Howard Mowry, Gloucester Point Virginia

Mr. Mowry's remarks during the February 28, 2017 joint meeting of the Gloucester County, Virginia Board of Supervisors and School Board.

 Intro: Chairman’s, Members of the Boards, Dr. Clemons, & Mr. Fedors, Staff

Howard Mowry, Gloucester Point

1.   Scrap the idea of improving the Transportation/Facilities site on the old Page site and move your process directly to the new Page Site. Costs a little more but is assessable for the next 25 years where Route 17 (Interstate) will be a disaster.

Reduce the passenger vehicle inventory, to what is really needed, scattering the fleet around the county to hide vehicles that may not move once a week borders on criminal, and only increases the budgetary costs to insurance and upkeep.

2.   County Garage, call out the fire marshal and the hazmat team right now and secure that place. Clean up and bulldoze immediately. The below the ground level pit I thought was illegal. Who is really watching the store?

3.   Teachers Salaries, I must have been asleep in the past as I reviewed the current scale and then accomplished a timeline. The salaries have been stagnating in growth. With a projected loss of 75 students or 750 thousand dollars, these funds could be re-directed to a change in the scale make-up.

 Let us not forget we cannot compare ourselves to any other county or city in the area. We must stand-alone; our revenues are driven by industry, business and taxes, (which do not need increasing). Many spend their money across the river, a greater variety of stores and close to one another a cost saver but a revenue loss to Gloucester.

So back to the scale, which is equal or very, close to the 2015 state salary average or above? The scale needs a lot of improvement such as:

38 teachers are past grade 31 in salary, how do you arrive at these annual salary values?

Even though the Bachelor and the Master’s are equal in step alignment step 1,2, 3 from step 0 and the salary increase is equal at 582 dollars or 2.61 cents a day, the scale continues to follow the same course to step four, where you are looking at 5 years of service or 4.07 cents a day increase.

          Now the first of two kickers, step 5 taking away step 4 salary is an increase of 104 dollars or .52 cents a day for 6 years of work. Who would hang around for this salary schedule?

 After 25 years of service the salary has increased by 20.59 cents a day from the fifth step. Of course, the scale changes annually by step and the increases still parallel one another the costs do not stand still but increase yearly. What would the scales look like if compressed to 25 years, or 15 levels spread over 10 steps or 20 to 25 years?

There could be a need to define a separate scale for those subjects that require continued life improvement and educational and occupational advancement, and a separate scale established to create a higher level of learning to compete with the international workforce that is moving into this country. 

          The scale needs a lot of work to ensure we are not a stepping-stone to other divisions.

As time runs out the need for a town hall meeting on the combined budgets needs to be considered and held on a Saturday afternoon.

I thank you for the time.

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Mr. Howard Mowry, Gloucester Point, Virginia

Mr. Howard Mowry, Gloucester Point, Virginia

We would like to introduce Mr. Howard Mowry of Gloucester Point, Virginia. Many of you already know Howard and his long record of following our local government and speaking out during public comment periods of Board of Supervisors, School Board and other public meetings pertaining to our local governance. Howard shares the following with us:

    I moved to Gloucester eighteen years ago and continued my hobby of following local Counties’ government for ten years. If the citizens do not follow their governing’s actions they would be in deep trouble. The process of tax and spend is an ongoing annual onslaught against the citizens net income. Most do not care especially in small counties where the largest employer is the Government. The nepotism, inter-relationship to business creates a system of quiet do not disturb mentality that has a wide range of negative impacts to those who are not a part of the system.

    This process is slowly changing in Gloucester as the population grows and more "outsiders" are moving in and becoming pro-active to their local government’s fiscal and managerial practices. Some very positive changes have occurred in the past four years but there is still a long way to go to make the process self-sufficient.    

    Since 1999 I have been a small voice at the local Board of Supervisors and School Board meetings, some suggestions have been implemented many haven't.  Many of ones suggestions that can save funding (tax increases) will go by the wayside since it may affect a retirement pension or become a cost effective solution. God forbid we don't want to go that far in creating a lean and mean cost effective government.

    Consolidation has always been one of my prime positions, the need to have sixteen department heads in-lieu of eight could save up to one million a year, also providing a ladder for promotions that is now almost non-existent unless you leave the county.

    I have written many articles over the years pertaining to government and some with spreadsheets to emphasize rising costs or lack of annual changes in doing business the same as usual.

    Time does not stop for no one but time should be able to provide the incentive for the young to step up to the plate and follow their local government. The regulations and policies they put in place annually may in their out years become the foundation where you are no longer a free person or country. Will I or we see change as the annual process of budgeting and taxing of your net pay takes place over the next several months? Without an increased showing of citizen participation at the meetings it will be hard to determine.

    One thing for sure the special interests will stand tall asking for more; and will want to raise taxes to fill their individual needs. 

The following are Howard’s public comments during the February 7, 2017 Board of Supervisors meeting. We will gladly publish any and all public comments made at public meetings as they are submitted to us at Kennysr61@Gmail.com

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Mr. Chairman:  Members of the Board, Mr. Fedors & Mr. Wilmot.

Howard Mowry, Gloucester Point

            As promised to a few folks I recommend you follow through on this topic since you have already have had a discussion on the subject in the past. Over the past eight years, the working force has seen their economy and jobs decrease to the point where they have to work multiple jobs to stay afloat. This in turn decreases the amount of time they can donate to critical positions required in the county.

          I am speaking about our Rescue Program in the county; many hours are required to learn and become a licensed EMT by the state and be able to operate the vehicle. With this in mind and you should never be caught where you cannot answer the bell.

