Summary:
Patricia Paige elected chair; Thomas Evelyn elected vice-chair; racism in NKC denounced; Mr. Samuel Wilson Crump recognized as the first African American member of the New Kent County Board of Supervisors; Local coffee roaster Bugle Call Coffee featured; NKC supports increase in “hotel tax.”
Meeting Notes:
At the BoS meeting on January 13th, 2020, John Lockwood sat in the District 5 Supervisor’s chair for the first time.
As the first meeting of the new term, the meeting started with organizational matters; Mr Evelyn nominated Ms Paige for chairman, and Mr Tiller nominated Mr Evelyn for vice-chairman and they were both elected unanimously. Then the clerks were re-appointed, and the bylaws and meeting schedule adopted.
The Small Business Closeup featured Bugle Call Coffee, a local coffee roaster owned by active members of the military.
Ms Paige commented on the recent racial incident at the New Kent High School that was reported by Richmond TV stations in a way that suggested a racist attitude in the county; this is not considered an acceptable situation!
Ms Paige announced the unveiling an historic marker recognizing Mr. Samuel Wilson Crump as the first African American member of the New Kent County Board of Supervisors. After the ceremony on Wednesday, January 15th at 1:00 p.m. in front of New Kent County School Board Office, a reception will be held in the New Kent County Administration Building Boardroom.
Under “Staff Reports,” Mr Hathaway requested an appropriation of $31,000 for four small maintenance projects in the NKC courthouse and administration buildings. He also presented a request from Delegate Hodges’ office for a resolution in support of his bill that would allow NKC to raise the “transient occupancy” tax (applicable to hotels, motel and bed and breakfast operations) from 2% to 5%. Both requests were approved unanimously.
Among a flurry of appointments and re-appointments, PNK Strategic Planning Committee member Bob Jeremiah was appointed to the NKC Strategic Plan Steering Committee.
The next regular business meeting will be on 10 Feb 2020 at 6:00 pm, and the next work session will be on 29 January, 2020 at 9:00 am.
Prepared by Charles Karow.