I'd missed that connector for some odd reason

I suspect that VREF does indeed go to 0V.

Q2 on the original can pull it low based on IC5A, and the PIC can pull down pin 3 of R23 (original).

I suspect that you may be able to get away without the PIC at all - it would mean that it would be powered up continually though (so you may need to get some meatier heatsinks).