Board of Supervisors Annual Organizational Meeting   1/5/2022

Good afternoon.

I would like to call the Albemarle County Board of Supervisors meeting for January the 5th, 2022 to order please.

I'd like to read the following statement.

My name is Jeff Richardson.

I'm the County Executive and this is the organizational meeting for the Albemarle County Board of Supervisors.

This meeting is being held pursuant and in compliance with ordinance number 20-A16, an ordinance to ensure the continuity of government during a COVID-19 disaster.

The supervisors who are electronically present at this meeting are

Ann Mallek, Diana McKeel, Ned Gallaway, Bea LaPisto-Kirtley, Donna Price, Jim Andrews, Samuel Miller,

The opportunities for the public to access and participate in the electronic meeting are posted on the Albemarle County website, on the Board of Supervisors homepage, and on the Albemarle County calendar.

Participation will include the opportunity to comment on those matters for which comments from the public will be received.

I'd like to also recognize other members of the staff who are with us today.

That includes Greg Campner from the County Attorney's Office and Ms.

We will now recognize a moment of silence.

Thank you very much.

As I mentioned at the beginning of this meeting, this is the annual organization meeting of the supervisors.

And as the county executive, I will conduct the election of the chair.

Once the election of the chair is completed, I will then turn the meeting over to the newly elected chair.

Okay, there is a nomination for Supervisor Price for Chair and there is a second.

At this time, I would like to ask the Board, are there other nominations?

There being no further nominations, the nominations are now closed.

I have already received a second for that nomination for Ms.

Price.

Mr. Andrews?

Yes.

Mr. Gallaway?

Mr. McKeel?

Stop.

Stop, please.

Are we voting on the nomination?

There was a nomination.

Thank you, Greg.

I move that we name

Second.

There's a nomination in a second.

Mr. Kamner, I apologize.

That was my fault.

So Mr. Kamner, I do believe now that we can call roll for the nomination of Ms.

Price as the chair of the board.

Is that correct, sir?

Yes.

Thank you.

And again, I apologize.

Mr. Andrews?

Yes.

Mr. Galloway?

Yes Ms.

LaPisto-Kirtley Aye Ms.

Mallek Yes Ms.

Price Aye So the motion to elect Supervisor Price as Chair passes.

Thank you, Mr. Richardson.

Second.

Are there any other nominations?

There being no further nominations, the nominations are closed.

Is there a motion?

So moved.

Second.

The motion has been made and seconded.

Mr. Morris, will you call the roll?

Yes, sir.

Mr. Galloway?

Yes.

Mr. Bea LaPisto-Kirtley?

Aye Ms.

Mallet Yes Ms.

Karras Aye Thank you.

Thank you board and congratulations Supervisor LaPisto-Kirtley.

At this time I would like to give each of the board members an opportunity to comment at the beginning of our new year.

and Supervisor Galloway.

After two years of Chair Galloway, that's going to take a little while to address.

I just want to wish everybody, our citizens and our staff a happy new year.

I am thankful to the residents and the citizens of the Rio district for electing me to a second term.

I enjoy doing this work and will enjoy doing the work for this for the next four years will remain focused on my priorities as I've always stated public education, public safety and economic development and I know that this year has gotten starting off pretty rough with folks out there in terms of power internet access and those sorts of things I'm sure we'll be receiving an update on that but being mindful of that I appreciate all the work that our staff does to get out

and respond to calls of emergency calls and providing the service that we need to do in an event like this.

So Mr. Richardson, please send along that word of thank you to everybody involved with that effort.

Thank you.

Yes, I want to second that gratitude for the county's emergency services, safety services in particular at this time.

I too am grateful and humbled to the people of the Samuel Miller district for entrusting me to this position and honored to serve.

Obviously, this has been a rough start for this week.

Government may not always

be able to do everything you want but if you let us know we might be able to do what you need as they say.

A lot of us without power and connectivity but hopefully we have neighbors and can get the word out if need be.

I know there'll be more on that later.

I just want to say for me starting out hearing from people is the most important part of my job right now so even though you know I've made it clear my campaigning my values include the schools and environment and equity and economic resilience

but I don't think I have all the information, the board doesn't have all the information or ideas and the public can help.

So please, I say be careful what you wish for but right now I'm wishing for a wealth of great ideas from people to give me and to us by email, mail, public comments or phone calls if warranted to help us stay on the right track.

Thank you, Supervisor Andrews.

Yes, good afternoon and happy New Year's 2022.

And I do, again, Ned and Jim just said, I really appreciate the folks in the Jack Jouett district for re-electing me for another term.

And I do also want to thank all the folks for reaching out to me

all year long, especially when they have something that they really need in the way of constituent service.

That has been, I think, for many, many years, my top focus is trying to help folks with their quality of life.

And I think all of us recognize that often we don't know unless people reach out to us.

So it's very helpful when we hear from our constituents and even just folks in other magisterial districts.

I would agree with Ned in that economic development is one of my focuses and the reason is because we really need to figure out how to rebalance revenues, reducing our reliance on property taxes, and we need to be able to diversify our economic base.

That is critical for the work and the

ideas and platform that we want to put forward.

I also want to just say that I really am also focused on resilience through our Climate Action Plan and providing equity of opportunity and service delivery.

And that can encompass lots, whether it's affordable housing or transit, even the Albemarle, Charlottesville Regional Jail renovation that's going to be happening.

And just one other thought in that partnering right now with our school board is really, really important in my opinion because of the capacity issues that our school division is seeing.

as well as seeking opportunities to partner with our school board and the school division on use of government and school owned properties.

I think that could really move our community forward in lots of ways, whether it's

just a myriad of ways of providing more space for our employees to work, better facilities, recycling centers, and a landslaying campus that really has a focus on education.

Thank you.

The new year is, I remember, to unmute, and that's great.

Welcome to Supervisor Andrews, and welcome back to the newly elected Supervisors McKeel and Galloway.

I look forward to working with all of you through the next two years, at least, and that's the rest of my term, so I look forward to that.

Greetings to our citizens in 2022.

Let me start by sharing the discomfort many residents have had over the last three or four days.

We in the northwest part of the county are that rural chunk that has not seen service yet.

So we will hope to have it by tomorrow, but there are a lot of people who are really, really suffering.

And it goes to that resilience issue that's already been mentioned.

The benefits to electric power are way more than life.

It's the hot water to take a shower or the cold water to flush a toilet or to water your cattle and your other livestock.

So we really look forward to having great improvement on that service and for Dominion to make more progress on the undergrounding that they've been working on for the last four or five years.

This is an example also of how prepared we all must be in our own homes.

I heard, as I was struggling with my internet, people saying, well, they have a generator.

Well, our generator quit yesterday.

So it's not a perfect solution.

You still have to have those bottles of water to flush the toilet and things stashed away for when those modern technology things don't pan out as we would hope.

The other that I haven't heard much discussion about at all in the last many years is when traveling in the winter.

We all need to have the blanket, the flashlight, the candle, the matches to keep you a little bit warm.

Believe it or not, it works.

And a quick trip to the store could turn out to be a 24 hour disaster as was suffered by so many people in the I-95 just the other day.

For those of us who live in the country, we tend to take our houses with us, you know, on our backs all the time like turtles to be prepared for whatever's going to happen in that 20-mile drive.

But I think everybody needs to go back to being more of a more of a Boy Scout and being prepared for things.

I support the work of the county leadership and the workforce has done during this very stressful last year.

We've tried our very best to provide services to our residents and to improve processes to keep county government operating.

While we have many more obstacles to face, COVID-19, 20, and 21 are all bounding around, I am confident we will avoid chaos, which is the most important thing for our services and the confidence of our citizens.

I would like to begin with some special kudos to local residents.

They're in the LaPisto-Kirtley district.

Our regional historic preservation organization, Preservation Piedmont, has presented the 2021 Preservation Award to owners Tim Mullins and Tara Crossan and builder Craig Jacobs, who is on our Historic Preservation Committee, by the way, for thoughtful rehabilitation of an important Albemarle County structure called thin dowry.

It is the oldest frame home standing in the county now, built about in the 1780s.

It's an iconic Virginia design.

