Board of Supervisors Regular Second Meeting   5/15/2024

Thank you.

I'm pleased to call to order this regular meeting of the Albemarle County Board of Supervisors on the 15th of May, 1 p.m.

in Lane Auditorium.

I note that we have Supervisor Mike Pruitt of the Scottsville District, Supervisor Bea LaPisto-Kirtley of the Rivanna District, Supervisor Diantha McKeel of the Jack Jouett District, Supervisor Ned Gallaway of the Rio District, Supervisor Ann Mallek of the White Hall District, and myself, Jim Andrews, representing the Samuel Miller District.

A quorum is present.

We're also joined here by our County Executive, Mr. Jeff Richardson, our County Attorney, Mr. Steve Rosenberg, and our Clerk, Ms.

Claudette Borgerson.

Also, let me please welcome the Albemarle County Police Officers present, at least those who are serving us today in an official capacity.

We have so many present, I'm thrilled.

But we have, in particular, Master Police Officer Dana Reeves and Senior Police Officer Alex Davis.

for today.

Our first item is adoption of the final agenda.

Because the afternoon agenda is a little lighter than originally anticipated, Board, I'd like to suggest that we could move, with the County Executive's permission, item 12 from the County Executive to after item 9, probably after a recess.

depending upon the time when we finish that item.

Then follow that up with item 18 from the board, committee reports and matters not listed on the agenda.

If that is acceptable, then the floor is open for a motion to adopt the final agenda as amended.

So moved.

Second.

So we have a motion from Supervisor McKeel, second from Supervisor Mallek.

Ms.

McKeel?

Yes.

Mr. Pruitt?

Aye.

Mr. Andrews?

Yes.

Mr. Galloway?

Yes.

Ms.

LaPisto-Kirtley?

Aye.

Ms.

Mallek?

Great.

We'll now move to item five, which is brief announcement by board members.

We'll start with our order for today.

Supervisor McKeel?

I don't have any this morning.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Just to report that the Virginia Association of Counties state board meeting was held here at the Kimpton last weekend and I wanted to thank particularly the CAPE and finance staff of the county as well as the staff of the Convention and Visitors Bureau for their assistance with this really successful event.

All the participants are eager to return to visit at their leisure.

Planning a potential outdoor event seemed to be the trigger to make it start raining.

and I was warned of all that was going to happen and I was thrilled that the nine weeks of almost no rain is over.

So you can thank me for that.

I was also very inspired on Monday night to attend the PVCC graduation.

The life stories of the applicants, the participants, the graduates and their list of accomplishments and overcoming hardships is really an amazing event to hear.

There were people who are young and old parents, high school

students, veterans, first family, post high school individuals, people getting their GED at 59 years old.

The stories went on and on.

Elders pursued their education to benefit their grandchildren and their children and inspire them.

And young students get their graduation to improve their future.

I also really appreciate the new focus, stronger focus, that President Jean Runyon has brought onto the workforce system at PVCC.

So I'm looking forward to lots more partnerships with her.

And just yesterday, there was an announcement from Preservation Virginia, the oldest preservation organization in the United States from the 1850s, announced that their most endangered properties for 2024.

A celebration of this recognition was held yesterday by the descendants of the founders of the Mount Carmel Baptist Church in Browns Cove.

As described by the descendant, Darryl Howard,

The church was built in the current location in 1879 as a landmark to the formerly enslaved and their descendants, for people who owned nothing to have a place that was theirs.

This small but mighty congregation which remains is also supported by many neighbors working to restore the adjacent 19th century Mount Carmel Schoolhouse, Schoolhouse No.

9 on the 1911 county map.

Sugar Hollow Schoolhouse just down the road is schoolhouse number 10 and both were built from a modeled block, a lumpy block that was actually made from clay on Clark Road by local farmers for those constructions and you see the schoolhouse in White Hall, the buildings on the square in Crozet all using that same block.

Discovery of and restoration of these gathering places of remembrance builds our community strength and I commend the congregation for their past and their future efforts in this regard.

and I also ask the board to keep in mind and consider future learning about ordinances that have been adopted in other counties in Virginia to protect, to allow Albemarle County to actually uphold its obligation as given by the state legislature to protect cemeteries, which are being bulldozed right and left and we have no ordinance to protect them right now.

Thank you.

Yes, I'm very proud to announce that on Saturday from 10 to 2 with the Ruritan in Stony Point, the Stony Point Volunteer Fire Department will be celebrating their 50th year of service to our county.

I will be presenting a proclamation to Stony Point Volunteer Fire Department

So very, very proud of that, what they've accomplished and the service that they've given, not only to the Stony Point area, but also the entire county.

They recently received a long-awaited brush truck and they also have, they purchased a truck that they can pull their data with, which can actually go everywhere.

in the county to help put out fires.

So that'll be a celebration.

It's from 10 to 2 on Saturday.

And I did attend the PVCC graduation with Supervisor Mallek.

And once again, I was extremely impressed with all the graduates and what they've had to overcome in order to get the GED, in order to get their AA degree.

It was very inspiring, I have to say.

And that's all I have.

Thank you.

Thank you.

The only thing I would like to call out is obviously it's UVA graduation weekend this weekend, but we also have two of our local high schools having proms this weekend, which means there are going to be a lot of people out and about, and they should be out and about safely and enjoying a good time, so I'm just going to encourage everyone to just be patient, drive slowly, because we tend to try to get places quickly in this county, and just

Be patient with my parents who are part of this additional multiplied population that are going to be adding to our community through the weekend.

And of course, congratulations to all our school's graduates who are going to be having rolling graduations over the next month that I'm looking forward to being able to attend here in the very near future.

I would like to remind everyone, you know, I neglected to mention this.

Something I mention every time I'm up here.

I neglected to mention during our last board meeting.

Early voting has started, y'all.

So this is for the congressional primary for the 5th district.

There are two simultaneous primaries happening.

The Republican and the Democrat primary for the Republican party.

We have Bob Goode and John McGuire for the Democrat primary.

We have Paul Riley, Gary Terry, and Gloria Witt.

Sometimes people say I would like to wait until election day because it feels more like I'm part of it I would say that's very sweet and also a bad idea We have fought very hard in the state of Virginia in order to be able to have such robust early voting It is much easier.

There is no line.

It is always at the same place so you don't have any concern that you might show up to the wrong place and get told to go to another place and

which happens every year as someone who has seen it happen to many people.

So at the Fifth Street County offices where the Sheriff's offices are, if you've ever had to go see them.

Sorry, the police offices are if you've ever had to go see them.

We are doing early voting during working hours every day of the week through May 28th is the deadline to register and you can vote in person through June the 8th.

you still get a sticker and you can even still get the sticker on the backing so that you can put it on on election day if that's when you want to wear it and it is going to be better than any intentions you have to vote it will be an actual vote in the ballot box so please go vote especially important in jurisdictions where sometimes the primary is dispositive of the election so keep that in mind

I would also like to remind people the weather is much nicer.

People have a lot of guests in town.

They want to do something fun and local.

Everyone loves our farmers markets.

Everyone is familiar with the ICS farmers markets and the city farmers markets up in the city, but I would like to remind everyone

that Scottsville at the same time every Saturday hosts a lovely farmer's market down at the pavilion that is right by the James River just past the Tavern on the James.

So please try and make it down to the Scottsville farmer's market.

It is an absolute delight and you will often get better prices than you do at ICS or at the city farmer's market.

Additionally, while I am also deeply grateful for the rain, even as I'm nervous about what it might mean for my own graduation ceremony, I'm grateful for the rain because, boy howdy, it has been a hard season for fire.

And that is not going to disappear just because we've had a nice week of rain.

So I would remind people as we get into grilling season to continue to exercise good care and good judgment as you are outside.

using fire.

We've had a series of really tragic events recently in the Scottsville district.

That has really wrecked me and I would hate to add an additional such incident.

And finally, one more thing as we go and continue into the nicer weather years.

This is also a time of year and especially as we get further into autumn.

So please remember to curb your dog, even if you think your dog is sweet.

That doesn't mean that the dog it runs up to is going to be sweet.

This is a thing I run into a lot as a person who has a very big, very reactive dog and you have small dogs on the loose.

Just because they're small doesn't mean they can be on the loose because that just means they're more likely to get gobbled up.

They can cause traffic safety issues.

If they run into the road, this is something that also happens, significantly backs up traffic on some of our critical rural roads.

So please remember to curb your dog as we get in the season where you really want to let them run around.

Please don't.

Thank you.

All I have is some of the usual announcements that I make, and that is the IV MUC is continuing to do special collection days for hazardous waste and this Saturday's tires.

The MUC, that's the IV Materials Utilization Center, will be closed June 8th through 10th for scale replacement, so if you're planning on going during those days, it's not going to be open.

This is a little late for this announcement, but I had the pleasure of dropping off my well sample this morning with the Virginia Cooperative Extension at the Fifth Street offices.

It's a low-cost annual well testing program, and I'm told that due to high demand, this will not be the only time this year they're going to open it up again for a September window for testing if you didn't get your well tested in addition to the annual well testing each May.

It's a very low cost and really good thing to have done.

I would just add one thing piling on to the farmers market thing.

A few years ago Albemarle County was second to Fairfax in the number of farmers markets there were and while I do know that on Tuesdays Nathan Yoder is at the back door of Foxfield and Thursdays I know there's the Earliesville but I know there's one at Forest Lakes and several other places so we need to make a list of all those so that we can make a more comprehensive announcement in the future.

Thank you.

Yes?

I'm just going to tack on to what Supervisor Pruitt said regarding early voting.

Just remember, if you want to wait until voting day, if you get sick, God forbid something happens as an accident or something, then you lose.

So please, early voting is very important because your vote counts.

Board, this brings us to item six, which is proclamations and recognitions.

And the first one up, I will read the proclamation in the form of a motion to adopt a proclamation recognizing this as Asian American and Pacific Islander Heritage Month.

Whereas May, 2024 marks the 47th anniversary of the first submitted resolution to recognize the contributions and achievements

of Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders and whereas May 2024 marks the 32nd anniversary of the federal recognition of Asian American and Pacific Islander Heritage Month and whereas present-day inequities faced by Asian American and Pacific Islander communities

are rooted in our nation's history of exclusion, discrimination, racism, and xenophobia, and whereas Asian-Americans and Pacific Islanders are a vital part of the community's history, making important contributions to the cultural, civic, and economic life of the county.

Now, therefore, be it proclaimed that we, the Albemarle County Board of Supervisors, do hereby recognize and celebrate

May 2024 as Asian American and Pacific Islander Heritage Month and encourage our community to observe this month by learning more about our collective history to create a more inclusive and equitable future for us all.

It's on this 15th day of May 2024.

I've made a motion and seconded by Supervisor Malek.

Ms.

McKeel?

Yes.

Mr. Pruitt?

Aye.

Mr. Andrews?

Yes.

Mr. Galloway?

Yes.

Ms.

LaPisto-Kirtley?

Aye.

Ms.

Yes.

Okay.

And again, I'm reading this as a motion.

Proclamation celebrating Jewish American Heritage Month.

Jewish American Heritage Month is a time for commemorating the history, contributions, and cultures of the diverse population of Jewish Americans.

And whereas, the Jewish community has played an important role in shaping, advancing, and enriching the fabric of Albemarle County.

Ever since the first Jewish families settled in Albemarle County,

in 1757, and whereas Jewish Americans, due to their own long history of persecution, have often found common cause with movements working to expand civil rights, liberty, and human dignity for all, and whereas the Jewish American experience has always been held together by the forces of hope, resilience, and striving for a better tomorrow.

Now therefore be it proclaimed that we, the Albemarle County Board of Supervisors,

do hereby recognize and celebrate Jewish American Heritage Month and renew our dedication to the work of building a fully inclusive tomorrow, one where greater diversity origins is not only accepted, but also celebrated here at home and around the world.

Signed this 15th day of May, 2024, Jim Andrews, Chair.

We have a motion from Supervisor McKeel, second from Supervisor Mallek.

Ms.

Mr. Pruitt?

Aye.

Mr. Andrews?

Yes.

Ms.

LaPisto-Kirtley?

Aye.

Ms.

Yes.

Great.

And I understand this resolution is here to be accepted by Dr. Russ Linden, author, Federal Executive Institute Adjunct Professor and Task Force Chair for Welcoming Greater Charlottesville.

Welcome, Dr. Linden.

Good to have you here.

Thank you very much.

Thank you.

I want to thank you for the award.

I also want to thank Jesse Brookings and his staff with the Equity and Inclusion Unit of the county.

I think they've done a great job to make the county more inclusive and equitable for everyone.

When I was growing up and went to Sunday School, the teachers taught us core Jewish values.

Values like helping the poor, that you have to pursue justice, that you have to welcome the stranger, as you just referred to, Ms.

McKeel.

My brother and I learned the same values at home because our wonderful parents acted on those values every day.

And the last of those values, welcoming the stranger, has always been my favorite.

