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HomeMy WebLinkAbout11-02-04Minutes of the joint Town Council meeting held at 7:00 p.m. November 2, 2004 in the Council Chambers of the Municipal Building. There were present: Charles L. Wade, Mayor Council: Jeffrey S. Worrell, Dan Talbert, Jr., Bettye H. Steger, Lane R. Penn, John T. Bolen, Joel B. Burchett, Jr. Staff: John J. Hawley, Town Manager David N. Quesenberry, Asst. to the Town Manager Patricia Cruise, Clerk of Council Randolph D. Eley, Jr., Town Attorney Sherry Boyd, Finance Director Gary Roche, Police Chief John White, Economic Development Director Brenda Shelton, Administrative Secretary Others: Jonathan Tatman Adam King Lance McDaniel Charles D. Stafford Linda B. Hall Andrew Gore Carol Wade Vickie Houk Jennifer White James Holliday Mayor Wade called the meeting to order at 7:00 p.m. Councilman Bolen led the Pledge of Allegiance and Reverend Vickie Houk gave the invocation. Following roll call of Town Council and of the Planning Commission, Mayor Wade amended the Agenda as follows: 1. Items 7 and 8 were switched so that Presentation #A was addressed first. Items B and C were added under Presentation. The first item addressed was the VML Annual meeting. David Quesenberry summarized topics discussed at the VML annual meeting. The two issues discussed most were the car tax reimbursement issue and telecommunications tax. Unless the General Assembly makes changes to the House Bills that were adopted with the 2004 budget, the Town could face a budget imbalance. Mayor Wade moved on to the Public Hearing for the amendment of Chapter 46, Article 2 of the Town Code regarding the flood overlay district. He advised that the changes being considered would raise the base flood elevation by one foot and would list uses allowed in the floodway district, thereby complying with the National Flood Insurance Program’s regulations. This would assist the Town in getting more points under FEMA’s Community Rating System and accordingly, reduce the flood insurance premiums in Town. He opened the Public Hearing at 7:13 p.m. There being no comments, the Hearing was closed. Mr. Hawley advised that the Town Attorney had some comments to make and then the Planning Commission would retire to the meeting room to discuss the request. Council would continue with the meeting until the Planning Commission returned from their deliberations. Mr. Eley, the Town Attorney, recommended that Chapter 46 of the Town Code be brought up to date. Then Council could refer the amendment of the zoning ordinance to make Chapter 46 as amended, a part of the Zoning Ordinance to the Planning Commission. Additionally, Council should refer to the Planning Commission the amendments needed to effect Chapter 46 as amended, to the Zoning map. At this time, the Planning Commission retired to the meeting room to discuss the request. Mayor Wade moved on to Items 7b and 7c. He advised that the Town has signed up to participate in “Come Home to Virginia”. There will be statewide advertising for this program and he suggested tying as many Town projects to this advertising as possible. Examples given were the Calfee Park baseball games, the New River Trail, the Heritage Garden, Gatewood Park, the Theatre and the Museum. Additionally, Mayor Wade advised that Old Virginia Textiles had withdrawn their request to co-locate with the Fine Arts Center and the Raymond F. Ratcliffe Museum in the Maple Shade. Next, Councilman Penn moved to adopt the Consent Agenda consisting of the Council minutes of the October 5, 2004 meeting, seconded by Councilman Talbert and carried on voice vote. Mayor Wade moved on to Project Updates. The first item for discussion was the Fire Station electrical upgrade. Mr. Hawley reviewed the progress on the fire station electrical upgrade. He added that the School Board electricians have been helping with this project. Regarding Gatewood, Mr. Hawley advised that the surveying has been completed; work is continuing on the specs, prices and purchase order for the retaining wall block for the park; and design work is in progress on the waterline improvements and electrical connection posts. Mr. Hawley moved on to MacGill Skateboard Park advising that a meeting had been held with the County regarding aid in funding the park. Staff learned that the County would like to put a skate board park at Randolph Park as well. No final decisions have been made at this point. Additionally, Mr. Hawley advised that the company that was going to supply the equipment for the skateboard park has been bought out. The new company has agreed to honor the quotes provided by the original company and staff is waiting for the reorganization of the company to be completed before they order the equipment. Mr. Hawley also advised that discussions are still being held regarding the additional amenities to be placed at MacGill Park such as the playground equipment, location of the picnic shelter etc. Mr. Hawley moved on to PAT, advising that for the first time today, over 100 passengers had ridden the Pulaski Area Transit bus system. Mr. Heinline expressed satisfaction with the progress of the transit system. Mayor Wade moved on to the CDBG Downtown Revitalization. Mr. Hawley advised that each Council member had received a Pulaski Downtown Revitalization/Housing Project Management plan and a Management Responsibility chart to review. He commented