The preservation of the home and outbuildings and the property as a whole is a true gift to Albemarle County and a testament to the many who have worked to bring this about.

And I thank again Jared Lowenstein, longtime chair of the Historic Preservation Committee, who really recruited buyers and helped in outreach efforts and assistance to these owners.

Where are we going on some high priority program issues?

I concur with all the things which have already been mentioned, jobs for our citizens, housing for our citizens.

Phase one of the housing policy with its specific actions and protocols does improve the county's ability somewhat to require and retain moderately priced housing.

But we need to complete that phase two adoption ASAP to ensure that a larger percentage of new construction in our few remaining green fields as well as in redevelopment

provides the types of housing needed by our residents.

Funding long-promised infrastructure in our growth areas, which are overflowing with new residents.

All districts have this happening.

It's a very high priority.

The comp plan update should make changes to prioritize green space in the growth areas to increase the quality of life.

If fewer units are built to make room for the green space, that should be a goal.

The quality of life for residents is outside their house walls as well.

I remember a donation offer of land for eight rectangular recreation fields in Crozet in 2010-2011.

The county BOS at the time refused the donation because they would have needed to modify the comp plan and lost some proffers.

Yet the 120 houses built on that land since have each paid only $300 in proffers because the project was approved in 2005.

The total amount of that did not pay one salary for one teacher for one year.

We need to do better than that.

Adding climate considerations to every level of investment and approval will bring better decisions by the whole staff.

Interconnections in our climate action policy to include procurement and disposal and environmental implications of all of our purchases must be clear before we purchase.

We can't decide to answer that question down the road.

As Albemarle works to tell a more complete history and improve equitable provision of services, we must go the next step to make better decisions which affect our populations.

Started in 2009 in Fairfax County, the NAACP's Environmental and Climate Justice Program recognized the strong correlation between issues like pollution, lack of quality natural spaces, and its effect on the health, well-being, and socioeconomic advancement of vulnerable communities.

They had three goals, and they're still working on them.

Reduce harmful emissions, particularly greenhouse gases, advance energy efficiency and clean energy in the home, and strengthen community resilience and sustainability.

I'm proud to say that we are starting down that path as well locally, and I look forward to the county doing more in the future.

On the knowledge front, the county does not know where its historic cemeteries are.

should the county ask citizens to provide their knowledge to better ensure the state rules about cemetery preservation are followed.

State rules put an obligation on a landowner to protect a cemetery and provide access to descendants.

Yet Albemarle has no process to map, assist, or enforce those state rules.

And when it comes up, it's always after the fact, after the bulldozer has run across the graveyard.

Other counties have paved the way for gathering this information.

Identification of these places will help us provide equitable protection to all residents and their ancestors.

At the same time, the day-to-day issues, our citizens demand police enforcement for speeding and pedestrian safety, construction of sidewalks and bridges, and we need to connect our communities even better than they are now.

There is a lot to do, and I look forward to every minute of it.

And before the next meeting, I promise to have a nice hot shower and look much better than I do today.

Thank you, Supervisor Mallek.

Yes, thank you very much, Chair Price, for this opportunity.

Mine won't be quite as long.

I just wanted to say my support is always there for education, economic development, and support of our first responders, and of course, equity in all aspects of everything we continue to do as a county.

And I want to also give a special thank you to our staff.

I feel that the county has done a great job, staff has done a great job in helping all of our residents for these past two years.

We've gone through a lot, services were still

still there for everybody and our staff did a lot of hard work and I just wanted to say a special thank you to our staff.

Also, in my particular community, as I know everyone else has been doing, we're reaching out to those that are in need.

Those who don't have internet, don't have power, who need their sidewalks shoveled or something.

We're going out and we're reaching out to those people who are less fortunate or who can't do it themselves.

Perhaps they're elderly, disabled, and reach out to your neighbors and help them.

And lastly, I will say that our board is, I'm very impressed with our board.

I think we've done a great job.

We don't always agree, which is normal, but you know what?

We have a sense of community here that we want to do what is best for all of our residents.

And for that, you can always count on that we will strive to do what is best for our community, especially during these trying times.

So thank you very much, Chair Price.

It will take us a while to adjust.

Thank you so much.

When I think of this year, my thoughts turn to the four groups that have been essential to achieving the stability that we as a community and a county have been able to achieve.

First and foremost are the members of our community, be they businesses which provide the incomes necessary for our survival, the nonprofits which seek the betterment of the general welfare for all, or the individuals, both those who serve our county in innumerable volunteer positions as well as the common resident.

It is the people who have made all else possible.

I think of our county staff, our forward-facing public servants who provide daily regular and responsive services to the public.

Albemarle County and through them our entire community are blessed to have these dedicated individuals serving you.

I got to know many of these in my individual capacity long before running for office as I have been remodeling and improving my property.

I greatly appreciate their let's get this right rather than let's punish you for shortcomings approach.

They see life as when they can help you do things the right way.

We all benefit.

Think of the elected and appointed public servants, like now former supervisor Liz Palmer, and most especially from my personal experience, Rick Randolph.

Although both of them are merely examples of so many others.

Rick served for four years as a planning commissioner, four years as a supervisor, and then two more years as a planning commissioner, clearly putting public service above self.

I think of Supervisor Ann Mallek, who has served as chair of this board, has been on the board for many years, and is now the second vice president of BACO, serving the entire Commonwealth.

I think of Supervisor Diantha McKeel and Ned Gallaway, who have served on both the school board and the Board of Supervisors, as the chair of both.

I think of Supervisor Bea LaPisto-Kirtley, who has previously served her community, rising to the mayor in California, and is now again serving the community as a supervisor.

And I think of our newest member, Jim Andrews, who brings his experience as both an attorney and a professor with an education background, which will assist all of us in our decision making.

What sets Albemarle County apart from other local municipalities, however, has been the steady, stable, and long-term leadership of the Office of the County Executive and the County Attorney.

The foresight of our county executive, Jeff Richardson, the astuteness of our county attorney, Greg Campner, and the dedication of innumerable citizens and public servants in an era of anger, and while a deadly pandemic that has killed more than 825,000 Americans with the death toll last year, 20% higher than average, a pandemic that continues to disrupt our economy and impact all of our lives.

Albemarle County has not only survived, we have thrived.

Our overall success for this year, however, is once again at substantial risk with the latest surge this time of the Omicron variant.

As we begin 2022, I am both comforted and reassured by the recent mutual decision of the Board of Supervisors and our county executive, Mr. Richardson, to reinforce his stability of his position in the county for this foreseeable future.

While any large organization will inevitably and necessarily experience the turnover of personnel, we all should recognize and appreciate that it is through the steady home, steadfastness, and firm leadership of our Office of the County Attorney, our County Executive, which includes our Deputy and Assistant County Executives Doug Walker and Trevor Henry, that has led the County through these challenging years.

Knowing that they are in place will give us great assurances for our continued success.

Our challenges are many and much work remains, but we are extremely well positioned to continue to move our beloved county forward.

Our Commonwealth is known for its manner of conducting business as the Virginia Way, and I believe that we in the county, all of us, have improved upon even that with the Albemarle County Way.

I will continue to the best of my ability to help the Board of Supervisors exemplify the best aspects of governance, decorum, and comedy, and call upon all who come before this body to similarly do their part to achieve those objectives.

At this time, we'll move to the appointment of our clerk and senior deputy clerk and board.

Ms.

Claudette Borgerson has expressed interest in being reappointed as our clerk and Travis Morris as our senior deputy clerk.

I have a motion.

So moved.

Second.

All right, we have a motion and a second to appoint Ms.

Borgerson as our clerk and Mr. Morris as our senior deputy clerk.

Yes.

Mr. Gallaway.

Yes.

Mr. Bea LaPisto-Kirtley.

Aye.

Ms.

Mallek.

Yes.

Ms.

McNeil.

Yes.

Ms.

Aye.

Thank you and congratulations to Ms.

Borgerson and Mr. Morris.

We need to address and set our calendar for next year.

We have previously had submitted a calendar which would set meetings for the first, second, and third Wednesday of January 2023.