So it was easy for me to take on the leadership of Welcoming Greater Charlottesville since our mission is all about welcoming the stranger.

Stranger, that is, in terms of people from other countries.

and this work has taught me that Welcoming the Stranger isn't just a Jewish value, it's a value shared by all three of the world's great religions.

Now it might seem odd that I'm talking about Welcoming the Stranger and what a wonderful value it is given the terrible events of October 7th and the ongoing horrific violence ever since.

Tragically the value of Welcoming the Stranger has been violated repeatedly in the Middle East for well over a century.

The conflict is long and complicated and this isn't the time to get into it in depth.

But I do want to say that anyone with a heart is grieving over the massive violence there.

All that said, as my wife who is here knows, she married an optimist.

So without denying the violence, I'm also interested in the many efforts in Israel and in our own community among people of different faiths to try to live together with mutual respect.

It may amaze some people, but in Israel there are continued to be groups of Muslims and Jews trying to work for peace.

and the same is true here in the county.

In fact, just this past Sunday, three organizations, a Muslim, Jewish and a Christian organization, sponsored a movie called Sevap Mitzvah.

Sevap and Mitzvah are words that mean good deed in Arabic and Hebrew.

The film depicts the true story of a Muslim family that saved a Jewish family from certain death during the Holocaust.

Fast forward 50 years, this is an amazing story.

A woman from the same Muslim family was trapped in Sarajevo at the height of the Bosnian genocide.

Her life was at risk.

and when the word got out, a member of a Jewish family, the same Jewish family that had been saved by her family, saved this woman 50 years later.

So at this time in our country and around the world where there's so much anguish and so much hatred, I think it's really important, especially important, to know that there are countless examples of people who are building bridges and understanding of mutual respect and that's one of the reasons why I'm so pleased that you folks do this so many times during the year.

So I thank you for my award.

But more importantly, I thank you for recognizing people from different backgrounds who are working together to build a community.

Thank you.

And if you'll remain for a moment, I think people will want to comment.

It's lovely to see you again.

And thank you for your words of optimism.

You're really welcomed.

We really appreciate that.

That's two out of a thousand, two-tenths of one percent.

In Virginia, we have an estimated 150,000 Jewish residents, and that population is among the largest in the nation.

In the Virginia General Assembly, Jews have won elected posts in Virginia as Democrats and Republicans.

A Jewish woman became Speaker of the House of Delegates, and Jews are among the leaders of the Democratic majorities in both the House and the Virginia Senate.

And locally, we have to remember that a Jewish family, the Levees, saved Thomas Jefferson's Monticello from bankruptcy and restored it for posterity.

I urge everyone to read about their story, the Levees of Monticello.

Thank you.

One of the big blessings of teaching fourth graders was knowing children who I'd known for five years who were doing either bat mitzvah or bar mitzvah and being able to attend their ceremonies.

And I was so impressed by the whole encouragement of debate and mastery of an idea.

And it's not because I told you so, but think about it and then relate what you have come to understand.

For a nine-year-old

to manage that and do it so spectacularly was such a great example of how the strength gets built and I really admire that very, very much.

For the last 40 years, I have known long-time White Hall residents

at the synagogue and also my longtime Palestinian neighbors who have worked together in a lunch club with others monthly for all these years to try to build the peace that you're talking about.

And I saw Sarah at the grocery store on about the 15th of October and she was going to pieces about what was happening because of the

just the danger of it getting so much worse.

So I appreciate your optimism because that's all we have to hang on to right now.

You may know the phrase, Ms.

We're very good at that.

That's hysterical.

Thank you for that.

That's one thing I really appreciate is the sense of humor.

So that's wonderful.

Everything that you said really resonates and I don't think I could add to that only that we do appreciate you and your organization and everything you do for not only the Jewish people but everybody.

That means a lot to our community.

You are an integral part of our community.

You add a lot and

That's something important here for Albemarle as we all get along.

Dr. Linden, thank you for being with us today and for your words.

I've said before when these proclamations come before us, it's always interesting what it triggers in me to go reflect on what's being mentioned in the proclamation.

and for this particular proclamation it was my friend Craig who I went to school with and I'm from Wheeling, West Virginia.

I could count on one hand anybody of difference in a very predominant white Christian community.

There was not much diversity.

So you knew who the individuals were but I didn't understand what that meant.

So your comments on welcoming the stranger

and the fact that that just brought it home for me of thinking back to my friendship with Craig and what I learned from him about what it was to be a Jew.

He still lives in West Virginia.

He's a prominent person in technology.

It's been fun because he's become quite the personal chef and he likes, he's a foodie.

That's his hobby.

So he shares a lot relative to that.

So it's been fun watching that.

But he came to mind

And like I said, when you mentioned Welcome the Stranger, he had an impact on me and beginning my understanding and learning what it means to be Jewish.

So thank you for bringing that home.

In the spirit of welcoming the stranger and making the stranger familiar, back to the Asian American Pacific Islander,

Proclamation.

A lot of times I will love to read art or look at art or read poetry or works of fiction or what have you, but the poetryfoundation.org has a wonderful collection right now of poems that's celebrating the Asian Pacific Islander Month.

And it's a wonderful way to get into the humanity of that, in a lot of ways, stranger that is still there for me relative to Pacific Islanders.

So in the spirit of your remarks, I just want to share that as well to say, yeah, go see if you can make the stranger less or more familiar to you.

And that's one way to do it.

Dr. Linden, thank you so much for being here.

Thank you for your message of hope and community that you brought with your remarks.

I just want to speak very briefly regarding the proclamation.

Jewish communities in America have been really at the heart of so many critical social movements throughout our history in a way that I worry is increasingly getting overlooked and glossed over in our current social moment.

Jewish Americans,

and Jewish Values helped drive so many movements for justice.

We're talking social justice, racial justice, economic justice in our country.

They were at the forefront of labor.

Jewish communities were at the forefront of the civil rights movement and saw the first

So the first people to really link arms with the African American community during that important moment in our history.

And I want to highlight that because I'm going to be a slight downer.

I apologize.

It is almost becoming a political talking point that implies some kind of partisanship right now to observe, to simply observe that we are experiencing greater prevalence, greater vocalness of anti-Semitism in America right now and I think it's important that we recognize that and we also think about it in ourselves.

It's always easy to look at the other and say, ah, there are people who are vocally who are painting

slurs on buildings, on synagogues, but to recognize the kind of way that we construct social movements, the way that we think of our politics, and whether or not that has been touched by this.

There's a comedian, Dave Baddiel, who has a book, a British comedian, so a little far afield, who has a book called Jews Don't Count.

And the central thesis of this is that when, especially on the left, when people think about solidarity,

There's a tendency sometimes to not embrace the Jewish community with the same expectations and the same instinct of solidarity and linking of arms with which the Jewish community has so readily given up their own energies throughout our history.

I think it's important that we think about that and we interrogate that.

We talk a lot about implicit bias in these last few years of modernity, and I don't know that we have become as comfortable thinking about the nature of implicit bias and how we think about the Jewish community.

and how that gets wrapped into our conception of politics and of social movements in ways that can be very destructive and harmful if we don't interrogate that.

Thank you.

If I could just make one quick response.

Thank you for all your passion and desire for what we're talking about is obvious and just one quick thought.

The most frequently stated injunction in the Hebrew Bible

is welcome the stranger.

36 times God tells the people, welcome the stranger.

And I sometimes think it would be also good if God, et cetera, if we say to each other, get to know the stranger.

It's hard to hate someone once you get to know them.

Thank you very much.

I really appreciate your comments and the optimism that you brought to this and your being here for this.

Jim, let me just add something.

Just in the spirit of humor,

I just want to tell a personal story.

I grew up in Stanton.

Of course, very small Jewish population in Stanton.

And I was dating, when I was in college, a local Jewish boy.

And the first time that I went to the Stanton temple with him, we walked in the door and someone shouted, Gentile in our midst.

And with that, everybody applauded.

Just wanted to share that.

Thank you.

I'm sitting here with it in front of me.

And I will ask that we'll be moving on to the next one, but that everyone stay for all the proclamations and recognitions.

Today we have a couple more and then we'll move on to other business.

I will be reading this as a motion, and this is truly my honor to be able to read this.

Whereas in 1962, President John F. Kennedy signed the first proclamation

recognizing May 15th as Peace Officers Memorial Day and the week in which it falls as National Police Week.

Quote, to pay tribute to the law enforcement officers who have made the ultimate sacrifice for our country and to voice our appreciation for all those

who currently serve on the front lines of the battle against crime and growth.

And whereas the safety and well-being of Albemarle County citizens being of the utmost importance to the propensity and livelihood of Virginia's families and communities and police officers throughout Albemarle County are dedicated to protecting and serving Albemarle prosperity, I'm sorry, Albemarle County communities, our neighborhoods,

schools and families, and whereas police officers risk their lives each and every day in order to ensure public safety and enforce the laws of the land, and whereas Albemarle County values the courage and devotion of our police officers as our collective prosperity depends on the integrity

with which our law enforcement officers maintain peace and security.

And whereas Police Week and Police Officers Memorial Day are opportunities to honor the officers who have fallen in the line of duty and recognize the sacrifices made by the families of those officers and the families of those who continue to protect and serve our communities.

Now therefore be it proclaimed that we, the Albemarle County Board of Supervisors,

do hereby recognize May 12th through 18th, 2024 as Police Week and May 15th, 2024 as Police Officers Memorial Day in Albemarle County and call these observances to the attention of all our citizens.

We have a motion from Supervisor LaPisto-Kirtley, a second from Supervisor McKeel.

Ms.

McKeel?

Yes.

Mr. Pruitt?

Aye.

Mr. Andrews?

Yes.

Mr. Galloway?

Yes.

Ms.

LaPisto-Kirtley?

Aye.

Ms.

Yes.

Thank you.

I believe Colonel Reeves is here to accept the proclamation along with

Mr. Walls and Mr. Jameson.

Thank you.

Chair Andrews, Supervisor Bea Pisto-Kirtley.

We're having trouble hearing you Sean.

There we go.

There we go.

Chair Andrews, Supervisor Bea Pisto-Kirtley, thank you very much.

Colonel Sean Reeves, Chief of Police of the Almar County Police Department.

Today I'm joined by Lieutenant Colonel Terry Walls, who is the Deputy Chief of Police as well as

Major Randy Jamerson, the Assistant Chief of Police.

But most importantly, I'm joined by the men and women in the back.

I'll stand up very briefly.

These men and women who are off camera.

They're why we're truly here today.

And it is my absolute privilege to be their Chief of Police as well as Chief of Police for this community.

It is a great honor that we stand before you during National Police Week and Peace Officers Memorial Day.

This week we pay tribute to the valor and sacrifices of our officers and to the officers across the country who face daily dangers to ensure our safety.

This is also a time when law enforcement officers, their families, and loved ones solemnly remember those lives

that were tragically cut short in the line of duty.

We remember the 136 officers killed in the line of duty across the nation last year and the 58 officers and six police canines who have made the ultimate sacrifice this year.

Their lives are not defined by how they died, but how they lived and served with selfless courage.

On behalf of the men and women of the Albemarle County Police Department, I accept this proclamation with a promise

that we will continue our mission of safeguarding our resilient community.

Thank you and we'll go through order to comment.

Thank you.

Appreciations.

Thank you very much for being here and thanks to everybody in the back for being here as well and to our officer.

It goes beyond words as to how much this community appreciates your work.

We've had certainly some challenging times, and you all have really stepped up to the plate.

And I just want to say again, and I know the proclamation says it, but we also really appreciate your families.

Because without their support, we wouldn't have you all helping us.

So thanks to you again, and to all the team, and everybody on the force, and we really appreciate the good work.

I am so proud of the high performance expectations to which you hold yourselves, the earnestness with which you undergo training to get the highest skill level, your empathetic approach to citizens.

You greet and assist residents in the moment when they are the most fearful, the most upset, the most angry.

or having to deal with people in speeding cars or barking dogs.

It's a whole range of challenges which you face every day.

But whether your concern is large or small, you're all in all the time.

And I'm so grateful.

And it really makes a difference for all of us.

Thank you.

Supervisor LaPisto-Kirtley.

You know that this is something very personal.

I hope I can get it out.

But the appreciation we have for you not only in Albemarle County, not only for our police department, but also fire rescue.

I've never seen such a well-run organization, such a professional organization, dedicated to listening and serving the residents of our community.

That means everything to us.

That is the basis of a good police department, where you are there for us and we know that.

and knowing that you also put your lives in danger every day, even over a simple traffic stop something can happen and your families who support you.

This is something that is truly a calling and a passion that you do that keeps our community safe and we so appreciate it and I always have your six.

Thank you.

It was a nice memory after the photo shoot that we did outside in the lobby.

Just a few weeks ago, I came back into possession when my grandfather, who I didn't know, came back from the war.

He became a police officer.

He was a patrolman in Wheeling, West Virginia.

And just a few weeks ago, my sister, because she moved to Florida, so of course she doesn't have the same space.

