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King George
Volume 39, Number 23
Wednesday, June 3, 2015 50 Cents
helping you relate to your community
Grzeika to retire from King George board of supervisors at year’s end Phyllis Cook King George Supervisor Joe Grzeika will not seek another term in this fall’s election. “I have made a very difficult d e c i s i o n ,” Grzeika told The Journal. “I will not pursue re-election.” He will continue to serve through Grzeika the end of his current term on Dec. 31. “At the end of this calendar year I will have served on the King George Board of Supervisors for 20 years and for three-and-a-half years prior to my time on the board, as a member of the Planning Commission.”
Grzeika was first elected in 1995, while he was chairman of the Planning Commission, from which he resigned upon taking office in January 1996. “It has been an honor to have been elected by the good folks of King George and been given the opportunity to represent them during the past five election cycles. I am very proud to have been part of the boards of supervisors, who, over these past 20 years, tackled many critical issues to position and shape the county for the future.” Grzeika recounted some of the county’s accomplishments. “We built schools, upgraded fire and rescue facilities, built a new sheriff ’s facility, expanded the library, added and upgraded parks, and numerous other projects to address the county needs and infrastructure
and to position the county for the future,” he said. “We have transitioned staff and resources to meet the new demands and environment surrounding fire and rescue, and continue to move towards increasing the service on a county-wide basis. We have a county staff that is professional and serving our constituents at a very high level.” The budgets were tight in the mid1990s when he first assumed his seat representing the James Madison district. “We did all of this without significant increases in taxes and brought the county from a financial condition of struggling to meet payroll to a county AA+ bond rating, which benefits our citizens and allows the Board to address the needs and demands of a growing county,” Grzeika said.
“We have leveraged the revenues of the landfill to ensure the capital investments have a source to pay the associated debt over the next 30-plus years. We have also worked to take a disparate set of sewer and water projects and develop them into a single stand-alone enterprise that provides safe and reliable water and sewer services. These and all of the other myriad set of projects, challenges and opportunities we dealt with, have made this a very rewarding 20 years.” Grzeika served in the U.S. Navy for nine years and it was the Navy that brought him to the county when in 1977 he was stationed at the Dahlgren Naval Base. He wanted to remain in the county, and moved to King George from the base in 1980. He earned his Bachelor’s degree
in Computer Science from the University of Mary Washington in 1983. He is president of Joetech, LLC, in Dahlgren and has been since it began in 2006. His service on the board of supervisors has provided additional opportunities for more community service. Those include as a member of the Fredericksburg Regional Alliance (as a director since 2008 to present); Rappahannock River Basin Commission 2000 to present; George Washington Regional Commission -12 years; Rappahannock Regional Jail Authority - 2 years; Rappahannock Economic Development Corporation - 8 years; Fredericksburg Regional Chamber of Commerce - Military Affairs Council, 2007 to present. He also is a member of the University of Mary Washington
Board of Visitors and a director of the Rappahannock United Way. He and Anita, his spouse of 44 years, have two grown daughters and five grandchildren. He will likely spend more time visiting with his two daughters and their families, who live out of state and perhaps some additional travel with Anita. What else might he with his time when Tuesdays and other meeting days no longer call him? “I have not given that much though, yet,” Grzeika told The Journal. He still have seven more months to serve the county. “I again thank the citizens, staff and fellow board members past and present for allowing me to represent and serve with them over the past two decades.”
Photo by Tammy Indseth Photo courtesy of King George Fire Department
A fire, possibly caused by improperly disposed coals, burned through a portion of the King George Landfill in the early morning hours of May 27.
Firefighters battle landfill blaze Richard Leggitt Fire fighting units from King George, Westmoreland and Stafford counties last week battled a persistent blaze at the King George landfill for nearly three hours. King George Fire and Rescue Chief David Moody said the blaze was apparently caused by hot coals that had been discarded at a convenience center and were transported to the landfill. An employee of Waste Management, which operates the landfill, reported
the fire shortly after 4 a.m. on May 27. A medical unit and five firefighting units from King George responded and were joined by units from Oak Grove in Westmoreland County and Hartwood in Stafford County. Moody said arriving firemen found about 1.5 acres of trash at the landfill in flames. Firefighters worked together to prevent the fire from spreading and were assisted by employees of Waste Management, who used heavy equipment to help extinguish the fire with dirt. Moody thanked the Waste
Management team for its help, noting its actions kept the amount of water needed to extinguish the blaze to around 1,500 gallons. The fire apparently started around the truck tipper, and Moody stated that hot coals discarded at the Route 205 convenience center and transported to the landfill could easily have ignited. “We are urging people to ensure that any charcoal grill coals be completely extinguished with water before discarding in the trash,” he said.
Annie Cupka prepares to snip the ribbon at a ceremony marking the opening of Potomac Elementary School’s new Courtyard Learning Garden. The garden will teach students about the process of growing food and allow them to make healthy eating choices.
Courtyard Learning Garden launched at Potomac Elementary Phyllis Cook Annie Cupka, employed as a paraprofessional at Potomac Elementary School, launched the school’s new Courtyard Learning Garden on May 28 amid a throng of students, parents, community members and volunteers.
Officials attending the garden’s ribbon cutting included Potomac Principal Angie Harris, Assistant Principal Scott Gilbert, along with King George School Superintendent Rob Benson, school board members John Davis, T.C. Collins and Ken Novell, and King George Supervisor Joe Grzeika.
Cupka talked about the reason for the garden and its mission. “Potomac Elementary School seeks to establish a sustainable outdoor classroom containing edible and ornamental gardens to enhance
AKA Project faith
School Board adopts $38 million 2015-16 budget Phyllis Cook The King George School Board adopted a $43.9 million total budget including an operating budget of $38 million, which is $783,280 higher than the current year’s budget. The new fiscal year begins July 1. Prior to the budget’s unanimous approval on May 27, Superintendent Rob Benson noted it included the salary increases, position changes and other adjustments and reductions presented during the previous meeting. The budget includes salary scale changes to incorporate 1.5 percent raises for all employees, except for teachers, whose revised scale incorporates 3 percent increases. The approved budget also includes the creation of three new
administrative positions and the deletion of one. The position to be deleted is director of human resources, currently held by Bill Wishard, who is retiring at the end June. The three new positions are for a director of administrative services budgeted at a salary of $111,100, coordinator of human resources budgeted at a salary of $72,720, and a part-time coordinator of human resources budgeted at a salary of $49,288. Benefits and payroll taxes are additional to estimated salary figures. The position description for director of administrative services includes supervision of the two human resources positions, in addition to oversight for those heading transportation, maintenance
and operations, technology, food service and custodial services. The full-time human resources position will address personnel in educational certificated positions, while the part-time position would address non-certificated, classified support personnel. Another central office adjustment will increase the coordinator of gifted services from half-time to threequarter time and add responsibility for oversight of federal grant Titles I, II and III. An existing position of student database specialist at central office will be expanded to include responsibilities for division inventory. Other budget adjustments include small increases to some stipends for See budget, page 8
Photo by Leonard Banks
Members of Alpha Kappa Alpha Xi Upsilon Omega celebrated after cleaning the recreation area at Project-Faith, Inc. The Fredericksburg-based sorority graduate chapter chose the location for its yearly playground beautification project.
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See GARDEN , page 8