Board of Supervisors - Regular Meeting

Board of Supervisors meeting. If we could have the pledge led by Supervisor Lane and then the prayer by Dr. Frazier.

Let us pray. Most gracious and loving Father, dear God, we thank you for this day. We thank you for the opportunity to come to do the business of this county, dear God. We thank you for those who serve, dear God. We thank you for our first responders, our administrative staff, all those who serve the county, dear Lord. And we thank you for Ms. Faith Jackson, dear Lord, and 50 years of service to this county. How amazing, dear God, that you've blessed her all those years. Dear God, we ask that our citizens that come to share with us, that they do it in respect and decorum, dear God. And we ask that you be on the hearts and the minds of our citizens as we go through our daily lives. All these blessings we ask in your son Jesus' name we do pray. Amen. Amen.

Good evening, Madam Chair, members of the board. Your first item of business this evening is the approval of the agenda. And if I can have the floor computer, please. We do have one additional item for your consideration this evening. That is the interim appointment to fill the vacancy of the chancellor district supervisor. And that will be added to the agenda after the closed meeting this evening. And the rest of your agenda is as published.

All right. And do I have a motion on that?

So moved.

Motion passes. Six yes.

Your next item of business this evening is we do have a commendation for Ms. Faith Jackson on 50 years of county government service. And that commendation is in recognition of Mrs. Faith Jackson for 50 years of exemplary service to Spotsylvania County. Whereas in 1976, Mrs. Faith Jackson began her career with Spotsylvania County as a relief switchboard operator, beginning an extraordinary journey of service and dedication to the county and its residents. And whereas in 1979, she continued her professional growth by serving as a recording secretary for planning and zoning, followed by her transition to the Parks and Recreation Department, where she began a career that would span more than four decades. And whereas throughout her remarkable tenure with Parks and Recreation, Mrs. Jackson has served in numerous capacities, including secretary, office manager, and administrative support supervisor, consistently demonstrating exceptional professionalism, knowledge, dependability, and dedication. And whereas over the course of 50 years, Mrs. Jackson has witnessed and contributed to the growth and evolution of Spotsylvania County, becoming a valued source of institutional knowledge and an integral part of the county organization. And whereas her commitment to public service, willingness to support her colleagues, and dedication to the residents of Spotsylvania County have left a lasting and meaningful impact on the organization and the community she has served, And now, therefore, be it resolved that the Spotsylvania County recognizes and sincerely thanks Mrs. Faith Jackson for her 50 years of dedicated and distinguished service, celebrating an extraordinary career marked by commitment, professionalism, and an enduring dedication to Spotsylvania County. And Faith, thank you very much. We really do appreciate everything you've done. And we wish you continued success as you continue your career. And, you know, thank you so much.

Just push the little button there.

Are we on?

Yeah, there you go. I'd like to first give an honor to God who's the head of my life. Without him, I would not be here. I am so, so humbled and appreciative of the Spotsylvania County Board of Supervisors for recognizing me. I'd like to thank Caitlin Lorhorn and everyone else who had a part in getting today together. And I'd like to thank my family, my husband, Rodney, my daughter, Chante, and Jessica, and my son, Rodney, for always being there to support me. When I started out my career, I would walk to work from Spotsylvania High School, when it was across from the Marshall Center, to work every day. One day before that, when we were passing by here, my mom said, you're gonna work in that building one day, and it happened. My dad would pick me up after work every day, and that was Trustee Clyde Broaddus Sr. and Deaconess Rosa Broaddus, proud members of the First New Hope Baptist Church in downtown Partlow, Virginia. Our service is on Sunday at 10 a.m. Our pastor is the Reverend Dr. Stevenson Leonard Reed. So if you're out that way, stop by. I have made some of the best, closest, dearest friends through working for Spotsylvania County. Many of them are here today. And I have also met some of the most unique people, the Spotsylvania Parks and Recreation family. They are my family. We spend more time together than we do with our own families. There's not one person in the sports division, leisure division, and my guys in maintenance, my girls in maintenance, if I were to call on them any time, day or night, they would be there for me. I am just so, so proud that God allowed me to do this. It hasn't been easy. I've seen some good things. I've seen some things I won't tell about. But I want to say, you know, when you have good parents, they treat you right. They take you to church. They go to church with you. They had a strong work ethic. It became really easy. So I'm looking forward to continue to serve Spotsylvania County government. If there's anything I can do to help you, that's what I do. My husband kind of says I'm everybody's mama. That's okay. It's a good thing. Everybody needs a good mama, you know. But I want to say I do give all honor and praise to my Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. And I have so many workers here that were coworkers. The ladies that I, my administrative team, my past administrative team, and I have to get a shout out to my current team, Brenda Holland, Allison Moore, and Kathy Brooks. They had my back. And I just want to say thank you from the bottom of my heart. And like I said, you just treat people the way you want to be treated and sometimes treat them a little better. And then one day you'll be rewarded. Thank you. Thank you, Jesus. Thank you.

Okay, so let's go ahead and cast our votes.

Motion passes.

There we go. Ms. Jackson, if you could please come up. We'd love to honor you. Thank you for those kind words.

Thank you so much.

Look at that.

Thank you.

So, Madam Chair, your next order of business is the presentation of the consent agenda. And if I could have the floor computer again, please. Your consent agenda this evening is as follows. The approval of the minutes of the August 25th, 2026 Board of Supervisors meeting. An acceptance budget adjustment appropriation for the Department of Transportation's federal fiscal year 2024 railroad crossing elimination grant. There's a 20% match for $308,000. And number three is the additional appropriation and budget adjustment for the regional training center. This is to add additional funds of $4,000. Item four is the approval of modification number four to contract number 25-08-SD. This is for development and implementation of the level one reuse utility system for $2,235,235.00. Item five is the approval of a proclamation commemorating the 25th anniversary of September 11th, 2001, and recognizing September 11th, 2026 as Patriots Day and a national day of service and remembrance in Spotsylvania County. Item six is the approval of Proclamation Disability Voting Rights Week for September 14th through 18th, 2026. Item 7 is the approval of a purchase order to obtain Cohesity Data Protection and Cyber Resilience Solutions in the amount of $529,713.29. Item 8 is the approval of a task order amendment 31-J to Sullivan, Donahoe, and Ingalls, PC for Old Greenwich Sewer Environmental Construction Phase Services. The amount is $24,750, which is a change order. Item 9 is performance agreement between Spotsylvania County, the Spotsylvania County Economic Development Authority, and Spotsylvania Meats LLC for the FY26 Agricultural and Forestry Industries Development Grant Award. There's a local match of $12,500. Item 10 is the authorization for public hearing for the federal fiscal year 2025 Edward Byrne Memorial Justice Assistance Grant Program. Local match is $1,685. Item 11 is the updates to the Human Resources Policies and Procedures Manual Chapter 10 benefits. Item 12 is FY28 calendar budget approval. And item 13 you've already voted on. So that's your consent agenda for the evening.

Thank you. At this time, I'd like to invite anyone from the audience to come up and speak on just the consent agenda items. You will have another chance to speak if it's other than the consent agenda. So it needs to be something that Ed just read off. Amy, has anybody signed up?

No, ma'am.

Okay. Can you go ahead and read the rules, please? Yes, ma'am.

The guidelines for public comment on the consent agenda are as follows. Public comment is an opportunity for you to address items on the consent agenda only. This is separate from public presentations and public hearings. Sign up to speak at public presentations and each public hearing is separate. Public comments on the consent agenda are one-way comments from you to the Board of Supervisors. This is not a forum for any dialogue or debate. The board asked members of the public to conduct themselves civilly in their interactions with each other and to respect the time of the speaker who has the floor. Interruptions from those who do not have the floor, including any interruptions or noises that interfere with the speaker's ability to address the board and any actual threats or intimidation toward a speaker or a member of the public will not be tolerated and may lead to expulsion from this meeting. To make a public comment on the consent agenda, please come to the lectern, clearly state your name and voting district for the record. Individuals speaking on their own behalf receive three minutes to speak. One individual may represent a group and will be given five minutes to speak. Please address your comments directly to the board. Public comments are for items on the consent agenda only, and your written comments are always welcome.

The floor is yours. Thank you. Good afternoon, Madam Chair, members of the board. Thank you. My name is Jane Reeve. I am not a Spotsylvania County resident, but I am a Spotsylvania County retiree. I am here tonight to address item number 11 on your consent agenda, which is the updates to the HR policies and procedures manual. And what I feel are some significant deficiencies in what's being presented in that plan. We understand that there is a lot of controversy surrounding the approval that the Board made during the budget in April, where there was an approval made for 65 plus retirees to be pushed to Medicare and certain plans. We have been fraught trying to get information. We understand a lot of that information is not available until October 1. But we are very, very concerned that there is zero reference in the HR policy to what the conditions of that Medicare health plan. And let me tell you what exactly. It mentions it in two separate areas. It's called the county's Medicare health insurance plan. It's not defined. There's no conditions. There's no terms. There's nothing that provides anything to any retiree or upcoming retiree what those Commitments are by the county that is very very concerning to us both current employees retirees as well as future retirees because a lot of things will get lost in the shuffle as years go by unless it's documented unless you plan on codifying it or unless you plan on entering into individual contracts with each retiree there is nothing that outlines this and it should be in the hr policy as an administrative policy at this time i want to stress that we do understand that there is no one fit all solution for this that is our concern is that there is no one fit solution for every retiree every retiree will have some semblance of a different plan We want to make sure that we know what we're expecting and what the county is committing to. I also want to point out that it's very concerning that we're receiving information that open enrollment does not start for Medicare until October 1, but the county is currently enrolling retirees in plans prior to October 1. Either you've got the information or you don't. Retirees are being given very summary information. They're not being given the details. We understand those details may not be available until October. I ask you please to make sure that this is put into the HR policy, the terms and conditions about how we're going to handle it, that we have an open enrollment. We are entitled to a retiree employee benefits package, just like your current employees get their employment benefits package, to make sure we understand what we get every year, to make sure that it does not get lost in the shuffle. Finally, I just want to make sure that everybody understands I appreciate the fact that you allow us to continue to come and offer our concerns. I want to remind this board that each one of you committed back in April to make sure that if we brought our concerns back to you that you would look at them, you would evaluate them and respond to them accordingly whether it was we just move forward as you've already approved or whether there is potential changes should be made. I ask that each one of you meet that commitment. and respond to the retirees either in mass. Mr. Guzman, thank you for your response. We may not agree with everything you have in your response. Ms. Reeve, your time is expired.

Thank you very much.

Thank you. Thank you. Is there anyone else that would like to speak on the consent, just the consent agenda items? Okay. Seeing none, we'll go ahead and close public comment on that. And anyone from the board like to pull any items?

Number five, please. Okay. To have read for the public. Number four, please. Eleven, please.

Okay. Number six to be read, please. Okay.

All right. And do I have a motion to approve the others?

So moved.

All right. Let's go ahead and vote.

Motion passes. Six yes.

Okay. Let's take... Let's just go in order. So let's take number four first. That was yours, Chris.

Yes. Thank you. I would ask if staff could provide an explanation for the board and also for the public to understand the reuse system and the change to the contract. It's a very... important item and I think that so that there's no confusion about what's happening so I'd ask staff to update us please

The presented change order tonight is associated with the contract for the Jacobs Engineering to design the reuse system and work on the county's behalf during the construction administration portion of the project. The project is already underway in a portion of the county with design finishing up on the remainder portion, and that'll be starting construction early in 2027. All of the costs associated, so if you look at the total cost of this particular change order, or the contract, which is $29,846,820, is 100% paid for by Amazon Development Services through the Water and Wastewater Services Agreements they execute with the Board of Supervisors. So there are no tax dollars and no rate payer dollars associated with this contract change order.

Thank you, Ben.

yes thank you Ben if there's no questions I'd make a motion to approve okay thank you let's vote we get it

Motion passes six yes.

Okay, and then we had number five.

Yeah, and Ed, I'd ask if you could read the proclamation for the 25th anniversary of 9-11. I recall where I was on that date. I was on active duty in Incirlik, Turkey when 9-11 went down. I think it's important that we honor those that gave their life and remember what was done on that day.

This is a proclamation commemorating the 25th anniversary of September 11, 2001, and recognizing September 11, 2026 as Patriot Day and a national day of service and remembrance in Spotsylvania County. Whereas September 11th, 2026 marks the 25th anniversary of the horrific terrorist attacks on the World Trade Center, the Pentagon, and United Airlines Flight 93, a defining moment in our nation's history that forever changed our country. And whereas nearly 3,000 innocent lives were tragically lost that day, leaving behind grieving families, friends, and communities who continue to carry the enduring legacy of their loved ones. And whereas in the face of unprecedented tragedy and danger, firefighters, law enforcement officers, emergency medical services, EMS personnel, dispatchers, military members, and ordinary civilians responded with extraordinary courage and selflessness and sacrifice to save others and whereas the events of september eleventh two thousand one revealed the resilient spirit of our nation inspiring generations of americans to answer the call to service including the service members who stepped forward to defend our nation and protect its people in the years that followed, and whereas the United States Congress has designated September 11th as Patriot Day and as the National Day of Service and Remembrance, calling upon Americans to honor the victims of the September 11th, 2001 terrorist attacks through remembrance, service, and community engagement, and whereas the Spotsylvania County Board of Supervisors recognizes that the safety, security, and well-being of our residents relied daily on the dedication of first local responders who embody that same spirit of courage, sacrifice, and public service. And whereas we owe a debt of profound gratitude to our Spotsylvania County Fire and Rescue personnel, the Sheriff's Office, 911 communications personnel, and our dedicated volunteer responders who work tirelessly day and night to answer the call to protect and serve our community with unwavering commitment. Now therefore be it proclaimed that the Spotsylvania County Board of Supervisors that September 11, 2026 is hereby formally recognized as Patriot Day and a National Day of Service and Remembrance in Spotsylvania County. and be it further proclaimed that the Board calls upon all citizens of Spotsylvania County to solemnly commemorate the 25th anniversary of September 11, 2001, to remember and honor the nearly 3,000 victims who lost their lives, to honor the first responders, service members, and civilians whose courage and sacrifice defined that day, and to extend our deepest appreciation to our local first responders and volunteers for their continued service to the community.

Thank you very much. I do want to give a shout out on 9 11. I know that mission barbecue will have a special ceremony at their location as well as if you drive by faith Baptist church over on route 3, you'll see nearly 3000 flags out of the side of the road there, which they've already put out. And then our own fire rescue, I think, has a ceremony as well on on Wednesday afternoon that others can attend. And I make a motion that we approve.

Thank you.

Motion passes. Six yes.

All right. Thank you. And let's go ahead and take up number six.

Thank you, Madam Chair. Just wonder if Ed could read that for us. Thanks.

No worries. This is a proclamation for Disability Voting Rights Week, whereas there are more than 70 million people with disabilities living in communities throughout the United States, and whereas over 40 million Americans with disabilities are eligible to vote, representing one of the largest groups of voters, and whereas there are 19,155 people with disabilities living in Spotsylvania County. whereas people with disabilities are an integral part of every community and contribute to the civic, cultural, economic, and social viability of Spotsylvania County, and whereas the disability community has a strong interest in local, state, and national policies that directly affect their lives, and whereas ensuring accessible voting, voter education, and opportunities for civic engagement help shape public policies that reflect the needs of people with disabilities while strengthening the community and expanding opportunity for all residents. and whereas the disability resource center of the rappahannock area in partnership with rev up virginia which stands for register educate vote use your power is a statewide effort to build the voting power of disabled virginians And now, therefore, be it resolved that Spotsylvania County hereby proclaims the week of September 14th through September 18th, 2026, as National Disability Voter Registration Week in Spotsylvania County, Virginia.

