Gloucester County Boards Check Another Box In The Page Middle School Property Deception

The Gloucester County, Virginia Board of Supervisors and School Board are moving forward with "their" value engineered consolidated transportation facility. I say “their” because “their” facility is certainly not what is in the best interest of the community. Tens of thousands of dollars was wasted on a study to determine the best, out of three locations, to construct a new county garage, school bus garage and utility yard. When the results of the study were presented to the boards, they completely disregarded all recommendations and had the person doing the study make the final results reflect what “they” wanted them to reflect.

There has been an ongoing effort to vacate the old Page Middle School property that started several years before the tornado “damaged” the school in 2010. We will provide a more comprehensive story on those efforts very soon. Gloucester needs these facilities and more, but we don’t need them piecemealed, value engineered and scattered throughout the county. They need to last and need to be able to be expanded when growth dictates. The land they intend to build the transportation facility on was supposed to be a place for a future elementary school. When Harry Corr and Breckenridge Ingles develop all the land they own in that area, a new elementary school will be needed there. But then isn’t that why the school board bought the property to begin with. So certain developers could obtain the Old Page properties avoid development proffers? That theory will be explored in a future story.

In the meantime; take a look at the documents contained in the Slideshare presentation below, especially the pictures and construction cost estimates. Pay close attention to the utility department photos, these are the places our employees who take care of our water and sewer systems work every day. A couple of things the study left out: If utility employees are working in the storage yard behind Southern States and need to use the restroom, they must travel all the way to the employee trailer on Carriage Street near the court circle on Main Street. That certainly isn’t within reasonable walking distance. The study also does not mention anything about the black mold issues in the basement of Utilities’ main office, which is also located on Carriage Street.

Tell the Board of Supervisors and School Board “their” transportation facility is not what “We The People” of Gloucester County need or want.

Gloucester transportation facility request for proposals from Kenneth Hogge Sr

Kenny Hogge, Sr. Will Not Talk or Meet with Candidates Before Election

After hearing various comments from multiple people and receiving multiple phone calls and text messages pertaining to my and others’ opinion about the mismanagement of the old Page and bus garage properties; I am letting everyone know, I will not be talking with or meeting with any Gloucester County School Board or Board of Supervisors candidates or board members until after the election. I will accept and publish unedited written statements from any and all candidates and board members.

I do not believe the People’s business should be done behind closed doors.

Kenny Hogge, Sr.

Gloucester Point, Va.

Click This Link To View Our Old Page and Bus Garage Properties Opinion: http://www.gloucestercounty-va.com/2017/09/its-not-just-terrible-drinking-water.html

Click This Link to View Our Latest News and Opinions: http:http://www.gloucestercounty-va.com/

It’s Not Just the Terrible Drinking Water That Needs Fixing in Gloucester County

Most Gloucester residents know how bad of a job our local government has done providing Gloucester with safe and quality public drinking water, but few realize just how many other areas our local government has mismanaged for years and continue to mismanage today.

One of those areas is utilization of the old Page Middle School and bus garage properties, associated construction and use of taxpayer dollars to fund Crony maneuvers and deceptions to vacate the properties. Kiser and the two boards back then began the mismanagement several years before they built new Page Middle School on T.C. Walker Road against the will of a majority of the community. Most people in Gloucester know that story, so we will focus on what is taking place right now. The following is our brief analysis and opinion about what is going on in this area of our local infrastructure.

The current boards, paid for a study to determine where the best place would be, out of three school board owned properties, to build a new bus garage, county garage and utilities department complex. The initial results deemed the old Page and bus garage properties to be the best and most economical option; that is until school board member Charles Records and supervisors John Meyer, Phillip Bazzani and Ashley Chriscoe got done manipulating the results of the study. Just like when Kiser and his corrupt crew were violating the community's trust, this location study was done for no other reason than to check a box in the process of deceiving the people of Gloucester. From here on we will refer to the current group of deceivers collectively as the Crony Four, because they “are”, the definition of Crony Capitalists with Socialist tendencies and have steered this latest ploy against the taxpayers.

