Fauquier Times 04/12/2023

Page 1

SPRING 2023

The Coolness Factor Hit the open road with Beth Liles

Inside:

April 12, 2023

Our 206th year | Vol. 206, No. 15 | www.Fauquier.com | $1.50 VIRGINIA PRESS ASSOCIATION: BEST SMALL NEWSPAPER IN VIRGINIA 2017-2021

• Cool sips • Cool bites • Cool kids • Cooling trees • Cool trends

InFauquier Magazine looks at The Coolness Factor. See Inside.

Emails: Warrenton official OK’d tree-cutting at data center site By Peter Cary

Piedmont Journalism Foundation

More than two weeks before the Town of Warrenton sent inspectors to check out tree-clearing on the site of Amazon’s proposed data center, the town’s development director told an Amazon Web Services lawyer the company could cut down trees without any permits, according to emails obtained in a recent Freedom of Information Act request. The director gave his consent when Amazon attorney John Foote asked town officials in an email on Feb. 16 – two days after the town council approved the project — what might be needed as a “precondition” for tree

removal from the Amazon site. Foote asked whether a site conservation plan, as outlined in the town’s zoning code, was required. A site conservation plan, according to the town zoning code, assures that any land-disturbance activities are in accord with, among other things, tree species rules, conservation of heritage and specimen trees and retention and replacement of trees requirements. It is to include a riparian buffer plan, a tree survey, a tree protection plan, a tree replacement schedule and a sediment and erosion control plan, which has its own tree references, according to the code. See EMAILS, page 2

TIMES STAFF PHOTO/JILL PALERMO

A view of the Amazon data center site from Blackwell Road, where hundreds of trees were cut down during the last weeks of March.

Warrenton’s proposed budget nixes vehicle fee, offers 10% staff raises

A sheriff’s office cruiser driven by former deputy Brock Smith collided on Feb. 25, 2022, with a vehicle carrying Brian and Mary Dangerfield of Goldvein. The Dangerfields died after the crash.

By Shannon Clark

Fauquier Times Staff Writer

Warrenton residents would see no change to their town real estate tax bills and would be relieved of the annual $25 vehicle tax under the proposed fiscal year 2024 budget the town council considered this week. Acting Town Manager Tommy Cureton proposed a $41.2 million budget for the new fiscal year, which begins July 1, a $10 million increase from fiscal year 2023. “During the last six months, town staff have continued to align our activities with Plan Warrenton 2040 in furtherance of our commitment to delivering quality services to the community,” Stephanie Miller, finance and procurement director, said in the proposed budget. The town council adopted Plan Warrenton 2040 in April 2021. The plan guides the town council with regard to the town’s development.

PHOTO BY LIAM BOWMAN

PHOTO BY ROBIN EARL

Acting Town Manager Tommy Cureton

Former sheriff’s deputy found guilty in 2022 crash that killed Fauquier couple By Jill Palermo

Warrenton residents currently pay a yearly $25 per vehicle tax to the town as well as a personal property tax on vehicles at a rate of $1 per $100 in assessed value. The town exempts the property tax on vehicles valued at less than $20,000 and exempts the tax on the first $20,000 in value for those that are worth more.

Former Fauquier County Sheriff’s Deputy Brock Smith was found guilty of reckless driving in connection with a February 2022 collision that resulted in the deaths of Brian and Mary Dangerfield, who were struck by Smith’s squad car a short distance from their home.

See BUDGET, page 7

See SMITH, page 4

Fauquier Times Staff Writer

SOURCE: FACEBOOK

Brock Smith

SPORTS: Highland baseball, Liberty girls tennis, Kettle Run/Fauquier boys lacrosse coverage. PAGES 15, 16, 20

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