Barry Barnard will fill the role of Prince William County Police Chief full time.
He had been acting chief since the departure of Chief Stephan Hudson in April.
From a county press release:
Following a nationwide search and competitive hiring process, the Board of County Supervisors announced Barry M. Barnard as the new Prince William County Chief of Police for Prince William County.
Barnard joined the Prince William County Police Department as a Patrol Officer in 1976. He has had a stellar career and worked his way through the ranks serving in a variety of capacities for the Department. He has served as the Assistant Chief of Police since 2000, and was acting Police Chief following the retirement of Chief Dean in 2012, and again following the retirement of Chief Hudson in 2016.
“We have one of the finest police departments in the nation,” said Corey A. Stewart, Chairman Prince William Board of County Supervisors. “With 40 years of service with the Prince William County Police Department, Barry Barnard has been an integral part of that success. He has demonstrated his ability to lead this department and to maintain the safety of the residents of Prince William County.”
“The Prince William Police Department is a dynamic group of men and women who selflessly serve this community,” said Barnard. “It is truly an honor to be named the new Chief of Police, and I am humbled to have the opportunity to serve alongside my fellow officers and county employees in this new capacity as we continue to make Prince William County a safe place to live, work and enjoy.”
Barry Barnard received his Bachelor of Science degree in criminology from Florida State University and a Master of Public Administration from George Mason University. He resides in Prince William County with his wife, Debbie.
Insidenova.com reports the 63-year-old Barnard was hired this morning during a special meeting of the Prince William County Board of Supervisors, and that his annual salary is $186,000 168,000.
History of police chiefs in Prince William
Barry Barnard 2016 –
It’s going to cost more to stay at a hotel in the Town of Dumfries.
Town leaders this week amended a transient room rental tax provision in the town code that allows the town to collect a room fee on top of the hotel tax already levied and charged by hotels.
The additional fee was raised from $1 a room to $5 per room, per night. The fee is charged when guests check out of their hotels.
The increased fee comes as town leaders moved to reduce the town’s Business and Professional Licensing tax, also known as BPOL, by 25%. It’s a tax levied on business’ gross receipts.
Town documents note the changes in BPOL tax rates:
Contractors, subcontractors and persons contracting or constructing for their own account for sale assessment of tax.
Except where exempted by law, every person engaged in contracting, subcontracting, and persons constructing for their own account for sale shall be assessed by the town treasurer and pay for such privilege, a license tax of $30.00 or$0.092$0.069 per $100.00 of gross receipts, whichever is greater.Financial services—Assessment of tax. Every person engaged in the business of providing financial services shall be assessed by the town treasurer and pay for such privilege, a license tax of $30.00 or
$0.29$0.22 per $100.00 of gross receipts earned, whichever is greater.Repair, personal and business services and other businesses not taxed or exempted—Assessment of tax.
Every person engaged in a repair, personal or business service or any other business or occupation, trade, profession, vocation, calling or activity not specifically listed and taxed by or excepted from this article shall be assessed by the town treasurer and pay for such privilege, a license tax of $30.00 or $0.18 $0.135 per $100.00 of gross receipts, whichever is greaterEvery person engaged in the business of providing real estate and professional services shall be assessed by the town treasurer and pay for such privilege, a license tax of $30.00 or $0.29
$0.22per $100.00 of gross receipts earned, whichever is greater.Every person engaged in a repair, personal or business service or any other business or occupation, trade, profession, vocation, calling or activity not specifically listed and taxed by or excepted from this article shall be assessed by the town treasurer and pay for such privilege, a license tax of $30.00 or
$0.18$0.135 per $100.00 of gross receipts, whichever is greater.Every retail merchant or person selling at retail shall be assessed by the town treasurer and pay for such privilege, a license tax of $30.00 or
$0.125$0.094 per $100.00 of gross receipts, whichever is greater.Every person conducting or engaging in the business of wholesale sales as defined by this article shall be assessed by the town treasurer and pay a license tax for such privilege of
$0.020$0.015 on each $100.00 of purchases.
Town leaders for years have worked to reduce the BPOL tax. It’s also been a priority of the Prince William Chamber of Commerce, which has regularly lobbied the Prince William County Board of Supervisors to lower or its BPOL tax.
With the new hotel room fee in place, town leaders expect to make up all of the lost revenue incurred with the reduction of the BPOL tax.
