Good afternoon everyone. Welcome to the
Williamsburg City Council meeting of
Thursday, January 8th. Miss McCay, would
you call the role, please?
>> Miss Williams
» Miss Williams
>> here. Miss Ramsey
» here. Miss Ramsey
>> here. Mayor Ponds
» here. Mayor Ponds
>> here.
» here.
>> Vice Mayor Dent
» Vice Mayor Dent
>> here.
» here.
>> Miss Kernier
» Miss Kernier
>> here.
» here.
>> Okay, now that we're all here, um, first
» Okay, now that we're all here, um, first
on our agenda is council minutes. We
have several here for approval. Are
there any modifications or changes
there? A motion.
>> So I move that the meetings from the
» So I move that the meetings from the
December 4th, December 8th, and December
11th meetings be approved.
>> Second,
» Second,
>> Mccay.
» Mccay.
>> Miss Williams.
» Miss Williams.
>> I miss Ramsey.
» I miss Ramsey.
>> I Mayor Ponds.
» I Mayor Ponds.
>> I
» I
>> Vice Mayor Dent.
» Vice Mayor Dent.
>> I miss Kerner.
» I miss Kerner.
>> I
» I
>> Okay. Next is matter of special pres uh
» Okay. Next is matter of special pres uh
special privileges. And this is a
presentation of excellence and service
award to Chris Puit. So Mr. Puit, if you
would join me at the podium, please.
» Well, so every quarter, I guess the city
repres uh recognizes
employees that have gone over and above
and and turn in the barrel, so to speak,
is Mr. Puit. So I have a
to read. So since joining the city of
Williamsburg's park and recreation
recreation department in 2019 as an
athletic programs coordinator, Chris has
consistently demonstrated outstanding
dedication, professionalism, and
leadership. Through his strong work
ethic and ethic and commitment to the
internal and public service, he has
risen through the ranks and now serves
as assistant director. Chris answers the
call to service without hesitation.
frequently volunteering his time and
stepping in whenever support is needed,
often beyond the scope of his role.
Consistently goes over and above and
beyond to provide excellent customer
service, ensuring positive experiences
for staff, partners, and the community.
Known for his collaborative spirit,
pleasant demeanor, and positive
attitude, Chris fosters a workplace
culture grounded in teamwork,
reliability, and mutual respect. He not
only contributes his own efforts but
also shares thoughtful ideas and pro
with that improve the processes and
strengthens the operation encouraging
those around him to succeed. His actions
exemplify Williamsburg the Williamsburg
way and reflects a genuine commitment to
service of others. Chris has earned both
the certified public certified parks and
recreational profession and the
certified playground safety inspectors
credentials through the national
recreation park association
underscoring his commitment to the
highest standards of parks and
recreation. Accordingly, Chris is hereby
recognized for his dedication and
excellence and keeping best traditions
of public service in the city of
Williamsburg. So, congratulations.
>> Get this
This is truly an honor to receive this
award. I want to give a thank you to
Mayor Ponds and members of city council
and uh our city manager, Mr. Trivet, and
my department head, Robbie Hutton, and
all the parks and rec crew. Um over the
last seven years, I've really loved
working for the city and I've gotten to
work on um many different events with
many different uh departments. And the
one thing that really makes this place
special is working with all the other
different departments and how everyone
really joins in for that one common goal
of working together to make sure that we
provide the best services that we can.
So truly proud to be able to serve this
community and uh be a part of this team
and contribute to the city in any way
that I can. Thank you again.
Thank you, Chris, and thank you for all
that you do for this city. It certainly
makes us a better place to live, work,
and play.
Okay. Uh takes us now to public hearing,
uh which is an opportunity for anybody
in the public who would like to come
forward and address city council on any
matters.
>> Sorry, public. No, no public hearings.
» Sorry, public. No, no public hearings.
Gosh, I misread that. Thank you. So now
is not the time. Soon will be the time
for you to come forward. Um reports. Um
first is monthly financial statement.
Miss Damron. Thank you.
» Good afternoon. Um
this month we're going to start uh first
looking at the year-to- date for
December and then we're going to show a
couple of slides uh for the uh year end
results in 25. Uh we're first going to
take a look at the 1% sales tax report.
And as you can see from the slide, we
are at uh as of the end of December,
we're at 34% of budget and we are
showing a 2.3% increase compared to last
year. this time. Um, and I will remind
you that even though we're talking about
December, it'll be two more months.
It'll be February before we see the
results of the Christmas sales. And then
our room tax, we see that we're at 41%
of our budget. We show a um little bit
over 10% increase compared to last year.
However, I'll remind you again that
there are some delinquent collections
that we're pursuing in this and will be
for the next two or three months. Um,
but we'll continue to monitor that. Uh,
and then on our meals tax, we see that
we're at 37% of budget. We show a slight
increase year to date uh to slightly
over half a percent. This one has been
uh up one month and down the next month.
So, for instance, for December, we
showed a 3.8% increase compared to just
the monthly data. Um, but I think the
previous month we were down um maybe
about 2.8%. The month before that we
were up about a little over 6% and then
we were down in the first month. So,
we'll continue to keep a close eye on
that um and keep you a breast of any
changes.
And then on the um $2 lodging tax,
again, uh we see we're at 40% of budget
and a 12% increase compared to last
year. This also includes some delinquent
collections um along with the rooms. The
historic sales tax, we're at 35% of
budget. We show a 5% increase compared
to last year.
