Construction expected to start any time on new Williamsburg parking lot

Construction should start late this week or early next week on a new parking lot in Williamsburg.

Williamsburg Mayor Roddy Harrison said that the city received $36,887 in funding from the industrial authority to build the lot, which will be located at Third and Sycamore on the old Upton property. The city recently purchased the property.

From 7 a.m. – 5 p.m., the parking lot will be reserved for a new business that is planning to open adjacent to the lot, which needs dedicated parking, Harrison said without identifying the business.

From 5 p.m. – 7 a.m., the lot will be available for public use.

In other business during Monday’s monthly Williamsburg City Council meeting, the council:

• Discussed the Fourth Street Dining project, which would close off portions of Fourth Street in the evenings for local restaurants to have outdoor dining. Harrison said that he has been working with the owners of The Butcher’s Pub and The Brick Oven on it. One of the big hold-ups has been getting outdoor furniture to use, and coming up with a place to store it. The owner of the building is seeking grant funding to build an outdoor patio area in the back, Harrison added. “Dining on Fourth Street is a reality, but we don’t have a time frame,” Harrison noted.

• Scheduled a special meeting for Monday, Aug. 24, at 5 p.m. in order to hold the first reading of the budget ordinance for the 2020-2021 fiscal year, which started on July 1. A second special meeting is scheduled for Wednesday, Aug. 26, in order to hold the second reading and have final approval of the budget ordinance.
• Discussed the status of the dog park off George Hays Road. Councilwoman Laurel West inquired about the status of the park. Harrison noted flooding took out the whole fence around the park plus a few other things. The city is waiting on word from FEMA in regards to getting funding to fix it, but already has bids to fix the fence.

• Formally accepted the resignation of Williamsburg Tourism Director Alvin Sharpe, who retired at the close of business on Aug. 7 after serving 40 years as tourism director. Councilwoman Mary Ann Stanfill “sadly” made the motion to accept Sharpe’s resignation. “I am happy for him, sad for us,” Harrison noted. The council discussed how best to honor Sharpe, who would much prefer to ride off into the sunset without any fanfare. “We are not just going to let him off without getting anything,” Harrison added. With COVID-19 reducing the number of tourism related events, the city isn’t getting in a hurry to replace Sharpe as director with tourism employee Nikki Kysar and Main Street Manager Nannie Hays currently in charge.