Powhatan Citizens Alliance

11/11/2023

Thank you for your service!

10/16/2023

Members and followers,
After 5 years the fight continues. Here's the latest . . .
Green Ridge (subsidiary of GFL Environmental formerly County Waste) has verbally said they will be reducing the size of the actual dump site from 400+ acres to 100+ acres. For comparison, this is still 4 times the size of Powhatan's Walmart property. No contract changes have been made so it remains just words. One reason they have chosen to reduce the size is to eliminate any encroachment on local stream water on the property and negates the need for a water permit from the Army Corps of Engineers. The company also claims that they won't be bringing out-of-state trash to the site (at least currently) but assuredly Powhatan will see significant trash truck traffic on Rt 60 and Rt 522 where local collection trucks (from north, south and east) will "home-in" on the dump site off Rt 60 in Cumberland.

While no initial permit (application part-A) has been issued by Virginia's DEQ (Dept. of Environmental Quality) it is expected very soon. Even with that part completed the fight is not over. A part-B remains to be completed.

To learn more about the latest landfill issues and efforts to protect Virginia's environment consider attending the meeting below.

09/27/2023

Members and followers,
Voting for state and local offices has started. One significant change is the redistricting for House of Delegates. Powhatan is now in District 72 (used to be District 65). Here is a link to our candidates as posted by Powhatan Office of Elections. Scroll down to "upcoming elections" section to see a list of offices and candidates and sample ballots for all Districts in Powhatan.
https://www.powhatanva.gov/310/Voter-Registrar
Where to vote in your District:
https://www.powhatanva.gov/311/Voting-Locations

Voting is your responsibility. Don't let someone else pick your candidate. VOTE!

Each district offers multiple voting locations to make voting easy and accessible for residents.

05/30/2023

Members and followers,
Green Ridge Recycling and Disposal ((a subsidiary of GFL (Green for Life), a Canadian company)) has submitted significant changes to their original landfill plans to the Dept. of Environmental Quality (DEQ) and the Army Corps of Engineers (ACOE). Many of the changes appear to be favorable toward lessening the impact on the envronment, road traffic, historic properties and general human health. However, while the current changes may appear to lessen the impact of the landfill a deeper look is needed. Here are some details:
1) The waste disposal unit has been reduced to 104 acres (half of the original proposal) and will not impact any streams or wetlands.
Reducing the disposal area is a plus BUT it leaves open the likelyhood of expansion in the future, back to the original specifications. The same can be said about impact on streams and wetlands should expansion be requested in the future. This latest revision is still 4 times the size of the Powhatan Walmart property.
2) The original proposed entranceway adjacent to the Powhatan County boundary has been eliminated and replaced with a Pine Grove Road entranceway.
This change certainly reduces the possibility of accidents on Rt60 due to slow and stopped trucks entering and exiting the landfill. However, the impact to residents living on Pine Grove Road will be enormous (property values, local traffic during daytime hours, noise, wear and tear on the roadway etc.)
3) Reduced truck traffic resulting from a 75% reduction in maximum daily trash tonnage from 5,000 tons / day to 1,500 tons / day. Primarily this results from no out of state waste coming to the landfill.
This is a positive result of changes to the permit application but it still is 125 additional trucks per day and all of the truck traffic will now be during daytime hours (8AM to 4PM) vs (6PM to midnight).
4) A result of the reduced trash volumes Cumberland County can expect a 75% reduction in the monies received from the landfill opreration. The expected revenues has always been the selling-point of this project to the residents of the county. It should be interesting to see how the landfill will be received now that revenues can be expected to fall by 75% from a maximum of $2.5M to $625k per year.
5) Pine Grove Road will not need to be relocated.
This is a positive change.
6) No historic or environmental study will be needed.
This is a positive change. However, the Pine Grove School (a historic Rosenwald School for native Americans and black residents (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rosenwald_School) will be impacted by the truck traffic and proximity to the landfill entrance and disposal area (directly adjacent to the landfill).
7) The final finished grade of the landfill remains the same at 690 feet above mean sea level.
The height of the trash pile remains as it was originally proposed meaning that the pile will be several hundred feet above the surrounding land elevation and likely visible from Rt60 particularly in the winter months when leaves are gone from the trees.

