Four topics dominated last week’s Colonial Beach Planning Commission meeting. These included: Article 30 and its recommendation to be forwarded to the council, a resent presentation to the council regarding zoning ordinance C-1 and newly created C-2 and Maritime Commercial District, and the introduction of a Unified Development Ordinance and a work plan for the Planning Commission.
Article 30 of the Colonial Beach zoning ordinance was created to set basic developmental standards and guidelines within each zoning district and is designed to promote public health, safety and welfare as well as environmental protection of our water, air and land.
Article 30 ensures all new construction not only conforms to Chesapeake Bay Act regulations, but that roads and drainage are built to VDOT standards before dwellings can be occupied.
Several items address aesthetics that conform to the new Comprehensive Plan such as screening heating and air conditioning units from public view and placement of decorative street lamps and underground utilities.

The very future of Colonial Beach schools may be up for grabs as a result of action by the Commonwealth of Virginia last week.
 Although Colonial Beach High School is fully accredited in Virginia for academic year 2008-2009, last week the high school was rated as “Not in Improvement” and designated “Tier II” by the Virginia Department of Education under federal standards measuring student achievement in English and Mathematics.
It will be up to the School Board,  which meets today,  to decide what action is best for Colonial Beach students. They have several courses of action available to them, all of which will spell significant change to the schools’ operation.

Public work
committee meeting
The public works committee meeting began with a discussion concerning the expense of snow removal for this year’s snowstorms.
Public Works Director Rob Murphy reported that the time spent on snow removal included 80 hours of overtime and totaled 100 hours including regular hours.
“We incurred calls for two new replacement plows; about $10,000 in plows and a little more in repairs. The total cost was over $15,000,” Murphy said/
He reported that Public Works changed the way it performed snow removal by cutting shifts back to six hours and using smaller plows.
“This was more successful for the narrow streets especially where cars where lined up on the side of the road,” Murphy said.

Sydney Scherer, a student at Colonial Beach Elementary School, has been accepted into the People to People World Leadership Forum. Scherer will join a select group of students in Washington, D.C., March 8–13, 2010, to study leadership and explore some of the United States’ most prominent monuments and institutions.
From Capitol Hill to the Smithsonian lnstitution, and from historic Gettysburg to the National Museum of American History, Scherer will examine the characteristics of American leadership during times of national challenge and prosperity. Forum delegates will also participate in small-group discussions and exercises to experience firsthand how successful leaders develop strategies, make decisions, build consensus, and foster change.
Scherer was accepted for the honor based on outstanding scholastic merit, civic involvement, and leadership potential.
The program is coordinated by People to People Leadership Programs to fulfill thevision President Dwight D. Eisenhower had for fostering world citizenship when he founded People to People lnternational during his presidency in 1956. For additional information please visit www.peopletopeople.com/leadership.