Tom Moncure Resigned - New Council member Selected, Citizens Recognized, Short Term Rental Ordinance Passed and Personal Property tax relief set (likely increase) were all items on agenda Wednesday.
Minutes Approved for February 15, 2023 and March 1, 2023
Vote 6-0 *note all approved minutes are uploaded to town website under agendas.
Resolution #38-23 Amends and Appropriated FY 23-24 General Fund Budget for SRO Grant – This was to accept and add School Resource Officer grant funds to budget Vote 6-0
Resolution #39-23, Amends and Appropriates FY 23-24 General Fund Budget for Fire Department Grant - Vote 6-0
Council Member Announcements
NGO’s – Trunk or Treat CBVFD 10/19 4pm-6pm, Love signs all over (Artist Guild), Community Foundation donated 13,500 to Rescue Squad. UPDATE - The Community Foundation contacted me asking me to clarify they Awarded a Grant vs donation. This was not clear from from Mr. Wood's liaison report where he said "The Foundation has given a $13,500 check to the Rescue Squad"
Housing Authority – They attended several workshops, 2 current vacancies.
Parks n Rec – There is a vacancy
Administration – Mayor attended Mayors Council, Vicky, Robin and Caryn attended VLM conferenced. She attended several events.
Planning Commission – Did not vote to increase FAR Floor Area Ratio (amount of living space a new home can have). PC set 2 hearings for Nov 9th for Site Plan amendments and CUP edits.
Economic Development – ED Committee moving under Down Town CB vs Chamber, Workforce housing survey did not show huge need but inconclusive, Held school career Fair, need for CUP process improved and want to see town more business friendly, Restaurant week being planned.
Recognitions of Tommy Robinette (Community Garden) & Sgt. Vernetta Wright (National Night Out) - Mayor
Town Manager Update
Public Works – The SCADA, new system for the sewer treatment plant will be installed by the end of the year. Town Center - AC supplies to arrive next week, I asked why still closed and was told heat was out too. Central Drainage Area CDA – due to be completed at the end of the month (some closures still).
3rd Quarter Public Safety Report, Chief Deaver – Calls for service up significantly 800+ more than last quarter. Misc crimes highest and majority during evening hours.
Fire Dept. numbers up but not a lot. Rescue Squad had 46 calls and they met their required hours. Recommends attending Neighborhood Watch meetings.
1st Quarter Financial Report, Lisa Okes – We got a brief update (slides in agenda). She mentioned debt service number included schools. Wood asked about Westmoreland settlement funds and we were told basically all spent. I asked about DEQ $5.7M and was told still do not know how we will spend.
Referrals to the Planning Commission –PC Chair spoke and said some FAR comments came from ill informed source. Will be taking deeper dive into R2 Zoning next year. Mayor asked PC to look into permitted uses for Commercial zones.
Proclamation, Halloween - Read by Mayor. The trick-or-treat date will be Tuesday the 31st 5pm to 8pm
Westmoreland County Board of Supervisors, Mr. Trivett, District V Supervisor – They are interviewing for County Administrator position hoping to hire Dec 1st
Recognized Mr. Moncure resignation, Enterprise Zone voted for, Potential data center near Rappahannock and enormous amount of water they use.
Colonial Beach Public Schools, Superintendent – Congrats to 2 students appointed as Reps for School Board, Capital Improvements – Generator HS, new weapons detection system, collecting furniture for foreign teachers that will be teaching at CB.
Public Comment
The Mayor offered to let council candidates speak if they wished to.
Citizen - Tommy from VFW mentioned that the Veterans Day service will be at the cannon on November 11th at 11am.
Citizen – Mentioned an incident on Lincoln Ave where a person tried to kick in a lady’s door and after calling 911 no one showed up. Was told only 1 officer was on duty and now maybe 2.
Town Employee - Bill Taylor asked for clarification about whether people would be charged for an extra toter if they have their personal toters stenciled. The answer was no charge but only for life of toter. The assistant town manager said that was previously not clear to her but would follow council’s direction.
Wayne Di Rosario – Has many years of experience and would make a good Councilmember. Was mayor, Board of Supervisor and had listed many accomplishments.
Krista Brown – 4-year resident of CB, Government contractor, loves this town and has extensive background 20 years federal law enforcement. “Not from here so have no skin in the game”
Michelle Collins-Robinson – 2-year resident, started volunteering right away. Already involved in community, church and feels that is part of being a good citizen. Analyst background. Wants to make sure everyone is talking regardless of race, religion or sexual orientation.
