Special Meeting – February 4, 2015

Special Meeting, Wednesday, February 4, 2015, 7:00 p.m. Government Center, Verona, VA.

PRESENT: Michael L. Shull, Chairman
David A. Karaffa, Vice-Chairman
Carolyn S. Bragg
Jeffrey A. Moore
Marshall W. Pattie
Tracy C. Pyles, Jr.
Larry J. Wills
Timmy Fitzgerald, Director of Community Development
Becky Earhart, Senior Planner
Jennifer M. Whetzel, Director of Finance
Candy J. Hensley, Assistant to County Administrator
Patrick J. Coffield, County Administrator
Rita R. Austin, CMC, Executive Secretary

VIRGINIA: At a special meeting of the Augusta County Board of Supervisors held on Wednesday, February 4, 2015, at 7:00 p.m., at the Government Center, Verona, Virginia, and in the 239th year of the Commonwealth….

Chairman Shull welcomed the citizens present.

Chairman Michael Shull led us with the Pledge of Allegiance.

Larry J. Wills, Supervisor for the Middle River District, delivered invocation.

PUBLIC HEARING RULES

Chairman Shull gave the following public hearing rules:

I would like to thank everyone for coming out this evening for our Public Hearing regarding the proposed Atlantic Coast Pipeline through Augusta County. We have a full house tonight in the Main Board Room so we also have a video feed to our Smith Rooms as well. Due to fire regulations, we will need for everyone to be seated during the hearing, however, if you need to leave or go to the restroom you may do so. The restrooms are located to both the left and right of the Board Room doors.

Anyone wishing to speak tonight may do so, however, we would ask that you sign in at the table located at the Board Room entrance. Augusta County taxpayers will be first to speak in the order in which they signed up. After Augusta County taxpayers are finished, other speakers will then be allowed to speak. We will have a time limit for speakers tonight. Individual speakers will be given 3 minutes while those representing a group will be given 5 minutes to speak. The time will be shown on the overhead so that you may know when your time is up. It is our intent to hear your comments, so I am requesting that Board members not engage in debate with speakers.

Speakers should approach the podium so they may be visible and audible to the Board, staff, and audience. Each speaker should clearly state his/her name and address. All questions should be directed to the Chairman. Members of the Board are not expected to respond to questions, and responses to questions are made at the Chairman’s discretion. We urge citizens to help the Board preserve decorum in order to conduct the meeting in an efficient and responsible manner. Please refrain from clapping or other public demonstrations of support or opposition. Please be respectful of others and their points of view.

We will have a fifteen-minute break at 9:00 p.m.

We will follow the Board’s typical process of rezoning tonight even though this is not an official rezoning application. The Board will first hear from staff followed by a presentation from Dominion Power. After both presentations, we will open the public hearing.

The Board would like to again, thank you for being here and sharing your comments with us. Your comments will help this Board formulate our official comments that will be submitted to the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission for their review.

ATLANTIC COAST PIPELINE

The Board considered the Atlantic Coast Pipeline Project.

Timmy Fitzgerald, Director of Community Development, reminded the Board that on August 13, 2014, Dominion Power formally presented their Atlantic Coast Pipeline plan to the Board of Supervisors. On September 10th, the Board requested that staff look at the pipeline route and consider it as a rezoning; although, it would not be an official rezoning.

Staff was also instructed to notify, as would be done in a rezoning, the property owners that were affected on the pipeline route, including those adjacent property owners. Staff mailed out approximately 975 letters regarding tonight’s meeting and the proposed pipeline. On December 19th, staff and Dominion Power toured the proposed pipeline route. The site visit was informative and provided staff an opportunity to ask questions and to, also, point out areas that were of concern to staff in regards to 1) future growth areas within the County’s Comprehensive Plan, 2) schools; and other areas that were in need of further consideration. As a result of the tour, Dominion has agreed to look at these areas more in depth and to consider other alternatives. Mr. Fitzgerald thanked Dominion staff who participated on the tour and answered questions that the County had and gave more details of the project. As a result, staff has prepared a report compiling the comments that were received from reviewing agencies: Economic Development; Community Development; Augusta County Health Department; Augusta County Fire and Rescue; Augusta County School Board; and Virginia Department of Transportation. He noted that all of these agencies would typically respond to a rezoning-type request of this nature. He added that the Augusta County Service Authority is also a responding agency and their comments were attached to this report. He noted that the Service Authority did not participate in the tour; however, the Service Authority has met often, independently, with Dominion to talk specifically about their concerns in regards to water and sewer and their interest in the pipeline. The Staff Report has been placed on the County web page for public review. The Staff Report has also been given to Dominion Power.

Also, included in the Staff Report, were Planning Commission comments. The Planning Commission considered the Atlantic Coast pipeline project at their meeting on January 13th. They expressed concerns in regards to the potential impact of the project as it related to the current zoning and the planned development of the County and made recommendations for the mitigation of the potential impact of the pipeline in each of the planning policy areas that are in the Augusta County Comprehensive Plan. He noted that each of those planning areas have comments included in the Staff Report. They also expressed their expectations in regards to the agencies that have the reviewing and approving authority on this matter. The Planning Commission understood that the local board did not have that reviewing and approving authority. They wanted to stress that agencies that have in their mandate to manage how the pipeline will impact Augusta County to do a complete review of the pipeline. A copy of the Staff Report was provided to the Board of Supervisors last week. Written comments from property owners and concerned citizens had also been included in that package. Staff will continue to provide the Board comments once received. Mr. Fitzgerald concluded that he felt that the Staff Report was well written and well thought out and would help the Board to formulate its comments to the Federal Energy Regulation Commission.

* * * The Board received a presentation regarding a proposed natural gas pipeline project through Augusta County.

Emmett Toms, Dominion External Affairs Manager, introduced William Scarpinato, Environmental Manager; Brittany Moody, Engineer Manager; Greg Park, Construction Manager; and Chet Wade, Vice President of Corporate Communications.

Mr. Wade thanked the Board for allowing him to address the Atlantic Coast Pipeline and made the following comments:

We are pleased to continue the dialogue. We also want to thank the Augusta County staff; the Augusta County Service Authority; and all the others for their hard work in developing the report you have received on the project. I do plan to address many of the issues raised in the report tonight. We continue, and we will continue, to encourage public participation in this process. Since our presentation to you last August, we held two open houses in Augusta County, met twice with the County Service Authority, and have toured the pipeline project with County staff and others. We also had many other communications with the County staff, Service Authority staff, County residents, and received many comments via e-mail and telephone. While it has been about four and one-half months since we were last before you, we are still really in the early stages of this project. We are still about seven months away from filing our application with the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission. We will provide to you, tonight, as much information as we can; but there are still many things, yet, to be determined.

