[0:00] piece of
[clears throat]
[0:05] [cough]
[0:10] paper.
[cough]
[0:35] I got seven.
[0:53] » Welcome. It's September 8th, 700 p.m.
2026.
[0:57] This is called to order.
Good evening. I will now call the
[1:01] September 8, 2026 meeting of the board
of supervisors to order. This meeting
[1:05] will be conducted pursuant to bylaws of
Cland County, Virginia board supervisors
[1:10] to ensure a fair, orderly, and safe
meeting
[1:13] of the bylaws pertaining to public
conduct during the meeting have been
[1:17] posted. I'll sign up for your review.
And Miss Branch, please call the role.
[1:21] » Mr. Ham
>> here.
[1:22] » Mr. Newman,
>> here
[1:25] » Mr. Simpson. Mr. Again,
[1:30] welcome and please join me in the pledge
of allegiance.
[1:36] » I aliance to the flag of the United
States of America and to the republic
[1:42] for which it stands. One nation under
God, indivisible, with liberty and
[1:48] justice for all.
[1:57] Ladies and dication, please.
>> Sure. Heavenly Father, we come before
[2:00] you today with grateful hearts, thanking
you for the opportunity to serve our
[2:05] community and for the responsibility you
have entrusted to us. As we begin this
[2:10] meeting, we ask that you grant us
wisdom, discernment, and understanding.
[2:16] Guide our thoughts, our words, and our
decisions so that they may be rooted in
[2:21] what is right, fair, and beneficial to
all those we have been called to serve.
[2:26] Help us to listen with open minds, speak
with respect, and work together with
[2:32] integrity and compassion. When we
disagree, remind us that we can do so
[2:37] respectfully, keeping the needs of our
citizens and the well-being of our
[2:41] community at the center of our
deliberation. Give us the courage to
[2:46] make difficult decisions, the humility
to consider different perspective, and
[2:51] the wisdom to recognize the difference
between what we can do and what we
[2:56] should do. Bless our county, our
citizens, our schools, our businesses,
[3:01] our first responders, and and all who
work each day to make our community
[3:07] stronger. Bless our families. Give us
patience, strength, and renewed purpose
[3:12] as we carry out our responsibilities.
May everything we do and say today
[3:17] reflect good stewardship, responsible
leadership, and a continued commitment
[3:22] to leaving our county better than we
found it. We thank you in your name,
[3:28] precious name we do pray. Amen.
[3:33] » And next we have, [clears throat] excuse
me, county administrator Thomas.
[3:36] » Thank you. I'd like to start
[clears throat] by recognizing our
[3:40] September employee of the month, Paul
Johnston, maintenance worker one. Paul
[3:44] is a dedicated member of our maintenance
team and works hard each day to keep our
[3:49] county grounds and facil facilities
looking their best. Much of his work
[3:53] happens behind the scenes and outdoors,
often in some pretty tough conditions.
[3:57] We greatly appreciate Paul's strong work
ethic, dedication, and commitment to
[4:01] Cumberland County. So, congratulations,
Paul. Um, I wanted to remind everyone
[4:07] that the Cartersville Volunteer Fire
Department will be holding a ribbon
[4:10] cutting ceremony for its new meal this
Saturday, September 12th at 11:00 a.m.
[4:15] This is an exciting addition for the
community and an important resource for
[4:19] emergency response in that area of the
county. So, um, please come out to join
[4:23] that. And then I wanted to remind
everyone that county's tire will be held
[4:28] on October 8th from 9:00 a.m. to noon or
until the trailers are full. So, and
[4:34] that will be at the Cumberland County
Community Center. And we encourage
[4:37] residents to take advantage of this
opportunity to provide or properly
[4:41] dispose of unwleted tires. So,
>> thank you.
[4:44] » Thank you.
>> Next to have approval of agenda. Do we
[4:49] have a motion to approve the agenda as
presented?
[4:51] » So move.
>> Second.
[4:54] » Mr. [clears throat] H.
>> I.
[4:55] » Mr. Newman.
>> Hi.
[4:56] » Mr. Ty. I
>> Mr. Stenson. Mr. Sers.
[5:00] » Hi.
>> Next. We have the public comment period.
[5:04] This is for agenda items only. Only
individuals signed up for the public
[5:09] comment period will be allowed to speak.
No call by the chairman. Members of the
[5:13] board of supervisors or county officials
will not respond [cough] to questions as
[5:17] during the public comment period.
Instead, answers will be directed
[5:21] through the county administrator at a
later date. Please provide contact
[5:24] information on the signup sheet for all
proper responses by the county
[5:28] administrator.
First, we have Betty Mars.
[5:42] » Good evening. My name is Betty Meyers. I
live at 577 Gro.
[5:48] Um, I'm going to talk about the
Cumberland Energy. [clears throat] I
[5:53] attended the public hearing last Monday
night about that and for the life of me
[5:58] I can't hand I can't understand I hurry
up and wait I hurry up and then the
[6:03] other thing that comes to my mind is
your actions are speaking louder than
[6:07] your words and I think that's a key
thing here because the same thing
[6:11] happened with the landfill you sit up
there and you tell us oh you're so glad
[6:16] you come out and you that we come out
and we speak well we may as well speak
[6:21] to that
because obviously you're not listening
[6:24] to us. You we I've been to several. You
can turn your face if you want to. I
[6:30] really don't care because this is how
the community feels. We feel like you're
[6:34] not listening to us. I've been here
through the public hearings for the
[6:38] solar box. I've been here through the
public hearings for the um landfill.
