that there's been signaling that that may not happen. [02:01:45] Do you have anything you can glean from that? Because it's my understanding that, yeah, it's in the law, but I've also heard reporting that that might change or somehow will be, by a memo or executive order, changed. Can you talk a little bit about that? Right. I want to be respectful and delicate about this. [02:02:01] My understanding is, based on the current law, if they're still employed, they will receive back pay. And I know the president said some things last week leading up to the shutdown. [02:02:16] can't tell the board and what nobody can tell if that was an attempt to bring people together to the negotiation table or what. So I think there's a reason why the last shutdown, which I believe was the longest in history, was around 35 days, because it's going to get to a point where the pressure for both sides becomes so significant that they're going to have to come to the table. [02:02:49] they already are coming to the table right and and trying to work something out together so it it is staff's hope that by the end of october you're really going to see that pressure mount i appreciate that i appreciate that the sensitive sensitivity of the topic which is why i sort of framed it the way i didn't the last question madam chair is knowing that we're now in the month of october and that has lapsed a lot of the folks who have for one way or another taken the fork in the road, are we going to eventually have some kind of analysis of how that's going to impact? So again, we know that folks, frankly, up until September were paid, and now they're not [02:03:27] going to be because that's what they were guaranteed through in terms of the workforce. Yeah, we tried to look at that a little bit this morning. And what was unknown to me is that different federal agencies have different pay cycles. So that's something that I learned today. [02:03:44] And if I may, I apologize. I know I'm taking up time. I want to thank Sidney Englehart of the office for putting this presentation together for us. She was a 15-year federal government employee and not furloughed, but their loss is our gain. [02:04:04] She's fantastic. But you're right. That's going to ramp up pressure even more significantly as we progress in October. I'll also say, Supervisor, we will, as we have always, we will rely on some partners to provide some economic outlook and information data as we get closer to budget season in terms of how we will look at the impact locally. [02:04:34] There are certainly some partners that look at Northern Virginia and what the impact will be for both the workforce and housing. We will have some discussion about this next week as well in terms of economic outlook, but I will say there's a lot that we won't know until we get closer to the end of the calendar year. [02:04:59] certainly by the time we are proposing a budget to this board we'll have a better sense of what we need to to ask the board for in terms of consideration and one last thing madam chair and i appreciate i've been going back and i appreciate you know the dialogue we had about the resource page i know at some point we also not only do we have a website version of there was uh i don't call a pdf but it was a sort of a sheet that had all the resources in a way that could easily be printed out and handed to people. I don't know what happened to that. I can't easily find it, but if we could get that back. Because I'm just thinking about as we get folks that come [02:05:39] to our offices, frankly, asking about it, and particularly my office, which is literally right above Congressman Vindman's office, I know there'll be a lot of folks coming to our offices not really knowing where to go to get help. And so anything that we can be given that can also be handed out to folks that come to our offices, I think would be immensely helpful. Thank you. Actually, before I on to Supervisor Angry, maybe I can have someone on my team bring something to your team because we actually have printed sheets. And I keep some in my car because you never know when people come up to you and stop you and ask you questions about what the county is doing. With that Supervisor Angry. Thank you, Madam Chair. I don't know if you can answer this, Dave. I'm just curious. I know [02:06:13] we've had presentations on the grants that will be affected or are being affected right now by a lot of this administration federally, what are the big ticket items? Like, do you know any, like what are the big grants that we are facing right now that have you up at night concern or you, Chris Jordan, for that? [02:06:38] I'll say, so the next presentation we're going to have from community services, social services, and emergency management, as a team, that's where the biggest impact will be, And that's why we sort of focused on those agency leaders to come and brief the board, because that's where that's where the biggest chunk of vulnerable funding is. [02:07:00] The second presentation, clearly where that question lies. And I just want to point out why that. So I'm hearing on a lot of our commissions that we're on, there's some big impacts already happening now. My fear is that that wave, you know, the butterfly effect, if you will, we see it happening now. [02:07:16] But those big ticket items are going to affect us. And I think that's a concern that, to Supervisor Vega's point, are we getting out in front of us? I think we asked that, thus these presentations that we're receiving. I think that's going to be a big concern. I'm just curious. So I'll wait for the next presentation and kind of dig into that. [02:07:33] Thanks. All right. And Supervisor Bailey? Thank you, Madam Chair. And Supervisor Angry, thank you for that question because the grants are going to have a great impact. But the thing also, we're back in 2019, COVID season again. [02:07:50] And I just wanted to, if you could, just enlighten us on best practices, too. Something that we learned out of that season of COVID, the best practices that we could possibly re-institute, if possible, in this time that's so uncertain. [02:08:09] Because it's something that we didn't expect, but in your proactivity today, you're telling us some things, but were there some best practices from a social services standpoint, from a funding standpoint? And not today, but you can bring those back to us in terms of how we can protect ourselves going forward. [02:08:32] Yeah, what I'm thinking about is what we had to do with community, what we had to do with community organizations to stand up support for vulnerable residents. And I think certainly those community organizations have been hit just as hard with the, you know, sort of with the lack of funding. [02:08:53] So where there were organizations that, for example, could provide food support or counseling or information, some of those organizations have, because of lack of funding, won't necessarily be as strong. [02:09:10] That said, yes, I think the further into this we go, the more we will be pulling in our partners, our community partners, to answer the question of what types of programs, what types of services, and are we ready in terms of coordination to stand up and support our community when the need arises, if the need arises. [02:09:34] Madam Chair, the key word that you just said, county exec, was the coordination thereof. When I say best practices, you know, how are we coordinating as we go forward? I think that's going to be essential because I think that's what the Human Alliances organization was born out of. [02:09:51] So how, you know, that's what I, when I say best practices, that's what I'm talking about, the coordination thereof. Thank you, Madam Chair. Thank you so very much. We're ready for the next. Thank you, Dave. [02:10:06] Madam Chair, I'll turn it back over to you. That is all in terms of county exec time, unless there are any questions for me. Don't have any questions. All right. [02:10:21] And so we are moving on to agenda item number nine, and that is county attorney time. Thank you, Madam Chair, members of the board. This afternoon in closed session, there will be a personnel discussion relating to the appointment for the delegate and alternate delegate with voting credentials for the 2025 Virginia Association of Counties Baco Annual Business Meeting. [02:10:41] This is appropriate pursuant to 2.2-3711A1 of the Code of Virginia. So moved, Madam Chair. Second. All right, let's take a vote. Vote unanimous. [02:11:05] All right, then we are on to agenda item number 10, and that is agency time. Mr. Shorter, if you can tee everything up. Yes, ma'am. Thank you very much, Madam Chair. So with item 10A, there is no presentation associated with this item, but we are asking for the board's consideration to allow staff to initiate amendments to County Code Chapter 32-1 associated with the PDR program. [02:11:33] Public Works is certainly here to answer any questions associated with the item. Madam Chair. So what I'm going to do for 10A, I want to see before I ask for a motion, does anyone have any questions or anything they'd like to ask a staff? I actually just have one thing. [02:11:51] I see Supervisor Bodie. But I really want clarification because I know that there have been some comments and some calls about exactly what's going on with this program. You know, we are not changing any, from what I understand, we're making sure all the language matches, correct? [02:12:12] Can you just give a little bit more clarification, Mr. Shemut? Madam Chair, Member of the Wards, Katab Shemut, your Director of Public Works. Mainly two things that we are looking at for adjustments. [02:12:28] One is the PDR ordinance or the code refers to rural areas, which is no longer in the comprehensive plan. So we're going to have to take a look at that and maybe broaden our horizon, maybe expand on that as we're looking at this for adjustment when we come back to you for approval. [02:12:48] And the other thing is there's two committees that are associated with this program. One is the PDR committee, which is appointed by the board. And another one is the appraisal committee. Now, the PDR committee, really, their goal or their mandate is to do two things. [02:13:10] One is to promote the program, advertise, educate people on the program, and try to bring more people into it. And the other one is really to evaluate the program as we created. on a yearly basis and makes suggestion and adjustment on the criteria that we use for selection. [02:13:31] And we think that the committee can do more than that. So we are looking at this to really expand into the role of that committee when we finalize our work. We're also working with the base. We just had a meeting recently with the base 'cause they do have another program that's called the rapey program, which they have funding in that program that does sort of similar thing, where they purchase and control property rights around bases to protect from environmental, you know, and conflict of development and the associated stuff like that. [02:14:07] So we're working with them to see how we can combine. Again, they have a bigger program than us. I think their funding is in the range of about 5 million. Currently, I think we're funded at FY24 for about a million for this program. So if we could marry up the two and find a way that we can approach more properties and work with more interested parties will be more successful in this program. All right. Thank you so very much. Supervisor Vega. I thought you said you had Bodie. No? I just mainly want to focus on property owners' rights and just want to make sure that [02:14:43] their rights are going to be fully respected and that the participation in the PDR program remains voluntarily. Exactly. Okay. And then the other question I had, the last question I had is will there be any potential economic impacts on landowners before any changes are implemented? Changes that we will make to the PDR? [02:15:01] Well, in terms of property assessments. There should not be. And we will work side-by-side with a planning office where we make those decisions. But the appraisal would be like a free appraisal. That's going to be done by a professional person when we come up with the value for the land. [02:15:19] Okay. Thank you. All right. Thank you so much. I don't see any further questions. So you're good. You're off the hook for now. All right. So with that, I would like to get a resolution for 10A. [02:15:36] So moved. Second. I'll give it to Bailey. All right. Are there anyone, okay, Supervisor Bode, then Franklin. Thank you, Madam Chair. Katab, thank you so much. Just wanted to say that first. You know, we've had this on the books, the PDR program, since 2021. [02:15:53] And this item tightens the code so we can actually implement it, hopefully, with more ease. I was, Sue Razorvega, I appreciate your question to highlight that it's voluntary, incentive-based, and preserves land via easement while respecting property rights. I say this every year. [02:16:10] I'll say it again, even given the current climate that I support us eventually identifying dedicated recurring funding for the program. Hopefully, as we get out of the current season, because, you know, we can't actually implement the program unless we have funding to support it. So, wanted to highlight that. [02:16:27] Also wanted to say that I know, as was sort of highlighted, the impetus for this came out of wanting to protect the formerly known as the rural area, but we all know there's also areas of the county, such as in the Occoquan Reservoir Protection Area, in my district, in Suarez, Vegas district, that are just as worthy, if not sometimes more so worthy, of being preserved, because there is just as much environmentally sensitive resources in that part of the county as well. [02:16:53] And I think that, frankly, that often gets lost in some of our conversations around where we should be preserving and what have you. I think that one of the things we should really look at as we continue to look at hopefully getting this funded and implemented is prioritizing large contiguous parcels that protect headwaters, protect sensitive corridors, and also looks at prime soils or preparing buffers. [02:17:15] establish clear merit-based scoring system to avoid