Construction on the Hilton Hotel in the town of Haymarket has been delayed due to the coronavirus pandemic.
The hotel was originally expected to open in early 2021.Â
During their meeting on Tuesday, May 26, the town council discussed the addition of a new item to their Fiscal Year 2021 budget. This item is a Transient Occupancy Tax (TOT) which would have been paid on temporary lodging at hotels.Â
However, due to the delayed construction of what would be the town’s only hotel, the TOT may need to be adjusted or removed from the town’s budget for FY21.Â
This delay also delays Haymarket’s plan to launch a tourism advertising campaign, which would have been funded in part from the TOT. Business Manager Chris Coon explained how the coronavirus will affect these budget items:
“These funds would not be spent until there is revenue received, thus we would work on multiple options and then have to decide when the revenue was received. I know that the hotel has been delayed and pending updates, those items may need to be adjusted or removed from our Fiscal Year 2020-2021 budget,” Coon said.
Residential Taxes
Haymarket residents are expected to see lower residential tax bills for FY21.Â
The tax rate dropped from $1.361 per $100 assessed value to $1.261 per $100 assessed value. The average residential tax bill should be reduced by $2.26 based on these numbers, coming out to $4877.82.
Coon noted that assessments from Prince William County would ultimately dictate how each property is affected, however.
Of the FY21’s $2 million budget, residents can also look forward to seeing $80,000 dedicated to town events and $100,000 dedicated to community development.
Haymarket is welcoming five non-incumbent candidates to their town council after the Tuesday, May 19, election, including Kenneth Luersen who will be mayor.
Luersen beat out incumbent David Leake by 13 points. Leake has served as mayor since 2012.
Luersen ran against Leake in 2018 as well but failed to unseat him as Haymarket’s mayor in that election.
In addition to the mayor’s seat, there were six positions open on the town council and ten candidates competing for them. Here’s who won:
- Tracy Lynn Pater
- R. Marchant Schneider
- Joe Pasanello
- Robert Weir
- Chris Morris (Incumbent)
- Steven Shannon (Incumbent)
The new councilmembers will take their seats on July 1.
The Novant Health UVA Health System will resume medically necessary, time-sensitive procedures.
Prince William Medical Center and Haymarket Medical Center will be rescheduling patients with postponed appointments and procedures. In addition, they will also provide imaging, labs, and other appointments to support these procedures.
“We are not performing elective surgeries at this time, as we’re still seeing COVID-19 numbers grow in our health district,” said Stephen Smith, MD, president, and chief operating officer of Prince William Medical Center and Haymarket Medical Center.Â
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A message board that reads “Vote #TeamHaymarket” has stirring up debate about what type of campaign signs are allowed in the town.
Haymarket resident Rebecca Smith originally posted a photo of the message board to Facebook, alleging the sign’s presence at the corner of Washington and Jefferson streets is a violation of Haymarket Town Ordinance 58-15.5(h) which prohibits electronic message boards.
Since then, the post has been shared several others, all with various captions.
Haymarket Mayor David Leake is one of the members of “Team Haymarket,” and he’s running for reelection on May 19 against challenger Kenneth Luersen. When asked about the sign, Leake stated that Virginia Code 15.2-109, which prohibits localities from banning political signs on private property, overruled the town ordinance.
Mayor Leake’s argument was that since the message board is on private property and displays a political sign, it does not violate any laws.
However, that section of Virginia Code also states that political signs posted on private property still must be in compliance with local zoning restrictions applicable to nonpolitical signs.
So, where does that leave this message board?
The Town Business Manager, Chris Coon, was able to clarify the town ordinance under debate:
“Electronic message board is defined in 58-1.5 as: Any sign that uses changing lights to form a sign message or messages wherein the sequence of messages and the rate of change is electronically programmed and can be modified by electronic processes, Coon told Potomac Local News. “I just reviewed the message board and there are not changing lights and thus it does not meet the Town Code definition of Electronic Message Board and does not violate 58-15.5 (h).”
