[0:03] All right, everybody. I got six o'clock,
so we're going to rock and roll here.
[0:10] As always, I'd like to welcome everybody
who is in person and those that are
[0:14] viewing online. Uh, thank you for tuning
in to your local government. I ask
[0:19] everyone that's here in the room to take
a second and check your cell phone and
[0:23] silence your cell phone all the way on
silent, not on vibrate or looney tunes
[0:28] music or anything else. Let's make sure
we respect one another's time and each
[0:32] speaker speaking and your patience is
and understanding is appreciated as
[0:37] council deliberates on various agenda
items. Um there is open public comment
[0:41] at this meeting and all meetings and
signups are encouraged um at the front.
[0:47] Specific public hearings are advertised
and designated separately. We don't have
[0:50] any specific public hearings tonight. We
do have open public comment. And we want
[0:55] to acknowledge the staff's work in
preparation. Their insights are
[0:58] invaluable to each topic of town
business. Uh we operate under the
[1:02] council manager form of government. And
Natasha Tucker is our town manager.
[1:07] handles daily operations and department
administration while our town council
[1:12] provides direction and authorizes policy
in accordance with the laws of the
[1:16] commonwealth of Virginia and our town
charter. While each council member has
[1:20] the ultimate responsibility to
contribute and vote distinctly, the
[1:23] council does work as a body and we are
duly elected to serve responsibly and
[1:28] ethically the citizens of Colonial
Beach. Participation of each member
[1:32] contributes to effective leadership and
collaboration is the key to productivity
[1:36] in local government. Let's engage in
constructive discussion, remain open to
[1:41] different perspectives, and work
together for effective resolutions. And
[1:44] finally, I just remind everybody that
the meetings of the town council are
[1:48] formal proceedings and are thus
recorded. And with that, we will call to
[1:52] order the August regular meeting on
Wednesday, August 19th, 2026. And I've
[1:59] got six o'clock on the dot.
[2:04] Please join me for um standing for a
moment of silence which will be followed
[2:09] by the pledge of allegiance.
[2:32] United States of Americ
[2:51] call of members. All members are present
with the exception of Miss Lisa
[2:55] Grandstaff um who does not have cell
phone service so she will not be calling
[2:59] in today. So you've got six of the seven
of us up here.
[3:05] Uh there are no additions to the agenda.
Is there a motion to approve the agenda?
[3:12] » Is there a second?
>> Second.
[3:13] » Is there any discussion? All in favor?
>> I.
[3:18] » Any opposed?
On our consent agenda, we have approval
[3:23] of minutes for June and August. Is there
a motion to the consent agenda?
[3:28] » So move.
>> Is there a second to that?
[3:30] » Second.
>> Okay. Any discussion?
[3:34] » All right. All in favor say I.
>> I.
[3:37] » I.
>> Any opposed? All right. And moving right
[3:43] along on council member announcements.
And I'll start on your side, Mr. Wood.
[3:46] Tonight.
[3:50] Okay, let's see. Uh, first is outdoor
movie night, Saturday, uh, the 29th.
[3:57] That's going to be at the community
center at 8:30, starring the Black
[4:02] Panther movie, my cat Sam's favorite
movie. Uh canning and food preservation
[4:08] classes are Wednesdays, September 2nd
and 9th, 11:00 am to 5:00 pm. Uh coffee
[4:15] walk has a new route. Uh second Friday,
September 11th uh is
[4:22] casual walking on the boardwalk starts
at Love Bites and ends at Colonial Buzz.
[4:27] Uh, second Friday, sip and stroll.
September 11th. Uh, community board game
[4:33] night is second Tuesday, September 14th,
6 to 8. Uh, and that's going to be at
[4:40] the community center at well. Uh, there
will be no fitness classes
[4:45] um until August 25th.
Uh and then regard to the planning
[4:51] commission,
[4:54] uh at the July 13th meeting, uh the
commission discussed two chapters of the
[4:59] comprehensive plan. Uh the board of
zoning appeals uh met last night. Uh and
[5:05] it approved variance uh to a lot setback
to allow a new home to align with the
[5:10] neighboring homes. The home that it
replaced was set back further. Uh there
[5:15] is a vacancy, by the way, on the BZA.
So, if anyone's interested, uh, please
[5:20] apply through the town website. That's
all we have today.
[5:25] » Mr. Larson.
>> Hi. Good evening, everybody. I don't
[5:28] have a specific report on schools
tonight. I think Dr. Ado or possibly his
[5:33] designate will will be speaking and
probably updates you on the uh on the
[5:37] start of school.
uh finance department just wants to
[5:40] remind everyone uh as always if you're
struggling to make end speed if you're
[5:45] behind on your bills uh to the town tax
bills or otherwise stop in the office
[5:51] and have a conversation always better to
do that with any creditor by the way
[5:55] credit card company mortgage owner
landlord uh better to do that than than
[6:00] be silent but anyway come see them and
they will work out some arrangement to
[6:04] help you get through and that's it for
me
[6:07] » thank you Mr. Williams.
[6:12] » Okay. Good evening everybody. Just a few
announcements from the police
[6:16] department. Uh the Colona Beach Police
Explorers is an organization of young
[6:22] people from our community ages 14 to 21
who are interested in learning about
[6:27] police work. Explorers receive
instruction on police practices and
[6:31] procedures and are eligible to accompany
officers during their duties. Through
[6:37] this scouting sponsored program,
explorers learn the value of community
[6:42] service and develop their leadership
skills. Our explorers will be having a
[6:47] meeting on Friday, August 28th at 5:00
p.m. in the community room at the police
[6:52] department. We [clears throat] welcome
all ages eligible young people to come
[6:56] to the meeting and learn more about what
exploring law enforcement can do for
[7:01] them. Um, and also just a reminder, the
next neighborhood watch meeting will be
[7:06] held on September 24th at 6 PM in the
community room at the police department.
[7:11] Um, and finally, the Colon Bleach Police
Department will be hosting our National
[7:16] Night Out event on Tuesday, October 13th
from 5:00 p.m. to 8:00 p.m. on the town
[7:22] hill. Please save the date and join us
for the outstanding community event.
[7:25] Hope to see you all there. Thank you.
Thank you, Miss Aford.
[7:33] » Um, good evening everybody. Um, I just
have a couple things from the community
[7:37] foundation. Um, so on September 9th at 6
p.m. at the elementary school, the
[7:44] community foundation will be holding um
hosting the candidates for town council
[7:49] for the candidate forum. Um all four
candidates will have um a chance to
[7:55] speak and if you have any questions uh
you can send them to info@
[8:00] communityfoundation.org.
And then on September 19th at 10:00 a.m.
[8:04] to 12:00 p.m. at the community center.
They will be hosting a Colonial Beach
[8:09] meetup with guest speaker Dan Bender and
partner with uh PB Mars. Um, and they
[8:17] will be talking about strategies to keep
uh more of your money in retirement and
[8:22] answer any questions. And then on
September 26th from 10:00 a.m. to 1 p.m.
[8:27] the foundation will be having a shredded
truck at the high school parking lot um
[8:32] for free shredding. So if you have
anything that would need to be shredded,
[8:35] bring it on down. Um, and that's all I
have.
[8:40] » Mr. Allison.
>> Good evening, everybody. Um, so I have
[8:44] the public works uh department. Um,
since I was here last time, we're going
[8:48] to do a couple weeks kind of combined
here. And I would like to say it wasn't
[8:53] as fancy as everybody thought it was
being in San Diego. I was in a a lab for
[9:00] 10 half hours a day that had no windows.
So, sorry I missed last time, but it
[9:05] wasn't that great in San Diego either.
>> Um,
[9:08] » we had a good time here, so I don't know
why you say that.
[9:13] Anyways,
uh starting off with infrastructure
[9:16] utilities, uh the water leaks, they had
three repaired. Uh sewer backups, one
[9:20] was cleared. They repaired two manholes
near Wilkerson Seafood to address some
[9:26] ini from the river. Inspected four
manholes for potential rehab.
[9:31] Investigated multiple reports of water
leaks throughout town. Assisted with
[9:35] cleaning ditches and culverts uh
following significant rainfall. Um now
[9:41] moving on to the wastewater treatment
plant. They continue daily operations,
[9:44] maintenance and operational support. Uh
continue cleaning and maintain the
[9:50] nitrification tanks. Say that twice. Uh
utilize rental uh equipment to support
[9:57] tank cleaning and maintenance. Restore
the town's permanent sludge press to
[10:01] service. Clean the grit pit.
Replace the reuse pump. and continue
[10:08] general grounds and site maintenance at
the wastewater treatment plants. Uh for
[10:13] streets and storm water, they installed
stop signs at both ends of the alleyway
[10:17] between Santa Maria Avenue and Locust
Avenue. Continue traffic sign repairs
[10:23] and replacement throughout town. Clean
storm debris from the roadways following
[10:28] severe weather. cleaned the alleyway
between Santa Maria Avenue and Locust
[10:34] Avenue from Wakefield to Route 205.
Extended drainage pipe near the beach
[10:39] swings to improve drainage.
Repaired the radar speed display sign
[10:45] near the school, which people are still
speeding.
[10:50] Um clean debris from ditches and storm
water uh infiltr infrastructure. Uh
[10:57] moving on to buildings and grounds. uh
continued park cleanup and
[11:00] beautifification throughout town,
continued the grass cutting operations,
[11:05] completed uh routine building and
facility maintenance, uh installed
[11:10] fencing at the entrance uh to Eleanor
Park. Looks great, by the way. Um
[11:15] installed new banners along the
boardwalk and continued maintenance of
[11:20] town grounds and public spaces.
That's all I have for tonight. Thank
[11:25] you,
>> Heather. This thing beeped up here and
[11:29] I'm not sure what's going on with it.
[11:33] » Yeah, it did. And then it stopped. So, I
just want to make sure I fix that
[11:37] logistically.
