Citizen Comments

Citizen Comments at BOS Mtgs - Oct-Dec 2017

Good evening. My name is Julie Ranson. I live in the Bermuda District.

It should be no surprise that I want to speak about the proposed rezoning for a megasite in my district. More specifically, it is actually adjacent to my neighborhood, Glebe Point.

Three minutes is hardly enough time to catalog my family’s objections to this proposal. Our objections include the project’s placement adjacent to many homes, the poor communication by the county, the lack of overall transparency by the county, the potential cost of this project, and the uncertainty of your advertised benefits. The level of my disappointment in the County mounts every day that I either learn more about this proposal’s suspicious origins or the county’s lack of answers to questions about how a megasite would evolve at this location. In the meantime, you hold citizen information meetings and offer no answers to very important questions. One hardly needs a college degree to draw the conclusion that you decided to get the rezoning accomplished and then you’d figure out the rest.

I’m not even going to take my full three minutes, so that I can show you what this proposal means to thousands of households in the Bermuda District. The graphic displayed shows the locations of the proposed megasite site and the current Shoosmith landfill. It must be mentioned that county’s past promises about expansions and activities at the landfill have not been kept. Please note that around these two sites are many neighborhoods with thousands of homes and about 10% of the county’s adult population. So, tell us NOW how our property values will likely rise when a megasite manufacturer arrives.

I can only ask those of you who remain on the fence about this rezoning to consider “what if this were in your district?” and to investigate the promises of the past decade of “megasite fever” around this country. If you’re a rational leader, you will vote NO when this shows up on the agenda.

Good evening, my name is Howard Cannon and I live in the Bermuda District.

I’m here tonight to register my opposition to the proposed Matoaca Megasite and the related road development in the county.

The county has not communicated in good faith with its citizens. You have failed to proactively include county residents on numerous elements as this project was pending. We had to hear about this year-old county management dream from the Governor, not you.

It should be noted that you are not calling the East-West Freeway the Ruffin Mill Road extension. Why is that I wonder? Are you afraid to alert Ruffin Mill residents of the looming traffic disaster you will create for them? The county has proven time and again that it is unable to manage traffic in populated areas. Creating new roads on-grade then delaying overpass design into the future is a recipe for traffic disasters in areas not associated with high traffic.

You may have marketing reasons for calling your project the Matoaca Megasite, but we all know you sure didn’t want to call it “Chester Megasite”. Your latest megasite maps show the North-South connector running from the megasite to Route 10 only. Yet, we all know it will run to 288. Why aren’t you being clear about that too? Maybe because Chester residents are tenacious and they seldom let you get away with much without a lot of noise.

I will end with mentioning your community meetings. Again, you failed to effectively communicate with concerned citizens and you didn’t seem to learn anything as each meeting occurred. Good questions received poor answers or none at all. We deserve better.

Thank you.

Gary Metzinger December 13, 2017

Good evening ladies and gentlemen. Thanks for the opportunity to address this body elected by us to oversee County public administration. My name is Gary Metzinger and I live in the original Stoney Glen off Harrowgate Road, half mile South of Happy Hill Road and less than 1 mile from the proposed Matoaca Megasite. Actually it’s the Bermuda Megasite but labeled to mislead the citizens of the real intent: to unload Shoosmith property on the County by pushing it through QUICKLY under the guise of new roads, rails and maybe jobs.

As one citizen taxpayer of Chesterfield County, I adamantly oppose this venture capital project using my tax dollars. Your job as our elected board is to supervise for “we the citizens” a sound, cost-effective and efficient County Administration. In my book, you are not authorized to speculate on land purchases to (hopefully, potentially, probably, historically)(lure, incentivize,attract, chase) business prospects. There are numerous examples of County incursion into this realm using the money laundering Economic Development Authority. Clover Leaf Mall, River City Sportsplex etc. And we the taxpayer paid the price for these failed public/private investment schemes.

Other similar examples at State and County level are the failed Tranlin Paper plant in Chesterfield County and the fictitious Lindenburg Indusry in Appomattox.

In my opinion, Governments by nature are not fit to gamble or take risks with taxpayer dollars except in the realm of National Defense. The private sector IS because they get voluntary subscribers who have done their due diligence or not and are willing to accept the risk of loosing it all because of potential personal gain. In government ventures the citizens lose no matter how you slice it and government officials bear no risk and are not liable or accountable for the loss.

If this board would focus daily on streamlining and running our County Services and Schools efficiently, keeping our local tax structure low, quality residents, businesses and industry will pursue Chesterfield County and we could deal from a position of strength increasing our tax base at no taxpayer expense.

As you recall, I addressed this board as President of Chester Docks, LLC when our new County Administrator, Dr Joe Casey was coming on board. My three minutes then focused on the inefficient process of issuing permits for my small Class C contractor business. Some requests took up to 3 months because each one had to be presented to this board. None were ever denied by the board so that requirement was finally deleted. However, County Permit processing was never streamlined to serve small business. My Bottom line: Listen to your constituents. Why are you trying to ramrod this bad deal down our throats. Your vision and our vision of a successful thriving community have not coalesced.

