The BIG items on the Agenda Were “No Dogs On the Beach”, Water Sewer Increases and Meals and Lodging Tax Increases, Capital Improvement Plan CIP “Wish List” and Dozens of Citizen Comments Against Many of These Changes. Meeting was 6 hours, ending after midnight (a 20+ hour day for me)
Approval of Minutes for April 17, 2024 and May 1, 2024 - I requested that the approval of the minutes get postponed until next meeting (one was received the day before) Vote 7-0.
Resolution #20-24, Amends and Appropriates FY23-24 Budget, General Fund for DCJS LOLE
Grant - this was to accept grant funds for the police department training $4,225 Vote 7-0
Resolution #21-24, Amends and Appropriates FY23-24 Budget, General Fund for VDOT
Urban Maintenance Program - this was to add another $157K received to the budget from VDOT roads and HWY funds. It would be nice if the town spent a little bit of this money on sidewalks. Vote 7-0
Council Member Liaison and Commission Reports
Public Works - town repaired golf cart path by McDonald’s.
Planning Commission – They went over the CIP (passed 3-2), PC work plan, a residential CUP was approved and public hearing set for June 14th regarding RVs in Marinas (requested by the Mayor’s Father).
Schools- encourage people to go to the school board meetings, announced the two teachers of the year.
Public Safety - mentioned VFD fundraisers, the pageant, and the June 8 fireman’s parade. The next neighborhood watch meeting will be May 23 at 5:30p
Finance – real estate bills are due; golf cart decals were due 4/30 and are still available.
Mayor - the county will be having a hearing on tax increases May 22nd 5:00p with a 12 cent per $100 increase. LINK https://www.westmoreland-county.org/sites/default/files/2024-05/05162024_AD%20TO%20RUN%20IN%20THE%20FREE-LANCE%20STAR_May%2013%2C%202024%20Westmorel_0.pdf. I personally encourage people to go speak if they do not want their county taxes going up.
Council set a special meeting for Tuesday, May 21 at 6 PM for 24/7 EMS presentation.
FY25 Proposed Budget Presentation (Continued) Public Hearing set for June 5, 2024 - we were presented with the remaining water sewer budget figures. Surprisingly to me we were told that the water sewer increase went from $17 to $24.50 extra per quarter. We were told town salaries are 30% lower than similar towns, somebody ask if sewer salaries were included in the new contract? The answer was not all. The rest are still town employees, roughly $450k. WWTP revenues are up 5% but expenditures are up 19% causing the need for additional funding. Davenport said all this information will be available on the town’s website.
Town Manager Update
WWTP Third-Party Contractor Update - John Simmons from Inboden said we had a good month, example 500-gallon spill occurred early May but only 50 gallons lost. The I&I (inflow and infiltration) issue was discussed and we were told once that issue is addressed, we could expect an extra million gallons of capacity.
Proclamation for National Safe Boating Week - read by the mayor. (wear your life jackets, it saves lives)
Colonial Beach Public Schools, Dr. Mitchell, Superintendent - last day of school is Friday, 20 graduates from CB that went to the Northern Neck Tech center, recognize teachers and students, 73K raised in scholarships from primarily local donors. The governor’s budget was signed Wednesday. I asked if we had revised state budget numbers and Mr. Mitchell said not yet. A constituent told me that the number provided by the state may increase significantly, which would reduce our total share.
FY25-28 Capital Improvement Plan, Natasha Tucker, Town Manager - the CIP for those of you who don’t know is basically a wish list from the town for improvements. There are many millions of dollars in items included in this plan so I asked which ones were actually funded and was told almost none. My concern is, how do we know what the real priorities are. Last year the SCADA system was included, but not listed in any real priority which potentially resulted in what we thought was a 1,000,000+ gallon spill. I asked the town manager if she could provide a priority list and items that were already funded and we were told just two which were the I&I study and the Denison Street well project. I mentioned how we were told smoke testing was to be done a couple years ago and SCADA was to be purchased in 2019 (two examples of delays resulting in spills that could have been potentially avoided). I said we need to do better and put in another plug for my public works committee – Wood came back with a smart comment.
Public Comment
The big topic was “No dogs on the beach!” For those that do not know, during our last meeting Caryn Self Sullivan made a motion to add dogs on the beach during the summer mornings with absolutely no input from the public and Krista Brown supported this motion. The final vote was 4 to 3 with Me, Kenny and Rick voting NO.
A large number of citizens expressed their opposition to the proposed rule change (See below for the results).
Other public comments from various citizens – the school needs to re-look at their budget, wasteful spending, concerned over their tax increase, thanks for being transparent with the budget, prefers real estate tax increase over meals and lodging, downtown Colonial Beach got a $60K grant, town is focusing on revenues versus expenses. We need more time to review the budget, what about spending like the $13k clerk software? We need a positions breakdown, what about the radio station gift, we have poor accounting practices, we need to promote small business - give them a hand up, make things better for businesses, bad decision to turn over the wastewater treatment plant - need to ensure it is fixed, town policies are hurting the elderly, the police have been caught sleeping on the job, look at kids on golf carts and other crime, etc., please look at cutting the budget, please look at the CIP and make cuts, need to focus on sidewalks, too many studies, several cut suggested including assistant town manager, concerns about school fund waste.