The first and third Wednesday of every other month, excluding the first Wednesday in July, that would be July 6th.

But I will also ask for consideration of eliminating the second meeting in December 2022 and would bring that up for discussion.

Do any supervisors desire to comment on the calendar?

Supervisor Galloway?

I'll make the comment about the meeting.

I have no problem with the July.

Good idea.

The comment I would make about the second meeting in December

is that perhaps it's there as if needed.

In the past, some things can really stack up that need to be done by the end of the year.

And perhaps by October or November, through the pre-agenda work, it would probably be figured out if that meeting is going to be needed or not.

Thank you, Supervisor Galloway.

I share those comments.

I agree with those comments.

I have no further comment.

Thank you.

All right.

Yeah, it might be good, Donna, just to help the community understand the thought of

while we made this meeting shorter and moved the meeting to next week as well because I'm not sure that we had that discussion.

And I mean, I'm happy to say my understanding was that it was based on the calendar and how quickly staff and everyone was coming back from the new year that we were trying to simplify the meeting so that

folks had better time to prepare for the meeting, staff as well as supervisors.

That is, Supervisor McKeel, that's correct.

And just for our community, it was a combination of several factors.

The last several years, as everyone knows, both within the county staff as well as in our community, the last several years with the pandemic have been especially difficult.

And the demands that have been placed on workers of all levels and all industries has been very difficult.

When we looked at the calendar this year with our first Wednesday being so close after,

Christmas, New Year's holiday.

A decision was made to make the first meeting today an organizational meeting and push until the second Wednesday in January all of the normal work that would otherwise take place.

That would allow staff an opportunity to actually have a vacation, come back, and we could just simply move our regular work till the second Wednesday in January, and then we'll have our regular meeting on the third Wednesday in January as we would perform what we have.

Similarly, for 2023, if you look at the calendar, that first Wednesday is very early in the year.

And as I've looked forward for several years, we may be facing the same opportunity to try and help both be more efficient and give staff an opportunity to actually enjoy a Christmas holiday.

Yeah, I just I've heard some folks indicating in the community they weren't sure why we were doing this and I just want to make sure that everyone understood the rationale behind it and thank you and I do agree.

I like the idea of the July

We have done that historically in the past and I think it's a great idea to reduce our meetings in July by one so that everybody has a chance to get a vacation.

I do also agree though with Ned to leave that meeting as a placeholder because I do remember in the past a couple of times when I was chair and we you can really find all kinds of backlog if you're not careful and there are it's a matter of do you have the meeting or then do you just add another meeting in January which kind of defeats the whole purpose

So I would say having that meeting as a placeholder is a good idea.

Thank you.

I agree that keeping something on the calendar is important in case it's needed so people can predict.

The other idea I would offer is that for that December, if we're interested in compressing things away from the end of the year, that perhaps we propose that if we needed that second meeting would be on the second Wednesday.

Sort of the opposite of what we're doing or the same thing as what we're doing this month.

That's an interesting thought, Supervisor Mallek, and I think actually one worth discussing is that if having a meeting in December isn't as needed, but make it the second Wednesday, and then that way we basically, it's still a win-win for us if we do need that meeting.

I do know that in July, I totally agree with July, we're fortunate this year because the July meeting also fits into five Wednesdays in June and so that gives everybody a really long vacation so I'm just wondering maybe in the future if there's another

July that has maybe five Wednesdays we might adjust it a little bit but that's maybe for discussion in the future.

I like the idea of the first Wednesday either being very short or eliminating it all together and just having it the second and third so either way I'm open to a shortened version of the first Wednesday in January but I do like the idea of

the second Wednesday in December, if needed, to switch it to that spot.

Thank you, Supervisor LaPisto-Kirtley.

Madam Chair, I don't have any negative reaction to that recommendation.

This board is always sensitive to the staff turnaround and I know that our staff probably sees that as a trade-off and that is

You get through the majority of the work quicker in December.

It's going to make for some really quick turnarounds in that time frame from Thanksgiving until the second week in December.

But then we get a little extra time that we earn as well as the board moving into the Christmas, New Year holidays.

Ms.

Borgerson is also on the call, and she and Travis do a great job of trying to move these

move the work through to build the agendas as does the county attorney's office.

They may know something that I don't, but I think that this compression in December would achieve giving us more time off during those holidays.

I appreciate the board thinking about that.

All right, thank you.

And I will ask if Ms.

Borderson or if you have any comments that you would like to make if you're available.

And while waiting for her to log in, so to speak, for our community, I want to express that what we were looking at in dropping the first meeting in July, again, going back to some very difficult times, was by doing that, it opens up a larger window for vacations for county staff so that some staff could take off the first half of that extended window, some other county staff, the second half.

and by scheduling that now, it gives staff an opportunity to make reservations in advance, assuming of course we come out of the pandemic and people are able to travel again.

But even if not, even a staycation is some sort of a vacation.

So Mr. Morris or Ms.

All right, Board, it appears that we have consensus on not having a meeting on the 6th of July, the first Wednesday in July, and consensus on in 2023 setting January the same way we have this year, the first, second, and third.

Second.

The motion has been made to have our second meeting in December scheduled for the second Wednesday on an as-needed basis, and we have a second.

Is there any further discussion on the motion?

Ms.

Frangilans.

Hi, thank you, Board, and thank you, Mr. Richardson and Mr. Morris, for your additional input.

At this time, it's time for us to adopt the Board rules, policies, and operating guidelines.

We first have the adoption of the Board rules of procedures, item 8A.

on our agenda.

Is there any discussion on the content of the board procedure?

Mr. Galloway?

Supervisor Galloway?

Well, I didn't mean to interrupt, but I do have slides that provide the language for the

All right.

Thank you, Mr. Kamner.

I don't believe there was anything on 8A, the rules of procedure.

It's B and C, where I had identified.

Thank you, Mr. Campner.

No comments at this time.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Would you just, maybe I can just ask Greg Campner.

The hybrid meeting has been in place for some time now.

What we did in the definitions was to try to further clarify the meaning of what a hybrid meeting is.

And it's when the board will be physically assembling, but the board has expressed its desire to continue to allow the public to have the option to participate virtually, in person and virtually.

And thank you.

I just wanted to do that so that everyone, because we talk a lot about the going to a hybrid model.

I think it's good to sort of clarify what that actually means.

And that's all I had done.

Thank you, Supervisor McKeel and also Mr. Campner.

Hello.

There we go.

Yes, I'm all set with the proposal as written.

Thank you.

Supervisor LaPisto-Kirtley.

All good, thank you.

Thank you, and I have no comments.

Is there a motion to adopt the board rules of procedure?

So moved.

Is there a second?

All right, the motion has been made and seconded.

Yes.

Ms.

LaPisto-Kirtley?

Aye.

Ms.

Mallek?

Yes.

Bruce McKeel.

Yes.

Aye.

Thank you board.

We now move to item 8B, the board policies.

Yes.

I think there was one recommendation that you made to, it's the action on the bottom of page four,

of the rules of procedure that have not been incorporated yet.

And it was the last sentence on the bottom of page four, when the county executive adds an item to the agenda, he must provide information about the item to all.

And you had proposed a language change?

That's right, Mr. Campner.

I apologize.

I did forget that.

And let me share my screen.

And can you all see this?

Yes.

It's the highlighted text in yellow.

So at this point,

Mr. Campner, can we have an amended motion?

I'm just going to say I make a motion that we reconsider our rules of procedure.

All right, thank you.

Any discussion?

Ms.

Andrews?

Yes.

Ms.

Carolyn?

Yes.

Ms.

LaPisto-Kirtley?

Aye.

Ms.

Mallek?

Ms.

McKeel?

Yes.

Ms.

Parks?

Aye.

And thank you, Mr. Campner.

You did try to warn me.

I had, when I threw my

materials.

I missed that.

So, board, I had proposed that this gender neutral language be added or replaced the masculine pronoun he in that sentence.

And so I would like to move that the board adopt the rules of procedure as amended.

Second.

Any further discussion?

The motion has been made and seconded.

Ms.

Gallaway.

Yes.

Ms.

McKeel.

Yes.

Ms.

Price.

All right and thank you again Mr. Campner.