We continue to work to determine the best route, one that has the least impact on people, the environment, historical and cultural resources, all the while meeting the very real energy needs of Virginia and North Carolina.

At a high level, the project remains essentially as it was when we addressed you last August. The pipeline is a joint venture of Dominion, Duke Energy and Piedmont Natural Gas of North Carolina, and AGL Resources, which is the parent company of Virginia Natural Gas.

These companies also would be customers of the pipeline along with two other utilities. In all, about 92% of the pipeline’s capacities have been taken by these utilities.

Dominion will own the largest share, about 45%, and be responsible for the construction and operation of the pipeline. Dominion has been in the natural gas pipeline business for more than 100 years and is one of the nation’s largest operators of natural gas pipelines, as well, as natural gas storage systems. The project is expected to cost between $4.5 billion and $5 billion to construct. To be clear, this is a utility project. It is the natural gas equivalent of a high voltage electric transmission line. Instead of the Virginia State Corporation Commission certifying the public need and providing oversight, it will be the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC). That’s the way it’s been for more than 75 years. The project can be built only if FERC determines it is a public convenience and necessity, the same as with schools, roads, and hospitals. Energy is a necessity of modern life. In addition to authorizing the construction, FERC will regulate the rates we can charge our pipeline customers and also control the terms and conditions in great detail. The gas that will flow through this pipeline will ultimately generate electricity or be delivered directly to customers to heat homes and power businesses. The schedule also remains the same as when we were here in August. Our pre-filing with FERC was made in October, and we expect to file our application with FERC by late summer. Based on what we have seen with other projects, we expect FERC approval in the summer of 2016, with construction starting late in that year, or early in 2017. We expect the pipeline to be in service by late 2018.

There is a very clear public need for this project. As I discussed previously, Virginia has very little access to what has become the largest and nearest major source of natural gas in the United States. The Marcellus and utica shale formations in West Virginia, Pennsylvania, and Ohio. New sources of natural gases are needed to generate electricity for use here in Augusta County and elsewhere in Virginia. Dominion Virginia Power and other utilities are faced with meeting new rules requiring substantial reductions in carbon emissions; rules, we believe, will likely result in the premature closing of many coal-fired power stations. At the same time, our customers in Virginia are demanding more electricity. In January, we set a new record peak demand for electricity even though the weather was far from record-setting.

While we were building new renewable generation and encouraged conservation, natural gas offers the only realistic alternative to replace such a large amount of generation that can run around the clock. Local gas utilities are also looking for new supplies because their customers are demanding more natural gas. Dominion’s pipeline system also set a new winter peak demand record back in January. Without more supplies, Virginia and North Carolina may have a tough time not turning away good business opportunities.

Finally, the gas is needed to directly fuel new businesses. For the first time in our lifetimes, manufacturing jobs are returning to America. It will take significant new sources of reliable affordable natural gas to ensure that trend continues.

A chart was displayed that shows the natural gas consumption in Virginia and North Carolina between 2006 and 2013. It shows a 73% increase during that time. The final 2014 numbers are not yet available, but the preliminary numbers show that that trend is continuing.

We hope this information puts to rest any belief that this project is for anything other than increasing supplies of natural gas for use here in the United States. Some people want to hang on to the myth that the project is being built to export natural gas. It is simply not true. If you read the story in the newspaper about Virginia natural gas, you should have no doubt that the natural gas directed to the Hampton Roads will be used in the Hampton Roads.

If you have any other further doubts about the need for natural gas in Virginia, this map shows (map displayed) the general pipeline route here in the State, along with the location of Dominion’s recently opened, or planned, or under construction, natural gas power stations.

The oldest of that group is shown here is the Bear Garden Power Station in Buckingham County, which opened in 2011. Bremo, across the James River and Fluvanna County, was converted to natural gas from coal and opened, again, in the summer of 2014. Warren County went into service in December 2014; and the Brunswick Power Station is expected to go into service 2016. It is currently under construction. Those stations, alone, can provide enough electricity to meet the needs of more than 850,000 homes at peak demand. Finally, we have identified Greensville County as the potential location for another natural gas power station.

We are in the process, now, of requesting proposals from others to meet the energy needs that this station would meet. If we decide to build Greensville Station, it would open in 2019.

In all these power stations, it would meet the need of more than 1 million homes. These are only the new natural gas power stations in our fleet; we have many others. That’s a lot of natural gas.

We have been asked many times about the benefits of this project. There are many and these benefits apply to Augusta County as well as the rest of the Commonwealth. First, the project will promote lower energy costs and enhance the reliability of energy supplies.

Augusta County does not generate its own electricity, but it gets that power from power stations located around the State and beyond. At least some of the electricity flowing to the County likely comes from, or will come from, these new natural gas power stations I have discussed. Augusta also will benefit from cleaner air as natural gas supplants coal. There is economic development potential for communities along the pipeline route. We are aware of instances where Augusta County has lost out on business opportunities because of the lack of sufficient energy supplies. There are also economic benefits from the construction activity that we have documented previously. More natural gas supports the development of renewable generation as well because renewables cannot be 24/7, gas powered stations provide essential backup service. Finally, counties along the route receive taxes directly from the pipeline. We have provided an initial estimate for Augusta and other counties. Here, in this county, it is likely well in access of $1 million a year once the project is fully underway. The final number will ultimately be determined by a number of factors including the final route.

In reviewing the report presented by the County Administration, we found many of the concerns will be covered in great detail as part of the FERC approval process. A list of the main topics that will be addressed as we continue the FERC process includes: Water Use and Quality; Fish, Wildlife and Vegetation; Cultural Resources; Socioeconomics; Geological Resources; Soils; Land Use, Recreation and Aesthetics; Air and Noise Quality; Route Alternatives and Reliability and Safety. All are of prime importance here in Augusta County.

These topics will be covered in great detail in a series of twelve resource reports filed with FERC. We have filed drafts of two of these reports. Report 1 describes the need and provides the general description and a list of facilities; and Report 10 discusses the preferred route and alternatives. We plan to update these two reports and file drafts of others by the end of May. These reports are available for inspection and comment on the FERC website, as well as the Dominion website. We have been asked to provide a formal response of the consultants’ reports prepared for the Service Authority. We are working on that. We have also been asked to provide a stop-work mitigation plan. We believe much of the County’s and the Authority’s concerns will be addressed in the FERC and State permits. Once we have those permits, we can review them with the County and decide what additional plans need to be put in place. We’ve also been asked to consider a bond to ensure there are funds available to repair any damage. As you know, a bond may not guarantee access to the funds. Someone who wants to draw on it must first document the damage. That is the same as if there is not a bond. Dominion is a large and financially secured company that stands behind its work. We will continue to discuss with the County the best way to ensure any potential damage is properly repaired.

