In this episode of The Best Little Town Podcast, Town Manager Bart Warner shares a detailed recap of Bedford, Virginia’s recent council meeting. Highlights include resolutions on insurance and tax write-offs, approval of a grant for new fire department equipment, a federal grant application for the Otter Bus, and upcoming municipal building renovations. Warner also covers ongoing land negotiations, addresses resident questions about electric bills and property matters, and emphasizes the importance of community involvement. The episode wraps up with a weather advisory and a reminder for residents to stay engaged with local government.
Transcript:
Certainly! Below is a version of the transcript with all speakers except Bart Warner (formerly “Mark Warner”) removed. Only Bart’s (Speaker 2) sections remain. The introduction from Speaker 1 is omitted, and all content is now attributed to Bart Warner.
---
Greetings! It is Wednesday, January 21st, 2026. My name is Bart Warner. I am the Town Manager of Bedford and pleased to welcome you to this episode of the Best Little Town Podcast, an outreach effort that the Town of Bedford has initiated in cooperation with Media Squatch and our good friend Woody Watts, who also doubles as the town's public information officer. Those of you who've listened before know that the purpose of this podcast is mainly to provide a recap of recent council meetings, generally the day after. I do apologize for not producing this last week, but unfortunately, I was under the weather and missed the council meeting for that reason for the first time in many years. And candidly, I wasn't any shape to produce a podcast and couldn't report on a meeting that I didn't attend anyway.
But I have been back in the saddle and my workstation for a couple of weeks now, and was present at last night's meeting and am happy to jump right into that recap. Of course, I'm working my way through the agenda. Just, you know, prior to the meeting, we did have a work session to review the second quarter financial reports. Our outstanding finance director Ann Cantrell provided council with information about the year to date progress of our budget and our cash position, and our strategic plans related to the use of the public's money. And, of course, again, we thank Woody. That was broadcast live. So if you are interested, you can catch that on our YouTube channel. You can search for that video. It is available. We then concluded that and had our regular meeting last night, which began with the approval of the minutes from the January 6th meeting. The next item of business was the report of the Town Manager, and last night I gave an update on the fact that the town council had a strategic planning retreat back on October 25th, 2025.
They did develop a list of priorities, which we discussed, I think, in a previous podcast, but they also had a long list of agenda items to be covered. Since that time, there were three in particular which council wanted to see addressed within the next 30 to 90 days. And of course, beginning in October 25th, that projects to this month. The first was to formally adopt a downtown action plan that actually was accomplished by council at the last meeting on January 6th. The next action item was to develop a downtown coordinator job description and determine how best to move the position forward. I will tell you, we have a plan in mind to do that, and we have both a job description draft and an individual that we're talking to, and we hope to make that public soon. And that will be included in the fiscal year 2627 budget, but that is underway. The third item to be addressed in the next 30 to 90 days is discussion of the town's recreation needs as part of a new town and county memorandum of understanding.
I reported last night that we have a draft of an MoU in the hands of Recreation Director Stuart Saunders at Bedford County, and that's been a very pleasant and friendly process to talk about how we are going to work more closely together, and we expect to have that executed here pretty shortly and within that 90 day time limit. I will note that there were several items to be addressed in the next 90 to 180 days. A lot of those will be covered in our budget process. Our fiscal year runs from July 1st to June 30th of each year, but budgeting and keeping an eye on things is an ongoing concern for staff and council. We are currently in the process of putting together a proposed fiscal year 2627 budget. The process is that I work with staff to create a proposal, a budget that is balanced and it contains some specific recommendations. Council then takes that and discusses it and oftentimes make some changes and alterations to that policy. But the first step is for me to get it in their hands. And currently working on that effort right now with finance staff, department heads, as well as an employee committee that has been working together to review that.
So we certainly appreciate that input. The next item that I reported on last night was an explanation of a question that was raised at the meeting on the sixth where I was not present. A citizen had inquired about the presence of trash receptacles owned by Bey's trash removal at Liberty Lake Park. I noted that when the town discontinued its nonresidential commercial solid waste collection service, that created a bit of an inconvenience, to put it mildly, for our non-residential customers. And even though the town actually has the wherewithal to continue to provide its own service, its own staff, to provide that service for our facilities, frankly, from a perspective of fairness, we didn't think that was the correct thing to do. So subjugating ourselves to the effects of our actions. We have entered into an agreement with Bey's trash removal for our own commercial solid waste disposal needs. We did that by means of an existing arrangement with Bayes whereby they already been hauling our commercial trash. We added collection to that, and I noted that that arrangement will remain in place, at least until we talk about the next step.