          I recommend you proceed to have all ambulance movement in the county be a paid for service and all employees receive a salary. There are provisions that can be accomplished for those who lack the insurance for payment as covered by law.

          To make this process work I would suggest you send a small group to Richmond County and be briefed on how they operate and collect their funds for a successful rescue operation in their community.

          I have attached a copy of a redacted billing that provides how the process is billed and what the individual pays, depending on their policy.  The winner now in Gloucester is the insurance company, a profit to the shareholder. 

          With billing to insurance, you free up a large possible budget allocation for items necessary to upgrade and maintain your existing excellence service.

          A process worth tackling immediately and implementing the first of July 017.

2.      The subject of proffers ties into the above subject, a positive use for these funds. Connecting to a shopping center is a disaster, look to Newport News and the carts are left strewed all over the place, especially in the housing areas. We also do not need to waste funds on sidewalks that parallel interstate 17. This highway will eventually become eight lanes wide and the jackhammers will only remove them. Short lane is also a waste of money since it could also become a four-lane road interesting with a four lane T.C. Walker extension towards route 14. I do not believe you are at the 12 year markers, so keep your money in investment until you can spend it wisely.

3.      The change in the real property tax year may well pass tonight, but keep in mind to eliminate stealing from the public the tax rate change should only occur on the first day of the new fiscal year. The windfall then is non-existent; this process should also apply to personal property. If not the need for a balanced budget is only an exercise in balancing numbers to meet state audit regulation, the taxpayer is the loser.

4.      You need to push the buttons at VDOT to have Route 17 re-painted, the lines are just about gone creating a driving hazard at night. Appreciate all you can do to correct this safety hazard.

I thank you for your time.

The following are the public comments Howard made at the Public Hearings on the County Administrator’s proposed list of Capital Improvements (Buildings, parks, parking lots and such they want to build or fix), and on proposed changes to our local government’s ordinance (Local law) on Noise Control. These public hearings also took place during the February 7th meeting:

1.CIP

          Politically you all have major needs at the taxpayers’ expense. The best way is Pay as you go.

          The most critical at present are the software programs that interact with all departments including all public service equipment both audio and software.

School HVAC units have been neglected for more than 40 years now is the time to upgrade without debt.  Buses are an annual requirement by regulation. Millions have been spent on school roofing, the need to have in-house engineering or high school seniors or juniors using a CAD system design truss systems for all the schools similar to Page, along with metal roofing applied. A major cost savings over time.

          Debt needs to be restrained for the next five years at least. Paying down the existing 50 to 60 million unfunded and obligated debt is necessary.

          Consolidation of transportation, facilities, and utilities on one site at T.C. Walker road is a must.

          What has happened to the utility funds outside of the consent order? What is left and why can it not be obligated and utilized now?

2. Noise Control: 

Sitting on my porch today, it was vehicular noisy, are you going to build a wall to suppress this discomfort? I think not.

Noise is music to one’s ear, some for the good and some an irritation. You need to be selective in government control of private property including the individual.

Noise suppression from 10 to 6 AM is a norm. All areas that have condensed housing may have logical restrictions

If you live in the boonies with acreage, you need no government interference unless you are exceeding logical noise decibels.

Animals and fowl talk at all hours of the day or night. Neighbors need to communicate with each other if a problem arises. Most can be resolved without a government rule or the sheriff showing up at the door.

Only the elderly hear some noise so an ordinance would not apply. Loud could be soft who knows.

Let us put logic into the government’s methods as they try to control the mass, which will not work in the long haul.

We thank Howard for his efforts and for his submission. We encourage other Gloucester residents, landowners and businesses to actively follow our elected and employed local government representatives and administrators, and to help hold them accountable for their actions. Remember, all levels of government belong to We The People, but that ownership becomes compromised and weak when We consent to their actions by our silence.

The following web address is to the video recording of the February 7^th Board of Supervisors meeting:
http://gloucester.granicus.com/MediaPlayer.php?view_id=10&clip_id=1667

Draining The Local Government Swamp

Draining The Local Government Swamp

Our new President promised that if he were elected he would drain the federal government swamp and return power to We The People. So far President Trump appears to be living up to his promise, but he cannot do it alone and our federal government is not the only place where the government swamp needs to be drained. Our Commonwealth government (I emphasize “Common”), needs some draining and so does our local government and many other local government’s throughout Virginia.

One of the biggest issues of government overreach in Gloucester County, Virginia is land use zoning. Gloucester has been driven onto the path of the local government telling land owners what they may or may not do with their property. That is not the Gloucester I and many others grew up in. Our local government and elected representatives have passed local laws and adopted policies that require land owners to comply with “their” restrictive zoning requirements. In fact, our current Board of Supervisors has passed local law prohibiting certain styles of buildings because they do not like how they look. Further appalling is the fact that one of our elected Supervisors has publicly stated during a Board of Supervisors meeting that he believes they sometimes need to tell land owners what they may or may not do with their property. In my opinion Gloucester County “is” the definition of United Nations Agenda 21 micro-zoning.

Several years ago our local government began to implement what they refer to as the “Village Plans”. These plans constrict growth within the Hayes/Gloucester Point and Courthouse areas. They want retail and other business, medium to high density housing and other such growth restricted primarily to these areas and are making a concerted effort to develop every space possible. 

