At our meeting we got updates on Budget, Public Safety, Town Manager report and discussed: Commission Appointments, Bylaws and Town Center Audio/Video. See my blog for my account of the meeting.
Minutes for December 15, 2021 vote 5-2 with Kenny and Rick abstaining because they were not on council at that time.
Budget Amendments & Appropriations
Resolution #05-23, Fiscal Year 2024 Budget Timeline
This was to move $98k of unspent police funds for capital needs from fiscal year 22 to 23.Vote 7-0
Reappointments to Commissions
This was to re-appoint 2 members to the Parks and Rec commission. Vote 7-0
The town CFO also applied to be on the PnR Commission and was approved 7-0
I voted yes with the rest of Council but we didn’t get any advanced notice which I do not think is appropriate and I’m not crazy about multiple town employees that report to the town manager serving on town Commissions (2 now on PnR). I was told they are citizens so no conflict of interest exists.
Council Member Announcements
Parks and Recreation
Vacancies to fill and additional request to add person referenced above.
NGOs (Non-Governmental Organizations) Rick is spearheading a fraud prevention seminar. He also gave kudos to the neighbor-to-neighbor program which is officially now a NGO.
Administration
The mayor is teaching a government class in CB. She also mentioned “Coming To The Table” which is an NGO owned by Council-member Self Sullivan.
Town Manager Update
· The town is hiring an accreditation manager for the PD and a GIS analyst.
· We have a new wastewater treatment supervisor with 20 years of experience. His name is Harry Kowalski (not sure of spelling).
· We have a new Director of community development and Planning (Zoning) and his name is Don Dooley.
· Police live-scan is up and running (finger prints)
· Parks and Rec Master Plan - The town is currently in the community outreach Phase and will be holding meetings at the elementary school on Monday January 23rd and Wednesday the 25th from 6pm to 8pm. These meetings will determine the future of our parks, so please show up and voice your opinion otherwise the same groups that always show up will dictate what happens.
Referrals to the Planning Commission
I asked if this was an appropriate time to follow up with the planning commission on short term rentals. I stated that it’s been over a year and a half and very little movement. Kenny said at this point definitions were only addressed. The answer was yes, we can request a follow up.
Westmoreland County Board of Supervisors
· Mr. Trivett was nominated vice chair of the board of supervisors.
· He talked about the bridge out on Monroe Bay Circle, the 10-minute detour and how we need to find a way to address this sooner than later. He also asked for council support.
· The installation of CB fire station officers will be Saturday and Rob Wittman will be the guest speaker.
· He mentioned the MLK event in CB.
Colonial Beach Public Schools, Superintendent
· Dr Mitchell also mentioned the MLK event.
· CIP improvement projects, including the awnings at the schools.
· We got a new 40 passenger school bus.
· They’re currently doing a survey of parents regarding school budget.
· The new strategic plan is in progress.
· He mentioned that merit scholarships were in the news, and CB is strictly based off scores.
· He mentioned the school shooting in Norfolk and how the high school has metal detectors but not in the elementary school. He is looking into security options.
Public Safety Quarterly Report, Chief Deaver, Colonial Beach Police Department
· We were given some basic stats regarding current crime activities in CB. A few highlights- Minor larceny was the highest, there were 23 total arrests, and Friday appears to be the highest crime activity day.
· He also gave updates on the volunteer fire department and rescue squad.
Financial Quarterly Report, Director of Finance/CFO
We were given a brief overview but did not have the actual report in advance. I asked if in the future we could get the report 24 hours in advance as our bylaws require. Here is a link to the report > https://www.colonialbeachva.gov/229/Additional-Meeting-Items
Citizen Input
· Support for Community Heart and Soul. We were told this is a program and not an NGO. This program is designed to enhance citizens engagement. I looked up the program and it is run by a national foundation which is an NGO. The Orton Family Foundation owns Community Heart and Soul and has over $7M in annual revenues. The CB Chamber has asked council to endorse and the CB Foundation has agreed to collect the funds. I’m not for or against but just wonder do we need another NGO/ program in CB to “represent” the Citizens?
· Support for Town Municipal Center.
· Concerns over parking and other items.
Resolution #02-23, Adoption of 2023 Bylaws and Rules of Procedure
Council previously hashed out many of the details of our bylaws, but there were a few other items discussed. I made a motion to change Citizen input to 5 minutes versus 3 and the rest of council agreed so we added that to the bylaws. I had previously asked how the town treasurer was removed but apparently a prior council changed "treasurer" to a town appointed CFO and never updated our charter (still not confirmed how this happened). The main concern here is the same person that over sees spending the money also oversees the management of it. Our town government has centralized almost all power in the town managers office. This appears ok for now but to me could leave the town vulnerable in the future (only my opinion)
Town Center Audio and Video Update, Town Clerk
Over a year ago I asked for a council discussion on the issues we keep having with the audio and video at town meetings and we finally had a discussion last month. After a basic assessment by a company, we were given just a couple of options. Option 1 just replace the audio equipment for $18k and the second option was replacing the entire system for $40K. This seems to be one of the few areas where council becomes fiscally conservative because each time we discuss it members act like it’s not really a problem and they don’t want to spend the money. I suggested for the sake of transparency it would be worth spending the $18K so the citizens can see and hear their meetings especially online. The decision was to wait and see if anything happens because the night of the meeting the equipment seem to be working OK. I will say there have been times where three or four mics stop working in one evening.
Closed Meeting
· Discussion of performance of duties of specific public officers and appointees of the Town Council, including the Town Clerk.
· Discussion or consideration of the acquisition of real property for a public purpose, or of the disposition of publicly held real property.
As the newly appointed Liaison for Economic Development, I will give a brief summary of the first meeting attended on January 10.
· The EDC is a group of community members, and the committee is headed up by Mike Fitzpatrick from the Chamber of Commerce.
· There are approximately 12 members on this committee.
· This was their first meeting of the year.
· They discussed prior years business.
· They mention the town has a new marketing person.
· They want more focus on brick and mortars.
· It was mentioned that we are now emerging Main St., Member, which is a two-year process.
· They discussed the food truck court and said we were waiting on the CUP application from the person who said they wanted to put a food truck court between Orchid Thai and Denson’s restaurant.
· They also mentioned that we needed to come up with new ways to be more business friendly.
· They discussed their 2023 goals and who was going to be assigned to which task.
· The term strategic goals were discussed, which include: pursuing Main Street designation, increased, retail presence, strengthen in maritime business, healthcare, workforce resilience, and workforce housing.
Please email or call with questions or comments:
dwilliams@colonialbeachva.gov
540-604-4335
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