JCC Supes OK Farmland Purchase, But Not Without Debate

By Desiree Parker Wednesday, March 10, 2010

A meeting that should have been pretty quiet ended up as a clash of political ideologies between two James City County supervisors Tuesday evening.

 

Abysmal budget decisions are facing supervisors going into the current biennium, and they’re trying to watch every penny. When discussing two items on their consent calendar Tuesday – items not considered contentious, and generally not discussed –two items were pulled and two supervisors on opposite political camps let their tempers flare a bit.

Democratic Supervisor John McGlennon asked to pull a grant acceptance approval to discuss because he’s part of the group who helped apply for it, and he wanted to share the good news.

The grant, totaling $303,828, comes from the Environmental Protection Agency’s Climate Showcase Communities program. The program aims to create models of sustainable community action that generate cost-effective and persistent greenhouse gas reductions while improving environmental, economic, public health or social conditions in a community.

The grant was very competitive and just 25 communities of 450 that applied were accepted.

McGlennon was excited to share the news that a James City County project had won – a plan to improve energy performance in lower-income neighborhoods that currently have some of the highest foreclosure rates in the county. The County, through its Housing and Community Development Office, will rehabilitate and retrofit some foreclosed homes and help resell them, promote energy audits and energy retrofits to owner occupied homes, and try to educate people on why this is important.

McGlennon pointed out the program would not only help conserve energy and show people that energy retrofits are something anyone can do, it will also help create jobs for the area (since the work is very labor-intensive) and reduce the cost of people’s utility bills.

“This is a great opportunity for us to step forward and be an example,” he said.

Republican Supervisor Mary Jones said she was going to vote against the grant acceptance because “Now is not the right time for the federal government to be spending money… the ongoing spending is counter-productive to recovery for this country.”

She argued that relying on government money to make jobs wasn’t the right way to do things, and that embracing free enterprise was the way to stimulate job growth.

This began a brief-but-heated debate about the management skills of the federal government, with Jones taking issue with stimulus spending and McGlennon arguing that the previous administration hadn’t done a good job, either.

Chairman Kennedy laughingly jumped in and pointed out the consent calendar wasn’t supposed to be contentious; supervisors voted to accept the money with Jones dissenting.

Watch the meeting on demand on the county’s site here. The county usually has videos up within a day or so after a meeting.

Jones also asked to pull an approval to spend money on a purchase of development rights agreement with a county landowner who has agreed to offer up his land for a perpetual conservation easement.

The county (through a referendum years ago) agreed to finance some debt to buy up green space within its borders. There is currently about $2.5 million on hand for this type of purchase, and the land in question on Diascund Road would take about $335,000.

Jones stood her ground, saying that she didn’t like the county spending any money during the tough economic times when supervisors were looking to cut so many other programs. “Is it prudent today to spend?” she asked rhetorically.

McGlennon argued it would cost the county more in the future if the area was developed for residential use (the county pays more in services than the tax revenue it picks up for residential developments).

Chairman Jim Kennedy, though he normally would agree with Jones, he said, agreed with spending the money since it’s already socked away for that very reason.

Supervisors voted to accept the offer, with Jones dissenting.

Other business
Staff told supervisors the applicant looking to build a cell tower on Hospice House property wanted to defer for another three months. Chairman Kennedy said he’d received many comments on the case, and people wanted to know what the delays meant.

Staff said the application was still active, but the cell company was looking at other suitable locations.

Kennedy asked staff to let Hospice House folks know, since they were looking for the additional revenue from the tower to help replace some funding being cut from their budget.

Residents in the community near Hospice came out in force at a previous meeting about the tower to complain that it would be too visible.