THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1997, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Sunday, February 23, 1997 TAG: 9702230173
SECTION: LOCAL PAGE: B3 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY LINDA McNATT, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: WINDSOR LENGTH: 85 lines
This small town on busy U.S. Route 460 is planning for growth on a shoestring. Make that a shoestring potato.
The Town Council recently agreed unanimously to add a 4 percent sales tax on prepared foods. That means that burgers and fries at the town's two restaurants - Burger King and Dairy Queen - will cost a little more.
The new tax should bring about $80,000 a year to Windsor's coffers, Town Administrator James L. DeGrand said. And the town, DeGrand said, can use the money.
Like neighboring Smithfield, in northern Isle of Wight County, Windsor is beginning to feel the effects of having a regional sewerage line. The Hampton Roads Sanitation District has arrived, he said, as he gazed at a mound of dirt in front of Town Hall.
``Things are really going to start heating up here,'' he said. ``We're already beginning to get a lot of inquiries from businesses.''
The collection system for the Windsor Vacuum Sewer Project is expected to be complete within a year, and town residents, after years of trouble flushing toilets and doing laundry, will be able to hook onto regional sewerage for $500.
The town, with representatives from the county, will hold a public meeting on the sewerage system at 7:30 p.m. Tuesday at Windsor High School.
For the town, sewerage and what comes with it may not be as affordable as it will be for residents.
The square-mile town with a population of about 1,100 people has traditionally paid its own way. With a budget last year of about $300,000, Windsor collects personal property taxes, money for motor vehicle decals, utility taxes, taxes from an independent bank, and it shares in the state ABC sales tax. The town also operates its own, four-well water system.
Still, Windsor suffers from being well-to-do. Historically, the town has been unable to qualify for state or federal grants.
That's because most of its citizens are middle or upper middle class - shipyard workers, professionals, retirees. There are few minorities, and few Windsor citizens can be classified as poor.
A 1990 census showed residents in nearly 500 homes and two mobile home parks as 983 whites, 32 blacks, five American Indians, three Asian Americans and two of other races.
``Look at our budget,'' said Mayor Wesley F. Garris. ``It's been just about the same for years. And the average income in town is just high enough so that we've never been able to qualify for grants.''
Now, Garris and DeGrand agree, wrestling with growth is going to cost money that Windsor simply doesn't have.
The Town Council is looking at extending water lines and improving the water system. Council wants to fix the leaking roof on town hall. And it wants to look at ``adjusting the town's boundaries.'' They don't like to call it annexation. But the area being considered would likely double the size of the Route 460 landmark.
``The town wants to be able to control areas adjacent to our boundaries,'' DeGrand said. ``We're already supplying water out there, and the sewer will extend outside of town. We're looking at expensive projects.''
The town hasn't expanded its boundaries since it was incorporated in 1902. The council feels it's time to consider that possibility, Garris said. Windsor has got to keep up with the growth.
``We'd like to be able to control growth outside the town instead of letting the county do it,'' he said.
Garris, who works at Newport News Shipbuilding, said it was a clear run through the woods on a back road to Chuckatuck and on to the James River Bridge when he first started making the daily commute years ago.
``Now, when I leave here at 6 a.m., it's a steady line of traffic all the way, and lights from houses are all over the woods,'' he said. ``There's just no country out here anymore.''
Since a Windsor business directory was made up several months ago, six new businesses already have been penciled in on the list. DeGrand said he spends a lot of his time these days touring the town with other businesses interested in locating on the busy corridor leading from Suffolk to Petersburg.
``I've tried to convince the council - when they look down the road and see the light coming - it's a freight train, not a motorcycle,'' DeGrand said. ``Suffolk is running up 460 to catch up with us. I'm proud of what this council is doing.'' MEMO: For more information about the public meeting, call Windsor Town
Hall at (757) 242-4288. ILLUSTRATION: Photo by MICHAEL KESTNER/The Virginian-Pilot
Windsor Mayor Wesley Garris, left, and Town Administrator Jim
DeGrand discuss construction along U.S. Route 460 in the heart of
Windsor. The town's growth has forced a higher sales tax on fast
food.