scattershot purchase or loopholes, emphasizes cost-effectiveness and long-term stewardship, and look at some of the best practices that we've seen around the region. I know that Falk here in Stafford, for example, have very successful PDR programs. [02:17:31] Of course, we're not exactly like Stafford or Falk here, but I think that some of the things they've been able to do in their very environmentally sensitive areas can be looked to as sort of models for that. Also, just want to end by saying really appreciate the work that, again, staff has done on this. [02:17:48] Really appreciate the stakeholder involvement of folks like the Conservation Alliance. I don't know if Ashley is still here, but she was here earlier and she spoke about it. I hope we can continue to one day look at finding a dedicated funding stream for this program. Thank you, Madam Chair. Supervisor Franklin. [02:18:05] Sure, yeah, thank you. Supervisor Bodhi, I was going to say much of that. So I guess what I will say is let's work together on finding recurring funding for the program. You know, we often talk about how do we protect rural lands and open space and create more open space in this county, but the PDR program is the way to do that. [02:18:26] And so if we want to really preserve and protect open space, we really do need to make investments into this particular program as opposed to other more divisive land use items that, quite frankly, have really diminished the discourse with regards to land use. [02:18:42] This is something that I believe received bipartisan support, as we've talked about it in the past. And to me, this is the way to go. So thank you for mentioning that, and let's work on that funding piece. Supervisor Bailey. Thank you, Madam Chair. Katow, thank you so much for mentioning about the partnership with Quantico. [02:19:01] I think it is growing, and this is an absolute great opportunity to move forward for that partnership, community and the county, Quantico and the county. And so I agree. I'm going to support this wholeheartedly because this is opening the door for protecting green space and also just understanding what it means to partner in different ways. [02:19:24] So thank you for mentioning that. All right. Thank you so very much. Let's go ahead and take a vote on this. Vote unanimous. Thank you very much, Madam Chair. [02:19:46] For item 10B, and as the planning office makes their way down for presentation, this item is asking for the board's consideration for an initiation of CPA or comp plan amendment to modify long-range land use designation for a property located at 8129 Prince William Parkway. [02:20:06] Madam Chair, with that, I'm going to turn it over to Tanya Washington to deliver the presentation. Good afternoon, Madam Chair, members of the board. Tanya Washington, planning director with the planning office. I'm just here to introduce this item, the comprehensive plan amendment for the client property and wanted to note that the presentation will be led by Ahmad Bazar with our countywide planning division, not Scott Meyer, who's with our land use review division. [02:20:33] Scott, Mr. Meyer can't do the rezoning application, but the focus for today is a comprehensive plan amendment, which is under our countywide planning division. So I will turn it over to Ahmad. [02:20:42] Good afternoon, Madam Chair and members of the board. [02:21:17] Ahmad Bezad with Planning Office. I am presenting you a very special case in this very special day. The client property CPA initiation request. This is a request to change the long-range land use designation for approximately 25 acres of land from parks and open space to residential neighborhood RN2. [02:21:42] Also, this request has an accompanying rezoning application, which is seeking rezoning from agriculture to plant mixed residential. The location of this property is in Liberia Activity Center, southeast of the intersection of the Prince William Parkway and also Liberia Avenue. [02:22:10] Staff recommends initiating CPA 2025-0005 with an expanded study area, supporting county goals of sustainable growth, housing diversity, and also long-term land use compatibility of the site with the surrounding environment. [02:22:29] So this is the location of the property. The existing, as you see here, the existing long-range land use designation is parks and open space. The requester's proposal was to just change the long-range land use designation of that specific 25 acres of land, as you can see marked on the right image. [02:22:57] And this is the existing zoning designation, which is agriculture, and also the proposed zoning is PMR, plan mix, residential. This parcel is located within the Liberia Activity Center. [02:23:14] There are some policies and goals and visions for this activity center, including like planning for a shift from rural to more urban area, also leveraging proximity to the VRE station and creating walkable communities. [02:23:30] In addition to that, one of the other housing policies for this activity center is provision of the diverse housing stocks, including the age-restricted units, which the applicant is proposing as part of the rezoning request. [02:23:47] After the preliminary analysis of the proposal, as this is a CPA initiation, this is a very high-level overview of the proposal, the staff came to conclusion to propose initiating the CPA with an expanded study area. [02:24:07] As you can see, they are extending the boundary to the MU-3. And this was specifically proposed based on studying the existing urban fabric and surrounding environments, considering the density and keeping the density low in long term. [02:24:30] Some of the merits of the proposal includes provision of the housing stock, especially for age-restricted population. Also, transitioning to RN2 will better align the density within this parcel compared to the surrounding environments, potential reduction in traffic, especially that the rezoning asks for age-restricted homes. [02:24:57] And also there are some trade-offs, like we will lose mixed-use land, like portion of it. But however, as we saw in the last slide, we do have a lot of MU, like mixed-use land-use designation within our Liberia Venue Activity Center. [02:25:17] So still the merits of the proposal outweighs that, and the long-term goals may benefit from this request. So this is a table comparing the existing density with the staff proposal. [02:25:35] As you can see, there will be a significant reduction in the allowable density within this area. And ultimately, staff recommends initiating the CPA 2025-0005 with an expanded study area to align with the county goals for sustainable growth, housing diversity and long-term land use compatibility with the library activity center but i want to mention that this initiation does not mean that the board approves the cpa this is [02:26:14] just this just gives us an opportunity to better do a great analysis of the proposal when it comes like with the rezoning and we will have a very comprehensive analysis at that time thank you very much with that I will open and the floor for any question you may have thank you so very much doesn't look like we have any questions so thank you oh wait supervisor Bailey just real quick I don't have a question I'm just excited to see this just wanted to say that and congratulations [02:26:48] supervisor I think it's exciting I just wanted to say that okay all right thank you so very much since we don't have any questions if there's any discussion we can contain it within a motion can i get a motion from supervisor vega vega to move 10b forward so moved madam chair second it's probably moved to second it any discussion supervisor bode thank you madam chair just wanted to start um where supervisor bailey left off and wanted to uh give kudos to supervisor vega uh staff [02:27:28] uh the applicant and everyone else who has stuck with this project for for so long i know this has been a long time coming i know there's been a lot of work put in this so i wanted to highlight that and thank Suhra Zervega for her diligence on this. And I know this project has been going on since basically all of us have been on this dais, frankly. [02:27:45] So I wanted to highlight that and thank staff, especially the folks that have been working on this project in very different iterations over the years. So I didn't want that to escape the conversation. As was said, the CPA expands the planned residential area while simultaneously decreasing the overall density. [02:28:02] Based on that and previous conversations with staff, I know that the eventual plan is for the rezoning, which we're obviously not looking at today, to be a 100% age-restricted community. And I understand where folks are coming from with that. I know that this nexus of activity in the county has a lot of traffic that goes through, a lot of other impacts that are happening. [02:28:23] I know that in the interim between the last time this board looked at this parcel and now a shopping center across the north side of Parkway has sprung up. a lot of activity there again a lot of traffic a lot going on there um so i understand why folks uh have been wanting to be very sensitive including sures of vega on the traffic impacts uh specifically we did have some resident that spoke earlier about hey um you know the the change will diminish that that parks and open space um and and and we're going to lose potential for just open space on that but i know that given the density that we're going towards there's going [02:29:00] probably be a lot of open space sort of built into the space between lots so I understand why we're doing that. I also know that some folks tend to sometimes have concerns around age-restricted residences especially knowing that there is a wide variety of amenities or a wide variety of age ranges in this area but again I know that one of the chief concerns especially in this parcel in this area given especially the nature of that intersection is traffic and how much we're going of stress uh that part of the network so that all said i will defer to super azavega on her overall vision for this property um she obviously made the motion to to approve it so i i'm going [02:29:39] to defer on that just want to though still issue caution that as we continue to look at other planning areas throughout the county um that there are trade-offs for for de-densifying areas that the farther things go out the more space is taken up by that and the less space there will be to preserve naturally occurring open space, preserve limits of disturbance and what have you, and also restricting demographics of residents who can inhabit major activity centers with amenities like the ones in this area. [02:30:08] So again, I'm going to defer to Reserva Vega, but I think we need to be careful as we look at other parts of the county around this. The last thing I'll say is also hope that as the rezoning progresses, that given the target demographic for this iteration of the project, the rezoning application includes accessible housing, knowing that the age-restricted communities, There's unique mobility needs and what have you, and we're looking at that kind of housing stock, too. [02:30:29] Thank you, Madam Chair. All right. Thank you so very much. It does look like โ€“ I'm sorry, Vega, did you have a comment? Yeah, Madam Chair. I just want to make sure that folks here and watching at home understand that this is just the initiation for the current plan amendment. [02:30:46] We obviously have a rezoning application that is going to be submitted, and I certainly do want to thank the applicant publicly. I know that I can be tough, but I also know that I'm fair. and thank you for riding this wave with me. I know that it hasn't always been pretty, but I certainly appreciate you adhering to the constituents' concerns that I've raised and certainly want to thank staff. [02:31:07] I know that it's been a long, long time coming. As Supervisor Bodhi stated, this project has been in the works since before any of us were elected, and so there's still work to be done. We're going to be conducting community outreach and addressing any additional concerns that may come. [02:31:25] before anybody sounds the alarm and says we have a thousand houses coming that's not the case we're just initiating the complan amendment today so i thank you staff thank you to the applicant and thank you to my colleagues for also um working with me on this behind the scenes thank you madam chair all right thank you very much so i'd like to go ahead and take a vote on this unanimous all right thank you very much all right thank you all very much all right madam chair for the final [02:31:59] item 10C. As the directors make their way up, we're going to start with social services, community services, and then emergency management. I'm going to ask that they sit at the table here for discussion versus at the podium. That said, Madam Chair, this is a follow-up from, as you may recall, the last finance and budget committee meeting where we had more of a informal discussion. This is a more formal presentation and we'll ask that I think [02:32:36] we're going to start again with Department of Social Services. So Director Phyllis Jennings Holt is going to start us out and then we will continue through with community services and then emergency management. Good afternoon Madam Chair Jefferson, members of the board, Phyllis Jennings Holt, Director of Social Services. First I'd like to thank you for this opportunity to share with you information regarding the potential impact of the federal funding cuts. On September 16th I was here with my [02:33:08] colleagues and provided some bullet points regarding the federal impacts and so for some of you this information may be repetitive but it will be new information as we go through the slides so of course we know that the big beautiful bill was enacted on July 4th what we do know is that previously the federal and state match was 50-50 [02:33:38] and so can you hear me now is this better okay thank you was 50-50 and so now the bill is requiring the state of Virginia to up the match which would be 25 federal and 75 state it is also expanding the work requirements for able-bodied adults. Next slide, please. So with that, Virginia is looking at having to cover an additional $90 million based on that 25% match for the [02:34:14] administrative costs. Next slide. So this chart here shows our budget lines in the Department of social services. And so when you look at the federal column for BL 855 and 858 and 849, that total comes over to $6 million. With that 25% reduction, we are looking at a $1.6 million deficit. Now, that is just our projection. As I have said, we have not received any guidance from [02:34:48] VDSS in reference to what it would look like and what part they will be paying, if any, and what Prince William County or other localities will be paying. Next slide, please. So as you looked at the SNAP fund requirement, agencies starting October 1st of 27, state agencies will be required to pay a match to the federal government that is going to be based on that match is determined on the state's SNAP allowment and the percentage of the errors. [02:35:25] And so, as you can see, currently right now, the state of Virginia is at 11.5% error rate, and so we could be looking at a $4 million payment effective 10-1-2027. So the state of Virginia is aggressive in trying to reduce this state error rate down to 6% by September of 2026. [02:35:55] It is based, again, on the allotment and based on the payment scale. What we do know and what VDSS has acknowledged is that the system that we currently utilize, which is VACMS, has played a part in payment errors in processing applications. [02:36:18] But at this point, the General Assembly has stayed in and not in a place where they're going to pour money into developing or buying a new system. A part of trying to lower that SNAP error rate, they are requiring that supervisors and benefit staff are trained so that they can be versed in policy to help reduce the errors in processing benefit applications. [02:36:49] I will share with you, and I shared before on September 16th, that currently Prince William County DSS is at a zero snap error rate, which is good. We will try to continue to keep it there. [02:37:06] Previously, for purposes of transparency in FY24, we were at 28%, but we were also in the process of Medicaid unwinding. So we had to shift our efforts to processing those applications in addition to Medicaid appeals going up. [02:37:25] But we have now gotten back to our quality assurance team doing case readings, which would help us internally to look at our processes to prevent SNAP error rates. Beginning this month in October, the general work requirements expanded, which to include 54, ages 54 to 64. [02:37:48] With this change, all SNAP recipients, 18 to 64, will be evaluated under the able-bodied work requirement, meaning that they will need to work 20 hours a week, 80 hours a month, whether that is work, education, or volunteer. [02:38:06] If they are not able to comply or don't comply, they will have reduced benefits, which would be three months of SNAP benefits. Next slide. And so by 2030, the following populations will be exempt from the work requirements, will not be exempt, I'm sorry, I apologize, will not be exempt from the work requirements, and that includes our individuals who are unsheltered, homeless veterans and children aging out of foster care under the age of 24 next slide so [02:38:43] there is the elimination of the low income energy assistance program we have a number of families in this county that receive assistance as you can see in 2024 for heating there was over 1100 households for crises there was 125 households and for cooling there were 1208 households And so by next year, this time, the programs, both programs will be eliminated. [02:39:12] So as we move on to Medicaid, what I will share with you is that as of August 25th of this year, there are close to 100,000 households in Prince William County that are recipients of Medicaid. [02:39:31] Starting December 31st of 2026, Medicaid expansion recipients will be required to participate in getting their, through the redetermination process every six months. Currently, it is on an annual basis. [02:39:48] Right now, in Prince William County, we have over 26,000 individuals that are falling to that expansion, that Medicaid expansion cover group. They, too, would have to meet the work requirement, the 80 hours a month, which that is work, volunteer, or education. [02:40:09] There are some exemptions, and so some of those exemptions from that work requirement will include pregnant or postpartum women, foster or former foster children, tribe members, veterans with disabilities, those who are medically fragile to include physical, intellectual, and developmental disability, and those who are receiving services for serious medical illness or substance abuse disorder treatment. [02:40:38] Next slide. And so this is the breakdown here in Prince William County. When you look for the Medicaid expansion, our largest is in Woodbridge, which is at 14,201 constituents. Our next is Manassas and Dumperies. [02:40:54] So as you can see, the numbers dwell down. And these are the individuals that fall into that Medicaid expansion cover group. This is as of July of this year. And so as you're reading the bill, there was some concern mentioned regarding reducing fraud. [02:41:17] So as of October 1st, anyone that falls into a qualified alien status, that scope is narrow for them to be eligible for benefits. January 1st of 27, we would need to use a reliable source to identify or confirm or verify more so the address for the applicant. And then in January 1st of 2028, we need to start using and reviewing the death master list to determine if individuals are deceased who may be getting benefits. So this slide here just really shows [02:41:55] the approach that the Virginia Department of Social Services is taking to reduce the SNAP error rates. They have the operation fix and find, which we did where there were random cases that were selected and reviewed. We received feedback regarding our work, and that was from August the 1st through September the 30th. We have our own internal. Each local DSS agency had to submit a plan where they would be conducting their own quality insurance reviews, and so we would have two cases reviewed per worker [02:42:35] by the supervisor, which averages about 320 cases a month for us within our department. Again, the training that was needed to be done, which my staff has completed. And what I will add in here is that what we do know is in order to be able to process these applications without error and taking time, that staff will need to take advantage of overtime and we have communicated that to executive management so again again we talked [02:43:13] about um it's okay it's all right yeah so again this is just another iteration of the plan that we have in place to make sure that we are on the right track to have error free we're also looking And we are also in conversation with DOIT about attempting to use some systems, AI, create an internal, something like chat GBT to help staff to be able to utilize and get information out of policy so that they will have all the tools that they need in order to process the applications accurately. [02:43:54] Next slide. As I mentioned before, quality assurance period is October to September. Previously, we were at 28.5%. Currently, right now, we're at 0%. And for the feds, the food and nutrition services, they pull four cases each month from every department to review for errors. [02:44:17] And so we do participate with the state and regional meetings, stand abreast of all the information that they can share. What I can tell you is that it is piece by piece. We're not getting a lot of guidance from VDSS because they're telling us they're not getting a lot of guidance from the federal government. [02:44:36] But we are trying to work collaboratively within the Northern Virginia area with other agencies to make sure that we're getting the work done the way it needs to be done. And that's my presentation. Are there any questions? Is this now the appropriate? [02:44:54] I'm sorry, I was getting confused earlier with trying to balance a few things. I just really, I need help. I want to make sure I understand SNAP. Do we have any indication what the state is thinking in terms of how it will handle the new cost-sharing requirements with respect to localities? [02:45:11] We don't. Okay. I think that that's something, just to comment quickly for the board, you know, for our legislative agenda, we should push for the General Assembly not to push the cost-share burden to localities, you know, because we have such a very small error rate. [02:45:30] But even more importantly to that, there are some jurisdictions, I mean, even us ourselves, it's going to be hard. To make that money up. I'm going to see, does anyone else hold on? Supervisor Franklin, do you have any questions? No, I could actually probably wait until all the presentations, because my questions, I think, are combined of all of them. [02:45:50] So I'll actually wait. All right, then we'll just go into the next presentation. Thank you. [02:46:15] Good afternoon, Chair Jefferson, Vice Chair Bailey, and members of the board, Georgia Bogman, Acting Director of Community Services. Thank you for having me here today to speak to the federal funding landscape and how it may impact community services. [02:46:31] The key takeaway today for community services is monitoring. Community services is monitoring the federal landscape closely for potential impacts to our clinical and administrative operations. [02:46:52] The good news is that to date there's been no major impact, but potential risks do remain. What we do know, in regards to federal grants, we are monitoring grants management closely. We do have one five-year, $5 million federally funded Department of Health and Human Services, HHS, and SAMHSA, Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration, System of Care Expansion and Sustainability Grant. [02:47:25] This is a children's mental health initiative grant and serves youth with complex behavioral health disorders or those at high risk. The system of care framework is to provide evidence-based, trauma-informed, resiliency-developed behavioral health services to children and their families using natural supports in a community-based manner to help them meet their self-identified goals and needs. [02:47:50] We have just received our third-year renewal, and we have six full-time staff for this initiative. To date, there is no notification of risk to the federal funding of this grant. Regarding our ARPA block grant funding, originally those funds were to be made available through September 30th of 2025. [02:48:19] However, the Department of Behavioral Health and Disability Services received notification on March 24th that those funds were to be terminated immediately. So this left an impact on many DBHDS projects and programming. [02:48:36] However, Prince William Community Services had proactively invoiced for our projects, and therefore we saw no loss of funding from that event. There are no other known federal cuts impacting CS services at this time. [02:48:56] Regarding Medicaid, as a behavioral health care treatment provider, if we were to see any Medicaid reimbursement reductions, this would seriously limit our ability to offset the cost of needed positions. [02:49:12] The impact would be a reduction of positions or needed increase in local funding to support positions. A critical example of this is with our Developmental Disability Program. As many of you know, the governor allotted allocated funding this year for all of the individuals on the Priority One waiver wait list. [02:49:34] This is the highest need group of individuals with intellectual or developmental disabilities who have the most urgent need for services facing immediate risks to their health and safety. and the waiver slots allow them to receive essential community-based support services. [02:49:54] Recent Medicaid rate increases were able to support new relatively cost-neutral positions to be able to serve these individuals, and as you can imagine, demand has grown significantly. So a reduction in Medicaid reimbursement could lead to some pretty significant capacity challenges. [02:50:16] In addition, the additional Medicaid redeterminations that Ms. Jennings spoke about could result in coverage gaps or loss for some of the individuals that we serve. While we would continue to serve these individuals, we would be at risk for revenue loss and increased wait lists due to limited capacity. [02:50:35] To mitigate some of this potential impact, we too have administrative staff who work very closely with the Department of Behavioral Health, Developmental Disability Services, with DMAS, our Department of Medical Assistance Services, to get up-to-date information on changes and potential impacts, and we are staying abreast of any changes. [02:51:02] Lastly, we're also closely monitoring the executive order related to individuals who are unhoused. Concerns have been expressed regarding a potential return to policies that encourage psychiatric commitment of individuals with mental illness who struggle with housing needs and who need community-based treatment. These risks could put an added burden on our already over-taxed public hospital system. So with some of these potential changes, increased demand for [02:51:36] beds could create bottlenecks and undermine some of the goals of our crisis transformation efforts. and that is all I have today, thank you. [02:52:04] - All right, good afternoon Chair Jefferson, members of the board, I'm Brian Meisner, your emergency management coordinator. We got an update for you today on the landscape for emergency management and homeland security funding, both here in the National Capital Region and in the Commonwealth. I'll first start with the federal landscape and some of the policy changes that I touched on when we were with you at the budget committee. [02:52:28] The current administration's policy very much placing an emphasis on preparedness and response and recovery shifting down to the local level. There is a FEMA review council that has been impaneled by the president and that work is ongoing. The Yunkin administration is participating in that process and we have seen some limited requests for feedback through the state channels on that initiative but it is ongoing. [02:52:53] Concurrently there