A number of issues were discussed during a town hall meeting Monday night at T.C. Walker Elementary School, Gloucester. The meeting, where members of the audience could ask any questions they liked of county and school officials, was the first hosted by Ashley Chriscoe, newly-elected at-large representative to the county’s board of supervisors.

About 40 residents attended the meeting, which Chriscoe said would give him an idea of what his constituents want him to do when it comes to making crucial decisions, especially when it comes to taxes and spending.

Richard Elmore, who opposed Chriscoe in the November 2011 election, kicked off the meeting by asking Chriscoe how he felt now about raising taxes, noting that the utilities department is in debt and major school projects are looming.

"I don’t want to raise taxes," Chriscoe said. "Realistically, I am fairly certain we will have a tax increase." He said it boils down to a tax increase or asking citizens if they want to do things such as close the library on Monday or close Beaverdam Park a certain day during the week.

Later in the meeting, Gloucester resident Kim Hensley, who serves on the school board, said her family would be willing to see a tax hike. "I would support the board of supervisors raising taxes to support things near and dear to our hearts," Hensley said. "We expect the services to be there. They’re what keep people here."

Chriscoe said the issue of the tax rate is "a tightrope for us." He added, "If we raise taxes, how much do we do? Not everyone has the same economic inflow of money. It’s all a matter of how much. How much can the people stand?"

He also said he was elected by the Gloucester residents and he wants their input, hence the reason for the town hall meetings. "I don’t have the answer in an envelope," Chriscoe said. "It’s not an easy season … Raise taxes, raise taxes; well that’s not always the answer. We’ve got to do a lot of different things."

On a different matter, a resident addressed some issues about schools. "A few things puzzle me," he said. He questioned why the school system has purchased propane school buses, which he said come at a higher cost, and also questioned why it cost so much to replace bathrooms in the schools.

Superintendent of schools Ben Kiser was on hand to answer school-related questions and said the propane buses that were purchased were done so through a grant. He also said there is only about a $13,000 price difference, which is made up through the better efficiency of the propane engines.

As for the bathrooms, Kiser said it is much more to replacing them than just the fixtures. For instance, he said some large, commercial bathrooms at Gloucester High School last year were refurbished and included all new partitions and tile work. The cost was at $130,000-$140,000 per bathroom, Kiser said.

On a different subject, Gloucester Court House resident Donna Freeman said she often walks in the late evening hours along Main Street and said she thinks many of the county buildings have too many lights on after hours. "Why is it that the new courthouse building is lit up like a Christmas tree," Freeman asked. "It’s certainly hard to believe people are working at 9:30 on a Sunday night."

"If lights are on in the courthouse on a Sunday night, I want to know about that," Garrey Curry, Gloucester’s director of public works, said. However, he added that the cleaning crews are working inside the county buildings between 4 p.m. and midnight during the week and have been instructed to turn lights on only in rooms they are in and turn the lights off when they move to another room.

Freeman, who is also a teacher at Gloucester High School, said it is frustrating that to save money, the heat has been turned off in the school buildings during teacher workdays, while lights are burning in county office buildings. "Please encourage people to turn out the lights," she added. "A penny saved is a penny earned."

Later in the meeting, another resident asked Chriscoe what the latest is on the idea of consolidating services between the county and school system. Chriscoe said he remains optimistic that the new board of supervisors will explore this in more detail. However, he said that right now, some of the facilities are not in place to house consolidated services such as computer equipment. "To do it right, it’s going to cost money up front," he said.

Speaking as a private citizen, Kiser said Gloucester has been accused of not being business-friendly. Chriscoe said, "The economy as a whole has to change a little bit. Unfortunately, Gloucester is still considered a bedroom community."

However, Chriscoe said a major aspect of making Gloucester more attractive to business is to streamline the process for businesses to open in the county. "We need to make things occur a little quicker," he said. "If you can go to Newport News and (open a business) in 60 days and it takes 90 days here … where are you going to go?"

Kiser said one thing Gloucester does have the ability to monopolize on is infrastructure. Speaking as superintendent, he said, "Now, only about 35 percent of my homes have access to broadband internet. To me, this is certainly an area we can spend more time on."