And then on our real estate revenue,
we're at 50% of budget, which is exactly
where I like to see us at this point in
time. Uh, and we show a 4.4% increase
compared to last year. this time
on our local tax revenue. Our first uh
side to the left there is a personal
property tax and uh we're at 83% of
budget showing a 19.5% increase compared
to last year. We will, even though the
due dates for both the personal property
and the business property tax was
December 1st, we will continue to
collect on that throughout um between
now and the end of the year. On the
business tax, we're at 87% of the budget
and we're almost a 3% decrease compared
to last year. Um so we will of course
continue to monitor that as well. Now,
um
we're looking at how we landed last year
with our real estate. We're comparing it
to previous years. So, you'll see that
um last year we showed a 7.6%
increase compared to the previous years.
The bars show actual and on the bars we
show the tax rate for the given year
because there were some increases and
then some decreases. And the gold or
orange line um is the budget. So you can
see that we we compare very well our
actual to budget. And um we didn't put
the percentone there, but I can tell you
that the we are trickling down from the
years that we had doubledigit increases.
Um and I think we'll cons continue to
see that smooth out a bit as we move
forward.
And then on our personal or on our
property tax, personal and business, the
dark blue line is the personal property
tax. The light blue is the business
license tax. Um, and you can tell in um
well, in 22 we start to see in personal
property that increase in the um um
automobiles. you really see the jump in
23 which is interesting because we
actually decreased the percent we only
valued at 80% of the JD P's loan value
average loan value in 23 um and then we
see uh still an uptick in 24 now we see
it's starting to level out as we enter
25
um and then you can also tell that the
uh business property stays fairly level
Um that concludes my charts. I will add
that our general fund both revenues and
expenditures are performing as expected.
Um you a couple of outliers um transfers
that we made this year and expenditures
that maybe we didn't make till later in
the year last year, that type of thing.
Um you the utility revenue and
expenditures are trending with budget.
Um but I'm happy to answer any questions
you might have.
>> Thank you, Mr. Dam. I don't have any
» Thank you, Mr. Dam. I don't have any
questions.
>> Yeah, no questions. Thank you.
» Yeah, no questions. Thank you.
>> None for me either. And I really
» None for me either. And I really
appreciate the charts that you show as
an overview. It's very helpful.
>> No questions. Thank you.
» No questions. Thank you.
>> Thank you, Director Dammer.
» Thank you, Director Dammer.
Okay. Uh, next is monthly departmental
operating reports. Mr. Drivet, who do we
have today?
>> Yeah, today we're going to hear from
» Yeah, today we're going to hear from
public works who's going to give us some
updates on some pending projects.
>> Welcome, Mr. Reid.
» Welcome, Mr. Reid.
>> Good afternoon, mayor and members of
» Good afternoon, mayor and members of
city council. Um, as the city manager
said, we're just going to go over a
couple of projects. I know a few um that
you're familiar with.
Our department manages roughly 50
projects at any given time. So, here's
just a handful of what we have going on.
Um, starting with the Capand Well, give
you an overview. Capital Landing Road
improvements. We're going to talk about
Waller Mill Dam. um a few of the pump
station rehabs, the water treatment
filter inspections, and the fuel station
canopy replacement.
As you are all familiar with, we are
still working on the cap landing road
improvements. To um refresh your memory,
what that all included was a water line
replacement. Um we took all of the
overhead utilities and put them
underground. Once we get to
construction, we'll be installing new
curb and gutter, street signs, um
additional sidewalks, obviously
improving the landscaping.
We're going to realign the roadway at
the intersection and that'll actually
become a signalized intersection. It'll
allow for a fourth leg into the sports
complex
and it'll go from the four lanes to two
lane with a road diet in the middle.
So the preliminary engineering phase is
coming to conclusion and the roadblock
that we've been waiting on is we were
finally able to go to rightaway phase
and we're in rightway phase now. Um we
only have one property owner we need to
negotiate with and once we're able to
acquire that rightway we'll be able to
go to the construction phase. We hope to
put the project out to bid in the fall,
which means that construction we hope
will begin in the spring of 2027. Um
that will be the streetscape, curb and
gutter, sidewalk, etc., and the
intersection improvements.
Um, another project that you're aware of
is the Watermel Dam improvements.
VDM reclassified our dam from a low
hazard to a high hazard, requiring us to
make some upgrades and simply we're
going to raise the dam to increase the
capacity of the flood it can handle. Um
we applied to FEMA and VM and were
awarded a grant. Um it's 100% funded
through this grant. Um and the funds
were allocated just this past August. So
we are able to begin the project. 90%
plans are complete and we hope to have
PR plans complete put it out to bid in
the fall and again this project we hope
to begin in spring of 27.
Some of the new projects from last year
were pump stage pump station
rehabilitation.
Um with the money we have for design we
were able to start design on two of
them. That's pump station six and nine.
These upgrades will include any and
everything from new pumps,
drives, piping, um PLC as pro
programmable logic controllers. This the
brains of what tells the pumps what to
do. Um we think we'll have design
complete this fiscal year, so by July 1.
And we think we can start construction
in fall of 26.
the filter inspections out at the plant.
