Councilman Williams Update 3/5/25

Fund allocations, Town manager and other updates, vote to spend $150K on Beach nourishment and rip rap, and vote to no longer allow the reading of written public comment, were all on Wednesday’s Agenda.

Amendments to the Agenda

Eric Palmer 15-year service award -Mayor

Discussion on written comments no longer being read at meetings - Williams

Vote 7–0 to add both items to the agenda

Approval of Minutes: January 22, 2025- vote 7-0

Resolution #07-25, Amends and Appropriates Fiscal Year 2024-2025 Budget, General Fund for SRO Grant Funds- This is to add the $31,654 grant funds to the budget.  Vote 7-0

Resolution #08-25, Amends and Appropriates Fiscal Year 2024-2025 Budget, General Fund for GOV Deals Proceeds - this was to add $475 to the police budget from the sale of a confiscated motorcycle. Vote 7-0

Council Member Reports

Public safety – there was a good turnout for the neighborhood watch.

Planning Commission – their next meeting will be Thursday March 13th at 5:30 PM. There will be a public meeting about the FAR - floor area ratio.

Finance – golf cart decals are available for $30. Utility bills are due April 1.

Nonprofits – New Osprey platforms being installed, April 12 will be the Osprey festival, the Community Foundation has $20,000 available for grants for those that would like to apply (two page easy application process due April 12)

Schools – I attended my first school board meeting and had a budget presentation.

Economic Development – showcase of local businesses will be held soon and it’s open to all local businesses, efforts to recognize 518 local businesses. Their next meeting will be March 11 at 5:30pm

Parks and Rec - march meeting canceled they have not had one this year yet.

Public Works – Four new sewer connections installed, Friday is yard debris collection, town cleanup efforts, wastewater treatment plant updates.

Mayor – mentioned the new signs for Main Street, her participation in the science fair, other events and activities.

Town Manager Update

Sewer Plant Update - January was a tough month, nitrate still high, low flow not good for plant, mixers repaired on the 29th, sand filters under repair, working on sludge issues.

Conference attended – town manager mentioned green space being important to mental health, AI and the benefits to small governments, but suggested concerns.

Audio video updates – I requested an update and the Town Clerk said the install should start on March 10th which will include new mics and other equipment.

Eric Palmer was recognized for 15 years of service working for PW - Congratulations Eric!

Proclamation, Celebrating 133 Years of the Town of Colonial Beach’s Incorporation - happy birthday CB!

Westmoreland County Board of Supervisors, Mr. Trivett - he said the county voted to modernize their website, which he hopes will streamline the permit process, the board of supervisors is working on a plan to stagger elections (currently all members elected at same time), tire disposal issues, county purchased a grinder with four tire limit for citizens, stated solar application review (too many) preparation for this weekend’s drag strip event – issues in the past.

Colonial Beach Public Schools, Dr. Addo, Superintendent - he gave a shout out to the sports, especially the girls, basketball team, BAMM was recognized for their efforts, we were presented with drawings for the front entrance of the high school, he gave a budget overview.

He made a statement about the late payment of withholding taxes that the IRS found back in August, which was immediately paid and they’re currently negotiating penalties and fees, which he stated could not be disclosed during the negotiation process. If you have any questions about the late withholding payments, please contact the superintendent.

Public Comment

Citizen – mentioned beach rip rap and stated funds balance should be reported, suggested the school budget should be estimated on the high side, asked if Park funds were already allocated in budget, mentioned wastewater treatment plant.

Citizen – stated transparency is not a buzz word, mention meeting that was held before the last official meeting regarding a policy change of not reading public comment (against bylaws), suggested people can’t make it to meetings so reading comments is important, we should be striving for more transparency not less, mentioned council being disrespectful.

Citizen - agreed that public comment should be read.

Citizen – downtown Colonial Beach Mardi Gras event went very well, Main Street pulled together, appreciate all the hard work which is just beginning, town‘s partnership is important, mentioned 2 signs being purchased.

Citizen - thanked council for adding public comment reading to the agenda, mention secret meeting not being appropriate, asked why no offsets for riprap cost, stated prior breakwaters functioning properly, mentioning needing technical insight and rip rap plans. Wrong approach rip rap was fine, but town may have done damage two years ago when they tried to repair themselves.

Resolution # 06-25, Amends and Appropriates Fiscal Year 2024-2025, General Fund for Beach Rip-Rap - 

I previously had asked for a postponement on the vote for this $150k spending so we could get more justification for Beach repairs.  After nearly a month I received information the day before the meeting and it was minimal (beach pics and a few bullet points).  The proposal was to spend the majority of the $150k on materials (sand and 500 tons of Rip Rap) and about $24k on equipment rentals. I believe staff is doing the best they can, but it seemed apparent that they do not have expertise in Beach replenishment or rip rap from the answers to my questions. Several citizens contacted me with concerns about prior repairs not being done correctly and that we needed an engineer to review and design.   I’m not sure that council or staff was confident in what was being proposed but the final vote was 5-2 with only Maggie and myself voting no.

FY 26 Budget Update with Department Needs - Each department gave an overview of their added request for the 2026 budget. There were no real budget details outside of these added requests. 

Town clerk - requested an extra $6K to increase town’s portion paid for her healthcare, $2K Audio/ Video moved from prior budget, $14K town clerk software.

HR – $2,900 pre employment background checks, $3,900 drug testing, $11k new HR software, $3K janitorial services. I asked who is currently doing janitorial services and she stated town staff.

Finance – $12,800 part-time customer service rep for additional coverage.

Police - part-time crossing guard $12k

Parks and Rec - signage $2,400, three outdoor movie nights $1,000, new slide for Washington Park $16K, nine hole mini golf $10K, for full-time parks and rec maintenance that will be shared with public works $50K. 

Zoning - $2K for signs, $7,500 office remodel, $1500 headsets and cameras for 3 employees.

Town manager budget – no new requests

Public Works - no new request, focusing on maintenance repairs.

·        Individual meetings will be held with the town manager soon and she suggested we may need a special meeting if we cannot fit all of our discussions in.

Discussion to keep the reading of public comments at meetings - at our February work session the reading of emails during public comment had abruptly stopped. I questioned what happened and the town clerk stated she was directed not to read the comments. I later found out that there was a discussion about this prior to our official council meeting where 3 or 4 members were present.  If that happened it would be considered an illegal meeting because anytime more than two members have a discussion outside of a formal meeting it would be considered illegal.  I mentioned that there was actually a 30-year history of reading public comments so the statement about readings only being done because of COVID was false. I also mentioned the benefits to citizens that were not able to make meetings like elderly, homebound, or working citizens.  Mr. Allison defended the pre meeting discussion in Feb where 2-3 members were left out including me by saying there was no secret meeting.  Maggie raised concerns about how that discussion took place.  I felt like I made a good argument, but in the end, the vote was 3-4 with Robin Schick, Kenny, Allison, Rick Wood and Tom Larson voting NO to allow the reading of public comments.  Lisa, Maggie and I voted YES.

Councilman David Williams

Please email or call with questions or comments:

dwilliams@colonialbeachva.gov

540-604-4335