Coon also stated that the town does not handle political signs the same way as normal signs.
“As you know Political Signs are only utilized very close to elections and they are a core 1st Amendment issue. If there is no threats to Public Health, Safety, or Well Fair the Town would not send a Zoning Violation.”
The other member of “Team Haymarket” is Connor Leake, the mayor’s son, who is seeking a council seat.
There is one mayoral seat up for grabs and five town council seats. A total of 12 candidates are running in the election.
Mayor
- David M Leake (Incumbent)
- Kenneth M. Luersen
Member Town Council – Haymarket
- Chris S. Morris (Incumbent)
- Steven R. Shannon (Incumbent)
- Connor W. Leake (Incumbent)
- Thomas C. Utz
- Robert T. Day (Incumbent)
- Madhusudan Panthi (Incumbent)
- Tracy Lynn Pater
- R. Marchant Schneider
- Joe R. Pasanello
- Robert B. “Bob” Weir
She’s gone again.
During the Town Council meeting on Monday, May 4, Susan Edwards sent an email to the Council resigning from her position, just as she did in 2010.
Edwards began her Town Council career in 2008 only to resign in 2010 for reasons unannounced.
In 2016, she was on the council again before her most recent term which began in 2018 and has now once again ended abruptly.Â
In her resignation email, Edwards cites a public, personal attack from a longtime resident as her reason for leaving. She also blames her fellow councilmembers, stating that none of them stood up for her during this attack.
“Not once did any of you stand up for me when a certain long time resident publicly attacked me personally. Today with the same citizens rant filled letter in support of you all for re-election I have reached my limit,” Edwards says in her email.
When Mayor David Leake was asked about Edwards’ leaving, he said:
“I felt as though her resignation was out of the blue. Politicians are constantly receiving comments and opinions from citizens on how they think or feel their jobs should be performed. Upholding a political position can be a very tasking job knowing you cannot please everyone.”
Now that Edwards has resigned, the Council is moving moved to appoint councilmember Chris Morris to fill the position of Vice Mayor on Monday, May 4 during their regular meeting 11. The vacant seat will be filled by a Council-appointed town resident.
Edwards couldn’t be reached for comment.
There's a new chief of human resources at overseeing two of the region's largest hospitals -- Novant Health / UVA Health System Prince William and Haymarket medical centers.Â
Julie Hixson Sujik joined the system as the chief human resource officer.
Sujik’s role will be to oversee the system’s human resources management. This includes its three acute care facilities, clinics, and other healthcare facilities located in Culpeper, Gainesville, Haymarket, Manassas, and Warrenton.
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Hospitals in Prince William County and Manassas won't be affected by a new round of cuts and furloughs announced by the UVA Health System.
The healthcare provider announced that it is taking actions to mitigate $85 million per month in losses it has experienced. Those losses come after a state-imposed lockdown and Virginia Gov. Ralph Northam's ban on elective medical procedures in the wake of the coronavirus.
The two hospitals in our area that are apart of the UVA Health network, however, aren't' affected by the cuts.
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Zandra’s, like many other restaurants, has a large kitchen.
But due to the coronavirus outbreak that has forced the closure of many dining rooms in the area and around the state, the kitchen has seen little use these past few weeks.
So, Zandra’s owner Miguel Pires he and his landlord, Sean Landry, teamed up to put his kitchen equipment to use, by cooking food and donating it to Prince William Food Rescue. There, the food is turned into gourmet meals for the hungry in our area.
Zandra’s Kitchen, located inside the old Gainesville Elementary in Haymarket, also known as Pace West, is the inspiration for the name of the project he is calling “Old School Kitchen.”
The original school kitchen had been remodeled and renovated as part of the process to be a production facility for Zandra’s, which also has locations in Manassas and Fairfax cities. But for now, Pires says he doesn’t need it.
Instead, he and Landry saw people who needed food in the area and put their heads together to solve the problem Pires launched a GoFundMe to raise funds for the project. While Pires will be paying a few people who peel potatoes and make rice, he said that the chefs are all volunteers.