The preferred route for the pipeline in Augusta is shown on this map in blue (map displayed) running, generally, from left to right. The numbers along the route are mile markers.

All of the pipeline facilities in Augusta would be underground except for three valve locations.

They are tentatively to be located at mile markers 1 and 9.3; 125.6; and 134.4. That information can be found in resource Report 1 that is online. The valves will be low grade with some small equipment above ground. The valves will allow Dominion to segment the pipeline for safety operations and maintenance purposes. Also, shown on the map in yellow, is the 20- inch Columbia Natural Gas pipeline. Coming up from the south, is Stuarts Draft, and then crossing into Waynesboro, before heading into Albemarle County. Columbia has operated a natural gas pipeline in Augusta for more than 80 years. We believe that Augusta’s experience with the Columbia line provides a good reference as to what to expect with the Atlantic Coast Pipeline (ACP). While the ACP will be about twice as large in diameter, both are high- pressured interstate natural gas pipelines. Augusta has co-existed peacefully with, and prospered from, that natural gas pipeline.

The Planning Commission’s comments focused a great deal on the potential impact of the pipeline on future development here in the County. These photos show what the Columbia Pipeline right-of-way looks like in much of the County now (photos displayed). The only visual evidence is pipeline markers that are required by law. These two locations show that it is quite acceptable and quite common to conduct farming and other agricultural activities on the pipeline rights-of-way. Fences, as you can see, are quite fine. Just because there is a pipeline, does not mean that economic development is required. On the other hand, the Columbia pipeline has not prevented development in Augusta or nearby. The photo on the left is from the Ridgeview Acres Subdivision, which has been in the County since 1965. The line runs between many houses and it seems that it does not disturb any of the neighbors. The Columbia line also runs very near the Stuarts Draft retirement community, which Supervisor Karaffa obviously is very familiar with. In the center is a view along Lew Dewitt Boulevard at Rosser Avenue in Waynesboro, an area that was part of Augusta when the pipeline was installed. As you can see, many businesses build right up to the edge of the pipeline right-of- way. Finally, on the right, is the new Windward Pointe housing development in the Fishersville residential growth area. Again, homes are built on each side of the pipeline. We have been told that the homes near the pipeline are selling for the same price as those further away. My point is that Augusta has gotten along well with the existing natural gas pipeline. We believe the same will hold true with the Atlantic Coast Pipeline.

We were asked by the County Supervisors to consider a re-route in Augusta to move the line further from the Stuarts Draft School Complex and to avoid water protection areas.

The current preferred route comes a little over a half mile away from the edge of the School Complex. We identified two alternatives, which are shown in yellow and green (display shown). Both run to the south of the current route. Each of these alternatives would require substantial additional acreage to be disturbed. Both alternatives present additional exposure to designated conservation easements and increase the project’s impact on perennial water bodies and water protection areas. It also pushes the line closer to another school. In light of these challenges, we continue to support the preferred route as marked. However, these alternatives are also included in the resource report that I mentioned previously that has been filed with FERC.

We continue to discuss with the County other potential route adjustments in Augusta.

We have been asked to consider adjustments to protect the County Landfill property, as well, as to protect potential industrial park site developments. A potential future recharge area for one of the County’s drinking water well sites is also under review; although, we believe the preferred route should provide the Service Authority with plenty of flexibility to meet the County’s future needs.

As I said before, we are in the early part of the process. The route will continue to adjust as we learn more. We have survey permission for about 64% of the parcels here in Augusta County and almost 77% along the entire route. Completing the survey work will be an important step in identifying any other significant issues in the County and elsewhere along the potential route.

We share Augusta’s belief that safety is the number 1 issue. As I explained last August, it is the first of Dominion’s four-core values. Safety for this project will be maintained in three ways:

1) Through good design and construction practices. We have just announced this morning a contract worth more than $400 million with a Pennsylvania mill to produce the pipe for the project. We will contract with other high-quality firms to provide other facilities and materials. We will use coated pipe to protect it from corrosion and install cathodic protection system for added protection. All welds will be triple-checked before the pipe is put into the ground.

2) Construction will be overseen by Federal inspectors as well as ones from Dominion. I expect that we will also be overseen by local residents both from the land and by air. Once in operation, the pipeline will be monitored 24/7. Three valves will be located in Augusta, as I said, as well as others that can be activated remotely for safety. The pipeline will be inspected regularly from the air and by inspectors walking the route. An advantage of a new large pipeline, such as this one, is also that they can be inspected from the inside with a device called a “smart pig”.

3) Finally, we will work with nearby landowners, construction contractors, local Emergency Responders, and others, to educate them about the pipeline—what can and cannot be done above the pipeline—and how to respond in the event of an accident.

We are well familiar with the karst formations and the importance of water resources here in the County. As I have mentioned in the past, we and other pipeline operators have successfully built and operated many, many miles of natural gas pipelines in karst regions like this. This map shows the existing natural gas pipeline that cross through karst regions in Virginia and Southeastern West Virginia (map displayed). We are working carefully to route the project to accommodate the karst and water resources. We have hired the very best karst resource experts; ones who are very familiar with the karst in this part of Virginia. In fact, our expert has worked on the Columbia line. We are coordinating with the Service Authority both in terms of protecting water resources and where our pipeline will cross Authority pipelines or vice-versa in the future. Finally, you will see a karst mitigation plan as part of our filings with FERC later this year.

With Augusta being primarily agricultural and rural, we have heard many questions about the potential impact on farming. This photo is not from Augusta County, but from Chesapeake, Virginia (photo displayed); however, as I showed earlier, pipelines virtually have no impact on farming activities once the work is completed. Tractors, fertilizer trucks, and other normal farm equipment can drive safely over the pipeline, which will be buried four- feet deep in active farming locations. Farmers can plow and plant their crops. As I showed earlier, fencing to contain livestock is not a problem. As part of the easement process, we pay compensation to farmers, not only for the time they cannot plant in their fields, but, also, to recognize a recovery period until the restored land gets back to full production. We also compensate landowners for the loss of timber or the impact on vineyards and orchards.