Recently our Board of Supervisors approved a rezoning request so a developer can build an apartment complex next to the York River Crossing Shopping Center. This complex will contain around 120 apartment units and will share parking with the shopping center. The apartments will also share the existing entrances to the shopping center, as there are no plans to construct additional entrances. In this instance our local government made exceptions to their zoning restrictions in order to accommodate the developer even though, People spoke against the apartments at the Public Hearing and there will be traffic and other impacts that will negatively affect a significant number of us. Yet, they would not approve a small developers request for an exception to their zoning rules so he could build a single duplex apartment unit in a Courthouse area neighborhood.

About three years ago our local government approved a developers request to rezone land behind the American Legion Hall so they can build around 260 apartment units. This land is well outside of their Village Plan development area, but the rezoning request was still approved. Recently a developer requested our local government to rezone five and half acres of land so he can build five, four unit, apartment buildings; for a total of 20 apartments. This developers rezoning request was denied.

Recently a Gloucester land owner spoke publicly at a Board of Supervisor meeting about his dismay at not being able to rent out a house located along Route 17 because the house had not been occupied for two years or more. As it turns out, some years ago our local government implemented a local law that rezones residential property within the Development District to commercial property if the residence remains uninhabited for two years or more.

Our local government would like us to think they are taking steps to accommodate growth in Gloucester, when in reality they are just hand selecting what they want to see in Gloucester and continuing to follow the United Nations micro-zoning path created by their predecessors back in the 90’s. I believe the village plans and other constrictive zoning and zoning associated laws and policies should be scrapped. I believe land owners should be given their property rights back. If it does not pertain to health, safety or security, our local government should refrain from interfering in what landowners do with their land. Getting rid of micro-zoning practices will save a lot of tax dollars and will also generate additional revenue from growth.

Do you agree or disagree?

Comments about articles and submissions for publication on GVLN may be emailed to: Kennysr61@gmail.com

Let your voice be heard on any topic pertaining to our community.

We will publish many opinions the newspapers will not.

Kenny Hogge, Sr.

Gloucester Point, Virginia

Kennysr61@gmail.com

Who Owns Your Land; You Or Our Local Government?

Another Rezoning Request

Here goes Gloucester County, Virginia down the rezoning road again. Gloucester resident and businessman, C.W. Davis is asking our local government to rezone 5.4 acres of land on Short Lane so he can build five, four unit, apartment buildings; for a total of 20 apartments. Mr. Davis’ land and the land surrounding his are currently zoned for single family homes only. Our county government is recommending the Planning Commission deny Mr. Davis request which will be deliberated during a Public Hearing at the Planning Commission meeting on February 2, 2017.

Over the last couple or three years there have been numerous requests submitted to our local government to have land rezoned to allow the construction of approximately 440 apartments or apartment like units. (i.e. condos, town homes, etc) Of those requests only one has been denied by our Board of Supervisors; the request of Gloucester resident and businessman, Tabb Bridges. Mr. Bridges requested that a single lot located in an established single family dwelling neighborhood in the courthouse area be rezoned so he could build one duplex rental unit (two apartments). One of our elected supervisors had this to say about the Board of Supervisors decision to deny Mr. Bridges rezoning request.

“First, the proposed development was right in the center of a cluster of single family homes.  A duplex would look out of place in that subdivision, would you not agree?  It would have caused a slippery slope of events going forward, and I am opposed to "micro zoning".” 

“Second, we believe the Comprehensive Plan incorrectly classified this subdivision as multi family use (we will be correcting that).” 

“Thirdly, while not all of the residents appeared at our meeting, we were inundated with an overwhelming number of residents opposed to the proposed development.”

The following was my reply.

As I understand it; micro zoning is the detailed preparation of land use maps by local bodies and public authorities, fixing specific land uses for each site (such as residential, educational, commercial, etc.). Micro zoning also details the density of land uses at particular sites. In other words; micro zoning establishes a detailed land use pattern.

I too, am against micro zoning, but it appears we may interpret the words “micro zoning” somewhat differently. In my simple mind I believe Gloucester County is micro zoned and such zoning is further micro managed when requests like Mr. Bridges’ are denied and others are approved.

Basing decisions on “how something looks” is micro managing micro zoning to the extreme. What you find acceptable from a “how it looks” standpoint may not be acceptable to others and vise versa. As I shared in my article on GVLN, there are duplex units within multiple neighborhoods here at Gloucester Point that cause no negative impacts on any of the surrounding single family dwellings. Most people don’t even notice they are duplexes. So I guess my answer would be; no to your question about the duplexes “looking out of place” within the courthouse area neighborhood.

As for potential errors in the comprehensive plan; I don’t know what to tell you other than it is the BOS’s plan. I am of the opinion that local and other government involvement in how a landowner uses their property should be strictly limited to protecting the health, welfare and safety of the citizenry. Nothing more, nothing less. No level of government within the United States should have the power to prevent any land use based on how something will look or whether or not it will aesthetically fit in with surrounding properties. I also believe no level of government should have the power to restrict growth to predetermined areas as is the case with the “Village Plan” and “Development District” concepts our local government has adopted without consent of the people.

It is great the people of the neighborhood at the courthouse successfully rallied together to exercise their 1st Amendment rights, but they are not the only ones to speak against such rezoning requests. I would be willing to confidently bet that if the voices of every person in the Gloucester Point, Hayes, Guinea and Wicomico areas (primary users of the shopping center) were heard, there would be overwhelming opposition to the 120 apartments that will now be constructed as part of the York River Crossing Shopping Center. I would also be willing to bet that if all of the responses the BOS received, in one form or another, pertaining to the YRCS rezoning were tallied, we would find there were more voices who spoke in opposition of the rezoning than who spoke in favor of it. We just were not as organized and public about it as the folks in the courthouse area neighborhood were.      

