Fair. Trusted. Reporting in Rappahannock County and across Virginia’s Piedmont.

Donate
Donate

Town of Washington changes zoning approval process, seeks treasurer, Christmas volunteers

by | Sep 16, 2025

Fred Catlins speaks at last week's Town Council meeting. (Photo/Luke Christopher)

The Washington Town Council, at its Monday night meeting, addressed such issues as filling the position of treasurer, amending the zoning approval process, completing a town walking trail, seeking volunteers for Christmas festivities, in addition to discussing cost sharing with the county of a new courthouse:

  • Town treasurer Gail Swift has moved out of town, leaving the position vacant. The town is looking for letters of interest for an interim treasurer, which are due to the town administrator Friday, Sept. 26 by the close of business. The appointment would last through December 2026, with the option for reelection after that. Council also will need to hold two meetings and hear public comment before selecting a new treasurer. 
  • Council member Brad Schneider said a new back-up generator at the pumphouse in town is “a good, solid, running generator” which will keep water on should the power go off.
  • Council appointed architect and town resident Dwight McNeill to the Architectural Review Board (ARB), the first time in several years a professional architect has been on the board. 
  • Council voted unanimously to update the zoning and subdivision ordinance to come into compliance with a new state mandate. The state legislature recently changed zoning and subdivision approvals from a legislative process to an administrative one, meaning instead of those approvals coming from votes from the Planning Commission and Town Council, they will now be finalized by an appointed agent. The town appointed Town Administrator Barbara Batson, who said she will just be a final sign off on approvals. Zoning Administrator Steve Gyurisin will “still be one with the expertise” on site plans, she said, and input will be taken from the Planning Commission. 
  • Mayor Joe Whited thanked Batson for helping the Washington Volunteer Fire Department write grant proposals and secure $30,000 in grant funds over the summer. 
  • Vice Mayor Fred Catlin said the new walking trail in town should be finished in about a month. 
  • As the town prepares for the 20th year of Christmas in Little Washington festivities, the planning committee is still searching for volunteers.

Author

  • Ireland Hayes

    Ireland joined Foothills Forum as a full-time reporter in 2023 after graduating from the University of Georgia’s Grady College of Journalism and Mass Communication with a degree in journalism and minor in music. As a student, she gained valuable experience in reporter and editor positions at The Red & Black, an award-winning student newspaper, and contributed to Grady Newsource and the Athens Banner-Herald. She spent three years as an editorial assistant at Georgia Magazine, UGA’s quarterly alumni publication, and interned with The Bitter Southerner. Growing up in a small town in Southeast Georgia, Ireland developed a deep appreciation for rural communities and the unique stories they have to tell. She completed undergraduate research on news deserts, ghost papers and the ways rural communities in Georgia are being forced to adapt to a lack of local news. This research further sparked her interest in a career contributing to the preservation of local and rural news.

Republish License

Our stories may be republished online or in print under Creative Commons license CC BY-NC-ND 4.0. We ask that you edit only for style or to shorten, provide proper attribution and link to our website. AP and Getty images may not be republished. Please see our republishing guidelines for use of any other photos and graphics.

By Ireland Hayes

Read more articles by Ireland Hayes
Ireland joined Foothills Forum as a full-time reporter in 2023 after graduating from the University of Georgia’s Grady College of Journalism and Mass Communication with a degree in journalism and minor in music. As a student, she gained valuable experience in reporter and editor positions at The Red & Black, an award-winning student newspaper, and contributed to Grady Newsource and the Athens Banner-Herald. She spent three years as an editorial assistant at Georgia Magazine, UGA’s quarterly alumni publication, and interned with The Bitter Southerner. Growing up in a small town in Southeast Georgia, Ireland developed a deep appreciation for rural communities and the unique stories they have to tell. She completed undergraduate research on news deserts, ghost papers and the ways rural communities in Georgia are being forced to adapt to a lack of local news. This research further sparked her interest in a career contributing to the preservation of local and rural news.