From the Staff Report, I also want to address a number of other local concerns. I talked about the re-route we were asked to do in Stuarts Draft. This photo shows the Stuarts Draft Complex from about where the pipeline would cross Route 340 (photo displayed). It is off in the distance. As you can see, it is quite some distance away. We certainly will work with the school system to review safety procedures much as the same as we assume the schools worked with Columbia Gas with the 10-inch pipeline that crosses about 500 feet from the newly renovated Wilson Elementary School. As the staff noted, we have worked hard to also be as far away as possible from homes and businesses. We do not expect to interfere with school transportation or school schedules. We have worked very successfully in other projects to coordinate those schedules with the schools. As VDOT noted in its comments, Dominion has also worked successfully on its projects here in the County regarding electric transmission. We intend to use the pipeline right-of-way as much as possible to transport equipment and materials to reduce potential impact on the road system. We also will be responsible for repairing any damage. Fire Officials noted their training for natural gas pipelines because of the presence of the Columbia line. We have a long history of working with local responders and providing additional training. We look forward to working with those here in Augusta County. We continue to work with landowners to adjust the route to put the pipe along the edge of their parcels or reduce disturbance of other activities as much as possible. Finally, we will be required by the State and FERC to have a robust stormwater runoff program in place before construction begins.

This concludes my prepared remarks tonight. I want to close, again, by thanking the Board for this opportunity and, also, to remind everyone that there are many ways to participate in the process as is listed here on the slide (slide displayed). We expect FERC to announce soon the next step in the input process, which will be scoping meetings. We also look forward to seeing everyone there. Thank you very much.

* * * Chairman Shull commented that he had noticed that a few people had arrived after the meeting began and invited any of them to sign up if they wished to speak.

* * * The Chairman declared the public hearing open.

Willis Cutchin supported the proposed pipeline. He felt that it would provide work for local loggers, equipment contractors, trucking companies, etc.; and extra income for businesses during the construction. It would also create approximately $1.4 million tax revenue for the County. As far as the environmental issue, he felt it to be cleaner than coal and oil and safer than oil and natural gas being trucked across the Valley. Also, natural gas–methane and radon are evaporated through water without creating pollution. He said he is a lifelong hunter who knows, from his own experience, that it would not hurt the forest and wildlife and it would provide extra food source for wildlife.

The following spoke in opposition of the pipeline:

Darrell Schwalm, Tom Long, Diane Korte, Larry Korte, Marion Roberts, Nancy Sorrells, John Woodward, Philip Khnopp, Dr. H. Bruce Rinker, Joan Geary, John Geary, Rebecca Lamb, Brenda Nycum, Barbara Puzanskas, Bonnie Powell, Fred Powell, Mark Poe, Michael Godfrey, George Taylor, Rick Laughen, Donna Wait, Anna Trybus and Claire Aaslestad, Richard Tankard, Michael Ledbetter, Sandy Greene, Robin Boylan, J.

W. Spear, Sr., Jennifer Lewis, Mary Kiser, Roland Micklem, Heidi Cochran, Sherri Goodham, Katherine Morgan, Kirk Bowers and Marc Armstrong Mr. Schwalm, spoke on behalf of Friends of the Middle River. “The pipeline would cross dozens of streams in Augusta County including the headwaters of the Calfpasture, South and Middle Rivers, and Christians Creek. Whatever happens to our waters in Augusta County all flows downstream and eventually affects the Shenandoah River and Chesapeake Bay.” Mr. Long felt that a “42-inch big pipeline filled with highly explosive pressurized natural gas being deep into slopes, crossing countless rivers and streams, going under major roads and is way too close to homes and schools, especially, in the Stuarts Draft area, and to the flood control dams in the eastern part of the County and expected to have a long life, was subject to corrosion and human and corporate error”.

Ms. Korte suggested that the County should make sure a proper environmental assessment is done for the project. Ms. Roberts said that she had fought for years to have the Va. 262 bypass built, and the pipeline could threaten access to it. Ms. Sorrells, on behalf of the Augusta County Alliance, stated, “Compared to major historical developments in the Shenandoah Valley, the Dominion project promises all pain and no gain. Our property rights are ignored; our precious water resources are threatened; our public safety is compromised; our environmental and historic resources ravaged; and our farm and properties devalued.” Mr. Woodward said he lived near the natural gas line explosion in Appomattox, which did not occur as a result of digging, but of corrosion. He hoped the materials used to build them are better now. “That’s the reason I want to keep an open mind about things.” Mr. Khnopp presented 600 signatures to the Board “in agreement with and support the essence and the spirit of the attached letter (authored by Philip Khnopp), in concern about the proposed ACP project.

This pipeline would cross numerous counties in the State of Virginia and for many of the numerous reasons referred in this aforementioned letter, we do support these same concerns”. Dr. Rinker, Executive Director for the Valley Conservation Council, which is a land trust based in Staunton, “that has worked for a quarter of a century to protect America’s legendary Shenandoah Valley. We partner regularly with organizations throughout the Valley and across the Commonwealth and beyond to achieve our mission to promote landuse that sustains the farms, forest, open spaces and cultural heritage of the greater Shenandoah Valley region of Virginia.” He added that the Council’s Board of Directors adopted the following position statement, “gravely concerned about the proposed routes of the Atlantic Coast Pipeline, a joint venture of Dominion Resources, Duke Energy, Piedmont Natural Gas, and AGL Resources, the Board of Directors of the Valley Conservation Council, or VCC, opposes any pipeline pathway through areas of conservation easements and locations designated by the Virginia Outdoors Foundation as special project areas. The VCC Board encourages the natural gas pipeline companies to consider alternative routes that may co-locate the pipeline with already existing rights-of-way including those owned by the Virginia Department of Transportation and the U.S. Department of Transportation. The VCC Board also recommends that the Atlantic Coast Pipeline companies and the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission establish a mitigation fund that would: 1) protect regional natural resources similar to those that may be disturbed or destroyed by the pipeline’s infrastructure rights-of-way and; 2) assist with clean up and/or damages resulting from construction mishaps and pipeline failures. Further, the VCC Board wishes to express its willingness to serve in an advisory capacity in choosing new and viable routes for the Atlantic Coast Pipeline.” Ms. Geary said her family had encountered problems with sinkholes when drilling a well on their farm and felt that the pipeline would endanger the County’s water quality and also believes having the pipeline cross her property will devalue it. Ms. Puzanskas suggested using solar and wind to meet the needs. Mr. Powell said he opposes the pipeline for geologic, economic and environmental reasons. Mr. Poe said, “This is an evil force of greed.” Mr. Godfrey felt that Augusta County properties were likely to suffer losses. “Who will buy a farm with North America’s largest gas transmission pipeline going across it?” Ms. Wait (using a sign language interpreter), a resident of the Stone Valley community, questioned, “Where will our children play in our community? I encourage you to consider the safety of our community.” She hoped that the route would be changed.