It we're a little past due on these. And
so the first thing we do is we inspect
the
sand media to see if it's still in the
kind of shape we want it to be in. Um,
first the engineers will come and in
inspect the structure of of the filters
themselves and we were actually able to
find the original manufacturer of the
filters and they come out in February
and their report will let us know if
that sand media needs to be replaced if
it does. We'll likely look at uh
granular activated carbon and what that
will do is it absorbs a lot of
contaminants up to including PAS.
eliminating PAS is an issue in the
future. We do foresee needing to change
that media, but we needed the inspection
report to to confirm that.
And lastly, um
the fuel canopy station replacement.
This was approved in last year's budget.
We put it out to bid
um and got bids back in October and it
exceeded the budget. So, we negotiated
with the bidder and we were able to
reduce the scope. We're going to do the
demolition in house and that should
bring it under budget. Um, we're waiting
on a final price from them right now. If
it brings it under budget, we'll demo
the the current canopy in house and we
should be able to start that project in
March.
You have any questions, please let me
know.
>> Uh, thank you, Mr. Reid. Um, you know,
» Uh, thank you, Mr. Reid. Um, you know,
it's it's interesting to hear, uh, you
know, generally have about 50 projects
going on, which is which is quite a
workload. And I I applaud you and your
team for getting all these things done
because in addition to those planned
projects, we have emergencies that
happen, for example, here on South Henry
Street. Yes, sir. Um,
North Henry Street, um, which, you know,
took a lot of time and took men men and
women away from what they generally do.
So, I I applaud you for being able to to
do all that stuff. Uh related to Capital
Landing Road, um
the
going to go out to bid in the fall of 26
and hopefully construction begins on 27.
That that includes the resurfacing of
the street in that time frame. Okay. Um
I know that it's not the most desirable
street now. Um, and if you if you've
traversed it as I have, um,
rattles your dentures out. So, um, so
can't wait to see that come to
completion. So, so thank you for that,
Vice Mayor.
>> Yeah, thank you, Mr. Reed. And the mayor
» Yeah, thank you, Mr. Reed. And the mayor
just touched on the point I wanted to
make is we have a lot of CIS citizens
that talk about that right lane of
Capitol Landing where the water line was
replaced. Um, and I realize it'd be a
huge expense to repave the whole thing,
but I often wonder when when I drove
through there, there seemed like a
couple places where
worse than others that maybe if it's
going to be 27 there, there could be
something done to kind of smooth those
out a little bit.
>> We we can look at the patch and see
» We we can look at the patch and see
where we can make some some
improvements.
>> Thank you.
» Thank you.
>> Yes, sir.
» Yes, sir.
>> Sure.
» Sure.
>> My questions have been answered. Thank
» My questions have been answered. Thank
you. Uh, thank you for the update and I
think everyone's anxious for Capitol
Landing Road to be completed since the
sports center will be opening this
summer and we expect a lot of traffic
there. So, I think anything to um to
mediate some of those concerns would be
great. My question was once construction
starts in the spring of 27, how long do
you anticipate for everything to be
done?
>> 12 to 18 months.
» 12 to 18 months.
be an additional 12 to 18 months.
>> Okay. So, that puts us into like the
» Okay. So, that puts us into like the
middle of 2028.
>> Fortunately, dealing with grant funds,
» Fortunately, dealing with grant funds,
there's a lot of paperwork and it
extends the process significantly.
>> And I know that we were waiting on some
» And I know that we were waiting on some
grant funds from the federal government.
Are we still waiting on those? With this
particular project, we were waiting on
authorization to go to the rightway
phase and we did just recently get that
authorization.
>> So, the project's moving forward again.
» So, the project's moving forward again.
>> Okay, good. And um just out of
» Okay, good. And um just out of
curiosity, pump station six and nine,
where are they?
>> Great question.
» Great question.
Um I believe nine is
this is where
neighborhood names. I would have to get
back to you on that. That's okay. I was
just curious.
>> How many pump stations are there? 13.
» How many pump stations are there? 13.
>> 15. 15. Okay.
» 15. 15. Okay.
>> Well, thank you for the presentation.
» Well, thank you for the presentation.
Um, all my questions have already been
answered, but I just wanted to applaud
you and your team, especially with
juggling so many projects as um at once
and the emergencies we had this year as
well and just the quick action that was
taken with those. So, thank you again.
>> Thank you.
» Thank you.
>> Thank you, Mr. Reid.
» Thank you, Mr. Reid.
>> Okay. City manager report. Mr. Trivet,
» Okay. City manager report. Mr. Trivet,
anything? City attorney Michelle,
>> nothing today.
» nothing today.
>> All right. Now, the open form that I I
» All right. Now, the open form that I I
promised you earlier. Uh, so this is
open form is an opportunity for anybody
to like to come forward to speak to city
council on matters uh of on their mind.
I see we have one willing participant,
Mr. Kirkland. Welcome.
Thank you, Mayor Ponds, members of
council. Ron Kirkland, Williamsburg
Hotel Motel Association, 101A Richmond
Road, Williamsburg, Virginia. Um,
nobody likes taking money out and paying
taxes, whether you're a individual or a
business. But over the last 20 plus
years, what I have enjoyed is driving to
work to Williamsburg every day on nicely
maintained streets and safe streets. I
don't have to worry about getting
mugged. We have lots of services and
events and really a high quality of life
here in our our little city. And you
know those things have to get paid for.
