Morning Buzz — Sept. 15, 2009

A daily digest of what’s going on in Fredericksburg, and what news from elsewhere is relevant here. Send suggestions to ebattle@freelancestar.com.

Roads and taxes are on the City Council’s agenda tonight. The council’s 6 p.m.  work session in City Hall will include discussion of plans for a regional toll road authority to build a new interchange on I-95. Council members will also bring back up the issue of raising your personal property taxes. This was discussed during the budget process, but because personal property taxes aren’t due until next spring, it was put on the back burner for a while. But don’t worry, it’s back.

Incentives for business could be back up for discussion soon. Economic Development Authority members learned yesterday that city officials are working on plans to establish a new "tourism zone" (the legal framework that allows the city to offer incentives to target businesses) in the Central Park retail area to try to come up with creative ways to lure tenants into some of the big empty storefronts that now dot that development. A similar "technology zone" will likely be proposed for the U.S. 1 corridor from the Falmouth Bridge to Cowan Boulevard, to encourage technology-based businesses to help redevelop this area. More to come on this as it develops.

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