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Spotsy govt.-the odds & endsBy Dan Telvock
Feb. 9, 2010 7:08 pm
The Board of Supervisors on a 4-2 vote approved Lee Garrison's rezoning on Lafayette Boulevard that he calls Lafayette Crossing. You can real about the project here. Supervisors Benjamin Pitts and Gary Jackson voted against it. Supervisor T.C. Waddy hurt his knee and is absent from the meeting. The four supervisors who approved the project said it will help redevelop a corridor that the county has wanted to improve for years. In other action, the supervisors came out of closed session and accepted to make a public notice of a PPTA proposal from Henderson Construction. Details of the proposal are not real clear yet, but the company is proposing to do some median work on State Route 3, most importantly by the Spotsylvania Towne Centre. You know the median I am talking about, right? It's crumbling, you can see the rebar and it just is not a pretty site as the entry into Spotsylvania County from Fredericksburg on Rt. 3. It's not clear how far along Rt. 3 Henderson wants to improve. What happens next is the county will advertise that Henderson has proposed a PPTA project and other companies will have 45 days to put their bids in. The rest of tonight's meetings are two public hearings with not a lot of significance to them. It's snowing folks, so drive safe.
Perma-link: http://www.fredericksburg.com/blogs/view?blogger_id=21&p=1265760522
Tags: Henderson, Lafayette Boulevard
Emergency Shelter will re-open today Feb. 9, 2010 1:10 pm
Spotsylvania County will reopen its emergency shelter today at 3 p.m. at Thornburg Middle School, located off of U.S. Route 1 at 6929 N. Roxbury Mill Road. Officials from the American Red Cross will be at this shelter. The shelter is available for Spotsylvania and Caroline county residents. Those coming to the shelter are asked to bring along any needed personal medications or prescriptions, bedding (sleeping bag, blanket, and pillow if possible), and personal hygiene items (e.g.: toothbrush, toothpaste). Please do NOT bring pets as they will not be allowed to stay at the shelter. Officials will determine whether the shelter will remain open beyond 9:00 p.m. tonight based upon the need and use. The shelter MAY reopen tomorrow, if needed because of weather events.
The American Red Cross can be reached at 540-735-0500. The number for the front greeter desk at Thornburg Middle School is 540-582-7600; it is unlikely that number will be staffed at all times during the shelter opening periods.
Perma-link: http://www.fredericksburg.com/blogs/view?blogger_id=21&p=1265739020
Tags: shelter
Feb. 9, 2010 12:26 pm
Despite a forecast that this area could be pounded with more snow, the Spotsylvania County Board of Supervisors still plans to meet today at 3 p.m. If it snows bad I'd feel bad for T.C. Waddy and Emmitt Marshall who have such a long drive home. And I have a rear-wheel drive vehicle. But I am also a master of snow driving and actually enjoy it. What's on the agenda? The supervisors are expected to vote on Lafayette Crossing, a housing and commercial project on Lafayette Boulevard. Another matter will be the Spotsylvania Greenway Initiative project. This grassroots group that wants to develop a network of trails that eventually could connect Civil War Battlefields wants to partner with the Board of Supervisors to acquire easements for the project. This will be a lofty effort to get all the landowners to agree to either donate or sell an easement for the trail. The folks I've talked to about this project are really excited about its potential. Other than that, it's a pretty quiet and uneventful meeting today.
Perma-link: http://www.fredericksburg.com/blogs/view?blogger_id=21&p=1265736413
Tags: trails, lafayette crossing
Spotsylvania County opens shelter Feb. 6, 2010 3:37 pm
Perma-link: http://www.fredericksburg.com/blogs/view?blogger_id=21&p=1265488625
Tags: shelter
Expense reports and health insurance Jan. 28, 2010 4:39 pm
By tomorrow, I hope to have copies of all the documents I need to calculate the expense reports that each supervisor files for reimbursement. I do know that Supervisor Gary Skinner and Supervisor Jerry Logan do not fill out expense reports for any reimbursements.Mr. Logan does take advantage of the county health insurance, which is a $8,595 expense. This health insurance is the same that is offered to full-time county employees. It is not offered to any part-time employees. Supervisor Hap Connors filled out one expense report for $55 for a Quantico Black History Month Association event. Supervisors Emmitt Marshall and T.C. Waddy have filled out numerous expense reports for gasoline reimbursement.Waddy drives his district quite a bit and has several town hall meetings with his constituents to hear their concerns. He also personally meets with some constituents at their homes to discuss problems. Supervisor Gary Jackson has expense reports for office supplies, mileage and Supervisor Benjamin Pitts has expense reports for travel to National What's VACO? You can get an idea here. Many stories have been written about the cost of these VACO events. What is NACO? Check here. Each year, they have annual meetings. Recently, there have been events in Tennessee and Florida, both of which Pitts attended. A complete story is on the way.
Perma-link: http://www.fredericksburg.com/blogs/view?blogger_id=21&p=1264714755
Tags: VACO expense reports
Jan. 26, 2010 4:26 pm
In this story, it mentions how the county has lost about $800,000 in proffers as a result of the 3-acre lot division approved in March. Emmitt Marshall called me today and said that the county policy is that proffers are not collected on anything less than 10 lots. The county says to build one single-family house costs the county about $35,000. The point the story is trying to drive is that these lots would have never been created, and homes will be built on them eventually. A home may have kids, need fire and rescue, a deputy, a park, etc etc, so I used the county's own proffer guidelines as an example of what the divisions can cost the county in supplying services. But I should have clarified that proffers are not collected on just a single lot. But that does not mean there is no cost associated with that house on the 3-acre lot. The only way to come anywhere near close to estimating what that cost is would be to check the proffer guidelines. Mr. Marshall will see his clarification tomorrow. Now, I find out that the clarification isn't clarifying anything and the information Mr. Marshall asked to be corrected was not correct. Here is the county's proffer policy: the County's proffer policy does not have any specific trigger point as related to proffers as was reported in today's paper. It is important to note that proffers are only associated with rezonings and not by-right development. The proffer policy does allow for a rezoning applicant to claim credit for any by-right lots that could be developed. For example, a property that could be developed as 5 houses under the existing zoning could claim a credit of 5 units against their total proposed number of units.