And so
during the discussion of how those those
revenues gets raised, uh we had a lot of
great inclusive conversations with city
manager, members of council, staff, and
through all that um we were able to
avoid property tax increase for our
industry, which has a real negative
effect on the bottom line. and we uh
came to a solution where we can uh pass
those uh expenses on to to consumers who
may come from out of town to to come on
vacation and that was really good. Um
over time we were able to reduce the
amount of the the sales tax. We got a
dealer discount on credit card fees.
Those are both very good. And uh
ultimately I think we
city has come up with a model that's
going to get the revenue that you need.
It's not going to have a tremendous
impact on local folks, particularly the
lodging industry. And I just want to say
thank you for the the process. It is
very thoughtful and and well done. And
we look forward to continuing working
with the city in the future. Thank you,
Mr.
>> Kirkland. Would anybody else like to
» Kirkland. Would anybody else like to
come forward?
» That's Fairbanks. Welcome.
Sabrina Fairbanks, 119, Berkeley Lane,
Walnut Hills. Good afternoon, mayor,
vice mayor, members of council. Uh it's
my understanding you're going to vote
today on increasing uh revenue for the
city through these the lodging,
admissions, and meal taxes. And that the
crux of this is to help fund the CIP
projects which are on the books. Um,
business owner friends have shared with
us that they would like to see the
property owners, residents help share
this tax burden. While the resident
property owners think that with the
rising the raise the rising assessments
and uh increase in utilities that
we're we are helping share the burden uh
in terms of revenue. Um the one thing
that we can agree on the business owners
and the residents is that um
we would like the city to look more at
cutting the expenditures on the CIP side
of things rather than continuing just to
how can many taxes how much tax revenue
can we generate. Uh some of these CIP
projects have been on the books for
years. their ideas which were generated
uh from old surveys 2017.
They're based on surveys uh from the
future festivals which non-residents
completed. Um so it might be time to
look at how many years are we going to
kick these things down the road and try
to figure out how to fund them. Uh I
believe the city manager has been quoted
as saying the increased taxes will be
passed on to the visitors rather than
the businesses. Uh just thinking about
the restaurants, I don't understand this
because um minimum wages are going up.
You know, the cost of food, from what
they tell me is rising.
And I don't when they say it's going to
be on the visitors, I feel like it's
going to be a burden to the businesses.
And I think that they have made that
very clear at all the meetings that I've
attended.
And in terms of just thinking that we'll
generate this revenue from the tourists
or from the visitors, I just wanted to
share a personal story.
So I brought a prop.
This is the size cup. I was at a
conference in Virginia Beach in
September and the uh cocktail hour came.
We went, we paid our $50 and we thought
that would certainly that will come with
a couple of drink tokens. No. So, they
filled about half of this cup up with
wine and it was $10.
And I thought, well, you know, it's a
conference and that's okay. It's good
for tourism for Virginia Beach. So, we
put my credit card out for the $10 half
a cup of wine and the total was uh
$13.70.
And I thought in my mind I'm thinking,
how do I tactfully ask if that's tax and
tip uh for a $10 cup of wine? And before
I could even think about how to uh pose
that question, the bartender said it's
all tax.
So I'm assuming he'd been hearing this
and he said city council passed
something over the summer and they're
calling it a tourism tax or something
like that. He wasn't sure what the name
of the tax was. So, if you can imagine,
everybody at this conference could
afford it, but we I don't know one
person who went back for a second cup of
wine. And I'm I'm very worried that
these taxes that's what's going to
happen. Even the visitors are going to
say, you know, this is excessive. And uh
people were talking about it. And then
the mandator the attendees of the at
this mandatory conference went to their
classes and spouses others uh went to
the grocery store and went to drove to
total wine and bought wine. So I mean
that kind of tax killed that bar
business for that conference. So that's
what I wanted to share with you and I
hope you will consider lowering these
taxes if voting for them at all and then
really in the moving forward let's look
at some of these CIP projects because
they just may be too expensive for our
small community. Thank you.
Anybody else?
Seeing none, I'll close the open form
and we'll move on to unfinished
business. And first is consideration and
action regarding proposed ordinance
25-02 to amend section 18237
and article 2 of section 18-271
and 18-272
18-273
and 18- 282 articles 8 of chapter 18 of
the code of uh to increase the levied
levy uh transient lodging tax and
prepared foods and beverage tax
specify the distribution of the portion
of transient occupancy tax provided by
the historic triangle marketing fund.
Miss Shelton,
>> so during council's budget process last
» so during council's budget process last
year, council held public hearings
regarding increasing the tax rates for
the transient occupancy tax and also for
the prepared food and beverage tax. Um
the both of those rates were advertised
at 7%. After the public hearing and as
part of city council's discussion, staff
um was uh directed to lower the rate for
meals tax to six and a half percent and
also to include a deduction from the tax
paid for these taxes of 2%. So each
month the the amount of the tax 2% of
the amount of the tax will be deducted
from the bill. Those changes are
included in the ordinance. council
postponed consideration and action on
these this ordinance until today and so
they are in front of you for your
consideration.
>> Good. Thank you. Okay. So, yeah, we we
» Good. Thank you. Okay. So, yeah, we we
had uh lots of conversations about this
back in February, March, April, May,
June of of last year with the
understanding that we would be taking
this action today. And I feel like um
with all the conversation that we had
the needs of the city um at the time we
certainly felt that that is this
decision was best way to meet the needs
of the city. So I'm prepared to move
forward.
>> Mayor.
» Mayor.
