Hampton City Council Work Session - September 11, 2024
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Hampton City Council Work Session - September 11, 2024
The Hampton City Council convened for a work session at 1:00 PM on September 11, 2024, with all seven members present. Mayor Tuck welcomed new City Attorney Courtney Sydnor and thanked outgoing Interim City Attorney Cynthia Hudson. The meeting featured two briefings: a proposed replacement playground at Buckroe Beach and mandatory updates to local ordinances under the Virginia Erosion and Stormwater Management Act (VESMA). The council then entered a closed session to discuss personnel, appointments, and real estate matters, and subsequently certified that session. The meeting adjourned at 5:53 PM.
Discussion Items
Briefing on New Buckroe Playground
- Parks, Recreation and Leisure Services Director Dave McCauley presented the results of public engagement on a new playground at Buckroe Beach. The existing 20-year-old playground is beyond repair and must be replaced for safety, accessibility, and engagement.
- Public outreach included three in-person meetings and an online survey, drawing 561 responses (522 online, 39 in-person). Respondents were predominantly ages 30–49 and from the Buckroe/Phoebus area. Overall design satisfaction was high, with requests for more shade, sensory and ADA features, and concerns about mixing younger and older children.
- Based on feedback, staff added inclusive sensory features (musical instruments, a telescope, ship wheels, periscopes) and more shade, obtained at no extra cost from the vendor. The design will feature two exits with tension gates to prevent young children from wandering – a recommendation vetted with the police department and risk management.
- Council members asked about wheelchair accessibility (most features accessible, slides require assistance), surfacing (porous, same as Gosnell Hope Park and Mary Jackson Center), fencing (white vinyl), and a water fountain at the adjacent comfort station.
- Mayor Tuck suggested adding a water feature elsewhere at the beach, and City Manager Mary Bunting agreed to explore simple, cost-effective options, noting constraints related to conservation areas, wetlands, and impervious surfaces.
- Council expressed no further concerns, and staff was directed to proceed with contracts. Installation is expected by spring 2025, with a 20–22 week lead time for parts and about one month for site preparation.
Briefing on Virginia Erosion and Stormwater Management Act (VESMA)
- Water Resources Engineer Brian Lewis presented mandatory updates to Hampton’s local ordinances to comply with new state regulations approved by the State Water Control Board in June 2023. The city must adopt these changes by July 1, 2025.
- Key changes: consolidation of land disturbing operations (Chapter 13.1) and stormwater management (Chapter 33.2) into a single Chapter 33.3; a new phosphorus discharge limit of 0.26 pounds per acre (reduced from 0.41); adoption of a new runoff reduction spreadsheet and stormwater management handbook; alignment with state rules for franchise utility and railroad work; and an increase in reinspection fees from $35 to 10% of the permit fee for third or subsequent inspections.
- Expanded land cover categories now include “mixed open” (e.g., mowed less than four times per year) in addition to managed turf. The new phosphorus limit generally reduces pollutants to be removed from commercial projects but increases them for projects with large managed turf areas.
- Vice Mayor Gray asked about impacts on development timelines and costs. Lewis explained that site plan approval processes are not affected; the reinspection fee increase is intended to encourage contractors to comply the first time, avoiding unnecessary revisits. For a $1,000 permit, the 10% fee would be $100, still modest.
- Councilwoman Mugler asked whether the new limit would reduce the city’s burden for constructing Best Management Practices (BMPs). Lewis clarified that the city still must meet Chesapeake Bay TMDL requirements, so overall water quality improvement work continues; the change primarily affects on-site pollutant removal for individual projects.
- The ordinance adoption was on the evening agenda for formal consideration.
Closed Session
- At 1:30 PM, Councilmember Billy Hobbs moved, seconded by Councilmember Martha Mugler, to convene a closed session under Virginia Code Sections 2.2-3711A (1), (3), (7), and (8) to discuss performance of the city manager and clerk of council; appointments to the Virginia Air and Space Center Board and other listed boards/commissions; disposition of real property in the Queen Street corridor and other areas; litigation consultation; and legal advice on property use restrictions and code enforcement. The motion passed unanimously (7–0).
Key Outcomes
- Buckroe Playground: Council approved the final design and directed staff to proceed with contracting and procurement. Installation targeted for spring 2025.
- VESMA Ordinance Update: Staff presented the required local ordinance changes; the ordinance was placed on the evening council agenda for adoption. Implementation deadline is July 1, 2025.
- Appointments and Closed Session: During closed session, the council discussed appointments to multiple boards and commissions (Hampton Commission on the Arts, Mayor's Committee with People with Disabilities, Citizens' Unity Commission, Board of Zoning Appeals, Hampton Animal Response Team Advisory Committee, Eastern Virginia Regional Industrial Facility Authority, Hampton Economic Development Authority, Citizens Police Advisory Group, and Virginia Municipal League voting delegate/alternate). After reconvening, the council voted unanimously (7–0) to certify the closed session.
- No other business: There were no regional issues or items of new business.
Meeting Transcript
Good afternoon and welcome. Like to ask our clerk, call the roll, please. Councilman Bowman. Present. Councilman Brown. Here. Vice Mayor Gray. Present. Councilwoman Harper. Present. Councilman Hobbes. Present. Councilwoman Lugler. Present. Mayor Tuck. Present. And before we go into this afternoon's agenda. Because we get to introduce our new city attorney who's with us today, Courtney Sidnorth. You and we get to say, see you later. To our interim city attorney, is that the sweet part, Mayor? Pardon? Is that the sweet part? No, you you've been great for us and great to us. And um you you've been when we need it somewhat, when we needed a friend, you were there. And we appreciate it. Always a pleasure. Thank you. Great. And with that. And so with that, we'll ask our CD manager to introduce our agenda for this afternoon, please. Thank you, Mr. Mayor. Mayor and Council members, we have two items uh for briefing today in the work session. We're gonna kick off with an update on the Buckrow Beach uh playground, as you know. Uh the one that we've had for many, many years has aged to the point that it it really cannot be repaired. Um this is pretty typical for beachside playgrounds. Uh we really got our our useful life out of it and more. Um and so we began working uh to develop a new playground structure for Buckrow uh Beach, and um gave you all some preliminaries, went out to the public. Uh we want to share with you the public survey and engagement results and how we've adjusted the design to reflect as much of that as we realistically could, and make sure you're comfortable with the the final design that we have uh to share with you today because obviously we want to get that final approval and be able to kick off with ordering everything and getting it installed, hopefully in time for the spring season. So with that, I'm gonna turn it over to our Parks Recreational Leisure Services Director Dave Macaulay for the presentation. Thank you, Mary, and uh good afternoon, Vice or uh Mayor Tuck, forgot your name for a second. No. Uh Vice Mayor Gray, Kent City Council, and the current interim city attorney and the new city attorney. Welcome. Um and as Mary teed it up pretty well, I'm going to talk to you about the um the Buckrow Playground. Uh and just wanted to thank you up front for graciously approving uh the recurring funding for the playground replacement options, as you know we briefed and thought as part of our capital improvement uh project uh uh uh grading and and how you uh prioritize that. We briefed that we have 82 playgrounds at 43 locations, and many of those as Mary said are aging and need to be replaced over the next coming year. So uh Buckrow, as Mary said, is also uh 20 years old and is it as first and foremost uh as a feature park wanting to be needing to be replaced not only for safety items but for to make it fun, engaging, accommodating, and also ADA accessible. So with that, we'll go ahead and begin the presentation. Um also as Mary said, we you we had a preliminary design.
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