It's now time to move to adoption of our board policies which is listed as agenda item 8b.

and I did have a proposal here.

And this is the first change.

Again, this is, we're in the board's policies and this is an amendment to section 4B on page 4 of your policies.

And members of the board, I proposed this revision to expand upon the language as Board of Trustees to be considered to be a very specific and distinct government body and believe that it would be more appropriate to use that more as an example, Board of Trustees, Board of Directors, or a comparable governing body.

And so that would be the background

And so with that I would go through and see if there are any comments from supervisors.

Supervisor Galloway.

Supervisor Andrews.

Supervisor McKeel.

I agree.

Supervisor Malek.

You're muted.

There we go, now finally, yes, I approve this, thank you.

Thank you, Supervisor LaPisto-Kirtley?

No problem, thank you.

before the board considers acting.

And all of this text is new.

Thank you.

So I propose this one because of what I would consider to be outside activities.

As a member of the Board of Supervisors, I believe that our principal responsibility should be to the to the county as a whole and therefore I am proposing that if we have supervisors sitting serving on a non-mental entity

entities governing body other than appointments that the Board of Supervisors itself makes of supervisors that we would limit to not more than one supervisor may be assigned to sit on such Board of Trustees, Board of Directors or comfortable governing body.

for any non-governmental entity located in or conducting business in Albemarle County.

So that would be the basis for Michael to show that there not be even the appearance of a conflict between a supervisor's responsibilities to the public as a supervisor, as opposed to their duties as a member of a board of directors or board of trustees for a comfortable governing body of a non-governmental entity.

and that would be the background.

So I'd open for additional comments by any other supervisors.

Supervisor Galloway?

I'm fine with this change.

I don't see any issue with it.

All right.

I'm fine with the change.

There is one right now.

The Lewis and Clark Exploration Center has two supervisors that have been appointed by their board, not by the Board of Supervisors.

Thank you.

I absolutely agree with this and I appreciate it very much bringing this forward.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Thank you.

This is fine.

I think that when LEAP was founded in 2010, there were two members from each governing body of each jurisdiction who were the founders.

But we have not had more than one counselor or supervisor on for the last several years and a staff member from each.

Jurisdiction has taken that second spot, which is admirable.

So this is fine.

And I will be glad.

I can step off the Lewis and Clark board.

I've been on it for a decade, but it's in Bea's district.

And so I would be glad to have her step into there.

Thank you.

Well, I'll let the supervisors make that decision between themselves.

Yes, I have no problem with this, and I thank Supervisor Mallek very much.

Thank you.

I don't think that would be a problem.

Obviously, three would rise for a public meeting.

Yes.

But it would be different as an attendee versus as a member.

I want to clarify that.

Thank you.

So do we have a motion?

So moved.

Second.

Please call the roll.

Mr. Andrews?

Yes.

Mr. Gallaway?

Yes.

Mr. Bea LaPisto-Kirtley?

Aye.

Ms.

Malle?

Yes.

Ms.

McKeel?

Yes.

Ms.

All right, so now we'll move to 8C, the adoption of the Board of Supervisors operating guidelines.

You know, that document, I do not have the original.

That's something that comes out of

Well, I will just point out in our operating guidelines for high quality governance, I am proposing that in paragraph three, there are two bullets that in the second bullet, which currently reads no single member of the board can provide direction on policy implementation to the county executive that we add a comma or county staff period.

It's making it clear that no individual supervisor provides that type of direction on policy implementation to either the county executive or members of county staff.

And I would ask if there are any comments.

Yeah, just so I got it.

I got you.

All right, Supervisor Andrews.

I have no problem with it.

No problem.

I think that copying the senior staff when we ask questions about implementation, I think will be helpful.

Supervisor LaPisto-Kirtley?

No problem.

Thank you.

All right.

I'm not going forward on the other ones for consultation with supervisors and staff.

So this would be the only, that's the only.

Even for number five?

Yes.

Okay.

Moved as proposed.

Second.

All right.

Any further discussion?

Mr. Andrews?

Yes.

Mr. Galloway?

Yes.

Mr. Bea LaPisto-Kirtley, Ms.

McKeel, Ms.

Price.

If not, do we have a motion to approve the final agenda?

It's been moved and seconded.

Any further discussion?

Seeing none, will you please call the roll?

Yes.

Mr. Gallaway?

Yes.

Mr. Beaso-Kirtley?

Aye.

Mr. Mallek?

Yes.

Mr. McKeel?

Yes.

Aye.

Board, an opportunity for brief announcement by board members.

Supervisor Gallaway?

The only announcement I have is I appreciate the work that's being done on the East Rye Road sidewalk project that's been happening over the last several weeks.

It's almost complete.

There's one little section of the driveway that I know they needed.

on the one portion, there'll be another portion they have to do, but one good section down to Dunlora Drive is almost complete, so if you get an opportunity to go see how that's working out, give it a drive on East Rye Road after all the trees are cleared up.

Thank you, Chair Brown.

Supervisor Andrews?

Thank you, Chair Price.

I have no announcements.

Thank you.

No, no announcements really.

I just want to take this opportunity to thank our staff and the folks that have kept the county office building clear of snow and ice so we can access it right safely and our community can as well.

It's just, and our administrative staff and all the folks who have been working through this snowstorm diligently.

I just really appreciate it.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Thank you.

I have no big announcements, but I will say that I was very grateful to see the Pike and Dominion repair trucks at the Reservoir Bridge on Early Still Road, which means they are heading northwest for that last 25 miles of trees.

This has been the most amazing, almost worse than the derecho, because the derecho was a straight line in one geographic area, whereas this is just everybody everywhere.

And the misery is so widespread throughout all the counties here.

So I really appreciate all of the staff who shared updates with what was happening.

And for everybody who's really eager for information, the biggest anxiety is created by not knowing if anybody even knows that you're out there.

So that really is great to get that feedback.

Thank you.

Supervisor Kirtley?

Nothing.

Thank you very much.

Thank you very briefly.

I want the public to be aware that on January the 12th at our Board of Supervisors meeting, we have a work session involving CenturyLink representatives scheduled for around 1.30, 1.45 in the afternoon.

So we do hope that you will listen in.

Because this is not a public hearing, opportunities for the public to comment will be through matters from the public, not on the agenda for a public hearing.

So I encourage as many people as possible to sign up.

for that one o'clock speaking opportunity so that the CenturyLink people can hear you.

I will also ask them to pay attention at the six o'clock session so they can hear you again, and also send in your communications, and we will ensure that they all get to CenturyLink.

Michael Culp in the Broadband Affordability and Accessibility Office has worked diligently with CenturyLink to try and get some improvement to services on their DSL lines, and this is a good opportunity for people to have their voices heard.

I'd like to encourage people who are driving around to remove all of the snow off of your vehicle, not just the windshield.

When you leave it on the roof, two things can happen, neither of which is good.

You can slide forward, get caught on your windshield wipers and block your vision so you can run into something in front of you, or it will freeze, the air will catch it and it will fly off like a sheet of ice and crash into the car behind you that can cause damage and injure the people there.

So please remove all of the snow and ice from your vehicle and we do have a forecast for two to four more inches coming tomorrow night.

I'm also pleased to announce the opening of Ludie Bell's Dining in Scottsville.

It's a booming place as the bumper sticker proclaims London, Paris, Rome, and Scottsville.

Give it a visit, you'll definitely want to come back and who knows you may want to stay.

And then finally, and very much in line with what Supervisor Mallek said, we really do need

The best preparedness may not get you through

I do have emergency resources in your vehicle.

I, like many of the people in the rural parts and the urban parts of the county, are without electricity.

I'm fortunate that I do have a generator and a wood-burning stove, and I'm prepared for that.

My son-in-law and I yesterday took about seven hours to knock out about 75 to 80 trees so we could even get off the property, and I know that's the same as many of our other residents, so as several of the supervisors have mentioned,

Check in with your neighbor, reach out, take care of each other.

I do want to say that anecdotally I have heard that Dominion is reporting this as perhaps the largest outage based on a storm in the history of the company.

We also have other electrical providers in our community so we know that they are also struggling.

