04-11-2024 - Work SessionBUDGET WORK SESSION OF THE ISLE OF WIGHT COUNTY BOARD OF SUPERVISORS
HELD IN THE ISLE OF WIGHT COUNTY GENERAL DISTRICT COURT LOCATED AT
17000 JOSIAH PARKER CIRCLE, ISLE OF WIGHT, VIRGINIA ON THURSDAY, THE
ELEVENTH DAY OF APRIL IN THE YEAR TWO THOUSAND AND TWENTY-FOUR
BOARD MEMBERS PRESENT:
Joel C. Acree, District 4, Chairman
Don G. Rosie, II, District 5, Vice -Chairman
Rudolph Jefferson, District 3
William M. McCarty, Sr., District 2
Renee Rountree, District 1
STAFF MEMBERS PRESENT:
Randy R. Keaton, County Administrator
Donald T. Robertson, Assistant County Administrator
Robert W. Jones, Jr., County Attorney
Carey Mills Storm, Clerk
CALL TO ORDER
Chairman Acree called the work session to order at 6:00 p.m.
APPROVAL OF AGENDA
Supervisor McCarty moved that the agenda be approved as amended to hear a
brief presentation from Gregory Creswell relative to an electrical thermal incident
which occurred at a surge arrester along the overhead feeder lines and resulted in
a brush fire. The motion passed unanimously (5-0) with Supervisors Acree, Rosie,
McCarty, Jefferson and Rountree voting in favor of the motion and no Supervisor
voting against the motion.
Mr. Gregory Creswell, Senior Development Manager with AES Clean Energy, briefed
the Board regarding the April 9, 2024 electrical thermal incident which occurred at
a surge arrester along the overhead feeder lines between Burwell's Bay Road and
the Cavalier solar project substation along Mill Swamp Road. The event led to an
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adjacent brush fire which contained a single parcel of land in the County. AES acted
promptly according to the documented Emergency Response Plan and coordinated
with emergency response personnel to contain and control the event. Isle of Wight
Fire Rescue and the Virginia Department of Forestry are investigating the incident.
AES continues to gather information about this incident in order to determine the
root cause. Safety is AES' highest priority and they are committed to supporting
safe communities where projects are built and operated. AES site personnel have
been coordinating with Chief Garry Windley and thank him and the various rescue
squads who responded to the incident for their coordination and efforts in
containing the brush fire. They will continue to work closely with Isle of Wight Fire
Rescue to determine if improvements can be made to the Emergency Response
Plan.
Garry Windley, Chief of Fire Rescue, responded to questions from the Board
regarding response time, type of response vehicle and number of tankers. Man
hours involved was 4.5 hours. An overview of current real estate tax rates for
surrounding jurisdictions was provided.
COUNTY ADMINISTRATOR'S REPORT
County Administrator Keaton responded to questions from the Board regarding the
proposed FY2024-25 Operating and Capital Budgets.
County Attorney Jones notified the Board that the budget and Capital
Improvements Program has been advertised in the newspapers and that the ad had
run properly in The Tidewater News but did not run properly in The Smithfield
Times. It is his recommendation that a public hearing still be conducted next week
with the knowledge that another public hearing will be needed for the adoption of
the Capital Budgets, related ordinances and the Capital Improvements Plan.
ADJOURNMENT
At 8:05 p.m., the work session was declared adjourned.
Joel C. Acre , Chairma
Carey W Is S orm, Clerk
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