Sewer Plant Presentation, $750K moved to General Fund for repairs, Animal and Fowl Ordinance passed, FOIA Training, New Housing Authority Appointment and a Special Meeting for Sewer discussion set for Feb 26th 4pm were all on Wednesday’s agenda.
(Correction) Council Member Krista Brown was absent
Minutes for June 7, 2023- Minutes were approved with no edits 6-0
Council Member Liaison and Commission Reports
Schools – Budget meetings have started. Caryn also mentioned the duck blind issue at Maddox Creek. Seems to be a County matter, 150-yard buffer. No Wake Zone Monroe Bay, asked does council want to address.
Finance – Budget updates (process has begun)
Public Works – Waste Water Treatment Plant meeting will be scheduled for public. Wood also mentioned Westmoreland Public Services future visit to CB. SNAP program no longer available.
Planning Commission -Meeting Thursday the 8th 5:30p
NGOs – Events announced, Marina outreach, Restaurant week (planning), Neighbor to Neighbor NGO expanding to Westmoreland Shores.
Mayor – Community Resilience and Palm tree program and opportunity of residents to get captains licenses were all mentioned.
Presentations
Proclamation for Black History Month – Mayor read
Downtown Colonial Beach Update, Eric Nelson, President of DCB – This was a presentation to show what has and will happen with the program. The Down Town area is defined as Colonial Ave to Boundry/ Washington/ to the Beach. They want to include the marinas in their focus. The Town’s part time economic development director is now working for/ with them. I asked about the revenue sharing and yes, she works with them but the town pays the majority of her salary. I was told she stays within her 20 hours and there is a lot of overlap which keeps cost down.
Moonshot Update, Moonshot Team – This company did a presentation of our Sewer - Waste Water Treatment Plant (WWTP) and its current state.
· They are a subcontractor with nothing to sell, they have a deep bench of experienced personnel and proven success.
· Provide short term and long-term solutions.
· December, they did a walkthrough of WWTP.
· Assessed where we are, where we want to be and steps.
· Reviewed I&I (inflow and inundation) report.
· Will do a rate assessment in March.
· Will be doing a 360 assessment.
· Said we have challenges to deal with including: Collection system showing age (30 yr. useful life on some items), I&I issues, Fats, oils and grease problems, design issues, a lot of corrosion, potential is good but will take money and effort.
· Staff morale an issue.
· With maintenance and cleaning they feel we can get this in shape quickly
· Sludge tanks are way overdue for cleaning and have vegetation growing in them, lack of maintenance (cost $1.5M just for cleaning).
· While 24/7 operation is not required, they felt it was important to continue.
· Their report will be available to the public.
· PLEASE Watch the meeting to see the full presentation.
In my opinion we just need to start fixing things and stop blaming those that came before us. A plan must be in place first so this assessment is a step in the right direction but who’s going to implement this plan?? I have been told that it is common to have an engineer in charge of Public Works.
FOIA Training, Powell Duggan, Town Attorney – Council was given a brief overview of FOIA training. I asked if discussions in closed meetings could be disclosed at any point e.g. discussion of property purchase after the negotiations are over. The answer was yes but things like personnel items could not be disclosed.
Public Comment
Citizen – Originally was going to talk about duck blind but decided to just say Thank You to council.
Ordinance No. 755, Amends Chapter 3, Animals and Fowls of the Town of Colonial
Beach Code of Ordinances, Powell Duggan, Town Attorney – After many discussions on the updates to this ordinance we finally voted Wednesday. The main edits were to remove language that did not pertain to the town and to change leash and dog defecation to civil penalties (fines $50-$100) Vote 6-0
Appointments to the Colonial Beach Redevelopment Housing Authority – Sara Wright was appointed to the CBHA with a vote of 6-0. Another person applied but they did not qualify because they do not live in town. The Mayor suggested the Authority reconsider the rule of residency.
Resolution #08-24, Budget Amendment Use of Reserve Funds, Diane Beyer, Director of Public Works – Basically Council was asked to move $750K to general budget so it could be spent on sewer repairs and improvements. I asked for a repairs list (I will post the list). I also asked if we were writing a blank check and was told no, this is just to move the excess money (amount over required reserve) to the general fund. Staff will still need to come to council for approval for expenditures as required. My concern is it feels like we are just throwing money at the problem to appease the public so citizens will still need to hold town government accountable. To me it’s incredible that the tanks have become so full of sludge that it’s going to cost $1.5M to clean them.
Set Special Meeting Date to Discuss WWTP Progress, Town Council – This public meeting will be for citizens, Council and other stakeholders to discuss the Sewer Plant. It was set for Monday February 26th at 4pm (to be held at Town Center).
Closed Meeting
Pursuant to Virginia Code § 2.2-3711(A)(1), discussion of the performance of duties, and consideration of the disciplining, of specific appointees of the town council. - Apparently, this discussion was written incorrectly so council came out of close session to edit to make the discussion broader.
Please email or call with questions or comments:
540-604-4335
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