Tuesday, December 27, 2011
A controversial election, a trembling firmament, a hyped-up hurricane, an expensive courthouse and a mysterious jailhouse death make for some of the biggest stories of 2011.
With elections, earthquakes, hurricanes, courthouses and more than enough crime reports over the last year, Fredericksburg Patch couldn't have picked a better year to get up and running. Now that 2011 is drawing to a close, let's look back on the year's most important stories. What follows is a list of 5 stories which shaped the year for residents across the area. Some stories on this list were chosen by virtue of the traffic they received, others were chosen because they chronicled important or controversial events. So, now we want to hear from you, the reader. In your eyes, which of the following stories was the most important one of the year. The winning story will be the subject of a larger followup to be published on New Year's Eve. …
Thursday, December 22, 2011
Opponents of new city courthouse say they will make next year's council elections a referendum on the recently approved project. If they are successful, they promise to put a stop to the controversial project.
As the ink dries on City Manager Beverly Cameron's contractual signature with the developers of a new downtown court facility in Fredericksburg, opponents of the project say they will make next year's at-large City Council elections a referendum on the courthouse project. Their stated goal, considered a nuclear option by proponents of the courthouse project, will be to terminate the contract with First Choice Public Private Partners. Such a move would place the status of $38 million in bonds in a nebulous jeopardy, the effects of which currently boggle the mind of courthouse proponents. Citing the upcoming election year, opponents of the courthouse project, chiefly Ward 3 Councilor Fred Howe and former city councilor-cum-declared 2012 at-…
Tuesday, December 20, 2011
Confidential documents reveal details of evaluation of new downtown Fredericksburg court facility options.
For the first time, members of the public can take a peek at documents which heavily influenced the Fredericksburg City Council's decision to go forward with the design and construction of a new $30 million court facility. The documents became public when City Manager Beverly Cameron earlier today signed off on a contract with developer First-Choice Public Private Partners to develop the new court facility at the intersection of Princess Anne and Charlotte streets. The office of the City Manager posted three previously confidential documents to the city website. The documents include two evaluations of the proposals submitted before City Council. The evaluations were prepared by the consulting firm Arcadis, which city leaders relied upon …
Friday, November 25, 2011
Councilor Fred Howe critical of debt increases for new court facility, saying residents need to demand fiscal responsibility from city leaders.
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Friday, November 25, 2011
I would like to commend Fredericksburg Patch Editor Michael Theis for laying out the facts associated with the city debt increases with the proposed courts project that I and two other City Council members have consistently voted against. The tax increase, which represents approximately 10 percent for this project alone, doesn't even account for the many needs of the city and the subsequent tax increases which will follow within the next two years. The next increase will be the real estate reassessment followed by the next wave of capital improvement projects and state budget shifts back to the city. I am projecting based on what we have identified to date that the city tax rate will need to increase 20-25 percent in the next two to three …
Thursday, November 24, 2011
A split Fredericksburg City Council approved a multimillion dollar debt issuance to fund the construction of a $35 million court facility. Here's how it will affect you.
The Fredericksburg City Council gave final approval for the issuance of $38.7 million in general obligation bonds. Most of that money, approximately $35 million, will go directly to the construction of a new court facility and associated costs such as relocation. The other $3 million will be used to refinance general obligation bonds issued in 2001. The bonds go on sale at the end of November. Of the $35 million share for the courts, $32 million will go to First Choice Public Private Partners for the construction of a 78,000 square foot court facility at the corner of Princess Anne and Charlotte Street as well as the renovation of the existing General District Court building into the new home of the Juvenile and Domestic Relations court. …
The construction of a new court facility in downtown Fredericksburg means a lot of shuffling has to take place before ground can be broken. In all, the project will span at least three years.
