[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

Cumberland County Board of Supervisors Meeting 9/8/2026

Agenda

Transcript