Sewer Spill, Food Truck Court, Bike Fest Approval, Tourism Action Plan and Hurricane Preparedness and Planning Commission Reappointment were all topics of discussion Wednesday (4+ hour meeting)
Kenny Allison was absent
Approval of Minutes 8/17/22 - Vote 6-0 to approve
Resolution #29-23DCJS Grant Approval (ARPA Equipment) - Virginia Department of Criminal Justice awarded Colonial Beach Police Department $214k to use for law enforcement equipment. Vote 6-0 to accept funds
Resolution #30-23, Appointment of Acting Town Manager - This was to appoint for assistant town manager Natasha Tucker as acting town manager for 12 weeks while the current Town manager is out on maternity leave. Vote 6-0
Council Member Announcements
NGO – Events like BAMM, Down Town Colonial Beach added Ms. Thomas (town employee) to board.
Schools – Starts August 14th, no complaints about PW,
Economic Development – EDC summary: Assistant Town Manager Intro, Workforce housing (will be doing survey), Friday business appreciation breakfast at Ice House (good turnout), builders are having issues with FAR Floor Area Ratio water/sewer availability fees and permit approval, Food truck CUP, 500 non-conforming lots in CB (less than 5,000 sq ft) and builder would like to petition town,
Administrative (Mayor) – Northern Neck Designation (3-year plan) CB’s participation in Virginias 250th Anniversary, CLC beach cleanup.
Town Manager Update
Monthly Report -Finance - Water bills, Hiring Water/Sewer crew lead and head planner, Parks and Rec events (list provided), Sports, community yard sale in fall etc. Stormwater Resiliency update next steps.
Central Drainage project update - Area 2 and starting area 3 near Dennison St, on time and on budget, (Mayor said concerns over traffic signs).
Public Safety – Crime up mainly due July 4th holiday, 37k vehicles on Colonial Ave (report can be found on Web). Items identified – Lighting issues, more foot patrols.
Neighborhood watch - Meeting will be 7/27 5pm (I asked how program was working and told good). If interested contact Sargent Parsons 804-493-8066.
WWTP Overflow Incident Briefing PW Director (DEQ and VDH on the line) gave briefing regarding the Sewage spill that happened over July 4th holiday, *discovered 7am on 4th * supervisor arrived 8:30a, Town Manager notified 9:45am * 1.14M gallons spilled, *software program that runs plant malfunctioned and has been happening for years (last updated in 2016),* 12 sewer overflow incidents since 2013 (7 due to system malfunctions),* was identified to be replaced in 2025, *also identified $1M in other upgrade needs over the next few years, *PW Director reached out to DEQ and VDH (arrived on 6th and tested, *then Charles County MD posted shellfish closure and people were confused, *Test results came on 7th and beach re-opened, *Rosier and Goldman Creek already have shellfish closure as normal business, *admitted communication issues and not plans in place for closures due to MD and CB separations, *VDH working with MD for future incidents, *recommendation is to replace system $130k and the backup communication system is $30k (similar to water alarm). *Request for alarm will come next month.
Mr. Wood - said this system (the automatic pilot) yes it needs to be replaced. Asked will this replacement eliminate spills? Answer: No not completely due to human error etc. but will improve.
Williams - I said I was at the podium 2 years ago as a citizen and spoke about the 3.5M gallon spill and here we are again. Council notified via email on 7/5 at 7:30pm. Why is there not a fail safe in place (example berm or something to catch spills vs directly into our waters. PW Director marsh is a good filter. I asked why a nearly 2-day delay to notify Council and public (to me not acceptable)? Answer was they didn’t feel there was a safety concern and waited for accurate information. VDH said notified 24-36 hours into spill and after closure the beaches were reopened a day later. Admitted communication issues and need to partner to expand beach monitoring program.
· I know people are upset with the Mayor and Council but the information was withheld from some if not all of us too (a FOIA would confirm this). I said Wednesday I did not feel that was acceptable. I asked for council to form committees last year and again this year based on a suggestion from Mr. Moncure and the rest of council declined. My top suggestion was an infrastructure committee. I’m calling on the rest of council to finally take our infrastructure needs serious and hold town government accountable by forming an infrastructure committee.
· In order to restore public confidence, we need to ensure emergency protocol is put on place and hold the town manager, town staff and council accountable for following. Like a citizen said Wednesday, we need to create and follow incident command protocol for all emergencies and a sewage spill should be treated no differently than a chemical spill or a fire.
Self Sullivan mentioned River Keepers testing and we were told water was clean by beaches.
Mayor had concerns because seemed like something to hide but there was nothing to hide. Admitted communication needs to be better and she had already started questioning Sewer Plant needs. Took 3 days to get a call from MD and found out on FB. Even went out on her own boat with son to test water (felt helpless). She went on for a while saying we need to fix.
Moncure – Incident discovered 7/4 at 7:00am, email to council 7/5 at 7:30pm and public notice evening 7/6, not acceptable and hurts our credibility.
Referrals to the Planning Commission PC -
Article 6 & Article 14 - This was to refer these articles to the PC. Article 6 addresses Floor Area Ratio FAR and 14 covers site plan requirements. I had mentioned this in my EDC update and the Mayor summarized.
Planning Commission appointment - I asked if we could add Ms. Luna’s reappointment for a vote since her term is expiring and she was recommended unanimously by PC. Mayor asked if I want to add and I said yes which was something done for prior appointments. Mayor said she was just notified the night before even though she got an update a month prior. Caryn was at meeting but somehow forgot this very important detail (Planning Director confirmed done one month prior) Vote was 3-3 so it did not pass. Vicki, Tom and I voted yes and Robin, Rick and Caryn voted no (they said their concern was not appointment but over process (I will point out that all 3 voted for 3 Parks and Rec members on 1/18 with no notice. PC Chair Mack had a vocal exchange with the mayor and said Council was notified (he was upset and left the meeting). After the meeting I asked for this to be added to the next agenda since I was told the issue was not about Ms. Luna. I can give several examples of where this same procedure was not followed or questioned prior.