Fredericksburg is two steps closer to a new courthouse, but it will still be some time before the local legal community abandons historic Renwick Hall for new digs down Princess Anne Street. In addition to giving its final approval for the issuance of $37.8 million in bonds to finance the project, the City Council gave preliminary approval to relocate two city offices in executive plaza, the voter registrar and the parking deck office, to make way for the temporary home of the Juvenile and Domestic Relations Court. Before work can begin, the City Council still needs to give final approval to a contract with First Choice Public Private Partners to build a new courthouse at 707 Princess Anne Street. That vote is scheduled for the December 12…
Tuesday, November 8, 2011
During the evaluation of proposed court facilities, Fredericksburg officials expressed concerns over First Choice's safety record.
Members of the Fredericksburg City Council will likely vote on three measures tonight necessary to move forward with the construction of a new city courthouse. First, they will hold a public hearing on the issuance of $38.7 million in bonds to fund the project. Later in the meeting, they will also likely hold the first vote to approve a contract with First Choice Public-Private Partners to develop the new court facility. They will also likely vote on a measure approving the purchase of 707 Princess Anne Street to make way for the new building. The contract with First Choice lays out a $31.8 million contract cost limit to build the new court facilities. This is down from an initial proposed cost limit of $34,975,831. The cost reductions …
Thursday, November 3, 2011
A petition is being circulated asking for a referendum vote on whether or not to build a new courthouse in Fredericksburg, but city and state laws don't allow for such a vote.
Though he knows it can't succeed as the laws are currently written, Ward 3 Fredericksburg City Councilor Fred Howe is supporting a petition drive to collect signatures asking that an impending decision on building a new $35.7 million downtown court facility be put to a public referendum vote. In an email sent to Ward 1 City Councilor Brad Ellis and Planning Commissioner Sean Lawrence, Howe asks the two to collect signatures on a blank petition which declares that the signatories "request the city hold a referendum (binding or not) on the question of indebting us citizens prior to entering into any contract or bond issues for construction of a new courthouse." So far, the petition has collected only a handful of signatures, though it's hard…
Friday, October 14, 2011
Members of the Fredericksburg City Council got an up close and personal look at Spotsylvania's new court facility. But photography was restricted in some areas, an apparent violation of open meeting laws.
You can't too easily kick the tires on a multi-million dollar courthouse which hasn't been built yet. So on Wednesday, the Fredericksburg City Council did the next best thing and went to Spotsylvania County to take a look at the new digs for that county's court, designed by the same team of architects which will likely be in designing Fredericksburg's new court facility, Moseley Architects. The tour was led by David Breedin, a Spotsylvania County employee who oversaw the construction of the new court facility. Along for the excursion were three members of the City Council – Vice Mayor Mary Katherine Greenlaw, At-Large Councilor Kerry Devine and Ward Three Councilor Fred Howe – as well as members of the city attorney's office, the …
Wednesday, October 12, 2011
The City Council got a look at how planned capital projects in Fredericksburg could affect the real estate tax rate. More than half the projected increase in the tax rate comes directly from building a proposed new court facility.
Real estate taxes in Fredericksburg could grow by roughly 13 cents by 2020. More than half of that, roughly 7 cents, is the direct result of the construction of a proposed court facility for downtown Fredericksburg. During a work session last night, the Fredericksburg City Council reviewed the fiscal impacts of building a new court facility along with information on planned capital projects in the city over the next five years, between 2012 and 2017. "This has been anticipated," said At-Large Councilor Kerry Devine during the meeting. "I would agree that when we were looking at the different court proposals, our concern was financial. This gives us a good picture without it being as severe as we feared." The Fredericksburg City Council has…
Matthew Kelly
9:42 am on Wednesday, December 28, 2011
November 24, 2009 City Council Minutes: Upon a motion Councilor Kelly moved to defer any action (on the courts) until Council address the following with the public: financing, impact on operating budget and what the City can and cannot do with the courts project; motion was seconded by Councilor Ellis. ……….The motion failed by the following recorded votes. Ayes (2). Councilors Ellis and Kelly. … more ›