Town of Haymarket Community Site - Manassas Journal Messenger

Speed Hump Coming to Street in Haymarket

Mon, 19 Nov 2007 22:26:33 -0500

Speed hump coming to street in Haymarket
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Potomac News
Monday, November 19, 2007

Sometime soon the Virginia Department of Transportation will build the first speed hump in Prince William County in several years.

It might not be such a big deal if it weren't on a road that saw tens of thousands of cars every day.

It's going to be installed on Jefferson Street in Haymarket -- the busy Va. 55 - between Fayette and Washington streets.

Complaint Filed Against Haymarket Police

Sat, 05 May 2007 03:02:38 -0400

Complaint filed against Haymarket police
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By JACLYN PITTS
jpitts@potomacnews.com
Saturday, May 5, 2007

Haymarket's police department has found itself embroiled in another controversy after about a year of quiet.

A 17-year-old Haymarket girl and a 30-year-old town police officer have filed complaints with the town, stating that Chief James E. Roop and some other officers accused them of having a sexual relationship, resulting in embarrassment and distress.

Register Now for 5K Fun Run/Walk

Wed, 26 Jul 2006 00:37:24 -0400

Bennie Scarton Jr.
Tuesday, July 18, 2006

It's not too early to start planning to be part of the second annual 5K Fun Run/Walk to benefit the Cancer Center at Lake Manassas.

Sponsored by Designer Fitness and Rehab Center, the event will start at 8 a.m. Oct. 14 at Heritage Village Plaza, near the entrance of Heritage Hunt in Gainesville.

Children ages 12 and younger are invited to participate in the one-mile Fun Run, which precedes the 5K Run/Walk.

Haymarket, Ruritans Plan Coinciding Festival Days

Wed, 26 Jul 2006 00:30:57 -0400

Haymarket, Ruritans plan coinciding festival days
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Bennie Scarton Jr.
Tuesday, July 25, 2006

Nearly everyone has heard about the dueling banjoes. How about the dueling Haymarket Days.

After the Haymarket Town Council and the Gainesville Ruritan Club failed to come up with a compromise on hosting the event, both groups have decided to hold their own -- on the same day at the same time.

The two Haymarket Days will be conducted Sept. 16 from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. The town will conduct its festivities in the town while the Ruritan Club will host its event at Battlefield High School where the event was moved and staged last year due to ongoing construction in the town.

Bart Colandene, a member of the club handling advertising in the Haymarket Day Gazette, said the club decided that due to the continuing construction and lack of viewing space and parking in town the Ruritans would rather stay at Battlefield where there is plenty of parking.

"We were very pleased with the turnout last year -- an estimated 8,000 spectators came out," said Colandene.

Both of the organizations plan a full day of activities, including a parade, entertainment, crafts, food and non-profit booths. Colandene said, noting that bands from Battlefield and Liberty High Schools have already signed up to be in the parade.

Haymarket Town and Country Garden club will host a flower show in the school and will sell plants.

In the Town of Haymarket newsletter, Mayor Pam Stutz said "We've had many requests for Haymarket Day to return to Haymarket. In compliance with your requests, we have diligently approached the Ruritans to return the festival to the town, without success. Therefore, there will be two activities on the....

Haymarket, Ruritans plan coinciding festival days

Police Chief Sues Haymarket

Sat, 06 May 2006 09:01:53 -0400

Police chief sues Haymarket
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By JACLYN PITTS
jpitts@potomacnews.com
Saturday, May 6, 2006

Haymarket is facing a lawsuit nearly no one seems to know about, not even council members.

The town's police chief, James E. Roop, and Sgt. Gregory Breeden filed a lawsuit this week in Circuit Court against the town.

The lawsuit is the second filed against the small town within a week.

Former town auxiliary officer Charlie Proffitt filed a lawsuit against the town April 28, citing Freedom of Information Act violations.

Roop and Breeden's complaint outlines instances over the past few months when confidential documents have been leaked to the public via media outlets, or most recently, a controversial Web site.

Several newspaper articles are mentioned that included information not accessible through any public documents, according to the suit.

But the leaking hasn't stopped at newspapers.

With the emergence of the controversial forum Web site, www.townofhaymarket.info, the lawsuit alleges personnel documents have been leaked there, as well.

An April post on the site titled "Found in the trash!" displayed one page of a sexual harassment complaint investigation of Roop and Breeden that the town conducted through an attorney in 2005, according to the lawsuit.

The document has since been removed from the site.

"On information and belief, [Roop and Breeden] know that this document could not have been found discarded in the trash and allege that the document, clearly personal information from an official town file, was deliberately released to that Web site by unidentified [town official(s)]," the lawsuit states.