[11:42] Right.
>> I didn't touch it.
[12:00] Okay. All right. Hopefully, we get that
worked out. Um, all right. I just have a
[12:06] few things. Um, first, I'm going to give
uh Lisa's report on her behalf since um
[12:10] she can't be here tonight for the EDC.
The downtown Columbia Beach Economic
[12:14] Vitality Committee met on August 11th as
a working session focused on creating
[12:19] common understanding among its members
of the purpose, goals, and objectives of
[12:24] the body as they specifically pertain to
the Colonial Beach community. As a Main
[12:28] Street program, DCB is committed to
preserving the past, charting the future
[12:32] for Colonial Beach. The Economic
Vitality Committee is at the core of
[12:36] this commitment. As such, the
committee's work focuses on growing a
[12:39] diverse economic base in Colonial Beach
by taking a proactive collaborative
[12:43] approach to building community,
supporting existing businesses and
[12:47] nonprofits, and encouraging new invest
investment. Specific action steps in a
[12:52] work plan will be identified at the
September 8th meeting.
[12:56] Uh, also I just want to say we were back
to school and so I wasn't able to attend
[13:01] the board of supervisors meeting. It was
also the first day of school back. um
[13:05] very exciting for the kids and we um
have a little bit of a gap in the
[13:11] community right now. We have Boy Scouts
and we have Girl Scouts. Uh but the
[13:15] feeder group to the Boy Scouts, the Cub
Scouts, has been inactive for some time
[13:19] and so there's some interest in
restarting Cub Scouts in uh Clinton
[13:24] Beach. If you have any interest in
getting involved, uh send me an email or
[13:29] contact me and I'll get you with the
people that are working on that. uh also
[13:34] attended the artwalk sip and stroll, but
then the weather got dicey. Um but there
[13:40] was a really cool activity. The peddlers
market can um is participating in the
[13:44] art walk nights and they have a make
your own slime with the kids activity
[13:49] out there. And um just wanted to
highlight that uh fun um part of of that
[13:56] activity that's happening in Clon Beach.
Um, other than that, we got Comrell next
[14:01] week, next Wednesday, and King George is
hosting.
[14:05] All right, that's all I have. Town
manager update. Natasha, I will pass you
[14:10] the mic.
Good evening, Madame Mayor, council
[14:15] members, those in the audience, and
those listening to us online. My town
[14:20] manager report will consist of a sewer
plant update from Inboden Environmental
[14:25] Services from Mr. John Simmons followed
by uh the ARPA wastewater treatment
[14:31] plant um updates that I would provide.
Uh so we will go ahead and start with
[14:35] John and his emboden updates.
Uh good afternoon everyone. So let's
[14:42] start on page two, please.
Um it was a bit of an active month at
[14:47] the wastewater treatment plant. You
know, we all had some pretty significant
[14:50] rain events and you can really see on
the graph there every day that that
[14:54] occurred and you know, we're still
dealing with a good bit of eye. We we
[14:59] have seen that number reduced. It
doesn't quite get it doesn't get so much
[15:04] flow so fast over there like it was.
But, you know, it it one of these things
[15:09] that c that really makes it worse is
when the ground is saturated versus when
[15:13] it's dry. When the ground's dry, the
rain obviously gets absorbed by the
[15:17] ground and it doesn't come to the plant.
But once you have that first couple days
[15:21] of rain, then everything got saturated.
You could see the spike after that. So,
[15:25] you know, as the ground saturated, that
means more is coming to the plant. Um
[15:29] the next graph there, you can see that
we have been working on the flow meters
[15:33] there and that's why you see that big
increase here for July versus, you know,
[15:38] April through June. And that's part of
the the upgrades and repairs being made
[15:42] at the plant is all of the flow meters.
Uh next page please.
[15:47] Ultimately affluent quality wasn't
affected much. You know we had good
[15:52] ammonia TSS all of our nutrients and
things look good. Where we had the issue
[15:57] this month was was the fecal caulifform
and interero. You know when that flow
[16:01] gets up as high as it does it doesn't
have the contact time and the UV
[16:05] disinfection system. And that's where
those elevator results come from. And
[16:09] you know, one of the repairs is to
replace that UV system over there. And
[16:13] that's obviously going to help with that
moving forward as well. Um, you know, we
[16:18] completed the the sludge removal and you
can see the numbers here for for July.
[16:25] You know, like for instance, at the
beginning of the month, you can see an
[16:27] eight on the nitrates. You know, those
numbers have been cut in half since we
[16:31] removed the solids and can change some
of the processes over there. So the
[16:35] numbers for August are going to look
much better. I know that's one thing
[16:38] that's a major concern with you all is
uh those nutrient removal. Um the
[16:44] operational notes, you know, Natasha
will get more into that because this
[16:49] could be part of her ARPA update, but
it's really just, you know, we did
[16:54] finish the the sludge processing. That
equipment's been removed, sent back to
[16:58] the vendor. Um, you know, we've had some
electrical issues over there related,
[17:03] some related to the storm, some not, but
it's really just the kind of the same
[17:07] old same old with us when we have these
bad storm events. We got lucky for
[17:11] several months, had a dry spell. That's
bad for the water table, but it's good
[17:15] for the wastewater plant. Um, but that
really concludes my update. Does anybody
[17:19] have any questions?
>> Mr. Williams?
[17:24] » Um, yeah, just a couple of follow-up
questions from prior meetings. Um any
[17:28] updates on the uh
the fat oil grease the fog um ordinance
[17:36] that we were considering or
>> I'm not sure where that really stands
[17:39] right now with um with Natasha and pal.
I know that that's something that's been
[17:43] discussed and I think it's just a matter
of finalizing you know how that's going
[17:47] to look ordinance-wise or whatever the
next steps would be with that.
[17:52] » Okay. And also kind of piggy back off of
that, the the issue we're having with
[17:57] inflow and infiltration um with people
leaving their caps off of their
[18:01] cleanouts, stuff like that.
>> I know we had talked about possibly
[18:04] addressing that at some point with some
kind of uh policy or
[18:08] » I think that's something that you'll
also see soon. You know, it's definitely
[18:11] something we've all discussed and have
been working on that. It um and I think
[18:15] that's where most of the reduction that
we're noticing is coming from is where,
[18:19] you know, Chris and his team are fixing
the cleanouts on the town property. And
[18:23] I think hopefully some of the citizens
have been listening. They're starting to
[18:26] fix some of their issues now that
they're aware of what causes that.
[18:29] » You know, we've got a significant amount
of camera work done. And we haven't
[18:34] found any real huge problems, but most
of the numbered streets. Everything is
[18:39] pretty much decent shape over there. You
know, we did find some significant
[18:43] problems, you know, this week that we
need to look into and see what next
[18:47] steps are, but um we've identified a lot
of the major areas that would then be on
[18:53] the town's responsibility, but a lot of
it still remains those cleanouts on on
[18:58] the citizens properties. So, as soon as
we can get that resolved, it'll
[19:01] definitely improve it. Okay. Thank you.
>> Yes, sir.
[19:06] » Any other questions?
>> Okay.
[19:18] So, we um have received ARPA grant
funding and we have put these funds to
[19:26] um such great use as you'll see as I go
over um the projects that we've been
[19:31] working on this evening. Uh these
projects represent roughly $3.7 million
[19:40] that the town has invested in 23
projects and these projects are designed
[19:45] to strengthen and modernize our
wastewater system. The work is focused
[19:51] on three critical areas of our
wastewater system. The pump stations,
[19:56] the collection system, and the
wastewater treatment plant itself. Next
[20:00] slide.
[20:04] So, this first slide represents the
projects um for the wastewater uh pump
[20:09] stations.
We've invested approximately $429,000
[20:16] in improvements to three critical
wastewater pump stations. New emergency
[20:22] gener generators have been purchased for
the Third Street, RTU, and Horton Street
[20:28] pump stations. Once these are installed,
the generators will provide backup power
[20:34] during outages and other emergencies,
which will help keep waste water moving
[20:39] through the system when electrical
services disrupted. The Third Street
[20:44] pump station is also receiving
additional improvements. A new roof has
[20:49] been installed, exterior structural
supports have been completed, and the
[20:53] building will receive additional
exterior improvements.
[20:57] These investments are about reliability
and resiliency.
[21:02] Pump stations are critical links between
the collection system and the treatment
[21:07] plant. Thus, they maintain their
operation during an emergency, which
[21:12] helps protect the entire wastewater
system.
[21:18] This slide represents uh the projects
for our collection system.
[21:23] Approximately $992,000
is being invested in the town's
[21:28] wastewater collection system. This is a
network of sewer lines and related
[21:33] infrastructure that carries wastewater
to the treatment plant. One of the
[21:38] largest completed projects is the
replacement of the Six Street sewer
[21:43] line. And that project costs $611,000.
But replacing infrastructure is only
[21:51] part of the story. I want to highlight
that we're conducting camera
[21:56] inspections, smoke testing throughout
the system to identify damaged pipes,
[22:01] leaks, improper connections, and areas
where storm water and groundwater may be
[22:07] entering the system. Once the problems
are identified, the ARPA funding helps
[22:12] us address these problems. The town has
lined manholes, completed targeted
[22:18] repairs, and installed 27 rainuards with
additional rain guards and repairs
[22:25] planned. Reducing the amount of
unnecessary water entering the sewer
[22:30] system means that less water has to be
pumped and treated at the wastewater
[22:35] treatment plant. These improvements also
extend the useful life of our
[22:40] infrastructure and allow the town to
better target future investments.
[22:46] Much of this work happens underground
and they're not visible to our
[22:50] residents, but it is an important part
of building a stronger and more reliable
[22:55] wastewater system.
And lastly, our wastewater treatment
[23:01] plant itself.
The largest portion of the town's ARPA
[23:07] grant funding uh goes towards the
wastewater treatment plant.
