Virginia Solutions
The initial goals for each pilot included assessing issues and interests; convening stakeholder Solutions Teams; holding 3-5 meetings over a 4-6 month period; and developing and distributing a Declaration of Cooperation, an agreement that would articulate points of consensus for resolution of the issues and specify how participating stakeholders would support and implement the project.
The Fauquier Riparian Easement Program (FREP) Solutions Team met four times in the summer and fall of 2005, signing a Declaration of Cooperation in November. As a consequence of their agreement, a $96,000 water quality grant application has been submitted to the Virginia Department of Conservation and Recreation. The grant would help fund a full-time position to develop and implement a self-sustaining, countywide Riparian Buffer Easement Program. The Solutions Team will continue to meet as additional funding becomes available. A Team member called Virginia Solutions a very efficient vehicle for consensus building.
For the Eastern Shore wastewater issue, the Virginia Solutions pilot focused on finding a way to begin making inroads on a complex and seemingly intractable problem among different governing jurisdictions. A community mediation center facilitated a stakeholder meeting at which the full range of issues was explored. Stakeholders decided that, instead of developing a signed Declaration of Cooperation, Phase II should be an educational strategic planning forum in the spring or summer of 2006. The center has formed a planning team to organize the forum.