Good evening. I call to order the Orange County Board of Supervisors meeting for Tuesday, July
28th. It is five o'clock and we will get started with the Pledge of Allegiance. Please join me.
Okay, so before we begin with the adoption of the agenda, I just wanted to point something
out for the public because of our schedule this evening.
We have previously announced, and I mentioned this at our last meeting and scheduled meeting
with the Extension Leadership Council over in the town of Orange.
So what we'll do is we'll go through our meeting and then we will recess with a joint dinner,
with the extension, a joint dinner meeting with the Extension Leadership Council.
And as such, we're not going to have opportunity for public comment this evening.
We will have public comment at our next meeting. And as I previously noted,
Our board has had public comment at all meetings, which is a change from our past practice.
And it just, with the schedule this evening, will be moving over there.
And then once we're finished with that portion, so we'll recess here,
we'll go reconvene over there because it will still be part of the meeting.
We will then move into a closed meeting session that will be held in the conference
room in the basement of the Gordon building at the end of that meeting with
the Extension Leadership Council. So with that I will take a motion to adopt
the agenda. I like that motion. Second. We have a motion and a second. All those in
favor please say aye. Aye. Aye. All those opposed we have an agenda adopted. We
We have no, this evening, no special presentations and appearances.
Mr. Chair, did you want to introduce us?
I do.
I just.
Yeah.
So before you'll see, we have our county attorney for this evening, Phil Strother of Strother
Law Firm, is here working with us.
he was, he and his associates were on prior meetings with us, so welcome to the Orange
County Board of Supervisors in person. It's great to have you here and we appreciate you
being here.
Thank you, Mr. Chairman, members of the Board. It's a pleasure to be here. Thank you.
And so that that's actually was a special presentation and appearance by Mr. Strother.
Next up on our agenda is a two items under our consent agenda. So we have item number four. Can I have a motion to approve the consent agenda?
Motion to approve the consent agenda as presented.
We have a motion?
Second.
In second. All those in favor please say aye.
Aye.
All those opposed. Our consent agenda is approved 5-0.
And next up we have on old business and update on the Route 522 and Route 20 roundabout project in the Unionville area. Allison Simpson, our acting director of development services.
Hello. Mr. Chairman, members of the board, as I outlined in your agenda packet, staff
recently met with members of the Louisa Residency and the Culpeper District Office with the Virginia
Department of Transportation specifically to discuss their progress on the Route 522
and Route 20 roundabout. This project that VDOT has sponsored in conjunction with the
Federal Highway Administration is a project that all of us are familiar with.
Our discussion with VDOT staff was specifically surrounding the location of the second stormwater
basin, which if you recall from the last presentation from VDOT is located on like
the northeast quadrant of the intersection right in front of the county-owned property
where there's plans for a future fire station and community park.
I think that's southeast, isn't it?
Yes, you're right. It's on the south side of Route 20. Thank you, Glenda.
The southeast quadrant right in front of the county owned property.
So VDOT is following the board's concurrence a couple meeting cycles ago. VDOT has been
continuing in the planning process for that project. And at this meeting,
they shared with us more details on the approximate temporary construction
easements that would be required as well as the permanent easements that
would be required as part of this project. And because the future use of one of the
properties is a county park, at least that's what it's currently designed
That property is considered to be protected under section 4F of the Department of Transportation
Act of 1966.
So the purpose of VDOT's meeting with us was to introduce the concept of the 577-square-foot
permanent drainage easement that would be on the county-owned property.
And that easement would be used for outfall from that nearby stormwater basin.
There's a natural sort of swale in the property there that would, you know, VDOT has identified for outfall.
Stephanie was in the meeting with us as well.
We, you know, didn't, at a high level identify any concerns with that for future park projects,
or for the future park project.
So because the land is protected under Section 4-F, the Federal Highway Administration can
approve transportation projects based on, you know, two factors.
One, if there's no feasible alternative to using that land and the project includes
all possible planning to minimize harm, or if it's determined that the use of the
property will have a de minimis impact and so VDOT has asked for the county's
concurrence that the 577 square foot permanent drainage easement would you
know just have a de minimis impact on the use of the property. So that's all
outlined in the memo in front of you and then I included following your
consideration. The significance determination form which was provided to
us by VDOT and your action is requested this evening to agree with the
de minimis impact and authorize the county administrator to sign off on the
concurrence to submit to VDOT. Thank You Allison. Do we have any questions for
Allison from the board.
