BACK BAY— The five people seeking the new District 2 seat on the Virginia Beach City Council said during a forum focusing on rural issues that they will preserve a key farmland preservation program and avoid extending services deeper into the southern city, which could fuel development.
All of the candidates for City Council and School Board in District 2 – roughly similar to the former Princess Anne District – attended the forum, but the lack of politicians visiting “the county” from outside the district was telling.
This year, the forum at the Creeds Ruritan Community Complex mostly drew candidates from this district. Only incumbent School Board Member Sharon Felton and City Council candidate Cat Porterfield, both in District 6, attended from outside the area.
“We’ve had these forums before, and the house was packed,” Don Horsley, a Blackwater farmer and city planning commissioner, said during remarks opening the forum. “It was a little different situation then. Now we have a new voting system, and we’ve got to live with what we’ve got.”
For City Council, longtime incumbent Barbara Henley faces challengers Elaine Fekete, Michael Mauch, Nanette Miller and Matthias Paul Telkamp in District 2.
Henley is a Pungo farmer and former teacher who helped institute the agricultural reserve program, or ARP, in the 1990s, and her family’s farm has participated in it.
Henley said the ARP, the first of its kind in Virginia, is one of the creative tools that helps preserve the rural city. “We have to keep that program funded and strong.” Later, she added, “In order to have an industry, you have to have a viable amount of land.”
Henley also discussed efforts to address flooding for an area that faces different challenges than other parts of the city.
“To address our unique wind tide issues, stormwater and sea level rise, we now have four projects,” she said, speaking of projects funded by the flood mitigation bond referendum overwhelmingly backed in 2021 by city voters. “Each will transform our area, but each will require strict oversight.”
“We have to find creative ways to deal with the wind-driven tides,” he said.
“So, obviously, the roads need work,” Mauch added, speaking about infrastructure and the need to elevate some backroads and widen roads where two vehicles cannot pass.
Henley noted the challenge of widening some roads is due to right-of-way issues.
“I agree you can’t widen the roads, but you can make sure the ditches are clear,” Miller said. “You can make sure that the roads and the potholes are filled.”
Fekete, a real estate agent from Sandbridge who grew up on a family farm in Southampton County, said, “The roads have been subsiding and we’ve done nothing to correct that.”
Telkamp, an Indian River Woods resident who runs his own IT consulting business, supported better infrastructure for the district. He said ditches along roads in the district have not been properly maintained, a matter that needs attention, and roads should be a priority. And he also said he supports the ARP but said there has been a decline in enrollments of land over the years.
“There’s an opportunity for us to improve that additional funding,” he said, “and making sure we have our priorities working with the (agricultural) community in order to make sure their needs are met … ”
Mauch said the Green Line should be preserved, and noted that not all of the candidates in the race understand the need to avoid extending services. “If you’re from this community, you understand those city services should not go any further,” he said.
Henley noted the difference between the Green Line, and the effects of the transition area between suburban areas and the rural section created while Henley was off the council, and today’s services boundary. Essentially, it is at Indian River Road. “It’s important that we stick with our planning policies and that we be consistent,” she said.
Miller said the council needs to be careful of development, including in the transition area, and it is important to protect the agricultural area of the city. Incentives help farmers working on their land, and Miller said the city might review the ARP and see whether it could improve it for the future.
“We must protect the Green Line,” Fekete said, and she said some remarks published in The Independent News have been misrepresented, apparently responding to Mauch. Fekete said she does not want to allow development past Indian River Road, “but I considered the existing businesses in Pungo village … I find it a shame that we as a city can’t think outside the box to help them with their water and sewer issues.”
“It is paramount to keep our farmers farming, to keep them at their farms,” she said.
The forum was sponsored by the Creeds Ruritan Club, Virginia Beach Farm Bureau and The Independent News. It was moderated by Ryan Horsley.
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