Well, not of course, but she doesn't.

But she had in her possession the picture of the entire, at the time,

Police Department, along with the city manager.

There were no electeds in that photo.

That's interesting.

and I was just, this was October of 1966 that this photo was taken.

So it was kind of cool to sit there and look at all those faces of the people in that photo who were serving on the police force then and that leads me to my remarks here.

A few weeks ago I made comments about my appreciation for this police department and I don't need to be redundant about those today.

But it's easy to say police or police department but it is made up of individuals

moms, dads, uncles, neighbors, friends, best friends.

And it's the quality of individual and of those people that makes our department what it is.

And our department is something special based on remarks that I have said previously about how you approach this community and the mindset in which you serve.

So I'm immensely proud to be on this board

to have the opportunity to work with you all because I know what type of people we have who are forming your police force.

So I appreciate those who came out today to spend some time with us today and sincerely appreciate everything you all do.

Thank you.

Thank you so much for being here.

Thank you so much for being such an amazing force.

I think maybe because I'm young and seem more approachable.

I sometimes get young people reaching out at the beginning of their career, either just finishing undergrad, just finishing high school, being like, hey, I'm really excited about government.

And I'd love to learn how I can get involved in government as a career.

And I think I kind of surprise people, because I mean, I've got a reputation for being a bit of a provocative lefty.

when I say, well, have you thought about applying to become a police officer?

It is one of the most rewarding careers you can have in government.

And if you don't know like the specific path you want to take, you get to do a little bit of everything.

It is truly a deeply rewarding career that touches every apparatus of government.

And I feel this kind of people are often shocked, right?

And I feel this speaks to kind of a misunderstanding from members of the public at times, especially from young people.

about what police actually do.

There's the idea that, oh, police arrest bad guys.

End of list.

And my understanding is that's not a very large part of the job most days.

You also make our roads safe through enforcement.

You respond to people who are in varying types of mental health crisis, whether or not that's a very serious issue out in our community or whether or not this is just someone who can't find their mom because they've wandered off because they're getting to the age where they wander off.

you respond I've recently had to work with you on animal issues and that can be dogs on the run like we've been talking about or that can also be like I think last year you removed a one of your officers removed a ball from a bear's head that was wandering around with a beach ball on its head which was a serious danger to the community this is down in Scottsville district it happened you can and to the danger to the bear

You register and then respond to home alarm systems.

You help enforce a number of our other ordinances, things like our noise ordinances.

You're the folks who are coming to it.

You help build relationships in our community because the police are, for so many people, the first point of contact.

This is an organization of a thousand people, the county, and a lot of people engage with county services, but there's not always a person there.

I go to Walnut Creek, my favorite personal park, to walk around with the dog.

There's not a person there greeting me from the Parks Department because there doesn't need to be.

What most people meet, the person that most people meet when they're interacting with county services, is a police officer.

And I am so grateful that we have such a real crack force that they're meeting someone who is shipshape, and you are out there representing our community in the best possible way.

So thank you so much for all the work you do.

I'm going to keep trying to send people to you.

Thank you, sir.

Thank you.

I was looking at this before you have your annual report, and I just wanted to note from it that it indicates that there were 77,672 calls for service last year.

which averages to nearly 1,500 a week.

You're busy.

9,406 traffic stops and 637 priority one calls for service in the urban areas with an average response time, and I'm going to illustrate this by since the time when you were speaking,

to now, they would have been there.

So three minutes and 36 seconds or thereabouts, which I think maybe even a little longer than that just there.

And then 195 in the rural areas, a little longer, but still quite admirable responses.

So the service that you do is amazing.

And again, I very much appreciate what you do and your families.

Sorry to add on again, but when I was little, George Bailey was the sheriff.

He and a deputy were it.

This was 1950 was when I was born.

He would sit in the area of Bearish Road because that was sort of center, not knowing where the need was going to be.

That was their dispatch back in the old days.

So I just am so grateful to have so much better organization now.

I'm especially grateful for the return to the geopolicing and the sectors so that we get to know who our representative officers are and they get to know us a little better and it really helps with that provision of personal service.

Jim, I would just add, the 2023 annual report is out and I know that Sean and his team would just love to have people ask for a copy of this.

Yeah, and read it.

It's interesting.

It's fascinating.

It is really interesting.

So if you just let us know, we'll be glad to get you a copy.

Supervisor LaPisto-Kirtley will bring the resolution around.

Again, thank you very much for being here.

I didn't mean to pick on my fellow supervisors for how long we talked, but just to illustrate how quickly you would have responded.

Had that call come in then, you would have been here.

That's impressive.

Thank you.

Thank you very much.

So I would like to read as a, well, as a motion I guess.

A resolution of appreciation for Gary B. O'Connell.

Whereas Gary O'Connell has served Albemarle County with distinction as the Executive Director of the Albemarle County Service Authority for 14 years.

And whereas Gary's many professional accomplishments during his tenure as Executive Director are exemplified by his active leadership in water conservation initiatives, including the toilet rebate program, the rain barrel rebate program, free water conservation kits, and the upgrade to the metering infrastructure.

and whereas in countless ways Gary has provided exemplary service to Albemarle County through the application of his extensive knowledge and ability as well as through his collaborative personal style, his commitment to constructive two-way communication and his authentic problem-solving approach to improving the quality of life for the people of this county.

and whereas Gary's commitment to providing responsive and high quality customer service has built a trusting relationship with the service authority, the Rivanna authorities, community partners and area residents and has resulted in a water system that is safe and reliable.

Now therefore be it resolved that we, the Albemarle County Board of Supervisors, to hereby commend Gary O'Connell for his significant contributions to the Albemarle County Service Authority and extend its heartfelt thank you for his years of service to the residents of Albemarle County.

Be it further resolved that a copy of this resolution be spread upon the minutes of this meeting of the Albemarle County Board of Supervisors as a lasting testament to the esteem in which Gary O'Connell is held by this board.

Signed this day, 15th May, 2024.

We have a motion from Supervisor Mallek, a second from Supervisor McKeel.

Ms.

McKeel?

Yes.

Mr. Pruitt?

Aye.

Mr. Andrews?

Yes.

Mr. Galloway?

Yes.

Ms.

LaPisto-Kirtley?

Aye.

Ms.

Thank you.

There you are.

Welcome.

Thank you very much.

Make sure this feels a bit overwhelming.

I'm glad I have the police at my back.

I'll start with thanks very much to each one of you.

but I really want to go a little bit deeper if you can give me a minute or two.

I do need to thank this board for your support, for Jeff and his staff and their support.

It's been an excellent staff to work with and we greatly enjoyed that and I want to thank you for giving us, I think, the best board of directors that we could have.

They've been excellent and they really care for this community.

For me, it's personally been a great water journey.

I fully enjoyed it.

I had no idea that I would be in this particular job for 14 years, but it's been exciting to watch the community rally around water issues.

Some of you have been pretty involved in those through the years.

I think at the Service Authority, we've tried to make a really positive difference for the community.

I think we've done that, and I think the staff that's there is going to continue to do that.

You said in the resolution, but I'll say it again, safe, clean, reliable Albemarle water.

and we've been talking a lot about providing a great customer experience and I think that's the message that we want to get across to the community and we've worked hard on that.

We're ready for the next 50, 75, probably 100 years in reality for future drinking water needs for the community.

There's been a lot of hard work.

Several of you have been involved from probably the very beginnings.

but that's pretty significant.

There are very few communities in the country that can stand here and honestly say that and you should be proud of that.

I can't, I started not telling any stories but I got to tell one because this got brought up at the Rivanna board meeting the other day.

The largest public hearing I've ever attended in my 50-year career was in this room when we were talking about advanced water treatment.

And at that time, cost was a big issue, but it became clear this community wanted safe drinking water.

And the decision was made for advanced water treatment called granular activated carbon.

If you read any of the new stories, you'll see any of the new contaminants

GAC is the treatment of choice.

This community made that decision a long time ago, and we can very much tell the community we have very safe drinking water now and in the future with that decision.

There have been a bunch of other decisions about water supply that this board's been very involved in, but we have the long-term plan in place that's being funded and projects are moving forward that'll put us in a great position.

So I thank you very much for the recognition.

I thank you for your support over the years.

It's been a fun journey, but I'm ready for another one.

Thank you.

And I think that journey indicates some travel on your part and I hope you have a good time.

It has been an absolute delight to work with you, Gary.

I think as the representative of the Jack Jouett District, I have the honor of having one of the most difficult projects based on the contractor that you had to work with.

And you and I spent a lot of time on the phone together and I just really

You worked with the community with their frustrations over that contractor.

I mean it was just wonderful the way you responded and your team responded and you have a great team backing you up.

and but I just appreciated it so much.

And I will say that we had a lot of fun on the hydrant art project that we did together.

Art on fire.

Some of you, if you drive around the Jack Jouett district and a couple others, I think there's a hydrant painted outside of your office up on pan tops, but we painted the fire hydrants.

and it was a great project and it was lots of fun.

And again, I appreciate your willingness to do an art project with me.

You just, and it seemed like you were having fun too, so it's all good.

And other, I just want to wish you the best in everything you do.

You have been a jewel and a gift to this community for many years in your many roles in this community.

Thank you.

I think the resolution called in a general way to so many of your strengths with providing a quick and accurate update on a particular project that someone has a question about.

Those wonderful return phone calls are so prompt and helpful, but for the very long term and something which began immediately upon your arrival there.

at ACSA

and there was no money for capital projects and so now because of the management that you have put in and the meeting the cost expectations for the future improvements and the rehabs of the 50 year old pipes now it's a much more orderly process.

I'm sure there are things you wish you could do that you don't do right away but the fact that you can do them within a year or two is a spectacular achievement so I'm very grateful for that.

I'm grateful for the

the famous meeting.

I mean Dave Tungate reeled off the date of the meeting the other day because it made a big impression on him too as well.

But 300 people in this room and 100 of them spoke.

The hearing went on for like four and a half hours.

But it was one of my fondest memories.

You're absolutely right.

So I will carry that forever.

And you certainly were at the table for the first many years of the water supply plan.

in your former job as well to try to get everybody to the table.

It only took 20 years to get that signed, so at least we're set for the next 50, which is really important.

Thank you.

Yes, thank you very much, Mr. O'Connell.

I was really impressed by your commitment, your collaborative style, and your problem solving.

something important to me, problem solving approach to improving the quality of life.

I visited a number of the reservoirs and because of you, we have, will have, clean water.

You've done an excellent job as executive director for 14 years and the fact that

McKeel.

The things that are happening that we can keep with new pipes and everything and Going from one reservoir to the next and new plants It's amazing learning about that was just amazing for me.

So I thank you very much for your dedication and All the work you've done.

Thank you, sir.

Thank you.

Thank you, Gary, for being with us today and for your years of service.

I can tell you that in talking with, you had my appointees, Kim Swanson, who is, I think she'd be okay with me saying, likes to ask a question or two.

And Nathan Moore, who then came on, who's now on the planning commission and now Kim's back on that board.

But Nathan, I know when he was making the transition, was saying that, you know, it's, you know, Gary's time's coming to an end and that's a real loss for us.

and I think when you have a comment of somebody that joins a board and they take it seriously and really work to understand what's going on, that's the ultimate compliment right there.

That you're, they were suggesting to me that you may be irreplaceable.

Now somebody's going to come in, but boy are they going to have a high task to try to achieve what you have achieved over the last 14 years in your position.

You've always struck me as even keeled and steady handed and that's probably why we are where we are.

Do to the water quality and the fact that you mentioned that our community is in a position to be able to say something that not a lot of communities can and You know a lot of that goes to the leader To be able to make that happen, so thank you very much for that and I know you've earned it so enjoy your time and what you choose to do there.

We could do a few more half hour hydrants.

Thank you.

During my brief time on the board, we have not yet had the opportunity to work together, but your reputation precedes you in the best possible way.

Sometimes that's a mixed blessing, right?

When your reputation precedes you.

I've heard nothing but good things about the leadership that you've shown over the past decade and change.

I realize that you've worked through what have been some really important changes.

and it is not normal, I think, that water quality be at the heart of some of the most important policy decisions for our community, but that has been the case here in Albemarle and I really appreciate and am grateful for your steady hand there.

And I just want to pile on with the gratitude that everybody else has expressed so well.

My predecessor, Liz Palmer, I know also thinks very highly and has worked for you for many, many years, still now.

And I'm sure everybody heard me earlier talk about the fact that I had my well tested recently, and I can tell you that with all the list of things that could go wrong, you should be very grateful if you have ACSA water.

Mr. Chair, before Miss Mallek provides the proclamation to Mr. O'Connell, I wanted to make one

observation for the minutes, the record.

Ms.

Wall, Mr. Henry, Mr. Rosenberg, myself, we all belong to ICMA, International City County Management Association, as does Mr. O'Connell.

And each year at our annual conference, we'll usually have about 5,000 managers present for this meeting from all over the world that are members of ICMA.

and they work in cities and counties that are in the manager council form of government.

