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City BeatBy Emily Battle
Dec. 7, 2009 10:09 am
Tomorrow: City Council, 7:30 p.m., Council Chambers. This is going to be pretty short. The council will be approving various measures necessary to borrow up to $6.6 million for improvements to its wastewater treatment system. The city plans to use Recovery Zone Economic Development Bonds for these projects. Those are special forms of financing created by the so-called "Stimulus Act" that are cheaper for the city. The work to be done includes the renovation or replacement of two pump stations, as well as wastewater treatment plant improvements. This is expected to add about $600,000 a year in debt service costs to the city's sewer fund. This will likely translate to an increase in sewer rates over the years that the city is making these payments. Agenda is here. Wednesday: Planning Commission work session, 7 p.m., second floor, City Hall. This is a joint work session between the Planning Commission and the Historic Preservation Task Force. The task force will present its draft preservation plan to the commission. This plan will require public hearings before both the commission and the council before it is adopted. Read the draft plan here.
Perma-link: http://www.fredericksburg.com/blogs/citybeat/index_html?blogger_id=20&p=1260198590
Tags: City Council, School Board, Planning Commission
Dec. 3, 2009 9:14 am
News from College Terrace. Michael Costa has posted a report from the latest town-gown meeting at the College Terrace neighborhood blog, including updates on student parking and on the city's ongoing sewer construction project. The weather forecast for Saturday, the date of the Jaycees' Christmas parade downtown, just keeps getting colder. The Weather Channel is now calling for a high of 37 degrees and a 70 percent chance of either rain or snow. So dressing with some extra padding to look more Santa-like wouldn't be a bad idea.
Perma-link: http://www.fredericksburg.com/blogs/citybeat/index_html?blogger_id=20&p=1259849676
Tags: Morning Buzz
Dec. 2, 2009 9:01 am
Students at William and Mary are accusing Williamsburg officials of going too heavily after them in enforcing the city's residential occupancy law, which allows no more than three unrelated people to live in a house together. Fredericksburg has that same law on the books. The only case the city has ever taken to court under this ordinance involved students at the University of Mary Washington. For those interested in the progress of the city's preservation plan, the next step in that process is a work session next Wednesday (Dec. 9) between the planning commission and historic preservation task force. Agenda is here.
Perma-link: http://www.fredericksburg.com/blogs/citybeat/index_html?blogger_id=20&p=1259762478
Tags: Morning Buzz
Funding process for outside agencies begins Dec. 1, 2009 9:56 am
In a letter in today's paper, Spotsylvania resident Judy Krongold laments reduced government funding to the Central Rappahannock Regional Library. Pleas like this make up the vast majority of the comments that City Council members hear at their annual budget public hearings. The library is funded by Stafford, Spotsylvania, Westmoreland and Fredericksburg. In Fredericksburg alone, library funding dropped 15 percent over the past year, from close to $1.3 million to $1.1 million. The library is one of several agencies the city funds, nearly all of which have been cut by Fredericksburg and other area local governments in recent years. The process for distributing what is likely to be an even smaller pot of money to area agencies in the next fiscal year has already begun. The city asks groups that want money to fill out this application, due Dec. 18.
Perma-link: http://www.fredericksburg.com/blogs/citybeat/index_html?blogger_id=20&p=1259679406
Tags: budget
Dec. 1, 2009 9:42 am
If you noticed over the weekend that the William Street Market - in she Shell station at William and Kenmore - closed, then you should know the market is set to re-open under new management sometime soon. Business reporter Bill Freehling reported in today's paper that the store closed over the weekend because the old tenant was behind on rent. When Fredericksburg's City Council had to appoint a new member last year after Marvin Dixon resigned, all of the interviews and applications that led to Brad Ellis' selection were in public. Not so in Lynchburg, where the council is divided over how to select a new member, after one councilman was elected to the General Assembly. A majority have voted to conduct the entire process behind closed doors. As you can read here, this is a legal option, but not a necessary one.