And in that commercial trash issue, which is, dealing with our existing transfer station. Once that is addressed, we will then go back and appropriately procure our own commercial trash service. But I will note that our observation thus far is the service we receive from Bayes is very optimal and actually saves us more money than it would if we were hauling it to Pennsylvania ourselves. Finally, last night I wrapped up with a couple of other items. I noted that electric director John Wagner recently completed a successful application for a $50,000 grant to study expansion of the Snowden hydroelectric plant’s energy producing capability. And also, I concluded by noting that there is the likelihood of significant snowfall this weekend. One forecast that I follow indicates the possibility of a foot or more of snow, and I will tell you, as that forecast evolves, we're also seeing a mixture of ice, which is really bad news for our electric operation. But Public Works is already mobilizing. They have a plan in place. We will do our best to get the get the roads clear, keep the roads clear and safe.
But also, we understand that there might be some people that have a hard time getting out. Hopefully, if you can dig yourself out of the snow, if it's a large event, the roads will be in decent enough shape for you to get out and about, but we will do our best to provide that level of service. The next item on our agenda was appearances before Council. This is the part of the meeting whereby we allow people to sign up to speak about, frankly, any topic that is near and dear to their heart. There's usually a three minute time limit associated with that, however, and this will become apparent in my report here momentarily. We try to be understanding about that. That's kind of enforced by the mayor. And oftentimes people will run over that time a little bit. But, the mayor's in charge of running that, and particularly last night, there were a couple of times when speakers maybe went a little bit longer than the three minutes. But in the mayor's discretion, that was good information.
And he felt like the correct thing to do was to let him continue. So with that explanation in mind, the first speaker was Reverend Mark Gibson of Calvary Chapel here in Bedford, and he offered a prayer on behalf of council and the community. Our next speaker was Mr. Ken Parker, who operates the Bedford Boys Tribute Centre on North Bridge Street. Ken provided an update of activities for the Tribute Centre for 2025. He also had produced a documentary on DVD that he made available to members of council. He stated that at the end, as of the end of 2025, that the Tribute Centre had received 21,000 visitors from 50 different states and 34 countries. He also noted that this DVD that he shared with us, he's also distributed worldwide and particularly in France. He said it created a question of who were the Bedford boys individually. In response to that, Ken and his staff undertook creation of a granite stone plaque identifying every Bedford boy by name. He spoke with some people with the National Guard Association in D.C. and, also coordinated some things and reported that he was able to travel to France and place the plaque on the memorial on the beach in Normandy.
And the date happened to be the 83rd anniversary that our Bedford boys boarded the Queen Mary to depart across the ocean on their ultimate mission to liberate France. And I'm going to be honest, I was so captivated by Ken's remarks that I kind of fell off on my notetaking. But that's why we record the meetings. This would be a particularly good meeting to go back and watch on our video source. Again, if you go to YouTube.com and search for Town of Bedford, Virginia, the recording of the meeting is posted. When I picked back up my note taking I caught Ken at a point where he was talking about a coordinated effort, that he's involved in involving all legislators in Virginia and their federal counterparts, as well as representatives from the military who have presented a request which we think will be acted on in the near future. My notes say that Ken says it might be a couple of years from now, to designate or rename one of the new warships that are currently being produced for the Navy to be named in honor of the heroes of our community.
We could expect in the next couple of years the christening of a US Navy ship that will be dubbed the USS Bedford Boys. So, again, if you haven't been to the Bedford Boys Tribute Center on North Bridge Street, just above the intersection with Main Street, Ken and staff do an amazing job of preserving the legacy and memories of those young folks, those young men who made the ultimate sacrifice and also does a great job of attempting to honor their families and really just kind of bring home the real experience of those individuals and to perpetuate their memory and to honor their sacrifice. The next speaker was Miss Leslie Mahaffey. Leslie started by stating that she had posted on social media, regarding the higher than average electric bills lately. And she also posted a notice of the town meeting, which occurred last night in a copy of the town agenda, which I think everybody appreciates the efforts to let people know about the meeting. She noted the agenda item that it relates to a closed session for property at the Peaks Magisterial District in Bedford County.
