By DAN TELVOCK
Spotsylvania County Supervisor Benjamin Pitts said he didn't know while on vacation that a monumental vote to finalize membership to Virginia Railway Express was scheduled for Tuesday.
He expected to be home well before the 6 p.m. meeting, but he did not account for possible airport delays.
"I was planning on being back in the county by 3 p.m.," said Pitts, who was leaving Fort Lauderdale on a flight to Richmond. The Board of Supervisors meeting convened at 6 p.m.
Pitts' plane faced numerous delays, and by the time he landed in Richmond, the Board of Supervisors meeting was under way.
Meanwhile, the three pro-VRE supervisors at the meeting were frantically waiting for Pitts' arrival.
His vote was necessary to certify the county's VRE membership because the seven-member Board of Supervisors already has three members who oppose VRE membership.
A 3-3 tie vote would mean that VRE membership would not happen. The timing of the vote was important because the agreement the county has with VRE states that supervisors had to pass this resolution by Nov. 30. Tuesday's meeting was the last one for this month.
Supervisor Jerry Logan, who voted to join VRE, said supporters planned to thwart a tie vote by leaving the room. If there isn't a quorum, the county board cannot vote.
"It was unorthodox, but rather than have VRE simply evaporate and be gone, we were thinking about everything we legally could do to preserve [the membership]," Logan said. "We were biting our fingernails."
Minutes before the VRE vote, Pitts entered the Board of Supervisors chambers in a short-sleeve Hawaiian shirt.
He was smiling--and slightly embarrassed. He later said that while driving home, he received calls from county staff telling him about the VRE vote. Instead of going home, Pitts went directly to the meeting.
Supervisors voted 4-3 to adopt a resolution that makes the county a member of the Potomac and Rappahannock Transportation Commission and VRE.
"I understand there were some tense board members there," Pitts said yesterday. "I am glad it worked out the way it did."
Supervisors Emmitt Marshall, T.C. Waddy and Gary Jackson cast the "no" votes.
Dan Telvock: 540/374-5438
Email: dtelvock@freelancestar.com