[6:44] I've been here for the public hearings
for just recently the energy center. And
[6:49] the overwhelming thing is people are
speaking against it and yet the majority
[6:55] of the board of supervisors is going
ahead and voting for it. I don't
[7:00] understand this. Your actions in my
opinion are speaking much much louder
[7:05] than your words. Thank you.
[clears throat]
[7:10] » Next is J Huffman.
[7:19] » [clears throat]
[7:26] » Katie Hoffman, 188 Tricis Lake Road,
Columbia, District 1. Regarding
[7:31] [clears throat] the public hearing on
the gas plant last week, by our count,
[7:35] there were 20 citizens against the
plant, 10 in favor, and three on the
[7:38] fence. So, roughly 2/3 against, and
one/3 in favor. Miss Johnson's
[7:43] PowerPoint showed the same ratio. The
commission had previously received 36
[7:47] responses via email, 24 against and 12
in favor. That ratio, repeated twice,
[7:53] indicates that there is significant
public concern about Dominion's
[7:57] proposal. But the planning commission
did not even pretend to consider the
[8:01] many points of opposition presented
during the hearing, even those expressed
[8:05] by their own members. They took a vote
without engaging in any discussion,
[8:11] though you yourselves have given them
extra time to consider this issue and
[8:14] set a decision date for the end of
September. This is not how government of
[8:19] the people, by the people, and for the
people is supposed to work. Major
[8:26] questions about the gas plan still
remain. And here's one example I keep
[8:30] getting asked all the time about why. In
midJune of 2026, a foyer request went to
[8:36] the DPU director in Henriiko County.
When asked for the date when he thought
[8:41] the water agreement with Cumberland
would be reached, his answer, and I
[8:44] quote, was, "I'm not optimistic that the
county will complete a water agreement
[8:48] with Cumberland." Wow. After years of
the reservoir being built, we don't have
[8:55] an agreement. This is case in point of
what happens when a board of supervisors
[9:00] rushes and doesn't take time to make
sure the county's best interests are
[9:04] served. It is now entirely possible that
Cumberland will not receive all the
[9:08] promised benefits from the reservoir
project, including the use of our own
[9:12] water. Let's learn from this. If we
don't take time, history could repeat
[9:18] itself. with Dominion rushing a decision
that is even bigger and could
[9:22] potentially have even larger negative
impacts on those who live here. Not to
[9:27] mention the county's budget down the
road. Why would you not take time to
[9:31] confirm where Dominion will get their
water before giving them permission to
[9:34] build? You wouldn't let me build a house
like that. Why would you insist on not
[9:41] insist on knowing where the gas is going
to come from right away? is almost
[9:45] surely going to be needed through
private property to serve both of these
[9:49] basic needs. And why would Dominion not
have to clean up the underground
[9:53] pollution at the end of the project that
will be generated during its life?
[9:57] That's where the biggest expenses are
likely to be. Leaving it at brownfield
[10:02] status is not enough. Think super fun
site. Citizens could end up paying a
[10:08] fortune for cleanup.
Opportunities for public to comment have
[10:12] been so close together and so hard to
find that it has been challenging for
[10:17] people to participate either in person
or via email. I tried via email and only
[10:22] one of you returned my email. I sent it
twice.
[10:27] Please pause this process. There is too
much at stake to approve Dominion's
[10:32] approval without further attention to
the many valid concerns your
[10:36] constituents have raised. Thank you.
[10:41] Next item is consent agenda and M.
Branch, can y'all please provide an
[10:46] overview of consent agenda?
>> I would just like to um make an
[10:50] adjustment to what I said for tire date.
It's October 10th, not 8th. Sorry about
[10:54] that. Sorry.
>> Sorry. Um members of the board, the
[11:00] items on your agenda for consideration
on the consent agenda are your approval
[11:03] of bills as well as your approval of
your minutes from your office monthly
[11:07] meeting. With that, I'll take any
questions [clears throat]
[11:32] Board members, do you have any questions
on the bills or the minutes as taken?
[11:46] » Do we have a motion to approve consent
agenda?
[11:50] » Second,
>> Mr. Hamlet.
[11:53] » I
>> Mr. Newman.
[11:54] » Hi.
>> Mr. Tyrie,
[11:55] » I Mr. Simpson. Mr. the songs.
>> Next are the state and local department
[12:01] agencies community service. Uh first one
is county public schools.
[12:11] » Good evening and thank you for the
opportunity to share with you what's
[12:14] going on at the schools. Um our fall
sports have kicked off. Um football
[12:18] started the season with a solid win over
King and Queen. Unfortunately, we
[12:23] dropped uh to William Campbell this past
Friday night. Um but we're building a a
[12:28] team and they they understand the goal
in mind. This year, we did not have
[12:32] enough for a JV team, but what we did
was survey our our middle school
[12:36] students. So, we've been able to put
together a middle school team, which
[12:39] will carry that interest through into JV
and varsity sports coming in coming
[12:44] years. Um for the middle school team, we
do have five games scheduled. So to get
[12:49] such a late start, we've done a good job
of getting those five games on the
[12:52] books. Um this week we have the
following events. Tonight we have golf
[12:55] at Prince Edward and middle school
volleyball at Lunberg. Tomorrow we have
[13:00] middle school JV and varsity volleyball
all at Amelia Academy and cross country
[13:04] at home. Thursday we have golf at
Lunberg and middle school volleyball at
[13:09] Palatan. And then Friday night our
football team travels to Randolph. Um
[13:13] first month of school has been really
productive. We've had a great start to
[13:16] the year. Um, our teachers are there
ready to go every day. We've our
[13:21] enrollment is up by about 45 students, I
think, was the last help. Um, so we're
[13:27] we're gaining in school in in student
enrollment. Um, and we got some great
[13:32] news last week about our outcomes from
last year, 90th in the state, which
[13:37] sounds like, you know, like I want to be
number one, but it's been since 2010
[13:43] that we've been ranked higher than 100.