She asked why we were having a closed door meeting and, shared her own insight into the property that was probably in question and subject to that closed session. Shared some information she found about the deed related to the property that the town currently owns adjacent to the Stoney Creek Reservoir. Going back up in 2013, when the town created the Water Authority, along with the Bedford County PSA, we transferred several facilities, including, pipes and treatment facilities, including property from the town to the Bedford Regional Water Authority, in this particular case around Stoney Creek Reservoir. The town did retain several individual parcels. Leslie said she'd done some research on deed restrictions related to the parcels the town retained, and specifically the deed restricts any activity on the town owned parcels to agriculture, horticulture or silviculture activities and that it cannot be developed for residential or commercial use. She shared her view that generally, it's not a good thing to have closed door sessions, and shared her observation that there were not any on the agenda during 2025. I will note that we did have one in December of 2025, but that was not on the published agenda, it was added during the meeting itself.
Again, Leslie provided some more details about the properties, the acreage, the assessed values and the zoning. She shared her views that the activity needs to be closely monitored there, and we need to do everything we can to protect the property and maybe explore possible conservation of it. She did say that if it were to be sold that she would require—I'm sorry request, but I think it's also a requirement—that it would be done in a public process, and that there would be open bids for any potential sale and not in agreement with a single individual. Next on the agenda, the person to speak was Mr. Danny Hilton. Mr. Hilton, passed along a great deal of information provided background about his own professional qualifications and personal experience and familiarity with the property. Really offered a great wealth of information. I'm going to try very hard for my notes to hit the highlights. But again, this is something we would encourage folks to view on the video. Several things talking about process. Again, the history of, when the town created the Water Authority and conveyed property to the Bedford Regional Water Authority.
One of the things Mr. Hilton noted was that two of the parcels that the town retained are actually functional parts of the reservoir, and he shared his personal opinion that those probably ought to be transferred to the Water Authority. I mentioned that specifically because I'm going to come back to it a bit later in this podcast. He also talked about the history of when the dam was built back in 1954, all the regulations related to protection of watersheds in general, and particularly drinking water, and the regulatory agencies, including the Army Corps of Engineers, the Department of Environmental Quality, the Department of Forestry and the Department of Conservation and Historic Resources with oversight. And again, I'm paraphrasing heavily. Mr. Hilton spoke for several minutes, but again, it was, Mayor Stanley allowed that continue. And I think actually we're all better off for it. Provided a wealth of information. So, again, it shared his view that the property is mainly important for its value to our drinking water and ask that any discussions of any change in use or ownership take those things into account.
The next speaker before council was Miss Roxy Fisher, who was a resident of town, and she said she had a question of her electric. A question about her electric bill started by saying that her electric bill rose from $89 in a recent month to $297 most recently. There was some conversation between her and, Mayor Stanley. During her time. Again, the Mayor Stanley correctly noted that the purpose of appearances before council is for citizens to share information with council that they can then digest, but they're not typically equipped to engage in question and answer sessions with citizens about specific issues. So Mayor Stanley suggested that she get in touch with me directly. And let me take a note to also encourage anyone else to do so. If you ever have a question about any town service, feel free to contact me by phone at (540) 587-6022. During regular business hours, you can email me at B Warner at Bedford VA gov. In passing, Miss Fisher did ask if there were a difference between residential and commercial electric rates, which although again Mayor Stanley encouraged her to talk to me personally.
I did interject that I was happy to respond and advise her that there are, in fact, different rates for different kinds of users, spanning from residential to commercial to industrial. It's all based on the differences in the way they use power. And with that, the appearances before council section of the agenda was concluded. We then had council comments. Mayor Stanley went around the dais and gave each council member an opportunity to provide any comments of their choosing. Councilman Stacy Haley appreciation expressed his appreciation for the people who came out in person, for the meeting last night did have a very good turnout, of folks out in the out in the audience for the meeting. Councilman Todd Forman likewise thanked everyone for coming out. Councilman Jay Ippolito thanked everyone in general for coming out, and specifically those who had signed up to speak as part of the appearances before council. Stated that he learned a lot that he had not known about, particularly from Mr. Hilton's presentation. Vice Mayor Darrell Updike likewise thanked folks for coming out and expressed his view that counsel certainly wants to learn what's going on, and also ask people not to confine their comments to social media.