that the project would require many staff hours before it was complete and confirmed that Council wished to participate in the program. Mr. White advised that a facilitation meeting for the Plan was scheduled for November 4. He thanked Councilman Penn and Dennis Bane for volunteering to act as the Council representative and the Housing point person. Mayor Wade moved on to the Legal update. Mr. Eley gave a projects update including work on the Summers case, reviewing CDBG documents, work on Ordinances, the completion of the Payne/Gregory contracts, completion of the Nextel lease documents and execution of the deeds and work on dilapidated structures. At this point, the Planning Commission returned from their discussion and recommended adoption of the amended Chapter 46, Article 2, with the following included: Add one foot to the definition of base flood elevation Add the permitted uses in the floodway district listed as Section 46-93. Councilman Bolen moved to approve the Planning Commission recommendation to adopt the amended Chapter 46, Article 2 with amendments, seconded by Councilman Penn and carried on the following recorded vote: Jeffrey S. Worrell - Aye Lane R. Penn - Aye Dan Talbert, Jr. - Aye John T. Bolen - Aye Bettye H. Steger - Aye Joel B. Burchett, Jr. - Aye Councilman Worrell moved to refer to the Planning Commission a proposal to amend the Zoning Ordinance to include Chapter 46 as amended, of the Code of Ordinances of the Town of Pulaski and amendments to the zoning map necessitated by the Zoning Ordinance amendments as adopted, seconded by Councilman Talbert and carried on the following recorded vote: Jeffrey S. Worrell - Aye Lane R. Penn - Aye Dan Talbert, Jr. - Aye John T. Bolen - Aye Bettye H. Steger - Aye Joel B. Burchett, Jr. - Aye Mayor Wade moved on to Old Business. Councilman Worrell moved to adopt Ordinance 2004-33, Approving Volvo Logistics/PC Site Plan, seconded by Councilman Penn and carried on the following recorded vote: Jeffrey S. Worrell - Aye Lane R. Penn - Aye Dan Talbert, Jr. - Aye John T. Bolen - Aye Bettye H. Steger - Aye Joel B. Burchett, Jr. - Aye The next item on the agenda was Classification/compensation plan modification. Mr. Hawley advised that staff had discussed increasing the minimum salary for the entry level positions in grade level 3 and grade level 4 to be competitive with surrounding areas. The recommendation was to increase the grade level 3 minimum salary to $16,640 ($8 hour) and the grade level 4 minimum salary to $17,804. Following discussion, Councilman Talbert moved to direct the Town Attorney to prepare the proper paper work to amend the Classification Plan to increase the entry level salary for grade level 3 to $16,640 and grade level 4 to $17,804. This increase would take effect immediately, with the paper work being adopted at the December 7, 2004 Council meeting. Councilwoman Steger seconded the motion and it carried on the following recorded vote: Jeffrey S. Worrell - Aye Lane R. Penn - Aye Dan Talbert, Jr. - Aye John T. Bolen - Aye Bettye H. Steger - Aye Joel B. Burchett, Jr. - Aye The next item on the agenda was the Car Tax Refund. Mr. Hawley advised that under the current Senate Bill 5005, the amount of tax refund will be based on the amount received by December 31. While the Town’s personal property tax is due December 5, a large portion of taxpayers wait and pay their personal property tax at the same time that they purchase their car decal. Therefore, these monies are received in the spring of the following year. If this trend continues, according to the current Senate Bill 5005, the Town would suffer a shortfall in its receipts. Mr. Hawley suggested one option would be to change the due date to October 1, 2005 for tax decals and personal property tax and prorate the decal for ½ year from April 1 of 2005 to September 30, 2005 @ $12.50. This would result in a shortfall in the 2004-2005 budget, but help insure that the Town receives what it is normally reimbursed for car taxes from the state for each successive year. Mr. Hawley asked Council to review the information from the packet and be prepared to give staff direction by the middle of December, which is the deadline for ordering the new decals. At 8:15 p.m., Councilman Penn moved to enter into Closed Session under Va. Code 2.2-3711 (A-3) discussion or consideration of the disposition of publicly held real property, where discussion in an open meeting would adversely affect the bargaining position or negotiation strategy of the Town – 2 properties, seconded by Councilman Talbert and carried on the following recorded vote: Jeffrey S. Worrell - Aye Lane R. Penn - Aye Dan Talbert, Jr. - Aye John T. Bolen - Aye Bettye H. Steger - Aye Joel B. Burchett, Jr. - Aye At 8:54 p.m., Councilman Bolen moved to return from Closed Session, seconded by Councilwoman Steger and carried on the following recorded vote: Jeffrey S. Worrell - Aye Lane R. Penn - Aye Dan Talbert, Jr. - Aye John T. Bolen - Aye Bettye H. Steger - Aye Joel B. Burchett, Jr. - Aye Councilman Talbert moved to adopt the Certification Resolution for the Closed Session, seconded by Councilman Penn and carried on the following recorded vote: Jeffrey S. Worrell - Aye Lane R. Penn - Aye Dan Talbert, Jr. - Aye John T. Bolen - Aye Bettye H. Steger - Aye Joel B. Burchett, Jr. - Aye Councilwoman Steger moved to adjourn, seconded by Councilman Penn and carried on voice vote.