WINDSOR
Windsor’s town council voted unanimously to name Durwood Scott as vice mayor, and also voted unanimously to pass a resolution appropriating approximately $2,600 from the town’s general fund to be used for repayment of machinery and tools taxes at their first council meeting of the year, held on Tuesday at 7 p.m. in Windsor’s municipal building.

Scott was named vice mayor as per town procedures, which require the council to name a vice mayor at the beginning of each year. The funds appropriated from the town’s general fund, totaling at $2,626.72, will be refunded to residents of Windsor who overpaid their machinery and tools taxes following changes to the county’s methods for assessing machinery value.

In past years, the county has assessed the tax value of machinery and tools at 100 percent of their value. During a previous Isle of Wight Board of Supervisors’ meeting, the board concluded it had been overtaxing county residents and should have only been assessing the tax value of machinery and tools at 60 percent. This will require the towns of Windsor and Smithfield to repay residents for any overcharges during the past three years.

Windsor’s total amount of over-collected machinery and tools taxes totals at $2,626.72, which is why that figure was appropriated from the general fund. The Windsor council anticipates the county will reimburse the town for this amount at a later date this year.

Also during the meeting, Isle of Wight County Clerk of Court Sharon Jones swore in Scott for his new term on council, along with Councilmen Greg Willis and Walter Bernacki. Scott and Willis were reelected last year and Bernacki won the election over former councilman and vice mayor J. Clinton Bryant.

In keeping with tradition, the council voted unanimously to pass a resolution recognizing Bryant and former Planning and Zoning Administrator Dennis Carney for their years of service to the town. Bryant had served on the council for 12 years and five months and Carney had served as planning and zoning administrator for six years and nine months.

Bryant will be invited to attend February’s council meeting to receive a copy of the resolution in person, and Town Manager Michael Stallings plans in the near future to travel to Keysville, where Carney now serves as town manager, to present him with his copy of the resolution.

During the town manager’s report at the meeting, Stallings announced he had completed his review of Windsor’s Town Code, concluding with sections 145, 148 and 152, and recommended changing section 145-5, which requires buildings to be attached to the town’s water and sewer service, to include the words, “if those services are readily available.”

Councilman N. Macon Edwards III also suggested changing section 145-19B, which talks about broadcast, to include wording that mentions websites or other avenues available to account for new technologies.

Now that the Town Code review is complete, Stallings said the next step is to advertise all changes for public comments and to hold a public hearing, most likely to be held in March, after which the proposed changes will be signed into law unless further changes are needed.

The council also received an update on the proposed new municipal building from Brian Camden, a representative of Alpha Construction, the company that serves as the town’s project managers. According to Camden, the current one-story town hall design, known as “Option C,” is in the schematic stage and is about 55 percent complete, and should meet the town’s growth needs going into 2030 and 2040.

The facility assessment for the Windsor community building, being conducted by Moseley Architects, is about 70 percent complete. Mosley has been assessing the facility’s structural conditions, plumbing, and electrical infrastructure and will assist the council with developing different floor plans to meet the council’s ideas for new configurations, but they have not been hired at this time to handle construction for the project and no official plans have been drawn up yet.

Before concluding for the night, Mayor Carita Richardson announced that she will attend the Commonwealth Transportation Board meeting on Wednesday, Jan. 18, at 8:30 a.m., in downtown Richmond to speak about Route 460. She also announced a tentative list of appointees to an advisory board for Windsor’s town center, which would help set up activities and programs at the center.

The proposed appointees are Brenda Stevenson and her sister, Marie, who have expressed interest in working on programs for senior citizens; Melvin Evans, a former AARP president; Kim Garrett and her teen daughter, Brooke; Jessica Slaba, who has two children and is a member of a group of young professionals, and her husband, Tony; David Smith, the town’s new parks and recreation director; and Sharon and Mark Clayton, who coordinate youth groups from different area churches.

The council concluded by going into closed session to discuss contract negotiations for the municipal building.