The first is Jules Foeaman, a chef who operates Jules Caribbean Barbecue, a food truck in Leesburg. Foeaman has spent his time in the Haymarket kitchen smoking chicken and pork butts. Along with the food that’s been donated, they buy basic things like pasta, rice, and olive oil. These special ingredients to turn their food into gourmet meals.
 “My thought is to bring in different people,” Pires said, explaining that their goal is to work with people in the community to come and whip up their own personal recipes.
Pires said that he was inspired to spin up his charitable efforts by another local business owner, Sharita Rouse, of Tummy Yum Yum, a gourmet candy apple store in Downtown Manassas. From her apple stand at 9119 Church Street, she has been feeding 150 people a day.
When Pires heard about this, he said, “We could do that with our crew.” Now, Old School Kitchen will make meals and deliver them to Rouse, who will distribute the food.
Pires said that they will start with Rouse, but as the word gets out they will find other non-profits and other food kitchens who can use the meals.
Pires said the best way to help them is by donating. He noted that a $10 donation makes roughly ten meals.
There’s also the challenge of getting people to sign up to be volunteers for Prince William Food Rescue, who will deliver the food.
Taking the ingredients and turning them into fully-prepared meals is essential for some who don’t have the ability or knowhow to cook.
“They’re the poorest of the poor,” Pires said. “If you give them a case of lettuce, they’re just eating lettuce. “So, by preparing the actual meals it is “putting something to good use,” said Pires.
An official launch date for the “Old School Kitchen” was slated for Monday, April 13.
The Old School Kitchen comes as the Prince William County Government is working with multiple food kitchens to feed residents in the wake of the coronavirus spread. Didlake, an organization that works with people with disabilities, donated their warehouse on Breeden Avenue in Manassas that will serve as a headquarters for the food distribution in the community.
According to a county press release posted to its website:
“Born out of the desire to help those in need, Prince William County partnered with Action in the Community Through Service (ACTS), the cities of Manassas and Manassas Park and the Prince William County Community Foundation to establish the Community Feeding Taskforce — a scalable, flexible, long-term feeding operation put in place to make sure Prince William County residents who need food receive it during the COVID-19 pandemic.
ACTS Development Director Aaron Tolson said ACTS has been working with Prince William County’s Emergency Management Office and other partners to build a hub-and-spoke distribution system to match the food supply to the need in the community.”
To volunteer with the Community Feeding Taskforce, download the Prince William Food Rescue app or register with Volunteer Prince William.
To donate food, please donate to either a local food pantry or call ACTS at 703-441-8606, extension 251 to coordinate a drop off time.
Prince William County firefighters were called to a barn fire near Haymarket on Thursday.
Barn fire in the 4300 block of High Ridge Road (Haymarket). Barn fully involved on arrival. Crews have the fire under control, starting to release some units. No injuries reported. Cause under investigation.
— PWC Fire & Rescue (@PWCFireRescue) January 2, 2020
Now we’re hearing from Novant Health UVA Medical Center in Prince William County, which is announcing its first baby of the New Year. A press release states:
Novant Health UVA Health System Haymarket Medical Center welcomes the new year with the announcement of its first baby of 2020. Liam Okechukwu was born Jan. 1 at the Women’s & Children’s Center at Haymarket Medical Center.
Baby’s full name: Liam Okechukwu
Time and date of birth: 2:56 a.m. on Jan. 1, 2020
Baby’s weight and height: 6 pounds, 12 ounces and 20 inches
Sex of baby: Male
Mother: Christy Uchendu
Delivering physician: Dr. Jennifer Nguyen An, OB
Liam has two siblings, a 24-year-old brother and 16-year-old sister. Liam’s father, Johnson Okechukwu, was also born on Jan. 1 and is thrilled to share a birthday with his son. The family was given a gift basket courtesy of Novant Health Auxiliary.