[23:11] Approximately $2.35 million is dedicated
to improvements at the wastewater
[23:17] treatment plant. One of the most
significant completed projects involved
[23:23] removing more than 2.7 million pounds,
approximately 1300 tons of accumulated
[23:30] sludge from the facility.
We've also replaced and we're re
[23:36] rehabilitating critical equipment
throughout the treatment plant. Two new
[23:41] influent pumps and two new effluent
pumps have been ordered. Improvements
[23:46] are underway to the dnit nitrification
filters and other treatment components.
[23:52] Electrical and structural assessments
are helping identify and prioritize
[23:57] additional needs. The SCADA control
system has been replaced, which
[24:02] modernizes the technology used to
operate and monitor critical treatment
[24:06] processes.
Another major milestone was the arrival
[24:11] of the town's new UV disinfection
system. We've received the equipment and
[24:16] installation planning is underway. Once
operational, the system will provide an
[24:22] important upgrade to the final stage of
the wastewater treatment process.
[24:27] We've also completed the engineering and
design for improvements to the plant's
[24:32] headworks and new grit removal equipment
has been ordered.
[24:37] Together, these projects address aging
infrastructure throughout the treatment
[24:42] plant rather than focusing on single
pieces of equipment or process.
[24:48] When the ARPA funding ends, improvements
in the plant will remain. There is still
[24:54] work to be done, but I am proud of the
significant process that's already been
[24:58] made. Altogether, this comprises 23
projects, $3.77
[25:06] million of ARPA funds, and three
critical parts of our wastewater system.
[25:12] This one significant investment
is a true investment in the future of
[25:18] Colonial Beach.
Next slide, please.
[25:25] Okay.
So, this slide represents
[25:31] the funding that we've received from
ARPA. Uh we've identified funding across
[25:37] the central drainage area which is
completed, the INI testing, uh the
[25:43] wastewater treatment plant repairs and
wastewater processing system repairs and
[25:48] upgrades.
We've requested four rounds of
[25:53] reimbursements.
Uh we have received the first three uh
[25:59] requests for reimbursements and the
fourth request is still pending
[26:04] dispersement.
Our balance of uh opera funds that
[26:09] remains is roughly 1.9
million.
[26:16] So we are well targeted to complete and
use the funds within the timeline of
[26:23] November 2026.
However, I want to stress that once um
[26:28] this round of ARPA funds are expended,
there's still more work that needs to be
[26:35] done in the plant which is part of the
consent order. So we will have to uh
[26:41] target additional sources of funding.
We're in a good position to continue the
[26:48] projects because as we've received the
reimbursements from the ARPA fundings,
[26:53] we can uh use those funds to continue
with projects in the plant or we could
[26:58] use those funds for some other um areas
as council directs.
[27:07] And lastly, mayor and council, I have
some very good news to share regarding
[27:14] uh the town's WQIFF monetary assessment.
DEEQ has officially waved our 2025
[27:21] assessment in full, thus eliminating the
entire $235,152
[27:30] obligation.
It's important to put this great
[27:34] accomplishment into context. In 2024,
the town was initially facing a WQIFF
[27:41] monetary assessment of approximately
$117,000.
[27:46] Through our work with DEEQ and the
progress being made at the wastewater
[27:50] treatment plant, we were successful in
having that assessment significantly
[27:55] reduced. This year, we have gone from
receiving a reduction to receiving a
[28:01] full waiver. The town's 2025 assessment
was $235,152
[28:09] and DEEQ has now waved the entire
amount. That means the town will not
[28:15] have to pay any portion of that
assessment.
[28:19] [applause]
[28:24] That that is a great accomplishment.
And this just really demonstrates the
[28:29] progress that we're making. Over the
past two years, we've continued to
[28:34] address deficiencies at the wastewater
treatment plant, make significant
[28:38] infrastructure investments, strengthen
our operations, and maintain consistent
[28:43] communication with DEEQ. We still have a
lot of work to do, but we're clearly
[28:48] moving in the right direction. I want to
recognize Embodden, our third-party
[28:54] wastewater operator, for the role that
they've played in helping us get to this
[28:58] point. Their operational expertise, work
at the work uh work at the treatment
[29:04] plant and assistance in addressing
compliance issues have been an important
[29:10] part of the progress we've made. I also
want to recognize our town staff and
[29:15] everyone who has worked behind the
scenes to improve the system and our
[29:20] standing with DEEQ.
This is particularly significant when
[29:25] you consider the investments we're
currently making in the wastewater
[29:28] system. Every dollar that we do not
spend on a monetary assessment is a
[29:34] dollar that can remain available to
support the system and our taxpayers.
[29:40] In 2024, we were able to substantially
reduce the assessment and in 2025, we
[29:47] eliminated it entirely.
This is a significant accomplishment and
[29:53] a very positive outcome for the town and
our utility customers.
[29:59] » Great job.
[30:04] I want to add one more shout out to that
to also because they don't get
[30:08] recognized a lot to our finance
department.
[30:11] um because it doesn't just take the work
and the planning and the projects but to
[30:17] work with the EQ it's a federal funds
funneled through the state that are
[30:22] audited tracked reimbursements have to
include receipts and documentation and
[30:29] communication and there have to be
transparency and the process with DEQ
[30:34] has not been an easy one because the
staff at DEQ has changed multiple times.
[30:39] So just want to also shout out a little
bit for finance uh to get some
[30:45] recognition in this long process. Yes,
Mr. Wood.
[30:50] You know, if we remember where we were a
little over three years ago,
[30:56] we had just dumped about a million
gallons of sewage into the PTOIC. We
[31:02] were this far away from receiverhip.
Uh thanks to the leadership
[31:09] of this lady here, Natasha Tucker, and
the wisdom of this gentleman over here,
[31:15] we have proven that you get what you pay
for. Okay? We tried to peacemeal it for
[31:21] years and years and years and years and
we almost sunk because of it. So, one of
[31:28] the things that I just want to put u a
little bug in everybody's ear because
[31:35] not all of us will uh be here next year,
but I certainly hope that we can find
[31:42] our way to continue working with
Emboden. I know that our town manager is
[31:48] going to do everything she can to keep
us on the right track. And uh by the
[31:56] way, thanks for the quarter million
bucks.
[32:03] Anybody else?
All right. Well, that was a good update.
[32:09] Thank you. Appreciate it. And it closes
out in November, so we'll get an
[32:12] finalized update in November, right?
Yeah.
[32:18] Um and that will come in also to our
legislative agenda discussion later. um
[32:24] today. All right. Next up is our
presentations. We have a years of
[32:30] service award. Like most of our public
works employees, Mr. Michael Welden is
[32:36] of the Shire
kind and
[32:41] uh not here tonight to get a his public
recognition. Um but he uh works
[32:49] tirelessly for the town. He does
whatever he's asked. He works in the
[32:52] grounds and maintenance crew. And um as
far as uh going out and having to work
[32:58] independently, get things done, clean,
keep the town clean on a busy summer
[33:02] resort area, it's a big job. It's a hot
job, sweaty, sometimes stormy or
[33:08] everything else in between. And he does
it with care and dedication. So, we want
[33:13] to say thank you to Mr. Michael Weldon
and uh recognize his valuable
[33:18] contributions over the past five years.
His loyal and dedicated service have
[33:23] played an integral role in the success
of the town of Columbia Beach. So, just
[33:26] a round of applause for Michael and
[applause]
[33:32] and Chris, you can get this over to him
with his
[33:37] pen and everything. All right. I'll give
that to you after the meeting.
[33:45] Next up is West Morland County Board of
Supervisors, Mr. Trivet. Welcome, Mr.
[33:50] Trivet.
[33:57] Madame Mayor, town council, good to see
you. Just talk congratulations.
[34:03] That's not easy. And I'm sure that
didn't it wasn't an effort only by you,
[34:06] but your whole team. And and it's not
easy. It's just like when you get in
[34:11] that IRS loop and you can't get out of
it. Same way with DEEQ, I can tell you.
[34:16] So, that's that's that you really need
to be commended big time for that. Um,
[34:21] Rebecca Pis is our new uh parks and
recck director. She worked for the YMCA
[34:26] for several years. uh we discontinued
our contract in West Mullen with the
[34:30] YMCA
and um and now she'll be the new parks
[34:35] and recck director and she'll reach out
to all the stakeholders and she already
[34:39] is. They were having a meeting tonight
actually with uh several different uh
[34:44] groups um to try to help see where we go
from here when it comes to park and
[34:49] wreck. So, I'm looking forward to good
things there. Um the sign should be up
[34:53] at the transfer station now saying that
uh they'll accept 5 by8 trailers. Um
[34:58] somebody sent me a picture this past
weekend. It hadn't been removed and they
[35:02] couldn't take their trailer in there and
it should have been done. We'd asked
[35:06] Waste Management to do that several
weeks ago and unfortunately it just
[35:09] didn't happen. But should have been
taken care of today. So hopefully that's
[35:13] been resolved. Um, we voted on the
personal property tax relief, uh, and
[35:18] approved 20%
um, basically off of your vehicles. So,
[35:23] if you own a vehicle that costs $1,000,
you don't owe owe anything. So, which is
[35:28] good. And, uh, but there ain't too many
vehicles that are $1,000. So, um,
[35:33] anyway, is there anything that anybody
has for me tonight? I'm going to be
[35:36] short and um can't Oh, one thing I do
want to tell you, I was at a um a Veco
[35:42] conference last week and the governor
was a guest speaker and she's put 200
[35:46] more million into the uh wastewater uh
treatment plants for upgrades. And so I
[35:54] know I saw that as at the top of your
agenda um uh when you do your
[35:58] legislative session, but I'm going to
keep that in front of uh our our state
[36:02] senator because I see him very
frequently and remind him every time I
[36:07] see him that we want that money. You
know, we will use it. We won't be like a
[36:11] bordering county that got 12 million,
they didn't use it. We know we got money
[36:16] here as a result of him uh getting
behind us. And I think he will do that
[36:20] again and there's extra money there. So,
keep that, you know, straight straight
[36:26] up there at the forefront and and
hopefully we'll get several million
[36:29] again. Any questions tonight about
anything?
