Town Manager Appointed, Ordinance Hearing Set, Eleanor Park Site Plan for Benches Path and Parking, Waste Water Treatment Plant Manager Leaves and Council Turned Over Operation of Plant to 3rd Party Company.
Amendments to the Agenda
Discussion about town employee added.
Approval of Minutes for January 3, 2024 - Vote 7-0. I mentioned how in the Jan 3rd meeting we had discussed town audio video so I asked the clerk for an update. She said she’s in the process of writing the RFP and looking for an Audio Video person.
Council Member Liaison Reports
School – mentioned a regional board meeting and registration for 2024 has begun.
Public safety – Saturday is the Ladies Auxiliary dinner at CBVFD, Thursday the Fire Escape Grill will be doing a fundraiser for CBVFD as well.
Finance – budget meetings have begun.
Planning commission – meeting second Thursday at 5:30 pm.
NGO – working with marinas to create a central map.
Mayor – business licenses due in April, STR application process underway, northern neck heritage is doing a public outreach, WWTP meeting - thanks to all that attended, EC meeting is next Tuesday.
Parks and rec – coming event at the community center, Mike Munas stepped down from the public parks and rec committee, there are two PNR Committee openings, youth ball, and T-ball discussion.
Rivah Autism Community, Bill May - mentioned their goal was to educate the public, help adults, connect with the business community. Asked council to support by lighting up the boardwalk blue on 4/2.
Westmoreland County Social Services, Keri Cusick, Director - Representatives came to brief council on their activities. Mentioned regular visits to CB. I believe the community center will be used, they provide assistance with SNAP, energy program, temporary assistance, and discussed ways to apply. First visit will be on March 18th and they also said there will be an Easter egg Hunt on the 23rd. Mr. Wood said he thought SNAP ended and was told no it’s alive and well.
Proclamation for Procurement Month, Natasha Tucker, Interim Town Manager - the mayor read a proclamation. The new town manager has a background in procurement.
Public Comment
Mr. Nelson gave an update for downtown Colonial Beach. He said they’re working on their work plan, connecting marinas to the downtown area, working on Main Street policies, working on a grant with EDC to help recruit new businesses. Ms. Brown asked if their meetings were public, and the answer wasn’t clear.
Resolution #13-24, Appointment of Town Manager - this was to appoint the prior assistant town manager to permanent town manager. Council decided not to advertise the position and went with the Assistant Town Manager. Nothing personal against Ms. Tucker (I voted for her) but I personally think this position should’ve been publicly advertised and interviews conducted. That was not the direction council wanted to go in. Her being originally hired by the last town manager did make me nervous, but I’m not going to hold that against her and I will give her a chance to prove her worth to the town and council. Final vote 7–0
DRAFT, Ordinance No. 756, Zoning Text Amendment 23-08, Don Dooley, Director of Community Planning & Zoning Public Hearing set for March 20, 2024 - Council suggested that the PC review the C1 permitted uses. The major changes suggested by PC were to make drive-through and car washes part of the CUP process. There were also suggestions to make certain businesses buy right including bookstores, (not adult), service establishments, parking lots, theaters and watchmen housing. There was a lengthy discussion on which should and should not be buy right like parking, pawnshops, used car lots, check cashing, etc. so council determined that it was best to table hearing until April meeting.
DRAFT, Ordinance NO. 757, Amends Chapter 1, “General Provisions” of the
Town of Colonial Beach Code of Ordinances, Powell Duggan, Town Attorney
Public Input set for March 20, 2024 - This was a review by the town, attorney and police chief, and basically entailed making the code on unidentified penalties more reasonable and my understanding was any penalty that is automatically a class 1 misdemeanor would become a class 2. Vote 7–0 to hold public hearing.
Bench Update, Natasha Tucker, Interim Town Manager - This was originally sold as an update to people’s questions about when the donated benches for Eleanor Park would be installed. Instead, council was asked to authorize additional funding for a real design and site plan so the benches could be installed. In December the other members of council voted to spend $90K on the initial phase of Eleanor Park but as with any good government program the cost always goes up. I say bless the kind hearts of the people who raised money to donate the benches but it was a bit presumptuous for them to assume that the town was going to spend $12,000 installing their 12 benches in a park years prior to it even being established. It’s been suggested that a donation with strings attached is not really a donation. I asked how Eleanor got prioritized over the North Park and the answer was “benches” (how convenient). The rest of Council seemed upset about needing a plan before we concrete in 12 benches but I was thinking to myself are you kidding me? Caryn made a motion to authorize an engineered site plan and the mayor amended to say low impact development to include a (pathway, benches, parking, stormwater plan and trash can locations). In my opinion this has been part of the grand plan all along (encumber the property with little benefit to the community to fulfill a behind closed doors promise made in 2020). The final Vote was 5-2 with Ms. Brown and me voting no.
Wastewater Treatment Plant Operations - This is the big news here! The public was told we no longer have a wastewater treatment plant manager, and we were asked to turn over operations to a third-party company for a minimum of three years. Here are some highlights:
· We were told this is a result of years of neglect.
· The best deal our town manager could get was a three-year contract.
· The town maintains ownership of the plant.
· Current plant employees can apply to work for the private company or take a job with the town public works department.
· I asked about cost differences (private vs town employees) but the answer was not clear. Supposedly if we ran plant as it should be operated, our cost would be around 73K a month and this company offered to do the work for $89K for a few months and then $80k once we stop 24/7 operations. Initial guess is roughly $193K annual increase.
· The contract would include 8 operators.
· The contract includes routine, minor maintenance.
· They can provide major repairs, but will need to bid for that.
· The contractor will be attending monthly town council meetings.
· Plant would be operating on the contractor’s permit.
· We were told there will be a lot of benefits to turning over the operations, including the expertise we need to help us get back into compliance with DEQ.
· I asked about employee’s jobs but was told their jobs are safe (can apply to private company but may have to move to PW). Also raise concerns about rates increasing.
· I asked how do other towns handle plant manager turnovers and really couldn’t get a straight answer.
· It feels like we have been pushed into a corner and I don’t believe that is when the best decisions are made.
· The contractor comes highly recommended and has been used by King George and others.
· The mayor was incredibly grateful, emboldened, felt blessed and said God works in mysterious ways.
· Like I said before, grab your wallets!!
Closed Meeting
Pursuant to VA code § 2.2-3711 (A)(1) for the discussion on performance of specific
public appointees of the Town Council.
Please email or call with questions or comments:
540-604-4335
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