While this proclamation focuses on Mr. O'Connell's most recent 14 years service to the Albemarle County Service Authority, Mr. O'Connell served the city of Charlottesville as the city manager for a full service career.

He came to Virginia

several years ago from Tennessee where he broke into the ranks of local government and every year at our national conference we will recognize years of service and there will always be maybe one or two across the United States and world that are at 50 years.

and that's where Mr. O'Connell is, is that he served in local government his entire adult life and it's an honor to have been in this county with him for the past six and a half years.

He was one of the first people in this community that welcomed me here when I came to Albemarle County and I've had the pleasure of sitting beside him at the Rivanna Water and Sewer Authority where he has served on that board for 29 years.

and I have sat beside him for my entire six and a half years and what I noticed was his attention to detail.

He always took copious notes.

Gary always followed up.

His customer service is second to none and my staff, Mr. Stewart and I, we meet with him on a monthly basis and we never go away

without whatever the commitment is that Gary's going to do to follow up and Mr. O'Connell always follows up.

So on behalf of Albemarle County Government from the staff, I do want to thank him for his service and for the partnership from the service authority back to our staff.

And you will be missed, but when we see you, we will see a friend and a community leader and please come back and see us.

Thank you.

And thank you.

Happy fishing.

That's part of the plan.

We will now turn to Item 7, which is from the public matters on the agenda but not for public hearing or matters previously considered by the board or matters that are pending before the board.

And just to let everyone know, we have no one online so everyone is in person.

and during the time set aside for matters on the agenda but not listed for public hearing, individuals may address the board of supervisors concerning matters previously considered by the board or matters that are pending before the board other than items listed on the agenda for public hearing.

Individuals are allowed one opportunity of up to three minutes to speak at each board meeting during matters from the public.

A sign-up sheet is managed by the clerk's office.

Timekeeping is conducted through a timer and light system at the podium

The green light will go on when you begin speaking, which begins your allotted time.

The yellow light indicates you have one minute to finish speaking.

The red light indicates your time has expired and you will be asked to end your comments.

To give all speakers equal treatment and courtesy, the Board requests that speakers adhere to the following guidelines.

When addressing the Board, state your name and, if you live in Albemarle County, your Magisterial District.

Address comments directly to the Board as a whole.

Any written statements or other supporting material may be given to the Clerk.

If representing a group or organization, you may ask others present to raise their hands in recognition.

Speakers may not share any unused time with another speaker.

Back and forth debate is not permitted, and do not speak from your seat or out of turn.

All comments are live streamed, recorded, and published on the Albemarle County website.

All right.

Welcome.

I talk really loud so maybe that works.

First, let me say I also share my appreciation for Mr. O'Connell and the community water supply.

That's not why I'm here.

Partially, I'm here to talk about uses at Ragged Mountain.

I wanted to address a few misconceptions that I've heard recently.

We have heard and hear that there are only two places for hikers to hike or hiker-only trails in Charlottesville Albemarle.

Indeed this just isn't really true.

We're blessed to have Shenandoah National Park, James Monroe Highlands, Charlotte Humphreys, Toad Ear Creek, Fernbrook Natural Area, Sugar Hollow, Ivy Creek, and Ragged.

It all represents about 75 miles or so of hiker-only trails.

That's quite a lot.

We're not opposed to that.

Certainly not opposed to a hiker-only trail.

We feel like that's a really valuable asset to our community.

We also hear that the mountain bike groups or people want to build trails all over Ragged.

That's also not true.

Part of the city-led process, the community process that we did back in 2016, we simply desire one shared loop around the reservoir and the rest of the trails were to be hiker-only.

We stand by that agreement.

We stand by that plan.

We don't need any new trails to accommodate that in the future.

Lastly, I feel like it's been pretty documented that bikes don't threaten our water supply.

We heard that straight from RWSA.

But there simply isn't any evidence that bikes are causing any ecological damage either.

In fact, our own trail construction, maintenance crews, and volunteer corps have rerouted and solved a lot of poor, steep, eroded trails that have caused erosion and vegetation damage.

It's part of our normal process and the guidelines which we work on trails.

When RWSA removes about another 20 or so foot perimeter around the existing reservoir to expand the reservoir as part of the water supply plan, we'll be ready to plan and implement a solution.

We don't really understand why bikes have gotten specifically single.

Audio ragged is an interesting thing.

There's a lot of things in the code that are prohibited, but bikes get regularly called out.

First, we thought it was about water quality.

Then we thought we heard and thought it was about conflict with hikers, of which we've actually asked the city how many complaints you get, and they say they haven't heard any.

And now we hear about destroying nature.

We don't think that's true either.

What is true is that we have been and continue to be ready to work with all the partners, the city parks, the county parks, all of our other constituents that are interested in outdoor recreation and trails to protect sensitive habitats and provide recreational opportunities that serve our community.

My name is Sam Lindblom and I'm in the Rivanna District.

Thank you.

Hello and thank you for having me.

My name is Christine Putnam and I live in the Scottsville district and I just want to say I really enjoy the proclamations.

They always are really inspiring.

So I serve as a member of the Albemarle County Natural Heritage Committee

and I've been serving for the last eight years and during that time I've learned a good deal about the very special places in our county, those that are rich in biodiversity and those that contain rare and sensitive species.

The Ragon Mountain Natural Area is one of those special places that is worthy of extra protection.

It contains large areas identified as biodiversity hotspots

which are sensitive to disturbance according to the Center for Urban Habitats 2016 biological survey and comments made by the Virginia Department of Conservation Resources.

So as human populations grow and our world becomes more and more urbanized, it's our responsibility to preserve the ecological treasures under our care, because once they're gone, they're gone forever.

And in the 1990s, the area around the Ragged Mountain Reservoir was established as a natural area where the scale of human activity would be limited.

The Natural Heritage Committee urges the board to keep the present ordinance in place and not to make changes to the authorized activities.

And for further consideration, we recommend having only one trail and that no additional trails be built.

I enjoy mountain biking.

running and hiking in the woods.

And there are many, there are ample opportunities for all those endeavors in our county, thankfully.

But let's set aside the Ragon Mountain Natural Area as a place to study and quietly enjoy nature at a contemplative pace with the least possible impact.

So thank you very much.

Angela Skelis-Warley.

I don't see anyone.

I think I have that correct.

Angela?

Not here?

All right.

Are you ready?

Greetings.

My name is John Robostum.

I live in the Jack Jouett district and I come before the board to comment on the use of the Ragged Mountain Natural Area.

In many communities, especially those that are growing, the use of trails can be a difficult matter.

Balancing the needs of different types of activities, the use of trails, walkers, bikers, runners, even horseback riders, often pits one group against the other.

It's difficult to tell one group that their activity is not as worthy as in other groups.

This is a matter of recreation, and it can be complex.

Fortunately for you, the use of Ragged Mountain Natural Area is not a matter of recreation, but of conservation.

As a designated natural area, your responsibility is not to find a solution for the different groups, but a solution for the preservation of the natural ecosystem that exists there.

Any activity, if allowed, must be the one that least disrupts the rocks, plants, and wildlife in the natural area.

Dragon Mountain should be enjoyed, but is not a prerogative.

It is a privilege.

In a democracy, we have the right to express with many voices.

And it is our instinct to find a solution that can accommodate the most, to find a win-win.

But in some cases, we need to give a voice to the natural treasures we have.

In the tragedy of comments, allowing anyone to use the comments as they wish makes the comments unusable to everyone.

Teddy Roosevelt had the foresight to see this when he enacted the Antiquities Act, often known as the National Parks Act.

It may seem a stretch to compare Ragon Mountain to Yellowstone or even Shenandoah, but the spirit of conservation is the same, and the benefits to the community extends to generations to come.

Viewed through the lens of conservation, the matter is not difficult, but simple.

There is no need to make changes to the ordinance and keep Ragon Mountain as a natural area, allowing only walking without dogs or bikes as activity of least disturbance.

Thank you.

I am Karen Yates from the White Hall District, but I am speaking here today on behalf of Meg Hubek, President of the League of Women Voters of the Charlottesville area.

The League of Women Voters of the Charlottesville area has become very much aware of the discussion that is going on today about the natural area surrounding the Ragged Mountain Reservoir.

We feel the recently announced agreement in early March, finally resolving a dispute between the city and county about usage, should remain in place.

It returns the Ragged Mountain Natural Area to the level of protection that was intended when it was created.

The Ragged Mountain Natural Area was put together over years by Ivy Creek leaders who wanted to preserve and protect the land for the community's quiet contemplation of the native landscape, birdwatching, fishing, and wildlife

Observation.

No one is excluded by this arrangement and no one is deprived of physical activity.

The only requirement which we consider appropriate to the Ragged Mountain Natural Area's purpose is to enter on foot.

The Ragged Mountain Natural Area offers a unique

and different experience than a park designed for sports, it is one of the only two natural areas in the county versus multiple parks that are open for mountain bikers.

The League of Women Voters of the Charlottesville area respectfully asked that the March 7th legal agreement between the city and the county be upheld

this day, May 15th.

Good afternoon, my name is Zach Damron and I've lived in Albemarle County for 40 of my 65 years.

I currently live in the Jack Jouett Magisterial District and I'm distressed to take a difference with my good friends and neighbors on the other side of the aisle.

But I'm currently here to support mountain biking in the Ragged Mountain Reservoir Trail.

I'm an avid rider and have loved that area and I'd like to speak to two areas, two points that are simple but very unique about this trail system.

One is its proximity to Charlottesville and the biking population.

To go to other mountain bike parks in this community, you have to get in your car and drive 30 to 40 miles from my Florida neighborhood, which is time on the

on the highways that could be better put to use on the trail.

The other is that it's connected to the Hayward Forest Trails and then the O'Hill Trails, which allow for probably 15 miles of trails so that you have a variety of trails.

You're not doing the same laps around the same place in repetition, and there's no other place like it.

And in terms of wanting to preserve nature, yes, we love that.

I was out there

Not on that trail, but up on Song Mountain last weekend.

All eight riders were using our Merlin app to listen to the bird sounds.

We get out there.

The bicycling allows us to get out there sooner, faster, and further.

And we like to commune with nature just like anyone else.

So I would ask you to change the ordinance to allow mountain biking to go once again on the Reservoir Trail.

Thank you.

Hello, I'm Walter Rogers from the Scottsville District.

My wife and I moved here last October from the Syracuse, New York area.

Two of the things I like the most about your area, our area, is what I call winter weather and the other is mountain biking.

I think that Ragged Mountain is a great trail.

It's good for older riders like myself.

It's not too hard.

It's not too easy.

It's scenic.

It really is a gem of trails that are in this area.

I'm also impressed with the local mountain biking group.

They do a lot of just trail maintenance, but they also are very willing to work with all the other groups to make sure the shared use is good for everyone.

I think we're lucky to have them and I think they can work with everybody to make it a successful use of the trails.

So, thank you.

Thank you.

And let me just try one more time.

Angela Worley?

Is Angela here?

Thank you very much.

I just wanted to make sure we had her.

Appreciate it.

Thank you.

We'll move on to item number 8, our consent agenda.

Board, I'm not aware of any amendments other than administrative change to item 8.2.

So the floor is open for a motion to adopt the consent agenda with that change.

We have a motion from Supervisor LaPisto-Kirtley with a second from Supervisor Malek.

Ms.

McKeel?

Yes.

Mr. Pruitt?

Aye.

Mr. Andrews?

Yes.

Mr. Galloway?

Yes.

Ms.

LaPisto-Kirtley?

Aye.

Ms.

With that, we now turn to the item of the day, which is the discussion of the Ragon Mountain Reservoir uses with Mr. Deloria, the Senior Assistant County Attorney.

Welcome, Mr. Deloria.

We're having a presentation today.

Board, I do propose that he'll go through his presentation, we'll go through questions, and then we can have discussion following the questions.

So good afternoon, Chair Andrews, Vice Chair McKeel, Supervisors.

I am Richard Deloria and I'm an assistant with the County Attorney's Office and I've been asked to appear before you today

in order to give a background on the Ragged Mountain Reservoir.

I don't think it's too complicated, so it will involve kind of the legislative history, the history of regulation at the reservoir.

Also, just kind of a brief background in terms of the litigation.

I think everyone's aware that the city and the county were involved in litigation

over this issue for several years.

Finally, then we'll look into what the current status is at the end of the resolution of the litigation, and then staff in the county attorney's office have worked together to come up with some options that the board may want to consider down the road, not necessarily today, certainly up for discussion, but I don't believe it's up for any action today.

So we are talking about

Oh, one thing I do want to say as I pull this up, the materials that I'm using, they're generally original source materials, so they come from the public records, they come from the clerk's office, they come from the minutes and actions of both the board of supervisors and also the city council, and so I was trying to just

in terms of the presentation to use those original source materials.

And they were, for the most part, they were exhibits that were used in the litigation, so they were submitted to the Charlottesville Circuit Court for its consideration.

