Welcome to the Town of Onley's Official Webpage. To contact us, please call 757-787-3985 or visit the Town Office at 25308 Lankford Highway, Onley VA. Town Office Hours are Monday - Thursday 9:00am-5:00pm and Friday - 9:00am-3:00pm. 

The Spring 2025 Newsletter is available. Follow this link for a copy: 20250401101752

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Special Meeting/Budget Workshop

The Onley Town Council will hold a Special Meeting/Budget Workshop on Wednesday, April 23, 2025 at 6:00pm. Please follow this link for the agenda: 20250415151854

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JOB OPENING - POLICE OFFICER

The Town of Onley is accepting applications for a Full-Time DCJS certified Police Officer. Follow this link for a complete job description: 20240517104419.

Applications will be accepted until the position is filled. Applications will be received at the Onley Town Office, 25308 Lankford Highway, Onley VA. The Town of Onley is an Equal Opportunity Employer.

Please follow this link for a job application: Employment Application

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The Greatest Virginia Greenup 2025

Keep Virginia Beautiful has provided the Town of Onley with wildflower seed packets to distribute to town residents. Please stop by the town office to pick up your FREE wildflower seed packet (one per household while supplies last). Follow this link to see what wildflowers the seed packet contains: 20250414132257

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Reminder to Town Residents

Please be sure that your physical address (911 number) is visible from the street. This is a great help to our local Fire & Rescue companies when trying to locate your residence in the event of an emergency.

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Please be aware that the Town has adopted a Golf Cart Ordinance. ALL golf carts must be inspected (see ordinance) and should display a town decal (free to Town Residents) as proof of such. Please educate yourself about using golf carts in Town by reviewing the Ordinance (see Ordinance tab) or contacting the Town Office for a copy. Please follow this link for a copy of the Golf Cart Inspection Checklist: 20250115160145

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The Town of Onley has several vacancies on the Planning Commission. Please contact the Town Office if you are interested in serving. 

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Monthly Meetings of the Onley Town Council

January 6, 2025

February 3, 2025

March 3, 2025

April 7, 2025

May 5, 2025

June 2, 2025

July 7, 2025

August 4, 2025

September 3, 2025 (Wednesday)

October 6, 2025

November 3, 2025

December 1, 2025

Meeting time is 6:00pm.

Meeting location is the Onley Town Office, 25308 Lankford Highway, Onley, VA.

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Town of Onley Comprehensive Plan

Please follow this link for the town's Comprehensive Plan adopted at the November 4, 2024 Regular Monthly Meeting: 20241108095752

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Freedom of Information FOIA

Rights & Responsibilities:

The Rights of Requesters and the Responsibilities of the

TOWN OF ONLEY

under the Virginia Freedom of Information Act 

The Virginia Freedom of Information Act (FOIA), located in § 2.2-3700 et seq. of the Code of Virginia, guarantees citizens of the Commonwealth and representatives of the media access to public records held by public bodies, public officials, and public employees.

A public record is any writing or recording—regardless of whether it is a paper record, an electronic file, an audio or video recording, or any other format—that is prepared or owned by, or in the possession of a public body or its officers, employees, or agents in the transaction of public business. All public records are presumed to be open, and may only be withheld if a specific, statutory exemption applies.

The policy of FOIA states that the purpose of FOIA is to promote an increased awareness by all persons of governmental activities. In furthering this policy, FOIA requires that the law be interpreted liberally, in favor of access, and that any exemption allowing public records to be withheld must be interpreted narrowly.

 

Your FOIA Rights

 

  • You have the right to request to inspect or receive copies of public records, or both.
  • You have the right to request that any charges for the requested records be estimated in advance.
  • If you believe that your FOIA rights have been violated, you may file a petition in district or circuit court to compel compliance with FOIA. Alternatively, you may contact the FOIA Council for a nonbinding advisory opinion.

 

Making a Request for Records from the Town of Onley

 

  • You may request records by U.S. Mail, fax, email, in person, or over the phone. FOIA does not require that your request be in writing, nor do you need to specifically state that you are requesting records pursuant to FOIA.

 

  • From a practical perspective, it may be helpful to both you and the person receiving your request to put your request in writing. This allows you to create a record of your request. It also gives us a clear statement of what records you are requesting, so that there is no misunderstanding over a verbal request. However, we cannot refuse to respond to your FOIA request if you elect not to put it in writing.
  • Your request must identify the records you are seeking with "reasonable specificity." This is a common-sense standard. It does not refer to or limit the volume or number of records that you are requesting; instead, it requires that you be specific enough so that we can identify and locate the records that you are seeking.
  • Your request must ask for existing records or documents. FOIA gives you a right to inspect or copy records; it does not apply to a situation where you are asking general questions about the work of the Town, nor does it require the Town to create a record that does not exist.
  • You may choose to receive electronic records in any format used by the Town in the regular course of business.
  • For example, if you are requesting records maintained in an Excel database, you may elect to receive those records electronically, via email, on a computer disk or flash drive, or to receive a printed copy of those records.
  • If we have questions about your request, please cooperate with staff's efforts to clarify the type of records that you are seeking, or to attempt to reach a reasonable agreement about a response to a large request. Making a FOIA request is not an adversarial process, but we may need to discuss your request with you to ensure that we understand what records you are seeking.