Thank you, Ed.

Just to add, I think you might have mentioned it, but the theme and focus for this is be an accessible democracy defender. And I just thought it was right thing to do to recognize this week because uh sometimes people who have disabilities are aren't as uh mobile and they're not as visible to the population so we don't aren't aware of um how much how many people like us who have something that they're working through so thank you i'd like to make a motion to approve okay let's go ahead and vote

Motion passes six. Yes.

All right. Then we'll take up number 11.

Thank you, Madam chair. Um, I, I cannot support, um, item 11. I would, Have to suggest that we revert back to the to the old retiree health coverage, at least for the next year. I've shared multiple emails with members of this board on lack of communication. This isn't about the process. Some will agree and some will disagree. It will benefit some, some may break even, you know, I don't know, but. I said, from the very beginning, as miss reset in April, would there be a possibility of reverting back? Because it is not up to me to sell this to my constituents. Whether it's a rezoning development or changes to HR policy, I'm merely a representative of my people. I have heard clear and loud that. The communication and the back and forth with with the vendor has not been up to par. I've shared those emails with members of this board. We're hearing, I'm hearing one thing from one side, I'm hearing a complete other from my retirees in my community. I cannot support this simply because of that. I would revert back at least for another year until it is up to them to sell that decision to our constituents. It is not up to us to force it down the throat of our constituents. And they have not been communicated with properly and I cannot support number 11.

Okay, so I guess I'm a little confused, Jake, just because this is clarifying the insurance payments. This isn't really about unwinding it. So are you – you're taking it a step further? Yeah.

The emails that I've shared with you all this week, I feel like we need to – Take a step back. I'm appreciative of the meetings that are HR department and and point 1 has had with our retirees, but I'm still getting constantly bombarded from multiple retirees and current employees. This does not just affect the retirees. This affects current employees. Who have put multiple years of service into this community. So we're not just talking about the retirees. So I'm not comfortable with moving forward again. What are the clear terms and conditions? So there's a lot of clarification. I think that needs to be made for retirees before we move forward on any of the changes to retiree health insurance.

Okay.

Thank you, Madam Chair. So I agree that I think the language in the policy needs to be clearly stated and articulated. I am a little concerned. I know that through a process, One Digital and the county went through and talked with all the retirees, as I understood. I do know that Medicare Part G is a better plan as laid out than what they currently have. Less out-of-pocket expense. I'm actually on a Medicare Part G plan, just as many of these would go to, which just seems to be a very good plan. Now, I would agree that individual circumstances could be different. But I also thought that, and again, maybe this is just, we need to have staff come back before we move forward on it. But, you know, to make sure that we have addressed all of the concerns and where the loopholes are that we think they still exist. Because I think it's important for the county to move forward with this plan because it does save quite a bit of money on our healthcare budget. Not that I don't think, again, I don't want to say that we're going to, give less coverage, because that's not the goal here. The goal is to give you the same coverage, actually better coverage. And as I've seen, and I'm not an insurance expert, that's what One Digital and HR is for, but I'm on the same plan. And I have less out-of-pocket expenses now than I had on my traditional plan that I had under TRICARE Prime, which is a little different also. I know we have some retirees that have TRICARE as well. So, you know, I'm not sure. I think we ought to back completely out. But if there's situations with individuals that haven't been looked at, then we need to make sure those are addressed. And we have time to do that because, again, Medicare open enrollment doesn't happen until October. I mean, nobody sees the plan unless you're already on one, then you'll see what the next plan might look like. But I think it's important that we make sure that all our retirees have gotten what they need to make a decision. But I think overall, my experience is that this is a good plan from what I've seen and what I have. But I'm not sure where we've lost the bubble, I guess.

And I think our last meeting, over 20, probably more now, have voluntarily switched over to To the to the medic Medicare plan, and that's that's where I'm at. I think it should be a volunteer volunteer action by our retirees. If it does benefit them, if it is a cost savings for them for out of pocket, we just spoke a couple of meetings ago about how county health insurance is rising as far as deductibles go. So that is a, that is a cost increase to our retirees right there. We just, we just talked about it at the last meeting and those are going to continue to increase. So, it may be very beneficial for the retirees to go on the Medicare plan with the gap. I think it needs to be spelled out very clear on what what programs and what the county is going to pay for for our retirees. Um, but I'm for it being voluntary and not being forced over into it. Because if it works for him, it works for him. If not, we still uphold our commitment that previous boards and previous administrations had made to our retirees. I understand that it is a cost savings to the county. Many other localities are doing the exact same thing. I'm not here to debate that. That's up for our retirees and our current employees to discuss with the providers of what works best for them. I'm simply here saying that the feedback that I'm getting from my constituents I cannot support number 11 simply due to the fact of the lack of communication between our vendor, our HR department, and our retirees.

Okay. Just for clarity's sake, though, and then, Ed, if you could speak to it, there's other things in here besides that, too. You know, there's talk about the group life insurance plan. There's talk about leave. There's other elements in this document that aren't around just the retirees. Okay. You know, if you wanted to peel off something different. But, Ed, if you could speak to that.

There's a couple of points. One is that this is really all or none. It can't be a voluntary program to go to Medicare. You're either going to keep what you have, and it's going to cost money, We already approved this plan in the budget. It was a $2.3 million savings in the 27 budget. We're already almost halfway through 2027. If we revert back now, we're going to have to find at least half of that or more in the 27 budget. And the other piece of that, and correct me if I'm wrong, but I don't think it can be voluntary. It can't be. We already discussed that with Anthem. The Anthem contract has already been done. And to backtrack now, I don't think we can do that with Anthem. Okay. Yes, Drew. What the language does here is you're correct. There's other changes to benefits. This was just to change our HR policy to match what was already there. And the way it was written before, there's no commitment for any future health benefits because the board at any time in the future can change whatever they want. It's up to future boards. This board can't bind a future board. So there's no guarantee in this language that was in there before as there is now of any kind of commitment to, you know, employee health insurance moving forward or the type of plan that they're on. True.

So, Ed, am I hearing you that if we tried to unwind something, then they'd have no coverage? Is that what you're saying? Because you couldn't go back to Anthem?

I'm not sure how that would work at this point. Laurie, do you have any idea? Or does anybody here from One Digital?

Is this on? Yeah.

If you decide to unwind it now, that would leave all of the current 65 and older retirees on our current anthem, health insurance, key care 20, key care 30. As you all know, those deductibles have gone up. So if somebody was on key care 20, they had a zero deductible. Now they're going to have at least a $500 deductible. If they had key care 30, they're going to have a $1,000 deductible. With the Medicare Part G, you had, if I remember correctly, a $283 deductible annually. So they will be paying more out of their pocket, not only for their health insurance, but for their deductibles. And with those increases also, their prescription costs may have risen, because whatever the active employees have now is going to be passed on to the retiree. So there is that if you wanted to unwind it. And at this point, if you did want to unwind it, as Ed just said, the retiree health insurance for that 150 people that we are currently paying the Anthem Health Insurance for, this year it's slated to be $2.3 million. tax rates would have to change. I don't think that in our budget we can find $2.3 million to support a program that the Medicare costs would be picked up by Medicare. So instead of us paying out of our pockets for the Anthem Key Care 20 and Key Care 30, those are claims that the majority of these will be picked up by Medicare. So really, I understand, for 150 retirees, most of which are walking away Okay with the changes after discussing with one digital I think we're looking at a small portion of this population that is resistant to change wants everything to stay the same and Unfortunately if it does then we're gonna have 140,000 citizens that are going to have to have an increase in the tax rate to pay for this 150 retirees that is costing us $2.3 million that the majority of this Medicare will pay for. So it doesn't really make good fiscal sense for us to continue to do this, but we are at, you guys can decide whatever you want to do. And at this point, I know it's been bandied about that people are going to lose their TRICARE. There's a lot of misinformation out there that is not coming from One Digital or HR. It's retirees talking amongst themselves, because as you know, Mr. Guzman, nobody's losing their TRICARE. Your TRICARE will be secondary. Your Medicare will be primary. So nobody's losing TRICARE. Where this information is coming from, it is not One Digital and is not HR. The retirees are talking amongst themselves, and there's a lot of misinformation being bandied about there. And they're not calling HR to ask us these questions. If they called HR to ask us these questions, we would answer these questions correctly because the information that we've been handing out for the past several months has been consistent and the same as much as we can, not knowing the October cost for the Part D, which is really all we don't know at this point. So we are kind of at your mercy at this point if you decide to unwind it you more than you're more than welcome to do that But this has been a two-year process This is not a process that started with no thought going into it and with no preparation with no due diligence we have been working on this for two years and we have come up with a program that is fiscally responsible for the county and And it's a good program for the post-65 retirees. So we feel like we've done a good job with HR, One Digital, and county administration to put these programs in place. If you all choose to unwind it and take it back, it's going to be $2.3 million we're going to have to find. Okay. Thank you, Lori.

Thank you. Drew?

Yeah, Lori, I have a question for you. When we first started talking about this and the potential changes, I don't think back then we knew that key care 20 and, at least I don't recall, 20 and 30 changes. That was in process. That was in process.

The RFP was in process, yes.

Yeah. And I forgot which one I had that had no deductible, and now I have the one that has. 20 and no deductible. I switched to the other one, right? Yeah. Because it's a lower one. Yeah. But you mentioned that the folks who would go to Medicare, that the cost would be covered by the county. Right.

I recall that language. There are different pieces for Medicare. There's part A that is free. There's part B that it depends on your income, what that costs you. And most people that are 65 and older that are pulling Social Security, that cost comes out of their Social Security on a monthly basis. So that's part B, and that's different depending on your income. then there's Part G that we are taking on that cost, you know, on a monthly basis, and Part D we're taking on that cost, although legally we're not allowed to pay that up front. We are going to reimburse the retiree, whatever cost that is, for their Part D. And we're working with FBA, who's our people that do our HRA and our HSA, We'll reimburse that to them on some type of a card that they can use for their medical benefits. So all of the costs with the exception of the Part B, which is something that all retirees have to pay for anyway.

So how do we guarantee that, like, what's the assurance that that's not going to change as well? Which part? The reimbursement aspects. Like, could that just go away next year or two years from now? And what would force that to happen?

That would have to be a decision by the board.

So it's a board decision.

It's all a board decision, yes.

Okay, so we, if we were to stick with it, and the reimbursement aspect would cover the Medicare. Part D. Part D and G, right? Is that right?

G we're paying for. You're paying for that. Upfront.

So the D then. I just want to, I'm stating this so that the public and the members hear that portion and factor that into their decision making. That they're not going to have potentially more Medicare out-of-pocket expenses. Right.

Is that correct? We are committed to pay for the Part D and we are committed to pay for the Part G. And that's all in information that retirees have been given multiple times, whether it's been meetings or meeting with one digital one-on-one or, you know, husbands and spouse meeting with one digital. So that's information that they've all been provided.

Okay. Thank you. I believe Dr. Frazier had a question. Dr. Frazier.

So, Wanda, my question is, I know that the information has been shared multiple times, but there appears to be some disconnect. And I want to have a solution. What would be a solution? Do we then send individual letters back to... Because I know they've met.

We do have the solution, and the solution is that every retiree is to meet with... Wendy Bryant, who is our certified Medicare specialist, she's licensed to talk to people about Medicare. She's been coming in one day a week and two days a week to meet with individuals in our office, and she's been meeting with people for the past several months. If somebody can't come in and meet with her, she'll do it in a virtual setting. But she's the one that has to give people their information specific to their need, because everybody's prescriptions are different. There are nine different Part D programs that somebody can opt into. So based on your prescription needs, she tells everyone what is the best plan for them.

And I understand that piece, but what I think a simple solution would be the humanistic part where people are afraid of change and they're afraid of things changing. I know in the age of technology, we depend on the computer, we depend on written notes. But she can call.

She's got a phone number. We've been giving out her phone number and her contact information every single week.

Can we flip that? For the people who really do not understand, can we flip that and say... There are few people that we need to reach out to. Can we pick up the phone and call? I know you can't call everybody, but the people who you're hearing from, just to see what is the disconnect? What is the communication gap? Because we want to make sure that our retirees know that we've set up the best situation for them. And I don't know if they don't understand that or may not believe that based on some misinformation. So it's up to us to probably just take it a step further. I do support what we're doing. but I am concerned that sometimes things get lost in translation, in communication, and so what can we do additionally to make sure that we're connecting?

We've sent out Weekly letters now? Weekly letters? Once a week. Weekly.

And if we have an email, they go out by email. If they don't have an email, because some people we don't have emails, we put it in the post office. We have tracked down, we had probably about 14 people that we didn't have any contact information for. And thanks to the retirees in January, I think we have found every single one of those people one way or another, with the exception of one. So we are reaching out and we are trying to find, we are doing our due diligence That's what I ask. But we also have people, and Wendy Bryant will attest to this, where she is leaving people voicemail messages and voicemail messages, and they're not calling back. And to be absolutely honest with you, I think we have a portion of the population that may think, hey, if I don't talk to anybody, you know, I don't have to get on this train, and I'm just going to keep what I've got. And in our letters, we have said, no, you need to contact us. Okay. Thank you. Thank you. Drew?

Yeah. So do you have these folks you're still reaching out to kind of broken down by district at all?

Oh, no. No, sir.

So I was going to say to anybody listening, if you're in the Cortland District and you fall into this, call me. All right. And and I'll be your interface to call and call you. OK.

Because honestly, I know you probably, as much as we've given you all the information multiple times, we're the better resource. We're the better resource when digital is the better resource. We will not misinform people. We will not be any less transparent than we should be. We are giving people all of the straight information all the time.

I just want to be able to say to the citizen, not solve their problem at all. It's like, okay, I got your name, number. I'm going to reach out. We're going to set up an appointment, find out where they live. They need a ride, whatever. So it's probably no one in my district, but if they are, then... Give me a call.

Thank you, Lori. Thank you very much. Appreciate it. So let's bring this back around to the board now, because this particular consent agenda item was to change the verbiage in the HR manual. And that's what really we're voting on. Jake, I understand where you're coming from, but I think we need to stick with what this consent agenda item is. If there's, you know, respectfully, we discussed this during the budget. This was a pivotal part of the budget, right? And I'm not, I can't support unwinding something that's already baked into the budget. I mean, that would just... be blowing it all up at this juncture. I think the concern is, from what I understand, is that some of the communication maybe hasn't, there's been some misses on that. And I totally understand, you know, insurance for most people is like a puzzle, right? And it's just very hard to understand. And I think the fact that we continue to reach out to them in whatever way we can is very important, but I can't support unwinding something that we've already had in the budget. I just can't support that. So there was kind of two motions in here, I think. And so did you make a motion? I can't, okay, I'm gonna make a motion to approve this, okay? And then we can take it somewhere else if you wanna go there, is that?

completely understand and respect your words chairwoman and it's the same as I said back during the budget season that if this didn't work out as we envisioned it with the provider then I would be trying to work this back out and this was this is my attempt and but completely respect the rest of this board's will and intentions okay thank you let's go ahead and vote on this

Motion passes for yes, with Mr. Yakubowski and Mr. Lane voting no.

