What’s On the Agenda? Stafford’s Board of Supervisors Meets November 19

Stafford County’s Board of Supervisors will hold its next meeting on Tuesday, November 19, at 5 p.m. The meeting will be streamed live, and the agenda will be posted online. To provide the public with more information about the board meetings, we’ve assembled a list of some of the items on the agenda.

On the agenda:

Stafford County Public Schools

• The school board is asking for $7,092,000 to start the first phase of replacing Drew Middle School. This phase includes buying land, planning the design, and setting aside extra funds for unexpected costs. While the projected cost of planning and design has decreased $1.9 million, construction and contingency costs are projected to increase by $16 million. The school board increased their expected costs of the Drew Middle School project by 17% to $113 million.

County Administration

• A 2021 Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA) rule allows DEA registrants with brick-and-mortar locations that provide medication assisted treatment to choose to offer a mobile component to their services. The regulations are already federal law, and the Commonwealth of Virginia is fast-tracking state regulations to ensure these regulations are explicitly authorized by both state and federal law. The state has a comment period currently open until November 20, 2024, and then intends to implement the regulations on December 4, 2024. In the event a provider wishes to offer mobile services, a 30-day comment period for the locality is required. The provider must also provide physical security and strict record-keeping. The demand for mobile services is expected to be low due to the cost of obtaining and customizing a vehicle for the task.

Public Safety

• The Sheriff’s office is asking to apply for recognition as a Certified Crime Prevention Community. According to the Virginia Department of Criminal Justice Services (DCJS), “the goal of the program is to publicly recognize and certify localities that have implemented a defined set of community safety strategies as part of a comprehensive community safety/crime prevention effort.” DCJS suggests the designation can be a marketing tool to attract families and businesses, and may help lower insurance costs for those residing in the community.

Virginia Public Schools

• On November 6, the day after the presidential election, the county’s financial advisors (PFM) noticed that the market had become unstable. Government bond rates went up by over 10 basis points (a measure of interest rate changes). Since the market was unpredictable, the County has decided to wait before borrowing money to ensure better interest rates. Over the next few weeks, they plan to monitor the market and changing rates.
• Due to the changes in the market, the county has earned more than the allowed amount on its investments in funds borrowed through Virginia Public School Authority (VPSA). The excess earnings will be returned to the IRS, and will not have a negative effect on the county as they were unanticipated and not marked for any projects.

Utilities

• Utilities has requested an ordinance to allow wastewater treatment plants to stop accepting septic waste from areas outside the county. Nearly half of the septic waste being brought in comes from outside the County. No other local areas accept waste from outside their borders, and upcoming work on the plants will limit capacity further. The change also allows the Board to consider adjusting the charged rate for septage disposal at the same rate as sewer rate changes in the future.