Councilman Williams Update 6/18/25

Card signature authority, Town manager updates, Floor area ratio, Pier lease agreements, Tax Collections and $500k in additional wastewater treatment plant expenses were all items on the agenda.

Approval of Minutes: March 15, 2023 - In these minutes from 2023 we actually discussed the trash tax from a couple years ago. Vote 7-0 to approve.

Resolution #17-25, Authorization for Signature Cards - Most town financial transactions do not require wet signatures but in the rare occasion they’re needed this gives the town manager, mayor, vice mayor, and others, the ability to sign on the town’s behalf.

Council Member Announcements

Public safety – the neighborhood watch meeting was canceled.

Planning Commission – Town hired a new planner for the zoning office; he has 20 years of experience.

Finance – reminders for utility bill while there is no longer a need for a physical decal, the fee is required and includes free resident parking.

Schools - FY25 26 additional funds were added to the budget $459K, $231K with increases of $80K and $40K in the towns local match. Issues with the town using incorrect calculation method which has since been resolved. Mandate to remove artificial ingredients from foods by 2027, slight improvement in chronic absenteeism. 

Economic development – their meeting was June 10, they discussed parking and provided feedback to the Planning Commission.

Parks and Rec- mentioned the festival and thanked public works, there’s a triathlon this weekend, there will be July 3rd fireworks, July 11th coffee walk. Reminder, no dogs allowed on the beach during the summer months.

Public Works – kudos to public works, Kenny’s niece Olivia Cooke won Miss CB, Congrats!

Mayor – the festival and car show were successful, T-ball Field had ribbon-cutting, Save the Bay Day; 900 pounds of trash was recovered, Juneteenth on Thursday.

Town Manager Updates

Sewer Plant Update, John Simmons, Inboden Environmental Services - We had 3 rain events in May. E.coli is high and the nitrates were a bit higher as well. Equipment issues continue to be a problem. Wood asked how much longer 24/7 plant coverage was needed; the answer was that’s a public works call.  I asked about the inflow and infiltration status answer; we were told we should have a report soon. They also stated that enforcement of homeowner violations allowing rain water into the sewer system may require council action.

New hires – we have three new employees, a code enforcement officer, parking attendant and new accreditation manager.

North Beach update – still waiting to hear back on the grant but looking at options for a Plan B.

Broadband Council – study confirmed connectivity issues, so we are looking into additional options for the towns broadband service.

• She noted there are two parks and rec commission vacancies if anybody would like to apply.

• Board of zoning appeal members will need to be appointed by August.

Westmoreland County Board of Supervisors, Mr. Trivett, District V Supervisor - attended the 25-year library recognition. County also needs a BZA member. Northern Neck Planning Commission meeting will be held in Colonial Beach this year. County will be getting a new web address. County doing away with tire, brush, electronics fees. Kudos to Chris in Public Works

Colonial Beach Public Schools, Dr. Addo, Superintendent - New teachers will start back July 28, all other teachers will be back in August. Mentioned their parade participation. Now in 3rd week of summer school. Preparing for new school year. One bid received for the high school front entrance. High teacher retention rate high which is good for staff.

Dodson Development Group, Duke Dodson, President & CEO - Over five years ago the mayor and prior council members signed a deal with Mr. Dodson to sell eight town properties at a significant discount with the agreement that he would do specific things that would benefit the town.  Phase 3B (shops and condos between the beach shop and bathrooms on the boardwalk) is underway. Phase 4 was supposed to be a boutique hotel.  Mr. Dodson stated a hotel is no longer feasible so he is proposing two options which the citizens get to weigh in on. Option #1 build 4,000-8,000 retail with 10-35 condos above leaving the back half for paid public parking for a time period of his choosing (at first, he said indefinitely, but when I asked for him to clarify, he said it may not be indefinitely). Option #2 pay full retail price for the property and do whatever he wants with it.  I will do a more thorough write up on this, but I believe the town citizens need to decide what should be done with what is currently 180 parking spots that will be up in the air at some point. 

Public Comment

Citizen - thanked Mr. Trivett, mentioned there will be a county sticker versus hanging tag. Asked about the $2.5 million going back to ARPA. Question why we were just finding out about the $500K waste water expenses at the end of the fiscal year surprising!

Citizen – stated she was speaking on behalf of her dad and uncle with 110 years of history in CB. Raise concern about the pier lease not defining conditions of transfer. Concerns about the language new versus existing. The agreement could reduce property values.

