COMMISSION ACTIONS May 26, 2020

** APPROVAL OF AGENDA. THE AGENDA WAS APPROVED BY UNANIMOUS VOTE AS SUBMITTED. [audio]

1. APPROVAL of minutes of previous meeting. THE FEBRUARY 2020 MINUTES WERE APPROVED BY A VOTE OF 7 TO 0 WITH ONE ABSTENTION. ASSOCIATE COMMISSIONER EVERETT ABSTAINED. THE APRIL 2020 MINUTES WERE APPROVED AS AMENDED BY UNANIMOUS VOTE. [audio]

2. PERMITS (Projects over $500,000.00 with no objections and with staff recommendation for approval). ITEMS 2A - 2F WERE APPROVED BY UNANIMOUS VOTE AS RECOMMENDED BY STAFF. [audio]

3. CONSENT AGENDA ITEMS. NONE [audio]

4. CLOSED MEETING FOR CONSULTATION WITH, OR BRIEFING BY, COUNSEL. NONE [audio]

5. PUBLIC HEARING Proposal to amend Chapter 4 VAC 20-950-10 et seq. "Pertaining to Black Sea Bass" to establish the commercial black sea bass fishery quota for 2020. THE COMMISSION VOTED UNANIMOUSLY TO AMEND CHAPTER 4 VAC 20-950-10 ET SEQ. "PERTAINING TO BLACK SEA BASS," TO ESTABLISH THE COMMERCIAL BLACK SEA BASS FISHERY QUOTA FOR 2020, USING VIRGINIA'S PERCENT ALLOCATION (20%) OF THE COAST WIDE COMMERCIAL BLACK SEA BASS QUOTA. [audio]

6. PUBLIC HEARING Proposal to amend Chapter 4 VAC 20-510-10 et seq. "Pertaining to Amberjack and Cobia", and Chapter 4 VAC 20-610-10 et seq., "Pertaining to Commercial Fishing and Mandatory Harvest Reporting" to establish weekly harvest reporting and commercial fishery closure procedures for cobia. THE COMMISSION VOTED UNANIMOUSLY TO AMEND CHAPTER 4 VAC 20-510-10 ET SEQ., "PERTAINING TO AMBERJACK AND COBIA," AND CHAPTER 4 VAC 20-610-10 ET SEQ., "PERTAINING TO COMMERCIAL FISHING AND MANDATORY HARVEST REPORTING" TO ESTABLISH WEEKLY HARVEST REPORTING AND COMMERCIAL FISHERY CLOSURE PROCEDURES FOR COBIA, TO COMPLY WITH AMENDMENT 1 OF THE INTERSTATE FISHERIES MANAGEMENT PLAN FOR ATLANTIC MIGRATORY GROUP COBIA. [audio]

7. DISCUSSION Presentation of 2019-2020 Blue Crab Winter Dredge Survey results and information pertaining to Virginia blue crab fisheries. [audio]

8. BEVANS OYSTER COMPANY, INC. and COWART SEAFOOD COPORATION, Oyster Planting Ground Application #2017-136 Request authorization to lease approximately 1.00 acre within the Great Wicomico River in Northumberland County. The application is protested by a nearby property owner. THE PROJECT WAS APPROVED BY UNANIMOUS VOTE AS RECOMMENDED BY STAFF. [audio]

9. HAMPTON ROADS CONNECTOR PARTNERS JV, #19-1577 Requests authorization to widen I-64 over approximately ten (10) miles from Settlers Landing Road in Hampton to the I-64/I-564 interchange in Norfolk, to include the expansion of existing roadways, construction of new bridge trestles, boring of two (2) new two-lane tunnels, expansion of existing portal islands, and development of a construction staging area on Willoughby Spit. THE PROJECT WAS APPROVED BY UNANIMOUS VOTE AS RECOMMENDED BY STAFF. [audio]

PAGE 2 ITEMS [audio]

A. GLOBALINX DATA CENTER LLC, #19-2048 Requests authorization to horizontally drill four (4), five-inch steel submarine fiber optic conduits under Sandbridge Beach and adjacent State-owned submerged bottomlands to a distance of approximately 4,000 linear feet offshore, directly adjacent to City property located at 209 Sandbridge Road, situated along the Atlantic Ocean within the City of Virginia Beach. The conduits will remain vacant with the intent of accommodating future submarine fiber optic cable projects. Staff recommends approval with a royalty of $48,000.00 for the total encroachment of 16,000 linear feet of State-owned submerged bottomlands at a rate of $3.00 per linear-foot. THE PROJECT WAS APPROVED BY UNANIMOUS VOTE AS RECOMMENDED BY STAFF.

B. GLOBALINX DATA CENTER LLC, #20-0381 Requests authorization to horizontally drill four (4) five-inch steel submarine fiber optic conduits under State-owned submerged bottomlands in the Atlantic Ocean to a distance of approximately 4,000 linear feet offshore, directly adjacent to City property located at the terminus of S. Atlantic Avenue on the southern side of Rudee Inlet in Virginia Beach. The conduits will remain vacant with the intent of accommodating future submarine fiber optic cable projects. Staff recommends approval with a royalty of $48,000.00 for the total encroachment of 16,000 linear feet of State-owned submerged bottomlands at a rate of $3.00 per linear-foot. THE PROJECT WAS APPROVED BY UNANIMOUS VOTE AS RECOMMENDED BY STAFF.

C. FAIRFAX COUNTY DEPARTMENT OF PUBLIC WORKS AND ENVIRONMENTAL SERVICES, #19-2062 Requests authorization to restore and stabilize approximately 2800 linear feet of Accotink Creek and its tributaries, using Natural Stream Channel Design techniques, including stone streambank stabilization, root wad/log installation, rock vanes and drop structures, as part of the Accotink Creek at Wakefield Park Restoration Project, in Fairfax County. THE PROJECT WAS APPROVED BY UNANIMOUS VOTE AS RECOMMENDED BY STAFF.

D. ALEXANDRIA RENEW ENTERPRISES, #19-1630 Requests authorization install, by the open-cut method, a 6-foot diameter interceptor sewer line, a minimum 1.8 feet beneath a 40-foot wide section of Hooffs Run, approximately 320 square feet of rip rap outfall protection, and temporary impacts along approximately 1,700 linear feet of Hooffs Run for construction access, south of Jamieson Avenue, as part of the River Renew Tunnel System Project in the City of Alexandria. THE PROJECT WAS APPROVED BY UNANIMOUS VOTE AS RECOMMENDED BY STAFF.

E. PLAINS MARKETING, L.P., #20-0062 Requests authorization to install 15 new 16-inch diameter steel hollow piles during repairs to the loading platform at Plains Marketing (2201 Goodwin Neck Road) along the York River in York County. Staff recommends approval with adherence to sound attenuation conditions for driving steel hollow piles that include ramp-up procedures, cushion blocks, and a confined bubble curtain, and a time-of-year restriction from January 1 through March 31 of any year to protect juvenile alewife, blueback herring, and American shad. THE PROJECT WAS APPROVED BY UNANIMOUS VOTE AS RECOMMENDED BY STAFF.