So we've made a lot of progress in the
[13:48] past year. Um 10 we're one of 10
divisions in the state that have had at
[13:53] least a fivepoint gain in math. So that
that gave us the ranking of an exemplar
[13:58] division. Um and we are top 10 overall
in growth points and in rank gains this
[14:04] year. So we've we've done a lot to get a
lot of places. Kudos to the educators
[14:09] that are working hard every day in the
buildings and the administrators that
[14:12] are leaving them. Um, I want to invite
you all to come Friday. We have our 911
[14:17] remembrance ceremony. It'll be on the
front field in front of the middle
[14:20] school. Um, and we're going to do a
recreation, a recreation of the first
[14:25] event where we did the human flag in
that front field. We're going to
[14:29] reposition it a little bit. Um, but we
are using our students, our elementary
[14:34] students as the white stripes, middle
school red stripes, and the high school
[14:37] students as the blue section along with
um stars that they'll be holding up. But
[14:42] we want to invite the community, first
responders, parents to join that um just
[14:48] to show some unity because in this in
this day and age it would be nice to see
[14:52] a little bit of that. So please come out
and join us. Um and we'll have a light
[14:56] reception afterwards. Um and I just want
to say this past week I got to spend a
[15:01] lot of time in the middle school and the
high school covering for for some of the
[15:05] teachers so they could go observe one
another. We're working really hard for
[15:09] the new teachers to be able to go see
veteran teachers and see what's working
[15:12] in their classrooms. Um, and our goal
really is for our um, teachers to see
[15:18] central office working in their
buildings and supporting them. Um, we
[15:22] would welcome any of you that would want
to come and spend a day in a school to
[15:25] come and spend a day in a school and see
what it's like and walk [clears throat]
[15:29] through those hallways with our kids and
our teachers. Um and finally, um
[15:33] Dominion Energy Solutions is working
with us to help create some more
[15:37] efficient, um use of our building space.
We are going to be putting some solar
[15:42] panels on top of some of our school
buildings to help us cut some of our
[15:45] energy costs and hopefully we'll see
significant um savings in our um energy
[15:51] bills in the future. So, we're really
excited about that. So, thank you all
[15:54] very much.
>> Thank you, Keith.
[16:01] And next is finance reports. It's
approved.
[16:05] » Good evening, members of the board. On
pages 13 through 21 of your board
[16:09] packet, you'll find the monthly budget
reports. This is for the month of July
[16:14] as well as the month of August. Um that
is for your information, but if there's
[16:18] any questions, I'll be glad to take
those.
[16:24] Any
[16:41] questions for
[16:47] » All right. I do have one app preparation
request this evening that starts on page
[16:51] 22 of your board packet. As the board is
aware, the stars program is slated to go
[16:57] live by the end of the calendar year.
The radios and other equipment have been
[17:02] delivered to Virginia State Police and
are being programmed prior to
[17:05] installation.
Per the agreement with Virginia State
[17:08] Police, they will install the equipment
and the vehicles for the sheriff's
[17:11] department. The county will be
responsible for the radio installation
[17:15] for the fire department and emergency
services vehicles. Darren Murley has
[17:20] obtained a quote from Virginia State
Police approved vendor radio
[17:25] communications of Virginia. The quote
totaled $74,427.
[17:32] However, this price included antennas,
cabling, and other miscellaneous
[17:36] equipment that we have determined is
included in the equipment purchase
[17:39] through the state police. Also, in order
to lower the price, the county was able
[17:44] to utilize the VA contract. The
combination of these savings reduced the
[17:49] final cost to $63,750.
[17:54] In addition to the installation, the
quoted price included the removal of the
[17:58] old radio equipment from the vehicles
and buildings as well as the contractor
[18:02] traveling to Cumberland to perform the
installs. This helps to keep emergency
[18:06] services vehicles in the county and
would not require volunteers to travel
[18:10] for the re for the installs. In
addition, Radio Communications of
[18:15] Virginia provided a quote for the
installation of the control stations in
[18:20] each of the three fire departments as
well as the rescue squad building for
[18:23] $14,665.16.
[18:28] However, state police has agreed to do
these particular installs, thereby
[18:32] increasing the county savings to
$25,342.
[18:38] It is my recommendation that the board
approves an appropriation of $63,750
[18:44] for radio communications of Virginia to
install the radio and necessary
[18:48] equipment for the emergency services
vehicles. The work is estimated to be
[18:53] completed in four to five weeks and if
approved will begin later this month.
[18:59] This will ensure that the departments
are equipped and ready to stars program
[19:03] is implemented for the county.
[19:12] So, Miss Cruz and this might be Mr.
Pearly. Um, just dependent on the tower
[19:18] being up and operational.
>> No, this can be done independent of that
[19:22] and state police has assured us that
stars will go live at the end of the
[19:28] year regardless of the tower situation.
>> Okay.
[19:33] And the handhelds that have been
borrowed from the state police would be
[19:37] returned within this time period.
>> It will be once stars goes live. Yes.
[19:43] And that equipment is utilized that we
purchased.
[19:50] » Any other questions from [clears throat]
the board members?
[19:55] » I'd like to make a motion that we
approve the appropriation as
[20:00] second.