This looks like a fairly actually looks a little better
than the original proposal site change in it and it preserves the driveway, ingress
egress and safety issues surrounding that given a fire station in the public
park. And it does appear to be de minimis so that's always good too when
And it actually is de minimis, we can say it's de minimis.
So with that, if there aren't any other questions, I would say I will take a motion from the
board to concur with the Section 4F de minimis impacts and authorize the county administrator
to execute the concurrence form and submit that by VDOT's deadline of August 7th.
And could I have that in the form of a motion?
I'll make that motion.
Okay, we have a motion. Do we have a second?
I'll second.
We have a motion and a second. Is there any further discussion?
Okay, do we need a roll call? I don't think we do for this.
Okay, just double-checking.
I got a little ahead of myself on the last one.
Okay, so all those in favor say aye.
Aye.
All those opposed?
Motion passes 5-0.
Thank you very much, Allison, Stephanie.
Appreciate that.
All right, we will move on to new business
and we have the renewal of the contract
with Campbell Oil Company, Amanda Amos.
Contract and Pre-Curement Specialist, Amanda.
Good evening, Mr. Chairman, members of the board.
In front of you is the Airport's
Yearly Aviation Fuel Contract Renewal with Campbell Oil.
In the memo, you will see costs
for both AvGas and Jet Fuel.
Staff has been satisfied with these services
and are requesting to renew the contract
with Campbell Oil for an additional one-year term.
Do you have any questions?
Any questions of Amanda on the Campbell Oil Company contract?
This is a cooperative contract, so we use the City of Suffolk for, they have the contract,
we're allowed to tag on to that, or just so folks who see that, it's not for the City
of Suffolk, it's for us, but we utilize that to be able to streamline our procurement
price yes just a quick general question I'm just curious his aviation fuel gone
up in price like other I mean I have no idea curious yeah
so okay yeah I just I
just paid $5 a gallon cash okay so we have the renewal period that will be
effective August 8th through August 7th of next year. And the total budget at
amount coming out of our airport line item in the budget is $300,250. I would
ask for a motion to authorize staff to renew the City of Suffolk Cooperative
Contract with Campbell Oil Company for an additional one-year term effective
of August 8th through 2026 through August 7th, 2027. So moved. We have a motion. We have a second.
We have a motion and a second. Any further discussion?
Okay. All those in favor say aye. Aye. All those opposed? Motion passes. Thank you, Amanda, but
you're not going to go anywhere because we have another item and that is the renewal of a contract
with Central Square, Zercher Technologies LLC.
Yes, this is our renewal with Central Square for the county's computer-aided dispatch system,
also known as our CAD system.
The cost for FY 27 total $103,605, which is a slight little increase from last year.
funding for this has been appropriated in both the general public safety support
line and ECC software support line. Staff is also here if you have any
questions. Okay, any questions of Amanda regarding the CAD system solution
contract? Oh, Mr. Chair, I'd make a motion that we approve this as
presented. We have a motion. Do we have a second? Second. We have a motion and a
second. Any further discussion? All those in favor please say aye. Aye. Aye. Aye. All those
opposed? Motion passes 5-0. Thank you Amanda. Thank you so much. Good job for the work.
And next up we have the County of Orange Fire and EMS and Volunteer Fire
and EMS partnership update, Stephanie Straub, our deputy county administrator.
Good afternoon, members of the board.
Included in your packet is a memo outlining our update this evening.
As you may recall, last fall we released the CPSM workforce and operational assessment
study that was conducted with input from our volunteer and career staff.
staff.
And that study provided challenges and opportunities to strengthen our fire and EMS system.
Over the last nine months, co-fin staff in particular have been focusing on portions of
the report that discuss staffing levels, response times, operational effectiveness, workplace
culture, and organizational and the leadership structure, and actively implementing changes.