Personally, I believe we have more than enough existing apartments and apartments approved for future construction, but who am I to say what Mr. Davis or any other land owner may or may not do with their property? How will our Board of Supervisors “Rule” on Mr. Davis’ rezoning request? Will the “good ole boy” system come into play? Will they continue to support United Nations land use agendas on American soil? Or will they begin to return Gloucester to the Republic land of freedom that it once was? At this point, your guess is as good as mine. We will continue to follow this story and provide you with updates as necessary.

Email your comments to Kennysr61@gmail.com

Kenny Hogge, Sr.

Gloucester Point, Virginia

My experiences while serving as an At-Large member of the Gloucester County, Virginia Public Utilities Advisory Committee (PUAC) (The 4th in a series of articles about my experiences and findings)

Our Public Water Distribution System

Once our drinking water is processed at our treatment plants it is pumped into our mostly underground pipe distribution system. I say mostly underground because within our system there are three elevated water storage tanks commonly referred to as water towers. These towers are where our water is stored to readily accommodate customer demand. Ideally in water systems like ours where hydraulic pressure created by elevating the storage tanks (gravity) eliminates the need for electricity powered pumps to deliver water under pressure to customers, elevated water towers should be constructed at as close to the same capacity and elevation as possible. There are numerous reasons for building water towers like this; of which include water quality, pressure control and system costs. Unfortunately our water towers were not built that way.

Our public water supply system began in the Courthouse area back in the 1950’s. A separate water tower and public supply system was constructed in the Gloucester Point area in the early 1970’s. The two systems were connected together and our third water tower was constructed in the mid 1990’s. Our public water supply system now has a 250,000 gal water tower located in the Courthouse area, a one million gal tower at the old Page Middle School site and a 250,000 tower at Gloucester Point that are all connected together and to our water treatment plants. The Courthouse tower’s full water elevation is 198 feet above sea level, the Page tower was constructed with a full elevation of 215 feet above sea level and the Point tower has a full water elevation of 160 feet above sea level. As can be seen, the Courthouse and Page towers are quite a bit higher in elevation than the Point tower, with the Page tower, geographically located in between the other two, being the highest and largest of the three.

I am of the opinion that the Page water tower was built at the elevation it was to facilitate water requirements associated with the Gloucester Business Park where Canon and other businesses are located. In other words; the good ole boy system was working at its finest.  

The differences in our water tower sizes and elevations make it hard to control water quality in the Courthouse and Point water towers; I’ll explain. Once a water tower is filled, the supply to the tower is supposed to be turned off until the level of water in the tank drops to a specified level. Once the specified level is reached the supply to the tower is turned back on until it is full again. This fill, drop scenario is commonly referred to as water turnover and is supposed to occur continuously. This does not happen at the Courthouse and Point towers because the Page tower is so much larger and higher in elevation that it causes the other two towers to constantly remain full. When stored water does not get turned over frequently and regularly, disinfectant byproducts (DBPs) begin to consolidate.

DBPs are chemical, organic and inorganic substances that can form during a reaction of a disinfectant with naturally present organic matter in water. There are too many types of DBPs to list here but many are suspected of causing damage to the bladder, liver, kidneys and central nervous system. Some are also considered carcinogenic.

In order to achieve sufficient water turnover in the Courthouse and Point tower; Utilities employees must manually lower the water level in each tower by dumping water from the tanks onto the ground. Unfortunately, it does not appear Utilities has always been consistent in turning the water over in these towers. I believe our current Utilities employees do a much better job making sure DBPs do not build up, but I also know Utilities has sent high level DBP notifications to customers in the Gloucester Point area within the last year. I am unsure of the source of the DBPs that drove customer notification in the Point area because DBPs are known to consolidate in other areas of a water supply system. I do know the DBPs customers were warned about at the Point are associated with bladder cancer.

Our system currently has underground water supply lines that run along Short Lane Road, Guinea Road, Terrapin Cove Road, Providence Road and other roads, streets and cul-de-sacs  in which the waterlines dead end. Dead end lines such as the ones noted are also areas where DBPs are known to consolidate. This problem was first brought to my attention during my first visit to our water treatment plants. The statement made to me was to the effect of no one being able to guarantee that water high in DBPs was not consumed at T.C. Walker School which is supplied by the Short Lane Road waterline. It was added that it probably was consumed over a number of years. T.C. Walker is not our only public school connected to our public water supply system in this manner, as Achilles Elementary School is supplied with water from the end of the dead end Guinea Road waterline. An automatic flushing device was added to the Short Lane Road waterline about a year ago and Utilities’ current leadership has implemented a regular flushing and monitoring schedule that should prevent DBP consolidation in the other dead end lines.

Regularly flushing waterlines and fire hydrants is part of operating and maintaining a public water supply system. Like everything else I have talked about in these articles; regular flushing of our waterlines is something that did not occur for many years due to mismanagement and neglect. Now we have buildups of sediment in the bottom of many of our waterlines which causes many customers to end up with cloudy water in their sink whenever a fire hydrant is opened. Exercising valves and hydrants is part of any good flushing plan, but again, is something that was neglected in Gloucester for years. Now we have many valves in our system that will not close completely when needed. Utilities’ new leaders have made some progress in this area through reactionary efforts, but there is a lot more that needs to be done in a proactive and preventive manner.

Some areas of our water supply system are very old and in need of replacement. Utilities’ is constantly repairing leaks and replacing components of the system. Unless there is a much higher priority placed on water quality and accountability, I believe the repairs will continue and will likely intensify until such time as something catastrophic happens. I will share more about our water accountability in a later article.