Tom Larson – Already know some of you, moved here in 2015, wonderful quirky little town, love town and opportunity and can be useful. Room from improvement and will ensure does research. Data analysist and outcome focused.
Bill Taylor – Moved here in 2007, want to be part of community, tractor trailer driver and now town trash truck driver. Love town and want to serve if not disqualified.
Citizen – Bike Fest supporter, want to get dates with Chamber for next year.
Citizen – Need more info on budget regarding water and sewer Gen fund exceeded expenses by over $1M, STR ordinance is excessive, and need lessons learned brief for CDA.
Citizen – FAR missing sustainability and health/ safety aspects (FOAI in progress), Resilience committee should stay, conflicts of interest for council members/ Mayor regarding FAR and STRs as owners and designers, said Mayor’s response does not supersede ethics and public trust.
Citizen – STR concerns all around the country and many limit but doesn’t agree with excessive regulations, Central Drainage project, hats off to the project manager. Hope there is a lesson learned. Town employees are public servants so need to think about why they have a job and council needs to think why they are there too.
Ordinance No. 748, Short Term Rental Ordinance, Director of Community Development & Zoning - After over 2 years we finally have a short-term rental (STR) ordinance. The two final decisions made Wednesday night were to make the minimum age 21 vs 18 and to only allow events up to the maximum occupancy e.g., 5-bedroom home could have 12 people at an event with a permit (two per bedroom +2) and more if the STR is in commercial zoning. The mayor actually recused herself from the vote after she made a public statement saying that while she owned Airbnb’s, it was not illegal for her to vote on this matter. While council unanimously passed the resolution, we did not fully agree on whether a STR should be allowed to have large events in neighborhoods. I was torn because I believe that residential neighborhoods need to be protected. The Mayor suggested a solution of larger events being allowed in commercial zones only and majority of council agreeed. Final vote 5-0
Resolution #40-23, Establishment of Personal Property Tax Relief Rate for Tax Year 2023 - This is the rate that council sets, determining what your personal property (cars, etc.) tax will be billed this December. Last year because of the extreme increase in vehicle values, I advocated to reduce the tax amount and council unanimously supported. This year I verified that the overall proposed tax collection is more than we put in the budget so I asked if we could reduce again. Town staff said they did not believe the money should go back to the taxpayers but to me this is a council call not staffs. I will not be going through all the details but basically, we budgeted $650k and at an 85% collection rate would receive $770k so I made a motion to reduce the tax amount. The argument from staff and Mayor was it may only amount to pennies per household but I think we were told that in order to make it look like the $120k back into the hands of the taxpayers was insignificant. I made a motion to increase the relief amount (tax reduction) which was voted down 5-1. Mr. Wood said “I vote no for political grandstanding” which I took offense to and feel may even violate our bylaws. I take being a fiscal conservative very seriously and let’s face it, staff will always want more money so it’s up to council to ensure increases are not being slipped into the budget. This was a vote to raise taxes and is on top of this year’s new trash tax. Final vote to set relief amount at staffs recommended amount 5-1 with me being only No vote.
Closed Meeting -
For discussion of prospective candidates for appointment to vacant seat on the Town Council This was to pick Tom Moncure‘s replacement. I made a motion to hold discussions in public, but did not get a second so the motion failed. Vote to go in the close session was 5-1 with me being the only no vote.
The Vote - After coming out of closed session, the Mayor nominated Krista Brown to be our next councilmember, and the final vote was 4-1 with me being the only No vote. My reason for not voting for Mrs. Brown is not personal. I hope she proves me wrong but I feel she will be another guaranteed vote for the current administration. She was a huge supporter of the Eleanor Park Easement (wore a green EP shirt and spoke passionately for the easement) and from her social media posts I’m not confident she will be more than another yes vote for the people pulling the strings in this town. My final comment on this is council did not speak directly to any candidates and was not able to ask questions so in my opinion a resume and a two-minute spiel, from some of the candidates is not sufficient enough to select somebody to represent YOU.
I would like to thank all the candidates that applied for Tom's vacant council seat. While I consider our selection process to be flawed, I believe local government is where good honest people can make a real difference so don't give up.
Please email or call with questions or comments:
540-604-4335
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