2012 Commissioner Biographies

Albemarle County

Dennis Rooker
Albemarle County Board of Supervisors
RRBC member since 2012

Duane Snow
Albemarle County Board of Supervisors
RRBC member since 2012

Liz Palmer
Citizen representative from Albemarle County
RRBC member since 2010

Liz Palmer has been involved in Rivanna watershed issues for many years as a member of the League of Woman Voters Natural Resource Committee. She served on the Board of Directors of the Albemarle County Service Authority from 1996 to 2010 and represented the Authority on the South Fork Rivanna River Stewardship Task Force from 2008 to 2009. She also served on the Ivy Creek Foundation Board of Directors from 2004 to 2010. She has been a practicing small animal veterinarian for 30 years. She presently owns and operates Charlottesville End of Life Pet Care, a business that provides in home hospice care for companion animals.

City of Charlottesville

Dave Norris
Charlottesville City Council
RRBC member since 2012

Dede Smith
Charlottesville City Council
RRBC member since 2012

Keith Lancaster
Charlottesville City Citizen Appointee
RRBC member since July 2009

Mr. Lancaster is the Planner of Land Development at Southern Development, a Charlottesville area land developer and homebuilder. Mr. Lancaster creates conceptual designs, coordinates with engineers, and works with local governments from the application phase through final approvals. He is a graduate of the Virginia Certified Planning Commissioner Program and the Virginia Certified Board of Zoning Appeals program. Mr. Lancaster graduated with a BS from Colorado State University - Pueblo in 1993. Prior to joining Southern Development, Mr. Lancaster worked in Albemarle County’s Division of Zoning and Current Development.

Greene County

David Cox
Greene County Board of Supervisors
RRBC member since 2012

James Frydl
Greene County Board of Supervisors, Ruckersville District
RRBC member since January 2010

Mr. Frydl graduated from Appalachian State University with a BSBA in Marketing in 1998. He has lived in the Charlottesville region since 1992. Mr. Frydl works as a technical sales and training manager for Mid-Atlantic Environmental Equipment, Inc., specializing in groundwater and soil remediation.

Carl Schmitt
Greene County Citizen Appointee

Fluvanna County

Joe Chesser
Fluvanna Board of Supervisors
RRBC member since January 2010

Mr. Chesser retired with 33 years of government service. His government tenure provided him with experience as an auditor/analyst, land use manager, and a technology manager. He moved to Fluvanna County in 2002 and worked as a consultant until 2006. Mr. Chesser served on Fluvanna County’s Planning Commission and is currently a Supervisor for the Fluvanna County’s Rivanna District.

Robert Ullenbruch
Fluvanna Board of Supervisors
RRBC member since 2012

Marvin Moss
RRBC Fluvanna County Citizen Appointee
Reappointed to RRBC in 2012

Marvin F. Moss is a West Point graduate and Vietnam veteran. He worked on Capitol Hill for over 25 years including 18 years as chief of staff to Senator Paul Sarbanes (D-MD). He retired from the Federal Government in 1995 and moved to Fluvanna County. He is president of the Fluvanna Historical Society and the Fluvanna Heritage Trail Foundation. He was founding member of the Fluvanna Friends of Rural Preservation, a group committed to preservation of the county’s open space. He was appointed by Governors Warner and Kaine to serve on the Capitol Square Preservation Council overseeing the restoration of Virginia’s historic Capitol and its grounds. He has specialized in forming public/private partnerships to assist local governments in working with non-profits on projects of mutual interest.

Culpeper Soil & Water Conservation District

J. Robert Brame III
District Director, Culpeper SWCD
Appointed to RRBC in 2011

J. Robert Brame III was elected as District Director of Greene County in 2007. Mr. Brame grew up on a working farm in western Kentucky, where his father was an early supporter of soil conservation and developer of wildlife habitat. Following his graduation from Yale Law School, he moved to Virginia. After practicing law in Richmond for approximately 20 years, he moved to Greene County in 1994. From 1997 to 2000, he served on the National Labor Relations Board in Washington, but maintained his home in Greene County. He divides his time between practicing law, furthering his father's soil conservation initiatives on the family farm, and fighting the blight and insects on his fruit trees in Greene County. Mr. Brame and his wife, Jane, have five children and two grandchildren.

Thomas Jefferson Soil & Water Conservation District

Rich Collins
Director, Thomas Jefferson SWCD
Appointed to RRBC in 2010

Richard Collins is the Lewis Professor of Urban and Environmental Planning Emeritus, School of Architecture, UVA. Collins was the founder and director of the Institute for Environmental Negotiation at UVA from 1980 until his retirement in 2002. He served as an environmental mediator during this period in addition to his research and teaching responsibilities. Collins has been elected as the City of Charlottesville’s top representative on the Thomas Jefferson Soil and Water Conservation District. Collins is also the Chair of the Thomas Jefferson Water Protection Foundation, and is active in environmental and civic affairs.

What's New?

UPCOMING MEETINGS