The lawsuit outlines other leaked documents and information, including a resignation letter from former town prosecutor Cynthia Dupray that made its way onto the Web site by an anonymous post.

Roop and Breeden want the town to stop allowing......

Police chief sues Haymarket

A Day Police Never Showed

Sat, 22 Apr 2006 01:00:40 -0400

A Day Police Never Showed
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By ROB SEAL
rseal@potomacnews.com
Saturday, April 22, 2006

Feb. 2 was a good day to fight a ticket issued by the Haymarket police.

Court records show that 47 misdemeanor charges - mostly traffic tickets, but including some charges of drug possession and driving under the influence - were dropped that day because some Haymarket police officers weren't in court when their cases were called.

The reasons for the absences vary. One officer had been arrested and suspended from the force, two others said they were stuck in line at the courthouse's metal detectors and had their cases dismissed before they made it to the courtroom.

Another officer allegedly had to leave court early to attend a college class.

Haymarket officers are typically in General District Court one day each month to testify about misdemeanors and traffic tickets they've issued. An attorney retained by the town handles those cases, instead of a prosecutor rom the Commonwealth's Attorney's office.

All told, eight officers from Haymarket Police were in court Feb. 2, court records show. Four of them had some or all of their cases dismissed.

Charlie Proffitt and Timothy Benjamin are former part-time officers with the Haymarket Police.

By Feb. 2, the town's part-time force had been suspended pending a review, but Proffitt and Benjamin were still expected to appear in court to testify about tickets they had issued.

Because they were no longer with the force, the two former officers had to wait in line at the courthouse metal detectors instead of bypassing the line as police officers usually do, they said.

As a result, Proffitt and Benjamin were about 15 to 20 minutes late, Proffitt said.

When they got to the courtroom, prosecutor Cynthia Dupray had dropped all of their pending cases, the two former officers said.

Benjamin said Dupray had been told that the reserve officers weren't going to show up, and had dropped.....

A Day Police Never Showed

Former Councilwoman Remembered

Sat, 25 Mar 2006 17:34:59 -0500

Former Councilwoman Remembered
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By BENNIE SCARTON JR.
bscarton@potomacnews.com
Saturday, March 18, 2006

Many people complain about things they don't like in their government. Few do anything about it. Not so for Nancy L. Bailey, 58, who died on Wednesday.

Bailey spent nearly 20 years of her life working for the betterment of the town of Haymarket.

Shortly after she and her husband, Edward W., moved into the community she began attending meetings of the council and bringing up subjects she felt could improve the town.

She then served on the planning commission and on the town council, her last term being 2000-2002.

"Nancy was a very dedicated public servant, always in attendance and prompt at her meetings. She was very intelligent and probably knew the code book better than anyone in the town," said Mayor Pam Stutz.

"We had been good friends for a long time. Nancy was a very nice person, spicy at times, but you always ....

Former Councilwoman Remembered

Streetscape upsets former mayor

Tue, 21 Mar 2006 08:51:49 -0500

Streetscape upsets former mayor
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Heeee's Back!

By JACLYN PITTS
jpitts@potomacnews.com
Wednesday, March 15, 2006

When it comes to Haymarket's streetscape project, it's all a matter of time.

But it's the matter of time that's got former mayor John R. "Jack" Kapp questioning why it's taking so long to do it, and do it right, according to him.

Kapp was in town visiting his grandchildren this week when he noticed a section of what looked like a hurriedly constructed brick sidewalk along Washington Street near Haymarket Baptist Church.

He said the sidewalk was covered in loose gravel with bricks laid at least an inch apart, which he deemed unacceptable.

The sidewalk is proffered by Centex Homes for its Haymarket Station project off Washington Street.

The Town Council voted Feb. 6 to issue Centex three occupancy permits until it installed the sidewalk.

At its Feb. 27 meeting, the council released the rest of Centex's occupancy permits, deeming the sidewalk progress as sufficient.

But Kapp thinks the council may have pushed construction, causing the sidewalk to be of lower quality than other sections on the west side of town.

Kapp said the sidewalk is not even with an adjacent driveway, either.

"You can't have a driveway a foot and a half above the sidewalk," he said.

However, Haymarket Mayor Pam E. Stutz pointed out that.....

Streetscape upsets former mayor

Forum site covers Haymarket

Fri, 10 Mar 2006 00:49:55 -0500

Forum site covers Haymarket
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By JACLYN PITTS
jpitts@potomacnews.com
Friday, March 10, 2006

Haymarket resident Jeff Patton said he'd never heard of the Town of Haymarket Community Web site until he found a postcard advertising it in his mailbox Wednesday.

Other town residents, like Patton, should have received the same postcard touting the forum site, www.townofhaymarket.info, earlier this week.