The old Page property still has a VDOT approved entrance/exit and was so depicted in the initial study findings. The Crony Four had that changed. They added the made up, so called requirement of obtaining a right of way from adjacent property owner Harry Corr and reconstructing the Route 17, T.C. Walker intersection to the mix. Part of the so-called reconstruction entails leveling the north and southbound lanes of Route 17 in the vicinity of the intersection. This one made up item alone drove the estimated costs up by several million dollars, making it "appear" cost prohibitive to build on the old Page and bus garage properties. That was the goal, but the real picture is likely quite different than it appears. The very expensive Route 17 leveling is most likely a VDOT requirement to build a thoroughfare road for a large business park or residential development, but it is certainly not a requirement for the construction and uses contained in the initial study findings. We strongly believe the old Page property is wanted by an adjacent landowner and the Crony Four and their predecessors (the Kiser Crew) have and are doing everything possible to make sure they get it; no matter how much it costs the taxpayers in the long run. 

Once the Crony Four added enough fake requirements and costs to rule out the old Page and bus garage properties, they proceeded with cutting the size of the recommended complex. The first thing they did was remove a new yard and facilities for our public utilities department; further demonstrating both boards lack of concern about our crumbling water and sewer infrastructure, our utilities department employees who are trying to hold it all together while significantly understaffed and ultimately demonstrating their lack of concern about the people of Gloucester.

The Crony Four’s plan is to allow utilities to temporally use the old bus garage and its property until it is needed for “economic development reasons”. They seem to believe, or know, a developer will come along who is willing to pay to relocate Utilities’ operation in return for the old Page and bus garage properties, but if they know this, why don’t they let us know what the ultimate plan for the properties is. We believe it is because the Crony Four are doing all of this to take care of one or more of their friends or associates and Charles Records seems to be at the forefront of the current effort?

Over two years ago, we began to believe Charles Records ran for the school board for the sole purpose of trying to remove ownership of the old Page and Bus Garage properties from the school board. At the end of his four year term on the board, it appears this member of the Crony Four has been successful in doing just that and ironically, he is not seeking re-election this November.

During a joint meeting of the school board and board of supervisors on Sept 19^th, County Administrator, Brent Fedors presented a timeline of future actions that includes a completion date for turning the old Page and bus garage properties over to the county. They claim their intent is to turn the old Page property over to Gloucester’s Economic Development Authority, but no information has been provided outlining what the GEDA intends to do with the property. This is troubling; especially since the GEDA already has comparable properties in the Gloucester Business Park that have gone unsold and undeveloped for years. What is so special about the old Page property that justifies the amount of tax dollars and time that have been waisted to obtain it from the school board? Wouldn’t you like to know?

It is not too late to put a stop to what they are doing, but "all" of us must let them know we will not accept what they are doing. Be sure to pass this on to other people in the community.

Look for more from us on how our local government is continuing to waste our tax dollars and allow our infrastructure to crumble in order to satisfy the greed and desires of a few. We will also be providing info on the Gloucester High School master plan in the very near future. If you care about the future of our County and Country; get involved, become informed and speak out. Demand transparency, make the ones we elect answer the hard questions and hold them accountable for their actions.

The following are presentations and meeting video segments pertaining to the latest transportation complex location study:

Transportation facility update.pdf 1 from Kenneth Hogge Sr

Updated combined transportation_facility_report.pdf 2 from Kenneth Hogge Sr

Update trans supporting_documents.pdf 3 from Kenneth Hogge Sr


XZ

Trans facility timeline and other bs from Kenneth Hogge Sr

Charles Records Response To Us About Page Middle School

Mr. Thompson, Thanks for the opportunity to comment on your last story concerning Page Middle School. Here is my response in its entirety to ensure no editorial liberties are taken. Good Morning Mr. Thompson,

Thanks for your message asking me to respond to your article concerning Page Middle School. I would be happy to take you and any other citizen of Gloucester County on a tour of the new building at anytime to dispel many of the false statements you have made in the story which I have included below for reference. It behoves the both of us to represent the truth, for me as an elected official, and you as a journalist.

I will try to respond to each of the items you mention as follows:

1. Fence at Rear of Building - The fencing is 6’ high and has capped tops on each individual newel post and baluster. In the event children are climbing on it, as you suggest, we have another problem which is supervision of our students. I have gotten to know the Staff at all of our schools and I don’t believe any of us have to worry about inadequate supervision. I also question the standards that you may think our children have. Our middle school students do use common sense and are generally well behaved.  (I might agree with you if you have one teacher per student.  Otherwise I just can not go along with the idea that 1 teacher can watch 25 students all at the same time.  Also, if the children, preteens, teenagers, offspring, are in fact as well behaved as you suggest, then I guess we will not see any form of detention this year for any of them?)