Okay. Ed, can we just get an update on all of the 150 people? Just, you know, if you could put that out in a board communication. Of the 150 people, how many have switched over? How many are in talks? How many are MIA, you know, and figure out where we are in this?

I'll put it on the Friday operational report.

Oh, fantastic. Thank you so much. I appreciate you guys. Thank you. Okay. I got to go back to my notes here. All right. Um, so we're through the consent agenda. Now we're going to go to presentations, public presentations. So at this point in time, this is the time that you can get up and speak about anything except for the items that are public hearing items.

Amy, has anybody signed up? Yes, sir. We'll do those people first.

Cynthia Statz, followed by Pamela Rodriguez.

We'll let people clear out a little bit. If everybody could just, if you are leaving, just make your way. I'm just trying to be respectful of everybody that wants to have a discussion here. All right, I think we're good now.

Good evening. My name is Cindy Stotz, Leehill District. A board member is quoted in the Free Press saying that if he, quote, relied strictly on feedback from constituents, he wouldn't vote to approve any development, end quote. You might ask, why are my constituents complaining about every project that comes before the board? Maybe it's because our county's website is pretty bad, and trying to find any information on a project is like trying to find a plane in the Bermuda Triangle. Or because meetings are held at times when most of the public is either working, getting off work, school events, feeding their families, or board members other than one do not regularly hold town halls to update constituents on upcoming projects. Or because when residents do get involved, we often feel like information is withheld or we get the runaround. Or maybe it's because previous boards have made decisions that are astonishingly bad for the county. I know that various staff are responsible for drafting of these deals, but it is the board that has the final approval of them. And therefore, it is incumbent upon this board to recognize mistakes, remedy them where possible, and make sure that the types of deals that these types of deals do not happen in the future. And by bad deals, I'm referring to Amazon's tax deal, the Caroline County water deal, and the already approved eight data center deals, all of which have significantly contributed to a $15 million drop in school funding for the county thus far. I know the LCI is complicated. However, the point being that the board must consider these types of repercussions when approving development in the county. Given the data center developers are purchasing land at artificially high prices, this was not an unpredictable outcome, and it should have and should be taken into account when these developments come before the board. We will lose even more funding for schools if additional data center projects get approved, all with a hope and a prayer that they get built and bring in the tax revenue we so desperately need, revenue that we need especially now because of the past approvals. We are approving projects that won't get built for five to ten years, but we lose that funding now. So we enter these deals in a deficit. Considering the acknowledgement that we cannot afford to pay our teachers what they deserve and the constant refrain that they keep leaving to go north, please explain to me how approving projects that are going to cause an even greater loss for school funding is the smart, fiscally sound thing to do. Finally, since we all agree the cap doesn't actually limit the number of industrial acres available to data center development, we need to figure out a way to actually limit it. And it seems the fiscal speculation and clear harm, both fiscal and environmental, of these developments would be a concrete justification for not approving them. We need to focus on industries that are not going to artificially drive up our LCI score and cut funding while we hope that they happen. We need to remove data centers from our economic development plan as a desired industry. We survived without data centers before, and we can survive without approving more. especially until we understand the fallout of the deals that the county has already made, because the deals the data centers are getting negate any actual tax revenue benefits because of the astonishingly bad deals the county made with the developers. And lastly, I would like to note and stress that proffers do not automatically make a project worth approving. Thank you. Thank you.

Pamela Rodriguez, followed by Jeffrey Kent. Pamela Rodriguez followed by Jeffrey Kent.

Hi. I'm his wife, and he is under the weather. Would it be OK if I was able to speak for us? Sure. Yes, ma'am. Okay, great. Thank you so much. I'm Nicole Kent from the Livingston District. Madam Chairwoman and fellow board members, I'm here tonight in support of Dawn Shelley being considered for the recently vacated chancellor seat. Mrs. Shelley served on the county school board for 12 years, where she duvally represented the chancellor district as a thoughtful professional who was actively engaged with the schools in her district and and the voters who elected her three times. During her time there and even more so since leaving the board, Mrs. Shelley frequently attends board of supervisors meetings and often takes the opportunity to bring her questions and concerns to the board. This demonstrates her long and deep understanding of the work this board is tasked in handling with the responsibility they have to listen to and respect the viewpoints of their constituents and to consider those when making decisions. This board would do well to appoint a voice that would offer a unique viewpoint and level of experience for the next several months rather than a voice that will simply add to the current majority's perspective. Mrs. Shelley knows the Chancellor District. Mrs. Shelley has represented the Chancellor District, and I believe, we believe, that she would be an excellent choice for this board to make for this interim position. Thank you so much. Thank you. Scott Reinhart?

Scott Reinhart? There are no other citizens signed up to speak.

Hello, I'm Scott Reinhart. I want to first thank God for one more day. I also want to thank the opportunity to speak regarding the Senior Center and the upcoming fiscal budget. I just want to remind everyone that six years ago it was decided to remove seniors from the Marshall Center, and then in 2025 we moved out. I'm here to advocate for a clear, transparent commitment to dedicate a standalone senior center in the next budget cycle. I'm learning about this. It's done as 26 is done. 27 is already in place, and now we're discussing 28. And for the senior portion in the parks and recs is due by October. My wife had to make a phone call to even get this thing rolling for them to speak with us because there was aspects of them actually reducing our $3,000 or nine cents per senior. So over the years, the senior community has actively engaged in the civic process. However, the constant shifting of parameters has created frustration. Inconsistent information provided across our community has left a lot of the seniors with conflicting and understanding of where the project stands. We need a single roadmap forward. The parks and recs were tasked in 25 to provide a proposal. They missed the date requested by your group. No follow-up, no reprimand, no nothing. Now it's just in the black hole. A project of this importance requires a foundational commitment for the county's primary budget, not just inside the parks and rec. Furthermore, we must clearly clarify the scope of the facility. The senior community is advocating for a stand-alone senior center with predictable environment tailored for services and continuous programming. Our urgency is underscored by the current funding trajectory. Not only is the existing senior service budget minimal, like I said, $0.09 per senior, but there's indications or suggestions that we're faced with further changes for next year or 2028. It's difficult to reconcile a shrinking budget with a growing demographic that requires expanded infrastructure. 30% of your constituents are 55 and older. 30% of your inflowing tax base is from a fixed income, basically, group of people. Our urgency is on the impact of these resources strained is already visible. For two years, I've asked for, requested for a standard presentation equipment, specifically a large monitor, proper audio equipment, and a laptop to facilitate the basic programming.

Can you put your microphone back on?

That was for dramatics.

Oh, sorry. I didn't understand that.

When we go, we don't have the opportunity to hear the speaker, and sometimes we're staring and huddling, looking at a laptop of what someone brings in. So instead, we got a damaged secondhand television, which is propped up on a table supported by plastic.

Sir, your time has expired.

Oh, thank you. Well, thank you for your time.

Thank you. There are no other citizens. Okay. So if anyone would else would like to come up, just go ahead and approach. That would be great. Thank you so much.

See the timer, so okay. My name is Michael Corson, and September 1st of this month, I've been living here for four years. And I attended my first town hall with David this past week, and I met some great people like Madeline back there with the Safeguard Spotsy and Dr. Bowman back there. You know, we've got some great people in this community, and I'm just now discovering them. I know my neighbors, but now I'm trying to broaden out now that I'm retired and I have some free time on my hands. We moved here four years ago from Chesterfield, Midlothian area. And I remember paying property taxes of like a dollar five for a thousand or whatever it is, now compared to what, 77 cents of what it is here. And I realized that that money was going towards making good schools that my kids went to. And both of them went to college and now live their lives in New York City and in Chicago. And I really like and enjoy living here. But when we arrived four years ago, it was like chaos had ensued in the school board. And I was like, what the heck is this making national news for? And so I was glad to see that we've kind of come around a little bit. And now things are getting done, especially from listening to how the sausage gets made earlier with all the stuff going on. But I'm here to really speak about data centers because, like a lot of people that you're hearing from, I think we've hit a saturation point. It seems the decision was made earlier to build all these things to cut taxes. Well, my old county, Chesterfield, loves that their car tax went down, but now they've shut off the pipeline for any new ones because they've said enough is enough. And so I think it's time to kind of reconsider. I've been talking to my neighbors, and none of them ever come to these meetings. They barely come to the HOA meetings. And a lot of them are saying that, wow, I didn't know that these data centers cause so many problems, and the benefit doesn't seem to be worth the cost. And so I would just ask, what's done is done. You know, we talked about, or she brought up the fact that we've lived without data centers in the past. I think we can live without them going forward. You know, whatever is on the books that is set in stone and Amazon getting a great deal and all the contracts signed and all that nonsense. I just think that, you know, I hope the board would consider that the general public's appetite is zero right now. And we're sick and tired. We're sick and tired of all these additional data centers with this promise of increased revenue coming in. And I just think enough is enough. Northern Virginia has realized that. I used to live in Prince William County, and now they've realized enough is enough. I think it's time for Spotsylvania to say the same thing. Thank you very much for your time.

Thank you.

Do I push start or do you do it? Okay. Thank you. I'm Michelle Gooden. I'm in the Chancellor District. I first would like to say I also support Don Shelley for taking over for the vacant position. I just wanted to share a few things to make sure they're on record really. I've been coming to a few of the meetings here and there about the Senior Center and I am still in support of us having a singular Senior Center so that my 82-year-old mother and the 40,000 other Spotsy County residents over 55 and growing to two-thirds of our population within the next five years, have a place to go and have support and seek and receive support. Excuse me, socialization and seek and receive support. One of the things that we heard about at the last meeting was the $3.5 million that was potentially available to be reallocated from the Manassas, sorry, Massaponics water tower. to a senior center and I know that David Guzman is working on that with Glenn Sturdivant, a new person who will be helping to sort of be a liaison with the county and our seniors and I hope that that does move forward. We've been signing petitions and sending them to Congressman Bindman so that he's aware that we do have people here who would like to see that happen. The second thing is I'm interested to get an update on the Jacob had asked Kevin Brooks and Brian Barnes at a meeting at the end of 2025 to research and provide how much it would cost to put a new center. That was supposed to happen by June and I haven't seen that and if I've missed it somewhere I would love to find out about it but I don't think that that has come forward. If we have the potential to get to $3.5 million, then we need to see what actually would it cost. So I do hope that you will follow up and request that we get a budget proposal or some research information on the analysis of that. Those two things go hand in hand, and I hope that the board will work hard to ensure that we have a singular senior center available because we are supporting it and we are here to participate in it. So thank you for your time.

Thank you.

Hi, good evening, board members. I am Catherine Williams. I live in the Lee's Crossing area in the Lee Hill Voting District, where Crossroads Data Center is proposed to be planned. I know I've spoken to you about Crossroads before. I know you're probably tired of hearing me talk about Crossroads, but it is, in looking at the new special use permit, it literally is a mile away from my backyard. One football field that you will we will be able to hear that so and see it and it will greatly affect our community So I'm very passionate and concerned about my home and my community that I live in So I'm speaking to you tonight ahead of the Planning Commission vote on September 16th about crossroads we as a community have spoken out in opposition of this data center previously and and tonight I want to make some additional points. Number one, the special use permit states that Crossroads will generate a substantial tax revenue for the county. Where does that revenue go to and where is it allotted and from? And then as citizens, are we allowed to see that or read that somewhere of where that money allotment goes to? Somewhere on the county page would be probably good because I would want to know where this money is going from if this project were to go through, which I hope it doesn't. And then my next point is just that the money goes to the board, but I'm not sure. I would like to know more about that. I've always been told follow the money, but that's a little scary. I hope that we get answers to that. And in my thought, there are other ways to generate revenue for the county that does not endanger the community or assault our ears with 24-7 noise because the special use permit does say that Crossroads will run 24-7. We have well-planned housing developments in this county as well as mixed-use zoning developments. But now is the time to be smart about development. It's not... Just to let a data center company come. And it's not just about money. We live here and we'll have to deal with the fallout. You will not be on the board probably by the time that this goes to fruition. But we have to be the ones. I, my family, I don't think we can afford to move. We just lived here. We just moved here. Another point I would like to make is on page five of the special use permit, it states that the building height is 75 feet. Our community has asked for the height to be lowered. This will be seen from bedroom windows. Leaves Crossing is unique in its landscape where it has hills and slopes. So I'm asking you, if you go forward with this, to please adjust that size. 75 feet, we're gonna be able to see that from our bedroom windows. And on page six and seven, it refers to the northern Virginia, excuse me, George Mason study that mentions data centers do not hinder property values. Well, I would like to ask that to be removed.

Ma'am, your time's expired.

Okay, sorry. Because that does not reflect our county. Thank you.

Thank you.

Good evening, thank you for your time tonight. My name is Haley Grimes. My family and I actually brought my kiddos with me. We live about a mile and a half to two miles away from the proposed Belvedere Data Center complex. I come here today just with a word of caution. I am a ninth generation farmer. Those two back there are 10th generation farmers. And we bought land in this area because we loved what it stood for for agriculture. And what we're finding and what I've experienced myself is concern around the lack of communication and transparency around data centers and their impact that they will have on the community. I'm not saying this from speculation. I'm saying it's from experience. My family has run a 230-year-old farm in Pennsylvania that was surveyed by George Washington. And we are constantly fighting the battle against this. rezoning with residential area, not even a data center with residential area, and I can tell you from experience that that impacted the value of our land, the taxes that we paid, and I'm concerned that that's gonna happen here to my family as well. So we moved down to this area to try to get away from that situation, and we found ourselves in it all over again. So I would just, a word of caution, consider the impacts that this has on community, the impacts that it has on generations that aren't even in this room. because when you make decisions for rezoning it impacts planning it impacts rezoning for everybody in the area i am a caroline county resident but i will be impacted by the spots of any county decision and i will also be making that apparent to the caroline county board of supervisors and planning commission as well and just wanted to give that word of advice before any more decisions are made so appreciate your time thank you

Good evening, everyone. My name is Moe Petway. I live in the Cortland District. I'm here tonight to recommend the appointment of Dawn Shelley as the filling of the Chancellor's District Board of Supervisors. I won't go over the qualifications again. Mrs. Kent did a great job of articulating some experience that she has. What I want to share with you real quick, though, is that, if it don't mind, I have a couple people with me. You want to stand there for a second? Just real quick. I just wanted to show you, there are other people here to support her as well that are with me. And I just wanted to share that Ms. Shelley already have the experience of collaboration with the Board of Supervisors. She has been here before, and she's talked to you guys about the budget. And when she was on the school board, she became chairperson of the school board, where she provided advice and guidance to her body as well. So what I'm saying is that she has the experience. She has the qualification, and I think she'd be a good person to serve at this time. And she is dedicated and a good member of society and in this community. I think she has demonstrated her skills to work with the Board of Supervisors, school boards, and different districts. as well as the Chancellor District. I think she will benefit you. So please, if you haven't already appointed, appoint her to serve in the Chancellor District, who should be a good collaborator for the rest of the county. Thank you.

Thank you.