Based on the above it could be expected that the Part A Permit approval will be obtained before Christmas 2023 and if the Part B approval is obtained before the end of 2024 the initial cells of the landfill will be ready to accept trash in late 2025. This faster schedule reflects that no Army Corps of Engineers (ACOE) Permits or DEQ Wetlands permits will be required. The ACOE permit process would have required an EIS (Environmental Impact Study) as well as an Environmental Justice and Historic Site impact evaluation of landfill upon the Pine Grove School.

The Rosenwald School project built more than 5,000 schools, shops, and teacher homes in the United States primarily for the education of African-American children in the South during the early 20th century. The project was the product of the partnership of Julius Rosenwald, a Jewish-American clothie...

03/12/2023

Members and followers,
The following was provided by a PCA member. I thought it worth distributing.
Don

Many thanks to our Republican General Assembly members for their efforts to roll back egregious legislation from 2020 and 2021 when the Democrats were in the majority, and for holding the line on more of the same this year!
Much as expected, if you are Conservative, any bill you would have supported probably failed. Especially election integrity, school choice, parental rights, 2nd amendment, and climate change repeal bills. Senate leadership announced before the session started that they were putting up a 'wall' again, and they did just that. The House Republican majority was able to kill most bad bills that passed the Senate! It is possible that the Governor will attempt to amend some legislation in the Reconvened Session on April 12, 2023.

There were few successes where there was bipartisan agreement.

FENTANYL

PASSED: Fentanyl is now declared 'a weapon of terror' in Virginia. Sad to report that in the original bill the manufacture or distribution of fentanyl was a class 2 felony, but by the time it passed it had been lowered to class 4. Hopefully just a start at control of this deadly poison.

CHINESE INFILTRATION INTO THE US.

There were 5 attempts to halt Chinese aggression

1) PASSED: No purchase of farmland by foreign adversaries

2) PASSED: No TIK TOK etc can be used on state devices.

3) FAILED: Campaign donation limits from foreign adversaries

4) FAILED: Foreign investment in public universities not allowed

5) FAILED: Reports from the Attorney General of foreign influence in elections.

ENERGY: The fate of two important issues:..

1) Who controls electricity rates? The SCC or the General Assembly?

"For followers of Virginia energy policy, 2023 will be remembered as the year Dominion Energy lost its stranglehold on the General Assembly. The utility’s all-out campaign to boost its return on equity earned it little more than crumbs. By contrast, a bill to return authority over rates to the State Corporation Commission [SCC] garnered overwhelming support." Ivy Main, The Virginia Mercury
SCC Oversight Returned, But Lower Electric Bills Unlikely Stephen Haner, The Thomas Jefferson Inst. Negotiations on filling vacant State Corporation Commission seats falter. Virginia Mercury

2) Repeal of climate change economy destroying,, expensive,, unreliable mandates!
Republian attempts to stop the energy transition failed.
"The three foundational bills of Virginia’s energy transition — the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative (RGGI), the Virginia Clean Economy Act (VCEA) and Clean Cars — all came under attack this year, as they did last year. And again, repeal efforts failed every time." Ivy Main. The Virginia Mercury
Democrat attempts to mandate expanded electric vehicle charging infrastructure FAILED

Note: Attorney General Jason Miyares has done some good work and earned the trust of the citizens of the Commonwealth, including reigning in vaccine mandates, being tough on crime, and investigating Loudoun Schools’ egregious actions. He has also propped up Dominion's multi-billion dollar feel good green energy windmill scheme and other projects involving Dominion Energy through the Office of Consumer Protection branch of the Attorney General's office. I'm really scratching my head over having the watchdog of my interests as a consumer in Virginia being guarded by an elected official who has accepted $428,250 in campaign donations from Dominion Energy. How could this not be a conflict of interest?

