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Blacksburg council approves lease extension and several code updates; bad‑check fee and property‑maintenance penalties change
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Summary
Council approved a one‑year extension of water‑tank leases with wireless carriers and adopted updates to the bad‑check fee, business‑license enforcement, and building/property‑maintenance code, moving penalties from criminal to civil for property maintenance violations.
Blacksburg Town Council on Nov. 19 approved multiple administrative ordinances in a single meeting, including a one‑year extension of existing wireless leases on the North Main water tank and several town‑code updates.
Leases: Staff reported the town will extend existing leases for one year with New River Valley Unwired Ventures (All Points Broadband) and New Singular Wireless PCS (AT&T) to allow the smaller carrier time to migrate customers and to give the town time to review a long‑standing lease. “It would extend each of their existing leases for 1 year under the current terms of their rent,” staff said. Council voted to approve Ordinance 20‑97 by roll call.
Bad‑check fee: The council adopted Ordinance 20‑98 to raise the town’s returned‑check fee from $35 (in place since 2004) to $50, to align with current state code authority. Staff said bad checks are infrequent and most town payments are electronic.
Business‑license enforcement: Council approved Ordinance 20‑99 to amend business‑license requirements and to strengthen enforcement tools for businesses that fail to obtain required licenses; staff described the change as intended to provide additional options before prosecution and noted prosecution is rare.
Building code and property‑maintenance penalties: Ordinance 21‑01 updates the town’s building‑code references to reflect periodic statewide code changes and shifts enforcement for property‑maintenance violations from criminal penalties to civil penalties (proposed $100 for the first violation and $350 for subsequent violations), while preserving the ability to seek court orders for compliance in persistent cases.
All four ordinance items were passed by roll call vote with no public speakers during those hearings.
What happens next: The town will engage a consultant and review the older telecom lease during the year‑long extension; the fee and penalty changes will be reflected in the town code and implemented by the finance and code‑enforcement offices.