At the same time, we've been working with the Volunteer Fire Chiefs Association and
engaging in strategic discussions on how we can be better partners. Central
elements of those discussions have focused on the exploration of the
formation of a consolidated fire and EMS system and the recruitment of a
permanent fire and EMS chief. This evening staff have prepared a
We've presentation outlining a consolidated system, as well as recognizing the specific considerations
identified by our volunteer partners. These considerations create valuable opportunities
for continued collaboration, shared dialogue, and the coordinated advancement of our Fire
and EMS services for our citizens. As staff prepare to launch the recruitment
of our next Fire and EMS chief, it's essential that this recruitment include provisions
for working collaboratively with our volunteer partners, county officials, and
other stakeholders. So moving to our presentation.
The first slide here I
really wanted to just highlight the essential support of our volunteer
partners. So on the left hand side of your screen you can see a synopsis of
co-fems which is our career staff and thanks to your support we now have
effective July 1st for this fiscal year 62 field staff and that 62
includes that force platoon that y'all approved this past spring, and I'm happy to report that
recruit school for that starts Tuesday. So we're getting really close to getting those folks up
and running. Thank you so much for your support there. And then on the right hand of the screen,
you can really see a synopsis of all of the support that we receive from our volunteer
partners. So over 165 folks in our community volunteer through a firing EMS company and
Department within our within our county.
And as a reminder on this slide I
really just wanted to represent where those folks are. So there are eight fire
stations here and just to make sure that everyone's aware two of those are
operated by career staff right now. That's our Berry Hill station in the
town of Orange and rescue station 21 at Lafayette station off of Route 20.
The rest are operated and maintained by our volunteer partners.
So as I
mentioned in my memo over the past two decades staff and volunteers here in
Orange County have participated in multiple system studies conducted by
consultants. The last four are highlighted here on this slide and the next
slide here really goes into some detail on the central themes of those
studies and they really focus on three main areas. The first area is the
creation of a consolidated system with volunteer participation. It is vital that if we create
a consolidated system that our career and volunteer folks are adequately represented
and have a seat at the table. The second thing that sort of runs through all of these reports
is financial coordination. That is really depicted with perhaps centralizing procurement,
budgeting processes, things of that nature to make sure we're all working together and on the same page.
And the third central theme revolves around operational coordination.
That's things like making sure that we have effective consolidated recordkeeping protocols,
training opportunities, and things of that nature.
So again, sort of to highlight the system study recommendations, the overarching goal of a consolidated
Fire and EMS system is to provide a coordinated and cooperative response to
fire and EMS services in Orange County with input from all stakeholders. In our
case that would be our volunteer and career folks. As mentioned previously
the consolidated system is usually centrally focused from a financial and
operational response perspective with strong working relationships between
all partners. Here again that's our career and volunteer folks.
So staff
have been working with the Volunteer of our Chiefs Association over the last six
months on possible next steps as to how we move forward. One of the primary
steps to sort of kick us off in this direction would be the recruitment of a
permanent Fire Names Chief. We are all very grateful for Chief Mastin's tenure
here. At first I told him we might need him for four to six months. That
expired last December. He's been here 11 months and we really need to
try to move forward to let him get back to retirement with his grandchildren, and so part
of that is to make sure that if we're going to go ahead and recruit a firing EMS chief,
if we feel that there's a possibility of moving forward to a consolidated system, that's incorporated
in that job description.
That's a very different job description from ones that we've had in the past tenure,
essentially as a department head.
This job description needs to incorporate the responsibility of being an advocate
not only for our career staff but our volunteer partners.
And you'll note on this slide that these possible next steps we've come to in collaboration
with our volunteers and the bullet points that are notated with an asterisk represent
specific items that our Volunteer Fire Chiefs Association has requested participation in.
So in regards to the fire chief recruitment, that would be input on the job description,
which I have shared with the Fire Chiefs Association and received input, and then input on the hiring panel.
So that's sort of what we see as step one. The other bullet points on this slide don't necessarily have to go in a certain order.
They can be done together. The primary possible next step would be the formation of some sort of advisory committee.
So over the last six months, when we've benchmarking what other surrounding localities have done
who consolidated when going on field trips, we've been interviewing their staff and asking
questions.
One of the common threads was making sure that there was some sort of body that was
able to direct the production of a roadmap of consolidation that has input from all
of our stakeholders.
So we would propose that the next step after we hire a fire chief is to put together
an advisory committee that consists of perhaps members of the board, our volunteers, and
our staff.
And it would be the primary responsibility of that advisory committee to give us a roadmap
to consolidation.