is also legislation pending before Congress, the FEMA Independence Act, which would pull FEMA out of the Department of Homeland Security and restore it as a cabinet-level agency, which it was prior to the creation of Homeland Security, and that certainly would perhaps streamline some of the response and recovery aspects of the agency. It's also important to note that, as I think we've seen with some of the other grant programs and in the other sectors, changes to standard terms and conditions, delays, rescissions, [02:53:26] And specific to these Homeland Security Awards, different national priority areas are also impacting how we're able to spend on these awards. So for the Urban Area Security Initiative, or UASI, it was established in 2003, focusing on the highest density, highest risk urban areas. [02:53:50] And it is 100 percent federal funding with no local match. The initial notice of funding opportunity for the National Capital Region indicated we were going to have a $25 million award for this upcoming fiscal year, which was a 44% reduction. [02:54:07] But there have been some recent updates and developments in that the letter of award that the district received was only for $4.4 million, or a 90% reduction. There was also a 10% reduction across the board throughout the country in fiscal 24. So there have been a variety of meetings from the different governing bodies and steering groups for this funding. [02:54:29] An additional meeting is scheduled for tomorrow that Mr. Alexander will be attending. But the important point here is that based on this now 90% reduction in funding, the regional groups are recommending that all of the projects that we have been sustaining with this funding be transitioned to other funding sources by the end of our current local fiscal year 26. [02:54:52] I guess, Brian, before you move on, I just want to accentuate the point that we're going from $25 million to what we thought would be a 44% reduction. It is now $25 million to $4.4 million. [02:55:08] This is a significant reduction in the northern Virginia area. That is, all of our counties in the city of Alexandria are all coordinating and dealing with what is a significant loss in funding associated with UASI. [02:55:27] So the next couple of slides, we'll talk very briefly about the impacts that this reduction in loss in funding has. First and foremost is to our team. We do have two of our 18 members in the Office of Emergency Management 100% funded. And so initially we were expecting to have to pick up a half FTE for the rest of this year. [02:55:47] The current award that I have is only through December, so that would be the equivalent of one FTE for those two positions between January and June to get them through the fiscal year, and then two full FTEs moving forward for fiscal 27 and 8. For the other projects, so primarily the things that would be goods and services if we paid for them directly but we currently just receive from either COG funding it with the UASI funds or another jurisdiction funding it. [02:56:13] The initial impacts are somewhere in the neighborhood of about three quarters of a million dollars having to be picked up in fiscal 27 and then an additional 593 in fiscal 28 totaling about 1.3 million if we were to continue participating in all of those projects. [02:56:30] More importantly, because of this now very reduced time frame and looking at having to wind things down before the end of the fiscal year, we are looking at the things that may impact us during the rest of fiscal 26. The initial best estimate that we have with this recently changing information is probably in the neighborhood of about $400,000 worth of services that we may have to find a way to assume or find a way to do differently that we're not budgeted this fiscal year. [02:56:57] As Mr. Shorter mentioned, there is coordination both at the Northern Virginia level and then at the larger UASI and Council of Governments level, and the majority of that coordination in this realm is through a group called the Northern Virginia Emergency Response System. It has been in place for much of the life of the UASI and started out as the Metropolitan Medical Response System in the post-9-11 days and has transitioned into a group that is both our local governments as well as our health care and hospital partners working collectively to make sure that the region is prepared and able to respond to incidents. [02:57:33] A portion of the UASI funding has traditionally been sub-awarded to the emergency response systems in Northern Virginia, Maryland, and DC. That amount was $5 million for the several years ahead of fiscal '24. [02:57:48] It was going to reduce back down to $3.25 million for fiscal '25 prior to the cut. And so now with this rapid reduction, we are looking at a need for, likely need to provide some support to Envers for the same services that we're receiving. [02:58:04] with the reduction that probably would look like about half a million dollars starting in fiscal 27. However the Enbridge Board and Steering Committee still needs to meet as well as Mr. Shorter and his peers in Northern Virginia about their decisions on what services to continue. I mentioned earlier that some of the national priority areas are also a challenge. There have been some priority spend requirements specific to border security and election security added to the awards. That is one of the questions that the the district's Homeland Security Emergency Management agency has pending back to FEMA is of the projects you are allowing in the 4.4, which of them counted toward these priority areas? [02:58:44] And that's just kind of an open question, so we're not sure what's going to come back yet. The last unknown is that because of the amount of grant funding, there have been ability to purchase and sustain several capital assets around the region, primarily for interoperable communications. [02:59:00] That equipment has lifespans, and there will still be a need for those interoperable communications. So those are yet unknown future capital costs that the region will have to find a way to cover. On the Commonwealth level, it is not all bad news. [02:59:17] There is another part of the Homeland Security Grant umbrella called the State Homeland Security Program, or SHSP. The state did inform us that they are discontinuing what was previously a competitive process for a portion of that money, and they're going to be allocating it to special response teams that have an existing MOU with the state. [02:59:36] For us here in PwC, that will be our hazardous materials response team and our swift water rescue team. And we are waiting on some additional information and next steps from the state for what those grant awards might be. There is also another program called the Emergency Management Performance Grant Program. [02:59:52] We have received about $60,000 annually. We do not budget that as part of our recurring budget because there has been a risk of it varying from year to year. So we tend to use that to supplement our training and exercise activities. Um, however, uh, the state did also kind of suggest to us that, uh, that program does not require a pass through and given the environment that I'll, I'll speak to in a moment, uh, we should not count on that, uh, for much longer. [03:00:18] Uh, and that does bring me to kind of the, the last big impact on the Commonwealth and that is, uh, the Virginia department of emergency management is about 68% dependent on all this federal preparedness funding for their base budget that they get from the general assembly every year. [03:00:36] There have been a variety of efforts across the last many years and multiple administrations to try to move the needle on that, and it's just not budging. So there is quite a bit of concern amongst my peers and I that the level of service that that agency might be able to provide could be compromised if additional support is not received from the General Assembly to make sure that their core functions are able to be supported a bit more with some general fund at the state level. [03:01:00] And then finally, on the mitigation and response and recovery funding front, post-disaster recovery funding will probably not look the same any longer. The days of 100% reimbursement for the most catastrophic disasters are probably behind us, and the threshold for being eligible for funding is likely going to increase. [03:01:23] So we do really need to be prepared to deal with an average event on our own that would look something like a tropical storm with a day or two of rainfall, a blizzard with a couple days of travel disruptions in the winter, perhaps a minor tornado or damaging wind event are all things that we likely would not see federal assistance for in the future. [03:01:41] And then on the mitigation fronts, we are still required to participate in a FEMA mitigation planning process, which the state requires to be regional. Because of the size of that effort, it's about a 2,000-page plan that has to be updated every five years. Contract support really is necessary, and all those funding sources that the region would have used are perhaps also drying up, so that might be a challenge. [03:02:03] We also have to find a way to resource. In closing, we are working internally with our stakeholders. We've had several discussions with the affected departments. It is primarily the public safety quad plus the Department of Information Technology because a lot of these services ride on our technology and the region's closed network that this grant funding has helped create and sustain. [03:02:25] So we are going to be doing a more formal group and look and continue to work very closely with executive management in the weeks ahead. Really just reemphasizing that we're trying to identify those most immediate impacts that we need to find a way to address here in fiscal 26 and that while our federal funding is decreasing, Our threat and hazard environment, unfortunately, is not. [03:02:44] So we still have the same threats and hazards of being here in the National Capital Region, the hazards of our built environment, of Mother Nature, that we've got to be prepared for. And to that end, our preparedness is also a whole community effort. So it's not just the government. There's a role for all of us in our neighborhoods and communities, with community organizations, the business community, all play a role. [03:03:05] And that's something that our team is happy to help facilitate for the community. Thank you. All right. Thank you so very much. Supervisor Franklin Angry-Body. Yeah, I just wanted to talk a little bit first about the 26,000 Medicaid recipients that may be impacted. [03:03:23] Is that Prince William County, I think I saw? Yes. Okay, so, and I'm sure we don't have the answer to this right now, but I do think it is worth kind of putting together a worst-case scenario for how do we handle those 26K. [03:03:39] And then, obviously, a lot comes into consideration. Like, each of those individuals have different circumstances, right? Um, and so it's, it's not going to be kind of cookie cutter in terms of this is the one plan for all 26 K, but I just wonder if we should start having those conversations with the state, um, to figure out exactly what they think. [03:03:59] And look, you know, we have an election coming up. We know that there's going to be a new administration regardless, but I think as much as we can try and, um, do some type of forecast, um, and planning, I think will be helpful so that there's just not a complete fall of these individuals coming off of assistance that's the one thing I'm not sure if you have any comments about that but I had some comments in SNAP as well I agree with you I think that definitely we need to be prepared my thought [03:04:35] process is that individuals who may lose their Medicaid coverage or may lose their SNAP benefits We'll be reaching out to departments such as Department of Social Services, Area on Aging, Community Services for assistance. [03:04:53] And honestly, I'm not sure how much VDSS is going to financially be able to contribute or what guidance they would give us. But I do think that as a county, as a department, we definitely need to think ahead about the worst case scenario and how we will respond, not only with us and our departments, but also with our community partners and our churches, because it is going to take an effort. [03:05:25] Yeah, and I'm hoping that COVID kind of taught us about how to plan for or at least mitigate in the worst-case scenario. So hopefully there were some lessons learned in terms of resources and how to adequately and very quickly allocate resources. [03:05:42] Going to SNAP a little bit, talking about the error rate, I do just want to clarify, because when we talk about the error rate, it's always in a negative sense. but you know most of the error rate is based on unintentional mistakes rather than fraud and so I think it's important to kind of highlight that and I like our goal for the I think that was for the commonwealth to reduce from what was it like 12.5 going down to 6 percent yeah I think that's important I also think it's important to highlight that most of the costs from the cost sharing of the state is administrative anyway. [03:06:18] And so I feel like part of our federal legislative initiatives, which we've talked about very briefly in our legislative committee, should be to push the feds to go back to that cost sharing a greater percentage than what was reduced in H.R. 1. But then also, even if SNAP stayed exactly how it was before, we should be getting more resources with regards to cost sharing because we really do, we as states, already pay a good amount. [03:06:47] So I would just encourage my colleagues to kind of add that to what we're thinking about once we get past the General Assembly legislative priorities as we start to think about our federal priorities. All right, thank you. Supervisor Angreen? Thank you, Madam Chair. [03:07:03] This is all concerning. I'm curious about more data, and I'll just kind of start with you, Mike. Like, when you talked about some of the smaller, maybe, national events that we could have locally that we would have to pay for, when I look at things like, I think we called it Snowmageddon, that season of snow and the