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HomeMy WebLinkAbout06-05-07 Minutes of the Council meeting held June 5, 2007 at 7:00 p.m. in the Council Chambers of the Municipal Building. There were present: Charles L. Wade, Mayor Council: Jeffrey S. Worrell, Dan Talbert, Jr., Lane R. Penn, Joel B. Burchett, Jr. David L. Clark, Larry Clevinger, II 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 Bill Pedigo, Town Engineer Eric Montgomery, Police Department Dave Hart, Parks and Facilities John White, Economic Development Director Bill Webb, Fire Chief Others: James Radcliffe Robert Bopp Norma Waddell Susan Slade Jamie Slade Jane Amburn Gloria Mabe Ethan Beville Rodney Beville Lucas Goad Valerie Goad Richard Goad Janie Hurd Akers James Holliday Keith Holt Betty Quesenberry Carol Wade Morgan Welker Terry DeLellis Katherine Tozier Maddie Clark Jamie Slade Thomas Grey Quesenberry Melinda Williams, Press Paul Dellinger, Press Mayor Wade called the meeting to order at 7:00 p.m. Councilman Penn led the Pledge of Allegiance and Councilman Clark gave the Invocation. Following roll call, Mayor Wade welcomed five 5th grade students from Pulaski Middle School who wished to make some comments on the Town’s Strategic Plan. Councilman Burchett introduced the students: Katharine Tozier, Maddie Clark, Jamie Slade, Thomas Grey Quesenberry, and James M. Scott. Mr. Grey Quesenberry advised that the after school program at the school had been asked for its input regarding Pulaski’s strategic plan. He presented the following list of their suggestions: 1. Pulaski needs to be cleaned up. There is too much trash and junk in areas of our town. 2. There are also lots of buildings and houses that need to be fixed up. 3. The sidewalks in Pulaski need repair. 4. Littering any where in our town should not be accepted. 5. They would like to have more things for young people to do. 6. They would like to have more places to shop, eat and play. 7. They would like a skating rink with food, music and an arcade in town. 8. They asked if it would possible to add new and challenging equipment to the parks in Pulaski. 9. They thought it was time to build a new Middle School in Town. 10. They hoped something could be done to stop drug use in Town. They felt that drug use by some people hurt everyone. Mayor Wade thanked the students for their presentation and advised that several of their suggestions were already being reviewed. Next Mayor Wade announced that the Employee of the Month presentation would be delayed until the June 19, 2007 Work Session. The next item on the agenda was Public Hearings. The first Hearing was in regard to the BPOL Tax Amendment. Mr. Hawley advised that Council amended the BPOL tax several years ago so that businesses did not have to pay tax on the first $50,000 of receipts. However, they failed to provide language stating that after $50,000 there would be a minimum building permit or business license charge of $30. This Ordinance addressed that oversight. He added that he wished to take public comments on the proposed amendment and allow Council to review and consider the amendment until the June 19, 2007 Council meeting. At 7:08 p.m., the Public Hearing was opened. There being no comments, the Hearing was closed. The next Public Hearing was in regard to the Transient Occupancy Tax. Mr. Hawley advised that the Transient Occupancy tax was a room tax on motels, hotels and boarding houses, travel campgrounds and other facilities renting out guest rooms for less than thirty days. Mayor Wade opened the Public Hearing at 7:10 p.m. There being no comments, the Hearing was closed. The third Public Hearing was on proposed water rates. Mr. Hawley advised that due to extra expenses in items such as electricity and less revenue than expected from the James Hardie plant, the water increase was necessary. At 7:15 p.m., Mayor Wade opened the Public Hearing. Norma Waddell opined that if the Town had more businesses or something to draw more people to the Town, then the water bills would not continue to go up. Mayor Wade responded that he did not think she would find anyone in the room who would disagree with those comments. He advised that staff was trying to draw more businesses to Town. Mayor Wade interjected that he had neglected to recognize the boy scout members who were in the office. He asked them to stand and identify themselves. Richard Goad, Lucas Goad and Ethan Beville