2. Railing Heights - The top of the railing astragals at Page Middle School are 42” high, not 3’.  (I corrected that in the last article as we did a measurement based on a photo that is not online.  We figured about 40 inches and will measure it with your tour.  Thank you.)

3. Lockers next to Railings - The Locker is in essence just like the railing, 42” high. If a student climbs on the lockers, or the railings for that matter, I would have the same response at Item #1.  (See 2. above.)

4. Mortified Engineer - I’m unsure of who your engineer is, as you didn’t identify them by name. I would wonder if they are a Licensed Professional Engineer or not. I am a Professional Engineer and Gloucester County Public Schools has employeed dozens of other Professional Engineers, licensed by the Commonwealth of Virginia, to design this project. As a Professional Engineer, our singular duty is to protect the Life, Safety, Health and Welfare of the General Public and it is not a duty I or any other Professional Engineer takes lightly. It is a slap in the face to suggest otherwise.  (You can speak with him at the next meeting between the BoS and School board joint meeting.)

5. Visible Escape Routes - As you mention "A question that has been brought to my attention is how did the school board manage to get a certificate of occupancy especially when there are no visible escape routes and or facilities for handicapped children that might be on the second floor? None." There are visible safety route signs placed strategically throughout the entire building. No less than 250 safety evacuation route signs exist and there are also another 90 exit signs that are lit in the event of a power failure to identify exit locations. I have attached a few pictures that show exactly what you say doesn’t exist. The pictures are of appurtenances to safely get physically disabled people from the 2nd floor to the 1st floor in the event of an emergency.  (Signs are not the concern.  Nice deflection.  How are you going to move handicapped children out if an emergency comes about and especially if they are on the second floor.)

You also go on to state, "If a fire should engulf the front of the building, the children will be locked in an outdoor courtyard that is fully fenced in with locked gates trapping them from being able to get out to safety.” This statement is ridiculously inaccurate. In the event of a fire at the front of the Building, the kids would exit the building into the rear courtyards and simply push the bar on the gate and walk through it. The gates operate just like any other commercial door, push the bar to exit. They aren’t locked from the inside, they are locked to the outside. This functionality also serves another important purpose and that is to keep unwanted guests from entering the building.  (This is good to know.  We did not get that part of the tour.  Have no issues being corrected here as our only interest is that of the public.)

With respect to the Certificate of Occupancy, it is appalling to suggest that anything other than the typical course of Occupancy was completed. To do so is reckless. What exactly do you mean to infer, when the State Fire Marshall, the Gloucester County Building Official, County Inspectors, Licensed and Bonded Contractors, School Board members, School Staff, Engineers, Architects and Private Third Party Inspectors have worked diligently to satisfy the myriad of design and building code requirements for a building of this kind? (That is real simple, please address 5 above and I want to thank you for the list of who is responsible should an accident befall any student due to what many consider a poor design and implementation of those 2nd floor rails.  My concern is the safety of the students and you are a pompous ass to word the above the way you have.  I must remind you that you are the public servant who answers to the people and not us who dare question stupidity.  May I suggest you take a course on the US Constitution through my friend Gary Porter who offers these and are published on this site.)

6. News Coverage - The News Station covered the Open House for one simple reason. We used to have another Middle School, 4 years ago it was destroyed by a tornado and it devastated our community. We have built a new school and it was opened to students for the first time. (That was just ridiculous on your part to even go there.)

7. Open Space in Building - The building design will stand the test of time and will be judged by it. Could it have been designed differently? Sure. Does it have high ceilings and large corridors? Yes. Is it something we should be proud of now that it is complete? Yes. I was a vocal private citizen when this was all being planned but, at the end of the day, the building is done. Adults have argued their points for nearly 4 years but now - the more important part - it is complete and What do the kids think about it? I am unsure if you noticed when you attended the Open House but the kids were amazed by it, The first day of school was flawless and the kids were amazed by it. Today they will walk in and they will be amazed by it. So while you, and many others I’m sure, still want to continue the contentiousness…it is over, water under the bridge. We can now, in the coming months, reflect and learn from the entire process to ensure several things are done differently for the next project, but this project is complete. 