Citizen – downtown Colonial Beach has received full main street status. Selling CB flags at Hawthorne Mercantile, CB creative and other locations. CB Creative is doing a fundraiser selling painted Adirondack chairs. They will also be doing pottery classes.

Citizen – there is an issue with delayed minutes. There were only two people at the FAR meeting, Town should advertise better. Wastewater treatment plant he doesn’t trust, don’t want to hear worse elsewhere. DEQ update delayed. Why $500K added to sewer expenditures in the last two weeks of the fiscal year seems irrational. Why are parking tickets high?  Should look at it holistically; are returning away potential visitors? Pier lease, what is our goal? Concerns over Dodson making a large change look at money before making decision.

Resolution #16-25, Approves Lease Agreement for Dock/Pier Construction on Town Property, Powell Duggan, Town Attorney (Public Hearing was held on June 4, 2025) - this has been discussed numerous times. We were given an overview by the town attorney which included: renewals are at the town discretion and many are coming due.

• We decided to have the inspection language be simplified.

• There was consensus to give 100% 5 yr discount for homeowners that address shoreline erosion issues which primarily pertains to Monroe Bay side.

• We clarified the language for transfer of lease if property sold shall be granted versus may at town discretion.

• It was clarified that the person signing a lease is leasing the property across the street from their property lines. 

• I suggested I did not support a 60% increase in the lease fee and suggested the most I would support was a minimal increase of $50 a year vs the + $150 proposed by Wood.  Lisa supported $50 max as well.  Mr. Wood suggested he would compromise at +$100 a year.  The final vote was $100 a year increase, ($1750 5 yr lease vs $1250 currently) - Wood, Larson, Sanford, Schick and Grandstaff supported $100.  I wanted lower and Kenny wanted higher.  

The town attorney was instructed to add the changes and bring a clean copy of the agreement to town Council for a vote at our next meeting.  If there are any concerns, citizens still have time to bring them up to their elected representatives.

PUBLIC HEARING Ordinance No. 770, Amends Article 20 (Definitions)of the Zoning Ordinance to add a definition to the term “Floor Area Ratio (FAR)” and modify the definition of the tern “Garage, Private”, Darla Odom, Interim Director of Community Development & Zoning - the discussion to increase the house size (FAR) on a building lot has taken place in public numerous times.  Council agreed with the planning commission that the only change should be to allow garages not to be included in the FAR and would no longer count against the house size. A prior PC member did comment that this exercise i.e. FAR discussion was a complete waste and not necessary since the zoning administrator already has the authority to not count the garage. I did ask that council direct the zoning administrator to put out clear instructions for builders so they know exactly how the FAR is to be calculated/interpreted (Council agreed). Final vote 7–0.

Taxing Authority Consulting Services (TACS) Contract Amendment for Delinquent Personal Property Taxes, Lisa Okes, Director of Finance/CFO Resolution #18-25, Amends and Appropriates Fiscal Year 2024-2025, ARPA Fund, Lisa Okes, Director of Finance/CFO - the town currently uses a private company to collect delinquent real estate taxes, and asked if council would approve the same process for personal property tax collection. We were told that the company charges fees directly to the person paying the taxes, so there was no cost to the town. Council agreed and voted 7-0

There was a vote to move $2.59M of DEQ reimbursements back to the ARPA fund account. Vote 7-0. 

Resolution #19-25, Amends and Appropriates Fiscal Year 2024-2025 Budget, Sewer/WWTP Fund, Lisa Okes, Director of Finance/CFO - this was a request to add $500k back to the water sewer fund to cover additional cost incurred throughout the year.  The water sewer fund currently has $7.5M and the town is required to have $7M which is a 50% minimum balance requirement.  We were told the additional cost was for engineering services $202K, in Inboden contract $122K, mid Atlantic group $28K, WQIF fine $23K, DEQ penalty $6700, sludge removal $42K, and Chemicals $73K.  I have some serious concerns and could not support this without more details. We were given a list of the additional costs during this discussion so we had no advance time to review the facts. To me it is not acceptable that we wait until the very end of the fiscal year to have a discussion of short falls that were occurring throughout the entire year. The vote to approve the $500k was 5–2 with me and Lisa voting NO.  Robin, Kenny, Tom, Rick, Maggie voted YES.  

• There are some red flags here that need to be addressed. We cannot run our town finances like this and be successful, i.e. accumulating 1/2 a million in additional expenses, and waiting until the last minute to pay for it.  I believe Citizen deserve better.

Councilman David Williams

Please email or call with questions or comments:

dwilliams@colonialbeachva.gov

540-604-4335