>> Mr. Hamlet.
[20:02] » I. Mr. Newman.
>> Hi,
[20:03] » Mr. Ty.
>> Hi,
[20:05] » Mr. Simpson. Mr. Song.
>> Thank you.
[20:08] » Thank you.
>> That's Miss Johnson with plan zone.
[20:18] » Good evening, Mr. Chairman, members of
the board, county staff. This evening, I
[20:23] have for you the monthly planning
department report for the month of
[20:26] August. and this can be found on pages
22 through 27 of your packet. Um, we
[20:35] have currently three conditional use
permits that are pending and four
[20:40] reszoning permits. Uh, the Cumberland
Energy Center is one that is pending.
[20:45] Camp Parsons um, purchased a second
parcel of land adjacent to the one that
[20:50] they have currently. and then uh a new
one for a tiny house off of Rains Tavern
[20:57] Road. Those are our three conditional
use permits that are pending. For the
[21:01] reszonings, we have one for Mr. Johnston
off of Antil Road and Cartersville Road,
[21:07] request to reszone from R3 to A2. One
for Mr. Daniel Layman, a request to
[21:13] reszone two properties that he purchased
on Cumberland Road from B2 to A2. And
[21:19] then we do have a new application from
Rson Companies for the Dollar General
[21:24] that was previously submitted and then
pulled uh for the Blenham Road location.
[21:30] That company has found an alternative
site which was the direction of the
[21:33] board of supervisors. So they have
submitted their new application and
[21:38] staff is currently reviewing that as we
speak. The next resoning application is
[21:44] for a company called um Hoous. It is an
airplane part uh generating facility.
[21:51] It's for a parcel of land off of Route
45 Cumberland Road that has previously
[21:57] had multiple conditional use permits
issued for the property for similar
[22:02] uses. However, I recommended that they
reszone the parcel to bring it into
[22:07] compliance with the current code.
For the month of August, we issued a
[22:13] total of 11 residential primary permits
and 11 residential accessory permits,
[22:19] one commercial accessory and five farm
structure permits. There were a total of
[22:25] five approved subdivision surveys with
52 currently pending.
[22:31] There were eight surveyed existing
parcels and we currently have 44 that
[22:36] are pending.
There were a few commercial ENS permits
[22:40] that were actually closed. So, we only
have three currently that are active.
[22:45] That is for the two solar projects down
45 south on Cumberland Road and one for
[22:51] the um Arc Colola cell tower off of
Trenmill Road. Um I do anticipate that
[22:56] file to be closed next week as well.
There were a total of nine erosion and
[23:02] sediment control permits issued. And
then we do have a list of potential code
[23:07] amendments uh that may be forthcoming
very soon.
[23:13] I do also want to mention um as I
brought up the board of previous
[23:17] meetings um Cumberland is hosting the
Boom's visioning tour this coming
[23:21] Thursday the 10th at 6 PM right here on
we'll start on the courthouse lawn. We
[23:27] do have consultants um as well as uh
agency representatives from the
[23:33] Department of Housing and Community
Development. Um the Virginia Tobacco
[23:37] Commission and the Commonwealth Regional
Council who has been very helpful in
[23:41] coordinating this this study and this
tour. Um we're going to be visiting four
[23:46] or five different locations within the
courthouse complex here that are either
[23:50] vacant or underutilized. The consultants
will be providing free to our property
[23:56] owners some marketing data and research
for these properties in order to assist
[24:01] the property owners with um different
information if they were to uh see or
[24:06] want to have a change in use um and just
give them a little bit of additional
[24:11] information. Again, completely free of
charge. Um this program was grant funded
[24:16] through the Virginia Main Street
program. Um so I wanted to invite
[24:20] everybody out. Um the number to beat, I
want to meet that at least 26 people. Um
[24:26] Charlotte Courthouse had 25 people for
their [clears throat] visioning study.
[24:30] So to me, that's the number to beat. Uh
I want to see at least 26 people out
[24:34] here on Thursday night again at 6 p.m.
And that is all I have for you this
[24:39] evening. So I'll be happy to answer any
questions that you have.
[24:46] [snorts]
>> Any questions?
[24:50] Thank you for that.
>> Thank you.
[24:55] » Next is Kipper Beasley with the County
Attorney's Report.
[24:58] » Mr. Chairman, a few updates for the
board this this month. Uh one, uh CCLA
[25:03] versus Tumbling Board of Supervisors. U
a lawsuit that was previously filed um
[25:08] objecting to the Green Ridge zoning
decision by the board of supervisors. Uh
[25:12] recently was dismissed by an opinion of
Judge Cellar for for lack of standing.
[25:17] Uh, also county leadership continues
evaluating next steps for the courthouse
[25:22] project and anticipates additional
meetings in the near future. In regards
[25:25] to that, um, also wanted to update the
board that there is a meeting scheduled
[25:29] within Reicho County later this week for
further discussion regarding Cumbland's
[25:33] water.
That's all for the board.
[25:37] » Thank any questions from the county
attorney.
