Revisiting Camping Fees Among Items
New Buena Vista Mayor Jesse Lineberry, presiding over his first City Council meeting this past Thursday, called for the consideration of several new initiatives that he’d placed on the agenda. Two new members of City Council, Stephanie Noel-Branch and Amy Gilliam, were attending their first meeting.
Linebery proposed to increase a personal property tax break for volunteer first responders from $200 to $400. In the general discussion that followed, there appeared to be a consensus to support this increase and to extend the tax break to not only fire and rescue squad first responder volunteers but to volunteer auxiliary police officers as well. Staff was asked to get the specific information for how many people would qualify for the increased tax break and what the impact would be on the budget.
The next agenda item was to consider revisiting camping rates at Glen Maury Park for city residents. In the current fiscal year budget that was approved last spring, camping rates were raised for city residents and non-city residents.
Lineberry urged consideration of lowering the rates for city residents who are already paying personal property taxes to the city on their campers and recreational vehicles. Council member Michelle Poluikis, who served on the budget and finance committee that recommended the new rates, noted that the increases were deemed necessary because the campground is losing money.
Staff was asked to bring back a report on how much money the new rates are generating and to look at other campgrounds in the region to see what they are charging.
A proposed parking permit zone plan was discussed in which city parking permits would be issued to ensure that city residents could park on city streets in front of their residences. This proposal stemmed from complaints about Southern Virginia University students parking in front of city residents’ houses. A difficulty in devising such a system, it was pointed out, is that it can’t be discriminatory toward students. This may be less of a problem in the future if SVU adds more housing on campus and provides additional parking lots.
Lineberry said he would like for City Council to begin livestreaming/ video recording its meetings. Sarah Burch, clerk of Council, reported that costs she’d gotten previously for this service were between $10,000 and $20,000, but she would look into getting new prices.
Finally, Lineberry proposed that the time allotted for citizens to address Council at the beginning of each meeting be increased from three to five minutes. Noel-Branch said she’d attended a state meeting for local government representatives and found that three minutes is pretty much the standard for what other localities across Virginia are allowing. Gilliam suggested that three minutes is sufficient but that citizens should be given an opportunity to comment when specific items on an agenda are discussed.
Council approved the abandonment of a portion of Piedmont Avenue and a section of alleyway adjacent to a property at 750 Linden Ave. for Robert Young Towing, current owner of the former sawmill property. The alley area amounts to 5,400 square feet and is being sold for $4,050 and the street segment is 7,200 square feet and is being sold for $5,400.
At Lineberry’s request, Council approved the following standing committees – Glen Maury Park, cemetery, budget, citizens advisory, school facilities, outdoor space and events.
Danny Staton was reelected vice mayor. Kathy Janiczek was appointed to the Planning Commission. She replaces Lineberry, who stepped down from his seat after being elected mayor.