He did express his thanks for information that was expressed and. Yeah, I can't read my own writing. Sorry. Next was Councilman Dwight Evans, who thank people who were there, who were there physically, and also the people who were watching by YouTube. If you're not, or online, if you're not able to come in person. We now meet on the first and third Tuesdays of each month at 7 p.m. We also do offer a live stream of every meeting, so encourage people to take advantage of that. Next was Councilman David Foster, who likewise expressed his thanks to people who were physically present. Finally, mayor CG Stanley stated that he didn't really have a lot to add to the previous comments of his colleagues on council, but thanked people for coming and he thanked again Mr. Danny Hilton in particular for the information. A lot of good information about the background and history related to the reservoir property itself, and also encouraged people to send any questions they have about any service, particularly the electric bills, to my attention, which, again, I'll reiterate, I'm happy to to field those questions.
Also, we'll let you know, too, that we try to do that in the most efficient and, forthright manner possible. Again, I mentioned that Woody Watts is our public information officer. So, you know, when we get media requests and things like that, typically I'll refer those to Woody because we've already anticipated some of those, and we will reference the specific information related to the question. Most recently, we had a reporter ask the question, why were power bills so high recently? Well, the short answer to that is weather related and that we saw a lot of increased usage. However, we also recognize that there have been certain policy changes and discussions recently that may have impacted that, on your electric bill, there's really kind of two parts to it. There's the part that you use, and we do list your kilowatt hour usage on your bill. So you can look at that and you do pay for that based on our rates. Those rates were increased recently by council back in the fall.
There's also the part of your bill that details the cost you get the power to you. So in addition to what you personally use based on your kilowatt hours, the electricity that we provide you has to be created, transmitted and distributed. And those costs are also going up and have been for some time. In fact, for many years those costs have been going up and the town has actually absorbed those costs, which if you look at our financial statements, you will note that our cash position has increased by several million dollars over the past few years. The direct reason for that is our absorption of those costs to get the power to our customers on their behalf. Frankly, we determined that that is not a trend that can continue for us to remain in business. And one of the things I'll note is one of the what we see as the primary benefits of providing electric service to our customers is in the rare occasion of an outage. We feel like we are a better position to recover that quickly and provide the repairs than we would be if we were covered by a larger utility.
Obviously, that's subject to interpretation and opinion by anyone, but the focus of our electric service is primarily reliability, then affordability and then independence. So again, just a word of explanation about the recent power bills. And we have we will reference the meetings where those rate changes were discussed. We'll also reference things like this podcast. And we'll also prepare written information. And again we we think it's good to communicate objective as objectively as possible. And so oftentimes we'll direct the media to those same resources. Again there's no no disrespect and certainly no intent to do anything other than before. Right. But we feel like in the interest of efficiency. That's a good way to go about it. So happy to have the opportunity to explain that to those of you who are listening. Next was the report of council committees, which there were none. The next item of business was revisions to the agenda. At this point, Councilman Jay Ippolito added that he wanted to add a couple of items to the agenda, which basically related to questions he had about some specific issues.
When council when, Mayor Stanley asked for expansion, Councilman Ippolito basically said he was curious about what's going on at the yellow building at the former middle school site, which is currently being converted to a boutique hotel under the provisions of a performance agreement that was executed with Waukesha Development previously. Those of you who have been paying attention know that are probably aware that the former middle school site is being redeveloped. The first part of that was the old brick building, which is now actively an apartment complex. There are people living there that that part of the project has been completed. The old yellow Building again is slated to be opened as a boutique hotel, and Waukesha Development is working on that. I was able to report last night in response to the question that I did actually speak with our building official, who confirmed that there is activity ongoing to prepare that renovated use. But it may not be obvious to people who drive by or look from the outside. I noted that the owner of the building, Mr. Dave McCormick, has indicated his intention to open the hotel this summer and kind of used air quotes when I made that comment, because we don't have a specific date.
But also, you know, folks ought to know that Mr. McCormick is the owner of the property, and it really is no longer subject to a performance agreement because, frankly, he's satisfied a good part of that already, and our understanding is he's going to get the hotel up and running this summer. So the next issue that Mr. Ippolito brought up was an issue involving damage to the scale house owned by Bedford County. This occurred back in 2024. There was an incident in which a town vehicle struck the scale house at the county's landfill. We acknowledged responsibility for that. Took appropriate action with the employees involved and engaged the county in an attempt to settle their claim. I will, I don't mind saying publicly that our discussions were about the replacement cost of that facility. But then in addition to that, the county was seeking some additional compensation, which we were not in a position to offer them. And we were pretty, pretty candid about that. Ultimately, we referred it to our insurance carrier, which is the Virginia Risk Sharing Association, formerly the Virginia municipal League.