>> Thank you mayor. Yeah. I mean we've had
» Thank you mayor. Yeah. I mean we've had
a lot of discussion about this and as
one of the speakers pointed out nobody
likes a new tax or an increased tax. Um,
but also back in those discussions,
there were several people that reached
out and talked about increasing real
estate tax and and that's something that
council considered, but it was a
significant real estate tax increase to
make up the revenue that um would
generate from these additional taxes.
And based on some of the conversation
that took place back then, as uh Miss
Shelton indicated, some of those some of
that was reduced and we included the the
2% rebate for uh the credit cards. So, I
think we there's been healthy
discussions, but we're at a point where
we approved a budget based on on these
revenues coming in. So, um I'm prepared
to support it as well.
>> That was well said. I don't really have
» That was well said. I don't really have
anything to add. We had a lot of
difficult conversations about this when
we passed the budget and the budget was
passed with these with these in mind and
so my position hasn't changed uh since
then.
>> Thank you, M.
» Thank you, M.
>> Um, thank you. I would echo what Miss
» Um, thank you. I would echo what Miss
Kerner said and that I think the mayor
and vice mayor u stated the situation
well and I'm prepared to to uh vote for
this as well.
I'm also prepared to move forward with
this decision. Um, as it's been
previously stated, we've had a lot of
conversations, especially I guess back
last budget season um during that cycle.
Um, it's not the most exciting thing
moving forward, but definitely
necessary.
» Comments? Is there a motion? So I move
that city council adopt proposed
ordinance 25-02.
>> Second
» Second
McKay
>> Williams.
» Williams.
>> I miss Ramsey.
» I miss Ramsey.
>> Hi.
» Hi.
>> Mayor Ponds.
» Mayor Ponds.
>> Hi.
» Hi.
>> Vice Mayor Dent.
» Vice Mayor Dent.
>> Hi.
» Hi.
>> Miss Kerner.
» Miss Kerner.
>> I.
» I.
>> Item B uh under all business is
» Item B uh under all business is
consideration and action regarding
proposed ordinance 25-03
to add article 7 admissions tax to
chapter 18 of the code of uh city code.
Miss Shelton.
>> Similarly, city council considered this
» Similarly, city council considered this
item during the budget session. It was
advertised as a rate of 10% on an
admissions that's paid in the city.
Council requested that we make some
modifications to that, too. So, we've
created classes as part of the
ordinance. The class school events are
exempt under the ordinance in front of
you. The tax is 10% on the first $10,
which is what council directed staff to
provide at this meeting. council
postponed consideration and action of
that item again to this meeting and so
it's in front of city council for your
consideration.
>> So 10% on the first $10 is essentially a
» So 10% on the first $10 is essentially a
dollar. Um okay good. So my my position
is the same as I stated on the previous
agenda item. So I'll turn it over to
>> I have nothing to add.
» I have nothing to add.
>> Nothing to add. And the only thing I
» Nothing to add. And the only thing I
would add is that I feel we we did a a
good made it a good decision applying a
cap for the $10 because I don't think a
dollar really creates a burden on um on
people who are coming for various
admissions.
>> Yes, I'm prepared to move forward as
» Yes, I'm prepared to move forward as
well.
>> Is there a motion?
» Is there a motion?
>> So I move that city council adopt
» So I move that city council adopt
proposed ordinance 25-03.
>> Second.
» Second.
>> M
» M
>> Williams I. Miss Ramsey,
» Williams I. Miss Ramsey,
>> I
» I
>> Mayor Ponds.
» Mayor Ponds.
>> Hi,
» Hi,
>> Vice Mayor Dent.
» Vice Mayor Dent.
>> I miss Kerner.
» I miss Kerner.
>> Hi.
» Hi.
>> Okay. New business. Uh item A is
» Okay. New business. Uh item A is
consideration and action regarding
proposed resolution number 26-01
amending the public assistance fund
budget for the city of Williamsburg,
Virginia for the fiscal year ending June
30th, 2026 and authorizing the payment
of said grant proceeds to Leticia's
house. Miss Damron.
» Yes. Um the state's 26 budget contained
a 300,000 grant to Leticia's House,
which is a nonprofit located in James
City County. Um however, the budget
language specifically said that the city
would uh pass through that grant. We've
worked with the state to get it to be a
pass through grant, meaning we're not
having to monitor the expenditures. And
so we're asking for city council to
approve resolution 26-1 authorizing the
city manager to pay the G grant monies
that are received from the state over um
to Leticia's house.
>> Thank you, Mr. uh Damron. So I I presume
» Thank you, Mr. uh Damron. So I I presume
I obviously money going to Leticia's
house will serve a good purpose. The
grant couldn't just go to Leticia's
house. It had to come through a
municipality, correct?
>> So they chose the city of Williamsburg.
» So they chose the city of Williamsburg.
>> Right. Okay. Um, you know, absent have
» Right. Okay. Um, you know, absent have
having to provide any oversight um and
or manage the funds, I think just simply
acting as a conduit as a pass through uh
is certainly fine for me.
>> Yeah, I think I agree. I just curious
» Yeah, I think I agree. I just curious
about why they selected Williamsburg if
it's located in James City County. If
you have any insight into that.
>> I I really don't. Uh we were kind of
» I I really don't. Uh we were kind of
curious too and our first request was to
see if we could change that but we
couldn't. Um but I will say that uh we
and our human services director Wendy
Evans worked with the state department
of social services um to to get language
that we felt comfortable with.