season where all the trees are down. [03:07:26] Like, do you know the cost? I know that when you say we're 100% reimbursed, do you have a cost kind of, and maybe not now if you don't know it off the top of your head, But I'm just curious if there's data already about what something like that cost that the government reimbursed 100 percent. [03:07:42] And what does that look like for us in the event that we have certain issues like that? Yeah, thanks for the question, Supervisor Angi. I would want to go back and pull the most recent declarations. COVID was the last declaration that we received a public assistance reimbursement off of, which was 100 percent. [03:07:59] I believe that is probably the most recent for a decade or more. And we have not had that many presidentially declared emergencies here in the county, thankfully, because they have not risen to that scale. But when we look at our threat and hazard environment and some of the events that we had dating back to the 70s and 80s, it certainly still is possible. [03:08:19] And our population has significantly increased. Yeah, and I agree. And COVID is a great example of that because some of the things that we learn from COVID, right, alcohol abuse, consumption, you know, auto, all that stuff just blew up. [03:08:36] dramatically. Curious. I know that's going to put a strain on fire and rescue. It's going to put a strain on it. So with everything that we know now where the federal government shut down and just to stay in the volatility of the country today, you know, and then we're looking at the fact that it's becoming a responsibility on localities to really try to get ahead of these issues and thus this presentation I really appreciate. Those are my concerns. I just want And I'll just bring up, you know, as I mentioned about alcohol abuse, you know, suicides have grown. [03:09:10] We know that we're about to open the crisis receiving center. Just in those areas along with that, maybe I missed it. I was kind of on my e-mail, so I don't know if we have discussed any of kind of those challenges. And do you see challenges with those areas? [03:09:27] And what does that even look like? I think what I really want to get to is some dollar amounts of potential or estimates of what we're dealing with. Don't know if we have it, but I would love if we can pull out what that would kind of look like because at the end of the day it's going to come down to budget and we're going to have to figure out how ends are going to meet. [03:09:46] And, you know, I'd like to kind of hear that a little bit sooner than us getting there because I think there are some decisions we can make on this board now to hold off on a lot of what we hope we don't see but the potential of what could come. [03:10:02] What I'll say, thank you for that question, Supervisor Angry. So we are going to continue to come back to the board as this unfolds, as we get more information, not just about the shutdown, but all impacts associated with H.R. 1. [03:10:19] So I suspect that this will not be the last time that we are coming before the board to have this conversation unless there is a change in posture in D.C. I'll also say that as we get closer to the budget and budget development, certainly by the end of this calendar year, beginning of next, we are going to be coming to the board with the outlook for our economic outlook and our budget outlook so that you are well aware of what we're dealing with. [03:10:47] Part of the pressure, the decisions that the board has already made, the pressures associated with this budget, we're going to talk about next week at the Finance and Budget Committee meeting, just to give a sense of where things are before we get into the deepest discussions around the budget. [03:11:12] I hope that answers part of the question. All right. I have Bodie, then Bailey. Thank you, Madam Chair. And thank you to you three for the presentation and continued engagement. And thank the county executive, again, for being nimble on this. [03:11:29] I know this is all a very changing, very dynamic situation, and we, again, still don't know the full scope of what we don't know. So I wanted to highlight that and appreciate all your efforts to try as much as you can, frankly, in vain, to have a crystal ball into this. That's not lost on me. [03:11:45] To piggyback off of something that Supervisor Franklin asked, especially looking at community services, social services, how much can we plan to proactively outreach to folks knowing, you know, as you mentioned, you know, as folks begin to lose their Medicaid benefits, especially, they will then begin to reach out to agencies. [03:12:07] How much are we able to get ahead of that, knowing that we know, in some cases, who these people might be that are on that edge that would likely lose their benefits? So it's not wait and see for them to seek government. We're just to practically say, hey, we know that you may be in this set of folks that will likely be impacted by the change in benefit structure. [03:12:28] Here's where we might have community resources. Here's where we might be able to not completely stopgap, but get ahead of that and have that conversation. So it's a proactive approach and not a reactive when it happens. Thank you for the question. [03:12:43] I think information flow and communication out to the community is going to be important. And what I mean by that is I think that constituents who receive these services really need to know and need to be informed about the changes regarding work requirements and that providing documentation is going to be really important, which wasn't as much before, in addition to the work requirements, whether it's education, volunteer, or work hours, and being able to help them maneuver through that. [03:13:17] In addition, for those who may end up losing their benefit, having some type of backup plan for them to be able to get their needs met. And, again, I think it's going to be that community effort. [03:13:36] But the conversation and the collaboration needs to start now so that when it happens, because some people will, that we already know a direction to send them. And we'll be able to already have a response versus, as you said, being proactive versus reactive. [03:13:54] And so I think the conversation externally and internally really needs to, it's already starting, but we need to start having it more, if that makes sense. It does. The only thing I would add to that, and I completely agree with Phyllis, is that it is very fortuitous that we are opening the crisis receiving center at this time. [03:14:19] And this is somewhat anecdotal, but we are getting lots and lots of requests for staff to come out and talk about the Crisis Receiving Center to share information. People are reaching out, it seems like, in large numbers recently to myself and my staff to say, hey, could you bring us some literature? [03:14:44] Can you come out and talk with us about this? So it is a very good time to be getting out into the community and letting people know who we are, what we do, where to go for help. So I think that's also kind of something that's going to be, hopefully can mitigate some of these concerns. [03:15:03] Sure, I appreciate that. And if I could, Madam Chair, I had one more big question, and I can wait if we have more folks after me, or I could just take my other five minutes. Appreciate that. Thank you. My next question, like I said, I understood it's a big question. I know that we're still sort of trying to grapple with this. [03:15:20] How much have we begun to collaborate, engage, and interact with other folks who will be also downstream of this? I'm talking about the hospital system, as an example, because you're going to have a doctor's office, more people that, again, once their Medicaid goes away or something happens, they're going to be more, leading up to it, more reticent to go to the doctor. [03:15:42] And then after the fact, we're going to see more people arriving in emergency rooms and in urgent care and things like that so on that end how are we reaching out outside of county government knowing there's going to be private health systems will be affected by this but also within the county to what you just said about the crc police with the co-responder unit as another example some of the other good synergistic community uh safety knowing they've been doing a lot of work with i know with you phyllis and the homeless population knowing that all these things are connected and they may outreach to any one of these other agencies you may not be the first stop, even though you're the logical ones? How much are we doing that? I would say that it is [03:16:21] definitely starting. And there are entities that are reaching out to us. For example, Greater Prince William Health Center, the health department. As this information gets out, the details gets out about this bill, the community partners are really giving some thought regarding how it's going to impact their service prevention and the people that they serve and how we can collaborate and what is it that we need to do. I would say to you that it's a lot. And so we want to be very [03:17:00] thoughtful and strategic about how we move because what I don't want to do is press the panic button and not be able to have a thoughtful response. So we're having conversations strategically to make sure that we have the right information as it's filtering down from the federal government down to vds to us to be able to answer people's questions because i feel like i have half of the information and people want answers so just really trying to be strategic about how we respond and planning appreciate that if i could um i see it started my next five minutes so i appreciate [03:17:39] that i know i wouldn't step on you but i i appreciate that felix i think like you said a balance is necessary, right? We don't want to overexert and overextend not knowing what we know, right? You said we only have half the information, so I appreciate your stance there. All I will say other than that is that one of the things that we learned, something that Supervisor Bailey sort of alluded to earlier, is that we learned a lot from having teams of teams when it comes to the COVID response. Now the benefit back then as we had frankly we were flush with federal money [03:18:16] between CARES and ARPA and in fact we're not only not benefiting from that this time we're coming from a hole in terms of deficits of funding that we normally would rely on to begin to even begin to respond to this. So as you all three of you said in different ways it's important for us to lean on community partners even though knowing they will also be going through budget impacts and and struggles there but i think as much as we can let's hit the point create those teams of teams now at least beginning those conversations again knowing like you said miss jenny's hope that the information flow we know that one of the biggest struggles and barriers we have is no [03:18:53] matter how much you all do an amazing job trying to communicate with folks that are on the street it doesn't always penetrate and get through and so relying on those community partners knowing that there's folks that they touch every single day that aren't in these rooms don't know what's going on they're going to wake up one day and try to go to the doctor and realize my medicaid won't pay for this anymore try to go to the the grocery store try to pay for something suddenly their benefit doesn't cover that anymore as much as we try to get ahead of this on that information flow i think will be key to this and again as i alluded to earlier my last question of how do we make sure we're also like your point you know mental health crisis services ahead of time having those [03:19:32] conversation knowing that we're gonna have folks who some in some case may not have even experienced a mental health crisis before in their entire life now because of everything that's going on will be experiencing for the first time so they don't know about the crisis they don't know about the co-responder they don't know what they don't know so how do we can have that conversation but also frankly with the police department with fire and rescue with the rest of brian's team as well so everyone's has that higher level of awareness that we will likely be having people who have never experienced some of these crises before, experiencing it. And so it's that double whammy of not knowing what's out there to begin with, but also not knowing that those resources exist [03:20:08] to reach out and who to reach out to. Thank you, Madam Chair. All right, Supervisor Bailey. Thank you, Madam Chair. I wanted to go back to something Ms. Jennings-Holtz that you said about being very strategic in the communication. As we embrace the new administration in Virginia, It's going to happen. The election is going to happen November 4th. [03:20:35] There's going to be a lot of changes in administration and how things are executed. And we are on a lot of the boards that will be governed by the new administration. So how would you or how would all three of you help us, as we're sitting on these boards, to have the communication strategically, you know, and with the new administration and making sure that we're singing the same songs and getting the best results that we can for our county? [03:21:11] Because I think that's essential. Thank you for that question, Vice Chair Bailey. What I'll say, we are working, and this might be more through the legislative committee, to make sure that you all have the support you need as representatives of the county on various boards and commissions. [03:21:34] It is board and commission by board and commission, I think. For example, there are some transportation boards that you're on where we do rely on our Department of Transportation more. But we have been talking to board members, and I know Nikki and the legislative affairs team is going to get around to offices to really just talk about how we could better support each of you as you are representing the county on the various boards. [03:22:01] So I wouldn't necessarily ask the directors to answer that question now. That might be tough for them to do. But we are working to do it more centrally through legislative affairs. And I