[25:41] » Thanks, sir.
uh man their old business
[25:48] and new business is start with part of
Virginia Master Gardener 25 year
[25:52] resolution
[26:01] so part of Virginia Master Gardener's
25year resolution September 8th 2026
[26:07] whereas the heart of Virginia master
gardener association was organized in
[26:11] 2001 to the Virginia Cooperative
Extensions Volunteer Educator
[26:16] organization providing horicultural
education in Buckingham, Cumberland, and
[26:21] Prince Edward counties. And whereas the
HOV MGA mission statement is to
[26:27] administer the Virginia Master Gardener
Program by providing communities with
[26:31] horicultural information on good
gardening practices, providing training
[26:36] and coordinating volunteer opportunities
to its members and assisting the
[26:40] Virginia Cooperative Extension Agents
with horicultural needs. And whereas
[26:45] HOVMGA
has provided science-based horicultural
[26:49] programs in a variety of ways including
public programs, garden and civic club
[26:54] programs, individual consultations,
demonstration gardens, radio spots,
[27:01] website articles, plant sales, and
whereas HOVMGA
[27:06] has contributed over 34,000 hours of
volunteer horicultural education in
[27:10] Buckingham, Cumberland, and Prince
Edward counties.
[27:13] Whereas on September 17th, 2026, HOVGA
will celebrate its 25th anniversary.
[27:20] Now, therefore, it be resolved that the
Buckingham Cumberland Prince Edward
[27:24] Board of Supervisors
the Cumberland Board of Supervisors
[27:28] recognize this and commends the Heart of
Virginia Master Master Gardener
[27:32] Association for its many accomplishments
and service [snorts] to the community.
[27:37] [applause]
[27:44] And we do have
is it both of y'all? Yes, both Mr. and
[27:49] Mrs. Schwarz here to get presented with
the resolution. So, you don't mind? I'm
[27:54] put you on the spot real quick.
[27:59] » Don't forget to vote on it.
[28:03] » Where would you like this to go?
[28:07] [clears throat]
>> I just have a quick question. Okay.
[28:09] Sure.
>> To adopt the resolution for any master
[28:11] gardeners as presented. So move
>> Mr. Hamlet.
[28:16] » Hi.
>> Mr. Newman.
[28:17] » Hi.
>> Mr. Ty.
[28:18] » Hi.
>> Mr. Simpson. Mr. S.
[28:20] » Hi. [clears throat]
[applause]
[28:31] » Right. Where are we going?
[28:36] » Thank you.
[28:40] » [snorts]
[28:47] » Can you see everyone?
>> I can see you. All right.
[28:54] [laughter]
[28:59] [applause]
[29:06] » Next item. request to set a public
hearing for prop 2603
[29:12] energy center.
>> Back again.
[29:16] » Thank you, Mr. Chairman. This is a
request for commission use permit
[29:20] application and a substantial
determination that was submitted to
[29:25] staff uh requesting approval to develop
and operate a dual fueled combined cycle
[29:31] power station on natural gas power plant
on eight parcels of land in the
[29:36] northwest portion of the county. For
ease of access and transparency, staff
[29:41] created a project page on the county
website for the application and all
[29:46] pertinent documents located at
cumberland
[29:48] county.girginia.gov/343land-energy-center-
[29:59] the application packet and contents and
all additional documentation related to
[30:03] the C is posted on the page. The
planning commission [snorts] held its
[30:07] public hearing of this request on August
31st and sends the C for Cumberland
[30:13] Energy Center to the board of
supervisors with the recommendation of
[30:16] approval by a vote of 5 to one. I just
want to say that um after the planning
[30:22] commission's public hearing, I was so
proud of Cumberland County. I was proud
[30:28] to be a part of the administrative staff
that had a hand in hosting that public
[30:34] hearing. I was proud of our residents
and how everyone conducted themselves.
[30:39] There was passion there and you could
tell that. But everybody was civil and
[30:43] respectful and that's not always the
case when you have um a controversial
[30:49] application. So I just want to thank
everybody including the deputies that
[30:54] were there, all of the public that were
there. Um I was very proud to say that,
[30:59] you know, it turned out as well as it
did. I would say that there was close to
[31:03] if not more than 300 people in
attendance and I will say since my time
[31:08] in this office that was the largest
public meeting that I've been a part of
[31:12] and it couldn't have gone any better. So
I just want to say that thank you to
[31:16] everybody that participated that came
out. Um and it was a job well done. So,
[31:23] um staff does respectfully request that
the board set this conditional use
[31:27] permit application for the Cumberland
Energy Center and request for
[31:31] substantial court determination for a
public hearing. Initially, this request
[31:35] was going to be uh for October 13th,
which is the regular board meeting for
[31:41] the month of October. However, we are
going to request that it be set for
[31:45] October 20th at the middle and high
school, the same location as the the
[31:50] planning commission public hearing. Um
that way if we do have a large crowd, we
[31:55] will make sure that we have enough room
for everybody to come out. Um, and also
[32:00] this way if there's any concerns with
the application or with the hearing to
[32:06] be held on, [cough]
then the board still has the meeting on
[32:10] the 13th to take any action, address any
concerns that anybody may have. So that
[32:16] is my official request of the board
respectfully to set this for hearing on
[32:20] October the 20th.
>> And what time?
[32:24] » I believe 6 p.m. 6 p.m. for the 20th.
Yes, sir.
[32:33] [snorts]
>> So, do we have a motion to set the
[32:35] public hearing for CUP 2603 Cland
Community Center at on [clears throat]
[32:41] October 20th, 6 p.m. at
Cland County Middle School?
[32:46] » So, move.
[32:50] » Second,
>> Mr. Hamlet.
[32:52] » I
>> Mr. Newman.
[32:55] Um, I'm going to abstain. Uh,
>> want to make sure that um there conflict
[33:04] of interest. Okay.
>> M.
[33:07] » Yes,
>> Mr. Stson. Mr. S.
[33:16] » Thank you.
[clears throat]
[33:21] » There are no public hearings. We do have
additional information in the board
[33:24] package pages 30 through 40 including
treasures report DND reporting licenses.