But we start with a brief history of the Ragged Mountain Reservoir.

and I promise I won't go back to creation.

I'm only going to go back to the 19th century.

And so what you have before you right now is an official tax map of the boundaries of the reservoir.

The city of Charlottesville in the 19th century, mostly around the 1890s, had undergone an effort to purchase a number of parcels in Albemarle County.

to create this reservoir to serve as a water source for the city of Charlottesville.

In 1972, the city and the county came together to form the Rivanna Water and Sewer Authority in order to manage the water source.

And in terms of what is the reservoir, what you see is a map and it has the red boundary on it.

and part of the litigation did involve the debate over whether the reservoir was just the water source, the water itself that RWSA manages or the water plus the land.

In terms of the legal definition of the reservoir, it is what's within that boundary.

So it includes dry land, it also includes the body of water and that is from I believe the 80s and that map

rest with the clerk of the Board of Supervisors.

It is referred to in our ordinance and so that's the official designation of the of the reservoir.

It predated obviously the expansion of the dam so the body of water that surveyed on there is smaller than the body that exists today.

This is a more recent GIS image of the reservoir and so it shows the expansion when the dam was raised.

It is now a single tax map parcel.

In terms of RWSA coming online to manage the water source in 1972, there was no ordinance, either city or county ordinance that regulated RWSA.

and the city of Charlottesville were managing the water and the property during that time frame.

It was all the way up until 1981 that the city was managing or operating the land.

and in 1981, that's when you see the effort.

It was probably 1980, but 1980, 1981, that's when you saw a concerted effort between the city, RWSA and the county to get some type of legal backing to regulate what happens at the reservoir.

Historically, I can't give you an anecdote, but the records do suggest that there was public pressure, as much public pressure as there could be back in

1972 compared to today.

But there was public pressure to use that land for camping, hunting, boating, fishing, all that sort of thing.

I will say there was no reference to mountain biking or jogging at that time back in 1972.

So how was it managed?

Before 1981, I referenced that the city of Charlottesville was administratively managing and regulating what happened at the reservoir property.

And it was done administratively within the city administration.

This is the first evidence that we found of any formalized regulation of activities that occurred at the Ragged Mountain Reservoir.

One thing I want to point out, and this is kind of a common thread, I don't know if it's a theme or an English major,

A common thread that goes through the legislation and the discussions are two things.

Number one, and so you'll hear me speak about this as we go through this presentation, is what is the, and you all are familiar with the animating purpose.

What's the reason for the regulation?

In this case, it's an administrative regulation.

but that applies equally to ordinances that the Board of Supervisors or City Council would pass and so that's one thread is this animating purpose and you can see as early as 1974 the city recognized its animating purpose

and in issuing this regulation was to preserve the water supply.

And that's when you look through the Virginia Code and clearly you look through the County Code, protection of the public's water supply is pretty much paramount when you get up there.

And so the city puts it down in 1974 that they want to protect the city's water supply from harm.

and so what you'll see that follows from that is a continuum of regulation of really limiting recreational uses.

There's a demand for recreational uses out at the reservoir and so what you see is an effort really to limit those activities to low impact recreational activities.

And so this is the first we see of the regulation.

It's the same regulation coming out of 1974 out of the city.

This one applies to Ragged Mountain and they do the dichotomy very similar to what this board has done in the past and even the city of Charlottesville did recently in 2016.

they break it down into permitted uses and prohibited uses and they identify at Ragged Mountain at least at that point the only two permitted uses were fishing and hiking and I contrast that with

with what you see they did at the South Fork of the, South Fork Rivanna Reservoir.

They identify permitted uses, again, the kind of the boating, the fishing.

And I highlight D because it's very interesting.

This is the second, the second thread that you see going through the ordinances, both the county and then more recently the city, is this language.

The structure of the language is to identify these low impact recreational activities.

So here, more recently, the county didn't make up bird watching.

Its source is from 1974, where the city says, look, you can boat, you can fish, you can hike, you can watch birds, and you can sight see.

So those low impact activities are identified even as early as 1974.

So between, as I commented or alluded to before, in 1980 there became a joint effort and I do want to highlight that because that also is a common theme that has gone through, one the case but two the history of regulation at this reservoir is that it was a joint effort initially between RWSA

the city and the county and then later you had the Ivy Creek Foundation come in but in all these efforts to regulate the activities, the recreational activities at the reservoir

What you saw was, you saw the cooperation of these organizations and these bodies.

So there was an effort that the city, RWSA didn't have the capacity back in 1980 to really operate the dry portion of the reservoir.

the city didn't either so they came together to work with the county to come up with an agreeable ordinance that would govern the operation of activities at the reservoir.

And so you see in 1981, and I'll have to give credit to Jim Bowling, he was a county attorney back then, but he was the primary author, I'm sure with a lot of input from the RWSA board and also city council.

and both city and county departments.

But what you see in 1981 is what I pointed out earlier, is you see this animating purpose being front and center.

And so the county acknowledges that there's a desire to protect the water quality of the water supply reservoirs.

And of course, the county code at that time, it didn't just apply to Ragged Mountain, it applied to all the county reservoirs at that time.

And then that's reiterated.

that as we talked about the limited recreational activities, they identify that it's only to be used for limited recreational purposes as allowed in that article.

And then identifying in 1981 what those limited recreational activities are, the county code identified fishing, canoeing, boating, and we had seen that before.

The model actually for this is pretty clear when you look at letters from Jim Bowling and other comments in the minutes of the Board of Supervisors that the basis

The model for this ordinance was actually the 1974 administrative regulation that I showed a little bit earlier.

But again, so in 1981, we identify what are the permitted uses.

We have fishing, canoeing, and boating.

And then we identify, very similar to what the regulation was, that hiking and bird watching is permitted at the Ragged Mountain Reservoir.

Between 1981 and 1981, and then when you get to the mid-90s, there were some minor changes, some tweaks, I'd call them, to the ordinance.

Generally had to do with firearms, had to do with camping, had to do with hunting, but nothing that really, we didn't emphasize it or focus on it in terms of the litigation and the research because it didn't really apply to what the context or what the focus of the litigation was, but you just saw some minor tweaking

going on between 1981 and the mid 90s.

In the mid 90s, again, you get a reaffirmation of protecting the reservoir as a water supply and again reaffirming the low impact recreational activities.

But before 1997, the Ivy Creek Foundation, which we all know runs and manages the Ivy Creek Park,

which is a jointly owned park between the city and the county.

They had managed that and run it as a natural area.

and they proposed to the city and the county that the Ragged Mountain Reservoir become a natural area to be operated in a similar fashion as to the Ivy Creek Park.

So they put forward a proposal and their proposal was part of what was presented to the Charlottesville Circuit Court and they made it clear that the idea was to establish the Ragged Mountain Reservoir as a natural area.

and then the activities that they identified, excuse me, was for hiking, nature observation and study, fishing and the intent

is that it be preserved in a natural state.

So in terms of what they were proposing, it's certainly consistent with the animating purpose that the original administrative regulation had adopted and of course that the Board of Supervisors with the agreement of the city and RWSA had codified in the county code.

So we have that thread that keeps going through all these ordinances and how we treat the Ragged Mountain, historically treat the Ragged Mountain Reservoir.

So we carry on with the Ivy Creek Foundation's proposal.

They make it clear in the proposal that it's to be a natural area.

The water quality should not be compromised through sale or lease.

I'm not sure exactly what they envision, but they want to preserve and protect the quality of the source water for the public water supply.

But they make it clear

that in 1997 they want access to be limited to foot travel only.

And they expressly say this precludes the bicycles, all-terrain vehicles, horses, and pets.

So in 1997 you see this acknowledged limitation as to what can happen at the reservoir.

I will say that the city approved this proposal.

The county, the Board of Supervisor minutes show that the Board of Supervisors agreed with this proposal and adopted it, and RWSA did also.

That was borne out through a resolution, a 1997 city council resolution, that acknowledged the city

the counties, RWSA and obviously Ivy Creek Foundation approval of the proposal and that the reservoir should be developed as an area for public hiking, nature, observations, study and fishing.

In 1998, the Board of Supervisors went through a recodification of the county code.

And I point this out, there's no real significant change that was made.

But what it shows is as of 1998, the board adopted an ordinance that for all intents and purposes is the same ordinance that we have today.

I won't do the math.

I think a few years have passed while this ordinance existed.

But it was amended.

to essentially be current as of 1998.

Again, we see the animating purpose of this 1998 recodification to prevent the pollution of the public water supply.

protect the public water supply and limit the recreational uses to only those that are identified in the county code and those are essentially low impact uses as they're identified.

And so you see those uses authorized in the county code as of 1998, fishing,

and again we see the language hiking, bird watching.

I think we have to acknowledge that picnicking was then taken out of the prohibited activities and so then you were allowed to throw down a blanket and eat at the reservoir.

Again, although it lists some prohibited activities, it

It has that general prohibition that says if it's not expressly authorized that it is prohibited.

So the statuses of 1998 is that there are limited recreational activities permitted at the reservoir but they are low impact and of course we know from 1997 that all parties were in agreement with that.

This actually, this was part of the exhibits that were submitted to the circuit court.

This was a sign that had been posted at the reservoir at one of the kiosks and although the city will learn

In a little bit, the city had made efforts to look in to investigate changes of uses at the Ragged Mountain Reservoir.

This was a sign that had been posted by the city.

I suspect it had been there for a significant period of time, but it re-emphasizes that in order to protect the natural environment of the reservoir,

There are limitations on what can be used and so you're not allowed to have pets, jogging, bicycles, or collecting of any sorts.

The hiking was permitted, the picnicking, whatever the county had allowed in its ordinance were the permitted limited recreational activities.

I believe it was in 2014 when the Ivy Creek Foundation kind of backed away from managing the Ragged Mountain Reservoir.

I can't speak to the particular reasons why they did that, and I don't think it was important.

It was not important to our case.

I don't know that it's important to this body's considerations.

However, what you saw was when they were backing away from it,

The public records make clear that the city at that point was in a position to say that, hey, we have the capacity to manage this property in a park-like fashion.

We would like to do that.

And so they proceeded to engage in planning on how this property could be used for other recreational activities.

It involved

in-house planning, but it also involved a significant amount of outreach to the community.

There were a number of, I'll call them town halls, town hall meetings that went to discuss what the land could be used for.

I will say that there were a number of, in terms of when they decided that trails, that biking trails would be permitted, there were significant work sessions in terms of what those trails should look like.

They even had sessions on how these trails could be designed to be sensitive to the biodiversity that was out there.

I have to say they went to significant efforts and significant investment to come up with a plan.

But they did come up with a plan.

that had been presented.

It did involve multi-use trail designs.

I haven't included those slides.

We had a number of exhibits in terms of what those trails and what the arrangements were and kind of how they evolved over time.

But again, I don't know that that's important for this board at this point in time other than just to point out that they existed.

kind of the legal context of what can the city do and what can the county do in regards to the in terms to the reservoir or property that one locality owns in another locality which is what we're faced with started out in essence for the county

It was an exercise of police powers.

The Board of Supervisors has a duty to protect the water supply for the public and that does fall under police powers.

It falls under a number of other Virginia statutes that authorize both the city and the county to protect the water supply and to be able to take some fairly radical steps to protect those water supplies.

However, this is the essence of what

what the case boiled down to and what the relationship boiled down to.

So this code section in terms of police powers essentially says that the city can provide for the operation and use of its property in the county.

It does have to do it by ordinance which makes good sense so that the public and of course the Board of Supervisors knows what they intend to do with the property.

But the basis of our case the backbone of our case when we got to it was no ordinance in conflict with an ordinance of the jurisdiction wherein the property is located shall be enacted and so that's where you get you get essentially the issue that the case came down to was are these in conflict and if so which which ordinance controlled but that kind of just gives you the legal legal framework of where we're looking at and

So in that essence of course we already look at the county exercising its police powers and of course its water protection powers by enacting its ordinance.

This was back in 1997.

It says that only those activities that the county authorizes can be done and of course any activity not expressly permitted shall be prohibited.

and the express permitted limited recreational activities were fishing, hiking, bird watching and picnics.

There was boating that was allowed too, but those are the only identified activities.

And again, I point back to the thread that went through this, these limited activities

didn't just come to mind in 1998 or 2011 or any time.

At that point in time, they originate from the intentions of the city, the RWSA, and the county as far back as 1974, I believe it is, in terms of identifying hiking, birdwatch, and picnics, sightseeing, that sort of thing.

And then the prohibitory language, that again is a common thread that has gone through for, I think I can do my math here, 50 years.

So it's a long-standing tradition.

And I point that out.

I hope I don't get off on a tangent.

I'll point it out because we always wanted to make clear

and I still want to make clear the case that was brought against the city and the case that the city brought against the county was not about biking.

It wasn't about jogging.

It wasn't about horseback riding or horseback riding.

It was about the statute and the police powers and how those can be exercised.