identified themselves as members of Troop #48. The Mayor welcomed them and thanked them for attending. He moved back to the Public Hearing. Since there were no more comments from the public on the Hearing for a proposed water bill increase, the Hearing was closed. The final Hearing was on proposed sewer rates. Mr. Hawley advised that most of the needed increase was due to debt service at Peppers Ferry on making repairs at the treatment facility in Fairlawn. It was determined that the Town was responsible for 84.1% of the bill for repairs. Additionally, there was an increase in treatment charges at Peppers Ferry. The only other charge was a pay increase for the Town employees. Mayor Wade opened the Public Hearing at 7:23 p.m. Morgan Welker asked if staff had considered increasing the cost for usage rather than the fixed rate. He opined that it might provide an incentive to the customer to use less water. Mr. Hawley advised that the issue had been discussed before. The current method was easier when calculating the budget. He added that perhaps staff could look at that method next year. There being no further comments from the public, the Hearing was closed. Councilman Penn moved to direct the staff to prepare Ordinances for the water and sewer rate increases, seconded by Councilman Talbert and carried on the following recorded vote: Jeffrey S. Worrell - Aye Joel B. Burchett, Jr. - Aye Dan Talbert, Jr. - Aye David L. Clark - Aye Lane R. Penn - Aye Larry G. Clevinger, II - Aye Next, Mayor Wade moved on to the Consent Agenda consisting of the minutes of April 3, May 1 and May 29, 2007. Councilman Penn questioned the wording on page 7 of the May 1, 2007 Council minutes. He advised that the word negotiate or negotiation was used several times. He wondered if there should be some type of addendum or disclaimer inserted since a Council member doesn’t have the authority to negotiate. Following discussion, Mayor Wade asked for a voice vote on accepting the minutes of April 3 and May 29, 2007 and to accept the minutes of May 1, 2007 with the addition of an addendum on page 7 that Council members do not have the authority to negotiate. The motion carried on unanimous voice vote. The next item was Project Updates. Mr. Hawley advised that the paperwork regarding the New River Trail had been mailed. Staff had not had a response from VDOT as yet. Additionally, he said that in the cover letter with the paperwork, staff asked that since this was a revision to the construction drawings and the final documents, if they would start the process with the federal highway administration. He added that it should be noted that costs have risen quite a bit in the past three or four years. It was possible that the Town may have to do some of the work itself. Next, Mr. Hawley gave the new wireless network update, advising that three nodes had been installed in the downtown area. They were testing those three nodes while they continued to install the rest of the nodes Mayor Wade moved on to Old Business. The first item was Ordinance 2007-08, E&S Ordinance. Mr. Hawley advised that all of the reviews were complete and the Ordinance was ready for adoption. Councilman Worrell moved to adopt Ordinance 2007-08, Amending the Pulaski Code of Ordinance Article IV §38-211 thru 224 Regarding Erosion and Sediment Control. The motion was seconded by Councilman Talbert and carried on the following recorded vote: Jeffrey S. Worrell - Aye Joel B. Burchett, Jr. - Aye Dan Talbert, Jr. - Aye David L. Clark - Aye Lane R. Penn - Aye Larry G. Clevinger, II - Aye The next item on the agenda was Peppers Ferry Regional Wastewater Treatment Authority Industrial Limits. Mr. Hawley stated that he had received a response to the letter mailed to Peppers Ferry requesting answers to several questions from Council. He reviewed the responses with Council. Mayor Wade moved on to Loving Field. Mr. Hawley advised that staff recommendation was to discontinue the Loving Field RFP process. Mayor Wade interjected that he wanted to make a comment to the Public. He advised that there were rumors on the street that the Town is selling off their holdings to pay the bills. He stated that the real thing that had driven these decisions was the following. That the consensus of the Council seemed to be that the Council and municipal government should not be in the real estate business so therefore, if we had real estate holdings, we