appreciate that. [03:22:17] Thank you, Chris, because I think that sometimes we're going to the meetings and, you know, we miss the mark sometimes of bringing things home that we should be bringing home, even from a legislative perspective, you know. But we've got to be, the synergy and the verbiage that we're using to get the results is so critical as we move forward and we sit on these boards. [03:22:41] So I appreciate that. All right. Thank you so very much. I don't see any other questions. So thank you very much. this is a tough conversation very informative conversation and one that we're going to need to continue to have as we watch everything that's going on in washington thank you so we are going to move on to agenda item number 11 that's supervisor's time before we do our individual updates i would like to get a motion to appoint steven covert to prince [03:23:16] william county trails and blue ways council so moved ma'am sure second it's removed properly [03:23:21] second it. Can we go ahead and take our vote, please? Yes. All right. So, I'm going to start [03:24:18] with Supervisor Angry. Going to go down this way, then swing over to Supervisor Franklin, Yazzie Vega, myself. All right. Supervisor Angry. Thank you, Madam Chair. September 29th, we held a transportation town hall with the Hoffman Drive community at John Gigan Elementary. [03:24:37] Elementary went very well. A lot in attendance, and we presented a lot, gave a lot, so on a I thank those who came out and asked that they continue to stay in touch with the office if you have any questions, issues, and we'll continue to address those. Also, on September 30th, Chair Jefferson and I, along with Chief Newsham, did a community safety town hall update at Dell City Christian Church. [03:25:00] So thank you to the church for hosting us, and that was very well attended. And thank you, Chief Newsham, for that update. I always learn something new from our police department about what we're doing and what we can do better. Saturday, October 4th, was a very busy day. [03:25:17] It was a beautiful day. I know we all had different things going on. It was amazing because everyone had everything different. We all did not attend the same event, except probably one which was the Prince William Fire and Rescue Expo, which was an awesome event. So I want to start with the Youth for Tomorrow, their county fair. [03:25:35] Beautiful event. I mean, well attended always. So thank you, Dr. Gary Jones and your staff, for what you put on over there. had five live camels there real camels up in there and it was a whole whole thing so that was great i went from there over to um no more cries which is um um that's uh managed by uh mariska i think i'm forgetting her name her last name but she does a great job of that program so i just stopped by and that is um uh you know where um uh women coming out of um bad situations tell their story [03:26:12] to the community it was interesting to know that from one event of all this fun uh to this event to the next event of the fire and rescue fair um that there was this middle event of these stories of a lot of trauma but what i love about is that they shared those with the community that you know as we look at it many people are going through that experiencing it now but the beauty was all around and life that we live and so many of them left there going to these great events and so you know to be with people who really appreciate and love you and see the smiles on their faces. [03:26:44] They, you know, challenged their lives and got their lives into these better positions that they are. So I want to definitely thank No More Criars for putting that on and every year doing that. I've been attending that event since 2019. I didn't get to stay for the whole event because, again, I had to move off to other events, which was the Prince William Fire and Rescue Expo, which was a second annual awesome event. [03:27:08] I got to judge the egg smash competition where kids got to create containers and then we took them up about 50 feet in the ladder truck and then they drop it to see if the egg could hold. And there was one young lady who built a contraption that she's going to work for NASA one day. [03:27:27] I don't know how she did it, but the egg did not crack or anything. And so she was very excited about it, even one best decorated capsule because she decorated that too. So she's going to be good on the NASA list coming up. Saturday, October 18th, I am having my annual community day over at Cloverdale Park from 11 to 2. [03:27:47] That is a great event. So if you're in the area, it's a district event, but it's a county event. So come on by. We're going to have county resources out there, also a lot of games and fun and a DJ. Here the DJ is pretty good. That's me. Okay. And I have two directors. [03:28:04] The first is the county arts community continues to grow at a fast pace. The need to better leverage that growth and ensure we have the most effective oversight to assist the board is making appropriate investments into the arts community and its critical need. [03:28:25] Without a joke now, I'd like to direct the county executive to work with staff to develop a recommendation for a new framework to leverage the power of the arts and advancing our strategic plan and comprehensive plan goals. The approach should empower our community arts partners to amplify their impact while maintaining an appropriate mechanism for advisory support to the board. [03:28:46] Recommendations should consider governance and engagement options, budget implications, and any other initiative that will better position the county to meet the growing need of the arts community. The county attorney's office is directed to review the information and recommendations for legal issues. [03:29:02] When the work is complete, the county executive should report back to the board with their recommendations during a board meeting or by memorandum as they determine appropriate. All right. Second one, I have a directive. [03:29:19] Madam Chair, without objection, I'm issuing a directive related to the work of the DCOAG. I would like to direct the county executive to disband the DCOAG and work directly with staff to complete any updates to the noise ordinance, zoning ordinance, and DCSM. [03:29:35] As it relates to data center development, county attorney's offices are directed to review the information and recommendations for any legal issues. So I object. Okay. So, and I noticed that, you know, we don't have anyone from the DCOAG here, obviously, to speak about the work that they're doing. [03:29:58] I know there's a lot of frustration, and I've expressed some of my frustration with the group. I don't like the way that they've interacted with our county staff. There needs to be more respect there. But I also understand it's a group of people who are frustrated. It's a group of people who don't feel that their voices have been heard. [03:30:18] We have a real divide in this county on this board, and I don't like it. It's east versus west. And just because something doesn't affect your constituents directly, the people who elect you directly, doesn't mean it's not a concern. We have a lot of incompatible use within this county, and it's going to increase even more. [03:30:39] If we're saying that we don't want to hear from people who are directly impacted or who will soon be impacted, what does it say about us as a board and what does it say about our leadership? So I do object to this. I certainly object to it. We listen to industry. [03:30:56] We listen to industry, but we don't want to listen to residents. So that is what I'm taking away from this. I know Supervisor Vega had... I want to say now, I'm out of time, so I will respond if... I will have the time, but I also have Supervisor Vega. [03:31:13] Supervisor Vega, do you have anything to add? Yeah, Madam Chair. I, too, object, and I would ask Supervisor Angry if he would consider tabling or withdrawing, rather, his directive for the following reasons. I want to believe that this board takes great pride in ensuring that we give a voice to the people that we represent and that we do so at every level. [03:31:40] And the whole purpose of establishing this group was to hear from residents who have been directly impacted in one way, shape, or another by the data center industry. With that being said, we continue to receive applications for data centers. [03:31:56] It doesn't seem like there's an end in sight. And we need those voices. I understand that the working relationship perhaps has not been ideal for county staff. And I don't want to categorize everybody that plays a role in this group as such, because we all know that it's not everyone. [03:32:16] But I don't think that at this time it is appropriate to remove this group. I think that we have to be reminded that we were elected to represent the interests of the people that we represent here in Prince William County. [03:32:32] And in doing so, at every opportunity that we get, we have given folks the opportunity to be a part of the decision-making process and to advise us. And I would also argue that we have other committees, other groups that haven't met in years, and I don't hear anybody calling to undo with those groups, with those committees. [03:32:54] And so we have to be very careful, especially with the message that we're sending to the people that have elected us to serve and to represent their interest. We have a work session coming up regarding the data center topic. We also have yet to tackle the noise ordinance, and I think that it's not prudent at this time, Supervisor Angry, to put this in motion. [03:33:16] And I would respectfully ask that you consider withdrawing the directive and that perhaps after we've had all of these things take place, if there's still interest in doing so, that then, you know, at that time, you go ahead and then make the directive again and we can have further discussion and go from there so i i will say this first if there are any commissions that we have that aren't doing anything we and i think we've had that discussion before to to terminate those so if that's something we need to look at we we should look at that to answer the questions here this group has met 60 [03:33:54] times has been in place two years over two years they have literally put together a game plan that we have listened to for two years and literally these three items are up that we should have probably heard well we would have had the hearing for the noise ordinance today for the 28th but we're going to have that on the 28th the work session that we're talking about next week if that has anything to do with the noise ordinance it's going to change even that day and I will let our kind of attorney speak to that but I will simply say this I don't think it's a question of what they've done and that we're not listening to the voice we've listened to this voice [03:34:32] we've actually given them the groundwork to say and bring all of this forward. The industry may have started out with this group, but the industry left this group because, I mean, however that happened, we won't get into that discussion. But what we have now is a group that we have literally for the past two years listened to them give us the path forward which addresses the issues that really are the issues of data centers. [03:34:56] And if it's a question about what are we doing about data centers, I hope that that work session next week addresses our exit strategies out of this. And to me, that's the only thing I can get from that. So I don't think removing this directive is warranted. And I think that what we have heard and where we are right now with this group is exactly the place we need to be in closing out and moving on from data centers. [03:35:21] I think that next week we are going to have a work session. I think there's a lot of good things to come up, but we're not going to solve every problem one night. There's still a lot more work to do. But I am going to name this. We have a representative from the Chamber of Commerce here, but no one from DCOEG. I have to name that. [03:35:37] I have to name that. Because I'm naming that because I do feel that it's cowardly. I do feel that you want to get rid of this group, but you didn't want them here to defend themselves or to say anything. But we have a representative from the Chamber. [03:35:53] I'm going to tell you who I work for. I'm elected by the people of Prince William County. Yes, you can look at me. I see someone out there smirking. I'm elected by the people of Prince William County. And that is why I'm saying the things that I'm saying. I'm elected by the residents of Prince William County, not someone who lives in Manassas City, not someone who's really focused on one industry, but by the people of Prince William County. And it bothers me greatly that this is coming up. It bothers me greatly when we have the Gainesville seat empty and Supervisor [03:36:30] Gordy was unable to be here today. I know we like to write off entire sections of the electorate. I know that we like to write off sections of the county because not everyone here is elected at large. But I do take offense with this. I do know how the majority of the board is going to vote, and I'm just going to register my disappointment. I don't know if anyone has anything else because we can get this dying pony show over. I'm Supervisor Vega. Let me say this. First of all, How you pull in the chamber in this, that's your prerogative, your issue. [03:37:05] I don't know what that had to do with my directive. This is my directive, and I don't need a group here to even argue this. I don't talk to them. They have public comment time. They have their public hearing. I'm addressing this board with it. They don't have an input in this. It is our decision. I gave the directive. [03:37:21] It's only for you all to vote on. So that's that. And now it's turning to a vote, so are we going to get to a vote? Supervisor Vega has something that we can vote. Well, thank you, Madam Chair. Supervisor Angry, I just, you know, want to go back to your comments about the different opinions and how we've gone back and forth and whatnot. [03:37:39] I think that that is great for our constitutional republic. We want different opinions. We