They denied the county's claim, and that's really the last we've heard of it for over a year. Talking with Councilman Ippolito later, I understand that was brought to his attention by a member of the county board of supervisors, as I reported last night. Our view is right now, it's an issue between our two insurance companies. If the county were to take legal action against the town, we would refer it to our insurance carrier. And they know that. And I think they know what our insurance carriers legal response would be. So we're happy to be forthright about that issue as well. But again, it's not anything that I personally had heard about for over a year at this time. So a little bit out of order, but always happy to provide as much insight and candid insight into the affairs of the town operations as possible. Next we moved into the new business portion of the meeting last night. The first was a personal property tax write off for 2020. According to state code, collection of local personal property taxes is only enforceable for five years following December 31st of the year for which such taxes were assessed.
We had some lingering personal property taxes on the books from 2020, the year 2020, and a total amount of $741.24. Basically what we determined was it was not feasible to pursue collection of those. It's a case where the cost of doing so on each individual case would outweigh the benefit. And so council was requested to write off that remaining personal property tax amount. We noted that in so doing, the collection rate for 2020 personal property tax would still be 99.39%. Councilman Stacy Haley made a motion, seconded by Vice Mayor Updike, to approve the request to write off this remaining 2020 personal property bill tax. From that year, there was a little bit of discussion. Councilman Ippolito and Mayor Stanley both complimented the collection rate produced by our finance department. Ultimately, all members of council voted for the motion, which passed unanimously. Similarly, there are utility bills and electric accounts over five years old and inactive, which were also deemed to be uncollected. All these were in a total amount of $34,817.86. Town Council, the utility billing office, requested that town council ultimately write off these outstanding bills, and in so doing, that would still maintain a collection rate of 99.84%.
Councilman Jay Ippolito made a motion to approve write off of these outstanding bills. Seconded by Councilman Haley. Councilman Haley asked a really insightful question about the nature of these specific accounts and for people who were maybe delinquent, but then written off how that would affect their ability to sign up for service if they moved back to town or went to a new location. Ann Cantrell responded to that and said, it doesn't happen very often when it does. Generally, there's voluntary compliance with making the back payments that we keep track of. She also noted that that's sometimes complicated by people's personal circumstances, such as bankruptcy. Ultimately, on a unanimous seven zero vote by all members, that motion to approve the write off was approved. The next item of new business related to a financial contribution from LyondellBasell. For a community grant for the fire department to purchase two new combustible gas meters. The existing equipment having served past its replacement date on a motion by Councilman Haley. Seconded by Councilman Evans. Town Council approved acceptance of this contribution from the business of $3,500 to replace the combustible gas meters that are a vital piece of safety equipment for our firefighters.
That motion was unanimously approved by all members present. The next item of new business related to our resolution of support for applying for a Federal Transit Administration grant to fund the Bedford Otter Bus. For those of you who are not familiar. Bedford does have a public bus service. It's called the Bedford Otter Bus. It circulates through town on a couple of days a week, and it's free. The funding for that has been through a state grant through the Virginia Department of Rail and Public Transportation, which is funded by the Bedford Health Foundation, but accessed by the town. This is a situation where the town has the eligibility to apply for the grant, whereas the foundation may not. But what we do is we secure the funding on their behalf, but basically pass through the revenues and then the foundation passes back through the expenditures. The town has been awarded for demonstration grants through dropped to operate the bus for fiscal years 2023 through 2026. The intent all along was to apply solely for state assistance for four years, before considering becoming a federally funded transit provider.
After that, the bus has grown significantly in public use when it the most recent figures in 2022 were that we had 3234 riders, in 2025, we had 7923. Again, the Bedford Otter Bus provides service, I think on two days a week, now at 17 locations and also at no cost to riders. At this point, council staff has asked council to authorize us to submit the grant application for federal funding as a sub recipient. Recognizing the commitment grant match will be required from an outside entity. The grant that we're pursuing, the estimated cost is $258,000. Todd Forman made a motion to request to approve the request to pursue this grant. That was seconded by Councilman Dave Foster. Councilman Stacy Haley offered his observation that it's a really great and valuable program. Vice Mayor Updike noted that he was encouraged to see the growth in ridership. And Councilman Todd Forman said that this fulfilled a great need in our community for folks who may not have access to a personal vehicle, and he was glad to see the utilization increased by a vote.