Patrick J. Coffield, County Administrator, expressed appreciation to the citizens alerting us in advance of the need for an interpreter so that staff could provide them with one.

Anna Trybus and Claire Aaslestad, sixth graders of Shelburne Middle School, of the No Pipeline Kids, spoke on behalf of their generation and had researched the harm of the pipeline. They noted that if the pipeline goes through the George Washington National Forest, there would be trees cut down “that provide our environment with oxygen. This pipeline could harm habitat and the ecosystem in general. I learned in my history class that my Native American ancestry took only what they needed from nature and always gave back. What is Dominion giving back to our environment and Augusta County?” Mr. Ledbetter, who has been working on piping systems for over 25 years, mentioned that if someone were to ask him to design and install this pipeline, using safety and environmental protection as his guidelines, he would not use a direct burial procedure.

To protect the environment and make it more accessible and inspectable, and to provide more full-time jobs for Virginians, he would put it in a culvert or in a sleeve in a casing where it runs through waterways. Karst and sinkholes concerns were mentioned. Ms. Greene, a representative of Solarize Augusta, said the County can learn to use less natural gas and more renewable energy sources like the sun. Mr. Boylan, a lawyer, felt that the beauty of the County needed to be preserved. He was impressed by the submitted reports and expressed concerns with the wells being contaminated.

* * * A fifteen-minute recess was taken at 8:50 p.m.

* * * Mr. Spears stated that the National Transportation Board has adopted more than two dozen recommendations for gas pipeline oversight this year because of three accidents that occurred prior to this year that had significant outcomes. The regulations are proposed guidelines that address oversight issues of companies in their inspection, construction and operation of pipelines. He questioned, “What isn’t being done properly or done at all in the construction and operation oversight of the pipelines today? In terms of environment, every living species that we know of modifies their environment to ensure reproductive success to carry on the species, with the exception of a few. There are very few viruses and bacteria that kill their hosts and we are on the brink of joining that uncelebrated group. The issue is climate change—the emissions from fracking added to emissions from gas pipelines that are leaking. The emissions from City service gasolines that are leaking from wastewater treatment plants, sanitary landfills, even cattle are among the greater part of the impact of greenhouse gases today.” He also reminded the Board of the position of the United States Department of Defense, “Climate change is a threat multiplier that can worsen national security problems such as terrorism and infectious disease spread. Climate change will affect the Department of Defense’s ability to defend a nation and poses immediate risks to U.S. National security.” Ms. Lewis, on behalf of Friends of Augusta, expressed the concerns of destruction and fragmentation of forests. “Cutting a swath through the forest changes the entire eco-system and opens up the area to invasive plant species as well. One species that deserves special concern is the Bald Eagle.” She also mentioned the concerns of the “cozy relationships between the gas companies, the regulatory agencies and our elected officials in Richmond and D.C.” Mr. Micklem mentioned his concern of “altering the global environment”. Ms. Morgan did not have anything against the representatives of Dominion personally, but as an industry, she “felt enormous frustration about the fossil fuel industry. I do not fall for this boo-hoo thing about energy. If we have an energy problem, it is a direct result of the greed of the fossil fuel industry. This train has been coming at us at three miles an hour for decades. If we now have a problem, it’s because the fossil fuel company has failed to solve the problem before now. It is the responsibility of this industry to do something responsible as an energy solution. It behooves me to understand what public good would come out of this project here in this County. One definition of wisdom, which is something that I would suggest that every one of you are exercising, tonight, is the consideration of consequences before making a decision. That is the stuff of leadership and I greatly appreciate it.” Mr. Bowers, on behalf of the Sierra Club and Pipeline Committee Chair, stated, “Dominion is not our friend. They don’t play by the rules. Last year Dominion spent $1.3 million on political contributions to both parties in the State.

They used donations to influence our legislators to pass bills to favor their corporate interests and not the people’s interests.” He suggested that the Board attend Lobby Day in Richmond on February 9th; they are lobbying Senate Bill 1338, which has been sponsored by Senators Deeds and Hanger, to appeal the right of entry on private property by natural gas companies. Mr. Armstrong referred to Nebraska, in the 1930’s, the people grew tired of having private ownership of their electric utility generation and distribution. They created a public utility called “Nebraska Public Power District”, which is still in existence. It is the only state-owned and municipal-owned power district in the United States. It serves over 600,000 people. “That truly public utility is responsive to the people. As requested, they have increased the renewables and doubled the amount of wind power every year since 2006. That is a great example of a public utility being owned by a public entity—the State and the municipalities, being responsive to the people and putting in place renewables in a very red state. We assume that Dominion has rights, which we cannot change. Yet, they did in the State of Nebraska over 8 years ago. Even though Dominion may appear to have this absolute authority to exercise eminent domain or to run the utility, my point is it is a privilege granted to them by we, the People; it is not a right.” Rock deposits, blasting, damage claims, property values, eminent domain were mentioned. Many letters in greater detail were submitted to the Board.

There being no other speakers, the chairman declared the public hearing closed.

* * * Dominion’s Rebuttal:

Mr. Wade made the following comments:

We appreciate the opportunity to respond. We have taken a lot of notes on the comments, tonight, and we will get back to you with a more formal response. I would like to address Mr. Bowers and the Sierra Club and let him know that Dominion is committed to renewable resources. The wind farm that he mentioned, Offshore Virginia, if it is fully built out, it is about 2,000 megawatts when it all runs. We would expect that it runs about a third of the time; that’s normal for Offshore Wind. I’m sure he is aware of that. That would actually produce about two-thirds of the electricity as the most recent natural gas power plant that we are building –only one of them. We do want to make sure that Virginia has the right kind of electric service—reliable electric service—affordable electric service and clean electric. We will be producing more of that in the future. In terms of the questions, tonight, from Augusta, we will certainly be happy to respond to those and make sure that we provide complete answers.

Chairman Shull said that he will allow until the end of the week for the citizens to provide comments to the Board so that the Board will be able to address these comments at its meeting on Wednesday, February 11th.

