You won’t pay meals tax this weekend in Haymarket.
The town council declared a meals-tax-free weekend Saturday, October 16, and Sunday, October 17, in honor of the Haymarket Day celebration.
On Saturday, October 16, Haymarket Day draws more than 20,000 people from around the region to see people participate in a parade, see street performers, shop vendors, and a drink in a beer garden.
The Town Council met on September 7 and voted to waive the meals tax for the weekend, according to town manager Chris Coon. With the mails tax waived, the town hopes visitors will be enticed to visit some of the restaurants on both days.
Some locally-owned fares include Giuseppi’s Italian Restaurant, Parrado’s Tex-Mex Grill, El Vaquero West, Foster’s Grill, Hidden Jules Cafe, Cookies, and Cream Ghosted Concepts, Byblos Restaurant, and Zandra’s Taqueria.
Haymarket hired a new police chief at its Town Council meeting Tuesday night.
Edgar “Al” Sibert comes to Winchester’s western Prince William County town with three decades of law enforcement experience.Â
Town manager Chris Coon tells us:
The Mayor and Town Council are pleased to announce the appointment of Edgar “Al” Sibert as Chief of Police. Mr. Sibert, of Winchester, was selected during a competitive process carried out over the past months. Chief Sibert has over 30 years of law enforcement experience, including diverse command-level experience with several sheriff’s offices. His most recent position, for the last 7 years, has been the Chief Deputy of the City of Winchester’s Sheriff’s Office.
Chief Sibert will begin his duties during the last week of September.
Councilman and Police Liaison Chris Morris said, “I am pleased to welcome Chief Sibert to Haymarket. He brings a wealth of experience to our Town, and we are confident his leadership, personality and work ethic will be an excellent fit.”
In addition to Chief Sibert, Haymarket employs five full-time, and three part-time police officers.
Forner Cheif Kevin Lands resigend his position in April. A town press release stated the town paid $10,000 in overtime for police officers after what it called “errors in handling police officer scheduling.”
Lands were hired in 2017.
2/2 .. and thus we have made the hard decision to cancel. We are saddened that we will not be out celebrating and listening to wonderful bands with the community, but we looking forward to inviting all of these bands to join us at Haymarket Day. Thank you for your understanding.
— Town of Haymarket (@townofhaymarket) August 12, 2021
Work on a new and improved Haymarket Town Center is about to begin.
The Town Council will meet at 7 p.m. on August, 2 at the town hall to discuss the $2 million project talked about since 2017. The town will begin work on removing the existing parking lot at the town hall, at 15000 Washington Street.
A new parking lot configuration will be added, as well as a new curb and gutter along the street.
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Dominion Energy, the state's largest utility, has no idea yet how much electricity a new data center to be built near Haymarket will need.
"We have no firm load commitments in place," said Greg Mathe, a Dominion spokesman, who spoke to Potomac Local News about the utility's efforts to serve customers in the Gainesville and Haymarket areas.
As it sits, the utility is awaiting an estimation from the developer of how much power its new data center will need. "Once the parcel moves forward in the development process, we'll have a better idea of what the load requirements are,"  added Mathe.
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Residents of Haymarket won't need to drive toward Manassas to visit the DMV.
The state announced today it has partnered with the Haymarket Town Government a new DMV Select office at town hall, located at 15000 Washington Street in Haymarket. There, residents will be able to obtain new license plates, decals, driving transcripts, and register to vote.
The new office will open July 1 will be the second DMV Select in Prince William County. A similar office opened in Dumfries in 2019.
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Prince William County will consider purchasing at least five pieces of property in the wake of the Thoroughfare cemetery controversy.
The parcels, owned by Flint Rock Builders, of Chester, are located adjacent to the Farm Brewery, near Haymarket. If purchased by the county, they would be used to create a public park.
The push comes after descendants of slaves, who have family members buried in cemeteries in and around the property, found in April that earthmovers had been used to grade an old cemetery, clearing the way for new homes. Flint Rock Builders spent a half-million dollars on the properties with the intention of buildings new homes.
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In a press release, Haymarket officials said they accepted the resignation of Police Chief Kevin Lands.
"Former Chief of Police Kevin Lands was deeply appreciated by many here in the Town of Haymarket. He greatly expanded the Town's social media presence and built community through events, outreach to businesses, and personal charm," reads the press release made by the Haymarket Town Council.
"The Town Council's recent performance evaluation of the Chief, however, noted some problems in the areas of communication, leadership/collaboration/teamwork, problem solving, scheduling, and judgment. Of particular note, questions have arisen regarding the Chief working DMV grant details for extra pay, which has led to the suspension of Town participation in DMV safety grants and a risk that the Town may not be eligible for future DMV grant opportunities."
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