Can y'all hear me? Thank you, awesome. Nilofa Garza, Berkeley District. First of all, thank you very much, members of the board, for the opportunity to speak tonight. I'm here to strongly and sincerely encourage you to appoint Don Shelley to this position. As a former school board chair and a deeply engaged member of this community for many years, Don Shelley has consistently advocated for our public schools and demonstrated a clear understanding of the importance of making decisions that serve the long-term interest of our children, our families, and our taxpayers. She also brings a thoughtful and comprehensive understanding of development in Spotsy County, including the rapid and at times unchecked growth and development and the implications that the development can have for our environment, our infrastructure, our taxpayers and our residents. I believe Don Shelley would bring exactly the kind of nuanced and independent perspective this board needs when considering tax rates, development, infrastructure, and the broader fiscal and environmental future of our county. Just as importantly, Don has consistently emphasized non-partisanship and putting Spotsylvania County first. At a time when partisan divisions are increasingly finding their way into local government, her commitment to approaching these issues independently and thoughtfully would be an enormous asset to this board. Okay, so I also want to speak clearly against the potential appointment of Tim McLaughlin. Mr. McLaughlin has consistently demonstrated that he is no friend to public education. He has opposed efforts to improve teacher compensation and supported policies that put unnecessary strain on our public school system. He has also supported uncontrolled growth, including data center development, without the meaningful restriction and safeguards our community deserves. At a time when our schools are struggling to recruit and retain educators, and our community is confronting the consequences of rapid development, we need someone who will stand up for our students, educators, working families, taxpayers, and responsible growth. Dawn Shelley has demonstrated that she will do exactly that. So I ask you, members of the board, to put the interests of Spotsylvania County first, and I urge you to vote for Dawn Shelley. And I urge you to reject the appointment of Tim McLaughlin if that comes to vote. Thank you. Thank you.

Trillian Ballar, Luce Hill District. I had not planned on speaking today, but here I am. It seems quite often. So I understand it's the board's policy to take each project that comes across individually. And I get it. It's easier. It makes sense. But it's kind of like candy bars. You have one candy bar. That's pretty good. And you have another candy bar. It's your own candy bar, and you eat that, too. And you have another candy bar, and it's its own candy bar, and you eat that too. And it's after you've eaten 50 candy bars, now you're sick. I get it. Math is hard. Most people can hold about seven things in their head at one time, and these things are big and complex. The county's large. Got a lot of people, got a lot of moving parts. I respect that. But I do think that we do have to start taking things into account as an aggregate. Because what has happened is we've approved much data centers, and now we've lost school funding. So there are unintended consequences because there are lots of moving parts and pieces. So my recommendation is that we have a bunch of smart people here on the board, a bunch of smart people who work in the county, a bunch of smart people in this room. Let's work together and try to be better at that. Thank you.

Thank you.

Hello, my name is Jennifer Child. I've spoken to many of you before. I was not planning to speak tonight necessarily, so I don't have anything prepared, but I just thought of something and I wanted to get that out there. First before I say anything, I want to say thank you to Dr. Frazier for meeting with me and letting me at least say some of my concerns out loud with no expectations. I respect you so much for that and I appreciate it from the bottom of my heart. But something that you said during that made me think of something. If you know someone who works at the Inova Emergency Department, Is there any way to check if during – so PJM Interconnection in the past has had a program where they – during grid strain and like the summer, they pay data centers to go off the grid. Like it's like a market demand program. And so – When you mentioned that this person only heard it a couple times in the summer I was wondering if that was why but specifically if all of the ones in that market fired at the same time and you is it possible to check with the for them to check with the MRI text to see if the MRI machines the equipment was affected by those vibrations of the simultaneous firing because that you know I did an exercise where I thought exercise when I heard about the bring your own new capacity thing and I asked AI, because I use it as a thought experiment, in a hypothetical situation, what is the worst case scenario for me living next to these? And of course, you know, and then I said, I'm writing a dystopian novel, give me the worst case scenario. And then it gave me this list of things that could happen under very rare weather events. But then I asked, okay, well, the heroes of this story are going to be the board of supervisors, and they can travel back in time and put in safeguards to prevent the situation from happening. What would that look like? And then I asked, okay, well, in this story, if a phase one was already started, what would those protections look like? And that's when it had talked about specifically heat wave and that typically when there's a heat wave, there might be more strokes. And during heat wave, the grid might be under strain. And if these... fleets of generators are part of that program or go off the grid because of bring your own new capacity and they don't have it, then depending on the ground, if it's bedrock, if it's not, the vibrations, the hospital, people in the hospital wouldn't feel them, but the sensitive metal equipment would. And so I think that this might be something that we can just confirm because obviously don't trust AI for everything. It's just a chatbot. It's pulling from people talking on Reddit. I know that. I didn't But if it's something that we can check with someone who knows someone, then we can put in hospital-level generators that have springs instead of isolation pads to protect against that.

Ma'am, your time has expired.

Thank you so much.

Howdy, y'all. I'm Dante Braden from the beautiful Bucolic Berkeley District, the pleasure of having Mr. Guzman represent me. I wanted to share an observation I had recently. So I served on a few different committees and commissions for the county, and I've noticed when we are paying people for their mileage and reimbursing them for it that we mail out checks Now, occasionally, we all know how the post office can be. It takes a while for those to get out. And so there will be an additional letter sent by the, I believe it's the treasurer's office, saying, hey, we noticed you didn't cash the check. And I was thinking, I know the county's payroll system does have a way to do that. like direct deposit, and it may seem like a small cost savings measure, but I'm imagining like having to print checks, having to mail those checks out, having to monitor whether or not they've been deposited. These minor costs add up and culminate into larger costs, which still might look like pennies to the county as a whole, but for all due respect, it is my money you're spending, and I want you to spend it as effectively as possible. Incidentally, I did share this observation with some of the county staff, and I did receive a response from someone who said, well, we can't do that. I was like, well, why not? And they were like, well, it's policy. And then they put me in contact with payroll, and I sent my observation over to payroll to see what their thoughts would be. And I thought this actually perfectly encapsulated a frustration I've had with both the Board of Supervisors and to an extent the school division and that is sometimes a young guy will come to you and give you a pretty good idea and from my perspective it seems like, and I mean this with all due respect, Some people have been in here for a while, and they've been doing things a certain specific way. And an easier answer to a reform idea is, well, we've always done it this way, so we're not going to change anything. And I find that frustrating because, well, with all due respect, I mean, there will come a day where, I mean, the next generation of leaders is in there. And it would be nice if we put more effort into trying to represent their concerns before that day comes because there will come a day where, even if it's not me, It'll be my generation that is on the board of supervisors and the school board having to deal with the fact that some people voted to approve a deal with Amazon so that we don't get tax revenue. People voted to approve all these developments that make housing unaffordable. And I'd like us to start addressing these issues now. Thank you.

Good evening. My name is Ilya Bukov, and I'm from the district of Chancellor, and I was invited here to talk about my time at Boise State. I want to thank the community members for supporting these programs, and I made a short speech talking about this. Good evening, Chairman and members of the board. My name is Ilya Bukov, and this summer I had the privilege of representing our community at Virginia Boise State. What I expected to be a week about government ended up teaching me more about leadership, perseverance, and public service. I came in with ambitious goals and aspirations, and even though I accomplished some, like being elected to the position of city councilman, there were many I felt short of. One of those involved leadership. I had certain expectations of what leadership meant and how to practice it, but that week taught me that some of those expectations were misconceptions. It wasn't an easy lesson to learn, but oftentimes those are the best lessons one can learn. And I can definitively say that because of that week at Boys State, I feel more confident, more prepared, and better equipped to be a leader. Boys State also solidified my goal of obtaining an appointment to the United States Air Force Academy. I want to thank this board and the community for supporting programs like Boys State. because not only does it create an impact on the individual, like myself, it also inspires young people to use those lessons for the betterment of their communities. Thank you.

Jamie Hashton, Lee Hill District. I wanted to discuss two quick issues today. Water bills. When you guys went to the smart meters, you might want to go back and look and see what the life expectancy was. I've gotten a zero gallon usage for the past two months. Did a little Facebook post and others have said they've had the same issues. When I called the water people today, because of course it was over the weekend, I noticed it. She said if I would have reported it within the first 30 days, I wouldn't have had to pay that amount. and that because I didn't notice it in the first 30 days, I don't know how I'm supposed to because I don't work for the county, I have to pay the back amount. But then she said that my meter started working again on August 26th, so what are we doing um and i didn't understand why she was at that point not going to send somebody to swap out my meter because if it stopped working for two months chances are it's going to stop working again and i don't want this huge astronomical bill and ironically a friend posted on facebook today that she got the exact same identical fee due on her water bill today so i just ask you to please maybe dig into that a little more and apparently it's an issue um secondly Last month, I spoke about the Pick Apart fire and my concerns for safety of the residents that live nearby. And I told you I was going to put a FOIA in. And I did. And I shared a copy of it with you all. There have been multiple fires at Pick Apart. Ironically, two in August, a couple years apart. What is concerning is, you know, we've talked and it touches data centers because we've talked about are we prepared if there is a fire there. The one report mentions we had to bring foam in from Fairfax, a thousand gallons of it. That's a problem. You know, if we have data centers on fire, Where's the support coming from if we don't have it? It mentions, you know, having to get people from other divisions to come in and help because some of our stations were under staff that day. I just ask you to look at these and read it carefully, and you'll notice that there was no safety plan implemented to those apartments. Okay. That's a problem. Yeah, I'm thankful to the firefighters and everybody who helped, but it says that the apartments were used as a staging center for EMS and for the fire department and everybody, but at no point does it say a safety plan was initiated. So you've had residents and young kids with their air conditioners on pulling in that smoky air, elderly people who might have been affected and had respiratory problems or asthma flare-ups or other issues and not realize, you know, that there's this huge astronomical fire happening that took 24 hours to put out. So I just ask you, you know, we've got to do something better because pickup heart catching on fire all the time isn't a good solution. So thank you.

Is there anyone else in the audience that would like to speak tonight? I think I should speak in this section. I might have signed up for the public hearing part, but I think what I'm going to say fits in there. Yeah. As long as it doesn't have anything to do with the public hearing, you can totally speak now. Yeah.

I'm Antoinette Pyatt. I'm from the Livingston, thank you Jake, Livingston District. I've spoken before. My part in this community is I'm very concerned about animals, both wild and domestic. And I have dedicated the last 15 years trapping cats to reduce the ever-growing population, which is a huge problem. It's happening in many neighborhoods. While I'm driving around doing this, I am noticing many houses going up for sale, many townhouses, many people are moving. I think it's in reaction to what's happening here in the county with the data centers, etc. Rabies is definitely going on the rise. As they deforest these areas, the wildlife comes in. It is affecting the both domesticated and feral cat communities. Most of the cases that I'm talking about have been bites from cats. And currently, there are people that are feeding large amounts of cats. Animal control is not there helping them, regulating, getting them aid to get them fixed so that the cycle won't continue. Two cats in two years. can make 250 cats. That's if half of the litters die. This is a very serious problem. I feel like the house is on fire and I'm trying to get people to pay attention and they're not. My suggestion is you talk about looking for money all the time. There's a ton of people living in squalor with tons of cars that are not registered. They could be fined. Those fines could be collected for the county. If you have a bunch of wild animals and they're feral and you're feeding them, you should be responsible for creating a program with the county to get them fixed because it moves into your neighbor's house. And then they move further and further. I'm helping an elderly couple right now. They cannot sell their house. They're in their 70s. They want to move to Florida. The people beside them are so horrific with animals, pigs, cows, children running around in what looks like a trash yard with cars and all these animals. And there's no proper housing, no proper care. And nobody's doing anything. And I call and I talk to animal control. Half the time they don't show up. They don't enforce the laws that are already on the books. It's very frustrating to watch this happen. And we can do better. And you guys could make money by fining these people and getting this stuff cleaned up. So that's my observation. I'm out there every week trapping. I trap roughly 400 cats a year by myself. And there aren't a lot of trappers in this area, but more and more. We're training more people. This is a huge problem. And, I mean, I could get numbers together. I can get ledgers and, you know, what we're doing. I can go around to all the other 18 cat rescues in this county and get their numbers. So maybe that's what you guys need, numbers. Maybe that's it. Let me know what I can do to get some attention to this problem. Thank you.

Good evening, Madam Chairperson, members of the board, members of my community here. My name is Marcus Garcia. I live in the Lee Hill District. I have spoken before many, many times, both here, our local school board. I've been a member of this community about eight years. My son will be seven here in a couple weeks. I wanted to thank you for your proclamation on commemorating 9-11. I, too, was on active duty that day. Having just retired early last year out of the Pentagon, it's a special thing, your proclamation. I appreciate that. I have heard many things in this community. I've been coming to this meeting every month for almost two years, even longer to each and every school board meeting. I know the professionalism, the passion that Ms. Dawn Shelley brings to her work, to her advocacy for children and for this community at large. And so I'm here to advocate for her appointment. It is an abbreviated appointment, as you all know. There is no one finer. Her qualifications and professionalism are unmatched. I was here last month when I got the packet of resumes. She will be the best to fill that empty chair. Moving on, I noticed a theme this evening, misinformation. Our health benefits director, I forget her name, apologies, she used the word misinformation. I've used it in here many times on the context of data centers. I will admit that there is something I need to dig into this evening, the LCI calculation. I am, at this time, confounded how more projects would actually cause a loss to revenue. I've asked this board before to continue to inform, fully inform members of this public. Two meetings ago, I spoke very ineloquently about our purple pipe, our water reuse system. One of my local neighbors came up after me and quipped about me mansplaining. Good news, actually all I was doing was regurgitating what I've heard in this very room and other rooms like it from Ms. Pomato, so I guess technically I was just regurgitating and ladiesplaining. My big conundrum here is the misinformation and the lack of information that I hear coming out of this board. I would ask, because I've been to many of your data center forums, they need to be fully informing. I'm hearing a lot of misinformation in these rooms. I've said it before, and I would ask you, please, you guys have made movements in recent meetings, and I would ask you. I will end there. Thank you, Mr. Petrovich. Have a wonderful evening.

Okay, would anyone else like to get up and speak at this time? Yeah, please come up.

Michael Lockard, I have lived in spousal in my whole life all twenty six years. I live over in a courthouse common now just bought a house there. This is my first time getting involved with anything like this, but I figured that it is a something I should be doing if i'm this invested into the place that I live. So uh after hearing all the stuff people have been saying i just some anecdotal information to just kind of reinforce it uh the teacher flight my mom's a stafford teacher she would rather work in spotty it's a commute to stafford 95 sucks uh but the pay is just is too is too bad um The cat thing also kind of a big problem. I know it sounds kind of silly, but it actually is a huge ecological issue. So please take that seriously. I know it doesn't seem like it has that big of an impact, but it will. There's other communities that are having really bad problems with that at the moment so nip that in the bud In terms of the data center stuff it is a shame to see places Just start building up these huge monstrosities of buildings that are going to have problems You know the shame about Belvedere and all that it's a it's a real shame Went there when I was a little kid, so I get that it'll still be there, but it's not going to be the same thing. So I wasn't really prepared to speak, but just in terms of all these other points that these people are talking about, the property value thing and being able to sell your house. People are fleeing. My aunt is trying to flee. She lives in Stafford, but it's the same problem. She can't sell her house. You know, she got a real nice house, but she can't sell it. Nobody wants it. Nobody wants to live there. She don't want to live there, but she's stuck there. Um, and it's just, you know, the same issue over and over that we're all saying, but. Um, I know I'm not really offering any solutions here. Uh, but what I will say is, as the gentleman before had said, there's a lot of smart people, um, in this room, not just working for the county, but. um we can problem solve we can overcome these problems and find a middle ground that makes everyone happy um even if you know you can't have Both sides get exactly what they want a compromise is at least a good enough a good enough thing, so you know we have plans for data centers that are already in place in motion moving fine, but at least at least pump the brakes for new ones. These people have all these expert opinions on these things that they're talking about they've done the research, please listen to them i'm doing my own research and i'm just trying to just get a young person's perspective out there, so thank you.

