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King George
Pages 13 & 14
Volume 38, Number 17
Wednesday, April 23, 2014 50 Cents
helping you relate to your community
King George Fracking info session scheduled for June 12 Phyllis Cook The King George Board of Supervisors has scheduled a fracking information session for the community on June 12, 7 p.m., at King George High School. Supervisors expect to have representatives from the Virginia Department of Mines, Minerals and Energy (DMME) present, as they did at a meeting on Feb. 4, along with reps from the Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ), Shore Exploration & Production Company and the Environmental Law Center.
Regional broadband summit on May 1
The meeting was scheduled for the June 12 date at last week’s meeting on April 15, with Chairman Joe Grzeika saying he also wanted to ask former state delegate Albert Pollard if he would to attend and begin the presentations by giving his fracking overview presentation. The information session is expected to be a town hall-style meeting, with an opportunity for members of the public to ask questions. PROCESS TO BE REVIEWED Grzeika also said the session would include information about the county’s process for
obtaining a special exception permit, which is required for any mining operation in the county. Special exception permits require two advertised public hearings, first one by the Planning Commission and the second by the Board of Supervisors in King George. In regard to the June 12 date, Grzeika said, “By that time we’ll have some feedback from the regional commissions about reaching out to look at the land use from a county perspective.” The actual permit for such mining is approved by the state and the environmental
aspect is likewise controlled by the state’s regulations. Grzeika added, “If they’re permitted by the state, we want to have our special exception permit requirements articulated so we protect ourselves as much as we can from the industrialization of our rural agricultural community. I think that’s really what our job is.” Grzeika also said, “Our focus really needs to be sharp.” He added, “I really think from a regional perspective if we came together and get at least a common core of conditions that we could work from, I think it would serve
KING GEORGE TECH COMMITTEE YET TO BE APPOINTED & STAFFED A charter for a technology advisory committee received final approval from the King George Board of Supervisors on April 1, but that effort has not gotten off the ground yet. The committee was spawned by encouragement from county residents, including Barbara Wagner and Dale Robertson, who live in sparsely populated areas of King George and want access to affordable broadband Internet. See Broadband, page 3
Leonard Banks
Last Wednesday, during a track & field middle school meet at James Monroe, numerous King George athletes stepped up to showcase their talents.
King George sets tax rates; hearing on budget draws three comments Phyllis Cook The King George Board of Supervisors heard from three speakers at last week’s public hearing on its proposed budget for next fiscal year, 2014-15, with no one speaking during the hearing on tax rates for the current calendar year. The hearings took place on April 15. Following the two hearings, Supervisors unanimously voted to raise real estate and personal property taxes, as had been advertised. Tax bills are expected to be mailed as soon as they are prepared, with the first half-year taxes due in early June. REAL ESTATE TAX RATE The real estate tax rate was 53-cents per $100 valuation for real estate and mobile homes. Following last year’s real estate assessment, it was determined that an “equalized” tax rate would be 56-cents per $100 of assessed value. The county raised real estate and mobile home taxes an additional 3-cents from the equalized rate to 59-cents per $100 value. PERSONAL PROPERTY TAX RATE Personal property taxes were increased by 5-cents. The rate went from the previous $3.20 to $3.25 per $100 valuation. That tax had seen no increases for nearly a decade. Personal property tax applies to cars and trucks, but also includes motor homes, campers, utility trailers, boat trailers, golf carts, low speed
See Fracking, page 3
Three King George men sentenced after guilty pleas
Middle school showcase
Phyllis Cook Tim Ware, Executive Director of the George Washington Regional Commission (GWRC), announced last week that a Broadband Summit would take place on May 1, to include all five jurisdictions in Planning District 16 to support a fully redundant high-capacity broadband network throughout the region. The Broadband Summit on May 1, 7:30-10:30 a.m., will be held at the University of Mary Washington (UMW) Jepson Alumni Executive Center, 1119 Hanover Street in Fredericksburg. Continental breakfast will be available with RSVPs requested, by emailing linda@ worrellmanagementgroup.com. Business representatives are invited to attend, along with individuals and local government officials. King George County is expected to be represented by Linwood Thomas, Director of Economic Development. The summit is planned in conjunction with the Infrastructure Committee for the UMW Regional Economic Development Plan. Its purpose is in furtherance of an effort to ensure that the region is prepared to support economic development and the knowledge economy of the future. Sandie Terry, CIT Program Manager, Broadband, will discuss broadband technologies and capabilities, the importance of broadband in the community, and the impact of broadband on economic development. The committee wants to begin discussions on how the region can take action to build and partner with service providers to have a fully redundant, high capacity broadband network. It is essential in today’s economy and for the future of the region to have adequate and affordable broadband available to support the community anchor institutions and businesses to foster innovation and entrepreneurship.
