The Cape Charles Town Council will meet in a secret Executive Session on July 12th to discuss a “negotiation strategy” to sell off the water and wastewater utilities. Town Council will also privately discuss whether or not to purchase a portion of the railroad property.
Code of Virginia § 2.2-3711-A, Paragraph 3 gives the town the ability to hide this meeting from the public: Discussion or consideration of the acquisition of real property for a public purpose, or of the disposition of publicly held real property, where discussion in an open meeting would adversely affect the bargaining position or negotiating strategy of the public body.
Have citizens lost their ability to speak about this topic? Many do not support the towns decision to build or buy at this point. TAXPAYING CITIZENS VOICES NEED TO BE HEARD-not snuffed.
Political Correctness has caused 97.5% of humans to stop telling the truth to each other. They have also been conditioned since they entered public school that the government, be it local, state, or federal is in charge. They do both willingly.
WHY
In a secret meeting ??????
Don’t sell the water….Water is the new gold
Please let it be the section of old railroad along Stone Road. A golf cart path there would be wonderful for people that live on Stone road and Kings Creek to golf cart to town. It would also be helpful for people that walk , bike, and ride their motorized wheelchair to town.
So….. What if in three years……. We are all paying double or more for service and we are NOT SATISFIED with the job being done?…..…… What is the citizenry’s recourse then? Can we TAKE IT BACK FOR NON-PERFORMANCE ?
Are there companies that will manage our system without owning it? Were any of these outsources looked into so as to preserve the value of the large asset to the town citizens while still improving the quality of service.? And if so…..was that info relayed to the public at all? No REAL RECOURSE FOR NON- PERFORMANCE should be unacceptable to all of us.
Also… What is the name of the company? Maybe I missed it. Has anyone looked into the company itself? Are they a privately held national firm? ….a local private entity or a publicly held business? Who exactly is their ownership? Is any of this owned by foreign interests? Hopefully some of you folks will enlighten me. Thank you for listening.
Truth is… to this full time, citizen, voting resident of the town …… this seems like a very bad deal as it is currently being portrayed.
I’d also be very interested in hearing the current town mayoral candidates each explain their positions on this issue.
Exactly how much money will be deposited into town coffers as a result of the sale of our very valuable asset? How many of the current town “Water Department” employees will need to be released/ displaced as a result of this outsourcing? Obviously salaries are a large part of civic expense and these people will seemingly have a much smaller scope of responsibility. Adjustments will need to be made. How many will lose their jobs? Perhaps this should also be a major concern, particularly in times of growing economic turmoil?
Water rights are very valuable. We have to get this right folks. More info is needed.
Lastly, Why is it necessary or acceptable (regardless of wether it’s allowed by statute or not) for there to be any “SECRET MEETINGS ” at all? That in itself, to many town residents, wreaks of impropriety. It should ABSOLUTELY not seem that way at all. To anyone.
* the use of caps above is for emphasis not volume. Not yelling at anybody.
Don’t sell the water
The Cape Charles Mirror has been all over this issue in prior episodes which were quite informative on the subject, I thought, anyway, and I think a lot of your questions have already been addressed in the Cape Charles Mirror, a true public resource in this day and age of cheap propaganda mills posing as the “media,” in one way or another:
Town Moves Utility Sale Forward with Virginia American Water
JANUARY 16, 2022
http://www.capecharlesmirror.com/news/town-moves-utility-sale-forward-with-virginia-american-water/
Town Manager Hozey’s Message on possible utility sale
JANUARY 23, 2022
http://www.capecharlesmirror.com/news/town-manager-hozeys-message-on-possible-utility-sale/
Citizens Rattle Town Council’s Cage at Townhall
FEBRUARY 27, 2022
http://www.capecharlesmirror.com/news/citizens-rattle-town-councils-cage-at-townhall/
Citizen Huchler: I have some questions
MARCH 20, 2022
http://www.capecharlesmirror.com/news/citizen-huchler-i-have-some-questions/
How Much Pain are Citizens Ready to Endure?
MARCH 27, 2022
http://www.capecharlesmirror.com/news/how-much-pain-are-citizens-ready-to-endure/
A Citizen’s Dilemma
APRIL 3, 2022
http://www.capecharlesmirror.com/news/a-citizens-dilemma/
https://appvoices.org/2014/01/16/who-owns-west-virginias-water/
Thank you Mr Plante. Lots of interesting info out there from your links. . Some good….. some not so much.
Beats ignorance, anyway.
They are a for-profit corporation and when they buy the water supply, they own it, and if they don’t live up to the Code of Virginia by providing “potable water,” it is going to be up to people like YOU to have to document, not make an emotional argument that it don’t smell good, for example, how it is not potable over a period of time, which means lab tests and expert witnesses, maybe a lawyer or two, and then somehow you have to get the Commonwealth to go after them, which will mean they will be put on a schedule and sometime down the road, depending on their political clout, they may eventually have to provide you with water that is potable.
In the meantime, by operating on the cheap as it is known in the trade, they are returning max ROI to their investors.
You will be cash cows for them.
Welcome to the party,… New Townie.
The mirror is the only news outlet that’s keeps you aware of the things that goes on in town. You may not like what you hear, but it will keep you informed. You will get more answers from the mirror than the town council.
And not to forget, Paul Plante. He’s spot on!
Again welcome,
Pass the Mirror on to your friends!