should get rid of them. And that’s what led us into selling the Maple Shade, looking at Loving Field and looking at other properties. I think that was the sense that the Council had. If I’m wrong Council speak up. Councilman Worrell stated “I think that’s exactly correct. I’m glad you said that because there is, I think some misinformation out there. And that is also why Council opted to use the proceeds from this sale for Capital.” The next item on the agenda was Ordinance 2007-16, Adopting Pulaski Volunteer Fire Department By Laws. Mr. Hawley advised that the Ordinance was the result of work between staff and the Town Attorney. He added that the Volunteer Firefighters had reviewed the document and signed off on it. Mayor Wade had a question about Article 3 regarding membership. He wondered why it wasn’t mandatory to perform drug testing? Chief Webb advised that the previous document had not mandated drug testing. He felt that the way it was written would permit them to test for drugs if necessary. Mayor Wade opined that he thought drug testing should be mandatory. Chief Webb commented that there was a cost involved, which affected the budget. Additionally, that the Personnel Policy did not mandate drug testing, so he did not feel he could mandate drug testing for the volunteers. Following discussion, Mr. Eley commented that he felt Council would want to look at the Personnel policy and change it and then secondarily change any individual departments. Mr. Hawley advised that the volunteers are not covered under the Personnel policy. Mr. Eley advised that Council could do one of two things… either table the issue or pass it with the right to review it after review of the Personnel policy. Following more discussion, Councilman Talbert moved to adopt Ordinance 2007-16, Adopting Pulaski Volunteer Fire Department By Laws, with the right to go back and review it. The motion was seconded by Councilman Worrell and carried on the following recorded vote: Jeffrey S. Worrell - Aye Joel B. Burchett, Jr. - Aye Dan Talbert, Jr. - Aye David L. Clark - Aye Lane R. Penn - Aye Larry G. Clevinger, II - Aye Mayor Wade moved on to Ordinance 2007-11, Transient Occupancy Tax. Councilman Burchett moved to adopt Ordinance 2007-11, Transient Occupancy Tax, seconded by Councilman Penn and carried on the following recorded vote: Jeffrey S. Worrell - Aye Joel B. Burchett, Jr. - Aye Dan Talbert, Jr. - Aye David L. Clark - Aye Lane R. Penn - Aye Larry G. Clevinger, II - Aye Next, Mayor Wade advised that Ordinance 2007-14, Amending Code of Ordinance for BPOL would be discussed at the next Council session. The Mayor moved on to water system PER contract with Anderson and Associates. Mr. Pedigo, the Town Engineer, advised that this was a grant through the Health Department to help analyze the water system to locate deficiencies that might be present, locate areas of expansion and water loss and several other topics. He advised that Councilman Talbert sat on the review committee and assisted with selection of Anderson and Associates. Councilman Worrell moved to direct the Town Manager to execute the water system PER contract with Anderson and Associates. The motion was seconded by Councilman Talbert and carried on the following recorded vote: Jeffrey S. Worrell - Aye Joel B. Burchett, Jr. - Aye Dan Talbert, Jr. - Aye David L. Clark - Aye Lane R. Penn - Aye Larry G. Clevinger, II - Aye The next item on the agenda was litter prevention grant. Mr. Hawley advised that in the past, the Town has combined with the County and the Town of Draper to allow the grant money to go to the Clean Community Committee for their programs. Council needed to determine whether they wished to do the same with this application. Discussion ensued as to what the Clean Community Committee used the funds for and whether the Town received any benefit from the funds. Staff was asked to get a copy of the Clean Community Committee budget for Council to review at its June 19, 2007 meeting. Mayor Wade moved on to New River Valley Commerce Park Business Plan. Mr. Hawley advised that a Locality Briefing Summary had been provided in Council’s packet. The Authority was asking for comments from each member location. Councilman Worrell added that the Authority was considering selling the house on the property and reinvest the proceeds as well as some additional Authority funds into the infrastructure. The next item on the agenda was