It will take a rather large financial investment to bring our public water supply system up to acceptable standards and performance. We need to correct our water tower issues. We need to replace our out dated and defective water supply pipes and apparatuses. We need to adopt and enforce up to date construction standards. And we need to establish and enforce policies and procedures that will prevent future neglect and mismanagement of our public water supply system.

In my next article I will introduce our public sewer system. Environment conscious folks will not want to miss it.

Comments may be emailed to: Kennysr61@gmail.com.

Kenny Hogge, Sr.

Gloucester Point, Virginia

Gloucester County, Virginia's local government is currently promoting SpeakUp Gloucester. SpeakUp is a way for the People of Gloucester to publicly bring their complements, concerns, suggestions and opinions to the attention of our local government. It is likely input provided by the People on SpeakUp will be considered when our local government employees and elected representatives make decisions. I am personally encouraging all Gloucester People who do not want to see larger local government, higher taxes, an out of control public school system or more local government control over what you can do with your land to visit and become familiar with SpeakUp Gloucester and sign up by providing a user name and password. To visit SpeakUp click on this link: SpeakUp Gloucester or copy and paste the following in the address bar of your browser: http://speakupgloucesterva.info/

Kenny Hogge, Sr.
Gloucester Point, Virginia

My experiences while serving as an At-Large member of the Gloucester County, Virginia Public Utilities Advisory Committee (PUAC) (The 3rd in a series of articles about my experiences and findings)

Our Water Treatment Facilities

We all know having access to safe, drinkable water is a necessity in sustaining human life. When we think of drinking water we think “clean”. Don’t we? Shouldn’t the plant our water comes from be clean and the water from it clean when we consume it? Of course it should. And “safe”? It has to be “safe” beyond reproach; Right? Heck yes it does. Do you know where your water comes from? Do you know what is in it? Are we paying a fair price for our water? In this and other articles I will share what I know about our local government operated public water supply system and sewer system. This article is about my first visit to our water treatment plants.

In Gloucester County, Virginia, some residences and businesses obtain water from private wells while others obtain this life sustaining element from our public water supply system. Some of our public schools obtain water from private type wells while others obtain it from our public water supply system. Many people with private wells and their children are likely to consume water from our public supply system at schools, at church, in restaurants, at the hospital, in doctor offices, at a friend’s house and so on. There are a lot of people who come to Gloucester County to visit family and friends, enjoy our historical attractions and attend various events. Many of these people also consume water from our public supply system. With so many people drinking our public water one would think our local government would do everything necessary to insure the safety, quality and availability of the water so many of us consume. That certainly “was not” the impression I was left with after my first visit to our water treatment facilities.

Our local government obtains water from two different types of sources and operates two different types of treatment plants that are located next to each other. Treated water from both sources are combined together to make up the water provided in our public supply system. Our first water source is Beaver Dam Reservoir, which began being used to supply our public water system when our surface water treatment plant was constructed in 1990. Our second source of water is the Potomac Aquifer. We have two deep wells near the water treatment plants that pull brackish (salt containing) water from the aquifer and sends it to our second type of treatment plant; our reverse osmosis plant that was placed into operation in 2003.

When I first visited our water treatment facilities in 2014, I was given a tour by then plant manager Brent Payne. Mr. Payne has since been promoted to Assistant Director of our Utility Department; in my opinion, a well deserved promotion. I have visited several such treatment plants over the years, but I have to say, our plant was without doubt, the absolute worst of them all. Most plants I have visited appeared very clean and well maintained, yet I found our surface water treatment plant to be just the opposite. Mr. Payne showed me various pictures of what areas of our plant looked like when he first began working there and it was even worse than what I was seeing as I walked through the plant. It was evident by the pictures, Mr. Payne and his people had made numerous improvements, but there was still a lot of work to be done to return our plant to an acceptable, up to date condition.

One of the larger rooms in our surface water treatment plant contains numerous large water pipes, valves and pumps that are used to control the flow of water during treatment processes and subsequent implementation of disinfected water into the public supply system. It was evident recent repairs had been made to some of the components within this room, but there was a lot that still needed attention. There were trails of water running into floor drains that were coming from small leaks in various places. There were bolts in valves and other components that were corroded and needed to be replaced several years before I first saw them. It looked like no preventive maintenance had occurred for many years. The only items in the room that looked like they had been painted in the last 20 years were items worked on by Mr. Payne and his crew. Not long after my first visit, a leak occurred in this room which sprayed water onto an electrical panel that was not designed to resist water. A short occurred in the panel, equipment was damaged and our facility and employees were placed in harms way because our local government ignored safety requirements that are diligently enforced upon private citizens and businesses.

I saw rooms inside our surface water treatment plant that were filled with various items that were piled and mixed together with zero thought of accountability, organization or value. Most of the walls throughout our plant looked dingy and as if they had not been painted for many years. The lighting was poor and ventilation seemed inadequate in most areas as it was very humid with the continuous smell of chlorine in the air. 

I went into another larger room that is primarily dedicated to storing and adding various chemicals and compounds used in the surface water treatment processes. Within this room was a smaller room that is dedicated to adding activated carbon (essentially charcoal dust) into the water treatment process. The activated carbon is contained in bags that resemble plastic lined paper grass seed sacks. These bags are periodically dumped by hand into a hopper by our employees. When they dump the bags, black dust fills the air unless there is an adequate exhaust and filter system to collect it as it comes out of the bag. No such system existed at the time of my first visit. The walls and everything else in the room were black from years of carbon dust buildup. When asked, Mr. Payne said he could not guarantee every employee utilized dusts masks, eye protection or other safety devices every time carbon was dumped into the hopper.