[33:33] Finally, this is
item 14 is public comment period. Only
[33:38] individuals who signed up for the public
comment period would be allowed to speak
[33:41] when called upon by the chairman. Terms
of the board of supervisors or county
[33:45] officials will not respond directly to
questions asked during the public
[33:49] comment period. Instead, answers will be
directed through the county
[33:52] administrator as every day. Please
provide contact information on the sign
[33:56] for our proper responses from county
administrator. First up is April Morris.
[34:03] [snorts]
[34:10] Hello. Um, I have several things
tonight. Um, first on August 30th, we
[34:16] had the privilege of being asked to go
to the Bright Home Kitchen fundraiser.
[34:20] Um, we enjoyed meeting new people and
talking to folks from all over
[34:24] Cumberland, not just Carver. Um, we
discussed things with them about
[34:31] changing their smoke detectors because
they're only good for 10 years. their
[34:36] hands on. We asked each church to
discuss from their congregation if they
[34:42] needed anyone in their congregation that
needs a smoke detector to get with us,
[34:47] let us know. And we're going to work
with the Red Cross and get them smoke
[34:52] detectors. And if I have to, I'll go
climb a ladder and install it myself.
[34:55] So, um we are going to be at the
school's 911 event
[35:02] on Friday to support the school. Um
yes, our helellipad ribbon cutting is
[35:09] Saturday and I hope to see all of you
there.
[35:13] We will have um light refreshments
afterwards.
[35:17] Um September 26th from 11 to 3, we have
our fall festival which will have all
[35:23] kinds of games for the kids. And this is
a free event for the children. Um
[35:27] doesn't cost a thing. They still get to
come play, get prizes. Um our
[35:32] fundraising part of that day is we will
be selling brunch with stew. Um that
[35:36] will be $10 a pork. Or we're going to
sell bowls. Um while you're there, if
[35:42] you'd like to have a bowl, it's $3.
We'll have tables set up. You can sit
[35:46] and eat while your kids play, whatever.
Um October 3rd, we have our fall vendor
[35:52] event. We still have five space is left.
If you know of any crafters or
[35:56] businesses that want to come, it's $25 a
space. Um, Fat Belly Brothers will be
[36:01] our food truck that day.
The event is from 8 to 1.
[36:08] We also in October have our trunk
retreat on the 31st. That's from 5 to 8.
[36:13] We have limited spaces available. If
anyone in the community wants to sign up
[36:18] to come and set up, they can.
[36:22] I'll add those next. Thank you.
>> Thank you.
[36:27] Next is Cheryl Johnston.
[36:39] [snorts]
>> Good evening, members of the board.
[36:42] Cheryl Johnston, 27 Cartersville Road,
Cartersville, Virginia, District 1. I'm
[36:47] here tonight to encourage you to oppose
the Cumberland Energy Center project
[36:51] because Cumberland is being asked to
make a decision that could change the
[36:54] Sweet County for generations in many
ways.
[36:59] Recent reports um say that this will be
the second largest natural gas power
[37:04] plant in the nation, which is difficult
for me to comprehend and many of our
[37:07] neighbors um as to why they're even
talking about putting it in rural
[37:12] Carterville. As mentioned last week, the
smoke stacks themselves would reach over
[37:16] 300 feet, approximately the size of
Statue of Liberty from the torch to the
[37:22] ground. It's not a small power plant
just tucked quietly into an industrial
[37:28] park, but set among the rural community.
One of my biggest concerns is um what
[37:34] the transmission infrastructure will be
required for this plant. a 30,00 me
[37:40] megawatt I'm sorry I'm nervous
generating facility must connect that
[37:44] enormous amount of electricity to a
regional grid and we don't even know
[37:48] where the new transmission lines will be
where they're going to be required to be
[37:52] placed what the voltage may be where
they're going to run how wide the rights
[37:56] of way may be or whose property they
ultimately may affect Dominion has said
[38:01] that the PJM is still studying the
project to determine um what will be
[38:06] necessary if this hasn't even been
determined determined yet. How can we
[38:10] even fully understand the impact of this
plan and to us and to our neighbors?
[38:15] It's a serious um issue that needs to be
addressed because it impro it impacts
[38:20] our property value, rightway, and
possibly imminent domain. Um these to me
[38:25] and to our community are no minor
detail.
[38:28] » [snorts]
>> What protections will be in place um if
[38:32] the noise, light, and air quality
impacts turn out to be actually greater
[38:36] than Dominion has projected. What will
they do to remedy remedy this for our um
[38:42] parters though? Um water was mentioned
tonight, 800,000 gallons of water per
[38:48] day to be taken from the river and
[clears throat] the tops reservoir. Will
[38:54] the water even be able to, you know,
meet that demand? Before Cumberland
[38:59] possibly considers another very large
industrial water user, we need to look
[39:04] at what will happen in drought
situations. We currently see that now as
[39:09] I drive over the James River every day
this week, I can see the bottom of it.
[39:13] Um what priority would the plant have if
regional water supplies become strained?
[39:19] Um how will the wastewater be handled?
Um another issue is just the emergency
[39:24] response services itself. And while the
great men and women um who protect this
[39:28] county have my utmost respect and the
respect of our neighbors, there are
[39:32] concerns and questions that I have, a
facility of this size creates an
[39:37] emergency response that we've never seen
before. What places what are we going to
[39:42] put in place to help protect that? Um
what what will we look like in 10, 15,
[39:48] 20, 50 years from now? So, I'm asking
you before you make a decision that the
[39:53] Cumberland residents deserve to know all
the answers to all of these questions.