Perma-link: http://www.fredericksburg.com/blogs/citybeat/index_html?blogger_id=20&p=1259678541
Tags: Morning Buzz
Nov. 30, 2009 10:00 am
Fredericksburg's Christmas parade is Saturday, and the city's Clean & Green Commission is looking for volunteers to clean up after it. Commission member Anne Little says it took city public works crews two weeks to scrape all of last year's parade debris off the streets. There's been a ban on throwing candy from floats this year, and the commission is hoping this volunteer component will help keep trash from turning a positive event into a nuisance. Volunteers will meet at 4:15 p.m. on Saturday at the Visitors Center. For more information on duties and whom to contact, click here. Today's the last day to smoke in Virginia restaurants, so go live it up if that's your thing.
Perma-link: http://www.fredericksburg.com/blogs/citybeat/index_html?blogger_id=20&p=1259593230
Tags: Morning Buzz
Nov. 25, 2009 11:02 am
As Virginia's restaurant smoking ban nears its Dec. 1 start date, here's something for restaurant owners to think about: When all those smokers head right outside your doors to light up, don't forget to make sure they're not turning the neighborhood into a pig stye. I just spent 30 minutes hearing from one downtown business owner about the litter--cigarette butts, cigarette wrappers, drink containers--that gets left in front of his shop, in his neighbors' flower pots and out in the street by folks who step outside the restaurant next door for a smoke. Tax exemptions and city contributions for nonprofit entities have been at issue in Fredericksburg over the past few years, most notably when the Slavery Museum asked to be exempt from paying taxes on the vacant land it owns in Celebrate Virginia. Tax exemptions are just one way a local government can contribute to a nonprofit, though. Fredericksburg and other localities also include direct contributions to some groups in their budgets. City Council members here have struggled with how and why these gifts are made. The Daily Press editorial board offers discussion today about these practices. Their conclusion:
Perma-link: http://www.fredericksburg.com/blogs/citybeat/index_html?blogger_id=20&p=1259164927
Tags: Morning Buzz
Personal property tax rate now $3.40 Nov. 24, 2009 8:13 pm
The City Council tonight took the final vote required to raise the personal property tax rate on automobiles from $2.99 to $3.40 per $100 of value. As you have probably read at least a dozen times by now, this move is meant to keep revenue from this tax steady. Because car values have taken a tumble, the city stood to lose $866,000 in this fiscal year if it didn't raise the tax. A few weeks ago, council members talked about delaying a vote on this until after they could talk more in-depth about where city revenue comes from. At a planning retreat two weeks ago, Councilman Brad Ellis asked if several capital projects could be postponed to help replace some of the $866,000, but the projects he pointed to were all funded with outside money. Besides, if you use saved capital money to replace a recurring loss in revenue, the same problem comes back the next year. Ellis was the only one who said anything about the tax hike tonight. "Every member of council has tried to look for extra savings in the budget," he said. "I just see no way around this tax hike." In other news, the council approved four easements necessary for the Surgi-Center of Central Virginia to build a new facility next to Dixon Park on Dixon Street. In addition to the easements, the city and the developer plan to enter into an agreement to share parking spaces, to provide more parking for both the business and the park at times when only one facility is in heavy use. The Surgi-Center is projected to bring in $302,440 in annual local tax revenue. The EDA agreed earlier this year to contribute $50,000 toward the $181,000 in development fees this project will entail.
Perma-link: http://www.fredericksburg.com/blogs/citybeat/index_html?blogger_id=20&p=1259111605
Tags: budget, economic development
Nov. 24, 2009 8:56 am
Fredericksburg Police learned over the weekend that they had earned national accreditation from the Commission on Accreditation for Law Enforcement Agencies. This caps a three-year process for the department. If you want to learn more about the court-building option that council members will consider tonight, download this presentation from the city's Web site. The recommended option is "Scheme 5," though someone might want to re-think the public-relations implications of calling a $39.7 million government building project a "scheme." Council meets at 7:30 p.m. tonight. Very short agenda, but in addition to the courts discussion, they'll likely take the second of two required votes to raise the personal property tax.
