BY SARAH BARBAN, Eastern Shore Post —
The Onancock Town Council voted Monday, June 22, not to move forward with a Virginia Department of Transportation grant that would have installed eight crosswalks in town.
Under the plan the town would have been responsible for 20% of the cost, or $50,000 per crosswalk, and VDOT would have covered the rest.
The total cost of the project was estimated at roughly $2 million, or $250,000 per crosswalk.
Residents and councilmembers alike previously expressed concerns about the cost and whether crosswalks were truly needed.
The council moved instead to ask Town Manager Wesley Wootten and town staff to look into possible options for crosswalks and come to the council with any recommendations by the end of the year.
Water study
The Onancock Town Council has budgeted $20,000 for a water study in the upcoming fiscal year.
Councilmember Cynthia Holdren said she hoped that the water engineer coming to do the work could give the town an idea of what its needs are in terms of water, she said.
“Common sense tells me that we keep having breaks, so there may very well be some problems we have to address,” she said. “To me that has to be our top priority, probably for the ensuing years.”
Holdren said other projects, such as the renovation of Queen Street, may have to take a back seat, as water infrastructure needs to be a top priority.
Historic Onancock School
Councilmember Sarah Nock, who also serves on the Historic Onancock School board, said much of the material needed to complete the restoration of the Historic Onancock School has arrived.
The school was damaged in a Jan. 31 fire after towels coated in massage oil spontaneously combusted in the basement.
The fire destroyed the basement room where it started and damaged much of the building.
Nock said painting is ongoing at the school, with painting in the north wing already complete.
The railings where the drop ceiling was hung have been reinstalled and progress is steady, she said.
Grant funding
Wootten said he was under the impression that the town had closed out the Community Development Block Grant it received for the northeast neighborhood, but he discovered funds are still available.
The funds will be used to build a sidewalk on Pine Street and do some ditch and drainage work.
The sidewalk will be on the side of the road that borders the Onancock Volunteer Fire Department and will stretch from Market Street to the end of Pine Street.
Town budget
The town council unanimously approved the Fiscal Year 2026-27 budget.
The real estate tax rate will be lowered from .0242 cents per $100 of assessed value to $0.20 cents per $100 of assessed value to bring the tax rate in line with Accomack County’s reassessment.
All other tax rates remained the same.
