Flint Hill Fire leaders address unfavorable report

Thumbs down to Skyline Vineyard Inn expansion: ‘It’s been a long and sad saga’

Two leaders of the Flint HiIl Volunteer Fire and Rescue Company spoke before the Rappahannock County Board of Supervisors at its regular meeting March 2. FHVFR president Charles Burke and chief Bruce Williams addressed serious concerns raised by the county’s Fire and Rescue Association about the company’s performance.

A letter dated Feb. 19 from association president Harold Beebout says in part that Rappahannock County’s Company 4 “appears to lack standards

of behavior and operations and failure to enforce their existing standards.”

Burke and Williams told the BOS Monday night about actions and procedures the company had put in place to address criticisms raised about response times, lack of certifications for personnel, use of inappropriate firefighting equipment, dangerous behavior on the part of personnel using their own vehicles to respond to emergencies, financial reporting, and other alleged problems.

Regarding response times, the Fire and Rescue Association reported that for the last half of 2019 the company’s ambulance response rate was 38 percent and the fire response rate was 77 percent. Burke attributed that to problems surrounding the recruitment of new members, pointing out the company has the highest ratio of younger members.

“We have a younger generation of people [who work during the day], whereas [the other companies] have retired people who are able to run calls pretty much throughout the day,” Burke said.

Burke also explained that company leaders were terminating uncertified personnel.

“We’re taking action in cleaning up the department,” he said. “I know [terminating people] doesn’t look good for responding to calls, but it’s taking the right actions for helping us get back to where we need to be.”

At the end of the presentation, the board members expressed appreciation

for the report, as well as support for the company.

“There’s a very bright spotlight on you now,” said Wakefield Supervisor Debbie Donehey. “We are trying to help you. If you need our help, ask us.”

Board Chair Christine Smith also asked for monthly updates of the company’s progress.

And the board voted unanimously to ask County Attorney Art Goff for a legal opinion on enforcement of the county’s Fire and Rescue/EMS Services Agreement and consequences for non-compliance.

In a related issue, the board also discussed the county’s potential need to supplement volunteer Emergency Medical Services personnel with paid personnel.

“The bounty has a fragile volunteer EMS system that has continued to serve the county’s citizens long after all the surrounding counties have hired paid EMS providers,” wrote Beebout in a Feb. 18 letter to the Public Safety Committee. “[L]ooking forward to FY21, we have grave concerns that the volunteer EMS providers will not be able to provide 24/7 coverage without being supplemented with paid providers.”

The board discussed options offered by Beebout ranging “from a modest paid supplement to the volunteers to a paid 24/7/365 paid medic crew.”

Public hearings

This was a night of public hearings on permit applications involving controversial properties.

The board voted unanimously to deny a special exception permit application made by Carl and Donna Henrickson for a country inn at their Skyline Vineyard Inn (sometimes referred to by its previous name, Harmony Manor).

The application requests permission to allow up to 18 guests at the facility, a use pointed out by the Planning Commission and Board of Zoning Appeals in several previous meetings that would greatly intensify traffic on the narrow, private lane. (Permits obtained in 2012 and 2014 allowed two and three B&B rooms respectively. Last year, the BZA revoked those permits in light of alleged violations of the permits. The Henricksons are appealing the BZA action in Circuit Court).

Once again, in the BOS evening session Monday night, the Henricksons faced opposition from Clark Lane neighbors who have complained for years about the traffic on the narrow private lane caused by guests and visitors to the inn.

Despite years of permit violations and neighbor complaints, this was the first time the BOS has taken up consideration of this property, said Jock Nash, a Clark Lane neighbor.

“It’s been a long and sad saga,” Nash said, “and it’s time to bring it to an end.

The board heard another special exception permit application, this one from John Cappiali, to establish a contractors yard on the Route 211 property he leases from Joseph Long. Cappiali’s property also has been the subject of years of complaints from neighbors and county officials, charging that Cappiali and his wife are running an illegal junk yard.

In October 2016, then-County Administrator and Zoning Administrator Debbie Keyser send a Notice of Violation ordering Cappiali and Long “to bring your property into compliance with our Zoning Ordinance” which does not allow “a junkyard/ auto graveyard, junk or inoperable vehicles, solid waste, scrap heaps or refuse piles.”

In February 2018 current Zoning Administrator Michelle Somers sent a second notice. In October of that year, Jeremiah “Jack” Atkins, a parttime Rappahannock County building official, filed the complaint in Circuit Court asking for enforcement of the county’s zoning ordinance against the Cappialis.

Ever since, Cappiali and Long have been in and out of court and appeared numerous times before the Planning

Commission and BZA with incomplete applications.

Hampton District Supervisor Keir Whitson said, “The amount and kind of equipment [on the property] is mismatched with [Cappiali’s] business activities” and is not consistent with the zoning ordinance definition of a contractor's yard.

He moved for denial of the application and the board voted unanimously in favor of the motion.

Mike Blyth, co-owner of Risk and Strategic Management, withdrew his special exception permit application after a public hearing revealed problems with the application and with neighbors. In 2018, Blyth obtained an SE permit for a private, outdoor, technical school on Shurgen Lane in Amissville. There he conducts training for humanitarian organizations sent to war zones and other dangerous areas.

He sought to amend his original application to allow training on his property five days a week, up from three days a month as allowed in his original permit. But neighbors complained of noise from gunshots (using blanks) and simulated explosions.

Other actions

The Board honored Paul W. Komar with a resolution of appreciation for his eight years of service on the Fire Levy Board: “He was dedicated to the betterment of fire and rescue companies of Rappahannock County, helped develop standard guidelines for company funding, and was instrumental in the development of the Fire and Rescue/EMS Services Agreement.”

The Board approved the appointment of Bryan Lilly to the Agricultural and Forestal Districts Advisory Board; Bill Dietel to the Library Board; and Robert Yowell to the Recreational Facilities Authority to finish out a term left vacant by Sandra Maskas.

Mike Wenger, the Lord Fairfax Community College Board Representative, gave a brief report noting the many opportunities at LFCC for Rappahannock residents.

County Administrator Garrey Curry briefed the board on the status of equipment and actions needed to support a functional VHF simulcast radio system at the Sperryville and Amissville tower sites.

BOS members discussed a proposed zoning ordinance text amendment to include professional offices in the Highway Commercial zone through Sperryville; a draft amendment to the ordinance to allow canneries to operate in appropriate zoning districts; and updates to the Emergency Operations Plan.