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A member of the public and a Windsor town councilman took time during the March 11 Windsor Town Council meeting to direct some criticism toward Windsor Mayor George Stubbs for comments he had made in connection with the proposed Tidewater Logistics Center (TLC).

The TLC is a multi-warehouse complex proposed for the outskirts of Windsor on land that is adjacent to the Lovers Lane and Keaton Avenue neighborhoods.

As Staff Reporter Stephen Faleski has previously reported, Isle of Wight’s Economic Development Authority remains under contract to sell an EDA-owned 83-acre parcel fronting the four-lane U.S. Route 460 to Meridian Property Purchaser LLC, a subsidiary of the project’s Bethesda, Maryland-based developer, The Meridian Group.

Faleski noted that the Isle of Wight County Planning Commission voted 4-3 on Jan. 28 to recommend approval of a revised application by Meridian to rezone 154 acres of farmland and forestry for industrial use. The plan shows four warehouses totaling 726,000 square feet and a 14.9-acre public park in place of what would have been the fifth warehouse. The acreage includes the EDA-owned land and two non-EDA parcels owned by Hollowell Holdings LLC.

Stubbs spoke during a public hearing on the rezoning request that preceded the commission’s vote during its Jan. 28 meeting.

“I came here tonight to request you consider approving the TLC rezoning request,” he said to commissioners. “At the start of this project, several issues came about that the residents of Lovers Lane, Keaton Avenue brought to our attention. … All of us have heard from this discussion several times through telephone calls, community meetings, social media, council meetings, council work sessions, but the one thing that occurred in all of this — the developer listened to us. He increased the size of his berm. He eliminated one warehouse, he moved his warehouse further away from the residential area.

“When the developer was asked at a council meeting about including a park, a walking way … he said, ‘We’ll look at it and see what we can do,’” Stubbs continued. “It’s been included, and as a result of that, now I have been asked if the town of Windsor would be willing to take over the upkeep and maintenance of that park. I have spoken with (Meridian Senior Vice President) Mr. (Tom) Boylan, I have talked with my town manager, and there’s a couple things that we’d have to work out from that, but the consensus is, yes, the town would be willing to accept the upkeep and responsibility once we work out some things.”

During the Public Comment period of the March 11 Town Council meeting, Lewis Edmonds, of Windsor, said he had two things he wanted to address.

“One — absolutely against warehouses for a lot of the reasons all of you have already heard,” he said. “More importantly, I was really disappointed with your behavior at that (Jan. 28) public hearing, Mr. Mayor. I thought it was uncalled for. I think you overstepped your bounds as mayor in the comments you made on behalf of the town and the citizens of the town that was against a vote that this Town Council had already taken.

“I think you took liberties in volunteering the taxpayers of this town to take on maintenance costs for a park that nobody wants that’s part of a project that nobody wants, or at least a large portion of them,” Edmonds continued. “And then I was further disappointed to read the comments you made at the (Feb. 11) Town Council meeting, which contradicted what is already on video that you said at the Planning Commission public hearing.

“So I wish you’d improve your behavior. It’s disappointing,” Edmonds added. “I also think that it would be very beneficial — and I’m happy to help raise funds for it — to get a video system for these meetings so that there is a true public record of the things that happen at these meetings.”

As Edmonds returned to his seat, Stubbs said, “Thank you, Mr. Edmonds. Appreciate your comment.”

During the Council Comments portion of the March 11 council meeting, Councilman Marlin W. Sharp said, “I have to echo what Mr. Edmonds brought to us earlier. I was willing to accept the mayor’s explanation of his comments at the Planning Commission meeting that he gave to us last month, but then I was given a copy of the transcript.”

What Sharp then quoted from the transcript drew from the second paragraph of Stubbs’ comments cited earlier in this article, ending with Stubbs’ statement that the consensus was “yes, the town would be willing to accept the upkeep and responsibility once we work out some things.”

Sharp said, “Now, I hope that working out some things involves bringing it to council for council’s approval, otherwise, as Mr. Edmonds said, that comment was out of order.”

Then Sharp highlighted part of the editorial titled “Warehouses haven’t earned approval” from the Feb. 19 edition of The Smithfield Times.

“They seem to have heard the same thing that I heard and some of the other people at the Planning Commission meeting heard, and I will just read two sentences,” Sharp said.

The two sentences he highlighted from the editorial were as follows:

“On at least one important point, Windsor Mayor George Stubbs overstated town support for the project when he claimed ‘consensus’ for the town’s accepting responsibility for maintaining the proposed park.

“At their last meeting, other Town Council members had to remind Stubbs of his place in Windsor’s form of government. The mayorship is a largely ceremonial position other than wielding the gavel at meetings.”

After reading the above two sentences, Sharp said, “That’s all my comments.”

The Windsor Weekly reached out to Stubbs for comment on Thursday, March 19, and he said, “I have no comment in reference to Lewis Edmonds’ or Councilman Marlin Sharp’s comments that were directed at me during the March 11 Town Council meeting.”