Thank you. Anyone else care to speak tonight? All right. Seeing none, we'll go ahead and close public presentations. And that brings us to our public hearings.

Your first public hearing this evening is for amendments in addition to County Code Chapter 4, animals and fowls, Article 1, General Section 14- I'm sorry, General Section 4-16, noise from animals.

And if we could have like maybe a three-minute break, just that would be great. Okay. Sorry, guys. We'll just get set up here. All right. Thank you. we're gonna come back now I think that was a little longer than three minutes but it was commercial break right yeah thank you I'm so sorry so please proceed thank you madam chair and members of the board this public hearing is the first of two related to chapter four of County Code animals and fowl

This first public hearing is specifically focused on the portion of the ordinance that relates to noise from animals. And this section of the ordinance states that it's unlawful for any person to allow an animal under their ownership to bark or make other noises plainly audible within a residential dwelling for more than one cumulative hour in a 24-hour period. It is a Class 3 misdemeanor escalating to a Class 2 for third and subsequent offenses. The code does not apply to most of the Berkeley and the Livingston voting districts. There are some exceptions to that, including several named neighborhoods within the Berkeley and Livingston voting district, the resort residential zoning district, which is located along Lake Anna for the most part, and has small lot sizes, one acre on the waterfront and two acre inland. And also subdivisions or developments of 10 or more lots with an average lot size of one and a half acres or less. The proposal before you this evening is to eliminate that 10 lot requirement The focus here is on small lots. There shouldn't be a requirement that there be 10 small lots in order for this ordinance to be in effect. And also to change the lot size threshold for the subdivision or development exemption from one and a half acres to two acres. And the thought process behind that has to do with the current allowance in the zoning districts in the Livingston and the Berkeley voting districts. Two acres is the smallest lot size that can be created today as a family division and also consistent with the resort residential two acres as a lot size in there as well. So we generally see or consider smaller lots in the Livingston and Berkeley voting districts as two acres or less. This also modifies the complainant procedure related to a single complainant when there's no more than two households located within 750 feet of the property line, and it incorporates gender-neutral language. So with that, available for any questions.

Does anyone have any questions before I open the public hearing? No. All right.

Amy, do we have anybody signed up? No, ma'am.

Okay. So is there anyone in the audience that would like to speak to this issue? Please make your way to the lectern. Thank you.

All right. Good evening, Chair, Chairman, and members of the board. My name is Stephen Cozzella, and I live at 6035 Talisman Road, Part of 22534. I've spoken to you. several times over the past few months. I'm here tonight to speak in strong favor of ordinance number 4-36. For me, this is not an abstract policy debate. It's a matter of basic health and survival. I bought my home this past March, looking forward to the peace and quiet of Spotsylvania County instead... Due to relentless animal noise, I have not had a single good night's sleep in my own bedroom since the day I moved in. To get any rest, I am forced to sleep on my couch, retreat to my basement, or leave my home entirely to sleep at a friend's house. No residents should be driven out of their home. or their bedroom by excessive noise. It ruins your health, impacts your work, and destroys your quality of life. Even during the day, I cannot sit on my back deck and have a normal conversation without shouting over the constant barking. This is why increasing the lot size threshold to two acres is critical. Sound does not respect property lines. On a two acre lot, a barking dog Over an hour, it pierces right through exterior walls and windows by extending protections to two-acre lots. You close a loophole that leaves residents like me completely unprotected. You ensure families can actually rest and enjoy the properties they pay taxes on. Equally important is fixing the complaint procedure. Right now, the system locks you out of relief unless two separate households complain. It really doesn't affect me, but in spaced-out neighborhoods, if you have Only one neighbor within 750 feet of the noise, you're trapped. It's physically impossible to get a second household to sign off because no one else is close enough to hear it. Allowing a single neighbor to file a complaint in these isolated situations gives a voice back to the residents who are suffering in silence. This ordinance is fair. It gives pet owners a full cumulative hour before violations occur, and it protects our local farms and kennels, but it also draws a line that says a resident's right to sleep matters. I'm exhausted, and I know my neighbors are too. Please protect our health and our homes by voting yes on Ordinance 436 tonight. Thank you.

Thank you. Anyone else in the audience care to just make your way up?

Hi, Jamie Ashton again. I just ask you to support this ordinance. My heart goes out to him. We deal with coyotes barking all the time. So it's a little different. We can't get trying to get help with that. But a good night's sleep is valuable to everybody. So my heart goes out to this gentleman. Thank you.

Yeah, my name is Mary Pearson. I live at 6101 Tolles Mill Road. And I can tell you that, you know, Just to be clear, it's not just a dog barking. It's not about neighbors having a few dogs bark here and there. It is relentless, persistent, and prolonged. It can be clearly heard inside my house. The barking is so loud that I can't go in any part of my house without hearing the dogs constantly barking. You know, we did not immediately turn to the county for help. We have made many attempts to work with the neighbors directly to resolve this as those efforts have not worked. The owner has made it clear that he believes his dogs need to be allowed to bark and that he is not willing to make an effort to quiet them. So what are we supposed to do? We are simply expected to live indefinitely in this amount of anguish that the noise gets into your ear it just does not stop and we don't have any recourse or anything to do you know i strongly support the change in the lot size threshold to two acres sound does not stop at a property line and it certainly doesn't disappear because the property is larger than a current acreage. I know that first town. I hear it in my house. I also support allowing one household to make a complaint when there simply aren't two qualifying households within the required distance. In rural areas, homes are spread out further. A legitimate complaint should not be Unaffordable simply because there isn't a second house close enough to meet the requirement the order It still gives dogs plenty of opportunity to bark It doesn't punish someone because their dog barks at a delivery truck or a deer or a dog or whatever's happening outside you know, we just need a means of to stop it to be able to sit by our pool to have friends over or for the noise to just stop to just for five quiet moments that the dogs are not incessantly barking. And for somebody to help us here. Thank you.

Thank you. Anyone else care to get up to speak to this issue? Okay, I'll go ahead and close the public hearing and open it up to the board for any questions. Anyone have any questions? No. I guess I have a question. Is there... What are our regulations regarding kennels and large, you know, if we're talking about one dog continually barking, but if... Sir, I'm sorry. But if it's a number of dogs together, are we... I know you have to have your dog licensed, right? Yes. Is there a kennel license that has to be done if you have more than a certain amount of dogs?

There is a kennel license procedure in the county ordinance. I can't cite it off the top of my head, but there is a procedure for a certain number of dogs. And somebody would go in and then they'd pay for, I'll just throw out there, 10 dogs maybe. They would pay a certain fee for 10 dogs and that would be the license for the kennel.

Madam Chair, in the red line version, I think it says it's defined as five dogs as the minimum to be considered a kennel. So whatever that, whatever that drives.

So I guess my question is that from the county perspective, how are we monitoring those kennels? Because I'm assuming those are not commercial kennels where they're, They're charging for services. It's a kennel. It's a private kennel. How are we monitoring that? Is there a way that we're monitoring that?

I believe there's a representative here from animal control who might be able to answer that best.

That would be great.

Is Captain Davis here?

Yeah.

Thank you.

Get on. All right. Good evening, Captain Davis. I'm taking care of animal control for Sheriff Harris. To your point, I'm going to go ahead and say that for the most part, the direction for compliance for the kindling issues is going to be code compliance area. Now the process for a 10, 20, or even 50 dog, which is the max kennel, is that they have to make an application with the county. And through that process, we receive part of that application to go out to that property. Animal control officer will inspect it to make sure that the conditions are proper and that they have the kennel set up so that there's adequate What the code requires as far as adequate shelter adequate feed shade etc After that, we sign, the animal control officer will sign the document if that's all present. If it's not, then we continue to work with them in order to get them to where we can sign. They get the document, and they take that document back to the, I believe it's to the treasurer's office, and they file, and that's the document that they use to go ahead and pay for their licenses. They have to get a license after that, and after that is filed. And that's the extent of my knowledge of it. The enforcement for it, if there's complaints made originally for a kennel, I think that's gonna go to code compliance first. The compliance officers would go out and take a look. And if they need our intervention for a safety aspect and so forth, as far as the kindling procedure is concerned or the treatment of animals, then we're happy to step in and make those adjustments, charges, what have you. But that's the extent of my knowledge of the process. There is a process. But in terms of whether or not that doesn't, there's no caveat that I'm aware of in our kindling ordinance that has anything to do with the topic that we're discussing concerning noise from animals, specifically barking dogs.

I guess what I'm understanding, and I'm just trying to get an understanding of the bigger picture here, okay? I get the issue that precipitated this coming before us, but if there is a number of dogs collectively making noise in an area that goes beyond the 5 or 10 or whatever the code is, then that would go to code compliance, but they would be breaking the noise ordinance then.

The complainant complaining about the noise coming from the kennel still would not have a self-help remedy. if they don't meet the qualifications for the Livingston and Berkeley district exception to the exemption. Does that make sense?

It does. I'm just trying to figure out, do we have a lot of areas? Just in general terms. Really, it's kind of beyond what we're talking about here. I'm just curious. Are there a lot? How many kennels... that are not commercial kennels, just regular, you know, kennels do we have identified in the county? We probably would need to get that information at some point somewhere.

I would know the answer to that. I think a good place to start would be code compliance with the number of those applications. I would imagine they keep them on file.

Okay. Becky, or Wanda, sorry. Can you get that information at some point? I'm just curious because I know what kind of pings I guess the treasurer's office is when you go and take your dog to get the rabies vaccine, the vet kind of tells them, hey, there's a dog here, and then you get the bill for your dog. But I'm wondering how many people in the county are circumventing that going to the vet situation to get rabies vaccines and maybe doing them another way and then not getting pinged. Do you know what I'm saying?

I do. And I know that certification's made when we initially respond. In order to get our signature on their authorization form for the kennel, they have to show proof that they've gotten the proper rabies shots. And then from there, they can move forward. Now, if you're asking... After that, if we have a measure in place, if animal control has a measure in place to regularly go in and check on these establishments, we do not. Just like I don't regularly go and have officers that I would send out to police, I'll say hundreds, probably over a thousand dog licenses. It's when I get calls on that, I let them know. I'm like, you know, I'm not going to come after you to look, but if I get a call and I respond there and my officers are there for a valid reason and we find that you're not in compliance, then you will be charged, and I think that's a fair understanding.

Okay, thank you. Drew, you had a question or comment?

I can wait until later on this.

I was just going to say that I've said this before, but I empathize or sympathize actually with the complainant because I lived through a similar situation. 10 years ago or eight years ago or something like that and animal control came out and they did a good job of inspecting the animals making sure that they were properly watered and all the requirements and then they did check they asked for hey is your rabies up to date so they did what they could do but they were limited they this particular gentleman did have five runs they were chain link kind of thing and eventually the only way we could get him to comply was through an ordinate a noise thing so but it was a gray area what i like about the kennel definition here is any establishment in which five or more canines felines or hybrids of either are kept for the purpose of breeding hunting training renting buying boarding selling or showing that covers just about everything so Sounds like we have more tools here from an enforcement standpoint, but changing this and updating it will give you, Captain, will it give you more tools to use when it comes to noise complaints and whatnot?

Absolutely. It'll definitely increase the number of instances where we can apply the exception to the current exemption for Livingston and Berkeley. So for those homeowners, I do think will be effective. Will we go in and, you know, We're going to use discretion with each one of these calls. I'm personally aware of the particular history involved. I was personally responded to this particular residence and situation and was involved in its workup. So I know the frustrations from both personal and a professional side. So, yeah, we're going to experience more calls, but we'll handle it. It's not a problem.

All right. Thank you. Anyone else have any comments? No. All right. Thank you. All right, so with that, since we don't have any more comments, I'll entertain a motion.

Make a motion to approve.

OK, let's go ahead and vote.

Motion passes, six yes.

That takes you to your next public hearing for amendments to County Code Chapter 4, Animals and Fowls, Article 1. In general, Section 4.1, definitions to add and revise, definitions to comport with the Code of Virginia, and to update language regarding abandonment and tethering of animals.

Good evening. Basically, this is to update sections of County Code Chapter 4, Dealing with Animals and Fowl. to comport with recent changes to the Code of Virginia, particularly 3.2-6500, which is a definitional section. Among the terms that have changed and that we have updated in the revised ordinance here are addressing adequate shelter and tethering practices for dogs. I believe there was a complaint last year about a lady saw a panhandler type of person, a homeless person with some dogs tied up and became concerned about that and that's what pretty much put this on our radar. But this does make it comport with the recent changes to Virginia Code section 3.2-6500 and other sections of that code, and also updates language to be gender neutral and makes some grammatical changes as well. Um, but pretty much there, there are several definitional changes all are redlined in your materials. And if there are any specific questions, I'd be happy to answer. Okay, thank you.

Is there are there any questions before I open the public hearing? Okay, Amy, is anyone signed up? No, ma'am. Okay. Would anyone like to speak to this specific issue? okay seeing none i'll go ahead and close the public hearing any questions here okay i have a i have a question well not a question but um so i do see um panhandlers out in the medians with their animals in extreme heat, okay? No covering, nothing. I don't see water. I don't see food. What can we do about that? Because that is, and my concern with that too is from a health perspective, are those dogs being vetted? Are they being vetted? vaccinated, you know, not just for rabies, but other things that can happen, right? I mean, if you have a distempered parvo dog, any of that is highly contagious. You know, I hate to get... government overreach. But at the same point in time, it really bothers me when I'm on mine road and there is a dog sitting there in the heat on that hot pavement where their paws can burn very quickly. So what can we do about that? Does this help with that?

It does for the tethering situation and I know if there's a concern about cruelty to animals and adequate water there is a separate section duties of ownership of companion animals that addresses adequate water and things of that nature food water and I would imagine I can't speak for animal control but I would imagine if they went out in that situation dog is panning there's no water no shade and the dog's Circling around and running into the road that that would be a situation, which, um, in which this would apply.

Yeah, so just to expand on that, yes, in the case that came to the board's attention through that complaint, there was an individual panhandler out there in the media and had the dogs tethered. And that was one of the situations that was complained of, and we went out there to address. And we learned that the tethering portion of our county code was not in line with the state code, whereas the state code standard would have allowed us to say, hey, you know this isn't tethered appropriately we couldn't under the county code so this allows animal control even if there are challenges as we all know with respect to you know the panhandling situation when there are animals involved this should allow in those tethering situations allow animal control to at least address the treatment of the animals you know with respect to temperature with respect to the length of the tether, assuming that there's nothing else involved if those animals are in and out of traffic. If it was to that standard, there's probably additional things that the animal control could do. But that's a long answer to say that, yes, this ordinance, this change in the ordinance does help in those panhandling situations.

It's that as well as the duties of ownership as well, which deals with food and water and things of that nature.

And to the lady's point earlier, you know, with the feral cat colonies and that sort of thing, you know, if you have somebody who has a feral cat colony that they are feeding and that they you know they're taking somewhat ownership of right um but they're not they're not housed you know they're not they're not vetted at that point nothing is happening with them i mean it concerns me because i know it is an issue and um what do you do with that you know if you trap them you can get them fixed and then the colony eventually dies off if you get them all neutered or spayed.