K. W. Poore and Associates amended contract for management assistance. Mr. Hawley advised that included in the packet had been an amendment to the contract for management assistance services for the downtown project with K. W. Poore. He added that VDHCD split the grant into two phases that resulted in approximately $20,000 more in costs. The monies would have to be taken from UDAG funds. He stated that the services are critical to the project and therefore, it is recommended to approve. Following discussion, Councilman Worrell moved to direct staff to fund the amended contract with K. W. Poore for Management Services out of UDAG funds. The motion was seconded by Councilman Penn and carried on the following recorded vote: Jeffrey S. Worrell - Aye Joel B. Burchett, Jr. - Aye Dan Talbert, Jr. - Aye David L. Clark - Aye Lane R. Penn - Aye Larry G. Clevinger, II - Aye Mayor Wade moved on to participation committee for NRV Community Broadband Network. Mr. White explained that he needed direction from Council regarding further participation with Montgomery County, Pulaski County, Giles County and the City of Radford in sharing the cost to roll out broadband in the area. A purchase of a minimum of one thousand shares at $11.25 per share was required. He was checking to see if this was a one time fee or an annual fee and also how the Town could opt out of the network if they chose. He explained the area that would be covered. Mayor Wade asked Keith Holt, a Planning District Commission representative whether this was an economic development tool or to integrate the governments in the area? Secondly, he wanted to know if it was a one time buy in or an annual fee? Finally, he asked how the Town would get out of the Authority if they chose to opt out? Mr. White responded that the language was boilerplate and subject to change. He advised that it was an economic development tool, and it was to link the governments and the universities. Mayor Wade commented that we haven’t been able “to figure out how to get the County and the Town to work together on a unified dispatch center and now we’re talking about a more global issue.” He added that he did not know whether we can get over those hurdles. Mr. Holt commented that as you add more municipalities, there becomes increased pressure that something will work. He added that there is a lot of private interest. There are a lot of individuals who wish to participate. Mayor Wade commented that he did not like that no matter how many shares were purchased, the same voting rights were applied. Mr. Holt advised that the document was still being fine tuned and that issue was being addressed. He expressed appreciation for the input. Council asked that the document be returned for Council’s consideration when the Mayor’s concerns have been addressed. The next item on the agenda was tobacco tax inquiry. Mr. Hawley advised of the receipt of a memo questioning the Town’s tobacco tax. He advised that staff was investigating and if changes were needed, will return to Council. The next item on the agenda was Ordinance 2007-17, discontinuing Request for Proposals for Loving Field. Mr. Hawley advised that the Town Attorney had one aspect of the Ordinance to research before Council’s vote. He suggested that the topic be discussed at the June 19, 2007 Council meeting. Mayor Wade moved on to Round Table discussion. He inquired into the Street Improvement Bid. Mr. Hawley advised that Adams Construction was the low bidder and that staff recommended accepting their bid. Councilman Worrell moved to direct staff to complete the proper documentation with Adams Construction accepting the Street Improvement bid. The motion was seconded by Councilman Talbert and carried on the following recorded vote: Jeffrey S. Worrell - Aye Joel B. Burchett, Jr. - Aye Dan Talbert, Jr. - Aye David L. Clark - Aye Lane R. Penn - Aye Larry G. Clevinger, II - Aye Councilman Penn advised that he had spoken with several people who complained of the difficulty in obtaining demolition permits. He suggested that staff look into ways to make it easier to obtain the permits. Next, Dave Hart, Parks and Facilities Director, provided a summary of the fishing tournament that had been held at Gatewood Park. He announced the names of the winners in each group. There being no further business, the meeting adjourned on motion by Councilman Penn, seconded by Councilman Talbert and so carried.