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Williamsburg City Council briefed on new Virginia laws that could affect operations

WILLIAMSBURG — City Council on Monday was briefed on marijuana laws, protocol for public leaders, school finance possibilities and other legislation passed by the General Assembly this year.

City Attorney Chris Shelton, who gave the presentation, didn’t give an exhaustive list, but rather spoke about laws that may affect Williamsburg or the City Council in some way.

The laws include:

Marijuana

Gov. Glenn Youngkin vetoed House Bill 698/Senate Bill 448, which would have created a marijuana retail market in Virginia. However, various workers are still protected against backlash from their employers for using medical marijuana per HB 149/SB 391.

The law extends protections for medical marijuana users, but people can still be kept from having or using marijuana at work. Additionally, no employer can be required to do anything that would violate federal law, which regulates marijuana more strictly than the state. Notably, the protections for medical marijuana use do not apply to law enforcement officers.

Freedom of information

HB 816/SB 244 is in response to a series of legal battles regarding the Fairfax Board of Supervisors passing a significant zoning change during a virtual meeting during the COVID-19 pandemic.

“During COVID, we had a lot of electronic meetings,” Shelton said. The General Assembly has “now blessed everything that has happened during all of those COVID electronic meetings so long as we complied with the requirements of FOIA during those electronic meetings.”

Meetings held virtually during the pandemic must have complied with existing Freedom of Information Act, or FOIA, requirements in order to be considered legitimate.

HB 818/SB 36 clarifies that three or more members of a public body can appear at and participate in various meetings as long as they are not discussing public business at the meetings in question. Basically, if three or more members of the city council want to attend an economic roundtable, they can as long as they don’t discuss public business.

The law also clarifies that public business is an act taken or proposed to be taken on behalf of the people the public body represents.

School finance

HB 599 allows school boards to designate a savings account for unused operating funds from localities to serve as a capital projects fund. With permission from localities, school boards can deposit unused money from localities into the fund to pay for future projects. But those projects must be designated when the funds are put into savings, and the funds cannot be used for anything but their designated purpose.

Public safety 

HB 321/SB 649 increased the benefit from the Line of Duty Act for deaths due to occupational cancer, respiratory disease, hypertension or heart disease related to the line of duty. For deaths occurring on or after Jan. 1 of next year, $75,000 will be awarded instead of $25,000.

HB 234 allows the city to adopt a procedure for seizing, impounding and disposing of off-road vehicles operated on highways or sidewalks.

Utilities 

HB 906/SB 480 limits when utilities can be disconnected for unpaid bills. Locality-owned water and wastewater utilities may not disconnect residential customers when the forecasted temperature is at or above 92 degrees Fahrenheit within the 24 hours following the disconnection.

No utilities can be disconnected for nonpayment on Fridays, weekends, state holidays or the day preceding a state holiday. The law also dictates that residential water and wastewater cannot be disconnected for 30 days after the governor declares an emergency due to a disease.

Public works 

HB 220 allows for the temporary waiver of a licensed operator requirement for water treatment plants due to unexpected vacancies. It also allows for remote monitoring of the facility if it has sufficient technology for said remote monitoring.

Sam Schaffer, samuel.schaffer@virginiamedia.com