Well, in my experience as a citizen as well as in my employment, cats are a different animal, quite literally and figuratively. They're free roaming, so there's really no leash law for cats. So cats, and maybe the captain can expound on this, but with cats, we're a little bit more limited because of the nature of cats, especially the feral ones. But still, it would be if somebody's abusing the cat or somebody's taking in the cat, it doesn't feed water, beats it, it would be cruelty just like a dog. But as far as leash laws and things of that nature, that would not apply to cats.

Okay.

All right. I just, you know. We're taking two points really quick. To back up to the advances that we're making to bring our ordinance in comport with state law as far as adequate shelter, food, treatment, and the tethering. It is now, if you approve it, almost identical to the verbiage of the state code. That's a good thing. and we are aware of all of those comports, and so I would support it. Having said that, some specific instances that we've discussed, to your question, Councilor, it's what we're finding, believe it or not, with the ones that we've dealt with, panhandlers, is that they seem to have taken all the appropriate measures with their animals, They did have their shots and they did have their license with them. It was the one thing that they were keen on making sure was correct. However, we did spend quite a bit of time trying to educate them on the danger that they're in aside from the fact that they're the reasons that put them there in the first place to panhandle. But having said that, The tethering, just to be specific for everybody on the board, is not going to apply when they're under the specific control of the owner. Now, what made this particular instance I believe, after discussion with the county attorney's office at tethering issues, even though he was present, he wasn't holding the leash. I believe he was tying it to the post. And so in my opinion, I believe, after our discussion, that was the basis for our approach for that particular instance and say, look, if you don't correct this, we're going to have to charge you. But as far as the care and treatment, that is again a case-by-case basis and we're happy to get into that every time and I agree with you with the heat on their paws and the shade and the length amount of time that they're out there and we I actually for that particular instance had some guys let him let the individual know that we're going to be watching and we sat and watched and he fortunately took the appropriate breaks got to the shade watered the dog so we really couldn't he knew we couldn't make a charge there so To your second point with respect to the, refresh my memory this second, the cats, okay. We're talking about an issue that hasn't even been tackled by the state. There have been bills put forward at the state level talking about trapping and neuter programs, et cetera, because we currently are talking about an unregulated process. Everybody here I think knows that it is a generally accepted process not only throughout the state but throughout the country in order for us to try to gain control over these populations of feral cats that are free roaming that we can't physically go out and just take. The responsibility of anybody that would come in contact and begin feeding or taking over a colony is just what you said. At that point, they need to get them, they need to be responsible and get them TNR, what we call trapped and neutered. And there are businesses in this area that will support that and provide lower rates for those doing that service. And also provide, and get them medical care if they're injured or anything else that has to do with their proper treatment. but it's again not something that i run out and have all officers dictate that we're going to charge because quite frankly a lot of these folks are just trying to do the best they can to protect the the herd so to speak and create the least amount of damage it is it is a like she's the young lady was saying it's a difficult topic But I don't have the laws in place right now to go out and round them up. And if I did round them up, well, you guys know the scenario for that is not a good one either. I believe that the rescues in the area, based on my conversations and what I've dealt with for the last two years, their resources are overextended and exhausted as well. But again, we're talking about an issue that the state hasn't even – gotten around to getting past the legal ramifications of how are we going to govern and regulate the business of trapping and neutering and how are we going to move forward at the state level. So if you guys have a solution, I'm more than happy to sit down and we'll work on it together.

I've experienced some instances in court as well. Some well-meaning elderly couple took in a whole bunch of cats and just destroyed their house. Cats had urine burns on them. The elderly people were having breathing issues and things like that. So it is a recognizable problem that we'll hopefully have a solution eventually.

Yeah, it is. It's a difficult thing to do, and it is a hard thing to tackle for sure. So with respect to the panhandling and the dogs being in the medians, what concerns me also is them breaking the tethering and going out into the road and causing an accident. Is there any way that we could further, I mean, I know this is about tethering and care, but is there any further regulation that we could say that they are not allowed to be in that median?

Of course, the board could be presented with an ordinance that we could send through that would have those. I don't believe that there's a conflicting law on the books at the state level that would make us unable to further define those specific situations. Right. I can't think of any.

Yeah, so I mean, I'm in favor of doing this right now. But I'm almost thinking we need to take it another step further. And say, if because if we call the sheriff's department, and you guys go out there, then you have to sit there, you have to make sure the animals Okay, you have to make sure they're doing everything. Why don't we just get rid of the problem, as far as them sitting out there with them and say they're not allowed in the median. for the health and safety of the animal, you know, and for the general population and traffic safety. But we won't have to go down that road tonight because this needs to get done tonight. But I'm just thinking if we could have a conversation about that to look at maybe doing that one step further, that would be great.

One caveat is the First Amendment issues involved with panhandling. And I know there's not It's not speech, but I would have to look in and research if having an animal out there is an expression of somebody's First Amendment rights.

Well, I mean, yeah. Okay, that would be really a bridge too far. I mean, the animal does not have First Amendment rights, right? But I'm just saying that that would seem to be...

Certainly something we could look at.

Yeah, okay.

It is, and the case I'm talking about It seemed to be a bit of a bridge too far too, but it is what it is.

Right, right. I know, I know. All right. Okay, so anyone else?

Okay. Just to ease any words for my agricultural community, we're talking about adequate exercise, adequate feed. Adequate shelter and things of that nature. This is just for companion animals. This has nothing as far as livestock and agriculture animals will still be falling under the animal husbandry kind of rules as far as the upkeep and care of of livestock. That's correct. Gotcha. Yep.

If we start to see cows in the median, then we're really going to have a problem.

I will get into an argument this evening with the wife because her chickens are her companions. They are agricultural animals.

For those out there, it is a different standard. We've had terrible cases where somebody can't afford to feed their number of horses and things like that. So please don't think that Supervisor Lane is saying that there's some sort of different standard and you're allowed to not feed or cruelly treat livestock. It's just a technical different standard. So please out there, you do have to feed your livestock. You can't let them waste away.

Drew? So these aren't the warrior cats, the Aaron Hunter series of books, right? No, I was thinking we could just put a flock camera right there in the median column. Just kidding. Just kidding.

That would cause some other issues, I'm afraid.

Okay, so seeing no additional comments, I'll entertain a motion for this. Okay, I'll make the motion to approve. All right. Thank you so much for all the information. Appreciate it.

There we go. Motion passes six yes.

That brings you to the 2026 bond referendum public outreach update. Becky is here for that.

Good evening, members of the board. Tonight I want to give a brief update on our bond referendum public outreach. So this year the county is holding a bond referendum to consider the use of general obligation bonds to help fund projects within the county's capital improvement plan. The referendum includes four separate questions on the ballot with early voting starting September 18th through October 31st and concluding with Election Day on November 3rd. To support informed decision-making by residents, county staff developed a public outreach plan to give information about the purpose and physical impact of each referendum question. Tonight, I'm just going to give you a brief update on that plan and walk through our county's bond referendum website. We have three community meetings planned. The first is at Riverside High School this Thursday on September 10th from 6 p.m. Oh, I'm sorry. Thank you. River Bend. My apologies. On Thursday, September 10th from 6 p.m. to 8 p.m. We did add an additional meeting at Spotsylvania High School, which will be held on Tuesday, September 29th. Then wrapping up with our final meeting at Massaponix High School on Wednesday, October 21st from 6 to 8 p.m. We do recognize our residents are not always able to arrive at 6 p.m. or may just have specific areas of interest. So we have changed the format of these meetings from what we have done in the past in order to accommodate that. So to ensure maximum flexibility, we are providing a presentation that is played on continuous loop. So no matter what time you arrive, if you arrive at 6 or you arrive at 7, you can watch that presentation so everybody's getting the same information. We are also going to have for that entire time staffed information stations to answer questions. These information stations will be, of course, set up by bond referendum question, transportation, schools, etc. And then, of course, we're going to have handouts that people can take away from the community meeting. At the conclusion of our first meeting at Riverbend, the group will of course get together and see how it went and make changes if necessary to the following two meetings. So we continue to use our radio, social media, media, and newspaper outlets directing our residents to our community meetings and our website. We had a Spotsy alert that went out on August 24th that actually reached over 27,000 accounts. which is excellent. I was happy to see that. Also in the newspaper, we had in the Freelance Star over this weekend, as you may be aware, the Freelance Star dropped their paywall for the entire weekend. So we took advantage of that and had the ad run. over that weekend, so anybody could access that information in the Freelance Star. And of course, we also had that weekend, as well as Sunday paper, we had it in print for those people who don't, for whatever reason, get involved with social media or online. They can also see it in the print version of the Freelance Star. However, the main place to get information on our bond referendum is going to be our website, the community meetings, and as well, TV channels. That was a recommendation of the board at our early August meeting. so once we have we're wrapping up our presentation right now that will be added which will be live at our river bend community meeting once we have that finished that will go on our website it'll also go on our public access channels so anybody can see that you don't have to go to a community i encourage everybody to please please join us for our community meetings because then we can answer any questions that may not be in the presentation but however we're getting that information out everywhere that we can't um and and so unless there are any questions about the information that i've already provided i can move forward with showing you the website we put together anyone have any no we're ready to roll all right So to access the website, you can go straight from the very front of the web page. Down here it says bond referendum. You can click on that and it will take you to the information here. How we have set it up is if you scroll down, you can see each question will have a section. For example, the first one being public safety, 62 million. we have put on here the actual question that you're going to see on the ballot so you can review it ahead of time. I know there's a lot that's going to be on the ballot this year, not just our referendum questions, but some information at the state level that our voters are going to have to consider. So I do heavily encourage our voters to try and read these things in advance when possible. And we will do everything we can at our community outreach to help explain what these ballot questions mean. For example, when it says the maximum amount of $61 million to provide funds together with other available funds, what does that mean? Helping people understand that in layman's terms. But we have the ballot question there, and then under each project, for example, the Shady Grove Fire Station, you can see the dollar amount. These are the local funds of these projects that we would be potentially borrowing for. You can click on it, and it'll give you a description of that project right there on the website. So we have done that for all of our questions. And in addition, we have some FAQs. We have a total of, I believe it's 21, if I remember correctly. 24. We added some. So we've got 24 FAQs that I encourage all our voters, residents, to go out and review. Anytime you're on these pages, just look for something like this, and it'll bring you back to the main page so you're not trying to go back and forth. Lastly, we also have potential impact on the tax bill. This is a calculator that we have that'll show based on your real estate assessed value, and it actually shows here if you don't know what it is, you can click this link to go find that value. You can plug it in, hit calculate, And it'll show the amounts down here. Now, we got some very good feedback from a resident recently with some confusion on gross debt service versus net debt. debt service. And I understand, you know, we in finance, we live and breathe this stuff. So sometimes we kind of forget, we got to get out of that niche and help others understand what we're really talking about. So kind of the way I look at this, if it helps, is as a homeowner, You know, I own a car right now. I'm paying, you know, a car loan. I'm paying $500 a month for my car. I'm just about to pay it off. I'm making my final car payment, and I'm going to buy a new car. So I'm going to keep that car, but I'm going to buy a new car. So I go to the dealership, and they tell me that, you know, that new car loan is going to be $700 a month. So when I look at my household budget, right, I've got to figure out how much I can pay. So I'm not going to take $500 plus $700, $1,200 a month. No, because I'm paying off that old car note, that car loan. So really what I'm looking for is to increase... my household budget, find an additional $200 in my budget to cover that new car loan. And so that's what we're talking about here. When you look at the gross debt service, that's me going to that dealership to buy that car and him telling me, him or her telling me, it's going to cost you $700 a month. That's what the gross debt service here is on these bonds. The net is taking account the old car loan that has now gone away. I still own that asset, but I'm not paying on that debt anymore. So we've got $500 in our budget that we expect to use for debt service Now, with this new car loan, I need to add an additional $200 to my household budget to cover that cost. I hope that helps clarify. We're going to continue because it was a relatively new question concern. So we're going to continue to tweak it, and we're actually going to go out here and try to put an easy-to-follow example on the website to replace what is up here or augment what is up here on the website. I do also want to share, you know, when you look at this, when it says potential tax bill impact, that's of course annual. That's not monthly. We're going to, you know, clarify that. In addition, if you look here at the pennies to fund principal and interest, the roughly six pennies, this wouldn't be all at once. We're not borrowing $400 million right off the bat. In fact, you know, if things stayed within our CIP the way we currently have it, which they never do, things always change every year. I wish it could stay static. Believe me, it would make things a whole lot easier for everyone. But if things were to remain the same, we would be looking at, you know, the six pennies in 2031. So it would be slowly increasing up to 2031. And in fact, after 2031, it reduces by a penny and a half. So that's kind of like that's the peak that you would see for this referendum. And now a reminder, just because we're using pennies on the tax rate doesn't mean we're going to be increasing our tax rate because of this referendum. You know, we're always going to take account growth in our other tax revenues, sales tax, changes in our expenditures. Everything is considered before, you know, we increase the tax rate. It's never, okay, you see here six pennies on the tax rate for this referendum. We're going to be increasing our tax rate by six pennies because of this. No. That is not the case. And so I just wanted to share that information for the board and for our users watching and those at home. Any other feedback that we can get, we welcome, we appreciate. We will continue to update this information and get it out to our voters. That concludes my presentation tonight.

Thank you so much. That's very helpful. I encourage my colleagues, if you have a Facebook page, to share that link so that people can get that information. Do we have any questions? Yes. True. Okay.

Lori, I'm sorry, Becky. At Riverbend, who will be there? You guys will be there? Yes.

So, you know, we'll have staff to support the transportation question, the schools question, the solid waste, environmental and solid waste question, as well as the public safety question. Of course, finance staff will have a table as well. So there will be five tables. As you go into the main entrance, there will be five tables laid out. And then in the auditorium is where there will be the presentation where people can just come and go to watch that presentation.

Any takeaway? Any literature or anything?

Yes, we will be providing handouts as well. Yes, sir.

David? David?

The amount here now, thank you. Great information. I feel like the part at the end we explain to again to citizens on how that tax rate works. You know, it's not, we're going to add 6, 6 cents to your tax rate all of a sudden and, uh. And and and the whole car loan thing, I think helps as well. I think what I know I've had other people ask me the questions too, because some of these projects. Happen to different phases in time, you know, and so as we, you know. From what we know now, you know, do we have the ability to somewhat forecast, uh, you know, when we think we're going to start taking some when some of the others are going to drop off for any of these categories? I mean, so that you can kind of look over time and kind of see where the scale kind of goes up and down.

Uh, yeah. So do you mean the projects themselves? Or the debt related to it?

It's really the debt related to them. And I know you made the comment that the amount on the page was just what we plan on using for debt. But there's other funding available for those projects as well that sometimes people don't understand either. You know, when you say there's, you know... You know, 1M dollars total project, but yet there's another 50M coming from other places, you know, and we're only using a little bit of it, you know, in the, in the debt piece. I think that becomes helpful to our constituents to understand that this, this, um. Is borrowing money, you know, for the debt. is not all or even a significant part necessarily. Maybe it is, maybe it isn't on some of the projects.

Well, transportation, for example, is a huge piece where our piece is.

