The citizens elected me because of my promise to work for them and provide transparency so that is what I will continue to do.
A Farewell to Tom Moncure
I’m sorry to see Mr. Moncure resign but do understand it was not an easy decision. While I cannot discuss private conversations, I can say he too was concerned with the current direction of our town. I know some would like to have seen Tom get tougher but he did speak for transparency early on when him and Pat Ey spoke against a Council replacement being picked behind closed doors. My assumption is the close door selecting will continue with his replacement. I appreciate Tom’s support and advice during our time together on council. He voted against the tax increase, trash tax, Eleanor Park easement, one of the Dodson permits and at his last meeting asked council members to disclose possible conflicts of interest. He supported some of my efforts like my attempt to form a public works committee and to bring a political balance back to our town.
I wish I could tell everyone things are great in CB but I’d be lying. We have major infrastructure issues with no visibility or accountability, I continually have citizens tell me we are headed in the wrong direction, council is tone deaf and taxes are on the rise which will push more and more good, hard-working citizens out of town. I know most people don’t have the time, patience or believe they can make a difference but we need to remember, bad things happen when good people do nothing. Mr. Moncure, Thanks for your service.
FAR Floor Area Ratio -
Currently, the planning commission is addressing the floor area ratio FAR, which is the livable square footage of a home, including attached garages and enclosed porches. We are being asked to increase this number which will impact the size of houses that are built on residential lots in CB. Several residents have raised concerns over the house sizes and I have been researching this topic at length. If anyone has interest in this, please reach out to me.
Water/ Sewer Availability Fees - Currently the town charges $5000 for residential water/ sewer availability and $20,000 for commercial availability. I was recently approached by a constituent that said that these fees are not even legal because Colonial Beach is not a water sewer authority, and that is a requirement to charge these high fees. Otherwise, the fee should be nominal. I need to research the legality part but will say council seems willing to readdress the availability fees. Please don’t confuse the availability with the actual tap fees, which are the fees charged to connect to the towns water/ sewer system. More to come on this.
Sidewalks
Many citizens are concerned with the deteriorated condition of our sidewalks and handicap accessibility. I know that resources are limited, but VDOT does give money to the town to maintain roads and “sidewalks “so to me many years with no repairs is not acceptable.
Government oversight
In my opinion, government oversight is lacking in the town of CB. Council has given up much of its power to the town managers office and while we do hire professionals for this position, we cannot advocate the responsibility we have to the citizens to one person. I didn’t even know we were hiring an assistant town manager until someone told me it was advertised online. My attempt to start a Public Works/ Infrastructure committee failed miserably.
Business In Colonial Beach
We get a lot of new businesses that are willing to open their doors in the Town of CB. Many new businesses in the last couple of years but for some reason I keep hearing we are not business friendly. It should not take over a year of jumping through hoops to start a business here but it’s a story I’ve heard several times. We say we want more business but then Council voted to approve Boardwalk development heavily focused on residential which could kill our boardwalk.
Other items on my radar
Parking or lack thereof. Not one new home or business should be allowed to be built without proof that adequate parking will be provided (town easements don’t count). How are brand new homes built without any off-street parking? Wasteful spending, we need to get fiscally conservative people on Council next election in order to save this town from financial ruin. Public Safety - We need to ensure citizen concerns are addressed because without confidence in our police department residents will never feel safe.
Vacant council seat
I would like to encourage people to apply for Tom’s vacant seat. While I do not have confidence someone similar to Tom will be picked, I do know the Mayor once told me the replacement should be similar to the person they are replacing (let’s see if that happens 😊). To apply send your resume to town clerk at H.Oliver@colonialbeachva.gov
Please contact me if you’d like to get involved and help make positive change in the town of Colonial Beach
540-604-4335
Comments