Berryville Beat November ’19

Happy November, Berryville! We find ourselves smack in the middle of the holiday season and, as we wind down the year, thought you might enjoy hearing an update on some initiatives our Town Council-led committees are working on.

Budget & Finance Committee

Chair: Erecka Gibson (Council Member, Ward 3)
Members: Mayor Patricia Dickinson, Kara Rodriguez (Council Member, Ward 4)
Meetings: 4th Thursday of the month at 10:30 a.m.

The Budget & Finance Committee has wrapped up its work on an online payment system for our utility customers. We hope to unveil this payment option for our water and sewer customers in early 2020. The committee is in the very preliminary stages of considering a long-term financial sustainability plan, and also recently previewed some budgeting software that will likely come up during the fiscal year 2021 budget deliberations. The full Town Council will meet for its first budget work session, a goal-setting session, on Wednesday, Nov. 13, beginning 
at 1 p.m.

Community Development Committee

Chair: Kara Rodriguez
Members: Donna McDonald (Council Member, Ward 1), Diane Harrison (Council Member, Ward 2)
Meetings: 4th Monday at 2 p.m.

The Community Development Committee has its eyes on a branding and marketing study it hopes to kick off in the coming months. The committee is finalizing a scope of work, which will first focus on the marketing study if approved by the council. We are also finishing up our recommendations on changes to the joint town/county Economic Development Memorandum 
of Understanding.

Streets & Utilities Committee

Chair: Diane Harrison
Members: Mayor Patricia Dickinson
Meetings: 4th Tuesday at 10:30 a.m.

The committee is continuing work on the stormwater studies, and that work will continue into next year. We are also looking at street signage so we have a uniform standard going forward and budgeting over the next few years for bringing current signage into that standard. Finally, the committee is also looking at town lighting with the new LED bulbs that are replacing the current bulbs when they expire.

Personnel, Appointments and Policy Committee

Chair: Recorder Jay Arnold
Members: Erecka Gibson, Kara Rodriguez
Meetings: 4th Tuesday at 9 a.m.

The Personnel Committee continues to meet with candidates for the town’s boards, committees and commissions, and makes recommendations on appointments to the full Town Council. We are also reviewing some changes to the Employee Handbook and at the request of a council member are taking another look at our Social Media Policy.

Public Safety Committee

Chair: Donna McDonald
Members: Diane Harrison, Mayor Patricia Dickinson
Meetings: 4th Wednesday of every other month at 2 p.m.

The committee has wrapped up its work on Chapter 20 of the Town Code, which regulates special events, parades, demonstrations, and more in town. Those changes were voted on and endorsed by the full council at our October meeting. We are continuing to look at changes to our trash and recycling program. 

All of our meetings are held in the Berryville-Clarke County Government Center and are open to the public. Please check the berryvilleva.gov website for meeting times and agendas. Our committee meeting schedule may be tweaked in the final two months of the year due 
to holidays.

This monthly column is authored by the members of the Berryville Town Council. For more information on town government, including meetings, agendas, and contact information for the Town Council and town staff, visit www.berryvilleva.gov.