Councilman Williams Update 8/5/26
- 6 days ago
- 4 min read
Presentation from town interns, CIP prioritization exercise and vote to move $2.6M to the Capital improvement fund.
Kenny Allison was absent and Tom Larson was on vacation so he attended via Zoom
Council Member Reports
Economic Development - Discussing future plans including 2027 boat shows, and a tourism campaign.
Non-Governmental – Community updates.
Parks and Rec - Coming events were announced including 11th Annual Water Festival and 46th Annual Rod Run.
Planning Commission- 36 permits were issued and 120 short term rental applications received.
Public Safety – No Neighborhood Watch this month. Westmoreland had a successful National Night out and CB will hold theirs in Oct.
Mayor – School starts Monday. Neglected property discussion will be held in September.
From the Eyes of the Youth - Presentation from the Town of Colonial Beach Summer Interns: Olivia Cooke, Sariyah Davis, Noah Foster, Hailey Smith - The four summer interns gave a great presentation on the town from the perspective of the younger generation. Their presentation included an overview of the town’s history, the state of our economy, the needs of our youth and they provided some possible solutions including starting a boys and girls club. It’s obvious they put a lot of thought and effort into this presentation so I would suggest you watch it for yourself.
Public Comment
Citizen - Stated that Westmoreland tried the Boys and Girls Club so perhaps the town could investigate lessons learned. Mentioned seven states in the news that were impacted by water supply attacks. Suggested it would be helpful to get an update on the Potomac Crossing/Lennar project.
Citizen - Impressed with the student presentation. Suggested continuing forward with their information. Mention DEQ water study in town being focused on quality but no mention of supply. Ask staff about data availability. Mentioned water sewer increases and said current discounts may not be sufficient for those struggling.
FY2027 Capital Improvement Prioritization Workshop, Mayor Schick - This was our second CIP prioritization meeting since I first suggested we have them a couple years ago. In the past council just got a list and we’d go over them haphazard and later would be presented with projects piece meal versus actually setting priorities. It’s no secret that I’m not a fan of the way the mayor has chosen to conduct these prioritization sessions, but I believe it’s a step in the right direction. Basically, the Mayor split council members and staff into groups and had them put the FY 2027 priorities on large pieces of paper around the room. After this, we were asked to set priority i.e. #1 legal obligation, #2 should do if we have funding and #3 could do. After doing the group activities, the mayor went around putting red dots on the items listed as number ones which she claimed were all mandates requiring no council review or debate. We were given two yellow stickers (high priority), and five blue stickers to put where we thought things were important and staff were given 2 green dots. I raised the concern that there was no real transparency since this was all anonymous. Her answer was we work as a body. I recall being on the debate stage and people being very concerned with my position on priorities, not the “bodies” position. The Mayor said we could put our initials on the dots if we chose to so I did that so people could at least see what I was prioritizing. I also raised a concern that the Dwight Avenue Extension was automatically put as #1 which I didn’t feel was consistent with prior council discussions. It’s a $1.5 million project and we have pipes rotting in the ground on existing streets so why are we building a brand-new road first? I was told we could pay a little over $300K a year over the next several years but that’s still $1.5M any way you slice it. Next staff will compile the information come back to council to present. See attached pictures.
Resolution # 30-26, Amends and Appropriates Fiscal Year 2025-2026 Budget, Transfer Funds from General Fund to Capital Improvement Fund, Lisa Okes, Director of Finance/CFO - Per the new financial policy implemented earlier this year $2.6 million was moved from the general fund to the CIP. I still have concerns about this new policy, but it passed so we will see how it works out. Vote to move the money 6–0.
July 15 meeting - I was out of town for that meeting. The main items on the agenda were the appointment of Angela Lawrence as our new zoning administrator. The County Supervisors raised taxes which primarily impacts the schools which town residents don’t pay for the county schools. There was also a discussion on food trucks/vendors. There currently is no allowance for food trucks to operate on private property. From listening to the discussion, it sounds like town staff needs to go back and do some more research prior to making any decisions.
I was away for a few weeks in July and my email account got locked so I apologized for delayed replies.
Councilman David Williams
Please email or call with questions or comments:
540-604-4335
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