Sidewalks in Colonial Beach - Williams
A Brief History
2019-2020 We all know sidewalks have been an issue in Colonial Beach for decades, in fact I first recall them being discussed in a Planning Commission meeting in 2019 or 2020. From what I recall the discussion was about how to handle new building requirements since not all adjoining properties had sidewalks and we needed a plan to address sidewalks as a whole. The more I started paying attention the more complaints I noticed on social media regarding the terrible condition of our sidewalks. In 2020 I recall the prior Mayor suggesting people forget about sidewalk improvement and just start walking in the roads.
Prior to me being on Council in 2020-2021 the Mayor and Council prioritized a Dog Park and path to Monroe’s Birthplace in the CIP (Capital Improvement Plan) with no mention of sidewalks.
My first involvement with sidewalks was in 2021. The first thing I did as a new council member was suggest that we look into the safer routes to schools based off a constituents comment on how years ago we built a sidewalk near the old school vs trying to build it near the new school just because we received a grant that could not be changed. I kept on this for a while until the Grant writer came straight out and said we messed up on the first safer routes to schools grant and that likely would disqualify us if we applied again.
In 2022 Sidewalks finally show up on the CIP with no funding identified. The proposed sidewalk survey only covered a portion of the town and as I understand the survey would only to tell us what was and was not in town right of ways. We were told this would help us decide what if anything we wanted to fix. Many believe the wheels were intentionally moving slow in this case.
2023 Sidewalks finally make there way to the legislative agenda (a wish list sent to our State Legislature) along with the path to James Monroe’s Birthplace and a new municipal center.
Infrastructure Committee attempt, September 2023 – I requested the Council form a Public Works/ Infrastructure Committee to address major issues like sewer, sidewalks and other citizen concerns and the committee was voted down 5-2 with me and Moncure being the only supporters
Fall of 2023 a Virginia citizen finally had enough and took matters into his own hands by contacting VDOT requesting an investigation into our ADA sidewalk violations. I was actually accused by other Council members for being the person that turned the town in. While I was not the person that turned the town, I do think it’s embarrassing that the Mayor and the rest of council was prioritizing things like: Eleanor Park, Monroe’s Path, multi-million dollar municipal center and Dog Park over the general safety of our citizens. The town was notified of the ADA violation but not much has happened since.
During the spring 2025 budget process – I made 2 attempts to get a figure of how much of the $1M+ Roads and Sidewalks budget was set to be spent on sidewalks and what projects were included. I never got an answer.
ADA Letter - 2024 During our August 21st meeting I asked about the letter posted online and previously the town manager said I was the first to notify her. Apparently, the letter and email were not received by the town. The town manager said we have 90 days to respond. I asked if Council could get a copy of what the town actually received and I’m still waiting as of Sept 7th. During the August meeting the town manager said she was scheduled to meet with the ADA compliance office.
More to come!! I will be adding more to my infrastructures page as info arrives.
Letter Posted on Face Book
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