everybody better.” King George is participating in a local government Fracking Workshop hosted by the Virginia Association of Counties (VACo) in Hanover on May 1. That half-day workshop is designed to cover basic information on fracking and to include state and local government roles and considerations. The VACo forum is expected to provide information and practical tools that will be useful to local governments when making policy decisions relating to fracking. DMME
vehicles, business equipment, business vehicles, boats, boat motors, dirt bikes, motorcycles, motorbikes, allterrain vehicles (ATVs) and airplanes. BUDGET HEARING The three people who spoke during the hearing on the budget represented organizations. A fourth individual provided comments via an email that was distributed to Supervisors. Jim Lynch’s written comments for the record have to do with six items regarding the Parks & Recreation Department. Linda Hamrick from the Rappahannock Area Agency on Aging gave information and statistics about the services it provides to older residents in King George, indicating how the funding from the county is utilized. She thanked the board for the county’s continued support. Renee Parker and Warren Veazey both spoke representing the Citizens for Nonpartisan Good Government. Veazey suggested increasing the contractual tipping free for the landfill and also claimed that the county Department of Community Development was “padding” its inspection visits to justify its staffing level. Veazey also suggested that the county transfer funding from Community Development, to instead create a position to bring tourism into the county. Currently, tourism is addressed by the director of See Tax Rates, page 3
King George Commonwealth’s Attorney Keri Gusmann secured guilty pleas from three King George County men on drug, larceny and drunk driving charges, and Circuit Court Judge Joseph Ellis last week handed down multi-year sentences for all three. Purnell Pratt, 58, was convicted of three counts of drug distribution and three counts of child endangerment. Timothy Finney, 19, was convicted of breaking and entering and larceny. And, Ernest Hawkins, 55, was convicted of driving after being declared a habitual offender and driving under the influence. Judge Ellis sentenced Pratt to 45 years, with 37 years and three months suspended; which means Pratt will serve seven years and nine months in prison. According to Gusmann, Pratt was dealing drugs out of a hotel room that he shared with his two minor children and one minor grandchild, and the children were present on at least two occasions when drugs were sold. “Drug dealers are a menace to our society, Gusmann said. “They are selling poison. I hope that everyone understands the damage that drug dealers cause to the families of the people that they sell drugs to. Drug dealing is an extremely dangerous activity and should never be done, much less in front of children.” On the larceny and breaking and entering charges, Finney was sentenced to 12 months, all suspended on the larceny, and 15
years with 14 years suspended on the breaking and entering. He broke into a neighbor’s home and stole a television set and several bottles of liquor. Finney told the court that he stole the items to sell or trade them for drugs. Finney had been ordered to maintain good behavior as a result of a previous conviction. Judge Ellis revoked the one year that had been suspended for his previous crime and ordered him to serve that sentence. “Using illegal drugs is not a victimless crime,” Gusmann said. “This case is a fine example of that. Once you are addicted to drugs, you will do anything to get the money to buy more drugs. No one ever sets out to become addicted to drugs. But once you start, you cannot stop, and you will further victimize those around you.” Judge Ellis sentenced Hawkins to a total of six years in prison, with four years and six months suspended after he was convicted of driving while being declared a habitual offender and driving under the influence. Hawkins will serve an active prison term of one year and six months. “Drunk drivers endanger everyone on the road, “ Gusmann said. “It is like sending a ticking time bomb down the middle of Kings Highway. Luckily, no one was hurt in this case, but it still means that everyone on the road that night could have easily been seriously hurt or even killed.” — Richard Leggitt
Fredericksburg man arrested after high speed motorcycle chase on Rt. 3 A Fredericksburg man was arrested late Sunday after he led King George Sheriff ’s officers on a highspeed chase down Route 3. Michael W. Parker, 24, was arrested after the motorcycle he was driving crashed in downtown Fredericksburg. King George Sheriff Steve Dempsey said Sgt. Keith Dobson was working a traffic stop on State Route 3, just west of King George near its intersection with Port Conway Road, when four motorcycles zoomed by without moving over into the open left lane. Dempsey said all four motorcycles were stopped for speeding, but one of them, carrying Parker and a young woman passenger, whom officers did not identify, suddenly took off heading west on Route 3. Dobson gave chase and a highspeed pursuit began with speeds reaching over 100 miles per hour. The chase ended just into Fredericksburg when Parker struck a median, sending him, the bike and the passenger airborne. “All three slid more than a block down the pavement after the
collision,” Dempsey said. Parker, a resident of Fredericksburg, suffered a leg injury in the crash. His 21-year-old female passenger suffered severe road rash and other injuries. Both were treated at Mary Washington Hospital. Dempsey said the high-speed chase began at 10:35 p.m. The chase went through King George and Stafford at alarming speeds. Dempsey said the fleeing motorcycle crashed after crossing the Chatham Bridge and entering the City of Fredericksburg. At that point, Fredericksburg Police officers assisted in the investigation. Dempsey said the motorcycle had been reported stolen earlier in Annapolis, Md. Parker was charged with possession of stolen property, felony eluding and reckless driving. He remains in jail.
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