Ordinance No. 756, Zoning Text Amendment 23-08, Don Dooley, Director of Community
Planning & Development - this ordinance has been discussed multiple times and covers what is and is not allowed in the commercial zone. Last meeting the Mayor proposed adding check cashing type businesses. After discussion council did not support adding this type of business. Krista Brown requested to remove pawnshops as a conditional use allowance with no public comment. I did not take a position on whether pawnshops were a good idea or not, but this was not vetted with the public so I could not support her last-minute request. The vote to remove pawnshops was 6-2 with me and Kenny voting no. The final vote to pass. The final ordinance passed 6-2 with me and Kenny voting no.
Ordinance No. 758, Amends Chapter 5, “Beaches, Waterways, Boardwalk, Parks,
Recreational Areas and Facilities” of the Town of Colonial Beach Code of Ordinances,
Powell Duggan, Town Attorney - this was a routine update to the beach and boardwalk ordinance, but became very controversial when Caryn asked for dogs to be allowed on the beach during the summer as stated above, resulting in 27 public comments (a great showing). The public comment total was 20 against and 7 for. In the end, Caryn made a motion to strike allowing dogs on the beach during the summer and the motion passed 7–0. The second vote was not to allow fishing off the banks of leased or town owned properties on Monroe Bay Ave (already not permitted on Irving Ave) passed 7-0. The final ordinance passed 7-0
PUBLIC HEARING Ordinance No. 759, Amends Chapter 21, “Water and Sewers,” Article
VI, “Fees and Service Charges,” Sections 21-71 & 21-80 to increase the flat fees for residential water & sewer users
My colleagues supported an increase in the water and sewer fees to help balance our budget. Many citizens were upset about this and came to speak against. Some of the comments were- this is a result of deferred maintenance, the third-party contractor is costly resulting in higher rates, why are we not using Smart meters, what about the people who fill their pools, please no increase. We’ve been raped over the last few years, people on fixed income are struggling, a big burden the town needs to reconsider raising rates, concerns over flat versus metered rates, public needs info and a second hearing before making decision, past dumb decisions, not OK to spend, zero fiscal responsibility, especially after giving Eleanor Park away, water treatment plant was neglected, not council fault, we have a problem. Some people cannot make it, something has to give, fix it! hope you don’t raise rates, $30 trash fee was a mistake, look at expenses don’t raise, why did you add the trash tax, listen to the people, what about our new houses. In the end, there was a little bit of council discussion, some concern raised over the elderly, Mrs. Brown was concerned about cost but also concerned about environment, she supported the $24 increase. I raise concerns over our spending habits, mentioned how the contract was misrepresented and rushed into, and I raised concerns over citizens being strapped with even more cost. The final vote to raise the water/sewer rate by $24.50 per quarter 6–1 with me being the only No vote.
· Dr Self Sullivan pointed out that she had not heard the Mayor voting. I thought maybe she was just being very quiet but the Mayor admitted she wasn’t voting. Mayor said she was trying new leadership style but Caryn said I think you should abstain or vote. Some have told me they think the timing of this new leadership style is strange and maybe she does not want to be on record voting for her tax increases.
PUBLIC HEARING Ordinance No. 760, Amends Chapter 21, “Water and Sewers,” Article
VI, “Fees and Service Charges,” Sections 21-71 and 21-80 to increase the minimum charge for commercial water & sewer users - this was to raise the rates for commercial by $35 a quarter which in the end gets passed on to the consumer. One person spoke for this and a few spoke against. Several citizens came to speak against and here are a few of their comments – the town hasn’t done enough, why are water meters not being read, need solution that requires thought, need to plan think about the greater town, impact on commercial businesses that usually plan well versus the way the town plans, model does not make sense, why doesn’t the town use its user info, one citizen supports the increase, stated that the water meters are not functioning properly, some meters died due to town incompetence, In the end same result as residential: council voted 6-1 with me being the only no vote.
PUBLIC HEARING Ordinance No. 761, Amends Chapter 20, Article III, “Transient Lodging
Tax,” Section 20-31, “Levy” to increase the transient occupancy tax and Article IV, “Meals Tax,”
Section 20-43, “Levy,” to increase the meals tax - this was council’s way of balancing the budget. Several business owner spoke against, and here were some of their comments – suggest real estate vs meals and lodging, costs keep adding up, what about undervalued properties, should look at expenses vs revenues, restaurants are on a thin margin, businesses haven’t been asked, regressive tax, why does the town think other people will pay this, concerns over rising cost, strong impact on business, hotel business is down and this will make it worse, consider having a working group, cottage tax should be up due to STR’s, tax will hurt small business, support the tax, small price to pay, Chamber member representing 200 members, the businesses do not support this, putting us at a competitive disadvantage, need to stop this increased, hurting our businesses, not welcoming, Town needs to look at where they can save, Support increase, to the increase, businesses are struggling. In the end, it was getting late so council had an abbreviated discussion and wanted to postpone the vote. Miss Brown was pretty insistent that we have a vote immediately and Council voted 4 to 3 to postpone the vote. I didn’t see the rush to have the vote immediately and thought that it would actually do some good to have additional time for citizen input. Final vote was 4-3 with me, Kenny, Vicki and Robin voting to postpone. I personally think we have a spending problem and agree with the citizens that said we are not taking a very hard look at expenditures versus focusing only on how we can bring in more money by raising taxes.
The vote on this increase will be at our June 5 meeting so if you would like to write in council, you have time to provide additional feedback.
Discussion on Forming a Citizen Committee in reference to 700 & 800 Colonial Avenue,
Natasha Tucker, Town Manager - this was postponed until the next meeting 7-0.
Closed Meeting
For the purpose of consultation with legal counsel and briefings by staff members or consultants pertaining to probable litigation,
Please email or call with questions or comments:
540-604-4335
Comments