don't want to be rubber stamps. I think that it's great because that generates good policy. And the fact that we've gone back and forth, back and forth, shows, you know, the commitment, not just by the county, but also by these folks who, by the way, don't get paid. [03:37:59] They invest their own time in ensuring that we get this right. And so I will ask you, would you consider withdrawing the directive? No? Okay. Madam Chair, then I would like to make a substitute directive, if that's okay. [03:38:18] I can support your initial directive. Do we still have to act on the first? Madam Chair, members of the board, I just want to clarify two things. Under your rules of procedure, if a directive is proposed and there's an objection, it converts over to a motion. So you would need a motion and a second on that. [03:38:34] And I just wanted to clarify, Mr. Angry, you were talking about when the board has created different committees and if they don't meet. There's a distinction here. This is not a board-created board committee or commission, okay? This is a group that the county executive has asked to provide input and recommendations to staff and for staff to then provide recommendations to the board. [03:38:57] So this is not a board-created entity. If it was, FOIA would apply to every time that they met. They would not be able to talk about data centers if three of them were together at any time unless it was noticed, et cetera. So this is just an informal group that the county executive has formed to have recommendations to him as he makes recommendations to the board, which is why the original directive was for directing the county executive to disband the group. [03:39:22] So I just wanted to clarify that for you. Going up an order, Madam Chair, then. Is there a second for Supervisor Ann Gray's request? So it's been moved and seconded. I guess, yes. [03:39:38] Moved and seconded. Do you want to do a substitute? I believe that we have other groups of the like. Yes, Mr. Shorter? I'm sure we do, but I actually cannot think of a group at this point where the board has essentially empowered me to create it for the purpose of giving advice to staff. [03:40:07] I wouldn't, just because I wasn't prepared for that question, I would need to go back and take a look at any other advisory groups. For now, I can't think of any. This is, as the county attorney suggested, not a board or a commission with the established sort of rules around them. [03:40:25] So I hope that answers the question. Yeah. Madam Chair, I guess we call for the vote. Go ahead. All right, let's go ahead and take our vote. Motion passes. [03:40:43] Four to two. Supervisors Vega and Chair Jefferson voting nay. Supervisor voting. Thank you, Madam Chair. Just a few things from me until I have my own directive. [03:41:01] Saturday was a big day, like most people said. You know, there was a lot going on. For my office's part, we had our fall Occoquan district dumpster day on Saturday at the community lot, which included the litter crew, glass recycling, the shred truck, and the too-good-to-toss donation truck with Be Thrifty. [03:41:21] Also appreciate that the soil and water conservation circuit also had an event over there. they had a community cleanup that sort of serendipitously just sort of aligned with our dumpster day. So I wanted to give them a shout out as well. As some folks have already mentioned, including Supervisor Angry, we had also on Saturday, there was the second annual public safety expo at Fitzner Stadium. Just like last year for the first annual, brought my son Miles with me to the event and he had a blast and also appreciate being able to visit with Justice Eagle, Scruff McGruff, and Sparky the Fire Dog. Really appreciate all the state agencies, local agencies, community partners who made this event even bigger, an even bigger success than last year. [03:42:00] Also, I want to give a shout-out to staff for making sure that Saving Nova Littles was present at the event. For folks that may be unaware, Saving Nova Littles is a nonprofit that specializes in training and education around child car seats, and it harkens back to a community safety event town hall I had with the Lakeridge community last year where one of my constituents expressed deep concern about decreased public support for education around children car seats and while the county has not re-engaged on that directly they were sure to include the non-profit partner there that specializes that which i think is very helpful um looking ahead barktoberfest is on saturday october 18th from 11 a.m to 2 p.m [03:42:39] at canine gunner dog park just up minneville road um i also am excited to announce alongside our efforts there we will have be having a table there from congressman eugene vindman and Jackie Smith, we're partnering with her, the clerk of the court, to have a drop-off site for her pet supply drive. So again, October 18th, 11 a.m. to 2 p.m., Canine Gunner Dog Park. Now I have my own directive. Madam Chair, without objection, I would like to issue a directive regarding the Data Center Opportunity Zone Overlay District. I'd like to direct the county executive to work with staff to explore the elimination of the DCOZOD. The review of that should include economic [03:43:18] impacts associated with support businesses, land use planning impacts, and fiscal impacts such as budget and tax revenue, and reviewing other comparable localities' land use regulations and policies regarding data centers. The county attorney's office is directed to review the information and recommendations for any legal issues, including but not limited to, potential proposals for board consideration regarding grandfathering. [03:43:42] The county executive should report back to the board with recommendations during a board meeting or by memorandum as he determines appropriate. Thank you. All right. Supervisor Bailey. Thank you very much. [03:44:01] On where am I? September 25th had the opportunity of going on a circuit tour at Possum Point with Supervisor Franklin. It was wonderful to take. Thank you to Yolanda Green from Dominion just taking us on the trip and helping us to understand energy at the Possum Point installation. On the 27th So I had the honor of being with my colleagues and celebrating the life of Supervisor Weir. [03:44:30] God rest your soul, Bob. We miss you. I do miss the chocolates. And so to his family, we are continually praying for you. On the 29th, I had a community town hall with the Four Seasons community. And I thank you for your staff and the impeccable job they did in helping Four Seasons understand different aspects of what a future project looks like. [03:44:53] And so they are just absolutely great. On the 30th, I had the opportunity at Potomac Shores Community Meeting at the Cherry Hill installation to talk about a project that's coming up in Potomac Shores. [03:45:10] and Supervisor Franklin and I were moving it forward. Thank you to Janelle Cameron and her team for organizing the event and giving the information that the community could understand valuable opportunity and growth at Potomac Shores. [03:45:25] And then on the first, I had the opportunity of inviting my appointees to a meeting to just say thank you and give an update on what is going on in the Potomac District. [03:45:40] On the second, I had the opportunity of being with the county exec and being with my staff at the Marine Corps base Quantico as they held their annual briefing by Colonel Colgate and just talking about how important it is for the Marine Corps and the community, the county, to partner together in serving this great community. [03:46:02] Then on the third, I had the opportunity of participating in the supervisor certification project with VACO and talking about communications and the different forms of communication and what it means to the supervisors. [03:46:19] And then on the fourth, happy birthday to me. I worked on the fourth, but it was a brilliant day, and I worked by participating in the Breast Cancer Awareness Walk with Winners Church in the community attending the second annual expo fall expo that was held we appreciate it and then my staff went to the youth for tomorrow county fair and auction and then on the 6th yesterday I was I was honored to be the guest speaker at the NVRC housing summit and then later on that day the 17th annual mental [03:46:54] health awareness um forum where see your county um sb gave me an award for the voice of record recovering and madam chair that's why i was sitting there because it was a birthday gift and now i can take it down upcoming events on the ninth we're finally here crisis receiving center is going to have a ribbon cutting and i want to thank the community thank the staff thank the stakeholders thank our state and federal and local delegation for all you did to make this come [03:47:30] to fruition for the county citizens. Lastly, but certainly not least, I'd like to give my notice of intent from Ms. Donna Fagerholm to be on my library advisory board representative, and then William Malone on the IDA advisory board. And last but not least, I got a minute and 20 seconds. [03:47:51] i'd like to issue a directive for botanical garden directive it's on june the 3rd 2025 the board issued directive uh 2019 directing the county exec to work with staff to explore options for establishing two additional community gardens on community-owned property and report back to the board with recommendations the board acts that the consideration be given to and among other things one time reoccurring costs to develop maintain and operate the gardens potentially partnerships with private organizations and assessing community demand, as well as insurance implications. [03:48:30] Without objections, I'd like to direct the county exec to work with staff to add a potential botanical garden at Fettler Park to the options that explore a part of the direct response. The county's attorney's office to review the information and recommendations for any legal issues. [03:48:52] When the research and work is complete, the county exec should report back to the board with the research and recommendations during a board meeting or by memorandum as appropriate. Thank you. Madam Chair. Supervisor Vega. I don't have an objection, just one, and maybe I missed it. [03:49:09] Is there a portion in the directive that also asks about any financial impacts? Are you okay with adding that so that when the county executive comes back to us, if there are any? The original directive actually did cover financial impacts, So in adding the botanical garden to the community gardens directive, I will be sure to, in the memo and or presentation to the board, come back with financial impacts for both community and botanical garden. [03:49:37] Thank you. Thank you. All right, Supervisor Franklin. I don't have any directives, thank goodness. But I do want to start with a note that several of us will be participating in the first tee golf tournament on October 13th, which is the same day as the legislative committee meeting. [03:49:59] So I was wondering if we could push that back to 2 p.m. Myself, Supervisor Gordy, I think he's, I don't know if he's playing, but he's attending, and Supervisor Angry. Okay, so if there's no objections. I talked to Supervisor Vega about potentially chairing, but we won't have a quorum. [03:50:19] So if 2 p.m. is okay, I just want to kind of put that out there for staff. Since that's a separate public body, this board does not dictate that, but the clerk only needs to provide the three business days notice under FOIA, and she can do that for tomorrow. So it would be at 2 o'clock. [03:50:37] Thank you. And then just very quickly, September 30th, I participated in MBTA's Transportation Technology Committee, which I just became vice chair of, and we held one of our first committee meetings just to talk about how to marry transit technology with infrastructure. [03:50:56] And so I just want to thank NVTA for that opportunity and looking forward to reporting back to county and to staff on that committee's jurisdiction. On October 4th, I attended the Fire and Rescue Service Community Day at Fitzner Stadium. [03:51:13] So I just want to thank our public safety officers and really all of our vendors that were there. Had a great time, was able to see a number of county services, as well as, again, our public safety officers. I also attended the Youth for Tomorrow County Fair, a wonderful, wonderful event each year. [03:51:30] And so always have a good time there. I just want to thank Dr. Jones and his staff for the work that they do throughout the community. I also, on that same day, attended a Coalition of 100 Black Women mentoring event for junior high and high school girls to talk about career path and just give advice on how to move forward within leadership and how to identify various leadership skills. So thank you to the Coalition of 100 Black Women for that opportunity. Also, just some upcoming things. Friday, October 9th and the 10th, I will be attending the National Association of Counties Large Urban Caucus Caucus Symposium in Milwaukee, [03:52:10] Wisconsin. This brings together leaders part of NACO of large counties in various communities so looking forward to continuing to build on Prince William's reputation within NACO and looking forward to meeting some additional jurisdictions there. On Saturday the 11th so far I plan to speak at Unity Church in Woodbridge for a panel they are having for their purpose conference and so looking forward to potentially joining them. And then we will be doing numerous community events throughout October, so please check out our website. I just want to thank our litter crew [03:52:47] for bumping up the schedule for Route 1 to be similar to that of 234. Obviously, Route 1 is a major thoroughway here in the county, and we're going to put some additional eyes and attention more regularly onto cleaning up Route 1. [03:53:05] Also just want to acknowledge that I appreciate having Supervisor Vega back on the dais. I need my sparring partner back, and I haven't been yelled at in about a month now, so looking forward to getting back to some action with Supervisor Vega. [03:53:21] So welcome back, and I did, in fact, miss you. Just also want to express my profound sorrow at the passing of