I will say that our county executive later today will be providing an in-depth report with information from

our electric providers on an update and additional resources that the county will be making available to our community members.

That will be happening later today.

He has a couple of meetings where he's still going to be getting some information for us.

And with that board, it's now time to go to from the public matters not listed for a public hearing on the agenda or on matters previously considered by the board or matters pending before the board.

So I'll ask our clerk's office.

I understand that we do have at least one person signed up.

Thank you very much.

During the time set aside for matters not listed for public hearing on the agenda, 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 three minutes to speak.

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

During public hearings, the board will acknowledge speakers addressing the item listed for public hearing.

Speakers are limited to one appearance of three minutes per public hearing item.

The clerk's office will identify each speaker.

Applicants are limited

to a 10-minute presentation of the proposal.

I don't think I need that part.

Timekeeping is conducted through a timer.

The timer will commence when you begin speaking, and this begins your allotted time.

You will be notified when the three minutes are up, and you are requested to bring your comments to a close as your microphone will be muted after about five more seconds.

In order to give all speakers equal treatment and courtesy, the board requests that speakers adhere to the following guidelines.

When called to address the board, please state your name and if you live in Albemarle County, the Magisterial District.

Address comments directly to the board as a whole.

If you have written statements and other supporting material, you may email them to the clerk to be included in the record.

If you represent a group or organization you may identify the group to be recognized.

If you exceed your allotted time you will be asked to end your comments and the microphone will be muted.

If a speaker does not use all allocated time, the unused time may not be shared with another speaker.

Speakers are permitted one opportunity to comment during each of the public comment periods permitting.

Back and forth, debate is not permitted.

We are reminded that all comments are live streamed, recorded, and published on the Albemarle County website.

If participating by phone, please press star 9 to let us know you want to speak.

then Star 6 if from a landline to unmute.

Thank you, Vice Chair LaPisto-Kirtley.

Oh, thank you, Ms.

Borgerson.

I wasn't sure if you were going to be able to do that.

Ms.

Schlosser, are you there?

Yes, can you hear me?

Yes, thank you.

Wonderful.

My name is Judy Slusho, Rio District resident and member of the Rio 29 CAC.

We have all heard the cliches, location, location, location, and timing is everything.

Since I have been a frequent speaker before this governing body, I have noticed that there seems to be a pattern of one person who always is the last speaker when addressing any housing issues.

Do you, as a board, only hear and consider whether the last person brought to your attention or do you actually take into consideration what was said by the speakers at the beginning of the public comment?

On December 15, the rezoning issue for Rio Point came before the board and the person who was the last to speak gave the scenario that this newly proposed apartment complex is a 33-minute walk to the nearest grocery store.

This data indicates that a resident would choose to walk four groceries rather than driving thus reducing the number of vehicles traveling on Rio Road.

You, the board, have already approved the rezoning but let's have a reality check.

33 minutes to walk the nearly 1.7 miles to the grocery store is good aerobic exercise pumping your arms and carrying your reusable bags.

Think about whether the individual has any little ones coming along and the walk just got longer.

Phew, the resident has finally made it to the store at Albemarle Square to begin grocery shopping.

Now the challenge would be to walk the nearly 1.7 miles back home carrying groceries in the reusable bags along with the little ones who at this point are tired.

and the 66-minute walk, 3.4-mile journey was probably only calculated from the entrance of the complex on Royal Road, not one of the eight apartment buildings or considering needing to walk up the stairs if the apartment is on the third floor.

When I was growing up, my parents only had one car until I graduated from high school.

I vividly remember walking with my mother and siblings to the grocery store that was several miles from our home.

After doing the grocery shopping, we would patiently wait for my father to get off work to pick us up, drive us home, because the groceries were too heavy to carry.

More and more apartment complex proposals come before you and are ultimately approved.

Think outside of the box with all types of scenarios.

I have listened to those who have come before you to speak.

Their data is skewed to reflect their particular point many times, not bringing forth both sides of an issue for you to consider.

You, as our governing body, should not be swayed by the latest buzzwords such as affordable housing.

I suspect that if individually were asked to describe affordable housing, there would be six different answers.

Are you all aware of the 1,400-unit proposal slated for the UVA Discovery Park and a request to amend a proffer for the Glenbrook subdivision?

As you move forward in making rezoning decisions that will more than likely include relatively large apartment complexes adding to the poor stream health in the county, plus clear cutting the greenery that helps the environment, please remember the Albemarle housing policy you recently approved, which in reality is a plan for short term affordability and adhere to the documented guidelines.

Thank you.

And I understand that our second speaker has canceled.

I'm sorry that was hard to hear.

Yes, I move that the board go into a closed meeting pursuant to section 2.2-3711A of the Code of Virginia under subsection 1.

1 to discuss and consider appointments of supervisors of members or liaisons to various county authorities, boards, and other public bodies including the Rivanna Solid Waste Authority, the Rivanna Water and Sewer Authority, Economic Development Authority, the Jefferson Area Board of Aging,

the Metropolitan Planning Organization, and the Charlottesville Albemarle Convention and Visitors Bureau.

Also, number two, to discuss and consider appointments of community members to various county authorities, boards, and other public bodies, including the Planning Commission, Economic Development Authority, the Board of Equalization, the Albemarle Charlottesville Regional Jail Authority Board, and the Joint Airport Commission and multiple committees and advisory committees.

And three, to discuss and consider the appointment of the county attorney's successor upon his

Is there a second?

Second.

All right.

Please call the roll.

Mr. Andrews?

Mr. Gallaway?

Yes.

Mr. Beasle-Kirtley?

Aye.

Ms.

Mallet?

Yes.

Ms.

McKeel?

Yes.

Ms.

Price?

All right, Mr. Morris, if you will let us know when we are in our closed meeting.

Motion coming out of closed meeting.

All right, thank you.

We are back coming out of closed meeting.

I move that the Board of Supervisors certify by recorded vote that, to the best of each supervisor's knowledge, only public business matters lawfully exempted from the open meeting requirements of the Virginia Freedom of Information Act and identified in the motion authorizing the closed meeting were heard, discussed, or considered in the closed meeting.

Do we have a second?

All right.

Please call the roll.

Ms.

Andrews?

Yes.

Ms.

Galloway?

Yes Mr. Kisto-Kirtley?

Aye Ms.

Mallet?

Yes Ms.

McKeel?

Yes Ms.

Very well, thank you.

Alright, very well, Vice Chair LaPisto-Kirtley, if you will make your motion.

For the Fifth and Avon Community Advisory Committee, we have Emma Andrews.

For the Albemarle County Service Authority, we have Charles Tobert, Nathan Moore, and Liz Palmer.

For the Economic Development Authority, we have George W. Ray and Stephen J. McNaughton.

For the Equalization Board, we have Karen Hape,

Anthony R. Salle, and David H. Farrell.

For the James River Alcohol Safety Action Program, we have Chief Ron Lance.

For the Joint Airport Commission, we have Donald Long.

For the Piedmont Family YMCA, we have Robert E. Bremer.

For the Planning Commission, we have Luis Carazana,

for At-Large, Julian Bivens from Jack Jouett, Daniel Bailey from Rio District, Karen E. Firehawk from the Samuel Miller District, and Frederick Messell from the Scottsville District.

Police Department Citizens Advisory Committee, we have Maureen S. Dean,

Social Service Advisory Board.

We have Karen Horage and Mary McIntyre, Thomas Jefferson Emergency Medical Services Council.

Very well.

Please call the roll.

Mr. Andrews?

Yes.

Mr. Gallaway?

Yes.

Mr. Bea LaPisto-Kirtley?

Aye.

Ms.

Mallek?

Yes.

Ms.

McKeel?

Ms.

Price?

For the supervisor's own appointments, is that simply an announcement or is that also done as a motion?

It should also be in the form of a motion.

Thank you.

Then I move that the board appoint the following supervisors to the respective boards and commissions.