[36:33] » Anybody?
>> No. Thank you so much.
[36:36] » Thank you.
[36:41] » Dr. Ado, you're up next.
[36:53] Well, good evening,
Madame Mayor, uh, council members,
[36:59] everyone present tonight. That's as
short as I've ever heard Mr. Tet.
[37:04] [laughter]
I'm still junk, but
[37:09] that's impressive. Uh, well, uh, on to
my presentation. and uh thank you for
[37:15] allowing me to speak uh tonight uh since
our last uh gathering from your last
[37:21] meeting. Uh we have uh started school.
It's our second week of school and as I
[37:28] shared uh last year. Uh this year is
even better. It is it is smooth. It is
[37:35] uh it is it it is nice. Uh it's my 30th
year in in education and I'm celebrating
[37:42] that uh as my my 30th uh and I'm
enjoying every minute of it. But we did
[37:49] uh start out with our new teachers
coming in uh several weeks ago and we
[37:53] were able to introduce them to Colonia
Beach uh public schools and also around
[37:58] the town in our annual golf cart and
that was amazing and marvelous. The week
[38:04] after that, all of our staff uh returned
uh to us and they were excited uh for
[38:11] our kids to return and we usually do
some professional development and uh
[38:15] keep them a breast of all the changes
that has come from Richmond that impacts
[38:19] us and that was uh wonderful. I was able
to share with our staff that we are
[38:25] definitely meeting all of our goals in
that strategic plan. One that I
[38:29] highlighted uh so they're aware of it is
that two years ago we were able to
[38:35] retain and recruit uh all of our uh we
had 88% retainment of our staff two
[38:42] years ago. So that was incredible. And
this past year we had 89%.
[38:47] Uh so that tells us that we're doing
something correct. Our environment, our
[38:51] culture is is great and folks are are
deciding to stay here at at the beach.
[38:57] So, uh, that's one I'm I'm very excited
about. Uh, but moving on, uh, the same
[39:03] week we had our ribbon cutting ceremony,
and I do want to thank, uh, Madame
[39:08] Mayor, uh, town manager and and chief
for, uh, showing up and, uh, uh,
[39:14] supporting the schools. I'm I'm sure the
rest of you guys were there in spirit.
[39:19] If you, if you want to, uh, get a tour,
please let me know. I take you through.
[39:24] It's is wonderful. uh for the outside
you probably seen it's even better
[39:28] inside and I think our kids our staff
are enjoying it every single day. I do
[39:35] want to give a big shout out huge shout
out uh to BAM uh to the Lions Club and
[39:42] also to our PTA. Uh we had a lot of
businesses support the school to get it
[39:48] started. these three organizations uh
helped feed our staff while they were
[39:55] here the first week. So, we want to give
a big shout out and thank you uh to all
[39:59] of them. We greatly appreciate their
partnership and their support of this
[40:04] school system.
And as we move along, uh one last thing,
[40:08] I'm going to be short. I do want to
thank uh Mr. Trivet also. Uh thank you,
[40:13] Mr. Trivet, uh for being there, uh at
the ribbon cutting. uh he has been a big
[40:18] supporter of us and we we appreciate his
guidance. Sometimes I do have to call
[40:22] him to to have a a chat. Uh but uh he's
always been very uh graceful and and
[40:29] wonderful uh for the school system. Uh
but finally I do want to tell uh share
[40:34] with you that we are completing the uh
punch list uh for the front entrance and
[40:40] the main office and that's that's where
we are to take care of little things and
[40:44] we're moving straight into our phase
two. As you probably remember our
[40:49] initial plan was always to
build a a wait room. Uh, as of right
[40:56] now, uh, the wait room is is is in a
classroom and we we want to get that
[41:01] classroom back and get it out of that
classroom and get a wait room outside
[41:06] and also operational offices and maybe
we're thinking about some sped uh,
[41:11] special education offices also. Uh, it
will be an addition to to the high
[41:16] school. Uh, but we we are excited. Uh,
this is great for all of our kids that
[41:22] are coming from elementary school that
will be going to the high school for
[41:26] years to come. I'm I'm old. I probably
won't see that. This is my 30th, so uh
[41:31] don't don't quote me. I I have one of my
board members here and I keep telling
[41:34] them they said I better not give up on
them by the end of the year. Uh VRS said
[41:39] I can I can go out and and relax after
30. Uh so I'm I'm I'm I'm enjoying this
[41:44] this last year. I'm not saying I'm
leaving. It's just uh it's good to be in
[41:48] opposition. [laughter]
Uh but that's all I have for you
[41:52] tonight. Uh if you have any questions
for me, I'll be glad to answer those.
[42:00] I hope you don't retire this year. But
thank you for letting us know [laughter]
[42:05] and being there. It's been uh the ribbon
cutting was excellent. The front
[42:09] entrance is really a massive
improvement. And um I'm sure it's going
[42:13] smoother because you don't have a
construction crew around there right now
[42:16] as well. But um yeah, thank you.
[42:27] » All right,
[42:33] moving right along. Next is our public
comment. During public comment or
[42:36] hearings, we ask that uh guidelines be
followed. We do ask that you stand at
[42:40] the podium and for the record, please
state your name and address. If you'd
[42:44] like to be contacted, please provide
your contact information to the clerk.
[42:48] Make your comments to the council as a
whole. Be brief. State your position and
[42:52] provide facts. You can provide any
written uh statements or supporting
[42:56] materials to the clerk, who is Heather
Oliver, and she can distribute them to
[42:59] the council and the town manager. Debate
is prohibited. Follow-up on comments is
[43:04] provided by the town manager. and speak
clearly as we want to hear what you have
[43:09] to say. The council will try to hear
everyone who wishes to speak on a
[43:13] subject, any subject, and comments are
limited to five minutes. Time cannot be
[43:18] transferred to another speaker. If you
represent a group, you may wish to
[43:22] identify other members of your group who
are in attendance. And after public
[43:25] comment is closed, I encourage you to
stay as the council engages in dialogue
[43:29] and deliberation on uh subsequent agenda
items. With that, we'll open public
[43:34] comment.
First up is Johnny.
[43:39] Welcome.
[43:52] Good evening, madame mayor and council
members. My name is Joanie Milward and
[43:56] I'm speaking to you tonight as president
of the Virginia Osprey Foundation. I
[44:00] live at 405 Livingstone Street in
Colonial Beach and I want to share with
[44:05] you the data that our organization has
collected this osprey season. When this
[44:10] season began, we counted 38 active
nests, meaning there were a pair of
[44:14] adult birds occupying each of those
nests. Out of those 38 active nests,
[44:19] only 11 nests were successful.
Those 11 nests produced 20 chicks that
[44:25] were raised and fledged or raised to
fledge size. We are now down to 14
[44:32] chicks postfledge. That was caused by
trauma, starvation, electrocution,
[44:38] or the fledgling just disappeared.
Better than last year, yes, but still
[44:44] another disastrous year. Our
reproductive rate this year is only
[44:49] 0.526
chicks per nest. To sustain a
[44:53] population, the reproduct reproductive
rate must be 1.15 chicks per nest. I
[45:00] wish I had better news. The Chesapeake
Bay itself is seeing far worse numbers
[45:04] well below what was happening during the
DDT era. The next item I want to speak
[45:10] to is item 12A on the agenda, the 2027
legislative agenda, and propose some
[45:16] additional language specifically under
the priorities of environmental
[45:21] resiliency and storm water and under
economic development and tourism. And I
[45:28] have provided you with the additional
language. It's in bold and uh for the
[45:34] first it would uh be under the
environmental resiliency. It would come
[45:39] after the word projects and it states to
include research and effective
[45:45] management of Atlantic Manhaden
industrial perane reduction fishing in
[45:50] Virginia waters.
[45:54] I believe the proposed additional
language to that section shows an
[45:59] understanding of the crisis Virginia and
specifically Colonial Beach is facing in
[46:04] regards to its osprey. Their
reproductive re their reproductivity
[46:09] rate is well below what it was during
the DDT era. They are literally starving
[46:14] to death. Organizations like ours have
been advocating for better management of
[46:19] Atlantic Manhaden and I believe it is
time for the town to step up and do the
[46:23] same. This is a first step and I urge
you to take that step. As for the
[46:29] economic development priority,
the additional language it starts after
[46:35] initiatives to include ecoourism events
such as the Virginia Osprey Festival.
[46:45] Our town has so much to offer and
ecoourism is an important draw for
[46:49] visitors to Colonial Beach as they can
enjoy the numerous hiking birding venues
[46:53] in the town and surrounding area and
easy access to water recreation. And the
[47:00] Virginia Osprey Festival is a prime
example. We brought in approximately
[47:04] 1500 to 2,000 attendees in April. They
came from as far away as Maine just to
[47:10] attend the festival.
And with that in mind, I want to thank
[47:14] everyone that came out to our
documentary screening on Sunday, The
[47:18] Last Osprey. Even a small event like
this attracted 80 people. They came from
[47:23] Richmond, Williamsburg, Farnum, Northern
Virginia, Virginia Beach, and Baltimore,
[47:30] some of who stayed overnight and had
dinner in our local restaurants. I thank
[47:34] you for your time and consideration. If
you have any questions, please reach out
[47:38] to me.
[47:42] Thank you.
[47:48] » Welcome,
[47:52] Madame Mayor. Town Counselors, Nigel
Long, 115 Linhaven Court. Um, I I was
[47:58] going to be very quick, but let me add
to what I was going to say. Um, my
[48:02] support of what uh Joanie just presented
to you. I think the menhaden issue is
[48:09] not only an issue for the osprey
population in town. There are probably
[48:15] many reason a number of reasons why our
population has declined but clearly over
[48:22] fishing of menhaden
uh in the Chesapeake Bay um is an issue.