>> I think Mr. Vice Mayor um just so the
» I think Mr. Vice Mayor um just so the
council knows I think the issue's been
fixed. This will be a one-time thing.
Um, I really think probably this was
just an error by the general assembly. I
mean, we're all familiar with the
concept that a lot of people don't
realize if they live in James City
County or the city of Winssburg. I think
that's what happened here. Um, but this
is a one-time grant as far as I
understand.
>> Okay. Thank you.
» Okay. Thank you.
>> Yes. No questions. Thank you for the
» Yes. No questions. Thank you for the
clarification.
>> I have no questions either.
» I have no questions either.
>> Yes. Thank you. No questions.
» Yes. Thank you. No questions.
>> Okay. Is there a motion? Thank you, Miss
» Okay. Is there a motion? Thank you, Miss
Damron.
>> So, I move that city council adopt
» So, I move that city council adopt
resolution 26-01.
Second,
>> M.
» M.
>> Mccay.
» Mccay.
>> M.
» M.
>> Williams. I
» Williams. I
>> Miss Ramsey.
» Miss Ramsey.
>> Hi.
» Hi.
>> Mayor Ponds.
» Mayor Ponds.
>> Hi.
» Hi.
>> Vice Mayor Dent.
» Vice Mayor Dent.
>> Hi.
» Hi.
>> Miss Kerner. Hi.
» Miss Kerner. Hi.
>> Okay. Item B is consideration and action
» Okay. Item B is consideration and action
regarding the canopy repairs and
replacement to the columns located at
the Williamsburg Transportation Center.
Welcome back, Mr. Reid.
>> Good afternoon. Um,
» Good afternoon. Um,
back in June, someone backed into one of
the columns out front of the
transportation center. We put it through
insurance and um, got a quote, but
further inspection revealed a lot of
moisture damage. Um, and so we had a
structural group come out and do a full
inspection. And I have some pictures and
they found a lot of um, rotten wood.
that simply needs to be replaced. And so
we had David, we asked David Nice to
give us a quote on the repairs.
Um they provided a quote. It's an
emergency procurement and so we would
like to move forward with the repairs.
Um
the cost is $263,700,
but that does not include the original
insurance claim. That one column was
40,000. Um, so the total cost of
everything is just north of 300,000 and
we will follow all ARB requirements in
the repair.
>> Um,
» Um,
I guess good and bad. Glad we were able
to get some insurance money. I'm sorry
somebody bumped back into the the
columns. Um, it's good that we found the
damage before it continued to get worse.
Yes, sir. Will these repairs um to the
structure internal to the canopy also
include fixing the source of the leak on
the roof?
>> Yes, sir. Yeah. The flashing and
» Yes, sir. Yeah. The flashing and
you see the um the shingles there and
the flashing. A lot of that is the issue
and that'll be repaired.
>> Thank you.
» Thank you.
Yeah, I mean obviously looking at the
photos, um we don't have an option to to
fix to fix the damage. Um I guess
unfortunate as the mayor said that
someone hit the column, but fortunate
that they did at a time where we've been
able to find this damage before it got
any worse.
» Yes, I spent some time reading this
report and I learned a new use the word
sistering. I did not know that that was
a word. I I was like, "Huh, I learned
something new." Uh, but no, I really do
I it is one of those things where a good
thing we found out about it before it
got any worse. And noting that the um,
you know, going forward, you know, they
did note that, you know, routine
maintenance would have caught this
earlier. So, it kind of also is a
reminder like, you know, keep keep an
eye on things before they before they
get this bad. So, I'm sure that that
will happen going forward, too.
I have no further comments. Uh thank you
for the presentation and bringing this
to our attention.
>> Also have no further comments. Um you
» Also have no further comments. Um you
know looking at the pictures, it's
definitely looks like something that um
needs to be repaired. So thank you for
the information today.
>> Thank you.
» Thank you.
>> Maybe now you have 51 projects you have
» Maybe now you have 51 projects you have
to take.
>> Is there a motion? So, I move that city
» Is there a motion? So, I move that city
council authorize the city manager to
execute a purchase order authorizing
David Nice Builders to perform the
repairs on the transportation center for
the not to exceed price of $263,700.
» Second.
>> Okay.
» Okay.
>> Miss Williams.
» Miss Williams.
>> I miss Ramsey.
» I miss Ramsey.
>> I Mayor Ponds.
» I Mayor Ponds.
>> Hi.
» Hi.
>> Vice Mayor Dent.
» Vice Mayor Dent.
>> I miss Kernair.
» I miss Kernair.
>> I
» I
>> Okay. Item C under new business is
» Okay. Item C under new business is
consideration and action regarding
tourism promotion contingency funds
request from the uh Virginia Dossent
Exchange, the Virginia Black Film
Festival, and the Muscarelli Museum of
Arts. Miss Gbala, welcome.
>> Uh good afternoon uh and happy new year,
» Uh good afternoon uh and happy new year,
Mayor Ponds, members of city council. Uh
today we'll be reviewing three tourism
promotion contingency fund requests as
you just mentioned. Um they are from the
Virginia Dose Exchange, the Virginia
Black Film Festival, and the Muscarelli
Museum of Art. Uh, as a refresher, this
program was adopted in 2015 and was
designed to increase overnight
visitation to the city by providing
startup funding for new projects or
funding to expand or enhance existing
projects. It is not designed to provide
year-over-year support for reoccurring
projects. Examples of funded uh projects
include the Oxford com conference in
FY23, a feasibility study for an LPV in
FY24 and in FY25. There was a VA1 VA
250s a common cause to all conference, a
vendor payment processing system for
Williamsburg downtown and the
Michelangelo exhibit at the Muscarelli.
