Mathews County supervisors Paul Hudgins and Jackie Ingram got a bit testy with their fellow board members during Tuesday’s meeting, questioning two items that were before the board for action.

The two supervisors took exception to a resolution commending former Technology Director Chuck Huntley and seeking to establish an agreement with his new employer, Essex County, so he can continue providing services to the county on a shared basis. Hudgins said they hadn’t been informed that Huntley was leaving until he was already gone, and that the county hadn’t advertised to replace him.

Hudgins said further that they had received an email from chairman Mike Rowe concerning the reasons Huntley had said he was leaving, including that groups of citizens had been harassing employees. He said the claim had no merit, and that the email should have been kept within the board and not “shared with 25 people with county email accounts.” He also objected to the fact that Huntley still had a county email.

Rowe responded that there were no false accusations in the email he sent. “And if you don’t believe it, I’m sorry,” he said. “But that’s what was said, and it was facts.”

Asked by Ingram if Huntley is still a county employee, County Administrator Mindy Conner said the county had been working on an agreement with Huntley whereby he would continue working for Mathews on a half-time basis.

Ingram said Huntley shouldn’t be allowed access to “our personal data” if he’s not a full-time county employee. She also questioned whether he could effectively work part-time when the email had stated he had been working more hours than he could get paid for. She said when an employee leaves a company, they’re supposed to “turn over anything involved in that company’s business” and that the county needs to protect itself. She questioned who would service computers while Huntley isn’t on the payroll.

Rowe responded that “we’re trying to retain him to help whoever is the next IT person because he’s the only one that’s smart enough around here and knows the whole system.”

Hudgins said that Sheriff Mark Barrick hadn’t received any reports of harassment of county employees, and Rowe responded, “They were very careful to stay on the other side of the law.” He called for the vote, which was three to two, with Hudgins and Ingram dissenting.

Public safety radio

Hudgins also objected to a request by Barrick, Mathews Volunteer Fire Department Chief Ronnie Lewis, and MVRS president Chris Buchanan that the county move ahead with entering into an agreement with King and Queen County to become part of a regional public safety radio network.

Barrick explained in detail that the county’s current public safety network has needed replacement since 2012, that a previous update of the system using state grant funding had been just “a Band-Aid,” and that the county’s system is behind in terms of technology and interoperability on fire scenes and in mutual aid situations. He said a repeater had to be replaced with a spare last week, and that the spare is no longer manufactured or supported, leaving the county with no options should it fail.

There has been a push for the county to join a network based in York County, said Barrick, but, while that system “is great,” it would cost much more and would require that the county turn over all of its dispatch capabilities to York County, which would put seven local employees out of their jobs. He said the King and Queen system would allow the county a presence on the governing board, giving the county a say in choices made, which would not be a possibility with the York County system. Finally, he said that if one of the counties had to abandon its local operations center for some reason, the other one could take over its dispatch operations.

Chief Dispatcher Christian Collier told the board that installation of the new system could begin, and that the company doing the installation was willing to wait for payment until July 1. He said the quickest installation would be six to eight months, including engineering, ordering the system, and other actions.

The cost of the system, said Barrick, would be $1 million, and he asked the board to approve moving forward with joining the regional system and begin a search for funding.

Hudgins repeatedly insisted that the matter should be considered by the planning commission before any decision was made, since the planning commission has been charged with identifying and planning for capital needs for the county. He said he wanted to have another study done and to have more bids taken.

Conner explained that there are not adequate funds in the Meals Tax account to cover the cost of the new system, and that plans for public safety radio would have to proceed outside the capital improvement plan.

“With a strong current public safety need, we don’t have luxury of taking months,” she said.

Barrick emphasized that the planning commission’s job is to look at capital improvement needs that are “already on their radar,” which is not the case with the public safety radio, and Planning and Zoning Director Thomas Jenkins said the commission hadn’t been asked to look at a new radio system.

“Are we going to totally bypass the planning commission?” said Hudgins.

“Looks like it,” replied Rowe.

The board voted three to two to move forward with the plan, Hudgins and Ingram dissenting.

Public hearing

After a public hearing at which no members of the public spoke, the board voted to approve text amendments to the zoning ordinance that removed utilities as a by-right use in all zoning districts and instead established two categories of public utilities. A minor public utility, such as water and sewage pipes, stormwater pipes, telephone lines, and others, will continue to be allowed by right in all zoning districts. A major utility, such as a water treatment plant, water tower, or energy generating facility, will now require a conditional use permit in all zoning districts, with some exceptions in the Industrial District.

The decision was made to prevent a utility-scale solar system from potentially being permitted by right.

In other matters, the board:

—Approved a $5,100 request from Jenkins to cover the cost of making the farthest east marker at Hole in the Wall serviceable and to replace an anchor;

—Heard an update from Jenkins on a survey at Hole in the Wall restaurant. He said he received three bids to complete the survey and accepted the lowest bid;

—Heard a report from broadband consultant Jeff Beekhoo, who said that negotiations are underway to bring a fiber optic backhaul connection to Mathews, and there are renewed negotiations regarding erecting broadband towers at the Mathews Volunteer Rescue Squad and Bohannon Fire Station that would serve 900 currently unserved households;

—Heard a report from Emergency Services Coordinator Willie Love, that there had been a soft launch of a new mobile safety communications system, with all landlines in the county automatically transferred to the new Smart 911 system. However, he said that mobile devices need to register for the system, which provides emergency responders with information they might need to render emergency assistance to an individual and to make public safety notifications;

—Voted unanimously to support an application by the Middle Peninsula Planning District Commission to have the Middle Peninsula designated as an Economic Development District by the U.S. Economic Development Administration;

—Unanimously approved paying $3,000 to support the Three Rivers Health District’s request to contract with Consociate Media to launch a targeted campaign at providing information regarding COVID-19 vaccination efforts and opportunities, and

—Voted by a 3-2 margin to have all March meetings of the board conducted virtually.