Comments by the Board:

Mr. Pyles:

I am enormously proud of this group. There were a lot of good stuff out there—a lot of good speakers. I am sorry Mr. Micklem left—very impressive. Those little kids from Shelburne—what a deal! We had people who came who spoke from their knowledge, spoke from their concerns, and spoke for their hopes. It is refreshing and I am very thankful for them and very proud of them. I am always proud of Augusta County. It’s a heck of a County. I was a little surprised by Mr. Wade saying we lost jobs because we didn’t have the energy. I have been sitting here 20 years; I don’t know of any that we lost from that. We lose them because we have such a low unemployment rate. That’s the number one thing. If you are well-employed, why would they want to come here and fight for workers and have to pay more for them? We are blessed with our interstates; we’re blessed with people that work hard. All of our business are manufacturing plants, particular, rave about the quality of our work. Hershey expanded instead of going to Mexico because of our workers. McKee expanded instead of going to another place.

They had some other things on the table. People stay here; they work here. I think the people dig in here and do better because they are so happy to live here. It is such a great place to live. I think that we have to put that into context. Why would you want to mess it up? My dad used to tell a story of a guy, during the depression, who would put up a big billboard that said ‘$10,000 to anybody who could prove to me that they are absolutely satisfied with their life’. People would come up and the guy would ask, ‘If you’re so satisfied, why do you want $10,000?’ We are pretty satisfied here and we don’t need another $10,000 coming in. I did notice that we lost $600,000 since the first report of how much money we would get from Dominion. It went from $1.6 to $1 million. The point of all that is, what you need to know is it’s very uncertain. I would like to see all the math that goes into it, what the variables are and this and that. But more than anything else, we receive at the pleasure of the State and, by gum, the folks from the State don’t work for you; they work for them; and they’re going to come back and say, ‘Whoa, that’s too much! No! No! No! Let’s cut that back.’ They’ve done that before this on different taxes where they took it away and they took a couple bites out of the apple. If you don’t think it’s true . . . and several people brought it up. Mr. John Geary did and some of the others about the cozy relations. I mean that’s what scares me more than anything else.

That’s what worries me and that’s what we battle against. I was encouraged by Mr. Geary and his call-to-arms; I’m ready to fight as much as I can. We have a big adversary. We have somebody that’s like kudzu. The plant at the South. They’re there.

Don’t believe me. The Sierra Club talked about Senator Deeds and Senator Hanger on coming on your property. That was done by Senator Frank Wagner. There he is (pointing to a newspaper clipping), he said, ‘To heck with the Fourth Amendment.’ Of course, the Fourth Amendment is the right of the people to be secure that their person’s houses, papers and affects against unreasonable searches and seizures shall not be violated.’ Mr. Wagner said, ‘You guys don’t need a warrant. We’ll seize it without getting a warrant, without going through proper channels, because these guys need it. They’re going to do it for the pipeline, so let’s do it.’ Now, Senator Wagner, what’s he doing this year? Well, he’s changing regulations for Dominion. They’re saying, ‘We’re going to leave your rates set. We’re going to save you a lot of money.’ That’s what they’re in the business for. But here’s what’s going on. When I was in business and I was dealing with people, oil prices were a big deal for us. Oil prices over there—you know, I was there when it was $60 a barrel, $80, $90, $100, $120; every time we had a penny increase, prices driven by oil, $1,000 by company, so it’s a big deal. What kind of a guy would I have been if the oil prices—we set a price, when the oil prices were $120 a barrel and then they went to $80 a barrel, they said, ‘Well, let’s set our prices when they were up here. We’re not going to charge you any increases because we got it.’ Well, that’s smart business on their part. They don’t to have any scrutiny and say, ‘Whoa! Whoa! Whoa!

Your prices have come way down. The costs are way down. There’s no bargain there for us. They are allowed to operate a monopoly in our state. They got that. They’re out of the free market. They can just have their business and charge you whatever they need to and then they wine and dine the folks, that are over top of them, and say, ‘What do you do, boys?’ What do you need? We got your back. The only thing you have with a monopoly is regulations to protect us. They don’t want that scrutiny anymore. They say it. We don’t want that regulation. Who’s thinking that that not’s going to pass?

That’s going to be done. They own them. They had the environmental bill—that was killed. There were other bills here killed. They get their way. You talk about–how about the Tobacco Commission? They needed some money to run on line. Staunton said you ought to get $6.5 million. Without any lobbying, they got $10 million, $10 million, and $10 million. All right; they don’t have to ask, ‘We’ll just give it to you.’ Their CEO Tom Farrell, his son is in the House of Delegates. What did he get? He got a million dollars to make a movie. It was a movie about VMI in the Shenandoah Valley and they said, ‘Well, if we hadn’t gotten the money, we might have gone to Georgia.’ If you want to do a movie on the Grand Canyon, would you go to Crater Lake? So there they are giving a million dollars of your money with tax credits; how do you get that? You got to know people to get that stuff. There it is—a million dollars; and what did Virginia get out of it? $1 million spent! For salaries, we get, what, 4 or 5%; 5% for sales; maybe, 10% for meals and lodging? If you got 10% of the money back, it would be $400,000. We gave him a million and there is no standing; they’re not here anymore, you know; they made their movie and they’re gone. I missed it on NetFlix. They get a lot of things done. But they’re not people that are having to play by the same rules you are. It’s an upside-down world.

We’re supposed to have legislators listening to us. Not a chance. A million dollars a year is only a tip of the iceberg. It’s a trip to the Masters; it’s the boxed seats, the things at the Redskins games. There’s all sorts of ways we pat you on the back and take care of you. We don’t have a level playing field. I don’t know how to level it. When I started asking our representatives about this, they said, ‘Oh, not Dominion. We’re not going to mess with Dominion.’ So they throw us some bones and have some pretend bills because they’re not going to pay us because they know what’s going on. But if we want to protect ourselves, we got to get together and point out the things. You know, they talk about, how do you get access? Mr. Toms has got a lot of access here in Augusta County. I have a picture of him in News Virginian; Bob Stuart was there. He’s there with Steve Landes and Ben Cline, Dickie Bell and Senator Hanger for the Greater Augusta Chamber of Commerce. He’s the Chairman of the Economic Development Committee for the Chamber. I was doing some research to see about the Frontier Culture Museum taking over Augusta Expo; let them sell that and put in a nice pavilion there; so I go and look and there is Mr. Toms; he’s on the Board of Trustees. With him are Dickie Bell, Ben Cline, Emmett Hanger, Steve Landes, and wait for this—Senator Frank Wagner! That’s the good old guy that’s for them. Then you’ve got the Shenandoah Valley Partnership; you got the Board of Directors there and a number of other things. There are tentacles everywhere to scratch your backs—networking, taking care of things. Who is doing that for you? Nobody; they’re not doing that. You are by yourself. You gotta raise the roof yourselves. You gotta hammer your legislators to start representing you instead of the big boys. That’s where it is. Now, I want to remind us of a couple of things to what you said. Brenda Nycum was here earlier. She’s a friend from high school. She’s not near as old as me and she was a good looking cheerleader. She was talking about them losing their wells. We had the same thing when we were building a road by River Hill Gardens. Yes, those little blasts there caused these changes in water; what’s going to happen when these things come over five mountains? We’re not going to know the full results of that. We’re not going to be able to see it. This is something that is geological time; it’s not profits time; this is stuff that takes a little while to get to us. Every time one of those ports close, somebody didn’t get water. If any of those ports get opened too big, we’re going to lose our water. Here we’ve got this thing that is a great creation of God putting in this dam for us; they’re holding back our water and releasing it just at the right time for all of these places; and we’re going to mess with that. Would we let them blast along the Hoover Dam, just put a bunch of dynamite next to it, and say, ‘Oh, what the heck?’ We can’t do that. Mr. Wade said that energy gas is a necessity. Where does water rank? They don’t go to the Mars looking for methane; they go looking for water.