Candace King, the daughter of Delegate Candy King, and Deputy Sheriff Joshua King. [03:53:38] Many of us up here knew her very well. Just a big, bright, very bubbly young lady, had everything going, and just a tragic, tragic situation in our community. But we are all praying for the King family and just thank you to the community for the prayers and for those that have reached out with food and things of that nature. [03:54:03] I know the chair helped to set up some resources and we've all kind of just been working together just to show our love and support. So I just want to thank the community for that. Also, I just want to express condolences to the family of Cheryl Maceo, who is a big advocate in our community as well. [03:54:20] She also, unfortunately, passed away over the weekend. So, you know, our county has been, you know, we've had some trying times over the past month and a half, couple of months. But we are strong. We are one community, regardless of our ideology. [03:54:37] And that's one thing that I love about Prince William County. So with that, I will turn it over. All right, Supervisor Vega. Thank you, Madam Chair. Mr. Shorter, if you could come back to the board, please, just for confirmation purposes that we do not have any other groups of the like of what we were just discussing in regards to Supervisor Angris' Directive, and also just want to give my colleagues a heads up that I will be issuing a directive because I do want to examine the effectiveness of these other actual commissions and or committees that have been established just to see how effective they've been and if they've in fact actually been [03:55:13] meeting so that we can hopefully arrive at the same conclusion as we did with Supervisor Angri's directive. The only other item that I had was, you know, we've been listening to presentation after presentation that talks about the impacts of the federal shutdown. And just in general, Madam Chair, I don't think that I'm the only one. I don't want to speak for anybody else on the dais, but I know that as I've been digging myself out of all these emails, there is a reoccurring pattern that I see, and that is that folks are financially hurting. There is an impact not just for those who are federal workers, but also for non-federal employees. Everybody's feeling the pinch these days and I do think that it would be prudent for the board to consider what [03:55:53] the board has done in years past where we've provided some type of relief and so with that madam chair I would like to move that we extend the personal property tax bill to December 5th that is a motion and I would hope that we would all consider it considering the conversation that we've had here today and everything else that's happening outside of this county is there a second I'm sorry, Madam County Attorney. [03:56:22] Sure. I don't want to stop a second if a second is coming, but I will say that I would want to go back to staff and maybe even send a memo to the board to make sure that the board understands the impact of a delay, especially given that the deadline has occurred, and given that those residents who paid on time and the impact that a changing of the due date might have. [03:56:52] So, again, if there is a second and the board decides to act today, so be it. But if not, then I will work with staff to provide a memo with some just guidance on what the impact we've seen over the last two years where we have delayed the due date. [03:57:11] Madam Chair, if I may. Yes. Were we not in a similar position last year when we did it? As a directive. Last year, we provided notice. Prior to the due date? I mean, my point still remains. [03:57:28] We still did it. It's not like we couldn't do it, but I do understand your point in wanting to give the board further guidance. Do we meet next Tuesday? We do. Could you have that to us? I will work to get it this week. So I'll go ahead and withdraw my directive with the hopes that we have all of the information that we need, and after we analyze that, I will reconsider issuing the directive again. [03:57:52] Very good. Thank you. Thank you, Madam Chair. Supervisor Franklin, you're on the queue. Did you have something? Yeah, just very quickly, you know, and I've said this before, in terms of looking at the actual, is it, I'll just, for lack of better words, assessments. [03:58:09] I think there are three or four, J.D. Power and a few other, that everyone in the country uses. Did we ever switch from what we were using? Because I know that that was just generally a discussion, but it sounds like the answer is no. [03:58:24] But I will go back to saying, to me, instead of having to do this every year where we extend, I really do think we need to look at the particular resources that we're utilizing to assess car values, essentially. [03:58:43] I will send out the memo again that I sent to the board on this. We are using the agency that every other jurisdiction is using. We are not out of alignment with best practice on this. And so I will send that memo back out to the board as well. [03:59:04] And the last thing I'll say is I understand that we're aligned with probably 99% of other jurisdictions across the country, but we do have options. And so I guess what I'm just seeking is, are we using the best options for our residents so that every year we don't have to keep going back and having this discussion? [03:59:23] Sure. What I'll also include, maybe not in the memo because I'll keep the memo the same sort of date stamped when we sent it out before, but what I'll include in the body of the email is what we are seeing of late in that the car values are, what we were dealing with a few years ago was a mismatch in car values because of the significant decrease, increase, not decrease in car value, so there was significant instability. [03:59:55] We are not seeing that instability now. So not big jumps in taxes for vehicle owners. I will include that in the body of the email so that there's an update on where we stand now, but include the memo that was sent out before giving information on the vehicle we use, the tool we use to assess. [04:00:18] Madam Chair. Supervisor Verde, then I have something. Thank you. I don't want to prolong the conversation too much. SuperResume Guy, I appreciate your thought process there and also giving us more time. To that end, I would ask or request to see if there's any analysis we can do on perhaps waiving the late fees associated with the assessments versus maybe pushing it back, giving us those options if they exist. [04:00:44] Because I know in some cases, like you just said, some folks likely, since the due date was two days ago, or I want to say, yesterday, or yeah, the day before, yesterday, it was yesterday, right, that some people may have paid in advance knowing when the due date was, especially I know that the press is covered when the due date was going to be, but looking at what those other relief options may be instead of or in addition to extending the deadline. [04:01:06] Thank you. All right. I am going to go. First of all, I did want to take a moment to speak about loss because this was a tough weekend. This was a very tough weekend. You know, and my heart is with Delegate Candy King and her husband, Josh, their daughter, Jocelyn, their son, Josh Jr. [04:01:26] This is a very tough time. You know, we've dealt with a lot of loss on this board with friends, families, colleagues. You know, Congressman Connolly passed away earlier. Life is short. It really is short, and it's valuable, and it's precious. [04:01:42] And it makes you think about what is your legacy after you leave? You know, what is it that you're leaving behind? That's something that I think about a lot, and that's something that guides me. One of the things I want to address, I'm going to do a directive. And this is a tough economic time, you know, and it might be a heavy lift. [04:02:03] But I've been speaking with Martin Jeter from Midco and some others who have suggested a bond referendum to let voters decide if they want more money to go for parks and open space. You know, again, I recognize this is a tough economic climate, but I want to be responsive to those who have been pushing for this, who have been pushing for more money for parks and trails each year. [04:02:28] And so without objection, I would like to direct the county executive to work with staff and investigate and outline the process for developing a parks, open space, and library bond referendum for inclusion in the 2026 general election to include legal requirements, deadlines, and a list of potential projects. [04:02:47] The county attorney's office is directed to review the information and recommendations for any legal issues. When the staff work is complete, the county executive should report back to the board with their recommendations during a board meeting or by memorandum as they determine appropriate. [04:03:03] I'm ready. Madam Chair, I actually like that directive. In 2019, we actually did a bond study and came up with a list of projects that were appropriate. I'm asking to add the indoor sports complex to your directive as a bond. [04:03:20] And a real curious question. Do we have time between, is this between now and the election of? 26. Oh, for 2026. Okay, so this is next year. So that gets time. So I'd like to add the indoor sports complex to that directive as far as bonds go. [04:03:37] So then I have some more questions for, I don't know, Mr. Shorter, if you're the best one to answer this. For the indoor sports facility, I would really like to see a private-public partnership. I mean, like, I'm going to hang my hat on that until the day I die. This will not preclude it. [04:03:52] It would just cover our portion of that project if we should move forward with it? The directive is not for us to move forward. It's just for us to come back to the board with the process, the impact, and the information to the board for consideration. [04:04:11] So what I'm hearing is that we would be adding for your consideration, but what I'm hearing is that we would be adding the indoor sports complex to the options that we bring back to the board in terms of process hold on supervisor vega thank you madam chair i i was not here but i did kind of go back you issued a directive in my absence that i thought incorporated does that change so the directive sure the directive associated with the landing town center really [04:04:45] is to again give staff uh the guidance to come back to the board when we come back to talk about the landing town center to include as an option an indoor sports complex based on the specifications that were discussed before by the board so in terms of size and scale so wait hold on Bodie thank you madam chair um just very quickly first I want to thank both of you uh madam chair appreciate your your your leadership on the parks open space and trails piece I'm getting [04:05:20] been getting uh gotten lobbied by all the same people you have so i appreciate that um so so i wanted to say that piece and then sure as are angry i appreciate your directive as well because i i see it this way right um piggyback off what you just said sure as a vega i see us as opening enough all the tools we could possibly have in the toolbox because looking you know gaming this process out again to the point it would just give us the process we would have to commit to actually having it on the 2026 ballot then if we decide to do that then the voters would decide you know if they vote against it, then we don't get access to that bond. [04:05:53] And even if we do, there's bond projects that have been authorized by the voters that we have never issued the bonds for or we've done in a very little amount. So it doesn't preclude us or guarantee or obligate us to do it. It's just another financial tool. So to your point, if we have a public-private partnership or some other type of funding scheme where it asks for part county funding, part private sector, or there might be opportunities from the state who knows what happens, it still gives us another tool and option doesn't obligate us to that so i just like the idea of us having as we continue these conversations around what that project looks like and frankly the scope and size of it giving us as many tools as possible so i appreciate that conversation [04:06:31] all right supervisor angry is there anyone else like i said yeah and i just want to say because note for the record we do have the park bond project inside of the courts district that was a bond that is hopefully I don't know what we're going to do with that but hopefully we're going to be discussing that with Seth not calling him out so he don't have to come up but I do want to say that that's what this process is really about the voters I'm curious and I know I've been hearing that they are still interested in an indoor sports complex so I would love to get their voice to weigh in and see if that's still out there and they still want to see [04:07:10] that happen so thank you for that director I will accept the inclusion is there any i'm sorry i heard some chatter are you good supervisor franklin i will accept the [04:07:19] inclusion so with that okay we're good we are going to move into closed session thank you we [04:08:22] are back rolling rolling all right we are back from closed session if i can get a motion to certify the closed meeting so move second it's been probably moved and seconded let's vote he's absent from voting he's your new supervisor body all right vote unanimous supervisor body absent from vote. All right, and we have one thing to report out. Thank you, Madam Chair. The VACO [04:09:00] 2025 annual meeting voting delegate will be Supervisor Andre Bailey with the alternate delegate being Supervisor Margaret Franklin. All right. Wait, Supervisor Franklin, did you have a comment? You're going to what? All right, it's been moved. I need a proper second. We don't have to vote? We're just reporting out. We're just reporting. All right, no. All right, yay. We've [04:09:31] reported out so um agenda item number 13 can you say that with out loud motion to adjourn second it's already been seconded by supervisor vega all right let's go ahead and take our vote ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Coraggio Consulting ยท aguyonx.com