A unanimous vote of all seven members present. Council authorized staff to submit the grant application for federal funding for the Bedford Otter Bus. Again, if that's successful, we would obtain the revenue and pass that on to the Health Foundation. They would then be responsible for the expenses and pass those back through, and we would pay those to the federal government. The last item of new business was an item related to awarding a contract to Thompson and Litton, for services related to municipal building renovations. Oh, before I before I speak to this, I mentioned in my podcast previously that as part of that October retreat, Council identified several priority areas of focus that will guide their decisions as they make recommendations for use of town funds, but also as items come to them from outside sources. We note how those respond to those priorities they set. So the motion to approve support of the Bedford autobus relates to Council's priority number three, which is to promote and support public services to the greatest extent possible. The item related to Thompson and Lytton relates to Council Priority one, which relates to maintenance of of town infrastructure at an optimal level.
This particular item relates to several emerging issues with the municipal building located at 215 East Main Street. In response to those, the town issued a request for proposals for design, bid assistance and construction administration services related to potential renovations of the property, including replacement of HVAC and electric systems, as well as other identified deficiencies. Thompson and Lytton emerges as emerged as the highest ranked bidder under the terms of that RFP under the terms of the RFP. The initial bid from Thompson Lytton was valid for a period of 90 days beginning on November, on September 26th. That essentially meant that our failure to act on the bid by December 26th would disqualify the bid, and we would have to re initiate the process in order to meet that deadline. Town Council adopted a formal intent to award statement at its regular meeting on December 9th, 2025. As part of that meeting, council also went into closed session to discuss specific terms of the proposed contract, including scope and price for services. After further discussion and negotiation with Thompson and Lytton and legal review by both parties.
Contract last night was presented for formal consideration. The most recent price quote, which is approximately $263,000, was dated November 13th with the same 90 day terms as the initial bid, which meant that council did not take action. By February 13th, all bids would be disqualified and we'd have to re initiate the process. Councilman Jay Ippolito made a motion to formally approve award of the contract to Thompson. Litton. That was seconded by Vice Mayor Updike. Following a discussion with our town attorney, Mike Lockerbie, to make sure that he was satisfied with the terms of the contract and all the technical aspects thereof. Ultimately, all members of Council voted unanimously to approve the award of the contract to Thompson and Litton for those services. That means that that staff will now engage with them to start the process of fixing or failing HVAC system, and also our electric system, which has some deficiencies. We anticipate that this will also involve relocating our staff, at least on a temporary basis, from the municipal building. In fact, this also means that the municipal building itself will not be available for use by not only staff but citizens.
So first order of business for us is to talk to Thompson and Lytton and talk about how we do that, how we relocate staff temporarily and also provide services and access to services for citizens. So in my conversations with Thompson Lytton today, I can let you know that we're going to schedule that meeting in a couple of weeks and share that information as expeditiously as possible. Final item on the agenda was a closed session pursuant to the appropriate Virginia code, for the purpose of discussion or consideration of the acquisition or disposition of land, and for consultation with the Town Attorney regarding the legal status of such property. Where discussion and open session would adversely affect the bargaining position or negotiation negotiating strategy of the town. I will report that this relates to, again, the property that the town still owns adjacent to the Stoney Creek Reservoir. That this property was retained by the town back when the Water Authority was created. Some people are paying attention, and we certainly appreciate those people who do. We'll note that there was some discussion about a potential sale of a couple of those properties on the other side of the road from the reservoir about three years ago.
That process was discontinued based on information we received at the time about some deed restrictions there, and essentially just the fact that there was no obvious priority or reason to pursue sale of those properties. Since that time, the Bedford Regional Water Authority initiated discussions with the town about two parcels that the town currently owns that are actually part of the reservoir. Coincidentally, these are the two parcels that Mr. Hilton referenced during his public comments. So I'm sharing this information with the permission of counsel in doing so. The closed sessions lately dealing with with the reservoir property have been in response to this request from the Bedford Regional Water Authority. We've been talking for several months about their interest in obtaining these two parcels, which are, frankly, part of the reservoir and, the exact mechanism by which that could be accomplished. I will tell you that, and again, we've had some really great good faith conversations, particularly at staff level. Brian Key is a very valued colleague of mine personally. The Water Authority has been very good to work with and addressing some of our service needs, particularly sewer and water capacity.
