by Tom Chillemi –
A long simmering feud boiled over at the Urbanna Town Council’s Feb. 25 meeting.
Alliances were clear among the councilors following a tied vote to look for another town attorney.
For more than 13 years, Andy Bury has been the town council’s attorney. Bury and Mayor Barbara Hartley disagreed on some issues while she was one of six members on council. Now she is the mayor.
On Jan. 28 Bury delivered to council his report that under Urbanna’s Charter and the town’s election structure, the mayor is not to be permitted to vote on matters considered by the town council.
Historically Urbanna mayors have had the option of voting, and some mayors always voted, others only voted to break ties.
On Feb. 11 council took a step to amend the town charter so the mayor could vote and appointed Bury, Mayor Hartley and Town Administrator Garth Wheeler to research options and draft a charter amendment resolution that would be brought to council for consideration.
Two weeks later at council’s Feb. 25 meeting there wasn’t much said about a charter amendment; instead, the focus was on the town attorney.
The Sentinel filed a FOIA request with the town for a link to the Zoom meeting recording, which was provided. View the recording at this link: https://us02web.zoom.us/rec/share/GQXqv7Mv0OqzGyCJJd3XooLxsiwG677KWgD29LukL8EeIppkWVJ0Stsj9TUO94Hx.Qo5AZmtbh1NKgUFP and use passcode: 5BmQF6=p
Council is scheduled to reconvene on Thursday, March 4, at 7 p.m. via Zoom and will go to closed session to discuss a pending contract. To access the meeting go to: https://us02web.zoom.us/j/86241081147?pwd=a2tJYWVka25uZmlTTnVVR20wTEhwUT09 or dial +1 301 715 8592. The meeting ID is: 862 4108 1147, and the passcode is: 790571. More information is on the Urbannava.gov website.