Uh for this current fiscal year, the
TPCF budget is $150,000, none of which
has been expended so far.
The next slide shows you a snapshot of
the program through a monetary lens um
with over half a million dollars being
awarded to date for each year. The teal
bars show the program budget. The yellow
bars show the total funding requested
and the peach bars uh show the total uh
awarded funds. You'll note that last
year was the first year since FY20 in
which all funds were expended indicating
a gradual recovery after the early COVID
years.
Well, uh, today you'll be considering
three applications. The graph shows four
applicants for FY26.
One additional application was submitted
after the deadline to be considered
today, but uh, we were we were able to
include it in the data for this slide.
The first request uh, for review comes
from the Virginia Dose and Exchange.
They're requesting $8,610
to support their conference taking place
March 8th through 10th. This is a bi is
a bianial conference that rotates its
location throughout the state. This
year's event is in the city and is being
consider is being co-hosted by the art
museums of cloning williamsburg and the
muscarelli museum of art. Uh the first
conference actually took place in 1990
at the muscarelli.
The event is expected to have 150 to 200
attendees. Williamsburg as the host city
has generated a lot of excitement and
the conference planners are encouraging
attendees to bring their families to
experience the area while they're here.
They are also placing a strong emphasis
on the 250th commemoration and will
feature two VA250 speakers. Other
partners include Virginia Tourism
Corporation, Greater Williamsburg
Chamber of Commerce. Uh
the total budget for this conference is
$31,065.
Once the application is submitted, um, a
staff committee meets to review the
request to make a recommendation. The
staff recommendation for the Virginia
Dose Exchange is to award full funding,
um, of $8,610.
The next request comes from the Virginia
Black Film Festival. They are requesting
$50,000 to support the event, which is
taking place February 19th through 22nd
at the Kimble Theater. This is the
festival's third year, but the first
year in Williamsburg. Previously, it was
held in Hampton. Um, and I will note
that the um event organizer prior to the
Virginia Black Film Festival um spent 10
years producing a film festival in
Miami. So, he has uh experience.
This year's theme for the Virginia Black
Film Festival is uh Black Excellence,
past, present, and future in celebration
of Black History Month. The festival
includes 15 events over four days with
an ant anticipated total attendance of
3600. The schedule features guest
speakers, screenings, celebrity guests,
including actor Keith David, who will be
receiving a Lifetime Achievement Award,
and a Gala Award show, all designed to
put black filmmakers and entrepreneurs
in the forefront and accessible to the
community and with each other. As with
the Virginia Do Exchange, there is also
a focus on the 250th commemoration,
which will uh celebrate the essential
role African-Americans played in the
origin of this nation and the importance
of telling those stories. The festival
is being presented in partnership with
Visit Williamsburg and with a total um
budget for the event is uh $98,790.
Staff recommends funding in the amount
of $15,000 which is level with visit
Williamsburg sponsorship.
And the final request for review comes
from the Muscarelli Museum. They are
asking for $84,350
in TPCF funding to support its abstract
expressionists, the women exhibition,
which opens later this month on January
23rd and runs through April 26th. The
exhibit features nearly 50 works by 32
pioneering women artists from their
Christian Levit collection and is
already garing garnering national
attention as this is its East Coast
debut.
The funding request is specifically for
marketing as outlined on the slide
before you and includes paid
advertising, public media sponsor
sponsorships, and coverage in major
publications. Last fiscal year, the
Muskill received TP TPCF grant for the
Michelangelo exhibit for just over
$95,000.
The total budget for the abstract
expressionist exhibit is $262,895
and staff uh recommends awarding funding
in the amount of $25,000 which is the
premier sponsorship level
because these uh three because we have
three funding requests today. Um here's
a quick summary for your review. The
yellow box on the right shows the FY26
budget, the total dollar amount
requested today. Okay. So, it does not
include that fourth application and the
sum of the staff recommendations. As a
reminder, any unspent funds for the
fiscal year do roll back into the TDF.
Um, thank you. And at this time, I'm
happy to answer any questions that you
may have. I know we have at least two
representatives. Oh, three. We have all
three um applications represented today.
Um, so if you have any questions that I
cannot answer, I'm happy to bring them
up.
>> Well, well, thank you, Miss Corbala. Uh
» Well, well, thank you, Miss Corbala. Uh
just just as a reminder, you know,
number of years ago, council
um had the foresight to develop the
tourism contingency fund for this exact
type of purpose. We wanted to create
opportunities that would um assist
events come to Williamsburg to help
offer unique opportunities for
businesses to bring exhibits and and do
various shows and and ultimately in an
effort to drive overnight visitation,
you know, to help um help the hotels,
help the restaurants and just spending
in Williamsburg. But as you can see from
these uh events and some of the ones
that we've supported in the past, they
are great cultural activities for our
residents to take place. And I I think
back just to the Michelangelo exhibit
that was here uh last year at the
Muskerelli. I think that was met with
with great fanfare and and I know lots
of people here in the city were able to
take advantage of that. So um I I fully
support this and look forward to having
having these three events in town.