[48:29] Virginia is the only I believe I'm right
in saying the only um state on the east
[48:35] coast that allows that sort of fishing
and it impacts other elements of the
[48:41] marine community in addition to ospreys
and is I think something we should care
[48:46] about. Um
my suggestion on the legislative
[48:53] priorities was actually um to support
something um that uh the honorable uh
[49:01] Richard Stewart is also in favor of. I
just want to put on record that I agree
[49:07] with him about something. Um the uh and
that is about the protection of the
[49:14] PTOAC a aquifer and the qual quality of
the PTOAC river uh since it provides the
[49:20] water supply for the town of Colonial
Beach. Um and I would my suggestion is
[49:27] that at the end of the environmental
resiliency and storm water section
[49:33] um where it says water quality we add
the words including protection of the
[49:37] PTOAC river and the PTOAC aquifer um I
think over the coming years that will be
[49:45] increasingly important for this town
this community um particularly if it
[49:50] grows um and we should um recog
recognize and respond to that. Um, I do
[49:57] have I assume you may have read it, but
I can I only have one copy with me. Give
[50:02] a copy to the town clerk. The letter
that um, Mr. Stewart wrote to our
[50:08] governor in relation to the aquifer and
our water supply. Now that may well have
[50:14] been written in relation to other um
economic activities in the state and use
[50:20] of water but I think the fundamental
points there about protecting our water
[50:23] supply that he made to the governor um
at the end of July are important. If you
[50:29] haven't seen it I'll give a copy to uh
uh to your secretary. Thank you.
[50:37] » Thank you.
[50:52] Is anybody else signed up?
[50:56] Would anybody else like to come up?
>> Always open it up.
[51:11] noted for the record.
[51:15] Anyone else?
Okay.
[51:19] All right. With that, we will close uh
public comment. I'll have
[51:24] seven different times. 6:51 p.m.
[51:31] Um, and that moves us directly into the
2027 legislative agenda.
[51:39] Miss Tucker,
[51:44] Madame Mayor, Council, tonight, I'd like
to begin our discussion regarding the
[51:49] town's legislative priorities for the
upcoming general assembly session. Each
[51:55] year we have an opportunity to identify
the issues that are most important to
[51:59] Colonial Beach and communicate these
priorities to our legislative delegation
[52:04] and our partners at VML.
The purpose of tonight's discussion is
[52:08] to determine where council would like
the town to focus its advocacy efforts.
[52:14] I would suggest that we keep the list um
relatively focused and prioritize issues
[52:19] that have a direct impact on our
operations, finances, infrastructure,
[52:24] and community.
Uh the items that you see uh on the
[52:29] screen and which is part of your packet.
Uh they're consistent with council's
[52:35] priorities from the previous year. And
you'll notice that we reduced last
[52:41] year's priorities to seven.
I'd like to walk through each of the
[52:46] priorities, get council's feedback, and
identify any additional in issues that
[52:53] you would like included or excluded from
the list. Based on tonight's discussion,
[53:00] we'll make necessary revisions and bring
the final priorities back for council's
[53:04] consideration.
Ultimately, this is council's
[53:08] legislative agenda and we want to make
sure it accurately reflects the issues
[53:13] uh that council believes are most
important to Colonial Beach. And with
[53:18] that, I open the floor for discussion
amongst council.
[53:25] All right. So, as you suggested, I think
we'll take the priorities from top to
[53:30] bottom. We'll go through them one by
one, see if anybody's got any questions
[53:34] and tackle it that way. So, uh, top of
line is wastewater treatment plant. Um,
[53:42] funding to support critical improvements
and upgrades necessary to maintain
[53:45] regulatory compliance, protect public
health, and ensure long-term
[53:49] sustainability of community
infrastructure.
[53:52] Uh, I will say as a um
as part of the process when we're
[53:58] lobbying in Richmond or in DC,
they want a sort of one sheet summary
[54:05] quick target tagline, right? Then when
something is connecting and we see
[54:13] movement on legislation or funding or or
something we're opposed to whatever it
[54:19] is then we provide supplemental
documentation generally a a one pager
[54:26] that is paragraph formed and then also
additional context like engineering
[54:31] reports or things like that. So, I don't
want to take the um don't take the
[54:36] little quick blurb as in it's exclusive
of we kind of purposely
[54:43] make it
the verbiage to apply as broadly to the
[54:48] topic as we can. Right? So, um the only
thing I would say about this top one is
[54:55] and this is kind of a question for
Natasha
[54:59] wastewater treatment plant. Do we need
to include also like the sewer
[55:04] infrastructure? Should that be in the
title at all? It's not just the plant,
[55:08] but it's also
the
[55:13] » system. That's a good suggestion, Madame
Mayor. I can certainly include that.
[55:20] » Well, I'm just is open for discussion. I
mean, other people what any other ideas
[55:24] you have about that.
>> Yeah, I think in your thing you put
[55:27] wastewater treatment plant and
wastewater
[55:30] treatment sewer or something like that.
So maybe just kind of use both of those
[55:34] terms so we're not limiting ourselves
just to the plant because okay obviously
[55:39] we have
>> issues in the point we have issues in
[55:42] you know different areas of town that
require sewer
[55:46] » and
I mean we want as much money as we can
[55:50] get to fix it all. Right.
>> Understood. I do have a quick question
[55:54] though since uh there are additional
funds uh being made available by the
[56:00] state for wastewater treatment plants
specifically.
[56:05] » Mhm.
>> Um would be would we be more successful
[56:10] in accessing those funds if we were a
little more targeted? I understand the
[56:15] point
>> that we want to be broad, but I think we
[56:18] want to be uh tip of the spear enough to
take advantage of those new funds.
[56:23] » I think those funds target sewer
infrastructure though as well.
[56:27] » Okay.
[56:31] » I think they uh do as well. So um after
we have concluded tonight's discussion,
[56:38] I will also follow up with our um
delegates and find out particularly for
[56:47] this item the best way to um name that
priority so that it's all inclusive and
[56:54] we um aren't limiting ourselves uh to
the types of funding that we can
[56:58] receive. Yeah, we may want to mimic the
way the state is
[57:03] um the verb. Yeah, the verb. Exactly.
Like literally cut and paste from state
[57:09] language. Um Okay. So, that's I don't
know there's I'm can't imagine anybody
[57:15] wants to take this item off the list.
>> Okay. Yes, Mr. Williams.
[57:20] » Um just a kind of general question. Um,
we've had since I've been on council,
[57:28] this be my sixth year, um, well, fifth
year we've been doing these, I think
[57:35] majority of the time. Um, I know we got
ARPA funds, but that was a whole
[57:39] different ballgame. Um, do we have any,
um, statistics or figures on what we've
[57:46] received like legislative wise, um,
since we've been doing these? Um, have
[57:53] we received any money Um any support
um like big significant things that you
[57:59] can think of off
>> the North Beach shoreline.
[58:03] the engineering for that top of mind.
>> That was through our legislature.
[58:09] » That was through the that money is
federal money from FEMA that goes
[58:14] through the state that we wrote a grant
for to
[58:19] the state entity to with the Northern E
Planning District Commission. Yeah,
[58:25] that's a direct legislature
>> filters in community.
[58:28] » That's a good example.
>> Okay. Yeah, that's a good example. Do
[58:31] you have any others?
So, I don't have any others that I had
[58:37] prepared for you tonight, but I do know
prior to um me being appointed town
[58:44] council, there was a significant amount
that was received. Um I don't know
[58:48] whether it was through from the state,
but it was a direct uh relationship with
[58:53] the legislative priorities and
communicating what the town needed with
[58:59] our elected officials in Richmond. Um I
don't have that exact amount but that we
[59:04] did receive those uh fundings at that
time.
[59:06] » Okay. I think that was DEEQ the 5.7 if I
remember off top of my head.
[59:11] » The 5.7 is DEQ but then there was ARPA
funds separate from that which were
[59:18] you know divvied out throughout the
state
[59:21] » and that was a direct result
>> of going to Richmond and speaking with
[59:25] our partners as part of this legislative
agenda.
[59:28] » Okay. And just wondering if we have any
feedback on the current list that we've
[59:33] submitted from 26
>> uh from last year's list. Um no, but
[59:40] that's why we're going through with this
year. Every year this comes around and
[59:44] it's an opportunity for us to receive um
some kind of funding. Um,
[59:51] I do know that all localities within the
Commonwealth, um, they look at their
[59:57] needs and their priorities and the funds
are then addressed that way. So, with
[1:00:03] the additional funds that are now
available, we really stand a really,
[1:00:08] really good chance of being one of the
communities that are allocated some of
[1:00:13] those fundings.
>> That's good news. Thank you.
[1:00:17] So I think we've received federal or
state funds in almost every single one
[1:00:21] of of these or are currently underway in
that process. So you know I think the
[1:00:26] wastewater treatment plans kind of prime
and easy example but in community
[1:00:31] infrastructure the VOTE um road for
Dwight Avenue extension um that is a
[1:00:37] also direct allocation from the state
through our VOTE partners. So, um, when
[1:00:43] we move to community infrastructure, the
next one for sidewalks, crosswalks,
[1:00:47] roadway maintenance, and other
enhancements, things like the design of
[1:00:51] the first street sidewalk that we didn't
get the sidewalk implemented, but the
[1:00:55] design was paid for, um, or accessing
those sidewalk grants, um, or getting
[1:01:03] the zero visibility plan done. That's
all part of that second uh, topic there.
[1:01:15] Does anybody know if this community
infrastructure does it cover um water
[1:01:21] pipes at all?
>> Water pipes.
[1:01:24] » Yeah, I know there's sewer, but like the
water pipes, I've heard that they're in
[1:01:29] pretty rough shape and especially in
some parts of town.