Public hearings ware held for the hotel fee increase and lowered BPOL tax rates. No one spoke.
Dumfries has two hotels — A Super 8 and a Sleep In. Both are located at the intersection of Routes 1 and 234.
A new data center will open in Quantico Corporate Center in Stafford County.
From an email:
Yyotta, LLC (“Yyotta”), pronounced ‘why yotta’, an emerging Internet exchange point (IXP), data center and managed services company based in Stafford, VA and Dominion Virginia Power today announced the addition of Yyotta IXP facility to the Dominion’s energy grid. Yyotta will offer its IXP, network transport and managed service solutions through its iFortress TM modular data center, a facility used by U.S. Army Corp of Engineers’ clients, focused on developing a cyber security “community of practice” serving the Commonwealth of Virginia. The IXP will be open June 2016.
Also:
Yyotta’s IXP and data center consists of two (2) secure data center rooms encompassing 2,480 sq. ft. of computer room floor and 500 kW of UPS power capacity with access to more space and power for growth. The IXP is the only multi-tenant data center in Stafford, offering a highly compliant solution through a concurrently maintainable design. Yyotta’s Quantico Corporate Center customers have the option to choose from a 1Gig, 10Gig, or dark fiber connectivity solutions, delivered over private, low-latency networks to Washington, DC, Ashburn and Richmond, VA.
The Prince William Chamber of Commerce met with business owners to discuss sweeping changes coming to full-time employee salaries.
President Obama signed new legislation that redefines what it means to be employed full time.
From the Department of Labor:
Key Provisions of the Final Rule
The Final Rule focuses primarily on updating the salary and compensation levels needed for Executive, Administrative and Professional workers to be exempt. Specifically, the Final Rule:Sets the standard salary level at the 40th percentile of earnings of full-time salaried workers in the lowest-wage Census Region, currently the South ($913 per week; $47,476 annually for a full-year worker);
Sets the total annual compensation requirement for highly compensated employees (HCE) subject to a minimal duties test to the annual equivalent of the 90th percentile of full-time salaried workers nationally ($134,004); and
Establishes a mechanism for automatically updating the salary and compensation levels every three years to maintain the levels at the above percentiles and to ensure that they continue to provide useful and effective tests for exemption.
The law allows non-full time employees to now collect overtime pay.
The effective date of the final rule is December 1, 2016. The initial increases to the standard salary level (from $455 to $913 per week) and HCE total annual compensation requirement (from $100,000 to $134,004 per year) will be effective on that date. Future automatic updates to those thresholds will occur every three years, beginning on January 1, 2020.
From Prince William Chamber:
Betty Dean, Chair of the Chamber’s Policy Committee and Owner of Dean & Associates summarized the reactions of member businesses saying, “I think it’s fair to say that the biggest concern from the members’ perspective was the increased costs that are likely to result, but that was followed closely by concern about how to manage the potential, unintended consequences of the new regulations. Many businesses and especially not-for-profit organizations have employees whose salaries are below the new threshold.” Dean went on to note that employees often require a great deal of flexibility to do their jobs; attending before/after-hours events, traveling from location to location and scheduling appointments outside of normal business hours.
Allison Dembeck, executive director for education, labor and workforce development, congressional and public affairs for the U.S. Chamber of Commerce was on hand to hear questions from Prince William Chamber members.
Questions included how to regulate employee use of mobile devices during non-business hours and how that time can be tracked. Committee members also discussed the likelihood that mobile communications will need to be strictly curtailed; likely having a negative on business as well as a chilling effect on employee morale.
We asked several area politicians to weigh in on the move. Virginia State Senator Scott Surovell replied:
@UriahKiser I generally support a higher minimum wage and fair overtime rules. Many employers refuse to pay overtime due employees.
— Scott Surovell (@ssurovell) June 27, 2016
@UriahKiser Anything that provides greater clarity and guidance to employers and employees will help avoid unnecessary conflict.
— Scott Surovell (@ssurovell) June 27, 2016
T-storms today in humid airmass, some with heavy rain. Flooding possible in Central Shenandoah Valley and mtns. pic.twitter.com/54wkLDznc2
— NWS DC/Baltimore (@NWS_BaltWash) June 27, 2016
@Surveillance911 @PotomacLocal pic.twitter.com/PWRoQZarFO
— ?=????-??=? (@Surveillance911) June 25, 2016
@PotomacLocal not allowing foot traffic past perimeter so now house photos ;( pic.twitter.com/G9skuf02KT
— ?=????-??=? (@Surveillance911) June 25, 2016
A fire broke out at a home at 13035 Quate Lane in Dale City on Friday.