So ultimately, we are waiting on a proposal from the Water Authority as to how they would like to acquire these properties. I believe that will be taken up at the Water Authority's board meeting in February, on February 19th. Once they do act on that, then we will respond to it. That will be appearing on a public agenda that will be published ahead of time. The other thing we'll tell you is, the property on this deals with the property on their side of the road where the reservoir is. We did ask them, just as a matter of practice, if they had any input on the property, were retained on the other side, and that's not really part of that discussion. And frankly, what we've been told is they don't have a great deal of concern about that property. So, that's what we talked about in closed session last night. And you can expect to see the Water Authority to take action on their request to acquire our property in February. Once we receive that request, then we will add an item of new business and discuss that in public.
Also, I think it's worth mentioning to you that there cannot be any, sale or disposition of any public property outside of a public process. So I think council is aware of the fact that when they go into closed session that it raises questions and some people assume the worst. And I also think there's a commitment to avoid doing that as much as possible, because we know it leads to to some bad thoughts. But again, there are some times when there are things that are a little bit complicated, and sometimes there are negotiating points that we would be compromised or at a disadvantage if they were discussed publicly. That's not really the case in this particular situation with the the Water Authority request. To the extent that we might do anything with the property on the other side of the the road. That's. There have been discussions in the past, but there are some ideas about that. Some of them really have merit, but those actions can't be taken in private conversation. They can't be taken in closed session. The only time the town can actually take any kind of business is an open session and by an open vote.
So the other thing, too, is if you ever have a question about policies, particularly of the town, please tune in to our meetings. Come personally on the first and third Tuesdays of each month at 7:00 pm. If you can't make it, please watch the live stream. If there's something that happened at a previous meeting, we post the minutes on our website at Bedford Gov. And we also maintain an archive of those meetings that we've recorded. I want to make sure that our citizens are well aware of what's happening, and that things happen the right way, and we really do appreciate the fact that our citizens are engaged and concerned? And that's a genuine observation on behalf of the entire town government. That said, that wrapped up the action from last night's council meeting. We came out of closed session and then adjourned. Our next regular meeting is February. Looking at Woody, I think it's the third. Nope, that's not right. Yeah, it is right. Our next regular meeting will be Tuesday, February the 3rd at 7 p.m. We again, we invite you to come attend again for matters of policy.
Those always occur at the council meeting. If you have a question related to your service or operations, you can also come to the council meeting and share those, but you're free to share those with me at any time. Or if you want to call the main number at Town Hall, that's 5876001 regular business hours. You can contact me Bart Warner at (540) 587-6022. Or you can send me an email at. B Warner at Bedford VA gov. If I don't respond to you in a pretty prompt manner, I apologize for that. I don't have any better excuse. Other than that. We've got several ongoing activities that are very divergent. But I will certainly have. If I can't respond to you directly, I will put you in touch with my colleagues, who typically are much smarter than I am and have better insight into your issue. Again, thank you for joining me for this podcast, and thank you for your interest and support in promoting what we think is the world's best little town. Yeah, if we don't meet that goal, understand it's always our objective.
Again, as I mentioned last night, we are facing the prospects of some very cold weather. I hope that everyone will stay safe and stay warm. I'm also going to make a point to note that the cold weather means we're probably going to be using a lot more electricity, particularly if for those of us that use electric heat. So we anticipate that there's going to be some bills that will show up about a month or a month and a half from now when we read the meters. But most, most immediately, our concern is for folks well-being. We hope that you'll stay safe, you'll stay warm and stay healthy. We will do our best to stay ahead of the weather event, to make sure the roads are clear, and we will look forward to getting through this latest challenge. Hopefully it'll be a pleasant snow to look at because it's probably going to stick around for a while. Till next time when I join you again. We thank you for your support and we look forward to advancing the interests of the world's best people.
Time Stamps:
Podcast Introduction (00:00:03) Overview of the podcast’s purpose: keeping Bedford residents informed about local government news and updates.