EDUCATION

IF you want school choice, help win 3 more seats in the Va Senate in November. The Senate killed everything that would have moved us in that direction. All bills that would have 1) established education savings accounts [ESA] 2) enhance scholarship funds, 3) created meaningful punishment for bad,disruptive behavior, 4) prevented boys from participating in girls sports ... and more. All FAILED

PARENTAL RIGHTS

Conservative bills restricting CRT, sexually explicit materials, etc available to kids FAILED, Democrats in Virginia’s Senate also voted to kill a bill [Sage's Law] that would ban schools from hiding a child’s “gender transition” from parents.

The General Assembly passed the establishment of an online portal for parents that shows both 'current reports and cumulative data over time'. (Based on the recent exposure of withheld information in some school districts, one can understand a push for this kind of legislation) However, all of this info will be on the internet forever and stupid juvenile incidents could adversely affect a person for their entire life. Because this bill includes a re-enactment clause, we can try to kill it next year.

ELECTIONS.

Good news: 1) All ranked choice voting bills FAILED. 2) Absentee ballots: There is no longer a signature requirement (often illegible) There will be better fraud controls in place when this bill becomes law. 3) An attempt to dilute the prohibition of campaign donations like those by Zuckerbrg in 2020 which passed last year, FAILED.

Bad news: All repeals of 'covid excuse legislation' and passage of election integrity bills, ie: photo ID required to vote; better audit capability; shorter time for absentee voting; elimination of drop boxes etc etc FAILED in the Senate.

MISCELLANEOUS:

Privacy: !) License Plate Readers: Expanded law enforcement use of the chip in your vehicle license plate FAILED. 2) Another attempt to expose nonprofit donor names FAILED.

Cryptocurrency - Digital assets - Tokens: 1) Greasing the skids for a central bank currency? The GA passed a bill that permits a qualified Credit Union in the Commonwealth to engage in virtual currency custody services, State banks were given authority last year. (Federal banks already had this authority) 2) A bill that would have allowed a company to issue unregistered digital tokens FAILED... Cryptocurrencies vs tokens vs digital assets ...... What is blockchain?

Proposed new state run programs: 1) State run family leave program - mandated private business participation FAILED. 2) Free healthcare for illegal alien children FAILED.

Protection for Judges.from protesters at their homes FAILED!

Thank goodness - "Death with Dignity" [Assisted Su***de] FAILED

Diversity, Equity, Inclusion (DEI): Dems proposed a few bills. (This is a 'whole of Government' issue for 'woke' politicians) Assuming that I caught them all - they all FAILED. (Here's a revolutionary idea ...how about MQI. - Most Qualified Individual)

2A:

Protect privacy of Concealed Handgun Permit holders unless there is an active criminal investigation. - PASSED

01/04/2023

Members and followers,
Duane Adams is a solid conservative that will introduce and support common-sense, traditional value legislation. This is in sharp contrast to recent legislation supported by the current Senator Ghazala Hashmi. Here are some of the bills she has supported:
Requires schools to notify parents of sexual explicit instructional content - VOTED NO
Prohibits mask mandates at schools - VOTED NO
Requires School Principals to Report Student Misdemeanors to Law Enforcement - VOTED NO
Establishes legal framework for sale of recreational ma*****na - VOTED YES
Expands voting rights of released inmates - VOTED YES
Authorizes criminal records expungement - VOTED YES
Requires more locations of ballot drop boxes - VOTED YES
Repeals the death penalty - VOTED YES
Expands financial aid for undocumented immigrants - VOTED YES
Provide pre-paid postage for absentee ballots - VOTED YES
Authorizes drivers licenses for non-US citizens - VOTED YES
Eliminates requirement for jails and prisons to obtain citizenship status of inmates - VOTED YES
Requires voting and election materials in languages other than English - VOTED YES
Authorizes in-state tuition for undocumented students - VOTED YES

These are just samples of recent legislation supported by the current Senator. If you believe this type of legislation is bad for Virginia then support Duane Adams and come meet him at the County Seat Restaurant THIS FRIDAY @ NOON.