Fire crews were called about 11 p.m. to the blaze. Flames extended to the home’s attic, were told.
No word yet on injuries, damage estimates, or a cause of the fire.
More on the fire as we have it. Send us photos and your reports.
It’s been a busy night for public safety crews in Prince William County. We’ve posted the following stories tonight:
Motorcyclist killed in Woodbridge
Updated June 27, 2016
From Prince William police:
Aggravated Malicious Wounding | Shooting Investigation – On June 24 at 9:04PM, officers responded to a residence located in the 1600 block of Fort Fisher Court in Dumfries (22026) to investigate a shooting. The investigation revealed that the victims, a 16 year old male juvenile and 25 year old man both of Dumfries, along with another resident were involved in a verbal altercation with the accused, identified as Cornelius Sean MCGRIFF.
During the encounter, MCGRIFF brandished a handgun and shot the victims in the lower body. When officers arrived, one of the victims was located in the residence then transported to a local hospital with serious, non-life threatening injuries. A short time later, the second victim responded to a local hospital with serious, non-life threatening injuries.
The accused fled the scene prior to officers arriving in the area. Following the investigation, officers obtained warrants for the arrest of the accused. Attempts to locate the accused have been unsuccessful.
Wanted: [Photo from January 2016]
Cornelius Sean MCGRIFF, 23, of No Fixed Address
Described as a black male, 5’10”, 165lbs with black hair and brown eyes
Wanted for 2 counts of aggravated malicious wounding, 1 count for attempted aggravated malicious wounding, 3 counts of use of a firearm in commission of a felony, and 3 counts of possession of a firearm by a convicted felon
Original post
10:32 p.m.
From Prince William police:
*** For Immediate Release *** On June 24, 2016 at 9:06PM, Officers responded to the 1600 block of Fort Fisher Court in Dumfries (20188) in reference to a possible shooting. A short time later, a person admitted himself into the emergency room of Sentara Hospital with a gunshot wound. A second shooting victim was located at the residence. Both have since been flown to a local trauma center. There is no suspect description available at this time. There is still a large police presence in the area as the investigation continues. Anyone with information regarding this incident is asked to call the Prince William County Police at (703) 792-6500.
9;58 p.m.
Two people were shot in Dumfries tonight.
Police are on the scene at Fort Fisher Court.
From Prince William police spokesman Jonathan Merriman:
“We have 2 victims. 1 was taken by personal vehicle to Sentara. #2 ground transported by ambulance. No suspect info to release yet.”
“I can confirm that we received a report of shots fired in the area and a person walked in to Sentara Hospital. Units are on scene now. This is still an ongoing incident so details are few.
More as we have it.
An email from John and Linda Schumaker:
Thank you for your interest and support of the Stafford County Cardboard Boat Regatta. This is the 13th year that the Rock Hill Ruritan Club and the Stafford County Parks and Recreation department have partnered to conduct this family friendly event.The Regatta will be on Saturday, July 9th at Aquia Landing in Stafford County. The event opens at 10 am with boat registration.Opening ceremonies will include music by the Stafford Regional Choral Society’s SoundCheck group. Boat awards and races will begin around Noon.Boats are made from cardboard, tape, glue and painted to make then, hopefully, water-tight. Past creations have included traditional boats, battle ships, paddlewheelers, dragons, a whale, a giant cicada, Gilligan’s Island, and a bath tub.
A plan to seek requests for proposals to outsource the management of Prince William County’s Public Libraries is dead.
The county’s Board of Supervisors voted 7-1 on Tuesday to kill the measure proposed this past spring by Gainesville Supervisor Peter Candland. He gave the dissenting vote.
“I feel that is our responsibility to look into all options, and it would have been helpful to get outside proposals…and let the Library Board have the final say,” said Candland.
He finished his comments by noting that it is clear “people are happy with their library system.”
The county’s Library Board — its members appointed by the Board of Supervisors — oversees the operation of the county’s library system.
Candland suggested outsourcing management operations at the libraries could have saved $15 million ,000 over five years. The Board discussed outsourcing plan behind closed doors on Tuesday before coming out of closed session to hold the vote to kill the RFP plan.