[39:58] And um thank you again for your time and
thank you for those of you that have
[40:02] responded to my emails. It's greatly
appreciated. Thank you.
[40:08] » Next is Kay Hoffman.
[snorts]
[40:14] [cough]
[40:19] Kaufman
188 Tricis Lake Road. Y'all probably
[40:23] know that address by now. Columbia
District 1. So I don't envy you.
[40:32] I've been thinking about this a lot. I
stay up at night worrying about this a
[40:36] lot. And I don't envy any of you on
board supervisors because no matter what
[40:41] you decide,
somebody's going to be really angry with
[40:45] you.
[snorts]
[40:48] But even the people who agree with
whatever you decide are watching you,
[40:54] and I think it's important for me to
point out, and this is not a criticism,
[40:59] this is just an observation from
somebody who's trying to get people to
[41:03] speak up. And hearing them say to me,
why bother? They're just going to do
[41:08] what they want to anyway.
And they're basing that on the Green
[41:13] Ridge landfill. And they came to that
meeting. And you're right, Stephanie,
[41:17] everybody behaved really well at that
hearing,
[41:22] but it was stone cold that that planning
commission didn't even have a discussion
[41:29] when people got up and spoke so
passionately about something that
[41:34] matters to them so much.
I called to thank Mr. Donahue
[41:41] because he voted no.
And to me that signaled a lot of
[41:46] integrity.
He and I disagree on the gas plan. I can
[41:51] live with that.
But he voted no because he was paying
[41:56] attention to what was good for
Cumberland County.
[42:01] And he didn't even get
any response from his fellow commission
[42:07] members. So, I want to talk to you just
a little bit about responsiveness
[42:12] [snorts] because it upsets me
[clears throat] that I sent an email
[42:17] twice
to this group of people and to the
[42:22] planning commission
and I got two responses.
[42:27] One from Mr. Don and you that was one
sentence and one from one of you that
[42:31] was pretty thoughtful.
We have a national problem of
[42:35] responsiveness and politicians right
now. We have a big problem with
[42:40] mistrust. But I don't really care what's
going on in the rest of the nation
[42:43] because that's not where I want to live
the rest of my life outside of here. I
[42:48] want to come here and live here
and know that I'm safe and that the
[42:54] people who are supposed to represent me
actually listen to me.
[42:59] So, I urge you when people send you
emails, when people make phone calls,
[43:04] when people offer to help do something
in this county, pay attention
[43:10] because there are a lot of people out
there who tell me when I say, "No, but
[43:16] we got to do this. Listen, they're
supposed to listen to us." No, they're
[43:20] not going to listen.
So, as far as opposition to this gas
[43:24] plant goes, you're seeing the tip of the
iceberg.
[43:28] Let's be different. Let's make
Cumberland feel like a place where
[43:32] everybody gets heard. Thank you.
Next up is Betty Mars.
[43:44] [snorts]
[43:48] » Hi, I'm Betty Myers. I live at 577 Deep
Bunny Road, District 1.
[43:54] You know, I hear y'all saying sometimes
and quite frequently that y'all vote for
[44:00] what's best for the county. Well, my
question is, how come district one and
[44:06] district 2 is getting so hit so hard?
What about district three, four, and
[44:10] five? We look at this power plant
wanting to come in and it's because the
[44:15] location's close to the James River.
What about those areas down in district
[44:20] five that's close to the Appamatics
River? Why don't we put some of this
[44:24] stuff down then?
Why is district one and district two
[44:28] being hit so hard? What about district
three, four, and five? It's not fair.
[44:34] They're supposed to be doing what's best
for the county as a whole and destroying
[44:38] district one in particular is not doing
what's best for the county.
[44:43] And the other thing is is I went up
recently on the website to get some
[44:47] information
and it should be readily available
[44:52] because my understanding is all the
ordinances and things like that supposed
[44:57] to be readily available. It wasn't.
And so we have to go back and we have to
[45:03] bother the county employees in order to
get the information that we should be
[45:07] able to walk on the website and get. And
I can cite for you another one of these.
[45:12] It's the um
memorandum of understanding and
[45:17] agreement that was signed back in 2011.
It used to be on the website. I went up
[45:22] to get a copy of it a few months back
and the link was to Henriiko County
[45:29] because the land belongs to Henriiko
County. Why why aren't why isn't that
[45:34] information available to us on the
website?
[45:38] It needs to have some improvement. We
need to make sure as far as the
[45:43] reservoir goes. I went to plenty of
planning commission meetings and to here
[45:48] and the one thing I heard over the years
it wasn't about what the board of
[45:54] supervisor was doing to ensure that you
were protecting our county. It was, "Oh,
[46:00] look at how beautiful it is." Yeah, it's
beautiful. But what's it going to do for
[46:05] the county? maybe nothing at this point
because once again the board of
[46:10] supervisors step back and
enact. Thank you.
[46:18] And last up, Mr. Tom Schwarz.
[clears throat]
[46:28] Tom Schwarz with Amorei Cur. told you
guys last month if I came up here and we
[46:34] weren't open and being a dog house,
it's pretty crowded with three German
[46:39] shepherds. [snorts]
[laughter]
[46:41] Um,
all we got left now is we got one room
[46:45] to tile out.
We got five doors to set if they come in
[46:51] and then uh some trim work outside.
We're done.