And it's important to point that out that that wasn't the issue in the case.

It was how these laws and how these ordinance, what the relationship of those were.

So, we know that in 2016, this is what the county permitted.

We know in December of 2016 that the city council, after I will say the lengthy studies,

and then deliberation, they enacted their ordinance, I will say it was an ordinance that managed, it didn't manage reservoirs like the county's ordinance did, it only addressed the Ragged Mountain Reservoir.

And so, and I don't think I have it right here, if you look at their, if you look at their,

animating purpose in doing that, it's almost identical to the county's purpose in saying that they're doing it for water protection reasons.

In any event, they passed an ordinance and they allowed bicycling on designated trails, they expressly allowed jogging, and they expressly allowed horse riding with special permit.

That wasn't a major issue.

None of those are really an issue in the case.

I think the special permit, the reasoning behind that for the horseback riding was I think Camp Holliday Trails was out there and there might have been some interest in them having limited horseback riding, but that was the purpose.

It wasn't to be opening up the reservoir to widespread horseback riding.

But that kind of sets the stage.

You've seen the county ordinance, you see the city ordinance, and the fundamental question in the case is

and certainly at the end when we narrowed the issues to present to the court was which ordinance controls and of course the underlying question is why but for the most part I've already answered that question by citing the statute that says that the city's ordinance can't be in conflict with the county's ordinance.

So in April of 2017 because of this conflict

the county decided to file a complaint and essentially is to have the court have the court determine what what the answer is whose ordinance controls and why so when we filed the suit in April of 2017 we asked that the city or city's ordinance be declared void the city countered with a number of counts of

In essence, what they wanted to do was to have the county's ordinance declared void, so we were at issue.

What followed was a fairly complicated involved and lengthy litigation process.

It involved a lot of motions filings and scheduling of preliminary injunction hearings, that sort of thing.

But it also involved significant efforts on both the city's part and the county's and their staff and their legal staffs to negotiate and to mediate a resolution.

I believe through those processes we did make progress

but there was no concrete success in reaching a resolution.

So ultimately we were able to narrow the issues.

We agreed to submit the case to the Charlottesville Circuit Court.

Judge Worrell ultimately received the case and ruled on the case.

We did it by briefs as you can see as illustrated by this presentation.

The issue was pretty much a legal issue.

There weren't much factual

issues that had arisen.

We had exchanged all the public records.

We were fairly amicable in terms of identifying exhibits and so we briefed it and we were able to attach our exhibits and we submitted that to the court and we narrowed the issue to essentially which jurisdiction's ordinance controlled.

And that was the issue presented to Judge Worrell.

And so Judge Rall in 2022, he made a decision, he did it.

You'll see this is a copy of his letter opinion.

So some judges, they'll issue a letter of opinion explaining the reasons for their decision.

and then of course we have to come up with a final order so it takes some time.

But he was pretty clear.

He found that the Albemarle County Code preempts the Charlottesville's Code and that only the enumerated activities in the County Code are permitted.

and so essentially what this did is it returned the city and the county to the pre-2016 status.

There were no judgments made on any particular activity.

There was no judgment weighed one way or the other on biking, running, jogging, pets, horses or anything like that.

It was a simple fundamental legal decision that the court made.

He made that decision in July and of course lawyers don't move too quickly.

We had to get a final order presented to the judge and we had some back and forth on that.

But the final order was entered September 30th of 2022 in the Charlottesville Circuit Court and the city noted its appeal to the Court of Appeals of Virginia.

Before that could go up to the Court of Appeals there were some procedural wranglings that went on between the city and the county.

But even during all those wranglings and discussions and court hearings, we still were discussing the possibility of some form of a resolution.

And I think it's been alluded to in the public comment and the board, supervisors are certainly aware that the parties ultimately agreed to terms for ending the litigation.

and again this is a point of clarification.

The agreement that the city and the county entered into was an agreement to end the litigation.

It was an agreement, it was not an agreement to, and I've heard people say, oh the city agreed to end biking at Ragged Mountain Reservoir.

They did not, and we didn't agree to say that biking isn't permitted or all these things aren't permitted.

It was an agreement simply to end the litigation.

and I can't speak to the reasons, I can only report that it was done.

So the city and the county entered into an agreement to withdraw the appeal.

And the terms of that agreement were fairly straightforward.

There were some technical legal things in there about sovereign immunity and other aspects, but they weren't really material to this report.

But the city had agreed to withdraw the appeal.

and that would end the litigation between the parties and that would mean that the Charlottesville Circuit Court judgment would be the law of the case.

It's the final judgment and it's what governs these ordinances, the relationship between these two ordinances.

The city agreed in that withdrawal that within six months it would repeal the biking and horseback riding provisions.

To some extent,

I think that's important for public understanding, not to have the conflicting ordinances, but it doesn't change the law of the case.

The law is that whatever portion of the city ordinance that conflicts with the county ordinance

is ineffective, the county ordinance preempts.

And you will see, I don't want to get too deep into it, but you do see statutes in the Virginia Code that have been deemed unconstitutional.

They're ineffective, but they stay there.

So the bottom line is any portion of the city's ordinance that conflicts with the county's ordinance is of no effect.

whether it's on the books or not on the books but they have agreed to remove those specific items within six months and that will provide clarity for the public so there is significant value in that.

In that agreement the city allowed the county

to go onto the reservoir property and to place signs.

The agreement actually says signs very similar to the one that was posted up there.

So it talks about activities that are permitted and it can speak to activities that are prohibited.

So it doesn't require the county to do that.

It says that the county may do that.

And we are positioned, at least according to the terms of the agreement, to move forward on that at this point in time.

The other part that the city offered and the county accepted was that the county would, and I do use the word, maintain primary law enforcement responsibilities because the police department, at my request and then also at Col.

Reeve's request, went back and researched the history of responses to calls for service out at the reservoir property.

and I can't give you exact numbers except they were overwhelmingly county police, which makes sense because it's perched right there in the county, primarily responds to those calls.

There aren't that many calls out there.

It's not a huge demand.

However, the county did agree that it would maintain primary law enforcement responsibilities and I say primary because that's what we've been doing.

want to make clear that doesn't change the notion that the city and the county have concurrent police powers out at that property.

So what that looks like going forward, again, I don't think it's going to be a huge impact because there's so few calls for service out there.

The city in March

They filed a notice of withdrawing the appeal to the Court of Appeals of Virginia.

What you have up there is the order from the Court of Appeals of Virginia.

It was entered on April 1st, withdrawing the appeal, and so that effectively ended the litigation between the city and the county.

As I said before, that means that the circuit court's order that you saw reported

is the law of the case and the final word at this point in time as to this particular issue.

So the appeal is officially withdrawn at this point.

And so what that leads to is essentially where are we?

What's the status at this point in time?

The litigation has ended.

The legal question has been answered.

We know the relationship between the ordinances.

We know the police powers that this body has in terms of passing or maintaining ordinances related to the reservoir.

And so in terms of discussions and meetings with legal staff and then also the county staff

We essentially came up with three potential reactions or responses to where we're at, the end of the litigation.

So the three that we have essentially are we maintain the status quo and I think we've heard some of that through public comment.

Second option would be to consider expanding the limited recreational activities that would be permitted out there consistent with the animating purpose of protecting the public's water supply.

and then the third is actually and I'll call it kind of loathe to say hybrid coming out of the pandemic but would be essentially a hybrid method and that would be to maintain the status quo at this time but with the intention of working with the city

to arrive at a memorandum of agreement in terms of operations.

Maybe not perfectly similar to Darden Tow, but we do have an agreement with the city, an operational agreement with the city on how that could be managed.

And so one thought was that the county could pursue with the city a memorandum of agreement in terms of how the park will provide for the operation and use of the reservoir.

In terms of maintaining the status quo, we've talked about the agreement to withdraw that gave us the options that we have.

In terms of saying what would the county's response be, one was of course we're allowed to post signs so that's kind of an educational activity.

We post the signs in the park indicating what's permitted, what's prohibited.

There's been discussion of the county's communications office engaging in the public in terms of PSAs or other types of way to get the word out about

what can be done at the park, what limited recreation, I say park, it should say reservoir, I apologize.

The reservoir, what kind of activities would be permitted, what's prohibited, and what they can expect.

There was also discussion very similar, now you go back to the pandemic, very similar to the actions the county took

and during the pandemic and that was to engage ambassadors who would be in a position to meet with the public.

At that point it was six feet.

In this case it may be to be present at the reservoir to suggest to certain people who may be bringing bikes on their cars or trucks or riding up there or doing other prohibited activities to just educate them right there on the spot.

The other option is of course is a legal process and that would be primarily through law enforcement for them to be engaged to provide warnings to the public if they have to be out there for any reason whether it's a call for service or whether somehow they work it out so that they're there just to be educational.

They could issue warnings and if push comes to shove

They could issue citations or summonses for violation of the county ordinance.

It could be considered pretty heavy-handed because a violation of this county ordinance is a Class 1 misdemeanor.

It is the highest misdemeanor, so it's punishable up to 12 months in jail and or a fine of $2,500.

I'm not going to sit here and represent that the Commonwealth's Attorney would take such a heavy-handed approach, and I will say we have

had conversations with the Commonwealth's attorney and that office is very interested in the county offering education to the public and posting the signs and having the communications and the public engagement to educate the public as to what's permitted and what's not permitted.

So that's in terms of

the reaction if we just kind of maintain the status quo, there's no change.

The second option, what we were looking at, was the board could consider permitted or additional recreational activities.

You've heard that in terms of public comment today, the request to do that.

It certainly would require a change in the ordinance, so it would require public engagement, public hearings and discussions, further public hearings and discussions over that.

What option that gives the county, clearly as you've seen through the history in terms of changing what's a permitted activity and what's a prohibited activity, is that you would have the option to be selective.

Say, for example, if the decision were made that running and biking was consistent with protecting the public water supply,

then you can make that decision.

But you can also be selective in terms of, well, is it running but not biking?

Is it running but not horseback riding?

So that gives you an option to be selective.

Of course, we have to adhere to our enabling authority, which in this instance is protection of the water supply.

In identifying those activities that are permitted, if you expand those or change those in any way, I refer you back to the Virginia statute, which said that the city's ordinances that provide for the operation and the use of the reservoir

can't conflict with the county's ordinance.

So if the county is to say that an activity is permitted, then the city is able by ordinance to provide for how those activities can occur.

And so to some extent, the board may be limited in terms of the scope, the intensity, the use in that.

But that is an option and it's something to be considered.

The final response or optional response that we identified was, again I call it hybrid, but it identifies it as a city-county operational memorandum of agreement.

And it really is only limited by one's imagination in terms of what that would look like and what process it would take to reach that.

but I call it a hybrid method because essentially this board would maintain the status quo and then staff would go out and try to work with the city to see what they could come up with but there really are, I did refer to Dardan Tal that does have an operational agreement between the jurisdictions

So that is possible and then in lengthy discussions without going too deep into the negotiations there were discussions of an operational agreement and some that were actually formed so there could be a framework for that.

In any event,

What this would allow the board to do is work with the city to agree upon what activities specifically could be permitted.

And whereas before in the second option, I indicated that the board really wouldn't have much say in terms of the scope, intensity, and frequency in which those activities occur.

In terms of working out of an agreement with the city, that's something that could be addressed.

and so that's something I think it's attractive to be considered.

The other suggestions would be in the effort to reach some type of operational agreement would be to, clearly you'd have to have community engagement but there was mention before of forming an advisory committee to explore the options, to look at what's been done.

to see what the current status of the reservoir property is because we are talking about a change of I think seven years, maybe eight years, so the conditions may be different.

The other option was to consider, for example, what I call a delegate and review type situation.

And so the board and the city council could delegate day-to-day operations or the scope and intensity of operations perhaps to their parks and recreation departments, but then the local governing bodies then would reserve the ability and the right to review either on an annual basis,

the quicker longer to review what the status is and there is some precedent for that I don't have it posted up here but the resolution that City Council eventually adopted provided for an annual review of the uses and the need for the continued uses out at the at the reservoir.

Of course all that does require

It does require amendment of the county code.

It would also require at some point the amendment of the city code and so that necessarily involves community engagements in terms of the public hearings and consideration of any potential amendments.

So with that I've probably exhausted my imagination and I will at this point I'll

Thank you very much.

I really appreciate this and I think that we should first go through questions and then new comments, but there may be more questions as we go, so I'm going to go through the order for questions.

We all know that all six of us hate being first.

Rich, thank you.

That was really informative and extremely well done, and I really appreciated it.

Very informative.

I would love to have that presentation.

If we could have a view, you wouldn't mind.

I think it's public record.

Well, it's public record, but would you send us just, I would just like to.

Absolutely.

And I'm sure that the public might be very interested in having it clearly up on the website somewhere, the presentation, so that people could go and look at it.

To be able to easily find it, that's all.

If that would work.

and I do have a couple of just clarifying questions.

Could you maybe go back to the last slide which had the options?