Host Welcome & Missed Meeting Explanation (00:00:22) Bart Warner introduces himself, explains his recent absence, and sets up the meeting recap.
Work Session: Financial Reports (00:01:17) Recap of the pre-meeting work session reviewing second quarter financials and budget progress.
Council Meeting Start & Strategic Planning Priorities (00:02:27) Discussion of council’s October 2025 retreat, priority items, and updates on downtown action plan and recreation MoU.
Budget Process Overview (00:03:36) Explanation of the ongoing fiscal year 26-27 budget preparation and staff involvement.
Commercial Trash Service Update (00:04:57) Response to citizen inquiry about trash service at Liberty Lake Park and new arrangement with Bey’s Trash Removal.
Snowden Hydroelectric Grant & Snowstorm Preparation (00:06:19) Announcement of a $50,000 grant for hydroelectric study and preparations for an impending snowstorm.
Appearances Before Council: Public Comments (00:07:37) Explanation of public comment procedures and time limits during council meetings.
Reverend Bart Gibson’s Prayer & Bedford Boys Tribute Center Update (00:08:40) Reverend Gibson offers a prayer; Ken Parker updates on Tribute Center activities and memorial efforts.
USS Bedford Boys Ship Naming Effort (00:10:11) Ken Parker discusses efforts to name a Navy ship after the Bedford Boys.
Leslie Mahaffey: Electric Bills & Closed Session Concerns (00:11:27) Leslie Mahaffey raises questions about high electric bills and closed session property discussions.
Stoney Creek Reservoir Property History (00:12:52) Details on deed restrictions and history of town-owned parcels near Stoney Creek Reservoir.
Danny Hilton: Reservoir Property Expertise (00:14:26) Danny Hilton provides historical and regulatory context on reservoir property and its importance.
Roxy Fisher: Electric Bill Increase (00:17:18) Roxy Fisher questions a sharp rise in her electric bill; explanation of rate differences.
Council Comments & Citizen Engagement (00:18:45) Council members express appreciation for public participation and encourage ongoing engagement.
Electric Bill Increases Explained (00:21:30) Bart Warner explains recent electric bill increases, rate changes, and cost structure.
Revisions to Agenda: Middle School Redevelopment & Scale House Incident (00:25:06) Councilman Ippolito inquires about boutique hotel progress and a past vehicle incident at the landfill.
New Business: Personal Property Tax Write-Off (00:28:59) Council approves writing off uncollectible 2020 personal property taxes.
New Business: Utility Bill Write-Off (00:30:35) Council approves writing off old, inactive utility and electric accounts.
New Business: Fire Department Grant (00:31:40) Acceptance of a $3,500 grant from LyondellBasell for new fire department gas meters.
New Business: Bedford Otter Bus Federal Grant Application (00:32:07) Council supports applying for a federal grant to fund the growing Bedford Otter Bus service.
New Business: Municipal Building Renovation Contract (00:34:40) Approval of contract with Thompson and Litton for municipal building renovations and temporary staff relocation.
Closed Session: Stoney Creek Reservoir Property Negotiations (00:38:34) Discussion of negotiations with the Water Authority regarding transfer of reservoir parcels.
Transparency, Public Process, and Meeting Information (00:42:30) Emphasis on public process for property sales and encouragement for citizens to attend or watch meetings.
Closing Remarks & Next Meeting Announcement (00:43:43) Wrap-up, next meeting date, and contact information for citizen questions.
Weather Warning & Final Thoughts (00:46:12) Advice for residents to stay safe during upcoming cold weather and snow, with closing thanks.
Key Words:
Bedford, Virginia, local government, Bart Warner, Town Manager, Best Little Town Podcast, council meetings, town initiatives, citizen inquiries, financial reports, budget processes, downtown action plan, recreation needs, memorandum of understanding, Bey’s Trash Removal, Liberty Lake Park, commercial solid waste, electric department, Snowden Hydroelectric Plant, snowstorm, Public Works, citizen appearances, Reverend Bart Gibson, Bedford Boys Tribute Center, granite plaque, USS Bedford Boys, electric bills, transparency, personal property tax, utility bills, community grant, fire department equipment, Federal Transit Administration grant, Bedford Otter Bus service, municipal building renovations, HVAC, electrical system replacements, Stoney Creek Reservoir, community engagement, meeting information, weather advisory, electricity usage, Bedford Regional Water Authority, public process, town services.