news
sports
Opinion
Germanna Honors 2015 Philanthropists of the Year
Football: Cougars shut out foxes
King George’s economy is in good shape Page 8
Page 4
POSTAL CUSTOMER
T he
Colonial Beach • Westmoreland
Volume 39, Number 47
helping you relate to your community
Fairview Beach Shoreline study to move forward Phyllis Cook The King George Board of Supervisors took action on Nov. 4 to authorize a request to the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers asking for a shoreline protection feasibility study for Fairview Beach under federal flood control legislation of 1946, as amended. County Administrator Travis Quesenberry commented last week on the status of the request for the study. “We look forward to the United States Corps of Engineers’ study and its results,” Quesenberry said. “We have been in contact with Mr. Anthony Clark of the Corps of Engineers. Mr. Clark has initiated creating a new project for the Fairview Beach shoreline protection feasibility study, which will establish a project number and will permit the Corps of Engineers the ability to make funding requests.” Quesenberry relayed that Clark estimated the earliest potential timeframe for funding to be released would be sometime around March 2016. The issue of shoreline erosion has plagued Fairview Beach for decades, with various fixes attempted by the Fairview Beach Residents Association over the years in conjunction with Fairview Beach, LLC. The subdivision was first established in the 1920s.
Page 7
Prior to the action this month by supervisors, the issue was last publicly discussed at a meeting on Sept. 15. At that time, county attorney Eric Gregory briefed supervisors on the issue. Fairview Beach may not apply directly to the federal government for a shoreline study. “The agreement with the Army Corps of Engineers requires a local sponsor and that sponsor has to be a public entity,” Gregory said. That local sponsor is the county. The two Fairview Beach entities have previously asked King George to request a study, but in the past were unable to commit to providing potential funding to cover the study’s costs, should it exceed the $100,000 covered by federal funding. Supervisors had been reluctant to put the county on the hook for an unknown, potentially unlimited, amount of funding toward the study. The county does have an interest in stemming the continued bank erosion because the King George Service Authority has a wastewater pipe running along the north side of Route 696 between that road and the Potomac River. But the county could instead protect its pipe by initiating a project to move the pipe to the other side of the road. See STUDY, page 4
Wednesday, November 18, 2015 50 Cents
Debate tense during town council meeting Linda Farneth Three of the ordinances facing the Colonial Beach Town Council passed with little resistance. However Artists are still not satisfied with Ordinance 664 which amended Article 26, Home Occupations. But council’s biggest criticism came at the end of the meeting during public comments. Citizen input during the meeting became quite heated at times, with Mayor Mike Ham having to curtail some audience members from continuing to debate the legal language of the Article 26, after the public hearing portion was closed. During the public hearing Carl B. Thor Co-owner of JerrettThor Fine Art gallery and local artist, Susan Tilt argued that the amendments to Minor Home Occupation restricts sales to “by appointment only.” Both have signed up to participate in the Northern Neck Artisan Trail. The Northern Neck Artisan Trail brings together artists and galleries to form a network throughout the Northern Neck that would allow visitors to stop in and view their work as they travel through the region. Other concerns include the language restricting hazardous chemicals and restricting business to 25 percent or less of the home. Both Thor and Tilt argued that the language was too broad and restrictive. Councilwoman Wanda Goforth felt these requirements are too vague
Photo by Linda Farneth
Colonial Beach resident Walter Kern holds the bag in which he brought empty beer cans in to give to Mayor Mike Ham and town council members to protest the slogan, “Beer, beer, beer” for this year’s BikeFest. Kern continued to chastise the council as Police Chief Danny Plott removed the cans from public view. to enforce and were too restrictive. She stated if they were not changed she would not vote in favor. Mayor Ham suggested the regulations are there when needed
but minor violations would not be pursued. Thor and Tilt addressed the Planning Commission with their concerns at its public hearing on
Thursday, Sept. 17. Although the Planning Commission has tried to accommodate artists who wish to See COUNCIL page 4
Lewis sees teacher recruitment as a key to moving schools forward Richard Leggitt The newest At-large member of the Westmoreland School Board believes one of the keys to success for the school system is early recruitment. “We need to start recruiting quality teachers and coaches early,” said Patricia Lewis, who will assume her post in January after winning an election on Nov. 3. Lewis says she wants to see an increase in the proficiency of the school system’s human resources department. “We also need to recruit within our own state. We started off this school year with several long-term substitute teachers,” Lewis declared.
