decide whether to end its 227-year-old incorporation. Columbia is holding a special election with a yes or no question on the ballot: “Shall the charter for the town of Columbia be annulled and repealed?” Mayor John Hammond says dissolving the town will allow Fluvanna County to provide resources that Columbia council’s $3,800 budget cannot. Eighty-nine-year-old Irene Newton has lived in Columbia most of her life and believes it’s time to give up the charter. “It’s time to give it up and get some help before we lose it completely to destruction,” she said.
Melissa Kenney, who owns properties in Columbia, says “I would like to just see the community survive its rich legacy and heritage. It’s got some really unique points to it and would be a shame to make it go away.”
The town’s polling place opens at 6:00 Tuesday morning and closes at 7:00 p.m.
If voters repeal Columbia’s charter, the decision would require approval from a circuit court judge and the General Assembly.