More than half of photo speed enforcement funds designated to NK public safety; timeline established for data center discussion

More than half of $6.25 million collected from photo speed enforcement funds collected in New Kent County will be used to address public safety.

New Kent’s Board of Supervisors unanimously approved contributing $3,437,992 in funds towards public safety at Monday evening’s regular board meeting. Specifically, those funds will be to assist with the sheriff’s office hiring three additional deputies for the upcoming fiscal year, providing safety equipment that includes outfitting vehicles for those officers, and funding clerks inside of New Kent General District Court who send notices out for the violations.

During the public hearing on how to expend the $6.25 million in funds, citizens approached the podium with several propositions in mind. However, public safety was the priority on many of their lists.

“I always had the belief that you should split it up in thirds,” said Daniel Radford as he spoke about the incoming revenue. “You have one-third to invest, one-third to save, and one-third to spend.

“You should invest in the schools, save for investment funds, and spend the last one-third in safety,” he concluded.

Chris Rizzo echoed the sentiments of public safety, saying New Kent does more with less when it comes to personnel and protecting citizens.

“Public safety should be at the top,” he said. “You all can see the numbers and see that directed patrols have doubled in the past three years.

“New Kent Sheriff’s Office is below the national average when it comes to personnel for counties our size,” Rizzo added. “New Kent Sheriff’s Office does a good job with doing more with less, but there is a limit on how far that go.”

New Kent County Sheriff Lee Bailey commented that the county’s current collection rate is 52 percent when it comes to the speed camera enforcement. According to the sheriff, a 100 percent rate is the equivalent of $14 million.

“But this was never about the money, it was about the safety,” Bailey said, speaking about how the revenue was unexpected. “When we started to enforce speed in the school zones, it dropped by 96 percent. That was the goal for the interstate to reduce speed.

“We know that we are dealing with a variety of different variables,” the sheriff continued, speaking about how drivers range from local to out-of-state when it comes to interstate traffic. “We’ve seen speeds as fast at 100 miles per hour in the work zone. Now, I start looking at speeds ranging from 75-80 when it comes to speed.”

Holly Berry, who is the president of the Woodhaven Property Homeowner Association, asked for the board’s support to help with the dam’s infrastructure.

“If the dam fails, it will have an impact that will affect all of us,” she said. “It will affect the traffic on Route 60, and you know how that is, especially when Interstate 64 is shut down.

“We are not asking for the county to relieve us, we are asking for a partnership,” Berry continued. “Consequences extend further than our neighborhood for a damn failure.”

After public comment closed, District 1 representative Thomas Evelyn said he could support the public safety when it comes to the sheriff’s office. He also asked staff to look at other areas that he believes would benefit the citizens.

“I’d like staff to look at the remaining money and maybe give a tax rebate to citizens of this county,” he said. “AFDs and those who are already getting an exemption wouldn’t qualify, but I know we have to make this decision before June 30. I’d like for staff to bring something back to the board.”

The money received from the speed camera enforcement would have to go directly to speed studies and other projects after June 30. Other supervisors chimed in with their opinions but also agreed that additional information is desired before using the remaining funds.

“Our citizens should be considered but a lot has to be known to see if it [providing rebates] could be done for the citizens,” said District 3 leader Amy Pearson. “I’m not saying that it won’t be funded but we need to look at the money coming in.”

District 4 Supervisor Ron Stiers addressed Berry’s concerns, saying how real estate property tax could drop if Virginia’s Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ) gets involved.

“If DEQ drained the damn, personal property tax would go away because that is no longer considered waterfront property,” Stiers said. “I know we’ve been talking about this for two years and those people in Woodhaven have their own water system and pay for their own repairs to the dam.”

The board of supervisors adopted the resolution to fund New Kent Sheriff’s Office and other safety concerns. Discussion on the dam and how to allocate the remaining funds is expected to take place at the June work session.

Meanwhile, Pearson decided to address comments regarding the Technology Overlay District (TOD) during the board’s directive portion of the meeting.

During the regular public comment period, several citizens once again approached the podium to speak about data centers. Addressing as she called it “the elephant in the room”, Pearson decided to tackle the subject head-on.

“I’d like to see something in writing on how we are going to address this,” she said, giving a directive to county staff. “I want to see a draft center ordinance before I am prepared to vote at all on the proposed TOD.”

Pearson directed staff to have a caveat in writing that a mandatory public hearing will be held for citizens when it comes to data centers. She also asked that the ordinance protects county resources, specifically water and power, and that data centers pay their way to the best extent possible.

When staff asked Pearson about how they need to address it, she responded by saying whether a repeal or a review or current practices for by-right are needed to do so, or even a possible revoke of the overlay status is needed, that all possibilities are looked at.

Staff said that a two-month timeline to gather the information would be sufficient for a rough draft and first presentation to county leaders prior to any public hearing.