Activated Carbon is relatively safe to use, but prolonged exposure to carbon dust has been found to cause pulmonary disorders. For this reason OSHA has established airborne exposure limits and is the reason I wasted no time in bringing my concerns about potential health risks to the attention of our BOS and County administration. A rudimentary exhaust system has since been installed, but I have no knowledge of its make up or effectiveness.   

After visiting our surface water treatment plant we headed to the reverse osmosis plant. This newer plant appeared, at first glance, to be in much better shape than our surface water plant. Mr. Payne explained about the water for this plant coming from two nearby wells that tap into the Potomac Aquifer. He also explained that one of the wells is not used as much as the other because it was positioned in a place containing high iron content. He further explained that iron greatly shortens the life of the plant’s expensive filters. The only way to correct this problem is to drill at another location, verify the water quality and then construct the well pump house. It looks like someone previously skipped the “verify the water quality” step. I wonder how much that screw up will eventually cost us.    

Residents, businesses and others, who obtain water for human consumption from private wells, are responsible for monitoring the safety and quality of water drawn from “their” wells. Samples of private well water can be tested by our local, state government run, Health Department or by private labs like Reed and Associates in Newport News. Our local government is primarily responsible for monitoring the public system water, but the Health Department plays an “oversight” role in the monitoring process. Our public school system is responsible for monitoring water drawn from wells at our schools that are not connected to our public supply system. The Health Department also plays an oversight role in this monitoring process. Considering instances like Flint Michigan; in which local and state government monitors hid substandard test results, coupled with some of the things I have seen and learned about our public water system; I am not convinced our local government has always done the job we have paid or elected them to do.

I will share more of what I have learned about the quality of our public water in later articles. Before I close I want to share this: So far, the picture I have painted of our public water and sewer department is fairly negative. I guess it appears that way because there have been so many years of neglect. In all fairness to the people currently leading our Utilities Department, I have to say they are dedicated, knowledgeable and capable employees. They did not create the mess I am sharing with you in these articles; in fact, they have made some improvements. Our Utilities Department could use more support from our Board of Supervisors, but Utilities and the PUAC could do a much better job of publicly providing our BOS and us with an accurate, nonpolitical and complete picture of the condition and capabilities of our water and sewer infrastructure. More on that later.

Feel free to share this article at your discretion.

Kenneth E. Hogge, Sr.

Gloucester Point, Virginia  

My experiences while serving as an At-Large member of the Gloucester County, Virginia Public Utilities Advisory Committee (The 2nd in a series of articles about my experiences and findings)

Utilities' Equipment Storage Yard

As I previously shared; I visited Utilities’ office, equipment storage yard and water treatment plants after being appointed to the PUAC. I began by visiting the equipment yard first and was astounded at its’ dilapidated and unorganized condition. Being retired from the military and from the dirt work side of the construction industry, I am well aware of what an equipment and vehicle storage yard should be like and why. Utilities’ equipment yard is located in the courthouse area, behind Southern States and behind Main Street Center. Access to the yard is limited as it is gained through the Southern States shopping center parking lot and along narrow roads behind the shopping centers. The floor of the yard is made up of various slopes covered in dirt, gravel and grass/weeds. One of Utilities’ heaviest used and oldest sewer pumping stations is located in the rear of the yard. Beyond the pumping station are wetlands with a stream that flows to the Ware River. 

Inside the yard I observed several portable emergency pump units stored under a pole shed with various usable and unusable pipeline fittings and other items and debris. These pumps are necessary when one or more of the sewer pump stations become inoperable and they vary in price from $35,000 to $50,000 or more. Many of the hoses and fittings to the pumps, which are not cheap either, were lying on the ground in the dirt. Several of the pumps had flat tires and were missing various components. The batteries, like the rest of the pump units, looked like they had not been maintained for a very long time. When I asked Utilities’ employees how many of the pumps actually worked; they said probably none. They said all of the pumps’ batteries were likely dead because they had no way of plugging in chargers to keep them charged. They said when a pump is needed they take what is needed from the other pumps to get one running. I did not find this hard to believe due to the un-maintained appearance of the pumps and other items stored in the yard.

I was shown what was called “Utilities’ repair shop”. This “shop” consisted of what appeared to be an old portable wooden storage building with a ramp at the entrance. There was a riding lawnmower sitting in the middle of the floor with hardly enough room to walk past it on any side because of everything else being stored in the building. I was also shown a small recently built storage building where the employees said mostly copper and brass fittings were stored. I guess the intent was to better secure items that tend to walk away on their own or deteriorate rapidly when left outside on the ground. This building was the best looking and most organized area in the yard.

Utilities has a vactor truck which is essentially a huge shop vac on a truck. The truck is used primarily to vacuum up sewer water and debris and to flush out sewer pipelines. Vactor trucks are necessary pieces of equipment in utility departments like Gloucester’s. Utilities’ vactor truck, which likely cost $150,000 or more when new, was parked under another pole shed type structure. Like the other pole shed in the yard, there is no electricity. This would not be a problem for most any other truck type piece of equipment, but because vactor trucks have water tanks along with numerous fittings and lines that contain water; storing in such conditions during periods of freezing weather will cause many of the water containing components to freeze and burst. Utilities does a pretty good job of minimizing damage due to freezing; but don’t you think there should have been a heated facility for the truck to call home, before it was purchased?

