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The Windsor Town Council voted 4-1 on March 11 to create the Windsor Impact Committee, which is designed to give the town a voice in Isle of Wight County’s planning for property surrounding Windsor.

Windsor Vice Mayor J. Randy Carr cast the lone dissenting vote, and Councilman Jake Redd was not present for the meeting.

Having first presented the idea of the committee to the council in February, Councilman David Adams had developed the proposal in response to fellow Councilman Marlin W. Sharp’s appeal to the council in December to reach out and establish a relationship with the county that would allow the town to have regular input on county decisions that have an impact on Windsor.

Adams’ proposal read as follows:

“In accordance with The Town of Windsor Code of Ordinances Part 1, Chapter 33, Article I, Section 33-6, I request that the council establish a special committee entitled the ‘Windsor Impact Committee.’

“The purpose of this special committee is to discuss, on behalf of the town of Windsor and citizens, any commercial or industrial developments for any parcel or property that abuts the town of Windsor. These discussions may occur with, but are not limited to, the Isle of Wight County Economic Development Authority members or staff, Isle of Wight County Board of Supervisors or staff, or other Isle of Wight County staff or contractors as necessary.

“The special committee will not have any authority to make final decisions, enter into any agreements or enforce any regulations unless otherwise permitted by a vote of the Windsor Town Council and within the scope of the powers delegated to the town of Windsor by the Code of Virginia. 

“The committee will be comprised of five total members, to include three citizens at large and two council members. Committee members can be nominated by any current Windsor Town Council member and will be appointed upon an affirmative vote by the Windsor Town Council. Members will serve for one calendar year.”

At the March 11 council meeting, Adams said he wanted to see if other council members had any feedback or thoughts on the proposal.

Sharp said, “It’s something that I had advocated a while ago that the town of Windsor be in communication with the county at any level whatsoever that involves any impact to the town of Windsor at all. I think history might tell us that we tend to be more reactive than proactive, and I think we need to be involved in these discussions early on rather than waiting until something’s already decided and then having to respond to it.”

Adams said, “The reason I wanted to form the committee also is so that we could have kind of a wider base of people that could attend some of these meetings. I know that (the Isle of Wight County) EDA, they have their meeting at like 2 p.m. or 3 p.m. on a Thursday.”

He added, “Hopefully we can find some citizens that want to serve that have maybe a little bit more flexibility and can attend those meetings and kind of backfill a committee. That was my hope by opening it up to citizens as well.”

Windsor Town Attorney Fred Taylor said he viewed the committee proposal as pertaining to the creation of what would be considered a special committee rather than a standing committee.

Sharp said, “I move that the Windsor Town Council form a Windsor Impact Committee according to the specifics drawn up by Councilman Adams and presented to us this evening.”

Carr indicated that he was in favor of the intent behind the committee, but he was against the committee itself as proposed because he preferred a committee being formed only when needed and featuring people most knowledgeable about the specific project in question.

“But to sit here and form a committee and just put whoever on that committee that might not have any knowledge about anything at all about what the project might be coming up for the next year, I’m not in agreeance with the committee, not the way it’s written up,” he said.

Windsor Town Manager William Saunders indicated that what Carr was suggesting — forming a committee as needed for a particular project being planned — would be similar to a task force.

Sharp said, “If we’re going to form a committee when something is being planned, how do we know something’s being planned?”

He said the Windsor Impact Committee would move forward the idea of having ongoing conversations with county staff so town officials are hearing about what is being planned.

Saunders shared several issues he saw with the concept of the committee.

“First of all, these types of conversations about development and real estate deals take place in closed session, so going to a meeting or having a conservation with somebody that sits on a board is not necessarily going to give anybody on this committee any more information than they would have gotten otherwise, because they’re not in the closed session,” he said. 

He noted that managers and administrators are at the council’s disposal to be a delegate to other localities and discuss things administratively.

“There’s no reason why this council can’t request an intergovernmental meeting with the county to discuss hot topics,” he said. “We just haven’t done it in over five years, since I’ve been here.”

He also indicated that the proposed one-year tenure of committee members could present some difficulties.

“It’s tough to get people to volunteer for a committee,” he said. “You don’t know what that committee’s facing at the time you’re appointing people, and it’s going to seem like every time you turn around we’re trying to find a new group of people or reappointing people to the committee.

“So I would really consider this proposal before you vote, because there are things that are in the normal course of business that haven’t been taken advantage of by this council,” he added.

The draft of the minutes from the March 11 Town Council meeting noted that Carr agreed with Saunders, stating that if the council requested an intergovernmental meeting with the Isle of Wight County Board of Supervisors, then the council would be acting in the same way that Adams proposed the Windsor Impact Committee would act. 

The draft minutes noted that Adams said the purpose of the Windsor Impact Committee was to empower the committee or its members to establish relationships with stakeholders in Isle of Wight County.

When the call came for a second to Sharp’s motion, the draft minutes noted that Adams answered it, and the 4-1 vote followed.