PS: Read “In Search of Good Government” by Ken Peterson. I’m sure the author could enlighten and refocus this board to serve “We The People”

Good evening. My name is Steve Atkinson and I live in the Bermuda District.

I am here to express my disappointment in your handling of the megasite proposal. County officials have spent considerable time talking about letting this project go through the “public process.”

We understand that the Public Process includes votes by the planning commission and this Board. The citizens will be allowed to express their sentiments before each vote. Yet, the public still does not know much about this project, even after the four meetings you offered citizens earlier this fall. To the average citizen, it appears that you do not know much about the project either. Questions are sidestepped, officials speak in circles, and you and your staffers make contradictory statements on a regular basis.

Citizens have questions about the proposal and the county’s timeline.

You have been working on this project in secret for at least 18 months, so why can’t people get straight answers to their questions?

Why is the taxpayer paying for a Communication Consultant, when we already have a county communication staff?

Where are the results of the promised studies? Why weren’t these studies already completed when you broadcast this project to the citizens? Again, you’ve been working on this in secret for a long time.

Citizens have been asking a lot of questions, and I can only hope that this interest in the megasite has made you understand why this project is so seriously opposed. Lack of good information does not breed confidence in leadership. Leaders also listen, truly listen, that is. We don’t need leaders who only pay lip service to the importance of citizen input.

The citizens don’t want this project planted in a beautiful residential area. Listen to them.

Thank you.

Citizen Comments at BOS Mtgs - january - march 2018

My name is Lisa Mansfield, and I am a resident in the Bermuda District. I had another speech prepared for tonight to argue against the Mega Site, but after attending the rally earlier, I wanted to focus on the community involvement in opposing this plan.

I’ve worked in direct response marketing for 18 years. Typically, any first contact lead generation program is considered successful if you receive a response rate of 1.5-3%. Last August, the county sent out 6,000 notifications to residents who reside in the vicinity of the Mega Site, contacting them for the first time about the site, and providing locations, dates and times for community meetings. The result -- over 1,000 residents came out and attended those announced meetings. That is over a 16% response rate. But people didn’t just reply by mail or click on a link. They actually took the time to attend meetings and sit through presentations that had little to no answers to their questions.

We’ve also seen multiple letters to the editors in local publications like the Village News and the Chesterfield Observer, as well as the Richmond Times Dispatch, and tonight you’ve witnessed a community coming together to protest the EDA’s Mega Site plans.

When this many people get involved, and stay involved over the course of several months, I struggle to understand how the county can continue to support the EDA as it presents this industrial park as a positive idea. Not once have I seen a presentation that acknowledges the negative impact this site, coinciding highway, n/s connector road and rail line will have on the 41,000 residents who reside within a 5-mile radius. And yet you, the EDA, the Planning commission, the transportation department, and the marketing company you’ve recently hired to handle the negative press you’ve experienced, continue to field questions and valid concerns surrounding the site…without providing consistent answers. In fact, the details about this site have completely changed since your original presentations back in September and October. What was once supposed to be situated on 5 – 600 acres with an 11 -1200 acre buffer now only has a 2 – 250 acre buffer. With no end user, how did these details change so drastically.

We have several areas of the county that could benefit from the money you are looking to invest in this pipe dream. The Jeff Davis corridor alone is in desperate need of revitalization – yet it sits year after year becoming more and more of an eyesore to the county. Why aren’t you investing in an area that can benefit current residents who want your help, instead of destroying the way of life residents who oppose this site and adjoining roads/rail-lines.

Mrs. Jaeckle, you represent the Bermuda District, and you are failing us. Not only did you fail to ensure the EDA had a representative from our district, but you are allowing this group of unelected people dictate what happens in our backyard. What might be good for Chesterfield county is not, in any way shape or form, good for the Bermuda district. When this hits your desk, I implore you to listen to your constituents and vote no on the rezoning request.

Hello, and thank you for the opportunity to address the board of supervisors and my neighbors in Chesterfield County.

I am Karl Stafflinger. I am an active member of the Stoney Glen Community. The elected board of the Stoney Glen Homeowners Association has authorized me to speak on behalf of Stoney Glen. The HOA is comprised of 350 homes whose owners take pride in their community and value the quiet solitude in the community. Stoney Glen West and Stoney Glen South have also authorized me to speak on their behalf.

In January 2018, the Stoney Glen Homeowners Association Board surveyed our members regarding their support of or opposition to the proposed Matoaca Megasite.

An overwhelming majority of our homeowners stand in opposition to the proposed Matoaca Heavy Industrial Megasite located in the Bermuda District.