There was no restroom facility or drinkable water located at Utilities’ equipment yard. When I first visited, there was a single user cinderblock outhouse facility inside the chain link fencing and to the right when you first enter the gates. The outhouse no longer had a door or place to sit; in other words it was unusable and appeared to have been like that for a long time. The outhouse has since been torn down and removed. I first thought there may be restrooms in the small cinderblock building that is to the left as you enter the gates. That was not the case, as there were no restrooms or drinkable water anywhere in the yard. An employee said they would typically urinate somewhere out of sight or go to the main office or somewhere else to relieve themselves.

There was a dump truck, backhoe, water trailers and others types of utility related equipment parked in Utilities’ yard. Even though all of the department’s equipment was not present, the yard appeared too small and uneven to safely move and store such equipment. There is also a lack of space to store pipe, fittings and other supplies necessary to repair and maintain our public water and sewer systems. The small amount of storage space within the yard is inadequate and does little to protect supplies from the weather.

Utilities has been in need of a new storage yard and office for a long time. (More about the office later in the series) Several years ago several million dollars were borrowed to, in part, design and construct a new yard. Tens of thousands of dollars was spent to have the design work done and drawings created. Unfortunately instead of making adjustments to the plans and continuing forward, the whole idea was pretty much scrapped by the current Board of Supervisors in 2013. The director of Utilities at that time wanted to buy land for the new yard, but the BOS did not agree and directed Utilities to search properties already owned by the County, to see if there was a parcel suitable for their needs. There was not much of a selection and the only suitable parcels are owned by our school system, so everything pretty much came to a halt. From that point forward I continually suggested constructing a new utility yard and office on the old Page Middle School property as the first step in consolidating certain County and school system functions. (More about the utilization of the old Page property will come later in the series)

The last I heard about Utilities’ yard from one of our Supervisors is they were thinking about building a temporary yard close to the school bus garage to establish a presence on the property; in hopes that someone will want to develop the property and, be willing to pay to relocate Utilities and the school bus garage to another property they hope the developer will purchase; all in exchange for the bus garage property and old Page property. I told the Supervisor nothing should be done if taxpayer money was going to be wasted on such speculative nonsense. Now the BOS and the school board have consented to spending tens of thousands of dollars on a study to determine the best place for the school bus garage facility and Utilities’ facilities to be located. Study after study, hundreds and hundreds of thousands of dollars to buy “so called” expert opinions. What a waste of tax dollars.

After visiting Utilities’ yard I notified appropriate County staff and the BOS of the following safety concerns:

-No restroom facilities at the yard

-No potable water at the yard

-Unsafe equipment maintenance area at the yard

-No eyewash apparatus at the yard

-No readily accessible fire extinguishers at the yard

I did not perform an in-depth safety inspection by any measure. The concerns I noted were nothing more than first glance observations.

In my next article I will describe my visit to Utilities’ water treatment facilities. In upcoming articles I will also share some of my concerns about safety, accountability, water and sewer rates and a few other topics. If you pay taxes or pay for water or sewer in Gloucester County; you should not miss any of the articles in this series.

The third article in this series will be published after the new year begins. Merry Christmas and Happy New Year to you and yours!!

Kenneth E. Hogge, Sr.

Gloucester Point, Virginia

My experiences while serving as an At-Large member of the Gloucester County, Virginia Public Utilities Advisory Committee (The first in a series of articles about my experiences and findings)

I was appointed to the Gloucester County Public Utilities Advisory Committee (PUAC) in August 2014, as an At-Large member. From the outside looking in, it appeared to me that Gloucester’s Utility Department (Utilities) was not being managed very well. Being that I am now retired due to disabilities and possess knowledge and experience in water, sewer, and many facets of business management, employee and equipment utilization, safety and a few other areas; I was looking forward to and excited about the opportunity to give back to the community where I grew up.

From the very first meeting I began to realize the PUAC did not serve any realistic purpose and had no true sense of direction. From my very first visits to Utilities’ office, equipment and storage yard, water treatment plants and sewer pumping stations, I could tell everything had been neglected for numerous years. I also noted numerous workplace safety violations which I immediately shared with the Board of Supervisors and appropriate members of County staff. After thinking about the situation for a while I decided I would offer some suggestions to make things better, instead of trying to place blame on those responsible for the excessive neglect of Gloucester taxpayer's and utility customer's infrastructure.

One of my first suggestions as a committee member was the development and implementation of a Utilities enhancement program. The following was my proposal:

Gloucester County Public Utilities Enhancement

(Proposal)

As we all know Utilities is not financially self sufficient, numerous areas have degraded for one reason or another over the years and systems expansion is stagnant.  Developing and implementing an enhancement plan utilizing an ownership approach will help considerably in turning Utilities into an efficient and self supporting department.  In order to establish an ownership relationship with Utilities, each committee member would have to look at Utilities as if it were their own personal investment or business.

Each committee member would have to become familiar with Utilities’:

-missions

-leaders

-assets

-intradepartmental roles in completing missions

-weaknesses

-strengths

-finances

-growth potentials

Collectively the committee would have to identify the areas in which each member has experience or expertise so those talents can be applied accordingly throughout the enhancement process.  For example; if one or two committee members have experience in office management they could focus on areas related to such.

All intradepartmental leaders would need to give a short briefing to the committee in which they define their areas of responsibility, statistics related to their areas, their manpower, etc.  After such briefings, there would need to be an open discussion period for all of the leaders and the committee.  The primary purpose for such briefings and discussion period would be to establish professional, face to face relationships among those responsible for the functionality and care of Gloucester’s utility assets.