So I just want to be clear if

So these are sort of the choices that we have, is what I'm understanding, the options.

The second bullet, permit additional activities.

If we agreed to that, we would specifically name the additional activities, but then the city would control how they were implemented.

Is that correct?

So I'm just thinking in my head, trying to understand this, because I understand bullet one and bullet three, but I just want to make sure.

So bullet two essentially would take Albemarle County out of the operational piece and deciding how it plays out.

Correct.

OK, thank you.

I have another question that it's a little tricky to ask, but we've had seven or eight years now

during the pandemic and years before and after the pandemic where there's been a lot of activity going on at Raggy Mountain.

So that activity that's been happening, folks are saying, you know, oh, they saved us so much money and they, I mean, various things.

And that's, I get that.

But that activity has essentially not been permitted or was not permitted.

the biking, which we did have evidence, and I think everyone admits to it, that biking was continuing during that time period when things were kind of unknown.

But there was also issues raised over the construction of the trails.

And so when I point to that statute 15.2, 17.25, and you talk about providing for the operation and the use of that land,

Since hiking was permitted, then it follows that the city, however they manage it, could build trails.

OK, and that's really helpful to hear, because I think everybody's been wondering about that.

So it's good for clarification.

and I know I had another question and of course now it's going right out of my head.

But there was signage I think that was posted.

So the example that I've provided in the presentation

was posted as of 2016.

It was removed.

That's helpful.

Just trying to make sure we understand and we have a clear understanding.

Oh, just one more question because I know everybody has lots of questions.

Tell me about what would be needed because I keep getting, people are always asking me will there be a public hearing.

I'm going to defer to Mr. Rosenberg.

So let me just say that it is, I think, commonly misunderstood that a public hearing is required for the adoption by the governing body of a locality of any ordinance.

In fact,

Public hearings are only required when there is an express requirement for a public hearing in the state code.

So there are certain actions taken by a governing body that are identified in the state code.

And prior to taking those actions, a governing body, like a board of supervisors, must conduct a public hearing.

This is not one of those.

However, it has been the longtime practice of this board and certainly the longtime practice of governing bodies throughout the Commonwealth of Virginia to conduct public hearings every time the board

considers an ordinance for adoption.

Great.

Thank you very much.

Thank you.

Thank you, and I will reserve the right to ask another question later after I think of one, so I'm just trying hard here.

First of all, thank you.

I've been trying to take diligent notes to prevent going around in circles, which is I know my normal tendency and I apologize in advance for that too.

So if I understand option two correctly, and there's been a lot of discussion about, oh, we only, that the proposer or some proposer might say, well, only this trail.

But that's not something that the county can require.

under number two because the city can change its mind.

I want to make sure I understand not to be sort of thinking this and everything is hunky-dory just because somebody says we're only going to do this when they have really no requirement to stand behind that.

For that reason, number two is of concern, let's put it that way.

Also, and that's the same thing as repealing their code.

That was all the combination of the bicycling allowance ordinance is repealing the code.

Those are the same.

No, those were the same things that they would repeal the biking and the horse.

All right.

There has been reference to what has happened in the last seven or eight years.

So where in this group of options would a really thorough assessment of what has happened?

I would suggest the hybrid where the Board of Supervisors would maintain the status quo while staff undertakes reaching out to the city to work with the city.

Right.

And I think I haven't been out there in the last six months, but I do understand that it is dramatically changed from even one year ago.

So that's what something, you know, my own eyeballs need to see it and take more videos than I did last time.

But I hope that this doesn't just fall upon us to get out there and figure this out.

I hope there'll be a process for that.

Excuse me.

And I know that board members have already looked at a lot of the critical resource information, but that's something else.

That would be an option three item as well to be able to more thoroughly evaluate those critical resource areas that everybody talks about.

I mean, the county has talked about in the biodiversity action plan.

They need to protect them, but how?

And so the options for enforcement, whether it's cameras or something, that would be something that would have to be, first of all, would have to get authority to do it, second of all, and maybe we haven't already.

Options for enforcement, do they, I guess,

Is the option for enforcement now only a face-to-face, a police officer seeing something happening?

You mentioned the ambassadors might be able to interdict people and turn them back at the parking lot.

If I were to see you riding a bicycle out on the property at the reservoir, I could go to the magistrate and I could swear out a warrant for your arrest.

And I say that to a warrant, but the magistrate of course could issue a summons in lieu of a warrant.

But a private citizen can go to the magistrate and can obtain legal process against a violator.

I understand the theory of that.

I don't know how one does that with a photograph of somebody.

Eyewitness testimony is evidence.

But one needs identification to make this happen.

I know that this is what the fallback is for barking dogs and many other processes and

Difficult it is both for law enforcement and for the citizen trying to carry this out and then when we get to the judge It seems somehow insufficient often.

I didn't address it in this presentation, but there was There has been mention of the county

It's changing, particularly identifying this violation and making it a lower level violation.

A lower level violation?

Well, I mean, if you're considering getting somebody's attention and holding them accountable for something other than a slap on the wrist, I mean, I guess I'm just a nasty old lady here, but I'm interested in people being accountable, not saying, oh, I can just do this anyway, basically.

And I don't have an answer for that either.

But in many discussions over many years, various groups

of all different activities said, oh, those aren't our people.

You know, they're doing terrible things, but those aren't our people.

And so we can't control what they're doing.

And so that's what makes me concerned as well, whether it's on the highway or on trails, that we will set ourselves up for the same type of situation.

Where in the study process or which one of these made a three would doing an analysis of best practices about water protection happen?

Because that's something that has not been done except anecdotally and by people whose job it is not.

As far as it's not RWSA's job to be environmental protection for environmental protection's sake.

That's the county's job and the county resident's job.

and EPA and DEQ and all those other levels.

And I know that compared to other states, Virginia is very low on the totem pole as far as, or low in expectation about

doing this.

I mean, many other states don't even allow walking around the reservoirs and have big high fences.

The Kwaben Reservoir in western Massachusetts is built.

They took four towns and demolished them and made, that's the water supply for Boston.

And it's been actually for 95 years, it's been very, very successful.

I would suggest that all three options would allow that.

I mean maintaining a status quo the county and or in combination with the city could undertake that type of study before if you were to consider option two before taking any action you could engage in those studies.

Alright, thank you very much.

I'll stop there.

Thank you.

I've taken more notes from your wonderful presentation than I

ever have for anyone else.

So thank you.

It was very, very thorough.

So we're into questions.

I do not because again that was not part of the case.

Correct.

Exactly and I mean I appreciate the fact that this was just regarding jurisdictional

you know prior jurisdictional concerns and that we won the case and so now we're looking at can we go back to the other one the three choices but now we're looking at some perhaps moving forward perhaps not depends on what this board decides but and I really appreciate the history because

A lot of us, I don't think any of us were here back in 74.

And so that I appreciate.

There are a lot of questions I do have regarding, we know that they're going to raise the water at the reservoir.

We know that, what impact will that have?

We know that our primary concern is to preserve

the water supply.

We know that.

But the question is, can we preserve the water supply and maybe have other permitted additional activities?

I don't know the answer to that.

I really don't.

Can biking be a low

Impact, I don't know that Does it affect the water quality?

I don't know that and so this is that's those are questions for if the board decides You know to be able to ask to be able to look into certainly not not now with the presentation the fact that we've had it for a number of years and

is interesting.

Before I even got on the board, they've been doing this, but I do respect the jurisdictional boundaries we have.

I do like, I think you mentioned when I was walking in, maintaining the status quo, but perhaps moving forward with the city.

Maybe that's more in comments, so I apologize.

That's more in comments.

Questions for the attorney.

whatever is allowed not allowed is that correct or any incidences and to go further they have concurrent water protection powers I'm sorry what they have concurrent water protection powers okay so this board could permit certain activities and as I commented before the city

is a water quality issue.

You're saying that the county could say no to that?

The city could.

Okay, because we can just say this is permitted.

Okay, let's say boating.

Okay, row boating.

I don't know.

Row boating is permitted, but if the city determines

and the city can actually say row boating is only permitted on Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, three to five.

Okay.

row boating would be prohibited.

If the county were to allow it and the city were to prohibit it, then it would be prohibited.

For two reasons, one that the Virginia Code gives them the authority to provide for the uses and the operation and also if the animating purpose is protection of water quality then they would be able to do it under that.

Let me answer that question.

I don't think that we in the county attorney's office are telling you what is imperative.

I think that we're explaining, we're trying to explain to the board, you know, what the options are and if you choose simply to allow additional activities as Mr. Deloria has explained to the board,

You're sort of limited in terms of your ability to affect how those additional activities are to be conducted.

On the other hand, if you engage with the city, if there's a decision that's made to engage with the city in a process to determine

you know, how this resource is going to be used.

It gives the county a seat at the table to have some input about how the resource, some greater input about how the resource can be used and at the end of that process, as Mr. Deloria has explained, both

If that's the choice that's made by the Board, yes.

Thank you.

Richie, thank you for this.

This is exactly what I needed.

I understand the options.

That's all clear.

In the 1997 piece where Ivy Creek brought this proposal and each the city, the county, and RWSA voted on it.

So it does not give, it doesn't give, I forget your words, but it doesn't give it any more legs than what it had.

It was an agreement.

and I know the minutes from the Board of Supervisors after they approved the plan they required other conditions but it wasn't put into the ordinance so when the Ivy Creek Foundation withdrew then those provisions essentially went by the wayside.

In terms of the litigation the purpose of it was essentially to the extent that localities can have an intent

Thank you.

And that was just Ragged Mountain?

The Ivy Creek Foundation?

Yeah.

Not that I'm aware of.

if you could go to

That was just to the parking area.

So when I see a portion of the property surrounding... Is not a portion of the Ragged Mountain Reservoir.

When this resolution was adopted, it was for the purpose of, I believe it was a two-acre parking area that's not included in the property.

But it did acknowledge the agreement with the Ivy Creek Foundation's proposal.

I misunderstood the explanation of that one.

And you had mentioned that the city went to some effort

in the planning, et cetera, at work sessions, public process, et cetera.

I mean, I know what the reaction was, is they voted to allow it.

The answer is yes, but their legal opinion was that it was not in conflict.

But it may be.

They were advised that our position was that it was in conflict.

But their position was that they owned the property, that the activity did not affect the water quality, and that the Virginia Code allowed them to develop parks outside their jurisdiction.

The water quality comes up quite a bit.

Did they do a study to say that it definitively didn't affect water quality?

I don't know.

Just as a quick side note, because it's not pertinent to Ragged Mountain, but you made a few points about the policing, specifically the police department.

I'm just noting here that I think there's some nuances there that I'd probably want to ask further questions about related to other properties of similar nature that I'd like to know answers to.

So I don't know when the best time to ask those are.

K-Tech, Burley, this building, et cetera.

Thank you.

And they're just for understanding based on some commentary here.

So you're not aware of from the city that any study on the water.

It doesn't sound like we ever have done a study on the water.

And it doesn't sound like our WSA ever did a study on the water other than their opinion.

Related to this issue, I would say no.

In terms of looking over their minutes, in terms of their operations, they do regular evaluations, so there was indication of that.

But again, it wasn't specific to this particular issue.

Yes, first I'd just like to again echo the observation from my colleague earlier that this was a very valuable presentation.

It would be great if it could be included perhaps in the Miss Borgeson, if this could be included as one of the attachments, as like an attachment five to the agenda.

and I'll say for the public, for those who aren't maybe as familiar with this, if you go to just Google Albemarle Board of Supervisors, scroll to the bottom of that page, there's a link that takes you to all of our online scheduled meetings.

If you go to this day and hit agenda, it'll then show you the agenda with hyperlinks for each individual part of the agenda, which will then show you any kind of documents that are related to it.

That is where this will hopefully be in the future and also where additional supporting documents related to this are.

because I know that there are plenty of people who aren't able to be here at 3.30 on a workday afternoon who might

benefit from some of this material.

And also, after this meeting, that is the same location that this will be recorded.

I just wanted to observe that I saw a lot of people taking photos.

And to me, that indicates that maybe we aren't communicating well how to get that material to your friends who might also benefit from this.

So sorry to have a long question that wasn't directed at you to begin with.

I'm from the mountains of South Carolina in the Blue Ridge district where we have a lot of lakes and none of them existed before the 50s.

They're all created by Duke Power as hydroelectric facilities.

I am aware that the current shape and nature of the reservoir is partially constructed by not clear if this lake exists at all.

absent human intervention.

And I know from our earliest image that you have in the late 1800s, there is water there.

So this is a very basic question, and I'm asking you to be a natural historian when I know you're a lawyer.

So I just have to qualify that I'm not an environmental expert, but in preparing the case and researching the case, we were able to pull the deeds in which the city of Charlottesville purchased this land and it was a creek.

Whether it had small dams or whether the city installed the dams at certain points in time, I can't answer that, but it was a creek.

Thank you for that.

And I'm sure these things change also based on weather patterns.

I just want to acknowledge that.