Now pieces of that roadmap to consolidation may include items like suggested changes
to our ordinance, which right now is very small and essentially only supports the creation
and cooperation of a safety committee.
There are plenty of examples from surrounding jurisdictions who have
consolidated on thoughtful ordinances, so we have a benchmark point for that.
Also our MOUs that currently exist would need to be re-looked at and revised as
the structure would change in a consolidated system. And then they
would help put together in that roadmap a phased thoughtful implementation. I
think it's really important to make sure that I stress this evening that
this is not something that staff or volunteer fire chiefs association is
trying to rush. We want to be really thoughtful about this and make sure that
we're communicating in a meaningful manner to all stakeholders. Quite
honestly this evening if I get the go ahead to go ahead and revise our job
description for our fire chief I anticipate a three to six month
recruitment timeline just depending on what we get. If we can get an
advisory committee stood up with that new staff member on there it's
probably going to be nine to 12 months before they have a draft roadmap and another 24 to 36
months before we're starting to phase in this implementation. So I want to make sure that
we're all being really thoughtful about this process and the folks that we have at the table.
So that's where I am this evening.
Okay. Questions for Stephanie? I don't have any questions. A couple of comments. Sure.
So first of all, to co-femmes, thank you for all the hard work you do. I was shocked,
you know, when we went through the numbers before we did the 2472 schedule change, I
was just shocked at the number of hours your folks were working. So thanks for
And then also I just want to reiterate and this isn't a news to you Stephanie how important the volunteer companies are as well.
And so I'm really pleased that you're really including them and including their input. I understand we have concurrence now from all the volunteer chiefs, correct?
Yes, sir.
Yeah. So that's awesome and they just perform an amazing service to the county and it benefits
all of us in a great way. So when I first started kind of looking into this and when
I was campaigning I met with some of the volunteer companies and I just assumed there
was already a single chief. I mean I didn't really understand and so just my background
working around military bases and their their way they do fire response
merger response it was was kind of foreign to me that we didn't have
consolidated chief so this was for me was timely and I just want to restress
just publicly I when we hire the new chief I want to make sure that they're
they're oriented towards not only making the best work environment and
doing the best decisions for cofems but also fostering the volunteer fire
companies and making sure that we're not making any moves to try to push them out or make
them feel like they're being pushed out.
So I just wanted to state that.
And Stephanie, I want to thank you for your work and the chief's work and everyone else's
work because what I see here is exactly that, like you're going to make sure the volunteers
are part of the process, make sure those volunteer companies have input.
And for me as a supervisor, however long I last up here, I'm going to be looking
looking for any signs where I see the volunteers starting
to feel pressure that they're not comfortable with.
And if I hear that, and I'm pretty well engaged
with our volunteer companies in district one,
if I start to hear that, I'll make sure I let you know.
Please do.
Yep, that's all I have, thank you.
Any other questions, comments for Stephanie and the team?
No, I think he would have said it was very accurate on how we feel about this transition
process.
We know there's a lot involved in that.
We've got a good team put together, Stephanie, you're outstanding in what you're doing
and the rest of them on board exactly the same and we look forward to working with
you in that process and there again we're going to make sure that the volunteers
They're heard and we'll look out for them in any way we can.
Yes, sir.
I just want to reiterate what's already been said.
One, we can't make it without our paid COFIM staff.
We can't make it without our volunteer staff.
And they're all essentially part of this intricate framework of saving lives
and keeping us all safe.
So your leadership on this is much appreciated.
Chief Mastin, Assistant Chief Wilson, and everybody else who's been a part of this.
I know Throck's been a part.
Everybody's been on board.
Just making sure, as Supervisor Capel stated, that we continue to be keenly tuned into
our volunteers and as well as to our paid staff to make sure everybody knows they
They may function a little differently, but they're all part of the same team, and that's
what we want to acknowledge.
Assistant Chief Wilson mentioned in a meeting that we had that he had gone through a similar
process in a previous life in a different place, not Orange County, and that certain
certain things happen that felt uncomfortable such as redoing the names off of the lettering
off of the volunteers off their apparatus and big changes to really make it like drawing
the line in the sand and that's not what we want to do.
We want everybody to still have a sense of autonomy and that station's personal
identity but still we're all on the same team. So having acknowledged that and
worked to make sure those sorts of nuances are addressed is important and
I'm so pleased to see that's what we're doing. So thank you. Thank you.