Each committee member would need to visit the varying sections of Utilities at least one time per month.  Such visits would serve to educate committee members on what is entailed in performing day to day operations and will help instill the ownership concept.  When employees see people taking interest in what they are doing they tend to perform better.  Such visits would need to be completely observational and educational in nature and all observations and suggestions would need to be presented to the committee before shared with others.  The only exception to this would be for safety concerns.  Situations where a person or persons’ safety is at risk should always be brought to administration’s attention immediately, through whatever means available.

A high level of participation and dedication would be required from all Utilities employees and the advisory committee to insure success of an enhancement program.  The frequency of committee meetings would have to change from bi-monthly to monthly and there would likely be frequent special meetings as well.  Increasing the number of committee meetings would be necessary to heighten focus, enhance the committees’ knowledge base, expedite the enhancement process and establish and maintain forward momentum through all process phases.

Once the above steps are in motion, the committee would then be able to begin to establish concise goals and desired results of the enhancement plan.  That is when the real work would begin.

No interest was shown in developing such an enhancement plan as it never even made it off the table. Changing the frequency of the meetings did not fly either, as it was unanimously voted down by my fellow committee members. I sensed my fellow committee members were unwilling to dedicate the necessary time to fulfill such a plan. From that time forward, the PUAC basically continued along the same path I can only assume it was traveling prior to my appointment; one of no direction or purpose. There will undoubtedly be those who will claim the PUAC has and continues to serve a worthwhile purpose and that everything is fine within Gloucester’s Utility Department. If that were the factual case, none of the articles that will be contained in this series would be necessary. In upcoming articles I will share some of my concerns about safety, accountability, water and sewer rates and a few other topics. If you pay taxes or pay for water or sewer in Gloucester County, you shouldn’t miss any of the articles.

Kenneth E. Hogge, Sr.

Gloucester Point

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Gloucester Main Street Preservation Trust Embedding Themselves Deeper Into Our Local Government?

Whenever dealing with the Gloucester Main Street Preservation Trust or any of their other affiliated groups, one always has to ask if you are dealing with a bunch of heathens to begin with as these groups all use Pagan or Devil worship symbols in all of their organizations.  But they claim it's just decorative and has no meaning.  Sure it doesn't.  And the Earth isn't round either, it's flat.  Well here is yet another one of their groups we found.

CENTER for SELF – GOVERNANCE

GLOUCESTER, VA

Level 1 – Foundations in Self Governance 

 Welcome to the Center for Self Governance.  This Level  1 course is designed to introduce the concepts surrounding  self- governance, civic authority and bring everyone up to a common level of knowledge regarding our role in exercising our civic responsibilities and authority.

“As citizens we often lack the knowledge, skills, and ability to articulate our desire to make the policy changes necessary to restore our government to its proper role. Current liberty-minded civics training only teach theory. We teach concrete ways, through educational training and practical exercises, how to influence legislators and policy.”  www.tncsg.org

This course is foundational and will lay the groundwork necessary to successfully implement the lessons learned in future courses.

Dress comfortably;  The class will decide which nearby restaurant to order lunch from. Your workbook is included with your payment. Prior Level 1 students may audit the class for $10.

Register  here:   http://www.tncsg.org/pick-a-class/

If you have trouble registering  –  Please, let Ruth Litschewski know you are coming and you may pay at the door (Cash or check please)   ruth1860@gmail.com

SUMMARY

LOCATION	Gloucester Main Street PRESERVATION TRUST, 6894 Main Street, Gloucester, VA 23061
HOST:	Ruth Litschewski	ruth1860@gmail.com
DATE:	6.20.14
TIME:	9-5:30
LEVEL:	1
LINK:	http://www.tncsg.org/?p=1680
TRAINER:	Brian Bollmann

Took place on June 20, 2014 from 9:00 am to 5:30 pm

Gloucester Main Street PRESERVATION TRUST, 6894 Main Street, Gloucester, VA 23061

USD 50.00

http://www.tncsg.org/classes/2014/06/1680/

The above link is to the website where the information posted above can be found.

Now the Center For Self Government looks like a decent organization.  Our question is, is the Gloucester Main Street Preservation Trust involved with this in order to train minions to gain more control over our local government?  Having watched these folks for some time, we would highly suggest that this is the case.  Anyone want the Golden Cafe worshiped at the courthouse?  It seems like we already have on Board of Supervisor who worships at that alter.  He could not wait to get on their board.  That BoS member happens to be Ashley Chriscoe.  

  Board of Directors 2014:

Chairman:  Breckenridge Ingles 
Vice Chairman: Ralph Jackson  
Secretary:  Robert Hatten
Other Board Members: Theresa Stavens, Ashley Chriscoe, William Walker, Joe Fary, James Dudley, Rudy Heinatz
Counsel to the Board:  Alan Diamonstein, Lindsey Carney (non-voting)
Executive Director:  Jennifer E. Crittenden (non-voting)
http://mspt.org/about.html  Link to the About Us page showing Ashley Chriscoe on the MSPT board as listed above.

Counsel to the Board, Alan Diamonstein, has some interesting ties in a number of areas with these folks all over Gloucester county.

Take a good look at that website and ask yourself why anyone would do what they are claiming to do?  Looks more like a cover for taking over areas of local business, government and ways to get inside people's pockets who are unsuspecting.  Cavet Emptor.  Getting involved in anything these folks do?  Your better off spending your money on a Disney Vacation,  It's more realistic and infinitely more enjoyable.

The above picture in the top left hand corner, we show how the MSPT uses a hidden pentagram in their symbol.  Hidden in plain sight.  But it's just a design element and the Earth is flat too.  Trust these folks as far as you would trust Satan himself is our own opinion.

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