[1:01:35] I think right now if we want to add in
the water infrastructure that would be a
[1:01:39] new item to add. I mean
are we targeting that also separately or
[1:01:47] do we want to include that in sewer
infrastructure?
[1:01:53] » Do we have any idea of what the
significance I Chris would you know? Um,
[1:01:58] I mean, I've heard just I don't know if
it's only sewer or if it's water and
[1:02:02] sewer, but I've heard for like example
the point is in horrible shape with
[1:02:06] plumbing and worst one of the worst
sections of town. I could be wrong, but
[1:02:10] I'm just wondering does the town have an
idea um of the condition of the water
[1:02:16] pipes versus the sewer. Is that is as
significant? because I know, you know,
[1:02:20] with DEQ stuff, we've been pretty highly
focused on the wastewater treatment
[1:02:24] plant. But I'm just I want to make sure
we don't skip over that when it could be
[1:02:28] just as high priority, if not worse.
>> Just like our collection system for the
[1:02:32] sewer, our water system is old and
outdated. It's there are sections of it
[1:02:38] coming to the end of its life. Um I was
actually on a water leak last night
[1:02:42] where the water line was
in horrible shape. It's probably going
[1:02:47] to have to be replaced. Uh I don't know
how much of that's going to have to be
[1:02:50] replaced, but the water system is
definitely worth investing in because
[1:02:55] without that, you can't live in town. So
yes, we do have sections of town with
[1:03:01] bad water pipes. Some are worse than
others. Some are manageable, some at
[1:03:06] some point will no longer be manageable.
So I do agree that it would be
[1:03:09] worthwhile to invest in the water
system. I do believe that it should be a
[1:03:13] separate item from wastewater since it
is a completely different system and
[1:03:19] target them independently. I don't know
what's out there for water systems, but
[1:03:24] it's something we could probably look
into if that's council's desire.
[1:03:28] » That's probably So, I'm sorry.
>> Oh, just one little quick follow on. Um,
[1:03:32] when you're all out there, I know you
guys see everything because you're in
[1:03:35] the ground and you have a sewer or water
leak and so I'm assuming you probably
[1:03:40] see both pipes same time. They're
usually in a similar proximity. Are you
[1:03:45] are you seeing one's in worse shape than
the other or are they pretty comparable?
[1:03:48] They're both in pretty bad shape.
>> They're not necessarily adjacent to each
[1:03:55] each other. Water does not need to have
the same depth as sewer. Sewer is
[1:03:59] usually deeper because it has to have
gravity to get from point A to point B.
[1:04:03] Sometimes we find them both, sometimes
we don't. Um,
[1:04:08] I'm not going to say they're
equally as of an issue. Sewer has a
[1:04:15] longer lasting effect on its issues with
the sewer pipes versus the water pipes
[1:04:19] because it has more components that it
affects downstream from that issue. But
[1:04:26] again, like I said, the water lines are
definitely worth investing into and need
[1:04:30] to be updated and replaced due to their
age. Just like everywhere else in the
[1:04:34] United States,
>> our infrastructure is aging out across
[1:04:38] this entire country and it's something
that needs to be addressed.
[1:04:42] » Okay. Thank you,
>> Madam.
[1:04:45] » Yes, Mr. Wood.
>> Um,
[1:04:48] is that something much like we did with
the sewer lines where we made what we
[1:04:53] need to do quantifiable? Right. So, in
order to do testing and that sort of
[1:04:57] thing, um, is that a process that we
should begin so that we can maybe put
[1:05:04] that on our next legislative agenda
>> because we can't just say, well, fill
[1:05:10] fill in some pipes for us, too. We don't
know how much we need.
[1:05:14] » So, that's a that's a good point,
>> Mr. Wood. Um, so the reason we've been
[1:05:18] able to be successful with the
wastewater treatment plant
[1:05:22] um, applications, I mean a big part of
that is Senator Stewart to be honest
[1:05:27] with you, but also what he needs in
order to be successful in Richmond is
[1:05:32] quantifiable data. And so we have an
engineering report that lists exactly
[1:05:38] everything that needs to be done and it
has prices estimated on it. And that
[1:05:43] then is validating the request, right?
And when we go back and ask for I mean
[1:05:50] it's still more than $13 million I think
that is still outstanding on that
[1:05:54] engineering report we haven't done. So
there's still a lot to request and a lot
[1:05:58] to validate getting requested. Um so the
same would be true if you want to be
[1:06:04] successful in the water aspect and water
utility is that we have to build out the
[1:06:11] case. Yeah, for it to be if you really
if you're really going after something,
[1:06:16] um you've got to provide that level of
detail at that point. So, you can't just
[1:06:21] say we we have old pipes and we want
them fixed. We got to get a little bit
[1:06:25] further into it than that. Um but like
what happened with the environmental
[1:06:31] resiliency and storm water piece, which
ultimately led to the North Beach
[1:06:34] Shoreline project, is we got a grant by
putting that on here. We got a grant for
[1:06:39] the resiliency plan, right, which came
from RAFT, which was also government
[1:06:44] funded, federal, state, government
funded. So, um, that's a good example of
[1:06:50] how that process plays out. Like you put
it on there maybe in a generic way, but
[1:06:55] all you're really asking for at that
point is help in getting it planned and
[1:07:00] help in getting the engineering study.
And then once you get that portion and
[1:07:04] you successfully complete your study,
then you take the study and you go to
[1:07:08] the next level of detail with it and ask
for more like implementation or a
[1:07:13] project like North Beach. Now the
project is getting engineered. My next
[1:07:17] our next step on North Beach will be to
ask for the money to to do it, right?
[1:07:21] So, um I think we could add the water
system on here, but just kind of with
[1:07:27] the context that what we're really the
reality of that is you're not going to
[1:07:31] get all new water pipes if you were
successful in Richmond. You're going to
[1:07:34] get and then you're going to get a plan.
Right. But not a bad idea to put it on
[1:07:40] there. I'm just talking through the
process a little bit.
[1:07:43] » Yeah. I mean, I definitely get what
you're all saying. So, and I agree with
[1:07:46] your comments. It does make me a little
nervous that we don't really have a good
[1:07:50] assessment of the condition because
that, you know, could be a problem in
[1:07:53] the future. But, um, maybe maybe this
open this conversation maybe at some
[1:07:58] point if it's not a legislative
priority, at least a some a study or
[1:08:02] something in the future to figure out
what needs to go on with the the pipes,
[1:08:06] the water pipes.
And I'm wondering what kind of money is
[1:08:10] going to be available with all this the
lead and the other water quality testing
[1:08:15] that's happening out there. I think
there we could see some things being
[1:08:19] pushed at the very top levels
uh across the nation honestly on
[1:08:26] investigating this because most we're
not abnormal in this. Most localities do
[1:08:31] not have a good idea of the age of their
system or what's in the ground or where
[1:08:36] where it's at. So, um, we kind of every
single locality is going to be asking
[1:08:42] the same questions.
Um, so Mr. Alison, I think to your
[1:08:48] point, Mr. Williams said, does that fit
under the community infrastructure piece
[1:08:52] with the sidewalks, crosswalks, roadway
maintenance? I see that more like um
[1:08:58] like visible safety and the water more
as an invisible
[1:09:07] So, I would I would tend to say to
separate them, but that's a council
[1:09:12] decision. If you will want to combine
them, you know, uh get lost.
[1:09:20] » I think that would get lost in community
infrastructure. We ought to have a
[1:09:23] separate line item if we're going to do
it. I know we're trying to keep this
[1:09:27] concise. We don't want 15 items on the
list anymore. I get that. So, we'll have
[1:09:32] to find the balance there.
Yeah, I think it should be separate. I
[1:09:36] mean, we already have some backup for
community infrastructure in place. This
[1:09:41] is water. We're doing fresh. This is
completely new. We need to start from
[1:09:45] the very beginning. Whereas community
infrastructure, we have some plans and
[1:09:49] other stuff already in place.
Okay, I'm seeing a good consensus on
[1:09:54] that. Then I'm going to keep moving
forward. All right. on resiliency and
[1:10:01] storm water. And I know we've had some
comments tonight, so I want to recognize
[1:10:05] that. Um
uh again, we this is
[1:10:12] worded in a brief way to then allow
um opportunity
[1:10:19] to get more specific post this one quick
page. Right? So, this says funding for
[1:10:26] erosion control, shoreline resiliency,
climate adaptation, and wildlife habitat
[1:10:31] enhancement projects, as well as storm
water upgrades to reduce flooding,
[1:10:35] improve drainage, and protect water
quality. I think we're hitting a lot of
[1:10:38] points on that one sentence.
Um,
[1:10:44] and we have been very successful in this
particular item, uh, in a lot of
[1:10:49] different avenues.
um some unsuccessful but mostly I think
[1:10:54] we've got some pretty good track record
on there and I know we have VIMS
[1:10:59] shoreline projects on our CIP for Monroe
Bay Avenue that's eroding there and then
[1:11:05] as well as the wildlife and habitat
issues that are coming up to highlight
[1:11:10] that I think when we say habitat
enhancement projects or and we
[1:11:14] specifically say the word wildlife
um if we want to take a stance in that
[1:11:19] legislation I think this gives us a
strong point to do so if we decide to do
[1:11:25] so as a body.