 

To request records from the Town of Onley, you may direct your request to Susan Rillo, Town Manager.

  • Susan Rillo can be reached at 25308 Lankford Highway, P.O. Box 622, Onley, VA 23418, phone: 757-787-3985, email: srillo@townofonley.org
  • In addition, the Freedom of Information Advisory Council is available to answer any questions you may have about FOIA. The Council may be contacted by email at foiacouncil@dls.virginia.gov, or by phone at (804) 698-1810 or toll-free at 1-866-448-4100.

 

The Town of Onley's Responsibilities in Responding to Your Request

 

  • The Town must respond to your request within five working days of receiving it. "Day One" is considered the day after your request is received. The five-day period does not include weekends or holidays.
  • The reason behind your request for public records from the Town is irrelevant, and you do not have to state why you want the records before we respond to your request. FOIA does, however, allow the Town to require you to provide your name and legal address.
  • FOIA requires that the Town of Onley make one of the following responses to your request within the five-day time period:
  1. We provide you with the records that you have requested in their entirety.
  2. We withhold all of the records that you have requested, because all of the records are subject to a specific statutory exemption. If all the records are being withheld, we must send you a response in writing. That writing must identify the volume and subject matter of the records being withheld and state the specific section of the Code of Virginia that allows us to withhold the records.
  3. We provide some of the records that you have requested but withhold other records. We cannot withhold an entire record if only a portion of it is subject to an exemption. In that instance, we may redact the portion of the record that may be withheld and must provide you with the remainder of the record. We must provide you with a written response stating the specific section of the Code of Virginia that allows portions of the requested records to be withheld.
  4. We inform you in writing that the requested records cannot be found or do not exist (we do not have the records you requested). However, if we know that another public body has the requested records, we must include contact information for the other public body in our response to you.
  5. If it is practically impossible for the Town to respond to your request within the five-day period, we must state this in writing, explaining the conditions that make the response impossible. This will allow us an additional seven working days to respond to your request, giving us a total of 12 working days to respond to your request. In the case of criminal investigative files requested pursuant to § 2.2-3706.1 of the Code of Virginia, we are allowed an additional 60 working days to respond to your request, giving us a total of 65 working days to respond to your request.

 

  • If you make a request for a very large number of records, and we feel that we cannot provide the records to you within 12 working days without disrupting our other organizational responsibilities, we may petition the court for additional time to respond to your request. However, FOIA requires that we make a reasonable effort to reach an agreement with you concerning the production of the records before we go to court to ask for more time.

 

Charges

 

  • A public body may make reasonable charges not to exceed its actual cost incurred in accessing, duplicating, supplying, or searching for the requested records. No public body shall impose any extraneous, intermediary, or surplus fees or expenses to recoup the general costs associated with creating or maintaining records or transacting the general business of the public body. Any duplicating fee charged by a public body shall not exceed the actual cost of duplication. All charges for the supplying of requested records shall be estimated in advance at the request of the citizen as set forth in subsection F of § 2.2-3704 of the Code of Virginia. The requestor will be notified in advance of our right to charge and their right to a cost estimate before searching for records.
  • You may have to pay for the records that you request from the Town. FOIA allows us to charge for the actual costs of responding to FOIA requests. This would include items like staff time spent searching for the requested records, copying costs, or any other costs directly related to supplying the requested records. Charges cannot include general overhead costs.
  • If we estimate that it will cost more than $200 to respond to your request, we may require you to pay a deposit, not to exceed the amount of the estimate, before proceeding with your request. The five days that we must respond to your request does not include the time between when we ask for a deposit and when you respond.
  • You may request that we estimate in advance the charges for supplying the records that you have requested. This will allow you to know about any costs upfront or give you the opportunity to modify your request in an attempt to lower the estimated costs.
  • If you owe us money from a previous FOIA request that has remained unpaid for more than 30 days, the Town may require payment of the past-due bill before it responds to your new FOIA request.

 

Types of Records

 

The following is a general description of the types of records held by the Town:

 

  • Town Council meeting agendas and minutes
  • Personnel records concerning employees and officials of the Town
  • Records of contracts which the Town has entered into
  • Building Permits
  • Financial records of the Town

 

If you are unsure whether the Town has the record(s) you seek, please contact the FOIA officer directly at:

  • Susan Rillo, Town Manager, 25308 Lankford Highway, P.O. Box 622, Onley, VA  23418; phone: 757-787-3985, email: srillo@townofonley.org

 

Commonly Used Exemptions

 

The Code of Virginia allows any public body to withhold certain records from public disclosure. The Town commonly withholds records subject to the following exemptions:

 

  • Personnel records (§ 2.2-3705.1 (1) of the Code of Virginia)
  • Records subject to attorney-client privilege (§ 2.2-3705.1 (2)) or attorney work product (§ 2.2-3705.1 (3))
  • Vendor proprietary information (§ 2.2-3705.1 (6))
  • Records relating to the negotiation and award of a contract, prior to a contract being awarded (§ 2.2-3705.1 (12))

 

Policy Regarding the Use of Exemptions

 

The general policy of the Town is to invoke:

  • The personnel records exemption in those instances where it applies to protect the privacy of employees and officials of the Town of Onley.
  • The contract negotiations exemption whenever it applies to protect the Town’s bargaining position and negotiating strategy.