A dozen places where that money comes from, right. So again, for people to understand that there's multiple places where that money comes from and that we're only borrowing money for a piece of that and how much of that piece I think becomes important. So they understand that we're not borrowing over 50% of what we need. Maybe it's a small part. And then maybe at the end of the day, We don't need it, you know, so we don't use it. Right.

I mean, there's always we're always looking for grants. So, you know, there have been times in the past where we've had something that we are able to either reduce, you know, the cost of that project or replace when we found, you know, some grants for that. And we are always, of course, as proffers are received in hand. We don't know that at the time, you know, when we're putting the CIP together, we're not going to account for proffers that are in the future. Because if you think, and we've got an FAQ related to this, to where, you know, you've got a new development and they're going to promise to pay... pay the proffers over time on a per unit basis as those units are built. Well, finance can't predict when those units are built. So we're not going to put in our CIP that we expect to reduce the cost of, let's say, a road by $1 million for expected proffers. No, we're going to wait until that proffer is in hand. And then that following year, we're going to reduce the cost. So we are reducing the cost. We're just waiting until cash in the bank, if you will, a simple term.

Yeah, I think it's important for the public to understand how that process works so that it's not that we're going to borrow. Like you said, we're not borrowing $400 million on day one. It's not going to jump your tax rate. And if we don't need it, we're not going to use it. It's just the ability to be able to do that. And it changes over time every year.

I mean, supply chain issues. There's so many different reasons why schedules can change on a project.

I've talked to some people that, and again, they just see it as we're just borrowing money. And so the implication is there that they think their tax rates are going to all go up as soon as we do it. So the more information like that I think can be provided at these forums, I think it will help. Yes, sir. Thank you.

Yes, Chris.

Yeah, thank you. I've been saving my time from all the other discussions, so here we go. The timer on you.

I'm kidding. I don't know what that is. Can we call the public hearing back? I'm kidding.

Hey, so a couple of things, several things, and having been through this before, a lot of these things are the same issues that have been brought up. One of the ones is the language that we use on the ballot. And I was trying to pull it up, and I apologize I didn't in time, but where it says or other projects. And so can you quickly explain to folks why that is even in there?

Know that that tags along very very well with with supervisor Guzman's comments We are at the mercy of project schedules Let's use transportation and VDOT. For example, we can have a list of projects on our referendum question However, it could be that VDOT for whatever reason decides to push that project out and ten years or says wait a minute this project is better suited for what you're looking for there could be many reasons so what you want to do and what localities tend to do is build flexibility within their referendum questions to allow for that very reason to provide the board and it's ultimately the board and the citizens through the CIP process that drives what we're actually going to borrow the money for. Now, it has to stay within the parameters of the question. You can't just take money from a public safety referendum question and use it for transportation. You can't do that. But in this case, we build that flexibility to allow for shifts in our CIP.

All right. Thank you. And then... The other reason that we want to be going out next year and borrowing $400 million is we have something called physical guidelines that we stay below. And that is the net and the gross debt that you're talking about. And that net debt is limited by the fiscal guideline that we have as a board. And the reason that we stick so much to that is... or the benefit for that is the AAA bond rating that we have and only like 43 other localities in the whole country have is because we do a very good job of staying within those guidelines and spending money wisely and not overspending. A lot of people look at the number and it is an eye-watering number of that amount of money, but if you think of what it costs to build a road, what it costs to build a school or a fire station, It's not what it was 25 years ago or 30 years ago. Things have skyrocketed and we try to do our best and make sure that we are addressing the issues that we have because these issues all come from our CIP too. These are not projects that we just sit around and we think, hey, you know, it'd be kind of neat to have That's not done that way. This is stuff that we are planning on doing in the future or in some cases, and that brings me to another item, some of these things have to be done by state regulation.

Yes.

And the reason that we're trying to do it via bonds is because this is the easiest and the cheapest way, cheapest way I should say, of getting money and spreading out that cost over time. If not, then you have to find a chunk of cash to do something that you're forced to do from the state level or the federal level or wherever that comes from. So, again, these are some of them are needed in that regard so that we can spread that cost out over time. And then the other one you already talked about, we have to stay inside our category because I continue to hear that. that a former board member many, many years ago said that we spent money out of one category into another. And I had to always remind him that, no, we actually had two categories. And so the other category that we built Patriot Park with was literally its own category. The fact that we didn't do some roads for you doesn't mean that we spent that money in a different category. It just didn't happen. But to this day, and in fact, just recently, I heard that again and had to counter that argument. which I thought would have would have gone away by now but actually it lives alongside the other argument or the other the other misinformation that you hear that we are taking out bonds long-term bonds for short-term items and that's something that we need to to continuously tell people so if it's a bus or if it's a computer system we're only taking out a loan for the life of that product, and we're not going to be paying on it afterwards. We manage taxpayer dollars, I would say, quite wisely, and those type of things just absolutely do not get done. But unfortunately, some people still say that, and we need to continuously let people know. And then the very last point is just because it's $400 million doesn't mean we're going to borrow $400 million. I don't think that we have ever taken out every single bond in every single category for as long as I've been around. And so we have that ability to do it if we need to. but we don't do it because sometimes we just can't afford it, quite honestly, or sometimes we just push things back and say, you know what, we're going to do without for right now because we'll have to raise taxes, and we don't want to raise taxes to do that. So it gives the flexibility to this board to do a lot of the things that are needed to be done, but it's not necessarily a blank check to just run out there and do whatever we want. We have guard rails from physical guidelines, the categories to life of the bond, all of these things that keep a check on this. And then, when we spend money, too, there's also public hearings. There's also times for the public to come forward and express their viewpoints on on what we're doing with their money. So Anyway, those are my observations more than any questions, but I did really appreciate the website too. It's very well done. I know that there are some people that like to put together long emails and, you know, say, hey, I need this information by tonight. I'd point you to the website and say, you know, take a look there first. Start at that point. And if there's something that's missing, I'd be more than happy to fill you in.

Yeah, absolutely. And if Mr. Petrovich agrees, one of the things I was thinking about doing is that our next meeting, you know, if our agenda allows for the time, I can bring back those, not all the FAQs, I mean, there's 24 of them. But I can bring back just those critical ones, like you were saying, and give a presentation on that. So this is just mainly for the outreach, just to let you know how it's going. But I do think it's important. I want to get in front of y'all to keep word out about this, because it's so important. And so at our next meeting, our second meeting in September, I can bring back a presentation that talks about these things and shares that information, just like you said, Mr. Yakovlevsky.

OK, fantastic. Any other questions? David?

Yeah, and, uh, you know, along that line, too, you know, as you have the meeting at river bend and other locations, you know, bringing some of that feedback to the board as well for those folks that didn't didn't attend or, you know, weren't able to attend that 1. but there was good feedback that you learn from talking to different citizens. I think it'd be a great avenue to again, just remind folks what what other people are asking, uh, You know, I had my town hall the other night and, you know, I passed out the bond referendum, you know, questions and the amounts just, again, trying to help get that word out. So, again, I think any way we can do it, you know, at every opportunity. So I think that's just another good feedback mechanism.

Yes, sir. Okay. All right. So seeing no questions. Thank you so much for that presentation. I really appreciate it. And that brings us to board reports, I believe, right?

It does.

Okay.

Chris, you want to start?

You guys really miss me this evening talking so much, don't you? First of all, thank you to everybody that came out tonight to to talk and to share your concerns. There are lots of issues that this board has to deal with and. We do our best with them and try to try to make this county a better place. There is an issue that I want to ask the county attorney to bring back information. The lease park folks were here. I do believe about. About a year ago with a claim before the board, I would ask that he brings that back with information. And it gets put on the agenda for next the next meeting. The only other thing that I would have is the. recognition of 9-11 is Friday and I don't know about you guys but it 25 years it's just amazing that that has been that long it seems like yesterday and knowing how that has changed our country and changed a generation of people and and what we what we are and who we are i think was uh was very um uh consequential to um to what we're doing now and as a country you know we we always say we wish that we'd be the country that we were on september 12th and you know there's a lot of politics that's in everything and i think sometimes that It gets into areas of life that it really shouldn't be, and it really does get kind of frustrating. And then you wonder, you always get that question from people of, well, why don't we have good people run for office? Well, look at the process of what you go through and how you're torn apart. And, you know, I always like to tell people that are running for office, I used to work on campaigns for years, that, you know, you're never going to or you don't realize what just a horrible, awful person you are until you run for office. And it's everybody that doesn't know you is saying that. The people that do know you are just horrified by the ability that some have to just sit there and say terrible things, awful things. And I can handle it. I got into this realm many years ago. with my eyes wide open knowing what happens and knowing what to expect and what to take. But, you know, it's just always very interesting to see how people react, how people treat others. And then also realizing that every one of us up here has a family. And the way that some people react treat some of us is just it's it really is despicable it really is and especially when you're anonymous you're you're an absolute coward you you hide behind the anonymity um you know we have some people that come up here that aren't that don't even live in our county and they're here to create turmoil um they come from out of state you know they they make all sorts of comments and and different things um And it's just, it's very divisive and we don't need that in our community. I think we've done a very good job at this board of keeping order. Keeping it, as we said, at our last meeting, when we had a spirited debate. That we still all walk away friends, we still all walk away shaking hands. We don't all agree on everything and you're not supposed to that, you know, how boring life would be if you agreed with everything. But it is imperative that we let our constituents know the decisions that we make we come to after a lot of discussion, after a lot of back and forth, after a lot of phone calls and other things that take an awful lot of time. And so I would... i'm still going to keep doing what i'm doing i say all that mainly and and i'm not saying it from my own because i really don't care you can say whatever you want about me i don't doesn't it really doesn't bother me i i find it quite humorous that you think that some of these things might affect me um Some of them are funny, quite honestly. I mean, I'll give some of them that. Just I might have a weird sense of humor sometimes. But having a debate, having an open dialogue, being honest about what we're trying to do and what we're trying to accomplish I think is imperative. And I go back to that September 12th when we all came together and realized that we're all in this together. And at our local level here, we're all in the same county. And you hear it from a lot of people that move here. They move here because of. They want to be here. And I think that that says a lot about our county. It says a lot about our board, previous boards, and what we've tried to accomplish to make our county a place that people want to come to. and i want to continue doing that and we'll have some bumps along the road and some things that people disagree with but i think overall we all are trying to make our community a better place so that when we're off this board in the next generation as we keep hearing is going to be up there up here which is funny i was the next generation at one point and i really wish people would stop saying 55 and older senior citizens offense to my fellow board members but I can see 55 coming up pretty quick and I don't I don't like that so Well, if we can all push that to, like, 65 or something, I would appreciate it at least. But it's just that we're all trying to do our best, and I absolutely love the citizen input because how many times have we been here making really consequential decisions to an empty boardroom with some staff in it? And having people involved is absolutely fantastic, and your voices are heard, and that is how you get policy results. uh made and that is how you get the community that we all want so thank you very much for sticking it out and for being here too and for coming to meetings and and sharing your opinions thank you very much thank you david

Thank you, Madam Chair. Absolutely appreciate all the folks that came out tonight and come out every night. I mean, to pack this boardroom and, you know, you know, we joke sometimes and go, oh, those green shirt people are back. We expect you to be back. You know, we expect you to be back at the next one, you know, because you're you're. Your input is important, and we are listening, as was mentioned. I do want to reiterate again the thought about 9-11. I made the comment that I was an insolent turkey on 9-11. I was actually playing racquetball after having a mission in Iraq on that date when somebody came down and told me about the first tower. And it was mind-boggling. And then, of course, there was a second tower. And the next thing we knew, we were flying missions into Afghanistan. So a lot of changes in life happened on that day. A lot of people knew people in the towers. A lot of people knew people in New York. There were, I think, 343 firefighters that lost their lives. And kudos off to our fire department, who's actually doing a service for that. It's important we remember, you know, we talk about, you know, there was a generation that remembered the Alamo. I don't think there's anybody else around here, maybe Ed, that remembers the Alamo, but he's not listening. But, you know, there's... events, very many events in life that people remember at different ages. And this is one of those from, I think, our generation that we need to remember. On a lighter note, some of the meetings have been at, it was at the Lake Anna Advisory Council Committee meeting a couple weeks ago. You know, there was, Ed, I think I sent you some information about the LAC meeting and the need for $7,000 for some buoys that need to be placed out there at the lake for safety reasons on the lake. And, you know, we didn't provide what they asked for in our last budget. And they were hoping maybe we could come up with something to help out with that. It has helped. Kudos out to the dive team for some of the work they've done to help put in some buoys. That's helped save some money as well. So they appreciated that. Then there was also talk about a map that was created by Spotsylvania at one point for the lake. And they're asking about maybe producing one for the hazards that are out of the lake. And those really came up because of the level of the lake right now. There's some new hazards that are becoming visible, you know, in some shallow areas and real concerned over some boating potential accidents that are out there. So we want to make sure we have a safe lake out there for our residents and our tourists. I did also attend the regional law enforcement graduation. Spotsylvania had two new deputies graduate from the academy to add to the force here. So I know they're excited about that. I enjoy going to those kind of things. I did have my town hall at Spotsy Middle here about a week or so ago. Always enjoy the conversations with those that show up. Some of them show up and a couple of them have come back. So, you know, they keep wanting more. I appreciate the discussions and the ability to actually get information out and have more dialogue. Uh, you know, 1 on 1, or is that group, you know, unfortunately, you know, when you come here to speak, you get 3 minutes and we don't get the chance to answer back to you until later, you know, or we can reach out. Well, you can reach out to us individually. You know, that's just the manner of the way that the meeting is conducted. Otherwise we would be here for days. Probably. But I always enjoy having coffee with somebody to talk about anything. I'm retired. I am 65. Where do you go? And, you know, so I am a retiree. I am on Medicare. I'm on a fixed income. You know, I am concerned about our seniors. And I enjoyed the folks that came today. Even there was a meeting earlier with Parks and Rec where the seniors got together with Parks and Rec crew and talked about activities that they like to see in our community. And then the conversation went off to the senior center. And how do we get that in the CIP? How do we get a number? How do we get it moving forward? And how do we make sure that that's something that happens in their lifetime? Because they see it as... something that's hard to come by. So I'm going to continue to champion for them, as I told them I would, and bring that up at board meetings and talk with my fellow board members. And then coming up, I've got a transportation committee meeting on September 17th, as well as a FAMPO meeting on September 21st. So those are coming up. And I just want to stomp the deck a little bit about, you know, keep the calls coming, keep the texts coming, the emails. Like I said, if you've got some time, just want to sit down and chat and ask some questions directly with me, give me a call. My schedule is usually pretty open. I enjoy coffee over at Courthouse Cafe. That's one of my popular spots. So, you know, love to do that with you and I appreciate everybody that came out today and dialed in. Thank you very much. Yes.