Mayor,
>> thank you, Miss Corbal. And I agree. Um,
» thank you, Miss Corbal. And I agree. Um,
all three of these events fit exactly
what council's intent was when this was
developed. And I really appreciate the
time that staff puts into reviewing
these recommendation, these
applications, and coming back with
recommendations to council and look
forward to all three of these events and
and the people that they can attract to
Williamsburg.
>> Yes. Thank you. Uh, this is, you know,
» Yes. Thank you. Uh, this is, you know,
all wonderful. Yes. And thank you to you
and your and your team for everything
you've done. I did have a couple of
questions. You said there's one
additional application that's still is
that in the the review stage, your all's
review stage right now?
>> Yes, it will be disseminated to the
» Yes, it will be disseminated to the
staff committee and then we'll meet pri
and hopefully it'll be going before city
council at the February.
>> Okay. And then is it possible that even
» Okay. And then is it possible that even
more applications will come? Is there a
hard deadline or is it a rolling
application? as long as they meet the
deadlines. I guess the final deadline
would be late May to meet the June um
city council meeting. But um but yes, as
long as there is funding there, then
anybody can apply.
>> Great. Yeah. So that's that's good to
» Great. Yeah. So that's that's good to
know that you know these three that
we're considering right now that that
means there could be more events that we
learn about that apply uh going forward
before the end of the end of the fiscal
year. So um that's exciting to think
about as well. and I definitely think
that what we have been presented with
today are all excellent um to know that
they're coming to town and happy to
support them in this way.
>> Thank you for the presentation. I too am
» Thank you for the presentation. I too am
pleased to support all of these. I think
that the contingency fund, as the mayor
has said, has really done its intent. uh
not only has it brought different um
events and helped us sponsor different
events, but they've all been very
diverse throughout the years. And I
think this is um evident for this year,
too. I think one thing we do want to
keep in in mind is with 2026 being the
250th, there might be some surprise
applications towards the end of the
fiscal year. And so I think it's helpful
to have some funding left in the fund uh
for for anything that might come up. I
also really appreciate the collaboration
with other partners, particularly Visit
Williamsburg, who's uh partnering on two
of these, and I appreciate the staff's
uh review and the way that you've
approached these and and brought your
results and recommendations to council.
Thank you.
Thank you for the presentation and I'm
pleased to support all three projects as
well, especially when we think about um
fostering overnight visitation and um
bringing in different conferences,
events, and festivals to Williamsburg as
well. So, thank you to you and your team
um and your recommendations.
>> Your motion. So, I move that city
» Your motion. So, I move that city
council award tourism promotion
contingency fund grants to the Virginia
Dose and Exchange in the amount of
$8,610,
the Virginia Black Film Festival in the
amount of $15,000 at the director
sponsorship level, and the Muscarelli
Museum of Art in the amount of $25,000
at the premier sponsor sponsorship
level.
>> Second,
» Second,
>> MC, would you call the RO?
» MC, would you call the RO?
>> Miss Williams.
» Miss Williams.
>> I miss Ramsey. Hi,
» I miss Ramsey. Hi,
>> Mayor Ponds.
» Mayor Ponds.
>> Hi,
» Hi,
>> Vice Mayor Dent.
» Vice Mayor Dent.
>> Hi, Mr.
» Hi, Mr.
>> Kier. I
» Kier. I
>> thank you. Uh, takes us to item 10,
» thank you. Uh, takes us to item 10,
which is close session. And I believe we
have close session today.
>> We do. I move to go into close session
» We do. I move to go into close session
pursuant to section 2.2-3711
of the Code of Virginia for the purpose
of discussing one legal matter per
subparagraph 8 for the purpose of
consultation on specific legal matters
requiring the provision of legal advice
by council concerning ARB guidelines.
Second.
>> Okay.
» Okay.
>> Miss Williams.
» Miss Williams.
>> I,
» I,
>> Miss Ramsey. Hi,
» Miss Ramsey. Hi,
>> Mayor Pon. Hi,
» Mayor Pon. Hi,
>> Vice Mayor Dent. Hi,
» Vice Mayor Dent. Hi,
>> Miss Kernair. I
» Miss Kernair. I
>> Okay, we will go into close session and
» Okay, we will go into close session and
reconvene thereafter and
go from there. Thank you.
Miss McCay,
>> Miss Williams,
» Miss Williams,
>> I.
» I.
>> Miss Ramsey,
» Miss Ramsey,
>> hi.
» hi.
>> Mayor Ponds.
» Mayor Ponds.
>> Hi.
» Hi.
>> Vice Mayor Dent.
» Vice Mayor Dent.
>> Hi.
» Hi.
>> Miss Kerner.
» Miss Kerner.
>> I.
» I.
>> Okay. Nothing else. Is there a motion to
» Okay. Nothing else. Is there a motion to
adjurnn?
>> I move that we adjourn.
» I move that we adjourn.
>> Second.
» Second.
>> M. Pay.
» M. Pay.
>> Miss. Williams.
» Miss. Williams.
>> I.
» I.
>> Miss. Ramsey.
» Miss. Ramsey.
>> Hi.
» Hi.
>> Mayor Pond.
» Mayor Pond.
>> Hi.
» Hi.
>> Vice Mayor Dent.
» Vice Mayor Dent.
>> Hi.
» Hi.
>> M. Kier. I
» M. Kier. I
>> we are journ. Thank you all.