Prince William to meet Tuesday amid coronavirus pandemic, could suspend public comment

Supervisors in Prince William County will hold their regular meeting on Tuesday.

However, there is a proposal on the table to end public comment time during public meetings. This portion of the meeting serves as a chance for residents to speak directly to their elected officials, and to be heard on just about anything.

Usually, residents line up to speak about matters being considered by the governing body. Late last year, and again in January, record crowds attended Prince William Board of County Supervisors meeting to speak about upholding 2nd Amendment rights after lawmakers in Richmond proposed sweeping changes to gun laws in the state.

Under the proposal to be discussed Tuesday, instead of coming to the Board of County Supervisors meeting and speaking before leaders, the county is urging residents to use the electronic “Speak Up Prince William” service to provide comments to Board members. The service dates back to January 2018.

Residents may, and often do, place phone calls, and send emails directly to their supervisors to comment on public matters. It will be up to Supervisors to decide when and if public comment time will be restored, as it’s not required by law, according to the proposed resolution.

“Now, therefore, be it resolved that the Prince William Board of County Supervisors hereby waives its Rules of Procedures to remove Public Comment Time…at all Board meetings until the Board takes further action to reinstate Public Comment Time…” according to the resolution.

The proposal comes during a changed world, as federal officials have mandated social distancing rules that require people to stay more than six feet away from each other in order to stop the spread of the coronavirus. As of today, a total of 17 people in Virginia have died from the disease, 739 have been sickened, and 99 remained hospitalized.

A Prince William County man was the first in the region to die from the disease, health officials reported yesterday.

Nationally, the U.S. leads the world in the number of coronavirus cases with 85,356 cases and 1,246 deaths as of yesterday. The outbreak, now a global pandemic, first began in Wuhan, China in November 2019. It’s a “novel,” or new virus the world has not seen before, and it continues to spread from person to person.

Meanwhile, Virginia Gov. Ralph Northam has ordered all businesses outside of grocery stores, pharmacies, gas stations, among others, to close. Additionally, gatherings of more than 10 people have been banned across the state.

Prince William Supervisors will hold their meeting at the McCoart Building at 1 County Complex Court in Woodbridge at 2 p.m. The building has been closed to the public since Thursday, March 19, 2020.

However, officials said the McCoart building will be opened at 1:45 p.m. ahead of the Board of County Supervisors meeting, as well as other public meetings scheduled that day.

“While the McCoart Building is closed to the public due to COVID-19, it is open for the Board meeting and other in-person meetings of the Board and County boards, commissions and authorities as required by state law,” according to a county press release.

Also on Tuesday’s agenda:

• An update on the fiscal impact of the coronavirus crisis on the county budget.
• An update on emergency operations in the county during the outbreak.

And some items that were to be heard on Tuesday could be postponed to a later day. Those included a presentation from the Prince William County Public School Division proposed about its $1.8 billion operating budget for the fiscal year 2021, which begins July 1.

The proposed school budget includes $103.5 million more in operating funds, about 9% increase over the previous year, as well as $51 million more in revenue from the Prince William County Government.