JCC Supes to Hear of 'Green' Progress

JCC Supes to Hear of 'Green' Progress

By Desiree Parker Monday, July 26, 2010

James City County supervisors have a light agenda for their Tuesday evening meeting, including discussion about suggestions from a green building group and an agreement to celebrate Jamestown’s connection with Bermuda.

Chairman Jim Kennedy and supervisor John McGlennon worked together to start the county’s Green Building Design Roundtable Forum to develop and promote green building practices in the city. The group first met in the spring of 2009, and the members are now ready to share their conclusions with supervisors.

The recommendations in their report include a wide range of ideas for the county, including increasing education and communication, beginning or continuing efforts in various county departments, developing partnerships, seeking grant funding, and looking at developing green building ordinances and policies for private development.

While they were working over the past year, the group has already moved forward with some of their ideas. They developed a green building webpage, looked over and commented on the county’s sustainable building policy, applied for and received a competitive Environmental Protection Agency Climate Showcase grant and a state Energy Efficiency and Conservation Block Grant, and added some green building ideas to the county’s zoning ordinance update plans.

Shifting gears, supervisors will also discuss adopting a resolution to commemorate the county’s relationship with the town of St. George, Bermuda.

The Sea Venture, one of the ships bound for Jamestown to resupply starving colonists in 1609, wrecked at what is now St. George, Bermuda. All 150 passengers survived, and were able to use the next nine months to build two new ships from the wreckage and continue their journey to Jamestown.

St. George has proposed that the county enter a “twinning agreement” to recognize the essential role of Bermuda in the survival of the Jamestown settlement.

Public Hearings
Supervisors will hold three public hearings, including one for a special use permit for La Tienda, a gourmet Spanish food retailer that intends to open a food packaging plant.

The company already has several locations in the county including its newest retail shop in the old Whitehall restaurant building on Jamestown Road. The proposed location would be about 4,000 square feet of space in the Toano Business Center on Richmond Road and would be used to package meats and other gourmet imported foods. It would employ about six people.

The planning commission unanimously approved the SUP earlier this month.

Also up for a public hearing Tuesday is a renewal of Wright’s Island Argricultural and Forestal District designation and an ordinance that would exempt certified pollution control equipment and facilities from state and local taxes. This exemption is intended to encourage local companies to invest in equipment that will reduce or prevent pollution.

Other Business
Supervisors also have a host of grants to award, along with some money to spend on county equipment needs.

Among the grants supervisors are expected to approve is $34,000 ($17,000 in grant funds plus a matching county contribution) for the fire department from the state health department’s Office of Emergency Medical Services. The money will be used for purchasing equipment.
The fire department also needs funds for a new pumper truck, which supervisors are expected to approve. A replacement truck will cost about $593,000. The money is already set aside in the capital improvement budget.

The county has received another $34,000 Emergency Management Preparedness grant (which would need to be matched by the county) from the US Department of Homeland Security’s National Preparedness Directorate. This money is intended to enhance the county’s emergency management program.

Another grant goes to the county’s police department, which has picked up a grant for the Virginia Department of Criminal Justice Services for $18,950 to upgrade a photo and video server that is currently full to capacity.

Supervisors will meet at 7 p.m. Tuesday in building F of the County Government Complex on Mounts Bay Road.

Comments

-2 #1 Guest 2010-07-26 07:10

Rumor has it the JCC Supes have re-zoned the beaches in Bermuda for the building of many new strip malls, including space for a bank, pharmacy, and several empty storefronts.

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