Ed, do you have any, could you go back one slide? This slide is so good and I
And I think it really captures in a complete way how you're going to embark on this.
But I want to say, and I think we all recognize, to get to this point has been a Herculean
effort to just pull everybody together, to have the conversation.
So where those notations are, where the volunteer fire chiefs are going to be engaged, where
I love the idea of the advisory committee because that's kind of an automatic communication
Place and certainly will be receptive to a model ordinance that you might bring forward that can kind of shore this up
and you know a lot of times that ordinance sort of gives you that
Foundation for where you build and so I love this slide. I
I really appreciate how you've put this together and you've also sort of said
something a little bit ago that was pretty key like we're not going to rush
this we're going to we're going you you've hurried to get to this point
because you're you've been working really hard and now you're going to slow
down to to go fast and in a way and and I think the way you set this up
is just fantastic and I know from my perspective I agree with my colleagues here by how they've
sort of said it, this is a team. We're all in one team and we need to approach it that way
and I love it. We have some of the most incredibly dedicated and talented individuals
that comprise that team.
And they're all working together. And what I think you've been able to do is pull them together in a way that we haven't done in the past.
And I think this is a game changer for Orange County going forward. So great work.
Thank you.
And congratulations for your efforts so far. Still a lot of work to go, obviously.
With that, do we have board concurrence for Stephanie and the team to move ahead?
Yes.
Yes. Yes. Absolutely. Okay. And Chief Mastin, our Assistant Chiefs, thank you for your efforts.
This is fantastic. Please move forward and we look forward to the next steps. And I would ask,
at least on behalf of the Board, that you come back and give us some regular updates.
So we're apprised of kind of where you are as you work through these items.
Absolutely. Thank you so much.
Okay. Thank you. Okay, next up. That finishes our new business. Matters for discussion or consideration.
We don't have any particular items there. Do we have any department director or constitutional officer reports?
Seeing none. County attorneys report. Anything to report?
nothing to report other than just to say that I'm grateful once again to be here
it's a real pleasure this evening and I do look forward to working with each of
you as we move forward together. Thank you very much. County Administrator's
report, Linda Paul. No report Mr. Chairman. Okay number 11 is Board
comment? Is there any board comment?
Mr. Chairman, if I may. Yes. So I'm going to
jump ahead of us just a little bit. After board comment, you'll see the
informational items and no actions required. But I want to, and we usually
just kind of glaze over that, but I want to mention the social services
quarterly report. And again, typically these are just for our information and
we don't discuss them, but I think it's very important that if you haven't had a chance
to really dig into it, and I'm going to guess that most of our public don't get that chance
as well, but we have Robin Breckin-Ridge here tonight, and she's our Social Services
Director.
And when I look at this report, I am in awe.
The numbers, the successes,
it's almost emotional for me to see how well that agency is performing
and serving our most underserved population, our most vulnerable folks in this community.
We look at these process timely targets for benefits assistance such as Medicaid.
That is an extremely difficult program, extremely difficult to get all the little nuances correct
on that, to get all of those benefits processed on time, and by all these regulations that
are constantly changing, constantly being added to the workload of our benefits assistance
workers.
We're surpassing almost every target in this report, and it's just a, what, a one or two
pager, and it's easy to kind of, you know, it comes up quarterly and we just kind of
keep going.
We look at it where we all know that there's great work going on there, but I think it's
worth mentioning that these are some of the toughest cases that will be seen in
this county, whether it be folks that are facing food insecurities, lack of insurance,
or even worse, are adults and children who are suffering from abuse and or neglect.
Robin's leadership has been key to these excellent results.
And I just want to thank her publicly tonight and her staff.
The results in this report are almost unheard of to be able to get so many things so right.
And I just want to thank you, Robin, and keep up the good work.
And if you could, take that back to your staff.
And I'm just very passionate about it because that's part of my world.
And we're talking about first responders a lot.
And I think the social services folks get a little overlooked in that category
because you are responding to crisis day in and day out,
and folks, when they're at their very lowest of the low.
And a lot of success stories where people come up out of that
because of your assistance, so thank you.