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Regards,

Duane Adams

Chairman

Louisa County Board of Supervisors

Candidate Senate District 10

12/05/2022

🐾❤️

PAC Holiday Wishlist 2022! Thank you for your love and support of the shelter!! 😀

10/19/2022

Members and followers,
The old saying goes: "when you're getting flack, you know your over the target". Last week the attorney for Green Ridge made a surprise appearance at the Cumberland Board of Supervisor's meeting. Following is a recap of his comments as described by Betty Myers Chair of Cumberland County Landfill Alert (CCLA) opposing the landfill.

Green Ridge’s attorney spoke during the Public Comment period. He asked the Board to set a meeting with the groups opposing the landfill and a mediator. He went on to state Green is doing this as part of Community Outreach and that Green Ridge has tried to contact the groups with no success. This is NOT a true statement as there has been no attempt over the last several months to meet. Toward the end of his comments, he changed his request to include residents who are in favor of the proposed landfill. Please keep in mind, this proposed Green Ridge landfill, IS NOT A DONE DEAL. To protect our environment we must continue to oppose this project.

This is an interesting turn of events because Green Ridge has never been pro-active in contacting the general public and certainly not to discuss some form of reconciliation (something may have happened recently to prompt such a meeting perhaps as a result of many emails to VA's DEQ and the Army Corps of Engineers identifying many flaws and issues with Green Ridge's filing for a permit). The same can be said for the Cumberland Board of Supervisors. In four years they have never been pro-active in discussing anything related to the landfill project. Should the Board act on behalf of Green Ridge's request it will be a very lively meeting to be sure.
If this meeting does get scheduled you'll be apprised of the location, date and time should you care to attend.

10/16/2022

Members and followers,
The saga of the Cumberland landfill continues. After 4 + years of this monsterous project being in the news there is no end in sight. More and more articles and information continues come out regarding the environmental, social and economic impact of this project. Here is a link to another article that focuses on societal and historical issues. Keep in mind that Cumberland County is our neighbor and what effects them has bearing on Powhatan.

In Cumberland County, the Pine Grove School sits at the intersection of environmental concern, historic preservation and industrial development.

10/11/2022

Members and followers,
More on Gov. Youngkin's revision to transgender policy. PCA has been asked to send the following message:
The State School Board will meet on October 20. LGBTQ+ activists are planning to fill the room in protest of Governor Youngkin's parent friendly policies at this meeting. Parents need to fill the room to support your parental rights. Visual support is important because there are new members on the State School Board and media will be there. Speak Up! Powhatan can play a key role, please be there if you can!
The address for the State School Board meeting - 101 North 14th Street, Richmond, VA 23219, 22nd Floor of the James Monroe Building.
Plan to be there no later than 8am.

09/27/2022

Members and followers,
As you may have been hearing Gov. Youngkin has proposed changes to the transgender policy in VA schools. Among other things the change puts more control back in the hands of parents as opposed to a bureaucracy for the education of their children. Currently there appears to 100:1 opposing the governor's change. If you would like to make your comment go to the link below. There you can see the current and proposed policies and comments citizens have made and offer your comments. You best make your thoughts known otherwise insanity will prevail.
https://www.townhall.virginia.gov/L/GDocForum.cfm?GDocForumID=1953
The question I have is "where were all of these sexually disoriented children over the past years?" Why is this only an issue now? Listening to social media and the "mainstream news" you'd have the impression that 50% of children are sexually dysfunctional! Five years from now this issue will be relegated to the dust-bin of history like bell-bottom pants and the leisure suit and children caught-up in this hysteria will be the victims.
One final thought - if this offends you just let me know and I'll remove your name from distribution.

Guidance Document Public Comment Forum

09/25/2022

Members and followers,
Early voting starts today and you may not know who will be on Powhatan's ballot. Attached is a sample ballot from the County's website. Notice that residents in District 1 have a unique ballot where they will be voting for a School Board member in addition to voting for our congressional representative.