The Fifth and Avon Community Advisory Committee, Supervisor Andrews and Supervisor Price, to the Dardentown Memorial Park Committee,

Supervisor Lapisto-Kirtley, to the Places 29 Rio Community Advisory Committee, Supervisor Galloway, to the Pantops Community Advisory Committee, Supervisor Lapisto-Kirtley, to the Places 29 North Community Advisory Committee, Supervisor Lapisto-Kirtley, to the Crozet

Community Advisory Committee, Supervisor Mallek, to the Places 29 Hydraulic Community Advisory Committee, Supervisor McKeel, to the Village Rivanna Community Advisory Committee, Supervisor Price, and I'm not sure if I missed this, the Places 29 Rio Community Advisory Committee, Supervisor Galloway.

I believe I've now caught all of the CACs.

to the Acquisition of Conservation, Eastman's Committee, Supervisor LaPisto-Kirtley to the Albemarle Broadband Authority, Supervisor Andrews to the Audit Committee, Supervisor Andrews and Supervisor Galloway to the Rivanna Solid Waste Authority, Supervisor Andrews

to the Rivanna Water and Sewer Authority, Supervisor Malek, to the Solid Waste Alternatives Advisory, Supervisor Andrews and Supervisor Price, to the High Growth Coalition, Supervisors Malek and Supervisors McKeel, to the Piedmont Workforce Network Council, Supervisor Price with Supervisor Malek as designee in the absence of the

of Supervisor Price, to the TJPDC, Supervisor Andrews, to the Regional Housing Partnership, Supervisor Galloway with Supervisor McKeel as an alternate, to the CIP, the Capital Improvement Plan Committee, Supervisor Galloway and Supervisor Price, to the Agricultural and Forestal District Advisory Committee, Supervisor Andrews,

to the Blue Ridge Committee for Shenandoah Park Relations, Supervisor Mallek to the Historic Preservation Committee, Supervisor LaPisto-Kirtley to the Workforce Investment Board, Supervisor Mallek to the Economic Development Authority, Supervisor McKeel to the Police Department Citizens Advisory Committee, Supervisor LaPisto-Kirtley to the Regional Transit Partnership,

Supervisor LaPisto-Kirtley, and Supervisor Diantha McKeel, and to the Hazmat Local Emergency Planning Committee, Supervisor Price.

Is there a second?

Second.

All right.

Thank you, Supervisor LaPisto-Kirtley.

All right, and then so move on that.

Is there a second to that?

Yes, second.

Yeah, I agree.

The High Growth Coalition, on my chart I've got Supervisor Mallek,

I'm not on that one, Donna.

Thank you.

Dardentown Memorial Park Committee was Supervisor Galloway and myself.

We both really enjoy being on that committee and all we've done for it.

All right.

Mr. Campner.

I had a question that came in from Mr. Henry and I can't recall and they'll take me a couple minutes to pull the documents up.

Right, because I am continuing on, so it is only a content of my service.

Thank you.

And we also have a couple of others.

TJPJC, for example, Supervisor Galloway is continuing on that.

It did not require a reappointment.

So those the ones that were continuing I did not mention.

I will provide this chart to you upon the completion of the meeting just to make sure that the motion is correctly stated in the record.

All right, so we have a motion.

We have a second.

Supervisor LaPisto-Kirtley, your hand is still up.

Is that left over?

No.

Yes, I will.

All right, we'll call the roll.

Mr. Andrews?

Yes.

Mr. Galloway?

Yes.

Ms.

LaPisto-Kirtley?

Aye.

Ms.

Mallard?

Yes.

Ms.

Lapile?

Yes.

Ms.

Price?

Aye.

Would you like for me to go, Madam Chair?

Yes, Mr. Richardson, please.

Okie doke.

I have with me

joining me with the County Executive's report.

This evening, I have Chief Dan Eggleston from the Albemarle County Fire and Rescue Department.

I also have Major Sean Reeves from the Albemarle County Police Department.

I also have Mr. Walker and Mr. Henry from the County Executive's office joining me this afternoon.

And it was mentioned earlier by the Chair that we were going to give a little bit more in-depth

of a report this afternoon on where we are with this snowstorm that occurred this past Monday across the Commonwealth of Virginia and Albemarle County was one of the most severely hit areas across the Commonwealth.

The storm has been very challenging to recover from for several reasons.

One is the rate of snowfall from Monday morning at around 6 a.m.

to around noon.

We measured up to nine, nine and a half inches of snow across Albemarle County.

So it was a very wide ranging storm.

The rate of the snowfall came quickly.

It was very wet and heavy.

The number of trees and the large limbs that were downed or abode is significant across Albemarle County.

Because of these factors, power restoration, dealing with a lot of storm debris, it's very difficult because trees and limbs cannot be removed until it's been confirmed with the power company or companies that the lines are dead.

It's time intensive.

The power companies have been working very collaboratively with VDOT, Virginia Department of Transportation, and the work has been methodical around the clock, but it's been slow to unblock roadways and then plow the roadways.

The melting and the refreeze also makes the effort even more difficult.

I would mention to the board that we were open.

The county government was open for business at 8 o'clock on Monday, Monday the 3rd.

We opened at 10 a.m.

on Tuesday and the reason for the two-hour delay was because temperatures got down into the middle teens on Monday night.

There was a lot of refreezing.

and so we did do a two hour delay on Tuesday and then we did open today at eight o'clock.

We're watching a storm that is supposed to hit the area tomorrow evening, but we have certainly we expect to be open at eight o'clock tomorrow and then we'll make decisions Thursday night if we're impacted in a measurable way on Friday.

The storm itself, I mentioned, is very large.

The power companies are working over a very broad geographic area.

The most impacted areas also cover a broad area from Farmville to Stafford.

Dominion Energy has activated mutual aid.

We have mutual aid bucket trucks here from eight states.

that is working this storm as services restored in other areas of Virginia, Dominion Energy.

We've had three meetings with them today alone and they will be rerouting the resources to our area to speed power restoration as much as possible.

Some of the mutual aid crews that were requested arrived here later than expected and that was due to interstate blockages and so we were hoping to get more mutual aid here early yesterday and some of the mutual aid arrived later than what was expected.

I do want to cover how many outages that we've got currently in the county.

We've got right now approximately 16,000 people that are out of power that are on Dominion Energy.

We have 3,059 people out of power in the county from Appalachian Power.

We have 738 people that are out of power that are served by Rappahannock Electric Co-op.

And we have 2,388 people

that are currently out of power from Central Virginia Electric Co-op.

So we are interfacing with SEVAC, Appalachian Power, Rappahannock Electrical, as well as Dominion.

As I've mentioned, we are working with all of those on their restoration efforts.

Certainly our goal is to get our community back in power as soon as possible.

Dominion Energy, who is the largest power provider in our county, and I'll remind the board that

Right now, they're about 16,000 without power.

Their goal by 11 o'clock tonight is to reduce that number by approximately two-thirds.

So going into tomorrow, Dominion Energy is hoping to be somewhere down between around 6 or just over 6,000 people.

The county is opening three warming stations today from 4 p.m.

until 7 p.m.

One at Greenwood Community Center, one at Scottsville Community Center, and one at Baker Butler Elementary School.

These stations are available to the community for warming, for charging up electronic devices, and to provide Wi-Fi access.

A shower is available at Baker Butler,

for community members who would like to go there for a shower.

We will also have COVID protocols in place, which means visitors will be masking and will be practicing social distancing outside of just their immediate household that comes in for the services that will be provided.

We're going to, after tonight, we're going to evaluate the needs for additional warming stations as we continue our engagements with the power companies.

The Dominion Energy site is being updated every 15 minutes.

I went on that site just before I came back into the open session with the board, and there have been adjustments to their outage schedule within the last hour.

So for an example, if a community member were to go to the Dominion Energy site, look at the restoration,

They go through the menu and get to where power outages are.

They can hone in on maps and look in their area where they live and if they click on it's going to actually say what the work order number is and when they think the power will be restored.

Most commonly you're going to see either this evening between 6 and 11, tomorrow morning or tomorrow night.

I would say to the board and the community that they are indicating that there could be power outages into Friday so citizens need to be prepared if they look and they see that it's beyond tomorrow that they're working into Friday and certainly we will continue to offer emergency services to citizens on a as-needed basis.