[46:55] So
I won't if I'm not here I won't be here
[47:01] next month or not [laughter]
ground training radar somewhere in my
[47:07] backyard. [laughter]
Um nurse practitioner has started seeing
[47:12] patients at their home uh if they're
mobile challenged if they qualify
[47:16] through their insurance companies or
cash pay. uh she is working with I don't
[47:21] know if you guys know that you have
midwife coming uh she's working with her
[47:26] as well
uh with uh with her needs to her
[47:31] patients
and uh she did uh pass her medical exams
[47:37] test
but as with everything it's been a
[47:40] hurdle everything has not been it's been
one
[47:44] hurdle after another so now the hurdle
is they can't verify by
[47:51] the address, but we can't get a human to
talk to us because everyone uses
[47:56] computers now, AI, that doesn't seem to
understand. So, at some point, we'll
[48:03] probably have to drive drive down there
and take care of that. But, it's just
[48:07] been
I would say a nightmare, but I would
[48:12] prefer a nightmare. [laughter] One thing
everybody asks me, oh with the county,
[48:17] with the county. I can tell you the
county has been absolutely fabulous. The
[48:22] planning, zoning, inspector
on the ball now. Now, now, now, now. Not
[48:29] an issue there. Now, contractors and
suppliers,
[48:33] don't get me started on that one. So, uh
anyway, we will be open and uh
[48:41] working. We're going to be working with
uh Farm Mill Pharmacy to try to see what
[48:46] we can do there.
Uh we've talked to the health
[48:49] department. We'll be meeting with them.
See what we can do there as well. She
[48:54] has started a patient list. Well, you
guys are still going to be drastically
[48:58] short of medical care. One of the
reasons she started this is she doesn't
[49:03] want to see 20, 30 patients a day. She
refuses to see that many patients a day.
[49:09] can't provide the medical care that they
should get for that. So, this is like a
[49:13] band-aid
on gaping wound. So, you do need to look
[49:18] into how you're going to attract other
providers into the area because you guys
[49:22] are extremely short here. Thank you very
much. Thank you.
[49:31] And last, before we adjourn, chairman
and board member comments, um I guess I
[49:36] would like to start because I've been
sitting here looking at individuals the
[49:39] whole time.
Kim who's the manager of Cumberland
[49:43] Library and Rick who's the director of
Central Virginia
[49:47] uh library
[clears throat]
[49:50] and you know something's transpired over
the last couple of weeks where we we've
[49:55] lost
I think a valuable
[50:00] member of these great United States and
that was Dolly Parton. And
[50:06] how does that tie to the library? Well,
we had Imagination Library when we were
[50:11] a small
um
[50:14] let's just say we had a hard time making
ends and meets and you know that was a
[50:20] very very popular program uh for that
library at that time but now we're a big
[50:26] library well we're a big community
library I think is a better way of
[50:30] putting it and I just want to thank you
both of you for everything that you've
[50:35] done uh the changes to the library that
is called remodeling and and the
[50:42] transforming than to uh something more
more acceptable in today's times for
[50:49] people that need any anything from
electronic services to to still have the
[50:55] books on the shelf and periodicals.
Um all [clears throat] things we were
[50:59] running out of. So again, thank you for
for being here. Thank you for supporting
[51:04] the community and uh in some way, shape
or form, God bless Doll Valley Park.
[51:14] » Sure.
>> Um
[51:16] yeah,
want to kind of reiterate what you said
[51:21] about the passing of Dolly Barton. What
an incredible human being. What what a
[51:26] great American. um someone coming from
such humble beginnings to achieve what
[51:31] she achieved and to touch as many people
as she's touched uh over the course of
[51:36] her limited time on this earth. Um I I
will say that I felt led to do a tribute
[51:44] to Dolly Parton uh at karaoke night at
Spruce Berry Farm. There might be some
[51:49] videos floating around. I I've begged
not to watch them. Um but I I did try to
[51:54] uh attempt to sing a Dolly Parton song.
It's a big tribute to her. But um yeah,
[51:59] such an incredible human being and a and
a great boss. What she did with um you
[52:07] know, how many books did she give out um
providing hundreds of thousands if not
[52:13] millions of books that
literacy and other programs. Um but I
[52:19] want to I want to go back to my original
spiel about thanking everybody for
[52:23] coming out tonight. Um, I've been a miss
every time I thank everyone for coming
[52:27] out. I don't think everyone who might be
watching from home or watching this uh
[52:32] video sometime in this in the future on
on the web. Um, but thank you for tuning
[52:38] in. Thank you for being a part of this
process.
[52:41] We do business on your behalf up here
and I love seeing people get [snorts]
[52:45] involved. Um, I did want to um give some
words of encouragement to Mr. reports
[52:52] and say, uh, you know, if that dog house
gets too crowded, we have very limited
[52:57] space at the animal shelter. So,
[laughter] you're going to have to find
[53:01] somewhere else
or, you know, or maybe uh swap you out
[53:06] with an adoption or something transfer.
>> Awesome.
[53:10] » Um, y'all y'all been doing um great
work. I've been watching the progress
[53:14] over there. I understand about
contractors and suppliers and um and you
[53:19] know suppliers suppliers. A lot of times
it's not the supplier you're dealing
[53:22] with, it's uh further up the chain that
that has the issues. Um but thank you
[53:27] for for all y'all are doing to to get
that facility up and running. And
[53:31] everybody, please drive safe tonight.
God bless you and I hope to see you
[53:35] again better next week.
[53:41] » I would like to thank everybody for
coming on. That's good.
[53:45] » That last one I move to agenda.
[clears throat] There's a motion to
[53:48] adjourn.
>> So move.
[53:52] » Second.
>> Mr. Hamley. Hi.
[53:54] » Mr. News.
[54:02] Seven