Proclamation for Betty Whitestone - Read by Mayor (to recognize community service)
Hurricane Preparedness, VDEM & Westmoreland County Chief of EMS – We were given a presentation on hurricanes and the history of CB. I ask about if there were any shelter plans in CB (answers no, we would need to go to Westmoreland County for shelter). I also asked about evacuation plans due to the 205 bridges and was told there is an alternate route.
Recognition of Life Saving Event – Recognition for the life-saving efforts by Citizen, David Knap (town employee), PD, Wildlife Resource officer.
Westmoreland County Board of Supervisors, Mr. Trivett - County PD received a crime award, 98% and 91% delinquent taxes have been collected, mentioned new home growth, sewage spill noticed, and recognized Bill Cease.
Colonial Beach Public Schools, Dr. Mitchell, Superintendent - was not in attendance
Public Comment Citizen -
Mike Fitzpatrick – Heart and Soul Project (resident and community driven), involved from beginning, all welcome, $15k raised and no town finance requested. Builder concerns over FAR .8 vs .4, water availability fees and non- conforming lots (less than 5k sqft)
Citizen – Upset about sewage spill, Kids and Grandkids swam in water, why someone not fired? Issue with pumps constantly running. Town is a joke.
Citizen – Issues with trash, dealing with town difficult and does not want Toter, not recycling. Issue with council adding class 4 misdemeanors for trash violations.
Citizen – Frustrated with town, mention Tourism plan, town not handling parking etc. with central drainage project (beach access), poor signage and messaging about 1.3M gallon sewage spill (communication nightmare), Council not on same page and need to hold people accountable.
Citizen - Upset about sewage spill worried about kids swimming and lack of communication.
Citizen – Sewage spill, very concerned over delayed notice. When will phase 4 of Dodson project start and when will we get the money?
Citizen - We need someone to answer the town’s phones. Traffic issues near central drainage project. Does council know what GIS is and when did it become a part of CB, property sale issues (waiting).
Citizen - Community Heart and Soul, NGOs should not speak for citizens (we all get our 5 minutes).
Citizen – Concerns about government transparency, said school never passed inspection years ago, Dodson contract changes should not be part of closed meeting, central drainage delays, DEQ report on line and concerns over communication with citizens and time lines.
Citizen – Lives near Rosier Creek and upset about sewage spill notice, his kids and grandkids were swimming in water. Heart and Soul supporter (involved) and commented about test miles from spill.
Write in – Concerns or STR privacy policy, inspections and other items.
Write in – Staff changes to STR ordinance are not warranted
Tourism Action Plan, Economic Development & Tourism Manager; Virginia Tourism Commission
This presentation was to go over results of VTC action plan that resulted from info gathering from stakeholders. Recommend to add to EDC plan. I asked if we had anything we could do to specifically add tourism attractions (movie theater or pool example), VTC rep gave Danville as example and said we need to draw people first and create vibrancy the rest will follow (steady progressive steps). This plan will open up grant opportunities.
Resolution #31-23, Community Heart & Soul – This was a request for council to endorse this project. From what I can tell this is a program started by a National Non-Profit and is intended to foster public engagement in communities around the country. I said I have no issues with the stated intent of the program as many NGOs volunteer their time and do good things in CB. The reason I did not support the resolution is because as a council member I cannot endorse one group over any other group or citizen. Any outside group communications or information gathered is not subject to FOIA. Vote 4-2 Tom and I voted no
PUBLIC HEARING
Resolution #32-33, CUP Conditional Use Permit 23-01 Beach Terrace – This was to approve a food truck court request on private property for 2 trucks to be placed behind the old “Custard Stand” near the boardwalk. I attended a 3+ hour PC meeting discussing the CUP request. I support the idea which reduces the towns involvement in the food truck business and only had one concern, the fact that this permit does not expire. While there are protections in place if the owner does not follow conditions, it can be canceled. I don’t know what the future of food trucks or the surrounding property. The permit was supposed to expire if the property changes hands but the Mayor asked that it be permanent. I did not support the Mayor’s change but the rest of council did. The final vote was 6-0 to approve the CUP and while I voted yes for this, I just hope a forever permit was not a mistake.
Special Event Application Consideration- Bikefest 2023; Director of Parks, Recreation & Events – This was to approve the Bikefest for the end of September. Mr. Wood and Dr. Self Sullivan seemed to have concerns about security and both hesitated to vote yes but, in the end, did. Final Vote 6-0
Sale of Town Owned Property- Madison Street Extension (setting public hearing); Grants Manager – This property is currently used as parking by Ice House and includes a small amount of water frontage in the bay. We were told there was no rush hearing was set for September. Vote 6-0
Subdivision Ordinance (1st read PH on 8/16/2023); Director of Community Development & Zoning – Hearing set for August Vote 6-0
Closed Meeting
· Consultation with legal counsel regarding specific Town Code section 21-88.1 concerning senior citizen water and sewer discount exemption,
· Virginia Code section 15.2-2118 concerning such discount exemption and Virginia Code section 15.2-936 concerning fee exemptions for garbage and refuse disposal.
· Discussion and consideration of the disposition of publicly held real property, Phase IV Property identified in the second combined, amended, and restated agreement for the purchase of real estate dated March 2, 2022 between the Town of Colonial Beach and DDG Acquisitions, LLC.
· For the protection of the privacy of individuals in personal matters not related to public business.
No votes on any closed items.
Please email or call with questions or comments:
dwilliams@colonialbeachva.gov
540-604-4335
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