Perma-link: http://www.fredericksburg.com/blogs/citybeat/index_html?blogger_id=20&p=1259071000
Tags: Morning Buzz
Nov. 23, 2009 11:28 am
Can someone please petition for a chickens-in-the-city ordinance just so we can get a visit from this guy? I am also curious what his stance is on the bench in front of the visitors' center.
Perma-link: http://www.fredericksburg.com/blogs/citybeat/index_html?blogger_id=20&p=1258993736
Nov. 23, 2009 9:04 am
Matt Kelly has summed up his argument as to why the city should not build new courts now on today's letter's page. Tomorrow, council members will be asked to vote to move forward with a plan to put a new court building on the current site of the Princess Anne Street fire station. Read about the case City Manager Beverly Cameron made to council members about the importance of moving forward now here. Kalahari's expansion in Wisconsin Dells got some press over the weekend. A story in the Chicago Daily Herald reports that the $20 million indoor amusement park that Kalahari owner Todd Nelson decided to add to the waterpark hotel amid a down economy is doing brisk business, even though the hospitality industry as a whole is suffering. From the article:
It's still unclear what the future holds for Kalahari's plans to build its third waterpark hotel in Fredericksburg. Business reporter Bill Freehling spoke to Nelson last week, and he said he continues to look for financing for the $250 million project. He is still seeing a very tight credit market and extremely strict terms from any potential investors, but he said he remains committed to the project.
Perma-link: http://www.fredericksburg.com/blogs/citybeat/index_html?blogger_id=20&p=1258985083
Tags: Morning Buzz
Nov. 19, 2009 9:56 am
For those who signed up for the Historic Half yesterday, you'll get a chance to see a truly obsessed half-marathoner tomorrow if you stop by City Hall at 3:30 p.m. A man named Doug Merrill is supposed to meet Mayor Tomzak there as a stop-off on his journey to run from Fenway Park in Boston to Key West, Fla., one half-marathon at a time. The journey started Oct. 4. You can learn more about this here. Fredericksburg faces a $5 million lawsuit from a King George man who was erroneously arrested twice on city charges, Keith Epps reports today. Rodney Maurice Morton, 42, filed the suit Thursday in federal court in Richmond. Both arrests referred to in the lawsuit occurred when police were really looking for Rodney Lee Morton, a local man with a long criminal record. I've been talking to restaurateurs over the past few days about the city meals tax, which went up from 5 percent to 6 percent in August. Most say the tax draws little notice, but at least one has pointed out that the tax draws the most notice from out-of-towners, the very group Fredericksburg's tourism efforts are trying to draw in. To a visitor from Northern Virginia, the rate probably does seem high, because most Northern Virginia localities have a meals tax of either 0 or 4 percent. To those coming from Hampton Roads, though, the tax could seem just a tad low, as Norfolk, Newport News, Portsmouth and Hampton all levy a 6.5 percent tax. But after a dinner out, maybe a beverage or two and all the other activity that goes with visiting a new town, do people really notice an extra percentage or two of tax on their bill? Read tomorrow's paper to see what local restaurants have noticed.
Perma-link: http://www.fredericksburg.com/blogs/citybeat/index_html?blogger_id=20&p=1258642571
Tags: Morning Buzz
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Contact City Beat is a companion to the Fredericksburg government coverage that appears in The Free Lance-Star. Look here for background, extra information, documents and tidbits that didn’t make it into the print edition. And please, feel free to leave your comments. Follow City Beat updates on Twitter at twitter.com/citybeatblog.
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Tonight: School Board, 6:30 p.m., Council Chambers. The part of the meeting that's open to the public doesn't start until 7:30 p.m. Word of the month is kindness. Agenda is 
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Emily Battle covers Fredericksburg government for The Free Lance-Star.
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