You can’t have life without water. We’ve got this. Now, it’s too much to absorb. I go through all this stuff. When they talk about there aren’t any pipeline problems. Well, Ms. Gibson, there, spent about two hours a day sending me e-mails for about two months of all the reports throughout the country of all the problems that are out there. The West Virginia pipeline was just a year old! It’s blowing up! With all the safeguards and the modern techniques. The fellow here, I think it was Mr. Ledbetter, a smart person shows up with technical knowledge, to tell us that we’ve got to do more from this Board to get the facts. The only really facts we have are from the report that the Service Authority did that was commissioned—asked for by me and paid by Mr. Moore and I—was a good report. Now, Mr. Wade said they have been talking to us; they’ve been working with us.

We haven’t gotten a response. We did our report in less than a month. We haven’t gotten a response. The response is, ‘Well, we looked at that, moving the route, and moving the route there, and we found that is not the best way to go. We’ve found something else.’ Dismiss what we want to do. Dismiss what we’re concerned about.

They’re the only ones that matter. We matter, too. I don’t know what is going to come of this. I hope we will put some money in to try to do some of the things that people are asking us to do. I know it’s wrong for us. We don’t need it. Our water is too vulnerable and too valuable to put it to risk.

Dr. Pattie:

Thank you all for coming out tonight; and more, importantly, thank you for providing information. This is what lobbying should be. It should be providing information that you guys researched. We come across a different issue every week and so it is nice when people help us with our homework and you give us other advice and other feedback. I know the deputies; we have a lot here, tonight, are pretty disappointed that there is no action. They just sat here and watched us. The firefighters have been helping us make sure everyone has been safe. Again, the purpose of this hearing was to provide voice to the community to get more feedback from you guys. Although, this is not a real rezoning; it did provide you guys an opportunity. There is no way that we could go out in the community and get all that information from each one of you individually. I think it was actually pretty efficient in learning about how this affects the actual landowners and our Nelson people that keep coming back over here. I think the path that has been chosen is about a third longer than it needs to be going through Augusta County and I think that is a major issue. It was brought up that a salamander that I’ve never seen or heard of would affect a path in such a way that it lengthened it. It increased the number of farms and property owners. I think if we had to choose between property owners and humans versus salamanders, I think we would all choose humans most definitely. Again, thanks for coming out tonight. We appreciate you guys being here and I’m sure we’ll continue the conversation. Keep asking the questions. I would also encourage you to e-mail your Board of Supervisors the questions that you have.

We’ll compile those and, hopefully, we’ll get a complete response. Thanks, again.

Mr. Karaffa:

Thank you, again, for everybody who came out. I feel this was a good exercise. As it’s been said, this is a long process. This is another step along the way. I’m getting your comments back. Especially, tonight, I heard some things that I hadn’t heard before. It seems like every time a pipeline meeting gets together and shares information, I hear something new, so it’s always nice. It definitely helps me for next week to be able to formulate what our comments will be to FERC. The other thing that I am closely watching is SB1338. I will be interested to see what happens with that as well. I know I’ve contacted my legislator and plan to say something about that later this week when I’m in Richmond. I thank you, again, for coming out; I really do appreciate it. You’ve given me something more to think about. It was helpful to have somebody with some technical experience.

Mr. Wills:

Thank you all for coming out; for the way the crowd conducted itself, tonight. I think, in an emotional issue like we have here, you’ve shown yourselves as good citizens of Augusta County and I appreciate that. We’re at a process that’s a bit frustrating for all of us because we really have no control. FERC, the Federal government, is the one who will make the final decisions. It is my understanding that, at some point here, later this year, FERC will be here in this room to take your comments, again, and, hopefully, you all will show up in the same manner that you did tonight and talk to them so they hear the same comments that we’re hearing. I am concerned a little bit of what I’m starting to hear from realtors. Now, whether that is a real situation or a situation that has been brought about by the conversations of the last couple of months of concern, I don’t know.

What the long-term effect will be, I don’t know. Obviously, that is another issue that is starting to concern me greatly because $1.4 million; $1 million, whatever we get from Dominion for the pipeline, may be a drop in the bucket to what we lose in property values and the taxes we receive from that standpoint, if that is going to be a factor in resale value. That has to be a concern of mine. The other thing, I think, that you will have to realize from this Board, and I will say this very bluntly, but I am not prepared to oppose the pipeline, but I want to stay in a situation that we can take your comments and forward them on to FERC and, hopefully, FERC will listen to a governing body and its concerns for its citizens—their safety, their water and their natural resources. I think we do that better by keeping open communication rather than having a stance on that.

Anything more that we can receive from you all, in terms of factual information that we can use to put those comments together, will be most helpful. I think our staff has done a tremendous job as to what the Service Authority has done; I appreciate what our Engineer did in putting together a report; and I’m anxious to see comments on that report from Dominion. I am disappointed I haven’t seen it before now. I think it needed to be addressed earlier in the process, not later. When the final route is received, I think we can make additional comments at that point. Again, I understand your concerns, and I think we have to take all of those concerns in when we put the final report together when we send it to FERC from this Board.

