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The following  appears on the December 15 Agenda for the BOCS Meeting:  item A is detailed.  Item B is currently unavailable.

You may access the agenda at the following CLICK.  Choose current agenda.

 Sesquicentennial Celebration

A. RES – Transfer, Budget and Appropriate $77,353 from Non-Departmental Transient Occupancy Tax Funds to the Department of Public Works to Fund Expenses for 2010 Events and Programs to Support the 150th Sesquicentennial at County Historic Sites and to Match the Journey Through Hallowed Ground Partnership’s STEM Educational Grant Request– Thomas Bruun – Public Works Department   

 

 B. RES – Consider Proposed Memorandum of Understanding Between Prince William County and Virginia Civil War Events, Inc. – Angela Lemmon Horan – County Attorney  

 

 Note: 

Item A deals with the Prince William County Committee.  It provides for  TOT funds to be transferred to Public Works and itemizes what each amount is allocated for. 

Item B is the Creston Owen group, Virginia Civil War Events.  No mention was made of a presentation.  The information appeared to be incomplete.

Interested parties should make every attempt to watch this section of the BOCS meeting.

Tuesday, December 8, Creston Owen, chairman of the newly formed Virginia Civil War Events Inc. presented his organization’s  plan to commemorate the 150th anniversary of the Battle of First Manassas. His organization, made up of volunteers, has a 9 day plan to draw tourism to the area. His primary goal is to bring people to Manassas and Prince William County and to keep them coming back.  The events sound grand.  Also speaking to the board were Ed Clark, superintendent of Manassas National Battlefield Park and Brendon Hanafin, the county’s director of historic preservation who both added background information.

Funding will be the county’s primary obstacle. Many popular programs have already shut down or throttled back to bare-bones operations because of fiscal hard times. According to the Washington Examiner:

Still, funding presents an issue, even this early in the process. The cost per year for the county’s support and the events is estimated at $95,000.

All of the county’s financial support would have to come from the transient occupancy tax, said Budget Director David Tyerar. The TOT is a levy on tourist facilities such as hotels, motels and boarding houses that offer rented guest rooms for fewer than 30 consecutive days. Three of every five cents go toward tourism-related items in the county.

Creston Owen made a wonderful presentation to the board. His enthusiasm, knowledge, historical background made me want to write him a check on the spot. I am convinced he could sell ice cubes to Eskimos. The county chair warned that money was very scarce.

What if Manassas ponies up and the county does not? What if the county gives hard earned county money to this group? How loud will the hue and cry be from groups that support the Senior Day Care Center or transportation for the seniors to go to the senior citizens centers (different from senior day care)? It seems like the county is between a rock and a hard place.

State of Virginia Sesquicentennial Website

There’s the teaser. But to what? 2009….hmmmm 2011…150 years since First Manassas. Is there a movie coming out? What plans are in store to mark this page in history? Fishing for information. Our contributors are the post on this thread.

Inquiring minds want to know…