Not as a question, just as an acknowledgment.

My understanding, if we can go back to the options kind of at hand slide, just for your purposes.

I think we touched on this for option two, but I just kind of generally want to highlight that option one and option two are quite similar in many ways mechanically.

Am I correct that as far as the construction

It's a difficult question.

It depends on what impact or effect that those trails might have on water quality.

Keeping in mind the animating purpose behind what the county can do, if there's some rational relationship between the construction of the trails and the compromise of the water source, a clean water source, then

then arguably and that's kind of the standard is can you have a

Fair argument as to whether the policy should be adopted.

This sounds like something that might be an additional ordinance if that was an authority we wanted to exercise and not something we can do administratively.

Is that accurate?

It's not too tricky.

I mean, hypothetically, if there's land disturbance and it's actually land disturbance and it's documented and it meets a certain threshold, then there could be erosion and sediment control issues that are rising.

I also want to make sure I'm not misunderstanding this.

It does seem like from the history you provided, the first time that jogging and biking were expressly contemplated was quite late in the game.

I think the first time we saw those words were in the city's ordinance.

I think in 1997, the Ivy Creek Foundation identified bicycling in terms of their plan.

They did limit it to foot travel.

Or as something that should be avoided.

But it would be fair to say, starting in the early 70s, we've had quite a lot of different restrictions and prohibitions that have changed at times.

If I understand the question, the City of Charlottesville, their ordinance as it was constructed and drafted and adopted is very similar to the construct of the county's ordinance.

So they permit certain things, they prohibit identified things, but they also say if it's not expressly permitted, it's prohibited.

I was actually

I was asking specifically about our ordinances, the Albemarle County ordinances, that they've never actually explicitly identified biking or jogging as a prohibitive activity.

They've only been prohibited under Albemarle County ordinances as a all other things not covered.

You're correct.

Whereas there have been times in our history where we have expressly prohibited

So I think you're right.

So the city's administrative regulation did have that dichotomy between permitted and unpermitted activities.

I also do just want to make sure that I have this correct and kind of by asking a question make a statement.

My understanding is that option two, permitting additional activities, does have some degrees of variation in how we could choose to execute that, which could include permitting jogging but not biking.

It could include permitting jogging, biking, but not horseback riding.

It could include permitting jogging, riding, biking, but not dog walking, etc.

Is that a correct assessment?

Absolutely.

I understand that most of the discussion has been about the city and the county, so I just want to make sure I've touched on the other players in this to see where they fit.

And I'll just give an example.

I went to the Rivanna Authority's website and it says, Rivanna Water Authority owns the assets and leases the rights to the water so we can manage, monitor, treat the water in order to provide 24-7.

We do not make recreational land use decisions.

I have to jump into the substance of the lease and I don't recall that.

It would be tough to say, but my recollection is that

that the body of water that they in fact do have control over that.

I mean, could they prohibit under the lease, could they prohibit kayaking or row boating?

Okay, but I don't know for certain so I don't want to it's okay because it actually helps me with the second part of the question which is of course understanding absent the winning the lawsuit and I'm beginning to really realize appreciate this discussion because it makes me realize how important incredibly important the lawsuit was but under the lawsuit if the city had really overstepped and tried to say well we're gonna do you know

allow all sorts of activities, they still had to, I guess the words were, you know, not affect the water quality in doing so.

I mean, they still have to find that it doesn't affect the water quality or absent the lawsuit.

I think the answer to your question is that the city, so this is by way of illustration because part of the argument was that we're allowed, that the city was allowed under the Virginia code to build trails and parks and our response was that's a bit of a slippery slope.

in the sense that the authority to build the parks and the trails spoke to hiking trails, biking trails.

It also spoke to ATV trails and motor biking trails.

So that's the way to illustrate that the answer to your question is, if we had not prevailed, then yes, the city would be open to be able to expand the recreational activities, perhaps to some things that would, and they wouldn't have to study whether it would be detrimental or not.

what the parties or the localities would have to do and we would have the police power if we were to determine that it was detrimental to the water quality or the water supply then the code does allow us to take action.

But if we weren't able to show that running ATVs and four-wheelers was detrimental to the public water supply and we had not prevailed

then that would that could be going on that and I do want to say there was never any expression on the city's part to do ATVs or motorcycles.

That's exactly where I was going with this and I do appreciate it.

The city never was proposing that.

Similarly, we've had this discussion here today.

I just want to make clear again, I think several people have said it, that if there was a request by one of the speakers earlier that we only allow one trail.

We don't have any authority to only allow one trail.

The city, as long as

What they're doing with those trails isn't somehow affecting the water quality.

Right, okay.

If we could go back one more time to slide 11, only because of the, I'm still trying to wrap my head around the Ivy Creek Foundation, so I said I was interested in trying to explore the different parties besides the city and the county here.

This is talking about a resolution to authorize a gift.

Maybe it was on the previous slide, but at some point in here there is an Ivy Creek Foundation agreement to manage the property.

And did that require ordinances by the city and the county to authorize that?

I believe it was done.

I can't recall if I had resolutions.

I know from the county's point of view,

From the county's perspective, I did have minutes documenting that the county did approve the plan.

I also didn't include it in this presentation because it was somewhat cumulative.

But we also, after the city and the county approved the plan, Ivy Creek Foundation then submitted essentially what was a final plan.

And so that was a 1998 document and report.

I hope that answers your question.

I don't know that it does.

But there was no ordinance accepting the plan or identifying Ivy Creek Foundation as the manager of this property or anything like that.

If it was done, it was done by resolution.

But votes were taken by City Council and by the Board of Supervisors.

I don't know if RWSA voted to approve it.

Okay, thank you.

I guess that's pretty much all my questions.

I make two other kind of question observations.

One is that the Rivanna website, which I alluded to earlier, also has a recreation page that you can link to, and it says hiking and running are permitted at the Ragged Mountain Reservoir and at Toady Oak Creek.

but I guess they're really not so that may be in need of attention.

And more recently there was some discussion about which properties and of course again the parking area here is

is along the road almost opposite Holiday Trails before you actually enter the road that takes you up the hill to the reservoir, but the county has, correct me if I'm wrong, the county has placed a sign on Reservoir Road, but the sign that I saw, I took a picture of it this morning, is

and others.

it adjoins, I guess they call it the Hayward Community Forest now.

And the sign is actually on the, I think, Hayward Community Forest property as well.

And again, as the first person, I want to just make sure.

We can come back.

We can come back, sure.

But at this point, it would be advantageous for the board and the staff to know if we have a preference for one of these options.

So Rich, you probably should put the options back up.

Twitch your nose again.

Thank you, thank you.

So at this point, I certainly am supportive of maintaining the status quo.

I mean, that's where I am right now.

If the powers that be determine that they want another option other than that, then I would probably have lots more questions and need lots more information.

But I am comfortable right now

with the status quo of where we are right now.

Graggin Mountain is a reservoir, and I'm not going to go into a lot of comments, and I want to make sure that we protect our water.

Okay, thank you.

Yes, ditto, actually.

The more I learn, the more I think the status quo is absolutely essential, and the

I think that what I have learned about certainly number two makes that absolutely a bad idea from my perspective only because

Future electeds in either jurisdiction may decide to do something totally different, and if we have already put additional activities in there and our partner jurisdiction decides to do something completely different than what we were understanding when we allowed those other things fully within their right, then

We have no choice except to live with it, and the ratepayers will then have the responsibility of having to spend greater money to get the water quality back to where it would have been if we had just had that status quo and have used prevention of future damage as the main effort.

I am more

in favor of permit additional activities, but also city county operational MOA.

This is something that I think provides us an opportunity to work.

I feel comfortable from what has been presented that the RWSA has control over the water, control over the water quality that I feel means everything to this community, i.e.

protecting our water quality.

And I feel comfortable that they have jurisdiction over that.

They're going to make sure that the water quality is protected.

What I don't know is because we're going back to 1975, things have changed.

Different things have changed and agreements and everything.

I personally would like to see what is possible.

Does it make sense to have biking?

I don't know.

Will it create a problem for water quality?

I don't know.

Is there another option, maybe a two-loops option or something that could permit both keep hikers and bikers away from each other?

I don't know.

I mean, I just see this as an opportunity to work with the city because that has been, I mean, we've gone through this lawsuit.

Now we've won this lawsuit.

And the, I'm not saying what to permit, what not to permit.

But I think this is a good opportunity for us to move forward with the city and get their experts, our experts, to study to see if there are detrimental uses.

There may not be.

There may be.

I don't know.

But I would like those people in the know

to be able to let us know that so that we can come up with maybe an MOU that will work.

I can't say what that's going to look like.

I can't say what it would include.

Once again, I will reiterate, I feel comfortable that our water source is protected.

Are there other things that we could do that we want to do to permit things?

I don't know.

We've got the rising waters from the Rivanna from the reservoir.

It's going to rise in a couple of years.

That's going to change everything because there are hiking trails right around that.

That's going to wipe those out.

I think we should kind of look at the whole thing and say is this something that needs to be revisited, redone, is this something we need to study to see yes it's worth it, yes it's not worth it, yes we can include this, no we can't include this.

I think there could pop a compromise making sure that the water quality is protected, that's number one.

That's where I'm actually

coming from I'd like to see us have an MOA, operational MOA, discuss permitted additional activities, but also do a study to see can we do something else?

I mean these agreements go back so they didn't even have biking, like mountain biking back in the 70s.

So things evolve, things move.

Do we want to go there?

I don't know.

But I would like the opportunity, frankly, to work with the city of Charlottesville to see what they have to say, to work with the disparate groups to see what they have to say.

Well, I'm glad we're not taking action today because if I had to vote today, then I would, I think I'd be voting without the proper information to make an informed decision.

and that would have pointed me to option one to maintain with the history and the information that is there and past actions by both jurisdictions and really problematic process even from another jurisdiction that was advised that the ordinance may be in conflict.

We are used to making decisions.

I'm used to receiving information that allows us to clearly say yes or no to something and not leave it up to anecdotal or just opinion almost.

I'm a little befuddled that the only thing that could be pointed at as a

as a study is an opinion letter from RWSA.

And some may debate the authority of the RWSA.

I've heard both sides of that argument.

But it seems that we're in an area where detrimental water supply is something that's probably been studied before, probably has some things on it, and that's information that I wouldn't have expected legal to bring forward.

I was wondering if it had been done historically to lead to these type of things.

but I mean that seems to be the critical piece of information.

It either does or it doesn't.

I'm never going to go all in on MOAs.

I've seen too often how that, I mean just getting city street sweepers over into our county and what can happen when things, staffing goes haywire, can change annual MOAs.

So to me this has to be,

You know, this is a decision that if the permitted additional activities were allowed, that I have to be confident that I have no say over how those activities are programmed.

But for the line that says, if it impacts water quality.

And I don't know what that line is.

Thank you.

So I want to just say from the jump that I am broadly in favor, I'm strongly in favor, not broadly in favor, of option three to work to develop an MOA with the goal of getting to a position where we are able to have some biking and jogging use of the current area, that we are able to de-conflict those uses with people who only want to hike.

and that we are able to thoughtfully constrain and delegate where trails will be now and in the future for both of those uses.

All three of those things I don't think we can adequately do with the current toolkit that we have.

And so with that on the table is kind of how I feel about this.

I want to kind of slightly articulate my position.

First, like the two kind of

principles with which I approach this and then some of the arguments I might make in this particular circumstance.

So as a principle, you know, I am a jogger and I am a dog walker.

And so I say that to say that I am not inherently particularly fond of biking.

Right?

Those are things I understand how it is you have an inherent, oh, I don't like passing them on the trail.

Or, oh, they can spook me.

They can spook my dog.

My dog wants to investigate them.

I get that argument.

I will also say I've lived here for a while now.

I've walked my dog.

I've jogged on a lot of these trails, including I've jogged on Ragged Mountain.

and we do have a very good community that does not really realize the worst part of those fears.

And I would also say as a second part of like my governing philosophy on this, I think our natural heritage has public value when the public has a way to experience it.

And I'm very thoughtful and concerned when I hear the language of conservation being realized as a way to constrain

enjoyment and access to a resource to limit it to some and not limit it to others.

So that is kind of a first principle by which I approach this.

So from that, I would say like argumentatively, like actually turning that into a point.

I do think the system and the position, the posture for which we would currently do any enforcement, I want to recognize how every part of this is so inherently combative.

Right now we have broken people into two interest groups who are arguing against each other.

We've broken the board in some ways into interest groups who are arguing against each other and we've heard, I believe Chair Andrews alluded to this, but there's actual friction on the ground level.

And frankly, throughout our history, both as has been described here with the city, but also with the city's residents, our government has not always had a strong relationship.

I don't think it is helpful to have a scenario where we are continuing to engender conflict between groups in our community, between groups on the board, between this community and another community.

I do think, perhaps a little Pollyanna and optimistically, that we have an opportunity to actually have collaboration between different stakeholders through the MOA process by bringing people to the table.