[1:11:30] » So I agree. I don't want to
completely gloss over the comments from
[1:11:36] uh Miss Millward on the Atlantic
Minhaden,
[1:11:41] but it feels to me that maybe stuffing
that in this one might not be the the
[1:11:45] most effective place. sort of like the
conversation we just had about the water
[1:11:48] supply pipes and if not there then then
where if you agree that it doesn't go
[1:11:54] there because it is an important topic
but it's not quite the same as it's not
[1:11:59] community infrastructure at that point
sorry it's I mean it's not storm you
[1:12:03] know community level you know
environmental stuff it's broad ecosystem
[1:12:09] » I think we I think we can make a stance
on the menhaden issue with a direct
[1:12:14] resolution to the mid-handed issue that
is specific and actionable and take that
[1:12:22] on. Um, I think the priorities list, it
needs to be these umbrellas that are
[1:12:28] kind of broad and generic, you know, but
if we want to tackle a stance on the
[1:12:32] menhaden issue, I think we can do that
regardless of this and that actually
[1:12:37] this could bolster that resolution, but
we can get hard-nosed in a very formal
[1:12:43] resolution stance if that's an avenue we
want to take.
[1:12:46] » I was going to say similar thing. I
think that's probably a better approach.
[1:12:51] So, how do we put that on on the agenda
for something to get done later? Is that
[1:12:57] that something we ask staff to look at
first? We want to pull in experts.
[1:13:01] » Add Natasha to draft a resolution to it.
I think we need we'd probably just bring
[1:13:06] it up at a work session and get an idea
of what our point is. Okay.
[1:13:11] » Yeah.
[1:13:14] Just as a quick question in regard to
the menhaden
[1:13:18] point of view, we're going to I would
think have more success because what
[1:13:24] we're doing is not asking for specific
funding for that. Where we're asking to
[1:13:31] do is to have legislation towards that.
And where we're going to be more
[1:13:37] successful is not the local colonial
beach going, "Hey, this is
[1:13:40] unacceptable." If we're able to uh get
consensus among more municipalities
[1:13:49] and then put it together that way as
opposed to what I don't want to do
[1:13:56] not only Joanie but to the entire
situation is to do it a disservice by
[1:14:02] tucking it away somewhere where it's not
going to be seen and not acted on. Does
[1:14:06] that make sense?
The most similar instance I've seen of
[1:14:10] that is the 2A movement where multiple
counties added in resolutions because of
[1:14:16] the push in the 2A movement. And I think
that's probably a good example. I've
[1:14:22] seen coalition of strong strength in
numbers
[1:14:26] um just as far as the actual process of
that.
[1:14:30] » What's 2A?
>> Uh the second amendment
[1:14:42] So, I would I guess my point is to leave
the bullet point the same, but then if
[1:14:50] we decide to tackle that issue to make
that specific.
[1:14:55] » Yeah. Maybe address other localities
that are towards the Chesapeake Bay that
[1:15:00] would be influenced or
>> helpful. uh we can use those as a
[1:15:06] conjoining effort to do that.
>> Yeah, I actually wrote down while she
[1:15:11] was talking that um to bring this up at
the mayor's institute at VML
[1:15:16] uh because I think there'll be a lot of
other it's in Norfol this year and so
[1:15:20] there'll be a lot of coastal
um communities at that conference. I'd
[1:15:25] like to see what their stance is and
what they're doing about it and um you
[1:15:30] know how it's being brought up in their
communities.
[1:15:33] That's in October, guys. By the way, the
BM next BML um conference.
[1:15:40] » Nope, you can't say anything. Thank you.
[1:15:47] » All right. Um
moving forward, economic development and
[1:15:51] tourism. These are um this is big for
our marina way initiative is through
[1:15:57] this uh grant funds, BTC. some of the um
uh things like the love sign money or um
[1:16:06] different
grants for promotional things. I think
[1:16:11] we got a billboard a couple times. Um
stuff like that.
[1:16:16] Uh I like the highlight on ecoourism.
Um but I don't want to discount all the
[1:16:22] other
tourism initiatives by only hiding
[1:16:26] highlighting ecoourism.
I'm just kind of opening that discussion
[1:16:31] up.
[1:16:35] » Yeah, I thought when I read it that if
we said anything, we'd just just say,
[1:16:39] you know, tourism, you know, including
ecoourism.
[1:16:44] And that's as far, you know, for the
same reason. We don't want to water down
[1:16:48] the rest of the message with with a
single um
[1:16:53] a single initiative or a single topic.
[1:17:00] But if that goes too far, I mean, I'm
open to
[1:17:03] » I'm fine with adding ecoourism and
tourism. I just think it's a little
[1:17:07] repetitive, but I don't think it
>> either way.
[1:17:12] » You don't think so? Not significant
enough.
[1:17:15] » Okay.
[1:17:19] » All right.
>> Not in this instance.
[1:17:21] » In this particular instance.
And again, we do for the Osprey
[1:17:27] Festival. I know the um both our
delegate and our senator have written
[1:17:32] letters for the festival that we read in
the beginning and they appreciate it and
[1:17:36] they've been very responsive to it. So,
I think we have strong legislative resp.
[1:17:42] So, that's good. So, we can kind of
pledge our commitment, our continued
[1:17:45] commitment in that way specifically.
And we did name the osprey the town
[1:17:52] bird.
Okay.
[1:17:59] Um, all right. Moving on forward. Local
access to healthcare. Um, we just
[1:18:05] applied for the FEMA grant for along
with the Northern Eck planning district
[1:18:10] commission for and the county of West
Morland for the new rescue squad
[1:18:15] building on 700 Colonial Avenue.
[1:18:20] It'll be months before we hear back.
said, "Don't wait on, you know, like
[1:18:24] don't hold your breath yet." But, um, I
think that's an important one to keep on
[1:18:28] here for our residents and and for our
community, not just for that particular
[1:18:33] grant initiative, but also
when we get to broadband.
[1:18:39] Um, one of the openings and
opportunities with broadband is now
[1:18:45] teaalth and a teaalth kiosk in rural
communities.
[1:18:51] And I'm don't have a ton of information
on this yet, but it's something else at
[1:18:54] VML. I'm hoping to get a little bit more
info on that where we don't have we have
[1:19:00] a real big lack in doctors and sometimes
also a lack in broadband. But if there's
[1:19:05] a kiosk, a telealth kiosk maybe at a
rescue squad station or something like
[1:19:11] that. I don't know. It's they're trying
to invent ways to use technology to to
[1:19:16] help us.
[1:19:20] I don't know.
[1:19:23] [laughter]
[1:19:26] » Um I don't know. I'm sort of just want
to say there is new technology coming in
[1:19:31] this stuff and and I'm not sure where
it's going to go yet. Um
[1:19:38] All right. So we keeping that one on
here.
[1:19:44] » Yes. All right. There we go. All right.
Right. The required local match for
[1:19:48] schools. So, this was on there because
the proportionate rate of the local
[1:19:52] match was getting astronomical for small
communities especially. Um, this last
[1:19:58] year we saw that balance out a little
bit. Um, part of that is because the
[1:20:03] state cut funding to schools. So,
naturally, it cut our requirement to
[1:20:09] fund schools.
[1:20:13] » I mean, I'm just saying the truth.
That's what happened. It's also largely
[1:20:17] due to projection a drop in the school
population, right? So the the multiplier
[1:20:22] went down,
>> right, for the number of pupils. Yeah.
[1:20:26] Yeah. But they still use a averaged
estimate, but yeah.
[1:20:33] » So
>> do we leave this on here? Um I remember
[1:20:37] I had spoken with um delegate Pew Kent
on this twice. she has a subcommittee at
[1:20:45] the legislature um of four particularly
for rural school systems um related to
[1:20:51] this. So if we want to continue working
in that avenue, it might be something
[1:20:56] that I end up at a subcommittee meeting
for or Natasha does. If we don't want to
[1:21:01] continue down that avenue, I will free
my calendar.
[1:21:06] » I'm just asking for input, guys.
Do you all believe there's more juice to
[1:21:11] to you know to squeeze from this?
>> I don't know.
[1:21:15] Honestly, Tom, I don't know.
>> I if you know
[1:21:18] » is that a no.
>> I said is that a no?
[1:21:21] » I don't know.
>> I don't know.
[1:21:24] » Yeah. I mean, I don't want we don't want
busy work, but
[1:21:28] for years on end, we were getting scared
by the the rapid rise in the in the
[1:21:34] local match. Well, I think as long as we
have some delegate of some sort that's
[1:21:39] pushing for this agenda, I think it's
best that we keep it on there
[1:21:42] specifically for our community where
that if there's availability for us to
[1:21:47] save money in that avenue, we should
take full advantage of that because the
[1:21:51] school system does hit us every year.
So, and our numbers are rising within
[1:21:58] the school. They're not getting any
lower. And you know,
[1:22:03] it's just going to be a fact of life.
So, if we can save money in any way we
[1:22:06] can and there's someone there that's
pushing for this, I think we should keep
[1:22:10] it on there.
>> Does anybody know if we got any feedback
[1:22:16] last year and did anybody push for it? I
mean, yeah, I met with Hillary twice,
[1:22:21] Delegate Kent twice about it, but um she
was given it was a struggle at the state
[1:22:27] because the formula is this convoluted,
very specific, very comp complicated
[1:22:34] formula and making any adjustments to it
isn't equitable across the board. And
[1:22:40] actually some of the adjustments they
were proposing was going to make it
[1:22:43] worse for small rural communities which
was really what stood her up to be
[1:22:50] opposed to the changes to even though
she does wanted to change just how they
[1:22:54] were changing it was actually going to
make it harder. So it's a very
[1:22:58] complicated um
situation to tackle. I think she's we
[1:23:04] both were learning about how how
difficult it is really to do. Um the
[1:23:11] biggest point
when we're talking about this, it's not
[1:23:15] so much that of of reducing funding to
our school system. It's that the state
[1:23:20] was creating additional mandates,
all of these additional requirements and
[1:23:25] then not funding them. And so they were
expecting how easy to sit in Richmond
[1:23:32] and say you have to do these 10 new
things and you have to fund them and
[1:23:37] mandating that to localities. So that's
where the unfairness portion of it was
[1:23:43] coming from. Hey, you want all of these
additional things, then state, you've
[1:23:51] decided this. You need to pay for it on
your side because it was creating local
[1:23:58] dollar tax raises, but they were
statemandated
[1:24:03] items,
and that was really the point of it. So,
[1:24:08] because I could see that it could look
differently than that. Should should we
[1:24:12] consider rewriting the language then
maybe uh that reflects more of that as
[1:24:18] far as unfunded mandates or
>> I know just a thought.