Mr. Moore:

Four years ago, I helped my grandfather put brakes on his car. The point he made, when we were doing that, was if you put the brakes on right; it’s safe. If you don’t put it on right, you could leave a spring loose, or something little, it’s a bad situation. How that applies to this, as Mr. Wills said, we really don’t have any say of whether or not FERC approves this or not. We do have some influence, hopefully, if it is approved, that it is put in properly and safely. I would like to think that’s Dominion’s desire, but I think, from our Board’s standpoint, and, certainly, from FERC, that needs to be the requirement. We have a study that’s been done that has brought up some questions. The Service Authority has brought up some questions. Our staff has brought up some other things. I don’t like the route. I would ask you all to listen to our concerns on some of the route.

Splitting some of our economic development areas doesn’t make any sense to me at all.

I liked the initial route you had better. The salamander was the reason that we brought it into more of our populated area, I request that you go back and look at it. I know there are reasons that you deviated it. Some of the things that have been brought up by our staff and the study, a lot of it has to do with that things are done properly and safely when it is installed. Those precautions, I think, are part of our responsibility here. My entire life, that I can remember, we’ve heated with natural gas, whether it was here or whether it was in North Carolina, or wherever we lived, so I would be a little bit of a hypocrite if I sat here and said that I couldn’t support a natural gas line, realizing that the line coming here is not going to support us directly, but it does support our State. Whether we want to think so, or not, a lot of the funds and the benefits that we receive here in rural Augusta County comes from what’s going on in Northern Virginia, and what is going on in Tidewater, and what is going on in Richmond because the tax dollars generated down there goes into what the State can fund for our local schools and the things up here. The other thing, those transmission lines, the voltage lines coming across the mountain, the power, you know, our houses are going to be powered by the plants that are going to be supplied by this transmission line if it is approved. To say that we don’t benefit from that, I don’t think that’s right. Some of it may come from North Anna; most of it comes from across the mountain. I was at the substation here not too long ago looking at what they were doing on upgrading the 500 kv, that they are upgrading to, to get the power across the mountain to us. It comes to the substation and goes to our homes. Again, we don’t have a say in it, but I think it is more important that we work with Dominion to make sure that the route is the least detrimental to what we’re looking for here in terms of our Comprehensive Plan and things, and then, if it is approved, we hold them to make sure it is put in properly so that it is safe.

Ms. Bragg:

Thank you for coming out. It has been an enlightening evening. I, too, have heard things that I haven’t heard before. It has been very helpful and I appreciate that. I did have a question that I hope Dominion checks into. They were talking about the check valves earlier and they were all in the western part of Augusta. I didn’t see any of the three as being located on the eastern side of I-81, which is a course going through Stuarts Draft and Lyndhurst, one of your more highly populated areas. Going back to safety concerns, I would certainly hope that, should this be approved, that that would be looked at because the safety checks aren’t in the areas where there’s the most population.

Without needing to say, I don’t think, there are many, many, other concerns. You do have the schools. They say they are safe enough, but if you have to evacuate the school campus in Stuarts Draft, the road goes towards the pipeline; it doesn’t go away from the pipeline. Our students would have to be going towards danger before they could leave danger. Obviously, our water, there’s not enough to say about that. I would hope that they would consider more than 100 feet from the line; that’s not adequate, in my view, because, as we all know, the water sources go so much further than that. There are many, many safety issues. There are responsibility issues, as to what happens with damages and so forth. We do have concerns. I appreciate Dominion being here and listening. They didn’t have to do that, but they did come, so we do thank them for that and hope that they will take what we said to heart and they will really look at our concerns. It has also been said, we really don’t have that much of a choice. They are going to do what they can do. I hope, at least, they’ll give us an opportunity to make the path the least intrusive as you possibly can.

Chairman Shull:

Thank each one of you for your comments. I will echo some of the same comments that were presented by our other Board members here. First of all, I would like to thank our Fire and Rescue for being here and I would like to thank all of you all for coming out and your comments. I appreciate you being very cordial. That shows the maturity of Augusta County. Hopefully, in the days to come, I know the road is not set in stone, yet, and, hopefully, we can work together if this comes to play that it will be put in a safe manner. I hope you take the concerns of these people that were here tonight and the concerns that may come in. I appreciate all of your comments. If the room was full and we were here to 11:00 or 12:00, we would have stayed here to listen to every one of your concerns and every one of you would have spoken.

I know it’s out of our hands, but we have to try to work through this situation and, hopefully, we can come up with the best results for everybody. We’ll take the comments and try to evaluate them. Staff will evaluate them.

We will try to work up something that we can present to FERC and show them ourconcerns. Whether they listen; I don’t know, but we will present what you have proposed to us. I would like to thank everyone for coming out this evening.

MATTERS TO BE PRESENTED BY STAFF

Staff discussed the following:

1. Middle River Regional Jail – Press Release today Rockingham and Harrisonburg joining Staunton, Augusta and Waynesboro as members. Legal counsel will bring back to the Board for approval.

2. Clerk of Court – Special Election – Judge of Circuit Court ruled against the writ from Mr. Morgan. A Special Election will be required until the General Election.

The State Code requires it to be 55 days prior to the Primary. It cannot overlap with the Senate. Available dates: March 30th (not a good date with schools because of Spring Break); a Tuesday in either July or early August (prior to opening of schools). The Code specifies that the Board of Supervisors has to choose a date for the Special Election, not the Board of Elections. He noted that the cost for this election will be approximately $30,000. This item is on the February 11th agenda for discussion.

MATTERS TO BE PRESENTED BY THE PUBLIC – NONE

MATTERS TO BE PRESENTED BY THE BOARD

The Board discussed the following issues:

Mr. Karaffa:

1. February 11th Agenda – Questioned about the public hearing for the new tax for rental properties. He had understood that this was to come before the Ordinance Review Committee prior to a public hearing. Mr. Coffield explained that this was a “housekeeping matter” to be compliant with the State Supreme Court action.

Action will not have to be taken next Wednesday. After the public hearing , the matter can be tabled until all questions have been answered.

2. News Leader disturbing article – He wanted to take a minute to “thank the men and women in our public service lines. We have folks in Fire and Rescue and folks that are in Law Enforcement. These are men and women, varying race, color and creeds, who get up every day and every night and take a very serious risk to make sure that we all stay safe. I would like to just take a moment to thank all of you for what you do every day. Most of the time, we take you for granted until that one second that we absolutely need you. You’re there and you’re trained and you’re professional. Thank you very much.”

ADJOURNMENT

There being no other business to come before the Board, Mr. Pyles moved, seconded by Dr. Pattie, the Board adjourned subject to call of the Chairman.

Vote was as follows: Yeas: Pattie, Shull, Wills, Moore, Bragg, Karaffa and Pyles Nays: None Motion carried.

Chairman County Administrator h:2-4min.15