“That can’t happen again.” Lewis is a Washginton and Lee
Lewis
High School graduate who grew up in Westmoreland County. She is the
mother of two sons who attended Westmoreland schools and the wife of Washington and Lee Athletic Director Malcolm Lewis. She is one of three new members to the country’s school board. “We want to provide a state-ofthe-art educational experience for our children by providing adequate facilities and seek out programs that move our schools to a level of excellence,” Lewis said. “And we want to ensure that our tax dollars are being spent wisely.” Lewis expressed interest in strengthening ties between the school board and the Westmoreland Board of Supervisors. “It is our job to work together. I
Colonial Beach schools’ new comp plan pledges to bring back recess Linda Farneth The term “Comprehensive Plan” is well used in governments but rarely heard in schools as a tool to achieve academic goals. But Colonial Beach School Superintendent Dr. Kevin Newman has teamed up with principals and key staff at the Colonial Beach Schools to prepare and implement a Comprehensive Plan for educating students. The plan addresses five goals. The first goal centers around making federal and state benchmarks for Standards Of Learning. Goal 2 is to ensure students are taught exemplary 21st-century skills necessary to engage and succeed in a global society. These first two goals are the responsibility of staff. However, Goal 3 involves interaction with not only parents, but the community as a whole. The school system wishes to foster col-
laborative partnerships with families and the school community. To implement this goal, the school division plans to use social media, newspapers, parent-teacher conferences and a variety of other media to provide ongoing communication with all stakeholders. Goal 4, which focuses on ensuring facilities and environments that are safe and conducive to learning, promises to bring back recess for students in grades Pre-K through five. One of the action plans to reach this goal is to implement a research-based, positive schoolwide behavioral framework. Colonial Beach Elementary School has already implemented positive office referrals for good behavior and have seen significant results with a drop in negative office referrals. To promote health and wellness for students and staff, the plan calls for relocating the weight room to
the high school for students and staff to access, began student participation in health and PE courses and offer recess for students in Pre-K through fifth grade starting next school year. The school also plans to offer CPR courses to staff and students entering ninth grade beginning in the 2016-17 school year. These students will also participate in First Aid classes as well. The last goal seeks to attract and retain high-quality faculty and staff by utilizing multiple avenues of recruitment. The school will seek funding opportunities to offer competitive salaries, benefits, professional development and tuition reimbursement. The school will also develop a Capital Improvement Plan to help the Colonial Beach Planning Commission make recommendations to the town council for guidance in improvements needed should local funding become available.
look forward to working with them,” Lewis said. In addition, Lewis said she hoped the new school board will work to improve the professionalism of Westmoreland schools by asking all school employees and board members to return phone calls and emails in a timely fashion. “We need to restore the trust of the Westmoreland populace through transparency and concise decision making,” Lewis said. An important part of that will be the efforts of the new board members to improve teacher recruitment. “Let’s start early and anticipate vacancies and attend more career fairs within our state,” Lewis said.
In the election this month, Lewis won the At-large seat with 67.2 percent of the vote. She will be joined on the school board by Ralph Fallin, who won the District 3 school board seat by defeating incumbent Coralynn “Polly” Wise. Sandra Ramsey was unopposed and becomes the new District 1 board member. Going into the election, voters expressed concerns because the Westmoreland school system has had two superintendents and there have been three principals of Washington and Lee High School in the last 24 months. The school system was cited by the Internal Revenue Service and the Virginia State Retirement System for
failing to promptly pay withholding deductions, much to the dismay of county officials. There also have been several controversial personnel actions that led to protests by parents and students. Lewis, Fallin and Ramsey, will form a new majority on the board and are vowing to help restore the board’s image as well as reenergize the school system as a whole. “There is no question that over the past few years our reputation has been tarnished,” Lewis said. “However, with a new superintendent who is an energetic leader, a fully accredited high school, new recruiting efforts, and a new high school on the horizon, our future is bright.”
Commission eyes town-owned properties on N. Irving Avenue strip Linda Farneth The Colonial Beach Planning Commission has been tasked with evaluating town-owned properties and making recommendations to the Council of how to proceed with marketing or managing them. At its Nov. 12 meeting, the commission reviewed staff recommendations for the vacant properties along North Irving Avenue. The three townowned buildings currently being considered are the Klotz building located at 6 N. Irving Ave., the old police building at 10 N. Irving Ave. and the old town hall building at 18 N. Irving Ave. All three of these buildings have been vacant for quite some time, the Klotz Building is known to have some structural deficiencies. Both the old police building and town hall have been vacated due to mold issues in the past. Building and Zoning staff looked
up the Westmoreland County assessed values of these properties. The Klotz Building is valued at roughly $172,000 by the county. This value breaks down as $55,000 for land value and $117,000 for the structure, which sits on .17 acres. The building was built in 1900 and is documented as serving as the first school in Colonial Beach. The old town hall structure is the most recent building to be vacated due to mold issues. During remediation efforts last year, the town staff discovered that the ventilation ducts were made of wood. During high humidity this fostered mold growth forcing town staff to relocate to the old Primary School Building at 315 Douglas Ave. Old Town Hall was constructed in 1904 and originally served as the Bank of Westmoreland. It is valued at roughly $271,000 by the county. This value breaks down as $30,000 for land value and $14,000 for the
Now you can follow local breaking news daily on our website at www.journalpress.com
structure which sits on .09 acres. $220,000 is counted as commercial value and another $6,000 accounts for improvements, which are not identified. Assessment of the old police station is a bit more complicated since the land it sits on is shared by the current school board office. The assessed value minus the school board office is approximately $216,000. The police building is valued at $9,500 with a commercial value of $150,000. The portion of land that the police building sits on is assessed at roughly $56,000. However, the lots that the two building sit on were consolidated into one lot prior to 1980. See COMMISION, page 4