 (Okay, let's really address this shall we?  We fought with the school board and the board of supervisors over many issues here and it was railroaded through regardless of what any of the people thought.  No one in the public were told what the interior designs would look like or that the county had plans for wasting taxpayer money so foolishly.  Proud of the school?  I am seriously thinking of taking my own out of it for safety reasons.  I only need one good reason at this point.)

8. Exercise Room - Childhood Obesity is a serious problem that we need to try to solve, this fitness room hopefully will help to those ends. As your pictures show, most of the equipment is for cardiovascular exercise and will be integrated into our Program of Studies in Middle School which also aligns with the curriculum at our High School.  (What medical doctors were consulted here?  From what I am seeing online through medical experts, you need an experienced weight trainer to design specific programs per person here.  Do you have such a person?  I will check with my own doctor for further information.)

9. Safety in General - 2 story school buildings are not uncommon throughout the Commonwealth of Virginia or the entire Nation. See above.  (And where did that come from?  That was just ......well...... not needed.  But gee, thanks all the same.  I went to several of them.  Another of your pompous ass comments)

With respect to the Waterline at Page Middle School, I offer the following - Mr. Hogge sent the School Board and Board of Supervisors several messages concerning the inadequate cover over the pipe, Mr. Hutchinson’s latest response, which you published, explained exactly what we plan to do to remedy the situation. Mr. Hogge’s response was as follows:

"Outstanding!! This is very good news. Great work!! Thank you Mr. Hutchinson, and please thank everyone involved. - Kenny"

Why don’t you publish that? I’m guessing because it doesn’t “sell” the story.

(I am going to love this.  Here is why Charles.  You are NOT privy to private conversations between Mr Hogge and myself.  So let me clue you in.  Kenny's statement above is in regards to making sure that those responsible for having screwed up the 16 inch pipes being disturbed after being put in the first time is what the comment refers to.  What you are not aware of is that Kenny's personal opinion and I restate "OPINION" is that those pipes can break at anytime causing massive flooding due to the joints being disturbed causing a weakening of those pipes.  Then it might turn out to be a great idea that the mountain of dirt was left so that the students and teachers have some place to escape to.)

As an aside, it appears your blog has been created to promote transparency, yet from my viewpoint, shows your discontent. The title of the two articles alone; “Page Middle School, Serious Life Threatening Concerns to Consider” and “The Waterline at Page Middle School: Disaster Waiting to Happen Here Too?” is typical of media sensationalism to a degree that questions your integrity as a journalist. I’ve attached both articles for your reference. As a member of an elected Board we are no strangers to criticism but I would like to remind you of an old saying: "Everyone is entitled to their own opinion, but not their own facts." This particular story asserts facts that are blatantly false as highlighted above. (You have only corrected one area that I see after we did so.  You have not corrected any facts.  What we do on this site is done to protect the people from potentially corrupt government and inform the people of what is going on in the community.  Can you please explain to me as we publish articles and ask a lot of questions, various members of staff from the county continue to leave?  Wait, don't tell me, it's all a coincidence right?)

I look forward to scheduling an appointment with you to discuss/tour Page Middle School if you have any further questions. In the event you choose to use my response in a sensational way on your blog, consider this our last correspondence. (Gee, what happened to the statement you made about transparency?  I would not call this a sensational use of your comments.  It is only fair that I show both sides of the story.  This statement shows that you were purposely trying to avoid having your ridiculous statements shown the light of day and that you are truly a pompous ass.  Does this mean you will now purposely hide facts from the public?  I guess this will not help your re election campaign?  Also, does this mean the offer for you giving us a tour is now off?  I really want to film that.  And one other area, you forgot to mention is that your invitation for response was in fact meant for the public to see on this site.  That has to hurt.)

Have a great day,
Charles Records
Vice Chairman
Gloucester County School Board

Thank you Charles for taking the time to address our concerns.  I am sorry if we do not agree on various areas.  Our concerns are the students and the parents.  I am not sure of yours however except to limit liability of the school which one could argue is looking out for the public's interest as it is the public that always pays for everything that government does whether it is right or wrong.  

