Wednesday Council had our annual strategic planning meeting that lasted from 9am to a little after 4pm. Since 2021 these meetings have been held in Dahlgren and despite being public meetings it is extremely inconvenient for members of the public to view or attend. Every year I advocate for these meetings to be held in town so the public can attend or at the very least live streamed but it does not happen. Things are discussed in these meetings that I feel the public should hear and there are a lot of requests primarily from the mayor to get a consensus (pre-vote) which I’m not super comfortable with but my concerns about transparency are not necessarily shared by all.
Due to the fact that the meeting was over 6 hours of discussion with the facilitator, staff and council I’m just going to provide bullets based on my notes. I have asked that the meeting audio be made public.
· The Mayor Robin Schick opened the meeting and welcomed all including the 3 new members including: Maggie Sanford, Tom Larson and Lisa Grandstaff. Returning Members Rick Wood, Kenny Allison and David Williams.
· It was announced this was to set goals with no formal decisions or votes. This meeting is to help set priorities.
· Charles Hartgrove was our moderator and he started off by giving an overview of how the council manager form of government works.
· Charles stated that council is like the board and the town manger is the CEO. The town manager works at the pleasure of council not the mayor or individual members.
· We went over strategic goals which were left over from the prior council. I understand starting with prior goals but was disappointed that we didn’t spend more time focusing on what the current council wanted.
Budget Process
· Town manager is responsible for the draft budget but the final budget belongs to council.
· Town manager will start meeting with 2 council members at a time in January. I’ve never been a huge fan of these closed meetings but other members like this approach.
· Water/ Sewer rate increases were mentioned which made me cringe after last years increases. It was stated that DEQ could mandate increases but I’m not sure that is correct.
· It was suggested we need to look at long term planning vs 1 year at a time.
· Mayor explained to new members that we have 4 separate budgets e.g. general, water, sewer, capital improvement.
· The financial advisor stated expenses are still outpacing revenues by 7%.
· Council was given several packets of budget history and projections.
· The state of the WWTP was mentioned and someone threw out $40M in repairs needed and how will we finance/ pay.
· Priorities for CIP are 1) Health/ Safety 2) Asset preservation and 3) Services
· It was suggested by the finance director the town should prioritize investments in technology.
The CIP (Capital Improvement Plan) was discussed.
· It was suggested we need more details from staff regarding CIP items.
· Reserve Fund Surplus -The Mayor asked for direction from council regarding starting a revenue source for the CIP using leftover reserve funds. Currently we have $4M in the reserve fund and the required balance is 15% and the figure thrown out was $1.5M required. I questioned if this semi closed meeting was the appropriate place to discuss a new financial policy. Also, if we have that kind of money sitting in the general fund why did council raise taxes and fees 3 years in a row?
Last Years Work Plan
· WWTP (Waste Water Treatment Plant) - Update was given. We still have a number of issues with the condition of the plant “overall not good”. A lot of money is committed to a 6-year repair plan in the DEQ consent order. Rep said our corrective actions are what is getting us leniency from DEQ. We were given a 40-page report so I asked for a good 2–3-page summary and was told to start with page 19-30 and John would be happy to answer any questions.
· Town Resiliency Plan – Planning Commission Approved and next Council will vote on Jan 22nd. I clarified that the North Boardwalk was now in the plan and that the grant application due on the 24th was projected to be on time.
· Dwight Ave Extension – The Mayor made a sales pitch for using $1.5M of COVID money to complete Dwight Ave from 12th Street to Forrest Ave. I personally was not comfortable committing to choosing this priority over others without hearing all of our options for this money and believe this is a discussion for a budget meeting.
· North Beach Boardwalk – Back in 2022 Council made repairing the northern most part of our beach/ boardwalk it’s highest legislative priority. Fast forward to 2025 and after a home owner/ community meeting it was decided to apply for a grant (first round $800k). The Mayor and Allison seem to have changed their minds about North Boardwalk to other priorities because they mentioned this project only benefiting a few houses.
· Asset Management – One topic I brought up is the town needing a better system to manage our fleet and other assets.
· Sidewalks – The ADA violation was mentioned and specifically the requirement to make repairs at $130k this year alone. Safer routes to school grant were discussed (myself and others have pushed for sidewalks in front of the schools). Tearing up sidewalks was mentioned and we were told any ADA violations needed to be repaired. The small sections of sidewalks to nowhere were mentioned and it seemed most agreed we need a sidewalk policy to be reviewed for the comp plan.
· Economic Development – Lenar Update, they have not contacted the town since the PUD Planned Urban Development was updated. Mayor suggested it was due to changes in PUD requirements being more stringent. I’m not sure I agree with that since in my opinion the new PUD significantly increased the value of the Lenar property with little gain to the town. Main Street designation has been received and I clarified if it was normal for a nonprofit to run a main street project and was told yes (the town pays for the Economic Development Director).
· Public Safety – Accreditation, we are very close to getting our police accreditation back. Westmoreland 911 agreement, it was suggested we should renegotiate the agreement due to the high cost to the town ($400k+).
Rescue squad – The mayor asked for consensus for her to enter into discussions with the volunteer rescue squad to possibly have the town apply for USDA loans to build a new building vs the squad doing so. The building would be located on 700 Colonial Ave, belong to the town and dedicated to the CBVRS. I originally notified Council the squad not owning the land might hamper their ability to get USDA grants and loans. Council did support the discussion overall but I asked if this “non-meeting” with no official votes was the appropriate place to ask council for a vote of support. I’m also not sure why we are sending mayor to negotiating when we pay the town manager big bucks to manage our affairs. JMO
Pay Study – completed and implemented last year.
Beginning meetings with prayer – Lisa asked for a discussion about the possibility of starting our meetings with prayer again as surrounding communities do and we once did. Wood was strongly opposed, Allison had concerns, Sanford suggested just keeping moment of silence, Larson was not for or against, Schick was did not take a position and I was in favor.
Additional Council Member Priorities
Each member I thought the primary focus of the meeting was to discuss our priorities but most of it was to discuss prior council’s priorities.
David Williams – No new taxes increases, Extra scrutiny on budget, Support fire and rescue, Road and sidewalk repairs, Additional healthcare options, ensure zoning and enforcement office fully staffed, Liaisons being removed and add committees, Wilder parking lot replacement.
Maggie Sanford – Supported getting rid of liaisons.
Kenny Allison – He asked for clarification on my committee suggestions (long discussion on the pros and cons)
Rick Wood – Made it obvious he is very pro liaisons and anti-committee.
Lisa Grandstaff – Asked council get info on ongoing financial projects, Public Works visuals, healthcare, water sewer lines, transform Colonial Ave to destination, more parking, semi annual retreats.
Tom Larson – nothing else to add.
Robin Schick – Completion of unfinished projects including North Park, emergency services, financial stability, beach restoration.
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