We're going to continue to evaluate the warming stations into tomorrow and we'll be prepared to provide those and to publicize that as necessary if we reach the conclusion early tomorrow that we need to continue that service.

Our facilities and park recreation crews as I mentioned were at the county office building or in the early morning hours on Monday pre-treating and we had everything cleaned up at all of the county locations to be able to open our doors as I suggested.

Our regional emergency operations center is in the process of standing up an information line where people can call to get daily updated information on the warming stations

and also access key phone numbers for reporting energy outage and also road blockages.

We'll share those numbers just as soon as that goes by.

We're in the discussion stage with Rivanna Solid Waste Authority about debris options.

We already know that there's going to be a significantly high amount of debris through this cleanup process once we go into recovery.

And we're talking with Rivanna about the opportunity to identify a site for citizens to come and to bring debris.

I've invited Chief Eggleston and also Major Reeves from ACFR and ACPD to join us and to share a little bit more in depth about what's going on in fire and police.

I would like to take the opportunity to thank not only the police and fire departments and their staffs, but also all the county departments

for the services that they've continued to provide through this week.

Many of our county employees continue to be without power.

We've also had county employees with challenges getting to and from work, and they've gone above and beyond to make sure that they're able to get here and to serve this community of Albemarle County.

Thank you, Mr. Richardson.

My name is Dan Eccleston, the Chief of Fire Rescue.

I would say that during the response phase of the snowstorm, our fire rescue units responded to well over a thousand calls for service, including many critical medical emergencies, rescues, structure fires, and vehicle accidents.

In fact, I don't recall that we've experienced this high level of sustained activity in recent history.

This snowstorm put many of our

and many of which are still without power.

As we transition from our response phase to recovery, our emergency management division is working with our roads and utility agencies to restore the critical infrastructure so we can get out and about.

We are also assisting other county departments with standing up our warming shelters and in coordination with the Department of Social

residents to provide assistance to those who don't have access to the basic resources.

So I would say that things are slow and steady at this point.

We are very optimistic as things come back online, but we're still keeping a very close eye on this approaching storm and anything else that may crop up.

Thank you, Chief.

My name is Major Sean Reeves.

I'm the Deputy Chief of Police for the Omaha County Police Department, and my area of responsibility is overseeing police operations.

And over the past several days, since Monday, I'd like to share with you some of the information we have about what our officers have been doing and the service they've been providing to our community.

We responded to 39 motor vehicle crashes, reportable crashes.

We also responded to over 100 traffic-related

Incidents and Hazards to include road weight hazards, power lines down, trees down, etc.

Additionally, we had 273 non-weather related calls for service that came in, which is a 102% calls increase from this point in time from last year.

And then we also had 186 officer-generated calls for service, which include extra patrols, citizen checks, and welfare checks.

On top of

The normal calls for service, our staff was able to provide transportation to those who were stranded to safety and we were also able to provide escorts for county staff that were critical to the needs of the county and essential operational functions from the residents to Cobb McIntyre to get them safely to their destination and those officers were certified

on chainsaw deployment were actually deployed out of the field to help clear roads that were impassable that VDOT hadn't had an opportunity to get to yet and where we were getting a strain of motor.

So we were able to clear roadways and help open up critical arteries in Almore County.

And the last thing I want to touch on as well is when the roadway conditions started deteriorating on Monday,

The police department transitioned over to a modified response, meaning that we prioritized our calls for service.

Lesser calls for service were ranked lower, and we were able to give the attention to those resources we needed and calls for services needed.

And within 24 hours, come Tuesday morning, we were back to normal operations in the police department.

Thank you, Chief Eggleston and Sergeant Reeves.

That concludes our report on where we are with the storm efforts from the county government operations signed, Madam Chair.

Thank you, Mr. Richardson.

We'll go through our order.

Supervisor Galloway?

Major Reeves that started the meeting, we had offered some words of appreciation to all of your team working on this.

So please, just a good chance for me to echo that, to please send that along.

Having been out there in it, just driving to my own work Monday morning in the midst of it and seeing what you were contending with or about to contend with just in a short amount of time, I can't imagine what it was like countywide.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Supervisor Andrews?

I also want to express my profound gratitude for all you're doing.

It has really made a difference.

I'm one of the ones that live in a more rural area, and as you're well aware, people are not only without power,

they're without cell service, they're without landlines, they're without internet and some cases don't yet have passable roads.

I guess my worry is that I had at least had one constituent who was concerned that whether 911 was still working, it might be a good reminder to let people know that even if they don't have ordinary cell service, they may still be able to use 911 is my understanding.

Please confirm and just be aware of how to reach out to people who might be stranded, not really realize what opportunities for help they might have.

Thank you.

Thank you, Supervisor Andrews.

Thank you and I too want to express my appreciation for all the work the police and the fire and rescue and all county staff have really done over this terrible storm.

I do have questions.

Jim made a really good point about communication and certainly the rural areas are hit really hard.

The urban ring doesn't have power.

A lot of the urban ring doesn't have power either.

So I guess my question is, looking back at this storm, how can we

Think about what we did right and what we could have done even better in the way of communication.

Because by today, I really was hearing from a lot of constituents who said, I don't know anything.

What's going on?

And I know we've really tried our best, but in a model of improvement, trying to figure out how we can get to folks who don't have internet, who don't, we don't know their cell phone numbers.

I mean, I'm just struggling with, and I don't know if it's a question for Jeff or for the safety folks, but I know we had constituents both in the urban ring and the rural areas that just felt like they were on their own and really didn't know what to do.

And are any thoughts, Jeff, on

I don't know what to even tell them, to be honest with you.

They were able to call me.

Most of them were phone calls.

A couple of them were texts.

But any thoughts?

I know we really tried our best.

I'm just always trying to figure out a better way to communicate to our public.

Well, I think it's a good question and we certainly appreciate it because we're still in the middle of trying to move through the recovery efforts.

We've had discussions about putting things on the board

that we've got to improve or that we've got to expand or that we've got to try additional things in the future to be able to increase communication and so and you know we will do a formal after action review once this storm is officially ended that's usually conducted with the leadership

We'll share some of that back with the board so that the board knows that we're

We're examining this type of storm event.

All of our storm events are a little bit different.

We're examining it, and we're looking at it with an eye on, OK, what are some things that we can do differently next time that's going to make us better, faster, and more effective with the community?

Well, and I was getting it as a parking lot, not to be done certainly right now.

But I really believe we're going to start to see more and more of these storms.

violent storms, whether they're floods or wind storms or heat events or winter events and trying to think about how to improve our processes.

No, I'm just acknowledging you.

I'm sorry.

and maybe, sometimes, maybe my thought would be just to say to our community as well, if you have any suggestions, you all were the ones, many of them experiencing it, if they have any suggestions, please email us or give us some suggestions because as folks go through these events, they may very well say to themselves, if only,

And so maybe it would be good, and I don't know who the point person would be, maybe just email them to supervisors or whatever, and we can forward them on.

But I think we're always looking for ways to improve our processes.

But certainly, our staff did a yeoman's job.

And I know the fire and rescue and the police officers were just really stepped up to the plate, as well as our county staff.

And we really appreciate it.

And one more quick question.

I saw the warming centers are open from 4 to 7.

Is that correct?

That's correct.

And does that mean as well, I guess thinking ahead for the future, as people have electric cars?

and Powers out for multiple days.

We might need to think about how we would even handle in the future recharging automobiles if we were out.

Because I remember some of those, one of those derechios, we were out for weeks.

But I really do appreciate all the hard work and thank you very much.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Absolutely.

I echo what Jim said about the loneliness that people feel when they think they're the only one who's in a certain circumstance.

And I will respond to the comment from

Dominion, when you call them to report your outage, and of course you have nothing at all, maybe went out to the barn to try to get cell service for two minutes, that, oh, go online and find out where you are.

Well, we have been online, we went to town to find online, and it's completely different information, what you get on the map, to what they tell you on the phone recording, and it's infuriating.

and terrifying actually to people they say well does anybody know I'm here does anybody know I exist at all because they're not registering that I've even called four times or my cousin called for me or whatever so communication is a huge issue to avoid anxiety

I remember clearly the after-action meetings that were happened after the derecho and that was small compared to this as far as the time of year and the danger that involved.