The HOAs of Stoney Glen West with 273 homes, and Stoney Glen South with 422 homes conducted similar surveys in their communities with similar results.

These three communities represent more than 1000 homes (not to mention many more voters) that live in the immediate are of the proposed Megasite, who stand in opposition to the proposed Matoaca heavy industrial Megasite.

The Stoney Glen Homeowners Association along with Stoney Glen West and Stoney Glen South are going on record tonight to oppose the Matoaca Megasite and heavy industrial development in the area around our homes.

The proposed heavy industrial site is not compatible with the surrounding established residential development and is inconsistent with the county master plan. The noise, pollution, truck and rail traffic from the industrial site will destroy the quality of life in the surrounding established residential neighborhoods. Buffers cannot will not prevent this.

The Stoney Glen HOA opposes the proposed East-West Freeway and the proposed Class 1 railroad that will have a profoundly negative effect on our quiet section of southern Chesterfield County.

It is the responsibility of the Board of Supervisors to represent the people of Chesterfield County and not the interests of individual businesses or that of particular individuals. The homeowners of Stoney Glen, Stoney Glen West, Stoney Glen South and the people of southern Chesterfield County need the Board of Supervisors to represent our needs and interests.

We ask that you to listen to the concerns of your constituents who voted for you and trusted you to represent us. The Matoaca Megasite needs to be voted down.

Karl Stafflinger, Stoney Glen Homeowner

Good evening. Julie Ranson, Bermuda District

I appreciate the work the budget office has done to open up budget discussions earlier in the year and to gather and share feedback with citizens. I truly do.

Still, I am not satisfied that the budget itself is a transparent document.

Because of the megasite fiasco, I have recently spent time reviewing money flowing in and out of the Economic Development Authority, the EDA. In your budget line items, you have one for Reimbursement to the EDA. The annual allocation has been $125,000. Yet, during the past few years I’ve studied, the county has spent more than double that amount,. For this current fiscal year 2018, with only 8 months of data, you have reimbursed the EDA to the tune of $316,000. The citizens can rightly suspect that EDA reimbursements will be quadruple what you’ve budgeted this year.

In the calendar year of 2017, nearly $270,000 alone was spent on the Meadowville Technology Park grounds with a firm called Enviroscape. I understand that eventually the EDA will collect park association dues at Meadowville, but until then, why is the taxpayer paying for landscaping at an industrial park occupied by wealthy companies?

I get that any department can spend a little less or a little more due to unforeseen events, and money is shifted between accounts. However, this Meadowville issue should not be unforeseen at all.

Meadowville looks like it’s on life support – the kind only the taxpayer can provide.

How about a little more transparency about what taxpayers are spending on these projects?

Thank you.

Allen Wilson - I’m a homeowner who lives on Branders Bridge Road, right across the street from the proposed Megasite. And because of it, I’m about to lose a lot of money. My wife and I put our house on the market last August, three weeks before the announcement of the Megasite. And now we can’t get anyone to look at our house. We had a full price offer a few months ago, but the buyer backed out when they found out about the Megasite. We’re gonna need to drop the price significantly to sell now. And if we sell, we will lose a huge part of our retirement.

And we’re not the only ones. They are putting the Megasite right in the middle of several neighborhoods. There are about 1000 to 2000 homes located within a ¼ mile of the Megasite. If these houses each lose about $50,000 to $100,000 in property value, that’s $100,000,000. $100,000,000!!! That’s a lot of money.

Who’s gonna pay for that??? These houses won’t be Eminent Domain. CEDA’s not gonna pay for it. Not the County. Not the project. Nobody. Over 1000 residences will be financially ruined by this. We could have never anticipated this.

But wait a minute. What am I talking about? That’s not what the County is saying. The report on their website says that there is no positive or negative effect within a one-and-a-half-mile radius.

But statistics can be misleading. They know the houses right next to the site will suffer significant financial losses. They know this! They state this in the report. And the report says the effect tapers off within 6/10 miles and has no effect. It’s all in the report. So, if they take all the houses right next to the site and average them with all the houses that are not affected, they just need to keep going out until the average shows no effect. That works out to be about a mile and a half.

So, the County knows that many residents will be significantly impacted. But they are willing to ignore them and say that there is no net impact. How can they say there is no impact when 1000 to 2000 homes will be financially ruined? And they know it! They are turning their backs on the hardworking taxpaying citizens.

These people could not have reasonably foreseen that this would happen. The property was just rezoned about 10 years ago to be Residential. Does it really make sense to build a Megasite in the middle of neighborhoods? I doubt industrial manufacturers will want to move into the middle of this.

County zoning ordinances don’t even allow this. You are not supposed to put I-3 industrial next to residential in Chesterfield County. It’s basically breaking the zoning laws.

In conclusion, I urge the Board of Supervisors to consider the thousands of hardworking, taxpaying citizens that will be financially ruined by this, and vote to leave it Residential.