So, in other words, the original story was correct when it said Mr. Marshall's 3-acre proposal has cost the county more than $800,000, based on the county's proffer guidelines. His idea to bill the FMC plant $600,000 a decade or so ago is something he always brings up. But Mr. Marshall believes his 3-acre lot proposal is not costing the county anything. You decide.
Perma-link: http://www.fredericksburg.com/blogs/view?blogger_id=21&p=1264541190
Tags: 3 acre lots proffers Emmitt Marshall
Jan. 26, 2010 4:05 pm
Tonight the Spotsylvania County supervisors are expected to vote on Mr. Pagan's rezoning and special-use permit for an office building and wholesale nursery and greenhouse on his farm off State Route 3 near the Orange County line. If approved, the rezoning would be a change of direction for a group that said it would not rezone any land past Andora Drive to commercial, because of the proximity to historic Civil War battlefields. Supervisor Hap Connors has argued that a well-designed office building, with a wholesale nursery and greenhouse hidden from Rt. 3 is a better alternative than the byright development Mr. Pagan could do without any government approval, which is 11 houses. The office complex will be built to look like a barn. Supervisor Jerry Logan is expected to vote "no" for this rezoning because he said he made a promise never to support a commercial rezoning west of Five Mile Fork, which is farther east of Andora Drive. The biggest problem Logan said he has with the project is the precedent of rezoning land to commercial that is outside the primary growth area. As this article states, there are about 13 parcels west of Andora Drive that are already zoned commercial.
Perma-link: http://www.fredericksburg.com/blogs/view?blogger_id=21&p=1264539936
Tags: Hap Connors, Pagan farm, Andora Drive, rezoning
Jan. 25, 2010 1:44 pm
Supervisor Jerry Logan took some pictures of a Bald Eagles that likes to visit River Road from time to time. I could only get one to save on my computer, so here it is:
Perma-link: http://www.fredericksburg.com/blogs/view?blogger_id=21&p=1264445085
Proposed increases in Zoning permits and fees are big, and some drop Jan. 22, 2010 4:21 pm
The Board of Supervisors meets Jan. 26 and supervisors will discuss a presentation from the staff on new zoning fees. You can see the list of fees with the current amount and the proposed amount here. A few fee increases that caught my eye are a minor site plan review that costs $100 could cost $1,720 in the near future. An erosion and sediment residential permit that costs $625 could cost $1,260. There are numerous other fees that drop by a range of $25 to $840. Most of the fees with decreases are by a few hundred dollars. Supervisory Jerry Logan has already expressed great concern about the fees the county charges, believing that some are too high. These fees are coming up for review because the Board of Supervisors asked county staff to determine what the true cost of doing business is, and IT Director Brian Scott was put in charge of gathering the data.
Perma-link: http://www.fredericksburg.com/blogs/view?blogger_id=21&p=1264195276
Tags: zoning fees
Code Compliance Revenues Continue Decline Jan. 22, 2010 4:06 pm
The Code Compliance Department continues to fall short of revenue projections. Work is so slow that revenues are expected to be $1.3 million short through the end of June 30, 2010. The Code Compliance Fund will be $700,000 short after using $600,000 in general fund tax dollars. Now the department needs to tap into the $2.6 million in general fund tax dollars and Capital Projects funds the supervisors held in a safety net account to cover the shortfall. According to the approved fiscal year 2010 budget, the Code Compliance Department consists of the Building and Zoning departments and it has:
In the fiscal year 2008 budget there were 56 employees in those two divisions. In the 2010 budget, there are 34 employees.
Perma-link: http://www.fredericksburg.com/blogs/view?blogger_id=21&p=1264194398
Tags: Code Compliance
Jan. 22, 2010 1:26 pm
Days like these I feel like taking the day off. Fourreal2 just won't let the rumor die. It is time to move on, people.
http://fredericksburg.com/News/FLS/2010/012010/01222010/521788
Perma-link: http://www.fredericksburg.com/blogs/view?blogger_id=21&p=1264184776
Jan. 20, 2010 12:18 pm
I will make this real short: The Board of Supervisors did not vote on, propose or enact any policy that would charge all county residents for public water and sewer services. In fact, the Board of Supervisors did not even come close to doing so. Two supervisors brought up the idea for discussion, and they were trying to make a point. As Supervisor Gary Jackson said in an article published Jan. 15, if the county is going to make all taxpayers cover the costs of development that is not paying its way or cover the costs of fees that were reduced in a failed attempt to increase permits and fees collected, then why not have all county residents pay for water and sewer service. Supervisors discussed it, Supervisor Emmitt Marshall had a fit, and that was it. I am surprised the rumor is still out there, even after writing the Jan. 15 article. Maybe the FLS Web director should put this on the front page of fredericksburg.com with a bold headline to finally put this ridiculous rumor to bed.
Perma-link: http://www.fredericksburg.com/blogs/view?blogger_id=21&p=1264007913
Tags: water and sewer
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Contact News and Notes from Spotsylvania County. Not everything I want to write can get in the newspaper. So, this is an avenue for me to provide more information to the public about what the Spotsylvania government is doing.
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Dan Telvock covers Spotsylvania County for The Free Lance-Star.
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