One final area I would like to address is the 2 story open floor plan and how this is a huge waste of taxpayer money as it raises the heating and cooling costs exponentially.  With the federal and state government putting out a lot of pressure for going green to save energy costs and usage, how does this ridiculous design fit within a green environment?  Or is the government lying to us?  That would seem a fair question.  But I am sure someone has a spin for this to make it sound as though this design is in fact green.

That is a very large area to have to heat and cool.  That is also some very serious equipment outside to do such a job.  Gloucester County School Board.  Now you know.

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Page Middle School Now Open With More Issues

It's an interesting building that there is no question about.  Some issues experienced yesterday with the new school include problems with the phone lines as well as problems with the Internet.  Not a big deal especially being a new school and not having much time to work out all the bugs.

  One area that begs to question is why isn't the cafeteria not yet functional?  And why did the school board order pizza's for the school children instead of having the food made at other area schools and bringing it into this school?  It would seem logical to have gone that route as opposed to ordering pizza.  What an order some business received over this.

We did a bit more checking and the rail on the second floor is probably 40 inches high as it should be.  A number of readers think that nothing will ever get thrown over that rail for any reason and that to think so otherwise is foolish.  It is their belief that every child is raised by parents who are very diligent in teaching their children between right and wrong.  I hope they are correct but a walk through any store suggests otherwise.  To think that every child, preteen, and teenager has been brought up to the highest standards of society is rather foolish.

  I have no wish for seeing any form of even mild mischief to take place yet to think it will not happen and that teachers will surely prevent such at every moment of everyday again is wishful thinking at best.  It is not only my opinion but also the opinion of others that designs throughout this structure are considered potentially dangerous.

How many teachers are out in this hall all day to make sure there are no issues and how is that cost effective when it comes to staffing?

Now a question about open design.  People are complaining that I would even complain about the waste of space this open design creates.  I am not the only one saying this.  This is also coming from an engineer as well as people that have been involved in constructing schools.  It's a heating and cooling nightmare for one.  Those claiming that open design is not an issue have not had to deal with the problems of heating and cooling such a structure.

So the above picture that shows two stories of open window space is needed for educational purposes?  I have no issues with the windows for each floor being the way they are, but how many classes could have been built in here that are now wasted?

Now the classrooms are nice looking.  What I have to wonder about is the windows as large as they are affecting the learning process.  The reason for the question is that anyone walking through the hall could very well be a distraction to the class or some in a class.

  The reason you have not seen these types of designs in schools in the past is because designers knew and understood these issues.  Today though it has become very unfashionable to ever question those in charge.  We should just accept what those in charge do.  If there is an issue then you blame the parents for not teaching their children, kids, preteens, teenagers, or whatever anyone wants to call their offspring these days, for not teaching them how to maintain the highest standards of society.

The lunchroom or cafeteria from another angle.  Open floor plan.  

The cafeteria food serving section is nice looking.  Hope it's up and running soon.  If you are just looking at the aesthetics of the overall design it is nice looking.  Modern, simple, and clean.  If you are looking at it from a liability standpoint, it is fraught with a host of "potential" issues.  Potential is the key word here.  Most people are not looking at the potential issues.  Those that are have been fast to discredit our initial post about this school and it's overall design because of the liability issues being faced.  The rail height on the second floor as seen in the above picture were brought up during construction but were blown off.  If something heavy gets thrown off that area or falls by some weird accident anyone below could be seriously hurt.  This is why schools in the past were not designed like this.  

  

     A number of people do not consider the fencing around the back of the building to be an issue.  Will the children, preteens, teenagers, or your offspring not try and climb these fences?  The design is against climbing them.  If you are foolish enough to try and climb over one you will probably get hurt.  It is designed to keep people out that have no business being there.  The fences meet construction standards and are upper end fences.  No question.  But again you have to be foolish enough to think that every child, preteen, teenager, offspring, have all been brought up in households where the highest standards of society have been instilled in them and that they all follow those standards to the hilt at all times with no question.

     We have invited Charles Records to write a letter to dispel the posts here.  He has invited members of the public to tour the school so that he could dispel what has been posted.  We await his reply and will bring that to you if he does respond.

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