Chincoteague Council Congratulates Lady Ponies on District Championships, Approves Gun Violence Awareness Declaration

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By Carol Vaughn — The Chincoteague Town Council at the June 6 meeting congratulated the Chincoteague High School Lady Ponies teams on winning district championships in junior varsity volleyball, varsity volleyball, varsity basketball, and varsity softball.

“I believe this is the first time ever in the history of Chincoteague High School that we’ve had a clean sweep of all the ladies’ sports,” said Mayor J. Arthur Leonard, adding, “It’s unprecedented and the town felt like we needed to recognize you guys.”

Leonard called team members in attendance to the front of the room, where he presented a plaque recognizing the teams’ achievements. The plaque will hang in the school.

Gun Violence Awareness
The council approved a resolution recognizing Gun Violence Awareness Day.
Localities across the United States observed Friday, June 3, as National Gun Violence Awareness Day and people wore orange in tribute to gun violence victims and their loved ones.

Resident Paula Nees spoke during the public comment period, thanking the council for the resolution.

“I know it’s sad where we are right now as a country. We’re all painfully aware of the gun violence and it’s only right that we support the victims and the families of those tragic occurrences,” Nees said.

Supervisor’s Report
Accomack County Supervisor Billy Joe Tarr in his report to the council said the state budget passed by the General Assembly includes a significant increase in sheriff’s deputies minimum salary, to $42,000, along with an up to 5% cost-of-living adjustment and salary adjustments equal to $100 per year worked.

This could result in a challenge for the town police department in competing with those wages, according to Tarr.

A cost of competing adjustment for the county school district to help boost teacher salaries is funded in only the first year of the biennial budget.

“Continued lobbying is going to be needed on that subject,” Tarr said.

Still, the budget does include a 5% raise for teachers this year.

Good news for Chincoteague in the budget is that the state will fund the remaining local match, $1.5 million, required for a federal Army Corps of Engineers study of the Chincoteague Inlet.

Accomack County previously contributed $50,000 to the match.

“The state is picking it up, finally,” Tarr said.

The inlet and surrounding area are experiencing rapid changes associated with erosion and deposition of sediment, along with shifting navigation channels, according to a description on the Virginia Institute of Marine Science website.

Understanding the rate and causes of the changes is critical to developing a regional management plan and strategies that could protect Chincoteague, southern Assateague, and the spaceport on Wallops Island.

The study will examine the reasons for and provide preferred solutions to the widening of the inlet.

In other state budget action, the grocery sale tax was reduced, but the local portion was retained.

“That 1% is what builds schools in this county,” Tarr said.

Tarr said the top three priorities resulting from a recent Board of Supervisors strategic planning session, held at the Chincoteague fire station, included providing broadband to the remaining county residents who currently can not access it.

“We’re at about 73% of the county covered now, with the ARPA funds from last year — that’s what’s in the works,” Tarr said.

A second priority is the housing shortage in the county.

“We’re about 1,000 houses short on the Eastern Shore,” Tarr said.

The third priority was the Hampton Roads Sanitation District public sewer initiative.

Town Manager’s Report
Chincoteague was awarded $161,869 by the Virginia Port Authority to replace the last wooden pier at Curtis Merritt Harbor, according to Town Manager Mike Tolbert.

Work will start once materials, to be ordered in the next few weeks, are delivered, likely this fall.

In the last four years, the town added two floating piers to the harbor, for a total of 52 additional slips.

The harbor committee approved applying to the VPA for funding in fiscal year 2024 for a project to reconfigure the boat slips at Robert Reed Park.

The Virginia Department of Transportation on May 20 changed the programming of traffic signals to prioritize traffic flow on Maddox Boulevard for the summer season, at the town’s request, Tolbert said.

This was done last summer as well and seemed to help summer traffic flow during peak times.

Tolbert later requested VDOT to use the programming only on weekends, returning to winter mode Mondays through Thursdays to ease local traffic flow during the week.
VDOT did so the same day and the pattern will remain in effect until traffic volume dictates a change is needed, Tolbert said.

Meals and transient occupancy tax revenues continued to significantly exceed their budgeted amounts last month.

May meals tax collections were nearly $43,000 above the three-year average. Transient occupancy tax collections were around $51,000 above the three-year average.

The building and zoning department issued 51 building permits in May, for a total value of $1.7 million.

Council member Denise Bowden, who also is Chincoteague Volunteer Fire Company spokesperson, presented the town a check for $11,416.57 for the Brianna Kindness Park. The money was raised through the CVFC’s initiative to offer bidders front-row seats to the Pony Swim.

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