But I think one takeaway that we had then was that no one had the ability to get any information online.

the grand majority of people.

No matter where they live, everything was kaput.

And that posters attached, I mean, we put up posters as any place we could find an empty spot on the telephone pole to say that the Roosevelt Firehouse had water for your livestock in the outdoor tank and that you could go there to get information after.

This was a 10-day outage and it was 95 degrees.

So it was a complete opposite from where we are now.

The two calls I had during break this afternoon were, I wish I had more notice about the warming station because it's four to seven and it's already halfway done and I just found out.

So there, I don't know what the answer is to that, but I think all the planning you've done for this hopefully will be in the bank and be ready to go click and send next time.

And there may be a next time on Saturday.

This is reminding me now of 1993 and 2010 when we had storm after storm after storm and we ended up with four and a half feet of frozen sludge on the ground that the little pickup truck plows couldn't even move because it was just so locked in place.

And we certainly don't want to go through that again.

I want to commend Fire Rescue and PD for helping out the folks at the Meadows.

I understand that we have a gap in information

between for all of these for agencies there was no contact person for Piedmont housing for these residents they were left with no power no nothing for two days and the combination of the Crozet fire people and the wars people were there on Tuesday from 11 in the morning until 8 in the evening all their junior members and auxiliaries and everybody charging people's phones with their generators and going door-to-door checks

for people who had, they were freezing, they couldn't use their oxygen concentrators.

This is a major failure on the part of an agency who receives a lot of public tax dollars and is not paying attention.

So I'm sure that is not the only location in town, it's just the only one I've heard of where this has happened.

And yes, it's hard to do the work, but I hope there is a way that Albemarle County can

Expect a different level of performance as far as contact information and having staff on the ground to be able to help our senior citizens and very frail residents no matter where they are in this kind of situation because as others have said, this is just the first of many, many to come.

So I really appreciate all the work that you all have done just driving here through Earliesville Road and seeing the number of huge trees that were cut off at the right-of-way line and all the mess that those tops must have created that had to then be hauled away two days ago in order for any of us to get through.

Just horrendous.

So I get the burden, but I really hope we will not forget the things that we talked about in 2010 and remember them later.

I know that it's a parking lot, but I'm afraid for Saturday.

Thanks.

Yes.

I want to thank both the fire department and the police department for everything they've done.

We have 112,000 residents.

There's no way that we can respond to everybody.

I think there also has to be an accountability.

Each person, if they know that a storm is coming, because sometimes we never know if it's going to be a big storm or a small storm or whatever.

You know, people have to be prepared.

If they live in the rural areas, they've got to be prepared.

And maybe we prepare them by having announcements.

Maybe there's a public service announcement saying, a storm is coming.

We're not sure.

We were told it's going to be between one and three inches, then three and six.

We don't know what it's going to be.

You should be prepared.

for what is coming because there's no way we can respond to everybody.

Some of the nursing homes, I mean, it's incumbent upon them perhaps to get generators because if they've got people on oxygen, you know, they need to have electricity, they need to have generators.

That's a private business that they have and that's what they should be having for their residents whether

It's extreme heat or extreme cold.

You get people calling saying, I haven't had internet service, I can't do my connect to work.

Well, there are people out there that have much, much bigger problems.

once this hits you can't communicate with people via vis-a-vis telephone you can't connect with them they don't have television they don't have internet you have to do it beforehand people have to be we have to help people get prepared I think beforehand we can't be the answer to everybody's concern and problem we can do everything we can

to help prepare them.

I think our warming centers are fantastic, but I'm sure that took a day or so.

I'm sure that took a day or two to make sure that all of that worked.

That didn't pop up overnight.

We had to make sure.

And remember, we thought we were going to have power restored yesterday between 11 and 6.

Now it's today between 11 and 6.

Bottom line is they don't know.

I mean, when I talked to Dominion,

They said that on Monday evening, they couldn't even make an evaluation until Tuesday morning because they couldn't even get around to make an evaluation.

So, and this was a huge storm that nobody expected.

Look at I-95.

People were stuck in their cars for over 24 hours, including our own Senator Tim Kaine.

You know, we have to make sure that we're prepared also.

And like I said, maybe public service announcements ahead of time saying, make sure you're prepared.

Because we can't be the end all, the answer to everybody.

I think we do a terrific job with what we have in helping people.

I commend the fire department.

I commend the police department and all those services that we give.

Thank you.

As with everyone else, I first off want to commend Fire and Rescue and the Police Department for the work that you have done.

Much like the crews with the electric companies that are out there in the worst of the weather trying to get our power restored, your crews have been there helping save lives and it's essential what you all have done and you deserve an incredible amount of thanks and appreciation for it.

Whenever something like this comes up, we have three phases we have to go through.

Emergency, recovery, and then sustainability.

and the extensive nature of the damage from this storm as we've heard far exceeded anything that we've ever experienced locally for as long as anyone knows.

So that first off was a hurdle that we had to overcome.

And not only was it the extensive damage to the network, but as was indicated by several people, people had been stuck on the interstate for hours.

My son-in-law took six hours to get home from Richmond.

during the storm.

And that has also impacted the ability of these cooperating agencies to get their equipment down here, which again has delayed things.

I understand why we held off on some of the emergency response because we had been given, at least as best they could expect, that power would be restored to a substantial number of people, higher than they were able to do, again, because of the extensive nature of the damage and the difficulty of cooperating agencies.

to get their equipment here.

I recognize that Mr. Richardson it was not until you were able to get the information that you did receive before you really could make the decision that it was imperative that we open the heating stations.

I would ask if it's possible to keep them open later tonight and also look to see if they could be open in the mornings because

That's when people really are going to need some assistance in the evenings before they try to get warm in their beds if they can and then in the morning.

So I would ask if you could look into that.

One of the biggest difficulties that we deal with is that traditional forms of communication are no longer reaching the vast majority of our residents.

Local newspaper, radio, TV, they don't get the reception that they used to get.

More and more people are turning to different social media platforms of Facebook, Twitter, and whatever to get their information.

And one of the observations I've made

is that they were communicating themselves but not necessarily communicating to the people who actually can provide assistance to them.

So I would ask that our community public engagement office review and expand whatever methods of communication you are using, Twitter, Nextdoor, social media.

A few months ago, we had a

CenturyLink representatives come to the town council meeting in Scottsville and days later we're hearing from people no one knew about it.

So clearly part of what our message has got to be is getting the message out to our community members.

And I do appreciate the fact that you have identified three warming stations.

Again, I would simply ask that we look to see if we can expand the hours.

And with this additional storm coming in, we have to anticipate that we are going to have even more trees down, more damage, more delays.

Having said all of that, again, I want to go back to the beginning, which is great appreciation for all of our

County employees, especially fire rescue and the police department, but also I've seen our other county vehicles out trying to get the job done during the storm, so you know great credit for all of them.

Any other response or comments either from Mr. Richardson, Chief Eggleston, Major Reeves, or any of the other supervisors?

Please just let me know if you have something more you'd like to add.

All right, seeing none, again, thank you all for being here, for the work that y'all are doing.

I know that you're working tirelessly to take care of our community.

Anything else, Mr. Richardson?

Thank you.

Supervisor Andrews?

Nothing from me, thank you.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Thank you.

All right, thank you.

I do have one minor thing, or not minor, but one short thing to report.

At the last 5th and Avon CAC at the end of December,

With regard to Albemarle Business Campus, a revised proposal has been brought forward in terms of the technical capabilities of the major business facility that's going to be proposed there.

So I'd simply encourage supervisors to be following that as it goes through the planning commission and works its way back up to the board.

All right, if not, then this meeting will be adjourned till January the 11th, 2022 at eight o'clock a.m.

This will be an electronic meeting held pursuant to ordinance number 20-A-16, an ordinance to ensure the continuity of government during the COVID-19 disaster.

Information on how to participate in the meeting will be posted on the Albemarle County website Board of Supervisors homepage.

And with that, I thank you all for your work today.

And please be safe and prepared because we are anticipating another storm coming in Thursday night.

Thank you all and good night.