Dr. Frazier. Thank you. Well, on 9-11-2001, I opened Harrison Road Elementary School and I was out singing the national anthem and the American Legion folks were out there helping to raise the first flag for Harrison Road. And I will always remember that year because it was a time that we had to keep the kids in the building. They didn't always get recess. And we were a very close-knit community on September 12th, where what happened to our neighbors mattered. And so we are good people and we should always care about our neighbors. So that is a time in history that we will we can't forget and we shouldn't forget. And those who come after us should never forget either. I would also like to pay condolences to Judge Philip Fiennes, who passed away on August 16th, who was a juvenile and domestic judge here in Swansea. I know his wife well. To Susie and the girls and the grandkids, my condolences to you. And also, I too like hearing from our citizens and a good idea and good thoughts should always be acknowledged. We have to take the opportunity to listen and try to make those things happen. And so even as busy as things get, we want you to know that we appreciate you being here and being a part of our meetings. And I will always take the opportunity to acknowledge our staff because your work does not go unnoticed. You make time for us. And I know there are times when we get a thought and we think we can just pop up in Ed's office and say, can I see you? And so thank you for making the time for us. I know we don't always plan and make appointments, but thank you for just making time for us when we need to come over. So thank you to you and your staff. And happy fall, everybody. The weather's great. Getting nice. So thank you so much. Thank you, Jake.

Yeah. First, I just want to concur with everybody's sentiment so far on September 11th, 25 years. I had I was a junior in high school and many of my friends left to join the military because of because of that. I never had the honor and privilege to wear the uniform. Um, but many of my classmates, um, especially private 1st class, Dustin Bartley, um, never never got to make it back home to us. So, to all those on 9 11, and all those that served and all of our 1st responders who constantly run towards the chaos and the fire while the others are trying to find safety my family and myself. Oh, you a complete debt of gratitude. Tomorrow we have an agricultural meeting at 5. P. M. that is at the battlefield building here next door on. Thursday, 910, we have a community meeting going on that is going to be at Livingston elementary school from 6 to 7 PM. It is on a rezoning for roughly. About 120, some homes, 160,000 square foot of development. This is on the end of 208 by by the 208 bridge going over into Louisa county. So it's a large track of agricultural land that is going to be. attempted to be rezoned into housing and commercial development. This is just the community meeting held by the developer. This is required by all developers before they go through any type of rezoning. This does not mean that this project is approved or passed. This is simply the first step for that developer to get out there and get feedback from the community. I plan on attending as well as I know county staff will be there taking notes. 1 thing that got brought up this evening was the fire at pick apart and I'm sorry I missed last meeting. But 1 of the 1st things that I, that I noticed when when I was witnessing that fire take place is. were talks to build a school behind this facility we own 25 roughly 25 acres behind this facility when that place caught on fire the first thing that went into our mind was imagine if we had kids in that school or imagine if there was a school there i think we need to take a deep dive into some county-owned land if you were going to put a data center anywhere Between pick apart and interstate 95 is probably your best bet to to put some type of industrial complex. I don't know if a school full of our most precious assets in our community is that's the best location. I'm just bringing that up as it might be worth taking a deeper dive into that. On your Friday op report, can we get a heads up on the property next door? I know a lot of talk has been talked about community center, senior center. And I know this board, we have been working with some property here in the courthouse area for that. So if we get an update on that. I don't see a duly here, but if we could get an update on our broadband expansion, possibly, which, which providers have. Have completed all the necessary necessary paperwork, which ones have started putting fiber in the ground. If we get a little bit of a time timeframe on our broadband expansion. Ben, we have a convenience center public hearing in October. Correct? uh yes it's not advertised yet the intent is to bring it before the board in october okay i just i just want to make sure i've seen some posts out on social media of you know this is a done deal this is a done deal i just want to let my constituents know when it comes to the convenience centers that the the public uh hearing will be in october and just make sure we get a good advertisement on that if a good Advertise that at the convenience centers as well. I know we've dumped a lot of money in some new signage outside of every convenience center, about hours and lighting and trailers, things of that nature. If we could advertise that public hearing at the convenience center, people that are mostly affected by it will see it. Um, last, but not least, we've all had our time to meet with the sheriff's department on the flock cameras. I would like to get that brought back up in front of the board. Um, a presentation on, uh, flat cameras and how they're being used in the community. Uh, the more and more news that comes out, um, there, there have been some cases of abuse, uh, with these systems of mass surveillance and, um, maybe less flock cameras. We wouldn't need as many data centers, but, um, that's all I had. Madam chair. Thank you.

Drew thanks.

Madam chair. So, uh, today's, uh, September 8th and September 11th, obviously it's coming up. Um, something that struck has been, it struck me and I've seen more of it on social media, um, to, to some extent, because nowadays you don't get good information from the airwaves. You got to go find, find your own information. So you got to find your own sources. But as a kid, I remember, um, I'm not, ancient but uh late 70s um pearl harbor everybody knew what december 7th 1941 was you grew up it's like december 7th 1941 that's like one of the first dates you remember as a kid everybody knew what happened you know japanese attacked us at pearl harbor and uh that was a the day that will live in infamy what Roosevelt said. And then, you know, most of my adult life, everybody knew it, December 7th, 1941, all the way up into 2000, 2001. We all knew what Pearl Harbor was. Now, 2000, what is that? I can't do the math. It's 55 from 1945 on, you know, it's 55 years. Everybody knew what December 7th was. So it's 25 years after September 11th. And there's a generation of kids that they see the video of the planes hitting the tower. I tried to get us to play this and I waited too long and sorry, sorry, Wanda. I wanted to play the whole three minute video or two minute, 45 second video. Because there's a generation of kids that don't even know. They've never seen the videos before. There's people talking to kids in college and they're asking them questions about it. Some of these kids have never seen it. I mean, to me, it seems like it was yesterday because I know where I was at and I know that as soon as that happened, my life changed to 300 days a year gone for 10 years until I just was too broke to keep doing it, right? But to give it some context, Pearl Harbor, which everybody in America remembers, there's 2,403 Americans that were killed at Pearl Harbor. There's a lot more wounded too, but... Of course, we have nearly 3,000 on 9-11. And it's a shame that our country has reached a point that 25 years later, people are either using this as a cudgel against each other or they're deliberately ignoring it for whatever reason, some insane inhumane reasons why we wanna rationalize or justify or memory hole it. And it reminds me of a statement that in 1984, Winston Smith says this famous slogan, who controls the past controls the future and who controls the present controls the past. If you've read 1984, then you know where this is going. If you haven't read it, then shame on you. You need to read it. And A Brave New World and others. So it made me think, why is it we have kids that don't know about 9-11? Well, it's just I'm pointing the finger right at our education system. Because we have changed in the last 20 years a selective way we teach history nowadays. We decide like, I mean, I've got two young ones. So, you know, I'm on them like hobo on a ham sandwich as far as that goes, you know, is making sure I know what their curriculum is. And we've got great teachers at Chancellor and otherwise. So I'm not complaining about our school system per se, but we don't teach a linear timeline history anymore. So, and this is a classic example of what happens when, when we don't teach history, we don't teach what's happened to our country. Five more years, no one's going to remember this. The fact that there are people that choose not to remember it and not teach it, What else is not being taught? So there's a lot of things that, you know, history is being taught in a very disjointed way. And it's incumbent on ourselves to not just look at this as something bad that happened, but also be a lot more deliberate about the information that our children consume. talk about bond referendums and public schools and all this other kind of stuff, but let's start drilling down on the academics and the actual topics that are being presented to our kids. There's a reason why there's a flight from public schools to private, because parents want to take back and control the information that's going to their kids. And this clearly bothers me because... You know, I was there. I wasn't there, but I was on active duty and have a lot of friends who aren't around anymore. And I don't want them to be memory holed. So I'm not going to ask you to go thank a veteran or any of that kind of stuff. Just be a good citizen and don't forget. I mean, I don't think Pearl Harbor Day is even on the calendar anymore as an example of memory hole and stuff. So... That's all I got to say about that. I'm sorry I went on a little bit, but actually I'm not sorry. So let's be better as a country, all right? Let's be better as Spotsylvanians. We're all Spotsylvanians. Not Cortlanders and Chancellors and Livingstoners and all that kind of stuff. We're all Spotsylvanians, so we can do better. Thank you very much.

Thank you, Drew. It's kind of hard to follow that. No, no, I appreciate it because, you know, I think we all who lived through that day, you know, remember distinctly where we were and remember the feeling that it occurred. And it was unlike anything anyone can imagine. And I think To some degree, some people have tried to shield that really horrible experience. I mean, to be frank, I can't watch those reports that they put on that, you know, that whole day is going to be relived again on 9-11. And I can't watch it. It's just too much. But you're right. We should not forget, just like Pearl Harbor Day is forgotten, 100% forgotten, and it shouldn't be. And, you know, there are numerous people that live in our community that served post-9-11. that are are hurting and um i'm just going to put a little plug into one of my favorite organizations is leashes of valor who provides service dogs for post 9 11 vets at no charge and they have done a remarkable job of trying to bridge a gap of wounds that are hard to heal and so i encourage the citizens to check them out. I'm not asking for you to do anything, but please know that we're still dealing with the remnants of what happened that day. We need to remember it, and we need to be kind. And I do miss the country that we were on September 12th. We all were together, regardless of political party and ideology and anything else. It didn't matter. It was just us. And I wish we could get back there. I don't know. It seems sometimes very, very difficult. I appreciate my colleagues who sit on this board, who have served, and am forever grateful for the sacrifice that you have given. It's never taken lightly, and I appreciate that. And, you know, I hope we all remember that. A couple of things. I will, on Monday, I will be attending, GWRC is going to be funding a legislative lobbyist through, it's gonna be kind of a regional lobbyist. So I'd ask my colleagues to, we're interviewing the different firms. that we're considering. So if my colleagues could get me a list of what things you would like me to ask them during this interview process, that would be great. But that's on Monday. I think it starts at 4.30. And if you want to call me, we can go over that list as well. Becky, I know you're going to get together the LCI information with data centers for us, so I appreciate that. And then I can get that out to people who are concerned about how that impacts. I know that we did have, and Ben, we did have a presentation earlier on in public comments. There was a question about the presentation from Parks and Rec on... senior activities and all that and i remember that we did have that presentation that you guys gave that presentation but i can't remember the date on that um you don't have to tell me right now but i'm just wondering if that's something that we should put back out there again for people that perhaps missed it so that they can be privy to that information because that was that was very helpful But one of the things that I, you know, I sit on the Healthy Generations Board, which is for seniors, and they have a lot of different services that they do at Healthy Generations. One of the things that they do is they will... help seniors make decisions on healthcare as far as what plans to choose, what Medicare plans to choose and that sort of thing. But they also have the senior cafes where they bring the seniors, they actually go pick them up, they come to the Costner Park where we have that community center, and they're there three times a week for just socialization. One of the things that's extremely helpful for seniors' well-being it's really for anybody's well-being, is socialization and having people who you can talk to and that sort of thing. And that's what that serves. So Ed, I would ask, can we get Pat Holland to come and present to the board about the different things that Healthy Generations offers? They do some meal stuff. They do some light housekeeping stuff, things of that nature. because I really think that that is a benefit to the region, and I'm not so sure that everyone knows all of the services that they can provide, and it would be a complement to whatever we provide through Parks and Rec as well. And then, Ben, I've had a request that we, and I know that you're working on, some um information on the reuse system to push out but is there a way that um you could do a presentation to the board i know you're getting all that information together but a presentation to the board on the reuse system what were what were um we're testing for, those types of things. And I can go over exactly that, but I want to just ping you on it. I don't want to forget to ask at a future board meeting. That would be really good. And then I want to remind everybody that on the 16th, Crossroads Tech comes before the Planning Commission. So that is sort of where The new conditions and that kind of thing should be released sometime either tomorrow or Thursday. So that will be a time that you can look at all of the information that's out there on the project. And then it will come before the Planning Commission. That's a public hearing. So you can come before the Planning Commission. Come and learn about it. Come to the Planning Commission. And then it will come to the board after that. I can't remember the timing on that because we have to advertise that public hearing too. But the first step is the Planning Commission. So I want to remind everybody of that. And I do appreciate everybody being here tonight and freezing in this room. I don't know, you know, it's freezing up here. Yeah, I'm going to have to start wearing a winter coat in the summer here. But I do appreciate everybody being here, and I really do appreciate everyone reaching out to me and talking to me about their concerns and emailing me, all of those things. So as my colleagues have said,

described we we all are here to serve you and we appreciate it and that's all i have for tonight that brings us to the county attorney and county administrator's report carl you got anything no report thank you i don't have one either so that takes us to close meeting

all right madam chair members of the board this is your resolution to adjourn the closed meeting whereas the spasivini county board of supervisors desires to adjourn a closed meeting for discussion consideration or interviews of prospective candidates for employment assignment appointment promotion performance to motion salaries disciplining or resignation of specific specific public officers appointees or employees of the county specifically regarding the consideration of candidates for appointment to the board of supervisors vacant chancellor district seat and whereas pursuant to the virginia code section 2.2-3737-11a1 such discussions may occur in closed meeting now therefore be it resolved that the spots of any county board of supervisors does hereby authorize discussion of the app for stated matters so moved let's vote

Motion passes, six yes.

Closed meeting on this day pursuant to an affirmative recorded vote and in accordance with the provisions of the Virginia Freedom of Information Act and whereas section 2.2-3712D of the Code of Virginia requires a certification by this board that such closed meeting was conducted in conformity with Virginia law. Now therefore be it resolved that the Spotsylvania County Board of Supervisors hereby returns to open meeting and certifies by roll call vote that to the best of each member's knowledge only public business matters lawfully exempted from the open meeting requirements of the Virginia Freedom of Information Act. and identified in the motion and convened in a closed meeting where her disgust are considered in the closed meeting.

Dr. Frazier? Aye.

Jake? Aye.

Chris? Aye. David?

Aye.

Drew?

Aye.

And the chair votes aye.

All right, Madam Chair, members of the board. This point, the agenda we've come to, uh, the agenda edition item, uh, interim appointment to fill the vacancy of the chancellor district supervisor. Um, and I've provided you all with the draft resolution copies are at the dais, um, for the public. I'm going to read the. I'm going to read the resolution for the benefit of the board and then the board can consider a motion. uh, resolution, uh, draft resolution. Whereas a majority of voters in the chancellor district elected Gerald Childress as their representative to the Spotsylvania County Board of Supervisors for a term of office commencing on January 1st, 2024 and expiring on December 31st, 2027. And whereas supervisor Childress resigned his position on August 6th, 2026, leaving a vacancy in the office of the chancellor district supervisor. And whereas pursuant to Virginia Code sections 15.2-1424 and 24.2-228, the remaining members of the Spotsylvania County Board of Supervisors within 45 days of the vacancy may appoint a qualified voter of the Chancellor Election District to fill the vacancy. And whereas to satisfy the requirements of the Virginia Code at a meeting of the Board of Supervisors on August 25, 2026, The remaining members of the Board of Supervisors announced the names of all persons being proposed for the interim appointment and made available for inspection each person's resume and any other documents provided to the Board for consideration. Now therefore, be it resolved by the Board of Supervisors of the County of Spotsylvania that Timothy J. McLaughlin, a qualified voter of the Chancellor District, be and as hereby appointed to fill the vacancy in the office of the Chancellor District Supervisor until such time as the qualified voters of the Chancellor Election District fill the vacancy by election and the person so elected as qualified, and that the County Administrator and his staff are directed to take all necessary actions to ensure that Timothy J. McLaughlin is sworn.

Motion to approve.

Motion passes 4 yes with Mr. Yakubowski and Dr. Frazier voting no.

Oh great thank you and I do want to point out that there there is a special election for this seat on March the 16th so that is because it wasn't spelled out in that. So that is coming up. Thank you.

Madam Chair, that concludes your business tonight, except for new business. Your next Board of Supervisors meeting is Tuesday, September 22nd, here in the Board Room at 5 p.m. Aye. Aye.