eagles can’t escape loss
lock and load but still be safe
honoring the heroes
W&L falls to essex as unbeaten season comes to end. Page 6
follow these tips before you go out with your muzzleloader. Page 7
local students share their own stories. Page 10
T he Volume 38, Number 45
POSTAL CUSTOMER
Colonial Beach • Westmoreland
Wednesday, November 5, 2014 50 Cents
helping you relate to your community
Montross using state grant to spruce up town Linda Farneth Revitalization took center stage at the Oct. 28 Montross Town Council meeting. The Town of Montross has been in the implementing stages of its half million dollar Community Development Block Grant it received from the state. Of that amount, $80,000 has been dedicated to helping area businesses improve storefronts through facade improvement programs. Town Manager Brenda Reamy told the council most of the projects are completed,
or very close to it. The only one that is not is the Napa building. It will be torn down and rebuilt. The building will look the same, so it still will qualify for the facade project. Several murals were painted in various locations to enhance the view while visitors drive through town on Route 3 in both directions, she said. Two more may be drawn, Reamy said, after all the facade money is spent and the crosswalks are completed. Councilman Terry Cosgrove, also a member of the revitalization team, said he will suggest the team work
with businesses who are interested in murals. The idea is to have more private investments and possibly offer a package deal to artists in order to save money and utilize revitalization money in a more productive way. Councilman Clinton Watson said many compliments came in from the fall festival about the revitalization efforts. Cosgrove said he has also heard many positive comments from tourists passing through town, and the revitalization work seems to have brought the business owners
together. When Cosgrove reported several businesses hosted events for the Halloween weekend, Mayor David O’Dell said there seemed to be a more cohesive group of people working to put weekend events together since revitalization efforts began. “Business owners are talking more, rather than putting up shields,” Cosgrove agreed. “Like it or not, we are in a small town, and some of us are in competition for that finite business, but any conversation that can bring more people
into the downtown area, the better for all of us, I think.” Reamy reported the shrubbery and benches have been placed in Town Square, and during the warm days, people had been taking advantage of the new benches, sitting on them. In other news: n Reamy has secured a $955 Virginia Municipal League safety grant, which has been used to purchase a smaller generator and new trash pump to make water repair work zones safer.
hometown fun at the homecoming parade
A leak that was repaired during last year’s water tank repainting has rusted and has not been scheduled for repairs by Utility Services, the company that worked repainting the tank last year. Reamy will send a written request that it be completed by Dec. 1, before the council takes any action on the matter. n The Northern Neck Coca-Cola Bottling Company closed its doors effective Nov. 3. The council agreed to offer any assistance it could to support the owners in their efforts to secure new tenants for the building.
Dangerous crossroad to get light CB man was killed at intersection of routes 218/205 Richard Leggitt
The Colonial Beach High School PTA sponsored several homecoming events Oct. 31. The evening began with a parade from the old elementary campus up Colonial Avenue and ending at the high school. After arriving at the school, attendees enjoyed music, hot dogs and pizza. The seniors took the win during a tugof-war competition. Students of all ages participated in sack races, and kids and adults had a chance to beat up an old car. Photos by Linda Farneth
Geddes: Bike Fest was good for businesses Linda Farneth While the final numbers from the first Colonial Beach Bike Fest won’t be known until December when the meals and lodging taxes have been paid, Chamber of Commerce President Carey Geddes said the event yielded positive results. Geddes is hopeful local businesses will report double or triple their sales compared to what they reported last
October. Geddes said the chamber paid $650 in meals taxes, which equates to about $13,000 in revenue. One of the changes for next year that Geddes will suggest is building a temporary stage. Right before this year’s event, the state told the chamber to confine alcohol consumption on the river side of Town Hill. Adapting the stage to accommodate spectators on the back side did not give many viewers a good line of sight for the enter-
tainment. Colonial Beach Police Chief Elizabeth Legg reported only two arrests during the entire four-day event — a DUI and a drunk and disorderly conduct. There also were only two traffic citations written during the event. While the organizers and some businesses may be pleased, some citizens were not. Marie Remington, a weekend resident with a home on The Point (the
southern-most part of town), said she didn’t sleep a wink that Saturday night. “I had to take something to get to sleep. People were out at 2 a.m., and the police didn’t do anything,” she said. “I was very disappointed. I would think that bikers in that age would be a little more considerate of the locals.” Remington said many of the vendors she saw were not local. “How many years are we going to lose money on this? They brought the
food in and took the money out with them,” she said. She said all of her neighbors stayed away for the weekend. “We love the festivals, but this wasn’t a pleasant experience, not from 11 p.m. to 3 a.m.,” she said. Geddes said the event’s organizers will meet in December and then report to the town council their revenues, as well as discuss the event and potential changes for next year.
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The Virginia Department of Transportation has begun work to install a traffic signal at the dangerous intersection of state routes 205 and 218 near the King George and Westmoreland county line. The T-intersection, where Route 218 ends at Route 205 on a long, tree-laden curve, has been the scene of several traffic accidents the past several years, including the death of two Colonial Beach residents last year. Retired police detective and onetime stuntman Paul Lee, 76, was killed May 6, 2013 when a car he was riding in, driven by 18-year-old Jodi Graham, pulled from Route 218 in front of a truck traveling on Route 205. Graham also was killed. Kelly Hannon, a spokesman for VDOT, said crews are working to prepare the intersection for the installation of a new traffic signal, which is expected to be done in December, or early next year. Currently, traffic on Route 218 is regulated by a stop sign, but because of reduced visibility at the intersection, accidents frequently occur when vehicles from Route 218 pull into the path of vehicles on Route 205. “I wish more than anything, that light would have been there in 2013,” said Colonial Beach businesswoman Sherry Lee, Paul Lee’s daughter. Lee had campaigned for more than a year for the installation of a stoplight at the intersection, frequently contacting the state and also talking with Gov. Terry McAuliffe about the dangerous intersection. “I feel extremely relieved,” Lee said. “I’m not going to hear about any more accidents or deaths caused by the lack of a light at that intersection. “I’m so happy, I am almost speechless.” Lee said drivers won’t be inconvenienced by the new light. “The world is in a hurry,” she said. “But it shouldn’t be a problem for people to have to stop at a light and maybe think a moment about safety.”