Sunday, April 29, 2012
Missing! Campaign Sign
I would have to say, that someone feels threatened by me running for Town Council. Removing my sign that was located at My Deli and Cafe, was I am sure, just the first step. I started this campaign less than 10 days ago with just a small amount of personal funds. From the looks of the amount of signs displayed, there are many candidates that have much more funding than I do. Which means, they are not concerned about their money, which I am sure, they are not concerned about your money. This is theft. We are watching and you will be caught. You know who to write-in - Mary Beth Barbagallo
Simple Questions, Not So Simple Answers
Monday, April 23 I again had the pleasure of attending the Town of Purcellville's Infrastructure meeting. In discussion was the 21st Street project, which had just been given TENTATIVE approval of an additional $300,000 toward sidewalk improvements. According to the Town Council, the $2.3 million in Federal funding will be used to protect businesses from having "backwash" into their shops, also preventing icing as reported by owners.
Although I know everyone on 21st Street, I don't know any of the merchants that are experiencing these issues. So I did some investigation, and I could only meet with five of the business on the east side of 21st Street and NONE of them had water issues.
I checked with the Town for reports made to or by Public Works regarding these issues. I was given a copy of the "proposed" drawing of the improvement project, but no documentation for what initiated the project. As of Wednesday, I am still waiting.
The proposed improvement shows a narrowing of the street and widening of the sidewalks to make it more pedestrian friendly and adding beautification items such as planters. But it doesn't address the current telephone poles that the merchants have asked to have put behind the buildings instead of on the sidewalk, which would free up sidewalk space. The proposal also shows the addition of one handicapped space, but no crosswalk to the west side of the street. Of course, this is just a proposal and I am sure that addition will be addding more funding to the "safety" project.
I asked two simple questions in that night's meeting. When asked what the cost was to taxpayers, the mayor stated that it would be 10%. So that means, based on the current amount given by Federal taxpayers for the beautification project, Purcellville residents will pay $260K. According to the town manager, there will be additional funds applied for.... so are you ready to give more money to the town?
The second question I asked was what was the purpose of the project. In addition to backwash and road design, another council member gave the history of the project. After reading again the background of the project on the handouts given in the meeting, it will "have positively changed the looks, functionality and attractiveness of our Downtown Business Community." While this might seem nice to some, it is a burden on the business owners, which will eventually be part of the downtown area becoming a ghost town. I wonder if the business would be able to apply for a bailout?
Business like Shave and a Haircut that is a fairly new business, who has a history of working on 21st Street, Butterfly Gourmet, that has invested quite a bit of funding to bring a beautiful store to downtown, Shamrock Music, with the service Scott provides to families, ReLove-It has now made a thriving place for themselves, and historic Nichols Hardware, which seems to have had a memorial film made about them, will all suffer from the changes proposed by the Town.
The truth about this project is that business owners and residents were given an opportunity to choose among the projects presented. They were not given a choice of the improvements they all agreed they wanted to see. Again, this is the Town not listening. The real question is, are you as a Purcellville resident either concerned about the amount of money that keeps being taken from your wallet, or do you care about what happens to these independent businesses?
I have asked the town
Although I know everyone on 21st Street, I don't know any of the merchants that are experiencing these issues. So I did some investigation, and I could only meet with five of the business on the east side of 21st Street and NONE of them had water issues.
I checked with the Town for reports made to or by Public Works regarding these issues. I was given a copy of the "proposed" drawing of the improvement project, but no documentation for what initiated the project. As of Wednesday, I am still waiting.
The proposed improvement shows a narrowing of the street and widening of the sidewalks to make it more pedestrian friendly and adding beautification items such as planters. But it doesn't address the current telephone poles that the merchants have asked to have put behind the buildings instead of on the sidewalk, which would free up sidewalk space. The proposal also shows the addition of one handicapped space, but no crosswalk to the west side of the street. Of course, this is just a proposal and I am sure that addition will be addding more funding to the "safety" project.
I asked two simple questions in that night's meeting. When asked what the cost was to taxpayers, the mayor stated that it would be 10%. So that means, based on the current amount given by Federal taxpayers for the beautification project, Purcellville residents will pay $260K. According to the town manager, there will be additional funds applied for.... so are you ready to give more money to the town?
The second question I asked was what was the purpose of the project. In addition to backwash and road design, another council member gave the history of the project. After reading again the background of the project on the handouts given in the meeting, it will "have positively changed the looks, functionality and attractiveness of our Downtown Business Community." While this might seem nice to some, it is a burden on the business owners, which will eventually be part of the downtown area becoming a ghost town. I wonder if the business would be able to apply for a bailout?
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| Posted Tuesday, April 24, 2012 |
Business like Shave and a Haircut that is a fairly new business, who has a history of working on 21st Street, Butterfly Gourmet, that has invested quite a bit of funding to bring a beautiful store to downtown, Shamrock Music, with the service Scott provides to families, ReLove-It has now made a thriving place for themselves, and historic Nichols Hardware, which seems to have had a memorial film made about them, will all suffer from the changes proposed by the Town.
The truth about this project is that business owners and residents were given an opportunity to choose among the projects presented. They were not given a choice of the improvements they all agreed they wanted to see. Again, this is the Town not listening. The real question is, are you as a Purcellville resident either concerned about the amount of money that keeps being taken from your wallet, or do you care about what happens to these independent businesses?
I have asked the town
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