[1:24:24] » Yeah, that's a good point.
[1:24:27] » It it feels like something we want to
continue to track because there's a lot
[1:24:30] of risk there to to Mr. Ellison's point.
Well, I mean, if they hit us with
[1:24:36] another half a million dollars,
that's that's a chunk, right? That we
[1:24:41] got to try to figure out how to make
that work. And it's not always easy.
[1:24:46] » Yeah. A half a million dollars is a 12
cent tax raise
[1:24:51] for us.
[1:24:56] So, that's the reality of it, right?
When the rubber meets the road.
[1:25:03] Okay. So, we'll leave it on there. Maybe
reward it a little bit. Improve that.
[1:25:10] David, I like that idea. You good with
it? Well, okay. All right. Last one
[1:25:17] that's on the list right now is access
to broadband. Um,
[1:25:22] uh, there has been some new traction in
this, uh, like I said with the healthc
[1:25:27] care kiosk possibly. Um,
I don't know if this shouldn't get a
[1:25:34] little bit more in general technology
related, but I'm also fine with leaving
[1:25:38] it the way it is. I think there's some
new tech out there that we um may want
[1:25:45] to go after.
But this does say teleaalth and
[1:25:49] opportunities for education, workforce
development.
[1:25:56] I mean ultimately is the problem not
that [clears throat]
[1:26:00] that the people that run broadband the
Verizon FiOS you know of the world those
[1:26:05] kind of things find it too expensive to
bring it this far from wherever their
[1:26:10] next closest hub is and is there a way
to sort of advocate for some government
[1:26:17] assistance to sort of entice the big
boys to bring the uh the fiber here
[1:26:22] right that when I think about this.
That's what I think of. Is that a
[1:26:25] realistic goal?
Well, is it
[1:26:31] realistic? Is maybe going too far, but
is it um
[1:26:35] am I thinking about it the right way?
>> I think for us it was um you know what
[1:26:40] we currently have in terms of uh
internet. There's a monopoly, right? We
[1:26:46] don't have any other options other than
the cable or you know some people have
[1:26:53] Starlink and you know those things are
coming but there's a cost to those right
[1:26:57] what we're trying to do is make the
internet we have today cheaper so if the
[1:27:02] best way to do that is competition so
you know all points broadband that's
[1:27:07] gone down through the county and those
areas where they now have both some of
[1:27:12] that is a little bit easier to get cost
down you You know, I had a house that
[1:27:17] was built for my daughter and I got
internet for $20 a month because they
[1:27:23] were interested in doing a two-year
contract, no deal kind of thing. And I
[1:27:27] was able to get a lot cheaper than your
standard $59.99 or $79.99 type package.
[1:27:33] But I had the ability to say, "I'm not
going to go with you. I'm going with the
[1:27:36] other." And that's when the price
dropped.
[1:27:39] » Right. So, so the the question I'm
asking is is there are there things that
[1:27:42] the state and federal government can do
to make it more likely that we get that
[1:27:46] competition here.
>> Yes.
[1:27:48] » What I think that would work against us
on that is the study that we had done
[1:27:54] » that uh took a look at where we need to
even be to be standard.
[1:28:01] Um, and so people are going to focus
more on getting us up to,
[1:28:07] you know, borderline, I guess, as
opposed to being able to bring a higher
[1:28:13] dollar service here. We don't have the
folks to do it.
[1:28:16] » Well, we have the study results and
there's things we can do with those
[1:28:21] study results. So to
um the point I kind of about the
[1:28:28] community infrastructure point before is
once you have a study then you have the
[1:28:33] data that they need sometimes to
actually lift off the ground. So having
[1:28:38] that makes me think we need to keep it
on here because if something comes
[1:28:42] available we may be able to use that
data to our advantage. But to me it's
[1:28:46] not just affordability but also
reliability. We had a major responses
[1:28:53] from the initial survey which was you
know a very poorly done survey by myself
[1:28:59] I think but it was the major response
was the reliability. It's dropping out
[1:29:04] all the time. I can't do my you know
cashier checkouts because I'm losing
[1:29:11] vendor business because I can't get
somebody's credit card to swipe. Things
[1:29:14] like that. So, um I think in that it's
it's competition. It's also putting
[1:29:22] breeze lines nose to the grind a little
bit and saying you're not meeting the
[1:29:28] standard and we're going to hold you
accountable to it. But I I guess and
[1:29:32] perhaps I had a misconception of it, but
my thought would be that they would
[1:29:37] focus more on getting this to where it's
reliable as opposed to having more
[1:29:43] competition.
>> Yes, both. I think
[1:29:47] » well, new lines would certainly make it
more reliable. I mean, the other stuff's
[1:29:51] been here for 30 years.
>> Understand? But where are the new lines
[1:29:55] coming from?
>> So, where are the new customers coming
[1:29:58] from?
>> Right. So like right now it's going down
[1:30:01] through like Longfield Road and going
towards the county.
[1:30:05] » So they would just have to come back
down 205 to provide those additional
[1:30:10] lines.
>> The the
[1:30:12] » he's talking about tracking all access,
right?
[1:30:15] » All points broadband. Yeah.
>> But see, they weren't contracted to come
[1:30:19] this way because they were doing they
were the grants and stuff were for
[1:30:23] specific areas that did not have any
>> uh internet at all. And that was the
[1:30:28] initiative Senator Stewart and all those
went to Richmond and said, you know, we
[1:30:32] got to make sure that everybody has
access. And they they did that.
[1:30:36] » Now, the flip side of that is, you know,
if the Verizon tower
[1:30:41] » gets put up and they bring in cable, I
mean, they could definitely pull in
[1:30:46] cable that way or just give us the
little pods for 5G or whatever.
[1:30:51] » Yeah. there could be your competition
and that could, you know, next year or
[1:30:56] the year after whenever that happens
could be remove that off of there.
[1:30:59] » I think in the next two years we're
going to see a lot of changes on this
[1:31:02] item. I think we're going to see a lot
of things I can't even forecast right
[1:31:06] now.
>> Well, in all fairness, just the
[1:31:09] competition of T-Mobile having the 5G
available here,
[1:31:13] » I was able to use that. I didn't want to
go to a 5G network, but um I was able to
[1:31:20] use that to negotiate
my cable provider down to
[1:31:29] » Yeah. Okay. So, I'm kind of saying let's
leave it
[1:31:34] unless I'm hearing something else from
people.
[1:31:37] » Yeah. I think it's sort of like the
required local match. We want to leave
[1:31:40] it there for visibility and to prove
that we still care about it even if we
[1:31:44] don't know exactly what we want right
now.
[1:31:47] » Yeah, we may have to pair with what's
out there too. All right. And then I'm
[1:31:51] saying I have noted here to add the
waterline system, waterline utility
[1:31:56] system as an additional item on here.
And um and I think the probably the
[1:32:03] action requested will be similar to the
wastewater treatment but just pertaining
[1:32:07] to water,
[1:32:11] drinking water. Yes. All right.
>> Sounds good.
[1:32:14] » All right. Anything else to this? That's
now eight. We've gone back up from seven
[1:32:18] to eight.
[1:32:25] » I'm sorry. Did you say drinking water or
storm water?
[1:32:29] » Drinking water.
>> Well, potable water. Yeah. And so then,
[1:32:37] um, Natasha will bring this back at our
next meeting in September for final
[1:32:41] approval.
Any other comments then before we
[1:32:47] Okay.
The only only comment I would have is if
[1:32:52] we can look at any potential items that
are that we're targeting and Richmond
[1:32:58] has verbiage to align the verbiage as
close as possible.
[1:33:04] You know,
>> I mean, we do that in propo proposals or
[1:33:08] grants or anything like that. You want
to kind of make it look like they wrote
[1:33:11] it. Oh, that fits perfectly.
[1:33:15] » Yeah, we'll optimize it. Um,
>> okay.
[1:33:23] » All right. With that, we So, we'll we
vote on that at the next at the
[1:33:28] September meeting. And with that, we
going into closed meetings. So, I move
[1:33:33] that the town council of the town of
Columbia Beach, Virginia, convene in
[1:33:36] closed meeting for the following purpose
and to discuss the following subjects,
[1:33:39] all of which are exempt by Virginia law
from public meeting requirements as
[1:33:42] indicated. Namely, pursuant to Virginia
Code section 2.2-371, 2-3711A7
[1:33:47] for the purpose of consultation with
legal counsel and briefings by staff
[1:33:50] members or consultants pertaining to
actual or probable litigation where such
[1:33:54] consultation or briefing and open
meeting would adversely affect the
[1:33:57] negotiating or litigating posture of the
town council and pursuant to Virginia
[1:34:01] code section 2.2-3711A88
for the purpose of consultation with
[1:34:05] legal counsel retained by the town
council regarding specific legal matters
[1:34:08] requiring the provision of legal advice
by such counsel. And with that, we'll uh
[1:34:13] go into close session right after a
fivem minute recess.
[1:34:16] » Were you an auctioneer from the previous
[1:59:57] public business matters lawfully
exempted from open meeting requirements
[2:00:00] under the Virginia Freedom of
Information Act and only such public
[2:00:02] business matters as were identified in
the motion by which the closed meeting
[2:00:05] was convened were heard discussed or
considered in the meeting by councel. I
[2:00:09] need a motion.
>> So move.
[2:00:10] » I need a second. I need an individual
certification.
[2:00:13] » I certify.
>> I say certify.
[2:00:15] » I so certify.
>> I certify. I so certify.
[2:00:18] » I so certify. And with that, we will
adjourn tonight's meeting at 8 o'clock.