Just let me just say, Supervisor Coleman,
thank you for bringing that to our attention,
because I looked at it, but I had no idea these numbers
are good or bad, or I mean they look good,
but thanks for highlighting that they're better than good.
they're exceptional. Appreciate that. Yeah I kind of look at I really appreciate
because you're a professional in this area and one of the things that I look
I look at this report and this is kind of the heart of Orange County you know
this is the compassion this is that the place where we can help those who are
vulnerable who who are in really tough shape and for whatever reason many
times no cause of their own. And so great job and please convey I see a lot of head nodding
by the board. This is one of those where you can go back to staff and a thumbs up and
all that is going on on your day to day. You're really, you're doing incredible work
for our citizens. Thank you. Thank you, Supervisor Coleman. Thank you, Mr. Chair. Any other board
comment? Okay, so we do have the two information items and I'm glad we highlighted one. It was
appropriate and please take a look at that. Coming up next on our agenda is the Appointments to
boards, commissions and committees.
Any, any, any nominations for this evening?
Yeah. Jenny, excuse me, Jenny, I'm sorry to put you in the spot. Is Christine saying
us on the Youth Commission? Is this the time I, so currently Christine is serving
as an at-large on a youth commission and in September there's a vacancy in district two
and the youth commission would like to move her to and she accepts to go to district two
so she then will no longer be at-large. To go from at-large to to or go from at-large
Okay, so we have a proposal and what's her last name, okay, Singha so so we have a proposal to move at the expiration of the term at the end of the term to from an at-large to the district to position.
Is there a concurrence?
Yeah.
So all those in favor, say aye.
Aye.
Can I just say one?
Yeah.
So I think Alicia Vines, right?
Yeah.
So she's revamped.
We voted on the earlier bylaws and Supervisor Coleman.
She modeled a little bit after our Prack Committee bylaws,
but she reduced the number of people on the youth commission down to seven. And so there's
four vacancies presently. There's two members right now from District One. I could probably
appoint some other folks, but I feel like we need some representation across the county.
And I just want to reiterate this commission's charter is to assist with juvenile delinquency
and help the youth find ways to be productive, more productive.
So just to the extent that we can find some other candidates, I'd be willing to help any
of the supervisors in your districts, you know, looking for other candidates, but right
now we're missing four of the seven.
So maybe we can get that, get that rolling again.
It was a little stagnant since COVID.
Unfortunately, there were three district one members.
I didn't really realize that,
but the one that I just appointed, Christine,
she's moved into Albemarle County,
which she will regret because it's Albemarle County
rather than Orange.
But, so I just asked my fellow supervisors
to the extent we can see if we can't get that populated.
Yeah, I appreciate that.
I had a nominee who George Simpkins who it just wasn't a good fit for her so
She was a district 5 and we have a district 5
So I'm open to all of us kind of thinking about this in the context of our youth and
Let's put a focus on it. I think it's going to be important school starting up here real soon
So, yeah, it'll be important for us to keep get support the Commission and the work that they're doing
Yeah, just one just thanks to Alicia Vines. I don't know if I've ever met her
I spoke to her on the phone once but thank her for
Re-invigorating the youth Commission much appreciated
Okay, so we had the one change and that's moving forward
So we are complete on our current set of appointments, boards, commissions and committees with the notation we want to look for some additional support for the Youth Commission.
We have on the calendar a couple of, or excuse me, one public hearing that we need to schedule.
So this is for SUP 202600527, the Conway Home Daycare.
We would calendar that for the August 11 meeting, our next regular meeting.
Any objections?
Okay.
So let's go ahead and have that calendar for that meeting and we'll undertake that
public hearing at that time.
So, next up about when we thought we might finish up here, I will take a motion to recess for the joint dinner meeting with the Extension Leadership Council to be held over at 127 Zellview Avenue in Orange.
So moved.
And can I have a second?
Second.
All those in favor of the recess, please say aye.
Hi.
And all those opposed, no opposition.
So we will now recess from here just to make sure everybody in the public who may be watching
this some other time, we will go over to the extension office.
We will convene back in open session because that is what you do according to law.
We will continue on with our meeting with them there at that location.
It's a public meeting.
And then at the conclusion of that meeting, we will go into closed and then ultimately adjourn after closed.
All of this will be reflected in the meeting minutes.
Thank you all for coming tonight and have a wonderful evening.
Stay safe.